"Every party has a pooper and that's why we invited you"

This Halloween brings back a memory of Mark and I's first Halloween together. We lived in Wymount in Provo and our church was having a Halloween party, the party I don't even remember. It's what came before the party that is the memory. I had been to a few Halloween parties in my day and knew what parties were suppose to be like and that one dresses up for parties. I did what any person in Utah does when trying to find a costume and is a bit stumped. I went to the D.I. I bought clothes for me, some polyester 70's dress and for Mark polyester pants and jacket. There were accessories as well. We were going to look good together.
I had long hair then, past my shoulders. I know that might be a surprise to a lot of people that have only known me with short hair. It's true though.
I will try to find some good long hair photo's for you. I found this lovely photo. Not me of course but my hair was ratted that big. I went home, got dressed, ratted my hair up like no other and set off to pick Mark up at BYU. I pulled up to our normal pick up spot. I picked him up after work and classes. I sat in the car and watched him walk towards the car not really paying attention to me (which he should have)but only seeing the car. Mark opened the door, stuck one leg in looked at me and said "oh, I'm so sorry. wrong car." He then went to step out and shut the door. We had an old Toyota corolla, no power windows in that car (we didn't even have heat much less power windows). I had to reach over and roll down the window to let him know it was me. The look on his face was priceless. I so wish I'd had a camera then. The party ended up being boring. What was I thinking, it was Wymount. I would do it all again though to see Mark's face. He was embarrassed and that hasn't happened much in our marriage. The embarrassing moments are left up to me. Tease Mark next time you see him. Ask him if he's gotten into a car with a strange woman on Halloween night recently!!! Oh, sorry my party pooper reference is because Mark wouldn't dress up with me for the party. He never has and never will. It's not his thing. Big party pooper!!

Blue light specials and first time bra's

A friend posted a while back about her Grandma and mentioned KMART'S blue light special in the blog. It brought back a fond (not really fond, embarrassing is more like it)memory and I am all about posting things that could embarrass myself.
I can talk about bra's here, right?
I unfortunately started wearing bra's a lot earlier than most of my friends. I had some friends (no lie and you probably know people like this yourself)that didn't start wearing bra's until High School. I wont mention any names. My mom had my dad drive us out to KMART (she didn't get her license until she was 65)to go shopping for my first bra. What do we find while shopping for that first training bra? A blue light special. Just to let you know, I did not want to be there, I didn't want to get my bra at KMART and I didn't want my dad to have to drive us to the store so that I could get a bra. It didn't start out great I should have known. My mom saw the blue light in all it's glory and we had to hurry over to it. Bra's on sale, yeah. All shapes and colors. My mom found the training bra's and proceeded to take them out of the boxes and one by one try them on me over my clothes. That was the icing on the cake. Horrified is not even close to how I felt. In the end I did walk away with a bra. I wore it to school the next day and hated it so badly that I went into the bathroom and took it off. I stuck it in my backpack and didn't wear it again for a while. Not until it was very apparent that I needed to wear one.


Sofia is telling me now that her friends are wearing bra's. She keeps asking Kiah and I if we think she needs to wear one. There's nothing there. She will be like my friends that started everything later. She has plenty of years to wear one, she will hate them like the rest of us. Why start now if you don't have to? I for sure will never try them over her clothes at a blue light special or any special for that matter.

Flashback Mondays

I am copying a friend of mine, hopefully she wont mind. She shouldn't she got the idea from someone else herself. The idea is to post something each Friday of something you have thought about from your past during the week.I'm going to change mine and post on Monday. Just to be a little crazy and live on the wild side. My friend had posted about her Grandma's and a photo of them where they have their arms around each other. I found that so sweet. It got me thinking of my Grandma Scott. I was 16 when she passed away and I have a lot of great memories of her. I was 3 when my Grandma Parrish passed away and she lived in West Virginia so I never lived by her to even try to form the tiniest of memory with her. My Grandma Donna Scott was fun though. Flaming red hair, great smile, tons of energy and amazing cook. Oh, and did I mention funny. As my friend posted about her Grandmas I too am going to list five tangible things that made me "flashback" and think about my Grandma. This is fun.

