Pucker Up Big Boy!

Rory and her beau

My 6 year vacation is over

I haven't had to work since I got married in 2002 but recently I decided to go back to work. I got a job offer today and accepted it. I am a little nervous. I am wondering if i can handle an 8 hour a day job after spending the last 6 years loafing around doing what I want when I want. Hopefully it will be a good experience. I am very excited to start contributing financially. I have almost single handedly put us on the door step of bankruptcy..lol...so it will feel good to have a hand in bailing us out. I am also looking forward to possibly moving to a bigger house in a few years. I start my "big girl job" (as my friend Shauna puts it) on Sept 2.

Where are all y'all

I just logged on to read everyones entries on their blogs but there haven't been any new entries. Where are you people? LOL. I guess it has been a busy summer for all.

We just came back from a week of church youth camp. I absolutely love camp! I am always shocked how kids can show up at camp broken and hopeless and leave glowing with the love of the Lord shining on their faces with renewed hope and faith. Brings tears to my eyes. On the first day of camp you can tell which ones are going to be harder to reach and it is amazing to watch the transformation. We have church services every evening and on the first evening we have kids who totally refuse to participate in anything....singing, listening, praying, etc. But by the last day those same kids are on their knees, tears flooding their cheeks, begging God for forgiveness. Completely awesome! Thank you Jesus!

In past years I have been in charge of fun time and recreation. This year I got to be the nurse and Tolly took recreation. Tolly was great with the kids and they really responded to his love and care. Not only kids get blessed at camp...staff come out shining too! Did I mention I LOVE camp?

Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible

It is late and I am getting tired but thought I would share one more little tidbit of info. Just finished reading "Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible" and I really enjoyed it. I loved how it totally personalized the stories. Although they are common stories that we have heard & read a hundred times.. for some reason I never really gave life to the characters. I have never put myself in their shoes or gave any thought to their lives. I basically just read the words. After reading the book they are "real" to me now. I like that! It makes it much easier to keep everyone straight. I now have an image & somewhat of a personality of each person in my head. I am excited to read "Bad Girls of the Bible" and "Really Bad Girls of the Bible".

Back to Reality

I am so depressed. We returned home from our vacation to Hawaii yesterday morning. Already on my 6th or 7th load of laundry.

I realized this trip that I could basically vacation anywhere and be happy as long as I had these three things: 1) hotel stay with complimentary all-you-can-eat breakfast, 2) three (or four) square meals a day prepared by someone other than myself, 3) a maid to clean up after me every day. That is what makes a vacation! LOL

I have to say I am a very tired from all the walking and sun. I have decided my next vacation will be somewhere where there is nothing to see or do. Something like a beach cottage where I can lay around, eat, read and sleep. No getting up early, or sightseeing in the heat of the day. Oh...and don't tell my family...but I would like to go without them...LOL

Hawaii wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The island is swarming with tourists and the Waikiki/Honolulu area has the basic hustle and bustle of New York City. The North Shore was more secluded and scenic. I have heard the other islands are much more tropical and less commercialized. Maybe some day we will be able to see another Hawaiian Island.

Hawai'i

Lacee with her Grandma & Grandma Great

Lacee & Aurorya

Lacee's Graduation

Lacee graduated from high school today. She finished her classwork in January but waited to walk with her class. Not sure why I get so emotional at graduations but I had to keep pushing back the tears. I am so proud of her. She has made some poor choices but is doing her best to pick up the pieces.

I took this picture of her and Jaime (her brother) today after the graduation. The picture turned out so beautiful that I wanted to share.

A meal is only 30 minutes away.....

if you are a professional or it comes out of the frozen food section!

