Thursday Night Date with Alex and Jake

Months ago I purchased tickets to the Brian Regan comedy show. Because Rod's in Atlanta this week, Alex invited one of his best friends, Jake, to the show. Feeding the boys before the show was also a good idea. We went to the Garden Restaurant in Salt Lake City and enjoyed our dinner there.


Alex and Jake ordered steaks and when the food was brought to them, Alex's steak wasn't as big as Jake's....hence the thumbs up from Jake and a sad face from Alex. Those two boys are so funny together.

After dinner and dessert, we quickly walked to the Abravanel Hall in great anticipation of Brian Regan. First he had a warm-up guy start the show. He was pretty funny and told some funny jokes.


Alex and Jake waaaaayyyyyy up on the balcony.


Jake and Alex are ready for the show. I had my tissues in my hand. I went through 3 tissues wiping my eyes from all the laughing tears. Such a funny show.

Brian Regan in action. He received a standing ovation and came back and took a request from the audience and then finished the show with the "Science Project" and the "Spelling Bee".

We laughed all the way home remembering the funny jokes he told. Can't wait to hear this CD from tonight's show.

Take Luck!

Thousands of Stations to Watch, and Still Nothing

I was sick in bed for the last 4 days. I'm convinced that I got sick at the gym on Saturday because that's when the burning of the lungs started. By the time I was home, I was freezing and I could feel the fever rising. In other words, exercise makes you sick, or in my case, exercise makes me sick.

On Sunday we were all sick, including Rod, who is never sick. Monday came, and Rod went to work, and Alex, now on antibiotics went to school. I was left behind, miserable. A remote in hand I started scanning the thousands of TV stations that were available to me, but nothing was interesting to me until I found this:


BOLLYWOOD WORKOUT!!! Incredible find. I watched the whole 1/2 hour. I couldn't try it out because I felt so sick and was light-headed.

And THIS!


BELLY DANCING!! Still light-headed but I watched another 1/2 hour of this.

Then I found Gilad, the dude in tights from the 80s. I couldn't watch it except his buns of steel.

Screw workouts. It was time for Matlock who always comes to my rescue.

I returned to work today because I couldn't take it anymore. Still under the weather but feeling 100% better.

I Looked out the Window and what did I see...

It wasn't popcorn for sure. 8 inches of snow fell yesterday and last night.

So much snow on our Chinese Maple.

Our Chinese Maple just outside of our living room window.

Our park is ready for kids to come sledding.

On the way to work, everything is covered with lots and lots of snow.

Trees are so heavy with wet snow that they can't hold it anymore.

Need I point out where Rod is this week? Yes, Mesquite, NV...golfing. Me? Bitter? Nah.

Hope he is having a really great time.

Ok, I'll go outside and shovel some snow now.

Alex received his Life

Last night Alex received his Life Scout at Court of Honor. Spencer Dollahite was honored with an Eagle Scout. Now Alex can start working on his Eagle. Way to go and good luck, Alex.

Sterling Fenwick presenting Alex his Life Scout and Citizenship in the Nation merit badge.

We are so Cultured, We are Turning into Yogurt

Last night we went to listen and tap our feet to the tunes of BYU's Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band. For Alex this was another 2 hours of his "out of class hours" for the art class, and also to see Jordan Rose's various facial expressions when he played the drums. For me, it was a time to enjoy the fine music of New Orleans jazz. What amazing talents these young musicians were, and the 88-year old pianist, Bob Bailey (with the longest fingers you have ever seen), who used to be a pianist for Dean Martin show in the 70s. Shannon Roberts (not a woman) from Woods Cross was able to play all of the instruments on the stage. Just incredible treat for the audience.


Alex before the show started.


Can you hear the tunes?

Yet Another Play/Musical to See

Monday night took Alex, Elle and me to the Hale Center Theater to see "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", the musical. Earlier in the day I had asked Alex to watch the movie so he would have some idea what the musical was about. He almost got to the end of the movie when we had to leave. So he didn't get to see the ending. The musical was one of the best musicals I've seen. It was hilarious and the whole audience, including Alex and Elle were constantly laughing. They really loved it. The best part was the end when Alex and Elle realized who was who. It was priceless.

