We got a tip from Joel and are reading "What's So Great About America?" and I was intrigued by "Saving the Males". Howard's raving about the Dinesh D. book and I enjoyed the other one, as well.
It was delightful to have Melissa, Lindsey, Joel, Alisa, Savannah, Andrew, and Lizzie here for a week. I could hardly stand going to work! But now the house is put back together and we're planning Cousins Camp for June. In April we're going to Jacksonville for Grandma's 85th birthday party and in May I'm going to Cypress to meet baby Justin. Then just maybe in July/August I'll catch a flight to Seoul, hmmm.

It's time to learn more about how to make this blog interesting! Help needed.

Did you see Joel and Alisa's strengths on their blog? It was fascinating. I can't wait until everyone posts their strengths as it will give me lots to think about. I'm getting ready to do my 25-year plan. And let me tell you that time does indeed go faster as you get older. But at least now I can say I've eaten dinner at a Billionaire's house! That was never even on my list of things to do in my lifetime, so what a unique experience. Thanks to Dad for bringing new and exciting things into my life!

And, Howard, you've been tagged! Please reply on our blog. :)

10 years ago I was:
48 years old, living in Austin, working at Zimmer Orthopedics, getting used to being a grammy as I had one grandson compared with nine today, and five years away from being an empty-nester. What an interesting 10 years these last have been! So much has changed!!

5 things on my to-do list today:
buy two wedding presents
buy some new shoes (Fun!)
celebrate Friday with dinner out
organize my weekend for maximum accomplishments
feed Bob and Hans while Laurie is in Tucson with Savannah, Andrew and Lizzy

Things I'd do if I became a billionnaire:
buy some land with water on it
work on good investments
set up Grandchild Scholarships
build a big house
fund medical research of some kind
contribute to the Perpetual Education Fund
travel and snorkel all the best dive spots
buy a private jet

5 Secret Bad Habits
- reading way too much at night instead of sleeping
- leaving the radio on all night for company and to hear what George Norrey(sp?) and Art Bell are discussing, especially about the aliens
- eating whole wheat bread and chocolate milk almost every day for breakfast (so good!)
- keeping old Taco Bell wrappers in the car until they lose their appetizing aromas
- getting lazier as I get older (not much of a secret, actually)

5 Places I've Lived
1. Pasadena, CA
2. Tampa, FL
3. Longmont, CO
4. Anderson, IN
5. 3 days in the Arizona wilderness

5 Jobs I've Had
1. research assistant in grad school
2. piano teacher
3. Lamaze teacher
4. forecast analyst
5. biostatistician

5 Things Most People Don't Know About Me:
1. I love soul music and especially Christian soul music, not gospel but more like the Wynans or Donnie McClurkin's Holy
2. I sewed almost all my clothes in college as my summer job, including formals, coats with bound buttonholes and lined suits. My dad said if I sewed my clothes, I didn't have to get a summer job, so every day I was sewing and every Saturday I was at the beach if at all possible. I never earned a paycheck until I graduated from college and worked at Utah Valley Hospital.
3. My roommate at BYU my freshman year, who was from Ohio, said she'd never seen anyone as tan as I was. This you pay for later in life, so I don't recommend it.
4. I was listed in 1983 Outstanding Young Women of America
5. I've scuba-dived to 90 feet.

The smell of orange blossoms just makes breathing the best thing ever! I love living with my own little citrus trees, which all have blossoms of orange, tangerine, and lemon due to all the rain. Also, the yard guys are taking better care of them this year. Anyway..., the stress level is a little high right now in our neck of the woods, so we're doing our best to learn stress reduction techniques. One of the most stress producing things, according to "YOU: Staying Young", is unfinished tasks! And I totally believed it when it was brought to my attention by Drs. Oz and Roizen. It's getting ridiculous how good we are at postponing the things we want to do in favor of all the "have to do's". But this is no way to live. I keep my perspective by reading blogs of surgeons in Irag and people suffering from cancer or who have little kids who are sick. Also, a lady I work with was in a car accident as a passenger and has chronic pain from the head injuries. The doctors at the pain management clinic are going to try Botox shots since in the last year and a half nothing else is helping. And, yes, she's going to a good psychologist to help her handle the associated emotions. She also lost her sense of smell. But I don't want to close on a down note. There's so much that is right about the world. Actually, all of it is right in that we know we're going to pass through hard times in this world and need to keep praying for courage. And handling hard things makes you proud or pleased with yourself in a wonderful way!

