High School

1. Did you date someone from High school? No, I didn't date anyone in any of my high schools. I was that much of a social outcast.

2. What kind of car did you drive? Toyota Tercel then a Ford Ranger

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of high school? I accidentally walked into the boys restroom ... while the guy I was totally "crushing on" was ah ... you know.4. Were you a party animal? Right ... that's me. Hah. I was never invited to a legitimate high school party. So I never had the chance to discover if I was or not.

5. Were you considered a flirt? No.

6. Were you in Band orchestra, or Choir? No

7. Were you a nerd? Well, I think being a nerd you have to be smart. Considering I worked for C's in some of my classes ... I'll have to say no.

8. Were you on any varsity team? No, I played provincial level soccer though.

9. Did you ever get suspended or expelled? No. I was way too boring.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? I don't know if we had one ...

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mrs. Dyck. She was mean, insightful, funny.

12. Were did you sit during lunch? At home. I was that unpopular, I had no one to eat with. Except when I went to LCI for that one semester - then Mark French (love you, Frenchie)

13. What was your schools full name? Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Kate Andrews High School, Winston Churchill High School

14. School Mascot? Rams, Pride, Bulldogs


15. Whom did you go to Homecoming with? I'm Canadian - we don't do Homecoming.

16. If you could go back and do it again would you? I would rather eat a light bulb, very likely less painful.

17. What so you remember most about graduation? I didn't go. #1 I had no one I wanted to ask (well, I did ... but Trevor Zuba was my brothers best friend, and I still hadn't crossed that particular line) #2 No one asked me #3 I worked instead

18. Were did you go Senior Skip day? You mean one entire semester? I think I just stayed home and took care of my moms day care kids

19. Were you in a club? The Yearbook Club. I took the pictures and got commercial sponsors.

20. Have you gained some weight since then? Entirely too much.

21. Who was your prom date? Didn't do this either.

22. Are you planning on going to your ten year reunion? Did not go. No desire to bring up painful memories, thanks.

23. Looking back what advice would you give yourself? Don't worry about other people. Just take care of yourself. In two years ... none of it matters anyway.

Disney Channel

I just realized I am watching Disney channel without the kids in the room ... seriously. What other channel can I watch that I inadvertently find myself smiling at silliness?

Hat

This post has no purpose other than to show pictures of B-Man in a hat my mom bought me in Waterton Lakes National Park. I'm still laughing over the hat (look at the logo, car enthusiast will get why I find it so hilarious) ... now I've added thinking how stinking cute B-Man is in hats.

Tennis

A while ago when we were at the gym, one of the activities they had set up for the kids in play care was tennis. Ms. R tried it out and came away swearing she was great at it, backed up by the confirmations of the care givers. I was impressed. "Tennis, eh?" I thought. And yes, the "eh" actually accompanied that thought. So when we were looking for after school activities for her I included tennis in the options. She of course jumped on that. Oddly, that and that alone.
After one lesson I had reason to doubt the honesty of the care givers at play care. After four weeks, we'll say that Rhiannon's tennis is much like like her singing. She's very dedicated and very ... enthusiastic. The instructor is tough, doesn't take crap, rarely gives any of the kids a break ... and Ms. R thinks he's wonderful.

Tagged by Lindsey Rae

Four things I love about my husband:
-he has a cute dimple
-he has broad shoulders
-he has infinite patience
-he's very dedicated

Four movies that I would watch more then once:
-Ladyhawke
-Happy Glimore
-

Four TV shows I watch:
-House Hunters
-Dexter
-Cribs
-CNN Headline News (puts me to sleep at night)

Four Places I have been:
-Europe
-Florida
-Boston
-Oregon

Four places I would like to go (that I haven't been yet):
-Hawaii
-Australia
-California
-Turks and Caicos

Four people who regularly email me:
-Teachers at Rhiannon's school
-My Mom
-Dawn
-Jerry

Four Things I would like to eat:
-Dawn's Blueberry Pie
-The Mandarins Won Ton Soup
-Chicken Fajita
-Jenie's Butter Chicken with Naan

Four things I look forward to in the next year:
-Camping next spring/summer
-going to Canada next summer
-turning 30
-watching my kids grow

Four People I Tag:
-Jenie
-Dawn
-Mom
-Mandy

Birthday Boy

Friday we celebrated having B-Man in our lives for 5 years. I fully cop to the fact that I do not remember much from his first two years of life. I was still in such a daze that he was conceived that dealing with the fact that I had two kids and not one was just a little beyond my ability. It's a good thing I am an avid picture taker ... or I'd have no recollection that those years even happened.
B-Man has been such a blessing in my life. Our lives. He's brought laughter, determination, humor, trials. Most importantly my baby boy has taught me patience. Immeasurable patience.

