Janet & Paul Henderson

"So... Is She Gonna Die Or What?"

2010-09-24T09:22:00.021-06:00

This is the question my nephew Kyle asked me and my Mom when we were talking in front of him about my little sister Stephanie being pregnant. At the time she was only a couple months along and having some minor complications. That's what I like about Kyle, he's a straight shooter, he doesn't waste any time getting to the bottom of things and even though he told his entire first grade class that "he and his aunt Janet kiss on the lips when no one is around" (not nearly what it sounds like and a story for a different time) I still love him! Fortunately Stephanie is not going to die. She has expressed a desire to do so several times but I keep reassuring her that no one has ever been pregnant forever. She of course counters by saying "there's a first time for everything". I also told her that I was positive her nausea would go away after 9 months to which she said "yeah but then it moves to a pain in my butt for the next 18 years". I'm at a loss really... Luckily, she is doing better and after finding out it's.... A BOY and seeing him for the first time, she is much more excited and death is not at the fore front of her mind. She is so cute and I know this kid is going to be a lucky one. He already has his first tie and pair of loafers.

Stephanie being pregnant is definitely some of the biggest news of the summer but it isn't the only thing that's happened. Paul and I have been to Bear Lake with my family, Oregon with his and St. George with his. We've had people getting knocked up or "PG" as my sister Shelley calls it (pregnant for those of you who use politically correct terminology - a concept I understand and use but can't seem to have as much fun with). Stephanie isn't the only one expecting... It's not me though so don't freak out and get too excited, it's Paul's sister Quela, she will be expecting her third - her and her husband Matt told us while we were playing Catch Phrase. The clue was "what's inside Quela's stomach" of course someone yelled "A BABY?" and Matt said "YES!" it was really cute and all but... "baby" really wasn't the clue and cheating is cheating Matt j/k!! We've also had a foreign exchange student who stayed with my oldest sister Jennifer. Her name was Nanako and she was from Japan. I made sure to show her that American's are not ignorant by asking her what life is like in China :) Also, Paul and I tested our sanity by taking 5 kids all at once over night and one of our family members went to jail for a few days. Not necessarily in that order but there's a lot that can happen in a few months time.

I've thought a lot about how I'm going to do this; whether I should post one big blog about everything or just do a few at a time and slowly show them all. I think the few at a time is the better plan. I'm way too lazy to wait for all those pictures to upload. For now, I'll just stick with the present.

Paul and I are doing well, Paul has been gone for most of the summer but we are really hoping that will slow down and we can get back on track. Paul is still scout master as well as doing 10 other callings whether he officially called to them or not. I teach the 7 and 8 year olds and they are hilarious and SO cute! I did almost make one of them cry last week but I think it was because we were talking about Isaiah so really I blame the subject matter. Plus a boy in my class makes sure to tell me every week that "there is a kid named Isaiah in his class that does mean things and blames him for them" so talking about Isaiah is a traumatizing subject all the way around! I think we should all work hard to limit our exposure... there is still so much we don't know about the human brain and trying to understand some of the things Isaiah is talking about is like trying to follow a political speech - you know they are trying to say something that they think should be important and you know that if you don't understand it, it could have the potential to affect your life in a huge way but there is so much fancy language and malapropisms (made up words for those of you who didn't take communications at MSU) that you can't break it down in time to know how you feel about it. The only real difference is that the things Isaiah said will probably actually matter and happen someday whereas the things politicians say... well there just things they say. We're lucky we have the media to tell us what to think or we'd never know how to vote j/k :)

Anyway, other than trucking along and trying to recover from the busy summer that's about it for us. I'll be blogging about our summer adventures as time moves forward. I hope all of you are doing well.

Below are some pics of a little but of everything...

Lots of Blogs, No Babies...

2010-07-11T17:35:00.012-06:00

These are some pics of Paul and me in Portland Oregon. The top is the church that was Paul's home ward then there's us at the Claim Jumper and lastly the two of us in front of a bush (yes its a bush not a tree - I was suprised too). We are in the middle of the summer and we've had a lot of fun with our family and friends. Besides our Oregon vacation, we have recently gone on a weekend trip up to Bear Lake with my family for the 4th of July so, needless to say we have a lot of pictures to post and stories to tell but what we are focused on the most right now is adopting a baby to start our long awaited family. It's hard for us to think of much else, we are so excited!

A little more than a month ago Paul and I finally took the leap and started the adoption process by handing in our application to LDS Family Services. We had known for awhile that we wanted to adopt but we had been waiting to start and worried about the first payment but little did I know, my sweet husband Paul had been putting money aside for months to save up and he suprised me with it. [I had always dreamed of one day being able to suprise him with a positive pregnancy test (urine still on it and everything j/k) but this suprise felt just as good coming from him.] We had our first interview and then last Tuesday we handed in all the documents and needed paperwork. Now, we are just finishing up our online information so that we can have our personal interviews and then move forward to our home study and adoption classes and then post our online agency profile.

We have felt so much love and support from all of those who have found out we are trying to adopt but we thought maybe you'd be willing and able to help in another way as well. The agency told us that the best thing you can do is put the word out to everyone that you know that you are looking to adopt and ask them to keep their ears open on our behalf (that's where you come in). Within the next month or so we will have a seperate blog up (in addition to the LDS Family Service Profile that will be on their website after our process is complete) as well as some pass along cards with our information on it but the agency has assured us that regardless of where we are in the process, they will speed it up for us if we find a birth mother. So, if you know anyone who is interested, here is a little about us:

As of July 1st Paul and I have been married for six years. We started our relationship about 9 years ago. We met when we worked together; I was 18 and Paul was 22 and just like most return missionaries he was of course ready to get married. I had just graduated from High School and was... not. Needless to say it took a few years of dating before I finally accepted the greatest things that had ever happened to me and married Paul for eternity in the Bountiful Temple - (we got married in Bountiful because the Salt Lake Temple was closed for cleaning and because Nielson's Frozen Custard is right off the main road from the temple. We made sure to grab some custard first thing after we were married, like most LDS couples j/k).

After we were married we moved briefly to Bozeman, Montana for Paul's job as a sales rep. He traveled a lot and I attended MSU and worked as an assistant manager at an apartment complex. A little over a year later, right after we found what we were hoping would be our first house, Paul's work changed his area back to Salt Lake so we went back to where is all began and instead of Bozeman, found our first house in Salt Lake.

Paul is very active in his work as HOA President (not my idea since we are the youngest in our circle by at least 25 years and I've never met so many people concered with the exact length of their grass growth and other pressing matters in my life) and his calling as Scout Master (aslso not my idea but the bishop rarely asks me before hand and I never see Paul as happy to be stressed as he is when he is planning a camp out or preparig his merit badge presentations). He is so good with kids and they love him. He loves to fix things around the house (not so much ours as other peoples but whatever makes him happy and keeps him busy is fine with me) and when he isn't doing any of those things he's providing free advertisements for his other love, the iPhone. He loves it and when he isn't playing on it, he's talking about it.

I keep busy with work, school and our kitties (cats) (over the years I had to deflect my desire to nurture to animals since the babies weren't coming :)) I soak up all the time I can with Paul and when he isn't around, I do crafts (quilts, scrapbooking, cross stitch) and clean (a habit passed on from my childhood) all while watching as many TV show crime drama's on DVD as I can (I can't get enough of them). I also work in the nursery, I feel a lot less intimidatd there than when I worked in Relief Society. In nursery, I at least have some change of having more life experience and wisdom than those that I teach (it isn't a sure thing in nursery though because some of those kids are pretty smart ;).

Anyway that's us in a nutshell (or in a home in Salt Lake trying to find our family). We have prayed, fasted and know with all our heart that there is a child for us and that our family won't be missing someone for much longer but, we also know that just won't be in the way most kids come to parents. We are so excited to give all the love and affection we've stored up to a special baby that comes our way and we can't wait to meet the special lady that will give us the most beautiful and precious miracle that anyone could ever hope for. We hope you will help us in our search to find our baby and please feel free to contact us and ask us any questions you have. We know this process is going to take us being open and we are.

Thank you for all the love and support that we have received, please pray for us :)

Our New Son & Gold Hill!!

2010-06-05T15:05:00.028-06:00

Paul and I had the chance to go out to Gold Hill again this Memorial Day with our friends Marissa (whose family owns the cabin), Cindee, Adam & Cristina and our newly claimed son Ethan (you may hear from Adam & Cristina that he is actually their son but... just because he looks like them, has their last name (and Adam as a middle name) and "technically" lives with them, that doesn't mean it's their son. Just look how cute me and him look together. I think the pictures speak for themselves and soon so will the forged birth certificate and out of country re-location j/k).
It was so much fun. We didn't get to do much spalunking this time because the BLM seems to think that old mines are "dangerous" and "un-safe" or whatever. How can you call underground tunnels over a 100 years old (in some cases) unsafe? So, most of them have been closed off but we did a lot of riding in the 4-wheeler, on the motorcycle and in the ranger (thanks Whittakers). As always there was lots of good times. I also learned new things about friends I've known for a long time and a little more about myself. For example; Marissa is still hard core and she can still go into any situation with complete confidence however, even she has no come to realize her own mortality. Last time we went to Gold Hill she crossed a ladder-like walkway dozens of feet in the air and stood in the middle over a canyon while we took a picture (See the picture of her in the yellow jacket). This year she didn't quite make it to the middle or even a few feet out (See picture of her in the beige jacket) but that's okay because we like having her around and we're glad she's a little more careful.
I also learned that Adam does in fact have a soft spot and is capable of showing he's scared as was evident several times as he watched Ethan play on the rocks or above steep places - (why he is worried so much about my son is strange but cool I guess j/k ;)
I learned that Cristina is one of the best mothers ever! She is always prepared and keeps us all fed and taken care of. One time I said "geeze, I wish Cristina was my Mom" and Ethan said "no, she's my Mom" (he gets confused at times but we're working on it).
I also learned Cindee has a wild streak in her. She is always dressed up with perfect hair and make-up and rarely wears anything but heels but, she knows how to rock the 4-wheeler with the best of um'!
I learned that Paul does have some things about the outdoors that he doesn't like. We were sitting in front of the waterfall trying to have Cristina take a picture of us but she had to do it about 3 times because Paul couldn't hold still for two seconds and stop swating the little flies out of his face - I mean, what kind of Eagle Scout can't handle some flies on their face for a few seconds? Before I meet Paul I had only been camping a few times but I managed to sit still. It could have been my training as a girl though. Every girl knows that you can't afford to do something stupid when your getting your picture taken. You sit still and hold that smile until the shot is done!! I never let myself look stupid in photos especially by posing with inanimate objects or cartoon characters or posing in abandanond unabomber cabin closet or pretending like I'm eating a dried up dead snake... it's just not right :)
Finally, I learned that just because you almost die several times, on or in many different types of motorized vehicles (in say head-ons with semi's or rolling a couple times across a highway or spining out across black ice and narrowly missing a ditch or almost rolling a 4-wheeler) that doesn't mean you can't go ahead and try it again (as long as you have a helmet and keep your hand/foot on the brake at all times just in case and never go on trails that aren't completely flat with packed dirt and never exceed a certain set speed, and never go by yourself and always go during a well lit time of day and in areas that your familiar with and never go up steep hills or down rocky ones) I'd have to say that I didn't realize how brave I am, as I'm sure all of you can tell.
Mostly, it was just so much fun with my buddy Ethan, I am so lucky to have him. He loves calling people dude or midgets (which is pre-mature but may not be out of place since it will probably only be another year or so since he's taller then me). Its so strange though... Adam and Cristina don't like me to wander off with him, like I'm crazy or something. It's like their worried I might take him. Sheesh! You can't even get one on one time with your kids these days. I mean when Columbus claimed America nobody freaked out or told him he was wrong right or threatened to call the cops? Why isn't it the same with kids? j/k It was nice that the Smith's shared him with us and I was glad to be able to hang out with him (at least when his "Dad" Adam wasn't around acting paranoid) :)

The Nail Smith

2010-05-27T13:22:00.003-06:00

Some of you may know my friend Cristina Smith. She graduated from nail school over a year ago and does nails out of her house. She has lots of options to choose from and is very detailed and creative. She even has a blog: http://thenailsmith.blogspot.com/. Anyway, I always love my nails and this time I went for a Jem & The Holograms look... Yeah, they rocked! The pictures aren't awesome because I took them with my phone and - it's no iPhone (right Paul ;) If you want her information just email me at jruss1982@hotmail.com or it might have ways to contact her on her website as well. Just thought I'd put it out there if any of you are looking for a good nail lady.

"I'm Not Snoring, I'm Listening!"

2010-05-12T09:27:00.005-06:00

Paul tries to be a good husband even in his sleep! Last night I was laying in bed, trying to fall asleep and Paul (who by this point had, of course, already been asleep for at least 10 minutes) started to snore so I said "Paul, you're snoring". This tactic usually works. Paul isn't a bad snorer and when he does snore, usually just waking him up briefly will get him to stop so I figured last night would be no different. However, last night I made this statement and instead he responded, rather firmly, "I'm not snoring, I'm listening". I couldn't help myself, I had to ask, "why would you be listening?". He said in a sleepy voice "because you tell such interesting stories". I know it seems stupid to argue but I still said "but I'm not telling any stories, I'm not even talking". He said "of course you are, you just said something". At this point I couldn't argue any more because I was laughing and trying hard not to show it. He was totally asleep and yet trying so hard to say what I wanted to hear. It was so cute.

I tried not to think about the fact that he must do this so often that now it is something he can do in his sleep. I just enjoyed the moment and let the snoring go.

Rob, Paul, A Whole Lot of Birthday Parties & Some Fun Facts!!

2010-04-19T22:54:00.015-06:00

So as some of you may know, April 16th was Paul's Birthday! He is now 31 years old and even better today then the day I meet him. I'm going to be honest... He is my favorite person in this world and the best at everything he does (even though he did lose a skipping contest to me at the park the other day)... I can't judge him too much, I was the best skipper in my 2nd grade class. Anyway, tonight we had the closing ceremonies for the celebration of his birthday. We had quite a few events and parties on his behalf. Thursday it was Survivor (naturally), then Friday we went to Texas Roadhouse and to ice cream and then to play games with friends. Then tonight we had my family over for cake and Paul's famous homemade ice cream. Since I've already talked WAY too much about how awesome Paul is, I thought I would give you some fun facts about him in celebration of his birthday:

Paul use to be a closet fan of the show Twilight but... I think that's pretty much out in the open now with this birthday gift from my sister Shelley (as embarassed as he was about that, she was thinking of getting him a fourth cat so I think he preferred Rob :)

Paul would rather be Scouting then anything else in this world. When he's not Scouting, he is talking about it to someone, usually his Dad.

Paul is the HOA President and he's really whipped the community into shape (it's not easy dealing with all those elderly people with nothing but time on their hands - Paul is younger then all of them by at least 30 years).

Paul LOVES Jello (way more then normal Utahns).

Paul was born in Provo but his family then moved to Portland Oregon where he lived until he was almost 12.

Paul use to make a girl in a wheelchair carry his backpack for him in elementary school (he claims she volunteered).

If Paul could be any super hero he would be Superman but his favorite super hero movie is Iron Man (I catch him watching it whenever he gets home before me).

When Paul was 13 he thought it would be fun to light a bunch of firecrackers in his bedroom (I'm guessing his Mom didn't think it was as fun).

Paul enjoys cooking and making up recipes. His two favorite ingredients are Pineapple and Brown Sugar.

Paul loves to play the devils advocate. Even if he agrees with you, he will still argue the opposite side just for the heck of it (this has been the cause of several arguements in our marriage).

Paul loves the show Survivor (probably because it involves his two favorite things - the outdoors and people playing the devils advocate) and yet he has only auditioned once for it.

For the first 4 seasons of the show Lost, Paul made fun of everyone that watched it and then one day I found out that he had been watching it when he was out of town... It was tough to take at first, I felt like I didn't even know who he was j/k :)

If Paul could do anything for a living, he would be an all purpose handyman... the only home improvement project he doesn't like doing is painting.

When Paul was a kid he wanted to be a policeman but then when he was 14 he had a bad experience with one and he changed his mind.

Until Paul was 19 he was painfully shy but after his mission he is the most outgoing person I know and loves to be social and try new things.

Paul loves the movie Rat Race and could watch it over and over and never get sick of it.

When Paul first arrived in Argentina on the very first day of his mission, his first companion flipped out, out of no where and started throwing rocks at him and then ran away. When Paul finally caught up with him he was packing his bags to go home... It didn't help that his companion didn't speak any English. It was a messy first day but Paul handled it like a champ and I've never heard him complain about his mission.

Paul is very sensitive to medicaion. About two years ago he took some benedryl and he ended up licking a wall and then talking non-stop for two straight hours about 50 different topics.

Paul only has two topics that he is sensitive about - his hair and the iPhone. If you really want to get him riled up, tell him that you think the Blackberry is better then the iPhone. It wouldn't suprise me if Paul tried to beat Justin Long out for his job doing the Mac commercials.

Paul is stubborn and it's a good and bad thing. Good because he never gives up but bad because he doesn't listen if he is sure he is right. Like in Argentina when they told him not to drink the water but he was sure he could handle it and did it anyway.... and then had a 3 mile walk without a bathroom around :)

Paul is a great sport and he has a great sense of humor and never minds if people joke around with him (mostly because he does it so much to other people). He is very self-assured and never cares what other people think. He is also the greatest person I've ever known and I wouldn't change a thing about him.

Hi, My Name Is Janet and I Have a Problem...

2010-04-06T15:16:00.000-06:00

So, lately I've been going through some old pictures and I've realized that I have a strange problem. Some people can't help themselves when it comes to alchohol or drugs, some can't pass up chocolate and me... well I just can't help myself when there is a chance to have my picture taken with an animal or statute. You know most kids hate it when their parents make them go and stand next to the characters at Disneyland but I was always the one that said "hey look, there's Rocky & Bullwinkle, will you take my picture with them?". And that was when I was 18! It isn't that I LOVE getting my picture taken it's just that I can't pass up an oppurtunity to cuddle with some furry creature (maybe I wasn't loved enough as a child j/k). Anyway here are some examples of my illness. [Clearly I didn't make it in the picture above but it was a parade and it wasn't from lack of trying...].

Yep, my Mom let me go to school with my stuffed bunny... I guess nothing was going to hurt me more than that all yellow outfit!!

Me and Mark Twain... now, he isn't stuffed but I think it still counts.

Some how I talked my entire family into taking a picture in front of this weird statue... I can't even be sure what it is... Maybe an Eagle? With the body of a barrel?

No my friends, this is not a statue of the super hero... it is in fact a person posing. You wouldn't know this until he moved in the middle of you taking your picture in front of him... no ride scared me after that bit of fun :)

It's nice to see that my sister Stephanie shares my love for stuff like this. And maybe a month or so after I've posted this, she will forgive me for it.

Rocky and Bullwinkle... I had to wait in line for this oppurtunity and everyone kept asking me if I was from Canada - At first I thought they were all making fun of Canadians because I was an adult getting my picture taken with characters from a cartoon so I would laugh when they asked but then I realized it was because I was wearing a shirt I had bought at the Epcot center from the Canadian area... If they weren't making fun of Canadians when they came up to me, they were when they left :)

No Paul, I'm not putting a dollar in the "ex-boyfriend/girlfriend jar" you are just jealous that you don't have a picture of yourself with a live snake around your neck (that started to go down your shirt while you were holding the tail of a live allegator). The photographer kept saying "no sudden movements..."

