Happy Happy Birthday

Today is Trevor's 18th birthday. Even though he is not here, I am still making birthday cake. The missionaries are coming over for dinner tonight, and I didn't think they would mind if we had cake for dessert.

18 great things about Trevor:

18. He is child #3 and so got shortchanged a lot, but didn't complain
17. He is a great mechanic
16. He is tall enough to reach the shelves in the garage for me
15. He loves Harry Potter
14. He is a deep thinker and we have great conversations
13. He is responsible
12. He is plays a mean tuba and sousaphone
11. He is trustworthy
10. He stands up for what he knows is right, even when no one else is
9. He is willing to serve his country
8. He wants to serve his God
7. He has a great sense of humor
6. He love little kids
5. He served in the special needs mutual, willingly and happily and loved the people there
4. He is honest and has integrity
3. He is a hard worker
2. He is a man of God
1. He is my son

"Serprize, Serprize, Serprize"!!

I know it isn't spelled correctly, I spelled it the way Gomer Pyle always said it on the Andy Griffith Show and on Gomer Pyle USMC. Why?, you ask. Because I just got the best Serprize of all, Trevor just called me from MCRD- Marine Corp Recruit Depot (where Gomer Pyle was actually filmed and Trevor is training).

At first I was a bit nervous about why he might be calling me. When Donovan was there, he called the first day and then the next time I heard from him was after leave when he called to tell me he was injured. But it was actually a good call this time. I guess the platoons are allowed to call home before they head north for their 4 week training at Camp Pendelton, but Trevor's platoon got short-changed and so they let them call today when they are back at MCRD.

It sounded so good to hear his voice, but I was taken aback when I heard that first tenative "Mom?" I miss him soooooo much. 22 days until I see him again. School is going to have to do without me for a week, because it would take more than wild horses to keep me from going to pick him up.

More tests

A couple weeks ago I was bored and took a bunch of these tests. I saved the results to use here at different times. So from time to time you will see these popping up. You will also know that I was either rushed or couldn't find something to blog about that day.

Cat or dog? Code

You Are: 30% Dog, 70% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude. However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

This is probably true. Notice the cat in the sidebar? Cats are by far my favorite animal and I have always felt more of an affinity for them than dogs. I hate how dogs are so needy and constantly begging for attention. But I am the one that sobbed for an hour when our beloved dog had to be put down last year, so I am capable of loving a dog. It is just that I have always liked the independence of a cat. Cats don't need constant attention. Cats can take care of themselves. I like that. You don't have to walk them and coddle them and constantly tell them to be quiet in the middle of the night {well, unless we are talking about my daughter's neurotic post-partum pschyco cat that is not going to be allowed to live her past this next week- she is a MAJOR pschyo!!)

While My Pretty One Sleeps

I picked up this book out of my old classroom. Last week during the few moments that I was not in the hall, I sat down to read. I really love a good mystery/suspense novel and Mary Higgins Clark gave me one with this one.

The book starts with murder and the disposal of the body. The only thing we know about the person that commits the murder is that it is a male. As the story unfolds we find four different men that have motive, means, as well as opportunity to commit the crime. Every time you think you know "who dun it", there comes a twist and you think that maybe you didn't know what you were sure you knew. The fourth suspect didn't fully become a suspect for me until half way through the book. However, he did make me uncomfortable from the begining, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Then when he became a suspect to me, I was sure he did it but couldn't figure out why. Then when I figured out sort of the why, but it took me until almost the end of the book to figure out the why of the why. But I did figure it out before the end.

Here from the back of the book:

Neeve Kearny may be the only person in New York worried about the disappearance of Ethel Lambston. Ethel, a bestselling author famous for her juicy exposés, is one of the best customers at Neeve's exclusive Madison Avenue boutique. But Ethel's ex-husband, her parasitical nephew, and the fashion moguls skewered in her latest article all have reason to be glad she's no longer around.
When Ethel Lambston is found with her throat cut, Neeve's memories of her mother's long-unsolved murder loom up once again. Now as an innocent witness in the Lambston investigation, Neeve is drawn into a new nightmare...a sinister labyrinth of greed and ambition that will lead her into mortal danger...

A stunning tale of murder, glamour and romance, While My Pretty One Sleeps is the most exciting novel yet from Mary Higgins Clark, America's undisputed master of suspense.

