We got a wii for Christmas. David is really liking the wii. I've hardly played it--and I'm originally the one who wanted it! David really likes bowling and making miis. Yesterday he probably played the wii 10 hours. Even Jarom's friend David has played our wii longer than I have. I finally I took over the wii for about an hour. Actually, David played, too, but I picked the game and had the main wiimote, so I was in control - even if I didn't know what I was doing.
We played Mario Karts and I was horrible at it. Well, for the first dozen times, at least. I kept going the wrong way on the track and bumping into walls and falling into the water and quicksand and coming in last place. It was driving the kids crazy. They were all yelling instructions at me (and David) and that made me even more confused. Then, miracle of miracles, I came in first place. I found out I'm much better playing as Bowser than Yoshi. Poor Yoshi. He kept making very sad noises when I ran him into things and lost.
After an hour of Mario Karts, Jarom and I came upstairs and watched "Strange Brew." He had never seen it before. Can you believe it??? He thought it was funny. Especially the part where they are in the courtroom and Doug has bullets up his nose and he sneezes. He thought Hosehead the dog was pretty weird, too.
Friday morning I made pancakes for breakfast. Before anyone could eat, I made them listen to "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Bob and Doug MacKenzie on the Christmas CD Becky made for us. Cameron was getting frustrated because he thought it was dumb and his pancakes were getting cold. Tonight when we were making dinner, the kids finally figured out that it was the "Strange Brew"/"Brother Bear" moose guys that did the Christmas song. "Oh, that was them?!" they said. Um, yeah... Somehow they seemed to like it better once they knew who "sang" it. David says that song is the only Bob and Doug thing he likes.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
First Day of Work
Well, I made it through my first day of work at my new job. I ended up leaving work at 4:00 pm instead of 6 and my head was still swimming from all the new information. This is gonna take a while to get used to, but it will be good in the long run.
It was a good thing that I got home early, because I took the Suburban with me to work and I didn’t really want Meagan driving the Crown in the snow. It’s tough to drive in snowy weather since it’s rear wheel drive. That’s one of the few things I don’t like about the Crown. Driving it in clear weather is great.
After I got home, Amber read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to me. Twice. I love that book. It’s been one of my favorites for a long, long time. During the second reading, I fell asleep – Amber woke me up at the end because she wanted me to sign her reading calendar. After I signed her calendar, I went back to sleep. After sleeping off my information overload for 3 hours, I’m starting to feel human again.
David and the boys are downstairs watching some movie called “Beartooth.” It looks and sounds like it was made in the 70’s. They’ve got it up kind of loud. It’s about some old guy with a Cajun accent that lives in a cabin in Montana in the wilds. About all he interacts with are wildlife and a stray dog. That used to be David’s aspiration – to move to Montana and be a hermit in the woods. Guess that would be kind of difficult for him now.
Meagan came home from work on Saturday very happy because the 2 Somalians that kept bugging her have been banned from her work until March. I guess they were bugging alot more people than just her.
This morning as I was heading out the door for work, Thor tried to sneak in the house. If I had been staying, I would have let her in – it’s so cold outside! I almost shut her in the door – twice. I think she thinks I hate her now. I called her tonight, but no response. Hope she keeps warm!
It was a good thing that I got home early, because I took the Suburban with me to work and I didn’t really want Meagan driving the Crown in the snow. It’s tough to drive in snowy weather since it’s rear wheel drive. That’s one of the few things I don’t like about the Crown. Driving it in clear weather is great.
After I got home, Amber read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to me. Twice. I love that book. It’s been one of my favorites for a long, long time. During the second reading, I fell asleep – Amber woke me up at the end because she wanted me to sign her reading calendar. After I signed her calendar, I went back to sleep. After sleeping off my information overload for 3 hours, I’m starting to feel human again.
David and the boys are downstairs watching some movie called “Beartooth.” It looks and sounds like it was made in the 70’s. They’ve got it up kind of loud. It’s about some old guy with a Cajun accent that lives in a cabin in Montana in the wilds. About all he interacts with are wildlife and a stray dog. That used to be David’s aspiration – to move to Montana and be a hermit in the woods. Guess that would be kind of difficult for him now.
