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Showing posts from February, 2008

The chain around my neck

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I promised to write about the chain around my neck in the school picture taken in Germany When I was in the first grade we moved to Germany. My Dad was in the Air Force. Every day about an hour before the bell rang to go home I would start to cry uncontrollably until they would finally call my Mom and she would come to school and pick me up. This happened every day until finally my Mom got fed up and took me out to get ice cream and just sat and visited with me. She finally got me to tell her why I was crying at this specific time every day: We lived off base in a big house with a basement, main floor, second floor and attic. It had a high rock wall around it with a gate that locked when you went out and in order to get back in, someone either had to push the button in the house to unlock it or you had to have a key. Unbeknown to my mother, my brother, who is four years older than I, told me that some day I would come home from school and Mom would not be home and a German would kidnap

Scavanger Hunt--My L's are all found at work.

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L'Oreal Infallible lipstick stays on all day, even through meals. I put on 3 coats of color and then the sealer and it stays on like magic. Lavender frame around my Stitch 'N Bitch calendar Lunch, love the Voss water. Little things on my desk. The safety triangle blinks, the little green thing is a light rail car (it's an eraser) The guys I work with--laughing. Light for the plants in my office. They didn't bloom this year. We are trying to coax them out.

A comment on the economy

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Oh my gosh, I just found out that not only is the size different, but last year it was SPF 30 and this year it is SPF 15. That is going too far. On the right, last year's giveaway On the left, this year's giveaway. Enough Said!

Dinner last night

Those of you who know me, know that Tarzan cooks at our house. Last night I decided to fix Tuna Steak for dinner and called him to warn him so he wouldn't start cooking. I found the recipe on the Target website. Wrote down the 4 ingredients I didn't have at home and went to my local Super Target to buy those special ingredients. THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY OF THEM. AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! I then went to Fry's next door. THEY HAD ONLY ONE OF THE INGREDIENTS. DOUBLE AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! My competitive spirit kicked in and I decided I could fix this dinner with substitutes and things made from scratch. It was AWESOME! Here is the recipe from Target, followed by my substitution for the Tassos(tm) Black Olive Bruchetta Topping Lemon Pepper Seared Tuna Steaks with Black Olive Orzo Serves: 4 Cooking Time: 20 Minutes (350 degrees) What you need: 4 tuna steaks (I used Orange Roughy, it was good) Lemon pepper seasoning 4 cups cooked orzo pasta (Fry's had something close ver

SPT-What do you do when you are down?

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Do something CAARAAZEE. Where I work, there is always something fun going on. The Arizona Game and Fish Department set up a display where you could have your picture taken with wild birds. This is a vulture. I was leaning over and talking to it saying "you're a pretty bird" and "do you love all this attention" and things like that -- baby talk. The girl running the thing said, "You may want to move back a little." She then told me that this particular bird loves to peck people. Mine is strictly a pose, but the photographer loved it and gave me both pictures even though they were only offering 1 per person. Today the Association of Counties and the Society of Civil Engineers are all set up with tents outside. They have all kinds of kewl give aways and usually free lunch.

Raising Children

Praise, is it overrated? Do we do it right? Can we do it wrong? A study published just this year by a team at Columbia University headed up by psychologist Carol Dweck, found some very intersting things. The first test was on a group of 5th graders: Children were given a non-verbal IQ test, doing a series of puzzles. The test was easy enough that all children would do very well. After the test, each student was told their score and given a single line of praise. They were either praised for their intelligence or their effort . Here's the kicker... Then the students were given a choice of tests for the second round. They could choose a test that would be more difficult than the first, but the researchers told the kids that they'd learn a lot from attempting the puzzles. the other choice was described simply as an easy test. Of those praised for their effort , 90 percent chose the harder set of puzzles. Of those praised for their intelligence , a majority chose the easy test.

Help a Student spend a year in China

I got a sweet letter from Myreel Lewis, the daughter of Clyde and Delon Pease. Many of you will remember Clyde was our Stake President for years. They are now living in Kingman and his daughter, Myreel, has an opportunity to spend a year in China going to school. She will be living with her uncle and is trying to raise money to pay for the trip. She is selling fresh water pearls to help pay for the trip. This is some beautiful jewelry and not over priced. If you are interested, please join me in supporting her efforts. Here is her blog: http://myreel-freshwaterpearls.blogspot.com/

Earliest Memory

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For many years as a young girl, I had a memory of climbing up onto a very high bed, using a small step that sat beside it. I remembered being on the bed with my Mom, brother and sister and then I remember getting down and looking out the window. Everything had a slight green tint to it. That's a funny memory and I figured it must just be some kind of a dream I had. When I was about 16 years old, we were sitting around in the living room talking about memories. There were all the usual stories that made us laugh and brought us closer together. Then someone talked about the hurricane... I had to be 2 or 3 years old at the most. We were living in Bermuda. The house was an old rock home build on the shore. We had our own boat dock. My father was stationed there in the Air Force. While living there a terrible hurricane hit the island. Mom gathered us all into her bedroom and we crawled up onto her high bed using the little steps beside it. As we sat there trying to stay calm, we heard a