Jacob and Marcia

Here are my test results to a couple tests I have taken recently:

Created by Auto Insurance

Created by Oatmeal

How do you score?

This is from a marching band contest right after I chopped off my hair.  For some reason I put the bandanna on my head.  I thought I looked like a troll.

We have been busy, doing many things.  Probably only interesting to us, maybe not.  So a bit later I might bore you with the details.  For now, though, I just want to share a video.  This concert was on Sunday past.  This is the son, Xavier, of our good friends, the Zahnle family.  He also happens to be one of the percussion students Jacob teaches in the marching band.  He won the Annual Young Artist Competition, and was therefore invited to perform with the Quincy Symphony.  We sure are proud of this young man.  So, without further ado:

From the creators of the Flash sensation Boomshine comes a devious new game where hand/eye co-ordination and a lightning-quick reaction time spell the difference between success and failure. Hundreds of colorful particles floating in the ether – and it’s your job to put them all together. Click and hold down the mouse button to make a ring around the dots, and watch them all gather in the center. With every ring you create you’ll get closer and closer to your target… but miss the target, even by one, and the nucleus is ruined. How quickly can you complete all fifteen levels without making a single mistake? The challenge is on…

Danny Miller and I just released a new game for iPhone called Obechi. It’s a native iPhone version of the flash game at http://www.k2xl.com/games/obechi, and it’s quite addictive.

Find it on the iTunes App Store.

This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week, or so, I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.

Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana mas o menos regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!

This is a sweet little boy sharing Happy with his new baby sister.  Wow, it is an “old” picture!

This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week, or so, I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.

Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana mas o menos regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!

Yes this quiz is from a pictures taken over a  year ago.

On December 19th, 2008 at almost two in the morning we heard a noise.  It sounded like something had fallen on the house.  We put our coats on, and went outside to see the above.

We were worried that the branch may have been too heavy to leave hanging on the cable that feeds us our internet.  We also did not like the idea that it might fall on the car.

This branch was about the diameter of a healthy cantaloupe, and was very long.  Jacob went up to it to see if he could just push it off to get it away from the wire.

Upon closer inspection, it was really really big.  He gave a few heaves, and decided it would be best to move the car out of the way so as to not allow the chance of the branch falling on the car.  So, he ice-picked his way into the car, kept the door open to see and backed the car up a ways.  He went back to the branch and gave it some good pushes.

Down it came.  You can see where the car had been.  The sound from the branch hitting the ground was loud, and the vibrations from it hit other places where ice had formed, and we heard lots of cracking and popping around us.  The best we can describe it is to say that it sounded like a battle field.  The apartments across the street had lots of ice on the roof, that (we believe) in response to the branch noise, cracked and slid off the roof into the parking lot.  We hope all the cars were ok after that.

The ice storm really was pretty to look at even though it really was not good for the trees (or likely the animal life either).  This is one of the electric lines next to our house that we saw at that time.

This is a picture taken after getting up for the day.

Is responsible for a number of my obsessions.  Red Hair.  Curly hair.  Twirly dresses.  Calling dogs “dumb.”  Bald heads*.

Tonight as I was trying to feel better**, I curled up on the couch to watch “comfort movies.”  One of which was Annie.  It reminded me how much I loved the music, still do.  And it got mee to thinking about how I used to have an Annie dress, not the one she wears in the movie, but one with her and Sandy and a rainbow, all over it.  I have no idea what the rainbow was about since I didn’t see one in the movie, but I had matching hair barrettes.  I remember being very sad when I was no longer able to wear it.

When the movie was over, I checked the audio options, as I like to do, and was pleased to see that I can watch it in Spanish!  I like the song translations***.

And my wonderful husband**** surprised mee with roses when he returned from Stake meetings this evening.

*So, I may not be obsessed with “bald heads” but I sure do think little old men are adorable, and I love when babies (boys) look like little old men.  Weird I know, but it is mee.
**I am suffering from a crazy sinus infection.  Mostly bothers mee overnight, however it has mee coughing and sneezing and feeling pretty crumby.
***I foresee my memorizing them in the future.
****I sure do think he is swell!

Even though it is freezing cold outside, I can be content to know that spring is coming.

How do I know this?  We are past the shortest day of winter, and that means the days will be longer.  Which means that the sun will be out more.  Which means one day I can be warm again.

And that makes me happy.

Snow.  It is cold and nasty.  It is so pretty.  In fact I think I really like to see it drifting across the road in the swirls of wind.  If only it were not so stinking cold!

Tonight as we were driving, I was reminded of a song in Beauty and the Beast.  “Through the mist, through the woods, through the darkness and the shadows, it’s a nightmare, but it’s one exciting ride.”  And that describes the mid-west to mee tonight.

