Hmm. November.
Marching Band season came to an end. It was rougher year than last. No endless string of sweeps and some stiffer competition. In the end, they placed second at state competition. Grandparents came up for the Friends and Family performance. Fortunately it was clear and fairly warm that night. This year they invited parents to come and march with them during one song on the field. Darin did it. He nearly got trampled.
Hannah and the fiddle group started putting together a CD this month. They still have a lot of recording to do and are working to concentrate their efforts on Christmas music. Hannah's been collecting and transposing traditional celtic carols for weeks.
First trimester of school is over. We're all relieved. Hannah got all A's on her report card after stressing about her first (and last) year back in public school. She did a psychology presentation that was kind of fun--her an a group of kids in her class had to do an oral poetry presentation on some psychological malady. They chose Hypochondrianism. Funny. This tri she has more college courses, which means buying more textbooks, which hits the pocketbook hard. Ouch. Fortunately you can find great deals on just about anything SOMEWHERE online. We ended up paying about $50 apiece for $150 textbooks. The textbook racket really steams my britches!
Did I mention we all had the swine flu? I think that was last month. At least all us girls. Everyone had SOME sort of sickness during that time. If the boys had it they didn't have it severely. Just a couple of days of not feeling all that great.
Anyway, back to November:
Thanksgiving with Darin's family this year--and it was a weekend FULL.
Wednesday we did the annual soup/pie night. It's GREAT! We each bring a pot of soup and a pie or two to share, then eat all the pie we want! No feeling stuffed after pigging out on Thanksgiving dinner and not having room for pie afterward! There are usually plenty of leftovers to feed people over the weekend.
Thursday, of course, we ate and played. Friday we played and ate. Darin's sister put together a Jeopardy game composed of information she had collected about the members of the family as well as information about some of the family ancestors. It was great fun. But NEVER, I repeat N.E.V.E.R. use those game show buzzers with a room full of small children and teenagers. I swear, I thought my head would explode! Saturday, the teens went to the temple to do baptisms for a couple dozen ancestors that the family geneaological team had uncovered. THAT was cool. We made it back to Ogden that afternoon JUST in time to get Ian to the school--the marching band was playing in the Christmas (oh, excuse me for not being Politically Correct) HOLIDAY parade that night. Sunday, we CRASHED!
Monday, much to EVERYONE'S chagrin, it was back to the old grind--school and work.
Christmas break is coming, people!
02 December 2009
27 October 2009
Catching Up
My, my, my, but it's been a long time since I posted. Naughty me.
So, where to start? I don't know, because I have no idea what I posted about last.
Wait, I'll go check...
September 20th. Wow. How very neglectful of me.
In my defense, I've been busy. I mean, school's started up, we have a kid in marching band, a kid in orchestra, a kid in soccer, plus the roadshow.
Oh! The roadshow! I guess that was the big thing this past month. Wanna see some pics? Here's one:
It was called 'Peter's Pan: a Mormon in NeverFound' and involved a cast of mermaids, pirates, fairies, Peter in search of his mother's lost pan, and a lost boy. We also had one boy play the door. It was kind of cool. This kid really wasn't interested in being involved. I 'threatened' him into coming to help out with the backstage stuff. At some point he wrote himself the part of the door and became my most faithful cast member from that moment on. He had exactly one line at the very end of the show: "SLAM!"
Wait. Here he is:
His sign says, "Second Closet to the Right and Straight On 'Til Sacrament Meeting."
It went really well. The audience clapped and laughed in all the right places. The kids worked hard (they DID the whole thing--from story, to script, to costume and scenery design and manufacture. It was THEIR show and they were very proud of it.).
We have yet to hear what kind of awards we won, or if we'll win any. From what I understand they're planning on doing it again in two years. Cool. I hope I get to direct again.
Maren played her last soccer game of the fall season Saturday. Phew. Long, hard season. Her team only had 8 legal players. At that age, they need nine for a team. We recruited someone's sister--an 8-year-old--to fill in, but we only ever had a full team when EVERYONE showed up or if the other team spotted us a couple of players--which happened more than once.
We'll see what happens in the spring. We either need to recruit more girls or we need to break up the team and distribute the girls to the other teams.
Here she is:
We also went on a field trip over fall break. Me and the kids drove down to SL to the Tracy Aviary and the copper mine. Pics? Sure thing:
We also had our first snowfall. Don't make me remember the date. This pic shows snow up on the mountain, but we had some slush on our lawn from this storm:
Oh, and here's a pic of Hannah earning money street playing. Notice the lack of shoes. The sign says, "Raising Money for Valley of the Moon Fiddle School":
AND, HALLOWEEN IS IN FOUR DAYS!!
So, where to start? I don't know, because I have no idea what I posted about last.
Wait, I'll go check...
September 20th. Wow. How very neglectful of me.
In my defense, I've been busy. I mean, school's started up, we have a kid in marching band, a kid in orchestra, a kid in soccer, plus the roadshow.
Oh! The roadshow! I guess that was the big thing this past month. Wanna see some pics? Here's one:
It was called 'Peter's Pan: a Mormon in NeverFound' and involved a cast of mermaids, pirates, fairies, Peter in search of his mother's lost pan, and a lost boy. We also had one boy play the door. It was kind of cool. This kid really wasn't interested in being involved. I 'threatened' him into coming to help out with the backstage stuff. At some point he wrote himself the part of the door and became my most faithful cast member from that moment on. He had exactly one line at the very end of the show: "SLAM!"
Wait. Here he is:
His sign says, "Second Closet to the Right and Straight On 'Til Sacrament Meeting."
It went really well. The audience clapped and laughed in all the right places. The kids worked hard (they DID the whole thing--from story, to script, to costume and scenery design and manufacture. It was THEIR show and they were very proud of it.).
We have yet to hear what kind of awards we won, or if we'll win any. From what I understand they're planning on doing it again in two years. Cool. I hope I get to direct again.
Maren played her last soccer game of the fall season Saturday. Phew. Long, hard season. Her team only had 8 legal players. At that age, they need nine for a team. We recruited someone's sister--an 8-year-old--to fill in, but we only ever had a full team when EVERYONE showed up or if the other team spotted us a couple of players--which happened more than once.
We'll see what happens in the spring. We either need to recruit more girls or we need to break up the team and distribute the girls to the other teams.
Here she is:
We also went on a field trip over fall break. Me and the kids drove down to SL to the Tracy Aviary and the copper mine. Pics? Sure thing:
We also had our first snowfall. Don't make me remember the date. This pic shows snow up on the mountain, but we had some slush on our lawn from this storm:
Oh, and here's a pic of Hannah earning money street playing. Notice the lack of shoes. The sign says, "Raising Money for Valley of the Moon Fiddle School":
AND, HALLOWEEN IS IN FOUR DAYS!!
26 September 2009
Lessons from the Street-Hannah
I just got back from doing some street playing this evening. I made a total of 80$ in about 4 hours, which I did in two shifts. The farmers market down here was having a "Harvest Moon Festival" with lots of booths, lots of people, and lots of money.
I smell like hippies right now, this most recent shift was spent across the sidewalk from a hippie dude and his hippie girlfriend selling hippie memorabilia and henna tattoos, so now I smell like henna and incense.
Anyway, not only is street playing a fun way to make some money (and see hippies) but you can also learn a lot about people out there.
For one, the people that can afford the least, often give the most.
Children still have a sense of wonder and appreciation of beauty that most adults, in the hum drum of life, have forgotten. Some parents understand this and some don't.
Most people don't care about the mistakes, those that do are not worth your time.
Some people are more willing to give if you smile at them, some only care about the music.
Non-mormons will often give more than mormons.
Only one person in all of ogden knows that the song is called "Ashokan Farewell" and not "That Song from the Civil War"
Most people don't understand that you can't answer their questions and play the fiddle at the same time.
Hard work and time pay off.
People are generally good, giving, and appreciative.
It makes me realize that humanity is not as pathetic as I sometimes think.
It also makes me wonder how many random people have pictures of me on their cameras right now.
I smell like hippies right now, this most recent shift was spent across the sidewalk from a hippie dude and his hippie girlfriend selling hippie memorabilia and henna tattoos, so now I smell like henna and incense.
Anyway, not only is street playing a fun way to make some money (and see hippies) but you can also learn a lot about people out there.
For one, the people that can afford the least, often give the most.
Children still have a sense of wonder and appreciation of beauty that most adults, in the hum drum of life, have forgotten. Some parents understand this and some don't.
Most people don't care about the mistakes, those that do are not worth your time.
Some people are more willing to give if you smile at them, some only care about the music.
Non-mormons will often give more than mormons.
Only one person in all of ogden knows that the song is called "Ashokan Farewell" and not "That Song from the Civil War"
Most people don't understand that you can't answer their questions and play the fiddle at the same time.
Hard work and time pay off.
People are generally good, giving, and appreciative.
It makes me realize that humanity is not as pathetic as I sometimes think.
It also makes me wonder how many random people have pictures of me on their cameras right now.
20 September 2009
Canning
We canned yesterday.
I still have 50 or so quarts of tomatoes, salsa, and tomatoe juice sitting on my picnic table outside.
For those of you who can, here's a SWEET tip--can on a camp stove on your back porch. Keeps the kitchen cool, keeps the mess to a minimum.
I really should be bringing the jars in instead of posting on my blog. But I probably won't. I'll probably make the kids do it tomorrow.
I still have 50 or so quarts of tomatoes, salsa, and tomatoe juice sitting on my picnic table outside.
For those of you who can, here's a SWEET tip--can on a camp stove on your back porch. Keeps the kitchen cool, keeps the mess to a minimum.
I really should be bringing the jars in instead of posting on my blog. But I probably won't. I'll probably make the kids do it tomorrow.
10 September 2009
Pimp Your Phone
Just for fun, I decided to 'pimp' my new phone.
Then Hannah wanted hers done.
Then Maren wanted hers done.
So--mine:
Hannah's:
Maren's:
Nail polish and toothpicks, folks. And a steady hand.
Then Hannah wanted hers done.
Then Maren wanted hers done.
So--mine:
Hannah's:
Maren's:
Nail polish and toothpicks, folks. And a steady hand.
Our Fiddling Fools
Hannah and her Ogden High Yet-Unnamed Fiddle group played their first paying gig last week--a performance for a ward party in the canyon. It was GREAT!! They played a bunch of fun tunes, talked about the instruments, entertained nicely. Hannah is really coming into herself and being a great teacher and leader. Oh, and she's not half bad on the fiddle either.
Ian amazes me with how quickly he changes from one instrument to another and how fast he picks up tunes. His finger fly over that penny whistle.
And yes, that's me on the Irish drum. Their percussionist couldn't make it that night.
Ian amazes me with how quickly he changes from one instrument to another and how fast he picks up tunes. His finger fly over that penny whistle.
And yes, that's me on the Irish drum. Their percussionist couldn't make it that night.
That Time of Year
Hannah's rubbing the fact that fall is coming in my face. Curse her.
She keeps pointing up at the mountains and the first yellowing leaves. Doesn't she realize what that means?
First of all, school. No more sleeping in, no more doing absolutely nothing all day.
Second, harvest time, which means picking and washing and scalding and canning and freezing and making a giant mess of the kitchen, and since we're busy picking and washing and scalding and canning and freezing and cleaning up the kitchen, the rest of the house goes to pot.
But it needs to be done.
I have nectarines and peaches ripening on the tree, tomatoes turning a lovely shade of red, beans and squash and cucumbers out the freaking ears. And in between all that, the lawn needs mowing (we made the mistake of fertilizing) and the garden needs weeding--BADLY. I THINK there are still vegetables out there. ;-)
She keeps pointing up at the mountains and the first yellowing leaves. Doesn't she realize what that means?
First of all, school. No more sleeping in, no more doing absolutely nothing all day.
Second, harvest time, which means picking and washing and scalding and canning and freezing and making a giant mess of the kitchen, and since we're busy picking and washing and scalding and canning and freezing and cleaning up the kitchen, the rest of the house goes to pot.
But it needs to be done.
I have nectarines and peaches ripening on the tree, tomatoes turning a lovely shade of red, beans and squash and cucumbers out the freaking ears. And in between all that, the lawn needs mowing (we made the mistake of fertilizing) and the garden needs weeding--BADLY. I THINK there are still vegetables out there. ;-)
26 August 2009
It's DONE!!!
Ah! Done! Beautiful new paint job, beautiful new carpet. If only we could afford beautiful new furniture and, even better, a beautiful new house!!
But we'll take what we can get for now:
But we'll take what we can get for now:
24 August 2009
Vacation in the Uintas
We just returned from a fabulous vacation in the Uinta mountains. We camped on the Yellowstone river above Duchesne. We found a great campground called Riverside. The site we love is right on the river and someone has built up a big wall in the river and made a nice swimming hole. The best thing about this campsite is that we were the only ones there for 3 of the 5 days we were there and on the other two days there was only one other family on the other side of the campground.
13 August 2009
It Hasn't Been THAT Long!
Ten days. That's not the end of the world long. At least we're doing better than the WHOLE Vincent family on the Vincent Family Blog. Until today, THEY hadn't posted anything since July 25th!!
