Fresh, Home-Made PIZZA

For Christmas, we received a Pizza Stone and all the makings for home-made pizza, from my Sister In Law and Brother In Law (a la Pampered Chef - You can look, and even order, HERE) .

Tonight, we put the whole package to use. It turned out SO GOOD!

Thanks again to the well-inspired gift givers!

Quick Update - 11/27/09

* Kelly got his drivers license on Nov 19th and Craig had his truck inspected, registered and ready to go for him by that following Monday.

* Heather is doing fine. She spent Wednesday night at our house and rode up to Idaho for Thanksgiving at the bowling alley with us.

* Craig got laid off from his job, but hopefully only till the first of the year. In the meantime, he gets a small bit of income via unemployment, and I have quite a list of honey-do's around the house and yard to keep him from getting too bored. :-)

* We're all healthy and happy, and we still like each other.

* Kelly's 1st term is done for this year at school and his grades are good. Monday starts a new set of classes.

Reality vs. Imagination

Discoveries/Conclusions/Realizations/Rude-awakenings I've had in the past 24 hours:

1) I am a control freak... and when things get beyond my control, I tend to FREAK OUT.

2) My children and my spouse ARE (and have the right to be) out of my control.

3) I have a great imagination ! :)

4) I need to learn to use my imagination for good, not evil.

5) I am NOT fat (in my imagination).

6) I AM fat (in real-life).

7) Craig loves me anyway (Proof that Love is blind).

8) My children are BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, and I love them both very much!

9) I have an AMAZING sister with incredible talents! (and A LOT of patience)

10) Photographs are very powerful.

11) Digital 'film' cannot be torn from the back of a camera and destroyed like old-fashioned film.

12) Digital proof now exists, that reality bites.

13) I really MUST do something about this.

14) Suddenly, Oompa-Loompas are not cute to me anymore.

15) Fall is still my favorite time of year! :)

~

WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS ?!?!?

OK... So, at the park where I sometimes eat my lunch, I found TONS of these... Probably somewhere between 50-75 of them laying on the ground under a large grove of trees (many different kinds of trees, and NONE have any of these hanging on them).
They appear to be seed-pods of some form.
About the size and weight of a softball.
If the surface of the unit is disturbed, they ooze a white, sticky, gooey juice .

Kelly sliced one in half to see what the inside was like.

No single stone-type pit and not any other kind of visible seeds of any type.

Just a fibrous and somewhat stringy looking material that follows in the 'brain-matter' pattern that is on the outside of them.

Anyone have any clue?

I haven't dedicated much time in my 'research' into them, just thought I'd throw it out there for conversation.

TTFN

(Please take note of the extensive vocabulary of technically correct and highly scientific words that I used!)

Craig's Jack-O-Barrel

This is what happens when Craig has a day off work, a blow-torch, and an empty 30-gallon oil barrel.

I think it turned out AWESOME! It took a LONG time for me to figure out how to manually adjust the shutter speed on my camera to be able to get a good (well, pretty good) shot of it without the flash.

1) Barrel - with flash

2) Barrel - no flash - with candle inside

Happy Birthday to Me

Friday was my birthday. Throughout the day, I received a ton of texts from my family and friends with a variety of different birthday wishes. My boss brought Chef Salads down to my office from the Idle Isle in Brigham City. (If you're ever in town and in the mood for an AMAZING chef salad, the Idle Isle Cafe is the place to go!) Friday evening, Craig took me out to dinner.
Saturday, Craig and I cut and hauled a couple loads of fire wood, then we went on a ride up to southern Idaho to invest in Craig's retirement plan and to look at the changing fall leaves. After that, we went over to Mom & Dad's house and had a sloppy joes for dinner and relaxed in the hot tub for a while.
One thing that I decided is this:
I'm officially getting old. MULTIPLE people wished me a 'Happy 21st Birthday'... (and, I'm MUCH older than that.) So, now I KNOW I'm getting old, when people find it necessary to make up a nice-young-birthday-age for me. :)

On Sunday, life was pretty much back to normal. Craig and I went and picked up groceries in the morning and then spent the rest of the day at home doing laundry and watching football.

Farewell to a Great Great-Grandma

My Great-Grandmother turned 100 years old this past January, and on last Sunday morning, she passed away. She was a smart, witty, and wonderful person and I have a lot of fun memories of her & her house. Her house was always warm, with cookies on hand, and tiny glasses of milk to go with them. The bright-dyed sheepskin was my favorite place to be, and the wooden thread spools were my favorite toys. I remember sneaking into the bathroom to throw things down the laundry chute that were definitely NOT laundry, and then running to the basement to see that they REALLY DID make it down there. Her sewing room above the garage was so cool, with it's funky closet and storage boxes everywhere, and the story of how Great-Grandpa built the house himself. Simple pleasures in life shared with me by outstanding people.

Grandma-Great, I love you.

Busy Saturday

Today started out with an EARLY morning to help with a Charity Poker Run with my Parents' motorcycle club. I helped Mom run the Registration/PokerHand/Raffle table. Cyndi & Jim were stationed at the 3rd checkpoint on the route. Craig was nice enough to drive my Dad's bike around the route :) That way, it didn't just sit there. There was not as many entrants as we had hoped, but I still think it turned out great!

