Wednesday, December 17, 2008
You'd Think I'd Have Time...
now that I'm off work for the year. But no! I'm running around doing church stuff, cleaning house, getting ready for Christmas, but most of all we've got graduation on Friday! I'm so excited, Matt is almost done! Once we get through all of this and Christmas, I promise to post some more.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
His and Hers
Matt and I have always dreamed of having 2 dogs. A bigger dog for him and a smaller one for me.
So, we decided to get Cleo a friend... Meet Lightning!
Here he is trying out his new bed
The first introduction, Cleo meeting Lightning.
Trying out their crates together.
So we have a cool big athletic dog, and an adorable schnauzer. Its really fun!
So, we decided to get Cleo a friend... Meet Lightning!
Here he is trying out his new bed
The first introduction, Cleo meeting Lightning.
Trying out their crates together.
See how well they get along! Sometimes they sleep together.
So we have a cool big athletic dog, and an adorable schnauzer. Its really fun!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Halloween
Well, things have been a little crazy... and I have to admit, most of it is self inflicted.
Tuesday - church youth group
Wednesday - Enrichment (voluntary church night with all the women at church)
Friday - Halloween and I was in charge of 2 booths at the church function
Saturday - Go up to Phoenix
Sunday - In charge of main dish for Sunday dinner
Tuesday - big night for church youth group
Full week, but eh.
Here's Cleo going as Astro for Halloween.
Tuesday - church youth group
Wednesday - Enrichment (voluntary church night with all the women at church)
Friday - Halloween and I was in charge of 2 booths at the church function
Saturday - Go up to Phoenix
Sunday - In charge of main dish for Sunday dinner
Tuesday - big night for church youth group
Full week, but eh.
Here's Cleo going as Astro for Halloween.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
How do you ruin Bath Salts?
Proof that I must be an engineer! I can't even do bath salts.
So for my church youth group, I thought I would be cool and do this crafty thing of making pretty smelling bath salts that you fill clear jars or bottles with. I remember doing this activity when I was a teenager, and we filled these clear bottles of light pastel colors and were able to make beautiful sand-like lines to display our lovely artwork.
So I thought how hard could it be?.... Apparently VERY!
So, the recipe I found calls for epsom salt. (which by the way if you look up epsom salt you will get a page about magnesium sulfate, but if you look up espon salt wikiAnswers gives you this page which is completely worthless, so good to know how to spell first) Naturally, I look up online where to get epsom salt and I see I can get it at an average grocery store... great! So I head there, nothing in the salt aisle. Not sure why I looked in the baking goods, its not like I'm gonna put baking goods in my bath with me. But somehow my skull can't handle thinking beyond the aisle that I have time and time again found various other kinds of salt; rock salt, popcorn salt, butter salt, garlic salt, etc. So I leave in frustration.
I get home and refer to the internet again, this time clearly stating "where in the grocery store?" and it politely and clearly stated in the "pharmacy section". Ok, so I head back, and I walk over to the pharmacy area where I see the aisle, skin care. DUH! Why didn't I think of that? So I find my epsom salt and head to my activity.
I had carefully packed the Rock Salt, food coloring, mineral oil (or so I thought), clear jars, ribbon, directions, thoughts for a lesson, and scissors into a nice box. WELL, I can't seem to do a craft night for youth group without forgetting something. (Like the time I forgot the vanilla for the No Bake Cookies, I thought it can't be that big of a deal, but the other leader was pretty sure it was a crucial ingredient, so now I have to stall while she goes and gets some vanilla??? ugh, i'm a schmuck.) This time I forgot the mineral oil. How do you expect the food coloring to spread properly if there is no oil to wet down the rock salt? UGH! So I decide to rush home and grab the mineral oil that is on the counter right next to where the box was sitting that I brought to church with me.
When I return all the girls picked a color red, blue, green, etc. Well, one picks purple. Not unreasonable and a normal choice for a girl. Well, she puts in a couple red drops and a couple blue drops and gets greenish-brown? I know that some food coloring is better than others but you've got to be kidding me! All the other colors turned out fine, except that to get an even amount of color on all the salt, the girls felt the need to put half the bottle of food coloring in the bag. So we had some very warm bold reds, oranges, greens and blues.
Then you poured it into the jar, it didn't stay where you wanted it... nooooo, gravity has to do a mean trick of tumbling it down to the bottom of the jar.
All in all the girls we
re good sports, and I'm grateful for having 2 leaders to help activities go smoother when you have to jet home to get your forgotten ingredient. Although, if I do say so myself the orange vanilla scent was yummy, but the hideous bath salts were all I had to give to send them home with.
I really should just stop trying to be crafty.
So for my church youth group, I thought I would be cool and do this crafty thing of making pretty smelling bath salts that you fill clear jars or bottles with. I remember doing this activity when I was a teenager, and we filled these clear bottles of light pastel colors and were able to make beautiful sand-like lines to display our lovely artwork.
So I thought how hard could it be?.... Apparently VERY!
So, the recipe I found calls for epsom salt. (which by the way if you look up epsom salt you will get a page about magnesium sulfate, but if you look up espon salt wikiAnswers gives you this page which is completely worthless, so good to know how to spell first) Naturally, I look up online where to get epsom salt and I see I can get it at an average grocery store... great! So I head there, nothing in the salt aisle. Not sure why I looked in the baking goods, its not like I'm gonna put baking goods in my bath with me. But somehow my skull can't handle thinking beyond the aisle that I have time and time again found various other kinds of salt; rock salt, popcorn salt, butter salt, garlic salt, etc. So I leave in frustration.
I get home and refer to the internet again, this time clearly stating "where in the grocery store?" and it politely and clearly stated in the "pharmacy section". Ok, so I head back, and I walk over to the pharmacy area where I see the aisle, skin care. DUH! Why didn't I think of that? So I find my epsom salt and head to my activity.
I had carefully packed the Rock Salt, food coloring, mineral oil (or so I thought), clear jars, ribbon, directions, thoughts for a lesson, and scissors into a nice box. WELL, I can't seem to do a craft night for youth group without forgetting something. (Like the time I forgot the vanilla for the No Bake Cookies, I thought it can't be that big of a deal, but the other leader was pretty sure it was a crucial ingredient, so now I have to stall while she goes and gets some vanilla??? ugh, i'm a schmuck.) This time I forgot the mineral oil. How do you expect the food coloring to spread properly if there is no oil to wet down the rock salt? UGH! So I decide to rush home and grab the mineral oil that is on the counter right next to where the box was sitting that I brought to church with me.
When I return all the girls picked a color red, blue, green, etc. Well, one picks purple. Not unreasonable and a normal choice for a girl. Well, she puts in a couple red drops and a couple blue drops and gets greenish-brown? I know that some food coloring is better than others but you've got to be kidding me! All the other colors turned out fine, except that to get an even amount of color on all the salt, the girls felt the need to put half the bottle of food coloring in the bag. So we had some very warm bold reds, oranges, greens and blues.
Then you poured it into the jar, it didn't stay where you wanted it... nooooo, gravity has to do a mean trick of tumbling it down to the bottom of the jar.
All in all the girls we
re good sports, and I'm grateful for having 2 leaders to help activities go smoother when you have to jet home to get your forgotten ingredient. Although, if I do say so myself the orange vanilla scent was yummy, but the hideous bath salts were all I had to give to send them home with.I really should just stop trying to be crafty.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tools, Trucks, Guns...
Whenever the conversation begins to get too girly, Spencer and I always attempt to turn the conversation to more manly topics. We begin listing off as many manly things as we can think of. The list always begins with "Tools, Trucks..." and branches out from there.
Tools
Trucks
Guns
Fire
Football
BBQ
Gasoline
Linux
Big Dogs
Hunting
Drag Racing
GI Joe
Knives
Hand Grenades
Nascar
Spiderco
Nitrus Oxide
Muscles
Napalm
Ninja Turtles
Quake
Rock Climbing
Comic Books
By those standards, I've increased on the manliness meter, apparently. In March, I purchased a truck. I've always wanted a truck, even before I could drive. We'd be driving across town and I'd make mom check out all the variety of trucks as we went by. It was like car window-shopping...
without the annoying salesmen. I almost bought a truck right after my mission... a red 1995 4WD Dodge Dakota. The day we were going to meet up to buy the vehicle, the truck's battery died and we decided it probably wasn't a smart idea to buy the truck. Instead, we purchased a reliable, gas-efficient Hundai Accent.
I kept my eye out for the perfect truck. I'd pass one for sale on the side of the road and pay attention to how much it was, hoping that for some reason it was dirt cheap but still in really good condition. I fell in love with the Toyota Tacoma, but not the new style. I like the older ones with silver trim around the wheel wells and slightly lifted with the TRD offroad sports package. The extended cab was a must, but I never really liked the 4-door model. I wanted a red or blue one, but when buying a used car, you can't be too picky.
