If I Were A Bettin' Man. . .

I'm facing a moral dilemma. I'm actually sort of emotional about all this. . . I was just listening to Glenn Beck, whom I admire and adore. . . and he was urging people everywhere to vote for someone . . that they believe in, the best man for the job, and not necessarily the lesser of two evils. . . I heartily agree. Except for one thing.

The problem is, we have (and I shake my head in disbelief) two crappy candidates. A semi-stupid old man, and the Prince of Darkness. (i.e. our friend, Barry)

Say what?!

How did this happen? How did we end up with these candidates?!  I really couldn't say. . .

Now, the thing is, if we DON'T vote for McCain, and try to hear me on this. . . . Obama . . will win. Is this not obvious?! (I mean, is it really possible for anyone else at this point?) It's just demographics, pure and simple. The Prince of Darkness, backed by Satan himself, will be President of these United States. (Long, dramatic, and sincerely concerned pause.) Can we afford to allow such a thing to happen? I'm thinking . . no.

The alternative then, to voting for someone who is preaching 'socialized education', (Is anyone else alarmed by this?!?), and will indoctrinate our children with who knows what. . . is obviously . . to vote for the other guy. Any thinking, common sense, rational adult type should be able to see this. . . Talk to a political statistician, (is there such a person?) for heaven's sake. Ask him. . . If we vote for some really cool Independent, or what have you, in the long run. . What will we have accomplished? Sure, Glenn, we will have voted for someone that we believe in, that shares all of our same values. . . but does he have a shot at the Presidency? And if not, what good will that do? IMO, it's almost a wasted vote. Because Satan still wins.

And, my friends, McCain, with some heavy back up, (i.e. people like the economically savvy Mitt Romney), would probably do okay.

We need to weigh carefully, what are our choices here? And what do they implicate . . ? Long term. Over time. How much damage could the man do, do ya think, in 4 years. . . ? I'm not sure our country could handle Barack HUSSEIN OBAMA (Obama, Osama. . . whaaa?!) as Commander In Chief, with all the responsibilities, with all the POWER, that that title/station/for the love of Pete, calling . . brings.

We have a choice.

Do what you must. . . But please, think . . about the BIG PICTURE.

I, for one. . . am concerned.

And p.s. Christian Values, freedom and the like, are the traditions that the people who founded this country . . who laid down their lives, who lost their family members, who knelt and prayed to God in the snow. . . would have wanted it to be centered around. And that's NOT just my personal opinion.

July 30th, 2008, (pt 2)

Well, this has been an exciting day! Another one of Laena's friends is . . (gulp) getting married! Hitchin' up! Tying. .  THE KNOT. (Choke, gasp. . )

Ahem. I am now calm, cool, and relaxed. Sigh. Just took a moment there. . .

Anywho, we are very excited for them, and we wish them the best. . . What is it with these October weddings. . ?

On to more mundane matters. . . JUST KIDDING.

Eric has been home from Grandma's for a week or so now. . . He probably wishes he was still up there, in Idy-Heighdy-Ho, playing with the miniature horses. . She and Grandpa Lynn have a little (haha) horse farm up in southern Idaho, where they raise a dozen or so miniatures. It's very cute, actually. They've named it J & L Miniatures, their official ranch. . . title. . .  : ) I love horses, with the exception of big, scary ones, (well, actually, I like those too), so this works out great! And Eric is an animal freak who just can't get enough, so it's convenient and helpful that he can go up and work for Grandma sometimes. She even compensates him for his time! What a sweet gig!  ; ) Eric is enjoying his summer!

