Oh What Fun!

Yesterday was so much fun! My whole family (in-laws included). . . well almost all of them, went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Danny was surprisingly good. I had tried to find a sitter, but as all of my usual ones were at the movie with us and all of my friends had other plans, he came too. He just ended up being passed up and down the row to keep him entertained, and then he fell asleep during the last few minutes of the movie.

The movie was very enjoyable, and I liked it alot. I won't give anything away, which is hard for me. I am a compulsive answerer, so if you ask me I will tell you and probably in greater detail than you want.

After the movie we had a barbecue at my parents house, which is always fun. It was great to just relax and enjoy the day.

In other News

After only a year of very poor service, Mesa Airlines has decided to quit. Here is the story:

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070526/NEWS01/705260305

My favorite quote:
"After a tumultuous year plagued by delayed and canceled flights, Mesa Airlines is leaving Cedar City. It's doubtful this departure will be on time, either."

Journals. . .

A friend has sparked a thought of mine about journals. I have always been a journal keeper - although not always a very good one. In fact, the only times I would feel a strong need to write in a journal was when something amazing happened in my life, or there was a guy I really liked. For my college years I have about 5 journals, remarkably filled. Since becoming engaged, however, I have only wrote in my journal twice. Once to tell about Scott and how we met, and once to record Daniel's birth. I was suddenly living, and didn't have time or desire to record every detail.

Of course, I still write. I have random thoughts and feelings recorded everywhere. My journal has become scattered, filling paper, computers, and margins of books. I kept every notebook from college, so my thoughts would remain. My children will have alot of fun poking through all of my stuff to see what randomness I came up with.

I have also decided to start writing the stories of my life. It is hard to write these stories while you are in the middle of them - life happens fast and there isn't always a faithful recording. I used to try to "catch up" but that never did justice to the experience. Now, however, I can take several days or longer to give each story the attention it is due.

As I thought about journal keeping, it brought to mind the book of Nephi. Here was a prophet who kept a journal. His was not the typical, record daily what occurred to you, account. It was the stories of his life, his favorite scriptures, his poetry, his hopes, his fears, his struggles with God. This journal was kept specifically for his children, so they would know of his faith and trust in Heavenly Father. He didn't muddle it with day to day insignificants. We do know that he kept other records, he seemed to like things kept in a topical fashion. He mentions another record that would record the daily things of his people, so we can assume that he may have had others as well.

Scott's Favorite Pen

My husband has a little bit of a pen fetish. He collects pens from every establishment that has one. The cooler they are, they more excited he gets. He has gotten pens from the power company that light up, pens that look expensive, pens that have funny sayings, etc. Our home overflows with writing utensils. Now that he is a car salesman, he uses his business pens for everything, and hands them out like they are going out of style.

He does, however, have a favorite, and it isn't one he got from a business. It is the 4-color pen from Bic. We currently have two of them, one that is permanently stuck in his scripture case, and one that wanders around the house and is usually more lost than found. This is the pen he uses to mark whatever books he is reading, and he guards it zealously.

The funny thing is that Daniel shares his Father's fascination. He adores pens. He doesn't yet understand that they can write (thank goodness, or I would have to re-paint our walls,) but he loves holding them, chewing them, and doing both while walking unstably around. (I sometimes get very scared.) This morning Scott let Daniel play with his favorite pen. Daniel carried it around for over an hour. Scott's only request? "Please don't let him lose it!"

Currently Reading

This last week I got into one of my "Must Read something fun and cool" moods. This typically, for me, means fantasy. Since "fun and cool" were part of that, it also means the fantasy found in the young adult, juvenile section of your local library. While browsing through to find something enjoyable (all the books I wanted were unavailable) I found a new author. I always get excited when this happens, as I tend to read faster than my favorite authors write.

