Another Submission for My Most Boring Blog Post to Date

Before I begin, let me just say that that first time your kid takes the car out ALONE may well be the single most stressful event in all of parenthood.

The first day of Kindergarten and Junior High? Walks in the park.

That field trip to the city dump? Easy peasy.

That time you forgot to pick your kid up on half day? CAKE.

This morning was the single most stressful moment in my entire parenting life.

I made Parker text me when he got to school so I knew he was safe.

He looked at me, annoyed, and said "just this once, Mom and then you need to relax."

And then, ready or not, there he went.

I wasn't as ready as I thought I'd be when this day came.

----

Another blog I read asked it's readers to show Blogland what is in your purse.

Since the world (all four of you readers)- may be pretty sick of reading about my endless mommy neurosis about The Boy driving- I figured I'd play along.

1. Receipts from shopping today - proof that today I purchased Greyson a new collection of sweatpants, since he is the Sweatpants King.  Also- duh- a candy wrapper. I love Apple HiChew.

2. Lip crap. Kristine introduced me to the Cover Girl Lip tints when I was dating Matt and I had two lip colors- natural and hooker. Also-Softlips chapstick is the best stuff for those who don't like that menthol feeling on their lips.

3. Gym membership I have used an embarrassingly small number of times.

4. Checkbook and coupon book from the school fundraiser. That reminds me- Zane ran out of lunch money on Tuesday. Oops.

5. Aviator sunglasses that do not look as cute on me as Jackie O's, but they are what was in there.

6. Estrogen cream- yay for hot flashes!!

7.Medicine for my back - yay for degenerative disk disease and old age!!

8. Crochet needles that escaped from my knitting bag

9. My beloved Droid

10. Ugly red wallet I have had forever

11 ipod, keys and sharpie pens. I have three actual keys, four keychains and ten shoppers cards. What the heck?

12. Garage door opener that I keep forgetting to return to the car

13. Nail polish remover pads- best way to fill the whole car up with non Taco Time stink on road trips

How is that for an entertaining read?

When I read the other blogs, it doesn't sound so boring, but when I read my own "What's in Your Purse" post- I bore myself to tears.
What's in your purse?
Maybe someday your posterity will want to know.

If I bored you with this post--I'm sorry.
 Tomorrow I can post about canning or knitting again and thrill the socks off of you.

He Passed!!

Parker got his driver's license!!!

It's been a rough road, he was as scared of driving as I was as a kid, but at least I had country roads to practice on, he had to learn in city traffic, so it took a little longer for him to feel comfortable behind the wheel. He took the test last month and ...um....went into reverse in an intersection on the range.
He scored a minus 104.

Oops.

Today he scored a minus 4.

He beat his old score by 100 points.

It helped that he didn't have the crabby gray haired lady he got last time.

I was so relieved.

Parker was so relieved.

My insurance agent may be less relieved than we are.

I took him out for a float after he passed to celebrate.

Congrats, Kid.

We're all proud of you.

As Seen at Walmart.....

Saturday, I had to hit the dreaded Walmart.

I hate hate hate going to Walmart.

 I didn't use to hate it, but now, I'd rather pay higher prices at Harmon's or Fresh Market than deal with the atmosphere at Walmart and the temptation to buy even more crap I don't need (but can't seem to resist) there.

Saturday, I had no choice, it was Walmart or three different stores and my back hurt.

I trudged through the aisles saying to myself "I don't need that....I don't need that...." as I put those exact things I didn' t need in my cart.

They had a big sale on cereal- and we didn't need any, but there I was, putting 10 boxes in my cart.

I was caught in the money -sucking web of Walmart again.

Walmart....the ex wife of grocery stores.

As I was checking out I heard a commotion in the self checkout lanes near me.

An elderly man had purchased his groceries and left a large stack of bills at the register.

A family with 2 small kids who were clearly struggling financially and paying with food stamps were behind him and chased him across the store and returned his money to him.

I felt tears come to my eyes.

I looked around me and the people in line at the bank were also watching, with either tears or giant smiles on their faces.

There are still good people in the world, from every walk of life.

As I left I passed the family and said to them "You just made my day, thanks for being honest."

