On being tall

I'm fairly tall. I'm six feet tall. Well, almost 6. I'm about 1/2 inch shy of being 6 feet tall. When I was single if I met a tall guy I'd say I was 6 feet, if he was shorter I'd say 5' 11". I was always on the back row of my class pictures at school. I am pretty sure every single year, but I'd have to check first. I like being tall. It's harder for me to get in small spaces than more petite girls, but I'm used to it. I don't really have to go in small places a lot. But I do have to reach high a lot, so that comes in handy. I used to be petite. When I was 10. Does petite mean shorter or small frame? Sometimes I wonder when I see "petite" pants that seem bigger (not longer) than mine. If petite means short, well then, I've never been petite. Then I got older, then I had babies, then I got stressed, then I ate junk to deal with my stress. Now I'm not petite, but I'm still tall! I saw a very tall woman at WalMart last week. I felt short compared to her. She was at least 6'4". It was awesome. I wrote this because I was browsing online at shoes and I saw some big wedge heel shoes. Totally cute. I am not getting them though. Not because I'm so freakishly tall already, but because I am afraid of my ability to walk in them. I think I'd fall flat on my face. I remember just after high school going on a trip to California with a friend and a couple married friends of hers. One of the friends asked my pants size. I always wore mens sizes back then and I told her my size. She kind of gasped and said, "My HUSBAND wears that size!" She was kind of freaked out. I didn't care because she was heavy. I wanted to say, "yes, and you are fat. I'm not sure what your point is." But I didn't say that. I was thin at the time, at least 50 pounds lighter than I am now. So I just bought a bunch of clothes online. I decided I need to buy more clothes. I can never find pants long enough. Have you ever seen cute pants and you ask the lady where she got them? I did that today in the parking lot of my husband's work. They were super cute pants. Also, I have a lot of ear wax in my ears. So much that I couldn't hear well from my right ear. I went to the doctor today and they pulled some out and flushed some out. It was incredibly painful. Probably the worst pain I've ever felt. I must be totally wimpy, but it was horrible. Worse than my post c-section pain, worse than my other post-surgery pains. I've felt contractions, and I hated them. But I'd rather have contractions than have wax yanked out of my ear.

I've been wanting a record player for a while now. I don't really know why. I loved hearing it play at my Grandma Bench's house. I loved the crackle in the background of the music. I just learned that that crackle means the record is scratched and it is an undesirable sound. But I like it. Anyway, I bought a record player! And I'm so excited. I was at a yard sale with a friend and I almost said to my friend, "if you see a record player, let me know." And about 3 minutes later I see this thing and I snatched it up. She and I have the same van (different years and colors) and love the stow-n-go. So we stowed and go-ed that thing right over to my house.

The radio works, too. It's time for me to start collecting records! I don't know if this is where it will stay, but for now, this is the place. It's in pretty good condition, according to my husband and FIL.

Trotting

I need to get on the treadmill. I've been doing good using it lately. I usually use it every weekday. And I usually do it for at least 45 minutes. Not fast, mind you, but I'm on it. And the machine is ON. I've never been a runner, not even a jogger. I used the word "trot" the other day and Dave told me that he is pretty sure the only living creature that trots is a horse. Back in January I jogged/trotted for 10 minutes straight, which is huge for me. Huge. I've never had endurance for running, even doing the fun run in junior high. And I was skinny then. When I'm on the treadmill I like to watch the biggest loser on Netflix. It's very motivating to me. Plus I feel thinner when I watch all the obese people. Then the end of the season arrives and I'm back to being the fat pig because all the contestants have lost 50% of their body weight. But I'm not obese, I'm just overweight. Although I've been alarmingly close to the obese side. And I'll be at the high end of a normal weight for my height when/if I lose 25 pounds. Dave said he'd get me granite countertops if I GAIN 25 pounds. A friend called me lucky for having a husband who likes me heavier, and I guess I am. He likes the curves, even if they are on my belly. TMI, I know. I'll tell you it's a lot cuter seeing a chubby toddler in a swim suit than a skinny one. But I don't think the same goes for grown women. But Dave would rather lay down by a "soft pillow" rather than a bunch of "sticks". Those aren't his terms, but close enough. And the other day while watching the biggest loser I started to trot and I trotted for a whole 20 minutes. Nay..nay!

Hey moms, here are some very cool kid ideas to use during the summer. A fb friend posted them on pinterest. Check them out!

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Tractors, t-ball and Mother's Day...What do they have in common?

