A Trip Away

I got away earlier this month. Further away than even just hiding out in the bathroom this time.
My mom, ever so graciously, came and watched the trio of boys from a Friday to a Thursday while I jet-setted off to foreign Georgia, USA.
It was Sam's last US-based race this season. So, to be honest, after some ups and downs in our marriage as of late, it was decided that maybe we needed a little time together.
Friday: Enjoyed the flight from Vegas to Atlanta. Did not enjoy, so much, getting thorougly confused when two interstates joined and threw my mile marker mojo way off. I made it, though.
Saturday: Confiscated the GPS from Sam and then began to enjoy crusing around in my little rental. Watched Sam's race. But, it was 12 hours. Enjoyed it even more after a 3 hour stint at the Mall of Georgia and returning to the hotel to watch the last hour via television with Popeye's Chicken in one hand and a smoothie in the other.
Sunday: Didn't really want to break the Sabbath, but God doesn't really look in on those Southern Baptists in Georgia, does He? I just kind of blended in with the rest of them as I spent two glorious hours perusing the merchandise at Target. Went to the ALMS banquet (see pics below) before jet-setting, once again, off in our luxe mode of transportation: Andrus truck #676.
Monday: Delivered the car/equipment to Orlando airport, found Orlando hotel, also found Orlando factory stores.
Tuesday: Outsmarted David, our timeshare salesman. He said we'd part as friends, but we don't think he really meant it. Hahah, joke's on you David! Free breakfast and thank you for paying $100 toward our Magic Kingdom tickets, sucker! DisneyWorld, I mean the "Magic Kingdom," was fun. Last time I was there was 1988. I think I still smiled as big as I did when I was 8 years old.
Wednesday: Disney's Hollywood Studios. Do NOT waste your time.
Thursday: Home to SG again. Sam and I parted ways at 3 am. I was off to the airport where I was back in SG by 3 pm. Sam arrived....well, days and days later.

American Le Mans Series banquet
Food, that I thought was actually pretty good.

Sam didn't know how to eat it. He wanted McDonald's.

Andrus Trucking makes it to Paddock Row. The Flying Lizards team rented a trailer from Andrus for some stuff. It made it front and center.

And I HATE, HATE, HATE pics of myself lately, but I had to post this one. On the left is Lord Paul Drayson, owner and driver, and Johnny Cocker. I think I weigh more than both of them :(

Drayson Racing Lola Judd

Sweet Brothers

He probably wouldn't admit it, but I think Milo kind of likes his brothers...

EM Whiting Reunion

The first part of August we made another trek to the Whiting Homestead near Springerville, Ariz. This was the "big" reunion that I hadn't been to since it was "Great in '88" and I was eight-years-old. The organizers got wind that we had put on a pretty spectacular play (hehehehe) last year at our little reunion and they invited us to put on "The Cleanest Town in the West" one more time.

After the reunion we headed to Lone Rock Beach at Lake Powell. My kids and I stayed only a day and night as Matt had school that started on that Wednesday.

My family followed a day later to my house. We went to Vegas and visited a buffet (always a highlight), decided the fun dome at Circus Circus didn't look so fun, saw the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef, my two kids and I rode in the elevator with Miss Universe, walked Fremont Street and saw the light show, and visited the pawn shop from the History Channel's "Pawn Stars."

Milo and Lucy Ann
Matt in Holbrook, Ariz. In the back is the house my Grandpa Whiting lived in for a few years when he was younger and again after he and my Grandma were married. Stories I've grown up hearing took place in that very house.

Waiting for the candy cannon to launch

The Swings

Milo and Janna

I Heart Cement

If I could, I would probably cover my back yard in cement - you know, just for maintenance purposes.

Sam talked to me into this little beauty last week. And herein lies one of Sam and I's differences: He wanted a cement pad. Last Wednesday was the first I'd heard of this. The workers scoped it out on Thursday, gave him a price and today, merely a week later, we have a cement pad nearly twice the size as our first home. I have been wanting a retaining wall for four years now. It's still a pipe dream for me.

