This Week Summarized

Well it's always a fun spring when the weather is so up in the air. This was one of those weeks...we had wonderful weather as well as snowy (kill my tulips) weather.

On Tuesday, I purchased my tickets to California. I'm going for April's graduation at the end of May (a month away - and the count down IS ON!). We will be camping on Catalina Island where I will join others in a "three hour tour" which includes snorkeling and kayaking.

Due to this trip to California, I've decided to go on a diet. I know! I hate the word but it's a must. I don't like to announce it, usually, because I'm not a big fan of the "helpers" that feel they can tell me, "you shouldn't eat that." or: "are you sure you want to eat that?" or: "you should try such-and-such, it's low in fat and so good." uh-huh, sure it is. Listen, I'll eat my damned stale crackers and cottage cheese and don't you worry about it!
In the end, I'll be watching my caloric intake - and the idea is to watch it shrink daily not just watch it do it's normal thing.

And now, a word about allergies. This has been a rough allergy season. My eyes have declared war on my head and usually the eyes win the battles. Due to my daily eye swelling routine, I decided to make an appointment with an eye doctor. I'm using a lot of various eye drops (some prescription and some over the counter). I usually end up having to get an ice pack and numb the eye before I put on a wet wash cloth and try NOT to stabber-walkie by eyeball with a fork. Well, ever since I made that eye appointment (which is for this coming Monday), my eyes have retreated! WTF!? No itching, swelling or general knowledge that they are even present - except that I can see, of course. Why does the body do that? Make and appointment for the doctor and suddenly you are cured! It's a MIRACLE!

Last thing I want to throw in the ring is this: Did you know this? John McCain has spent less days in the senate on voting days than any other senator with one exception: some senator who had a brain hemorrage!
And did you know this? All three major candidates balked on and on about a specific vote that was coming up being the most critical vote of the year. It was a vote regarding Telecom Immunity. When the time came to vote, not one of the three was there to make that "critical vote."
I'm thinking, you get paid a lot in your job as senator. We, the tax payers pay for you to do your job. I think the senators should be able to prove they can do the job they have before they hope to become President of the United States of America. Hell, I'd be fired if I missed that many critical days at work.

Done - off the soap box for now.

November Election Results

Thanks to Kirsten for sending me this link - I had a nice chuckle. I love the comment about the "shadowy overlords" - ha ha ha ha. And read the "news" at the bottom of the screen! Too funny!

Spring? Winter? Which is it?

What a crazy weather week! I started the week off training at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital. Monday we were there at 6:45 a.m. ready to train the new system to a class at 7:00. To our dismay, none of the attendees showed up for that class. We were scheduled to train a class every hour. At 8:00 - no one showed. At 9:00 - no one showed. At 10:00 a whopping two people showed. What the freak!?

After doing some calculations, we figured that with all of us who where there (me, Tim (my coworker), Chris (the coordinator) and Matt (from I.T.)) it was more than $500 an hour for us to be there sitting and staring at eachother. Although we were able to do some work on the computers, obviously it was minimal due to not being at our own desk and having access to our files there.

Tuesday wasn't as bad. Our first class was at 9:00 and we had 4 people come to that class, but after that, it was one or two people. It still felt like a waste of the resource.

While I was there, I decided to take advantage of the the view and take some pictures of the city. On Monday, the view was fantastic. We could see all the way across the valley.



It started getting windy Monday evening - but that night - wow! I woke up with a start at 3:00 in the morning. The wind was rushing through the trees and made the house make funny noises.

By the commute time - driving to work it was hazy from the dust and crap kicked up by all that wind (and my allergies sneezed and sniffled with glee! *a-choo*)

When I took this picture, it felt like we were driving in a black and white world. The picture even gives that look, but you can see that lights and see that it's a color picture.

From Huntsman, the valley was engulfed in dust and the western mountains had dissappeared.

Yes - that's what we were breathing into our lungs! *cough*

After the dust and wind, came the snow. My poor flowers! They hung their heads frozen. April laughed when I told her we were driving in snow. It was kind of funny to hear her talking about spring and sunshine and we are in snow.

So the weather has been choice - and my eyes hate me. I have FIVE different eye-drops I rotate with. Mostly I solve the eye hatred with a patch or wet washcloth. I keep having a conversation with the eyes but haven't seemed to convince them to enjoy the weather.

I'm hoping the coming week we'll start to see spring again. I would very much like a decrease in the pollen counts, though.

