Dare-Devil Dog

I didn't know my dog would be a dare-devil, excitement-seeking animal when Zack and I decided to buy him. He was friendly enough at first- playful and happy. We soon found that he was afraid of anything new, strange, or loud. He doesn't like fireworks. He doesn't like strange objects left on the floor, and he doesn't like tight spaces. He's slowly overcoming his fears as he grows accustomed to his world. He was afraid to go down our stairs at first. Now he bolts down them with no thought that his feet could at any moment slip out from underneath him and send him sprawling, head-first, to the bottom. He is unafraid of a few other things also. He's not afraid of a ball coming straight for his head. He merely stares, curiously, at it until it smacks him in the nose. Then he tries to bite it...a little too late. He's not afraid of running head-long into cement steps. He's definately not afraid of the basketball.
I've found out recently that not only is my dog not afraid of things now, but he likes creating exciting, tense-filled situations.
Let's talk about vacuuming. Maxwell loves it when I vacuum for some reason. It's like it's his oppurtunity to prove how fearless he can be. He'll jump in front of the vacuum and then spring away as it comes near him. (He used to bark at it and run away. I guess he's overcome his fear.) He'll do this almost the whole time I vacuum. When I'm finished, it's as if the pride of winning the tournament-- Maxwell VS. The Vacuum-- gives him renewed energy and he spends the next 2 or 3 minutes racing around the house until I send him outside.
Well today I was vacuuming the living room when Maxwell ran in and placed his precious chewed-up cow on the floor, right in the path of the on-coming vacuum! He stood there tensely for a minute, until the vacuum was inches away from his Precious, then he snatched it up and ran away. He came back to try it again seconds later.
I guess now the thrill of putting himself in danger isn't enough. He must risk the life of his precious cow in order to get the thrills he needs to survive.

Why I Love Summer

I love summer because it means that today I was able to go with Zack to work and help out with a project he's working on.
It means I could go spend some time with friends until all hours of the night and not worry about the time or how much sleep I was going to get and so I could just enjoy myself. (I'm weird about getting enough sleep when I have to work the next day.)
Not having to worry about the time meant that I could focus all my energy on the game and how I was going to win!
It meant I could focus on good friends, good conversation and incredible food.
It means that when I come home around 11:00 pm and find my backyard strewn with power tools and my living room full of wires because Zack is working on another project for work that I can stay up and help him with it (or at least keep him company).
It means when he says things like "I wish I could stay up until 2 in the morning and just finish this project...but I don't have all the parts," that I can say things like "Let's go get them. Work is only 5 minutes away. It'll only take 20 minutes or so." (Even though it's midnight.)(By the way, he's munching on your salsa while he works, D'Nell...and he loves it.)
It means long nights, short mornings, and fun afternoons and evenings.
It means I can work on all the projects I've been planning over the past 10 months.
It means I don't have to do any of those projects if I don't want to.
It means being able to go see my mom any time of day.
It means doing what I want, when I want, and realizing I need to develop more self-control (and maybe install bells inside my house so I know when I start cleaning, when to stop, when to go to recess, when it's time for P.E....).
I'll start working on that tomorrow. Tonight I'm keeping my hubby company.

Road Trip: Father's Day

This past weekend we ventured across the entire great state of Colorado to visit Zack's dad for Father's Day. The drive takes roughly 11 hours from point A to point B, if you don't take any breaks. We decided to take our puppy with us on the road (since our puppy-sitters decided to move out of STATE for the summer and couldn't watch him for us). We left on Friday around 10:45 and set off.
"It's always fun to go on a road-trip," said the girl with no children.
We get a few books on tape or CD to listen to. We bring all the good music CDs. We bring our handy little cooler and fill it with healthy snacks and water. We bring our favorite games (Cribbage, Phase 10 Dice, Yahtzee, and this time I also brought alone some game cards from a game I found for $1 at the D.I. It's called "30 Second Mysteries"). We were set. Because we were bringing our puppy we also had to bring along his food, doggy dishes, doggy stain and odor remover (which we never had to use. Good boy, Maxwell!), bones, toys, Maxwell's blanket, and the doggy gate. Good grief! I can't imagine taking a child on a road trip if that's what it takes to bring along a dog.

