Proof of #62

This was taken from the deck of our whale watching cruise when we visited the Mexican Riviera the first time. So...here I am doing the latest thing designed to keep us from being productive. But...who's to say what's productive? This tag came from Emily's blog. You're supposed to copy the list into your own blog and highlight in red the things which you have done. I have a lot more years to remember than Emily, so I will confess now that if I couldn't remember, I gave myself the benefit of the doubt.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100.Visited Italy

It looks like I'm halfway through the list! As long as I live to be 110, I'll have time to do it all.

P.S. I will be doing #74 next week--we already have our tickets. Just 49 more to go!

Photo Tag

I am playing one more round of this because it's fun to look at old(er) photos. In response to Emily's global tag I am posting the fourth photo from my sixth file:
The occasion was Riley's post-blessing dinner, in July of 2001. Clare was still a teenager (and a blond) and that guy she's with--I think I remember her dating him a long time ago. Hmmm...what was his name?

Nostalgia

First of all, let me make it perfectly clear that the nostalgia in the title refers not to MY "good old days," (I'm not that old!) but to "good old days" in general. Yesterday Bill and I read about an event in the paper that sounded like fun...and it was! First, a little background...

We read about this guy in town that bought a 25 ton pipe organ from a 5,000 seat theater forty years ago. For you youngsters, organs used to provide ALL the sound for movies before the days of "talkies." With a theater-specific organ you could do all kinds of sound effects as well as background music. So for the past forty years he has been working on and off at restoring his organ. Ten years ago, needing a place to keep it, he bought the Granada Theater in Old Town Kern, near the corner of Baker and Kentucky streets. The theater is about 90 years old and has been empty for a long time. For the past ten years, he has been restoring the theater (very slowly.) It has air conditioning, but no heat, and he has restored all the seats, but the aesthetics still need a lot of work. For example, he is making latex molds and re-casting pediments that are missing from columns. We're not done yet with this man's hobbies...


He also has a vast collection of old movies and movie trailers which he collects, restores, and repairs. So he announced that yesterday, he was opening the doors to the public and inviting everyone to a free showing of Buster Keaton's 1920 flick, "One Week." He also showed a collection of old movie trailers, did an organ demonstration and answered questions from the audience. The whole thing was free, and sounded interesting, so we went. We had a blast! The organ is so cool. He can make it sound like anything; chiming bells, creaking doors, train whistles, etc. The theater was clean, if not real pretty, though you can see the potential. With a boatload of money and ten more years it could become quite a palace. The pipes for the organ are along the sides of the theater, covered by louvers that open and close with the changes in volume. Every seat in the theater was full and people were turned away at the door. The film was very funny and the crowd had a great time. There were old people who had gone to that theater as children, as well as young film students and everybody in between. There was a very nice feeling of community. We all hope that he does it again soon.

I've Been Tagged!

Liza tagged me with with the latest blog assignment that's making the rounds. I am supposed to post the fourth photo in my third photo file. Now, this pre-supposes that all of my photos are appropriate for widespread distribution...luckily, they are. So, let's see...the third file is the White family, and the fourth photo is...

ABBY (2001)!

Now, I'm tagging Carl and Emily. Please post the seventh photo in your first file.

'Fess Up!

Liza's current blog has got me thinking about the naughty things kids do. I think it's time for everyone to come clean--I'm not talking about stuff that's best left between you and your bishop. I'm talking about the crazy stuff you did as a kid that made your parents (if they knew about it) momentarily consider investing in handcuffs and leg irons.

So I'll go first...

In the summer of '71, I was home from my first semester at BYU, and we were living in Bozeman, Montana. Like Liza, we also had carpet in the kitchen. It was a very busy pattern in orange and brown. Truly, truly, ugly. It was the Fourth of July weekend and my parents had gone out of town leaving me "in charge" of my brothers who were 15 (Sam), 9 (Paul) and 3 (Charley). Sam and I got a hold of some fire crackers and one "accidentally" went off in the kitchen. It left little black burn holes all over one area of the carpet. We panicked. We knew that our mother, a black belt house keeper, would notice immediately. Sam (the fink) took off for some Fourth of July fun with his friends and left me to deal with Paul, Charley, and the carpet mess. Being very resourceful (and in high panic mode) I came up with a brilliant solution. I took a razor blade and shaved the carpet along an edge where it wouldn't show. Then, carefully matching colors, I glued the shaved fuzz into all the holes. She never noticed.

I got my punishment the next day when Sam and I were playing a game of fire cracker "chicken." We would light firecrackers and see who could hold onto theirs the longest. I "won" when one exploded in my hand. Luckily, I didn't lose a finger. But I had to come up with a good story for my parents about why my hand was all wrapped in gauze and tape.