What's in Your Purse?

Two Pens
Two mini Pads of Paper
Two Rings
3 Cents
Two Hair Clips
Two Barretts
Body Glitter
Two Mr. Potato Head Earrings
Cell Phone
Bracelet
Set of Keys
Itty Bitty Kitty

Bet you thought I was itemizing MY purse ... till I got to the body glitter, eh?
But oh no, dear friends. This is what my sweet daughter insists is mandatory to go anywhere. Not that I have ever seen her write anything down. Or spend her own money. Or use the keys to open anything...

I'm a WHAT?!?!

To say that I feel distress and disgust over how the disctrict my kids are in spends money would be an understatement. For instance, there are at least 4-6 PC's in every room in Rhiannon's school. Every room. They have $1000 phones in each room. They have projectors in every class room and every "pod" (6). I could go on and on. But then you look at the "specials" they offer within the schools. Music, twice a week, computers three times a week, gym every day. Impressive. Maybe. If you don't take into account they have no art classes, a ridiculously small playground, class sizes of us to 23 with one teacher and no aid...
At the parent orientation we were asked to sign up if we wanted to help the art program at the school happen. I thought, "I can do that, I can assist someone if they bring in an art teacher. No problem."
Yeah, right.
That's not what they were asking for at all. Those who signed up have been asked to teach the art classes. They have a volunteer who has some sort of background come in once every six weeks, teach us how to teach that particular lesson. We then, in turn take that lesson to the classes we have been assigned and teach them. "What's the big deal?" you may ask. Well, you see ... I cannot even draw a decent stick figure, let alone teach a class fill of kids how to develop such skills. It's not like I can bow out. With the pathetic amount of sign ups for this particular position, if I bow out, someone else has to take on an additional three classes. Or not get art at all.
So I guess you can call me an art teacher now. How laughable is that?

Bella's Birthday

So last night, despite the threat of a tropical storm, a lady in my ward held a book club party for Stephanie Meyers Twilight series. It HAD to be held yesterday, as apparently that was when Bella Swan's birthday is. It was unbelievable how much work she put into it. First off, she hand made invitations to the party that say, 'Have you been bitten or Imprinted?" with all the party info inside. We played a Jeopardy type game with all the questions based on the four books, characters, food and quotes, had name tags placed on our back then had the other party attendance give us random hints and we had to guess who we were, ate more treats than anyone rightfully should and had a gift exchange at the end. We were given goodie bags with things like Twilight book marks, a CD with a compilation of the songs mentioned in the books as well as a few on Stephenie Meyers playlist and bottles of red fizzy juice (it was supposed to be blood ... of course.)
It was such a big deal we had people from out of state at the party. It was mind boggling.

Rain Rain Rain

That's all I see. I just may need to start building an Ark...

Map Update

Batten Down the Hatches

Here comes Ike! We're projected to "only" get a tropical storm as a result of mean ol' Ike ... You know; rain that causes flooding and 50 mile an hour (80 km) winds. Child's play.

*The Guardian*

I am on a roll! This is what, the fourth or fifth book that I have read in a row (other than my dear romance novels) that I have really enjoyed? I'm a marvel to behold!
I am generally not a huge thriller fan, infact, I avoid them as throughly and studiously as I avoid horrors. I am a baby. A chicken. A wussy. I know. I embrace it, tickle it, love it, caress it. It's who I am. However, this book is wrote by the same man who wrote some of the tissue box worthy books I have ever read. "A Walk to Remember", "The Notebook", "Messege in a Bottle" to name a few. I like tear jerkers. I enjoy a good cry now and again. It's like cleaning out the duct works. I mean, it has to have at least a semblence of a happy-esque ending. But I'm okay with sobbing through a book. Not that I ever have. But I'm totally open to it.
Back to the book. This book is a thriller (which is why that entire last paragraph now makes sense). At least it's thriller-esque (can you tell I like "esque" today?) You can feel where the book is going, fortell what the characters are going to do ... but it's well written and has a good vibe to it. You pull for the good guys, want to poke the eyes out of the bad guys. My kind of book. And it has a happy ending. What could be better?

