New Home...

If and when I am ever rich...I think I want to buy a lot in Springdale Utah and build a home/photo gallery... :)

Chance meeting...

Last night at the reception, we ran into an old friend and her husband that we had lost contact with when I moved to California back in 2005. It was neat to see her, and great luck, as it had been so long, I don't think we could even remember her last name to look her up in the phone book. My wife and I just assumed we would never see her or her husband again. She used to be the receptionist for our pediatrician, but the pediatrician's wife made him fire her...apparently because she felt threatened by her good looks or something. I guess his practice has been struggling since she and the other cool receptionist quit. There really is something about treating your help well...good help can make or break a practice. We really liked her because she kept us stocked up on samples of Nutramagen...that stuff is expensive and she saved us a lot of money. I guess we were about the only people that came to their practice that used this formula. I found out later that there is a red-hot market for Nutramegen on Ebay...people sell half-full cans, etc. I don't think I would want to buy it from strangers, especially when it was partly used, but I guess some people do...Gotta wonder about those kinds of people. Anyhow, looking forward to hanging out with these friends...

Ask me anything...

Well, the girl who used to babysit our kids when we lived in Orchardville got married today...we went to the reception and it was kind of fun to see everyone from teh old ward. One elderly woman asked me if I missed living in Orchardville...they are family that's name is synonomous with Orchardville, kind of like a Yardley or Bradshaw in Castor. I felt funny, because they love the place, but I never really felt like I made many friends in the 7 years we lived there. Why do you ask questions like that? I know most people will just be agreeable and say , "Yes we Miss it," but I couldn't honestly say that. I miss some of the people, but I love the location of our new house. So, please don't ask me questions that you don't want to know the answer to...You might not like my answer...same goes with my wife. #76 asked her if she liked his Salmon shirt and will, she didn't. :)

That's news to me...

Another funny thing is that #66 was asking about how mom was holding up after her divorce. He had heard that she divorced dad in DJ and moved to R. #76 told #66 that he was an idiot, and that they had move to L, and then to R and were still married. I thought it was funny that #66 thought they were divorced for the past 9 years or so...Talk about rumors

My salmon was good, his salmon was not...

Well, we went to CArver's tonight and I had the best Salmon I have ever had in my life. It was sooo good. #76 was there with a girl from Castor. SHe moved there from Cedar. She was quiet, but mostly because we were catching up on the past few years. I felt kind of bad. We were also making fun of #76's bright salmon (flourescent salmon/coral) shirt. I think it might have made him feel slef-conscious, but he still picked up the tab for us (it was probably over $180). I think to pay him back, I will have my wife buy him 3 nice, stylish shirts that he can wear, and we will ask him to burn the salmon shirt and the flourescent green shirt he wore to the class reunion. :)

It was really good to see them. I hope to hang out with them more in the future. Now that I don't have school looming over my head, I will have more time for that.

Demolition Duo...

