Foreign Quang

Confession Time

2012-01-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

I'm in love.

With another man.

Who's not my husband.

And my husband doesn't care. Because when I asked him if he cared that I was in love with another man, he said, "I'm in love with him too."

But I think it's okay because he's a fictional character.

This one:

Source: bbc.co.uk via Randi on Pinterest

For the uninitiated, this is Sherlock Holmes--master of intrigue, grand poo-bah of crime scene investigation, oddball extraordinaire.

I've always loved Sherlock, because I am fascinated with mystery, especially when it's coupled with masterful deductive reasoning. The BBC version is everything you would expect from Sir Arthur's character, but with a modern twist. This Sherlock solves crimes using laptops, cell phones and the London taxi cab system. And get this: WITHOUT GRAPHIC GORE.

Okay, so there's a little blood here and there, but none of the hurl-your-dinner genre made famous by shows like CSI. No, this version focuses on the mentality of the crime suspect as well as the intellect of the crime solver, rather than on the severed body parts of the crime victim.

Last week, we had an evening long Sherlock fest, trying to catch up with past episodes. It was easy, because there aren't that many, only three so far (unless you live in England where they already got to view season 2. We lowly Americans have to wait until May. Torture, I tell ya.) The nice thing about those three episodes is that they are 90 minutes each. So for those of you with Netflix accounts, I've provided something for you to do this weekend.

Disclaimer: If you fall in love with Sherlock I am not responsible. Take that up with Sir Arthur.

Apology to Robert Downey, Jr.: You've been replaced. I'm sorry.

Government-forced hoo-hah: No one paid me to say any of these things, not the BBC, not Netflix, not the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, not Benedict Cumberbatch. However, if you see a link like the one below that looks suspiciously like an "ad," rest assured it is an ad. The government thinks you are too stupid to know that it is an ad, so I must tell you that it is, indeed, an ad. Therefore, if you click on the ad, and then actually buy something attached to the link, I will get a commission. Blog owners do not put ads on their sites just because they think they enhance the look, although that's what the government thinks that you think, hence the obligatory blah blah blah.

In Which My Daughter Explains a Fashion Mystery

2012-01-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it. I am not a fashion maven. My style of dress can best be described as "mom." That's not to say that if I had the right figure, income, and time on my hands I wouldn't be a fashionista. I totally would. However, there are elements of style that befuddle my middle-aged mind, notably this trend:

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: agjeans.com via Jordan on Pinterest

Get the picture? It's women standing pigeon-toed for photos!

This trend has perplexed me for a while. It seems I can hardly look at a fashion spread without seeing some evidence of this, and to be honest, I find it annoying, probably because I get annoyed when I fail to find logic in something. Is it supposed to somehow be more attractive?

I guess I somehow failed to keep up with the times, because when I mentioned this irritation to my daughter, Em, she knew exactly why models stand like this.

"Mom, it's because when you stand pigeon-toed your thighs don't touch."

I tried it. It works! And did you go back and look at the above photos? No thigh-touching to be seen!

So now when you see pictures of me and you you say, "Randi must have lost weight. Her thighs don't touch anymore," you will know my secret, fresh from the modeling world. Em, I owe you one.

Kids. Entertained so cheaply...Part II

2012-01-15T06:34:00.000-08:00

Not knowing that I had just posted a picture about my grandson playing with his birthday box, Foreign Quang reader Jill coincidentally posted this picture of her daughter. "Little G" ( Daddy is Big G) turned nine yesterday and found a box just as intriguing as her gifts.

Jill writes: "All those gifts, and this is what the kids played with all day long."

Do you think children would rebel if we gave them only boxes on their birthdays? And isn't her #9 shirt fabulous? I'm sure her mother made it because she is all kinds of crafty like that. Happy Birthday, Little G!

photo used with permission

Kids. Entertained so cheaply...

2012-01-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

I hope to someday have it explained to me how time seems to accelerate the older I get. If you had told me at age ten that I would have to wait a year for something, it would have been agony. Yet my grandson, Avatar, turned eight last week, and I am positive it was only a couple of years ago that his father called me to tell me that my daughter had given birth a few moments ago.

I want to slow the passage of time because it does not seem real that he is sporting his adult teeth.

It doesn't help that he is only five years younger than my son. I feel like I miss so much, even though he lives only three blocks away.

At his family birthday party I watched him open his gifts with gratitude. He seemed to genuinely love all his presents. But when all the unwrapping excitement was over, where did we find him?

You got it---playing with the box!

His uncle, my son, is also entertained cheaply. Nearly every place we go, Weston can be found doing a variation of this:

He delicately balances on the ground, his bed railing, stone benches, fire pits, logs--anything that will act as a fulcrum. He has been forbidden to balance on the arm of my couch, so he never balances there. Anymore. When I'm around.

Last week, Weston came home from an evening gathering with a few friends. He looked like my son anyway. After he had been home a few minutes, he asked me to come see him in his room. I quickly learned that although my son appeared to come home from the get-together unscathed, that was not the case.

As soon as he turned on the black light in his room I realized that he had been decorated. By a girl. The yellow marker didn't show during the course of normal conversation. I later discovered that this magic can only be performed by the neon yellow Sharpie highlighter. How fun is that! So the next time you're looking for a cheap way to occupy kids, get out your black light and Sharpies.

And when your kids come home from a party looking normal, don't you believe it. Give 'em the old black light test first.

The Future of Glass

2012-01-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

I just saw this and it was too amazing to not share it.

If you want to see it full screen (recommended) here is the link:

Thoughts of a Twitterless Thinker.........December 30, 2011 edition

2011-12-31T00:35:00.000-08:00

So there I was sitting at my computer, 1:30 A.M., noshing on leftover mashed potatoes and gravy, and scoping out the blogs of my online buddies. I was laughing at their antics, marveling at their creativity, and admiring their mad writing skills. And then...a Eureka moment when I thought to myself--"Hey! I have a blog! I should go write on it some time."

Yeah.

Fellow bloggers: Do you ever have days when you feel like you have nothing to say? When it seems as if everything has already been said? When each day seems like every other day so writing anything down seems so redundant? If so, how do you conquer that blase feeling? Dang, it was so bad I considered setting up a Twitter account so I could feel justified in having nothing to say.

As I pondered setting up said Twitter account, I remembered that it might be seen as a betrayal by those Quangsters who rely on my being a Twitterless Thinker. To satisfy those three people, and to keep myself from plunging into the deep dark depths of 140-character thoughts, I bring you the latest installment of Thoughts of a Twitterless Thinker.

You know what I've been thinking about most lately? In a few days I get to find out the gender of my latest grandchild--Em's baby. I'm thinking girl. Em's thinking girl. I'm thinking the ultrasound tech is thinking girl but doesn't want to say anything until the official gender unveiling on Tuesday. I'll keep you posted.

My son, being a thirteen-year-old, now communicates with his friends online more than he does in person. I had one of his friends sitting in my office using my computer, while Weston was in his room using his computer. They were involved in a group chat with a couple of friends from school. At one point the two boys were just typing to each other and I mentioned something to both of them that maybe they should just get off the computer and go talk to each other face to face. You know, since they were only a room apart and all. Each one looked at me with the 2011 equivalent of "Are you high?" Silly me. There I go thinking again.

Speaking of online chatting, you are all familiar with the chatting acronyms, right? You know, like LOL means Laughing out Loud, and BRB means Be Right Back. Weston was feeling mildly hurt because he thought his friends thought he was "lame." I assured him that was not the case, but to prove it he confided that when he says something online, his friends will respond with LMAO. When I told him that it meant Laughing My A** Off, he brightened. He thought they were responding "Lame-o!"

I'm thinking that most of this post will be my thoughts on dealing with the creature called "The Thirteen-Year-Old." For some reason, as soon as Weston turned thirteen, he lost massive amounts of brain cells, to the point where I have to re-teach things he learned when he was three. Things like when you get up from the couch while holding a plate of spaghetti, make sure that you hold the plate in a horizontal position. Holding it in a vertical position will cause the spaghetti to slide from the plate to the carpet. I thought he knew that, but maybe I didn't stress it enough when he was three.

Or things like when it's cold outside, you stay warmer when you wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. Like a toddler, he prefers to dress himself, so when he runs around the house in a short-sleeved t-shirt, ankle socks, and shorts and then complains, "I'm freezing!" I tend to say stupid things like, "Maybe you should change your clothes."

Or when he's sitting at his computer with his headphones on, and his chores are left undone and his room is a mess, and I say, "No computer until your chores are done and your room is cleaned." He smiles at me and says, "Okay." Twenty minutes later he is still plugged in so I repeat. He nods and smiles, " I am." Ten minutes later I go back to his room, slightly more irritated than the first two trips and tell him again to get off the computer and get his chores done. He unplugs and says, "Mom! I am!"

There's that awkward moment where I am left wondering if English is his second language or if I have failed to teach him the proper bodily actions to perform when your mother says to get your chores done. They don't involve sitting in a chair staring at a computer screen with headphones attached. Did I not teach him these things when he was but a manling? Oh wait! Maybe he's playing some new Facebook game called Chore-ville, where the player thinks that actions performed online are duplicated in the real world.

Today I was convinced that all the life-skills training that I have done with this child since age 0 have been for naught. I was certain that my young man was replaced by someone else's obstinate defiant two-year-old.

Me (noticing that Weston was ready to walk out the door to go to an Airsoft game in thirty degree weather): "Why are you wearing that jacket? It's not even dry. Did you pull it out from the washer?"

Weston: "It's okay."

Me: "It's not okay. It's soaking wet. It hasn't even been in the dryer yet."

Weston: "Mom. It's not that cold out. It's fine."

Me: "You can't wear a sopping wet jacket. You are going to freeze."

Weston: "It's not that bad."

Me: "Go put on your winter coat."

Weston" "It's too small."

Me: "When did it suddenly get too small?"

Weston: "My arms show when I stretch my arms out." He puts on the coat and demonstrates. About two inches of his forearms show.

Me: "If you put on a long-sleeved shirt, then your forearms won't get cold."

Weston: "Mom! It's not a coldness thing. I don't want my arms to get hit by airsoft pellets."

Me: "Then wouldn't a long-sleeved shirt still help?"

Weston: "Argh. Mom. You don't get it."

He's right. I didn't get it. I thought my "How to Pick out Appropriate Clothing" training had ended nine years ago. Looks like I'm starting from scratch. After ten minutes of arguing, he finally left the house with a long-sleeved shirt and his warm winter coat. I was exhausted.

On the bright side, he is still capable of making me laugh. One day Computer Geek, Weston, and I were coming back from Walmart and stopped for gas. Computer Geek started to get back in the car but Weston said, "You left your receipt hanging at the machine." CG sees that it is so, gets back out of the car, retrieves the receipt, then gets back in. He says to Weston, "Thank you for letting me know about that." To which Weston replies,

"I am a noble steed." Indeed.

I'll close this thoughtful post with an amazing tip I learned over the holidays. Have you ever been to Walmart and tried to get some pop, only to discover that all the pop at the front of the shelves has been removed? And that you are far too short to reach the pop you want, way at the back of the shelf? Many times I have said, "Oh well. I guess it's just God's way of saying that I shouldn't drink pop," and then I move on. No more! God has provided an awesome pop-retrieving tool.

We were at our local Walmart and noticed that the fake 7*UP was almost gone. The last few bottles were waaaay in the back. Shaq could not have reached those bottles. Two Walmart ladies were working in the aisle, and because our Walmart has awesome customer service (I'm not lying--these people are even happy when I use coupons. They rock. Yay for store # 2794! Give 'em all a raise!) they asked me if they could help.

I explained that I was far too short to reach the pop I wanted. These two ladies had a brilliant solution. "Let's find Max."

Max shows up and he is approx. 6'3". Does he reach up there and get my pop? No. Remember I said that even Shaq could not have reached those bottles?

I learned that the ladies didn't go find Max because he was tall. They found Max because he was smart. Max showed me an uber cool trick that I am now going to show you. Amaze your friends! Stun your relatives! I now present the Walmart No Stilts Needed Pop Retrieval Tool:

Ta-Dah!

Amazing, right? The tool is inconspicuously hidden in the shelving unit itself. It slides right into the hole when you have finished pulling the pop toward you with the elongated staple-like pop-grasper. So the next time you feel inferior because you can't reach the pop that is inconveniently stored above your head, just look for the thing that looks like a staple camouflaged against the shelving unit. How many times have I looked right at it and never known?

P.S. Max, who is a serious customer advocate, gave me permission to take the above photo.

Anything Embarrassing Happen to YOU Lately?

2011-12-19T20:35:00.001-08:00

A friend dropped by on Saturday with a plate full of fudge. (I swear I was born lucky.) We chatted for a few minutes and then ~~I pushed her out the door so I could gorge on the fudge~~ she had to leave. After we said our goodbyes and she closed the front door, my son looked at me and said, "Boy, I bet you are embarrassed."

I couldn't think of any social sins I committed during the course of our conversation, so I asked Weston, "Why should I be embarrassed?"

"Because the back of your skirt is tucked into your underwear."

AAAAGGHH!

Dressing my Angels

2011-12-10T23:19:00.001-08:00

Early last week, I got an email from one of the coupon sitesI haunt. They directed me to the Victoria’sSecret Facebook page, where VS was giving away gift cards on a daily basisuntil Christmas. I scoped it out, by reading the rules as well as comments byprevious winners and losers.

Every day until December 15, the company is giving away atotal of 100,000 Victoria’s Secret gift cards. However, they begin giving awayeach day at precisely 9:00 A.M. Eastern and only give away until that day’sallotment is depleted. That means by approximately 9:07, all of that day’scards are gone.

Since that’s 7:00 A.M. my time, I didn’t even botherentering the first few days. I get ready for school at that time and feltentering a contest was not high priority. Last Thursday though, I was runningahead of schedule. I noticed it was 7:04 and thought I would give it a shot.

I tried for a few minutes but kept getting an error message,presumably because thousands of other people were also trying to enter. I wasready to give up, and thought, “I’ll give it one more shot.” That one more shot won me a gift card.

I was pretty excited. The amount of the gift card was asecret. They don’t tell you the amount until you have placed your online orderand are ready to check out. After reading the comments on the Victoria’s Secret Facebook page, I assumed Iprobably won a $10 gift card, since that is what all of the people were sayingthat they won.

Later that night, I was ready to go online and place anorder and use my $10 gift card. I wanted to order something for daughter Kay.Thinking that I would just buy something for ten bucks, then pay the additionaltax and shipping myself, I started looking for ten dollar items. Any of you whohave ever shopped at Victoria’sSecret know that means my options were limited. I finally decided on body wash.I called daughter Em, who knows these kinds of things, and asked her whichfragrance Kay might like. She suggested a few and I added the body wash to my“shopping cart.”

I entered all my shipping information and got to the sectionwhere I had to enter my gift card number. I also had our personal cardinformation ready since I knew I would be responsible for paying anything overthe $10. With tax and shipping, my body washcame to $16.99. I looked at the total,expecting to see that I owed $6.99. Iwas wrong.

Instead, I read this, “Your gift card covers your entirepurchase. No additional payment is necessary. Your new gift card balance is$483.01.”

I read it over a few times, sure that I had made a mistake.When I realized I was not dreaming, nor breathing, I called Em back. I washoping that she would be kind enough to come over to my house and help me useup my $500. She graciously accepted. She drove right over. In her pajamas. That’smy girl.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I do not have a figureconducive to shopping at VS. My daughters however, do. Merry Christmas, angels.

Over the next three and a half hours, Em and I sat onlineporing over that website. We got Kay and Gnome on the phone, requesting theirhelp in spending the $500. They were also happy to oblige. Okay, “happy” is toomild. “Delirious” probably covers it better.

Em, being the consummate online shopper, used her eagle eyeto discern that I also got free shipping because my order was over $25, and anadditional $25 off because my order was over $150. Twenty-seven items later, I logged off. Ifanyone needs help navigating the Victoria’sSecret website, just call me. I know that website top to bottom. My order cameto $497.44. Whew. I felt accomplished.

A few days later, I am still in shock. I keep checking status on my order, to makesure that it’s real. I am so grateful to Victoria’sSecret for their generosity. I looked at their site and found that out of the100,000 cards they are giving away, only 82 were the $500 cards. And what didmy dear husband have to say about all this?

“Now can you go win me something from Cabelas?”

