"Forgetful Jones" Rides Again...

Well, last night, my family decided to go on a little camping adventure to Champoeg State Park. We got a very late start on our trip since my husband didn't get home from work until about 5:30 or so. After loading up the car, we got to the campsite at about 7:15 or so. We didn't even start dinner until it was dark! It seems like this trip was almost more trouble than it was worth, but the kids sure had fun. I'll be posting some pictures when I get around to pulling them off of the camera.

Does anybody remember that old Sesame Street character named Forgetful Jones? I haven't seen him on any recent episodes, but I do recall him popping up every now and then on episodes back when I was a kid. ANYway, after last night's camping trip, that's who I felt like. I forgot to pack so many basic, OBVIOUS things, it was pathetic! For example, here are a few of the essentials that I forgot. Like, DUH!

1) Pillows (Mega owie on our necks. Note: Rolled up clothes do NOT make a good pillow.)
2) Blankets (Brrr... it was a little chilly)
3) A sleeping bag for Jasmine (we were gonna order one for her online earlier in the week, but forgot... so we were gonna zip the two big sleeping bags together. Didn't happen. See below for details.)
4) Flashlight (At least we had a propane lantern-- whew. But we still walked to the bathroom in the dark)
5) A spatula for the pancakes (Nix the pancakes for breakfast!)
6) A wooden spoon to stir the hash browns (We used a knife with a plastic handle instead.... some of the handle melted!)
7) Salt and pepper (Bland food is okay; just put lots of ketchup on it.)
8) Paper towels (With two kids, forgetting that is just uncalled for.)
9) Stuff to clean the dishes with, ie: bucket, washcloths, etc. (Woops!)
10) Hmm... I forgot what else we forgot. I'm sure there was something else. It'll come to me later.


Well, most of the stuff we had to just work our way around not having. I did drive back into town, 7 miles each way, to recover the much-needed cleaning supplies and even a carton of eggs. By the time I got back, everything was basically set up. We had our HUGE tent (fits 3) and our TEENY tent (fits 1/2 a person, or @1 Jasmine), plus our canopy with mesh sides. Jasmine REALLY wanted to sleep in the little tent, so we gave her a sleeping bag. That left one more sleeping bag, with no blankets or pillows, for Hubby, Tyler, and me. We decided that I would sleep with Ty in the big tent (so I could tend to his needs more easily), and Daddy would sleep with Jazz in the little tent. What a LONNNNNGGGGG night! I was so dang uncomfortable. My back and neck hurt very bad now. If we had some sort of mattress pad and a pillow, it would have been much better. I was able to squeeze into the sleeping bag with Ty, so at least I wasn't cold. Ty did wake up in the middle of the night, so I had to rock him. Jasmine hogged her sleeping bag for the first part of the night, but Daddy ended up squooshing into the sleeping bag with her. He's pretty sore today, too. We're both pretty tired. I think the kids got a pretty good night sleep, though.

After we woke up at like 6:00 this morning, everything else went pretty smoothly. We roasted marshmallows, sat around for a while, and just relaxed. Ty kept running away, following anyone that would pass our campsite! My arms are sore from hauling him around. When it was dark, I had to hold him while doing everything for fear that he would run off into the darkness. Jasmine was a big helper with him, trying to keep him close by. Although checkout time wasn't until 1:00, we were out of the camp area by 10:30 or so. We then drove over to the day-use area so my husband could play a round of disc golf. Ty was asleep by then, so I stayed in the car with him while Jasmine went with Daddy. We got home around 1:00.

Whew! Next time, I'll DEFINITELY make a list of everything we need to take with us. One of our main purposes for taking this little trip was to do a trial run for our family reunion that's in July. With all that we forgot, I'm just glad we were camping only one night. The family reunion will be for three nights. It was a lot of work, but the kids sure had fun. We might try going out again on Memorial Day weekend. We'll see.

A Trip to the Dentist!

After much excitement and anticipation leading up to the event (and one rescheduling because she was sick), Jasmine was finally able to go to the dentist today to get her teeth cleaned. This was only the second time she had ever been to the dentist. Well, she was a very good girl and did everything that the higienist asked her to do. In this picture, she is taking her fluoride treatment. She chose strawberry flavor. I'm surprised she didn't try eating it. She really loved that sucky thingy that they put in her mouth to slurp up all fluoride and slobber. Oh, what fun!