Watched Rachael Ray demonstrate how to prepare Uptown Roast Pork Tenderloin with Escalloped Apples and Cheesy Potato and Sharp Cheddar Hash (fancy name for hashbrowns with cheese) last Saturday on her show, 3o minute meals. Looked good so I wanted to try it. I have always heard pork and apples go together but have never had it. Anyway... I invited Tolly's parents over for dinner last night and set out to prepare my meal. It is only a 3o minute meal if you can chop, shred, dice, slice, cube and core at a professional level. I had to slice and core 5 apples...that alone took most of the 30 minutes (add in extra time for bandaging cuts). Then there was the onion that needed to be chopped, the herbs for the tenderloin that needed chopping...luckily I bought pre-shredded hashbrowns and cheese otherwise we probably wouldn't have ate til midnight. Rachaels side dish was a mini vegetable medley which included patty pans. I didn't think I could handle any more slicing or dicing so I went with corn on the cob. Not to mention I couldn't find a patty pan in this town to save my life!...lol

In the end... it did take over 30 minutes but the result was scrumptious! Loved the pork/apple combination and you can't go wrong with potatoes and cheese. Corn on the cob was tasty too. I would recommend pre cutting everything before starting. It is a fairly easy dish with an uptown look. Tolly and his parents were impressed. The kids hated it! They would have been happy with Chef Boy's Spaghettios

Aloha

Counting the days until we depart for our vacation to Hawaii. So excited!! We planned it a few months ago and it has been a very long wait. We are going with Tolly's parents, his Aunt Juanita, Uncle Avery and cousin London...and Hailee and Alissa. Watched a documentary last night about the deadly Irukandji Jellyfish...THAT has me scared. Although... after googling it, I found that it is native to the Australian coast...so hopefully we won't encounter any. Tolly WANTS me to get stung by a jellyfish so he can pee on me. Any one seen Heartbreak Kid? He is a sicko!

We will be staying 8 days in Waikiki, Oahu. Hoping to fit in Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center, Dole Plantation, Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, the International Market, some flee markets and lots of relaxation on the beach. Tolly's mom wants to take a cruise around the islands but I am not sure we will have time and I am thinking the cost will be much more than we are willing to pay.

Hailee and Alissa are thrilled. They have been excited about buying new swimming suits. I am not so excited about the swimming suit thing. I need a full body wet suit...wait..that might look worse. I might just have to wear my jeans to the beach.

Anyway...looking forward to a relaxing vacation with my family.

Finally Friday

It is Friday. Got up early to await the arrival of that little bundle of joy, Rory. Like I have said before..love her dearly but taking care of an active baby is so tiring for a nearly 40 year-old. I know the title of Grandma came last June but I am not sure when I morphed into a Grandma physically, mentally and emotionally. I have a 4 year-old that I still have to chase around! Lacee didn't bring Rory yesterday because she (lacee) was sick so I had a nice relaxing day. Looks like I am going to have another relaxing day today. She called and is still sick. Hallelujah! Not happy she is sick...just happy I don't have to be worked over today..lol

Listening to the morning news and I don't even know why I turn it on. Makes me so mad. Looks like we won't be able to laugh loud or call out to some one in public if a new noise ordinance passes. Why don't they crack down on the freak down the street who plays his foul music full blast while cleaning out his car with his pants sagging around his knees showing his unmentionables?

The situation with the raid at the flds compound makes me a little frustrated too. I think the children should be protected but doesn't matter what your situation is at home...being ripped away from your parents is traumatic! As a mother I would be hysterical! Heard a young woman gave birth a few days ago and they are separating her from the newborn. That doesn't seem right. I guess I don't know the ins & outs of the alleged abuse or the workings of the sect but still feeling sympathetic all around. Child abuse is heinous and I pray God will protect His children.

Tolly's Forty!

Hailee has been so excited for Tolly's birthday. Weeks before his 40th she was talking of having a party for him and all the ideas she had for decorations. It was really cute. I told Tolly and he said he wanted to have his party at Chuck E. Cheese. Hailee and Alissa were ecstatic when I told them we should have a surprise party for him at Chuckees. They started planning...created a guest list, sent invitations, planned for supplies, etc. It turned out great...although we looked a little strange with our table of 15 adults and 4 teens and 3 children. Tolly knew we were having the party but he didn't know we had invited friends and family. A good time was had by all...i think

My Goddaughter Kenadie

Rory and Lacee

Pappy holding Rory

The Cheesecake Factory

Doing ok on the diet. Tolly and I had an anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory so as you can guess, didn't do so well on that night. We started out with the avocado egg rolls and for the entree we had bang bang shrimp/chicken & chicken farfalle. Ended with a piece of cheesecake. This restaurant is heavenly. I would kill for just a bite of the dulce de leche cheesecake! Sometimes we go to a restaurant so often that we get tired of the food so we decided to save cc factory for special occassions. That lasted about two weeks and we ended up there because there is no end to my gluttony. This time we started with the pot stickers (not my fav) and mini sliders then moved on to Mediterranean style mahi mahi, pizza and potato soup and finished with cheesecake. Tolly always tries a different flavor of cheesecake but nothing compares to the dulce de leche. I wish my vocab was bigger because I would love to describe the food in great detail because "yummy" just doesn't do it justice. Anyway... amazingly enough I still lost a half a pound that week.

