Mustang Pride

Happy Friday to you all!!!

My son has been asked by his swim team coach to join the high school swim team. How cool is that?! He's a Freshman this year. His coach is also the high school team coach, and a former Olympic swimmer herself. Kids come from the next couple counties to swim for her. She's that good. So he's gonna do it. This means I'm now a Mustang Mom....couldn't be prouder of my son and our high school. I'm joining the Booster Club (the first year for that at this school, which I find odd seeing as how good ol' Skyline has had one forever; maybe it's a new thing for Utah schools??), volunteering to help with the swim meets and fundraisers. I am really excited that Chris has decided to join the team and can't wait to see him compete...especially in St. George in Nov :0) Go Mustangs!!!!

Not doing much for the holiday weekend. I think we're still recovering from LAST weekend (ha ha). I really want to paint my kitchen...we'll see about that one, though. The spirit is all over it, while the flesh is thinking "well...maybe."

Hope you all have a great time over the weekend and I'll see ya next week!!

Brief

Just a quick note....was gone yesterday to the dentist for the 6 month check-up and cleaning(always a good time)so my mouth is still a bit sore; needless to say I am still unburying my desk and am hustling to get caught up. So this will be the extent of my post today...I'll have more time tomorrow to chat.

Good day to ya!!

North/South Cows

Cows face in a north/south direction when grazing or resting. When it’s windy outside, they stand facing the wind. And when it’s cold outside, cows will move into the sun. Wow…really? Y’all must’ve gotten up real early to figure that newsflash out…animals move into the sun when they’re cold. Hmm, who’d have thought? These are some of the findings some idiot researchers in Europe have come up with after studying cattle. They actually used satellite images to come up with the observation that cattle stand facing north/south while they eat. I’m sure some institute forked out big bucks for these “scientists” to figure all this out. Why? Who knows, and more importantly, who the heck cares what direction a cow lays while it’s chewing its cud. Maybe someone out there will pay me a couple hundred thousand to study what direction pigs tails curl…do they curl right or left??? If this silly study of cattle behavior is supposed to be science, God help us. ((sigh))

On the family front, we’re all doing well. Kidlet is in his first full week of school and looking forward to having next Monday off already :0) Hubby is back to practicing with his bands and is busy at work with a project that he’s been working on for a bit over a year now…it’s in the final stages and he’s teaching the program to a co-worker who will be using it on a daily basis. Chany started her 2nd year of college Monday, and is way stoked about the classes because she’s done with the core class bologna and is into the actual classes for her career (dental lab). She got measured for her lab coat yesterday and will be doing her first lab today. James is back to work at the college for a few more days at least..not sure when the building they’re constructing will be finished but I know it’s soon. Then it’s off to the Site (yay…government work).

We’re supposed to have some company over the weekend, which should be fun. One of my husbands oldest friends, Lynn, and his children will be coming on Saturday to spend the day. Lynn has 2 boys and a girl…the boys will be busy playing games with Christopher, Steve and Lynn will be busy strolling down memory lane and fiddling on the computer and in the studio; that leaves me and Kitty the odd gals out. Maybe we can make cookies or something while all the boys are occupied..do some "female bonding" over chocolate chip cookies :0)

Hope your day is bright and cheery!

