Another Tag For Me

Well, I've been tagged by my friend Jeni. I did learn something new about her so I am glad she posted this. I, however am an open book. Nothing new here. I will try to come up with some new info to hold your attention. If at the end of this you are tagged...it's because I want to learn more about you. Not to put any pressure on anyone or anything like that. I just really want to know.

I am...the fabulous Ms. Lori Jo Reader...Princess Lori to my friends ((wink))

I miss...my Mom. I can barely function with out her guidance and support some days. It's getting easier but I hate it and want to scream about it most days ((like today))

I think...my sisters and I are the funniest things on the planet. If they did a reality show about us "The Fabulous Life of the Boom Boom Sisters" it would be a huge hit.

I love...my husband. My knight in shining armor.

I know...that my Savior, Jesus Christ atoned for my sins and died for me that I might return to live with him. I know that through the blessings of the temple I can live forever with my family and never have to leave any of them.

I want...world peace? LOL I want so many things it's hard to narrow it down.

I search...for warm slippers and perfectly coordinating fabrics for cute baby quilts.

I wish...on stars. I do.

I hate...being cold and good-byes.

I am scared of...the dark. I don't leave my room at night without turning on all the lights.

I fear...something happening to one of my kids or my hubby. Especially if I could have prevented it. I also have massive guilt issues.

I am always...singing a song in my head. Primary songs, hymns, 80's rock...you name it.

I hear...songs in my head. I know...but this is different than singing. This is more of a guidance thing. I am lead by The Spirit mostly by song. Weird...I know.

I don't always...floss. It's true. I'm trying to do better.

I wonder...if anyone is still reading this or if you all have decided I'm too crazy and possibly infectious. ((sighs))

I care...very deeply about my friends. I usually don't make friends easily. When I do make a friend they are stuck with me for life...and longer I hope.

I regret...don't even get me started. I am the queen of guilt and I try really hard to live so I won't have any regrets...but there is always that one thing I could have done better or that one friend I should call more or that letter I should have written...

I believe...I will soon be a college student.

I danced...with Kevin at some of his ballroom team practices. I am a dancing queen. Just ask him..he'll back me up on this...as he rolls his eyes and smirks. He's a punk any way and who are you going to believe...him or me?

I write...whatever comes into my small shriveled brain. That's why I'm gonna go to college. I think I need some learnin'.

I win...points with Kamiryn just for remembering to wear jewelry. I love that kid.

I lose...at most of the games I play. I get too distracted. Unless you put me in front of Guitar Hero 80's Edition. I can pay attention to that...I think it's because it's musical. IDK

I never...talk without using my hands. I usually have to apologize at least once during a conversation for whacking an innocent passer-by.

I listen...to music while I clean. I have some CD's from Time Out For Women that I mix in with my 80's rock. If I want a clean house...it's just what I have to do.

I can be found...in a blanket, snuggled up with my dogs, reading a book. I love rainy days for that especially. Jim doesn't understand that and I'm sure he sees it as a personality flaw. But he loves me any way, despite my lack of constant forward motion that matches his own.

Now that you know more than you ever wanted to...I tag...Heather, Salena and Renae. I would love to hear your twisted and bizarre thoughts. I am a little nervous to see if you are as crazy as I hope you all are.

I Don't Really HATE Fall

I don't hate fall, I just don't like what comes after it. If there were 3 months of winter...I could deal. I lived that way in ID for years. I thought the winters there were miserable. We'd have real cold for 3 months with 1 month on each end of that of pretty darn cold. A bit of snow was nice and then it was spring again. Last winter we started with really cold for a month and then 3 months of "if it gets any colder I won't thaw until August". After that we had another month of REALLY cold which seemed kinda mild after what we had just endured. Pile on that taller drifts than I've seen since junior high and you see my aversion to fall.

