Friday, August 27, 2010

A Car for the Collegiate?

Hey Miss Car-owner T-

I'm a collegiate and I'm on a car search. This search has consumed much of the past week for both me, and B-town and Papa. The road has been rough, because our price range is cheap. We are looking for a used car, and when you look to buy a used car you are also committing to buy problems. Used cars are just going to have problems attached at the hip, so when you buy the car, you buy the problems. So we've been trying to figure out which problems to buy. Here are some we've encountered:

-A 94 Toyota Corolla (love that car because Toyota Corollas are the cars missionaries drive!): DIRTY, cracked windshield, grumbling and arthritic gears, 5 spd, maybe smoked in?
-A 95 Ford Taurus: Gold, Ugly, Clean, large (very wide, which makes parking for people like you and I questionable), Transmission becoming unreliable after 100,000 miles (it was at 117,000)
-A 2003 Dodge Neon: Cute, DIRTY, bad track record for reliability, giant ding in the back right passenger door, great gas mileage, did I mention cute?
-A 97 Nissan Altima: DIRTY, bald tires, no radio, 5 spd, great gas mileage

Which problems would you buy? Tough choice, no? We almost purchased a 99 Mazda Protege.

It's name was Marcos. Why this car was even in our price range is because it had previously been wrecked. The owner was an awesome Mexican man who had decked Marcos out with flaming skull seat covers and window stickers. Totally my kind of car. Also, while driving, you would gently bob up and down, sort of like when you are cruising a lake in a little boat (needed new struts). And last but not at all in the least, the 14 inch tires made for the car had been replaced by 17 inch tires with flashy hubcaps. Sweet looking, but with the interference this would cause with the odometer and speedometer, I felt uneasy about having a deceiving car. How awful would that be to think you are going the speed limit, but get pulled over because you aren't and it's because of your flashy huge tires? So, I guess it's ok that we didn't get that car.

All of this car talk and search made me remember my childhood dream car. A purple limousine.

Now wouldn't that make a sweet college commuter?

Well, hopefully I'll find a good college car, but until then I'll be patient, enjoy the savings on auto insurance, gas, and repairs. Remember how you used to want a red BMW convertible with a sun roof?

Wish I could buy this for you!

Love, Car-seeking KK

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"Alright!"

Aloha KK -


Today was a little rough.  I locked T Bear in the car with my keys (and cell phone) on a hot summer day.  After some tears and prayers, everything turned out ok.  A big THANK YOU to the Kohagens, the police officer, Big D, and my Heavenly Father.


Needless to say, I have still been a little shaken up (and embarrassed) about the whole experience.  Then I watched this video and it cheered me up.  If you have had a rough day, I hope this cheers you up as well.


"ABCs - Alright!"


-Miss T

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Musing on Love Part II

Aloha Miss-in-love-for-the-long-haul-T,

I began with Aloha, because do you remember how I lived in Hawaii and I miss that warm place? Also do you remember that Aloha means hello, and goodbye, and LOVE? Awesome. Well Aloha is entirely appropriate for this second musing on love.

We got our new sister. Isn't she lovely?



Because I caught the bouquet at the wedding (Good aim B! No worries that I had to do a swooping knee dive to catch, the dramatic suspense was totally worth it!), I was doubly inspired to think some more about love. Not only could I tell that this couple, my twin and his new bride, are in love, but that many of the other couples in attendance were in love as well. What do you think?

Miss T in love...with Big D and T-bear

Miga and Papa, true love's kiss.

Cam-man in love with water...and his two loving parents still also very much in love.

Might I say working on the "ing" of falling in love? Maybe, maybe not, but they are picturesque at looking the part.



Love is real and love is good. Romantic love leads people to make promises, as in marriage, and to live up to and beyond their potential for goodness because two people in love help each other do it. I was so inspired by all of this love, that when I happened upon the "Life's Little Treasure Book On Marriage and Family," instead of instantly tossing the tiny book aside I opened it up. Here are some of the delightful things I found:


"Choose your life's mate carefully. From this one decision will come ninety percent of all your happiness or misery."

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." -Mignon McLaughlin

"If you've had a hard day at the office, save the complaining until after dinner."

