Here are my boys - Gary and Mikey - hot-doggin' on 4-WHEEee!-lers in the snow on the road to the Kennecott Copper Mine overlook, up Butterfield Canyon on May 31, 2009. In the middle of the patch, down to the right is a down-right SCARY crevasse in the road that spelled certain doom to the 2 female riders (Lynnell and Allyson), who preferred to trust in their original God-given mode of transportaion and walk across the mooshy patch of ice that skirted the crevasse.

Spring!

When I was little, my Aunt Tootie sent me a book (I still have it) called The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown.

When I grew up and had kids, I discovered a Little Golden Book by the same author called Home for a Bunny.

It quickly became a favorite of my children, one I read to them more times than I could count. (I know this, because after 28 years, I can still tell it verbatim, in a sing-song voice).


Here are the words, in all their glory:

Home for a Bunny

Spring! Spring! Spring! Sang the robin.

Spring! Sang the frog.

Spring! Sang the groundhog.

It was Spring.

The leaves burst out, the flowers burst out,

and robins burst out of their eggs.

It was Spring.

In the Spring a bunny came down the road.

He was going to find a home of his own.

A home for a bunny, a home of his own, where would a bunny find a home?

Down the road and down the road and

down the road he went until

He met a robin.

Where is your home? He asked the robin.

Here, sang the robin, here in this nest is my home.

Here, here, here sang the little robins, here is our home.

Not for me, said the bunny. I would fall out of a nest. I would fall on the ground.

So the bunny went on looking for a home.

Where is your home? He asked the frog.

Wog, wog, wog, sang the frog. Here is my home, down in the water, down under the bog.

Not for me said the bunny, down in the water I would drown in a bog.

So the bunny went on looking for a home.

Where is your home? He asked the groundhog.

Here, said the groundhog, here in this log is my home.

Can I come in? asked the bunny.

No, you can’t come in my log, said the groundhog.

So the bunny went on looking for a home.

A home for a bunny, a home of his own, where would a bunny find a home?

Down the road and down the road and down the road he went until

He met a bunny.

Where is your home? He asked the bunny.

Here, said the bunny, under this rock, under this stone, down under the ground.

Here is my home.

Can I come in? asked the bunny.

Yes, said the bunny.

So he did, and that was his home.

However, I have discovered, since living in Copperton, that the surest sign of Spring is not a sweet little bunny out looking for a new home...

It is the left-behind evidence that deer invade my yard at night, munching down and destroying every sprouting tulip in sight. Some are even ripped out of the ground, half-eaten and left for me to find the next morning.

It is almost as if they are saying,

"Ninny-ninny-poo-poo, I ate your tulips! I double dare you to plant tomatoes, 'cause I'll eat them too!"

So, Happy Spring, Spring, Spring! to all of you, and may the deer forget that your yard exists.

:( No camera ):

Alas, it is the little things that bug me the most about the recent theft. My hand made magnetic ID badge holder. My camera that I knew how to operate. My Palm Pilot. The dollar-gifts that I was taking to my grandchildren. The little bag of sweet baby things I was transporting for Sara.

I can make a new ID badge holder. I can buy a new camera (but it will take me a few weeks to learn how to use it). But I'm not going to get another Palm Pilot. I started adding up how much of my money Palm has gotten over the years, and it is well over $2500. So now I will only carry a "primitive" Palm Pilot - a stack of sticky notes and a pencil. It is true that I'll no longer have OODLES of info at the touch of a stylus. But I have to admit to myself that the sticky notes weigh less. They serve basically the same purpose. They don't break when I drop them. They don't need to be recharged every night. And I won't cry if someone steals them.

I feel bad about the hand made rebozo I was taking to my daughter. I spent hours knotting the fringe on that. I miss my insulated pink lunch box. I wish the creep hadn't taken my coolest reuseable shopping tote. I am still picking glass shards out of my seat. My passenger door is non-functional waiting for my sweet hubby to put it back together after reinstalling the window. Ryn got stuck in the car for about a minute the other day because I forgot to let her out.

