Catching up

I have some pictures from our recent trip to Castlewood Canyon where Jared took John and Kitty rock climbing for the first time.  John really enjoyed himself; he did well.  Kitty had a little tumble and got some scrapes and did not enjoy herself.  On the way there, however, she said to Jared, "I have to warn you... I'm pretty good." She was so excited to go, it made me sad when she got hurt.



A little stretching to prepare while daddy went up top to secure the ropes.



 

His goal was to make it to this ledge.



I think I have a Senior picture that looks just like this.



Our Money Food Chain

Today out of the blue John said:

"When I grow up I'm not going to have a job, I'm just going to feed off of your money."

"What makes you think I'll have any money?"

"Because, you feed off of daddy's money and he feeds off of Papa's.  Papa feeds off of Great Grammie and she feeds off of Bompa because really, Bompa has all the money."

 How right he is...

Feeling really awkward

Has this ever happened to you?

I got to the school a few minutes early to pick up my kids so I found a spot out of the wind and waited against the wall.  Within minutes a group of strange moms surrounded me and commenced their daily visitation.  I was right in the middle, standing there, thinking, "do I move? clearly I'm in their way... I was here first, why don't they move away from me?" What's worse is that I was determined not to make eye contact-- so there I stood, all six feet of me, trying to be invisible.

The best part? The conversation.  A little background... it's no secret that we go to the ghetto school of Castle Rock.  We embrace the diversity.  The hardest part for me is not the kids, it's the parents.  And really it's only one type of parent that gets me, the white trash parent.  So when I say I was inadvertently standing in the midst of some moms, I should say I was standing in the midst of some of these kind of trashy parents.  Topics of conversation included:

Getting hemorrhoids from sitting on a cold bench...(is that real? I've never heard that)
Getting a new perm (remember perms?)
Losing yet another job (this story was filled with expletives)...
Needing a smoke
Not having any money for rent but in the same breath talking about getting her nails done that day
Who will be at the bar later

And yes, I stood there and I judged.

Imagine my relief when I spied Kitty's class coming out just a tad early.

My turn on the soapbox

I don't usually like to get all opinionated on this here blog, but for some reason I couldn't sleep this morning and decided I needed to write about this topic.  I guess I feel pretty strongly about it. 

(Oh and forgive the missing capitalizations-- my right shift key just broke).

The honor code at BYU.  I've been thinking about it a lot in light of the basketball player, brandon davies, who got kicked off the team for premarital sex.  I have heard support for the school, "good for them!" and criticism for the school, "how dare they!"

Here's the thing.  we all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we signed on as students at the church university.  No one was holding anyone's feet to the fire forcing us against our will to take on the honor code.  granted, there are always those people who choose not to respect the contract they signed and those individuals often get away with it and don't have to face the consequences of their actions while enrolled at the school.  whatever.  but what good is the honor code with no enforcement? and why is it dumb for someone who chooses to live by the honor code to choose to go to BYU? and do you realize that by saying you think the honor code is stupid you are judging me for thinking it is worthwhile and important?

This brings me to a larger issue. I've decided that many times the people who have an issue with the establishment of rules, commandments, and expectations, don't like accepting consequences or the idea of being personally responsible.  we can be all about "freedom of choice" but when it comes down to accepting the consequences of those choices we feel "judged" and being judged is not fair or cool. 

the blame rests on poor brandon davies' shoulders, and I think he recognizes this.  It's a great analogy for life. we are all team players, whether we want to recognize it or not, and our actions affect the members of our team. some of us don't like the pressure or responsibility and want to do our own thing. but guess what? No matter how hard we try, we will always be part of the team and sometimes our actions dictate whether the team goes on to win or lose.

so give me a break with all this "there's no personal choice at BYU"-- that's stupid.  whether you like it or not, we chose to come to this earth based on the fact that there would be personal choice. everyone gets to choose how to live their lives.  you choose your own lifestyle, that's fine, just don't put me down, or make me feel stupid for the lifestyle I choose. and realize your choices are affecting those closest to you as well.

a little sweaty Kitty to lighten the mood.

it all comes down to this-- If you agree to the rules, you agree to the consequences.  If you don't agree with the rules then get off the bus and stop making fun of the people who are trying to get on.

Phew. that should be enough for at least six months.

P.S. I forgot I wanted to add:  Fire warms.... fire burns.