I really liked this book. It was a relitively quick read (even though it took me a week to read that was because I only got to read it about 1/2 hour a day) and engaging enough that there were times when I was at home that I wished I had brought it home with me.

Ok, that last video didn't work, and when I delete it, it won't go away. I will keep working on the video thing and try again later.

This is a test of the video posting button on blogger. Sorry, there is no sound as I took it with my digital camera. However I will post some of the boys in band camp as soon as I learn how to edit it down. I will also post their show sometime in Oct. It is going to be so cool this year. Speaking of their show, where is a good place to get table decorations to represent Tutencomen, Tutiencumen, umm King Tut?

Part Duex

Second day of school and still there is a problem with te laminator. The good news is that it wasn't what Lindsey and I did yesterday. Whomever changed the top roll, put it on backwards and so the sticky part was outside, so nothing stayed laminated. The librarian and I went in and figured out how to turn it around. BUT when we turned the switch back nothing, nada, zippo no on light came on. So what did we do to make that happen????????? Then Lindsey comes in and we three are trying to figure it out. We unplug and plug, we jiggle, we move, we check-- nothing. Then I had to leave because the principal needed me to be somewhere. Later I found out just after I left, the did some more jiggling and walla, it came on and is working. Neither one knows what they did. So here it is-- We didn't know what was wrong when it was wrong and we don't know what is right now that it is right. But we have decided that next time the rolls need changed, between the three of us, we'll get it done.

What if I..

Today was the first day of school for the 7th graders in my school district. That means it was the first day back to work for me. But it was back to same school, new job that I am not totally sure what the job description is. I am told that the bosses are still figuring out what my job entails. So I could empathize with my 7th grader today. What if I don't know how to.....? What if I do .... wrong? What if...? And when I got up this morning I felt just like I did at the beginning of 7th grade, all those many years ago and I just wanted to hit the snooze button and pull the covers over my head.

I got to school and the halls were a bit empty, but that was to be expected since only the 7th graders were there. There were new teachers and many of the old teachers were in different rooms. How would I ever find the classrooms? I took a quick tour of the school and tried to meet some of the new teachers. I saw many old familiar faces and was greeted warmly. I found that helping students open their lockers and guide them to classrooms was really not that hard. Of course, this is not what I will always be doing, but for the first week it will do.

The man whose job I took was amazing. He had been at the school for 16 years and who knows how many principals. He could do a lot of things, fixing the copy machines and taking care of the laminating machine. Speaking of the laminating machine- I don't know how to change the laminating film. Guess what needed changed today? One of the teachers changed the top roll of film in the morning. Then in the afternoon, the bottom roll ran out. So Lindsey and her student teachers and I went down to see if we could figure it out. All I have to say is when it needs changed again, I am totally going to get Lindsey from her room to come help me. She figured it out and had it working in no time at all. Way to go Lindsey!!!

Gratitude

School starts tomorrow for the 7th graders. This is so they can make their way around the school opening their lockers and finding class rooms with out the harrassment of 8th and 9th graders. But that also means school starts tomorrow for me as well. I am feeling kinda grumpy about that because it means no more sleeping in and I have to actually go to work and can't just do nothing if I feel like it. It also means this summer went way too fast and I didn't get even a fraction of what I wanted to do, done. So amidst all of this feeling sorry for myself, I decided I should do a grateful blog to remind me to be grateful for what I do have and can do.

1. I have a job to go to in the morning that results in a paycheck.

2. I have a house that I can be perpetually cleaning up or mucking out.

3. I have a yard and plenty of flowerbeds to weed instead of nothing or a dirt patch.

4. I have cars that run and gas in them all.

5. I have food to cook and plenty of it.

6. I have clothes to wear and plenty to spare.(did I mention the continual mucking)

7. My kids have stuff. (again with the mucking process)

8. I have a washing machine and a dryer and they work

9. I have a sewing machine and know how to use it (and do)

10. My daughter in law just let me make curtains for my grandson's bedroom

11. I have a grandson

12.I have 7 of the most awesome children on the planet. They may not all be doing what I think they should, but they are all good people.

13. 4 1/2 weeks until Trevor comes home for his 10 day leave.