Tommy was also up with Grandma for a week, and was very excited to have earned some of his own money! The problem is, he spent all of it . . . on movies! Tommy's 13 now, something that's kind of hard for me to believe. . . and I guess he can make his own decisions. . but I still think shoes, and maybe a savings account, would've been a better idea. . . We had enrolled him in a Charter school for 8th grade this coming year, but recently decided against it, mostly because of transportation issues. He's thrilled, however, because he didn't want to have to go there anyway! : ) Have to dress up every day, and wear fancy shoes. . . It was too much to take. : )

Aleia and Jeffy went to a fun Primary activity a couple of weeks ago, and then last week she got to go on a field trip, up to the Church History Museum, with the Achievement/Activity Day girls. (ages 8 to 11) They took Trax, the whole lot of them, and Lea was sooo excited to ride the train! : ) What a cutie! She's also way too excited about school starting soon, possibly buying all new clothes, and school supplies. . . Sure. Yippee! As if the little pre-tweener doesn't have enough stuff already. . . Yeek! Poor Aleia had Strep last week, and couldn't play. Awwww! Now she's begging to have a sleepover! I just can't keep up with her social calender. . . : ) Oh, and p.s. . Lea is sad that her friend Lecee is moving down to Fillmore. We'll sure miss those Burrs!  : )

Jefferson wants a new backpack for Kindergarten. . . Sigh. It's coming up too fast. . Anyway, apparently Jeffy's camouflage backpack isn't cool enough now. . . He wants a Transformer one, like Evan's! . . Oh brother. Another sigh. I can't believe he's 5 years old already, and heading off to school. He and Lea have been enjoying the Summer together, doing a lot of playing outside, splashing around in our blow-up, plastic pool. . climbing trees. . . You know how it is. . . It'll be weird to have them gone for a good part of the day. . No more hanging out at the Fun Center, no more lemonade stands, no more kids in swimming suits, tearing through the house, dripping water everywhere. . . (Why does this sound depressing? I'll finally be able to get something done!)  ; )

Lincoln has recently taken to pinching and grabbing everybody, when he doesn't get his own way. . . Hmm. I think the Terrible 2's are upon us. . But he's only 21 months old! I guess this type of behavior . . overlaps. ; ) It's very cute, though, when he tries to copy what people are saying. . .  : ) And he'll beckon, and wave, pout, and whine. . . It's very obvious what it is that he wants to do!  : ) He's our little Binky bug! With his strawberry curls. . . He's been trying to draw pictures lately. . What a darlin' baby boy!  : )

Breaking Dawn/Midnight Son

I can't wait for the release of the much anticipated, undoubtedly smoldering Breaking Dawn, although it does break up the perfect trilogy. . .

My neighbor was right! Stephenie Meyer is such a tease. . . She always leaves you teetering on the edge, begging for more. . . I love it!

p.s. She's also writing a version of Twilight, from the beautiful Edward's perspective, called Midnight Sun. I did however, wonder if Sun might have also been appropriately spelled with an 'o'. . .

Rowr!  : ) Hee hee hee!

July 30th, 2008, Wednesday (pt 1)

Well here we are. . approaching the end of mid-summer craziness. . . The same old, same old chaos that makes up our lives. :

Not much has been going on, aside from a couple of extra projects, and the mind-numbing, non-stop child care, (coaching, refereeing, attempts at forming something that vaguely resembles a schedule), that pretty much makes up our daily routine. . .

Charlie and I have gone on a couple of dates recently, once to the mall, and then to a baseball game the other night. . . We had a lot of fun at the game, if you discount the fact that we brought the Binky along with, and had to chase him the whole time. . Smart. huh? : ) Naturally, they brought up Haagen Daas ice cream bars right after we bailed outta there. . . (groan) So wrong!

Laena left for Girl's Camp this morning, a program for young women put on by our church. I'm not sure if I should be excited, relieved, or misty. . . Hmmm. Last night she came home late, AGAIN, from a date. We grounded her for a couple of days, effective after she gets back. Sigh. Of course this means that she won't be able to go to a movie with cutsie California boy Anthony Saturday night, and she'll be freaking out about that all day, upon her return. I don't know about you people, but when our daughter goes out with a . . . boy, we like to have her home ON TIME. Yeah, that's right Baby, punctuality. It is your friend. And some days, dealing with teeny-bopper . . . girls, can be nothing short of exhausting. Not so much a picnic type situation. It requires . . . stamina, at the very least. . .