1.Horlicks Malties(which are chocolate flavored malt type lozenges, kind of hard to explain). My Grandma had these up in a cupboard in her kitchen. They were always too high for me to reach but if I were good she would get it down and let me get some. I loved them and this was the beginning of my addiction to Malt. I still love malt balls and malt shakes( caramel cashew shakes make the best malts,in my opinion).
It was our little secret though and my brother's didn't get them. I'm sure they got something else but this was my treat with Grandma and that's all the mattered to me.



2. Fresca. My Grandma was not big on Carbonation. She rarely had soda's in her house, it was mostly milk, juice or water. If we went up in the mountains for a picnic or had a family reunion at their house or somewhere else she would buy soda's and her soda was always Fresca. I would always ask my Grandma for a sip of her drink. I probably could've had my own but I loved to ask my Grandma for some of hers. They only had one flavor then, none of these extra ones like blackberry fresca or orange fresca. It was more simple. What I loved about my Grandma though was her having a Fresca was her living on the edge, when she pulled out the Fresca she was relaxing and chillin'. She was too cute.


3. Peanut and Butter Sandwiches. One year my Grandma stayed at our house while my parents when on their anniversary trip(and I will never ever forget this). I remember having a great time with my Grandma. My Grandpa stayed at home because he had to take care of the farm. They had a wheat farm and also some cattle. I must have asked my Grandma to make me a peanut butter and jam sandwich for school because she gave me one to take with my lunch. I can still remember biting into that sandwich and getting not just peanut butter and jam but peanut butter, butter and jam. It stuck so bad to the roof of my mouth. I asked her when I got home why she did that and she said "well you asked for a peanut butter sandwich." I've never forgotten that. I don't think I ever will. It made me laugh so hard. I started noticing that older people did that, put butter on their sandwiches. Now my own parents do that but they didn't do it when I was younger. It's only been in the past 10 years. That was a good one though. She said it so seriously.


4. HUGS! I'm sure all Grandma's give great hugs, how could they not. My Grandma's hugs have been on my mind this past week. Her hugs always came with a big smile and she had a warm and welcoming one. I know a lot of people who still have their Grandparents around. My own kids had their Great-Grandparents around up until last year. That's pretty lucky. I'm trying to pull on memories back from when I was 16, which I know isn't forever ago but I'm not a youngster anymore either. I miss my Grandma. She was sweet. I'm sad that she passed away when I was at that age in my life when you don't want to visit "those old people." I was going through my selfish stage. I didn't visit her as much. I can't do the what if game though. I just hope she knew how much I loved her and how much I loved her hugs. Oh and her hugs came with a smell that every once in a while I will get a whiff of, just out of the blue. I will be somewhere and take a deep breath and there it is, my Grandma and then I sigh and have a memory of Grandma Donna Scott. I put this photo up of my mom and Miles because I can't find one of my Grandma hugging me. Plus it's Miles Birthday next week and I can't believe 5 years have gone by that fast.

5. Deer Hunting weekend (though I'm anti hunting). Now they call this time in Utah UEA weekend. When I was younger I think they actually gave it a name that had to do with deer hunting. I could be wrong. What this weekend meant to me though was fun, fun, fun. I stayed far away from the boys and my dad if they shot a deer. My parents would come pick me up at school, in the car with the trailer behind. The trailer would be loaded with all the fixin's and things you need to keep you happy and warm while camping. It was an old camper. It had a table that folded out into a bed, a tiny kitchen, a closet, a couch that folded out into a bed and then a bunk bed above it. My Grandparents would go with us in their trailer and our neighbors the Wrights (which I've mentioned before)would go as well. The next day (after getting up to our favorite spot up Logan Canyon)the guys would leave really early and it would be just us gals left back at camp. My mom and I would sleep in, eat some breakfast and then go to join the other gals. I would run over to my Grandma's trailer as soon as I could.Her trailer was always warm and toasty. We would play card games, go on walks, find treasures, take naps, eat goodies. The guys would come back (hopefully without shooting a deer)and then it would be more fun with everyone all together. The best though and what my best memories are of are the daytimes with my Grandma and my mom. I will always associate fall and the mountains with my Grandma. She is probably the first one that taught me to appreciate and love the mountains, then my dad(her son). BTW this trailer looks exactly like my Grandparents.

