Rednecks and Gingerbread

I heard "The 12 Redneck Days of Christmas" on the radio today, and it struck me that Sean would actually like most of those redneck gifts.  Hmmmm...  Let's examine this:

12 pack of Bud
11 rasslin tickets
10 of Copenhagen
9 years probation
8 table dancers
7 packs of Red Man 
6 cans of Spam
5 flannel shirts
4 big mud tires
3 shotgun shells 
2 huntin dogs
And some parts to a Mustang GT

He wouldn't have much use for the Copenhagen or the Red Man, and I wouldn't let him have the Spam or the table dancers.  Or the 9 years probation.  But the rest?  Yeah, he'd probably enjoy the rest of it.  Which is fine with me.  I like rednecks.  Rednecks are hot.  Not to be mistaken with hillbillies... that's a whole different ball of overalls and possum pie.  Today's blog brought to you by rampant stereotyping.  

Things I hate:

• When my students have missing work and they tell their parent(s) that they turned it in and I just haven't entered it yet.  Which is a LIE.  So then I get an e-mail from the parents wondering when I'm going to enter their work, and I have to explain to them that Precious never turned it in.  I call the kid over and ask them about it and it's all.... Oh, yeah, I still need to do that.  Then will you please stop lying to your parents about it, ding-dong??  It just makes more work for me.
• When my students cry and complain because we have to write a lot.  Or we have to read something that they don't find entertaining.  You mean, we have to do, gasp, work??   You mean, everything in life isn't fun all of the time?  How will we ever cope??  
• When my students say, "Did we do anything Friday when I was gone?"  No, since you weren't here we considered the day a waste and just sat around staring at each other.  "I'm going to be absent next time.  Are we doing anything?"  Naw, I thought we'd all hall ourselves out of bed at the buttcrack of dawn, get all dressed and do our hair and brush our teeth, drive ourselves to the school, and then just sit here and do nothing.  That sounds like a great idea, doesn't it?  Luckily my sarcasm filter is still working and I just smile and say, "Yes."

Santa came to the daycare last week, and Lexi apparently told him that she wants a mini Pillow Pet and a Hannah Montana poster.  Two things which she never said she wanted until that day.  Hope she's not disappointed, because I bought neither of those.  

Grandma had the kids over to make gingerbread houses.  

 Lexi made a bed on her floor and has been sleeping on it at night.  She wanted me to take a picture of her laying on it and reading.  

Most nights she ends up in our bed before the night is through.  It's hot and I end up with cramped body parts, but man I wouldn't trade it.  On the nights when she doesn't come in, I find myself missing her.  I'm enjoying it for as long as it lasts.  

Josh's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Dr. Who, Me Being Fat...

Josh turned nine this month.  He's such a sweetheart.  He got Legos and books and a Nerf gun for his birthday.  He wanted Subway for his birthday dinner and donuts instead of cake.

Lexi is such a spaz.  First she was back behind these pictures being a goof.

Then the next time I looked at the camera I found pictures she had taken of herself.  Here is my favorite, complete with the chocolate on her chin from her donut.

Then I found these today.

What is wrong with my children, and where did they get those glasses??

Thanksgiving was extra nice this year because Curt and Lauralee and their family came down from Washington.  It was so good to see them and to visit with Lauralee and with everyone else in the family.  We had dinner at Mike and Connie's this year, and it was fabulous.  I ate way too much, which is just as it should be.  While we had the whole family together, we took some family photos.  

I jacked this picture off of Lauralee's blog because I love my Brittbritt.  

We spent a good part of the weekend playing around with Sean's family while Curt and Lauralee were here, so that was really fun.  Friday night we played Mafia and the name game.  Saturday we went to Robintino's for lunch and played cards.  It was really hard to go back to work on Monday.  So hard, in fact, that I didn't go.  Ha!  I took the day off because I had been sick and couldn't seem to shake it, and because I had so many things I needed to get done at home.  So I took a sick day, and it was lovely.  

Last time Lexi went in to the doctor, her doctor adjusted her pump settings quite a bit, and her numbers are looking so much better.  I should have had them take a look at it before.  I'm much happier with it now.

I judged at a debate tournament on Friday night just for fun.  I really enjoy doing it.  I got to judge Lincoln/Douglas, which I haven't ever done before.  That was interesting.  And then I also judged Duo, which is a dramatic interpretation of a piece of literature done by two students.  That was entertaining.  It made for a long day, but I love it.  

I got asked the other day if I'm pregnant.  That's always fun.  Luckily I'm in a pretty OK mental place right now so it really didn't phase me too much.  The lady that asked is an old acquaintance and she has a really thick accent, and she said, "You expecting baby?" and I laughed and said, "No," and she said, "Oh," and just kept talking about something else entirely.  So there wasn't any awkward pauses or apologies, which is good.  I don't know.  Whatever.  At first I was like... Damn, I'm 40 years old, when will people stop asking me if I'm pregnant.  I get it.  I'm fat.  Whatever.  But then I figured, hey, if people think I still look young enough to be pregnant, cool.  

Brittney did these really cool Dr. Who designs on her nails today.  She does the cutest stuff.  I love love the Tardis on her ring finger.  I couldn't get a very good pic of it.  I want her to do union jacks on all of my fingernails.  

November, So Far

Brittney turned 17 last week.  Last week?  Maybe a few weeks ago.  I'm a slow blogger.  I'm having a hard time with her being that old.  Sixteen was OK. Seventeen, not OK.  She had a birthday party with friends, and then we had presents and her requested dinner and donuts on her actual birthday.  

