Lapse

It appears that a lapse has occured.  I must of blocked the need to blog about moving again because let's be honest-- I love moving.  We moved into our new house in the middle of March and it was a lot less work than previous moves.  Hopefully we have pefected it well enough to never do it again. Even though we were excited about our new garage, we couldn't use it for nearly a week because all the boxes were stacked there.  While the move was easier, the unpacking has presented a huge challenge because we didn't think to differentiate between what we packed in December from what we packed in March.... so it's a mixed bag.  We couldn't find the essential things, but found plenty of randomness.  Our car has now made the transition to the garage and we have only about 30 remaining boxes to worry about.  I uncovered a whole wall in our family room just last weekend.  I also got brave enough to crack some of the "decorations" boxes open and frustrate my brain.  The inside is starting to come together and we have managed to haul a few hundred rocks from the yard, find some lingering mulberry tree roots, discover our own earthworm hideout and have Jeff's TAs over for some harmless FearFactor fun.  I thought that not having a set of stairs to climb was going to make me lazy, but rest assured that I hit the pillow snoring at around 9:30 most nights -- completely worn out. The yardwork alone could turn out to be a great workout program.  Don't worry, when I get a room done, I will take a picture... but until then, you'll just have to live with the suspense.

Girls Night Out

WICKEDgood

I spent Thursday night with my mom, sister and sister-in-law in the Capitol Theater in SLC.  Wicked was fabulous.  It was amazing how they did so many effects with just the lighting/shadows.  I would gladly pay the outrageous price to see it again.  The actresses that played Galinda and Elphaba were incredible.  The audience was crazy with cheering and loud  applause after every number.  By the end I was waxing philosophical, political and emotional which boils down to me looking like a leaking faucet.  Aside from the show, I enjoyed the people watching.  Ordinarly, I am entertaining the group with my craziness, but due to a rather raucous cold, I could barely speak above a whisper-- so I watched from my aisle seat.  Luckily, my SOL notices people too, so I barely had to turn her direction and we were thinking the same things.  Best dressed, the brunette in the sassy white short dress--minus the snakeskin gladitor heels.  Worst-- 75% of the audience, but especially the woman who managed to pair Birkenstocks with Sequins....here comes the rant.  I was shocked at how casual people were.  I realize that people wear everything from sequins to jeans, but some people looked as if they made no effort to de-frumpify themselves in the least... and let's be honest, this is not NYC where people have traveled to town and get last minute tickets.   Wicked sold out in something like 4 minutes-- last fall.  People have been waiting over 4 months to see this and they wear whatever frumpy poly thing they would wear to the grocery store.   CRAZY... at least comb your hair and act like you paid out the nose to be there..... RANT finished.   To end on a high note, I thought that finally seeing the show would cure me of the need to listen to the soundtrack relentlessly, but I still want to hear it-- almost as much as Miss Caitlyn.  

I Love To See the Temple

We spent a Saturday touring the new Draper Temple.  A couple buses broke down and we ended up waiting for about 90 minutes for a bus-- which is hot and not fun with three kids(especially with fully charged batteries).  Once we got to the temple, all the annoyances melted-- just as you would expect at the temple.  I loved walking through the temple and explaining things like the paintings in a room and how they help us remember that Heavenly Father created the whole earth or that the twelve oxen represent the twelve tribes-- you know Jacob's 12 sons from the song...  and so on.  Ben's favorite part was the celestial room, Noah-- the oxen, Caitlyn-- the room with all the mirrors, Jeff-- looking in the sealing room mirrors with our whole family, Mine-- the paintings in the chapel: Christ and the Rich Young Man, The Pool of Bethesda by Bloch and a ressurection picture I didn't recognize with Christ and Mary.  It really symbolized the things we leave behind when we go the temple-- our worldliness and our weaknesses.  The temple is really the only place where we can be sanctified of those things and it all is due to Christ and his mission to be a Savior for us.  

