Okay, I'm going to try this again. I sat down to write a post about a week ago and TWICE I lost the post in the middle of typing it. The first time was because the computer decided to reboot itself without permission (naughty computer) and the second time was because I unknowingly pressed a magic key that deletes everything you've written in the blink of an eye and exits you out of the page entirely. I wish I knew which key it was because it would sure come in handy if I ever become a spy that types up top-secret documents that I may need to erase all evidence of it a matter of milliseconds. Anyway, I'll try to remember everything I was writing or was wanting to write. First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! There are two specific things I want to write down before they exit my mind completely and it takes a brain surgeon with a shish kabob stick poking around in my gray matter to remember them.
First: We (meaning Jason, Addie and moi) went to Orem/Provo (I don't know which one...is there even a difference? Let's just rename the whole area Orvo for simplicity's sake.) to have dinner with Eric, his lovely new bride Megann, and Uncle Marty and Aunt Linda. We went to Maria Bonita and as luck would have it, Maria Bonita herself waited on our table. What I really want to remember about this are the nicknames Maria bestowed upon us. Addie and I were "Princessas" and Jason was "Champion (Shamp-yon). It was nice. I think I may write a story called The Princessa and the Champion. Anyway, it was tasty food and excellent company. It was fun to get together with family that we don't see that often. Also, as we were leaving one of the waitresses told me to take care of the baby. I wasn't going to, but since she said that...
Second: Addie got a Christmas dress from my mom. It's really adorable and she looks like a little Christmas present in it. One of the coolest features of this dress are the little silky red shorts that come with it. You know, a diaper-hider. I took off her dress after church two Sundays ago and saw her standing there in her silky red shorts and her black tights and I thought, "Well whaddayknow! She looks like a tiny old-school boxer." This was the beginning of boxing lessons for Addie. She's pretty good. As soon as I figure out how to get the video footage off of Jason's phone I'll post it because its pretty funny. Anyway, fast forward to a week later when Addie and I were having lunch: she was pointing and things around the room and I was telling her their names when she pointed to a box. I said, "Box," and she started boxing. And so, when Addie sees the box or hears the word box, she starts boxing. For her next lesson I think we'll have Addie box a box.
That's all I'm going to write right now because I've got to get back to work on Addie's house. I'm sewing her a play house for Christmas. I'll post pictures when I'm finished. Happy Holidays everyone!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Squid Brains, Eyeless Fish, and Thanksgiving Dinner
So I've been working on a photo book of Addie's entire life up to this point. After spending a million hours getting all the photos in one spot and then figuring out where to put them and which ones to eliminate (I swear I have more photos of her than minutes she's been alive), it came time to put in some text. I started writing but found that I couldn't quite remember everything and it was going to take another million hours to complete. Then I had an Edison moment and decided to go through every post I've ever written on this blog to see what I've written about Addie. It was during this process that I truly discovered the value and awesomity of blogging. Everything from Addie's birth up until now has been recorded with fabulous detail and timely accounts. I just copied and pasted stuff from this blog and put it into my book (it's one of those Blurb books I'm doing). Voila! It was so great to go back through and remember so many things that my squid brain had already forgotten. I'm going to have to make a book out of our blog, too! I also realized how awful my posting frequency has been these last two months. Absolutely despicable! Therefore I am recommitting myself to regular posting for the sake of my posterity and your entertainment. Consider it done.
Just a little footnote: "squid brain" has become one of my favorite things to say since I watched a show on Animal Planet about Colossal Squids. Here's the funny thing about squid brains: they are shaped like doughnuts and their esophagus goes right through the middle hole. The result of this crazy design is that if they eat something too big it could give them brain damage or kill them. Pretty fascinating, right? Just another one of those animals I'd like to have been around to see created. Heck, maybe I was.
And now for some pictures:
The last Wednesday of every month from November to February is Wild Wednesday at the zoo. Wild Wednesday is wild because admission is free and you get to wear long johns, sweaters and a pile of coats to walk around and look at animals in. It is no misnomer, I tell you. The day before Thanksgiving was one of these wild days and so we took our little pink puff to the zoo. It was pretty cool! It was cold but clear and not windy, plus no one else wants to go to the zoo in the winter so its not even busy!
They have a little playground complete with a snake slide (you come out of its mouth, right between its fangs!). It was so cold the slides weren't slippery, so kids slowly squeaked down them, Addie included. However, this large egg was still fun.
We wandered around and checked out all the cool animals and watched Addie get excited about them. She's been to the zoo once before but it was before she could walk or point. She was most excited about the bats, turkeys and tiny orange monkeys. Of course, she fell asleep before we got the elephants or giraffes which are usually zoo highlights.
There were so many awesome animals at the zoo (I'm sure they are always there but its usually too crowded to really get to see them all) and we really had an awesome time. My favorites were the cave fish (they don't have eyes) and the baby elephant. Jason's were the mountain sheep (we watched it eat snow) and the tigers (a mom and three cubs). I don't think we'll be going to anymore Wild Wednesdays until next year since I hate even going out to get the mail in this cold, but you might consider going. You'll probably even have the whole place to yourself.
This was Addie's first Thanksgiving dinner. We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house with my mom, dad, two brothers, Grandpa Brough, and the dog. It was a special treat to have my Grandpa there because he usually goes to my aunt's house (she lives closer). He told us stories about crazy stunts he pulled when he was a kid and explosions he's set off, been in and/or both. We were in awe.
Addie only wanted to eat cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie. In that order. Now, I like a tasty cranberry sauce, but that doesn't mean I like to eat straight handfuls of it one right after the other. Addie, on the other hand, prefers to eat hers that way. Hey, we all have our strange habits. After dinner we played Scrabble where I averaged about twelve million points a word. Then we watched Monster's Inc. and followed it up with turkey sandwiches. It was a tremendous Thanksgiving. We truly have a lot to be thankful for.
Addie reached another milestone three days ago. No, not the Speaking one or the Master Pianist one. We're talking about the Ponytail Milestone. Her hair is officially long enough, at least in the back, for ponytails. Pigtails. Whatever kind of tails these are. Congratulations, little one. We are so proud! I think this means she's graduated out of the Infant Class into Toddlerhood. She definitely looks older with them in, anyway. Not that I want her to grow up, but what can I do about it? I don't really want to be taking care of a one-year old when I'm eighty, either.
So here's the table I've been talking about. This is Stage 1: Brown. I sanded it, primed it, sanded it, and then painted it a lovely shade of Sea Tickle. Or maybe it was Sea Shimmer. This brings us to...
Stage 2: Pleasant Plain. At this point it was permitted to come inside the house for its next step in the make-over. I then made paper pattern after paper pattern, which were then used to make the final petal pieces. After cutting cardstock to the point I developed a juvenile form of arthritis, Stage 3 was set in motion.
