Sunday, December 19, 2010

Why?

1. Why do we dread posting when it's been a while? I just can't do the catch up thing that so many do so brilliantly so I will pass on it and start anew.

2. Why do I feel a need/obsession at Christmas time to make every single treat I can think of? And then eat them. No wonder the 5 lb. weight gain. I took treats into work one day and the next day and someone said that it was like the 12 days of Christmas so I thought, why not? It is actually the 10 days cuz I started late. Am I crazy???? Certifiably so.
Here was the line up.
1. Christmas crack
2. Peppermint bark (cheated and bought Ghiradelli's-divine)
3. Poppycock chex mix
4. Pretzels with hugs and m and m's
5. Lindsey's and my favorite chocolate chip/butterscotch/peanut butter bars mixed with chow mein noodles, peanuts and mini marshmallows
6. Kisses, hugs and truffles (another easy day-went to Lee's work party night before)
7. Orange/craisin scones
8. Pistachio/craisin cookies
1 pkg Betty Crocker cookie mix
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. melted butter
2 eggs
1 pkg instant pistachio pudding
mix together
Add 1 c. chopped pistachio nuts
1 c. craisins
Cook 350 for 8-10 minutes
made these tonight-really good!!
9. Danish Puff Pastry
10. Homemad caramels-ymmm!

3. Why do I always have a Christmas meltdown? Mine ocurred this year on Friday night. I had worked all week and we decided to have people over to watch the BYU game (yea Mitch for becoming BYU's all time point scorer during that game!!) I made clam chowder, pecan tarts, some craisin/almond cookies (more on that later), and spinach dip and then cleaned my house. After the tarts were done I opened my microwave to see the melted butter for the tarts in there. When I made the cookies, they just didn't seem right. Not sure what I did to them. Went to make lemon bars but was out of eggs. I went to bed about 11:00 in near tears from exhaustion and frustration. Got up the next morning to make lemon bars and used the 2/3 cup measurement instead of 1/2 c. and had to remake the crust. I may have done that to the cookies earlier.
We ended up having a great time-I made veggies and dip Sat. morning, lemon bars, cooked chicken wings, warmed up sour dough bread and we had fun eating and watching the game!

Well, I did it! Posted again so am back on the wagon! Hope all you women out there who do so much to make Christmas magical are surviving the season and finding magical moments for yourselves!

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Books


I love to read. The book I have seen more people read than any other book lately is The Girl Wth the Dragon Tatto. So I read it. Possibly the most disturbing book I've ever read. If you like graffic tales of sexual abuse, read on. I tried to bypass those sections but the one section I did read ruined the otherwise good book. The main girl in it is the product of abuse and I didn't like anything about her. She is in all the other books in this series. I won't be reading them. Have you ever finished a book and then wondered why you did? Thousands of readers can be wrong.

On the other hand, Cutting for Stone, is the story of love, betrayal, forgiveness and is fabulous! I loved it and hated to see it end. I highly recommend it!! Another recent good read was the Other Side of the Bridge.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

Snowbird











We had a great time in Snowbird with our daughters, 3 son in laws and 10 grandchildren. Yes, we were crowded. Yes, we didn't get a lot of sleep. Yes, it was noisy. Yes, it was messy. And yes, we looked like a bunch of refugees crammed into one condo! But it was fabulous and I loved getting to see so many of my favorite people that I love so much. As usual, I have few pictures, just the ones I've copied from my daughter's sites. I really have to get a good, simple point and shoot camera-any suggestions?

My highlights:

Eating at all my favorite places-Cafe Rio, PF Chang's, Costa Vida, Kneader's, Cheesecake Factory, Noodles and Company, Krispy Kremes and BYU bookstore for fudge and mint brownies (my absolutely favorite treats!!) I probably gained 5 pounds and my appetite for sweets has increased. Got to get it in check soon.

Tons of hugs and kisses from the most adorable grandchildren ever. I had to beg to get them from Izzy-she loves to play hard to get!

Lunch and pedicures just with the girls-wish Kasey had been there but she had to leave early!

