Pretty cool

I know, creative title. I'm not good at titles. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I had to share! This LDS Public Service Announcement entitled, "Swashbucklers" was chosen by the U.S. Media Directors as the best television PSA campaign in the National Media Survey of Television Community Service Directors. Whew. Do you think they could have made some of those names acronyms? Anyway, I'm always a sucker for the LDS PSAs. TTYL. XOXO, BYOB



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A Resolution

Photo taken by Eliza (psst, she's working toward her own camera. she'll get it soon!)

So sorry I've been delinquent in the blogosphere. Between trying to suck all the quality time out of Spencer that I can, battling with cabin people and going to the BYU game in Provo this last weekend, I've barely had time to catch a breath! I meet myself coming and going. And now it looks like I've got a sick Jacqui, I'm going to have even less time. So I'll cover the last few "blog-worthy" events in my least favorite, but efficient, format; bullet points and I'll elaborate soon. I promise.

#1: The Cabin

Last Monday morning, I woke up ready for a fight. I pulled up all records pertaining to the Island Park Incident, found the office's phone number and ate a piece of chocolate (to bolster my resolve). I was ready. I got the phone, dialled the phone number and introduced myself calmly, but assertively. Every possible response from them had a solid rebuttal.

"Hi, this is Lydia Penrod. I would like to speak with Susan, please."

"Oh yes, this is Susan. I talked with the owner and we're going to refund you for the whole amount. I was an unfortunate turn of events and we would really love for you to stay with us again. Is a check ok?"

Huh? Good thing I was sitting down! That's it? Ok, yeah, I'll take a check. Really, that's it. And I think we will try and do it again.

#2: Catching up

Spencer and I have been enjoying our quality time together. As most expats know, keeping up with your favorite T.V. shows is very difficult overseas. **sidenote** hulu really needs to solve that. **un-sidenote** We get around that problem by just buying the series on DVD. I don't mind that I'm a year behind. If I want to watch the next episode and find out if Sylar really is dead, I go ahead and watch it! That's the magic of DVD. I got all of our favorites a month or so ago, but just haven't had the chance to watch them. Wonder why? I told Spence I wouldn't wait, but, he came home and I still hadn't watched anything. So we've been digging into Heroes. Very, very good vacation time!

#3: The BYU Game

To be brief, it was a sweet weekend. I will elaborate with more pictures and details soon. But for now, all I can say is that even though we lost, it was all still worth it. Provo in the fall time, wonderful weather, getting together with old Cairo friends, kids cooperating with a fall photo shoot, and Ikea. What more could one get out of a weekend??

The beginning of the end

Friday morning dawned beautiful and peaceful. There was a huge bin of toys in the basement for the kids to play with and they had graciously let Spencer & me sleep in. We were roused by Mairyn, who was hungry. She's usually the first one hungry. We had planned ahead and brought frozen french toast sticks for this first morning. Nothing like making something that usually takes a lot of effort in one minute and thirty seconds in the microwave. I went to get her a glass of water and . . . nothing. Just the all too familiar rush & gurgling sound of no water in the pipes. (We had enough water outages in Egypt to not be fazed too much by this) I called the point of contact, a property management company located in Island Park. Sunny Sharon was just as surprised as I was and said she'd call me back.

Sharon called back and said that there was some construction going on nearby and that they had needed to shut off the water.

"It should be on in a couple of hours." she said.

"I have 4 little kids, how am I supposed to get them a drink of water or flush the toilet or wash the dishes?"

"Didn't you bring any bottled water?" Sunny asked incredulously.

"No. We aren't camping and the description of the cabin said there would be running water."

"Well, this is just as much of a surprise to me. You could go down to the Shotgun Cafe and buy some bottled water."

What? No voucher? Besides the fact that it would take a whole heck of a lot of bottles to take a shower. (the kids had gotten in the hot tub the night before and went straight to bed. They were stinking of chlorine and needed baths) I could tell things were disintegrating fast so I gave her a time limit.