Stage 3: Speechless Beauty and Awe. I arranged all of my precious pieces of paper on the table top and then left them there for two weeks.
This is the final design I decided upon for the leaf. Without the leaf the table has a complete Dahlia flower on the top. With the leaf it has to Dahlia halves with a smaller, complete flower in the middle. I explained all of that for those of you that are photo blind. After the two week period (a time for me to prepare myself for Mod Podging....having never done it before I was nervous and needed to gather my wits about me. That sounds funny. "Come wits! Gather round and let us be one!") I pulled out my bottle of Mod Podge and my sponge brushes and went to work. Stage 4: Majestic Phoenix Rising from the Ashes in Full Glory and Light has been completed. I'll post pictures after everything has dried and I can put it all back together. I really love this table and I'm excited to have finally finished it. Now I just need some chairs.
Also, I can't take full credit for this idea since I pretty much swiped it from here: Juicy Bits. She's so creative and I thought her table was so cool that I stole it. I had to have one, you see. Anyway, if any of you feel like stealing it too here's some advice: 1. Use paper, not fabric. It goes on smoother and resists bubbles. 2. Buy all the materials you'll need before you start. Namely paper, because if you realize that you need more paper of a certain print so you go back to buy another piece it will be gone. And then you'll have to buy a different print, which still works, but is annoying to incorporate.
Just a little footnote: "squid brain" has become one of my favorite things to say since I watched a show on Animal Planet about Colossal Squids. Here's the funny thing about squid brains: they are shaped like doughnuts and their esophagus goes right through the middle hole. The result of this crazy design is that if they eat something too big it could give them brain damage or kill them. Pretty fascinating, right? Just another one of those animals I'd like to have been around to see created. Heck, maybe I was.
And now for some pictures:
The last Wednesday of every month from November to February is Wild Wednesday at the zoo. Wild Wednesday is wild because admission is free and you get to wear long johns, sweaters and a pile of coats to walk around and look at animals in. It is no misnomer, I tell you. The day before Thanksgiving was one of these wild days and so we took our little pink puff to the zoo. It was pretty cool! It was cold but clear and not windy, plus no one else wants to go to the zoo in the winter so its not even busy!
They have a little playground complete with a snake slide (you come out of its mouth, right between its fangs!). It was so cold the slides weren't slippery, so kids slowly squeaked down them, Addie included. However, this large egg was still fun.
We wandered around and checked out all the cool animals and watched Addie get excited about them. She's been to the zoo once before but it was before she could walk or point. She was most excited about the bats, turkeys and tiny orange monkeys. Of course, she fell asleep before we got the elephants or giraffes which are usually zoo highlights.
There were so many awesome animals at the zoo (I'm sure they are always there but its usually too crowded to really get to see them all) and we really had an awesome time. My favorites were the cave fish (they don't have eyes) and the baby elephant. Jason's were the mountain sheep (we watched it eat snow) and the tigers (a mom and three cubs). I don't think we'll be going to anymore Wild Wednesdays until next year since I hate even going out to get the mail in this cold, but you might consider going. You'll probably even have the whole place to yourself.
This was Addie's first Thanksgiving dinner. We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house with my mom, dad, two brothers, Grandpa Brough, and the dog. It was a special treat to have my Grandpa there because he usually goes to my aunt's house (she lives closer). He told us stories about crazy stunts he pulled when he was a kid and explosions he's set off, been in and/or both. We were in awe.
Addie only wanted to eat cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie. In that order. Now, I like a tasty cranberry sauce, but that doesn't mean I like to eat straight handfuls of it one right after the other. Addie, on the other hand, prefers to eat hers that way. Hey, we all have our strange habits. After dinner we played Scrabble where I averaged about twelve million points a word. Then we watched Monster's Inc. and followed it up with turkey sandwiches. It was a tremendous Thanksgiving. We truly have a lot to be thankful for.
Addie reached another milestone three days ago. No, not the Speaking one or the Master Pianist one. We're talking about the Ponytail Milestone. Her hair is officially long enough, at least in the back, for ponytails. Pigtails. Whatever kind of tails these are. Congratulations, little one. We are so proud! I think this means she's graduated out of the Infant Class into Toddlerhood. She definitely looks older with them in, anyway. Not that I want her to grow up, but what can I do about it? I don't really want to be taking care of a one-year old when I'm eighty, either.
So here's the table I've been talking about. This is Stage 1: Brown. I sanded it, primed it, sanded it, and then painted it a lovely shade of Sea Tickle. Or maybe it was Sea Shimmer. This brings us to...
Stage 2: Pleasant Plain. At this point it was permitted to come inside the house for its next step in the make-over. I then made paper pattern after paper pattern, which were then used to make the final petal pieces. After cutting cardstock to the point I developed a juvenile form of arthritis, Stage 3 was set in motion.
Stage 3: Speechless Beauty and Awe. I arranged all of my precious pieces of paper on the table top and then left them there for two weeks.
This is the final design I decided upon for the leaf. Without the leaf the table has a complete Dahlia flower on the top. With the leaf it has to Dahlia halves with a smaller, complete flower in the middle. I explained all of that for those of you that are photo blind. After the two week period (a time for me to prepare myself for Mod Podging....having never done it before I was nervous and needed to gather my wits about me. That sounds funny. "Come wits! Gather round and let us be one!") I pulled out my bottle of Mod Podge and my sponge brushes and went to work. Stage 4: Majestic Phoenix Rising from the Ashes in Full Glory and Light has been completed. I'll post pictures after everything has dried and I can put it all back together. I really love this table and I'm excited to have finally finished it. Now I just need some chairs.Also, I can't take full credit for this idea since I pretty much swiped it from here: Juicy Bits. She's so creative and I thought her table was so cool that I stole it. I had to have one, you see. Anyway, if any of you feel like stealing it too here's some advice: 1. Use paper, not fabric. It goes on smoother and resists bubbles. 2. Buy all the materials you'll need before you start. Namely paper, because if you realize that you need more paper of a certain print so you go back to buy another piece it will be gone. And then you'll have to buy a different print, which still works, but is annoying to incorporate.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wedleafrallowunt
This post will follow the pattern of every post I've ever done (I do try to be consistent). It will be outrageously long, jam-packed with a month's worth of photos and events, and require two days to fully post. Cowabunga, dudes. It begins with Tyler and Clare's wedding (October 10th) and ends with a lovely pheasant hunt (November 6-7th). Most photos are of Addie because, let's face it, she is the best-looking one out of the three of us.
Addie's first taste of wedding. What could be better than running around a huge room with a roll in one hand for intermittent munching? To a one year old, absolutely nothing. Actually, it sounds pretty fabulous to me, too. The wedding was quite lovely and enjoyable. My favorite part of the whole celebration (after the actual ceremony, of course) was dancing with Cami and Caitie. They really know how to rock.
