Bourne Free

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CC and AJ are on overnighters with friends. The house is quiet.

Jason Bourne and I spent the evening together. He issued his ultimatum and eventually he had to deliver on it.

Cordon bleu, cole slaw and baked beans dropped in for a few minutes. They didn't stick around long. I guess it got too messy for them.

Toward the end of the evening, David Webb showed up but he had to rush off to swim class.

Good friends, good times...

Thoughtful Thursday

Madness

It's almost 11:30 pm. Three guesses what the people two houses down are doing out on the street right now... Have I mentioned that I hate where I live?

The madness never ends. It just ratchets up and up and up...

Works For Me

What the heck, I got nothing else to do, right?

Just sit around, posting....

Going on 8 months without an income and it's beginning to pinch.

Been looking at Ebay to see if I could sell things like books, pictures, dishes, movies, CDs, whatever.

School starts in a couple weeks but the kids have said they don't want any new school clothes. Maybe they are just being frugal. It's hard to tell.

I keep applying for jobs and keep getting rejected. It's all I can do.

When I got let go from my former job, I got a blessing so I could cope. The blessing instructed me to keep positive, that I would be able to sleep and keep good health, and that the Lord knew all about my situation and was aware of my needs. That was January. Since then, I have been doing my best to put my faith where my mouth is.

So, I turn on the computer, apply for jobs, turn off the computer, and try not to think about it. I am sleeping. I am being faithful. I am handling the rejection well. I guess the difficulty lies in my being human. I can't see the future and therefore I still allow fear to creep in and threaten me. The funny thing is, that almost as soon as I begin to feel the panic of being backed into a corner, and just when I begin to see us packing up to live in our car, the reminder kicks in that I am doing my best and the Lord really is in charge. I take a huge breath and move on with my day.

No, I'm not perfect at it. However, it is a new technique and it is working! I've even visualized myself in a large room with the Savior standing at one end, waiting for me to approach. I walk slowly toward him, with a significant amount of baggage, trying to haul my load with some sort of dignity. When I reach the Savior he smiles. I look him in the eyes, I lower my bags, I nod my head and I back away for a few paces and then I turn and walk away out of the room.

Works for me.

Family Home Screeching

You know about Family Home Evening. Monday evening, gather the family, sing songs, share a spiritual message, enjoy an activity, serve some treats, say opening and closing prayers...

Believe it or not, the kids and I have been pretty diligent about it over the years. We have a cutesy chart of who does what each week. Everybody gets a turn at conducting or giving the lesson or leading on the activity.

True to the many stories I've heard over the many years I've been a member of the Church, as the kids became teens the issue became more difficult. Yep, it's true. Kids have lives and activities outside of the home, friends calling them to go and do things, TV programs and computer time that is more appealing.

But to be honest, every single time I hold my ground and don't give in to the petitions from the kids to "skip it this week", we manage to get together a decent enough family home evening that has meaning.

Tonight CC shared a story from the current New Era about a girl who had to sing a solo and forgot the words in the middle of her performance, but her bishop stood up and sang the rest of the hymn with her to support her. The message was to remember that the Savior stands beside us when we need support.

AJ's activity was a round of Monopoly Junior (because we don't own the regular version) where he made up the rule that you could buy anyone's property for the face value any time you landed on it, with or without the owner's permission. The buildings came and went with such speed that it was hard to tell who owned the space each time around the board.

We then drove to Macey's and bought a Marie Callender chocolate turtle pie for dessert.

Our opening song: I Love to See the Temple

Our closing song: Give, Said the Little Stream (the kids laughed about how they used to jump up and down on the couch every time they sang the word Give).

We're trying and we're blessed for trying. Never give up.

She's Home

Argument Clinic

Can you tell I don't get out much? It's true. I acknowledge it. Can you help me, Dr. Phil?

Pumpkin Seedless

CC is off to girls camp

and I miss her already.