The Superman Swing

I did it I did it I did it!!!!! I rode the Sky Coaster (nicknamed the “Superman Swing” by me because that’s what you look like flying by with your arms out like that...Superman) at Lagoon!!! I have to tell you that doing that was probably the most awesome thing I have ever done for fun, bar none. Better than drag racing even (yes, I will admit to doing some dragging in my misspent youth). It was the biggest rush…I can’t wait to do it again next year! My son-in-law James ended up going with me, which is good because he pulled the “rip cord”…I think if I had gone by myself I would still be hanging there! I don’t think I could have pulled it. Maybe I could have…who knows. So we are standing in line after getting our little harnasses on (they look like aprons! and they were a little heavy… I felt like I should be getting x-rays at the dentist), waiting our turn to go, and my mouth goes dryer than the Sahara…totally dry. The gum I had been chewing I had spit out right before getting into the gear so it didn’t accidentally become a projectile while flying thru the air. I couldn’t have mustered up one tiny drop of spit if my life depended on it! Then the heart rate goes up a bit, not much….I was way more nervous last year going on Wicked for the first time…..and that was about as panicked as I got. About half way up to the top of the static line I told James that I was thinking that this sounded like a much better idea on the ground. But it wasn’t bad riding up to the top….nice views ;0) Then we stop. And we hang there. Face-down in our harnesses. Suspended by steel cables 150 feet above the ground. The ride people count down from 3…2….1…..we sit there for a moment longer and then I feel James move to pull the cord…go time!! I don’t remember if I screamed while we were free-falling. I don’t remember what I was looking at as we fell. I do remember feeling the harness “catch me” at the bottom of the fall and looking at the little platform you stand on while they hook you to the static lines. I remember finding the faces of my hubby, daughter and a friend as we flew past the ride entrance and I was yelling “woo hoo” and giving them the thumbs up sign. My husband told me after I was back on terra firma that I had the biggest smile on my face, so he knew I was loving every nanosecond :0) Which I totally was! Once we got back o the ground, I was expecting my legs to be a bit shaky but they were functioning normally – yay! – so I didn’t look like a dork walking out. If you have the chance to do this, I highly recommend it…the rush is like nothing else you’ve experienced. I figure if I can handle this, that my dream of jumping out of a plane will be easier than I thought. Maybe in a couple years I can talk James into skydiving with me……

Who Invited You?

Morning!

Gotta get something off my chest...people who blog generally write about their own life...what's going on in their family, with their work, daily things, ect. as a way to keep other friends and family up-to-date with what's up. Other people who read our blogs can expect to read about the personal lives of those who post them. Someone who read the blog of a friend of mine apparently left a nasty "anonymous" comment on her blog suggesting that she needs to write about somehting other than her. Um, yeah, it is about her. It's HER blog. If you don't want to read about what is going on in her life, STOP reading it!! No one asked for you to read it in the first place. And the fact that this person was cowardly enough to NOT SIGN his/her name tells me all I need to know about this person. In the words of a song by The Donnas - "who invited you?"

So, school starts tomorrow. The kidlet is a big Freshman this year. Only 4 more years until he's off to college. So weird to think about.

And with the start of school comes the fall...which means winter is not far behind, especially here ;0) I love the cooler autumn weather, and definately the fall colors. Wish I had a ton of maple treese to pile orange and red leaves in the yard for jumping into. Some year I'd like to go back east to see the really big fall show...the New England states. A co-worker went on a week-long bike trip there last fall and said it was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. I'll add it to my list of places to go after I win the lottery ;0)

Enjoy your day y'all!

Good Tuesday To Ya

The best thing about Tuesday is that it's NOT MONDAY!!!

I’ve decided that doing my “big” walk on Monday nights is just not a good idea. I went on an extended outdoor trek last night and ended up with more mosquito bites. Must be something about Monday that makes those little suckers (pardon the pun) flat out ravenous because I don’t get bitten any other evening. Hmmmm….guess I will “OFF!” it Monday evenings from now on.

Weekend was good; went fast, as they all do. Went and watched my DH and his band play Saturday night. I haven’t been able to go the last couple times they’ve played so it was a nice treat to see them jam. Sunday was a total slug day…didn’t do a dang thing. Just hung around in pj’s and watched movies. And ate. Lots. Waaaaay too much. (Doing penance for that this week by walking extra miles and working out bigtime) But it was wonderful to just hang out with the fam and do nada.

Doing the family trip to Lagoon this Saturday. I know I’m excited, I don’t know about everyone else. Can’t wait to ride “Wicked” again. AND I may even go on the Sky Coaster if Chris wants to go this year (for those who don’t know what the Sky Coaster is, it’s where they bundle you up like a little enchilada and hang you from a wire that is attached to 2 veryvery high towers and it hoists you up, lets you go and you swing out over the park…kind of like a giant swing only you’re not sitting up). Should be a good temperature to go…mid-to-upper 80’s. Hot enough for the water rides, but cool enough we won’t fry on the blacktop.

Hope your week is going well! Have a great day and remember the words of Peter Parker – “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Breakfast of Champion

Morning! Another day in paradise, right? Hope all is well with you.