Well, good things come to those who wait. Just down the road from where we live was a little car dealership which happened to be on my way to the university. Every morning I drove by and checked out h
is inventory of trucks. To my suprise, early one morning, there was a bright red Tacoma sitting out front. I had to go to class, so I couldn't stop and take a look, but I called Leann and told her about it. On my way home, I drove by and the truck was gone. Later that night, Leann and I were driving by again, and I mentioned that it was gone. Leann, however, saw it in a gated-off back section of the dealer's lot. So, we parked and went and took a look through the chain-link fence. It was perfect.
I would have called it an impulse buy, except for the fact that I had wanted one for so long. I knew exactly what I wanted, and recognized it when I saw it. We went down to the dealer and bought it the next day. I've recently gotten a dog too. Remember those old Nissan commercials on TV? "Dogs love trucks." It's true. Guess I'll have to start working on some of the other items on the manliness list... perhaps the hand grenades or napalm.
Tools
Trucks
Guns
Fire
Football
BBQ
Gasoline
Linux
Big Dogs
Hunting
Drag Racing
GI Joe
Knives
Hand Grenades
Nascar
Spiderco
Nitrus Oxide
Muscles
Napalm
Ninja Turtles
Quake
Rock Climbing
Comic Books
By those standards, I've increased on the manliness meter, apparently. In March, I purchased a truck. I've always wanted a truck, even before I could drive. We'd be driving across town and I'd make mom check out all the variety of trucks as we went by. It was like car window-shopping...
without the annoying salesmen. I almost bought a truck right after my mission... a red 1995 4WD Dodge Dakota. The day we were going to meet up to buy the vehicle, the truck's battery died and we decided it probably wasn't a smart idea to buy the truck. Instead, we purchased a reliable, gas-efficient Hundai Accent.I kept my eye out for the perfect truck. I'd pass one for sale on the side of the road and pay attention to how much it was, hoping that for some reason it was dirt cheap but still in really good condition. I fell in love with the Toyota Tacoma, but not the new style. I like the older ones with silver trim around the wheel wells and slightly lifted with the TRD offroad sports package. The extended cab was a must, but I never really liked the 4-door model. I wanted a red or blue one, but when buying a used car, you can't be too picky.
Well, good things come to those who wait. Just down the road from where we live was a little car dealership which happened to be on my way to the university. Every morning I drove by and checked out h
is inventory of trucks. To my suprise, early one morning, there was a bright red Tacoma sitting out front. I had to go to class, so I couldn't stop and take a look, but I called Leann and told her about it. On my way home, I drove by and the truck was gone. Later that night, Leann and I were driving by again, and I mentioned that it was gone. Leann, however, saw it in a gated-off back section of the dealer's lot. So, we parked and went and took a look through the chain-link fence. It was perfect.I would have called it an impulse buy, except for the fact that I had wanted one for so long. I knew exactly what I wanted, and recognized it when I saw it. We went down to the dealer and bought it the next day. I've recently gotten a dog too. Remember those old Nissan commercials on TV? "Dogs love trucks." It's true. Guess I'll have to start working on some of the other items on the manliness list... perhaps the hand grenades or napalm.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Something Fun We Did Last Month
My friend G from college came to visit us in August,... although friend from college doesn't quite explain it. Its more like sympathetic estrogen support / college companion (similar to a mission companion cuz of the 24/7 thing) / intellectual yet aethestic stimulus / and (last but not least) bathroom buddy all rolled into one.
Anyways, I digress, we had a wonderful day at the Air & Space Museum. This consists of over 300 planes, and also space exhibits. It is a pretty cool place to visit, but going with children makes everything more fun! See her blog for pictures. (I'm lazy, I know)
Afterwards, we went to Eegee's for lunch, its a local franchise known for its slushee drinks, mmmmm. There her son got a hot dog. And silly me, I sat next to him. Much too my surprise, he too wanted to share his hot dog with me! See this post. Continued to try to shove it off on me! Well, I was all practiced up, and pretty much had it down to where I could keep the hotdog on his serving plastic wrapper. But then he did not feel like eating. So we gave up.
That night, my friend brought his hot dog to the Mexican Restaurant for him to eat for dinner. Well, the kind friends that they are, they put themselves in between their children and Matt and myself. Well, dinner proceeded for the most part un-eventful because the tortilla chips seemed to entertain the children. Well, once that ran out. Not only did her son try to share his hot dog with me, he chucked it past his mother and it hit my leg and fell to the ground!
WARNING: May have hot dogs flying my direction!
Anyways, I digress, we had a wonderful day at the Air & Space Museum. This consists of over 300 planes, and also space exhibits. It is a pretty cool place to visit, but going with children makes everything more fun! See her blog for pictures. (I'm lazy, I know)
Afterwards, we went to Eegee's for lunch, its a local franchise known for its slushee drinks, mmmmm. There her son got a hot dog. And silly me, I sat next to him. Much too my surprise, he too wanted to share his hot dog with me! See this post. Continued to try to shove it off on me! Well, I was all practiced up, and pretty much had it down to where I could keep the hotdog on his serving plastic wrapper. But then he did not feel like eating. So we gave up.
That night, my friend brought his hot dog to the Mexican Restaurant for him to eat for dinner. Well, the kind friends that they are, they put themselves in between their children and Matt and myself. Well, dinner proceeded for the most part un-eventful because the tortilla chips seemed to entertain the children. Well, once that ran out. Not only did her son try to share his hot dog with me, he chucked it past his mother and it hit my leg and fell to the ground!
So, I now have accepted, when eating with children...
WARNING: May have hot dogs flying my direction!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Trying Not to Be Those Crazy People Who Treat Their Dog Like a Human
... it's harder than I thought! I mean check her out! She's so cute.
She's 6 months old and has already stolen our hearts. We got her Monday afternoon from the Human Society just after she was spayed that day. She was very excited to see us, and to get in Matt's red truck. Then she squirmed the whole way home. She met the Broderick's and half the Hannah's the first night, and loved them all. During dinner she slept in between Matt's and my feet, it was so cute. She crashed pretty hard that night. She's had 2 accidents at the beginning, but otherwise house training is going well.
She's 6 months old and has already stolen our hearts. We got her Monday afternoon from the Human Society just after she was spayed that day. She was very excited to see us, and to get in Matt's red truck. Then she squirmed the whole way home. She met the Broderick's and half the Hannah's the first night, and loved them all. During dinner she slept in between Matt's and my feet, it was so cute. She crashed pretty hard that night. She's had 2 accidents at the beginning, but otherwise house training is going well.
Welcome home Cleo!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Husband Tag
Richae - you should be glad your family, otherwise not sure I'd do this. But it is fun to let people know more about us!
1. Where did you meet? We met cuz we were friends of friends... it was inevitable. I'm not sure if I first met him at church or at some other function.
2. How long did you date before you got married? 6 months including engagement. But we'd know each other a year.
3. How long have you been married? A little over 2 years
4. What does he do that surprises you? It doesn't surprise me anymore, but he sings or whistles the most random tunes, sometimes they are random songs from his band days.
5. What's your favorite feature about him? This one is tough, I love his jaw line and his smile (total GQ), but I also think he has the cutest ears (weird, I know).
6. What's your favorite quality about him? Favorite... yikes, I don't have one, but I'll tell you the first thing I ever noticed about him... we were playing ulitmate frisbee and he had this ability to try really hard, be really competitive, and be good... but not get mad at others if they did poorly, nor did he worry about passing to girls just cuz they weren't the greatest, he always treated everyone so kind.
7. Does he have a nickname for you? No not really. We joke about being random super heroes though.... for instance... After I did allll of our dirty laundry, I was "Super Laundry Woman"!
8. What's his favorite color? Green, but not ugly green, pretty dark forest green.
9. What's his favorite food? This was so funny at my bridal shower, we played the game where we had to guess certain things about Matt... and his sisters, mom and me all guessed different things. But I think in the end he said Funeral (cheesy) potatoes are his ultimate favorite with steak, chips with salsa and sour cream, and ice cream are close runners up.
10. What's his favorite sport? Currently, rock climbing.
11. Who said I love you first? He did.
12. When and where was your first kiss? In his apartment. We were hanging out with our friends as we did all the time. And that week, he had given me so many confusing signals like he'd stay to talk until all hours of the night, but wouldn't sit next to me. So that night we were watching movies, and I knew this would be a perfect time to make his move, but he was oblivious. Well, everyone left (except me) and we put on another movie, and I still have no idea what that movie was about, cuz we talked nose to nose during the whole movie, while I waited for him to get the courage to finally kiss me!
13. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Well, it depends on the day, but we love to play games together (both on and off the computer). We love going to movies together, and we also can get very absorbed having spiritual and philosphical discussions.
14. Do you have any kids? Not yet.
15. What's a hidden talent that he has? this isn't hidden to his family cuz they all do it, but telling clever puns. He's really good at it and his family sits there and tries to out-do each other... its really funny.
16. How old is he? almost 25 (I know I robbed the cradle)
17. What's his favorite type of music? Almost everything but rap. His favorite bands are Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, and Garth Brooks
18. What do you admire most about him? The way he loves me so absolutely. He nevers gets mad at me when I do the things that drive him nuts, he just accepts them and moves on. (and then I get mad at him cuz he never told me how much it bugged him, he never wins, poor guy)
19. What's his favorite pastime? I'm not sure, but I'm gonna say creating or building things. He'd love to have more time (and money) to just hang out at the hobby store, whether it's building some motor, to flying a remote control airplane.
20. Is he going to read this? Probably... he writes on this blog.
I'd love to hear about others husbands, but I'm not gonna tag anyone specific.
1. Where did you meet? We met cuz we were friends of friends... it was inevitable. I'm not sure if I first met him at church or at some other function.
2. How long did you date before you got married? 6 months including engagement. But we'd know each other a year.
3. How long have you been married? A little over 2 years
4. What does he do that surprises you? It doesn't surprise me anymore, but he sings or whistles the most random tunes, sometimes they are random songs from his band days.
5. What's your favorite feature about him? This one is tough, I love his jaw line and his smile (total GQ), but I also think he has the cutest ears (weird, I know).
6. What's your favorite quality about him? Favorite... yikes, I don't have one, but I'll tell you the first thing I ever noticed about him... we were playing ulitmate frisbee and he had this ability to try really hard, be really competitive, and be good... but not get mad at others if they did poorly, nor did he worry about passing to girls just cuz they weren't the greatest, he always treated everyone so kind.
7. Does he have a nickname for you? No not really. We joke about being random super heroes though.... for instance... After I did allll of our dirty laundry, I was "Super Laundry Woman"!
8. What's his favorite color? Green, but not ugly green, pretty dark forest green.
9. What's his favorite food? This was so funny at my bridal shower, we played the game where we had to guess certain things about Matt... and his sisters, mom and me all guessed different things. But I think in the end he said Funeral (cheesy) potatoes are his ultimate favorite with steak, chips with salsa and sour cream, and ice cream are close runners up.
10. What's his favorite sport? Currently, rock climbing.
11. Who said I love you first? He did.
12. When and where was your first kiss? In his apartment. We were hanging out with our friends as we did all the time. And that week, he had given me so many confusing signals like he'd stay to talk until all hours of the night, but wouldn't sit next to me. So that night we were watching movies, and I knew this would be a perfect time to make his move, but he was oblivious. Well, everyone left (except me) and we put on another movie, and I still have no idea what that movie was about, cuz we talked nose to nose during the whole movie, while I waited for him to get the courage to finally kiss me!
13. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Well, it depends on the day, but we love to play games together (both on and off the computer). We love going to movies together, and we also can get very absorbed having spiritual and philosphical discussions.
14. Do you have any kids? Not yet.
15. What's a hidden talent that he has? this isn't hidden to his family cuz they all do it, but telling clever puns. He's really good at it and his family sits there and tries to out-do each other... its really funny.
16. How old is he? almost 25 (I know I robbed the cradle)
17. What's his favorite type of music? Almost everything but rap. His favorite bands are Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, and Garth Brooks
18. What do you admire most about him? The way he loves me so absolutely. He nevers gets mad at me when I do the things that drive him nuts, he just accepts them and moves on. (and then I get mad at him cuz he never told me how much it bugged him, he never wins, poor guy)
19. What's his favorite pastime? I'm not sure, but I'm gonna say creating or building things. He'd love to have more time (and money) to just hang out at the hobby store, whether it's building some motor, to flying a remote control airplane.
20. Is he going to read this? Probably... he writes on this blog.
I'd love to hear about others husbands, but I'm not gonna tag anyone specific.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
No, kids shouldn't share.
The idea of "sharing" is quite popular in American culture, but I decline.
Somehow, sharing seems nice if you're the giver helping out the poor, less-fortunate kid. But is it really sharing if the person you're giving to really doesn't want the respective item? Then you're a giver rather than the sharer. Giving does not teach the same values that sharing does. Giving willfully teaches the value of selflessness while sharing teaches the values of equality and fairness.
"There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals." (There are so many attibuted authors for this quote that I am unsure who the original author is.)
Some people have gotten it into their minds that they deserve what others have, and still call that "sharing." In fact, by definition, sharing means that you divide something into "shares" and distribute equally. You might share a bicycle by taking equal turns, or share a candybar by dividing it into pieces. This does not mean that the person is required to give up what they have, nor do they have to give it to them right then. The shares have to be equal, but not the distribution of these shares. This means that I can share with whom I choose. I do not have to give all that I have, only an equal portion to each party with whom I choose to share. This type of sharing emphasizes patience, and avoids the problems of instant gratification
Say I earned $0.50 and bought a candybar. I shouldn't be obligated to share just because someone else doesn't have one. We're not communists! (Please read the The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) I have a candybar because I worked hard and earned it. I can share my candybar if I want to. I can share however much or little of my candybar that I would like. If I share it willingly, then I've learned not to be selfish. If I'm obligated to share, not only have I lost the chance to learn selflessness, but we're also teaching the receiver that he should depend on some sort of welfare system where he reaps where he has not sown.
More importantly, I think a kid needs to come to grips with the fact that "what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours." If a person desires what they do not have, asking for a portion is commonly accepted. However, sharing is not always the best way to handle the situation of greed. Sometimes the resolution is a man working for his portion. Sometimes the answer is simply, "no." This teaches a kid not to be whiny, greedy, and inconsiderate. In turn, the kid learns respect for other's property, the value of work, and the ability to handle not getting what he wants.
Somehow, sharing seems nice if you're the giver helping out the poor, less-fortunate kid. But is it really sharing if the person you're giving to really doesn't want the respective item? Then you're a giver rather than the sharer. Giving does not teach the same values that sharing does. Giving willfully teaches the value of selflessness while sharing teaches the values of equality and fairness.
"There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals." (There are so many attibuted authors for this quote that I am unsure who the original author is.)
Some people have gotten it into their minds that they deserve what others have, and still call that "sharing." In fact, by definition, sharing means that you divide something into "shares" and distribute equally. You might share a bicycle by taking equal turns, or share a candybar by dividing it into pieces. This does not mean that the person is required to give up what they have, nor do they have to give it to them right then. The shares have to be equal, but not the distribution of these shares. This means that I can share with whom I choose. I do not have to give all that I have, only an equal portion to each party with whom I choose to share. This type of sharing emphasizes patience, and avoids the problems of instant gratification
Say I earned $0.50 and bought a candybar. I shouldn't be obligated to share just because someone else doesn't have one. We're not communists! (Please read the The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) I have a candybar because I worked hard and earned it. I can share my candybar if I want to. I can share however much or little of my candybar that I would like. If I share it willingly, then I've learned not to be selfish. If I'm obligated to share, not only have I lost the chance to learn selflessness, but we're also teaching the receiver that he should depend on some sort of welfare system where he reaps where he has not sown.
More importantly, I think a kid needs to come to grips with the fact that "what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours." If a person desires what they do not have, asking for a portion is commonly accepted. However, sharing is not always the best way to handle the situation of greed. Sometimes the resolution is a man working for his portion. Sometimes the answer is simply, "no." This teaches a kid not to be whiny, greedy, and inconsiderate. In turn, the kid learns respect for other's property, the value of work, and the ability to handle not getting what he wants.
Should Kids Really Share?
OK,... so I don't have my own kids thus I have to take advantage of this fun story...
Today we had a work lunch.... basically someone who works remote was in town, so a bunch of us wanted to go out to lunch. Well an old co-worker of ours decided to come. She's a stay at home mom now, and in fact also does day care for one of the working moms in my department. And since the working mom's day care giver is coming to lunch, the working mom is also bringing her child. So now, we have 3 children coming to our work lunch. Cool... sounds fun to me!
So, we have two tables, 1 with high chairs and booster seats all ready, and 1 with no childern amenities. Well of course as people file in it turns out that I move from the all adult table to the 'kid' table. I'm sitting next to the 2 year old girl (who's at the head of the table), and her 4 year old brother is across the table from me. Well, naturally the stay at home mom is excited to see everyone and strikes up conversation with the other 3 adults at the table. This leaves her son, who is hiding under the table, and daughter with no mother to watch their every move.