I like all the random elements in this photo. If you're looking for a word to describe it, it's "wacky". Maybe just Jason is the wacky part.
How I wish I could fall asleep anywhere in any position. I often feel tired enough to sleep like this but my brain will never shut up. I don't think I'd mind so much if I just thought if really cool things, like mudskipper races, and not lame things like library due dates.
Every year we get unfathomable amounts of leaves in just our backyard. It takes millions of raking strokes and dozens of orange leaf bags to get it all cleaned up (nothing crappier than a foot of leaf-slime in the backyard because you didn't bother to rake before it rained or snowed). Oddly enough, I really enjoy it. I love feeling like a super-rich woman raking in piles of lush gold and bagging it for a hefty bank deposit. Except its better than that, even. And I still like jumping into the giant piles. This is the first year that Addie has taken part in the raking. Last year she refused to help.
I took this photo from on top of the shed. I'm not exaggerating about the amount of leaves. Addie couldn't even walk in them because they went up to her waist. Jealous?
After an entire day spent raking (even into darkness...we raked by patio light) we had sixteen bags to show for it. That's one big pile of work.
Some of you might think you're hardcore snackers, but Addie puts you all to shame. On a side note: Never give a one-year old the entire Goldfish bag to eat out of and then leave the room.
It's funny the things Addie just knows how to do, like play an arcade game for instance. She doesn't even have to look at the screen. She loved this thing and wouldn't leave until she'd had her fill. She took it seriously like it was her job. Maybe she'll grow up to be a bus driver.
Now I know its not pretty, but someone had to keep the spirit of Halloween alive, bathed or not. Right after breakfast, on the very morning of Halloween, I went about carving up a latern of the jack-o variety. I tried to enlist some help, as you can see, but I guess I was the only one "cut out" for the job. Ha ha.
I purchased Addie's costume last year with Annie's mom, so they were matching rats/mice this year. A couple of R.O.U.S.', if you will. Unfortunately Annie doesn't live by us, so Addie was a lone rat. She didn't seem to mind wearing the costume, but occasionally the nose and whiskers would get in her face and ruin her groove.
This is a classic photograph. Doesn't every American kid have a photo like this one? Or at least every kid born in the 80's? I love it. It makes me laugh. I don't mean that I love it when Addie cries or that I laugh at her when she does, I'm just referring to this photo. That's all.
The first moustached pumpkin to every grace our porch (and probably the neighborhood, too). Yeah, I carved glasses on it. You'd think every pumpkin would have twenty-twenty vision what with all the beta-Carotene in them, but not this one. Poor guy.
I took Addie trick-or-treating while Jason manned the house. It was a emptier street than most Halloweens around here, but still fun. Addie wanted to eat every piece of candy as soon as she got it. She also wanted to hold every piece of candy and refused to put any in the bag until it became humanly impossible to hold any more. Funny kid. She was awed by all the decorations and was even so stunned by a few that she couldn't move or respond to my calling her. Every time she saw a jack-o-latern or vampire she would do her dracula laugh, "Ah, ah, ah!" I think we went to a total of seven houses. Including ours. She couldn't refrain from grinning when she got home and dumped her candy out. She even clapped about it. She has the same reaction every time I pull it out to give her piece (we're eating it slowly).
I took Addie to the library the other day and she was amused by this bus stop. She wouldn't come out until she had thoroughly examined everything and picked up every germ present. It being a very nice and warm day, and with nothing to rush home to, I let her explore for as long as she wanted. That's just as good as Christmas to her.
My first pair of mittens that I've ever knitted in my whole short-legged life. Sure, I knitted two prior to these, but they were both right-hand mittens and didn't match. See below. I made these mittens for Addie and custom-sized them to her little hands. Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty superhuman right now.
Every mitten I've ever knitted.
Addie wearing my mittens, which made me so proud. And they did a good job of keeping her hands warm and protecting them from sticks. As in branches, not blood draws. We went pheasant hunting on the family farm this last weekend. There are three friendly white cats on the farm and they all have a thing for Addie. She seems to like them, too.
Addie really loves the farm and the weather was perfect to be outside in once it hit late morning. They have cows, horses, cats, dogs and flies on the farm and Addie likes to wander around and check it all out. Last time we were on the farm Addie tried to feed the cats hay.
The four of them (Jason, Eric, Dan, and Ryan (a friend of Eric's)) walking the line. This is a technique to scare up any hiding pheasants so you can shoot them and cook them up for dinner. Addie and I stay behind the people with guns, a wise suggestion for any situation.
Just playing on a farmkid playground. Honestly, hay bales are fun to play on/under/between/around. I don't know why I wrote under. I've never played under one, but I imagine it would be uncomfortable.
Jason out to get one.
Addie and grandpa playing with cats and sticks, a sure recipe for fun.
Huntin' fools.
I really like this photo with just the barrels of their guns poking above the corn. By the way, corn stalks are surprisingly sharp when they're all dried up.
Shootin' one out of the air. This one should be put on a trading card with his stats on the back.
We had twenty-one birds total. It sounds incredible, right? Well, I guess I'd better explain the bounty: There aren't too many pheasants left in Richfield which made for kinda crummy hunting (we only got two). So, Dan went to a sort of Pheasant Farm (or Pharm) and bought twenty birds. We brought them back to the field behind the house to plant them and then hunt them. The process goes as thus:
1. Take a poor bird out of the cage
2. Spin around and around until its completely disoriented (this keeps them from running off as soon as you set it down).
3. Tuck its head under its wing and nestle it under some bushes.
4. Wait ten minutes or so for the bird to come to and start moving around
5. Bring in ten or so hunters and four dogs to scare them up out of the bushes
6. Shoot.
Dan, Bryce (a cousin) and I went around to plant the birds while the rest of the crew waited. We figured it would be more fun if they didn't know where they were placed. It was exactly like an Easter Egg Hunt, but with pheasants. We'd get all excited when they'd get close to one or say something like, "You should look over in those bushes. You might find a surprise in there! " which is a total Easter Egg Hunt thing to say. I know its not glamorous, but it was fun. One bird got away and is, as far as we know, still living life on the lam. Before you start warming up your fingers to leave me a comment about how inhumane it all is, let me remind you of the average life of a chicken up until it finds its way on your plate. These birds lived a better life, I'm sure, and even got a chance to get away. All the birds will be eaten and are healthier for us to eat, too. So there.
