Why I love my minivans.

We've been working on clearing bushes out of our backyard. We've been putting some in the yard waste can each week, but that would take forever to get them all. So today we took the seats out of my van, laid down old sheets to protect the carpet, and packed the van with branches. Three loads done. Hopefully we'll finish next week.

Busy

I'm almost always busy. Sometimes I'm busy cleaning, doing laundry, playing with my boys, or whatever. For the last week I've been busy doing homework. I had to write a 12-15 page paper that was due on Wednesday. Unfortunately this meant I didn't get to do the other things that I'm usually busy doing. Then Karl took Friday off work so we could work in our yard, and Saturday we went to see Trace Adkins.
So now I get to catch up. I'm amost caught up with laundry, and I've spent about an hour putting away random stuff that was where it wasn't supposed to be. I might re-arrange my bedroom, I"m trying to decide if I have energy for that or not.
What are you busy doing?

Potlucks

It seems like I've gone to a bunch of potluck lunch/dinners lately. As a result I'm getting bored of taking the same things to each one. My favorite salad I've made lately for one was an Apple Snicker Salad. It's really simple, core apples and cut into pieces, cut up Snicker bars into pieces about the same size, mix together with Cool Whip. Enjoy.
What are some things you like to take to potlucks?

I did it again

After finishing the last bandage I decided to make another one, this one knitted. I finished it tonight. Making these has 2 main benefits; I'm making something useful, and I'm not eating while watching TV.

Big Accomplishment

Today I accomplished something I've wanted to do for years. I've wanted to do it, but it seemed too daunting. At our ward Super Saturday I finally got inspired to start. And tonight I finished it. A leprosy bandage. All by myself.

The Nacirema

Today in my class we analyzed a paper about a group of people. I thought it was very interesting and thought others might enjoy reading it. If you're interested you can read it at http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~thompsoc/Body.html
Tomorrow I'll give you some of the insights we discussed in class.

Decisions, stupid and otherwise

I am constantly amazed at the decisions people make. Even when I think it would be hard for someone to make decisions that are worse than those they have already made, somehow they do.
I have a relative who lives in Draper, Utah, and for the last 5 years has lived either there or in Gunnison, Utah. For the last 3 years he has "decided" to keep living there, even though his life is somewhat restricted. We were really hopeful that he would decide to move down to Mapleton, and that decision happened yesterday. He decided to stay in Draper for another year.
I was kind of expecting this to happen, for a few simple reasons, but thought I might be wrong. The decision was made, but not for the reasons I thought. I thought it would be because he didn't complete a program he was supposed to complete. That would have been an issue, but he broke a pretty big rule, so he won't get to move until at least next year. (Maybe a little self-sabotage?)

On the other hand I have another relative who has been making changes in his life. 6 years ago he decided to quit doing drugs, and has stayed clean since then. 3 months ago he decided he wanted to be more involved in his daughter's life and she moved in with him. She started going to seminary and looks better than I've ever seen her look. Also earlier this year he joined AA and has now stayed sober for 101 days.
So while I'm sad at the stupidity of one person's decisions, I'm very happy about the other one.