"Grow old along with me, The best is yet to be." -Robert Browning

"An archeologist is the best husband any woman could have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her." -Agatha Christie

"Send your loved ones flowers. Think of a reason later."

"Judge your success by the happiness of your wife and the respect given to you by your children."

"All good marriages have this in common: courtesy."

"Marriage resembles a pair of shears - so joined that they cannot be separated, often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them." -Sydney Smith

"When you know that someone has gone to a lot of trouble to get dressed up, tell them they look terrific!"

"Remember the observation of William James that the deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

"Marriage is an empty box. It remains empty unless you put in more than you take out."

"I would like to have engraved inside every wedding band, 'Be kind to one another.' This is the golden rule of marriage and the secret of making love last through the years." -Rudolph Ray

"A good husband should be deaf, and a good wife should be blind!" Hahah.

Do you agree with any of these timeless adages or pieces of advice? I sure do, and I love that. Love is a wonderful thing. Thank you B for inspiring me to think and muse and ponder about all of this. Have you told someone that you love them today? Go on. Do it. It is worth it.

Love, Love, Love, Searching-for-love-very-slowly-KK

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

We're off to get a new sister-in-law! Be back soon.


We are off to Jose & B's wedding in Utah.  We are getting ourselves a new sister-in-law.  Wish us luck!  Luckily we already know that she is so sweet and nice.  

The only sad part about going means that KK is leaving Seattle for good.  We will miss her dearly, especially her roommate T Bear will be heartbroken.
We'll be back soon!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I AM LOSING MY MIND!


I will leave the thought provoking and witty blogs to KK because I AM LOSING MY MIND!


Example #1
In the spirit of generosity, I decided to purchase some school supplies to donate to Deseret Industries during their "Back to School" drive.  With a flier from the Sunday newspaper in hand, I dragged T Bear into Office Depot promising him a thrilling experience.  We started filling our cart with paper, glue, scissors, crayons and more.  I was having a hard time finding the advertised 20-cent bag of pens and pencils and some of the other promotional items.  I went to the front desk to ask for help.


The lady looked at me with a slightly irritated face and said, "This if Office Depot, you have Office's Max's advertisement."  Then she handed me their flier and turned away.  


Wow!  I felt dumb, but to top it off, when I went to check out, I realized I did not have my purse on me.  I had to run to the car and borrow KK's wallet to pay for my Office Depot school supplies.  I don't even want to think about what those employees were saying after I left the store.


Example #2
Receiving my Costco coupons in the mail is one of my highlights during the month.  After reviewing the most recent coupon book, we decided to hit up Costco yesterday.  I was extremely over due for an eye exam, so I gave KK the coupon book with instructions to load up on the most important coupon items.  When my eye exam finished, I met KK and T Bear at the front of the store to check out.  I handed the cashier my coupons and with a stone cold face she said,"Coupons don't start until Thursday."


What! We only had coupon items (and a lot of them)!  We had to ask her to put all our items away and we walked out of Costco empty handed.  It was terribly embarrassing.  


I AM LOSING MY MIND!  To make myself feel better, I will blame it on pregnancy and try to avoid unnecessary retail shopping trips.  


-Miss T

Monday, August 16, 2010

Theme songs for Life.


Hey Love-Shack Lady,

Do you ever walk out you front door and get a quick aerial view of your life at that moment and hear a song playing? The song that is the theme of your day, week, month or year?

I distinctly remember walking out of Heritage Halls my freshman year at BYU, feeling the crispness of the air at 7:50 in the morning, seeing my breath puff out of my mouth and fogging up my glasses a little, and looking around to see if anyone could hear "California Dreamin'" playing, because I sure could. The song starts with "All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray. I've been for a walk, on a winter's day. I'd be safe and warm if I was in LA. " It's not that I love California, and always dream of that. In fact, I never really dream of it, unless it is to go to Disneyland, but in that moment, and for that whole month, and for the whole semester, that was the theme song for my life. The beat, the tempo, the idea of being cold and stopping in a church to pray. California dreaming represented other dreams. Dreams and hopes for my future that would push me to work hard, give all I had, and believe that it would get me somewhere that I really wanted to be. I wish there had been cameras there on that day, to record me walking, because I know that my steps were in sync (not n'sync) with the music, my hair had to have looked great in the wind, and I was just the perfect image of a college girl walking to early morning class. Can you picture it? But more importantly, can you hear it?