She gets to go back next Thursday to get two teeny cavities taken care of. I sure hope that her enthusiasm for visiting the dentist doesn't diminish after that visit. I'll just sit with her and ask her to be a brave little girl. Her teeth are really close together (the cavities are down between the teeth), and the dentist also addressed the issue of probable overcrowding when her permanent teeth come in. Oh, boy... it looks like she'll be needing orthadontia work when she's older. What kid doesn't, though!? Her daddy and I both had to wear braces, and I had several teeth pulled because of overcrowding. I guess it runs in the family, eh?

It is now lunch time, and Ty is grumpier than grumpy. He hasn't had his nap yet due the trip to the dentist this morning. I just keep telling myself, "Today is going to be a good day." I need my nap, too. Then, maybe it WILL turn out to be a good day. :)

I'm still alive!

Okay, so I haven't entered a blog in the past, uh, four days or so. I'm still alive, honest I am! I have just been, whaddaya say, uninspired. Nothing has really happened in my life lately that seems to be worth blogging about. Hmmmm..... lemme think for a sec.....uh.....pffffbbbt (brainfart!)

Let's see... the other day, as we were driving along, Jasmine pointed out the Toyota dealership on thie side of the road. She said, "Hey look! It's Toyota, moving forward!" My hubby and I just busted up with laughter. I think Jasmine has seen a few too many commercials. All of the new Toyota commercials use that tag line, and she remembers EVERYTHING she sees and hears on TV (and in real life, too). She's a smart little cookie.

A smart little cookie that just pushed her little brother down. Grrrr! Oh, the tears, the agony. I think Ty is ready for his bath and bedtime...I'll write more later.

Aah... the miracle of duct tape!

Have you ever broken something that you didn't have the necessary materials on hand to fix (and you didn't want to drive to the store to get 'em)? Or, have you ever busted something that would have costed mucho moolah to replace? Well, I have..... both in this week's time frame. Jasmine's top dresser droor busted on one side (which could have been fixed by a simple application of wood glue), and the base of my vacuum cleaner cracked, causing the detachable base to, well, STAY detached. My solution to both problems was my highly technical, totally advanced, roll of duct tape. Yep.... that baby can cure anything.... well, almost anything. I even heard once on the news that a piece of duct tape could suffocate a wart (but, like who in the heck is gonna want to walk around with a big ol' piece of duct tape on their hand or foot for two weeks.... especially when it won't even stick to the sweaty foot). I'll just stick with its uses on non-human objects. The drawer? Well, I just taped the busted side together, and voila! It doesn't come apart every time I open it. I know I'll eventually get that wood glue, but I don't want to spend the time or money on it right now. At least the drawer won't annoy me now. And the vacuum? I just wrapped several tight layers of duct tape around the cracked base, holding it together rather well. Now, the darn thing works better than it did before it busted. It's a MIRACLE! I like duct tape.

Not only can duct tape fix stuff, it is also ART. Just check out this website to see what I mean. Actually, there are tons of places out there that do stuff like this... Google can point 'em out to ya. If anyone out there can think of some other nifty uses for duct tape, please let me know.

Waitin' for the bus, and waitin' and waitin' and waitin'....

Well, this morning I had to wait for Jasmine's bus FOREVUR. And of course, Ty wanted to run away from me, so I had to hold him. He weighs in at 27.5 pounds on our home scale. Big kid. Anyway, after the bus was like 11 minutes late, I called transportation, only to find out that Jazz's original bus driver was in an accident. Some dumb car crashed into the bus. Luckily, no kids were on the bus, and to my knowledge, no one was hurt. The bus driver was currently pulled over, probably waiting for the police to show up. Luckily, another bus driver volunteered to take her route (after her own route was completed, of course), which she would be starting within the next five minutes. So, as soon as I found out this information, I walked back to our garage to get the stroller. My arms and back felt like they were about to give out from holding a big wiggly baby for so long. I strapped him into the stroller, and we walked back up the hill to the bus stop to wait some more. FINALLY, 28 minutes late, a different bus driver showed up to get Jasmine. If my husband hadn't taken the car to the MAX station this morning, I would have driven Jasmine to school so she wouldn't be so late. She took the whole thing rather well, though. Luckily, it is a very beautiful morning, so we didn't have to go back inside to wait (that would have made her mad). I'd better call her school, just to make sure someone was out there to pick her up.