I went to my car and passed this:

The United Way was having a food drive and luring in all sorts of people with some heartstring tugging music like Sarah McLaughlin does with those horrible ASPCA commercials that make you want to either rescue every stray dog in the pound or kill yourself.

As I loaded up my crap, I saw car after car pull up and donate food. There were cub scout troops turning in big boxes filled with food, parents with small children turning on a single can,teaching their children to share and families who looked like they didn't have much themselves, giving what they could.

I thought of that family making sure the elderly man had his money. It was a big stack of cash and they didn't even consider keeping it. Nobody would have noticed.

If what they did meant anything, I knew what was required of me. When one sees good in the world, they need to pay it forward. if one does not see good- be the first one to put it out there and pass the word on to others "pay it forward." 

One of the things Matt and I loved about one another from the beginning was that we both were big believers in this practice.  I left the Walmart parking lot with a "lighter burden" (none of that cereal we didn't need) and a strong reminder that everyone can help make the world a better place. I left with a reminder that there really is beauty all around and it is our job to notice it and when we are blessed, when we see someone doing something beautiful, righteous or uplifting- we need to pay it forward and hope that the next person does the same.

I am thankful to live in a world and in a time where kindness and charity can be witnessed every day and blessings come from giving, receiving and seeing others behave as the Savior would in ordinary every day places.

The spirit can exist even in Walmart.

The 'Bear' Park

Saturday we had a family picnic.

We went to a park that I use to go to as a child when we would visit my step-grandparents in that same neighborhood. I remember walking to the "bear park" and there was a giant polar bear statue at the entrance. We'd go there to play when the grandparents had enough of noisy grandkids in the basement and yard.

I hadn't thought about that park until we found ourselves in Sandy, looking for a  park to hang out in with the kids.

25 years later that polar bear wasn't all that giant to me.

Most of the playground equipment was the same stuff my brother and sisters and I played on as kids.

I'm always a sucker for visiting childhood haunts like this and the kids love"old school" playgrounds.

All is Right in the World- Mostly

My hair.

Oh, my hair.

I will never understand what makes my hair act the way it does.

I'm glad that I have a head full of healthy, blond, get out of responsibility free hair but I wish it would just commit to either being  a curly mop, or straight.

Today it was especially curly because I used a new shampoo with relaxer in it- just to show me who was really in charge.

Sigh.

I spent the afternoon dumping out and reprocessing my jars of watermelon jelly.

I gave some away last night to the knitting bunch, thanking them for their willingness to play guinea pig with it since my regular guinea pig is out of town. I got a midnight phone call from Doreen who said it was "manna from heaven."

Now, she may have just been being kind, but it was after midnight and I took that to mean she was telling the truth, you don't wake people up in the middle of the night just to lie and kiss up.

That motivated me to dump all the slime back into my boiler and reprocess it with more pectin added. I added a LOT more pectin and hopefully this stuff will set correctly now and will not resemble pink snot. I also switched to the itty bitty jars because the flavor is pretty strong.

I'm sorry to those of you who got the runny batch, but it still tastes the same.

Now I can go on with my life in happiness and peace with everything right in the world.....

Except for my crazy weird hair.

Watermelon Jelly

Recently, my friend Sher talked about how she remembered her family making watermelon rind jelly. It sounded interesting and I have been thinking about giving it a try ever since she mentioned it.

With Matt out of town, I needed something to take my mind off how much I miss him so tonight was the night. I made a batch of regular watermelon jelly first.

First I boiled the watermelon, lemon juice and sugar.

Then I removed the seeds and pureed it with the Braun mixer

Added the pectin and processed my little jars.

They're a really pretty pink color and the jelly tastes really sweet with a subtle watermelon taste but I'm not loving the smell. It smells like watermelon rind pretty strong, but like I said, the taste is quite nice.

Next- I went for the rind jelly. 

After boiling the chunks of rind I pureed them as well with sugar and some ginger. The color was horrible. It was the color of Band-Aids. Ick.

The recipe said to add green food coloring until it had a nice bright color.

I don't know that this was much of an improvement. Baby poop comes to mind.

I strained the poop pulp out and was left with a bright green-(too green) jelly base.

