Total geekdom

I live on a mountain that is about 20 minutes away from a grocery store. For four years I have laboriously traveled the well-worn roads to buy food, muttering and sputtering angrily under my breath at the sheer inconvenience of it all!

So, imagine my joy when I learned that a new store was being built at the bottom of the hill - a mere 10 minutes away. Further - imagine the shrieks and excitement my family endured several months ago when I learned that the new store to be built was a Harmon's.


The only store I will frequent is Harmon's. Why, you ask? I'll list the reasons in order of importance:

• Because Harmons has good prices.
• They have a very user friendly layout and I know where everything is.
• I'm a creature of habit.
• It's right next to Little Caesar's - hence, Crazy Bread.
• They offer discounts on gas.
• They have friendly people.
• They have Boar's Head meat.
• They have a drive-up window for prescriptions. (WOW I'm old).
• They load my groceries for me (wait, maybe this should be first).
• Bean doesn't shop there (wait, maybe this should be first). I'm clearly still fuming over his Dan Fogelberg comment.

But I digress.

Today was the grand opening and guess who was there with an idiotic, half-dazed perma-smile? Me. It was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.

Yes, I took my camera with me to the grand opening of Harmon's.

Wouldn't you?

Another angle of it's spectacular grandeur.

This picture was taken as I was pulling into their drive and load area. I was giggling like a little girl.

Today, the world was beautiful.

New member of the family

Isn't she lovely?

Happy Anniversary!

Two very wonderful people met about 47 years ago. The man thought the woman was very cute - she liked to dance, laugh, play piano and had a lot of friends (and admirers). The woman thought the man was tall, blonde, and devastatingly handsome. He loved to make her laugh. He liked to draw, paint, write, and was the life of the party. They decided to get married 46 years ago and start their lives together.

I'm glad they did because they are my parents and I'm lucky to have them. They are kind, generous, and loving to their 4 children, 9 grand children, and 7 great-grand children.

Oh, and guess what my dad surprised my mom with for the big day - a brand new, CUTE, fire-engine red Mini Cooper!

Happy Anniversary!!

Uproarious laughter

This guy has provided hours of entertainment in the Watson home. He is hilarious!

Enjoy.



and

Elora's Birthday

Elora turned 18 on Tuesday. She is an adult. She will graduate from high school in one month and will start college in the fall.

Okay - each of the statements above was NOT FUN to write!

I first met her when she was just 8 years old (wasn't that just last week)? I was dating her dad and he invited me over to his house for dinner. I arrived at his house and a very cute little brown-haired girl shyly opened the door. I asked her if she was Larissa. She said in the cutest little voice that I'll never forget, "No, I'm Elora."

She was wearing a dress and invited me into the living room to sit down. She said the chef (Todd) was still making dinner but would I like to look at a menu. She and Darren had made a homemade menu and I was able to select my dinner of choice.

She and Darren had soft music playing in the background and treated me like a queen. Elora served my meal and tried to be very formal and lady-like. Adorable!!

But that's not all - this is where it gets good!!

After dinner I heard her whisper to Todd and ask if she could go ride her bike. He told her she could but she had to change into her play clothes. She bolted to her room.

I was NOT prepared for what I saw next!

Apparently she forgot that she left her play clothes in the bathroom - which was down the hall from her bedroom. Rather than take the time to put on a robe or cover up in some way - she decided to make a mad dash to the bathroom. But since she didn't have one stitch of clothing on - I guess it could be said that she streaked to the bathroom!

I was sitting on the couch, trying to be ever so lady-like and make a good impression when I saw the flesh-colored blur, aka Elora, out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't stop the cackling laughter that escaped from my throat. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

I was hooked. Elora was adorable. It was her eyes...her shyness that got to me.

She is a true joy. She is sweet and smart and loyal and pretty and talented and funny and her smile is as big as Texas. There is nothing better than trying to get her to laugh so hard that she squeaks.

Happy 18th birthday. Please don't forget us little people as you pursue your dreams!

You are loved.


Eating her birthday dinner at her favorite restaurant.



From left to right:
Larissa, Elora, Egads-who is that?!, Todd, and Connor

Dan Fogelberg

Wow.

I went to Dan Fogelberg's website to see if he had a concert tour this summer. I found out that he passed away last December from prostate cancer. HUH? How did I not know this?

Todd and I saw him at a Deer Valley concert when we were first married. It was incredible to say the least. In my opinion there is no greater singer/songwriter.

I am heartbroken.

Here is one of his more famous songs:




And here is my favorite Fogelberg song.

Match the teeth with the teen

Let's play the "money drain of 2007-2008" game!





A













B











C







Seriously. I don't know why my kids put up with some of the stuff I post on this blog. I know I would have died of embarrassment at their age.

I think there are three reasons why they let me:


1) They don't read my blog
2) None of their friends read my blog
3) I buy them things

Kids - if you read this - forgive me for what I'm about to do.

*This is our next guessing game. Match the mouth with the kid and cast your vote by leaving a comment or answering the poll to the right. Which mouth is Connor's? Which is Larissa's? And which is Elora's?

On your mark. Get set. GO!

Guessing game results

Remember this?





























Well, it's actually a pumpkin from last October on someone's porch.