I remember attending the Jordan River Temple open house when I was very young.  There are so many details from the blue hospital shoe covers to the stained glass windows along the staircase that I can still remember.  I hope my kids remember the way the temple makes them feel and they will desire to go back and learn more.  I am grateful for the unifying experience that doing spiritual things is for our family.

Lest I forget, whoa-- that was some church gym... It was better than any wedding I've ever seen. The cookies were fabulous and the hospitality was great.

DERBYLICIOUS

 Just two weeks into Benja's new Scout Troop, we had major derby stress. Both leaders assured me that they would get us a copy of the rules because there was a Pinewood Derby coming up...... Jeff and Ben spent some time drawing renderings of the car ideas they had.  One fateful Tuesday, I picked Jeff up from work early due to a cranking headache.  From the backseat, Benja informs us that the Derby is tonight because so-and-so (another kid in the Wolf pack) told him at church on Sunday.  WHAT???  After a quick call to the mightly chagrined den mother, Benjamin got to work with Jeff maintaining his stance that a boy should do the work on his own.  50 minutes later, we arrived at Pack Meeting in time to weigh in before the big race.  We didn't realize that a little graphite lubricant on the wheels was allowed, so Ben's car finished dead last in every heat.  Poor guy.  When the races were over, he was acting brave but glum until he realized that his prize for "Most fuel efficient car" was the same king-sized Hershey's bar as the fastest car award.  Another dad offered some graphite grease and Ben's car raced down the speedway during the fun runs.  

Benjamin with the Fuel Efficient "Black Shadow Stealer, #98.

Our very own cheerleader-- too bad she doesn't read yet!

January Randomness

House.

OK S L O W down already.  All the subcontractors are in a hurry to get done with this house. Maybe its the economy and they'd like to get paid. I personally need them to stay on schedule so I can succeed in my last ditch efforts to put as many pennies in the bank as I can.  In the last week, the house has been roofed, wired, windowed, insulated and drywalled.  I don't know if Ben was giving us a hint, but when he asked if we had been in lately-- we did just that to find that the drywall guys were planning to work into the night and all day Saturday.  That started the mad dash to Home Depot for insulation.  Jeff was up before the sun and spent about three hours insulating the bathroom walls- "all the better not to hear you my dear!"  Things are moving along so fast that I wonder if they will move our close date up again.  

My Friday Night Date.

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa-- my brave friend.  Carrie and I went to cheer Lisa on in her racquetball tournement.  She is so tough to compete and not get totally rattled mentally.  I have resolved not to go near tourney play for a very long time-- at least until Lisa is firmly settled as a C Level player.  I will honestly say that Lisa played the best I have ever seen.  Maybe Jeff's old racquetball comment to me is really true... "I only play as hard as I have to, to beat you." (and I am not that hard to beat).  We had a great time cheering, hearing Coach Paul's advice and asking all our deep rball questions, and sipping the sweet nectars that Jamba whipped up.  However, we did not enjoy the sweaty stench eminating from one really ripe Superman.  Enough said.

Inauguration.

Good thing that the whole elementary school watched the ceremony live so Noah didn't have to tell his teacher all about in-auger- ation.  Benjamin and Noah were both so pleased because they voted for Obama and feel invested in his win.  Of course, Ben did vote SuperDell for governor, so I can't really say he's politically savvy yet.  

I listened to the radio beforehand and loved the different things that the people interviewed wanted Obama to say or address in his speech.  It reminds me that there are as many opinions and passions out there as there were people on the mall.  It's a heavy responsiblity to make sense of all the choices and direct a country's actions.  Obama seemed humble and burdened on Tuesday...  I'm glad to know that he feels the weight of his responsibility.  I also enjoyed all the random factoids that the commentators added between the entrances of various American "nobility."  Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was sworn in by the man that authored the Dred Scot Decision (to keep slavery)?  I probablly will have that filed in the land of randomness section of my brain forever!