I don't feel safe parking my car in any parking lot but especially not at the fitness center. Momentary panic flashes through my heart when I walk out and don't immediately see my car where I think I parked it.

I'll get over it. I hope I don't become complacent. I hope I am able to prioritize and figure out what truly has the most value in my life. I am grateful we weren't injured and grateful to have my family still near me.

Bad Start to a Great Day

March 9th. 03/09/09. Today started out bad:
1. Daylight savings is in full swing. I went swimmin' wit' da wimmin and left the house at 0530. (That's 0430 to you sun-soaked Arizonans who don't practice the Holy Spring Forward Out of Bed Ritual on the 2nd Sunday of March every year.)
2. The day was gray, (or shall I say "Grey"?) even at 0530 - to the point that as we crested the rise coming down the hill from Copperton toward Salt Lake, the valley lights could not be seen splayed out before us - not even a faint glow.
3. I was late, so I'd grabbed a can of chicken and a can of soup and thrown it in my lunch box. (That turned out ironically funny later.)
4. I'd also grabbed my bag of dry clothes to change into, my favorite grocery tote with a brand new NCLEX study guide for a friend at work, and a little gift bag filled with gifts of love from a sister-in-law, a hand made rebozo, and a few dollar-gifts for my grandchildren. (Bummer here.)
5. I realized half way to the pool that I'd forgotten my cell phone. (That turned out good later.) But my Palm Pilot was merrily alarming me that I was late. (That was bad.)
6. The water was warm but the pool room was cold, and the showers were even colder. (Brrr - it started the shivering that didn't quit 'til hours later.)
7. We made it out of the locker room in good time - no rush to get to work. My push-button key actually worked to unlock my car from several paces away. (A lot of good it did to lock the car.)
8. Looking in the window, I saw there was glass all over the seat. As I stood staring uncomprehendingly at the mess, Ryn made me aware that it was because her window was broken out.
9. And my purse was not there.

10. Did I mention it was snowing?

Well, after a 911 call and lots of other frantic calls (on Ryn's cell phone) to cancel credit cards and to call in late for work and to call for a warm ride to get Ryn to work, Gary and I went back to survey the damage.

That's when I realized they'd gotten my lunch box, my favorite shopping tote with the textbook, and the gift sack full of goodies. (Hope they enjoyed my lunch!) BUT THEY DIDN'T GET RYN'S PURSE! Ninny-ninny-poo-poo!

We are counting it as a blessing because it was also in the back seat with the other items tucked under her lunch which was packed in a junkie used grocery bag. As you can see from the first picture, they rifled through the garbage sack in the front seat, so maybe they figured it was just another load of garbage.

Look on the bright side - Gary and I got to spend an extra day together (I called in sick for the whole day - still shivering uncontrollably) and we got all the banks and checks and credit cards and replacement driver's license stuff all done, ate out twice and went to a movie (don't bother going to see Watchmen.)

And finally, the day ended very happily. I'll let your imaginations run wild. I am blessed. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you a very happy, happy March 9th!

I'm Wired! Check out my new blog

I have a new blog to show off (and market) my wire creations.
Check it out at

http//www.lynnell-fulkerson.blogspot.com/

Will it be an office or a bedroom?
As Ryn and I plan toward taking our jobs home next Fall, we have settled on my spare (guest) bedroom as the best spot for both of us. The compromise with this is that she will have to house any and all company that comes to Copperton for a visit. The reason is HIPAA. The health insurance portability and accountability act. Let me tell you straight up front, that I never knew HIPAA until I started working for a health insurance company. Yeah, I worked for years as a nurse, and yeah, I've been to the doctor's office and the pharmacy and signed their little statements, but that is nothing compared to the rigamarole involved in protecting personal health information when you work for an insurance company. So anyway, the bedroom can't be a bedroom anymore if it is going to be an office. I gotta get rid of my hide-a-bed couch - maybe take it to the living room and get rid of the piece of second hand store junk in there :) That would also mean redecorating the living room :))

So I spent an hour on Saturday looking at computer desk options at IKEA. This is the one I liked the most - It is two sorta rounded desks bumped up together. There were also a couple of corner cabinet desks that were very roomy. Maybe if those were lockable it could still be a bedroom in the off hours.

