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Thursday, February 29, 2024

Currently (Special Leap Day Edition)

 Reading:

Finished so far in 2024

Currently reading

Currently reading 

Drinking: water, orange juice, and occasionally a Minute Maid Lemonade Zero. 

Sick of: influencers and the Tik Tok.

Cooking: pasta with Italian sausage. I don’t particularly care for Italian sausage except for in two dishes - my step-mom’s breakfast casserole and a tortellini soup. But I have a bunch of it in the freezer that I need to use up, so I’m putting it in pasta even though I don’t like it. My family doesn’t like it either, so making this dish makes no sense. There will be compensatory garlic bread, so it will be fine.

Suffering from: an annoying cough. It’s the kind that you never get relief from. You get the urge to cough, so you cough, but it doesn’t clear up whatever the discomfort is.

Wearing: all the things the current generation makes fun of on the Tik Tok.

Feeling: a bit headachey. My sinuses are doing something. 

Annoyed by: a bottle of pee sitting on the roadside that I pass every time I go to work. It’s been there for five weeks.

Singing: “Welcome to the Moulin Rouge.” It’s 7 minutes and 40 seconds of party.

Saying: “Oh boy, oh boy!” Last week I listened to The Labors of Hercules Beale by Gary D. Schmidt, and Hercules always says “Oh boy, oh boy!” He rubbed off on me.

Listening to:


Buying: hand soap, Cholula, and copy paper.

Smelling: pizza. Papa John’s was 50% off the other day so we had pizza for dinner, and it stunk up my van. 

Playing:


Scotty insisted that we play this over and over until he won.

Craving: Italian ice with custard. Rita’s or Zeppe’s would be fine. Or a rainbow from Pace’s. 

Thinking about: how I used to have a crush on Josh Hartnett, and then he disappeared for years and years and came back in Oppenheimer old. 


Watching: nothing really. 

Needing: to find a new hair person. 

Dreading: Easter.

Missing: Arby’s breakfast. I used to love their croissants and their biscuits and gravy.

Procrastinating: shampooing the couch. 

Looking forward to: Lagoon opening. I’m shocked that I’ve become a Lagoon enthusiast. 

Grateful for: ibuprofen.




Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Catch Up (not to be confused with ketchup)

Today I'm playing catch up on my digital life. Scotty fixed my laptop over the weekend, so I'm on my laptop for the first time in months (when I fired it up, the browser was still open to the registration forms for Nicky's golf season which started last August... so my laptop had been out of commission for about six months). Man, it feels good to be using a keyboard! Do I remember how to type? Nah. I never learned how to type. I do my own thing, which involves only using one finger on my left hand. I was really self-conscious about this when I was a school secretary and had to do typing tests to qualify, but I always made the minimum WPM to be eligible, so who cares?

With my digital catching up, I have the itch to blog, but I don't really have anything in mind for content, so bear with me on this one. It could be quite random. Normally I would do one of my "and ten other random things" style posts, but I'm trying to pretend like I blog in paragraphs and not lists (since I've done so many lists lately). 

Should you be interested to know what I've been up to lately, I'll give you the rundown. Yesterday I made pretzel bites, and they were delicious. I also made chocolate chip cookies (assisted by Zoe), and they were delicious, too! Chocolate chip cookies stress me out because everyone has a different recipe that they claim to be "the best," and I don't know how to navigate that. I want to have a chocolate chip cookie party where we are able to taste test all the cookies side by side. I don't know if I will ever claim to know "the best" chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I will confidently declare, "I made chocolate chip cookies, and they don't suck." Because they don't suck!

I've been working on cleaning out Zoe and Eva's bedroom over the past week. Their room is always a nightmare. They are little hoarders, and I have to comb through hundreds of art projects and tiny, stupid toys. Every time I get it cleaned and organized, I think, "Okay, this time for real! This room is staying clean!" and it literally takes five minutes for them to turn it into a dumpster. One of my biggest problems with them is that, in addition to wanting to keep everything, they want to display it! They set up their garbage like a museum covering every surface of their room. So the dollhouse? Every room is a collection of fidgets and squishies. The kitchen set? Here's every card and piece of candy they were given for Valentine's Day. The dressers? Every rock and stick they've gathered in the past month and every tiny eraser they've mooched off their friends from school is piled on there.  

The room is full of notebooks of song lyrics and screenplays. There are papers everywhere. And socks. So many socks. And they are not socks I purchased, so I have to ask, where the hell are my kids getting all these socks?

And don't even get me started on stuffed animals. 

I don't hate stuffed animals. But I want my kids to have 3-5 max. I swear I get rid of at least 100 stuffed animals a year, and they just keep multiplying! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?

And, of course, they all have names, and they're super very special, so if I get rid of a bunny rabbit from the dollar store that has a big hole in its back that my kid hasn't touched for three years, it's suddenly named Harriet and is the most important stuffie of all time, and the kid will never sleep again. The days I purge the stuffies are brutal. The girls never see them leave the house, and yet, somehow they always know. Even if the dang things have been sitting in a garbage bag in the shed for eight months. 

As you know, I've started working a couple days a week. It's been so great. It's fitting into my life better than I ever imagined, and I am really enjoying the feeling of accomplishment I get when I finish something at work. I don't really get that feeling at home because anything I do at home is never really finished, and there's not always a visual cue to validate my efforts. At work, I can build 100 photo frames and watch them pile up on a shelf, and there's something to show for it. I can assemble an order and package it for shipping and see it sent out into the world, signaling that this task is DONE. 

I like that. And I didn't know how much I needed that in my life. I need to be able to FINISH something or to SEE progress in some way, and I get that at work.  

Last weekend Zoe competed in the State Lego League Competition. It was not my favorite event (nor was it hers), but we got through it. Scotty, Eva, and I spent most of the day in Ogden so we could pop in and out of Weber State to see some of Zoe's events. 

This is the first five-day school week we've had in a while. The past three weeks have been four-day weeks. I feel like five-day school weeks are rare. 

My eyes have been really itchy this week. 

(Yes, I'm digging at the bottom of the barrel for something to write about). 