I have been wondering if there is a disease just the opposite of anorexia? If there is, I think I have it. Instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what is actually there (which is a hippo) I see myself much thinner. As soon as I started losing weight I wanted to head to the 5.7.9 store for a new wardrobe. LOL. Yesterday I was crushed when I bought a new pair of pants...SIZE 20W. The sad thing is....I started trying on size 16. I am basically still the same size as when I started dieting. Depressing! My beginning weight was 223 and now I am 196....but still a 2ow. Alissa thinks the "w" after the size means "wide". How rude!

Not-So-Funny Things Hailee Says & Does

(First thing to know... Hailee hasn't slept one night in her room. She sleeps with me & Tolly) There is a little girl at church that she is buddies with. I think her friend is about 8 or 9 years old. Hailee is only 4. She has been asking Hailee if they could have a sleep over. We are driving in the car and Hailee says "Oh yeah...I keep forgetting to ask you...Aracely wants to know if she can have a sleep over at our house?" I say "Sure". Hailee responds "She will have to sleep in my room though cuz I'm not!" We all laughed and Alissa tried to explain to her that when you have a sleepover you usually don't leave them alone so you can go sleep with your mom and dad.

When she was about 3 she was eating a sandwich on the couch. She left it to go play and Tolly ate the sandwich while she was gone. She comes back and looks at her plate and then says to her dad "YOU.... YOU.... YOU.... samich eater!"

The other day I was at a store trying on clothes. The lady asked my name so she could write it on the white board outside the dressing room. I tell her my name and she writes it on the board. Hailee turns to me and says "she spelled your name wrong". I didn't even know Hailee could spell my name so I say "oh yeah, well.. how DO you spell my name and she confidently replied "M... O.... M...".

Hailee has picked up a habit of calling Tolly "fatty" or "fatto" and finally (yes, i let her say it more than once) I decided to put a stop to it. I am explaining to her that it isn't nice and she shouldn't say those things and she says "well, sometimes he laughs".

When she gets sent to her room I listen at the door and I can hear her praying. So cute! Although most of her prayers don't pertain to the situation at hand. She complains about Alissa and other strange situations unrelated to her being sent to her room. I can hear her say "Lord"..... "Lord".... She also likes to pretend she is a Sunday School teacher. She talks about Jesus dying on the cross for us and how He wants us to act. Sometimes she seems like she is really mad at her students cuz she is yelling at them about Jesus.

A few months ago Alissa was trying to explain to her that lying and saying bad things are sins and Jesus doesn't like it when we do those things and she was going to go to Hell (a little harsh..lol) if she didn't stop and ask for forgiveness. So now every time someone does something that she perceives as not being nice, IE., share with her, play with her, take her somewhere, etc. she proceeds to tell us that Jesus wants us to be nice and that we are going to go to Hell.

Hailee has another friend from church that is a year younger than her. They fight like cats and dogs. They actually fist fight. The other day her friend was over and Hailee was trying to watch tv. Her friend was making some noise (playing...the nerve!) and Hailee struts to the tv, turns it up and looks over at her friend and says "shut your yap"!

OK... now that I wrote all that stuff I am starting to see a small problem with my daughter's behavior which has prompted me to change the title from "Funny Things Hailee Says & Does" to the current title.

Stadium of Fire Tickets

Sad news...I wasn't able to get Stadium of Fire tickets. I logged on to the BYU ticket site about 45 minutes prior to the tickets going on sale and was informed that I was being sent to a virtual waiting room and would be logged on when space became available. I never did get out of the waiting room. I waited two hours before my computer gave me an error message. They didn't even have the decency to give me a "sold out...thanks for playing" message. Just kept me sitting in the waiting room. The other thing I didn't really agree with was the fact that they allowed people to purchase up to 25 tickets. So now if you log on to KSL classifieds or ebay there are thousands of tickets available for three times what they are worth. Irritating! I would probably be less irritated if I had been able to log on and get MY 25 tickets to sell for 3 x's the amount...lol. I saw Miley Cyrus perform an American Idol a few nights ago and she was a freak! Not too upset about missing out on her appearance at Stadium of Fire.