Sam's arguments for the pad: the kids can play on it so they're not by the road in the driveway/we'll put a garage or shed in the corner for a lot of my junk in the other garage/I'll use it to park my trucks on and work on them at home so I'll be home more and give you a break.

So, the man knows the right buttons to push.

For the future, though, he just better clean up his stinkin' oil spills because it's so pretty right now.

RIP Tachikara

December 1990 - August 19, 2010

He was a good ball.

He was pounded on gym floors during many a Fall.

I was 10 when I found him under the Christmas tree.

He was made of actual leather, a special ball just for me.
He saw action on the carpet of the cultural hall.

He loved it when I'd serve him so hard he made people fall. (OK, not really.)

As with too many things I used to do

He was forgotten once the kids came along, too.

Alone. Outside in the weeds he met his demise.

A tractor ran him down, he must have had a fright.

I hope his last thoughts of us together were swell.

I was so proud of that ball, that ball that taught me to play volleyball well.

Gone, but not forgotten.

Parenting Tip

I allow my children....

...to beat each other...
...this time, with strange pillow-like devices....


....until they deflate....

....and so they sleep well at night.

(Look for my parenting handbook on amazon.com coming soon.)

Mud

This is what happens when I absent-mindedly tell the boys:

"Yea, I don't care. Whatever. Just get out of here."

Toy Story 3 and 3 Little Guys

Call it the summer doldrums: the space between the late spring's false anticipation of leisurely sunning myself by the pool and the reality of post-July 4th's we-haven't-even-hit-the-hottest-part-of-a-St.-George-summer-yet. It's the space in time where the $10 slip-n-slide is no longer a novelty but a piece of plastic and the fantasy of an actual lake trip is put off because it's Sam's "busy time." Mid July beckons with "damn, it's already time for another family reunion," and the reality/guilt that I haven't helped Matt with his reading/math/astrophysics that I dimly remember fervently promising Mrs. Clark I would practice with him.

Yes, the summer doldrums have been a time for bopping in the heat waves, not really accomplishing much other than consuming large quantities of Otter Pops. How did J. Golden Kimball put it..."I don't know how the people of St. George can stand the heat, the snakes, the Indians, and the flooding Virgin River. If I had a house in St. George and a house in hell, I'd rent out the one in St. George and move straight to Hell."

So, we needed an escape from reality. The posse, which includes myself, Matt, Milo, and Cooper (and Cooper is definitely the one in charge) went to see "Toy Story 3." I've never taken my kids to the movie. Never taken them alone, by myself, just me, not one else present for a possible beat down nope, no witnesses, just me.

I was a little apprehensive. I had the towing company phone forwarded to my cell, and did I mention I was alone? Oh yea.

But, it was quite enjoyable. My kids behaved well and Cooper sat through most of it. We were armed with goodies, bought at the gas station beforehand, 'cause you know I ain't gonna be buying none of that stuff at the theater. And we enjoyed the movie. Only one time was Coopie kind of loud. As "Big Baby" came on the screen Cooper said, "Wah, wah, baby bottle. Wah, wah!"

In the movie, Andy got himself all growed-up. Andy's mom cries as she looks around his bare room before he heads to college. Matt leans over to me and whispers, "Mom, will you cry when I go to college?"

"Yes, buddy."

And I had a tear well up in my eye thinking of that day.

I think I can handle these dog days of summer with my three little guys.

(P.S. Without any prompting Matt told me, after the movie, that the train at the beginning was his favorite. Good job, Dan! Dan is my cousin, and an incredible artist, who drew/designed the train for Pixar.)

Awkward Family Photos

www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

I can't stop laughing!

