(I made these tags and have them displayed in my home. I really really love them)

Right now I am in the calm before the storm. I am home alone, there is beautiful music playing, my kitchen is clean and I'm feeling the glow of a good weekend, where everyone got along and the house didn't get too destroyed. Tomorrow (and even a bit later tonight) all chaos is going to break loose. We are trying to get out of town for Thanksgiving and there is A LOT to do before then. But as long as I've got a few moments of serenity I'm going to record some of the things that help me feel blessed.

BLESSINGS

(in no particular order)

1. Health

2. The gospel of Jesus Christ

3. A beautiful family

4. Many friends that are continually supportive and such a great example to me and my family.

5. Abilities and Talents

6. My Patriarchal Blessing

7. My dogs

8. An ambitious husband that takes such good care of me

9. Extended family that are AWESOME! (really, there's no other way to describe it)

10. A beautiful home in a beautiful area

11. I'm able to get to the beach pretty much whenever I want

12. Medical advances

13. Technology that saves time, energy and living space

14. Faithful Parents

15. The best ward this side of Kolob

16. Vision, hearing, sense of smell and touch

17. Love of running (who would have thought)

18. Creativity

19. Color

20. Warm Jammies on a cold night

21. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

22. Brad has a job

23. The Book of Mormon

24. A cheerful disposition

25. Apple products

26. A dishwasher, a washer and dryer, a double oven, a telephone

27. Good schools and teachers

28. Indoor Plumbing (even though our kitchen sink currently has a leak, and I have to clean the bathrooms way too often)

29. Good books and my ability to read

30. My Swagger Wagon

31. The Gift of the Holy Ghost

32. Enough (food, shelter, clothing etc.)

33. Humor

34. Subway

35. Tender Mercies

(For Real This Time) I Deserve a Medal!

...oh wait! Look at me! I GOT one!

I got a medal for running the Santa Barbara International Half Marathon this last Saturday, November 6! This was my first race of this duration. I'm just pointing out that a 1/2 marathon is 13.1 miles. Ya! That's right! That was me! Please! Hold your applause.

Many of my friends have done this race in years past and I started thinking how great it would be to run by the ocean, in the cool sea air. I was right. It was a beautiful setting and just the right temperature. But as it turns out my friend Erin and I were the only ones that made it to the race this year. (And our valiant and very supportive husbands were there to cheer us on) Erin and I discovered that we are good running partners. We have about the same pace and don't have to chitchat to feel the camaraderie. She was a couple hundred yards a head of me most of the time, but I'll try not to feel too bad since she is 10 years younger than me. Ha! We came in together though and I can only attribute that to her need to puke (she didn't, but it slowed her down just enough for me to catch up).

There were many times I just wanted to stop. But when I analyzed the reasons I couldn't think of a good one. My legs felt fine, my breathing was good, nothing hurt. I just had to refocus and get my head in the game. I just kept going. That's how life is you know.

(Tiffiny is one of our friends that had to back out of the race at the very last second due to a back injury. This "running for..." thing is a bit of an inside joke. And there's really no room here to write about it and you probably don't want to know anyway... but if you do, go here)

Here are my stats:

~ Distance: 13.1 miles

~Time: 2 hours 21 minutes and 56 seconds

~I placed 874th out of 1552 women

~I placed 126 out of 225 in my division (ages 40-44) -- I'll let you guess which end of the spectrum I'm on

~I placed 1478 out of 2297 total runners

(if you do the math, I was about the middle of the pack in all of these categories)

My pace was about 10:50 per mile. I'm not disappointed with this, but I know I should have/could have done better. There was a massive, half mile hill at mile 11 that I walked most of. That's ok though, that's how life is you know, sometimes hills come when you are tired. It might throw you off a little bit, it might slow you down, but the point is, I kept going, I finished, I felt good and I still feel good! Now that's something to be proud of. Also I now know just how much work I have to do before I run that full marathon in May. YIKES!

Brad says making these little mini-movies is his form of scrapbooking. He really is quite talented. Here is what he put together for me. He did a great job (read didn't make me look to stupid) and even used the song I requested. I love it, and it just happened to be playing while he was filming me. Good karma I call it. (Even though the song is really called Underdog.)

A few more shots of the trip...