Meagan came home from work on Saturday very happy because the 2 Somalians that kept bugging her have been banned from her work until March. I guess they were bugging alot more people than just her.
This morning as I was heading out the door for work, Thor tried to sneak in the house. If I had been staying, I would have let her in – it’s so cold outside! I almost shut her in the door – twice. I think she thinks I hate her now. I called her tonight, but no response. Hope she keeps warm!
Friday, December 12, 2008
How Many of Me?
The other day, I found an interesting web site that tells you how many people in the US have the same name as you (first and last only). I found out there are 9 of “me” in the US. You can try it and see how many of "you" there are. Just click on this: How Many of Me? Did you know that "Worm" is a real last name? So's "Friday." There may even be 1 or fewer people in the US named "Corn Syrup."
Earlier today I could think of lots of stuff to say, but, now that I am writing, I can’t think of much to write. Today I did not work because my new job is starting on Monday instead of Friday. I asked my old boss if I could change today to my last day and he said, “No.” What a weirdo. He hasn’t even found a replacement for me yet, so I don’t know what the big deal was, but whatever.
The good thing is, I’m getting paid anyway, because my new employer told me I would start on Friday but then couldn’t train me until Monday. “Think of it as a sign-on bonus,” he said. What a nice guy.
Today, instead of cleaning the basement like I should have, I goofed off and spent most of the day on the internet. That was ok. I guess every once in a while it’s ok to goof off.
OK, what’s everyone been up to?
Meagan – has been working. She’s fed up with Somalian guys hitting on her at work and the security guard pulling a mean prank on her. Other than that, she’s mostly ok with work. I think she’s ready to graduate from high school already. Whatever will she do without Tyler next semester?
Cameron – has been having trouble trying to decide what he wants for Christmas. Today he finally decided. If he changes his mind again, well, that’s just too bad. Actually all of the kids have been kind of slow deciding.
He’s also been struggling with Physics. He raised his hands in disgust the other day because he finally figured out why he’d been getting so many Physics problems wrong. It’s because he was using the wrong formula! Yeah, that would do it.
I tried to help Cameron with his math the other day and was no help at all. I think he’s given up on coming to me for math help. They’ve been doing matrices for probably the last month and I think I only ever did them a day or two in all the years I took math.
Jarom – had his band concert Wednesday night. He is first chair in trumpets. That’s pretty amazing since he hasn’t practiced in a month. Something about it hurts to play the trumpet with his braces on. That’s possible. I remember Meagan saying something about Tyler quitting the saxophone because he got braces. Hopefully Jarom won’t quit. He should be getting his braces off sometime in 2009. Jarom’s band teacher said he was challenged for his chair and he won. Wow. Just think how good Jarom would be if he practiced!
Amber – has her Chorus Concerts next week. You are welcome to attend either or both! According to the note sent home from the school, these are the two concerts:
• Tuesday December 16th at 7:00 pm at VF Mall in front of the inside entrance to JC Penney’s – the concert will last about 30 minutes.
• Thursday December 18th at 9:00 am at the elementary school – it will be a more formal concert (whatever that means)
Amber is sitting on the couch asking me lots and lots of questions. It’s hard to write a blog and carry on a conversation at the same time.
Amber is spending the night at Kyleen’s again. I think Kyleen’s is the favorite place because she’s an only child. That and Charity, another of Amber’s friends, is at Kyleen’s a lot. Like tonight, in fact.
David – has been playing Devil May Cry almost incessantly. I guess he REALLY likes it. He also went and bought a bunch of frozen dinners and pizza at Smith’s today because they were having their 10 for $10 special.
Jetta – got freaked out today because I let Thor in the house. Thor is the cute little gray neighborhood tabby cat – the whole neighborhood kind of looks after her, but no one has officially adopted her as far as I know. I would if David and Jetta would let me. She is such a cute kitty. She’s snuggly and purrs when you hold her. If you’re wondering about the name “Thor” for a girl – I named her that before I knew she was a girl – and the name kind of stuck.
At first Jetta was kind of ok with Thor being in the house and even wagged her tail. Thor wandered into Amber’s room. I called, “Thor,” and she paid no attention to me. Then I called, “Kitty,” and she looked right at me. She probably gets called “Kitty” more than anything. Our family calls her “Thor,” one family across the street calls her “Tigger” and another family calls her “Bubba J.” Talk about confusing.
