And Now, For Your Amazement And Confusion...

(Originally posted on the family blog.  Sorry to the family for making you read this twice. I'll get the hang of it eventually...)


My visiting teaching companion and I had a one-on-one conversation today and we unofficially decided to be friends.  It mostly stems from both of us being tired of the same old surface conversations and introductions every Sunday ("Hi, I'm ___.  What's your name? Do you go to school? Oh really? What are you studying? Etc."). So we're going to sit next to each other and next Tuesday make candy. It's going to be great!

Pooh got a baby-hungry glint in his eye today in church.  I don't really blame him; the three cutest toddlers in the ward were all right in our line of sight the whole time and they were in top form today. He won't admit it, though.

As February looms, so does Pooh, only in my face.  I can no longer see the screen. I think he wants attention.

Who needs a puppy when I have him?

Relenting. I Suppose...

So, I've decided to not be so territorial about names.  I mean, honestly, how many children am I going to end up having anyway?  And it should be a compliment that other people want to name their kids the same names I like.  It shows good taste on their part.


It wasn't too long ago that one in every 10 girls was named Mary and the boys were named John.  No one was bothered with individuality then.  Of course it was also a time when it was considered disrespectful or overly intimate to call an acquaintance by their first name.  Especially if they were of the opposite sex.


Anyway, that was off topic.  But seriously, if someone else wants to name their little girl Afton, then I know I already have a bond with the mom through either Nickel Creek and/or Robert Burns.  Right?


However, if you're family and you "steal" one of my favorite names (without prior discussion and approval) I will kill you.


ps - incidentally, the video actually is the Afton Water (it's not called a river, for reasons I have yet to discover) and is the exact spot that my family saw when we visited Scotland just the following summer.  You can even see the rock I perched out on when I got the water.  Fair warning, though, the person isn't a steady hand and doesn't zoom out enough in my opinion.  Also, could've gotten more shots of upstream. Gorgeous.

Oddities

Just got a friend request from a kid in my home branch who isn't due to graduate high school for two more years and I've never actually met.  


Facebook is evil.

The Great Outdoors

No glorious pictures yet.  I really should figure out how to do that...  but we found out you can check out day passes to the state parks from the library!!  The passes are good for up to a week, you just go and reserve one for the day(s) you want and pick it up on your way out of town.  
Now, having said that, I expect that NO ONE will go to the city library and check out the pass for the week of the 16th in June.  GOT IT?!  Good.  Because I already did, but there's all this liability gobbledy gook that they have to say before you get it, like how they're not responsible if the last patron doesn't turn it in on time, etc, etc.  So I guess if you want to, you can, but you'd better turn it in on time!
Anyway, the reason for the pass is family reunion in Palisades State Park this year!  So close, it's gonna be great!  And I've kinda been in there before, years and years ago (Bai and Smalls will remember "off-roading" in the rented minivan... Muwahahaha!).  We're already planning a hike for the kidlets.  You can rent paddle boats and canoes, too!  I don't know if that'll factor in to the weekend activities, but it'd be super fun!  Haven't canoed since girls camp.  And I don't clearly remember the last paddle boat I was in... I was green and you steered with this weird handle thing in the middle... Yeah, that's all I've got.
So, June is already pretty much planned. Woot!  Now to get through the rest of January...

Train of Thought, Pulling In!

All aboard!


I call winter the "season of two showers" because I like to be warm before I hop into bed.  So as I climbed into the shower tonight, I noticed that my toes were blue.  That's not altogether uncommon, but it got me thinking:  Surely there's a better way?  I mean, I love a hot shower or bath, but in both cases I get all wet and then climb out and try to towel dry as I shiver.  It is still winter, after all.  


For some reason this brought to mind a funny little cartoon character that had big feet and he'd soak them at night.  I distinctly remembered that and the fact that there was snow on the ground.  He was a hard worker, though, so it might not have been solely due to cold.  I thought that'd be quite efficient since it's only my feet getting wet, there's less water and energy used to get it ready, and I've been amazed at how warming up the toes can actually warm up the body.  Win-win.  


But then I struggled to remember what the show was, and soon realized it was that Adam Sandler Hanukkah bit that flopped terribly.  I felt kind of bad for it, then remembered that - what little bits I saw - had a larger than usual concentration of potty humor, and I didn't pity it so much after that.  I thought, good family cartoons shouldn't have potty humor.


Then I remembered a treasured Christmas cartoon by Rankin/Bass entitled "The Night Before Christmas" and I seemed to remember a burp in there somewhere.  I felt a bit hypocritical.  Then the song "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" started playing in my head.  And now it won't stop.


Last stop. Please watch your step while exiting the train. Thank you.

'Tis The Season

I just this morning got a text message from Pooh.  Apparently, orders are already being placed for Girl Scout cookies!! Huzzah!

My favorites are forever the Thin Mints and Samoas.  They're delicious as they are, but also scrumptious frozen! The Thin Mints are refreshing on a hot day when the mint is combined with the freezer. Samoas present a tasty challenge.

What's your favorite?

Let's Fix This, Shall We?

So, there's no fun here. Other than the owl (ain't he cute?), and that's just unacceptable. However, I've been sick and so nothing's really exciting in my life other than the renewed ability to breathe. So.

Here's a couple Pooh-isms as consolation.

(Here's a throw-back to when we were dating...)

Me: Do you have twin cousins or brothers here?
Pooh: Here in life? Or here at byu?
Me: Let's go with both
Pooh: I have some cousins that are twins but they, both sets, are on missions. Why do you ask?
Me: I was just in line behind two twins who looked ALOT like you. Had they been taller I might've thought they WERE you
Pooh: Oh no, they aren't twins they are clones. We haven't been able to fix the height issue.
Me: You know there's an amino acid for that...
Pooh: Yeah the problem is getting it to join to the protein and fold into the alpha amyloid instead of the beta.
Me: I'm sure you'll be able to work it out. Maybe mess around with the codon a bit
Pooh: I don't think I'll work on it anymore. I'm afraid of being attacked by a small clone army.
Me: And what reason would they have for attacking, oh Awesome one?
Pooh: Envy
Me: Don't take this the wrong way, but I just laughed for like, two minutes.
       I mean, why didn't I think of that...?
Pooh: It seemed pretty obvious to me
Me: Ok but besides the height what do they not have? Being your clones and all...
Pooh: The earlier clones didn't have limbs the latter ones just don't have height
Me: So you're saying the latter ones are likely to throw the former at you? I can see that being hazardous

Bai: What would get you to stop talking?

Pooh: If I had a puppet it wouldn't be me talking...

Issues

There were some serious issues with my last blog (mostly in my inability to understand html/ follow instructions...) and so we've moved! This also means I have to track down everyone I followed before. Which is slightly lame.


But here we are. Pooh and Roo have a new home. And we invited Owl. I really like owls, have I ever mentioned?