Future Blogger on the prowl

My mother-in-law sent me an email about a recent aqualiscious experience and I thought I would put it on my blog. She definitely has a way with words! Enjoy.

"I have a story of my own that just this very last two and one half hours transpired in my bathtub. You would think by the time you hit the ripe old age of 62 you could clean a tub without the by now long fading images of the Sorcerer's Apprentice haunting you. The thing is, we have never had a jetted tub before and though I clean the surface of it regularly, I only just recently found out that in the pvc plumbing running around the outside from jet to jet, there could be nasty little creatures hiding out and GROWING. Yuck. So to make a long story long, this unlucky morning I decided to do away with these little nasties. Supposedly following directions by memory (Linda never writes directions down, or if she does can't find them anyway), I poured in one cup of bleach and what I estimated to be 1/4 cup of dish detergent to a tub filling with the shower water. I figured that would mix it up good and bubble a little. You know the commercial about scrubbing bubbles? Well, knowing my water pressure to be what has come to be know as f-o-r-e-v-e-r s-l-o-w, I mixed the stinky brew, gave it a bit of a swish, and due to the now reeking smell, promptly put on the fan and left the room, closing the door behind me (hoping Ben wouldn't pass out in the front yard where he was working). By now, with all this build up, I know you are expecting me to say I forgot the whole mess and let the tub run over and the bleach ruined my carpet. Not so. This responsible homemaker kept checking in every 15 minutes (while holding my nose) because I had to wait until the water level was well over all the jets before turning them on. (There is another story about the time I didn't wait. Let me just say that premature turning on of the blower sprays the entire bathroom and anything and everything in it with incredible force. Only took once to learn that lesson.) Back to the rest of the story......Finally the time came to push the button and everything seemed to be going just fine. So once again I quickly left the room and closed the door because due to the action of the turbulent water, the smell was worse than ever. After a few minutes I decided to just give it a quick peek and make sure all was well. To my horror, my entire tub had a two foot head of very dense suds on it.! It was clear to the top of the tub and not waiting to even shut the door, I shot out for Ben's help to push the button off because it was so slippery I couldn't do it myself. In the few seconds it took Ben to remove his muddy boots, I ran in to post guard on the growing mess, only to find it had grown another foot. Luckily, due to the fact that the foam was do stiff and dense, it continued to grow upwards, maintaining the shape of the tub. Well, Ben just laughed and pushed the button. The button went down, stuck in that position, but the blower was still going full force. The suddddddddddddsy mess was still growing. Ben stopped laughing. (Can you imagine my mental state?) He pulled the little bench out at the end of the tub that allows access to the electrical plug for the blower, etc. and pulled the plug. The blower stopped. The suds stopped, topping off somewhere about 2 feet above the tub, straight up and Ben was reeling due to the awful smell of the bleach. I then had to strip from the waist down to climb into the tub, one leg only, to hit the release at the bottom of the tub so the water could drain. Ben turned on the shower, assured me the suds would implode and clear out by itself and made a hasty retreat. I sponged the bleachy, slimy suds off and redressed. All the while I could see out of the corner of my eye that little progress was being made on the Sorcerer's Suds.First I tried to coax the mountainous suds from the ends of the tub (with my hands) to the middle where the shower spray was doing a feeble job of ridding me of my mess. It was also slimy and stinky and I nearly went head long into the whole thing. So being the resourceful homemaker that I am, I went for the broom. (Conjures up Mickey Mouse, eh?) Well, after an hour of pushing suds around in my tub with a broom, I got the job done. My tub is clean, my broom is clean, my bathroom, in fact, entire house as well as myself smell slightly of bleach and no one would guess that only a few short hours ago my jetted tub had a two foot head of foam on it. And it wasn't even bathtub gin. Problem is, the button is still stuck in the down position and I can only guess what will happen as he tries to fix it if he plugs the cord in and the blower is still going. Remember there may be some residual bleach suds lurking in that plumbing. One thing I know for sure, I have killed off any possible nasty germs in my tub, on my broom and on my right leg and both arms. I have saved the day as well as the bathroom. I only hope when I go for my haircut at noon that she doesn't asked me if I have just bleached my evergraying hair."

April 27, 2008

Please don't be morose, don't think ill thoughts, don't cry in despair, but these are the last of the Colorado photos. The dream is over. These pictures were taken at the Michael Garman studio in Colorado Springs. Surprisingly, my boys loved this little stop and I'll tell you why in a minute. The showroom is a collection of minature and larger-than-minature sculptures. It also contained full miniature scenes (I realized there were a few rated R scenes in there and had to steer the boys clear). The artwork is amazing and Garman uses optical illusion to create deep, dark alleyways and scene changes within the buildings.

Cooper & I were looking at one building in particular, when a man in a suit walked up to show us how optical illusion was used with the alleys (I thought they were really that deep). After he left, Coop & I sat down to watch a video about the artist and, sure enough, he was the man that had talked to us. Well, Cooper was so excited that a "celebrity" had spoken to us. We told my parents, but by then Garman was gone.