I'm 43 days soda sober, and I hate living this way. Nothing fills the void. There is joy in a soda run - pulling up to the window and having someone hand you an icy Coke... running into a gas station and having access to pebble ice and styrofoam to keep everything chilled... ahhhhhh. There is nothing that replaces that. 

Maverik, I miss you.

McDonald's, I miss you.

Sweet nectar, I miss you.

But whatever. I can't moderate my soda intake, so it's best that I not have any at all. It’s all or nothing for me. 

In other news, I dyed my hair the other day, and I look like Snape. It's not the first time I've ended up looking like Snape, and it's probably not the last. Speaking of Harry Potter-esque things, there's a house for sale by the junior high, and the realtor is named Emma Watson. True story. 

My low battery indicator just went on, so I better finish this up before my computer shuts down. I would leave you with something profound, but let's be honest, all I'm thinking about now is what I'm going to have for lunch, and I can’t even muster up the energy to find a photo to stick in this post. 

Happy Wednesday, my friends. 


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Well-Meaning

A book I’ve been meaning to read

The Count of Monte Cristo. I bought a copy and started it in 2008… as in I read five pages. Then I ended up giving it to my cousin. I found another copy at the DI, and it remains sitting on my shelf next to Jane Eyre which I also continue to not read. 

They taunt me

I don’t enjoy reading classic literature. It feels like homework. I like having read classic literature, but the actual reading is tedious and painful. It’s a lot like running, actually. The running part is awful, but when it’s over, I feel accomplished and important (or at least I used to… back when I pretended to be a runner). 

A movie I’ve been meaning to watch

Dunkirk

I don’t really have anything to say about it other than it’s been on my list for a while, but whenever I’m looking for something to watch, I forget.

Something I’ve been meaning to buy

A new laptop. The state of my current laptop is laughable. I bought it (used) in 2015 for school and had problems with it from day one. A part would frequently disconnect. I used to have to take it in for repair about once every two weeks, but then my cousin was able to show me how to fix it myself. Now it’s being held together by a jimmy rigged screw, and I can only open it just so or the screen gets lines through it.

But hey! It’s not dead yet!

A recipe I’ve been meaning to try

Since winter is almost over, I just reviewed my soup board on Pinterest. I’m hoping to try Creamy Corn Chowder and White Chicken Lasagna soup before it gets too warm outside. 

A task I’ve been meaning to complete

Shampooing my living room couch. I can’t tell you how much I do not want to this. I also need to clean my blinds, but that will have to wait until summer when I can take them outside and pressure wash them. 

Our light colored couch is actually holding up quite well considering what we are capable of 

Somewhere I’ve been meaning to go

The gym. I haven’t been since I started working. 

Something I’ve been meaning to change

My blog banner. It’s still Christmas. Oops.

Needs updating - but not as much as my neighbor’s Halloween decorations 

Someone I’ve been meaning to talk to

There’s this lady I had beef with when I was in high school (she’s older than me), and I see her everywhere. We are a part of the same community, and neither of us is going away anytime soon. One of these days, I need to go up to her and be like, “I know we had beef, but I’m a grown up now, so let’s not have beef anymore, okay?”

A food item I’ve been meaning to use up

Tilapia in the freezer. I keep putting Honey Lime Tilapia on the weekly menu and then bumping it. Tonight is finally the night! I even have it thawing!

(My kids will not eat it, if you’re wondering. I’m also making baked potatoes, and they’ll just eat those). 

Something I’ve been meaning to stop doing

Talking bad about other people. I’m the worst!!!

Something I’ve been meaning to get rid of

The small piles of DI donations that I can’t seem to compile into one place and remove from my house.

Something I’ve been meaning to start

A puzzle. I haven’t done a puzzle in so long! And they’re piling up. 

Things I was meaning to do before I got distracted with this blog  post

- Replace the garbage bags in all the cans I emptied this morning

- Change the laundry

- Call the eye doctor

My BeReal today



Tuesday, February 20, 2024

A Crazy Little Week

The last week has been pretty crazy. Let’s do a little recap - just for the heck of it - starting with Valentine’s Day. But really, the day before Valentine’s Day because that’s when we had to have the boxes ready. 

School does not demand the boxes - they’re always optional. But my kids demand the boxes! Zoe and Eva both wanted to make dragons. Zoe wanted to be able to lift a string to pull her dragon’s mouth open (there was fire inside), and Eva specifically wanted hers to be eating a taco. 


In addition to having the Valentine’s boxes ready, I had to prep some goodies for the theatre kids at the high school. Wednesday was opening night of their play The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, so I did a Frog Prince/Valentine’s Day theme for their “break a leg” treats, and two other moms decorated their lockers to match. 

I put together some cellophane bags full of Kisses and tiny resin frogs. Then I made everyone a little heart-shaped red velvet cake. I loved using the heart-shaped pans (from Amazon). They were so cute and the perfect size for individual portions. I had them ready to go on Tuesday night so another mom could take them to the theatre classes on Wednesday.

On the actual Day of Valentines I got up super early and put out some Valentines for my kids (Lego roses for the girls and snacks for Nicky). Two of my kids had to be to their schools early for extracurriculars. After my third trip to a school, I went to work (remember how I have a job? I don’t feel like I really have a job - I feel like I’m pretending to have a job). 

After work (yep, sounds weird), I fed all the people chicken pot pie, made festive with a tiny heart cookie cutter. The great thing about Valentine’s Day is that if you have a heart shaped cookie cutter… or a few pieces of construction paper… or a bottle of food coloring, you can totally fake the holiday and make it look like you’re super thoughtful. 

While we were eating, my cute neighbor showed up with a loaf of sourdough bread. This actually was thoughtful and required planning ahead. 

That evening was opening night for Brothers Grimm. I was asked to facilitate a fundraiser/merch table in place of the Usual Mom Who Does It because she was going out of town. So Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night my family helpers and I took shifts working the table and watching snippets of the play. 

Thursday was a little calmer but still busy. I ran errands and did some grocery shopping. It was a short day at school because there was no school on Friday, so I worked my tail off during school. Eva had a friend over, Zoe had choir, and Daisy had musical rehearsal. Then Eva had dance, I fed all the people, and we went back to the high school for another round of Brothers Grimm.

That night, Nicky broke his horse on stage. The stick got caught in his shoelace. Good thing the play is a comedy!

