This is what I hope to be the first in a six-week series of the youth conferences I attended. I only went to half of my scout camps, but I went to all youth conferences.
The first one wasn't really a youth conference; I was only 12, and you had to be 14 to go on that year's conference. So our deacons quorum went downtown to see The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd. I remember Brother Morley coming to my house to pick me up in his Suburban. We were supposed to dress up (I'm not sure why), and I was wearing the suit that I had inherited from my then-uncle Wayne. (I think I got it because I was short enough and fat enough to wear it.) I think it was my first time wearing it, but no one said anything about it. It was a little too warm for a June night.
That's about all I remember. But the successive blogs will be more substantial.
Showing posts with label 2001. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2001. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Patriotic treats
If you read this blog, you undoubtedly know that I only eat candy and desserts that are seasonal. Seasonal treats abound at other times of the year, but for the Fourth of July, they are a little more rare. You never know what to expect from one year to the next; and even if a particular seasonal candy is made from year to year, you never know what stores will carry them. They're very inconsistent.
Therefore, I'm going to remember the patriotic desserts I've had in my life. Here is some basic information about this list:
1) This only includes things that I have personally eaten. I saw some patriotic candy corn the other day, but I haven't had them, so they're not on the list.
2) Some things on the list aren't strictly dessert, so I could eat them at any time (e.g. pretzels), but they are still fun to include.
3) The list refers mainly to pre-packaged goods. I'm excluding most bakery items (like sugar cookies) because there are always seasonal bakery items. (I think of the Killers lyric: "Red, white, and blue upon a birthday cake, my brother he was born on the Fourth of July.")
Many of these treats predate my seasonal eating rules, but I still remember them. (For those of you who are wondering, my eating habits got started in 2003, but they have evolved significantly since then, generally getting stricter.)
My favorite priority is unique flavors, followed by unique shapes and/or colors. Individually wrapped candies with seasonal wrappers count, but they're my least favorite kind of seasonal things.
Patriotic popsicles. Red, white, and blue popsicles are the one thing I can count on from year to year. They are made by multiple brands, and they aren't always marketed for the Fourth of July, so they're always around. I can eat any popsicles during June, July, and August, but these ones are funner. One noteworthy variation is Dairy Queen's Starkiss, which is shaped like a star and is striped.
Keebler rainbow cookies. Keebler's M&M cookies weren't originally made with M&Ms but with their own brand of chocolates. They had ones with red, white, and blue candies in the late 90s. I had them in 2012--they were marketed for the Olympics but I used them for the Fourth of July. This year, they use real M&Ms and are available at Target, and there are both regular and chocolate varieties.
Summer Oreo O's. Back in the late 1990s, there was a cereal called Oreo O's that had brown rings with white spots on it. One year, probably 1999, they changed the white spots to be red, white, and blue. This is the only time I have ever known of a patriotic cereal. Oreo O's no longer exist, so of course the summer variation does not.
Sno-Balls. You know the Hostess Sno-Balls, the chocolate cake covered with marshmallow and coconut? They usually come in two-packs, but in 2001 or thereabouts a Hostess store carried a three-pack with a red one, a white one, and a blue one. That's the only time I've ever known of them doing so. Before Hostess went out of business, they would change the colors (such as orange at Halloween and lavender at Easter), but I haven't seen them do it as much since they were resurrected.
After 9/11/2001, patriotic things became much more popular, and there was an abundance of patriotic things. In fact, I think some of the things that are still around today may have got their start then.
M&Ms. When I was a kid, I always wanted them to make red, white, and blue M&Ms, but it wasn't a reality until fall 2001. Since then, they have come back sporadically. I know I've had them in 2006, 2007, 2013, and 2015, but this year they're only available at Target, whereas they've been available elsewhere in the past. They come in both milk chocolate and peanut varieties.
Marshmallow Peeps. They made star-shaped Peeps after 9/11. I can't remember whether they were plain or vanilla flavored, but they were white with blue and red specks. They came back for a few Fourth of Julys, but they quit making them because they didn't sell well. In recent years, they've made vanilla-flavored traditional Peep (chick) shapes with the red and blue specks. I don't quite get it. I mean, chicks are still an Easter candy, and what makes them think chick-shaped candy will sell better at the Fourth of July than star-shaped candy?
E.L. Fudge cookies. In 2002 or 2003, there were patriotic E.L. Fudge cookies. These were truly unique--most patriotic candies simply change the colors, but these changed the shape instead. The elves were holding flags or patriotic signs.
Vanilla ice cream. In 2003, my mom bought vanilla ice cream that was colored red, white, and blue--like Neapolitan except it was one flavor. That's the only time I've known of patriotic ice cream.
Goldfish. Goldfish crackers are made red, white, and blue. I first had them in 2004, and I've had them every year since 2013.
American taffy. The Sweet's brand makes peppermint-flavored white taffy with patriotic wrappers. I know we had some in 2007. They used to come in boxes and bags. This year I saw them in bulk, and I got one in my 5k goodie bag this year.
Animal cookies. You know those pink and white, kind of waxy animal-shaped cookies? They used to make patriotic ones. In 2007, I had ones where the frosting had different colors, so there were white, red, and blue cookies. In 2010 and 2011, they were only white, but they had red and blue nonpareil sprinkles. I haven't seen them since then.
Little Debbie brownies. On my mission, in 2009, I saw various Little Debbie treats with a patriotic theme, and I got brownies. I haven't seen them since then.
Tootsie Rolls. These aren't my favorite, since once you take off the flag wrapper, they're the same brown candy, but they're fairly reliable from year to year. Shopko usually sells them, although I didn't see them this year, but I did get one in the goodie bag I got from my North Salt Lake 5k this year.
Tootsie Dots. In 2010 and 2011, I saw patriotic Dots. There were two kinds of Dots, and each Dot had two colors, a red and white one and a blue and white one. The white parts were vanilla, the red ones were cherry, and the blue ones were blueberry. I'm sad that they don't make them anymore, because they were some of my favorite candies. (The red and white ones are still made for Valentine's Day and Christmas, but the blue and white ones aren't otherwise around.)
Tootsie Roll Pops. One of my favorite patriotic candies, usually available at Shopko, are Tootsie Roll Pops. The red ones are cherry, the white ones are strawberry vanilla, and the blue ones are blue raspberry. I like these since the white and blue ones aren't available at other times. I think I've had them every year since 2010.
Blo-Pops. I've seen these in 2011 or 2012, but this is the first year I've had them. The red ones are cherry, the blue ones are raspberry, and the white are strawberry lemonade (which are really good). I'm not a big fan of gum-filled suckers, but I like them since patriotic candies are rare.
All-American Oreos. I've only seen these in 2012, and I don't know whether they were for the Fourth of July or the Olympics. They were the golden variety, and the creme was blue and red. They were plain flavors. They weren't the greatest, but I'm always sad to see Fourth of July desserts go.
Star-shaped Marshmallows. In 2012, I was really excited to see star-shaped marshmallows, and they were red (really pink), white, and blue. Then I saw bigger ones. I've seen both sizes since then, but I usually get the big ones, since they're better for roasting, which is what you usually do during summer. However, I have occasionally used them on rare cold June days, since they allow me to have hot chocolate.
Pretzels. In 2013, I found pretzels that were shaped as flags, Liberty Bells, and stars. I haven't seen them since then.
Pop-Tarts. I first had patriotic Pop-Tarts in 2013. At that time, the pastry was red, the frosting was white, the berry filling was red, and the sugar sprinkles were red, white, and blue. I didn't see them in time in 2014, but in 2015 they're very different. The pastry is regular color, the frosting is blue with white star-shaped sprinkles, and the berry filling is still red. I think they've improved the flavor. (I'm not big on berry Pop-Tarts.)
Planters trail mix. In 2013 and 2014, I had patriotic Planters trail mix, made with peanuts, raisins, dried cranberries, red chocolate-covered peanuts, and blue and white chocolate pieces.
Patriotic Twizzlers. Walmart is the only store I've known to sell these patriotic Pull-and-Peel Twizzlers. Each strand is a different flavor; the white ones are lemonade, and the others are different berries. I've had them in 2014 and 2015.
Summer Ice Pop Tic-Tacs. Last year, there were red, white, and blue Tic-Tacs based on patriotic popsicles. The red ones were cherry, the white were lime, and the blue were berry. I haven't seen them this year. I have a feeling they may be the rarest of rare candies, so I'm lucky I got some last year.
Patriotic mints. At my 5k this week, I got a goodie bag with various mints. There was a dinner mint with a flag wrapper and some patriotic peppermint lozenge things. There was also a red, white, and blue striped candy stick, but it was some kind of fruit flavor and wasn't very good.
Caramel Cob. Caramel Cobs are basically large caramel popcorn balls shaped like a corncob. They put seasonal sprinkles on them. I had a Halloween one in 2012, and I saw patriotic ones in 2013, but I didn't have one until this year.
I always like seeing what will come out every year.
Therefore, I'm going to remember the patriotic desserts I've had in my life. Here is some basic information about this list:
1) This only includes things that I have personally eaten. I saw some patriotic candy corn the other day, but I haven't had them, so they're not on the list.
2) Some things on the list aren't strictly dessert, so I could eat them at any time (e.g. pretzels), but they are still fun to include.
3) The list refers mainly to pre-packaged goods. I'm excluding most bakery items (like sugar cookies) because there are always seasonal bakery items. (I think of the Killers lyric: "Red, white, and blue upon a birthday cake, my brother he was born on the Fourth of July.")
Many of these treats predate my seasonal eating rules, but I still remember them. (For those of you who are wondering, my eating habits got started in 2003, but they have evolved significantly since then, generally getting stricter.)
My favorite priority is unique flavors, followed by unique shapes and/or colors. Individually wrapped candies with seasonal wrappers count, but they're my least favorite kind of seasonal things.
Patriotic popsicles. Red, white, and blue popsicles are the one thing I can count on from year to year. They are made by multiple brands, and they aren't always marketed for the Fourth of July, so they're always around. I can eat any popsicles during June, July, and August, but these ones are funner. One noteworthy variation is Dairy Queen's Starkiss, which is shaped like a star and is striped.
Keebler rainbow cookies. Keebler's M&M cookies weren't originally made with M&Ms but with their own brand of chocolates. They had ones with red, white, and blue candies in the late 90s. I had them in 2012--they were marketed for the Olympics but I used them for the Fourth of July. This year, they use real M&Ms and are available at Target, and there are both regular and chocolate varieties.
Summer Oreo O's. Back in the late 1990s, there was a cereal called Oreo O's that had brown rings with white spots on it. One year, probably 1999, they changed the white spots to be red, white, and blue. This is the only time I have ever known of a patriotic cereal. Oreo O's no longer exist, so of course the summer variation does not.
Sno-Balls. You know the Hostess Sno-Balls, the chocolate cake covered with marshmallow and coconut? They usually come in two-packs, but in 2001 or thereabouts a Hostess store carried a three-pack with a red one, a white one, and a blue one. That's the only time I've ever known of them doing so. Before Hostess went out of business, they would change the colors (such as orange at Halloween and lavender at Easter), but I haven't seen them do it as much since they were resurrected.
After 9/11/2001, patriotic things became much more popular, and there was an abundance of patriotic things. In fact, I think some of the things that are still around today may have got their start then.
M&Ms. When I was a kid, I always wanted them to make red, white, and blue M&Ms, but it wasn't a reality until fall 2001. Since then, they have come back sporadically. I know I've had them in 2006, 2007, 2013, and 2015, but this year they're only available at Target, whereas they've been available elsewhere in the past. They come in both milk chocolate and peanut varieties.
Marshmallow Peeps. They made star-shaped Peeps after 9/11. I can't remember whether they were plain or vanilla flavored, but they were white with blue and red specks. They came back for a few Fourth of Julys, but they quit making them because they didn't sell well. In recent years, they've made vanilla-flavored traditional Peep (chick) shapes with the red and blue specks. I don't quite get it. I mean, chicks are still an Easter candy, and what makes them think chick-shaped candy will sell better at the Fourth of July than star-shaped candy?
E.L. Fudge cookies. In 2002 or 2003, there were patriotic E.L. Fudge cookies. These were truly unique--most patriotic candies simply change the colors, but these changed the shape instead. The elves were holding flags or patriotic signs.
Vanilla ice cream. In 2003, my mom bought vanilla ice cream that was colored red, white, and blue--like Neapolitan except it was one flavor. That's the only time I've known of patriotic ice cream.
Goldfish. Goldfish crackers are made red, white, and blue. I first had them in 2004, and I've had them every year since 2013.
American taffy. The Sweet's brand makes peppermint-flavored white taffy with patriotic wrappers. I know we had some in 2007. They used to come in boxes and bags. This year I saw them in bulk, and I got one in my 5k goodie bag this year.
Animal cookies. You know those pink and white, kind of waxy animal-shaped cookies? They used to make patriotic ones. In 2007, I had ones where the frosting had different colors, so there were white, red, and blue cookies. In 2010 and 2011, they were only white, but they had red and blue nonpareil sprinkles. I haven't seen them since then.
Little Debbie brownies. On my mission, in 2009, I saw various Little Debbie treats with a patriotic theme, and I got brownies. I haven't seen them since then.
Tootsie Rolls. These aren't my favorite, since once you take off the flag wrapper, they're the same brown candy, but they're fairly reliable from year to year. Shopko usually sells them, although I didn't see them this year, but I did get one in the goodie bag I got from my North Salt Lake 5k this year.
Tootsie Dots. In 2010 and 2011, I saw patriotic Dots. There were two kinds of Dots, and each Dot had two colors, a red and white one and a blue and white one. The white parts were vanilla, the red ones were cherry, and the blue ones were blueberry. I'm sad that they don't make them anymore, because they were some of my favorite candies. (The red and white ones are still made for Valentine's Day and Christmas, but the blue and white ones aren't otherwise around.)
Tootsie Roll Pops. One of my favorite patriotic candies, usually available at Shopko, are Tootsie Roll Pops. The red ones are cherry, the white ones are strawberry vanilla, and the blue ones are blue raspberry. I like these since the white and blue ones aren't available at other times. I think I've had them every year since 2010.
Blo-Pops. I've seen these in 2011 or 2012, but this is the first year I've had them. The red ones are cherry, the blue ones are raspberry, and the white are strawberry lemonade (which are really good). I'm not a big fan of gum-filled suckers, but I like them since patriotic candies are rare.
All-American Oreos. I've only seen these in 2012, and I don't know whether they were for the Fourth of July or the Olympics. They were the golden variety, and the creme was blue and red. They were plain flavors. They weren't the greatest, but I'm always sad to see Fourth of July desserts go.
Star-shaped Marshmallows. In 2012, I was really excited to see star-shaped marshmallows, and they were red (really pink), white, and blue. Then I saw bigger ones. I've seen both sizes since then, but I usually get the big ones, since they're better for roasting, which is what you usually do during summer. However, I have occasionally used them on rare cold June days, since they allow me to have hot chocolate.
Pretzels. In 2013, I found pretzels that were shaped as flags, Liberty Bells, and stars. I haven't seen them since then.
Pop-Tarts. I first had patriotic Pop-Tarts in 2013. At that time, the pastry was red, the frosting was white, the berry filling was red, and the sugar sprinkles were red, white, and blue. I didn't see them in time in 2014, but in 2015 they're very different. The pastry is regular color, the frosting is blue with white star-shaped sprinkles, and the berry filling is still red. I think they've improved the flavor. (I'm not big on berry Pop-Tarts.)
Planters trail mix. In 2013 and 2014, I had patriotic Planters trail mix, made with peanuts, raisins, dried cranberries, red chocolate-covered peanuts, and blue and white chocolate pieces.
Patriotic Twizzlers. Walmart is the only store I've known to sell these patriotic Pull-and-Peel Twizzlers. Each strand is a different flavor; the white ones are lemonade, and the others are different berries. I've had them in 2014 and 2015.
Summer Ice Pop Tic-Tacs. Last year, there were red, white, and blue Tic-Tacs based on patriotic popsicles. The red ones were cherry, the white were lime, and the blue were berry. I haven't seen them this year. I have a feeling they may be the rarest of rare candies, so I'm lucky I got some last year.
Patriotic mints. At my 5k this week, I got a goodie bag with various mints. There was a dinner mint with a flag wrapper and some patriotic peppermint lozenge things. There was also a red, white, and blue striped candy stick, but it was some kind of fruit flavor and wasn't very good.
Caramel Cob. Caramel Cobs are basically large caramel popcorn balls shaped like a corncob. They put seasonal sprinkles on them. I had a Halloween one in 2012, and I saw patriotic ones in 2013, but I didn't have one until this year.
I always like seeing what will come out every year.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Movies I've seen in theaters
I don't see movies that often, and I tell people, "If you name a movie, I probably haven't seen it."
Therefore, I'm going to try to remember all the movies I have seen in theaters. I will undoubtedly miss some, especially those from when I was very young. (I probably saw Aladdin in theaters, but I don't remember it.) I'm only counting regular theaters. I'm not going to count documentary-type films seen at the Clark Planetarium, such as Beavers.
The Flintstones. We saw this at a drive-in, but I remember more about the second feature, which was Jurassic Park. My mom thought it would be too scary for me, so she made me go to sleep in the front seat (we had our trunk open and facing the screen). I was peeking over the seat, and I remember seeing the scene with the animated DNA. Every time my mom looked back, I would duck behind the seat. I thought she didn't know what I was doing, but she probably did.
The Lion King. It seems like we saw this movie after a day of back-to-school shopping. I remember going home that day and telling my dad we saw lions.
The Pagemaster. This was a birthday party for Jonathan Martin. We were supposed to see The Swan Princess, but when we got to the theater, we got to take a vote whether to see Swan Princess or Pagemaster. I voted Swan Princess, but I ended up loving The Pagemaster.
The Santa Clause. This was a family outing.
Pocahontas. I think we saw this at a drive-in, and I brought the McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in toy I had. However, I don't remember what the second feature was. I think this is the only time I've ever seen this movie.
Toy Story. My uncle Paul took me and my Thompson cousins to see this a few days after Christmas (I remember "Feliz Navidad" playing on the radio). When we left the theater, it was raining, and Paul said, "It's probably snowing at Strawberry." They asked what our favorite parts were, and Paul said, "Mark's was probably the Christmas part."
Nell. This was definitely not an appropriate movie for a six-year-old. Since I was so much younger than my siblings, I think my family had to take me to a lot of movies they wouldn't otherwise take me to.
The Indian in the Cupboard. We were going to this movie with Uncle Paul and his kids. Susanne left a note for our parents that we went to see the movie; she asked David, "How do you spell cupboard?" and that was the first time I learned to spell "cupboard." David got mad at me because he had to take me to the bathroom during the "best part" of the movie.
