Taxi4umom

Daylight!!

2011-01-20T18:20:00.004-07:00

I know that is has been forever since I blogged. I am a slacker, I know it. This has been a very busy fall/winter with a wedding and Christmas, travel, etc. But today I noticed something that I just had to comment on.

I was driving home from the office at 5:15 pm and noticed that it was still light!! and also at 5:30 when I got to my driveway. It was light enough that I was able to go outside and scoop up a little dog poop. I don't do that for fun, I do it to keep my lawn from dying. With it being light, the neighbors can see what a pile of crap my yard has become.

I just love it when the days get longer! I feel so much better. Now if I could just figure out what to do with all that poop!!

In Praise of the Fast Past--London Style

2010-10-27T12:07:00.004-06:00

Bob and I just got back from London (well almost, just -- it has been a week & 2 days but I've been busy). He went on business. I went on Holiday. It was really fun. I knocked 2 items off my list of things to see (yes, I keep a running list of things I want to see in London) -- The Palace of Westminster (That's Parliament to the uninformed) and the Tate Modern. They had a great Gaugin exhibit. Bob and I took a open air bus tour; I went to Harrod's (Bob hated it). We saw the V&A, St. Paul's twice.

We went to the Royal Albert Hall. The tour was a hour away. Bob had a "fast pass" (ala Disneyland) and we took a really quick tour. Later that evening, we went to services in Westminster Abbey. Walked over to the London Eye. Bought a ticket. Again, Bob had a fast pass for the line.

Here is the London Fast Pass:

I have a question. Do you have an answer?

2010-09-28T18:36:00.002-06:00

Here is the question:

I purchased a coupon for laser hair removal -- one area on my body, 6 visits. Do I want to remove the Tom Selleck-esque hair on my upper lip, or the fuzzy soft long white hairs on my chin that you don't think about until you see an old lady in church and the sun hits her in profile and you wonder if you too look like Sasquatch?

I know it was long (the sentence not the hair) but I really need an answer.

PS I lost 4.2 lbs at WW last week. I am not passing 25 lbs for a second time.

Why Weight

2010-09-20T11:48:00.004-06:00

I think I used this title before back 2 years ago before I seemed to lose total control over my life. Anyway, I went back to weight watchers last week -- after losing a total of 53 pounds, over the last 18 months I have gained back 33. To look on the bright side, I have lost a net of 20 lbs.

So, in order to be good, I went back today. I think that is the key. go back even if you are sure you have gained weight. So I did.

that's all.

OK, I'm really back.

2010-09-11T20:47:00.006-06:00

Kathleen just reminded me that I hadn't lived up to my promise to update the blog. I'm sorry. She did tell me that I was a funny blogger and really needed to get back to it.

So much has happened since I last blogged -- trip to Europe, hauling my carcass across Austria on a bike, robbie going off to school is the rain-soaked northwest, my nephew coming home from his mission next week, lots of other changes that can only be speculated about (or about which we can only speculate - don't like to end my sentences with a preposition).

Anyway, I left with a cryptic note about what I was doing 5 years previous. I guess I should elaborate. Several years ago, I bought a book, "1000 things to do before you die". (I'm not really sure if the punctuation should go inside or out of the quotation marks. Don't judge me.) I had been to London 3 times previously with my kids and/or my sister Kathleen, so I was looking at things to do in London before I die. There was this entry of the Chelsea Flower Show, the most incredible garden show on earth!! I decided then and there that for my 50th birthday I and my friends and sisters and daughters would go to the Chelsea Flower Show. I issued an invitation to anyone who wanted to go over the week of my birthday, 2005, with the caveat that they had to make all their own arrangements, I would not coordinate anything but my own travel.

It was so fabulous!! Rachel and Sarah came; my friend Pat Peterson and her daughter Katherine; Sarah's wonderful friend (and my extra daughter) Emily Jones, and my wonderful sisters, Kathleen Lewis and Fran Gordon. I guess what made this extra special was that Fran had been recovering from breast cancer treatments and it was such a miracle that she was able to come. Maybe this was extra, extra special because just a little over a year later, she succumbed to that awful disease. We still miss her terribly.

That was such a magical trip that I want to take it again. I use the pictures of the trip as the screen saver on my computer and when I turn away for a minute and then return, there is a picture of London and the people I love.

Take a look at these pictures and I dare you to tell me you don't agree.

The Blob is back.

2010-05-31T20:27:00.001-06:00

OK, the blog is back. I can't believe it has been 7 months since I have posted an entry. I promise, I'll update tonight.
Let's talk about what I was doing 5 years ago this week. Any guesses?
See you later.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

2009-10-28T16:58:00.001-06:00

This is what met us yesterday morning. Of course, Bob Sykes wanted to finish picking all the apples in the snow.

Garden Marvel

2009-10-25T23:21:00.003-06:00

this is from our garden. The tomato, not the frog. Please note that it is a conjoined twin tomato.

Yesterday is the first day of the rest of my life.

2009-10-20T11:16:00.002-06:00

I decided to face the music (and not dance) but return to WW again. The last time I went was in June and the time before that was in March. So, in order to get in the swing of things, I took Otto and Daisy for a walk. By myself. Alone. Solo. I decided to park by the Capitol and walk down the switch backs to Memory Grove. I was going to simply walk along the road until I got to the end and then go back down the canyon road to my car. Sound good.

Well, there wasn't anyone around so when I got to the bridge that crosses the creek over to the off-leash trail, I decided to go over there and let the dogs run free. They ran along the creek having a great time. I, on the other hand, had bitten off more than I could chew. First, I had to carry a bag of dog crap forever. The up side to that is if anyone accosts me, I can hit them with a a bag of poop. A formidable weapon. Second, apparently there isn't really a trail north of the bridge. There was one at one time, but it was washed out. I got past one really treacherous spot and walked for 100 yards and got to another place that I couldn't get past. I decided to go back and then for some reason was unable to cross over the last spot I had crossed. Meanwhile Otto and Daisy were having a fabulous time.

So, I called the dogs back. Put them on their leashes, slid down the hill on my butt, forded the stream and climbed the hill on the other side. Now I was wet and muddy. My new jeans that were too big could now not be returned. I finally got back to my car and I still hadn't been to WW.

I made a list of all the things that were good about my weight loss. Some of them have returned since I have gained some weight back. This is my motivation for change.

1. Not short of breath
2. Plantar faciaitis gone
3. I don’t pee when I sneeze
4. Balance and dizziness is better.
5. Only need 1 pillow to sleep
6. Snoring is improved
7. Can tie my shoes on top of my foot, not the side.
8. Smaller clothes
9. Cuter shoes
10. Stamina greater when shopping or going to museum
11. Don’t struggle with airplane seatbelt
12. Can put on my socks while standing up
13. Can put on panty hose in Temple locker room stall.

I tried to sneak in and just weigh in a not see anyone, but my old leader was there and she invited to stay for the meeting. This is a good thing. I have only gained back 27 of the 50 lbs that I lost (only is a relative term) and they aren't going to make me give back my tokens. I promptly went to Taco Time for lunch (hadn't had breakfast) and couldn't really eat much the rest of the day to stay in my points range.

I made it through Monday only using 2 of my 35 extra points. Today, I walked the dogs. We stayed on the road. I've had a WW breakfast. I am determined to follow the rules. I had my 2 tsps of healthy oil. I will need 3 dairy and 5 fruits and vegetables.

I really want to use all 26 points for Halloween Candy.

I'll report more later.

And the consolation prize goes to . . .

2009-09-30T22:35:00.005-06:00

. . . Monument Valley and Grand Staircase-Escalante. If you manage to get to the bottom of this post, the reward is pictures!!

You may know that Bob and I cancelled our trip to China. Apparently, when we scheduled Bob’s lectures at Hunan University in Changsha, it coincided with the Glorious 60th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, students have to participate in the festivities and Bob would be lecturing to an empty hall. So, we didn’t feel that we could justify the expense and the time off to go if there were no lectures to give (on the American Judicial System - by the way - though I’m not sure they really care how our system works, since they seem to have one of their own). And Sarah has to have her pacey changed. It was just too much trouble to change my frequent flier ticket to come home early – the only one available was 1 day early. And to cancel my ticket and get a regular ticket where I could sit in the middle of the steerage section (with or without the chickens and the goats) for 15 hours for $2K+ just didn’t seem worth it. Anyway, Rachel still went and has sent us back some fabulous pictures. She told me last night, if we ever go, maybe she’ll come along again. We are expecting souvenirs, and it better happen since I gave her money to spend.
So, I wanted to go somewhere. I read about Highway 12 in the AAA magazine and decided that we would do a quick little jaunt to Southern Utah. Home of the John Wayne Western, sand, hoo- doos, national parks, etc. One particular high point is that there are many places where cell phones do not work. We could travel along without any interruptions from the office. I was not really prepared for the majesty that exists in the state of Utah. You might say that it is actually "life changing". Now ‘life changing" is Sarah’s description for something fabulous. It can be a really great bacon-cheeseburger, the Boyz to Men Reunion concert at the Utah State Fair or truly something life changing in the traditional sense of the expression. Now judge for yourselves and tell me that this isn’t life changing.
PS - the other consolation prize is that I get to gorge myself of the food of the God’s – white bread, a teeny bit of mayo, home-grown vine-ripe tomatoes, salt and pepper all wrapped up in a fabulous (Life Changing!!) sandwich. All my tomatoes have ripened and I would have missed them had we been in China.

Wonderful pictures in no particular order:

Desert critters

Hoo-doos of Red Canyon

Hoo-doos of Red Canyon, part 2

Gorge of the Grand Staircase - in geological ages, the formations of the Grand Canyon, Zions Canyon and Bryce canyon stair step up so what is old in one canyon, is new in the next - hence the name staircase. Thank goodness Bill Clinton protected this. Pictures do not do it justice.

This whole area is open range. We met Bossy, here, and many of her friends.

Fall is at its peak on Highway 12

The view from our motel room in Torrey.

Mexican Hat, Utah. No dancing going on.

Valley of the Gods as seen from the most awesome, white-knuckle, hair-pin turn road I have ever been on!!

Monument Valley

Monument Valley -- can't you just seen John Wayne and Paul Newman come galluping over the rise.

More Monument Valley

Children: be forewarned. I am already planning a McKay/Lewis trip to follow in the footsteps of our pioneer ancestors in this glorious country.

It's Only Fair

2009-09-16T21:06:00.004-06:00

The Utah State Fair has finally arrived!! I look forward to it every year and try to go at least once and if I am lucky I go twice or thrice. It's been raining like crazy the last couple of days so we finally decided to brave it last night. It was about 8 pm when we got there, but because of the early rain, there was hardly anyone around. That meant we could get dinner and not have any trouble finding a place to sit. So, dinner is one of my favorite things about the fair. I eat food I never get any other time. This time, I got:

Philly Cheese steak from Moochies.

Then, we went to my favorite place: The Home Arts.

Then, We had to go see the famous Butter Cow, sculpted by my old Friend from Ohio, Debbie McPhie Brown. I must be attempted to be Emily Dickinson. All My Nouns are capitalized.

The real picture is in my phone, I just can't figure out how to get it out, so this is from the Utah Dairy Council's website -- it is last year's cow. This year features a cow in a tutu, Kathleen's personal favorite:

And finally, to top off a perfect evening!!

I just strolled along the midway, stumbling down memory lane, remembering the good times had by all. Maybe Saturday, I'll go see the pigs.

Pioneer Women Sang as They Walked, and Canned, and Gardened, and Made Pies, etc.

2009-09-09T10:34:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading The Undaunted, by Gerald Lund. Now, just for clarification sake, I generally do not read LDS historical fiction. It's not that I am a snob (maybe I am), but that there is generally too much fiction and not enough history. I picked this one up because it was about the Hole-in-the-Rock expedition, or San Juan Mission, in 1880/81, where about 250 Latter Day Saint settlers were called to start a colony in the San Jaun Valley is south eastern Utah/South Western Colorado area. The only reason I am interested in this is because the President of the San Juan Mission, and leader of the Expedition, was Silas S. Smith, my great-grandfather.

It was a pretty good book. There was way too much story about these fictional folks and where they came from and what they said and how they felt, etc. However, the description of the climb through this rugged terrain and the sacrifices these people made and the exertion and pain and triumphs and blessings that came from following the call of a prophet made it worth the reading. I highly recommend it.

So, lately, I have gotten back to my Pioneer woman roots. I love stories of frontier women. Ever since I was in Jr. high. I love Willa Cather (My Antonia, etc.). A Latern in Her Hand and Mrs. Mike (about Canada) were some of my favorite high school reads. Letters from a Woman Homesteader is a book I couldn't put down (and it is real). I even loved The Revolt of Sarah Perkins (this was a dumb story about a plain-looking mousy New England woman who goes to the west to teach school and ends up saving the town from Indians, marrying the handsome rancher, and becoming beautiful in her own way -- I didn't say it was great literature, but when you're 14, it is the best!!)

So far this year, I have planted, canned, frozen, picked, and made pies!! I asked Bob to see if he could find a few apricots at the fruit stand in Brigham City so I could make a small batch of jam. He came home with a half-bushel. I made 4 batches of apricot jam, 2 batches of apricot syrup, 2 pies, and the pureed the last 8 cups and froze it for future jam. I also made 3 batches of raspberry jam, froze 15 pounds of beans, have a big pile of zucchini waiting to be made into bread, more tomatoes in Huntsville that I know what to do with. I've also learned several ways to cook turnips. If I could only figure out what to do with all those beets.

I have also started a fall garden patch. We built 2 4x4 boxes and Bob put them on wheels and I put it on the deck on top of the garage. I already have things growing. I just don't remember what they are. So, could be beans, could be radishes, could be spinach. Only time will tell.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Otto and I have to go plow the North 40.

My Own Personal Hades

2009-08-23T20:16:00.002-06:00

I was going to call this post "go to Hell" but thought I might offend my following of 2-3 people who actually read this blog.

I thought about this because Sarah called me one day and said when we go to Hell we are going to be required to move. She had been moving her office all day (it was about 10 pm!!) and felt that was surely what Eternal damnation was going to be. Perhaps that would be an appropriate punishment, for we are all so wrapped up in our wordly possessions that we might have to pack them, move them, unpack them and then start all over again throughout the eternities.

Those of you who have read Dante's Divine Comedy (most specifically the Inferno) are familiar with the levels of Hell and the punishments that are so specific to the type of sin or sinner. For those of us who are not so well-read, perhaps we have read The Dante Club, a very nice mystery with the Inferno as a framework for the story. This is kind of like admitting that I only read the comics in the newspaper. Bob said I shouldn't say that publically; people might think I am shallow. It's OK. I am shallow. Anyway, I haven't read Dante, but I have read The Dante Club. I think that is close enough.

So, my Eternal punishment will be entertaining. Not entertaining as in people watch and laugh, but as in I have to throw parties. Kathleen said, "Mom, for a person who doesn't like to do this, you do a good job." It is just tiring for me. I have to have a clean house, and I always cook something that I have never made before. I just keep my fingers crossed and hope it turns out ok. Bob always has a few extra jobs to throw in also. This time, he brought more plants home to fill up some empty spots in the yard. Now he did help, but it's very funny. He said how his dad would be so proud of him for getting into gardening, and my response was "what, for standing over me watching me plant?" Anyway, the yard looks better than it has ever looked and I really do just want to show it off, so, we Entertain!!

I'm not sure how this actually fits any particular sin I may have committed (maybe pride in my yard, house, cooking skills, ), but it certainly is punishment. This past summer, I have had to host Youth Conference at the Huntsville house for our ward, get the Huntsville house ready for the Capitol Hill 2nd ward Youth Conference, have a housefull of family members over (that was actually not punishment -- it was a treat -- but still a lot of people); we hosted 12 Chinese clients, with translators, office staff, etc., had the Stake Mutual swimming party, and Bob's tennis group. I'm not sure I used all my commas and semicolons correctly, but I am sure you were able to follow the line of progression in my march toward the river Styx.

Give me room, lots of room.

2009-08-12T21:23:00.004-06:00

When my sister Fran moved out of our parent's home, her room quickly became a sewing room. When it appeared that I was no longer going to move back to Seattle (i.e. a job, then husband, then baby), my room became an office, complete with drafting table, typewriter, etc. After sister Kathleen went off on a mission, and then moved to Phoenix (Mesa, Chandler), her room became storage/guest room. This is the natural order of things.

Times change. When Rachel moved away to college, she told me in no uncertain terms: "don't take over my room." She said this, while in the same breath she would say: "don't ask me, I don't live here." So as the big kids moved out, I strived (strove?) to keep their rooms in the same general condition that they left it in. Generally unmade beds and dirty clothes on the floor. Now they have their own places so I am pretty sure they really don't live here anymore except for an occasional holiday, or house sitting, or illness.

