The Box

Today I knew the time had finally come that I needed to venture into the recesses of the basement and seek out the box I had packed away two years ago. I reluctantly looked, almost hoping I wouldn't find it. But after a few minutes of halfhearted searching, I found what I was looking for.



It's always hard to admit to yourself that you have become too oddly shaped to fit into clothing created for normal human beings, but it has to happen at some point. It's kind of like taking out the fat pants after Christmas... and knowing you're going to have to wear them until Easter.

When I opened the box, they were even worse than I remembered. But I took comfort in the fact that by New Year's they will be carefully packed away again... into the garbage.

What I did with my $1.61

For those of you who are unaware of my recent pennies from heaven experience, read here.

I have mused long and hard about how to spent it. Finally, today, as I was buying thread to fix a stuffed sea lion who had been horribly wounded by the washing machine I saw the perfect use for my $1.61. I purchased (drum roll please) a seam ripper. It may not sound like that exciting of a purchase, but I figure that I use my existing seam ripper about once a day and I spend a third of my life looking for it. Since I had the extra cash, I bought a dedicated one for my sewing machine. In the past, I have had to go so far as to try to rip out mistakes with a safety pin because my seam ripper was lost. This will ensure that I have one on hand every time I make a mistake sewing and will free up my other one for more exciting uses such as:

Getting that last bit of grime out from under my fingernails.

Busting into difficult to penetrate shrink wrap.

Taking itchy tags out of shirts.

Splitting crab leg shells.

Not to mention all the time I will save not having to constantly search for a seam ripper. With all that free time, who knows? I might even solve the fuel crisis. $1.61 to break our dependence on foreign oil - now that's a steal.

The Final Frontier

Every time I go I say that this will be my final trip to Frontier Days. Last year I was so serious about not having anything to do with it that we left town. Last night, we made our return to Frontier Days for the first time since the drunken cowboy brawl of 2005 (if you want to know more about this ask Chris).






We had a great time seeing the Thunderbirds in the morning (sorry, I forgot the camera) and then going to the Air Force open house. This is Emily sitting in a helicopter. Despite her facial expression it was a very exciting moment for her.






Since we had so much fun in the morning, we decided a trip to Frontier Park (also known as the belly of the beast the last full week in July) was warranted. Yesterday was, after all, Cheyenne Day and that meant that admission was free and rides were discounted for Cheyenne residents. After riding two rides with Emily, we ate the most expensive, most disgusting gyros available to mankind and decided we were all frontiered out. In spite of the discounts and freebies, we had blown through $54 in an hour and a half.




On the way out, we decided to take Emily by the animal pens. That was a big hit. She was smiling and waving at the cows and horses and kept exclaiming, "Oh! How cute!". Of course, that part was free. Maybe next year we will just drop by and see the animals. That would be fun. But chances are good that we will once again talk ourselves into visiting the belly of the beast, spending money we shouldn't and eating food that will torture our guts for days. Isn't that, after all, what family fun is all about?

Thank you, W!

After many years of letting the summer pass us by, Chris and I finally decided it was time for a vacation. Thanks to W's tax rebates we were left with no excuses and so, last Monday, we dropped Emily off with my sainted parents and began our adventure.

We visited Independence, Liberty, Far West and Adam Ondi Ahman in Missouri and Carthage and Nauvoo in Illinois. I won't write a comprehensive summary of our travels because there are many guide books that will give you that and also most of my blogfans have been to all these places. I will however cover what in my mind were the highlights of the trip.

#1 - Allowing the GPS to guide us over a series of dirt roads to Far West. It turns out it could have been reached on main highways, but this was much more fun. It was kind of like getting lost without really getting lost.

#2 - The beautiful landscapes. I can see why the pioneers were so disappointed when they arrived in Salt Lake. It was amazing to me to see trees that had not been planted and cultivated but had just sort of sprung forth from the ground.




#3 - I thought Carthage jail would be very sad to visit, but I found it to be exactly the opposite. I was surprised by lack of blame and hatred towards the members of the mob. Carthage wasn't a reminder that Joseph Smith had been brutally murdered - It was a reminder that he believed in what he was doing enough to walk calmly into certian death.













#4 - Chris almost had a bigfoot sighting at Adam Ondi Ahman. It turned out to be a deer. Look closely. It's in there somewhere.






#5 - For the first time in my life, I saw fireflies. Now, I know a few of my blogfans live in areas where they are plentiful and find them rather unremarkable but when you stop to think about it, how much cooler does it get than a bug with a butt that lights up?

#6 - Seeing both the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers.



