Day #230 - Loooong Weekends

It has been "ONE-OF-THOSE WEEKS" - Just when I think things are slowing down BOOOOM - things go crazy again. I told Travis today that I am so burned out and he said, "you say that every year". I guess it is just that time. I can say one thing about this week...I am sure looking forward to NOT working on Monday.

Three-day weekends are AWESOME. I can do all the normal stuff I have to do on the weekend and then there is a FREE day to do whatever I WANT. This year my sister is coming to town (almost as exciting as Santa) with her kids to spend several weeks with the clan. We have a few fun family activities planned - or sort of planned - and I am really looking forward to a few long weekends to spend with them while they are in town. I actually have 2 weeks of vacation built up and will have 2 more by the end of the year...it gets dicey when I don't use them (and I always do or I lose them), so I better get some fun things planned out...

Tomorrow TGIF and then...BOOOOM - 3 day weekend!!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once" Albert Einstein

Day #229 - The Call

Today I was grateful for my daily call from Travis. It is interesting to me that we spend the morning together, we say "goodbye" and "have a nice day" and "talk to you later" and then Travis always calls me sometime during the day usually only a handful of hours later. I didn't realize how much I watch for that call until he didn't bother one day and it made me really sad. He's called me every day since.

Normally he just asks how my day is going and I do the same and we end with the same kind of "talk to you later" in the form of "see you tonight", which only takes a few minutes. Today, though, he made me laugh hard and it was so fun to have a break and a belly laugh in the middle of a stressful day. That one call created many smiles over the next few hours and a desire to get home for more. I love that guy!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "A laugh is a smile that bursts" Mary H. Waldrip

Day #228 - Spring Showers Bring...June Flowers

Well, it is finally Spring in the Mountains. I have been waiting VERY patiently for my Allium bulbs to bloom so I can share them with you. We moved into our house in the fall season and my first Spring here was last year. In my front yard there is a hill covered in bark and only a few plants, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw all these green leaves poking through the ground. I thought they were weeds and just as I was going to start pulling them out someone at work told me, "When you move into a new house, you should always get through at least one growing season only pulling out things you KNOW are weeds to make sure you know what is growing there". I think it is good advice. I am glad I waited - now I get this every Spring:

I just tonight figured out their name "Allium" and there are different varieties. I remember a house in Bountiful that had a straight line of these very tall flowers with big balls on top. I remember always being surprised when I saw them. They last about as long as a tulip and multiply very quickly. I think I might transfer some out in the wild back yard this fall.

Some other spring flowers that are coming out right now:

I love seeing plants show off their beautiful bits - some take all Summer to grow from scratch every year and then bloom, others can't wait long and just want to stretch out to worship the sun. I am waiting patiently again for the next round of blooms to make an appearance. In the meantime I will enjoy all that Spring has to offer.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us."  ~Iris Murdoch

Day #227 - Watering Cup

This is the view of my shelf at least once per week...I realize I will see this upstairs when I am downstairs wondering where all my water cups are.

I love my water cups. These are cups that somehow make their way into my cupboard and I don't really know how, but I am glad they did. The pink and red are my favorites - I'm pretty sure they came to me through my brother Jason. He brought water into my house and the cups never left with him...too late now to give them back. The other one was actually meant to be a drink shaker - there was a lid with it if I remember and I think I got it as a party favor at one of Trav's old work parties, who knew it would turn into the perfect water glass. The white one is Trav's - I actually avoid those (there are 3 of them) like the plague. They were also drink shakers for protein shakes and for some reason they are the last straw water cup when all the others are missing in action, not sure why.

I usually drink a few each night and take one upstairs with me when I sit down to blog or read before bed. It makes a great alarm clock drinking 30 oz. of water each night just before bedtime - I will wake up at 6 a.m. everyday like clock work if I drink one of these bad boys down before my head hits the pillow. I don't always get out of bed at 6...but I am usually awake and waiting as long as possible before I absolutely have to get up.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope" I don't know who said this, but my niece, Avery, announced this little factoid about water the other day. She couldn't remember how long it was for food, but she was certain it was only 3 days without water...and right after she made the announcement she asked for a glass full like she just remembered how important it is.

