Where do weekends go?

It seems weekends are always way too short. They are never long enough for me to accomplish everything I would like to, but what can you do? This weekend was unlike any other, in it felt like it was over before it started. I spent the day on Sat. taking the F.E.... again. They changed the rules at school so I don't have to pass to graduate anymore, but I will still need to pass it at some point since it is a licensing exam. That night, we ordered pizza and had my 11-year-old niece come over to spend the night. She lives in our neighborhood and due to an unfortunate incident at their brand new house, it has been particularly uncomfortable for my sister-in-law and her family (i.e. their entire kitchen is ripped out... straight to the floorboards and the cabinets and appliances are sitting in the living room) so she was really excited to come over. She loves hanging out with us anyhow (as much as we love to spend time with her!) so we were excited for her to come over. She stayed most of the day sunday too. Since Halloween is this week and in the search for the perfect costume left her with the same one as last year (um, yeah, since when did kids costumes become so trashy???), I helped her make her costume. With several trips to crafts stores, k-mart and target, we ended up making her into a version of a punk rock fairy. She looks really cute and I can't wait to see it all put together. Which will be on Friday morning. Her poor mother has had a streak of bad luck lately and is having surgery on thursday and won't be home until friday so my niece will most likely be spending the night with us. Then, since her mom's surgery is on her hip, I'll probably be taking her out that night too. I'm excited since I haven't been out and about for halloween since I was a kid. Of course I say it's going to be fun now, but I'm not the one getting the candy so probably not. Who knows... now I just need to charge up my camera battery so I can get some pictures of my niece all cute in her costume!

$5.07 at Wags

I'm quite pleased with myself today... I got everything in the following picture for $5.07 (after mail-in rebates of course). It still could go down to $3.07 but I'm not sure if one of my rebates is going to count the coupon I used or not which was $2. I could've gone a little bit cheaper with my filler items which would've made it even lower, and then one of the walgreens I went to (which I'm going to stop going to) made a stink over a few coupons but it was still a good deal so I kept the items. Oh, and I had to get 2 theraflu's which wasn't initially my plan but it worked out still in my favor. Anyhow... I would go into the coupons I used but there were a ton. I made a total of 3 trips as well (one of which was because I got double charged on an item so I went ahead and picked up some additional items. My total list of items is as follows: 3 packs of various sudafed, 2 crest toothpaste, 1 maalox, 1 pert plus shampoo, 2 theraflu warming, 1 always infinity, 1 alk-seltzer plus cold and sinus, 3 packs of various tylenol, 3 packs of various excedrin, bag of lifesavers (DH picked out), 2 packs of m&m's (used for fillers), 2 lindt chocolate bars, 2 different L'oreal advanced revitalift (each normally go for $16.49!), and a Rimmel Lasting finish foundation. Not bad, huh?

Utah Drivers

E-mail from an old co-worker.... it would be funny if it weren't so true!

New Regulations in the UTAH Division of Motor Vehicle's 2008 Handbook:

1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A confident UTAH Driver avoids using them.

2. Under no circumstance should you maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, because the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the less chance you have of getting hit.

4. WARNING! Never come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in your being rear-ended.

5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork. Especially with California, Nevada or Arizona plates. With no insurance, the other operator probably has nothing to lose.

6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a vigorous, foot massage as the brake pedal violently pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to strengthen your leg muscles.

7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to prepare other drivers entering the highway.

8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures; given only as a suggestion and are not enforceable in UTAH during rush hour.

9 Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that a California driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.

10 Always brake and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire. This is seen as a sign of respect for the victim

11. Learn to swerve abruptly without signaling. UTAH is the home of high-speed slalom-driving thanks to the Department of Transportation, which puts construction in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them alert.

12. It is tradition in UTAH to honk your horn at cars in front of you that do not move three milliseconds after the light turns green.

13. To avoid injury in the event of a collision or rollover, it is important to exit your vehicle thru the windshield right away. Wearing your seat belt will only impede your hi-velocity escape from danger.

14. Remember that the goal of every UTAH driver is to get ahead of the pack by whatever means necessary.

15. In UTAH, 'flipping the bird' is considered a polite salute. This gesture should always be returned. Thank You, The UTAH Motor Vehicles Commission

Reason #42

I love being an Aunt which is a good thing since #42 of my nieces and nephews was born this past Wednesday! Sorry, no pictures yet. My in-laws are in Michigan as I speak (write?) so I'm hoping they bring some pcitures back with them. Numbers 43 and 44 aren't too far away from being born either (one will be a great-niece and other will be a nephew). It's crazy how quickly we surpassed that #40.... no wonder everyone has a hard time believing I'm an Aunt to so many! And yes... I know all of their names (seems to be a common question).

Oh, and in other news.... My good friend Stacey had her baby boy, Tiegan, a few weeks ago as well! No pictures of him either since I haven't had a chance to visit them yet but they did send me a picture on my phone that is oh so cute! He is a beautiful baby... I wish phones took better pictures so I could post it!