So, I finished Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. It was really amazingly good, even though I wanted just a LITTLE bit more at the end--and this after 782 pages. In a way that's good. It meant I was SO involved in the story and the characters that I didn't want the story to end. Here, Hannah. Your turn.
I'm going to bed--as soon as I find something new to read.
So, I finished Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. It was really amazingly good, even though I wanted just a LITTLE bit more at the end--and this after 782 pages. In a way that's good. It meant I was SO involved in the story and the characters that I didn't want the story to end. Here, Hannah. Your turn.
I'm going to bed--as soon as I find something new to read.
Ha-Ha to the rescue!!!
Due to the rather erratic nature of the updating on this blog Hannah has decided that maybe she should start covering the vassalage posting for awhile so that you don't all think we were murdered in our sleep, or that we sold everything and bought a hippie van before leaving town to live a free life as gypsies. So here Hannah is! Hannah will stop referring to herself in the third person now, only weird people like Miss Manners and those psycho Facebookers do that.
Anyway, so this is Hannah posting, not Suzanne
I'll pause now so you can all tear out your hair and scream "Noooooo! We want Suzanne!!!!!"
Anyway now for the update.
UPDATE!
Ian is still marching everywhere he goes. He just joined facebook. literally just joined like 20 minutes ago. Umm what else have you been doing Ian? "Nothing" he says. So I'm on my own. Well he was playing some computer game today, Age of something, Mythology? hmmm. The Marching Band is doing a fundraiser tomorrow, putting fliers on door with an envelope attached and a desperate plea for cash. And then Ian and the clarinets and maybe the flutes will be getting together for a sectional practice, right Ian? he says yeah. Ian and I have been borrowing our friends nintendo 64 for a couple months and have decided we should get a gamecube so we can play Zelda to our hearts content. now we just need a spontaneous 50$
Maren is currently down the street running a candy/bottled water stand with her friend Andrew. No she's not ever home, or if she is than Andrew's here. ah well, their cute. She wants to get a goldfish, they're like 13 cents at petco so they should have made enough money by now.
Dad's been working a lot to get everything done so we can go camping this weekend. Isn't he great? he also had Young men's last night, they went and did a service project for an old lady in the ward. They were clearing away her decades old woodpile and underneath the wood they found a heap of old coal. anyone need coal? Coal stove? Furnace? Naughty Kids?
Mom's been Facebooking. Hence the lack of vassalage updates ; )
She's been reading "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel" and she needs to freakin hurry up so I can read it! She's been getting ready for school this year and trying to convince us to start at the same time as public school, what-ever. Anyway, I dunno, most of the day she just deals with us!
She's working on roadshow, she got all the music ready to go and we ran through the script at ym/yw last week. It should be lots of fun. Oh and the youth did not take the death of the rabid squirrel well, I think they may hold a funeral.
Me, well I found the fiddle school I want to go to. Actually it's more like a week-long fiddle camp. It's called "Valley of the Moon" in Northern California and its run by my second favourite overall fiddler and my favourite living fiddler (Doherty's dead) Alisdair Fraser (I'm listening to him right now). I can go next summer if I can swing the 820$ tuition plus airfare.
I went to talk to my school councilor today about taking concurrent enrolment classes and it looks like I may be going to public full-time at least for one tri. She just filled up my schedule with as many courses as she could. If I take them all I'll be competing around 24 college credits, but I have to find out if they're all compatible with USU and decide whether or not I can stay on top of all that for sure as well as the music and, hopefully, a job.
That's all
Be Happy World!!
Anyway, so this is Hannah posting, not Suzanne
I'll pause now so you can all tear out your hair and scream "Noooooo! We want Suzanne!!!!!"
Anyway now for the update.
UPDATE!
Ian is still marching everywhere he goes. He just joined facebook. literally just joined like 20 minutes ago. Umm what else have you been doing Ian? "Nothing" he says. So I'm on my own. Well he was playing some computer game today, Age of something, Mythology? hmmm. The Marching Band is doing a fundraiser tomorrow, putting fliers on door with an envelope attached and a desperate plea for cash. And then Ian and the clarinets and maybe the flutes will be getting together for a sectional practice, right Ian? he says yeah. Ian and I have been borrowing our friends nintendo 64 for a couple months and have decided we should get a gamecube so we can play Zelda to our hearts content. now we just need a spontaneous 50$
Maren is currently down the street running a candy/bottled water stand with her friend Andrew. No she's not ever home, or if she is than Andrew's here. ah well, their cute. She wants to get a goldfish, they're like 13 cents at petco so they should have made enough money by now.
Dad's been working a lot to get everything done so we can go camping this weekend. Isn't he great? he also had Young men's last night, they went and did a service project for an old lady in the ward. They were clearing away her decades old woodpile and underneath the wood they found a heap of old coal. anyone need coal? Coal stove? Furnace? Naughty Kids?
Mom's been Facebooking. Hence the lack of vassalage updates ; )
She's been reading "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel" and she needs to freakin hurry up so I can read it! She's been getting ready for school this year and trying to convince us to start at the same time as public school, what-ever. Anyway, I dunno, most of the day she just deals with us!
She's working on roadshow, she got all the music ready to go and we ran through the script at ym/yw last week. It should be lots of fun. Oh and the youth did not take the death of the rabid squirrel well, I think they may hold a funeral.
Me, well I found the fiddle school I want to go to. Actually it's more like a week-long fiddle camp. It's called "Valley of the Moon" in Northern California and its run by my second favourite overall fiddler and my favourite living fiddler (Doherty's dead) Alisdair Fraser (I'm listening to him right now). I can go next summer if I can swing the 820$ tuition plus airfare.
I went to talk to my school councilor today about taking concurrent enrolment classes and it looks like I may be going to public full-time at least for one tri. She just filled up my schedule with as many courses as she could. If I take them all I'll be competing around 24 college credits, but I have to find out if they're all compatible with USU and decide whether or not I can stay on top of all that for sure as well as the music and, hopefully, a job.
That's all
Be Happy World!!
03 August 2009
Catching Up
I haven't been doing very well at my goal to keep this blog current. But it's not like I've been totally uncommunicative web-wise. I have three blogs plus facebook plus email.
Lately I've been turning political on my writing blog. Why? I think it's time--probably past time--to use any venue available to say what needs to be said. So I wrote about racism (a conservative view) and received a disappointingly closed-minded response from a liberal friend (probably former friend now) of mine. I also posted pictures that express my view of the Crowley-Gates Beer Summit. Check it out:
http://nightingalescage.blogspot.com/
This week we've been drying apricots (a bucketful every two or three days, wash 'em, put 'em on the dryer) and freezing beans. And I ate my first ripe tomato! YUM!! We've also been tearing the house apart, getting rid of stuff we don't need and boxing up stuff we don't need right now. We just need to find someplace to shove the boxes. Storage units are pricier than I had anticipated, and if we don't move we're really won't want to live in perpetuity (at least partially) out of a storage unit. We're still not absolutely convinced moving is the right thing right now, but we're moving forward with the process of preparing to sell our house. If all else fails our current house will have new paint, some new carpet, some long-delayed repairs completed, and the yard looking nice.
The real-estate agent would like us to get the house on the market ASAP, but I absolutely do not want to be pressured in any way to hurry and find a new house.
Let's see...
Maren spends as much of her time as possible playing with friends, and it is the end of the world if she has no one to play with. She also really got excited about cleaning out her room and boxed up an astonishingly huge bunch of stuff. PLUS she's doing a SUPER job keeping her side of the room picked up. She got a haircut this week, too. It's cute, cute, cute!
Ian went on High Adventure with the scouts. They hiked more than 60 miles during the week all totalled, and hiked to the top of King's Peak. The next week he started band camp, in which the band does most of their work getting their field show ready. They went from 7 AM to 9 PM for five days, with breaks for lunch and dinner. Ian had a great time and spent time with his bandy friends. He's excited for the band season to start on the 21st at Ogden High's first foot ball game.
Hannah has kept the Ogden High fiddle group active and practicing all summer. They'll be playing at a ward adult activity the end of August. The music teacher--who plays bass in the fiddle group--suggested to her that he might do a celtic marching band program next year and include the fiddle group in that. That would be cool. She's been a great help around the house--painting and cleaning and organizing. She's also been reading. How's THIS for light summer reading--The Canterbury Tales. Yep. The whole thing. She finished The Aeneid today, has read part of The Fairy Queen, Dante's Inferno, Plato's Republic, Marlow's Dr. Faustus, and various other works of poetry and prose. And she has a stack of books--mostly epic poetry and Shakespeare plays--that she wants to read.
Darin got to work from home this morning. That was nice--just to have him there even though we couldn't bother him. He also got to play pitbull last night. We were woken up at 2:30 in the morning when the alarm on our pickup truck went off. We heard a car driving away. He threw on some shorts--very light tan shorts; it looked like he'd gone out in his underwear--and ran out to check things out. No damage to the truck, nothing missing. The window had been left down enough for someone to reach in and unlock it. But when you unlock the truck manually the alarm goes off unless the key is in the ignition. It was enough to scare them off before they could get anything. Not that we keep much of any value in the truck. They might have gotten away with a pair or two of Hannah's shoes. She has so many she has to keep them SOMEWHERE! We called the police and Darin talked to the officer. It took us both an hour to get back to sleep. Maybe it's another sign that we need to move.
Suzanne is working on Roadshow. Thanks to Hannah for all her help on script and lyrics. Unfortunately we had to put the cement galoshes on the rabid squirrel that's actually a parrot, and the parrot that's actually a rabid squirrel. Don't ask. The youth are primarily in charge of writing the show. 'Nuf said? We'll read through the script and hear the music for the first time Wednesday.
We're also gearing up for school. We've been buying books and deciding on curriculum, as well as clothes shopping to make sure everyone has at least three pairs of long pants without holes in the knees.
But right now I need to go pay bills. I hope the bank's online account services is up and running again. That's the reason I'm blogging right now. So I guess that's OK.
Lately I've been turning political on my writing blog. Why? I think it's time--probably past time--to use any venue available to say what needs to be said. So I wrote about racism (a conservative view) and received a disappointingly closed-minded response from a liberal friend (probably former friend now) of mine. I also posted pictures that express my view of the Crowley-Gates Beer Summit. Check it out:
http://nightingalescage.blogspot.com/
This week we've been drying apricots (a bucketful every two or three days, wash 'em, put 'em on the dryer) and freezing beans. And I ate my first ripe tomato! YUM!! We've also been tearing the house apart, getting rid of stuff we don't need and boxing up stuff we don't need right now. We just need to find someplace to shove the boxes. Storage units are pricier than I had anticipated, and if we don't move we're really won't want to live in perpetuity (at least partially) out of a storage unit. We're still not absolutely convinced moving is the right thing right now, but we're moving forward with the process of preparing to sell our house. If all else fails our current house will have new paint, some new carpet, some long-delayed repairs completed, and the yard looking nice.
The real-estate agent would like us to get the house on the market ASAP, but I absolutely do not want to be pressured in any way to hurry and find a new house.
Let's see...
Maren spends as much of her time as possible playing with friends, and it is the end of the world if she has no one to play with. She also really got excited about cleaning out her room and boxed up an astonishingly huge bunch of stuff. PLUS she's doing a SUPER job keeping her side of the room picked up. She got a haircut this week, too. It's cute, cute, cute!
Ian went on High Adventure with the scouts. They hiked more than 60 miles during the week all totalled, and hiked to the top of King's Peak. The next week he started band camp, in which the band does most of their work getting their field show ready. They went from 7 AM to 9 PM for five days, with breaks for lunch and dinner. Ian had a great time and spent time with his bandy friends. He's excited for the band season to start on the 21st at Ogden High's first foot ball game.
Hannah has kept the Ogden High fiddle group active and practicing all summer. They'll be playing at a ward adult activity the end of August. The music teacher--who plays bass in the fiddle group--suggested to her that he might do a celtic marching band program next year and include the fiddle group in that. That would be cool. She's been a great help around the house--painting and cleaning and organizing. She's also been reading. How's THIS for light summer reading--The Canterbury Tales. Yep. The whole thing. She finished The Aeneid today, has read part of The Fairy Queen, Dante's Inferno, Plato's Republic, Marlow's Dr. Faustus, and various other works of poetry and prose. And she has a stack of books--mostly epic poetry and Shakespeare plays--that she wants to read.
Darin got to work from home this morning. That was nice--just to have him there even though we couldn't bother him. He also got to play pitbull last night. We were woken up at 2:30 in the morning when the alarm on our pickup truck went off. We heard a car driving away. He threw on some shorts--very light tan shorts; it looked like he'd gone out in his underwear--and ran out to check things out. No damage to the truck, nothing missing. The window had been left down enough for someone to reach in and unlock it. But when you unlock the truck manually the alarm goes off unless the key is in the ignition. It was enough to scare them off before they could get anything. Not that we keep much of any value in the truck. They might have gotten away with a pair or two of Hannah's shoes. She has so many she has to keep them SOMEWHERE! We called the police and Darin talked to the officer. It took us both an hour to get back to sleep. Maybe it's another sign that we need to move.