Day #226 - Instructions are...

GREAT - I learned several things about my phone that I never knew I would enjoy using. Such as the "smiley" button. Now I can attach smiley, frowny, angry, sheepish faces to my texts instead of just the stick figure smile I normally use.

BORING - snore...I mean zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...I am so tired right now.

USELESS - C'mon...ALL I want to do is upload my photos. First upload to an online album...do I really have to do this one at a time? Then save to desktop or other file where you MIGHT be lucky enough to find it again - this was figured out after much trial and error, saving thumbnails instead of normal size prints and almost signing up for "premier" access for $1.90 per month, but after 1.5 hours I might have saved a few gems for you.

My Dad on Father's Day 2011:

Struggling to set up the awning for rain protection while cooking

(Don't worry, I went out and helped him after I recorded a few memories):  

GREAT LOOK DAD!!!



At least I was able to capture a bit of the moment and I knew I could eventually figure this photo thing out...eventually it might get easy.

I Am Grateful,

HB

Diva Quote: "We do not remember days; we remember moments."  ~Cesare Pavese

#225 - Phone Nerd Anyone?

I was starting a comment to my last post and it was turning into it's own post, so I decided to write about phone technology.

I am not exactly technically savvy, but I can usually figure things out in time. I try to avoid taking pictures with my phone, but it is handy in a pinch (when I forget to bring a camera). The problem is I can't figure out how to download to the computer. I have a photo card, but for some reason the card is not recognizing the photos and they are saved on my phone instead. I have a cord to download/connect to my computer, but it appears I will HAVE to read the instructions since it doesn't prompt or have an obvious button that magically transfers the photos...bother.

I am constantly amazed at new technology. My friend at work just bought a phone that lets her drag her finger from letter to letter to write a word instead of punching in the numbers; It is like technical cursive. Travis just set up the blue tooth feature in my car, now we can just push a button and tell the car who to call and a nice lady asks about twelve questions (OK only 3) then dials the number; but the hands can stay at 10 & 2 the whole time. Although, when we tried it out for the first time on Sunday, I felt so much pressure to say the number loud enough the lady kept hearing my 2's as 9's and twice I forgot the number I was asking it to call - Travis just shook his head and gave the nice lady what she wanted.

I am still resisting email and total access through my phone...sometimes I just don't want to be THAT available. I was watching something on TV the other night and a guy was predicting in 20 years we will put microchips in our bodies to heal our blood and cells from disease...Well, I might believe it if in 5 more years we have hover crafts like in Back to the Future II. I hope I get to see many more interesting inventions come to fruition. Very exciting times we live in.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: : "I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down." Abraham Lincoln

Day #224 - Happy Father's Day

I really cannot say enough about my Father and have posted a lot about how generous he is with his time and talents. He is a loving, generous, opinionated, high principled man, who may not be perfect, but is the perfect Father for me.

Mom made a fabulous steak dinner and Dad grilled them in the pouring rain with help from Travis. I have the best pictures of Dad in his "rain gear" trying to open the awning to get some shelter from the down pour. I got a new phone this weekend and I cannot figure out how to get the photos off it and onto the computer...I'll have to see if Trav can help me tomorrow.

There were only 3 of the 6 of us siblings there to honor him today and we all went in on a pair of binoculars for him. He has a pair buried somewhere in his man cave under who knows how many boxes and Mom suggested the gift because he is always spotting, or thinking he spots, something on the hillside when they are sitting out on the patio. Most of the time Mom tells him she thinks it is just a rock, but there have been sightings of lots of different kinds of animals in the neighborhood and he seems excited to try out the binoculars to see what he can find.

