Wii Wii Wii all the way home.

Are you trying to get one of these for Christmas?! GOOD LUCK. Thursday I called and searched all over hallelujah for one. I won't say whether or not I was successful in my hunt in case my kids read this but I'm feeling a little "Tickle Me Elmo" nostalgia. (Remember when that toy was crazy popular and people were making themselves nuts to get one?) I thought that they wouldn't be as popular and in-demand this year but I was wrong. Hard project.

Open mouth, insert foot.

My last post was funny to me but offended some. My sarcasm and wit keeps me alive in my marriage and family of origin but isn't appreciated by all. I'm sorry for the feelings I hurt by criticizing church culture and those who donate their time and effort to such causes. I will work on being more mature and resisting my snotty impulses. Honestly sorry and humbled.
* Rita

The Stuffing Nemisis

I belong to a church, perhaps you've heard of it--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Yeah well, this church is run by volunteers. No one is paid but somehow, it runs smoothly and accomplishes great things. Although not integral to its doctrine, there are common church practices that have become as widely accepted as stories of 3 large men standing behind unwitting sister missionaries who find themselves in perilous situations. Two such practices include having giant ward dinners with left-overs enough to sustain 2 African continent countries for decades and getting church members to sign up to cook and bring food to these large fiascos, I mean, feasts.

One year, I willingly signed up to bring food to a ward Thanksgiving dinner. I fulfilled my duty and arrived with a large pot of Stove Top stuffing. As per usual, there was more-than-enough food and it happened that my dish did not make an appearance on the buffet table...I assumed because of the excess offerings. When I went to retrieve my pan, Al , the EQ pres. who had organized the event, was ranting about how someone had brought stuffing made from a packaged mix. His energized display of ire and disgust for the matter would have lead a passerby to believe this was an issue of great magnitude rather than simple side dish stupor. I argued that the taste and quality of packaged items were not only comparable to homemade versions but worth the convenience and dared to suggest, might actually be preferred by some partakers. No, he insisted, the product was sub-par--a disrespectful, deficient donation. I rolled my eyes and left proud (and surprised) that I hadn't encouraged him to put as much fervor into his other life roles as he did into ensuring the quality of entree associates.

I offered to help out with this year's church Thanksgiving production and received my assignment--stuffing, ingredients and recipe to be provided. I chuckled at the irony. Saturday afternoon I opened the bag of ingredients and looked at the recipe card..."Al's Ward Dinner Stuffing".

Epilogue: The stuffing was delicious. Dangit.

2 lb dried bread strips
1 c chopped onions
2 c chopped celery
1 lb melted butter
4 tsp salt
4 tsp poulty seasoning or sage
2-1/2 to 3 cans (14 oz.) chicken broth
Combine ingredients thoroughly in turkey roasting bag or pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating bag or stirring occasionally. Feeds 20-25 people.

Automated Home

I started working at Control4 in January. We make home automation products. One of the perks of the job is that I get free stuff to put in our home. I recently finished replacing all the light switches in our house with automated dimmers and also automated the TV, DVD player, satellite receiver, and even the garage door. I also got a thermostat, a touch-screen, several keypads, two speaker points, and several remotes (one for each of the kids).

Once something is automated you can control it from any of the remotes, from the touch screen, from one of the keypads or from some other event. It's hard to get your mind around exactly what the system can do unless you see it in action, but let me try to give you a few examples of things that you can do:

• Kenna has a button on her wall that will automatically turn on her music and play her playlist that she has defined.
• There is a button with a light on it on the wall in our bedroom. If the light is red it means the garage door is open. Push the button and it will close.
• There is a button on the wall in the kitchen that will pause the currently playing TV show or DVD--great for when it's time to bless the food.
• When Todd goes to sleep he programs a "wake-up" that will turn on his light and play music when it's time to get out of bed the next morning.
• The outdoor lights automatically turn on at sunset and then turn off at 10:00 pm.

Here is what is on the wall in the TV room:
The right switch is for the light. The middle switch is for the ceiling fan. The six buttons on the left control the dining room light, control the kitchen light, control the basement light, turn on the TV to Dish satellite, control the three outdoor lights, and pause the TV/DVD.

It's all customizable to whatever arrangement you want. (It's actually less work to change what a button does than it is to change the label on the button.) Plus, you can access and control any of it over the internet or even from your iPhone. (Too bad we don't have one.) I, of course, think it's all totally cool. But the funny thing is how much Kenna loves it. She helped me install most of the dimmers and loves to change what the buttons in her room do.

