Finally Friday! 5QF

1. What is your favorite summer time activity?

- As a kid it used to be softball. Any more, I love taking the kids for a picnic in the park or a 4 hour long trip to Hogle Zoo. I pretty much love doing anything that can turn into a great opportunity to bust out my camera and take some pictures of my lovely little ladies.

2. Do you have one laundry soap you stick to, or do you buy whatever's on sale?

- I love the white container of All. I get it in the powder form, then I get the Tide for cold water. Although when we were pretty poor in May, I bought whatever the Great Value stuff was at Wal Mart that smelled decent lol.

3. What is your favorite dinner to make in the summer?

- Salad! Believe it or not, my kiddos actually eat it! The only thing they don't really like is celery, but can you blame them?! A salad is easy, mostly cheap, and virtually no calories.

4. Do you have any talents?

- I feel like I have less than I did growing up. I know it's not true, because unless something truly crippling happens, one still has those same talents. I'm sure I could still play softball, I just don't think I would be as awesome as I was in high school. My newest talent has been crocheting. I love it! It's relaxing and pretty low effort. I can actually sit and crochet all day if I was able! I'm pretty good with a shotgun. I love shooting trap and skeet. I probably have more talents than I'd like to give myself credit for.

5. If you could instantly be an expert in something, what would it be? Why?

- Organizing! I'm so not with it when it comes to organization. I'm the epitome of disorganized, functional chaos. And unfortunately I think it's a genetic trait..

http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Post Secret got me thinking...

No really, it did.. I was reading yesterday's Post Secret like I usually do every Sunday. This Sunday was about Father's Day. And there was one in particular that stood out to me. It was a headstone, and the person wrote "I don't remember his voice" on it. There are somedays when I honestly wonder if I still remember his voice, my father that is... I can think about it and it takes me a minute. Is there going to come a day when I just don't remember it at all?? This is what I'm afraid of.. I'm afraid of forgetting his voice. I'm afraid of forgetting certain memories.

Shortly after he died, I would call the house phone for as long as I could before it was shut off. I would call just to let the answering machine pick up so I could hear his voice. Sometimes once was enough, other times I'd call back and listen to it a few more times.

I usually write my titles at the end...

Nothing too new here. We went camping last Thursday/Friday, it was a blast! Well, considering we froze our butts off Thursday night and Erin was still a little under the weather. My body is finally starting to feel like it's back to normal. Two days out and about in nature pretty much did me in lol. We all turned a nice shade of red too.. poor Erin's nose has turned to scabs from blisters popping.

Husband went to MEPS on Thursday and passed, finally, thank God! Now we just have to wait for his eye waiver to go through, then he will finally get the uniform.. As long as his contract is written the way he wants it.

Okay, I kinda feel like I'm having a "Julie & Julia" moment here. I want to write, "Hello, is there anyone out there? Anyone at all?" Granted, I know I don't write my blogs for the purpose of people to write them. Sometimes it's just a journal, sometimes an outlet for rants or whatever other crazy nonsense is going through my head. Anyway.

Oh! I guess I did have some other news. I started working on family genealogy again yesterday. I entered in most all the direct relatives I knew of on my dad's side and have some of his grandparents in it well. I'm working pretty hard on my mom's side because I can call her up and tell her about all the fantastic stuff I find. Right now I'm into the Pioneer era of her family and I've found 1 or 2 interesting facts about some of my pioneer ancestors, one in particular is about my great-great-great grandmother. One of her younger brothers was kidnapped by Indians on the Oregon Trail, then later found alive. Way cool! Anyway.. I should really get off this computer. It's been for most of the last day and half..

It's still Friday for 18 more minutes! 5QF

1. Do you apologize to your kids?
- Yes! I say sorry to chairs if I bump into them even. Of course I apologize to my kids!

2. What color are your nails right now?
-Well, mostly nude with some chipped pink paint. But the pink paint turns purplish in the sun. Gotta love Del Sol!