14.Brandi has someone to walk to school with.

15. I have bills to pay, and that means I have a life

16. I have a testimony of the truthfullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

17. I can dream. They may not come true, but I live in a world where it is possible that they might, so I can have hope and dreams.

18. I have an amazing rheumatalogist and great drugs and live in a time when it is possible for that combination to make it so that I don't live every day in excruciating pain. (and the weekly injections only hurt for about 3 seconds)

19. I own my own business. (and someday it will actually earn my living for me)

20. It rained yesterday

Free books, free books, free books

August seems to be not only get ready to go back to school month, but also the contest/give away month. If you like free books, how about a whole tote full of free books? Click here to enter

Blog Contests

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

So I don't know Aswhin, I found her through another blogger, but hey, whats to lose and what's to gain? So here it is folks. Of course, the more of you that post this, the less chance there is for the rest of the quadrillion of us that have posted, but really, isn't it all about getting hits to your blog? So for Ashwin, I would say a pretty good move. But the contest only lasts for another couple of days, so.....

I have spent the last little while looking over her blog, ok really the last 5 minutes, but it looks interesting. I think I can learn some things from her about blogging and just stuff. We'll see. I bookmarked her front page and as I have a spare minute or two, I will peruse her pages and see what knowledge I can glean from her. I'll keep you posted, unless of course, you want to hop over there and see for yourself what she has to offer.

Perseids Meteor shower

Its the dog days of summer. That means that it is time for the Perseids Meteor shower. I love watching the meteor shower. This one is my favorite, because you can see meteors even with the city lights and it is warm outside, so you don't have to brave subarctic tempuratures to watch the shower. But I have always wanted to watch the shower at it's peak time and away from the city. I have never been able to, because I had to get up for work and couldn't be tired, or I had to get the kids up for school and couldn't be tired, or the baby would be getting up in just a bit and I didn't want to be even more tired. You get the idea.

Well, not this year. This year school doesn't start for one more week and the peak time for the shower was last night. I don't have to be at work, the kids don't have to be at school, no baby nothing pressing that I need to be up and awake for. I can go up the mountain and watch the meteors to my hearts content. So we loaded up my new Durango and headed up the canyon. We left a bit early, I thought, 8:30 pm. The sun wasn't down, the peak times for the meteors was 1-5 am, but we left anyway. Then the fun began. We saw lights, lots and lots of lights, but not the ones we went in search of. Instead, this is what we saw.


times about 8.

As we were heading into a curve heading up the mountain, a motorcycle followed by 3 cars was headed down. The motorcycle lost control and crashed. How the rest of us kept from hitting them or each other, I will ascribe to Divine help. The riders were wearing helmets or I am sure they would be dead, they bounced off of the canyon wall and down the road a bit. The driver just had a couple of scrapes on his leg, but his passenger was hurt pretty bad. The EMT thought a possible pelvic fracture. I still haven't moved everything from the car clean out over to my new vehicle, but I did feel the other day to move these items: First aid kit, blanket, and jumper cables and pad of paper and pen. Last night we needed, first aid kit, blanket and paper and pen for the witnesses that left to go get help to leave their contact info. It took them 20-30 minutes to get down to where they had cell service. Then another 30 minutes for the first response vehicle and police to arrive and another 10-15 for the 3 ambulances (we ended up only needing 1) and then another 10 minutes or so for the 2 highway patrol- who's jurisdiction the canyon is. If you had been passing by, the amount of rescue vehicles made it look worse than it really was.

After all was cleaned up and the cyclists were on their way to the hospital, we went a bit further up the canyon and tried to see some meteors. Clouds were rolling in and Brandi was afraid of bears coming, even though the forest ranger that stopped to help the accident told us there had been no more bear problems since June. We were parked on a slope, and I kept falling off of the hood. And the surrounding cities have become so large, that even up the canyon it is not dark. Even with a new moon. I could clearly see what was in the field we were parked next to and it was 11:00 at night! So we just went home, a bit dissapointing for me.

I got up at 4:00 and Jake and Ethan got up with me and we laid on the front lawn for about 30 minutes. We saw 20-30 meteors in that amount of time, but we were so tired that we went back in for a bit more sleep.

Maybe next year I'll find someplace that I can go and see a real spectacular meteor shower. I really would like to do that at least once in my life.