This is why I can't use a Palm Pilot

2011-11-28T13:28:00.001-08:00

I'd get marker all over the screen

Giving Thanks

2011-11-25T18:44:00.001-08:00

I’ve spent the last two days with family and friends,feeling the gratitude that the Thanksgiving holiday was meant to inspire. Howabout you? Did you get to spend some time with your loved ones? Or maybe take arest and relaxation break?

A list of things that I am grateful for has been runningthrough my mind the past couple of days. Like most everyone, I am grateful forthe biggies. I also am grateful for the silly little things that make lifeenjoyable. I call them The Biggies and The Littles. If you like, I’ll sharethat list with you. Do I hear begging?Oh, all right. Here ya go.

The Biggies

I am grateful for the influence of God in my life. Too manymiracles have happened for me to ignore His hand. My life, and my son’s life,have both been saved in miraculous ways. I have frequently prayed for food tofeed my kids during desperate times and it showed up on my doorstep. I avoideda car crash when my vehicle and the other involved “floated” through each otherinstead of colliding. Many times I have lost things and after praying heard avoice in my head clearly telling me where to find the lost item. I hate tothink of my life without His presence.

Family. I have anamazing husband who just about every day tells me in one way or another that hethinks I’m beautiful. I actually feel pretty around him. He helps with dishesand laundry. He does things with my son,who is not his own. He is easy going and rarely gets mad, except atpoliticians.

My oldest daughter is a Godsend to me. She is kind, caring,thoughtful, loving, intelligent and is one of my best friends.

My seconddaughter is my sweet baby girl who makes me laugh (always has!) with her goofyantics. She is a hard worker has been able to read my mind on severaloccasions, then state my thoughts out loud.

My son is an affectionate boy whois nearly as goofy as his big sister. He tells me every day that he loves me,and tries to be a good teenager.

My step-kids, grandkids, dad, brother, sisters, aunts,uncles, cousins, in-laws of all kinds, and people I’ve adopted are all a joy tome. Yeah, they’re grouped together in a list, but each and every one is loved.

I have the best friends in the world (many of whom areincluded in the family section.) My friends are always thoughtful and sensitiveand considerate and look out for my well-being. I don’t know what I did to beblessed by having such amazing people care about me, but I am grateful.

Soldiers. I might not agree with every war or every causethat sends these men and women into battle, but I’m sure they don’t either.Yet, they sacrifice their time, their family lives, their interests andhobbies, and in a lot of cases their lives, for our nation and ultimately, forme. Some of them are so very young. I could not do what they do.

Being Female. I like being a girl. I don’t know how Goddecides who gets to be male and who gets to be female, but I’m glad I am what Iam.

Kindness. There are so many kind people in the world. Justlook up “random acts of kindness” on the internet and you will be amazed. Here’s a project for you if you want to playalong. This week, do one of the following:

*Tape 50 cents to a gumball machine along with a note thatsays, “Have a ball!”

*Send a thank-you card to someone.

*Compliment a grocery store cashier. “Thank you fordouble-bagging that for me,” or something similar.

As I watch the Black Friday insanity, I am grateful that Idon’t have to fight my way through a crowd for basic life necessities. Today peoplefought like lionesses over a gazelle carcass for $2 waffle irons and DVD’s andvideo games. People in other countrieshave fought the same way over bread or water. I am grateful I have the luxuryright now, and believe me it is truly a luxury, to stay in my home and let thedegenerates fight it out among themselves.

The Littles

Funny things kids say. And do. They bring humor to an adult’s sometimes tedious life.

Tomatoes. I eat them plain. I drink them in juice. They arein my spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and chili. My undisputed favorite food.

People who can sing. I can’t. I count on those of you whocan to make my life pleasant.Are you listening Josh?

The internet. Learning has always been a great joy in mylife and thanks to the internet, any kind of knowledge I would like to pursueis at my fingertips.

Cameras. I love taking pictures. As I get older, and moreand more memories crowd my brain, photographs help me remember what happened inmy life.

Getting mail other than a bill. I love postcards, letters,free samples, things I’ve ordered, catalogs, and cards.

Jeopardy. I consider it a good night if I can get fiveanswers right. I am convinced that Alex Trebek is the world’s smartest man. Heknows everything and can correctly pronounce every word. I think he should playon the show sometime.

Peonies. Best smelling flower ever. And that shade of pinkis magical.

Vicks Vapo-rub. It, along with white noise, helps get thisallergy-girl to sleep every night.

Pens. Love them. Markers, highlighters, ballpoints, gels,watercolors, it mattereth not. I love them all. In fact, my former boss once boughtme a Palm Pilot to replace my Franklin Planner. I stopped using it because Icouldn’t color in my schedule entries or doodle all over the page.

Writing. I don’t know what else to do.

Beaches. Sand. Water. Sun.Aah.

Iowa.It’s too humid in the summer. It’s numbingly cold in the winter. But itscolor-splashed springs and crisp autumns, along with the nice people, twang myheart chords.

Humor. People with a good sense of humor are so attractive. Notthe slapstick kind—can’t stand it—but a fine verbal wit. George Carlin. Jack Handey.Robert Brault. And—is anyone looking?—Monty Python.

Words. They way they feel on my tongue. They way they canformulate an image in my mind. The way they stab the exact meaning I amtrying to convey. Here are some of my favorites: Synergy. Poignant. Persephone. Serendipity. Eloquent.Archipelago. Evanescent. And this phrasefrom Warren Zevon: Little old lady got mutilated late last night.

Now that I’ve made my list of The Biggies and The Littles, Iam confident that I will start thinking of all the ones I forgot. I reserve theright to keep adding.

What are some of your Littles?

I Learned it on Pinterest! Amazing Hair Hacks

2011-11-20T22:20:00.001-08:00

Imagine with me, two scenarios.

1. Your family is experiencing financial hardship due to unemployment, or illness, or all seven of your kids being in college at once. You need a haircut, but can't afford the $45 to go get your long hair layered. What do you do?

2. The power has gone out due to a snowstorm. You know you have to go to work tomorrow regardless, but are worried that the power will still be out in the morning so you won't be able to curl your hair. What do you do?

Well thanks to Pinterest , I have learned that the solutions to these two problems are very simple.

Solution 1. Layer your own hair

Solution 2.

Cut the toe off an old sock to make a hair scrunchy

Put your hair into a pony tail using a hair band

Take the old sock and make a sock bun in the manner shown in the video, misting your hair with water first.

Sleep on it.

Take out the sock bun in the morning and fluff up your curls!

Now you didn't think I would post these tips on my blog without trying them first, did you? Yesterday, I cut my hair into layers using Solution 1, then curled my hair overnight using Solution 2.

Are you ready for the results?

Layered, curled and ready to go on a Sunday morning.

I talked to a hairdresser friend tonight who was familiar with the layering technique.She learned it in cosmetology school, but they can't use it. Because then who would pay $45 for a hair cut?

Don't throw away those holey socks!

The Road Not Taken--or Taken, Then Given Back

2011-11-19T01:11:00.001-08:00

On daughter Em’s birthday, I asked her brother Weston abouthis favorite memory of Em. Almost without hesitation, he proclaimed, “The timeshe gave me the road blanket.”

When Em was a teenager, she received an anonymous Christmasgift of a large warm quilt. The colors on it were very gaudy, so she brought itout mainly on cold winter nights. Usually, it could be found tucked in hercloset. Em’s taste in decorating is very classic and her color choices lie intans, beiges, browns, and golds. The quilt of many colors just didn’t “go” withanything else in her bedroom. It’s warmth factor could not be denied though,and when the temperature dipped, out came the quilt.

Little brother Weston was fascinated by the designs on thequilt. Often he would ask Em if he could use her quilt as a “road” for his tinycars. He dragged out this quilt so frequently that he began referring to it as“my road,” as in “Em, can I play with my road?” Being the sweet big sister that she was, she usually obliged.

She obliged, that is, until the day she moved out.

The scene in the kitchen was heart-rending. Em was movingout, as children tend to do when they get married. The quilt was in the processof being transported to her new home. I will never forget the look in youngWeston’s eyes as the realization hit—his road was going bye-bye.

“No!” he screamed. “You can’t take my road!” The young boywas out of control, pleading and grabbing on to the quilt so it would not bemoved. Em struggled to get it out of his grip, and being moved by his grief Iencouraged her to leave it behind for him to play with. She would not beswayed, and why should she? The quiltwas hers, given to her as a gift.

Weston was inconsolable over the next couple of days. Wheneverhe would think about it, he would wail, “My road…” Just as frequently he wailed about the factthat his sister cruelly decided to live with her new husband instead of withus. He was a miserable tot.

One day, when Weston and I had gotten home from errands, hewent into his bedroom and started yelling. “My road, my road!” I went to his roomand found the quilt, neatly folded on his bed.

On top of the quilt was a note.

“To my brother, because I love you.

You probably need this blanket more than I do.

I love you, my handsome.”

To this day, I cannot get him to give up the quilt, thoughhe no longer uses it as a road.

A young Weston, playing with cars on his "road"

Happy Birthday, Em!

2011-11-17T19:02:00.001-08:00

Twenty eight years ago today, I held a newborn princess inmy arms. I thought she was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in theentire world. Although I had first laid eyes on her only moments before, I knewthat it would be sad for me to spend even one day apart from her. Luckily, shewas mine.

Baby Em (you all know that’s not her real name, right?) was aperfect child from the start. She was always smiling (except for those firsthorrendous weeks before we discovered she had a milk allergy) and went aroundtrying to please her parents. The first time she scribbled on the wall withcrayon, I told her that we don’t color on walls, we color on paper. She said, “Okay,”and never colored on the walls again.

Em has pretty much been that way her whole life, alwaysseeking to do the right thing, and to be a good example. I’ll share a few of myfavorite “Em”ories with you:

*She was able to speak well at a very young age. At age two,when we would drive past an ad for Coke, she would say, “Ch-ch-ch-ch-CherryCoke—Outrageous!” (That was theirslogan.)

*She noticed everything. Once, at age 2 ½, she was watching televisionwith her Grandma. She excitedly said, “The Statue of Liberty!” when she saw iton TV, then followed it by saying, “There’s the President,” when Ronald Reaganappeared on the screen.

*“Mommy, I can’t sniff very well.” I finally figured outthat she had stuck a raisin up her nose, which required a trip to the doctor.

*When she was three, our extended family ate dinner at anice restaurant. A man played classical music on the piano while we ate. Emtook the opportunity to dance around, whirling in her dress. When the musicstopped and the audience applauded, Em looked around in surprise and bowed.

*When she was 2 ½, her dad was washing some clothes withWoolite. Em said casually, “I’ve switched to Delicare.”

*She wanted me to read Sleeping Beauty when she was three. Itold her I would be there in a minute and she said, “C’mom, fat chickie!”

*At a restaurant, her Grandma offered to accompany her tothe bathroom. As they walked away from the table hand-in-hand, we heard Em sayloudly, “Grandma? Do you know how to wipe?”

*When she went to kindergarten, her teacher told me that shekept trying to encourage Em to play with the other kids, “She just wants tohang out and converse with the teachers.”

*At age six she was as tall as the eleven andtwelve-year-old boys at the day care center.

*At her grade school, the faculty decided to start a goodcitizenship award for those students who exemplified good behavior. Theprincipal told me that they were choosing her to be their first recipient.

*She had fun modeling for Sears as a pre-teen, and got to dosome runway shows and mannequin modeling.

*As a teenager, she devoted most of her spare time to takingcare of her baby brother, Weston, while I worked. I am forever grateful for allthe hard work she did, helping me to keep house.

*She surprised me with tickets to a Riverdance performance.

*She paid for her sister, Kay, to come here for Christmasone year.

*She has given me adorable grandchildren and an amazing son-in-law.

I could go on and on with her awesomeness and how lucky Iwas to give birth to such a caring, intelligent, generous, happy girl, but I don’t wantto make everyone jealous, so onward with the pictures!

This is one of my favorite pics of Em--on the beach in the Philippines

Em with Hubby and son, Avatar

In the forest with Chunk, who wears her face

More Philippines photos

With sister, Kay

Happy Birthday to the the first person who called me Mom!

Check in tomorrow for Weston's report on his favorite memory of Em

A Robert Brault Blog Hop

2011-11-16T01:03:00.001-08:00

Those of you who have been readers of this blog for anylength of time know that I am a huge Robert Brault fan. I have mentioned himseveral times in various blog posts, plus his quote graces the top of this blog. Permanently.Unless I someday change it to another Robert Brault quote.

Becky Povich of Writer Searching for Bliss is also a huge rbfan. [People who hang out on Robert’s website know that he signs everything “rb.”The mere fact that we know that is like some sort of notch on the belt ofBrault fan-ness.] Becky is hosting aRobert Brault blog-hop and has invited me to play along. Since you all know Iidolize rb, I agreed.

I won’t spend a lot of time telling you why I think RobertBrault’s work is the ultimus maximus of quote-dom. Simply go here for unabashedadulation. I will however steal some of the quotes from his site and plasterthem right here for all to see. My favorites run in the hundreds, so it was difficultto pick just a few. Enjoy.

“What you don't realize as a kid is that if yourparents are always going to be there for you, they aren't going to be somewhereelse doing exciting and glamorous things."

"There are things about myself I would neverreveal. You'd have to waterboard me -- or there would have to be alull in the conversation at a cocktail party."

"Never point a finger where you never lent ahand."

"When you speak, always tell the truth. Butdon't always speak."

"If you don't decide what your life is about, itdefaults to what you spend your days doing."

"Arriving at church for services, we leave ourtoddlers in the basement child care center and proceed upstairs -- as if Godwere likely to be upstairs."

“If you allow people to treat you like a doormat, theywill expect you to say WELCOME."

"I would love to go back and travel the road nottaken, if I knew at the end of it I'd find the same set of grandkids."

“You think you know someone, and then at theirmemorial service, a stranger comes in, sits for ten minutes alone, speaks to noone, and quietly leaves."

"You don't realize how little accuracy there isin network TV reporting until they cover a story in your hometown."

"You'll never have a more enjoyable Italian mealthan on the Saturday night after Thanksgiving."

"Often, what seems an impossible climb is just astaircase without the steps drawn in."

"My wife has noted two road habitsof mine -- a tendency to belittle the driving skills of truckers and a tendencyto follow an 18-wheeler in a dense fog."

And because I have thegreatest of respect for any man who publicly adores his wife, I will end withone of his most tender quotes.

A Thought for Joan Marie
"One day, in your search for happiness, you discover a partner by yourside, and you realize that your happiness has come to help you search."

Time to Clean the Wax from my Elderly Ears

2011-11-13T23:02:00.001-08:00

Weston and I were idly chatting as he was getting ready for bed. Then he asked me a question that gave me brain freeze.

"Why do people think that breeding is fun?"

Quick, Randi. Think of an answer that gives him the information he is seeking, without overwhelming him. You want him to feel free to ask such questions in the future, yet you don't want to embarrass him or make him feel uncomfortable. Start off with sparse information, then let him guide the conversation.

"Well it usually starts off with having a love for children. Children bring a lot of joy and happiness to people."

He scrunched up his freckled face and said, "Huh?"

"Well, it can be fun because people want to have children--"

"Mom, what did you think I asked you?"

"Um, why do people think that breeding is fun?"

"No, I said "Why do people think that reading is fun?"

Whew. That one's a lot easier to explain.

If you must say it, Say it on the Wall!

2011-11-11T18:50:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was on a site called While He Was Napping. While there, I entered a contest to win $20 worth of vinyl, for use on walls or signs or ceramic tiles or...whatever!

I have been in the homes of other people where I saw nifty quotes on the wall, and have always admired the look and the way it really personalizes a home. People use sayings from favorite authors, or from their wedding vows, or from a favorite song, you name it! Because the price of a vinyl printing machine is a little cost-prohibitive for me right now, I lusted from afar, and crossed my fingers when entering the contest.

Oh, did I tell you I won?

The contest sponsor was none other than:

I spent a couple of hours over the course of two nights, trying to decide how I wanted to use my gift certificate. I finally decided on these two:

I will adhere this one on either my front door or mailbox. Maybe both!

Of course the vinyl will be my own last name and established date. Since I lack any sort of creativity on my own, I will probably try to make a wooden sign similar to this with my vinyl.

They also allow you to customize any saying that means something to you, in a variety of sizes, fonts, and colors. I picked a personalized saying as well as the above two selections. I was very pleased with the speed with which they processed my order, even though I was a "freebie" customer. They also did a great job of verifying my customized order before sending it out.