Naturally the restaurant gave the kids crayons and paper menus to draw on. So for about 5 minutes that entertained the daughter. Well, thanks to my 18 nieces and nephews, I've learned that it is much more enjoyable to sit next to a 2-year old if you play with them a little. So I started asking her about the crayons. Then she started sharing them with me, and asking me to draw. I thought, how nice she's sharing! Then I hung onto the crayons because she had clearly lost interest.
Then her mom starting giving her bites of muffin, which entertained her for yet, another 5 minutes. Then she decided she needed to share her muffin. And not just hand it to me nicely, but to put it on my little muffin plate... you know, that little place for your bread? So, wow! I thought, what a great girl! But I still did not really want her muffin, so I showed her my muffin that I was 'conveniently' eating at the same time.... so she knew I didn't need her muffin pieces.
At this point, we resort to the little back pack that mom brought full of toys! YAY for prepared moms! So we bust out the groovy plastic slinky. That I think actually worked for 8 minutes. Then her mom finds the wind up toys, which finally gets the son to come out from under the table. And wow, about another 8 minutes passed!
Then lunch comes! And the daughter and son were having hot dogs and french fries. Well, as a good mom would, she grabs the son's hot dog to cut in half. In the mean time I don't know if the daughter thought the hot dog was too big (which it was!), or if she didn't want it. So she tries to put the hot dog on my plate! Uh, no. So then, she puts it on the table right next to my plate. I try to hand it back to her. But nope, she beats me and tries to put it by me again. At this point the mom is aware and grabs the hot dog to also cut it in half, so daughter happily starts on the french fries.
Then she decides that after she has enjoyed multiple french fries and has good greasy-ketchupy hands, that she needs to share again! At this point she has taken a french fry and mushed a it up and down on her plate, so that its that nasty squishy type of fry and then tries to give it to me! So she starts to put it on my plate... even though she can clearly see that I too have french fries. So I politely tell her I don't want it. (This argument works much better on my nephew when he's whining and says, "BUT I WANT ...." and I say, "But I don't." It's like he never thought about the fact that I might think differently than him... its fun!) She tries again, again I say, "No thanks, I have my own fries." Well, that worked for maybe 2 minutes, and then she tries again with a new french fry! And I still have my own fries.
Then when she's done with her sippy cup.. and her brother's sippy cup, she doesn't want them near her... infact she wants them near me. Now, I'm starting to realize... maybe she doesn't want to share... maybe this really isn't about giving and being nice.... she thinks I'm the all purpose garbage can! Dang-it! How could I have fallen for those adorable eyes, and gorgeous curls! This whole time I thought she liked me... but alas, I'm just a useful big person! hahahaha.
Oh well, I guess I have a lot to learn with kids, but I did learn a very important rule in Denver from my sister-in-laws.... NEVER and I repeat NEVER share drinks with kids... otherwise, you are sharing their BACKWASH! YUCK!
Today we had a work lunch.... basically someone who works remote was in town, so a bunch of us wanted to go out to lunch. Well an old co-worker of ours decided to come. She's a stay at home mom now, and in fact also does day care for one of the working moms in my department. And since the working mom's day care giver is coming to lunch, the working mom is also bringing her child. So now, we have 3 children coming to our work lunch. Cool... sounds fun to me!
So, we have two tables, 1 with high chairs and booster seats all ready, and 1 with no childern amenities. Well of course as people file in it turns out that I move from the all adult table to the 'kid' table. I'm sitting next to the 2 year old girl (who's at the head of the table), and her 4 year old brother is across the table from me. Well, naturally the stay at home mom is excited to see everyone and strikes up conversation with the other 3 adults at the table. This leaves her son, who is hiding under the table, and daughter with no mother to watch their every move.
Naturally the restaurant gave the kids crayons and paper menus to draw on. So for about 5 minutes that entertained the daughter. Well, thanks to my 18 nieces and nephews, I've learned that it is much more enjoyable to sit next to a 2-year old if you play with them a little. So I started asking her about the crayons. Then she started sharing them with me, and asking me to draw. I thought, how nice she's sharing! Then I hung onto the crayons because she had clearly lost interest.
Then her mom starting giving her bites of muffin, which entertained her for yet, another 5 minutes. Then she decided she needed to share her muffin. And not just hand it to me nicely, but to put it on my little muffin plate... you know, that little place for your bread? So, wow! I thought, what a great girl! But I still did not really want her muffin, so I showed her my muffin that I was 'conveniently' eating at the same time.... so she knew I didn't need her muffin pieces.
At this point, we resort to the little back pack that mom brought full of toys! YAY for prepared moms! So we bust out the groovy plastic slinky. That I think actually worked for 8 minutes. Then her mom finds the wind up toys, which finally gets the son to come out from under the table. And wow, about another 8 minutes passed!
Then lunch comes! And the daughter and son were having hot dogs and french fries. Well, as a good mom would, she grabs the son's hot dog to cut in half. In the mean time I don't know if the daughter thought the hot dog was too big (which it was!), or if she didn't want it. So she tries to put the hot dog on my plate! Uh, no. So then, she puts it on the table right next to my plate. I try to hand it back to her. But nope, she beats me and tries to put it by me again. At this point the mom is aware and grabs the hot dog to also cut it in half, so daughter happily starts on the french fries.
Then she decides that after she has enjoyed multiple french fries and has good greasy-ketchupy hands, that she needs to share again! At this point she has taken a french fry and mushed a it up and down on her plate, so that its that nasty squishy type of fry and then tries to give it to me! So she starts to put it on my plate... even though she can clearly see that I too have french fries. So I politely tell her I don't want it. (This argument works much better on my nephew when he's whining and says, "BUT I WANT ...." and I say, "But I don't." It's like he never thought about the fact that I might think differently than him... its fun!) She tries again, again I say, "No thanks, I have my own fries." Well, that worked for maybe 2 minutes, and then she tries again with a new french fry! And I still have my own fries.
Then when she's done with her sippy cup.. and her brother's sippy cup, she doesn't want them near her... infact she wants them near me. Now, I'm starting to realize... maybe she doesn't want to share... maybe this really isn't about giving and being nice.... she thinks I'm the all purpose garbage can! Dang-it! How could I have fallen for those adorable eyes, and gorgeous curls! This whole time I thought she liked me... but alas, I'm just a useful big person! hahahaha.
Oh well, I guess I have a lot to learn with kids, but I did learn a very important rule in Denver from my sister-in-laws.... NEVER and I repeat NEVER share drinks with kids... otherwise, you are sharing their BACKWASH! YUCK!
Friday, August 8, 2008
I'm slackin...
I know, I haven't written in a while. Things have been busy, not crazy, just busy. And I don't know, I think my life is boring. But alas, I guess I can share what I've been up to.
- Had an SED (Sunday Evening Discussion) at my house.
- After visiting Denver, I decided my house needed more pictures, so got new picture frames, and hung them up. (ok didn't really have to get more than 1, cuz I have great ones from my wedding!)
- Finally got my 11x14 wedding picture up in my house! It looks so great!
- Got a hair cut. It's still long, just more layers and kept the sweep bangs. (sweeping? swooping? I don't know how to say it)
- Went to jury duty for the first time. It was boring, but I got a new book to read (see next line), so I was good.
- Started reading Twilight, my Young Women (youth from church youth group) is totally hooked on this book, so I decided to check it out. I'm on page 195, and yup, totally hooked in the cheesy teenage romance.
- Had Matt's family over for dinner.
- Um... providing moral support to my friend who canned a ton of peaches for me! Seriously, she's the best!
- Working. Our deadline is the first week of September, so things are getting stressful.
- Supporting Matt through his 2nd to last semester. (He finishes Monday! and then just 1 more semester! YAY!)
- Oh and trying to get back into a schedule for working out. Wish me luck on this one.
- And of course, hanging out with my hubby, mostly playing our video game.
- Painted my toes a bluish color with white, blue and silver flowers.
Well, that's mostly the highlight. Got a great couple weekends coming up. I'll bring my camera for some fun pics!
- Had an SED (Sunday Evening Discussion) at my house.
- After visiting Denver, I decided my house needed more pictures, so got new picture frames, and hung them up. (ok didn't really have to get more than 1, cuz I have great ones from my wedding!)
- Finally got my 11x14 wedding picture up in my house! It looks so great!
- Got a hair cut. It's still long, just more layers and kept the sweep bangs. (sweeping? swooping? I don't know how to say it)
- Went to jury duty for the first time. It was boring, but I got a new book to read (see next line), so I was good.