Suzanne is working on Roadshow. Thanks to Hannah for all her help on script and lyrics. Unfortunately we had to put the cement galoshes on the rabid squirrel that's actually a parrot, and the parrot that's actually a rabid squirrel. Don't ask. The youth are primarily in charge of writing the show. 'Nuf said? We'll read through the script and hear the music for the first time Wednesday.
We're also gearing up for school. We've been buying books and deciding on curriculum, as well as clothes shopping to make sure everyone has at least three pairs of long pants without holes in the knees.
But right now I need to go pay bills. I hope the bank's online account services is up and running again. That's the reason I'm blogging right now. So I guess that's OK.
21 July 2009
Floors, Floors, Floors
We finally had a guy come to replace the hardwood floor. YAY! It looks really pretty, but I am in no way a fan of hardwood floors--especially in my little house. The noise would drive me crazy!! And can you imagine the echo when I tried to teach a piano lesson? Ugh.
So the next step was to pick carpet.
The hardwood guy gave us a bead on a local carpet company, so we went there and looked around and took home some samples. We found one we really liked. It had a good wear rating, good warranty. The other samples we took home that day were in the $25/yd range (including carpet, pad, labor, tax). The one we liked turned out to be $40/yd! Ouch. OUT of the price range. We looked around at their store some more, but didn't find anything we liked.
So we tried Home Depot.
There we found a couple of carpets we liked, took the samples home, chose one. It's a nice deep forest floor-ish kind of green, which will go nicely with the green and tan walls. It's getting to feel kind of cozy and cathartic in the front room--like languoring beside a gurgling Irish brook. ;-)
But the really great thing about this carpet is that it was selling for $18 a yard (regulary a $35/yd carpet), with a better wear rating and better warranty than any of the other capets we looked at.
We just have to figure out what to do with the piano while the carpet is being laid. It can't go outside in the heat--very bad on piano strings. It won't make the corners to put it into one of the bedrooms. I really don't want to take it down the steps into the family room, and I'm afraid it will damage the tiles if we try to put it in the kitchen (metal casters and the sheer weight of the thing). So I wondered if it might work to put down a sheet of plywood over the kitchen tile and push the piano up on it. Hmm. Just might work!
Darin and I also tiled the entryway last night. We still need to grout it, but it looks pretty cool!
After we were done we hauled some fudgesicles out of the freezer and went outside to enjoy the beautiful summer evening with our girls (Ian's away on High Adventure), and standing outside in our beautiful yard, we wondered if maybe we ought to look into adding on again and stay put. Yes, despite the neighbor. She really will die someday.
*shrug* I don't know.
So the next step was to pick carpet.
The hardwood guy gave us a bead on a local carpet company, so we went there and looked around and took home some samples. We found one we really liked. It had a good wear rating, good warranty. The other samples we took home that day were in the $25/yd range (including carpet, pad, labor, tax). The one we liked turned out to be $40/yd! Ouch. OUT of the price range. We looked around at their store some more, but didn't find anything we liked.
So we tried Home Depot.
There we found a couple of carpets we liked, took the samples home, chose one. It's a nice deep forest floor-ish kind of green, which will go nicely with the green and tan walls. It's getting to feel kind of cozy and cathartic in the front room--like languoring beside a gurgling Irish brook. ;-)
But the really great thing about this carpet is that it was selling for $18 a yard (regulary a $35/yd carpet), with a better wear rating and better warranty than any of the other capets we looked at.
We just have to figure out what to do with the piano while the carpet is being laid. It can't go outside in the heat--very bad on piano strings. It won't make the corners to put it into one of the bedrooms. I really don't want to take it down the steps into the family room, and I'm afraid it will damage the tiles if we try to put it in the kitchen (metal casters and the sheer weight of the thing). So I wondered if it might work to put down a sheet of plywood over the kitchen tile and push the piano up on it. Hmm. Just might work!
Darin and I also tiled the entryway last night. We still need to grout it, but it looks pretty cool!
After we were done we hauled some fudgesicles out of the freezer and went outside to enjoy the beautiful summer evening with our girls (Ian's away on High Adventure), and standing outside in our beautiful yard, we wondered if maybe we ought to look into adding on again and stay put. Yes, despite the neighbor. She really will die someday.
*shrug* I don't know.
14 July 2009
Neighbor from H***
I had a bit of a run-in today with the prune across the street.
I hope we sell the house soon and get the heck out of Dodge. Today I'm thinking the great yard and the fantastic location really aren't worth staying. It's no use waiting for her to die. She'll live forever out of spite.
I hope we sell the house soon and get the heck out of Dodge. Today I'm thinking the great yard and the fantastic location really aren't worth staying. It's no use waiting for her to die. She'll live forever out of spite.
10 July 2009
Bragging!
Hannah scored a 31 on her ACT!!
With that and her viola, she's practically a shoe-in for scholarships!
PHEW!!!!
With that and her viola, she's practically a shoe-in for scholarships!
PHEW!!!!
02 July 2009
Love in the Desert
Darin and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary Sunday.
20 years!!! That's a LONG time.
Anyway, Darin took me down to southern Utah for a 5-day getaway to sort-of relive our honeymoon--we went camping in Zion and Bryce.
This time we skipped Bryce, but added Cedar Breaks.
So Saturday we left early--in time to make lunch at the Big Rock Candy Mountain Cafe where we had some really good burgers.
Thanks to Mom and Dad for the recommendation. After lunch we drove on down to Cedar Breaks.
It's a pretty spectacular little Bryce-type canyon, complete with a very big, very old Bristlecone Pine and a great hike to an overlook with one MEAN echo. We met some guys who were coming out of that overlook who told us exactly where to stand to get the best echo. At 3:00. Not 12:00, not 2:30. 3:00! We picked up our obligatory refrigerator magnet (Suzanne's collection) and cane medallion (Darin's collection). After Cedar Breaks we drove to St. George where we checked into our hotel, got some dinner, and did some shopping so we could eat in on Sunday for lunch.
Sunday, being our Anniversary, we decided to just kick back and relax. We slept in, read, played some games, floated in the pool, visited a local botanical garden, visited the St. George Temple visitor's center, then went out to dinner.
Monday, we went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
WOW!!! Pictures do NOT do it justice! You can't come close to getting any kind of scope for how big it is until you're standing on it's edge.
We did a couple of good hikes, visited all the great overlooks, got a bit of vertigo looking over crumbling canyon walls, snatched each other right out of the air... No. That's The Emperor's New Groove. There was no need for snatching, though we did sidle right up to the edge and hang our heads over to look down. OK. Actually we belly-crawled to the edge to take a peak over the side. Wow! WOW!! It is AWESOME!
And the North Rim is beautiful! I had always envisioned this chasm in a scrub desert, but you actually climb to near 9000 ft elevation through acres and acres and miles and miles of evergreen forest. Ponderosa Pine and Quaking Aspen type forest. Did you know there is a herd of buffalo living in the forests north of the Grand Canyon? There is! We saw them!
We loved it so much there we're planning to take the kids there for vacation next year--that is IF Obama's Cap and Trade (better known as Bait and Switch) somehow dies coming out of the gates. Otherwise we may not be able to afford the gas, let alone food or clothing or medical care or electricity or...
Tuesday turned out to be another easy-going day. We did some shopping, went to the St. George Temple and did some sealings--an anniversary tradition for us. We stopped by Iceberg for shakes then chilled out the rest of the day. Chilling is nice.
Wednesday we checked out early and headed to Zion National Park.
I have to say, the shuttle system they've implemented at Zion and Bryce is phenomenal. It makes the whole trip SO laid back and relaxed. No hassling over parking or following lost people up the canyon. We parked at the visitor center, hopped a shuttle, and did the canyon. We did it in two legs. The first, the morning leg, we did the Emerald Pool loop. Great hike, medium to strenuous, about 2 hours. We added on the Grotto trail and picked up the shuttle there. Then we went into Springdale for lunch. By the way, if you go to Zion, don't plan on having a lot of lunch choices in town. We were really craving pizza and had heard that the pizza and noodle place in Springdale was really good, but they didn't open until 4:00! We ended up having some excellent deli sandwiches at a little ice cream and deli down the street. It was cheaper that way anyway. Then we headed back to the park and on up to the Narrows at the top of the park. We hiked up the 1 mile trail to the river's edge, then hiked another mile up the narrows, IN the water most of the way. It wasn't too deep. Ankle-deep through most, though there was one spot where the water came waist high at the shallowest. We played, too lots of pictures, loved being wet in that desert heat (it was 106 that day).
We met lots of really nice people, and had a great time. That afternoon we hopped in the car and headed home. 5 1/2 hours later we were hugging our kids.
Great trip!
Thanks, Darin. You're the greatest, and I love you more than ever.
20 years!!! That's a LONG time.
Anyway, Darin took me down to southern Utah for a 5-day getaway to sort-of relive our honeymoon--we went camping in Zion and Bryce.
This time we skipped Bryce, but added Cedar Breaks.
So Saturday we left early--in time to make lunch at the Big Rock Candy Mountain Cafe where we had some really good burgers.
Thanks to Mom and Dad for the recommendation. After lunch we drove on down to Cedar Breaks.
It's a pretty spectacular little Bryce-type canyon, complete with a very big, very old Bristlecone Pine and a great hike to an overlook with one MEAN echo. We met some guys who were coming out of that overlook who told us exactly where to stand to get the best echo. At 3:00. Not 12:00, not 2:30. 3:00! We picked up our obligatory refrigerator magnet (Suzanne's collection) and cane medallion (Darin's collection). After Cedar Breaks we drove to St. George where we checked into our hotel, got some dinner, and did some shopping so we could eat in on Sunday for lunch.
Sunday, being our Anniversary, we decided to just kick back and relax. We slept in, read, played some games, floated in the pool, visited a local botanical garden, visited the St. George Temple visitor's center, then went out to dinner.
Monday, we went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
WOW!!! Pictures do NOT do it justice! You can't come close to getting any kind of scope for how big it is until you're standing on it's edge.
We did a couple of good hikes, visited all the great overlooks, got a bit of vertigo looking over crumbling canyon walls, snatched each other right out of the air... No. That's The Emperor's New Groove. There was no need for snatching, though we did sidle right up to the edge and hang our heads over to look down. OK. Actually we belly-crawled to the edge to take a peak over the side. Wow! WOW!! It is AWESOME!
And the North Rim is beautiful! I had always envisioned this chasm in a scrub desert, but you actually climb to near 9000 ft elevation through acres and acres and miles and miles of evergreen forest. Ponderosa Pine and Quaking Aspen type forest. Did you know there is a herd of buffalo living in the forests north of the Grand Canyon? There is! We saw them!
We loved it so much there we're planning to take the kids there for vacation next year--that is IF Obama's Cap and Trade (better known as Bait and Switch) somehow dies coming out of the gates. Otherwise we may not be able to afford the gas, let alone food or clothing or medical care or electricity or...
Tuesday turned out to be another easy-going day. We did some shopping, went to the St. George Temple and did some sealings--an anniversary tradition for us. We stopped by Iceberg for shakes then chilled out the rest of the day. Chilling is nice.
Wednesday we checked out early and headed to Zion National Park.
I have to say, the shuttle system they've implemented at Zion and Bryce is phenomenal. It makes the whole trip SO laid back and relaxed. No hassling over parking or following lost people up the canyon. We parked at the visitor center, hopped a shuttle, and did the canyon. We did it in two legs. The first, the morning leg, we did the Emerald Pool loop. Great hike, medium to strenuous, about 2 hours. We added on the Grotto trail and picked up the shuttle there. Then we went into Springdale for lunch. By the way, if you go to Zion, don't plan on having a lot of lunch choices in town. We were really craving pizza and had heard that the pizza and noodle place in Springdale was really good, but they didn't open until 4:00! We ended up having some excellent deli sandwiches at a little ice cream and deli down the street. It was cheaper that way anyway. Then we headed back to the park and on up to the Narrows at the top of the park. We hiked up the 1 mile trail to the river's edge, then hiked another mile up the narrows, IN the water most of the way. It wasn't too deep. Ankle-deep through most, though there was one spot where the water came waist high at the shallowest. We played, too lots of pictures, loved being wet in that desert heat (it was 106 that day).
We met lots of really nice people, and had a great time. That afternoon we hopped in the car and headed home. 5 1/2 hours later we were hugging our kids.
Great trip!
Thanks, Darin. You're the greatest, and I love you more than ever.
23 June 2009
The Visitor
The day Darin and the kids came home from youth conference, we had a little friend show up at our house.
It's some kind of ground squirrel, though one I've never seen before. It was big with a longer tail than I'd ever seen on a ground squirrel--though not a bushy squirrel-like tail.
We started to wonder if it had hitched a ride with them from Ephraim.
We've seen it twice now, but it disappears quickly when we try to chase it for a better look.
Anyway, I looked around on the DWR's website and THINK it might be:
A White-tailed Prairie Dog, which would mean he came from somewhere around here.
Cute, huh?
I just hope he doesn't take a liking to my garden veggies!
It's some kind of ground squirrel, though one I've never seen before. It was big with a longer tail than I'd ever seen on a ground squirrel--though not a bushy squirrel-like tail.
We started to wonder if it had hitched a ride with them from Ephraim.
We've seen it twice now, but it disappears quickly when we try to chase it for a better look.
