Kids Say the Funniest Things

Daniel, fighting with Anda: "Anda! Look what you done to my feelings!"

Did I just read that?

This one blew me away. From google news today:

"Police Murder Suspect Released from Hospital

KLAS-TV - ‎5 hours ago"

Wow. Police in Vegas can be brutal! I knew that place was corrupt..... 

What Tim was doing while I had H1N1

Sorry that one cuts off in the Sweet Dreams Medley. Fan Vid (thank you! I was sad I missed this show!).

And more:

Did I just read that?

From Foxnews.com:

"Cook recommended Bustamante be tied as an adult. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem agreed, saying the killing was vicious".

I suppose that might solve prison overcrowding issue--tie them all up as adults. Better use good strong rope, though. 

Did I just read that?

from Fox News tonight: "Noggle said Tuesday that officer Dustin Bradshaw went to the girl's home after her mother called police woman called police."  


"Police Woman" is a funny name for a mother. Or any other woman.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575494,00.html?test=latestnews


It was actually an outlandish article. A 10 year old threw a fit and "refused to follow her mother's instructions and the mother told Bradshaw to use his Taser. Bradshaw carried the girl to the living room and told her she was going to jail, according to the report. "

When my kids throw a fit, I send them to their room, not jail. I'm surprised the cops didn't send CPS after the MOTHER! And the idiot cop, actually.

Good article on health care reform

This is what I'm afraid of: "Currently proposed federal legislation would undermine any potential for real innovation in insurance and the provision of care. It would do so by overregulating the health-care system in the service of special interests such as insurance companies, hospitals, professional organizations and pharmaceutical companies, rather than the patients who should be our primary concern."

Read the whole article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574539581994054014.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

A letter to loved ones who suffer....

My cousin's husband's job just dissolved overnight (like ours did recently), and I couldn't sleep for worrying about her, so I got up to write her a letter and thought I'd post a copy here because it includes things I've wanted to tell a number of people I love who are suffering right now.

"Dear E----,

I hope you're doing okay. I couldn't sleep for worrying about you. I have been in your position more than once, and it's ulcer-inducing! It's cry-myself-to-sleep territory.

But here are a few things I've learned that help me (you probably already know all this stuff and aren't as stressed, scared, and discouraged as I was/have been, but it makes me feel better to say it.):

*God CAN give you another job overnight. I've seen it happen. If he doesn't, it doesn't mean he doesn't love you. He DOES love you. And he has a plan. Trust him. Even when it's hard (like 2 years of going to bed lonely and hungry in Vegas hard). It won't stay that way. (If I hadn't waited on God's plan, I honestly would have missed getting to know you again--and that would have been a huge tragedy for me!)

*One of the best pieces of advise my mission president ever gave me was, "When the bills come and you just can't pay them, throw them away. They'll come back next month."

*Elder Holland told a story once of being young with small children, trying to move away to go to college and being penniless and having his car break down not once but twice on the trip, and him feeling so discouraged. And then years and years later driving by the same spot and looking back at his younger self and saying, "Don't give up. It gets better. There's joy ahead."

*I have learned to stop thinking about tomorrow quite so much. Many many days when I couldn't see how we'd possibly make it through, I stopped and asked myself, "Am I okay right NOW? Then that will have to do." And it did. And I was okay the next day, too.

*Blessings are miracles. They might not put bread on the table, but they put it in your heart.

*Read this talk. It quite literally changed my life about 2 months after Tim lost the only job he'd ever had that he truly loved and that paid enough to keep us alive and in shoes. Your sis, C---, said it changed her life, too.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=15674bb52a73d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

*This one is mighty powerful, too: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=70dd1a01e8d43210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

* And, finally, this one, written by a righteous  relative:
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=fa8318e7c379b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

..."

I came across that last talk near the back cover of an old magazine from my collection one night as a teenager when I was sorting my antique books, and I read it and cried and cried because I had just been disappointed in something and it spoke to me, and then I discovered it was written by my grandfather's uncle, and that cemented the talk in my mind forever. Even now when I read it I cry. (Same goes for the other two, actually).

Penny Pinching Tips: Carefully Consider what constitutes a need.

I have had SO MANY friends in financial distress try to justify their cell phones, cable TV, rec equipment, or whatever as a NEED.

Is it really a need?

Let me rephrase that:
Will you physically DIE without that?
Will your health be compromised?
Will you lose your job?

Then no, you don't actually NEED that. As convenient as it is.....you might consider saving money by getting rid of the second (and third, and fourth) cell phones, and cable TV, and (for some people) internet.