So what do you think?

The Other Blue Box

Since I was the only one on the Get Ready for Summer blog who was not losing weight, I decided to counterattack: Send chocolate to the enemy.

http://theotherbluebox.com/products.html

Check out this site for the world's best fudge and other delicious chocolatized delicacies. I know the owner personally - she's Copperton's best known chef. Her remodeled house could easily show up on the pages of Better Homes and Gardens, her kitchen is certified spotless by the health department, her family is sweet and precious, and she herself is the picture of Barbie-doll loveliness. When I grow up, I wanna be like her. And the guys in town are all secretly jealous of her husband because (to quote Gary) "He rides a motorcycle to work and flies helicopters all day, poor guy." Actually he is one of Copperton's military heroes after serving honorably and returning to our community unharmed. Now anytime a helicopter buzzes town, we just figure he's saying hi to his girls.

Really now, check out that site. Eat up. Happy Valentines Day.

Paint chips and painted walls

When I was young, mom would repaint the house every few years. It seemed she always picked a color that was actually white and just pretended to be another color. Like pinkish white or greenish white. You could hardly tell where you had been painting because whitish strokes on top of whitish walls still looked white.

Well, I thought I was choosing a very mild yellow for my bathroom. I was planning to paint the entire room yellow then add in some pink, violet and green accents. My 80 year old bathtub is that same color pink and I need to work around it since I am not quite ready to rip it out and completely remodel the bathroom.

Good grief! As you can see, the bathroom is now Neon Yield Sign yellow! The really funny thing is that it matches the paint chip exactly.

I am beginning to see why mom always chose white with the barest hint of color. I guess I am a color chicken, 'cause I just went to WalMart and bought a can of antique white. Tomorrow after work, I'll cover up the loud yellow. Might take several coats. Then maybe I will use a kitchen scratcher pad lightly dipped in paint to add in some mild accents of pink, lilac and green. And maybe some yellow.

6th Annual Copperton Chili Cook-off

Well, the long-awaited event is over. Last year I slaved over my stove and crock pot for hours, and spent a bundle on all the ingredients. For years, I've had a "secret" ingredient for chili - cocoa powder. It is a truly authentic Mexican chili ingredient. I didn't win last year. Well, I decided several months ago what "recipe" I was going to cook up for this year's event: Wendy's chili. Yep. Wendy's as in the fast food chain. It took 7 large chili tubs to fill my crock pot. (Cost: about $16.) I nuked the tubs for a minute to heat 'em up before I dumped 'em in, then I put the lid on and packed it up and headed out for the Cook-off. I didn't win, but my crock-pot was empty and I had none to bring home. And Ellen Johnson, the fudge-queen of Copperton, used my secret ingredient in her chili this year, and she DID win. Go figure. Ellen is one of those people with a talent for all things chocolate. She has a fudge-making home business that is going national. The Lion's Club this last year hired her to make 600 lbs of fudge at Christmas, which they distributed to all Copperton homes. It was yummy.
While I am on the subject of chili, I have a family history story to tell. Once, back in Canyon, Texas, the little branch we were in held a social gathering. Granjo brought chili and everyone raved about it. Someone asked her for the recipe, and I can still hear her tell it: (think of her sweet Texas drawl as you read this) "Oh, gosh, take 2 cans Wolf Brand chili, put it on the stove to heat. Burn it nice and black on the bottom, then scrape out what you can into a clean pot and serve it up hot."
Maybe I'll enter her recipe next year.