Phenomenon. This was at the drive-in with my Thompson cousins, and they had brought small plastic lawn chairs. I'm not sure why this was the first movie.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This was the second feature that night. This is the only time I've ever seen this movie.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park. My mom and my siblings and I went to see this with my grandparents.
Star Trek: Insurrection? I know I saw some Star Trek movie with my family, but I don't remember what one. I didn't know the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek. I remember telling my friend David Christensen that I had seen a Star Wars movie with a lady in a black dress, and he laughed and said, "That wasn't a lady!" because he thought I was talking about Darth Vader.
The Parent Trap. I had a broken leg, and we went in our white station wagon to the drive-in. I think my cousin Tammy was with us.
Mulan. This was the second feature that night. When we were leaving, I remember the "True to Your Heart" song playing on the radio. I was also thinking about the creepy music from The Black Cauldron, which we had recently purchased.
The Waterboy. In November 1998, we had gone to Cedar City for my cousin Kim's wedding. That night, the entire extended family went to see this. I'm not sure why they chose this movie (I know it wasn't my own family's decision), because there were lots of kids in the family. My mom told me to close my eyes in one scene, but they didn't show anything.
A Bug's Life. We stopped and saw this movie on our way to Fillmore on New Year's Eve 1998 (almost 1999).
My Favorite Martian. My aunt had some tickets to a pre-screening of the movie, so my cousins and I went, along with my aunt's friend Susan and her kids. When I think about these movies from my childhood, I see that PG-rated movies have really toned it down. I've been watching the original My Favorite Martian series on Hulu, and it's pretty bad.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. When we were watching this, the tape melted. I remember seeing the bubbling on the screen and thought it was just part of the movie. We were all taken in to another theater that was also showing the movie but had started a little later. I remember basically nothing about this movie. I also remember nothing about episode IV, the only other Star Wars movie I've ever seen, so I can basically say I've never seen Star Wars.
The Iron Giant. I saw this for my birthday with my friends David and Brad. There is one scene that I can remember that I'm pretty sure is from this movie, but it was taken out for the home video release--unless it's from a totally different movie. Hogarth makes an ice cream sundae while his mom is on the phone telling him only to eat healthy things, and while he's eating the cherry from the top, he says, "I'm eating something healthy right now!"
Toy Story 2. My family saw this on the day after Thanksgiving in 1999. There was one little kid who kept yelling and cheering with the movie.
Chicken Run. This was another birthday movie; I saw it with my friends David and Cory.
The Grinch. My parents took me to see this movie the day after Christmas in 2000, at the no-longer-existing theater on 2600 South near Woods Cross High. Then I went home and read the book and watched the TV special to compare them all.
Shrek. I actually don't really remember seeing this, but it might have been with my cousin Jesse.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My sister came with us and had brought her friend's six-year-old son, and he kept wanting her to offer me popcorn and other treats.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I found this movie boring.
Monsters Inc. I saw this with my parents.
Spider-Man (2002). My aunt Sarena was in town and she insisted on taking me to the movie, but I think I still had to pay for my own ticket. This is the only Spiderman movie I've ever seen.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I know I saw this, but I don't remember much about seeing it.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I think this was at a dollar theater. I was bored by the first one, so I was reluctant to see this one, but my brother told me it was better. I went with him and Ya-ping, and I still found it boring. I've haven't seen any Lord of the Rings movies since then.
Holes. A 2003 drive-in trip.
Finding Nemo. Part of the same drive-in visit. I actually saw it twice in the theater. The second time was with Paul and my cousins. Tammy thought it might be too scary for her kids because of the shark, but I found it hilarious that two-year-old Anna said "the sark" was her favorite part. There was a grown woman who kept laughing and screaming loudly.
Elf . My family saw this on Ya-ping's birthday in 2003.
Shrek 2. While we were waiting in the theater to go into our theater, we passed one-year-old Allie around. When the movie was over, my mom and sister said they didn't know Julie Andrews was in the movie, but I had seen that on the movie poster.
The Incredibles. This was the day after Thanksgiving, and I think we saw it before some of us went to Target. I was disappointed in the movie's language.
March of the Penguins. I think we saw this movie because I liked polar regions.
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I had reluctantly agreed to go to the drive-in on this October Saturday night.
Corpse Bride. This was the second movie that night, and I loved it. Our radio shut off during the climax scene, but we got it started again.
Cars. We saw this on July 3 in the Fillmore movie theater, which only has one theater. Allie was not quite three and Preston was one and a half. Allie fell asleep during the movie, but Preston didn't, and he said, "Car?" when the movie was over. When we got back to Grandma Judy's house, Preston was laughing at sleeping Allie and was trying to poke her.
Charlotte's Web. I saw this my senior year in high school.
Shrek the Third. Susanne took me and Allie to this movie, and she had smuggled in some frozen Junior Mints. This movie renewed Allie's interest in Shrek.
The Nightmare before Christmas 3D. This was released in 3D in 2006, but I didn't see it until 2007, on the day before Halloween. It was my mom, my sister, Allie, and my cousin Quin, who was thirteen. Susanne was annoyed that we made her sit by him and said that she had to watch him more than she did Allie.
Alice in Wonderland. I think this was the first movie I saw in a theater after my mission. My mom and dad met me to see it in Provo, and my dad wanted to see it in 3D.
Toy Story 3. We saw this in August 2010, just after I moved back home for the fall. My sister was wearing her "Advice from a Bat" shirt.
Tangled. We saw this in December 2010. Allie had already seen it, and when Flynn Ryder was mortally wounded, she assured us, "He's not really dead." She didn't have the concept of Spoiler Alert.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. I don't really watch PG-13 movies, but a special set of circumstances led me to see this one. I think my grandma was in the hospital for some reason at this time.
Puss in Boots. We saw this on October 29, 2011, right after my parents made their very last house payment.
Hugo. We saw this in December or November of 2011. We saw it in 3D, and I didn't think it worked very well in 3D.
Arthur Christmas. I believe it was December 27 when we saw this movie in West Valley, so Christmas was already over.
The Lorax. On May 14, 2012, my roommate Bryton invited several people to go see a late showing at the dollar theater. Our little group had the whole theater to ourselves. It wasn't a great movie.
Frankenweenie. My parents met me in Provo on October 20, 2012, to see this movie. I had to see it. Sadly, this movie was overshadowed by Hotel Transylvania, an inferior flick.
Free Birds. My parents took me to this movie on November 2, 2013. I had to see it, since Thanksgiving movies are so rare.
Frozen. We saw this with my aunt's family on the day after Thanksgiving.
The Lego Movie. Last May, many members of my ward wanted to see this at the dollar theater. I rode with one Jarom Redhair, a very rude individual. It was a hilarious movie, and I understood why it sold out that night.
How to Train Your Dragon 2. We saw this at a drive-in last summer in California with my nephews.
Maleficent. This was the second feature that night, and our car battery died, so it was very hard to hear, but we got the gist of what was going on. My nephew Franklin seemed fine with the movie, but he initially wasn't keen on seeing a princess movie.
Meet the Mormons. I saw this opening weekend last October. I didn't think it was really that great for it to be released in mainstream theaters.
I'm sure I've seen others. And as soon as I post this, I will remember more.
Therefore, I'm going to try to remember all the movies I have seen in theaters. I will undoubtedly miss some, especially those from when I was very young. (I probably saw Aladdin in theaters, but I don't remember it.) I'm only counting regular theaters. I'm not going to count documentary-type films seen at the Clark Planetarium, such as Beavers.
The Flintstones. We saw this at a drive-in, but I remember more about the second feature, which was Jurassic Park. My mom thought it would be too scary for me, so she made me go to sleep in the front seat (we had our trunk open and facing the screen). I was peeking over the seat, and I remember seeing the scene with the animated DNA. Every time my mom looked back, I would duck behind the seat. I thought she didn't know what I was doing, but she probably did.
The Lion King. It seems like we saw this movie after a day of back-to-school shopping. I remember going home that day and telling my dad we saw lions.
The Pagemaster. This was a birthday party for Jonathan Martin. We were supposed to see The Swan Princess, but when we got to the theater, we got to take a vote whether to see Swan Princess or Pagemaster. I voted Swan Princess, but I ended up loving The Pagemaster.
The Santa Clause. This was a family outing.
Pocahontas. I think we saw this at a drive-in, and I brought the McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in toy I had. However, I don't remember what the second feature was. I think this is the only time I've ever seen this movie.
Toy Story. My uncle Paul took me and my Thompson cousins to see this a few days after Christmas (I remember "Feliz Navidad" playing on the radio). When we left the theater, it was raining, and Paul said, "It's probably snowing at Strawberry." They asked what our favorite parts were, and Paul said, "Mark's was probably the Christmas part."
Nell. This was definitely not an appropriate movie for a six-year-old. Since I was so much younger than my siblings, I think my family had to take me to a lot of movies they wouldn't otherwise take me to.
The Indian in the Cupboard. We were going to this movie with Uncle Paul and his kids. Susanne left a note for our parents that we went to see the movie; she asked David, "How do you spell cupboard?" and that was the first time I learned to spell "cupboard." David got mad at me because he had to take me to the bathroom during the "best part" of the movie.
Phenomenon. This was at the drive-in with my Thompson cousins, and they had brought small plastic lawn chairs. I'm not sure why this was the first movie.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This was the second feature that night. This is the only time I've ever seen this movie.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park. My mom and my siblings and I went to see this with my grandparents.
Star Trek: Insurrection? I know I saw some Star Trek movie with my family, but I don't remember what one. I didn't know the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek. I remember telling my friend David Christensen that I had seen a Star Wars movie with a lady in a black dress, and he laughed and said, "That wasn't a lady!" because he thought I was talking about Darth Vader.
The Parent Trap. I had a broken leg, and we went in our white station wagon to the drive-in. I think my cousin Tammy was with us.
Mulan. This was the second feature that night. When we were leaving, I remember the "True to Your Heart" song playing on the radio. I was also thinking about the creepy music from The Black Cauldron, which we had recently purchased.
The Waterboy. In November 1998, we had gone to Cedar City for my cousin Kim's wedding. That night, the entire extended family went to see this. I'm not sure why they chose this movie (I know it wasn't my own family's decision), because there were lots of kids in the family. My mom told me to close my eyes in one scene, but they didn't show anything.
A Bug's Life. We stopped and saw this movie on our way to Fillmore on New Year's Eve 1998 (almost 1999).
My Favorite Martian. My aunt had some tickets to a pre-screening of the movie, so my cousins and I went, along with my aunt's friend Susan and her kids. When I think about these movies from my childhood, I see that PG-rated movies have really toned it down. I've been watching the original My Favorite Martian series on Hulu, and it's pretty bad.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. When we were watching this, the tape melted. I remember seeing the bubbling on the screen and thought it was just part of the movie. We were all taken in to another theater that was also showing the movie but had started a little later. I remember basically nothing about this movie. I also remember nothing about episode IV, the only other Star Wars movie I've ever seen, so I can basically say I've never seen Star Wars.
The Iron Giant. I saw this for my birthday with my friends David and Brad. There is one scene that I can remember that I'm pretty sure is from this movie, but it was taken out for the home video release--unless it's from a totally different movie. Hogarth makes an ice cream sundae while his mom is on the phone telling him only to eat healthy things, and while he's eating the cherry from the top, he says, "I'm eating something healthy right now!"
Toy Story 2. My family saw this on the day after Thanksgiving in 1999. There was one little kid who kept yelling and cheering with the movie.
Chicken Run. This was another birthday movie; I saw it with my friends David and Cory.
The Grinch. My parents took me to see this movie the day after Christmas in 2000, at the no-longer-existing theater on 2600 South near Woods Cross High. Then I went home and read the book and watched the TV special to compare them all.
Shrek. I actually don't really remember seeing this, but it might have been with my cousin Jesse.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My sister came with us and had brought her friend's six-year-old son, and he kept wanting her to offer me popcorn and other treats.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I found this movie boring.
Monsters Inc. I saw this with my parents.
Spider-Man (2002). My aunt Sarena was in town and she insisted on taking me to the movie, but I think I still had to pay for my own ticket. This is the only Spiderman movie I've ever seen.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I know I saw this, but I don't remember much about seeing it.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I think this was at a dollar theater. I was bored by the first one, so I was reluctant to see this one, but my brother told me it was better. I went with him and Ya-ping, and I still found it boring. I've haven't seen any Lord of the Rings movies since then.
Holes. A 2003 drive-in trip.
Finding Nemo. Part of the same drive-in visit. I actually saw it twice in the theater. The second time was with Paul and my cousins. Tammy thought it might be too scary for her kids because of the shark, but I found it hilarious that two-year-old Anna said "the sark" was her favorite part. There was a grown woman who kept laughing and screaming loudly.
Elf . My family saw this on Ya-ping's birthday in 2003.
Shrek 2. While we were waiting in the theater to go into our theater, we passed one-year-old Allie around. When the movie was over, my mom and sister said they didn't know Julie Andrews was in the movie, but I had seen that on the movie poster.
The Incredibles. This was the day after Thanksgiving, and I think we saw it before some of us went to Target. I was disappointed in the movie's language.
March of the Penguins. I think we saw this movie because I liked polar regions.
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I had reluctantly agreed to go to the drive-in on this October Saturday night.
Corpse Bride. This was the second movie that night, and I loved it. Our radio shut off during the climax scene, but we got it started again.
Cars. We saw this on July 3 in the Fillmore movie theater, which only has one theater. Allie was not quite three and Preston was one and a half. Allie fell asleep during the movie, but Preston didn't, and he said, "Car?" when the movie was over. When we got back to Grandma Judy's house, Preston was laughing at sleeping Allie and was trying to poke her.
Charlotte's Web. I saw this my senior year in high school.
Shrek the Third. Susanne took me and Allie to this movie, and she had smuggled in some frozen Junior Mints. This movie renewed Allie's interest in Shrek.
The Nightmare before Christmas 3D. This was released in 3D in 2006, but I didn't see it until 2007, on the day before Halloween. It was my mom, my sister, Allie, and my cousin Quin, who was thirteen. Susanne was annoyed that we made her sit by him and said that she had to watch him more than she did Allie.
Alice in Wonderland. I think this was the first movie I saw in a theater after my mission. My mom and dad met me to see it in Provo, and my dad wanted to see it in 3D.
Toy Story 3. We saw this in August 2010, just after I moved back home for the fall. My sister was wearing her "Advice from a Bat" shirt.
Tangled. We saw this in December 2010. Allie had already seen it, and when Flynn Ryder was mortally wounded, she assured us, "He's not really dead." She didn't have the concept of Spoiler Alert.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. I don't really watch PG-13 movies, but a special set of circumstances led me to see this one. I think my grandma was in the hospital for some reason at this time.
Puss in Boots. We saw this on October 29, 2011, right after my parents made their very last house payment.
Hugo. We saw this in December or November of 2011. We saw it in 3D, and I didn't think it worked very well in 3D.
Arthur Christmas. I believe it was December 27 when we saw this movie in West Valley, so Christmas was already over.
The Lorax. On May 14, 2012, my roommate Bryton invited several people to go see a late showing at the dollar theater. Our little group had the whole theater to ourselves. It wasn't a great movie.
Frankenweenie. My parents met me in Provo on October 20, 2012, to see this movie. I had to see it. Sadly, this movie was overshadowed by Hotel Transylvania, an inferior flick.
Free Birds. My parents took me to this movie on November 2, 2013. I had to see it, since Thanksgiving movies are so rare.
Frozen. We saw this with my aunt's family on the day after Thanksgiving.
The Lego Movie. Last May, many members of my ward wanted to see this at the dollar theater. I rode with one Jarom Redhair, a very rude individual. It was a hilarious movie, and I understood why it sold out that night.
How to Train Your Dragon 2. We saw this at a drive-in last summer in California with my nephews.
Maleficent. This was the second feature that night, and our car battery died, so it was very hard to hear, but we got the gist of what was going on. My nephew Franklin seemed fine with the movie, but he initially wasn't keen on seeing a princess movie.
Meet the Mormons. I saw this opening weekend last October. I didn't think it was really that great for it to be released in mainstream theaters.
I'm sure I've seen others. And as soon as I post this, I will remember more.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Melville family pets
In this post, I'm not going to try to remember everything, but I will try to remember all the pets my family has had while I've been alive.
We had some guinea pigs, but family lore tells me one died because I dropped it. It seems that one was white and brown. I remember my dad burying some brown ones and him insinuating my cousin Jesse had contributed to their deaths. But I can't have been older than four, so who knows if that really happened.
We had a fishtank and we had plecostomuses, sucker fish. Because they are ugly, my family named them Homer, after Homer Simpson, and I think we had several Homers: Homer 1, Homer 2, etc. But then one day that fishtank cracked, so we had to transport the fish to bowls and my aunt came and took them.
One Christmas, probably in 1993 but maybe 1992, my brother got an iguana for Christmas and named it Lizzie. But a few days later it died. That was one of the rare times I saw my brother cry.
Soon after that, however, my parents got him a snake. It was an albino corn snake, so David named it Al. He used to play with Al all the time, and he even measured its length on the closet door where my family measured our growth. (My family got rid of that door. :( ) After a while, though, he quit playing with it as much, and it became less tame. That made it a problem when it would sometimes escape and he had to catch it. We used to go to the pet store to buy pinkie mice to feed it. We eventually gave it to my uncle's wife.
Around this same time, circa 1993, my aunt got a blue budgie bird that she intended to give to my cousins for Christmas, and we kept it at our house, but my family became attached to it and kept it. We named it Tweeters, Tweets for short.
In 1994 (I think), David got another bird, I think for his birthday. This bird was a cockatiel, named Spike for the stick-up feathers on its head. David often called her Spoy or Shpoy. David really wanted a dog, so Spike became his pseudo-dog. At one time we got bird food that looked like dog food. David taught it to bark, wolf whistle, and say "Pretty bird." It would often look in its mirror and go, "Pretty bird. Pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty bird." We tried to teach it to whistle the Andy Griffith Show theme--it got the first notes right, but then it did its own thing. One peculiar trait it had was to put its head in its toy bell, grab the dinger with its beak, and shriek as loud as it could. This was loud to us, so we can only imagine what it was like for her! (Sorry I keep switching pronouns for the bird.) If she would see someone nodding, she would nod too. I used to run around the living room and spin my arms in circles, and that would make her nod too. Sometimes Spike would have night terrors and would thrash around in the cage, leaving bird blood splattered on the cage and walls.
When we would get the two birds out, Tweeters was a little more defensive and aggressive, even though she was the smaller bird. David cut out pieces of cloth to put on his shoulders to keep his clothes clean. Sometimes he would take the birds (at least Spike) into the shower with him, although I don't think they sat on his shoulder but on his finger. David left on his mission and later moved away again, and since birds are messy, we didn't get them out often, and they got less tame. Tweets died just before Thanksgiving in 2003. In 2007, my sister was diagnosed with some disease that was aggravated by birds, so we had to give Spike away.