I love my Dad.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: ""When I was a kid, I said to my father one afternoon, 'Daddy, will you take me to the zoo?' He answered, 'If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you.'" -- Jerry Lewis

Day #223 - Elephants, Tigers and Diamonds

I figure I spent a total of around 8 hours building that presentation for our corporate client...we didn't even look at it. I was able to accomplish what I wanted to, however, so I suppose the time was well spent. I still do not know how it will all turn out in the end, but the next 6 months will be interesting and I have the feeling I have been presented with an amazing opportunity to get to know a rather remarkable individual and I am looking forward to it.

Over the last 2 years there have been 3 people inserted into the role of overseeing the relocation process for this corporation - this is what I call "flux extraordinaire". We have been really struggling to know who handles what and where to go for solutions to big picture problems with the process of relocating these transferees. Yesterday I met the newest addition to the corporate family and she is a fierce tiger mom type. I wasn't cowed by her, but I got the feeling she means business. I also got the feeling she will be eating an elephant over the next year seeing as how Relocation is one of about 100 things she is tasked with revamping.

The other bit I came away with was how little I have seen of the corporate world and how much I have to learn. At one point I felt like a little girl who desperately wanted to stick her thumb in her mouth. I also felt that sponge feeling I get when someone brilliant is around and I start to absorb everything they say.

After we talked about the state of the relocation program, the partnership and how it has developed over the years, some of the suggestions we have made in the past and some of the changes that have been incorporated, the challenges we continue to face and answered their questions about their own policies; Tiger Mom said, "Wow, there are a lot of diamonds here - I see so many diamonds". She means, of course, that they will need to be mined out of the rough mountain, cut and polished, but I do like the analogy...I actually hope I get to do some of that digging for her. I hope I get the opportunity to learn a piece of what she knows.

I certainly didn't come away with the feeling that all is well with the account, but I did come away with the feeling SOMETHING is finally going to happen and I may have some influence on the outcome.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Plan more than you can do, then do it. Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Hitch your wagon to a star, keep your seat, and there you are".

Day #222 - Finished

Well...I FINALLY finished the PowerPoint presentation. The phones cooperated today and I was able to get done what had to get done. Not my finest work, but it turned out ok. By this time tomorrow night I will be a happy girl, because what's done will be done.

Sometimes we dread something for very little reason. The reason in this case is the fear of not being as prepared as I would like to be. I also know I did everything I could to get as prepared as I currently am and that will have to be good enough. I'm not nervous about presenting the data, I have done it enough times now that I feel pretty comfortable, but I am nervous about accomplishing what I want to at tomorrow's meeting. I hope to come away with a stronger partnership and a plan to strategically move said partnership forward.

Wish me luck!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple: you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities, but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster." Quentin Crisp

Day #221 - New Moon

Beautiful

I Am Grateful,

HB

Diva Quote: "It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small." Neil Armstrong





Day #220 - Bird House

I bought one of Elaine's Bird Houses (reference post 219). Elaine's husband was an art teacher for several years and made bird houses as a hobby. He passed away 8 years ago and she has decided it is time to sell them. She held the sale in the neighborhood hoping they would remain close by, finding new homes and she would see them as she drove around.

I couldn't believe how great they are - EXACTLY what I was hoping to find someday to top my tree stump. For now it will sit on my porch until I can build an appropriate base for the tree stump to support the heavy house.

I LOVE the amazing Key Roof - Very clever. The wood is very old and distressed.

I will probably stain it this fall, but I like the old wood look. 

My new green chair for the entry to the house. 

I now have a place to rest when I am out working in the yard.  

Make that TWO places...

It was fun to get a few new things this weekend that make my home more inviting.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to."  ~Annie Gottlier

Day #219 - "The Bathtub Lady"

I met a neighbor lady yesterday. She is SUPER sweet and her yard is like a woodland garden. I will sometimes walk by just to study her plants to see what I should be planting in my yard. Every year she holds a big yard sale and yesterday she was selling the most interesting Bird Houses (more about this in post 220).