I added the pectin and processed these as well. The color is ridiculous, but the taste isn't bad at all. it has a more zesty flavor with a punch to it, I think Matt is actually going to love it.

Will I ever make this again?

Probably not.

 I love preserves and jam--stuff with chunks of fruit inside, but it was fun to try something totally new and I'm happy with the results.

My Mother in Law said she's got a box of apples she is bringing up from Grandma's house, I'm going to make apple butter and spend another day getting the kitchen insanely sticky while smiling as I listen to that sweet sound of those little jars popping as I blog.

***Update***
None of the jelly set so it's all syrup.
Watermelon syrup- people will either love it or hate it, but it still works as a sugar in the food storage.
9th ward knitters- you have been warned- you're all going home with this stuff tonight.

Knitting

Remember how I use to knit?

I still do. :)

I started a scarf this spring for my friend, Jeff and it was taking forever to finish, so I frogged it and started a more simple & soft scarf . His favorite color is green and I made a few attempts to add green to this, but it all ended up looking like a giant potholder, so he's going to have to deal with the scarf as it is. It is really soft and warm. It's a long scarf, but he lives in Michigan where it is freezing, so I'm sure it will help keep him warm all winter.

I've also been making winter headbands for the girls. These two are a little too wide to wear as headbands, they are more head warmers to go over the ears, but I did finally learn a better/ bigger  flower for the second one instead of that pathetic little one I had been making before.

I'm in headband mode, so expect a few more posts about these as I perfect them to be exactly the look I'm going for.

Another Weekend Getaway

A few times a year Matt and I take advantage of one of the lone perks of blended family bliss and we have a "leave the kids with the ex" weekend.

We always return to a house that has been demolished and a full load for crap we need to take the the DI that the ex picked up for the kids from the dollar tree and garage sales, but they have a good time and Matt and I enjoy the weekend escape.

This time, an hour or so into our getaway I got a call from Romy:

 "Hi mom...remember when I got a pet last time, well i decided the problem was that the guinea pigs just pooped too much. I should have gotten a cat."

"Well, we can talk about that when I get home."

"Here's the thing, mom, I'm at a yard sale and they have the CUTEST kittens for five dollars each and I really want one, Dad said I can have one if you say yes.please oh please oh pleeeeeease."

Grrrr.

(Thanks, Dad who lives in Washington DC and only comes out every other month for a weekend. Thanks a LOT.)

"If we decide to add another pet to our family, we need to have a meeting about it and talk about it and we will get a kitten that has been fixed, not one from a yard sale, sorry, hun."

"That's okay- I'm not mad- they also have hats and wigs for dress up that I can buy. I love you! bye"

. Thankfully, it seems she didn't really care that much so we dodged a bullet.

Anyway- back the  getaway part.....

We hit the state fair.

 I've never been to one since 9th grade when I went to the Idaho State fair with  Jean and Shannon and Heather.

We saw The Jets in concert.

 We Mormon girls really knew how to party.

Matt and I saw pig races, which was hilarious and started the state fair redneck watching experience off on the right foot.

We enjoyed the fine art exhibits and the photography exhibit.

 We saw some of the livestock and watched some of the musicians.

We did the big yellow slide and tried deep fried Snickers and deep friend twinkies.

 Taking a bite out of those, you knew somewhere you were either committing a sin or a crime. Food should not be that bad for you and taste so good. We couldn't finish them, they were so heavy but we are happy to finally be able to try them. They were yummy, even if they did clog your arteries up right there on the spot.

(It's a butter sculpture. Yes, BUTTER.)

After the fair, we checked into the Anniversary Inn. I didn't know what room Matt had chosen, so it was a surprise. he picked the Treasure Island room. It was too cute. The Anniversary Inn is a gas. If you're going to do a theme B&B in SLC, pick that place, it's upscale and nice unlike some that just look like a hotel room with a mural painted on the wall.

It had the biggest jetted tun I have ever seen and we're not going to blog about that any further. :)

We had dinner at the Raddison and could see the Dew Tour from the windows, so we got to watch BMX bikers so tricks that were scary just to watch. I don't know how these boys have mothers that aren't totally freaked out all of the time.

