Nothing Better

There's nothing better than getting a picture of your missionary son, all dressed in white, with a big smile on his face, standing next to a young woman he is getting ready to baptize.  This picture made this missionary mom's day!

 

Also, Brian is like 6 feet tall, so I don't know how tall his companion is.  He really makes Brian look short though!

TV Meme

This was stolen from Kimberly.  My answers will probably make no sense to most of you, but I don't care!  I feel like posting, but I've got nothing very exciting to say.

Choose 5 TV shows (no peeking at the questions below before you choose them), list them, and then answer the questions.  (I don't know how to hide things, so if any of you do this meme, you are on your honor to not look at the questions below before you pick your TV shows.)

Here are my 5 TV shows:

1. Criminal Minds

2. Burn Notice

3. NCIS

4. Numbers

5. CSI: New York

1.  Which is your favorite series from your list?  Why?

Definitely Criminal Minds.  I LOVE that show!  I love Hotch in his suits, I love Morgan in his tight t-shirts, I love Reid and his geekiness, I love Garcia and her mad computer skills. And, what can I say?  I'm a sucker for the murder, mayhem, and gore!

2.  If you were to pair two characters from 1 and 4, who would they be?

Okay, I know Charlie and Amita are engaged, and I know Garcia has a boyfriend, but I would like to see Charlie and Garcia together.  Charlie with his mad math skills, and Garcia with her mad technology skills.  What a pair they'd make!

3.  What is one thing you'd like to change about 3's plotline?

Obviously, I would have had NCIS director Jenny killed much sooner.  Or better yet, I would have never had her on the show at all.

4.  If both main characters from 2 and 5 were falling off a cliff, which one would you save?

This is an easy one.  I have no doubt that if Michael from Burn Notice were falling off a cliff, he could save himself. And while Mac from CSI: New York used to be a Marine, he's not in as good a shape as Michael.  So I'd save Mac.

5.  Which event was the most horrible for you in 1?

There have been many horrible moments in 1, but most of them have been resolved.  So I would have to say the cliffhanger to this season was the most horrible.  Hotch was shot, and we don't know if he's okay!

6.  Which is your least favorite character in 2?

This is a hard one.  I really like all of the characters.  I guess I would pick Nate, who is actually not on the show very much, but can be annoying when he is on.

**Kimberly omitted question 7, claiming it was too disturbing.**

8.  What song reminds you of 5?

Obviously, The Who's "Baba O'Riley".

9.  Of 1, 3, and 5, which is the easiest to think about?

Well, 1 and 3 both have cliffhangers hanging over them, so I would have to say 5.

That's the end of the meme.  I'm sure you all think I'm a weird, obsessed TV freak.  And you might be right!  But only about those 5 shows.  Try not to think less of me....

I Feel Good!

Robert, Scott, and I, along with Devon T., spent the morning volunteering at the Houston Food Bank.  The boys were finishing up a requirement for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge.

I'm so glad we went.  We spent the morning pulling food orders for different churches and other organizations in the city.  The boys and Robert did the actual box toting.  I did all the writing and the label sticking.  The label sticking actually required a lot of bending and stooping, so it wasn't as easy as it sounds.  

This was one of those times I wish I had brought my pedometer.  I always remember it AFTER I've finished an activity involving a lot of walking!  We walked a lot.  It would have been nice to know how many steps we actually took.

The only bad part?  The warehouse isn't air conditioned. There were random fans throughout the place, but it was still hot in there.  We were all a sweaty mess by the time we left!  It was definitely a two shower day!

My feet are sore (my sneakers aren't as comfortable as my Keens, but they're close toed), and I was smelly (remedied by a nice shower), but it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

Nothing to Say

I've got nothing to say, but I felt I should replace my birthday post.  My birthday is over and done with - it's time to move on!

Unfortunately, I've got nothing to say.  Summer just seems to fall into a mindless routine.  Which leaves me with nothing to blog about.

Oh, well.  I accomplished my goal - I replaced my birthday post.

Happy Birthday...to ME!!!!

It's now after midnight, so it's officially July 21st - my birthday!  I now begin my last year in the 40s.   Man, I'm old! 

The Dangers of Service

This morning, Jeffrey and Scott helped a family move their belongings into a storage unit.  As Devon and Jeffrey were carrying a dresser down the truck ramp, Jeffrey decided it would be a good idea to fall off the ramp.  And land on his face.  This was the result:

Everyone there was afraid he was concussed, because he was lightheaded for a few moments.  But he's fine and symptom free now.  His glasses got a little scratched at the top, but as Jeffrey pointed out, they are still nowhere near as scratched as glasses he has worn in the past.  And this scratch isn't in his field of vision, so it's not a problem.