Only problem now is, we don’t own that movie.  And until I can watch it, that song will be stuck in my head.

So last spring/summer we had the back door open for fresh air, a lot.  A mouse came in, so we got traps and caught it in just a couple days.

This fall another mouse dared to enter the house.  We set the traps again, and it was caught with-in the hour of setting.

We had one still set along the wall, just waiting in hopes that we would not catch another.

We went out of town for a week, and the trap was empty.

The temperatures dropped, a mouse came in for a snack.  It died.

We went to pick up more traps (because even though it says reusable, let’s be honest here, I am not un-clipping the mouse and using that nasty thing again!) just in case we need them.  The temperature outside keeps dropping, and I don’t want to be outside!

The price of the traps this time was $6.88, I think-once I find the receipt I will know for sure.  This evening we were at the store getting other supplies in that area of the store, and passed the traps display, and this is what I saw:

It is the original price again.  It makes me so stinking mad!!!!!

We figure that because the outside temperatures dropped, many people were having trouble with the mice coming in, and the store (or rather the people who run it) decided that they might as well make extra money off the people who already have enough problems in their lives.  And now that the traps are in less of a demand, the price has dropped back to the original rate.

Now, if I can just think of how to make this work to my advantage….  Any ideas?

We are not disclosing how many comments we have so far, though we are admitting there is a prize for the person who leaves the 1000th comment on the blog.  Not this post, the whole site.  We also are not telling what the prize is, but y’all know us, so you know it will be worth it.

This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week, or so, I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.

Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana mas o menos regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!

Here is the answer you all have been waiting for…

On October 12th we had dinner at Jacob’s parents’ house with the missionaries, Elder Pickett and Elder Drake.  Elder Pickett is from Canada and that happens to be Canadian Thanksgiving.  So using our super internet abilities, we found his family.  Jacob called his parents and talked to his brother and his mom and asked about any traditions.  We discovered that Elder Pickett has tried many new foods on his mission. The plate above is his clean plate.

Here he is loading up his plate:

Here he is trying new foods:

He liked it so much, we sent leftovers home with him:

Problem:  I am cold.  All of the time.  I can not warm up.  I sit in a room that is 88 degrees, and I need to put on a sweater.  And a stocking cap.  And gloves.  And wool socks.  And house slippers.

Maybe it wil result in comfort.  Not always, especially if all those things limit my mobility.

At this moment the temperature is -9 with a wind chill of -19.  I hate strongly detest this time of year.  The only redeeming quality is that when blowing bubbles outside, they freeze.  That is the ONLY redeeming quality.

Does anyone have a house they would like to donate to us that is in a tropical region, or at the very least that never has temperatures that drop below 74 degrees farenheight?

Here is to hoping that 2010 will be much more better than 2009.

*I am not saying that 2009 was bad, I just want a better 2010.

We went out to Idaho (15th-21st) with Jacob’s Parents for Erin’s and Adam’s graduation.  We stayed with John and Tinell (she also graduated) Broadbent (they have two very adorable little girls, and stinking smart too).  John may be responsible for our potentially thinking about purchasing a Wii in the future.  We had a lot of fun in Idaho.  Not so much fun the four days in the car to get there and back. The trip was good; physically sitting in a confined space for four days is not so pleasant.

We were very lucky with the driving conditions.  We did see lots of tire marks where cars had gone off in the snow before we got to those points.  We are happy that the weather cleared up for us to make it there and back in safety and with out too much worry.

Now for the fun stats I know everyone is waiting for, knowing that I am mee and I do these things on car trips.  Just remember FOUR days of travel.

December 15th:

I counted up 30 places where cars had slid off the road in the earlier bad weather, not including cars still there.
There were 2 cars still out there, one was a mini-van and looked like it may have collided with a car not there any more.
There were 6 semi-trucks, 3 of which were flipped on the sides.
I just hoped and prayed that everyone was ok.

Watched Indiana Jones:  Raiders of the Lost Arc and Horton Hears a Who ( the newer one, I still prefer the older one).