Anyway, I looked around on the DWR's website and THINK it might be:
A White-tailed Prairie Dog, which would mean he came from somewhere around here.
Cute, huh?
I just hope he doesn't take a liking to my garden veggies!
22 June 2009
Facebooking
I'm glad to know people actually read this blog.
Just in time for me to join Facebook.
Weird.
Me and Darin have Facebook pages. We still need pictures. Mine will probably be one of feet. I like feet.
Look us up!
Just in time for me to join Facebook.
Weird.
Me and Darin have Facebook pages. We still need pictures. Mine will probably be one of feet. I like feet.
Look us up!
16 June 2009
A Little Bit of Everything
There's STILL a hole in my carpet. But the painting is almost done.
My garden is growing nicely, though some of the plants are a bit pale--not enough sun lately, I think.
The lawn WAY needs mowing. We haven't had a dry day in two weeks!
We have no water today--the city was kind enough (THIS time) to tell us that our water was going to be shut off today due to water line repair and update. Hopefully it won't be off tomorrow, too.
We've had some pretty amazing temple experiences this month--three of them. First, some dear friends of ours had their third child sealed to them. They've adopted three children through foster care, and now all three are sealed to them. It was a neat experience. Second, my neice, Claire was married. It was a beautiful ceremony and a lovely day, with the rain holding off--literally--until we had the last table taken down after the reception! Third, another neice, Alison, was sealed to her husband and two boys. It's been very cool to see the changes they've made in their lives to make it possible. They're a great family!
The kids just came back from a bike ride, which means my hour of peace and quiet just came to an end.
Ian turns fifteen on Saturday. He THINKS he's going to get his learner's permit! Whatever!!
Darin and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary on the 28th. He won't tell me where we're going or what we're doing, and he's sworn the kids to secrecy and warned me that if I even BUG them about telling me any details he'll hold me down so they can tickle me. They're all having so much fun with this. But just to get him back, me and the kids won't tell him what we're getting HIM for Father's Day! Bwahahaha!!
Hannah made business cards this week. That was weird. My daughter has business cards!
Darin, Hannah, and Ian leave tomorrow morning for youth conference. Me and Maren will be ALL ALONE!! I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. We'll post pics when the week's over.
The dog needs a bath, but we don't have any water to give her one today.
We're having grilled chicken legs for dinner tonight.
My car window squeals when you lower it--but only when the car is dirty.
I paid $2.49 a gallon for gas yesterday and the same price for a case of bottled water.
I'm thirsty.
Does anyone read this?
*shrug*
My garden is growing nicely, though some of the plants are a bit pale--not enough sun lately, I think.
The lawn WAY needs mowing. We haven't had a dry day in two weeks!
We have no water today--the city was kind enough (THIS time) to tell us that our water was going to be shut off today due to water line repair and update. Hopefully it won't be off tomorrow, too.
We've had some pretty amazing temple experiences this month--three of them. First, some dear friends of ours had their third child sealed to them. They've adopted three children through foster care, and now all three are sealed to them. It was a neat experience. Second, my neice, Claire was married. It was a beautiful ceremony and a lovely day, with the rain holding off--literally--until we had the last table taken down after the reception! Third, another neice, Alison, was sealed to her husband and two boys. It's been very cool to see the changes they've made in their lives to make it possible. They're a great family!
The kids just came back from a bike ride, which means my hour of peace and quiet just came to an end.
Ian turns fifteen on Saturday. He THINKS he's going to get his learner's permit! Whatever!!
Darin and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary on the 28th. He won't tell me where we're going or what we're doing, and he's sworn the kids to secrecy and warned me that if I even BUG them about telling me any details he'll hold me down so they can tickle me. They're all having so much fun with this. But just to get him back, me and the kids won't tell him what we're getting HIM for Father's Day! Bwahahaha!!
Hannah made business cards this week. That was weird. My daughter has business cards!
Darin, Hannah, and Ian leave tomorrow morning for youth conference. Me and Maren will be ALL ALONE!! I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. We'll post pics when the week's over.
The dog needs a bath, but we don't have any water to give her one today.
We're having grilled chicken legs for dinner tonight.
My car window squeals when you lower it--but only when the car is dirty.
I paid $2.49 a gallon for gas yesterday and the same price for a case of bottled water.
I'm thirsty.
Does anyone read this?
*shrug*
12 June 2009
Hannah Got a Job!!
Well, sort of, let me explain.
My good friend Abby and I started a business, Canyon Wind Strings. Our plan is to spend the summer providing music for wedding receptions, family reunions an the like. We've only been started for a few weeks, during which time we put an add on KSL, and we already have a possible job.
Anyway, you can see our website (Yes! how cool! we have a website too!) at sites.google.com/site/canyonwindstrings.
Hannah
My good friend Abby and I started a business, Canyon Wind Strings. Our plan is to spend the summer providing music for wedding receptions, family reunions an the like. We've only been started for a few weeks, during which time we put an add on KSL, and we already have a possible job.
Anyway, you can see our website (Yes! how cool! we have a website too!) at sites.google.com/site/canyonwindstrings.
Hannah
09 June 2009
There's a Hole in My Carpet!! & We LOVE Airplanes!
Yay!!
Why do I say 'Yay!!'???
Because that hole means I get new carpet!!
After all we've been through the past couple of weeks, I DESERVE new carpet!!
But why is there a hole?
Because they had to take a sample of the carpet for valuation. It goes to some lab somewhere and they determine the worth of the carpet based on its quality, etc. Then that report goes to the insurance adjuster who then determines how much he's going to give us to replace it based on that report.
It's likely we'll be paying some out, but at this point we don't have much choice but to replace it. It's permanently stained and now has a hole cut into it. We're thinking, while we're at it, that we might carpet the bedrooms too. Then, if we decide to sell (and we're thinking about it--we even fasted about it Sunday), we'll have new carpet to add to its appeal.
Plus I'm getting a new paint job in the living room and hall. We're being bold and going with color. Three walls of the room are, even as we speak, a nice warm tan. The third wall will be painted today--a kind of dusty, ferny, green. Then the doorframes, window sills, baseboards, and ceiling will be the same warm white we have in the kitchen. We're also planning on painting the kitchen while we're painting and would like to paint the family room. But those projects will have to wait until the living room is done.
This is what's been done so far. Nice, huh? OK, so that picture's kind of dark. It's not that dark. I'll post more pic later.
One big dilemma with this whole affair is what in the world to do with the piano while we're laying carpet. It won't fit into one of the rooms down the hallway (it won't make the turn into a room), if we take it into the family room we'll have to take it down steps (besides, the family room will already be full of extra furniture), I'm worried that if we take it into the kitchen its weight will damage the ceramic tiles. We could take it outside, but we still have the problem of a) steps, and b) potential exposure to the weather (both rain and temperature change which is NOT good for tuning). If we end up doing the bedrooms, too, we might have to rent a PODS for a day or two and stow all the furniture in there.
At any rate, WHATEVER we do with the piano, we're going to need SEVERAL strong men to help us do it. Any volunteers?
THANKS! I knew you'd be willing!
Also, if anyone finds themselves in a position similar to ours, we're using a company by the name of ServiceMaster/Phipps Construction. They've been FANTASTIC!!
We also went out to the Air Show at Hill Air Force Base Sunday. We got there in time for it to a)rain and b)see the Thunderbirds! WOW! It is THRILLING to have those jets fly over and to feel the ground rumble beneath your feet and your heart pound to the rhythm of the jet engines.
It wasn't raining when we got there, and wasn't raining most of the time, but a swift moving rainstorm came over right in the middle of the Thunderbrids' show, so they had to delay the show, with the Thunderbirds flying around overhead somewhere, until the weather cleared. The storm was moving so fast it didn't take more than 15 minutes or so for the show to get going again.
Pics!
The Storm after it passed over. Beautiful!
The Thunderbirds' Chevron formation:
Me and Darin after the storm:
Standing under the nose of an F-16:
Why do I say 'Yay!!'???
Because that hole means I get new carpet!!
After all we've been through the past couple of weeks, I DESERVE new carpet!!
But why is there a hole?
Because they had to take a sample of the carpet for valuation. It goes to some lab somewhere and they determine the worth of the carpet based on its quality, etc. Then that report goes to the insurance adjuster who then determines how much he's going to give us to replace it based on that report.
It's likely we'll be paying some out, but at this point we don't have much choice but to replace it. It's permanently stained and now has a hole cut into it. We're thinking, while we're at it, that we might carpet the bedrooms too. Then, if we decide to sell (and we're thinking about it--we even fasted about it Sunday), we'll have new carpet to add to its appeal.
Plus I'm getting a new paint job in the living room and hall. We're being bold and going with color. Three walls of the room are, even as we speak, a nice warm tan. The third wall will be painted today--a kind of dusty, ferny, green. Then the doorframes, window sills, baseboards, and ceiling will be the same warm white we have in the kitchen. We're also planning on painting the kitchen while we're painting and would like to paint the family room. But those projects will have to wait until the living room is done.
This is what's been done so far. Nice, huh? OK, so that picture's kind of dark. It's not that dark. I'll post more pic later.
One big dilemma with this whole affair is what in the world to do with the piano while we're laying carpet. It won't fit into one of the rooms down the hallway (it won't make the turn into a room), if we take it into the family room we'll have to take it down steps (besides, the family room will already be full of extra furniture), I'm worried that if we take it into the kitchen its weight will damage the ceramic tiles. We could take it outside, but we still have the problem of a) steps, and b) potential exposure to the weather (both rain and temperature change which is NOT good for tuning). If we end up doing the bedrooms, too, we might have to rent a PODS for a day or two and stow all the furniture in there.
At any rate, WHATEVER we do with the piano, we're going to need SEVERAL strong men to help us do it. Any volunteers?
THANKS! I knew you'd be willing!
Also, if anyone finds themselves in a position similar to ours, we're using a company by the name of ServiceMaster/Phipps Construction. They've been FANTASTIC!!
We also went out to the Air Show at Hill Air Force Base Sunday. We got there in time for it to a)rain and b)see the Thunderbirds! WOW! It is THRILLING to have those jets fly over and to feel the ground rumble beneath your feet and your heart pound to the rhythm of the jet engines.
It wasn't raining when we got there, and wasn't raining most of the time, but a swift moving rainstorm came over right in the middle of the Thunderbrids' show, so they had to delay the show, with the Thunderbirds flying around overhead somewhere, until the weather cleared. The storm was moving so fast it didn't take more than 15 minutes or so for the show to get going again.
Pics!
The Storm after it passed over. Beautiful!
The Thunderbirds' Chevron formation:
Me and Darin after the storm:
Standing under the nose of an F-16:
04 June 2009
29 May 2009
ROADSHOWS
Remember those?
It doesn't seem to be 'the thing' to do in Mormon culture anymore. When I was growing up it was a big deal. A huge deal--stake, regional, and state competitions, gigantic budgets for scenery and wardrobe.
The last roadshow I remember hearing anything about was in our own stake 12 years ago.
But now our stake is doing them again.
And I'M our ward Roadshow director!
As part of my job I've been looking at other roadshows and found this one that's a HUGE success because of the TREMENDOUS amount of audience involvement.
It doesn't seem to be 'the thing' to do in Mormon culture anymore. When I was growing up it was a big deal. A huge deal--stake, regional, and state competitions, gigantic budgets for scenery and wardrobe.
The last roadshow I remember hearing anything about was in our own stake 12 years ago.
But now our stake is doing them again.
And I'M our ward Roadshow director!
As part of my job I've been looking at other roadshows and found this one that's a HUGE success because of the TREMENDOUS amount of audience involvement.
28 May 2009
SILENCE!!
The fans are gone!
A gentlemen from the disaster cleanup company came to my door. I told he was my favorite person in the whole wide world just then.
He checked the dryness of the walls and floor and took those $%&@#*!! fans out of my living room.
But now we seem to be playing a waiting game. We don't know why. Maybe it's the insurance company who's holding things up. I don't know. At any rate, the fans are gone and nothing is happening to get things moving on the restoration.
So we're walking across a low spot in the floor and looking dismally at the the horrid stains on the carpet and figuring it's probably not worth our while to wash the walls since they're still covered with little red stickers showing the extent of the water damage. We're also looking at our piano--which is EXTREMELY heavy, by the way--and kind of hoping things DON'T happen any time soon, because that would mean having to move the piano again. Whether we get new carpet or have the carpet cleaned and the pad replaced, the piano will be in the way where it stands. So do we move it now to try to restore some sort of order to the house while we wait? Or do we wait to find out what's going to happen?
Heck if I know.
*sigh*
At least my garden's all planted now.
I put in three more rows of onions, a row of spinach, a couple rows of beets, a row of carrots, a row of parsnips, two additional hills of crookneck squash, and a few more potatoes this morning. I can hardly wait to start eating fresh garden produce! Yum!
A gentlemen from the disaster cleanup company came to my door. I told he was my favorite person in the whole wide world just then.
He checked the dryness of the walls and floor and took those $%&@#*!! fans out of my living room.
But now we seem to be playing a waiting game. We don't know why. Maybe it's the insurance company who's holding things up. I don't know. At any rate, the fans are gone and nothing is happening to get things moving on the restoration.
