You ever have one of "those" days?

Yesterday, my little Holly decided that she was going to have a party at our house. (Actually, she didn't decide that yesterday; yesterday was the designated day). Not a big deal. The party wasn't until 3pm. Heath had a football game, but it was going to be over by 1:30. She only wanted me to provide the buns, hotdogs, and lemonade. Not a big deal....famous last words.
When we got home from the football game, the thought that we should go over to Grandma's and get the folding banquet tables popped into my stupid head. Holly needs the volleyball from Grandma's basement anyway. Heath, being quite the gentleman, decided that he'd go with me and help. We headed outside....WAIT! We can't take the van, because Jeff has it in Lava. No problem! We'll just take the truck. We head back to the garage. We get all settled in. Turn the key in the ignition...GREAT! The truck won't start. Dead battery. No problem! Dad has a really cool battery charger! We'll just hook it up and start the truck. We get the charger. We hook it up. All set to go...DANG! The charger isn't charged. No problem! I have jumper cables! We go to get the cables...SHOOT! The cables are in the van. The van is at Lava Hot Springs with Jeff. No problem! Dad has another set right here by the window! We'll just use those. Open the hood to the car. We'll just hook these up...ARE YOU KIDDING?! The jumper cables are about 5 feet long. The truck battery is on the drivers side...against the outside garage wall. The car battery is on the passenger side...against the inside garage wall. No problem! I'll just back the car out and get it as close to the truck as I can. Here we go...NICE! Except that now I have to climb out the other side of the car...got it too close for my fat butt to get out the driver's side. (in my defense, Jeff's 6'1", 118# body couldn't have gotten out either) Okay. We are all set. Let's just get this stupid truck running. GOT IT! SWEET! Let's get to Grandma's and get those tables.
We make it to Grandma's house. Let's just leave the truck running. I don't want to have to jump it again. CRAP! I just turned off the truck! SWEET! The truck started right up again! We just need to get the extra garage door that Grandma keeps hidden in her flowers. What? It's not there? Let's look in the other flowers...how about the other flowers? Now what? No problem! She surely left a window unlocked. We'll just "break-in". Checking windows...checking doors...THIS IS JUST RIDICULOUS! Who locks their house when they go camping?! Apparently, Grandma does. What do we do now? We can live without the tables, but we have no volleyball. No problem! There is a window underneath the deck in the backyard. You can see it, because there is lattice trim around the deck. There is just enough room for Heath to crawl under. The window is unlocked! Do you have a key to pry the screen off? Sure I do. In the truck. The one that I can't turn off. Here. Use this wicket from the croquet set. Did it work? Excellent! Let me in! We find the tables. We find the volleyball. We find an extra key so that we don't have to do this again. We get the screen back in the window. Life is good! No problems! I will take Heath back home so that he can help Holly set up the volleyball net while I go to the store...in the car, so that I can turn it off.
Heath is home, and I'm in the car headed to Wal-Mart. No problems. Great! Look at that prime parking spot! Up front! On a Saturday! What great fortune! Let's see...list, phone, purse...NO!! My purse isn't here. It's at home. In the truck. No problem. I'll just go back home and get it. I call home. I forgot my purse. Way to go, Mom. I'm on my way. I can't talk anymore. My phone battery is dying. No problem. I'll just plug in my car charger. Oh. The car charger is in the van. The van is at Lava Hot Springs. Okay, I'm home now anyway. Get the purse. Off to Wal-Mart. The weather is wonderful! I'll roll down the windows and smell the fresh air and enjoy the breeze! Look at the beautiful grass in front of the apartments by Wal-Mart. Look at the sprinklers...SPLENDID! Look at the water from the broken sprinkler going right inside my rolled down window, wetting my face, hair, etc. No problem. That's what ponytails were invented for. And I don't have on my make-up yet anyway. Find a parking space. Excuse me, you moron. Could you and your ninety-seven friends please walk a little slower? I don't think I should be driving this fast in the parking lot. How fast am I going? Oh. I can't tell. The speedometer doesn't go that low. SHEESH! In the store. They have everything I need. (including the chocolate bar that I now truly believe I need). Just need to find me a line. WHAT IS GOING ON?! There are only 5000 people that live in Ammon! How is it that we are all at the same place at the same time?! Find a line. Get out. Get home.
The party was wonderful! Everyone had a great time! And the best part is, that today has already shaped up to be a much less frustrating one.... :D

Sisterhood

Last night, the girls and I had our last summer hurrah! Well, our last girls' night out for the summer, anyway! We started by arguing over where to go for dinner. Seems my daughters are living in a different tax bracket? They suggested things like Pita Pit, and Taco Smell. We ended up going to the Texas Roadhouse. Nothing like a great steak for dinner! Heaven on earth! (Even better than a chocolate dipped ice cream cone! Barely, but better! LOL) The only downside was that they (the people that work at Roadhouse) insisted on playing many Taylor Swift songs. For those who care, none of us can stand Taylor Swift. UGH. Then, we went to a bookstore to kill some time before our movie started. I could spend days in bookstores! The movie that we went to see was "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2". A complete and total chick flick! LOVED IT!!!! The movie was a full two hours long, but really didn't seem that long. It was wonderful! We went outside and discovered that it had rained while we were in the theater. (not a common thing, rain, in Idaho) It smelled SOOOO good! We decided to drive around town with the windows down just so that we could smell the fresh air! (But, it got too cold, so we didn't last very long with that idea....) We then went to Olive Garden for dessert. MMMMMMM. Do you realize how wonderful their chocolate cheesecake is? It's absolutely to die for! The poor waiter thought that we were laughing at him...and we were! We had a great time just laughing and joking with each other. What a great night.

