I'm loving...

the smell of: roast beef cooking in the oven. Connie Berg is part of an evil program, torturing people with the smells of good cooking. I can think of several other members of this despicable group, but don't want to endanger myself.

the sight of: my new black and white skirt. SO cute and easy to wear.

the sound of: the Collister Ward primary singing "Listen, Listen" like cowpokes. Since I was visiting their ward, I was asked to help sit with a primary class during sharing time. The song leader wasn't too sure about leading the song as round, but noticed that I knew the song and asked me to help lead/teach it. So we went through several rounds and then I had them sing like cowpokes. HILARIOUS.

the taste of: Grandma's beefy noodles. If you don't know what they are, then I pity you. Then go to the Siple's house and have some. Seriously - they are tortuously good.

the feeling of: love I've had from all my friends and family. Thank you for making me feel so loved and appreciated!!

Malley Cats....

I spent a week with the Malleys - and as always it was AWESOME. We ate things and talked about things and sat on things and burned things and laughed at things and watched other things. The Malleys gave me an amazing cupcake book - and CHERRY CHIP CAKE mixes and some perfect and easy to use silicone cups for making cupcakes...which I did. Such a great gift - that will keep on giving, I assure you!! They always keep the coke and grenadine on tap for me and that makes life worth living. These peeps make me laugh. And miss them. Malleys, I salute you.

Seth, dancing in the kitchen

Bennett - being so darn cute!

Sweet Penny

Lincoln - looking surprised to be a nudie-pants

Bennett - eating a rawesome cupcake - or being robbed for that cupcake. Please note the inch of juice in my glass. I have a problem.

A day at the beach...

On Tuesday, August 28, Eric D. Snider and I went to the Oregon Coast. And we lucked out and had a really pretty day to be at the beach. It was warm and sunny - and only a little wind. And if you know me, you know how much I hate talking about the wind. The wind itself I don't mind...it's talking about it...MOM.
We started in Cannon Beach at the Mo's Chowder House for some chowder and fried shrimp sandwiches. From there we drove to Hug Point to sit on the beach and read our books. I started New Moon and Eric started Water for Elephants for [book club].

From there we headed South to Tillamook to visit the cheese factory. We had tons of cheese samples, my favorite being extra sharp cheddar. We also had ice cream in waffle bowls in the atrium....if you know what I mean!
It was such a nice day at the beach - and I only got a sunburn on my left leg, in a 4 inch patch just below my knee. WEIRD.

Catching up...

Here are a few visual tidbits of the last week...I'll get to the details later...

Worth earning!

I was buzzing around the Interwebs today and found Mama Merit Badges. They are so clever. And something that would be great to give as a gift - I know plenty of moms that have certainly met all the requirements for several of these badges.

Recap

I've been done with camp now for almost a full week - it was nice to be able to be a "swing" employee - not having to stay for all the heavy cleaning. Camp ended well, with me helping the nurse for the whole week, especially shutting down the house of health once all the kiddos were back with their folks.

I learned a lot about campers, especially their bowel habits. I must have asked 3o kids if their bowels had moved at some point during the week. Nosey, but necessary. One of the 8th grade boys had convinced himself that he had appendicitis - but really it had been over four days since his last BM. Yeah. That was the highlight of my week. Oh, wait, no. The highlight was when a staff member came in, panicked, with the fact that an insect had flown into her ear canal and gotten trapped. I drowned it with hydrogen peroxide, but a real doc had to remove the carcass from her ear. AWESOME.

Go watch it now...

GoogTube - Lifted - Pixar Short

A fun week...

This week has flown by! At the end of last week, I was asked to drive our Outpost unit out to Central Oregon for their "Extreme Week." Some of the staff didn't think I would go for it, as it involved cooking and sleeping like this:

Not too shabby - as long as no one calls them "tube steaks" I'm fine. Plus, I can do just about anything for three days. By Wednesday night we were back in camp and I had had a shower. That is just fine by me!

So we went to Smith Rock
and the kids did all kinds of rock climbing, and even learned to belay. I'm an excellent belayer - because I can act as an excellent anchor.

After two days of rock climbing, we then drove to Maupin, Oregon to spend the night before a white water rafting trip on the Deschutes river. I ended up not going, as I have developed a cold. But it did get to be 106 degrees in Maupin on Wednesday. YIKES.

I really enjoyed this week at camp: we all worked hard and laughed a lot and ate really well. Sadly, the fire danger was so high, we couldn't have a fire and make s'mores. But really, I can make those anytime over my gas range...so it's cool.

PostSecret

This week, the PostSecret site features this short film. While not all the images are G-rated, it is amazing to see the kinds of secrets people keep...



Next week, it will be back to the old postcards of secrets

A little sweetness never hurt

I'm currently working on a swap that involves me writing in a journal each day for a month on a specific topic. The topics are vague and to be defined by the writer, like: "victory," "childhood," "pop culture," "etc." The sad thing is - I will then have to send this journal away. It's a cheap journal - but now it's filled with 30 days of my ramblings and thoughts. I'm worried that I'll just end up make copies of the pages and tie those up and send them and keep the journal for myself. Lesson learned.

This makes me laugh...

I saw this lady - and just have to say - YEAH!! and WHAT?!

Now I know...

I've often wondered where folks hear about books - good, new books. Any joker can read the bestseller list...but I found the Litblog Co-Op and it combines a ton of other literary blogs and makes great suggestions on new fiction, and is updated regularly and is interesting reading in its own right.

Of course, right now I've got four books stacked up ready to be read - but once those are done - I'm headed to the Co-Op to find out what ELSE I should be reading.