So we're walking across a low spot in the floor and looking dismally at the the horrid stains on the carpet and figuring it's probably not worth our while to wash the walls since they're still covered with little red stickers showing the extent of the water damage. We're also looking at our piano--which is EXTREMELY heavy, by the way--and kind of hoping things DON'T happen any time soon, because that would mean having to move the piano again. Whether we get new carpet or have the carpet cleaned and the pad replaced, the piano will be in the way where it stands. So do we move it now to try to restore some sort of order to the house while we wait? Or do we wait to find out what's going to happen?
Heck if I know.
*sigh*
At least my garden's all planted now.
I put in three more rows of onions, a row of spinach, a couple rows of beets, a row of carrots, a row of parsnips, two additional hills of crookneck squash, and a few more potatoes this morning. I can hardly wait to start eating fresh garden produce! Yum!
23 May 2009
Aaaaaaaah! & Grrrrrrr!
We've all had a HUGE week. Now that it's over we can take a little bit of a breather (three-day-weekend!) before things turn crazy again next week.
Suzanne taught her class on Flash Fiction. It was a lot of fun, and I think it turned out pretty well. She also got to spend some time with a writer friend of hers and found out that Munchkin has two new add-on packs! If you've never heard of Munchkin, it's a spoof on Role Playing Games, it's very irreverent, and it's a LOT of fun.
The garden is planted--and we found ourselves with about 100 sq. ft. with nothing planted in it. How did that happen? We plan to fill it with a few more rows of onion, plus beets (if I can find beet seeds this late in the season because I don't know what happened to the beet seeds I thought I had), and I'm not sure what else. My little baby tomato plants (which aren't such babies anymore--they're close to 2 ft. long) are finally in their beds. We planted some petunias, transplanted my Rose of Sharon shrubs to the garden they were intended to occupy when we bought them last year, and planted a hedge of lilac and Nine-bark along the fence between us and our neighbors. Privacy! Well, at least in a few years. The plants are little more than a foot high right now, but in a few years they'll be 8 ft. tall by 8 ft. wide! I can't wait!
The junk pile is gone!
The lawn is mowed!
The trees have little green fruits all over them!
Life is great...
...or it would be if I didn't have four HUGE fans buzzing away night and day in my living room right now.
This is the Grrrrrr! part.
Monday Ian and Darin went up onto the roof to get the swamp cooler hooked up. Everything went GREAT and we were enjoying the cool air on that hot day--UNTIL Hannah asked one of the most frightening question a homeowner can ever hear:
"Mom, why is there water on the floor?"
There wasn't much--or at least there didn't SEEM to be much. It was only a little yellowish puddle on the kitchen floor. My first thought was the refrigerator. So we pulled out the refrigerator only to hear the even more frightening sound of water dripped down between the walls behind the refrigerator!
Only one answer to the question now. The swamp cooler. It's the only source of water of any kind in the attic. While I hurried and shut off the water to the swamp cooler, Darin ran for the ladder. The copper supply tube to the swamp cooler had sprung a leak that sprayed water into our attic. We hoped it wasn't too much, but the final analysis is not great.
We've had the insurance man come and a disaster cleanup company come. In the end we had to pull the insulation up from the ceiling, where we found a 6 ft. by 8 ft. water stain running between four joists. The stain comes up against the main beam the runs the length of the house. That's where it started moving down through the walls. So our walls are wet, our ceiling is wet, AND it ran under the carpets over an even BIGGER area, ruined the hardwood floor and soaked through in a few places to the subfloor.
The disaster cleanup company came Thursday and spent half the day pulling up the carpet, ripping out all the wet carpet pad and damaged hardwood flooring, and installing these lovely fans. One is actually a dehumidifier. They have to run for 3 to 5 days, pumping air into the walls, under the floor, under the carpet, to dry everything out. They're LOUD!!! And they run ALL NIGHT!! Needless to say, we haven't slept hugely well, but we're getting used to it. And the living room is a jumble of furniture all shoved into the corner opposite the water damage. The piano is sitting in the middle of the room.
They told us today the fans will only need to run for one more day. Which means, really, they'll have to run until Monday at the earliest. We don't know if the crew will work on Monday, what with the holiday, so we might have to live with the fans until Tuesday. After that we'll be beset with restoration work. First they'll attempt to clean the carpet. If it doesn't clean I suppose we'll be getting new carpet, which will mean moving all the furniture OUT of the room. We're actually kind of HOPING to get new carpet--if that happens we're thinking of putting in enough extra money to recarpet the bedrooms, too. They'll also be replacing the carpet pad and hardwood flooring in the effected area, and patching and painting the walls.
THEN maybe we can restore our world to something akin to normalcy.
But then, it's us, isn't it? There's very little about life in the Vincent Vassalage that can be called normal.
And we LOVE it that way!
Suzanne taught her class on Flash Fiction. It was a lot of fun, and I think it turned out pretty well. She also got to spend some time with a writer friend of hers and found out that Munchkin has two new add-on packs! If you've never heard of Munchkin, it's a spoof on Role Playing Games, it's very irreverent, and it's a LOT of fun.
The garden is planted--and we found ourselves with about 100 sq. ft. with nothing planted in it. How did that happen? We plan to fill it with a few more rows of onion, plus beets (if I can find beet seeds this late in the season because I don't know what happened to the beet seeds I thought I had), and I'm not sure what else. My little baby tomato plants (which aren't such babies anymore--they're close to 2 ft. long) are finally in their beds. We planted some petunias, transplanted my Rose of Sharon shrubs to the garden they were intended to occupy when we bought them last year, and planted a hedge of lilac and Nine-bark along the fence between us and our neighbors. Privacy! Well, at least in a few years. The plants are little more than a foot high right now, but in a few years they'll be 8 ft. tall by 8 ft. wide! I can't wait!
The junk pile is gone!
The lawn is mowed!
The trees have little green fruits all over them!
Life is great...
...or it would be if I didn't have four HUGE fans buzzing away night and day in my living room right now.
This is the Grrrrrr! part.
Monday Ian and Darin went up onto the roof to get the swamp cooler hooked up. Everything went GREAT and we were enjoying the cool air on that hot day--UNTIL Hannah asked one of the most frightening question a homeowner can ever hear:
"Mom, why is there water on the floor?"
There wasn't much--or at least there didn't SEEM to be much. It was only a little yellowish puddle on the kitchen floor. My first thought was the refrigerator. So we pulled out the refrigerator only to hear the even more frightening sound of water dripped down between the walls behind the refrigerator!
Only one answer to the question now. The swamp cooler. It's the only source of water of any kind in the attic. While I hurried and shut off the water to the swamp cooler, Darin ran for the ladder. The copper supply tube to the swamp cooler had sprung a leak that sprayed water into our attic. We hoped it wasn't too much, but the final analysis is not great.
We've had the insurance man come and a disaster cleanup company come. In the end we had to pull the insulation up from the ceiling, where we found a 6 ft. by 8 ft. water stain running between four joists. The stain comes up against the main beam the runs the length of the house. That's where it started moving down through the walls. So our walls are wet, our ceiling is wet, AND it ran under the carpets over an even BIGGER area, ruined the hardwood floor and soaked through in a few places to the subfloor.
The disaster cleanup company came Thursday and spent half the day pulling up the carpet, ripping out all the wet carpet pad and damaged hardwood flooring, and installing these lovely fans. One is actually a dehumidifier. They have to run for 3 to 5 days, pumping air into the walls, under the floor, under the carpet, to dry everything out. They're LOUD!!! And they run ALL NIGHT!! Needless to say, we haven't slept hugely well, but we're getting used to it. And the living room is a jumble of furniture all shoved into the corner opposite the water damage. The piano is sitting in the middle of the room.
They told us today the fans will only need to run for one more day. Which means, really, they'll have to run until Monday at the earliest. We don't know if the crew will work on Monday, what with the holiday, so we might have to live with the fans until Tuesday. After that we'll be beset with restoration work. First they'll attempt to clean the carpet. If it doesn't clean I suppose we'll be getting new carpet, which will mean moving all the furniture OUT of the room. We're actually kind of HOPING to get new carpet--if that happens we're thinking of putting in enough extra money to recarpet the bedrooms, too. They'll also be replacing the carpet pad and hardwood flooring in the effected area, and patching and painting the walls.
THEN maybe we can restore our world to something akin to normalcy.
But then, it's us, isn't it? There's very little about life in the Vincent Vassalage that can be called normal.
And we LOVE it that way!
18 May 2009
Nag, Nag, Nag
OK. Fine. I'll post something.
Of course it's probably be totally random drivel, but it's a post, right?
So, May has been very busy so far. Our poor calendar is suffering from burnout and looks like a freaking RAINBOW from all the different colors of pen, pencil, and marker used to help us keep track of everything we have going on!
Maren finished up her soccer season and started a new physical adventure--track! She's joined a Hershey Track group and has her first practice meet on the 30th. We were doubling up track and soccer practice for a couple of weeks, but now that soccer is over things'll settle down just a little. I think she'll be really good at track--especially as a distance runner. A very good friend of ours (a nationally ranked miler during her high school and college years) thinks so too. She can't wait for it to be warm enough to try out her new swimsuit in the sprinklers. Today might JUST be the day.
Hannah is working hard to finish up school, study for the ACT, and get her high school Fiddle group ready for a few performances. They've played three times so far this month, and still have at least one performance left before school is out. She's also reading (recreationally!) The Aeneid. She loves epic poetry--Beowulf, Chaucer, Dante. Go figure. Hannah is very excited for summer and the potential of easing some of the stress that inevitably comes with a school year. Plus she's begun to explore her options for colleg, looking right now into taking distance learning courses from BYU. She's leaning toward literature study, maybe a minor in music, with the goal of fiddle school and applying for a Nauvoo Music Mission next summer.
Ian is also working hard to finish up school. He's already been told that if he doesn't get it all done he won't be getting his learner's permit next month. Threats. I love 'em. He is also involved in the fiddle group (he plays penny whistle), and actually built his own Low D Penny whistle from copper tubing and a wooden dowel. He's working on his second one now. He's also getting excited for marching band to start up again next month. They'll be marching in parades on the 4th and 24th, plus band camp the end of July. He's working hard mowing lawns this summer in hopes of earning himself a new bike--he wants a Trek 7300. But he also wants a new clarinet, and a compound bow, and a shotgun, and a .22. and....
Suzanne is mostly busy keeping track of everyone else's lives. Isn't that the way it is? In between she's been reading LOTS. Her editor has gotten behind on sending stories out, so he's been making up for it in a big way. She's read something like 60 stories in the last week or so and has about 120 more to read, with more potentially coming. She's also joined a Book group comprised of published writers and professional editors. It's been loads of fun, but that means more reading! This week she'll be holding a recital for her piano students, and Friday will be teaching a workshop of writing flash fiction at a sci-fi/fantasy convention. Plus singing in a senior citizen's branch in our stake Sunday. And somewhere in there she needs to find time to get the garden planted.
Darin is busy working hard to take care of all of us. They've been slammed at work lately, mostly because of some recent firings (a couple of guys were caught falsifying records) and the acquisition by the company of a smaller independent company. We're truly fortunate if he's home from work by 6:00. This week he gets to take charge of sprucing up our yard. As we speak there is a huge dumpster sitting in front of our house waiting for the PILES of trash we've accumulated due to various yard projects and a few years of junk accumulation. I think he's really looking forward to Memorial Day--when we can all sleep in and take a leisurly day with no obligations and nothing to do but whatever in the heck we want! He's also been involved in a fitness challenge at work. They're supposed to walk at least 5000 steps per day. Everyone in the office got one of those pedometers. Darin's isn't working anymore though. He gets plenty of steps on the days we go jogging. One jog piles up more than 5000 steps, then he probably averages 3000 steps on top of that during his working day.
We all participated in the Komen Race for the Cure on the Zan Vincent Team. Darin, Ian, and Suzanne ran it, making a pretty good time of just under 34 minutes. That's 3 or 4 minutes better than our last 5K time. Our goal is 30 minutes, which we hope to achieve by the end of the summer. Hannah and Maren walked it with Darin's sister and their young cousins. It's a fun race, mainly because the attitudes of the participants is so upbeat and there are SO MANY people! They said at the beginning of the race that 18,000 people were registered as participants! That's a lot of people to run with! At the first mile marker, we were able to look ahead of us and see a sea of people AND look behind us and see a sea of people. Pretty incredible!
There's our SURVIVOR: 14 years!
Weary feet:
The crowd just before the start of the race:
Of course it's probably be totally random drivel, but it's a post, right?
So, May has been very busy so far. Our poor calendar is suffering from burnout and looks like a freaking RAINBOW from all the different colors of pen, pencil, and marker used to help us keep track of everything we have going on!
Maren finished up her soccer season and started a new physical adventure--track! She's joined a Hershey Track group and has her first practice meet on the 30th. We were doubling up track and soccer practice for a couple of weeks, but now that soccer is over things'll settle down just a little. I think she'll be really good at track--especially as a distance runner. A very good friend of ours (a nationally ranked miler during her high school and college years) thinks so too. She can't wait for it to be warm enough to try out her new swimsuit in the sprinklers. Today might JUST be the day.