Here Comes the Easter Bunny.... and There He Goes!

Well, another Easter Sunday has come and gone. We didn't do anything really fancy for dinner on that day. Instead, on Saturday, we went down to spend the day with my uncle and aunt in Albany. There, we had a fun little Easter egg hunt (in the rain) where each kid was able to walk away with like 14 hard boiled dyed eggs. We also had a big ol' dinner with lots of food. I made a lemon merengue pie and a key lime pie the night before. Man, I was in the kitchen for about four hours... at LEAST. It didn't help that I made the crusts from scratch, and I messed up on them thefirst time around (so I had to make 'em again). Everybody liked them, and we didn't have any leftovers to worry about brining home. That's good, cuz it's like an hour drive, and I didn't want to have to worry about transporting any food back. We took a bunch of pics of the egg hunt, but I'll have to wait till my hubby gets the whole batch of pics uploaded to HIS computer (where all our photo archives are stored) before I post any. That should be soon.

The kids had lots of fun on Saturday. Jasmine didn't want to go when it was time to leave. We were there long enough, though (from 11:30 till about 6:00). Fro the latter half of the day, Ty was really grumpy. He wouldn't take a nap, and as the hours passed, he kept getting more and more distressed. I didn't realize until we were there that he was cutting a molar and another tooth right next to it. No wonder he was so grumpy. Luckily, after I finally figured out what was wrong, I was able to get some medicine from my cousin whose little boy is also teething. That calmed him down, so by the time we got in the car to go, he just crashed. He slept the whole way home, and so did Jasmine. It made for a nice quiet ride.

Sunday morning was awful. Tyler woke up at 5:30, crying and in a lot of pain because of his teeth. He stayed up till shortly before 8:00. Then, when Jasmine woke up at 8:30, all excited to see her Easter goodies, Ty woke up again. He was not happy. At least Jasmine was. They each got a stuffed bunny in their Easter buckets, but Ty couldn't have cared less for his. He liked playing with the plastic egs though, and the jelly beans were a big hit. ANYway, we missed Sacrament meeting because Ty finally went back to bed for a while. When we got to church, I didn't even bother trying to take him to Primary with me because of how grumpy he was. Daddy took him, and ended up missing some of Priesthod because of it. If anyone looked at Ty, he would just get all upset. He wasn't having a good day at all. When we got home from church, we just veged for the rest of the day. No big dinner.... nada. We just had fruit plates and other snacks, since no one felt like cooking. What a day. At least we were able to spend it together as a family. :)

Tyler was still a little "crusty" yesterday becaue of his teeth, but I kept him drugged up, just like I did on Sunday. He has done better today, so I think I'll hold off on the meds. I'll give him some Orajel if I need to, but if I can go without giving him the motrin stuff, that would be awesome. I'm not looking forward to the next few months. It will probably be a non-stop teething process as his other molars start to come in. UGH!

Some more thougths on the homelesss....

Well, I thank my friends for the comments they left with my last night's rant. I probably seem like a heartless person. It's the whole asking for money thing that I have a problem with. I have donated to soup kitchens and food banks in the past (I've also donated to thrift stores, etc), and like Mattsmom, I don't see a problem giving food to people. She pointed out that, at least with food, you know that you're not providing them the means to do something you disagree in (drugs, alcohol, etc.). The only time people have approached me, though, they have asked for money or cigarettes or "money for smokes." There have been a few times when, walking in downtown Portland, my whole family has been approached by people asking for money. Not to mention the droves of peole quietly sitting on the side with signs, asking for help. Maybe I'm just a little over-protective of my two small children, but I really don't feel comfortable when a stranger asks for money with my kids right by me. The way I see it, any money these people do get from begging is just a quick fix, not helping them in the long run. If anything, I would dare say that some (but not all) are hindered by that hand-out because they will settle for leading that type of life, knowing that they can get the money. I wish there were more programs to help get these poeple off the streets and reahabilitated to a better, healthier lifestyle. I would have no problem donating to those charities... Meanwhile, I have to try to find a delicate way to explain all of this to my five year old daughter, and eventually my baby boy. (No, I don't rant to them the way I did on my blog... that was a brief moment of frustration). As a parent, where do you draw the line? I want my kids to know that we are all children of God.... that he loves all of us, and that we should be kind to one another. We are all human, and part of being human means we have flaws and make mistakes... mistakes that Christ atoned for. So, who are we to condemn people? At the same time, I don't want people taking advantage of my children (or scaring them, for that matter). I'll have to do some more pondering on this issue. Perhaps I'll write some more later about it.

