Driving

Yesterday I finally signed Jake up for drivers training. Jake has been very nonchalant about wanting to get his drivers lisence. And I have been more then willing to drive him where he needs to go and avoid the worry and concern and expense that comes with having a teenage driver. In California a teenager can get their permit at 15 1/2. When Jake turned 16 he had zero interest in driving. In fact he wanted a fixed gear bike for his birthday. He explained that he could get anywhere he wanted to go on his bike. So he got an awesome bike for his birthday.

I can't remember exactly when he decided to do drivers education, but it took him so long to complete that I had to pay additional money to the company to keep his account open. Jake finally got his certificate for drivers education early last summer. Since it was summer time he was gone a lot and we never bothered with the training. Then Jake would remind me at random moments that he would want to do the drivers training so he could get his permit. Usually these reminders would come on a Sunday afternoon or late in the evening. By the time the place would be open I would forget to set up the training and Jake never would say anything until that next random moment weeks or months later. There were a couple of times that I was ready to sign up and Jake would do something to upset me and I would say well forget drivers training now. So life went on like this until yesterday. Jake said something to me on the way home from school about some driving law I was complaining about. Basically you can't use your cell phones in CA, and I was complaining. Jake informed me of a couple other laws that are similar but just not enforced. I thought ok this kid knows the laws and needs to get his permit. So I called and set up the training. He will have three 2 hour sessions with a driving instructor. Once we get documentation that he is registered for drivers training we can go down to the DMV and he can take the test for the permit. Then he can call and set up his training sessions. I figured if I wanted to have any coaching in his driving experience I needed to do this now. Because once he is 18 the laws are different and I think the permit time and driving with a parent is over. So here we go into driving bliss!

Music that moves you

Yesterday on my way to work I was listening to a radio station that I enjoy. Its an alternative rock station and they were doing the flash back lunch at noon. The DJ personality starts talking about tomorrows show and that he is really excited about it and wants listeners to start texting in the song that made a difference to them, or was a turning point in their life. Now I instantly started thinking that I dont have a song that that was so huge in my life that it was a turning point... but then I thought what songs have influenced me... What songs made strong impressions on me. The Dj goes on to say that "Teen Spirit" by Nirvana is what he would choose. Thats a good song I admit to myself. The Dj then says he was just getting started in his career as a dj and was working at a radio station in Seattle when Nirvana hit the scene. So I'm thinking ok it doesn't have to be like my favorite song (which is way to narrow minded for me. how can you have one favorite song?) My first thought is Bob Marley, then I think of several bands Pretenders, Clash, Talking Heads, Madonna, Run DMC...

Then I come back to Bob Marley, my first exposure to Reggae. The other bands are great bands but I think Bob Marley is a standout for me because the music influenced my way of thinking. Bob Marley has songs that influence me to relax and enjoy life. I also think his music was the first that I picked up on a political message being addressed in music. He is an artist that I don't tire from hearing. His songs are as good to me today as they were when I was first introduced to it. So to narrow it down I would have to choose the Legend album because that was my first exposure to Bob Marley. But the album in its entirety, not just one song. So this video is of the song that was my first introduction to Bob Marley. There is no way I can pick a favorite Bob Marley song. Just ask my kids I don't pick favorites :) I like to enjoy the experience not worry about favorites.



Last night I was telling Eddie about this and he told me his turning point album was Avalon by ROXY MUSIC. My proud moment was I knew this! He went on to tell me that a family friend gave him this cassette to listen to while backpacking through the High Sierras. Eddie said he went from being an angry punk rock kid to realizing that there was music he could enjoy on a different level. This album was and is one of our favorites still. I have a few of the songs from this album on my ipod list for work. Again its the whole album that makes it so good.