Hannah is working hard to finish up school, study for the ACT, and get her high school Fiddle group ready for a few performances. They've played three times so far this month, and still have at least one performance left before school is out. She's also reading (recreationally!) The Aeneid. She loves epic poetry--Beowulf, Chaucer, Dante. Go figure. Hannah is very excited for summer and the potential of easing some of the stress that inevitably comes with a school year. Plus she's begun to explore her options for colleg, looking right now into taking distance learning courses from BYU. She's leaning toward literature study, maybe a minor in music, with the goal of fiddle school and applying for a Nauvoo Music Mission next summer.
Ian is also working hard to finish up school. He's already been told that if he doesn't get it all done he won't be getting his learner's permit next month. Threats. I love 'em. He is also involved in the fiddle group (he plays penny whistle), and actually built his own Low D Penny whistle from copper tubing and a wooden dowel. He's working on his second one now. He's also getting excited for marching band to start up again next month. They'll be marching in parades on the 4th and 24th, plus band camp the end of July. He's working hard mowing lawns this summer in hopes of earning himself a new bike--he wants a Trek 7300. But he also wants a new clarinet, and a compound bow, and a shotgun, and a .22. and....
Suzanne is mostly busy keeping track of everyone else's lives. Isn't that the way it is? In between she's been reading LOTS. Her editor has gotten behind on sending stories out, so he's been making up for it in a big way. She's read something like 60 stories in the last week or so and has about 120 more to read, with more potentially coming. She's also joined a Book group comprised of published writers and professional editors. It's been loads of fun, but that means more reading! This week she'll be holding a recital for her piano students, and Friday will be teaching a workshop of writing flash fiction at a sci-fi/fantasy convention. Plus singing in a senior citizen's branch in our stake Sunday. And somewhere in there she needs to find time to get the garden planted.
Darin is busy working hard to take care of all of us. They've been slammed at work lately, mostly because of some recent firings (a couple of guys were caught falsifying records) and the acquisition by the company of a smaller independent company. We're truly fortunate if he's home from work by 6:00. This week he gets to take charge of sprucing up our yard. As we speak there is a huge dumpster sitting in front of our house waiting for the PILES of trash we've accumulated due to various yard projects and a few years of junk accumulation. I think he's really looking forward to Memorial Day--when we can all sleep in and take a leisurly day with no obligations and nothing to do but whatever in the heck we want! He's also been involved in a fitness challenge at work. They're supposed to walk at least 5000 steps per day. Everyone in the office got one of those pedometers. Darin's isn't working anymore though. He gets plenty of steps on the days we go jogging. One jog piles up more than 5000 steps, then he probably averages 3000 steps on top of that during his working day.
We all participated in the Komen Race for the Cure on the Zan Vincent Team. Darin, Ian, and Suzanne ran it, making a pretty good time of just under 34 minutes. That's 3 or 4 minutes better than our last 5K time. Our goal is 30 minutes, which we hope to achieve by the end of the summer. Hannah and Maren walked it with Darin's sister and their young cousins. It's a fun race, mainly because the attitudes of the participants is so upbeat and there are SO MANY people! They said at the beginning of the race that 18,000 people were registered as participants! That's a lot of people to run with! At the first mile marker, we were able to look ahead of us and see a sea of people AND look behind us and see a sea of people. Pretty incredible!
There's our SURVIVOR: 14 years!
Weary feet:
The crowd just before the start of the race:
15 May 2009
28 April 2009
Violin Students
Just FYI, I am looking for a few beginning to intermediate Violin or Viola and/or fiddle students. If anyone knows anyone in the Ogden area who would like their kids to take violin lessons, or anyone who has always wanted to learn violin (or viola), have them give me a call! I can teach Thursday or Saturday afternoons.
I also have one 4/4 size student violin I can rent out to anyone, and one 15 1/2'' student viola that I can either rent or sell-250$. Both are ready to play.
Thanks everyone!
Hannah
I also have one 4/4 size student violin I can rent out to anyone, and one 15 1/2'' student viola that I can either rent or sell-250$. Both are ready to play.
Thanks everyone!
Hannah
24 April 2009
Sun! Sun! Sun!
So this is SORTA like the observatory we made:
At least you get the idea. We kind of combined the cardboard collar and the projector screen into one contraption by cutting a hole large enough for the lens to rest in at one end of the box, then taping the paper onto the opposite end of the inside of the box. This allows for a much more easily observed image, because the projected image is always in the shade and always directly opposite the lens, avoiding any problems with image distortion.
At least you get the idea. We kind of combined the cardboard collar and the projector screen into one contraption by cutting a hole large enough for the lens to rest in at one end of the box, then taping the paper onto the opposite end of the inside of the box. This allows for a much more easily observed image, because the projected image is always in the shade and always directly opposite the lens, avoiding any problems with image distortion.
22 April 2009
Loving the SUN!!!
Yesterday and today we did at least some school OUTSIDE!!
It was glorious!
The fruit trees are blooming, the breeze is soft, the sun is warm, the grass is growing.
I'm not sure schooling outside is the best idea. Outside is nothing but distractions. But on a beautiful day like today, inside is torture. As a teacher, I lose either way because they're not paying attention no matter where we school. So it doesn't hurt to go outside for awhile.
Maren and I are studying astronomy for science right now. We decided to start with the sun, move through the planets, then keep moving outward to the galaxy and beyond. We're studying the sun right now, and today we went outside and observed the sun through an old tele-photo camera lense of mine. It was pretty cool. We couldn't get it to the point where we could see sunspots. But, I have come to find out, sunspot activity has been at an extreme low for the past six months or so. No recorded sunspot activity since December of last year, and 2008 has been called the 'blankest' year of the space age for sunspot activity.
So maybe when Maren's in Junior High we'll be able to pull the lens out again and see sunspots.
Anyway, this is how it works:
1. Take an apple box and tape a piece of white paper on one end on the inside of the box.
2. Cut a hole in the opposite end of the box that is the size of the small end of whatever lens you choose to use. You can use a detachable camera lens, or one lens of a pair of binoculars, or a spotting scope. I use my big 80X200 zoom lense because it has a tripod mount on the lens, which makes it possible for me to mount it solidy on a tripod before proceeding to step 3:
3. With the open side of the box facing you, insert the small end of your lense of choice into the the hole in the box and point the lens/box contraption directly at the sun. WARNING!! DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN--ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE LENS!!!
You'll know when you have the sun directly in your lens when the circle of light that appears on your white paper is perfectly round. It takes some doing, but it is SO worth it. The image will be much less bright than the sun and easily observable without harm to your eyes.
4. You will probably see specks and spots projected on the paper that MAY be dust on the lens. You can tell if it's dust by turning the lens in the hole. If the spots and specks move, they're dust. If not, they're sunspots!
In my search for sunspot information, I found this fun Sunspot Plotter at SpaceWeather.com that will tell you what sunspot activity was like on any entered date going all the way back to 1755!
http://spaceweather.com/glossary/sunspotplotter.htm
Cool, huh?
How about THIS for cool:
This is an x-ray of the sun during LOW sunspot activity (Oct 2006):
And this is an x-ray of the sun during HIGH sunspot activity (1991):
WOW!
It was glorious!
The fruit trees are blooming, the breeze is soft, the sun is warm, the grass is growing.
I'm not sure schooling outside is the best idea. Outside is nothing but distractions. But on a beautiful day like today, inside is torture. As a teacher, I lose either way because they're not paying attention no matter where we school. So it doesn't hurt to go outside for awhile.
Maren and I are studying astronomy for science right now. We decided to start with the sun, move through the planets, then keep moving outward to the galaxy and beyond. We're studying the sun right now, and today we went outside and observed the sun through an old tele-photo camera lense of mine. It was pretty cool. We couldn't get it to the point where we could see sunspots. But, I have come to find out, sunspot activity has been at an extreme low for the past six months or so. No recorded sunspot activity since December of last year, and 2008 has been called the 'blankest' year of the space age for sunspot activity.
So maybe when Maren's in Junior High we'll be able to pull the lens out again and see sunspots.
Anyway, this is how it works:
1. Take an apple box and tape a piece of white paper on one end on the inside of the box.
2. Cut a hole in the opposite end of the box that is the size of the small end of whatever lens you choose to use. You can use a detachable camera lens, or one lens of a pair of binoculars, or a spotting scope. I use my big 80X200 zoom lense because it has a tripod mount on the lens, which makes it possible for me to mount it solidy on a tripod before proceeding to step 3:
3. With the open side of the box facing you, insert the small end of your lense of choice into the the hole in the box and point the lens/box contraption directly at the sun. WARNING!! DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN--ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE LENS!!!
You'll know when you have the sun directly in your lens when the circle of light that appears on your white paper is perfectly round. It takes some doing, but it is SO worth it. The image will be much less bright than the sun and easily observable without harm to your eyes.
4. You will probably see specks and spots projected on the paper that MAY be dust on the lens. You can tell if it's dust by turning the lens in the hole. If the spots and specks move, they're dust. If not, they're sunspots!
In my search for sunspot information, I found this fun Sunspot Plotter at SpaceWeather.com that will tell you what sunspot activity was like on any entered date going all the way back to 1755!
http://spaceweather.com/glossary/sunspotplotter.htm
Cool, huh?
How about THIS for cool:
This is an x-ray of the sun during LOW sunspot activity (Oct 2006):
And this is an x-ray of the sun during HIGH sunspot activity (1991):
WOW!
14 April 2009
Coming Events
Hannah and Ian have Orchestra and/or band performances coming up!!!
Yay!!!
Hannah's Orchestra concert is Monday, May 11.
Both Ian and Hannah will be playing that night in the OHS Fiddle Group as well.
(Yes, Ian, you have to come)
Ian's concert is Wednesday the 13th of May...he thinks.
Maybe he should check the list of dates on the whiteboard. Hmmm...
Fiddle group may be playing at this concert as well, we don't know, nobody actually tells us these things till the day before anyway.
Both concerts are at Ogden High School at 7 pm, in the Auditorium.
If anyone could make it we would love to have you!
Please come! The arts are really struggling at OHS right now, they just abolished the theater department, as well as many of the visual arts. We don't want Music to go next so we need all the support we can get. If you like classical or movie music (both will be featured, this is our pops concert) or Irish Fiddle I think you would enjoy this concert. OHS has one of the best music programs in the state.
Thank You!!
Hannah
Yay!!!
Hannah's Orchestra concert is Monday, May 11.
Both Ian and Hannah will be playing that night in the OHS Fiddle Group as well.
(Yes, Ian, you have to come)
Ian's concert is Wednesday the 13th of May...he thinks.
Maybe he should check the list of dates on the whiteboard. Hmmm...
Fiddle group may be playing at this concert as well, we don't know, nobody actually tells us these things till the day before anyway.
Both concerts are at Ogden High School at 7 pm, in the Auditorium.
If anyone could make it we would love to have you!
Please come! The arts are really struggling at OHS right now, they just abolished the theater department, as well as many of the visual arts. We don't want Music to go next so we need all the support we can get. If you like classical or movie music (both will be featured, this is our pops concert) or Irish Fiddle I think you would enjoy this concert. OHS has one of the best music programs in the state.
Thank You!!
Hannah
11 April 2009
Manless!!
Her Ladyship and the Female Vassals are enjoying a manless weekend!
It's spring break, the boys are gone on a geology trip with the scouts, and we're having all sorts of fun.
The guys left Thursday afternoon. We hung around and got the house in a little bit of manless order, then Friday we SLEPT IN!! then drove down to the Living Planet Aquarium for a field trip. We ran into some people we know from Ogden--the Scalise's. I think they're following us. We ran into them on the last field trip we took too!
We hung around there for awhile--petting the rays, watching the octupus and the sharks. It was great fun! We also bought some little water bugs that'll grow when we add water. They're called Triops and they look like tiny horseshoe crabs. Here's a picture:
On the way out of SLC we stopped and enjoyed hot fudge sundaes at McDonald's, then stopped in to visit Grandma and Grandpa Woolley. We hotfooted it out of there before traffic got too bad and went home for a dinner of pizza rolls, and popcorn and a movie. We watched Willow--on of our favorites!
Today we cleaned the house then went shopping for accessories to complete our Easter ensemble. Maren needed some springy shoes, Hannah needed a shirt or jacket to wear over her spaghetti strapped Easter dress, I needed SOMETHING new to wear on Easter. Well, NEW is relative. We shopped at the DI.
Tonight we're going to the baptism of a young man in our ward who has been waiting until he turned 18 because his father wouldn't give his permission before then. His father has also told him he will disown him if he's baptized. But that won't be such a loss for this young man, I think. Long, sad story.
Anyway, we're HOPING Ian and Darin will be home in time to go to the baptism with us.
And tomorrow's EASTER!!!
Happy Easter everyone.
It's spring break, the boys are gone on a geology trip with the scouts, and we're having all sorts of fun.
The guys left Thursday afternoon. We hung around and got the house in a little bit of manless order, then Friday we SLEPT IN!! then drove down to the Living Planet Aquarium for a field trip. We ran into some people we know from Ogden--the Scalise's. I think they're following us. We ran into them on the last field trip we took too!
