We be jammin'

Last Tuesday I wasn't feeling very well. I wasn't sure if it was allergies or a cold, but I needed some orange juice. Because there wasn't any at home, I stopped at Smith's to buy some.

ONLY ORANGE JUICE, NOTHING ELSE.

Then I ran into a friend who alerted me to the fact that the strawberries had been marked down to $1 a pound. OF COURSE this meant I had to buy 15 pounds of strawberries, and 15 pounds of sugar, and pectin, and karo syrup. I thought about buying jars, but thought that surely I had enough in my cupboard. Wrong, but we will come to that part later.

I came home and started cleaning strawberries and got three batches going. This was a bit complicated because I had to stir each one every five minutes and they were staggered, and my addled brain hurt trying to keep everything straight.

Did I put the lemon juice in that batch? Was that 3 cups of sugar or 4 cups that I just put in that bowl? (I haven't actually made any freezer jam for several years because we still had some each year.) Where are those cotton pickin jars that always seem to be taking up all the cupboard space, anyway? What is up with my blender and the fact that it wants the strawberries cut up so that it doesn't just become one big blob spinning around?

Well it was fun, let me tell ya.

And lickety split, I had all of my jars filled up. But alas my jars overfloweth with jam, and I was forced to return to the store for jars. Seriously? So I left in the middle of the assembly line and got more jars. Curses, I hate it when that happens.

In the end I made six batches and I still ran out of jars. Luckily I had some plastic containers to fill up. It also took more room in my freezer than I hoped it would. But it is good to have to throw old things out. Seriously, unless there was a famine, no one was going to eat those pork chops with freezer burn anyway. So it was a win/win situation.

Strawberry freezer jam is to die for, if I do say so myself. But you could probably put 2 cups of sugar with one cup of dirt and have it taste OK. Trent waked through the kitchen and was horrified and outraged at how much sugar I was using. Something about weight watchers or something. Killjoy.

If you have never made freezer jam, just follow the directions on the pectin. It is next to impossible to mess it up, so go ahead and try.

If anyone has any hot rolls or bread, come on over, I've got the jam.

Good news minute

Good news everyone, I have finally gotten professional help. I know you are all thinking of mental help, which I do definitely need, but this time it was professional cleaning help.

Once again life handed me a chance to eat my judgemental words, and boy were they tasty. I have somehow thought that it was a sign of inadequacy to have someone help clean your house. And I have looked down on others who have needed help. (quietly in my own head I assure you) Surely it is my job and not something I can pass of on others. Well I don't think I could be more wrong.

We all have different gifts for a reason. And so if my talent does not lie in cleaning my toilets, then so be it. Now that I am working more, I may as well share the wealth. Seriously I think this experience may be like getting a DVR. I don't know that I can ever go back.

On Friday, my new best friend came and cleaned my downstairs for 5 hours. She worked wonders with her mop and dusting rags. My house has never been cleaner. And I can not believe how happy this has made me. It is as if this huge burden has been lifted.

I am sure economic reasons come into play, but seriously, why have I waited this long. She cleaned out my fridge and it is a glorious thing to behold. She cleaned nooks and crannies I didn't even know existed. It is so amazing and bee-u-tiful.

So even though I did not share this good news minute in RS, I am happy to share it with all of you. All one of you who still read my blog. Your welcome.

My Amazing Race Last Wednesday

I stole this idea from someone else but the details are all mine baby. Someday when I am older and grayer, I will look back and see what kind of crazinesss I have survived. This will most likely not interest the average reader, but remember this is about me and not you, so I am not worrying about it.

6:00 am - Alarm goes off and I check to see that Jared is in the shower. Lay back down for a few minutes and then stumble downstairs to make his breakfast (bacon and eggs) and lunch (turkey sandwich) We are out of T.P, how is this possible. We could not even spare a square. Three bathrooms, nothing. Not good. No this will not do at all.

7:00 am - Drive Jared to school. Actually got dressed before driving so I could make an emergency run to Wal Mart. Grab the T.P. Sheesh good thing there wasn't an earthquake or anything. Also grab travel size toiletries for Trent since he was leaving on a jet plane for a college choir festival. After Wal Mart, I stopped at Sam's and got gas since I was almost on empty. Return home with T.P. - drip dry emergency averted.

7:30 am - Check in on Diana to get her started. Assist her in breakfast and finishing up her homework. It is twin day for Nevada reading week, so at least she knows what she wants to wear. Hurrying her along so she can get to school before I need to take Trent to the airport. She sure is cranky these days. I hate the mornings with her. I wonder to myself how I could help her to be more pleasant.

8:15 am - Drop Diana at school and sign her into safe key. Wish her a happy day and promise to be there to pick her up after drama at 4:00, but remind her that I have an appointment to get my teeth cleaned at 3:00, so she may need to go to safe key.

8:25 am - Jump in the shower and quickly get ready for the day. Lament over the fact that my wardrobe is lacking. One benefit of all the stress from the fall is that I have lost 10 pounds. I just don't have any clothes that fit.

9:00 am - Drive Trent to the airport. Talk him through how to get to security and how to get his boarding pass printed. I can't believe that he didn't print it at home. How did I not follow up better with him?