Camp

Lately my time has been consumed with church meetings. And most of my meetings have been planning and discussing girls camp and high adventure camp. Yesterday was no exception. After a 2 hour meeting of Stake Conference our camp committee had a meeting several hours long. We actually brought lunches to the meeting since we knew everyone would be hungry. We got lots of ideas out on the table and made some decisions regarding girls camp. I enjoy going to girls camp and I think we have the makings for a fun week this summer. In February we will start working with the young women who will serve as youth leaders. We have about 20 girls who are eligible to be YCLs (youth camp leader)
Last year I was in charge of getting people from our stake to come up with boats and spend the afternoon tubing and wake boarding over at lake Lopez. The Sunday before we left I had one of my boats back out and unable to go. But I figured things out and even being short one boat we had a great time with the 2 boats we had and things ran smoothly till the last day. The last day all HELL broke loose! Communication was bad at the lake and our cell phones didn't work out there. A few of our leaders lost their minds became frustrated and angry. After a round of shouting matches back at camp, we were left with leaders who would not cooperate with each other and went home on Friday morning still mad and agitated. So this year our camp committee doesn't want to involve boats. Which in my mind is a shame. The girls really had fun and everything went great until that Thursday afternoon. In my opinion, we already have decided not to have back the people involved with that incident and there are lots of other people that have boats and pleasant personalities. But the committee doesn't want to deal with it. This leaves me with trying to come up with afternoon activities that will be fun. We have crafts, swimming, archery, and we have kayaks but these are things the girls have had every year. I got permission to have BB guns and I've got a leader to run the shooting range for this year. But the boats were so cool. I feel like we still need something thats exciting. Something that will bring a new experience to the week. Our committee keeps trying to recycle old ideas. The girls have said to me in the past that they just want something new to do at camp. Thats why I pushed for the boats last year. So now I'm looking for an adventuresome activity to provide at camp.

Book Club

Our relief society sisters have been wanting to do a book club for a LONG time. About a year ago we even bought a book. But the discussion night never happened. I personally found the book difficult to read. I don't think people were very excited about it. So the idea fizzled and died.
Recently the idea has come up again. I was asked to lead the discussion for the first gathering. Since we didn't have a book to discuss I thought it would be appropriate to pick an Ensign article and discuss it and then set the parameters for how we wanted to run our book club. We chose "Putting my hand in the Lords" ( Jan 2009 Ensign pg 36). We had a good discussion on the article and I think we really helped one sister with a situation she is currently dealing with. I thought it was great she was able to share what was on her mind, and we all had some input on things she could try. So we moved on to discuss what we want to read and how often we want to get together. Most ladies wanted to read popular fiction. Some want to read classics. And no one is opposed to the occasional LDS author. We decided that we would meet once a month. And that we would rotate houses among us. The person who suggested the book would host that month. We thought of 10 books for this year. Leaving us open to not meet for the month of December.
Things worked out great for me because for February we are going to read "Marley and Me". Morgan got me this book for Christmas. I was planning on reading it next. I just finished the last book of the Twilight series on Sunday.
I also told the ladies about having an online website were we can discuss and keep track of our books. I am going to make an online book club for the ladies on Shelfari. I'm not sure how that will work out for everyone, but I think it could be fun. From what I've seen you can discuss and review the books you've read. I already keep track of my reading on Shelfari and find it very convenient and fun to use.

My mum never signed out of her blog

its jake and im hungry and there is no food at this house and my mum didnt leave me money!

exploring new things

Recently I was talking to someone about carrot juice, (of all things) and they told me that Costco carried a really good brand of carrot juice. I am really particular about what I drink. I am a huge fan of water! I do like juice but it has so much sugar that I don't use it very often. I almost always have orange juice in my fridge because its one of Jake's favorite. The next time I was out at Costco I picked up 3 bottles of Bolthouse Farms carrot juice. Now I got 3 bottles because its Costco and they only sell it in a 3 pack. I thought well this better be good since I have to get 3 bottles of it.

