Smith Party

The Smith parties are always a lot of fun, especially when there's someone visiting from Georgia. Julie and Lewis were in town house hunting. They're planning to move out here soon and bring Granny with them. The funny thing that all Smith parties have in common is they all have aroup sing-a-long at some point. It's inevitable that I gave birth to a Smith that sang with the group the whole time. Heaven help us.

STUPID! STUPID!! STUPID!!!

I am the biggest idiot on the planet. Sometimes I like to think it's naive ignorance, but let's call it what it is...stupidity.

Last night some guy came to the door offering to clean our carpet for free. Sounds good doesn't it? The little get in the door phrase was something like I have to clean 3 carpets/day for my company then they pay me. He hands me this bright green paper that I glance at and see Free carpet cleaning. Silly Andrea says so what if it's 8:30 come on in and clean my living room. (The only reason why this happened was because Wes was home, but on the phone. I wouldn't have opened the door to a stranger if I was home alone.) Anyway the deranged moron that I am ends up listening to the KIRBY SALESMAN!! until 10:00 that night. There was no way in H-E-double hockey sticks we were going to spend two grand on a vacuum cleaner regardless of how much dirt they demonstrate is in my carpet. I told them if they drop it to $200 I'll think about it otherwise I'm sorry they wasted their night with people who were not going to buy their vacuum ever. And to top it all off Wes decided he didn't like what they were going to clean the carpet with so we wasted an hour and half of our night with nothing to show for it other than my stupidity. Aaaaaaggghhhh! Then I couldn't sleep last night for kicking myself.

On the upside I spent the day with my 4 favorite nieces and nephew and Granan at Gateway, for some fun.

A Plug

Two weeks ago I vaulted onto a horse. Now I learned a new way to mount bareback. This isn't me and is probably more graceful than I am, but this is the method. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oThS-8HVpVw&feature=related I'm pretty proud of myself. I don't know if I could do it on anything other than a 14 hand mustang or morgan.

Also I will be doing some of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEPKQCQUVaQ&feature=related, but with less flare, on November 1st in the evening sometime. At Buffalo Ranch in Farmington. Everyone is invited. Any money you spend on the silent auction or bake sale goes toward the Therapeutic Horseback Riding. So it's fun and it's a good cause.

Everyone come and maybe someday I'll get paid.

Bored at work

I love what I do when I work. But I haven't had a patient since 9:20 this morning and it's 2 now. My next patient isn't until 3:20. I'm not complaining about the money, but I would like to do something to earn it besides add another post to my blog. I would rather see patients with a crazy schedule. It would make me feel like there was a reason I left my baby at Dureece's. Checking everyone's blog doesn't exactly require this degree that I'm paying student loans for. Most of the time I just ride the bike and watch TV. It's a bad TV day. How can you have so many channels and nothing worth watching. Maybe I'll go work out some more...

I HATE THE IRS!!

Wes and I had to pay taxes for 2007. Not such a super huge deal or a big surprise, maybe a little stressful to come up with the extra cash, but not impossible. Except that the IRS are a bunch of mathematically challenged idiots. We have a payment plan to pay approximately $1300/quarter. In August, after already receiving 2 payment checks from us, they sent us a letter saying that they kept our stimulus check and that they were penalizing us and charging us interest for having not paid our taxes. We got even another letter saying that they are penalizing us further after we sent our 3rd and final check. What the *#$(*&^@*&^!!! When you try to call to say that there is a problem with your bill they are too busy and you need to call back tomorrow. It's impossible to find someone, as in a human, to talk to. Their automated system is a ridiculous waste of time.

So I made copies of all three checks that they have cashed, and the letter about our stimulus check to send to them as evidence that we paid our taxes. I tried to say as professionally as possible that they are idiots who can't perform simple addition. Also that they should not expect any payments from us in the 4th quarter, because we're paid up according to the schedule set up by our accountant. Also that I want a letter within 30 days acknowledging that our checks have been put toward our account with the penalty and interest dropped.