"I know that you didn't have any control over this outage, but you can give the construction crew an ultimatum. If they don't have it turned on by 11 (in 3 hours time) your paying customers will be leaving and wanting a refund. Got it?" (I may not have added the snotty 'got it' on the end. but I wanted to)

Sunny Sharon assured me that things would be sorted out. In the meantime, we had some good family time, forgot the dishes, and luxuriously watched a movie first thing in the morning. What else are vacations for? About 35 minutes in to said indulgence, the power goes out. Yes. The power. Fortunately, I still have 1 bar of service on my mobile and am able to call SS. She is just as shocked at this as the previous revelation and promises to get back to me. Again, the answer is the construction crew. Big surprise. We told her that the ultimatum still stands. And we waited for the next two hours.

Grant pretending to suck Spencer's brain out. This is what happens when the power goes out.

We took some nature hikes and explored around the cabin. But I had a sinking feeling that this would not all last. I was feeling generous and waited to call her till 11:30am.

"Sharon, there's still no power or water."

She apologized profusely but she didn't know if it would even be turned on for the REST OF THE DAY!! She offered to open up another cabin, maybe switch us to another area, etc. It's not like the next cabin was close. We were in the wilds. We saw maybe 3 other cabins on the winding road up the mountain. Besides, I wanted THIS cabin. (I know, I'm starting to sound like a 3 year old) But it's true. I told her that I had put a lot of time and money into choosing this perfect trifecta of a cabin. Awesome firepit, hot tub, satellite, and internet. None of the other cabins with in an hour's drive had that, she said. Well, we will be leaving, Sharon. She was flabbergasted.

"You're LEAVING??" she spluttered.

"Yes, I told you that if things were not resolved by 11am, we would be leaving. My husband is here for a limited time from Iraq . . . ."

I went on using the newly reunited Iraq widow card. She said we could apply this weekend to another time. When? He's only here for 2 weekends. Well, she said that she couldn't assure a refund for the two remaining nights because the owner of this cabin was "particular". Particular?? Listen, this is pretty simple. We paid for power and water, none of which have appeared yet today. (it was noon by now) Our time is precious. So, we left without a resolution. It took us another hour to pack everything up and there still wasn't any restoration of utilities. I may have been crying a bit along with the kids, but we managed to salvage the weekend. More on the weekend . . . tomorrow!

Take me away . . .

At the end of August, I found a wonderful site where I could reserve a cabin in the wilds of Island Park. I love camping; adore camping; would do it every other night if I could; just not with 4 kids. Renting a cabin is the next best thing. Actually, the best thing for us. I snagged 3 nights at off-season prices! There was an awesome fire pit.

Warm, bubbly and soothing hot tub. The kids splashed around in it before bed. Great energy expender; wish we could invest in one of these bad boys! Spencer & I slipped in after the kids went to bed, turned off the porch lights and watched the stars above. The Milky Way stretched out directly above us! It's times like this that I wish I could take pictures of stars. That'll have to wait until I get a really sweet camera upgrade.

And the wonderful finale? A sunset with clouds that look painted on.

It was meant to be!! Or was it . . . . .

YouTube Tuesday

It's a double post day because it's also YouTube Tuesday!! I discovered this vid through a friend of mine. She posted it on Facebook a few weeks ago. Absolutely amazing!! The ages of the little girls, from left to right: 8 yo, two 7 yo, and two 6 yo. They are the Cactus Cuties from Southern Texas. Never heard of them before, but it's not like I have my pulse on the finger of all that is hip. Wait, strike that, reverse it.

Spencer arrives

October 14th, a day we were all looking forward to. I still had so much to do, running around getting laundry done, cleaning up clutter, etc. Though it felt like time was slipping through my fingers, it wasn't moving fast enough. Spencer's flight was scheduled to land at 5:41pm. So, at 4:45pm, we couldn't wait any longer and I started kids on their own quests to find shoes and coats. At five to five, I'm locking the door behind me, with kids already running ahead and seated in the car. Then my phone rings. I answer it and it's Spencer calling from a pay phone. His flight from Cincinnati was late and he missed the flight. The next flight won't be arriving in Idaho Falls until 9:20pm. Great. Everyone is already buckled in and I think I'll have a mutiny on my hands if I tell them we have to go back inside the house for another 3 hours.

