Why I have a bruise on my knee...

Why do I have a bruise? Because I was hit in the knee by a 12 pound flying projectile in the form of a frozen turkey! How did that happen, you may ask. While turkey bowling in our basement, of course! And why was I turkey bowling in my basement? For a contest, of course!

The Simply Mac stores are having a contest - a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt to be exact. They are awarding a $500 in-store credit, and you receive entries for the contest by submitting various Thanksgiving-themed photos. You can read all about it here.

They frequently have good contests, so it may be worth your time to check out their blog occasionally. Until then, you can just enjoy the photos of me when I was bowling followed by me when Daniel was bowling! Maybe tomorrow I'll post the bruise!

There's a hole in my blog

Wow, it's amazing how quickly life can happen with no blog entry to document that it happened! I was shocked to see tonight how long it's been since I last blogged. Arghh! I may try to throw in some back blogging, but I'll for sure try to move forward. I've been tagged by my sister, so I'll need to add that entry. I've had some fun and some stressful times too. I'll have to throw in a few of those entries too. Several of my friends/family blogged a lot in November as they recorded all the things for which they are thankful. Maybe December will be my month. We'll see, right?

For now, trust that my life has been going on, there's just a big hole in my written documentation of that life.

My Old Birthday

Hello, everyone, look at your birthday, now back at mine, now back at yours, now back to mine. Sadly, your birthday isn’t mine, but if it were and you switched to a Conference weekend birthday like mine, you could enjoy an awesome breakfast of a beautiful parfait and sourdough pancakes. Look down, back up, where am I? I'm on a boat on Utah Lake with tunes playing on an ipod while Cheyenne drove (thanks Allen and Noreen) with my family and my neighbors that smell like Utah Lake. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s cupcakes at Cathy's and ice cream at home. Look again, you're eating those treats with your sisters, nieces, nephew, and family. Look again, the cake has turned into a cute new generation ipod Nano. Anything is possible when your man makes the day special. I’m on a couch.

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes, all the fun (really, how often have I gotten to ride on a boat on a hot day for my October birthday??), and all the fabulous food!!! I was struggling a bit with this midlife birthday but you made it an awesome one. And so the birth season continues into this next week. Anything is possible!!

What I did tonight

What a fun date with my daughter - a small concert with David Archuleta (her first love)!

Shock and awe when we told her. Anticipation. Giddiness. Satisfaction that he was so nice. Giddiness. Happy dreams when she came home and went to bed. All kinds of joy when telling all her friends tomorrow!

*Thanks to my friend Bil for an amazing favor for my daughter!!

It finally happened

Have you ever had something happen that you've long feared or worried about? Well, I have. It happened yesterday, and I survived.

As many of you may know, I've always feared earwigs. I didn't like them as a little girl, then I saw "The Wrath of Khan" and it sealed the deal. (Note: I know that bug probably wasn't really a giant earwig, but it sure seemed that way! And I've always been afraid of them crawling in my ear. Why else would they call them EAR wigs?????)

Anyway, every time I do vegetables from the garden, I am on high earwig alert. Somehow today I was distracted by the chard. Next thing you know, I felt a pinch on my hand. When I looked, there was the offending earwig securely attached to my palm. They really do pinch and hang on!!!!! Knowing I had to exert some self-discipline so as not to encourage phobias in my sensitive children, I contained all screaming in my head. I did shake my hand a little freakishly, though, till I got him to release. Then I killed him!

After calling Dale for some adult sympathy, I finished the vegetables and knew I was just a little stronger than I thought I was before. (And the truth is that it really didn't hurt that bad or for that long. Just so you know.)

If any of you have had a similar "I've always feared..." experience, please feel free to share it here, or at least call me for heartfelt sympathy!!!

If You Give your Son a Job....

If you give your son a job to sweep the sunroom...

You might feel the need to check on him.

If you go in the sunroom yourself to do the checking...

You might notice that the plants need watering.

If you water the plants and the water all overflows due to rootbound plants...

You might think you should repot the shamrocks.

If you get out the stuff to repot the shamrocks...

You might decide that you might as well repot every single plant in the sunroom (even the gigantic ones!)

If you finish hours later with all the newly potted plants...

You might think you need to clean up the mess.

If you use rags and towels to clean up the mess...

You might decide you should throw a load of rags into the washer.

If you put the rags in the washer...

You might realize how dirty the washer is and start wiping it off (with a rag you want to add to the load.)

If you wash off the washing machine...

You might start wiping off the dryer.

If you wipe it in the right place...

You might see that there is cat pee down the side of it.

If you want to wash off the cat pee...

You might decide you have to pull out the washer and dryer and clean the floor under them while you're at it.

If you pull out the dryer far enough...

You might discover a dead - and decaying - mouse under the dryer.

If you don't gag while cleaning it up...

You might realize you were right that the laundry room has been particularly stinky lately.

If you realize the real source of the house stink...

You might now know the source was not just your stinky teenage son.

If you remember you have a stinky teenage son...

You might just give him a job to sweep.........

Happy 5th of July!!!

Our Favorite Chocolate

(blog hijacking in progress)

Our journey to the dark side (of chocolate) is complete. Way complete. And Amano Artisan Chocolate is Cheryl's and my favorite. Amano is sponsoring a couple of contests wherein the winners receive a year's supply of chocolate. I'd rather have that than an iPad - that's how much I like it. In the Guess the Origin Contest you attempt to guess the country of origin of the cocoa beans that Amano used to make their newest chocolate. In the other contest called, "Promote Amano's Guess the Origin Contest", you just have to blog about the Guess the Origin Contest and fill out an online form. That's what I'm doing and I'm doing it with Cheryl's blog because I don't have one of my own. She'll understand. -- Dale out.