Monday, December 29, 2008
Merry Christmas
Breanna and Matt were here, which was terrific; they were even here for my Crescendo concert.
They brought their dog, Charlie, with whom Asher apparently fell in love. It was like the little nerdy kid tagging along after the cool football player.
On Christmas Day, Maya brought her boyfriend, Marty--very nice guy.
Breanna spent most of her time until Christmas Eve working on a beautiful quilt for her mother-in-law. She used special transfer paper to put photographs of all TEN of Virla's children and their families on fabric squares, then put them together to make the quilt. (I should have taken a picture!)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Global Warming?
The next day the HIGH temp will be 17. Ouch
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Twilight (what else?)
Anyway, I enjoyed it very much. I thought it was quite faithful to the book, but even better in that both Edward and Bella got over their grumpiness much more quickly than in the book.
So go see it; I don't think you'll be disappointed!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Thank you, Dennis Prager!
I've always liked Dennis Prager tremendously, but now he has shown how truly noble he is. In response to the hateful gay-rights activists who are protesting outside our temples, he says, "We are ALL Mormons!" (Even though he's Jewish.)
This reminds me of Denmark's beloved King Christian, who, when the Nazis marched in, donned a Star of David, and all his faithful subjects followed suit.
Veterans' Day
Friday, October 31, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Mario's e-mail to a soldier in Iraq
platoon he used to be in until he came home. I found it very moving and definitely worth sharing and preserving.
Hi Brian,
Sorry for writing to your Army email address, but I don't know any
other one.
Anyway, just wanted to say hello and let you know a bit about what's
going on in my life right now.
I found a job (very blessed) as a programmer analyst, and am quite
happy, thank you. There's no yelling, no threatening, and the
employees work hard voluntarily and cheerfully. We all want to be
there.
There's a massage room, and exercise room, and sometimes the company
sponsors lunch.
I respect my co-workers and boss; I wear no uniform; I don't lift heavy
items all day in the motor pool. I don't wait for somebody to tell me
what to do or release me so I can go home. There's none of that. I
only work 8 hours per day. In fact, sometimes I choose to work longer.
Why? Because I enjoy my job. I want the company to succeed. Because
commerce is important; it supports families; it feeds children. In
fact, with the proper perspective, commerce is even virtuous.
I do my job how I want to do it. Nobody micro-manages me. After I'm
done with a project, my supervisor checks my work; he cares mainly
about one thing--does it work?
I don't have to tell someone where I'm going if I choose to take a
break. I can work from 7 until 3 p.m. I can work from 8 to 4, or 9 to
5 or get to work at 9, take an hour for lunch, then finish at 6 p.m.
There is an on-call programmer but that's fine with me. Why? Because
I'm loyal to the company, they treat me well, and I actually want to do
well. We have a clear mission that relates directly to adding value to
our customers' lives.
I wake up around 7:15. I still shave, although I don't have to feel
under the gun about it. I have hair to comb and now wear contacts
rather than glasses.
When I get to work, I use my brain. I analyze, problem solve, learn,
discover.
There are of course, some downsides. Theresa is still having medical
problems, which could get very expensive. While I do have insurance,
it's very expensive. I have no guarantee that my job will be there the
next day.
But I do value some things more highly than safety and security:
freedom, liberty, the dignity of the individual, and the pursuit of
happiness.
War should only be used as a last resort, in self-defense, not in a
pre-emptive strike derived from fear. Peace is should be sought after
always and should only be sacrificed for liberty. Fear is never a
reason to sacrifice peace.
Before we seek war, let us repent of our lies, adulteries, and take
care of our poor. Then let us have faith that God will protect and
defend us as a nation as long as we prepare ourselves and stay strong
morally as well as militarily.
Wish you all the best, my friend,
Mario
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
A Bit of a Scare
Last Saturday, a strange woman tried to get in my car! I had just come out of Der Wienerschnitzel (they have the closest ATM to my house), got back in my car, and could see her approaching. In slow motion, it seemed--just like a bad dream. She was not hesitant; I could tell she was going to try the car door. I pushed the button to lock the doors, but in my panic, I foolishly UNlocked the doors instead.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
COLLEGE!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Pictures
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Life's funny little coincidences
Walking the dog, I round the corner, facing directly into the late afternoon sun, and a neighbor's stereo is playing "Blinded By the Light".
Friday, October 3, 2008
My new friend...?
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Arachnophobia
The other night, as I approached my car after song practice, I saw a fantastic, large economy-sized spider rising in the air (climbing its silk). I thought it would be great for Thomas to take to his entomology class. Didn't have a container of any kind in the car, so I went back in the church building, hoping to find a plastic cup or two, which I did. Still didn't know how I was going to reach the darn thing, but on my way out I came across three of Thomas' friends—all Boy Scouts—who were eager to lend a hand.
The spider was still there, but pretty high up, so two of the boys interlaced their fingers while the third stood on their hands and clapped the cups together, capturing the spider.
Now, of course the cups weren't stuck together, so I had to HOLD them together all the way home! Drove one-handed, turned the radio up so I couldn't hear the skritch-skritch noises coming from oh-so-near my hand and tried not to think about the extra passenger I'd taken on. (The creepy-crawlies are fascinating—from a distance!)
I hoped Thomas would be as excited as I was, and he was. He identified the creature as an Orb Weaver—entirely harmless, but impressive nonetheless.
