Cravings...

I remember reading somewhere that when you crave a particular food it's because your body is missing something (like stores of fat perhaps?). Anyway it's a nice thought when you're craving chocolate, ice cream and Raisinettes




but I'm not so sure when you're craving .....mmmm say, Mustard!

Betcha Nutella's mouth is watering right now!

I had a great, funny conversation with Nutella over the weekend (and I am no doubt ruining her next post as we speak), about the unusual food cravings she's experiencing as a SAHPP (stay at home pregnant person) She's been a fairly strict vegetarian for the past 3 years but has begun eating a little meat, I mean poultry, ....I think partly because she needs the protein as a PP and partly because she'll eat anything that sounds good right now and since that's hardly anything, meat or no meat she's going to eat it. I think she is now up to about 3 grilled chicken sandwiches in a month which is a HUGE thing for her but the really wierd craving is for Mustard.

Her biggest problem right now may be that, although she craves Mustard, she doesn't crave anything that you would put Mustard on (she has admitted to licking some off a hamburger pattie the other day) so may have to resort to just eating it right out of the jar with a spoon. I say, "Whatever Works Sweetie!"

It made me remember (fondly as you might imagine) being a PP myself. With Nutella I craved pickled vegetables, of any and all kinds, but most especially pickled cherry peppers which I bought in huge gallon jars.......mmmmmm, mmmmm, good!

With "Tiny" it was green olives. I'd take them to work with me in a little baggie ... okay, several little baggies......I worked in a government office and I remember one client coming in at 8:30 in the morning and telling us she thought our office smelled like a delicatessen...they made me remove them from my desk drawer and keep them in the lunchroom....oh well, more breaks for me!!!

Along came "Afty", and my cravings finally became sensible. I desired nothing more than a bag or two of chocolate chips a day which resulted in a whopping 42 pound weight gain for me and a dainty baby girl that weighed in at 9 pounds 3 1/2 ounces ....Isn't it funny how we have to tag on the 1/2 ounce.....like it makes a difference at that point......but in the competition between mothers (you know the one "Well yes, that is a big baby but my baby weighed 9 pounds 4.2 ounces!") it can make all the difference......I digress....

So now I'm just trying to figure out what nutrient my body finds in deficit when I crave Three Musketeers Bars for breakfast, ice cream for lunch, and McDonald's french fries for dinner (probably the aforementioned fat stores feeling threatened as we try to eat healthy food......which by the way has resulted in an 11 pound weight loss over the past 5 weeks and nightmares about worldwide famine).

Sure Love Ya!

P.S. You just HAVE to visit "Tiny's" (aka daughter #2) post from yesterday.....you'll get to know all about her in a nutshell!

Crowning "glory?"....or "Time Will Tell?"...

Okay, so Daughter #3 ("Afty" as she calls herself) wants to have her lovely locks cut off in the tradition of Kelly Pickler (if you’re an American Idol fan you’ll know what I mean, if not….here’s her new style).
Daughter #2 ("Tiny") says it's a big mistake....and me? I'm staying out of it. My track record with hair....well, it isn't so hot ....

Until I was seven I had curly hair ….VERY curly hair, I blame this on my mom, who subscribed to the notion that little girls needed something called a permanent wave…I still remember the boxes of Toni Milk Wave (heaven only knows why they called them that because they sure didn’t smell like milk!). She bought them by the cartful whenever they went on sale….little girls must have curls!!! I love you mom but really……! (as you can see we also needed a handbag to go with our dress and perfect coiffure!)

I still remember in lst grade someone saying “Fuzzy, wuzzy was a bear, fuzzy wuzzy had no hair but Helen does and it IS fuzzy!!!” Kids are cruel…..

Anyway from 2nd grade through 6th I bravely sported a “pixie” (and took NO pictures I guess...) so that I wouldn’t have to have the dreaded lst day of school perm.