Will you die if you don't eat out right now and wait an hour to eat at home? Not likely. Will your health be compromised? Probably not.  Will you lose your job? No.

This is a little oversimplified. I might add in also that it is important to consider God's commandments in the mix. Will you die without paying your tithing? Not physically, but failing to pay tithing is not a sacrifice I recommend.  It is also important to consider the health of the family. For example, while I won't die without a dishwasher,  my own personal disabilities (fibromyalgia) make hand-washing dishes extremely difficult--and when I don't have a working dishwasher, I end up not cooking regularly to avoid having to suffer the pain of washing dishes. So that is really close to a need for me to maintain the health of my family. Not absolutely necessary, but close.

So it's not entirely cut-and-dried. But when you find yourself in a position that you have to cut back, start looking around at your expenses....

Do you really NEED that cell phone, or are you just using it to easy anxiety ("I might get in a car crash on a remote road and die before someone misses me"--yes, I've heard that) or for convenience?
Do you really NEED 4 cell phones in the family?
Do you really NEED cable TV? Or can you get your news and entertainment from DVDs and online?
Do you really NEED the internet? Or can you do everything you do online at work or not at all (do you really NEED to play World of Warcraft? Seriously?) We actually DO need the internet--without it, Tim's job would be gone. So there you have it.
Do you really NEED new shoes? Depends on the condition of the old ones....

So every single time you are gearing up to spend some money, stop and ask, "Do we NEED this? Will we literally die without it? Will we lose our health or jobs?" You'll be surprised how much money you can save.

And then use on the things you really want.

Penny Pinching Tips: It is not shameful to buy used

I know lots of people who wouldn't be caught dead in used clothing, think buying used shoes is both unsanitary and unseemly, and who don't even consider used when their dishwasher breaks.

If you find yourself on a tight budget, though, you might consider re-thinking that.

Benefits of buying used:

--You get higher quality stuff for a lower price. If something still looks good in a thrift store, it's likely that it either was never used or was a higher quality item than the same $5 will get you at WalMart.

--It's good for the new, healthier economy we're trying to build. When you buy an item from an individual who is selling (like a car or a washing machine), you not only get the history of the item (unlike at a used car lot or appliance recycler), you also put cash into the hands of another person, which they can then use right away. You don't invest in corrupt corporations, pay people who use credit to weaken the economy while enriching themselves, or spend twice in interest what you spent on the item. You also help a fellow penny pincher (if you buy off craigslist) or a charity (if you buy from a charity-run thrift store). Also it helps your own local economy in many cases (unless you are ebaying it), putting money back into your home town, which strengthens it (instead of lining the pockets of the CEOs of big companies).

--It helps drive down over-pricing in the "new" market. By forcing the producers and sellers of new items to compete with the sellers of used items, the prices for new things (when you HAVE to buy something new) are lower. It's simple supply-and-demand economics.

--It helps the environment. Every item that is bought used is kept out of a landfill. It also replaces an item that would have left a carbon footprint in its production and delivery (the new one you'd have to buy if you don't get the used one!).

--If you love having a lot of something, you can get twice as much. Love shoes? Why not get that pair of Merrells, or the Diesels, for $15 instead of $150? For the same $150, you can get TEN pairs of shoes.

--If you don't need or want a lot of something, you don't have to go without. Better to have shoes than not, right?

If you are convinced that buying used is lower quality, not really that much cheaper, worn out, out of style, ugly, unsanitary, too hard to find what you want, or distasteful, TRY IT. None of those is really true. I remember the delight of a friend who had resigned herself to old, ugly clothes because she couldn't afford new when I sent her over to the local thrift store. She came back with 4 flattering, stylish, new-looking, high quality skirts for less than the cost of one new cheapo one. She felt pretty without breaking the bank.

Places to buy used: Local thrift store, local want ads in the paper or online, craigslist (and sites like it), ebay, consignment shops, garage sales, church rummage sales. Check out what's in your area.

If you're still unsure, look at it this way: everything you own is used the minute it leaves the store in your bag. Wash it once, and it is no different than much of what you will find out there used. You already ARE wearing used clothing, running a used washer, driving a used car. So what's the difference?

Penny Pinching Tip: Don't De-junk

Home organizing experts say the secret to a happy home is to de-junk. Throw away everything you aren't using right now. Don't save the "second best blender".

It's a nice idea.

If you have money to burn.

But if you take the people who live through the Great Depression as a guide in living through poverty, you'll notice they didn't de-junk.  On the contrary--they saved and re-used EVERYTHING.