I feel inspired now. When I go to my parents' home a few weeks I shall return with my own very special photos to begin my own "Awkward" collection. For a preview: the first photos that come to mind all involve my little bro, Jason, ie. Jason crying because I got more money at a birthday party than he got at his; Jason looking oddly doped up in a pre-kindgarten picture; and Jason in tye-dye. And for those extra special '90s moments: me in Umbro shorts. Can't wait to share the awkward love.

Little Guys

I came across this picture today and it made me giggle...

Kassie is 16!

My little sister is 16 today. It feels like she's been with us forever, but at the same time I can't believe she's already this old.

I was 14 when she was born, and so embarrassed that my mother, at the age of 34, was having a baby. Standing outside Orchard Mesa Middle School on April 12, 1994, I nonchalantly told my fellow eighth-grade friends that, "Oh yea, my mom had that kid last night."

I know....what a brat I was.

Kassie had about as rough a start in life as any baby could. She'd tossed and turned so much the placenta had torn away, and after an emergency C-section, she was born dead. The doctor knew he had to keep working on her, and by some miracle, she's here today after starting life without oxygen for 10+ minutes.

She has Cerebral Palsy and thus some physical and developmental delays. But, she's well aware of what's going on and sometimes her observations are funny and insightful. Like the time she noticed an Andrus truck next her and my mom at a stoplight. "Why is that guy driving Sam's truck?" she wanted to know. Or, like her birthday party today that she demanded be a surprise, complete with explicit instructions to my mom about where she would go and how she would enter the house.

I love my Sissy and yes, I'm glad now that my mom had "that kid."

Dad's Home

Sam came home yesterday. Three weeks the man's been gone.

This has been the story of our marriage. He was a truck driver when we married. He moved from a dedicated trucking route to being a member of a race team that travels the country seven out of 12 months. So, our marriage works that way.

On March 16th we'd been married eight years. He's missed probably six of those anniversaries. He's usually gone a full month out of the year during the summer.

I'm not complaining. I'm actually pretty independent.

But, it's getting harder.

Halfway through this last voyage, Matthew didn't want to play soccer, an admission that's way out of the ordinary for him. Milo's random meltdowns often got him a trip straight to his bedroom. And my too frequent dismissals of Cooper's clingyness left his "Mikey" (blanket) with a few new torns as he found comfort in dragging it everywhere.

I think we all had a good wake-up call about how much we need Dad around.

Today was a much more pleasant day. I needed a reminder of how I do enjoy my little boys. And how much any little boy needs his Dad.

The little AWESOME things

The "Reader's Digest" is the perfect size to sit on the back of the toilet. Ever notice that? That's where the literature sits in my house. And while perusing it the other day while having some "me" time, I came across a little tidbit of goodness I'd like to share. It's a website called 1000awesomethings.com.

This is a partial list of the little things in life that just can make my day. So, here goes the things that make me pull my arm back at the elbow with a fist and say "YES!":

