What a pain

Ah, Grant. What am I going to do with you? It's still a fact; all of the posts associated with the "injuries" label also include Grant. And vice versa. So, on the first day of NaBloPoMo, Grant decides to take a header into the gravel road at Grandma's. Here, take a look. *warning* they are not for the weak of stomach. I can handle pretty much any injury that comes my way. (with Grant, it's a prerequisite!) But mouth injuries, I'm not so good.



The kids were all running out to Grandma's mailbox. Or should I say, what's left of it. It was a casualty of Halloween. Some jerks (they don't know who) completely trashed it. Ripped the mailbox part off the top, bent the steel post anchoring it in the ground. It wasn't some random baseball smash job. Or maybe it was, I'm no expert on mailbox vandalism. So they're all running out and Grant simply trips, but trips hard. No hands out in front to catch him. (probably running with his hands in his pockets. He likes to do that lately) We're thinking his mouth hit first because that's where the most damage is. His front tooth is pointing inward now and, well, you can see the rest of the damage. I called a dentist friend and he said the ER wouldn't do anything, just bring him into the office in the morning. Great. I've also got to get a husband off to the airport by 11am.




Oh, and think about NaBloPoMo. Why? Well, I see it as a challenge. I haven't done it yet and I really want to try. So there. This was probably one of the biggest obstacles I'll face this month, still managing to blog and deal with a Grant injury, and it's only the first! Wait, no, I didn't type that. Great. I'm jinxed.

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.