So like I was saying, we left at 10:45. We drove for all of 45 minutes when we hit gridlock in Utah County. Neither of us thought to check the traffic report before we left. "Say, what if the freeway is shut down in American Fork because a truck carrying a freakin' mobile home crashed and spewed mobile-homeish debry over all 4 lanes?" Luckily, we were only detained at a standstill for all of 20 minutes.

Maxwell enjoyed the ride a lot. He loves going on car rides. (Even after the 11 hour car ride his ears would still perk up when we said the word "drive".) We made a nice little home for him in the back complete with his blanket, toys and bones. However, his favorite place to relax was on the floor in front of the passenger seat. Maxwell sleeping next to his "lucky cow". He recently ripped it's neck open and lovingly pulled out most of it's stuffing.

Maxwell also enjoyed sticking his head out the window when we had to slow down for some road construction between Grand Junction and Vail.

Here's a better shot of the scenery.

We stopped in Green River for gas and a puppy-potty break, (way to poop right in the middle of the cement where the cars come in, Maxwell! Who'd want to poop on the side where the weeds, bushes, rocks and lack of people and cars are?) and to switch drivers. Zack drove us to Vail where we decided to finally stop and get something to eat (around 6:00 pm). We decided against Micky D's and got a pizza from Domino's. We ate it on the grass and mingled with the summer ski bums. It was a nice break. We didn't stop again until we were outside of Denver and wanted some ice cream. Then we drove the last leg of the trip through "wide open spaces" full of wheat, corn, and miles and miles of no civilization.

We decided to listen to one of our books on tape, "Black Beauty". We'd both read the book when we were younger and seemed to like it. Basically it's 6 hours of "how to take proper care of a horse" in story form, given from the perspective of a horse. We liked the book, but our favorite part was what we listened to at the beginning of the first tape. The instructions on how to "fix" a tape that wasn't working. This is what is said, and I quote, "Should a cassette fail to play properly, hold it flat in the palm of your hand and slap it smartly against a hard, flat surface." We couldn't help but start laughing. We had to play it back a few times to really understand what to do. Here's the visual we got:

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We arrived in Burlington around 10:30, just shy of 12 hours. Once there we had a good time visiting Zack's dad, playing games, and of course, "hiking" the famous Longhorn Trail.

So, is the head of the trail the Comfort Inn or the Pizza Hut on the other side?

Amid all the excitedment I didn't forget to give Zack his Father's Day present: "Night at the Museum". He and Maxwell both enjoyed watching it.

I also got to talk to my Dad on the phone and wish him a happy Father's Day. I had to wait in line, though. He was already talking to my brother who lives out of state. Out of five kids, he had to talk to three of them on the phone because they were all out of state. What happened to you family? You used to live close.

Reading Readiness: "Find the _____" Game

Inspired by my sister-in-law whose daughter knows all her letters and sounds and is ready to read, but just doesn't understand what it means to "put the sounds together to make a word".

"Find The ________."

This is a game you can play with your child once they have learned all their letters and sounds. It's a fun game that helps them recognize the sounds in a word and will help them as they begin to read CVC words (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant).

Choose a CVC word, such as cat, dog, hat, cup, etc. It needs to be a word that has a distinct beginning, middle and ending sound. (The word "cow" wouldn't be a good choice because the o and w sounds come together to make the "ow" sound.) I'll use the word "cat" to explain the game.

Find blocks that spell the word or make three cards with one letter written on each card. Hide them in a room.

Tell your child you are going to play a game called find the "cat". Show them the letters that make up the word "cat", emphasizing each sound. "This is the cat: (make the sounds as you point to the letters) C, Aaaa, T. These letters make the sounds we hear in "cat". Your job is to find the letters and put them together."

Have your child go on a "cat" hunt. When they find a letter, ask them what part of "cat" that letter is. "Is it the beginning of cat? C? The middle of "cat"? Aaaa? Or the ending of "cat"? T?" Make sure you make the sounds of the letter instead of saying it's name.

Put three pieces of paper in a row for them to place their letters on once they have found them. You can even explain what the papers are for. "These are where we're going to put the letters once you find (or catch!) them. Help them put the letter in the right place on the table when they find it.

After they find all three letters, help them point to each letter and make it's sound to say the whole word: "C-aaaaaa-T".

You can add more to the game by having them draw a picture of a cat, color a picture of a cat, or find a picture of a cat once they've found all the letters.

This is just something I thought of yesterday while I was driving around running "errands", so if it's dumb or doesn't make sense.....tough.