Ahhhh, back to the stuffed animals. I actually used an entire roll of film just to take pictures of this allegator - it was an inside joke with someone but that doesn't change the fact that I did it.

This is me getting shoved up the mouth of the JAWS shark... Suprisingly enough - this wasn't my idea. Maybe it's not so suprising if you've ever met my sister Shelley.

You should always involve as many people as possible in things like this SO, I of course involved Holly. There is nothing like posing with a wooden pirate on a bright San Diego afternoon.

One picture with the Chipmunks at the movie theater wasn't enough... I needed a close up with Simon (Mathew Gray Gubler who plays Dr. Reid in the show Criminal Minds actually talks his character in the movie). However, Simon is not my favorite chipmunk... its Theodore. Don't pretend like you don't have a favorite chipmunk!!

There are no words for this... Except... Yes, I was completely sober.

This picture is very special, even though I look terrible! It combines my love for chocolate WITH my love of stuffed characters!

This is kind of boring but... I needed a fix, it had been awhile!

Nothing Left But Ashes...

2010-04-02T08:33:00.011-06:00

Do you ever hear about someone that is really mean or does something really horrible and you think to yourself “how can there be people like this out there, what posses someone to be so cruel and ruthless?” and then you find out later that they had a troubled childhood or they have some mental illness or they were being blackmailed or… menstruating (can I say that on the internet?). Anyway, you then realize that there’s a reason for it all. Well, as I’ve mentioned many times (perhaps TOO many times) we have three cats – The Tin Man (with no heart) Ashes, The Scarecrow (with no brain) Scooter, and The Cowardly Lion (with no courage) Watson. Now, all of my cats get judged for one reason or another. Watson, for never allowing himself to meet new people unless he has spent his allotted time under the bed first and is sure there is no impending danger AND that he can make a quick getaway if necessary. Scooter, for being TOO willing to meet new people which included jumping up the skirt of one of my visiting teachers when we had just moved into the ward (sorry Sister Cooper) and for urinating on the couch. And, Ashes, for maintaining a statue like pose, using her “angry eyes” to intimidate strangers or… anyone really, randomly hitting Scooter, hissing when people get to close or simply look at her wrong and not allowing anyone to touch her (she’s the only cat I’ve ever seen that when you reach down to pet her, instead of arching her back she pushes it toward the floor) and let’s not leave out the growling when the other two cat’s meow, eat, walk in her eye line or want to sit in the same room as her.

Now, I think Scooter’s issues are self-explanatory and Watson is the only one of our cats that was found instead of “fostered” before being taken to the humane society so even though he was a kitten when we got him, who knows what may have happened to him before the nice people saved him and the crazy people (me) brought him home. However, Ashes is a different story. You see by all appearances Ashes is the perfect cat, she only goes in the litter box, she only eats her cat food, with the exception of when she was a kitten and walked across my Mom’s brownies, she leaves stuff alone, she keeps to herself, she’s quite, she is a very good car traveler and she has NEVER gotten sick so we have had NO vet fees for her in the almost 6 years we’ve had her however… what’s with the attitude? I mean, she was the runt of her litter so perhaps she feels she has something to prove but when she was a kitten she was so playful and fun. She would cuddle up to me and play with my Dad so why the sudden intense anger issues? Well the other day I was telling someone at work how when we lived in Montana we didn’t have anyone to watch her so we would just take her with us on the drive to Salt Lake (at least once every other month). Then I thought about the fact that when she finally got settled in our house in West Valley I went ahead and brought her home a friend… and then another friend – both of which are bigger then her. But, it wasn’t until I found these pictures a couple nights ago that I truly received my answer…. I’m sorry Ashes; I hope someday you can forgive me – and the world for its wrongs against you.

Because one picture like this wasn't enough apparently...
She was stuck in a bag and instead of helping her... we took pictures :)

Cindee in the City

2010-03-31T11:45:00.009-06:00

My friend Cindee has started doing photography so Paul and I decided it was a great time to finally take some pictures of us together (now that we are sure the marriage is going to work out j/k). Cindee spent Saturday afternoon with us and took some AMAZING pictures. Check them out and let me know what ones I should blow up and frame. Also, check out Cindee's blog, she's got a great eye for this stuff :) http://cindeelou.blogspot.com/

Domestic Violence on a Sunday Afternoon...

2010-03-15T12:18:00.004-06:00

There is nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon. It's relaxing and laid back, just spending time with family and friends. However, in our house, apparently, it is the setting for violence and rage (look at the wound on Paul's arm and the smug look on Scooters face - this is no joke :). All the cats like Paul more than me; it's something I've come to live with. Scooter especially, has a soft spot for Paul so, it was no surprise when we were watching some TV yesterday and Scooter assumed her position on Paul's arm/shoulder (even though he was leaned forward - she didn't care, she is happy to wait until he leaned back). We were watching Criminal Minds and the violence in our living room was worse then what was on screen....

Scooter assumed her position and I was walking over to get a drink and as I walked by I gave her a quick scratch on the head - she understandably, took this as a sign of aggression apparently because she used Paul's arm as a leaping pad that she could spring off of to get away from my sneaky "attack" on her. Paul, who was just an innocent bystander in all this got scratched and SCREAMED "Janet, if you are going to pet them DON'T do it when they are on me", I was in such shock at what was going on - #1, that my cat that I defend and fight for (when Paul says he wants to give her away), not to mention, feed, clean up after and take care of can't stand me touching her and #2 that my 30 year old husband was screaming like my nephew when he fell into a cactus on our hike in Snow Canyon a couple Winters ago (see "Blood Everywhere"). So, I did what seemed logical in the hear of the moment. After Paul yelled at me, I yelled at Scooter for picking on someone so much smaller than her (eye roll) and then followed her as she ran away into the bedroom. Meanwhile Paul yelled after both of us "NEVERMIND THAT I'M BLEEDING HERE!!!!". So I walked in and grabbed the benzyl peroxide and band aids and walked back into the living room to administer to my patient. He was SO scared when I grabbed his arm and he pointed out to me "how much blood was 'gushing' from the wounds" and I told him how sorry I was as I dabbed the cotton in the peroxide. When I went to administer it to the arm, Paul jerked away and said "no, wait, what are you doing - are you pouring alcohol in it?" I wanted to say "Nope, it's lemon juice... just for fun you know" but I said "no Paul it's peroxide" and he said "okay but... just be gentle, be careful" so I dabbed it and Paul made a face and then looked down and said "see it's infected, I knew it". I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital so that he didn't risk losing the whole arm but he said he would be brave. He then asked if we had a sling in the house or enough materials to fashion some kind of cast for him. I told him I could probably handle the sling but I might have to say no to making a cast. He settled on a band-aid but made a grimacing face the whole time I put it on.

After the tension had died down a little bit I told Paul he should probably apologize and make up with Scooter since he scared the crap out of her... he said "no, if anything SHE should apologize to me!", I told him to wait on that and see how it worked out. I did feel bad though because it took Scooter ALL day to feel like she could approach Paul again (see the picture of her ashamed face) but she couldn't stay away longer than that.

We later went to Paul's Mom's house and he was too embarrassed to wear the band aid there. I asked why and he said "well I don't want people thinking it's a big deal" and I said (In a slow sarcastic tone), "right, you would hate for people to think you over-reacted or anything" ;) He didn't worry though about what I thought (or our neighbors for that matter) since he made NO secret of the intense pain as he was in ripping off the band aid. He also made me look at it to see "just how much hair had been pulled out when he ripped it off".

On second thought, the band-aid was probably not the best idea but, hey, I'm a first-time Mom here... I didn't know how to handle my child getting attacked like that. I'm too busy sneaking up on un-suspecting animals to be concerned with other people’s welfare j/k

Disclaimer: I do have Paul's permission to use these photos and report this story and you all have MY permission to give Paul a hard time and/or... call animal control regarding our feroucious and devious cat Scooter ;)

Diet Coke & Lesbians

2010-02-25T15:37:00.005-07:00

So, I'm in this music class (that I've mentioned in previous blogs) and I have to attend 5 concerts within the semester so Marissa found out about this small one going on at the State Room off State Street. She had heard the girl before and liked her music. The artist was Sarah Bettens and among having a nice sound she also is known for her difference of sexual preference but Marissa and I don't care about that. Marissa's sister-in-law’s sister is a lesbian and one of my all time favorite co-workers was one as well so, we didn't care about the fact that there would be a crowd of lesbians there, but, what we didn't know is that it would be ONLY lesbians there. I should note that, Marissa and I would have been the hottest lesbian couple there if we were in fact…lesbians. Anyway, we settle in and laugh at our situation and the fact that we now feel more cultured than ever before in our lives and Marissa went out and got us some diet cokes so that we weren't the only ones not drinking.
Now the state room had some chairs in front of a small stage and then some pews behind them so we sat about three pews back and scooted to the far left. When the concert was about to start two wonderfully loud and already drunk women asked to sit next to us so we of course complied (even though there were literally dozens of empty pews left). Things were going fine until all the sudden the women next to Marissa started to get a little too friendly. We noticed that she was slowly (and trying to be discrete) inching toward Marissa. We both looked at each other and laughed it off and then the opening act finished and Sarah was about to come out when all of the sudden a familiar move came into play. You all know what I'm talking about - the fake yawn and stretch....This woman, now practically on Marissa's lap, stretched her arms back and put one around Marissa. She looked over at me and mouthed "if you leave me, I'll kill you". Coincidentally I DID have to go to the bathroom but I felt a little bit sorry for Marissa so I stayed and tried to think of something to do. I'm not sure how we finally got the women to scoot back over and stop touching Marissa but it did happen and luckily we survived without any more awkward situations.
It was a night I'll always remember. And I'll never forget that apparently... lesbians do not find me attractive :( j/k

A Visit From Death?

2010-02-18T10:40:00.004-07:00

So, as I’ve mentioned many times, I am the receptionist at the law firm I work at down town and I have to be here before everyone else to get things unlocked and turn on the lights and machines and take the phone off night. Usually I’m not here by myself for too long, by about 8:20 or 8:30 people start to show up and on bad weather days they start coming in about 9:00. I mean our office doesn’t technically open until 8:30 and we really usually don’t start getting calls until about 9:00 but I come in to make sure we’re all ready to go and catch the few over-achievers that call super early.
Now by now many of you that actually read my blog (and the few awesome people that comment) may think me a tad bit overdramatic and you may be right but don’t judge me just yet until you hear this story… So, I’m sitting here this morning ALL alone and it’s about 8:15 and all the sudden this guy walks in and he looks like a mixture of Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean and Milton from Office Space; he is taller and bigger and he has one eye that won’t open all the way. He walks in and hobbles right up to my desk and he’s sweating and breathing heavy so I hide my gulp and say “hi how are you?” and he responds (looking at me with his one eye) “fat and old” and I’m respond “ha ha ha(very nervous laughter)” and he starts pacing in front of my desk and I’m looking at him like ‘why are you here’ and he finally says “so I guess Scott isn’t here yet?” and I look at him and think ‘are you kidding me? ALL the offices are dark and its DEAD quiet in here, what do you think?’ but I said “nope, not yet (still holding my nervous smile)” and he said “well I was suppose to meet with him & Ryan”. “Ryan’s not here is he?” I give him the same look of wonderment and then say “no” and he says “so it’s just you?” and all the sudden I’m seeing flashes of my face on the news and the lawyers coming in to find my body (or what’s left of it) but I timidly say “yup” and he says “well unless I’m going crazy I was suppose to meet with one of them” and so I said “okay hold on” so I call Scott and tell him “your client is here, he says he has an appointment with you and Ryan” and Scott is dumbfounded and lets out this annoyed sigh and says “no, he doesn’t have an appointment, he said he might stop by sometime today but don’t worry I’ll be there in 15 minutes Janet just hold tight” so I say “sounds good” trying not to show my INTENSE discomfort and blatant FEAR!! So I tell Joe (having learned his name upon our initial meeting) that he will be here shortly and to take a seat (in the hopes that he’ll stop pacing and talking to me) and then I say “would you like some water” (since he’s sweating and breathing all heavy) and he says “yeah that’d be great” so I go get him some and he downs it right in front of me and then says “thanks for that”. I’m at a loss at this point and he keeps trying to strike up casual conversation with me he asks my name so I tell him and he says “I’ve probably talked to you before on the phone” and I said “that is a definite since I am the receptionist” and he says “oh but I’ll bet you do a lot of things don’t you?” (by this point I’m looking for what I could possibly use as a weapon) and I said “yeah, I do a few things around the office (again nervous laughter)” then he tries again and says “we use to have so many steel companies in town, do we still have any?” again I just look at him like ‘are you kidding me?’ and I say “I’m not sure, I really wouldn’t know about that”. FINALLY he sits down in the lobby and we just enjoy the completely uncomfortable silence for the next THIRTY MINUTES until Scott comes. Yeah, no one got here until 9:00. Then after he was in talking to Scott Ryan showed up and I went into his office and told him what had happened and Ryan says “He didn’t have an appointment, he didn’t even tell me he was coming in” and I said “well I had to spend thirty of the most awkward moments of my life with him and Ryan smiled and said “yeah, he’s a weird guy” and I said “yeah, you and Scott owe me big time” and he just laughed…. But ummmmm, that wasn’t a joke. I’m going to need therapy for this!

A Trip To Customs or The Library?

2010-02-10T08:50:00.011-07:00

You know, everyone is always saying to me, "You should just rent your movies from the library", "you shouldn't buy books, just rent them from the library", "you know Janet, the library is right across the street from your house, why don't you use it". My responses to this have always been as vague as possible since I enjoy purchasing DVD's and CD's (it's kind of a collecting thing for me) and when I actually have a book I want to read, it's usually one I wouldn't mind keeping. And, the truth is, I haven't stepped foot inside I library since I was MAYBE 13 and I rarely read for fun (gasp - yes it is true). You can all feel free to be amazed and ashamed simultaneously and if you are all doing the math (for those of you that know how old I am at least) that means that I haven't been inside the doors of a library in 14 years! I'll admit I have been a little curious at this place so many of my friends tell me about. I couldn't figure out why I had never found at least a small reason to go. Last night, I found that reason and it wasn't pretty.

You see I have this Music 1010 class (which is so hard and has so much busy work I want to cry and have before) and I had a report due on a composer of my choice so after much consideration and study... I went with a composer that one of my bosses recommended :) He seemed cool okay? Anyway, my boss told me about a book that had a very interesting chaper all about this man so I thought "what the heck, I'll go get myself a library card and check out the book" - famous last words my friends, famous last words.

I entered the parking lot to the Hunter Library (which is always packed - as a non-reader and knowing I live in West Valley, I assume it's because a lot of drug deals go down there... there's always cop cars there and that supports my theory okay?) I parked my car; trying not to hit any others, something that has become a problem for me as of late. And I stepped out and into some chunky liquid that I couldn't identify (probably vomit from the drug users) so right off the bat my trip was not going well. As I went through the doors I saw that the only way in was through one of two metal detector type things. I've had bad experience with those type of things before so I was definately nervous but I moved onward and luckily made it through without incident. I see an unapproachable women at the front counter so I walk up to her and she says [in a voice I imagine a prison guard might have] "can I help you?" she seemed so annoyed by my very presence that my fight or flight instincts almost kicked in and I almost turned to run but instead I bravely said "yes, I need to get a library card", she rolled her eyes and said "go back to the computers and fill out an application". So, I followed orders and found the computers, mostly kids were using them, they had 3 highset ones and only three feet from the floor, of course this was the only open computer because it's me. I knelt down and filled out the application struggling to type on the keys - I mean, I'm 5'1" but not 3'2". I get the application done and then it gives me a temporary bar code to "take to the counter". Naturally I go back to the women that was so helpful before and I realize there is a young man in front of me. He is checking in some videos; now I'm not trying to be judgmental but this was not the kind of kid I would want to meet in a dark alley and from the looks of the videos he was checking in I felt justified in my judgment. I waited for him to finish and then spoke to the women again, I said "I finished my application" and she let out the largest sigh I've ever heard and said "then YOU need to go to the card counter". My first thought was "why didn't you tell me this before when you knew what I was here for?" but then my next thought was "that would have entailed you being helpful so of course you wouldn't want to do that". When she could see that I didn't know which one of the SIX counters she was talking about she sharply pointed to a desk behind her.

I walked over to the desk where there was a women on the phone. Ten minutes later after waiting for this women to do everything for the customer on the phone but order her pizza I learned that she didn't even work at that desk and was just using it as a place to sit while she talked on the phone. You see a man had been standing beside her the entire time and had asked what I needed and said I'd have to wait, however, while I was waiting to get my library card (as I had told him I needed) he took the women in line behind me and used the other computer to get her a new card.... Yeah, you try and figure it out. Finally the women (who never even acknowledged me or offered an apology) gets off the phone and the man sits at the computer. He takes my information and within less then a minute I finally have a library card.

I had now been there for 25 minutes for a process that took less then 5 but I wasn't about to leave without the book so I asked him where I would find it (because last time I was at a library you had to go to the card files and use the dewey decimal system) He directed me to the computers and the information desk. I went to the computers and found that they didn't have the book in their system. They listed the auther and the 20 plus books she had published but they of course didn't carry them or even list the one I needed. It wasn't like I was looking for some obscure book written by a witch doctor in africa with only 3 copies in print! So I decided that I would check with information before calling this mission a total failure. So I walk up to the information desk where a women stares at me - I kinda of thought for some CRAZY reason that she would say something to me. Something like... I don't know.... off the top of my head "can I help you?" but she just stared so I finally said "can you help me?" and she said "yeah" so I told her the book I was looking for and that I hadn't seen it in the computer but I wanted to make sure they didn't have it. She looked it up and said "well it looks like we have one copy but only at the Sandy library and only on cassette, do you want me to have it transfered?" I just looked at her wondering if my head might explode but instead I said politely "you have 10 plus branches in the SL County area and not one carries this book?" and she said "no, it is a very popular author though" at this point, I wasn't about to risk getting arrested and facing jail time or community service since I learned that MANY of the people working at the library are doing just that - working off their community service.

I left after almost 40 minutes of wasted time; realizing that this entire trip was a bad idea and I should have listened to my instincts. You see while expensive and probably not worth the money I could have just went to Barnes & Noble and bought the book and been in and out in less then 5 minutes with the book in my hand and NOT fearing for my life or that I might get hepatitis from touching anything, working with people who don't wish they were dead or that they could kill me with their death stares!!! I realize this makes me look like a snob but can you really blame me? Honestly, this was the craziest most frustrating experience of my life and I have been through customs in Florida!

Needless to say, I have no distrespect for those that choose to use the public library however, I will probably not be going back any time soon.

