Well, Maybe Not

Well, the Pack is Back may have been premature (but I really wasn't gloating just happy). All I have to say is on 11/1 if the Vikings don't go down the ghost of Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau will rise up and crush Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson.

Go Pack.

In other "news", we're just plugging along. Little Bit is doing exceedingly well in school, even if I do say so myself, we're planning our trip to Disneyland for Big Bit's college research at Concordia Irvine (also known as I GET TO GO TO DISNEYLAND FOR MY BIRTHDAY! WOOT!) and work is work for TH and I. We feel a little lost not being part of the Mothership because there was such a sense of purpose in our work; now we just have jobs. That's harder to adjust to than we thought. Our indoctrination was thorough and complete, obviously.

And, yes, Cele, I will get my 99 things post done by October 30. I promised. I keep my promises (Pastor Grumm's comments at the time of my divorce notwithstanding).

It's the Aaron Rodgers Era

I'm not totally pleased with what I saw - but -I think the Pack is Back.

The Speech

Okay, my political leanings aren't much of a secret. And I think that's okay. But, I really relate the following because I was so proud of Little Bit that I wanted to burst.

Mom: "Sweetie, did you watch the President's speech today in school?"

Little Bit: "Yes, Mom, we watched it during Music class."

Mom: "What did you think?" (secretly thinking he'd shrug his shoulders and say "whatever")

LB: "It was very interesting, Mom. Even the President, when he was little, felt alone and lonely at school, just like me, but he grew up to be President."

Mom: "Do you feel like that any more? Alone and lonely?"

LB: "Not here, Mom. I feel good here. And I liked that speech."

Awesome.

The Whole Social Networking Thing

So, I deactivated my Facebook account tonight. I did it because a high school boyfriend went from being cute to being a jerk, then a teacher from high school was defending himself against his role in the infamous Jackson Hole High School ski trip in 1982...and trust me, I know the truth on this one as opposed to his version...and I just got tired of people finding me on Facebook. If you've already found me, you no doubt have my e-mail.

Nine Hours and 27 Minutes

For Cele, I post the following which was at my workplace this morning:

Yes, that's the "Ugly Duckling" sitting on a Bronco, along with a "Bucking Bronco" stick horse. Someone offered to put the Duck under the Bronco for me when I mentioned I was taking this for a friend in Oregon. I declined.

I can't wait until this game is over. It's like living in Utah with Utah and BYU in your face all the time. It's great to have school spirit, and I did cheer Boise State on in the Fiesta Bowl. I'm even rooting for Ian Johnson to make the Vikings despite the fact he'll be playing on the same team as Judas Favre. But it's all been a bit much, like it's the Second Coming or some such. Believe it or not, I'm not the only person in town that feels this way. Even some people that didn't attend Nevada or Idaho feel this way.

As promised to friend Steve, Go Ducks. I will say - Good Luck, Broncos.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I have been a bad, pathetic, blogger this summer. I don't have much to blame it on per se - Big Bit has been here (but he's 17 and doesn't always want ol' Mom around), Little Bit has been enjoying his first summer vacation ever (but he's 10 and pretty self sufficient, not to mention going to Just For Kids three days a week), Mom moved up which has been fun (but as Big Bit says, it seems like cousin Danny sees her way more than we do), I haven't golfed, I camped exactly once -last weekend - I went on vacation for one week - I went to Alive After 5 a lot - I rode bikes and walked some but that damned plantar fascitis has really cut into my resolution to get fit and healthy. I listened to a lot of jazz at Hotel 43. I saw Curtis Stigers sitting at a table right by me in Bar Gernika. Yes, he is that cute. If you don't know who he is, he's an Idaho treasure and you should check him out.

What else have I been doing? Maybe if I show enough, I will be off the hook for being a bad friend (in some ways) and family member (in other ways). Or maybe not.

We went to Kevin and Sam's wedding. Kevin is my cousin Danny's son. I don't know Danny or any of his family really well, but I love Danny to bits. He was out of touch with our family for many years due to his mom's divorce from my maternal uncle but resurfaced relatively recently and has established contact with us - my Mom and Aunt in particular. I wish we were closer. Kevin is a great guy and his wedding was really neat. Laid back and really of the essence of him from what I know.

Kevin's sister, Kelli, looks exactly like my cousin Connie who died when I was very small (3?). I remember her vividly because she was simply beautiful and always had these beautifully manicured hands (in my recollection). Plus she really seemed to like me, and for a teenager to really be delighted in me seemed unusual. The first time I saw Kelli was at HER wedding a few years ago and my heart literally caught in my throat. It still does when I see her because I've just never seen that kind of likeness. I always hoped Big Bit would look like his namesake, another cousin of mine, but except for a really pissy impish look he gets when he wants to be cute I haven't seen it.



