Todds and Blogs

Cancer Part 4 - Chemotherapy and the Scary Day

2009-02-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

After my surgery in February 1999, they determined that the chemo had basically done nothing. I had undergone months of hell and the chemo had killed less than 20% of the tumor. In terms of fighting cancer, anything less than 90% is deemed to have been ineffective. Needless to say we were discouraged at best. I will get into my surgeries in another post as well, but after I recovered from that surgery, the chemo started all over again.

They changed up my drugs this time. My next round of chemo started on Tuesday March 2nd and this time it would be 4-5 days in the hospital straight, no return trip home in between. The new meds were adriamycin, as before, along with ifosfamide and methotrexate.

I was always getting high doses of the chemo drugs, but that was about to get ratcheted up. The adriamycin would be administered as a drip (instead of a push as before) over a couple of days, then a full day IV drip of ifosfamide. The last would be methotrexate. The amount of that drug would be 10 times the lethal dose for someone of my size. I would therefore be given an antidote along with the drug to keep it from destroying my digestive tract along with the tumor.

I was only able to undergo 2 treatments with methotrexate. My body did not metabolize it. I spent about 6 days in the hospital taking the antidote with blood analysis for the level of the drug in my system every 6 hours or so. They poked my arm so much it developed scar material inside and they had to start poking me somewhere else.

On April 13, 1999 they told us they were discontinuing the methotrexate. It was causing damage to my kidneys. Not long after, they discontinued the adriamycin as well. It was causing heart damage.

The most ironic thing is that twice I nearly died, and both times were caused by the chemo, not the cancer. Once was at Christmas time in 1998. The other was the summer of 1999.

On Thursday, June 10th, 1999 Glynna wrote the following in her journal:

Chad nearly died Monday night. Chad had been in intensive care (ICU) all week due to his low blood pressure (49/16) and difficulty breathing. He is improving, but recovery is slow.

I almost died on Monday, June 7th. Over the weekend I had been experiencing a lot of pain in my chest and difficulty breathing. Saturday night I started coughing up blood and I had a fever. We called my doctor and he told me to take something for the fever and get some rest and see how I felt Monday. Sunday I was very lethargic, and early Monday morning I woke up because every breath was a new experience in pain.

Glynna called my doctor and he told us to get to the hospital. Of course, knowing now how close to death I was, we know we should have called 911, but at the time I had been through so much that we thought it was just another thing. Glynna called my dad to come take me to the hospital so she could stay with the kids and we tried to get me out to the living room.

I could not stand up without passing out. I crawled, with Glynna pulling on me, into the living room. I was sitting on the couch, nearly unconscious when my dad arrived. Glynna and my dad tried to carry me to the car, but I ended up crawling the last few feet. I could not stand up. At the ER, they brought out a gurney and a couple of guys helped me get onto it.

I do not remember much from that morning.

I remember someone holding me up against an x-ray machine because I could not sit up enough for them to x-ray my chest since I passed out so easily. I remember about 6 or 8 people rushing around in the ER room, putting in IVs into the back of my hand (OUCH! worst place for an IV), talking to my dad, taking my blood pressure. Before I knew it I was taken up to a room.

It was not long before my doctor arrived and looked me over. He immediately sent me to the ICU. I remmeber vaguely being wheeled into the ICU room, then it all goes blank. For the next 3 days or so.

I understand that night they told Glynna that I would probably not survive the night, that she should go be with me for a bit one last time just in case. I don't remember any of that, and I am glad that I don't. I can't imagine what it would have been like to go home to your 3 small children, trying to figure out how to tell them their daddy died last night. Sorry for the melo-drama, but that is what hits me when I think about what that night must have been like for her.

I had pneumonia, brought on by the destruction of my immune system by the chemo. The chemo had greatly suppressed my bone marrow, which means my body had stopped producing white blood cells, which fight infection. Bone marrow also replenishes your blood supply. Your body replaces your blood supply every few weeks, and your blood cells naturally die off and are replaced in that time period. Since my bone marrow was basically dormant due to the effects of the chemo, it could not replace the missing red blood cells. Also, I was partially dehydrated, so that meant my blood fluid level (plasma) was very low. They doubted I could fight off the infection, and even with transfusions they thought I would not be able to last long enough for my body to start to support itself. Luckily, this was one of the miracles we witnessed as part of my battle with cancer.

As of June 12th my blood pressure had improved to 98/42. If you don't already know, normal blood pressure is usually somewhere around 120/70 give or take. 49/16 is barely readable on blood pressure instruments.

I would spend 9 days in the hospital. At the end, I was begging them to let me go home. Being in the hospital is bad, not because you are sick, but because it is BORING. More boring than you can imagine. Math class boring. Long lines at the DMV boring. Only worse. You can only watch so much TV and read so much and play so many mindless games (I must admit however that a little hand-held monopoly game really saved my sanity quite a bit during that year), until you are ready to pop.

My monopoly game.

After that my chemo was done. They had given me, literally, MORE than what should have been my lifetime limit for more than one chemo drug. The adriamycin in fact they continued past the point of my lifetime limit, giving me a dose, then giving me an EKG to ensure my heart was not yet damaged, then another dose of chemo. This continued until the EKG showed damage to my heart, then they stopped. The methotrexate I could never use again as my body could not handle it and it damaged my kidneys. I was done with chemo, probably forever since there were several drugs I could never have again. Hopefully, I will never need them.

I went in for some follow-up scans to see what if anything was left of the tumor. Standard scans like MRI and CAT scans showed nothing, but they did a couple of other scans to look for the tumor in ways the CAT and MRI scans cannot.

Both of the other scans are part of what they call nuclear scans. That is, they inject you with a radioactive isotope that then attaches itself to the tumor, and then they scan to see where the isotope collected. If there is tumor remaining it will give them a "hot spot" on the scan.

First, I underwent a PET scan. That is a postitron emission tomography scan. Here is a picture of a PET scanner.

A pet scan is done by injecting a radioactive glucose solution (glucose molecules attached to a radioactive isotope) into a vein. You then lay quietly for an hour. Then they put you in the machine. The idea is that your organs use glucose at different rates. By lying very still you allow the glucose to be absorbed by the organs that use it the most at rest. This includes your brain, heart, and liver...as well as cancerous tumors. Since tumors are typically growing at a rate faster than any other organs in your body, they will use more of the glucose. You are then scanned by a device that can "see" the radioactive isotope that was attached to the glucose, which can then give you a picture of the active parts of your body, which includes tumor material.

The results of the PET scan were negative, there was negligible tumor material remaining. It was about what they thought it would be. The tumor was not completely eradicated, but what remained was less than they thought would be there.

This was followed up by a bone scan, which is similar to a PET scan, but uses an isotope that is designed to attach itself to bone material, so they can see if any of my tumor picked up the isotope, since what I had was a bone cancer tumor. This was mostly to look for metastasis, or migration of the cancer to other parts of the body. This also came back negative.

So far, so good.

Since the scans came out ok, the next step was what to do with the remaining tumor. It was decided to send me to Loma Linda University for Proton Therapy, and that will be the subject of a future post.

Next posts: Surgeries and Proton Therapy.

Cancer Part 3 - Chemotherapy

2009-02-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

In the early fall of 1998 we were sent to Dr. Alton Wagnon. He would be my primary oncologist through this entire mess. This is when reality set in. In our 2nd or 3rd meeting, Dr. Wagnon had researched my cancer enough to lay out a plan of attack...and let us know what the odds were. Less than 15%. I had less than a 15% chance to be alive after 5 years.

Osteosarcoma in the trunk, especially in the area of the chest, and encroaching on the spinal cord, is VERY rare. I cannot remember exactly how many cases he said there had been in the literatue he researched, but it was in the low double-digits. Most often osteosarcoma occurred in teens in the long bones (legs, arms, etc.) and resulted in an amputation to remove the disease. In all surgeries involving malignant tumors, the goal is to remove the tumor with a margin.

It was explained to me to think of the tumor as the pit of a peach. In the surgery, they want to remove the entire peach. This makes it much more likely that you will survive as the cancer cells can be migrating in the space around the tumor, and removing that extra tissue means you are keeping the cancer from growing. This is different from metastasis, which is when the cancer moves to entire other body parts (lungs, liver, lymph nodes, etc.) but along the same lines.

Keep the cancer from growing or moving, kill it, and remove it, and maybe you will survive.

In my case removing a margin was impossible. My tumor had grown into my spine and was beginning to encroach upon the dura, or the lining of the spinal cord. So, since you can't live with a good 3 or 4 inch chunk of your spin removed, there was no way to remove the tumor with a margin.

So we had to hope that chemotherapy would do the trick. Heavy chemo and lots of it. I had the good, and bad, fortune of being young, big, healthy, and relatively strong. This meant a heavier load of chemo than most people get. My doctor told me that during his 30 years as an oncologist he had never adminstered these drugs in such heavy doses before. Lucky me, huh?

My first chemo treatment was September 15th, 1998, a Tuesday. We arrived at the hospital early in the morning and they ushered us to a room. The nurses came in with all the admissions paperwork and took my blood pressure. I cannot remember the exact numbers but I can tell you that it was 170-something over 110 or in the 1-teens. That is EXTREMELY high. I never have felt so much anxiety in my life. They gave me a few minutes to calm down to get my blood pressure down and once it dropped below 90 on the low end, they started the IV.

My first regimen of chemo consisted of 2 drugs, adriamycin and cisplatin. Both were IV administered. The cisplatin was given as a drip over a day and a half, and the adriamycin was a "push". They used a huge syringe to put it into the IV and pushed it at a measured rate. The really freaky thing is that adriamycin is bright red. They call it the red devil.

I know it was mostly in my head, but when I say that line of red in the IV enter my arm, I could feel it hit my body. It was a horrid feeling. Like that full-body shudder you get when you think about eating something vile, or see someone throw up, or see a graphic picture, like of an open wound. I could taste it too. It was kind of a faint metalic taste, almost like chewing on aluminum but not that strong, kind of in the back of my throat.

I was in the hospital for 2 days, receiving cisplatin in a slow drip, and a push of adriamycin. They then sent me home overnight, and I went back the next day for a second adriamycin push.

This was the regimen for the next few months. 2-4 days in the hospital, then home for 3 weeks.

Rinse, repeat.

I cannot describe to you what chemo feels like. I am sure it is different for everyone, but for me the best way I can describe it is to imagine the worst flu you have ever had...the body aches, the runny nose, the woozy kinda half-awake half-passing out feeling, the head aches, but especially the body aches...then multiply that by about 1000. Everything hurts.

I could feel my hair, until I lost it anyway. How is that for weird. And it hurt. It was almost impossible to get comfortable, because it hurt to touch your skin...well hurt is not exactly right, it was like it was over-sensitive, like when you have a really strong fever, and it bugs you for anyone to touch your skin. It also made me feel restless, like I had ants crawling on me...not so much itchy as, well, squirmy maybe.

After about 2 days another disquieting sympton set in: my hearing and vision changed. I felt like I was in a tunnel, everything around the periphery of my vision was blurred, my hearing was like I was inside a tin can. Everything sounded muddled, no sharp tones, no highs and lows. Take your speaker system and turn the treble all the way down, and the bass all the way down, and the mid-range all the way up and that is close.

Another change was to my senses of taste and smell, and of course, nausea. The chemo attacks cells that are rapidly dividing, and the cells in your digestive tract (mouth, throat, stomach, intestines) replace themselves more frequently than any other cells in your body, which explains why chemo patients get sick - the chemo is actively attacking your gut, so you throw up. I could no longer taste sweet very well, and sour was muted too...so everything tasted salty and bitter. Ice cream, soda pop, chocolate, pizza, ketchup, everything. Ice cream has more salt in it than you think. I could taste it. And all I could smell after a time seemed to be the chemo itself.

Everything smelled, and tasted...I don't know...wrong. Just wrong.

With that change, and the fact that throwing up had become the norm, it was small wonder that I lost around 75 pounds while on chemo. I gravitated to foods that I expected to fit this profile anyway: salty and/or bitter. Dark chocolate was ok. I ate a lot of chicken soup and other broth-based soups, since they were expected to be salty. Pizza was ok too, but it upset my stomach.

I took anti-nausea pills (anti-emetics) to help with the nausea, but they were only partially effective. One of them was experimental at the time and cost more than $80 per pill. Crazy.

Along with all this come lethargy, weakness, mouth sores, sleeplessness and countless other annoyances, from little to big, that are things you might not think about when you think about someone having chemotherapy. At one point I had to go get my driver's license renewed, and in the photo I look like death warmed over. I could have passed for a 60-year old man who was not in good health.

Another intersting thing was that where they put in the IV in my arm for these first few chemo treatments I experienced calcification of the vein. You could feel it like a stick under my skin and see it as a dark line. The vein closed off and they had to find a new place to give me the chemo. This resulted in my second surgery, to implant a portacath.