If you come over to our house I apologize now for trying to give you an extended show-and-tell.

8 TAG

While I am a little narcissistic and prone to self-disclosure I am also a YES girl. (Remember my favorite word?!). So here are my answers to another Tag. I so avoid these as emails but actually think they are fun on blogs. Don't forget to find out if your name appears in the last category!

8 Favorite TV shows
1. The Office.

2. HGTV Myles of Style and a million other shows on there.

3. Seinfeld. I am one with Elaine.

4. L.A. Ink. It’s like a trainwreck that I can’t look away from.

5. Sponge Bob Square Pants. Actually, I hate the show but I owe Sponge, Patrick, and the rest of the twisted gang a lot of babysitting money. Sad, but true.

6. Star Trek, the old ones. Captain Kirk is a hottie and I love how everything comes down to a fist fight even though they have all sorts of technological weaponry.

7. Malcom in the Middle

8. Any re-run from my childhood including but not limited to: Charlie’s Angels, CHiPs, Dukes of Hazzard, Brady Bunch, Magnum P.I.

8 Favorite Songs
1. Every Breath You Take-The Police

2. Eye of the Tiger-Survivor. I seem to hear this one on my MP3 player at just the right time during my runs.

3. With or Without You-U2

4. Ordinary Miracle-Sara McLachlan

5. Landslide and Cowboy Take Me Away-Dixie Chicks

6. Come Away With Me and Don’t Know Why-Norah Jones

7. Top of the World and Mr. Postman-The Carpenters

8. Bubbly-Cobbie Callat (Cheesy I know but I think about Alec when I hear it. He does make me bubbly!)
8 Favorite Restaurants
1. La Dolce Vita, Provo, UT

2. Ottavios, Provo, UT

3. Pizza-Pasta Factory, St. George, SLC, or Ogden, UT

4. In-and-Out Burger, Anywhere

5. Pepperbelly’s, Kaysville, UT

6. Cheesecake Factory, Anywhere

7. The Melting Pot, Salt Lake City, UT

8. Little Caesar's—Gross, I know but at $5 a pizza, who would ever bother cooking?! Mostly I love it because all three kids will eat it! A rare reality at my house.

8 Favorite Movies

1. Cyrano de Bergerac

2. Nacho Libre

3. My Fair Lady

4. Sound of Music

5. Juno

6. Jean de Florette and Mannon de Source

7. My Mother’s House and My Father’s Glory

8. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Woke up early but not to run...to go to my hair appointment.

2. Consoled my friend on the way home from our hair appointments. She HATED hers. It looked beautiful but wasn’t what she had asked for. Frustrating.

3. Went to lunch with my fun friend from my hometown.

4. Cleaned house. Yeah, you can’t tell today.

5. Reviewed files with my sis-in-law for a new “side” job we are doing for another school district. I’m so looking forward to jumping into this!

6. Filled out most of this TAG. Harder than you might imagine.

7. Took soup and bread to a lady who is sick and to a friend whose grandpa passed away.
8. Looked at and commented on friends’ blogs. Honestly, I’m loving this phenomenon. I feel closer to each person and family that I get to read about.

8 Things I am looking forward to
1. Thanksgiving. I’m feeling an urge to cook a turkey. Funny, huh?

2. Running. I think I’ve finally hit my laziness bottom and am going to amp it up again. Just in time for the freezing cold weather. D’oh. My friend and I are going to run a ½ marathon in April...her 1^st. Can’t wait.

3. My mom and dad are going to Mexico! I’m so excited for them.

4. Gardner’s Village Midnight Madness.

5. My sis and fam are coming to visit.

6. A trip to Peru within the next 18 months.

7. Seeing the Twilight movie.

8. A raise! I’ve got enough additional training credits to move me up to the next “lane” on the school district salary table and I increased my work days from 2.5/week to 3/week. What will I do with all that extra cash? See #1 on the next list.
8 Things on my wish list