After 5 or 10 minutes of Thor being in the house, Jetta backed Thor into a corner. Thor sat up on her hind legs and started scratching the air in Jetta’s direction. I hurried and pulled Jetta away from the cat before either of them got hurt. Thor had to go outside after that. Poor Thor.
I sure wrote a lot for not being able to think of anything to write, didn’t I?
Earlier today I could think of lots of stuff to say, but, now that I am writing, I can’t think of much to write. Today I did not work because my new job is starting on Monday instead of Friday. I asked my old boss if I could change today to my last day and he said, “No.” What a weirdo. He hasn’t even found a replacement for me yet, so I don’t know what the big deal was, but whatever.
The good thing is, I’m getting paid anyway, because my new employer told me I would start on Friday but then couldn’t train me until Monday. “Think of it as a sign-on bonus,” he said. What a nice guy.
Today, instead of cleaning the basement like I should have, I goofed off and spent most of the day on the internet. That was ok. I guess every once in a while it’s ok to goof off.
OK, what’s everyone been up to?
Meagan – has been working. She’s fed up with Somalian guys hitting on her at work and the security guard pulling a mean prank on her. Other than that, she’s mostly ok with work. I think she’s ready to graduate from high school already. Whatever will she do without Tyler next semester?
Cameron – has been having trouble trying to decide what he wants for Christmas. Today he finally decided. If he changes his mind again, well, that’s just too bad. Actually all of the kids have been kind of slow deciding.
He’s also been struggling with Physics. He raised his hands in disgust the other day because he finally figured out why he’d been getting so many Physics problems wrong. It’s because he was using the wrong formula! Yeah, that would do it.
I tried to help Cameron with his math the other day and was no help at all. I think he’s given up on coming to me for math help. They’ve been doing matrices for probably the last month and I think I only ever did them a day or two in all the years I took math.
Jarom – had his band concert Wednesday night. He is first chair in trumpets. That’s pretty amazing since he hasn’t practiced in a month. Something about it hurts to play the trumpet with his braces on. That’s possible. I remember Meagan saying something about Tyler quitting the saxophone because he got braces. Hopefully Jarom won’t quit. He should be getting his braces off sometime in 2009. Jarom’s band teacher said he was challenged for his chair and he won. Wow. Just think how good Jarom would be if he practiced!
Amber – has her Chorus Concerts next week. You are welcome to attend either or both! According to the note sent home from the school, these are the two concerts:
• Tuesday December 16th at 7:00 pm at VF Mall in front of the inside entrance to JC Penney’s – the concert will last about 30 minutes.
• Thursday December 18th at 9:00 am at the elementary school – it will be a more formal concert (whatever that means)
Amber is sitting on the couch asking me lots and lots of questions. It’s hard to write a blog and carry on a conversation at the same time.
Amber is spending the night at Kyleen’s again. I think Kyleen’s is the favorite place because she’s an only child. That and Charity, another of Amber’s friends, is at Kyleen’s a lot. Like tonight, in fact.
David – has been playing Devil May Cry almost incessantly. I guess he REALLY likes it. He also went and bought a bunch of frozen dinners and pizza at Smith’s today because they were having their 10 for $10 special.
Jetta – got freaked out today because I let Thor in the house. Thor is the cute little gray neighborhood tabby cat – the whole neighborhood kind of looks after her, but no one has officially adopted her as far as I know. I would if David and Jetta would let me. She is such a cute kitty. She’s snuggly and purrs when you hold her. If you’re wondering about the name “Thor” for a girl – I named her that before I knew she was a girl – and the name kind of stuck.
At first Jetta was kind of ok with Thor being in the house and even wagged her tail. Thor wandered into Amber’s room. I called, “Thor,” and she paid no attention to me. Then I called, “Kitty,” and she looked right at me. She probably gets called “Kitty” more than anything. Our family calls her “Thor,” one family across the street calls her “Tigger” and another family calls her “Bubba J.” Talk about confusing.