Her name is Elaine. She is a very fit older lady with friendly eyes and a genuine smile. When she asked me if I lived in the neighborhood I told her where and she tapped her pursed lips with her finger and then did the light bulb thing - Big indrawn breath, mouth ajar, big eyes and said "YOU'RE the BATHTUB LADY!"...oh, groan!!!

I LOVE my garden tub...I just don't love it right now. We moved the tub from my little house in NSL and I have often thought I should have left it there, but I really liked it. We inherited the claw foot tub when we bought the house in NSL in 1997. The tub was white and was sitting in the driveway. It was there for at least 2 years and everyone made fun of me, but I also had people stop and offer to buy it several times while it sat there - "no way - I have plans for it". I eventually put the feet on and painted the tub bright yellow and somehow coaxed my husband (and 3 other guys) into moving it to my garden area and there it sat until we decided to move.

Travis supported my decision to move the tub and I gave up the piano to my sister in return. We moved the sucker fully loaded with dirt and flowers. I thought my Mom was going to have a heart attack worrying about it. It took six guys to load and unload the tub. The problem is, I didn't put bricks under the legs and we didn't level the area before we placed the tub. Last year it was crooked, THIS year the feet sunk into the ground because of the weight of the snow. The other problem is I can't seem to keep the flowers alive.

Needless to say it is sort of embarrassing. While I was chatting with Elaine another neighbor came walking around the corner and Elaine said "Hey, this is the bathtub lady"...I promised them I would get it straightened out and it would look really cute...hopefully this year.

The Yellow Garden Tub - getting ready to sled down 

the road. Hey M - see that fence in the background? 

It would be the project we might get to stain together...:)  

I never really thought about it before, but I guess it is a good landmark "pass the house with the yellow bathtub and then..." It was embarrassing, but funny.

I Am Grateful,
The Bathtub Lady (HB)

Diva Quote: "If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want."  ~Oscar Wilde

Day #218 - Anything But...

I would rather do anything but...This is a phrase I use often in my day to day life.

I would rather do anything but...scrub the tub, roll up the 100 foot hose, scrape the railings, clean up kitty hair balls, change the litter, take out the trash (and for some reason re-line the can), wake up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday, get hair out of the shower drain (I can usually avoid that one until Trav does it...he, he), walk right back up the stairs when I forget something, make that last call I should have made at 9 a.m. instead of 5:45 p.m. when I know it will last at least 30 minutes, call the doctors office to make an appointment...I can go on and on.

Unfortunately, tonight I would rather write my blog then prep for work tomorrow. I am working on a presentation I have to do next week and tomorrow I am gathering the data and beginning to build my presentation in power point...Tonight I have tasked myself with preparing the outline and I am avoiding it like the plague.

I think the hardest part of starting a project is the very beginning. Once I get rolling, the thing seems to build itself. Almost two years ago I bought a fabric cutting tool and the squares and cutting board to make a square quilt for my bed. I am using the old red curtains from my NSL house and have been collecting various material to add to the quilt. In my mind it looks pretty cool and is actually big enough to cover up the mattresses when the bed is made. I have avoided starting that project for years because I didn't know how hard it would be. I finally started cutting out squares last week...totally simple. It will probably take me another year to start sewing the thing together, but it is a start.

I guess I better get to that outline...but I'd much rather read my book...or scrub the tub.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: I do my work at the same time each day - the last minute.  ~Author Unknown

Day #217 - Wax On, Wax Off

I am a pretty hairy girl...I know, TMI...but really when I look back at my early 90's photos I often wonder why my Mother or my older Sister didn't suggest I get my Brook Shields eye brows waxed. One year Melissa actually got us to go get electrolysis on our upper lip. It took several sessions and was pretty painful, but the mustache was gone for a few years I think. It eventually made its way back and now I diligently keep it waxed. I decided to document it for you tonight:

WAX ON

WAX OFF

I don't really love waxing, but I don't really mind it either. I do like it the next day when I don't notice the hairy lip along with my giant pours in the 20X magnified mirror. My favorite part of waxing is to look at the wax strips after I pull the hair off. I used to let my sister Amy wax my arm pits and I LOVED looking at all that hair - I'm not sure why. Maybe to make sure the hair came completely out and the pain was worth the effort.