I'm cranky today.  I'm sick, but still well enough to function.  No one will feel sorry for me or just leave me alone for a while.  Lexi wants to work on a "family project" we are supposed to do for school on Monday.  The only problem is, I never got any information on what the family project is supposed to be.  The newsletter I got yesterday says to bring their family projects back to class on Monday so they can talk about traditions at their kindergarten feast.  So I gather it's about traditions.  But what is it supposed to be????  The kids volunteered in class to bring something to the feast, and I know Lexi volunteered to bring silverware, but I have no idea how much because she says it's for two classes, and I have no idea if they need everything or just forks.  She just drew a squiggly purple line on her paper and said, "Mom.  Can't you see I'm very good at drawing horses?"  "Yes, yes I can."  I need a shower, a good book, and a drink with a lot of rum in it.  For medicinal purposes.  My own version of Nyquil.  Except it's daytime. 

I've been counting calories for a few weeks now, and I've actually stuck to it, amazingly enough.  I've lost a few pounds, which is great.  But I'm getting to that point where it's getting old and getting easy to stop being motivated.  I've probably lost all I'm going to without making some adjustments.  So is it worth it to do all this, to give up things I want to eat, just to weigh 5 lbs less?  To look 6.5 months pregnant instead of 7?  My clothes don't even fit differently.  It's more healthy to eat like I am now, and at least I won't be slowly gaining weight over the months and years like I have been.  But it's so hard to be hungry and know that I'm doing it to maintain a weight that still isn't where I want it to be.  Oh well. 

I'm still feeling a little battered and bruised inside after the election.  Still feeling a little sensitive about all the times I was called "idiot," "retarded," "uninformed," "ignorant," "stupid," and many other things because I didn't agree with others' ideas.  Not directly of course, but it was all out there to read on facebook, personal blogs, newspaper comment boards, etc.   I'm kind of pissed off at people.  They wave the flag of patriotism, but then when they don't like what's happening, they say, "F you America, we'll become our own country."  That's not patriotism.  I love this country, and I love it no matter who is president.  We're not on the right path right now.  So let's work together to get there.  Together.  I got a little tear in my eye yesterday, standing in the auditorium at the high school where I work as the ROTC colorguard presented the flags, and the whole auditorium full of high school kids was on it's feet, hands over hearts, and silent.  These kids are never silent.  But when the flag is in front of them, they are.  And two of our students, a brother and sister, sang the National Anthem.  It was just a beautiful moment.  Patriotism.  Love for my country, no matter if I get my way or not.  And as a Democrat in Utah, I very rarely do. 

On a funny note, some of my students were asking about the secession petitions, and one of my girls said, "My brother and I were talking about this last night.  We decided that it would be cool if Texas secedes.  Then we'll wait like a year and invade them and take them over."  Ha!  It just made me laugh.  Then we were joking around about how if Kentucky secedes they'll be surrounded on all sides by our country, so they'll have to secure the borders against us illegally coming into their country for BBQ. 

Sean and Josh got up early and went "rabbit hunting" this morning, which really means "hike around in a field and look for rabbits but end up shooting tin cans."  I still made them promise not to shoot any rabbits, though.

Josh goes through phases where he's really "into" something.  The last one was making things out of duct tape.   Flowers and wallets, mostly.  Right now it's making weapons out of paper.  He has a stockpile of all different kinds of guns and knives made out of paper.  He finds tutorials on YouTube and spends hours making this stuff. 

I'm unreasonable amounts of excited about Thanksgiving.  I want pie!!  I want to bake this week, but I don't want to eat, so that will be challenging.  I work Monday, and then I have the rest of the week off, and I'm so looking forward to it.  Lexi has an appointment at the Diabetes Clinic on Tuesday, and it takes about three hours all told, right in the middle of the work day, and we need to have time to eat lunch afterward, so I just usually end up taking it off.  Her numbers are not going to be looking good this time.  I was talking to a friend of mine with a diabetic kid about how it feels like the numbers are a judgement on us.  Blah.  We'll see what they say on Tuesday. 

Lexi's finished horse is purple with blue peace signs on its tummy and a rainbow tail.  And she's all, "See, told you I was good at it."  Yes you are, my dear. 

Halloween

The kids had fun trick-or-treating.  Sean had to work, so Brittney and Roland handed out candy for me while I took the kids out.  We went pretty far down the neighborhood this year, so on the way back the kids were exhausted.  Lexi wanted to hit the houses on the other side of the street as we made our way home, and Josh was too tired to walk up to the doors, so he just sat on the sidewalk and waited for us.  Poor guy.

Brittney had a birthday party with a few of her friends last night.  They seemed to have a good time.  She has a cute group of friends.  She made a 6 layer rainbow cake with chocolate frosting and Batman on the top.     



Homecoming Pictures

How did I miss putting Homecoming pictures on the blog?  Thanks for the request, Heather.  I will always take your requests.   Brittney's dress was so pretty.  I love it.  I don't have any pics of her with her date. 

Pumpkin Carving

I have a very boring life, just the way I like it.  It does, however, make it difficult to find things to blog about.  So, let's see, a few things I've done over the past week or two:

• Checked out 4 more wedding venues
• Went to Tai Pan Trading with Courtney
• Went out to lunch with my mom, Brittney, and Lexi
• Went to garage sales
• Read Frankenstein: City of Night, I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs, A Northern Light, and started The Good Earth
• Worked, cleaned, grocery shopped
• Watched a presidential debate and a bunch of baseball games
• Carved pumpkins

That's all I can think of. 

We carved pumpkins this weekend.  Brittney did not participate in the festivities. 

 

I'm back to counting calories again.  It's such a rididulously easy thing to do, and I'm not hungry when I eat fewer calories, really.  I feel better, I lose weight gradually by being more healthy in a sustainable way.   But after a week or so it seems like I get tired of doing it, and I figure I know how much to eat so I don't need to count anymore, and then after a few days I just go back to eating whatever I want.  I need to not do that this time.  We shall see. 

Lexi needs a haircut in the worst way, but she refuses to get one.  She'll let me cut it, but I'm not that great at it.  She told me tonight she wants to let it grow and grow so she can be like Rapunzel.  Uh-huh. 

