Mascot Bowl

FHE was the Mascot Bowl. It was actually fun. I know I sound surprised and I was. Here is what made it so cool:
1)Sky divers brought the game ball in from 5,000 feet.
2)Mascots were there from the local colleges and sports teams PLUS some national teams.
3)The Jazz Bear was right in front of us walking on the fence and he *boom* fell. I hope he had a cup (or two or three) to protect his posterity.
4)The concession stand made dinner for me.
5)We were there as a family
6)We sat by the Crowley family
7)We saw the Sheltons, Owens, Hydes, Sheffields, and Hoopes
8) See captions below.

We saw our future son in law play. Which one will it be? #23 or #33???? The highest bidder will win our love. Paige's love is secondary.
From left to right as best I can remember: Pioneer Pete, Grizz, some other critters, Cosmo, Buzz the Bee, a bird or some sort, and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla. I don't watch sports, OK??
C. Bolerjack and A. Harrington.
Frank Layden
Our babysitter.
The Denver Bronco neigh.

The only downer of the night was that we bought some raffle tickets to win a year of free meat. Sadly we will be vegetarians for the next 12 months.

Tag!

Rachel tagged me last week and I've been thinking about this over the weekend. The subject is 6 Unspectacular Quirks About Me. I have plenty of quirks so it's been hard narrowing them down. Unspectacular? I wouldn't use that word. I would say I have annoying, obsessive, with a sprinkling of irrational quirks. Here are some that may or may not be a surprise....depends on how well you know me.

1. I'm left handed. BUT the only thing I do left handed is eat and write. All sport, scissor, & watch wearing activities are right handed.
2. I have a all encompassing fear of heights. I can do 2 or 3 rungs up a ladder and then paralyzing fear sets in.
3. I love my calling. I love teaching ss to the 17 years olds in our ward. Each of them contributes and they listen so well. Could it be the treat bribery? No, it's my engaging method of teaching......not! It's a little Molly Mormon to love your calling, right?
4. Unlike Rachel, I don't feel the laundry experience is complete unless a load of laundry sits in the dryer for at least 24 hours. It's like a curing process. In fact if anyone brings me freshly dried laundry I order them to go put it back in the dryer for a few hours.
5. I love Egg Beaters. Bruce thinks they smell like...oh...I forget....something like smelly feet but I still love them.
6. I eat oatmeal for breakfast nearly every day. Not the good kind with lots of brown sugar. It's the high fiber, high protein, low sugar, low fat, low taste kind. I'm a tad obsessed with it.

Not sure of all of those qualify as quirks or not. Questionable behavior? Yes.

Lick 'em and stick 'em

So when I made my totally cool, radical, mormon muchies (graham crackers and frosting) last week Berkley got a hold of the bowl. Afterwards we had her tested for diabetes.

Lacrosse isn't for whimps...

Connor started Lacrosse. His first game was last night and they did pretty good. Connor looks very tough in his gear. I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley...unless I needed someone to test a suspect spider web. His stick (or finger) would come in handy (see previous post).

"I'm waaaaiiiiittttiiiinnnnggg......"
"Never fear, Connor is here!"
"Excuse me, do you mind if I borrow this ball.....pretty please?"
"If you would only share I would have to push you around."
"***hhhmmmppffff***** Maybe next time they will think twice before messing with me."

Arachnid Education

Kim left a comment on my blog which made me think of something I learned years ago and I have never forgotten it. A co-worker who used to live in Arizona always had encounters with **gulp** Black Widow spiders. She told me how to identify their web. We all see various webs around the yard or in a dark corner of the basement but the 'home builder' is not always visible.

You know you have a black widow web when:

1. The web structure is very erratic, messy, a variety of webs going every which way.
2. If you run something through the web (i.e. a broom handle, your husbands finger, etc) it will crackle. You will literally be able to hear the web breaking.

If your web meets both of these requirements you've got a serial killer on your hands. EVERY time I've done this I've been correct and found the suspect. I'm judge, jury and executioner. The legal system around our house is very swift.

Good luck Black Widow hunting!

The Office Premiere

The Office premiere is tonight. No phone calls please.

Heebie Jeebies!*!*!*!

Bruce calls this morning and says, "Did you get my email?" I look in my inbox and see an email titled "Look what Berkley found." Innocently I opened the attachment to find this glaring back at me.


How in the heck did this un-invited guest get into my living room? More importantly how did Berkley know it's name? Bruce said he could hear her downstairs saying "Mantis" over and over again. Bruce said it's one of the biggest and greenest one's he's seen in a long time. How comforting.


I've noticed a lot of grasshoppers this year so I'm sure he's had plenty of buffets to attend.


I'm thinking he got in through the back door which was left slightly ajar this morning because the dog was out and he will just push the door open when he's ready to return. It saves our door and door jam because otherwise he scratches until someone lets him in. I'm sure the door was open for a few minutes before it was shut.


I just imagine this mantis, sitting on the doorstep, tilting his head sideways thinking, "Hello, anybody home? Your door is open....Hmmmmm...I think I'll just mosie on in and see if they have any good arachnids or any Melanoplus differentialis I can eat. **That's the scientific name for grasshopper. Mantis' have a college professor look about them, don't you think?**


Bruce's last words before he hung up the phone - "I put him on your bed."