I left for a few hours in the middle of the day so I could go to my friend's funeral. Afterwards, I was able to make it back to the park just as they were packing up to leave. So, I followed Craig back up to Brigham City to drop off the motorcycle, where I was going to just pick him up at Mom & Dad's house. Well, we went inside to visit and realized we were all pretty hungry. Mom & Dad were BEAT from the whole day running the gathering at the park, so I dug through the (freshly organized) pantry and found all the goodies to make some chicken enchiladas. Mom & Dad (and Craig) seemed to like the enchiladas, and that way everyone got a good dinner.
**********
Meanwhile back at the ranch...
We've had a washing machine that's been on the fritz for a few days. It washes, rinses, rinses, rinses, rinses, but does not spin. Bad deal and VERY wet clothes. Today, Craig - with the help of a couple of online forums - was able to fix it! YAY! So, I guess I'll go do some laundry now.

Yep, We're all still alive.

Almost TWO MONTHS since my last post. How Horrible!
I have a whole list of reasons/excuses for my long break, but they don't matter, and it won't change the fact that it's been almost TWO MONTHS since I blogged.

So... Here goes:
Work is still, um, work.
Kelly is back in school. A JUNIOR! (yep, that's the Eleventh Grade) He is continuing with the violin again this year and considering the golf team.
Craig is still driving gravel trucks for the same company.
Heather has a new boyfriend, (TONS better than those of the past, in my opinion). Still out of work, but now, I'm almost thinking it's more of a choice than a tragedy.
Cats are still furry, Ferret is still CRAZY, and Fish are still wet.

We spend our weekends hanging out together, geocaching, catching up on house/yard work, and generally just screwing off.

Over the past week or so, we had family in from out of state, and that was a BLAST! It's so much fun to see and spend time with people that you don't get to see all the time. All the different ideas, opinions, and views are so cool to me. Sounds cheesy, I know, but I love it. Simple reminders that there is a VERY BIG WORLD out there beyond my little pod of an existence.

A close friend of mine died on Monday morning. He was an older gentleman, but it was still very unexpected. I'll stay in touch with his family, I'm sure. But I sure will miss him and his quirky sense of humor. Whenever we met, I was always greeted with, "Hey, You're looking good !" booming from his weathered and always smiling face! The part of the greeting that makes it the most memorable, is the fact that he was blind.

I have A TON of pictures since my last post, but I'm trying to figure a more efficient way to upload them. So, for now, just be patient. We all look pretty much the same as we did in July.

To Infinity and Beyond !

Since I actually got Friday, July 24th, off from work (Shocker, I know) for Utah's 'Pioneer Day', I was able to go along with Craig and his brother on an incredible hike! The two of them had been planning for almost a week to hike up and hide a GeoCache near the flag pole on top of one of the peaks above Willard. They were nice enough to allow me to tag along for the adventure.

The peak we went to is directly in the CENTER of this picture. This is the view from our back yard.

On the way up, we were able to see the local herd of mountain goats on their way up to higher ground/rocks for the day.

The entire hike was just over 3 miles round trip. About a mile and a half each way. The interesting part is the elevation change of over 900 feet overall, but that includes going over THREE separate peaks and through the connecting valleys to get there!

Here is a shot of our house from about half way to the flag.

And another incredible view from the trail.

Getting Closer... (the little tiny white line on the tip of the peak is the flag pole)

There were TONS of Sego Lillies along the way. The first time I've seen them in the wild.

WE MADE IT! (And figured out how to set the timer on the camera)

The Flag is huge, and the view is incredible! Well worth the work to get there!

On the way back we came across these two fellas... Vultures?

Not into visiting.

I think we all had a great time (I know I did), the hike was long, but so much fun! I'd do it again in a heart-beat... Well.... maybe in a month or so. :)

Welcome to the Jungle...

Today, Craig, Cyndi and I went to work on our Grandma's yard.

(It's only had front-yard maintenance since she moved from home into assisted-living.)

THIS is what we found!

And this is after nearly four-and-a-half hours of HARD WORK.

A different view... Before... and AFTER
From the back portch. Before...

...Almost finished.

Mom and Dad also came down for a couple of hours.

Dad helped Craig out a lot, and Mom offered great moral support and handled some projects INSIDE the house, too.

Good thing Cyndi thought ahead and brought her camera :) Otherwise, it would be hard to comprehend what we all really did.

It was quite an undertaking, and a lot of work for all of us, but WOW how great it was to see the final results!

Thanks to Craig, Cyndi, Dad, and Mom for the help!

Pink Panther Rodeo

Welcome to the 1st Ever Pink Panther Rodeo!

Oh, the cruel things that Craig and I will do for simple entertainment on a LONG, BORING, RAINY Saturday.

HeeHeeHee

Cosmos was not amused

Tiger thought the whole ordeal was lame

Rajha couldn't walk straight

OK... We're DONE PLAYING!

Pictures of the BBQ

A BIG Thank You to Cyndi for sending me these shots.

SUCCESS - What a great weekend !

Photos will be posted later.
For now, here's a summary of our incredible weekend:

Saturday was pretty much a just busy-day running errands and getting the yard ready for Monday's BBQ party. Running around town (in the rain) to gather the usual party supplies, like Kingsford Charcoal, a small wading pool, birdseed, a broom. You know, the regular stuff.