The first glass of carrot juice I had, I thought "hmmm tastes like carrots..." Yes I know its carrot juice, but it was kinda strong. But I did like it. What I really appreciate is that its pure carrot juice, many are mixed with apple and gives it a different taste. By the time I got through the 2nd bottle I was really enjoying my glass of carrot juice each morning. Now today I have finished the last bottle, Im sure I am the only one drinking it. I wasn't sure after the first experience with the carrot juice if I would purchase a 3 pack again. But I think now after having it for about a month each morning to start my day I have found something I will probably keep stocked on a regular basis.
Now the reason I am careful with what I drink in the first place is almost anything you drink is loaded in sugar except water and even some of the waters have sugar in them now too. Don't assume I'm a total health freak, I enjoy more then my fair share of sugar laden goodies. I just feel that I can control what I drink so I can enjoy other things that might not be so healthy.
The carrot juice has 14 grams of sugar for an 8 oz size serving which sounds like a lot, but when compared to orange juice that has 22 grams and apple juice has 28 grams for the same size serving, it is a good option for a juice. And just for information sake a 12oz can of Dr. Pepper has 40 grams of sugar. The other thing I have learned to be very careful about is when buying a single serving bottle of a drink like a FUZE or Naked Juice or something similar, it usually has more then one serving so I have to double the nutritional info on the side of the bottle to know what and how much I am consuming.

Repair men, late flights, and an office party

Friday Dec.19th brought Morgan home for Christmas break. It was also the only day that at&t could send someone out to see why my internet sucks. And this was the day that Jake had an appointment at school to do his placement testing. When I called at&t to arrange for someone to come out and check the wiring, they offered 8 am - 12 noon or 12 noon - 4 pm. Morgan's flight was landing at 12:20 pm in LAX. I explained to the at&t rep that neither time was ideal because I had to go to the airport. She said she would put a note on the repairman's schedule and hopefully he would see me first. I agreed to the morning time. Friday came and I just knew it was going to be a bad day. I woke up and quickly dressed before 8 am. I had to remind Eddie that he would be taking Jake to his appointment at school. I had to wake Jake up and get him going. Eddie left to check the surf and grab a big gulp. Jake finally gets out of bed and starts getting ready. I was organizing Morgan's room and straightening up around the house, waiting for the repairman. Eddie doesn't return and I'm getting nervous that Jake is going to be late. Not the impression I want him making at his new school. I text Eddie and he returns, Jake moseys out the door, both of them not very cheerful. I continue my wait for the repairman.
Its time to leave for the airport and still no repair man. I call at&t because I don't want to be charged if I leave and he comes. His regular fee is $55.00 for every 15 minutes, if its not covered under my wire protection program. (which that can't guarantee me it will.) So after all the automated selections, being disconnected once I finally get a live voice. I explain my situation and she calls the repairman to see if he can come later this afternoon. This took 10 - 15 min of me being on hold. I was freaking out because I need to get on the road but I'm on my house phone and can't leave.



So I get the repairman scheduled for the afternoon and I'm ready to pick up Morgan. She texts me that she has been delayed and they are just loading now. Ok fine I think now I can drive the speed limit and I should be there just before she lands.
Another text comes she is in line to de ice. The next text: the plane is getting out of the de icing line and going back to the gate to re fuel. Are you kidding me? Shouldn't they have fueled up when they loaded the plane? So I pull off the freeway and get gas at Costco. Then I run into office depot for an errand, use the restroom at another store and I'm running out of productive things to do. Finally I get the text that she is back in the de icing line and should be taking off soon. I take off too.
I get down to LAX and wait for Morgan to arrive. Several flights came in at the same time and an announcement is made that it may take up to 45 minutes to unload all the luggage. We didn't have to wait quite that long for hers. As we are heading back to the car I realize that I'm not going to make it back in time for the repairman. I call Jake and give him the heads up. He is less then enthusiastic to help me out.
While driving home I get a very irritated call from Eddie saying the repairman is at the house and what is he supposed to be looking at!? (ugh)
The freeways are packed and we are crawling through LA, its Friday afternoon the last weekend before Christmas and we are stuck on the 405. I make my way to the coast and trek home. The whole start to finish adventure to and from the airport takes me 6 hours.


