Root Beer: A Taste Test

Last weekend we decided to live it up and have a root beer taste test. Scotty drinks “zero” drinks, so I rounded up cans of A&W, Mug, and Barq’s “zero” root beer. Scotty has long claimed that Barq’s is the best, and I wanted to see if I agreed and whether Scotty could pick out Barq’s root beer blindly. 

I numbered the root beers and had everyone taste them and write down their root beer analyses. 

Scotty was able to accurately identify each brand. 

After taste testing all of them, we didn’t have a clear winner. They all tasted quite similar, but some of our observations were:

A&W had the least amount of artificial sugar aftertaste but had the weakest root beer flavor. It also seemed to have less carbonation with more of a “flat” taste.

Mug and Barq’s tasted very similar and both had the yucky aftertaste of diet soda. They were a little more flavorful and crisp than the A&W.

In the end, we all said we would drink any one of them, which makes for a very boring report in a blog post. 

Now we need to do the same thing with regular, sugary root beer. 

I can't believe it's only 7:47 pm (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I've been using my CPAP machine since August. I hate it so much. I've gotten more used to it over time, but I usually rip it off my face by 4:00 every morning. I had my follow-up appointment last week - required for compliance for insurance coverage. This is the first medical situation I've been in where I've had to meet such a strict criteria for coverage. I feel like I'm being spied on. Never mind the data our cell phones report on us, it's the CPAPs we need to be skeptical of! Anyway, I got in trouble with my sleep doctor. I'm only averaging 5 hours of "therapy" a night, and I need 7, so, according to the doctor, but not in these exact words: I'm not allowed to whine that the CPAP is useless. Sure, I breathe all night, but I feel the same during the day. If I had more energy, I'd have a little better attitude, but I'm sleeping in alien head gear every night that makes it really hard to get up and pee eight times like I do, and it makes my already complicated hair all the more ridiculous to deal with each day. 

Fact #2: Sleep apnea is stupid. 

Fact #3: You know what else is stupid? Being 40. Good thing I'm almost 41. I need to not be 40 anymore. 

Fact #4: It’s very hard to find a wall clock these days. Apparently they are no longer a desired household staple. I've had the same clock in my kitchen for ten years or more, and the other day I started to resent it. I began searching for a new clock and had a heck of a time finding one. I looked on Amazon (they had some, but not one I really liked) Then I checked Ross, Burlington, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's. Most stores either didn't have clocks at all, or they only had 1-2 really ugly ones. I also checked the DI, and theirs were all really bad (they had an X-Files one that made me laugh just knowing there's a timepiece with Scully and Mulder's faded faces on it). Finally, I found a clock I liked at Walmart, but I was devastated because it was over $30. After the amount of time I spent searching for a clock, I ended up buying it because it was such a difficult thing to find! I know wall clocks aren’t a hot trend anymore (RIP to the giant clocks of the early 2000’s), but I didn’t know they were so obsolete! Hobby Lobby used to have an entire clock aisle. Now they have zero clocks.

Fact #5: My kitchen looks completely different now. 

Fact #6: A few days ago, I accidentally did some middle of the night shopping. I wasn't on any meds -  I just didn't sleep well, so I used that time to google weird stuff and make some purchases. Then I forgot I'd done it, so when I woke up to a bunch of confirmation texts and emails, I was like, "Whoa! What did I do?" I placed two Amazon orders and a Target order, and I had three items in my Walmart cart. I decided to cancel the Amazon orders, but they had already shipped. I need to be careful!

Fact #7: I also need to be careful of late night blogging. Every now and then I wake up and find a post I don't remember publishing. I'm definitely more irrational in the middle of the night, so I shouldn't be shopping or blogging. 

Fact #8: The last few weeks have flown by so fast, but today - November 16, 2024 - has been so stinkin' long! It feels like it will never end. I've been up since 5:00 am. I went to the grocery store at 6:30. I have a couple of sick kids I've been attending to, and the day has just dragged on and on. The bags under my eyes today are the worst they've ever been. 