It was implanted just under the skin on the upper right side of my chest, and attached to the muscle with a suture. The catheter was threaded around my collar bone and down straight into a vein leading into my heart. They accessed the portacath by jabbing a needly a little thicker than a thumbtack stright through the skin into the center of the portacath. There are lots of fun stories about this as well, that I might get to in another post...like the time the nurse was new to this and hesitated, then glanced the needle off the edge of the cath under my skin and jabbed it into my chest wall instead. FUN!

Here are a couple of pictures of the actual portacath they inserted into me, along with the needle marks from accessing it.

In this one you can see the needle punctures and even a gouge in the metal from when they "missed" when inserting the needle.

The worst part about the chemo was what it did to my psyche. I know that you truly cannot undestand if you have not been there. I felt like I was not really alive, but just kind of "there", and I did not want to be anywhere anymore. The worst thing probably was how my mood changed. Glynna remarks on this in her journal at that time. I felt dark. I was mad at God and ready to give up. The really bad thing is that for the next year, it did not get better. I had my moments, the times in between the chemo when I recovered somewhat, the good days (we were looking at some of the pictures from that time and remembering that good things happened that year too), like Halloween and Christmas. But in lots of ways I did not recover from that dark feeling.

Later my doctors would label it post-traumatic stress disorder, but that is another post.

On September 30th, my hair started falling out. Jordan and Glynna pulled it out in clumps. What was weird, and what you can see in these photos, is that it does not all come out. I learned that is because chemo drugs work by interrupting cellular mitosis, meaning they affect cells as they divide. Your hair follicles divide fairly regularly for your hair to grow. But some of your hair is "dormant" for a period of time, and so the chemo won't work on it. Here are some pictures of that time.

Now, here is the handsome devil we all know and love!

This first regimen of chemo lasted until a few weeks before Christmas, 1998. I had receovered enough to have a nice Christmas. I remember feeling ok, or as ok as I had up to that point. It was as good a time as we had during that year really.

The next trial was about to begin. That will be the topic of my next post, but to give you a sneak preview, I spent about a week in the hospital battling pneumonia caused by the chemo over New Year's.

And I will finish the story about chemo in another post. Sorry for the long read.

Facebook

2009-01-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

I, along with the rest of my family, have become a facebook junky. It is great fun and a fantastic way to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, support one another...and PLAY. Well, I have totally neglected my 'blogging' because I have been too busy visiting and farming on facebook. (If you want to know about farming, just check out facebook.com . It is fun, but I hear there are a lot of other really fun games too, such as Vampire Wars and Fashion Wars, to name a few.) Sadly, I could not log on to the facebook site at this time, due to 'maintenance' issues or something like that. The good news is, HERE I AM AGAIN! Yeh!

On the second, I started a post entitled, 'Glynna's Health Log 2009'. I did not finish it and ended up deleting it, since it was old news, so I will give it a shot again. I thought if I am accountable to 'the internet world', maybe I will stick to my goals better. :)I am weighing in every Monday morning at the gym. My goal is 135 pounds. My highest weight was 225 pounds back in the early spring of 2005. My size 20 jeans were too tight for me so I was wearing elastic pants or sweats because I refused to purchase a size 22. I decided it was time to do something about this. I was uncomfortable and depressed all the time. I could not sleep very well because my hips and back hurt so I tossed and turned all night. I started walking with a friend/neighbor of mine in Fernley, NV. By May, I had lost 10 pounds and was down to 215 pounds. I could fit into my size 20 jeans again and I was just elated. I loved exercise again, but food (namely, chocolate and pastries) was a great challenge for me to control. So, I decided to join Weight Watchers. One year later, in June, 2006, I became a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and have been an advocate for the program ever since. Attending meetings faithfully was key for me. I loved the support and the valuable information taught each week, and, of course, I needed the accountability. All of the people who work for Weight Watchers 'have been there and done that' so they are terrific supporters. They totally understand how hard it is to lose weight and keep it off. I even worked for WW for a few months. My ultimate goal is 135 pounds, but I set my Weight Watchers goal at 155 to become a lifetime member faster. I got my weight down to 147 pounds over the summer of 2006, I was a size 10, felt fabulous, and was sleeping through the night without a problem at all.

Anyway, about a year ago, or so, I started putting a little bit of weight back on. I have gained 20 pounds back. I weigh 167 pounds as of yesterday's weigh in. And, I know EXACTLY why. It is because I STOPPED ATTENDING WW MEETINGS EVERY SINGLE WEEK. For the past two weeks I have been back on track. I am exercising regularly and keeping track of what I am eating. I was a little frustrated that I did so well last week and did not lose one pound, but I know from past experience that if I persevere - and I will - that the weight will come off. This time I will not quit at 147 pounds (if my 40 year old body will allow it) and I will reach my real goal of 135 pounds.

Well, that is it for now...I've got to go see if I can get back on Facebook before the Daycare kids wake up from their naps...hee hee.

I hope you are all having a fabulous start to your new year! I certainly am. I know Chad is out of work right now and I only have two full-time daycare kids, but I have really enjoyed having Chad around. He and I are great friends. We really enjoy one another's company...and isn't that just how it should be in a marriage. I am very happy and very grateful. I love you honey!

Cancer Part 2 - Biopsy

2009-01-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

(NOTE: As this is the 10 year anniversary of my diagnosis with, and treatment of Osteosarcoma, I thought I would recount my memories of the significant moments in that year. Read part 1 here.)

The date was August 6th 1998, coincidentally, and fortunately, 3 years to the very day that I started to work for Autoliv in Brigham City Utah. Fortuntately because after 3 years of service I was eligible for full short term disability, 80% of my salary, vs. just 40% is I went on disability any earlier. One of many blessings and miracles, if you choose to see it that way, that we experienced through this entire ordeal.

We had been referred to a neurosurgeon to consult on what to do about my tumor, discovered in the MRI I had in July. We were sent to a neurosurgeon because the MRI revealed that the tumor encased the nerve roots at C7, C8, T1, and T2 and partially at C6. By the way, this link gives a pretty darn good approximation of what they did when they fused my spine in February of 1999.

These are designations for vertebrae, particularly in the cervical spine (neck) and the thoracic spine (upper back). C6, C7, and C8 are the lower-most vertebrae in the cervical spine and the very next is T1, the top-most vertebra in the thoracic spine.

The nerves that come out of these vertebrae make up what is called the brachial plexus, a junction of the nerves that come out of the spine at the lower neck and upper back and go into your shoulder and arm. Most all of the nerves that control the arm come through the brachial plexus. My tumor was smack-dab in the middle of the brachial plexus and all of the nerves there went right through the tumor. Since the danger to damage these nerves was very great, a neurosurgeon was necessary to ensure that at little damage as possible was done.

August 6th we went in for the first of what would be several surgeries over the years. The plan was to go in above the colar bone and simply pull the tumor out. It was assumed that the tumor at this point was benign and that would likely mean it was like a balloon and could just be pulled out through a relatively small incision. Here is the scar this and subsequent surgeries left behind (luckily kind of hard to see, but more visible in real life).

I was nervous more than I thought I would be for this surgery. We just did not know what this would all mean to us, and the threat of cancer loomed, even though the doctor was reasonably confident it was not cancerous. Cancerous tumors in this part of the body were just too rare. The odds were against it being cancer. Still, I wondered.

The surgery lasted about 5 hours, pretty short compared to others I have had. In the end, the tumor was not like a balloon, it was more like a mass of peanut butter. It stuck to everything. The doctor did all he could to "debulk" the tumor to at least give me some relief of the pain that started all this off, and he took material for a biopsy. It turns out that "sticky" tumors indicate they are encroaching on surrounding tissue, meaning they are spreading aggressively, which is a prime indicator of cancer.

One interesting side effect of this surgery is that they cut nerves that control some of the autonomous functions on the left side of my head. My left eye droops just a little now, and I don't sweat on the left side of my head. It is literally like a line. When I work out or play basketball or whatever you can actually see a line on my forehead, sweat beads visible on the right side, dry as a bone on the left. This also means I overheat very easily since I do not sweat enough to cool my head down. I guess I have truly become a hot-head through all this!

I also am largely numb across the upper left part of my chest. This started with this surgery and got worse with other surgeries. Also, no hair grows there. Weird. The little things you just don't think about in situations like this. Really adds new meaning to "the devil is in the details".

I recovered just fine from the surgery. One rather funny memory is when I was in the hospital (I was there for about 3 or 4 days I think), and I was on pain meds. They had be hooked up to a machine that would dole out a specific dose of morphine when I pushed a button, then would not give me any more for a certain amount of time, then would give me another dose and so on. My sisters came to visit right after I had pushed that little button and I was somewhat loopy. I had a big grin on my face and they asked me if I was alright. I responded with "Now I know why they call it MORE-phine...cuz you just want more."

You take what laughs you can get, right?

I need to look up the exact date, but it was nearly a month later that we met again with the neurosurgeon. They had sent out the tumor material for testing and the results were grim. Glynna and I both sat in his office after he gave me a once-over to see how I was healing. He then sat down and told us that they tests had come back positive. The tumor was malignant.

Osteosarcoma, he said. Bone cancer.

We were both kind of in shock at that point. What do you say about that? The tears did not really come in force until we got home. I was scared, but I really had no idea how bad it would get. We were then referred to Dr. Alton Wagnon, my first oncologist.

I remember telling my dad. He was supportive and understanding and just awesome about the whole thing. My dad is just that way, one of the best people you could ever hope to know.

The news came as a pretty big shock for my whole family. My paternal grandmother had died of cancer when I was about 7. I could vaguely remember that. My brother-in-law, Art, had died of cancer while I was on my mission, a mere 7 years before, to the very month I received my diagnosis. I could not imagine how hard that was for my sister to relive some of that horrible time through me.

Uncertainty is a terrible feeling, and up to that point I really did not understand the phrase "all we have to fear is fear itself". Our lives changed dramatically on that day, in some ways for the better, and in other ways for the worse.

I turned 28 in 1998. And I graduated from college. My kids were 5, 3, and 1. I had been married for 6 years. And I had cancer.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Here I sit at one o'clock in the afternoon, barely out of bed, hair a mess, third rice krispy treat in hand, last night's make-up all over my face...(lovely image isn't it?), READY TO START MY NEW YEAR RIGHT...Hey, I did get dressed.

Not only am I blowing that 'fresh new start', but I am admitting it to the world...hang on a sec...I am having a muddy buddy attack...What kind of nut job am I?! Don't answer that.

Ok, ok, I admit it. I am not as witty as my husband or children, but at least I try. Hey! I have done two good things this fine new year! I got dressed and I tried to be witty. Whoo hoo!

We had a great Mormon celebration last night. Instead of waking up with hang-overs, we wake up with puzzle gut (as my mother-in-law calls it). Ya, we like to claim we are not addicts...and then someone shows up with a BIG bowl of muddy buddies...and someone else shows up with a mountain high tray of donuts...then someone else shows up with a lovely package of chocolates just screaming out my name...I mean your name...he he...Before you know it, it is 3am and you wish you could barf...Gee, that sure sounds a little teensy bit like a non-mormon celebration...he he...

Anyway, we did have a great party. I took lots of pictures, as usual, and irritated alot of people, as usual...hee hee. Hey, everyone just has to deal with the fact that I like memories. We had 16 people eating, playing a Wii bowling tournament, chatting, texting, eating some more, laughing, cleaning (Mom), and eating some more, etc. etc....It was great fun.

I told my family I would make crepes for breakfast on New Year's Day...no matter what time of day it was...but the only response I got when I mentioned making more sweet food was "Uuuuuhhgggghhhh". I took that as a "Please! No! Just shoot me before you put more sugar in my body!". Needless to say, we ate eggs instead.

I am officially part of facebook now so any of you out there who want to be my friend are invited...so far I have two friends...Angie and Kelly. I NEED FRIENDS!!! What I really need is to know how to create my own farm...That looked so fun.

Happy New Year 2009! Best wishes and lots of love to you all!

That's all folks...

2008-12-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well, that's it.

My last day with Cummins passed with little fanfare. I got to say goodbye to everyone I worked with at the warehouse, and I was very happy to see that everyone was, for the most part, in a pretty positive mood. It was a little somber to say "Nice working with you. Glad I got to know you. Good luck." knowing most of them I would never see again. I didn't shed any tears until the drive home, and I think that was mostly just letting the stress out.

I guess on the plus side there is no more winter commute. Save gas too. Also, I may have a chance to sleep in for a while. That would be nice. And...no more meetings! Woohoo! Well, that's about all I can think of for the bright side kind of stuff, pretty lame huh?

I truly enjoyed my almost 2 years with Cummins and honestly do not hold any bitter feelings for them letting us go. It is just business after all. I just hope this round of cuts was enough and no one else will have to lose their jobs. That no one else will have to wonder what comes next far sooner than they should have to worry about that.

I have put out some feelers, and have been contacted by a couple of head-hunters, but nothing concrete has come along yet as far as jobs are concerned. I am hopeful about a possibility in Phoenix which is the best lead yet. I am sure I will hear more from them after the holiday, but you never know, right. All that stuff about counting your chickens applies here.