$800 for a windshield?!?

That's right folks, I broke my windshield (or rather a rock off of a truck did) last week and after 2 trips by the nice glass people, and $800, I have a new windshield. Yup, you read that right... $800. And yes, I did research to get the best price. Actually, the place that came back the cheapest installed one windshield and had to come back 3 days later to replace it because my rearview mirror couldn't be installed to it (I watched the poor guys try for 20 minutes before they called the manufacturer with the vin number to figure out what was going on). Turns out, the only manufacturer of my windshield is the automaker themselves. All those nifty little gadgets that I thought were so cool on my car really aren't as cool as I thought anymore. Turns out the rain sensor that I love on rainy days... that's what caused the big ticket amount. Sad thing is, that isn't the most expensive windshield the place has ever installed. Turns out there is one for $1500 because that car has an alert that tells you when you're drifting. Who would've thought that all of those cool things rest in the windshield? Not me... At least the dang thing has a year warranty on it.

1,000 marbles

My mom sent this to me this morning and I felt the need to share. I think even as I have been caught up in just trying to finish school or moving on to the next project that it's so easy to forget the important things.

(edit: my father e-mailed my mom, myself and my sister back.... his boss recieved this e-mail several years ago causing him to establish a new policy that nobody is to work on Saturdays. Goes to show how big of an impact a story like this can have on peoples lives.)

1,000 Marbles

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned in to one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up in to the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say

'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's 'dance recital' he continued;' Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'

'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays.' 'I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles I took them home and put them in side a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.'

'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight .'

'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.'

'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!'

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on?' she asked with a smile. 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.

A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.

7 months

In 7 months I will be officially graduated. Thank goodness. And now all I have to do is wait it out and get through my classes. Yesterday I went around and collected all the necessary signatures (advisors, dept. head's, dept. advisor and the schools graduation dept.) and turned in all the final paperwork for me to graduate. They said it should take longer than a day to do but I did it realitively fast thanks to some advance planning. I'll be relieved when it's all over with either way.
For now, I just need to survive through the next 8 weeks (we're on fall break next week... woohoo!), then of course the 16 weeks of my final semester.

Halloween on Wisteria Lane

For those of you who know where I live, you probably also know that many people joke about my nieghborhood being like Wisteria Lane. Some of the women in my neighborhood have even started a blog (sorry, everyone but the ladies of the nieghborhood are locked out) called "the Real moms of DB". Anyways, I love my neighborhood but evidently so does much of the city. Every year at halloween, people load up their cars and head to our neighborhood... lining cars up and down the streets. Granted, some of the houses are quite close together but I think some of it is because we live in a really unique neighborhood. Anyhow, last year our house was located in the midst of construction and we therefor only got a handful of kids (literally 10... 4 of which we hunted down ourselves!). This year we're prepared for our "village" to get hit hard. We have a brand new elementry school close by so now people know where we're at. So how do you prepare for a buttload of kids knocking at your door? Well, if you're us, you buy a few bags of candy and stock up on non-pershible items like toys that can be saved for next year to handout if you don't get enough kids. This year, our item of choice is glow bracelets. Yup, I stocked up on the suckers... 300 of them to be exact. The good news is... I'll be able to tell who has been to our house! The bad news? We'll probably be one of the most popular houses (unless someone else came up with the same great idea...) which is what happened to my parents when they handed out bubbles one year. And if we're not the most popular??? Well, those babies have a 3 year shelf life. Whoo-hoo! If you're wondering... I spent less than I would've on candy too and we've tested one out and their great! Bring on Halloween!

Introducing Harley!

Not much has been going on in our lives other than work and school (which explains the lack of posting), but I'm still delayed on this one. This is our new puppy, Harley, that we got a little over a week ago. D really wanted another dog (partially as a companion to Roxy), and after a disaster with a pound puppy (very long story about a 5 year old dog that we adopted for a whole week that evidently hated us and had to be returned to his no-kill shelter) D decided to go back to the breed that he fell in love with when Roxy was a puppy. An imperial shih-tzu.. otherwise known to people as a teacup shih tzu. The little dude will be no more than 10 lbs, which is still quite a bit bigger than my little 2.5 lb. Roxy, but still small. He turned 9 weeks yesterday and while I have taken lots of fun pictures of him, they are all currently locked in my camera... with the easter pictures. Oh well. This picture is actually from the breeder but I still thought it was cute! He's made himself quite at home and we've already had a lot of fun with him.
Other than that... I'm in week 7 of fall semester which means only 8 weeks to go. We have fall break next week which I'm so very grateful for. This semester hasn't been too bad but I'm still ready for it to be over with.
As for home life... my only goals lately involve trying to do some deep cleaning and organizing. I also am trying to get up the motivation to start decorating the house some more again too. We have some great ideas but unfortunately ever single one of them involves us painting first which we aren't too thrilled about. I'm thinking that over next summer I might actually get to it since I'll be free of school, which means I'll have much more free time.
Speaking of being free of school... I go in tomorrow for my graduation review! Yippee!!