Fact #9: The Music Man opens this coming week, and Nicky's voice is completely shot. He has been on vocal rest for almost two weeks now with no improvement. He's trying several recommended remedies (and boy have I gotten an earful of remedies) and staying as hydrated as possible. Now I'm trying to decide if we should try getting him on a steroid. 

Fact #10: I watched a few scenes from the musical yesterday during their dress rehearsal, and I am so blown away by my son! I know I'm his mom, so I'm a bit biased, but oh! my! goodness! How is this my child? I can't believe his talent! I'm praying that his voice will endure, and that he can give his best performance! 

November Writing Prompt

Brought to you by… being wide awake at 3:08 in the morning because my CPAP machine smelled weird…

1. Three things you’re grateful for:

1: indoor plumbing 

2: words

3: TV (not gonna lie)

2. What advice would you give your children about being a teenager?

I try to keep my advice to a minimum because I don’t feel like it really helps. Their brains aren’t fully developed, and they really just want to be listened to and validated - not told what to do. But I do often encourage my kids to be “invitors” - invite people to come with you who might be overlooked or forgotten. Watch for the kids who might be lonely or feel left out, and realize that sometimes people look like they are being included and like they have a lot of friends, but loneliness doesn’t always appear how you think it will. 

3. How do you define family?

I’m pretty “dictionary” about it. People related to one another through blood, marriage, or adoption. I don’t get fancy about “family.” It’s people you are related to, whether you like them or not. 

4. What events have brought you and your family closer together?

In my “family of creation,” we’ve grown closer together through family vacations and doing activities and outings together. Also, COVID was definitely something that brought us closer. Literally and figuratively.

5. A time you pulled an all-nighter

I don’t think I’ve ever pulled an all-nighter. I’ve stayed up really late, but I don’t think there has ever been a time in my life when I didn’t sleep at least a little bit between one day and the next. The closest I’ve probably my ever come to an all-nighter was when the final Harry Potter book was released, and my friends and I got a hotel room and stayed up as late as we could reading our books after buying them from Walmart at midnight. 

6. Do you believe in fate?

Somewhat. I believe in divine intervention.

7. Something you have questions about

Many things pertaining to the gospel and the Church

8. A time you felt rejected

When I was finishing my degree, I asked someone if she could watch my two youngest kids for a few hours so I could study. It wasn’t for a specific day or time, I just asked if there was an opening during the last two weeks of my semester that she could help me out. She told me she didn’t have time. I was shocked and started crying. 

9. Have you ever broken a bone?

I’m not going to answer this.

10. What do you do in your free time?

This.

11. Something you’ll never forget

The time we went to Disneyland when it was closed for COVID and stood outside the gates. The plaza was completely empty. 

12. The best meal you’ve ever cooked

Thanksgiving 2020 (I didn’t know I’d have so much to say about COVID in this post).

His (smoked) & hers (roasted) turkeys

13. What’s your favorite room in your home?

Probably the living room. 

14. The best date you’ve ever been on

Our Disneyland trip for our anniversary

15. How do your parents describe you as a child?

I have no idea.

16. If you could go back in time, what would you do?

I would go back and save my Littlest Pet Shop and Little People toys.

17. Would you describe yourself as spontaneous?

Yes. But I am a very responsible version of spontaneous.

Laurel, Christie, and me spontaneously attending the grand opening of the new Cafe Rio. 

18. Do you have any famous family members?

Nope.

19. Your favorite sport to watch

I can’t think of a sport I like watching.

20. Describe the day you moved away from your childhood home

I got married and moved out. I honestly have no memory of moving my stuff from my mom’s house to Scotty’s and my first house. 

21. A song that makes you cry

“Skin” by Rascal Flatts

22. Your first roommate 

At my dad’s house, I shared a room with my three step-sisters. Does that count? Then eventually one of my step-sisters and I moved to a different bedroom. One thing I’ve always been grateful for is that I always had a bedroom and a bed at my dad’s house. 

23. If you had to live in a different decade, which one would you choose?

I’d go back to the early 2000’s. I thrived there. Or maybe even the 90’s. Am I allowed to pick a decade I lived through? I never know the rules for these hypothetical things.

24. What do you know about your mother’s parents? 

A lot. I grew up across the street from them, and I spent several days a week at their house. They were very involved in my childhood.