This is a relief! Now I can post again after a couple of weeks of login trouble. My blog didn't recognize me, but evidently we're on friendly terms again. The most exciting thing going on is the new training program. Other than that, my birthday came and was duly celebrated with a cheescake from the Cheescake Factory brought home and eaten (only partly) while watching the Bourne Ultimatum. It was fun and relaxing so I guess I can stand being a week older. On Sunday, Sarah called to say that Mom was in the hospital, presumably with a heart attack. The good news is that it wasn't a heart attack; the bad news was that the doctors don't know why she was in pain. She'll be there under observation for a day or two, but we're hoping nothing else will happen.

Time to get back to posting! Julie is my trainer for the 5k that Laurie and I are running in March. We've already started our training program but I'm a little nervous about my ability to keep it up. After being a cubicle person for so long, I'm getting too soft. Now I hope to "Get it all back". Is this possible??

Ever since the fires, for three long weeks, we had fog all day. This week, at last, it has dawned bright and sunny just like our beloved SD used to be! But now it's hot, as in 86 today. Crazy! During the fog you could still smell the smoke in the mornings but not later in the day. There is still a pall in the sky over North County (where we live) that I can see from Poway at work. With the return of the sun has come the sound of birds again. Do they hide during fog?? Anyway, they're back flitting around. Lots of hummingbirds this time of year - cute little things!

OK. I'll wait patiently while you peruse all 100 unculled pictures of Turkey. Don't be intimidated; you can wade through and find the good ones.
Oh, Dad is in Boise this week visiting Grandpa, who has a nice list of tasks for Dad to do. So far, so good!

the whole nine yards

Photobucket Album

Company B

Whew!! After a long lay-off, I'm back to post some photos: Company B, Jared's graduation, Lindsey, our trip to Istanbul.

What a great weekend! It was so nice to hear that R&R have a contract on their house and that Ryan got home early from his trip. Then it was great to know that Joel is having some success as ward mission leader and gave a talk in church yesterday. Jim will be heading to Tucson this weekend to buy a gently used car, which I hope will be some fun in their busy and stressful life. It's fun to hear about Savannah playing t-ball and Seth playing football and Andrew playing trucks, even though he prefers his trucks to talking to me on the phone :). And Julie and Jim seems to be surviving little Logan's insomnia and getting through school. Last week Laurie called to let me know her angelic week ended on a scary Friday the 13th, when one of her charges got lost visiting another classroom. (Ask her for the details.) Then it's always inspiring to hear of Melissa and Jared and their training program plus having friends to dinner every Sunday. What hospitality! And the posts of baby development are always awe-inspiring.
My most pressing concern right now is preparing a Christmas program for the Young Men/Young Women to perform at 3 rest homes and the church Christmas party. As always, Dad has a wealth of creative ideas - he should be doing it, not me! But it's been fun to get the Christmas spirit early by reading through lots of plays, cantatas, stories, carols and their history, and poems. One story Dad found in the newspaper this week exemplified the Christmas spirit better than anything. Did you read of the Navy SEAL who threw himself on a grenade, saving the lives of 3-4 of his comrades? He was 25 years old. "Greater love hath no man than this..." Being in SD means you get to hear about many military exploits and the amazing heroism of these brave men and women.
I've been planning to join the Blue Star Mothers group in Escondido. A Blue Star Mom is one with a child in any branch of the military. The group supports the troops by organizing postcard/letter drives, care package drives, support for the families, etc. These groups have been around since WWI. There is also the Gold Star Mothers group if your child has been killed in action. During times of war, houses would have a small banner hanging in the front window with blue and/or gold stars representing the number of family members serving/having served in the armed forces. Speaking of World War I, have you read of the most unusual event in military history - the story of the 1914 informal truce between the German and British soldiers on Christmas Eve, when the soldiers laid down their arms and came out to exchange gifts, sing, play soccer? Read about it at snopes.com or just google it! It is amazing!