But now I only have one child at home, size-wise she doesn't take up much space. But to see all of her stuff spill over into the rest of the house, you would think that a half dozen very messy young children still live here. Kathleen has stuff in literally every room in the house. She does her homework in the dining room, at the kitchen, at the bar in the family room. She uses the upstairs bathroom for getting ready at the sink, but bathes and uses the other facilities down stairs. She sleeps in her room, or Rob's room if hers has to much stuff on the floor or the bed. If it is really hot, she sleeps in Sarah's or Rachel's room. Everybody's stuff is dropped on the kitchen counter, so I really can't say what is hers and what is Bob's. Often she is working at the computer in Bob's office. My sewing room is no longer my own, and when I come home from work, I find her sitting on my bed, watching the TV shows I recorded on my DVR.

I don't know what planets are out of alignment, but the whole natural order of things is upside down.

I'll Have the Early Bird Special

2009-07-23T14:26:00.004-06:00

I know that it has been forever since I posted, but I am basking in the wonderfulness of not having to go to high school anymore. Besides, I have been busy with a job, 2 houses, 2 dogs, a husband, a college student, 2 gardens, YW presidency, visiting teaching and MS. So after a particularly busy and tiring day, I got something in the mail that was just the cherry on top.

Now I know why the waitress at Village Inn gave us a 10% discount the other day. We are (expletive deleted) senior citizens!! Of course, that it what I get for going to Village Inn for dinner.

The Happiest Day of My Life

2009-06-14T19:38:00.009-06:00

I can't believe it has finally come. It is a day I have been waiting for since August of 1994. Our last child, the beautiful Kathleen Marie Sykes, graduated from West High.

We started at West with Rachel as a 7th grader in the ELP program in 1994; Sarah in 1996, Rob in 2000, and Kathleen in 2005. Our roots at West go back even further. My parents, Frances Dibble and Scott McKay, were West high graduates.

A friend of mine told me that even though I am ecstatic right now about never having to get up at 6:30 am and beat a child to school (metaphorically speaking), one day I will drive by the school and get a little wistful, perhaps even teary-eyed, as I think back on all the memories of good times at West.

No more parent-teacher conferences, cross-country meets, tennis matches, dance concerts, back-to-school nights, A Capella trips and dinner/auction fund raisers. No more PTA meetings and folding parties for the school newsletter. No more swim meets, fines, automated calls telling me my student was absent or tardy one or more periods today. No more children telling me it was their sibling that was tardy or absent one or more periods today. No more trying to figure out if it was a red or black day and when each child was supposed to be home and why they were home early. No more homework, IB/AP tests, USBSCT tests, CRT's. No more online classes, no more worrying if the grades would get to the registrar on time to qualify for graduation. No more bad school pictures.

In other words, one less source of stress in my life.

Congratulations, Kathleen (and me!). We graduated.

Once a Panther (and Panther Parent), always a Panther.

I Can't Help Myself.

2009-05-29T10:57:00.002-06:00

I just couldn’t help myself. I walked into Costco with the sole intent of buying dishwasher detergent tablets, pool chlorine, 3 oz. cups, and Soft Soap. There is something about the air in Costco . It must be thinner because I start thinking fuzzily. My eyes glaze over and my willpower disappears. I was shocked when the bill at check out came to $320!!! Looking over my purchases I came home with the soap, the cups, the chlorine (that was $100), the detergent, pool shock, dog food, 2 blouses, and James Patterson New Book!!!!
At least I know I am not the only one with the problem. Bob went last week and bought dog food, cleaning supplies, cheese, chicken salad, 2 flats of raspberries, bratwurst, Advil, fish oil tablets, and a whole bunch of Kleenex. The past Wednesday he went to buy stuff for the office. He came back with chocolate caramel macadamia nuts, chocolate covered almonds, gummy bears, a box of lunch size chips packages, multigrain chips, vegetable chips, tortilla chips, peanuts, mixed nuts, Pepsi, Fuze drinks, cheese/cheese cracker sandwiches, and a 2-gallon container of animal crackers!!
This is why I don’t send Bob to the store. I ask for eggs; I get eggs, Oreos, lentil soup, sugar cookies, 3 kinds of bread and Vanilla Coke Zero. And cheese balls.
So much for the grocery budget this month.

You Can Go Home Again

2009-05-22T12:50:00.005-06:00

I am a little behind the times, but I just got these pictures so it is ok. In March, we (aka Debbie McPhie Brown) arranged a little reunion for my old high school from Beavercreek Ohiol. At least those people we could find. It was so much fun and just as though we hadn't ever been away. Debbie just sent the pictures and WE HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT!!!

Becky McPhie Reeder was not able to attend (He son was getting married and for some reason, she chose that over our reunion. However, she and her husband took a road trip and ended up in Beavercreek and took some picture for us. Here she is in front of the high school.

This is our high school. It looks smaller and a little newer. I think it has a new facade.

This is where we went to church. These are days that changed my life. It never dawned on me until really just a few months ago, that I must have gone to church smelling like an ashtry. My dad was a heavy smoker and when you live with it, you don't notice it, but others can. No one ever said anything, and everyone was so loving and inclusive. I don't think I would have been the person I am without these friends.

Speaking of these friends, here we are. From the left front: Me, Mendy Simpson Conner, Teresa Daley Love, Wendy Van Waggoner Dyck, Debbie McPhie Brown. Left Back: Charles David Graham (who reminded me of my first day driving to seminary - backed out of the garage with the car door open and tore the door off the car -- I have spent the last 35 years trying to forget), Cynthia Newbold (can't remember her married name), the famous Bruce Newbold - whose voice is so distinctive that I can't watch the temple film without thinking of high school days), and Kathleen McKay Lewis.

Happy Days!

I'm so dizzy!

2009-05-04T21:17:00.003-06:00

Friday morning, I woke up and sat on the edge of my bed and literally fell over!! I have not been able to function at all. I know that spending days in bed seems like a lot of fun, but it gets really boring really fast.

I have caught up on all the Millennium episodes, watched The Chorus (a delightful French film -- even if you have to read the subtitles, it was delightful), tivo's a whole bunch of NCIS and Cold Case and have just laid in bed watching TV.

I've been so dizzy, I can't even read a book for more than a few minutes. And you all know how I like to read!!

Our bishop came over to help give me a blessing and mentioned something about crystals that grow in your cochliar canal in the ear and if one gets dislodged it can throw you off balance. The only cure for that is to have the doctor hit you on the head a few times. Dr. Taylor said he didn't want to do that because he was afraid I might hit him back. I did smack Bob on the back of the head just in case he gets any bright ideas. Anyway, Dr. T thinks it is a virus, not an enhancement of my MS. (I know that enhancement seems like a good thing, but it isn't) Dr. T gave me a sea-sick patch and said that might help. When I read the insert that came with the patch, one of the side-effects really jumped out at me. This patch could make you DIZZY!!

Hopefully, I will be better by Wednesday when I am in charge of Mutual. I'll keep you posted just in case you want to know.

PS. Emily Jones - It may have to be Paris/Rome in 2010, though I am never tired of London.

PPS. Aunty Kate - yes, I took a self defense class at BYU. About all I can do with what I learned it smack Bob on the back of the head. I did learn to flip someone over if they were sitting on the couch right next to me and I was sitting higher than the assailant and he weighed hardly anything.

PPPS. Aunty Kate - Hello! Wedding announcement in the Auburn Times. Also, didn't you go on the handcart trek from the boonies to the Kent Ward? Our picture was in the paper then, too.

My Life so Far

2009-04-21T08:15:00.009-06:00

These are a few of the things I have done since I was this child's age (that's me in 3rd grade). I copied this from Cyd Carter's blog. To participate just copy and paste in your own blog or email me, and bold all of the things you have done.(I put all the things I have done in red)

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band Rock Band counts?)

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain - Ensign Peak is a small mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb - does a lamb chop count?

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen an eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise -a dinner cruise.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving - why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar - not my favorite - ranks right up there with snails.

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone- only if toe bones count!

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - a fish?

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury - called but never chosen

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

Hannah Montana is Not Awful

2009-04-11T23:15:00.002-06:00

That is not to say it is great either. Bob really, really wanted to go to a movie and he wanted to see this. So we humored him, and found that we were more entertained than by the last 2 movies we saw (Faster & Furiouser, and Knowing). I didn't intend for my blog to turn into the movie review of the week when there are so many other things to blog about -- the state of the economy, war, the Obama puppy (finally!!). But the dismal state of the movie pickings the last couple of years is a really important thing to rant about. I really can't count more than a handful of really good movies since Harry Potter. Oh, Slumdog was great and Dark Knight was pretty good. And Race to Witch Mountain was really fun. And Hannah Montana was not awful. Not a rousing recommendation, but 2 stars for the tween girls and no stars for the rest of us.

Honestly, if you saw Kathleen Sykes on the stage with a blond wig, wouldn't you say, "hey, that's Kathleen with a blond wig!"

I will post about something truly important next time.

Snow Bunnies

2009-04-06T22:47:00.005-06:00

I was going to wait a week to do another post after I did another Nicolas Cage post (see below -- my life is sooooo dull), but Bob sent me these pictures and I just had to show everyone that I am not a stodgy as I appear. I can have fun sometimes. Aunty Kate came to visit for our Beavercreek reunion (yes, I said Beavercreek; that is really the name of my high school. It sounds even more ridiculous [that word again] when the slogan was "the home of the battling Beavers." In fact, when I signed up for online banking, and answered the security question that wanted my high school mascot, Zions Bank computer program told me it was an 'inappropriate' response. Eew.)

Anyway, when people come to visit, Bob just loves to take them skiing, even if they can't. So here is Aunty Kate and I having a great time. Who knew us old gals could be so fun.

That really is us, you just need a magnefying glass to see us.
Celebrating getting off the lift without falling!!

We are so much fun.

How do we start?

Yay. We are done!!

Show off!!

to quote Tigger: RIDICULOUS!

2009-04-05T12:14:00.004-06:00

When I posted my last blog, I forgot some things I wanted to tell you. By the way, I overwhelm myself when I consider the amount of time I have spent thinking about this silly movie. Anyway, here it is:

1. Everytime some ridiculous plot change occurred, the entire audience began to talk, whisper, chatter, you get it. They weren't buying it.

2. Please see: http://www.cracked.com/topic/118-nicolas-cage/ This will give you all the possible plot devices for almost any Nicolas Cage movie. It is hilariousness epitomized.

Now, if only some one would do the same for Vin Diesel movies. They are all probably the same.

PS -- Ridiculous is the word of the day for all the movies I have seen recently. To name a few: Taken (ridiculous but hugely entertaining according to Kathleen), Race to Witch Mountain (Ridiculous but Awesome!!) Knowing (just ridiculous), Fast and Furious (Not to be confused with The Fast and The Furious, Too Fast Too Furious, Faster & Furiouser, etc.) (Ridiculous but great car chases)

More substance to follow.

SPOILER ALERT!!

2009-03-22T22:45:00.003-06:00

I didn't expect my return to the blogging world would be something so banal as a movie review, but I couldn't help myself.

Now I am sure that many of you actually search out information for movies before you go and plunk down $8.00 (!!!) for a movie ticket (and an additional $1 because we thought the movie would be sold out and so we purchased online.) but the Sykes family (at least the parental part of the family) goes to movies based upon what time it is and if it is rated PG-13 or under. So Saturday night, that left us Paul Blart: Mall Cop or Knowing. Now, I had heard enough about Mall Cop to know that it was stupid, so how bad could Nicolas Cage and his new movie be? Of course, I hadn't seen Wicker Man, Ghost Rider, Next, etc. But I had seen Gone in 60 Seconds, The Family Man, Face Off, etc. So I should have known better.

Anyway, this movie simply did not know what it wanted to be. It started out as an eerie horror movie with some little girl obsessed with numbers that she was writing down because her class was supposed to draw what the future would be like and they would be placed in a time capsule. She was interrupted by her teacher so she disappears. The police and the teacher go look for her in the dark school and they never turn on the lights. What is wrong with these people. Haven't they ever gone to the movies. Anyway, they find her, she is locked in the closet and she has written more numbers in her blood in the closet door. Fade to black.

Next we see sad-sack Nicolas Cage with his son. Apparently Mom has died and it is just the two of them. The son wants to believe that Mom is in Heaven. Nic doesn't believe in it. They live in a creepy, run-down, unfinished old Victorian house. Nic drinks too much. At the school the next day, the time capsule is opened and Nic's kid gets the page with numbers. Eerie music. The kid starts to hear voices, but can't tell what they are. Then he sees a shadowy figure standing on the edge of the schoolyard. He looks like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Is this going to be a Vampire Movie? Anyway, Nic looks at the paper and becomes obssessed with the numbers. They seem to have a pattern. They are dates of disasters and how many people have died on those dates. They are all accurate. He goes to his friend at the planetarium who is the voice of reason, says it is all coincidence. Is this a science fiction movie? His sister comes over, tells him he should reconcile with his father who happens to be a Pastor. He says NO. Maybe this is an odd religious movie. The kid keeps seeing these vampirish looking guys who make him see visions of animals running out of some great conflagration. He screams. Are we going to be beaten over the head with a eco-horror story and promises of global warming? Meanwhile, Nic sees a plane crash with 81 people burning up. That was on his list of numbers. He figures out that the other numbers are latitude and longitude. He meets the daughter of the original strange girl who died when she was an adult. Apparently, she was predicting the end of the world and the death of everyone. Nic figures out that this huge sunspot really is going to fry the entire world and everyone in it will die. The little kids say that the Whispering People (the vampires) have told them that they could go with them. Nic figures out that the safest place is back at the home where the little girl (see scene 1) died. He gets there after the Whispering people kidnap the kids, and the daughter of the first little girl dies. He gets there and there is a spaceship!! Again, a sci-fi movie? Are these vampires really aliens. Anyway, the kids want to go with them and Nic breaks down and cries and says ok go. They descend up into the ship and the vampires turn into Angels!! then lots of spaceships fly up into space. Who knew God had such modes of transportation. If you could hie to Kolob!! In an anticlimactic scene, Nic goes back to his dad's house and make peace with the Pastor, who says if it is his time to go then it is his time, but this is not the end. The earth is totally consumed in flames. The we see the children in a field of grain; they run toward a beautiful white tree. The space ships take off from this planet. The audience laughs. We go home wishing we had gone to see Mall cop.

It's Alive!!

2009-03-05T09:59:00.002-07:00

I promise, I am still alive. I have been caught up in the doom and gloom that is the current state of the world and it just seems to make me feel dreary. I realized that lots of stuff has happened that no one has heard about: Kathleen's magic birthday, Christmas, etc. I will blog this week and hopefully have pictures to catch everyone up with what it going on in my life.

It's all in a name

2008-12-31T10:24:00.006-07:00

I am going to change the names of my dogs. Otto is now Marley, named after the world's worst dog. Otto is probably the world's second worst dog -- actually we are probably the worst owners.

Daisy's new name is Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. I am naming her after the deranged seeing eye b (the movie's words, not mine) in the movie "Everything is Illuminated". She is deranged and kind of looks the same.

Eat My Words

2008-12-16T08:34:00.002-07:00

I know I said I would never buy another Patricia Cornwell book, but in my defense, I was going to NYC for the weekend and it (Scarpetta) was on sale at Smiths. Not as good a price as Costco, but I wasn’t there. Anyway, I needed a brainless, quick read for the 5 hour flight to JFK. And that is exactly what it is. Actually, it is not half bad (which probably means that it is only half good). The Scarpetta books have been getting worse and worse since they killed off Benton, but made a decidedly downward spiral to awfulness since they brought him back from the dead with some lame story about having to hide out for some reason I can’t really even remember now it was so dumb. I do want to know who the poor stiff was whose face Scarpetta identified and they cremated.

However, this book does redeem the series somewhat. The characters are much less angry, pissy, and just plain unlikeable. Marino is on the road to rehabilitation and redemption. Lucy is still quite unlikeable. And I don’t think it has anything to do with her orientation. She is just a nasty, snarky woman who wants to be a man. I do think Cornwell needs to look for some new plot devices. How many stalkers and/or colleagues can Scarpetta have that want to possess/kill and or ruin her professionally before it all seems absurd? Also, how about those seemingly random crimes in a city of millions of people that somehow end up being related to each other and the stalker/colleague-killer/ruiner.

But if you are on a long plane ride and need a diversion, this is not awful. It’s not a ringing endorsement, but better than Trace, BlowFly, Predator and Book of the Dead.

Slow Death

2008-11-23T21:28:00.006-07:00

We had the privilege of hosting judges from the Ukraine for a week (though it truly seemed like 2 weeks). As enjoyable as it was on one level, it seemed, on another level, like a slow and painful death. I am sure all of you know someone who has said, "Oh, I've always wanted to have a Bed & Breakfast!" While we are all grateful for those people, I am sure they are insane. This is not to say that I don't want people from coming to visit us, it's just that I don't want people to come and visit us. No really, only if you speak English, can get yourself around town, don't want to go out and party until 1 or 2 in the morning, don't expect me to make breakfast every day and I don't have to take you to the airport at 5 am. So, family members, Emily Jones, BFF's are all welcome. Please just note the rules stated above. I was going to give you a play by play, blow by blow run down of the week, but it was just too long, so here is a list of the high/lowlights.