Tomorrow my wife and I are going on a triple date with the demolition duo and their dates. #66 is married, and #76 is going on a date with some girl from up here. I was talking to the crow the other day and we were discussing how funny it is that #76 is 34, unmarried, making loads of money, and living a bachelor lifestyle. He bought himself a BMW, goes on trips, and dates a lot. Even though part of my would love to have the freedom that he enjoys, another part of me knows that it would be lonely. I remember when I returned to Portugal in 1998 for Expo 98. I couldn't get any of my friends to go with me, so went alone. Although it was nice to see the country again, it was an extremely lonely time. I was there for nearly 3 weeks and hardly talked to anyone that entire time. Most of the people I was close to on my mission, had moved to the USA. I did visit some of the people I baptized in Setubal in the Camarinha, but it was somewhat depressing. The one 16-year-old daughter was living with her boyfriend, the 18-year-old daughter was not really with the family anymore, the mother had recently had a baby out-of -wedlock and didn't feel comfortable going to church anymore, and the twin boys were still just as rambunctious as ever and didn't go to church either. I tried to visit another woman that I knew. She woudl do our laundry for us every week, feed us hot chocolate with honey mixed in, and always make us laugh. Her name was Irma Aurora and she was from Beja. Unfortunately, she seemed senile when I went to visit her (she was probably in her 80s), and when she didn't recognize me, I apologized for bothering her and left. One of the scary things that happened was when a gypsy approached me in Lisbon trying to sell me Rolex replicas. He kept assuming I had money and I told him I didn't. I almost pulled out my wallet to show thim I only had a debit card, but I think he would have stolen it if I had...I had a huge backpack on and could never have gotten the card back. Portugal had changed when I retuned. Everyone had a cellphone and there were twice as many cars in the narrow cobblestone streets. If you thinik parking around here is bad, move to Lisbon. Many neighborhoods had been torn down and replaced with more modern apartments. I got to visit the town of Evora and thought it was amazing. I will have to blog about the Chapel of bones sometime... I even took a jaunt over to Sevilla Spain one afternoon and thought that city was amazing. I was surprised that Spain was so much differnt than Portugal. Especially the cathedrals and churches. The churches in Portugal are short and squatty, whereas the ones in spain had tall, narrow spires that were beautiful. Expo 98 was lame...kind of like a carnival with lots of displays on various countries and their culture. Not sure how I got from talking about the twins to discussing my trip to Portugal, but maybe I will blog more about it later. I am looking forward to our date this weekend. It should be fun, and a way to create more good memories.

Two blogs...

I just realized I have two blogs...I didn't know that...I guess I must have created one when I was selling things through Google stores (or whatever they call it)...

A time to do....

My best friend through college is in town. His father had two valves replaced and a quadruple bypass surgery on his heart. It was good to see him, but the hour-long visit seemed to lack... I miss living close to good friends and having time to actually spend and do things together. Once you get married and have your own family, it seems there is little time for other things. My friend just moved to London to teach at London Business School. I wish him the best of luck...and maybe someday we will take a flight over and we can actually catch up, or even create some new good memories.

It had to happen sometime...

I have always heard stories from peoples' childhoods where they placed objects in various orifices and could not get them out without a doctor's assistance. My 2-year old shoved a popcorn kernel up her nose today and was freaking out because it wouldn't come out. I had to hold her, hold one nostril shut, and have her blow. On the third try, it popped right out. Thank goodness, I didn' t want to make a trip to the ER today.

Touche...

Today, my 6-year-old daughter was throwing a fit because she couldn't have a brownie because she didn't eat her dinner. I told her that all she had done all day was eat junk food and chocolate and that if she kept eating just junk food, and no dinner, then she was going to turn super-fat and unhealthy when she grew up. She replied, "Oh....just like you?"

Crabby Patties...

Every night I tell 2 stories before she goes to sleep. Lately, she has wanted scary witch stories every night. For the past 3 nights in a row, she has been waking up crying several times a night with nightmares. She went to nursery on Sunday and informed the leaders that there is a witch in her room. I have decided not to tell anymore scary witch stories, although I have told some nice witch stories.

Tonight, I did something different. I told her a story about Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star not being able to afford Crabby Patties at the Krusty Krab. Then 2 showed up with money and bought some for them. About 15 minutes later, I heard 2 in my bathroom. She had a handful of Q-tips and was dipping them in her ear and throwing them in the garbage. I asked her, "What are you doing?!" She replied, "I'm getting the Crabby Patties out of my ears." I explained to her that she didn't have Crabby Patties in her ears, cleaned the remaining wax out, and put her back in bed. Her mom called just as I was putting her back to bed, so 2 talked to her. Her mom told her that she was silly and that she didn't have Crabby Patties in her ears. She responded matter of factly, "I just had to make sure I didn't have Crabby Patties in my ears."

Party Animal

My wife left for work around 11AM...I had the following conversation with my 2-year old.

2: Dad, can we have a party?

Dad: What do you mean? What kind of party?

2: One with balloons, and cake, and icecream, and presents, and balloons, and soda, and cake, and ......

No...I don't think we'll be having that kind of party.