9:20 am - Deposit Trent at the airport with his suitcase and Tux garment bag. Head back home and decide to stop by Marshall's and see if I can find any new clothes. Nothing. No luck. Not even anything I want to try on. I did find a sweet letter organizer that I will hope do something for the mountain of important, can't be thrown away, stuff on my dining room table.

10:00 am - Since the drive to the airport caused me to miss institute, I go to scrap booking at a friends house. I used to go regularly, but I haven't been for at least 6 months, probably longer. I brought thank you notes I was working on for work. I need to hand write 150 cards to customers who visited the showroom in February. I don't even write my own Christmas cards, so this is a stretch for me. It was so fun to sit and write and listen to the others chatting. So nice to catch up with everyone a little bit. I miss having more free time to spend with friends.

12:45 pm - Drive to the post office and drop off the notes I completed for work. Next drive over to the high school where I needed to pick up an autistic young man in our ward and drive him to his after school program. His mom had knee surgery. A few minutes to spare, so I checked in with my boss to give her an update.

1:15 pm - Pick up Lindon and drive him to his program. It is a bit of a drive, but he is a nice young man. It is always good to give service.

1:50 pm - Drop Lindon off. Decide to stop at the mall since I have a little over an hour until my dentist appointment. I check out Macy's. Where are Stacy and Clinton when I need them? (Google What not to Wear, if you have never heard of Stacy and Clinton) I so have no idea what to get or what I even like. I could even afford to spend more than I usually do at Saver's, but I don't even see anything I like. I wonder around for a while but leave empty handed. Maybe if I could loose more weight. Yuck, I hate shopping for clothes.

2:50 pm - Arrive at the dentist, hoping they would take me early. No luck. I write more thank you notes while I wait. While chatting with the receptionist, I ask just how long has it been since I had my teeth cleaned. She checks the computer and tells me December 2008. Seriously? It has been over a year since I had my teeth cleaned? I suppose that shows how busy and preoccupied I have been this past year. Really not impressed.

We interrupt this post to bring you a message from Diana:

(Diana is the best child I have ever had. it's true signed Diana) (That last sentence was added compliments of Diana, she was hoping to hurry me along so I would get off the dang computer.)

My teeth cleaning was a bit painful as the tartar build up had taken on cement like qualities. And I had not had X-rays since June 2008. Time for that. Of course I had two cavities. Why not. They had a cancellation and so I was able to just stay after my cleaning and get the cavities fixed. A call to the school to have Diana go to safe key solved the deadline to pick her up. It was pretty painful to get numbed. The needle hit a nerve and I am still experiencing some pain 4 days later. Also it was at this point that I realized I hadn't eaten anything since the peanut butter cheerio treats at scrap booking that morning. Well and the chocolate chip cookie I had in the waiting room. Great sugar diet, huh?

5:00 pm - Numb all the way up to my ear, I left with my cavities fixed. Nice to get it all done in one trip. Made a quick stop by Payless to see if I could find some new shoes for work. Found some cute shoes on clearance for $9.00. Just my kind of deal. Received a call from one of Diana's friends asking if she could play. Paid for the shoes and rushed to the school to pick up Diana and take her to play at her friends. By now I have put 70 miles on the car that day. Kind of insane, considering most places I usually go to are within a two mile circle.

5:30 pm - Drop Diana at her friends, and run over to Fashion Bug to look for clothes. Three strikes and I am out of trying to buy clothes. I will just opt for a burlap sack, or maybe even garbage bags. Hey, it worked for Jay on Project Runway.

6:00 pm - Home. Jared is the only one there. Marion is at scouts. Go to my bedroom and write more thank you cards wishing this job would just be done already.

7:00 pm - Pick up Diana. Ran to Walgreen's to get color spray for her hair because of course it is crazy hair day tomorrow. Dang literacy programs and their evil plot to take me down. After that we went across the street and got some McDonald's for Jared for dinner.

8:00 pm - Enlist Diana to help me put labels and stamps on the envelopes for the thank you notes, while I write out the notes. American Idol keeps us company whilst we work on this project. Diana also worked on her homework. Finally about 9:00 she passes out on my bed. I keep working and writing. My hand is cramping, but I press on. By 10:00 I have finished all but 30 of the notes. I spent six and a half hours working on that today, and I didn't even go into work. The words are starting to be blurry. I decide to call it a day.

11:00 pm - I fall prostrate on the bed. I don't even remember falling asleep. I know I was seriously busy today, but did I do the things I really was suppose to do.


And so ends another day on the Hamster Wheel. Good times, I tell ya.

Yackety Yak

Back in January in the middle of my working craziness, the activity day girls in our ward performed a lip sync at a stake activity. They were assigned the song Yackety Yak. It turned out super cute. Diana was chosen to act like the mom who was scolding all the other girls to clean up and don't talk back.


Here is the group shot. We got the ribbon for the bows from work, and the bows totally made the costumes.

Here is Diana with Hannah who was the Dad for the skit.
Here is a short video of the dance. Diana and Hannah practiced really hard on the flip and were so excited when it came off as well as it did. Diana didn't slide very well with out any shoes, but the whole was really cute.



This was such an insane day for me. I went in to work at 8:00 am and then left to get to the church to see the performance. I also had to stop at a fabric store and get some fabric they needed at work for tree skirts. In the end I walked into the church a few minutes before our ward went on to perform. After taking a few pictures, I was able to return to work and was there until midnight. So insance trying to balance everything, but Diana was very happy that I was there to see it.

ty