1. Hopefully would go to be early, but wanted to have tea and chat 'til 12:30 am.
2. Hotel style continental breakfast, complete with hot cereal and coffee every morning. My coffee must not have tasted too good, because Judge bought instant coffee on Monday.
3. Monday, no one wanted to eat, only shop -- Gap, Barnes & Noble, Apple Store and Victoria's Secret. Very odd experience with Julia digging through stacks of undies while discussing things with Judge in Ukranian. He bought 2 bags of stuff. I didn't ask.
4. Tuesday Ukranian Dinner - a Pork Festival -- All the dishes had some sort of pork product in it. Borscht with spare ribs, potato salad with ham, pork shishkebabs, pierogies and polenta garnished with bacon. If a spot of your plate had not food on it, someone would dish you up some more.
5. Wednesday, a little respite, because everyone went to the Jazz game. They have a Ukranian player on the team and he posed for pictures and signed all their ticket stubs.
6. Thursday - dinner at the Sykes house with pot roast, rolls, roasted potatoes and salad. Made coffee but no one drank it. Must not be too good. Bob took the Judge and Julia shopping -- he was feeling better. Bought the judge a $175 tie!! and a bike helmet for Julia's son. Julia and one of the other judges went out for drinks later. Bob stayed up until 1:30 waiting for her because she said she would only be an hour.
7. Friday -- big huge dinner at the Jacobs house. Kathy, thank you so much. Lots of speeches and then we sent them off to a concert at the Conference center. Then they went shopping some more. We pawned them off on the Sorokins and the Johnsons. We're not very good neighbors.
8. Saturday, they were supposed to be on their way to the airport where we could just leave them. The coordinator overslept and called Bob and asked him to get them checked in as Julia had all the passports (I think a throwback to communism when you didn't want anyone to defect.) It took over an hour to get everyone checked in due to pictures, hugs, overlimit bags. I waited in the car.
9. Cleaned the bathrooms, washed the bedding and generally aired out the house. Kathleen said it smelled like coffee, cheap aftershave and cigarettes. I think it is just a little Euro-funky smell.
10. Monday, I took all the bedspreads to the laundrymat to try to get them smelling fresh again. I may have to throw the pillows away due to the stale cigarette smell, even though they didn't smoke in the house.
11. Tonight at dinner Bob said he missed them and didn't I. Honestly, no!!

Tell Me Its Not True

2008-11-21T21:28:00.003-07:00

What is the world coming to? I just read that Days of Our Lives has fired Marlena and John. She's been possessed. She's had amnesia. She's been married to John 3 times and Roman at least twice. I think Stefano even held her captive for awhile. And John's been a priest and brainwashed by the Evil Stefano. He's had amnesia and been in a coma and missing for months at a time.

I guess the bad economy has even hit Salem. This is apparently a cost cutting measure by NBC.

I haven't watched a soap opera in a zillion years. But I always knew that if I started again, Marlena would still be there. I am so dissapointed.

It's all Relative, Part II

2008-11-14T12:36:00.002-07:00

I was on my way home from Park City yesterday (I had gone to Provo to file a complaint with the district court -- not my own personal complaint, but a malpractice filing for a client) when I decided to take a side trip through Provo Canyon and Heber and have lunch with Sarah. I knew I needed to get gas, but wanted to try to get to SLC and buy it at the Maverik on 2nd West and north Temple for 1.999 gallon.

When I pulled out of Park City, I had 22 miles to empty -- SLC is 26 miles from PC. Anyway, I thought I could make it and then chickened out at Parley's Summit and bought 5 dollars worth of gas. That's a whole whoppin' 2 gallons at $2.25 at the Sinclair Station. I was up to 53 miles to empty.

Anyway, its a good thing I got that gas because I realized that I had errands to run before the $1.99 and 9/10's gas (why do they do the 9/10th thing anyway?). I got the lawn mower shoved into the back of my car and drove up Main Street heading for Maverik. To my surprise, the Maverik at 13th So. and Main had gas for $1.959!! I bought just a little less than 20 gallons (since I bought 2 gallons in Parley's Summit and used one driving around) for $39.01!!! Does anyone remember when gas was this cheap? Cheap is a relative term.

p.s. this picture is a Chevron Sign from google. I haven't seen Chevron this cheap yet.

God Bless America

2008-11-05T13:43:00.005-07:00

After watching all the election coverage (that seemed to go on for a decade) and the historic election of Barack Obama, I believe, no, I know, the following is/is not true:

1. Barack Obama is not a terrorist
2. Barack Obama probably does say the pledge of allegience, salute the flag, pray, blah, blah blah. 3. He is not the devil or the anti-Christ and I am sure he is not the great satan that is discussed in the book of Revelations.
4. He is a natural born US citizen.
5. He is not a Muslim. He was not sworn into office with the Koran. That would have been some other person (in the US House of Representatives - who actually is a Muslim) and so what.

6. He is very liberal on issues that I am conservative or centrist about.

#6 is a perfectly legitimate reason to vote against someone. I am so glad the election is over no matter which way it went just because I was sooooo tired of the anti-Obama emails I kept getting. I checked out the first 2 or 3 on factcheck.org and snopes.com; but since they always turned up as false, or misleading, or doctored, etc. I just quit reading.

Now, while Senator Obama may not be my favorite president, I am also tired of people who say they are going to move to Canada. Please, go. The problem with these people is that they never go!!

America is the greatest country on earth!! My children probably think this is an outrageous claim, but it is true. I believe that God intended us to be great and good. America is bigger than one president. We will survive. We have survived other disastrous presidents. We lived through Jimmy Carter.

It will be OK.

It's all relative!

2008-10-26T13:20:00.003-06:00

I'm no Einstein. So why is it that when I paid $2.89.9 per gallon for gas on Saturday, I felt like I did when I was paying only 38.9 (that's cents). That seemed like a ton of money in 1971, when I had to scrounge around on the floor of my Mom's car for enough change for 1 gallon -- because the gauge didn't work and I didn't know how much gas I really had. I was only able to come up with 35.9 cents, but the nice boy who pumped my gas (I must be old -- I remember when it was the norm to have an attendant fill your tank everywhere, not just Oregon) gave me the extra 3 cents worth. Like I said, I'm no Einstein, so I can't really tell you how much gas I got for the 3 cents I didn't have.

When I filled my tank yesterday, I only (?) cost $66.00. I am only filling it every two weeks and the last time I paid $77. Now Bob fills up every week for a cost of $67 (versus $88 at the highest), I fill up every other week for $66 now (versus $88 at the highest), and Kathleen fills up every 10 days (13 gallon tank) for $38 (instead of $47). This is saving me -----------. You do the math. The answer is: a bundle!!

That's Entertainment

2008-10-18T10:56:00.003-06:00

I have been very disappointed in my entertainment choices lately. Some people would say that I should have known by the movies I have chosen to see, but in my defense I only went to some of these movies because Bob wanted to. He loves movies and actually is fairly easy to please. Bob views movies like he views food (his comment, not mine). He'll eat anything I make and thinks it is all great (with a couple of exceptions). Movies are the same way. Just entertain me for a couple of hours. It's all good.

We have seen the following movies for the past few weeks and included is my mini-review:

1. Babylon, AD -- I should have seen this one coming. Burned out future, Vin Diesel -- a recipe for a bad film. It was just stupid.

2. American Carol -- again, should have seen it coming. It was really dumb, and made me very uncomfortable. Now I do believe that there is a real liberal slant to Hollywood, but if the right is going to make a movie that is slanted in their direction, the least it could be is good. And funny. This movie was neither.

3. The Mummy 3 -- this kinda is a guilty pleasure. There is something about the Mummy movies that just make me laugh. However, it wasn't great. It actually wasn't even good, but passable.

4. Eagle Eye -- this should have been much better than it was. It was one of those movies where you kept looking at your watch wondering how long you had been there. I swear it was a 4 hour movie. With plot holes so large you could drive a really big truck through them.

5. City of Ember -- not bad. Actually you expect fantasy to be fantastical (not a real word). and it was. Just a little too long and the ending didn't resolve anything.

6. Errand of Angels -- loved this movie. Sister missionaries in Germany. Very sweet.

7. Forever Strong -- sports cliche'd, but really entertaining with a great Salt Lake City connection. The Highland High Rugby team! See it if you can.

8. GhostTown -- Best movie I have seen in ages. You will laugh and be touched.

9. The House Bunny -- I liked this movie probably better than I should have. It was silly but sweet. A little vulgar. Still, it made me laugh.

Overall, I guess it wasn't a total loss, movie-wise. There were some roses among the thorns. I would strongly recommend #'s 6, 7, & 8. Moderately recommend #'s 3, 5 &9; and thumbs down on the rest.

I'm only 50/50 on my book choices, also. I finished reading Yearning for the Living God, which I really liked. Once I brought it home from Huntsville, I finished it in no time. I have also been working on Nora Roberts latest book, Tribute. It has taken me 3 months; I'm 2/3 of the way through, I have already figured out who the criminal is and really don't care to finish it. I left it in Huntsville. I can usually bang out a mindless mystery in 2 or 3 days. I can't seem to concentrate. Maybe it is just bad reading choices. Perhaps I should stick to the classics.

I'm also 50/50 on Netflix. I loved Touching Evil - the BBC version. But the Forbidden Kingdom was so dumb, I sent it back without finishing it.

Perfection

2008-10-14T10:19:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I had what I felt like was a perfect day. I'm not sure anyone else would think so, but for some reason it just felt really good to me. Maybe it was because I did a little of what I had to do and a little of what I wanted to do, and got to bed before midnight.
1. I got up.
2. Worked on a quilt I am making for Robbie. It is kinda cool. It is made up of fabrics that remind me of Rob. It is a little off-square, but that reminds me of Rob, too.
3. Went to Weight Watchers with no loss, but I didn't gain either. Sometimes none is more.
4. Went to the office. Since it was a Federal holiday, there were no bills in the mail. It was cold there so I had to go home early before I froze to death.
5. Came home.
6. Fed the dogs, dragged up the garbage cans so Bob didn't have to. Didn't get any mail -- again a plus as there were no bills. The dishwasher was already emptied so I didn't have to do it.
7. Made a tasty dinner for my family -- baked chicken thighs & drumsticks and leftover mashed sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash. Oh, and the last of my zuchinni that I harvested this year. I had 7 plants and only about 6 squash.
8. Cleaned up the dishes, had scriptures and prayer, and it was only 8:15.
9. Since it was early, I got on the treadmill for 30 minutes, earning 3 extra weight watcher points. I was almost done with the current DVD -- Touching Evil from PBS (it is fabulous!) -- so I worked on quilting my quilt that I have set up in the basement. I am not very good. It would probably be better if I used an actual quilting needle and hand quilting thread.
10. It was only 9:15 so I made up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough for Bob, Kathleen and to send to my nephew David who is in the MTC. I will bake them today.
11. I actually finished a book. I the final 3 chapters of "Yearning for the Living God" by Elder Busche. This is the first book I have finished in 6 months. I can't seem to concentrate.
12. Bob built a fire so I sat down in front of the TV and watched a little of the Phillys v Dodgers. Rob called and wanted me to pray for the Dodgers. I don't like the Dodgers, but since they hired Joe Torre after he was fired by the Yankees, I guess it is the least I can do. Actually, since the Yankees are out, I don't really care that much about baseball.
13. Soaked in a hot bathtub with lavendar bubble bath - my favorite sent.
14. Settled into bed and fast forwarded through Dancing with the Stars.
15. Lights out and asleep by 11:45.
My standards for perfection are pretty low. I'll mark this day on my calendar as the near-perfect day.

All Hands on Deck

2008-10-11T16:24:00.001-06:00

Here is my new deck. Like Pandora's box (see post from last August/September), this turned out to be a bigger job than we anticipated. We moved the water spigot, rebuilt some of the benches, and got rid of some others. All in all, I would say that it was worth it. What do you think?

Conference Report

2008-10-06T12:38:00.002-06:00

Every 6 months I look forward to General Conference. I need the spiritual feast, pat on the back, and reassurance that all will be well.

This conference's theme seemed to be that even though life is hard, it will be ok. All we need to do is center ourselves in the gospel and follow the Savior and we'll be OK. I especially appreciated Elder Uchtdorf's (sp??) talk about Hope. I seem to feel sometimes that all hope is lost and need a reminder that it is not. Perhaps my favorite moment in conference this session was when Elder Cook (I think it was him) told a story of a trecherous road trip taken with his two sons. His youngest son (about 4 years old), relating the event to his mother on the phone said "I hope you know, we had a hard time." Elder Cook reminded us that our Heavenly Father knows we had a hard time and he is with us in our hour of need.

I've been reading Elder Busche's memoirs, "Yearning for the Living God". I only read it in Huntsville so it is taking me a little bit of time, and to be honest, his writing style is dry. However, as I plug along, I am learning some great lessons. The last chapter I read, while in HV, was about his struggles with his business. He told of a time that he was in great despair and he heard a voice tell him that it was OK. The lessons that he learned from this simple response was: God hears us, Repent (he interpreted this to mean work harder), and Hope.

I am taking these lessons to heart. As part of my repentance, I erased Jewel Quest Solitaire from off my computer. I am wasting too much time when I am discouraged playing this dumb game. I think I will try to do one hard thing when I don't want to do anything. And I will hope.

Things I Can't Live Without.

2008-09-30T11:58:00.002-06:00

I was told that people were tired of seeing the scary Barnabas Collins of my last post and that it was time to post again. So here is a list of things I cannot live without:

1. Netflix. I don't know what I would do without it. I currently have a list of 326 items consisting of classics, foreign, PBS, old TV shows. Anything to make the treadmill more enjoyable. I think I would never exercise without Millennium or Bro. Cadfael. Thanks to my good Netflix friends -- Rachel, Emily, Gordon and the Lewis's so I can keep getting good ideas of what to watch.

2. The NY Times Crossword Puzzle online edition. Bob steals the crossword puzzle every day and then has the nerve to ask me to finish it for him when he gets stuck. With the NYT I can do a puzzle online and then toggle back & forth to wikipedia or google to look for answers when I need help. Not that I ever need much help.

3. Spoilerfix.com -- I love to see spoilers for my favorite shows -- Bones, Lost, The Closer. I check it everyday.

4. IMDB.com -- to the uninitiated that would be the Internet Movie Data Base. It has all answers to who is in what movie, etc. This is especially helpful when doing the NYT Crossword Puzzle online. Many times, Bob insists that a certain actor is in a particular movie, and since he thinks that I am a walking encyclopedia of movieness, I sometimes have to go look up something to prove him wrong. I am only the walking encyclopedia because of IMDB and sometimes Bob is right.

5. Weight Watchers -- With 50+ lbs gone, I must say that I couldn't do it without WW. It has been a lifesaver. My heel pain is gone, I am no longer short of breath, I don't pee everytime I laugh, cough, sneeze, etc. (I know, TMI). I am still a little frustrated at how tired I am but that may have something to do with not getting enough sleep or having MS. Who knows.

6. My DVR -- I love to be able to record all my favorite shows (Dancing with the Stars, Bones, Criminal Minds, and Say Yes to the Dress) and then watch them while lying in my bed. I recorded the General LDS Women's Conference on Saturday and have been able to watch it all propped up on my pillows -- my favorite way to attend church.

7. Fabric stores -- this is really the only type of shopping that I truly enjoy. When it comes to clothes, shoes, etc., I just shop online or at Fred Meyer?Smiths. But fabric -- that is another story. I love the feel of fabric; the joy that comes from coordinating designs for a quilt project; Just possessing it, I don't really even need to make anything.

If I have to give up any of these things, I'm not sure I will survive. Please don't ask.

Dark Shadows

2008-09-22T18:44:00.006-06:00

When I was in Jr. High School, I used to rush home from school to watch a soap opera. Not just any soap opera, mind you, but a soap opera with VAMPIRES!!! You see, I was hooked on Dark Shadows, the original Vampire-love story. I don't count those hokey Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee vampire movies, because no one really loved nor felt sorry for those guys. In Dark Shadows, although not physically attractive like the luminous Edward Cullen, Barnabus Collins had an attraction that could not be denied, not by the women of Collinsport, nor teenagers. He was refined, spoke with a British accent, and was so tragic. He spent his entire life, after being turned into a vampire by an evil witch, trying to bring back to life his beloved Josette, who flung herself off the cliff at Widow's Hill after she had a vision of herself as a blood sucking corpse (all because she had been tricked into marrying someone other than her beloved Barnabus by her maid who was jealous and who was also the evil witch who tricked Barnabus into marrying her but when he found out she was a witch, he shot her and killed her but not before she cursed him as a vampire!! Now Josette Collins ghost, which looks just like Maggie Evans, warns the Collins family of impending danger by appearing to a disturbed little boy named David and his orphan Governess Victoria Winters. Doesn't this just sound like One Life to Live? - Don't judge me, but I checked out the first disc from Netflix so I could catch up on what I had not seen before the vampires entered on the scene. It was just a dark run-of-the-mill soap opera with a dark brooding mansion, maybe some ghosts, and secrets and was almost cancelled before Barnabas showed up and shot new life into the story if the undead can shoot new life into anything. After that, there was time travel, parallel universes, werewolves, phoenix-like people who could burn up and come back to life, etc.