This moment in time when a song plays in your mind, and it's as if your life were a movie, it's a magical moment. If viewers were watching you in that moment, what would be the song playing along? The exciting thing is that just like the movies, the songs change. For example, when I think of a theme song for you and Big D, it depends on what you are doing. After a day of keeping T-Bear happy and mischief-free, teaching stroller strides even when you are pregnant, successfully shopping and getting good bargains, and coming up with a good dessert for the day, then I hear "Amazed" by Lonestar, because Big D can really be amazed at how you pull off some awesome things. But if it's after dinner on a hot day, and all Big D can do is make silly comments and obvious statements that are on the verge, if not completely there, of obnoxiousness, then I think a more accurate song would be "Get Out of My Car" by Cary Judd, though of course it's not real that you want Big D out of your car and life. Along another vein of things, a fitting theme song for Seattle's weather the past few days is the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," as I have not ever seen so much sun (nor felt so much warmth) here in Seattle before. When I see T-Bear running over to dump some toys, and after the tremendous crash of it all, run to dump another bin, I hear the song "Walk this Way" by Aerosmith, as if T-Bear were just going crazy to get us to walk his way and love his toy dumping phase. When I see you teaching Stroller Strides, "No Limit" plays in my mind from Jock Jams. Oh yes. I said it. Jock Jams. But the theme song for you and your life will always be "Love Shack" by the B-52's because, nobody can dance like you can to that song. That song is your song.

It's a fun activity to match songs up with life episodes, wouldn't you say? Think on it. What song ran through you mind the last time you were sitting in traffic? Eating an ice cream cone? Walking along the beach? Buying groceries? Sitting at your computer 10 minutes longer than planned because you chose to read this blog? Why don't you try it, and let me know where you end up.

From California-Dreamin' Lady

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Am I really old-fashioned?

Youthful KK -


Am I really old-fashioned?


Last Saturday I went into a maternity clothing store to get a dress for Jose's wedding. I asked the very young looking sales girl if they had any nylons. She looked at me slightly confused and said, "Umm.. we have tights."


I said "Ok, Do you have nylons?"


She said, "We have tights, I guess I don't know what nylons are."


I tried to not look at her like she was an idiot and said "Well tights are thicker than nylons and I am looking for nude nylons."


She said "Ok," and led me over to a different part of the store. She then showed me all of the tights and leggings they had for sale. I looked carefully to see if there were any nylons there, but there were not. So I told her again, "These are tights which are thicker than nylons, and leggings are thicker than tights, so it looks like you do NOT have any nylons for sale."


"I guess not," she said and walked back to the counter.


It didn't bother me so much that they did not have nylons. I really was astounded that this young girl did not even know what nylons are!!! Am I really old-fashioned?


-Your aging-quickly Miss T

Saturday, August 14, 2010

K is for Kayaking


Hi Still married and dating Miss T,

I know you were worried yesterday when I left to go kayaking. Could I forget so soon our dangerous circumstances on the water in the paddle boat? Was I really ready to risk my life again? Was this just another something stupid a boy could get a girl to do?

The answers to those questions in their proper order are: No. Yes. And, Maybe? I didn't forget our sinking paddle boat--eek that was scary! And yes, I was willing to take the risk, because 1. A kayak seems much more stable than a canoe, and 2. A kayak seems more controllable than a paddle boat. And maybe it was just another stupid thing a boy could get a girl to do, because I really have limited experience with kayaking, and poor luck with unmotorized-water-craft. Fortunately, in this case it turned out to be anything but stupid, despite the stupid things I may have done.