Anyway, right now my lip and brows are red and irritated, tomorrow they will be smooth and clean.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "How can I control my life when I can't control my hair?"  ~Author Unknown

Day #216 - For the Birds

I think I found a new favorite pass time...looking up sayings and where they come from. I was going to write how I think counting calories is for the birds and wondered what that actually means. I know what I mean when I say "for the birds" - I mean it is a waste of time, useless.

"For the Birds" is actually a more polite way of saying something is crap. When there were more horses on the roads the birds would follow behind and peck at horse dung hoping to find some left over apple seeds. Hence the term "That crap is for the Birds" became "That's for the Birds". Just thought you might like to know.

Anyway, I know when I eat badly and when I eat well and counting calories was taking WAY too long. Besides...I have 'bigger fish to fry'...hmmmm...

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "How is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person? " ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Day #215 - Not a Couch Potato

Tonight we actually did something besides sit around and watch TV. Travis entered a bike race that is held every other Tuesday for the Summer. He was supposed to race last week, but it got rained out and moved to this week. Somehow I managed to remember to charge my camera this morning and actually left work at 5:00 on the dot to make it home in order to get to the race in time.

It was a little bit of a walk from the car to the start of the race and then I hiked up the back of the course to get in prime position to take a few photos as Steve and Travis came down to the finish line. It was a little annoying when the people in charge didn't know where the race course went so I sat around for 30 minutes, then found out I was in the wrong spot so only had time to get in place for one series of photos.

Here are a few fun photos:

Kid racing in the Tots category...WHAT? How cute is this?

 

An awesome horse running around like crazy:

And a few photos of Travis and Steve during the race and after...

It was fun, but next time I will cart a chair around with me and try to get better directions of where the race course goes. I was happy to go support Travis and it was awesome to do something besides watch TV on a weekday night. PLUS, Travis won a cool vest after the race in a raffle. Whew Hew!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck - but, most of all, endurance." James Arthur Baldwin

Calories: Avoided this today...Burger King with Travis after the race...oops.

Day #214 - Just Married

As I was zipping up the Canyon today on my way home I came speeding up on a car with "Just Married" written on the back window. I was in a hurry to get home, but had to slow down for a minute while I waited my turn to pass the slow poke. In that moment of hesitation I began to reflect...

Remember when you were "just married"? When I was up at my Mom's the other day we were all comparing wedding stories. Melissa and her imagined hair disaster; Melanie and her almost-rain-tragedy-turned-Uncle-Jim-miracle-prayer; Me and my 3-layer-should-have-been-4-layer cake incident; Keri and the Mother-in-law-insisted-300-would-be-there-now-150-extra-silver-dollar-sandwiches-leftover debacle; Amy and sweaty handed Lance; Chuck and Aunt Cheryl's phone playing "Eye of the Tiger" or something during the ceremony; Mom waiting 2 hours for Dad to pick her up to go on their honeymoon to the cabin in the woods, Jason taking Melanie CAMPING on their honeymoon - tent and all, etc. We actually talked for a good hour about everyone's memories of each other's weddings.

Passing that little car with comments all over the windows helped me remember the excitement of driving together with Travis up to Jackson Hole for our honeymoon. How wonderful it was to be married to my best friend and a man I admired. I remember how young I was - only 20. I remember our first big fight dealing with an apple core hitting the top of the precious Acura Integra on its way out the window. Now I think how funny that fight was and how our fights have both escalated and diminished over the last 17 years. We were immature then and still are in many ways, but we have also grown up together.