Once I got into Junior High I spent hours drying my hair with a hairbrush and the brisk Wyoming wind doing it’s best substitute for the, not yet invented, desperately needed, hand held blow-dryer…..actually it worked pretty well and I eventually declared my hair "naturally straight" and sported the typical hippie hairdo of the 60’s and 70’s……

Then there was the "Farrah Fawcett period"

Followed by the ever popular "mommy with a mullet" look.....(my kids are dying right now)




and the "I can't do anything with my hair in this humidity" do....

I have since made friends with the hair straightener (so much more convenient than laying my head on an ironing board) and have given up style in favor of ....well, I guess it's just neutrality at this point..


If "Afty" wants to cut her hair I won't say no but I thinks she's perfect the way she is.....





(Besides I don’t want her writing a blog someday about how her mom made her wear her hair long and straight when she wanted it short!)

P.S. I'm having a particularly bad hair day today....it's 90 degrees and 85% humidity!

"M" is for.....

(Thanks Gabriella for giving me a letter! I have such a hard time thinking of blogworthy items .... okay, so yesterday wasn't blogworthy.....anyway THANKS!)

Ten Things that start with "M" .....

1. Menial, as in menial labor..... i.e. tree planting, tractor driving, and being Ward Librarian....(all things I'm intimately acquainted with).


2.Millers: the kind that fly into your hair and get trapped, also the kind that some people find beautiful but I find absolutely terrifyingly freaky .... WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS ON THEIR HEAD!?


3.Miracle Worker: what my children insisted I be, often at a moments notice. .......able to find lost clothing articles instantaneously, work advanced mathematical equations, without a calculator, over the phone; and construct meals out of kid friendly items like peanut butter, chocolate and chicken nuggets; all with a happy smile and sunny disposition (M is also for Mary Poppins!)

4. M is for MoreMom: The religion Daughter #2 used to tell people we belonged to.....it made perfect sense to her.

5. Mattress: The inanimate object that beats me to a pulp nine out of ten times I try to flip it .... when they call them innerspring they're not kidding!


6. Mickey Mouse: The only rodent I would ever call "friend", chiefly because he lives at our home away from home, Disneyworld! (And because he wears those cute little red shorts!)

7. Matilda, Minerva, Morticia: Names I can think of that would be worse than my own ("Helen" ).

8. Marriage: an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window open, and a woman who can't sleep with the window shut.

9. Mental: the kind of work you're doing when everyone insists you're sleeping

10.Mule: what men believe to be a cross between a horse and a donkey but women know is a VERY cute shoe!

"The Contractor" is in control.....

I never thought I needed a maid. I always knew if I ever got one it would just mean I had to clean earlier in the day to make sure everything looked nice when she got here....obviously not worth the money.

Seriously, I don't know how I ever worked full time and kept my house clean (I know right now Nutella and Tiny are saying......we know how she did it.....she had us!) Okay, maybe. I've only been planting trees for 4 weeks and I feel like I'm losing control of my surroundings. I guess the difference now is that when I come home from "work" I'm dead tired and don't want to clean. For the most part the house stays pretty much picked up because we're all gone all day. I have a Roomba that does the vacuuming for me every day and I always get the dishes done before we leave because I'm obsessive about that but the things that I'm losing the battle on are things like....dusting, toilet cleaning, mirror cleaning, and OH MY GOSH....the lawn, you should see the lawn!

We leave early in the morning so I don't notice it then but when we get home at night I swear it brings tears to my eyes. It's a good thing we live in a woods and the neighbors can't see it......they'd probably assume we were dead inside the house or something, we NEVER let our grass grow like this. The only days we aren't working are #1...when it's raining, and #2 on Sunday.....neither one offers any possibility of mowing. (I have a headlight on the mower but I'm not at that point yet!)

Adding to my stress at the moment is the ...... shall we call him ....."The Contractor". The contractor was hired in August last year to do two jobs, #1 build a rock fireplace to complete our Log Cabin....we'd been looking for 12 years for someone who could do real masonry work and finally found him.....and his #2 job?.....to re-roof our house which received some damage in a big hail storm last spring. The fireplace was projected to take 10 days to 2 weeks -- it took them 2 months to get started and SIXTY TWO DAYS to finish! I was ready to scream.