Now the challenge is keeping the sucker ALIVE for a week, until Thomas' next class. So it's in our fridge (to slow its metabolism). Just don't look in that paper bag...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Another Musician?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Big Day
Ralph Johnston
Al was able to spend some time with Ralph a couple of weeks ago.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Stork Announcement
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Updatesss
the parents finally let me dye my hair so for the moment it is dark brown with purple streaks and chunks its pretty sweet.
so check it out if you want, i have my email address on there if you have any questions about me or my life as of now :]
tty[all]l♥ [ttyl= talk to you later]
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
...which leads to another...
The young'uns are having fun, though, which is the whole point.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Grrr
Please go ahead and delete them permanently. What a pain! It's fun to get comments from (the few) friends who read us, so I don't want to disallow comments unless I have to.
Anyone else know anything about this??
One thing leads to another...
So after we got the Wii, I thought it would be nifty to play it on a big-screen TV. (Another major consideration was that the living room stays about ten degrees cooler than the family room--more comfortable for TV-viewing in the evening.)
Then the new TV necessitated new furniture...and the next thing will be new carpeting--after the dog is fully potty-trained!
Finally Moved In!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Julybugs?
Saturday, July 26, 2008
A Farewell to Wheels...
...AKA "The Bubble".
Well, more like au revoir. It's now in Utah, with Breanna and Matt. Check out the odometer!
After a major repair job last year, though, it should be good for another long while. I got to make a solo road trip (whoo hoo!) and had a great visit with the kiddies.
I got there in time to help them move, though Matt hardly needed any help. He manhandled both couches into the truck by himself.
Their new condo is beautiful!! New Pergo flooring, new paint, and those modern rounded corners on all the walls. The complex looks very upscale, and it's very quiet--can't hear the neighbors at all.
And there's very pretty sparkly rock on the exterior! (I think I've used up my quota of exclamation points.)
Before I left to come home, Breanna took me to a place called "Pudding on the Rice", where they sell--of all things--rice pudding, in quite an array of flavors. VERY yummy!
I got to meet their dog, Charlie, too. He has moments of boisterousness, but is very good-natured.
Congrats, Kiddos! Well done!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Announcing:
Betty
Saturday, July 5, 2008
A series of unfortunate events
Fireworks are illegal in Orange, but 4 or 5 houses down the street, it becomes Garden Grove, where they ARE legal. The kids had some money to burn (literally), and decided to buy some fireworks. I needed to come along because one must be 18 in order to buy said FW.
I decided to bring the dog along and walk to the stand.
We'd gotten about 100 yards down the street when we noticed a German Shepherd in a neighbor's driveway--unleashed and unattended. We proceeded anyway, not confronting the other dog, just minding our own business. After we passed the house, Alyx said, "Mom, he's following us; pick up Asher." I hesitated, not wanting to do anything that might provoke an attack. In that moment, however, the German Shepherd DID attack!
Of course, we yelled at him; fortunately, he released Asher immediately, and I picked him up. I turned around and went all "Dog Whisperer" on the GS, shouting "No!" and pointing my finger at him and stepping toward him. I was nervous as all get out, but tried not to show it. The dog turned around and went back.
Meanwhile, Alyx had run back to the house where the dog had been, and banged on the door. When a woman answered the door, she yelled, "Your dog just attacked my dog!" The woman said, "We don't have a dog." The German Shepherd had returned by then, and Alyx pointed to him. "That dog!"
Turned out that he was visiting for the 4th of July. The owner hadn't realized he was outside. He apologized profusely and gave me his name and phone number, in case some damage came to light later. The bite didn't break Asher's skin; there doesn't seem to be any injury.
Now get this: the owner's name is Bitderback--which is exactly what his dog did!
So we took a walk we don't usually take, in a direction we don't usually go, and encountered a dog who usually isn't there, but it all turned out ok in the end. Whew!
Asher got a haircut a couple weeks ago; cuter that ever, don'tcha think?
Mario was here...
We had a nice visit with Mario last week when he was here jobhunting. I wanted to get a picture, though I am by far the least proficient photog in the fam. You know how there's a delay with the digital cameras? Well, Mario kept closing his eyes at the moment the picture was taken, and I was just sure if he would only hold his eyes open long enough, we'd get a good one. He said it was the flash that messed him up, but I didn't believe him until I took the flash off, and voila! We got some!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
A couple more of our faves...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
address
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
one more day!
it was a good year, i got very good grades [no lower than a B the entire year] i was involved [i was part of ASB [[student government]] and will continue that next year was well. i don't really have anything planned for the summer, i was suppost to have a job right now... but... we wont get into that [long story short i couldnt make a perfect cone so i didn't get the job i was PROMISED.]
anyway.
over all, a pretty good year :]
It's June, and that means...
Gross.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Birthday greetings
Hope it was a good one, and that you got to do something fun.
Can I ask y'all (other than my immediate siblings) to post your birthdates? I'll try to remember them, and at least send happy thoughts your way...
Friday, May 30, 2008
We're moving....
Friday, May 16, 2008
End of the year school program
Hope had her end of the year preschool program today.
Hope's B-Day Party
How about some recent pictures?
Monday, May 12, 2008
New dog, old tricks...
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Speaking of dogs...
Monday, May 5, 2008
Old dog, new tricks...
In any case, I particularly enjoyed the golf, and I'm not at all discouraged by the fact that the Wii gave me a "fitness age" of 75!!
Miriam