When we moved from Seattle to Ohio, our television set died and my parents wouldn't get a new one or get it fixed. My parents thought we were obsessed/possessed. My dad used to refer to my car as the BarnyBus. Thankfully, I befriended this red-headed girl in study hall, and she would bring me up to date every day on the happenings in Collinsport. It got really odd after that, not that you can get much more odd than vampires, etc.

Anyway, after watching episodes 1-9 on Netflix, I am hooked again. Maybe I do understand what all that Vampire fuss is about.

PS: I hear that Johnny Depp is being considered to play Barnabas in a movie!! He could redeem himself for the awful "Pirates of the Carribean III"

50 Lbs!!

2008-09-16T07:06:00.007-06:00

Compare these pictures and say to yourself, "what is different about Rebecca?" I'll tell you what's different! There is less of her. I have now lost 50 lbs!! This is my 1 year anniversary at WW -- that's Weight Watchers, not World War or World Wrestling -- though sometimes it has been a war or wrestling. Anyway, I thought it would be faster than a year -- I was sure I could lose all I needed to lose, but I am told that slow and steady wins the race, so I am plodding along, only with less carcass to drag.

Summer

2008-09-14T19:10:00.005-06:00

Back by popular demand, Rebecca Sykes in "What I Did Last Summer"

I can’t believe that it has been over a month since I last posted. That means that my life is either a boring wasteland of housework and office work and yard work and cleaning up after dogs or I have been so busy that I can’t find the time to sit down and update. It is probably more like the former statement. My powers of concentration seem to be faulty (refer to post on menopause for a likely explanation). However, I will give a brief rundown of the summer with pictures:

**Fourth of July in Huntsville

Starring Otto:
and Daisy

Went to Kennecott w/Kathleen, Aunty Kate, James & McKay

Where we stood in front of a giant Tire

Went to Sun Valley (I didn't take this picture -- I forgot my camera)

Sent my nephew, David Gordon, on a mission to Japan. That is him on the right. The old guy on the left is his dad, Dick Gordon. We will miss him a lot.

To wrap it all up, Bob and I drove down to the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it before. We stayed at the motel right there at the park. It was like the Motel 3.5. A little rustic, but not as rustic as the cabins that looked like there were directly out of the Grapes of Wrath. It was a great drive, we spent the night, ate, took some pictures and came home.

And that is what I did last summer.

One Woman's life in T-Shirts

2008-08-07T17:02:00.003-06:00

I have finally finished my t-shirt tribute to my sister, Fran. All of Fran's life seems to be memoralized by the t-shirts she wore and kept (actually, I think she never threw one away.) Before she died, she asked me to make a quilt out of the shirts she thought were most important -- sort of a fabric scrapbook. Family history and journaling were very important to her. Of course, I said yes, and then she died. Her wonderful Relief Society president cut out all of the shirt designs and ironed on interfacing. All I had to do was to put them together. Well of course I was going to do it by David's 18th birthday, then his high school graduation, and then his 19th birthday. Those all came and went. But I did get it done in time for him to sleep under it for a few days before he leaves on his mission.

This quilt shows the many sides of Fran, personally and professionally.

Theater and books -- the very essense of her life, after her family and the gospel.

Her travels.

The shows she worked over and over again.

My Personal Favorite:

Passport

2008-08-03T22:32:00.004-06:00

It has been a long long long time since I blogged. There is really nothing interesting going on in my life right now. We went to Sun Valley - the whole family -- but Bob took all the pictures and I never got any of them downloaded. Kathleen and I just got back from Girls Camp -- it wasn't really girl's camp -- it was an overnighter in Huntsville. Our stake did a handcart trek and thought the maybe that could count as camp. So, I got to sleep in a bed and use flush toilets and have my Diet coke. That is my idea of camping.

The really exciting part of my summer was that I discovered that my passport had expired!! It was a good thing that I didn't need to go to any foreign countries in a hurray. I sent in the application form, having heard that it takes 12 weeks to get a new passport!! What if a fabulous trip came up in the meantime. Well, three weeks later, this came in the mail:

It doesn't look great, but it looks a whole lot better than this one!!

I think that if you don't look really awful, they make you take another picture. Thankfully, I only had to take one picture.

Is anyone up for a fabulous trip?

Memory

2008-07-29T22:30:00.000-06:00

I got this off Rachel's blog. It is kind of fun. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :)

I'll post again in a couple of days.

I've been tagged again!

2008-07-09T16:26:00.009-06:00

I must be so Popular:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Summer of 1998 -- vacationing with family in Washington DC, Gettysburg, Oswego. We were all stuffed into a sedan, because our rental company had run out of vans. Rachel finally got on the phone and called several car places (mind you, she was 16) and found us a van. Her brain may have been swelling, but she wasn't losing any brain cells. Sarah had just had several surgeries for her heart/ankle/knee.

2. Five Snacks I love. What snacks don't I love.
a. 100 Calorie Hostess cupcakes
b. Carrots/celery/radishes & hummus
c. toast
d. mini-pretzles
e. Yoplait Cherry Orchard light yogurt

3. Five Things On My To Do List: Who has a to-do list? But if I did, the following would be on it:

a. File taxes before 10/15/08
b. Balance check book for the first time since 4/1/08
c. Weed the flower bed.
d. Get David's quilt finished.
e. Do my genealogy back to Adam/Charlemagne.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: pay off all my debts. Buy a fabulous purse, get a hybrid car, totally remodel my house. do a huge vacation in England, France, Italy & Greece, & Turkey & Egypt and Petra & Australia, and then have money left over to just live on and support worthy causes. I would do all this after I paid my tithing, of course.

5. Five jobs that I have had.
a. Secretary for the air force
b. ironing
c. babysitting
d. teachingt assistant
e. Director of Research for Utah Public Employees Association

6. Five of my bad habits
a. watching tv when I should be sleeping
b. not taking my meds on a regular basis
c. watching tv when I should be working
d. Playing Jewel Quest I, II or Solitaire when I should be sleeping/working
e. starting projects and not finishing them.

7. Four places I have lived
a. Ogden, Utah
b. Salt Lake City, Utah
c. Seatle, Washington
d. Beavercreek Township, Ohio

8. Two People I Want to Get to Know Better -- Anyone & Don't know

9. 6 Random Things about me. 1) love to read; 2) afraid of flying; 3) love long car trips; 4) afraid of heights; 5) have only read the book of Mormon all the way through 2x [not counting the times we read with the kids]; and 6) never learned how to swim beyond the dog paddle.

Nothing to sing about!!

2008-07-01T09:50:00.003-06:00

A few months ago, Menopause the Musical was playing in Salt Lake. People I know who saw it said it was hysterical. I'm not so sure what is funny about it. I was lying awake (laying awake?? I forget) one of those nights and all I could think about was how awful I felt and what I was going to post on my blog this last week. I'm not sure anyone really reads it so I am just going to write for myself.

As I lay awake, with the overhead fan, the air conditioning cranked up as high as it can go, the window open, a portable swamp cooler full of ice & water, a glass of icewater, a water bottle frozen solid so by morning I can have some cool water, and a squirt bottle just in case all of those other things don't cool me down. I should freeze the squirt bottle so I can hose myself off with ice water!! I take maximum strength estroven and hope that I can sleep a couple of hours before someone turns on the flame thrower that violently rocks me out of my slumber. If you ever wonder why old women look like dried up old prunes, it is because we are dehydrating from the inside out with our own personal blast furnace.

I am not sure I can live throught menopause. I was looking up symptoms and natural treatments (with Fran's death from breast cancer, I have chosen to avoid the Premarin, hormone replacement therapy route) and found the following quote: Given practical information, medical attention and a positive attitude, most women can expect to experience menopause as a time of change, challenge and new-found personal freedom. More and more women are finding the years of menopause and beyond are the best of their lives. I thought to myself, "What man came up with that idea?" Obviously no one who has ever lived through it. Anyway, this is found at the following website: http://www.jos-health-network.150m.com/menopause.html.

Down at the bottom of this page, after it has listed all of the symptoms, it also lists other medical conditions that have the same symptoms. Among them is Multiple Sclerosis. Lucky me, I got the double whammy.

Anyway, to get me through this terrible, hopefully wonderful, challenging, stage of life, Bob bought me a battery operated fan. He suggested I take it to church. He said no one would notice. I hope he's right. I'm going to be on the front row of church with my fan!

Cake Walk

2008-06-22T19:12:00.004-06:00

I have found a new blog that I just love. It is my new favorite. Sorry Jones' and Porters. I still love yours. Every day, I check my email, Zions Bank to see how much money I don't have, log in my WW points (not so good these last few days/weeks), and then I check the blogs of the Jones girls, the Porter house, the less than optimistic Rob, and hopefully check Rachel's blog -- hopeful, because I keep thinking she will put something on it (zilch since Valentine's Day -- Perhaps her pictures from Disneyland will be posted, hint, hint.) Well now, this is where I go -- http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/. It is so cool. She makes the cutest cakes you have ever seen. I am no baker, but I tried her Simple Sprite Cake and made it my own by turning the cake into cupcakes with pink icing. Here is what came of this experiment:

The cake uses an 8 oz. can of Sprite for the liquid with lots of eggs and oil, so don't expect health food. It is really tasty. I baked the cake for 15 minutes and that was not enough, so I baked for an additional 5. I think they would be more moist if I had only baked for 18 minutes total, but these lovely little pink confectionaries are still disappearing like hotcakes -- or cupcakes.

I found the blog by linking from somebody's link from one of the Jones girls or Amanda Porter. Thanks, friends. PS -- We had a great time tending Baby Dill Porter this week. It was so much fun.

Update

2008-06-17T10:50:00.003-06:00

It has been forever since I have posted. Actually not too much has happened but I thought I had better say something (even if it isn't profound) before everyone stops coming to visit the blog.

Things that have happened since my birthday:

1. School's out -- Kathleen is out for a while. She has some summer work to do and has decided not to take dance (except for the adult classes). So she is taking some online classes to get stuff out of the way for next year, coming to the office to help me, and designing clothes (more of the latter and less of the former.)

2. Memorial Day, Father's Day, Rachel's birthday -- I think that these events are the cause of my weight loss downfall. Actually, poor choices are the result of my downfall which really isn't a downfall, I just keep hovering between .4 and 1.4 pounds short of a total of 50 lb weight loss. We eat out way too much and I make poor choices as though I am never going to eat again. Well, next week is Rob's birthday and then the summer celebrations are over until the 4th of July, 24th of July, etc. I love to make special meals for holidays and birthdays -- my inner Martha Stewart -- and Rachel specifically said "no Weight Watcher cake for my birthday"!

3. That's it. My life is so exciting.

Things That are Younger Than Rebecca Sykes

2008-05-26T16:29:00.005-06:00

I celebrated my 53rd!!! birthday this weekend. I don't get to share it with Memorial Day very often, but this year I did so I guilted the kids into coming up to Huntsville for the holiday to have dinner with their old mom and play a game of super scrabble. Almost everyone complained but I had a great time and isn't it all about me (and those who sacrificed for our freedoms) this weekend. Anyway, we were discussing http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/ and I decided that I should see what is younger than I:

1. The country of Pakistan. Also the country of Bangladesh, which used to be East Pakistan.

2. The Snooze alarm.

3. The expression "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

4. The Frisbee.

5. The Cat in the Hat (which means that Green Eggs & Ham, One Fish Two Fish, Hop on Pop etc. are also younger than I)

6. The Peace Symbol

7. IHOP

8. Alaska.

9. Hawaii.

10. Barbie.

11. The St. Lawrence Seaway.

12. The Guggenheim

13. OPEC

14. The Peace Corps

15. 6 Flags over Texas, Georgia, California, etc.

16. The Berlin Wall (Although it is now gone)

17. The Fantastic Four

18. Ken, the doll.

19. Wal Mart

20. Zimbabwe

21. Zip Codes

22. Football Hall of Fame

23. Blimpee's

24. Shea Stadium

25. Martin Luther King Day

26. Disneyland (but by only a couple of months.)

27. Mel Gibson

28. David Caruso

29. All of the Ramones.

30. The Interstate Highway System

I was going to try for 53 (for my age, you see), but it got a little depressing, so I stopped here.

However, the following things are older than I:

1. John McCain

2. The Brooklyn Bridge

3. Guatamala

4. Sports Illustrated

5. IBM

6. Godzilla

7. The TV Dinner

8. Red Stop signs

9. The Marshall Plan.

10. James Bond.

Happy Birthday to Me! And a wonderful Memorial Day. My many thanks for those who have sacrificed and gone on before.

No Complaints

2008-05-12T14:11:00.002-06:00

I take back all the complaining from the previous post. Apparentely the people of China (earthquake), Missouri (tornados) and Chile (volcanic erruption) had a worse mother's day than I did. Kinda puts it all in perspective doesn't it?

I Feel Strongly Both Ways

2008-05-12T08:06:00.002-06:00

There is a fine line between reporting the facts and sounding like a bitter old woman. So I am starting with the things I truly love about Mother’s Day, followed by a list of the things I hate. I do love more things about it. Here’s to ambivalence.

Things I Loved About Mother’s Day:

1. I love being a Mom. It is the best job a woman could have and I would never trade it for anything in the world.

2. The adorable Primary Children. Singing songs in Sacrament Meeting about Mother’s while waving hand-made crepe paper flowers is the best! I miss those little gifts from Primary.

3. Sarah making a fabulous dinner of whatever I wanted, Rachel making cake, and Rob cleaning up after it all.

4. Bob bought me shirts at Cabella’s. They don’t fit. He over estimated how much weight I have lost, plus women’s sizings are so random so it is a bit of a crap shoot to buy clothes for women. In men’s sizes a 40" waist is 40"; in women’s clothes a L can range anywhere from a M to a XL, not to mention what 2, 4, 6, etc. are really from one brand to another. But that’s OK. I can return them and get something else. It is the thought that counts.

5. Sarah brought me flowers – I love day lilies. Kathleen gave me the necklace she bought for herself. It is adorable; I think she should keep it.

6. The girls all came to church with me. It was so nice to sit in Sacrament meeting with almost all my children. I really missed Robbie.

Things I Hate about Mother’s Day:

1. I miss my own mother terribly. I always felt that Mother’s day was for her, not me. Mom died when I still had really little kids and one on the way. Now, there is no one to ask about all those menopause questions I have and I ask my doctor about and he says "well, what was your mother’s experience" and I say, "I don’t know because she’s dead!!"

2. Aunt Stella died on Mother’s day 1991, ruining it forever (if it ever really was OK). Stella never married so was always really sad on Mother’s Day. We always had to make a big fuss over her so her sadness wouldn’t take over. Her sister, my grandmother (who died much too young also – probably one of the reasons my Mom hated MD), always felt that if you can’t be nice to me the other 364 days a year, don’t go thinking a big fuss one day will make up for it. Anyway, in her 101st year, Aunt Stella passed away. I always think about that every MD.

3. I don’t enjoy sitting in Sacrament listening to men tell stories of their beloved sainted mothers – even if I knew the women and they were truly saints. If you want me to have a great day, let me go home an hour early – or better yet, start an hour later. An extra hour of sleep would be one of the greatest MD presents a woman could get. However, Sacrament meeting did have a little comic relief when Bob forgot to announce the choir number and Elder Dave Stanley called out, "Bob, did you want the choir to sing?" Bob was just testing them to see if they were paying attention. And besides he is the new guy.

4. I had to clean up dog pee!! But how is that different than any other day. I hate that dog.

5. The morning after MD. I hate my dishwasher. It was really full and we rinse the dishes pretty well, and as usual while I wait for Kathleen to come down for school, I empty it. About 1/3 of the dishes were not really clean. Earlier this morning, Bob called after he left for tennis – I thought "Holy Crap!! Who is calling at this ungodly hour of 6 am!!!" It is never good news. Apparently, the wind knocked over the garbage can and it appeared as though some random animal dragged bags out of the can and spread it all over the parking strip. Bob told me to get Rob up to do it, but I can’t seem to do that. I’d rather do it myself and have something to bitch about all day long than make my kids do something. I deserve all my troubles. Kathleen did get to school on time today though.

Well, only 364 days until I have to do this again. There is my birthday on the 25th. Being 53 is always something to celebrate.

I'm Much Too Young for This

2008-05-06T22:05:00.003-06:00

I am the mother of another college graduate.