Stayed up late late late last night (late for me, at least) watching the Olympics...swimming and the gymnastics. I have to tell you that our men's swim team rocks! They're amazing...Michael Phelps is phenomenal. My son is a swimmer so he was intensely watching the competitions as well. Now. This leads me to a story I saw on Fox & Friends yesterday morning....what does Michael Phelps eat in a day? His recommended caloric intake on a daily basis is 8 - 10 THOUASAND CALORIES. Yes, I said 8,000 to 10,000. But keep in mind this guy swims 5+ hours a say. Hmm...lets see....according to his autobiography, each day he starts "with three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, and mayonnaise; add one omelet, a bowl of grits, and three slices of French toast with powdered sugar; then wash down with three chocolate chip pancakes." Dear lord. That's more calories than I probably eat in an entire week...in just one meal! (I think I gained 5 pounds just thinking about it) I'd settle for just the omlette or the pancakes everyday...which I could probably get away with, but it'd be the only thing I'd have to eat every day...otherwise my butt would be bigger than a rhinos! :0)

I chatted with my friend Suzy yesterday....haven't heard from her in a while so it was great to hear from her. She is one of the most awesome people I know. She's been a paramedic, ran a orthopaedic clinic, taught the paramedic course at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks (did I mention she lives in Alaska?), was a flight medic who flew into the small villages in the Alaskan outback to bring medicine to the natives (among other missions)and is now teaching combat medicine for the Army at the base up in AK. PLUS she has raised 2 wonderful boys and is a great wife to boot! Hopefully one day we can travel to Fairbanks to see her. She keeps telling me she has a job waiting for me....I'd only be interested in the summer ;0)

Have a great day ya'll!!!

ITCHY!!!!

O M G. Monday night I went for my big 5 mile walk. I felt a couple bites on my leg as I jogged along, but didn’t think much of it. Until last night when I got into a hot bath. It seems that the dang ‘skeeters were out in force and feasted on my legs…I had no idea until I began to itch in the tub. I’ve counted 10 bits on my legs. TEN! The really odd part is that this is the first time I’ve ever been bothered by mosquitos while walking outside in the evening…3 years and never been chomped on like that…yeah, I’ve had the occasional bite, but nothing like this. I itch like none other. Driving me up the wall. I had to wear my long denim skirt because pants rubbed on the bites and made them itch worse. UGH!!! :0(

Got the school shopping finished up yesterday. Woo hoo!! Taking off from 10 to 2 was genius…there was hardly anyone in the stores…I figured most people would be shopping in the evenings after parents got home from work; and forget about going over the weekend…no way, Jack. Eveyone in the valley will be in the stores trying to get their kids’ school clothes and supplies, not to mention all the college kids outfitting their dorm rooms up at USU.

I hope you all are having a good week so far. It’s “hump day”…almost to the weekend! Hang in there and keep smiling :0)

Migrane by Mozzarella??

Hope everyone had a joyful and fun weekend. And I hope the blog monster doesn't eat my post again today ;0)

Went to a wedding reception for the daughter of a friend I haven’t seen in about 14 years. Got married, moved, lost touch; she kept in touch with my BF, thankfully. Saturday my BF and I (along with my youngest niece) rolled out to the reception, resplendent in our dresses, anxious to see our long-lost bud. Susan looked beautiful, still bubbly and fun. We were thrilled to meet her husband, Michael, who seems to be a great guy, and their 6 year-old son – what a cutie-patootie!! Bride was stunning, new son-in-law looked handsome in his tux. Wishing them much love and happiness in their journey together. Since Susan lives pretty close, I hope we can all get together for a chatfest and do some catching up.

