I have always wanted an Australian Shepherd.....who wouldn't. I know Jason would say no due to the shedding. But they are so stinkin' cute. Could someone please talk Jason into this one.

What I want to do when I 'grow up'........

find more of these!

Or just play in the dirt.....maybe eat a little dirt.

Add some water and play in the mud.

Not care what my nails look like.

Isaac's First Day of Kindergarten
Clarice's First Day of 4th Grade
Chelsea's First Day of 11th Grade

Isaac was apprehensive already and so scared. I drew a heart on his hand (and Clarice's) and kissed them......I told them if they needed me, or a hug, even a kiss, to look at that heart and put that hand on their face. It was crazy at the school, hundreds of kids and clowns....dogs dressed as clowns, clowns are creepy anyway, why clowns? He clung on to me, he was attached to my hip. They told us parents to stand on the grass while the kids lined up. Clarice was fine, she went right to her class line and being the 'social butterfly' she is I had no worries about her. Isaac on the other hand is more the type that has to study things out first and make a clear decision on whether it is something he really wants to do. He wanted NOTHING to do with Kindergarten. He was so scared, his whole body was shaking, he cried quietly, tears running down his face. I wanted to cry, my eyes filled with tears, I blinked them back knowing if I started it would make it worse. I knelt down by him and held him, introduced him to the kids in line. When we finally got into his room they had the parents sit at the tables and the kids on the floor in front of the room. Isaac kept looking at me and looking at his hand, than he would slowing move his hand to his face and hold it there for a minute. He did this about six times while I sat there. He was much calmer now, not so much chaos.....the teacher explained how the kids were going to play outside while she talked to us. He did fine. He went back for testing yesterday, and did great, he even picked a flower for his teacher and put it in a vase. He is working into the fact that he will be all alone on Tuesday September 2nd, his official first day of school which I told Jason he had to take him to, way to much for me to deal with again.

Chelsea had me drive her to the bus stop, and was out of the car. I of course video taped the whole thing, she was sooooo happy about that. I try and tramatize her, I want to cause therapy at some point in her life.....he he he....I think I am pretty close to that now!

All my kids are in school....and I am feeling a little sad, I promised myself I would be fine, I am not fine..... ;~(

It comes to me with a saddened heart and much distress on part to say good-bye to the office 'crushed ice' machine. I am an avid ice eater and not just ANY ice, crushed ice. I must eat 8 glasses a day. They are replacing my ice machine with a new crappy ice machine that only gives cubed ice. I can't eat cubed ice.....I will be in a deep depression for the next 18 years..... So I go in the break room to get my final glass and they had already unplugged it.......sigh.......depression....If I had a chain I would have chained myself to the machine......unless really.

It is a lovely Thursday morning and many weeks since I have blogged......to all of my two readers....I know how you have been waiting...and I am finally here to entertain all. I have done absolutely nothing entertaining except my work golf tournament (don't get excited I DONT golf). I was asked to man a 'hole' for carity (sounds wrong all in itself) 7th hole of the Hidden Vally Country Club in Draper. All that know me know I don't travel past Murray (sisters houes, or it won't even be that far, moto for me, if you can't get it in Bountiful you don't need it) so this was sooooo far away. Well, who knew there was a 'dress code'? I asked what to wear four time the week prior, no straight answer. So, I wore these really cute LEVI capries, and a even cuter baby doll shirt. I thought I looked hot. I finally get there after exploring the surrounding neighborhoods trying to find the 'effin enterance. I than walk up to the front of the Country club with all eyes on me (I thought that I was so hot no one could look away) NOT. I was right away told that no LEVIS were aloud and all shirts needed a collar. WHAT? I must go change. Well, since I live in North Salt Lake, and driving home would be out of the question in morning traffic, my best option was to buy new clothes. I was 'a little' pissed to say the least, this information would have been helpful last week one of the FOUR time I asked. Note to all the two people reading...... Not a lot of places are open at 7:30 that you can buy clothes at, nope, not ANY. I wandered around aimlessly for a half hour until I found the Super Walmart. I proceeded to buy cream color capries, a guys pink polo shirt and a brand new pack of white underwear (Underwear you ask? Yes, that day I was wearing BLACK underwear, not a good look on a golf course with cream colored capries on. If I was a hooker the looked would have worked, since I was manning a HOLE, but not at this upscale Country Club). I had to change my clothes in the bathroom of Walmart, visual that should be really thought about when I told you I had to buy underwear. Finally get back about 8:30, and head to my 'hole' which took five minutes on the golf cart. It actually was fun until they told me I had to pay for my own lunch....WTF? I politely said no thank you, becasue the alternative answer would have been as follows, are you 'effin' kidding me? After the fun was over I quickly got the hell out of there and promised myself that the Counrty Club life was not for me.