Then we went into his museum (that is where we took the pictures). It was incredible. I know what you're thinking...if it's that incredible, why was Cooper crying. Well, it was dark and in different scenes there was a small holographic image of Garman giving some background about the piece. Cooper was freaked out. We then went back into the showroom where we saw him again & pointed him out to my Dad. This may come as a shock, so hold onto your breeches...my dad started up a conversation with him. Eventually he autographed things for both the boys. They talked about that for a long time. The point to this experience: even activites that are sure to invoke extreme boredom can become the most exciting, memorable activities.

ps. Is it just me or do I wear that brown jacket alot?

April 20, 2008

2nd to the last batch of Colorado photos...I promise. The pictures with the red rock background were taken at Garden of the Gods, a truly gorgeous place and I hope we can go in the summer sometimes because we were obviously freezing on this particular day. The 1st set of photos are taken in front of my grandmothers house. We dropped in to see if we could have a look around, but the renters weren't in. I have many fond memories of this home stemming from my childhood. From the outside it just looks like a quaint, older structure, but on the inside it's charming and elegant and full of character.

This past week has been a make-up game from my time away in UT. I was definitely sluggish by Friday and glad to have a weekend home to try and get some things done....not a complete success unfortunately. I went grocery shopping with Coop yesterday and we had a funny experience. It went like this: A sweet looking, older lady taps Cooper on the shoulder while we are browsing eggs. He turns around and she says, with a grin on her face, "How old are you?" He slowly replies, "Um.....9". She says, "How many fingers do you have?" His eyebrows raise a little, "10". "No," she says emphatically, "11". Then she puts her fingers out and counts one hand, "1-2-3-4-5-". Then she holds out her other hand and counts, "10,9,8,7,6,". "What is 6 + 5," she quizzes. Cooper states, "11". She says, "See" and walks away. Cooper mutters, "That was freaky. What was wrong with that lady."

I was so glad he waited until she was out of earshot to say that, but truthfully...it was an odd experience. Then as we were leaving Walmart, in a non-whisper, Cooper said, "This place smells like old people". He definitely takes after Misti that way.

April 13, 2008

Molly has arrived! Welcome to the family sweet baby girl. She was born on April 9, 2008 and weighed a 8 lbs and about an ounce. My parents are back in Great Falls and can help Kelli while she recups. Isn't Gracie the cutest big sister?

I just returned a few hours ago from a National Math Conference. I'm officially a wanna-be math nerd. Isn't that sad? I'm not even good enough to be a full fledge math nerd. Oh well...maybe someday. It was in Salt Lake and ended on Saturday. I set my return flight for today so I could spend some time with DJ & his family. They totally spoiled me (thanks for the yummy lunch & dinner) and I got to see Arriana for the first time and spend time with Kierra & Kindra. Arriana is the sweetest little baby. She is so content and never fusses. She smiles and has a darling little giggle and loves to suck on my jacket strings. Kierra told me, "He eats wipes and washcloths and we don't like it when he does that".

Also funny was when DJ asked Kierra to say the prayer. She said, "LuLu (I guess that was my new nickname say it". Side note: Kierra has an incredible vocabulary and speaks clearly. So, I guess she was reverting to a bit of baby talk. For the rest of the night I was LuLu. I wish I could have them around more, but I'm so glad I got to spend a little time with them.

Time to try not to sleep and do a little lesson planning. Have a lovely Sunday!

April 6, 2008

This past week has whipped past and here I am on Sunday already. Friday Cooper & I had no school so we spent some quality time together. We did errands, went to the library and the we went to the movie, Nim's Island. It wasn't at all what I expected and we both really enjoyed it. Friday night we had a ward activity and were able to meet some new people at church. I'm sure I came across and bratty because, for some reason, I just couldn't move from my seat. I was exhausted and the soul of a slug invaded my body.

Yesterday I cooked and cleaned like a mad woman in preparation for my friend Sherri's baby shower. She had twin boys, Nik & Zak ( pictured above) 2 weeks ago and it was time to celebrate. I was so impressed by her family and friends who drove many, many miles to show their love and support. Watching her family reunite and catch up with each other certainly made me miss my family.

Also, knowing my house would be clean and there would be shower goodies left over, Kurt & I had some friends over to play mexican dominoes. It was Kurt's first time and now he is addicted. He & I played a ton today. After all was said and done, I won by 13 points (humbly mentioned of course). Tomorrow I have a CT scan on my kidney. I'm so glad those don't hurt..actually they hurt the checkbook quite a bit!

Also, today was General Conference. I LOVE G.C. I feel so uplifted and replenished. It's a great way to end a weekend!

Did I hear someone say Colorado?

Cooper made a new friend in CO and he spent the night with Coop Easter evening. So, the next day we took them to a park. We played on the equipment (I love that contraption I'm on with Hunter) for a little bit and then Mom & I headed to the van because it was pretty chilly. One of my favorite parts was when a little boy came and asked if he could ride the motorized kid car I was standing next to. I was tempted to say yes, but I thought I might get caught. It was also fun to see all the "boys" play tag. I'm pretty sure Cooper could out-endure all of them!

More Colorado

My parents are so sweet. They surprised us by having a little Easter egg hunt for the boys. My dad hid the eggs. There were 6 eggs for each of them. He did a great job of hiding them...it took the boys awhile before they found every last one. My favorite part was the content of each of the eggs. As the boys broke open an egg, a slip of paper would fall out with something like "$2" written on it. No candy...no toys.....pure, wonderful I-owe-you slips. The boys LOVED it! Such spoiled rotten boys!