- Started reading Twilight, my Young Women (youth from church youth group) is totally hooked on this book, so I decided to check it out. I'm on page 195, and yup, totally hooked in the cheesy teenage romance.
- Had Matt's family over for dinner.
- Um... providing moral support to my friend who canned a ton of peaches for me! Seriously, she's the best!
- Working. Our deadline is the first week of September, so things are getting stressful.
- Supporting Matt through his 2nd to last semester. (He finishes Monday! and then just 1 more semester! YAY!)
- Oh and trying to get back into a schedule for working out. Wish me luck on this one.
- And of course, hanging out with my hubby, mostly playing our video game.
- Painted my toes a bluish color with white, blue and silver flowers.
Well, that's mostly the highlight. Got a great couple weekends coming up. I'll bring my camera for some fun pics!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
It's Good to Be a Kid Again
So Saturday night, I was in one of those funks, where nothing sounds fun, but you know you don't want to stay home.
So our friends invited us over to watch movies. I wasn't excited, but went along with it. And now, I'm so glad I did.
We went over, hung out ate a late dinner, cuz we were all too lazy to eat dinner before 8:30pm on a Saturday night... hahaha. Then us girls went out to get ice cream, cookies, Chex Mix, M&Ms, and Sour Patch kids. Then we sat down and watched The Golden Compass, and Vantage Point and totally veg'ed out. We stayed there until almost 2am. Both movies were pretty good, Golden Compass was harder to follow cuz we were tired and it was pouring outside (which was loud), and Vantage Point had a lot of dying in it, but nonetheless, they were enjoyable. But the part I loved, was that we just hung out the whole time... ate junk food, and felt like kids again!
Thanks for a great time!
So our friends invited us over to watch movies. I wasn't excited, but went along with it. And now, I'm so glad I did.
We went over, hung out ate a late dinner, cuz we were all too lazy to eat dinner before 8:30pm on a Saturday night... hahaha. Then us girls went out to get ice cream, cookies, Chex Mix, M&Ms, and Sour Patch kids. Then we sat down and watched The Golden Compass, and Vantage Point and totally veg'ed out. We stayed there until almost 2am. Both movies were pretty good, Golden Compass was harder to follow cuz we were tired and it was pouring outside (which was loud), and Vantage Point had a lot of dying in it, but nonetheless, they were enjoyable. But the part I loved, was that we just hung out the whole time... ate junk food, and felt like kids again!
Thanks for a great time!
Friday, July 18, 2008
A Tomato Worth Talking To
Here is our first big RED Tomato. There are a few more on the plant, but we had to celebrate the first one. And it was yummy too!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Camp Bliss
Well, I survived Girls' Camp. 150 girls total, and I was in charge of 11 of them. The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes.... he really made me remember what it's like at Girls' Camp and how much fun it is to be a teenager, even though you might drive your leaders nuts!
I really had a great time, and enjoyed spending time up on the mountain, despite the sore legs, lack of sleep, and constant shadows (a.k.a. my girls).
Here's our campsite decorations (we were The Aquamarines, but our movie them was The Little Mermaid)
Here's our campfire
(ladybugs)
I really had a great time, and enjoyed spending time up on the mountain, despite the sore legs, lack of sleep, and constant shadows (a.k.a. my girls).
Here's our campsite decorations (we were The Aquamarines, but our movie them was The Little Mermaid)
Here's our campfire
(ladybugs)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Gamer In Me
Growing up, we had a fair amount of card and board games to play. Our selection included, Pit, Rook, face cards, Yahtzee, Candy Land, Stratego, Risk, Clue, Chess, Checkers, Life, Shoots and Ladders, Sorry, and Monopoly. Come to find out, our game closet was miniscule compared to Leann's family's. But there's a reason, I suppose: Her family actually gets along while playing games.
The day the game closet got emptied was a day of mixed emotions for the family. Did mom really just throw away the Monopoly game grandma gave Jan for Christmas? What were we ever going to do without having to play as the penny or broken green Sorry piece because all the Monopoly pieces were missing?
The truth is that games never worked out so well at my house. By the end of the six-hour Risk game where you've taken over almost the whole world three times just to have spread out your forces too thin -- or the Monopoly game where you've begun taking out loans from the bank to pay off your debt on Marvin Gardens with three hotels, the game begins to get a bit fustrating. In our case, it usually ended in name calling or accusations of cheating... or anti-cheating (which is far worse, by the way).
Games these days are entirely based on every player being selfish, cunning, and greedy. Isn't that the basis of Monopoly? Or the bunny game? The bean game? There's really no strategy... it's all about who can get the most the fastest without caring about who you step on or blow away to get it. In fact, there are few games out there that don't involve stealing other player's hard work, or getting joy out of their demise. Is that what fun is these days? Sounds like the basis of personal apostasy to me.
It's hard to be a good loser. Especially when your opponent tries to be nice to you. It seems to be a common misconception that being merciful actually improves the quality of losing. Instead of losing in one massive blow, it becomes spread out over the course of three hours as your paper money is slowly drained from you and your game pieces are eliminated one by one until you're forced into a stalemate.
My family knows the best ways to ruin a good game. Anti-cheating is my personal favorite tactic. The idea behind anti-cheating is that you purposefully play in a way that obviously dosn't help you, but instead makes another player win. Now, they have rules against this (in poker specifically) when the players are in cahoots to pull one over on all the other players. The genius of this game-ruining plan is that the person who you're helping dosn't want to be helped. Games aren't any fun when someone lets you win. There's no triumph, no victory. And the games only last about five minutes.
The day mom threw away Monopoly was the start of a gaming revolution in our household.
Just because you're not on the junior highschool chess team dosn't mean you're not a geek. With a very slim selection of board games to play, most of us kids resorted to other activites to use up our spare time. Some of us read books, some played musical instruments, and some of us nerds began hobbies like computer programming or building Legos. Legos eventually died out, and as Geoff pointed out during highschool, girls kill men's creativity.
In my case, games worked their way back in during the era of single-player computer games like Civilization, Wolfenstein 3D, Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Commander Keen, and Doom. We just didn't play with eachother and everyone was happy.
The original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans came out in 1994. I played and beat the demo which fit onto a 3.5" floppy disk. The real game was too good for our computer and we had to create a special boot up disk to preserve enough RAM for the game to run. The modem connection ran so slowly that Kyle and I would get up at 3:00am on Saturday morning so that we could play. I'd stuff my pillow behind the computer in order to smother the modem connection speed negotiating sounds. Lucklily Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness came out soon after in 1995, which had an IPX network play option.
It wasn't until Kyle moved down the street that we put in a network line down the alley and played them on IPX. Tell me I'm not a geek. When you extend your *wired* Local Area Network outside your own house, your DHCP automatically assigns you an IP on the geek domain.
I've been an avid fan of all of Blizzard Entertainment's games since then. I've owned, played, and beaten almost every one. I now play World Of Warcraft, an MMO... at least until Starcraft 2 comes out. The idea of the MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) is that you play with and against a vast number of other real and NPC (non-player characters) in the game. You'd think, now knowing my game histroy, that involving other human players into my game would cause an utter fall-out and devestation to my gaming experience. You'd be right. However, there is a more geeky aspect to the game that entrigues me.
I like to think of myself much like Jason in the Fox Trot comic strip series. Jason is the geeky little brother to Paige (his older sister). He is always involved with computers, science fiction, Star Wars, Star Trek, and video games. Quite a while ago, Bill Amend ran a series of strips featuring Jason and World of WarQuest (Warcraft and Everquest).
The day the game closet got emptied was a day of mixed emotions for the family. Did mom really just throw away the Monopoly game grandma gave Jan for Christmas? What were we ever going to do without having to play as the penny or broken green Sorry piece because all the Monopoly pieces were missing?
The truth is that games never worked out so well at my house. By the end of the six-hour Risk game where you've taken over almost the whole world three times just to have spread out your forces too thin -- or the Monopoly game where you've begun taking out loans from the bank to pay off your debt on Marvin Gardens with three hotels, the game begins to get a bit fustrating. In our case, it usually ended in name calling or accusations of cheating... or anti-cheating (which is far worse, by the way).
Games these days are entirely based on every player being selfish, cunning, and greedy. Isn't that the basis of Monopoly? Or the bunny game? The bean game? There's really no strategy... it's all about who can get the most the fastest without caring about who you step on or blow away to get it. In fact, there are few games out there that don't involve stealing other player's hard work, or getting joy out of their demise. Is that what fun is these days? Sounds like the basis of personal apostasy to me.
It's hard to be a good loser. Especially when your opponent tries to be nice to you. It seems to be a common misconception that being merciful actually improves the quality of losing. Instead of losing in one massive blow, it becomes spread out over the course of three hours as your paper money is slowly drained from you and your game pieces are eliminated one by one until you're forced into a stalemate.