My rant on bums!

I hate bums! I REALLY hate bums. No, I'm not talking about the type of bum you wipe. We have to have that kind, or else, well, um... they're just really useful in the whole digestive process. I'm talking about the type of bum that tries to mooch money off of you. GRR! Anyway, here's my rant! Each of the two times that I've gone to the store in the past few days, I've been approached by someone in the parking lot begging for money. The first time was at Kmart. A scruffy lookin' dude was stopping everyone in the parking lot (and causing cars to honk at him to MOVE), asking for money. The ridiculous thing about it was, I actually saw a few girls give him money. That's why they do it, cuz they know they can get the money! He was walking around with a news paper, a red plastic gasoline canister, and a cigarette. Hmm... makes me wonder what he was gonna use the money for. ANYway, he asked me for 2 bucks, and I said NO! The second incident happened tonight. As I was exiting Safeway, some woman came uncomfortably close to me and gave me some sob story about needing ten bucks for her daughter's ear infection medicaiton at Rite Aid. I said "Sorry, NO!" It was dark outside, and in a poorly lit parking lot, I really don't appreciate being approached like that. And, who knows if she was telling the truth or not. I just flat out don't believe in handing money out like that to total strangers. They're making stuff up most of the time anyway. It's not like they're gonna come out and say, "can I have some money to buy some beer?" Plus, I really didn't have any cash on me. I rarely ever carry cash. I love my debit card. It's quick, it's easy, and it's more difficult for me to blow through money when I use it instead of cash. So, that's what I use. Both of these bum encounters were within a few miles of where I live. Until this week, I really hadn't seen bums in this part of the city. Usually, I see them on the off ramps of the highway or Interstate.... and of course, they're ALL OVER THE PLACE in Portland. I just wish that people wouldn't hand out their money to those people. It's rather frustrating!

As frustrating as these instances were, they don't even come close to one I had back in Idaho. A few years ago, I was taking some garbage out to our dumpster, and I opened the flap to dump my garbage in when I saw a man in there eating garbage. A police officer was driving by and made him get out, only to pull him out of the neighbors dumpster five minutes later. Now, that is just GROSS! At least he didn't ask me for money. I just remember the bits of moldy food dribbling out of his mouth full of rotting teeth as he mumbled some incoherent thing to me. EW!

Now that I live in a bigger city, I'm getting a little more used to seeing homeless people. However, they still give me the heeby-jeebies. Their begging REALLY REALLY bothers me. I mean, they expect to get something for basically nothing. I don't feel obligated, in the least, to give out the money my husband worked his butt off for to some stranger living out on the streets! GRR! GRR! Did I say, GRR?! I firmly believe that they should get a job and work for their money! And besides, there's soup kitchens and other charities that are specifically designed to help out people who are having it rough. So, why should I give my money to them, especially when I don't know what they're gonna do with it! I know, I probably sound like a mean person, but that's the way I feel! GRR!

A Never Ending Story about Private Parts

Okay, so my daughter just got home from school and wanted me to put in a movie for her since she can't go into her bedroom (Ty is sleeping). The movie she picked is Never Ending Story. This is a cute movie, and I don't mind her watching it. However, There's one part that can be, um, rather embarrassing. It's that part with the two big ol' honkin' statues that are nude from the waste up. Ya know, the statues that shoot out lazer beams from their eyes. ANYway, every time Jasmine sees that, she says something to the effect of "Cover up your private parts!" or "It's Mommy boobs!" And of course, she had to make that latter comment while she was watching the movie when my husband's friend stopped by our apartment to pick something up. He was there just at the wrong time when the statues showed up in the movie. He heard what she said, and couldn't believe his ears. He actually asked if he had heard her correctly. Unfortunately, he did. Oh, what a crazy memory.

