Tanked

We have been searching for a geo-cache hidden on a tank in the local cemetery for about a week now. The clue posted by the individual who hid the dang thing is not overly helpful…the only obvious help it gave was the name ‘rolling thunder’. Guess I must have paid some attention in HS history class or I wouldn’t have known that referred to the tank. (I also know that I secretly dream of driving a Sherman in WalMart’s parking lot so I can just back over the twits who zoom behind me in their cars while I’m backing out of my parking spot…buttheads.) DH, son and I have been all over that silly contraption – on it, around it, under it, looked every which way but hanging upside down from the gun barrel on the turret. Which may be next. You wouldn’t think that locating an item on a tank would be that tough, would you? I mean, anything out of place should just leap right out at you. Oh no. The cache hidden is a ‘micro’….as in reeeeeeaaaaallly small. Up until last night, there were 3 sets of people looking for the thing (at one point we all were wondering if somebody had taken it but the hider confirmed it was still there Wednesday night)…good job Kartchner family on finding it!! There is hope yet for the rest of us to spot the sucker :0)

I’ve decided to start back up on the weights and adding in some other forms of cardio to break up the rut I’ve been in with just walking. While I still love my walks, it just isn’t doing anything to help me get back the shape I had just a few short months ago. So Wednesday I started a lifting routine that works the whole body. Then I did 15 minutes of boxing – jabs, crosses and uppercuts. Ho-ly Toledo. I could tell yesterday that it had some impact on my bod but today? Oy. I hurt. But in a good way (that’s a demented thing to say but it’s true). I feel like I felt after working with the trainer a few years back….hurting but satisfied I had accomplished something. My arms and abs? are sooo sore! It hurts to laugh. I can’t bend at the waist without groaning. Reaching for something hurts my upper arms. Should make painting the living room this weekend interesting ;0)

Sophomore Dayz

Got out the yearbooks last night, let my fingers do the walking thru the snapshots of my years as a Grizzly. Tons of memories flooded back seeing the people and events captured in time as we were then…young…carefree…had the world by the ba….um, by the throat. Our biggest worry back then was passing our mid-terms and whose party we were going to Friday night. And we did party. A lot. The first high school party I ever went to was at Shawna and Chad Phillips’ house my sophomore year…two of the “popular” kids in school…that was a HUGE deal. Shawna was my age (as sweet as the day is long and 20 years later is still one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen), her brother Chad was 2 years older. A Senior. The Phillips’ lived out in the country so it just made sense that they had their party out in the barn and not in the actual house (damage control). Tons of people - wall to wall - music blasting, people dancing, a couple kegs on ice. Lots of Seniors. My sophomore mind boggled at the thought…me! at a party with Seniors! Well yee haw and pass me a beer! This was also where my first hangover came from. I remember crawling down the hall toward my room but suddenly needing to veer sharply to the right and into the bathroom where I worshipped the porcelain god for an hour or so. Ick :0( Overall I think my sophomore year was the best one; almost all the good memories I have from high school come from that particular year. Joined the spirit squad with some jr high friends the summer between freshman and sophomore year, the squad ended up cheering in the 4th of July parade…lost my voice from yelling cheers for 3 hours, hands were sore for days from all the clapping, and the whole lot of us were sooo sunburnt. When school actually started, it was pretty intimidating being the little fishes in a big pond. Ya’ll know what I’m talking about, you’ve been there. Things settled out soon enough into normalcy, letting life just move on in a blur of classes, homework, trips to the mall, dances and parties. My first HS year – skipping assembly to drive to the mall for a Mrs Powells cinnamon roll (those of you in Idaho Falls will understand); Mr Newton’s choir class and our trip to sing at Ricks College at the Messiah (the guys and Mr N all gave an impromptu rendition of “Duke of Earl” in the restaurant we ate at, drawing applause from surprised diners); basketball games; showing up for Mr Backstrom’s last period typing class soaking wet after Corey Peterson, JJ, and Ron Janeczko (seniors) caught me (I managed to fight loose twice before Ron cornered me in Mr Harris’ room) and threw me in the canal (when I asked Aundria to hold my camera I didn’t mean TAKE PICTURES!!) out back of the school, which was a “right of passage” for the sophomores in the last couple weeks of the school year…strangely enough it was mostly the girls that got the heave-ho; driving!; the bonfire before the Emotion Bowl, which I was the only one I remember we had…think we made too much racket (and I’m sure created a bit of havoc) doing the big human chain through the streets from the school to the vacant lot where the fire was; journalism class, where I was once told that I “looked like Delilah from One Life to Live”; tots with cheese and Ranch at Tam’s; going to the Dusk to Dawn movies at the drive in on the north end of town – man those just a big ol’ party!; football games; hanging out with the Z103 crew – Mike (and his girlfriend Gina), Randy and Eddie…was “guest voice” on the radio a few times, which was a ton of fun:0); “after game” dances in the commons; hanging on the cruise Friday and Saturday nights; Mike Smith being dogpiled by the senior jocks - I think they broke his arm but I know they did give him a huge concussion (some memory loss came with that little souvenier) and was hauled off in the ambulance (yeah, the guys got into bookoo trouble over that one, as well they should have); the Jensen “clan” riding around in Damage; Darla painting her room pink, and I mean it was pink; pizza at Sbarros; sucking helium out of the tank while the spirit squad was filling balloons, getting too much and passing out, taking the big tank down with…guess damn near the whole store heard it crash to the floor…whoops; lock-ins at Theresa’s church; Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers (“we thank you for your support”). I used to have oodles of pictures but they have been lost in the moves over the years. Sigh.