Although I didn't select the samples below, they are some of my favorites:

Perfect for Thanksgiving!

I love this one--Shut the Door! (How many times a day do we say this?)

As you can see, the possibilities are only limited by your creativity (which I why I am so glad they provide lots of amazing photos!) Check out their site to see the many options, and to purchase vinyl for your own home or for Christmas projects with meaning. And if you end up spending hours browsing, like I did, don't say I didn't warn you! *smile*

30 Days of Joy...............Day 30!

2011-11-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

Oh, if only I could do life the way I do my blog.

Thirty days would only happen when I blog about them. Time would move slower. Children would stay at that precious age where they still ask you to scratch their backs. I wouldn't watch the news and hear them say, "An elderly man was struck and killed by a Trax train today."

He was fifty-seven. In what world is fifty-seven elderly? In five years and one month I will be fifty-seven! Puh-lease.

Fifty-seven will only happen when I get around to blogging about it.

Kind of like my thirty days of joy. Come on, you didn't think that my thirty days of joy would actually last thirty days, did you?

So for the last day of joy, I bring you the cause of much happiness in my life today. Firefox 8. Yeah, baby.

A few weeks ago I downloaded Firefox 7. I supposed at the time, that it would come with all kinds of slick new features. Features like being able to use it to browse the internet, check my email, oh and maybe even BLOG. Nope. Firefox 7 came with a very annoying new feature. It is called "Not Responding."

You know how when your kids are little they think that if they hide their faces, you can't see them? Or when you try to get them to do something they stick their fingers in their ears and say, "Not listening." Firefox 7 was kind of like that.

If I tried to read an email, it would say, "Oh, did you select that email? Ha ha! Not listening!" Or when I would visit the blogs of some of my very favorite bloggy friends, it would freeze all activity on my computer and say, "What did you want me to do? Work? Sorry...lah dee dah...I'm in my hammock right now."

When I tried to post something new I would get the "Not Responding" out-of-office memo. I didn't much like Firefox 7.

So today when I got a message asking me if I wanted to update to Firefox 8 to fix "stability issues," I wasted no time weighing out the pros and cons. There were no cons. It was easy.

Nevertheless, I did have some joy all those days I couldn't post about it.

Computer Geek had a birthday.
They cancelled school this week due to a chicken pox outbreak.
There's tomato juice in the fridge.
I won a $20 gift certificate to Say it on the Wall. (Uber cool vinyl site--I'll post pics when I get my product.)
Weston came out of his room dressed for bed wearing red shorts and socks.
Gal pal Ekanela tucked a little candy corn surprise in my door.

Yeah, life is good when you're elderly.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 29

2011-10-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

You know it's a joyous day in the Quang household when the lady of the house gets something F*R*E*E in the mail!

I was notified by Carol at Songberries a couple of weeks ago that I had won a book in an online contest. It arrived today!

Yup. You read it correctly.
THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO VEGETABLE GARDENING! I promise you, there was no more worthy contestant than I. This book knows me. When it was dreaming of possible new owners, my name immediately jjjjjjjjjjj [ <---- see that> That's where I feel asleep mid-sentence. No lie. I think I'll leave it just like that.]

Visit Songberries, sign up for their fun giveaways, and let me know if you get some free joy in the mail too!

30 Days of Joy...............Day 28

2011-10-25T00:23:00.000-07:00

Today I heard one of the most joyous sounds known to man--

--the thumping washing-machine sound of a nine-week-old heart beating.

I was fortunate to be invited to daughter Em's ultrasound.

Only nine weeks and a tiny heart has already started the journey that will cause it to beat for the next seventy or eighty years, second-by-second, without fail.

Through the miracle of the ultrasound screen, I witnessed the rapid thump in the baby's chest, blinking like a lighthouse beam, and drawing our eyes toward the miracle that we call life.

Only the size of a grape, and already I love it.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 27

2011-10-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

The Queen of Quang waited a whole week to upload another joy post for which of the following reasons:

A. She has been spending her time dipping her toes into the pristine aquamarine waters off the dock in front of a rental bungalow in Bora Bora.

B. She was busy preparing for her favorite holiday of the year, Halloween, and was hoping to spread the joy posts out so that the last day coincides with October 31.

C. She has been swamped with dehydrating, freezing, and canning tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, apples, peppers, salsa, and squash. Did I mention apples? Oh yeah, and apples. And more carrots.

Which one did you pick?

A. Nope. It will take me a couple of decades of devoted couponing to accomplish this feat.
B. Another nope. I hate Halloween! More on this controversial subject in another post.
C. Aw, you peeked at my gray hair and fruit-stained fingernails, didn't you? Or did you hear me utter these words a few days ago, "I can't wait for winter."

Seriously, although preserving food is a colossal pain in the patootie, I am grateful that we have been blessed with an abundance. And even though I have to spend my days being someone I am not, i.e. a domestic diva, I am confident that this coming winter, having food to eat will make all the stress (oh, trust me, canning food is stressful) worth it.

Let's bring on the joy! Today's joy is brought to you by...

The color yellow!

The last time I recall wearing yellow, I was in college and had bought a bright yellow ski jacket. Not that I've ever skied. (Shhh...don't tell Utah, home of the greatest snow on earth, that I said that.) Since then, I have never purposely bought any yellow clothes.

That doesn't stop yellow from being the most joyous color ever! (Shh..don't tell purple--it thinks that because it's my favorite color, I can't say anything nice about any other color.)

My yellow back yard

Someone's random yellow tree

Em's happy yellowness

Purty

Happy yellow grandson with a toddler-proof indoor basketball

Lemons are such a happy fruit, despite their ability to make us pucker

Skittles!

The nice thing about yellow pens, is that they never run out--

what can you really use them for besides highlighting?

Teenage joy--the trampoline

Sign joy---for William

I meant to take a picture of that yellow boy joy toy known as TONKA,

but some yellow-haired two-year-old distracted me.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 26

2011-10-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

It wasn't hard to find joy today.

Adopted grandson, Dash, turned 14 today. He's one heck of a nice kid.

I had to stop and take a picture of this bush.

It was having a "Celebrate Autumn" party so I captured the festivities.

My lovely daughter, Em, told me I can FINALLY let people

know that the Chunkster is no longer her youngest child.

It was getting exhausting keeping the secret.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 25

2011-10-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

My bloggy friend, Naqvee, made me laugh today with her blog post about her addiction to Google. After I finishing LOL-ing, I read her post out loud to my husband and we laughed together. What did we find so amusing? The fact that we could see ourselves in it. We too, are Google addicts, who must find the search bar whenever a new question pops into our minds.

What year did Leave it to Beaver start?
How much older was Wally than the Beave?
How far apart did Mother Teresa and Princess Diana die?
Is all nubuck non-vegan?
How can I make a tin-foil dinner?
Are there any coupons for raw sugar?
What are the ingredients in Bac~Os?
Can I find some recipes for a good cream of potato soup?
How do you can tomatoes in a water bath canner?

These are some of the questions that we Googled today. If you find Google to be a staple of your computer life, check out Naqvee's post.

Another thing that brings me joy is Kid History. The Roberts brothers of Utah, have told their children many of the family stories from their own childhoods. As with many families, the stories get told over and over until they become family legends. The brothers decided to let their children re-tell these family legends on camera. It becomes hilarious as the grown brothers reenact the stories from their childhood, but use the voices of their children. Give Kid History #1 a view. Follow-up with Kid History 2-6.

My son and his friends have become masters at quoting the dialogue from the Kid History. Some of the snippets that I hear almost daily are:

"What else is about it?"

"I'm gonna punch your car!"

"Fact."

"You guys are gonna get kicked in the head."

"I yike yewow gwapes...and gween gwapes."

It's getting late so I'm going to ninja vanish. Check out Kid History #5 to see what I mean.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 24

2011-10-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

Joys

Boys

Toys

30 Days of Joy...............Day 23

2011-10-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Major joy happens when...

You get out of school early to go on a field trip!

This trip was supposed to happen last week but was pre-empted by a sadistic snow storm. Today, a group of students and parents headed up to the world-famous Maple Canyon.

You may think I jest, because you know my sarcastic sense of humor by now, and you know how I love to make fun of the armpit in which I live. But I tell you this---Maple Canyon is indeed world-famous. Die-hard rock climbers from the world over will attest that it is a rock-climbing nirvana. Once I was in the grocery store in our little town of 3,000 or so souls, and heard the cashier chatting with some customers who sported classic German accents. The cashier asked them where they were from, to which they answered, predictably, "Germany."

When asked what brought them all the way from Germany, one of the group answered, "We came to go rock-climbing in Maple Canyon."

The school has a yearly trip to the canyon, during which the hardiest of students demonstrate their prowess by scaling a massive boulder strategically placed right in the middle of the path. The weakest among us, namely me and maybe one or two other people, say "To here I will go, but no farther."

Once the boulder is conquered, the party hikes on and is rewarded with a waterfall at the end of the path. I have never seen this waterfall, since I sit and wait by the obstacle in the road for everyone to come back down. There were many witnesses to the spectacle of my son climbing up the waterfall. Daughter Em claims it is well that I not make it past the boulder lest I have a heart attack watching Weston's gymnastics. She promises to send me a picture of the event. I am assured that after I see his monkey tricks I will never let him go to Maple Canyon again.

I was disappointed because my camera was having trouble adjusting to the light/dark contrast, so many of the pictures are hazy. Nevertheless, spending time surrounded by the beauty of God's world, never fails to bring me to a spiritual place of unspeakable joy.

Avatar snacking on some melon.

Weston, showing everyone how he can balance on his palms. Tricksy, eh?

Yeah, so someone's clothes apparently fell off and were hanging on the side of the canyon wall. Or maybe they're all that's left of some unfortunate climber.

How can you not have joy with a smiley face like that?

The path to the cave is steeper than it looks. The ascent proves your manhood, even if you are a woman.

Give a one-year-old a rock to hold and where does it go?

See the large boulder in the middle of the path? That is NOT the large boulder in the middle of the path referenced above. This one is simply a minor annoyance. You must either go under it or over it to keep going. I went under it going in, then over it going out. This is the "small" boulder and it is probably about twenty feet high. It is easier to go under, but very claustrophobic.

These walls sport dozens of carabiners left by previous hikers. Although hard to see, there is a silver one hanging directly above the "navel" in the rock and slightly to the right. There are more higher up to the left of the navel. The canyon is full of apparent dead-ends, until you get right to the "end" and see the path continues between the walls.

Chiaroscuro.

I really wanted to adopt this purple rock and give it a new home in my backyard, but this particular section of Maple Canyon is privately owned and taking it would be stealing.

Weston and one of his best buddies. Yeah. A best buddy who is beautiful, blond, shapely, and female. Should I be worried?

Entrance to the canyon. As you can see, it's not for the weak of sole.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 22

2011-10-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

My heart was touched with joy today for many reasons.

Weston complained that he thought his uvula was bleeding (it wasn't) and went on to ask me, "What is the purpose of a uvula, anyway?" I thought it was great that he knows what a uvula is. A lot of people don't.

Chunk, who calls both Computer Geek and me "Grandpa," finally learned how to say "Grandma." He was excited today because he saw our car and started yelling, "Grandma!" Alas, it was Grandpa this time. Maybe all grandparents should go by the unisex name, "Grandpire," so there's no confusion for two-year-olds.

Someone complimented my friend, Ekanela. I love it when people compliment her because she is way cool.

A whole bunch of green tomatoes that I picked last week during our snowstorm have now turned red. My salivary glands are activated.

And finally, one of my joyous moments is accompanied by a photograph.(You didn't really want photos of Weston's uvula or my salivary glands, did you?)

I was called upon to escort Avatar and Pinque to their horse-riding class. I'm glad that they are learning to ride and groom horses. At least they won't be fauna-phobes like their grandma.

(Pinque in orange shirt and Avatar in red)

No, that's all right, I don't want to touch it. I'll just stand back over here and take pictures, mkay? Animals sense my fear and will do anything to prove that it's justified.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 21

2011-10-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

Hello...it's me...the joy slacker. I will blame it on the fact that I have been busy harvesting garden items. Since I am a city girl at heart, and have no experience with preserving food, being a farmer (of my yard) has taken its toll. I get far too little sleep and have actually been heard to say, "I can't wait until winter!" My dehydrator is running non-stop, I have canned a few (very few) items, and my freezer is so full that getting an ice cube becomes a project worthy of extensive plotting on an Excel spreadsheet.

Late though it is, I couldn't let this day go by (remember my rule, that it's still technically the same day as long as I haven't gone to bed yet) without mentioning an especially joyous moment from earlier today.

Remember the special mom I told you about in my first joy post? She and her husband and kids dropped by tonight to express their condolences over the loss of Computer Geek's mother. Stopping by to express their concern was such a beautifully sweet act, but they also came bearing gifts and cards. Each child crafted his or her own sentiment on a hand-made card; they were words of heart-felt sympathy. What valuable gifts this mom and dad have given their children--the gifts of being able to feel the pain of another human being, and of being able to act on that sympathy with deeds of compassion.

These are no empty acts, either. The kids truly have love and concern in their young hearts. They radiate joy and happiness. I am honored to know this family, and thank them for the joy they have brought to my life, not only on this occasion, but on so many others, as well.

I was kicking myself tonight because I went to the store and forgot to buy tomato juice. No worries. My pals have got my back! The apple bread (from apples right off their tree!) no longer looks like this. There's a big chunk missing--oh, for yumminess!

Thank you for the gifts, the cards, the lovely acts of compassion, but most of all, for your friendship.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 20

2011-10-07T23:58:00.000-07:00

Gather closely, for today I am going to tell you about one of the things that brings me joy nearly each and every day. When I wake up in the morning, I must have this. When I am blogging late at night, I crave this. When I don't have it, I get cranky. When my husband gives me more of this, he gets a hug.

Are you ready?

Here it is...

Isn't it beautiful? I could weep...

It's my coffee, my oxygen, my chocolate. Oh, wait---chocolate is my chocolate. Let me think of something else that other people are addicted to...thinking...thinking... Okay, it's my Grey's Anatomy. While you're watching Dr. Dreamy, I'm sipping the poor man's Cabernet Sauvignon (some other "red" drink.)

It used to be $1.18 at Walmart, so I would buy five or so cans at a time. Then, Mr. Walmart Manager realized that the tomato juice shelves are emptied almost as quickly as they are stocked, so he said to himself, "Hey, I studied the law of supply and demand in college. I think we could charge way more than $1.18 for this stuff. People are buying it like crazy!" So the very next week he upped the price to $1.62.

(Don't believe the news anchors when they tell you that food prices are spiraling out of control at 4%. It's a big fat lie to make you say to yourself, "Oh, 4% isn't that much." I took math in college, Mr. Walmart Manager so I know that a 44 cent increase in price in one week is more like a 40% increase in food prices. I think. I'm right, aren't I?)

Because I also took marketing in college, I know that at $1.18 my brain says, "This can of t.j. is like a dollar. I can get five." But, when the t.j. is $1.62 my brain says, "Holy Schnikey; this can of juice is almost two bucks! That makes it more expensive than Dr. Pepper. I'd better get only two cans."

I've tried to cut back on my tomato juice consumption, but then I get sad. I don't like being sad, so I buy my two cans, then later in the week go back for more. In fact, I bought two cans today while shopping, one of which is chilling as I type. It's my reward after I finish this post. Off I go, for a little tomato intoxication.

[ Obligatory government-enforced disclaimer: Even though my blood runs thick with Campbell's tomato juice, the Campbell's company did not pay me to gush on and on and on about their product. I like it even without getting paid to like it. In fact, I get pretty irritated with them because they NEVER EVER have coupons for said product, so I always pay full price, which you know grates on me to no end. (What about generic tomato juice? Wouldn't that be lots cheaper? Don't even go there.) However, if you click on the Amazon link below and actually buy some tomato juice, then I am forced to tell you that I would get paid a small, small, small cash bonus, that would only go toward supporting my habit.You wanna be responsible for feeding the junkie, go right ahead.]

30 Days of Joy...............Day 19

2011-10-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

I'm going to say this through clenched teeth--grrr--the fact that it snowed all day indirectly brought me some joy.

There. I said it, and without too much joy credit being given to the global warming that caused our field trip to be cancelled today.

The nice thing about it SNOWING ALL DAY was that it gave me an excuse to invite my firstborn grandchild over to see if Weston had any outgrown snow pants that he could pass on.