Now for the Alphabet searches:

Start time 7:50am (finding the words in order)
Avenue Burlington Club Dane Equipped For Golf Hiring It’s Junction Kawasaki Lockridge Melrose National Orlando Peterbilt Quarter Right Stop Travel USDOT VanWyk Wisconsin Xpress (as in U.S. Xpress) Yanke Zooming
Stop time 9:44am

Start time 9:46am (finding the letters on license plates we passed)
668WWA SB3P2M  989CMQ  126TDX  490MLE TF4209  G598107  237SJH 894NIP  790JJA  KTYAHWK  206ALZ  CWM 995TLN 188WDO PS4404  951RQZ  6FBR122  795ESC  896TJY  U1462O  OVF776  435EWX  835RMX 726SYK  013NQZ
Stop time 12:10pm

Start time 12:56pm (finding the words randomly)
Airport Beatrice Class Downtown East Federal Grand Harley Icy Jery’s Knight Lincoln Mack Nation Oak Park Quest Ramada Sale Then University Vehicles Warning Xtra York Zoo
Stop time 4:05pm

We stayed the night in Laramie, Wyoming.  I did not make any lists the next day (the 16th) because I was too busy whining about the lack of data service on the phones as we drove through the rest of Wyoming.  I was also taking lots of pictures of the scenery.  It is beautiful even if there is not a single person who lives there to enjoy it!!!  We decided to stop briefly in Salt Lake City so we could take Jacob’s parents to see the new Conference Center.  It was a fun tour.  And wouldn’t you know it, the first person we see as we are rounding the corner to park the car was Brother Maynard.  He and his wife were serving a mission here in Macomb, and just left in August.  Driving through the mountains was very pretty.

We headed back early the morning of December 20th:

We watched A Christmas Story and Back to the Future I, II, and III

Alphabet searches:

Start time 8:55am (in  order)
And Blackfoot Comfort Diabetes Exit Fort Gas Highway (9:00am) Indian Just (9:19am) Kehoka (10:28am) Lots Miles North Ogden Price Quizno’s Restaurant Subway TechnaGlass Unleaded Villiage Watson Xtreme Yard Zone (no passing zone)
Stop time 12:54pm

Start time 2:42pm (finding the words randomly)
Area Benson Cross Draw Express FedEx Georgia Halliburton Interstate John Keystone Lays Marten Number Only Parking Quick Richfield Sswift Trading Ursus VanPack Winning Xpress (Ad Xpress) Yesco Zone (Auto Zone)
Stop time 5:10pm

We stayed that night in Ogallala, Nebraska.

December 21:

We watched Rigoletto and we stopped about 1:30pm in Omaha for lunch at Jimmy John’s in hopes of meeting up with a couple of friends.  Unfortunately, neither of them were able to make it.  Maybe another time.

Alphabet searches:

Start time 9:22am (finding words randomly)
Ants Bridges Coleman Drive Eagle Food Golden Hershey Inn Join Kearney Lodging Minimum Nebraska Oversized Penske Quit Road Simon’s Transport Utility Veterans Wallace Xterra Yourself Zumstien
Stop time 12:15pm

Start time 12:16pm (finding the letters on license plates we passed)
325OYA 421PAB PCO648  PGD520  8-E2706  18-F585  RGW007  917HLC  200PII  RDJ634  73682K PLW453  XGM676  17-N188  POM896  PVF7849  OYQ634  RCO658  584TTS T865260  HU51693  PV6347  OXW366  PXB761  14-Y427  66055HZ
Stop time 2:40pm

Start time 3:13pm (finding words randomly)
America Buckle City DesMoines Elk Ford Go Horn Immigrant Johnston Kum Limit Malibu Nissan Oldsmobile Pontiac Quality Ram Sunrise Town Up Value Wings Xtra Yukon Zeitner
Stop time 4:33

That is enough of my obsession for now.  Give me a day or two for pictures and holiday reporting.

It’s well known among our readers that we are, in fact, a couple of nerds. Being nerds, we like to apply science wherever we can. Tonight, we used science to finally answer a question that has long plagued mankind: Are Oreo brand cookies really better than their store-brand equivalent?

Here we present our methods and our findings for peer review.

Our experiment was conceived when Marcia (hereafter known as “Subject B”) acquired a package of Oreo cookies as “payment” for babysitting the daughter of some friends while they went roller skating. Since we usually purchase the store brand cookie from Wal-Mart (because it is less expensive), we began to wonder if there was really a significant difference between the two products. We devised an experiment where each of us would sample different cookies blindly, in a random order, and rank them on flavor.

The materials for our experiment were as follows:

• Two Oreo brand sandwich cookies
• Two Wal-Mart “Great Value” brand sandwich cookies
• Two Hy-Vee “Dunkster” sandwich cookies
• One black sleep mask
• Water
• Digital Camera
• Paper plates

Subject A (AKA Jacob) was the first to undergo the rigorous test. He put on the sleep mask and then took a small drink of water to clear his palette. One of each type of cookie was placed on a paper plate. When Subject A was ready, he was given the first cookie. After taking one bite of the cookie, he took another drink of water, and then repeated the process with each cookie, until he had sampled each one.

Subject A then wrote his results down and hid them, so that he would not influence any other subjects.

The experiment was then repeated with Subject B, who also wrote her results without influence from any other subjects.

