Strange but true...

Mini miracle: I did laundry today (no, that's not the miracle) and, after transferring the clothes to the dryer, I saw a round black thing at the bottom of the washer tub. Thinking it was a button or something, I reached in and grabbed it.

It was a blueberry! Unsquashed! After a full load of laundry! Probably the cleanest berry ever known to man, and I threw it in the trash. Seriously - what kind of mutant blueberry makes it though an entire wash load without getting smooshed? Anyway, knowing how hard blueberry stains are to remove, I consider this my personal miracle for the day.

PS - anyone with children knows that it is futile to wonder how a blueberry got in the laundry in the first place. Remember, I am the mother of a child who required surgical removal of a pinto bean from their nostril after pretending to be an elephant.

ABC's of Me

I just completed this on Facebook, and thought I'd post it here for posterity. That assumes, of course, that it is worth remembering... Anyway, if you're on facebook, friend me! I don't have enough self-confidence to send out friend requests.

A - Age: 43

B - Bed size: California King. Do you know how hard it is to find sheets that fit, now that I no longer live out west?

C - Chore you hate: Washing the floor. I don't know why, but I really hate this one. Not that it seems useless, but it just doesn't last.

D - Dog's name: No dog. No cat, either. No non-human moving creatures whatsoever, unless you count the dust bunnies under the furniture. They move, but I haven't named them.

E - Essential start to your day item: Wii. If I don't check in with my little Wii Fit balance board buddy, I feel like I've cheated for the rest of the day.

F - Favorite color: Peanut butter brown (in my house) and blue (clothing only - hate it in my decor, except on my beloved 18 year old blue couches, which are so comfy that I love them in spite of their color)

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5' 7"

I - Instruments you play(ed): clarinet, for 6 years. Say what you will, but yes, I was a band, marching band, and orchestra geek. I've always wanted to learn the piano, but haven't yet pursued that dream.

J - Job title: Stay-at-home-Mom

K - Kid(s): Sarah (12), Madilyn (7), Gary (43)

L - Living arrangements: Married and living in a split level house whose design and decor completely avoid reflecting my personality and tastes.

M - Mom's name: Mary Lou (or "Lou") but I've only ever called her that in a crowded room to get her attention. Ever tried calling out "MOM!" in a room full of ladies? Right.

N - Nicknames: None that I want to admit to. Ever. There are probably a few used behind my back, as well... I did teach teens for more than a few years...

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: 2008 heart attack scare, which thankfully just turned out to be stress.

P - Pet Peeve: People who believe that the rules only apply to everyone else.

Q - Quote from a movie: "Inconceivable!" "You keep 'a using that word. I do not think it 'a means what you think it 'a means." Wallace Shawn as Vizzini and Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya in Princess Bride

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: 1 younger sister (seester!)

T - Time you wake up: Alarm goes off at 4:50 am. I have recently set a goal of being a "one slap only" snoozer. I have a love/hate relationship with the snooze button. I love it when I am half-awake, and hate its very existence an hour later when I am running late from using it too much.

U- Underwear: Yes. Without question.

V - Vegetable you dislike: Brussels Sprouts. Who likes those things, anyway? Aren't they just the weeds of the vegetable world?

W - Ways you run late: I'm usually on time, but we do rush to make it that way, and the rushing can always, always, always be traced back to the computer, one way or another.

X - X-rays you've had: Can't think of x-rays, but I have had MRI and CT scans of my head in the past few years. Amazingly, everything is normal between my ears... at least as far as the medical profession defines it.

Y - Yummy food you make: No one raves about my cooking, except perhaps to rave that I actually cooked something. Absolute favorite dish (when prepared by someone else): Chicken Korma.

Z - Zoo favorite: Pandas. Their primary activities in life are eating and sleeping, and they look adorable doing them. What's not to emulate?

Congratulations, Graduate!

Here's a shout out to my sister-in-law Rachel, who graduates today with a master's degree in statistics from BYU. You rock! I can SO see you as the ESPN stats girl!

In honor of your day, below is a statistics related joke. And yes, I had to google "statistics jokes", and yes, I didn't understand 90% of the results... but hey, engineer jokes probably don't make much sense to you. Well, maybe they do, being married to a Poulsen, but anyway, here's the joke.

A man was in a hot-air balloon. Soon he found himself lost with nothing but green fields for as far as the eye could see. Eventually, he happened to float over a man who was walking his dog.

He leaned over the basket and yelled out, "Hello! Where am I?"

The man on the ground replied, "You're about 20 feet above the ground in a hot-air balloon."

The balloonist cursed him and shouted back, "You must be a statistician."

"Why do you say that?" asked the man on the ground.

"Well," shouted the balloonist, "You're absolutely correct but your answer was completely useless."

"Oh I see," replied the walker, "And you must be a manager."

"Actually, you're right," said the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the walker, "First you were lost. Then, after working out what information you needed to sort yourself out, you asked someone else to get it for you. Now, that you have the information, you're still lost, but it's someone else's fault."

THIS is what I'm up against...

Last night Gary and I watched a movie (Evan Almighty) after we put the kids to bed. As I've been doing lately, I decided to use the "free step" option on the Wii, which keeps track as you step on and off the balance board, and allows you to change the channel to watch something else while you exercise. (I use the term "exercise" loosely... basically, you are marching in place for 30 minutes, but hey - it burns more calories than sitting on the couch.)

So, we're all set up, and I'm marching away, watching the movie, and I notice that there are soft clinking noises coming from behind me. I look over my shoulder to see my husband, lounging on the couch, feet up on the coffee table... eating a bowl of ice cream.

"Does it bother you to eat that ice cream while I'm here, exercising?" I ask.

"No, not at all," he innocently replies, giving me a puzzled look.

I sigh and turn back to the movie, grateful for once for my lactose intolerance.

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

I just wanted to share this wonderful video. It's a wonderful way to spend four and a half minutes. If you'd like to see it bigger, you can do so here.

The best part

As anyone knows, the absolute best part of new appliances is... the BOX! I may have gotten a new dishwasher (heaven!! love it!!), but the kids got a new HOME, and I got hours of peace, without the kids being parked in front of a screen. Win-win!

Happy Anniversary

So it's not technically our anniversary yet (13 more days) but I got my present early. At left is the "before", and below is the "after" picture of my desk. As you can see, my trusty Samsung monitor has been replaced with a sleek 23" Acer widescreen. After a few months of intermittently turning faces purplish, then red, then snapping back to normal, I decided that the Samsung CRT was due for retirement. After all, how can you edit photos when the colors on the screen keep changing?? After consulting "the computer guy" I used my super online shopper skills to find an awesome sale (I love newegg.com!); kudos to my husband for agreeing to an anniversary present that he will rarely use.

Anyway, I love the new monitor, even if it does make me feel old (the words are so tiny at 1920 x 1080... and yes, I know that you can adjust for that, but choosing "extra large" fonts just makes me feel even more visually impaired than I am, and that's saying A LOT). The best thing about the situation is not obvious from the pictures - I have doubled the work space on my desk. The CRT was so big that it came within a few inches of the front edge. The new setup allows me to put a 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper in front of me. Heaven!

Now, anyone who knows me (and why else would you be reading this blog??) knows that the LAST thing I need is extra incentive to spend time on the computer. So, here's hoping that I can fight the temptation to spend all day in front of my shiny new screen.

and yes, I know I need artwork on the walls, but I've been in a minimalist rut lately...