a blended life

I've reached a special point in the night where I'm too tired to study anything and too awake to go to bed. So I blog. I mentioned last time that I went to Devil's Kitchen. It's outside of Nephi (yep, Utah has a town called Nephi) and into some mountains. It was actually stunning scenery, another reminder that Utah has some really fantastic landscapes. The beauty is there, folks, it just has to be found sometimes. Bad lighting, but still cool: To get here, you drive on some road (duh) and walk on a woodsy path about 1/4 of a mile. Then all of sudden, voila! Red rock and hoodoos everywhere. Hoodoos are those tall spiky things that stand alone. The whole thing is totally out of place with the rest of the scenery. It looks very desert-ish but is actually in the middle of the Uintah forest. I was alone and don't know how long I gawked at it. Then my camera died and I peed in a bush.  Tonight I should be at Witch's Night Out at Gardner Village with ...

Let's openly acknowledge this important fact:  I've lost my marbles. Here are a few examples: 1. My Netflix home page is almost entirely kid's stuff. Except for that re-watching of Sherlock incident. Other than that, I have neither the time nor the attention span to sit through a show. My kids have taken over and now Netflix thinks I like Yo Gabba Gabba. I promise I don't.  2. The chicken being singled out here (with the huge tail feathers whose name is June) climbed on my arm and started preening my hair for me. Even weirder--I let her do it. Even weirder than that--I thought it was cute. 3. I'd rather have chickens than a dog. And considering my BFF growing up was a corgi named Spock ("Pookie!"), this is extremely strange.  4. I made an appointment with a doctor to discuss all the ways stress is affecting my health. Then I canceled the appointment because it was too stressful to make the time to go.  5. I ate a w...

I should do this more often. This is just the past week. Me: "Leah, did you go potty?" Leah: "Yeah, I already went twice in the bath." Me: "......." Hannah watching the debate: "Mom, I really like Aback Orama." (keep in mind that I don't discuss politics with my kids. yet.) Hannah: "Mom, pictures of you look really weird. But it's okay, you're pretty cool in real life." Leah: "Can we please work on Faith in God? I just really want to be a better person." Leah: "I was waiting for a good time to say this and Sunday seems to be a good time. I think you are a great mom." Awww!! Me: "Oh, crap." Leah: "Crap is a swear. And all you do is SWEAR." I don't, by the way.

I woke up at 5 am today with a blasting migraine, sore back and pained knees. After a handful of Excedrin, half a sleeve of saltines and two Mounds (yum!), I decided, "What better way to spend my morning than blogging about Fall Break." Naturally. Here's the deal about Fall Break. It happens in Utah every fall (!) and magically coincides with the start of the deer hunting season. I told the girls we were going to do whatever didn't cost very much money, and one of the days had to be a hike. We (mom, girls, Jacob, me) went to Timp Caves early Thursday morning to hike. I called ahead and was assured that we could hike and it wasn't too full that day (they only allow a certain number of people to go through the caves at a time, so you have to make reservations). We drove an hour to get there and they said it was too full. Argh!! We took Jacob home and went with Plan B. They wanted to ride Trax (again) and go to Temple Square (again). See the Spring Break...

(The title "Great Harvest" refers to an excellent bakery here in Utah. If you haven't tried it, please come visit me and we'll have some fat-tastic, calorific goodness.) Face Update: At the follow-up appointment with the dermatologist, he said (and this an exact quote), "If you'd like, I can harvest one of those sores so we can see exactly what virus it is. You'll have a permanent scar, though." He actually said 'harvest' in reference to something on my face. I had to decline such a tempting offer. I look much better now--just some scabby, flaky leftovers. I'm willing to pull my head out of my hoodie and face real life. "Stop looking at me!" Let's talk about something else. Like something else harvest-related. If you're like me, you make it to October every year and think, "All I want is about a million pumpkins because they are the happiest, wonderfullest vegetable."So this year, I decided to pl...

So, after my last post I realized I was a bit wiggy. That's an understatement. I woke up the next day with red, irritating bumps around my eye. By Tuesday, they had blown up into ugly, festering blisters. I went to the dr and he decided it was a bacterial infection and prescribed antibiotics (which I didn't fill). This morning, the blisters had doubled in number and size. There are about 20 of them. Yes, I counted. I looked like a complete freak--too vain to take a picture of it. I canceled math and went to the dermatologist. Here is a brief summary of what I said, "I have ugly sores all over my face. I can't be seen in public. I want to hide under a blanket for week. Please make them go away by tomorrow because this is ruining my life." After some thoughtful pontification, he concluded that it was a breakout of cold sores due to excessive stress. It's true, you can get cold sores around your eyes and up your forehead. The nurse gave me a cortisol shot ...