And here's another fabulous family photo. This one's going in the book, for sure. Addie had a good time just picking up dirt clods and corn husks in the field and "Ha,ha, ha"-ing at the dogs (its a panting sound. How do you write that?). Did I mention Shovelnub came, too? It was his first hunting trip ever. He must have enjoyed it because he's considering getting his Hunter's Safety for next year. Anyway, it was the last hunt of the year and a good ending, too.
Addie's first taste of wedding. What could be better than running around a huge room with a roll in one hand for intermittent munching? To a one year old, absolutely nothing. Actually, it sounds pretty fabulous to me, too. The wedding was quite lovely and enjoyable. My favorite part of the whole celebration (after the actual ceremony, of course) was dancing with Cami and Caitie. They really know how to rock.
I like all the random elements in this photo. If you're looking for a word to describe it, it's "wacky". Maybe just Jason is the wacky part.
How I wish I could fall asleep anywhere in any position. I often feel tired enough to sleep like this but my brain will never shut up. I don't think I'd mind so much if I just thought if really cool things, like mudskipper races, and not lame things like library due dates.
Every year we get unfathomable amounts of leaves in just our backyard. It takes millions of raking strokes and dozens of orange leaf bags to get it all cleaned up (nothing crappier than a foot of leaf-slime in the backyard because you didn't bother to rake before it rained or snowed). Oddly enough, I really enjoy it. I love feeling like a super-rich woman raking in piles of lush gold and bagging it for a hefty bank deposit. Except its better than that, even. And I still like jumping into the giant piles. This is the first year that Addie has taken part in the raking. Last year she refused to help.
I took this photo from on top of the shed. I'm not exaggerating about the amount of leaves. Addie couldn't even walk in them because they went up to her waist. Jealous?
After an entire day spent raking (even into darkness...we raked by patio light) we had sixteen bags to show for it. That's one big pile of work.
Some of you might think you're hardcore snackers, but Addie puts you all to shame. On a side note: Never give a one-year old the entire Goldfish bag to eat out of and then leave the room.
It's funny the things Addie just knows how to do, like play an arcade game for instance. She doesn't even have to look at the screen. She loved this thing and wouldn't leave until she'd had her fill. She took it seriously like it was her job. Maybe she'll grow up to be a bus driver. 
Now I know its not pretty, but someone had to keep the spirit of Halloween alive, bathed or not. Right after breakfast, on the very morning of Halloween, I went about carving up a latern of the jack-o variety. I tried to enlist some help, as you can see, but I guess I was the only one "cut out" for the job. Ha ha.
I purchased Addie's costume last year with Annie's mom, so they were matching rats/mice this year. A couple of R.O.U.S.', if you will. Unfortunately Annie doesn't live by us, so Addie was a lone rat. She didn't seem to mind wearing the costume, but occasionally the nose and whiskers would get in her face and ruin her groove.
This is a classic photograph. Doesn't every American kid have a photo like this one? Or at least every kid born in the 80's? I love it. It makes me laugh. I don't mean that I love it when Addie cries or that I laugh at her when she does, I'm just referring to this photo. That's all.
The first moustached pumpkin to every grace our porch (and probably the neighborhood, too). Yeah, I carved glasses on it. You'd think every pumpkin would have twenty-twenty vision what with all the beta-Carotene in them, but not this one. Poor guy.
I took Addie trick-or-treating while Jason manned the house. It was a emptier street than most Halloweens around here, but still fun. Addie wanted to eat every piece of candy as soon as she got it. She also wanted to hold every piece of candy and refused to put any in the bag until it became humanly impossible to hold any more. Funny kid. She was awed by all the decorations and was even so stunned by a few that she couldn't move or respond to my calling her. Every time she saw a jack-o-latern or vampire she would do her dracula laugh, "Ah, ah, ah!" I think we went to a total of seven houses. Including ours. She couldn't refrain from grinning when she got home and dumped her candy out. She even clapped about it. She has the same reaction every time I pull it out to give her piece (we're eating it slowly).
I took Addie to the library the other day and she was amused by this bus stop. She wouldn't come out until she had thoroughly examined everything and picked up every germ present. It being a very nice and warm day, and with nothing to rush home to, I let her explore for as long as she wanted. That's just as good as Christmas to her.
My first pair of mittens that I've ever knitted in my whole short-legged life. Sure, I knitted two prior to these, but they were both right-hand mittens and didn't match. See below. I made these mittens for Addie and custom-sized them to her little hands. Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty superhuman right now.
Every mitten I've ever knitted.
Addie wearing my mittens, which made me so proud. And they did a good job of keeping her hands warm and protecting them from sticks. As in branches, not blood draws. We went pheasant hunting on the family farm this last weekend. There are three friendly white cats on the farm and they all have a thing for Addie. She seems to like them, too.
Addie really loves the farm and the weather was perfect to be outside in once it hit late morning. They have cows, horses, cats, dogs and flies on the farm and Addie likes to wander around and check it all out. Last time we were on the farm Addie tried to feed the cats hay.
The four of them (Jason, Eric, Dan, and Ryan (a friend of Eric's)) walking the line. This is a technique to scare up any hiding pheasants so you can shoot them and cook them up for dinner. Addie and I stay behind the people with guns, a wise suggestion for any situation.
Just playing on a farmkid playground. Honestly, hay bales are fun to play on/under/between/around. I don't know why I wrote under. I've never played under one, but I imagine it would be uncomfortable.
Jason out to get one.
Addie and grandpa playing with cats and sticks, a sure recipe for fun.
Huntin' fools.
I really like this photo with just the barrels of their guns poking above the corn. By the way, corn stalks are surprisingly sharp when they're all dried up.
Shootin' one out of the air. This one should be put on a trading card with his stats on the back.
We had twenty-one birds total. It sounds incredible, right? Well, I guess I'd better explain the bounty: There aren't too many pheasants left in Richfield which made for kinda crummy hunting (we only got two). So, Dan went to a sort of Pheasant Farm (or Pharm) and bought twenty birds. We brought them back to the field behind the house to plant them and then hunt them. The process goes as thus: 1. Take a poor bird out of the cage
2. Spin around and around until its completely disoriented (this keeps them from running off as soon as you set it down).
3. Tuck its head under its wing and nestle it under some bushes.
4. Wait ten minutes or so for the bird to come to and start moving around
5. Bring in ten or so hunters and four dogs to scare them up out of the bushes
6. Shoot.
Dan, Bryce (a cousin) and I went around to plant the birds while the rest of the crew waited. We figured it would be more fun if they didn't know where they were placed. It was exactly like an Easter Egg Hunt, but with pheasants. We'd get all excited when they'd get close to one or say something like, "You should look over in those bushes. You might find a surprise in there! " which is a total Easter Egg Hunt thing to say. I know its not glamorous, but it was fun. One bird got away and is, as far as we know, still living life on the lam. Before you start warming up your fingers to leave me a comment about how inhumane it all is, let me remind you of the average life of a chicken up until it finds its way on your plate. These birds lived a better life, I'm sure, and even got a chance to get away. All the birds will be eaten and are healthier for us to eat, too. So there.