Well, when you build a fireplace like that there is a lot of ..... mess......inside and out. The inside I took care of, the outside ..... which consists of piles of leftover mortar, cement blocks, wooden pallets, cigarette butts (amazingly those are part of constructing a fireplace.....huh? who would've thunk), pop cans, styrofoam cups, bottles, metal strapping, tarps, plastic, wood, etc. etc. etc.

All of this stuff was left when the fireplace was finished just before Thanksgiving. "The Contractor" said that when they started the roof (in the next two weeks, weather permitting ....that was in NOVEMBER!) they would bring in a big dumpster for the roof stuff and all the mess would be picked up then.

Fast forward to May 2006. They started the roof (after constant nagging) about two weeks ago, they only finished the back of the house because it then began raining. They haven't been back. We called "The Contractor" on Friday last week and he said the next two consecutive sunny days (which is what they need....supposedly) would be "next" Monday and Tuesday (that means today and tomorrow). We left for another day of tree planting at 7:30 this morning and when we got home guess what.....NO ROOF! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!

Now we are living with a yard full of rubble from the fireplace, a roof that is half done, (including rain gutters half torn off and boards nailed to the roof from when the worked on the chimney LAST FALL!) and a HUGE dumpster the size of a rail car parked next to my porch! It's totally driving me crazy. I feel stressed enough just trying to keep up with the laundry and things I have to do inside, but to have the "public" side of my house look like this is more than I can handle.

To answer my own question, ....no I don't need a maid (they don't clean yards), I need a miracle!

A little support, please....(and I don't mean hosiery!)

Okay, if anyone who reads my blog did not get here by linking from Ciao Bella!
(aka Nutella) then I'll tell you now that she's my daughter and if you've been reading her blog then you know she's pregnant!!!! I'm trying not to be TOO excited because I don't want to "pressure" her ... BUT as I told her I learned how to be a grandma from my grandma and she was the BEST,......I just know I'm going to be so great at it!!! Visit her blog and give her support okay? (Cause from you it won't be pressure!)

AND Daughter #2 announced today that she has her own blog! I am so happy.....she was too busy as a college freshman but now working full time at one job and part time at another she has found time!!! YAY! Give her your support too cause I love her too.

Daughter #3 has a blog but I'm not sharing hers with the world cause she's only 13 and I don't want to get her a stalker or something.

Thanks for your congratulations everyone.....it was easy for me.....becoming a grandma that is......I can't wait! Grammy, I'm going to have to change my blogger name now huh? AND I'm going to quit complaining about being 50 because as a Grandma that's the perfect age!

Sure Love Ya! Life is great today!

You'll laugh!!!

Okay, once again no time to blog except that I did think I could share this.....if you didn't get it on Mother's Day in your spam e-mails you really should see it....it will make you laugh! Click here!

Sure Love Ya! (And thanks to Brenda for sharing it with me in the first place!)

A few thoughts...

I hardly have time to blog today, just a minute or two while the water tank is filling on the truck.

I was thinking last night about the little "thoughts" I've collected over the course of my 50 years, some from friends, some from lessons at church, some from my own little head in response to some situation or other...here's a sampling:

If you don't have anything good to say.....think harder!

You're always an example, to someone.

Good deeds always come back to you, bad ones have a way of spreading out further and further from you (sobering thought huh?)

If you act happy pretty soon you will be.

If you want to have a friend, be a friend.

Nothing is harder than trying to take back something you said.

You will never be happier than you expect to be.

.....along those same lines:

People generally live up to your expectations of them, good or bad!

Hope you all have a great day today.....and that you contribute to someone else having a great day!

Sure Love Ya!

Helen

Landmarks....

I laughed at Gabriela's post yesterday, you really need to see it....I laughed not only because the landmark for her town is a giant shrimp (is that possible....a "giant" shrimp?) but because a landmark in my "Smalltown" is a giant.....well, what do you think it is?

This is located on the edge of our local University's campus....as far as I know no one really knows what it represents but you can imagine the kind of guesses.