You need these, and so do I!

I was visiting Oh Happy Day and saw a featured item from
Greer Chicago. So up my alley!!

From their website:
"In our campaign against rudeness and incivility (think Sisyphus and the rock,) we created these portable thank you notes (sized to fit purse, pocket or wallet) to inject a little more thoughtfulness, appreciation and respect into this world; a little more "Thank You" and a little less "Blank You," if you will.
Hand one to the stranger who used his van to push your idiotically gas-free car to the nearest station (true story,) drop one on the desk of the colleague who spoke up for you during that contentious meeting, place one in the tip jar at your local coffee shop (preferably with a dollar bill wrapped around it.)
With Civilettes we unashamedly hope to spark a "civil-ution," aided in part by the "Please reuse" printed on the back of each card. Cards are printed in brown on heavy white 100% cotton paper encased in a sturdy, yet elegant chocolate package embossed in silver"

And at only 6.95 for 10 cards = AWESOME DEAL! Great gift...

PASS IT ON!

Hey - G4 will be showing a bit of an Arrested Development marathon on August 16, 2007. It will begin at 6:00 a.m. PST (but let your TiVo do the work). PASS IT ON!

Are you watching Grand Slam?

Grand Slam is SO AWESOME! The newest show on the Game Show Network is fast paced and, well, I am in love. Of course, this is another transplant from the UK. Why can't Americans think of such great TV? Anyway, back to the things I love about this show...The contestants stand face to face - and the commentary is provided by Dennis Miller and Amanda Byram. Miller is very funny but a little too hip for the room, but he does make me laugh. Byram - from such classy shows as "The Swan" and "Paradise Hotel" brings her cool Irish accent.

From the Game Show Network website:
"Sixteen of the greatest champions in game show history are set to square-off in this winner-take-all elimination tournament. Only one competitor will be crowned 'The best of the best' and walk away with the $100,000 Grand Prize.

From JEOPARDY's "Tournament of Champions" to MILLIONAIRE's elite, the most accomplished game players from the past two decades take center stage on GRAND SLAM. This special eight-episode series event unfolds in 1-hour installments where 'fast and intense' is the name of the game.

Reputations will be shattered as the battle begins. GRAND SLAM features 'one on one' matches where players face tough trivia questions on many topics including: math, logic, vocabulary, pop-culture and geography."

So, set your TiVo - they've only aired four of the first round matches, so there is still plenty of time to fill out your brackets and join a pool. Or go swim in a pool. You do what you want.

Some cool stuff I've seen...

I saw this at Design Milk - and yes, these are hand soaps - for your guest bath or something. Kind of creepy - but kind of cool, yes?

Also at Design Milk, grappling hook coat hanger - it's so my Dad!

And I saw this - a great demovtivator shirt. This is here for you, Mom.
Naul bes? You kill me

Hiatus?

So, there really hasn't been much to write about this past week - hence, the not posting...

But with the folks visiting over in Boise, I've had a quiet house all to myself.

I have:
cleaned out the cars
watered lots of plants, and nearly killed one...but don't tell my mom.
washed and ironed my sheets - because I roll like that.
worked on personal projects - you don't have to know everything...
taught some acting/musical theater workshops at a dance studio
gotten scared at the sounds in the house at night
prepared for Primary
gone to lunch with a friend, and while eating gelato in the park, had a former camper recognize my laugh and cross the park to see me...apparently I'm loud.
confessed that I would hide a murderer from the law if the murder was justified.
searched high and low for nail clippers - to no avail.
gotten a birthday card from my brother
worked on this blog
paid bills
completed a swap music scavenger hunt
held a trash round-up
wondered how I will celebrate my upcoming birthday

I guess I've gotten a lot more done than folks would really notice...huh.

Get me to the church on time!

On Friday - after driving eight hours to central Oregon and back, I had just 30 minutes between arriving home and needing to be at the wedding of Ashley Boersma, one of our dearest friends. We made it - and what a beautiful evening it was.

Ashely and Zack say "I do"

The elegant cake - many flavors make for happy guests

With some of my favorite people, Dana, Evelyn, Mom, and Merrie

The "favor" was a photo booth - I'm totally stealing that idea

Zack and Ashley - such a lovely couple

Mom and me at the end of the evening - playing with the camera

More fun with camera and Corky

Many, many congratulations to Zack and Ashely vonWeller!!

The hip bone's connected to the PAIN

So, one of the perks of being the driver at camp is that you never have to walk the long distances around camp...but the downside is that you have to sit in a vehicle...a lot. Last Friday, I drove in a caravan with Katie Johnson out to the Mt Bachelor area of Oregon to pick up the Outpost unit who was backpacking and camping there for four days. The drive is pretty, until you get to the ugly part.

We left really early - and would have had an hour to kill (and stretch and walk around) before meeting our group at the trail head. But they arrived early and so we stopped long enough to get their gear in Katie's car and the peeps on the bus. And then we drove the FOUR HOURS back to camp. Eight hours, pretty much non-stop, driving the bus has left my lower back screaming. So, I can lounge (which I prefer anyway) but I cannot sit for longer than 10 minutes without trouble.

Massage, STAT!

SHOW YOURSELF!!!

I got the greatest treat today!! After a week out at camp and then at the coast, I've finally gotten around to sorting through the mail - and what should come to me?! Some TATER MITTS! I am floored and confused. There was no note - so I don't know who to thank for such a great treat!! So, thank you, thank you - whoever you are. I am delighted - and they are about it get used to make the Sunday dinner!