The Naked Man On The Mountain & Rob Patterson & Kristen Stewart

2010-02-01T14:20:00.056-07:00

Well, I'm done talking about the cats for awhile which I know will make some of you relieved. I know it's a little late but I have to Blog about our annual trip to St. George from the week after Christmas to New Years. This year was great because everyone was able to be there. The trip didn't start out as fun because we were having new carpet laid throughout the condo so the first day we were there we had to move all the furniture out onto the decks and rip up the carpet and then the second day we did the same thing to the downstairs (well, I say "we" but really that means Paul, Trent and my Dad). Anyway, the first day, while we were waiting for the carpet guy to finish up we all just kind of hung out in the downstairs. Jennifer read a story to the kids which translates to Jennifer read aloud while the kids ran around and jumped on the mattresses but it wasn't in vain my Mom and Grandma were totally sucked into the story. Then my Dad played cards with the kids for awhile. My Dad can always command all the kids’ attention. The funniest thing for me was when Kyle was playing on someone's computer. Kyle is very self-assured and he maintains this at times by talking himself through things. For example, he talks to himself when he is... in the bathroom. He'll say things like "you can do it, almost there just keep pushing". So, when he was playing with someone's computer he was talking himself through a game and I had to get a picture.

On the third day, after the carpet was all laid, everyone went bowling. If you look we even had Rob Patterson and Kristen Stewart join us (okay it's really Steph and Jeff but Jeff looks a lot like Rob Patterson at times and Steph's dark hair makes her look like a perfect match). The kids had a lot of fun bowling and the adults had a lot of fun watching.

Finally it was New Years Eve and we played lots of games. All us girls played a friendly game of spoons. Well, it was pretty intense, I was surprised I made it as far as I did, though I didn't quite make it to the finals - that was Shelley and Steph in the face off. The battle for Remington's attention of course continued and Shelley didn't slack in her continued effort to secure her spot as his favorite aunt. Jen & Trent made the mistake of playing Wii downstairs while their kids were upstairs with me - also while this was happening Shelley was playing with Remington so, like any good aunt I gave all the kids their own can of Pepsi :) I told them to drink fast, that's why they all look like their shooting it back. Then I went downstairs and got some pics of the games going on. The vampire twins were playing pool and Jen and Trent were bowling on the Wii (I know, you thought Jen was striking a statue of liberty pose but... she is in fact playing a game). Lastly, on the day we were going to go home someone suggested (as always seems to happen) a hike in snow canyon. Some of you may remember last year’s infamous hike with all the blood and drama. You may also remember my vow to never go again... that's why I'm in all these pictures because of my strong will power and ability to not be talked into things. Luckily this time there was no blood... just a man getting naked on top of one of the rocks. He started undressing when we were up there so we took the hint and walked down and every time we looked back he had taken off more of his clothes. Sheesh, it's a family hiking spot dude! This isn't a nudist yoga colony!! Anyway, we got some good pics. I told Paul to get a picture of me to show my exhaustion however my Dad mis-read this and thought we wanted our picture taken together so he volunteered (my Dad is so great). We got some other great pictures. If you’re wondering about the one with Shelley, me and Remington, Paul took it. Feel free to offer him any tips you have about centering pictures :) It was a lot of fun and as always great to see Steph and Jeff. We look forward to next year and more family fun!!

As A Women I'm Entitled...

2010-01-20T09:35:00.003-07:00

Last night Paul and I had a little "argument" and he finally said "why aren't we jiving today". You see, he had picked me up from work and we had stopped and got some Chinese food to share for dinner when we got home and I was starving! You see it's my "special" time of the month and I'd just been at work for a nine hour day and I hadn't really had lunch and I was ready to just eat and be done. So we got home and as we pulled into the garage we saw this idiot kid walk into our back yard to jump the fence. Now normally I would have called the cops while chasing this kid down with a shovel for thinking he had any right to use my backyard as some kind of portal to jump the fence to the back of this apartment complex behind our house but it being my special time and I being hungry that superseded everything. Well this upset Paul. So later he said "why aren't we jiving? We come home and all you can think about is running in and eating and then laying down on the couch" - Wow, ladies I know what your thinking and the answer is "no, luckily I don't own any weapons and was standing far enough away from the knives so yes Paul is still alive and does still have all his limbs".
Luckily we were able to talk it through (over a bowl of homemade ice cream of course) and I told Paul "Look, as a women, I'm entitled to once a month be completely irrational but have you pretend I'm making sense. I'm entitled to eat everything in sight and have you be willing to go to the store for any special requests that I might be craving afterward or while I'm finishing off my current dish. I'm entitled to be in intense pain and have you cater to me like I might be taking my last breaths because to me, it feels that way. I'm entitled to make you stop your video game, phone call or TV watching to get me something that is within my reach. I'm entitled to these things because you married me (for better or worse) and while you may not have known about all these "hidden clauses" that's not my fault because as a women I'm entitled to have hidden clauses and bring them into play at my leisure. Hopefully this clears things up for you men reading this and helps all you ladies out there better explain to your significant others about our entitlements as a women.
If all else fails, show them this picture of Sophie (my sister Stephanie's cat) you see the red in her eyes.... that's NOT an effect of the camera! Something to think about.... j/k :)
P.S. There is still ten more days to vote on the cutest kitty so tell your friends :)

A Little Ditty About Some Kitties

2010-01-04T11:56:00.004-07:00

Though some of you may suspect otherwise, Paul and I aren't the type of people that go all out for their animals on holidays. Most of the time for Christmas we just give them a can of tuna. They get tuna occasionally but never their own can (times are tough - it's like the oranges and the orphans). Anyway, this year we threw in some Kipper Snacks (Ashes favorite) and we got them each a case of 3 little mice to play with. I got worried having 9 mice scattered around the house and it was actually Paul who thought the idea was awesome. He thought it was so much fun finding little colored mice everywhere. I was just waiting until the novelty wore off and last night when he stubbed his toe on one that had been shoved under the rug it finally happened. Let's see, that took less then 2 weeks :)
Anyway, here are some pics of the kitties eating their holiday snack.

Coming Out of The Closet On Christmas...

2009-12-27T22:01:00.015-07:00

Looking at some of these pictures you all may be worried about Paul, but don’t worry he didn’t have any “special announcements” for us on Christmas. The Kitchen Aid Box he got was a part for an ice cream maker (his specialty) however the Twilight movie he got… He is on his own on that one. I mean, I guess I should have seen it coming; he was always really into the fantasy stuff. He loved the Underworld and Harry Potter movies. But I never thought I would have to be one of those women that would one day have to hear the words “honey there’s something I need to tell you”, he sat me down and told me that while he was out of town he had done something that he was ashamed of. He was in the hotel room and he got bored and…. He watched Twilight!! He promised me it only happened once and that he was thinking of me the whole time :) – Now he’s hooked and all he can talk about is how he hasn’t seen New Moon and he doesn’t know if he’s team Jacob or team Edward. I have no clue what he’s talking about because (brace yourself ladies) I have not read the books or seen the movies. In any event he got a nice leather coat and a cashmere sweater (that he’ll never wear because he feels like it is too expensive to actually wear – apparently he thinks it’s for display purposes only) so that at least he still looks macho and everyone who hasn’t read this blog still thinks he’s tough. Until they see the picture of him holding up my new stilettos then they might think he’s sizing them up to see if they might fit him when he goes to see New Moon j/k.

That aside, we had a great Christmas! We went to the Chipmunks movie and it was what you would expect from a movie with “squeaquel” in the title. But talking and singing animals… I still loved! Me and Paul’s 3 year old niece Roxy were sucked in (it was her first movie experience). Also, I love the actor that talks Simon because of his character on Criminal Minds and you can really hear it in his voice in the movie. Then we ate Christmas Eve Dinner and opened presents at Paul’s parent’s house and then we headed to my parent’s house and had a sleepover with the entire family (minus Jeff & Steph :(). We got the bedroom because we didn’t have any kids. However, that didn’t matter in the morning when all of them came in and jumped on our bed and then stayed there and followed us around while we got ready to go down stairs. It was a really great experience and a made Paul and I feel a little bit better about not having kids yet j/k

The kids all got enough presents to supply all of the Children in Africa for 3 Christmases but it was a lot of fun to watch. A few of the presents seemed more for the parents then the kids. My sister Jennifer bought Remington a Bumblebee Transformers mask that scared him and made him cry but she still wore it around for quite some time. Paul and I just enjoyed the show and we even coordinated our outfits for opening presents – we like to stay unified in every way – ha ha j/k

Finally the main event, the Christmas Breakfast! This year my Mom got me my own personalized cake. It was so great, I ate it for my breakfast while all those other chumps had to eat pancakes and stuff j/k. There are few benefits to being an adult but the ones that come with it like eating whatever you want whenever you want are things I wouldn’t give up for anything :)

Christmas Eve With The Chipmunks

2009-12-21T11:26:00.002-07:00

So I have a weird quark about me. I KINDA like animals (I know it's a shock to you all) and that includes stuffed and people dressed up like them and statues of them (I've sought help but apparently I'm one of the only ones with the problem except for all these little people they called "children" - it's a little discriminatory). Anyway, I love having my picture taken with them. You should see the picture of me with the Red Robin bird (I put it in my wedding video). Anyway, we snapped these shots on our way out of seeing another movie and they are appropriate because on Christmas Eve we are going to be seeing "Alvin & The Chipmunks 2" with Paul's family. I'm really excited. Talking animals... you can't beat it. Plus, the one who talks Simon is one of the stars of Criminal Minds so that's pretty cool right?
Anyway I'm so excited for Christmas and definitely pumped to see the show :)

A Christmas Update...

2009-12-15T14:24:00.003-07:00

So, we were a little nervous as I mentioned in our other Christmas blog about putting up the tree and decorations this year since technically it's Watson's first year experiencing all of it (instead of sitting in another room with a cone on his head and his skin falling off) you all know Watson, he is that black streak that you see run into the bedroom whenever company comes over. Anyway, he is not so shy when it's just us there or when he's home alone. He has NO problem acting like the boy cat he is and pretending like he owns the place (actually I'm pretty sure Ashes and Watson DO think they own the place and wonder why Paul and I come around daily). Anyway, we were all worried and didn't put any bows on the presents and tried not to hang any tempting ornaments and then we waited and.... nothing (it's kind of scary actually, I'm sure they are planning something big... every night Ashes just perches close to the tree and stares at me). So far we haven't had one thing go missing at Watson's hand. The only problem seems to be with Scooter who plays with anything and everything (if she only had a brain and bladder control right?).

Recently we put our Gingerbread House down where they could get to it and Scooter keeps picking pieces off and then hiding them around the house - most are on purpose, clearly this one was not. We're still not sure what she lost under there but, poor thing, she sure fought long and hard to get it back.... Maybe if she'd skipped a few dozen meals it may have been easier for her. Anyway, hope all of your holiday's are going well :)

More then just a bit of wisdom.....

2009-12-14T22:07:00.020-07:00

At the law firm I work at, Kesler & Rust, we have a tradition were everytime it's our birthday we have a little party and whoever's birthday it is has to say something they've learned that year. This year we decided to write them down and hold a contest at the end of the year to see who learned the most. Cindee won with her wonderful words about being present in our own lives but everyone else had some great stuff to say so, in order of birthdays, starting with Dougs, here is all the wisdom from Kesler & Rust 2009 :)

Gingerbread & A Bunch Of Heads...

2009-12-04T14:46:00.012-07:00

Well, it was that time of year again. Time for the Russell Gingerbread contest, I think this year went well. We had some great judges and an awesome time. My Mom somehow got out of doing the house with my Dad which was alright because she is in charge of keeping the frosting coming but my Dad is very much a type A personality and he knows exactly how he wants something done. Luckily for him, Shelley was his partner and she really didn’t seem to care too much as long as she didn’t have to work too hard :) This year, we didn’t do a theme; we just picked 5 items that you had to incorporate into your house. Each team picked one item: The Aucoins picked a boat, The Whittakers picked a banana, The Russells picked a bell, The Woolseys picked a gun and we picked a spider. Since the kids are getting older it’s harder to keep them occupied so they all decided to help Grandpa with his house. This made for great fun and a near heart attack on my Dad’s end. Later, the kids would all talk about how Grandpa’s house was the best (which is did win by the way) but when their Mother asked them about it they would switch and say “just kidding” our parents is the best. It was then that I had to explain to them about Benedict Arnold (and what happens to traitors)… I have learned so much from my history class like… I can’t read 250 pages in one night and not turning in a paper really WILL hurt your grade. Anyway, here are the houses, in order there is my Dad’s, The Whittakers and Paul’s and mine. Oh, and the kids made faces, Kyle’s was mean to be more of a Picasso type face, he’s very cultural.

No Time To Wait...

2009-12-01T20:36:00.009-07:00

So sadly my Thanksgiving post was apparently not that awesome because I only got one comment (thanks Mom) and I think that's just because she just barely learned how to do it and she's excited to show off her skills. The truly sad part was that it took me like 3 hours to post the pictures and it took Paul a day and a half to get the amazing video to work. But it's cool, I see how it is.... no one reads the blog and watches the amazing beret throwing clip from the MTM show... it's cool, it's not going to stop me from expressing myself (really few things can do that, just ask my Mom or husband).

So, moving on, Paul decorated our house for christmas the second after Thanksgiving was over (and it's a miracle I held him off that long). So here's some pics of our decked out place. We were a little worried about Watson because technically this is his first Christmas because last year as some of you may remember he had the cone on because his skin was following off (long story - see past posts for more details). So, I threw in a picture of that so that you can see the transformation. So far (knock on wood) we haven't lost any ornaments or bows... of course that's because we didn't use bows this year but I still like to count it as a victory.

Also, I would like to mention the nativity set, it's my favorite part of our Christmas decorations. When we were in Bozeman Paul's parents sent it to us and it was the only thing that made me feel like it was Christmas even though we weren't in SLC :)

Now That It's All Over...

2009-11-27T22:40:00.034-07:00

Well, Thanksgiving is over so of course Paul has moved right on to setting up for Christmas but before he does that I wanted to say a few things about our Thanksgiving. We ate with my Mom's Family this year (The Christensen's) and it was a lot of fun. Paul and I were in charge of bringing a game so naturally we racked our brain for weeks to come up with a unique and fun game for the kids to play while dinner was being prepared. We decided to bring a DVD, in case they got antsy, Disney Scene It for some fun and a bit of a challenge and at the last minute I thought "let's bring the iPod and speakers, just in case we have to resort to something like musical chairs". Well... all of you that have kids can already guess what happened, the kids, of course only wanted to play musical chairs. In fact, it was such a hit that after dinner was over and we thought things were settling down we noticed a line of kids carrying chairs over to the center of the room and someone turned to me and said "Ummmm, it looks like you guys are playing again".

Shelley of course tried to hog Remington, while the battle for favorite aunt rages on. When she got up from her seat for a minute I tried to steal it but Remington just looked at me and said "What are you doing here?" (it actually brough back some rather painful memories of adolescents for me j/k). Don't feel too bad for me though because as you'll be able to see later, I was giving him piggy backs and we were making plans to play hide the thimble on Christmas day so... the war isn't over yet.
One of the highlights of the dinner was when my Uncle Craig suggested that all the women stand up and say what they've been grateful for that year. Well the past few months have been really hard for Paul and I been hard pressed to think of very much that I'm grateful for besides tranquilizers and caller id so that I don't have to answer the phone when cheerful pepole call. - Just kidding, I never screen my calls of course (awkward....). Anyway, moving on, I was dreading my turn. I desperately wanted to say something sarcastic (as it is my nature to use my cynical sense of humor as a defense mechanism) but I knew after listening to four or five of my aunts and cousins that it was going to have to be something heartfelt and serious. So my time came and I told the truth. That this year's been one of the hardest we've faced but every day I get to start over and hope for something better and some days that's all we have is the hope that tomorrow might be a little bit better or at least restore some of the hope that you are slowly losing. However... What I didn't share (because Paul said it wasn't keeping with the spirit) was that what I've really been grateful for the past week or so is the is the Mary Tyler Moore Show Theme Song. First off because she reminds me of my Mom. Second, because that show reminds me of a more simple time when I wasn't born so clearly it doesn't get more simple then that and lastly because when she throws her beret in the air at the end of the You Tube clip, I can't help but smile (if for no other reason then the simple fact that it is the cheesiest and at the same time coolest thing ever and they just don't make TV like that anymore [sigh]. But more then any of that when I listen to that song I really do get the feeling that "love is all around, no need to waste it, I can have the town, why don't I take it... I'm gonna make it after all".
So here are some pics of my extended family. Despite my cynisism, I truely am grateful for them and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving (no one make chocolate pie & we didn't listen to any Neil Diamond but it was still a success).

I've also included the Mary Tyler Moore YouTube link because A) Nothing is going to get you more pumped to read my blog about my Thanksgiving or really to do anything. B) To start anything you my be doing out right and C) So you can get a glimps of how low I've sank that this is the kind of stuff it takes to make me happy. So.... Enjoy :)

A Few Thoughts About Thanksgiving...

2009-11-25T09:27:00.009-07:00

So I was sitting here at work, thinking about thanksgiving and I thought I would tell you all what I'm grateful for… j/k - I wouldn't put you guys through that :)

Seriously though, in taking this history class this semester, I've learned a lot about why we celebrate this Holiday and what it means. To the Canadians (who celebrate it in October) it represents their failure to achieve anything worth while but their willingness to stuff their faces anyway. To us Americans it represents a time when we came together with people completely different & some what strange to us to learn a little bit from each other and feast together - then ultimately down the road we will steal their land and try to pretend they don't exist and that they are a threat to us. Has the holiday changed so much?

It is not so different today, tomorrow we will all go with people so much different (and maybe a little bit strange to us - mainly - in laws or extended family) we will exchange a few things we are grateful for and maybe learn a little about the other and then… in keeping in tradition we should perhaps spend the rest of the year (at least tell Christmas) pretending they don't exist and that they may be a threat (at least to our sainity). And yeah, if you can find away to justify taking their homes or property and getting them to relocate - more power to you. j/k

So lets have a great Thanksgiving and really go back to our roots huh?

This is all in good fun, I know not everyone (myself included) has crazy in-laws but no one can say there isn't at least one part or member of their family, extended or otherwise that doesn't apply to this.

Here's some pics from Thanksgivings past and the top picture is a creation by Paul and Marissa (it is a fully edible cake), yes they hire out j/k . Love you all, Happy Thanksgiving!

Janet & Paul

If I Ever Go Missing....

2009-11-20T10:02:00.003-07:00

This morning I had someone call my work and tell me our fax machine wasn't working (even though we'd been getting faxes all morning) so I was in "receptionist" mode and I told her in my "work phone voice" that I would take a look at it and in the mean time perhaps she could scan the document she wanted to send and email it to the recipient. Then, after telling her to have a pleasant day, I walked back to the machine and turned it off and on (to do my due diligence since that is the extent of my knowledge on "taking a look at it"). However, just to be sure, I decided to avoid a possible drama and just to make sure there wasn't really a problem, to call my loving husband and have him send me a test fax from his work. He said he would and this is what I got faxed to me. My concern (besides the fact that I clearly in my husbands mind I have a very chubby face and a balding problem) was that if I ever went missing and Paul had to describe me to the police or provide them with a picture… this might be what they would get. Oddly this is something I've put a lot of thought into because of all the true crime novels I read and I think I need to pre-select some pictures for Paul to give to the police in the event that I ever do go missing because, if something awful happens to me and my face ends up on a billboard and then in some true crime novel I want to make sure I look good. I mean, it's something to think about right? I leave it up to all of you to make sure I look amazing on those missing posters.
But all joking aside, I just may have the cutest husband ever. This fax made my morning :)

A Beautiful Moment In Time.... Though Not What You'd Expect

2009-11-17T15:08:00.003-07:00

So, I needed a little pick me up on my late lunch break and I thought… Maybe I'll head up to the temple, it's just up the street. I'll just sit and clear my head. Well I sat for awhile and felt a little better so I got up to leave and started walking back to work. After a second I reached the wood walkways that are set up so that people can walk around the construction. For any of you who have been on these, you know they are quite narrow and as I turned a corner I saw a homeless man a little taller then me but hunched down to my height and swaying side to side. He was carrying in his hands a small cardboard box (maybe he thought it was big enough to be his house who knows?). When I first saw him I was scared, we would have to touch or at least brush shoulders to walk past each other and how was I suppose to act? I was just on the temple grounds. I couldn't very well stare at him in disgust or pretend not to see him (though he was pretty drunk, I don't think he would notice either way). So, I just decided to pretend he was just any other guy that I was about to "rub shoulders" with. As I got close and we were face to face he stopped and he said "you know, if I looked like you, then I could be beautiful too" and I thought "thank you crazy drunk homeless man". Then I realized, that no offense to the temple grounds, that one comment had been the best thing I'd heard in the last few weeks.