For Sunday, we had planned a rather long hike to a Geocache on the mountainside above Perry. When we woke up, it was STILL raining. So, we decided to dress warmer and go hiking anyway! My trusty Subaru sure proved herself on the road(?) to the starting point of our hike. Got a couple of dings in the rocker panels at the worst spots, (we need a little bit more ground-clearance) but over-all, a really fun and challenging drive. We parked at the base of a rock slide and started our ascent. Just under an hour later we arrived at the HUGE rock formation that was our goal, searched about 15 minutes more for the cache, added our names to the log, sat and enjoyed a wonderful view of the valley, and prepared to head back down... then came the fun part. On the North end of the rock formation was a section of the rock slide made of much smaller rocks. We essentially floated all the way down. It was like skiing on rocks. Just take a step and slide for about 8-10 feet, then do it again. Craig timed us on our way down... 3 minutes and 48 seconds. WHOO HOO !

Monday, Memorial Day, was a BLAST! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. The Ribs turned out incredible! We had 6 full racks of baby-back ribs, in the marinade and in my fridge since Saturday evening. They were SO good (if I do say so myself). We ended up with 15 people at the party, and everyone got along great, even though it was A VERY DIVERSE GROUP. But, I think Craig said it the best I've ever heard. As I was planning my guest list, he said to me, "It doesn't matter WHO you are... it's HOW you are that matters."
Perfectly put. :)
We had a full day of hanging out and visiting, a fun little yard game, playing in our big back yard (remember, we have an acre) with one of those 6-wheeled amphibious vehicles, and generally just having a relaxing afternoon with each other catching up on life and being together.

Kelly's Driving, Heather moved, and our lawn mower sucks!

I took Kelly to get his Learner's Permit on Tuesday!

It freaks me out to think that 'My Little Kelly' is DRIVING! And, of course, he drove home from the Drivers License Division. Then we went for more practice on some of the dirt roads around our house. He actually does very well (for a beginner). Starting out from stop signs is the roughest part, but that's normal. Our vehicles don't have automatic transmissions. Around here, you learn to drive with a CLUTCH and a stick shift. After the rural roads, we headed down the Highway to Ogden, and into city traffic. He even handled that with a great sense of humor.

After some sort of an episode that I don't fully understand (or need to), Heather decided to move out of the apartment with her 'friends' and has moved in with Grandpa Fred in Brigham City. Obviously, I'm QUITE HAPPY with that decision. She's seems to be healthy and I think she's doing fine now. Last I talked to her, she is STILL looking for a job (It's a tough market out there). Grandpa is a great guy and I think this will be a good arrangement.

Our lawn mower (the BIG one that you ride on) has not been running right for a few months. We've tried tearing it down and cleaning the carb, replacing ALL of the filters, new spark plugs, fresh clean oil, new gas, the whole kit-and-caboodle. STILL running wrong. I've called a couple of repair shops, which all seem to be run by pig-headed jerks, and found that they are back-logged anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks before they can even diagnose the issue, then they'll order parts and go from there. No thanks. First, I have a really hard time PAYING other people to fix our stuff. Second, if you choose to treat me like crap when I call your business, you can bet that someone ELSE will be my choice if it comes down to it. Craig & I are both very mechanically savvy, and we can usually fix anything that shows up around here. So, our next step is to try a total carb rebuild (instead of just cleaning) and if that still doesn't fix it, THEN we'll cave-in and get it fixed by someone else. For now, we have been able to borrow our neighbors' mowers to keep our small jungle under control. (We're lucky enough to have nice neighbors on both sides of our place.)

On Monday (Memorial Day), we're going to have a few friends over for a BBQ at our place. I think that will be fun. I'm going to try doing baby-back ribs... my first attempt at ribs. We'll see how it goes.

Mother's Day Fun & Adventures

I got my mother's day gift from Heather on Friday evening. She gave me a sweet card and a rose. :)
On Sunday, my Mom, Sister, Grandma and I all went down to Kaysville to visit my GREAT-Grandma (who is 100 years old)! It was a good trip, and I'm really glad that we all got to spend some time together. I think the visit was important for everybody.
Afterwards, I went on a bike ride with Craig & Kelly. We went out to the Legacy Nature Trail that runs along side the Legacy Parkway (a new highway from Farmington to Salt Lake City). We didn't ride the entire length of the trail since it was already late in the day, but we did ride about six and a half miles. It's a pretty simple trail that runs through the wetlands and next to a nature preserve. We saw a few ducks, a lot of Kill-Deer (birds), a snake, and smelled (but didn't see) a skunk. It was a blast! As usual, my butt-bones are sore from the seat, but well worth it.

Update on the party and evening.

The Pampered Chef party went well. Fewer came than I was hoping, but it was still fun. The recipe that we made was amazingly yummy and simple, too.

A big batch of dishes to do, because I didn't use any styrofoam or paper products. We ate on real dishes with real utensils. But, I did manage to fit all of them into one load of the dishwasher, so no extra water usage either. SUCCESS!

Kelly & Craig had fun at the soccer game and stopped for a little while for a brief visit at Kelly's girlfriend's house.

All in all, I think it was a good evening for everyone.

Party Time (again)

Tonight, I'm having a Pampered Chef party at my house. I like having family & friends over pretty much for ANY reason! This get-together has the potential to help a family member earn some extra cash, and I might even get some free goodies for myself.

It's also a great way to get myself to do the chores that I simply DESPISE (like dusting). The house looks good, Sis-in-law-Jenn is making my dinner (HeeHeeHee), and I get to hang out for a couple of hours with my family & friends. Great!