In 1995 or so, our neighbors across the street, the Reeds, gave us a hamster. I think one morning David found it in a plant holder. Shortly after that, we found it had escaped again and died, probably from eating mouse poison.
For my birthday in 1994, we got a new fishtank, and over the years, we had lots and lots of fish. I was particularly fond of the see-through glass fish, and I liked the crabs we had that used to escape. (I once wrote a post all about the crabs.)
We had a few notable fish. When I was in first grade, we had orange fish in which the males had sword tails, and on one occasion we bought both a male and a female, and soon the female was pregnant, and shortly thereafter there were lots of tiny orange dots in the fishtank. The other fish, including the parents, tried to eat the babies, but one hid in our decorative rocks. We captured it and took it to my aunt's house so it could be safe until it was fully grown. I named it Pumpkin and it lived to adulthood.
In college, David became a biologist and worked with zebrafish. In one lab in 2000 (I think), he injected chemicals into sets of 100 zebrafish, and in one of those sets, two fish survived while all others died. I don't know if they survived because they were superfish, or if they were superfish because of the chemicals, but these were super hardy fish. David named them Ishmael and Queequeg, characters in Moby Dick. They lived for more than four years, maybe even as long as six years. Not only did they live a long time, they lived in harsh environments. My mom took the aquarium to school, and the kids accidentally turned up the heat, killing all the fish except for the zebrafish. We weren't the most responsible at cleaning the tank, and sometimes it became super gross and all the fish died except the zebrafish.
And then there are our cats. In 2001, my sister and her roommates got a cat, Cleo, and we watched it for a few weeks. After that, I really wanted a cat. My mom's friend's cat had kittens on July 16, 2001, so we got one, a black and white cat with a black "mustache." I named it Dinah, after Alice (in Wonderland)'s cat. Dinah was hilarious but mean. She would sometimes bite me and even drew blood. She liked to attack my feet. As she got older, she got tamer.
Unfortunately, after we had had her for just over a year, in September or October 2002, she disappeared. We don't know what happened to her, although my dad saw a raccoon in our yard the night she disappeared. We went to the pound, but she wasn't there.
But I wanted to get a replacement cat. We were going to Taiwan in November 2002, so I asked my maternal grandparents if they would watch a new cat while we were gone. They agreed, so in October we went to the pound and got a grey kitten, which we named Jenny. More than twelve years later, Jenny is still alive and well. And what a strange cat she is. Soon after we got her, my paternal grandparents came for a visit, and Jenny loved rubbing against Grandma Judy's white leather shoes. To this day, she likes to rub against feet, more than she likes to be petted by hands. My dad won't let her be fed inside the house because she tends to throw up. She's picky about her litter box. She isn't particularly loving, hisses at kids, and likes to spill her water bowl. But she's a good mouser, and I like having her.
We had some guinea pigs, but family lore tells me one died because I dropped it. It seems that one was white and brown. I remember my dad burying some brown ones and him insinuating my cousin Jesse had contributed to their deaths. But I can't have been older than four, so who knows if that really happened.
We had a fishtank and we had plecostomuses, sucker fish. Because they are ugly, my family named them Homer, after Homer Simpson, and I think we had several Homers: Homer 1, Homer 2, etc. But then one day that fishtank cracked, so we had to transport the fish to bowls and my aunt came and took them.
One Christmas, probably in 1993 but maybe 1992, my brother got an iguana for Christmas and named it Lizzie. But a few days later it died. That was one of the rare times I saw my brother cry.
Soon after that, however, my parents got him a snake. It was an albino corn snake, so David named it Al. He used to play with Al all the time, and he even measured its length on the closet door where my family measured our growth. (My family got rid of that door. :( ) After a while, though, he quit playing with it as much, and it became less tame. That made it a problem when it would sometimes escape and he had to catch it. We used to go to the pet store to buy pinkie mice to feed it. We eventually gave it to my uncle's wife.
Around this same time, circa 1993, my aunt got a blue budgie bird that she intended to give to my cousins for Christmas, and we kept it at our house, but my family became attached to it and kept it. We named it Tweeters, Tweets for short.
In 1994 (I think), David got another bird, I think for his birthday. This bird was a cockatiel, named Spike for the stick-up feathers on its head. David often called her Spoy or Shpoy. David really wanted a dog, so Spike became his pseudo-dog. At one time we got bird food that looked like dog food. David taught it to bark, wolf whistle, and say "Pretty bird." It would often look in its mirror and go, "Pretty bird. Pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty bird." We tried to teach it to whistle the Andy Griffith Show theme--it got the first notes right, but then it did its own thing. One peculiar trait it had was to put its head in its toy bell, grab the dinger with its beak, and shriek as loud as it could. This was loud to us, so we can only imagine what it was like for her! (Sorry I keep switching pronouns for the bird.) If she would see someone nodding, she would nod too. I used to run around the living room and spin my arms in circles, and that would make her nod too. Sometimes Spike would have night terrors and would thrash around in the cage, leaving bird blood splattered on the cage and walls.
When we would get the two birds out, Tweeters was a little more defensive and aggressive, even though she was the smaller bird. David cut out pieces of cloth to put on his shoulders to keep his clothes clean. Sometimes he would take the birds (at least Spike) into the shower with him, although I don't think they sat on his shoulder but on his finger. David left on his mission and later moved away again, and since birds are messy, we didn't get them out often, and they got less tame. Tweets died just before Thanksgiving in 2003. In 2007, my sister was diagnosed with some disease that was aggravated by birds, so we had to give Spike away.
In 1995 or so, our neighbors across the street, the Reeds, gave us a hamster. I think one morning David found it in a plant holder. Shortly after that, we found it had escaped again and died, probably from eating mouse poison.
For my birthday in 1994, we got a new fishtank, and over the years, we had lots and lots of fish. I was particularly fond of the see-through glass fish, and I liked the crabs we had that used to escape. (I once wrote a post all about the crabs.)
We had a few notable fish. When I was in first grade, we had orange fish in which the males had sword tails, and on one occasion we bought both a male and a female, and soon the female was pregnant, and shortly thereafter there were lots of tiny orange dots in the fishtank. The other fish, including the parents, tried to eat the babies, but one hid in our decorative rocks. We captured it and took it to my aunt's house so it could be safe until it was fully grown. I named it Pumpkin and it lived to adulthood.
In college, David became a biologist and worked with zebrafish. In one lab in 2000 (I think), he injected chemicals into sets of 100 zebrafish, and in one of those sets, two fish survived while all others died. I don't know if they survived because they were superfish, or if they were superfish because of the chemicals, but these were super hardy fish. David named them Ishmael and Queequeg, characters in Moby Dick. They lived for more than four years, maybe even as long as six years. Not only did they live a long time, they lived in harsh environments. My mom took the aquarium to school, and the kids accidentally turned up the heat, killing all the fish except for the zebrafish. We weren't the most responsible at cleaning the tank, and sometimes it became super gross and all the fish died except the zebrafish.
And then there are our cats. In 2001, my sister and her roommates got a cat, Cleo, and we watched it for a few weeks. After that, I really wanted a cat. My mom's friend's cat had kittens on July 16, 2001, so we got one, a black and white cat with a black "mustache." I named it Dinah, after Alice (in Wonderland)'s cat. Dinah was hilarious but mean. She would sometimes bite me and even drew blood. She liked to attack my feet. As she got older, she got tamer.
Unfortunately, after we had had her for just over a year, in September or October 2002, she disappeared. We don't know what happened to her, although my dad saw a raccoon in our yard the night she disappeared. We went to the pound, but she wasn't there.
But I wanted to get a replacement cat. We were going to Taiwan in November 2002, so I asked my maternal grandparents if they would watch a new cat while we were gone. They agreed, so in October we went to the pound and got a grey kitten, which we named Jenny. More than twelve years later, Jenny is still alive and well. And what a strange cat she is. Soon after we got her, my paternal grandparents came for a visit, and Jenny loved rubbing against Grandma Judy's white leather shoes. To this day, she likes to rub against feet, more than she likes to be petted by hands. My dad won't let her be fed inside the house because she tends to throw up. She's picky about her litter box. She isn't particularly loving, hisses at kids, and likes to spill her water bowl. But she's a good mouser, and I like having her.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Conversation hearts
You know those chalky little hearts we always get in February? Love 'em or hate 'em, they are a ubiquitous part of Valentine's Day. (I'm actually surprised there aren't things flavored like them, like there are lots of candy corn-flavored things.) With it being nearly Valentine's Day, I'm going to remember incidents connected with them.
In preschool, one day we were in the upstairs dance hall, playing around, and when we were done playing, our teacher gave us some with faces on them. (I noticed that was different, so I obviously had had them before that.)
When I was in kindergarten, I decided I wanted to do a Valentine's adaptation of Santa Claus, so when we were at Kmart one night, I wanted to get a bag of the hearts. I made stockings out of paper and drew hearts on them and stapled the front and back pieces together. I was going to wait until Valentine's Day, but I couldn't wait, so I got up really early one morning, when it was still dark and my siblings were getting ready for their school, and I put the hearts in the stockings I had made. I remembered seeing pictures of Santa with his finger over his mouth, so I did that, and then I asked Susanne if she knew why I did that. She said she thought it was because I was telling her to be quiet, but I said that wasn't why. I remember her saying the yellow ones were her favorite.
One January in 1998 or so, I was at Food 4 Less in Bountiful, the one by the no-longer-existing Five Points Mall. I begged my parents to get me a box of them, and they did. There was another girl who got her mom to get a whole bunch of them for a party.
In third grade, my friend David Christensen gave me his valentine at recess, and it had a few "lacy" conversation hearts in it.
Another time, perhaps around 2000, our home teacher's wife, Ivy Petersen, was visiting us and said she loved conversation hearts and got them right after Christmas. But she didn't like the purple ones, saying they "taste like perfume."
On Valentine's Day 2001, I was at mutual, and I remember someone in another ward saying some girls had helped her decorate sugar cookies, and some of them had conversation hearts. I thought that was a horrible topping for a cookie.
In junior high, I remember talking with my friend Houston about how the white ones were our favorites. Around that time, my family bought a bag that was all white, but they were a strong peppermint instead of the mellow wintergreen in the regular mix. My dad loved them.
On Valentine's Day in eighth grade, I awkwardly gave handfuls of the hearts to girls from my ward as they walked past me on the bus.
One year, perhaps in 2005, I was dismayed that I hadn't had any conversation hearts, and my mom had only a few that she got from her class, and they were weird ones.
In 2006, I put a bunch of conversation hearts in a dish downstairs. Months later, they still weren't gone, and my nephew Preston (between 19 and 21 months) knew they were up on the shelf. He had his own language, with some words in English, some in Chinese, and some that he had invented himself. His word for candy was "ba." (My guess is that it was the way he tried to say "pop," as in "Otter Pop.") He would beg for "ba," so I would get one for him.
A few days after Christmas in 2007, on my mission, we had visited our investigator Cindy, and she gave us boxes of conversation hearts. I think they were of the "smoothie" variety. Perhaps that day, or at least very soon after that, we were out shoveling the driveway where we lived, and I slipped a little bit. I didn't fall, but somehow my slip hurt my ankle, and I felt like I had sprained it again. So I went inside and read on my bed while eating the conversation hearts.
I got some in a package from my mom in 2009, but I got transferred right before Valentine's Day, so I didn't eat many of them before I went to my new area. (I didn't want to take them with me.)
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2010, I was at Walmart with my family, and I got a bag. They were different from the ones I was used to, and they even had a blue one. That night I went to my dinner group in Provo, and the host had bought some cookies that were heart-shaped with messages on them. That led to a conversation about the candies, and someone said how bad they were, and I told them they had changed them and they were better.
In 2013, I put some ice cream-flavored ones in a jar in my apartment for a decoration. My roommate Cameron loved them, and one day I discovered one on the stairs outside our apartment, I think because our friend Carissa had taken some with her and dropped one. That heart was on the step for months. After he had eaten some, he bought two new bags--one was the ice cream kind like I had, and one was the large version of the fruit variety. He asked me which I would prefer him to put in (he correctly guessed that the ones I had were the ice cream ones); I can't remember what I said. Once Valentine's Day was over, I transferred them to a bowl, but then I quit eating them, and apparently Cameron quit eating them, because they sat in the bowl for months until I decided they were too dusty to be good for anything. (Come to think of it, it was around that time Cameron decided he was too good for us. So apparently he was too good for the hearts, too.)
In preschool, one day we were in the upstairs dance hall, playing around, and when we were done playing, our teacher gave us some with faces on them. (I noticed that was different, so I obviously had had them before that.)
When I was in kindergarten, I decided I wanted to do a Valentine's adaptation of Santa Claus, so when we were at Kmart one night, I wanted to get a bag of the hearts. I made stockings out of paper and drew hearts on them and stapled the front and back pieces together. I was going to wait until Valentine's Day, but I couldn't wait, so I got up really early one morning, when it was still dark and my siblings were getting ready for their school, and I put the hearts in the stockings I had made. I remembered seeing pictures of Santa with his finger over his mouth, so I did that, and then I asked Susanne if she knew why I did that. She said she thought it was because I was telling her to be quiet, but I said that wasn't why. I remember her saying the yellow ones were her favorite.
One January in 1998 or so, I was at Food 4 Less in Bountiful, the one by the no-longer-existing Five Points Mall. I begged my parents to get me a box of them, and they did. There was another girl who got her mom to get a whole bunch of them for a party.
In third grade, my friend David Christensen gave me his valentine at recess, and it had a few "lacy" conversation hearts in it.
Another time, perhaps around 2000, our home teacher's wife, Ivy Petersen, was visiting us and said she loved conversation hearts and got them right after Christmas. But she didn't like the purple ones, saying they "taste like perfume."
On Valentine's Day 2001, I was at mutual, and I remember someone in another ward saying some girls had helped her decorate sugar cookies, and some of them had conversation hearts. I thought that was a horrible topping for a cookie.
In junior high, I remember talking with my friend Houston about how the white ones were our favorites. Around that time, my family bought a bag that was all white, but they were a strong peppermint instead of the mellow wintergreen in the regular mix. My dad loved them.
On Valentine's Day in eighth grade, I awkwardly gave handfuls of the hearts to girls from my ward as they walked past me on the bus.
One year, perhaps in 2005, I was dismayed that I hadn't had any conversation hearts, and my mom had only a few that she got from her class, and they were weird ones.
In 2006, I put a bunch of conversation hearts in a dish downstairs. Months later, they still weren't gone, and my nephew Preston (between 19 and 21 months) knew they were up on the shelf. He had his own language, with some words in English, some in Chinese, and some that he had invented himself. His word for candy was "ba." (My guess is that it was the way he tried to say "pop," as in "Otter Pop.") He would beg for "ba," so I would get one for him.
A few days after Christmas in 2007, on my mission, we had visited our investigator Cindy, and she gave us boxes of conversation hearts. I think they were of the "smoothie" variety. Perhaps that day, or at least very soon after that, we were out shoveling the driveway where we lived, and I slipped a little bit. I didn't fall, but somehow my slip hurt my ankle, and I felt like I had sprained it again. So I went inside and read on my bed while eating the conversation hearts.
I got some in a package from my mom in 2009, but I got transferred right before Valentine's Day, so I didn't eat many of them before I went to my new area. (I didn't want to take them with me.)
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2010, I was at Walmart with my family, and I got a bag. They were different from the ones I was used to, and they even had a blue one. That night I went to my dinner group in Provo, and the host had bought some cookies that were heart-shaped with messages on them. That led to a conversation about the candies, and someone said how bad they were, and I told them they had changed them and they were better.
In 2013, I put some ice cream-flavored ones in a jar in my apartment for a decoration. My roommate Cameron loved them, and one day I discovered one on the stairs outside our apartment, I think because our friend Carissa had taken some with her and dropped one. That heart was on the step for months. After he had eaten some, he bought two new bags--one was the ice cream kind like I had, and one was the large version of the fruit variety. He asked me which I would prefer him to put in (he correctly guessed that the ones I had were the ice cream ones); I can't remember what I said. Once Valentine's Day was over, I transferred them to a bowl, but then I quit eating them, and apparently Cameron quit eating them, because they sat in the bowl for months until I decided they were too dusty to be good for anything. (Come to think of it, it was around that time Cameron decided he was too good for us. So apparently he was too good for the hearts, too.)
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Camp Maple Dell
Back in 2001, I went to scout camp at Maple Dell, an organized Boy Scout camp. It was the first time I was at a scout camp for actual Boy Scouts and not just cub or eleven-year-old scouts.
We left early one morning to go down to the camp at Payson. I think this was in August, although it could have been July. I rode with Brother Hales, and when we got there, Brother Morley got out of his Suburban. He was wearing the Scout shorts he got for a Jamboree; I made some remark about how dumb I thought they looked. We drove up to our campsite, which was called Peteetneet. I made a silly joke about how our camp was "small and tidy"--"petite neat." Most campgrounds were named after Indian nations (like Nez Perce and Crow), but ours was named after an individual. We set up our tents.
Everyone went swimming, but I think there was a medical form that hadn't been submitted in time for me to swim with them. My mom faxed it, so I was able to go later. When I went there, the scout workers there told me I could jump in whenever I was ready; it was sort of a swimming test. It took me a while to psych myself up to jump in to swim.
There was a scout assigned to work with our troop from Rochester, New York. I remembered the place he was from because I had just been to upstate New York; I remember asking if that was where all the news stations were based from (yes), and if he had heard of Pulaski (no).
Every morning, we had to come up with a song incorporating certain words. I did my best to come up with creative parodies with the words, but the kinds of songs I knew back then weren't popular at all. For the first day, I made a parody of the Marineland jingle I had heard on TV in New York, which ended with, "Everyone loves Troop 884!" I convinced my troop to sing it with me, but I don't think they really knew it, and the responses weren't that enthusiastic. One of the days, we had to use "steak and eggs," but we also needed to include the elements we had previously used. David Oder suggested, "Steak and eggs, just eat 'em," but I tried to come up with something else, since that was not creative and didn't have all the necessary elements. Brother Clark told me there wasn't time for something more complicated. One of the other troops always had a really creative song; among other things, they parodied The Brady Bunch and sang to the Mission: Impossible theme. Even if I had been able to create good songs, they would never have competed. Matt Miller started making one to the Taco Bell commercial popular at that time, which itself was a parody of the Bonanza theme, but it never got finished. Sometimes we had to shout things as well. One morning, we saw a flock of wild turkeys.