(I have driven past the above "sculpture" at least twice a day every day for 12 years.....TODAY when I went to take the picture it was gone!! No kidding, in it's place at the entrance to the University is now this one.....apparently they heard I was going to publish the fact that they were represented by the infamous "Big Brown ****!".....I had to walk through campus and finally found the original tucked away in the center ....not visible anymore from the main thoroughfare...go figure : )

Next to that, the most famous landmark is Ivanhoe's, a local ice cream place that people come from far and wide to visit, weeknights it's not unusual to have over 50 people waiting patiently in line to get their "fix". Unfortunately for my waistline we partake of Ivanhoes fare at least once a week. Here's a sampling of their 100 shakes and 100 sundaes menu....

My Favorite: Trojan 1 Shake
Blended peanut butter, frozen yogurt, chopped nuts and chocolate chips.

HH's Favorite: Peanut Butter Crazy Shake
Ice cream blended with peanut butter, chopped nuts, topped with a scoop of hand-dipped chocolate ice cream, more peanut butter and lots of Spanish peanuts.

My Mother-in-law's Favorite: Fudge Crumb Deluxe Sundae
Chocolate nut brownie topped with hand-dipped French vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, a cloud of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

Nutella's Favorite (before she moved away and got healthy!) Black Forest Shake
A whirlwind of chocolate cookie crumbles and maraschino cherries in a vanilla yogurt shake.

My "old" favorite : Trojan II Shake
Blended mint chocolate chip ice cream swirled with delicious cookie dough pieces, topped with a scoop of hand dipped chocolate ice cream.

Everyone's favorite: Incredible Edible

Cookie dough pieces, crushed Reese's Cup blended in a vanilla yogurt shake with Hot fudge and Hershey bars stirred in, more hot fudge and spanish peanuts served on the side! YUM!


Daughter #2 liked anything fruity but never settled on one thing, she's kind of a health nut so doesn't indulge much

Daughter #3 just graduated from her five year run of nothing but "Clown Sundaes" (favorite flavor of ice cream topped iwth a sugar cone hat, a collar of whipped cream dressed up with candies, cookies and nuts) to a "Dirt Cup Shake" which is nothing but a vanilla shake with crushed oreos and gummi worms on top......which will probably last another five years before she decides to try something new.

Great!, it's only 9:20 in the morning and I'm craving ice cream! Have a great day!

P.S. (Let me know your thoughts on our sculpture(the original) .... and Gabriela -- aren't you glad you have a shrimp?)

You are what you think......now I'm worried!

Today was one of those days when I got to actually have lunch with people I like! Unfortunately I've fallen into this habit of taking people to lunch when I don't really want to go anywhere with them but I have to see them for some reason or other......this has done nothing for my digestion!

Anyway today I had lunch with Beth, a great friend, AND someone who I know will make me laugh out loud at least once during lunch....it feels so good to laugh and she can make anything funny...what a great quality..... thanks Beth, I needed that!

On to today's musings....

While trying to wake up this morning I had quite the conversation with myself about going out to exercise....it was a long process but the "Good Helen" finally won out and kicked the "Bad Helen" out of bed. All the way to the garage I was laughing about how often I have these conversations with myself. Every morning it's the same conversation and every morning the outcome is the same but the script continues.....

I've also noticed that if I walk to the mailbox to get the mail I automatically count my steps (it's 900 roundtrip....only 11 trips a day and I get in my 10,000 steps to good health!) Oddly enough even if I get distracted my subconscious is still counting!!! Really! Sometimes I'm thinking about something totally different and....."I wonder if I resubscribed to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine I don't remember getting one for a........97, 98, 99, ....while", "Maybe we'll have sunshine tomorrow it sure is ........547, 548, 549, 550,........ gloomy!" I know that's wierd but it just happens, sort of, automatically...... the side benefit is that it saves me from looking for the pedometer I bought but can never find when I need it.

When I fold the laundry I mentally count the number of items of each color .....4, no 5 black, 3 green, 2 pink .......no ONE pink and one maroon. I never do it when I sort, or put away, only when I fold. I am seriously wierded out by this and haven't ever admitted it to anyone but you....I have no idea where this started and I only hope I can keep the voices inside my head ......I worry constantly about what I'll be like as an Alzheimer's patient....