If you are married now, take a minute to remember those times. Laugh at the bad memories and cherish the happy ones - they are all good!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can't sleep with the window open."  ~George Bernard Shaw

Calories: 1,678

Day #213 - Random

This has been a busy weekend...lots of yard work. I barely dented my list, but my Dad and Mom came up to help for a few hours on Saturday. My Dad had gone to my sister Amy's house first to build a more secure chicken coup so by the time they got there around 2:30 p.m. I was pretty bushed already, but he did help me with a few carpentry issues.

Travis had gone with my brother Jason, his neighbor and a guy from my graduating class to do a several hour, 98 mile bike ride. I stayed home and raked 3 bags of leaves, cut branches off trees, planted some perennials my parents gave me and other general yard work. I also made a big pot of soup that I have no idea how to calorize...

Afterwards Travis and I drove my parents around Summit Park in their new car. We took them to a house that we call "our house". I told my Mom that someday that will be our home and when we are ready to purchase it the house will go on the market. I really work hard to believe this theory - Mom pretended to believe it as well.

Last night we hung out with our neighbor across the street and tonight my friend Jen came up with her husband and their little girl for dinner.

It was a productive weekend and I am pretty tired. I pretty much ache all over, there is a mystery bruise on my shoulder, my neck is sunburned and it appears the landscaping needs in my back yard are too big even for my Dad to fathom...Isn't life grand? I LOVE SPRING!!!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning?"  ~Coleman Cox
Calories last two nights: 1,488 & 1,325

Day #212 - Just 30 Days

I can do anything for 30 days...right? My sister threw down a 30 day challenge to do...something. My sisters Amy and Melissa have decided to do the Jillian Michaels 30 day no junk something or other. I have decided to write down every morsel of food I eat for the next 30 days..ok the next 28 days. I plan to write my calorie count at the bottom of each blog through June...I am hoping this will discourage things like eating 4 layer chocolate cake. I did really good for a whole month and then this week for some reason I let it all go...I want to get back on track, so this is what I am choosing to do.

I have tried to count calories before and usually will last up to 1 week. It is a hard discipline to count every calorie consumed and I will usually give up when I have to figure out something like the calories in a meal I create - like Chicken chili. How do you really add up all the calories in a recipe? I will just have to do my best - or look up a "like" recipe on a calorie counting site and use that instead. I want to stay around 1200 to 1800 max calories per day...Wish me luck.

On another note - Travis read my 'poor baby' post from yesterday. He had zero sympathy and asked what I meant by "alienating" him...cool. Hey, if you don't notice, I won't feel guilty about it. Problem solved. :)

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "If at first you don't succeed try, try again. And then quit. No need to be a damn fool about it." W.C. Fields

Calories: TBD starting tomorrow...:)

Day #211 - Definitely 1/2 Empty

I GOTTA DO IT!!! I gotta complain...just let me get it out of my system.

Last night I spilled 30 oz. of water all over my kitchen table and floor, dousing my moleskin journal (ok, it is just a paper journal with the fancy 'moleskin' name, but still); I found a gift from my dog at the bottom of my basement stairs (how long has that been there?); I have eaten 4 large pieces of 4 layer chocolate cake from Costco on 4 different days and felt nauseous each time (why do I keep eating that stupid cake?); I spent 2 hours farting around with the 2 weed sprayer dispensers I stored all winter and couldn't get either of them to work (I ended up going to buy another one); I was freezing tonight and turned the fireplace on only to forget to start the blower; I have managed to alienate my husband just about every day of the 4 day weekend; I got exactly ONE thing done at work today and still got home an hour later then planned; I went to bed a full hour early last night and woke up at 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m. and then fell dead asleep at 6 a.m. when I was SUPPOSED to wake up and have barely kept my eyes open all day; I drank 30 oz. of diet soda today (I haven't had soda for almost a month) and now have that feeling like a pill is stuck in my throat AND I was stretching this morning and threw my neck out of whack - now I can't even drive without turning my whole body to check for cars in my blind spot!!!!

THERE!!! I feel better. Sometimes you just have to vent!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much." Ashleigh Brilliant