My Dad

It's amazing the things that you miss when someone is gone... things you never even knew about or thought about while they were here. It's not quite as interesting to read the newspaper anymore, because I can't comiserate/debate with my dad about it. Even though he didn't go with us on many camping trips/boating trips anymore, it was always so fun to tell him about what we were doing. He always acted interested in what food we'd be cooking up camping, or which campground we were going to.

If you ever were looking for something in stores that you couldn't find, like a CD or DVD or tool, and you mentioned it around dad, he'd find it and get it for you. I mentioned a couple of records from my childhood that I loved, and he had them burned onto disc for me so that I could still enjoy them. He always did thoughtful things like that. And he always claimed to have a "credit" at whichever store you needed to buy something. He'd say, "That guy over at the shoe store owes me, and the only way I'll ever be able to collect is if you go over there and get a pair of shoes. I'll take care of it." We caught on to him pretty quickly, especially when he claimed to have a "credit" at a store in St. Louis when Heather was shopping for something, but sometimes we'd still take him up on his credits.

I mentioned in my talk at the funeral about how he'd always have Brittney's favorite cereal stocked up for her if she was coming over. What I didn't know (my mom filled me in) is that he would go out at 11:00 pm to go shopping and get stuff he knew she'd like if he didn't have it.

One thing that I really admired about my dad is that he never complained, and he had every reason to complain. On his worst day, I'd call him and ask how he was doing and he'd say, "Fine, just fine hon. How are you? How's school going?" He always wanted to know about us, and never wanted to talk about his ailments. When I visited him in the hospital, here he was feeling totally wrecked, and he was so worried about me, how my test went that I took, me having to drive back home in a little bit of snow.




Dad was smart and funny and compassionate and brave and strong and interesting and such a great dad, and I just can't begin to contemplate all the ways I'm going to miss him.

Thanks, dad, for everything.

Deja Vu

So I was up at Weber State University taking a test on Saturday, and it was so deja vu. The test was held in the Social Sciences building, where I did a majority of my classes. It really made me want to go back to school. Then, I was up at the University of Utah in the evening, and again it got me thinking how fun it would be to do another degree. Maybe someday. It has to be soon, seeing as how my memory gets worse each year that passes.

Also on Saturday, I was driving around in Bountiful, where I went to high school, listening to some classic rock like Journey and AC/DC, and it was major deja vu all over again. Wow. I felt like I was 17 again. Amazing how the body ages so much faster than the mind.

Courtney got asked to the Prom at the school where I teach by a friend of hers, so we've got to go dress shopping. I hope it can be fun and not stressful looking for a dress. :/ He's already asked her, but he's coming over here to do something goofy to ask her officially, and if it's something that makes a mess in or out of my house, I'll kill him. She has to answer him back somehow, and I'm hoping she'll come up with something that involves me in no way, shape, or form. That's what girl friends are for.

Survivor commentary for the week: OK, so this is the only show that I really watch faithfully. Other shows I just catch when I can, if I'm making dinner or hanging out or whatever. Survivor is mindless and silly, and I like to analyze strategy and how they are playing the game. I've been sad when people got voted out or evacuated for medical reasons, but it's never brought me to tears before. But when Jonathon got pulled from the game and he teared up, so did I. Probably because I've read some of his blogs, and I know what a cool guy he is outside of the game. He's smart, funny, very self-aware... I mean, here's a guy who is already successful... he's been on several TV shows, so he isn't looking for fame, he's a writer, he's directed... He's not out there desperate to win a million dollars... He's tearing up because he loves playing the game. And I just think he's great, and was so, so sad to see him go. It won't be nearly as fun without him.

Anyway...

This weekend has been pretty busy, and I am just not ready to start a new week tomorrow. But I am grateful to have things to do... a job, kids, a house to clean, food to prepare, all of that. There are definitely worse things.

I've got to take some time to change my American Idol playlist. I'm thinking either classic rock or classic alternative next.

Think like a chicken

Ok, so how many Krispy Kreme donuts does one have to eat to officially be a pig? Just asking.

Oh, btw, the weight loss plan? Not going so hot.

Josh showed me the proper way to think. You have to tap your finger on your chin like this. He learned it from the chickens on Chicken Run, he said.



One of my favorite things about Josh is that he always says "I love you mommy" just out of the blue. He and Sean went over to dad's house last weekend to work on a woodworking project, and Josh was right there with his tape measure hooked on his pocket, pencil in hand, making drawings of what he was building and banging on pieces of scrap wood. It was really cute.