The Power of the Graham

So...yesterday after church Paige informs me that the Beehives are in charge of treats for BYD (Bishop's Youth Discussion for all you YM/YW impaired. That's Young Men/Young Women...geesh!).
My mind immediately goes to the fastest and easiest treats in my repertoire. Before I could even finish my thought she says, "Someone is already doing no bake cookies and brownies." Dang IT ALL!!!! My 2 fastest options are gone, down the drain, kapuut!

I ponder....I ponder about praying....I ponder some more. Inspiration hits me like a truck. I'll make some frosting (quick, easy, 1 bowl, low mess) and ........


(insert the sound of an angelic choir singing)

I wIlL fRoSt GrAhAm CrAcKeRs!!!!

Who can resist little mock sandwiches with a sugary filling? Paige was not happy. I could read her thoughts...."this is so lame....they will laugh at me.....crap....how the heck can I get out of this???"

She went...
They ate...
and ate...
empty plate...
I was right....
She smiled....

I am so the coolest mom.

Restaurant Review

Our family (minus Berkley...sorry baby) went to the Tab Choir Gift of Music concert on Saturday night. We thought the kids should get some culture pulsing through their veins. We haven't been out to eat in awhile so decided to make it a family date and tried a fairly new place downtown called Acme Burger. I've been wanting to try it since I learned of its existence.

THE MENU: very grown up and ranges from $6.50 to $22.00 for a burger....ONLY the burger. The $22.00 was for a XXL burger (probably for a group to share). Onions rings, shoe string fries, mac n cheese are ordered on the side. Salads were for a grown-up palate with no normal dressings in site (no Thousand Island, no Ranch, etc). I honestly can't even remember the names of the dressings they offered. All sounded very high brow. Elk, Bison, Mahi Mahi, & Veggie burgers are a sampling of what they offer.

SERVICE: waitress had a slight attitude and almost acted like our children were completely out of place. I guess they were since they were the youngest patrons but they are well behaved. When we told the waitress we needed some extra time she gave us TOO much time. She walked past us several times and we purposefully put our menus in a pile to signal we were ready. I finally had to grab her. Our burgers came fast but it made me wonder if they already had some cooked and in a pan waiting to be served.

FOOD: the $6.50 burger was the least expensive and I would have gotten more meat with the Six Dollar Burger at Carls Jr. It was charred (don't order it well done....medium is plenty and THAT wasn't even pink), dry, and the bun was about and inch bigger than the patty. It made the meat seem even smaller. Salad was OK but Paige ended up putting fry sauce on hers because she didn't like any of the snooty dressing flavors they had. Kids gagged down about 1/2 their burger. We also ordered onion rings and mac n cheese. Both of which were very yummy. The menu said the mac n cheese came in a family style 10" skillet but we know it was only about 6 or 7 inches MAX and were charged $12.00 **gulp**.

ATMOSPHERE: trying to be trendy and have a pub like atmosphere. The kids loved the bathrooms because they were painted with chalkboard paint and had big pieces of chalk to write with. They put their mark on the walls and learned a few new words in the process. Sat next to a lesbian couple who tried to nicely express their frustration to the manager (food wasn't that hot, charred, etc) and were met with hostility and AGAIN a snooty attitude. Didn't know if it was because of their alternative life or because they actually spoke up. Including tip we were over $89.99 **double gulp**.

CONCLUSION: I immediately got a headache because I was so ticked at the amount of money we spent and basically would have had a better meal at the drive thru for a fraction of the cost. If you've been curious about this place I would say eat at your own risk and know that you've been warned. Putting a stack of dollar bills in the bathroom would be put to better use. If any of you have had a good experience there then you were lucky. You couldn't talk me into trying it again....unless you are paying and I will only be ordering the mac n cheese and onion rings.

Lost the Will

I've lost the will to blog. **sigh** In an attempt to do something, anything !!! I'm asking an important question. One that could change the course of history.

wHaT iS iN yOuR pUrSe!

As I was trying to dig out money for my morning coffee (i.e. Diet Coke) I noticed a bunch of random items floating around in my purse. It's odd that they found a home where they did and it's even more odd I didn't notice them until now.

Here is my list:

Wallet (duh!)

Tickets to the Tab Choir performance "An American Songbook"

Umbrella

Keys to my hubbies truck

Coupon for .75 off 2 Toaster Strudel Pastries

4 dice

Lotion- Wild Honeysuckle scented

Pen lid, but no pen

Floss

Coupon for free cotton panty at Victoria's Secret (I'm sure Bruce planted this)

Key chain with a small light on the end courtesy of Les Schwab Tire

Condom. I know!!!!! Me too!!! Actually I don't know how this got in my purse! I'm embarrassed to type it but I'm playing the game and it's in my purse!

Business Cards

Lipstick (Mary Kay Silver Sand), liner and chap stick (Aveeno Intense Relief)

A screwdriver with interchangeable bits - Phillips and Flat Head

Ipod ear phones

5 random pennies swimming at the bottom

earrings (I thought I lost those....so glad I played my own game)

So if you dare, play the game with me. What's in your purse?

Sick to my stomach...

I was trying some new things and tried creating another blog under my account. I didn't like it so I deleted....THE WRONG BLOG!!!!! All my archivng is gone, tears are welling up in my eyes, I have to start all over!!!!!

Send your condolences to me in the form of chocolate, buttered popcorn or Diet Coke.

Thank you.