I'm looking forward to flying to California next month! Really, I can't wait to be with my sisters and see Elida's baby (and by 'see' I really mean: hold, cuddle, feed and never put him down).

Tomorrow morning (meaning Saturday morning, which is technically today) - So really I mean to say: Later this morning, we are going to get our tickets for:



I KNOW! See what happens when you become interested in what your husband likes!? But I am so excited! RAW is coming to Salt Lake City in June and I want to be there - who would EVER have thought this 5 years ago?!
I am excited!

John Cena and Jeff Hardy! Tripple H! Who could ask for anything more!? WOOOOOOOO!
LOL! Crossing my fingers for good seats.

A Collin Weekend & Frank Caliendo

Saturday, April 5, Eric and I went to see Frank Caliendo at the University. He was quite entertaining - we won the tickets from X96. We never would have been able to afford to just go, otherwise, so we were happy to go on them. Frank is a funny guy - he does WONDERFUL impressions of various politicians. Here's a clip from Youtube:

Before and after Frank Caliendo, we had Collin over for a "Collin Weekend." We played some serious video games and kicked some goblin and spider butt! I was still wiped out with the Benedryl, so I hit the hay around midnight. Eric stayed up with Collin until 3:00 a.m. - that little guy has some staying power! BUT he slept in until 11:00 in the morning, so he more than made up for this late night. This ended up being the ONLY picture that turned out from our Collin night:

On Sunday, we all hooked up for dinner with Buela and enjoyed the nice weather. I got some great pictures of the kids! The kids raced around the yard,


Until Elise got hurt (which is always bound to happen):

Marcus enjoyed the nice outdoors, too:

And Mom got a nap:


Here are a few mega-cuteness videos from our fun weekend:
Marcus gets a massage:


Dante is ALWAYS our sweet little boy:


Elise gives me a raspberry:

The Week's Reflection

This week:
My sinus journey continued to march forward with vigor. I believe it's due to the asthma medication (that also is supposed to help with allergies): Singulair. I will say it has helped a lot with the asthma symptoms, but the sinuses continue as stuffed up as always! I will visit the doctor YET AGAIN this coming week with hopes that we can discover a solution to the sinus issue.

I was happy to make it through April Fools day unscathed - I'm not so keen on April Fools Day jokes because they can be so cruel.

It was a sad week in regards to Hser Nay Moo, who was 7-years old that was kidnapped. Her family lives about 4 blocks away from us. The night before the Amber Alert was activated, we received a call from South Salt Lake Police asking to check the yard and hiding places for her - it was an automated message. I was so disappointed when it was announced that her body had been found in a neighbor's apartment (the only one not cleared by police earlier due to no answer at the door). So many people were hoping that she'd be found alive, that perhaps she'd got lost. We watched the news conference that night and I was so impressed the Chief of Police: Chris Snyder. I think he handled himself and the situation and the press so well. We hope and pray for her family.

General Conference is this weekend. Of course, we will tune in for the sustaining of the new president: Thomas S. Monson.

We are excited that Collin with be our little guest in our home this weekend. We are planning on video games galore.

I thought I would add some pictures for me and Sandy - because - DANG! we were cute kids!

These are our kindergarten pictures. So cute!

And what about when we all grew up? Still cute! All of us! (I know how conceited that sounds, but it's the truth: We are still cute!)

We always have so much fun when we all get together. This was taken about seven years ago when Collin was about a year old. (he's clearly NOT in this picture, but that's the time frame)

And now it's time for me to share my family - we had a fun winter with all the snow. Rumor has it that the snow packs are nice and high and water levels are rising - Hurray! We found that our dogs loved chasing snow balls. I captured one such afternoon of fun about a month ago. The video is shot from my camera, so my thumb accidentally found its way over the speaker. About half way through, the sound goes. I still like it - it makes my smile.

Happy April Fool's Day

I'm not a real April Fool's Day aficionado, so you won't catch me playing mean jokes. Maybe you'll find your pictures on your cubicle upside down, or your phone receiver will have a piece of paper inside so you think your phone is broken.

We found we a website with the 100 Greatest April Fools Day Hoaxes and I thought I'd share my favorites:

Instant Color TV Image
In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

Nixon for President
In 1992 National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

Alabama Changes the Value of Pi
The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

And I ran across this image - it fits in the category of WTF!?!
(Yes, those are KKK on the ferris wheel - just an odd photo, that's all)