So proud to be an American

I watched my big brother retire from the USAF yesterday. He honorably served our country for 30 years and 2 days. :) He was a Chief Master Sergeant in Civil Engineering, with his last post at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. <<<*))))) Woo! Look at all those stripes and ribbons! Look at all that hair! (JK) Karen did the cool stripes decorations for the cake to represent his "journey" up through the ranks. I am proud of my big bro, and so proud to be an American.

Exurechy berstiod
These are "words" to provide verification that you are not a sciving computer trying to illegally post on a blog.
I think these cool words deserve a definition. They bring to my mind a very specific thing. Tell me what definition you come up with, and I will tell you mine. Happy wordsmithing.
I learned a new Spanish word this week: cremallera (pronounced cray-ma-yair-a). Any guesses on this one?

Do I have to put it away???

My Christmas deco is still up. Admittedly, I didn't put it up until about December 23rd, and I didn't put up much, but there it still hangs on my wall. The big problem is that there are candy canes. Heaven forbid I should toss them. What a waste of a good 99 cents! Heaven forbid I should eat them. What a waist of 4,500 calories! Papa Lee (Granjo's daddy) used to eat peppermint with apples and cheddar cheese, if I remember right. I guess I could take them to work and sneak them into the kitchen where they would be eaten by someone else. I certainly can't pack them away for next year as I have a mouse in the house and an old man kitty who is falling down on the job. I could also simply wait and do nothing, and eventually my friend who cleans my house will take them all down and pack them away. That's what she did last year. And for Halloween, too. Call me lazy, but there are thousands of things I'd rather do than clean house or put away Christmas.

Surprise! I actually posted something new!

Happy New Year to all!

I still enjoy my new job at Aetna, and better yet, RynTinTin just took a job there, so we can carpool and exercise in the mornings together at Curves.

Papa just got the 2 snow-mobiles running, and since the weather has generously dowsed us with plenty of the white slippery cold stuff, we'll be off sledding on our next day off.

Check out the mega-icicles chez-moi. All in all, Utah winters are pretty to look at but not so delightful to live in. Go on and rub it in - Arizona was 78 degrees on Christmas Day.

We spent Christmas Eve with Lollipop and her Fam; she made clam chowder from scratch for dinner. RonnieRae and SweetChari-oh got princess capes and spent their evening twirling. The CivilWarPres got a BYU blankie. We had Christmas Day dinner at RynTinTin and the Highland Laddie's house - steaks and roast potatoes! Yum!

Here is the family picture I promised for Christmas. We took this on a 4-Wheeling trip up South Willow Canyon West of Tooele in September.

Hey, Princess SaraBoo, how do you make your pictures stay put? Mine just seem to clump at the top.

Hey, Lollipop, how about posting your recipe for clam chowder?

I made cranberry coleslaw (non-fat, lo sodium, no sugar) for a holiday party. Everybody liked it. I used my food processor to chop 1/2 head of cabbage (I used green but purple would be pretty) and about 1/2 C cranberries (not enough) and about 8 baby carrots (too many). I sprinkled the salad with lemon juice and about 5 packets of sweetener (fresh-squeezed limes woulda been nice). The dressing was 1 C non-fat plain yogurt and about 1/4 tsp lemon extract and 5 packets of sweetener. I gave it a dash of salt substitute and served it on the side. When I make coleslaw, pack the leftovers in 1 C containers and take it to work with me.

Tabouleh is also nice in the lunch box - It's yummy when made with chopped cranberries and green onions and fresh tomatoes and peperoncini slices and capers. Chopped apple or celery or cucumber or bell pepper, grated banana squash or carrots or zucchini are also yummy. The more lemon or lime juice I add, the less I crave salt. Cranberries freeze nicely in their original packages, and I use them through out the year. Try them in a nice 5-bean salad.