I asked my friend Aundria what her favorite high school memory was the other night….she relayed a story that I had completely forgotten about that is in my fav HS memories as well. We had choir together…don’t remember what period. One day there was something going on with Mr Newton – he had a conference with somebody’s parent or some such thing – that required him to leave class for a short period of time. Aun and I took this opportunity to go outside and have a smoke (yes, I was a bad girl). This was pretty easy since our class was a short stroll down the hall from one of the side entrances. So out the door we went to the sophomore and junior parking lot. Neither of us remember where we sat down but the end result was Aundria blowing the rear end out of her jeans – rrrriiiiiippp! She froze. I froze. Ho-ly sh**…that wasn’t what we thought it was, right? Oh no....it totally was. She stood up and turned around…biiig hole in the seat of her pants. I remember a few moments of panic while we tried to figure out what the heck to do – were there shorts in her PE locker that would get her by? Nope. Was there a sweatshirt she could tie around her until she could go home at lunch and change? Uh-uh. Should we just go right now so she could change? Yes! We would simply go back inside, explain the situation to Mr N (who was super cool to begin with) so he could excuse us from class to go to her house and change. Newt was awesome…surely he’d let us leave. WRONG. When we returned to class, he was back from wherever and in a foul mood, a rare thing for him. Great. Walking as carefully as she could, tugging her shirt down over her rear as much as she possibly could without tying a 20 pound dumbbell to it, Aun and I approached Mr N in his office, explained the predicament, requested a short “leave of absence” to change her clothes. He thought we were trying to pull a fast one! Didn’t believe either of us! We lobbied our case for several minutes, pleas falling on deaf ears…he wasn’t buying it. Finally, Aundria did the only thing she could do to make her point – yep, she turned around and bent over – ‘LOOK!!’. Yep, my best friend mooned our teacher. It was all over from there…I’m certain all the blood drained from my face at that point and I was figuring that spending some quality time in detention is in our very near future, but once his face returned to a normal color and he quit laughing enough to get some words out, he let us go. Now how in the world could I possibly have forgotten about that?! :0)