In the real world, like not government world, accounting like that would get you in trouble with the IRS. You can't just cash checks and not apply them to some account!! I'm furious that there's no one to talk to about this to get this solved in a reasonable amount of time. Then again they could just hand that money back to me because I don't want our hard earned money put toward bailing out other idiots. Let them fail that's how capitalism works!! Be glad this is typed because I'm screaming in my brain. It may explode.

Nostalgia

Saturday Wes and I were invited down to Snow College for the football game, a BBQ, and program honoring a bunch of retiring science guys. Being in Ephraim with Wes always makes me feel like an afterthought, but proud to be his wife at the same time. I wish I were exaggerating when I say that everyone down there knows Wes. That's why we got invited down. Not because my chemistry teacher remembered me from 10 years ago, but they all remembered Wes; the teachers, the radio guy, the people that own the pizza place/dance hall (they even gave us free drinks).It was a lot of fun to be back in a town that you can walk through in half an hour. And even though it's not a church school they still said a prayer before the BBQ. It's just small town goodness. It made me think of all the times we've been back down there since and not gone back to the temple that we got married in. One of Wes' teacher's wives (not in the polygamy sense, but they do live in Manti) offered to babysit for us while we went to the temple.

It was a good trip, and I bored Jacob who's attending this year with tidbits of Wes and I meeting and dating. I crammed a lot of good things into my 1 year at Snow, but somehow that was the 1st football game I ever went to. I did get to talk to someone Wes didn't know better. I ran into Aaron from PT school who was there with his wife. It was good to see a familiar face on my part.

PS I am getting closer to becoming a cowgirl. Thursday after therapy and all the kids had left, I stayed late to do some cow cutting to practice for the team sorting coming up next month. The monumental part was that I wore spurs. I've never worn spurs before and it made me a little nervous to use them. But it was so fun on a horse that knows what they're doing. I even found myself grabbing the saddle horn when he would spin to chase down the cow. I flatter myself that I have a good enough seat that I don't need to hold on if I would just cowboy up a little and stop being such a chicken.

A Tag

I have never done a tag, but maybe I need to expose more of my disturbed self in my lack of sleep. Feel free to participate one and all, if you feel so inspired.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Someone at my parent's singles ward where they met named Andrea Jill

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Last night at the rodeo.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It's terrible. I can't read it most of the time. It makes it hard to know what I was planning to do with my patient on their next visit.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
1 super cute 8 month old baby

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? No, I'm too stuck up sometimes. I also can't manage more than 1 or 2 close friends very well.

7. GREATEST FEAR?
Hippopotamus or birds. Tough call. One can kill me, the other is just creepy.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I'd love to. Sky diving would be worth trying once as well.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Does it matter as long as you can add sugar? Maybe Oatmeal Squares.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
That would be extremely rare. I hate wearing shoes, and I hate tying/untying them more.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Yes, but not as strong as I was before Dylan.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Cookies and Cream

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
All of it. I have to decide if I think they're better than me.

15. RED OR PINK?
Pink. I've had a strange desire to be more feminine in the last couple years.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU?
Tough call. The junk in the trunk? The Gonzo like nose? The lack of muscle tone?

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My little sister

18. WHAT IS THE GREATEST THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF?
My hair. I do blog about it after all. Or that I'm not typically concerned what other people think about me.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW?
Very blah. Khaki shorts and brown flip flops.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Popcorn and ice water.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Wes' super noisy computer.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
citrus green

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
A two-stroke engine exhaust, sage at the ranch, pomegranate, clean linen

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Jessica

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO TAGGED THIS TO YOU?
Sure thing.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH:
Football and basketball.

27. HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown.

28. EYE COLOR?
Brown. (still not sure how I ended up with a fair, blue eyed, blond boy)

29. Do you wear contacts or glasses?
Nope. I was even 20/10 before PT school. It could be worse now.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Almost anything I didn't make.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
I used to like scary movies but then life made me feel that anxiety too often. But I don't need a happy ending to love a movie. I almost sadistically don't like happy endings better.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Flawless with Demi Moore and Micheal Caine. It was ok. I'm working on 8 Seconds.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Plain white, how boring.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer if I could waterski without it being so hot the rest of the time.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs, because they can last longer and I can give them to almost anyone. Really I try to restrain myself from touching people.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Two fresh baked chocolate chip cookies with cookie dough in between.

