Blondes have more fun . . ?

Okay. So, my advice is to never read something while lightening your hair. I tried to hide my dark roots and left the lightener on for a bit longer than I should have. It hadn’t worked too well last time I used it, so I gave it a little more time and I was reading scriptures (of all things!) while I waited. When I washed out my hair, I had overdone it! So, my friend down the street (a hair dresser) will fix it for me, but she can’t get to me for 1 ½ weeks. So, I will be a platinum blonde, on top, for a little while!

And here’s a picture of Ingrid and Kalvin with his walker when they were here a couple of weeks ago. His look is “Mom – it’s easier when you do it for me!!” Pretty cute, huh?

My, Grandma, what big ears you have!!

The last 3 days have been, shall I say, unusual. Thursday night at about 9:30pm all of our smoke alarms started going off at the same time. We have NINE of them – one in the basement, 3 on the main floor, and 5 upstairs. The noise was deafening. So, Randy went around and started unplugging them. They are all connected by electricity, although 2 of them also had battery back-ups. We thought maybe the batteries needed to be replaced. So, after we got all of them unplugged (the one in our bedroom is on our vaulted ceiling, so this required getting the ladder out of the shed, setting it up, and working off of it to unplug that one), and replaced the 9-volt batteries, the noise finally stopped, and we plugged them all back in.

The next night at approximately 9:30pm we were sitting in the family room watching a DVD and they all started going off again! So, we went through the same routine of unplugging them all, including getting the ladder back out of the shed for the one in our bedroom. This time we decided to leave them all unplugged for the night and install all new ones the next day.

Saturday, after talking to a guy from church that works with fire and smoke alarms, Randy went to Home Depot and bought all new ones. I’m sure the ones in our home had been there for at least 10 years, and that’s when you are supposed to replace them. One of the smoke detectors that he bought was damaged, so he had to drive back down there and exchange it. But, finally, all of the smoke detectors were replaced. Randy could use a chair or a step-ladder to install most of them, but once again, he had to get the ladder out of the shed to do the one in our room.

Everything seemed to be fine when we hit the sack last night, until about 1:30am when the smoke detector in our bedroom started chirping. It didn’t wake Randy – it’s probably at a pitch that he doesn’t hear real well – but it really bothered me. I did not want to wake him, so I finally had to go and lie down on Dylan’s empty bed and close both doors. I tried for over an hour to go to sleep, but I could still hear it. So, I remembered that Randy had some ear plugs (for shooting guns) in his side of the closet. I got those and put them in my ears, but I couldn’t get them to stay in. So, I finally went downstairs to the couch. Since there was only one door closed between the detector and me, I could hear it better than before. I went into the office, closed the door, put the cushions from that loveseat on the floor behind the desk, and lay on them there. I could still hear the chirping, even when the heater came on (I was next to a return vent, so it was louder there). I turned on the desktop computer so that it would make a humming noise. I had to turn off the monitor because it was glowing blue all over the room, but I finally could not hear the chirping and was able to go to sleep. Around 7am I got up and got breakfast for my mother and went upstairs and turned off my alarm that was going off, and went back to the office and got a little more sleep.

I know I don’t hear as well as I used to, but last night I wished I had been deaf.

Puzzles and Disasters

My daughter, Heidi, gave me 2 puzzles for Christmas. Since I am obsessive/compulsive and also a Finisher, I have been working on one of them in my spare time for the last few weeks. I think I will wait a while to get the other one out!!




Also, while I was at the doctor's office for my follow-up visit after the cortizone shot to my leg joint (it is still doing great), I read an article in Time Magazine about natural disasters in the U.S. It said in the 1980's the number of natural disasters that cost at least $1 billion dollars per year on average was 1. From the year 2000 - 2008 there was an average of 5 of these disasters per year. In 2009-2010 there was an average of 7.5 per year. And in 2011 there were 12 of these disasters. (The article said that was because of La Nina). The prediction for 2012 is that there will be less - but they don't know about prophecy, I guess. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."

Happy New Year 2012!!

I am excited that I no longer feel compelled to list what I did for the last month on each blog I write, since I wrote my History and gave copies to my children for Christmas. They are all adults now and can “write” their own from here on out – especially since their lives will inevitably go in different directions. With that said – I will blog about a few things that happened in my life during the last few weeks.

I DID finish my Master’s Degree! I AM SO GLAD. Also, I did get a cortisone shot in my hip and I only have a twinge of pain every once in awhile. It is wonderful. Of course, they say there’s no telling how long it will last – weeks, months, or even years. I’m hoping for ‘years’.

And, we did have lots of company over the holidays. First, Ingrid, Jeff and Kalvin came for 4 days over Christmas weekend. It was so good to visit with them. Ingrid has been working out and is looking great. Jeff was having a bit of pain in his back again (he had surgery last year) so he was trying to take it easy. And Kalvin is just a cutie! He really is a very good baby. They also brought their two dogs.

We talked to Jesse on Christmas (who was staying a little west of Topeka for the holiday) and everything seems to be going well for him and Amanda. We got to Skype with Dylan in Ohio on

Christmas afternoon. It was wonderful. He is growing in his testimony by leaps and bounds, it seems. Heidi was here for the opening of gifts in the morning, but she had to work that afternoon and evening, so she missed the phone call. Tyler, my mom, and my sister Connie got to talk to him, though.

Then, a few days after Christmas the Wood family came for a visit.There was Dan, his wife Naira, 10 year old son Arman, 8 year old daughter Monja, and Naira’s mother. His wife and mother-in-law are from Armenia. They had a lot of fun seeing some sites around Salt Lake and we tagged along for some of it. Originally, they were going to leave Sunday morning, but they decided to leave on Saturday morning and stay in Las Vegas on their way back to L.A. It was a really nice visit and we enjoyed it a lot.

So, for New Year’s Eve we ended up going out to dinner with Ralph and Sandy Edson at Tucano’s Brazilian restaurant. Then we went back to their place and visited and played a game. We were home and in bed by the time midnight rolled around, but we could hear fireworks going off outside.

We really feel like last year ended very well for us – Randy’s Meniere’s disease has gone back into remission after his surgery and subsequent steroids being shot through his eardrum, his work is going well, I finished my Master’s degree and it is all paid for, I no longer limp from the pain when I walk, and all our kids seem to be doing well. We look forward to 2012. Bring it on . . !