Saturday, February 27, 2010
confession
I am ashamed to say it is almost midnight and I just finished writing out my lesson for RS tomorrow. This means that I am not following the teachings of at least two Prophets, and ignoring the messages from my body that it is way past my bedtime.
Tsunami Warning
Wow! The previous post sounds a little perturbed.....easy to happen driving in Seattle in 5:00 traffic. At least I only want to shoot darts at peoples' tires.......
Back to the tsunami warning. Earlier today I got a call from my beautiful and talented and intelligent daughter Jenna. She wanted to know if I knew if Tanisha was all right. "Why shouldn't she be?" was my clever response. To which Jenna replied, "You haven't heard? There was an earthquake in Chile!" (For those of who don't know, Tanisha is another of my beautiful and talented and intelligent daughters)
Now I have not been in a geography class for a long time, and perhaps continents and islands have moved around when I wasn't looking, but according to what I remember, Chile is South America and that is a pretty fair distance from New Zealand. Then came the cause for concern....the 8.8 earthquake in Chile set off a tsunami "through the Pacific." OK now, this is starting to get personal. So I told Jenna I had to hang up because my cell phone is my modem to the internet, and I don't know if I can do both at the same time, but I don't think so.
I get online, and check Skype--nope Tanisha isn't online. So I shut down the internet and call Jenna back and report that Tanisha is not online because I checked her status on Skype. I have turned my TV on by this time, but I don't have cable (too much money) and none of the channels had any news.I then remembered the NZ Herald's website. They would have more timely information. So, Jenna and I say good-by again, and I hook the cell phone to the computer, then I bring up the Blackberry Manager thing, then I go to the Sprint icon and wait for it to be ready, then I click once more and voila! I am connected once again. I go to the New Zealand Herald website, and sure enough, there is a marine tsunami warning for New Zealand. It said they would probably get a 1 metre wave. I don't know how big that is, so then I go to a measurement converter. I find out a meter is about 3 feet. I relax a little.
This time I use my Skype minutes to call Jenna back again because I don't want to disconnect and reconnect. It gets old. I share what I found out, then told Jenna I was going to buy a pre-pay card for my Trac phone, because it lets me call New Zealand for the same price a call to the States. I only have 3 minutes left. Again we hang up. I make a quick call to my most exellent friend Sharon to tell about the tsunami and when I tell her I'm on my way to buy a pre-pay phone card for my Trac phone, she offers me the use of her Trac phone because she bought 1000 minutes last year, and she'll never use all those minutes.
I hop into the car and drive the short distance to Sharon's house. I greet her husband and her dogs, then I see her cell phone and we realize that it actually a T-Mobile phone. Oh well. I sat down for a bit and watched the cable channel hoping for news about New Zealand's tsunami risk. No such luck. I say good by and promise to call and let Sharon know that Tanisha is safe.
Another quick hop into the car. I drive to US Bank because I don't have to pay a service fee for making a withdrawal from my account. I got a twenty dollar bill. Back in the car, and when I try to start it, it won't start. I am not alarmed because usually if I wait a few minutes, it will start. I played Bejeweled on my Blackberry to pass the time. When a few minutes had passed, I tried again and we were in business! I drove away from the bank, and saw a Rite-Aid close by, so that's where I went.
Once inside Right Aid, I discover that the lowest amount of time I could buy would cost me $30. But I only have the $20. So I make the decision to buy a calling card for $9.99 and try that. I make my purchase, and head home. I make the call. TANISHA ANSWERS THE PHONE!!!
Tanisha asks do you want to use Skype instead? I say sure. So we hang up, and I reconnect to the internet, and a few minutes later we are chatting on Skype. I ask her how she is doing, and she tells me she's fine. I ask if the tsunami is supposed to come near her and the family. She says "What tsunami?" So then I launched in to the story of the earthquake in Chile, and the resulting tsunami that is "rolling across the Pacific Ocean" (I borrowed that phrase from one of the news repports I either read or heard or saw.) At that point, Tanisha said, "It must not be anything to be afraid of, because there haven't been any warnings." Then Adia starts to cry and seems serious, so we hang up.
I called Jenna back and said "Your sister is fine and didn't even know about the tsunami. Thank goodness you were on the job!!"
