Baking Update, etc.

I guess I did leave out vital information from my last post! They were supposed to be cupcakes that I was making ... from scratch; not out of a box. Yikes! What a mess. Today I'm baking bread instead.


I've been meaning to post this picture as well. We live in the middle of a city, so this is the last thing you'd expect to see in your front sidewalk. And I'm not talking about the weeds.






However, in the past, we have seen deer on the Trax lines, racoons in the creek, and owls in the trees. So fun!

Oops!

This is a pretty good indication that it's time for me to quit baking for the day:



This was the SECOND batch. I followed all the directions so that they wouldn't "collapse". Hmmm.

LDS Graffiti

I didn't know that we had youth taggers in the LDS church ...

We went for a nice Sunday drive, and among the beautiful pines and rain scented air, we were taught our Sunday School lesson ... "Modest is Hottest".

And we also got to appreciate some classic expressionist art ... someones version of The Scream by Edvard Munch.

What a day!

Something's Wrong ...

I remember going to the dentist when I was a kid, and they had the cute magazines with the back cover that had a bunch of strange events depicted ... a bird with a human foot, a kite flying with no string, a chair with two legs, and the caption read "What's wrong with this picture?" ...


All I can say about this photo and caption that appeared in BYU's student newspaper, the Daily Universe, is "oops!" ... I feel so sorry for the poor student editors.

But, doesn't Elder Perry look so happy in that photo?

Holi

Mom, Matt and I drove down to Spanish Fork this Saturday for Holi ... the Festival of Colors!

Oh, wow ... we were stuck in traffic and didn't make it down there it time for throwing colors. People were parking 2.5 miles away from the temple and walking to attend. In the past they've had about 2,000-3,000 attendees. There were 10's of thousands there on Saturday. People were FLOCKING to the temple and there was a huge plume of colored air all around that area. Traffic on I-15 was backed up 7-miles before the exit. We sat in traffic for over an hour.

I did take a few pictures of people and the temple as we drove by. Not as many as I wanted to because I was driving, but I got a few.

Matt was glad to stay safely in the car. My mom is excited for next year, and says she wants to go down really early in the day so we can see/experience everything! It was a lesson learned. Totally different than Diwali, which is LOW KEY, and which I really loved! So, I guess I have them both to look forward to in the next year, and maybe in 2010 I will get painted!

Seniors with Guns

We went to a funeral yesterday for my uncle in Koosharem, Utah. The weather was nice, it was good to see family, and it was great to hear about all the things my uncle did to affect those around him. He was a good and respected man.

We went to the gravesite, and because he served in the the military during the Korean War, he had military honors at his funeral. It was an interesting thing ...

First, the cute old men were treating their gun more like a cane or walking stick than a weapon.



Second, after a bit of music was played, the group prepared to shoot the guns in the honorary salute. Although most aimed over a 45 degree angle, two of them had a hard time lifting the guns that high. I was assured there were blanks in the gun, but couldn't help duck as they took their shots. The two low-aiming gentlemen probably would have barely cleared the canopy if there had been bullets. Barely.

The first shot startled the shooter on the right, who jumped. And immediately all the babies began to cry.



Third, my brother enjoyed overhearing a conversation among the men who were trying to decide where the safety on the gun was actually located.

And last, as we were preparing to return to the church, we were all saluted again. We turned to see that the men were loading the guns into the back of someone's truck, where they accidentally let off two shots. And then the babies began to cry.

"I guess they're right, old people, though slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose."
--- Lloyd Christmas, Dumb and Dumber

Getting Creative

What would happen if I super-glued an ice pack to my head?

I have seriously had this thing permanently pressed to my ear for the last three days!  Yesterday all during work, all evening last night, and all morning and afternoon today. Of course it thawed last night while sleeping, so I woke up with "Puffy Ear" and "Swollen Jaw".

Enter ice pack and "hyper and moody pills" which let me tell you have been less on the moody and more on the hyper side.  YEAH!  Things are feeling slightly better this afternoon.  Again.

So back to my original question.  Super-glueing the ice pack to my head may sound convenient, but it would be difficult to "recharge" upon thawing!  Of course sticking my whole head in the freezer might solve some things as well!

P.S.  Check out this post of mine from September.  It is an interesting forecast of my current predicament!

4am

What can you do at 4am?

You can watch the news and hear about stocks plummeting on the other side of the globe.
You can see Orion way up in the sky!
You can be awake to hear the first Trax train run by!
You can put a new post on your blog!