37. WHO IS YOUR HERO?
My dad. If you knew him, you'd want to be like him too.

38. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO?
Waterski, wakeboard, make Dylan laugh

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Nothing!! That's why I'm still awake at midnight replying to a dang tag, like I vowed I never would!

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
This is embarrassing. It says Tauren Druid in cow print. It's from Wes' World of Warcraft days.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
No TV. I was at the fair.

42. FAVORITE SOUND?
Dylan laughing.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
My mom often says that I was born in the wrong era. I have/had Beatles everything. Movies, CD's, posters. Across the Universe is kind of a cool movie all to Beatles music.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
I'm not sure what's further, D.C. or the Caribbean.

45. DO YOU HAVE A WEIRD TALENT?
Loving Wes through all of his weirdness and tempers. Oh, I can pop my hips out of joint.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Utah

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED?
About 10PM.

48. WHAT TIME IS IT NOW?
12:07 AM

49. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PRAYED?
This morning.

50. IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOU WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I'd be a nicer person. Less judgemental. And I know how to pick out clothes that aren't already put into outfits on mannequins.

Some pictures

I told you it was freezing. And I love my sister/twin uni-bomber. Have fun in AZ where the seasons never change. Also enjoy YW. Do a good job and make your YW president's life easy. There will be many blessings in heaven for that. This is just because I have a cute kid. And it was warmer, midday, by the time this was taken.
Dylan is kind of a weirdo. He likes to listen to Wes play the guitar. But the other day he put his face against it to feel the vibrations. I guess at that age you're just trying to experience everything.

Watch Out

It's Sunday night, I've got nothing good to read, and I'm a little wound up.

We finished Rock Band tonight after playing an 8 song set. We didn't know a single one of them and they're all like the longest songs in the world. Why couldn't the game have put the new Chili Pepper's song in that we just downloaded. It was kind of a disappointing way to go out. So many good songs and we didn't play any of them. Anyway, Driftwood is now in the Rock Band Hall of Fame. What an accomplishment, huh?

We went to the fair last night. It was more crowded than it's ever been. I don't think that we usually go on weekends. We had to stand for most of the rodeo. For reasons I can't explain, rodeos make me cry pretty much 100% of the time. Is it the patriotism? The spirit of the west? Or that I desperately want to be a cowgirl? I was asking Wes if the fact that I ride horses bareback with just a halter and a lead rope for reins every week made me a cowgirl. I don't think I'm brave enough to barrel race. I did team penning once (actually, I think I'm doing it again next month...anyone want to come?). I wasn't able to go on the cattle drive I was invited to because I was breast feeding at the time (a little difficult to do on a horse, and I do lots of crazy stuff on a horse) I almost owned a horse. My boots are as mucked up as they can be. Just this last week I mounted bareback by myself. No leg up from anyone. My method is run and vault (which kind of hurt my wrist that I sprained skateboarding). By the third time I did it the horse was giving me a major crusty. For all that I still feel like a city slicker. I'd love to move out to a ranch and be a real cowgirl that rode in the rodeos.

Our neighbors got married in their backyard last night, so we were trying to give them some privacy and spent the night at my parents with Mela. It was an awesome night sleep since Dylan was upstairs and we were down. No little noises to wake up to. Maybe that's why I'm not sleepy. Anyway, the one Sunday we're at my parent's in the morning it's fast Sunday. No Sunday morning waffles. So I talked my mom into making them for dinner. We had fresh blackberries and peaches on them from the garden. It was fantastic. I hope we can have waffles for dinner every fast Sunday from now on.

Does anyone have a good book to read? I've really been striking out lately. Wait, maybe I'll re-read Eragon and Eldest. Isn't the third book coming out this month?