Just think what he'll look like when it really gets cold.

I wish I had saved some of that hot chocolate now that it's midnight and my house is freezing.

The snow caused me to have to go rip up my garden so I got to

deal with veggies that come in my favorite color!

If you need an excuse to be reminded of all the joyous things for which you should be grateful, go rent the movie, "17 Miracles." It's about pioneers who walked to Utah and the many miraculous events that took place amidst the suffering.

If you have a cardiac muscle beating in your chest, then you will cry. It made me remember that as chilly as my house feels right now because of the unwelcome snow, it could be lots worse.

Off I go to huddle under some warm blankets, praying for those who are outside in this cold weather tonight.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 18

2011-10-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I skipped a few days of joy.

I will justify my slackerliness with a worthy excuse. Computer Geek's sweet mother died on Monday and we haven't been feeling the joy. Now that we are over the initial shock, I can realize that there is joy to be found in the midst of sorrow. I'll let the photos of the past few days do most of the speaking for me.

Our first ever piece of corn from our garden. Not quite Iowa corn, but we were proud nonetheless.

I'll call this one "Clouds."

Oh, the studliness of using two racquets when playing racquetball.

Got chocolate soy milk?

Joy is having a nice husband.

Helicopters! If you were ever a child, you know what I mean.

Grandchild, who wears my daughter's face. Apple, hand-picked from our tree by the two-year-old. Play pan. Backyard swing. Crisp fall afternoon. A brief respite from the agony of death.

1 thirteen-year-old + any machine with a motor = happiness

Now that's one po-ta-to. Boil it, mash it, stick it in a stew. Name that movie quote.

National Down Syndrome Awareness Month

2011-10-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today we welcome the insights of author Madonna Dries Christensen. Royalties from several of her books go to the Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia.

No-Barriers Friendship
Madonna Dries Christensen

Photo Credit: Suzanne Garwood

You meet people who forget you.

You forget people you meet.

You meet people you can't forget.

Those are your friends.

At the age of twenty-eight months, my granddaughter Sarah, laden with a pink backpack almost as big as she was, eagerly boarded the school bus to begin the early intervention program for children with developmental delays. She was in the class for two-year-olds, which merged for activities with three-to-five-year-olds. There, Sarah met Connor. They were immediately drawn to one another.

Both children have Down syndrome. They now attend different public schools, integrated into regular classrooms; Sarah in Second Grade and Connor in Third. They each have many friends; typical children as well as those in their Special Ed classes. But for the most part, it’s Sarah and Connor—Connor and Sarah.

When together, they walk hand-in-hand. If they have a chance encounter, they both gasp with surprise and fall into a hug. Aim a camera at them and they smile and cuddle. If they haven’t seen each other for a while, they beg their mothers to schedule a play date. When parting, they cry and hug and wave goodbye until the other is out of sight.

Mention Down syndrome in conversation and chances are someone will comment that people with DS are very loving. This is well-intentioned, perhaps compensation for not knowing what else to say. Many people with DS do indeed demonstrate a loving attitude and are extremely sociable, but they also experience the same wide range of emotions as anyone else. They are not always happy and they do not have identical personalities.

Sarah has an easy smile and an infectious charm. She’s the unofficial goodwill ambassador at school; students and teachers greet her when she walks down the hall. Both she and Connor are polite and sweet to everyone, but neither is as affectionate to other playmates as they are to one another. Theirs is a special friendship and love.

Sarah refers to Connor as, “My boy.” And he recently declared to her, “I love you. You’re a doll. Now, you love me!”

No one who knows this pair will be surprised if they one day announce their engagement. Short of that, they are soul mates. Best friends forever.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 17

2011-10-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, one of my dreams became a reality--I didn't have to go to work anymore.

Now by "work" I mean I didn't have to go manage someone else's business for sixty hours a week. Instead, I got to play by teaching kids for only thirty hours a week. ( "They" are right--when you are doing something you love, it counts as play, not as work.) Thirty extra hours per week at home meant I now had time to do things I had neglected over the years. Things like learning to...um...cook.

It's been a rough process for me. I don't like to cook. I don't like to clean up after cooking. I sometimes don't even like to eat because it means I have to stop what I am doing and, you know...put food in my mouth... and chew...then swallow. Ugh. What a waste of time!

When our household was hit by the unemployment bug, I had to step up my cooking learning curve. Since finances were tight, cooking no longer meant I could just buy some frozen thing and cook it till it unfroze. No, I now had to put things together myself from...like...recipes and stuff. Do you have any idea how time-consuming it is to cook from a recipe? Grrr....

Then last year we decided to go vegan. Yeah, way to go. Add some more time to the cooking process while I try to figure out how to make things without things, yet make those things taste like they really had the things.

Then I found Joy.

No, not the kind of joy that gives me an excuse to write something for my 30 Days of Joy posts, but Joy as in Joy The Baker.

Joy is so funny and creative that she makes me think that things like chewing, swallowing, and even cooking, can be fun. Her food photos are gorgeous and her vegan pumpkin bread is to die for. (It was her recipe that I used when I made my pumpkin bread in this post.)

Give Joy a visit!

30 Days of Joy...............Day 16

2011-10-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

Gnome and her daughter Hoolie stopped by for a bit today. As the adults sat on the couch and yakked, Hoolie went outside. While we chatted, we noticed the sky growing darker and the breeze turning a little cooler.

We decided to go out and join Hoolie and discovered that it was a perfect fall day. The sky was steel gray in the distance, yet the sun warmed us against the chill in the air. Leaves gently descended around us as their crackling sound let us know that there would not be too many summer-like days left. Hoolie raked up a pile of leaves and then did what all kids do with a pile of leaves--she dove right in.

She overheard us mentioning how she has always been a great "poser" so she proved us right.

Belly-flop!

Leaves the color of her golden hair

30 Days of Joy...............Day 15

2011-09-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Joys r'us!

1. Our plum tree was laden with hundreds of plums this year. We picked as many as we could on the lower branches, but there were so many that were out of our reach, even with the help of an 8 foot ladder.

Luckily for us, a friend let us borrow a fruit picker, so today Computer Geek and I went out with the picker, the ladder and some tarps to catch the strays that fell to the ground. Soon, the plums from our tree are going to transform into something good. Something really good. I don't know what yet. Maybe some fruit leather if I can keep Weston from eating it all in one sitting again.

What will it be? Fruit leather? Plum jam? Little Jack Horner's pie?

2. Harvest time is here, and because I find freezing much easier to understand than canning, my freezer is full of plum puree, tomatoes, corn, green (and purple!) beans, salsa, carrots, bananas, soup stock and pumpkin.

Since the pumpkin is from last year's garden, I thawed one bag of it to make room for something new in the freezer. Here's what I did with that thawed pumpkin tonight:

Pumpkin almond bread. I love making food from free stuff in my yard!

3. Blog friend, Robert Brault, master behind the quote at the top of my page, has a new 2012 calendar available for purchase. If you would love to have a Robert Brault calendar of your very own, please order right here. I am overjoyed that Robert's work is being appreciated by so many. He is a master humorist and philosopher. You can see more of his work right here. I ordered mine today.

4. Sleepovers! Weston has a friend spending the night tonight. I love when his friends feel comfortable in our home. His friends are funny, polite, responsible, and always hungry. I'm sure the pumpkin bread will not last long.

Sweet dreams, young men. Turn off the computer, and if you wake me up even once, you're toast. Toast with some sort of plum sauce on it.

What brought you joy today?

30 Days of Joy...............Day 14

2011-09-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

Miracles. Can't explain 'em. Just feel the joy and move on.

1. Weston and I made a grocery store trip today. Ramen noodles were on sale for $2.40 a case. We love the Oriental flavor in the blue package, so we picked up a case. Before I left the store, I thought of a certain family whose children love Ramen, so I picked up a second case to take to them.

After we finished shopping, Weston and I dropped by their house to give them the Ramen. As I got the case out of the trunk, I told Weston to wait a moment. I thought that maybe the family needed some toilet paper too, so I broke open our case of 36 to give them 12 rolls. Bizarre thought, I know. Ramen and toilet paper. Would they think we were nuts?

We knocked on their door, gave them the items, the mother thanked us, and we left. A little bit later, the mother called me on the phone. "Did I tell you I needed toilet paper?" She hadn't. "Are you sure I never told you I needed toilet paper?" Nope. She then told me how she had been praying for toilet paper for the last two days. She had gone shopping on Tuesday, but had failed to budget for t.p. She had no money left and knew she would be out of toilet paper by Friday. Having no other recourse, she resorted to prayer.

2. Later ...I had a meeting I had to attend tonight. I felt that I should stop by the above family's house to see if they needed a ride too. I wondered if they would think I was dumb to drop by and ask if anyone needed a lift. Nevertheless, I pulled up in front of their house and knocked on the door.

"I just stopped by to see if you needed a ride to the meeting." The mother responded that her husband was just ready to go out the door to walk to the meeting. He would love to have a ride so he wouldn't be late.

Moral of the story: Never ignore a prompting to do something nice for someone, no matter how odd you think it is. You just might be the answer to someone's prayer.

30 days of Joy...............Day 13

2011-09-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Friends.
They make me upturn my face and do the dance of joy in the sun.

I had a need recently, that was going unfulfilled because of lack of needed fundage.

Friend #1 notices the need and sends out an email to a slew of other friends, asking for donations. Friends #2 and #3 stop by my house today to kidnap me and take me shopping with the collected cash. They drive me 70 miles north and for several hours help me pick out the needed item, plus some bonus items, thanks to the slew of friends who supported this little adventure.

I feel loved.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 12

2011-09-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you what is not joy--staying up too late finishing a lesson for class tomorrow, then checking in on Facebook to discover that an old friend of mine is friends with my cousin who I had misplaced over the years, then staying up even later looking at all of my cousin's cancer survival photos. I hadn't even known that she had cancer, so seeing photos of her minus her beautiful locks was a shock. Here's what sucked all the joy right out of my lungs at 12:45 A.M.-- I looked at a beautiful photo of her that she titled: "I needed an obituary photo in case I died."

Yeah, so I was feeling pretty lackluster and thought it was time to head to bed, but remembered that I hadn't done my joy post for the day. Since I haven't gone to bed yet, my day is not technically over, so I am taking license to still do my joy post for today. Even though it's now tomorrow.

Looking back over the events of today, once again I am reminded of how seemingly trivial life events are capable of bringing us the most joy, if we remember to look. I needed that reminder after becoming aware of my cousin's cancer scare.

Joy #1
My new teenager decided--on his own--to clean his room. He opted to make space by giving away one of his prized possessions--his aircraft carrier. The lucky recipient was his nephew, Avatar.

Joy #2
Em came over today to borrow some vinegar, and little Chunk came along for the ride. He walked over to my fridge and got out the jam and bread. Then he said, "I get the peanut butter," and opened my cupboard door and handed me the jar. I obeyed, and made a PBJ for him. When it was time for Em to leave, he blew her a kiss, indicating that he was staying with Grandma. Ah, the independence of a two-year old. He and Weston played ball.

Joy #3
When I decided that it was time for Chunk to go back to Mommy, I took him home. The trees at Em's house were exhibiting a hint of autumn so I had to grab my camera (it's obvious that it goes everywhere with me, right?) and attempt to capture the moment.

Joy #4
Boyz II Men.
No, not the singing group, although I love them, too.
I'm talking about the joy of seeing a young boy pick up an axe and chop some wood. It's that joyous moment when you realize that your son, and all his friends, have crossed the bridge from being little boys to being young men. They saw a neighbor in need, showed up at her house, and started splitting (using a manly wood-cleaving apparatus--ar,ar) and chopping the logs that were sitting in her driveway. A job that would have taken her family weeks to finish, took only two evenings with the help of these boys.

I'm going to bed now. It's 1:40 A.M. and 6:30 will come far too quickly.

But now I'm hungry...

30 Days of Joy...............Day 11

2011-09-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Imagine that you're sitting in a food court, or waiting for a train, or shopping in a mall, when all of a sudden, seemingly random people break out in song and dance. This scenario happens around the planet, bringing joy to the participants, the observers, and to people like you and I, who will watch it later on the internet. It's called a flash mob.

Today my joy was courtesy of a flash mob in Copenhagen. Share the joy to strains of Bolero!

30 Days of Joy...............Day 10

2011-09-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Today's most joyous moment was when...

My son came home!

Weston left early Friday morning to go on a field trip to Little Sahara, an ATV paradise in the sand dunes of Utah. A friend of ours was going to release a weather balloon, so a crew of youth and some of their families went along to witness the event. They stayed over night, so Weston did not get back home until Saturday afternoon.

He had scarcely arrived home, dead tired and dusty, when his father asked if he wanted to head south for the weekend. Never one to turn down an adventure, Weston said yes. They went to Cedar Breaks, a national monument in southern Utah, and got home Sunday night--90 minutes ago. I just went in to tell him goodnight, but he was already zonked.

Weston scored a new magnet for our fridge!

Last year, Weston visited Cedar Breaks with Computer Geek and me. Here are a couple of pictures from that visit.

As much as I like to make fun of Utah for being a desolate wasteland, it does have its own unique beauty that must be seen to be appreciated.

It was quiet without Weston. I think I'll keep him thirteen forever so I won't have to deal with the silence of eighteen.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 9

2011-09-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Narrowing today's joy topic was tough. I tried to choose between three selections, and finally thought, Why do I have to pick only one? Is there ever too much joy? Nay, there is not. [I reserve the right to avoid holding myself to the same standard for future posts. Knowing myself as well as I do, I know that before you know it, I will have ten, twenty, thirty ways that I experienced joy that day, and what would be joyous about that?]

Joy #1

Learning new tricks!

A friend surprised me with about sixty ears of corn from his garden. Although I am from Iowa, there is no way I could eat that much corn before it spoiled so I blanched it preparatory to freezing it. The internet told me that if you stick the ear of corn in a bundt pan, the process of slicing the corn from the cob goes much more smoothly. How slick is that?

Joy #2

Surprise Guests!

Weston was off on an "It's Free Day at the National Parks" adventure with BioDad, and Computer Geek was getting ready to go out of town with his son, Neo. I was facing a quiet evening at home, all alone. With sixty ears of corn. Luckily, when Neo came to pick up Computer Geek, he brought along his sweet little niece. Little Hoolie was thrilled to help me eat some corn, so we made a candlelight dinner out of it.

Joy #3

That moment when your speed of pouring the pop is exactly the same as the speed with which the bubbles dissipate, so it seems like you are endlessly pouring.

It only lasts a few seconds, but it's mind-bending while it's happening.

Okay, so I get amused easily.

Where did you find joy today?

30 Days of Joy...............Day 8

2011-09-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

Today I found joy in...

Discovering that green beans come in purple!

A friend of mine dropped by tonight with surplus green/purple beans from her garden. I spent the evening snapping the ends off, blanching, and storing them in freezer bags.

Earlier, I went into my own garden and discovered about fifteen cucumbers waiting to be picked. I spent the afternoon making dill pickles. I am becoming so domesticated that it's frightening.

I am grateful to my daughter, who teaches me housewiferly tricks like this.

Wasn't that supposed to be my job?

30 Days of Joy...............Day 7

2011-09-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

The Joy du Jour is...

A birdhouse.

Half-Pint is a young girl whom I have taught for four years, now going on five. She's a flibbertigibbet, a butterfly, a "how-do-you-solve-a problem-like-Maria" type of girl. In looks, she's a tiny blonde Laura from the Little House on the Prairie show, hence the nickname.

When I first started teaching Half-Pint, my weaknesses as a teacher were brought to the forefront. She rarely appeared to be listening when I taught. She frequently had her hands in her desk, fiddling with something--usually paper. At the end of the day, there were colorful pieces of hand-torn confetti littering her workspace and the floor. Give her a piece of paper and it was sure to be torn in little pieces by the end of the day. I was at a loss as to how to get her to "pay attention."

That was fourth grade. She is now entering eighth grade and thank goodness, I have learned a few things as a teacher. Most of my lessons were those taught to me by Half-Pint.

* I have learned that just because hands are in motion, that doesn't mean the child is not paying attention. I learned that when I would ask Half-Pint to repeat back to me the concept I had just taught, she could regurgitate it, almost verbatim, even though her hands were busy creating an elaborate piece of origami.

* I have learned that even though I am not one of them, some people learn better when they are in motion. Half-Pint taught me that if I want superior performance, I had better make sure she has something to create while I am teaching.