And here's another fabulous family photo. This one's going in the book, for sure. Addie had a good time just picking up dirt clods and corn husks in the field and "Ha,ha, ha"-ing at the dogs (its a panting sound. How do you write that?). Did I mention Shovelnub came, too? It was his first hunting trip ever. He must have enjoyed it because he's considering getting his Hunter's Safety for next year. Anyway, it was the last hunt of the year and a good ending, too.Thursday, October 22, 2009
Photoless post of Pure Busy-ness
It's been awhile and I frankly don't have time to write a real post with photos right now, but I thought I'd write a few things.
- On the documentary: Jason received a box of chocolates and a thank you card as payment. Tasty payment.
- What we've been up to: Tyler and Clare were married a few weekends ago so we were in St. George for that. It was great being in my favorite town spending time with some of my favorite people. It was a beautiful wedding and a lot of fun. Eric and Megan's wedding is coming up in three-ish weeks so we'll be back down south for more fun.
- We went to Richfield for the deer hunt last weekend. Fortunately we didn't get anything (neither one of us likes to eat deer). It was fun just to be away for the weekend on the family farm.
- We finally finished the kitchen (meaning putting up the new baseboards ) and it only took a month. I love having my kitchen back in sane order and I love the new tile and baseboards. I feel so fancy in my kitchen! I need a lacy apron to match.
- I've been keeping myself super busy with a million ideas. I swear I spend 90% of my time thinking up new things to make/ do and 10% doing them. My list keeps growing. I just taught myself how to knit and knitted my first mitten. I'll have to post a photo when I'm done with the pair. I plan on making a pair for Addie and then making twenty-four more to make a Christmas advent calendar....probably for Christmas next year or the year after. I'll be such a pro at knitting mittens when I'm done. I'm also working on book illustrations (did I ever mention I'm illustrating a children's book? It's about a witch who can't say boo...it will be published next year if I ever finish the illustrations) and its going swimmingly albeit slow. I have a list of Christmas presents to make (table tent, felt sack lunch, etc. ) and I've just begun a project to refinish a dining table that recently came into my possession. It will be so incredibly awesome if my somewhat tricky plan for it is pulled off without any bumps (literally and figuratively). I'll post pictures of that, too. I'm focusing all my time on that project right now since its supposed to get really cold soon (snow on Tuesday) and I won't want to be outside working on it. Oh, and at some point I need to do a painting of the Salt Lake temple at the request of my dear little brother.
- Jason has been working hard and thinking up new ways to save us money, which is always on his mind. He's pretty good at what he does (both his job and saving money).
- Addie is about to pop out new teeth and is none to happy about it. She's as silly and crazy as ever. She keeps busy by rearranging our house. She gives loads of kisses and loves to be outside. When she's tired or falling asleep she tugs at my ears. It has to be my ears, not anyone else's. She likes to help me with stuff, like unloading the dishwasher (she hands me the utensils one at a time), throwing away garbage, and putting away laundry (she carries the socks for me). She even helped me do a little sanding on the table this morning. Oh, and she helped herself to the paint two days ago when we were painting the new baseboards. She grabbed the brush and painted the top of the paint can. She actually did a pretty decent job, but she got some on her clothes. She can also laugh like a vampire.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Documentary of a Documentary
I know you're all dying to hear about Saturday's adventure, so here it is, complete with pictures.
While the rest of the world was sleeping Saturday morning we were groggily waking up and getting ready for our day of filming. I didn't have to get up and go, but I didn't want to miss anything. Besides, someone had to go document everything. It was 7 am when we put our pajama-clad wee one in her car seat and left for Lehi. J was feeling a little nervous and a little excited, but mostly a lot tired. The first place we filmed was at Porter's Place (perhaps you remember my post about the Destroying Angel burger?) Addie was up and ready to party, so we went outside to wander main street while the film crew was getting set up.
Addie spotted this "dog" a few stores down the street. I think I may have snapped this photo just as she was sneezing. She loves dogs and will point and making panting sounds when she sees one. Or when she sees something sort of dog-like, like a lion. Or a goat. Or a cat.
After walking up and down main street Addie got thirsty, so we stopped in at Porter's Place to have a drink at the bar. Its a real kid friendly place. They serve their drinks in sippy cups for little customers. By now, as you can see, Jason was in costume and had already been in make-up. In my opinion Jason was the most authentic looking guy there. Three other guys were in this bar scene with Jason.
I guess I oughta tell you the part he played and how the scene went down: The story goes that some gamblers in California put up a bet for who could kill Porter Rockwell. The guy Jason played was one of these gamblers. He finds Rockwell on his horse in the middle of nowhere and says something like, "Porter, you're a dead man!" and raises his gun to shoot him. Rockwell, being the quick guy he was, said, "You can't kill a man without a cap on your gun." The would-be-asassin glanced at his gun and gave Porter just enough time to thrust his hand into his pocket and shoot the man through his coat. (Porter never wore holsters. He kept all his various guns in his coat and/or vest pockets.) SO, the scene filmed at Porter's Place was the scene where the California gamblers are placing their bets on the table. They filmed in a really small, dark room so I don't have any photos of it. One of the crew guys was taking stills throughout the whole thing so hopefully we'll get some photos from him.
They also filmed the part where Porter gets his hair cut. He was promised by the Joseph Smith that if he never cut his hair or beard and kept true to his covenants that "no bullet nor blade shall harm him." And he never did cut his hair save for one time: a woman that he knew contracted typhoid fever and lost all of her hair. Rockwell cut his hair to make a wig for her (who wouldn't want to wear Rockwell's hair as a wig? She was probably thinking, "Whoa, getting typhoid fever turned out to be pretty cool." Okay, probably not.) Anyway, I guess the reason was a good enough one that his promise still held true because he lived to the old age of 65 and died of a heart attack. Anyway, the man cast as Porter Rockwell couldn't come until later in the day but they wanted to film that scene at that location, so Jason played Rockwell just for that scene. They shadowed his face a lot and basically filmed his silhouette. I don't know what they'll end up using in the finished film, but you just might see Jason as Rockwell for that scene, which would be pretty rad.
While everyone was crammed in the back room filming, Addie and I hung out up front. She played on this little cement step by the bar for a long time. We were there from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. It was a long time but Addie was pretty good. I took her back to watch the filming for a little bit and she liked waving at everyone on set. I also took her for a long walk through a little neighborhood and a park. And, believe it or not, I took her to a museum that was right next to Porter's Place. It was free because it was FREE MUSEUM DAY!!! I got to take advantage of this day after all and it was super convenient because we needed something to do. Filming is a lot of standing around waiting for a few guys to set up the lighting and equipment.