Now it's your turn...

In Case You Were Wondering What We Are Doing at Mutual this Week....

And in case you were wondering about my potential participation...

Letting It All Hang Out

For my money, there is nothing quite as renewing as a new bra. I like to let my bras get to the point where you can read the newspaper through the elastic in the sides and the support is about as reliable as a ghetto "babydaddy." So when I need new bras, I REALLY NEED THEM!

Unfortunately, I find shopping for bras to be a very frustrating ordeal. There are too many combinations of size, color, style, etc. and it's like looking for the moon and planets to align just right to find exactly what you want. Then it dawned on me...

Duh!!!

I turned to my trusty friend, the Internet (thank you, Al Gore) and found a terrific website where I found exactly what I wanted, with free shipping AND 20% off the marked retail price. I ordered two bras last Thursday and they were delivered on Tuesday. I am a happy camper.

For less than Bill and I would spend for dinner and a movie I feel "uplifted,"my clothes look better, I can breathe better (got those saggy puppies off my diaphragm), and my posture is improved. I will never go into Wal Mart and try to shop for bras again!

Just doing my part to promote the information highway.

Old People and Dogs

You know the sure signs of middle age, right?

1. You Tivo Judge Judy and actually refer to her as "Judy."

2. You make "Taco Night" at Del Taco a part of your weekly routine. Not because the tacos are great, but because they're 3 for a freakin' $1.09!

3. You eat most of your meals on TV trays while watching Fox News.

4. Many of your favorite TV shows are on RFDTV. And if I have to explain what that is, then I guess you're not in the club.

5. You complain that the print in the stake directory is getting smaller every year.

6. You got pretty excited when Costco started carrying prunes in a RESEALABLE stay-fresh bag.

And, finally...............

7. Your dog is your baby.

We have had a rough week with our baby. We were up all night with him Sunday night. He kept crying out in pain and threw up a couple of times. On Monday, he seemed a little better, but wouldn't eat at all and was very depressed. When he was in pain and throwing up again on Tuesday, we took him to the doctor.

I won't tell you what we spent (but it's the eighth sign that you're middle-aged and crazy.) He had to have blood tests and x-rays, injections of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, with more oral meds to take for the next week. The doctor believes he has pancreatitis. As the name implies, it is inflammation of the pancreas. It is fairly common in smaller breed dogs, and they don't know for sure what causes it. There can be one flare-up with no further trouble, or it can reoccur occasionally. The frequency and degree of the flare-ups is best controlled by diet. As of yesterday, Newton is on a strict low fat, low sugar diet. Right now he is eating boiled chicken with rice, but in a couple of days he can transition to a high quality low fat dog food. Absolutely no more table scraps or people food. Flare-ups can be triggered by eating junk, and, if it occurs often enough, can damage other organs and become fatal. No more dog treats, except for little bites of boiled chicken that I will keep on hand for him (are we up to nine now?)

He is feeling much better today. He is still a little depressed and tired, but no more pain and his appetite has returned. We all slept soundly last night, for the first time since Saturday night. I know that he will respond well to the medication, new diet, and the countless prayers that we have said on his behalf.

So....I have an unopened 40 lb. bag of dog food and part of a big Costco box of dog treats. If no one wants them, I guess I'll freecycle them. (Is that ten?)

Alert***

Since I posted this, I have heard back from the vet with the results of Newton's lab work. The enzymes that indicate pancreatitis were NOT present, so that was not the problem. But his white blood cell count was elevated, indicating an infection. We are now calling it "gastritis," a fancy doctor word for "stomach ache." (Probably from the hundreds of dollars he "consumed" yesterday.) He is to continue with the boiled chicken and rice for another day or two until he is completely well, then he can go back to his normal dog food. (Sorry...the 40 lb. bag of super premium Kirtland brand dog food is off the table.) He will also finish the course of anti-inflammatory meds and antibiotics. But...the doctor suggests we lay off the table food since this was probably a reaction to "something he ate." Which is entirely possible since over the course of Friday and Saturday he sampled grapes, grilled cheese, bagel dog, Japanese snack mix and ice cream. And, apparently, the grapes alone were enough to make him sick. So it's back to being a dog for you, young man...

Hair Addendum (Is That Called a Weave?)

So I e-mailed Bill in D.C. to tell him to check out my blog so that he could preview my new "do." After 36 years, I can tell when he is less than enthusiastic. The best he could muster was, "That's not a very good picture of you." I think I addressed that in my side note. I realize that it looks like a fun house picture, but it's hard to photograph yourself. So I've been practicing this morning and I think I've improved. Plus, now you can see how my hair looks when it isn't blown out and straightened. My inner hippy loves it!