Craig, on the other hand, gets kinda tense at the thought of our living room being packed full of people. Which also worked out dandy... Kelly has a soccer game tonight at the same time as my party. So, Craig's going to take Kelly into Brigham City for the game, hang out there and watch the game, and then bring him back home. Good solution for everyone.

On a side note, I still get a kick out of our little local society here in Small-Town, Utah. You should see the VERY surprised reactions from some of my guests when they notice that a glass of wine is also available with your meal. But, they don't have to drink it. Those of my guests that DO like wine are always very appreciative of the gesture to have it available.

I'm sure things are going to be fine, and I've had the 'mixed' group over to my place in the past with no outbursts or belief-bashing. So, Carpe Diem, and I'll update again shortly.

Spring, Easter, and a Hike to "BIG ROCK"

Well, the signs of spring are very evident at my house.
Kelly's soccer season has started, registration has begun for Softball, my baby grass is trying (again) to grow in my little back yard, there is a pair of robins making a nest in our big tree, and the cats will dash for the door at even a HINT that someone is going to open it.
This past weekend, Craig and I went shopping for Easter. We got all the goodies for our Easter buckets, and some really fun spring-time themed gifts.
Heather is coming home for Easter weekend, I'm really excited about that. And, Cyndi is planning a resurrection of the traditional family hike to "Big Rock". When we were young, we used to go out to our Great-Grandparents farm and the family would all hike up to a large reddish rock on the mountainside above the farm. The rock is known as Big Rock to us. Cyndi told me of her idea to go back and hike up there again a couple of weeks ago. What a GREAT idea! I am SOOOOO excited! It should be a lot of fun for everyone. Craig & Kelly have never been up there, and the last time Heather went, she was less than a year old, and I carried her.
I can't wait!

What a Great Weekend!

Dinner on Friday went really well, everyone had a nice visit and caught up on things. We pretty much just avoided the 'hot' topics and had a good time together. We visited about how things were going for Kelly at school, mine and Craig's work, how things are going for Heather at her new apartment, and the such. One thing we did finally hear is that Heather has actually quit school, and is now focusing on finding a full time job instead of a part-time job and school. At least she told us, and it's not just rumors anymore.

Saturday was an eventful day. We did our semi-annual fish tank overhaul. In this process, we completely dismantle, deep-clean, and reassemble our aquariums. And, since some of our fish died in the smoke-filled house incident, we were able to consolidate the tanks. Now, we only have two tanks instead of three.

On Sunday, I helped Craig assemble my brand new BBQ grill :) YAY! I LOVE to Barbeque, and Craig got me a new grill for our anniversary. We put it all together and (of course) cooked an amazing steak dinner on it! It was the first cook-out this year and everything tasted SO GOOD.

Family Dinner and Driver's Education !!!

Tonight we're having a yummy dinner with ALL of us. Heather stopped by my office on Tuesday and asked if she could come out for dinner this week. So, the plans were made for her to come out tonight. We're having Teriyaki-Marinated Cubed Stakes, Brown Rice, and garlic-sauteed Green beans. MMMMmmmGood.

Also, Kelly starts Driver's Education tomorrow! I'm still not sure I've come to terms with that yet. The course is no longer offered in the regular high school curriculum, so it's been moved to Saturdays. Every Saturday from 7am to 10:30am for the next 10 weeks.

No other big plans this weekend, I'm mainly going to focus on finishing the little things that have been neglected around the house.

Talking... It's a start.

Well, Heather called me a couple of times over the weekend. Just non-important little stuff, but at least SHE CALLED ME. :)

We chatted for a few minutes each time, and then just went about our business. At the end of each phone call, she said "I Love You" (even before I did) and that makes me feel a lot better.

I hope things go okay for her... She still doesn't have a job, and her savings account is empty now. No matter how good your 'friends' are, you can only free-load for so long before they cut you off. Only time will tell.

For now, I'll take the short little conversations and the I love you's without any complaint at all!

IF...

I found this quote on a distant family member's blog.
It hit me hard ... :(

IF I HAD MY CHILD TO RAISE OVER AGAIN

If I had my child to raise all over again;
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off the watch, and watch with my eyes.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

By Dian Lommas, from "If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again."

No Pain, No Gain !

So, on Tuesday night we began our 90-Day workout program. Tuesday was no big deal. The first day was the time to set your 'starting point' for all the exercises. You know, do your most pull ups, sit ups, bicep curls, etc. and then record it in the log to compare to the 30, 60, and 90 day numbers. We took the infamous "Before" pictures,to motivate ourselves and document our wonderfully improved appearance when the 90 days is up. Double checked all our equipment, and just basically got the feel of things.

Last night was a WHOLE NEW WORLD ! Oh My... I hurt so bad. We even took the 'modified' workout version since we're so out of shape. Good thing, otherwise I think we would have ended up calling an ambulance for one of us. :)

This program is a 12 DVD set. Each day is something different. Everything from weight training to Yoga. Last night was Plyometrics... Which, I believe, is just a new name for some sort of ancient torture techniques. Jumping, squatting, lunges, and then this kind-of 'vogue' hold-a-pose thing where the instructor stops you in the middle of one of the exercises and you just hold it for like 15 seconds. AAAGGGHHH !