* She taught me that grades really have nothing to do with intelligence. Her report cards have never been stellar, but it's not because she's inferior. It's because she has learned at a young age, what matters to her in life. Why spend time studying for a test, while her true loves (reading and creating with paper) stand idly by? She already knows what many life coaches tell their clients--forsake what doesn't matter and do what you love to do.

* She taught me that struggling students struggle not always because they are poor students, but sometimes because we are poor teachers. Half-Pint failed spelling test after spelling test. It wasn't until she was at the board one day and spelled an extremely difficult spelling word correctly, that I finally saw the light. When I praised her for spelling that difficult word, she replied, "Oh that one was easy." I asked, "Why was the difficult word easy for you and the shorter words were more difficult?" Her answer stunned me. "Because the longer word had more music in it." She explained that when she tries to remember her spelling words, if the letters make a rhythm, the word is easier for her to remember. We all know how to spell Mississippi, right? It's the same concept--it's all about the music.

Over the years, Half-Pint has presented me with origami animals, elaborate cards held shut by intricately folded flowers, and envelopes and paper boxes crafted by her nimble fingers and filled with minute paper shapes that she painstakingly cut.

Today, she surprised me once again. After class, she gave me a birdhouse that she assembled and painted. After I oohed and aahed over the gift and gave her a hug, she showed me something that I had missed. Inside the house was a bedroom scene that she had created, complete with paper bed, table and mirror on the wall. To think that she spent all that time creating something beautiful for me, was a source of joy today. She's been my teacher as much as I have been hers.

The bedroom scene. I know this is hard to see, but it was difficult to try to
stick my camera lens through the bird hole.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 6

2011-09-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today's joy is courtesy of...

The things people say.

I love it when people say things that make me laugh, or that are said in a unique way that makes me think.

* After lunch today, Weston surprised me by saying something that children rarely say:
"May I please have some broccoli?" My gasp was audible. Nevertheless, this made his day:

It's pretty and all, but it's broccoli

* Grandson Avatar, asked his mom, my daughter Em, if he could make dinner. Em told him that he could help her make the dinner she was already making. He wasn't too happy with that, because he had his own recipe floating around in his head and wanted to use different ingredients. Undaunted by her refusal, he asked if he could take his own ingredients for a soup recipe outside and mix them in the wheelbarrow. When my daughter wisely said no, he replied, "You never let me practice my skills!"

* Tonight I was explaining to Computer Geek what an awesome deal we scored tonight at Walmart. We had a $5-off coupon for Schick Hydro razors which were normally $5.97. Then we had a $6-off coupon if we bought two packages of Schick disposable razors. Since the disposables were $1.97 each, for a total of $3.94, the deal was what is known in the coupon world as a "money-maker." In other words, they paid us $2.06 to take those razors out of the store. Added to the $.97 we had to pay for the Hydros, we made a net profit of $1.09. Computer Geek replied, "It's just like eating celery." Never thought of it that way.

Oh the things people say now....every night and every day now....sing it with me....

30 Days of Joy...............Day 5

2011-09-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today's joy is brought to you by...

My dinner!

I had the best dinner tonight. When I looked at my plate before I applied the fork, I thought to myself, "Oh. My. Sweet. Tasty. Goodness." Observe, and be jealous. Be very jealous.

Nirvana

30 Days of Joy...............Day 4

2011-09-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

I got my joy today from...

Grandchildren!

You knew that was coming sooner or later, right?

I was invited to a photo shoot today involving my adopted grandchildren (If you know these kids for reals, mum's the word because it's a b-day surprise for their mom.) They were real troupers while they were being posed in a variety of shots, especially little Pixie, who even begrudged us a smile now and then.

Dash, Pinque, River, and Pixie

Nobody loves Pixie. Whatever.

My handsome Avatar

The Chunk. I have to watch it because whenever I go to his house lately he tags along when I leave. He follows me out the door, saying to his mom, "Going Grandpa's house." (Computer Geek and I are equally "Grandpa.") Then he walks to the car with me, assuming he's coming along. He's so cute that we never have the heart to tell him to stay home. So he came over tonight and...

...helped harvest vegetables! We finally have him trained to stop picking the green tomatoes. Now we just have to work on getting him to pick the pepper only, and not the entire plant.

When Chunk and I arrived at my house, granddaughter Hoolie was there, visiting Computer Geek. She said to me tonight, "Although Weston is ancient in years, did you know that in eight years, I am going to be sixteen?" If my thirteen-year-old Weston is ancient in years, what does that make me?

A mom and grandma who is filled with joy, that's what.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 3

2011-09-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

I experienced joy today because of:

Beach balls!

Each Sunday, I am blessed to be in the presence of some amazing children. Our Sunday school is in possession of two joy-inducing beach balls. One asks questions pertaining to that week's lesson, and the other is more of a getting-to-know-you tool. Today we used the latter.

The rules are simple. Throw the beach ball to your classmate and he or she will answer the question that falls under the right thumb as the ball is caught. Kids and teachers alike were laughing giddily as kids answered questions such as "What was your favorite video or DVD when you were younger?" or "Describe how your mom or dad drives," or "Share your definition of 'billybubbin.'"

Something so simple. We all need a few more beach balls in our lives.

30 Days of Joy...............Day 2

2011-09-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Joy is seeing our granddaughter play with the same toy that I played with forty years ago.

It's still around and it's still amusing.

And Happy Birthday M Joy C!

30 Days of Joy...............Day 1

2011-09-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

Do you have a friend who exudes joy? I do.

This mom of three makes joy a part of her daily life. Her small children consider themselves blessed to have her as a mom, because she turns even the smallest of events into a joyous occasion.

Recently, she decided to challenge herself further after reading this article. She decided to be more fully conscious of negativity in her life and replace it with joy. For 100 days, she will try to see the positive in any negative experience, with the hope that by the end of the 100 days, joy will be a habit in her family. With her encouragement, I read the article myself and decided that for the next 30 days, I would seek out the joy in my life too.

Every day, for the next thirty days, I will post a picture of something that brought me joy that day.

Today, that thing was apples. I am fortunate to have an apple tree in my back yard. Earlier this week some grandkids came over to help pick the ripening fruit. Today, Computer Geek and I peeled and cored them, and I later turned them into two pans of delicious apple crisp. One pan, I took over to daughter Em's house. The other will keep us in dessert for the next few days.

It was a cool, rainy, day today. The weather, combined with the smell of warm apples and cinnamon, signaled the beginning of fall joy.

A Coupon Success and a Coupon Failure

2011-09-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

[Okay, this is how OCD I am: Everywhere on the internet, an "oopsie" is branded as a "fail." A guy dumps a bucket of paint on his head, and it's labeled "Redecorating Fail." A husband gives his overweight wife a bathroom scale for her birthday and it's labeled, "Romance Fail." So, I titled this post, "A Coupon Success and a Coupon Fail," and I couldn't stop my hands from adding u-r-e to the end of the word. Major self-control fail.]

Last week I scored some freebies at Walmart. Rayovac graciously sent me two more $1-off coupons for their product. You know what this means, right? Free batteries! Walmart has Rayovac AAA and AA 4-packs for $.97, so with the dollar-off coupon, the batteries are F*R*E*E. Seriously, does anyone like paying for batteries? A necessary evil.

[ If you want to be an "I got my batteries for free" success, check out Rayovac's facebook page. Mandated government disclaimer--Rayovac has no idea that I recommended that people check out their facebook page. Therefore I was not given any compensation for saying that. But I can still say it if I want because I think it's pretty special that manufacturers give you coupons.]

Not only did I score some free batteries, I also walked away with two bottles of free lemonade and two bottles of free orange juice. Simply Orange had $1-off coupons online for their orange juice and their lemonade. Since you can print two of each, I ended up with four free bottles because Walmart had them for $1 each.

Coupon Success!

Now I must sadly relate my couponing fail-ure. Coke had online coupons for $1-off any two 20 oz. Coke products. I had two coupons so I grabbed a total of four bottles of 20 oz. Sprite, which meant that each bottle was 50 cents off, right? I think I was so hyped by the above free items, that I was blinded by coupon frenzy. I failed to notice that the 20 oz. Sprites were $1.48 each. With the coupon, each bottle became $.98. STUPID! Did you know you can buy a 2 liter bottle for $.98? Grrr...I was so mad at myself when I realized what I had done. I could have had four 2 liter bottles for the same price as my four 20 oz. bottles.

Learn from Mama Randi. Just because it's a coupon doesn't guarantee that it's a good deal. And I knew that too. Double grrr...

Disclaimer because the government thinks nobody says anything complimentary unless they get paid: Rayovac, Simply Orange, and Coke did not give me any money for mentioning them on my awesome blog. They did give me some coupons, like they will do for anyone with internet access and a printer, but the government knows that coupons are just paper because they are not backed by anything.)

9-11 Thoughts

2011-09-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Do you remember what you were doing on 9-11?

Like you, I’ve been asked that question countless times since that fateful day.

On September 11, 2001, I was lying in bed, trying to decide whether or not to hit the snooze button one more time. My clock alarm was set to play the local radio station when the alarm goes off, instead of an annoying buzz. As I struggled with consciousness, I became aware of a newscaster reporting that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.

My first thought was that a small plane with maybe one or two people on board had gotten lost and had swiped a wing against the building. A phone call from daughter Em changed my mind.

“Are you watching the news? A plane just hit the World Trade Center. Go turn it on right now.”

I got out of bed, turned on the TV and was shocked to find that another plane had just hit the second building and that this was no small “oopsie” by an inexperienced pilot. I felt sick to my stomach as I watched further events take place. The Pentagon. Pennsylvania. The towers telescoping downward.

Were we at war? Were incidents like this taking place all over the country? Unsure, I called my boss and asked him if he wanted me to open the cell phone store that day. He felt we should try to proceed as normally as possible for the sake of the customers.

While at work, I worried about an uncle and his family who lived in New York City. An email from his sister assured me that all were safe. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the world had changed in an instant.

We had three customers that day, instead of our normal sixty to eighty. A few popped in to look at our television to see if there were any new developments. The rest of the month was just as desolate. People did not want to sign a cell phone contract if they weren’t sure we would even have a country by the following month.

I felt as shocked by this as I imagine my parents were with the death of JFK. Suddenly no one felt safe. It could happen anywhere, to anyone.

My fifteen year old daughter said to me, “No one is paying any attention to me today!” I can understand her lament. What should have been a happy birthday for her, ended up being a day of sadness and grief. It was hard for anyone to celebrate on that day.

My first 9-11 experience happened twenty five years ago today. I labored all day and at 8:47 P.M. had a beautiful baby girl. One of the delivery nurses said, “Wow this is a big one! She’s at least eight pounds.”

I said, “So small? My first daughter was 8 pounds and fifteen ounces.”

Another said, “Maybe she’s a little bigger than that. I’m guessing at least eight and a half.”

Another said, “I’m guessing 9’2”.” She put my daughter on the scale and said, “She’s 9’15”!”

As baby Kay grew, she acquired some special nicknames---Tank, Conan the Destroyer, and Blitzkrieg. While her older sister, Em, was a calm, introspective, and sensitive child, Kay was energetic, extroverted, and fearless. She was always doing things to make us laugh. Well, maybe all of us except her older sister.

I snapped this photo as Kay socked Em while opening Christmas presents. See the older girl wondering what she had done to deserve that. She the younger girl gloating in triumph.

She still has a little bit of Lucille Ball in her:

Today, Kay is in Las Vegas, celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday with friends. Although this is a somber day, commemorating ten years since “that other” 9-11, I hope she is having a wonderful time with her friends. My prayer is that she knows how much her mother loves her and that she knows she has given me reason to have happiness each year on 9-11.

Happy 25th Birthday, Baby Girl!

[Disclaimer: Not to worry--the older sister eventually learned to fight back,

and got even by breaking her sister's finger.]

Are You Pinterested?

2011-09-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been on a remarkable website that shows a creative crocheting project that you want to try, or a decadent dessert that is calling your name, or a book that you want to read when you get time? We all have, right? The common reaction is to "bookmark" the webpage so that you can go back to it in the future.

Later, you look at your bookmarks and try to remember which of them hosted the recipe for that peanut butter chocolate chip cheeseball that you wanted to try. If you're like me, you can't remember under which bookmark you filed it, and you say to yourself, "If only I could have posted a picture next to the bookmark, I could locate it easier."

Wish no more, homies. Pinterest has arrived.

Pinterest is an online bulletin board, onto which you "pin" pictures that you like/want to come back to/want to share with others. The user can create categories, or "boards", for easier filing. For example, I have a board called "My Favorite Color," onto which I "pin" purple items that I have seen on various websites. The photo is automatically attached to the original website, so the creator of the piece gets full credit. I also have boards set up for other things that mean something to me: My Dream Backyard; Right Said Fred (for my favorite quotes;) Fashionista Fun, and others.

If you would like to join the ever-growing group of Pinterest aficionados, simply do the following:
1. Go to the Pinterest website.
2. Click on the button labeled "Request an Invite."
3. Wait for the Pinterest geniuses to email you instructions.

When you get an account set up, you will install a small icon on your toolbar that says, "Pin it." This allows you to select the item you wish to save and will take you directly to the list of boards you have created. If you find someone else's "pin" fascinating, you can "re-pin" it to your own board. Some Pinterest "curators" have quite a large following.

I found a refreshment idea for Weston's birthday party on Pinterest. A rainbow fruit kebob caught my eye, and here is my version:

Give Pinterest a try, but be prepared to stay up late. It's that addicting.

Cheesy government-required disclaimer: The happy Pinterest people did not pay me to say any of these things, nor did I get any sort of t-shirts, koozie cups, or Pinterest logo'd mousepads. Hard to believe as it is, sometimes I just express my opinion without any promise of reward. I did receive an unquantifiable bit of emotional satisfaction, the kind you get when you say to your friends, "You have got to see this cool website that I found," after which they think you are the hippest person they know.

Please Don't Be Like Me

2011-09-02T01:35:00.000-07:00

I am a freak.

I am not content to be a freak of average proportions, no sir. I must aspire to be the Queen of Freaks, the Monarch of Madness, the Grand Poo-bah of all that is weird. It is to your advantage to avoid using me as a role model for normalcy.

My evening started off well, but spiraled downward into an obsessive compulsive abyss. My son, Weston, turns thirteen today. I really want to say that he turns thirteen tomorrow, but since it is now 1:56 A.M. my OCD-ness requires that I say today.

Me: "Bad OCD-ness! Why don't you settle down and let me go to sleep?
OCD-ness: "Why, no! Don't you know you do your best work when you're in an OCD stupor?"
Me: " But I just wanna be normal! Waaaaah!"

I just want to go to bed at ten o'clock, like regular folks. But somewhere around 11:30, my brain magically rejuvenates, and I come up with all sorts of cool projects--projects that absolutely no how, no way, can wait until tomorrow. And why should they? If I just wait until midnight, tomorrow is today!

Which is exactly what happened tonight. I'm sitting there, like a normal mom, wrapping Weston's birthday present. Since he's turning thirteen, purchasing gifts has suddenly become more difficult. The toy stage has passed and he has entered the "everything-I-really-really-want-costs-at-least-$200" stage." Since that is so not happening, I gave him some choices. He could either get presents only, money only, or a combination of the two--none of which would add up to $200. He chose the combination.

I was wrapping his present, which, by the way is a really cool manly cordless drill--his first real power tool! (Men, you may grunt your approval here.) I was about to tuck some cash into the box, when the clock struck midnight and my brain said, "I'm feel like I've just had a Red Bull! Time to start a new project!" So I chose money origami.

Yes, you read correctly. I, who have never done origami in my life, started Googling "how to turn dollar bills into origami." At midnight. How hard can it be? Here a mountain fold, there a valley fold, and presto change-o, you have an elephant!

Except after 30 minutes of folding, I got to the part where it said, "Now, you can stand the elephant on the four legs." My elephant didn't have any legs. One moment ( a very brief moment, Auntie M.) my picture looked exactly like the diagram, and the next moment the model elephant had legs! I got a little tear in my eye and had to make a decision. Do I unfold and start over? Do I just cut some legs out of another dollar bill and glue them on? Do I attempt another figure that requires less hand-eye coordination? I chose the latter.