Just now, when I put in the movie, she made the expected comment about not showing her private parts. Silly little girl. I just hope she doesn't watch this movie with any of her friends for a long time. I'm sure she'd be raising some eyebrows with her comments. However, it is good that she realized that the statues are naked, and that they should be covered up. I suppose that I'm also grateful that she doesn't say something like "Daddy boobs." At least she's got the gender right!

Two down, three to go...

Well, my husband has passed his second Microsoft certification test. He only has three more to go. That is a relief. I was scared that he would not pass this one. The original plan was for him to study all night last night. That did not happen. He wanted a "cat nap," but when I tried to wake him up to study, he wouldn't budge. I tried, several times throughout the night, to get him up to study. It didn't work. I dare say that I'm the one that didn't get a good night sleep, and he was rather well-rested this morning. So, he went in there to take the test at 10:00 this morning without having studied at all. A lot of the stuff on the exam was stuff he's been doing at ork for the past few years. Anyway, now, we have one less thing to worry about. The only bummer is, he was just trying to schedule his third test for April 22nd, (that was the original date that he was going to take this one), but they are all full now on that date. The soonest Saturday he could schedule a test on was May 6th. I think he's just going to schedule the fourth and fifth one right now too.... so he can get them all done before July. This will be HUGE for him once it gets complteted.

I just spotted a rather large spider on our ceiling.... we have a vaulted ceiling in our living room, and the offending arachnid is at the very top. So, I need to find a way to reach it so I can smoosh it without freaking out Jasmine. She doesn't know it's there yet. If she did, she'd be screaming at me to kill it. We already had one spider episode this morning, with one that wasn't nearly as big. Now that the weather is getting warmer, we're going to be frequently finding spiders around the house. It comes with the territory when you live by a nature preserve. I'm just glad that we dont' get hobo spiders here, like we did back in Idaho. Still, I hate spiders.

Well, I killed the spider. I had to stand on a foot stool and use the broom. The darn thing crawled to the corner, right above the fish tank. I whacked it with the tip of the broom and it fell down on top of the fish tank. When I tried to grap it with a napkin, it zoomed into the water. So, I had to fish it out with a net. Eww! It was still alive. I squished it once it was in the net and out of the water. It had a body about the size of a hobo's, but its legs were shorter. Luckily, Jasmine didn't see it till right before I killed it. She didn't scream, though, since she saw that I was trying to kill it. I hate spiders.

What a day! Ha! NOT!

Yesterday, I didn't do much at all. I got off to a bad start when I was wedged between my sleeping daughter and hubby in our bed, and I tried to scoot off so I could use the bathroom. Well, I scooted too far and fell off the darn thing. Now my back is killing me. I didn't sleep very well last night because of it. And again, this morning when I woke up, Jasmine had crawled into bed with us. I think the chirping birds at 5:00 in the morning woke her up and made her come into our room. She said she had a bad dream about birds tweeting. The night BEFORE last, she had a bad dream that aliens took Daddy away. Poor girl.

The next 24 hours or so are going to be really tough on my poor hubby. He will be taking his second Microsoft certification exam tomorrow at 10:00. Originally, he was scheduled to take it on April 22nd, but last night, he got the hair-brained idea to take it TOMORROW instead. So, he rescheduled the darn thing. And, if he hasn't rescheduled it again by 10:00 this morning (in 3 minutes from now), then he absolutely has to take it tomorrow. With those tests, you can reschedule as many times as you want to up until 24 hours beforehand. If he passes this one, which I hope and pray that he does, he will schedule the THIRD test on the 22nd. Wow. It will sure be a big relief when this whole certification thing is over with. Whew.

Hmm.... what else is there to write about? I'm trying to make this blog long enough so that Dawnyel isn't faced with her glamour photo every time she reads my blog. Looking at that still makes me smile, though. If ever I am having a bad day, I'll know just the thing to get me to smile.... look at that pic.