I haven't truly 'worked-out' since my swim team days. (A LONG TIME AGO)
But, I do have to admit, even with the sore muscles, it feels great to be doing something that actually challenges my body again.

More updates will follow as things progress.

Lost but not forgotten...

WOW !!!!

Where do I start?

Let's try this: Apparently, Heather has a new place to live.

I've asked her where it is, her Dad has asked her where it is, Kelly and Craig have asked her where it is. She won't tell ANYONE where she's living, or with whom.

She's living "with FRIENDS" and "in a place at the old Indian School property".

For those of you that aren't local, I'll explain. The 'place' in the old Indian School property is a vast and expansive mini-community of apartments, townhouses, and condos. It's not an exaggeration to say that there are easily 300 to 400 possibilities of where she could be.

I've spoken to her boyfriend (I really like this guy) and he's aware that she's moved, and knows where she is. He, very carefully, informed me that she's safe where she's at and that she will be living with a couple of people that they know from work. But, he is under very strict orders NOT to tell any of us anything more than that. I didn't push the issue, because that's not fair to him.
At least I know, that if I REALLY need to get ahold of her in person (not something that can be handled by a phone call), I can always have him go pick her up or take me to her.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

So... Let's back-track a little bit to let you know how we ended up at this point:

Sunday night, Heather didn't come home. Monday morning, I sent a quick text: "hey... you doin' ok?" (Trying to show that I noticed that she wasn't there, but NOT sounding like a harping mother). The response I got was: "yeah... and by the way, I'm moving out today."

WOAH!!! That's a shocker! (and so matter of fact) But, by TEXT ?!?!? C'mon, really?

When I got home Monday afternoon, I went into her room and noticed small oddities and things that were just 'not right'. I've found out since then, that last Saturday, while Craig, Kelly & I were cutting down a cherry orchard for fire wood, she apparently came home and took all of her clothes from her closet & dresser drawers. (Not anything obvious to anyone walking past her bedroom door.) And, on Sunday, again while none of us were home, she came back and took her 'stuffies', trinkets, and some of her shoes. Just simple little things that aren't noticeable unless you really take time to "look" for missing stuff.

After I informed her that her nameless "Friends" were not welcome in my home, she decided to have her boyfriend help her move the big heavy stuff instead of them. Fine with me. I know who he is, and I trust him.

Today is Wednesday. Everything but her bed is moved out. She says there's already a mattress in the room that she's staying in, so she doesn't need to take her bed. (yuck)

So, I guess I now have a guest room..... Hmmm. It REALLY needs some cleaning first. Or, maybe I'll set up the quilt I've had in pieces for almost two years. Who knows.

Anyhow... If any of you happen to see or talk to her, try not to be TOO inquisitive (no need for her to further alienate more of us). But, just see if you can get a feel for how she's doing and if she's okay.

Thanks everyone!

Kelly's concert was GREAT... and very long. The Orchestra teacher teaches at 3 different schools and has SIX separate orchestras. So, on concert night, all six groups perform 3 or 4 songs each. And, wouldn't you know it, Kelly's group (the most advanced) performs last.

There was a whole bunch of us that went to watch the performance: Craig, Me, Heather, Cyndi, Kelly's Girlfriend, and one of his friends from school.

Also, Kelly's half-sister and step-sister from his dad's side play in the 6th grade orchestra, so Kelly's dad and his family were all there, too.

******
I did finally get a chance to talk to Heather about the living arrangements and such. It became VERY necessary as we were all getting ready to go to the concert. There was somewhat of a meltdown between all of us, and it simply transformed into 'the talk' that I had been putting off. Definitely NOT the way I had hoped it would come to pass, but things ended up fine in the end.

We reached the aggreement that I have the right and ability to expect, and enforce, certain things INSIDE my home... and she has the right and ability to make her own decisions and live her life as an independant person.

Things have been good around here since then, and there really does seem to be less tension in the air. Let's hope it stays that way.

Recycling and Charitable Living...

My family and I are new to the recycling lifestyle, but already it's amazing how much more aware we are of our wasteful society.

I've started the trash pick-up habit on my way to and from stores and in my office parking lot. No hiking recently, so that's still to come. (once the snow melts).

We don't have recycling pick up in our community yet, so we take our paper, cardboard, and plastic into Brigham City each week and drop it all off at the central recycling site there. We save our aluminum and cash it in each summer for our annual donation to the American Cancer Society.

I am AMAZED at the difference that recycling makes in our weekly 'trash' amount. Our trash can is barely 1/3 full now, when in past times it had always been a smashing and squishing process just to get the lid to close.

I have a cousin that is doing her part at more than just recycling. She and her two girls have committed to performing a 'charitable deed' each day this year is keeping track of them on her blog. I check it each day to see what the deed of the day was. I think it's very impressive and inspiring. You can see her blog and follow her charitable deeds here: CharitableDeeds.blogspot.com

Lets all keep it up! One by One, we can all make a big difference in our crazy world....

Updates.

Heather did come home Sunday evening, and it was way nice to have her back home. We haven't sat down for our pow-wow yet, but things are going good so far. Sitll planning on the discussion, though. I'm getting the impression that she's let her schooling slide. I don't even know if she's still going. I haven't pushed the issue, I'm just observing and gathering tidbits of information from our interactions.