Courtney got another job at a hospital, so now that makes three.  We'll have to see how they all work out together and if she can keep them all. 

Brittney's job is wrapping up Tuesday, so she's starting to look for another one.  I hope she finds something very close to home this time. 

Off to change out the laundry and head for bed.  It would be nice if some times I could get to bed before 11:30 at night. 

A Story About My Eyeball

Why does my body hate me so much?  I woke up Saturday morning with a stabbing pain in my eyeball, which isn't unusual for me, but this one was worse and didn't go away.  I was debating whether I needed to find someone to look at it on a Saturday, and then I was curled up in a ball crying because it hurt so bad, and I decided that yes, yes I did need to get it looked at.  So I woke up poor Courtney, who had only been asleep for a few hours, to run me to the ER, where they told me I had an acute abrasion on the cornea.  I did that to myself while sleeping. That takes some serious talent.  So basically I had a nice big cut on my eyeball and I couldn't see, so I spent the whole weekend laying on the couch, downing percocet and sleeping and not being able to use my eye.  So today I went in for a follow-up, and he said it looks like it's healing up pretty well, and then he's showing me how I have this little cyst in my eye, too, but it's normal and should break off on it's own and go away, and he's all... and see here is your eye jelly right here... and I'm all, dude, do you really want to talk to me about eye jelly and cysts and crud like that?  Look, I am a Rasmussen sister, man.  We will pass out or puke in an eye doctor's office with no provocation whatsoever, so you really ought to keep your eye jelly talk to yourself.  And Courtney was just making fun of me the whole time.  Nice. 

Ok, so I read this YA novel to see if I wanted to maybe use it in class, and I really enjoyed it, so I read the whole trilogy.  The third book is over 800 freaking pages.  So I've invested probably a good 1500 pages in these characters all told, I stayed up until midnight on a school night to finish the last one, and the author turns the only truly likeable character in the book INTO A TREE.  Seriously?  What is your problem, author lady?  Gah.  I hate her.  I picked up some books at a yard sale.  One of them is a romance novel.  I knew it would probably be sort of terrible, but I got it anyway, probably for free even, and oh my goodness it is surely the most terribly written book I've ever read.  Just cheesy.  It's like if the Church tried to write a romance novel.  Like the most cheesiest stories ever included in RS or YW or FHE manual.  That's what it's like.  I'm only on the first chapter and I don't know if I can make it any farther.  But at least this author won't be turning anyone into a tree. 

Things I Would Like To Know

Something I would like to know: Why does anyone care about anyone else's religion? Who cares what anyone else believes? I don't understand why some loser would spend millions of dollars making a movie portraying Islam and the prophet Mohammad in a negative light. I don't understand why anyone would want to stand out front of the Brigham City temple or the LDS Conference center in Salt Lake handing out fliers telling people why their religion is wrong. I don't understand why anyone would picket the funerals of soldiers and gay people. Why not spend your time in Christlike endevours? I mean, if someone wants to educate someone else about their religion, fine, if the person is interested in having the discussion. But the insane need some people have to tell everyone else why their religion (or lack thereof) is wrong is beyond me.


Something else I would like to know: How come every. single. time. our new assistant pricipal comes walking by, I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be? Gah! Nothing scandalous or anything, but walking down the daycare to give insulin, leaving a classroom full of kids to their own devices for a few minutes. Or taking a phone call out in the hall.

Another thing I would like to know: Mitt Romney went to Hong Kong for a fundraiser Thursday. How? Wha? Why is anyone OK with this? Apparently I wasn't paying close attention, because I didn't realize that he had already held fundraisers in Jerusalem and London this summer. I knew he was over there pissing people off, but I didn't know for what purpose. Is this something common for candidates to do, and I just never noticed before? I mean, I realize that there are U.S. citizens in those countries, but it's ridiculous to me for a presidential candidate to be having fundraisers IN OTHER COUNTRIES!!! Am I the only one?? I was curious if this is common, so I did a quick search and found out that President Obama's campaign has sent people to Europe for fundraisers. Again, I realize they are raising money from American citizens abroad, but it still just seems wrong!

I went to an advanced pump class last Monday afternoon. I feel like I need to be back in the basic pump class. Well, not really, I mean I know how to use the thing. It's just I don't have need of the advanced functions at this point. I hate classes like that, because you get all of those people who are all, "So, my daughter wakes up high, and then she eats breakfast and two hours later she's low, but if we dose her she's high by lunch, and then last week when we were in Disneyland she was high at 2, 5, and 7, so we dosed her every 3 hours at night...." and on and on and I'm contemplating whether I should take my pen and stab myself in the face so I have an excuse to leave, or stab her in the face for being a pain in my butt.

Parent-teacher conferences tomorrow. Blech. I don't have any papers to grade, so I will have some time to plan and maybe read in between parents. Or maybe just sit and goof with the teachers that sit by me. I need to read Ender's Game but don't really want to. I just finished A Countess Below Stairs and A Great and Terrible Beauty. Liked them both. Perfect for silent reading books for my students, but much more likely to appeal to the female contingent. Need something for the boys.

We went up to East Canyon camping this weekend. It was really pretty with all of the fall leaves, and the weather was nice. We went for a hike and did some fishing and lots of relaxing. Courtney and Brittney had to work all weekend, as usual, so they stayed behind.

Miscellany

My new crop of sophomores are so cute!  I love them so far.  I heard some rumors from the junior high that this was a rowdy, disruptive bunch.  I don't know if they've just grown up since junior high or if junior high is just so hellish that it makes kids into demons, but they are great kids.  Of course, it's only the second week.  They could all turn on me like a pack of honey badgers still. 