How I Learned All My Moves

I come from a dancing family. Actually, to put it more accurately, I come from a dancing mom, mostly. I grew up thinking that everyone dances in the living room with their mom and siblings. Didn't you do that as a child? Didn't we all stand on the fireplace hearth with a coat hanger-microphone/guitar in hand singing to the Beatles? Or was that just me...? I sure hope not. I spent many hours of my childhood listening to records (yes, records) and tapes of the classics: The Beatles, Pseudo Echo ("Won't you take me to a FUNKY TOWN?" Didn't everyone's mom exercise/dance to that tape?), and of course, Don McLean, who we only listened to for one song and one song alone: "American Pie". I think if you asked any of my brothers today they'd still know all the lyrics to that 8+ minute song. For kicks we used to put the record on the "fast" setting (I didn't know the technical term for it then and I don't pretend to know it now) and sing the song at hyper-speed in about 3 minutes. I didn't know what a "levy" was at the time but I did understand that someone did indeed drive their chevy to it only to discover that it was dry. I had no idea what the lyrics were talking about, but who cared? The song was AWESOME! It still is.

I think I love music AND dancing simply because I did it with my family. We had a lot of fun in that living room. My mom taught me a lot of moves, they may have been moves from the 60's, but they're still cool. And because I danced at home I wasn't afraid to dance at school or church. (Not to mention all the wicked moves I learned.) This past weekend we took a short trip up to "The Cabin" for a day of playing and birthday party celebrating and 4-wheeling and such. We only stayed one night, but we managed to pack a lot in. We even got a little dancing in. It's nice to see that my mom is teaching the next generation all her great moves. And it's equally nice to see that my niece has got some RHYTHM. (Und ya, ve vere dancing to das Beatles...in GERMAN.)



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The REAL Tragedy of Puppyland

Many of you (okay, maybe just D'Nell) have been anxiously awaiting the blogging debut of "Tragedy in Puppyland". Alas, I have bad news. Although I have the said movie on my computer, I cannot find a way to post it on my blog. It's too long for dropshots (over 2 minutes!) and it's too big for youtube. (It's freakin' 811 MB!!!) If anyone has any ideas on how to post it, I'm more than anxious to hear them.

On a happier note, at least I have the movie on my computer! I also have other choice selections such as, "Monkey Band" (my personal favorite), "Evil Hannah", "The Silence of the Barbies", and "MoonBathers" (another classic).

A few lesser known films such as "AlphaWars", "Pakistani Hair Salon" and "The Fire Problem" are also on my computer. However, their content is so painful that I don't dare let anyone view them. If, I mean, WHEN I become more Adobe Premier savvy I might take little bits out of those films so that those of you who are in them can view your best selves (Heather, Janan, Dan, RaeAnn...).

This is also a call to those of you who might know the whereabouts of "Bermuda Flight 911" and "Cleetus vs. The Asteroid". Where are they? I haven't yet searched my massive VHS graveyard, so they could be in there.

As soon as I get ahold of all of these movies, I will put them on a DVD and sell it to the WORLD!

Because I know many of you miss all these treasured home movies, I will leave you with a few quotes.

Which quote goes with which movie? A treat for whoever gets the most correct! An extra treat if you can name who says each quote.

1. "I'm so lonesome! I girl named "Princess" shouldn't be lonesome. I need a puppy, or a prince...but a puppy would be nice!"

2. "We found the barbies!!!! ...but everyone died!"

3. "We'll give that cheese-eatin' surrender monkey trainer a run for his money!"

4. "Ya betta believe he's a bum-muncha!"

5. "Como?"

6. "The moral of the story is- Don't be a spankin' monkey."

7. "Ah ha ha! You are now in the dungeon. And soon, after two weeks, my GUN will take over the WORLD! Wah ha ha!"

Pig's Feet

So, a few months ago I was reading Daring Young Mom's blog and noticed on the left-hand side the words "Undiscovered Pig's Feet". I ignored it. Probably an add. Probably some inside-joke. A while later I decided to click on it to see what it was. I'm so glad I did. :) (It's nice to see that my friend's spouses could turn out to be better friends than they were...no offense Dan! But you have to admit your wife is freakin' hilarious.)

Here's what she did:

While shopping one day she noticed pig's feet on one of the shelves. She decided to buy it and put it in her pantry. Long story short, it took Dan a few days to notice it was there. She invites all who want to, to try this experiment at home.