Blah Blah Blah

Sitting here at the computer instead of doing the millions of things I should be doing. I was all geared up to start some spring cleaning but then it snowed and knocked the sails right off that ship. I start babysitting my granddaughter tomorrow. Lacee got a job with the school district so I will be watching her from about 8:00 am to 4 ish. Not looking forward to getting up early. OK...8 am is not really early but we usually sleep til 10. So for me...IT IS! The grandbaby is the cutest thing ever and I love her like mad but she is a handful. She just turned 9 months old. She is extremely active and there isn't anywhere she doesn't try to get. She fell (on Lacee's watch) and broke her elbow a few weeks ago so she is sporting a cute, little pink cast. Not even the cast slows her down. It just helps with the path of destruction.

Woke up this morning with a nice little present on my computer chair. One of the cats puked up a hair ball! Gross! Very tired of the cats. Mostly I am tired of nagging the kids to take care of them. The cats have learned that there is a world beyond our front door and they have started darting out the second the door opens. I am so so tempted to open the door, turn my head and shut the door!

Going to try to get tickets for the the July 4th celebration at the Stadium of Fire. Miley Cyrus is performing along with the Blue Man Group. Miley Cyrus is REALLY big here in Utah and I have heard the tickets are next to impossible to get but I am still going to try. I am not that fond of her music but the girls would be excited to see her. Tickets go on sell Friday at 5pm. Going to try to get them online.

War of the Roses

Although this story is somewhat disturbing it is way too funny not to share. First, I would like to clarify that Tolly and I love each other dearly although I probably won't be able to convince most, WE know it and that's all that matters. One time I overheard Alissa (daughter) asking Tolly why him and I fight so much. His response was "Because we are very passionate about each other"...lol

So...the other night, after the kids went to bed, Tolly and I were having a conversation (we should have known better...we rarely have a conversation without it ending in a fight) and lo and behold...we started fighting. He wasn't responding how I thought he should so I started slinging insults. The more he ignored me the meaner my insults got. Anyway...i never did goad him enough to respond so i just went to bed. Hailee still sleeps with us so I decided to sleep in her bed.

Tolly has a crazy work schedule so he needs to sleep anytime he can...knowing this, when it was time to take Alissa to school at 7 am I had her go wake HIM to take her. Little did I know...Tolly had been stewing all night about my verbal attack on him and had just fallen asleep in the early hours. To say the least, he was a little peeved. After dropping Alissa at school, I hear him come into Hailee's room...i figured he wasn't going to let me sleep. What I didn't know was that he had a glass of water...which he dumped over my head. OK... I probably deserved it so I turned my pillow over to the dry side and tried to go back to sleep. I say "tried" because his plan didn't include me sleeping. He came back into the room in 10-minute intervals to spray me with the squirt bottle. I know...what a creep! He did that a few times before I decided to get up. We take turns being the submissive party so at this point (plus it was morning and for some reason I turn back into a princess when the sun comes up) I am not planning any retaliation. However...as I am going into the bedroom (where Tolly is now sleeping) I see the squirt bottle and can't resist the urge to grab it, turn it on stream and proceed into the room...it's pay back time! Obviously Tolly knows me better than I think because as I quietly approach him with squirt bottle aimed at his head, a scene from The Matrix plays out before my eyes. In what appears to be slow motion, he flings back the covers and is brandishing an air assault pistol. Do I squirt or be pelted? I squirt! He pelts! After being hit a few times I duck behind the door for cover still delivering a steady stream of water at his head or at least in the general direction of his head. I am getting the best of him because the gun has to be cocked every time he shoots. It doesn't take me long to realize how ridiculous the situation is and I start laughing...for a second. Then I start crying because I just can't believe how far we go. As soon as he sees that I am crying he throws down his weapon and rushes to my side and.. we live happily ever after.

