Quote of the Day

I was reading a magazine article yesterday about breast cancer "survivors". One of the writers (Shelly Lewis) wrote about her experience. She had had a small Stage 1 tumor removed, and then chemo and radiation. I love what she said about it:

"..."I am a cancer survivor" is a phrase my lips simply won't form. My definition of a survivor is someone who a) has had a serious brush with death, or b) has escaped it. By those standards, I don't qualify. For starters, I never felt as though I had a brush with death. It was more like death sent me a creepy postcard with "Thinking of you..." scrawled on it."

In the Leafy Treetops.

I love the view out our living room window. We sometimes feel like we're in a tree house. One with running water, flush toilets and electricity.

I want one.

I think I will send this picture to Andrew - (it's his mission president and kids). I want him to find me that AWESOME thing the boy is wearing. Yes, it's totally beyond dorky - but the thought of not having to sweep up all that hair after a haircut is tantalizing.

Balcony Scene

No, it's not Romeo and Juliet...more Wichita Lineman...

I don't know what it is about bucket trucks, but they are fun to watch. I'm not crazy about the new stuff that they added to the power poles - but I can tell that they aren't done yet - we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Fantasy Cast

I don't know too much about fantasy sports teams - I can't say it has ever really interested me much. After finishing watching the recent BBC/PBS version of "Little Dorrit" , I got to thinking about fantasy casting. Imagine the cast being made up of American actors...I know this is a stretch and I would truly hate it to actually be made - but what actors do you think represent certain characters? I came up with one:

Arthur Clennam - John Cusak (Serendipity, Better Off Dead) - he does a good job at being a quiet, nice guy. Plus he's around the right age.

I was talking to Marcy about the whole "fantasy cast" idea this morning - she suggested a more recognizable movie: Pride and Prejudice. I know, I know...Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is about as much fantasy as one gal can take...but...who would you include in your fantasy casting of Pride and Prejudice? (no fair picking anyone who is already in a version of it). I'm going to ignore the whole British accent thing - after all, this is pure fantasy.

I think Hugh Jackman could pull off Mr. Darcy (think of him in Kate and Leopold..not as Wolverine) - he cleans up well.

I could almost see Jack Black as Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins has to be fairly ridiculous...I'm not sure if Mr. Black could do the "fairly" part...but I'm sure he could nail the ridiculous.

Who would you pick? Bring it on.

It's May!

Spring sort of hit with a thud today - it's quite sunny and warm. The rains are due back tomorrow, but let's make hay while the sun shines....

(It kind of makes me giggle that Steve loves the musical "Camelot". )

5 Alarm???

Not sure why the fire trucks were spouting. Nothing was burning. They may have just been cleaning out the hydrant or more likely they were cleaning out their hoses. Whatever. I missed taking a picture of the first truck - just as I pointed my camera the water ceased. I was ready for the second one.

I'm sure it was no coincidence that it started raining just as soon as they finished spraying.

My Travelling Obsession

I own 3 different versions of the movie Around the World in Eighty Days. I didn't realize that I had that many until last night. Steve and I picked up the 1956 version at Costco about a month ago - I think it was only $8.99. We finally got around to watching it last night.

This version won 5 Oscars - including Best Picture - beating out The 10 Commandments and The King and I! Lots of great location shots. Lots of cameos by famous actors of the day. Lots of fun. Two thumbs up.

Although the other two versions can't quite compete, they are also fun in their own ways. In 1989 Pierce Brosnan starred as Fogg in a miniseries with Eric Idle as Passpartout and Peter Ustinov as Detective Fix (I own this one on video - not dvd - darn it). The other version came out in 2004. It was by far the least faithful to the book, but a lot of fun nevertheless. Jackie Chan made a great Passpartout . Danny and I read the book Around the World in Eighty Days and then saw that version in the theater.

WALL*E and EVA

I've decided to call our old blow dryer WALL-E. An old "appliance" that lived way past its design parameters.