My Grandma passed away in her sleep with a smile on her face. She smiled all the time while alive it seems right she would pass away smiling. I'm never sad when I think about her. Only good memories and happiness. I have to smile myself when thinking about her. I will also put up a pic of my Grandma later today. I've got to find this really cute one of her with her flaming red hair(most likely clariol) and her funky 70's shirt. It's great.

Dear Diary!!

Today I found my journal from when I was 8 years old. There were parts that made me laugh and other entries (because I was a sensitive and kind of deep kid for an 8 year old)made me want to cry for that little girl I once was. The laughing is what prevailed. I thought I would include a few entries to give you some insight into my 8 year old mind. Enjoy, laugh, think I'm crazy, go find your old Diaries and if you don't have any, START one now!I'm going to write it in my awesome grammar and spelling from when I was 8, it makes it so much better.

February 18,1976:
"Well so far I've had a happy day. I saw a flock of birds. They were so pretty. All those birds flying back and forth, it was buitefull. I think Lucky (my neighbors dog and little yeller is my dog) likes little yeller cause one is a girl and lucky is a boy. the note my mom gave me is nice. I love my Mom more than any body ells but I love my Dad too and my brothers too and my Heavenly Father very much. The end."

I'm not sure why I always wrote The End at the end of my entries? Funny. In reading my entries I've also noticed that I was an awful speller, seriously.

March 7,1976:
"Today I went to see the Freaky Friday and it sure was Freaky but it would have been better if I had seen it on Friday."

Yes that was my humor,such slapstick humor. Ok, last entry.

November 27,1976:
"Today I read page 9 in my Holy Bible. I guess I don't read too much in my Holy Bible but I do as much as I can. Now I am on chapter 2. I will try to do better."

Those are just a few of the truthful,sweet things I wrote as a kid. I noticed that at the end of almost every entry I stated who I loved, which was pretty much everyone. Sometimes I just wrote at the end that I love everybody or as I wrote it every body. Through the eyes of a child. So at the end of this post I'd like to say I love everybody. I'm grateful for family and friends and I love you all. The End!