That being said I have found a couple of things that I like about this time of year. Blankets...I love snuggling down in a big cuddly blanket (with Darla under the blanket on my feet for extra warmth) and watching TCM channel. I also love that my dogs seem to love blankets as much as I do. If there is a blanket anywhere my dogs will find it and lay on it.
Even a dirty towel on the floor (not that my perfect children would leave a towel on the floor) is fair game for a blankie seeking dogie. I also love seeing the leaves turning colors.
The bright red mixed in with the gold and green is a treat for my eye. I love turning a corner here in town and coming face to face with a fall rainbow. I think my family is tired of hearing me exclaim over the same thing time and again. But I do like this part of fall. There are tons of trees in town and I do feel very blessed to be a part of this years display of color.
I've never lived anywhere quite so diverse. Yay fall.

I'm No Chef....

Usually the culinary creations I put on the table every night are...at the very least...complicated. Lasagna, spaghetti, fettuccine Alfredo, yummy soups and layered casseroles are common place at our house. Sometimes I throw in breakfast food...including cold cereal...occasionally. But mostly I do cook serious, balanced dinners. Tonight, I basically took the night off and served grilled ham and cheese with a delicate Campbell's Chicken Dumpling soup. Quick and easy and, quite frankly, boring. This is what I heard...YEAH!! This is my favorite! Gosh, Mom, this is great. Even Sarah, who never complains when I feed her was delighted. I am so confused. Are their palates so untrained that soup from a can and grilled cheese gets a more favorable reaction than ANYTHING I've slaved over all month??? I'm so confused. Do I spend more time on these ungrateful diners than they deserve?? Probably...but I guess I'd rather eat lasagna or chicken enchiladas than soup. What's a girl to do?

Happy Birthday My Baby Girl

So my baby is 15 today. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was being put in time out by my 3 month old daughter for putting the blanket over her head for the quick car ride to Grandmas. She was seriously born with such a strong sense of what she liked and what she would not tolerate. Then my Dad double dosed us when he was blessing her. He blessed her with a "strong spirit". As if she wasn't born with enough attitude. But strong will aside she is the most fun girl in the world. She has brought so much joy into our lives. Aside from the fact that she is most definitely my pay back child, she is also her Dad's pay back kid. She is the best of both of us...but she also has some of our personality quirks that drive us the most nuts. This year she had some friends over for a party. They ate, watched scary movies and
played Rock Band...I don't think they were as good as my friends and me...but they were pretty good. Then the boys went home and the girls continued to party to the wee hours of the night.
How many girls can sleep in a queen size bed??? I hope they had at least as much fun as the number of decibels they produced.
Happy Birthday my Jo...my Princess Pumba...my G Jo...my daughter...my heart.

I Blame This On My Sister

So, I was born into a family of funny, talented and beautiful women. I mean really it's embarrassing how fabulous the women in my family are. I did inherit many great and wonderful qualities that they have. Color coordination, however, is not one of them. Now... I can put colors together in a quilt that gets praised for my bold use of color, but as far as choosing colors for the walls of my house...bold is not always best. I agonize over color choices for weeks before choosing the (somewhat) perfect hue. I even enlist the help of friends to debate the qualities of yellow over beige. I am very tired of beige but not really ready to spend long weeks mulling over color samples. Jim really wanted the walls in the family room painted...but he really likes the beige on the walls. He is nervous of my color choices...for good reason. So instead of thinking and planning...I just went out and picked a color and started painting. The lady at the paint counter recommended this lovely shade of peach/skin tone crayon. The walls in the family room run right into my kitchen. I already have a perfect red in my kitchen so I needed a color to that didn't make me hate the red...and life in general. After 2 coats of this yucky peachy/sickly skin tone color... I knew it wouldn't work. So, back to the paint counter. This time I chose a lovely burnt orange color. My sister has a similar color in her new kitchen and I love it.



But after 2 coats on my practice wall I realized that this color is way too dark for the room. It is long and narrow without any windows. Dark is not our friend...especially when it's winter. So back to the paint counter I went. I was pretty discouraged and really starting to panic. What was I going to do? So, I chose a shade lighter of the burnt orange that I liked and hoped for the best. Of course the lady mixed it wrong and so I had to make 2 trips for this color. It was more pink/santa fe that I had imagined. I didn't get any sleep that night. The wrong paint on the wall


really stressed me out. Finally at 4:00 a.m. just before the alarm was to go off I dreamed about the perfect color. Yellow. I know...crazy...but that's how I roll. So I went back to the paint counter and ordered up a perfect country yellow that goes beautifully with the red and brightens the room. Now when it's 30* below zero we will have a sunny room to hang out in.