Well, I just remembered some stuff I've got to get done, so the length of this blog had bette suffice for now. I'm sure I'll think of more to write later.

Dawnyel is a goof.

So, I've been spending the past hour or so chatting with Dawnyel on Yahoo! Messenger. She was sharing a bunch of pics with me, and one was particularly funny. Jasmine and I just LOVED it, so I figured I'd share it with anyone out there who looks at this blog. Jasmine is still giggling at it right now, the little twerp. So, here it is, for all the world to see, in all its glory! Thanks, D!

A Pic of the Pug

Here is one of the two pictures that I took of Tony. It's kind of blurry because I took it from my phone, then sent it to my email address. This was taken on the day that we picked him up. I took it and sent it to my hubby's phone so he could see the doggy we were getting. I am still kind of depressed about the whole thing. Oh, how I wish we could have kept him... either that, or at least that it never happened. A valuable lesson was learned, though. That's something that I shouldn't overlook.

Ugh... a PUG!

Well, first things first, lemme explain the Settlers of Catan game that we were playing. It involves a hexagonal layout with wheat, sheep, ore, wood, and clay. You build cities and settlements with these resources... it's really a fun game. (If this is the SAME Settlers that my friends love, than that's AWESOME!). We have almost all of the games.... Settlers of Catan, Seafarers of Catan, Cities and Knights of Catan, and all their expansions, plus the 2-person card game. My husband is pretty much addicted to the game. The computer game we were playing was downloaded from a website. My husband and I each have it on our laptops, and with our wireless DSL connection, we have all three of our computers connected on the same "network." That's how we were able to play the game together.

ANYhoo... on to other news. Looking at the title of my blog, some may wonder why in the heck I mentioned a pug in it. Well, here's the full story...

Over the weekend, I finally convinced my husband that we should get a dog. Jasmine really wanted one, and so did I. After talking to the managers, we found out that the pet deposit wouldn't be nearly as big as I thought. Instead of paying like $470, we'd only have to pay $140 if we got a dog that was over a year old and already housebroken. Well, after looking in the classifieds, I found something that I thought would be perfect... a three year old pug named Tony that was housebroken and neutered. So, the kids and I took a drive up to Ridgefield Washington (about 30 miles away) to check it out. He was really hyper at first, but started settling down after we were there for a while. He knocked Tyler down a couple of times, which wasn't good... but Jasmine really wanted him. I really wanted to see how he'd interract with the kids in our own home, settled down and all, so I agreed to pay for him if I could get a written receipt saying that I could bring him back for a full refund within a few days if it didn't work out with the kids. Ha! A few days! We didn't even make it through a full 24 hours!

Jasmine really warmed up to him. She actually sat by him and pet him. She even walked him on his leash. Went out to the park because she wanted to fly her kite. I ended up flying it so she could walk Tony. She grew a quick attatchment to that little guy. She had to tell everyone she saw that she had a pugdog named Tony. Tyler, on the other hand, did not. He was deathly afraid of him. Every time the dog walked past him or licked him, Ty would scream. Tony never HURT Ty.... he was a very friendly dog (perhaps too friendly)... he just showered him with kisses from his little pink tongue. After a very stressful day yesterday, and an even more more hectic morning, we decided that this was only going to get worse. So, with two crying children (Ty crying because of the dog, Jazz crying because she didn't want to get rid of it), we set off to take him back. We were also able to get our full pet deposit back. They hadn't even taken the check to the bank yet, so the lady at the office just gave me back that very same check. Now, all I have to do is take the dog kennel, leash, and harness back to Petsmart so I won't be out TOO much money. I feel so stupid about this whole ordeal. But now, at least I know that we ABSOLUTELY CANNOT get a dog with Ty as young as he is. That also translates to, we ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT get another dog while we are living here.

That's my story of the day. UGH!

General Conference

Today, we got the chance to listen to a few talks from General Conference. Our situation really sucks here, cuz no radio station out here broadcasts it, either. The ONLY way we could listen to it was either by going to the church for all four hours (and that was NOT going to happen with two cranky kids) or by listening to it streaming over the internet. We did the latter. Lemme tell ya, it's hard to listen to conference with two little kids running around. Another thing that was a little bit of a problem was the whole time thingy. Today was Day Light Savings, and we haven't switched all the clocks forward yet. PLUS, I keep forgetting that, since we live in Oregon instead of Idaho (where we just moved from last year), we're in a different time zone. I'm used to conference going from 10-12 and then 2-4. Here, though, it goes from 9-11 then 1-3. That, along with the time change, got us all screwed up.

