8 things

I am planning on blogging pictures from the trip but got a little side-tracked. (Surprise?!)

My friend Crystal tagged me, and I am looking for something to do until my back feels better. (Minor tweak, major ouch!)

8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Woke up at 10:15 a.m. (Hey! It’s 8:15 Utah time –respectable, right?)
2. Made Magic Mix alfredo sauce & ate a pathetic dinner.
3. Worked on Sudoku puzzles. I had to figure out what a “remote pair chain” was. I think I get it now. 
4. Took the kids to scouts.
5. Downloaded pictures from our trip out west. I realized that every single picture had a smudge on the lower center part of the picture. Every.Single.Shot. 
6. Wrote a huge to-do list on my white board. Nothing like getting back to reality, huh? 
7. Watched part of the League of Extraordinary Men. I still don’t get it & I’ve seen part of it several times.
8. Reread a few chapters of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. I am starting to like this book!

8 Favorite Shows
1. Divine Design
2. Deserving Design with Vern Yip
3. Biggest Loser...but I can't take the 2 hours, so I usually DVR it and watch the 2 hours in about 45 minutes.
4. Cash Cab
5. What Not to Wear. My favorite part is the haircut. I wish I could have Nick cut my hair!
6. Good Eats. Is this still on? I haven’t seen it in a while.!
7. Sports Center – the highlights.
8. Everything else HGTV & Food Network (especially the kitchen one).

8 Favorite Restaurants (in no particular order)
1. Lieu’s. They know us by name & we have a favorite waiter. 
2. Sonic – I love their crushed ice!
3. Cafe Rio (in Bountiful)
4. Moe’s
5. Salsarita’s
6. Bone Fish Grill
7. Chick Fil A
8. Zaxbys

8 things I look forward to:
1. Being back in shape. I haven’t really done anything productive since April.
2. My back feeling better. I woke up this morning feeling like I’d been bent in half.
3. Seeing Lisa & Travis get married on Saturday & going to the reception.
4. Getting away for our 21st wedding anniversary (just saying… hint hint!)
5. Running a half marathon.
6. Having TV downstairs.
7. Seeing Wicked in February 2010.

8. Seeing Scott.

8 people I tag: (I'll use last names lest anyone wonder if they have actually been tagged :))
… anyone who wants to play!

Is it already that time again?

 

On July 12th, we once again celebrated by taking many more pictures than twelve. The day was exceptionally busy & tiring. I feel like I take the same pictures every month, but then when I review them it doesn’t seem so.

• The kids had cold cereal for breakfast. I was too stressed out to do anything fancy.
• Scott spoke in church at the Anderson ward for his high council assignment.
• I spoke in our ward. I can’t remember speaking for a long time so it was my turn. Topic? Virtue.
• I taught Sunday school. I had my camera with me in class & I was just too chicken to have someone take my picture. I should have done it before everyone got there or after most of the class left. I was certifiably boring & hope to never be that bad again.
• Scott & I got home about the same time. He had had even less sleep than I had so he crashed for a few hours.
• The kids were restless so I didn’t feel like I could nap at the same time. So, I worked on sorting the food in the food storage room. It was definitely not a Sunday activity but it got rid of nervous energy & kept me awake.
• Dinner was French toast, food storage ham & eggs, & orange juice. The French toast was wonderful.
• FHE with the YSAs was nice. Kenny taught the lesson & we sat around & talked about what he said. He was really a great teacher. We played Catch Phrase & then ate ice cream. Chris & Emily then serenaded us with Disney songs.
• Scott & the boys watched Harry Potter before falling asleep.

Customer Service

Sometimes when Scott walks in the door, he finds me with wads of hair in my hands, pacing, eyes bulging with one hand holding a phone to my ear & the other bag elbow deep in a bag of chips or cookies. What is the problem? I am talking to customer service.

Tonight I had to make several (as in SEVEN) phone calls to get my problem fully resolved. The funniest part – a confirmation of the spelling of my name

J… as in Juliet E… as in Elephant N… as in Never N… as in Never A… as in Antelope

and then the confirmation of bellsouth D… as in Dell… um NO!