We hung around there for awhile--petting the rays, watching the octupus and the sharks. It was great fun! We also bought some little water bugs that'll grow when we add water. They're called Triops and they look like tiny horseshoe crabs. Here's a picture:
On the way out of SLC we stopped and enjoyed hot fudge sundaes at McDonald's, then stopped in to visit Grandma and Grandpa Woolley. We hotfooted it out of there before traffic got too bad and went home for a dinner of pizza rolls, and popcorn and a movie. We watched Willow--on of our favorites!
Today we cleaned the house then went shopping for accessories to complete our Easter ensemble. Maren needed some springy shoes, Hannah needed a shirt or jacket to wear over her spaghetti strapped Easter dress, I needed SOMETHING new to wear on Easter. Well, NEW is relative. We shopped at the DI.
Tonight we're going to the baptism of a young man in our ward who has been waiting until he turned 18 because his father wouldn't give his permission before then. His father has also told him he will disown him if he's baptized. But that won't be such a loss for this young man, I think. Long, sad story.
Anyway, we're HOPING Ian and Darin will be home in time to go to the baptism with us.
And tomorrow's EASTER!!!
Happy Easter everyone.
02 April 2009
Books Worth Reading
I read a lot, in case you didn't know.
I just finished a book on the Vikings by TimeLife Books.
Seems odd. TimeLife is kind of a bookmill. They print books on so many subjects, but they're actually good quality books, well-researched, interesting.
This one, The Vikings, was particularly thorough and objective. I like objective. You don't find that many books that are objective, particularly concerning history. Usually the white European men are evil, women are oppressed, Muslims are credited with the Renaissance. You know. That kind of thing.
This book gave a good overview of the Viking Age, sharing some of the darker side of the Viking persona without demeaning their astounding and heroic accomplishments, as well as their crucial role in the shaping of world history.
For instance, did you know that the Norman Invasion of England in 1066 was actually a Viking vs. Viking war? The king of England at the time, Harold, was a Viking king whose people had only recently taken possession of all of England. William the Conqueror was the direct-line descendant of Rollo, Duke of Normandy, who was a Viking who had settled himself and a large group of Vikings in the Normandy region of the Frankish territory about 150 years earlier.
Did you know that Erik the Red was actually an outlaw from Iceland? That he settled Greenland not purely for the adventure, but because he couldn't return home for 3 years and decided, what the heck, he'd go look for this empty land that someone had seen a few years earlier. And he didn't go alone. He filled his 50 foot long boat with men and supplies, then when his exile ended, he went back to Iceland and led a whole fleet of ships back, loaded with men, women, children, and animals, to make a go of settling the new land.
I just finished a book on the Vikings by TimeLife Books.
Seems odd. TimeLife is kind of a bookmill. They print books on so many subjects, but they're actually good quality books, well-researched, interesting.
This one, The Vikings, was particularly thorough and objective. I like objective. You don't find that many books that are objective, particularly concerning history. Usually the white European men are evil, women are oppressed, Muslims are credited with the Renaissance. You know. That kind of thing.
This book gave a good overview of the Viking Age, sharing some of the darker side of the Viking persona without demeaning their astounding and heroic accomplishments, as well as their crucial role in the shaping of world history.
For instance, did you know that the Norman Invasion of England in 1066 was actually a Viking vs. Viking war? The king of England at the time, Harold, was a Viking king whose people had only recently taken possession of all of England. William the Conqueror was the direct-line descendant of Rollo, Duke of Normandy, who was a Viking who had settled himself and a large group of Vikings in the Normandy region of the Frankish territory about 150 years earlier.
Did you know that Erik the Red was actually an outlaw from Iceland? That he settled Greenland not purely for the adventure, but because he couldn't return home for 3 years and decided, what the heck, he'd go look for this empty land that someone had seen a few years earlier. And he didn't go alone. He filled his 50 foot long boat with men and supplies, then when his exile ended, he went back to Iceland and led a whole fleet of ships back, loaded with men, women, children, and animals, to make a go of settling the new land.
The Book of the Musicians, vol. 1; the Strings
1 And the Lord created the off-beat, and he saw that it was good.
2 And the Lord saw that there was need of an Instrument, for to play the off-beat, which was good.
3 And so the Lord went unto the violins, and he said, "Wilt Thou play the off-beat, which I have created, and behold it is very good?"
4 And the violins answered and said;
5 Nay Lord.
6 So the Lord went unto the cellos, and said unto them, "Verily, wilt Thou play the off-beat, yea that I have created?
7 And the cellos answered, and said;
8 Nay Lord.
9 And so the Lord created another Instrument, for the purpose of playing the off-beat.
10 And the lord called this new Instrument, which he had created, Viola.
11 And he saw that it was good.
Hannah
2 And the Lord saw that there was need of an Instrument, for to play the off-beat, which was good.
3 And so the Lord went unto the violins, and he said, "Wilt Thou play the off-beat, which I have created, and behold it is very good?"
4 And the violins answered and said;
5 Nay Lord.
6 So the Lord went unto the cellos, and said unto them, "Verily, wilt Thou play the off-beat, yea that I have created?
7 And the cellos answered, and said;
8 Nay Lord.
9 And so the Lord created another Instrument, for the purpose of playing the off-beat.
10 And the lord called this new Instrument, which he had created, Viola.
11 And he saw that it was good.
Hannah
27 March 2009
Kid's Know It Network
Maren and I are studying Elementary Biology and have found a fun site to help us with that.
It's called Kid's Know It Network, located here:
http://www.kidsknowit.com/
It's totally free and they offer information and games in several subjects, including astronomy, biology, dinosaurs, math, spelling, geography, and geology.
And the really cool thing--it's produced locally! In West Valley City, UT.
It's called Kid's Know It Network, located here:
http://www.kidsknowit.com/
It's totally free and they offer information and games in several subjects, including astronomy, biology, dinosaurs, math, spelling, geography, and geology.
And the really cool thing--it's produced locally! In West Valley City, UT.
25 March 2009
My Daughter the Drama Queen
Scarred for life!
That's funny!
I'm feeling guilty because I'm not posting as much as I promised myself. But I've got several blogs I'm posting in at the moment. This one, my writing one, my depression one, the Vincent family one. Plus the editing work that eats up a huge amount of my computering time--but I LOVE IT!!
Plus I'm spending more time writing.
I just finished a new story last night, currently have it in the hands of some writer friends for critique, then it'll be making the rounds through the fiction markets to try to find a home.
It's a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, but with kind of a sick twist. Would you expect anything less of me? So the question the story poses is, what if Red started the whole wolf extermination thing? How? Why?
I guess you'll just have to wait for it to be published to find out!!
That's funny!
I'm feeling guilty because I'm not posting as much as I promised myself. But I've got several blogs I'm posting in at the moment. This one, my writing one, my depression one, the Vincent family one. Plus the editing work that eats up a huge amount of my computering time--but I LOVE IT!!
Plus I'm spending more time writing.
I just finished a new story last night, currently have it in the hands of some writer friends for critique, then it'll be making the rounds through the fiction markets to try to find a home.
It's a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, but with kind of a sick twist. Would you expect anything less of me? So the question the story poses is, what if Red started the whole wolf extermination thing? How? Why?
I guess you'll just have to wait for it to be published to find out!!
23 March 2009
I am scarred for Life!!!
I found out what "Ring Around the Rosie" is really about.
My childhood is ruined.
So here it is, the brutal truth.
Ring Around the Rosie is about people dying of the plague.
"Ring around the Rosie" means the red rings that would develop around the swollen glands of those who had the plague.
"A pocket full of posies"People who had the plague would fill their pockets with flowers to cover the stink.
"Ashes, Ashes"The burning bodies
"we all fall down"
PEOPLE DYING!!!!!
It's horrible!
Thank you, mother, for ruining all my wonderful childhood memories.
(See this post on Hannah's blog! Let Hannah know if you would like and invite!)
I found out what "Ring Around the Rosie" is really about.
My childhood is ruined.
So here it is, the brutal truth.
Ring Around the Rosie is about people dying of the plague.
"Ring around the Rosie" means the red rings that would develop around the swollen glands of those who had the plague.
"A pocket full of posies"People who had the plague would fill their pockets with flowers to cover the stink.
"Ashes, Ashes"The burning bodies
"we all fall down"
PEOPLE DYING!!!!!
It's horrible!
Thank you, mother, for ruining all my wonderful childhood memories.
(See this post on Hannah's blog! Let Hannah know if you would like and invite!)
12 March 2009
Relief Society
My family MADE me go tonight.
I'm an apostate, you see. At least regarding Relief Society.
I will admit (reluctantly) that I had a good time, because I found someone to be a bit, er, shall we say irreverent with. I don't even know her name. I've been out of Relief Society for so long and for so many years of our time in Ogden that I really don't know all that many people by name.
At any rate, the reason I HAD to go tonight was because they were celebrating the Relief Society's 167 birthday, and wanted to honor all the past Relief Society Presidents from the ward.
I'm on that list.
Sort of.
I was the Relief Society President for a whopping 3 1/2 months.
Not my fault. Although I'll admit I was too young and inexperienced and WAY not ready to be Relief Society President and WAY not equipped to deal with everything such a calling entails.
But, you see, when the bishop called me to the position, I told him in no uncertain terms that Darin and I were engaging in a little family planning and once I became pregnant it would be unlikely that I would be able to fulfill the duties of the office. He assured me that was OK and that the Lord wanted me in that position. I still don't know the reason for that.
I was called at the end of May, got pregnant in July, sick in August, released the first part of September.
Relief Society by Whirwind!
It felt weird standing there with women who served YEARS, sometimes multiple terms, and I was, by far, the youngest of them.
Ah, well. I got a nice corsage out of the whole deal and they sent me home with a bunch of balloons for Maren.
Not a total loss.
I'm an apostate, you see. At least regarding Relief Society.
I will admit (reluctantly) that I had a good time, because I found someone to be a bit, er, shall we say irreverent with. I don't even know her name. I've been out of Relief Society for so long and for so many years of our time in Ogden that I really don't know all that many people by name.
At any rate, the reason I HAD to go tonight was because they were celebrating the Relief Society's 167 birthday, and wanted to honor all the past Relief Society Presidents from the ward.
I'm on that list.
Sort of.
I was the Relief Society President for a whopping 3 1/2 months.
Not my fault. Although I'll admit I was too young and inexperienced and WAY not ready to be Relief Society President and WAY not equipped to deal with everything such a calling entails.
But, you see, when the bishop called me to the position, I told him in no uncertain terms that Darin and I were engaging in a little family planning and once I became pregnant it would be unlikely that I would be able to fulfill the duties of the office. He assured me that was OK and that the Lord wanted me in that position. I still don't know the reason for that.
I was called at the end of May, got pregnant in July, sick in August, released the first part of September.
Relief Society by Whirwind!
It felt weird standing there with women who served YEARS, sometimes multiple terms, and I was, by far, the youngest of them.
Ah, well. I got a nice corsage out of the whole deal and they sent me home with a bunch of balloons for Maren.
Not a total loss.
09 March 2009
PFSH!!!
So much for that goal of the at-least-weekly blog!
So my guilt-ridden self is here to blog, just for the sake of blogging.
I do have an excuse. February is BUSY at our house, with three birthdays and Valentines and everything else that seems to get packed in.
I am, however, very excited! I got a camera for my birthday!
My old Kodak quit after our trip to Colorado. It may have been the sand at Great Sand Dunes that did it in. If you go to Great Sand Dunes, keep your cameras in a sealed ziploc bag. You can still use them and they'll be protected from the sand. If you have a big camera, use a big bag.
This time I have a Nikon--which is SWEET! I've always loved Nikon. I hope I'll be as pleased with my Nikon digital as I ever was with my Nikon reflex. So far, I'm not disappointed. It has lots of cool features and 10megapixel resolution.
That is SO amazing.
Just 10 years ago digital cameras were pretty much unheard of. Then they were ridiculously expensive for 2 or 3 megapixels of resolution. Now you can pop out 100 bucks or so and get a pretty good little camera with 6 ot 7 megapixels. Spend as much as I did on my Nikon reflex 20 years ago and you can get one heck of a sweet little gadget with good enough resolution to do good prints up to 16 X 20!
Wow.
I have to say though, I still miss the smell of the darkroom and the thrill of messing around with light and chemistry. Digital is cool, but it's just not the same as making your own photos from scratch.
So my guilt-ridden self is here to blog, just for the sake of blogging.
I do have an excuse. February is BUSY at our house, with three birthdays and Valentines and everything else that seems to get packed in.
I am, however, very excited! I got a camera for my birthday!
My old Kodak quit after our trip to Colorado. It may have been the sand at Great Sand Dunes that did it in. If you go to Great Sand Dunes, keep your cameras in a sealed ziploc bag. You can still use them and they'll be protected from the sand. If you have a big camera, use a big bag.
This time I have a Nikon--which is SWEET! I've always loved Nikon. I hope I'll be as pleased with my Nikon digital as I ever was with my Nikon reflex. So far, I'm not disappointed. It has lots of cool features and 10megapixel resolution.
That is SO amazing.
Just 10 years ago digital cameras were pretty much unheard of. Then they were ridiculously expensive for 2 or 3 megapixels of resolution. Now you can pop out 100 bucks or so and get a pretty good little camera with 6 ot 7 megapixels. Spend as much as I did on my Nikon reflex 20 years ago and you can get one heck of a sweet little gadget with good enough resolution to do good prints up to 16 X 20!