Robbie graduated last week from the University of Utah with not one, but TWO degrees -- Linguistics and Middle East Studies:Arabic!! I know he thinks I was not paying attention when he told me that he had a double major, but in my defense, I didn't really know what he was talking about. I thought he meant the Arabic/Linguistic thing was one degree with an emphasis in something like Middle East Studies. Was I ever surprised when I saw his name in the program twice and it wasn't a typo!! Anyway, it was a great day. It almost slipped past us, which would have suited Rob fine. He really didn't want to walk, but as a mother I get very few paychecks for doing a really spectacular (or even a really crappy) job and watching my children graduate from college is one of those paychecks that I intend to cash!!

Rob was so low key about it, I didn't make him order graduation announcements or anything. When Rachel was getting ready for graduation, she was in France and I had to do a lot to get her stuff done and when Sarah was graduating, we sold her condo and had to move all her stuff to SLC, so there was a lot going on to remind me of graduation. I'm just glad we didn't miss it all though it seems that a lot of people did. The U had over 7000 graduates and I am sure that only about 3500 participated. The commencement speaker was Mario Cappechi (sp??), Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Genetics for 2007. Most people never remember who their commencement speaker was -- I think we will always remember this one.

If you look really close, you can see Robbie right in the middle of these shots

I'm very proud of my son!! What a great boy!!

3 Down, 1 to go. Will post again in 5 years!!

Help, please

2008-04-28T11:32:00.002-06:00

I have just finished my books and am looking for more to read. I loved The Thirteenth Tale (for the second time). It is a book for people who love to read. I read Buckingham Palace Gardens (by Anne Perry) about a murder in Buckingham Palace, solved by Thomas Pitt and his spunky housekeeper, Gracy. I love Anne Perry's period novels. They are quite good. I also finished Pillars of the Earth, and while it is really good, it is really graphic. I think that everybody in middle ages was just awful. Too much pillaging and raping of peasants, too much consensual sex in most graphic and vulgar terms. All this about building a cathedral. Still, it was compelling.

So here I am trying to figure out what to read next. I would love suggestions from anyone about what I should check out. I am always a little leery of contempory fiction because it is so often salacious, simply for shock value. I was going to read Memory Keeper's Daughter until I saw that it was made into a Lifetime Movie of the Week. That is when I was sure I wouldn't like it. Other than that, I'm not real picky. It just has to be good. I've read the new Richard Patterson (7th Heaven -- good) and the new Patricia Cornwell (Book of the Dead -- not good).

Please, help me out. Make suggestions.

Good Morning, NYC

2008-04-24T20:38:00.005-06:00

I’m not sure what it is about my memory, but I can’t seem to remember that the red eye to JFK is not the best way to start out a trip. The last time I flew overnight to New York it was for a whirlwind 24 hour visit to the Big Apple. I flew with Sarah and Emily for just a day. We went to the Manhattan Temple at 6:00 am (because it is the only thing open that early). Afterwards, we found a small deli/café and changed out of our dresses in the bathroom. I left my skirt in the trash, because I didn’t really like it and didn’t want to carry it all day. We then went to Canal street and bought purses, saw Ground Zero, wandered through the shops on 5th Avenue and finally dragged ourselves to Rockefeller Center where we decided that we would rather sit in the airport for 4 hours than try to make ourselves do anything else. At that point, I swore I would never do such a crazy thing again. Well, I haven’t, but I did take another red eye to JFK.

On Thursday April 17th (OK, just barely Thursday; it was 12:30 am) Sarah, Stacy, Kathleen and I flew to JFK. I was sure that I would be able to sleep since the plane wasn’t crowded and I had the window seat. That wasn’t going to happen. Kathleen managed to curl up with her head in my lap and sleep most of the way. I was left with trying to read in the dark and watch the map and flight info switch back and forth from English to Espanol. When you are watching, it seems that 5 hours is a really long time. I now know how to read about altitude, ground speed, tale wind, and air temperature in Spanish. El fin – we are at the end of the flight.

Since we are basically cheapskates, we took the train/subway into the city. While I thought I was booking us into the Time Square Courtyard by Marriot, which is a pretty swanky hotel, I was actually getting us into the 5th Avenue Courtyard, which was OK. We got off the subway too soon and dragged our suitcases 13 blocks down 5th Avenue to 40th Street. We later discovered that Grand Central Station was only a couple of blocks away. Anyway, we checked into the hotel, but could not get into a room until 2 pm. So being the righteous young women (and old) that we are, we went to the Temple and did baptisms for the dead. The Manhattan Temple is a marvel. It must be the cleanest, most serene, blessed place in the entire city. You leave all the hustle and bustle and noise and troubles at the door. It was great to be there.

Afterwards, we still had time to kill so we went to the Natural History Museum and went to a star show. I don’t remember what it was about because we all fell asleep. Back to the hotel, take a nap, get a shower and head out for Mary Poppins. Great stuff.

This was a fast trip – in the remaining 3 days we did the Empire State Building, the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Moma, Chinatown, Ground Zero, 5th Avenue shopping, stake conference, and a fabulous Harbor Tour at night. We walked 100 miles and got caught up in the circus that was the visit of El Grande Papa (the Holy Father Benedict XVI not la grande papa - the big potato). We discovered Century 21, a department store that is like Big Lots for designer goods. Lots of fun. Kathleen had to see designer stores so she could figure out how to make the clothes at a lower cost. Really, a $6,000 dress with matching shoes for $1,950!!

Finally, Sunday arrived and we flew home on the longest flight I seem to remember. It is probably because we started out so tired and just never stopped.

I love NY!! But, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home. Oh, and like before, I left some personal items behind in the trash -- my black dress shoes. They have holes in them. Maybe I should have bought those $1,900 ones.

P.S. This is strumpet Hello Kitty most appropriately found in Times Square (at the Sanrio shop)

Watch This Movie!!

2008-04-11T22:05:00.004-06:00

My picture disappeared, but it is for the movie -- On clear day!!

This movie is so great. It is very funny, like only the Brits can be, but also very tender and poignant. I wonder if all Brits are as funny as these guys. Actually, they are supposed to be Scots. The main guy gets "made redundant" as loses his job at the shipyard in Glasgow. To over come his depression, he decides to swim the English Channel. It also helps him get over the loss of his son in a drowning accident many years before and reconcile with the son he still has. I laughed myself silly, and then cried and then went back and watched it all again. If you watch any BBC or PBS dramas, you'll recognize some of these actors and there is the Hobbit, Pippin.

Our New Neighbor

2008-04-09T15:28:00.004-06:00

This past weekend, we were up in HV for just overnight and a day so we could listen to General Conference without any distractions. I always look forward to this time. When I am in SLC, there is always yard work, laundry, stuff like that to keep me away from the wonderful messages. I always tell myself I'll get back to them on the dvr, but I never do. Anyway, great conference, wonderful spirit, President Monson has stepped up so beautifully. He even sounds different, more prophetly.

Anyway, the really exciting thing is that we finally found the culprit for the bird doodoo on the garbage can and all the pellets full of mouse bones. And here he is (actually, this is from Google images, because the picture Bob took is too dark to see and his camera is in his office and he has clients in there). He is a great horned owl, growing to the huge size of 18" tall with a

wing span of 4 feet. His name is Stanton

Now the owl pellets are even more interesting. Owls don't seem to digest the bones of their prey (mice, small rodents, cats, skunks, and an occaisional bat). They just seem to collect them in their gut and then urp them up in a nice little ball of feathers and bones and stuff that I don't know what it is and am not going to ask. (for a picture of them, go to www.owlpellets.com/uploads/images/lb.jpg) You know, there are sites where you can buy them for $5.00+. Maybe I should collect them and make a small fortune. We seem to have an unending supply.

I wish he would move so my garbage can is not such a mess. I guess I'll have to move the can.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Stanton.

Spring Break

2008-03-30T22:47:00.005-06:00

Kathleen and I decided to take a road trip for Spring Break. Now before you jump to any conclusions and have horrifying mental pictures of me in Ft Lauderdale or Mazatlan partying with Girls Gone Wild, let me inform you that I was invited to Vashon Island to rummage through my dead sister's things. How is that for fun? It is an island, and it is Spring, and Kathleen and her friend, Heather, were able to go down to the beach, but this is the weather we encountered:

It looked like a scene from Snow Falling on Cedars. This was a whirlwind (and snowy) trip. Dick Gordon asked Aunty Kate and I to come up because he was ready to go through some of Fran's things and needed help identifying family heirlooms so that David would know what they were someday when he became interested in them.

We left Wednesday morning with relatively nice weather, but by about Burley encountered quite a bit of rain. We reached my usual stopping point on these Seattle jaunts, Baker city Oregon, but it was only 5 pm so we decided to go on for a while. After we drove past La Grande and were emotionally and vehicularly committed to Pendleton, we encountered a blizzard in the Blue Mountains and it was especially treacherous in Deadman Pass. Yes, Deadman. Kathleen did a great job driving through this. We finally got to Vashon on Thursday and we got right to work.

I went through the boxes of patterns, sewing equipment, sewing machines (4) -- I brought one home for Sarah -- and books. We cleaned up the guest room, had Mexican food, and bedded down for the night.

On Friday, we went through Fran's clothes and jewelry. I was hoping to find pieces of Mom's costume jewelry of which I have such fond memories. Unfortunately, I came up empty handed. We did find Grandpa Dibble's 20 and 25 year commerative pins from Salt Lake Hardware and Charlie's 25 and 30 year pins from his work with USAF. We also found Mom's bracelet with a pendant with the Minute Man Missle on it. That is a strange piece of jewelry to be sure, but Mom worked as a secretary to one of the engineering crews that worked on the missle at Hill AFB in the 60's. She really liked it. I hope David will appreciate those little items. I think he has a bit of a pack rat nature like his mom, I just hope he developes her love of family heritage. After the clothes and jewelry, we tackled the camera equipment. The only thing I recognized that was a real blast from the past was Polaroid camera that we bought Mom in the early 1970's. We were so sneaky and she was so surprised. We still have some very good looking pictures that were taken with that camera. All the camera equipment went to the Jr. High School. Fran would have liked that. She was always involved in the schools.

We went to dinner at the Backbay Inn on Vashon where Dick was playing with his blue grass band. I have eaten way too much on this trip.

Saturday we decided that we needed to get on the road quickly because the weather looked threatening. However, there was time to look at one more box. We found the lovely colored pencil sketch of my grandmother. I must have looked like I was going to cry because Dick told my I could have it. Fran probably would have slapped him if she were able. This is truly a family prize.

On the way home, the girls wanted to stop at the best Nordstrom Rack in the world so we did. That put us behind about 2 hours but Kathleen found an adorable pair of Betsey Johnson shoes for only $47 dollars. It was worth it. We got to Pendleton again about 930 pm.

Sunday we woke to snow. Please reference the paragraph above about Deadman Pass. We decided to go to church in La Grand and drove through the pass in white out conditions. I figured we would be blessed for making the effort to get to Sacrament meeting under such awful conditions. We were. It was a wonderful ward, with a great spirit. We split fast, though, hoping to get ahead of the weather, and only getting in the middle of another white out. I thought this was spring.

We did get home safely. The doggies and Bob missed us. The house was in great shape.

Aunty Kate, you missed an eventful trip. Hope you can come next time.

Snow Bunnies and Snow Drifts

2008-03-20T11:39:00.004-06:00

In honor of the first days of spring, here is a little retrospective on winter.

These are just a few views of the kind of snow whe have had this year. You will note the height of the snow piles. Now some of these are just piles that fell off the roof after the snow had built up 3-4 feet and then slid down. but in the yard, we have an actual 4 feet. Hallelujah -- it is starting to melt.

All winter long, I have been avoiding going skiing with Bob. I have nothing against spending they day with Bob; I actually enjoy it. However, I'm not crazy about skiing. It's cold, it's scary, there are to many people and I can't seem to manuever around them and I am sure I will hit someone and will be arrested for reckless skiing. Oh, wait, that's only in Park City. There is something about speeding down an ice covered hill with nothing to protect you but some puffy bib overalls and a jacket with a fake chinchilla collar. And I am sure that I go at least 100 miles an hour. Finally, I gave in (I had made all kinds of excuses the entire winter -- too tired, too ill, condo remodeling stuff, just didn't want to).

When Bob used to take the kids skiing when they were really little, he told them they couldn't consider themselves real skiers until they could do up there own boots. Well, I am not a real skier. Bob, or Rachel, or Sarah, all had to help me with my boots at one time or another yesterday. It's is quite pathetic that a full grown adult can't seem to bend over and fasten her own footwear.

Anyway, I went to Snowbasin with the fam and actually had a good time. I never did get off the bunny hill, but did it 6 times, which is 4 more times than I went last year. The entire time I was on the slopes I kept thinking, "I can't believe I'd doing this!" I even did the harder easy hill (2x!!). And then came my favorite part of skiing, lunch!!

I may actually go again someday. Perhaps in another 3-10 years I will be able to go on the upper mountain. It is amazing how much easier this is to do 40 lbs lighter. However, with those poofy pants, it is hard to tell that I'm lighter. Now if I can only learn to buckle my own boots.

PS -- Went again and came home with a whiplash!! I fell and hit my head on the ground. Thank goodness Bob forgot his camera!!

Tag, I'm it.

2008-03-18T22:23:00.002-06:00

Ten Years Ago: At the hospital with Sarah a bazillion times as she had knee/ankle/heart/knee/ovary surgery. Not all at once.

Five places I have lived:
1. Portsmouth, Virginia (where life began for me)
2. Ogden, UT
3. Seattle, WA
4. Beavercreek, Ohio – yes, the home of the Battling Beavers (our HS mascot)
5. Salt Lake City, UT

Five things on my to do list:
1. Finish my taxes by April 15, since I’ve never gotten them done before Oct. 15 in years.
2. Finish the Aunty Fran t-shirt quilt before David graduates from HS – oh, wait, he’s done that – before he goes on his mission.
3. Go to Paris with Rachel.
4. Lose 60 more lbs. It is kind of overwhelming that I have lost 40 lbs and am still over 200.
5. Be awesome

I enjoy: Going to Huntsville, when I can just sit out under my beautiful trees and do nothing.

Two bad habits:
1. Cussing. Even though Em’s has gone down significantly, I think I found her extra words. Otto makes me do it.
2. Playing Jewel Quest, Jewel Quest II, and now Jewel Quest solitare.

Five things you may not know about me:
1. I always read the last pages of a book before I finish. I have to make sure I am going to like how it ends – even if it is a sad ending. It must not be a stupid ending.
2. I have seen the movie Casablanca 25 times since high school. No it did not come out when I was in High School. I saw it at a film festival.
3. I love Dancing with the Stars. I am voting for Kristi Yamaguchi.
4. I wanted to be a cop when I was in college. Maybe that is why I love crime shows.
5. I have this sick fascination with serial killers. When I was a kid, I read True Crime magazine.

Five jobs I've had:
1. Czarina of Robert B Sykes & Associates
2. Ironing – but only long enough to make money for youth conference.
3. Teaching Assistant in BYU Political Science department
4. Kelly girl – temp work during the summer during college.
5. Secretary at BYU – Chemistry department

OK, Rachsticle, you are it. Also, Aunty Kate and Deborah you can send in e-mail.

Aunty Kate the Great turns 50

2008-03-02T22:05:00.005-07:00

The best birthday present I ever gave anyone, I didn’t really give. For Aunty Kate’s 50th birthday, her fabulously sensitive husband, Jeffrey Lewis, flew me up to the frozen northland that is Minneapolis to surprise her. Here is a rundown of how it went:

1. Thursday, Feb. 21, the big day, Jeffrey picked me up at the airport. We were going to get to the house during James’ parent teacher conference, get my stuff in my room, and be waiting in the family room when K returned home to get McKay. So we went to the store to buy Diet Coke, because K only drinks caffeine free Pepsi (yuck :{ ) and Jeffrey drinks Diet Dew (:{) and balloons. Well, James is doing so well in school that the conference was only about 5 minutes long and she was home. So plan B – I got the balloons and walked in on her in the kitchen. She screamed like she had won the Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right. It was so fun. We stayed home in the evening and watched her open presents (a wonderful laptop and printer so she can do genealogy – she is so righteous – and other great things as well), had a delicious steak dinner cooked by Jeffrey, wonderful bread and Texas sheet cake, also cooked by Jeffrey. We stayed up late and looked at genealogy (we’re old, we can’t help it) and just laughed and had a great time. The boys are great, smart, funny and talented, and perhaps a little unwilling to do homework if something more fun, like Aunt Rebby, is around.

2. Friday, Feb. 22, was the day of the ward Progressive dinner. It was to be held at the Lewis house so there was lots to be done. House work, and Aunty Kate had to go to school to help decorate for a big fundraiser. We did take a break and had lunch with Kathleen’s book group. They read Austenland, so I think I will put it on my list of things to read. Don’t forget the cooking for the party. We had a wonderful beef curry with whole spices and spinach, and my famous shrimp curry, rice and salad. After dinner, we went to someone’s home for dessert ( I was very good with my WW Points :) ). I met cousin Jordan Jenkins trainer (missionary), and some of K’s friends though I was the younger sister!! Again, we stayed up late and it was wonderful.