So, we pick up a couple of Hot 'n' Ready pizzas from Little Ceasers (bless them) and head over to Grandma & Grandpa Penrod's to while away the time. The kids expend enough nervous energy and then, by 7:30pm (usual bedtime) they are impatient for Daddy to come, but are fighting the urges to sleep. Grandma, the kids & I head off to Idaho Falls early with the pretext of picking up a couple of things at WalMart. After wandering the aisles and picking up some essentials (chocolate covered doughnuts and fire-starter blocks), we head over to the airport. We still end up waiting for a half hour or so, but the kids keep busy running races between the ATV on display from the local sporting goods store and the now-closed security line. Not much happens after 9pm at Fanning Field.

**Side Note**
Grandma Dana called me up mid-morning and asked if i was going to make signs for the kids or have balloons. I had been planning on doing it, but since she already had all the supplies, have at it, Grandma! When we got to the airport, we passed out signs. She had also made Jacqui's sign size appropriate, so her's was a little smaller than the other's. Well, Jacqui couldn't have made more of a stink about the whole deal. You know what the problem was? In her words, "I don't want a square sign, I want a rectangle sign like them!!" It's true, her sign was a square and everyone else's was a rectangle. I pacified her with chocolate covered doughnuts.

About 9:25pm, people start pouring out of the escalator. There is a glass partition separating us from them, so we can see them coming, but have to wait for the doors to swing open. And of course he had to be the next to last person off the plane. But we don't mind. We have our husband and Daddy back. The kids didn't get to bed until 10:30pm, but so what, the next day was the end of the week for us. A 3 day weekend was awaiting. And this was a special 3 day weekend. At the end of August, I booked a cabin in Island Park for 3 nights. Just us, the solitude of the mountains and a couple of amenities. A rockin' cool fire pit, meandering stream that went through the property, an outdoor hot tub, satellite for 2 t.v.'s and an internet connection. Life would be good.

What is it?

What is this? Yes, I'm being coy. I'm also in the middle of chronicling the last week. It has been a doozy. Between getting ready for Spencer, him arriving, our fiasco of a weekend, how we mended it and so forth; it has been one for the books. I'm writing. Just be patient. It'll be worth the wait. In the mean time, what is this??

Millions of boxes . . .

Boxes for me. Millions of boxes. Boxes for free. No, not really. They aren't 'for free'. They're for me. For me to unpack, sort through and toss. I am struggling through the slog of apathy and overwhelming urges to crawl under a rock and wait for it all to go away. Hmmm, can we say 'avoidance' anyone??

Here it is, the 12th of October, 6 months after we said goodbye to Cairo, and I am still stumbling over boxes. I have seen friends move after me that are more settled than I am. I should know, I stayed with one of them this summer, in their new house. I'm here, in my new house, with my husband coming home in 3 days without any room to park our car in the garage.

But really, don't worry. I just had to introduce this preface because it's how I'm feeling. I know that I will get this done. With Spencer home, we'll probably rocket through piles of boxes a day. Those things tend to happen with 2 adults around. I'm also feeling a bit guilty about not posting very often. I just don't feel like I have anything worthwhile to say nor do I have the time to compose my thoughts into anything that closely resembles structure.

We'll cover the last week in bullets: (or dashes, seeing as how I just realized that I don't have any bullets.)

-- Monday, Oct. 5th --
I drove my mom to Montana to my pregnant sister's house. We had a wonderful time together.

-- Wednesday, Oct. 7th --
I drove back to Rexburg. And jumped back into everything.

-- Thursday, Oct. 8th --
Taylor Brooke Andersen was born!!