Most nights I get enough sleep, and therefore store up enough energy to make it through the day. Recharging, I call it. Thankfully, this is the last week of summer school. . . I do appreciate the summer school program, what they're trying to do to help out our kids, but I'm not too excited about the ridiculous amounts of gasonline that we are using every day to drive our number one son across town (and back), twice. Argh! Sigh. I suppose the boy needs to graduate. . . And Yay! Regular school starts again in about 3 weeks! The big question is . . Can we make it? : ) Clint talked me into taking him to the mall yesterday, so that he and his friend Richard could pick up some 'swords' from the Asian Store there. They were actually pretty cute, some Final Fantasy thing, sort of cartoonish, and most importantly, MADE OF WOOD. : ) Perfect for Halloween. It cracks me up every year, the preparation and thought, the time that they put into planning for this particular holiday. . . about 3 months in advance! But try getting them to do homework. . . Wink, wink. Huh? What?

Gotta Love That Reggae!

: )

When Charlie and I were dating, this video was pretty popular.

Makes you wanna visit Jamaica, mon!

The Demise of Cali-Guy. . .

Jeffy's had a 'doll' for a while now that was just his favorite! He bought it a year or two ago, with his birthday money. We were in Target, and he spotted this sort of . . Ken Doll, surfer dude . . . who had been appropriately christened 'Cali-Guy' by whatever brilliant analyst comes up with this stuff over at Mattel. . .

Sigh.

Unfortunately, the other day, in the rush of confusion that is the daily fight over our current ONE BATHROOM, one of the boys sorta unintentionally stepped on . . poor Cali-Guy, and inadvertently snapped off his head.

Hmm.

You know, it's always sad when someone close passes on. . . kicks the bucket, as it were. . . But it's an especially emotional experience when it's a long time friend, with whom we have co-existed for many months. . . Half of our young life, if we happen to be 5 years old. . . still just shy of Kindergarten. . . We have many fond memories of pleasant hours, swimming in the bathtub. . .

So I'd like to remember poor Cali-Guy, (sigh) Jeffy's favorite toy, and loyal companion. . . with whom we shared many a joyful splash. . . He will be remembered . . . locally, fondly, and with great . . fond . . ness. . .

Being overcome with emotion, I have asked Charlie to help me out here. . .

He informed me that he . .

"Sorry. Can't help ya. ." He had signed off. "I don't help people who don't like low-rider trucks. . ."  : P

Hee hee hee hee hee!

Poor Cali-Guy. . .

Truck Heaven

Yeah.

Tonight I got to run errands with my man Charlie. . . In his 'project truck'. The 'Slave Ten.'

I was less than excited. Laena had a hot date with Marcus, and she had taken my car.

Charlie's in the middle of 'shaving the door handles' on his S10, for whatever purpose I've yet to figure out. We hafta open the driver's side door with a screw driver, or some such similar object. Tonight it was the crank on the jack that happened to be in the back of the truck. (Oy.) And the passenger door HAS no door handle.

I view the whole situation with a certain. . . shall we say . . incredulity. (Resigned chuckle.)

"Ya know, not every girl gets to ride in a truck like this. . ." He grinned as we pulled out of the parking lot over at Auto Zone. "You could be in that tall, white truck over there. . . With AC. . . and leather seats. . ."

"And door handles." I commented, smirking, my voice thick with sarcasm.

He pretended to pout.

"I feel unappreciated."

I rolled my eyes, exhaling irritably. But it was just for show. We've been down this road a thousand times. We've memorized all the lines. . Quippy remarks, and emotional boundaries.

"This truck feels . . sorta rickety. . . " I commented with a tentative edge to my voice. (Charlie's so much fun to tease.) "I think it's time for a new truck."  : )

He smiled, and pretended to choke out a horrified gasp.

"I love this truck!" He said with some feeling. He patted the dash affectionately.

Sigh.

I suppose I should just admit it. We both know that he will never part with his true love, his Bounty Hunter mini-truck. He said the other day . . that he wants to be buried in it. (Yike.) If given the opportunity, I don't know if I'd comply with his wishes. I'm not sure that I want to have to deal with that piece of junk in the hereafter. . .