Then there's that really annoying habit of spelling backwards. If anyone ever asks me to spell a word I spell it, but then in my secret "inside" voice, I have to "re-spell" it backwards.....I can only assume this behavior comes from competition with my dad as I was growing up. He could spell backwards as fast as he could spell forwards.....it drove me crazy as I could NEVER beat him at it.

Most of my little "running thoughts" revolve around counting though, ....... the swipes of the windshield wipers, the revolutions of the eliptical machine ...divided into revolutions per minute, the number of trees planted in a row (while driving the tractor).....you know the normal stuff.


Am I crazy (probably) ....... 212, 213, 214......or just "mentally exercised?"

Mom's Day......(or so they say!)

A Mother's Love

I meant to write this yesterday but I was busy cooking all day so I wouldn't have to cook today!

I thought it might be fun to remember all the little "lessons" I learned from my mom (I know you've read those funny little e-mails that have made the rounds...."Things my mother taught me" this may not be as entertaining but it's true!)

1. I learned that if you sew on Sunday you'll have to pick every stitch out with your nose when you get to Heaven.
2. I learned that if you're mean to your sister you're gonna have to hug her AND kiss her before the day is up.
3. I learned that trying to read late at night by the light that comes under the crack of the bedroom door is going to cause a terrible headache....one way or another.
4. I learned that homemade bread with butter and honey is the PERFECT thing to make a bad day seem better (probably why I constantly battle my weight issues).
5. I learned that if you add tomatoes and tuna fish to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese you can call it homemade .
6. I learned that if you're too sick to go to school you're also too sick to play, read, watch tv or have ANY fun.
7. I learned that anything that can be purchased from J.C. Penney can be made by my mom for half-the price.
8. I learned that patience is a virtue and for some reason mom was always "running out of it" when she was dealing with me.....
9. I learned that the quickest way to clean house was not make a mess in the first place (unfortunately I never understood that one until I had a house of my own).
10. I learned that girls can do anything boys can do.
11. I learned that helping someone was the best feeling in the world.

12. I learned that when you're tired you work anyway.
13. I learned that lots of people have bigger houses, newer cars, and fancier clothes but nobody has more love.


And most of all I learned that when you're a mom sometimes you wait a long time for your kids to come and tell you how much you mean to them and how important your influence has been. But when they do it's the best thing in the world!

Mom.....I love you.....thanks for all you've done for me!

Happy Mother's Day to all, here's hoping you can rest tomorrow : )

Sure Love Ya!

I love the rain....

It's been raining here since yesterday....I got to sleep all night with the windows open and the sound of rain on the roof......a perfect night! I'll admit it, I even like thunderstorms at night, they're just so .....powerful and awe-inspiring. I think I passed my love for them on to Daughter #2 cause she used to head outside at the first rumble wrapped in a quilt ..... she'd sit there in a porch rocker and read while the storm raged.... I on the other hand like to BAKE when it's raining.......bread, chocolate chip cookies, mmmmmm! (Oh heck! I forgot we have to eat good around here now RATS!)

And of course there's a little side benefit .... I DIDN'T HAVE TO DRIVE THE TRACTOR AND PLANT ANY DARNED OLD TREES TODAY!!!! (I know I'm pathetic, unambitious and appear to be lazy as well....what can I say?)



Anyway, here in my part of the world rain in the spring (and fall too) is just part of life. It's okay, it makes things green and I keep telling everyone from my old home state of Wyoming that they'll have wrinkles before me cause it's so dry and here it's anything but! (I suppose that should mean my wrinkles would be outies not innies eventually huh?)



I had a few things to learn about rain when I moved here. Number one.....when it rains for days and days you get floods.....they actually cancel school here because so many country roads get flooded. Unfortunately, having never experienced it before, water flowing across a street was a unknown commodity for me and I met my first "puddle" with exhuberance.....it seemed to me that going fast through the deep parts would be the best (so as not to let water run in the doors) but I learned that when you go fast through water over a foot deep it stalls the engine....bummer!