Another wedding - (boy, with my father in law's escapades it's been a real summer of weddings - Little Bit kept saying "ANOTHER wedding?"). This one was really special though and to Little Bit as well as the rest of us. Our friend R's daughter got married. S was Little Bit's babysitter from when he was 8 weeks old until really just before we moved to Utah (so we could go out on date night) - she was I think almost 13 when she started. She watched Big Bit as well, though we usually spent all of our time with him when he was at our house. Little Bit loved her from day one. When he was two, he'd wander through the house saying shrieking her name at the top of his lungs, so excited was he that she was coming to play with him. She handled him like an expert. He has her senior picture on his bulletin board to this day.



In addition, I got to see my old boss from the Mothership (the Boise one, not SYBIL, for heaven's sake). I love Jenny, I didn't get any pictures of her, but her daughter, another graduate of the University of S babysitting service came to the wedding with her Mom and we got a picture for S to remember her former charges. I also got to have dinner with Jenny the following night and therefore got to enjoy her company and uplifting faith in me. I have the same faith in Jenny. We're neither of us perfect by any means, but we do have faith in each other's possibilities. That is a rare thing.




Little Bit took swimming lessons. He hadn't been to Wings for a few years, and we could never find a place in Utah for him to take lessons, so it was good for him to refresh his knowledge and learn to tread water. He did well and listened so good to the instructor! It's amazing what a few years and some meds have done for his attention span.



Big Bit got his senior photos taken...sigh. I can't post any of them due to copyright issues but you may get to see some of them in an announcement or here if I can get that part resolved. Ouch, said my wallet, but they turned out beautifully. In the meantime, here's "Diddy" in a self portrait. He looks stinkin' grown up and I feel stinkin' old. He got to go to Japan this summer which was a good thing for him. The good thing for me was when he sent an e-mail lamenting we couldn't talk on the phone (he didn't want to take a phone card because his friends weren't calling home) and he wanted to vent about something. And he missed me. It's nice to be needed, isn't it?





We went on vacation on the coast of Oregon with our friends the Hydes. We hadn't gotten to spend this much time with them in eons and it was fun - I think we all enjoyed it enough we'd do it again, eh?

The boys enjoyed the house.



Little Bit and his friend K Hyde had a lot of fun together. One of my favorite photos of them, I think then age 6 and 5 was at the Seattle Aquarium. This one's at the Newport Aquarium and it is very cute as well.



I think there's a picture of us all together - but it's not on my camera - please share Ms. Hyde?

On this trip I also met Cele! We met in the blogosphere a while back and I was excited to meet her, and as an added bonus we also met her husband, Ducky (he is just Ducky too). We all liked meeting Cele and Ducky, though as usual I was somewhat shy at first meeting. Big Bit mentioned just the other day how much he liked Cele. He, too, is somewhat shy at first meeting but we like the same kinds of people generally speaking. Other than the fact she likes the BSU football team for some reason, I thought she was simply awesome.

We went to Shakespeare with Steve, too, and I have a picture of the asshat we sat behind to prove it. (Actually, we went to Shakespeare five times, but once was with Steve, the only time we sat by an asshat...hm....). Since I think it's on my cell phone camera, and since you really don't want to see a picture of him anyway, trust me, with his beer bottles lying everywhere and taking up an acre of ground...but I may add it later. It's the great Idaho land grab, as Steve says. A Shakespearean tradition.

We went to Kaikoa's birthday party. He is Kelli's son, who just turned one, and he is a true Hawaiian (his dad is from Hawaii) - laid back, he all but exudes island charm. He's a cutie.

Now, Big Bit has jetted off to Nevada to start his senior year, we meet Little Bit's teacher tomorrow night and I have as yet not done so, so many things I wanted to do, including keeping in better touch. I'm about to embark on the attempted conquest of a variety of self-improvement projects, much as Little Bit embarks on a conquest of Fifth Grade as Big Bit gets ready to conquer the world. It's time to kick butt and take names, kids. Wish me luck.

I Know. I Heard. But Thanks For Pointing It Out.

I really am going to do my "what I did this summer" post, probably this weekend, with pictures to prove that I actually did activities and had fun. In the meantime, I have one thing to say, to quote the "Meat Packers Union" blog: "There is no I in me". And apparently, misquoting old sports adages isn't the only thing wrong with this man. The only thing I would need to add, if I really wanted to get creative, is some horns. I hope you're happy, dude, because you have only yourself to blame.