One day, I was walking around whistling the first theme song to I Dream of Jeannie, but since it was the less famous one, I don't think people knew what it was, which was probably a good thing. Cody Opperman made some comment amount my whistling, and I asked if he wanted me to stop. He said no, but I said, "I can tell you want me to stop, so I'll stop," and he thanked me. At some point I had said I liked I Love Lucy, and Cody paraphrased a line he had heard on the show, but his paraphrasing was a bit more vulgar than the original.
All the different scout workers had pseudonyms. I don't remember the name of ours, but one of the workers for an adjoining camp was 007. There was Snoopy, Melva, and Big Mac (whom one scout called Burger King, which I thought was dumb because they're not even the same franchise). One day, I was doing my fingerprinting merit badge, when I heard another troop whittling a stick for Snoopy. They were putting a picture of Snoopy on it, and their leader suggested putting Woodstock on it as well.
The infamous Jared Smith (a generic enough name that I can talk about him) came on this trip, and I can't say some of the things he said or did on it. He was a bit domineering, and David Christensen felt abused by him. As some of the leaders were coming and going, he had said that either Jared left or he left. Brother Morley took him aside and gave him "the talk," as David Oder put it, and he was better after that. It didn't help that he was in the same tent as a lot of us.
One of our first days, we went and did a basket weaving merit badge. We did a nature merit badge where I had to sit and observe nature. While I did that, I took some pine needles and broke them and tried to rub them on my skin so I would smell like a Christmas tree. That might have been the same badge for which we had to write about an endangered animal. I decided I wanted to write about koalas, and the counselor Melva pointed out I had a koala on my shirt, and I hadn't even realized that. One of the scouts from another troop said that koalas were cliché. I think Jaydon Bean wrote about prairie dogs.
While we were working on one merit badge, some scouts from my troop found a snake. They put it in a soda bottle. Later, there was a hole dug to put it in so it wouldn't be cooped up. As it was in the hole trying to climb out, David Christensen, who had lost his voice from all the morning yelling, said the snake was doing its morning exercise, and then he quoted The Lucy Show: "I'm doing my morning exercise, Mr. Moody!"
There was a little gift shop, and I got some clearance orange glow sticks and a Boy Scouts travel toothbrush. I was amused that the sticker on it said "Toothbrush BS." I used one glow stick one night (Jaydon told me to go put it in the cooler, as it wasn't completely dark yet) and I kept another one, thinking it would be good for Halloween.
Our little group of troops had to come up with a song, a one-liner skit, and a full-on skit. We sang a song about frogs that Brother Hale had taught us. Jared Smith had to be the star of both skits. The short one had him pulling a rope: "Hey, why are you pulling that rope?" "Have you ever tried pushing a rope?" Our scout adviser later told us he had never seen that one. The full skit was Rick Bean's idea. It involved us all running from a monster (Jared Smith) who was actually nice. Another troop did the exact same one. The ultra-creative group did a skit about pickup lines inspired by the Scout Law. The following night, all of the troops gathered together for the best songs and skits throughout. One troop sang something about "My Neighbors Lie Over the Ocean" and the creative troop did their pickup line skit. Yet another troop did the same skit we had done. There was also a relay triathlon, where some scouts swam, some biked, and some ran. Everyone was quietly laughing at the scout in the really tight purple swimsuit. That same night, some British scout workers did a skit where they put rubber gloves on their heads and inflated them, saying they were some kind of endangered chicken (apparently someone had written about them for a merit badge!). They also led us in a song about different merit badges: "Hug a hug a hug a tree," "Shoot 'em shoot 'em shoot 'em up," and some others. They also sang "Little Bunny Foo Foo," which was also the name of a pet rabbit at the camp.
After that, we took a back way to get back to our campsite, which was really far away. Jared Smith led the way, and he went way too fast, and I was slow, so everyone behind me was slow. I didn't like that way because it was too fast, and some scouts had been reprimanded for going that way in the daytime. One of those scouts was David Christensen, who was wearing a rain poncho when he was going that way, and after the scout worker called him down, some scouts from another troop wanted to accost him, but their leader told them not to.
One night, a group of scouts went out to look at the stars, and the scout worker asked everyone to turn off their lights.
After we left, we stopped at a gas station, where Ryan Jones got Jones soda. I saw a school named Peteetneet, which was the name of our campsite.
We left early one morning to go down to the camp at Payson. I think this was in August, although it could have been July. I rode with Brother Hales, and when we got there, Brother Morley got out of his Suburban. He was wearing the Scout shorts he got for a Jamboree; I made some remark about how dumb I thought they looked. We drove up to our campsite, which was called Peteetneet. I made a silly joke about how our camp was "small and tidy"--"petite neat." Most campgrounds were named after Indian nations (like Nez Perce and Crow), but ours was named after an individual. We set up our tents.
Everyone went swimming, but I think there was a medical form that hadn't been submitted in time for me to swim with them. My mom faxed it, so I was able to go later. When I went there, the scout workers there told me I could jump in whenever I was ready; it was sort of a swimming test. It took me a while to psych myself up to jump in to swim.
There was a scout assigned to work with our troop from Rochester, New York. I remembered the place he was from because I had just been to upstate New York; I remember asking if that was where all the news stations were based from (yes), and if he had heard of Pulaski (no).
Every morning, we had to come up with a song incorporating certain words. I did my best to come up with creative parodies with the words, but the kinds of songs I knew back then weren't popular at all. For the first day, I made a parody of the Marineland jingle I had heard on TV in New York, which ended with, "Everyone loves Troop 884!" I convinced my troop to sing it with me, but I don't think they really knew it, and the responses weren't that enthusiastic. One of the days, we had to use "steak and eggs," but we also needed to include the elements we had previously used. David Oder suggested, "Steak and eggs, just eat 'em," but I tried to come up with something else, since that was not creative and didn't have all the necessary elements. Brother Clark told me there wasn't time for something more complicated. One of the other troops always had a really creative song; among other things, they parodied The Brady Bunch and sang to the Mission: Impossible theme. Even if I had been able to create good songs, they would never have competed. Matt Miller started making one to the Taco Bell commercial popular at that time, which itself was a parody of the Bonanza theme, but it never got finished. Sometimes we had to shout things as well. One morning, we saw a flock of wild turkeys.
One day, I was walking around whistling the first theme song to I Dream of Jeannie, but since it was the less famous one, I don't think people knew what it was, which was probably a good thing. Cody Opperman made some comment amount my whistling, and I asked if he wanted me to stop. He said no, but I said, "I can tell you want me to stop, so I'll stop," and he thanked me. At some point I had said I liked I Love Lucy, and Cody paraphrased a line he had heard on the show, but his paraphrasing was a bit more vulgar than the original.
All the different scout workers had pseudonyms. I don't remember the name of ours, but one of the workers for an adjoining camp was 007. There was Snoopy, Melva, and Big Mac (whom one scout called Burger King, which I thought was dumb because they're not even the same franchise). One day, I was doing my fingerprinting merit badge, when I heard another troop whittling a stick for Snoopy. They were putting a picture of Snoopy on it, and their leader suggested putting Woodstock on it as well.
The infamous Jared Smith (a generic enough name that I can talk about him) came on this trip, and I can't say some of the things he said or did on it. He was a bit domineering, and David Christensen felt abused by him. As some of the leaders were coming and going, he had said that either Jared left or he left. Brother Morley took him aside and gave him "the talk," as David Oder put it, and he was better after that. It didn't help that he was in the same tent as a lot of us.
One of our first days, we went and did a basket weaving merit badge. We did a nature merit badge where I had to sit and observe nature. While I did that, I took some pine needles and broke them and tried to rub them on my skin so I would smell like a Christmas tree. That might have been the same badge for which we had to write about an endangered animal. I decided I wanted to write about koalas, and the counselor Melva pointed out I had a koala on my shirt, and I hadn't even realized that. One of the scouts from another troop said that koalas were cliché. I think Jaydon Bean wrote about prairie dogs.
While we were working on one merit badge, some scouts from my troop found a snake. They put it in a soda bottle. Later, there was a hole dug to put it in so it wouldn't be cooped up. As it was in the hole trying to climb out, David Christensen, who had lost his voice from all the morning yelling, said the snake was doing its morning exercise, and then he quoted The Lucy Show: "I'm doing my morning exercise, Mr. Moody!"
There was a little gift shop, and I got some clearance orange glow sticks and a Boy Scouts travel toothbrush. I was amused that the sticker on it said "Toothbrush BS." I used one glow stick one night (Jaydon told me to go put it in the cooler, as it wasn't completely dark yet) and I kept another one, thinking it would be good for Halloween.
Our little group of troops had to come up with a song, a one-liner skit, and a full-on skit. We sang a song about frogs that Brother Hale had taught us. Jared Smith had to be the star of both skits. The short one had him pulling a rope: "Hey, why are you pulling that rope?" "Have you ever tried pushing a rope?" Our scout adviser later told us he had never seen that one. The full skit was Rick Bean's idea. It involved us all running from a monster (Jared Smith) who was actually nice. Another troop did the exact same one. The ultra-creative group did a skit about pickup lines inspired by the Scout Law. The following night, all of the troops gathered together for the best songs and skits throughout. One troop sang something about "My Neighbors Lie Over the Ocean" and the creative troop did their pickup line skit. Yet another troop did the same skit we had done. There was also a relay triathlon, where some scouts swam, some biked, and some ran. Everyone was quietly laughing at the scout in the really tight purple swimsuit. That same night, some British scout workers did a skit where they put rubber gloves on their heads and inflated them, saying they were some kind of endangered chicken (apparently someone had written about them for a merit badge!). They also led us in a song about different merit badges: "Hug a hug a hug a tree," "Shoot 'em shoot 'em shoot 'em up," and some others. They also sang "Little Bunny Foo Foo," which was also the name of a pet rabbit at the camp.
After that, we took a back way to get back to our campsite, which was really far away. Jared Smith led the way, and he went way too fast, and I was slow, so everyone behind me was slow. I didn't like that way because it was too fast, and some scouts had been reprimanded for going that way in the daytime. One of those scouts was David Christensen, who was wearing a rain poncho when he was going that way, and after the scout worker called him down, some scouts from another troop wanted to accost him, but their leader told them not to.
One night, a group of scouts went out to look at the stars, and the scout worker asked everyone to turn off their lights.
After we left, we stopped at a gas station, where Ryan Jones got Jones soda. I saw a school named Peteetneet, which was the name of our campsite.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
New York addendum
The last several posts related to trips to New York, but I forgot a few details that I remembered later. Here, I will try to remember the things I missed.
1997. I remember buying worms to use to go fishing. One night, we were fishing, and one fish was really smart--it kept biting the worms off the line, but it wouldn't get hooked. The one fish that bit the hook was too small to keep. We wanted to release it, but it had swallowed the hook. I think my mom might have asked Grandma King what to do. We had to rip the hook out, and with it came out some of the fish's guts. We threw it back in the water, and it did a poor job of swimming off. I felt so bad for it, but my mom tried to comfort me by saying that it would probably feed another fish.
We visited my mom's cousin Rob's house. I remember there being a discussion about him cutting down a giant Christmas tree for his house, but by the time he got it in the house, it wasn't so big anymore.
2000. Maybe this was 1997, but I remember walking by Big Sandy Pond and seeing a family with a little (about 2-years-old) girl completely naked, and I thought that was inappropriate.
One day we went to Watkins Glen, a place with 800-something steps to the top. In the parking lot, we saw some people in biker shorts, and I was surprised they weren't embarrassed to be dressed like that. My mom didn't make it to the top, but the rest of us did. There was a little gift shop at the top, and we went in and looked around. They had shirts that said "I hiked to the top" and some souvenir pennies. Then we hiked back down and went to the gift shop at the bottom. In that gift shop, they had the same "I hiked to the top" shirts, and I thought they should only sell them at the top so that only people who really did get to the top could buy them.
We also went to a Corning glass factory. We watched a demonstration of them making a glass dish. When it was done and no longer molten, they threw a piece of paper on it, which immediately caught fire. I remember hearing a teenager saying he needed to see that done again.
2001. I remember seeing the poem that my late aunt Darleen had written about my great-grandparents and their house. I thought it was really good.
After seeing fat shirtless men and overweight women in short shorts, my mom said that Salt Lake City is more modest, and that was a good thing, because the overweight people didn't realize how bad they looked dressed like that.
And I'm sure I will remember even more things, but I don't know if I will make another addendum.
1997. I remember buying worms to use to go fishing. One night, we were fishing, and one fish was really smart--it kept biting the worms off the line, but it wouldn't get hooked. The one fish that bit the hook was too small to keep. We wanted to release it, but it had swallowed the hook. I think my mom might have asked Grandma King what to do. We had to rip the hook out, and with it came out some of the fish's guts. We threw it back in the water, and it did a poor job of swimming off. I felt so bad for it, but my mom tried to comfort me by saying that it would probably feed another fish.
We visited my mom's cousin Rob's house. I remember there being a discussion about him cutting down a giant Christmas tree for his house, but by the time he got it in the house, it wasn't so big anymore.
2000. Maybe this was 1997, but I remember walking by Big Sandy Pond and seeing a family with a little (about 2-years-old) girl completely naked, and I thought that was inappropriate.
One day we went to Watkins Glen, a place with 800-something steps to the top. In the parking lot, we saw some people in biker shorts, and I was surprised they weren't embarrassed to be dressed like that. My mom didn't make it to the top, but the rest of us did. There was a little gift shop at the top, and we went in and looked around. They had shirts that said "I hiked to the top" and some souvenir pennies. Then we hiked back down and went to the gift shop at the bottom. In that gift shop, they had the same "I hiked to the top" shirts, and I thought they should only sell them at the top so that only people who really did get to the top could buy them.
We also went to a Corning glass factory. We watched a demonstration of them making a glass dish. When it was done and no longer molten, they threw a piece of paper on it, which immediately caught fire. I remember hearing a teenager saying he needed to see that done again.
2001. I remember seeing the poem that my late aunt Darleen had written about my great-grandparents and their house. I thought it was really good.
After seeing fat shirtless men and overweight women in short shorts, my mom said that Salt Lake City is more modest, and that was a good thing, because the overweight people didn't realize how bad they looked dressed like that.
And I'm sure I will remember even more things, but I don't know if I will make another addendum.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
New York, 2001
In keeping with the theme of the last few weeks, here's the last New York trip my family took.
My mom and I flew into Albany and rented a car, although I don't really remember the particulars.We would have driven up to Pulaski, where my grandparents were already at "the Pond," getting ready to sell the house after Grandma King's death. One night, my mom and I went to the local grocery store. We got cherry Twizzlers and one or two Pez dispensers. I think I got a Snoopy and a Peppermint Patty, but I don't know if I got them at the same time. The store also had cereal themed after the Atlantis Disney movie in theaters at that time.
One day, my grandparents, my mom, and I painted the metal of the dock. We had to get in the water to paint it, and so afterwards we went swimming in the pond. Suddenly my mom shrieked because something in the water had bit her.
Susanne called us; she had been in Mexico. She asked me if I still collected chess sets, because she had bought one for me. She had also gotten really sick from eating flan. After she came, I remember she said she would never eat it again, but my great-aunt Mary Lou said it was sooo good. (I don't like it.)
I had brought some Fourth of July magnets, so I asked Grandma if I could put them on the fridge. She said I could.
One day, my mom and grandparents went to the Palmyra Temple. I went to Hill Cumorah instead. I hiked it a couple of times (with a Pez dispenser in my pocket; I think I was wearing my plaid shorts that had a little world patch covering up a hole burned by an ash), including the back way. There had been a youth conference there; when I walked into the visitor's center, the missionaries thought I was part of that group. I explained I was from North Salt Lake. A sister missionary asked if I knew where Holladay was; I said no. I got a one-on-one tour in the visitor's center.
We went to church one Sunday. One of the speakers said something about "four c's: cake, candy, cookies, and ice cream." I went to the one youth Sunday School class, in which the teacher had brought her little daughter. The toddler had a red drink that she tried to give to the class; one girl took it and pretended to drink it, while a boy did a terrible job of pretending. The teacher said that the drink was made out of wheat. Then I went to Priesthood; one of the guys in that class repeated the "four c's" comment. There was a poster with the Boy Scout Law on it; they had added "hungry and aggressive" at the end. My grandparents were frequent enough visitors that the ward knew them; thus, when one girl asked me who I was visiting, I said, "the Ebberts," but I don't think she knew who that was. After church, Grandpa was talking about the family that had fourteen kids. During priesthood, they had talked about fasting and said that you don't need to fast if you are pregnant or nursing; the patriarch of that family said that his wife hadn't fasted for fourteen years. (Maybe it was longer than that.) I had noticed that the teenage boys in that family needed haircuts.
At some point, Susanne joined us. One day, we visited some historical place; I think it was about the Revolutionary War. I was wearing my red USA shirt, and the tour guide wanted me to represent a Redcoat (unless the historic site wasn't about the Revolutionary War). I got a penny whistle and a feather pen and empty inkwell from their gift shop. I think this might have been the same day we went to some Pfaltzgraff (which sounded like "false craft" to me) and Oneida stores. At one store, they sold dishes with slight defects. I saw a Halloween night light that I thought was cool. At the other store, they sold all sorts of silverware and some other odds and ends. I found a little snowglobe of bears celebrating New Year's. Elsewhere in the store, they had little teapots representing months. For November, there was both a turkey and a Pilgrim hat. I liked the hat one better; apparently, it had been replaced with the turkey. I couldn't decide between the snowglobe and the Pilgrim hat teapot, but I ended up getting the teapot.
Then, at some point, the Thompsons came. I think they had flown into New Jersey and rented a van, which had automatic doors, something we were not accustomed to. At one point, I remember Jesse saying he didn't like Baha Men, that being one of Chancey's CDs (during the era of "Who Let the Dogs Out?"). Another day, we were riding in their van for some reason, and my mom put in my mix tape from the year before. It had a lot of smooth jazz from a Peanuts CD that I did not like, so I was trying to express my disdain for it, but my mom and sister told me to stop.
On the Fourth of July, there was a family reunion. I took a dish out of the fridge, trying to find something. My great aunt Mary Lou told me I needed to hold the dish upright. Later, we went to see a river with a waterfall. I was wearing my white t-shirt with a flag design. There was a sign on a tree telling people not to cliff jump, because the writers had a friend who had done so and died. The sign was a bit of a memorial to him, and among other things it had a picture of a pack of cigarettes. I said that if he smoked, he was going to die anyway. We took a little hike down to the bottom of the waterfalls, and on our way, my aunt Sue said she had found a weeping wall, "but it's not as big as the one at Zions." The "weeping wall" she found was just a little tiny spring, hardly anything like Zion's Weeping Rock. Sue's family was going to go see some fireworks. I was a little hesitant about going with them, because of my then-uncle Wayne's habitual tendency toward orneriness. I went anyway, and as we pulled up to the fairgrounds, I saw the sign saying "Oswego County Fair" and I asked if that meant it was the county fair of Oswego or the fair of Oswego County. My cousin Jesse didn't understand what I was talking about. Once the fireworks started, I remember my cousins Jesse and Joey and I having a conversation about how unimpressive these fireworks were. There was a stationary firework on the ground that was an American flag, but that was the only cool one. Jesse said that he had seen flowers (as in the home firework--"ground blooms") do more amazing things. My aunt reproved us for our negativity. As we left, I remember a conversation about carnival workers. When we got back to "the Pond," my mom and the others there said that someone had been setting off illegal Pennsylvanian fireworks that they were able to watch. I remember then that I regretted going, because the fireworks were so unimpressive and I could have stayed at the house and watched the fireworks reflected on the water.