The one talk that I did listen to was President Hinckley's in the morning session. I could be wrong, but that sounded an awful lot like a farewell speach. Yeah, sure...there were chuckles throughout the congregation when he told everyone that he was planning on being around for October's conference (that he wasn't giving his obituary). The way he was speaking about his life though, and how he mentioned that there were still complecations from his surgery, made me wonder if he knows he won't be around for much longer. The same thing happened at the General Conference session he spoke at a few years ago right before his wife died. He paid her a beautiful loving tribute at the pulpit during a session of conference just days before she died. I have to wonder if he knew that her time on Earth was coming to a close, as perhaps he does now for himself. In deed, we have been blessed in the Church to be led by such a great man for this past decade or so. He has done so much... the one large thing that comes to my mind is the building of temples. He will be greatly missed by millions of people when he passes. I only hope and pray that, in the remaining time he has in this mortal existence, his physical pain and discomfort (from surgery, age, etc) is not too great, for I know that he has "a lot on his plate."

I look forward to watching all of General Conference on DVD when we get it. My husband ordered it online from Church Distribution for 14 bucks. Sure, it won't be the same as watching it live, but at least I'll have the opportunity to watch it. And hey, we'll have a forever record of it.

Now, I must go so I can finish playing a game of Settlers of Catan on the network with my hubby, and he's demanding my full attention. So I'd better go. We don't have time to play games very often any more, so I jump at the chance when we do.

What a LONG day...

Today was a very long day. I am so pooped right now, I just might fall asleep while entering this blog. The kids got me up at 6:30 this morning (hello! It's Saturday!). After much prodding, I finally got my husband up by 7:30 or so. We then spent several hours cleaning the house. Our original plans were to drive up to Seattle today and get a hotel. But then we decided to save a little money and just go to the coast. So, we left at around 11:00 or thereabouts. First, we drove out to Seaside and walked down on the beach... it was very windy. Jasmine was afraid that the wind was going to blow her away. Then it was on to Astoria. There was a cool 4 mile long draw bridge that we drove a cross, entering into Washington state. We then drove along the windy coastline for a couple of hours, ending up who knows where... in some little city called Aberdeen. I don't even know where that is. I'd have to pull out a map to check it out. We had to stop and get out at Wal Mart there because I was like two inches away from throwing up. For some strange reason, I thought about my friend Dawnyel at about that time. She also gets motion sickness. After walking around in the store for like twenty minutes or so, I was finally feeling good enough to get back in the car. A bottle of Coke also helped settle my stomach.

We then drove along Highway 101 for a while, hoping it would take us to I-5 eventually. We saw two big ol' honkin concrete towers with flashing lights on them that reminded me of the nuclear power plant on the Simpson's. We pointed them out to Jazz, and she thought that was cool. I saw one sign directing us where to get onto I-5 South, but then we missed the exit, so we had to drive a few more miles before we could find a place to turn around. We're lucky I even saw the sign because it was almost dark and it was raining pretty hard, not to mention we were in completely unfamiliar territory. Well, when we took the exit, we had to drive for several more miles (like almost 20) before getting to the interstate. At least THAT road was straight. It was smooth sailing once we got on I-5, and we were back in Portland shortly before 9:30. We pu in about 325 miles. The kids were amazingly well-behaved for being stuck in the car for so long today. Ty had a few difficult moments, but I know it was because he was just sick of being confined to his car seat. Jazz was a little disappointed that we weren't going to stay in a hotel, but when we got her a Carebear kite and a jumprope at that Wal-Mart, everything was ok. We'll have to go fly it at the park across the street tomorrow, weather permitting.

Well, I'm so freakin' tired now, that I think I'm gonna call it a night. It's now 12:30, but due to lovely Day Light Savings time, it might as well be 1:30... though I don't think the time technically leaps forward until 2:00 or so. YAWN!