The new one shall be called EVA. It is clean, white and looks more up to date.

I'd rather have WALL-E back.

A Sad Farewell...

A beloved member of our family passed away today. Steve and I have been the proud owners of our "Conair Pro Style Mini Dryer 1250 Watts" for nearly 30 years. Lots of people talk about planned obsolescence in appliances - but here's one small appliance that bucked the odds. It was the brave little blow dryer that could. It's not like we kept it wrapped up in cotton and gingerly used it occasionally. This blow dryer had been dropped on the floor countless times and dropped in the toilet at least once or twice. I sort of wish that we had given it a name.


Is it too late to name a dead blow dryer?

Psyched up for HDTV

The DISH guys were at our house this morning installing a new dish and receiver. I knew we were getting a new receiver but I didn't know that we'd be getting a new dish too. I was very grateful that Steve was working from home and could answer all their tech questions AND that he could bring up our VHL (very heavy ladder) so that they could climb up by the roof to do said installation.

I'm not sure what all the hype for HDTV is about...but I do know that the new seasons of Psych and Monk start tonight - so I'm willing to give it a go.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

I was getting ready to check my email on Yahoo, when I saw this article - it was about a poll taken to see which celebrity people would like to have as their neighbor. Sarah Palin was the surprise front runner - she beat out Oprah.

She would be a cool neighbor - the kind that has plenty of kids - so she would understand when little Piper comes home needing stitches from a little roughhousing/snowball fighting...She also strikes me as someone who could handle the paparazzi. A shotgun resting thoughtfully on one's shoulder would perhaps make annoying photographers think twice about crawling around in the bushes to get a picture.

Who would be your choice for celebrity neighbor? (no fair picking church leaders, or family members).

Second Hand News

Steve sent an email to our newspaper on Friday night. The gist of it was that we hadn't received our paper in a week...Saturday afternoon guess what? They brought us a week's worth of papers. Great. Who wants a week's worth of papers? We've had to subsist on television and internet for a week - so we pretty much have heard the highlights already. The only thing to do was to read a weeks worth of comics and then recycle the papers.

Did I mention we haven't had garbage or recycling picked up for weeks? Both cans are already overfull and we've started storing the extra bags in the garage. I feel a bit like Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout....

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out! She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans, Candy the yams and spice the hams, And though her daddy would scream and shout, She simply would not take the garbage out.

And so it piled up to the ceilings: Coffee grounds, potato peelings, Brown bananas, rotten peas, Chunks of sour cottage cheese. It filled the can, it covered the floor, It cracked the window and blocked the door With bacon rinds and chicken bones, Drippy ends of ice cream cones, Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel, Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal, Pizza crusts and withered greens, Soggy beans and tangerines, Crusts of black burned buttered toast, Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . .

The garbage rolled on down the hall, It raised the roof, it broke the wall. . . Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs, Globs of gooey bubble gum, Cellophane from green baloney, Rubbery blubbery macaroni, Peanut butter, caked and dry, Curdled milk and crusts of pie, Moldy melons, dried-up mustard, Eggshells mixed with lemon custard, Cold french fried and rancid meat, Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat. At last the garbage reached so high That it finally touched the sky.

And all the neighbors moved away, And none of her friends would come to play. And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said, "OK, I'll take the garbage out!" But then, of course, it was too late. . . The garbage reached across the state, From New York to the Golden Gate. And there, in the garbage she did hate, Poor Sarah met an awful fate, That I cannot now relate Because the hour is much too late. But children, remember Sarah Stout And always take the garbage out!

-Shel Silverstein

Errands a go-go.

I wish I had had Andrew's package ready to mail this morning - there was only one person ahead of us in line at the post office. We did get the customs form, 40 international stamps, 100 Christmas stamps and a friendly postal worker to give advice on sending a package to Japan.