We went to the Hutchin's Museum and saw really cool things, like: Davy Crockett's gun, some woolly mammoth hairs, poisonous rocks and Porter Rockwell's saddle. And it really is his saddle (I'll explain how I know that later) and it was so awesome to see. It was really worn and I could just imagine the places its been and the scrapes its been in.
Once Jason got a break we went back to the museum again to look around...another reason why I'm glad it was free. Addie played this Indian drum with her crazy looking daddy. He got a lot of weird looks. Which reminds me, when we were having lunch (at Porter's Place, complete with lots of Sasparilla) some kids came in and just stared at us as they walked by to another table. I thought, "Why are all these kids staring at us like we're crazy?" and then I turned and looked at Jason and remembered, "Oh, we ARE crazy."
Speaking of crazy, this is Jack Slade's chair. I had never heard of Jack Slade until I went to this museum, but I doubt I'll ever forget him. This chair used to be in a tavern he frequented back in the days of the Wild West. He carved a backwards "J" into the back of the chair to keep other people from sitting in it. He did not share well with others. Whether the "J" was backwards because he thought it seemed more intimidating or whether it was because he didn't know which way a"J" went is up for debate, it doesn't really matter because that's not the crazy thing about this guy. Click on the photo below and read about it for yourself. Its nuts.
I told you it was nuts. I know you just went, "EWWWW!! No way!" as you read it. I scared myself wondering if his wife ever pulled him out from under her bed to talk to him or brush his hair. I just scared myself again writing it. Creepy.
After we were done filming at Porter's Place we went up American Fork Canyon to film the next scene. This is the scene where Jason tries to shoot Rockwell (silly fool). The guns in Jason's holsters were on loan from John Rockwell, the great great grandson of Porter himself. It was a pair of Navy Colts or something (I'm no expert on guns, I just know one when I see one). I know Jason felt pretty cool wearing them around.
This is the guy who played Porter Rockwell. I have to agree with John that he was too tall, too skinny, and his hair was too short. (I watched them dye his hair black in the parking lot. Pretty cool, I know.) But hey, they did they best they could. The horse was amazingly gentle and stood still for a very long time.
Here's the film crew, just in case you started thinking, "Yeah right you guys were filming a documentary. You just dressed J up and hung out in Lehi all day." Everyone was really nice and I liked talking to them about how they got started and what other films they had done. Poor Jason was on the other side of the river by himself just waiting around. He said he saw me talking to everyone and wished he could have been in on the conversation, mostly when I talked with John Rockwell. I'm saving that conversation for the end.
"Porter Rockwell, you're a dead man!" There, you've pretty much seen the clip now. Actually, Jason fake-dies at the end. He had to do it six or seven times and actually injured his knee one of the times. He told me that when he fell he would try to keep the guns from getting in the dirt, so he would keep his hand raised just above the ground. I don't know if you'll be able to tell in the final film, but it might be worth looking for. "Hey, he's not dead!" I can see a sequel to this.
Okay, so while the crew was setting up stuff and Jason was still alone on the other side of the river (going on the third hour over there) he did a few poses for me to photograph. I think he was pretty bored.
I, on the other hand, was having the time of my life talking to John Rockwell. My first impression of him started like this, "They called and asked if they could borrow my guns and I said, ' No, but I'll let you use them. Wherever my guns go, I go too.' You can borrow my lawn mower, but you can't borrow my guns. There's just some things I won't let anyone borrow. You can't borrow my guns, you can't borrow my horse, you can't borrow my truck, and you sure as hell can't borrow my wife!" And then he laughed a big belly-shaking laugh. When I first saw John I thought, "That guy looks about how I would imagine Porter looked like, only with short hair instead, " and as it turns out I was pretty much right. He's the same height and build as Porter (which is about 5' 6"and barrel-chested) and carries a bit of resemblance in the face. I felt like I was talking to Porter himself. He even has a spitfire personality like I imagine Rockwell did. He's got a great sense of humor but is stubborn and forward at the same time. He definitely has an opinion about the way things ought to be and is not easily moved. I asked him all sorts of questions about Porter Rockwell and the various legends about him. I learned a whole bunch of new things.
I learned that half of the items in the Hutchin's Museum that claimed to be Porter's weren't, but that the rocking chair and saddle were. Apparently there's "bad blood" between the Rockwells and the Hutchin's over a pair of cuff links that belonged to Porter Rockwell. I also learned that he never lived in the house in Eureka (the one we visited and posted about on this blog) but it was on his property (dirty liars that painted the sign out front of that house!). I learned that he never learned to read or write but that despite that he built up a fortune worth $40,000 by the time he died. That's equivalent to a couple million dollars today. I learned that he dictated his entire life story to a lady just before he died but no one knows what happened to her writings. John is still looking for them himself and tracking down the descendants of that lady. I mentioned that I am a descendant of Judson Lyman Stoddard (he was a good buddy of Rockwell's) and I was pleased that he knew who I was talking about and was interested about it. I learned that no homes of Rockwell's are still standing. Apparently his home in New York was still there up to ten years ago but the NY fire department used it for their practice. Needless to say, John was fired up about it. I could spend another hour writing down everything. If you are curious about what else I talked with him about I'll tell you in person. Anyway, I was so excited to have the chance to talk to him and I just ate up everything he was telling me about Porter Rockwell. It was an absolute pleasure and a truly awesome experience. I only wish that Jason could have been standing there with us instead of across the river by himself. The film comes out in April, so look for it at your local Seagull Book, Deseret Book, or Walmart.
BEGINNING OF WAY CRAPPY ROTTEN LARD EVENING
I know, you thought the story was over. Its not. So after filming everything (it was about 7:30 pm) we decided to stop off at Cabela's since we were nearby. We wandered around the store admiring guns and looking at mounts. They started closing at 9 pm so we headed home. We pulled into our driveway and started unloading our car and that's when I realized I didn't have my diaper bag. Jason had changed Addie's diaper when we first got to Cabela's and had just been carrying the bag around while we looked at stuff. We decided he must have set it down somewhere and then, not being used to carrying a bag around, left it. He wasn't sure if he set it down in the store or in the parking lot while he loaded the stroller in the trunk. Extremely tired and stressed-out, we headed back to Cabela's hoping it was either sitting in the parking lot or that someone was still closing the store and would let us in. Our gas tank was empty so we had to stop and refuel on the way. We arrived at 10pm. It wasn't in the parking lot and no one was in the store. We went around to the employees entrance and found someone stocking the back room. He said he didn't have access to the front of the store, which may have been true or it may have been a lie to get us to leave. Either way, we were annoyed. Cabela's happens to have a fishing pond at the end of their parking lot and Jason went to ask any of them if they were employees. One of them happened to be and so she tried using her badge to get in, but I guess it programmed to not work after a certain hour. We thanked her anyway and then, admitting defeat, headed home. On the way home we remembered we were out of milk and bread, so we stopped at the grocery store. It was midnight. We bought a few groceries and then finally went home. I was frantic wondering if my bag was in the store or if someone had swiped it and was now buying hundreds of pez dispensers online with my card to complete their personal collection. I know, weird that pez dispensers were the worst thing I could think of. I was tired. At about 1 am we finished eating dinner (yeah, we were too busy driving around to have eaten dinner yet. Poor Addie was getting sick of all the animal crackers I was passing back to her as a substitute for real food.) We got in our pjs and then Jason began working on his lesson for Elders Quorum. (They called him about it Thursday night and he had just been too busy to work on it, in his defense). We went to bed at 2 am.