I"ve also noticed that out West where I'm from, the thunderstorms lose a lot of their rain as they cross over the mountains, they also seem to lessen in intensity. BOY of BOY the thunderstorms here are downright AWESOME! I never experienced the level of noise and longevity that we get with our storms here. Luckily I've never been afraid of them so didn't pass on some wierd thunderaphobia to my kids.

....on a sidenote I have to laugh at my sister-in-law who would don a football helmet, force all her kids to do the same, and spend 4 hours in a coat closet if there was even distant thunder. Noone out here has basements, the water table is just too high and that means a wet basement......so for protection you have the old coat closet. I don't know why thinking about all my neighbors in their closets strikes me as funny, I feel bad laughing about it....really......... HaHaHaHa (okay, I'm better now).

Anyway it's supposed to rain today, tomorrow, and all weekend....I plan on taking lots of naps and sitting by a toasty fire! Aaaaahhhh, now this is the life! (I suppose I'm going to wake up and find it's all a dream.......hopefully I'm not on the tractor driving!)

Hey you know the other great thing about rain? Rainbows!

Daughters......

Daughter #3 reminded us the other day that she would be driving in ONLY two years and four months! She told us, not so much because she knew we'd be excited, but rather to give us ample time to save up for her chosen car which she has informed us is the Mitsubishi Spider. (Right, honey.....I'll just put that on my "To Buy" list for September 2009 : )

First of all, any car with a name like "spider" doesn't exactly conjur up thoughts of teenage girls driving safely and sanely down the road at slightly under the posted speed limit.

Secondly, unfortunately for Daughter #3, the parents in this household have learned a thing or two from Daughters #1 and #2.

When Daughter #1 (aka Nutella) approached driving age I believe we were in our 30's.....pretty smart about just about everything in life (really......I think we actually said that!). We did our research and came up with a little "contract" for her to sign prior to receiving, and driving, her first car. It covered just about everything.......well, maybe not everything....

Unfortunately, it did not cover any of the circumstances that would result in FOUR, count 'em FOUR, wrecks she would have between age 16 and age 18 when she would (finally) leave our home sans car and go off to college.

She reminds us often that it could hardly be her fault when someone at school drives a monster truck and somehow managed to drive OVER the front of her car which was parked next to him (he said he didn't see it...........no kidding!). Nor, does she think, that it is her fault that she stops at the stop sign leaving school, but the person behind her doesn't, and slams into her, knocking the back bumper off. Likewise the late night accident where she slid off a city street in an ice storm, unhurt, no damage but stuck in a small ditch........then while being towed out of the ditch, a college student came along, made the same mistake she did and slammed into the jeep pulling her out....bounced off and smashed into her car completely totalling it. She has no excuse for the other accident in which SHE was the car that didn't stop in time.

Anyway, after Daugher #1 we modified the car contract ..... for Daughter #2....

1. You MUST park as far from everyone else at school as is possible and still make it to class on time......the extra walking will save you money at the gym.
2. We never thought we'd ask this, but from now on we want you to linger after school (in a non-obvious kind of way so as not to appear suspicious) to make sure you're the LAST kid driving out of the parking lot (okay, if the jocks are practicing you can leave before them).
3. NO passengers in your car for the first six months of driving solo! (Unless it's your sister and then only if she doesn't talk to you).
4. IF you manage to graduate from High School without any accidents (regardless of fault) we will pay for you and a friend to take a trip wherever you choose (I might as well just admit it here that this one was a BIG mistake!!!)

Well, Daughter #2 didn't let us down, she didn't have a single accident, ........not one! We were so proud.......well, sort of. The fact is that although she didn't have ANY accidents she DID have tickets.....several of them. She got tickets for speeding, reckless driving and running stop signs!!!!! (Unfortunately, a contract is a contract and we only specified she remain accident free, so she compromised and went with a friend to Hawaii "on us" instead of France....her first choice!)









You guessed it..... this is daughter #2 in action at the wheel!

Need I say more? Daughter #3, I love you dearly so.......

A. You're not getting a Mitsubishi Spider, but all is not lost...I'm considering a Oldsmobile Delta 88.....nice, sensible and reliable (also made of real STEEL, not fiberglass......TAKE THAT MONSTER TRUCKS!)