-- Friday, Oct. 9th --
Chased my tail; ran errands that were long overdue and bought a piano.

-- Saturday, Oct. 10th --
Had all 4 kids home, as I usually do on Saturdays. So you can bet that nothing much of merit go accomplished. I went to my friend's yearly Harvest Dinner; a gourmet feast where I felt like an adult for a few hours.

-- Sunday, Oct. 11th --
Went to church, had a couple over for dinner and games. Children decided to smoke a special brand of crack and act even more insane than they really are, trying to prove the point that I really don't have any control.

And that brings us to today. Today. 2-day. to-Day!! Yeah, let's see what happens.

My Prrrrecious . . .

As Gollum is wont to worship the Ring, I have hoarded an adulation in secret for far too long . . . A piano of my own.

During our 4 years in Egypt, I spent the first year tracking down pianos to rent. At the turning of one year, I found a Piano Guy. The adventures that ensued were painful and arduous, and will be given full justice in retelling, but that's for another day. The purpose of today's tale is the acquisition. I obtained my piano and there it resided in my living room for the next 3 years. Egypt time came to a close and the music maker was returned to Piano Guy.

We returned to the States and I have been in withdrawals. Not that I consider myself a concert pianist. I don't play that well. I took lessons all through my childhood, but quit at the age of 11.In retrospect (as all past experiences are viewed) that was not a very smart choice on my part. Don't worry, I have a little version of myself turning 11 in a short year and a half, so not to worry about karma. I rediscovered the piano while I was studying in Spain my senior year of high school. It became my escape and I retaught myself many things. Though I don't think I've regained my former glory. Für Elise will never be topped nor will it ever be lived down. Ever.

Moving on to college, I was grateful for the pianos in the dorm basement. I spent many a happy hour, twinkling away my worries on those delicate ivories. The rest of the building is probably thankful for the soundproofing in that studio. Once I got married, we inherited a wonderful digital keyboard from my sister-in-law, Callie. We still have it. I would pull it out occasionally, but it was usually kept out of reach from the sticky fingers of my offspring.

Coming full round again, I have managed to keep a piano in my peripheral most of my life. But never have I owned one all my own. Which comes to the purpose of this story, how to get a piano. I was listening to the radio the other day and kept hearing advertisements for a piano sale. The BYU-I music department has a sale every year. They have music labs and sell their pianos every year. Nice. So I figured out where said sale was (it was not easy to find) and wandered in with Jacqui in tow. I plunked on a couple keys and drooled over the black, glossy baby grands. Even though I knew my reality would be a digital piano. I'm not the biggest fan of keyboards, but let's be realistic. What with all of our gallivanting around the globe, it's not that easy to lug a +1000 lb object to each residence. That and the challenge of finding someone to tune it each time we move. And periodic tunings in country.

Digital keyboard have made great leaps and bounds past their ancestors. The biggest hurdle I faced when trying to convince myself that a keyboard was the real thing was the feedback in my fingers. Also, . . . . . wait, I'm boring you, aren't I? The main point is, I'm now pleased with the advances of digital pianos. Enough so that I took the plunge. I bought a Kawai CP117. (another statistic you don't care about either, huh?) Basically, it's a freakin' sweet piano!!! That I bought for a song! And a little dance if you count Jacqui's meltdown in the middle of the showroom! I was having a bit of buyer's remorse for the rest of the day. Rethinking to myself, "I don't remember playing EVERY key. Do they all work? And I didn't try out EVERY function! What if . . . ?" Then it was delivered. All uncertainty melted away. I sat down and played to my heart's content. I played a song for my babies before bed. I got up when I couldn't sleep and played MY piano. My. Piano.

My Montana Visit

"One misty moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather . . . ." Traditional nursery rhyme

That very well described my Monday morning. My Mom & I were also getting ready to drive up to Montana to a) drop her off at my sister's and b) see her in the full bloom of pregnancy. (due date today) We still left, it's just that we were met with this in the morning.