Some people have been concerned about me lately. I've sounded a little off. Been a little short fused. I really don't know what it is, but this is a guess. When there are plans to do something, I'm somehow in charge of how it's going to happen. When in reality, I have no better idea than the average person how to go about the execution of these plans. In fact, I'm probably the worst person to come up with it because I don't feel like I'm playing with a full deck. And don't try to guess what's going to make me happy or what the right answer is because I seem distressed. Let's just have it out straight up. Also I was late paying a couple bills and the IRS are a bunch of retards. But now the taxes are paid for the year. We won't have to pay 4th quarter. Hooray! Maybe that's what this post is. My brain exploding like it's felt like it's going to for the last week or so.

I think kids should get more teeth when they're younger. It seems like cutting teeth has only gotten harder since Dylan has gotten older. Then again he may be busting out 4 at a time again. I gave birth to Jaws.

Did anyone else notice the White's today, and how nothing has changed since they moved?Rebekah still runs up and down the aisles unchecked. But she's like 5 now and not 2, so instead of it just being annoying it's moved into amazingly unacceptable behavior.

I've been really bad about training for a triathlon I'm supposed to be in in a little over a month. I only worked out 3x's last week. But one of them was finally swimming. I bought a month pass to Fairmont. My plan to ride to my parent's then run on Saturday got swallowed in the bog of my laziness. I finally got my house clean. Maybe I'm just starting to recover from summer's craziness.

I realize that my last post sounded like a complaint against my husband. I always rant and rave about wives who try to control their husbands, or get upset when they want to do their guy things and not spend time with them, or get upset about their work. Really, if you didn't know what you were marrying, you shouldn't have gotten married. For the most part I think I'm really tolerant. I'm not going to stop him from playing, but I'm not going to take part. And I will keep harassing him for dorkiness. If not for the game; for the '90's sweater vest that he wore with a t-shirt, shorts and flipflops today.

Maybe I'll go to bed now. Or maybe I'll finish watching 8 Seconds... I said I wanted to be a cowgirl.

Den of Geeks

I live in the Den of Geeks!!!

We all knew Wes was nerdy, but it's getting out of control. Occasionally I will partake in the geekiness, but not without some chagrin. I enjoy the LAN parties, but I'm always the first to go to bed and it's probably because of me that we haven't changed games in 6 years or so. I'm fond of my pink orcs. I'm really happy that there's been another girl occasionally. I think the only reason I'm invited really is that it's at my house and they all like my spinach artichoke dip.

Lately Wes has talked me into watching Battlestar Galactica. This is an embarrassing omission.

I blame my dad for encouraging me to think Star Trek was cool. Now look where I am.

This is a new level. For those who don't know Wes goes to CA 1-2x/year to play Dungeons and Dragons with his King of Geeks friends. I've never been super happy about this, but it's a fight I have yet to win. But now his brother wants to play Magic the Gathering.

It's a card game. Cards that Matt has laminated. Wes has little figurines that I don't know the purpose of. Then there's the special pretty dice and marking stones. Have I put across the picture in your mind of the fat, bearded slob that wears shorts in the winter and lives on Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets yet? I wasn't sure how into it Wes was, but now he's going to a game shop, on a Friday night, to watch/learn more about how to play. They were over here playing the other night so I called my brother and he brought the 4th season of The Office over for us to watch. It helped me feel like I wasn't drowning in lameness.

If anyone out there was trained to save lives, I'm in desperate need of your help!

Fall

I really like fall. I like the colder weather and the leaves changing color. I like that I wore a hoodie waterskiing last weekend and was freezing. The water was the same temperature as the air; a balmy 65F. I'm sure many of you are sad to see the passing of summer, but I think we've established that I go against the grain more often than not. Besides wouldn't life be boring if the seasons never changed. (watch me say the opposite in the spring, then again I've always sustained that you can always put more clothes on if you're cold, but you can only take off so much when you're hot, before you're just indecent.)I always liked going back to school, and the getting new school clothes. This is the second fall that I haven't gone back to school and I still miss it. I would love to go back as long as I didn't have to take any tests. I think I like the regimented structure of school to fill my days and the daily socializing. Also fall is when the apples get ripe. Golden delicious are my very favorite. They're kinda like our family apple. I think they taste the very best straight off the tree when your hands smell like horses.