So instead of throwing away that pair of too-small tennis shoes, toss them into a box for your next kid to wear when they get that size. Or, if they are too beat up to wear, at least remove the laces first and save them for when you need a string, another shoelace, something to mend with, etc.

Those who live in poverty know that if you throw away that second-best blender, and the first dies (which it will because you've had it for 20 years and you got it used initially), then you won't have one. So you save the second best. You box up and put away the extra pots and pans and then, when your favorite pan starts losing its non-stick coating, or the handle falls off, or the kids take it outside and lose it, you still have one. Or two. And, if the lady down the street loses everything in a fire or the missionaries are stocking a new apartment, you have something to give even if you don't have any money.

The secret to making this work is organizing. Don't just throw all the saved shoelaces and buttons into a junk drawer. But to get rid of the junk drawers, you don't need to get rid of the junk. You just need to find a way to put it away. For example, save that empty shoebox and label it, "laces and ties" and throw all the extra strings, laces, etc, in there. Take that empty oatmeal canister and label it "buttons" or "old toothbrushes for cleaning and art projects" or "broken glasses for parts". Put it on a shelf in the garage or basement or top of the closet, and then when you need a screw for your glasses, or a toothbrush to shine your shoes, or a shoelace because yours just broke, you've saved yourself both time and money.

Not only that, it's good for the environment. The ultimate green living doesn't involve de-junking stuff into the landfill. It involves using every little thing--and every part of every thing--until there is no possible use for it.

Understand that for the poor, "Use it up" doesn't mean until you're bored with it; "Wear it out," doesn't mean only until it looks shabby; "make it do" doesn't mean trash it when it breaks; "Or do without" doesn't mean you can just run down to the store and pick up another "it only costs $10" item.

We might moan about having to clean the thousand empty, carefully washed and put away coolwhip containers out of our recently-deceased grandmother's house. But we might do better to take a lesson from her.

Meteor Shower Alert:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575092,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a4:g4:r3:c0.000000:b0:z5

The Leonid Meteor Shower is Monday night/Tues Morning. See debris burn up that was left in the sky the year Monteverdi was born and Mary, Queen of Scots, lost her throne to James.

http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php

http://www.earthsky.org/tonighthome/

To find out when and where you should watch, google "leonid" and your city/state name.

Did I just see that?

I love the picture google's algorithms assigned this article on google news today:

"Obama Hobbled in Fight Against Global Warming 
New York Times - John M. Broder, James Kanter - ‎1 hour ago‎ 
WASHINGTON - President Obama came into office pledging to end eight years of American inaction on climate change under former President George W. Bush, and all year he has promised that the United States would lead the way toward a ...

Telegraph.co.uk

"

 

Um...yes. That would be Obama's position right now. Clinging to a slippery slope on a weak and melting foundation. Very apt.

 

Or is that a picture showing the intended end of the sentence? "...lead the way toward a polar bear on a stick"? 

Grandmas sometimes make you sure your parents were adopted.

Today I was reminded that Grandmas can be amazing. Amazingly insensitive.

My one-side grandma had a cruise to foster cousin relations and invited all my cousins. And then uninvited all the moms with  nursing babies (including me). And then scheduled it at a time that uninvited anyone in school. Apparently the memo about the nursing babies thing was only for her own grandkids, though, because the step-cousins brought a nursing baby. Hmmmmmm......

I kinda felt like I was back in high school and all my friends had a party and said, "YOU aren't invited." I thought I was okay until I saw the pictures. Then I cried.

Thank-you, Grandma, for fostering good cousin relations. Among people whose children are old enough to be left at home for a week.

Then my other side Grandma looked at my sister's adorable baby tonight and said, "That baby looks just like my brother Nick when he was a baby.  He was ugliest baby I've ever seen."

Hrm?

I'm just grateful my kids' grandmas have more sense than my grandmas.

Fibromyalgia treatment that worked!

Fish oil.


I started taking fish oil right before bed and have had significantly less pain and less brain fog.


It is by no means a cure. I still can't lead a hymn or blow dry my hair. But I did manage to install mini blinds in my living room (had to rest my arms a couple of times, but it was possible at least!)


Anything that helps is welcome.

Funny things my kids said tonight

Anda: "Free samples! Made by kids with plastic knives."


Benji: "W. I love W!"

Perks of Tim's Job

Tim's job has lots of perks. We get tickets to events. We get "paid" vacations to destinations people seek out (like Reno). For some reason, we frequently are given toys (usually the most bizarre ones because of moosebutter, but also lots and lots of stuffed animal "mascots").

