Hump day...... gloom!

I could use this zen garden today. I would love to be just hanging out on that rock, contiplating life, with no where to go and nothing to do. Must be hump day.... Wednesday.... the middle of the week.... not the bright fresh beginning, but not the anticpated end either.

It helps that we have clouds outside and a little sprinkle here and there. Not the refreshing downpouring of rain that cleans everything up, but the sprinkling that just collects dust and gets everything dirty. Good thing Jaron didn't wash the windows yet this week. They would just be dirty again and we couldn't get him to do it ever again.

Tonight Jace has his first appointment with USU. Tomorrow Jay and I will be going with him to complete all his applications and such for next year. It is getting closer. He is so excited and to be honest, I am so proud of him. He has senioritis like all kids his age but he is really looking forward to starting on his own and going to college. He is really working hard for his senior year to keep things up the way they need to be. Jay and I were so lucky, we have such great boys.

My sister and I talked last night about having kids.... You always hear the things parents do wrong, and you can feel where your parents could have helped you better, but I hope I have done a good job with mine. I haven't done everything right, and I can tell you exactly where I failed the most. But I love my kids, and I am very proud of them... (as my sister says, anyone reading this blog realizes that.... :) Jay and I have been really lucky because through it all so far our relationship with our kids has grown closer each year. I just hope it always stays that way.

My "Rebuttle"

Hello all..! This is Jace and i wanted to give a few personal touches to my moms last post...

1 We now own a working nintendo 64, a 5 year old PS2 that also works, sadly we just had to retire one of the new slim PS2's due to some processor errors. We have a "Halo" edition X-box, and the X-box 360. We have a Wii (^.^), which is totally awesome it just needs some more games out. * I almost forgot that we also have a Game Cube, it sees the least amount of use but it is still an awesome system.

2 With each of these systems we have some games so here they are... N64 - 12 (we had it the longest). PS2/PS1 - 23 (my favorite). X-box/360 - 11. Game Cube/Wii - 6 (this platform has the least amount available and it is a very serious multiplayer company so not many that are worth while to me)

3 The computers to me are not really a game thing they are more for the internet and comics/cartoons. Now... i use those terms loosely because what they really are is Manga and Anime, both of these are of Japanese origin, but not many know what those are. Manga is the same as comic books except the books are longer and they artistry is better (at least I think so), plus they tend to center around real people that go thru weird circumstances. Anime follows cartoons but it follows the same rules as i mentioned for the Manga ------ If you really want to know what they are like then go to the site www.mangarun.com ,one i recommend is titled "Ah My Goddess".

4 this really isnt a rebuttle but i wanted to type something so i did........................................

Another thing i thought i might bring up is the post a few days ago about my story... once it is finished i will let my mom put it on but it is not yet finished so no can do.... well time to go kill my friend (metaforically speaking of course) so _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ SEE YA LATER ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Virtual war, and not so virtual war!

My two sons are avid video gamers. We had a cable repairman over recently who's first comment when looking at the TV screen was "Got enough game systems?" Video games have been around for a long time, I remember them all from Atari home systems, through Ninetendo (Mario Brothers was Jace's first game ever.) to the xbox 360, and Wii. They also have 5 computers at their disposal.... The internet is their friend - except for Jaron, he seems to be a computer virus magnet.

Anyway, right now I am sitting in my office with boys and friends. In front of me on a 52" television they are playing some war game. I can't tell you what it is but I did see a few flags that makes it look like it must be world war II. The boys play with live people online and each other. But of course, the virtual war seems to bleed over to the real world. After a few hours, they appear to be having a mini war of there own. Someone has a bigger screen, more play time, or killed a comrad. To make a long story short, eventually Jay and I end up involved as we hear multiple accounts of why the other isn't playing fair. All in a days war, I guess....

Jaron is the funniest. He can't seem to sit still, jumping a foot in the air as he blows himself up stepping on his own land mines. At least he gets some exercise.

Hair Apparent!

Have you ever liked your hair style? Have you ever had a really (and I mean really) bad haircut? I hate dealing with my hair! Actually, I like my hair it is just the salons, cuts, color jobs, etc. I don't like to deal with. A case in point:

When I first moved to Arizona I cut my long hair off. It was short to me, although not short to some people. It was just above my shoulders. I loved that cut. I could do my hair one day and not deal with it the next. It just looked good and was so easy. The stylist that cut it had been cutting my hair for some time. I had that cut for a few months and then the stylist just left the salon. I haven't been able to get that cut again. Since that time I have been growing my hair back out (I promised my friends daughter I would because she liked to play with my long hair). It looks better shorter at my age but it is also hot if I can't pull it up. In December I had my hair cut on short notice at a local quick cuts type place. It was odd because she sent me out the door after the cut with my hair still dripping wet... When I got home I found out why. I had bangs that were shorter at the crown than at the part... I mean she had cut a lock of hair at my crown 2 inches shorter than the rest.... (Whoever said a bad cut is only 2 week away from a good one, was really wrong!) Needless to say I have suffered through 2 months of bad hair days.