1. THIS house. Come on, Brent, PLEEEEEASE.

2. Tickets to Wicked coming to SLC in April and May.

3. An illness-free winter.

4. Planet Earth DVD collection.

5. A super clean house.

6. A nap.

7. A happy family.

8. Liposuction.

8 people I tag
1. Suzanne

2. Deanna

3. Amy

4. Kristen

5. Susan

6. Mandy

7. BRENT

8. Kenna Bo-Benna

A Lovely Lunch

I had lunch with my friend, Quincey yesterday. When I tell people about her, I call her "my friend from high school" but we were pals way before then and have stayed in contact long since the Cardston High days. I love being with her because she is funny, smart, and thoughtful. We can talk about important things interspersed with giggles about our trite past or present issues. In my opinion, she has a nearly perfect balance of self-acceptance while valuing continued self-improvement. (I need a little of that to rub off on me.)
She wrote a funny story about me on her blog. Check it out.
These are some cute things I remember about growing up with Quincey:
* skipping Sunday School to get slurpies at Red Rooster and running into some MEN from our ward there!
* driving her dad's gray Grand Am because she was never ready to leave and needed to put on her make up.
* sliding/falling off a horse we were trying to ride bareback in the field next to her house.
* being able to watch satellite TV because her fam got one of those giant dishes in their yard...I also remember Quincey having to go out and tweak the darn thing in the freezing wind! Ha ha.
* eating Chinese take-out with her family (even on a Sunday sometimes!)
* attending the Blood branch with her family after we'd already been to 3 hours of church.
* skipping school and shooting a pistol at a weasel we chased through the neighboring field.

See what a history?! I love this girl and I wish I had taken a camera with me to document our afternoon together...Maybe she'll email me some pics. Pleeease?

Drumroll please...

Here are the bangs. Not as life altering as I had hoped but I'm happy with the cut and mostly the color...no more gray! Brent is not a fan and is also mad when I tell people that he doesn't like them so he's doubly grouchy today. Sorry, Sweetie. Can't help it. Ha ha.

Okay, okay, okay...

I'm so excited. My friend changed our hair appointments (yes, I'm in Jr. High and my friend and I go to get our hair cut and colored to the same person on the same day). We're going this Saturday and, in spite of Brent's urge to the contrary, I'm getting bangs. Woohoo. Isn't it great that such a small thing can make an old, bored lady so happy?! I'll post a pic (if I can find the wide angle lens--don't get me started on the fallen-by-the-wayside DIET) next week. Yipee for me.

I Heart Festival of the Trees

I first went to the Festival of the Trees when I was attending BYU and I loved it. I tried to make the event a family tradition but was met with all manner of rebellion...UNTIL serendipitously Todd decided he could endure pain of boredom for promise of a cinnamon roll and/or sugar-cinnamon scone at the same time that Brent learned to look the other way on financial crisis (to him) issues of high admission and concession prices. It was a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE and we've been every year since.

This year I got an email from a friend whose mother is involved in the volunteer effort. She asked for craft donations and Kenna anted up. She helped me make 9 journal jars and 12 felt candy holders shaped like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (a specific request from the Festival, not Alec). It was lots of fun and I'm so happy to support an event we love so much! Here's Kenna with our wares:

Election Results

Did you know I (Brent) ran for office? Well, I didn't "run" but I was on the ballot for State House District 16. I didn't do any campaigning but I managed to pull in 4% of the vote. That's five times better than Ralph Nader did in his race! You can view the results of my race here.

Fall Back

Did you remember to set your clocks back Saturday night for Daylight Saving Time? Happily we have atomic clocks in our master bedroom so we didn't show up for church an hour early (once is enough for that mistake) but there are plenty of other time-keeping devices that don't take care of themselves. So, my question is, who sets the clock back at your house? I'm sure Brent has done it before but I'm staring at the last of our clocks to be reset wondering how long I would have to wait for HIM to do it. (Recall a previous post about Brent's car registration turned in nearly a month late???) I happened to get an email that reminded me of this ugly issue that intrudes in many an otherwise happy marriage...

How many women does it take to change a light bulb?

One! ONLY ONE!!!!

And do you know WHY?... because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out... And once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the lightbulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 12 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle, actually find them, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!

AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER PICKS UP OR CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL!!

I'm sorry. What was the question?

A Keeper or a Chucker?

A couple of years ago on our way home from our second home, McDonald's, Kenna asked Brent to open her Happy Meal toy. He told her to wait until we got home but she rebelled complaining, "If I take it home, I might forget about it and then the garbage monster, who is mom (pronounced M-AH-AH-OM), will throw it away."

Guilty as charged. I AM the garbage monster. The most thrilling thing I did today was throw away all the school-made Halloween decorations that were littering the fridge door. Happy Meal toys last about 2.4 seconds before they get tossed in a bag and taken to my school where I give them to students I test or work with. I should attach an apology note to the parent who inherits the clutter. I have accidentally thrown away important things before but not very often and the pleasure I get from de-junking far outweighs the mental drain of piles and buldging storage areas. So, which are you? A keeper or a garbage monster?

I get to be...