Fred Meyer was also not so bad. Steve took back the 8 (EIGHT) pairs of pants that we bought him yesterday(because he couldn't try them on there...)and ended up with 3 pairs of pants. That fit. I also got 2 more new toothbrushes, because the one I got yesterday is too weird to continue using. It has some sort of tongue brush on the back of the regular bristles - so when I was brushing my back teeth it felt like I was sanding the inside of my cheek.

Next stop, Target. Got most of the stuff to put in a stocking for a five year old girl (for our ward's "giving tree"). Picked up a "Sleeping Beauty, 50th anniversary edition" for $11.88, which is about as much as I want to pay for it.

Finally, Costco. Hit the jackpot as far as samples today. Quite a plethora. Did a little shopping. Not much.

What did all these places have in common? Very short lines. Maximum of 1 person ahead of us in lines. This does not bode well for the retailers here.

What was the weirdest thing I saw today? A pair of newborn baby girl shoes/booties with "memory foam insoles". You have to ask yourself, "What are those insoles going to have to remember?"

Preparedness du Jour

I spent today preparing seminary lessons for next week.

Steve and Alex spent the day at the dry pack cannery, adding to our food storage(how would you like your beans?)

Our neighbor across the street spent his day putting up his Christmas lights.

It seems like everyone has something to do today that has to do with being prepared...Nathan went to the temple this morning (think spiritual preparedness) and Danny went with the scouts to help out at the food bank (community preparedness).

Speaking of preparedness, I need to run over to Home Depot and see if they have the copper sulfate pentahydrate for Danny's science experiment...

Time Marches On...

It still seems weird that we don't change our clocks until November. (yes, it is November 1st today). I have a ton of clocks. A ton. There's one spot in my living room that I can actually see 5 clocks...five. I have fourteen clocks on my main floor alone. I think there are only 4 downstairs - so that makes a grand total of 18 clocks that need to be set back one hour today.

I know what we'll be doing this evening.

Here's a "timely" song for you.

Men at Work

There is a very small sign near the entrance to my neighborhood that says "Improving your services, from the ground up". I'm unclear as to what services are being improved, and why I have to put up with a jackhammer and/or generator outside my house for days on end.

It wasn't so bad when they were on the street below our house - just a little background noise...but the noise we have had today is quite distracting. Danny keeps wanting to watch out the window - and I keep telling him to get on with his schoolwork.

Whatever they're doing I do have to appreciate the fact that it must be helping the economy. After all, keeping 20 or 30 people employed digging up people's yards has got to be injecting some sort of income into the economy.

Speaking of "men at work" here's a little silliness from them.

And now, for a word from our sponsers.

A little something to make you smile. It made me smile.

The Dead Zone

Can you hear me now? Can you hear me NOW? Can YOU hear ME now?

We do quite a bit of our shopping at Fred Meyer here in Marysville. It's in a good location - near the high school, near where Andrew was working, close to church...The biggest problem I have with shopping there is the fact that it is the last remaining "dead zone" for my cell phone in town.

I called Steve this afternoon as he was going there - so that I could ask him to pick up some Vidalia onions for me. Two frustrating phone calls replete with "can you hear me now" and he brought me home one yellow onion. Oh well, at least he was close. It would have been a lot more disappointing if I had needed him to bring home something more vital, like ice cream, oh, I mean milk.

Where are your "dead zones"?

Parallel Universe?

I'm pretty sure there is a rift somewhere near here in the space/time continuum. Pretty sure. Possibly it is located downstairs in the laundry room. More specifically in the washing machine. There may also be a rift in each of the boys bedrooms. A portal that leads to the universe of mismatched socks, lost library books and fingernail clippers.

We are not able to keep ourselves in fingernail clippers - just yesterday Steve said that the next time he was at the store he was going to get a dozen of the darn things - they disappear so fast at our house.

For some strange reason we don't have the same problem with toenail clippers. In fact, I'm not sure why we have so many - I never buy them. Hmmm....maybe they are really fingernail clippers that have mutated...