Now he can enjoy his awesome scrape, and hope it stays for a while.  He is a guy, you know.  I'm just trying to figure out how he got scratched on his eyelid, but not his eyebrow.

Oh, most importantly?  The dresser was okay!

Internet Ordering Anger!

I have a FoodSaver - it vacuum seals food so it lasts longer. Today I got an e-mail offering a $65.99 bundle for $19.99 plus free shipping.  It included lots of stuff I don't have, so I decided to order it.  After 25 minutes of trying to place the order, I called the company.  I was told they were having problems with their website and I should try back in two hours.  I asked the lady if they had plenty of the item in stock.  "Oh, yes", I was assured.

Fast forward one hour - not two.  I decided to try again. This time the website worked.  I clicked on the product and what did I see?  "Out of Stock".  WHAT?!?!?  I was assured there would be plenty if I ordered after two hours, and they were all gone after one hour.

I called again, and was told, apologetically, that they had underestimated the demand.  I was told they were hoping to get more in soon and I should just keep checking back.  

I very politely told the lady that next time they made an offer like that they should make sure their website could handle it and that they had enough of the item on hand to last more than a few hours.  

It really makes me angry when stuff like this happens!!

NCIS Withdrawal

I decided that I would watch NCIS this summer.  All 6 seasons.  I watched season 1 using Netflix.  That took way too long.  I had to wait while disks were being mailed back and forth.  It was a pain!  I sent out a plea to see if anyone owned any of the other seasons, and Jon responded!  For the price of a plate of cookies I was able to borrow season 2 from him.  It was much better!  And totally spoiled me.  So much so that I ended up buying seasons 3 and 4.  (They recently dropped the price, and I had a Best Buy coupon. That's my justification.)  And Kimberly owns season 5, so I borrowed that from her.  So nice to just be able to keep putting in a disk as soon as I was finished with one!  Season 6 I watched on Netflix Instant on my computer.  If you had come to my house in the past few days you would have probably wondered why my armchair was turned around facing my computer.  What can I say?  I wanted to watch in comfort!  

But now, I'm done.  What I thought would take me all summer using Netflix, only took me half the summer.  I am ready for season 7, which probably won't start until late September!  I'm having NCIS withdrawal!  I miss Gibbs and Tony and McGee and Ziva and Abby and Ducky and Palmer! I miss them all!  September is too far away!

Sigh.

**Disclaimer**  NCIS has in no way replaced my favorite show, Criminal Minds.  It's just fresher in my mind.  I still miss Hotch and Morgan and Reid and Garcia and JJ.

Another sigh.

Shameless Bragging!!

As I mentioned in May, Jeffrey decided to take 8 AP (Advanced Placement) tests.  Today he finally got the results.  He passed 7 out of the 8 tests!  He only got a 2 (out of 5) on the MicroEconomics AP, which was fine since he hadn't actually taken the class, just studied on his own. He got five 4's and two 5's on the other 7 tests he took. This included a 4 on the Comparative Government AP, another class he didn't even take. Including the other four tests he took sophomore and junior year, he passed 11 AP tests. And, three of the tests could count for 2 semester classes if he did well enough, which he did.  So he now has credit for 14 college classes.  He will enter college with 42 credit hours - making him a sophomore!

I know I'm bragging, but I can't help it!  I'm mighty proud of that boy!

Because Kristie Said So....

Last night our ward had a talent show.  I decided yesterday afternoon that I should do something.  So I wrote a poem and read it.  Kristie said I should post it, so here it is:

The Drive

When we first moved into this ward,

Church seemed so far away.

Fifteen minutes or even twenty - 

Depending on time of day.

But seven months ago things changed,

And we were filled with glee.

This building finally opened,

And short driving times we did foresee.

Because, you see, we’re fortunate

And live across the street.

Three minutes driving time by car,

Ten minutes by walking feet.

7/10 mile is now our drive,

And how we love it so.

We can hardly remember last year,

When we had so far to go.

Forgot my scriptures?  That’s okay.

I’ll race home in a hurry.

There’s no bread for Sacrament?

Back in six - so don’t you worry!

How many cars should we bring to Church?

One or two or three?

The distance is so trifling,

Some Sundays three is what you’ll see.

I think I understand now,

Why people love Salt Lake.

Finally living so close to Church,

Is like icing on the cake!

We’ve always been so very glad

We moved to Waterside Estates.

But now that we’ve so close to Church,

Things are really great!

There you go. My wondrous masterpiece!

The talent show was great! We have some real talent in our ward. Sorry to all of you who missed it.