The one thing that will make this a harder transition is that if I am going to have a real chance at finding something quickly, then we will likely be moving again. Very few jobs in my field at my level in Utah, far more in other states. As long as I recognize that I can at least focus my search in the southern lattitudes. It will make it a little less painful on Glynna to at least move where it is warm.

Of course, the first and best plan is to stay put, let the kids finish out school here. This next move will be hardest on them. Glynna and I knew going into it that moving up in my career would likely mean moving, and we are adventurous enough that it is actually something we enjoy. But we have to think of the kids too. For them it will be harder. We have uprooted them enough. God willing, we will stay here.

I have checked most all job boards I can think of, and have even registered with a few pay sites, like The Ladders. (that link should take you to my resume....if you know anyone looking for a logistics manager, feel free to pass it along =) I am pretty confident something will come my way, hopefully before the severance package ends. If not, all we can do is put it in God's hands and trust that he has better things in store for us, whatever they may be.

So goodbye Cummins. I will miss everyone I worked with. It was the best job I have ever had...

...so far!

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

I hope anyone who read my last post knows I was just kidding about the title, "Stop the World, I want to get off!" I know sometimes we all feel like that, but overall, I have a very good life. I have so much to be thankful for. I am married to my best friend. I love being with him. We have alot of fun together. He makes me laugh just about on a daily basis. I am so impressed with how intelligent and witty he is. I hope my children take more after him than me. I did well in school because I worked my butt off, but learning new things does not just come naturally for me. I have to work hard to get information to stick in my brain. That may have something to do with having four children too... (wink).

******

Anyway, I did not get a chance in my last blog to share any info about our Christmas holiday. We had a great Christmas day. Jordan had to go on a scavenger hunt to find his Santa gift and Duncan had to dig through a big box of shredded newspaper to find his. We like to keep things fun...or should I say, Santa likes to keep things fun.

I gave myself a fabulous Christmas present. I did not cook or clean or even get dressed the entire day. It was AWESOME! I went to breakfast at my sister-in-laws in my PJ's and even went to Dennys for Christmas dinner in my PJ's. Ok, I admit, I was a teensy bit embarrassed...but I did it anyway. Ya, I like to live on the wild side now and then. Emily, Duncan, and Annie joined me in my Christmas Pajama Day and they were pretty embarrassed at Dennys too. It was funny. I did feel a little guilty about making people work on Christmas Day.

Well, one of my daycare kids in napping here in the office and I don't want to wake her up so I am going to make this a short post, but later I will get back on and post about my weight loss efforts...they are sad...very, very sad...yurk.

Stop the world, I want to get off!

2008-12-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

Long time, no blog. How many times can I use "busy" as my excuse for everything? In fact, December 2008 has just been a whirlwind for me. Thanksgiving was here only a moment ago and now the New Year is around the corner. Did Christmas even happen? Well, my photos are proof that it did. I warned all of the Todd family that I had four years of holiday photos to make up. They did bear it, but I can't guarantee they were grinning about it. ;P I will take this opportunity now to thank all of you for being gracious about my photo frenzy over the past several weeks and to thank those of you who found photos to share with me due to my very devastating loss.

I hope your holidays were happy. Considering the crazy past few weeks we have experienced, our holiday was nice. You have all heard the phrase, "when it rains it pours". Well, boy have I got a CRAZY example of that! It is so crazy I feel more like laughing about it than crying! First of all, at the beginning of the month I lost a family of three kids that I was prepaid for (meaning that I depended on a fairly large sum of money at the beginning of the month which I did not receive), then, Chad's car, which is not even two years old, broke down on our way to a business dinner in Salt Lake, (Chad's parents had to come from Ogden to pick us up that night and then go back the next morning to tow Chad's car back to the dealer for repairs), then Chad was abruptly informed that his facility was closing and all of the employees, including himself, were being let go at the end of the month, then our furnace quit working...HELLO! December...cold..., and then all of our favorite grandpa-and apparently, a favorite for many people-died.

The good ending to this story is that Grandpa and Grandma are reunited...and I got to have all of my siblings and my Mom and Dan, not to mention my cousins, Kyle and Brenda, all in my home at the same time. That part was fabulous...especially listening to Blaine and Bryn sing, smelling Theresa's amazing cooking, and watching Angie harvest crops and blood online...hee hee. (If you want details on the blood thing, you'll have to ask her...hee hee)

I'm not complaining. It has just been a crazy month. As always, my blogs are late at night and I have a lesson to teach tomorrow. Thank goodness next week our church meetings will be starting at one o'clock in the afternoon. Whoo hoo! I love afternoon church. What else can you do on Sunday? Hello! Sleep in! ha ha.

Anyway, Chad has been giving me a photo posting lesson. I was going to post some Christmas photos as well, but we are having a few technical difficulties so Chad will figure out the problems and I will post Christmas photos next time. I will explain the four I did actually upload to the blog.

The first one is of Chad with his crew at the Cummins facility in Salt Lake. The second one is of Bodie being taught to leave no evidence of dessert...cake? What cake? The third is a photo of my mom, sisters, and me.

Love you all!

Hey, while we were all together, why didn't we take a sibling photo?! Poop! (Is that ok to say on the Internet?...HAHAHA), and, thank you, Jesse, for the lovely little goodbye gift on Theresa's rental. Those cute little snowmen did not last though. Shortly after your departure, Chad started using the poor little guys as snowballs. Aaaaah...

Other things to think about...a positive note and the start of my cancer story (so Cancer Part 1, I guess)

2008-12-18T08:31:00.001-08:00

I was just thinking about things that are happening to us right now, and it got me reminiscing, which made me think of something I have not posted about yet: 2008 is the 10 year mark for my cancer diagnosis. 10 years is quite the milestone for cancer survivors. The 5-year mark is kind of the pinnacle of cancer survival, since at that point it basically means you have the same chance of a cancer recurrence as anyone else has of developing cancer. So 10 years is special as it means I have doubled that time. Not bad considering my doctor initially gave me less than a 15% chance of beating it to begin with.

10 years. Wow.

In October 1998 we received the news that I had osteosarcoma (bone cancer).

I had been having pain in my upper back, neck, and down my left arm for some time in late 1997 and early 1998, but I was nearing the end of my college coursework and was too caught up in graduating to get it checked out. I finally, just before graduation, went to my boss at work since I thought it might be work-related having been in production for several years. They sent me to a therapist who recommended and electromyogram. Here is the key point of this test:

The skin over the areas to be tested is cleaned with a special soap. A needle electrode that is attached by wires to a recording machine is inserted into a specific muscle.

So the point is they stick a needle into a muscle to find a nerve and then shock it so they can see on a machine hooked up to your hand if the nerve is blocked or not. Got that? Needle in muscle to shock the be-jeebers out of a nerve, ON PURPOSE!

Can you say "ouch"?

Actually it was more like "HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL STOP STICKING THAT PIN IN MY ARM YOU SADISTIC..." well you get the idea. =)

The doctor stuck that thing in my hand and arm about every 6 inches (back of my hand, just past my wrist, middle of forearm, at the elbow - that was fun, shocking the crap out of my funny-bone, hah hah hah, see me laughing - etc.). Then I find out the test told them nothing. Greeeaaat!

That prompted an MRI. They were pretty concerned so I actually got my MRI on July 4th if you can imagine that. That was also, incidentally, the day of my last paid haircut. I have not been to a barber of any kind since then.

I went in that afternoon for my MRI. They gave me a Valium to help me relax and then they strapped me into the MRI table. [note: the Valium basically did nothing...I would come to find after 8 years of various kinds of treatments and surgeries, and probably thousands of percocet, lortab, codeine, etc. that I have a VERY high tolerance for narcotics of all kinds.]

I had a cage bolted over my head holding my head in place and pressing on my chest so I would not move at all during the test. That ended up being a bad thing, since it only exacerbated the feeling of being trapped while I was, well, trapped in the machine. In the middle of the MRI they stopped. They told me they had to have someone come look at the images and that they needed to take another image. All this time I am in this tube that could barely hold me and my gut. I started begging them to let me out, but they said they did not want to mess up the orientation. It was a bad experience at the time and made it so I can now only do an MRI if sedated.

Anyway, I found out what made them do that. They wanted to be absolutely certain of what they had to report, to make sure they were really seeing what they thought they were. Unfortunately, it was exactly what they thought it was.

When they finally unstrapped me, they had me wait around to talk to my doctor. I kind of guessed at that point that it was not going to be to invite me over for punch and cookies. On the phone the neurologist who ordered the test told me they found a mass in my upper back and neck (technically the brachial plexus area). It was about the size of a large orange or my fist and was nestled under my shoulder-blade, up against the top of my rib cage and under my colar bone. Later we would find out it encroached on the spine as well. The sharp shooting pains I had been experiencing in my left arm and neck were a result of the tumor pressing on and pinching my ulnar nerve against my colar bone - in essence I had the feeling of having smacked my funny bone good and hard all the time.

My doctor actually did say "tumor" at the end of our discussion. "Mass" sounded better.

I then called Glynna and my mom and dad and told them they had found a tumor. I was sick and numb all at the same time. But I had no idea what was to come, and maybe that was a good thing.

I will say I have had more enjoyable Independence Days.

A fine Merry Christmas to me...more bad news

2008-12-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

I hate to keep posting bad news, but this last week was a doozy. My boss and our HR rep came out last Monday from Kentucky, unannounced. I had a phone call scheduled with him on Monday, but had no clue he was coming here until he literally walked into my office. I figured that can't be a good thing...and unfortunately I was right.

They told me that Cummins was trying to be proactive about the current economic environment. We already had seen our daily shipping volume decrease by about 20%, which necessitated dropping 5 people from our work force. The decision now was that they need to consolidate operations within markets, meaning they only want one distribution center in North America. So they are shutting us down and we are all being laid off. Our last official working day is December 30th.

Some Merry Christmas, huh?

I am a little worried about finding a new job. We have a neighbor who has been out of work for 9 months. I hear about more people losing their jobs and not being able to find anything. It is somewhat scary. I am hopeful, however, and I think I have a good background to get into something else relatively soon. It will probably pay off that I have experience in many fields and have worn many hats in my career. I hope it will anyway.

I guess come January I will have some more time to blog. I do get a 3 month severance package, so that will help. I am also going to get certified in daycare so we can take on more kids in Glynna's daycare, Kiddlywinks. I guess that was pretty good forsight, huh? We can effectively double her income, and my mom is thinking about joining us instead of her current job, which will help even more. Of course we may be driven nuts with that many kids running around the house, but I hear that duct tape can work wonders! =)

I will use this space to keep everyone updated on my job hunt. I am also considering putting together a "resume blog" with the hope of luring in potential employers.

You can also check out my profile on LinkedIn.

I guess that is about it for now.

Sad News - and a Plea for Help

2008-11-22T00:45:00.000-08:00

We recently learned a valuable lesson a very very hard way. The hard drive on our computer crashed, and we lost everything.

And I do mean everything.

We had all of our digital pictures from the past 4 years on there. We had all of our important documents, including but definitely not limited to taxact files, resumes, all the Kiddlywinks stuff, school docs, everything I have created in CorelDRAW for the past 4 years, all the songs we had downloaded, all the videos we had downloaded, that is enough, it is making me very sad.

So if you have any pictures with any of my family in them, please send them on to us. If you know us, you already probably have contact info. If not, then please leave a note (with no personal info like addresses or emails for security's sake) in the comments section and we will get ahold of you somehow.

I am more than willing to either arrange a FedEx pickup of anything you can burn to disk, or pay for shipping, replace disks you use to send us pictures, or if you are willing to send us print pictures I guarantee I will scan them and lovingly return them within a week, including a copy of the pictures on disk so you can have a digital copy as well.

As far as our lesson goes, here is a breakdown of our new computer (great timing, huh? guess what we got for Christmas. =(

* HP model d5100t, customized to include the following components
* Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9550 2.83 GHz
* 6 gig of RAM
* 500 gig of a Raid 1 data security hard-disk configuration - this means there are 2 500 gig hard drives, one solely to back up the first, and connected in such a way that it is highly unlikely that BOTH will fail at the same time
* A 1 terabyte external hard-drive for serious backups (images of the full system and actual files of all important docs, pics, all of that listed above and more)
* Of course, graphics card, sound card, Lightscribe DVD/CD burner, and all that Jazz

We learned our lesson the hard way. Don't wait to learn yours the same way. You can get external hard drives for fairly cheap for good-sized models. Here are a few suggestions:

PC World review of top external hard drives for 2008 - a good place to start since they perform tests not just on size, but on performance and reliability, with prices ranging from $129 to $755, but you can find smaller drives for less money, like some of the following:

Amazon.com listing of hard drives...starting at $69.99

More external drives (just click on the different types for different configurations and prices.

Heck, Walmart carries them. You can just go there and browse.

You can even buy a DVD burner and periodically backup your pictures and vital docs every quarter or so. DVD burners can be had for about $50 (maybe less), and a single layer DVD holds up to 4 gig...a double layer up to 8. DVD disks are about $1 to $1.50 each (can be had for less - shop around), but that is a small price to pay to make sure you don't lose stuff in this digital age.