So here is the finished product, I love it and hope Jim can adjust to the lack of beige. And why do I blame this on my sister??? Well, she got my share of good taste and color choosing and I got hit with an extra dose of the "B" gene. Thanks, Michelle!

I will post pics of the family room part when I get paint behind the "jumbo tron" a.k.a. the TV and the furniture put back in the room.

The ABC's of Me

So, I got tagged and now you all have to hear some stuff you probably already know. Maybe I'll throw a shocker in there just for fun.


A-Attached or Single- Attached
B-Best Friend-My Sisters
C-Cake or Pie-Both...unfortunately
D-Day of the Week-Saturday
E-Essential Item-My hubby...he makes me feel safe
F-Favorite Color- Mostly pink sometimes purple
G-Gummi Bears or Gummi Worms- EEEWWW Neither
H-Hometown- Blackfoot, ID
I-Indulgence-Naps aaaahhhhh
J-January or July- Always July
K-Kids-2 fabulous kidlets
L-Life is Incomplete Without-My Family...All of Them
M-Marriage Date-April 4, 1992
N-Number of Siblings-3...2 sisters 1 brother
O-Oranges or Apples-Apples...especially in a pie
P-Phobias or Fears-Mice...ick and getting left behind
Q-Quote-Because I said so! (according to Jo)
R-Reason to Smile-Everything...my life is great
S-Season-Summer
T-Tag 3-JJ, Teresa and Rochelle
U-Unknown Fact-I have trust issues
V-Vacation Destination-Any where warm, especially in January
W-Worst Habit-I yell...A Lot
X-X-Rays or Ultrasound-At this point in my life...X-Ray
Y-Your Favorite Food-Pizza or Bow Tie Festival from Jonny Carino's
Z-Zodiac Sign-Cancer

Name That Girl Band

So, I've always thought I wanted to be in a book club. I love to read and the thought of reading the same book as my friends and then getting together to discuss it just sounds like a nice time. Especially after reading about Rochelle's book club parties. But when I sat down and really thought about it...I wouldn't last very long in that type of club. I tend to get uneasy with a deadline. I have tried Bunko as a regular GNO. It is fun and loud...but I'm too competitive. You're not awarded for skill or being faster/stronger/smarter. It's all just luck. Who rolled the most 6's? and so on. I do think I have found a regular GNO that I can totally get into. Rock Band! Who knew??!! So my usual GNO group was looking for something different to do last night. My kids love playing Rock Band with their friends, so I thought...why not? We started out with just the 3 of us. Salena on vocals,
Heather on drums and me on the guitar.
We rocked pretty good but Heather and I decided we didn't love the drums. So we switched Heather to Bass
and then we really rocked!!!
Our best song was probably Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive". When Renae came we put her on the drums. She did so much better on drums than I did. She totally rocked the drums! No kidding...she's an animal. So with dinner and dessert and chips and salsa rounding out the night...who knows. This may become a regular GNO for us. Of course next time we'll push the couch back a few feet so we don't get neck kinks. And if we get tired of the random songs on Rock Band we can always switch it up with Guitar Hero...80's Edition...of course. Now all we need is a good name. Any suggestions?

It's All About the Baby

I just can't show you all enough pictures of my new baby niece. She is so sweet and cute and snugly. Oh me, oh my, I do wish she lived closer.

Sir, Are You OK??