Strangely enough, I absolutely HATED going to girls camp when I was a youth. It was torture. When it came time for my girl to start attending, all of my old angst came back to me like the flu. I hadn't ever told her about my bad experiences, hoping against all hope that it would be a different adventure for her.

Thanks to leaders who actually give a #$*)#@, she enjoyed her first year and came home filled with stories and assorted photos to share. (I made it a point to find those leaders and let them know how much this meant to me.)

{whew!}

So, now she is a veteran camper. One year it was frying hot at camp, another year it was freezing. She went prepared for everything this time.

Have fun, my girl. Have all the fun that I should have had when it was my time.

Park 'n Wait Drama

SO, I pulled into the Park and Wait lot at SL Int'l just in time for the curtain to go up.

Ahead of me was a grey SUV parked in the front row.

Up pulls an airport police SUV and out gets the driver. He approaches the grey SUV while his hand was on his sidearm. The driver of the grey gets out and assumes the position up against his own vehicle. Soon, the officer calls for back up and waits for a second car to arrive.

The officer takes the grey driver through a field sobriety test, first demonstrating the ballet moves and then watching the grey driver perform same. (He passed every test, by the way.)

The officer walks to the grey SUV, reaches inside and retrieves some long aluminum cans. He walks back to his own vehicle and places these cans on his SUV hood. (Dash-camera footage.)

Any guesses yet what the charges will be?

It gets better. The second officer has all the while been chatting with the passenger in the grey SUV while the testing has been conducted. Now, the first officer turns his attention to that passenger. Out of the grey SUV steps a young woman. She adjusts her clothing as she is led tiptoeing back to the police SUV by officer #2. She is handcuffed and placed into the police vehicle and the door is shut on her.

Still wondering about the charges?

Officer #3 (Sarge) pulls up, wearing stripes on his uniform sleeve. Sarge starts pantomiming to the other officers and points up to a tall pole and then throws up his hands. At the top of that pole was ---you guessed it--- a security camera. Apparently, while they were parked in the lot, this twosome had been up to several illegal activities in that grey SUV and it was all caught on camera. The grey driver kept asking the officers to be more specific about where exactly the camera was. Once he spotted it he just shook his head.

The next scene was an episode of the keystone cops. I can only describe it as three (and soon four) airport police officers darting from vehicle to vehicle, searching high and low through handbooks and manuals to find the proper statutes with which to cite this couple. Flipping through page after page for a good ten minutes, they decided to settle on something and issue the driver a ticket.

Meanwhile, with the officers distracted in their research, the young woman sitting in the police vehicle was saying things (silently mouthing things) in the direction of her companion who was leaning up against the hood of another police SUV next to her. He, in turn, was telling her (with his own mouthing and gestures) that she was going to be hauled away while he himself was totally "{insert expletive here}".

In the end, the grey SUV driver signed for his ticket. He was instructed to take his tall aluminum cans and dump out the contents in the nearby shrubery. He complied and got back into his vehicle. (His female companion was taken away by officer #1.) As the grey driver began to pull away himself, he dropped another can and it rolled under his vehicle. He threw the SUV in park, got out, picked up the can, walked back to the driver's side door and, realizing that there was still a police officer standing behind him watching, tipped the can upside down and shook it back and forth to reassure the officer it was empty. Then, instead of tossing it in the trash, like any thinking animal would do, he tossed it in the back seat of his grey SUV, got in and drove off toward the pick-up lanes of the airport. (Open container laws are such a bother...)

The charges? Open container, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, lewd acts in a public place....... (remember the security camera???)

It was quite an entertaining way to kill my 45 minute wait. And I had a 2nd row center seat for the entire show.

People do some really stupid stuff to screw up their lives, don't they.

Like a Record Baby.....

Back in the day.....

I used to listen to Dad's old Bill Cosby records and then his reel-t0-reel tapes. Hour after hour I'd play those things. The rest of the kids and I would rattle off quotes from this stuff. Driving along in the car, we'd see who could remember the most acurately. We agreed that "Noah" was the bit that we remembered the best. "Who is this, really." "Am I on candid camera?"