My plan is to once a month take an image of my primary drive and store it on my external drive, along with all pictures and important docs in their original format. Every 6 months to 1 year we will backup pictures on dual-layer DVD and store them in my safe-deposit box.

I went from nothing to overkill, but this was a very bad experience.

Don't let it happen to you.

Wat u can get me for Christmas YAY :)

2008-11-18T17:27:00.001-08:00

If anyone is wondering wat to get me for christmas i want money. I prefer cash but i will take a check. And no i am not going to buy drugs just lots and lots of sugary carbinated caffine drinks called Monster. I neet at least enough to buy 20 to last me about a week. That will be all thank you. Oh and just in case you dont have a sence of humor i was just kidding. About the monsters not the cash. :)

NUAMES

2008-11-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hi, I have not posted a blog in a long time so here is a quick review my school. This year for high school I am going to NUAMES (Northern Utah Academy for Math Engineering and Science) it is am early college school. Next year I will attend college level classes at Weber State and I plan on graduating with my associates degree. Just so you know how small my school is there are only 11 portables that make up NUAMES, there are only about 300-400 kids in the whole school, that includes 10th 11th and 12th grade. WOW that's tiny. Our mascot is a Nighthawk. We are the NUAMES Nighthawks. Everyone wanted to be the NUAMES Nerds but the administration said NO! It is the best school in the world because it is so small everyone knows everyone, that means no clicks. YAY. Well ill post more about NUAMES l8r bye.

Jose and the Golden Pin of Eternal Glory

2008-11-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

One day when Jose was playing X-box he heard a noise coming from his closet. When he opened the door a magic chinchilla said, “Jose, you are the chosen one.”

Then Jose said, “What the freaking heck are you doing in my closet?!” Then the magic chinchilla told him all about how the evil penguin, Gladys, stole the Golden Pin of Eternal Glory from the museum of random valuable things, and how he kidnapped the presidents pet snail, speedy. The magic chinchilla also told Jose that he could fly while holding a bagel, freeze anything with his mind except for newspaper, eat anything no matter what it was, and talk to pencils. Then the magic chinchilla burst into flames and was gone forever.

Jose spent the next few weeks mastering his abilities. When he was sure he had them all down he filled a backpack with 3 packs of bagels, food, water, and a picture of the chinchilla that gave him his destiny. He flew into the air and when he was over the great country Arkansas he dropped the bagel and fell about 27 feet onto a cow. The cow turned out to be the one who was supposed to show him the way. When the cow got him safely to the Kinko’s factory the cow burst into flames and was gone forever.

When Jose got inside he saw a suspicious group of penguins standing in the corner watching him carefully. Then one of them pulled out an M16 and tried to shoot him. He just barely escaped into the basement and locked the door when they busted down the door and ran in. As they came into the room Jose stepped on a trapdoor that led to the super cat’s hideout. Jose had heard about the super cat, but he thought he was only a story. The super cat said to Jose, “You are Jose and I am super cat, I made a teleporter that will take you strait to Gladys’ top secret headquarters in Wal-Mart.” Just as super cat pushed the teleport button he burst into flames and was gone forever.

When Jose got to Wal-Mart he went up to an employee and asked him where the evil penguin was. The man said, “Oh he’s on isle 7, but don’t touch his hair.” Jose said thank you and went immediately to isle 7.

When he got there, Gladys said, “How did you find out where my top secret headquarters were?!” Just as Jose was about to freeze the evil penguin he realized that Gladys had on a body suit made of newspaper. There was nothing Jose could do. Then the penguin ran away.

While Jose was searching for Gladys he ran into a pencil, he asked the pencil, “Have you seen this penguin?” While holding up a picture of a penguin with long shaggy hair.
The pencil simply replied, “I don’t have any eyes stupid.” Then out of the corner of his eye Jose saw the penguin run into the girls bathroom. Jose cornered Gladys in the bathroom and noticed that he had the Golden Pin of Eternal Glory and the president’s pet snail in a cage. All of a sudden the evil penguin had a seizure and the newspaper fell off. Jose grabbed the Golden Pin of Eternal Glory, Speedy, and flew out the window.

Jose returned the Golden Pin of Eternal Glory to the museum of random valuable things, returned Speedy to the president, won the Congressional Medal of Honor, and returned home still not knowing why there was a chinchilla in his closet.

Halloween

2008-10-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!!!!! The time is upon us to get all that last minute Halloween costume and candy shopping done! You have exactly two days so ready . . . set ... ... ... GO!!!!!!!!! So who else is excited? I sure as heck know I am! But I can't decide if I'm gonna go to my awesomely insane cousin's birthday party or trick-or-treating. Probably the party, though. So, guess what I'm gonna be for Halloween? Go ahead, guess! Ahem, I said, GUESS! OK fine, I'll tell you, sheesh! I'm gonna be a devil! It's an insanely cute costume!

But enough about me, let's talk about you guys!

So what are you gonna be for Halloween? And I really wanna know so comment and tell me! Well, if you don't know, here are some great costume ideas:
Bought Costumes from Wal-Mart:
-Whoopee Cushion
-Adam/Eve
-Fairy
-Bratz Pirate
-Devil (ME!!!)
-Angel
-Greek God/Goddess
-Queen/King/Prince/Princess

Homemade costumes (YAY!!! Creativity!):
-Robot (boxes and tin foil)
-Ghost (white bedsheet-cut eyeholes) (for a funky ghost use colored sheets) ;)
-Hobo (old button up shirt, messy hair, brown make up so you look dirty, brown eyeliner to draw messy patches and scratches)
-Headless Business Man (big white church shirt-pull it over your head, church pants)
-Girl (for boys only. wear a dress and do a girly hair do or a wig)
-Boy (for girls only. wear a baggy boy t shirt and baggy jeans, wear a baseball cap backwards with your hair pulled up in it)

Hope these helped! Have an awesome Halloween and get lots of candy!

Chad's Weight Loss Update

2008-09-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

I really did not want to push Glynna's wonderful post down further on our list, but it is time to provide an update on my weight loss because I hit a milestone this week.

As of 2 days ago, I broke the 240 lb barrier.

I now, according to the Weight Watchers scale at work, weigh 239.6 pounds. Since I started this journey right after our trip to Reno and the Grand Canyon, and since I did not take any "before" photos in an official way, I am using a picture of me from our trip that highlight where I was before and where I am now.

281 pounds

Here we are at Hoover Dam, June 18, 2008. This is me at my heaviest in the past 2 years (yes I did weigh more 3 years ago, and before I had cancer I hit my highest - 293).

239.6 pounds

Here I am today, September 28, 2008 - wearing the exact same shorts I was wearing at Hoover Dam in the picture above. That is exactly 71 days, or about 0.58 pounds per day.

Not bad, huh?

So, I am halfway to 200 pounds. See you in another 71 days!

Separation Anxiety...Mine, not theirs...

2008-09-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time. My excuse is always the same. Life is busy. It really is. I know it is for all of you. But I guess I had something to say tonight, to "lighten my load" so-to-speak.

Tonight I got my first real experience of separation anxiety from my children. Does that make sense? I guess I have always known it would come. I guess I have sensed it coming on for the past several months...but tonight, when it really hit,...it also really hurt. I'm not trying to give this certain child (to whom I am referring) a guilt trip. He/she is only acting naturally. But I need to give myself a break too. I am a Mom of teenagers and crying over them is natural too, I'm sure. Ok, ok, I will stop being so cryptic and just tell my story...

I grew up in a situation where I had no one to talk to about personal teenager "stuff". Well, of course, I had my siblings. We were always very close. And I had Ruth Tuckett, Susan Haws, Karen Bloxam (sp?), Maggie Egbert, Sandy Leavitt, and many other wonderful "Moms" to turn to. (Thank you all, by the way! I will always love each of you and thank God for the woman you helped me become.) But, I did not have my own mom to turn to...and it isn't so easy for a teenage girl to turn to her dad...(even though he really did his best. He's a good dad.) Anyway...

Chad has wonderful parents. I love them deeply. But Chad never really felt comfortable as a teenager to talk to his parents either. I am finding out, no matter how painfully, that this is the rule, and not the exception.

So, on that note, Chad and I have always tried our best to be completely open and honest with our children. We have tried to build a relationship of trust with them so they know they can turn to us about anything. I naively, and arrogantly, believed I was exempt from the rule that teenagers trust their friends and turn to their friends more than they do their parents. HA! What a fool am I! ha ha...Ya, now that I have stopped crying and have stepped back from the situation, I can laugh at myself and see how truly arrogant I have been.

This particular dear child of mine is going through a situation that he/she 'discusses' through many texts with 'certain' friends that she/he absolutely will not discuss whatsoever with me. I tried very delicately and cautiously to ask about it, only to get my head practically ripped from my body. Then, the silence and texting began again...which I was sure at the moment was about his/her lame parents since she/he asked me how to spell the word "interregate". He/she actually told this friend that her/his parents were interregating him/her!

Well, this dear child of mine has become more and more testy and short with Chad and I over the last several weeks. Sometimes I feel like I am walking on eggshells around this kid. I feel like Chad and I can do nothing right. (Please tell me this sounds familiar to some of you out there...) Well, my heart has been cracking bit by bit, but tonight for some particular reason, my dang heart just crumpled and broke. I exploded at this child. The child was completely oblivious as to why his/her mother was freaking out on him/her. He/she seriously had no clue that her/his behaviour was anything less than normal...(Well, now that I have calmed down and am releasing through this blog, I can see how silly I have been and I can see that his/her behaviour truly HAS been normal for this time in her/his life.)

Anyway, I got my feelings hurt...but I am a mom. My kids are growing up, whether I like it or not. I will get over it. (Won't I?! ;) ) The crazy thing is, most of the time I kind of enjoy that they are independant. I guess no matter what, I will always foolishly want to be #1 to them...and that just ain't gonna happen. And I know it. And I have just got to deal with it. I will always love them. I will always be here for them...if and whenever they want or need me. And that will do just fine...
Goodnight.

School-most kids cringe at the word.

2008-08-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yup. It's that time again. The one all kids dread. The time that ends our summer. The time everyone anticipates and hates at the exact same time. The time that requires extra shopping, that includes, but is not limited to, new clothes, new shoes, school supplies, backpacks, etc. The time that, well I assume you know what i mean by now. But, just for you less fast people, I'll add one more. MY MOST HATED TIME OF YEAR!!! Well, I'll start off by saying, I'm going to a new school. Again. My third new school in TWO YEARS! Yeah, it's that bad. Well, surprizingly, this new school isn't new because I moved. This one is because my parents wanted to get my younger siblings out of their old school because of events too elaborate for me to get into right now. So because of my younger sibs elaborate events, I have to go to a charter school. Yeah, the kind where you have to wear UNIFORMS!!! They aren't that tacky, but they do tend to hide my recently acquired prep style. I guess to some they can be a good thing because no one can tease you or be mean because of what you're wearing cause you're wearing the same thing. But then again, everyone has their own style and the charter scool doesn't allow that style to be shown. One plus is that we get to go do extra curricular stuff at my old school, NDJ (North Davis Jr. High). So I will be doing the after school program, Program CARE. Of course the only class I'll be doing is Dinner Theater, which, (duh!) is acting and singing and dancing. So, in conclusion, break out the wallets and get your shopping over with cause you've got three days and counting till the dreaded day! (for kids anyway. I'm sure parents have a party while their kids are at school) Have a good last three days of summer!

GIRLS CAMP 4 YW!!! (for those of u less informed peeps, yw=young womens)

2008-08-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you already know what this is about, but I will say it for those of you slower people. I am writing about young women's camp that I went to a couple weeks ago. I'll start off saying young women's is an organization by the LDS (Latter Day Saint/Mormon) church. It is for girls ages twelve to eighteen. Now I know what you're thinking. "its just some wimpy religious thing telling you not to sin or you'll go to H*#@!" That is SO not what its all about!!! It's fun! We do games, sports, parties. We go camping every summer! And the best part (well actually the best part for me is the camping, but you know what i mean) is you get to hang out with lots of other teenage girls and you get to BE GIRLS!!!

So anyways, I'm not here to be a preacher. I'm here to talk about the CAMP.
More...