DejaVU not VujaDE

When I was younger and this one friend of mine and I would be doing something together one of us would say "VujaDe, I have the strangest feeling this has never happened before." That was a long standing joke. Now Mark and I break out in that joke for fun. Oh, the humor. I had a major DejaVu yesterday and I did not act the way my friend Vicky Wright did. I will explain. When I was 16 and had my driver's license a friend of the family Vicky (who was also a neighbor and had been a babysitter) said she would teach me how to drive a stick car. I lived in an area in Logan called the Island and one of the ways to get out of the island and downtown or up to the University is by going up the steep dugway, which is a steep, steep hill. You can ask anyone in Logan(that is from Logan) where the steep dugway is and they can tell you. It's been called that for as long as I can remember. Vicky decided in her old Volkswagen station wagon to have me drive up the steep dugway on my first time driving stick. Not smart. This is the same family that when my older brother was maybe around 12 was told by Vicky's mom to pull their car into the garage for her. My brother pulled it in and went right through the back wall of the garage. My mom was furious. Other things we've done to this family.I picked up a BB gun that my brothers and Vicky's brother's were playing with(I was 3)aimed it at Vaughn and shot him in between his eyebrow's. He still has a scar. I also shut their cats leg in the door and broke it. It had this little cast thing on for awhile. They still love us though. Back to my driving lesson with Vicky. I didn't hurt their car thank goodness. I did however get stuck in the middle of the steep dugway and had to put it in park and have Vicky drive it up the rest of the way. There was a long line of cars behind me honking and losing patience with me when I was trying to shift into 2nd. Vicky on the other hand was just laughing and not losing any patience at all. She never once got mad or said we should just go home. Maybe it's going with someone other than family that's the trick.
Jump ahead to yesterday to Kiah in the drivers seat of a used Volkswagen bug and me in the passenger's seat teaching her to drive stick. We live in a development that has hills, we live up on a hill so to get going anywhere you have to go up the hill and then go down the hill. Like me she got stuck in the middle of the hill when she went to shift into 2nd. Unfortunately there were all these neighborhood boys around, all about 9 years old and some we knew. They just stood there and watched and the crowd grew and grew. My nerves got more and more stressed and Kiah got more and more upset. I told her what to do but she started rolling backwards so I told her to put her foot on the break and she was yelling "I am putting my foot on the break" and then I was yelling "if you were putting your foot on the break, we wouldn't be rolling backwards." Again, the crowd of boys is still growing and Sofia and Miles are sitting in the back. Sofia was laughing and Miles was playing with a transformer and in his own little world. I was not like my friend Vicky. I was not calm, cool and collected. I did not act the way I wanted to or had pictured myself acting. It's funny now, but it wasn't so funny then. She put on the break and got out, we switched places and I drove up the hill. Just like Vicky had done for me 24 years ago yet in a much happier way. Kiah went on to tell me that she didn't want to learn how to drive stick from either Mark or I because we just get upset with her.
I do have to say that I'm the one that took her out driving in the expedition though for the first time on the roads and on the highway. She is a good driver, very safe, very cautious. It's just that whole clutch,break,gas thing. Mark came home later from meetings at church and took her out driving. She came back later feeling much better and she actually drove her car to school today. She's been driving my expedition to seminary and then to school and I've had her bug. I'm proud of her, I wasn't so proud of myself. Too bad Vicky doesn't live around here. She could teach all of my kids to drive.

One Meme to another!

Deb W. tagged me with a Meme, which to be honest I had to look up to see what that even meant. Duh. It's been a long week! A meme can be a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from one person to another. You've got to love the internet and blogs. I love blogs because it gives me a chance to read peoples thoughts that maybe they don't share all the time in a conversation in person. It can be quick thoughts we jot down in a hurry, or even thoughts we take a lot of time pondering about. What I love is that what might be jibberish or something boring to the person writing it, can be uplifting, funny and touching to the one reading it. I love blogs. I can catch up on friends lives, see photo's and feel closer to family that live far away. I am suppose to post the fourth photo in the fourth folder in my pictures file. This is the fourth photo in my folder.
It's not current and it's really out of place but I'm kind of glad it's the one that popped up because I love it. Miles and Sofi are asleep in our bed. Miles is so chunky here, I miss that. He has to be around 2, which makes Sofi about 6. Miles still sleeps like this. On his back, but he usually has his hands tucked behind his head. I love that Sofi is snuggled up to him. In the day they don't always get along. It's nice to see this photo and see how peaceful they look by each other, that's not always the case. When is it always that way with siblings though? I love this photo. It brings back sweet memories. Thanks Deb. I tag Mark, Amanda and Amy.

32 degrees ain't cold!

Mark took last Friday off work and Miles and I went with him to Mt. Rainier for the day. Friends like Jeanie helped with Sofi, and Kiah took care of Sofi after school, which allowed us to go. We were very appreciative. I was not appreciative that we had to leave around 7am but once we got up to visitor center and found out it was the opening ceremony for the new center I was glad to beat the crowd. I'm not one to wear a lot of layers. I'm normally a few degrees hotter than most people but I have to say that I was very grateful that Mark talked me into wearing layers that day. Miles had on the most layers and he still got cold. We parked at the visitor center and started on our hike up around Paradise. It's called that, I'm not just saying it's paradise(which it is, but without the warmth). We hiked a 2.7 round trip hike and were able to get up close to a glacier. It was beautiful.
Things not fun about it.
1. Miles slipped and fell really hard on a patch of ice(even though Mark told him to go around the ice)
2. It was straight uphill the whole way(no switchbacks), which meant steep downhill coming back (ouch on the knees)
3. A Ranger got mad at Miles when he stepped off the path onto the meadow, which he did to avoid the same patch of ice (that they should've chipped off or put rock salt on before people started hiking on)
4. Wished that Kiah and Sofia could have gone
Things wonderful about it.
1. Spent the day with Mark and Miles
2. Surrounded by beauty the whole day
3. Ate huckleberries while hiking
4. Threw rocks in a river for a long time with Miles and watched him have a huge grin on his face
5. Had a yummy dinner in Enumclaw on the way home