Jason got up at 8 and got ready for church. I felt too bad waking Addie up just yet (You've slept for six hours already, now get up!) so I just let her sleep. Jason taught his lesson, which pretty much ended up being him just talking about our day yesterday and the bag fiasco, but I guess it all worked out. Addie and I were just about to head out the door to church at 10 when my mom called on Jason's phone to tell me Cabela's had just called her. They had my bag and I could go pick it up at the Customer Service desk. Yipee! After church and after a hardcore nap, we drove back to Cabela's for the third time and picked up my bag. Happy day! Everything was in it, including my credit cards, and I didn't have to worry about crazy charges, buying a new phone, or getting a new driver's license and set of keys. Happy, blissful ending! Was our Saturday fun? Mostly, until it really sucked. Would we do it again? Sure, up until the part it started really sucking. And there you have it, our Saturday of Adventure.
While the rest of the world was sleeping Saturday morning we were groggily waking up and getting ready for our day of filming. I didn't have to get up and go, but I didn't want to miss anything. Besides, someone had to go document everything. It was 7 am when we put our pajama-clad wee one in her car seat and left for Lehi. J was feeling a little nervous and a little excited, but mostly a lot tired. The first place we filmed was at Porter's Place (perhaps you remember my post about the Destroying Angel burger?) Addie was up and ready to party, so we went outside to wander main street while the film crew was getting set up.
Addie spotted this "dog" a few stores down the street. I think I may have snapped this photo just as she was sneezing. She loves dogs and will point and making panting sounds when she sees one. Or when she sees something sort of dog-like, like a lion. Or a goat. Or a cat.
After walking up and down main street Addie got thirsty, so we stopped in at Porter's Place to have a drink at the bar. Its a real kid friendly place. They serve their drinks in sippy cups for little customers. By now, as you can see, Jason was in costume and had already been in make-up. In my opinion Jason was the most authentic looking guy there. Three other guys were in this bar scene with Jason.I guess I oughta tell you the part he played and how the scene went down: The story goes that some gamblers in California put up a bet for who could kill Porter Rockwell. The guy Jason played was one of these gamblers. He finds Rockwell on his horse in the middle of nowhere and says something like, "Porter, you're a dead man!" and raises his gun to shoot him. Rockwell, being the quick guy he was, said, "You can't kill a man without a cap on your gun." The would-be-asassin glanced at his gun and gave Porter just enough time to thrust his hand into his pocket and shoot the man through his coat. (Porter never wore holsters. He kept all his various guns in his coat and/or vest pockets.) SO, the scene filmed at Porter's Place was the scene where the California gamblers are placing their bets on the table. They filmed in a really small, dark room so I don't have any photos of it. One of the crew guys was taking stills throughout the whole thing so hopefully we'll get some photos from him.
They also filmed the part where Porter gets his hair cut. He was promised by the Joseph Smith that if he never cut his hair or beard and kept true to his covenants that "no bullet nor blade shall harm him." And he never did cut his hair save for one time: a woman that he knew contracted typhoid fever and lost all of her hair. Rockwell cut his hair to make a wig for her (who wouldn't want to wear Rockwell's hair as a wig? She was probably thinking, "Whoa, getting typhoid fever turned out to be pretty cool." Okay, probably not.) Anyway, I guess the reason was a good enough one that his promise still held true because he lived to the old age of 65 and died of a heart attack. Anyway, the man cast as Porter Rockwell couldn't come until later in the day but they wanted to film that scene at that location, so Jason played Rockwell just for that scene. They shadowed his face a lot and basically filmed his silhouette. I don't know what they'll end up using in the finished film, but you just might see Jason as Rockwell for that scene, which would be pretty rad.
While everyone was crammed in the back room filming, Addie and I hung out up front. She played on this little cement step by the bar for a long time. We were there from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. It was a long time but Addie was pretty good. I took her back to watch the filming for a little bit and she liked waving at everyone on set. I also took her for a long walk through a little neighborhood and a park. And, believe it or not, I took her to a museum that was right next to Porter's Place. It was free because it was FREE MUSEUM DAY!!! I got to take advantage of this day after all and it was super convenient because we needed something to do. Filming is a lot of standing around waiting for a few guys to set up the lighting and equipment.
We went to the Hutchin's Museum and saw really cool things, like: Davy Crockett's gun, some woolly mammoth hairs, poisonous rocks and Porter Rockwell's saddle. And it really is his saddle (I'll explain how I know that later) and it was so awesome to see. It was really worn and I could just imagine the places its been and the scrapes its been in.
Once Jason got a break we went back to the museum again to look around...another reason why I'm glad it was free. Addie played this Indian drum with her crazy looking daddy. He got a lot of weird looks. Which reminds me, when we were having lunch (at Porter's Place, complete with lots of Sasparilla) some kids came in and just stared at us as they walked by to another table. I thought, "Why are all these kids staring at us like we're crazy?" and then I turned and looked at Jason and remembered, "Oh, we ARE crazy."
Speaking of crazy, this is Jack Slade's chair. I had never heard of Jack Slade until I went to this museum, but I doubt I'll ever forget him. This chair used to be in a tavern he frequented back in the days of the Wild West. He carved a backwards "J" into the back of the chair to keep other people from sitting in it. He did not share well with others. Whether the "J" was backwards because he thought it seemed more intimidating or whether it was because he didn't know which way a"J" went is up for debate, it doesn't really matter because that's not the crazy thing about this guy. Click on the photo below and read about it for yourself. Its nuts.
I told you it was nuts. I know you just went, "EWWWW!! No way!" as you read it. I scared myself wondering if his wife ever pulled him out from under her bed to talk to him or brush his hair. I just scared myself again writing it. Creepy.