Random Thoughts

Ok, I know, three posts in one day. I really could be in my kitchen moving stuff off of the table from where I piled it while I was painting. Or I could be sewing curtains for my living room. Or downstairs cleaning out my sewing room from the mess my child left it when he moved out and putting my sewing machine back in there. Or I could be cleaning out the garage. Or... well, you get the idea. Everyone else is gone and I just don't feel like doing much more than laundry right now. Here is a picture of the living room yesterday after I put the furniture back in.












I just wrote Trevor a 5 page letter. Mostly it was about a house in our neighborhood. Here are some pictures of how it looked last night.











Ok, now let me tell you about it. I am just going to copy and paste from what I wrote Trevor so that I don't have to re-type it all.

Now, don’t get too excited about this. The developer that bought Clarks’ land, has moved Clark’s house. It looks soooo empty up there, I am not ever sure where I am, no fence, no trees, no garden, no house. Well, he bought this house as well and was going to tear it down next week. The fire department used it as a training exercise instead. You should have seen our street last night. People coming from all over the city to see the fire. You could see it above Donaldson’s house.
While I was standing out on the porch watching (the kids were all up across the street next to Grace’s) the Carlsons drove up. Dave and Keven jumped out of the pickup looking all concerned and K’Ann put the pickup in the garage. Dave saw me standing out and started over, so I met him in front of Weimer’s and we started talking. The other Brother Carlson- the older man- came by on his bike. I told them what was happening. K’Ann came out of the house and Dave hollers to her, “It is just a training exercise!” K’Ann comes over all out of breathe and having a hard time calming down. They were coming from a movie and saw the smoke. The closer they got, the more it looked like their house and they were sorta panicking.(for those of you reading the blog, their house did burn down about 10 yrs. ago) K’Ann had just made Chase some tortillas to eat when he got home from work, and all of a sudden, she couldn’t remember turning off the stove. So that is where she went when they got home, to make sure it was turned off. Then after we chatted a bit, about this fire and theirs, they walked up to see what they missed when their house burned.

When Matt first told me about it, he came into the house and said, “Mom, they are going to burn down Collier’s house, can I go watch?” (His best friend's dad is a firefighter/EMT here) It took him 4 times asking before I realized which house he meant and that Merrill had told them about it and why. At first I thought he meant Huston’s house (they used to live in a different house, got divorced and later the dad moved into this house for a while) and I was really confused.
All the stupid people from all over came to watch. Dave told me that the line of cars stretched clear back to 200 N. I know that from the stop sign on our street, it stretched clear to Laudie’s, both ways! Jess said that people were stopping their cars on 1100 and getting out and standing in the street. One of the EMT’s had to leave on a real emergency and couldn’t get through and the people wouldn’t leave. I guess one guy wanted pictures, so he went and stood on the front lawn almost up to the picture window. Merrill had to yell at him a couple of times. I think just one look from Merrill mad would be enough for me. I wouldn’t go back for more.

Ok, just a couple more random thoughts then I am going to have to go, the kiddos are coming home from where they have been and need mom.

Tim McGraw has a new song out. He wasn't going to record it, then decided to. I am glad he did. Check it out here. This is just the lyrics, I couldnt' find a video for you to watch. But it is a great song and my new favorite by Tim.

Another song I really like is "Online" by Brad Paisley. You know when you hear a Brad Paisley song that it is probably not going to be serious. I like most of his songs, but this one is one that I just love. For a lot of reasons: My boys played tuba, I know so many men like him in this song here in Utah Valley, It is just really really funny.

Next song that I am liking right now is "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson
I like Kelly's version. The ending is different than Reba's duet with Kelly. Though for singing in the car, I like Reba's version. Mostly because even though I am out of tune, my voice fits Reba's a bit more.

Ok, I found a link to Tim McGraw's Song. I had to create a free account to listen. But it is free, so if you want to listen here, you may have to do that.

Maybe someone could teach me how to add video or slide shows, etc to my blog. I have seen some cute ones and want to know how to do that. I don't have anything to post, but who knows, someday I mignt!

Trevor

Here is a picture of Trevor and the boys he baptized.