The next day, we were to have leftover chicken for lunch. The adults told us we could have lunch, and they would have more later. I had a very OCD/obese habit at that time where I would eat my first helping, then I would get seconds that were 2/3 the size of the first helping, then I would get thirds that were 1/3 the size of the first. Thus, I had three pieces of chicken, then two, then one. All of us boys ate a lot. Joey was eating with his mouth open, thus making annoying smacking noises, so I told him not to do that. Then I wanted to illustrate how annoying he was by doing the same thing. Then he said, "Marky's a hypocrite." I was so mad that I went and ate outside. When the adults went to eat, they were shocked that the chicken was all gone, and I felt bad for having eaten six pieces. (In my defense, they were small pieces, so only a couple of pieces was not sufficient for a meal, because I don't think they had offered us anything else.)
At one point, Joey found a non-electric lawnmower. He found it fascinating, so he began messing around with it. Sue was proud of him for mowing the lawn, so she took my mom's camcorder to record it, but my mom told her that she needed to tell him he couldn't make random lines in the lawn.
My mom's cousins and their families came up from Tennessee. Chancey was kind of flirtatious with some of the girls; Sue remarked that she noticed he had put on his best shirt, a button-up over a BYU t-shirt (the style of the day being to have a button-up shirt unbuttoned over another shirt). At one point, I took a wet fishing net and sprinkled it above my second cousin Ryan, saying I was getting payback from 1995. He said he didn't remember doing that, but someone else said he could see him doing that. My mom's cousins Rob and Sandy had recently adopted a little boy.
One night, we were all asleep when we heard a girl next door yelling quite loudly, "You're such a liar, I hope you die!" Sue said, "What's going on? Joey?"
We went to Niagara Falls one day. This might have been the morning Chancey came with us in our rental car; he was asked if he was OK with listening to Kenny Rogers and John Denver, and he said he was because his family didn't like listening to country music. I said that I had heard Conway Twitty on commercials and didn't like him. I was offered a granola bar, but I didn't want to eat it because I had brushed my teeth in the last half hour, but I might have eaten it anyway. At Niagara Falls, we went and saw the falls from the back. I remember Joey was singing "Yankee Doodle Dandee." We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist, which was pretty fun.
Another day--maybe that day--we went to the Hill Cumorah for the Palmyra Pageant. We met Grandma and Grandpa there; Grandpa had made his signature chicken and brought it for our dinner. I was kind of embarrassed to be eating it in front of all those strangers. I saw some people with programs, but we didn't have one, so I went up to a booth and said, "Is this where we get the programs?" and she kind of rudely said no. I remember watching all the different actors and identifying them; Joseph Smith was easy. There was a four-year-old girl sitting behind us, who said lots of funny things. When Joseph Smith was sitting on the ground getting the plates out, she said, "Who died?"
When we went to church, Jesse and Chancey were in our Sunday School class, and at the beginning we were supposed to say something about us. I said that Jesse and Chancey were my cousins, and the teacher said she wouldn't have known that. When we went home that day, we looked at the Sunday comics. The Thompsons thought that day's 9 Chickweed Lane was really dumb. I remember Peter saying he would like to have every comics page and every sports page from every newspaper. Other comic strips that I read on that trip referenced Gilligan's Island (before I had ever seen it) and The Beverly Hillbillies, and another had a dad telling his kids that fireworks were illegal, a concept that was foreign to me.
Quin was six, and he became friends with a five-year-old kid visiting the Van Auken family. They did lots of things together, and he even ended up in the Thompson family picture taken in front of the K on the house. Here is our own very unflattering picture, with the visiting kid's head in front.
The little "King" decoration in front was burned, along with a lot of other stuff, in a bonfire. It was said--I can't remember if it was my mom or my grandparents--that they wanted it burned so that my then-uncle Wayne wouldn't keep it and turn it into a Thompson sign.
One time, I remember remarking that the smoke of the fire was like that of Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie, and Chancey said I was obsessed.
Sue liked to look for bullfrogs to catch. She also would row the rowboat while standing up, so my mom would call her a gondolier. I loved rowing the boat, but I did it sitting down.
There was a Dunkin' Donuts in the area, and I remember Jesse saying that if he were a police officer, he would turn on his siren to get there. Wayne told him that was illegal. I remember being fascinated by all the abandoned houses in the neighborhood. One of them had holiday lights on it; I was trying to tell whether they were red or orange.
I remember our last day there. Everyone had left except for my grandparents. We grabbed all the things we wanted from the house before leaving for the last time. I wanted a little cat statue, and my mom wanted an older Siamese cat statue. I took the little fruit magnets from the fridge. I liked the ones without leaves, but I ended up taking them all. Then we went and met my grandparents at the laundromat, where I was embarrassed to see they had folded my laundry. That night, we stayed with Mary Lou, who made us a really good chicken dinner. I was wearing my Niagara Falls socks, which were white with red heels and toes. Mary Lou said she loved my socks.
Our last day on the trip, we went to a Shaker museum in Albany. But I wasn't too interested; I mostly wanted to see the gift shop, where I got a little hurricane lamp and some candy made with rosemary. We had a late flight out. On one of the flights, my mom put one of our carry-ons up and told another passenger that it was treasures from Grandma's house. I was excited to finally beat level 9-5 on B-version Tetris. During our layover, we got some cookies from a vending machine. On another flight, a man was assigned to sit by us, but there were empty seats on the plane, so he moved. They were showing Spy Kids, but I fell asleep.
And thus ended our New York vacations.
My mom and I flew into Albany and rented a car, although I don't really remember the particulars.We would have driven up to Pulaski, where my grandparents were already at "the Pond," getting ready to sell the house after Grandma King's death. One night, my mom and I went to the local grocery store. We got cherry Twizzlers and one or two Pez dispensers. I think I got a Snoopy and a Peppermint Patty, but I don't know if I got them at the same time. The store also had cereal themed after the Atlantis Disney movie in theaters at that time.
One day, my grandparents, my mom, and I painted the metal of the dock. We had to get in the water to paint it, and so afterwards we went swimming in the pond. Suddenly my mom shrieked because something in the water had bit her.
Susanne called us; she had been in Mexico. She asked me if I still collected chess sets, because she had bought one for me. She had also gotten really sick from eating flan. After she came, I remember she said she would never eat it again, but my great-aunt Mary Lou said it was sooo good. (I don't like it.)
I had brought some Fourth of July magnets, so I asked Grandma if I could put them on the fridge. She said I could.
One day, my mom and grandparents went to the Palmyra Temple. I went to Hill Cumorah instead. I hiked it a couple of times (with a Pez dispenser in my pocket; I think I was wearing my plaid shorts that had a little world patch covering up a hole burned by an ash), including the back way. There had been a youth conference there; when I walked into the visitor's center, the missionaries thought I was part of that group. I explained I was from North Salt Lake. A sister missionary asked if I knew where Holladay was; I said no. I got a one-on-one tour in the visitor's center.
We went to church one Sunday. One of the speakers said something about "four c's: cake, candy, cookies, and ice cream." I went to the one youth Sunday School class, in which the teacher had brought her little daughter. The toddler had a red drink that she tried to give to the class; one girl took it and pretended to drink it, while a boy did a terrible job of pretending. The teacher said that the drink was made out of wheat. Then I went to Priesthood; one of the guys in that class repeated the "four c's" comment. There was a poster with the Boy Scout Law on it; they had added "hungry and aggressive" at the end. My grandparents were frequent enough visitors that the ward knew them; thus, when one girl asked me who I was visiting, I said, "the Ebberts," but I don't think she knew who that was. After church, Grandpa was talking about the family that had fourteen kids. During priesthood, they had talked about fasting and said that you don't need to fast if you are pregnant or nursing; the patriarch of that family said that his wife hadn't fasted for fourteen years. (Maybe it was longer than that.) I had noticed that the teenage boys in that family needed haircuts.
At some point, Susanne joined us. One day, we visited some historical place; I think it was about the Revolutionary War. I was wearing my red USA shirt, and the tour guide wanted me to represent a Redcoat (unless the historic site wasn't about the Revolutionary War). I got a penny whistle and a feather pen and empty inkwell from their gift shop. I think this might have been the same day we went to some Pfaltzgraff (which sounded like "false craft" to me) and Oneida stores. At one store, they sold dishes with slight defects. I saw a Halloween night light that I thought was cool. At the other store, they sold all sorts of silverware and some other odds and ends. I found a little snowglobe of bears celebrating New Year's. Elsewhere in the store, they had little teapots representing months. For November, there was both a turkey and a Pilgrim hat. I liked the hat one better; apparently, it had been replaced with the turkey. I couldn't decide between the snowglobe and the Pilgrim hat teapot, but I ended up getting the teapot.
Then, at some point, the Thompsons came. I think they had flown into New Jersey and rented a van, which had automatic doors, something we were not accustomed to. At one point, I remember Jesse saying he didn't like Baha Men, that being one of Chancey's CDs (during the era of "Who Let the Dogs Out?"). Another day, we were riding in their van for some reason, and my mom put in my mix tape from the year before. It had a lot of smooth jazz from a Peanuts CD that I did not like, so I was trying to express my disdain for it, but my mom and sister told me to stop.
On the Fourth of July, there was a family reunion. I took a dish out of the fridge, trying to find something. My great aunt Mary Lou told me I needed to hold the dish upright. Later, we went to see a river with a waterfall. I was wearing my white t-shirt with a flag design. There was a sign on a tree telling people not to cliff jump, because the writers had a friend who had done so and died. The sign was a bit of a memorial to him, and among other things it had a picture of a pack of cigarettes. I said that if he smoked, he was going to die anyway. We took a little hike down to the bottom of the waterfalls, and on our way, my aunt Sue said she had found a weeping wall, "but it's not as big as the one at Zions." The "weeping wall" she found was just a little tiny spring, hardly anything like Zion's Weeping Rock. Sue's family was going to go see some fireworks. I was a little hesitant about going with them, because of my then-uncle Wayne's habitual tendency toward orneriness. I went anyway, and as we pulled up to the fairgrounds, I saw the sign saying "Oswego County Fair" and I asked if that meant it was the county fair of Oswego or the fair of Oswego County. My cousin Jesse didn't understand what I was talking about. Once the fireworks started, I remember my cousins Jesse and Joey and I having a conversation about how unimpressive these fireworks were. There was a stationary firework on the ground that was an American flag, but that was the only cool one. Jesse said that he had seen flowers (as in the home firework--"ground blooms") do more amazing things. My aunt reproved us for our negativity. As we left, I remember a conversation about carnival workers. When we got back to "the Pond," my mom and the others there said that someone had been setting off illegal Pennsylvanian fireworks that they were able to watch. I remember then that I regretted going, because the fireworks were so unimpressive and I could have stayed at the house and watched the fireworks reflected on the water.
The next day, we were to have leftover chicken for lunch. The adults told us we could have lunch, and they would have more later. I had a very OCD/obese habit at that time where I would eat my first helping, then I would get seconds that were 2/3 the size of the first helping, then I would get thirds that were 1/3 the size of the first. Thus, I had three pieces of chicken, then two, then one. All of us boys ate a lot. Joey was eating with his mouth open, thus making annoying smacking noises, so I told him not to do that. Then I wanted to illustrate how annoying he was by doing the same thing. Then he said, "Marky's a hypocrite." I was so mad that I went and ate outside. When the adults went to eat, they were shocked that the chicken was all gone, and I felt bad for having eaten six pieces. (In my defense, they were small pieces, so only a couple of pieces was not sufficient for a meal, because I don't think they had offered us anything else.)
At one point, Joey found a non-electric lawnmower. He found it fascinating, so he began messing around with it. Sue was proud of him for mowing the lawn, so she took my mom's camcorder to record it, but my mom told her that she needed to tell him he couldn't make random lines in the lawn.
My mom's cousins and their families came up from Tennessee. Chancey was kind of flirtatious with some of the girls; Sue remarked that she noticed he had put on his best shirt, a button-up over a BYU t-shirt (the style of the day being to have a button-up shirt unbuttoned over another shirt). At one point, I took a wet fishing net and sprinkled it above my second cousin Ryan, saying I was getting payback from 1995. He said he didn't remember doing that, but someone else said he could see him doing that. My mom's cousins Rob and Sandy had recently adopted a little boy.
One night, we were all asleep when we heard a girl next door yelling quite loudly, "You're such a liar, I hope you die!" Sue said, "What's going on? Joey?"
We went to Niagara Falls one day. This might have been the morning Chancey came with us in our rental car; he was asked if he was OK with listening to Kenny Rogers and John Denver, and he said he was because his family didn't like listening to country music. I said that I had heard Conway Twitty on commercials and didn't like him. I was offered a granola bar, but I didn't want to eat it because I had brushed my teeth in the last half hour, but I might have eaten it anyway. At Niagara Falls, we went and saw the falls from the back. I remember Joey was singing "Yankee Doodle Dandee." We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist, which was pretty fun.
Another day--maybe that day--we went to the Hill Cumorah for the Palmyra Pageant. We met Grandma and Grandpa there; Grandpa had made his signature chicken and brought it for our dinner. I was kind of embarrassed to be eating it in front of all those strangers. I saw some people with programs, but we didn't have one, so I went up to a booth and said, "Is this where we get the programs?" and she kind of rudely said no. I remember watching all the different actors and identifying them; Joseph Smith was easy. There was a four-year-old girl sitting behind us, who said lots of funny things. When Joseph Smith was sitting on the ground getting the plates out, she said, "Who died?"
When we went to church, Jesse and Chancey were in our Sunday School class, and at the beginning we were supposed to say something about us. I said that Jesse and Chancey were my cousins, and the teacher said she wouldn't have known that. When we went home that day, we looked at the Sunday comics. The Thompsons thought that day's 9 Chickweed Lane was really dumb. I remember Peter saying he would like to have every comics page and every sports page from every newspaper. Other comic strips that I read on that trip referenced Gilligan's Island (before I had ever seen it) and The Beverly Hillbillies, and another had a dad telling his kids that fireworks were illegal, a concept that was foreign to me.
Quin was six, and he became friends with a five-year-old kid visiting the Van Auken family. They did lots of things together, and he even ended up in the Thompson family picture taken in front of the K on the house. Here is our own very unflattering picture, with the visiting kid's head in front.
One time, I remember remarking that the smoke of the fire was like that of Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie, and Chancey said I was obsessed.
Sue liked to look for bullfrogs to catch. She also would row the rowboat while standing up, so my mom would call her a gondolier. I loved rowing the boat, but I did it sitting down.
There was a Dunkin' Donuts in the area, and I remember Jesse saying that if he were a police officer, he would turn on his siren to get there. Wayne told him that was illegal. I remember being fascinated by all the abandoned houses in the neighborhood. One of them had holiday lights on it; I was trying to tell whether they were red or orange.
I remember our last day there. Everyone had left except for my grandparents. We grabbed all the things we wanted from the house before leaving for the last time. I wanted a little cat statue, and my mom wanted an older Siamese cat statue. I took the little fruit magnets from the fridge. I liked the ones without leaves, but I ended up taking them all. Then we went and met my grandparents at the laundromat, where I was embarrassed to see they had folded my laundry. That night, we stayed with Mary Lou, who made us a really good chicken dinner. I was wearing my Niagara Falls socks, which were white with red heels and toes. Mary Lou said she loved my socks.
Our last day on the trip, we went to a Shaker museum in Albany. But I wasn't too interested; I mostly wanted to see the gift shop, where I got a little hurricane lamp and some candy made with rosemary. We had a late flight out. On one of the flights, my mom put one of our carry-ons up and told another passenger that it was treasures from Grandma's house. I was excited to finally beat level 9-5 on B-version Tetris. During our layover, we got some cookies from a vending machine. On another flight, a man was assigned to sit by us, but there were empty seats on the plane, so he moved. They were showing Spy Kids, but I fell asleep.
And thus ended our New York vacations.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
July 1
In one month from today, it will be three days before the Fourth of July, so I'm going to remember what I can about July 1.
2013. We were in California. In the morning, Ya-ping pulled weeds/grass from her garden to feed to the animals at the little farm we were going to. When we got to the farm, we saw some butterflies dancing with each other in the air. We fed some cows, and one was so eager that he took a whole bunch of grass out of the plastic bag we had. There was an awkward moment where Preston was confused about the anatomy of a sheep. Eventually we left. At one point, Preston got a little baggy of goodies (I think from the library) for having read, among which was a giant inflatable ice cream cone. I remember sitting in the car, trying to get Franklin to say "play" instead of "fay"; he actually did pretty well with my coaching. That afternoon, we went to Target. The teenage girl with us bought some $5 movies. I wanted to get red, white, and blue Goldfish crackers and patriotic Pop-Tarts. My mom wanted popsicles; she got big strawberry ones and little red, white, and blue ones. At the checkout, I wanted fruit punch mints, and Preston asked my mom if I was paying with my own money. While my mom was at Little Caesar's getting pizza, my dad and I walked the boys home. The teenage girl said she'd never had Little Caesar's before.
2012. About three in the morning, my roommate's book fell of the dresser and woke me up, and then I noticed that my roommate Bryton was not in his bed. I went out in the living room and discovered that he was still awake, preparing a lesson for priesthood, he being the elders quorum president. The next day, he gave his patriotic lesson. After breaking my fast, I ate the patriotic cupcake my friend Kat had given me the day before. I made a post on this blog about a 1995 family vacation.
2011. I had to drive town to Southtowne mall to pick up my stuff for the Freedom Run. Then I drove home.
2010. Some of my classmates from French were having a cultural activity. In France, they often make a "Bûche de Noël" at Christmas, a cake that looks like a log, so I made a "Bûche du Quatre Juillet" with red, white, and blue sprinkles and red, white, and blue Tootsie Roll Pops. I drove to the house where it was being hosted by a married couple. They had an adorable baby, and I felt bad when I was watching her and she hit her head. The mom told me it was OK. The husband kept the Tootsie Roll Pop from his piece of cake, but other people just put them in the pan. When I got home, I put a note on the cake filling, Cool Whip mixed with pudding, saying anyone could have it.