BYU football game-love those Cougars, especially the cute kicker!!

Fabulous fall weather-we swam the first day and had snow flurries the last day at Snowbird. The tree's and foilage were incredible.

Conference-it was great to see all those Mormons in one place!

BYU Homecoming Parade-loved all the cute students having so much good, clean fun.

Getting to see Dane and Gay's family-thanks for hosting our crew for dinner!

Going back to 8th grade and watching Mrs. Payne in action. She is a fabulous teacher - a great combination of control over her students and likability. I was so proud of her!

I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, fun, loving family and it was great to be "almost" all together! We missed Chris, his kids and Matt.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

CASA

In the spirit of giving, you can give here -http://www.firstgiving.com/pamiorg2. Every amount, large or small helps the life of an abused or neglected child. Do it for the happy, loved children you know!

IF IT WASN'T FOR BAD LUCK, I'D HAVE NO LUCK AT ALL

Here was yesterday:
1. My car quit running AGAIN in Eureka
2. I locked myself out of my house when I went to take something over to the Jones' and had to have a locksmith come let me in
3. I got a terrible head cold and couldn't get to sleep till 2:00 in the morning, slept till 11:00 today, called in sick to work, had to cancel my hair appt. for this afternoon and now can't get in till Wednesday and my hair is HORRIBLE!

Every want to run away from your life??

Thoughts on this summer:
1. It was horrible!
2. We had mainly grey, cold days.
3. Kelly and family moved away.
4. My car broke down on me 3 times. It was in the shop for 2 months and still doesn't work. (thank goodness Mick has loaned me a car most of the summer!)
5. Mice all summer long in my trailer.
6. Next year HAS to be better!

Can you tell I'm having a pity party?

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Fright Night II

I had the craziest night last night. My good friend Toni met me at the lake for our annual weekend there. We went to the lake and got on the boat only to discover I had the left the key in McKinleyville. We spent the next two days on the boat on the dock. Exciting. I have a thing with keys lately (old age type of thing)-I couldn't find the key to the car I had as a loaner the night before and looked for about 2 hours till I finally found it in an envelope in my purse. We left the boat (hooked to the dock) the first day, drove to the trailer and I couldn't find my key to the trailer. I looked everywhere and finally had to drive back to Cedar Stock and found it on the boat.

The night got better though. After dinner we went to Trinity Alps for ice cream. When I opened up the door, I saw a flash of color go across the floor. Oh no, was it another mouse? I was nervous but thought it was just my imagination. We started watching The Duchess and I suddenly noticed Toni was looking to the right of me and I KNEW what she saw? I asked her if she saw a mouse and she nodded yes. It had been on the lower bunk and jumped down and into the bathroom. Freak out!! Somehow we continued to watch the movie but it was interrupted with it coming out and then running back. There was no way I could sleep there so Toni decided to "catch" it with a bowl. (I wanted her to kill it with a broom but she is way too much of an animal lover). It really was hilarious watching her try and capture it. Finally it ran behind the toilet and under the carpet so she put heavy things all around the toilet base and we thought we had it trapped. I thought I'd never get to sleep but Toni had an ambien with her so we split it. I laid down on the table bed and she was on the sofa bed. I fell asleep for a second and heard a noise that sounded like it came from the top of the stove. I sat up in bed and noticed Toni and we agreed it was the mouse. I decided to move to the top bunk. Soon after settling there we heard noise in the bathroom where we had put d-con. Now I was really freaking and said I couldn't sleep in there and we had to move to the tent. As a side note, in the morning two full boxes of d-con were empty!

We moved to the tent in our slightly ambien sedated states. I was just falling asleep when I heard Toni saying, "Do you hear that?" It was growling coming from outside the tent and behind where we were sleeping. We froze. We heard it walk by the tent and I saw through an open window something larger than a dog walk by. It then snarled. It was completely freaky sounding, something I have never heard before. We were frozen for about 15 minutes and went over our options but were too afraid to leave the tent. We didn't hear anything else and finally went to sleep. When I told Lee about it, he said it was probably a mountain lion. We listened on the internet today to the sounds they make and it sounded so much like one that we both got chills.