Today will be a very long day/night for me. My work day starts at 5:00 until 2:30, than at 4:00 I will be heading out to participate in the following Relay for Life. The Relay starts at 5:00pm and ends at 9:00am Saturday morning. I woke up this morning very tired all ready, I believe that I am going to need extra coffee today. Jason was going to go with me tonight, but I will now be doing it alone. It's okay though, it would be funner with him there but such as life, I tried to get someone in my family to do it with me, but no go. I am on a team with Sandy Leon who I work with (breat cancer survivor) so we will see how that works out, I'm sure I will get there and have a great time, I bring my own party, how could I not with all those voices in my head, JK, really, I am just kidding. Normally on Friday's I am excited and ready for the weekend, not so ready for this weekend. Busy.......

• Walk tonight/morning.
• Dish Network coming in the morning (they say morning but they really mean 4:00 in the afternoon), replace old dish, and receivers
• RC Willy coming in the morning, replace broken bench that has been on back order for 4 months
• Get 4 new tires - $915 later - ouch!
• Potluck with Jason's family - his sister is in from Vegas, I am not sure what to bring yet, maybe I will bring string cheese and a can of olives... :~)
• Laundry...lots of laundry...I usually do it through the week but I was really busy this week.
• Start on two baby blankets, Chelsea's friends mom is having twins.
• Work out - ahhhh - I like this one

And to top it all off, my friend visited this morning.....my monthly friend.....who really isn't much of a friend if you ask me.

This is what I was stuck behind yesterday for about two hours on the freeway, I was about a half a mile back and missed it by about 3 minutes. No big deal if I hadn't just drank 32oz of water an hour prior. I had a ultra-sound at 3:00, I didn't make my appointment. I was parked on the freeway from about 2:40 until 4:30. I remember exactly becuase I had to PEE. Than possiblities crossed my mind.

1. I could crawl in the back and pee in a bag of clothes I was going to take to the DI and than go home and throw them away.
2. I could pee in my favorite coffee mug......hell no....I would have to through it away...hell NO.
3. Get out of the truck and pee on the side of the road (and all that know me will know this is true) .
4. Ask the car ahead of me, full of kids, if they have an extra diaper.
5. Unzip pants and hope this helps by allowing more room.
6. Wait.........and cry, I really mean, I cried.

I picked.........drum roll please.........#5 and 6.

More to story......he he he.....really, this is funny!

I get home and Clarice is covered in Chicken pocks (one on the end of her nose and lots behind knees, by her crotch, tummy, arm pits, all the warm spots that they start)......go ahead.....ask.....'has she had them before?' Why yes, thanks for asking, she has, twice! This will make it three times she has had them. I go pick up Isaac, and, go ahead, ASK.....YEP....he has them too.....and yes he has had them before as well. My family tends to get chicken pocks more than once. So does my niece, grandma, and two of my kids. They have both had a cold so they could have had a fever, and with the weather being so hot, I really wouldn't have known. They don't seem to be horrible cases, but Clarice was really itchy last night. Bright side is that school hasn't started yet and they won't be missing school. Not so bright side is that I have a relay on Friday and family coming in from Las Vegas tomorrow. I am sure that Clarice and Isaac will be contagious through the weekend, until all have scabbed over. Oh well, I do have to laugh and count the other blessings:

1. I don't have them... :~)
2. Jason doesn't have them.... :~)
3. Chelsea doesn't have them.... :~)
4. Kids not in school... :~)
5. Both kids seem pleasant..... :~)
6. Excuse to leave work early..... :~) :~) (that one deserves a double smiley)
7. It couls be WAY worse... :~)

Much to be thankful for...

Much to smile about.....

I got my ring on Friday with much to my surprize....(I guess Jason can be spontaneous)....I love it...not to big not to small and I think that playing in the dirt with it will be fine. The best part is, that it only took three years :~) He did do it I really thought that I would never get one.

Chelsea is on a plane headed for home, after much grief and too many issues to list, I am finally getting her home. YIPPEE

Ashlee was laid off this morning after 3 days of work at her new job....they ended up not having enough work for the amount of people they hired. She works so hard to keep her family afloat, I try and help when I can but I have kids at home as well. Love that kid.....maybe my prayers will help, maybe reasons unknown mean she needs to look somewhere else.
ASHLEE IS COMING OVER TODAY WITH THE GRANDKIDS.....41 year old with two grand kids, hard to hold sometimes....oh well!

Clarice and I are going to start doing Yoga together. I already dabble a little in it at home, and I LOVE it. Clarice does some with Leanne, her aunt, and she can kick some little booty when she does it. I am going to make Chelsea do it with us too.

I love my kids.....I love my husband, some days more than others.....I love my Family......I love my life.

To all the powerful women in my life:

Live your life in such a way that when your feet
hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says:

'Oh Shit - she's awake!!!'

I miss my Chelsea.....

Chelsea is at her dads in Iowa. Chelsea's step-mom mis-booked her plane ticket and instead of having her fly home on the 20th of July, she booked it for the 20th of August (she is a drunk, seriously). I told Chelsea to tell Jackie(step-mom)to change the ticket, she refused! So I took matters into my own hands and told Tim(her dad). I explained the whole horrible situation to her dad, who has been gone to Iraq, and said he would do it immediately. He had no idea, and I hated having to tell him that Chelsea wanted to come home because of his wife. His wife is a great lady who really does love Chelsea, she just has some issues that she needs to work through before I want Chelsea back out there again. I told Tim this and he agreed. My heart aches for Chelsea in hopes that these 'issues' will be taken care of soon so she can go back out to be with her dad who loves her dearly.

I love my sisters.
They make me happy.
They make me smile.
Love you!

Redneck deep thought of the day:

If the biggest compliment you got at your wedding was
how cute your baby was...you might be a redneck.

I am so very excited....currently there is showing at the

Utah Museum of Fine Arts the following artists:

Monet......

Picasso.......

Van Gogh......

Renoir.....

Degas.....

Dali.......

Artwork is on exhibition from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

It is only making four stops in the US and WE are one of them.
Van Gogh is my favorite artist ever....I love his work...I want the following, just prints....he he he, like I would EVER get an original!! They would look great in my living room and would make me warm all over to know that I have them. This is really the only big gift I have asked for (other than a new wedding ring, whole other story, that I don't want to get into, just know that my 10th wedding anniversary was the worst anniversary I have ever had).

We did it.....

I wasn't first....

I wasn't last.....

I crossed the finish...

The woman that starts the race isn't the same woman that finishes the race.

The RACE is ON...

We head out to Denver today for the race on Sunday......
I have decided to DO IT...not to win...to finish....

Pray for me.....

Think of me....

Love you all!

PS....Hilary thanks for all the gear I borrowed! If I drown you will need to fish me out to get your pants back. HE HE HE Not that funny really.