Musical Flashback

Since this weekend is, as mentioned before, my 20 year HS reunion, I thought I’d continue with the whole HS/80’s theme. A retro weekend (kind of channeling Minnie Driver’s character in Grosse Pointe Blank here, just without the radio show), if you will. Back to a time where big hair, short skirts, skinny ties, neon, jelly shoes, Vans, pegged jeans, break dancing, Val speak (like, gag me with a spoon), parachute pants, big boom boxes, “Thriller”, banana clips, high tops, Trapper Keepers, synthesizers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood were cool. I have retained possession of my Swatch watch (they still make those by the way) and Max Headroom (catch the wave!) tee shirt over the years. Max is currently enjoying a renewed career on Sirius/XM radio doing song intros (along with his brother, Less) for the “80’s on 8” channel that I listen to a lot while cooking dinner….last night they played “Girls on Film” by Duran Duran, “Affair of the Heart” by Rick Springfield and “China Girl” by David Bowie…when was the last time you heard THOSE?! It was totally bitchin’, dude! Fer shure! Its so funny how hearing a certain group or song can take you back to a specific point in time (could be this is just some odd quirk I have - maybe you all don’t do that? I seem to have an entire soundtrack for my misspent youth in my head). I thought about that while I was walking last night I had Guns n Roses debut album (yes, still had vinyl back then) “Appetite for Destruction” blasting on the iPod for my “motivational music”…good tunes to run by. From the very first note of “Welcome to the Jungle” I was back in the weight room during last period, student aide for Coach Guilford, listening to that playing on the boom box while the football players lifted and horsed around (believe it or not, I earned half a credit for sitting in the weight room for an hour watching cute teenage boys with their rippling muscles and listening to music…it was tough but I managed to get through it). There are quite a few songs that I associate with specific times in my teen life. “The FinerThings” by Steve Winwood? Senior Sob assembly for the class of ‘87…bawled my little sophomore heart out at that assembly over seniors that I would miss the following years. “Dirty Deeds” from AC/DC and “Send Her My Love” by Journey….reminds me of Kelly Covert, the first song from grade school…6th grade to be exact, her listing to that on a Walkman (she later had a Levi jacket with that on the back)…and the latter from her funeral our sophomore year. A slice of Godfathers pepperoni pizza with ranch dressing to dip it in at lunch with Jana Rydalch? “Rock Me” or “Cassanova”…we’d play one or the other on the jukebox while we ate…mostly the Great White tune. I was “Lovin’ Every Minute of It” in Kalispell, Montana with my friend Kim Cook (one of the 2 Kim’s I ran with growing up) spending a week one ERJHS summer at her grandparents house. Being at my first dance in jr high? “You’re the Inspiration” (really…you are). Chasing down Ron Storer and his friends in his big ol’ Ford out on the cruise? The Whitesnake tape (“Still of the Night”, “Here I Go Again”…that one). “Blow My Fuse” will forever be associated with the Jensen crew. And Pineapple Bomb’s snuck out the back door of Pockets. I rolled my truck on the Lewisville Highway with Darla while listening to “She’s Like the Wind”. Going tanning with Chandra Claver listening to “Venus” (by Bananarama). Rolling with Theresa Hanek in the Toyota listening to “Master of Puppets” and “Electric Circus”. Singing “Funky Cold Medina” (it took me years to be able to sing that song without saying ‘chunky cold Purina’…don’t ask…you had to be there) driving thru Tautphaus Park in Aundria’s car. I could go on. And on. And on yet even more. But you get the idea…I will take pity on you and spare you any more torture. Think I’ll go home and put on some Prince…” dearly beloved,we are gathered here today 2 get through this thing called life….”