So, for your convenience and pleasure I've assemble a list of a few stupid things you can do, but still have a great time kayaking:

1. Ignore your guide's suggestion to bring a change of clothes because you will get wet.
2. Wear a pair of shoes that recently gave you a blister, so that when you walk carrying half of the heavy-duty inflatable canoe, your blister will re-rub painfully with every step you take.
3. Hold your paddles up-side down and paddle. As you paddle, notice that your strokes don't seem to propel you anywhere, but because someone is paddling behind you, you are still moving forward. Continue paddling as if there is no problem.
4. When your guide makes a suggestions that "the paddling might go better if you turn your paddles so the logo is right-side up," go ahead and flip them now, and splash the both of you while you are at it.
5. Now that your paddling actually helps a little, don't mention when your arms get tired. Just keep up an attitude of strength and endurance.
6. When asked if you want to go further, always say yes.
7. During one portion of the kayak trip, preferably when your arms are very tired, make the great suggestion that you want to see how much your strokes actually help. Then tell your kayak-buddy to stop paddling. When they stop, do all of the paddling yourself, slowly...ever so slowly, into the tree branches overhanging in the lake.
8. Try to steer from the front of the kayak (even though you know the steering is done from the back).
9. Don't wear a life-jacket. It makes you look hard-core if you casually ignore the simple way to protect against the dangerous waters with a personal flotation device.
10. At the end, when you may as well have gone swimming because your pants are soaked through, remember that you ignored your guide's suggestion to bring a change of dry clothes.

I may or may not know these ten stupid things from personal experience. But I did have a lovely time kayaking. I am delighted by the peace of being out on a lake on a sunshiny day. I adore the little houseboats that line the edge of Lake Union, and look as though Sleepless in Seattle was filmed as their neighbor. Was it filmed as their neighbor? I love the huge floaty orange and yellow Tipis that don't have anyone living in them (I poked with my paddle to be sure) that are probably floating out there to warn boats of something important.

Overall I recommend a kayak trip on Lake Union. In conclusion, I deduct that kayaks are more stable than canoes. Kayaks are more controllable (and buoyant?) than paddle boats. And you can do some stupid things, and still have a great time!

Love Dating-girl Kk.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Must Do Date!



Dating-Girl KK,


You have to get a boyfriend and come back to Seattle.  We went on an incredible date, that everyone must do.


Down on the Pier you can rent scooters for the day for relatively cheap.  We rented a scooter and hopped on a ferry over to Bainbridge Island.  Once off the ferry we pulled over in the heart of Winslow, a charming town.  We asked a local guy where we should eat and what we should see on the island.  After some recommendations and some sketchy directions, we took off.  


We ate lunch at the Public House Bar & Grill.  I am salivating just thinking about the lunch again.  Big D had the best fish & chips on the island, while I enjoyed a grilled salmon sandwich & chips.  We sat outside on the deck overlooking the harbor and boats.  


Then we tried to remember and follow the local's directions to Bay Hay & Feed to find some "popular" sweatshirts.  We took a very scenic route, but we found the place.  Inside this small shop, we found sweatshirts, that I could not believe were popular, they were so dull.  I did find an adorable brown hoodie with tractors on in for T Bear.


Then is was time to scoot around the island.  We drove up and down the beautiful roads of Bainbridge.  The wind blowing through my hair and Big D driving with my arms wrapped around him made it so romantic and fun.  We drove along the water and dreamed of the day we would own a big beach house on the island.  


That day may never come, but I am always up for a repeat date.  Especially since we ended the date with ice cream from Mora's.  Beyond delicious!!!!  


This is a fall-in-love date or a fall-in-love-all-over-again date!


With love,


-Still married and dating, Miss T

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A Spoonful of Sugar?


Miss T-

Do you know any good--and when I say good I don't necessarily mean perfectly-and-scientifically-proved-to-be-effective, but possibly folk-lore-ish or wives'-tale-ish--remedies for the hiccups?

The other day I was babysitting. I got the hiccups. The little girl looked at me and said, "Why did you do that? That noise?"

Have you ever been queried about the why of your hiccup? I thought to myself, "Now why did I do that?" Hiccups have always been so puzzling, even when people try to explain it away as some spasm of the epiglottis. I couldn't give her much of a good reason other than "I guess my throat feels like laughing but it can't catch it's breath."