Also note that, from this play, Nicky has a bruised cheek and a hematoma on his shin, and he reaggravated his elbow bursitis. What is with my kid and his theatre injuries? On top of that, he also sprained his ankle walking up the stairs at his grandma’s house.

Friday brought pure chaos. 

Nicky went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple with friends to do baptisms for the dead early in the morning. I took Daisy to an ortho appointment at 8:10. Then I took Nicky, Daisy, and Zoe to the Jordan River Temple to do baptisms. Nicky literally ran from the Jeep to the van in between temple visits, and we took off to make it to our 10:00 appointment.

Oh! And the Jeep came home from Temple Numero Uno with a flat tire (Scotty took it in for repair that afternoon, and they found a metal shard in it that barely met the criteria for repair over replacement. Phew!)

After the temple, we cruised through the Chick-Fil-A drive thru, and then Daisy and I went to the junior high to work on the set for the musical for four hours. 

Helping at the junior high was an absolute nightmare of an experience, and I’m not going to write about it in detail because it would take two hours for you to read, and that’s too long for you to be on the toilet. 

From there we darted home, ate dinner, and took off to the high school for closing night of Brothers Grimm

We made it through Friday!

On Saturday we were up and at em at 8:00 to clean our church (helping at the junior high and cleaning the church back to back was not good for my psyche). 

When we got home, we got to work prepping materials for Nicky to ask a girl to prom. 

Around noon, Scotty and I took Zoe and Eva on an outing. We went to Panda Express for lunch (courtesy of free kids meal coupons). Then we drove downtown and went to the Church History Museum to the Temples Dot the Earth exhibit. Going to that exhibit was one of the last outings I did with my kids before COVID hit. It’s one of those things I have bookmarked in my mind from BC (before COVID). 

February 14, 2020


February 17, 2024

We hung out there for about 45 minutes, and then we walked to the Conference Center to see the BYU Young Ambassadors perform (think show choir - music and dance). 

When we got home, we continued working on the “promposal.” Then Scotty and I went to the junior high to try and clean up some paint that the kids got on the sidewalk (remember the nightmare at the junior high? Shudder…)

After dinner we loaded the whole family in two cars and asked The Girl to prom (since we were all heavily involved, if she doesn’t say yes, all six of us will suffer the ultimate rejection) (she’ll say yes, though). 


I was standing at the end of her street when she came outside, and there was squealing. She was a happy girl. This I know.

On our way home we stopped at Arby’s to use some coupons for free shakes. 

Sunday was pretty normal. We went to church. Eva had to give a talk in primary on a topic of her choice. When we asked her what she wanted to talk about, first she said yogurt, but then as Sunday grew closer, she changed to oatmeal. 

That’s right - oatmeal. Scotty made it happen. 

After church we had an early dinner and then went to Scotty’s mom’s house for a while.

Monday was Presidents’ Day, so once again, there was no school. We wanted to do something as a family, so we drove up to Layton and went to SeaQuest. We used some Christmas money from my parents to buy Get Out Passes (we got the ones that don’t include Lagoon, should you care to know, because I sneakily bought Lagoon passes on Black Friday even though Scotty said we weren’t getting them. I told him after Christmas, and there was nothing he could do about it). 


Something to know about me - I can’t touch sea creatures. They freak me out. I didn’t know this about myself until I went to Stingray City in Grand Cayman in my early 20’s and couldn’t go anywhere near the stingrays without screaming my head off and running away like an idiot. I was shocked to discover this about myself because there aren’t many things that affect me like that. Spiders… mice… bugs… I don’t love them, but I also don’t freak out about them. Put a starfish near me, though, and I lose my $h*t. 

At SeaQuest I touched a stingray ever so slightly after convincing myself I could do it, and it would be no big deal. I screamed.

I can’t do it. No. Icky. Ew. 

After SeaQuest we went to a trampoline park (also part of the Get Out Pass), but they were at capacity, so we couldn’t get in. We went and hung out by a river for a while and then checked back at the trampoline park. We ended up getting in line and waiting 45 minutes to go in. This is something I would normally never, ever do. Like, ever. But the kids were actually being good, so we stuck it out. 

Hanging out by the river (literally for some of us)

Zoe at the trampoline park

After the trampoline park, we stopped at Zeppe’s for a treat. Then we drove back home so Nicky could get to work. I made chimichangas for dinner (they were a hit and an obvious way to celebrate American presidents). Then we did our “get ready for the week” chores. 

Finally, everyone went to bed in anticipation of another exciting week. Except for me. I wrote this blog post first.



Monday, February 19, 2024

Rawr

I can’t believe this, but in all of my lists lately, I forgot to sneak in something very important! How could I forget? Frankly, I’m ashamed of myself. We had a mountain lion up the street a few weeks ago!

Meow!

In 2022, we had a lot of mountain lions down here in the valley. It was my greatest hope that I would find one! I should be scared of them, but I’m not. The way I see it is… if they’re by my house, and I run into one, I’m very likely to be near a “safe” structure. In the suburbs, I’m rarely far from a building or vehicle. So, mountain lions, come hither! I want to find you (just not in the dark with the glowy eyes). I do not want to cross paths with a mountain lion in its own territory, though, with nowhere to take cover. 

That year, the sightings kept getting closer and closer to my house. There were suspected to be multiple mountain lions out and about, but one came very close to our area and there were rumors of sightings in our own neighborhood. Finally, one was found a couple of miles away, and the DWR supposedly tranquilized and relocated it. We were out of town when it happened, and I was so disappointed when I heard. Not only was I not the one to find the mountain lion, I wasn’t even here!

The next week, my family went to the zoo, and they had a DWR table set up with pamphlets and posters about what to do when you see a wild animal. I told Scotty I needed to go talk to them, and I marched right over there. I had some questions because there were people in my neighborhood that had said that you shouldn’t call the DWR about animals in the area because they can’t tranquilize and relocate them - they have to euthanize them. My curiosity about animals that wander out of their safe places has been piqued greatly since the Deer Incident of 2021. It just so happened that one of the people who had tranquilized the mountain lion in our area was at the table at the zoo! He confirmed that, yes, they had tranquilized it and relocated it.