Nobody ruin this for me by saying "he probably says that to everyone man or women" or "he was drunk, everyone looks beautiful when you're that wasted". Just let me enjoy this moment :)

A Card Board Sign and a Soap Box...

2009-11-11T12:32:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned several times that I work down town so, obviously besides the traffic, construction and the ridiculous lack of regard for jaywalking laws j/k, there are also an abundance of homeless people. There are a couple that I see almost daily and yes, I am the kind of person that if I have a dollar in my pocket, I'll give it to them. I don't care if they spend it on booze really. The fact is, we are told that if we give we will be blessed so I don't believe that I will be denied blessings because of what my gift was spent on. I seriously doubt I will get to Heaven (well I seriously doubt that I'll get to Heaven anyway) and the Lord will say "Ummmmm, that act of service and charity didn't count because that man spent that money on alcohol." I mean, who cares really people? if you want to give, give. It all counts the same.
This feeling was only reinforced a few weeks ago and then again yesterday. You see there is a nice homeless man that I speak with that sits on the curb right outside my building and usually is reading the paper (probably checking his stocks j/k). Over the couple of years I've worked here I've given him a total of probably 2 dollars but, I always exchange some conversation with him.
Then on the way to my parking garage there is another homeless man that sits on the curb. I noticed him the first time a few weeks ago. I happened to be on my cell phone when I passed him and he said to me "spare a dollar?" I was in the middle of my phone conversation and honestly didn't know if he was talking to me or the man walking with me so I didn't reply. The homeless man was however talking to me because he said "You stuck up (Bleep)". Now for those of you that know me... I don't play the passive game. I stopped, put my phone down and looked at him. The man next to me noticed this and said "what did he just say?" and I repeated the statement and the man looked at the homeless man and said "well, I guess we know why he's begging for money and why he's clearly not very good at it". At that moment, that man was my hero and he saved me from expressing my own "unique statements" to the man. The irony to me is had I not been on the phone and had I had change in my pocket I possibly would have given it to this man but... I'm sure glad now that the situation was what it was.
I forgot about this incident, though I still saw the man over the next few weeks with uneventful occurrences (despite my occasional eye rolls) and then last night I was walking to my car and I came up to where the man was sitting. Unafraid and armed with my recently intense propensity to express rage (yes, you should all feel sorry for Paul) I was ready for anything but, instead the man stood up, came running at me with his sign, screaming "I (bleeping) hate all (bleeping) white people" the saddest thing to me seemed to be that he was in fact himself a white person (if that's the politically correct phrase to use) - he ran right past me and continued with his well though out, extremely politically correct, rantings and I realized at that moment that, that is why I just give these people money. Because lets be honest with ourselves, unless there is employment somewhere that requires insanity and the ability to display complete stupidity at any moment (wait… is the current Presidential Administration hiring?)... Alcohol is really these guys only hope and I'm okay with that.

Dressing Up for The Dodo

2009-11-04T16:52:00.002-07:00

Well, we really didn't do much for Halloween this year. We ended up taking my nephew around for trick or treating and then we decided to get dressed up to go eat at the Dodo (of course we were downtown so the fact that we were dressed up didn't really make us look out of place). It was a lot of fun, I forgot how much fun it is to put on a little extra make-up and not be judged for it (or arrested for a mis-understanding j/k). The craziest part of the night was; ever since Paul and I got married he has said "I wish you wouldn't rat your hair up so high" and "I really hate it when you wear dark lipstick" - of course still do those things on occasion because he clearly hasn't listened to me when I've said stuff like "I wish you didn't think the side of our bed was a hamper" and "I wish you didn't assume that shoving things under the bed makes them invisible". Anyway, when I was getting dressed up I decided to not rat my hair and for-go my lipstick. I walked out expecting a whistle from Paul or at least an eyebrow raise but instead I got a "Why didn't you rat your hair up?". So, I went and ratted my hair and then came out again and he said "Aren't you going to wear lipstick?". Seriously... and they say women are confusing!

Preserving Your Dignity and Providing Some Viewing Pleasure...

2009-10-29T23:19:00.007-06:00

Paul will try to pass off that I'm the one that loves the holidays at our house but it's just not true. He and his scouts went out for Trick or Treating for food the other night and he insisted that he had to dress up (even though, his boys all seemed to be dressed up like teenagers... which lets be honest can sometimes be the scariest thing possible). I suggested that he wear an over sized dress from DI and I could do his makeup and he could go as a girl but he said "there is no way I will ever go as a girl, I have WAY too much pride for that. Looking at these pictures I totally see what he means. These pictures are the complete representation of nothing but pride... and... you know free love, hallucinogen's, Helen Reddy and Charles Manson theology. So, good job Paul, you are right, this is much less embarrassing and definately something to be more proud of then just going as a women :) The hippies have done way more for history and man kind then women have ever done j/k Paul... you never stop amazing me and that's why I love you :)

Headed For A Second Arrest?

2009-10-12T15:34:00.003-06:00

I know the title of this Blog will automatically bring the question, when was the first arrest? Well my friends, that story will have to wait for another day because quite honestly... I can't talk about it without getting upset and using expletives. Yes it's been almost 4 years but it seems like yesterday for me.
So, as many of you know I work at a law firm down town. I've worked here for over two years now. It was a tough adjustment at first getting use to the hustle and bustle of downtown; especially the constant construction and the mind-games of the construction workers when they randomly close lanes and sidewalks just to mess with your head and your commute. It makes for great fun.
One of the hardest things for me to get use to was the pedestrians. Now, I try not to be a hypocrite so when I'm walking from the parking garage to my work, I even hate myself - well not really but I try to hold myself to the highest of pedestrian standards. For example, I have to cross two separate streets to get to my building. I work almost at the corner of Main and 100 South so I have to cross the road twice. Also, Tracks lets off right in front of my building so that adds an additional element of torture for me to include in my trip. However, because I want to be a responsible pedestrian I ALWAYS wait for the green walking-man to be showing on the street corner light before I walk. Even though there are days where, several times people will walk right past me as I stand there still, alone in my principles, waiting for the green-man to appear so I can cross. I do this so that perhaps I can feel a little better about my sheer hatred for pedestrians once I get behind the wheel of my own vehicle. That is all the background you need for this story. So here it goes:

First I ask you to keep in mind that the time was 8:00 a.m. so this means that I hadn't even been awake for an hour yet, I did not have my wits about me and I do not rise triumphant from this story. However, I am definitely not the stupidest part of this story that is for sure!
This morning at a few minutes to 8:00 a.m., I parked my car in the parking garage a block and a half from my building and began my journey to work. I was slightly rushed since I was worried I would be a few minutes late by the time I crossed the two roads and made it up the sidewalk without my high heel getting caught in the grout type stuff in between the different types of material that make up the downtown sidewalks. I made it to my first crossing, from the SE corner of 100 South headed North to then cross West across 100 South to get to my building. Luckily, the green man was there, waiting for me. I crossed and stood at the corner of the intersection for almost a minute waiting for the green man to switch locations but this wasn't happening... not even close. There wasn't even the red-hand with the count down to assure me that the time was at hand. I had nothing. The streets were dead, tracks wasn't even within hearing distance (and if you've been downtown you know that's hard to do) and I decided to do what I see hundreds of people do everyday, look both ways, and cross the crosswalk without the green man's help. I made it across without anything but the wind coming while I did it. However, once across there was a man, who I can only hope was a Salt Lake Police Officer who said "excuse me Ms, would you come here please?". So, I walked over and said "yes" and he said "are you aware that you just ran a red light", I think he could tell by the look on my face that I was slightly confused (understandably so) by his phrasing so he said "You just walked across the street when the light was red" - I wanted to say "well if you walk across the street when the light is green you have to dodge cars" but I decided to ignore his inability to explain himself correctly and I said with my early morning honesty "yeah, I guess" and he said (in his most sever old-time cop show voice) "let me see your license!" so, I got out my wallet and before I could make another move he said "remove it from the case!" So I did and he said "so were you UNAWARE that it is illegal to cross the street when the light is red?" (again his phrasing opened him up for all kinds of sarcastic comments) and I said "I was on the crosswalk and honestly, I've never seen anyone else care" and he said "well if "everyone else" jumped off a cliff would you?" and I said (finally waking up and realizing I might get a ticket anyway) "I guess it would depend... are they all worried about being late to work as well?". Then he said "Oh, I see so you DID know it was wrong and now we see the real reason, because you were going to be late for work?" and I said "yeah, I guess that would be the REAL reason". With that he threw my license back at me and said "don't ever do this again". I wanted to say "What? Talk to you... believe me I wont" but I just walked off, knowing now full well that he never intended on giving me a ticket. Clearly, he felt it was his duty to quote "Make an example out of me" for all the security guards and bystanders watching. And what an excellent job he did. I mean, it's an important issue, keeping the streets clear of "Mad cross-walking people" (yes, that's sarcasm). What I took away from it is, never try and use common sense when crossing the street in downtown Salt Lake, because it's more important to wait for the pretty lights to be the correct color (yes, more sarcasm).
Don't think the irony of the fact that I spend countless mornings, afternoons and evenings making a point of not crossing at the wrong time just to "almost" be issued a jay-walking ticket on the one morning I didn't. Perhaps this is a new sort of stimulus plan by the down town police. To make money from actually enforcing jaywalking laws. It could be a good idea. However, in over two years, I seem to be the ONLY one to have ever had the pleasure of being threatened with such a harsh punishment for my in-subordination.
In case any of you are wondering, when I left for lunch I stood at the crosswalk (all four times) and had people push to get pass me so that they could cross the street when the lights weren't indicating that they could do so. And I, all alone, crossed with the green man. I think the true tragedy is not in the enforcement of the law but the fact that the only law that seems to always been consistent, at least in my life, is Murphy's :)

Killers...

2009-10-01T11:10:00.004-06:00

Back in the spring I received a notice from Ticket Master that The Killers were coming to the E-Center. I knew right away what needed to be done. Tickets had to be bought for myself and my friend Marissa. We had to be at this concert, if for no other reason to gain an answer to the eternally perplexing question "Are we Human? Or Are we Dancers?".
Now the concert wasn't until September 26th so we had plenty of months to plan for it and make sure that nothing conflicted with this date. Which is why the only explanation for my Mom calling me on the 23rd is Murphy's Law. My Mom calls me and says "Hey so this Saturday is the Women's General Conference and I thought it would be so great if all of us got together and went to dinner and then headed over to the conference" and I was like (GULP) "Mom, that sounds like so much fun but I've had these tickets ever since around March for this Saturday" - The obvious question follows "What tickets?". "Well Mom it's to a concert", "Oh, who?" "Well, it's a band called The Killers"…. There was silence for a minute on the phone so I said "Mom, it's not like it sounds, their CD's aren't parental discretion advisory or anything like that, they are totally legit. I'll let you hear some of their songs. The lead singer, is from Utah and he's Mormon". "That's okay Janet, ever since you told me about that Naked Ladies band you and Paul like I can't say I'm surprised. We'll miss you though on Saturday" - She was of course jovial and stuff about it but it was pretty rough for a minute!
For the record the "Naked Ladies" band my Mom is referring to is 'BNL' and it's PAUL that likes them, not me. So, the Friday before the concert I noticed an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about how devout Brandon Flowers (the lead singer of the Killers) is in his LDS faith so I of course called my Mom to tell her about it. Her response was classic. She said, "Well then what is Brother Flowers opinion on whether the women of the church should be listen to it's leaders or his music?". Coincidentally, I had to get off the phone after that :)
Anyway, the concert rocked. The pictures tell the story of the night. First Marissa and I spent hours getting ready. Then we got there and waited forever in anticipation. We heard the opening band which was really pretty good and our momentum continued to build. Then... there was a second opening band. A mariachi band which made me wish I was dead. The lead singer of the band actually tried to start a fight with someone in the audience. He was real tough with that microphone in his hand and his tight tiny black jacket. Anyway, after that band we had to go spend $4.00 to get an energy drink so we were awake for the main event.
Finally the killers came on and after a short technical difficulty they came out to rock our world. It was a great show, I can't even explain how awesome their final number was. Sadly I have to admit that I would much rather have been at my heathen event then the Women's Conference :( Sorry Mom.

The Favorite Aunt?

2009-09-13T13:00:00.005-06:00

My side of the family has 2 nieces and 2 nephews and we love them all dearly. Allison is the oldest at 8. Then comes Olivia at 6. Kyle falls next in line at 5 and then there is Remington who just turned 3. Shelley and Jennifer (the mothers) live within about a mile and a half from each other and have play dates with their kids often so, it’s little surprise that when Shelley shows up the kids all scream and yell and run to her. When I show up the kids are more like “Oh yeah, that’s our “other” aunt, Janet” (okay, it’s not quite that bad but it’s definitely a noticeable difference). I have often tried to secure a spot with one of them as the favorite aunt but fall short often because of distance and my apparent lack of ability to make up crazy games to play with them, as Shelley is always able to do. Plus I can’t win over Shelley’s son Kyle because I’m not Allison & Olivia’s Mom – or whatever :) I’ve already lost my chances with Olivia and Allison long ago and I have sadly accepted this. However, Remington is still so young that I knew I could have a shot at a possible “favorite” title. From the beginning though, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I made my intentions clear thus spurring Shelley into giving Remington additional attention and brainwashing against me. I even had him over for a sleepover a couple weekends ago and Shelley responded by treating him to one this weekend. However, I feel confident about our recent trip to the fair on Friday night.

Poor little Remington wasn’t able to ride all the rides that the taller kids were (looking at how tall his Dad is, I don’t think it’s something he’ll struggle with for long) so I was MORE then happy to ride on the kids’ rides with him. I’ve got to say, the kids got guts, the look on his face during some of the rides I was sure was going to mean he wouldn’t be to happy when the ride stopped but, his response was always the same, “let’s do it again”. We even went on one that you stood against the wall and spun around and the force of the ride pushed you against the wall. Plus the walls slide up so you could turn sideways or upside down if you wanted. I just grabbed little Remi’s arms and held on for dear life. In the midst of the ride Shelley yelled to me “How is he doing?” and I yelled back, “I don’t know. I can’t turn my head to see his face”. When we got to the train ride all the kids and me were the first on. Although the train was empty the kids thought we should all squeeze into the caboose. Olivia later referred to it as the Caboob :) It was so much fun. After the rides my Mom treated everyone to Dippin’ Dots and we sat on the grass and ate them. At one point Remington scooted close to me, put his hand on my leg and said “Hi, I’m Remington”. I felt like a teenager again… It’s been a long time since I’ve been hit on like that.

At the end of the night, Remington was walking a little like a drunken person holding his sprite in one hand and trying to walk straight. He was so dizzy and tired but always kept the smile on his face. I don’t know where I stand but I can definitely say I feel a little closer to the title :)

Count Your Many Blessings...

2009-09-03T12:29:00.002-06:00

This is the kind of Blog post that other Bloggers make fun of but, I don’t care. Now, I’ve edited this list so that it’s “internet” friendly”. With a bad economy and tuition due it got me thinking of what it is that we still have, regardless of what happens in the world....

My husband and I are healthy (barring a slight infertility quirk and a few small issues) neither of us has a debilitating disease or only 2 weeks to live (that we know of).

We have three sweet kitties (yes they occasionally poop in the corner and eat us out of house and home but they love us and they are always good for a laugh).

We have great families that love and support us. We may not always have the best possible relationships with them but the point is at least we have relationships with them!

On a similar note, we have amazing parents who would and do, drop anything, anytime we need them and always make sure we are taken care of (even though we should be old enough to do it ourselves).

We have great friends who can make us laugh and are always there when we need them and even if we don't... They'll still be there.

We have a home to live in, with all the amenities that we could ever need.

We have air conditioning (that deserves its own line because it’s SUCH a blessing).

We have plenty of things in our home to entertain us and keep us busy, i.e. TV, Music, DVD's, Seasons of Shows, and Games, etch...

We have food and not just to keep us alive, we have food that we enjoy (Pepsi, Candy, Ice Cream, and Cereal).

We have a wonderful marriage that is forever and we are best friends and can tell each other anything. We have so much fun together and love each other whole heartedly. Our disagreements are minimal and never last long.

We have health care and can afford to go to the doctor and hospital because of our insurance.

We live in America and (unless someone who will go unnamed keeps changing it) we enjoy lots of liberties and freedoms and have endless possibilities with what we can accomplish with our lives.

We don’t have to live in fear for our lives or well-being or worry about not being safe when we go to sleep at night.

We have access to education and the means with which to go to school and gain more knowledge that we will have with us forever.

We have the Gospel and all the light from the Lord that has ever been available to his children here on earth. We have testimonies of the truth and we can kneel down and ask for help whenever and wherever we need to. We have scriptures and church buildings and missionaries and temples... all EASILY accessible to us. Most importantly, we have a Prophet of God who lives within miles of us and regularly councils us and loves us.

We have a comfortable bed to sleep in at night.

We have running water, plumbing and electricity (which allow us to have the very important... air conditioning).

We have jobs & sources of income (no matter how much they may have changed with the economy… We still HAVE them)

We have TiVo – Which has opened up worlds of possibilities :)

We've been able to afford luxuries like going to movies and going out to eat. And because of family members who let us stay with them, we've even been blessed this year to take 3 vacations.

We have clothing to wear and can afford things to take care of ourselves and keep us clean and smelling nice.

We can brush our teeth and floss (it doesn't mean that I do floss but I definitely have the option). We can also go to the dentist if we need to.

We can See, Hear, Smell, Tastes, Feel, Walk, Run...

We have vehicles and can drive wherever we need to and as a bonus, they will both be paid off by next year :)

We have Neil Diamond's music, Will Ferrell's Comedy and Paul's Homemade Ice Cream.

Chocolate Sprinkles... Enough Said!

We have the power of the Priesthood in our home because my husband honors his and keeps himself worthy.

I'm throwing this one in for Paul... The iPhone.

We have the internet and all the knowledge and convenience that come with it, including the opportunity to attend online classes.

We have more ways to keep in touch and communicate with those we love then ever before.

We have a great Ward full of wonderful people who have become our good friends.

I get to work in the primary!

Paul is Scout Master (don't let him kid you, he loves it!)

We live in a time when people are living longer and healthier lives with more knowledge and better medical care.