Kelly plays the violin. He's awesome! There's another concert tomorrow (Wednesday) at the high school in Brigham City. He's been playing since 6th grade, and he LOVES it. Here's an example: He's currently failing his Physics class this trimester, and we told him that if he failed, we'd have to drop his Orchestra class next trimester in order to re-take Physics. So, last Friday, he gathered all of the missing assignments and spent most of his weekend at his dad's house doing homework, and he also spent 5 1/2 hours yesterday at home finishing ALL of it. :)

Yesterday, on my lunch break, I met Craig at the job site and rode on a 'round' with him. Hauling old dirt off of the job site up to the company sand/gravel pit, getting re-loaded with fresh sand and taking it back to the job site to fill in the trench. I had a lot of fun! It's probably not that exciting to Craig, since it's his job; but it was way cool for me. It's a very different perspective from up in a semi truck. You can see so much more than from in a car.

Things at my work seem to be picking up. This month is actually looking like we're going to meet our target production goals! YAY! But, it's an ongoing process, ONE good month does not fix everything. Onward and upward!

Yes, for those of you that know Bruce, he IS a cook. He's an amazing cook. And, he has actually ran restaurants before. He cooked for about 8 years before he started his construction company. Now, the construction business it not going well enough for him to be successful anymore, so he went back to cooking.

FRIDAY :)

Kelly's Concert on Wednesday was AWESOME! It's so amazing the incredible sounds that those kids can create. This was the finale of a 2-day clinic put on by the music departments from the two local high schools. They had a composer come in and work with both orchestras combined . At the end of the two days, the 'guest composer' conducted the concert while they played his works. INCREDIBLE!

Heather got ahold of me and says that she's coming back home Sunday evening. YAY ! Once she's had a minute to relax, we'll take some time to sit down together and re-establish what she would like from the family and the return home, and also to let her know what we would like, too. Hopefully, things will be much nicer around here this time around. Like I said a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a good learning experience for everyone. I just didn't realize at the time, that so much of the learning experience was going to be for ME. Hmmmmm.

My friend, Bruce, is running the kitchen at a local diner called "THE SKYWAY DINER" (it's in the old Kathy's Cafe building in Perry). Anyone that's around here should stop in and give it a try. The Skyway Diner opened last year, and was being run by a girl named Tina; but she's gone now and there's a new owner and a brand new menu, too. Yummy stuff. I was really impressed, and very full, when we left.

Kind of a random set of topics today, but that's what's in my head right now.

TTFN

Snow (and its removal)

We got almost a foot of snow at our house yesterday! It's beautiful to look at but NOT so beautiful when you try to move it. The plowed snow and slush from off the highway was over two feet thick at the end of our driveway. When Kelly got home from school, he called me to let me know how deep things were getting. I called Craig and he was able to borrow one of the fleet trucks from his work with a snow-plow blade on it. YIPPEE!!!

With the truck and blade, he was able to dig us out in just under an hour and a half! I cringe to think of how long it would have taken us without it. Our little tractor is on the blitz, and won't run. (I think we forgot to put fuel additive in the last tank fill-up, and it's gummed up the feed lines and carb.)

The only 'string' attached to the use of the snow plow, was that we had to have it returned that night. So, at about 7:30, Craig, Kelly and I headed to Syracuse (about 30 miles from home) to return the borrowed truck. After a problem with the wiring and a quick road-side repair to get our headlights back, we were able to get the truck returned.

At this point, we all are VERY HUNGRY. We had not had dinner yet. So, we made a late night stop at CROWN BURGER in Layton... much better.
Finally back at home by 9:30 and ready for a hot shower and bed!

Kelly has an Orchestra concert tonight out in Tremonton. I'm excited!
I love to listen to him play.

TTFN

St.Valentine's Day and beyond.

On Valentine's Day, Kelly spent the entire day hanging out with his girlfriend and her family. They're really nice people, and she's a great girl, so I didn't mind. Heather called me and said that her boyfriend was taking her to Kobe (it's one of those fun Japanese grills like Benihana). And Craig and I went to dinner with Cyndi & Jim and then hung out at their house for a while. Overall, I think it was a good day for everyone.

Today, we are putting the finishing touches on the basement so we can magically convert it from our creepy, cold storage area into our new and improved workout room. Craig and I have decided that we BOTH need to get back into shape, and we've agreed on the P90X workout program. It's pretty intense, but I'm excited to try it.

Tomorrow, at work, my boss has arranged to come to my office for an "Agency Diagnostic and Review". We've had a few conversations on the phone over the past week, and I've decided that the Agency Diagnostic and Review is her way of saying butt-chewing and distorted threats that she interprets to be moivating. But, as I said at the beginning of this blog, I've worked for her for nearly 7 years now, so I've learned deal with her style of 'motivation'.

True, my office has not been as profitable as we had hoped when we opened it. Things have been VERY slow over the past year or so. But, since the beginning of this year, new policies have started to improve a little bit. I've also developed a couple of new marketing strategies that I think will help a lot, too. Hopefully, things will improve soon.

Tomorrow's another day, and another chance, and I'm gonna take it.

TTFN

I've got A LOT of learning left to do !

Thanks for the comments, even the really honest one!

I've been thinking a lot about some of the statements made, and I know you're right. Letting go is a very hard thing for me to do. I let go once before (I thought it was the 'right' thing to do at the time) and HOLY COW, WAS I WRONG!

