It's time...

to start over. Another year gone and this one went faster than any previous year I can remember. Some people might not think that time can speed up, but I think it can. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe 2009 was just a bridge year. It had to happen to get us to 2010.



So, here we go. Bring on 2010. I'm ready for a new year.

The Monthly Call...

The Monthly call is when my family gets "together" on a conference call. This call includes my mom, my sisters (Heather, Kathy, Roni & Christine) and my nieces, (Val, April and Sarah). It's nice, but do you know how hard it is for NINE women to not all talk at one time? The call can get a little much after a while.

When my mom got so sick in October we all decided that we needed to start getting in touch more. My family is not a typical family and so we're not as close as other people. It's okay, it works for us though.

Anyway, it's amazing how fast this past month has gone by. Not to mention how fast this whole year has gone by.

TWO THOUSAND AND TEN in just a few days. It seems like it just turned 2000. Have I been asleep the past ten years? I think I must have been.

It's really time for me to wakeup. Seriously.

A rant

This weekend has sucked!

Dead Poets Society

DPS was on TV tonight. I only caught the last half hour of it, but it just reminded me of some really great times. And the quotes from that movie are awesome. So I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you.


John Keating: They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.


John Keating: O Captain, my Captain. Who knows where that comes from? Anybody? Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in this class you can either call me Mr. Keating, or if you're slightly more daring, O Captain my Captain.


John Keating: We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?


John Keating: Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone.


John Keating: There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for.


John Keating: I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself. Nolan: At these boys' age? Not on your life!


Neil: For the first time in my whole life, I know what I wanna do! And for the first time, I'm gonna do it! Whether my father wants me to or not! Carpe diem!


John Keating: We're not laughing at you - we're laughing near you.


Dalton: [answering phone] Welton Academy, hello. Yes he is, just a moment. Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's God. He says we should have girls at Welton.


John Keating: Language was developed for one endeavor, and that is - Mr. Anderson? Come on, are you a man or an amoeba? [pause]
John Keating: Mr. Perry?
Neil: To communicate.
John Keating: No! To woo women!


Neil: [quoting Henry David Thoreau] "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."
Dalton: I'll second that.
Neil: "To put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."


McAllister: "Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and I'll show you a happy man."
John Keating: "But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be."
McAllister: Tennyson?
John Keating: No, Keating.


John Keating: Close your eyes, close your eyes! Close 'em! Now, describe what you see.
Todd Anderson: Uh, I-I close my eyes.
John Keating: Yes.
Todd Anderson: Uh, and this image floats beside me.
John Keating: A sweaty-toothed madman.
Todd Anderson: A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.
John Keating: Oh, that's *excellent*! Now, give him action - make him do something!
Todd Anderson: H-His hands reach out and choke me.
John Keating: That's it! Wonderful, wonderful!
Todd Anderson: And all the time he's mumbling.
John Keating: What's he mumbling?
Todd Anderson: Mumbling truth.
John Keating: Yeah, yes.
Todd Anderson: Truth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.
John Keating: [some of the class start to laugh] Forget them, forget them! Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket!
Todd Anderson: Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying t-to the moment we leave dying, it'll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream. [long pause then class applauds]
John Keating: Don't you forget this.


Neil: [Neil finds Todd sitting alone on the roof] Hey!
Todd Anderson: Hey.
Neil: What's going on?
Todd Anderson: Nothin'. Today's my birthday.
Neil: Is today your birthday? Happy birthday!
Todd Anderson: Thanks.
Neil: What'd you get?
Todd Anderson: [indicating the desk set lying beside him] My parents gave me this.
Neil: Isn't this the same desk set-
Todd Anderson: Yeah. Yeah, they gave me the same thing as last year.
Neil: Oh.
Todd Anderson: Oh.
Neil: Maybe they thought you needed another one.
Todd Anderson: Maybe they weren't thinking about anything at all. The funny thing is about this is, I-I didn't even like it the first time.
Neil: Todd, I think you're underestimating the value of this desk set. [He picks it up]
Neil: I mean, who would want a football or a baseball or...
Todd Anderson: Or a car.
Neil: Or a car, if they could have a desk set as wonderful as this one? I mean, if-if I were ever going to buy a desk set, twice, I would probably buy this one. Both times! In fact, its shape is... it's rather aerodynamic, isn't it? [walks to the edge of the roof]
Neil: You can feel it. This desk set wants to fly! [hands it to Todd]
Neil: Todd? The world's first unmanned flying desk set. [Todd throws it off the roof - papers fly everywhere and things crash and clatter to the ground]
Neil: Oh my! Well, I wouldn't worry. You'll get another one next year.