A while later, Tanisha calls back and she is using a computer with a web cam and I got to see her and Richard. He is very handsome, of course. I noticed the changes in her decor and we chatted a while longer, then we said our good bys.
I have to go now. I have to prepare for a lesson tomorrow. But first I have to call Sharon and my other beautiful and talented and intelligent daughter, Marissa and bring them up to date. And then I need to get this furniture I brought back last weekend arranged neatly. Ta ta!
Back to the tsunami warning. Earlier today I got a call from my beautiful and talented and intelligent daughter Jenna. She wanted to know if I knew if Tanisha was all right. "Why shouldn't she be?" was my clever response. To which Jenna replied, "You haven't heard? There was an earthquake in Chile!" (For those of who don't know, Tanisha is another of my beautiful and talented and intelligent daughters)
Now I have not been in a geography class for a long time, and perhaps continents and islands have moved around when I wasn't looking, but according to what I remember, Chile is South America and that is a pretty fair distance from New Zealand. Then came the cause for concern....the 8.8 earthquake in Chile set off a tsunami "through the Pacific." OK now, this is starting to get personal. So I told Jenna I had to hang up because my cell phone is my modem to the internet, and I don't know if I can do both at the same time, but I don't think so.
I get online, and check Skype--nope Tanisha isn't online. So I shut down the internet and call Jenna back and report that Tanisha is not online because I checked her status on Skype. I have turned my TV on by this time, but I don't have cable (too much money) and none of the channels had any news.I then remembered the NZ Herald's website. They would have more timely information. So, Jenna and I say good-by again, and I hook the cell phone to the computer, then I bring up the Blackberry Manager thing, then I go to the Sprint icon and wait for it to be ready, then I click once more and voila! I am connected once again. I go to the New Zealand Herald website, and sure enough, there is a marine tsunami warning for New Zealand. It said they would probably get a 1 metre wave. I don't know how big that is, so then I go to a measurement converter. I find out a meter is about 3 feet. I relax a little.
This time I use my Skype minutes to call Jenna back again because I don't want to disconnect and reconnect. It gets old. I share what I found out, then told Jenna I was going to buy a pre-pay card for my Trac phone, because it lets me call New Zealand for the same price a call to the States. I only have 3 minutes left. Again we hang up. I make a quick call to my most exellent friend Sharon to tell about the tsunami and when I tell her I'm on my way to buy a pre-pay phone card for my Trac phone, she offers me the use of her Trac phone because she bought 1000 minutes last year, and she'll never use all those minutes.
I hop into the car and drive the short distance to Sharon's house. I greet her husband and her dogs, then I see her cell phone and we realize that it actually a T-Mobile phone. Oh well. I sat down for a bit and watched the cable channel hoping for news about New Zealand's tsunami risk. No such luck. I say good by and promise to call and let Sharon know that Tanisha is safe.
Another quick hop into the car. I drive to US Bank because I don't have to pay a service fee for making a withdrawal from my account. I got a twenty dollar bill. Back in the car, and when I try to start it, it won't start. I am not alarmed because usually if I wait a few minutes, it will start. I played Bejeweled on my Blackberry to pass the time. When a few minutes had passed, I tried again and we were in business! I drove away from the bank, and saw a Rite-Aid close by, so that's where I went.
Once inside Right Aid, I discover that the lowest amount of time I could buy would cost me $30. But I only have the $20. So I make the decision to buy a calling card for $9.99 and try that. I make my purchase, and head home. I make the call. TANISHA ANSWERS THE PHONE!!!
Tanisha asks do you want to use Skype instead? I say sure. So we hang up, and I reconnect to the internet, and a few minutes later we are chatting on Skype. I ask her how she is doing, and she tells me she's fine. I ask if the tsunami is supposed to come near her and the family. She says "What tsunami?" So then I launched in to the story of the earthquake in Chile, and the resulting tsunami that is "rolling across the Pacific Ocean" (I borrowed that phrase from one of the news repports I either read or heard or saw.) At that point, Tanisha said, "It must not be anything to be afraid of, because there haven't been any warnings." Then Adia starts to cry and seems serious, so we hang up.
I called Jenna back and said "Your sister is fine and didn't even know about the tsunami. Thank goodness you were on the job!!"