I was so happy to see it because then I didn't feel so bad about having a Christmas tree on my porch in March.

Your guesses were all pretty sad, by the way. Please try harder the next time we play this game.
;)

Great pics of Darren

Darren sent us some great pictures.



I would know that forehead anywhere.

A great view of his right ear.

He leaves for Russia in 3 1/2 weeks.

Darren's District

Darren is the missionary with the cheesy smile, black suit and name tag.

Darren says they have to sit this way in Russia.

Can you guess what this is?

Leave a comment and take a guess.

Mystery solved

Well, the mystery of the coyote is solved.

If you've followed my minor obsession with this animal you should know that I have practically gotten into several car accidents because my head is usually craned and scanning the hillsides for him as I drive down the mountain. Since I first saw this animal, I have kept my camera handy at all times and it is true that I dragged Todd out in the middle of the night to search for my mysterious friend.

You will be happy to know that this means I won't be blogging about him anymore.

You can stop cheering now.

As it turns out, our furry friend is definitely a coyote and not a fox. How do I know? Todd and the kids saw him this morning at the side of the road. Apparently he had been hit and killed by a car.

Todd, being ever so sweet with my feelings, had a difficult time telling me about his findings. Here is the email I received from him this morning.

"Hello Babe,

I don't know how to tell you this. It is NOT good news.

While I was driving the kids to school this morning we saw the coyote. I'm certain he is a coyote. Unfortunately he was hit by a car and is at the side of the road. It's a real shame. The kids and I felt bad for you.

I Love You

T"

To my sweet husband - thanks for being so sweet with my feelings and not mocking my MANY idiosyncrasies. I supply you with an arsenal of reasons to mock me incessantly. And yet you don't... usually.

Dream Sequence - by Gene Burton

Hi, Jodi......This entry to your blog comes at 4:19 A.M., April 15, 2008. It has nothing to do with taxes. I have awoken and re-awakened from a dreadful dream. In this dream I encountered a horrid weapon. Or maybe it was more like a tool. An evil tool. It might have been made of solid gold. Or silver. Wood? Cheap plastic? Anyway, it had magic powers. Or maybe a magnetic attraction to leather. It had a handle at one end and a curved hook at the other. (Well, I guess all hooks are curved. Duh.)

Neither I nor anyone else ever saw the person or apparition wielding this ominous stick, and indeed few have witnessed the stick. ( I think it moves real fast.) But it loves leather. More precisely, it loves shoes. All kinds of leather shoes.

As I awakened I entered that mystical land between slumber and cognizance. It seemed that I had heard or read of this phenomenon. A man in Berlin was hurrying through a busy, crowded bus station during a heavy rain. He was wearing a brand new $300.00 pair of shoes. Suddenly his left shoe disappeared. As he turned to search for it the right one disappeared WITH HIS FULL WEIGHT ON THE SHOE!

During a midnight run, the folks on a packed train in Bucharest lost 137 pairs in their sleep. A woman in Egypt lost a pair of sandals while bending over to fill an urn. She said it felt (or sounded) like a soft, gentle whisper.

A young feller in California always wore socks with his flip-flops. Everyone laughed at him. Anyhoo, he was basking in the sun on a deserted beach when he felt a violent wrenching at his feet. The flops were gone, leaving two deep cotton/blend indentations between the first and second toes.

I found myself drifting back to sleep. As I approached level five the identity of this frightening maniacal weapon of mass detatchment began to come to me. My whole body shuddered and convulsed as I sat up. I had it! It is a Debirkenstocken!

Respectfully submitted by Gene Burton Stalkin'

~

** The owner of this blog does not condone, authorize, endorse, or even like this joke. May it be known that these are the types of jokes that I was made to endure while growing up. Feel my pain. Hee hee! Love ya dad!

Shark attack!

Connor is definitely my son.

Ya see, this here is the shark head on Connor's bedroom wall that viciously attacked him while he was taking off his shirt. One might assume that a dead shark is harmless - but after an urgent care visit, tetanus shot and 11 stitches, we learned otherwise.

For gross!

Connor's grandpa, aka "gramps", shares his version of the event.

Connor thought he should have made his biceps bigger.

In other thrilling news... Todd and I have been searching high and low for the coyote, or fox, or whatever it was (possibly a llama?). Donning camouflage clothing and lurking in the woods with night vision goggles has gotten us nowhere and we find ourselves feeling increasingly hopeless that we will ever find the mystery animal.

We've resorted to recruiting the help of other furry critters in our pursuit. Our instructions to them are simple - find the coyote (or fox) and get a picture if you can.

This deer has been very diligent and zealous in his hunt and has so far left no stone unturned. We decided to name him our employee of the month.

This guy is completely nuts.... and useless.

We have difficulty keeping this hawk's attention on the search effort. He keeps flitting and fluttering to areas outside of our search zone.

We may have to let him go.

This raucous crowd is full of shenanigans but very eager to find the coyote/fox. Unfortunately , they are not very stealthlike in their approach and Todd and I try to teach them to use their quiet voices. We've not had much success.

Stitch the cat just mocks our obsession.

Pfft.

Heretofore, our search has proven fruitless - but stay tuned as the thrilling drama unfolds. We will not give up the search. We will carry on. We are the champions, my friend.