Last night I went to get my hair cut again. I am still trying to find a new salon that I like so I tried someone new. I took in a picture of the cut I used to have and would like to go back to. When I left the place my hair was 100% better than when I went in but it still isn't the same cut. Jay looked at it and said, "It isn't short enough". I knew he was right when I left the salon but they had cut 2 inches off everything so I decided to try it. By 9:00 last night I realized I will be going back today to get more cut off. It just isn't the same. Not as easy to deal with. I need simple!

So the saga of my hair continues. Maybe some day I will figure out how to explain what I really want.

Senior Composition

I don't remember much about my senior year.... My dad will tell you that I didn't do much either>>>> :) Truthfully I only had 1 class I had to take to graduate and my parents wanted me to go to college early. I didn't want to so I took 5 hours of art classes, two of which I was the teachers assistant. It was a great year. :) I don't remember having to do a senior composition. (I don't remember taking english that year!)

Jace was working on his senior composition last night. He was having a hard time getting started. It has to be a 700 word essay on an important relationship in his life. He told me he could do it the easy way and write something about his Dad.... He does have a great relationship with Jay and it is one of the most important, but I think to him it was too private! Anyway, he decided it would be more fun to do it on his car. It is more of a challenge to write about a relationship with an object! But then I found out that he wanted to write it about his old car (you know, the one he wrecked!) :(

He only took 1 hour to write 900+ words... I read the rough draft when he was done. I know I am probably biased but that kid can write! I don't know if 900 words is too much to post but if he will let me I will post the results. I read this paper and couldn't believe how sweet he is, how grown up, how intuitive. Why do kids have to grow up so fast!

Snow in Phoenix?

It says on the news that we had snow in Phoenix. I feel very slighted, I didn't see any snow. It didn't snow at our house, at least nothing I would call snow. It has been really cold, I get so depressed when I see all our tropical plants completely dead. But I wouldn't call what we had in the valley yesterday snow! I have seen snow that was just ice falling from the sky. They did have snow that stuck on the ground in Tucson, which was really weird. It just isn't something I would expect to see, but they are at a higher elevation than we are.

All weekend long we had rain. We didn't do anything but go to church all weekend long. I miss our beautiful sunny, hot weather. I am ready for the heat of summer. OK, so I am weird, I know no one else in my family would say that.

Frozen Paradise!

These are flowers from our backyard. We have three large vines like these in our yard because I love the blooms. And they bloom all winter long.... Well, Usually!

I can't even bare to take a picture of what they look like now. Anyone with media has heard of the cold spell that went through the southern US. Well that included Arizona. While our home of Utah was at -10 degrees we were at 25, and 27 degrees for three days straight. For those living in other areas this doesn't seem so bad.... Until you look at our plants.

We forgot to cover the lemons. Our lemon tree is extremely large and had great lemons on it. We had already picked the oranges and grapefruits. Now the lemons are mush. Looking around the rest of the yard we have cactus that are brown and mushy, ficus that are purple instead of green, and plants that just look so sad.



I can't imagine what it will cost for avocados, lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit the rest of the year. But I can imagine what it will cost to replace the plants in our yard. It is so sad......

College Wooo......

I remember all the things I had to do to prepare for college. I knew where I was going by the time I was a senior. Didn't have any question. Didn't think about cost, just thought about going to St. George. Well, Jace knows where he wants to go, no question either. But there sure seems to be more work to try and get him ready than there was for me.

Jace has until February 1st to get all his paperwork into the college. Of course, part of the issue is our residency is so messed up. And then he has to retake the ACT again and put in for a scholarship we hope. As well as getting ready for college he has to work, go to two clubs a week, do his church stuff, prepare for graduation from high school, and now he is dating steady. He is also tyring to prepare for a state competition in Marketing. Needless to say he is one busy boy. He is so busy, he thinks he is coming down with my cold, but he can't miss anything and rest. Welcome to adult life.

Jaron is home sick again today.... He has been running a low grade fever since last night. He asked if he could catch the flu again after having it just two weeks ago. Of course he can but he really doesn't want to.... Poor kid.. I guess when it rains it pours.

And the answer is.....

We took the boys to a Blue Man Group show in Las Vegas at the Venetian. As you are filing in to take your seat they hand you a wad of tissue paper. They asked the audience to do their best to decorate themselves with it. During the show the strobes went off, with black lights and the audience was glowing in the dark. As they played louder, tons of tissue paper streamers fell from the ceiling all over us. We were buried under a mountain of tissue paper. At least we were in the balcony. We just rolled it over the edge onto the people below us. It was alot of fun though.

