Sometimes I wonder what exactly I am paying for. This is especially true when it comes to Nolan's percussion lessons. He goes to his lesson and leaves happy, but since I don't enjoy listening to drums, I don't stay and observe, so I really don't know what goes on during the lesson. This week we borrowed a snare from THS and he demonstrated his snare solo for me.
Random blitz-
I'm closing in on 3 weeks of horrid sleep. This week, I've been going to bed at a decent hour, but my sleep cycle must think I am only taking a nap as I wake up at 1 a.m. and am up for hours. Last night was better- I slept until 2 a.m., but I am beyond dragging. This morning, after I got Nolan out the door, I crawled back to bed, set the alarm on my phone, and was immediately dead to the world. One funky things for me with sleep deprivation is that I have vivid, illogical dreams. This morning I dreamed I was embarking on a cruise on a ship that was normal cruise ship length, but only 10 feet wide. The ship was dry docked and to get to the water, it had to go down a chute like Splash Mountain, but much longer. It was an exhilarating launch and the ship made quite a splash into the Mississippi River. There were dolphins jumping alongside the boat, the sun was sparkling on the water, then the flying fish started jumping and pelting me in the face. Next I realized that everyone was wearing life jackets because there was a red storm warning, and what a storm it was! I was thrown all over the boat, but then my phone started ringing and that was the end. I also had a dream about taking the GMAT, it wasn't a good experience, but (fortunately) I don't remember any of those details. So, tonight... sleep? I hope.
I love to people watch at Costco... I love checking out what people are buying and wondering what percent of the purchases are on impulse. Today I observed 2 funky people. The lady in front of me at the checkout line had her cart loaded to the tipping point. It was full of crap- the only non-processed food I saw was a bag of carrots. She was buying rice bowls, empanadas, waffles, french dip sandwiches, etc. She told the clerk that she was buying paper plates and bowls because she doesn't do dishes. Since she had so much stuff that I never buy, I was very curious as to what her total was going to be, but I missed out on hearing that because the lady in the line next to the one I was in refused to unload her cart. She told the employee that she doesn't unload her purchases and that a Costco employee needed to do that for her. She wasn't old, handicapped, or otherwise incapable; she just didn't think it was her responsibility to put her stuff on the conveyor belt. I wonder what she does everywhere else she shops. I can't think of a single store where you don't put your items up by the register.
I bought 12 oz of fresh raspberries at Costco today and ATE THEM ALL. I did not share a single one. I think raspberries may be the most perfect food in the universe.
Earlier this week, I got my haircut. Amber moved the part to the other side of my head to give us more growing out options. My hair is not appreciating the change and is trying to have 2 parts at the same time... the new one that I am insisting on, and the old one which my hair prefers.
I drove Nolan out to Lehi for his trumpet lesson on Tuesday. His teacher wasn't there and forgot to cancel the lesson. The teacher called last night and explained that he did cancel the lesson, he just sent the text to the wrong number. That was helpful.
Miles was playing PacMan on his "iPod" tonight. His game ended before PacMan could eat all the dots. Evidently that was my fault and he started hitting me with his "iPad". He and the "iPad" got to have a time out, independently.
Jonathan calculated what 0 divided by 0 is and what infinity divided by infinity is. Go calculus. The answers make no sense to me.
Nolan cooked pasta tonight. It went much better tonight that then last time he tried to cook. Tonight he
remembered to turn the stove on!
And now my AMEX number has been stolen. This is turning into quite the week. Well, sorry thief, your shopping spree is over. Enjoy your T-mobile purchase and when your New Orleans Saints shirt arrives, I'll think of you since it's being shipped to me.
I spent last weekend in Cedar City/St George/Las Vegas with the THS bands/choirs/orchestra for their annual "spring" tour. It was a never ending adventure of exhaustion, carppy hotels, and heavy food (if I'd eaten what was planned). It was also a lot of fun. We left Wednesday and drove to Cedar City where the kids had a clinic Thursday morning followed by lunch in St. George and West Side Story in Las Vegas. Friday was a clinic at UNLV then free time on the Strip. My group spent our free time eating (Sourdough waffles with bananas, maple syrup, and vanilla bean butter!!!, and dessert at Max Brenner's- S'mores sundae, and chocolate fondue) and mall wandering. We met up with everyone at Hard Rock (where I ordered what I wanted instead of what I was supposed to- let's see a honey-citrus grilled chicken salad or a burger/mac-n-cheese... a no brainer) and afterwards saw KA, which was amazing. The next day, we loaded up to head back to St George where the kids had a performance, but first Joseph and I ran to the outlet mall to get Jonathan a pair of dress shoes, a pair of heels for myself, and shoes and a messenger bag for Joseph. We got most of what we wanted, then headed to St. George. Somewhere between Las Vegas and Mesquite, Joseph wanted to get his iPad from the back of the van. He couldn't find it so I pulled off the freeway so we could look for it. It wasn't there. He remembered putting it on the passenger seat, but it wasn't in the van. As I went to get back in the van, I noticed that the lock on the van door had been messed with.
The Kindle Fire is Miles' "iPad". So decreed by Miles, therefore it is. It's been a wonderful addition to his life until this weekend. While I was gone, he changed the display language to Japanese, then reset the device to the factory settings. The factory settings part isn't a big deal since all his apps and books are backed up in the "cloud", but getting the language setting returned to English was problematic because I couldn't read anything on the Kindle. Finally I figured out how to reset the language (thank you, Google search) and reinstalled everything on the "iPad", and Miles was happy again. Too happy as I forgot to reset the parental controls. Miles discovered that he had purchasing power and spent $20 on new apps and a book. He bought 2 versions of PacMan and 3 motorcycle games. He bought a few versions of "Logo game" and an ad-free Mah Jong. He bought himself a book titled something like Mom, I think I Flushed My Brother Down the Toilet. Last night Nolan was watching Miles play a motorcycle racing game and said, "How'd he get that motorcycle? I think he's buying stuff." I checked my Amazon account and saw that Miles had been busy. I immediately reinstated the parental control over purchases. This morning, Miles got his "iPad" and was frustrated to discover that he no longer could make purchases (he wanted another motorcycle game). After his tantrum, he decided to take matters into his own hands and again restore the Kindle to factory settings and then asked me to reinstall all his apps. This time I remembered to reset the parental controls before handing his toy back to him. He wasn't happy that I outsmarted him. So, twice more today he's erased the Kindle trying to figure out how to make it so he can buy stuff again. Should he reset the Kindle again today, it's headed to time out for a long time. Game over. We'll both lose- he'll lose the Kindle, and I'll lose the "babysitter".
All winter, we've been meaning to get Miles in ski school. Both times I planned on taking him up for a lesson, he woke up with a cold, so I didn't take him. Last weekend, while I was with the band/choir/orchestra kids, Dan took Miles up for a session of ski school. It looks like Miles had a lot of fun, but at the end of class, the teacher suggested that Dan not bring Miles back this season as he didn't want to follow instructions. Evidently, Miles did not want to make "pizza" with his skis, he preferred "French fries" which was problematic when stopping was required.
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| Deck work first |
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| Carrying his equipment |
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| Getting the feel of the snow |
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| Cute snowplow! |
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| Riding the "Magic Carpet". No chairlift yet (thank goodness!) |
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| "French Fry" skis with an instructor for brakes! |