Jeffrey Survived!

Apparently it's MUCH easier if you only have 2 wisdom teeth to remove.  We got there at 11:00.  They took him back at 11:15 so he would be prepped and ready to go at 11:30.  At 12:10 they told me he was ready to go home!  He had already had his teeth removed, and recovered from the IV anesthesia!  And he was very alert all the way home.  Much different than when Brian and Kimberly had their wisdom teeth removed.

Three kids down, one more kid to go.

Poor Jeffrey

Today at 11:30, Jeffrey goes under the knife.  The Oral Surgeon's knife.  He is undergoing the dreaded wisdom teeth removal procedure.  Poor guy.

However, there is an upside.  He only has 2 wisdom teeth. He only has the 2 on the top, which the Oral Surgeon says are easier to remove and recover from.  So that's good.  

But it will definitely be an applesauce, pudding, ice cream, and soup sort of weekend.

A Question

We have a problem with sugar ants.  They like our cat food (which has no sugar in it - go figure).  We get rid of them for a while, and then they come back.    

I have no problem with squashing the little buggers when I see them. I have noticed, though, that when I kill one, if there are any others around, they start to run.  It's like they know that one of their little buddies has been killed.

Here's my question.  Do you think the squished ant lets out a little dying scream which can only be heard by other ants? Is that why they run?  Have they been alerted?  "GIANT FINGER ABOVE!!  RUN QUICKLY BACK INTO THE WALL!!"  

What do you guys think?  Or am I just going crazy?

GNO!! Tuesday!

I feel we need a reminder.

GNO!  Tuesday at 7:00!  Here:

Who's in?

Who wants to carpool?  Lets meet at the church at 6:45.

I don't know about any of you, but I need to get out for some "girl talk and time".

Yankee Doodle Dandy!

The Fourth of July means many things.  One is the traditional watching of my favorite movie:

Usually I watch it with Kimberly.  Sadly, we didn't get to watch it yesterday.  So today after church I popped the movie into the DVD player and sat back to enjoy it. Amazingly, Jeffrey and Scott, who were in the room when the movie started, actually watched it with me and stayed awake through the whole thing!  

I missed watching the movie with Kimberly, but it was fun watching it with my boys.

Oh, and the dancing down the stairs scene still amazes me!

Happy Independence Day!

A tribute to America, written by a Mormon prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley:

"I believe in America.  I am grateful for the Constitution under which this nation lives and moves and has its being.  I am profoundly grateful that somehow for more than two centuries of time we have existed as a nation and grown to become the strongest and most free in the entire world.  I am grateful for those men whom the God in Heaven raised up and inspired and who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to establish this nation and its government."

"I believe in America – one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. "

He said it all, more eloquently than I ever could.

Happy Independence Day!

Very Weird

I had been tracking something I ordered online.  It was being delivered by UPS and I had been tracking the package on their website.  Yesterday the tracking showed that the item had arrived in Stafford and was out for delivery.  Woo hoo!  But the UPS man never came.  

After running an errand last night, I checked my mail.  What did I find?  THE PACKAGE!  How did a package that UPS was delivering end up in my USPS mailbox?  I don't get that at all.  Did the UPS man and USPS man meet up and make some sort of exchange?  I'm glad I got my package, but I'm very confused by the whole thing.

How Many States...

...have you spent the night in?

Alabama - no

Alaska - no

Arizona - yes

Arkansas - yes

California - yes

Colorado - yes

Connecticut - no

Delaware - no

Florida - yes

Georgia - no

Hawaii - no

Idaho - no

Illinois - yes

Indiana - no

Iowa - yes

Kansas - no

Kentucky - yes

Louisiana - yes

Maine - no

Maryland - yes

Massachusetts - yes

Michigan - yes

Minnesota - no

Mississippi - no

Missouri - yes

Montana - no

Nebraska - no

Nevada - no

New Hampshire - yes

New Jersey - yes

New Mexico - yes

New York - no

North Carolina - no

North Dakota - no

Ohio - yes

Oklahoma - no

Oregon - no

Pennsylvania - no

Rhode Island - yes

South Carolina - no

South Dakota - no

Tennessee - yes

Texas - yes

Utah - yes

Vermont - yes

Virginia - no

Washington - no

West Virginia - yes

Wisconsin - yes

Wyoming - no

I have spent the night in 24 of the 50 states.  Later this month we will be staying at Robert's brother's house in Oklahoma, so that will bring me up to 25 out of the 50 states.  Halfway!  I've still got some traveling to do!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Borrowed from Kimberly (who borrowed it from Michelle).

Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.

NO CAPTIONS!!! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.

They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.

You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.