I filled up my van with gas yesterday at costco, and even there, where the gas is supposed to cost less than at the regular pumps, I paid $2.60 a gallon. What is going on here?! Why are we paying so much at the pump? EEK! Well, I figured that if I get 20 miles to the gallon (hopefully I get a few more on the freeway, but driving around town dropping off and picking up kids, 20 is probably all I get on average), then it costs me about 13 cents to drive a mile. So, my drive home from Costco cost me 78 cents. Cole asked me to pick him up from school, so as I’m driving, I’m figuring out in my head….it’s a mile and a half to school, times two, so that’s three miles, times that by 13 cents, and this drive is costing me 39 cents. And then there’s the drive to dance lessons–42 cents; and the drive to choir–another 42 cents. And don’t even get me started on how many times I drove up to Salt Lake last week–Arrg! I feel like a taxi driver and I should keep a little jar in the van and make the kids pay me per mile. Hey, that’s not a bad idea!
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Last night as I was taking my son to scouts, I was singing along to Donny. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes… and my son says to me, “You should go on American Idol, Mom.” I laughed. “No, I can’t do that,” I said.
“But you should, Mom. You’re a really good singer.” he said.
I won’t go into the thousands of reasons why I would not, could not try out for American Idol (which, no, I haven’t watched this week’s show yet), but I thought that was a very nice thing for my newly teenagerized son to say. He’s a sweetie. I must cherish these little moments for soon he will hate me.
Oh, and by the way, one of my favorite bloggers, Carmen, has started a new blog answering questions about how she lost 60 pounds in the last year. She calls it the Elff diet, which stands for “eat less food, fatty”, or the kinder, gentler version, “eat less fatty foods”. She is so funny, and has a realistic approach to weight loss. Go on over and check her out, and let her inspire you.
Missie tagged me for a “Real Moms” post. So, if you are reading this, I tag you, too.
Real moms let their kids play with frosting. And candies. So they can make their own wonderful masterpieces that they are so proud of. Even if it makes a mess. Even if mom has given up sugar for lent and has to go and wash her hands instead of licking the frosting off of them.
Real moms also decorate Easter eggs with their kids. And yes, it’s messy. And the counter gets egg dye on it. And there are 3 1/2 dozen hard boiled eggs in the fridge to use up somehow in the next week or so. But we do it because it’s so much fun. And they have such fond memories of coloring their eggs. Just for fun, pick up an extra egg dye kit and put it away to use sometime that’s NOT Easter. You could dye eggs in the summer, or even in the winter. It will be a fun surprise on a boring day. 
Oh, the sugar high is still going strong, as I somehow feel that it would be a good idea to eat all the sugar I come in contact with, since I spent the last 40 days avoiding it. Needless to say, it’s not the healthy way to be, but I’ll be healthy again tomorrow. My Vacuum is now full of plastic grass, some of the Easter stuff has been put away, and it’s time to write about the weekend before I forget.
Friday night and Saturday night I was involved with the Tabernacle Choir concert, and it was WONDERFUL. As I mentioned before, I had a tiny part in ONE song, so the Bells on Temple Square were not huge contributors, but we did add a certain something. You can read a review here. The coolest part was just being in the newly restored Tabernacle for the first time, wandering around backstage like we were supposed to be there. Here’s a picture that Ryan took.
I’m the blonde blob just to the left of the podium. 
Our Saturday was very busy, with a soccer game, a test for Natalie at the school, an Easter egg hunt and watching my sister’s kids. But we had a LOT of fun. We also partially cleaned out the garage, so that my parents could take their tent trailer to it’s summer home (their house) and tried to get ready for Easter. Since Ryan was hauling things out of the garage, I guess he decided to fire up the old mini-gote and gave the kids rides all around the neighborhood. Would you like to see a few pictures? Of course you would.
That last one is my niece. She was quite fascinated by the birds.
Sunday, although at the end of an exhausting week, was not the end. The Tabernacle Choir and everyone involved with them was meeting Sunday after the weekly broadcast for a group picture in the Tabernacle with President Hinckley. So I got to go back up to Salt Lake again to be in this group picture. It was an amazing experience. The choir, Orchestra, Bells, Chorale, Stage Crew, and support people were all there arranged on the stage for a photo. At the center was our prophet. He spoke to us all for a few minutes about what a historic place we were in, and how pleased he was with all our work and service. I am not ashamed to admit that I had tears in my eyes. It was simply wonderful! The choir presented him with some gifts for an early birthday celebration, since they will be on tour in June, when he celebrates his 97th birthday. We all sang Happy Birthday to him. It was an experience I will never forget.