What were we fighting about in the first place? Who knows! Some people would call it spousal abuse....I call it passion! LOL

I want to eat ice cream in public

I started a diet about 8 weeks ago. Don't know how I am doing it but I am still on board. The first few weeks were hard. I felt like I was starving! But then it got easier...until this last week. This week has been murder. I don't really feel hungry but I have this incredible desire to gorge myself. I want to devour everything! I just need to feel the food on my lips, in my mouth and rolling over my tastes buds. Sometimes I put the food in my mouth and chew it just so I can quench some of the desire...but then I spit it out. My name is Becky and I am a foodoholic.

The bright side is I have lost 18 pounds so far. This week a didn't lose an ounce which is depressing. I don't really feel like I went overboard with my eating (unless you count all the food I chewed up and spit out)so not sure what is going on...guess i might have to start exercising too...yuk!

Just one time in my life I want to feel what it is like to be skinny. I want to fit into a normal size of clothing and hold my head up while eating an ice cream cone. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK!

Sam and Milee

So..last December I had a temporary loss of sanity. Not only did I buy my kids a cat but I bought them TWO cats. What was I thinking? I had buyers remorse from the instant I swiped my debit card.

Adoption fee for 2, 1 yr. old cats that look as if they had just been hauled out of the dumpster...Sisters, according to West Jordan Animal Control, that could not be parted (Tolly is a sucker for a sob story) = $85

Deluxe, condo-style litter box, stainless steel pooper scooper, litter, food dish, food and carrying case to get them home = $165.00

Two very ecstatic little girls = Priceless

The first week seemed to go ok. The weeks to follow...not so good. One or both of them started pooping and peeing all over the basement. Needless to say..we are now in the market for new carpet (or better yet ceramic tile). I have spent over $100 for carpet cleaners and don't be fooled...NONE OF THEM WORK! I turned to the internet to find out how I could get the cats to stop using my house as their litter box. I tried scrubbing the carpet, citrus-soaked cotton balls (to get them to stay away from already soiled areas...cuz i guess they like to pee in the same spot), i laid foil down...nothing seemed to work. They just peed around it. I also purchased this black fluorescent light to show me exactly where they are going. Their pee glows in the dark. Boy, did PetSmart know what they were doing when they placed the adoption center inside their store.

In the mean time, I noticed one of the cats had blood in their ears and one of them had crystallized urine. Off to the vet! Another $200 later...cats have mites and urinary infections. These cats I can't stand now have to be given medicine , orally, twice a day. I am here to tell you...giving cats medicine ain't easy! After many failed attempts by Alissa and myself, Tolly takes over...Hallelujah!

Currently...I have cleaned carpets and placed laundry baskets over all soiled areas. I have also purchased another litter box (Go petSmart!) cuz according to the internet, some cats don't like to share their litter box with other cats (even if they ARE inseparable sisters). Problem solved! Either my efforts or the fact we stopped locking them in the basement at night have eliminated the problem.

My advice to those thinking about getting their kids a pet...STICK TO YOUR GUNS!

Well..I am off to the laundry mat to clean the comforter the cat threw up on last night...

A Bunch of Garbage!

So..here I go with this blog thing. Not that I think I have anything interesting to say but thought it might be fun to get my thoughts out. Kind of like talking to a friend...lol!

First thing that has been on my mind...our HOA/Property Management Group. I hate being accused of things that I absolutely did not do!! We have 3 or 4 big dumpsters throughout the community where we can dispose of trash. The problem is...they are always overflowing. The property management group is too cheap to schedule an additional pick up day so they tell us if it is overflowing to take the garbage back to our house. Gross! I don't agree with this...but we do it. Others just throw their garbage on the side and then it stays there because the garbage man won't pick it up. So...we have all received information that we will be fined if we are caught doing this which I don't worry about because WE DON'T DO IT! A few days ago we get a letter in the mail from the property management saying that they have been informed that we are not throwing our garbage in the trash receptacle. BULL! I was furious! I hate the feeling of always playing by the rules only to be singled out as the rule breaker! HATE IT! I sicced Tolly on them! Long story short (what? too late for that?) we will probably be looking for a new place to live..LOL! Tolly is not a nice person when you do him wrong. This incident plus the fight Tolly and the snow removal guy (another blog in itself)got into probably have us on the "residents to get rid of" list. Such is life.