We have a much healthier self-image thanks to reality TV and being able to watch people make complete fools of themselves while we sit on our comfortable couch and think "wow, I'm glad that's not me".

We have a beautiful garden that Paul takes such good care of and is able to grow some great food in.

We both grew up in great homes with amazing parents who took care of us and who taught us the right way to live. We never had to worry about anything because someone else was watching out for us and taking care of us and because of their examples we will know exactly how to raise our own children.

We have connections in the furniture business so we are able to afford new furniture more then most people.

We can read and write and were able to go to school from a young age and gain a basic understanding of most things.

Chick-Fil-A opened more Utah locations. Which also brings to mind other Utah favorites like Leatherby’s (which I think there might be one in NV to but still), Training Table (ya for the cheese fries), Nielson’s Custard and Francesco’s.

I’m grateful that we’ve been able to take our kitties to the vet when they’ve gotten sick and that we found a vet who is so willing to help us (for free a lot of the time). On that note, I’m also grateful that Ashes has a heart of stone and no real feelings and because of that, she has never gotten sick and needed to go to the vet.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to repent and try again when I mess up (which is more then I’d like to admit).

I’m grateful to be able to wear Hoodies and Sweatpants whenever I want and to have a husband that has helped me acquire a large collection and doesn’t judge me (too much at least) when I wear them all the time.

I’m grateful for Air Conditioning (did I already say that?)

I’m grateful that most of our family lives so close to us and that we have the ability to visit those who don’t.

I’m grateful that I went to elementary school in Utah and that I learned cursive (you’d be amazed at how some people just never learned, like people that grew up in Oregon. Yeah… That’s where Paul grew up).

I am grateful to live in Utah. I mean, I know some may say that we are a little behind the times culturally but we have anything you could want within a short drive; the mountains for camping, skiing or hiking, the lakes for water skiing, swimming or boating and the city for working, shopping or my favorite, eating out. Then there are places like West Valley and Rose Park for drug purchasing and gang violence. And on the opposite end of the spectrum we have plenty of cities that are a front for real life Stepford communities (trust me)… we have it all people! No matter what you enjoy doing you can get to a place to do it within 45 minutes or less of the Salt Lake Valley.

Not to end on too serious a note but most of all, I’m grateful for my personal relationship with my Savior. I’m grateful for the fact that I can pray where ever I am, at any time and that he hears me and knows who I am. All I have is from him and I’m grateful for it all!

Bears, Gnomes & Trolls... No Problem

2009-08-24T15:04:00.010-06:00

So yesterday we decided to take a little hike up Donut Falls. We had our nephew Kyle with us so that always adds an extra element of excitement to any experience. The only real problem came when we had to tell Kyle to stop running ahead. Fortunately Paul told him that bears (along with trolls and gnomes) target small boys with blue shirts when they aren’t with an adult. Kyle (who always has a response to anything) said “well if the bears get me they will eat off my legs but I will still be alive because I will fight”. So, Paul told him that there were also eagles that come down and snatch up small little boys when they wander off and take them up to their nests, Kyle then said “Well, when I get up their I’ll just punch them all in the face and take over the nest and escape”. I have to say, self-confidence is not a problem he struggles with :)

More Then Just Wicked: San Diego

2009-08-03T13:36:00.036-06:00

Paul and I just returned from San Diego. We took a trip down there with our friends Holly & Tim Fowers. The main reason for the trip was because my poor friend Holly is what I like to call a "Wickaholic". She suffers from what is rapidly becoming a very serious addiction to the Broadway musical, Wicked. So, since I'm such a good friend I agreed to travel with her to San Diego so that she could get her fix!
We left on Thursday and at the airport we made a plan for what we would do in San Diego (besides the aforementioned plans to see Wicked). Our plan landed at about 1:00 p.m. Paul had made most of the reservations so, while we were out in front of the airport looking for our shuttle to take us to the car rental, we asked Paul what the name of the company we rented the car from was. He said it was "Fox". We of course thought he had made this up since none of us had ever heard of this place and, after waiting more then 10 minutes without seeing a shuttle our fears were beginning to feel very real. Finally, we saw a shuttle coming and we squeezed in with our bags and 10 other people. After we picked up our car (a PT Cruiser) we went to our hotel and dropped off our bags so that our fun could begin.
The first stop we made was to Seaport. The name comes from the obvious location of it :) It's a little shopping village and it has all kinds of cute stores, amazing cookies and beautiful views. The cookies we got were from this little bakery and we were able to get a couple extra cookies with our purchase. I discovered that, I get pretty territorial when it comes to baked goods. Every one let every one else try some of their cookie except me. I apologized later and since I had a double chocolate chip cookie, Paul and Holly didn't care (they don't like chocolate) so, I really just had to apologized to Tim. He was nice and said "that's okay Janet, it looked like you were REALLY enjoying it" - I tried not to read too much into that; it was pretty easy now that I had a full stomach of chocolate.

After Seaport we decided to check out a place called "Old Town" but we had no idea that waiting for us along the way was the greatest experience of our lives. We actually saw... In the flesh... Homeless Elvis! He rides a bike made of gold and he directs traffic in his off time. He secretly believes his bike is motorized but in all reality it's just a regular bike with a giant picture of Elvis on the back – it doesn’t stop him from driving in the middle of traffic though. Sadly, we only got one picture of him and since we were driving we were unable to have it autographed... We came SO close though! It was an honor just having him yell at us to slow down.

We were excited to get to Old Town because we read on our map that there was a Mormon Battalion exhibit there. We drove all around Old Town and couldn't figure out why we couldn't find it. We kept being directed to this huge construction site. Finally we saw a tiny sign that said "Coming in the summer of 2010, Mormon Battalion Exhibit". So since that didn't work out we just walked around old town. There were a lot of fun shops with several essentials. Like a women’s wrestling mask and all these fancy hats. It was pretty amazing. It was like being in Tijuana without the worry of being killed or kidnapped and sold into a human trafficking ring.

The next day we headed to one of my favorite places in the world... The Zoo! (Since my accumulation of cats in recent years I have developed a very strong love for all kinds of animals - in the future I might end up as some un-shaven hippie member of PETA but for now I try to keep it under control). The first thing we did at the Zoo was take a bus tour. I wanted to sit on the top of the bus because I felt that would give us the best view of the animals so since we had forgotten sunscreen Paul (always a resourceful Scout) fashioned a hat out of the Zoo map. He tried it on a couple different ways to find which would work best for blocking the sun. I mean he looked awesome regardless :) Once we found our seat a mother came back with two little kids; a boy who looked almost 3 and a little girl who looked about 5. The little boy’s name was Connor. He was a sweet little kid who made Holly miss her own kids (until the end of the bus ride when Connor flipped out). While on the bus Connor did great. The tour guide made an announcement that there was no standing on the benches and he was worried that he might get in trouble especially after Paul threatened to tell on him (Paul learned that little kids don't understand sarcasm). Throughout the bus tour I was pointing things out to Paul. I got really excited when I could spot the animals and I would say things like "Look there he is! He's sleeping" the Mom of course interpreted my over-excitement as talking to Connor. And I, of course, let her think this because it was easier then trying to explain that, I really do just get THAT excited about all the animals (I need psychiatric help).
We saw a lot of fun exhibits. The Lions were really crowded though. There were all these kids hogging the view. Sheesh, don't kids know that crazy cat ladies want to see the animals too? I mean the Zoo isn't just for kids’ right? There was also cause for concern when we saw the Pandas. The Zoo Keeper told us it was sleeping in that tree but I've got to be honest... It looked dead to me. I have to wonder if there isn't something suspicious going on in the San Diego Zoo.... Do the animals really "sleep 20 hours a day" as they said? j/k

After the Zoo, we hit the main event... Wicked! We were almost late which I know to most people means we were "on time" but for whatever reason I had a melt down in the car worrying we were going to miss it. I apologized to everyone later but it still made things awkward for a little while after we got there :) Outside the theater we had these two drunk guys take a picture of all of us. They had to take it a couple times (each) but I think it turned out pretty nice in the end. Inside the theater we got in trouble for taking a picture of ourselves. We tried to explain to the Gestapo usher lady that we weren't taking any pictures of the stage and that we were sorry. She tried to tell us that the entire play was copywrited and that, that included our seats and by taking pictures we were committing a federal offense and could be arrested. I'm so glad she takes her job so seriously, the whole time she was chastising us, flashes of people actually taking pictures of the stage were going off all around us but I'm sure she slept better that night knowing she had taught us a seemingly valuable lesson. So... hopefully the theater police don’t see these pictures :)

On the day before we went home we made a stop at the La Jolla beach. It was pretty cloudy the whole time though. After the beach we headed off to Sea World. Now, I've got to say, I have many fond memories of Sea World but this visit will not go down as one of them. Don't get me wrong, it was fun but it was so hot and never in my life have I seen so many people. All of them crazy! I felt like an extra in the Ten Commandments! And, I didn't get paid or get to see Charlton Heston. Also, after seeing all the adults try SO hard to keep the kids interest, I'm not sure Sea World is really as much of a kid park as you might think. Plus the Shamu show took the word "cheesy" to levels I never thought possible. I can't imagine how much work goes into being a Whale trainer so I respect these people greatly but, after the show I am afraid that it's not possible for them to have much respect for themselves. I may enjoy an occasional high five but watching the trainers do it every few seconds when they weren't dancing around to something that looked like it came from an NSYNC music video was a little bit too much for even me (the crazy lady that acts like a 3 year old at the zoo). Now it could have just been the insane humidity or the madness of the crowds but it really wore me down. The highlight was definitely the Sea Lion show though. I wanted to take that little sea otter home with me! If you thought I was crazy at the Zoo, you should have seen me at this show. Watching animals do human things cracks me up like no other :) I was so excited I was actually ready to go High five the Shamu trainers’ j/k

To end the day at Sea World, Paul, Holly & Tim decided to go on the Atlantis ride which is a water-ride. Water rides are something that I only do when coerced or forced by my father (I still have nightmares about all the many trips I’ve taken down Splash Mountain j/k) so needless to say, I stayed off to hold the bags and people watch. Once I saw them heading up the hill I got my camera ready. However, given how off centered this picture is, apparently I wasn't ready enough. I did appreciate the kid next to Paul posing for it though.

The next day, before we went to the airport, we stopped off at the San Diego temple. It was closed so we just took pictures outside the gate. It was beautiful! It was a perfect end to the trip. We had a lot of fun! Since we forgot to take pictures in Ohio and Oregon, I over compensated with more then 100 pictures of this trip I tried to take some out but be prepared, there's a lot!

"OH" How I Love Ohio!

2009-07-29T11:32:00.010-06:00

After Paul's wonderful blog about our Oregon trip, I realized that I had never taken the time to blog about how much fun we had in Ohio with the Aucoin's in June (My little sister Steph & her hubby Jeff).
With the exception of the humidity, the trip was perfect. Staying with Jeff & Steph is great because we have so much fun with them AND they have a cat and so I don't get as home sick. Their cats name is Sophie and Sophie is chubby like Scooter, care free and cute like Watson and cold-hearted and mean like Ashes so really its like all our cats in one :)
We did a lot of stuff. We went to this amusement park called Cedar Point which apparently, everyone else in the world had heard of except me. It was so much fun. They have 17 roller coasters and when Stephanie told me it had one of the highest rates of injuries and fatality rates of any amusement park I was like "we gotta go!"j/k (I don't know if that's really true but after going on some of the rides, it seems likely). It was a lot of fun and not as crowded as we thought it would be but definitely hotter then we imagined. I think I sweat more then I do at the gym (but given my work out drive that really doesn't say much I guess).
We also visited this place called German Town and ate huge German pastries and there is this book store there that is an old renovated house. It has something like 23 rooms of books and it's set up like a maze. It was a lot of fun until I had to go to the bathroom and then I got scared. I made it all the way to the front desk only to have the guy tell me that the bathroom was back through the maze... I almost didn't make it.
We also went on a fun hike to this place called "Old Mans Cave". Steph & Jeff had gone there a couple weeks earlier with their friends and they showed me this picture of this spider they found there. Stephanie pulled up the picture on her computer and after seeing that I said "Sign me up for this hike!”j/k The first picture below is the one they saw, luckily we didn't run into any more of those bad boys but we did see another creepy looking spider and I made Jeff take a picture with his phone so we could document it. There is also this pool of water that they call the Devil’s Bath, we got a picture of that too.
All in all, I didn't want to leave. We had so much fun! I'm really glad we got to go and visit. Sadly we don't have any pictures of our activities because apparently Paul and I only bring our camera on vacation for decoration and not to actually take any pictures so most of the pictures are taken with Jeff’s iphone (Paul refuses to take pictures with his ever since I made the comment on the previous blog so I would like to issue a public apology to him for that since apparently he’s still very upset about it :)

Pooping on People at the Beach

2009-07-23T13:30:00.005-06:00

I know it's been a while since our last post, so i'm posting this post haste... he he he, i love the word play. This last weekend we went to the Oregon coast with the Hendersons. There's not a lot to say, except it was a lot of fun, a long drive, and a much needed vacation. A Seagull did poop on Janet, on the back of her leg while we were at the beach, that provided a great laugh for everyone (except Janet). Here are a few pictures showing Paul's parents, our neices and nephew, my one neice who had sand everywhere (picture only shows the face and doesn't do it justice), and us from the beach, starting with the best one - the poop.

enjoy...

July 1st, 2004

2009-07-01T09:08:00.007-06:00

Some of you may not know this but today is mine and Paul's 5th Anniversary. That's right, five years ago today Paul and I went to the Bountiful Temple and were married for time and all eternity (a concept that I can luckily say, still sounds like a good plan). Then after the beautiful ceremony and endless pictures we had only a short time before the luncheon. So, we did what every newlywed couple does... We stopped off at Nielson's Custard in Bountiful. In fact I'm pretty sure on some level that, that is why I choose the Bountiful Temple for my wedding, so that we would be so close to Nielson's.
In all seriousness though, mine and Paul's relationship wasn't always as picture perfect as it seems. We dated a lot longer then most Utah couples and we've been through a lot more then most newlyweds but we are also a lot stronger and happier then some people that have been married for 50 years.
The summer after my Junior year in High School I decided that I was ready for a taste of the real world and I got a job at a place called FASRE Field Services. My sister Shelley already worked there and she got me the job. I ended up working there through my Senior year because, I of course, was way too mature to go to HS full time j/k :) After I graduated I felt like I should jump right into college and I left FASRE to attend a semester at SLCC. Toward the end of the semester I realized it was so much better for me to make money for what I did during the day and I asked Shelley if she thought I could get my job back. She said I could and told me about this new guy that worked in her department. His name was Paul and he was a return missionary and he was pretty funny. She told me that he had told her a story about being on his mission in Argentina and crapping his pants while tracking one day (as a result of drinking the water - that should have been an instant warning sign to me that Paul definitely does what he wants to do no matter what others tell him and regardless of the consequences but... Of course it wasn't). She also told me that she was pretty sure he had a crush on her (something she felt about most guys that met her). Well, I didn't think too much of it. I started work again and met Paul and he seemed nice enough but he had definitely been a little tainted thinking that I was just like my sister and not wanting much to do with me (no offense to my sister, she was just a little wild and "free-spirited" at that time in her life). Anyway, I got to know him and even went to lunch with him and his friend a couple times and I realized that this guy was really cute and made me laugh harder then anyone ever had. So I told Shelley that I thought he was cute. Luckily he must not have thought I was too bad looking because he asked me out. Our first date was at Ruby Tuesday's and then we went to see Kate and Leopold. Just three years later... We were married. And, although a lot took place in those three years and most people thought there was no way we would never end up together, I will forever count it as one of the greatest miracles and blessings in my life that we did!
I know there will be more tough times to come in the years ahead but I can't think of anyone else I'd rather face them with. I love you Paul :)

On Full Alert...

2009-06-19T11:45:00.005-06:00

So, here I am, just sitting at work minding my own business. I'm typing up some labels on my computer so that I can mail out a few documents. I stood up to pull them off the printer and I happen to glance down and there, on my thigh, crawling upward was an inch and a half long, black cockroach!! I of course responded in the appropriate manner (given the fact that I am at work and am constantly trying to maintain a professional environment here at the front desk) I screamed and it was of course not quiet or subtle. Now, when I was in elementary school we had to write this short story utilizing the words fortunately and unfortunately so I will now apply that to this situation. Fortunately there were only a few attorney's here. Unfortunately, one of them was in a meeting with a client. The two attorney's not in meetings came out of their office's and rushed to my much needed aid. One of them killed the offender while the other one made fun of my reaction to it. I appreciated both of them for lightening the situation and averting the threat to my life. I have since attempted to secure the perimeter of my working space as well as alerted the building manager. But I seem to be suffering from a form of post traumatic stress since I can still feel it on me. I even went to the bathroom and shook out my clothes but I still feel a tingling whenever I allow myself to relax. I may have to get my leg amputated to stop the tingling. This has been a very traumatic day for me. I think I might need to go home from work early....
In an attempt to find a picture to depict my drama I found this picture of these idiots... I titled the pictures; idiot 1 and idiot 2. Who are these sick people? Check it out!

Top 10 Reasons We haven't Blogged In Awhile

2009-06-10T14:03:00.001-06:00

10. My internet moves so slow here at work that it's almost painful to deal with.

9. We haven't really taken any pictures and I know Blogs without pictures aren't near as fun. And, while I know that Paul loves his iphone and he may divorce me for saying this but... It really doesn't take great pictures and we forget to bring our camera places.

8. Up until a few weeks ago all of the TV shows we follow were on so we were spending a lot of our time keeping up on those. And Watching TV really takes it out of ya.

7. We have been really focused on our Guitar Hero/Mario Kart careers.

6. We really don't have much to talk about except our cats which we know, no one else really cares about. (At least we're not in denial)

5. We've just both been working SO hard (refer to #'s 8 & 7)

4. Trying to keep up with how cool are friends blogs is so hard and it's easier not to try.

3. We have plans this summer so it's easy to say "Oh, we'll blog after that..."

2. Paul and I have so much wisdom that it gets overwhelming to try and share it all - ha ha :)

1. When all else fails... I just blame Paul and/or the iphone. (Trust me, I can always make it work :)

I attached a picture of when we went camping a few weekends ago. In case people forgot what we look like.

Wicked Awesome!

2009-04-30T14:10:00.004-06:00

My friend Holly has been trying for about three weeks now to get me to go with her to stand in line to enter our name into a drawing for Wicked tickets. I however, am not a huge fan of large crowds and when it comes to contests…I tend to be of the thinking of “if I don’t try, I can’t lose”. I know it’s not a healthy attitude. Anyway, last night we finally made it over to the Capital Theater at 5:00 to stand in line until 5:30 when they pass out the index cards and you write your first and last name and how many tickets you would like (you can get up to two). Then you walk up to the front and get your hand stamped and throw your card into the caldron. There pretty simple instructions right? Well of course I get confused anyway and had to asked the usher “so, I just write my first and last name right” and he said “yes, and how many tickets you want”. Already I thinking to myself “this is so stressful” j/k. So I’m holding my pen with the lid off and I went to throw in my index card and I accidentally wrote on the usher. I thought sure I had hurt our chances already.