• A cool leather couch to lie on during a hot summer day
• Finding a new gas station that sells crushed ice for my Dr. Pepper
• A poopy diaper that requires little to none bum wiping
• A just warm enough car to take a nap in
• Finding an Idaho Spud at a gas station and not having to wipe the dust off
• The other side of the pillow
• A shopping cart with a seatbelt that actually works
• Finding a TV episode of my favorite show I haven't seen before
• Not having to sing the last hymn during church because the speaker went over
• A new razor
• New underwear
• Putting on underwear right out of the dryer
• Discovering random clearance items at Target
• The warm slide on the swing set - it's just right to lay on and talk on the phone
• Socks that are not inside out
• When Peeps are in the stores
• Speeding and not getting pulled over by the cop who looks right at me
• A full DVR
• Grass that can go another week without mowing
• Having just enough contact lens solution for one more day
• Finding that Cooper peed on the hardwood floor and not the carpet
• Getting suckers at the bank
• Coupons
• 15 copies of one coupon insert I get from my mom at the Daily Sentinel
• Finding a new issue of People, US, or Star Magazine in my mailbox
• Feeling the mist of a neighbor's sprinkler in the middle of a sweaty jog
• Discovering a random water fountain works while running on a St. George City trail
• Finding a sucker at the bottom of my purse when I desperately need to put it in my child's mouth at the store
• Getting a cushioned chair in Sunday School
• Being close to a heater vent on a cold day
• Sore muscles
• When the lawn mower cleanly picks up a pile of dog poop
• Clipping my toenails
• Calling someone and them actually sounding excited to talk to you
• Calling someone who owes the towing company money and them actually being pleasant about it
• Getting ahold of someone who owes me money
• A crisp dollar bill
• Any dollar bill
• Waking up to find no children got up to ask for a drink in the night
• Reading a blog and laughing out loud
• My hot pad with a long extension cord that will reach anywhere in my family room
• When Cooper says "Oh, man!" or "OK, mom," when I was really expecting a fit
• Sharing a funny story or website and having my audience be equally amused
• Making someone who intimidates me laugh or smile
• Realizing my PIN for almost everything is the last four digits of my high school best friend's phone number
• When Matt reads
• Learning a new function in QuickBooks
• Feeling OK when I look at the huge knuckle on my right ring finger that I got playing volleyball
• The clock when it reads 2 am and I thought it was closer to 5 am
• A full battery on my cell phone/IPOD/laptop
• When I tell Milo we have to drop something off to a guy and he asks, "What guy? Jason or Erik?" all the time (those are his uncles)
• A sharp knife to cut carrots
• Looking at all the hair on the floor after a haircut
• Being on track with my LOST theories
• Taking my ponytail/braid out and rubbing my scalp
• A song on the radio I haven't heard since 1996
• Turning on the dim lights after the kids have gone to bed and the house is clean
• Thinking that my driver's license photo is actually a great headshot
• Discovering I can throw away papers I'd been keeping forever

My Next 30 Years

Today I turned 30. To celebrate, I'd like to take a look back at my last ten years with a quick review:

Age 20: Graduated from Dixie College, worked at Houston's in Kanab, went one semester to the University of Utah
Age 21: Moved back to St. George, met Sam, got engaged
Age 22: Married Sam, moved to Santa Clara home
Age 23: Finished college at SUU
Age 24: Baby #1 - Matt
Age 25: Ran my first marathon
Age 26: Baby #2 - Milo, moved to current home
Age 27: Baby #3 - Cooper
Age 28: Can't recall anything, survived?
Age 29: Ran second marathon

But being the realist that I am, I have to concede that while these were all pretty big events in my life, they weren't without some hardships, as well. So, since I HATE blogs about perfect husbands, children, hobbies, color schemes, and yummy treats, I have to interject some realism into my "20s List" (to help out all those folks that, like me, need to know that everyone else does NOT have a perfect life).

Age 20: Was so confused about where to go after Dixie, I felt lost
Age 21: Felt like I had to compete for Sam's affection, I won, but what was this, "The Bachelor"??
Age 22: Felt like a failure for not getting married in the Temple
Age 23: Gained a significant amount of "we're in a comfortable routine now" marriage weight
Age 24: Did not know what the joys of motherhood were all about with a new baby that screamed for hours and hours every night for two months
Age 25: The year of the mouse invasion in our home - I didn't sleep for weeks
Age 26: Found out I was pregnant when Milo was 5 months old, cried for months because the smells in our new home made me want to vomit and I felt like the old owner's dirt, and bird droppings, would never leave no matter how much I cleaned
Age 27: Threw a flower pot at my husband in front of his friends because I was very emotional
Age 28: Was consumed with three little kids, two of which weren't ready for Nursery at church
Age 29: Ran a marathon and didn't lose a damn pound

Life's not always great, but I am so thankful for the opportunities I've had to finish my education, have a family, and live in a place I like. As Tim McGraw would say I'll "drink a little lemonade and not so many beers, huh, maybe I'll remember my next 30 years." OK, so the beers haven't been a problem, but I can always "do it better in my next 30 years."