So, I went home yesterday afternoon and ice packed, which did no good. About 6p I was running a fever of 102, so I went to After Hours Medical. They told me it was a delayed but "extreme and potentially deadly" reaction to a bee sting. It's not fun to hear "deadly" during a Dr. visit.

I had multiple stings on my leg about 3 years ago, and ended up at the doctor's. They told me that time that if I got stung in the future to watch my breathing carefully for anaphalactic shock. But, I was breathing fine this time, so I thought I was OK. They told me last night that sometimes the reaction is delayed and with the swelling getting steadily worse, and the fever, that problems breathing was likely an upcoming symptom.

So, I got two shots (ephinephrine and tetanus - since they consider a bee sting a puncture wound) and had to take two oral medicines (steroids and inflamation) last night, along with a lot of water!

Within 10 minutes my heart rate and blood pressure were down to normal levels. You mean 130 bpm isn't normal while at a resting state!? Within an hour the fever was gone.

They have me on 3 medications for the next 7 days, since they said it would flare up again. The medicines are supposed to make me hyper and moody! (I'll try to be on my best behavior.)

Oh! And now I get to carry an EpiPen with me wherever I go, since they assured me next time it would be even worse!



So, now it's 4am and I can't sleep. Mostly because the swelling is going down and I have a huge headache! They said with the skin swollen, the nerves are stretched out and you can't feel it. Now that the swelling is going down, I CAN DEFINITELY FEEL IT. So, I'm biding my time until I can take my happy pills (oops - I mean hyper and moody pills) and head into work! I have a feeling it may be soon!

Relaxing Evening: CANCELLED

Trust me ... no picture is necessary for this post!

Work's been a bit crazy - well, REALLY crazy! And it's sucking a lot of my energy, so my mental state is already pretty drained, and I'm feeling really behind in life. (For example, my list of unread emails.)

Enter last night. I got home, and decided to feed the dogs early before I got started on an evening of relaxation and getting caught up! So, what happened to alter my best laid plans?

I got stung by a yellow jacket!!!

No kidding, that STUPID thing flew straight into my ear, buzzing like crazy and generally getting pissed! All the while, stinging me repeatedly!

So, I'm frantically trying to get it out, and of course my hair is in the way, so it's not working. Then I tripped on our edging and fell on the lawn. Of course THAT got the bee out of my ear/hair! And now I'm laying on the lawn, having a hard time trying to get up because I mangled my knee! And my ear is starting to sting and swell.

I got up, hobbled inside (Goo staring and me in total bewilderment), and after a couple of stressful phone calls to complain to loved ones and attempt home remedies, I spent the evening on the couch, with an ice pack on my knee, an ice pack on my ear, and Benadryl (which makes me LOOPY) and Ibuprofen in my tummy.

This morning my knee feels slightly better. I have a couple bruises that have shown up on my hand and shoulder. My ear is HUGE puffy, and I'm sitting at work with a cold water bottle wedged between my ear and shoulder. (While enduring co-worker giggles, who apologize because they feel bad laughing, but can't help it because it looks like I'm talking on a water bottle!)

I'm really thinking that it was the Benadryl that took the swelling down last night, because the cold water and Ibuprofen alone aren't doing it today! So, I think I may go home early and take some Benadryl and drift off into a drugged stupor!!

Saturday

Saturday we were going in all different directions.

In the morning, Matt was rolling sod with Weston, while I was at the Primary Program practice. Then Matt worked around the house, while I took a nap to relieve my lack of sleep during the previous week. Late afternoon, we went north to go to our nephew Jack's birthday party.

Here is Lily, who is acting suspicious of Matt when he's talking to her.



Here is Kendra going for a ride on Matt's shoulders.



And Jack opening presents with all of his friends (girl friends). This picture makes me laugh, because he just opened an envelope with five one dollar bills. They all screamed in excitement!



After opening presents, Jack went around thanking everyone with a hug. His friend Hannah told him that he missed hugging three people, and then dove on him for her hug.



No worries! His other two friends, Jordan and Brooklyn, got their hugs, too.

Wings & Courage

Red Bull gives you wings. Right?
What does cat nip give Joellen's cats?

Attitude and Courage

Within seconds of treating them with cat nip (Goo's a nipaholic) they got really happy and started playing. Rolling in circles. Hugging each other.

Then they started playing. Tiger started biting. Jakey started hissing. They both started swatting.

Tiger walked away. Jake went in pursuit! Tiger didn't back down.

Charnae separated the kitties.

Tiger is suddenly not afraid of noises and is bouncing around like a yo-yo, running into furniture. Jakey comes back to pick a fight, again. Tiger says, "bring it on!"