#7 - Getting to go through the Nauvoo temple and spending time walking around the temple grounds later that evening. The coolest part of the temple construction is that I could not find a single bit of concrete within the temple grounds. The curb and gutter were limestone and I believe the sidewalk and parking lot were granite. I know most people wouldn't have noticed but I have always had a great appreciation for such things.




#8 - Seeing the rocking horse that belonged to John Taylor's son. The story goes that the son was so distraught to leave his horse behind that John Taylor turned back after a couple of days' journey and risked his life to sneak back into Nauvoo to retrieve the horse for his son. It made it all the way to Salt Lake and was eventually donated back to Nauvoo by the family. It was very touching to see the love he had for his son.

#9 - After seeing the beautiful homes that these people had built with their own hands, I had a great appreciation for the fact that most had to leave after staying only a few months in their completed dwellings. It must have taken a great deal of faith to leave their dream homes for an uncertian future.

#10 - Making the same journey the pioneers made in months all in one day. We left Nauvoo (actually Keokuk - 15 miles away) after a late breakfast and we landed in Salt Lake in time for dinner. It really made me appreciate the ability we have to travel.

#11 - Getting to spend time with Chris.

We had a wonderful time and are very grateful that we were able to go.

My lucky day

Yesterday, as I was cleaning my car, I found a grand total of $1.61. It may be nothing to Chris' inheritance , but It was a buck sixty-one that I didn't have before and now it is burning a hole in my pocket. With that kind of cash I could:




Buy a satisfying lunch packed with vitamins and consisting of either a hamburger, a taco or fries.










Enjoy the relative silence for a minute and thirty seconds as Emily rides the super overpriced mechanical horse at WalMart.






Eat 3 packs of M&M's in one sitting - by myself. In the dark. Because I would be ashamed and also because I wouldn't want to share.











Drive 10 miles with no destination in mind while singing along to Journey.





These are all definitely strong options, but I don't want to blow my wad before I've thought it through. Anyone else have any ideas?

The Good Old Days

When Emily was a newborn and had the worst case of colic known to man, I was out of my mind. I was exhausted and constantly clinging to the very tail end of my rope. At that time, a few parents actually said to me, "Just wait until she's two and starts throwing tantrums and asking questions constantly. Then you'll long for these days". At the time, those comments engendered such a feeling of hopelessness that I wondered why anybody would have children. Now I know better.

Emily is finally two and I can at last definitively say I long for those days about as much as Nelson Mandela wishes he was back in prison.

The tantrums are not fun, but they are brief and are improving over time. They are more than offset by the range of emotions that wasn't there two years ago. At the beginning, there was only mad and asleep. Now happiness, boredom, curiosity, remorse, playfulness and a slew of other emotions have joined the mix.

As for the questions, they have been coming for about six months now and although I am not always able to give a satisfactory answer, I must say that I love being constantly asked, "What is that?" or "What's that sound?". I love the awakening that is taking place every day. With the awakening comes communication I would have never dreamed possible a year ago. I can answer her questions. I can explain rules to her. I can calm her down by talking to her and (my favorite) I can bribe her to be good.



This whole experience has left me wishing that children came into the world as toddlers rather than infants. It has also left me with a great deal of doubt when those same parents who told me I would hate the toddler years tell me how bad teenagers are. Something tells me I will never again wish for colic. And there is a great deal of comfort in that.

Now... let's just hope that the parents who tell me the second one is always more mellow are right.

A Tribute

Six years ago, I was newly married, had recently graduated from college and I was very, very fat. After I got married, I had done a lot of cooking and it showed. I had also lost access to Half Acre Gym which meant that on cold days I got a lousy workout, if I even got one at all. When I turned 23, I told anyone who asked that I wanted money for my birthday - money that would help me buy a treadmill. I got a cheap treadmill (top picture) and was amazed at the difference it made. I could run even on the snowiest of days.

Since then, I have lost 45 pounds, moved twice, had a child, recovered from a stress fracture and through it all have been able to run longer and feel better thanks to my treadmill. When you pay $400 for a treadmill, you don't expect it to last long, but I figure this one has in excess of 5000 miles on it. It has been through a few repairs and has continued to work so that I could continue to run.

Last week, my treadmill started making a new noise. It has always squeaked, but this was a grinding noise. I asked Chris to take a look. He determined it could be saved, but it would cost over half of the original purchase price. I knew it was time to say goodbye to my old friend. Last Friday, I took it for one last run. It made its horrible grinding noise on and off, but it held up like a champion. I think it knew it was the last time.

It was sad to say goodbye, but once we got the new treadmill set up on Saturday (bottom picture), I could clearly see that home exercise equipment has come a long way in the last 6 years. It is quiet, smooth and beautiful. Still, there is some emotional attachment to my first treadmill - kind of like a first car. Thanks for going the miles with me, old friend.