Well, we thought we could stay there tonight. What are the chances it would come back? We armed the tent with marshmallow cookers (they are sharp), a broom, a fire extinguisher and barricaded the entrances with chairs and a collapsible fence so we could hear anything coming in. (I know, they don't really use entrances and marshmallow cookers aren't really weapons!) We were going to take out car clickers in and press the panic button if we heard anything. Just before it got dark, we walked around the campground and realized that we were one of only 4 campers in the campground and no one was close to us. I called Alex and told her about our story and suddenly everything didn't seem so funny and we didn't seem so brave. We tested out sleeping in our cars and finally got smart and got in our cars and drove to Redding, one hour away where Toni lives and I will now safely sleep.
You can go here to hear the sounds we heard that night outside of our tent!http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Cougar_Puma_Sounds.aspx

Here's hoping the mouse capers will be a thing of the past with a new trailer next year. I would hate to give up my fun at the lake because of those pesky, annoying, fearsome little creatures!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Roadtrip

Wednesday, after work, Kelly, her kids and I left McKinleyville about 4:00 pm and started our trip to get them to their new home in Colorado Springs. We went to Winnemucca the first night, arriving at 1:30 in the morning. We got to our room and about 30 minutes after arriving, after Kelly had nursed Tate, she suddenly got extremely flushed in the face and felt like she was going to faint. Soon after she had major gastrointestinal issues. I won't go in to major detail except to say I couldn't go to sleep until I knew she was okay. The last time I looked at the clock it was 3:30 and I thought, "We have GOT to get some sleep!" Our wake up call, Tate, came at 5:30 when he would not go back to sleep and woke up the other kids. We figured we might as well get back on the road so at 7:00 we were back on the road. I had to drive because Kelly still felt horrible and so I had to drive. I decided to try a 5 hour energy aid and it worked! I drove till about 3:00 and felt fine. We stopped in SLC and met Alex for a quick lunch at Cafe Rio and arrived at Kasey's in Fort Collins about 9:00. Today we headed to Colorado Springs and so traveled another 6 hours total. It should have just been 2 each way but we got stuck in rush hour Denver traffic at 4:30. I love Colorado though-blue skies and sunshine as far as you can see and not too hot. Both Fort Collins and Colorado Springs are amazing. Fort Collins is such a cute college town and Kasey's place is amazing. Colorado Springs surprised me how green it was with lots of trees and mountains.

The last three weeks have been horrible for me knowing that Kelly and family were moving and that that meant I had no grandchildren I could get in a car and just drive to. This of course means I see granchildren less. The last week I have cried every time I think about it. I am thrilled for them though. It will be a great move for them and I know they will love Colorado Springs and being close to Kasey. I am grateful they moved close to Kasey's family and not to another completely different place. The grandkids are having a blast together. I think Kasey and Matt's house has taken over being like Disneyland for Ammon instead of our house! I'm sure Lee and I will make Colorado the place we retire to. Can we do that sooner than 6 more years???? Probably not. So it will be a long, long 6 years with me accruing plenty of miles on United and doing a lot of whining.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Fright NIght

Have you ever had something happen that woke you up at night and you were absolutely terrorized with fright? Last night it happened to me . The frightening thing was a mouse. Now I HATE mice-especially at night. They are actually kind of cute looking in the day. At the zoo. But I have an absolute phobia about one running across my body.

We have had signs of them at the trailer at the lake. Earlier this year, Jody saw one run in the trailer by cute little Tate, of all things. In the daylight. I bought a trap and we caught one and I thought that was it. Then we saw a dead one in the bathroom. Oh no, there were more! Must have eaten the poison I had hidden. So I've been suspicious there were more.

