"Middle children have remarkable diplomatic skills."

-The Secret Power of Middle Children, by Catherine Salmon

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I will blog and catch you up on my life. I promise I will!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Confessions of a Pack Rat

I never really considered myself a pack rat. Not to be confused with the Rat Pack..you know, Frank, Sammy and Dean. I may be a little bit of a saver, for creative purposes only, mind you. But having to get ready for the carpet to come (see previous post) really opened my eyes to what a little piggy I am! I had to clean out the bottom of my hall cupboard, where the carpet would be laid. Here is a PARTIAL list of the stuff that came out of the bottom area:

* Nine used calendars dating back to 1997. '98, '01, '05, are missing. Why I saved them and why those three years are missing, I Have no clue!

* Hand made baby blankets for each of my babies. Time to give those up to my babies who are grown and having babies of their own.

* A bag full of plastic easter eggs

* A bag full of little black leprechaun pots

* A bag full of plastic lei's

* Table cloths that don't fit any table I own

* A silver platter (that I'm sure I will need when the queen comes for dinner)

* An assortment of partially burned candles, in a variety of shapes, colors, scents, and sizes

* A gallon size ziplock bag of rocks..yes I said rocks. Not fancy rocks. More like pea gravel.

* A 3 ring binder with all the information pertaining to the purchase, then sale, of our first home.

* A box of art supplies

* A giftbag full of 50th birthday gag gifts (not MY 50th, I'M not 50 yet)

* A ziplock bag of dried potpouri in cinnamon/christmas pine scent

* A large container of assorted dried gourds



Keep in mind that this is just a partial list. Oh yes my friend, there is more _ _ _ _ that I took out of the cupboard and threw away or gave to the DI. Also, this isn't shelves and shelves worth of stuff. This is the bottom area only.

I need to have a yard sale for all this stuff.... And my head examined. I'm sure Sigmund Freud would have plenty to say about this neurosis of mine. But I think a much funnier man, George Carlin, said it best: The meaning of life is 'Trying to find a place for your STUFF'.
Anyone want some stuff?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Entering Re-hab Soon!

I have recently discovered the delicious addictiveness of my drug of choice, Facebook. It's a wonderful way to connect with old friends and loved ones that you wouldn't take the time to pick up your cell phone and invest a whole conversation with, mixed with a little bit of voyeuristic pleasure. Adding 'friends' is also a way to pump up your pseudo popularity, and who doesn't need an ego boost like that? That being said, I have learned things (for good or bad) that I probably never would have known about had I not jumped on the FB bandwagon. I may need to enter rehab for this new-found addiction, but for now, I'm off to score some flair!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

100's Day

Pammy-I'm not sure I can think of 100!