We've never had a garden as good as this one.  I've had to throw away so much produce, and it just feels so sinful to throw away food when people go without.  I always tell myself that I'm going to use it all up, and then a week or two goes by and it's bad. I'm too lazy to can/bottle it or cook mountains of baked goods containing zucchini.  I've thrown away at least a dozen giant zucchini, tons of bell peppers, a little corn that went bad before we got to it, tons of cucumbers, quite a few roma tomatoes, red peppers, anaheims, and I think that's it.  We've done well at eating the asian pears, carrots, potatoes, onions, beets (gag), and most of the corn.

I started reading The Book Thief the other day.  I was really excited to read it because the reviews are all good and the critics are all "life changing!" and I'm 10 pages in and thinking I must be a dimwit because I don't get it at all.  Maybe my tastes in books are the literary equivalent of Spam, and this book is just too sophisticated for me.  I don't know.  All I do know is that, so far, I don't really care about Death and find him rather confusing and pretensious, and I don't really know what the deal is with the book thief and it feels like torture to have to read far enough in to find out.  It feels like the author is trying too hard to be poetic or unique or something I don't have a word for, and it's just annoying to me.  I flipped through to see if it got any better, and it looks like more of the same.  Going back to the library. 

I would like to go camping, if Sean could ever get a weekend off.  Or half of a weekend off.  A Friday night off and a Saturday night shift?  The weather is perfect.

Josh has been on this big science kick for a while now.  I think it's so cute, but I hate the messes he makes.  He was cleaning pennies with salt and vinegar, and he must have touched the top of my salt shaker to the vinegar, so now it's growing green salt crystals.  Doh.  The top of it where the salt comes out is copper, so it must have reacted like the pennies do.  Time for a new salt shaker. 

Josh's other big kick is catching bugs.  He's always catching grasshoppers and whatever else he can find.  Yesterday he was googling what to feed them so that he can try to keep one alive for a change.  Gross.  They are out there trying to feed the latest one a carrot. 

Josh and Lexi wanted to go to garage sales this morning, so we set out to find some treasures.  We spent $20 and we bought:  a bread machine, a tablecloth for camping, about 10 books, 6 or 7 Playstation games, an assortment of pots for plants, a batting helmet, a roller skating baby doll (Baby Skates!!), The Office Season 2 on DVD, a Jazz jersey for Josh, 6 assorted shirts/pants for Lexi, 2 pairs of sandals for Lexi, a pair of boots for Lexi, a few skirts and a sundress, a Planet Earth puzzle (unopened), a book that folds into a little stage with different stage sets and Disney Princess paper dolls, a Littlest Pet Shop big toy, a kids art project, a lip gloss & 2 headbands (new, of course), and a pot of fake gerbera daisies for my classroom. 

And One For 9/11 Too...

Need a song of the day for 9/11 too.  One of my favorites.

Song of the Day

Today's song of the day:

Less Barf and More Pepsi, Please

Well, that was short-lived.  Glad I got to enjoy things going my way for a few hours. 

Lexi's blood sugar is out of control high, and I can't seem to keep it under control.  We made some small adjustments to her pump settings, but I don't know if that would be enough to do it.  I figured her site was bad, so I changed it out, she was way low this morning, then now she's high again.  She's got moderate ketones that I'm trying to clear, and I'm really nervous that if I don't get a handle on it we're going to end up in the hospital.  Blah.  She got so sick from it last night, throwing up all over the place in the middle of the night.  Love those 2am scrubbing the carpet nights.  Then the diarrhea.  I didn't get to bed until 3am, and then I just slept on the couch. 

My house is a giant mess. 

We're out of food. 

Sean has/is working the entire weekend.  Friday night, all day Saturday, all day Sunday.  And every free moment he has been/is spending on car repairs and home repairs and I'm annoyed. 

I'm out of Diet Pepsi.  Brittney is going to get me a drink so I can pull myself together and clean my house and make a shopping list.  I'm not so much addicted to Pepsi in the physical way... I don't have a headache or anything like that.  It's just more of a comfort thing or something.  It tastes good and I just like my Pepsi, dammit.  Someone bring me a Pepsi!!!  Brittney get out of the shower and do my bidding!!!

Heather, this is my outdoor kitchen.  The 2 burner stove pulls out on the bottom left.  The door pulls up and you can stand under it, which is nice when it's raining or sunny, both of which we've had while using it. 

Everything's Coming Up Shannon

Today is my day.  My fortune cookie at dinner said, "Everyone agrees that you are the best."  Work went fine.  I didn't have any cavities at the dentist.  Josh and Lexi are being really nice and polite and helpful towards each other.  It's frighteningly abnormal, but awesome. I wish I could go buy a lottery ticket because I know I couldn't lose. 

Back to work... blah blah blah... what am I supposed to write about?  Hmmmm....  Lots on my mind, but I'm too impatient to write any of it down.  I'm trying some new things in the classroom this year, looking for some new reads for my students, frustrated with trying to figure out what's important and what's not.  That seems to be a common thing with me I'm noticing.  Love having a job where you get to start fresh every year and try new things, though. 

Last weekend we went camping up at Bear Lake.  It was super.  It rained on us Friday night and part of Saturday, but we just sat inside our awesome new trailer.  Normally that would be considered bragging to say that, and I would find me annoying, but since usually I go around calling it our stupid gigantic trailer I figure I should say something nice about it once in a while.  We were sitting under the awning relaxing, and Sean said, "Ahhhh, now this is what I call camping."  I was like... um... technically, seeing as how I watched Live With Kelly on TV this morning, I don't think this can be called camping.  I think it's more like Outdoor Living. We were adamant when we were shopping for a trailer about getting the outdoor kitchen feature.  It's just something we knew we would use.  And sure enough, we haven't cooked inside once, except when we had to microwave our hot dogs because it was raining outside.  See?  Not camping.  Anyway, we haven't cooked once on the stove inside.  It's so nice not to get the smells and grease from cooking bacon and eggs inside.  But it gets awkward, because everyone passing by on their way to the bathroom or wherever comments about how much they like that kitchen and they come over to check it out.  I just pretend I don't notice and keep reading my book while Sean talks to them because it embarasses me. 

