31 December 2008

. . . sixteen digits . . .

. . . it's been a week now 
since we talked to drew . . .
. . . by the way, 
i'm thinking of starting 
a petition in favor of 
monthly phone calls to missionaries . . .
. . . honestly, is that too much to ask? . . .
{yes, yes it is}
. . .here i am being super perturbed 
that we couldn't figure out 
how to call mexico . . .
. . . here's me being super relieved 
when we finally realized 
there's an extra magic digit 
you need to use 
when calling a cell phone . . . 
. . . here's a really proud dad 
talking shop 
{missionary work, that is
with his boy . . .
. . . here's meems overly excited 
to talk to her little bro . . .
. . . here's brent 
{still modeling multiple years worth of christmas eve jammies} . . .
. . . here's one happy mama . . .
. . . enjoying a nice long chat 
and loving every second of it . . . 
{although we can't remember a lot of the particulars of this conversation, it's good to know that 


30 December 2008

. . . yes, katee, elisha and pam . . .

. . . there is a link . . .
. . . and may i just say that 
people are nice . . .
. . . they sincerely mean well 
& just want to help . . .
. . . seriously, not ten minutes 
after the story aired . . .
. . . our phone started ringing . . .
. . . ms. w_____ {she's 87} 
was calling to suggest 
light relief therapy . . .
. . . jimmy s______ {he's 79} 
was completely cured 
by a dietary supplement . . .
. . . there've been suggestions of 
some kind of vibemachine.com, 
an energy frequency machine, 
craniosacral therapy 
& reiki {spiritual healing} . . .
. . . we've had no fewer than 
a dozen phone calls, 
emails, 
& one knock-on-the-door visitor . . .
. . . we have taken 
all ideas under advisement . . .
. . . & we have an appointment 
with doctor wolff on friday . . .


29 December 2008

. . . set your dvr . . .

. . . channel 10 
{710 for all you hd aficionados} . . .
. . . tonight 
{monday 29 december 2008} . . .
. . . 9 pm . . .
. . . over a month ago, this pretty lady,
  laura sambol from fox 10 news,
came to our house 
to interview my husband . . .
. . . let me back up . . .
. . . during the fall semester, 
amelia was doing an 
{unpaid - i.e. getting up at 3 a.m. for free - unless you count college credits
internship at fox 10 news . . .
. . . she played an integral role in 
helping the morning show 
with ron, rick & alexis 
come off without a hitch . . .
. . . meaning:  the girl 
ran a mean teleprompter . . .
. . . anyhow . . .
. . . they occasionally air 
reports about medical mysteries . . .
. . . amelia 
{half in jest
said, 
"you should do a story on my dad." . . .
. . . & so they did . . .
. . . you might catch a glimpse of 
{among other things
bill's favorite pink blanket
{my bedspread growing up}, 
bill walking on the treadmill
{with stylin' phoenix suns wallpaper in the background}, 
me playing the piano & setting the table 
{seriously}, 
me crying 
{seriously}, 
& super doctor michael wolff 
{really, seriously} . . .
. . . no autographs, please . . .
{stories scheduled to air are, of course, subject to change.  so sue me.}


28 December 2008

. . . getting the mail . . .

. . . first of all, 
i have to admit that 
it's been Y.E.A.R.S. since we've 
{& when i say "we've", i mean "i've"
sent christmas cards . . .
. . . tsk, tsk . . .
. . . please know, though, 
that cards from friends & loved ones 
are pretty much 
the highlight of my trips to the mailbox . . .
{aka: drew only sends emails}
. . . thanks so much to 
all of you 
who continue 
to send us yours . . . 
. . . & fyi . . .
. . . it was 
one year ago today 
that this . . .
. . . came in the mail . . .


26 December 2008

. . . jammies @ grammy's . . .

. . . though we missed 
chris, tate and tagg 
{shoulder surgery, cough, and RSV-like symptoms respectively} . . . 
. . . christmas eve 2008 
was the time for 
addi and halleigh to 
learn what "tradition" means . . . 
. . . this time, aunt amanda 
was doing the teaching/testing . . .
. . . the girls helped me locate 
all fourteen packages marked "24" . . .
. . . meaning: "open christmas eve" . . .
. . . addi was all business . . . 
. . . very organized and methodical 
in her gift opening . . . 
. . . inspecting her loungewear closely, 
as she discovered and loved 
the embroidered gold crowns 
on her hoodie . . .
. . . halleigh, on the other hand . . .
. . . could barely contain her excitement . . .
. . . she's a ripper . . . 
. . . a FAST ripper . . . 
. . . and she was delighted, too . . . 
. . . amelia was secretly hoping 
hers had crowns, as well . . .
. . . amber - always gracious . . .
. . . amanda - super stoked . . .
. . . grandpa and his little buddy - chillin' as usual . . .
. . . elliott really couldn't be bothered . . .
. . . tyler was pumped . . . 
. . . really - he loves "traditions" . . . 
. . . brent was more than happy 
to model this year's *pjs . . . 
. . . directly over last year's . . . 
. . . he has a "tradition" of being a freak . . . 
*it's been several years now 
since i was informed by drew 
{whose red nike shorts shall remain wrapped in his room for 15 1/2-ish more months
that it was time.  
no more matching 
candy cane or snowman flannel pj pants 
for the boys.  
the only acceptable gift is 
basketball shorts.  
long.  
with pockets.