For the next hour, I folded seven cute little money shirts. They weren't as hard as the elephant, but the downside was that I was seriously considering ironing them. Some of the bills were a little worn, which prevented the shirt from being as crisp as I would have liked. And I would just be ironing a "shirt"--nothing OCD about that, right? Luckily, sanity prevailed.

Admit it, you want to plug in your iron, don't you?

The freakiest thing of all? When I finished, I had to go blog about it.

[I am not OCD enough to provide you with a step-by-step tutorial, much as you might want to stay up until 1:30 A.M. making your own adorable little polo shirts. I am kind enough to provide a link though!]

Feeling Powerless

2011-08-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to people who are still without power because of Hurricane Irene. Days have gone by and many people are trying to function without air conditioning, refrigerators, light, and many other basic necessities. It’s hard to imagine the wide-scale suffering.

Our own power has gone out three times in the last week, so I have experienced the discomfort on a much, much, smaller scale. The reason for power outages in our tiny town is usually more mundane than earthquakes or hurricanes. As soon as we see gray clouds starting to roll in over the valley, we’re on alert; with the first roll of thunder we start shutting down computers.

At times it seems as if anything can trigger a power outage—a bird momentarily obscures the sun, the sun shines, or a city employee sneezes. We never know what causes these power interruptions. We have learned to deal with it.

Last night the power went out for the third time in a week. I was in the middle of making dinner, and poof! All went quiet. No swamp cooler blowing, no computers humming, no stove, microwave, or DVD player to tell me what time it was.

I paused for a moment, hoping that it was a momentary outage, but no such luck. Hunting through the refrigerator and cupboards, I could find very little that didn’t need to be cooked. I told Weston that we could have tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots for dinner or he could wait for the power to come back on and I would finish the spaghetti. Since we had already had tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots for lunch, he was less than thrilled to have them again for dinner.

We did have options. I could have fired up the wood-burning stove to boil the water for spaghetti but it was hot enough already in the house without the swamp cooler blowing. We have a fire pit in the back yard but I discovered we are lacking a flat grill iron to place over the pit—something on which to rest our pans. So we “vegged.”

After a few minutes of no computer, no Wii, no television, no food, Weston observed, “Boy, the Pilgrims must have had really boring lives with nothing to do all day.”

Do you feel a teaching moment coming on?

I explained that the Pilgrims had plenty to do. They couldn’t go rent a house—they had to build it. They couldn’t go to the lumber store to buy some wood—they had to chop it. If they wanted flour to make a cake, they had to grow the wheat first. Realizing that my son needed “something to do” I pushed him out the door. Here are some things we did to occupy our time.

We went to the garden to see if we needed to harvest any veggies and found our neighbor there, helping himself to a little produce. Apparently his stove wasn't working either.

Weston found that peacocks can run really fast.

I made a snack to tide us over. Mmm...graham crackers, peanut butter and chocolate chips!

I checked our apple tree to see if the fruit was ready to pick and found TWINS!

They were stuck together.

Weston hopped around all the wood we have waiting to be cut. I know what you're thinking--yeah, I should have put him to work chopping it!

Enjoyed a beautiful sunset

Do you ever realize how silly you are when the power goes out? You try to think of alternative things to do, but then realize that too, involves power?

Like, the stove doesn't work, but hey! I'll just use the microwave! Oh yeah...

Or I can't finish vacuuming so, I know--I'll go start some laundry! Oh yeah...

Our computers aren't working, so let's have a family night and watch a movie! Oh yeah...

We can't cook, so let's go to the drive-in restaurant and get some fries! Oh yeah...they don't have power either...

After we had run out of powerless things to do last night, I told Weston to go in the house and get his Percy Jackson book and we would sit on the swing and read. He yelled out the door, "Mom! The power's on!"

It had been two hours and as usual, we never did find out what caused the outage. Our level of discomfort was virtually non-existent. I thought again about those people still without power because of the hurricane and was sympathetic toward what must be a growing level of frustration.

My thoughts are with them today, hoping that soon they will be fully functioning and able to go on with their lives.

It's Not Fair!

2011-08-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

No siree. It's not fair.

Well maybe it is. A little bit. It's the county fair anyway.

Our little armpit, as we lovingly call our town of 3,000, is the county seat, so we get to host the fair. Yahoo! It's a time for rodeos, county fair queens and princesses, prize livestock on display, 4-H'ers running around frantically, and a mammoth parade. (It's not really huge, it's just called the Mammoth Parade because it's the second largest parade in our county, second only to the one on state holiday, Pioneer Day.)

The kids in our county look forward to the fair every year for one reason only--The Carnival. It's a big deal. Weston spent Friday, from 3:00-10:00 P.M., hanging out with friends at the carnival, watching while they went on ride after ride. He didn't get to participate in the whirling fun that day because bio-dad bought him an all-day pass for Saturday. [You know what's really not fair? When your dad graciously buys you an all day pass for the carnival on Saturday, but all your friends are going on Friday. Totally not fair. Believe me, I know because I heard about it over, and over, and over again.] But never fear, Weston got his share of nauseating fun from noon til 10:00 P.M. on Saturday. Whew. All is once again right with the world.

If it seems like I am mocking the carnival, it's because I am. Even when I was a kid in ~~heaven~~ Iowa, I hated carnivals. For one, I am the Dramamine poster child. I once threw up because I saw someone being spun in a torture chamber on TV. For two, I sneeze at pictures of cigarettes. Imagine how it is to walk on carnival grounds and have to beat your way through the fog. For three, I once spent over $20 trying to win a stuffed animal before I finally realized, "Hey, this guy is tricking me! He's not ever going to let me win!" Who me? Naive? And finally, they always pick the hottest days of the year to have the carnival, so you get to inhale the fine aroma of Eau de Trash: a scintillating combination of sweat, alcohol, smoke and barbecued pig with a hint of vomit.

There was a bright spot to the fair this year. Drum roll....I WON SOME BLUE RIBBONS! BLUE RIBBONS THAT PAY $3 EACH! Oh yeah.

This is a photo of some flowers that daughter Kay sent for my B-Day

My friend's cats

Soccer team that includes granddaughter Hoolie and my pal Ekanela's daughter, The Divine Miss Ya Ya

[Don't you hate when your blue ribbons cover up half of your work? Grrr...]

Daughter Em won some prizes too!

The Mischievous Chunk

Wanna win a prize? Take a picture of Chunk. He got a blue ribbon last year too.

This one also won a blue ribbon but my photo of her photo with the ribbon didn't do it justice, so you get the original right here. This was taken by Em at a Boy Scout meeting. Someone left a chair sitting there and the contrast was too beautiful to ignore.

Weston also won some prizes. He was so excited, not because he got some ribbons, but because those ribbons involve cold hard cash. He's a miser, that one.

This is his papier mache electric eel that got a second place red ribbon. I purposely left out the shot of the eel's frighteningly sharp toothpick teeth. This is a family site. The red eyes are spooky enough.

This is the emergency survival bracelet that Weston made.

Weston's art work titled, "Three Suns"

This was the first year that I've ever submitted anything to the fair. I was inspired by one of my students who raked in over $20 a couple of years ago. That was before they put a limit of three-only submissions per person. The most you can get now is $9, but hey! That $9 can buy a whole lot of free stuff at the grocery store after coupons!

So, back to my title.

I was so excited when I went to the exhibition building after the judging to see if I won anything. I was on one side of the room and I heard Weston yell from the other side of the room, "Mom! You got three blue ribbons!" My heart puffed up with pride as I thought to myself. "Your photography rocks! All three submissions got first place!" I was even prouder when I saw that daughter Em and son Weston got prizes for all three of their submissions too. After I got over the initial excitement, I started looking around at all the other submissions. And that's when I noticed it.

Everyone who submits something gets either first or second place.

I was not special.

I felt like the five-year old at a T-ball tournament where they don't keep score and everyone goes home with a trophy. (My children however are very special because their blue and red ribbons beat everyone else's blue and red ribbons hands down. So there.)

But hey, nine bucks, right? That's what I say.

You know what else is not fair? When you're standing in the middle of two rows of prize-winning quilts, admiring the beauty, and a huge gust of wind rips through the building (it's a fair---it's like being in a huge garage with semi-truck sized doors at either end) knocking over the rows of quilts so that I am left standing exposed in the middle so the fair ladies can look over at me.

And point.

And say, "There's the woman who knocked over all those heavy handmade heirloom quilts that we painstakingly attached to those rods." While I meekly say, "It was the wind." Yeah. Not fair.

So last night, Computer Geek and I are making some delicious vegan chocolate chip peanut butter cookies at 10:45 at night (because when you get the craving, you get the craving if you know what I mean) when we hear shots being fired outside. We looked at each other and I swear he was about ready to yell, "Duck and cover!" but decided instead to go look outside.

It was fireworks, signaling the end of the week-long fair. While the cookies were baking we stepped outside to watch the spectacular show, with a stunning backdrop of cloud-to-cloud lightning. It was hard at times to distinguish between the natural and the man-made. Daughter Em captured a beautiful shot from her house.

I'm sure it will be a blue-ribbon winner next year. Mothers just know...

A Special Kind of Friendship...

2011-08-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there were two fat little boys, one with red hair and one with brown. They played together mainly because their mothers played together, or posed them for pictures together.

The fat little red-haired boy was eleven days older, having been born EXACTLY THIRTEEN YEARS AGO TODAY.

As time went on, the little boys lost their baby fat and discovered that they loved playing together, even when their mothers weren't hanging out that day. This surprised their mothers because, you see, these two boys really had opposite personalities. The red-haired boy was quiet, introspective, a little shy, and sensitive. The brown-haired boy was loud, extroverted, always in motion, and sensitive. Okay, so they were both sensitive--as in good-hearted. Over the years, the mothers learned that their opposite personalities complemented each other. The quiet boy helped keep the loud boy grounded, and the loud boy helped the quiet boy gain a sense of adventure.

As they grew, each developed his own sense of humor. Loud boy (oh, let's call him Weston) developed a slapstick sense of humor, while quiet boy (we'll call him He's Hot, because if a classroom happens to be a little warm, he will insist it's because he has arrived) has a sharp verbal wit.

Though it has been mentioned here before, their mother's hearts are warmed when they see how protective these two chaps are around each other. Once, He's Hot got dropped off at his house, where he promptly face-planted in the gravel. Weston said, "Oh, I wish that would have happened to me instead!" He didn't like to see his friend get hurt.

Another time, Weston was left waiting outside the school on a frigid day when one of his parents (not this one, ahem) was a little late in picking him up from school. He's Hot begged his mother to give Weston a ride home. "Friends don't let friends stand in the cold, " he said.

Over the years, these two boys have remained friends, even though as they get older their circle of friends naturally widens. When they were youngsters, they would get together and play Legos. Now that they are *gasp* teenagers, they play with...um...Legos.

Weston's mother has been grateful to He's Hot for standing by her son. He's been a good influence, and as Weston once said, "No one understands me the way he does." He's Hot is always welcome in Weston's home where he is loved as a son. He's always a positive and encouraging influence.

At the Dinosaur Museum--3rd grade

At Weston's house

The omnipresent bunny ears

I'm too sexy for my Cub Scout uniform

At the Sheriff's Department. No, they weren't in trouble.

Can you guess? A school play perhaps?

4th Grade--Pity the fool teacher who tries to keep these two apart

Sand + Boys = Hours and hours of ~~laundry for the mothers~~ fun.

Believe it or not, there was still some left by the time they took it to Scouts

Yeah, so Weston liked pink. Peer pressure has since caused him to cave.

Yay for cookIE dough! Just kidding--it's Kyuki Do

More boys, more sand, water, more ~~laundry~~ fun.

Would you PUH-LEASE not make us pose in the sun?

And next....Weston's mommy's favorite picture ever:

HAPPY HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY TO

HE'S HOT!!

Love Thy Neighbor

2011-08-17T21:07:00.001-07:00

On any given day, I correspond with roughly fifteen to twenty people on the internet. I get emails from a variety of friends and family, some of whom I have not seen in person for decades. This past summer I chatted instantly with a daughter in Ireland and a sister in Tanzania. I have a soft spot in my heart for the readers of this blog, many of whom I have never met, yet consider as my friends.

Truly the internet is a magical “place.” Aside from the invention of the printing press, I would venture to say that the internet has changed the way we communicate more than any other invention. We don’t have to wait weeks after someone gets home from Europe for them to process their slides and invite us over for a travelogue; we can see their photos online that same day. News doesn’t arrive by letter two weeks after the fact anymore; we get it in an email as it’s happening. Don’t want to fork over money to the newspaper boy when he comes collecting? Just hop on the paper’s website instead.

And yet…I wonder.

Do we have all these conveniences at a price?

Yesterday, a friend told us that our next door neighbor had been killed in a horrific workplace accident. A young man got up, went to work, and never came home. One moment he was working on a piece of machinery and in an instant he was dead.

None of us get up in the morning knowing that this day is the end of the line. We’ve all been admonished over and over to live each day as if it was our last, and yet most days go by in a blur. We focus on trivia and leave the important things undone. We get our news online instead of over the back fence.

What was my response when our friend told us of our next door neighbor’s death?

“What was his name?”

I Love When Grocery Stores Get Sassy!

2011-08-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah

Printing Money Legally

2011-08-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not actually printing MONEY, but printing coupons off your computer so that you can reduce your grocery bill is the same to me as someone walking up to me and handing me some cash. In these days of drawn-out unemployment at the Quang household, such an ability is invaluable.

I'm not an extreme couponer, like some of those who dumpster dive to find inserts from the Sunday paper, or those who go up to their neighbors' porches and take the "unwanted" inserts. I get ~~money~~ coupons from two sources:
1. The coupons that come with my two Sunday papers
2. The internet

Should I Use Coupons?
For those who are unsure whether couponing is worth the time, here are some guidelines. You should only use coupons if:

1. You get a sick thrill at the end of your store transaction when you watch the cashier scan your coupons and see your total bill go down, down, down...

2. You are willing to dedicate at least 2-4 hours a week to finding, clipping, and organizing your ~~money~~ coupons.

3. You are willing to put up with the fact that some cashiers think coupons are indicative of your social caste, e.g. You are using coupons, therefore you must need the money, therefore you must be poor, therefore you are a drain on society, therefore you are an untouchable and please go to someone else's lane.

Can Coupons Really Save Me Money?
This last week was a typical week for me at the grocery store. I think you'll be amazed at my savings, but keep this in mind: I'm on a special diet and can't use a lot of the food coupons, I only have access to a Walmart and two small-town grocery stores, our Walmart doesn't carry approximately 1/3 of the items for which I could use coupons, and finally, our Walmart is higher-priced than many other Walmarts. What does this mean? It means that your savings will probably be a lot more than mine, unless you live in the same armpit that I do. Look at the items in the following pictures:

8 packages of instant mashed potatoes, 2 Kotex liners (sorry guys!) 2 packages of 4 count batteries, and 2 rolls of Scotch tape.

Retail value: $3.36 Potatoes

$2.48 Liners

                     $1.94 Batteries
                     $2.44 Scotch tape

Total Retail Value: $10.22.    My cost after coupons: $2.22. You got it. My cost after using coupons was a whopping $2.22. That is less than the price of the retail value of the Scotch tape alone. Most of what you see in that picture was free.

8th Continent Soymilk

Retail cost soymilk: $2.73

My cost after coupon: $.73

Johnson and Johnson mini-first aid kit

I actually bought 4 of these first aid kits.

Retail value: $3.88 or $.97 each

My cost: $.88 or $.22 each

Total Retail value of all the items above, purchased at Walmart: $14.83

My cost: $3.83

Although the next scenario is not quite as stunning as the ones above, I still got a great deal at our local grocery store last week. My son loves these granola bars:

Normally, our local store has them for $2.98. Last week they ran a special for $2.25 a box. In addition, the store was running a special for $5.00 off ten boxes with in-store coupon. I also had accrued 5 coupons valued at $.75 off when you buy two. Since I bought ten, I was able to use all five coupons.( Most stores allow you to stack coupons, that is you can combine manufacturer coupons with in-store coupons.) I ended up with $8.75 in combined coupons, so instead of paying retail of $29.80 for ten boxes (which I NEVER would have done, by the way) I paid $13.75.

How Do I Organize My Coupons?
There are several different methods that active couponers use.
1. The envelope method
2. The shoebox (or other small box) method
3. The binder method

The envelope method involves labeling business sized envelopes by category, e.g. Dairy, Produce, Canned Goods, Personal Items, etc. Most couponers know the layouts of their stores very well, so before the shopping trip, they put their envelopes in the order of the layout of the store. As they pass each aisle, they put that envelope to the back of the pile. Some couponers put all their coupons in these envelopes, while some only put the coupons for the items they intend to buy that day.