Predators at Hogle Zoo

We went to the zoo today, and it was pretty dead. Most of the animals were inside protected from the cold. The Asian (Siberian) big cats didnt' seem to mind the cold though...Neither did the North American predators..

Siberian Snow Leopard

Siberian Snow Leopard

Siberian Snow Lynx

Siberian Snow Lynx

Mountain Lion (Cougar)

American Black Bear

And another thing...

And also, when I watched the commercial, I wasn't thinking, "Man, we should beat up Gays," I was thinking how lame the guys were for feeling they "had to do something manly." I mean, isn't the ad really poking fun at people who are homophobic?

Snickers Commercial

So, I thought the Snickers "Lady and the Tramp" commercial, during the Super Bowl, was one of the funniest commercials. Apparently, a Gay/Lesbian Alliance took offense, formally complained, and Mars Company (or whichever one owns Snickers) has removed the ad from TV and their website. I can't help but think if the ad was about a gay man and a lesbian woman, and they ate the Snickers until their lips touched, and then they exclaimed, "Did we just kiss?!" and then proceeded to do some behavior to prove their "gayness" or prove their sexual orientation, it wouldn't be offensive...right? I mean, that is just another episode of Will and Grace. :)

I just reread an article that mentioned this:

The ad showed two auto mechanics accidentally kissing while eating their way to the middle of the same candy bar, and then ripping out some chest hair to do something “manly.” One of the alternate endings on the Snickers Web site showed the men attacking each other. The Web site also featured video of players from the Super Bowl teams reacting to the kiss.
The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation complained to the maker of Snickers, Hackettstown-based Masterfoods USA, a division of Mars Inc.
“This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian schoolchildren on playgrounds all across the country,” said Human Rights Campaign head Joe Solmonese.
Masterfoods spokeswoman Alice Nathanson said the company would stop running the ad on its Web site and on TV. “We know that humor is highly subjective and understand that some people may have found the ad offensive. Clearly that was not our intent,” she wrote.

It seems the Gay and Lesbian Alliance should be upset at the professional athletes who were jeering, not Snickers for making the ad...Did they try to get the movie "Philadelphia" removed from theatres because Rednecks and KKK members were jeering during certain scenes? Did they try to make is so "Brokeback Mountain" couldn't be sold on DVD because so many people found it offensive? To me, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to attack Snickers for making the ad...(well, maybe the alternate ending where they attack each other, but even then, I would bet that the creators of the ad were trying to show men acting manly by fighting rather than promoting beating gay people up)...anyhow, it seems like so much of the news is "much ado about nothing."

Deer Photos...

I got to work about 15 minutes early, and my boss was about 20 minutes late, so I took a "shortcut" through Pintura and saw these deer... :)

I know, the effects might look stupid, but I was experimenting...

Thanks for Flying Experience...

My sister, Epitome of Sweetness, asked her husband to take my daughter and I flying for our birthday...she later told my wife that he really didn't want to go, but did. If I'd known he didn't want to go, I wouldn't have agreed to go; nevertheless, it was really fun and I got some nice pictures of Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon, and the Cliffs to the East of Bryce Canyon. Here are some of the shots I took...Tell him thanks...Also, if he wants to get some shots of Flaming Gorge for his mountain flying seminar, I'm game. :)

Your breath smells like...

Here is the conversation between my 6-year old and 15-year old kids as we were pulling out of the driveway to go to Gma's 90th Bday party...

6: "15, your breath smells bad. Didn't you brush your teeth?"

15: "I brushed my teeth, but I just drank a glass of milk."

6: "Your breath smells like skunk!"

Priceless....

Lymerick contest...

Delirious...go to www.kuer.org and enter some of your lymericks in their contest... :)

90th Birthday...

Tomorrow most of our family is getting together to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday...That means my grandmother has been around since approximately 1917. That means she has lived through both world wars, the invention of the television, the invention of the computer, the constructions of the interstates, etc. I think when she was a little girl in Idaho, it was very much the same as pioneer times. She has seen so much and I think it will be fun to celebrate her life. If I live as long as her, I will make it past 2060... :)