Week in Review--Phone Style

 I love listening to podcasts when I work in the yard.

We had the most perfect day of weather on Tuesday.

 I do A LOT of updating records and printing for primary.

Whitney and I saw a stunning sunrise on the way to school.

A trip to Costco to stock up on some essentials since Adam and Amy's girls are coming to stay for the weekend.

 Fabric shopping with Michelle.

 

This is what I bought to make fabric coasters for some co-workers.

We froze our nards off at Landon's game on Thursday.

 

I passed a pumpkin patch and saw this pumpkin on a chair so I flipped a U-turn so I could take a picture of it.

 I saw these too.

One of my visiting teachers felt badly that they hadn't been able to come see me this month so she printed a message and brought me a cinnamon braid, she even delivered it to me at school!

I had a delightfully rainy car lunch on Friday. (I don't usually work on Fridays but one of the other secretaries needed to switch this week.)

JCWs with some of the cousins.

Andrew LOVES going to JCWs. He always eats fries and a Cookies and Cream shake.

My dad at JCWs.

I took this self-portrait at a red light on the way home. It was a pretty funny car ride with all of us (except Andrew) singing "Roar" by Katy Perry.

My mom gave Lori and I a little sewing lesson...Lori and I have no skills.

Lori, Andrew and Suki.

 

 They look so cute together.

I enjoy fabric, and like the idea of sewing. But even this very basic project has me flustered.

This is a text exchange with Michelle about the sewing.

We set our sewing aside to take the girls to the AFHS Fall Festival and we finally got to try the goodness of the Waffle Luv truck.

Bella and Tess braved the Sumo suits and provided some comedy.

I spied Landon and Kassidy from a distance and he caught me.

What Am I?

Yesterday was "Administrative Professionals" day (aka Secretary's Day) which apparently I am (I tend to think of myself as a grossly underpaid office do-all but they don't have a day for that.

I was surprised to receive this cute ceramic pitcher of flower from the counselors.

This bowl of goodies from the FACS department.

This from the ballroom dance teacher.

Yummy cinnamon bread from one of the PTA moms.

This candy bar and card from the English department.

The English teachers all wrote something specific in the card and I think I appreciated this most of all.

The administrators bought us Cafe Rio for lunch and let us eat together in the conference room (rather than my usual peanut butter sandwich at my desk).

Today Landon's Spanish teacher (who is also my friend) said, "I'm sorry I forgot to appreciate you yesterday!"

12 on the 12th--March Edition

I realize my main purpose for blogging is for me and my family, but it sure is nice when people comment so I know who's out there.

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1. We have almost no counter space in our sad, little bathroom...no it doesn't drive me crazy at all!
2. Family scripture reading, we're in Mosiah 29.
3. Randy packs lunches for the 3 of us each morning and always labels Whitney's lunch "Harry" since she's so smitten with Harry from One Direction.
4. My desk at work, I enjoy using the walkie-talkie.
5. Amie texted me with a last-minute lunch invitation, woohoo!
6. I left work at 2:30 to check Whitney out from school early for her hair appointment but stopped for hot fudge sundaes for the principal and office lady at the elementary school (the other secretary leaves at 2:00).
7. While Whitney was at her hair appointment I did some shopping at Wal-Mart and bought a new bottle of $8 foundation to replace the one that broke the day before after falling off our tiny bathroom counter! @#$!
8. Whitney's newly cut and colored hair!
9. I did an impromptu clean out of one of the bins in our hall closet because I couldn't find something.
10. I went to the RS Birthday dinner at the church, but left abruptly after I finished eating because the jazz music they were playing in the background almost killed me.
11. The kids helping fold and hang laundry (they were obviously thrilled I was taking a photo).
12. The new book I started reading that night.

Odds and Ends

Apparently I don't blog with much regularity anymore, is there such a thing as blog fiber (comments perhaps)? Here I am again with another miscellaneous post.

A couple weeks ago I was informed by a kind driver,  who followed me,that I had a flat tire (this was just as I was returning the the junior high to take Whitney to band). I tried to change the tire myself but couldn't even get the plastic plate that covers the lugnuts off! I called Randy to come help me, but before he got there a nice man came over to help me. He did the entire thing (which wasn't easy) and then went on his way. We were so grateful! We ended up having to go buy 2 new rear tires ($306!) and a gift card to 5 Guys for the man (who had told me he was the set designer for a play being held at the school). This is what I wrote on the gift card, which I gave to some woman involved with the play who seemed to know I was talking about when I asked her if she knew "the set guy".

The next day was Friday and I woke up with clogged ears and dizziness (what the?!). I tried to get ready for work but gave up after 45 minutes and called in sick. Michelle had already planned to bring me lunch at work, so she just brought it to my house instead...delightful!

She also returned a couple books and loaned me two new ones, plus brought some tiny truffles and a "J" stamp for me and a "W" stamp for Wendy (since she originally planned on giving me these things at work). So nice.

Last Tuesday, just before leaving work for the Thanksgiving break (yeeha) a mom came in the office to give Wendy and I each a loaf of Pumpkin Bread from Kneaders! It was such a thoughtful thing to do it brought tears to my eyes.

Whitney and I went to D.I. where I scored these 5 books for $5 and Whitney scored two dinosaur toys and a snake toy for $1.75.