My family knows the best ways to ruin a good game. Anti-cheating is my personal favorite tactic. The idea behind anti-cheating is that you purposefully play in a way that obviously dosn't help you, but instead makes another player win. Now, they have rules against this (in poker specifically) when the players are in cahoots to pull one over on all the other players. The genius of this game-ruining plan is that the person who you're helping dosn't want to be helped. Games aren't any fun when someone lets you win. There's no triumph, no victory. And the games only last about five minutes.
The day mom threw away Monopoly was the start of a gaming revolution in our household.
Just because you're not on the junior highschool chess team dosn't mean you're not a geek. With a very slim selection of board games to play, most of us kids resorted to other activites to use up our spare time. Some of us read books, some played musical instruments, and some of us nerds began hobbies like computer programming or building Legos. Legos eventually died out, and as Geoff pointed out during highschool, girls kill men's creativity.
In my case, games worked their way back in during the era of single-player computer games like Civilization, Wolfenstein 3D, Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Commander Keen, and Doom. We just didn't play with eachother and everyone was happy.
The original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans came out in 1994. I played and beat the demo which fit onto a 3.5" floppy disk. The real game was too good for our computer and we had to create a special boot up disk to preserve enough RAM for the game to run. The modem connection ran so slowly that Kyle and I would get up at 3:00am on Saturday morning so that we could play. I'd stuff my pillow behind the computer in order to smother the modem connection speed negotiating sounds. Lucklily Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness came out soon after in 1995, which had an IPX network play option.
It wasn't until Kyle moved down the street that we put in a network line down the alley and played them on IPX. Tell me I'm not a geek. When you extend your *wired* Local Area Network outside your own house, your DHCP automatically assigns you an IP on the geek domain.
I've been an avid fan of all of Blizzard Entertainment's games since then. I've owned, played, and beaten almost every one. I now play World Of Warcraft, an MMO... at least until Starcraft 2 comes out. The idea of the MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) is that you play with and against a vast number of other real and NPC (non-player characters) in the game. You'd think, now knowing my game histroy, that involving other human players into my game would cause an utter fall-out and devestation to my gaming experience. You'd be right. However, there is a more geeky aspect to the game that entrigues me.
I like to think of myself much like Jason in the Fox Trot comic strip series. Jason is the geeky little brother to Paige (his older sister). He is always involved with computers, science fiction, Star Wars, Star Trek, and video games. Quite a while ago, Bill Amend ran a series of strips featuring Jason and World of WarQuest (Warcraft and Everquest).
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Tomates Good Enough to Eat
Here's my parsley, round 2... its growing the 2nd amount after having chopped it down.
And those tiny little tomato plants, we just put the bigger cages on them. Note to self, the tiny little plants grow HUGE, and its easier to put the bigger cages on before hand. They are still recovering from being squished to fit the cage on top of it.
(on the right you can see some of the tomatoes are red, we've even enjoyed a few)
And the big tomatoes are FINALLY turning red.
Its been fun to come home and check on them each day!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tagged
Ok, I won't do this everytime I get tagged, but I'm bored at work.... waiting on stuff to complete.
A- Attached or single: Very attached
B- Best Friend: Matt (but if you don't count husbands, G)
C-Cake or Pie: hmm... cheesecake, chocolate mousse pie, or fruit crisp? Its a tough call
D-Day: not mondays, not tuesdays, Fridays are good, Saturdays depends, and it used to be Sundays, but not lately
E- Essential Item: chapstick
F-Favorite Color: blue (periwinkle if you know what that is)
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: depends. If you're in the movies, Worms. If you're not, its totally fun to be a kid again, and bite of their heads, stick 'em on the wrong color and enjoy and multi flavored gummi bear!
H-Home town: Arizona
I- Indulgences: French Fries and Ranch
J- January or July?: hmm.. I would've said June, cuz that's my anniversary, but I like July... cuz I get to go swimming lots! And fireworks are fun.
K- Kids: not yet
L-Life is incomplete without: love
M- Marriage Date: June 9, 2006
N-Number of Siblings: 5, unless you count in-laws, then I have 13, but then if you count the in-laws spouses too (which feel like is just as much family), then it's 16.
O-Oranges or Apples: Oranges.
P- Phobias or Fears: cockroaches. Give me a scorpion, or tarantulas any day!
Q- Quote: Serious - "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." (I stole that from Sarah) Funny - "Hoooowww shall I do it? I know, I'll turn him into a flea, a harmless little flea, and then I'll put the flea in a box, and put that box in another box, and then I'll mail it to myself, AND when IT ARRIVES I'll SMASH IT with a HAMMER! Its BRILLIANT BRILLANT BRILLANT I tell you, Genious I say!" (remember that A?) or "What's with the CHIMP and the bug? Can we get back to ME?"
R- Reason To Smile: Family
S- Season: Fall, I love the leaves (not here of course), in cities with real seasons
T- Tag Four: nope, not gonna do it.
U- Unknown fact about me: well, a few of you know... but about 2 months ago, I had a Thyroid Nodulectomy
V- Very Favorite Store: clothes - NY & Co, easiest to spend money at - Target, favorite brand but not really a store - Quiksilver/Roxy
W- Worst Habit: Like I'm gonna admit that publicly.. haha
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: This makes me laugh, cuz I feel the opposite than most I think. Ultrasounds mean that your gastroentrologists recommended it, or your endocrinologist recommended it. And if you have a bump that you're getting checked out.... they rub the thing all over it, and put pressure on it so it hurts! X-rays, yeah, they maybe cuz you are already hurt, but they themselves do NOT hurt. (except at the dentist)
Y-Your favorite food: French Fries and Ranch, or chocolate when I'm in the mood.
Z: Zodiac Sign: Libra
A- Attached or single: Very attached
B- Best Friend: Matt (but if you don't count husbands, G)
C-Cake or Pie: hmm... cheesecake, chocolate mousse pie, or fruit crisp? Its a tough call
D-Day: not mondays, not tuesdays, Fridays are good, Saturdays depends, and it used to be Sundays, but not lately
E- Essential Item: chapstick
F-Favorite Color: blue (periwinkle if you know what that is)
G-Gummi Bears or Worms: depends. If you're in the movies, Worms. If you're not, its totally fun to be a kid again, and bite of their heads, stick 'em on the wrong color and enjoy and multi flavored gummi bear!
H-Home town: Arizona
I- Indulgences: French Fries and Ranch
J- January or July?: hmm.. I would've said June, cuz that's my anniversary, but I like July... cuz I get to go swimming lots! And fireworks are fun.
K- Kids: not yet
L-Life is incomplete without: love
M- Marriage Date: June 9, 2006
N-Number of Siblings: 5, unless you count in-laws, then I have 13, but then if you count the in-laws spouses too (which feel like is just as much family), then it's 16.
O-Oranges or Apples: Oranges.
P- Phobias or Fears: cockroaches. Give me a scorpion, or tarantulas any day!
Q- Quote: Serious - "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." (I stole that from Sarah) Funny - "Hoooowww shall I do it? I know, I'll turn him into a flea, a harmless little flea, and then I'll put the flea in a box, and put that box in another box, and then I'll mail it to myself, AND when IT ARRIVES I'll SMASH IT with a HAMMER! Its BRILLIANT BRILLANT BRILLANT I tell you, Genious I say!" (remember that A?) or "What's with the CHIMP and the bug? Can we get back to ME?"
R- Reason To Smile: Family
S- Season: Fall, I love the leaves (not here of course), in cities with real seasons
T- Tag Four: nope, not gonna do it.
U- Unknown fact about me: well, a few of you know... but about 2 months ago, I had a Thyroid Nodulectomy
V- Very Favorite Store: clothes - NY & Co, easiest to spend money at - Target, favorite brand but not really a store - Quiksilver/Roxy
W- Worst Habit: Like I'm gonna admit that publicly.. haha
X-Rays or Ultrasounds: This makes me laugh, cuz I feel the opposite than most I think. Ultrasounds mean that your gastroentrologists recommended it, or your endocrinologist recommended it. And if you have a bump that you're getting checked out.... they rub the thing all over it, and put pressure on it so it hurts! X-rays, yeah, they maybe cuz you are already hurt, but they themselves do NOT hurt. (except at the dentist)
Y-Your favorite food: French Fries and Ranch, or chocolate when I'm in the mood.
Z: Zodiac Sign: Libra
Friday, June 13, 2008
Happy 2nd Anniversary to Me!