One of my favorite perks, though, is what is happening right now. A handful of award-winning beatboxers  who also happen to have (to my taste) the best male voices in America today, are sitting around with a sound system experimenting. In my basement. So I get to hear the creation of awesome new things. I woke to the sound we've (me and Tim) been searching for 3 years for one of his groups that he's written dozens of songs for but we couldn't find the voices (until now!). And they just busted it out right as they walked in the door. They are experimenting with mic technique now, using the mics in different ways to get different sounds, creating on the spot a kind of ethereal sound, all improvised. Earlier, they busted out "Harder to Breathe" with no rehearsal and no instruments.

Did I mention that they have no instruments down there? Just voices, mics, a couple speakers and a subwoofer, and some guitar and voice effects boxes (including a looper/delay pedal).

In it's raw state down there, this is mind-blowingly awesome stuff. I can't even imagine when they polish it up. Those of you who have come to identify Tim's musical skills with Organic Vegetable sounds and Star Wars are going to be FLOORED when you see these new things coming out. It's a blend of classic rock, jazz, pop, and (of course, from Tim) choral music.

I call the guys "beatboxers" because that's what people recognize. They call themselves "vocal percussionists" because their approach isn't focused on "House" music. They can do the beatboxing we usually hear behind rap music. But they right now are doing jazz brushes, waaawaaas, brass instruments, and funky random sounds (some modified by guitar effects pedals). They are professional funny sound makers, I guess, but they weave it into beauty, into stuff that forces you to dance, into soul-searing melody.... And yes, they can SING. And, unlike most vocalists, these guys can sing convincingly in any genre. They're all classically trained, choir trained, and jazz trained. And you can request any song, any era, and they can sing it. If they don't know it, they'll make something up on the spot. (Earlier, they were doing madrigals, and just now they were mixing classical voice with rock background to very cool effect).

And Tim records the rehearsals. So I can listen anytime.

These are some of their public performances, but the stuff emanating from my basement right now puts these to shame:







I love Tim's job.

Homeschooler Resources, sent in by J. Max Wilson

The kids might enjoy learning about computer programming with these free tools:

Scratch
A visual programming language to create and share interactive stories, games, music, and art developed by MIT for teaching children the basic concepts of computer programming.  Oriented toward 8 years old and up.
http://scratch.mit.edu

Alice
Is like Scratch but designed for more advanced object oriented programming techniques and produces 3D animations, games, and videos.  It is geared toward middle school aged children.
http://www.alice.org

Did I just read that?

from foxnews.com today: "China gears up for visit as country will greet Obama with 'Oba Mao' shirts and statue of him that bursts into flames."

No errors there. I'm just wondering how he could be flattered that they're burning him in effigy and naming him after a ruler Americans think was a monster..... 

The Latest Trip

I started this blog to keep people posted on our adventures touring with children, and I've kind of drifted from that but have decided to go back to it. Anyone can post opinions on politics, but how many people can tell tales of touring at all, much less with 5 children in tow? (That's where the title of the blog even came from. We call our van Melody Yellowvan and even have a song about her!)

So, the trip home:

We were warm and comfy at Grandma's house, and trying to struggle through piles and piles of random stuff from the move out of Las Vegas. Slogging through the chaos, we didn't get things together very well (as usual), so we didn't manage to leave Lehi until after 8:30 pm. We would have stayed one more night had we not been racing a snowstorm that was supposed to travel across Wyoming in the direction we were traveling (read: we would have been stuck in it the whole way across). Wyoming is NOT where you want to travel in snow, so we left.

When we were dating, Tim and I joked about some day just taking that "Cheyenne" exit out of SLC and just going....and going...and going. It still holds a sense of promise and adventure and romance for us. Talking about taking that exit when we were teens was exciting--it was the key to leaving the state, and experiencing the world, and being together doing new and interesting things. We loved to travel then, and even now driving along a road we've never been on is one of our favorite things to do together. We like the road less taken.

Leaving from Lehi, we finally get to take that exit.

But then we have to drive through Wyoming. When we moved to Las Vegas, one of my comments was, "Thank goodness we never have to do that awful drive through Wyoming anymore!"  Wyoming might be fine during the day. We always seem to be driving through it at night. Wyoming at night is so dark you can't see anything around but the occasional racoon or wolf running across the road. It's cold and windy, so stopping for anything is an icy, biting experience--and a pain when you have to find 5 pairs of discarded shoes. There are long long stretches with few to no exits (and no services at the few exits), so when a kid says, "I have to go potty" (which they do frequently), it's a serious thing.