Step 1: Buy the pig's feet.

Step 2: Place them, at eye level, in a common spot in your pantry or on your shelf.

Step 3: See how long it takes for your spouse to notice them.

When I went to buy the pig's feet I discovered another tasty delight on the shelf next to it. I bought them both. I took them home, doctored up the latter a bit, and placed them on the shelf.

I was a little paranoid that first day. Every time Zack opened the pantry I would try to act normal, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, secretly snickering under by breath about the hilarity of it all. Secretly worried that he would find them the instant he opened the pantry door.

Nothing happened. I decided to try what Sarah did and place them in an even more conspicuous place.

Just one day shy of three full weeks of anxiously waiting for a reaction, I heard Zack open the pantry door and yell "Aaaah! Why do gross things keep appearing in here?!"

I guess the day before he had noticed the "Rotted Meat Food Product". The next day he opened the pantry and noticed the pig's feet. Why he didn't notice both of them at the same time I do not know.

What I do know was that that was a lot of fun. I enjoy a good, non-threatening trick now and then.

For those of you who want to try this trick at home, who have tried this trick at home, or who may have a bottle of pig's feet in the fridge, I found a nice recipe for the tasty trotters.

PIG'S FEET

"This traditional Irish dish of braised pig's feet and vegetables is often eaten after a night at the pub." (No kidding, usually eaten after a night at the pub? You mean, after you're DRUNK? Is anyone else not surprised that they eat pig's feet in England?)

INGREDIENTS:
6 pig's trotters (from the hind legs)
1 onion stuck with 6 cloves
1 carrot
1 bay leaf
12 peppercorns
Salt
1 bunch parsley
1 sprig thyme
PREPARATION:
Combine pig's feet, onion, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns, salt, parsley, and thyme, in a heavy pot or Dutch oven and pour in water to barely cover all.
Gently bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 3 hours. May be eaten hot or cold. Yield: 2 servings

Enjoy!

Little Reminders

Today I cleaned out the cars. This gets done, roughly, once a year, usually right after school gets out. While I was cleaning out my car I found two reminders: a piece of plastic that broke off my car and a piece of an old pink balloon.

I'll start with the balloon. I've rediscovered this piece of balloon in my car for the past 5 years. I keep it as a reminder.

Five years ago Zack and I were happy-go-lucky newlyweds. We lived in an apartment that we thought was fabulous. Zack was finishing his senior year of college and I was in my 3rd year of teaching. At the time, I was carpooling to work. Every morning I would drive over to Behhhcca's apartment and we (and another girl) would drive up to Clearfield. We traded off driving every week. The week of Valentine's Day it was not my turn to drive. So my car sat in Behhhcca's parking lot every day that week.

Enter clever Zack!
He spent Valentine's Day writing little notes and blowing up balloons, enough to fill my car. When I got to Behhcca's apartment after school I found a car full of balloons. I had no choice but to pop the balloons right then because I couldn't drive home otherwise. Zack had thoughtfully left a pin for just that very purpose. I spent the next 15 to 20 minutes popping balloons and reading little notes.

Months later, as I was cleaning out my car, I found part of a balloon that didn't get cleaned up with the rest of the balloons. It made me smile and remember how sweet my husband is. So, instead of throwing it away, I decided to keep it in the car.

So, today as I was cleaning out my car, I got to stop, smile and remember how sweet my husband is again.

And now the plastic...
The piece of plastic from my car reminds me of how much I have learned and how much I still need to learn.

Years ago Zack had to have some minor surgery. We were engaged at the time. I, being an incredibly naive and selfish girl, wasn't sure if I was going to go be with him at the hospital the day of the surgery. In my mind we weren't yet married, he had a mom, and mom's were supposed to take care of their kids, right? I'd take care of him once we were married, right?
I didn't yet realize my "role" as the fiance or wife. I do now, thank goodness. (My role is now to protect and do everything for my husband. Nobody better hurt him (including me), try to tell him what to do, or undermine MY authority as the wife...)

Zack seemed hurt that I wasn't sure if I was coming to the hospital. (DUH.) Thankfully, I talked to my mom about it and she, in not so many words, said "Of COURSE you should be at the hospital!!!" Sooo, I went. In fact, I picked him up at his house to take him to the hospital. I had him drive. (I know, I know. I was a jerk.) He was so nervous driving there that as he was trying to pull the sun-visor down he broke a piece off of it. I keep that piece. It reminds me of how much I didn't understand then.
When Zack came out of the anethesia later that day, he wanted to see me. Me! I guess I didn't realize until then how I fit into his life. I came before everyone.