3. Saturday we slept in and then went to the gym (yes!). In the afternoon, we went to Minnehaha Falls. If you remember, by the shores of Gitchee Gumee, by the shining big sea waters, stood the wigwam of Nokomis, daughter of the moon Nokomis, and all her friends – Hiawatha and Minnehaha, from the Song of Hiawatha by Longfellow. For a really cold place, Minneapolis is a fabulous place to be outside. The sun was shining and people, including us, were out walking. The falls were frozen solid and there were chunks of ice floating down the Mississippi.

That evening we went to see Vantage Point with some friends. Please someone I know go see that movie so I can talk about it. SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read past here if you don’t want to know how it ends!! The trailer says that the movie is 8 people, 8 points of view. They tell the story once, then rewind and tell it again from someone else’s point of view. Thankfully, they actually only told the story 5 times. If they had done it once more, I might have screamed, thus ruing the movie experience for many. Basically, the President of the US is speaking at something in Spain. He is shot. But not really, that is a double. However, the real president is then kidnaped by terrorists, and a couple of hotels and the government headquarters is blown up by the same terrorists and lots of people die. It is an inside job. One of the secret service agents is behind the plot. At the end, the terrorists race through the town in an ambulance with the president. A little girl is in the road; they swerve to avoid hitting her. These are the same people that blew up hundreds, shot several secret service agents and police officers to death in cold blood and they swerve to avoid hitting a little girl? In real life, they would have mowed her down. Anyway, at the end, the terrorists die in the accident, the evil secret service agent dies, but utters that we will never win, and the good agent saves the day, gets into the ambulance and says "I’ve got you, sir". In the final scene we see the president being lifted up in a helicopter and a news reporter stating that the president was not injured in the shooting. It was like Groundhog Day on Meth and then they didn’t know how to wrap it up. Good tension for a while, too many points of view and a laughable ending.

4. Sunday, I had to go home to my own family. It was a sad parting. I know this was supposed to be a present for Aunty Kate, but it was a wonderful present for me, also. Many thanks to the Lewis’s for the good time. I hope they come to see us next.

Before I go, look at how big James and McKay are, and how cute Stripes is.

I was just practicing with my new camera for this picture. Stripes was a very patient subject.

Have iceberg, need Titanic

2008-02-28T17:06:00.001-07:00

I’m sure everyone is aware of the frozenness we have experienced this year. It is has been a winter like none I remember. Maybe when I was a little kid and was lots shorter so the snow seemed deeper. Anyway, this year the drought appears to be officially over.

This picture is from all the snow that fell off the roof at the Huntsville house. Because we have a tin roof (like the sundae), the snow will build up to about 4 feet and then slide off in a massive avalanche. Never walk to close to the house. It could all come crashing down on you.

No Talk. Just Pictures

2008-02-26T12:34:00.002-07:00

Do you want my opinion or not?

2008-02-20T18:24:00.002-07:00

Well, I just finished reading a couple of books and watching a movie or two. Thankfully, I am on the treadmill when I watch so it makes the time go by faster. But at 30-35 minutes a workout, it takes me 4 days to watch a movie.

Anyway, I just sent back "Becoming Jane". It was a pleasant diversion and the actors were good, but I'm not sure the people who write these modern Jane Austen books/scripts have ever actually read Jane Austen. They may have read Pride & Prejudice or just seen one of the modern movie adaptations, but have never read her entire body of work or been familiar with her life or with the society of the time. Becoming Jane is highly fictionalized because Jane never left anything behind that would really indicate how well she knew the young man in the story. He is mentioned in a couple of her remaining letters. Her sister burned most of her correspondence after Jane's death. We can only speculate as to what actually happened. Unfortunately, modern novelists have their characters act as 21st century people would, leaving me just a little uncomfortable with the story line. My favorite part in the movie though was Jane talking to her deaf brother in sign language. I am not even sure that signing was widely available in the 18th century. However, this was a pleasant diversion while treading away.

My favorite movie this week has been Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audry Hepburn. Why don't they make movies like this anymore. It was so delightful. It made me laugh and cry just a little bit.

On to Books -- 7th Heaven wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It is better than some of the more recent James Patterson books. I think he just thinks up an outline and then hands it over to Maxine Somebody-or-other to write it up. He collects the big bucks and gets to put his picture on the back cover. Anyway, I was not dissapointed by this latest book. I have hopes for the future.

No Graves as Yet is Anne Perry's first WWI novel. It is part crime novel, part history lesson. It wasn't bad, but I didn't really love it. And then it wrapped up to quickly with an obvious set up for a sequel -- which I have but only because I bought 3 for the price of 2 at Barnes and Nobel. I am looking forward to her next Thomas & Charlotte Pitt or William and Hester Monk series. those are better.

Los Libros

2008-02-10T13:51:00.001-07:00

Excuse me, Motherless Jones Girls, for stealing your title, but I love it. I am going to review the book I just finished. It was great. It is "Home to Holly Springs". It is the first of a series of the Father Tim books. I became a fan of Father Tim when I discovered "At Home in Mitford". I picked the book up because I thought it was a mystery. I was wrong. The Mitford books have become a great change from the gruesome crime novels I read.

Father Tim is a bachelor Espiscopal priest in Mitford, NC. The town is full of the quirky characters that you find in southern literature -- most of them archetypes. Father Tim over the years is adopted by a big dog, takes in a surly abandoned teenager, counsels his flock and finds the love of his life at the age of 62. All this time, he recognizes God's grace in all the good and bad that happens in his life. He is prone to quoting scripture -- especially I & II Timothy, which he feels was written directly to him by Paul.

Over the years he marries, finds the family of the surly abandoned teenager and then adopts him, retires, goes out to substitute for a pastor in another parish, does missionary work and continues on with his good life.

Well, I always knew Father Tim had a back story. His past is often eluded to in the Mitford, but not enough to let us know too much. In "Holly Springs" he returns to his old home town in Mississippi is response to a cryptic, anonymous note asking him to return home. Here he faces the painful and loving past that he had and solves several mysteries that he didn't have the answers to as a child or adult. It is a wonderful story of grace and forgiveness and love and I must, must, must recommend it. It gets a little sappy at times, but a little sap is good for the soul.

Home to Holly Springs -- 2 thumbs up!!

Forgive me, for I have sinned.

2008-02-06T15:35:00.000-07:00

Confession: I think I forgot about WW yesterday and today. I ate 3 pieces of pizza, garlic bread, 1/2 cup lettuce with lots of bleu cheese dressing for dinner last night. Today, I went to McDonald's for breakfast -- sausage mcmuffin, Hashbrown, and diet coke (thank goodness something had no calories). For lunch I redeemed myself and had a WW meal (even though Iwasn't hungry) and then had 2 Schmidt's mint sandwich cookies. So, after I decided to write it all down on my little WW tracker, I have no points left today and no extra points left for the rest of the week.

They say confession is good for the soul. I have come clean and hope to get right back on the wagon now. I did walk for 31 minutes this morning. I think I may need another 60!!

I gotta learn that the answers to my problems are not in the fridge.

Movie Review

2008-02-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Carribean 3 was about the most painful movie I have watched all year. I know it is just barely 2008, but I'm declaring it the most painful. 1 was great, 2 had too much Keira Knightly and not enough Johnny Depp. 3 had too much of everybody. too long. too dark. too confusing a story line. I fast forwarded through lots of it.

I've been Tagged!! I'm so excited.

2008-01-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

I was tagged, so here it goes... (I’m so flattered!)

A attached or single: attached – I assume this means married, but also very attached to 2 overbearing dogs.

B best friend: Aunty Kate, the late Aunty Fran, Bob Sykes, and Becky McPhie from HS

C cake or pie: Cake. I agree with EmJ. Pie crust is just a plate for the pie filling.

D day of choice: Saturday

E essential item: Diet Coke

F favorite color: red

G gummy bears or worms: worms. Sour ones.

H hometown: SLC

I indulgence(s): Crown Burger Bacon Cheese Burger (alas, too many points at WW)

J January or July: July and lounging around HV. I’ve had it with January

K kids: 3 girls, 1 boy

L life is incomplete without: family, friends, plan of happiness

M marriage date: August 5, 1981. We couldn’t get married on August 4 like I wanted to, because that is the anniversary of my sister Fran and my Cousin Charlie and my Great-Aunt Stella’s birthday

N number of siblings: 2 sisters and 1 brother (Brother and 1 Sister deceased)

O oranges or apples: oranges

P phobias or fears: because I Bob’s profession, I live in mortal fear of hitting a pedestrian. Grasshoppers, any bug that jumps, Bats.

Q quotes: "We eat what we can and what we can't we can." I'll tell you the story behind this sometime.

R reason to smile: wonderful children, a living prophet, that the first day of spring is only 8 weeks away.

S season: Fall

T tag three friends: Rachstickle, and since I don’t have any friends that blog (you know how it is with middle aged ladies) I will send this along with an email to Aunty Kate, and Deborah Cartwright

U unknown fact about me: Can’t think of any. My life is an open book

V very favorite store: Williams-Sonoma

W worst habit: never washing my car. Leaving my shoes scattered all over the closet.

X x-ray or ultrasound: Does an MRI count. I have one every March to celebrate the coming of spring.

Y your favorite food: Fried chicken

Z zodiac: Gemini (explains by split personality)

Give me some Credit

2008-01-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm on another rant. It must come from not having enought to eat. Anyway, now that Christmas is over and everyone has stopped sending me catalogs, I am getting overrun with credit card offers. I have just finished cleaning up my/Bob's home office and sorting junk mail to recycle (yes, I do recycle), bills to pay (ugh!!), stuff to file for taxes, etc., and the biggest pile of all it seems, the credit card offers. I collect them and then put them in the big shredding bin at RBSykes & Associates so no one will steal my identify. Not that they could get much with it. Anyway, in the last 31 days, I received 22 credit card offers -- some were specialty cards such as a Disney Visa or an NFL Master Card. No wonder America is in so much trouble financially. It is so easy to get credit and they only tell you in the ultra fine print that the 0% interest goes up to 29.8% interest if you are 10 minutes late paying your bill!! I know how easy it is to get in trouble with credit cards.

So I collect them and then shred. The shredders recycle the shreds so I don't feel quite so bad about all the trees being destroyed. I think that it almost bothers me more that I can't recycle the paper than it does that people are being lead down a path of financial ruin by these less than scrupulous credit card companies.

I'm done ranting now.

Results

2008-01-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

I did promise a results show. 2 more pounds have been voted off the island.

A Grand Experiment

2008-01-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

Only at Weight Watchers do you get an award for just showing up. I got this "Stay & Succeed" award for coming 16 weeks in a row. Even if I don't lose a pound, I get this cute little clapping hands charm. Woo Hoo. I have lost 31 lbs total so I guess the whole point is that if you show up, something might actually happen.

The past couple of weeks has been a little hard. I have had to recommit to such things as measuring my food. I guess the crackers I eat while I am trying to decide what to have for dinner count, as does the finger-fulls of cupcake batter (or is that fingers-full), or the handful of this and taste of that and a couple of pinches of bleu cheese while I look for the answers to my stress and problems in the fridge. I guess the answer is not in there. Anyway, today starts a new day, with a new committment to try the WW healthy checks -- 6 glasses of water, 2 - 3 dairy servings, 5 - 7 servings of vegetables, a multi-vitamin, and 2 teaspoons of olive oil. That means I need to use up 2 of my 26 points on olive oil!! Ick.

I also got on the treadmill this morning and walked for 30 minutes. 1.37 miles. Not a lot, but not bad for someone who is basically sedentary.

We will see how this grand experiment goes. Stay tuned for the results show next week.

Huzzah!!

2008-01-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

2 Posts in one day. However the glorious news I just recently heard can not be ignored.

Masterpiece Theatre, in all its wonder and genius, is going to air the complete works of JANE AUSTEN!!!!

There will be a new Persuasion (which is good because Rachel says that all the people in the old one are ugly), a new Mansfield Park (which is my least favorite especially the most recent one that was disgracefully modernly scandalous), a new Northanger Abbey (I'm not sure there was ever an old one), a new Sense & Sensibility (though Emma Thomson's is hard to beat), the Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice (though all those girls are really plain for being the most beautifuly girls in the county), and the Kate Beckinsale Emma (which is my personal favorite of Emma). Go ahead and diagram that sentence!

I will have my DVR set for January 13th.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/index.html

A Christmas (belated) Update

2008-01-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

Our Christmas Eve/Christmas Day was great!!

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Nutcracker for the 20th time! Some of us have gone more, because we wanted to see Kathleen twice. Kathleen has appeared in it a grand total of 28 times on stage over 4 years. This year she was a page. We went to our traditional after-Nutcracker dinner at Lamb’s and came out to a snow storm that looked like it was right out of The Shining.

We played Apples to Apples and opened a couple of presents. Rob, Bob and Sarah went to midnight services at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and then dug a woman out of a snow bank. We had breakfast and then opened presents. We have never been in too much of a hurry to get out of bed on Christmas morning. We later went to a family-friendly National Treasure movie – which we loved, Emily Jones.

I also got a new camera for Christmas. Well actually, I got a new camera for Christmas but Bob’s canmera didn’t do what it needed and did stuff that I didn’t need so we swapped. This is the only picture I have taken.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

We will be sending out our Christmas cards before Christmas Eve this year. I picked the picture where most of us look the best, but these are the pictures I really wanted to send! Rob looks like we photo shopped him in but he really was there.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

New York, New York -- It's a Wonderful Town

2007-12-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

And no Emily, I did not take blog worthy pictures. I did take these however.

I love NY. It is such a fun place to visit. Bob took Rachel and Sarah when they were 15 and 14. I stayed home for some reason. Can’t remember why. I was very nervous about them going and being on their own. So I gave them some boundaries – Central Park to Time Square, 5th Avenue to Broadway, or something confining like that. When I talked to them the next day, I asked what they had done and they told me they had gone to Brooklyn!!! So much for boundaries. I guess I just had to cease worrying because they seemed to be OK. NYC is the safest big city in the World. I guess we can thank Guliani for that though New Yorkers I have met say "No, not really".

Anyway, we arrived in the Big Apple late Thursday night and checked into our overpriced, under-loved hotel – the Sheraton NY. The rooms are tiny, the bathroom is tinier, the carpets and wall paper are very worn and the TV channels are few. The movie selection is OK, but you can’t start a movie anytime you want; you have to wait until it spools again. What is that about?

Friday, we went to the LDS Temple. I am sure I have never been in a more beautiful place, nor a more peaceful setting. The spirit is so strong and you can’t hear anything from the outside world. It is quite compact with a limited schedule, but always seems to have something going on.

Afterwards we went to a German restaurant on the Lower– Upper East Side (85th St. and 2nd Avenue) – The Heidelberg. The food was great, but the best part was the gay, Mexican waiter in Lederhosen and an elf hat. I wish I had taken a picture, but that might have been rude.

After a nap, we took a rickshaw/pedicab to a dinner with other attorneys sponsored by the AAJ – the organization formerly known as ATLA. I think it was just an excuse to drink a lot of wine (not us). We never really talked about anything specific except law and what I thought of Mitt Romney and why everyone thought Mormons were so odd. They were a very nice group, but I suspect they are all Clinton supporters.

Next morning, Bob went to meetings and I went to Harlem!! We saw the new Harlem renaissance. A lot of middle class and upper class families are moving back into Harlem because no one can afford homes in Manhattan. The old brownstones are being refurbished and selling for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. I wonder where all the poor people are moving to? The is the biggest problem with gentrification. Donald Trump wants to buy a bunch of the projects and tear them down and replace them with luxury condos. Again, where do poor people, and just working class people go. We stopped by the legendary Apollo Theater,

the Jumel Mansion – George Washington really did sleep there,

and when one of the tour leaders found out that I was from Utah, she just had to take us by the new LDS Chapel in Harlem. It is on the corner of 126th and Adam Clayton Powell Drive (actually, I think that it may be 8th Ave. – but the street has been renamed.)

We had a wonderful soul food lunch and dessert at a jazz club. I will need to go back because there was so much to see.

That evening, I ran to China Town to buy purses, of course. We then met Joy Kaler from Advocate Capitol for dinner – and no we didn’t eat the entire time we were there. I selected Spamalot for the play we went to see with Joy. I am so sorry I chose that one. It was exceptionally vulgar – more vulgar than Monty Python usually is and uncomfortably irreverent. They added lots of things that were not in the Holy Grail movie and then just went on way too long.

Speaking of way too long, I will end this entry by stating that we went to church the next day, I flew home, Bob drove to Oswego, emptied the storage unit and flew home on Tuesday. All in all, it was a great trip, but next time, I don’t want to do so much with other people.

P.S. -- Over the last 2 weeks, I have lost 3.8 lbs.

My 25 Pound Washer

2007-12-03T18:47:00.001-07:00

I know I promised I wouldn’t boor you to tears with my weight loss saga. But I have to brag. I have lost 25.2 lbs. WW gave me this cute little washer for my efforts. I was also hoping that no one noticed that I have worn the same dress every time I weigh in. Alas, they have. I guess it is time for a new dress.