Cousins Camp was wonderful! Stay tuned for posts on the activities!

San Diego temple - you may have already seen this photo I took as I was leaving one night. But it was fun to add it to the blog and see that it worked! Yea!

Record high temperature in Escondido last Saturday: 112 degrees! The a/c has been out of order on two different days at work, as there are many places are struggling with the heat. Is this just an Al Gore publicity stunt for his movie?! Even at the mall on Saturday it was hot and sweaty, not cool at all. At work, I had a Snicker's bar in my desk that I cut into 5 pieces for a little treat every day. Well, with all the heat over the weekend, my Snicker's melted into a big goopy thing and the chocolate took on that dusty color of chocolate that's gotten too hot. But it's ok b/c it still tastes pretty good :)
I hope when you read the Ritter Troop blog that you check on Zachary's progress. 5 months in NICU! It makes you count your blessings, for sure, and stops you from whining about any little thing in your own life when you see what he and his parents are going through.
Anyway, the pool is pretty warm even with no heater. "Wish you were here!"

Hey! With many thanks to Jared O. for getting me going, I'm back on the blog. What an eventful month June was. With Howard in the hospital, as you know, and Lizzy arriving two weeks early but with too many big projects at work to be able to take some vacation to see her, it was a somewhat stressful month.
The trip to Salt Lake City for Michael and Jenn's wedding was great. Jenn manages a tanning salon and is the youngest of five children; Michael is pursuing his computer hardware job in SLC. He looked very happy in the temple and on the dance floor at the reception! The reception was casual with the groomsmen and bridesmaids wearing khaki pants/skirts and blue/hot pink polo shirts. Jenn and Michael were in the traditional gown and tux, but the reception was held in a big barn-like reception center. It was well attended and lots of fun! I even got to dance with both my sons (and Joel taught me the TRUE cha-cha) and Grandma got to dance with all the grandsons except Michael. What was he thinking, forgetting his grandma?!
One big highlight was dinner at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant with enough tasty cheese and chocolate to make everyone happy. I'm so glad we could also see the 1842 second edition of the Book of Mormon that Bill Brooke has. It's insured for a cool $1 million. See Ryan's or Mel's great photos if you can.

The Kyoto Prize dinner was last week and, as usual, it was quite a nice time. We've attended this the last 3 years. Long evening but great food and entertainment, including an 11!-yr old girl who played Chopin’s Fantasy in C# Minor. She’s already debuted with the Shanghai Symphony and other notable groups. And she had a delightful personality, too! A group with those big Oriental drums played, also, and we had a singer and dancing couple. Fun!

I missed talking to Ryan before he left on this trip because I got too engrossed in a medical show on hypothermic cardiac arrest, where drs cool your blood so low that your heart stops, so they can repair, for example, brain aneurysms. You are clinically dead for 15-20 minutes, then they warm your blood and your heart usually starts beating spontaneously (or they shock it). One of the young women who underwent this procedure had a near-death experience where she "popped out" of her body and could tell the doctor, later, what was going on elsewhere in the room; then she saw a light which grew brighter and brighter and her grandmother came to her and told her that she would be going back, which she soon did. Pretty interesting! The doctor said that with the brain that cold and metabolic activity so slow, he couldn't imagine that the brain could generate those images. Pretty amazing, huh!