I get home to learn that the repairman could do NOTHING. That at&t needed to send a DSL repairman. Hello? I told them what the problem was! Why didn't they send the right guy?
So now my husband is beyond grouchy and pour salt in the wound he has a headache. And we have our office party tonight! (which means paying out the holiday bonuses)
I get dressed and we are off to celebrate with our employees and their spouses. Eddie climbs into the passenger seat and now I know that I will be driving. (40 min drive to Augora) The office party goes well. We are either really good at faking it or we actually enjoyed ourselves, I'm not sure... I do know that my dessert was delicious. A turnover pastry filled with warm peanut butter drizzled in chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
The best part of the whole day was Morgan was home! She could relax from finals and sleep in her own bed in her own room!
And help me with all my Christmas chaos...

Peppermint mud pie

I was asked to make the dessert for our relief society Christmas dinner this year. The ladies decided on a peppermint mud pie. Sounds delicious... I quickly informed them that I did not have a large freezer. They didn't seem to mind. One lady offered to store it at her house after I had put it together. I thought that someone who had a large freezer might be better suited but they handed out assignments and freezer space was not a huge priority. Our enrichment leader took advantage of some great sales and purchased all the food and ingredients we would each need. At one of our meetings she handed out all the food and was hoping to give me 5 quarts of ice cream along with the oreos, butter, whip cream, and candy canes. I again had to inform her that I could not hold 5 quarts of ice cream in my freezer and asked if she would be able to store it until it was time for me to put the mud pies together. I then reconfirmed that I would need to store the assembled mud pies in another freezer. All ladies seemed to think yeah no biggie.



Our dinner was to be held on Dec 16th, a Tuesday evening. So Sunday was the day I would need to assemble the mud pies. After church I advised our enrichment leader that I would be coming by to get the ice cream. I picked up the ice cream and hurried home to make four 9x13 pans of mud pie. This task was not fun. I was grinding up oreos in my blender and melting butter for the cookie crust when I realized that the crust would need to freeze for at least 30 minutes before I could add the ice cream to it, which was sitting on my counter softening as I worked. So somehow I made some room in my freezer for a double 9x13 pan and space for my 5 quarts of melting peppermint ice cream.



I ended up making the double sized pan then going to our Christmas concert at the Stake Center and finding out the lady with the freezer was overwhelmed with other tasks. I had to ask Dad if he could store a pan of mudpie for me. I race home to grab the dessert, drive it over to Dad's house at about 10:00 pm, get back home and make the third pan of mud pie.
Monday evening the enrichment ladies are going to set up chairs and tables at the hosts home. I get off work too late to help, but I went home grabbed the pan in my freezer and then over to my Dad's and grab the double pan in his freezer and at about 10:00 pm again I take all of these over to the hosts house and rearrange her freezer and cram it all in. I still have one more pan of mudpie to make that night before I go to bed.



Tuesday morning comes and on my way to work I am going to drop off this last pan of mud pie. I'm looking forward to seeing this dessert drenched in hot fudge and sprinkled with candy cane. I really enjoy our relief society Christmas dinners and this is the first year I have helped with food preparation. I was excited for a fun evening celebrating Christmas with the sisters in my ward.
But something came up with my Stake calling and we were asked to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency regarding an issue that had come to the surface in an ugly way. I tried to get out of it, but I knew that I needed to go to this meeting. So I had to miss out on my Christmas dinner. I never got to see my mud pie flowing in hot fudge. By the time I got there they were well into the cleanup. I took what was left of my mudpie and went home feeling very deflated.
The frustrating part is nothing has resolved from this meeting we have had regarding this ugly issue. Oh well life rolls on...