Do your kids ever play the "I get to be..." when you watch a movie? Alec is totally into it. He especially likes to argue for which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle he gets to be. (How he can keep reptiles named after Renaissance painters straight I will never know.)

The other day we were watching Sleeping Beauty. Alec, his cousin Sky, and a friend were choosing whom they would be for the movie. The girls called for each of the old fairies and Alec tried to decide between Prince Phillip and the King. My niece Skylar then announced, "And Rita will be her." When I looked up to see which character I had been matched to, I saw MALEFICENT--meanest, maddest, ugliest villain ever! I guess I need to do a little more work in the campaign for favorite aunt.

Bangs or No?

I've been without bangs for years now...not long enough to forget what a pain it is to grow them out but, a long time. Thinning hair as a pregnancy/childbirth side effect, age, and a tendency to scowl (mostly at SLOW drivers in the left lane!!) have conspired to make my forehead long and wrinkled. The freckles were always there but I'm sick of staring at them.
I've got a hair cut and color scheduled for November 22nd and I think I'm ready for a change. What do you think about bangs? Make me look older, younger, more 80s (please yes!!), what? Here are some pics of long hair with a little fringe (no, not GINGER fringe, Quince.) Tell me if I can pull it off. HONEST answers only. (Even if they're negative!)

Bye-Bye Party for Scott and Beverly

The week before Brent's mom and dad left for their mission to Peru, they held an Open House to allow friends and family to bid them farewell. It was a beautiful evening. I spent much of the time in the basement trying to keep the quiet lid on the noisy grandkids.
Top to bottom and left to right:
* Kenna working on her body art. My sis-in-law provided butcher paper and traced the kids' bodies and they filled in the details. Some ended up with purple hair and green skin--very culturally tolerant children ; D
* My in-laws on the right speaking to friends.
* Brent's aunt Melanie (left) and grandma Ardell Zimmerman.
* The spread! There's a running joke in the family that the all Brent and his brother care about at family events is the FOOD. Well, I went to download our party pictures and, sure enough, the best ones were of the croissants and salads! (Hence the center stage position in the collage.)
* Nieces June (left) and Skylar.
* The downstairs derby.
* Mr. Alec finds a toy to occupy 5 seconds of his I-can't-stand-this-lame-adult-party time.

A Happy Halloween

Here are a few of our pictures from Halloween...more to come later from Alec's preschool party.

Thursday we attended a Halloween carnival and trunk-or-treat hosted by the Young Men and Young Women in our ward. Todd went early to help set up and hosted one of the fun games. Kenna loved her Spider Countess costume and Alec was happy as a shark. Lots of people asked me if I made Alec's costume. Should I feel flattered that they believed that I could or sad that I'm a lazy mom and would never waste too much energy on a costume?

Alec wanted to be a devil on Friday night. Todd reminded me that he was too old and too cool to go begging for candy but agreed to take Alec and Kenna around until Brent could relieve him. My kids don't like me to go with them because I talk too much and stall the sugar gathering. I love to stay home to spoil the neighborhood kids and give a hard time to the high-schoolers that got the night off from their fast food jobs and skipped homework in favor of a sucrose search. (Hmmmm. My future or free candy? No contest.) After walking the neighborhood, Brent drove the kids around to further away families that we thought might like a visit from the cutest kids in town ;) It was a great night.

Yay for Preschool

Okay, I know, I know, I know. Nobody could actually be as cute as you think your own kids are but this is a great clip of Alec reciting part of a finger play he learned at Jelly Bean Junction. He couldn't fit it all in before the camera shut the clip off automatically and a few tries burned him out. His first attempt was best. Here we go...

Mom and Me Pedis

Kenna's been asking if we could get pedicures together for a while. Life was nuts the other night so it seemed a perfect time to fit in some relaxing. The Fran Brown Beauty School was able to schedule us 15 minutes from my call so we hopped in the car and sped over. I must have been due for some still time because I nearly fell asleep. Kenna was cute and talkative with the girls who did our toes. She's such a grown up cutie. Here are a couple of pictures of our polished piggies...In case you can't tell, mine are the feet with freckles, puffy ankles, and charcoal polish to hide the runner's nails!

Livin' in the Dark Ages

My sister, Stephanie has dial up internet and it just about killed me a couple of weekends ago when we visited. Soooo slow and buggy. Well this week, our internet access was accidentally canceled when we changed our phone service to Vonage. We were without it for FOUR days!! Service was restored today just before I had resorted to rocking in a corner.

Anyway, back to junk emails, bill pay, and blogging. I missed you all very much. ;)