B. You'll get a trip too, but only if you never get a ticket OR have an accident and then only to a location somewhere in the lower 48.....
C. No passengers until you turn 21 (unless it's your mother).
D. You may drive to school but only if you park in the teacher's parking lot next to that really old lady that teaches science.....
E. A car is not a toy so we won't expect to see you enjoying it too much.....

Parting thought..............Yup, it's probably a really good thing we don't have a Daughter #4

Sure Love Ya!

Huh?

I don’t usually take time on Sunday to blog but I will today as I have finished some studying and don’t want to take a nap (very weird for me!). I miss having the time to write each day and find the longer a span between writing the harder it is for me to come up with anything good to write about, Anyway....

I had a little laugh the other day when Grammy told me she hadn’t been posting much as she was busy with RS in her ward. It made me chuckle because if we didn’t belong to the same church I’d probably not even have a clue what she was talking about. It’s funny how Latter Day Saints have a language all their own, by way of translation here’s a little cheat sheet:

Ward: Not the loony bin in the local mental hospital (although could pass for that in some locations!) but rather the name for a group of us "Mormons" who live within a designated boundary and meet at the same church building.

Stake Center: Not "STEAK" center, and certainly not anything like Outback (kind of disappointing to our friends when we invite them to come with us for a fun evening at the stake center). Just a larger building where several "Wards" (see above) get together for food, fun, inspiration/instruction, service, and ....did I say food?

Saints: Another term for a group of "mormons", since our name is really not mormons at all, but "members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" we sometimes refer to ourselves (loosely in most cases) as just "Latter Day Saints", or "saints" . (Never let it be said we don’t think well of ourselves).

RS: Acronym for Relief Society, organization of "sisters" who meet together to learn about Jesus Christ, and how to serve their family, friends, neighbors (and to make/eat food).

YM/YW: Acronym for Young Men/Young Women, the youth program of the church formerly known as Mutual, MIA (Mutual Improvement Association), .....and in some "wards" those rowdy young people.

Primary: Not the election kind.....but rather youth not old enough to go to YW/YM ..... they meet in Primary to learn about Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, the prophets and oh yes.....the Holy Ghost (aka to Sunbeams as "The holey goat"......sorry one little girl really said that ......too cute......).

Sister: The proper way to address any woman of the church (except when shouting at her from across Walmart........in which case everyone turns to see if there’s a nun in the store).

Brother: The address for men in the church.....as in.....Brother Hanson is married to Sister Hanson (you know the one we shouted at in Walmart?).

BOM: Book of Mormon, only the best book ever, not to mention the only way to understand other well used terms like 1 Ne, 2 Ne., 3 Ne., etc.

Sunbeams: Not streaming through the windows......more like screaming through the halls....aka three year olds trying to master "Primary".

FHE: Family Home Evening ....a night for spiritual instruction, fun, and what else....Food! Usually on Monday night, it's designed to help families have at least one night a week JUST to spend together. This is also known (depending on the age and hearing/speaking ability of your children) as Family Home Eating, Family Home Eviling, Family Home Meeting, or Family, our meeting!

And just for fun..... here’s something I read that illustrates the point.........

"I remember while I was serving my mission in Ohio (90-92) we received a memo from somewhere (I don’t remember if it was the COB) stating that we were to do away with acronyms in the mission field. No more DL, ZL, ZDM, AP, DA and so forth. So we tried not to use them in the MTC or at BYU or FHE. We encouraged the YM and YW not to use them, as well as the RS and MP; especially not in
PEC"

Sure Love Ya!

For Instance, did you know....

Thanks to my friend Suzie Q I've been tagged for this one(so actually have something to blog about and can do it in the short amount of time I have available)....


For instance, did you know...