Heaven dipped in chocolate

Has anyone else ever noticed that not much tastes better than a chocolate dipped cone from Diary Queen? I used to eat "dilly bars" when I was little. My grandma would take us to the Dairy Queen that was located conveniently down the road from her house. Sometimes, they would be having banana split specials at Dairy Queen. She must not have liked to eat ice cream alone, because she would always call our family to go out for a treat with her. I remember on those occasions not having a dilly bar, but splitting the banana split with my little sister. I'm not sure exactly when I began liking chocolate dipped cones, but since then, a dilly bar just doesn't cut it anymore. I remember that my Dad used to like them, too. I do like the occasional hot fudge sundae, as well, but there is just something about those cones! I realize that you can now get dipped cones that are soft served at McD's and Arctic Circle, but there is something about that Dairy Queen cone with the little swirl on top. It must make the ice cream taste better somehow. Now that both my Dad and my Grandma are eating their ice cream cones in Heaven, it makes me wonder if they have a Dairy Queen there? And do they still have banana splits "specials"? :D

School Days...YUCK

Today, I paid my fees and bought my books for the next semester. YUCK. I only bought 4 books this semester (because I had a fifth book already at home! what luck!) and it cost me quite a bundle (a bundle is more than $200...quite a bundle is much bigger....). I also paid my fees (which are more than quite a bundle...by a whole lot!). The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that I only have to pay fees one more time before graduation! YEAH! I also picked up the scrubs that I had to order this summer. I wish that the college would change to purple instead of royal blue, as purple is my signature color. Alas, I don't think they really care...RUDE.
Yesterday, we went to help Heather set up her classroom. It's hard to believe that Kerry is old enough to have a daughter that has not only graduated from college, but is in her second year of teaching. Actually, he's older than that because he has TWO daughters that have graduated from college... Anyway, we put her books on shelves, and arranged her desks. We also got to fill her cupboards! I know that she will rearrange everything (how many times does a woman rearrange her kitchen cupboards before they are "just right" when moving to a new abode?) but, it looks great! She still has to do her bulletin boards, but that is really something that she has to do on her own.
It seems like it just stopped snowing here (oh, maybe that's because it just did!), and already school is starting. Heather starts the 14th, I start the 18th, the "little boys" start the 20th, and the big boy starts the 22nd. Then, the "little girls" start back to ISU on the 25th. This really exhausts me to think about. I think I'll go take a nap! YEAH!

One "wicked" family reunion!

So, this weekend was our family's last "official" summer outing. We went down to Utah for a family reunion. We drove down on Friday afternoon, because we found amazing half-price tickets for Lagoon (an amusement park). I was foolishly thinking that I could avoid any and all "scary" rides because Jessie has never had a fondness for them. You know, hang out with Jessie so that she's not all alone. How was I to know that she'd have a sudden burst of courage?! Needless to say, my plan backfired. (Which, as a side note, explains why my parents may have been so worried about me as a teen....peer pressure still gets me to do things that I wouldn't ordinarily do on my own!) First, Kerry said, "Let's go on the old white roller coaster!". I said "sure" since I was figuring that he'd go on to bigger and better things without me! Foolish, foolish girl. I need to say that for those who don't know me well, I am petrified of heights, and I like my feet to be touching something (so the "sky coaster", which is just a ski-lift over the park, is not my favorite ride). We went on the roller coaster, the spider (which is so much fun, NOT. It is a roller coaster that has the added joy of spinning while moving along the tracks), and then WICKED. Keep in mind my earlier disclaimer about enjoying rides. Wicked shoots 120 feet straight up in the air, and then 120 feet straight back down. I mean straight. As in 90 degree angle to the ground. Then, not far into the ride, the darn things goes upside down. I survived. But, I was still shaking for several minutes after the ride. We also rode "rattlesnake rapids" and the "log ride" (which aren't much different in terms of wetness when done....I foolishly had a white t-shirt on...wet t-shirt contest anyone? Heavens.) Then, they took me on the swings...flying high above the ground (violation of rule number one...heights) on a swing (violation of rule number two...feet touching something). Everyone agreed that this was the greatest time we've ever had at Lagoon! I was great fun, in spite of my terror! LOL
Saturday, we went to the Golden Spike museum (the place where the railroad met from East to West). Then, on to the reunion where we had Cuban food to die for, and lots of great company! We went to church with Aunt Patty and Uncle Glendon (which always means a great Sunday dinner) and then the drive home. It was great to have all the kids together (even Big J!) for even just a weekend! Alas, now we realize that summer is all but over....