By the time I got home, it was lunch time and almost time to go to church. The house was a shambles and I had quite a few things to get done before dinner. I must admit my kids were not decked out in their finest Easter outfits, but they were clean. No hair was curled, and they were just wearing whatever they had picked out, although I did veto the blue striped socks with the black skirt and red blouse that Megan had on. I’m so glad Ryan was there taking care of everyone the whole weekend, and didn’t complain a bit that I was gone so much.
Church yesterday was also amazing. There were several beautiful musical numbers, and the lessons were all superb. Even though I was tired and would have rather be in bed, I was spiritually fed. The Easter messages were simply wonderful. After church we rushed to get things ready, then ran off to my parents’ house for an Easter dinner. Both my sisters were there with their families, as well as Mom and Dad and my Aunt Sandra and her husband, Walt. The dinner was great, as was the company. Between us we had 16 kids there to hunt for eggs and it was just fun to all be together.
So, although it was the busiest of weekends, it was wonderful. I feel far more blessed than I deserve!
I would write about my fabulous and extremely busy weekend, if I weren’t in a sugar coma. And I think my house exploded. It’s covered with colored easter grass and candy wrappers. I’ll have to fill you in once I recover.
Today is my little sister, Amy’s birthday. So, go on over there and give her some birthday love in the comments section, why don’t you? It’s also her husband’s birthday. Isn’t that odd? Or cool? You would never forgot your spouse’s birthday if it were the same day as yours. I think they should do that with Mothers day and Father’s day too. Then the husband and kids would not forgot to do anything for their wives and mothers, maybe.
In other not very exciting news, Cole’s digital camera came, and he’s been taking some pictures. I think he needs to have a photography class, or a least a little lesson on what makes a good picture, holding the camera steady and NOT taking pictures of people in the car. But I’m sure he’ll get better as time goes on. You can see all of his pictures so far here.
I hope you are all enjoying the Easter festivities. Let’s go find some eggs!
This is my absolute favorite season of the year. The tulips are just starting to bloom, the grass has just been cut for the first time, and Easter is just around the corner. Yes, there’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s not too hot to go out and do some weed pulling. It’s also perfect weather for soccer, and Easter egg hunts. The weather is perfect!
I’ve been given the opportunity to perform with the Tabernacle Choir this weekend. They are doing their first concert in the newly remodeled and rededicated Tabernacle. Last night I, along with 5 others from the bell choir rehearsed our tiny part in the program. Now, when I say time, I’m not exaggerating. I literally ring my bells 8 times. So, no, it’s not something that is really critical for the program, but the effect adds a lot to the song. The neatest part was just wandering around the new Tabernacle. There are new offices, new dressing rooms, and a new music room. Eventually we will have a place where we rehearse in that building, too. While sitting in Craig Jessop’s (the director of the Tab Choir) office to learn this little part of the song, I thought, “Wow! I’m in the Tabernacle sitting in Craig Jessop’s office. How cool is that?” After the song we participated in, Craig came and shook all of our hands and thanked us for coming and giving of our time to help out with the choir’s program. So, although it will make for a very busy weekend and a lot of time away from home, it’s a great experience.
I’m a little discombobulated this morning. I helped Megan with her homework for most of the morning. She wasn’t getting the whole Celcius/Farenheit thing, and had gotten most of the paper wrong on adding and subtracting minutes and hours. Since it was her birthday yesterday and I was gone, she didn’t get the homework done last night. By the time we were done, I looked up and realized it was time for the girls to leave, and 10 minutes from John’s preschool time. And I’m still in my pajamas. Oh well. I took John to preschool in my pajamas. With no bra, I might add. I had some lipgloss in the car, and wore my sunglasses, so I didn’t look TOO scary, and put on a jacket to mask my bralessness. Luckily, I only saw one other mom dropping off her daughter at preschool, and she understands. You know you sometimes see those girls who go to the grocery store in their pajamas and fuzzy slippers? I couldn’t be one of those people. Unless maybe I had a bra on and makeup and the pajamas were just like regular clothes. So, now the schedule of my day has been upset. Not like I had much of a schedule anyway, but now I’m here, in my pajamas, trying to figure out what to do next. I think I’ll fill up the easter eggs with candy.
