Rock and a Hard Place

I have to get up early to go to work. Granted, not as early as some, but still, leaving my home at 6 AM in the summer is a little early for my taste, even if I get to see things like this:

(Not my awesome photo skills)

Add to that my family and I are nightowls during the summer, regularly staying up until 11, midnight or later.

Now, the final crowning piece: it’s the summer Olympics in London this year.

Did I mention we’re also Olympic freaks? We will watch countless hours of the programming of obscure sports just because, well, it’s the Olympics.  Because of my work schedule, I don’t get home until around 4 PM every day. That leaves the prime time, 8 - Midnight recap as my only fix during the week. 

Don’t get me wrong, watching world-class athletes on the biggest international stage has to be one of my favorite things to do every couple of years, but would it kill the TV programmers to bump it up a couple of hours? 6 - 10 would be just perfect! So, now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place: I want to spend time watching the Olympics with my family, but I also can’t go much longer only getting 5 hours of sleep every night. What to do…?

Loopin' Louie

This post is about a magical game.  The driver of the plane flies through the air never expecting a thing, just his usual circle around the barn, but then there’s a thwack on the bottom of his biplane and he’s flying higher than ever imagined.  From up above, he can see the smaller barns down below. What’s this? There’s a chicken on the roof of each barn? Louie can’t help himself; the plane isn’t in his control anymore.  The poor fowl ends up knocked silly off the barn and into a rut nearby as Louie continues flying, dive-bombing barn after barn.  The HORROR!!!

Really though…the age range listed for this game is something like 5 and older…and I fit a little bit into the older category.  A couple of friends of mine asked Dallin and I on a date to play some games. We saw the regular few and ended up showing Carrie how to play Pit.  Enjoyable, but not quite the sugar rush of fun that Louie brought into our lives. We played it for the rest of the evening except for the campfire afterwards. We all left the night craving another round of the game.



It was only later that we learned independently that this new fix would cost $80 or so for a single set due to its being a collector’s item of a game.  I totally understood why!  So began a quest to find this game for $30 or less. I scoured the internet at work, getting stopped often by those pesky firewalls. In a stroke of genius I checked Craigslist.  Lo and behold, there was a copy on Craigslist Pittsburgh (across the country) for only $25. Negotiations over price and how to get it here have started, but I hope we can get together to play soon, I’ve been having this strange craving ever since I found that miraculous set.

When/If it comes…there shall be tournaments on BYU campus to see who can manipulate poor Louie with the greatest skill.  This is going to be WICKED!!!

Mother's Day...in July

Take a moment to consider the influence a mother can have.  Who would you be as an individual without your mother to ground and protect you?  She is an anchor, a nurturer.  My mom read to me, the same book, probably every night for over a year.  It’s short so I’ll include the text and you can imagine the movements that went along with it: 

GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU

by Sam McBratney

Little Nutbrown Hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare's very long ears. He wanted to be sure that Big Nutbrown Hare was listening.
"Guess how much I love you," he said.
"Oh, I don't think I could guess that," said Big Nutbrown Hare.
"This much," said Little Nutbrown Hare, stretching out his arms as wide as they could go.
Big Nutbrown Hare had even longer arms. "But I love YOU this much," he said.
Hmm, that is a lot, thought Little Nutbrown Hare.
"I love you as high as I can reach." said Little Nutbrown Hare.
"I love you as high as I can reach," said Big Nutbrown Hare.
That is quite high, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I had arms like that.
Then Little Nutbrown Hare had a good idea. He tumbled upside down and reached up the tree trunk with his feet.
"I love you all the way up to my toes!" he said.
"And I love you all the way up to your toes," said Big Nutbrown Hare, swinging him up over his head.
"I love you as high as I can HOP!" laughed Little Nutbrown Hare, bouncing up and down.
"But I love you as high as I can hop," smiled Big Nutbrown Hare - and he hopped so high that his ears touched the branches above.
That's good hopping, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. I wish I could hop like that.
"I love you all the way down the lane as far as the river," cried Little Nutbrown Hare.
"I love you across the river and over the hills," said Big Nutbrown Hare.
That's very far, thought Little Nutbrown Hare. He was almost too sleepy to think any more. Then he looked beyond the thorn bushes, out into the big dark night. Nothing could be further than the sky.
"I love you right up to the MOON," he said, and closed his eyes.
"Oh, that's far," said Big Nutbrown Hare. "That is very, very far."
Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him good night.
Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile, "I love you right up to the moon - AND BACK."

I knew my mom loved me since I was little, and there’s nothing quite hanging out with your mom, knowing she loves you unconditionally.  You laugh about the crazy things each of you has done and shudder at where you would be without her.  My mom is Diet Coke and dark chocolate covered raisins.  She’s an inventor of Scrabble words, a late night conversation.  She’s a weekly letter and an inspiration.  The world’s greatest cook in denial and a home decorator.  A political buff and sad movie avoider.  She’s everything to me and I don’t know how I could be without her.