Season of the witch

I wish I had something good to post.  I don't.  Nothing that has happend in the past week comes to mind.  I've worn the same outfit probably three times, but that's old news.

Even Bogda has left me with hardly anything... it's rough.  She's convinced her sister, who lives nearby, is a witch.  A witch who subscribes to a witch magazine and burns witch candles and uses witch crystals.  But she is also a witch who also attends Catholic Mass weekly.  Bogda has been personally affected by her latest dealing in the craft. You see, Bogda's sister had a problem with bugs in her house. She tried everything to get rid of them, but they were stubborn. Stubborn, that is, until she did some witchcraft and now her house is bug free. 

But guess where they went?  That's right.  Bogda's house. She is convinced her sister is responsible for a minor insect invasion.  Nevermind that they aren't even the same kind of bug that inhabited her sister's house. 

I wonder if she's responsible for the lone housefly I kill daily.

Need I say more?

Diana and Tommy shared this with me this morning... thought it a fitting sequel to my Super Bowl post.

Like father like son, part II

Have I mentioned how similar Jared and John are?  You would think they were cut from the same cloth or something (don't worry, they were). 

The latest glaring example is in their tendency to "collect" things.  Or maybe I should say it's in their inability to throw anything away.  Jared recognizes this in himself and now that he sees it in John he feels genetically responsible (which he is). 

I spent the better portion of my afternoon "organizing" John's room.  It involved going through little stashes of odds and ends that he had piled here and there.  Some of the items included magnets, screws, paperclips, rubber bands, rocks, scraps of fabric, pencils, broken erasers, straight pins...

Jared's collections are generally more expensive and include: head lamps, flashlights, knives, guns, ammunition, fishing poles, camping gear, soft-shell jackets, down coats, t-shirts, dress shirts...



This is the cache of items John keeps on the counter where he eats.  



At the end of my effort I had an entire bag full of "trash".  My mistake was leaving the bag in the hallway (at least I tied it, I'm not that stupid).  John noticed it instantly when he got home from school and panicked because he knew it came from his room.  "You KNOW you have to ask me before you throw any of my stuff away!" 

Where have I heard that before? 

Rewind to our move from our first place after we were married.  I married into a major stash and collection of items.  One of these was a collection of at least 30 bottles of cologne.  I soon learned that Jared did not wear cologne and that he had inherited most of his collection from others. Some were several years old.  So... when Jared went to get cold beverages for everyone who was helping us move, I threw the cologne in the trash.  Unfortunately, I was not smart and left the bag open.  When he returned from his errand he saw the trash and panicked-- pulling every last bottle out and replacing them in the box they had originally been packed in. 

My first of several marital garbage lessons.

Weekend update

Jared and I had a fun weekend sans kids.  After we dropped them off with Grammie Saturday we went home and waited around until it was officially after our bedtime and got ready to hit the town.  Adam Carolla was playing at the local Comedy Club, and if you know Jared, then you know he is in love with Adam Carolla.  The last time he was in town we failed to get tickets, but this time we decided not to miss it.

So we changed into our "club" clothes and drove to the venue.  As we got in line to enter, I looked around and realized that contrary to popular belief, Jared and I are NOT club people.  It had been at least ten years since I had gone anywhere like this.  We both just stood there like the typical boring conservative couple.  

We got there at least 40 minutes early but apparently not early enough.  As they herded us in we ended up on the first row of the upper level.  We were squished in like sardines with no leg room.  When Jared had removed a chair that popped out of place the waitress yelled at him, but when he showed her there was no way it would fit back in the row she gave up.  I was practically sitting on the laps of the larger couple to my right.  Then came time to order our "2 item" minimum.  The same snarky waitress practically rolled her eyes when I ordered a $4 coke.

Luckily when the lights went down we relaxed and enjoyed the show.  I think there were a few times when Jared laughed the most of anyone, usually because Adam uses Southern California references that Jared knows all too well. Adam Carolla can complain about anything and usually it's about the same things Jared complains about.

The next day Jared took me out to the shooting range where I practiced shooting my Glock 9mm (aka the home protection weapon).  After watching a few episodes of Top Shot I thought I could hit anything.  I'm not great, but at least I could hit the target most of the time.  I also shot his .38 special revolver and his Les Baer 45.  I liked the revolver the best, but after a while I got tired of shooting.  Jared could spend the whole day out there.