Super Glue

Miles has had a fascination with Super Glue ever since watching the Super Glue Will it Blend? episode.  Knowing that Miles was very interested in Super Glue, I mandated that all tubes of the stuff needed to be stored out of Miles' sight and reach.  Today he was going through a drawer and found a tube of the contraband.  I wasn't aware Miles had it until I heard him panicking and asking for help.  I looked over and saw the tube of Super Glue opened and on the floor.  I went over to do some damage control and found that Miles had Super Glued his hands to a dish towel.  I helped get the towel off his hands, but he was still bothered by the glue that had dried on his fingers.  Not much I can do about that as I'm not using acetone on his fingers.  I told him, "Sorry" and headed back to what I was doing before the Super Glue incident.  I took a step, or I started to take a step, lifted my heel, but quickly realized that I had stepped in spilled Super Glue and my toes were affixed to the kitchen floor.  Thanks, Miles...

Miles' Quote of the Day

Since Miles is saying more and more and more "amusing" things, I may need to title this type of post "MQOTD".  I wasn't going to document this quote, but since I was specifically asked to, here it is.

Yesterday, Miles and I were hanging out in the car waiting for Nolan's trumpet lesson to wrap up.  Miles was in his carseat and just started giggling.  I asked him what was so funny; he answered, "Miles tummy is making poop."  Lovely.  4 year old potty humor has officially started...

Playtime With Miles

It's been a long time since Miles and I have been to Thanksgiving Point.  We took the winter off from the farm and dinosaur museum.  Today we ventured out to see baby goats!  Miles wasn't interested in the goats; today he liked the peacocks, turkeys, and chickens.  At the dinosaur museum, Miles liked the "star tunnel" and the sand/fossil excavations best.  Usually we go home after he's done at the dinosaur museum, but today we went over to the Tulip Festival.  My niece went to the festival last week and she pronounced the gardens to be "beautiful".  I love tulips.  I used to dream about having beds of tulips all over my yard.  Unfortunately, after planting dozens of bulbs, I learned that deer love tulips as much as I love daal.  The blasted deer would wait until the blossom was just about to bloom before coming down in the dead of night and eating the flower.  I'd wake up with the anticipation seeing a beautiful blooming tulip, only to find a bitten off stem.  Since learning this, I only plant daffodils.  Anyway, I wanted to see the tulips.  Miles reluctantly accompanied me; he was tired and ready to go home.  The tulips, while there were many lovely ones, were mostly past their prime; sad.  I was glad that the Tulip Festival was included in our membership because paying $18 to see the display would have been disappointing.  There were still some pretty blooms!

These funky tulips bloom upside down!

"Adventures" at THS

This morning I wasn't on top of things and didn't have something ready for Jonathan as I'd promised.  I told him I'd bring it by THS and leave it for him in the car.  I had KSL on as I drove to THS.  Regular programming was interrupted by a "breaking news" announcement- an Orem high school was under lockdown and a student was dead.  Quickly, it was clarified that Timpanogos High School was under lockdown and a student was dead.  I was just a block or so away from THS and was thinking, "Really?  If that's the case, why can I get so close to the school?"  I could see a couple of police cars outside the school, but nothing looked obviously wrong.  News continued to come in... lockdown, a 10th grade student died at the school, but the death was due to illness.  That story stuck around for a while. 

I drove up to the school, found the car, left the thing for Jonathan, and headed out.  There didn't seem to be anything wrong at the school.  Before long, a spokeswoman for the Alpine School District called KSL radio and asked to be allowed to clarify some misinformation.  She stated that a 10th grade female who attended THS had died not not at the school, but rather at PCMC on Tuesday night.  She added that THS was not in lockdown, but another school in the district, Lehi High, was under lockdown as part of a drill.  She also said that there was a police presence at THS, but it was just the resource officer who is always at the school.  That was more inline with what I saw, with the exception that there was more than one police vehicle at THS.

An email from THS came shortly thereafter announcing the passing of the student at PCMC.