The guy told me a few interesting things. First, he told me that when there is a mountain lion sighting reported, they usually only come out if the animal is contained. I had to clarify what that meant because I suddenly pictured myself all “Here, kitty, kitty!” trying to get a mountain lion in a kennel. But what that means is basically that the mountain lion needs to be in a tree. They won’t come try and track a mountain lion that’s on the move because the cat can cover a lot of ground by the time they get there.

The other thing they told me is that while they were waiting for the tranquilizer to kick in on the mountain lion in our area, they got a call about another mountain lion sighting nearby. Since they were already in the area, they went looking for it and found it, but it was moving too quickly to do anything. Thus, there was still potential for me to find a mountain lion! Alas, we never crossed paths, but I kept my eyes out for weeks and weeks!

This year, we’ve once again has several mountain lion sightings in our area. A few Fridays ago, Scotty and I were driving to the high school and saw a bunch of police cars up our street. Right as we passed them, we saw a DNR truck pull up. Scotty said, “Maybe there’s a mountain lion!” I said, “Well, that’s the Department of Natural Resources, not the Department of Wildlife Resources, so maybe it’s a pot farm!” We checked with my step-dad (who works for the police department) to see if he knew what was going on. He wasn’t able to access the info. Later we heard that there was, in fact, a mountain lion which is way more exciting than a pot field! Turns out, the DWR is a division of the DNR. 

As the evening went on, they had more and more personnel reporting to the scene. They tranquilized the cat intending to have it fall out of the tree into a net, but it fell asleep in the tree instead. They ended up having to have the fire department come help get it down via ladder truck.

Once again, it wasn’t me who found the mountain lion, but the guy who did is the brother of my elementary school crush, so I feel like my turn is getting closer. 

Sunday, February 18, 2024

The Glitch

As you know, the Super Bowl was last weekend. With all the Super Bowl hubbub comes everyone’s analysis of the half-time show. I didn’t see the half-time show. I went to my in-laws’ house for the Super Bowl, and I ran home for something right before half-time, so I was busy with other things. 

I didn’t see last year’s half-time show, either, and I realized the other day that I’ve seen very few Super Bowl half-times in my life. I decided to look up the list of half-times just to see how many I remember. 

The first half-time I ever saw was Michael Jackson. I remember the audience flipping over cards to create images of children holding hands around the stadium. That’s was in 1993 and the first time I’d ever heard of the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl (and the Dallas Cowboys) came into my life via my step-brother, James. Prior to that, I couldn’t have named a single football team to save my life.

Other than Michael Jackson, I only remember seeing some of Katy Parry and some of J-Lo/Shakira. I watched all of Justin Timberlake’s most recent half-time and all of Maroon 5’s. I might have caught a glimpse of Eminem’s.

And I swear I saw Janet Jackson and the wardrobe malfunction LIVE. This where I discovered a glitch in my memory, and it’s bothering me.

When I was a junior in high school, I worked at a craft boutique in a mall. One night during my shift, I started feeling really tired and got body aches. It came on really fast. When I arrived at work, I felt fine, and by the end of the night, I was laying on a bench in the store shivering and falling asleep. 

The next morning I tried to go to dance practice, and I ended up getting really nauseous and throwing up in the garbage can in the hallway of the school. I went home and slept for the rest of the day. The following day I tried going to school again, and I got nauseous during my first period photography class. My teacher wasn’t in the room, and when I felt the urge to puke, I took off running out to the hallway in hopes of making it to the bathroom. Instead I ran head on into my photography teacher who was coming down the hall, and I threw up all over the floor and his shoes. He grabbed a garbage can as fast as he could. I was so embarrassed. Then he wrote me a note to take to the office to call my mom. It said, “She is sick,” and it had an arrow. He told me I had to hold it in front of me with the arrow pointing toward my head. I went home, and my mom took me to the doctor where I was told that I had Influenza A. 

I had never heard the word “influenza.” Flu, yes, but not influenza. I didn’t know flu shots existed, and I didn’t really understand what the flu was (I thought the flu was a stomach bug). 

Once I had a diagnosis, I stopped trying to go to school, and I slept for several days. One of those days was Super Bowl Sunday. I remember having the Super Bowl on while I slept on the couch in the family room. I woke up just long enough to watch the half-time show - Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. I saw the incident happen. I was confused and thought maybe it wasn’t what I thought it was. Then I fell back into a feverish slumber, and when I finally woke back up, the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” had taken over the universe.

For over twenty years, this is how I remember it happening. 

But now I have to question every memory I’ve ever had because when I was looking at the list of Super Bowl half-times, it said that Janet Jackson did the half-time in 2004. I had to check a few different sources because I didn’t believe it! It couldn’t have been 2004 because I had Influenza A when I was a junior in high school in 2001. Yet, all the records show 2004.

If the wardrobe malfunction happened in 2004 that means that I was graduated, married, and had just been given the keys to our first home that very day. I don’t remember if or where we watched the Super Bowl that year. I don’t remember seeing Janet’s boob on the day we got our house. 

What I do remember is seeing Janet Jackson’s boob from my mom’s basement couch in between flu naps. But it can’t have happened that way unless the entire world and internet has conspired to gaslight me. 


I know that memory can be a trippy and unreliable thing, but I really don’t like this. I don’t like that I’m remembering something wrong! If I remember this thing wrong, how many other things am I remembering wrong? 

What if I’m wrong… a lot? As a person who’s always right, that’s really going to mess me up!




Thursday, February 15, 2024

The One About Disneyland

I’ve made mention of our recent Disneyland trip over and over again ever since we got home, but what I haven’t divulged quite yet is why we didn’t care much for that trip and why we don’t wanna go to Disneyland again for a really long time, if ever. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to blog about it, but so many people have asked, and I want to give you the answers to your questions. Especially for those of you who are planning trips right now whom I have scared!

Disneyland 2024 - not the place I know and love
(But it still looks good in the photos)

Let’s start by going back into the past and talking about Fast Passes (I’m not gonna lie, this is going to be long, boring, and wordy).

