Oblivious

Oblivious - Unaware of or not paying attention to

July 7, 2009

Seriously, I have to wonder sometimes. Can no one else in the family see this mess? They have to STEP OVER IT in order to get to the computer, so you would think they could see it. But somehow it appears that I'm the only one who can see it, or at least I'm the only one it bothers. I honestly think sometimes that my kids would wallow in their own filth if I didn't make them tidy things up on occasion. And as many people can attest to, I'm no clean freak so if something is bothering me, it must be pretty darn bad.


I had to work a whole day today. A whole, long, day. My apolgies to all full-time workers out there, but a whole day is HARD. I haven't worked full time in a whole lot of years. I currently only work for 3 hours a day, so a long 9 hour day with no coworkers to talk to was extremely trying. Yeah, go ahead and say it. I know I'm a big baby. It's no secret, really. I only want to do the things I want to do, and none of that stuff I don't want to do. Is that really so wrong?

Full, Remove, Explode

Explode - to cause to release energy or burst violently and noisily.

July 4, 2009

I can't even imagine getting a picture like this with my old Kodak. This new camera has a setting called "Fireworks" so I was just waiting for the 4th to have a chance to try it out. Unfortunately, there is a significant delay, so I had to take a lot of pictures before I accidently caught one just right.

Remove - to do away with; eliminate.

July 5, 2009

This space used to be occupied by a HUGE boulder, which was all kinds of fun for a little girl to climb on and jump off. Years passed, and the same little girl grew up, and bought the house (and the boulder) and her adult eyes saw it as nothing but a lawn-mowing obstacle. Luckily, she found a family who needed said boulder, AND they were willing to remove it. It took a few tries, but they got it moved to their yard and now mine is obstacle free. They were willing to take all of our boulders. Thank you Adams Family!! (not Addams family). Anyone have a few pieces of sod to spare?

Full - Constituting the full quantity or extent; complete.

July 6, 2009

We spent the evening up at Lane's parents tonight. Lane's sister was up from her home in Aurora, his other sister has moved back home from New York, and Lane's cousin is here visiting from Colorado so we had a nice visit with everyone. As we were driving back home, we noticed how gorgeous the moon was as it came up over the mountains, but it's impossible to get a nighttime picture from a moving car (or a least impossible for me) so I had to wait until we got home to snap a picture. I tried to get a picture every time we stopped at a light, but as (my) luck would have it, the stop light or a street sign or something ugly was in the way.

Spoil, Grimace

Addie on the merry-go-round

Jack and his friend Derek on the log flume . . . in the rain.

Taylor and Addie on the kiddie coaster.



Spoil - To impair the completeness, perfection or unity of.
July 2, 2009

We went to Lagoon on Thursday. It was kind of spur of the moment but we had all been looking forward to it. When we got there and we were eating our picnic lunch, we commented on how nice it was to have some cloud cover to keep it from getting too hot. Not long after that, when we were on our post-lunch/easy-ride train ride, it started to sprinkle, but we were sure it would blow over. Not so much. It just rained harder, and harder. We stayed and let Addie ride the kiddie rides until she was really wet. Then Jack and his friend came and found us and told us they were shutting rides down. So we went back to the pavillion where our picnic was and waited for it to blow over. Lane tells me it was about an hour, but since I was disappointed and pouty, it seemed to me like a lot longer. Eventually it started to let up, so we wandered over to the Pioneer Village area to see what was going on. Not too surprisingly, there was no line for the log flume, so we took a turn on that, and Jack and his friend just kept riding it. Since there were few other riders, the ride operator didn't even make Jack and Derek get off between rides. After they were tired of that, we learned that the other rides were open again so we went back to having fun. I went with Taylor and Jack and Derek to the big-kid rides, and Lane stayed with Addie. Addie had gotten so wet that her teeth were chattering, so Lane bought her a Lagoon hoodie to keep her warm. So between a new hoodie and all her fun rides, she was in heaven. It warmed up as the evening went on and everything turned out ok. The lines were shorter because I think a lot of people went home early.

I don't know if we'll be doing Lagoon again any time soon. Addie is almost too big for the kiddie rides, she probably will be too big by next year, and most of the adult rides have warnings on them for people with heart conditions. That doesn't leave her with much to do there. The only "big" rides that she went on were the train, the log flume and the tilt-a-whirl. There's not much point to going if she can't do anything, and she would just feel bad if she was left out. So that may have been our last family trip to Lagoon. I think things with Addie will continue to get harder as she learns more about what she can't do. She desperately wants to just be like everyone else, and we have to try to reason with a 6 year old. What we need to do is find more things that she can do, and spend our together time doing those things.

Grimace - an ugly or distorted facial expression of pain, disgust or displeasure
July 3, 2009

Lane decided to not be helpful at 11 pm when I was desperately searching for my picture of the day, so this is his punishment. I really shouldn't punish him at all - he took me out for a nice dinner. We went to Iggy's. We've never been there before and I ordered some sort of lime chicken and it was really good. He even got me a dessert at Kneaders. I don't care if he's grimacing - I still think he's cute.