The author's name is Jenny Nimmo, and the series I just finished (until she writes again) is the Charlie Bone series. My husband jokes that they are Harry Potter knock-offs, but I truly enjoy them, and aside from the fact that both Harry and Charlie have magical powers, and go to a school, and. . . okay so I can think of lots, but the writing style and the story are totally different. (I hate it when someone says it's a Harry Potter knock-of, cause everyone relates Youth Fantasy to Harry Potter, just like if there are Elves in it, they relate it to Lord of the Rings.) Anyway, I totally loved them. They have quirky characters, and fun plot twists, definitely some I want in my children's library.

250?

I checked my profile today, just to see what it said. I noticed that I was 250 years old. I wondered why that was, and found that somehow I had managed to put 1757 as my year of birth. Odd. I have no idea how that happened, but my age is now faithfully and accurately recorded.

Since being an apartment manager, I have gained a greater sympathy for fish. Even when the blinds are drawn over my little apartment window, I can see the shadows of people who pull up to my door. They hover, probably reading the notice I have posted, debating about whether or not to knock, even though it is after 1pm. If the blinds are open, and they can see into my apartment, then they don't even bother to read, they just knock. So, to have a life of my own, I either must run from my home to elsewhere, or shut all my windows and doors so no one knows I am home. This gets kinda depressing.

I hate having the curtains drawn. I love natural light. When I have my dream home, I want automatic curtains that open with the sun. Also, I love people. I want friends and family to feel welcome in my home. I love it when they stop by, just to say hi. Unfortunately, when you manage an apartment complex, the ones that knock on the door are not there for you. It is all about business. They knock, I answer. The first words out of their mouths is always the same, "Sorry to bug you outside of office hours, but. . ." They work, they have school, they sleep till 2pm, they don't know how to write their need and leave it in my box, they simply must know right away if there are openings for fall, and is there anyway now that they are here in person that I can make an exception?

Sunday I had a wake up call. For some reason (maybe it was our exciting and exhausting Saturday) I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open. Tired doesn't come close. I woke up ready to go back to sleep. Daniel, of course, was a little ball of energy, and I had to stay awake because Scott had early meetings. It was all I could do to wait until Danny was asleep. I put him into his crib, and crawled into my bed. It was 11:30am. Church started at 1pm. I told myself I would just sleep for an hour, and then I would get ready for church. I woke up to someone knocking on our door, and I woke in a panic. I rushed to find my robe, only to have Danny wake up too. I hurried in to get him, hoping I could get him back to sleep. Scott (who was the one who knocked) came into the house to find me rocking Daniel and shaking at the same time. It was like I was in shock. . . and it was 12:30pm. I calmed down enough to get ready, and we went to Sacrament. After church we went to my parents house, where I was able to sleep, knowing someone would watch Daniel. All I could think about was . . . if I get pregnant and need to take a nap, how am I going to be able to sleep when people are constantly knocking on my door? It is worse to be shocked awake when you are in a deep sleep, than to not sleep at all.

Hopefully we will be able to find ourselves a different situation before that happens. If we are still here, I know I will find a solution. Maybe a big DO NOT DISTURB sign will work. . .

Sand Hollows

Saturday we went to Sand Hollows with some of our friends. Sand Hollows is a man made lake that is surrounded by fine red sand. The sand is just like beach sand, and so it is a lot of fun. All the perks of a beach, but without the fear of undertow, scary animals, and salt.

Danny had a blast! He and his friend Wesley got as dirty as they could possibly get. They destroyed sand castles, threw wet sand, played with the puppy, and even went into the water. Scott managed to take Danny pretty far into the water, but all Danny did was cling to him for dear life and shiver. (The water was a little cold.)

It was so nice to be outside all day. We really needed it. Staying indoors during the lovely spring and summer months is not what God intended. We have been going to the park alot lately, and we are more excited than ever to go camping.

Or maybe not . . .

At about 8 o'clock tonight, I start getting excited. My hunny would be heading home soon, and I will see him around 10pm.