Monday was our 2nd Anniversary. So, we decided to treat ourselves to a fancy dinner. We went to the same place that Matt took me to the night he proposed. (sorry the pictures are dark, I didn't want to use a flash in such a nice place... hehehe)
So, first we got our drinks. Simple, I know, but still classy glasses, eh?
Then we got salads, but I forgot to take pictures... sorry. I got the cheese tomato salad, and Matt got the house salad which was somewhat Southwestern style, it was yummy.
Then for dinner we got....
Mashed potatoes, portabello mushrooms (in some yummy sauce), and then a bleu cheese stuffed mushroom that was sweet and salty and oniony... soo good! I love the moon shaped dishes that they came in.
So, first we got our drinks. Simple, I know, but still classy glasses, eh?
Then we got salads, but I forgot to take pictures... sorry. I got the cheese tomato salad, and Matt got the house salad which was somewhat Southwestern style, it was yummy.
Then for dinner we got....
Mashed potatoes, portabello mushrooms (in some yummy sauce), and then a bleu cheese stuffed mushroom that was sweet and salty and oniony... soo good! I love the moon shaped dishes that they came in.
Then came the steaks! Matt got his BIG Ribeye with butter and salt as his topping, and I got a filet mignon with this creamy garlic and portabello mushroom sauce on top. There's a tomato on the side that was cooked with cheese... so good!
Then we got dessert.
Matt got the Peach Strawberry Crisp, it was delicious.
And I got The Chocolate Tiara! Ok, so the pretty strawberry and the drizzle of strawberry sauce were an added bonus... but CHECK IT OUT! It's a dome shaped dessert, filled with chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, covered in dark chocolate, and drizzled with white chocolate, and then a pretty vanilla wafer type cookie surrounding it, in the shape of a crown! I ate EVERY bite of this baby! So good. I didn't even finish my steak, and man am I glad, cuz this was worth saving the room.
We didn't do much afterwards, just went home and hung out. Not like last year, where I got sent to a technical conference in Orlando Florida the week of our anniversary... so I brought Matt along and we splurged on Disney World! But going out to eat was such a great celebration for us! And its fun too, cuz it has some sentiment to go along with it.
All in all... despite the stress, and craziness this year brought us, I still am happier now than I would be without Matty in my life. :)Monday, June 9, 2008
Whhheeeerrrrrrree Aaaarrrrrre Yoooouuu?
In the Goofy Movie, Goofy takes many moments to talk to inanimate objects.
"Goodbye House, Goodbye Mailbox, Goodbye Pile of Broken Wood," is the often quoted line.
Did you ever talk to inanimate objects? Well, Matt does. And he doesn't just talk to them. He questions them. When he's trying to find his phone, keys, wallet, belt, sock, cup, food, anything really. He proceeds to ask them where they are. As if they are going to actually answer. And its not just some, "Where are you phone?" statement. No, no, no. Its full on song. "Ppphhhhoooonnnnnee, Whhheeeerrrrrrree Aaaarrrrrre Yoooouuu? Whheeerree Aarrreee Yyoouuu, Phone? I really miiiisssss yyyoooooouuuu. Cooommme Back phhhoooonnnne." The worst part is he's got me doing it now too!
So then, I wonder, why do I talk to inanimate objects? Why does my brain think that will help? Do I actually think its going to answer? Why don't we try calling the phone? Is it too much to work to run around the house listening for the ring? But really, is it any less work than wandering around the house singing for it? Why not ask an animate object to help the search effort? Is it that I feel loney and need more friends? Does talking to it, make the search more efficient? Could it be that the objects have traversed many homes and many locations with me and deep down I have a strong emotional attachment to them? Or is it some chemical imbalance that most of the human race suffers from but doesn't know it because everyone just thinks that it is 'normal'?
But then I think back to 10 years ago, when I first found out about speech recognition software. It was all the rage, and I was certain it was set to take over the world. That not long from then I would be opening my front door with my voice, turning on lights, running the air conditioning, managing the house security system with a simple vocal command. What happened to all this advanced technology? When is the Smart House going to be common and not the Sci-Fi dream? Or perhaps the world really is afraid of a hostile take over? (see The Terminator, The Matrix, or even Disney has one)
Alas, perhaps I am still hoping that in 7 years I will be able to enter my house with my thumb print, vocally ask for my fruit to come down out of the ceiling, and for my take-out pizza to need a 10 second rehydration to be piping hot. (see Back to the Future, II)
"Goodbye House, Goodbye Mailbox, Goodbye Pile of Broken Wood," is the often quoted line.
Did you ever talk to inanimate objects? Well, Matt does. And he doesn't just talk to them. He questions them. When he's trying to find his phone, keys, wallet, belt, sock, cup, food, anything really. He proceeds to ask them where they are. As if they are going to actually answer. And its not just some, "Where are you phone?" statement. No, no, no. Its full on song. "Ppphhhhoooonnnnnee, Whhheeeerrrrrrree Aaaarrrrrre Yoooouuu? Whheeerree Aarrreee Yyoouuu, Phone? I really miiiisssss yyyoooooouuuu. Cooommme Back phhhoooonnnne." The worst part is he's got me doing it now too!
So then, I wonder, why do I talk to inanimate objects? Why does my brain think that will help? Do I actually think its going to answer? Why don't we try calling the phone? Is it too much to work to run around the house listening for the ring? But really, is it any less work than wandering around the house singing for it? Why not ask an animate object to help the search effort? Is it that I feel loney and need more friends? Does talking to it, make the search more efficient? Could it be that the objects have traversed many homes and many locations with me and deep down I have a strong emotional attachment to them? Or is it some chemical imbalance that most of the human race suffers from but doesn't know it because everyone just thinks that it is 'normal'?
But then I think back to 10 years ago, when I first found out about speech recognition software. It was all the rage, and I was certain it was set to take over the world. That not long from then I would be opening my front door with my voice, turning on lights, running the air conditioning, managing the house security system with a simple vocal command. What happened to all this advanced technology? When is the Smart House going to be common and not the Sci-Fi dream? Or perhaps the world really is afraid of a hostile take over? (see The Terminator, The Matrix, or even Disney has one)
Alas, perhaps I am still hoping that in 7 years I will be able to enter my house with my thumb print, vocally ask for my fruit to come down out of the ceiling, and for my take-out pizza to need a 10 second rehydration to be piping hot. (see Back to the Future, II)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Talk About Geeks
Here we are, both working from home today.... as planned.
However, if you thought it was so that we could spend time together, you would be wrong! We are sitting in different rooms on our laptops, not spending time together! haha. We're so lame, we instant message each other in order to talk to one another.
At least he comes in periodically for a kiss... can't get that at work!
However, if you thought it was so that we could spend time together, you would be wrong! We are sitting in different rooms on our laptops, not spending time together! haha. We're so lame, we instant message each other in order to talk to one another.
At least he comes in periodically for a kiss... can't get that at work!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
What You Can Learn from Grocery Shopping
Leann: ok, so I wanna go grocery shopping on my way home
(boring discussion about the list)
Matthew: and icecream
Leann: can i buy rainbow sherbet again
that still sounds good
strawberry?
anything else?
Matthew: instead of strawberry, can you get napoleon?
(he never gets it right, Neopolitan)
Leann: sure
we should just start calling it Dynamite ice cream
or or or!
Matthew: haha
that's hilarious
Leann: numchuck ice cream!
OR!
Liger Ice Cream!
(if you don't know where my pathetic jokes are coming from, please watch Napoleon Dynamite)
Matthew: did you know the weapon isn't really called a "numchuck"?
it's real name is nunchaku
Leann: is it pronounced 'num-chuk'?
Matthew: It's confusing, that's why I looked it up
I'm still unsure if you say it "num" or "nun"
Leann: haha
Matthew: it's "nun"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nunchaku
--------------------------------------------------------------
And now you too know the correct term nun-chuck .... all because we needed to go grocery shopping!
(boring discussion about the list)
Matthew: and icecream
Leann: can i buy rainbow sherbet again
that still sounds good
strawberry?
anything else?
Matthew: instead of strawberry, can you get napoleon?
(he never gets it right, Neopolitan)
Leann: sure
we should just start calling it Dynamite ice cream
or or or!
Matthew: haha
that's hilarious
Leann: numchuck ice cream!
OR!
Liger Ice Cream!
(if you don't know where my pathetic jokes are coming from, please watch Napoleon Dynamite)
Matthew: did you know the weapon isn't really called a "numchuck"?
it's real name is nunchaku
Leann: is it pronounced 'num-chuk'?
Matthew: It's confusing, that's why I looked it up
I'm still unsure if you say it "num" or "nun"
Leann: haha
Matthew: it's "nun"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nunchaku
--------------------------------------------------------------
And now you too know the correct term nun-chuck .... all because we needed to go grocery shopping!