Highlights:    Aretha Franklin can still really belt it out.   John Williams' arrangement was phenomenal and really what an all-star quartet.  I loved Yo Yo Ma's face.  He was completely exultant and I couldn't wipe the smile or the tears off my face.   The speech was great.  It really covered a lot of ground without being too alienating to any group.  I even heard traces of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech interspersed through it.  (It helps that FHE last week was watching the footage of the whole thing).  Here are a few more of my favorites:

Hilarious Moment:  Diane Feinstein presenting John Roberts to administer the "oaf of office." Ouch.  While I think that it was funny, Jay Leno must have missed it because there was NO late night comedy on this issue.  

Come On Now Moment:  Maybe this very televised and official ceremony should be practiced or memorized.  The presidental oaf of office was like dominoes, one topple taking down the next in line until the oath was well, "oaf-ish."  

UMmmmmm, next time moment-- National Anthem-- MOTAB all the way.  The choir was a little weak for a moment that really demanded a cresendo.  Let the MOTABS get in there and do it right.

What a Great Job.

Although I sometimes sigh heavily when Jeff spends extra time helping students, listening to their problems and generally handing out life advice; I will admit that it has its benefits.  Every experience is a new challenge which he shares with me.  I love to laugh riotously at the various antics, gasp audibly at the audacity and even cry over their losses.  Its really an easy catharsis because like characters in a book, I don't really know them but I know their stories.  There are a lot of idiots, know-it-alls and spoiled brats, but more often amazing heros and heroines that give me something to think about and blog about for that matter.

Basement Updates

One month later and I wish I could say that there are no more boxes, but let's be honest-- the boxes are keeping me from finishing the last 6 months of my yearly calendar project and the monumental slipcovering endeavor that I hope to plan to do.  We are having a great time in the basement these days.  I tell everyone who asks that it is great.  The Mickey Doodles (as Caitlyn calls them) are so laid back and generous that it seems a bit unreal.  

In other basement news, we have our own-- complete with 2 inches of solid ice.  Which I am told is ok, since it will help the concrete cure.  In addition to a basement we have framed walls, cut-out windows, trusses, a plywood roof, and exterior doors.  Wow.  If you are thinking that went fast, you are right, it hasn't even been a whole month and they have shaved our close date by three weeks already.  I will admit that until they finally cut out the plywood covering the windows, I couldn't really get excited, but now I drive past at least twice a day.  Jeff, on the other hand, has been like a kid on Christmas morning over even the hole in the ground.  He must have a better imagination than I do.

In other news, Congrats to Jim and Nance on their new daughter-- a girl changes everything.  Really.

InYourFacebook

Yes,  I am breaking the mold by blogging without eye-candy, but there aren't pictures for this. About three weeks ago, Jeff's employees thought it would be a funny joke to create a Facebook account for him.  They imported his pic from the Y and gloried in the sucess of their coup for a couple weeks-- adding friends at will.  During this open-enrollment period everyone was accepted and welcomed. They finally revealed the plot and Jeff already had 30 friends on his account.  Always the diplomat, Jeff embraced the technology and tried to mitigate the negative effects, while making it clear that this was unprofessional and wrong.  Thus started the big guy's facination with Facebook. He loves getting into the technology that his students are using-- it makes him feel like he can understand how they learn and interact better.  In a few cases, it has been a more direct link to some of our long lost buddies from the college days-- which he has really loved.  

Mostly its been pretty funny, but it raises a bunch of questions about Facebooking for me...

1. Do people really need to say that they are going to sleep at night?  Is that worth the space?

2. Ettiquette.  For example,when the YW in your ward are facebooking about whose kids are the worst to babysit, should you search their histories to see if yours are mentioned?

3.  Is it a status thing to have an inordinate number of friends?  Like more than 500?  Really?

4.  Old girlfriends? -- go figure, why would they even care?

5.  Students?-- again, why would you want to facebook with your teacher-- even if he is a little cool?

6.  If you weren't friends in high school, or never even knew each other in high school, is the mere fact that you attended the same high school really enough to warrant "friendship?"

These questions may just prove that I am a digital immigrant with an accent thicker than mud, but I am just trying to understand how the boundaries of relationship have taken on such a broad definition.