Baby It's Cold Outside

It's been cold and snowy here for a few days, and it's supposed to be for a few days more yet. It's so pretty. I love it.

We went for a drive up to Hardware Ranch on Saturday, which was probably a little crazy, but it all turned out OK. I don't love driving through Sardine Canyon in a snowstorm, but luckily it wasn't too slick.


Brittney is hiding in the back there behind Courtney.

It was so cold up there. I stayed in the car with Lexi because I'm sick, and I didn't want her out in it, and I hate the cold. Sean said that Josh started crying about the cold before they even got on the sled to go out and see the elk, and he didn't stop until we got him back in the car.



It was so pretty up there, though. It was worth the drive.

Catching Up

I haven't posted anything for a while. Lots of things going on; none very exciting.
Sick kids, work, home, Christmas shopping, the usual.

Thanksgiving was really nice. We spent the afternoon with my family and the evening with Sean's. We had lots of excellent food and good company. Sean and Josh went shooting up in the mountains with Scott, and they really enjoyed doing it. That was a tradition growing up, so I hope they keep it up.

Last weekend Courtney went to a debate tournament that was hosted by my school. As part of the team, she has to get a judge for at least one tournament, and since this one was at my school, she roped me into judging Friday night. I was dragging my feet about doing it because it went until 9:00 at night, and I really didn't want to spend 14 hours at school that day. But then I was like... who am I kidding? I'm just the nerd for the job. So I got to judge Congress, which is what I had hoped to judge, and had a good time.

Parent-Teacher Conferences were Monday night, so that was a barrel of fun. I was hoping the snow would keep everyone home so I could get some work done, but no such luck. Parents of my straight A kids came out in force... parents of my failing and problem kids stayed home. Same old.

Courtney got a job. My bank account stood up and applauded. She's going to be working at a care facility/nursing home/whatever. I hope that she'll enjoy it. And stop asking me for money.

Survivor Losers and Idiots is shaping up for a bitter-fest finale on Sunday. I have a feeling that Sue Hawk's "rats and snakes" speech is finally going to be outdone on the hate-o-meter. I kinda can't wait.

Well, that's all the news for here, I think.

I've been trying to get my life more organized, and I've made some small progress. Sean and I got about 2/3 of our Christmas shopping done last weekend. I've still got more to do, but I'm glad that we got a lot of it done already. I've got to find a way to declutter my life. With six people in this family, it is unreal the amount of crap we accumulate. On the flip side, it is maddening the things that we lose. I've somehow lost receipts for $90 worth of rebates that I *know are somewhere... or not... and Courtney's driver's license I believe has been thrown away. Urg.

My friend wants me to do this Masters of Education program that starts up in February and I'm like... Yah, you do know me, right? You see how I have baby boogers on my shirt and bags under my eyes? I have a full-time job, 4 kids and a slew of student loans... No thanks. I'd love to do a Masters in a few years, but I want to do it in something more interesting to me. Do you think there's a Masters of Sunbathing on Remote Tropical Islands program in existence anywhere?

One of my students asked me if I'd proofread her 80 page novel for her. How do I say no? I always read their writing when they bring it to me and try to be supportive, so I told her yes, but I was kicking myself the whole time I was saying it. Maybe I'll have to tell her I lost my glasses or I suddenly developed macular degeneration and can't read or something.

Josh, Sean and I went to see my school's production of Beauty and the Beast this week. It was amazing. So fun. Josh wasn't too in to it, though. I figured he'd love it, but he has the attention span of a monkey on speed.

Survivor was pretty darn awesome this week. I think I want Matty for the win. I think this is the worst cast of any season, but there have been some good blindsides.

Brittney went to Carrie Underwood on Wed night and she had a blast. She just now got back from seeing Twilight and was all "Squee!" and "That. Was. Like. So. AWE. SOME" and a bunch of excited stuff about Jacob and Edward that I have no idea about because I haven't read the books. So I guess it was good, anyway.