About 400 people showed up for the drawing and there was a huge line of people continually putting their name into the caldron from 5:30 to 6:00 when they started the drawing. Now, I had been at work all day and Holly said even if we didn’t win then we should go grab dinner. So the thought of food was pretty dominant in my thoughts when they started reading the names. These two weird guys next to us were called and then a lady on the other side of the marquee. And right as I turn to Holly to make a joke about the price is right and how if my name is actually chosen I’m going to run down with my arms in the air screaming. Before I could even get the words out they called the third name….Janet Henderson. Holly immediately starts screaming and I look at her in complete shock and disbelief (so much for my price is right talk). Right then two things went through my mind first “does this mean we’re not getting dinner?” and second “just putting my name in was stressful, what am I going to have to do now that I won?” That passed quickly as the knowledge finally sunk in and I realize I was going to see Wicked! And – I WON! I’ve never won anything in my life. When I got to the front I felt like I should make some kind of speech. Instead I just handed them my ID and proceeded to the ticket counter with hundreds of crazy Wicked fans staring at me and Holly. We bought our tickets and weren’t quite sure what to do next. Luckily the man behind the counter saw this and said “Well…see ya in a couple hours for the show”. So, we left and started thinking about how we were going to tell our families since I of course, had forgotten my cell phone. So we asked this nice man that smelled like a pack of cigarettes if we could use his phone. He of course had to make jokes about how it was going to cost us our tickets. We of course, laughed nervously and looked for things we could use as possibly weapons. Holly called Tim and told him and then it was my turn to call Paul. I called and said “Paul, this isn’t my phone, I forgot mine but we won so we are going to the show so I won’t be home till later” to which he said “No you didn’t. Seriously, when are you coming home” I said “Paul, this isn’t my phone, I won the tickets” and he said “Janet, be serious with me” and I said “Paul, I am being serious with you. Why would I borrow some random stranger’s cell phone to call up and play a joke on you?” That worked and Holly and I headed off to find a quick place to eat and then we were off to the show!
If you won the drawing it was $25 for a ticket and the tickets were in the second row. We could actually see the expressions on the actor’s faces. It was AMAZING! I laughed and cried sometimes at the same time. The actress that played Glinda was channeling some serious Mary-Katherine Callagher - Superstar moves and it was hilarious! I loved the show and I didn’t ever want it to end. I finally got home at 10:30 and I talked about it to Paul for an hour straight without stopping. And then he said “So, was there only like 50 people there so you had a pretty good chance.” And I said “no there was like 400 people there and I WON!” It was so much fun. Luckily, Holly had even brought her camera "just in case" we won :)

A Birthday, A Bonfire & A Shovel...

2009-04-20T15:57:00.015-06:00

As some of you may know Paul's birthday was April 16th and instead of having just one celebration we decided to have a few since he really is that special (just ask him j/k). On Thursday night we went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse where I was told that they "don't do anything for birthday's because it's just TOO much stress". I was pretty disappointed because when we went to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday they made me sit on a saddle while people sang to me it was....unforgettable. So, I was really excited that Paul would also get this opportunity but apparently the Texas Roadhouse in Taylorsville is lame.
On Saturday night, Paul's brother John threw Paul a bonfire. You may notice the girl with the long fur coat standing next to Paul in the picture of him holding the cake, we were all taking bets about how far into the night it would be before she caught on fire. We're not saying we wouldn't have called an ambulance but we would have had to stop laughing first. Luckily it didn't happen.
For his birthday Paul asked for cement. Like any good wife I said "pick something else, I'm not buying you cement". So I think he got a lot of nice stuff for his birthday including a shovel from the Smiths. He was so surprised when he opened it…he had no idea what it was :) Kudos to Cristina for the amazing wrapping job!

Gold Hill

2009-04-06T15:49:00.019-06:00

Our friend Marissa's family has a cabin out in Gold Hill. It's a little town about an hour outside of Wendover. As you can see, it is very heavily populated and kind of reminds me of the place the Manson family all lived before they went to prison. Paul and I have so much fun out there we go 4-wheeling and spelunking. Now, Paul and I have only been out there together once before last weekend and it was so much fun but, we ran into a lot of car trouble on the trip so I wasn't really surprised when we didn't anticipate the gas we would need and we ran out on the way. We made the best of it though, Paul took Marissa's dog Buckily out to walk around a bit while we decided the best course of action. We thought first of calling Marissa's parents who were already out at the cabin but they were an hour and a half away. So, Paul thought he would try and call a gas station but they told us they couldn't help us and that we should try a car repair place in Wendover so we did that but they didn't answer so we decided to call Triple A who then informed us that we weren't Triple A members so they couldn't help us and no we couldn’t just sign up right then but, they referred us to a towing company who also didn't answer their phone (apparently people don't actually go to work when they live in Wendover). Finally we tried a second towing company and we discovered that people really take advantage of you when they know you've got no where else to turn. I think it was probably lucky for once that Paul and I don't have a first born because I'm pretty sure they would have asked for it. But we made it out to the cabin in the end.

Marissa's parents were working on the plumbing so for the first day out there we had to use the outhouse. It really wasn't bad; it was even a two seater. I told Paul that we could go on "bathroom" dates and use the outhouse together holding hands but for whatever reason he thought that was a dumb idea. It worked out though because this guy was in the outhouse so I never felt really alone when I went out there :)

The first ride of Saturday was really cold but we bundled up and we drove up to a mine to do some exploring. Marissa wanted to see if we could get another picture of some baby owls like our first trip out there four years earlier. We crawled through this long cave and noticed that we weren't alone. There were bats hanging above us. Once we got to the owls nest we couldn't really see in it. I was bummed but felt satisfied however, Marissa and Paul decided that they needed to climb up the steep rock to make extra sure that there weren't baby owls that we just couldn't see from the ground. I decided to stay below and take pictures of their certain death. They both made it up fine but once they were up there they broke the news to me that they didn't think they could climb back down and they were just going to go up through the top and "meet" me back at the 4-wheelers. Now if you’re thinking to yourself "But doesn't that mean that Janet would have to walk by herself back through the pitch black cave with bats? And didn't Paul take away her big flashlight because he felt she couldn't hold it for whatever reason?" you would be correct on both things. Janet did indeed walk back through the bat cave alone. I was SO proud of myself when I got out but sadly Paul and Marissa didn't seem as impressed. I thought for a moment about running out screaming like I was being chased by bats but I decided against it since, with my luck, I would probably trip over a bunch of rocks and make a lot of noise and then have actual bats chasing me.

On our next ride we decided to check out this abandoned cabin which was right in front of another mine. The cabin was cool so Paul reluctantly posed for a picture and then we ventured into the old mine. We should have known that this wasn't a good idea when we saw a large decomposing rat that was half skeleton half thin flesh in our path but we didn't turn around. Marissa was in front and I was in the middle and Paul was in the back. We told Paul not to step on the skeletor-like rat to which his response was "why not?” We got back further into the cave and it became like something from a scary movie. Marissa was shining her flashlight on the ground in front of her as she walked and she said "Oh my gosh there is a thigh bone over here....and there's a coxis....and....ummmm I don't know if we should be in here guys". There was a bunch of large animal bones spread out as if it had died in pieces. We weren't sure what had killed it but we knew it was probably bigger and more equipped then us. Marissa floated the idea that perhaps we shouldn't be in this mine because maybe it was now the home of a mountain lion. We both made the mistake of asking Paul what he thought and he of course said "lets keep going" (I don't know what we expected). So Marissa says, "Maybe we should come up with a plan in case there is a mountain lion in here". Meanwhile I'm thinking I KNOW that Paul and Marissa can both out run me so I'm pretty sure "The Plan" is tell Janet now how much you care about her because if we see a mountain lion...She's not coming back out with us and we'll be back in awhile to take pictures of her scattered bones. Fortunately for me we didn't run into a mountain lion however when we got back towards the back of the cave we heard a rumbling. Let me tell you now...there are few times in life when any sound can be as disconcerting as that one was at that moment. We all just stared at each other and then Marissa said "Wait, I think it's just a sonic boom, there doing all kinds of testing out here". I can admit now that at the time that really didn’t make me feel any better but I acted brave and we made it out okay.
After our brush with death Marissa hadn't had enough excitement so she decided to walk across this old bridge to check out another owl nest down on a mine shaft. She told me I wasn't allowed to show her Mom this picture so Mrs. Fisher if your seeing this....it's totally print shopped and not real at all.
We decided we had had enough of the mines for a minute and we drove up to another abandoned cabin. This one had been lived in more recently then the others. Well as recently as 1970 at least. Now, there is no proof of this but the newspaper clippings and my gut instincts told me that this cabin may have belonged to the Unabomber at one time. Also, we made a fun discovery that astronauts and drifters have something in common....they both drink Tang!

We had SUCH a fun trip and we really appreciate the Fishers for inviting us and putting up with us. We hope to be able to go back sometime soon.

Do you know who Charles Lindbergh is? How about Lizzie Borden?

2009-03-25T09:51:00.005-06:00

Paul and I have a great relationship. The best in my opinion but at times we tend to have some bantering back and forth about random topics. Occasionally this bantering gets heated (but it's still in good fun) and we end up making bets on who is right. More then once on these occasions Paul has said "I'll bet you a million dollars that I'm right" well let me just say that if he actually had the money, I would be a millionaire today. These bets range from topics about a purchased digital camera to whether or not tarantula's molt their exo-skeleton to how to spell tarantula. (Don't judge us...were happy and at least we make each other laugh.)
My frustration could be stemming partially from the fact that Paul just answers without thinking and refuses to back down and at times makes me feel stupid for even asking the question. As was the case here. I was talking about Charles Lindbergh assuming that Paul knew who I was talking about and he said "who is Charles Lindbergh?" and I said "everyone knows who Charles Lindbergh is" and of course Paul said "I'll bet they don't, I have no clue who he is. I've never even heard the name before". I'm sitting here wondering if people have really lived a life where they've never even heard of Charles Lindbergh or if people have REALLY never heard of Charles Lindbergh or at least "The Lindbergh Baby".
Now I'll admit that after I found out that Paul didn't know who Charles Lindberg was he of course asked me who he was and I said "He's an all American hero. He was one of America's first celebrities" and Paul then asked "what did he do?" to which my response was "I don't know, something with aviation". But still isn't that better then having no clue what so ever who he is? He's a big part of American history. Not to mention the infamous kidnapping of his baby. I mean now I have also learned that Mr. Lindbergh was the first men to fly solo non-stop from New York to Paris (yes I may have had to Google him to find that out but hey, I know now and at least I had heard of him).
I know if I asked Paul's Mom she would probably tell me that Paul knows who Charles Lindbergh is and that he is just being "Paul" but instead I thought I'd ask everyone and find out if I'm all alone in knowing who Charles Lindbergh is?

Now on to Lizzie Borden. I did not know that their were people who were not familiar with the playground song that went:

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks.
And when she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.

I'm not saying it's entirely appropriate but I thought everyone had at least heard it. But yesterday I was talking to Paul and of course..."he has never even heard her name before". This girl killed both her parents with an axe and she was acquitted of the murder. Granted it was 1892 but still, that's kind of a big deal. So much so that more then 100 years later people still talk about it. The house that it happened in is actually now a museum that doubles as a bed & breakfast. I for one kind of want to see it. In any event, Lizzie Borden isn't as big of a deal as Charles Lindbergh but it goes back to my point.
It would really help me out if you would let me know if I'm taking crazy pills or if Paul is just sheltered. Even if you only know one of these people that is good enough :)

Ashes

2009-03-23T12:50:00.003-06:00

It was recently brought to my attention that we have more pictures and stories about Watson and Scooter then about our oldest cat Ashes (I know most of you are thinking "you have too many stories about cats period" but honestly…we don't have much else going on so sorry). This is mostly because we've come to the understanding that if we stay out of Ashes way then she will stay our of ours (or not try to kill us in our sleep or anything). I never understand the majority of the things my cats do. It hurts my head to think about it. All my cats are a little crazy but none more so then Ashes. Any of you that have been to my house have seen this first hand. I compare Ashes to a bitter old lady that hates the world and sits on her front porch so that she can yell at little kids that pass by. She does have brief moments though when she lets her guard down. Last night was one of these moments and for whatever reason, when Paul and I got home, she was laying in the kitty toilet. She got out after we took the picture and she hasn't really talked about it since then, it's kind of awkward :)

Also, the reason we don't have very many pictures of Ashes (from after she turned a year old and got crazy) is because this is what we get when we try to take them...Notice the crazy eyes!

A Kitty Toilet...Yeah, it Flushes!

2009-03-20T14:19:00.001-06:00

I worry quite often about several little things one of which is the smell that could come with having three cats or any animal really. Don't get me wrong, cats are a very low-maintenance animal but having three of them (especially when one of them is Watson) was getting crazy trying to keep the litter box clean. I wont get into the details but I'm sure everyone can appreciate the problem. Paul and I have tried several things over the years. We got the litter maid which scoops the litter and puts it into a box but Watson goes to the bathroom every 15 minutes so that poor litter box just couldn't keep up and neither could me and Paul so, we came up with a new solution. We have now purchased this flushing litter box. Don't ask me to explain how it works exactly but basically it scoops out the poop and self cleans or...something like that. You can flush it manually or set it to run at certain times. So far it has been a dream come true. All we do is change the cartridge and refill the plastic litter granules. The cats have done pretty well with it. Watson spends a lot of time admiring it (it must be a guy thing...the fascination with toilets). He loves watching it flush and even feels the need to be in the room with the other cats when they go to the bathroom. I never had little brothers so maybe this is normal...?

Nothing Much To Report...

2009-03-17T11:32:00.005-06:00

You may be wondering why it is that we have been on a bit of a hiatus with the blogging (or you may not care at all). Well the main reason is that we really haven't had that much to report and the other reason is because I don't like to post stuff unless I have a picture to go with it. And, finally the last reason is because...of Facebook. Recently (the last month or two) I let myself become peer pressured into joining facebook. Now, nothing negative has come from this, in fact I've re-connected with a lot of old friends, but it has caused me to feel stretched a little thin with my internet exposure. I don't know if my brain can handle a facebook page and a blog. Also, truth be told, facebook still confuses the crap out of me! It makes me feel like I shouldn't be in the generation that I'm in. I feel like my Dad when he first discovered text messaging :) Plus, I don't know if I'm confident enough to tell the world wide web how many "friends" I don't have. But in any event, I am on facebook and due to on-going pressure from my husband I will be blogging again.
So, that's all that is happening with us. I promise to post soon and maybe even have some pics next time.

Also, I have posted these pictures of Scooter & Watson for Kloe who I hear likes to look at our blog for the pictures of the kitties, these pictures are just for you...

Just Watch How Easy It Is....

2009-02-03T08:39:00.002-07:00

We started noticing about a week ago that Scooter wasn't quite acting like herself. She was being really anti-social, she was getting upset when you tried to pet her and perhaps the biggest indicator...she was pooping on the carpet. Now except for the pooping on the carpet we could just assume that she is picking up some tips from her older friend Ashes but since Scooter has never seemed to care much about what Ashes does (much to Ashes chagrin) we figured there was a problem (well, I figured there was a problem Paul continually told me that I worry too much and to stop talking about it). But after the third time Scooter pooped on the carpet and, Paul had to clean it up, he agreed to take her to the vet.
We found out that she's been over-eating (a BIG surprise to look at her) because we bought a new kind of food and it isn't filling her up. So, she has been all backed up and bloated. Also, because of this she has a small parasite so the vet had to give her a shot and some anti-biotic and, told us that Scooter can't eat for 24 hours. Since we usually keep food out for all the cats this meant that we had to feed them separately and they can't just eat whenever they want. The best part is that he showed Paul how to give her the antibiotics. Paul was so excited because "It's SO easy" all you do is pry her mouth open, stick your finger in her mouth to keep it open and squirt the medicine in! Sounds easy right? Yeah, I knew better.
Well, this morning Paul was all set to show me how to do it. I said to him "do you need me to hold her" and Paul said "No, I need you to watch how I do this, watch how easy it is" so I sat back to watch the show. Of course it wasn't easy because Paul didn't take into account that Scooter is a cat and that regardless of how she behaved for the vet, no one is happy having people pry their mouth open and stick their fingers in. Paul was holding her with one arm and trying to get her mouth open with the other and yelling to me "get the stuff ready, get the stuff ready". Knowing this wasn't the right time for me to say anything negative I just did what he said. All the while Scooter is meowing and thrashing to try to get away and Paul is getting more and more frustrated and I'm trying to squirt the medicine in without laughing. When all was said and done Paul said "Janet, you've just got to hurry and squirt it in. None of this slow stuff!" and I said "Paul, I thought you said it was so easy that all I had to do was watch".
Needless to say, it wasn't easy and Janet was right again (for maybe the third time in our marriage :) When we got done Scooter was trying to spit stuff out on the floor and our other two cats were laying by where we usually keep the food looking like they hadn't eaten in weeks - in reality we had feed them moments earlier. It was a great start to the day this morning!

The Couch...

2009-01-22T08:48:00.006-07:00

So, when I was a little kid we had this yellow couch and every time my Mom wanted to take a picture of us we would all gather around this yellow couch. So we have literally dozens of pictures of us at all different ages with the yellow couch. It made for a great slideshow in my wedding video. Anyway, I'm starting to notice a similar pattern with the brown couch at our condo....

I promise to have more recent pictures and stories starting next week. I just had to do something with all the pictures I thought I had to take over the Holidays.

Even On Vacation, We All Go To Church

2009-01-20T09:12:00.004-07:00

To finish up with our stories from our holiday vacation time here is a quick mention of our Sunday in St. George. When we go down there we always try to make it to sacrament meeting at least. This year was no different. We got all the kids dressed up and went off to church. It's always nice to visit new wards. I'm pretty sure we got welcomed by every single auxiliary leader in that ward - some of them twice. It was nice to be at church with the whole family though, those kids always keep things interesting.

Don't Eat Pete!

2009-01-14T09:03:00.005-07:00

It was so great to have the entire family together in St. George over the holidays and since it had been far too long since we had been able to have a Family Home Evening with everyone we decided to have one while we were down there. Jeff & Steph were in charge and they came up with a great lesson about gratitude. They told the story of the 10 lepers and I actually got a treat for answering the question about what lepersy is. I don't know that my answer was really all that technical but hey, I got a reese peanut butter cup for it anyway.
After the lesson Jeff had made a game for the kids that his family played all the time while he was growing up. It's called "Don't Eat Pete". The two main elements of the game are eating M&M's and yelling as loud as you can. Needless to say, the kids LOVED it and couldn't get enough. Jeff's family is genius! Remington didn't quite grasp the concept but he got to eat M&M's so he was all for it.