John Keating: Why do I stand up here? Anybody?
Dalton: To feel taller!
John Keating: No! [Dings a bell with his foot]
John Keating: Thank you for playing Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.


John Keating: Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out!


John Keating: I SOUND MY BARBARIC YAWP OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF THE WORLD.


Neil: So what are you going to do? Charlie? Dalton: Damn it Neil, the name is Nuwanda.


John Keating: This is a battle, a war, and the casualties could be your hearts and souls.


Todd Anderson: [standing on his desk] Oh captain, my captain.

The Birthday Card

This is what the birthday card Heather sent to me said:



She's the one
you've known forever.
The one you go to
for honest advice
and genuine support.
The one who accepts
your quirky little habits
and understands you
in a way few others can.


She's the one
you can call at any hour-
to laugh or cry or complain...
The one whose voice has been there all along,
sharing secrets and dreams
and singing your song when
you needed to hear it most.


She's the one
who can read your mind,
hear your heart,
and love you just the way you are.
She's your lifelong friend...
but so much more.

She's your sister.

Just saying...

So my mom heard today that her youngest sister passed away last night. I was talking to her on the phone and she said that she felt like crying and I told her to go ahead and do it. She said she didn't want to cry in front of the kids. (Jesse & Kailie were at her house today). I told her that it would be fine and the kids would understand.

I think that Kailie was outside, but Jesse was sitting in the chair next to her and heard what she said. He's such an awesome kid. He'd probably hate it that I am saying this 'cuz he's 14, but he's got such a tender heart. He said to my mom after we hung up. "You can cry on my shoulder, Grandma, I don't mind." I just love that kid.

Tennessee....We're not in "Utah" anymore, Toto

Well we made it to Tennessee. The flight got pushed back for some reason so instead of leaving at 5:05, we didn't leave until 6:40 P.M. Checking in was a bit of an ordeal. Apparently Delta has some pretty ingenious ways of making extra cash. I mean it's not enough to charge you for the airplane ticket. Oh no, if you want to take clothes with you and you think that you are going to need more than just two outfits it's going to cost you extra. You can take a carry on bag, of course as long as it fits they're measurement requirements, but if you think that you might need a few more things and want to take an actual suitcase, its going to cost you $15 a bag to check it in to take a ride in the belly of the plane. Oh, and get this, it's not a one time charge, we have to pay that when we go home too, if we want to take our clothes back with us, that is. Okay, so finally we're on the plane and it was okay, as far as plane rides go. Not too much turbulence, so that was good and once I was on the plane it was fine. Not stressed or anything.

But this is when you know that you are not in Utah anymore...the plane is descending and you are looking out at the view below, it's dark and the lights shining below are pretty, but seem very sparse. Then you realize that the lower you get it's not because there aren't any lights. There are plenty of lights, it's because there are so many TREES that it blocks the light out. Trees, trees, everywhere trees!

But we landed safely and even a little earlier than expected. So that's good right. We're happy to be in Nashville, but we've still got a bit of a drive ahead of us as we are driving to Knoxville. According to Google the drive is about 2 hours and 44 minutes. Everyone is tired and bit grumpy, but hey we're here, we're excited to get on our way.