2002. It was our last day in Iowa, visiting my cousin Tammy and her family. She let her kids watch a movie every Monday, so on this Monday morning three-year-old Adam was watching The Jungle Book. At one point, he said, "Oh no, Shere Khan is coming! My grandma thought he said, "Grandpa," so she said, "He's in the bathroom."
2001. I believe this was the Sunday in New York, where it was my second week in the Pulaski Ward, and Chancey and Jesse were with me in Sunday School. The teacher had us say something interesting, and I said that Chancey and Jesse were my cousins, and she said she wouldn't have known that otherwise.
1999. It's possible this was July 2, but I was with my parents and we drove in the Uintas. We passed our preferred campsite of Moosehorn, which was covered with snow. We went up to a lookout, where we looked down on the lake. I noticed the little boulder I had often gone to. I built a small snowman, and I made a joke that they must be called the Uintas because it sounds like "You wintah [winter]."
2013. We were in California. In the morning, Ya-ping pulled weeds/grass from her garden to feed to the animals at the little farm we were going to. When we got to the farm, we saw some butterflies dancing with each other in the air. We fed some cows, and one was so eager that he took a whole bunch of grass out of the plastic bag we had. There was an awkward moment where Preston was confused about the anatomy of a sheep. Eventually we left. At one point, Preston got a little baggy of goodies (I think from the library) for having read, among which was a giant inflatable ice cream cone. I remember sitting in the car, trying to get Franklin to say "play" instead of "fay"; he actually did pretty well with my coaching. That afternoon, we went to Target. The teenage girl with us bought some $5 movies. I wanted to get red, white, and blue Goldfish crackers and patriotic Pop-Tarts. My mom wanted popsicles; she got big strawberry ones and little red, white, and blue ones. At the checkout, I wanted fruit punch mints, and Preston asked my mom if I was paying with my own money. While my mom was at Little Caesar's getting pizza, my dad and I walked the boys home. The teenage girl said she'd never had Little Caesar's before.
2012. About three in the morning, my roommate's book fell of the dresser and woke me up, and then I noticed that my roommate Bryton was not in his bed. I went out in the living room and discovered that he was still awake, preparing a lesson for priesthood, he being the elders quorum president. The next day, he gave his patriotic lesson. After breaking my fast, I ate the patriotic cupcake my friend Kat had given me the day before. I made a post on this blog about a 1995 family vacation.
2011. I had to drive town to Southtowne mall to pick up my stuff for the Freedom Run. Then I drove home.
2010. Some of my classmates from French were having a cultural activity. In France, they often make a "Bûche de Noël" at Christmas, a cake that looks like a log, so I made a "Bûche du Quatre Juillet" with red, white, and blue sprinkles and red, white, and blue Tootsie Roll Pops. I drove to the house where it was being hosted by a married couple. They had an adorable baby, and I felt bad when I was watching her and she hit her head. The mom told me it was OK. The husband kept the Tootsie Roll Pop from his piece of cake, but other people just put them in the pan. When I got home, I put a note on the cake filling, Cool Whip mixed with pudding, saying anyone could have it.
2002. It was our last day in Iowa, visiting my cousin Tammy and her family. She let her kids watch a movie every Monday, so on this Monday morning three-year-old Adam was watching The Jungle Book. At one point, he said, "Oh no, Shere Khan is coming! My grandma thought he said, "Grandpa," so she said, "He's in the bathroom."
2001. I believe this was the Sunday in New York, where it was my second week in the Pulaski Ward, and Chancey and Jesse were with me in Sunday School. The teacher had us say something interesting, and I said that Chancey and Jesse were my cousins, and she said she wouldn't have known that otherwise.
1999. It's possible this was July 2, but I was with my parents and we drove in the Uintas. We passed our preferred campsite of Moosehorn, which was covered with snow. We went up to a lookout, where we looked down on the lake. I noticed the little boulder I had often gone to. I built a small snowman, and I made a joke that they must be called the Uintas because it sounds like "You wintah [winter]."
Sunday, May 18, 2014
The day before Memorial Day
Last week I blogged about the Saturday before Memorial Day, and this week the topic is the day before the holiday (Sunday).
2013. After church I drove home, and I remember in the evening sitting on the couch in the living room, writing my blogs.
2012. I remember going to the singles ward up in NSL, and I felt bad that Brittany Bowman moved into that ward after I had unfriended her on Facebook. My mom had made a birthday cake for my dad with red, white, and blue sprinkles so that I could eat it. When she dished out my bowl, she had even put sprinkles on the ice cream. I didn't think sprinkles belonged on ice cream, and I would have been able to eat it anyway, since it was paired with the patriotic cake.
2011. I think I wore a sweater to the NSL singles ward, because it was a cool day and I could.
2010. I would have been home this day, but I can't remember what I did.
2009. This is what my journal says. I think when we met Rebecca's brother, we were looking for her, but he was the only one home and invited us in: "At church today Kim told us the talk with her mom wasn't the greatest, so we're going over tomorrow.
"This afternoon we tracted a small street but few people were home. Then we had dinner with the Smiths. After that we contacted Rebecca Dyer's brother, who isn't a member, so hopefully we can possibly teach him. Then we visited Brother Nickel, and gave Sister Carter a blessing."
2008. My companion at this time ruined my mission for those three months, and later during the week blamed me for all his shortcomings. At our visit with the Hokes, we were there way too long, and they played Bill Cosby's chocolate cake routine. Here is what the journal says:
"Today, Kristy and Austin were our only investigators at church, although Gina, an investigator from another stake, came with her friend.
"We overstayed with the Hokes--great family--and then we tried to see people. Our numbers this week are bad, and P-day isn't tomorrow. It will be an interesting day."
2007. We were camped in the backyard of my late grandparents' house, and I think that night we watched The Flying Nun on the little portable DVD player, in the trailer.
2004. I think this was the time that we went down to my grandparents' house in Fillmore to go to church. I was dismayed when I realized that I had forgotten my dress shoes, but Grandpa Boyd told me that a lot of people at church wouldn't be in dress shoes either. But people wouldn't have noticed my shoes. David, Ya-ping, and a friend had not brought any church clothes at all. David said it was because they didn't know if they would be going to church. It seemed pretty obvious to me that if you didn't know, you would bring clothes just in case. They didn't even shower before church, and we had been camping. We were embarrassed to be with them, and Mom was really mad.
2001. My dad wasn't happy to turn 50. We were at Shingle Mill campground in Fillmore Canyon. That day we went to my grandparents' house in Fillmore before and after church; my dad said that it was fifty years ago to the day that he first entered the doorway to the kitchen (when he was born, the kitchen door was the front door of the house). Grandpa Boyd told my dad that he remembered when he came into the world. We went back up to the canyon, and my aunt Sarena brought my dad a cake that had "Over the Hill" decorations and black frosting on the edges. My cousin Steven got some all over his face and we discovered that the black frosting was blue when it was diluted. Then my uncle Mike invited me to go adventuring in the red Jeep with him and my cousins Krishelle and Terrill. We went up the canyon, and I think we saw a place for cattle to drink. Then we looked out over Fillmore from the canyon; Mike pointed out the Maverik station. Krishelle pointed out tiny Flowell. We went to the "M" for "Millard" on the mountain; there were tin can lanterns all over the M for them to light up. I was immature and I thought it would be funny to make some weird noises by vibrating my cheeks. It really annoyed Krishelle, who kept saying "Stop that!" Then we went to a place known colloquially in Fillmore as Pink Elephant Lane; my uncle said that my dad had once crashed there. He told some silly jokes: Why do pink elephants paint their toenails red? So they can hide in cherry trees and Why do they paint their toenails green? So they can hide in lime trees. Then we went and filled up the Jeep at the Maverik station; I was surprised my uncle was buying gas on Sunday and I was especially surprised that he was also buying drinks. A snake had hitched a ride on the Jeep and fell off at the gas station. Mike asked a girl at another pump if she wanted a snake; she saw it and was a bit grossed out. Then we went back up to the canyon and our trailer's porch light was on. It was about 10:30 and everyone was going to bed; I was sad I missed a night of campfire business. This paragraph was taken from My dad's birthdays.
1993 or 1994. This might have been the time we had a little campfire devotional service. My memory tells me we even had sacrament, which is a big no-no, but since I was so young, it's possible that didn't happen.
2013. After church I drove home, and I remember in the evening sitting on the couch in the living room, writing my blogs.
2012. I remember going to the singles ward up in NSL, and I felt bad that Brittany Bowman moved into that ward after I had unfriended her on Facebook. My mom had made a birthday cake for my dad with red, white, and blue sprinkles so that I could eat it. When she dished out my bowl, she had even put sprinkles on the ice cream. I didn't think sprinkles belonged on ice cream, and I would have been able to eat it anyway, since it was paired with the patriotic cake.
2011. I think I wore a sweater to the NSL singles ward, because it was a cool day and I could.
2010. I would have been home this day, but I can't remember what I did.
2009. This is what my journal says. I think when we met Rebecca's brother, we were looking for her, but he was the only one home and invited us in: "At church today Kim told us the talk with her mom wasn't the greatest, so we're going over tomorrow.
"This afternoon we tracted a small street but few people were home. Then we had dinner with the Smiths. After that we contacted Rebecca Dyer's brother, who isn't a member, so hopefully we can possibly teach him. Then we visited Brother Nickel, and gave Sister Carter a blessing."
2008. My companion at this time ruined my mission for those three months, and later during the week blamed me for all his shortcomings. At our visit with the Hokes, we were there way too long, and they played Bill Cosby's chocolate cake routine. Here is what the journal says:
"Today, Kristy and Austin were our only investigators at church, although Gina, an investigator from another stake, came with her friend.
"We overstayed with the Hokes--great family--and then we tried to see people. Our numbers this week are bad, and P-day isn't tomorrow. It will be an interesting day."
2007. We were camped in the backyard of my late grandparents' house, and I think that night we watched The Flying Nun on the little portable DVD player, in the trailer.
2004. I think this was the time that we went down to my grandparents' house in Fillmore to go to church. I was dismayed when I realized that I had forgotten my dress shoes, but Grandpa Boyd told me that a lot of people at church wouldn't be in dress shoes either. But people wouldn't have noticed my shoes. David, Ya-ping, and a friend had not brought any church clothes at all. David said it was because they didn't know if they would be going to church. It seemed pretty obvious to me that if you didn't know, you would bring clothes just in case. They didn't even shower before church, and we had been camping. We were embarrassed to be with them, and Mom was really mad.
2001. My dad wasn't happy to turn 50. We were at Shingle Mill campground in Fillmore Canyon. That day we went to my grandparents' house in Fillmore before and after church; my dad said that it was fifty years ago to the day that he first entered the doorway to the kitchen (when he was born, the kitchen door was the front door of the house). Grandpa Boyd told my dad that he remembered when he came into the world. We went back up to the canyon, and my aunt Sarena brought my dad a cake that had "Over the Hill" decorations and black frosting on the edges. My cousin Steven got some all over his face and we discovered that the black frosting was blue when it was diluted. Then my uncle Mike invited me to go adventuring in the red Jeep with him and my cousins Krishelle and Terrill. We went up the canyon, and I think we saw a place for cattle to drink. Then we looked out over Fillmore from the canyon; Mike pointed out the Maverik station. Krishelle pointed out tiny Flowell. We went to the "M" for "Millard" on the mountain; there were tin can lanterns all over the M for them to light up. I was immature and I thought it would be funny to make some weird noises by vibrating my cheeks. It really annoyed Krishelle, who kept saying "Stop that!" Then we went to a place known colloquially in Fillmore as Pink Elephant Lane; my uncle said that my dad had once crashed there. He told some silly jokes: Why do pink elephants paint their toenails red? So they can hide in cherry trees and Why do they paint their toenails green? So they can hide in lime trees. Then we went and filled up the Jeep at the Maverik station; I was surprised my uncle was buying gas on Sunday and I was especially surprised that he was also buying drinks. A snake had hitched a ride on the Jeep and fell off at the gas station. Mike asked a girl at another pump if she wanted a snake; she saw it and was a bit grossed out. Then we went back up to the canyon and our trailer's porch light was on. It was about 10:30 and everyone was going to bed; I was sad I missed a night of campfire business. This paragraph was taken from My dad's birthdays.
1993 or 1994. This might have been the time we had a little campfire devotional service. My memory tells me we even had sacrament, which is a big no-no, but since I was so young, it's possible that didn't happen.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Two days before Memorial Day
Memorial Day is coming up, so I'm going to remember what I did on the Saturday before Memorial Day.
2013. I went to the Deseret Book/Distribution store to buy a new journal. I wanted the Church-made ones, so I looked all over Distribution. I asked someone where they were, and she directed me back to Deseret Book. I looked at their journals, but there were none of the Church-made ones, so I didn't buy one. I remember spending a lot of time in the library, working on an assignment for my editing class. This might have been the time that when I went over to the restroom, I saw two people from my ward, Ben Savio and David Jones. This is what my journal says:
"I went to buy a new journal today, but apparently they don't make these anymore. I've had a really hard time staying focused and motivated today. The only productive thing I did was spend a few hours on an editing assignment, but I should have done more, 'cause it's a doozy. I have a cold or something."
2012. We were camping, and I had some hot chocolate with red, white, and blue star-shaped marshmallows in it. It was cold and wet. Susanne came up, and she had brought Buddy the dog. He was getting all in the mud, and then he would jump up on Allie and Susanne and get his muddy pawprints on the blanket. Nan said she used to make fun of someone who brought her dog camping, and here she was the crazy dog person. We were all thinking the same thing. Eventually we all left, and I was dropped off at my apartment. I offered to Allie to use my bathroom, but she didn't want to. When I told her that my roommates weren't home, she was willing to come in. My dad came in too, and for a brief moment my roommate Cameron came home and he seemed a little freaked out to see a strange man in the apartment. They left, and I got ready to come up. But I left a little later than I expected. I went to Smith's in Bountiful to get salt and vinegar chips and root beer for my dad's birthday, and while I was there my mom called me (or texted me) to see where I was.
2011. I remember going to Walmart with my family, and Allie was saying she wanted a treat. My mom offered to get her the movie Gnomeo and Juliet. But then she was saying again that she wanted a treat, and would rather have it than the movie. I pointed out to her how silly that was, because she could watch a movie over and over, and we still had some of my dad's birthday cake at home. My mom agreed with me, to Allie's chagrin.
2010. My parents came early in the morning to pick me up to go to Fillmore. I gave my dad the DVD I had bought for his birthday when I got in the car, and I even told my parents about the concert I had been to the night before and had brought the CD I got there, but they didn't seem interested. We went to McDonald's for breakfast, which I wasn't happy about, and Allie said, "Maybe we're going here because I'm here." She had a bunch of DVDs to watch in her portable DVD player. She had brought the movie Mamma Mia! which I didn't want to be around, as very few PG-13 movies fit my standards (I wondered why she was allowed to watch it!). My mom asked Allie if she could watch something else for me. Later, Allie was watching a Barbie movie, and she told me that I could watch it because it had boys in it; and she also told me I could watch Mamma Mia! because it had boys in it. I thought it was funny that the six-year-old thought I didn't want to watch a movie because I thought it didn't have boys in it. We went to Fillmore Canyon, and Matt and I were standing on a grassy portion near the creek, where the kids were throwing rocks into the stream. Matt asked me what classes I was taking; I said, "French and New Testament," and he said he had taken French. Allie tried to throw a rock in the stream, and she missed horribly and threw it at us. We went back up to the picnic area, and Sarena was making homemade ice cream. Allie said, "I want to sit on this rock," so we let her and walked away. Then Susanne realized that she was sitting there, waiting for Sarena to share her ice cream. She went and took Allie away. Allie was really mad, and Nan tried to explain why that wasn't polite. But then Sarena came around and offered some of her ice cream to all of us. Allie was happy about that, but I declined. We went back to Provo, and my dad rode up with me. I asked him if he wanted a granola bar, but he didn't.
2009. We were helping the Catmulls next door, and Sister Catmull offered us pizza. She asked me what I liked or didn't like, and I said I liked everything but mushrooms. One of the pizzas ended up being Hawaiian, which Elder LaPratt didn't like. Their grandson Tyson and his girlfriend and our investigator, Kim, were there. They also had a great-grandson, a two-year-old named Jake, there. He pointed to the fancy pizza with tomatoes on it, probably because he thought the tomatoes looked good. But when he tasted it, he got this cringe on his face. It was really funny. This is what my journal says:
"This morning we were going to help Brother Cooper, but he wasn't home. We visited Brother Sabin. At the end of lunch, Tyson Ball asked if we could help his grandpa next door. We did, and that allowed us to have a lesson with Kim after dinner. That went well. After that we helped the Ruddells."
2008. I don't remember much about this day, but I think we met with Denise in the church building after Elder Condie played in the stake softball game. This might have been the day I was amused by the scriptures talking about the fathers eating a sour grape and the children's teeth being set on edge. One of the members said, "Sounds like sour grapes to me." (Our district, including our zone leaders, would play softball with the ward members, which I don't necessarily think is a bad idea, but it was later forbidden. I would sit and read my scriptures, but it probably would have been better if I interacted with members, which was the point of playing.) This is what my journal says:
"There were two softball games today. I was able to read much of Isaiah during it. Then Denise kept her appointment and hopefully she'll come to church. We met with the Curtisses, and then stopped by various people. The Welshes made us dinner.
"Elder Condie wanted me to redo the progress records. It seems like he disapproves of everything I do since interviews."
2002. I was released from the hospital in the morning from having anaphylaxis. My grandparents came over, and my mom was folding laundry. I was mortified that she was folding my underwear in front of them, so I kept throwing water at her in the hopes that she would stop, but it just made her mad. I was talking about how my Spanish teacher had said that any extra credit had to be done before Friday (the day before), no exceptions, that if you were in the ambulance on your way to the hospital, it would still be too late. Although I wasn't doing any extra credit, I was in fact in an ambulance on my way to the hospital that day.
2001. I think we were playing with the little helicopter toys my mom had brought camping. Sometimes they would fly on top of the outhouse, which was brand new and therefore not smelly. My cousin Rayce would climb up and get it. I think I imagined it would be really funny if it landed in the little pipe thing.
1995. I think this was the time that I was riding up in a car with my dad, Susanne, and my cousins Rayce and Krishelle. My dad and sister were remarking about how high the creek was and were saying we couldn't play in it. Krishelle and I were talking about how it freaked us out to drive by the cliffs on the side of the road. When we got up to the campsite, my mom, who had been in another vehicle, got all the kids together and said, "OK, the rule is," and then she explained we couldn't go by the water. We told her we knew that already. She clapped her hands together at some point (I think after "OK"); I don't know if it was to get our attention or for dramatic effect.