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good")?
-I definitely HAD to be sick. My mom was a nurse, so I always had to have a legitimate reason to be sick. She'd usually check to see if I had a fever. I rarely ever threw up, but almost always if I was sick, I was either watched like a hawk or sent to the doctor.

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?
- Shoot, 2007/2008, if not longer. When we finally have some money again, I would like to buy a whole new set for the bed. We only have 1 pair of what I would call, good sheets. And I want to buy some of the same quality, just a different color.

5. Favorite website(s)?
- Facebook, blogger, youtube.. the usuals. I don't really do a whole lot of browsing. Postsecret and cafemom are a few others.


http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Re-cap from the last week

I have been super flippin' busy since Thursday! We're home, back in Utah now and I thought I'd update!

Thursday night, I took the girls to the Redding Rodeo. Surprisingly, I've never been. So, it was totally new for me too, and SO much fun!! They got to see horses, cows, and even a couple of buffalo! Shannon pretended she was a bull, snorting and growling. Erin pretended the seats in the grandstands were horses, straddling them as she said "neigh, neigh." Such great memories from that night, my girls were PERFECT!

Friday, mom, the girls, and I got to go on an outdoor walk (outside the facility) with GG. It was nice! Mom got to see grandma up and around, totally independently mobile, for the most part.

Saturday was pretty much one of the best days I've had in a long time! We went to the little town where I grew up for the Whitmore Mountain Fair. It's a tiny mountain town about 45 minutes east of Redding, CA. Just a few hundred people live in it's general vicinity. It has a post office, general store, community center, and a school, with a library. The school is so small, it only has 2 teachers. Anyway, we went up in the morning for the parade before the fair started. Around the time we were getting ready to leave, some of my cousins showed up. I hadn't seen them in 5 years or more. We had such a nice time visiting. I can't wait to see them again next month. I posted the pictures from that day on Facebook.

5QF

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?
- Once upon a time, we used to. Then, he started working nights and it stopped. He went back to days, but we had an infant, so I was up late with the late night feedings. Then came a deployment, and we had to adjust to sleeping in the same bed, or even living under the same roof again. I miss going to bed with my husband. I'm hoping when we are home in 2 days, he puts down the video game controller and goes to bed with me. =o)

2. A question for the ladies.... What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?
- LOL! None!!! He tried to grow a mustache, it was horrible. He looked like a total creeper. He's almost 26 and still can't grow a full beard. It grows in all patchy. He's just NOT a hairy guy. I like that...

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?
- None. Well, maybe one. Our vacation to Nebraska in 2007 ended pretty poorly. There was entirely too much drama and ended a few good friendships. Some that weren't severed completely were pretty badly damaged.

4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?
- I had my visiting teachers over one day, and either before or after the lesson, we started talking about blogs. I'd never even heard of a blog or blogging or anything like that. So the first blog I ever followed was my friend Melissa Cardon's.

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?
- Enjoy is an understatement. I love, love, love amusement parks. I get such a rush from roller coasters. The speed, going upside down, all of it. I'm an amusement park junky.

http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Oh, my, word....

So... Erin is 2. My baby is 2! Holy cow! In 8 days, my big baby will be 5! Great grandma gets to come home on Shannon's birthday, too. Good reasons to celebrate.

Today GG, great grandma, asked Shannon to draw 2 things she wants for her birthday and present them to her. She just had so much fun drawing things, I saw she drew a picture of Spongebob and a Jack-o-Lantern. Not too sure what other things she has drawn but she's quite excited about her birthday. She has even drawn me pictures of the kind of cake she wants to eat! No way am I going to be able to make a cake that resembles a cat playing in grass.. It was a picture of a green, rectangular cake with a cat on top lol. Then she drew a picture of her with a "sackboy" (main character from the game Little Big Planet) shirt, and she wanted me to make that into a cake. Man, if only I had half the imagination she does! Then, grandma gave me the task of picking out the perfect outfit for Shannon's first day of Kindergarten. The main thing, she wants Shannon to have a nice pair of boots for that day. I've checked Old Navy, Gap, Carters, Osh Kosh, and still can't find a pair of kids boots!