I broke out my brand-new snow brush & scraper combo and went to work. Kids made it to school safely and we were on our way out of town in no time. There wasn't a scrap of snow by the time we reached Salmon. I had a lovely little mini-vacation and made it back through dry roads this afternoon. Just in time to run Jacqui to gymnastics, unload the car, pick kids up from school, run Grant to gymnastics, get the van lubed, make dinner and . . . . whew, I think I need another break!! Don't worry, I'll get another treat next week. My honey will be picked up from the airport next Wednesday night! And we get a whole 3 weeks together!!

YouTube Tuesday

This is not from YouTube, but it is a video!! I had way too much fun!

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Unsure

I've had this topic sitting in my "Edit Posts" section for some time. I've been adding to or subtracting from it occasionally. You know, between painting a wall or rummaging through boxes. The main idea, though, is a subject I've been wrestling with for a while. Trying to figure out what I blog about and who I blog for. I don't consider myself to be some author with a wide readership and countless scores of strangers waiting with baited breath for my next publication. I also won't belittle the family and friends and the random lurker that will read what I put out there. But finding a subject that satisfies ME is what I'm getting at.

Some things are too mommy-ish. But Mommy things are intertwined with my daily goings on. I do have an opinion, but I don't want to be too political or polarizing. So what to do? It's difficult to have a separate identity from the 'Mommy stuff' because that's my life! I like being a Mom!! I've thought of having a separate blog, I just don't know what I'll accomplish. Sometimes there are things I KNOW that just my friends will find funny, but my Mom won't and vice versa. (nissan versa, boop boop, uh, yeah, i'll explain another time) See what I mean??

Should I just channel my writing itch and write a book? No, too ambitious. Or maybe do a themed blog, like my current projects or a Julie/Julia project. No, stupid, already been done. Not that I would care if anyone ever liked it. I don't think the world needs ANOTHER pointless book or blog. Not that I'd try to make it pointless, it would just turn out that way. I'm way too spread out in my interests. Blame it on ADD. Everyone else does. I started this blog to keep connected with family and friends while we're far away. And I've ended up liking the blogging part a lot more than I thought. Yeah, go ahead and laugh, I don't care. I enjoy making time for it and I get a little thrill from every. single. comment. 'Cause seriously, who doesn't want just a teeny bit of recognition for all the hard work that goes into composing a well written story? And also, to be perfectly honest, yes, blogging fills a little narcissistic pleasure corner of that gray matter between my ears.

As long as I'm being completely honest, I like blogging/writing so much, I have even gotten out of bed to go finish writing out a thought that kept banging around in my head and wouldn't let me sleep. I know, interfering with sleep, crazy!! Not because I think it'll wow anyone or get me a Pulitzer or even a thousand hits in an hour. But because I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. (there's a little bit of Tim McGraw for ya) I read other peoples ouevres and feel a tiny knot of, I don't know, jealousy? No. Envy? Maybe. Desire? YES!! YES!! Desire to create something that I enjoy and for someone else to enjoy. So here's to branching out, cutting back or whatever the heck I decide to do!

The morning after

This is what a little boy looks like that stayed up too late the night before because he was excited about Grandma's arrival. He's not burying his head in anger, he's flopped on the couch, exhausted. I dressed him in that position and there he stayed until it was time to load into the car. And even then, it was shuffling toward the door, Pop Tart in hand (our default quickie breakfast) mumbling, "Mommy, will Grandma still be here when we get home?"
"Yes she will."
Grandma was downstairs sleeping off jet lag. She is adjusting very well and we have been enjoying her thoroughly. I even got my first pedicure yesterday! Look, they found toenails!! And the name of the polish? 'I'm not really a waitress'. It cracks me up even more than the hairy-ness of my piggies. OPI Nail polish has the best names. There's this purple-ish lavendar color called 'Kinky in Helsinki' or a pinky-reddish color named "I'm his Coral-friend". The names are hilarious. Just one more, a silvery-metal one; "Suzi Skies in the Pyrenees."