After 5 or 10 minutes of Thor being in the house, Jetta backed Thor into a corner. Thor sat up on her hind legs and started scratching the air in Jetta’s direction. I hurried and pulled Jetta away from the cat before either of them got hurt. Thor had to go outside after that. Poor Thor.
I sure wrote a lot for not being able to think of anything to write, didn’t I?
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
All-American Breakfast?
This morning for breakfast I had kefir, creamy buckwheat cereal and borscht. Sometimes I look at what I eat and think, is there anyone else in America who eats the way I do? Probably not. Not unless they just immigrated from Russia or Thailand or something. That’s ok, though. I haven’t converted my family, however. I think Amber would be the easiest to convert – she already likes red rice and soy milk and stuff no one else in the family besides me will touch.
Well, here’s the rundown:
Meagan – turned 18 on Black Friday. For her birthday we had a family dinner and invited Tyler over. David was even sort of ok with that (?). Meagan got an MP3 player (her old one was stolen from her gym locker at school) and a “Labyrinth” DVD. She was so excited to get “Labyrinth” that she squealed for almost two minutes. Tyler kind of rolled his eyes. Meagan loves David Bowie and the muppets. I can’t say I blame her.
Meagan has decided she wants to go to UVU for college. That’s ok, as long as she can figure out how she’s going to pay for it. I suspect she wants to go to UVU because that is where Tyler is planning on going. In March. I guess he’ll graduate early from HS – at the end of this semester. I think that’s mid-January.
Cameron – I don’t really know what Cameron is up to, except that he is doing well in all of his classes except Honors Physics. I would have struggled, too, if I hadn’t taken Trig first. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t be talked. Oh well.
Jarom – Jarom finally finishing his autobiography for English. He has been working on it for months now. He sure had to find a lot of photos for it.
Jarom marched in the day-after-Thanksgiving Christmas Parade with the Jr. High Band. I didn’t even recognize him when he marched past because he was wearing a beanie. He almost never wears hats. That parade was sure cold!!! I sat in the suburban for most of it. It was nice when it was time to go in to the warm mall.
Amber – Has been playing Nancy Drew computer games. She played both of the games Holly gave me and has started checking them out of the library. The last one, she had to have Jarom help her, because Nancy kept getting blown up in the theater demolition. She kept wanting me to help her, but I’m clueless when it comes to those games. (That was punny, wasn’t it? It wasn’t intentional.)
Last night Amber had to write a list of 20 family traditions. I ended up thinking up most of them, because Amber couldn’t think of very many. It was really hard. There are some things we did for awhile, then quit doing. Like when I worked for Holiday Inn, we’d usually go on a short vacation in either Utah or Idaho and stay at a hotel for a couple of days because I only had to pay $25 a night for a room. We don’t do that now because I just can’t bring myself to pay $89 a night for a hotel room. Maybe I should…Meagan’s almost old enough to leave home! Ack!
David – is visiting his silly skin doctor today. He sees Dr. Williams in Murray. Dr. Williams is always entertaining. Last time David was there, Dr. Williams was telling David that Shania Twain had just gotten divorced and was now available. Apparently Dr. Williams is not married. I told David he’d have to ask Dr. Williams if he’d gotten a date with Shania yet. When Jarom went there, he was teasing Jarom about becoming a dermatologist. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
This morning I had David check the anti-freeze in the suburban. It was really, really, really low. It’s a good thing I saw a drip of anti-freeze on the driveway and had him check!
Me – I found a new job that I think is going to be much better than my current job. My new boss was sure alot nicer to me when he hired me than my current boss was.
I gave my two weeks notice the day before Thanksgiving. Gary (my current boss – who works in the Denver office) didn’t seem too sad about my leaving. Maybe he was stunned? I asked him for a raise a year ago that never happened. “We will talk about it,” he told me. We never did. He did thank me for giving them two weeks notice. Kenny (the sales rep at the SLC office) told me yesterday that he wouldn’t stay the whole two weeks. Quint (the vitamin guy and former owner of the company) said, “Heidi’s a good girl, she’ll stay the whole two weeks.” Yup, that’s me. The good girl. Quint’s old enough to be my dad. He’s also my favorite Graves (the family that owns the company).