How I can tell i have lost weight.

2007-11-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

I don’t mean to bore you with continual blog entries about my weight-loss triumphs, but I just can’t help it. I feel so empowered by it all. I promise I will not do this every blog. Just today.
At my WW meeting, we talked about how we can tell we have weight loss success even if the scale did not exist. I have made my own list.

1. A couple of years ago, I bought a skirt and 2 sweaters in the wrong (definition: smaller) size. I couldn’t wear the sweaters. I could wear the skirt if I buttoned it over a smaller portion of my body that wasn’t my waist (definition: about 5" higher). Well, I can now button the skirt at my waist and I can wear the sweaters; I don’t like any of them. Go figure.

2. I can tie my shoes and cut my own toenails without having to reach to the side of me because there is less in the way. The true sign of a fat person is that one’s shoes are tied at the side and not in the center.

3. I can stand up to put on my socks in those teeny little changing stalls at the Salt Lake Temple.

4. I hate to say it (reference: Confessional 10/22/07), but I actually have a little more energy and feel like doing more. Actually, my plantar fasciatus pain is gone. A coincidence?

5. I look thinner.

I have lost a grand total of 21.8 lbs. Hurray for me.

It's Not Easy Being Green

2007-11-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

It’s not easy being green. Just yesterday, I received 8 catalogs in the mail. For some reason, you buy one item online and for the rest of your life you receive catalogs from places you’ve never purchased from before.

And just try getting off the Victoria Secret list. I bought 2 dresses for Rachel and Sarah when they were 12 & 14 (Before you question my judgment, they were lovely, long-sleeved, cowl-necked, knit velvet dresses that hit below the knee.) I have received 2-3 VS catalogs a week for the last 11 years.

Then there are the Harry & David, Hammacher-Schlemmer, Orvis, Travel Smith, Coldwater Creek, Brookstone, Wine Enthusiast, Sur La Tabla, etc. Though I am not a great recycler, I have been concerned about the number of trees and the amount of energy required to produce catalogs for things I am not going to buy.

Now, I do usually just toss them in the recycling bin before they get in the house. But I have discovered a new web site. You register – they promise not to send you a catalog or sell your information – and then you can access all the catalogs you do not want anymore and they say that within 10 weeks, your name will be off the list. Try it. You’ll like it.

http://www.catalogchoice.org

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK

2007-11-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Just in: I remember now what else I was going to say about this book. I am so tired of subtle and not so subtle jabs at the war in Iraq, George Bush, etc. I don't really care what your opinion is. It had so little to do with the story, that it could just as well have been left out. It appears that this was added because it is a popular thing to do. Stop it. Same goes for TV shows.

Do not read this book. When we originally started the Scarpetta novels, Kay was strong, intelligent, witty, professional, etc. Where did you go? All we have left is a miserable, whiny, old, passive woman. There is no life to her any more. The book has so many characters that no one cares about. They are all unpleasant -- even the ones we used to know and love. This book is a continuation of the last one -- it is so unmemorable, I forgot the name. I couldn't remember what had happened in the last novel, so I spent most of my time confused. That she has so many odd story lines that kind of meet up at the end doesn't help. It's almost as if she said -- "oops, I'm out of paper, I better wrap this up." And what is the deal with Marino and where did he go? Don't waste your money. Borrow my book if you must read it. I've already wasted $17.61. If I ever read another Cornwell book, it'll be from the library though it bothers me that my tax dollars are used on this tripe!!

I Am Thankful!!

2007-11-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving!! Christmas is good. I can take or leave Halloween and the Labor Day, but Thanksgiving is about my 2 favorite things!! Family and Food. I am always a little sad because Thanksgiving seems to get pushed to the side with a little teeny display of paper products somewhere between the behemoth bags of fun size candy bars and the tacky dancing Santas. This is a perfect time for me (and everyone) to think about the things I am grateful for and consider the source of these blessings.

Here is a list of all the things I am grateful for:

Bob Sykes, Rachel, Sarah, Robbie & Kathleen Sykes, Aunty Kate and the Lewis’, the Gordons (even though we miss Aunty Fran something awful). My house, my Huntsville House, Weight Watchers, my health (but not MS – it is no friend of mine); okay – Otto and Daisy, but not their byproducts; my car, washing machine, dishwasher – especially in Huntsville. A good night’s sleep. I don’t get those very often. Good books. Comfy shoes, a good bed. Hot baths. Lotion after the hot baths because my skin gets so dry. United States of America. Election day. Blogs. Emily Jones. Young Women and Mutual (I know, I grumble sometimes, but I still am grateful for it.) Education. The temple, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Prayer, the scriptures.

That my Heavenly Father loves me and all His Children. He is the source of all these blessings. And I am grateful to Him.

A Day in the Life

2007-11-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

My Normal, Exciting Saturday.

Today. This is just a rundown of a day in the life of Mom

8:00 am – woke up. I actually got to sleep in this morning.

8:15 am – went to grocery store so we could have stuff for breakfast

9:00 am – made French toast and sausage. I very rarely make breakfast, but Aunty Kate was here and I felt a need to have a Martha Stewart Moment.

10:00 am to 12:45 pm – Cleaned the laundry room with enormous help from Bob Sykes. This man is a cleaning, organizing machine. I am one lucky woman.

1:00 pm – took Aunty Kate to the airport. We will miss her immensely.

1:30 pm - cleaned up the kitchen and planned the grocery list and weeks menus. We are going to have very boring meals.
3:00 pm – took a nap. I need my nap.

6:00 pm – Went to Heidi Hanks wedding reception (I didn’t sleep from 3 to 6. I just don’t remember all the exciting stuff I did)

7:30 pm - Met Bob and the Fitts’ for dinner at Lambs. I haven’t been there since Christmas Eve.

9:00 pm - went to Bob’s office and gave the Fitts’ a tour.

10:00 pm – Went to the grocery store. Had to use the self-checkout, because it was late on Saturday night. I hate the self-checkout. It takes about 20 minutes to do 10 minutes worth of checking out.

11:00 pm – came home from the store, unloaded the groceries, put them away, switched the laundry from the dryer to the basket and from the washer to the dryer.

11:15 pm – found a wet spot in the hallway. Someone was not watching Daisy. While I was starting water to wash the towel I had used to sop up dog pee, I decided to wash the sheets in Sarah’s room since it had been a long time since anyone had slept in there. While I was moving around the bedding trying to get the sheets, I saw a HUGE yellow spot on the bedspread. Guess some dog had done something a long time ago and I had never found out about it. So started washing all the bedding. (Sarah actually slept there last night!!)

11:30 – realized that I still had to empty the dishwasher, load it, feed the dogs, and still put clean sheets on my bed.

Isn’t it great to be me? (ps -- another 3 lbs down!!)

The Amazing Kathleen

2007-11-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not seen the amazingness that is my child, take 2:02 minutes and watch the video from her summer ballet class. She is the beautiful girl in the blue halter leotard. That other girl just keeps getting in the way.

What is on My NetFlix Queue

2007-10-29T12:28:00.001-06:00

My own Netflix choices are pretty eclectic, but when you consider the ones my kids have added, the list seems a schizophrenic (not in the accurate DSM-VI definition of mental illness, but in the cheesy horror story split-personality definition -- probably not pc, but I'm just saying. . .)

Movies we have at home:

1. Hetty Wainthrop, disc 2 (BBC Mystery) starring Patricia Routledge (she of "Keeping up Appearances" fame) and Dominic Monahan (Lost, Lord of the Rings -- Merry)

2. La Sylphide -- a ballet. Guess who put this one on the list.

3. Mockingbird Don't Sing -- added by Robbie, about a abused girl who has to learn to communicate.

4. The Muppet Show -- the original 70's version.

The Next 10 on the Queue:

1. Cadfael: The Potter's field (again BBC Mystery)
2. A Good Year -- Russell Crowe's latest critical flop.
3. Jean de Florette -- I have waited forever for this to finally show up.
4. Mississippi Burning
5. Ghosts of Missippi
6. Amistad -- are you seeing a trend here?
7. Millenium Season 2 (disc 3)
8. Millenium Season 3 (disc 4) these are a bonding moment for Robbie and I.
9. Longitude Part 1 -- Masterpiece Theatre
10. Dinner at 8.

I have 276 movies in my queue. I will be 100 years old before I ever get through them all.

Halloweenie

2007-10-24T13:33:00.000-06:00

I thought I was a Halloweenie because I just can’t seem to make my Halloween decorations look anything more than an old woman trying to hard to be festive. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I just don’t do "themes". Not parties, not YW programs, etc. I am just too pragmatic for all of that. Alas, probably makes it too boring for my YW.

However, I was taking a picture of my Halloween decorations to show you how lame I am and Presto!! A Ghost!! Ranks right up there with the headless man, doesn’t it?

I also tried to take pictures of Otto, but he just kept running away

Confessional

2007-10-22T22:47:00.001-06:00

Please do not feel sorry for me. I am not fishing for sympathy. I know that this will sound pathetic, but it is true.

Like Emily Jones, I also have a confession to make. I never verbalized it until I was talking to Aunty Kate on Saturday night. Here goes: Everyone tells me that if I lose weight, I will feel better. Well, I know that, but secretly, I don’t want to feel better because then I am afraid I will be expected to do more. There, I’ve said it. Now it is no longer a secret wish/desire/inner thought–whatever.

What I really need to do is lose the weight, feel better, and learn to say no!!

I lost 3.6 more pounds at WW this week. Hurray for me!!

The Headless Man

2007-10-20T17:54:00.000-06:00

I was listening to NPR’s "All Things Considered" today (only because it comes on before "Prairie Home Companion." And yes, I do listen to that tax-payer funded, left-leaning, radio station with the liberal, progressive agenda. I like it; it’s interesting even if I don’t always agree with them, and I help pay for it. (The grammatical structure of that sentence is challenged. I know.) In keeping with the season, they had asked their readers to send in stories of scariest things that had ever happened to them. This made me think of the scariest time I remember as a child.

When I was a kid (about age 6) in Ogden, Utah, we truly lived on the wrong side of the tracks. We were on west 31st street, down by the grain silos where the train cars were loaded. About a block away, was our church, the 19th Ward of the LDS Mt. Ogden Stake. The building is still there, but it was sold many years ago to another denomination. I would love to go in and see if it is still the same as I remember. There was a huge mural of the Last Supper on the wall behind the pulpit. Mormons don’t put murals in their buildings anymore. We all use the same correlated art work. Right now it is Carl Bloch. I personally sort of like a little iconography in my house of worship. That is one of the many reason I love the Temple. But I digress.

We had a ward Halloween party that my older sister, Fran, and I attended. My mom did not go to church with us very often, and this was no exception. This was back in the day when kids could wander unfettered after dark and we did only live across the street and 2 houses away.
It was a wonderful, fall evening, as I remember. The air was crisp and the leaves were, too. Just outside the cultural hall (gym to the non-Mormons), was a bush. As Fran and I walked home, I saw a shape behind the bush. It was a man; but not just any man. It was a headless man!! His shoulders were broad, his coat was dark, and he had a small light between his fingers as though he and his missing head had needed to go outside for a smoke. In a few seconds, I saw the light nearer the ground. I was sure that cigarette had found its missing home. We ran, screaming, as fast as we could to the safety of our own front porch. Mom just laughed it off, certain that some one had really needed a cigarette, and being a Mormon, had to hide it.

I asked Fran about it a few years ago. Her memory was vivid, also. But not as vivid as mine. Somehow, that shape had shed it cloak, skins and all its tissues and resided in her memory as a smoking skeleton.

Driving by the area recently, I saw that the church is still there. Even the bush is still where I remember it; about the same size. Our house is gone. It is the garage and yard for the Ogden City School District buses.

There was no sign of the missing head.

A List of Musings

2007-10-19T07:03:00.000-06:00

1. Why do the CSI’s in CSI: Miami drive Hummers? Are the Miami streets that rugged?

2. Why do the CSI’s in Las Vegas work in the dark? And never pull their hair back when they are working a crime scene? Honestly, I must watch too much TV.

3. What is all the hubbub about? I just finished Twilight and think it is a nice enough book, but am not all that eager to read the next two. I must be old and have forgotten what true, young love is like. Which leads me to #4.

4. Why are vampires suddenly the hot new thing? Aren’t they creatures of the night? Don’t they bite people? Why are there romance novels and TV shows about them? I’m just saying.

5. Why is it that when I click the box on blogspot to remember me when I log in, it never does. It is starting to effect my self esteem.

6. Why does every place that has a credit card machine have to have those silly flowers tied to the pens and then stuck in a flower pot of beans? I never recognize them as pens. I always assume that everyone has the same dumb flower arrangements.

A Weigh

2007-10-16T22:27:00.000-06:00

This is my Monday outfit. Robbie asked me why I get dressed up to go to Weight Watchers. I think he thought it was a dress up kind of place. In actuality, this is the outfit I wore when I first joined, so as a control, I wear the same outfit every time I weigh in and know that the loss (or gain – heaven forbid) is not attributable to what I wear.

This is just one of the tricks of the diet junkie – control what you wear even if you can’t seem to control what you eat. Today, a young woman showed up in flip-flops, very short shorts, and a tank top. It was 45 dang degrees outside. But her clothes weighed next to nothing. I think she must have over indulged on the weekend.

This is not a great picture, but it's not a great outfit.

Any weigh (hee hee), I am down an additional 2.2 lbs for a grand total of 10.2!!!

Good, Better, Best

2007-10-11T20:52:00.000-06:00

There must be a message in recent general conference talks out there just for me. Elder Dallin Oaks talked about all the good things there are to do out there in the world, but there are things that are better, and things that are best. It reminded me a little bit of the Berenstain Bears Ready Set Go where the bears compete. Some are good, some are better and some are best. Poor Papa bear is only best at napping. I think Papa bear and I have something in common. Sister Julie Beck, in General Women’s Conference urged us/me to focus on the essentials and forgo the frivolous. I knew in an instant what she was talking about. All the frivolous things I do came clearly to mind. Now, generally, these talks leave me with a great feeling of inadequacy. (Thank goodness for spell-check. I could never have done that on my own.) You know the feeling – not good enough, house not clean enough, not thin enough, don’t get my visiting teaching done early enough, blah, blah blah. On and on goes the voice in my head. Anyway, I decided to list all the frivolous things I do and decide if they are good, better or best – or not in the running. This is by no means a complete list:

1. Play Jewel Quest II. Not even in the running. I spend way to much time on this ridiculous game. It is sort of addicting; I even see it in my sleep. I start out thinking that I’ll only play a minute or two and then discover that my entire morning is gone.

2. Nap. Good, but better or best if I were in bed at a decent hour so that I didn’t have to go back to bed – which I sometimes do instead of play #1 above.

3. Sew. Better, or maybe even best if I forwent (I believe that is the past tense of forgo) #1 and #2 above. I would like to get Aunty Fran’s quilt done since I didn’t finish it before she died’ didn’t finish before her son’s birthday, and didn’t finish it before he graduated from high school. Maybe I’ll finish it before he goes/comes home from his mission.

4. Read. I actually haven’t read anything but Twilight in ages. And that took me 3 months to read. I used to read all the time, though some of the choices were only good – and actually some of them weren’t even that high on the list. I need to work on this one. Reading has always been my passion. It’s funny; I can read a novel (silly ones, especially) and can’t seem to get into a good/better/best regimen of reading my scriptures.

5. TV. Unfortunately, because I haven’t slept long enough, and then spend too much time at the office (not awful), by the time I come home and get dinner started, I am too tired to do much else. So I just sit and surf the channels until I discover that I have been through all the channels at least 12 times and there is nothing on worth watching.

So, I resolve to give up Jewel Quest II, drop 2 shows from my DVR schedule (it is amazing how much sleep I lose over the likes of Law & Order:SVU, Without a Trace, and Las Vegas. I am not quite ready to give up Ugly Betty or Bones). I also resolve to quit saying how busy I am because we all know that it is only 1, 2, and 5 that are really using up my time. I think I’ll also give going to bed before midnight a try. Maybe that will actually take care of #2.

PS – Latest report from Weight Watchers –down an additional 3 lbs.!! I have many to go to be at a healthy weight, but I am on my way.

Awful

2007-10-07T22:47:00.000-06:00

It has been a really long time since I wrote this entry on my WordPerfect program. So I will just send it the way I wrote it and then will do an update sooner than this.

I picked the world’s worst day to go to Weight Watchers!! Granted, any day would be better than not going at all, but it couldn’t have been more poorly planned on my part. As background, I need to lose a lot of weight for the sake of my health. I have developed some very bad habits since I grew up (maybe I never had any good ones to begin with.) Anyway, I eat too much, eat out too much, drink too much Diet Coke (elixir from the gods), and don’t get enough sleep – because I am staying up too late playing on the computer or watching TV. That all adds up to no energy, a messy house, no exercise, and a whole bunch of unfinished projects because a) I am too tired, and/or b) I must be too busy. You choose.