So a couple weeks ago my young women's group went caming up in Aspen Ridge in Idaho. This year it was just my ward. We did lots of activities there! We went horseback riding, canoeing, swimming, skits, hiking, and there was this thing at the lake (which was so small we called it Pond Josephine) called Pirates of *Pond* Josephine. What we did was we got to make teams and every team went out in a canoe. Then we would rock each others boats until they sunk. Last boat floating won. My wards team won twice out of four times! Everyone else's teams won once or not at all so we were the CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!! Another thing we got to do was this class called the COPE course. What it was was a team building class. It was really really fun! First, we all stood on a log. Then we had to organize ourselves in order of birthdays. But, the tricky thing was, we couldn't fall off the log or talk at all! But, eventually we did it and we felt like we really accomplished something. Our next task was for every one of us to all have one foot on a milk crate and the other couldn't touch the ground. We had to hold that for ten seconds! It took us about a million tries-and about forty five minutes-of everyone trying to balance on it with one foot and the other in the air when we finally realized we could sit on the ground while doing it! We all felt pretty stupid that we couldn't realize that sooner! Our last task was at this huge pole. We had to form a human pyramid and try to get a tire over the pole and down it to the ground. I had to be one of the people on the bottom and so I was supporting the weight of about four girls!!! It was really fun though! The last activity I'll tell you about was this thing called the polar bear plunge. What we had to do was we sat in this bathtub that was in a river under a tube of FREEZING cold water. The water was coming straight down onto our heads! And the worst part was, we had to stay under for as long as it took to say the young womens theme! It was insane!!! But I liked it. I did it three times!!! We got to see them retire a flag, and when they did, there wasn't a dry eye in the house!!! Check back soon and I might get some pics in here! (suckish ones but, hey, nobody's perfect) I'm done now. So that means you can leave. What are you waiting for?!!?!!? GO!!! THAT MEANS YOU!!! GET OUTTA HERE!!!!! Oh just forget it! I quit! I'm leaving now!!!

Breaking Dawn (Twilight book 4) review!

2008-08-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

OMGosh!!!!!!!!!! Best book in the whole series, by FAR!!! It wasn't as action packed as the others and not so intense either but I loved it with a love that even the biggest of Twilight fanatics would find odd!!! And for the record, I DID read it before you, Momma so HA!!! IN YOUR FACE!!!!!

ANYWAYS,

It starts with Bella telling you how she broke the news about her wedding to her dad and mom. Then it goes on to the night before when Edward is forced by Jasper and Emmet to go to the bachelor party. Their wedding is so amazing and romantic! I loved every minute of it! Then Edward takes her to the most AMAZING place for their honeymoon. I won't tell you where, that would spoil it now, wouldn't it? I also won't tell you what happened at the honeymoon that is so shocking you will soil your pants!!! Ah ah ah! No spoilers allowed! Looks like you'll have to read it for yourself. Well anyways, then it switches and Jacob begins telling the story. The part he tells is pretty intense. It's awesome! At the end it switches back to Bella but I'm not gonna tell any more than that. Sorry! Like I said, looks like you'll have to read it for yourself. Well, I'm gonna go! SO SHUT UP!

Vacation Pics: Vegas and the Stratosphere

2008-08-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

OK. This is part 2 of our vacation pictures. Not sure how many parts there will be, but I hope it will end before you get bored. We start off this edition with a few more pics from the wedding (because I got some pics from my mom and dad and they had some good ones). We then have some from our trip to the top of the Stratosphere and a couple of the rides there.

This is why Chris and Kelly chose this resort for the wedding. Behind that mountain is Lake Tahoe. Beautiful.

Me and the prettiest girl at the whole wedding (sorry Chris and Kelly =).
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...and the kids.

Honey and Grampa were overdue for their afternoon nap.

Annie knows what is REALLY important.

I guess I had better include this one. This is me presenting the Best Man Toast (and me without a toaster...yeah yeah, bad joke but whatcha gonna do? =).

Now...on to VEGAS. Whoop whoop!!

Annie, Honey, and Grampa on the top of the Stratosphere.

View of Vegas from the observation deck of the Stratosphere.

Jordan and Zack...appearing suspiciously not up to something. I got my eye on you 2...

The spire of the Stratosphere...actually a rocket ride called Big Shot, at the top of which you are over 1,100 feet in the air. It is very cool because at the top of the ride, you can't even see the Stratosphere building below you. Wow. I almost peed myself (I think Emily did, but don't tell anyone...shhhh).

Aliens we encountered on the top of the Stratosphere. Gorgeous aliens, but aliens nonetheless.

A view of Vegas at night...1,000 feet in the air.

One of the thrill rides, Insanity.

The third ride, X-Scream.

Notice how overwhelmed they were with excitement...

Next post - video (bad, dark video, but video all the same) of one or two of the rides.

...we'll be right back.

2008-08-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

It is taking us some time to get back on the blogging track after Glynna and the kids got back from their vacation/family reunion. Soon to be posted:

Vacation part 2 (and maybe 3 if needed)

Reunion stuff

Picture of finished gazebo

More from the weight watchers front (Chad is down almost 30 now...WOOHOO!!)

Jordans first flash animation (if I can figure out how to post flash animations)

Stay tuned...we'll be right back.

Vacation Part 1: The Wedding

2008-08-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

In another post I said we would get some photos of our recent summer vacation on the web. Well, things got away from me and I never did post more photos, but now the wife and kids are out of town (HALLELUJ....cough cough...umm..I mean...gosh, I sure do miss them just to death - whew..nice save Chad..heh heh)

...ANYWAY

Here are the long awaited photos. I am sure that droves and droves of you, our loyal readers (all 3 of you) were checking back daily to find out what we did on our trip. Well, here ya go:

First off, Jordan and Emily went to work with me the day we left.

Here are Jordan and Emily pretending to be useful.

In all fairness, they actually did some work...here Jordan was working on a spreadsheet...Emily was working on her Nintendo DS...hard work to be sure!

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We went to Reno to start out because one of my best friends, Chris Palmrose (here in front) was getting married and asked me to be his Best Man (for whatever reason, I think he may have been drunk =).

(above, from left to right: Tim, Phil, Chad, Dennis I think...can't remember... I am just terrible, Kenny, and Chris)

The kids squinting.

Mom and dad.

Beauty and the beast.

Jordan just heard about the cake! Boy is he excited...

Excited? Not so much..

As you can see, Glynna was very excited to dance, especially since as Best Man I had no choice. You can also see that I am good at faking that I am enjoying it.

Quality father-son time.

Coming soon...part 2...

Size 10

2008-07-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

I can put on my size 10 capris again! Oh, they are a little bit tight, but I am getting there!

Weight Watchers Success

2008-07-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! It is my usual late night blog. During the day, forget it. Sitting at the computer just ain't happen'n. Nap time is my only quiet time, but the baby's crib is in the office and she is a light sleeper. That's ok. I don't mind these few minutes at night all to myself to unwind. The bad thing about this blogging thing is that blogging is replacing my journal writing...oops. But it is so FUN!

Can you tell I am in a good mood today? Monday is my weigh in day at Weight Watchers. I am not quite back down to my goal weight, but I am very close. I lost another pound and a half this week. With as many choco chip cookies as I ate, I am thrilled about a pound and a half. I am only 12 pounds from my realistic goal: 145 pounds. ( My unrealistic goal is 135 lbs, but I just don't know if that is something I can do with my heighth and age...Oh well, it is worth shooting for. I would rather shoot for 135 and make it to 140 than not try at all and end up 225 pounds again.)

Jordan and Duncan are camping out in the neighbors back yard so I am going to go up and spend some quality girl time with my daughters before bed. They are watching a movie up in our bonus room above the garage. Chad has already gone to bed. He rarely gets even up to five hours a sleep a night. Ok, there I go babbling again. Good night all!

Movie Review: The Dark Knight (warning long post)

2008-07-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Duncan, Jordan and I had a guys’ night out and went to see "The Dark Knight".

This is, of course, the sequel to "Batman Begins" which is a re-inventing of the Batman movie series. The movie stars Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger (rest in peace) as the Joker, Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox (the man responsible for Batmans outrageous technical equipment), Michael Cane as the lovable Alfred, and was written and directed by Christopher Nolan (who also wrote and directed "Batman Begins").

[editorial note: I am very jealous of Mr. Nolan, as I am exactly one month older than he, so by rights I should have been the writer of this film...and the guy earning millions of dollars...with the ferrari and yacht and such...oh how the fates conspire against us (through no fault of our own, I might add)!]

The very first thing I have to say is that I am very happy someone decided to roll the dice and remake these movies. The first round of Batman movies, with the ever-changing leading actor, the over-the-top-cartoonishness of the stupid villains (and I do mean stupid...if brains were dynamite they could not blow their collective noses), and the overall feel of a "hey, we got you to spend 8 bucks on this piece of crap..nanner nanner nah" bad joke being played on us all. So kudos to Nolan and the gang. They got this one right.

The biggest disappointment, and what is most often a movie-ruiner for me, is that they replaced the actress playing Bruces long-time friend and love interest, Rachel. For me, this is a big deal...not because I necessarily have fallen in love with the actresses (and/or actors...except of course for Kate Winslet in Titanic...but who didn't =), but rather for continuity's sake - in fact the original actress who played Rachel earned herself a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. At least in this one, is a very unusual twist near the ending (the first ending, not the real ending), they do something so unexpected that I was able to forgive them for replacing Rachel. I am not telling what they did, just that it worked well for me. Go see it and you will see what I mean

In Batman Begins Rachel was played by Katie Holmes, now of TomKat fame after marrying Tom Cruise who turned out to be the psycho that jumps all over furniture on daytime TV.

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[editorial note: It is unknown (at least to this reviewer...me...who is too lazy to look much further than wikipedia for any meaningful information - hence the links in this review =) why Katie did not return. I heard somewhere that Katie had put her career on hold to carry, deliver, and nurture the offspring of herself and Mr. Cuise, which would amount to an armageddon-level combination of cuteness and psychotic sofa-bouncing, so she had to skip out on "The Dark Knight" to, in reality, save the world. Thanks Katie...we love you (and fear your husband) even more!]

Instead of Katie, Rachel was played by the far over-rated, almost cute-almost ugly, Maggie Gyllenhaal...or she-of-the-so-sultry-eyes-that-they-appear-to-be-melting-out-of-her-face.

I swear, Maggie and Kirsten Dunst are in a contest to see who can close their eyes the most, all the time, and still see enough to keep from tripping on their toy chihuahuas with the $25,000 diamond-and-actual-egyptian mummy gold-encrusted-collars. I think Kirsten is winning, and at least she is very cute. I think Maggie kind of resembles an alien at times.

Sorry, back to the review.

The movie is VERY LONG, 2 1/2 hours to be exact, but actually, in the end, you are happy it is long - I actually wished it had gone on a little longer. It reaches a point where most movies would cut out...you know the "aha, so that is why this all happened" scene after which the director says "AND THAT IS ALL YOU WILL KNOW...NO MORE MOVIE FOR YOU" and you leave saying "Jeez that was a stinker, what a stupid ending"...but then, it does not end. They actually give you a little aha moment - enough of a faux ending that Jordan chose that time to go to the bathroom...more on that later - then the movie continues to a REAL ending that is, of course, setting up the next movie in the series, but at least leaves you feeling like they really ended this movie. It is satisfying.

Now, more on Jordans bathroom break. You better plan on either 1) Taking a catheter or bottle of some kind into the movie with you, or 2) Asking someone to memorize what you may miss, or 3) Just not drinking the 3 gallons of soda you get for 5 bucks in order to avoid missing out on the movie. Usually (as in the Lord of the Ring movies) I do not mind getting up in the middle of a long movie to stretch the legs and empty the...well you understand...but in this one, I did not want to miss a second.

OK...enough technical details.

I thought about giving you a running play-by-play of the film, but I have already bored you long enough. Instead, I will just tell you why I liked the film. On a scale of 1 to 65,000, I would have to rate it about a 58,517 (I guess that would be 4 1/2 stars out of 5, or something inane like that).
I think they captured the true essence of Batman as they had never done before. Batman is supposed to be a tortured soul, a regular guy like you and me, who endures something very tragic, yet finds it in himself to transcend that experience and turn his anger and agony into a force for good. He is the one superhero without modified genes, or who hails from some foreign planet, or who inherited his powers. He is the one hero who decides to be a hero. To me, that makes him one of the best heroes we have in modern literature (Iron Man is up there too...I still need to review that one too).

In this movie, Batman is put into situations that test his resolve to be the hero. He struggles to find his place, to do what he has to do, in the face of uncertainties and impossible choices. He also faces the best villain ever put on screen: The Joker.

The Joker is played by Heath Ledger, who has put the fine touches on what amounts to the greatest villain ever to grace the screen. I think Heath played the Joker to perfection. He appears to always be carefully balancing on the edge of insanity, and brutal purpose. Heath has, sadly, passed on, so we will not get to see his wonderful acting in any more films, and this does not bode well for this Batman franchise as he is truly the guts of this movie. I cannot fathom anyone doing what Heath did in this movie. He embodied evil in a way few actors have ever been able to pull off, with such flair and reality that at times you find yourself simultaneously laughing, and wondering why you are laughing. There are times you feel you can almost relate to the Joker, and times when you hate him more than the jerky kid in third grade that kicked your dog.

The Joker enters as a small-time hoodlum, with a flair for the dramatic, at a time when Gothams gangs are being hounded by this new crime-fighter...Batman. As what will prove to be the most intelligent of the bad guys, the Joker quickly takes over crime in the city, and sends Gotham into total chaos. Batman is made to feel responsible for many deaths of citizens of Gotham because of his inability to stop the Joker. Indeed the Joker is always at least 2 steps ahead. Even at the penultimate moment, when the Joker seems to have been outdone, he has one more trick up his sleeve. Batman is befuddled, conflicted, and nearly hounded into quitting as Gothams only hope for release from the terrors brought about by the Joker.