Well last night at the trailer I was awakened to the sound of a mouse at 4 in the morning. I sat up straight in my little bed (table that makes into a bed). I turned on the light expecting to see nothing and that it was all in my imagination. Suddenly, a small flash of brown raced from my edge of the sink to the stove area. I gasped. My heart stopped and I was paralyzed with fear. What should I do? Flee? But it was dead dark outside and I didn't want to drive home in the dark two hours away. I threw some sunglasses and chapstick in it's direction that were in reach just to scare it and thought of my options again. Finally I opted to go to the top bunk at the other end of the trailer and wait until daylight. I carefully checked the bunk for mice friends, took my lap top and jumped in. I was way too scared to sleep so I played solitaire till dawn and then went into the tent to get a couple hours of sleep. I woke up at 8:00 and went in the trailer to clean up so I could head home. Nervously, I opened the door. My heart started pounding. I had to do my dishes from last night and put away food on the counter. (Hence, my mouse problem-leaving food out). I was nervous about a mouse running over my feet (talk about heebie geebies!!) so I put my shoes and socks on and because I was scared of touching one, I got out some large tongs that I used to move things around, making sure the villian was gone. I even turned on all the burners of the stove trying to burn him out since I thought he'd headed to the stove area. After getting things ready to go home and, thankfully, seeing no mice, I headed into Weaverville to get ammunition. I got a few mousetraps and some poison and headed back to the trailer. I set out 5 traps and 4 poison boxes. I looked at what I was wearing. I had camouflage shorts on. I laughed-the war was on and I was dressed for it!!

Things I learned:
1. I can't wait to get a new trailer next year.
2. Never, ever leave food out on the counter or leave the dishes to do the next morning.
3. It is amazing how totally frightened, scared to death, a phobia can make you, even if it is super tiny and this one was definitely a baby mouse.
4. Daylight makes things better and makes you braver.
5. I'll be sleeping in the tent the rest of this year and making lots of noise when I am in the trailer.
6. There is a sonic mice repeller that you can order that emits soundwaves that people can't hear but repels the mice. I've ordered two.

Night frights. I hate them.
Mice. I hate them too.

Friday, July 23, 2010

BFF's




When Alexa was in California in June we went to celebrate her July birthday early. We went to lunch-she chose Carl's Jr. and then Burger King. Yep, she ate two meals. Then we went to Claire's where she wanted some sparkly eyeshadow she had been talking about for days. She picked it out and then asked if she could get a necklace. She picked out a best friend's necklace and opened it up right away and gave me half. So sweet! We then went and got pedicures. What a fun day I had with that girl! But the story didn't end there. The next night the Jones' granddaughter Alexis spent the night with us too (along with the 8 grandchildren we had-we are a little crazy sometimes. She and Alexa came up to me and Alexa said Alexis had something she wanted to ask me. The conversation went something like this:
Alexis: I really like your necklace, Pam.
Pam: I like it too, Alexa gave it to me.
Alexa: Grandma, she wants you to give it to her.
Pam: Do you want me to give it to her?
Alexa: Well that is up to you, Grandma.
Pam:Well I really love this necklace because it says we are bff's.
Alexa: But grandma, we'll always be bff's and you don't need a necklace to know that. (the handwriting was on the wall at this point and I knew what I had to do. I handed it over to Alexis.)
P.S.
I am in Colorado right now. Kasey's house is amazing. Alexa must have noticed I grudgingly handed over the necklace because she gave me a new one this trip! I better go home quickly before she wants it back!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Grandkids



































I am having a great summer with the grandkids. I love having them around and love seeing the cousins play together. In June Kasey and her kids came for 2 1/2 weeks and Chris' kids came for a couple of days so one night we had 10 out of 12 grandkids sleeping over plus one of the Jone's grandkids for a total of 11! The older boys pitched a tent on the deck and the older girls opted to sleep on the wood floor - no mattress or anything. I guess they wanted to "rough it" too. Eight of them came to the lake with us and they loved camping at the trailer and playing in at the treehouse and going on the lake. We had an adorable talent show one night and the kids performed for us. We went to the beach and cooked hot dogs. We used to do this when my kids were little so in is a little deja vu experience. After looking at these pictures, one would have to admit, I have gorgeous grandchildren!! Love them all so very, very much!