But I guess he'd be happier, knowing that his 'baby' would be with him always. . .

Somewhere, in the great beyond, I bet a lot of men wish there was a . . Truck Heaven.

An afterthought:

Charlie just came in the door. Apparently he and Jefferson had just taken a short, leisurely stroll across the sky-walk over by the middle school.

This was his comment:

"Hey Honey. . .You know, someday, when my dreams come true, and I have air-suspension, I want you to hop up on that sky walk and take a video of me . . draggin' the truck. . . ." (Contented sigh.) "Aww yeah. . ."

At this point he smiled wistfully, a blissful, almost goofy expression taking over his 'grill', shall we say. Oh brother.

I can only sigh, and agree with his confused co-workers. . .

"Wh-where do ya live. . .?!"

Ha ha ha.

Summer. . . Time. . .

2 weeks ago, Aleia went to Lagoon for the day with her friend Caitlin. (And yes, I would've spelled it Katelyn. Drives me nuts.) They had a great time! Rode all the roller coasters, water rides, etc. Got home late. . .

Then last week, Lea and Caitlin (argh!) spent the day swimming at the Rec Center, where they had a lot of fun splashing around. At one point, Lea was persuaded to go over to the deep end, when she knew that she'd been expressly forbidden. Thankfully they have pretty good life guards there, who are on the ball.

This week, we're all sick, to one extent or another, so Aleia's been spending a lot of time at home.

Then Auntie Kim called, and talked about the cousins' big birthday party, which will most likely be held sometime this week, so it looks like it's back to the ole party circuit for us!  : ) Good times. . . .

Summer is flyin' by. You'd think it would last a lot longer. . . The days are long, and hot, and sometimes they drag. . . but not when you have 8 hundred activities, for each of your Seven Dwarfs, daily.

Soon school will start, and they'll all be gone again. . . And the weird thing is, I cry.

Every year. . .

Just like every time I see a baby born. . . usually on TV.

I wonder if I will ever understand this completely. . .

Sick Day

Charlie stayed home from work today. He called in sick, something he's done maybe 5x in the past 16 years or so. . .

He'd come down with the 24-48 hour flu, which we've been passing around, and was hoping to stay in bed all day and watch 'Lord of the Rings'. The whole trilogy, if possible.

Naturally, he couldn't find the 1st movie in the series, and started to get frustrated. Charlie really does not like it when things get lost. So a massive search party was organized, but fortunately was able to disband after a relatively short period of time.

"Here is is!" I reassured him. "Right in between 'The Great Muppet Caper' and 'High School Musical.' " Of course it was in the bookshelf in our room, mixed in with our other 12 hundred kid shows. . Not in the 'sacred shrine' cupboard that normally houses the 'Daddy movies', and is strictly off limits. Hmmm. . .

Yee hee hee. Sigh. If I had a nickel. . .

Anyway, it sure would be nice if we could get over this blasted virus already. I mean, it's passing through the ranks pretty quickly, all things considered, but having the whole clan sick sure does tire a Mama out. . .

Yawn. . .

Hard Rock or Jazz . . ? and Glenn Beck for President!

It's an age old dilemma. What do you listen to in the morning? Hard Rock or . . Jazz. I think the answer should be obvious. Pretty much a no-brainer. . . When else do you get relative peace and quiet? When you're wrestling a bunch of little kids into bed?! Shyaaaaa.

Charlie and I just got back from the Glenn Beck 'Unelectable' performance. All I can say is . . Beck '08! He's freakin' awesome! Great show. If he were actually running, he sure as shooting have MY vote Baby!  : ) 

On the way home, driving down the freeway, Charlie made an interesting observation.

"You know", he said, eyes twinkling. "I just spent 50 dollars. . on a movie."  He looked thoughtfully at the road, pretending to contemplate the ramifications of such a rash act.

"It was a simul-cast, Darlin'." I responded sweetly.