… need I say more? I couldn’t think fast enough to double-check the confirmation letters. I was really, really frustrated!!!!!!! Scott was here to hear & was laughing out loud in the other room.

The best part (can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my tongue)? I never got the email.

From the folks at “You don’t see that every day!”

I was waiting for Jared’s friend to come play when I noticed a very large bird perched on the neighbor’s roof. I wasn’t sure if it was an egret or a heron. Now I know that it is both. An egret is a type of heron. We frequently see egrets near the beach or in rivers. What a fun treat to see one here at the neighbor’s house. I don't know if you can see in the pictures, but this is a BIG bird (at least 3 feet tall)!

Five (or Six...) Things I Hate to Do.

Over at ScrapHappy, Lain posted a list of five things she hates to do. I will copy her great idea with a list of my own. Scott will probably read this & disagree but these are the 5 off the top of my head.

1. I hate turning left across busy roads. I shop at Publix because I can turn right out of the parking lot to go home.

2. I hate cleaning food scraps out of the kitchen sink.

3. I hate shopping at Wal*Mart. I walk around & think, “Wow! There is some really great stuff here… and the prices are good… I should shop here more often.!” and then Wham! I am confronted with a huge line that snakes through the store. One cashier is on duty for 50 million people & the others are standing around gabbing like there’s not a problem. If you ever hear a deranged woman screaming, “I Hate Wal*Mart!” just turn the other way, it’s going to be me.

4. I hate putting laundry away. I am not the best at washing or drying or folding, but I really hate Hate HATE putting stuff away. It seems like once I open a drawer, I have to refold what the elves unfolded overnight. Or I go to hang up clothes, & I’ve run out of hangers.

5. I hate being too warm. I run my air conditioner in the car in December. I am the designated “fan girl” at the gym & always position myself in a direct line with the fan. We keep the house at a balmy 70 degrees until we get the first electric bill of the year.

OK, that’s the short list. What about yours? What do you hate?

(6) Emergency amendment – I HATE talking to insurance companies, especially when I do not understand their English. I hate the buck being passed & making 7, 8, or 9 phone calls to get my simple-to-me questions answered!!!!!!!!!

this moment

Right now, Jared is upstairs sleeping off a three-day whirlwind beach trip. We ended up driving home late last night because we had had enough sand & sun & were just going to go to church somewhere there & then drive home. We think he has pink-eye mixed with too much sand & sunscreen in his eyes. His right eye looks bad – it looks like a black eye.

Dad & the boys are at church in primary & priesthood meetings, planning scout camp adventures & practicing for the primary program.

And I am catching up at Google Reader. I have 326 posts to read; I’ll most likely blow most of them away.

I have plans to tag & print all of my pictures of the day for this year. I think that I may have missed a day or two here & there, but in general I have taken a picture every day for the whole year. And snapfish has a 1 cent print sale going on for the first 50 prints.

What’s on your mind right now?

Seattle & Six Flags trips

Scott was in Seattle last week on business & had the opportunity & adventure of mountain biking & hiking. He hiked Mt. Si with two of his Greenville co-workers, Vince & Michelle. On Saturday, he went & visited his all-time best friend Curt & went mountain biking.

 

 

Yesterday, I took Chris & Ryan & the YSA to Six Flags over Georgia. It was a grand adventure – a little rough getting started but hopefully fun for all. I went on two great rides & then was done for the day. Bummer, huh? I don’t LOVE the rides but I definitely like going on them at least once. Luckily we bought season’s passes last year on our last visit for $20 per person  (?! great deal!)

 

How do you fit 12 people in a van? Very carefully!!! We didn’t drive down this way – just crowded around the air-conditioner at lunch time. Four girls fit neatly in the second row & then two of us got front & center.

  

Baseball is over. Happy? Sad? Lost? Not quite sure.

Ryan’s team lost both of their tournament games. It is really weird to be back to our regular summer – not exactly sure what to do every night about 5:30 p.m. but we’ll be able to fill the void, I’m sure. This picture is the team after they lost 23-13 in searing temperatures. It was a closer game than the score indicates. The last inning just got away from them. Great kids, fun parents, good coaches.