25. Something you think you could never do

Serve on a jury. 

Don’t get me wrong - I have jury summons all the time. Pretty much every 2-3 years I get called up. But I don’t think I’ll ever be selected to be on a jury. Not because I’m intentionally trying to get out of it but because I really do have a lot going against me when it comes to jury selection. Plus I’m usually far enough down the line numerically that I know I don’t have to worry about it. I think last time I had just duty I was juror #60, and I knew they’d have a jury picked long before they got to #60.

26. How would you describe a boring evening

I would describe it as… well… boring.

This is a dumb question. 

27. Your dad’s favorite saying 

He says “oink” while he burps

28. A relationship you would like to improve

I would like to improve my relationship with each of my kids. Things aren’t bad, per se, but I feel like they could be a lot better.

29. Some small moments from today that brought you joy

It’s 4:00 am, and I’m wide awake. There is no joy yet.

30. A time you found it difficult to forgive someone 

I had a friend who asked me to split cheese fries with her in 2007, and she never paid me back. I’m still mad. It goes far deeper than cheese fries, though. This friend was a taker, and the more time I spent with her, the more I realized there would never be reciprocity in that friendship. 

Rednecks R Us

Two weekends ago was our high school’s Sadie Hawkins dance. Daisy asked her friend Leo. They had a group to go with, and then everyone in the group bailed. After their initial group fell apart, they had another group, and then they didn't, and then they did, and then they didn't... and this is kind of how things went with homecoming, too, so I've decided that, from now on, we're planning a family vacation over every high school dance, so darn it! My kids can't go! (I'm going to need a pretty hefty vacation fund since there is a dance about every six weeks). 

Anyway, since the group dynamic kept falling apart, we figured Daisy and Leo would end up going to the dance "alone," so we were trying to help Daisy plan the event. I kept trying to help her make a plan for dinner before the dance, but she didn't know where to go. She also wanted someone to go with them because she thought it would be awkward to eat with just Leo (it's amazing how weird these kids are about eating in front of each other. Was it like that when I was a teen? I don't remember). 

On the night before the dance, I got an idea and thought maybe my mom would be willing to drive Daisy and Leo (and Scotty and me... because we would, of course, tag along for such an adventure) in her motorhome. We could go get takeout somewhere and park somewhere fun to eat in the motorhome. Then my brain really got going, and I thought, heck, we should dress like rednecks. And oh! We can take them to a Walmart parking lot to eat! Oh! And we can put a stuffed animal on the side of the road and pull over and act like we're picking up roadkill. 

In the end, here's how things went:

My mom had plans that night so she couldn't be the driver, but she told us we could use her motorhome. 

On the day of the dance around 1:00 pm, we got word that four additional kids would be joining us. 

I bought stuff to make nachos for the kids. 

After we picked up the motorhome, I went and drove around looking for a place to take photos before the dance. I wanted to take pictures in front of the water tower, so I needed to find a good spot. While I was driving past the water tower, I found a dead skunk on the side of the road. A dead skunk!! Right there!! And I thought... I have to utilize this skunk! I just have to. If you don't think God has a sense of humor, here's evidence to the contrary. On the day I was planning to drive around in a redneck outfit and take photos of my kid in front of our city's iconic water tower whilst pretending to scoop stuffed animal roadkill off the road for dinner... there was a dead skunk on the side of the road right where we were going to be driving. And it didn't even stink (except that it actually did, but it wasn't skunk smell. More on that later...)

Scotty and I got dressed up real pretty, and my friend KoriAnn joined us (her son ended up being one of the kids who joined Daisy's group at the last minute).

None of the kids knew what was happening. They just knew that we were going to pick them up around 5:30. 

We went to each kids' house and honked the horn, then stood outside and yelled for them to come get in the motorhome so we could take them to the "t-shirt prom." When we got to KoriAnn's house, there were some people looking at the house next door (it's for sale). We made quite the scene and probably scared that family right away. 

We told the kids we were going to take them somewhere "real special" for photos and dinner. Then we drove over to the water tower. We started yelling when we saw the skunk, and we pulled over and told Daisy to go get a shovel. 