Once upon a time, when I was in high school, Disneyland introduced Fast Passes (FP). A FP could be obtained by scanning your ticket at a kiosk near the ride. The kiosk would then print a ticket with a time window during which you could come back and go through the FP line, which would give you a shorter wait time on that ride. The FPs were distributed in such a manner that every patron of Disneyland could have an opportunity to use some FPs throughout the day. It didn’t matter how much money you paid; if you entered the park with a ticket, you had access to FPs. It was a great system because you could get on a couple of rides faster, but it was timed and controlled in a way that also made you have to wait in some standby lines. You could only have 1-2 FPs at a time, and you weren’t eligible for more until the time on those FPs began. It felt fair, and it was free and available to all

The FP system worked well for many years. Then Disneyland decided to incorporate a digital version, which you had to pay for. This allowed you to reserve FPs on your phone for a fee, but you still had the option to go to the physical kiosk and get a FP for free. I wasn't very happy about this, but it didn't ruin my Disneyland experience. Over time, the entire system became more app-centered.

When Scotty and I went to Disney World with our friends, Chad and Carlie, a couple of years ago, Genie+ and Lightning Lane were unrolled. Starting the very week we went, FPs were completely eliminated and Genie+ and Lightning Lane (LL)  (all completely digital) took over. The next year, Disneyland incorporated Genie+ and LL.

There are a few different things going on with Lightning Lane.

First, there’s a cost. You can access LL by purchasing Genie+. The price for Genie+ fluctuates daily. The first time we ever used Genie+, it was $15 per person per day. On our last trip to Disneyland it was $35 per person per day. Genie+ allows you to book LL times on your phone. Some rides (not all) have LL, and some of those LL lines (not all) can be accessed by paying for Genie+ and then booking your times through the app. It’s similar to the FP system in that it allows a certain number of people during a certain amount of time to go through LL, which is the short line. However, not every ride that has LL is included with Genie+. So on top of the expense of Genie+ there are additional fees that you can pay to ride a ride via LL. Radiator Springs Racers and Rise of the Resistance are examples of those rides. So basically, you have to pay an additional fee (aside from Genie+) to go on those rides through LL. That price, like the price of Genie+, fluctuates. While we were in Disneyland, they were $22 per person per ride. So we had the option to pay $132 for our family to ride Radiator Springs Racers through LL. Then, if we wanted to continue to live it up, we could have paid another $132 for our family to ride Rise of the Resistance. Instead, since we can’t afford to pay hundreds of dollars to go on a single ride, we had to wait in the standby line.

Now let’s talk about those standby lines…

They were atrocious.

I understand that when a theme park is crowded, the lines are going to be long. My problem isn’t necessarily with the length of the lines. Disneyland has a system where they can make a pretty good estimate of how long you’re going to have to wait in line. That time is right at the entry of the ride, so you have the knowledge you need to choose whether to get in that line. I know that there needs to be some margin for error in those wait times, especially if it’s a longer line, but I think Disneyland has good enough resources that it should never be longer than 15 to 20 minutes more than the projected time. This is where things get ugly - none of the times posted were even close to accurate. We would get in the standby line expecting to wait (approximately) the posted amount of time, and it would often be double that. The standby lines did not move. The people being moved through the lines were the ones who paid for LL. The rest of us took a step forward about every five minutes.

So here’s one scenario we had to deal with: 

We got in line for Radiator Springs Racers, and the projected time was 105 minutes or one hour and 45 minutes. We ended up being in line for exactly an hour longer than the projected time. And if that’s not bad enough, the entire time we were in line, a cast member kept coming over the intercom system, announcing to us that LL was the priority, and that our wait times might be longer than stated. So not only was the wait time significantly longer than posted, we were constantly being told how unimportant we were because we were not paying for LL.

Another scenario:

We got in line for Goofy’s Sky School with 90 minutes as the posted wait time. After one hour, we had only moved about the length of about five families. At that pace, we had at least two more hours to wait, so we left the line. It was devastating to have to leave, but we just couldn’t wait that long. Scotty stopped and talked to the employees, and of course, their response was, “Sorry, LL takes priority.”

My fury about this process was enough that if I could have left Disneyland the first day, and gotten my money back, I would have. I would have walked away from that vacation, called the loss on a few things, and planned an entirely different vacation for another time.

Scotty decided that he was going to stop and talk to guest services. Now, obviously, this is not going to make any difference in the way Disney does business, but Scotty wanted to talk to someone. He told the gal at the desk that we were unhappy with our visit, and he asked her what sort of formula they use for line movement. She told him that when the lines are flowing smoothly, they allow approximately one standby party onto the ride for every four LL parties. But if the LL gets backed up they will allow ten LL parties per one standby party!

So basically, money talks. We know this, right? But it hasn’t been quite so ugly at Disneyland as it was this January.

Disneyland of 2013

The joy of Disneyland was completely sucked dry. For a service that used to be free to all Disneyland visitors, we would have had to spend an additional $1,050, and that wouldn’t even get us on the Cars ride. If we paid to ride Cars and Rise of the Resistance through LL one time each, in addition to having Genie+, it would have added over $1,300 to our trip expenses. 

Again, this is something that used to be free!

After our fourth day in the parks, Scotty stopped at guest relations one more time because we decided to ask for our money back. We knew we couldn’t have it back, but sometimes it’s worth a try. Scotty was completely civilized, it’s not like he went in there and blew up at anybody - he knows that it’s not the person at the desk who makes those decisions - but he wanted to give some feedback and just see if there was anything they could do. As suspected, there are no refunds, but they did give us three LL passes per person to use on our last day. 

Shortly after our trip, Provost Park Pass released two videos that called out Disney for these very issues:

How One Interview Ruined Disney

Why Disney Stopped Listening to Its Fans

You can always drown your sorrows in beignets

Additionally, I've noticed a difference in the friendliness and happiness of the Disney cast members in the last few years. I can't help but wonder if this is a result of the Genie+ and LL system. The cast members are the ones who have to take the heat for it, and if you start asking questions about why the standby line isn't moving or why you've been in line for twice as long as you thought you'd be, it's an innocent ride operator who has to deal with your anger, and all they're doing is following the rules of their job. I get it. I'd be less than chipper, too. Disney employees still outshine all other theme park employees, but not to the degree they used to. 

