Thanks Rob

This was a touph week for Rob & I. We disagreed on a point of view & it took several chats for us to put it to rest. On Friday, after a long day of work & school, then a concert in Salt Lake, I came home & there on the kitchen table was a vase with roses 2 beautiful roses. It was a very kind gesture & I am grateful for his thoughtfulness. I wanted to let everyone know he has moved to the top of my list!

Let's Glean Pumpkins

In case you haven't gone yet, I am reminding all it is time to go to your local farmer's field & glean as many pumpkins as you would like! They are free for the taking. As you can see I helped myself to 2 this week in preparation for Halloween. I just yearn for that orange splash on my front porch. My relief society president hasn't announced the free-for-all yet this year, so I just waited until dark & made a dash through the field. I grabbed 2 nice big ones as that was all I could hold. Good luck to all my fellow pumpkin gleaners!

Incredible Talent

Has everyone already heard the 16 year old singer, that looks like she is about 11? She is from the Phillipines, has had a hard life, but all her dreams are coming true. She has this voice that blows the roof off whatever building she is singing in. She gets standing ovations where ever she goes. She has sung with the likes of Josh Groban, Celine Dion, Andre B. etc. I only mention her because I was feeling discouraged & frustrated with my life this week. School is very hard this semester, I question why I am even trying such a difficult task, then I see this darling girl realizing her dreams. I caught this on a taped Oprah in the middle of the night when I was trying to go back to sleep. The next morning I was at work & I noticed a picture on the wall which I had not noticed before. In the piccture rays of the sun are coming through clouds with the words, "miracles happen every day" as the caption. So, that is my mantra this semester. Every day I remind myself that miracles happen. I also recall Randy Pausch's wise words that road blocks are not in front of us to stop us, but to test us to see how hard we want what is on the other side. All we can do carry on & do our best.  p.s. if you have not caught Charice yet, she is on YouTube.

Dial "M" for Murder

Last night William had an awful nightmare. He was thrashing about & yelling  during this nightmare. Luckily for me I had woken up earlier & retreated to the downstairs couch to finish out the night & I wasn't in striking distance, but I heard it all from a distance. This morning over breakfast, he asked me if I knew he had a nightmare. I asked him about it. This is the tale. He was laying in bed & got shot. He turned & saw a 'lady' standing at the window with a gun. That is when he started yelling. He was hoping someone would come & help. He wasn't sure if he was going to live or die. Now back to our breakfast conversation. I asked him if he got a good look at the lady. He said no. Then he asked me, by the way where were you when all this happened?  Suddenly I had gone from innocent bystander asleep on the couch downstairs to suspect. Since he didn't get a good look at her I am a likely suspect, especially since I am tall enough to stand outside our 2 story bedroom window & have nothing better to do in the middle of the night.  Oh no, it is my word against his! I've always said our dreams come from real life, then in our sleep that information is twisted. Yesterday William finished a gun safety training through National Rifle Assoc. & is now able to teach gun safety & be a merit badge counselor. p. s. We both got a good laugh at the situation!

Soooo sorry.

This blog world is interesting to say the least. My last post was lengthy, some may not have the endurance to read it. As I read the comments I am curious to know if anyone found the humor in my story? I don't think I am getting too old to find my car, I just don't like to lose it & spend time looking for it. I think everyone has those experiences. Just to let you know, I shared this story because it made me laugh to think I took the time to take note of where my car was, then to my shock & surprise my car could have been on any aisle as they were all labeled with a V. I don't want to step on any toes. I just feel compeled to explain the punch line. Lesson learned, too many words dilutes the humor.