So, we are in the middle of an office move. I promised Bob I would not call it the awful anymore because it bothers him. That was really only a slip of the tongue one day when I said "awful" instead of "office." Must be Freudian. Well moving is hell, whether it is 20 feet, or 20 blocks. We are moving into the office space next door to us. Last Thursday, we got about 85% of everything moved. It is the last 15% that kills you. We are still moving the last 15% 5 days later, and seem to have made little dent in it, although Bob thinks we only have 8% more. On move day, I don’t think I actually moved anything, I just spent my time answering everybody’s request for furniture placement and picture hanging advice. And yet, I was strangely exhausted. I think it was from just the sheer number of miles I walked in circles between the two offices.

So, Monday, I decided to go to Weight Watchers. I stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast on my way there. That is 15 points right off the bat of my 31 allowed points for the day. I went straight to the office, where we ordered lunch from a Greek restaurant. That took another 15 points. I now have only 1 point for the rest of the day. It is only 3 pm. I then eat 2 Hershey’s minis and another Diet Coke. It is now 6 pm and I have had no water (need 6 glasses - Diet Coke doesn’t count), no dairy (3 servings) and no vegetables. Did I tell you the woman who joined ahead of me was 5'4"and weighed only 115 lbs.!! She only needs to lose 5 lbs!! I could beat myself (or maybe her).

So, I went home, scrambled eggs, threw on some cheese, drank 2 glasses of milk (the three dairy’s), chugged down 4 glasses of water and some spinach. I then went to bed and dreamed I was in a Hannibal Lecter movie. I’ve never even seen one. Go figure. It must have been all that eating. I used up 16 of my 35 extra allowable points for the week. There will be no movie popcorn this weekend. Thank goodness it is fast Sunday coming up.

Anyway, the office is looking great. We will actually be able to get back into helping clients again soon. I had a better Weight Watchers day today. Only ate 21 of my 31 points. I think that is a no-no, also. Maybe I can add 10 back to my weekly overage.

PS - On my first week at WW, I (not WWI) lost 4.4 lbs. It may have been a lot more if I hadn’t eaten all of the leftovers the Sunday night before my weigh-in.

Leave Taking

2007-09-20T21:38:00.000-06:00

I love fall. I haven’t actually ever sat down and analyzed why. I just do. Some see it as a harbinger of the long, dark dreary winter. Those are the people who don’t like winter.
I don’t like winter. I don’t like the lack of sunlight, the icy roads and slippery sidewalks. It reminds me of my high school years in Beavercreek, Ohio. The freezing rain left a thin quarter-inch coating of crystal clear ice on everything. Every sign, every road, every car. I swore I would never be warm again. Then I went on to BYU. Because I worked as a secretary on campus, I had to wear a dress to work (those dress code rules are long since over), and thus wore dressy shoes. No such thing as cross trainers, except maybe some ugly grandma hushpuppies or something. Being the fashion plate that I was, I wore high heels – with leather soles – which would soak up the water and as soon as they hit the linoleum floors in the JKB, so did I. I seem to spend as much time on the floor in the hall as I did on my chair.

Enough about winter, I am not crazy about summer either. Here in Utah everyone says the heat is OK because it is a dry heat. When it is a 104 in the shade, wet or dry, it doesn’t matter, it still feels like living in Hell. Now Salt Lake is not as bad as my Arizona friends, but it is still bad. One September, Bob and I went to a conference in Phoenix. I was not sure whose bright idea that was, because it was like going to Hell on a vacation. It was 110, too hot to even sit by the pool. I stayed in my room most of the time, except when I could run to my air conditioned rental car and then to an air-conditioned museum. So you can see, summer is not great either. And spring, while lovely, is simply too short.

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. The cool evening lend themselves to lazing about on the new patio. The mosquitos and yellow jackets are fewer in number and the crickets start to sing at dusk. Turning off the air-conditioner in September is a wonderful experience. The nights are cool enough that you can open the window and put another blanket on the bed. An acquaintance of mine called this "good sleeping weather." I just don’t get over heated. At my stage of life, overheating is sometimes a problem, so I appreciate the weather cooperating with me a little bit. Also, with MS, I find that I feel better when it is not so hot. I need all the good days I can get. I’m a little more energetic in the fall.

Mother nature brings out all her best colors in the fall. On Labor Day Weekend, as we drove over Trapper’s loop from Huntsville, there was just the ever so slight change in color. A little touch of red that could only be seen if you squinted up your eyes and looked ever so hard. This last Saturday, there was a significant change. All the coolness of the green leaves are turning to the warm reds and oranges and yellows I just love – I love warm colors, not warm temperatures. In another week, due to the drought, I read, the colors may be gone. I was going to take the opportunity to take a little side trip up Ogden Canyon and back over Trappers’ went to Ogden to file my property tax appeal (another story for another day) but found that I could file my mail. The rest of the week was pretty awful and by Thursday I didn’t have a car (again a story for another day) and was scheduled to help with the office move. Anyway, my wonderful Sarah suggested that we spend the night in Huntsville and then drive back over Trappers in the morning (another thing I can do now that Kathleen drives) and take these beautiful pictures. I have rambled enough. Just look at this fabulous site.

I agree with John Donne, "No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace As I have seen in one Autumnal face. "

The leaves can’t wait, and neither can I.

Pandora's Box

2007-09-10T19:10:00.000-06:00

Everyone remembers the story of Pandora’s box. At least every culturally literate person. You know the one – In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. Zeus created her as a punishment for mankind, in retaliation for Prometheus' having stolen fire and then giving it to humans for their use–apparently not women, however. She had a box with all the world’s ills and evils. Curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the box and all the evils, ills, bad things, rap music, etc., escape. She slams the lid down just in time to keep hope from breaking loose. Thus, while we have bad things thrust upon us, hope is still present. I’m not sure that a box is the best place for hope, but that’s how the story goes.

Anyway, we had this very ugly wooden deck in our back yard. Just outside the back door, you would step up onto it. It had rows of wooden benches on each side, making the deck just a smidge too small for a table. We first painted the deck when we moved into this house 14 years ago and actually only used it when the kids needed to get up on the trampoline (which we no longer have). Otto, the devil dog, used the benches to look over at the cute dog next door. I was always afraid that he might jump over and that we would have a neighborhood incident on our hands. So, the wood rotted away until it was only good for putting splinters into your hind quarters. In the middle of July, we received a notice of the neighborhood cleanup. This made me think. We could get rid of the deck and pour a nice cement patio. I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. I remembered that Paul, our friend who uses our pool more than we do, had offered to help out with any big yard project we might have as thanks for the use of the pool. How could I turn down such a generous offer. The next week, Paul came with the boys from the Capitol Hill 2nd ward to tear down the deck. Give teen-aged boys sledge hammers and tell them to get to work and they are in heaven. Great at demolition, not so great at putting things back together. You have to work to their strengths. And this was the beginning of Pandora’s box.

When the deck was gone, all the ills and evils of home ownership were apparent. There was a gas line to be moved, electrical lines to be moved, sprinklers to be moved, along with busting out the 200 lb. cement footings under the deck. Sod needed to be laid, the fence needed to be painted, and you can’t have a new patio without patio furniture. $$$$$$$. I found a plumber to move the gas line. He found that our gas meter shut off valve was buried below grade – a serious out-of-code issue. So the gas company needed to be called. There was also a leak at the meter. The gas company came and went, only digging out the valve and repairing the leak, and I found out later, disconnecting the line to our gas fireplace. Anyway, we did get the gas line buried and the leak fixed. Next came electricians. What was going to be a simple move of the line, became an all day project. We added new outlets, replaced light fixtures, mapped out the electrical schematic in the entire house, and I think that was it. All I know is that it added up to a whole heap of dollars. This is when you wish you were renters. Sprinkler Bob has been up here several times just trying to rewire the sprinkler system. It is finally done, though that devil dog Otto has eaten a few sprinkler heads. We laid sod, relaid it after Otto dug it up. Had the fence repaired and painted, planted some flowers in the pots, bought tables and chairs and yellow-jacket traps, and now have the most pleasant spot to spend my evenings.

I’m not sure I’ll ever go back inside. Maybe Pandora did us a favor after all.

RIP - no pictures 'cause my kids have my cameras!

2007-09-04T22:38:00.000-06:00

Today officially marks the demise of the book group. Many of my friends and neighbors met on the first Tuesday of each month to discuss a book that we had chosen. Someone was the discussion leader – that person also picked the book. Someone else was the hostess; this lucky woman had us all over to our house for a lovely luncheon. These were golden times. None of us worked. Well, we worked, just not for money. We all had children at home and that was our job. We often laughed as much as we actually discussed the book. Like the time someone said that the lemon Jell-o salad with the maraschino cherry on top looked somewhat similar to breast implants. I have no idea what book we actually read that month, but I do remember the Jell-o salad. Several people suggested that I write a book about the group. It would be great. It could be one of those pink-covered paperback books you pick up in the airport. You know the ones, about society women, bored, spenders; except we weren’t society ladies – just middle class moms. No one was particularly bored, and I am pretty sure that none of us were big shoppers. A book just wouldn’t have been a good idea, however. I am not sure that any of us wanted funny stories told about us to strangers, even if the names had been changed to protect the innocent/guilty.

Anyway, over the past 16 years, the demographics of the group changed. Children grew up, sometimes there was a divorce, and a group member went back to work. It was like sending a child off to college, only you were sure that they would never come back. Once gone, it seemed that it was true that you couldn’t go home to book group again. The next change came when we began to invite others to fill in the blanks. We chose women like us, whose children had grown up and maybe didn’t have enough to do. For a while, we powered on again until people began to move to smaller houses or travel because they were no longer encumbered with school-age children. We were never again able to bring more than 5 or 6 of us together at one time. We even stopped going to each other’s homes so it wouldn’t be a burden on anyone. We tried to choose an interesting new restaurant each month. I even suggested that we give up the intellectual pretense of being a book group and just be a lunch group.

For me, I think the beginning of the end came when we read The Life of Pi. Most of the group thought it was a great, deep, even profound book. I just thought it was silly and perhaps I am showing a little shallowness, but I just really didn’t get it nor did I want to. I tried to read it and got about 3 chapters into it and said, "Enough!!" Sort of when I tried to read The Hobbit and only got to page 60 (3 times). So last month, Lani and I went to lunch all by ourselves. We didn’t have a book to read and no one else around to discuss it. It was a little sad that there were not more of us there, but I did have a great time visiting with Lani, catching up on her family. It’s funny how we are neighbors and go to church together, but sometimes have no idea of what it happening with our friends. That was the best part of book group. I shall miss it.
I never felt compelled to read something I really wasn’t interested in, but did read some things that I might not have chosen for myself and loved them. Here are some of the things we read over 16 years. It is only a short list. There is not enough room on the internet for the complete list:

The Known World. Letters from a Woman Homesteader. Follow the River. Angle of Repose. The Kite Runner. Reading Lolita in Tehran. Lincoln by Gore Vidal. The Woman in White. Crocodile on the Sandbank. A Morbid Taste for Bones. Northanger Abbey. The Three Musketeers. The Count of Monte Cristo. Eight Cousins. The Scarlet Pimpernel. The Deep End of the Ocean. Cold Mountain. Snow Falling on Cedars. A Lesson Before Dying. Ellen Foster. The Road to Coorain. Tuesdays With Morrie. Birdsong. Possession. Interpreter of Maladies. Man’s Search for Meaning. Leave it to Psmith. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Book Group, Rest in Peace.

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

2007-08-31T23:28:00.000-06:00

Since school has started and none of my children will be writing the traditional "What I did last summer" back-to-school essay, I thought I would do one myself. I know that this seems incredibly self-indulgent, but isn’t that what blogs are all about – all about me!! So this is what I did:

1. In May, we went to Rachel’s law school graduation in Moscow, Idaho. It is hard to believe that I am actually old enough to have a child old enough to be a lawyer!! It was an exciting time. Aunty Kate (Kathleen Lewis – my sister) joined us for the festivities. We are so proud of her. Rachel that is. We are proud of Aunty Kate also, but for other reasons.

2. In June, school was over and I drove Kathleen (Sykes, not Lewis) back and forth to the Ballet West Summer Intensive at the University of Utah and to driver’s dread, ‘er ed. She got her license on July 26.

3. In June, I also went to the funeral of my friend, Sandra Jones. Her dear daughters are always in my heart.

4. In July, Bob, Sarah, Stacy and I went to Sun Valley for the Bar Conference. This is actually my favorite vacation spot. It is relaxing; everybody can do what they want, and I can just sit and read. We have been doing this since 1985. We used to bring a sitter so I could also get some rest while the kids swam and played. Bob gets to play tennis and go on bike rides and we go to movies.
5. We tore out a deck in the backyard and now have a wonderful cement patio with a table and chairs and flower pots and more grass. My favorite time of day is in the evening when I can sit outside and enjoy the cooler temperatures.

6. Saw a bunch of movies – Transformers ***, Ratatouille ****, Hair Spray ****, 1408***, Harry Potter 5****, 35 minutes of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (we walked out; it was offensive on so many levels)------, the last half of Sicko (we had to watch something after we walked out of Chuck and Larry) * ½, Ocean’s 13 ***, Rescue Dawn ****, Spider Man 3 **, The Simpsons **.

7. Read some books – Harry Potter of course, Nora Robert’s High Noon (very formulaic, I knew what was going to happen, but I just kept on reading). I tried to read Burr for my book group, but Gore Vidal’s characters tend to spend too much time with ladies of ill-repute. Oh my gosh, I think this is it. I am ashamed of myself. I am reading Twilight just to see what all the fuss is about. I am a little embarrassed to be seen reading a book that proudly proclaims itself to be on "the Teen People Hot List."

8. Bob and Kathleen and I took a small road trip to Goblin Valley. It was one of those trips when you just get in the car and see where the road takes you. As a child, Goblin Valley always seemed a little scary. As an adult, it is just too cool.

Anyway, that is what I did for my Summer Vacation.

Taxi No More

2007-08-28T22:30:00.000-06:00

This is Kathleen on her first day
of school with her new Car!!

Today, for the first time in 20 years, I did not have to take anyone to school. Since I am not driving, I felt obligated to get up and do the good mom thing and actually make breakfast for my family. This might be a near first, also. Kathleen got waffles and Otto (the rotten Rottweiler) got the rest.

I was not sure what to do with/for myself with all the extra time, so I celebrated by getting my eyebrows waxed. They threw in those little goat hairs on my chin and upper lip just for good measure. It seems that about the time men start losing their hair, we start growing more and because our eyesight has dimmed somewhat over the last 10 years, we can’t see it. You know it is time to do something when your child reaches across the dinner table and yanks a hair out of your upper lip about the length of an eyelash!! When you have hair ripped out by the roots in large chunks, the surrounding skin loses all feeling. I have been walking around with the top of my face feeling like I have just been through a Botox jamboree. Never actually having had Botox, I just have to guess that this is what it feels like. Afterword, with the colored brow gel, I came home looking like Betty Davis or Joan Crawford. Time for a good scrubbing.

This afternoon, I have been looking at my watch, wondering when to get Kathleen from school. Then I realized a) I don’t have a watch – only pieces of watches – I just call time 467-8463; and b) Kathleen can drive herself. So Taxi4umom is now taxinomore. I wonder if that email address is available?

Mom's Taxi!

2007-08-23T12:25:00.000-06:00

Years ago, in the dark ages, when we first signed up with AOL for internet access (you remember – dial-up, slow, busy signals, etc.), I was able to get taxi4u for my e-mail address. I thought I was so clever. None of the kids drove and my days consisted of drop off, drop off, drop off, pick up, pick up, pick up, go home. – in that order. Kathleen actually grew up in a child safety seat. Her first words were "get in the car!" and "I’d like a large Diet Coke, please". Well, my credit card expired and AOL dropped us, so I signed up for taxi4u on a free Hotmail account, but could never remember the password. So sitting out there in a cyber grave yard somewhere is an e-mail account jam packed with old unanswered mail. I then had to come up with a new name and all the good taxi names were taken (even some of the bad ones). Finally, I was able to use taxi4umom@hotmail.com.

Today is the end of an era. Kathleen, my youngest child, has her driver’s license and a new car. I will never be taxi4umom again. I am actually shedding a small tear or two as I am jumping for joy. I have grumbled about this for years and yet am feeling a little bit of empty-nest syndrome. This morning, however, I found that mom is still needed. We were going to make a little dry run down to West High so Kathleen knew what the traffic was like when she would be going to school. Lo and behold, her car would not start. She had left the lights on all night. We have had this car less than 24 hours and it already has a dead battery. In her defense, all the other cars have a twilight sensor, so we never actually have to turn the lights off or on. Anyway we had a short lesson on how to jump start a car.

Kathleen is going to be a very good driver. She is attentive and can’t drive with her friends until January. And I haven’t seen her since 10:00 this morning. She is off driving somewhere.
I am keeping the taxi4umom@hotmail.com address. Sort of like a mental scrapbook.