Courtney and her friend are off having an adventure riding the train in to Salt Lake to shop and eat. Sean is working. Josh is driving me crazy, and Lexi is napping. That's about it for here. Until next time...

My Christmas List

Josh's Birthday

Today is Joshy's birthday. Here are a few things that I love about this kid:

*He is super funny, and he loves to make jokes with me. On the way home in the car he always wants to tell jokes or he wants me to make up funny things to make him laugh.

*He says, "I love you" often. He's done that ever since he was little, and it's always at random times when you aren't expecting it.

*He loves his dad and wants to be just like him. If you ask him if he wants to be a firefighter or pilot or race car driver when he grows up, he always has to check and see if you can do that *and be a dad before he decides. Because first and foremost, he wants to be a dad.

Brittney's birthday

Yesterday was Brittney's 13th birthday. She's such a cool kid. Here are a few things I love about Brittney:

She's freaking hilarious. I love her sense of humor, and she keeps me laughing.

She's smart, she works hard, and she gets good grades. She's taking a pretty heavy load and doing well at it. She's also a great writer, and I love reading her stuff.

She's sweet and generous. She's always been one to share and to give gifts to people and to think of others.

She loves music and movies and can quote awesome movie lines at just the right moments.

Halloween

Halloween was a crazy, busy day. I had to work and then run a bunch of errands. Brittney had a friend birthday party that night. Josh and Lexi were reaching full-on meltdown by the time Sean got them out the door. And then by the end of the night I was sick with a stomach thing. Considering all of that, though, somehow it managed to be a decent night. I didn't get very good pics, though.

Courtney on her way to a Halloween party, dressed as a rocker in an authentic 80's Def Lepard t-shirt. It probably still has the original pot smoke and sweat on it. (FTR, it wasn't my pot smoke or sweat. I was down on the floor in the General Admission, back in the good old days when it was a giant pit of crazy.)



Brittney on her way out trick-or-treating, dressed as a punk rocker. She shredded her jeans and wore hot pink tights under them.


Josh refused to have his picture taken. This was the best I could get. He's a stinker. He was dressed as a sheriff.


Lexi as a teddy bear, crying.


Josh and Lexi's pumpkins


Brittney's Twilight pumpkin


So that was Halloween.

I finally got my Suburban back. I did something last week I've never done before. I drove a mini-van. I told the rental people that I might not bring it back once I saw how good the gas mileage is. They told me that's fine, they'd love to trade me, because they rent Suburbans for $100/day. OK so how do I cash in on that? I loved the gas mileage, and loved how much lower it is to the ground, but I am glad to have my own car back. I missed my seat warmers in the morning, and my stereo is better.

Saturday night Sean and I ditched the kids and went to the drive-in. It was way fun. We saw a couple of really stupid scary movies, but it was fun. It was a nice night for it.

Weight loss tip for those of you who are interested: I got a new scale because mine was having problems, and I lost 5 lbs! Woohoo! Guess the old one wasn't accurate. So just remember... you aren't fatter, your scale is just broken. It's true!

I'm so glad that the election is over so that people (myself included) can stop being annoying and stupid. Thoughts on last night: I really, really loved Obama's victory speech. For the first time in a long time I've really felt hopeful. I felt bad for McCain last night. I feel bad for him because I really liked McCain in 2000. During the 2000 primaries, I wasn't an Al Gore fan, and I definitely didn't like George Bush, so I totally would have voted for McCain over Al Gore if he had made the ballot. I remember liking and admiring McCain, and this man that we saw in this election was not that same McCain. I don't think what we've seen the last few months is who he really is. I thought his concession speech was well done, gracious and classy, and I felt like that was much more who he really is. I do have to wonder, though, if there is a little bit of relief for him in losing. I mean, really, at 72 years old, he had to have looked around at the mess we're in and said, "Damn, I'm glad I'm not the one who has to deal with that." And he can go back to being a senator.

Well, that's the wrap up for the week. Tomorrow night is Survivor. I'm hoping that half the castaways and Jeff all get eaten by a crocodile and that the baby elephant they keep showing wins the game.