V is for Vonnie

I started losing my car in parking lots a few years ago, so I have come up  with a few tricks to prevent my parking lot panic. The 1st trick is to park in the aisle straight out the front door of the store. I don't care how far I have to walk, I have learned to walk straight out the door & I know my car is there in that aisle. My car is silver & there have been times I have parked & then come back to find my car in a line-up with 3 other silver cars. I have now memorized my plate # for the times I have to pick it out of a line-up. My 2nd trick is to look around & take note of the aisle # or letter, if rule #1 doesn't work. Now for the reason I am sharing. On Tuesday morning I drove to UVU to attend my microbiology lab. I went to my regular aisle & to my horror there were no available parking spaces. My lab is at 10:00 a.m., it is my only morning class, I can always find a spot in the afternoon & on Saturdays. So I began to serpentine through the lot, 1 aisle, 2 aisles, 3 aisles, 4 aisles, 5 aisles, I was beginning to panic. I had enough time to park & walk to the lab from my regular spot. I was driving into the next county at this point. I kept weaving up & down every aisle, other cars were doing the same thing. There was not one space for at least 10 aisles. Finally I spotted one at the far end, pulled in, gathered books, locked the car, & as I was walking towards the shuttle stop looked up & noticed I was on aisle V. Yeah! I can remember aisle V, it is the same letter as my first initial. Scurrying on I decided I would ride the shuttle, which I never do, unless it pulled out before I got there. It takes as long to walk as wait for the next shuttle. Well, I walked to my lab, the shuttle pulled out when I was about 3/4 of the way there. The lab was our 1st hands on with microscopes. I looked at E coli, staph, yeast, & one other bacteria. We get to draw what we saw in living color & turn them in next week. After lab I needed to walk as fast as I could back to my car & drive myself to the Payson pantry for work. Time is of the essence. As I walked into the parking lot & I immediatly began to scan the aisle markers. Suddenly I realize my mistake....I am not parked on aisle V, I am parked in lot V. Every aisle has a purple sign that says Lot V on it. I am surrounded by aisles of cars, most of them silver & they are all on aisle V! Oh my stars, where am I parked? I know it is in the far Northwest end, but which aisle? I can testify that it takes more time to serpentine the aisles on foot than by car, looking for that one special 'silver' car hidden amongst all the other silver cars in 'lot' V.

Thank goodness, I was eventually able to find my car. I made it to work in plenty of time. Lesson learned, leave for school 10 minutes earlier, park at the end of an aisle & never trust a purple sign with a V on it!

So much to do, so little time...

I am in my 2nd week of school. Week one was a busy one. I spent time taking care of details for school, going to school, & 4 hours work a day. It is a new adjustment having work & school all the time. Our stake president also asked us to go to the temple 4 times last month & we procrastinated due to our vacation in Arizona. So, we went 4 times in 2 weeks instead of 4 times in 4 weeks which would have been better. Then there was visiting teaching, procrastinated on that too, but got it finished the first week of school. Although I have homework, class & work still, this week has been a little easier. The reason I wanted to blog is to share a puzzle I received in my chemistry class. I am up to 14 which means I am somewhat intelligent! It is kind of long, I don't have all the answers, but a fun challenge! Good luck, let me know your score. I will post answers, if I get them, in a week or so.

This is to gauge your mental flexibility & creativity. In the years since it has een developed, it has been found that few people cn olve more than half on the 1st day. Many reported getting answers long after the test had been sed aside, at unexpected moments when their minds were relaxed, and some reported solving it over a period of several days. p.s. I am now up to 18, only 2 more to go & I will officially be intelligent.

Example:  16 = O in a P

Answer: 16 ounces in a pound

1) 26 = L of the A

2) 7 = D of the W

3) 1001 = A N

4) 12 = S of the Z  

5) 54 = C in a D (with J)

6) 88 = P K

7) 13 = S on the A F

8) 18 = H on a G C

9) 8 = S on a S S

10) 3 = B M (S H T R)

11) 24 = H in a D

12) 1 = W on a U

13) 3600 = S in an H

14) 5 = D in a Z C

15) 11 = P on a F B T

16) 29 D in F in a L Y

17) 64 = S on a C B

18) 76 = T in the B P

19) 1000 = W T A P is W

20) 50 = W to L Y L

21) 99) = B of B on the W

22) 13 = L in a B D

23) 5 = T on a F

24) 13 = U F S

25) 8 = T on a O  

26) 23 = P of C in the H B

27) 21 = D on a D                                                     Scoring:

28) 7 = W of the A W                                              Average: 1 to 10

29) 200 = D for P G in M                                       Somewhat Intelligent: 11 to 19

30) 15 = M on a D M C                                            Intelligent: 20 to 27

31) 40 = D and N of the G F                                   Genius: 28 and above

32) 52 = W in a Y                                                     No cheating or sharing!

33) 80 = D A the W

34) 20000 = L U the S

35) 5280 = F in a M

36) 2001 = S O

Good luck! 

p.s. It is 7:15 p.m. on Thursday September 4, 2008...I am intelligent. I now have 20 answers. I will keep you updated.