This post is going to be very scatter brained, but I promise I have a point to make. About four years ago I saw Dave looking at tractors on-line. I may have mentioned this part of my post before. I thought it was so odd and I DID NOT want him to buy a tractor. Why, why, why did he need a tractor? I had no idea. Later my heart was softened and I realized (actually, I seriously think it was the Spirit directing me) that "I married a man who wants a tractor". Let him get the tractor. And he got a tractor. And I was happy for him. I like that he likes tractors. I signed up my son for t-ball and his first game was scheduled for May 12th, last Saturday. About a week and a half ago my husband called home from work and asked if we had plans for Saturday, May 12th. I said, "it's Matthew's t-ball game" and before that there is a little league season opening "parade". All the teams ride in the back of a truck or trailer in their uniforms and drive down the streets. People line the streets and cheer when their team drives by. It's the cutest thing. The parade drives down a street right by our house. Last year I saw all these people going over there and I walked over to see what it was. I absolutely loved it. I love the small town feel of Mapleton and the fun things they do. So I've been excited for a year to have Matthew be in that parade and play t-ball. So when Dave called from work he wanted to go to his trials motorcycle competition which was the same day as the opening game and parade. I told him that he couldn't go. He needed to support his son. I knew he was bothered by it. Later when he got home from work I explained in more detail why I wanted him to go to Matt's game. I told him he married a girl that wants her son to play t-ball and I needed him to support us in that. Honestly, I don't think Matthew would have noticed. I wasn't really snotty about it, but I did kind of put my foot down, which I rarely do. The next day I felt kind of bad that I had "shot down" my husband's desire to participate in the competition. The competition happens every month (I think) in various locations. So I told Dave he could go. I told him I knew it was important to him and he had my blessing. I wasn't testing him to see if he would choose to do what I wanted him to do. So he was going to go to the competition. Saturday morning arrives and I told him that he better get out of bed and go. I asked where the competition was and I googled it. It was at least a two hour drive, which I didn't realize. He said he might not go. I got so excited! I asked why. He said because it is kind of far and his friend that usually goes with him wasn't going. I knew he wasn't staying home to please me, but I was still thrilled that he'd be able to see the parade and go to the game. Then later in the day I was cleaning and he was on the computer. He left saying he was going to go to Spanish Fork and buy a motorcycle. He came back about 20 minutes later and I said, "did you get the motorcycle?" He said no and I felt bad for him. I looked out in his trailer, and there was no motorcycle. But there WAS something there. It was a freezer! He bought me an upright stand alone freezer. I've wanted one since we moved in. It was my Mother's Day present. After my grandmother died we inherited her big freezer and it died about a year later. I'm so excited to fill it up. He got it used off ksl. It is about a year and a half old, but looks brand new. So, that is my story. We went to both our mothers' homes on Sunday and it was fun. When I signed the card for Dave's mom I wondered what I'd like to hear from a future daughter-in-law. And it was this: "I love your son more than you'll ever know and I realize every day how blessed I am. Thanks for raising such a great man." So I wrote something like that to her. I made Dave change all the diapers on Mother's Day. It's more fun to mother on Mother's Day, don't you think? I love being a mom to my children. I'm thankful Heavenly Father has entrusted these children to my care. It's a daunting and sometimes overwhelming responsibility, and often I don't feel like I'm up to the challenge, but I'm doing my best.

A friend posted this video on her blog. It's a cover of this song. It's an amazing song and both versions are so great. Here are some more great versions of it. Funny one Funny, but long, so you might have to skip to the end And I love the voices here on Glee A few days ago my son was singing, "now you're just somebody that I used to know" and I was wondering where do I know that song? It's a great song.

Bomb scare

Have you ever been threatened with a bomb threat? I have. Do you remember this bomb scare at a BYU devotional? I was there with my brother. We went at the last minute and were late, so we sat behind the podium on the benches. We were only about 5 rows up and so we were so close to where it all happened. I remember a guy in a white suit (I think) coming up through a crowd of people fairly quickly. I thought he was going to the restroom or something. Then he went right up to the podium and stood right next to the speaker, which was Howard W. Hunter. There was a lot of confusion. He said there was a bomb and that he had the detonator. There was no reason for us NOT to believe him. I remember holding hands with my brother. The man had a letter that was on the podium and he wanted President Hunter (not president of the church at the time) to read it, of course he refused to read it. I remember people just flooding out of the Marriott Center and a lot of women screaming. I told my brother we should go and he said no. I remember him telling me that he wanted to get the letter, or maybe he just wanted to know what it said. Then a bunch of people came down and piled on the bad guy. Then everyone started singing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet," and I felt like a fool because I only knew the first verse. I still only know the first verse. Isn't that funny? That was a day I thought I might die, or at least a guy threatened to blow a bunch of us up. I remembered this just now because I saw an article about them getting rid of the benches at the Marriott Center.