When Jonathan came home from school, I asked him about the events of the day.  He verified that there was a student who died at PCMC.  I asked him about a lockdown at THS.  He said that they were under lockdown and it was because of a scheduled (but surprise to the students) drug sweep.  The police brought in the drug dogs who checked the cars in the lots and sniffed out the school.  Jonathan says this is done a few times a year. 

I choose to believe Jonathan's versions of the days events.  My guess is the news media got their story from someone (a student) within the school who sent out a text saying something like, "In lockdown, a student died" and the text recipient (who received vague and potentially scary information) freaked out and passed the text along and contacted the media looking for information.  ***Just my guess.***  The initial information spread by the media was quite misguided.  However, the information put out by the ASD spokeswoman was also incorrect.  Yes, there was a death that occurred off campus, but THS was, in fact, under lockdown and there was a police presence at the school that was greater than just the resource officer.  Actually, today, many high schools across Utah County were in lockdown for a drug sweep.

Information spreads so fast.  News agencies want to be "first" to break news so bad that many put out unverified information.  In the case of the Boston Marathon Bombings, reports were all over the place with respect to casualties, with reports that Saudis were being questioned, that black people were being questioned; fake stories abounded- a man who was waiting at the finish line to propose to his girlfriend who was found dead from the blast, etc.  With the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, 3 were dead, then 10, then 15, then 60, then 14 with 60 unaccounted for.  Why not wait, and report "many feared dead" while waiting for actual figures to come in.  Thankfully, the number of casualties from that incident seems to stand at 14 instead of the potential ~75 that the media was alluding to.  The media needs to SLOW DOWN and take the time to get the information right and report facts instead of sensationalism.  Whichever agency chooses to do so may not be "first" to report, but will have my respect by taking the time to report facts.

The Brain is Amazing

I had a "repeat" dream; one of those dreams that I've had before, so I can only conclude that the dream-making section of my brain wanted the night off so my dream was a re-run.  This dream was a dumb one about homelessness.  Evidently the logical part of my brain was not interested in the dream re-run because, while I was sleeping, I heard in my head, "You've dreamed this before and it's a dumb dream, and I already know how it ends, so change the dream."  That thought process affected the "dream-making" section of the brain because the dream instantly changed to a backpacking adventure with different characters, but ended just as lame as the original dream.  Weird that my thought process was able to communicate with the dream section of my brain, and that the dream section was obedient to the received directive.

Fail!

Yesterday I was playing a game on my phone.  I wasn't having any success passing the level, and I played multiple times trying to pass the level.  Each time I lost, the game made some sound indicating that the game was over.  Miles was nearby playing, and evidently, listening to my game.  I made another attempt at passing the level and didn't succeed.  The game ended with the "end of game" sound and Miles looked up and said, "Fail.  Mommy failed."  Too funny!

So Nasty-Gross!

Lately, I've been making regular trips to DI looking for all the "stuff" that Jonathan will need for his apartment at the U.  Since he's living with a bunch of guys, price and durability is more important than "cool".  So far I picked up some storage bins, plates and bowls (Corelle- microwaveable and unbreakable!), an iron, a skillet, some Tupperware, and other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head.  Today I was ready for a second-hand scavenger hunt.  I know that I have a problem with touching "stuff".  "Stuff" nastys me out.  When available, I always, always clean the shopping cart off before heading into a store.  Unfortunately, DI doesn't have cart wipes; there's hand sanitizer on the way out, but nothing to de-germ the cart with.  So today I selected a cart that "looked" clean, put Miles in the seat, grabbed onto the handle, and started towards the store.  Almost instantly I realized that I'd put my hand on something sticky.  I let go of the cart and looked and my hand.  THERE WAS A NASTY-BLACK-GOOEY BOOGER STUCK TO MY HAND.  I nearly threw up.  What do you do with an unknown person's booger stuck to your hand?  I wasn't going to touch it with my other hand to get it off.  There wasn't anything nearby I could use to get rid of that nasty.  Honestly, I don't know what I did to remove it or where it went once it was removed.  All I could think was "Get to the hand sanitizer by the exit."  So gross.  So vile.  I almost skipped the store all together.  However, I pulled myself together and learily chose a new cart.  I didn't stick to it this time.  The DI adventure was a disappointment and not worth the booger trauma- Miles got a Spiderman and a Batman, Jonathan got another Tupperware storage container and a big popcorn bowl. 