Ride on the Peace Train

"Ride on the Peace Train" is a song by Cat Stevens. One I've loved for a long time, anything from the old Cat is good. This weekend at the Salmon Days fair I bought Sofi and Kiah a nice sterling silver peace sign (very small and dainty) necklace. The guy that sold it to us reminded me of something that I had forgotten, that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the peace sign. The peace sign surprisingly started in England. On an Easter Sunday a group of people marched from London to a factory in the countryside where Britain built its atomic bombs. Gerald Holtom was the artist and textile designer who created it. An international brand that became as familiar as a stop sign - from grim and gritty, to groovy, like a universal trademark, according to design consultant Richard Williams.
"The clever thing about it is, it's a mark we can all remember," Williams said. "Because we can all draw it. You have to see it once to be able to draw it and there are very few marks that work that way. That's why it can grow so quickly, why so many people can adopt it, because they can just scribble it. So when people were making placards they didn't get it wrong, they knew what it was." Williams also said "I think it's a good symbol because it is actually quite simple." Simple, as simple as the three lines and a circle, etched on the headstone of Gerald Holtom's grave. The Peace sign was not introduced to the US until the 60's. I guess we were a bit late to jump on the peace train.

Now 50 years later I wonder what Gerald Holtom would think of his symbol and how people perceive others who support the peace sign. Because it seems that if you truly support the peace sign you are branded unpatriotic. A person in the US can have a confederate flag in the back of their truck window and people just look away. Whereas a person with a peace sticker instead of a flag sticker on their car is looked at as less patriotic. Does that make sense? I've lost Uncles in wars. One of my Uncles died after the war due to complications because his parachute didn't open up. I have patriotism in my family. I'm patriotic. I'm also for peace. What I love about the peace sign (sorry I went off there for a second, I'm back again to the peace sign now) is that the symbol has been used for so many things. It's been used as a symbol against tyranny in Greece, against apartheid in South Africa and by the US troops opposing the Vietnam War. Yes, US troops, not just the hippies back home. People always associate it with anti-war protesters but it didn't start out as that. Like I said above it started out as a symbol used by a group of people that didn't want just the British Atomic bombs, they didn't want any Atomic bombs. I know it's not a major anniversary but it's been a pretty big symbol for a long time. A symbol that most everyone recognizes and a symbol that one man started in hopes of stopping something that would destroy people not bring them together. I'm hopping on the Peace train. Anyone want to join me?

Donny Osmond,Purple socks and Issaquah High

First off, Donny Osmond has not made a surprise appearance at Issaquah High School. However today is game day and I'm being supportive and wearing my Issaquah sweatshirt(plus I'm freezing). I at one time was totally in love with Donny Osmond. Despite his Corny family and himself and that he has obviously had some work done on his face, I will forever have a crush on the young Donny. Again, that is the young Donny. I use to have purple socks,I had Donny and Marie barbie type dolls. They had purple outfits that they wore. I wore purple shirts with Donny's face plastered on the front. I watched the Osmond show every week. I sang in front of the mirror "I'm a little bit country, I'm a little bit rock-n-roll." Sad I know. I was a true fan.I have to say this was when I was around 9 or 10. Now I wear the Issaquah purple and I'm a fan of the football team and the drill team.
Mark and I have joined the ranks and are excited about the games(well I am, I can't speak for Mark)and watching kids we know play and perform. Like Kiah of course. I'm that mom now that wears the school sweatshirt. You wont find me in purple socks or anything else purple. If Donny were to show up at Kiah's school I might have to go down there to see him. Not that he would have a reason to go. But he does like purple!! Go Issaquah!