He grinned as we sped down the freeway, the setting summer sun turning his red hair to gold.

"I think you should . . .sweeten the pot." he said deliberately, glancing in my direction, still grinning.

He's a hard one to resist, that man, but I've had a lot of experience, and can hold my own.

"Whatever do you mean?" I asked innocently. "We are listening to . . hard rock. . . You know, I think I should blog about this. . . "

"Well. . it's true. A little Rob Zombie goes a long way. . ." He never backs down. "But I was hoping for a little . . action."

Oh brother.  

I rolled my eyes, and changed the station to silly pop rock, his favorite!  : )

Charlie sighed.

"I guess I have a couple more hours to work on my truck. . . "

"Well, there's your action!" I crooned cheerfully, making eyes at him. . .

He drove on, feigning disgust.

To quote Calvin and Hobbes. . 'It's shameless the way we flirt.'

But really. . . Hard Rock?!

Baby Girl . . . Blues

Recently our daughter Laena has been dating a lot. Sigh. She had a date lined up for last Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.

Now she's gotten rid of most of the jerks, which is encouraging, but the sheer numbers, and her obvious talent for . . flirting, can at times be slightly disconcerting. To Mama, at least.

Last night she brought home a new guy from work. I'd gone over earlier, and met him, so I wasn't too annoyed by this fresh invasion, even thought they were running late. Charlie, on the other hand, as the 2 of them were walking up to the front porch, just glanced around the corner of the house, where he was working on something to do with the truck, glared for a moment in disdainful acknowledgement, and then disappeared. I was basically okay with that, since, as everyone knows, you can't have too many teenage boy deterrents/repellents in place, 'specially not with a little girl like ours. : )

Laena wanted to show this new kid her guitar. After they'd gone inside, I casually approached Charlie.

"You know, it might make a slightly better impression, might ease things up a little bit if you'd . . come over and shake hands or something. . . " I suggested tentatively.

"Oh."

He frowned. "Wasn't that the kid from. . Hollywood High?" He looked studious. "You know . . . um. . ." He paused, clearly unconcerned about the fact that he couldn't remember the Hollywood kid's name.

"Matt." I clarified.

"Yeah, Matt." He dismissed the whole conversation with his tone, and went back to working on the truck. Charlie can sometimes come across . . well, he strikes rather an intimidating presence. . with the prospective boyfriends anyway. . Well, with everyone actually. . . He emits fierceness. He can't help it. That's just who he is. I chuckle at the thought, while simultaneously defying anyone not to be intimidated by my 6 foot, muscle-bound, red-headed, scrappy beefcake of a man. Especially when he's standing there, in grease covered jeans and a tee shirt, wiping down a heavy piece of metal, next his dismantled truck, which clearly he tore apart with his bare hands. Good luck with that. : ) Hee hee hee.

Life is . . . really pretty good.

A few minutes later, after recruiting Tommy to round up Laena her 'friend', they all came back outside. I was sitting on the edge of the porch, bouncing the baby on my lap, Charlie calmly attacking some joint on the truck frame with a sledge hammer. . . Nothing too exciting.

Oh, I thought, I should do the right thing and introduce this poor kid to The Daddy Man. Help him out in his hour of need. . .

"Hey Charlie." He looked up. "This is. . . "

Ahhh, what was his name again. . . ? Chad, Zeke, Jake. . . ?

Eek. It wasn't coming to me. Stupidly, I jumped ahead.

"Hey Laena. Why don't you . . .introduce . . your friend. . to your Dad here. . ."

Ugh. What has happened to my short term memory?!

"Daddy", she chirped, in bouncy, boy mode, perfectly at ease. "This is Zach."

"Hi Zach." Charlie was now laying his side on the concrete, wrestling a large, twisted metal . . something, off of the frame of the truck. I think it was a huge bolt out of it's . . chosen position. Anyway, he didn't give poor Zach much . . of anything. He may have glanced in his direction. Certainly didn't meet him halfway.  : )  And you can't really blame him. You don't want to make these young punks to. . comfortable. . don't want to give them any inkling of creative license . . with your daughter, for heaven's sake. Charlie's pretty much right on.