Forgiving Yourself

Have you ever noticed how it's much easier to forgive others of things they have done or said to you, but when your actions or words have caused yourself a world of hurt ... it takes much longer and is a much harder process?
In general I try to give myself a break, I mean, half the time I couldn't have any idea of the repercussions of doing various random retarded things or saying things that I couldn't take back. So then, it's easy to not only forgive myself for being a moron but forget the incident ever took place. I mean, ridiculously easy. To the point that I can honestly not even remember the incident if someone reminds me. It's a gift I say. Being able to block out bad things. Maybe it's a defense mechanism because I have done so many fool hearty things, that if I remembered and kept the memories around I'd constantly be brow beating myself.
There are certain things in my life that I have never been able to forgive myself for though. One thing tears at my heart and mind. Something that I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive me for ... and something I know I'll never forget. I don't know if I hold onto the guilt and pain so that I'll remember to never be so prideful again or if I just hold onto it because I think I deserve the punishment. To feel bad about it for the next 50 years. The heart ache that rips through my chest, making me catch my breath and hold back tears is my payment for not listening to that voice telling me what I already knew.
Painful pictures tear through my mind at random moments. Holding her in my arms as I pry her head out of his mouth ... terror ripping through me when I realize she's not crying ... looking down at my shirt, saturated with my daughters blood ... the neurologist telling us that her situation was 110% worse than they had initially diagnosed ... kneeling in the prayer circle with the Bishopric and Relief Society presidency ... seeing her head swollen twice it's normal size ... her terrified screams in the night, laying beside her sobbing ...
I don't know what it is inside me that needs to hold onto this pain. People no longer notice her scars. The largest ones have long ago been covered by hair. The only remaining side effect is her speech impediment, which is slowly being dealt with. She doesn't fear dogs... proudly tells those that ask about her scars how she received them. Everything points to a situation that should long ago been put to bed.
But I cannot. I cannot let it go. Everything in me rebels against forgiving myself for letting this happen to my daughter. For not taking the necessary precautions to ensuring my child's safety, no mater what the consequences would have been. I guess when it boils down to the bones, I'm most angry about not doing what I knew I should because I was too afraid. What kind of mother doesn't do what's right for her child because she's too scared? Because of my fear of doing what I knew I should, I let my weak spirit decide ... and have lived with the consequences since.

*The Opposite of Love*

And on to the next ... "I do not say good morning to Marge when I pass her at the security turnstile on my way into the office... I hate Marge for a million reasons, but mostly because I know she won't notice my slight. And so my hate just slides to the floor like a puddle at my feet..." Somehow, I think I am going to like this book. I'm feeling like I need a little edge today.
Oh. My. I cannot say how much I enjoyed this book. It ripped my heart open, said things I can only think, expressed heart ache, frustration, hurt in ways I have wished.
To wrap up this book, in my estimations ... it's about finding yourself. Figuring out who You are, who you want to be and living fully as that person. Embracing your faults, overcoming frailties, living with who you are or what you want to become. Maybe I loved this book so much because I felt so much of her pain. Wanted to live her triumphs. Have seen myself in her position, not exactly, but emotionally too often.
Once again, harsh language warning. Maybe not a book for the masses that read my blog. But I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

*The Twentieth Wife*

Introducing the next book on my quest to a broader mind ... I think it may be a good read. I'm interested to see how an East Indian woman (Indu Sundaresan) depicts things that happen in her home land. Not an American or English person hoping to capture a bit of what it may be like.

I loved this book. It's less of a romance novel, as I had anticipated and more of a "possible history" novel. I say "possible history" because it is based very loosely on events that actually happened, which makes this story all the more interesting to me. I believe the term they use for this type of novel is called historical fiction. These people actually existed, the events really happened, these places really existed or possibly still exist today. When I read books, I generally skim over various parts because I am uninterested in what ever the author may be trying to depict. Whether it be a building, a persons physical characteristics, the outdoor vistas ... I am generally not too interested. However, this author writes so well that everything she is describing you want to know about.

Volunteering

I've been trying to think of productive ways to spend my afternoons now that Ms. R and B-Man are both in school during a time I function and enjoy being awake. On Thursday I fired off an email to Ms. R's teacher saying if there was anything she needed help with around the school in the afternoons, I'd be more than willing to come in and do it for her. She replied saying she'd love it if I would come in this afternoon to help with a few projects. So in I trooped after I sent B-Man off on the bus, thinking "How much could she really have for me to do the third week of school?" Wow. During the time the 1st grade classes were in their "electives" (computers, music and P.E.) she introduced me to all the rest of the teachers after I'd stated that I was available most (to all) afternoons. I am now the teacher's appointed afternoon gopher girl. Cutting, copying, stapling, reading ... They all were looking at me like I was some kind of redeemer, so I suppose a whole lot more than anticipated happens in the first two weeks of school than I thought. Or the teachers have less time on their hands than I assumed. Or they just like having someone else do the grunt work. Or all of the above. It's nice though. This way I know more about the teachers, what's going on in the school, makes Ms. R more confident in the class room, gives me a way to interact with adults on a regular basis. I am actually fairly excited about the opportunity.