I had no problems getting the rental car, but then when we got out into the parking lot we realized it was about a half a football field away and there was no way Kathy would be able to walk that far. (She has problems w/her legs) So, poor April get left to the task of going up and getting the car.

She found it just fine, it was getting back to where we were that she ran into problems. Let's just say she got a tour of the airport before she found her way back to us about 20/25 minutes later. So then, yeah, she found us and now all we need to do is get into the car and go, right? Nope. First of all, I misunderstood where she was coming back too, so I dragged Kathy, Teegan and 130 pounds of luggage to the other side of the road and then had to drag them all back over again when April finally found her way back. Then we had to struggle to get the luggage to fit and struggle to get Kathy in the back seat and then struggle to get Teegan strapped into his seat. Finally!!! We are on our way! It's only been an hour and 15 minutes since we landed. And now we have a 2 hour and 44 minute drive ahead of us according to Google.

I made April drive. I don't if you know this, but I hate driving. I really, really hate it. And I trust April. I was the navigator and the front seat/back seat driver. April kept telling me that the car had a mind of it's own and wanted to speed and I kept telling her that she was the master and had to control it. Although Teegan didn't help with his encouragement. "Mom, go faster." "Teegan, we're already going 70." "Mom, go faster", "Teeg. we are going faster."

So we are on our way. Heading east on I-40. There are a lot of Semi trucks on the road after 1 a.m. which is actually pretty good because I-40 is a very dark road. Trees. For miles and miles and miles. 168 miles to be exact. Oh and Deer, with their eerie red glowing eyes that pop out of nowhere as cars approach. That made me a little nervous. I mean, we're going 70 down a road in the middle of a forest and there are deer on the side of the road. I'm sure there were homes and other stuff around us, but you wouldn't know it. Did I mention the Trees? Anyway, we were heading down the road, there was an exit coming up into some town with civilization and so there were more lights. Which was SO good and we're SO lucky too.

Two deer were standing on the side of the road apparently just finishing up a conversation about how to freak out the tourists, when they decided to part ways and put their evil plan into motion. One, let's call him Larry, went south and the other, let's call him Jack (short for his full name Jackass), decided to run right out in front of us. Lucky for us, all of us, we saw this little conversation and parting of ways take place and April was already slowing down. I was pushing my imaginary break on the passenger side and saying "Shit, shit, shit, shit", you know, just doing my part to help out. I guess Jack decided to live after all because he bounded off, probably laughing his evil head off, planning on his next attempt to give a tourist a heart attack.

After that, we were even more watchful and finally arrived safely in Knoxville. So, here's another clue that we're not in Utah anymore. We're not far from Heathers, it's almost 4:00 in the morning. (2:00, UT time) and all of a sudden in the middle of the road there are like a dozen raccoon. Okay, maybe there were only three, but at that time in the morning and after the whole Jack and Larry thing, you just never know what those little raccoons are going to do and who knows, there could have been a dozen hiding in the bushes on the side of the road. Not to mention they were in the middle of the road and conducting what looked like suspicious activity to me. They could have been booby-trapping the road or something. We just got there a little too soon for their full plan to take affect. But our fearless driver, April managed to defeat their evil plan and avoid them too.

So you think I'm done now, right. Nope. We're only a about a block from Heathers and guess what else they have out here. Wild rabbits. I bet you are asking yourself, "What the??" right now, but yes, I said wild rabbits. Bunny rabbits that hop around all over the place for some inexplicable reason.

By this time, I was just annoyed. I think the animal kingdom has some sort of plot against the humans of this world and I'm warning you now. Watch out for it.

Thankfully, two minutes later, we're at Heathers. It's 4:15 in the morning, Teegan is now wide awake and so are the rest of us. We woke mom up and all started talking for the next hour or so. Finally went to bed about 5:30 ish and slept until they made me get up at 10:30.

Now it's time to adjust to the time change, the humidity and just relax and enjoy the visit. Oh and watch out for more evil plots from those sneaky wildlife secret agents.