The thing was, this Zach kid was actually pretty unconcerned. Or at least he seemed to be . . fairly relaxed. Maybe he has a dad like Charlie. I don't know. But he turned out to be a pretty nice guy. Weird. He played with the little kids, made jokes with Tommy. . All in all, seemed . . basically at his ease.  : )  All righty then.

Yeah, Laena likes hangin' with the boys. . . Not too surprising. She has 5 brothers. . .And I had 6. And a lot of friends. . . that were boys. Must be genetic.

Right now my favorites are Jacob, Zach, Diego, and Nathan. They're all talented, reasonably upstanding young men. We'll see what happens. Hopefully we've got a few years yet, until we have to call and reserve a reception hall. . . Or until she calls us from Vegas. . . Sigh, choke, sob, chuckle. We'll probably have some great stories to tell at her wedding. Deep sigh. But until then, I guess all we can do is enjoy the ride.  : ) And pray that the boy she meets, is really good at. . . something.

Mid-July

Sunday Charlie took the family for a drive about 8:30 pm. We went on a short hike up the side of a pretty steep hill in south Draper. It was about sunset, but not quite twilight when we reached the summit, and a truly glorious view of the Salt Lake valley. It was truly breathtaking, from that altitude, the expanse of the Heavens and the valley laid out below. . . Pink and orange clouds, the sun's last dying rays. . . The lights of the city just beginning to sparkle. . . It was magical. Naturally I had forgotten my camera. Sigh.

Monday Clint started summer school. So far it seems to be going well, aside from the 5 hours of driving I do every day, while chauffeuring him back and forth, Laena to work, errands, etc. . . I'm so glad that there is a program in place to help out some these kids, and pick up some of the slack.

Yesterday we bought a pool, after a somewhat silly altercation with one of the neighborhood gals, who evidently didn't want any more kids playing in her yard. Double sigh. Some days the drama is a little more than I can handle. . . But the kidlets are having fun with the new pool, so I guess things worked out okay. . .

Laena's been working an awful lot lately. . hopefully trying to save up, so she can help with all of the expenses that she will have shortly, with a new school year just around the corner. . . Goodness! There are so many things . . . Clothes, pictures, junk food, DATES. . .

Charlie got his leaf springs from the 'box man' on Saturday, ironically while he was up in Idy-Heighdy--Ho, picking up Tommy and riding horses with Eric and the Deedle. So now Chaz's got his truck ripped apart out front. It's taking up most of the driveway, and most of his time these past couple of days. . . But I have to admit, it sure is fun watching him work.  : )

Clint's gotta work at Pizza Hut again tonight. . Thankfully the kids in summer school don't seem to have a lot of homework. . Or maybe he's actually DOING his homework, early, and therefore not making it an issue. All RIGHT Baby!!  : ) Who'da thunk! Wow. I guess having him pay for the classes was the best way to go after all!  : )

Last night I had a Relief Society board meeting. . . Got to get out of the house, hang with the gals, eat strawberries and chocolate cake, and experience adult interaction. Wow. Soooo cool. We had a great time, chatting, discussing grown-up things. . . I almost forgot to come home.  : )

I do miss Eric, up there with Grandma all this time. . . He's supposed to come home on Friday, after Charlie swaps him for his cousin Hailey. . . I guess it will only have been two weeks, without my Ericky, but it sure seems like an eternity. This is probably a taste of what it will be like when they finally take off for college etc. . . I'm not really looking forward to it. There's a semi-conscious, background ache there, that's just. . . ever-present.

Tommy's made a list, sort of a chart, counting down the days until everyone turns eighteen. . . Leave it to our mathematician. Oy.

Will The Humiliation Never Stop?!

This week I've been driving Charlie over to the Trax Station so that he could meet his buddy from work and therefore save on gas. . .