Blood Everywhere

2009-01-12T09:25:00.008-07:00

Over the holiday's Paul and I went with my family down to St. George. With the whole family in one place for a week we definitely had plenty of excitement but I don't think anything was quite as exciting as when we decided to take a "walk" through Snow Canyon. Now, I will state from the beginning that I was not in the mood to go for a hike (which is what I knew it was regardless of how my Dad and Paul tried to disguise it) but, the family was going and I'd managed to get out of a couple other things so I reluctantly agreed (a.k.a. Paul forced me to go - see pic of me on the couch before the trip, I was NOT excited). It started out like any other family excursion. Paul, me and Shelley in one car and My Parents, Steph and Jeff and Kyle (my 4 year old nephew) in the other. When we reached the entrance to the Canyon my Dad made sure to grab a map and give one to Paul. As Paul got back in the car he of course scoffed at the idea that he would need a map - a moment later Paul was trying to hide the fact that he was checking the map for where to go. When we reached the "walking" trail everyone took off and Shelley, my Mom and me stayed behind walking at a slower pace so we could crack jokes and enjoy the fresh air (ha ha). And every few seconds or so Shelley would yell ahead for Kyle to hold someone's hand and stop running ahead. It was only a few minutes later that the trouble started...
Many of you may not know that my Mom is deathly afraid of dogs. We're not really sure why but since I have a completely irrational fear of spiders and actually locked my garage door because I was scared that a large one in my garage might force it's way in...I try not to judge :) So the three of us were walking when all of the sudden we see the rest of our group stopped and looking back at us with fear. It only took a second for me and Shelley to spot them. Two big German Sheppard's wandering around (no leashes) with a family ahead of us. Shelley and I took up post at my Mothers side. Shelley of course made a comment about how it wouldn't matter whether we were their or not my Mom would throw us in front of her if need be. Apparently when Shelley was eight months pregnant this very thing had happened. My Mom denies the incident.
So here we are; Shelley and I trying to protect my Mother from what she is sure is impending death, my Dad walking around the perimeter because he was sure they had moved the trails to the cave openings since he had last been here and Jeff and Paul trying to find ways into whatever caves they could see while Kyle explained to them that "if he had brought his rope they could be lowering into a cave right now". With so much chaos Shelley continued to yell to Kyle that he had to be holding someone's hand especially since we were off the trial because my Dad was sure they had moved it and also because....that's where the dogs were. It really didn't help that the dogs were circling at this point and my Mom was sure they were planning attack and possibly calling their friends.
Not even the dogs though could have taken our attention from the blood curling scream that came a moment later. Kyle had stumbled on a rock and fell on a small cactus (since he hadn't been holding anyone's hand he used his own to stop his fall). Everyone surrounded him and Jeff, my Dad and Paul started to take the stickers out of his hand while he screamed "There's blood everywhere!!!!" my Dad asked where it hurt and he said "I've been STABBED....STABBED!!!". People were walking by wondering what we had done to this poor child and at this point there was no calming him regardless of that fact that there were now four people helping him (being a huge help I along with my Mom and his Mom stood to the side and couldn't stop laughing) every few minutes he would make sure we all knew how much it hurt, "I can't take the pain!!!!", "There everywhere....there's blood everywhere!!" - (no one else saw any blood). We finally resolved to take his pants off and wrap a sweatshirt around his legs until we could get back to the car and use tweezers for the ones that were left. My Dad carried him and on the "walk" back to the car Kyle screamed "I'm not gonna make it, I'm not gonna make it!!!!!".
My Mom and Shelley and me were the last ones back being left in the dust while the others "walked" ahead. Shelley floated the idea of pushing me into a cactus in front of Kyle just so we could see if it was really as bad as Kyle was making it. I responded that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Kyle didn't see how his mother responded to pain when she got hurt.
Through it all - Kyle survived and we even managed to save his hand and his leg that had been stabbed and just 20 minutes after arriving back at our condo he was playing his game boy despite his severe injuries.
I hate to say I told them so but.....I was against the whole thing :)

So Much To Say So Little Blog Space...

2009-01-09T08:15:00.001-07:00

Wow, December was a crazy month for us. Almost too crazy. There is so much fun stuff I want to blog about so I'm going to do it in several different blogs over the next week or so. For now, here is the picture we took on Christmas Eve. You can really see how excited our cats were j/k :) We hope you all had a great holiday season and we look forward to having a great 2009.

A Scary Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T11:27:00.003-07:00

I have a strange love for scary movies. It's a love that few others share, it's a lot like my love for the game Scene It (Finding someone who wants to play that with me would be like find a $100 bill on the sidewalk VERY rare and but really exciting to imagine). Anyway, my little sister and my friend Marissa enjoy the occasional scary movie so since my little sister is in town for the first time in two years for the holiday's (Yeah!) we all got together last Saturday and had a scary movie night! It wasn't as festive as far as the holidays go but it was so much fun! Here are some pics of my little sister Steph and her husband Jeff and Marissa, Me and Paul. And, if anyone would like to play Scene It with me or watch a scary movie sometime...just let me know :)

Our Little Niece Allison

2008-12-08T16:51:00.005-07:00

November 5th has always been a very important day in our family. On November 5th, 1976 my parents Jeff & Susan Russell were married in the Salt Lake Temple. A year later on November 5th, 1977 my Mom gave birth to their first little girl named Jennifer. Just 23 years later on November 5th, 2000 Jennifer gave birth to her first child...A little girl named Allison.
Well this past weekend on December 5th, 2008 Allison was my parents first grandchild (and mine and Paul's first niece or nephew) to be baptized. All I kept thinking as I was watching her up there looking so beautiful in white was about being in that hospital room on the day she came into our family and how grateful I am to be able to be a part of her life. I can't believe how fast 8 years has gone and what a beautiful little lady she has become. When I held her for the first time (after my hands had been sanatized properly - see pic below) all I could think about was how small she looked and yet how she was the biggest part of our world. As a family we probably have more pictures of her then of anyone else. I can't believe how much she has grown up. Paul and I are so proud of her, we love you Allison :)

An Old Fashion Thanksgiving...

2008-12-02T11:38:00.020-07:00

Turkey… Check, Mashed Potatoes… Check, Pumpkin Pie… Check, Gay Kid... Check.
Paul and I switch off families every year for thanksgiving (because of the year we tried to do both and ended up sick and exhausted and in a fight) and this year it was his families turn. Paul's parents are awesome at making everyone welcome. Paul has 2 brothers and 3 sisters (you know like the Brady bunch only without the dog and a wise cracking maid). Well since they have gotten older some have gotten married and some have had children and all together there are 13 of us. But how fun would thanksgiving be with just 13 people? So...We had 2 boyfriends, 2 friends of the family (with their 1 child) 1 brother-in-law's brother, 1 roommate and 1 gay friend of Paul's little sister Dana (not that his sexual preference really matters but it definitely makes the story funnier and shows the randomness of it all). Now that's thanksgiving! We did the traditional thanksgiving activities; enjoyed dinner, ate pie and of course....played a couple rounds of Mafia! I was completely tricked in the first round when I kept sharing my thoughts with Paul (I was a towns person) and when we got down to just 6 of us left I was sure it must be April's Boyfriend or Dana's friend when all of the sudden a light went on and I realized I had been deceived by my own husband who was in fact Mafia! It was a difficult moment for me. I was not so much surprised at Paul's trickery as I was my own stupidity at trusting him blindly. It was fun. I didn't last as long in the second round because apparently I talked too much and it made me "look suspicious"....and Paul's family wonders why I don't talk and participate more - it's because when I do I get voted out and killed. Later that night we of course stopped by my parent's house and played some games and ate more pie. Paul made this chocolate pie (on top of the two rhubarb pies he made for his family) and it was delicious.

Anyway, thanksgiving was lots of fun and although I've had many people tell me that their thanksgivings were great...they have nothing on mine :)

Since I cannot for the life of me figure out how to label pictures here is a list of the pictures in the order they appear (and PLEASE someone tell me how to label my pictures); 1-Paul & Me, 2-John (giving thumbs up), Tyler (Dana's Boyfriend), Dana and Albert, 3-Matt Handy, April & Ava, 4-Albert & Dana, 5-Adam & Cristina Smith, 6- JaNae & Patrick, 7-Mitchell (April's), Roxy (Matt & Quela's), Ava (April's) and Ethan (The Smith's), 8-John, Josh & Mitchell, 9-The Russells, 10-Jeff & Sue, 11-Jennifer & Trent, 12-Me & Paul again :)

A Bit of A Bite?

2008-11-20T09:06:00.003-07:00

Since not much exciting is happening in the Henderson House we will give you a quick update on what is. First off, we want to thank all of you that were pulling for our little guy Watson, he is doing SO much better. It was rough for a while there but we are definately on the road back. About 2 weeks ago we took him back into the vet to make sure his "lupus" was healing well because at this point all the red area had turned black and hard and I wasn't sure if this was normal. Well we went to the vet and the vet (who is a little no-nonsense and not very gentle) tapped on the rock solid black skin which was pussing yellow liquid and said "Yeah, this isn't lupus" this whole chunk of skin (about the size of a grapefruit) is dead and it's going to fall off, the only thing that could have caused this is a toxin" I was dumb founded and still a little grossed out from having him pull the skin back and make it ooze more. Luckily Paul was there so he asked for both of us just what that meant. Basically the Dr. said it was most likely a brown recluse spider bite. At this point I was shooting dagers at Paul with my eyes because I had only asked him about a thousand times this year to have our house sprayed. And Brown Recluses? Why don't you just tell me that our hosue is going to be a target for a terrorist attack? In any event...we don't think it happened at our house. Right before we noticed Watsons problem he had stayed over night at a different vet clinic (not the one that we've had treating him thank heaven). So the vet told us to continue doing all that we've been doing (which includes keeping him sequestered with a cone on his head and cream on his dead skin) and that hopefully when the dead skin falls off, new skin will be underneath it but if not we will have to do surgery. Anyway, within a week the scab started peeling off and there was pinkish red stuff underneath it and with all of our vast knowledge about cat anatomy we could tell...absolutely nothing about whether it was good or bad. I just knew that it made me want to vomit and it stunk up our office. I thought it was bad cleaning up poop until I had to clean up chunks of scabby kitty skin. By week 3 we took him into the vet for a follow up and he looked at the scab falling off and said "yep looks good" then without warning he just started ripping the scab off. After pulling on it he turned to his tech and said "I can't get a good enough grip on this get me something to get a hold on it" at this point Watson looks like he wants to die and I'm rocking myself in the corner while another tech is asking me if I need to lie down. The vet couldn't get all the scab off so he asked for scissors to cut what he could off. The whole thing was pretty traumatizing for Watson and myself but the good news is within days the part that the vet taken off was healing really well and had shrunken to more then half it's size. The last step was just to wait for the other 2 parts of the scab to come off and the vet said it would be another week. So Monday I took him in for what I thought would be our 4th and final vist. There were two parts of the scab left. A long one that was about two inches and a rounder one that use to be connected to the one the vet ripped off that was a little bigger then a 50 cent piece. Anyway, I went in so excited and ready to hear that he was almost all better and the vet said the two scabs left weren't ready to come off yet (believe me that didn't stop him from trying to get them off anyway). So...we are changing things up a bit but it looks like we may have two more weeks of this. The good thing is that Watson is practically a celebrity at this vet clinic. They've never seen anything like this before so everytime we go in all the techs come to see how he's doing. All things considered it's been really rough and gross and hard and sad and exhausting and I'm pretty sure that Watson is going to end up writing some memoir called "Flowers in the Office" and possibly end up on Oprah. j/k :)

Anyway, thanks for all your support and love. We know he is just a cat to most of you but right now for us, he is family.

A Sign of the Times?

2008-11-19T10:54:00.002-07:00

Paul was driving me to work today and we saw this sign off of 600 South. It's very informative :) I had no idea that we were at risk for something like this - j/k

And The Winner Is. . . .

2008-10-31T16:20:00.004-06:00

Hey all, it's Paul! Happy Halloween 2008! We attended the annual Whittaker Halloween Party this year again. We dressed as a witch and a wizard (see photo above). There was much consternation between us on what to dress up as, and this was last minute, just thrown together. Needless to say we did not win the costume contest, in any category (there were 5). However, the day after the party, the Russell family got together for their pumkin carving contest, where due to Paul's amazing dexterity, we emerged victorious. The 4 entries are shown below, ours is the haunted house. We hope you all had/have a happy halloween, and be sure to share your embarassment, and your kids pride, by posting your costume pictures on your own blogs.

Kitty Lupus?

2008-10-29T08:53:00.005-06:00

I realize that I open myself up for ridicule with this blog. I’m sure some of you will think “it’s just a cat” and perhaps some of you may even think “you should probably just have him put down”. In any event here’s the skinny….a few days ago me and Paul started noticed some blood on our floor. I of course, panicked and started checking for possible sources while Paul told me I was crazy and that it wasn’t blood (he didn’t have any idea what else it could be of course but it “wasn’t blood”). After a day or so I forgot about it until I noticed it on another part of our floor. This time I conducted a thorough inspection of all possible sources which in this case consisted of my three cats. I quickly discovered that my little guy Watson had a big red patch on his belly that he had been licking the crap out of which was making it bleed. Unfortunately we discovered this at night so we weren’t able to take him to the vet until the next morning. Needless to say, three vets, a blood test, sedation and a shaved tummy later we were told that our cat has Lupus. I had to laugh a little because if any of you have ever watched the TV show House you know that their first guess when someone is sick is ALWAYS Lupus. Sometimes I watch House just to see if anyone will actually ever have Lupus. So sometimes Paul and I will make jokes when one of us gets sick like “maybe it’s Lupus”. Honestly, I really didn’t even know what it was and to be even more honest, I still don’t know. It doesn’t really matter because it’s not fatal in cats and it is completely different in cats then in humans. Basically what it means is that Watson had some kind of allergic reaction and for whatever reasons his immune system was down and so it turned into Lupus (I don’t pay the Vet to make me understand, I just want it fixed). So, now little Watson has to be in a small room by himself (away from Satan and Stupid – Ashes & Scooter) with a cone on his head and we have to rub this cream on his belly twice a day. I’m pretty sure some people at my work think I’m holding a little boy hostage and making him wear a cone on his head because I was telling my Mom over the phone “we’ve got him locked in the office by himself and he keeps crying and scratching the door with the cone on his head because he wants to get out”. It really is breaking my heart. Needless to say if any of you want to come visit him or donate to the “Cure the Lupus” fund… you are more then welcome :) j/k – (we really don’t have a fund for Watson)

Blute Beer

2008-10-21T09:03:00.004-06:00

My Mom makes the BEST homemade chocolate frosting; I could eat it straight out of the bowl with nothing else – Well maybe some chocolate sprinkles too. Anyway, the last couple Sunday’s that I’ve been at her house I’ve made a point to make something so that she has a reason to make the frosting. Then I eat as much as I can without taking away from what I need to frost whatever I’ve made. Well, this Sunday I was finishing up the cupcakes and talking to Paul, my Mom and my sister’s boyfriend Dave. And for whatever reason Paul started looking in my Mom’s cupboard and getting ideas. [Now, Paul’s ideas can be dangerous when he’s all by himself but add to the equation Dave and it’s a lethal combination]. Paul found some root beer flavoring and got SO excited. He started talking about how awesome it would be to have root beer flavored frosting. I’m all for new ideas but the frosting isn’t something I’m willing to mess with…it has to be chocolate. Anyway, Paul kept going through the cupboard and he also found a whole bunch of blue food coloring, now by this time Dave is involved throwing in his ideas and talking about making my frosting blue and flavored like root beer! I’m not sure which genius coined the name but once it was said it was too late for reason and too late to talk them out of it. We were now making “Blute Beer” frosting. And, Paul didn’t just stop there; he also found some peppermint flavoring and whipped up some peppermint frosting. It tasted a little like cupcakes and toothpaste. Needless to say, I just stuck to the chocolate :)

6 Friends, Three Kitties, 2 Huge Ovaries...One Sole Survivor

2008-10-01T09:12:00.005-06:00

Click On Survivor Logo For Opening Theme

So your probably thinking that I've gone MIA or that I've become a blog slacker or that my husband keeps forgetting to send me the pictures from our camera for our next blog but you'd really only be right about one of those things - (Paul, you know who you are). Let me start by saying that I wanted to leave that last blog up there for awhile because it was an important issue to me. Maybe too important, that's why I didn't write it. Many of you are wondering who wrote the McCain part and why they remained anonymous. The truth is, it was just Paul and he remained anonymous because it really wouldn't have worked with my disclaimer if one of us had written part of the blog. Plus it created a lot of intrigue which was kind of cool.
Anyway, there has been a lot that has happened for our little Henderson family the past couple of weeks. It's hard to say in pictures (unless you all WANT to see pictures of my ovaries) but we still do have some news to report. I was recently diagnosed as having Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS. Now I know what your thinking "you guys have been trying to have kids for over two years why haven't you found this out sooner" now times that frustration by 10 and you'll be where we are...slowly losing faith in the medical profession. Actually though it's been okay because it's answered a lot of questions and now we have a place to start from and we know what we are dealing with. Now just so you know what PCOS is, Wikipedia (which Paul thinks will some day replace the need for doctors… and people) defines it as an endocrine disorder that affects approximately 5% of all women . It occurs amongst all races and nationalities, is the most common hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age, and is a leading cause of infertility. The principal features are weight problems, lack of regular ovulation and/or menstruation, and excessive amounts or effects of androgenic (masculinizing) hormones. The symptoms and severity of the syndrome vary greatly between women. While the causes are unknown, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity are all strongly correlated with PCOS.
Basically my ovaries produce eggs but the eggs are never dropped so they instead become benign cysts which clog up my ovaries and cause them to become enlarged and my body produces male hormones which cause me to have all sorts of issues from irregular periods to intense rage so when and if I kill someone I've already got a medically documented defense :) The long and short of it is that it's not curable but it is treatable. I will just have to be on something to regulate my body which can be ether birth control or fertility drugs. I will have to be on birth control for awhile right now just to get things back to normal first so, it might be wise to not ask us how our "baby making" is coming. Unless of course you want to see the effects of the PCOS first hand (see above mentioned "rage).
Enough about that though, there are some good things going on too. I mean Survivor is on again so right there that's a reason in and of itself to love life (ha ha). Paul does have a special love for the Survivor as do many of the "House of 9" crew. [The house of 9 is a reference to where Paul and several others lived out there days as thriving bachelors see "House of 9" link] We have parties every Thursday at someone's house and we watch the greatest reality show ever made. It's not as intense as the old days but for us married couples it's definitely up there as the highlight of our week :) If anyone would like to come please just let me know and I'll keep you posted on whose house it will be at that week. I mean the more people that are there the cooler we feel about ourselves and the fact that well, were watching Survivor.
Well, that's about all I've got for now. But I hope all of you are doing well and that you are all finding the joy in the simple things like Survivor. I know I am...

And The Nominees Are...

2008-09-11T09:27:00.028-06:00

With the presidential elections so close I decided to do a blog giving the view point of the main presidential canidates.

DISCLAIMER: The following view's expressed in this blog dated September the 11th, 2008 are those of the specific authors and do not nessicarily reflect those of pjhendy.blogspot.com, it's owners and/or it's affiliates. Specifically any views that may offend and/or cause negavitve feelings resulting in negative action and/or comments toward Janet & Paul Henderson or any of their feline associates (Ashes, Scooter & Watson).