The shoebox method is pretty much the same as the envelope method, but involves using dividers between categories.

The binder method involves buying a 3 ring zippered (important!) binder and using page protectors to hold the coupons. I use this method in combination with the envelope method. I organize and store my coupons in the binder, but when I go to the store, I pull out the coupons I intend to use, in order of the layout of the store. However, I still take my binder into the store with me just in case the store has an unadvertised special for which I know I have a coupon. Here's my binder:

I use 3-pocket protectors. Other couponers use 9-pocket baseball card protectors, but I'm kind of obsessive compulsive and don't like bending my coupons. Wah. I bought these protectors from Coupon Clutch. The binder I had leftover from school last year--$9.99 from Walmart. Junk I tell ya. If you can afford something better, I would advise it.

Where Do I Get Coupons?
1. The newspaper. Daughter Em and I share a Sunday subscription. For $17.00 a month, we get 4 of the same Sunday newspaper. We chose the one that carries ALL the inserts--not all papers do. We each get 2 newspapers and we each pay half the cost. For $8.50 a month I get far more in savings. This is why you will see me buying two of the same item frequently. It is usually cheaper to subscribe than to buy from a stand or convenience store. In addition, if the newspaper company is low on inserts, the subscribers always get priority. Our newspaper has a couponing staff that alerts you via email which stores are having deals that match up with your coupons.

2. Online. There are a variety of ways to get coupons online.
    Manufacturer websites. If I know I am going to the store to buy a particular product, I always go to the manufacturer's website. Many times they have printable coupons, either right on their site, or sent to you in an email. I got the $2 off soymilk coupon mentioned above right from the 8th Generation website.

    Coupon websites. The main coupon websites are:
    Coupons dot com
    SmartSource
    Red Plum

   Facebook Most manufacturers also have a Facebook page. Many times if you "Like" their page, they give you a high value coupon. Also a lot of manufacturers run little mini-contests throughout the day, where the first x-many "likers" get a coupon until the x-amount is gone. I once got a coupon for $5.00 any Bounty paper towel package, so I ended up with a package of 6 rolls of Bounty for $.97.

Independent bloggers Many bloggers troll the deals for you throughout the day, so if you subscribe to their blogs or opt to receive their daily emails or "Like" them on Facebook, they do a lot of the work of finding coupons for you. I can't stress how valuable this is. Not only do they find hot coupons for you, but many online clearance sales or Amazon specials as well. Here are a just few of my favorites:

Passion for Savings
Frugal Coupon Living
Super Coupon Lady
The Krazy Coupon Lady
Budget Savvy Diva

IMPORTANT NOTE IF YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT COUPONS FROM THE INTERNET: You are allowed to print most coupons TWICE. The exception may be that manufacturers let you print only one from either their website or Facebook page. Never, never, never, photocopy your coupon so that you can get more than your allotted two. Why? Because each coupon has its own unique barcode and if you photocopy it, the store does not get reimbursed. Because some hooligans did this in our town, our local store will no longer accept coupons printed from the internet. They blew it for everybody. Photocopying online coupons = stealing.

IMPORTANT NOTE IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE ANY COUPONS AT ALL:
Play by the rules. If your coupon says "Not for use with trial size," don't try to slip the trial size past your cashier. If it says "6 count package or larger" don't try to use the coupon for the 4 count size. Again, this is stealing. Don't try to pass off an expired coupon, hoping that your cashier won't notice. You got it--STEALING.

If you've been afraid to use coupons because of the effort involved, or because you're not sure what to do, I hope I have eased your concerns. If you have any questions about couponing, please let me know and I will try to get the answer for you. Or, simply click on the links provided for the independent bloggers because those ladies are geniuses. Have fun saving ~~coupons~~ money!

Coincidence? Or music sprites playing with my mind?

2011-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

There's no doubt that music is a powerful mood-altering force.

I still remember the opening song from childhood cartoon Ruff and Reddy.

I can't look at a box of Fig Newtons without hearing "Golden flaky tender cakey outside."

If someone tries to explain his side of a situation and begins by saying, "Here's the story.." doesn't your mind finish his sentence with "...of a lovely lady"?

How many times have you played a depressing song over and over because it seemed the artist was the only one who knew what you were going through at the time? ( I think I wore the grooves off my "Don't Speak" by No Doubt CD as my marriage was ending years ago.)

Or have you been in a hopeless mood then hear a song that causes you to lift your head and smile again? (Yeah, Patti LaBelle and "New Attitude.")

Have you ever hated a song so much that the opening strains make you feel like you're getting attacked by a subcutaneous parasite? (Once, there was this kid who, got into an accident...) Daughter Em is laughing her butt off right now.

Have you ever heard a song so majestic that you wanted to pick up a sword and battle injustice? ( Lux Aeterna)

How about a song that makes you so happy that you want to hit the dance floor and leap for joy? (Love Story Meets Viva La Vida)

What about a song that brings you to tears because it reminds you of how fragile and fleeting life is? I get choked up at this song every time I hear it. (100 Years by Five for Fighting )

Or a song that forever reminds you of a loved one? (Here's for you, daughter Kay)

Computer Geek and I have this strange bonding phenomenon that happens to us every once in a while. We can be in a particular place, or be doing a particular thing, and a song will come on that describes the very activity we were doing. It's become kind of eerie, but I still like when it happens. Don't we all love amazing coincidences?

1. In 2007, CG, Weston, and I were driving through Utah to eventually end up in Iowa. As we passed Robert Redford's ranch and resort, Sundance, "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" started playing. No lie.

2. Later on that same trip, we were driving through the Black Hills of South Dakota and were almost at Mount Rushmore. The song "Rocky Raccoon" by the Beatles came on, which says, "Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota..."

3. Oodaaq Island, off the coast of Greenland, is the northernmost island in the world. It is also the tiniest. CG had never heard of the island, so I was telling him how small it is--as in only one person can stand on it at a time small. Right then, on his random music player that has over 1000 songs on it, Jimi Hendrix came on and sang, "The tiny island sags downstream..."

4. CG's son and daughter, Neo and Gnome, are vacationing in Ireland. A few weeks ago, we were on Facebook, scrolling through Gnome's extensive photo album. We marveled at the beauty of a picture she had taken of some seabirds floating in the sunset. Instantly, Glen Campbell's "Galveston" came on the music player, and we heard, "Before I watch your seabirds flying in the sun..."

Oh. The freakiness of it all.

Do you have any musical coincidences?
What about songs that alter your mood for better or for worse?

Photo Credit: The Gnome, who was never quite the same after seeing Eat, Pray, Love.

Post Card Project......Part 2

2011-08-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Back in June, I posted about how much I love to get postcards. I promised to send out a postcard to anyone who wanted one, up to ten people. Part of the deal was, if you wanted a postcard from me, you had to agree to send one out to someone else, thus paying forward the postcard bliss. Was I ever surprised to get some in return!
Take a look at the nifty postcards I got:

Clockwise from top right

Amish girls in Pennsylvania, from Auntie M.

Connemara, Ireland, from daughter Gnome and son Neo

A beautiful painting by Andre Derain, from Septembermom

Patriotic Philadelphia, from cousin Jill

I came away from this little project with a renewed gratitude for my family and friends, and with an increased desire to send more postcards! Every time I travel someplace new, I buy a souvenir magnet. I am committing right now, in front of the whole world (because we know the whole world reads my blog, right?) to also buy a postcard and send it out. Are you with me? Help keep your favorite postal worker employed!

Free Mini-Photo Album from MyPublisher

2011-08-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

Do you have a Facebook account?
Do you love to take pictures?
Do you love saving money?
Even better, do you love things that are totally F*R*E*E?

For a limited time, MyPublisher is giving away a free mini-photo album. All you have to do is "like" them on Facebook, then open a free account. You can upload twenty-one of your own photos and they will send them back to you in mini-album form. I ordered mine earlier this week and it came today! All free, even the shipping!

I choose to upload photos of my son's summer adventures, and will send the booklet to one of his grandparents. It's the perfect size for upcoming stocking stuffers. You can choose a cover photo and title, but other than that, there is no text option unless you place a caption right on the photo yourself before you upload.

Head on over to MyPublisher on Facebook and "like" them!

Thoughts of a Twitterless Thinker--------August 3, 2011 edition

2011-08-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Any new reader of Foreign Quang, will need to know that I don’t use Twitter. Although I don’t Tweet and send out random messages throughout the day, telling you what I am thinking or doing, I do think, and I do do! Behold-- random thoughts and deeds, not necessarily limited to 140 characters.

Do you ever wimp out? I’m not talking about feeling the heebie jeebies when you’re ready to parachute out of an airplane. I’m talking about being a coward when your life is not being threatened in any way. Last week I was at the grocery store and had nine coupons with me. After I left the store, I looked at the receipt and noticed that the cashier only scanned eight of them. Maybe I should have gone back and asked for my additional 75 cents off, but I started thinking. Thinking too much. How can I prove that I had an additional coupon? What if I bring it to their attention and they think, “Couponers are a pain in the backside and we’re not going to do this any more”? What if I get a rude customer service rep and it ruins my day? So I wimped out and said nothing. It was only 75 cents.

Later that day I went to another grocery store that had their store-brand frozen vegetables on sale for 88 cents. Normally they are $1.50 so I thought this was a really good deal. I got two bags of frozen corn, but when I got to the register, they rang up at $1.50 each. Apparently the ad was for only white frozen corn and not yellow corn. Did I tell the cashier I didn’t want them? No. I took my lumps and my $1.50 corn and went home. Why didn’t I tell the cashier I didn’t want them? I didn’t say anything because what if she thought I was POOR? I definitely need some wimp intervention.

This is really cool. The other night I was cleaning my kitchen and happened to look at the digital clock on the stove. It said “9:11.” September 11 is my daughter Kay’s birthday. I continued getting things done and did not look at the clock again until I glanced up and saw that it read “11:17.” November 17 is my daughter Em’s birthday. I was marveling at this coincidence and went into our office and did some things on the computer. I got tired so I got up, went into the kitchen and noticed that it was 12:17, which is my birthday! Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Adopted granddaughter, Pixie, celebrated her first birthday last week. She’s a tiny little thing and you mothers will appreciate this: She is 12 months and wears size 12 months. Freaky, huh? Has that ever happened before? Daughter Kay practically wore size 12 months from the womb.

Grandson Chunk came over to visit us old folks last Wednesday. I even gave up So You Think You Can Dance to play with him. My best friend, logic, told me, “You can always watch SYTYCD on their website later. You can’t play with Chunk online later.” Yup, I’m a thinker. He found our apple tree and was elated to find he could reach the fruit himself. He picked seven of them and counted them as he put them into a bowl, “Nine, two, nine, two. Seven.” He’s a smartie, that one. His brother, Avatar is a brainiac too. He fell down and when his dad asked him if he was all right, seven year old Avatar said, “I’m okay. It was a soft impact.”

Where’s Robin Leach when you need him? I want a television show called Lifestyles of the Rich and Ignorant. Apparently Kim Kardashian is suing Old Navy because they used a model who looked like her. Oh no! Kim should definitely sue for damages because now wherever she goes, people will be saying, “Look! Isn’t that the Old Navy model?” Okay, so let’s say she sues Old Navy and wins. The model then goes to work somewhere else. Is Kim going to follow this model around, suing her wherever she goes, prohibiting her from working, because she committed the crime of looking like Kim Kardashian? Kim needs a job.

Something you may not know about me—I fear cooked vegetables. I think it stems from when I was a toddler and my mom fed me a vegetable that was a beautiful reddish purple. I was young enough to think that pretty = yummy. I bit into a beet. I think that trauma scarred me because I have a hard time controlling the hurl reflex when I bite into a cooked veggie. Except corn. Or baked beans. But I love, love, love some fresh, raw veggies. Aren’t these beautiful?

Woot, woot moment: I’ve lost 23 pounds since the last part of April.

I’m gonna go cry now moment: Weston said today, “Why do you have so much white hair on the side of your head? Didn’t you used to pull those out?” Weston learned that he can run faster than his mama.

Happy Birthday, Mom. You gave me the greatest gift—knowing that I was loved.

Decorating with Glass Jars and Mod Podge

2011-07-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

    I don't know what Freud would say about my glass jar fetish. Maybe he would say that the "cup" nature of a jar means that I crave to be fulfilled. Maybe he would say that I am a risk-taker who enjoys handling something that can be so easily shattered. Or maybe he would say that I feel life is too fragile and try to control that fear by controlling glass. Well Sigmund would be wrong on all accounts. I save glass jars because I think they are darn purty.
On my internet travel trips I have lately seen several tutorials on how to make faux blue glass jars. It's very simple really and I have been itching to give it a try. Here are the steps if you want to try too:

1. Rinse glass jars after the contents are gone. I used peanut butter, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and pickle jars.
2. Soak the jars in water to remove most of the label.
3. Use Goo Gone to remove the sticky label glue left on the jar. Thoroughly wash and dry the jar.
4. Pour some Mod Podge into a small receptacle--one that is large enough to accommodate a paintbrush.
5. Squeeze a few drops of food coloring into the Mod Podge and stir well. I like purple better than blue, so
    I used 2 drops of blue coloring and 3 drops of red.
6. "Paint" the colored Mod Podge onto the glass jar. I painted the rim first and let it dry before I worked my
    way around the jar. Make sure you have enough "paint" on the brush to make a continuous stroke down
    the jar from top to bottom. If you try to paint over a section that you already painted before it's dry, it will
    gum up.

Aren't they yummy? After I did these, I couldn't stop...

So I made more and tucked twinkle lights inside for a romantic feel. They don't look as purple in this light but they add atmosphere to my kitchen counter.

Maybe red and green for Christmas? Bright green for St. Patrick's Day? Yellow to hold a bunch of sunflowers? Pink for a little girl's room? Orange for a pencil holder?

Sunday Serenity 7-24-2011

2011-07-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

A while back, my grandson, Avatar, had a wipe-out moment with a scooter and ended up needing stitches in his ear. When I visited him, he wanted me to have visual evidence of his pain.
I reflected on that moment, and realized that sometimes, that's all I want too. Someone to notice that I'm hurting. Someone to say, "Ouch--that must have been painful!" Maybe I don't need a cure to make it all better. Maybe what I need is some temporary acknowledgement that sometimes I get scratched as I go through life and that for a moment, life is less than pleasant.
Sometimes, all your friends need from you is a sympathetic word, an encouraging smile, or a warm hug. And maybe sometimes they just need you to take a picture of their pain.

There is no greater loan than a sympathetic ear.

Frank Tyger

In Which I Receive the Ultimate Compliment

2011-07-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

In late 2008, when I began this blog, I wrote mainly for family and friends. I thought blogging was a great way to keep people updated, as well as provide a way to encourage communication. I wanted the title to be catchy and to mean something. I chose the name Foreign Quang because it was a phrase I used around the house to describe life’s indescribable moments—little, seemingly insignificant moments that everyone has, that later turn out to be some of our most cherished memories.

A quote was needed—a quote that would sum up my intent in a few words so I could use it as a header on my blog. I went to many different quote websites, and finally found a quote that was perfect for the feeling I wished to convey here at the Quang. It’s the one you see front and center when you log on to Foreign Quang. The site also had a few other quotes by Robert Brault, but this one caught my heart.

Not long after, I received a message from none other than Robert Brault, thanking me for choosing his quote for my site. I was thrilled! Not having done any in-depth research into the man behind the quote, I assumed Robert Brault was some 16^th century philosopher, some Thomas a Kempis spouting universal truths for us to ponder.

Not so.

Robert Brault is a 21^st century philosopher spouting universal truths for us to ponder. And laugh at. And rejoice over. And say about, “I’ve always felt that way, but I never knew I felt that way until Robert Brault said it, and now I know it was a locked-up part of me to which he held the key.”

One of Robert’s unique talents is his ability to encapsulate in a few words, an evanescent feeling that is misting around in our brains and our hearts, searching for release. The feeling remains a prisoner until he speaks through his keyboard, and we shout, “Yes!”

I envy his talent. Many times I have pored over the quotes on his website, trying to find a formula for his success, wondering why I look at most of his quotes and feel an immediate recognition as to their truthfulness, yet am unable to express those same thoughts myself in such an eloquent way.