I dropped him off at some ungodly hour, far too early for me, as I am consistently a night owl, to possibly be presentable. I've threatened him with his life if he even entertained the thought of making me say hi to his work buddy. . The plan was this: I would stealthily make my way up to the edge of the parking lot, and he would jump out and run toward Bruce's car, where of course he would be waiting, spry and ready for the day, further reinforcing my lack of self respect with consideration once again to my not being able to roll out of bed before 8 am.

Now I'm thinking that Charlie and Bruce are going to be riding Trax, like any sensible person would, down to the plant, so as to save money on gas-o-line. Not so. Evidently they just wanted to meet there, and then drive up together. Car pooling they called it. Why they would want to meet at a blinking Trax station, I couldn't figure out either. Ugh.

So here I am, thinking I'm out of danger, thinking I won't have to make conversation with Charlie's friends from work, while still in my mussed up hair/ponytail and jammies. I smiled to myself as I turned the car around, thinking I'd made it. I was safe. I pulled smugly into the turn lane and made a left, only to discover, to my great dismay, that Charlie and his buddy were there in the car next to me, turning onto the freeway heading south. Naturally the light turned red just at that moment, and we gingerly pulled to a stop. Sigh. And there I was. On display. The story of my life. Should I duck down in my seat, I thought to myself, and try to preserve what little dignity I have left, or should I hold very, very still, and pretend that I don't see them. Maybe they'll think I'm someone else. . .Well, we can always hope. . .

Argh! And so it goes. Once again, the story of my life. . . Sigh. I often ask myself. . Will the humiliation ever end?! Judging from past experience, I should just become a writer for a slapstick comedy of some kind and be done with it. At least we'd get paid for making people laugh. . .  : )

Summer Rush

Last week was the Fourth of July! We had a great time with the Rodeo, the flags, the balloons, the breakfast, the fantastic Freedom Festival parade, the picnic at Grandma's, shopping at the mall, the book-signing, the all-too-brief catnap, the other parade, the authentic Bolivian food, the barbecue, and the fireworks.

Mama Mia! But we had a good time!  : ) I love the 4th of July! Independence Day! Hmmm. : ) I look forward to it every year.

When I was a kid, we'd come out here to Utah and watch the parade with all our cousins, uncles, and aunts. . . Sigh. I remember the year I was ten. . It was pouring down rain, and we had to wear sweaters, standing there at the corner of Center Street and 7th East in Provo. I remember seeing a newly married Marie Osmond go by in a carriage with her husband. Such memories we've built up over the years. . . Wow.

This week has been interesting. Sunday, Charlie dropped Eric and Tommy off up at Grandma's in Idaho. They are there to help out with the miniature horses for a week or so. . . Monday we signed Clinton up for summer school. It took all morning, standing in a lot of long lines, in an old building with no air conditioning, to finally get him squared away. . Monday night we actually had Family Home Evening, going over the song that I'd taught the Primary kids on Sunday. Lea and Jeffy had missed it, being as they were up in Idy-Heighdy-Ho with Daddy during church.

Tuesday Laena and Clint both worked. Laena's been picking up a lot of hours lately, to try to cover all of her bills. . . Necessities, you know, like cell phones, beater cars, shopping trips. . . when she really has no where to put all the stuff she already has. . . Sigh. Anyway, it's been nice. They've been able to help out with some of their own things. . The last couple of times we've picked Clint up after work, his boss, whom I have christened 'Igor', has showered us with praise and appreciation, and free pizza, for lending him our hard working son, without whom he could not get along!  Wha. . . ? 'Scuse me? If I could just get him to organize his room. . .  : )

Yesterday I took the kids down to the Dinosaur Museum. Turns out it's their 'birthday week' this week, (maybe they've been there 5 years, I don't know), so we got to do face painting etc, in addition to the regular activities. Aleia was enchanted!  : ) If there's one thing she loves, it's 'BUSY'. Crowds of people, the hustle and bustle of holidays and events. . . She's a fun one, she is. . . Good thing I've still got some energy left. . . While we were there, Laena's friend Hayleigh's . . mother came and picked her up. They were supposed to spend the afternoon boating out on Utah Lake, but H's dad ended up not feeling well, so they went to a movie instead. They seem like very nice people. : )