Matt's leaving on a business trip today and it was a nice way to spend the weekend before he left.

I'll be cleaning up the ex-husband frat party mess while Matt is away, but thinking of the fun and romantic weekend we spent together first.

I love you Matt and you're a dang handsome pirate. :)

Girly Stuff

Yesterday was kind of a rotten day so I did what any self respecting woman would do and I walked away from the laundry I needed to fold and went our shopping for the perfect new purse to get me through the cold season ahead. I've been carrying around a bag I picked up at the  Sears Willis Tower in Chicago.  It was a practical bag, but not the prettiest of purses.

Having a bad day is the perfect excuse to buy something new. I needed a change. Something prettier, something shinier, something to go with my new 4 inch  red patent leather heels I'm wearing out this weekend.

That's what I'm talking about. 

That's a purse a make-up addicted transvestite like myself can be proud of.

:)

I got a great deal on the purse, so I bought myself a new necklace and some sparkly hair clips as well.  Bling is an important part in helping promote that non natural look I embrace.

(Okay, okay, I know- the horse is dead no need to keep beating it.)

While out shopping I found the cutest thing for Miss Romy and decided it was time to introduce Romy into another aspect of the world of feminine happiness.

Baby's first cashmere sweater.

She loved it. She rubbed it on her face and purred.

When Dad came home, the first thing she did was ask him to touch her new super soft sweater.

She slept with the sweater.

That's my girl.

It's great being a girl, isn't it?

I know it's early but.....

We're already getting excited for the season to start. Zane has grown a lot since last year when he was the only 8th grader on the high school team. he's more physically fit, has more confidence and we're excited for the 2011 Utah Rugby season to start.

College games typically start in November, that will have to keep us happy until the high school season begins.

On Being cute

Yesterday Dylan came over for Birthday Cake and Ice cream.

This picture of him with the kids did not turn out so cute. Sorry, Sunnie, but he was kind of doing the Spongebob Cake Eating Monster face here.

It's even grosser when you magnify it.

But THIS picture did turn out cute, as did many others....

I love that little guy, he was cracking me up last night.

And he was so cute playing ball with Zane in the yard. As he played he kept saying "I play baseball! I play baseball!" and it was adorable- cute cute cute.

I recently heard something that wasn't so cute.

During their last visit here, one of my stepdaughters said to me "*Someone* says you wear too much make up and you don't look natural."

Excuse me?

It's the discussing it with the kids that is offensive.

I don't lose any sleep over the fact that someone else may not find my look to be attractive.

And I totally get it. I mean, I practically look like a transvestite.

You know, I have many many flaws.

My room is a mess.

I say the F word.

I've said it in front of my kids.

I can't make pie crust (yet, but Nancy is going to help remedy that)

I still wear 1980's Scrunchies in my hair.

I painted my cabinets black.

I let my husband spend more on  my engagement ring than he spent on his last car.

I whisper in sacrament meeting.

Naughty kids are my favorite, I give them extra treats when I see them.

I can't stop eating ice cream.

I am weird about my nails and if stranded on a desert island, the one thing I'd bring is a pair of nail clippers to keep myself sane.

Yes, I'd probably choose those over my Book of Mormon, so let's make sure I never get stranded on a deserted island or we're all spiritually doomed.

I am addicted to blogging and my 'wicked stepmother' support group.

I lie to my kids about the ice cream man being out of ice cream and the park being 'closed.'

If you're an adult and you have ticked me off, I don't make it easy for you to approach me and fix things. I put up a wall & avoid you.

I drive my kids the 2 blocks to school so I don't have to put on  a bra and walk them there.

I have a fat butt.

I rarely check my emails for typos and most people actually think I don't know how to spell "their."

 I quit relationships..

I eat popcorn in bed.

I only wash my hair with shampoo three days a week.

I don't iron.

If I'm going to be late for something, I probably won't be there at all.

If you are the reason I am going to be late for something, I'm annoyed with you.

If you're making me late and you're not a sibling or my best friend I am probably actually mad at you.

I'm bad at left turns and I tend to drive kind of slow.

 If anyone needs to rag on me to my children, I cannot stop you.

