This is a first... and last

Reader, I went dumpster diving. Not in a dumpster, but in my trash can. That's kind of the same thing though, and I can't thing of any other title to call it. "Trash tracking"? "Scum searching"? I think dumpster diving is most fitting.

I heard a ringing noise (like a telephone) coming from the trash can, so I opened the lid to confirm. I confirmed. I informed the head hauncho of my discovery, and he informed me that that was $50 going in the trash. So my options were either pay for it, or dive for it. Noah was put at risk of losing $25 if he did not help in the search too. So we searched. And we came to some conclusions.

1. We need to tie the trash bags off when we put them in the trash can.

We tried to take the bags out and then pat them down, but things just kept spilling out when we took the bag out. It looked to me like a quarter of the trash from each bag came out when we snatched them.

2. We need to always, always put things in a trash bag.

There was melted slushie, and dead/rotten things, that had just been thrown in there because that was the closest trash can. Not to mention little trash cans that don't have bags. So in addition to the sticky slushie, you get used tissues, and half-eaten candies stuck to your hands. Blech.

3.We need to be more careful of what we throw away.

I have no idea how that phone got in there. But it did. And now it's gone. We concluded that it had gotten some unknown substance in it and therefore, it wouldn't be useable.

We still had to pay for it.

Do you see what I see?

I see treasured memories in the form of objects

I see a whole wall of bookcases filled with the accumulation of years of faithful book fairs and "field trips" to the book store

I see a dog, worn out from playing with three-year olds all afternoon

I see a miniature rocking chair with the sole purpose of amusing such three-year olds

I see family photos from past years

I see two pairs of scriptures, still on the fireplace where Noah and I put them after we came home from seminary

I see three game controllers still left out from their last use

I see my Dad and my Brother coming home after a long day of construction work on their "super blind"

I see shoes scattered all around the house, taken off as remembered

I see a sink over-flowing with dishes owing to it's caretaker's clever but short-lived excuses

I see books scattered everywhere, originating from the book-wall

I see about ten copies of the church news and ensigns stacked on the coffee table, the reader valuing them too highly to throw them away

I see a "Barbie pink" purse on the couch

I see my Brother sifting through it in search of my mothers cell phone

I see three blankets, carefully folded by the most recent user's enthusiast, after a brief afternoon nap the previous evening

I see our big dog on the porch, watching squirrels chase each other

I see our newest cook book sitting on the table, tempting me with such recipes as Lemon-Blueberry cream pie, and Alfredo stuffed Chicken

I see a camo-patterned bag, stuffed full of thing you just might need while waiting in the blind

I see a vase full of white daisies, still fresh after two days

I see a box full of jars of peach jam, still waiting for a place to be deposited

I see some of our "food storage" piled in the corner, trying to be hidden by a large bench

I see a "diary" consisting of seven pieces of paper, as carefully cut, colored and stapled as a five-year old can, waiting to be written in

I see semi-new text books, waiting to haunt and delight all of us

I see a photo album, blending in on the coffee table with the magazines, filled with pictures of our most recent expedition

I see a very well lived in house

Vacation in a Nutshell

I wrote the following one night during the middle of our vacation.

I really should keep this updated while I'm on vacation. And I suppose that I will put in post all of my experiences... some day.


Just so I'll remember what we've done....
-I saw amazing rock formations in Colorado
- had a crazy trip up to Utah
- caught up with cousins
-went to a lake with family, sea-doo's, and a boat
-did the whole pioneer-day thing
-had the opportunity to do baptisms in the Manti temple
-watched lots of Television
-dropped a friend off at EFY
-picked a friend up from EFY
-saw HP6... twice!


What I have to look forward to:
-Yellowstone National Park
-more cousins
-excellent book references
-more crazy midnight drives

We went through 8 different states. In chronological order; Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming. It was a really fun trip and I'm glad I got to go, but now I'm just glad to be home.

I knew we were back into routine when the day after we got home I found: Dad in his lair doing work/farmtwown, Noah facebooking, and Mom and I late yet again for a Doctors appointment. There's no place like home.

P.S. I know, I know! I haven't kept this updated. We really got home like, two weeks ago. We've just done so much in such a short amount of time (that's my excuse and Im stickin to it!) that I've kinda been dreading the time when I actually sit myself down and make myself post this! So, the blog will get the clipped version of all of the Adams past events.

I love my job

I'm not exactly legally allowed to have a job, but I do.

I'm illegal.

I'm breaking the law.

I'm going out on the limb.

I'm babysitting. (you wild thing!)

And the kids just crack me up!

Here are some of my favorite "ism's" from some of the kids that I babysit.

COURTNEY: "Once I was in love with a pole."

DARREN: (exclaiming the following in frustration over having dirt in his shoes) "Bad word! Stupid!" ( yes, he did say the words "bad word")

OLIVIA: (Setting: she was told of the name of the old buddy her mom had just re-connected with)

"But-ler! His name is Butt-ler?!

ZACH: "Emily? You and me are going to go to the temple and get married."

COURTNEY: "Should I make the princesses crown pink, or purple? I'll do both!"

ZACH: (speaking to his Mother) "Mom, you should wear make-up. Then people would like you better."

OLIVIA: (Relation: cousin. Setting: she was just told that she looked cute) "I kno-ow that!"

And what did I say when I was their age you ask?

EMILY: "Barbie, I have some bad news for you. You're made of plastic."

No T.V.!

Today I watched about 4 hours of television. To me that's 4 hours too much. I can not believe how wasteful and time-consuming, and rotten, and stupid T.V. is! It does have benefits like General Conference, and Discovery channel, and the History channel but then it has a few stupid shows that I really could live without. I just didn't notice how much T.V. I had watched until I looked at the clock.

"when it's good it's very very good, and when it is bad it is horrid"

I wasted 4 hours of my life just to see how Shirley Jones got engaged, or to see how those wacky Disney channel characters got out of that sticky situation in just 30 minutes. About half of television is just commercials anyway! So, I spent 2 hours of my life being sold sketchers, Oxi-Clean, and Bend-A-Roo's. The thing that I dislike the most is how time-consuming it is! You don't gain anything by watching these shows. You just get easy entertainment.

That's it. I will not watch any more television until I get back from my vacation.

Phew!

Dad, Noah and I where walking to my Dad's truck right after a splendid fireside activity, and what do you think we found on the back bumper? My Mom's keys! That may not seem very important to you dear reader, but to our family it's a miracle.

That set of keys hold the keys to our house, car, the nursery cabinets at church, two mystery keys, and the "unlock/lock" clicker for our car. If we had lost that set of keys, I'm sure we could have gotten duplicates of all of them (except the mystery keys, we don't know what they unlock so we don't care for them much) but we wouldn't have been able to replace the clicker. Plus it would have taken a lot of time and pestering to get duplicates of all the other keys.

The miracle is that I put those keys on the bumper this morning, and since then my Dad's truck has traveled to and from the church five times. Our family has some very determined guardian angels to whom I am very grateful.

Our Superheros

Katie and Tony were *here a little while ago with the kids! We took advantage of their stylin' pj's and made a photo shoot of the night. Here they are!

"BAM! BAM!"

"Gotcha!"

"To the rescue!"

"How do you work dis ting?"

"Thtick 'em up!"

* This was around June 23rd, when Aunt Lorie got married.

???

Today my corner of Texas had 110 degree weather in the morning, and hail the size of dimes in the afternoon.

How does that work?