Fortunately these little hiccups were not the loud, uncontrollable, horrendously embarrassing, and to top it off painful hiccups. These were just the little ticklish ones that pop out without much rhythm. After a few tickle hiccups, they stopped. The girl said, "Oh! I guess you're all out of hiccups now." I guess I was.

But I remember a day when I was not all out of hiccups. In fact it was many a day full of hiccups. Tenth grade, 2nd period, Mr. Melby's Algebra II class. Daily, daily, DAILY, we're talking every day, I got the hiccups. It was so odd. The first few days when it happened, I timidly raised my hand, with my other hand covering my mouth in case an embarrassingly loud hiccup tried to escape, and begged to go to the drinking fountain. My only known method of trying to "run out" of hiccups was to get a drink of water, flip my head upside down, and try swallowing in that manner. Mr. Melby kindly let me each time. But when it happened day after day after day, we finally arrived at the point when, at the first sounding of hiccup he would motion with his arm, without looking away from the whiteboard, and mumble "Away you go Miss Cutler." Out of the room I would bolt, trying to get all those hiccups out of me. I tried and tried that drinking upside-down remedy. Many days it seemed to work. And on the days when it didn't, my desire to believe that it truly was the cure led me to drink and flip and drink and flip for upwards of three whole minutes. I would walk to back to class really slowly, making sure that no sneak attack hiccups jumped out. What a silly episode for a 16 year old to deal with in a peer pressure filled institution known as high school.

It's safe to say I no longer have a routine batch of hiccups. Guess I'm finally all out?

I do still get the hiccups upon occassion, and I was just wondering. Does anyone have any other good remedies? Have you heard tell that Mary Poppins' spoonful of sugar doesn't only help medicine go down, but also the hiccups? Let me know. I'm itchingly curious. What if this episodic routine of hiccups is something that comes back every ten years? I've got to get some new remedies to try, just in case.

-Love your hiccuping sister.

Monday, August 9, 2010

What Do You Do?

Miss Lover of Books - 


"What do you do with a Kangaroo who jumps in your window, sits on your bed, and says, 'I never sleep on wrinkled sheets, so change them now and make them smooth, and fluff up the pillow if you please.'


What do you do?


You throw him out, that's what you do, 'Get out of my bed, you Kangaroo!!'"


This is one of my favorite childhood books and probably explains where I get some of my sass.  But now my question is: 


What do you do with a 2 year old who is obsessed with a Thomas DVD that he has already watched 3 times and can not be distracted or bribed with anything else and is driving you nuts?


What do you do?


Well, I can not throw him out, although it crossed my mind.  I almost threw out the DVD after the 2nd time watching.  


Instead you make him a job chart, that's what you do.


And so T Bear experienced his first job chart.  As he would start one of his jobs he would get distracted and start to play.  After a few minutes, he would remember the DVD and come running saying "I want my jobs! I want my jobs!"


It took us two hours, but his jobs got done and I felt somewhat better letting him watch the Thomas DVD for the 4th time that day.


I figure 2 years old might be a little early for a job chart, but it is better than just throwing him out!


-Sassy book lover Miss T



Friday, August 6, 2010

Musing on Love Part I

Hey Miss T-

I bet you would think this post would be about love and how it is (or should be) the center of all weddings, because I am away from Seattle for the purpose of a wedding. Actually, my musing on love doesn't have much to do with romantic love, though don't get me wrong I love romantic love, but this part I musing on love is actually just about a love between friends, a very human and pure love. It is also going to reveal one of my major insecurities, which you actually already know about.

My roommate Bert waited one hour for me at the airport, in her little car named Cedric-Stanley, ignoring the inquisitive and challenging stares of the security man all the while. As we drove home she told me a secret. It was obvious that she just couldn't keep the great news inside any longer. "I made pudding pops for when we get home!" PUDDING POPS! I LOVE PUDDING POPS! In the year 2006 I had an unnatural excitement and small obsession with introducing my freshman roommates to the greatness that is pudding pops, and they have forever been cherished as a priceless treat. This childhood snack of frozen pudding fuses happy childhood memories, with chocolate, and cold-treat-goodness. It's a tough act to beat, a pudding pop treat. Inside my heart was happy, outside my face was grinning, and my hands waved in tense little jerks of excitement until I channeled the energy into a solid fist pump. How did she know, that pudding pops were absolutely perfect for this occasion? How did she know it would thrill my soul so well?