(There are supposed to be videos here, but I can’t get them to upload, darn it!)

Then I did one of the most unhinged things I’ve ever done, and I ran out in the road in front of a car and claimed my roadkill.

I took the skunk in the motorhome and presented it to the kids, rejoicing that I got them some free dinner!

Not really. I left the skunk on the side of the road behind the motorhome where they couldn’t see. I’m not THAT gross. Scotty and I had a garbage bag with a lifejacket in it, and we put it in one of the exterior compartments of the motorhome so I could grab it and carry it in. I bagged the shovel for sanitation, and that's when we realized the skunk was smelly. Smelly like carcass. We ended up having to air out the motorhome just from the shovel. 

I know, I know. It's disgusting. I'm sorry. But we had to do it. You get that, right?

Then we took some photos at the water tower and headed to our fancy dinner location - the Walmart parking lot. 

We fed them nachos with ground skunk meat (wink, wink). Then we told them they could walk over to the Wendy's and get themselves a nice frosty, so the kids left for a while, and we adults sat in the motorhome and laughed our heads off. 

After the kids came back, we drove them to the school and parked in the parking lot for a bit so we could have a quick birthday celebration for Leo (homecoming was on Daisy’s 15th birthday, and Sadie’s was on Leo’s). We sang "Happy Birthday" (redneck style - Scotty played the mouth harp) and gave Leo presents. He was super embarrassed, as we knew he would be. Then we pulled up to the doors of the school and let everyone out. 

Nicky happened to arrive right as we pulled up to the doors. He had no idea we were doing this, so we jumped out of the motorhome and started hollering for him, "Nicky! Hey Nicky! It's your mom and dad! Hi son!"

He ran straight into the school while all of his friends laughed. He was mortified! It was a dream come true!

In all honesty, the kids just tolerated us and thought we were idiots. They couldn't get away from us fast enough. But we adults had the time of our lives, and it proved that we all really need to get out of the house more. 

The next day, for the sake of my self-esteem, I really needed a good hair day. I rocked the redneck look, but I needed proof that I don’t look like that everyday. It took me a few days to fully snap out of character, though.

The Halloween Chronicles

Halloween always feels like it’s a million days long. Every year, by the time the actual 31st arrives, I am so sick of it. I am a Halloween Scrooge through and through. I don’t think I would be so cranky about it if Halloween was just a day… ya know… like it was meant to be… but it’s a whole season. And on top of all the Halloween costuming, my kids have been dressing up non-stop for two months. Every football game at the high school had a dress up theme, plus we had Homecoming week with five dress-up days and Make-a-Wish week with five dress up days and red ribbon week with five dress up days. 

White Out

Adam Sandler Day

On Wednesdays we wear pink

It’s out of control!!!

Then to top it off, we had Sadie’s two days after Halloween which, for some reason, is now a costume party instead of a simple matching t-shirt experience like it was when I was in school. When Nicky asked me at 11:00 pm on Halloween to find him a shirt so he could dress as Phineas on Saturday, I told him he was on his own. 

Luckily, Daisy really did just want matching t-shirts for her and Leo. 

I had to enlist a family member to make them, though, because Amazon couldn’t get them to us in time (both my kids that went to Sadie’s were running last minute operations).

Glad it’s over.

But let’s not forget that we’ve also been doing costuming for The Music Man. I’ve had to buy character shoes, dress pants, compression underclothing, and more. I also made a few hats for the pick-a-little ladies (Daisy included) and mended a bunch of bloomers and petticoats. 

One more month of costumes. Then I think we can rest from them in December. Do not invite me to your ugly Christmas sweater party. I’m sorry, I can’t make it. 

Anyway, earlier today I was telling my friend how weary I am from the negative people in my life. There are a few personalities in my inner circle who are incredibly gloom-ridden, and I’ve realized how exhausting it can be to be immersed in pessimism. Yet, here I am being negative, myself. The good news is that Halloween (the actual day) wasn’t horrible. It was fine. But when I woke up in November 1st, and Halloween was over, I was a new woman! 