Today we spent 2-and-a-half, semi-long hours at Lifetouch Studios getting Laena's . . Senior Pictures . . taken. I was having a great old time, until I realized that this was my baby girl, standing there smiling, next the large, white-washed block letters "2 . . 0 . . 0 . . 9. ." How is this possible? Could this be real? Has it really been almost 20 years since I got out of high school?! No . . way! At this point, things became quite surreal, and I became slightly emotional. Sigh. My little Laenabug. . All grown up. . .

Later on this afternoon, Charlie and I took Jeffy to the doctor for his Kindergarten check-up. He wasn't happy about it. Fortunately, he forgot about the shots until the end, probably distracted by the eye exam, and having to draw pictures, etc. . . Sadly, they had to give him FIVE freaking shots, and he didn't take it very well. We had to hold him down, and no amount of treats, stickers, or lollipops could calm his spirits. Deep sigh. Ah, the trials that 5 year olds face. . . Poor little guy. He didn't even want his ice cream cone from McDonald's. . . Thankfully, the kids across the street were out front swimming when we got home, and Jeffy decided that he wanted to play them. . This, and some chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce, made things nearly all better.  : ) 

Now Laena's asleep, Clint's over at Pizza Hut, working away. . . the little cherubs are watching Muppets, and I'm here at the computer. . Hmmm. What a nice way to spend a summer afternoon.  : ) 

And later on, I have a hot date lined up with the amazing Hubby Man!  : ) Can't wait! We're gonna go see that Black Jack Panda movie. Should be fun!

Ya know, you'd think things would slow down in the summertime. . . But time seems to rush along even faster somehow, what with the long sunny days, family vacations, strawberries, camp outs, swimming. . . basically non-stop activities. . . even if it's just water fights and ice cream, Summer seems like a sunny dream. : )

An Evening With . . . Poison?!

Thursday Charlie went to a Poison Concert with a friend from work.

Sigh.

I know, I know. . Poison?! you say. Yep. My husband's still kind of a fan. . . He has this old denim jacket, that he decorated 20 some years ago, with metal studs, and the band member's names, written in permanent marker.

As he was getting ready to leave, Laena asked if she could borrow the car, since hers is still having 'issues'. I told her that we'd better ask Daddy. . to see if he needed it.

"Oh come on." she remarked from her perch on the arm of the couch. "I think we'd all agree that his truck would go better with his jacket. . ."

: )

Leave it to the obnoxious teen-age daughter to give the old man a hard time and point out the obvious.

Charlie didn't care. He was too excited.

He told me that they were actually going to be in the Coke suite, and that it might be catered. I had a hard time taking this all in. . . It just didn't jive with reality. It didn't sound right. Catering a backwoods, (not to be confused with backwards), hick rock concert?!

Nah.

Thankfully, the stars realigned, and they only served drinks.

Diet and Exercise

"Aw Honey. ." I said on the way back from a routine visit to Wal-mart with the kids. "I feel sorta tired."

He didn't comment about the fact that he had been up since 3 am, and had worked a semi-strenuous 12 hour day, delivering Coke up in Park City.

I rambled on.

"Maybe it was the cookies I had earlier. . . And the macaroni and cheese, and the ice cream. . ." I groaned in disgust.

He glanced at me from the driver's seat and grinned.

"You need a soda." he remarked with mock conviction.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. My husband always knows just what to say.

A little while later I asked him just exactly how I was supposed to get to church tomorrow, with the little kids . . . if he was planning to take my car up to Idaho to visit his mother. . .

"Take Laena's car." he said with a hint of annoyance. "Or take the Suburban. The key's in the glove box."

I shot him a look of mild incredulity.

"Nobody's gonna steal it." he reassured me. "They'd be afraid they'd have to fill it up with gas!" And he began to unload the groceries, chuckling to himself.

It's a fun-filled, sorta wild ride, life with Charlie. . .