2013. I went to the Deseret Book/Distribution store to buy a new journal. I wanted the Church-made ones, so I looked all over Distribution. I asked someone where they were, and she directed me back to Deseret Book. I looked at their journals, but there were none of the Church-made ones, so I didn't buy one. I remember spending a lot of time in the library, working on an assignment for my editing class. This might have been the time that when I went over to the restroom, I saw two people from my ward, Ben Savio and David Jones. This is what my journal says:
"I went to buy a new journal today, but apparently they don't make these anymore. I've had a really hard time staying focused and motivated today. The only productive thing I did was spend a few hours on an editing assignment, but I should have done more, 'cause it's a doozy. I have a cold or something."
2012. We were camping, and I had some hot chocolate with red, white, and blue star-shaped marshmallows in it. It was cold and wet. Susanne came up, and she had brought Buddy the dog. He was getting all in the mud, and then he would jump up on Allie and Susanne and get his muddy pawprints on the blanket. Nan said she used to make fun of someone who brought her dog camping, and here she was the crazy dog person. We were all thinking the same thing. Eventually we all left, and I was dropped off at my apartment. I offered to Allie to use my bathroom, but she didn't want to. When I told her that my roommates weren't home, she was willing to come in. My dad came in too, and for a brief moment my roommate Cameron came home and he seemed a little freaked out to see a strange man in the apartment. They left, and I got ready to come up. But I left a little later than I expected. I went to Smith's in Bountiful to get salt and vinegar chips and root beer for my dad's birthday, and while I was there my mom called me (or texted me) to see where I was.
2011. I remember going to Walmart with my family, and Allie was saying she wanted a treat. My mom offered to get her the movie Gnomeo and Juliet. But then she was saying again that she wanted a treat, and would rather have it than the movie. I pointed out to her how silly that was, because she could watch a movie over and over, and we still had some of my dad's birthday cake at home. My mom agreed with me, to Allie's chagrin.
2010. My parents came early in the morning to pick me up to go to Fillmore. I gave my dad the DVD I had bought for his birthday when I got in the car, and I even told my parents about the concert I had been to the night before and had brought the CD I got there, but they didn't seem interested. We went to McDonald's for breakfast, which I wasn't happy about, and Allie said, "Maybe we're going here because I'm here." She had a bunch of DVDs to watch in her portable DVD player. She had brought the movie Mamma Mia! which I didn't want to be around, as very few PG-13 movies fit my standards (I wondered why she was allowed to watch it!). My mom asked Allie if she could watch something else for me. Later, Allie was watching a Barbie movie, and she told me that I could watch it because it had boys in it; and she also told me I could watch Mamma Mia! because it had boys in it. I thought it was funny that the six-year-old thought I didn't want to watch a movie because I thought it didn't have boys in it. We went to Fillmore Canyon, and Matt and I were standing on a grassy portion near the creek, where the kids were throwing rocks into the stream. Matt asked me what classes I was taking; I said, "French and New Testament," and he said he had taken French. Allie tried to throw a rock in the stream, and she missed horribly and threw it at us. We went back up to the picnic area, and Sarena was making homemade ice cream. Allie said, "I want to sit on this rock," so we let her and walked away. Then Susanne realized that she was sitting there, waiting for Sarena to share her ice cream. She went and took Allie away. Allie was really mad, and Nan tried to explain why that wasn't polite. But then Sarena came around and offered some of her ice cream to all of us. Allie was happy about that, but I declined. We went back to Provo, and my dad rode up with me. I asked him if he wanted a granola bar, but he didn't.
2009. We were helping the Catmulls next door, and Sister Catmull offered us pizza. She asked me what I liked or didn't like, and I said I liked everything but mushrooms. One of the pizzas ended up being Hawaiian, which Elder LaPratt didn't like. Their grandson Tyson and his girlfriend and our investigator, Kim, were there. They also had a great-grandson, a two-year-old named Jake, there. He pointed to the fancy pizza with tomatoes on it, probably because he thought the tomatoes looked good. But when he tasted it, he got this cringe on his face. It was really funny. This is what my journal says:
"This morning we were going to help Brother Cooper, but he wasn't home. We visited Brother Sabin. At the end of lunch, Tyson Ball asked if we could help his grandpa next door. We did, and that allowed us to have a lesson with Kim after dinner. That went well. After that we helped the Ruddells."
2008. I don't remember much about this day, but I think we met with Denise in the church building after Elder Condie played in the stake softball game. This might have been the day I was amused by the scriptures talking about the fathers eating a sour grape and the children's teeth being set on edge. One of the members said, "Sounds like sour grapes to me." (Our district, including our zone leaders, would play softball with the ward members, which I don't necessarily think is a bad idea, but it was later forbidden. I would sit and read my scriptures, but it probably would have been better if I interacted with members, which was the point of playing.) This is what my journal says:
"There were two softball games today. I was able to read much of Isaiah during it. Then Denise kept her appointment and hopefully she'll come to church. We met with the Curtisses, and then stopped by various people. The Welshes made us dinner.
"Elder Condie wanted me to redo the progress records. It seems like he disapproves of everything I do since interviews."
2002. I was released from the hospital in the morning from having anaphylaxis. My grandparents came over, and my mom was folding laundry. I was mortified that she was folding my underwear in front of them, so I kept throwing water at her in the hopes that she would stop, but it just made her mad. I was talking about how my Spanish teacher had said that any extra credit had to be done before Friday (the day before), no exceptions, that if you were in the ambulance on your way to the hospital, it would still be too late. Although I wasn't doing any extra credit, I was in fact in an ambulance on my way to the hospital that day.
2001. I think we were playing with the little helicopter toys my mom had brought camping. Sometimes they would fly on top of the outhouse, which was brand new and therefore not smelly. My cousin Rayce would climb up and get it. I think I imagined it would be really funny if it landed in the little pipe thing.
1995. I think this was the time that I was riding up in a car with my dad, Susanne, and my cousins Rayce and Krishelle. My dad and sister were remarking about how high the creek was and were saying we couldn't play in it. Krishelle and I were talking about how it freaked us out to drive by the cliffs on the side of the road. When we got up to the campsite, my mom, who had been in another vehicle, got all the kids together and said, "OK, the rule is," and then she explained we couldn't go by the water. We told her we knew that already. She clapped her hands together at some point (I think after "OK"); I don't know if it was to get our attention or for dramatic effect.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The day after Easter
Well, the trio of Valentine's Day/St. Patrick's Day/Easter is coming to an end, so I'm going to remember what I can about the day after Easter.
2013. We were having FHE at our bishop's house, so I rode with Joel DeVore up to Bishop's. On the way there, one of the passengers was playing solitaire on his laptop. They were talking about The Onion, and I said that on April Fool's Day the Onion should run real news. When we got there, I admired Bishop's granite boulder, like I usually do. (It's inside his house.) When we left, I remember there was a discussion about dubstep. I was impressed with Google's treasure map theme, and I appreciated the Delicate Arch and Salt Lake Temple pictures they put on the map.
2012. I needed to do some grocery shopping, since I hadn't done it over the weekend. For some reason I went to Shopko, and I was surprised to see they already had patriotic Tootsie Roll Pops and Tootsie Rolls. I went over to Buy Low Market, where I had never been before. I could see why, because their oranges, while very cheap, were moldy. I remember seeing a lady buy a bunch of clearance Easter M&Ms, but I didn't because they were out of season.
2011. I would have driven back to Provo. I remember lying on my bed, looking at things and listening to music. My new roommate Nate Gardner came in and said hi to me--it seemed like he knew who I was from high school, but I didn't know him. I was doing situps and watching some Peanuts specials, when both my new roommate Chase Elwood and, at another time, my roommate Zach Zimmerman came in. Zach came in right at the scene in It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown about which I had shown him a YouTube video that showed that the audio was backwards.
2010. I went to my math class, and another student asked what conference talk was my favorite. I said I liked Elder Holland's; he said it wasn't his favorite, as it was another pornography talk.
2009. I'm not sure, but it's possible this was the day we called a member of the ward to give us a ride, since the other elders for some reason couldn't give us one, and the member came in his pickup truck, and he had expected us not to be dressed up, since it was P-day (even though we were required to wear our proselyting clothes when we were in public). He thought that if we weren't dressed up, we could ride in the back of the truck--which was also against the rules. I moved some papers over on the seat to make room in the cab, and he said the papers were very important to him. I assured him I would be careful. I don't think we called him again.
2008. I remember eating most or all of the fake chocolate ("mockolate") bunny that Sister Welsh gave me.
2006. I remember coming home from school and seeing that my family had gone shopping at Kmart. They got clearance Easter toys, little eggs that would spin around after you pulled the cord out. They also bought the movie A Boy Named Charlie Brown. I watched it, and I remember thinking that maybe it had a message for me, since I would be in the French spelling bee the next day.
2004. I had to turn in the Isaiah assignment that my terrible seminary teacher made us do. (Seriously. That guy should have been fired.)
2001. There had been a teacher strike earlier in the year, so we had to go to school on this day, even though normally it would have been a day off. There weren't many students there; I remember Mr. Unger (who I think was acting as a secretary at that time) was saying he could only remember one other day in all his teaching with such low attendance. My mom wasn't happy that I went to school that day.
2000, or 1999. It was on one of these years when I was in the kitchen trying to make a deviled egg (or maybe egg salad) and somehow I made it awful. While I was eating it, my mom's friend Jackie came over.
1998. My mom picked me up from my cousins' house. We went to Sam's Club, and I was talking about how early I wanted to go to bed that week, because I was super tired; I said I wanted to go to bed early on Friday, but she told me Sabrina the Teenage Witch would be on. We saw my teacher, Mrs. Fisher, at the checkout, and I was so tired I could hardly talk to her.
2013. We were having FHE at our bishop's house, so I rode with Joel DeVore up to Bishop's. On the way there, one of the passengers was playing solitaire on his laptop. They were talking about The Onion, and I said that on April Fool's Day the Onion should run real news. When we got there, I admired Bishop's granite boulder, like I usually do. (It's inside his house.) When we left, I remember there was a discussion about dubstep. I was impressed with Google's treasure map theme, and I appreciated the Delicate Arch and Salt Lake Temple pictures they put on the map.
2012. I needed to do some grocery shopping, since I hadn't done it over the weekend. For some reason I went to Shopko, and I was surprised to see they already had patriotic Tootsie Roll Pops and Tootsie Rolls. I went over to Buy Low Market, where I had never been before. I could see why, because their oranges, while very cheap, were moldy. I remember seeing a lady buy a bunch of clearance Easter M&Ms, but I didn't because they were out of season.
2011. I would have driven back to Provo. I remember lying on my bed, looking at things and listening to music. My new roommate Nate Gardner came in and said hi to me--it seemed like he knew who I was from high school, but I didn't know him. I was doing situps and watching some Peanuts specials, when both my new roommate Chase Elwood and, at another time, my roommate Zach Zimmerman came in. Zach came in right at the scene in It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown about which I had shown him a YouTube video that showed that the audio was backwards.
2010. I went to my math class, and another student asked what conference talk was my favorite. I said I liked Elder Holland's; he said it wasn't his favorite, as it was another pornography talk.
2009. I'm not sure, but it's possible this was the day we called a member of the ward to give us a ride, since the other elders for some reason couldn't give us one, and the member came in his pickup truck, and he had expected us not to be dressed up, since it was P-day (even though we were required to wear our proselyting clothes when we were in public). He thought that if we weren't dressed up, we could ride in the back of the truck--which was also against the rules. I moved some papers over on the seat to make room in the cab, and he said the papers were very important to him. I assured him I would be careful. I don't think we called him again.
2008. I remember eating most or all of the fake chocolate ("mockolate") bunny that Sister Welsh gave me.
2006. I remember coming home from school and seeing that my family had gone shopping at Kmart. They got clearance Easter toys, little eggs that would spin around after you pulled the cord out. They also bought the movie A Boy Named Charlie Brown. I watched it, and I remember thinking that maybe it had a message for me, since I would be in the French spelling bee the next day.
2004. I had to turn in the Isaiah assignment that my terrible seminary teacher made us do. (Seriously. That guy should have been fired.)
2001. There had been a teacher strike earlier in the year, so we had to go to school on this day, even though normally it would have been a day off. There weren't many students there; I remember Mr. Unger (who I think was acting as a secretary at that time) was saying he could only remember one other day in all his teaching with such low attendance. My mom wasn't happy that I went to school that day.
2000, or 1999. It was on one of these years when I was in the kitchen trying to make a deviled egg (or maybe egg salad) and somehow I made it awful. While I was eating it, my mom's friend Jackie came over.
1998. My mom picked me up from my cousins' house. We went to Sam's Club, and I was talking about how early I wanted to go to bed that week, because I was super tired; I said I wanted to go to bed early on Friday, but she told me Sabrina the Teenage Witch would be on. We saw my teacher, Mrs. Fisher, at the checkout, and I was so tired I could hardly talk to her.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Good Friday
Easter is this week, so I will remember the things that happened two days before the holiday.
2013. I was taking a girl in my ward whom I home taught, Kayla, to the airport, so I parked over by her place and helped her load her suitcase in my car. We took off, and I was at a stop sign, waiting to turn left. Eventually I turned, and Kayla screamed. Another car was coming and honked--I hadn't seen them. I felt dumb the whole way for having done that. At one point I asked where Kayla got her mission call to--she said she hadn't even finished her papers. I felt dumb because I should have known that; I just got confused because so many girls were going on missions. We talked about the band fun. and I said I didn't like them; Kayla said she didn't like the lyrics of "We Are Young" but it was so catchy. We talked about little kids (since she was an el-ed major) and she told a story of a little kid saying there were bugs in raindrops (because he learned water could condense around bacteria in the atmosphere). My GPS confused me and I got off at the wrong exit, but it got me back where I needed to be and I was able to take off my sunglasses, since it was then dark. I went home and my mom had put a new Easter DVD on my bed. I asked if there was any candy I could have, but there wasn't. I went in her room while she cleaned and watched The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town, and then I went downstairs and watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail. I stayed up late writing a memory post, and my dad came home.
2012. I went to the library, and the computer I was working on on the second floor had all the settings really big. I bought a package of lavender-colored Hostess Sno-Balls. In my editing class, our teacher brought us Irish cheese that she loved and gave us apples. I tried a bit of the cheese, but I hated it, so I stuck to the packaged apples. I remember watching It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown while eating my second purple Sno-Ball. Here is my journal entry for the day:
"Today it was snowing! But it was gone by the afternoon. I got my semantics collection back and got good comments. In editing today none of the members of my group were there, so I got a bag of apples to myself. I got 88% on my geology test. I had a successful run, and tonight I made dinner, watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," and finished my logical fallacies assignment."
2011. We left Las Vegas and drove home. This might have been the day we were listening to my Owl City and Coldplay CDs. My mom looked in her CD case and said, "This one is for Pops"--it was a CD, "Funny Favorites," that she had bought for me for Valentine's Day in 2006, but I didn't like it so I gave it to her. It was a CD of annoying old songs. When "Purple People Eater" was playing, Matt said his mom always used to play it. During the song "Tiptoe through the Tulips," the CD began skipping a lot, and I was relieved for an excuse to say "Time for a new CD!" We stopped at Burger King in Fillmore, and Taylor Swift's "Mine" was playing over their sound system. That led Susanne to talk about how T-Swift had an apartment in Nashville, and Matt said she was stalking her for knowing that.
2010. I baked Easter M&M cookies to take to my mission reunion. I left some of them in the oven a little too long, so I didn't take the burned ones to the reunion. I listened to Handel's Messiah in the car. I showed up at the stake center by the Draper Temple, where the reunion was being held. My companion Elder Chun was visiting from California; he was surprised to see me, and he came over and picked me up. I was wearing brown corduroy pants and an orange hoodie. I was talking to President Clark, and he was impressed that I had make cookies if I was living in an apartment, which didn't seem unusual to me. He had bought a cake from Costco with a bunny on it, and he was dismayed when he realized it said "Happy Birthday"--he thought it had said "Happy Easter." But it was still Eastery enough for me to eat it. Before I left, someone dumped all the cookies (since lots of people brought cookies) into one bag, so I couldn't take mine home. I left, and it was snowing and really windy. I called my mom to see what the weather was like at our house, but she said it was fine. I got lost trying to get to the freeway, and I couldn't see the lines on the road because it was dark and wet. When I got home, I went downstairs to watch It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, and while I was putting in the DVD, I was singing "All We like Sheep."
2009. We were teaching two boys, ages 8 and 9, and we were often impressed by their profound questions. Michael, the 9-year-old, asked this day why we celebrate Easter with eggs and bunnies. I told him it was a very good question. I can't remember what I told him. This is my journal entry:
"Today we actually were able to teach both the Youngs and the Williamses. The lessons went all right. We're hoping they will all show up for the Easter activity tomorrow so we will have a valid reason to attend. Michael Williams asked good questions, like why do we have Easter for Christ's resurrection with eggs. We've also been running into all sorts of crazy people while tracting, so it's good when we find some normal ones."
2008. We left early in the morning to drive up to our zone conference. It was snowy, and I remember pulling out my camera and narrating our drive. There had been a running gag that our zone leader, Elder Gammon, had cottage cheese skin, so I brought a cottage cheese container for him, but he was distracted looking for something. One of the new missionaries was Elder Wilson (who would later be my companion), and when we left, Elder Condie said bye to him, even though he didn't know him. I think this was the time that the Relief Society ran out of food for us, so President Clark didn't get any. Elder Condie got some packages from someone in a previous area. One of them was a St. Patrick's Day package that had been delivered to the wrong Elder Condie, so it was late. After conference, we went to the church, because Elder Condie was lazy and ruined those three months of my mission. That night we visited the Vaughans, and they had a two-year-old granddaughter visiting, who was saying funny things like "pretty sure" and "keep your hands to yourself."
2007. We went to a park in Nashville, and there was a train in the park. Preston would get mad at us and yell "No!" when we got near to it; apparently he had been trained not to go near trains. But that didn't stop him from touching it himself.
2013. I was taking a girl in my ward whom I home taught, Kayla, to the airport, so I parked over by her place and helped her load her suitcase in my car. We took off, and I was at a stop sign, waiting to turn left. Eventually I turned, and Kayla screamed. Another car was coming and honked--I hadn't seen them. I felt dumb the whole way for having done that. At one point I asked where Kayla got her mission call to--she said she hadn't even finished her papers. I felt dumb because I should have known that; I just got confused because so many girls were going on missions. We talked about the band fun. and I said I didn't like them; Kayla said she didn't like the lyrics of "We Are Young" but it was so catchy. We talked about little kids (since she was an el-ed major) and she told a story of a little kid saying there were bugs in raindrops (because he learned water could condense around bacteria in the atmosphere). My GPS confused me and I got off at the wrong exit, but it got me back where I needed to be and I was able to take off my sunglasses, since it was then dark. I went home and my mom had put a new Easter DVD on my bed. I asked if there was any candy I could have, but there wasn't. I went in her room while she cleaned and watched The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town, and then I went downstairs and watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail. I stayed up late writing a memory post, and my dad came home.