Week in Review

Nolan returned to the lacrosse field yesterday and was upset that he didn't get to play very much.  I guess he's recovered from last week's head injury and that the injury hasn't caused him to be timid on the field at all. 

Miles' latest line is "My tummy hurts."  Recently he told his teacher that his "tummy hurt" and she ignored him (as I probably would have) and he threw up at school.  Last week he threw up several times (and is quite proud of it and will tell you about each "event" if you'd like more details), so I am taking his "My tummy hurts" seriously.  However, today he used the "My tummy hurts" to get out of going to Primary; he's been just fine since we got home.

On Friday, a "name from the past" popped into my head.  I haven't thought of this person in years and years.  Why I thought of him, I have no idea, but I wondered whatever had become of him (because he sure was full of himself and incredibly cocky 22 years ago). Back during the BYU days, we briefly dated... he expressed his intention of attending Pepperdine and becoming an attorney, and also of marrying me.  Yeah, right... Forward to present day- I Googled him, and within minutes I found out that he is Glenn Beck's Chief of Staff.  Hahahaha!  Dream job for some, but not for me.  Good thing I ran! 

Did you know that mom's aren't allowed to be sick.?  Evidently, I subscribe to that philosophy.  There were a couple of days last week when I was so tired that I couldn't function.  Zero energy.  Got up, went back to bed, took a nap, etc.  I took me 3 days to realize that I was so exhausted because I was sick.  Duh.  Amazing how good I feel now!

The U of U requires all first year students to attend an overnight orientation prior to registering.  The only time Jonathan can attend the orientation is July 1 & 2.  There's a problem with this.  Jonathan earned a scholarship that to claim, he has to submit proof of registration for at least 15 credits prior to July 1 and he can't register until late July. Tomorrow I am making many calls to figure out how the U will accommodate Jonathan- I'm calling general academic advising, engineering advising, music advising, and the honors/science cohort advising, as well as the admissions office and the orientation office.  Hopefully someone will have an answer for me.  Since he's attending a state school and the scholarship is a state sponsored scholarship, there should be an accommodation made.

Miles' Gift to Nolan

Miles has been really into singing lately.  He sings all sort of song that I didn't know he knew (thank you, pre-school).  Today I told Miles that it was Nolan's birthday and Miles sang Happy Birthday to Nolan.  Great present!

Happy Birthday, Nolan!

Fourteen years ago, Nolan joined our family.  We celebrated him all day long.  His breakfast of choice was Krispy Kreme doughnuts- glazed, chocolate glazed, and sprinkles.  I delivered him lunch today at school- Wallaby's, as requested- Tri-tip and Smashers.  His lunch was the envy of his friends.  After school, Nolan went to his percussion class and his trumpet lesson, then it was Presents time. Of all the stuff he got, I think the Adrenaline lacrosse socks are his favorite.  After presents we went at got dinner at SmashBurger- bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate malt.  Nolan didn't want a birthday cake; he wanted lemon cream cheese pie! He blew out the candles, but was too full from his dinner to eat any pie.  I think he had a great day, or as great of a day you can have when it's a school day.

New Stick bag!

SmashBurger!

Blowin' out the candles.  What a face!

Proofreading?

Nolan's school needs to use the spell check on the marquee, or at least ask a third grader how to spell...

Smack!

Spring lacrosse games started this week.  Nolan's first game was Thursday and they got annihilated, so today they were looking for redemption.  I dropped Nolan off at the field for warm-up, then went home until game time.  Lacrosse games are notorious for running behind schedule, so I waited until it was "fashionably late" before heading back to the field.  I wasn't late enough.  The previous game was just wrapping up and the cars hadn't vacated the good parking spots yet, so I had to park in Orem and walk to Nolan's game in Lindon.  I hauled Miles, 2 chairs, and Miles' electronics stuff to the field.  Because I was (intentionally) late (but still on time since the game hadn't started yet), I had to sit in a lousy part of the field, near the crease.