Summer 2010













































I have been so busy this summer that nothing is getting blogged. Kelly and family have been here all summer and although my house is messier, especially my floors, I love having Ammon, Cohen and Rylee so excited to see me every day and seeing Tate's cute smile. I just wish I didn't have to work so Kelly and I could hang out more. This weekend we took the kids up to Baywood Country Club where Lee is a member through work. We took the kids to swim in the pool and we had lunch poolside each day. It was fun and relaxing.
Last week we met Lindsey's inlaws (Alan's sister's family), the O'Hare's at Trinity Lake. We spent the week after the fourth there on a houseboat and had a blast. I always said I never wanted a houseboat even if I had the money because I liked getting off the lake and going to camp. After a week on the houseboat, I have changed my mind. It was fabulous-way cleaner and the lake was gorgeous to see at sunrise and sundown. I will never be able to afford that houseboat though so will just get a new trailer next year and hopefully just rent a houseboat here and there. The only downside to houseboating is tha ability to make tons of yummy treats all the time. I will make myself feel better about not having a houseboat by telling myself it would only cause me to gain weight. Thank you O'Hare's for a great week-we hope Linds and Alan can come next time!










Saturday, June 05, 2010

Marmaduke


Had a date with two cute boys, Ammon and Cohen, for this movie today. I don't usually recommend kids movies but I really enjoyed this one. After the movie, we hit BK for kids meals that came with toys from the movie. A good time was had by all!

Rain, rain, go away!

I have seriously not seen the sun, or much of it, for two weeks and it is June already! I may go nuts soon. We went and set up camp at Trinity in the RAIN this weekend. Last weekend we went to Chris' in Seattle and fished on Puget Sound-in the Rain!! (by the way, Madison and Kyle were adorable and I loved every minute with them. I would have pictures but my camera wouldn't work. I've decided I hate Casios and am going to find a simple Kodak this week) Back to the rain and/or gloomy days-will I ever get to barbecue, go for a nice walk, feel the sun warm me up again? Ever?? ever?? I plan to go to the lake on Wed.-Sat. If it doesn't heat up there soon, I will be booking a trip to Arizona soon. I need a summer fix soon!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

CATCH UP






















Where to begin?? Why am I so behind?
#1-I have been doing CASA training. I have been on the Board of Directors of CASA for 3 years involved in decision making and fund raising but have always wanted to be a child's advocate myself. I finally decided that instead of serving another 3 year term on the board I would take the training and get my own child. So along with almost full time work, I have been going to training on Tues. and Thurs from 6-9 and studying the material in between. It is a 5 week, 30 hour training. Some boring, some interesting. Two more classes to go and it's over. Yea! CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. A CASA is assigned an abused or neglected child who has been taken out of their home and placed in a foster home. The CASA speaks for the childs best interests in court, spends time with them, writes court reports, assures that their education and health needs are being met, etc.
#2-I went to BYU Women's Conference. It is always a blast because I get to spend tons of time with my favorite pal Toni laughing, eating, and talking. We also get to spend time with Alex and Mitch doing the same and it is just a great time. Plus I get spiritually fed and get to go to the temple.
#3-Moved Kelly and family up here. Cleaned and cleaned and came up here that night with the three oldest. Mother's Day was spent really being a mom again-wow, I forgot how exhausting it is! The first week of them being here I was a little anal about trying to keep the house clean. Crazy lady! I'm feeling much more relaxed now (I'm sure Kelly's glad) and am just enjoying the laughter, hugs and kisses. Love how every time I walk in the door, Rylee comes running up, "Grandma!" like she hasn't seen me in years.
#4-Got really sick with the flu the Monday and part of Tuesday. Just got my appetite back. One good thing I lost the weight I gained in Provo!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

