A Day Off

Today Joe is home from school because of end of year Kindergarten testing.  He has been playing a very extensive game of make believe.

It all started with this line.. "Mom pretend you are a Grandma and I am your son."  OK.  He proceeded to go into the explanation that he has come over to give me a TV for Mother's Day. (Can you tell what Dave got his mother for MD?)

He then also proceeded to tell his wife that he didn't get her anything. (Hmmm. I wonder where he heard that one!!)

I yelled from the other room to get his wife a gift for heavens sake!

He bought her a football and proceeded to tell me she was playing on a women's football team.  I started  laughing and started asking more questions and got an entire family history from this little guy.   Here is my family in 25 years...

• Josh married a girl named Taia and they have 4 kids.  3 girls and 1 boy.  He is a police officer.  They live next door to me. Josh served a mission to Russia.  He graduated from a college in Greenland.? 
• Aaron married a girl named Savannah and they have 5 kids.  3 boys and 2 girls.  He makes movies.  They live next door to Joe and his wife.  Aaron went on a mission to Chicago and he graduated from BYU!  Savannah is a Primary President. 
• Jonathan married a girl named Taylor and they have 6 kids. 3 boys and 3 girls.  He is a computer guy.  They live in China and they don't speak English.  Jonathan went on his mission to Venezuela and went to the U.
• Alex married a girl named Hannah and they have 2 kids.  1 boy and 1 girl.  He is a zoo keeper.  They live in Texas.  But he comes and visits all day every day.  Alex went on a mission to Peru and he went to BYU. 
• Joe married a girl named Grace.  They have 2 boys named David and Andrew and 1 girl named Madison.  Grace is a doctor and Joe is a worker and he works next door to his dad, Dave and they go to lunch together everyday.  He took the day off today to be with me but Dad wouldn't.  (typical) Joe went on his mission to New York.  He graduated from BYU.  His wife went on a mission to Argentina and graduated from BYU.  They are pretty happy right now because they are going to have another baby soon. 
• Dave did take some time off from work to go on a mission with me to Africa.  We are very happy and we love go shopping together and buy flowers. (We hate shopping and we don't buy flower very often so things are obviously going to change.)   We also like to go out to dinner and go to church.

So that is my future according to Joe.  I can't believe how fast time has just flown by!  It seems like just yesterday they were all running around driving their mom insane!

All in all it sounds pretty nice except I don't really want Jonathan to live in China.  Maybe he is just there temporarily.  I miss him and his family.  It makes me a little sad that I don't see them very often.  I appreciate that Alex comes in from TX to see me every day.  All day.

So now you know what Joe does on his day off.

I gotta run.  I am suddenly interested in learning Chinese.

Day by Day.

So a good friend of mine "gently" reminded me that I should probably update my lonely blog.  I replied that I have nothing exciting to talk about.  However I must admit I am sick of seeing my big ole tree on my blog every time I come to my blog.  (It is strange because sometimes I visit my blog to see if someone has written something witty and interesting for me on my blog.  I am sometimes very annoyed nobody has updated it.  Is that strange?)  So I decided that I wouldn't look for something witty and interesting.  I will just write about what I did today.  No apologies for the past 4 months.  (OK I am really sorry). 

So today was an unusual day because today I spent a few hours doing genealogy. Yep today I got wrapped up in the world's 2nd most popular hobby (1st place goes to gardening, FYI).

 I was working with my mom on my dad's side of the family. She said "Wow, you have a lot of work to do on this side of the family."  Then she laughed wickedly because she is like that.   So here are some of the things that I noticed while working with my mom.

One observation to you people who are naming your kids made-up- funny- sounding- one- of- a- kind names.  Be warned. You are setting your child up for pure mockery.  Maybe not necessarily in his or her lifetime but eventually when their great-great-great-great grandchildren find them on FamilySearch.  They will laugh.  No disrespect to my ancestors but let me tell you.....

Nobody should be named Nimrod or Alethestan. Hello Nimrod! (Doesn't that sound insulting?) He does look a bit peeved.

 If you name your daughter Rassemine or  Henrietta nobody is going to use her name as a cute middle name.   Hey Henri!  She was pretty.