Today I still feel like I am in the 10th circle of hell (whatever that means, it just sounded good) about not being ready for the Triathilon......I cried most of the night, of course Jason wasn't home. Jason doesn't seem to get it and I am irrated that he never listens to me. I can truly carry on a full conversation of 2 - 3 minutes sitting RIGHT next to him and he doesn't hear a single word I say. Than he has the nerve to get mad at me because I won't repeat it. It is getting worse and I feel like he has learned to tune out the sound of my voice. I know that sounds harsh but that is really how I feel. I get so angry at him and he just thinks that I am negative all the time, it seems that it is the only time that I can get his attention. Horrible circle of effin' life. He does his 'side' jobs five days a week and we, as a family, never see him. When he gets home he walks right by me like I am not even there, he hasn't touched me in weeks, that in turn makes me think horrible thoughts about what he is really doing at night. I feel like I am invisable, I'm sure he feels the same, but thanks to my inheritated stubborness I will not budge. I will just cry when he can't see, do all the things I am expected to do, put on a smiley face for all those to see, and reach yet another depth of depression I haven't reached before(11th circle of hell). If I was allowed to have friends I could vent to them but that is a whole other story.

No matter what you've done wrong...
always try to make it look like the dog did it...

10 Days until we head to Denver. I should have been going to do the Triatholon with Sharon and Shelby, but due to unforseen 'issues' with my body.....I am going to have to do it next year. I am truly depressed right now and on the verge of tears. I have been tring so hard for this, I joined a gym, I exersied daily, I prepared my family for time away from home, I ran a 5K to prepare, but here I am feeling horrible about how my body is not prepared or ready for this. I AM feeling sorry for myself and I am okay with it. I am usually upbeat and pleasant, not today.....I will be better later.....after, after the 'D' day or should I say 'T' day is gone......
Forgive the bitterness.....

Hilary introduced me to a something that I must have and belongs with me (that I will be making tonight)I will love him and hug him and kiss him. I love him so much......! Please see below:

We just came back from camping on Monday, our annual Great Baisn trip.....It is so beautiful up there. I will have to say with it being so cold lately that we were all a little afraid of what the weather would be, but we packed for five and included an extra pair of shoes anyway.....