Four jobs I have had...
1. Typist in a typing pool (the olden days)
2. Dispatcher for aircraft (forest fires)
3. Human Resources Assistant (Federal Government)
4. Vice-President (of HH's company : ) )


Four movies I would watch over and over...
1. Message in a bottle.
2. Any of the Harry Potters
3. Planes,Trains and Automobiles (Clean Films Version)
4. Holiday Inn

Four places I have lived...
1. Cody, Wyoming
2. Sheridan, Wyoming,
3. Afton, Wyoming (see a trend here......?)
4. Indiana

Four TV shows I love to watch... (now you'll know I'm a reality TV junkie...sorry)
1. Little People, Big World
2. Dangerous Catch
3. Survivor (I'm so sorry.....I can't help myself)
4. Small Spaces, Big Style

Four places I have been on vacation...
1. Mexico
2. Disneyworld (a million times)
3. Hawaii (I wanna go back!)
4. New York City

Four places I would like to go on vacation...
1. Italy (with Nutella and JD!)
2. Australia
3. Book of Mormon Central American tour
4. Japan

Four web sites I visit often:
1. The Pink Factor
2. Sweet Mama Entropy
3. Grammy Rules
4. Ciao Bella!

Four favorite foods:
1. Ice Cream
2. Chocolate (IT IS TOO A FOOD!)
3. Sweet potatoes
4. Lobster Bisque

Where I would like to be right now:
1. Hawaii
2. Florida
3. In bed
4. Driving home from the last tree planting job of the season! : )

Now to tag you:
1. Grammy Rules
2. Gabriela
3. Ciao Bella
4. Sweet Mama Entropy

(and anyone else who wants to share......tell me so I can get to know you!)

I have a bone to pick with someone...

Okay, I do appreciate most (but certainly not ALL) of the differences between men and women. For instance, I really like the fact that HH seems inately adept at fixing all manner of broken objects, killing really ugly bugs without flinching, diagnosing the cause of the "noise" coming from the front of the car or the back of the washing machine, and generally being extremely handy for just about any of my many (and varied) needs.

However, I DO not appreciate that cruel twist of nature that causes HH to drop 14 pounds in 9 days eating "sensibly" while I lose a mere 4. I also do not appreciate the fact that although I exercise religiously 45 minutes to one hour EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE except Sunday (and have for over 4 years now) I can eat no more than 1000 calories a day (950 of which must be undigestible fiber) without gaining weight.

Several years ago I lost a whopping 48 pounds over the course of 6 months (April to October) .... how did I do it you ask? Well, frankly after not losing one single pound for the first two weeks eating 1200 calories a day, I became eating challenged and dropped my calorie intake to 300 calories a day. That's right....an eating disorder. I didnt' think it was an eating disorder, I simply skipped breakfast and lunch and ate a HUGE salad with hard boiled egg and cheese on top with vinegar for dressing for dinner(every single night), that's pretty normal isnt it?

Okay, of course it isn't, even writing it down makes it sound wierd and sick and I can't imagine what I was thinking.....it just became habit and I was so desperate to lose weight. At the same time I exercised 30 minutes every morning, 30 minutes at lunch, and one hour in the evenings if I had time.

Now according to all the medical journals I should have lost about ONE HUNDRED and forty eight pounds, not just forty eight, but nevertheless I was happy with those forty eight. I am five foot four inches tall and at the time had actually gotten to a gigantic 174 pounds before dropping down to 126 (I think some stupid insurance chart even says my "ideal" weight is 116!!!!!).

I have never put all of the weight back on which I am happy about and proud of, but I have regained about 24 of those original 48 which is really really not fun. I hate my entire life to be centered around food, and yet it sometimes seems that just that way. I just don't think this is what Heavenly Father wants for me and yet, here I am, in competition with dear HH who is trying to just be healthy (high cholesterol and high blood sugar) while I only care about being thin (low blood pressure, normal blood sugar, normal cholesterol levels, and yes normal thyroid function.....my body is just VERY VERY efficient at using those calories!)

HH and I had a conversation this morning about my inability to be happy about his weight loss.....it makes me sad that I can't get excited about it but I'm not that "big"hearted......(forgive me, I'm trying).

Anyway, if the time ever comes that anyone asks my opinion I'm going to suggest that the next humans that are created should at least be imbued with the same metabolism!!!

Okay, I'm so over it! Sure love ya....: )