Class of '89

Happy Hump Day!!! I hope everyone’s week is going well :0)

So this coming weekend is my high school class reunion…the big 2-0 year reunion. Am I going? Um…no. I really have no desire to see 99% of the people I went to school with. Most of “them” I grew up with…we went to grade school and junior high together. Being a military kid, I never really fit in with them. Even though I started going to school in the first grade with these folks, I was always the outsider. I was quiet and VERY shy so I got picked on and harranged all through my academic existence. Yeah, that helped bring me out of my shell (can you see my eyeballs rolling??) “They” made my life hell. Needless to say, I don’t have a whole lot of “happy school memories” and I hated even setting foot in school because of “them” (I ditched every chance I got). In class I never wanted to be called on or sit in front; my goal was to sit in back in quiet non-existance and not draw attention to myself. Those school friends I was tight with I still see and keep in touch with. The rest of my HS class? I wish them happiness in their lives, but don’t care to spend time reliving the “glory days” over dinner, thanks anyway. Not that they’ll miss me. Occasionally when I am in the old hometown I run into some of the class of ’89. Most don’t show any acknowledgement. Some have actually turned out to be pretty decent now that we’re not in HS anymore. I admit that it has been interesting peeking in on the class reunion website to see where everyone ended up and what they look like now. Some of them look so different that I would never recognize them in a million years. Some look the same as they did in school, just a little older. I think I look pretty much the same - just a bit more of me (I would LOVE to still weigh 115!), no orthodontic “accessories” (my son gets to enjoy that now) and my hair is lots smaller. Oh yes, I had the “bitch flip” big hair going on. What can I say??...it was the style…the bigger the better. Man was my hair big…lotsa teasing and lotsa hairspray…I should have bought stock in Paul Mitchell…oy vey. I hope the friends who are attending the reunion with have a good time. Send me pics of you with your hubbies all dressed up for the dinner….I know ya’ll will look amazing! :0)

Doing a random survey today…prompted by a question posed by a local DJ on my local rock station yesterday morning. Now that they have 500 different kinds of M & M’s, what kind is your favorite? My vote has to go to Peanut Butter…those little drops of peanut buttery “melt in your mouth not in your hands” goodness are hard to beat in my book….but dark chocolate is a close 2nd. I wish they’d bring back the cherry ones and the crispy kind. But I was raised never to look a gift chocolate in the M, so I will happily munch down any kind ;0)

Stormin on the Desert

Took these last weekend while out on the Arco desert (well, the edge of it anyway). The day started out sunny and bea-u-tiful. As the day progressed I started to notice some storm clouds gathering...and they got closer....and closer....but we managed to dodge the nasty little storm that wreaked havoc on the surrounding areas. High winds, hail, monster rain and subsequent flooding (hmmm...sounds like home for the whole month of June! Just kidding). Sure looked pretty moving on through, though.

Declaration

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--"


Happy birthday, America!

Where in the world

In a totally random conversation with my darling husband recently, we were discussing (and I don’t know how we even got on this subject to begin with) places in the world we could live in. If we didn’t already live in America. Okay, mostly it’s places I’d like to live (or at least see!) before I die…kind of a travel “bucket list” for myself. After pondering, I figure if we were independently wealthy, we could actually live in each of these places during our lifetime. I think growing up as a military brat can either push you to like to travel, see different places, or make you to want to set down roots in a town and not want to go anywhere. Ever. For me, it is definitely the first of the two. I like to travel. I yearn to explore. There are days I would love to just drive to the airport, blow my paycheck on a ticket to wherever and…go. I long to go somewhere new. See someplace I’ve never been. Guess I’m a nomad at heart. Anyway, here are my “top 5 places”:

5. Scotland (lotsa plaid and a monster in a lake…no way I’m eating haggis…sorry)
4. Ireland (Guinness, blarney and a 7 mile walk is considered a “good stretch of the leg”)
3. England (how do you play cricket and what the heck is a crumpet??)
2. Japan (Mt Fujii, kimonos, samarai…stay away from the sake…whoa Nelly!)
1. Italy (um, hel-lo…Rome!? Venice?!? Tuscany!!? Oh, and then there’s pasta)

Italy was pretty much the hands-down winner for the hubby too…the history is amazing and the food is deeeelish!! He’s not big on eating fish or seaweed so he claims he’d starve to death in Japan; however I know that if I could just get him to TRY sushi……


PS
Where would YOU go???