All Rolled Into ONE

I've now gone a week without updating my blog.

I feel bad only because I had such a good time last week reading through my entries from 2 years ago. 

I need to keep doing this, if only for MY entertainment.

Meanwhile, you get a post about my last 7days . . All Rolled Into ONE.

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On the Parenting Front:

We have re-evaluated our children's jobs and made them reasonable for each child. 

Josh now gets to stay up later than Ethan, doesn't do Scouts, and does daily chores again.

Ethan now doesn't have to do homework as long as Josh, he does Scouts and doesn't get up as early as Josh.

In Parenting News:

Ethan is getting a B- in Algebra which makes his parents ANGRY.

Ethan now must make up all missed quizzes, assignments and have his dad correct all assignments.

Ethan is now ANGRY.

Relationship Announcement:

I have been married now for 20 years to Jeff! 

We purchased a new vacuum to celebrate.

Religious Update:

I gave some nice mediocre sharing times this week.  The Junior Sharing Time kids made flags to honor the Savior and his atonement.  For some reason I thought this would work out. 

Meanwhile, I managed to make the whole Senior Sharing time comatose . .. .

Personal Achievements:

I ran 6 miles yesterday when I really, really didn't want to. 

I really, really don't want to run 12 miles Saturday either.

Hope I'm ready for the Moab Half Marathon which is in less than a month. 

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That's about it for excitement this last week. 

I did manage to put away 2 - 12 packs of Diet Coke.  And I don't mean in my pantry or fridge.

I also have devoted too much time to the Olympics and replaying all the injustices and successes of the athletes.  I am secretly toying with becoming an Olympian.  I can do this by A) learning how to play hockey B) learning how to play curling or C) petitioning Zeus for a place on Mt. Olympus.

The Word I Hate . . . .

This week one of the words I HATE

has reared its ugly head at my house.

it's the word . . . .

FAIR

It's a horrible word.

One that I think is largely misused.

Too many people spout the ideals of things needing to be FAIR.

But what they really want is for things to be UNFAIR.

They want to get MORE or BETTER than the next person.

Ethan has been on a kick where he wants his chores to be FAIR

Compared to Josh's. 

So I made things FAIR.

It's only fair that Ethan get up and get ready the same time Josh does

   Even though Ethan's school starts almost an hour later.

It's only fair that if Ethan has to work on Scouts each day that Josh must too.

   Even though Josh has already earned his Eagle.

It's only fair that if Josh does homework for 4 hours each night that Ethan does too.

  Even though Ethan doesn't have that much to do.

It goes on and on . . . . .

All because Ethan didn't think it was fair he did some jobs that Josh doesn't.

My kids hate the word FAIR now too.

I think fair is too closely related to justice.

When my life is over here, I don't want to be judged with the qualities of FAIR or JUSTICE in mind.

I want MERCY!

I want more than what I deserve.

But to get that, I should be willing to accept that sometimes other people will get more than they deserve too.

Sometimes, I don't know the whole story and am looking at what's FAIR with clouded eyes.

Meanwhile, the boys have new job charts this week. 

They are FAIR!

The boys are unhappy. . . .

I'm chuckling.

St. George

I think the only way I make it through til spring is because we take a trip to St. George each February.

It's an early anniversary celebration.

We stayed in at an awesome resort this year, where we woke up to this view every morning at 10am!

And we sunbathed in the 60 degree weather here, and in the car - with the windows down, and dining outside, and walking in HUGE homes.

Not the homes of strangers, but for the Parade of Homes.  I think we could've taken up residence in one of the homes and no one would ever of found us.  The master bedroom is LARGER than the top floor of our house.   I think my two pairs of levis and flip flops would've looked too lonely in the walk-in closet the size of my kitchen -- so we didn't plunk down the 3million to buy it. 

It was a LOVELY weekend!

Seminary

My son's new seminary teacher:



His previous teacher has had a relapse of cancer.  I wish that he knew how much my son prayed and fasted for him.  And how much I appreciate his influence on my kid.

Imagery

MY DAY
by Ethan

When I wake up,
All I taste is my breathe,
When I get in the shower,
All I smell is my shampoo,
When I go upstairs,
All I hear is my cereal crunching,
When I get to school,
All I feel is my pencil,
When I get home,
All I see is the dinner table,
When I go to bed,
All I do is dream.

Sportsmanship

Ah, what a week of sports!

I have finally participated in watching a USU Basketball game!

It was preceeded by participating in the 'Don't Barf in the Car While Angie Drives' Sport.  (I think she's meant to be a race car driver, or drag car driver)

The USU game was everything I'd hoped it would be.  I wanted to see what a united crowd could do when it came to cheering for the home team.

It was crazy!  The fans lead the cheers, not the cheerLEADERS.  The half-naked fat cupid was entirely distracting when the other team shot free thows.  And the final cheer where the whole stadium called the poor Idaho Vandals LOSERS . . . . . WOW!  Crazy fans is all I have to say.

Josh went to a more intense USU game on Saturday night.  He came home and said he didn't like all the negative cheering.  He felt bad for the other team.   It made me think about what a thin line it may be to cheer for your team in a unified way and to cross over to being hostile. 

Meanwhile, last night I watched / listened to the SuperBowl.  I don't really follow NFL football, so I always pick the underdog to cheer for.  But man! When I realized that Austin Collie was on the Colts team, I was so torn!  Cheering for two teams is hard because someone is going to lose and someone is going to Disneyworld. 

I guess it all comes down to appreciating your team and cheering for them, but maintaing respect for the other team.  After all, someone loves them the way you love your home team.

In or Out

Decisions, Decisions . . . . .

Today I had to decide whether to run 5 miles Inside at the gym

Or Outside on the road.

I chose the road, and I'm so glad I did.

It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining! 

It very nearly felt like spring.

The downside of running outside?

Apparently I'm not as invisible as I'd like to think I am.

I like to pretend that no one knows me or recognizes me when I'm out there running.

Some of you are not aware of this game I like to play.

I'm sorry if I seemed a little distant, it's just that I thought you couldn't see me.

P.S. 

I celebrated my run today with a new pair of shoes and a foot massager!  It's freakin' heavenly!!

The Ugly Truth

I think it's good to bring yourself back to reality every now and again.

To that end, I'm sharing some of the Ugly Truth about my life.

It's not pretty . . . I'm warning you:

Rotting mini pumpkins outside my front door.  Welcome to the Vincent's!

My 'craft' room.  My craft is stacking and piling stuff up.

My stack of books to read that I've stashed behind my nightstand.

I'm not a duster.  And this is not the only place dust is frosting my belongings.

Under my couch.  That's a bowl with possible food in it, a piece of popcorn, and unidentified brown stuff. 

You'll be glad to know that I photographed these ugly things in my life and did nothing else about them.  That's just one more ugly truth about myself.  I'm lazy.