That piece reminds me how much my husband loves me. It reminds me how insensitive I was before we got married and reminds me to not be that way anymore. It reminds me of how sweet Zack is to put up with me and all the dumb, insensitive things I do. It reminds me to be a better wife.

I Don't Pay Well

This being the second day of summer vacation, in the year two-thousand and seven, I being 29 years of age and having nothing better to do with my time, decided to go forth and organize my closet. My hall closet. The one at the end of my hall. The only closet I have besides my bedroom closet and my coat closet. I know. I need more closets. Closet is really starting to look like a strange word right now.

Anyway, this morning and for the past 200 or so mornings my closet looked like this:

There are other shelves, but they don't need any make-overs. They're full of stuff I don't use that often so they never get out of place. (extra sheets, blankets, ...cleaning supplies)

Since I was in the "organizing mode" (I was not in any mode. I didn't want to organize anything. I wanted to be lazy today. I was tiiired.) I decided to organize the bathroom drawers, too. They looked like this:

And this (respectively):

I couldn't wait to get started (I didn't want to start at all. But I had nothing else to do. Well, there was a ton I could have done, but I didn't want to do any of it. This seemed like the easiest of my options.) I went over to the local Tarjay and bought some bins. Bins I love. Bins I love because they are way cheap ($1.39!!!) and because they are sturdy and because they were the right size.

I got home and worked my magic (I took almost 2 hours to pull the contents of 2 small drawers and 2 shelves and put them into bins. I even brought a chair in from the other room so I wouldn't have to stand. I'm that lazy.)

Behold what I have done!

I feel good now. I've done something productive today. And to top it all off, I found a cool $1.28 AND a 2 pound coin from England. (You know what that means, ladies! We need to go to London!)

I don't pay myself so well.

It's a snack revoLUTION!

Thanks to some people we know, who shall remain anonymous, Zack and I ended up with THIS last night:

Actually, this is not all of it. The plate used to be full. We ate some (a lot) for lunch.

Thanks to the people at Village Inn, we also ended up with this the other night:

This plate used to be full, too.
Why did they have to have one pie left? Why? This is, as Zack would say, THE best pie in the world. I'm not sure what's in it exactly. Dark chocolate cookies, dark chocolate mousse, chocolate whipped cream, a layer of chocolatey goodness that shall be unnamed, and chocolate sprinkles. It's called the European Truffle pie and is thankfully only around once a year.

What I'm getting at is that we eat treats. We like treats. We buy them or make them often. We are addicted to treats. Mostly chocolate ones. And cookie ones. And doughnut ones. And cake ones. And, in Zack's case, ice creamy ones.

So last night Zack suggested we do something about it. He said we should put healthy snacks in little 'snack sized' baggies that are easily accessible for to eat. So today, on my FIRST day of summer break, I bought LOADS of healthy snacks and put them in little baggies. We will now have snacks to last A LIFETIME!! MWAAAA HAAHA HA HA!!!

But really, we have a ton of snacks.

We have these:

First of all, I know what you're thinking. That my chicken basket is awesome. It's a chicken AND it's a basket! A chicken-basket! But focus. Inside the brilliant chicken basket are healthy snacks! Apples, oranges, dried fruit, nuts, trail mixes of all kinds, pretzels, and even sunflower seeds. And they're all in little snack-sized pouches. And inside the pantry there's a box full of those same snacks so we can replenish the healthy chicken. There's also a note mentioning the snacks that are hiding in the fridge:

Carrots, peppers, yogurt and string cheese.

Honestly, it's so healthy in there I'm starting to feel sick. When Zack came home and found the snacks he was very excited. His words were "This stuff looks so good to me! And it's good FOR me! ...most of it. We are so going to skinny-up!" He's never used the term "skinny-up" before. I think what he means is "we will be more healthy now".

But honestly, after making all those snack bags, all I really want are some potato chips and cottage cheese (don't knock it 'til you've tried it) and the rest of those peanut butter fingers. (Keep 'em coming anonymous family that lives in grandma's old house! We love them! We'll eat all your leftover goodness!)