Then we arrived at home, and once again she surprised me with a gift, my current favorite box of cereal: Raisin Bran Crunch! Who does that? Who gives a house-welcoming present to your guest staying for one night that made you pick her up at the airport at indecent hours of the night? She had also put clean sheets on the top of her bunk bed, and offered me some of her peanut M&M's. In every way she took care of me and gave me the most pleasant experience. Now my question to you is, why did she do this? The only logical answer I have is because she has the illogical emotion love, and in my case I'm lucky that she loves me as a sister.

DSC01874.JPG
So I muse about love. Because as I lay in my clean sheets that night I felt how undeserving of such kindness and generosity I was. I thought to myself, "Why does she love me?" and "What can I do to make sure she still loves me?" and "What if I do something wrong so that she doesn't love me anymore?" This is where my insecurity is revealed. I am afraid of losing people's love; I'm afraid of not deserving people's love; I feel like I want to pay back people who give me love; and I really hope I can live up to whatever reasons people may find in their hearts to love me. This is a rude insecurity that I have, because it makes me doubt the best in people. So I am working on it.

As I muse about love though, love muse part I, I am so impressed with how it has to do with the little details, and the little things that mean a lot. How hard was it to buy a box of Raisin Bran Crunch? Well it's certainly not the MCAT, but taking the time to get a cereal I like just so I can have it the one morning I wake up at her house, means a lot more to me than Bert's really good score on the MCAT (though I am really grateful and proud of her that she rocked that thing). Sitting at the airport and not being mad about it and still being excited to see me more than one half hour after the planned time, now that takes love.

And there is no better way to show someone you love them, then by making them a pudding pop (if they love pudding pops that is).

And so Miss T, I thank you for the little things you do for me too. Like making sure I get to the bread out-let store that is just to die for, and buying my favorite kind of bread with raisins in it (see a common food theme?), and making me a sandwich as I'm leaving because I forgot to do it myself. Thank you for giving me your love.

A sister should always be best at this kind of love, and you are.

Aunty KK
PS: Stay tuned for more musing on love, the romantic love kind, because with all these weddings I'm sure that will be coming along.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Role Reversal

Usually as the older sister, I boss around KK, or experiment on her, or even worse manipulate her. One of the long standing traditions in our relationship has been me dying KK's hair. I fake confidence that I totally know how to dye hair, and then convince KK to let me dye hers. It never turns out terrible, but there have been some scary moments.
Last night we had a role reversal. I let KK dye my hair! It was scary. We read and re-read directions over and over again. I told her to act like she knew what she was doing and just do it. It felt very weird to be the one wearing the dye.
What would motivate this role reversal? MY WHITE HAIRS!!! I was hoping to make it to the age of 30 years before I dyed my hair, but I can not take it anymore. I know my father looks handsome with a head full of white and silver hairs, but that gene on me does not look so classy. So I have succumbed and have started dying my hair.

Thankfully, KK did a great job. Now I can rest for a few weeks without having to pluck my white hairs every morning.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Not enough memory space.


Hey Miss T,

Do you ever find that you don’t have enough memory space? This could be in a variety of areas in your life. For example:

-Memory card on your camera
-Hard drive of your computer
-In your brain?

Well, I was having a hard time with my camera the other day because supposedly I had no memory space left. The little message flashed “MEMORY CARD FULL. NO MORE MEMORY SPACE” each time I turned my camera on. It’s a 2 gig memory stick. How could I not have space? Would 700 mission photos, 10 video clips, and 50 or so summer photos do the trick? Is that enough to take up 2 gigs? Maybe. Probably. Surely. So I decided to solve this issue by moving pictures onto my computer, and then deleting them from my card. Seems like a simple enough fix.

Not so.

While importing these 700 or so mission photos, the “no more space” message came up once again, but this time for my computer! Yikes bikes. That’s pretty bad news when it happens to the computer I think. I’ve no idea what to do when a computer is full. A computer is supposed to never end, and always fit just what you need, I thought. So I did what any good computer-dummy would do, I called my computer-genius twin Jose. “What do I do when I have no memory space?” I asked him. In patient tones he gave me some profound advice about my computer.