 Just be aware that our children are watching everything we do. When we act petty and snide and reach for things to attack those we dislike in front of our kids,remember that they have eyes and ears.

They see it and know and it affects the person they are.

The world they see is uglier when a person feels the need to point out the ugly that they perceive. They start to see that same ugly world and it's a sad thing.

Let them see the good, let them stay innocent and experience childhood through their own eyes and not the eyes of a jaded and snotty adult.

This post has inspired me to hit the mall today and make a nice fat donation to the woman at the Clinique counter.

 I'm going to get some kick butt lipstick in a color that even a hooker would think twice about. 

I'm probably going to need shoes, too.

And a purse.

Help a Girl out

My friend since forever, Kayla, will be teaching at the Just For Her Women's Conference at Weber state next week. She's teaching a class on BLOGGING.

She's asked for a little input from out there in blogland, why you blog, what blogs you love and a little about your own blog.

I know you have them.

I know you read them.

Give Kayla a little peek about your blogging loves- it will take you five minutes and spread the word to your blogging buddies, she's just asking for some comments n her blog about YOUR blog and the blogs you love to read.

http://www.digiscrap101.com/

She's even hosting a contest for some tutoring with her, and let me tell you Kayla knows her stuff and she is a blast to spend time with. I'm not entering her contest because I reserve full friendship mooching rights, so that's one less person competing for the prize.

Go visit her blog, leave her a comment about your blogging habits and support a fellow blogger!!! 

The picture has nothing to do with the post, I know.

That doesn't mean it isn't funny, Yo.

Why yes, I do still scrapbook.....

Years ago, I started this blog as a craft blog, but it quickly turned into just a regular boring old Mommy blog like so many others out there on the net. It turned into a blog that I use as an online journal and share my days and thoughts, just in case my posterity ever cares. When I read through past posts, I am reminded very clearly that we have a lot of really good days in this family.

And I still do crafts.

I still scrapbook sometimes, too.

Not as often as I use to and I bowed out of next month's LOAD challenge. Three failures is enough for me to realize my 25 bucks I spend to participate in that challenge are better used elsewhere but I still love you tons, Lain and you continue to inspire me all of the time. :)

For the past few days, Roe and I have been working on a special project.

My sweet sister in law, Lori works in the nursery at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. She helps keep the little ones entertained and happy as they wait to get sealed to their families.

One of the things they have there for the little ones, is a notebook with pictures of temples in it. She said some of the pictures are really old and printed on dot matrix printers, all of them are very outdated.

They could use an updated temple picture book for the little ones to look at, so we took on the task of getting that done for them.

Romy and I worked hard and put together this 20 page simple scrapbook with pictures of various temples and some simple decorations

We made sure we included pictures of some f the temples that have special meaning to our family such as the Chicago temple, the Manila Philippines temple where Matt served his mission, the NZ temple- where Grandpa Olson served his mission, all of the local Utah temples and the Sweden Temple, to help remind us of Brother Marcus Holmgren, our neighbor that we still so dearly miss. He had such a love for Sweden and it's people.

We hope this book will last at least as long as the last one did and that it will bring smiles to the faces of the youngsters who are waiting to get sealed as a family. 

I remember when Parker got sealed to me. I was so young, it seems like a million years ago. He was only about 6 months old and I was worried, he'd never been left with anyone before and his first actual childcare experience that wasn't a parent- was in the nursery at the Mesa Temple. I was one of those mothers who almost never left her babies with anyone and who watched them 24/7. I breastfed and was a co-sleeper and my kids spent most of their first year totally in my arms. One could easily describe me as one of those paranoid clingy moms.

The idea of leaving Parker in that nursery even for a few hours made me terribly nervous, but I still remember the face of the sweet sister who was there and how filled with peace I felt.

 I knew he was safe, I knew he was happy. The feeling I had was that angels were there, helping keep him entertained and secure- the spirit in that room was something I have never forgotten, it was one of those times when I knew the temple was a place unlike everywhere else, a place where angels dwell.

Lori, you're a good woman to help serve int his way and the peace you bring the families that go to the temple is something they do not forget and that they appreciate so much. I'm lucky to have you as a sister.