Wow.
I have to say though, I still miss the smell of the darkroom and the thrill of messing around with light and chemistry. Digital is cool, but it's just not the same as making your own photos from scratch.
26 February 2009
Reply to CON
I LIKED the guy in the kilt!
I mean, Freak! it was a black Leather kilt!
That's just cool!
And I'm pretty sure this is my third year at LTUE.
But anyway, I'm supposed to be writing a rather pointless Geography essay right now.
Ha-Ha
I mean, Freak! it was a black Leather kilt!
That's just cool!
And I'm pretty sure this is my third year at LTUE.
But anyway, I'm supposed to be writing a rather pointless Geography essay right now.
Ha-Ha
22 February 2009
CON
A CON is a science fiction and fantasy CONvention--although this one is more of a conference.
BYU every year hosts the Life, the Universe, and Everything sci-fi/fantasy conference. Cons are fun--and not just for the, hmm, shall we say attention-deprived souls who come wearing kilts and elvin capes. Although I have to admit, LTUE is probably MORE fun for writers in the genre than it is for fans of the genre--although they show up in pretty good numbers just to see their favorite writers.
This is my third year going. Hannah and Ian came for their first time last year, and came with me again this year. We stayed at Sharon's house (THANKS, Sharon!) over Friday night and attended lectures and panel discussions, mostly on writing topics, for two days. We met some REAL writers--like Jessica Day George, got our copy of Fablehaven signed by Brandon Mull, and went out to lunch with a writer friend of mine, Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, who is always a great source of conversation and really great with the kids.
While I was there I had the idea that maybe I ought to teach a workshop or chair a discussion on writing science fiction and fantasy for the flash fiction market. I ran the idea by Kathleen and she suggested that maybe I ought to do it for the CONduit convention coming up in May in SLC. She's going to put me in touch with the gentleman who organizes it.
Now that might be pretty darn cool!
BYU every year hosts the Life, the Universe, and Everything sci-fi/fantasy conference. Cons are fun--and not just for the, hmm, shall we say attention-deprived souls who come wearing kilts and elvin capes. Although I have to admit, LTUE is probably MORE fun for writers in the genre than it is for fans of the genre--although they show up in pretty good numbers just to see their favorite writers.
This is my third year going. Hannah and Ian came for their first time last year, and came with me again this year. We stayed at Sharon's house (THANKS, Sharon!) over Friday night and attended lectures and panel discussions, mostly on writing topics, for two days. We met some REAL writers--like Jessica Day George, got our copy of Fablehaven signed by Brandon Mull, and went out to lunch with a writer friend of mine, Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, who is always a great source of conversation and really great with the kids.
While I was there I had the idea that maybe I ought to teach a workshop or chair a discussion on writing science fiction and fantasy for the flash fiction market. I ran the idea by Kathleen and she suggested that maybe I ought to do it for the CONduit convention coming up in May in SLC. She's going to put me in touch with the gentleman who organizes it.
Now that might be pretty darn cool!
17 February 2009
Life in Ogden
Right now it's pretty darn white in Ogden.
I just got off the phone with Grandma Woolley, who I called because I was bored. I have nothing to do today. I'm sure I could find something, but I have no pressing tasks. I'll explain why in a minute.
But back to Ogden. Grandpa W. says the snow isn't even covering his grass. Lucky DOG!!! We're swamped with about a foot of new snow. And it's HEAVY snow. Ian and I just about did our backs in shoveling the driveway this afternoon. Of course two more inches have fallen since then and it's still snowing, though lightly now. Earlier it was pretty much blizzard conditions.
We're SO ready for spring!
So back to why I'm bored.
I've finally read my way through a mountain of slush. I've even sent all the rejection letters I had piled up. The kids are done with school. The walks are shoveled.
I'm bored.
Well, not anymore. Darin just got home and it's time to fix dinner, then tonight is American Idol. We've had fun watching it, cheering for the ones we like, jeering the ones we can't stand--like that silly laughing girl--Tatiana? Is that her name? Wow. She needs to learn to keep her mouth shut once in awhile.
We're having hamburgers tonight. I had to dig the grill out, but grilling is SO worth it.
What are you having? Anything interesting? We could use some new recipes to try.
Share one with me!
I have a friend who posts recipes on her blog sometimes, and they're awesome!
Maybe I should try that!
But not right now. It'd dinner time.
I'm rambling. A sure sign I'm bored.
Bored, bored, bored.
*sigh*
I just got off the phone with Grandma Woolley, who I called because I was bored. I have nothing to do today. I'm sure I could find something, but I have no pressing tasks. I'll explain why in a minute.
But back to Ogden. Grandpa W. says the snow isn't even covering his grass. Lucky DOG!!! We're swamped with about a foot of new snow. And it's HEAVY snow. Ian and I just about did our backs in shoveling the driveway this afternoon. Of course two more inches have fallen since then and it's still snowing, though lightly now. Earlier it was pretty much blizzard conditions.
We're SO ready for spring!
So back to why I'm bored.
I've finally read my way through a mountain of slush. I've even sent all the rejection letters I had piled up. The kids are done with school. The walks are shoveled.
I'm bored.
Well, not anymore. Darin just got home and it's time to fix dinner, then tonight is American Idol. We've had fun watching it, cheering for the ones we like, jeering the ones we can't stand--like that silly laughing girl--Tatiana? Is that her name? Wow. She needs to learn to keep her mouth shut once in awhile.
We're having hamburgers tonight. I had to dig the grill out, but grilling is SO worth it.
What are you having? Anything interesting? We could use some new recipes to try.
Share one with me!
I have a friend who posts recipes on her blog sometimes, and they're awesome!
Maybe I should try that!
But not right now. It'd dinner time.
I'm rambling. A sure sign I'm bored.
Bored, bored, bored.
*sigh*
13 February 2009
12 February 2009
Thieving Vassals!!
Ah, so now you have looked over my kingdom and my greatness and you want the whole of it?
Nay, I tell thee. Thou shalt NOT have my cool headphones!
Knave!
Nay, I tell thee. Thou shalt NOT have my cool headphones!
Knave!
Just thought I'd post SOMETHING new
All is calm and peaceful in the Vincent kingdom.....for now.
But as soon as Vassal 1 gets over this sinus infection the war for freedom, justice, and chocolate bunnies will continue....maybe.
These are really nice headphones mom. Maybe they'll "accidentally" end up with my mp3 player.
But as soon as Vassal 1 gets over this sinus infection the war for freedom, justice, and chocolate bunnies will continue....maybe.
These are really nice headphones mom. Maybe they'll "accidentally" end up with my mp3 player.
04 February 2009
02 February 2009
31 January 2009
A Note From Her Ladyship
Dear Vassal 1,
I would HATE to have to publish embarrasing photos of you on Ye Vincent Vassalage.
HATE it.
I would HATE to have to publish embarrasing photos of you on Ye Vincent Vassalage.
HATE it.
Disclaimer
Ok, vassals 2 & 3 looked up what exactly a vassal is and we would like to say that the rebellion was all vassal 1's idea and that we hereby disown any alleigance to vassal 1's idea and that all demands have been withdrawn and all acts of rebellion(especially the tattoo and the hair dying) are hereby offered as punishment to vassal 1 for her rebellious idealism and acts of temptation to vassals 2 & 3
We hereby pledge our undying(maybe) devotion to the Lord and Lady Vincent at least until we turn 18
We hereby pledge our undying(maybe) devotion to the Lord and Lady Vincent at least until we turn 18
30 January 2009
It's "Peoples of Vass"
LIBERTY!!!! JUSTICE!!!!! WE SHALL PREVAIL!!!!!
The vassals shall never surrender to the wicked tyranies of the oppressors!!!
In revolt Vassal 1 will pierce her nose, vassal two will get a tattoo of the words "Freedom or Bust" on his bicep, and vassal 3 will dye her hair pink and date before she's 16.
We hope you know this means war.
The vassals shall never surrender to the wicked tyranies of the oppressors!!!
In revolt Vassal 1 will pierce her nose, vassal two will get a tattoo of the words "Freedom or Bust" on his bicep, and vassal 3 will dye her hair pink and date before she's 16.
We hope you know this means war.
Decree from Lord Darin von Vincent
Let it be decreed from this time forth:
The uprising of the vassals has been quelled!!
Beginning from this moment all vassals must obey the following laws and rules or be duly punished and the establishment of further laws will be implemented
1: All vassals must be in bed by 6:30 pm
2: A tax of $1.50 per day will be levied to all vassals
3: Rent will be collected for use of items not personally owend by vassals (This includes beds, toilet, shower, TV, computer, etc.)
4: Ice cream is only for the consumption of the Lord & Lady. Any vassal caught eating ice cream will be flogged.
5: From this moment forth, all vassals who once had rights shall now be referred to as "hey you."
6: All vassals will from henceforth take over all chores and duties to the running of the vassalage while the Lord and Lady do whatever they please.
7: Vassals 1,2 & 3 shall provide the Lord and Lady the following:
*Houseboat at Lake Powell
*A trip to Europe
*A Dodge Viper
*A Mercedes Benz 350SL Gullwing
*A Victorian Style Mansion with swimming pool and secluded and private lodging for the Lord and Lady
*A private Jet
*A Steinway Grand Piano
8: The vassals will be at the beck and call of the Lord and Lady at all times. Any complaining, whining, or rolling of eyes shall be punished by removal of the vassal's mattress until said vassal has paid a fine equal to the value of the mattress.
This decree takes effect from this time forward.
With our sincere love and adoration,
Lord Darin and Lady Suzanne
The uprising of the vassals has been quelled!!
Beginning from this moment all vassals must obey the following laws and rules or be duly punished and the establishment of further laws will be implemented
1: All vassals must be in bed by 6:30 pm
2: A tax of $1.50 per day will be levied to all vassals
3: Rent will be collected for use of items not personally owend by vassals (This includes beds, toilet, shower, TV, computer, etc.)
4: Ice cream is only for the consumption of the Lord & Lady. Any vassal caught eating ice cream will be flogged.
5: From this moment forth, all vassals who once had rights shall now be referred to as "hey you."
6: All vassals will from henceforth take over all chores and duties to the running of the vassalage while the Lord and Lady do whatever they please.
7: Vassals 1,2 & 3 shall provide the Lord and Lady the following:
*Houseboat at Lake Powell
*A trip to Europe
*A Dodge Viper
*A Mercedes Benz 350SL Gullwing
*A Victorian Style Mansion with swimming pool and secluded and private lodging for the Lord and Lady
*A private Jet
*A Steinway Grand Piano
8: The vassals will be at the beck and call of the Lord and Lady at all times. Any complaining, whining, or rolling of eyes shall be punished by removal of the vassal's mattress until said vassal has paid a fine equal to the value of the mattress.
This decree takes effect from this time forward.
With our sincere love and adoration,
Lord Darin and Lady Suzanne
Revolution!!
The vassals hereby resent the title "Vassal", and so REVOLUTION!!! FREEDOM!!! JUSTICE!!!! LATER BEDTIMES!!!
Our demands and Bill of Rights;
1: Later Bedtimes,
No vassal shall be put to bed before 10:00
2: Allowance
All vassals shall be paid a minimum of 10 dollars a week.
3: More Ice Cream
Ice cream shall be eaten for dessert every night
4: All vassals shall be referred to as Supreme High Majesty of all they survey.
5: Vassal 1 wants a car, her own sleeping quarters and a 5 string violin
6: Vassal 2 wants a computer, no make that a laptop, Fishing licences for Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Montana, and a hunting/fishing trip to Alaska
7: Vassal 3 wants a Wii, a Nintendo Ds, and a puppy, and a TV...And her own honks store and everything in it. (Haha just kidding, private joke)
8: Vassal 2 also wants a house boat
9: while we're at it Vassal 1 wants six more bunnies and a place to keep them and a servant to clean up the poo.
10: and while we're dreaming we also want a mansion with an indoor pool, a yacht, and a private jet to fly us wherever we want to go. Oh, and World Peace and Chocolate bunnies for all!!!!
RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIGHT ;)
Our demands and Bill of Rights;
1: Later Bedtimes,
No vassal shall be put to bed before 10:00
2: Allowance
All vassals shall be paid a minimum of 10 dollars a week.
3: More Ice Cream
Ice cream shall be eaten for dessert every night
4: All vassals shall be referred to as Supreme High Majesty of all they survey.
5: Vassal 1 wants a car, her own sleeping quarters and a 5 string violin
6: Vassal 2 wants a computer, no make that a laptop, Fishing licences for Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Montana, and a hunting/fishing trip to Alaska
7: Vassal 3 wants a Wii, a Nintendo Ds, and a puppy, and a TV...And her own honks store and everything in it. (Haha just kidding, private joke)
8: Vassal 2 also wants a house boat
9: while we're at it Vassal 1 wants six more bunnies and a place to keep them and a servant to clean up the poo.
10: and while we're dreaming we also want a mansion with an indoor pool, a yacht, and a private jet to fly us wherever we want to go. Oh, and World Peace and Chocolate bunnies for all!!!!
RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIGHT ;)
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