Had pizza for dinner Sunday night….bad girl :0) Later developed a bad headache, so I went to the bedroom to lay down. Watched/listened to “House” (LOVE that show!!) while laying there; he happened to mention that wine and cheese will trigger headaches. Cheese? Really?? I have long heard that the nitrites in red wine will give people headaches, but never have I heard that cheese will make you hurt. Being the curious Kate that I am, I had to check it out. Monday morning I went out to WebMD (great site!) and sure enough, there was an article on that very subject. It seems that aged cheese contain a substance called tyramine that forms when the proteins in the cheese break down. The longer the cheese is aged, the higher the tyramine content. The article goes on to name several “cheese headache culprits”, including cheddar, blue cheese, mozzarella, parmesan and swiss. Who knew!? Not I, said this little red hen. And who says watching tv isn’t educational? ;0)

I am taking some time off today to finish up school shopping for the kidlet…hopefully get his hair cut….registration is tonight. School starts next week, much to the chagrin of kids all over the county. It’ll be good to get back into the school groove.

Have a good day!!

Oh poop!!

Darn it! I had a big ol' post written and the blog monster ate it when I tried to post it!!!! Grr!!! I'll have to redo it and post it later.

Breathe!!!

OMG....I put on a pair on jeans this morning that I haven't worn for a while (ate myself out of them earlier in the year and kind of forgot about them)...looked good....felt good...not too tight, not loose either....and then I sat down in the car. Holy cow. By the time I got to work I decided that I can either sit down, or I can breathe. So I will totally be changing my pants at lunch and I will be trying to stand up as much as possible until then! I think if I sit too long I will pass out ;0)

Hope you are having a good week. Not much to report on here, which isn't a bad thing ;0) Means the chaos is under control. At least for now!

Goin' Bananas

If your house is anything like mine, you seem to end up with one or 2 bananas left out of the bunch that no one eats…they just sit on the counter and turn brown, eventually winding up in the garbage. I’m not sure what it is about the last couple bananas that turn people off. The rest of the bunch disappears in rapid fashion from the minute they come out of the grocery bag. Politely leaving the last one(s) for someone else? Possibly. I’ve discovered a great use for those icky-looking over-ripe little orphans: cookies.

Banana Cookies

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 ½ large bananas)
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 cups of flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground mace or nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 cup of pecans (walnuts and chocolate chips are fine alternatives)
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

2 Mix the mashed bananas and baking soda in a bowl and let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

3 Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.

4 Fold into the batter the pecans or chocolate chips if using. Drop in dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Makes about 30 cookies.

What's That Sound?!?

Listen....can you hear that??? It's the sound of the Big Yellow Birds firing up after sitting unused over the summer!! I guess I am an odd duck, because I love to buy school supplies...notebooks, pencils, binders, pens...last fall was espcially nifty for me because I was buying school supplies for ME. Yeah, it was just one college class, but dang it was awesome to go back to school :0) Anyway, my son has registration next week...gets his student ID pic, his schedule, his locker, ect. He will be a FRESHMAN this year. Yes, my baby is a freshman. Boy does it make me feel old saying that...and I have the grey hair to prove it!

Chatting with my MIL about the upcoming family reunion yesterday....getting our ducks in a row on who's bringing what food (I'm springing a Wild Rice Waldorf salad one everybody - yum!), ect. I can not stress enough how excited I am about this event...there are several people on my hubby's side of the family that I have never met. They don't get together much, so this will be extremely cool :0)

I saw this story on my Yahoo! homepage when I fired up the ol' computer this morning and just had to shake my head. You all have heard Bill Engvall and his "here's your sign" skit, right? Well, this guy totally ignored his sign and lost his truck. People like him are the reason we have stupid warnings on EVERYTHING (like "do not use in shower" on your blowdryer). Hope you get a giggle out of it:

Pa. man watches helplessly as train squashes truck
Mon Aug 4, 9:06 PM ET

Nathan Miller learned the hard way that "Road Closed" signs are posted for a reason. The 25-year-old Milesburg man ventured onto a closed road Sunday afternoon in search of good fishing at Bald Eagle State Park, but got his pickup truck stranded on some railroad tracks.

After trying for 45 minutes to dislodge the truck, Miller said he could do nothing but step back and watch a Norfolk Southern train smash into it.
"I backed up a little bit and watched the show," he said. "It looked just like TV but louder."

Signs clearly stated the road was closed, but Miller said he decided to "give it a shot" after hearing about the fishing spot. He has no intentions of going back.
"I was an idiot," Miller said. "Pretty much a local idiot just trying to go fishing."
Police cited Miller for trespassing.