*The Secret Life of Bees*

This is what I'm reading right now. Only started today, still in the first chapter, but it's shaping up nicely. Favorite line thus far "People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life." So frickin' true, no?
So, I finished the book ... like 4 minutes ago. It was a nice read. Kind of deep, kind of fun, fairly interesting. I'm too tired to describe the book. So just go look it up on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. They could describe it better than I could anyway. Don't read this book if you're offended by cursing. It's not done FREQUENTLY, but often enough the sensitive may be offended.

I Had to Think I Was in Love

Lately Jerry's business ventures have been on a steady upward swing. Enough that we aren't fretting month to month about paying things like the mortgage or doing fun things from time to time ... but not so much that we're running out and replacing our steadily falling apart vehicles with something splendid. I think, however, that he is starting to feel more confident in what direction his business is headed because he had been indulging me and actually playing a long when I talk about "my dream house". Last night it cropped up again when he came into check on the kids and I doing our Friday night ritual. As he was leaving I asked him what he was up to, he responded that he was going out to change the oil on the Citation. His love for that car is an entirely different story I refuse to tell, it may show some kind of softening towards said car. I asked him if we could have a three car garage on the dream house (that we're building in the clouds, if you want to know ...) and he said he was thinking more a two car garage and a shop. Then asked why it was so important to me. I looked at him incredulously and replied, "Well, I'd sure like to have a garage I could park in. You know, so when we have hail, you wouldn't have to run it over to a bank drive thru. In the summer, it'd be cool when I got into it. In the winter I wouldn't have to scrape off the frost ... Small things, really." Then gave him a saucy smile. He shook his head and walked away (he does that a lot). His Chevy Citation takes up a little more than half of the 2 car garage we currently have ... with his tools and various other projects spread out over the rest of the garage floor.
This morning as I was trying to figure out if I could rearrange the laundry room I happened to look out into the garage at the Citation with it's hood up and had a flash back of our first week back in Texas after we were married. His parents had arranged for us to spend a week out at Holly Lake Ranch Resort out in east Texas immediately after we returned from Oregon. We'd left Cobol here in Texas while we were in Oregon for the wedding proceedings, so we felt like we should take him with us. Therefore we needed to take the Citation, as the Mazda Miata he owned at the time wouldn't fit all three of us. You have to know ... I am a HUGE snob when it comes to cars. So thinking about the fact that I willingly drove two hours in this car ... I totally must have been infatuated with the guy. I mean really ...

Steak

I'm not going to turn this into a cooking/recipe blog - but I have to tell you about just one more excellent rub I discovered the other day.
For Labor Day I decided since we hadn't done anything exciting I was going to at least b-b-q something terrific. So I picked up some New York Steaks, red potatoes and corn on the cob. I've been craving rubs lately more than marinades, so I did I quick internet search and cropped up this recipe:

Sizzlin' Steak Rub
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Rub on meats.
Makes about 1/4 cup.

The cumin definitely makes the steak taste like something you'd buy in an upscale Tex-Mex restaurant. I am in love. Jerry was ambivalent. Sort of. He did eat a whole lot of steak for someone who said it was simply "good".

Rub

Time to brag about my Nu-Wave again. I'm sure it's been a few months ... so I'm due. Last night I tried out a new recipe for a pork chop rub, one I have been hesitant to use because it has cloves in it. To me cloves scream "Pumpkin Pie" which is not a good thing. But I really wanted to use a rub on the chops. It turns out this recipe is sooooo entirely good. I am sure it'd work out just as well without the Nu-Wave, but somehow my trusty side kick always infuses more flavor and makes things juicier. I love my Nu-Wave. The cloves actually make the dish taste ... South American. Not quite Mexican ... but definitely south of the border.

1 T dried Rosemary
2 cloves Garlic
1/4 t ground Cloves
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Mash top four/five ingredients together and rub into surface of chop. Brush tops with olive oil. At this point, I am pretty sure you could broil or b-b-q them. I however popped them into my favorite kitchen gadget for 10 minutes. And voila! Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and yummy all over.
I should have taken a picture. It was that delicious. And I am not much of a meat eater.