So that's the rundown of the biggest reasons we were turned off by Disney this last visit, but there are a couple more things I'll share. These two factors aren't Disney's fault, but they affect the experience.

One is that society has just become downright rude in the past few years. Disneyland used to be a place where people were courteous to one another (with a few exceptions where behavior of the masses would take over, but in general, people were kind). Now, it's a park full of jerks. People shove their way to the front for the parades and for rope drop. They don't care who was there first - they stomp all over you. Adults will step right in front of kids so they can see (or they'll shove their kids in front of other kids without any consideration). People cut in line, which has always been somewhat acceptable in Disneyland because people will join up with their families (I don't mind this as long as it’s genuine - I've had to leave lines to take kids potty and so forth, so I'm not going to prevent people in those circumstances from rejoining their families) but everyone would just plow their way through through the line. No one was polite about it. They would just push their way through without an "excuse me" or a "thank you." It was infuriating.

And then finally...

We had a difficult child. We know kids get tired and ornery (so do we), and everyone takes a turn being the party pooper, but this was hard. This child had to be physically restrained in most lines because she kept attacking her siblings. If we took our hands off her for one second, she would charge at someone or start kicking without being provoked. She whined and complained about everything. Any time we did something that was someone else's choice (even if it was something she normally likes), she would do anything she could to ruin the experience for everyone else. She argued, she cried, she screamed and yelled. She refused to go on rides (even ones she loves). She wouldn't eat the food we packed. She had tantrum after tantrum. I had to take her back to the hotel early every night while everyone else stayed at the parks. She had super high anxiety and was a nervous wreck about everything, especially her backpack on rides (we stopped letting her bring it). She had to be touching me at all times, and I was to the point where I was so overstimulated from physical contact that I would sometimes go in a bathroom stall and cry because I couldn't handle another second of it (and then I would see her little eyeball looking through the stall, and I would want to cry even more). It made me so sad because this one has always struggled at Disneyland. This was just the most eye-opening experience we've had with her there because now we can see that it's not something she's going to grow out of. For a long time we thought it might just be an age issue. It's not. She is not theme park compatible. I’ve looked back through all of my Disneyland posts and our memory books, and it has always been this way. We’ve just been in denial. 

So it was a rough trip. We have some wonderful memories, and as with childbirth, we are forgetting some of the worst parts. Not everything was bad, but it was still a disappointment and will affect every vacation we plan for the rest of our lives.

If you’re planning a trip to Disneyland, I don’t have any good advice for you on handling these particular issues. I guess you just plan to wait or plan to pay. There’s always a chance that things will be better if the crowds are smaller. I’m sure that was a big cause of some of the wait time problem - the week we went is said to be one of the busiest weeks of the year. Also, if you have a smaller party, it’s more manageable. Scotty and I went last May and paid for Genie+ because it wasn’t too bad for two people for two days. But six people for five days? That’s a whole different story, and the sad thing about that is that Disney is making it harder for families to go. 


Sunday, February 11, 2024

It’s Super Bowl Sunday (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: This is approximately my 15th post in a row that is in list form. Someday I’ll break from that, but I don’t know when. 

Fact #2: Last night we had a blue crayon go through the laundry. An entire load of Zoe’s clothes are now blue (I’ve done some research and plan to try and save the clothes). The inside of the dryer is also blue. We’ve had crayon in the laundry before, but this is our most extreme case so far.

This is what remains after we’ve used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (which is what the Crayola web site recommends for getting crayon out of your dryer, and I have to laugh that it’s a big enough issue that Crayola has specifically addressed it)

Fact #3: We are getting together with family for the Super Bowl. It’s not about the game. It’s the food and the company. I’m bringing potato salad and muddy buddies, and I intend to play several rounds of Wingspan on my phone and make Valentine’s Day bracelets.

Fact #4: I mentioned the other day that I started working part-time. I left you curious. I’m working 2-3 days a week for a local, female-owned company that does custom canvas prints and frames. I get to listen to lots of audiobooks and play with power tools. So far, I love it! This opportunity came completely unexpectedly via a childhood friend. She reached out and asked if I was interested, and I felt really strongly that I needed to do it.

Fact #5: Yesterday Nicky, Daisy, and I helped out with an event called the Cinderella Project. They sell donated formal wear to help out local schools, and my friend, Christie, arranged for them to come to our area (this was the first event they’ve done in Salt Lake County). We got to help set up hundreds and hundreds of dresses to sale. It was so much fun to open the boxes and pull out the dresses and hang them up. Daisy picked out two dresses (they were $10 each). Nicky got a couple of suit coats. It was fun!

She’s happier than she looks


Fact #6: The other day I sent this to my friend Lynsie:


The next day, this arrived from Amazon:


Fact #7: My girls had dentist appointments on Friday, and we ended up spontaneously having two cavities filled and four teeth pulled. That was an exciting way to spend a day off school!

Fact #8: Daisy (cavities) couldn’t stop giggling, and Eva (extractions in all four quadrants) couldn’t feel her face, so her tongue kept poking out.



Fact #9: Weird things I found around the house this week:



Fact #10: Time for the football thing.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Forty Books I've Enjoyed: Part II

(Read Part I here).

Today I'll share the second half of my list of forty books I've enjoyed. I have to tell you, it was hard to only choose forty. There are a whole lotta books I've enjoyed that aren't included in these posts. I'm worried that the books have feelings, and that I've hurt some of them. Part of me thinks, "It's okay! I can make more lists!" but holy moly, I spent waaaaay too much time on these posts. The books consumed me! For now, I can't make anymore book lists. 

Without further ado, I give you books 21-40:

21. The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Read more about this book here. 

22. The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

When I did my practicum in 2017, I used this book for one of my resources (as well as a lot of peer reviewed research studies by the author). I liked her work so much that I tracked down her email address and sent her a thank you note. She responded, and I felt special.

Anyway, this book is a great overview of some of the findings in the study of subjective well-being (which is the sciency term for happiness). 

23. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

This is the first book I ever read by Kate Morton (shortly later I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and was a little surprised at the similarities. Thirteenth Tale was published first, interestingly). 