The game started.  Nolan is a starter so he was out on the field for the face off.  The other team won the face off, but Nolan's team got the ball back.  Nolan had the ball and was near the center field line running towards where I was sitting when he was body checked by Godzilla on the opposing team.  I could hear the hit from where I was sitting, clear at the end of the field.  Nolan was lifted off the ground and landed hard.  Flags flew, whistles blew (which only happens in lacrosse when there's a goal or a flagrant foul).  Nolan lay on the ground.  After a few seconds, he got up and made it over to the sideline where he sat down and pulled off his helmet.  Godzilla was called for initiating head-to-head contact and was sent to the penalty box.  The game proceeded.  Nolan sat, apparently uninterested in the game.  The quarter ended and Nolan was still sitting on the sideline helmetless.  There's an unwritten rules that states that only an overprotective mom crosses over to the other side of the field to check on her child.  I was torn; I knew something wasn't right because Nolan isn't a sitter.  Usually after he's been fouled, Nolan wants to get back in the game and stick-check the player who fouled him.  But Nolan wasn't looking so good.  His coach called a time out and gathered the team together.  Nolan's didn't join the team.  He stayed sitting.  I was able to get his attention from across the field and through sign language, I learned he wasn't okay.  At that point, I decided that it was more important for me to be an uncool mom and go and talk to my son than to be cool.  Miles and I walked over to Nolan and found that he took a hard hit to the head and was dizzy and had a raging headache.  While his coaches weren't pressuring him to return to the game, I decided that the sideline wasn't the best place for Nolan and removed him from the field.  We went home. 

Nolan spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch.  I made many trips downstairs to assess how he was doing, all while trying to be casual so as not to worry Nolan (who was already worried that he has a concussion, which I'm guessing he does).  We had symphony tickets for the boys tonight, and Nolan wasn't sure if he wanted to go.  His head was still hurting and nausea has set in (but is it from a concussion, or lack of eating, or the stomach bug Miles had yesterday?), but he decided to try and go to the symphony.  Hopefully that was a good choice.  Here's to hoping for a fast resolution to the head hit.

Opposites Song

Yesterday I asked Miles if he sang any songs at school.  He said, "Opposites Song."  Then he proceeded to sing it for me.  I requested an encore so I could get a recording of it.

Spring Break 2013, Reflections

First, it's been 4.5 days since we got off the ship.  I still feel like I'm on it.  Evidently I am much more sensitive to boat motion than anyone else in the family.  But, I knew that while on the ship.  I'd mention that the ship was rocking and everyone would look at me like I was crazy; I was the only one who could feel it.  I
had them look at the water in my glass to prove that I wasn't nuts and the water was slightly shifting.  Cruising was like riding a 5 day long 3.0 magnitude earthquake (except for the last day, which was a much stronger earthquake).  Today the "rocking" is lessening and hopefully I'll soon be able to get off my own private land cruise.

Mileage- We sailed more that 1,200 nautical miles and drove 1,454 miles.  The driving part was through mostly ugly America, especially the drive to San Antonio.  The thought of driving all the way to El Paso is tortuous.

Battle of the Beignets-  There are 2 cafes known for Beignets in New Orleans- Cafe du Monde and Cafe Beignet.  We give the "Best Beignet" award to Cafe du Monde.  Theirs were puffier and hotter, but I might need to go back and sample Beignets from both places again, just to be sure.  I did get Cafe Beignet's recipe; I sense a culinary experiment in the near future.

Phone Navigation- Big fan!  Loved being able to search for where I was going, then hitting "directions", then being told where and when to turn.  Accuracy?  Spot on.  It even knew when I was on the "feeder" instead of the freeway 10 feet away.  Knew about "one way streets"?  Every one of them.  Instantly recalculated the route when its directions were ignored?  Yep.  There was only one time Google Maps was "wrong" with the verbal instructions- the "voice" said to get on the1405 East, the map was right and showed that we should be on the 1405 West.  So, relying on the voice directions alone wouldn't have been right that one time. 