1. I love to laugh
2. Especially when it's wildly inappropriate
3. Something about it being inappropriate makes it funnier
4. I cannot swim
5. I don't care to learn to swim
6. I miss my dad more than I ever thought I would
7. I miss my mom, but that's just a given
8. I've had a crush on Tim Russert (I know, he's dead now)
9. I've also had a crush on Walter Cronkite
10. He's not dead yet
11. I'm usually an easy going person
12. People who are mean to their kids in public tip my applecart!
13. I have no problem telling people who are mean to their kids, what I think.
14. there is nothing like the smell of a freshly bathed baby.
15. and a newborns breath...I could suck the smell right out of 'em.
16. I liked being pregnant.
17. White chocolate/raspberry yogurt is my favorite
18. I hate to clean up cat barf
19. I love to watch the rain
20. I love the way it smells after it rains
21. I love the smell when the furnace kicks on for the first time in the fall
22. I know...it's the smell of dirt!
23. I fell in love with the children in So. Africa....
24. .....when a photographer friend showed me her pictures of them that she took.
25. My children bring me my greatest joy
26. My children bring me my greatest heartache
27. I love my job
28. I love the little old farmers who come to the mailbox to talk to me
29. Every time I have a headache I'm sure it's a brain tumor
30. I have fears that are more irrational than that
31. ...when I walk with my hands in my pockets I'm afraid I'll trip and not be able to get my hands out of my pockets fast enough to catch myself, and I'll fall on my face and possibly break my nose, or knock out my front teeth.
32. I rarely walk with my hands in my pockets
33. I love babies
34. my mother use to say "there are no ugly babies"
35. I've seen some ugly babies.
36. My hairdresser, Janika, says there are no ugly women. Just lazy ones.
37. I think I have A.D.D.
38. I had to go to the vice-principals office in the 9th grade for changing the recipe on the blackboard in the home ec. class, and causing the class to ruin their brownies.
39. The vice-principal tried to reprimand me, but all he could do was laugh
40. I like dessert
41. I don't really like meat
42. I'm not weird about not eating meat, I'd just rather eat dessert if given the choice
43. I don't like killing things
44. A pigeon killed himself on my windshield the other morning while I was driving to work.
45. I want to go to Africa
46. I wish I was skinny
47. but I like to eat
48. see #40
49. I'm not opposed to trying any fad diet
50. I have no friends who don't make me laugh
51. I use to hate my nose
52. I came to terms with the nose I have when I was in jr. high, and one of my young women leaders who had the most ghastly hook-nose told me she liked her nose
53. I like my nose..thank you Sister V.
54. Nothing is as good as sitting down to Sunday dinner that someone else has cooked
55. I miss Christmas at Grandma Barker's house
56. I miss Grandpa Barker
57. I've never won the lottery
58. I don't play the lottery
59. I don't mind being alone
60. My comfort food is oatmeal
61. I think I have the most intelligent grandchildren who ever lived
62. I like good teeth
63. People who choose to not take care of their teeth gross me out
64. If you take a drink of my bottled water, it's yours...keep it.
65. I like to drive
66. I like to be driven
67. If I had to choose between having dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner, I choose breakfast for dinner.
68. I like to be kissed.
69. And hugged.
70. I'm totally a morning person
71. There are people I think about all the time but I don't pick up the phone to call them
72. I'm a terrible procrastinator
73. I'd rather be early to a meeting than walk in late
74. I remember people from my first grade class
75. I saw a guy on face book that was in my first grade class, and he looked the same, only bigger.
76. I love having overnighters with my sisters.
77. I like a good secret keeper
78. I am one because I generally can't remember them
79. I'm a loyal friend
80. I was for prop. 8 (go ahead and flog me)
81. I love H.G.T.V., but I don't have it
82. I have a testimony of the gospel
83. I need to bear my testimony more often.
84. I tend to be a rule breaker
85. I have musical turrets

86. Sometimes at work I belt out the word in the middle of a song

87. It use to scare my co-workers, but now they do it too.
88. There is safety in numbers
89. I quit hula lessons when I was 5 because I didn't want to be in the recital
90. I wanted a Barbie when I turned 5
91. When I turned 5, I got a new mu mu and some sparkly slippers (flip flops)
92. No Barbie-ever.
93. When my only daughter was 5 I got her Barbie and all kinds of accessories for her
94. My only daughter didn't like playing with Barbies
95. I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane last summer

96. I hate heights
97. I was afraid I would snap my tandem jump instructor like a twig.(he was 6'2" and 90 lbs. at the most)
98. the best three moments of my life was each time I held one of my babies for the first time
99. If Mrs. Stone (my 1st grade teacher) was still alive, I'd tell her thank you for teaching me to read. It's a skill I use every day.
100. I'm the luckiest girl alive, because I have people who care about me. Thanks for reading.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Personal Epiphany of the Sleep Deprived

Someone posted to me recently that "sometimes in life we don't always get everything we want". I totally concur! In fact I would go so far as to say that many times in life we don't get what we want....we get something better! Even when we think we know just exactly what is the greatest achievement, the grandest prize, the most perfect _________ (fill in noun here) I wonder if occasionally we (and by 'we' I mean me ) think "I'll take this now because something better might not come along." You know, the old 'bird in the hand' thing. We cannot see the whole picture from our vantage point. It's impossible. (Unless we are having an out of body experience.) Aahhh, but there is someone else who can see the whole picture. And even when I pout because things didn't work out as I had planned...they work out, and sometimes for the better. If I'm patient enough I get more than I asked for. Funny how that goes. In other words, thank you for not giving me what I asked for. Now if I could just learn this lesson...I wouldn't have to keep learning this lesson.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Found an Agent, Ate some Cheesecake, Laughed Our Guts Out!