Kate Morton books usually have alternating timelines, some sort of significant house with a mystery to unravel, and some sort of book, fairy tale, or story within the story. My norm is that I don't like books within books, and Kate Morton novels are no exception (I always dread the chapters where I have to read from some made-up "book”), but darn it, I enjoy her books anyway, so she gets away with it!

(I'm probably not convincing you to read this). 

I have read this book once and listened to it once. 

(You may want to keep notes on the characters and their connections if you ever read a Kate Morton book). 

24. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Read more about this book here

25. The Spirit of Revelation by David A. Bednar

This is a religious book by one of the apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

This book is divided into two sections. The first section reviews and outlines ten principles of receiving, recognizing, and acting on personal revelation. The second section is composed of examples of how revelation has come into Elder Bednar's life. I found the first section to be the most pertinent and can think of examples of each principle in my own experiences (if you want to cheat... just read the first section. Then skim or skip the second. But you didn't get that advise from me!)

I study the topic of personal revelation a lot. It's something I think about a lot, and this book came to me at a time I really needed it. 

26. Wildflower Hill by Kimberly Freeman

Confession: I remember hardly anything about this book, so it seems strange to put it on this list, BUT, I do remember really liking it and thinking, "This is my kind of book!" I also remember that it reminded me of a Kate Morton novel but a little shorter (can we all agree that Kate Morton, as much as we love her, can cut at least 100 pages out of all her books?)

(Aside: I have a goal to write something... anything... about every book I read when I enter it in to Goodreads just to help jog my memory when I look back at books, but I don't follow through with this goal very well. Then I'm mad at myself when I'm trying to remember a book, and I didn't write anything in the review box to help my future self! This book is one of those cases).

27. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

I read this book twice a really, really long time ago, so I almost hesitate to add it to my list because I feel like I need to get reacquainted with it now that my frontal lobe is fully developed. I recommended this book to a friend who read it and absolutely ripped it apart. She said the characters were "too good" and "too evil" and didn't float enough in the gray area. At the time, her comments infuriated me because I loved this book, but now I understand better what she meant, and I might feel the same way if I read it again.

Nevertheless, I'm including the book here because it's one of the first books I enjoyed as a young adult (and let me tell you something... I didn't like reading until I was in my mid-twenties). 

Anyway, this book is based on a (real) legend that a woman once disguised herself as a man and was elected and served as pope for two years during the middle ages. 

28. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This is a fun middle-grade series. I always thought my kids would enjoy these books, and I had dreams of reading them together, but my kids are dream killers. I can’t get them to read anything nor let me read anything to them. I read about half of the first book to Nicky, and he suffered greatly. My kids are broken… sigh…

On another note, Jennifer A. Nielsen is a great author. She has written some wonderful YA historical fiction as well. 

29. My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve

This is another middle-grade book. This one is about a young girl named Frances (Franziska originally) who is taken out of Nazi territory and housed with a family in England not knowing if she'll ever see her real family again. 

30. The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I read this back in 2014 when it first came out, and all I remembered was grumpy bookstore owner and a baby. I also remember that there is a quote in this book that I adored and copied down in a notebook... somewhere. I intend to find that quote, but not today. 

The movie came out on Hulu in 2022, and it had been long enough since I read the book that I was able to enjoy the movie. So there's always that option for the cheaters (I give you a pass, though. You can't read everything. It's okay to go straight to the movie sometimes. Just make sure you read something every now and then, mmmkay?)

31. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

This memoir tells Paul Kalanithi's story of having stage IV lung cancer while doing his neuroscience residency. Paul shares fascinating insights about the brain as well as touching perspectives on life and death. 

This book was published a couple of years after his death with the epilogue written by his wife. 

32. How Lucky by Will Leitch

This book has lower ratings than most books I read (my go-to rule is to read 3.8 stars and above on Goodreads - it's rare that I read anything with a lower than 3.8 rating and like it. This book is 3.78).

I don't remember how I even heard of this book, but I really liked the main character. Daniel, who is limited by a physical disability, thinks he sees a kidnapping out his window. He then tries to help solve the mystery. 

33. Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox

Marty McFly was my first crush, and even though that crush has long passed, I've always had a special place in my heart for Michael J. Fox. I also have a tender place in my heart for Parkinson's disease. Both Scotty's and my grandpa had Parkinson's. 

This memoir by Michael J. Fox kept me occupied on a camping trip. I have always been interested in the psychology of fame and how it affects people, especially those who attain it at a young age. I found Michael's story fascinating - especially his road to sobriety and his onset of Parkinson's. 

If you don't want to read the book, check out his documentary, Still on Apple TV.

34. Fatal Throne by multiple authors

This is a book about the six wives of Henry VIII. Each wife is written by a different author (the audiobook also has six different narrators. Its written for a YA audience and fictionalized from the wives' points of view, but you learn a lot about the women. It's great prep work before you go see Six

35. As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

This book takes place in 1918 Philadelphia where a family relocates in order to help an uncle as an undertaker with the plan to eventually take over his business. They are soon met with the difficulties of the Great War and the Spanish Flu pandemic. They face some challenges including a few ethical dilemmas - one involving parental rights to a child orphaned by the pandemic and one involving a man whose wife suffers irreparable mental illness.

This is a slow-to-unfold story, but that seems to be the way of historical fiction. This book was particularly interesting due to the COVID pandemic and the similarities and differences between that time period and ours. History truly does repeat itself, just with a few variations. 

(I read this book in the summer of 2021).

36. What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

Husband: What's this book about?

Me: This lady whose grandpa dies, and then she goes back in time and becomes her grandpa's mom.

(And that's why I prefer to leave book summaries to the professionals). 

37. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Civil Townsend works for a family planning clinic in post-segregation Alabama. One day she is assigned to administer birth control injections to two young girls, and she starts to consider the ethics of some of the things her clinic is taking part in. 

This book opened my eyes to a part of history I didn't know much about - including the Tuskagee syphilis study and the forced sterilization of minorities throughout the 20th century. 

The second half of the book dragged a little since it delved into a lengthy court battle, but it was a really good book on a hard topic.  

38. The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

This story alternates between 1942 Nazi-occupied Poland and modern-day. 