The boys hate it when I ask them "What was your favorite part of the trip?".  This time, I tried an new way of asking; I asked, "What were the highlights of the trip?"  I got answers!  Jonathan's highlights were the unveiling of the cruise, eating Beignets for breakfast while listening to live jazz, and snorkeling with ray.  Nolan's highlights were Chichen Itza, the "Didjas" at dinner and all the food, snorkeling with the ray .  I asked them what the lowlights were- Jonathan listed the Dodge Avenger, Days at Sea, and Bourbon Street.  Nolan said the Memphis airport, and humidity.  Miles liked "french fries and ice cream" and "sand and ocean."  Dan liked dining together.  Me?  Chichen Itza was awesome.  Dinner time was fun too.  The not so great parts were being sea sick and long car drives.

Spring Break 2014 will be different.  There are not plans in the works, but I already know it will be a very different trip.  Jonathan won't be with us as his spring break doesn't align with Nolan's and Miles'.  Our last "all together big trip"?  Possibly, but I hope not.

Spring Break 2013, Day 10

Uneventful.  That sums up the day.  We got up, and split up as a family.  Dan had an early flight so the boys and I ate (Nolan had a "Texas" waffle),

packed up, went to the airport, and started home. We flew from Houston to Memphis to Salt Lake.  The plane to Memphis was the tiniest "jet" I've ever been on- a 50 seater, 2 cockpit men, and 1 flight attendant.  We had a 4 hour layover in Memphis, which has to be the most boring airport ever.  It was essentially vacant.  No people to watch.  No McDonalds for Miles.  No stores worth walking into.  It was nasty filthy- gray sinks in the bathroom that should have been white; gray waiting area chairs which once upon a time were ivory.  The best thing about the airport was Corky's BBQ,

where we ate at in honor of Aly, and the near emptiness of the terminals.  We had a gate area to ourselves which meant Miles could run without disturbing anyone, and we had a charging station to ourselves!

We flew from Memphis to Salt Lake, collected our luggage, found the car, and drove home.  Rude shock getting off the plane- it was 40 degrees and raining; a far cry from the warm weather we'd just left.  Got home, made a laundry mountain, wrapped up homework, and dropped into bed.  Vacation over.

Spring Break 2013, Day 9

A change of plans meant that it was decided to take a road trip to San Antonio.  There wasn’t anything in Houston that we were dying to do, and a multi-day trip to San Antonio isn’t on our to-do list, so a quick day trip was called for.

Our first San Antonio stop was, predictably, the Alamo.  Walking there, we encountered a person who has an unenviable job...

The Alamo was cool to see (because it's always talked about), but I don’t relate to all the “Rah, Rah, Rah, Texas!” stuff.  Yes, brave of 200 men to take on the Mexican army.  Brave, but stupid and futile. 

Of course, Miles didn’t like the Alamo at all. except for the fish... 

Around the Alamo, the city was hosting a bicycle festival so streets were blocked off and people could ride their bikes in the middle of the road.  In conjunction with the bike festival, there was a stage set up with a Zumba class running non-stop.  One of these exercisers was not like the others…

Then we went to the Riverwalk and hopped in boat for a “city tour.”  Miles didn’t really like it either.  Our boat guide was so intent on entertaining us that I didn’t know when his BS ended and the actual information began.  We did see some pretty cool buildings though, like a 2-dimensional-appearing hospital. 

Next we drove to see the San Antonio Temple.  The gates were locked so we couldn’t go on the grounds, and it’s undergoing some type of a construction project.  

Based on a recommendation from Leslie, we drove to San Marcos and went to the Aquarena, run by Texas State University.  There we went on a glass bottom boat cruise/ride/drift in Spring Lake.  We saw bass, shiners, bluegill, cichlids, a gar, and 3 types of turtles.  We saw a heron, a bunch of cormorants, including one that caught and was eating a crayfish. 