A while later, Tanisha calls back and she is using a computer with a web cam and I got to see her and Richard. He is very handsome, of course. I noticed the changes in her decor and we chatted a while longer, then we said our good bys.
I have to go now. I have to prepare for a lesson tomorrow. But first I have to call Sharon and my other beautiful and talented and intelligent daughter, Marissa and bring them up to date. And then I need to get this furniture I brought back last weekend arranged neatly. Ta ta!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
I am going to invent
a kind of high power dart gun so that I can shoot out the tires on the cars of bad drivers, especially those rude drivers who try to push their ways into places they don't belong....like the planet Earth.
Is that bad?
Is that bad?
Monday, February 15, 2010
It's gonna be an early night.....
Whew! I had a blast last night with Hope, Lilly, Bailey and Elijah! We had pizza and super-duper chocolate milk and fabulous desserts and Valentine's candy. We played computer games, Wii games, crawling games and games in the tupperware drawer. We stayed up a little too late, but not much. We watched Nickelodean at night and Sponge Bob in the morning. We asked for cereal in the morning and then some of us didn't eat it. One of us found the bowl of dog food on the floor in the family room and decided that might be better than cereal.
One of my favorite quotes: "Grandma, we need to make cookies for the fiesta for my mom's birthday. My mommy LOVES cookies. Here's our aprons." "But it's not your mom's birthday." "Yes it is--she just forgot to tell you."
There were a couple of others, but they were spoken in confidence to a loyal grandmother, and I will not violate that sacred trust.
Once again I am reminded of why God makes young people to be the parents of young children, especially when there are several at one time. I am fixing a quick bite to eat for myself (and of course for the little dogs) then I am hitting the sack as soon as I turn on the dishwasher.
Oh, I almost forgot about the delicious time spent soaking in the fabulously deep bath tub filled with exquisitely almost hot water after most of us had retired for the night.......ahhhhhhhh.
One of my favorite quotes: "Grandma, we need to make cookies for the fiesta for my mom's birthday. My mommy LOVES cookies. Here's our aprons." "But it's not your mom's birthday." "Yes it is--she just forgot to tell you."
There were a couple of others, but they were spoken in confidence to a loyal grandmother, and I will not violate that sacred trust.
Once again I am reminded of why God makes young people to be the parents of young children, especially when there are several at one time. I am fixing a quick bite to eat for myself (and of course for the little dogs) then I am hitting the sack as soon as I turn on the dishwasher.
Oh, I almost forgot about the delicious time spent soaking in the fabulously deep bath tub filled with exquisitely almost hot water after most of us had retired for the night.......ahhhhhhhh.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Don't you love it when........
You get a message that you recognize is just for you from Heavenly Father? I think "Oh! He remembers me!"
You don't have to be anywhere until 11:00 am on a Sunday morning? I like going to church at 8:00 am, and can tolerate going to church at 1:00 pm, but I think I am really liking this 11:00 time.
You look around the house and think "Oh no-I have so much to do today before going to work tomorrow!" and then you realize you have an extra day off so you can chill a little? Thank you Presidents for having birthdays, although I liked it better when George Washington and Abraham Lincoln had their own individual days so we got two holidays in February. But I'm thankful "they" let us keep one day off. (By the way, who are "they" anyway? And who made them the holiday sheriffs?)
You think about your family and your heart just swells up with love for them?
You go through a "challenging" time and when you get to the other side it's like going from Kansas to Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz'?
You smile or say something cheery to a stranger, like the cashier at the grocery store, and you can see their pleasantly surprised reaction, so you know you've brightened their day, even for only a brief moment?
You hear an old Beatle's song and remember what life was like when it was new? Well, some of us remember that. How about a Celine Dion song? Or an NSync song? Or an MC Hammer song? Look out, I'm gonna get happy feet and have to dance!!!
You sit on your chaise in your living room and read with your dogs curled up next to you?
You wake up and realize you get to spend the night tonight with four of your wonderful grandchildren while their parents have a "grown up" Valentine's Day experience? Those of you who don't have grandchildren, eat your hearts out.....oh that doesn't sound kind...sorry....
You realize that what you do makes a difference in your little corner of the world? Hopefully for the better **smile**
Your little dogs are thrilled to see you, no matter what?