If I could go anywhere this week, I'd go to Charlotte and the DNC.  I wish I could have heard Mrs. Obama and President Clinton speak live.  I wish I could see the President speak live tonight.  For me, political speeches are like church is for other people.  Going to the state convention is like going to General Conference is for some LDS people.  It energizes me and touches me and makes me feel all patriotically warm and fuzzy and inspires me to want to do better and be better and make a difference in the world.  President Obama's "Yes We Can" speech made me teary-eyed in 2008.  Cheesy?  Why yes.  But that's me. 

I have my Obama-Biden yard sign in my yard, and Josh told me tonight with a little concern in his voice that several of the neighbor kids that have come over have made derisive comments about it.  He said that they say, "Oh, you shouldn't vote for Obama.  I hope the other guy wins," and that he just kinda says, "Well, I don't know, my mom likes Obama."  I told him that they don't know anything about it except what their parents say, and to just tell them, "No, we like Obama," and leave it at that.  Josh said, "Next time, I'm going to ask them, 'What do YOU know about Obama?  Nothing.'"  That's right.  You tell em Josh. 

\

Lake Powell Anyone?

This feels about my speed right now...

I wouldn't look quite so sexy as those folks floating along, but I sure could do the relaxation and fruity drinks as well as the best of them. 

Fair, Rodeo, Black Licorice, Abortion, Facebook.... What Am I NOT Talking About In This Post?

Well, so many things to talk about today.  So let's get cracking. 

Last week we went to the Davis County Fair, which I love.  One of my favorite things is the dogs doing the long jump off the platform into the water.  My family can't figure out why I'm so fascinated by it.  My least favorite thing is the chicken barn hen house place.  It stinks so bad in there that I turned around and walked back out.  As I do every year, I decided that I want to do 4-H. This year I decided I want to raise a cow.  I picked out a cute ittle wittle brown baby calf for my very own, but then Sean came along all, "Where are you going to put it?" and "How on earth will you pay for it?" and pretty much killed my dreams.  Every year I want to do 4-H at fair time, and then I forget about it.  No more.  I'm going to be a 4-H leader so my kids can do it.  I did it when I was a kid.  Besides raising a cow, I would also like to learn how to quilt. 

Lexi refused to be in the picture

Last Friday night we went camping overnight up at the Veteran's Memorial Campground.  It's surrounded by pretty, but the campground itself is kinda ghetto.  It was a perfect quick camping trip.  Just enough time to go up and build a fire, roast hot dogs and marshmallows, sit outside, take a walk in nature, and come home before everyone gets too tired and cranky and dirty. 

Saturday we had to get back in time for the lady from the medical supply company to come do Lexi's pump training.  That took about 2 hours.  We hooked it up and did a saline trial.  That night Josh, Lexi and I headed to the fair grounds to meet Scott, Katie, and Dave for the rodeo.  Oh my gosh I love the rodeo.  I love the barrel racers the most, I think.  Then the bull riders and the saddle bronc riders.  The bareback bronc riders make me cringe because they get tossed around so much it's scary.  I love the rodeo queens and the flag being carried by a cowboy on a horse and the patriotic downhome country shtick. 

Sunday we went to a birthday party for Sean's grandpa.  He is turning 93.  Holy cow.  It was a nice evening.

Monday and Tuesday I had to go out to the Diabetes Clinic for the pump start using actual insulin and more training, and then her regular 3 month appt.  I really like the pump and I'm very grateful to be able to have it.  It's a lot of work to get it set up and adjusted right, but I know it will be worth it in the end.  I had to do blood sugars every 2 hours until midnight, and then one at 3 am, for a few days.   Now I don't have to do quite as many, but I got an e-mail today about a bunch more stuff I have to do this weekend.  Something called basal testing that I have to read more about, but it sounds like a pain in the butt. 

We tried to go boating tonight, but it didn't quite work out very well.  On the way up to the lake, Lexi started complaining that her head hurt.  By the time we got up there she was refusing to move off the back seat where she was lying down, so I launched Josh and Sean off in the boat and stayed up in the parking lot in the car with Lexi.  Luckily I never go anywhere without a book.  She seemed to feel a little better after she slept for a while, but then on the way home it got bad again and she started throwing up.  Blah. 

I start work on Monday.  I'm excited and I'm not.  Lexi's school called and set up a 504 meeting for her next Friday, so I have to sneak out of work to do that.  Well, not really sneak.  My work isn't like that.  But I gotta make the time. 

Things That I Think Are Stupid:

I read a comment on some blog somewhere last week that basically said you never see skinny people drinking Diet Coke and how it doesn't help you lose weight.  First of all, false.  The guy in front of me at the gas station today getting his Diet Coke while I was getting mine was skinny.  Second, who drinks Diet Coke because they think it will make them skinny?  No one, that's who.  People don't drink it because they think it's like Slim Fast or some sort of diet suppliment.  They drink it because they like the taste, duh. 

MSN has a link on their home page that says, "Why is black licorice hated?"  Um, because it's nasty?  Duh.  Like, what other reason might there be, msn?  Because it has a bad personality?  People are prejudiced against black candy?  What?  People don't like the taste of it, idiots!

There's been a lot of talk about the GOP platform being too harsh for its opposition to abortion without making exceptions for rape or incest.  I think that's the right thing to do, if you believe that abortion is murder.  I mean, if you believe that abortion is murdering an innocent child, why is it OK to murder an innocent child because it's the product of rape or incest?  It's not.  I don't happen to agree with their point of view, in fact I'm deeply offended by it, but I think at least it's consistent. 