• Day One: we left at about 7:30am, and started our four hour drive to the 'mighty' Great Basin. Once there we headed to the 9500ft camp ground that we always stay at, we knew when we got there it might be a problem because the mountain was covered in snow. Sure enough it was a problem.....'our' spot was covered in almost two feet of snow.....boo hoo...so sad, becuase I love waking up at the base of the cirque.....see above.....so we move further down the mountain to another camp ground. My heart actually ached that we couldn't camp at the top. Set up tent and three air mattresses - funny story, will tell more on day two. Had tin-foil dinners for dinner.......yummy! We always eat well while we are camping.
• Day Two: Jason and I woke up refreshed on our foot high air matress and look over and both of the kids air mattresses were flat as a pancakes they might as well have been sleeping on the ground.......he he he....needless to say the one air mattress had poped and the other had a slow leak, the air pump broke, and Jason had to inflat the air mattress every night with just the air in his lungs, can't help but laugh at that one. We went exploring the west desert for nine hours.......Jason's idea......I will have to give you an incredible highlight of that day though. We, just by chance, drove to the base of a hugh cave in the Moriah Mountains. It was about half way up the 'mountain' and spectacular looking, I look at Jason and Jason looks at me and we both agreed that we should take the kids and do the hike.....after all it didn't look too bad...and I knew in my heart there would be Indain ruins in that cave. Why do things always look sooooo much easier from the bottom.....you see where this is going right? The 'little' hike ended up being about 4 miles up round trip with an elevation gain of about 3000 - 3500 feet. All of the kids cried and thought they were going to die at numerous parts of the hike, and in my heart I thought I was too. The tallis under my feet slipped with every step and one step ended up being two. The small rocks at the bottom were boulders up close and what we thought were bushes were trees that we had to crawl under and through. We questioned our judgement about halfway up but realized that we were too far at this point to turn back. By the time we finally made it up there I realized that I would do it again (without the kids), it was full of Indian ruins. I was in utter awe of what I was seeing and cried like a baby. The homes were constructed of pine needles, mud, and old wood, not much left of them but there was enough for me. Nothing was touched and it was left the way we found it. Our camera was broken but the whole thing is video taped. We stayed for awhile to soak in what we were looking at and than prayed for our safety on the way down the mountain, we knew it would be worse going down. Jason would take one kid down in his arms about fifty feet and than go up for another one, as you can see we made it! The 'little' hike took 3 1/2 hours. I thanked God for letting us arrive safely. But my heart aches that we didn't spend more time. I found out that the Indian ruins were probably of the Freemont Indians which occupied the area from 1200 - 1295 AD. The rest of the day isn't nearly as eventful as that, in fact the rest of the year won't be as eventful as that. I did have to mention to Jason a few times that I felt like I was in the movie 'The Hills Have Eyes'. We were literally on a dirt road ALL day. My sweet, adoreable Jason always takes the road less taken, how can you get angry about that unless you are on hour 6 of the road less taken. Isaac kept saying, can we go home? Please can we go home? Jason kept telling him we were taking the long way home....he he he.....Packed a lunch and treats in the car for the day....we had steaks for dinner with fire baked potatoes, why does everything taste better when you are camping?
• Day Three: We went to Ely to look for a new pump, could find a store that would sell one....he he he...still laughing about Jason having to blow one up every night. We roamed around on the other side of Great Basin, explored the remains of mines (they are ALL over) and resued a calf. Funny story...we are heading to Ely and there are cows all over, there was a calf on the side of the road on the outside of the fence and the mother cow was on the inside of the fence right next to the calf. We all noticed and hoped that it would find its way back in the fence soon to be with mommy cow. Sever hours later when we were driving back to camp we drove by the calf and mommy and they were in the same place still but no other cows were around them this time they had all moved on. Baby still on outside of fence mommy still on inside of the fence. Jason is all distraut that he calf is going to run out in traffic or starve but drives on, 10 -15 miles later Jason is still quite and looks distraut, I look at him and say, 'You want to go back and help the cow?' Quickly he says,'do you mind?' well of course I don't mind....WTH does he think, the fact he waited 15 minutes was funny, if I hadn't said anything would he wait until we got back to camp to turn around and help the cow? So we head back and rescue the calf back on to his side of the fence. Calf and mommy run into the field, we felt liekwe had saved the day......or the meat we would be eating in a year. Not to make fun, but we had hamburgers for dinner....I am still laughing.
• Day Four: It rained all night long, but we figured it would and covered everything with the two tarps we brought. When I opened the tent to go out that morning the rain was at a drizzle and fog covered the camping site to the point that you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. It was beautiful...We went on a 7 mile hike with the kids around the mountain to the other side, after the hike the day before this one was cake. It was level and the veiws were incredible. They claim that on a clear day you can see for 100 miles, I will agree with that. Had a picnic at Wheeler Peak, the snow was almost gone and someone had taken 'our' camping spot. Jason took Isaac and Clarice and took a 3 1/2 mile hike down the mountain, Chelsea wouln't go so I headed down the mountain in the 4Runner to meet them at the bottom. I parked and left Chelsea and headed up the trail to meet them. Than we took another drive on roads less taken....fun! Really it was fun, we found more caves that we didn't have time to hike to that really didn't look that bad....you have heard that one before... :~) For dinner we had Bratwurst and fire baked potatoes.......yummy.
  Day Five: We decided to go home early. We packed up and headed home, it was a little sad but we knew we would be back. We weren't able to hike to the the Bristlecone forest due to snow on the trails up to four feet, that was sad for me the trees are astounding, thousdands of years old, literally.