I was amazed at the writing combined with Heath Ledgers performance. There is one point in the movie when you actually feel for the Joker, when you can sympathize with him. You actually feel some pity, instead of just raw hatred, of the character until he turns it all on its side later and you realize he has played YOU the same way he has been playing everyone else in Gotham. Brilliant.

Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Cane all give very good performances. I think Christian Bale is the best actor they have found for Batman. I do get somewhat irritated by his gravelly voice being overdone when he is in Batman mode, but otherwise he is the best at covering both the slick, suave billionaire and the rogue-ish, dangerous, conflicted Batman. Morgan Freeman is just good in anything he does, as is Michael Cane. Despite their excellent portrayals of their characters, Heath Ledger truly steals the show.

Oh yeah, Maggie Gyllenhaal is passable. I do not care for her as an actress to begin with, yet she manages to hold her own in most scenes. I have a hard time finding her credible. I am sure many will disagree, but I thought that for the role she was asked to play, she did fine.

The Dark Knight is decidedly dark. It is meant to reflect the conflicted soul of Bruce Wayne, who at once knows he is fighting on the side of justice, but at the same time cannot come to terms with his inability to protect everyone from harm. In short, people die, and he can't stop it, and the Joker continually rubs his face in it. You can feel his pain as he obviously remembers back to being the young boy, watching his parents be killed, helpless to do anything to stop them. This depth of feeling is invoked in this movie to great effect.

The special effects are fantastic. It is not that they are Jurassic Park/Armageddon/Lord of the Rings over the top. Most of the effects are smaller of scale, although there are a fair share of explosions and chase scenes and fights and cool pieces of equipment and technology. But the best effects are at the personal level. Heath Ledgers facial expressions, under the hideous makeup job. Little details that point to conclusions you are not expecting, and even are surprised when they happen, even though you were given a clue.

The best effect was when Batman goes weaving in and out of the wheels off a semi being driven by the Joker with a cable attached to the front of the truck. Batman also weaves in and out of some light posts, then releases the cable. When the cable pulls tight, it pulls the fron of the truck down and the entire trucks flips into the air, back-end first, and flips completely over, end of even, crashing down upside-down in the street. It was done in silence except for the sound the truck was making as it flipped and then landed. Just awesome.

The interpersonal is what really makes this movie a success. You are given characters you can relate to, that you care about (even the Joker briefly), and you are truly affected when they are hurt. At one point a key character is killed (not telling which one) and you are given a scene of friends breaking the news to his family. In spite of the potential for gooey heart-wrenching fake sobbing and such - as we see all too often in film nowadays, crying and sobbing that take the place of actual emotion - we hurt right along with the wife and son, as we are also just at that moment brought to terms with the loss.

We are also given transcendent moments of triumph, and bitter moments of loss, betrayal...in short, they do a fantastic job of recreating in us what is happening on the screen. The suspension of disbelief, which is always necessary for film to work, is almost complete. As is the palpable sense of foreboding when the film comes to its somewhat expected yet completely ominous end.

The movie is not without its flaws, but they are hard to recall because so much of it just works so well. One thing I hope they find a way to revive is the appearance of another classic Batman nemesis: Two-face. They did a very good job of building up the character, and explaining better than other films how he became the villain he is. But his screen time was almost as if they were just squeezing him in to make sure they accounted for Batmans villains, instead of taking the time to flesh out a character that truly has so much depth. I do hope to see him in the future, but I kind of doubt it.

If you enjoy super-hero movies and/or liked "Batman Begins", then I highly recommend "The Dark Knight". Heck, even if you don't care for superhero movies and did not see "Batman Begins", I still recommend this movie. It is a true reflection of what can happen when good men do nothing, to turn a phrase, and when evil goes unchecked for too long.

It is also worth the 8 bucks for Heath Ledgers final performance. The absolute best portrayal of a bad guy in film. The intelligence with which he imbues this character puts all other movie badguys to shame. Regardless of it being a bad guy, and a comic-book bad guy to boot, it just may be the best performance in a movie this year.

So go see it, just don' t take the kids. It is a bit much and, even though Duncan liked it ok, his (11 years old) would probably be the lower end of ages that could understand and deal with the thematic elements in the film in any way.

Ripstik

2008-07-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Ripstik is one of the best inventions in the world, aside from tv and corndogs! For more detailed info you can go to http://www.ripstikusa.com/. A ripstik is like a skateboard scooter hybrid. It has two wheels like a scooter but no handlebar.

It is made of two platforms that are connected by a spring loaded center bar. I love my ripstik and I can almost ollie on it. It’t extra hard to do tricks on, because it only has two wheels that spin around. Well that’s all I can tell you about ripstiks.

Pride, the Universal Sin

2008-07-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Again, it is late; not nearly as late as usual. It is only 10:45pm. Chad and I went out to dinner tonight with his parents. We try to do a "double date" with them at least once a month. It has been quite awhile because we have been so busy trying to fix up our yard this summer. I know, that is a lame excuse to not spend time with family. Anyway, we had a good time. We always do. I can honestly say, they are our best friends.

Chad is being so faithful following Weight Watchers. He has lost 20 pounds and two pants sizes. We saved all our bonus points to go out to dinner tonight. We went to Chinese. One of our favorite places is PF Changs. This was a small restaurant similar to PFChangs called the Mandarin. We love lettuce wraps...anything seafood...well, and I guess, we pretty much like it all when it comes to chinese food.

I, on the other hand, have been fairly discouraged. I have been working out so hard at the gym and following my 22 points a day faithfully...and the weight is just i-n-c-h-i-n-g off for me. I have only lost a few pounds in the time Chad has lost 20. I guess it is true what "they" say. Once you hit 40 years old, your metabolism really s-l-o-w-s down and losing weight is hard work. We'll see on Monday morning when I weight in what the true verdict is...
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( I want to put some of those words in bold or caps to emphasize them, but there is this lady that writes a make-believe blog to make fun of mormon women bloggers and now I am too embarrassed to blog the way I want to...Stupid, I know. Who cares what she thinks. She's being pretty cynical, if you ask me. Personally, I think if women want to talk about how wonderful their lives are and their husbands are, sobeit. There are too many out there that don't even make an effort to make their lives happy and joyful. So, kudos to all you women out there trying to be happy when life can be (and often is) so very hard.) For those of you wondering what all this jibberish is, go check out this blog site. My husband thinks it is hilarious. And, as I have so obviously stated, I disagree with him. Who knows. Maybe I am being too uptight. If so, sorry. That was just my first impression. Anyway, this is the site: seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

As a side note, Chad read over my 'opinion' of this make-believe blog and told me that I completely misunderstood her point. He said she is not making fun of people who are happy (or trying to be happy). He said she is making fun of people who try to one-up their neighbor. For example, you know, "Well, you think your husband is so great and successful! MY husband is a doctor, a lawyer, the bishop, AND serves as a volunteer firefighter!" So, if that is the case, I guess our pride should be made fun of. Pride is the universal sin. So, again, sorry. That was just my first impression...maybe I am the one who is cynical...hee hee. That is what 'not getting enough chocolate AND not losing weight' can do to a woman. (smile and wink) See ya'll later when I am down a few pounds and less moody. (See, I am prideful too...yurk) ha ha!

First Videos from the new Digital Video Camera

2008-07-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

We got a new video camera. It is a JVC Everio hard-disc-drive camera (no tapes, no disks, just download to the computer). Here are a couple of videos. I am also trying to learn how to change video size in the computer because these short videos at native resolution are over 100 mb big. Wow.

Yeah, I know...woohoo...real exciting to watch the kids sitting on the couch. Hey, give me a break! I have a new toy and MUST MUST MUST play with it. It is a compulsion. Better than shoplifting anyway.

Okay, here is another one, this one is Jordan and Glynna working on my birthday present. I INSISTED on building it myself, but they insisted even harder that they wanted to build it as it was my birthday present. I am decidedly against giving WORK for gifts!

So that is it for now. Look for more fun videos in the future, and probably a few boring ones as well. IF we ever get the house clean, we will do a video tour for everyone who has not been able (or simply DOESN'T LOVE US ENOUGH) to visit. =)

Family

2008-07-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

It is nearly midnight. I can hardly keep my eyes open, let alone write a blog. But, in Mormon terminology, 'my heart is full'.

We had a 'family day' today. Monday really does not work for our family. Chad works way too late for us to have a family home evening, not to mention, he and I REALLY try to make it to the gym absolutely as often as we can. So, typically, after our chores, Saturday afternoons are our family time adventures.

Today's adventure was to Salt Lake City to visit the Planetarium. We watched "The Dawning of the Space Age" in the Dome Imax. The domes are awesome! I thought it would be so boring, but it was truly fantastic. I am so thrilled to have found a love of history. I came to the realization that I actually loved history when I visited Theresa in Hopewell, Virginia several years ago and we visited several famous plantations, as well as Jamestown. (I HATED history in school...maybe it was due to the intimidating Mr. Mudra...hmmm...)

Anyway, at the Planetarium, we had popcorn and sodas, watched the show, checked out our weights on different planets, and then went out to dinner. Dinner for six, (three being growing, hearty eating teens and pre-teen), is quite spendy, but I would throw away all the money in the world for more uninterrupted, happy, relaxed TIME with my family.
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As the sun was setting and our day, our precious free time TOGETHER, grew closer to an end, I found myself feeling very meloncholy, if you will; almost sad. Life is too busy for people, for friends, for loved ones...or so we it seems by the choices we make. We choose BIG houses and fancy cars and gadgets...which create needs for more money...instead of choosing TIME.

Forgive me if I am offending anyone. My finger is pointing only in the mirror. I am 40. Two of my four babies are teenagers, one's teen days are just around the corner. How often I long for simpler days...days without tvs, computers, cell phones, and playstations...days without aeropostale, hollister (expensive teen favorite clothing stores), and manicures...

...Hold that thought...My six year old wants a snuggle before she heads up to bed...(yes my six year old is still up after midnight...yurk...at least our church meetings don't start until 11am...yeh!)...

...ok, snuggle time ended. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer... (smile)

I guess what I am trying to say, is that sometimes, well maybe more often than that, I feel the words in my heart, "If only..." You know. 'If only' I had made better choices when I was younger. 'If only' I had enjoyed exercise in my teens. 'If only' I had finished college. 'If only' I had never discovered the ease and temptation of using credit cards. 'If only' I had appreciated every precious moment with my babies (before they turned into greedy, arrogant, selfish, snotty teenagers-I mean...)Scratch that last thought...he he...

I read books about the pioneers of our country, and find myself envying them. They endured so many extremely difficult hardships-very physical hardships, it is true. BUT, they were free of so many temptations of our modern society. They played outside...the WHOLE family, not just the kids. They read the Bible together. They worked hard for EVERYTHING they had...and the children were grateful...

Oh, as I have said in previous blogs, I tend to babble when I am so tired. Life is not as bad or sad as perhaps I am making it sound. It's just that sometimes, I remember to be grateful. And I am grateful for those times. Today is one of those times.

You know those water fountain things that many towns now have where the kids run around in them and the parents stand around the outside smiling and laughing and taking pictures? Our kids played in one of those today too. As I watched them, I remembered when we used to take them to a similar fountain in Reno, NV when Annie was just a baby. It was a free family activity that we all just LOVED. I loved remembering them at that age in the same setting, laughing and calling out,'Mommy! Daddy! Look at me!' (Well, Annie still does that. :) ) But I also loved watching them today, fully dressed (whereas half the tiny children out there were in their underwear. ha ha), trying to coil their way through the fountain maze without getting wet. It was cute and funny. We had a great time.

On the way home in the car we played a few word games: One game was the game where each family member says two words to create a story. It was hilarious! The wittiest one of all was the six year old! Annie had us all laughing so hard we were bauling! I won't go into details on the internet...there was a little bit of potty talk involved...he he... The other game was a memory game. Each of us had to say an item we would take on a hike in our back packs. We had to say the previous people's items before each of our own and keep getting the list bigger and bigger. To make the game a little more interesting, we used the alphabet backwords. That was hilarious too! We came up with things like, "Victor, the Underminer's, toe" and "the queen pooping octopus noodles"...

Ok, ok, don't ask.

Well, I guess I should go to bed. I have a lesson to teach tomorrow. I am teaching a very rambunchious (sp?!) group of TEN 3-year olds that families can be together forever. I think today's experience was good preparation. I am thankful for my family. I am VERY richly blessed with a husband who is loving and loyal and four children who love me despite my 'not-even-close' to perfect parenting skills. I fall down often. I am grateful to have a family to pick me up over and over again. I hope I do the same for them. For the most part, I think I am doing ok.

I love the thought of God saying, "I did not say it would be easy. I only said it would be worth it."

Good night all my friends and loved ones! May your week be filled with TIME for each other.