For Barack Obama my co-worker, Ricky Shelton -
So, I’m a liberal. If you live in Utah, chances are you’re not. And that’s ok. We can still be friends and you can also still vote for Barack Obama. Sure, voting has a lot to do with political ideology. But we shouldn’t feel obligated to put ourselves into a tiny, confined box marked Democrat or Republican every time an election rolls around. Besides, the conservative and progressive labels we give ourselves usually cause more confusion than clarification. The issues are definitely important but there will never be a candidate that represents our views perfectly 100% of the time. Our political party allegiance is only one of the many factors we ought to consider when deciding who to vote for. So, instead of trying to convert all of you to the political left (life truly is so much more beautiful as a liberal- but I’ll save that for another day), allow me to suggest that our vote for president has as much to do with how good a leader the candidate will be as it does whether the candidate’s party color is red or blue. Here are the qualities that I think are most important in a president and how I feel Obama exemplifies them.
1. A LEADER IS ABLE TO IMPROVE THE STATUS QUO… The Bush Administration has been a disaster. Our country is facing many difficult problems. We have the highest national debt in history. Our economy is in recession. Our troops are stretched precariously thin. Anti-American sentiment has never been higher internationally. Above all, our next president will have to be able to clean up the mess left behind by the most unpopular president in recent history. America wants and needs some serious changes. Obama can bring that. McCain, who has voted the same way as Bush more than 90% of the time, cannot. McCain is simply more of the same. A vote for McCain is a vote for 4 more years of George Bush. To please the conservative right, the former Maverick has flipped his position on a number of issues to align himself more with Bush. His support for big tax cuts for the wealthy and his switch on the immigration issue show that he has betrayed his independence. If you are pleased with how the country has been run the past eight years, vote for McCain. If you want change, Obama is your man.
2. A LEADER IS ABLE TO UNITE PEOPLE… You can’t hear Barack Obama speak without hearing him talk about how our nation has a lot of differences but that there is more that brings us together than what pulls us apart. He puts this rhetoric into political practice. He has a great record of compromise on divisive issues. Take for example abortion. It is the most emotionally volatile issue of our time. Obama supports a women’s right to choose, but has made an effort to reduce the number of abortions and unwanted teen pregnancies. He insisted that the Democratic platform include this goal along with their pro-choice stance. In contrast to President Bush and McCain, Obama is well known for his ability to understand both sides of an issue and to accomplish things by finding common ground. He has already shown a commitment to reach across party lines to get things accomplished. McCain’s two attempts of bipartisan legislation, the McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy bills, both failed miserably because he wasn’t able to gain support within his own party. Obama has already appointed several prominent Republicans to his advisory staff, including Chuck Hagel on his Foreign Policy Committee, to ensure that he gets a wide arrange of opinions. This is why so many Republicans have publicly announced their support for him, including Whitaker and Leach. Nothing gets accomplished in Washington without bipartisan compromise and Obama has repeatedly demonstrated this ability.
3. A LEADER HAS GREAT JUDGMENT… We invaded Iraq on lies. Sadam was a terrible guy but he did not have weapons of mass destruction. The Bush Administration pushed for invasion on false claims. Obama opposed the war from the beginning, saying that we did not have good evidence or reason to invade another country. The lives of our brave young men and women in uniform are too valuable to sacrifice them to a War that should have never begun. Iraq continues to be the worst foreign policy decision in our generation and Obama is the only presidential candidate to have opposed it from the beginning. Meanwhile, stubborn and out-of-touch McCain insists on “winning” the war but has never defined what “winning” means. Scarier still, McCain refuses to speak to rogue nations (Iran, Cuba, North Korea, etc) until they give in to our mandates. Obama understands the need to increase diplomacy with our enemies and use military force only as a last resort. McCain also supports torture and wants to deny Guantanamo Bay prisoners the right to a trial. America is best kept safe not by being the world bully, but by being the world leader. McCain fails to understand this.
4. A LEADER IS INSPIRING… When was the last time you saw 200,000 foreigners proudly waving the American Flag? This was the reception for Obama in Germany. Obama has proven to be a charismatic leader who can inspire people both inside and outside the U.S. The president is the face and image of our country and needs to portray our best side to the world. American cannot successfully defend against terrorism alone. It must be an international effort. We need a president that the world community respects and who has the ability to rally other nations to our cause. McCain, who has been an avid supporter of Bush’s foreign policy, is not in a position to do that.

And for John McCain, anonymous -
So I’m a conservative. As such, I tend to turn a deaf ear to almost anything a liberal would have to say. So here is my two cents concerning the two candidates. I agree that we shouldn’t limit ourselves to voting straight ‘Democrat’ or ‘Republican’. I agree that there is much, much more to consider during an election than solely the party names, elephants & donkeys, red and blue. I agree that even more important than these things, is the kind of leader a candidate will be, his stances, and his history and experience. In giving my opinion to the points listed above I will write concerning the same headings.
1. A LEADER IS ABLE TO IMPROVE THE STATUS QUO. . .While change is a word that has been, and is continuing to be thrown around a lot during this election, lets pause to think what it really means. Our economy is in the tank, we all know it and we are all feeling it. Many things contribute to these problems. Real estate problems and the crunch of so many people living on credit, outside of their means is a major concern. Very few are tied to the government, much less the current president; in fact they are more tied to the past (democratic) administration. Gas is another huge economic issue. While McCain is in favor of becoming more energy independent, Obama is not, and comfortable depending on others for our fuel needs. Debt is one word that makes most of us cringe and stirs up that pit in our gut. While we do have the highest national debt in history, that has been the same for nearly all the presidents in the history of our country, starting with Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana purchase. I have no doubt that no matter who the next president is, the national debt will rise still further, not shrink. Taxes - Obama’s plan is to raise taxes. He wants the government to run healthcare too. Don’t you think that our country has enough on its plate? That adding another committee is just adding more red tape? The free market is the best thing for any industry. Think about if our government ran the automobile industry, there would be one car, one standard. The government simply cannot offer the freedom of choice that the free market can, in any industry. We have so many talented and gifted people that compete against each other every day to raise our standard of living, to offer new and exciting things into our daily lives. To let the government control anything takes that opportunity out of our lives. Our Fore Fathers established this country to get the government out of control of our lives, not to have them tell us what we can and cannot do. The government should be to serve the people, not the people to serve the government. “Of the people, by the people and FOR the people”.
2. A LEADER IS ABLE TO UNITE PEOPLE…What is unity? Is it women swooning and fainting at your speeches? Is it reaching out to, and becoming friends with bombers, terrorist factions, and various racist church leaders? If that is your definition, then by all means vote for Obama. Politics is a dirty, dirty business. It doesn’t matter what you side with today, in ten years it will be wrong or frowned upon. Then if you decide you change your mind on say, immigration, abortion, etc, later, you are scorned for that as well! While Obama has had some success in finding common ground between parties, that is all he has done. The reason Obama can say that McCain has failed at bipartisan efforts and he hasn’t, is because he has made no such efforts, he has never written one piece of legislation. At Least McCain goes out on a limb, and tries to actually change things, not just talk about change. Obama simply doesn’t have any experience in making things work in this country, he votes present, not for or against. He only sides with people who have succeeded or not failed in the 173 days he has as a US Senator. McCain has worked directly with Democrats over the past 20+ years. While the McCain-Kennedy bill was a folly, it was put together by a Republican and a Democrat, together! If you want to talk unity think back to 9/12/2001, or the day after Katrina hit, how unified were we then?
3. A LEADER HAS GREAT JUDGMENT…We did invade Iraq on lies, everyone knows that. But at the time of invasion, there was no way of knowing that and our leader had to make a decision on the facts he had at the time. While I don’t agree with the reasoning of starting the war, I do agree that we need to finish what we started. I think that pulling out before the Iraqi government is on its feet and in control, would be an even bigger mistake than waging war in the first place. You want to talk about great judgment? Would it be good or bad judgment to pull everyone out at a pre-determined date, giving terrorists a date to wait for? They would storm in the very next day taking control of the delicate government, and establish a breeding ground for terrorists. You find me one soldier who has been there that says that we aren’t doing any good there. The media tells only doom and gloom, but talk to the people that have been there, and you get the truth. This is a moot point; I don’t think Obama is qualified to talk about war and armed forces, should we compare time spent and action seen in the military between Obama and McCain? Remember that time that Obama said that he would just sit down with these terrorist and communist leaders and talk things out? I guess he’s the first one to think of that…end of discussion. Why doesn’t Obama take a 4 year term with the Marines, and then see if he’s singing the same tune in 2012. I highly doubt it.
4. A LEADER IS INSPIRING…Have you heard McCain’s story about being a prisoner of war? If that isn’t inspiring I don’t know what is. Also take a look at his loyalty. Wouldn’t it be so much easier for McCain to throw Bush under the bus? He has a terrible approval rating, but McCain stands by his friend. When Jeremiah Wright was in the news and being thought of poorly, Obama tucked his tail and ran saying that they were never that close of friends. Just because McCain has supported Bush’s policies, voted with him, doesn’t me he is Bush. When I tell my boss that he has a good idea and I help him achieve a goal, that doesn’t mean that if I were the boss I would do the same thing. McCain has a different agenda than Bush did, I don’t know of anyone, nor have I heard or read of anyone that doesn’t respect John McCain. If anything, looking at his experience in any field, and comparing it to Obama’s, I am much more inspired and comfortable with an old weathered oak with deep roots, than a young sapling that blows wherever the wind takes it. John McCain is a man that inspires confidence and strength. That is what our country needs now and in the future.

Still Trying Anyway Though...

2008-09-08T09:14:00.003-06:00

I’ve been trying to exercise more lately. You know, to get in shape and feel better and be healthier and…you know….because my doctor told me I had to. So last week, I went to Gold’s Gym a couple of times with my friend. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I’m not an exerciser. So I have a hard enough time trying to look like I belong there and keeping people from trying to call an ambulance when they see my face all red and me gasping for air. So my main focus is usually just to keep moving, not make eye contact with those around me and watch whatever movie is playing. Thursday should have been no different but when we went I was so thirsty before we even started so Marissa said I could borrow one of her water bottles. It was the kind with the big opening at the top that you have to screw off and on. And, for whatever reason I was having the hardest time drinking from it. I didn’t think it would matter too much until I was on the treadmill attempting to drink it while I walked. It was impossible.
So there I am walking at a speed that barely keeps my heart rate up (with everyone around me running) trying to keep my breathing from sounding like I’m having some sort of respiratory attack and for added fun – trying to drink out of this water bottle. Finally about 5minutes into the exercise I could take it no more I decided to just try to take a huge drink of water. I started tipping the water into my mouth and it all came pouring out, choking me and causing me to spit most of it out onto my machine (and I’m sure some of the nearby runners) and if that wasn’t enough after that I kept on choking on the water that had managed to stay in my mouth all the while continuing to walk.
What I love the most about this experience is that my friend never looked over. It’s like she just knew that the last thing I needed was more attention drawn to me. She may of course have been looking for a fast exit instead or thinking of all the people she could have went to the gym with that wouldn’t spit water at people and start choking in the middle of their exercise but still…she was really great about it :)

Cannon or Kodak? - This is a story about marriage for all you blog readers, the pretty pictures are for all you blog picture lookers :)

2008-09-01T22:03:00.016-06:00

Paul and I decided it was time to purchase a new digital camera so we went to Best Buy and took a look at a few, and narrowed it down to two, a Sony and another one, that were the same price for pretty much the same features. I was having a sales person tell me about the pro’s and con’s of each camera, while Paul sat there thinking “I totally know more then this guy, I’m just going to keep pushing all these buttons and taking pictures of my wife’s face with the display camera”. After all was said and done I decided on the Sony and went back the next day to purchase it. Later that day Paul and I left for St. George with some of his family, and the first night we were down there his sister mentioned that she was looking to buy a new camera and asked where we got ours. Paul told them how there was a good selection at Best Buy, and how we had decided on ours, and then he mentioned that we had narrowed it down to two, the Sony and a Cannon. Quickly I corrected him saying “actually it was a Kodak”. Paul looked over at me and then said “yeah anyway…so we narrowed it down to the Sony and the CANNON”. Our marriage is a little different then the traditional one, where the women is always right, because I will be the first to say that Paul is right about most things. However, once in a while something like this comes along and I have to seize it because I can count on one hand the times this has happened before. It has been the few times that I am 100% positive that I am right and of course being a man and husband, Paul puts them out of his mind right after they happen like a bad dream. All that aside, this time was different. I knew I was right. He wasn’t even paying attention at the store! I had been there twice! He was SO going down and in front of his family too!
Luckily the next day his sister and husband [Quela & Matt] decided to head to Best Buy to get a new camera, So Paul and I decided to meet them there to settle this thing once and for all. What had started as playful banter was now a serious situation. As we drove in the car the entire way Paul said “I am so sure that I am right that I would bet money on this well - not with you because I’d be betting my own money but anyone else.” “I’ve never been so sure of something in my life”. I just sat there listening to his pride full well knowing that in a moment he would have none left. (But in the back of my mind for the first time I had started to doubt myself). And I could tell he was too as we pulled into the store. Wanting to get one last word in though since I’d been through this before I made him promise that if he were wrong we wouldn’t try to pretend that it was “never that big of a deal and he never said any of those things”. We pulled into the parking space and I could tell he was thinking the same thing as me. WE both opened our doors, before the car even stopped, and jumped out of the car and took off running. I was in heels so I was at an immediate disadvantage but I still prevailed. When we got in the store the cameras were right in front (also right next to Quela & Matt). I was a little scared and I’d hoped to see them first so that if by some chance I had been wrong I could go hang my head in shame. The thing I saw first was Paul’s face…he had lost and he knew it. It was the rarest most uninspiring thing and yet I felt like I was Michael Phelps on closing day of Olympics. I hadn’t just won a bet with my husband…I had made a statement for all women kind! It was awesome.
Anyway the rest of the trip was fun. We got lots of pics with our new Sony camera and we had a lot of fun with the Leonhardts (Matt, Quela & Roxy) and the “Older” Henderson’s (Patrick & JaNae) :)

A little about my thoughts...okay a lot about my thoughts....maybe TOO much about my thoughts

2008-08-25T08:58:00.018-06:00

For those of you that are like me and just like to look at the blog pics and read the short stories, I apologize this isn't one of those :I....

Paul has been traveling quit a bit the past two months or so which has really made me have to start to become more independent. Ridiculous things that he always did for me like (would you believe it) putting gas in my car, changing the litter box (yeah, I always wondered why people thought it was SO hard and such a hassle to have three cats and now it's like - note taken), taking the garbage down to the corner on garbage day and other simple tasks that I thought nothing about. On top of that I've had to dive into my so called "talents and hobbies" because I've been alone much more and had the extra time. So, this past year or so I've gotten into reading. I read mystery, true crime, biographies and, yes, some self-help. I really like non-fiction because I do believe it is true that Truth is stranger then Fiction and also because I feel like I'm learning something that is more useful to me when I know it's true. My current read is about one of my all time favorite subjects; Serial Killers. Now although Ted Bundy is my least favorite of them I felt the need to finally learn about him since he seemed to be some what of the "icon" as far as the norm on serial killers goes. Two words I say together all the time normal and serial killer. Anyway, right now I'm reading "The Stranger Beside Me" which is written by Ann Rule about her relationship with Ted Bundy. So far it's pretty good as far as true crime goes. I like the insight because Ann Rule was actually quite close with Ted Bundy and would even discuss the murders with him and talk about how people wanted her to write a book about it and ALL of this was before she knew he actually WAS the killer. I've got to say that so far in the book I've really found myself dropping a lot of my preconceived notions about Bundy and thinking to myself "oh Ted, why couldn't you just keep your "personal interests" in check" and "...so your name was changed three times before you were four because you were an illegitimate child is this really a reason to kill people? I know, I know, you thought your Mom was your sister but aren't we all brothers and sisters in a way?"

Anyway, more then reading and more then probably any other personal interest I have, I LOVE movies! About a month ago I started realizing how many movies I hear reference to all the time that I've never seen. And I'm not just talking about ones everyone loves, I'm talking about classics. Movies that people pretend to love because they feel they have to (like Citizen Kane). I consider myself somewhat of a movie buff and yet there are so many that I have yet to see. So I created a running list of all the movies I wanted to see and since the majority of them are things Paul doesn't want to watch I wait till he goes out of town and rent them. Recently I've been able to cross a few off the list. One of them combined literature, serial killers and movies stars so it seemed like a no-lose but I have to say...while I walked away feeling a little in-lightened I also walked away I little frightened (no rhyme intended) and not because of the theme but more the movie content, I'm pretty resilient when it comes to language and violence and anything that earns a movie an "R" rating but some of the things in this movie were too much - like watching a man almost rape another man (and yes I've seen American History X and will forever feel sad for Edward Norton) and watching too men (one of which is 007's Daniel Craig) make out. Yeah, I can't see "Quantum of Solace" now!!! It had already taken me over a year to get over my boycott of the James Bond films because I was bitter about them changing it so much AND I had just barely started to like Pierce Brosnon (because NO ONE will ever be better then Sean) but, it's all over now for sure! The movie was called "Infamous" and was about Truman Capote and the writing of his book "In Cold Blood" - which would be on my "books to read list" but I don't have one yet.

Anyway, to close this up I want to quickly mention the best movie that I’ve seen recently that I loved and will probably become a favorite. It’s off “The List” and it is definitely in the top 5 I’ve seen this year for sure. It's “Wall Street” some of you may be thinking “you think you know movies and you hadn’t seen “Wall Street” the answer unfortunately is yes but I have now and it was definitely worth the wait. I loved it. I mean Michael Douglas a bad guy? He’s the “American President”! Who knew? Plus, there’s Charlie Sheen looking like he just hit puberty and his Dad being played by Martin Sheen (his REAL life Dad) – trust me, it only added to the magic that was Wall Street. Now, I will be the first to admit that I did not understand all the jargon because the whole concept of the stock market is lost on me but luckily I was watching with my friend Marissa who is extremely knowledgeable about it all and savvy with the jargon. But the jest is simple; insider trading is bad and you’ll probably go to jail if you do it - Just ask Martha Stewart :)

Thanks for reading (if you did) “I’m Audi 5000 – keep it Sleazy”

Oregon, Mulnomah & The Mansion

2008-08-19T12:50:00.020-06:00

After the majority of Paul's family left Oregon, Paul & I, April and his parents stayed behind. Me and Paul decided to try to hit up a few tourist sites and have some fun. It was a little like being on vacation with my Dad again :) Paul has a hard time sitting still! Anyway, we decided to hit up the Mulnomah Falls and the Pittock Mansion. Both of them were a lot of fun. We even had time to go to a place called Mt. Tabor Park that Paul remembered going to as a kid. It has a view of the whole city and Paul's Dad even suggested that we drive the car up there and...take advantage of the view if you know what I mean! Paul's Mom wanted to die I think especially when he started talking about all the times he and her had done the same thing :)

The park was beautiful and the view was as amazing as it sounds. Portland really is a beautiful city. Granted there are plenty of parts that I wouldn't want to walk through by myself or ever really but overall it is definately a place I would love to live. The falls were also beautiful and so peaceful. I could have stayed there all day. It truely is amazing to think about how many beautiful places there are right here in front of us or only miles away.

The Pittock Manson was Paul's favorite part though I think. It's also what my Dad would have enjoyed the most too. The mansion was built by Henry Pittcok and completed in the year 1914 he was one of the founders of Portland. After moving there when he was just 21 he began working for the newspaper, the Oregonian and eventually owned it. He invisioned a house that the rest of the world at the time wouldn't see for decades. Heck, my house still doesn't have some of the luxaries of his. It was really interesting but most of all it was just me and Paul and that's my favorite way to be.

On our last night there Paul, me, Paul's parents and Paul's Grandma Meg all went to dinner at McGraths. It was a lot of fun. My only regret is that I don't get to see Paul's Grandma more. I know there is so much she could teach me and so much I want to learn from her. What a legacy she has started. Thanks for the great trip Meg :)