Curious yet?

This is Jace! And all the audience around are also wrapped up? Was it a mummy convention?

Ring, Ring, is anyone home!

I have often been told Jaron is a lot like me. My dad would snicker as he watchs Jaron and I interact. He would say, "it is always fair when you get a child just like you." Well, one way we are the same is we both liked the phone as a teenager. I often remember being on the phone with my best friend Gina for hours at a time. We would spend all day together only to go home and spend all evening talking on the phone. I have no recollection of what we had to talk about... but we did talk.... ALOT. (Maybe it is Karma that I went on to work for call centers!!!~)

Jaron has friends in two states. He has lots of friends so our house is usually occupied by at least one other young man than is supposed to be over. When the friends go home (usually because the parents have called for the 12th time), Jaron will start something else and get on the phone. He has even started to 'borrow' my cellular earpiece so he can be "hands-free". It was a bit of a relief that he wasn't just walking around the house talking to himself.

Today I was talking on the phone to my sisters. I talked to one for an hour or so, only to have another call. (I have 5 sisters so it could have been a long night!) Anyway, who was following me around trying to get me off the phone? Who was complaining when I got off that he had been waiting for hours to talk to me? You got it!!! Jaron. Gotta love that boy! Just like me!

The picture above has nothing to do with the phone but I thought it was funny. Look ahead to the next blog to see what it applies to.

Germs!!!!! ewwww..... !

Germs, Germs, and More Germs! Jaron and I have a cold / flu / bronchitis / whatever... We have had it since Thursday of last week. It hasn't been much fun, with the headache, bodyaches, coughing, sneezing, and stuffed head... I absolutely hate it!

Jaron and I have been great company for each other while we were sick though. We watch the same programs, play the same games, play on the computer. We just be. Jace and Jay get us things, take care of things for us.... It is quite the life.

Maybe germs aren't so bad after all!

Fighting fair !

After my last post, one other thought comes to mind.... When do adults learn to fight fair! hee hee hee. I mean, when do we learn to fight at all. Everyone has disagreements, I remember laughing when my grandparents would disagree... My grandfather would say "Wanda"... and my grandmother would say, "Lee you don't know what you are talking about." and that was that. They would go about their business without any fuss. It was like enough was said and in the scheme of things, the disagreement wasn't important anyway. How do you get that way, or does it just take 30 - 40 years of marriage to get there.

I have to admit, to my chagrin, I sulk. It isn't my best attribute and doesn't solve anything. Jay gets talks really quiet, and really controlled. If I can barely hear him, I know I am in trouble. But we still haven't learned to get it all out. We are learning to compromise better though. When we disagree on something we have learned to give a little to get a little. We just have to learn a little more about airing our disagreements without emotion or being mean. But at least neither of us yell.

Someday we will hopefully be like my grandparents.... If not, at least the house will be quiet.

Football in Arizona!

Arizona has become the college bowl game capital of the winter. Or at least Phoenix metro has. We have the Insight bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta bowl, and now the Tostitos Championship bowl. I laugh as they report of the traffic, the fans and the hoopla as people get ready for these games.

I work with two avid Buckeye fans. They have been waiting for tonights game for a month. They were so excited today they couldn't even work and one has been wearing Buckeye fanwear for the last two weeks.

Jay and I went to the Fiesta bowl two years ago when the University of Utah Utes were playing. I can understand the excitement, the drama, the fear, and anticipation. That was an amazing game and as Ute fans, we had the time of our life. I can just imagine what all the fans for this years college teams must be feeling.

Jay is always sad when the bowl games are over. He loves football of any type. We watch high school, college, and professional football. None of our boys were ever interested in playing but Jay would watch nonetheless. With the completion of the bowl game tonight College football will be done for another year. So my next few months will go as follows. Jay will whine, mope, and sigh, only to come out of a daze when the NFL play. After the super bowl there will be no consoling him. My poor baby!!!

As for me, I might be able to watch TV on the big screen again..... hee hee hee. I like baseball better anyway.

HI ALL!!!! As you may be able to tell by that first "sentence" this is not Wendy. It is in fact Jace. (^.^) <--- (that is a smilley for those who dont know) My mom showed me her post of what has happened with "my" car, so i thought i would point a few things out...

1. In the picture above (now used twice) the car is a REALLY COOL blue........... Thought i should point that out..... =] (another smilley).

2. As my mom also mentioned I smacked the curb really hard..... And totally killed my car..... (and cryed for a couple hours) ehem.....

3. If you take a look at the front end of the car and unfocus your eyes a bit you will see a small, rather cheeky, smile; almost as big as mine......................... =P (third smilley)

4. It is now 10:46 here so my Dad is sending me to bed so i must sadly end. But NEVER FEAR!! I"LL BE BACK!!!! <-- think of Terminator.