24 December 2008

. . . he's coming . . .

. . . proof positive that santa's in the 'hood . . .
. . . and coming soon to a home near you . . .
. . . hello . . .
. . . he was in line behind me at sonic . . .
. . . i wonder if he orders extra ice, like me . . .
. . . apparently santa is 
only licensed 
to drive a sleigh . . .


23 December 2008

. . . rhyming is hard . . .

. . . if you're my neighbor . . .
. . . you probably found 
one of these 
on your doorstep . . . 
. . . i'll give you a topic . . . 
. . . a] same product . . .
. . . b] two different labels . . .
. . . c] five different cap colors . . . 
. . . discuss . . .
. . . this delicious fizziness 
comes to us via mexico . . . 
. . . this utter nonsense 
comes to you 
via {out of focus} brain cells . . . 
. . . {mine!} . . .
. . . YOU try writing 
meaningful poetry 
when you're waaaaay too tired . . . 
. . . the best part 
of these little treats was 
wrapping them up 
whilst watching 
the first presidency 
christmas devotional . . . 
. . . don't you just 
love that 
german accent? . . . 
. . . merry christmas . . . 
{tips for speediest delivery of multiple treats:
a] wear black
b] go late
c] in the rain}



21 December 2008

. . . how it really should be . . .

. . . remember when i sang the praises 
of this christmas toy last year . . .
. . . look at how perfectly i set it up . . .
. . . well, addison & her dad came to dinner tonight . . . 
. . . all of her siblings are sick :( . . .
. . . after she ate EVERY BITE of her dinner . . .
. . . {yee haw} . . . 
. . . of course she headed off to play . . . 
. . . then, when it was time 
to put the nativity set away 
& head home . . . 
. . . she was taking longer 
than we thought she should . . . 
. . . after she was buckled in, 
she & her dad drove off . . . 
. . . & i came in the house to find this . . . 
. . . i think she has the right idea . . . 
. . . {she also passed uncle brent's interrogation about aunts & uncles tonight} . . .
. . . she is one smart cookie . . . 


18 December 2008

. . . happy birthday sheena . . .

. . . dang, girl . . . 
. . . fifty looks good on you . . . 
{it would look even better if i could click on and enlarge this vintage photo.  what's up with that, blogger?}


13 December 2008

. . . back in the saddle . . .

. . . hello? . . . 
. . . {crickets chirping} . . .
. . . it feels like i fell off 
the face of the blogging earth . . . 
. . . however, if you have to choose a time 
{and then as soon as you pick up your newly repaired computer, 
you get to wait until after the weekend 
for the cox cable guy to come to your home 
and fix the internet, 
blah, blah, blah} . . . 
. . . december would be a "good" time . . . 
. . . because i've certainly been able 
to keep myself busy with
this, this and this . . . 
. . . pretty much the same as 2007 . . . 
. . . although, we're so lucky . . .
. . . we get to add 
TWO new stockings this year 
{in the form of cute grandsons} . . . 
. . . and it's official . . . 
. . . there can be 
no more grandbabies 
or a wife for drew 
until we remodel . . . 
. . . we're simply out of room . . . 
{extra credit if you can pick out the two new stockings}


02 December 2008

. . . eight/sixteen . . .

. . . picture, if you will, a chubby little baby boy . . .
{perhaps 7 or 8 months of age}
. . . sitting on the front lawn with a soccer ball . . .
. . . showing that we did indeed try early on to
that would help him later in life. . .
{when i get my real computer back,
i'll show you the photo,
because this laptop and i are not friends}


01 December 2008

. . . three little words . . .

. . . you don't want to hear
from the apple computer genius . . .
. . . "hard drive failed" . . .
. . . three little words . . .
. . . you DO want to hear
from your blogging friend . . .
{that's me :)}
. . . "hooray ~ you won!" . . .
. . . thanks to elder romney
for picking these lucky numbers . . .
. . . thirteen . . .
. . . eight . . .
. . . twenty-two . . .
. . . eleven . . .
. . . sixteen . . .
{congratulations to granny, melis, mel, vicki, and sassy}
. . . email me . . .


. . . nablopomo . . .

. . . november's posts
were brought to you by
nablopomo . . .
. . . i never "officially" registered . . .
. . . but, i actually did it! . . .
. . . and then . . .
. . . my new fancy schmancy computer
crashed and it's at the apple doctor . . .
. . . boo hoo :( . . .
. . . be back soon, hopefully . . .