Scott calls me at 8:15pm. "I missed my flight." What?!
"Honey, wasn't your flight at 8:30?"
"Yes, apparently they finished loading the plane early, so they left." Panic, now what do we do?
Scott continues "I called Adam (a friend of ours in Salt Lake) and he is coming to get me, my cell is about to die so. . . " and his cell phone dies.

Here is the story. Scott arrives at the airport around 8:05 and makes it to the terminal by 8:15 at which point, the plane has already left. The nice lady at the counter simply says "You were supposed to be here a half hour early." And leaves him to his own devises. Scott figures, my fault, and calls Adam. I however, am furious. Whoever heard of someone missing their flight when they were EARLY! They had him on the manifest, they knew he should have been coming. They didn't even give him the chance to be on time. Instead, they throw it in his face, leaving him stranded in Salt Lake, and make it sound like his fault. Well Excuse me! I thought the reason we were supposed to be thirty minutes early was so we could get through security and be on time for the flight, not so that we could make the flight "just in case" it decided to leave ahead of schedule.

I checked the flight online. Sure enough, it left at 8:15pm, but was scheduled at 8:30. Scott was early, he must have walked up to the terminal right as the plane was taxiing away. This means that the airline must have decided to leave at around 8pm. They didn't even give him a chance.

So, because some twit in US Airways couldn't wait until the scheduled departure time, my husband is driving from salt lake city. To clarify, Adam is driving Scott from Salt Lake to Cedar, and then he has to turn around and drive straight back. Scott will be here around 1:30am. Adam will then get home around 6am, without any sleep. I am so thankful we have such wonderful friends. Adam and Rinda have really saved us today. I just hope that it doesn't cost them more than a little lost sleep, and I hope to repay them for that too.

Now that is how we should travel!

This morning my husband left the house at 6am. He drove to the little airport, parked his car, and was in Salt Lake by 7:20. Not even an hour and a half of time! That included waiting for his flight! I love to go to Salt Lake, I enjoy the city, adore seeing my friends, and think the shopping is great. I would go every week if I could, just to drop by and say "hi!" It is just a long drive, 4 hours is not something you can do when your husband has 1 day off. Leave early, drive 4 hours, spend 2 with friends at lunch, drive 4 hours back. This scenario doesn't make much sense to me. For that much driving, you should at least get to spend the night!

Scott is at a seminar in Salt Lake today. It is a Steven R. Covey seminar. It starts at 9am, ends at 5pm. His flight leaves Salt Lake at 8:30, he will be home by 10pm. I just love modern technology!!!!

Time for a nap.

I am finally pausing for the first time in 5 days. I have been able to relax today, and it has been lovely. This weekend was the most stressful time of the year for the apartment managers in Cedar City. SUU Graduation was Saturday, and the summer courses began today. Thus, we have had students checking out since wednesday, though the majority of them checked out friday and saturday. Then we had 5 hours of painting saturday night (we ended at about 10:30pm) and began checking students into the freshly painted apartments Sunday morning.

After that rush, today has been pretty peaceful, I have only had three people stop by to talk to me about random apartment info. I have been able to restore my home from chaos, spend some quality time with my little boy (who was an angel through everything) and catch up on all the little things that have been neglected this week.

On a side note: I am stuck in the apartment until at least 1pm, our rental car's battery died. I have to wait for Scott to come home and jump it for me. Apparently, a door didn't close all the way, and with the lights in the parking lot on, we didn't notice.

He laughed at me!

Yesterday I decided to try Daniel on a little bit of formula to help him sleep deeper at night. So I went to the store to get some. I stood in the aisle for a long time, looking at all the options. I finally settled for some of the cheaper stuff (still over $8 a can) and called it good.

Last night I filled a bottle with some formula after dinner. Daniel was really interested, until he tasted it. He got this funny look on his face, spit the bottle out, and started laughing. He thought it was the funniest joke. Every time I tried to give him the bottle, he would refuse it, hands up and everything, laughing ecstatically the whole time! Eight dollars down the drain. I tried giving some to him again this morning, but he took one look at it and started laughing all over again. Maybe I will keep some, just for a little comic relief.