Golden, Spill

Spill - to cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container.
June 30, 2009

See what happens when I go into withdrawls and I get the shakes? Not that I'm addicted, of course . . . No, seriously, I needed a photo for the photo contest for June. It was the last day, and last hours, of the month so I had to think fast. The theme was liquid and I was trying all kinds of stuff with my Dr. Pepper, and finally it overflowed so I thought that was my best shot. Certainly not my best work, but it WAS the last minute . . .

Golden - having the deep slightly brownish color of gold.
July 1, 2009

I held out as long as I could, but we're back to food pictures again. It was new recipe night - this is Chicken with Apple Cider Sauce. I saw this on the Food Network, and it looked so, so good. I am a firm believer that chicken dishes must always be served with rice, and beef dishes should be served with potatoes, and chicken also must always have carrots as a side dish. Fresh carrots, of course, not those frozen kind. And with lots of butter. Yum. I don't know why I have these connections, but I do and so that's what I serve.




Chicken with Apple Cider Sauce

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons salted butter
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Preheat a medium to large skillet over medium-high heat, for about 1 minute or until the surface of the pan is hot. Add the oil and heat until rippling on the surface. Pat the chicken breasts dry and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the pan and cook until the meat is golden, about 4 minutes. Turn the chicken breasts, lower the heat to medium and add 1 Tablespoon of the butter. Cook until firm to the touch or an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F., about 4 to 6 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a plate to rest.

Pour off any fat remaining in the skillet. Add the vinegar and deglaze over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the cider and the broth. Bring to a boil and cook until it thickens to form a sauce, about 6 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter, lemon juice and thyme leaves. Return the chicken to the pan, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve.


Of course this must be served with rice. There are tons of things to mix in to rice to add flavor, but I always begin the same way:

Rice (this serves my family of 5 with no leftovers, and Jack really counts as 2)

Sear 1 cup of rice and 2 cloves of fresh, pressed garlic in a saucepan with 1 Tablespoon of butter. Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, and cover until the liquid is absorbed.


Like I said, I throw in whatever seasoning I'm in the mood for at some point during the cooking process. I've never had rice fail this way and it's never sticky or gluey. Happy Dinner! I hope you try this meal and like it as much as we did.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Sorry this is so dark. The temple, of course, faces east so trying to take a picture at this time of day put me looking straight into the bright afternoon sun moving around to the west. I'm lucky I got the whole building in, I could hardly see what I was doing.

This is a much better picture, taken from the back side, the south west corner, looking toward the front.

Eat your hearts out, out-of-state Mormons. This picture is from me standing in front of the temple, looking east to the Jordan River Temple. Yes, they are THAT close . . .

. . . and looking to the south east, across the valley, you can see the Draper Temple up against the mountains. But before anyone complains about Utah having too many temples, please understand how busy these temples are! There aren't even "slow" periods of the day anymore. Busy the whole day long. Which is great news really - it means the work is getting done!

The new Oquirrh Mountain Temple is really pretty. It's bigger than the Draper temple. The ordinance rooms hold about 50 people. There is no cafeteria, but ther is a lunchroom with tables and microwaves. The baptismal font was exceptionally striking. The interior is all done in earth tones and mountain themes.

The open house continues through the end of July, I think, so make sure you visit if you are in the area!

Random, Grow, Struck

Random - Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

June 27, 2009

The odd assortment of things that have found a home on my nighttable. That's kind of embarrasing now that I see it in print. I have no idea why there is a seam ripper on the night table. I don't remember having a need to unpick a seam while in bed.

Grow -To be capable of growth; thrive.

June 28, 2009

Green onions in the front, green peppers in the middle, tomatoes in the back. Everything is doing beautifully. My apple trees are loaded - hello applesauce! We are anticipating a bountiful harvest!

Struck - Damaged or destroyed, as by forceful contact.

June 29, 2009

The Angel Moroni at the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple was struck by lightening during construction. The damage is visible on the arm holding up the trumpet.

Wait, Thunderhead

Wait - To remain or rest in expectation.

June 25, 2009

The game before ours went into extra innings, so our game was delayed about 45 minutes. Then our game went long. The championship game was played after ours, which started a full hour plus late.


If you don't want to hear a proud mom/coach's wife go on and on about a great baseball game, stop reading. You have been duly warned. As I said, we got a late start since the earlier game went into extra innings, so our team had a lot of time to stand around. We trailed most of the game, and as home team we had last ups. We must have been down by 3 runs. The bases were loaded, between a few decent hits and a few walks, when one of our boys stepped up and hit a grand slam! Game time expired, and as home team, all we needed was 1 more run, so that was it. We were playing for 3rd place, and I think those boys were as thrilled as if they had won first place! It was all very exciting and fun to watch.

Jack and I stayed to watch the championship game because one of Jack's friends was on one of the teams. That game went into 2 extra innings, with Jack's friends team coming back from 6-2 to winning 16-12, scoring 10 runs in the final inning! Because of all the late starts from the earlier games, the championship game didn't get started until 9:30, and finished up at 11:40. It was a long night on a very hard metal bench, but it was a fun night.

Thunderhead - a rounded projecting mass of a cumulus cloud with shining edges; often appears before a thunderstorm.

June 26, 2009

More rain. I really do LOVE a good thunderstor, but come on! I need a good dose of summer to truly appreciate the rain, and we just haven't had that this month. I did finally turn on my AC yesterday (until it started to rain) and the day before, but that is all it has been on this year. I think tomorrow is supposed to be better.