You can eat whatever you want whenever you want, because you live alone? (Except for the little dogs, but they go along with your program and don't complain)
You get to enjoy a fabulous meal with your family, and bask in the happiness of being together?
You see the world around you and are moved to say reverently, "Heavenly Father, You do great work!"
You don't have to be anywhere until 11:00 am on a Sunday morning? I like going to church at 8:00 am, and can tolerate going to church at 1:00 pm, but I think I am really liking this 11:00 time.
You look around the house and think "Oh no-I have so much to do today before going to work tomorrow!" and then you realize you have an extra day off so you can chill a little? Thank you Presidents for having birthdays, although I liked it better when George Washington and Abraham Lincoln had their own individual days so we got two holidays in February. But I'm thankful "they" let us keep one day off. (By the way, who are "they" anyway? And who made them the holiday sheriffs?)
You think about your family and your heart just swells up with love for them?
You go through a "challenging" time and when you get to the other side it's like going from Kansas to Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz'?
You smile or say something cheery to a stranger, like the cashier at the grocery store, and you can see their pleasantly surprised reaction, so you know you've brightened their day, even for only a brief moment?
You hear an old Beatle's song and remember what life was like when it was new? Well, some of us remember that. How about a Celine Dion song? Or an NSync song? Or an MC Hammer song? Look out, I'm gonna get happy feet and have to dance!!!
You sit on your chaise in your living room and read with your dogs curled up next to you?
You wake up and realize you get to spend the night tonight with four of your wonderful grandchildren while their parents have a "grown up" Valentine's Day experience? Those of you who don't have grandchildren, eat your hearts out.....oh that doesn't sound kind...sorry....
You realize that what you do makes a difference in your little corner of the world? Hopefully for the better **smile**
Your little dogs are thrilled to see you, no matter what?
You can eat whatever you want whenever you want, because you live alone? (Except for the little dogs, but they go along with your program and don't complain)
You get to enjoy a fabulous meal with your family, and bask in the happiness of being together?
You see the world around you and are moved to say reverently, "Heavenly Father, You do great work!"
Friday, February 12, 2010
It's Friday and a 3 day weekend!
Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that I am no longer a workaholic, I understand the TGIF sentiment. I am looking forward to sleeping in...like until 6:00 am......if the dogs will let me sleep that late. They are small dogs and have small bladders. Plus they love me. All the time. No matter what. Even with morning breath (actually they may prefer morning breath).
I am grieving. I read somewhere this week that women over 40 are at risk for developing cancer and heart disease from.....too much sugar......so I guess the ginger ale has to go. Man. Does it never end????? I finally broke free of my nasty Diet Pepsi habit (since New Zealand) and I replaced that with ginger ale since we don't have Lift in the States. I have avoided diet sodas because they are bad for me.....now sugar not only makes me fat (as though that's not enough!) but it increases my risk for cancer and heart disease. Hubba hubba. All right all you ladies under 40----quick, get as much sugar as you can before time runs out!!! Who knows what's next?
So I am off to take the little dogs for a quick walk and then look for something to cook that is fairly healthy so my 14 year old cardiologist will be happy with me the next time I see him. When did medical experts start being younger than my grandchildren?
Sorry for the rambling.....back before too long......
Now that I am no longer a workaholic, I understand the TGIF sentiment. I am looking forward to sleeping in...like until 6:00 am......if the dogs will let me sleep that late. They are small dogs and have small bladders. Plus they love me. All the time. No matter what. Even with morning breath (actually they may prefer morning breath).
I am grieving. I read somewhere this week that women over 40 are at risk for developing cancer and heart disease from.....too much sugar......so I guess the ginger ale has to go. Man. Does it never end????? I finally broke free of my nasty Diet Pepsi habit (since New Zealand) and I replaced that with ginger ale since we don't have Lift in the States. I have avoided diet sodas because they are bad for me.....now sugar not only makes me fat (as though that's not enough!) but it increases my risk for cancer and heart disease. Hubba hubba. All right all you ladies under 40----quick, get as much sugar as you can before time runs out!!! Who knows what's next?
So I am off to take the little dogs for a quick walk and then look for something to cook that is fairly healthy so my 14 year old cardiologist will be happy with me the next time I see him. When did medical experts start being younger than my grandchildren?
Sorry for the rambling.....back before too long......
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