Tuesday night we will have a special treat when we get to go listen to Dixieland Band at BYU with Jordan Rose (Carsen's cousin) at the drums. We are super excited.


Alex and Elle before the musical started. How I love these two special people. We are so blessed that Alex and Elle are the best of friends, the bond that lasts a life time.


I'm laughing already even though the musical hadn't even started. Such a funny story line.


Elle giving her best drama look.

Alex is laughing because he remembers the movie and how funny it was. Great expectation for the musical.

Florida Sun in Utah

My cousin Tommi and his girlfriend, Cindy and their kids visited us this past weekend. They got here on Thursday and immediately headed to the hills to ski/snowboard. It was so fun to have them here again. They bring a little bit of sunshine every time they visit us.

Tom's birthday was on Saturday, and as our tradition dictates, he received breakfast in bed and gifts and cards. I hope he felt loved.


"The Carpet man" eating his breakfast in bed on Saturday morning.


After breakfast on Saturday, we went to ski at Deer Valley. Here Alex and Rod are saying good-bye to me so they can go ski the black diamonds and I can go to the green route of "easier". I ended up skiing alone for the rest of the morning until lunch time. I had a great time.


Alone...even on the ski lift.

We met Tom's family for lunch at the Silver Lake Lodge. It was nice to rest and get energy for the second half of the day. Here is Cindy, Tom and Cindy's son, Christian. And yes, Tom's Bearnaise sauce...don't ask.

Rod and Alex enjoying their carrot cake. I had a $16 salad.

Me and Rod at the end of our lunch. No, I couldn't take my hat off because you didn't want to see what was under it. Embarrassing!

CIndy's son, Christian and Tom's son, Franz finishing lunch. Franz is headed to a fireman school on Wednesday. We wish him all the luck. Christian is about to graduate from high school this year so we wish him good luck as well. He is a true genius who is going to be a doctor one day.

Alex and Collin (Kalle) at lunch. They had such a great time.

Cindy and Tom. I hope to welcome Cindy to our family one day.

The whole gang on top of the Flagstaff Mountain after lunch.

From left: Rod, Franz, Cindy and Tom, Alex, Collin and Christian.

All of the same people except I replaced Rod in the picture. Can't really tell who's who.

On Saturday night after a fun birthday dinner at Sundance (thanks Tom!) we came home and had some birthday cake. Here Tom is making a wish.

Cindy and Tom.

I wonder what Tom is wishing? Maybe wishing that the cake is good.

Thanks for a great visit! We loved having you. We will see you in Florida in May. Can't wait.

"Embrace the Suck"

"Embrace the suck" is what I learned today after my visit to the torture chamber or as what I call the basement of my beloved personal trainer, Lisa.

After a long contemplation and introspection about 4 weeks ago, and a notice from Rod that we would be going on a cruise in May, I took a hard look at myself and decided that this fat body is not going to be squeezed into a swimsuit (or bikini, as I wish to wear during the cruise) any time soon. My body screamed immediate action. I noticed that my major problem areas were neatly packaged below my nose. Everything had to be shaped and pulled into some sort of non-flabby existence. STAT! Luckily I had almost 4 months to do this. But the question was, did I have enough willpower to do it? My 46 years of history of using my non-existent willpower told me, NO, it can't be done. It is impossible. I'm doomed to be fat and lazy.

And then, I found Lisa. My personal body shaper savior. I arranged a meeting with her, and she was exactly what I was hoping for...except that she lives in Saratoga Springs, about 1/2 hour from my office.

My first meeting was about how many calories I can eat a day, what to eat, what NOT to eat, how to exercise, how often and what my results might entail at the end.