The subjects sampled their cookies in the following order:

When the subject’s results were compared, they ranked the cookies in the following order, from best to worst:

Each of the subjects independently ranked the cookies in the same order, with the Oreo cookie best, the Great Value cookie second, and the Dunkster cookie third. When the subjects’ notes were compared, each agreed that the Oreo was the best cookie, and the Great Value cookie was a very close second. The flavor of the Oreo and Great Value cookies was nearly identical, but the Oreo cookie prevailed in texture and “mouth feel.” The Great Value cookie was drier and harder than the Oreo. The Dunkster cookie’s flavor was less sweet, one subject described it as “more like baking chocolate.” The texture of the Dunkster cookie was described as “almost stale-like” and “waxy or greasy.”

The bottom line:

All subjects agreed that when a sandwich cookie craving needs filling, the Great Value cookie is an excellent choice for its relative price and flavor, but when the full sandwich cookie experience is of the utmost importance, the Oreo brand cookie is an absolute necessity.

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I just got off the phone with a very reputable source who informed me, after careful consideration, that Marcia is, in fact, perfect.

Not that’s a surprise to anyone who knows her. Really.

I can’t spell.  However there are people all around me who can spell.  I always end up feeling like such  a dunce when I learn a new spelling after I know I have typed it for the whole world to see, and not a single person has corrected me.   It really does some damage to the self-esteem.  Now I am not talking about the difference between their, there, and they’re or here and hear.  Those I understand, I do admit that sometimes (often) I can’t remember if a work has “ie” or “ei” or any double letters.  I do not know why I have such a hard time with spelling rules like that, but I do.  And I wish people would point out when I have some letters mixed up, or missing, or extra.  This does not go for commas, I like to use them.  Please help, and please be gentle about it.  Thanks.

I seriously need about 12 of these dress up days a year, one a month would be a lot of fun for me.  Jacob on the other hand would not really enjoy costuming once a month.  In fact, I was unable to get him to dress up, even to be a butcher and carry a fake meat cleaver…to go with my swine flu (I was so excited about this one!):

Sitting outside to hand out candy (what was up with only 30 minutes of trick or treating?):

And my tail closer-up (it may very well be my favorite part of the costume):

With out my snout (like when I had to get a drink or eat):

My eyes, simply because I like this picture:

The scary (lunging) monster that made a little girl cry:

It also got a “What the fff…?” by a boy about 12-13 years old, that caught himself, and then I told him he should not know that word.  And I think Loana Deveraux had to go change her drawrs after her encounter with the monster….  Here she is, or was?

Here are cookies I made using the cookie press (for the first time ever) that Jessie gave me because she never used it:

This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week, or so, I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.

Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana mas o menos regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!

We had to run to the store for some items, and while we were waiting to check out the line got really long. I am talking there were 11 carts/baskets in line, counting the person at the check out.  That person was splitting the order on 3 tickets.  WIC, foodstamps, and check.  I have no problem with the programs, they are there for people who need them, I only mention them so you know how long it took, because there is paperwork involved.  There was only one cash register open.

Here is the point of this post.  As the lady is making her purchase, the kid with her was looking at the “impulse buy” items.  No big deal, I do it too.  That kid was probably about 15 years old.  The item he seemed to enjoy most was a laser pointer.  He would look around to see if anyone was watching, cover the pointer so people “couldn’t see what it was” and hold it up to his eye and push the button.  He did this a few times and then switched eyes.  Each time he grimaced in pain, then continued.  He ended up walking out of the store holding his eye in pain.

Do people not realize that a laser can be very bad for the eyes?  It even has warnings written on the product and the packaging.

So I had this good post about my root canal yesterday, but the internet said “no” so this is what you get.

Later:  I found it!  Originally this was titled “My brain is broken” because I was totally scatter-brained.  And this was the content of the post:

Yesterday I had a root canal performed.  I have curved roots on that tooth, so I had the privilage of going to a specialist.  Meaning it cost more money.  But it is nice to have it done.  He took the pain out of my tooth, and he was not hard on the eyes either.  Can I say that?  I am married, but I think he is too.  Any how, I am on my way to a happier mouth (read: healthier).  In the next couple weeks I will get a crown on that tooth, then I can tell people that I have a “royal” mouth!

In seriousness though, it was not that bad.  I had one done in Chile, and had no problems with it, though I think I must have blocked out some of the recovery experiences of it.  This time I want to remember.  It burns a LOT when the anesthisia wears off.  It is a really odd feeling when half of your ear goes numb.  This morning I felt what they were talking about with the whole “you will hurt for a while,” my jaw aches from being held open for an hour (half hour less than was expected!), it aches more on the left than the right, the proceedure was on the left side.  My head and neck ache too.  Other than that, I feel pretty good.