Today my sisters and I went down to Provo to check on dad's house and choose a real estate agent. We've decided it's time to list his condo. Monday, DeeDee and I will go down and sign with the agent we chose today, and go through the house with him. I think it would be a great place for someone to rent to college students. I've been told I haven't sold his house yet (it's been 8 months since dad died) because I don't want to acknowledge he's gone. I spoke at his funeral, so I think I've acknowledged he is indeed gone. However, I haven't taken him out of my cell phone yet...even though his phone line was disconnected two day's after his death. I miss him. It was fun to be with my sisters today. We always laugh when we're together. We ate a late lunch at LL something or other Hawaiian food. I ordered pork, rice, and garlic shrimp. Thinking the garlic shrimp was the edible little crustations in a garlic sauce....oh heck no! The shrimp was not shelled...and what I thought was Couscous was actually minced garlic!! EwEwEw!!! nasty! I don't think I'll be rid of the reek for days! But we stopped at Cheesecake Factory for dessert, and that made it all good! Then we stopped at Target to pick up a few things. While we were there I challenged Debbie and DeeDee to pick out a swimsuit they wouldn't be caught dead in, and we had to go try them on. Oh holy cow! It was hilarity in my dressing room! DeeDee described hers as smacking a can of Pillsbury roll dough on the counter and seeing the dough pop out of the seams! I'm not sure what Debbie looked like, she wouldn't come out of her dressing room! I do have a new appreciation for the women in the S.I. swimsuit edition...but I bet they don't laugh with their sisters in the dressing room at their local Target! My advice to them... eat cheesecake before your next swimsuit photo shoot!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

~The Birthday Girl~

I got my new computer yesterday! Yippeee!!! Daniel came over and got it set up for me. Thanks Dan! Boy it's sure nice to use a laptop that you don't have to hold the power cord with one hand, insert a pair of tweezers into the on button hole (notice I said 'hole', because the ON button got lost somewhere under the faceplate), stand on one leg while crossing your eyes and even then it would get too warm and turn itself off after 10-15 minutes. It was a sad, sad 'puter! I was alone on my birthday..(again).  Also, on the day of my birthday my co-workers gave me a party and brought all kinds of delicious food! They love me. I ended the fabulous day by coming home and taking a hot shower and getting my new V.S. jammies on, and climbing into bed. It was a good day. I am blessed.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A New President!

It's inauguration day today. No matter who you voted for, or what your political affiliation is, this is an historic day. Watching the festivities on t.v. can't help but make you excited for the next four years. Although I didn't vote for Barack Obama I've decided to give the man the benefit of support, because he is now our President. But I can't get what his "change" is all about. No one has ever made it clear. Will someone please tell me? It seems the whole country is electrified by this man. How long can this honeymoon last? I had a dream not too long ago that this feeling was abruptly interrupted. I don't want to know what that means. I hope I never find out.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Kitty Tales

The cutest little kitty was dumped off in Hooper the other day. She was limping around on three legs. As I got out of my car she came up to me, meowing and purring. (long story short) I took it to the vet to see what could be done for the kitty's rear leg, which was dangling when it walked. Three XRays and 140.00 later (I explained to the Vet that this was a rescued animal hoping she would cut me a break... but no such luck) She told me we had three choices (1) euthanize the cat (2) build some kind of metal contraption to try to brace the leg till it healed (3) amputate the leg-which would be the least expensive of #2 & #3. At a cost of 600.00. YIKES! I think I'm in trouble. I scheduled the surgery to be done on monday. How I was going to pay for it I have no idea, but I brought the cat home with pain meds. to be administered until the day of the surgery. When I let her out to go potty, she didn't come back. Well I guess that took care of the problem of funding the surgery. She was a sweet little kitty. I hope someone will find her and take care of her leg.

Monday, January 12, 2009

I'm blogging!

I'm new to this blogging thing, so be patient with me. My head doesn't always keep up with my fingers, so any misspelled words are not because I don't know better. I will be writing about my grandchildren, my work, my friends, and ME, MYSELF, and I. So fasten your seat belt, keep your head and hands inside the vehicle and HOLD ON!