I hate to break it to you but Mads is ending with your son.  Here is old Mads now.  Guess what? He had a son named Mads so I lied.  It didn't end with your son.  It ended with your grandson.

Sophronia may be shortened to something cute but I can guarantee that Umpstead is not cute shortened in any way shape or form.  I mean really, Umpy?  Stead?  I guess you could go for Ted.

Speaking of Umpstead.  That poor man is so miss-named on FamilySearch.  Here are a few.  Umstead, Unstead, Upstead, Hempstead, Umpsteel, and my personal favorite Nimpstead. Poor guy.  That wouldn't have happened if his name was David.

Here are some of his children.  Have you ever noticed that people with unusual names usually opt for more traditional names for their children.  Here are Umpstead's children's names, Caroline, James, Mary, John, Peter, Abram, Elizabeth, William, Benjamin, Joseph, Emma, Ammon, Thomas.  Not a strange name in the bunch.   Ok Abram is strange.  But he was my great grandfather so back off.

So that is what I did today.  What did you do?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

Today was quite the adventure.  Good ole Davis County had HUGE winds today and it wreaked havoc on our neighborhood and our little home was no exception.  Our home was apparently fine at 5:00 am when Dave left.  At 7:00 when I was kicking my high schooler out to catch the bus he opened the door and said "Hey, our tree fell down."  I honestly thought it was a procrastination attempt so I said in my lovely cheerful mother voice..."Whatever, go catch the bus."  He was so shocked that I didn't believe him that I actually went to the door and looked.  According to my kids I gasped and said my traditional "Oh my stars!  Call your father!"  So here is what our house looked like.

My house is behind that tree.  If you look closely you can see the garage on the left and the roof on the right. So just in time for Christmas we have a new Christmas tree!  If only we could get out of our house we could throw some lights on it and call it good!  

But wait!  There's more!  In the true spirit of Christmas we shared our joy with our neighbors by gifting them a beautiful tree also!  You are welcome, neighbor!

Here is the another view of the tree.

Our fantastic Emergency Crew and our Amazing Neighbors took great care of us and after the wind finally died down they came and helped clear the one tree from the front of the house!

They were so helpful and we were so appreciative of their kind service and strong muscles. 

And here is the spectator gallery.  Just teasing they worked hard also!  It was a huge job but they made fast work of it!  What a grand adventure!

We are out of power at my house so I came over to dry some clothes at Mom's.  I will write more later!  

What does this mean?

I am not exactly sure what to do.  or think.  Today after I got the kids off to school I did dishes and laundry and straightening. I then sat around and watched movies and ate bonbons because that is what Dave thinks I do every day.  (By the way you will be happy to hear they now sell bonbons at Costco.) 

Then I showered, brushed my teeth, did my hair and very carefully applied some makeup. I got dressed in somewhat fashionable clothes.  I did this not only because it is important for hygiene and my mental health but I had a meeting with at the Jr. High with the counselor. 

 Today was a very important day for Aaron because today at the ripe old age of 13 we proceeded to plan out his entire life including high school, college and future career.  I didn't want you to be in suspense for the next 15 years so I thought I would just announce it now.  He is going to be a Dentist,   Or a Sports Trainer. Or an Investigator. Maybe.   

I would like to tell you that I went into this interview having discussed with him before all of his desires, talents and interests thoroughly.  But I didn't.  I just tried to get there on time, be in the right place and be presentable.  I just needed them to know that I am a "concerned, loving and stable" parent.  I thought that was sufficient even for this very important occasion.  

When I got home I was shocked to see that I failed to even meet those simple goals. 

This was what I had on.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  
Don't even ask about the next 3 THREE places I went.  I am not ready to talk about it.    

So I must ask.
Does this mean that my next step is to go out with curlers in my hair and wearing a house dress.
Do they even make house dresses anymore?
What is a house dress?
Do I wear a kerchief over the curlers or just go?
Should I just prearrange that my skirt is tucked up in my pantyhose?
Blouse inside out or right side in?

These are the fashion decisions that I must ponder.

PS I think I will blame my counselor in 8th grade.  She should have seen this coming. She should have prepared me better.