After we were done filming at Porter's Place we went up American Fork Canyon to film the next scene. This is the scene where Jason tries to shoot Rockwell (silly fool). The guns in Jason's holsters were on loan from John Rockwell, the great great grandson of Porter himself. It was a pair of Navy Colts or something (I'm no expert on guns, I just know one when I see one). I know Jason felt pretty cool wearing them around.
This is the guy who played Porter Rockwell. I have to agree with John that he was too tall, too skinny, and his hair was too short. (I watched them dye his hair black in the parking lot. Pretty cool, I know.) But hey, they did they best they could. The horse was amazingly gentle and stood still for a very long time.
Here's the film crew, just in case you started thinking, "Yeah right you guys were filming a documentary. You just dressed J up and hung out in Lehi all day." Everyone was really nice and I liked talking to them about how they got started and what other films they had done. Poor Jason was on the other side of the river by himself just waiting around. He said he saw me talking to everyone and wished he could have been in on the conversation, mostly when I talked with John Rockwell. I'm saving that conversation for the end.
"Porter Rockwell, you're a dead man!" There, you've pretty much seen the clip now. Actually, Jason fake-dies at the end. He had to do it six or seven times and actually injured his knee one of the times. He told me that when he fell he would try to keep the guns from getting in the dirt, so he would keep his hand raised just above the ground. I don't know if you'll be able to tell in the final film, but it might be worth looking for. "Hey, he's not dead!" I can see a sequel to this.
Okay, so while the crew was setting up stuff and Jason was still alone on the other side of the river (going on the third hour over there) he did a few poses for me to photograph. I think he was pretty bored.I, on the other hand, was having the time of my life talking to John Rockwell. My first impression of him started like this, "They called and asked if they could borrow my guns and I said, ' No, but I'll let you use them. Wherever my guns go, I go too.' You can borrow my lawn mower, but you can't borrow my guns. There's just some things I won't let anyone borrow. You can't borrow my guns, you can't borrow my horse, you can't borrow my truck, and you sure as hell can't borrow my wife!" And then he laughed a big belly-shaking laugh. When I first saw John I thought, "That guy looks about how I would imagine Porter looked like, only with short hair instead, " and as it turns out I was pretty much right. He's the same height and build as Porter (which is about 5' 6"and barrel-chested) and carries a bit of resemblance in the face. I felt like I was talking to Porter himself. He even has a spitfire personality like I imagine Rockwell did. He's got a great sense of humor but is stubborn and forward at the same time. He definitely has an opinion about the way things ought to be and is not easily moved. I asked him all sorts of questions about Porter Rockwell and the various legends about him. I learned a whole bunch of new things.
I learned that half of the items in the Hutchin's Museum that claimed to be Porter's weren't, but that the rocking chair and saddle were. Apparently there's "bad blood" between the Rockwells and the Hutchin's over a pair of cuff links that belonged to Porter Rockwell. I also learned that he never lived in the house in Eureka (the one we visited and posted about on this blog) but it was on his property (dirty liars that painted the sign out front of that house!). I learned that he never learned to read or write but that despite that he built up a fortune worth $40,000 by the time he died. That's equivalent to a couple million dollars today. I learned that he dictated his entire life story to a lady just before he died but no one knows what happened to her writings. John is still looking for them himself and tracking down the descendants of that lady. I mentioned that I am a descendant of Judson Lyman Stoddard (he was a good buddy of Rockwell's) and I was pleased that he knew who I was talking about and was interested about it. I learned that no homes of Rockwell's are still standing. Apparently his home in New York was still there up to ten years ago but the NY fire department used it for their practice. Needless to say, John was fired up about it. I could spend another hour writing down everything. If you are curious about what else I talked with him about I'll tell you in person. Anyway, I was so excited to have the chance to talk to him and I just ate up everything he was telling me about Porter Rockwell. It was an absolute pleasure and a truly awesome experience. I only wish that Jason could have been standing there with us instead of across the river by himself. The film comes out in April, so look for it at your local Seagull Book, Deseret Book, or Walmart.
BEGINNING OF WAY CRAPPY ROTTEN LARD EVENING
I know, you thought the story was over. Its not. So after filming everything (it was about 7:30 pm) we decided to stop off at Cabela's since we were nearby. We wandered around the store admiring guns and looking at mounts. They started closing at 9 pm so we headed home. We pulled into our driveway and started unloading our car and that's when I realized I didn't have my diaper bag. Jason had changed Addie's diaper when we first got to Cabela's and had just been carrying the bag around while we looked at stuff. We decided he must have set it down somewhere and then, not being used to carrying a bag around, left it. He wasn't sure if he set it down in the store or in the parking lot while he loaded the stroller in the trunk. Extremely tired and stressed-out, we headed back to Cabela's hoping it was either sitting in the parking lot or that someone was still closing the store and would let us in. Our gas tank was empty so we had to stop and refuel on the way. We arrived at 10pm. It wasn't in the parking lot and no one was in the store. We went around to the employees entrance and found someone stocking the back room. He said he didn't have access to the front of the store, which may have been true or it may have been a lie to get us to leave. Either way, we were annoyed. Cabela's happens to have a fishing pond at the end of their parking lot and Jason went to ask any of them if they were employees. One of them happened to be and so she tried using her badge to get in, but I guess it programmed to not work after a certain hour. We thanked her anyway and then, admitting defeat, headed home. On the way home we remembered we were out of milk and bread, so we stopped at the grocery store. It was midnight. We bought a few groceries and then finally went home. I was frantic wondering if my bag was in the store or if someone had swiped it and was now buying hundreds of pez dispensers online with my card to complete their personal collection. I know, weird that pez dispensers were the worst thing I could think of. I was tired. At about 1 am we finished eating dinner (yeah, we were too busy driving around to have eaten dinner yet. Poor Addie was getting sick of all the animal crackers I was passing back to her as a substitute for real food.) We got in our pjs and then Jason began working on his lesson for Elders Quorum. (They called him about it Thursday night and he had just been too busy to work on it, in his defense). We went to bed at 2 am.
Jason got up at 8 and got ready for church. I felt too bad waking Addie up just yet (You've slept for six hours already, now get up!) so I just let her sleep. Jason taught his lesson, which pretty much ended up being him just talking about our day yesterday and the bag fiasco, but I guess it all worked out. Addie and I were just about to head out the door to church at 10 when my mom called on Jason's phone to tell me Cabela's had just called her. They had my bag and I could go pick it up at the Customer Service desk. Yipee! After church and after a hardcore nap, we drove back to Cabela's for the third time and picked up my bag. Happy day! Everything was in it, including my credit cards, and I didn't have to worry about crazy charges, buying a new phone, or getting a new driver's license and set of keys. Happy, blissful ending! Was our Saturday fun? Mostly, until it really sucked. Would we do it again? Sure, up until the part it started really sucking. And there you have it, our Saturday of Adventure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)