Robert has tried to retire from his blog many times, but luckily for us he is a sympathetic man who caves in to the incessant whining from his fans. We don’t let him rest. You will always find a link to his website on my sidebar.

So. The Compliment.

When I got back from Seattle, I posted many pictures of our trip. One of Computer Geek’s favorites was this one:

The ocean--it simultaneously calms and invigorates

After he viewed it on my blog, I looked over at him to see tears on his cheeks. Computer Geek isn’t a man who cries often. He’s much too logical for that. The photo and caption though, had him choked up. “I’ve never heard anyone describe the ocean that way. That’s exactly why I love the ocean so much, I just never thought about it in that way.”

Later as we discussed his emotion over the photo, he said, “You Braultized it.”

Because we both admire Robert, Computer Geek’s statement meant a lot to both of us, more especially me. I felt a moment of satisfaction, not unlike when you are in geometry class and you finally solve a difficult problem.

So, Mr. Brault. You’ve achieved literary immortality by becoming a verb. To be accused of Braultizing is an honor indeed.

"Perhaps we misjudge other people's loneliness

because we're so seldom with them when they're alone."

~~Robert Brault~~

Dont take out your trash before the bag is full

2011-07-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

    I was checking my email the other day and kept thinking to myself, "Something smells good." Not chocolate molten fudge cake good, but clean sheets from a clothesline good. I finally determined the pleasant scent was coming from my desk, which if you've seen my desk lately, you'd know was a ridiculous thought.
     After rummaging about a bit, I finally located the source--a piece of mail from the good people at Vocalpoint. I opened it and found it was a sample garbage bag. I know what you're probably thinking---the last time you sniffed a garbage bag you wanted to hurl, right?
      This trash bag was packaged in a cute little gray cardboard holder that was dressed up like---get this---a garbage can! I thought it was exceptionally creative and cute.

Yes, I plan on recycling this gray metallic holder for some crafty purpose.

The garbage bag was one of those stretchy Glad ForceFlex bags that keep expanding when you stuff it full of abusive materials. It was a garbage bag with a twist--it smelled divine.

The new Glad ForceFlex bags are Febreze scented. (I will let you in on a little Queen of Quang secret: When I know I have company coming, I squirt Febreze all over my furniture.) The premise is that you don't have to take out your garbage before the bag is full, just because it stinks. I don't know about you, but I have taken out many a trash bag before it was full, because I had some offensive remnants in the trash---goodies like leftover broccoli or death beans (refried beans that have spent one too many nights in the fridge.)

I put the sample in the kitchen can this afternoon. I am hoping that I can stuff that baby full and stretch it to its limits before I have to take it out. Because you know I'm a frugalista like that. And because I want that good-smelling bag to keep up the illusion that my kitchen is clean.

And because I am such a frugalista and want to force you to be one too, I am giving away a 50 cent coupon for the bags to the first five couponers to leave me a comment telling me you want one.

(If you are one of the first five commenters who want one, send me an email at foreignquang at gmail dot com with your snail mail address.) The sample came with coupons clearly addressed "For a Friend." Because I am an upstanding citizen and would never cheat in any way, I would never hog all these valuable coupons for myself.

The first picture I took had the bar code in the shot and then I realized "Boy, that was stupid."

See? They gave me coupons to give to YOU! I know, it's enough to make an extreme couponer weep.

So go ahead. Leave me a comment. First five get a 50 cent coupon and if you're smart and wait for the day your store does double coupons, that's a whole dollar!

Obligatory disclaimer because the government says so: I was not paid cash to say any of the things I said. If I was, I am sure I could have turned this post into a full-fledged novel. I did receive a free trash bag in the mail, along with some coupons, which I am passing along because they were marked "For a Friend" and I am sure there is some sort of tracking chip in the bar code that will detect if I use them myself. Oh, and they did have one marked for my own particular use.

(I use that phrase a lot ever since hearing it uttered by Charlotte Collins in Pride and Prejudice.)

From Garage to Man Cave

2011-07-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you’re a single guy with a garage, you don’t need to park in it, and you don’t have enough tools to fill it up?

You turn the garage into a man cave, that’s what.

Michael Berg, of Monroe, Washington, decided to get creative with his unused space. Inspired by the history of Seattle’s underground city, he turned an average sized garage into a prohibition-era speakeasy themed retreat. Family and friends gather there for drinks, good food (Michael’s well-known in his family for his culinary and entertainment skills,) and scintillating conversation.

Over time, the Speakeasy, as it has come to be known, has gone through several design iterations. It has been a casino, a venue for a murder mystery dinner, and is now elaborately decorated as a pirate’s cave. A digital designer, Michael has utilized his talents to bring fantasy to life and create a wondrous, fanciful ambience.

Ordinary garage on the outside...

...pirate's den on the inside!

Michael Berg in The Speakeasy

Serving food and drinks to his guests

One unfortunate pirate slept a little too long

Michael's choice of lighting creates a relaxed atmosphere

The bayou mural was painted by Michael's niece

The theme is continued throughout the entire "garage"

Refreshing limeade

The evening's finishing touch--Michael's homemade berry shortcake with strawberries hand-picked from

the family garden.

I'll never look at another garage without visualizing its entertainment possibilities.

I Heart Seattle--Final Edition

2011-07-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

Random...I tend to photograph that way.

What is Seattle most known for? No, not the Mariners. Coffee!

Even Starbucks looks Bavarian in Leavenworth

Downtown Leavenworth is very dog-friendly. Cats can die.

Sometimes ugly junk is just so beautiful. I wanted to kidnap this pot from my SIL's house.

Their boyfriend crowed all day.

Next to coffee, Seattle-ites love their fish!

I love snooping in other people's yards ...

Is it a bench? A birdbath? A gnome home?

If only we'd brought a truck, Computer Geek's uncle would have had a lot of items missing from his backyard.

A three-wheeled car we saw in a parking lot.

Our July 4th bash--dinner, badminton, Nerf wars, and fireworks

Puget

View out SIL's back door. I expected the Volturi to come gliding through the trees at any moment.

I couldn't resist taking this shot driving east through Washington, even though the glare from my car window kept it from being perfect. Not too bad for whizzing by at 65 mph.

Our hotel in Lewiston, Idaho, which is right across the river from Clarkston, Washington. Get it?

Salmon River in Idaho

More Salmon River

And the photo that sums up our trip:

I Heart Seattle Part 3

2011-07-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Today's lesson, boys and girls, is on tidal pools.

For two years in a row, I taught kids about marine life during science class. Each year the text book had the little pictorial chart showing where different animals stood (or swam) on the tidal pool life chain. For the first time, I got to see in person, the things I was teaching.

Computer Geek researched ahead to find what day and time would afford best tidal pool viewing. We arrived when the tide was at 2 feet negative. Pssht--like I knew what that meant. It was a good thing my friend surprised me with a pair of Nothinz because I walked around right in the water! And my feet got wet! And I didn't care! (Confession time: I abhor the feeling of wet feet, unless I am swimming or swishing my feet in an ocean. Or I probably wouldn't care if my feet were wet if I was walking on a dock in Monaco.Wet socks on my feet make me want to poke a needle in my eye.)

So here are some pictures that, even though I am an amateur and my camera has a permanent smudge on the inside of the lens, are waaay better than the cheesy drawings in the textbook.

A moon snail, being held by some government lady who assured us that if we removed even a grain of sand from the beach that the entire world ecosystem would fail and all continents would plummet into the ocean. Oh, and that small child in the photo is not my grandson Chunk, though he looks exactly like him, even down to the facial injuries. I wanted to go up to his mom and say,"Would you please ask your son to say 'Grandma' for me? Just this once?'"

This is the amazingly cool sand home that the moon snail creates for itself. And doesn't that shadow almost look like the photographer forgot to remove herself from the frame before snapping the shot?

This area is underwater when the tide comes in. Computer Geek informs me it is on a six hour schedule.

Weston wants one of these in the back yard.

I guess other people did their research too and said, "Let's go! The tide's at a negative 2!"

Someone was a little crabby.

But someone was an even littler crabby!

CG says this is a sea anemone. Since it looks nothing like the cartoon in the 5th grade textbook I will assume he knows what he is talking about. After all, he grew up with water all around him, while I grew up with corn.

I can't decide which I like better---the beauty of the emerald green seaweed, the little yellow crab looking for shelter, or the photographer who tried to get into the picture again.

The highlight of the visit--there were purple starfish everywhere. Oh look. There's that photographer again. Grrr.

Better go---the tide's coming back in. I guess that makes it positive now instead of negative.

I told you I'm a thinker.

I Heart Seattle Part 2

2011-07-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

How can you not have fun on Beach Drive?

Drop one crumb of your lunch and these fellas will descend upon you. Peck your eye out in the process? They care not.

Computer Geek's childhood home. And...

HIS FRONT YARD! (Well, across the street from his front yard.)

The Space Needle is always impressive.

Alki Beach on the Puget Sound (Weston is in the red cap.)

Beach grass...driftwood...crashing waves...Ahhhh

Sunset on the Puget Sound

Blake Island in the background

God loves me. A trip to the Pacific Ocean was not in the plans during this trip, much to my chagrin. Luckily, Computer Geek's nephew was camping at the ocean with friends and LOST HIS CAR KEYS! There was a family summit, trying to determine who would make the three hour trip to the ocean to take the spare keys to David. We were the only ones who raised our hands and said, "Pick me! Pick me!"

Divine intervention, I tell ya.

We had to keep moving our chairs back because the tide was coming in.

The ocean--it simultaneously calms and invigorates

I Heart Seattle Part 1

2011-07-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

    Two weeks ago, we had a family emergency (that turned out well) and had to make a rushed trip to the Seattle, Washington, area. We were gone around eleven days and while the first couple of days were kind of scary, we ended up having a great time.
    It is a struggle every day to keep our Utah lawns tinged with green, because if we neglect them for a few days, we come back to yards resembling Shredded Wheat. Not so in Seattle. Yards are lush, filled with ferns, rhododendrons and hydrangeas. It's a feast for the eyes. I could live there. Oh yeah.
    I hope over the next few days, you enjoy my pictorial journal of my visit.

The town of Leavenworth, WA. The whole town is decorated like a Bavarian village, with lots of quaint shops. Unfortunately, the two times we have been there, we were either too early or too late, and most shops were closed.

More Leavenworth.

Weston was intrigued by the moss on the trees.

My SIL's yard.

Road leading to my SIL's house. I would have loved to have taken a walk here but it's home to bobcats and bears. Oh my.

We did take a walk in this neighborhood though. I was reassured that nothing bad would happen.

The legendary harbor-front Public Market. Some day I will spend more than an hour here and bring at least $500 to spend. I promise.

Computer Geek's childhood haunt in his West Seattle hood. Right across the street is the Puget Sound.

That made me hungry so I'm off to make lunch. Come back tomorrow for more!

End of June Question #7

2011-06-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

I'm on someone else's computer today and for some reason it is not letting me edit my previous posts, so I will go right ahead with question #7.

Today you can pick and choose. Answer one, two, or all three questions.

1. Have you ever met someone, and within seconds or minutes knew that this person was meant to be your friend? Tell us about him or her.

2. What TV show do you hate to miss?

3. Assuming you have the proper resources at your disposal, what would you like to invent?

End of June Question #6

2011-06-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I was absent yesterday and not near a computer. But I am back today, better than ever, stronger, and maybe even a little bit cuter.

Cranium-stretching question number six:

Do you have an affinity for a place (town, city, vacation spot,) other than your hometown? This would be a place where as soon as you get there, you feel "home." Why do you love this place?

End of June Question #5

2011-06-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here we go, ladies and gents. Burning question number cinco:

Have you ever performed or spoken in front of an audience of more than ten people?

Auntie M says: Yes. I don't especially like it but I have done it several times.
As a child, I was painfully shy and a nervous wreck having to recite in class or give a book report.

Sandy says: yep with you every week and also at aerobics! :)

Septembermom says: In September, I'm going to be a rookie CCD teacher. That should be an interesting audience. I better start working on some engaging material :)

Jill says: I always hated public speaking too. Now I do it all the time.

My answer: I did a few dance performances, performed in a Les Miserables reader's theater, have spoken before large crowds (up to 200,) and am a teacher. Like many of you, I dreaded speaking before others. but now it's no big deal.

End of June Question #4

2011-06-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've really loved seeing all your answers to my nosy questions. Next up is mind-probing question #4.

What can cause you to feel almost instantaneously angry? [I'm in trouble if you say, "People asking me dumb questions!"]

Septembermom says: Hearing about a case of child abuse on the news.

Adam says: I don't like it when they'll say something on the news, say a robbery or some crime, basically proving it with video, eyewitness reports, etc. then CLOSE it out by saying "...allegedly". Like what was the whole point of that report if you aren't going to vouch for it?

Auntie M says: Ah, it seems today there are so many things, many of them petty.
I'll nod to Septembermom, child abuse.

Jill says: when people underestimate or dismiss my kids.

Winston Smith says: Politicians! Duh!

Anonymous says: .... m i l ..... :) enough said

My answer: I'll agree with a lot of the others--anything that involves abuse or injustice toward children.

I also have a couple of petty things that make me angry.

1. When I feel like things in my surroundings are becoming disorganized or cluttered I can only put up with it for so long, then I snap. Anger seems to come out of nowhere.

2. When I stay up until 2:30 A.M. to finish a romance novel in which the author has taken us on an eleven year journey with the characters, culminating in their first kiss in the last few pages, only to have them both decide they didn't feel anything with that kiss and that they should remain "just friends."

End of June Question #3

2011-06-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks to those who responded yesterday! Today's question is involves transportation.

Question #2: Have you ever traveled in a helicopter, submarine, hot air balloon, or limousine? Tell us about the experience.

Auntie M says: Helicopter, from one airport to another in NYC. Kind of scary, as I recall. Never been in a limo. For the most part, I think they are silly.

Septembermom says: Look at all the fun that I'm missing over here! I would love to travel in a hot air balloon, but I know hubby would never go for it. One time I was in a limo as part of a mostly Greek bridal party. Everyone spoke Greek but me. I felt like they all had some secret conversations.

My answer: I have traveled in a helicopter three times: Once as a child at a festival, once over the Utah mountains, and once over beautiful Lake Powell. All three times were a little nerve-wracking, but the last two times especially since the pilot took great joy in pretending the helicopter was failing and in flying almost completely sideways. I was in a submarine once, in Disneyland. Does that count? I was also in a limousine once, when daughter Em was born, because the hospital sent each new mother and child home in a limousine. Never been in a hot air balloon, but it's not on my bucket list so I don't care.

End of June Question #2

2011-06-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

I loved the answers you gave yesterday, especially because I learned some new things. Thanks for playing along! If you missed the first day, you may jump in at any time.

Question Number 2:

Have you ever hurt someone's feelings and still regret it to this day? Tell us about it.

Controlling My Chaos says: Yes. I "replied to all" on a political e-mail that was sent to me by a friend. I was annoyed that she sent it to me, knowing I did not share her beliefs, and I responded negatively. It hurt her, and I will always regret it. :(

Auntie M. says: The only incidence that comes to mind is this. I hurt a friends feelings at lunch, and later apologized and we were fine. A couple of years later I found out she was a hypocrite, not only with me but with all our mutual friends. She has since died. The other friends don't know what I know about her and I don't plan to ever tell them. Let them remember her however they wish.

Septembermom says: Once we were in a heated argument with one of my husband's aunts. We were all stubborn over a certain issue. I said a few things to her that I regret to this day.

And here's my answer: Years ago I was a struggling single mother working more than one job. At a church gathering, a woman I knew by name-only came up to me and said, "So, Randi, what do you like to do for fun?" I immediately went into "me, me, me" mode and started saying something stupid and selfish like, "Fun? I don't have time for fun. My whole day is consumed with work, my girls, more work, then getting up to do it all over again." Blah, blah, blah...

Later, a mutual friend called me and asked me to explain how the interaction went. She told me the woman said, "Boy, Randi sure shut me down. I tried to initiate a friendship with her and see if maybe she wanted to get together sometime, but she made sure I knew loud and clear that she wanted no part of it. Her whole attitude was 'Don't bother me.'" Was she correct in her assessment of me? Yup. That's exactly how my attitude came across and and soon as the mutual friend told me, I felt shame for my behavior. I intended to apologize and maybe later invite her to go out for a bite to eat, but I procrastinated and never did it. Yeah, I was a jerk.