I have this deep-seeded need to fix things (mostly people). You can ask anyone close to me, I will offer my "help" as often as I can - like it or not. I have a hard time remembering that something that I say in an effort to improve something, often comes across as nagging and nit-picking. My intentions are good, but not as well expressed as I think.

When I see a situation that I've been through, especially with my kids, I try to give my 'lessons-learned' insight to them so that they won't have to go through the hurt that I did. I doesn't work. I guess sometimes I just have to let my kids fall down on their own. Otherwise, they'll never learn how to get back up again.

I did get a chance to talk to Heather last night, and I think she is starting to drift back toward home. I didn't push the issue, it wasn't the time or place. She's not feeling well, and we spent some time last night figuring out what was wrong. The dotctors finally decided that she's got a nasty stomach virus that's been going around. Definitely not fun, but not really life-threatening.

When she does come home, I'm going to take the path of 'mutual respect'. More voluntary communication based on courtesy, not on 'rules'. MUCH LESS outright bold-faced lying on her part, and MUCH LESS passing judgement and scrutiny on my part. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Thank you again for all your support and insight! It is ALL appreciated and considered.

We are, by nature, pack animals and I couldn't ask for better a pack. No matter how spread out we are.

Hmmmmm.... Now what?

Well, this weekend came and went, and still no Heather :(

After getting some more information about the situation at her Dad's house, it seems that she's simply given free reign to come and go as she pleases with no inquiry as to where she's going, who's she's going with, or what they're doing.

Now I've been told that 'Disneyland-Dad' has told her she can stay as long as she wants.

I HOPE AND PRAY that when she does decide to begin speaking to me again, it won't be just to tell me some horrible news of how eff'd-up she is!

I am having a really hard time with this! She's not returning my calls, and I only get short one-word responses to texts that I send. But, I keep sending an "I LOVE YOU" or a "HOW YA DOIN?" every day, so she will at least know that I think about her. I've stopped trying to call, because she's only answered one of my calls since she left, and I'm sure my voice-tones on the voicemails are probably not very cheerful sounding. So, texts will have to do for now.

Meanwhile, I get a lot of one-on-one time with Kelly, and that's a very good thing !

I just need to stay Chin-up :) and cross my fingers that she won't get hurt or lost beyond return while she's out 'finding herself'.

Now begins Week Two...

Life Goes On...

Pretty routine around here the past few days. (Except that Heather's not here). Get up, go to work, come home, have dinner, clean up, watch the news, and then go to bed.
Wow! Jealous aren't ya?

There have been some unfortunate developements in my extended family. However, I can't really find a way to explain them without sounding like I'm complaining. And, as many of you know, being a positive person rather than a negative person is a very important goal that I've made for myself. Plus, I'm not too sure they'd really want their personal battles posted on the internet.

So, I will simply wish two of the Grandmas in our world great blesssings and a speedy recovery to them both.

I hope Heather decides to come back home soon. Even though I don't see a whole lot of her when she IS living here, at least the passing hello and hug are nice. It's been 4 full days since I've seen her at all. But, it's not my decision, and she may still have a few lessons to learn before home sounds like a good place to be again.

In the mean-time.... Life Goes On.

Party Time...

After a long day of cleaning the basement on Saturday, we were all ready to kick back and have some fun. So, on Sunday, we had a party for my sister's birthday at our house. It was GREAT! We had very non-traditional birthday food. Veggie platter, Fruit tray and Rootbeer Floats. The Birthday Girl had requested a bit of a less-fattening type of treat than the usual cake & ice cream. That's where the food idea came from, and the rootbeer floats were just too yummy to pass up.

After the birthday party, we straightened up the house a bit and got ready for the SUPER BOWL party. My brother and his little boy ended up staying for the Super Bowl, too. We had Craig and I, Kelly and his girlfriend, my brother and his boy, and an old friend there for the game. It was a lot of fun. A pretty small group, but not too crowded in the living room, so we could all have comfy seats to watch (and yell at) the TV. I really had no favorite team, so I was just there for the fun of watching. I love to watch football, no matter what team's playing.

Heather has decided that she needs a 'vacation' of sorts from the obviously horrible and oppressive rules of my house. So she's gone to stay with her Father and his family for a couple weeks. I think it will be a good eye-opener for everyone. Que sera, sera.

GRRRR

Rough day:
Heather just called me to announce that she's not coming home for dinner.
Kelly stayed in Brigham after school today with the plan to ride home with Heather when she came home. Now, he's stuck in Brigham City, with no money for the bus, and hitch-hiking just doesn't seem like a good idea.
I have 4 Chicken breasts thawed out and NO IDEA what I'm making with them.
I have $0.81 in my checking account.


Solutions:
Heather can have dinner with her friends.
Craig says he'll go pick up Kelly from Brigham City when he gets off work.
Chicken is going to be simply grilled with lemon & herbs and served with brown rice.
I still have $0.81 in my checking account, but at least it's not overdrawn.


I'm going to take this evening to chill out, go bed and get up in the morning with a better attitude.

Ready or not... Here I come.

Monday, snow day.

Well, my day started early yesterday to take Kelly to the dentist for a toothache. Turns out the toothache was a cracked tooth! Ouch! He's all fixed up now with a shiny new crown and no more pain.
Craig ended up with the day off of work due to the snow, so he was home with Kelly most of the day. Craig did a bunch of the 'little stuff' around the house, and it ended up being a BIG help to me. Simple things like putting the Baked potatoes in the oven for me so dinner could be done when I got home instead of just getting started. Ran the dishwasher, and straightened up the kitchen, too. WOW, just those few things made a huge difference in my evening. We also had Heather's boyfriend over for dinner and an evening of just basically hanging out. A good day at our house.