Here’s the weirdest part about my leaving, though. Lisa suggested to Sue (the office manager at the Denver office) that her daughter Sara replace me. Sue said, “Oh, Sara can’t work for the company, she’s related to you.” What? Apparently you can’t work for them if you’re related to anyone who works there UNLESS your last name is Graves. Then you can “work” there, be incompetent, not show up, irritate customers and still get paid for your entire shift. Hmmm…
Well, here’s the rundown:
Meagan – turned 18 on Black Friday. For her birthday we had a family dinner and invited Tyler over. David was even sort of ok with that (?). Meagan got an MP3 player (her old one was stolen from her gym locker at school) and a “Labyrinth” DVD. She was so excited to get “Labyrinth” that she squealed for almost two minutes. Tyler kind of rolled his eyes. Meagan loves David Bowie and the muppets. I can’t say I blame her.
Meagan has decided she wants to go to UVU for college. That’s ok, as long as she can figure out how she’s going to pay for it. I suspect she wants to go to UVU because that is where Tyler is planning on going. In March. I guess he’ll graduate early from HS – at the end of this semester. I think that’s mid-January.
Cameron – I don’t really know what Cameron is up to, except that he is doing well in all of his classes except Honors Physics. I would have struggled, too, if I hadn’t taken Trig first. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t be talked. Oh well.
Jarom – Jarom finally finishing his autobiography for English. He has been working on it for months now. He sure had to find a lot of photos for it.
Jarom marched in the day-after-Thanksgiving Christmas Parade with the Jr. High Band. I didn’t even recognize him when he marched past because he was wearing a beanie. He almost never wears hats. That parade was sure cold!!! I sat in the suburban for most of it. It was nice when it was time to go in to the warm mall.
Amber – Has been playing Nancy Drew computer games. She played both of the games Holly gave me and has started checking them out of the library. The last one, she had to have Jarom help her, because Nancy kept getting blown up in the theater demolition. She kept wanting me to help her, but I’m clueless when it comes to those games. (That was punny, wasn’t it? It wasn’t intentional.)
Last night Amber had to write a list of 20 family traditions. I ended up thinking up most of them, because Amber couldn’t think of very many. It was really hard. There are some things we did for awhile, then quit doing. Like when I worked for Holiday Inn, we’d usually go on a short vacation in either Utah or Idaho and stay at a hotel for a couple of days because I only had to pay $25 a night for a room. We don’t do that now because I just can’t bring myself to pay $89 a night for a hotel room. Maybe I should…Meagan’s almost old enough to leave home! Ack!
David – is visiting his silly skin doctor today. He sees Dr. Williams in Murray. Dr. Williams is always entertaining. Last time David was there, Dr. Williams was telling David that Shania Twain had just gotten divorced and was now available. Apparently Dr. Williams is not married. I told David he’d have to ask Dr. Williams if he’d gotten a date with Shania yet. When Jarom went there, he was teasing Jarom about becoming a dermatologist. I don’t think that’s gonna happen.
This morning I had David check the anti-freeze in the suburban. It was really, really, really low. It’s a good thing I saw a drip of anti-freeze on the driveway and had him check!
Me – I found a new job that I think is going to be much better than my current job. My new boss was sure alot nicer to me when he hired me than my current boss was.
I gave my two weeks notice the day before Thanksgiving. Gary (my current boss – who works in the Denver office) didn’t seem too sad about my leaving. Maybe he was stunned? I asked him for a raise a year ago that never happened. “We will talk about it,” he told me. We never did. He did thank me for giving them two weeks notice. Kenny (the sales rep at the SLC office) told me yesterday that he wouldn’t stay the whole two weeks. Quint (the vitamin guy and former owner of the company) said, “Heidi’s a good girl, she’ll stay the whole two weeks.” Yup, that’s me. The good girl. Quint’s old enough to be my dad. He’s also my favorite Graves (the family that owns the company).
Here’s the weirdest part about my leaving, though. Lisa suggested to Sue (the office manager at the Denver office) that her daughter Sara replace me. Sue said, “Oh, Sara can’t work for the company, she’s related to you.” What? Apparently you can’t work for them if you’re related to anyone who works there UNLESS your last name is Graves. Then you can “work” there, be incompetent, not show up, irritate customers and still get paid for your entire shift. Hmmm…
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