I loved having a cute tag at the ready when we were rushing to get out the door to a wedding reception, hooray Creative Friday success!

The kids have gone teenager on me and both have earbuds in very often!

Landon listened to music for the 2.5 hours he spent raking leaves!

Whitney's latest creation.

12 on the 12th--September Edition

Michelle saved my bacon by making my grid for me this month since our computer is currently down with a virus.

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1. I listened to Elder Scott's talk from April's Conference while I got ready for work.
2. Landon took this shot of us reading scriptures.
3. My huge new computer at work!
4. Amie and I had a car lunch woohoo.
5. We're living in road construction hell around our neighborhood and I fear I'm going to lose my mind because of it.
6. I came home to find Landon on the computer...he Facebooks now yo.
7. Whitney and I managed to make each other completely mental while trying to figure out her skit for Student Council elections...our time together ended in tears (hers), but she regrouped later and all was well.
8. I consoled myself by reading in the cozy.
9. I dropped Landon and his friend Brian off at football practice.
10. I coached Whitney's soccer game (it was a 2-2 tie) then we had this self-portrait with my mom and Randy afterward.
11. Whitney and I got some carbs at Costco before picking the boys up from football.
12. I watched So You Think You Can Dance while eating cold pizza. 

Consumed

Today was so busy at work (we were covering for the attendance secretary while still doing our job) that I only managed to consume the following...

44 ounces of Coke (which took way longer than usual to drink)
1 Rice Krispie Treat
1 Mini bite-sized Butterfinger
1 Handful of popcorn

Shockingly I'm not shaky, nor do I have a headache...I'll never understand.

Friendly Rivalry

Since yesterday was opening game day for both BYU and the UofU Wendy thought it would be fun to wear our respective t-shirts (mine had a big Y on it). She made these decorations for our computers which grabbed every one's attention as soon as they came in.

It was pretty funny to see the reactions as students, teachers and parents came into the office because there are some very strong feelings about this rivalry! Of course I'm a loyal BYU fan, but it's not like I'm a season ticket holder or even knew they were playing until Wendy told me. I did end up watching the game until halftime with Landon, but then had to go to bed. Things might get ugly when the two schools play each other on September 15th though...if BYU doesn't win I may have to take the next Monday off work!

First Car Lunch of the New Year

Michelle texted me last week and offered to bring me lunch but it was just too crazy during the first week of school so we opted for Tuesday of the second week of school instead. I was so looking forward to having a good lunch and time to catch-up with her.

She brought turkey, avacado, bacon sandwiches from Kneaders!

 And chocolate mousse domes (my new favorite) for dessert! She even brought one for Wendy (the other secretary), which was super nice.

We spent 45 minutes catching up on life but the time went way too fast. It was definitely a boost for my spirits and a nice break from the craziness of the front office.

School is Out!!!

School is out for the summer!! I have never felt this euphoric about it before, not even when I was in school myself! I have so many projects around the house that need doing that I'm not sure where to start plus I'm actually excited to do them. I do not feel daunted that the garage, every closet, every cupboard and every room needs to be cleaned out and organized, instead I feel psyched that I can finally tackle all these messes that have been cluttering up my mind during the school year. Obviously I need to find a better way to balance work time/church time/home time/free time during the school year so that I won't always feel like I'm letting something go. But for now, I'm euphoric! I'm about to start some laundry going and the laundry room closet...good times!

Countdown

I will be done with work on Thursday afternoon around 1:00...I hope I can hang on until then. I nearly lost it for real today. I hope you're all planning to give your school secretaries a thank you note or gift of some sort because man oh man do they deserve it! I got Cafe Rio gift cards for the two at Whitney's school, but I it would have been better to get their orders and bring them lunch instead...sadly I can't get away from the craziness at work to do that. My heartfelt thanks and good intentions will have to do.

Five for Friday

1. Amie texted me last week to see if I wanted to have a car lunch while I was at work...um yes please! I usually eat at my desk so getting out of the building to spend time with her and to eat gourmet grilled cheese rather than a peanut butter sandwich was a great treat!

2. Every Friday at work the office staff (administrators, secretaries, head custodians and the tech guy) rotate taking turns making lunch for each other. I enjoy getting lunch each Friday but really hate having to take my turn making food for everyone (it's stressful). It was my turn last week and I made 3 pans of chicken enchiladas and a big pan of sugar cookie bars. It was a ton of work and was successful, but left me feeling like it wasn't worth the effort and added stress to my life, ugh.

3. The Primary Presidency and Activity Day Leaders put on a very elaborate Mad Hatter Themed Tea Party for the mothers and daughters last Friday. I was blown away by the effort and cuteness involved. I prefer substance over style though so big activities like these always leave me wondering if it was worth all the time and effort. I'm glad I got to enjoy it though.

4. What is up with the return of the mullet?? Didn't we learn that painful lesson the first time around? The back of this boy looks disturbingly similar to a boy I dated in high school!

5. A 9th grade girl at school brought Wendy and I each a box of turtles to thank us for being so nice to her the other day when she came into the office with a migraine. I have such empathy for people who suffer with those that I immediately put her in the nurse's office with the lights off, got her some Tylenol and a Mountain Dew (her choice) and let her rest. Migraines are the worst, but a migraine at the junior high is unbearable!