Neighbors could hear the train screeching its brakes for some time before the crash, and state police said no one was hurt.

Have a great day y'all!!!!

Can I Start Over???

Good morning! Weekends go so fast, don't they? Why can't the work week go that fast instead of dragging on and on....and on.

Do you have days that you get up, ready to tackle a new day, when things just start to go downhill, turning your day and spirits to mush??? Having one today...hoping to maintain my sanity and not turn into a raging b-word by the time work is done. If there wasn't so much stuff to get done, I'd turn in a vacation form and go home. Back to bed. Start the day over. Sigh.

We rented a couple movies over the weekend; I picked "No Reservation" with Catherine Zeta-Jones. I had wanted to see this when it was in the theaters, but never got around to it. This was a very cute movie...certainly a bit more serious than I had expected, but if you're wanting a good movie to watch with the gals, this is one to keep in mind. The hubby rented "Bank Job" with Jason Statham (from "The Transporter" movies); this was interesting. It is based on a true story about a bank robbery in England in the 70's...and I'm not sure how much of this was "creative license" but allegedly there were some pretty....incriminating...photos of a member of the Royal Family being kept in one of the safe deposit boxes in said bank, which was actually the reason for the robbery in the first place...to get the pix and dispose of them. I will have to check into this whole story and see what exactly happened, but the movie was worth the time to watch.

Okay, back to work for me! Have a good day!!!

Update

Happy Friday to ya!

So here is a short synopsis of the concert:
Left home around 1:45, got to SLC a bit early so we could have lunch before we headed out to the ampitheater (we ate at Thaifoon at the Gateway - excellent food!), enjoying our last minutes in an serene, air conditioned environment :0) The line to enter the ampitheater was a mile long - literally - but moved quickly so we really weren't waiting outside the venue very long...missed the opening band, Trapt, however. Got to hear them, but not watch their show (the tix said the gates opened at 4, the show started at 5, but it was around 4:30 when Trapt fired up). Sixx AM was the second act...for those who don't know, Sixx AM is Nikki Sixx's side project, who got together and wrote the "soundtrack" to his book, "The Heroin Diaries". They put on a good show - the crowd went NUTS when Nikki came out and the singer worked the crowd well. As a special treat, Nikki's teenage son, Dekker, came out and played a tune with the band. (I guess if Eddie and Wolf can do it, why not, right?) Next came Papa Roach. I'm not real familiar with their stuff, but do know a few tunes...they were very good...those kids had more energy than they knew what to do with for sure :0) At one point the singer came out and wandered around the ampitheater while singing one of the songs (I don't remember which one), which was cool. He stopped in the section next to us and climbed up on the seats so everyone could see him. Of course he also had about 4 monster security guards with him. It was in the break after Papa Roach that my BF Aundria and I met DJ Ashba. Super guy, really can't stress enough how sweet he was. And he walked around without any security...just hung out like everyone else. Then came Buck Cherry....wow. Fantastic job by that band. The singer got a little crude with some comments before he started the song "Crazy B**ch", which I was not exactly thrilled with....I was a bit offended, but you know we have that whole ammendment thing that gives us freedom of speech in our country. Aside from that they were real good...they played "Sorry" which is my fav. besides "Lit Up" (which they also played). And at last...the band all us "old" hairband-lovin', stuck-in-the-80's big hair, spandex and miniskirt wearing people had been waiting for - CRUE. Now, let me say that I don't get offended easily (despite the Buck Cherry incident earlier) and I knew going in that Crue are know for pushing the envelope at their shows. BUT. Nothing could have prepared me for the sights they had playing on the screens flanking the stage...it was clips from porn movies! And I am not even kidding...it really was. I about died. At first, I was thinking "did I really just see what I thought I saw?!" and then the image flashed by again - yep, I guess I did really see that. OMG. So I tried not to look at the screens unless they were showing the band. That said, the music was awesome! Vince struggled with the singing here and there, but Mick Mars ROCKED, as did Nikki and Tommy. They played for about an hour and a half or so, but could have easily played all 6 hours of the show! I danced all 6 hours, yelled myself horse and had a fabulous time...my quads have finally recovered, my feet almost there, but I would happily suffer through another show tonight!!!