couponing week of 4/12





TOTAL $37 SPENT FOR MORE THAN $250 WORTH OF ITEMS

Safeway: $15
4 boxes Cocoa Pebbles
1 box Fruity Pebbles=1.50 for all five after $4 catalina
5 boxes Chex Mix Turtle Bars $7.50-$3.00 coupons = $4.50
2 boxes Special K Chocolate Pretzel Bars $3
3 pkgs. Nut clusters - free after coupons and e-coupons
Bisquick mix-$1.50 after coupon and e-coupons
Betty Crocker warm delights-made a few cents after coupon and e-coupons
2 containers orange juice-$3.50 used buy one get one free coupon
Rite Aid: $1
4 bottles Zyrtec-each $19, used $4 off for each and (3) $5/25 Rite Aid coupons, got back $45 in Rite Aid rebates
Everpure Shampoo
Everpure Conditioner-paid $3 for both after coupons
CVS: $7
2 bottles Dove shampoo-free this week
2 Bottles Viologie shampoo-coupon for $2 off from red machine in store so paid $1 for both
2 bottles Dial body wash-free this week
3 bottles John Frieda shampoo/conditioner-$15 with $5 rebate and -$4 in coupons (thought I had another $2 one but it was expired)
Target:$13
2 bottles Scrubbing Bubbles extend clean-$16-$10 in coupons and got $5 target card so $1 paid
2 bottles refill of above-free with above
4 vitamin water-$2 after coupons
3 bottles Dove body wash for men-clearance section, paid $1 each after coupons
3 boxes Special K granola
2 boxes Special K chocolately special K-$12-$4 coupons=$8 after $5 Target gift card
2 Benadryl to go sticks-8 cents after coupon
Walgreens:$1
2 packs paper plates

Thursday, April 08, 2010

KMart Doubles!







KMart doubles are back so I've got some great deals this week-lots of free stuff, lots of cheap stuff. Such a fun game/hobby! The top photo was KMart/Walgreen/Target deals. After rebates and coupons I paid $12.10 plus tax. Bottom photo was from Safeway/Target/Toys R Us and I paid under $1.

Easter in Windsor





























The weather wasn't the best but the company was. Lots of hysterical moments with the kids and Tate is just adorable.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Working too much, getting old, or going crazy?

My dad called me to thank me for my birthday card but said he was surprised it had made it to him. It had no zip code and I'd addressed it to Lee Iorg. Of course this was the same day I had gone to CVS, bought two bags of items, rushed to work so I wouldn't be late, reached for the crackers I had just bought and realized I had left them in my cart. I rushed back and luckily some honest person had brought them into the store. I was late to work and concerned. I had done the same thing at Walgreen's about a month ago!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

OCD


Candles/Diffusers

Shampoos/conditioners/deodorants


Body washes/shaving gels/shavers














Feeling sick??







More medicine


















Deodorant/hair stuff still available










The guest room closet where I keep a lot of my loot.











This is the bin filled with items for the church.












A filled pantry from couponing.


















I definitely have a little of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in me. Whenever I start a hobby, I do it full throttle. When my kids were little I sewed dolls and made wood folk art items. Ask them, they hated them-lots of Americana items and they were thrilled when I finally got rid of them all.
Later I started rubber stamping thanks to my food friend Toni Berry. That little OCD hobby cost me a TON of money. I was stamping like crazy-organizing card swaps and stamping item swaps. I had a couple hundred of stamps, plus paper, scissors, and multiple other things.

Next came scrapbooking. I had to have tons of paper because I might not ever find it again. If I went out of town I bought tons of stuff on sale because I was afraid I'd never find it in our area. Another OCD hobby.

Then came genealogy (a good one anyway) except I was constantly on the computer putting info into PAF that was already done.

This summer I started couponing. At least I am saving money-right? Well I do spend some money but it's always on really cheap deals to give to charitable organizations. Again though, I am OCD about it. I just can't miss a deal for free or almost free so I am in the stores a lot or on the computer checking out the couponing blogs or printing coupons. It's become a second job. No wonder I am always so tired!! I have found some incredible deals though and it is a great game. I especially love the free stuff (today I got 4 bags of Planter's Trail Mix for free and 4 Aussie Hair Items for free) and 4 containers of free deodorant. Earlier this week I paid 50 cents for 6 Dove deodorants. I got together a big bin for our church community hygiene project. It has 20 each of deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotion, soap or body wash, shampoo and conditioner. As you can see from my pictures I still have plenty for myself and the women's shelter and homeless shelter. Come visit and shop for free at my "store".