Twilight. You'll wanna read it again, and again, and - well you get the idea

2008-07-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

To sum up Twilight (New Moon, and Eclipse as well) in one word I'd have to say . . . . . WOW!!!! Awesome books!!!! Just as good as Maximum Ride, if not better. ;-) It's an amazing love story, with a surprizing twist! The main character, Bella, is in love with Edward, who, and I'll give you three seconds to guess. . . . . . . ooonnneee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .tttwwwooo . . . . . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... .... .... .... ..... tthhrree!!!! HE'S A VAMPIRE!!! He saves her on countless occasions! And, the best part is, that her blood has a better attraction for him than any other human. Every day he's with her he has to fight the OVERWHELMING urge to drink her blood, but in the end, true love conquers all!!!!! There's romance, fear, sadness, and, for you guys, a little bit (or a lot) of ACTION!!! The fourth book to the series comes out on August second, so be ready, 'cause these are gonna be snapped up!!! Oh and here's a helpful hint for you: don't pre-order it online. It's cheaper if you wait until it comes out and then buy it at Wally World. (or for you slower people, Wal-Mart) Also, be ready because the Twilight movie is coming out December 12!!! Me and my bud, Megan are going to see if we can camp out to be some of the first people to get tix! Hey thanks for reading!!! And remember, reeding maxe yoo samarterer!!!

Maximum Ride... the best books ever!

2008-07-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

I just recently finished reading the third book in the Maximum Ride series. If you don’t already know (I assume you don’t) Maximum Ride is about six children: Max (the leader) is 14 and is a girl, Fang is the same age as Max but is a boy, Iggy is again 14 and also a boy (oh and he is blind), Nudge the motor mouth is 11, the Gasman (or Gazzy) is 8, and Angel is 6 years old and can read minds. Oh and by the way they all have wings and can fly. They each have some special powers but I won’t give away any more secrets. But one thing real quick, just so you know fang has a blog at MaximumRide.blogspot.com so visit any time.

Well where I should start. Max and the rest of the flock escaped from a science lab that they call the school, and are running from the people who work there who they call white coats. The white coats also have another human hybrid called Erasers. They are humans who can turn into werewolf like creatures, and they were trained to hunt and kill. And all of the books tell how Max and the flock are trying to stay alive and save the world.

That’s all I will tell you. If you want to know more then you have to read the books. The first is called Maximum Ride: the angel experiment. The second is called Maximum Ride: schools out forever. The third is called Maximum Ride: saving the world and other extreme sports. And the fourth is called Maximum Ride: the final warning.

Sigh...

2008-07-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Alas...My weight loss efforts are not nearly as successful as they have been in the past. Chad says I don't have the motivation I had before. (My 20 year class reunion). What he is failing to achknowledge is his wife's PRIDE. I DO have the motivation...I have a family reunion in three short weeks! hee hee. BUT, for some reason, it is not enough. I have truly given my all to this effort for two weeks and have not lost a pound.

My husband, (the creep), has lost 11 pounds (or more).

Today I walked three miles. I am training for a 5K in September with some ladies from my church. I have never done anything like that and I am kind of excited. I don't think I am interested in tackling a marathon or anything remotely close, but I can handle a 5K...hee hee.
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Chad and I work out at the gym most days, but once a week I train with the ladies in my ward. Some days I walk to our Wal-mart, buy groceries, and then Chad picks me up. Our Wal-mart is 2.7 miles away. Not too shabby.

Emily did an aerobics class with me a few days ago when Chad had to work late. It was STINK'N HARD, but I loved it. It was especially nice just spending time with my daughter doing something that is good for both us. That same day, while Em and I were exercising, the other kids were down at the pool so following our workout, I got in the pool with the other kids. I LOVE activities with my family that are active and healthy! It makes me feel good...and it is FUN.

Speaking of 'healthy and fun' family activities, today we toured Wheeler Historic Farm in Salt Lake. That was very cool. And a few weeks ago, we toured the Utah Pioneer Historical 'Village'...and loved it so much, we purchased a family pass. I will post pictures from both fun activities at a later date.

As usual, it is LATE when I am posting so I am too tired so scroll through hundreds of photos...fun, but...yurk...Too much work tonight...maybe tomorrow while kiddos nap. Well, I need to put my little darlings to bed. Duncan is spending the night with a friend. Jordan was watching TV, Annie has been at the park next door, and Emily just got home from a Raptor's baseball game.

Tomorrow and Saturday, we are rotatilling (sp?) our flower beds and our garden area. So much for a garden this year. Oh well...next year definitely.

In the words of "Bruce Almighty", LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (to you all)...(That is one of my VERY favorite movies... maybe a little sac-religious (sp?), but PHENOMENOL message..."Be the miracle". Maybe it is from Jim Carrey's movie, "Liar, Liar"...Oh well, that is an awesome movie too. We like Jim Carrey movies for the most part.

Ok, I am rambling now. I am going to bed. Good night all.

Todd Family Vacation - Summer 2008 Edition

2008-07-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from our summer vacation. This year we went to Reno for a wedding (Chad was the best man at his friend's wedding), then to Vegas to try to drop the kids off the Stratosphere, then to Hoover Dam, then to the Grand Canyon, then to St. George UT for a play at Tuacahn, then back home...whew, just typing that was tiring!

So, here are the pictures:

For Glynna

2008-07-07T14:00:00.001-07:00

I wanted to go on and on about my wife for a bit, if you will bear with me.

When I was courting Glynna WAAYYY back in 1991 and early 1992, I wrote her a couple of poems, cause I am just that kind of romantic guy. =)

One of them, I think, may have been inspired and definitely caught how I felt about her at the time, and still do today. It was entitled "I Wish"...and I wish I had a copy so I could post the whole thing. =)

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But one line has stuck with me till today. It goes something like this:

"I wish
that the paths we've trod,
'though divined by a loving God,
were one."

It is weird, but I honestly cannot fathom not being with her. I have a hard time remembering what it was like before. And now, I think more often of "we", instead of "me".

e.e.cummings wrote:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can
hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

I carry her heart in my heart. I could, would, never do anything knowingly to hurt her, as her heart is my heart. I know that I, at times, do her harm, but I repent it immediately thereafter and it pains me for days.

I always feel like I had just stepped on a beautiful flower, and bruised its petals. I know that the word, once spoken, can never be unspoken, and I hate when I slip, and say the wrong thing, and I have to see her hurting because of me. I wish I could take them all back. I hope I am getting better.

I feel I don't deserve what she offers to me, but I accept it with humble gratitude. I owe her that, at the least.

I don't take this for granted, even though the oaf that I am, I at times fail to let her know the most important thing...and Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets" said it best:

"You make me want to be a better man."

Nearly 2 weeks in, and I have lost....

2008-07-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

I am coming up on 2 weeks of attempted weight loss. I have been pretty good, both in eating and exercising. I have been working on a hybrid of the Weight Watchers Points system and the Body for Life workout program, just because they are both easier for me to do at this point.

I was down 8 pounds at my last weigh-in (every Monday night), but I weighed again Thursday night and found myself down 11. Not too shabby, even though I know it is not necessarily a good thing to lose more than 1 or 2 pounds per week.

I have been going at it pretty aggressively, and, quite frankly, I am concerned about burn-out, somewhat. To help stave this off, I have planned in a couple of watermarks to shoot for. First, my wife has a family reunion in August, and I want to be down 25-30 pounds by then (4 weeks away, already 8 of it gone, another 17-22 to go). I really think I will be able to hit this one.

The other benchmark point is in September, when I may be going to the Eastern Distribution Center (I manage the Western Distribution Center for Cummins Filtration...but that is another post =) to help with a new software warehouse management system. I want to be down another 20 for that.

So I am hoping for 50 pounds by the end of September. I know, this is probably not realistic, but in the past I have not been able to maintain on the simple "2 lbs per week is pretty good" routine, so I figured it was time to shake things up a bit.

We'll see, I guess.

The Cuz and her AWESOME BUDS!!!

2008-07-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hey, y'all!!! Me again!!! Yeah, I know you are bored of me already but I just love blogging!!! (is that a word?) So I'm here to blog about the peoples I met at my sleepover with McCall yesterday. First, and probably most importantly, my cousin, Tara.
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She's thirteen and about a month older than me. SHE'S TOTALLY LAZY!!! And she's INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love her so much she's awesome!!!! One really unique thing about her is that she has an allergy (that I can't spell the word to) to the COLD! She gets hives. Thats what McCall meant about Tara with the whole bumps thing in my last entry. Now, on to McCall. She's probably just as insane as Tara! Maybe even more so. She is twelve but taller than me. She calls Wal-Mart Wally World!!! I think that is so fun! She loves to text!!! And, yes, she texts me all the time!!! Her mom is so AWESOME!!! (not as awesome as my momma, though.) Her dad is almost as funny as my daddy (and that's saying something). Now it's time to talk about McKenzie. She's thirteen. She has sexy fiery red hair!!! haha! I love her she's so fun! She's insane like myself, McCall, and Tara. We all speak in third person a LOT!!!!! Superstar likes speaking in third person!!! haha lol!!!!!!!! I also met a few of McCall's guy buds. There's McKay (did I spell that right?) and Mason (same question) who are brothers and they throw mean water fights!!! It's so fun!!! Then there's Tyler, who is a BIG FAT JERK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But all us girls agree, no matter how mean he is, he is HAWT!!!!!!!!!!!! There's also Tanner, who, is fourteen, and likes McCall, and he's pretty hawt himself! Well, that's it for now! See you very, very soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My own weight loss goals...

2008-07-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

I couldn't let the Hive Queen get all the glory by showing off her weight loss, I need to get mine in there too.

I started about a week ago at 281 pounds, which is fine if you are 8 feet tall, but I am not (sadly, otherwise I would be the most famous basketball player in the world). I weighed in last night at 273, so I lost 8 pounds in my first week.

I am doing the following:

Legendary Abs routine. I have worked my way all the way up to level A if you can believe that!

Body For Life weight lifting routine. I like Legendary Abs and Body for Life because they are pretty short, but effective. And heaven knows we all have tons of time every day to put in a 4 hour workout.

Treadmill 20 min, 2X per week and 60 min, 2X per week. This is actually a modified version of the 20 min routine recommended in the Body for Life exercise regimen. I mix it up between going fast on a low incline and going relatively slow on a steep incline. I like the steep incline better as I feel it more in my glutes. HAH!

So stay tune as I recapture my girlish figure. Pictures may follow. View them at your own risk. I will probably have to post an indemnity waiver with the pics.

Da da da da!!! Superbuds!!!

2008-06-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Superstar here with word on some of my best buds! Well, all of my best buds, actually, but still.
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There's Natalie, or Nat, Nattie, or Nate, as i sometimes call her. She is a year older than me but I love her anyway. She is an actress and singer like me and she sings everywhere, all the time, no matter how many onlookers there may be. She can NOT and I repeat NOT have caffiene or it will have a "Hammy Effect" as I like to call it. In other words, she will basically be so hyper that to her, the whole world stopped moving.
There's also Alex, who, basically is the freak with all the wierd nicknames. But, again, I love her anyways. She texts me ALL THE TIME!!! I love it but some people in my family might find it annoying. I basically live on my cell phone and I've only had it for, like, a month!
Here's another one of my texting buddies. Megan. She had blonde, curly hair but dyed it red!! She and I are going to a charter school next year instead of the same school my other friends are gonna go to. Stupid parents! They got me to go by bribing me with a cell phone!
That's my best friends for ya!! I'll be back later with a movie review or something. SEE YA!!!!!!!!

Day One...Again

2008-06-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

I planned to put in my weight each week...for one, to show my courage (and idiocy), but mainly to truly show my progress, but I need a digital scale first, so tomorrow I will purchase a new scale and tell the world the scary truth. When I get the courage to go back to Weight Watchers...hopefully this week...I will let you know the weight their scales report as well.

I get 22 points a day. It may seem like a lot but when your favorite foods have a high points value, the points dwindle away quickly. Fortunately, over the years, I have found several wonderful tricks that work like a charm. You have probably heard the saying that if you want to be a wealthy person then you have to do what the wealthy people do. The same principle applies to "skinny people". They are not just magically skinny no matter what they eat. They have to be careful about the calories they consume, just like the rest of us. Here are a few tricks I have learned from them to help me feel satiated:

First of all, NEVER deprive yourself. Never say "I can not have that." It is impossible to be successful at anything, for me anyway, if I feel deprived or cheated. I end up quitting. But when I want something to eat, I just do a few things FIRST.

I drink at least 16 ounces of water and I eat a large salad or some other kind of vegetable. Then, I have whatever it is that I wanted. I am still able to enjoy my guilty pleasure without feeling cheated...but I trick myself. After the water and the veggies, I feel too full to eat a whole piece of cake, or a large piece of lasagna, for example. IT WORKS. I kid you not!

This is what has worked for me for the last three years. When I put 20 pounds back on, I was not drinking my water or eating sufficient vegetables. Of course, writing everything down that you eat or drink also helps tremendously to keep you on track.