On Halloween we went to the elementary school parade in the morning. At 6:00 we started trick or treating. Zoe went out with a friend for the first time and had the time of her life. Nicky went out with friends going from party to party all night. Daisy stuck with us and Eva around the neighborhood. It was pretty low-key. 

Eva

Zoe and her fried

Zoe

Zoe and Eva with friends

Daisy

Our kids always get spoiled by our neighbors. The number of full size candy bars they come home with shall not be mentioned. They also got treated to Pokémon cards and multiple chances for hot chocolate and scones. Now we just have to endure the endless candy wrappers all over the house and the stray Halloween decorations that keep turning up. 

Currently (November 2024 Edition)

Reading:

Celebrating: Zoe’s 12th birthday. Her actual birthday is today, November 2 (who knows what day it will be by the time I finish this post and publish it). We are having family over to celebrate tomorrow, and then Zoe gets to pick what’s for dinner on Monday. 

Wearing: black pants and a Stars Hollow t-shirt.

Eating: a chocolate dome from Kneaders.

Suffering from: second-hand teenager drama. 

Laughing about: this… which I’ll have to explain later…

Annoyed by: testimony meeting in our ward. It tends to be a series of monologues, prepared speeches, health histories, and rants each month. Today (it’s Sunday now) a guy came prepared with a prop and a handful of quotes on cards. 

Buying: ice. About six weeks ago our ice maker went caput (and flooded our basement), and I now have to buy a bag of ice every week.

Watching: 

Dreading: election drama and cold and flu season. 

Enjoying: long pants and not having to shave my legs if I don’t wanna.

Looking forward to: putting up my Christmas decorations. But I always wait til at least the week of Thanksgiving. I usually put things up before my kids are out of school for Thanksgiving so I don’t have “helpers.” But I let them do the basement tree so they can have the sense of satisfaction and involvement.

Worried about: my kids. Always. Right now I’m worried about their relationships with their peers. Particularly Daisy and Zoe. 

Listening to:

Craving: 

White Bird

One of my fallback activities when my kids are out of school is to go see a movie. Yes, the expense is atrocious, but it's something to do when I'm desperate. We end up going to a lot of movies. On Monday,* I looked at what was playing and figured we'd end up seeing Wild Robot (though I really didn't want to. I am so sick of animated movies and have been for years and years. I typically sleep through them or play Wingspan on my phone if I'm able to get a seat where that's not a disruption to other people). 

When I was looking at showtimes, I saw that White Bird was playing. My kids love Wonder, so I wondered (no pun intended) how they would like White Bird (if you're not familiar with White Bird, it is a companion story to Wonder with a tie in to the character Julian, who was expelled from school for making fun of Auggie. White Bird is the story of Julian's grandmother who grew up as a Jew in WWII. Julian learns his grandma's story of hiding from the Nazis as a teenager and about his namesake, Julien). I decided to try seeing White Bird even though I wasn't sure how my little girls would handle it (they are still cartoon-only kids, though I've been trying to branch out for years). 

Going into it, I knew I needed to fill them in on some things. I told them about how the story connected to Wonder. But then I also had to give them their introductory lesson in WWII. Oh, how tragic it is to have to teach kids about the worst of humanity. 

That morning, I took Zoe and Eva to the skate park and the craft store. While we were driving around, I told them about the movie we were going to go see. I talked to them, in the briefest way, about Hitler and some of the details of how he treated people. Then mid-day, we hit the movie theatre. 

I was worried because the movie was two hours long, and I didn't think those two would endure it well. To my surprise, Zoe and Eva both watched and paid attention to the entire movie. They were very reactive to the story. They gasped, they asked questions, they covered their eyes, and they even cried. I was stunned by their attentiveness. Fortunately we were the only people in the theatre so I didn’t have to worry about shushing them - I was able to answer their questions and let them give commentary. 

They liked the movie and talked about it off and on for the rest of the day. It felt so good to have that experience and reminded me of how much I like that phase where my kids and I start to connect more in interests. That’s something I have really enjoyed about having older kids.  

*Monday, October 14. Sheesh, I’ve been writing this post for a long time. In the weeks since we saw White Bird, Eva has become fascinated with Edward Scissorhands. I’m excited about anything that’s not animated!