Oh, on the radio is one of my least favorite songs…”Come on baby light my fire.” Sing it with me in your best “Doors” voices —You know that it would be untrue You know that I would be a liar …OK, that’s enough. Why is it in the bottom 5 of my favorite songs? Two words….Metal Shop. Yes, Tina and Michelle will share the memories with me. Imagine Dean T. and Gary whats-his-name and the other flunkies in that class with us. When they wanted a light for their little torch welders, they would sing that song. Oh, how clever. The horrible memories are flooding back. Why did we take metal shop? Because we were stupid, that’s why. And we thought it would be more fun that taking home-ec. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. I almost failed that class, friends. But that’s the kind of decisions you make when you are 13 and in the 8th grade. Oh, good, a new song. Let’s take a deep breath, let the memories just go. Girl. You really got me now, you’ve got me so I can’t sleep at night. Great. Now I think of Sanjiah and that weird hair. I think I’ll go and take a shower.
Today is Megan’s 11th birthday! Wow! Can you believe I have kids that old? Happy birthday to my wonderful girl. She’s always been blonde, and she’s always been cute. Here’s the proof.
 
She’s grown up into a beautiful girl, a great soccer player and our number one deviled egg maker.
But since she didn’t really let me know what she wanted for her birthday (besides the parakeets that she got a few weeks ago), I really don’t know what we are doing to celebrate. She requested a “Hamburger cake” , which I am going to go find at the grocery store, and spaghetti for dinner. So, not a huge celebration since it’s not a party year, but we’ll go out ofr dinner to celebrate in a few days. She’ll be getting some new slippers, clothes, and a movie. And tomorrow she’ll go out with her grandparents for dinner and shopping.
So, Megan, we Love you, and are so happy to have you in our family, and we all hope your birthday is Wonderful!
On my errand to Walgreens yesterday to pick up Diet Dr. Pepper at the great price of 5/$11 for my dear husband, I witnessed an “incident.” There was an older lady in front of me to check out, and she put her items up on the counter to pay for them. Not much, just 6 cans of vegetables and a couple of Easter candies. As the young checker was ringing them up, the lady said, “Now I have this coupon for the vegetables so they are 50 cents each.”
Poor unsuspecting Walgreens girl looked at the fine print in the coupon/ad, and said, “Oh, it says here that there’s a limit of 2 of each kind on these cans.”
“I know. But I don’t want the peas. I can’t eat peas,” said the older lady.
“Right. But you can only get TWO of each kind,” says the checker.
“Well, I can’t eat peas; they make me sick. Are you telling me I have to get peas in order to get the sale price?” says the older lady, starting to raise her voice. And may I just point out that 50 cents for a can of vegetables isn’t a screaming deal, folks? I stock up myself when they are 3 or 4 for a dollar.
“Ok, Ma’am,” says the poor girl, “you don’t have to get peas, but you can only get TWO of each of these at the sale price.”  She really was trying to get it through to her about that limit of 2.
“Well, I can’t EAT PEAS! I’m not going to buy peas! I’ve never had a problem with this before! I’m not going to get any of these if you can’t honor the sale price,” she huffed. She went on and on, probably saying the word “Peas” 4 or 5 more times, then said, “I’ll just pay for these things. We seem to be having a problem COMMUNICATING!” Then she paid for her candy items, and it looked like she was leaving. We were all a bit relieved until she turned and said in about the rudest voice I could imagine, “Can I have my AD back in case I want to get anything else?”
‘You mean the special ad that is there in the shopping cart or in the front of the store for anyone to pick up?’ I thought but didn’t say it, of course. After the rude lady (who I actually know from a former ward, but won’t go into further details about her identity) left, I turned to the frazzled girl and said, “Wow, that was awkward.” I told her that it wasn’t her fault and not to worry about it or let it ruin her day. She just about broke into tears and told me that that was her worst customer experience yet. I paid for my few things, using the coupons and NOT complaining about peas or any such thing, hoping that the poor salesgirl won’t be scarred for life.
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