Today I did well. I ate a veggie filled egg-beater omelette, 1/3 of a grilled chicked sandwich, and a small piece of cherry cheesecake. I ate delicious tasting food and felt satisfied, and was still able to enjoy a little endulgance. ( I drank LOTS of water today too...I had to use the potty four times in a two hour period...That is the only minor problem to the water issue. ha ha. It's worth it though!) I am happy and so hopeful about getting back on track again!

Hi I am the Super-staaaahr

2008-06-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Before I begin, my alien friend wants to make a few comments:

a;lfgna;retn;eng;anp[owsnpgbnp;awenb ;gt

I had to edit that because it was not appropriate for a family website.

Now, on to more important things.....
I am, as my title so clearly states, The Super Star. Like my daddy said, I love to act and sing. It WILL be my future career . . . no matter what those annoying peoples say!!! And by the way, if anyone reading this works with a T.V. company or movie producer, look me up!
I've acted in LOTS of different plays, performed in choir concerts, sung in talent shows, and, believe it or not, when I was in third grade, I starred as Mowgli in "The Jungle Book"! As you can see, I am a TOTAL diva!!!
My name is Emily or Emmie or Em, or Emmie lou (my grandparents call me that). My favorite of my nicknames, though, is what my daddy calls me. Peetyswie, or Pete, for short. One of my very best buds, Alex, calls me these wacky nicknames like Cheez, Bill, Jeff, well, you get the idea. I have athsma, which is a disease where it makes it harder for you to breathe than others. I have to use a rescue inhaler if I really need it. If my athsma gets bad enough, I could end up in the hospital. The last time I was in the hospital was around January 29. I'm thirteen, which means my vocabulary mostly consists of boyz, boyz, and more boyz, and a little bit of chocolate and cookie dough!! And, to comment on what my wierd older brother said, I LOVE ZAC EFRON AND HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!!!!! And it's spelled Z-A-C, not Z-A-C-K, Mr. Smarty-pants!!! Well, I'm gonna end this saying JONAS BROTHERS ROK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And don't any of you deny it!!!

You Know Me...First...and Maybe Last...Post...Hee hee...

2008-06-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not nearly as witty as Loggrad98 (aka Chad)...especially at 12:30 am...and I really want to go to bed so I can hit the YARD SALES first thing in the morning! Yippee! I LOVE yard sale season! Nonetheless, here I am saying howdee!...hmmm...Ok, I got noth'n...Told ya I'm not witty...and I AM tired...Ok, ok, my life in a nutshell...'Up-and-at-um' bright and early' (Wish I could say first thing I did was exercise...I tried the 5 am exercise thing...WHATEVER!)...No, I sleep in until the last possible moment...My daycare parents probably get a little nervous leaving their babies with a WITCH-look-alike...(wink).

I do like my job. My favorite are the babies. Gosh, I just love'um! The little ones are loving, trusting, cute, and fun...while the older ones are just bossy and demanding...No, they aren't that bad...but I definitely enjoy the little ones best. In fact, next year I will not be taking school age children at all. I did enjoy this past year, but putting several children in and out of car seats several times a day gets quite tedious, not to mention, it is not very fun for them either.

(Chad made the logo in CorelDRAW....he amazes me sometimes, but most of the time he is just a big pain in the butt (J/K sweetie...muah), oh, and that is Annie in the middle =)

Time for a HUGE celebration! As of today, I am the proud (and very relieved) parent of NO MORE KINDERGARDNERS! Kindergarden is a hard year...You drop the older ones off, go home to clean up breakfast and fix lunch, take the kindergardner to school, go home to play with and read to the babies and toddlers and then, very gratefully, put them down for a brief nap...just to have to wake them up (big sigh) and go pick kids up from school...

More...I REALLY admire all of you amazing moms out there who work outside your home and somehow, still manage to have the energy to cook and clean for your family and fit in a work out each day. Man, in my pre-full-time job days, I really thought I was all that getting the kids off to school and then hitting the gym for a two-hour workout five days a week. Now, I can see that I am just a GREAT BIG WUSS! Here are a few of my excuses..."I'm too tired! I don't have time! The evenings are just too busy with homework, dinner, dishes, and bathes! I never get to relax!"...and so on... But I am truly ready to get my Kaboose back in gear!

I joined Weight Watchers in June 2005. I lost 65 pounds and became a lifetime member in June 2006. I put 20 pounds back on in 2007. And I am trying with all my might to get that 20 pounds back off in 2008. I think I will create a Label entitled Weight Loss Progress to let you all know how I am doing and what I am doing to get my body in shape. Maybe that will motivate me to keep on track. And if any of you have any tips or delicious low-cal recipes, etc., please respond on my blog.

Well, I do what I can...and then collapse into bed each night...much later than I planned...Se-la-vi...(Is that how you spell that?). All-in-all, life is good...BUSY, definitely busy...but good.

All About Vetteman93

2008-06-27T20:51:00.001-07:00

Hi, I am Jordan aka JJ aka vetteman93. I like candle light dinners and long walks in the park. But who cares about that! No but seriously, I do like dinner. Well let me tell you all about the most important person I know, ME, I like to play guitar hero. I own #2 and 3 and I can play all songs on medium and I am working on hard. I don't mean to brag but I can beat my dad at PingPong also known as table tennis. I love to play basketball even though I am not very good at it. I can make a three pointer and I am a good ball handler but thats just about it. I am pro at bowling on the Wii and I love tennis. I love to play Halo and Call of Duty 4 on xbox 360. I own a van and I think it is the coolest thing ever. I have my learners permit and love to drive every where. I especially love driving now because I don't have to pay for gas. I listen to every type of music besides opra. I can do the mocarana in 10 seconds. I love to play racing games like Gran Turismo and Corvette Racing. Smallville is the best show period. Hillary Clinton is insane, and I wish Mitt Romney didn't drop out of the race. Chess is the best board game, and I can finally solve a rubix cube. I like to play bloons tower defence and onslaught on the internet. The best videos on youtube are Muffins, My hands are bananas, and Charlie the unicorn 1 and 2. I Hate High School Musical and Zack Efron. Mr. Woodcock is a hilarious movie and it isn't real. My dad is spoiled because he has to have the best everything when it is brand new (and the most expensive.) Corvettes are the coolest cars ever invented and I would love to own one some day. Peas are discusting. My hair looks better when it is long. Ms. Applonie is the craziest unmarried middleaged woman I have ever met. My best friend in the entire world is Zack Mattheus. And his mom is really cool but not as cool as my mom. Sushi is the best food ever, I don't care if you disagree, but if you have never tried it then you don't have room to talk. Iron man is awsome. I like to watch spongebob square pants and if you don't like it you are crazy. Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, Salena Gomez, and Miranda Cosgrove are hot.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I am proud of it.

More...I love swimming. Maximum Ride is the best book series ever, well it's behind Harry Potter. I have a PSP and it is way better than a stupid Nentendo DS. PS3 is dumb. Xbox 360 is the coolest game consol ever. The Matrix trilogy are the best movies ever. I love to play Manopoly but nobody else in my family likes to play it. Fernley, Nevada is the best city in the entire world times two. I have my own cell phone with unlimited texting but not unlimited munites. I will give you my number if you ask really nicely, and, if you are a girl, if you are cute too. I will give you a hint to my number: 14 is the day my mom was born on and 29 is the day I was born on. If you can guess it from there, you are a genius. I can't skateboard but I am really good at the Ripstik. I want to get above a 4.0 gpa for high school. I am going to be an oncologist. That is a doctor who specializes in cancer stuff. I am going to the Northern Utah Acadamy for Math, Engineering, and Science, aka NUAMES. It focuses on getting an early start in college. Thats all I can think of at the moment so good buy and I am sure you will hear alot from me in the future.

The Drive Home - Friday Edition

2008-06-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

I commute from Clearfield UT to Salt Lake City UT on a daily basis. Generally speaking it is about 30 minutes one-way, but with the construction going on in the I15 corridor through Davis County, it gets pretty ugly.

They are working on a new route through the county from the US 89 and I15 interchange in Farmington and IMHO it cannot be finished soon enough! It looks to be quite scenic, only allow 55 MPH max, and no big trucks. It is only 2 lanes each way but there are times I could kill for 2 extra lanes on the afternoon commute.

I would not mind one bit if the ones to go were some of those idiots driving SUVs, running at full speed right up behind people, cutting folks off to force their way into other lanes who have no clue what that extra little stalk on the left of the steering wheel is, all while talking away on the cell phone glued to their ears - in other words, 80% of Utah drivers.

More... I have driven all over the western U.S. We have lived in Portland OR, San Bernadino CA, Reno NV and visited nearly every major city that lies between them all. I have also driven around such cities as Atlanta GA, Melbourne FL, Seattle WA, Detroit MI, Twin Cities MN, Cincinnati OH and others.

I can say that, again IMHO, Utah has the WORST drivers I have ever encountered. I have never seen such a bunch of street hogs and inconsiderate jerks all in one place before. I am honestly surprised there are not horrendous accidents all over every day I drive home. I think we have just been lucky so far.

I get the biggest kick out of those people who think weaving in and out of traffic, causing all kinds of problems for other drivers, will really get you there faster.

A few weeks ago I left work a little early and had a relatively easy commute. Passing through North Salt Lake, approaching Bountiful, a small red sports-car-wannabe came up on my butt so fast I thought it was a flying suppository. As I braced for impact, he flew by me in the next lane, sraping some dirt off my back fender, causing me to nearly soil myself. I mumbled something about what a jerk he was, but I know he did hear me because his cell phone had become part of his head.

In about 1/4 mile, we encountered some heavier traffic. I could see the Jerk up ahead, about 4 or 5 cars, forcing his way into spaces not big enough for motorcycles. It seemed like every chance he had, every opening he found, he felt the need to change lanes. And it is a good thing he was not signaling, someone may have discovered his dastardly plan and attempted to thwart it!

I lost sight of him when he drove UNDER a semi (well it looked that way to me) and disappeared.

Another 3 or 4 miles go by. We are passing through Centerville. Guess who shows up...now in my REAR VIEW MIRROR. Yes, indeed, it was the Jerk. He again tried to give me a little red sports-car-wannabe enima, then swerved at the last second and slammed on his breaks hard enough that I heard them cry. I thought he would nail that guy for sure, but somehow he didn't. Next opening, he shot through again. Again, I lost sight.

I am approaching my exit in Clearfield. All this time, I have had cruise control on at 64 or 54 in construction. I purchased a Toyota Prius last year, and I am determined to save money on gas (so yes, I am that slow gray car you are swearing at as your roar past in your SUV talking on your cell phone, and I am also that slow gray car that just drives past you as you pour your life savings into the beast...heh heh)

I am sitting at the light, waiting to turn left, and guess who shows up, 2 cars behind me. You know who...SANTA CLAUS...alright that is not true. It was the Jerk (I guess Santa may be a jerk too, but that is another post). After all that weaving and dodging and proctology near-misses, and attempting to kill everyone in his path, I beat him to the exit in my little slow gray Prius.

Funny what kind of things can make your day. That sure made mine.

Welcome one and all...probably just one.

2008-06-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to kick this off myself, since I created it and all. I thought long and hard about having a blog site where my family could maintain a presence on the Web and provide for family (quite a few) and friends (at least 1 or 2) who are spread far and wide to get a glimpse of the happenings in our lives.

Therefore, welcome to the inaugural edition of the Todd Blog. We are the Todds (there are 6 of us) and these are our Blogs (likely to be 6 eventually, but don't hold your breath).

Let me introduce everyone:

First, and most importantly, there is....drum roll please....ME!!

Not.

Let's start at the top, see if you can guess the order of appearance of our bloggers.

Glynna (aka...has yet to pick an aka....wife, mother, picker of the nightly restaurant)
Chad (aka LogGrad98...creator of the almighty blog, eternal smart-alleck, picker of the t.v. channels)
Jordan (aka...has yet to...well, you get the idea...eldest son, newest driver, hence frightener of the mother)
Emily (ditto...eldest daughter, star of stage and screen, resident singer)
Duncan (again...youngest son, irritant to the eldest brother, collector of random things - but mostly knives and things found by the train tracks)
Analysse (same...youngest kid, otherwise known as the Spoiled One, and Irritant to All...although she is dang cute)

So that's the gang. We enjoy driving around the country, although recently it is cheaper to, well, do almost anything else. This year we went to Reno, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam (or Darn as the kids insist on saying), the Grand Canyon, St. George, and back home again.

We also really go for movies, so watch for our reviews. And, as you guessed I am sure from Glynna's brief description, our most favorite past-time is making restaurant owners RICH RICH RICH (again, watch for reviews). As a group we love chinese buffets, McD's (of course), and...best of all...SUSHI. Even Emily, who hates fish, will eat sushi.

See? How bad could it be.

That is enough to get started, I guess. I will let all the others introduce themselves in time (and probably force any of them that waits too long =), and give your their aliases...because I insist on aliases for all!

Bu-WAH HAH HAH HAH!!