So, I'm back in town. My trip was fabulous. Right up until the last 6 hours. I'm trying really hard to not let the plane ride home over shadow the previous 5 days. We ate Fair food, took Bridger to the Crashin' Derby, played with tape, tried to get just one night of sleep, helped Michelle find her missing toe, had pictures of baby taken and hours and hours of baby snuggles. Oh, I loved that part. She is so sweet and small...and loud! Man that kid has some pipes. But she is so perfect that it didn't matter. But...then the day to come home arrived. My Dad doesn't do good-byes anymore so he went golfing, Michelle had to put her partying ways behind her and go back to work, so that left Kim and Cylie to take me to the airport. I am getting pretty good at holding back the tears until I am in the terminal. So I was already emotional when I flew into Salt Lake City. I like that airport. I can find my way around it pretty easily. So we all boarded the tiny aircraft to fly to Minneapolis, it was a full flight. The person who was to sit next to me was the last (by like 15 minutes) to get on the plane. He'd had to run from his previous flight across the airport to this plane and barely made it. I was coveting his window seat because all I wanted to do was curl up next to the window and sleep (I do that when I'm emotional). But he preferred the window also and since that was his assigned seat I didn't offer to arm wrestle him for it. He got situated and we began to taxi to the runway. Then I noticed that he wasn't really OK anymore. He was kind of humming and breathing funny and his arms were moving all goofy. I asked if he was OK and the lady across the isle flagged the attendant and we tried to get his attention. Then from the seat behind me some one reached over and gave this guy a wicked sternum rub. And no response. I quickly got out of the way, the attendant called for the pilot to return to the gate and the doctor (the mysterious guy behind me) pulled the man from his seat and started CPR. There was a traveling nurse (her description, not mine, weren't we all traveling?) a few seats in front of me and she tried to get in to help. Long story short, they worked on him until paramedics came and they hauled him off in the ambulance. He didn't make it. It was the most scary, the most surreal thing that has ever happened to me. I was shaking (but trying not to make a big deal out of it) and trying not to cry. I just wanted to be home and let the day be over. I'll tell you I didn't sit in his seat either. I sat ram-rod straight the entire 3 hours to MN and just looked into air in front of me. I was so glad when I finally reached Fargo and got to hug Jim and Jo (Kev had to work). I'll probably fly again...but I'll never covet any one's seat ever again.

So Long and See Ya!

Of course I'll be back. I'm only going for a little while. Less than a week...really. I am very excited to see little Miss CJ. Oh, and my sisters and my Dad and my brother and their families. I hate airports. I wish I was a pilot so I could just get from point A to point B when ever I want and not have to deal with lay-overs. Oh well. At least my sweet hubby was thoughtful enough to buy me a ticket for my Mother's Day/Birthday present. I have never missed the birth of a niece or nephew (even the one that was given to another family to love). This truly has been a year of firsts. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be so sick of me blogging every second of my trip that you'll wish my computer would break. I'll let you know when I am home. See ya, fo' shizzle!

Madison, My Hero

So Madi read about my frog situation this morning. She is so sweet. She was actually concerned for the frogs welfare. Not mine? OK, by helping the frogs out of the window well she did actually save me from the smell of their decay. What? I'm not gonna save 'em. My thought is natural selection. If they're dumb enough to fall into the hole, we don't want 'em making more "stupid" frogs. No, we like our frogs much smarter than that. Yeah, that's it. Well, thank you Madison.
And I'm sure the frogs thanks you too. Even though they weren't polite enough to say so as you set them free at the pond behind my house
Dirty buggers, I tell ya..

See Ya, Girls

I'm not sure why, but I'm not as panicked for Jo to go to school this year as I was for Kev. Weird. I am a bit sad though. I do love hanging out with Jo and Sarah and their friends. I miss the noise when they're gone. So here I sit, blasting the 80's radio station and wishing the girls were here...a little. Being freshmen in the high school is scary. I remember the anxiety. Will I find my classes? Will I get picked on by the upper class men? Will I be late? Will I make new friends?
Jo is such a funny girl. She has tons of friends so she has enlisted their help to find the classes they have together (already showing good managerial skills...LOL...her Dad will be so proud). I miss you already, baby girl. Have a good day. On a side note...they're baaacccckkkk!! Yup. It rained last night. There were a dozen frogs in Kev's window well this morning. Some were big and some were small. Some didn't have no fear at all. Some were brown and some were pink. I'm gonna have a heart attack, I think. EEEEWWWW! Pink frogs, who ever heard of such a nasty thing. Dirty buggers.