Who Stole The Kishka?
So, Kishka is a type of Polish sausage. In fact, "Who stole the kishka?" is a line from Brave Combo's "Polkatharsis" album. To set the record straight-- I love polish sausage and polish music, but I hate their dots.
I've ordered these in decending order of my own preferance. I find it humorous that most polka dots are associated with clowns and odd animals.
Although these shoes aren't my personal favorite, I can understand why someone might like them.
It's probably the engineer in me that can only handle a certain amount of entropy in any given system. I'm perfectly ok with dots that are all the same shape and size. Varying the dot's diameter makes a person seem asymmetrical and lopsided. The dots should be distributed in a normal linear repeating pattern. I shouldn't have to calculate the limit of the summation of some countably-infinite geometic series of dots in order to determine why the dots appear as they are. I prefer the colors to be uniform throughout the pattern. Swirling greens and purples on a yellow background make me feel as if I've been on the merry-go-round a bit too long.
polka dot
n.
1. One of a number of dots or round spots forming a pattern, as on cloth.
2. A pattern or fabric with such dots.
polka dot. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polka dot
n.
1. One of a number of dots or round spots forming a pattern, as on cloth.
2. A pattern or fabric with such dots.
polka dot. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polka dot
One must note that there is a distinct difference between a dot and a spot. A dot is a perfect circle. Spots are a more generic shape. Although their edges are curved, they often are oblong potato shapes. A dot, therefore, is a subset of a spot. However, when referring to a spot, it is usually not completely round or the term dot or circle would have been used instead.
Although not the most reliable of sources, an excerpt on wikipedia explains a little more in depth on the polka dots I dislike:
"Polka dot patterns are quite variable: they range from a series of dots that are equally spaced and sized to a random arrangement of multicoloured dots of different sizes. Polka dots are most commonly seen on children's clothing, toys, and furniture, but they appear in a wide array of contexts. The pattern rarely appears in formal contexts, however, and is generally confined to more playful attire such as bathing suits. Occasionally white on black regularly spaced polka dots appear on more formal clothing."
I've ordered these in decending order of my own preferance. I find it humorous that most polka dots are associated with clowns and odd animals.
Now, there are some really cute polka dot things. It seems that polka dots are allowable on completely absurd and silly objects, but there are some really hideous things out there too that people think are normal. Do these girls really get up in the morning, look in the mirror and think, "Man I look good!"?
Although these shoes aren't my personal favorite, I can understand why someone might like them.
It's probably the engineer in me that can only handle a certain amount of entropy in any given system. I'm perfectly ok with dots that are all the same shape and size. Varying the dot's diameter makes a person seem asymmetrical and lopsided. The dots should be distributed in a normal linear repeating pattern. I shouldn't have to calculate the limit of the summation of some countably-infinite geometic series of dots in order to determine why the dots appear as they are. I prefer the colors to be uniform throughout the pattern. Swirling greens and purples on a yellow background make me feel as if I've been on the merry-go-round a bit too long.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
What Do You Think Sister Engineer?
So, I'm not sure how many times I can stress a point, and yet, no one seems to remember...
I am a leader of a church youth group. I am specifically over the girls from 14-15, but the whole group consists of girls 12-18, and I am considered their leader as well. Well, the girls have a camp each summer, and they all look forward to it, like you wouldn't believe.
So the other night we were doing prep for Girls' Camp, and they all wanted to know what they were going to get to wear up at camp. Not that they don't know what to wear in respect to pants and t-shirt. I mean each group gets a color to signify their group. And then they get to have 3 items to wear at camp, typically of that color, signifying they are part of that specific group. Now typically, these items are cute, have something cute painted/sew/ironed onto them. It takes some creativity to build these signifying items. Well, the girls were hounding 1 leader, and this leader says, let's ask Sister Engineer (that's me, and no she didn't really call me that).
Ok seriously... what part of geek do you not get? I never have had, nor never will have ANY artistic ability. Seriously. I depend on my friends to have that. I mean, check out the links on my page, their design capabilities far exceed what I could even hope to imagine in my head. I have said multiple times, this artsy-fartsy stuff should be left up to the OTHER leaders... not the leader who sits in front of computer all day, and thinks that silver anything looks the best. How boring can I get?
SIDE NOTE : Yes, I know that G is the exception. She is a geek, and has emaculate art abilities... seriously, check out these cakes Woo-Woo and Gumdrop.
And to add to my personal fear that I know I have no art abilities, I don't want ruffles, I don't want hearts or bows, I don't want someone to walk into my house and think country kitchen... so then I stress that maybe I should have some of that frilly stuff, so that my house doesn't look like a hospital room. How do I add that extra flare? How do I make my house look like a home, without adding all the extras? or without making it not me?
Well, all I have to say is thank goodness for a friend who taught me to copy. See a magazine page you like? Do it, copy it. I don't add my own additional crafts, I can't pretend to know what goes with what, but I can grab all the coordinating items at Crate and Barrel, or Bed Bath and Beyond, or other furniture stores, and put it up (in a ordered, aligned fashion of course, none of this crazy spontaneous design).
I am a leader of a church youth group. I am specifically over the girls from 14-15, but the whole group consists of girls 12-18, and I am considered their leader as well. Well, the girls have a camp each summer, and they all look forward to it, like you wouldn't believe.
So the other night we were doing prep for Girls' Camp, and they all wanted to know what they were going to get to wear up at camp. Not that they don't know what to wear in respect to pants and t-shirt. I mean each group gets a color to signify their group. And then they get to have 3 items to wear at camp, typically of that color, signifying they are part of that specific group. Now typically, these items are cute, have something cute painted/sew/ironed onto them. It takes some creativity to build these signifying items. Well, the girls were hounding 1 leader, and this leader says, let's ask Sister Engineer (that's me, and no she didn't really call me that).
Ok seriously... what part of geek do you not get? I never have had, nor never will have ANY artistic ability. Seriously. I depend on my friends to have that. I mean, check out the links on my page, their design capabilities far exceed what I could even hope to imagine in my head. I have said multiple times, this artsy-fartsy stuff should be left up to the OTHER leaders... not the leader who sits in front of computer all day, and thinks that silver anything looks the best. How boring can I get?
SIDE NOTE : Yes, I know that G is the exception. She is a geek, and has emaculate art abilities... seriously, check out these cakes Woo-Woo and Gumdrop.
And to add to my personal fear that I know I have no art abilities, I don't want ruffles, I don't want hearts or bows, I don't want someone to walk into my house and think country kitchen... so then I stress that maybe I should have some of that frilly stuff, so that my house doesn't look like a hospital room. How do I add that extra flare? How do I make my house look like a home, without adding all the extras? or without making it not me?
Well, all I have to say is thank goodness for a friend who taught me to copy. See a magazine page you like? Do it, copy it. I don't add my own additional crafts, I can't pretend to know what goes with what, but I can grab all the coordinating items at Crate and Barrel, or Bed Bath and Beyond, or other furniture stores, and put it up (in a ordered, aligned fashion of course, none of this crazy spontaneous design).
Sunday, May 11, 2008
What Did It Sound Like?
So, if you are any level of geek, you have seen the movie Sneakers. (Fabulous by the way) In the movie the main character, Martin (Marty), gets stuffed in a trunk. After returning back to his friends/co-workers, his blind friend, Whistler, asks him what "What did it sound like?"
Today as I was driving down the lovely, heat stricken roads of the desert in Arizona, I was reminded of this movie. Why you ask? Well because of the constant thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk as we were driving. Now you geek experts automatically think... You were on a bridge! But no, oh NO, I was not. I was on a main road, and that road happened to have bad seams in the pavement every few seconds. Travelling at an average of 45 mi/hr, that means there is a seam in the road every 60 meters, or about 196.1388 ft. So, every 200 ft on a 2 mile road? Yikes. That's some rough driving there.
As bad as that is, I dream of the day when this is the worst part of driving in Snowbird-ville. But I guess I just have to be content with having a reason to look forward to the 100 degree weather.
Today as I was driving down the lovely, heat stricken roads of the desert in Arizona, I was reminded of this movie. Why you ask? Well because of the constant thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk as we were driving. Now you geek experts automatically think... You were on a bridge! But no, oh NO, I was not. I was on a main road, and that road happened to have bad seams in the pavement every few seconds. Travelling at an average of 45 mi/hr, that means there is a seam in the road every 60 meters, or about 196.1388 ft. So, every 200 ft on a 2 mile road? Yikes. That's some rough driving there.
As bad as that is, I dream of the day when this is the worst part of driving in Snowbird-ville. But I guess I just have to be content with having a reason to look forward to the 100 degree weather.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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