In modern-day, Alice is facing the end of her grandmother's (or babcia's) life, when her grandmother, with limited language, pleads with Alice to "find Tomasz." The problem is, Tomasz, Alice's grandfather, has passed away, and though Alice tries to explain that, Babcia is relentless in her plea for Alice to find Tomasz. Alice ends up taking a trip to Poland to discover her grandmother's past. 

This story is interesting because it deals with some of the realities of war in which records were destroyed and identities were changed. This is a unique part of family history in that sometimes, history is altered, and research has to sort out the truth. 

39. The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns

This book jumps back and forth between two time periods. In one, it is 1957, and Naoko has fallen in love with an American sailor and finds herself pregnant with his baby. She must navigate the expectations of her family and the traditions of her culture as she tries to maintain her love and keep her baby. In the present day, Tori finds out her father may have had a baby with a woman in Japan. After his death, she sets out to unearth the truth about her father and her possible sister. 

Tori's discoveries in her family history made me think of how many stories are out there still to be found and how easily those stories can become lost. As I read, I couldn't help but think, "This is why family history is so important!" 

40. Silent Sisters by Joanne Lee

This is one of those memoirs that, if it were a novel, you would think it's so far fetched and unbelievable that it's not actually a good story. 

This story is so trippy! 

Joanne Lee tells of her experiences growing up with a mentally unstable mother. This mother… wow. It breaks my heart knowing that children grow up in circumstances like Joanne’s, and yet, it’s a devastating story we hear time and time again. Joa’s story is particularly disturbing because her mother hid the bodies of four babies in her house (readers be cautioned - the details are gruesome. I found myself growing ever nauseous while listening to the audiobook).

So how can I say I "enjoyed" this book? Well, it's not that I wish for these things to happen, but I am intrigued by behavior and family theory, so stories like this fascinate me. 

(I probably should not have ended with this book). 

-------

I believe this is my final list of forty from my (kind of) 40th birthday celebration series. It’s time for me to shut up about my birthday and just be 40. 

Hitting publish on this post feels like a huge step - as if I'm sealing my commitment to these books. There are more! More books! More wonderful and enjoyable books! And I'm pretty happy that it's so hard to narrow it down to forty. 

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

All the People in This Family

Eva

  • Is in third grade
  • Isn’t exactly a model student
  • Is, like, three years behind in reading and math
  • Is so stubborn and committed to her craft. As an example, here is a photo I took of her after we asked her to clean her room, and she screamed in this position for half an hour because she got “stuck” while making her bed:
My suggestion that she just pull her arms out was met with much crying
  • Takes dance class and is dancing to “Zero to Hero” in the spring concert
  • Is a chatterbox
  • Loves going to the events formerly known as "Activity Days," which we all still call “Activity Days.”
  • Says “No, thanks!” anytime we ask her to do something
  • Likes us to blow dry her hair at night
  • Always wants to play outside, but she wants us to go with her, we we have to take turns bundling up and going out to watch her roller skate/swing/jump on the trampoline/ride her bike
  • Does cartwheels all the time
  • Has a bit of a potty mouth
  • Gets really hyper at night
  • Refuses to brush her teeth (we have to fight her)
  • Leaves a trail of messes everywhere she goes
Zoe
  • Is in 5th grade
  • Is causing me the most worry right now
  • Is always full of big ideas (this week she asked if she could rewrite her school song)
  • Is obsessed with Groundhog Day
  • Had to get some immunizations recently and is horrible with shots
  • Has anger issues
  • Yells a lot
  • Loves AJR and Imagine Dragons
  • Has been suffering from a broken heart all school year because the boy she loves doesn’t like her anymore
  • Participated in Lego League and is going to State
District Lego League competition last Saturday
  • Does the school choir
  • Always wants to try new things and is currently asking for violin lessons and to join a hockey team (she also wants to quit everything after she starts)
  • Is my only kid that reads (and she’s still behind benchmark in reading)
  • Is obsessed with YouTube and being famous (drives me nuts)
  • Fights with Eva constantly (drives me nuts)
  • Has a very hard time making friends
  • Was Alexander Hamilton in the 5th grade wax museum and performed a very dramatic monologue
I made her costume from DI finds and felt
  • Is in Young Women now and seems to like it, but I think she’s too young
  • Did baptisms for the dead for the first time a few weeks ago
Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Daisy
  • Is in the process of registering for high school
  • Had her first boyfriend and breakup 
  • Tried out for the high school dance ensemble and made it
  • Is choreographing a dance for the junior high spring concert 
  • Is playing Ariel in Footloose (she is 5’7” and the boy playing Ren is 4’11”. Have you ever heard of anything more “junior high” in your life?)
  • Pretty much hates everything to do with church and is fetching a fit that I’m making her participate in a stake youth choir
  • Sings all the time… unless she’s at stake youth choir
  • Loves Winnie the Pooh right now
Daisy in her Pooh gear in front of Pooh ride
  • Says she wants to be a chiropractor (I don’t know if she actually knows what that is, but at least she’s thinking about the future)
  • Tells me every little injury and every little pop of her joints that happens EVER. If her ankle pops while walking to class, I hear about it. If a butterfly lands on her too hard, I hear about it.
  • Is boy crazy
  • Is wrapped up in a lot of drama with friends. Sigh…
Nicky
  • Is never home
  • Works two nights a week
  • Stays after school everyday for something… ceramics, theatre, swim team, tennis team, girls… I don’t even know
  • Went to Sweethearts with his friend Sofie and wore all white. I tried everything I could to help him not look like a temple worker
  • Likes going to the El Rancho Grande food truck
  • Is on seminary council and stake youth council and is the second assistant in the priests quorum
  • Loves working with special ed students at school and is planning on participating in Unified Theatre and Unified Sports next year
Scotty
  • Donates plasma twice a week 
  • Is looking forward to Brocation even though we are mad at Disneyland
  • Would go to bed at 8:30 every night if he could (instead, he goes to bed at 8:45)
  • Has a new boss at work
  • Had to work out of a different building while his office was being renovated and just moved back
  • Likes to spy on all the neighbors
Scotty in his spying spot

Britt (also known as me)
  • Was just called to be on the stake girls camp committee
  • Got a part-time job (which is why all of my posts lately are lists)
and since I talk about myself incessantly here on the blog, that's really all there is that's new.