Now HERE's something to Blog about !

I guess the powers of the universe heard that I had a Blog (a relatively boring one) and decided to provide me with something of interest to blog about.

How does a near-catastrophic house fire sound?!?!
Got your attention? It sure got our attention, too!

To calm the initial impact, the actual event ended up being a WHOLE LOT of smoke and not so much fire. No one was injured, and everything's okay now.

Here's the scoop: We had just stoked up our wood-burning stove that we use for winter time heat to a blazing 500 degrees, with 4 or 5 good sized logs completely engulfed, to get us through the night with cozy warmth. Heather is gone to a friend's house, Kelly has just gone to bed, Craig is getting ready for bed & I'm in the bathtub.

Right then, the wood stove had somewhat of a failure in the 'chimney' department. The chimney pipe came un-hooked from the back of the stove and then fell out of the ceiling. I hear a loud, heavy, metallic THUD in the kitchen, and immediately begin to process what the cats could have knocked over that would sound like THAT. Not even 15 seconds later, every smoke detector in the house is screaming, and I hear Craig yelling down the hall to me, "Kris! I'm gonna need your help with this!!"

I jump out of the tub, grab my robe and open the bathroom door to find a blinding blanket of black, stinging smoke already over 4 feet down from the ceiling. Now, every fire-drill I have ever been through in my life comes bursting into my head! Drop to your knees, and you can see (and breathe). Really, this works. I start yelling at Craig & Kelly "GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES" because I can hear them choking and see only their legs, as they are both standing in the kitchen.

We quickly figure out what has happened, open EVERY window and door in the house and decide that we've got to stop the fire in the stove in order to stop the belching smoke from the back of it. BRILLIANT!

Craig hands me one of our fire extinguishers and tells me to shoot the fire as soon as he opens the doors on the wood stove. Great plan! Craig opens the doors; purple, blue and orange flames jump out at him and shoot up his front. I nail the fire with the entire contents of my fire extinguisher! Craig stumbles out the back door in search of Oxygen to breathe again, and I realize that I'm waving an empty fire extinguisher at a still burning fire. Not fun. So, I grab the second extinguisher, and repeat the process. This time, without suffocating Craig. The fire is now down to only smoldering embers, and no actual flames.

Craig shows back up with his welding gloves on and grabs each of the logs out of the stove and throws them, one by one, out the back door into the snow. Kelly is in the back yard, armed with our garden hose, and sprays each log as it lands. Mission accomplished! The fire is out! We set up every fan that we own to try and exhaust the smoke and fire extinguisher junk out of the house. A VERY long process. At about 2 am, we give in to the exhaustion and go to sleep.

Craig & I both took Friday (the 16th) off from work to clean up the horrible mess. It took us ALL DAY Friday to get this back to a somewhat livable environment. I did learn that a great way to clean large surface areas is to "mop" not only my floors, but also the walls and ceiling, too.

We have ran 8 loads through my dishwasher to clean the dishes and pans, and countless loads of laundry still to be done. A bit of information for you: Smoke penetrates EVERYTHING, even closed things. On Friday, in the process of hauling things out into the yard to air-out, I stepped on a board with a nail in it. Now, let's work a trip to the Emergency Room for a foot exam and a tetanus shot into the day's schedule. Followed by a full day of nausea, that I originally thought was caused by the pain medication the hospital gave me, until Craig came down with the same symptoms. After some thinking, we connected that Kelly had been sick on Wednesday, and we now think that the bug that Kelly had just happened to hit Craig and me conveniently at the same time as our cleaning adventure.

Now it's Monday (the 19th) and the house is pretty much cleaned up, I can walk on my foot without a limp, no one is throwing-up, all the animals (except 2 of our fish) are still alive, and only about 6 or 8 loads of laundry left to do.

Back to work tomorrow and back to a regular routine, I hope.

TTFN

Where we're at now.

So here's the starting point of my blog.

This is where we are right now in our part of the world.

I am working for Allstate Insurance (coming up on 7 years), Craig is driving trucks for a construction company (and currently working nights), Heather is working on her generals at school before continuing onto the Culinary Arts Program, and was recently laid-off from her job, Kelly is a Sophomore at Box Elder High School in Brigham City. We also have an abundance of pets to keep us company. Three cats: Rajah, Tiger, and Cosmos. One Ferret: Rascal, and a plethora of fish (divided between 3 tanks).

We all seem to like each other most of the time, and I'm happy with the environment at our house. All families have some spats, and sometimes REALLY BIG spats. But, overall, we're a pretty happy group.

I need to find where I've '"safely stored" all of my back-up photos, since I recently had to re-format my computer, and I'll post some pictures of the family.

TTFN

Up and Running...

Okay, well, maybe 'Up and Slowly Stumbling' would be more accurate. Either way, here we are. My first official post!

The purpose of this site is to update and inform anyone who chooses to read it.

I will include: happenings in our lives, my feelings regarding those happenings (since I get to be the one typing), current events, accomplishments, not-so-accomplished attempts, the occasional photo, and just plain stuff.

I say to all of you,
"WELCOME! And thanks for stopping by!"