Why do people gotta be such idiots?  I hate when someone posts something on their facebook, and then other people who disagree gotta jump all over it and make a comment.  Like, really?  If you disagree, then scurry on over to your own page and write all about it.  Or get a blog like me.  My friend posted something that wasn't even a big deal or all that controversial and had a few people jumping on her, and I just really wanted to say something back to them in the comments, but I just didn't want to be a part of blowing anything up into a facebook fight. 

I'm really snacky tonight.  I want something to eat, but nothing sounds quite right.  So I've been going around eating a little of this and a little of that, trying to find that thing that will hit the spot, but nothing does.  Breakfast at McDonald's?  They're supposedly starting to serve it a midnight now.  Hmmmmm......

Snopes.com. Pass the Word.

I can't figure out why some people believe everything they read.  Seriously?  This is what I was talking about before when I said to have a healthy dose of skepticism.  Someone posted this on facebook this morning.

The first thing I did when I read that was think, "Nope, bet that didn't happen."  Second thing I did was look it up on snopes.  Sure enough, it's not true.  Pepsi has not and does not have a can with this on it.  It's also been passed around with Coke as the target instead of Pepsi.  What actually happened was that after 9-11 Dr. Pepper made a patriotic can that said, "One Nation... Indivisible" to celebrate how united our nation was after the terrorist attacks.  A couple of people complained that they took out the "under God" in between, but the company didn't do it so as not to offend anyone.  A soda can just only has so much room on it, and the focus was on "ONE nation INDIVISIBLE"... so a couple of jerks took a nice message about unity and tried to use it to divide people.  Anyway, those cans haven't been in stores for 10 years.  Why can't people just have some critical thinking skills for heck's sake?  Everyone isn't out to get you.  Take off your tin foil hat.  The world is pretty nice when you don't see everything as a conspiracy against you and your values. 

The Problem Pile

Disclaimer:  The bottom of this blog contains a swear word (sh--), twice.  Do not scroll down if you do not enjoy swear words on funny t-shirts like I do.  Or if your kids are reading over your shoulder and will want to know why that shirt says a bad word on it.   

I sent everything in for Brittney's school registration except for one paper.  I didn't realize that I threw it away on accident.  So today I went in to the school office to get another one, filled it out, handed it in, and she said, "OK, let me find the rest of your paperwork in the problem pile."  Figures that I'm filed in the problem pile.  It feels like a metaphor for my life sometimes. 

Just bought myself a lovely Obama-Biden yard sign and a t-shirt.  I wanted one of the Utahns for Obama t-shirts too, but I restrained myself.  Might still have to go back for one.  It is my birthday month after all, so all purchases are guilt free.  Just kidding.  Ha nothing I do is guilt free. 

I've had two early birthday celebrations.  My mom is going to be out of town on my birthday, so she had us all over for a delicious dinner on Sunday.  She gave me a really cute purse, a scarf, and a belt.  So fun. 

Then my mil and three of my sil's and my oldest niece all took me out to lunch at Olive Garden today for my birthday.  It was so much fun.  We had lots of time to just sit and chat, and I feel like I never get that.  When we go to family parties there are so many people and so much going on, of course, that there isn't a solid hour or two to just sit and talk to anyone. 

It's nice that they all had birthday parties for me, because I don't think my actual birthday is going to be much of a party.  I have to work that day, and all of my plans have been foiled.  First I wanted to go to Las Vegas to see Garth Brooks.  Then I downgraded to Wendover to see Rodney Atkins and take an ATV tour of the desert.  Now I pretty much am planning to sit home and feel sorry for myself.  I don't know. 

It's now time for a Q & A Session, inspired by the comments section of my blog.

Q:  great little clip! Has our fil seen it? :)

A:  Ha ha ha!  No.  I love our fil, but he tells you stuff, you don't tell him stuff.  Plus his head might explode if he watched that clip.  :)

Q: The salon totally should have comped the dye job, as in given it to you for free. 

Q: I agree w/ Heather, they shouldn't have made you pay!

A:  Well, it really wasn't their fault.  They didn't make a mistake... it was my hair that didn't process right.  I don't know what they could have done differently, except not do it in the first place, which is probably what should have happened.  I actually don't mind the white in my hair anymore now that I'm used to it.  The only thing I don't like is that it's super thin in the white areas at the top.  I'm worried I'll have bald patches.  I told my stylist I was going to start using Rogaine, but she said to take Biotin.  So I went to the store to buy some, and a lady told me that her daughter used it and it totally works.  She said her daughter's hair was in a short bob and now it's down to her butt.  She finally stopped taking it because she got tired of having to shave her legs and pits every day.  So I started taking it, and I don't really care about it making my leg hair grow, but what if it makes me start growing really long facial hair?  What if I'm like the bearded lady?  Or if it makes my eyebrows grow and I look like I have caterpillers on my face? 

I freaking want this t-shirt.  Apologies.

Freak of Nature Part 2

So I went and got my hair done this week.  I don't love it.  Somehow when I walked through the door to the salon, all my brain cells quit functioning.  The stylist was talking to me about what I wanted, and she suggested a little different color than what I've been doing, and I said fine, and then she asked if I wanted to try to dye the unpigmented white hair that I have underneath and increasingly throughout my hair, and I said.... sure.  Why not.  She asked if we'd ever tried it before, and I said no, and at that moment I could not remember why.  It took exactly 4 hours and 15 minutes and 4 stylists working on my hair for me to remember why I never try to dye the white parts.  Oh yeah, that one time, years ago, a stylist told me that she tried to dye a white spot in her client's hair and it turned purple.  That scared me.  Then I've been told by other stylists that unpigmented hair like that can be unpredictable.  That scared me.  Plus, even if it did take dye properly, I am very low-maintenance, and I don't want to have to re-do my hair every few weeks or else have large chunks of white roots showing.  But I didn't remember all of that until I was driving away.  Over 4 hours later.  Because, you see, the white parts turned purple.  Not a cute purple.  I would have said cool and left it at that.  No, a brownish muddy ugly color with a purplish tinge to it.  So she got the owner and the owner tried putting a reddish bronze on it and that helped tone it down and make it better.  By this time my stylist's next appointment was there, so two other sylists who didn't have clients at the time worked the rest of the red in, which took forever, because they were basically kinda scrubbing my hair with it.  So 4 hours, 15 minutes, 4 stylists, and $100 later... and it looks eh.  If anyone ever wonders why I don't do more with myself, this is why.  Because it doesn't make a difference.  I'm not meant to be one of those women who looks all put together.  Some of the stylists there remember me because of my funky hair.  Love being a freak of nature.  Maybe they could take my DNA and study me too like the UofU.  The owner and my stylist were both like, "Oh, I love a challenge!" and "I love a project!"  Just trying to be all positive and not let me know they were freaking out inside over the insane color my hair had just turned.  But I don't wanna be a challenge or a project!  Wah! 