After thought; I showed my Mom this post before we published it and she started fixing the spelling, because she said it would bother her to leave it the way it was. So if this looks like it was spelled well know that she fixed it up for me........

XD (last smilley)

Jace's Car Saga II

The day before we left for Utah Jay saw an ad in the paper for a 2006 Sentra SE-R. Same car Jace used to have but newer. However, it doesn't have the Spec V engine.... I mentioned the Spec V engine was worth more than the body in his old car. Apparently this is a Nissan racing engine and is a 6-speed standard transmission. But then a Mom doesn't like the idea of her teenager in a car with a racing engine.... :)

Jay and I stopped at the dealer on the way home from work. The dealer had this Sentra and two 2005 Honda Civic's Jace might like. But Jace worked that night so we couldn't take him to go see them. Thursday we were supposed to leave for Utah. Thursday morning Jay took Jace to look at the cars. By Thursday mid day they came home with the 2006 Sentra SE-R. Jace had a grin from ear to ear. It is an automatic transmission and blue but Jace's first words "it has a killer stereo". And blue has always been his favorite color. It is funny how things change for a teenager.

That afternoon we left for Utah in Jace's new car. I was so thankful we had his car because with all the storms on the way there, it was great to be in a reliable, front-wheel drive, sturdy vehicle. And Jace drove most of the way. Needless to say, Jace has a new love.... Or the old love is the same, just for any car he owns. I can relate to that love. I have loved a few of my own cars in my time!

The Saga of Jace's car !!!

This is Jace's car.... Or I should say it is his old car. Jace tried to avoid an accident the Saturday before christmas and hit the curb with the passenger front tire. He called us because the car wouldn't move. We went out to meet him and Jay told him that it was bad... and it turned out to be really bad. Being the mom I couldn't see what could be the big deal, no other car was involved, it was just the curb right~~~~

The Friday before christmas the insurance called us, they were totalling his car. The engine was worth more than the body of the car and he broke the engine block! By this time Jace was resigned it could happen but he was really sad. It is hard for a mom to watch her son lose something he loves, but it is something that everyone must learn. And Jace was very lucky, no one was hurt, he avoided a much bigger accident, and a phone pole when he hit the curb. The insurance paid him the value of the car, which thanks to Jay's dealing was a few thousand more than we paid for the car. But now we were looking again.

Did I mention I hate looking for cars.... To many choices, dealers can be a pain, and dealing is downright tedious!.....

Hot, Cold, Happy, Sad

Utah is home, it will always be home to me. But I forgot how cold it can get in the winter. The boys and I just traveled to Utah for the New Year. Since the boys were out of school until the 8th of January, we decided to spend a week in Utah visiting family and friends. Jay was going to go with us but he changed his mind, so we left him home.

We got to Utah on Thursday of last week, after traveling through two snow storms. One was in Flagstaff Arizona and we were literally stopped on the freeway for 1 hour waiting for the roads to be cleared. The other was between Beaver and Fillmore Utah. The storm there was pretty much over but the roads weren't clear yet. I was so glad we were in Jace's new little car. Front wheel drive and all our weight really helped get through the drifts. The wind was blowing and the snow was swirling..... It was awful. (Oh, I didn't mention that we replaced Jace's car the very day we left, more on that later....)

We visited with my family most of the first three days were were there. Jaron visited his best friends in Utah and I visited mine. Jace went snowboarding with his cousins. We also had our dentist visits, and did a lot of getting Jace ready for college in Utah next year.

It was an interesting trip for me for two reasons:

First, it was colder than I remember. I never liked the cold. The first day the snow was kind of fun. It was crunchy, and lite at the same time. Jaron made great snowballs and I remembered how to drive in it without any problem. But after a few days the wind and snow made me cold. By the last three days I couldn't seem to get warm. I was always bundled up but my feet were always cold. I hate cold feet! Jaron's lips are all cracked from the cold. The crisp air makes the mountain beautiful at dusk and dawn but the salt and gravel in the snow makes for a very ugly slushy, dirty snow on the roads. It is funny that I had forgot about that.

Second, Jace and I spent most of our time getting him ready for school in Utah next year. We did a few things like getting his car inspected to see what we had to do to have him register it in Utah. We got him a checking account, all the fun things you do as an adult. We also spent a lot of time talking. He has grown up so fast but he is such a great kid. He is so smart, and understands so much about what he wants out of life. But I miss my little boy that followed me around and loved to play. I am happy for him to be progressing in life so well, but I am sad that we are already at this point in life. Where does the time go.....

Overall it was a great trip but I am glad to be home. I think this is the first time that we have traveled to Utah in the winter. I think it will officially be the last!!!! Of course, that could be lie. Next year I will have a son there to visit.