So we started an all-night drive across Wyoming. Again. Hoorah.

It wasn't so bad.
Our children travel well. That helps.

Mostly Tim drives and I tend to children and chatter to keep his brain engaged. We never have a car with a working radio, and now is no different. So we end up talking a lot about projects we are dreaming up, how to make music a viable business, what cool things Tim wants to do with his music or I want to do with my novel, songs to put on the next album, how to deal with hiccups in the business, casting shows, what happened in each of his recent workshops and performances, how went the after parties, what we can do with videos, how is working out his latest composing/songwriting contracts, etc. This time I was listing for him albums I want to hear done by him, multi-tracked (an opera album, a ska album, a jazz album) and whether it is professional death or genius to break the "single genre" rule, and also what he's doing with his schedule if a certain contract came through (it did!) or not so I could figure out if we can make it back to Utah for Thanksgiving.

At some point, we had to pull off an exit that said, "Riverside Embankment" to let the kids pee. It was kinda funny seeing all the boys lined up in the shadow of a large sign, peeing with their backs to the wind!

One thing Wyoming has going for it is the stars. Since we're studying astronomy right now, it was fun to watch the sky for shooting stars, constellations, the Milky Way. Those things are all visible in Wyoming and not Las Vegas (which has so many lights that nature is obscured).

Consistent problem in Wyoming: there is no place to find food after midnight. As we drove into Rock Springs looking for dinner at 1:00 am, we both groaned. Once we had to eat sitting on the lawn outside the WalMart. Once we'd promised the kids milk shakes and had to drive ALL OVER TOWN to find some place open, and then their milkshake machine was broken so we had to start over. When we ask where to find food, they always say proudly, "Our McDonalds is 24-hour!" Except only the drivethrough is. And generally speaking I'd rather eat cardboard than McDonald's food. If there is ANY other choice, including the grocery store, we choose the other. (I guess this is a common problem for musicians, who often want to eat after gigs--so, at midnight or so. My cousin is a working musician and she mentioned it, too--you can never find food after the gig, and you need it!).

With the heavy trailer and the stiff wind, we had another problem. 50 miles outside Laramie, we were low on gas and there are no services there. 30  miles out, I noticed and got worried. 20 miles out we switched drivers and almost immediately the gas light ("you have 5 miles to find gas") came on.

And I started praying.

And the light went off. And back on. More prayers. Off. On. More prayers. Off.....

We made it to the first gas station in Laramie!

And then Tim fell dead asleep, which he almost never does when we're traveling. And, even more rare, he slept until we got home. Usually he sleeps about 20 minutes and then is good to go for 5 more hours. So I drove the rest of the way home, with the big kids and I having an extensive, lively discussion of cool language things (okay...lets name all the idioms we can think of and where it came from; I'll do a word, you give me first synonyms and then antonyms; let's name all the homophones we can think of; now let's do all the homonyms; rhyming words!; greek and latin roots to words; can you guess what "pseudonym" means?). One of the kids' favorite games to play while we drive is "What's wrong with this sentence?"--"Someone I know said they were 'cooking and listening to Bocelli'--what's wrong with that sentence? How would you fix it?" They are especially delighted when they find road signs that don't have the right meaning like, "Exit here when flashing" and "road closed when flashing" (both of which you see all over Wyoming).

So we drove and drove and pulled into our driveway at dawn, unloaded car and trailer, and went to bed.

Did I just read that?

On our trip home this time, outside McDonalds in Rock Springs, Wy, we saw a sign that said, "Rock Bottom Executive Limos".

Someone thought that was a good name for their business? For real? Doesn't make me think their limos are in great shape...

I guess they provide limos for executives who have hit rock bottom?

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Last night I had it in my head that I needed night light bulbs because we shattered one. So when I was out buying milk and a screwdriver (they cost $.82. I lived without one for a month and they cost less than a dollar. Doh!), I grabbed some night light bulbs.

They make this new kind--LED bulbs that screw into standard night lights! I thought this was cool and bought some even though it costs about the same for 2 of those as for 4 standard bulbs. And they are blue and green. Very cool.

When I got home and read the package, I was floored. It says, "Lifetime guarantee: If bulb ever burns out, please do not return to store. Send bulb to Meridian Electric Co.....for a free replacement."

Seriously? If it EVER burns out? Wow. Good idea!

I was totally excited about that.

And then I discovered all the night lights got left in Utah. Bad idea.

But my sewing machine is here and it takes a night light bulb.....I wonder if sewing with blue or green light will cause me trouble?