We had a garage sale this morning.  We didn't make a ton of money, but we really didn't have that much stuff, and what we did have wasn't all that great.  Nothing was priced above a couple bucks, and I was just giving stuff away.  So I feel pretty good about it.  We got rid of almost everything and just had one little load in the back of the truck.  I see no point when having a yard sale in bartering with people.  Seriously.  People are paying me to haul my junk away so I don't have to?  I'm not going to argue.  Whatever you offer me is what I'm taking.  Why turn someone's money down just to have to take it to DI later? 

Nutella 2012

Worth watching. 

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Disclaimer:  These are my ramblings.  They are not necessarily well thought out.  They are subject to change without notice.  When I say "you," I don't really mean you, the reader.  I mean people.   I am a hypocrite.  Sometimes I rant about things that I also do myself.  I don't except myself from the things I criticize, and I don't claim to be perfect.    That should cover it.

I'm so tired of hearing about how the media distorts everything and how both parties lie and whatever.  Who cares what the media does?  Who cares what the parties and Rush Limbaugh and politicians say?  Find out for yourself what the real scoop is.  When I heard this Obama uproar about "You didn't build that" I immediately knew that he wasn't really saying people didn't build their own businesses.  It's obvious.  Anyone with an ounce of healthy skepticism knows that.  So look it up and find out!  Maybe you still disagree with his premise and his policy, awesome, but at least be intellectually honest about it instead of lazily listening to the spin.  I'm sick of hearing about Mitt Romney's stupid dog, and how he likes to fire people, and how he once bullied someone a hundred years ago in high school, and how Michelle Obama may or may not have said the pledge of allegiance when she was visiting a school (they actually had lip readers find out for sure), and "you didn't build that"  and birth certificates.  I am interested in Romney's tax returns, simply because he advocates tax cuts for the wealthy.  I think that's relevant, and it's common practice for candidates to release them.  I don't care how much he made, just tell us what percentage of his income he paid in taxes. I am interested in health care, the economy, civil rights, and foreign policy.  Can we effing talk about those things for a few minutes without having to get sidetracked by the bullcrap???  And now I have  alienated any friends and family who read my blog.  At least I still have you, Russia.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend Sean and I were looking forward to finally getting to hit some garage sales on Saturday morning since he didn't have to work until the evening.  We only got to go to a handful of garage sales, but Sean did manage to find a replacement globe for our lantern.  A new one costs $30, so we haven't wanted to buy a new one, but Sean found one for 50 cents.  Still in the box, just a little dusty.  A lot dusty.  But cheap.  We decided to go for a drive and check out Crystal Hot Springs for a possible future camping trip and hit the fruit highway for some fresh produce.  I thought Crystal Hot Springs sounded fun, but it looked like a hot mess.  Emphasis on hot.  It was packed wall to wall with people, which is always gross when swimming is involved, the bathrooms were nasty, and it was just hot and dusty and ugly.  Everyone goes there, though, so maybe I was just cranky? 

Today we went to the Bee's game, and Marilyn came with us.  I can't think of very many (realistic) things I'd rather do on a Sunday afternoon in the summer than go to a baseball game.  I love it so much. 

Ways in which I was a dork last week (that I remember):  I saw my sister-in-law at the store on her birthday, and I did not wish her a happy birthday or mention it in any way.  Even though I had looked at the calendar two days before and thought, "Gee, I need to remember Curt and Cami's birthday on Thursday."  Sean didn't call his brother either.  It was a crazy week. 

Random thoughts on a few matters:

This is one of my favorite songs today.  Very sweet.  And he's easy on the eyes, which is always a plus.

I did not buy the Spanx.  I'm just going to let the jiggles jiggle on.  And the Oreo diet sounds awesome.  I'm not sure I really believe that people in Russia are reading my blog just because blogger tells me so.  I wonder if it's just people who have their IP address re-routed so that no one can track them or some weird Bourne Identity Mission Impossible sort of thing like that.  Or someone's friend that lives in Russia and reads our blogs.  Or maybe random Russians just like reading about my fabulous life.  Anything is possible.

I did get sick of the stupid Chick-Fil-A thing, but having said that, I do think it's important for people to follow their convictions.  I realize that my money in the form of someone else's profits goes all kinds of places I wouldn't agree with, but if I know about it and can do something about it, that's great.  I don't begrudge people taking action on it.  I think Dan Cathy is pretty much a sleeze after reading that he has donated to hate groups, including one in Uganda that advocates killing homosexuals, and I probably won't eat there again, but I'm not under any illusions that it's any big deal or that I'm doing anything that will actually help anyone in any real way.  I think the biggest problem I have with this CFA thing is the same problem I had with the Kony 2012 thing.  It just seems like lazy activism.  All I have to do is eat a chicken sandwich or post something on my facebook page and I can pretend like I'm actually doing something to make a difference.  When, really, I'm not.  How many of the people who were all fired up about Kony a few months ago even know that the Utah high court just ruled on a human trafficking case?  Do people actually bother to follow what's going on?  No, but if something comes across facebook we can re-post it and feel all self-righteous.  It's lazy activism and it bugs me. 