Lexi is crawling all over the place and being cute. She loves baby dolls. They make her laugh for some reason. When her daddy comes home, she gets this giant smile on her face, waves at him, and then claps her hands. That's because she's trying to stay in his good graces because he sleeps in the chair with her when she's being naughty at night and refusing to sleep on her own. Oy. Gotta work on that.




The girls are both doing really well in school. Courtney seems to stay super busy. Brittney hasn't hit that stage yet, thank goodness, but she's so excited for soccer to start back up. I am too, actually. That always means nice weather is around the corner.

I've only got about 8 or so hours left to do on this Reading project I've been working on. I have to take this stupid 2 hour test on Saturday on educational theory for my relicensure (thanks No Child Left Behind for yet one more meaningless hoop that I get to jump through!) Once I get those 2 things done, all I have to do is put together a portfolio, which shouldn't be hard. I've already got the stuff to go in it lined up; I just have to gather it together and write all the rationales and reflections and garbage that goes with it. It will be a huge relief to get those 3 things done and over with.

Survivor commentary for the week: Nooooooo!!! Not my TV boyfriend Jonathon! He can't get sent home because of a stupid injury! I loved it so much when the plates wouldn't break and he yelled "My ASS!" Awesome. That is all.

Well, I'm off to bed. I was waiting up to do laundry for tomorrow, but I'm just too tired. I'm just going to throw on whatever weird combination of something I can find in my closet and call it good.

Hmmm... I wonder why my time stamp is so screwed up, and, more importantly, how I fix it? I just noticed that it's about 5 hours behind. Weird.

Is it spring yet?

I can't believe another weekend has come and gone so quickly. It seems like it was just barely Friday afternoon. The weather yesterday was beautiful. We went for a drive in the afternoon and saw a moose just standing in someone's yard, looking for stuff to eat and relaxing. I am so ready for spring, and for Spring Break. I only have one day off this year, and I want to do something really fun. But what? That is the question.

The kids are all keeping busy with school and sports and friends and whatever else. Sean is still working the overtime, which is really a huge blessing. Nothing too interesting going on... just the usual crazy.

I didn't do the weekly Survivor commentary... so instead I'll talk about Dancing With the Stars. A show I never watched until last season. I heard Marie Osmond was going to be on so I tuned in to check it out. I thought that she and Jenny Garth were really cute, so I watched some of their dance numbers. So now, I just barely heard that Adam Corolla is going to be on this season, so I totally am going to have to watch again to see that mess! I love Adam Corolla, as much as it pains me to admit it, and I totally want to see if he can be any good at it.

Well, I'm off to have some dinner and hopefully some time to read. I'm in the middle of re-reading The Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird. Both favorites, and both novels I'm teaching this term. Fun! Or maybe I'll just go to bed. If Lexi doesn't start sleeping through the night soon I'm going to have to... I don't know. Give her to grandma? Send her to Aunt Heather? She is up twice a night, and I need more sleep than that! She started crawling the last day or so, and it's so cute! She'll get some toy hanging out of her mouth and start crawling around with it, and she's like a little puppy.

Weekly Reality TV Review and TWoP

OK so if you don't have my warped snarky sense of humor, you probably won't like/get this post. So we are hit and miss American Idol viewers... we'll catch an episode here and there. I've watched about half of it this year. So anyway, I love Television Without Pity, and I was reading the recap of ladies singing night and oh. my. gosh. Hysterical. So here is an excerpt. (Blogger isn't letting me insert a link tonight, but you can find it at televisionwithoutpity.com. Be warned, however, that the recaps do contain profanity.)It's probably not as funny unless you watched the show, but here are a few of my favorite gems:

"Brooke White, the girl that's never seen an R-rated movie, such as Nightmare On Elm Street IV: The Dream Master. That poor, poor girl. I loved her in her interview, I loved her in Hollywood, I love her playing the piano, I love her crazy hair, I love her giant crazy Muppet-Janice mouth, I love nannies, I love her whole thing. She's adorable and smart and funny.... The golden light of a thousand suns illuminates her from behind and she kind of sparkles from all over herself like a magical happy creature. Or Steve Carell.