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Stone just made me a copy of his Bill Cosby stuff and handed it over. A two-disc set. It had been a long time since I had been able to listen to it and once I played the first segment, I was hooked again. Thank-you, Stone, for remembering me like this. I was so happy!

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A package just came this week from mom. She (with the help of Shep, who had recently visited her and helped get this sorted out on the computer) downloaded all of the Bill Cosby she had saved from those records and reels that I loved so dearly when I was younger. A five-disc set. Thanks for the memories. I'm still happy.

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So, the "Chicken Heart" has been thump-thumping in my home for several days now. I can't seem to get enough of "smearing that Jello".

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"The Giant is home! The Giant has money!"

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What's your favorite Bill Cosby routine? You know you have one (or two, or three...).

He spins me right round, baby, right round...

Read My Mind...

Rejected

"Thank you for interviewing with us...Unfortunately...."

Classickness

I think I have a sickness for classics on film.

When Masterpiece Theater comes on I scramble

to get a blank tape into the VCR (yes, I am still

using primitive technology) in time to record.

I was particularly surprised by a story that I had

never heard of before. Little Dorrit was shown in a

series of about 5 parts and it was outstanding. Riches

to rags and back again. Villians, cruel rich people,

humble poor folk, benevolence....

This version of Oliver Twist was interesting

because they portray Fagen as a jew who

attempts to keep the judaic law while

remaining a thief. He really loves the boys

in his care. Bill Sykes is scarey because

he's so psycho. Nancy haunts him and

gets the last laugh.

David Copperfield with young

Harry Potter in it?

And notice Professor McGonigal too.

This version of Pride and Prejudice was sweet

and above all, I loved the musical score. This

portrayal of Elizabeth is more likeable and this

Darcy is more approachable and sincere.

This version is long but oh so worth it!

What a great way to spend a Saturday

afternoon. Five VHS tapes or two DVDs.

I recommend it with two thumbs up!

The reason I enjoyed this version of

Sense and Sensibility was because of

Alan Rickman (Professor Snape).

He is one of my favorite actors.

And, I always enjoy Emma Thompson (Professor

Trelawney) no matter what she's in.


Yeah, this version of is more serious and to be

honest, the male actors aren't all that

attractive. But nevertheless, this is absolutely

worthy to be on my fav list.

The surprise of all was this new story

called Cranford. I had never heard of it before.

It is a story of people in a community

caring for one another.

The book was such a treat.

It included sketches that added

character to the story.

So, I am a classics geek.

Whenever I play one of these types

of movies, my son rolls his eyes (back into

his head further than the usual teen eye-roll)

and as he leaves the room in disgust, he

makes a sound like pppsssshhhhhhhh!

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Mountainous

This is a great view of Timpanogos with LaVell Edwards stadium on the right.

Every time I leave the area I really miss Timp. I guess it will always have a hold on me. I watch the peak get powdered with snow and then I watch to see if the snow has melted yet giving way to green grass. Sunrise comes up from behind it and sunset lights up the face in the evenings.

Another mountain that has made a particular impression on me is the Wendelstein mountain near Bad Aibling, Germany. The image of a woman lying on her back, knees bent, looking up to the sky... The kids in our family watched for her whenever we took a trip, always wanting to be the first one to spot her on our way home.

When I lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota, I would snicker when tourists would visit and remark on how beautiful the "mountains" were there. Even at Mt. Rushmore they "ohhhh-ed" and "aawww-ed" over them. Hills, people. They are only HILLS.

Alps were cool. Zugspitze was awesome.
The tram ride spooked me but was worth it.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen. . .

. . . and Bertschesgaden were amazing!

My point (besides being on the top of my head) is that mountains make impressions on me like nothing else. Some of my dearest memories center around mountains in my life.

Just sayin'....