Trevor is on the far left, and the two boys he baptized are right next to him. The other boy was baptized by the recruit in the camis. The missionary behind Trevor looks the happiest about the whole thing. Then I looked at the recruits and realized that they are all standing like Marines, and Marine are trained to show no emotion at all no matter what happens. Good to see that they are all taking their training to heart. I can hardly wait to meet these two boys the end of Sept.

Politics of Getting a Job

Both of the secretary jobs I applied for got filled and I didn't even get an interview. I was a bit bummed about that, until I found out that I probably never had a shot to begin with. To tell you why, I have to go to what happened yesterday.

Yesterday morning I needed to take my son's pickup in to get fixed. I drove my car and stopped at the Urban Botanic office to pick up an order for a workshop I was going to do (was because the hostesses daughter ended up in the ER so we rescheduled) while Ben drove the pickup to the auto place. I picked Ben up on the way home. I said that I should stop in at the JR. High and talk to the pricipal about if I was coming back since he hadn't called me. Ben said that they were having a fire alarm problem that he needed to check out, so we swung by there. I talked to the principal in the front office and he said "Yes, you are coming back. But we are redoing the job description. Why don't you come back to the office and we will chat with the vice-principal." So we head on back to his office.

Come to find out, they are not sure if my job will even be in existence but they are thinking of rolling it into the tracker job along with a couple other things. And they also have 2 openings for ESL (English as a second language) teachers. Actually, that is what they are calling it, but it really is a guided study hall. Since both the ESL and whatever form my job is taking will be new positions, they have to open them up for interviews. I have to re-apply and re-interview in order to do one of the jobs. They already told me which job they want me in, but would I please re-apply online as soon as I got home so I can "interview" so that I can have that job? I re-sent my application as soon as I got home and was sent an e-mail from the vice-principal immediately asking for an interview. Silliness I think. We all already know that I have the job, and this is just a formality- a district policy. (well only sometimes. I also found out that in another place in the district, that they can change job titles and move employees around changing their job and not have to post them as open or re-interview. Very selective how it works. All politics I am sure).

Now, about the secretary job. I also found out that there was a part time secretary that was going to take over the lead secretary job. But because of the above policy, they had to post it as open. No wonder I got an e-mail saying the job was filled the very day the listing closed.

Now I just have to go "interview" for my new position. And I can take my pick of either one. The ESL would get me teaching again, and it pays more than I was making (not as much as the secretary, but still $3/hour more is still $18/more a day and $90 more a month.) I don't know how much the other position will pay, they were still figuring that out when I talked to them. So I will probably pick the higher paid job.

Now, if I could only get them to throw in benefits...

Silly quiz time

I like these silly little quizes. It always amazes me how they seem to pretty close to true. But then, that could be because I know how to take the test.

You Are 68% Texas

Well, knock me down and steal muh teeth! You're pretty darn Texan.

How Texas Are You?

Break time

I am painting my living room today and tomorrow. Since I am doing 2 different colors, I need to let one wall dry so I can tape it in order to do the other wall the other color. But now I need to do my front entry and hall- but that is ok as they will be the same colors, so I just taped them off yesterday so just have to move the tarp and can keep going. But now my kitchen needs done. I just did it 2 years ago and I liked it, but now it looks blah next to my new bold color. Besides that, my mom says the one wall you can see from the front room should be the same color as color #2 in the living room (the living room wall that is color #2 would make one long wall if connected to the kitchen wall). But if I do that, then the color on the other 3 walls in the kitchen is way, way too pale. (Sharon, what do you suggest? the same color as the living room on those 3?)

Did I mention in my last post that no one ever uses my living room? Well, except to play the piano. So I got a slip cover for my couch so it would not clash with my new wall color. I got white, because no one ever sits on the couch, except once a month when the home teachers come. Well,now people are using my living room and sitting on the couch. The slip cover is in the washing machine today. I think I will go to Wal-Mart and pick up some fabric dye for the slip cover so it is not white anymore. Tan or brown maybe. I'll have to think on it a bit to decide.

Ethan is still coughing, so I called the dr. thinking that he could get in tomorrow sometime. The dr. actually has an openin in 1/2 hour. So I am putting down the paint stick, quickly cleaning up and headed to the dr. office. I'll finish when I come home. It is going to be so nice to finally have my house clean and neat and tidy and looking good as well.