Did I mention we saw turtles?  There were swimming turtles and sunning turtles. 

Now I know where we should have released Byl Turtle

This turned out to be a cool side-side trip. 

We ate dinner in Austin before heading back to Houston. 

Our last stop of the trip was to the Houston Temple.  It was dark and “late” when we got back to Houston and the temple grounds were locked as well. 

A long day of driving.  Last full day of the trip.  Truthfully, I had very low expectations for this trip.  I wasn’t particularly excited about 98% of the planned events.  But, surprise, it turned out to be much better than expected.  Everyone got a long, for the most part.  Miles did amazing.  Makes me look forward to the next trip!

Spring Break 2013, Day 8

Got up, ate, debarked, hauled luggage to the car, loaded it, locked it, walked to the French Quarter. We ate more beignets at Café Beignet and listened to some live jazz in Musical Legends Park. 

Then we walked down Bourbon Street for a bit,

then decided we’d seen enough stripper bars so we walked on a parallel street- Royal Street.  It was awesome- Royal Street was blocked off so it became a pedestrian mall loaded with musicians, magicians, costumed people, jugglers, and other performers.  It was so fun. 

Jonathan was impressed that the clarinetist in the above picture held a super high note for an eon or two!

Holy Huge Harmonica!

(These guys were bad)

Then we went to the Voodoo Museum and learned about that religion.  Interesting-to-me things I learned… 1) Voodoo dolls are not long distance torture devices.  Instead, they were used as “medical charts”.  The doctors placed pins in the dolls to indicate ailments and complaints that the patient had. 

2) Zombies, in the Voodoo religion, weren’t walking dead who want to eat the brains of the living.  Rather, they were living people who were chosen (and to be chosen was an honor) to be paralyzed with Pufferfish Venom then buried alive for several hours (as a Zombie) so that they could visit and converse with those in the otherworld.  3) When Voodoo left Africa and came westward, the Voodoo followers changed the names of their gods to the names of the Roman Catholic saints.  Voodooism had their god of healing; the Catholics had their patron saint of healing; the Voodoo followers accepted the Catholic and saint and their corresponding god as one and the same, so they accepted Catholic’s names for their gods.  Interesting! 

We went over to St. Louis cemetery, New Orleans' oldest-but-still-used cemetery.  The cemetery (and all of New Orleans) is sinking, so some of the graves that were once above ground are now nearly underground.  

Anyway, Marie Laveau, the New Orleans Queen of Voodoo is buried there.

Then we walked back into the French Quarter and listened to more music.  We ate on Bourbon Street at a Cajun restaurant- Blackened Chicken PoBoy, Red Beans and Rice, Jumbalaya (with spicy sausage), some crayfish thing, and alligator tail.  Then it was back to the streets to roam and explore (LOVED the dwellings),

over to the riverbank and Jackson Square,

then back to the car to make the long drive back to Houston.

Nolan turned a "NOLA" sign into "Nolan"

 

About 20 miles south of Baton Rouge, traffic was backed up as far as could be seen.  The freeway actually went up a slight incline at this point (probably the only “hill” in Louisiana) so we couldn’t see how far the slow down actually went.  We were right by an on ramp, and I looked over to the right and noticed a car pulling off the freeway and backing down the on ramp.  Car after car after car started doing the same.  Then some idiot decided that it was much more efficient to just flip a U-turn and drive off the on-ramp.  That then became the norm.  So on the on-ramp, there were cars backing down it, driving forward on it, and cars trying to go up the on ramp to get onto the freeway.  It was a mess- worse than the freeway slowdown, but much more entertaining to watch. (Notice all the "reverse" lights on theses cars?  Driving in reverse off the on ramp)

Cars that made a U-turn and were driving off the on ramp

The funniest part was that the slowdown only lasted about 5 minutes- at the top of the hill, a minivan had gone off the road and into the marsh, and it was being towed from the marsh covered in mud, and grass, and vines… Then it was freeway speeds all the way to Houston.