Randy thinks she improved near the end, which I didn't like quite as much, and cautions Brooke to -- in the future, you understand -- get her "slaying" on. Sometimes when Randy talks it's like this, but other times it's like this. This time is one of the latter. Simon's like WTF and Randy's like WTH and Paula's like 0010001010 LOL and it's all totally uninteresting, as of course it would be and always is when one of them decides it's time for a catchphrase, but doubly so because Brooke's just standing up there the whole time, like, wondering what the heck this has to do with her. Paula gets her mumbling craziness on for a while: "And that's what I love about you there you have your own thing you have your own like that's what this whole business is about it's finding someone that you hear your voice the first time and you identify that's work." Simon calls it precious and silly and ridiculous, with the joyfulness and the golden lights everywhere, which it totally is, which is why it was awesome, and he admits that too. Ryan and Simon make out a little bit and Randy desperately tries to get in on it, and the whole time Simon's like, "Um, I'm just saying she's kind of a gaywad. It's a good thing." Why doesn't anybody in the room understand what he's saying? It is because they have lost the capacity for wonder."

OK if that doesn't crack you up... I just can't help you. Here's another goodie...

" Alexandréa Lushington... seems to dress herself most of the time like the Marines from Aliens. There's a very...Webelos aesthetic to her manner of dress most of the time.... Vocally, she delivers about half the song, including some neato parts that are so deliberate and harmonically creative they sound weird, but the other half is like...drag night at the Den Meeting."

Tee. Hee.

There's so much good stuff in there. Anyway.

Survivor. Hated that episode. I hated Cirie and Jonathan fighting, hated Yau getting the boot, hated Joel's psychotic threats, and I just thought Cirie made way too big and bold a move for this part of the game. I did love the reward challenge, though.

OK, I do have a life other than TV. But I'll have to write about that later, since Lexi is crying and Josh is being naughty and Britt is complaining about something and Courtney wants me to listen to some song. Sean is bringing home Robintino's for dinner, though, so all will be well.

SAD and CHAD

So I was in the car driving home from a class on Monday, and the sun was shining, it was a beautiful 47 degrees, and I was feeling good. I felt better than I have in a while, and I was thinking that I'm pretty sure I suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) to some extent. Then I realized that I was also all alone in my car with the radio blasting, no one fighting with anyone else or whining that they're cold/hot/hungry/bored/have to pee, and I'm pretty sure that I also suffer from CHAD (Children Annoyance Disorder). Between those two conditions, it's bringin me down. Hopefully I can make it to spring.

Valentine's Day here was uneventful. I got a cute Valentine from Josh and Lexi... their little handprints made into a dozen red roses on a card. I usually don't do too much for the kids, and Sean and I don't really do anything either. I get all "this holiday is too commercial blah blah" about it... but really, I ought to just embrace it and jump in whole-heartedly. It's love, after all. So maybe next year. Anyway, I just got the girls a multi-pack of their favorite gum and wrote "I chew-chew-chew's you, Valentine" on it. Yes, cheesy, but it's from a Simpson's episode, so it's all good. If anyone can tell me the episode, I'll give you a prize. I made Sean sugar cookies, and Josh got enough crap at school that I didn't see a need to get him anything else.

Survivor... Huh. That was probably not great strategy. I guess we'll have to see. One thing I hate about Survivor is the constant assumption that a man will always be a stronger challenge competitor for the team than a woman. We want to break up Mikey B and Mary? Well we automatically have to get rid of Mary, of course, because we'll need Mikey in the challenges. And then the show bends over backwards to try to make me believe that's true. And sometimes it certainly is. But last season, all Jeff could talk about was what a big challenge monster James was. The guy didn't win a *single individual immunity. He helped his team win a few, but then he also screwed up at least one that I can remember. On the other hand, Pee Geih and Amanda happened to rock the individual immunity challenges, and had some good showings on the team challenges as well (remember Amanda in the ball rolling/wrestling one?) But did the show ever make mention of this? Did Jeff ever even mention it once? Were they ever called "immunity monsters" like James was? No. I'm just saying. It bugs. Anyway, onward with the intense Jonathon and Yau love. Liking Cirie. Liking Tracy. Also? Surprisingly I'm liking Kathy the crazypants.

Well, back to work on my project. Reading strategies. So fun. Don't have any great plans for the long weekend. I have list ten miles long of things I *should do... We'll see how many of them actually get done.

More Snow Pics

Here are the latest snow pics from the cabin. Sean shoveled it out again yesterday. I haven't seen it like this in years!











I can't believe it's already Sunday night. I need a few days off to recover from this weekend!