How cute is Gabby Douglas?  I loved this quote from her about people criticizing her hair.  (Wha??? Stupid.)  ''I don't know where this is coming from. What's wrong with my hair?'' said Douglas, the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in team and all-around competition. ''I'm like, `I just made history and people are focused on my hair?' It can be bald or short, it doesn't matter about (my) hair.''  Good for her.  

The Spanx Diet

So, I have a new weight loss plan since my old plan of doing everything the same as I always do wasn't working.  I decided just to go buy some spanx.  But man, shopping that website... that stuff looks torturous.  Why I gotta suit myself up from top to bottom in industrial strength reinforced lycra or whatever?  That looks so hot and miserable.  Is it worth it?

Brittney and I are working on a new blog which we plan to co-write, and which will never actually come to fruition.   But if it did, it would be called Seriously, What's Wrong With People?  Here is a sample of the things we would write about:

Ryan Lochte and his mother

Chick-Fil-A    (Geez, eat your chicken, don't eat your chicken, either way I don't care. )

The crazies (Eagle Forum) who want to retract Utah's participation in the Common Core Initiative.

People who want to use the tragedy in Colorado to debate gun rights. 

The neighbor kids who play in my yard and leave their crap all over the place, including water bottles and popsicle wrappers.

Man I'm blogging almost every day now.  It's gettin all exciting up in here.  No wonder people tune in from Russia to read my blog.

Freak Of Nature

My doctor at UofU wanted me to participate in a study she's got going, so I said I would.  I guess I'm a freak of nature or something.  A lady from epidemiology (or something like that) came out to take some info from me today and to get my DNA.  The study is about genetics.  Don't know how useful I'll be, but whatever. 

I shouldn't have been so melodramatic about Josh yesterday.  He was fine last night and tonight.  He likes his teacher, he's OK with school.  But sometimes he just really hates it and doesn't want to go anymore.  Sunday night I think it was just the Sunday night blahs.  Last year he cried and refused to go on Wednesdays because he hated computer class so much, and then he really hated music class because the teacher was having them watch The Sound of Music.  I hate that movie.  I wouldn't want to go either.  But for now he's happy again, so I'll take it when I can get it and hope for the best.

Josh had to go to the dentist yesterday to get a cavity filled.  He had this big bump on the inside of his lip that was a plugged saliva gland or something like that, and the doctor said he could remove it while he was in there for the cavity.  Then he also decided that a loose tooth that wasn't coming out fast enough needed to be pulled to make room for the permanent tooth that was growing in under it.  So the poor kid got more than his fair share of needles.  It was hard to watch, because all that numbing really hurt.  But after it was all over he liked going around telling his battle stories and showing off the stitches in his lip. 

We took Marilyn out to dinner tonight for her birthday.  It was really great to have all my kids there, and Marilyn is always fun to hang out with. 

Well, hmmmm...  I guess that's it.

One For My Therapist

Actually I don't have a therapist anymore.  Well, I suppose I do, but I haven't seen her in forever.   But now that I think about it, I miss talking to her.  I should make an appointment just so we can chat. 

Anyway, how weird is this?  Lexi is the only one of my kids whom I dropped off at kindergarten the first day without shedding a little tear on the way home.  With all the other kids, I would drive away and cry all the way home, and then be fine.  But I didn't cry when I dropped my baby off.  I didn't really poke around in my head too much to figure out why or to try to drum up a few tears, because I get weepy enough about stupid stuff without having to try to get that way.  In fact, I got all choked up the week before when she told me, "I can reach the big drinking fountain now, mom! I don't need your help anymore."  And then today, I cried for another mom dropping off her boy.  He didn't want to go to kindergarten.  He said it was too hard.  And he clung to his mom for dear life and wouldn't get in line and wouldn't go in.  And it pulled me right back to Josh, and how I had to drag him out of the car that first week, and how he cried.  And as I walked away I told her, "My little boy cried at first too, and it is so hard."  And then I went to my truck with tears in my eyes and cried all the way to the gas station where I bought a giant Diet Pepsi.  Because the part I didn't tell her is, it doesn't always get easier.  I tucked Josh into bed last night and he got tears in his eyes and said he didn't want to go to school tomorrow; he wants to be home schooled.  And it is so hard.  My friend Sandra once told me about the special bond between moms and sons, and I was like...whatever... because I didn't have any sons at that time.  Now I know exactly what she was talking about. 

Ways I was socially awkward last week (that I remember):  I've seen the missionaries in Wal-Mart a few times and I always think that if they get to the front when I do, I'll pay for their groceries.  They are super cute boys.  But it never works out.  Until last week.  They pulled up right behind me in line.  Serendipity.  I paid for my stuff, and then I turned and gave the missionary right behind me in line $20 and said something really profound and awesome, like, "Take this."  And probably made a weird face and grunted or something.  I don't know.  He was cute and all, "Oh!  Are you sure!" And I was like, "Yes!  Awesome! Good-bye!"  Or something really cool like that.  I didn't even acknowledge his cute companion.  And then I just felt like a stupid spaz.  Gah!!  Why am I so lame?  It's because I hate being thanked and I just wanted to give them some money and get out, so blaharahgieheihg.  Most people might think this is weird of me, but I felt even more awkward because his companion is black, so I felt even ickier, like I ignored him on purpose, not just because I'm socially awkward.  Then I worried all the way home about whether he shared the money with his companion, because they were each checking out their few items separately.  They had like a bike tube, a gallon of milk, and 5 dozen eggs.  How cute are they? 

I'm totally buying this.  Ghost Town For Sale- Geyser and Llamas Included  Gotta ask Sean when he gets home, but this one's mine.  Ima be the mayor.