It's good that Jake's new-found attitude will be short-lived. It's too bad Tiger couldn't retain just a little of his uncharacteristic courage.

Joellen - have you ever given them cat nip before? I'm guessing this is their first time. Jakey's howling for more.

Treasures

It's fun to clean out old stuff and find "buried treasure"!

We had a box stored away with some pictures slides. Here is a picture I found of Matt in 1979 with the family dogs Rafferty and Darby.

Welcome!

This is what our new house guest thinks of Goo:

The un-happy cat above is Jake. This is his brother Tiger:

Tiger is all about finding the smallest enclosure he can squeeze into and staying there for large amounts of time. They are our friend Joellen's cats. Joellen is moving to England for a year for a temporary work assignment, so they've come to our house to be Goo's friend.

We were positive that Goo would have a very difficult time and that Jake and Tiger would make friends quickly. We were WRONG! This is how Goo feels about things:

As they spit and hiss, he talks to them really friendly-like. It's a big surprise!

They were in the house 48-hours before Goo realized there were two of them. That was a funny moment. The thing they don't know about Goo is that he has claws - and it was one of the things we were most concerned about. Now that we've got them all together, we're glad that Jake and Tiger don't have claws since they seem more eager to brawl.

Tiger pretty much plays hide-and-seek all day long, and he hopes that nothing is seeking him. Jake is a snow plow, and unfortunately one of Joellen's plants suffered for it over the weekend.

Some day, hopefully soon, I hope to post a picture of all three of them hanging out, happily, together.

The Dump

We took a trip to drop off some old paint this weekend. The people at the dump have an unsual sense of humor. I guess being around all that garbage, you have to do things that make you laugh.

My House

I found this little tool on a blog that I read. It is so cool and at the same time so creepy!!! Go to Google Maps. Put in your address and click on "Street View" in the bubble that pops up. What do you get? A picture of your house ...



You can even nagitate and take a tour around your neighborhood. Very amazing! Can you even imagine what kind of technology we'll have 10-years from now? I thought that Google Satellite was amazing, but I can't believe the mobility of Street View. WOW!

Random

I kind of had a bad day yesterday. There was just too much happening at work and I'm not quite over my cold. So, I was tired and working in an unorganized frenzy. I'm so grateful there were a few things to help me along my way:

1. I saw a T-shirt that said: "I never finish anyth" (I could relate.)
2. We had a baby shower for a co-worker who was given baby socks that look like Mary Jane shoes. (They made me smile.)
3. A male co-worker apologized for arriving late to the shower. He asked the to-be-mom if she received any gifts without a card. She said no. He said his gift must not have arrived at the party. (He made me laugh.)

Super Bowl

This post is probably a little late, but I wanted everyone to know that I watched the Super Bowl last week! And I enjoyed it!

We went to Wes & Lisa's. They have all the cool gadgets on their 62" TV. We started watching 30-minutes behind the real time of the game. When there were replays or BORING commentary, we got to fast forward.

Watching the Super Bowl was play after play after commercial after play. And it was perfect!

Freaky Affects

So, I got to experience a couple new things during December 2007.

First ... surprise! ... I got to have a root canal. Fun! I couldn't ask for anything better the week of my Christmas vacation. They deadened it for the procedure, and it stayed dead longer than any previous dental shot I have ever gotten! 7-hours later I could still feel the affects. This is my beautiful pirate smile that Matt laughed about when leaving the endodontist. So, we took a picture.



Second, my eye doctor said that if I had my eyes dilated that I could go 2-years on my contact prescription instead of 1-year. Sounds good to me! It was super-hard to take a picture of my dilated eyes, but here's a comparison. It was freaking Matt out for the rest of the day, each time I would look at him. My eye doctor told me the affects would last 2-hours. WRONG. 6-hours later it finally started wearing off.



I hope it's awhile (or never would be nice) before I have to do either of these again.

Tempting

Anyone who knows us, knows the hours .... okay, years .... we have put into our house! But, we were seriously tempted for about 1-minute when we saw this house for sale in the Daybreak Community, just west of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple site.
It didn't take long for our good sense to come back to us. But, all the historic beauty in a brand new house really made us consider ... would we ever actually move? Not now, but that cute porch swing is still beckoning!

West Coast Reuben

We went to dinner tonight with our good friend Anna and her little girl Kayley. It was a lot of fun. We went to Mimi's Cafe, and I got one of my favorites ... the West Coast Reuben.
I really love how it tastes, but it is a painful food. The bread is yummily toasted, but it scraped my gums with each bite. So, now my mouth is raw .... ouch.