2012. I went to the library, and the computer I was working on on the second floor had all the settings really big. I bought a package of lavender-colored Hostess Sno-Balls. In my editing class, our teacher brought us Irish cheese that she loved and gave us apples. I tried a bit of the cheese, but I hated it, so I stuck to the packaged apples. I remember watching It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown while eating my second purple Sno-Ball. Here is my journal entry for the day:
"Today it was snowing! But it was gone by the afternoon. I got my semantics collection back and got good comments. In editing today none of the members of my group were there, so I got a bag of apples to myself. I got 88% on my geology test. I had a successful run, and tonight I made dinner, watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," and finished my logical fallacies assignment."
2011. We left Las Vegas and drove home. This might have been the day we were listening to my Owl City and Coldplay CDs. My mom looked in her CD case and said, "This one is for Pops"--it was a CD, "Funny Favorites," that she had bought for me for Valentine's Day in 2006, but I didn't like it so I gave it to her. It was a CD of annoying old songs. When "Purple People Eater" was playing, Matt said his mom always used to play it. During the song "Tiptoe through the Tulips," the CD began skipping a lot, and I was relieved for an excuse to say "Time for a new CD!" We stopped at Burger King in Fillmore, and Taylor Swift's "Mine" was playing over their sound system. That led Susanne to talk about how T-Swift had an apartment in Nashville, and Matt said she was stalking her for knowing that.
2010. I baked Easter M&M cookies to take to my mission reunion. I left some of them in the oven a little too long, so I didn't take the burned ones to the reunion. I listened to Handel's Messiah in the car. I showed up at the stake center by the Draper Temple, where the reunion was being held. My companion Elder Chun was visiting from California; he was surprised to see me, and he came over and picked me up. I was wearing brown corduroy pants and an orange hoodie. I was talking to President Clark, and he was impressed that I had make cookies if I was living in an apartment, which didn't seem unusual to me. He had bought a cake from Costco with a bunny on it, and he was dismayed when he realized it said "Happy Birthday"--he thought it had said "Happy Easter." But it was still Eastery enough for me to eat it. Before I left, someone dumped all the cookies (since lots of people brought cookies) into one bag, so I couldn't take mine home. I left, and it was snowing and really windy. I called my mom to see what the weather was like at our house, but she said it was fine. I got lost trying to get to the freeway, and I couldn't see the lines on the road because it was dark and wet. When I got home, I went downstairs to watch It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, and while I was putting in the DVD, I was singing "All We like Sheep."
2009. We were teaching two boys, ages 8 and 9, and we were often impressed by their profound questions. Michael, the 9-year-old, asked this day why we celebrate Easter with eggs and bunnies. I told him it was a very good question. I can't remember what I told him. This is my journal entry:
"Today we actually were able to teach both the Youngs and the Williamses. The lessons went all right. We're hoping they will all show up for the Easter activity tomorrow so we will have a valid reason to attend. Michael Williams asked good questions, like why do we have Easter for Christ's resurrection with eggs. We've also been running into all sorts of crazy people while tracting, so it's good when we find some normal ones."
2008. We left early in the morning to drive up to our zone conference. It was snowy, and I remember pulling out my camera and narrating our drive. There had been a running gag that our zone leader, Elder Gammon, had cottage cheese skin, so I brought a cottage cheese container for him, but he was distracted looking for something. One of the new missionaries was Elder Wilson (who would later be my companion), and when we left, Elder Condie said bye to him, even though he didn't know him. I think this was the time that the Relief Society ran out of food for us, so President Clark didn't get any. Elder Condie got some packages from someone in a previous area. One of them was a St. Patrick's Day package that had been delivered to the wrong Elder Condie, so it was late. After conference, we went to the church, because Elder Condie was lazy and ruined those three months of my mission. That night we visited the Vaughans, and they had a two-year-old granddaughter visiting, who was saying funny things like "pretty sure" and "keep your hands to yourself."
2007. We went to a park in Nashville, and there was a train in the park. Preston would get mad at us and yell "No!" when we got near to it; apparently he had been trained not to go near trains. But that didn't stop him from touching it himself.
Allie was swinging, and I would give her a few pushes on the swing, then I would run over to swing myself. We saw Nashville's Parthenon. We went back to David's apartment to color eggs; after doing eggs, the kids took baths. It was snowing outside, and we were surprised it was snowing in April in Nashville.
2006. It was our last full day in Moab, and we went to different places in national parks. When we got back to our trailer, we watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown on my little DVD player.
2005. I didn't have school, and we got our Easter baskets in the morning. I got the Easter Beagle DVD; my mom said my dad considered getting me Easter Parade but they didn't. I went and took a "nap" and watched It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown on my little DVD player. Allie came in with Preston's new telephone toy. It had a picture of a dog on it, so she pointed to it and said, "Woof!" It was the first time I knew she knew what a dog said. That night we colored eggs (I think Easter Beagle was on TV), and I was eating an egg-shaped Tootsie Roll Pop.
2004. We went down to Fillmore to go to the sand dunes. Ya-ping and I slept in Grandma Judy and Grandpa Boyd's camper.
2003. I probably ate a popsicle.
2001. I got the card game Blurt! in my basket, and my mom said we could take it in the car on the ride to Fillmore the next day, but she said my cousin Joey (who was going with us) might not like playing it.
2000. My mom and I went to Provo to help David move out of his apartment. We loaded up all his stuff in our car, and my mom said he would be sad because he would probably never see his roommates again. We went to Walmart and got jelly beans, and when we got home I put them in a bowl on top of our TV.
1999. My cousin April was visiting, and this might have been the time she joined me in watching The Simpsons in my parents' room--it was an episode that I don't think was appropriate for a ten-year-old. My mom came home from shopping and I wasn't allowed to look in the bags she brought.
1998. We had all the cousins over for an egg hunt (after some of them had spent the night). My mom and aunt hid the eggs all over outside, and they explained how many eggs everyone was allowed. My mom said there were Skittles, and Sue repeated her, but there were no Skittles; I think they meant Starbursts. They told us there were small, medium, and large eggs and told us how many of each we could have. Rick Gildersleeve was helping Rhys find eggs. He found a medium one, and he asked me if it was a small one; I thought, if he thinks that's a little one, how big does he think the big ones must be? After everyone left, my parents brought out our Easter baskets, and I was disappointed to have them given to us in the evening. I got a little Tweety Bird thing that you connected to the water faucet and it acted as a drinking fountain.
1995. I awoke to snow covering all the tulips outside. My cousin Tammy had spent the night at our house, and my Thompson cousins were coming over for an Easter party. Tammy played the "Fluffy Bunny" song from the Picture Book of Songs. Some of the candy we had were Sweetarts ducks and bunnies.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day isn't really a day I care about, but I will remember what I can about it anyways.
2013. We were having FHE at our bishop's house, so I rode with Joel DeVore up to Bishop's. On the way there, one of the passengers was playing solitaire on his laptop. They were talking about The Onion, and I said that on April Fool's Day the Onion should run real news. When we got there, I admired Bishop's granite boulder, like I usually do. (It's inside his house.) When we left, I remember there was a discussion about dubstep. I was impressed with Google's treasure map theme, and I appreciated the Delicate Arch and Salt Lake Temple pictures they put on the map.
2012. I watched general conference, and I remember seeing someone outside running, something that surprised me in Provo, since it was Sunday. I made a blog post, and I think my roommate Bryton came back from visiting home.
2011. I was walking on campus when I overheard a middle-aged lady reporting on a conversation she had previously heard: "'Let's not jump off the building. Let's go actually study instead.' She's like, 'Oh, all right...'" I was going to a mission reunion that night. I had parked far away, and I was carrying a jug of Gatorade to take to the reunion. I was walking past an apartment complex when I heard them playing Rebecca Black's "Friday," so I sang along as I walked by. Traffic was horrendous. I have never seen it that bad in Provo/Utah County before. I was listening to Owl City that day. At the reunion, there was a little program in the chapel, and my companion Elder Kitchen said he and a sister there were engaged--but it was an April Fool's joke. Elder Kitchen and his friends were staying at my parents' house (they were visiting for general conference), so he wanted my mom's number.
2010. Our internet was down, so I called to get it fixed, and I had my planner there to write down anything I might need to know. When I told my phone number to the guy who answered, I wrote my own number in my planner. (I only remember this happened this day because I put it on Facebook.)
2009. We did service by helping a family set up their trampoline. It was really cold. In their house, the members had the radio tuned to a Christian rock station, and I recognized the songs from my first area, when my companion wasn't overly obedient. We got picked up for interviews, and there were six of us missionaries crammed in one car. Elder Kitchen wanted to sing "Oh Holy Words of Truth and Love" for the opening hymn (since conference was coming up), and I was glad to sing a lesser-sung song, and Elder Nixon had never heard it. This is my journal entry for the day:
"I suppose the only April Fool's joke was the weather. My fingers were numb today when we helped the Formans with their trampoline. The wind was cold and biting, but it later yielded to snow. We talked with a man--a PI--who said he can't be baptized because he's living in sin.
"We had interviews--my interview wasn't too significant--and then we went back to work. We saw the Williams family, knowing it wasn't a PMF, but they have four kids, and only two of them are on the directory. The others are 8 & 9, which bodes well for us."
2008. We went to the temple, and on the way, Elder Johnson was complaining about people driving "slow" in the fast lane. We took pictures, and Sister Gillins took a picture with my camera. She saw some of the other pictures, and she was perplexed at a picture of a toilet (since I had taken a picture of a tiny nursery toilet, which I had never seen before).
2007. We were on the road on the way to Nashville. My mom looked for conference on the radio; we heard some religious choir on a station, so my mom stopped there. But then she changed the station when a narrator said, "Friends in Christ." I wondered why that was so bad--certainly not LDS parlance, but not something bad. So we listened to weird CDs. We listened to this one called Songs for a Mormon Child; I wondered why my mom liked it so much (even she commented about the girl who tried too hard), especially since there were no kids in the car. Then we listened to all five discs of the Children's Songbook CDs, which I thought were awful. (I actually grew to like them on my mission, but now I think they're terrible again.) Then we stopped at my cousin Tammy's in Iowa. I think we had missed all of conference. They told us about how they had set up a blanket fort tabernacle for the kids to watch conference in. When they began putting the kids to bed, I remember Tammy telling her oldest son, Adam, that two-year-old Ben, when saying prayers, had repeated "Uncle Ricky" as "Uncle Ribby." That night we talked with Tammy. We talked about the synesthesia blog post I had made before leaving. She talked about how she wanted to line me up with a girl from her ward who wanted to be an editor, "this girl Candice." I told Tammy I had actually met her. She said, surprised, "Candice Bellows?" I told her that I had met her at Y-Weekend the previous fall. She told me how she had called her mom, distraught, that she was at a play at BYU that seemed to laugh about a girl being pregnant and not married. I said I was a little surprised at some of the content in the play.
2006. I remember that my two-year-old niece Allie was playing with my mom's friend's niece Austin (what a weird name for a girl!), who was a little older. We were trying to concentrate on conference, but the girls were playing. Allie was getting annoyed with Austin, and Austin kept saying, "She's yelling at me!"
2001. We were watching conference and I said to my mom, "There's a spider on you!" My dad actually seemed more surprised, maybe because he was sleeping. Then I told them, "April Fool's!"
2000. I remember using the Health Rider during one of the Saturday conference sessions. My brother told me it wasn't good to do a cardio workout during conference, but my mom reproved him and told him it was impressive that I was watching Saturday sessions. I think it was that day I put plastic Easter eggs on pieces of yarn and draped them around the rearview mirrors of all three of our cars. (These last four memories were lifted from a previous blog post.)
1999. I was wearing the arm cast that had been pulled off of my arm in one piece two years earlier. I was trying to pass it off as a new break. Some people noticed the name "Reiko" signed on the cast, and said it must be fake, if it was the Reiko (RAY-ko) in our grade. I told them it was my cousin "REE-ko," but that was not true.
1998. Our teachers told us we needed to run laps or else we wouldn't be able to make it to fourth grade. Being a fat little kid, I really struggled, and after running, I asked if I had made it. Mrs. Slagowski said I had. But then when we learned it was a joke, I was really annoyed. One of my classmates, Skyler, told me that I needed it.
1997. Our teacher, Miss Slater, had a card-pulling system in which yellow was default, red was a warning, green was timeout, and it escalated from there. On this day, she told us she was starting a new system, where everyone started on red, and you had to be extra good in order to get up to yellow. Erica Lovell did something she shouldn't have, so she had to pull her card, which meant she had to go in timeout. Later in the day, Miss Slater told us it was a joke, and we were surprised that we had believed her, and that Erica had to go in timeout on this "new" system.
2013. We were having FHE at our bishop's house, so I rode with Joel DeVore up to Bishop's. On the way there, one of the passengers was playing solitaire on his laptop. They were talking about The Onion, and I said that on April Fool's Day the Onion should run real news. When we got there, I admired Bishop's granite boulder, like I usually do. (It's inside his house.) When we left, I remember there was a discussion about dubstep. I was impressed with Google's treasure map theme, and I appreciated the Delicate Arch and Salt Lake Temple pictures they put on the map.
2012. I watched general conference, and I remember seeing someone outside running, something that surprised me in Provo, since it was Sunday. I made a blog post, and I think my roommate Bryton came back from visiting home.
2011. I was walking on campus when I overheard a middle-aged lady reporting on a conversation she had previously heard: "'Let's not jump off the building. Let's go actually study instead.' She's like, 'Oh, all right...'" I was going to a mission reunion that night. I had parked far away, and I was carrying a jug of Gatorade to take to the reunion. I was walking past an apartment complex when I heard them playing Rebecca Black's "Friday," so I sang along as I walked by. Traffic was horrendous. I have never seen it that bad in Provo/Utah County before. I was listening to Owl City that day. At the reunion, there was a little program in the chapel, and my companion Elder Kitchen said he and a sister there were engaged--but it was an April Fool's joke. Elder Kitchen and his friends were staying at my parents' house (they were visiting for general conference), so he wanted my mom's number.
2010. Our internet was down, so I called to get it fixed, and I had my planner there to write down anything I might need to know. When I told my phone number to the guy who answered, I wrote my own number in my planner. (I only remember this happened this day because I put it on Facebook.)
2009. We did service by helping a family set up their trampoline. It was really cold. In their house, the members had the radio tuned to a Christian rock station, and I recognized the songs from my first area, when my companion wasn't overly obedient. We got picked up for interviews, and there were six of us missionaries crammed in one car. Elder Kitchen wanted to sing "Oh Holy Words of Truth and Love" for the opening hymn (since conference was coming up), and I was glad to sing a lesser-sung song, and Elder Nixon had never heard it. This is my journal entry for the day:
"I suppose the only April Fool's joke was the weather. My fingers were numb today when we helped the Formans with their trampoline. The wind was cold and biting, but it later yielded to snow. We talked with a man--a PI--who said he can't be baptized because he's living in sin.
"We had interviews--my interview wasn't too significant--and then we went back to work. We saw the Williams family, knowing it wasn't a PMF, but they have four kids, and only two of them are on the directory. The others are 8 & 9, which bodes well for us."
2008. We went to the temple, and on the way, Elder Johnson was complaining about people driving "slow" in the fast lane. We took pictures, and Sister Gillins took a picture with my camera. She saw some of the other pictures, and she was perplexed at a picture of a toilet (since I had taken a picture of a tiny nursery toilet, which I had never seen before).
2007. We were on the road on the way to Nashville. My mom looked for conference on the radio; we heard some religious choir on a station, so my mom stopped there. But then she changed the station when a narrator said, "Friends in Christ." I wondered why that was so bad--certainly not LDS parlance, but not something bad. So we listened to weird CDs. We listened to this one called Songs for a Mormon Child; I wondered why my mom liked it so much (even she commented about the girl who tried too hard), especially since there were no kids in the car. Then we listened to all five discs of the Children's Songbook CDs, which I thought were awful. (I actually grew to like them on my mission, but now I think they're terrible again.) Then we stopped at my cousin Tammy's in Iowa. I think we had missed all of conference. They told us about how they had set up a blanket fort tabernacle for the kids to watch conference in. When they began putting the kids to bed, I remember Tammy telling her oldest son, Adam, that two-year-old Ben, when saying prayers, had repeated "Uncle Ricky" as "Uncle Ribby." That night we talked with Tammy. We talked about the synesthesia blog post I had made before leaving. She talked about how she wanted to line me up with a girl from her ward who wanted to be an editor, "this girl Candice." I told Tammy I had actually met her. She said, surprised, "Candice Bellows?" I told her that I had met her at Y-Weekend the previous fall. She told me how she had called her mom, distraught, that she was at a play at BYU that seemed to laugh about a girl being pregnant and not married. I said I was a little surprised at some of the content in the play.
2006. I remember that my two-year-old niece Allie was playing with my mom's friend's niece Austin (what a weird name for a girl!), who was a little older. We were trying to concentrate on conference, but the girls were playing. Allie was getting annoyed with Austin, and Austin kept saying, "She's yelling at me!"
2001. We were watching conference and I said to my mom, "There's a spider on you!" My dad actually seemed more surprised, maybe because he was sleeping. Then I told them, "April Fool's!"
2000. I remember using the Health Rider during one of the Saturday conference sessions. My brother told me it wasn't good to do a cardio workout during conference, but my mom reproved him and told him it was impressive that I was watching Saturday sessions. I think it was that day I put plastic Easter eggs on pieces of yarn and draped them around the rearview mirrors of all three of our cars. (These last four memories were lifted from a previous blog post.)
1999. I was wearing the arm cast that had been pulled off of my arm in one piece two years earlier. I was trying to pass it off as a new break. Some people noticed the name "Reiko" signed on the cast, and said it must be fake, if it was the Reiko (RAY-ko) in our grade. I told them it was my cousin "REE-ko," but that was not true.
1998. Our teachers told us we needed to run laps or else we wouldn't be able to make it to fourth grade. Being a fat little kid, I really struggled, and after running, I asked if I had made it. Mrs. Slagowski said I had. But then when we learned it was a joke, I was really annoyed. One of my classmates, Skyler, told me that I needed it.
1997. Our teacher, Miss Slater, had a card-pulling system in which yellow was default, red was a warning, green was timeout, and it escalated from there. On this day, she told us she was starting a new system, where everyone started on red, and you had to be extra good in order to get up to yellow. Erica Lovell did something she shouldn't have, so she had to pull her card, which meant she had to go in timeout. Later in the day, Miss Slater told us it was a joke, and we were surprised that we had believed her, and that Erica had to go in timeout on this "new" system.
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