5QF

1. Tube socks, calf socks, crew, ankle, none?
- None!!! Flip flops year round! Or at least sandals, or some sort of strappy shoe. I hate socks, I feel like they suffocate my feet. But if I do wear socks, I wear crew.

2. Was your children's name a mutual decision or was it a debate?
- Definitely a mutual decision. No debate at all. Shannon was chosen because that was the name his father wanted to name his sister. And it's a good Irish name. Her middle name was difficult, but we decided on Kate the moment she was delivered. The L&D nurse kept calling me Kate, so that's how hers was decided. Erin, another good Irish name, was decided the week after Shannon was born lol. We decided if we were going to have a girl as a 2nd child, it would be Erin. Her middle name is Elizabeth, a family name of mine.

3. What is your favorite type of weather?
- Sunny, high 70s, very slight breeze. Capri and tank top weather basically.

4. If left to your own devices, what type would you wake up everyday?
- Oh geez, if I had no children.. it would probably be 10 a.m. everyday. I'd basically sleep until I couldn't stand staying in bed.

5. Have you bought your cemetery plots yet?
- Lord no! I haven't even thought that far ahead yet! There are two different veteran's cemeteries I like. One is in Half Moon Bay, CA (it's also where my mother's father is buried, plus it has an empty plot next to it). And there is another here locally in Igo, CA. I have no idea though. Not something I'm thinking about any time soon.

http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Random thought time..

Twitter, I don't understand the purpose of Twitter. I don't like it. I have one.. It just annoys me. Granted, I sometimes use it as an extra way to vent when I don't feel like putting it out on facebook. Which leads me to my next rant...

If you have a problem with someone, don't "call em out" on facebook, pick up the phone and tell them in person. Especially when it's a problem that doesn't necessarily need to be announced to the whole damn world. Husband, friend, family bashing all on facebook. In some ways Myspace/Facebook is ruining basic forms of socialization. But, I understand how some people can't just face someone and tell them how they really feel, at least social networks may be a way for them to actual get it out. So, I guess I do get it, but I still like the plain, old way of telling someone how you feel in person or over the phone.

I have a friend who just signed up for Match.com last night. And I just don't get it. Just like social networks, I kind of feel it may ruin modern dating. Modern dating is just weird anyway. I remember how I used to make myself sick for a week waiting to call a guy. I'd meet a guy, he'd give me his home number, because not everyone permanently had a cell phone attached to them at this time.. I'd eventually call the guy and sometimes talk on the phone for hours! Now, it's texting. And to me texting just seems way to impersonal. It used to be calling or sending each other notes between class or whatever. I'm just glad to say, I'm happy I don't have to worry about dating in this modern, technological day and age. Geez, makes me sound like an old fart.. No, I've only been with my husband for 6 years (today as a matter of fact). But during those 6 years, courting, wooing, dating has seemed to change drastically.

Crappy situation

I have no idea where to even start. I haven't been writing much.

The girls and I are currently in California. We've been here about 2 weeks now. The day before we came out, my 87 year old grandma had an "exploratory" surgery. They were pretty sure she passed a blood clot that caused Ischemic Bowel. Which basically means part of her bowel died. So they did a collectomy to remove the dead part of the bowel and connect the two good pieces together. She went into surgery with a 10% chance to live, came out of surgery with a 50% chance. So after a rollercoaster stay in the hospital for about a week, she was moved to a rehabilitation hospital. She was moved there a week ago tomorrow. I'm very pleased to announce she's well on her way to recovery. Grandma still has a ways to go in her recovery, but we're very positive about it.