“Your computer has no memory space right now KK. And you trying to add to it, or to ask it to operate, is a really difficult demand. I mean, imagine trying to do something, but not being able to remember anything as you go.”

That would be hard. In fact, that is really hard. Have you ever tried to do it? Pretty much it’s those moments when you are so stuck in memories of the past and cannot move on, that the very events that are happening around you have no impact; you don’t remember them and they have no meaning. Or somehow you are stymied by these past memories because you can’t fit in new ones or better ones. We’re talking memories as old as those awkward days of middle school and you still remember who didn’t want you in their group for an English group project, or memories as fresh as what the check-out-stand-grocer-girl just said about your sticky, unruly child. It just feels like you can’t move on from that moment; there is no room for anything new. And until you do something about it, there really is no room.

Well I didn’t want my computer to have to deal with that. Computers shouldn’t have to deal with such emotional things. So I began to sort through my computer and found all kinds of silly and interesting things from my first few years of college. Things that made me think "What were we doing?" You know the kind.
Such as silly movies and pictures of my five roommates and me dancing around in our pajamas to Enrique Iglesias. I may or may not have giggled until I cried. I also found movies, pictures, reports, and essays that were a complete waste of anyone’s time, even considering the embarrassment value they held. I moved things to the “trash” on my MAC, and then I emptied the trash! Space became available to add pictures and memories that were actually worth keeping.

Ironically I was talking to my other brother, and he made a comment about how to not take offense to so many things (because sometimes I do that). He gave me the in-one-ear-and-out-the-other policy. In essence he was telling me to not let things of little or no value take up the memory space in my brain. What it does to me, is it makes me unable to function until space is created for things that are worth keeping.

Currently my computer is no longer bogged down with pointless memories and garbage (are you?). She has her other issues however because water is fatally bad for electronics, in case you haven’t yet heard. I’m happy to say however, that at least there is space for what matters most, and she can remember things as she goes. Sometimes a good clean out is just what we need.

Thanks for giving me lot's of good memories this summer.

-KK

Monday, August 2, 2010

Paddle Boat, Paddle Boat, Go so slow!

Here are some true statements:

Boys can convince girls to do stupid things.


KK & I do not have very good experiences on non-motorized boats, specifically a canoe incident on Bear Lake was the most treacherous.

Having stated those facts, here goes the story.  B-town was visiting us last weekend, so we took him along to our church water & boat party.  Our bishop has a house on Lake Washington.  His backyard is literally a dock.  The party was well attended and had great food and lots of fun activities.  At one point I suggested that Big D take T Bear out on the yellow paddle boat.  B-town and Big D decided they both would take T Bear for a ride.  As they lifted the paddle boat into the water, they somehow got a lot of water into the boat (in hindsight this should have been a HUGE warning!).  They had to scoop out all the water before they could get in.

As they were getting in, they somehow convinced KK and me to join them in the back of the paddle boat (re-read the first true statement).  So we climbed in the back of the paddle boat and put T Bear up in front between the boys.  The boys started pedaling the boat away from the dock.  Immediately KK and I became concerned because the waves were splashing water into the paddle boat.  The boys laughed and said it was fine.  T Bear was steering us in circles, and the boys kept pedaling.  I started yelling because more and more water was coming into the back of the boat.  The boys said they would shift their weight forward.  I told them no and that they needed to take us back to the dock immediately because the paddle boat was sinking.

Seriously, the paddle boat was sinking!  I started throwing a bigger fit and people on the dock started paying attention.  I heard them starting to say "Look at that paddle boat!"  Finally, Big D and B-town paddled us back to shore.  I jumped onto the dock so fast.  My dress and legs were soaking wet.  KK hopped out from her seat that was filled with water as well.  The boys were laughing, but I was not amused.

We sat on the dock watching the boys give T Bear another ride and commiserated about our boating mishaps.  We ended up laughing because it is ridiculous that we have such terrible luck on non-motorized boats.  And why do we let boys talk us into doing stupid things?  I have a feeling we are not alone with that one.