I learned that I can have a piece of cake in May. I learned that I can eat 5 times a day, 300 calories per meal. I CAN EAT EVERY 2 HOURS! Those were the sweetest news I could have received!

Then came the harsh reality of exercise. The horrible, horrible words, that in fact, I would have to exercise to lose weight. So, I started to work this fact in my mind. Not an easy task I must say. For 46 years I have hated any kind of exercise with ultimate passion. If somebody asks me what I'm passionate about, I can truly say that I'm so passionate about not exercising.

A shift in the universe was coming. I felt it.

But now, after 4 weeks of exercising and happily eating, I feel so much better about myself. Mind you, I haven't had sugar for 4 weeks, which means, I haven't had one headache the whole time. Not one.

I feel my butt is not dragging the floor anymore, I think it is more like hitting my ankles now. I love eating and still hate exercise. But like I learned today, I have to learn to embrace the suck. There is no other way. And get over myself. Oh, and did I mention that I want to lose 20-30 lbs by May 14th? I have already lost 8 lbs. Yay ME!

I promise, I will post a picture of me in a bikini during our cruise. Just wait for it.

The exercise ball-my nemesis that awaits me in the corner of my bedroom, beckoning me to use it. So far, I glance at it with great disgust. I'm sure that by ignoring it, the ball will roll away, deflated and defeated. I'm still waiting...

Got Hit by Toilet Paper

This past weekend was a fun one, once again. Our date on Friday night was a movie night. We went to see "Valentine's Day". There is a part in the movie when Eric Dane runs on the beach and all the women in the audience just gasped for air. Then later you can hear all the same women booing the same guy.

Alex had a church basketball game on Saturday morning, which they lost by a couple of points. It was a good game but it was hard to play against 17 year olds when our team consisted of 12-14 year olds.

After the game we went to the BYU-Air Force game, which BYU won by like 40 points. We saw our old friends, Terry and Dixie Johnson, who used to live in Las Cruces. It was nice to catch up on their news.

After the BYU game we went to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians; The Lightning Thief" and that was a good movie too. I felt movied out at this point.

Then we returned home and found this:


Ride of Passage for Alex. You haven't truly arrived at your teenage years if you haven't been TP:d.

On Monday, I decided to stay home, after all it was a day off celebrating the President's Day. To celebrate, I washed laundry ALL day. Rod and Alex celebrated the day by going skiing at the Canyons.

Middle-Aged Ambassadors

Our experience last night started with the words to Alex "culture is wasted on the youth" when he was sitting in his seat and looking extremely bored at the DeJong concert hall as we attended Young Ambassadors' 40th anniversary concert "The New Music Makers". I think he was relating last Friday's experience at The Living Legends as the most boring thing in the world. Surprisingly for Rod it wasn't the most boring thing in the world but according to him, it was on the list. Alright. Sorry guys for expanding your horizons in the world of culture and refinement! Back to last night...Last time I saw YAs was in the early 80s in the Finlandia-talo in Helsinki. They were still as good last night as 30 years ago. WHAT!!! 30 YEARS AGO. Oh boy.

Last night they had the alumni return and perform with the current cast. It was fun to see a couple of pregnant or extremely pregnant women sing and dance on the stage mingled with occasional heavy set men. What great memories all of those performers must have had.

Over the years, there have been many performers who have gone to Broadway or other performing groups all over the country. A few were able to join the group last night and performed to the audience's delight. One particular moment in time was when Dallyn Bayles sang "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables. I don't think there was one dry eye in the audience (well maybe Alex). While I was drying my own eyes, I heard sniffling right next to me (yes, Rod) and all around me. I could have listened to him for hours. Such a powerful performance. Another one was by James Conlee who sang The Prayer (made famous by Andrea Bocelli). So beautiful.

It was a great night and I could hear Rod still singing those songs from last night as he prepared to go to work this morning.

Next up: Alex Boye on February 20th.

For Alex this was another 3-hour "out-of class hours" booking for his art class. Although he said he enjoyed the performance. Liar, liar, pants on fire!