Goofy to the bitter end

Lunch and Shopping in Downtown Santa Barbara

And a trip down to that area would not be complete with out a visit to Jocko's, the best Steak House around. Total hole in the wall, but totally YUMMY grub.

We also had ice-cream at Pismo Beach, but we didn't get a picture. Nor did we get a picture of the full double rainbow we saw there. (What does this mean?)

Halloween 2010

Here is our resident Haunted House! I love it! I wanted to do some crackly effect, but this time of year is too busy for learning new photoshop techniques. It's pretty spooky though anyway, don't you think?

Here's how we all dressed up this year.

"My fellow Americans..." -- ya, pretty much, I'm a joke!

Bibbity-bobbity-Boo!

Notice the dunk tank behind me -- how fun is that? These pictures were taken at our building Carnival and Trunk or Treat. Which incidentally it was my last activity as Ward activity chairman.

Imagine you're really arrogant. Knights like to think they are so much better than everyone else!

- quote from "Merlin". Kelsi's new favorite TV show (broadcast from the UK)

Check out the Gun Show over here! Boom! Boom! Fiah Powah!

Grizzly, ghouls from every tomb, are closing in to seal your doom.

So, I attempted sewing costumes this year. Not only that, but taught Kelsi how to sew her own costume. Again I ask the question, "What was I thinking?" In the end we had to do some switcheroos. Brad was supposed to be the wizard, but my sparkly, purple witch dress broke my thread or my needle about every 20 stitches. That project quickly got scrapped. So, I became the wizard and Brad became... um, errrr... well, let's say a "politician"... one that couldn't give a speech without a teleprompter. He had a great time "expounding" to us all in his best orators voice.

Brady's idea of a zombie was much simpler than the one I had in my head. Also he had no patience for fake blood or anything that had to dry, so that costume wasn't too painful.

Kelsi's costume was fabulous, of course. She really does have a vision and can make something from practically nothing.

Afton and Taylor Lawrence were matching football players. My best halloween deal came as part of their costume. They wanted red knee socks. I looked EVERYWHERE and there were just no red socks to be had (except some sparkly Christmas ones with snowflakes), let alone ones that came to the knee. Just about the time I was about to give up and buy ugly white ones for 6 bucks a piece. I found some on a neglected rack in Walmart. They were on the very bottom and covered in dust. The price was 2 pair for $4! SCORE!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween everyone! I know we did!

Now to start thinking about costumes for next year.

Just as a side note: now that I'm not activities chairman anymore, maybe we'll do one of our famous Meyer Halloween parties again in 2011.

Infused with Halloween

So as I was checking my regular blogs this morning there were 3 of them talking about Christmas. What the What? Just so you know, I'm posting right here in my blog that we are still infused with Halloween here at our house. And it's fun!

First off I have to point out that this year I got my decorations up by Oct. 1. We get to enjoy a full month of THESE fun little numbers.

Second, I want to post some pictures of a cute and fun Witch Party that my friend KC put together last Friday Night!

Here is KC herself next to her very cool and very spooky mantle. (BTW, she is the new Ward Activity Chair-- clearly she's the gal for the job!)

I went to the party as the Hawaiian Surfer witch. I was in the midst of sewing (I know, not my brightest idea, right?) a sparkly, purple witch costume for myself, but about an hour before the party I finally gave up. The glue holding the sequins on the fabric was gumming up my needle. I knew I had to come up with something quick. Luckily we had a generic black witches dress, so I jazzed it up with some costume box standbys. My impromptu costume took the prize for most original. Yay for me! Yay for costume boxes! (Just don't ask me what my leis are doing up around my neck - weird)

Melinda, Caroline, Jan and Camille.

We were served appetizers, tomato soup, salad, rolls, stroganoff, and some yummy desserts - one of which was Jeanette's famous chocolate cake. And we didn't have no stinkin' paper plates either. This was a first class affair.

Erin, Jeanette, Erinn, Caroline and Randalynn (oh, and look at Caroline's spider bracelet! So cute (er, I mean creepy). And the best news, she gave one to me too!!!)

Kristine, Shannon, Melinda, Christy

Lay, Jan and Jen

Liz, Christy, KC, Annette and Stef (and of course we can't forget baby ghost, Cruz)

*********************************************

And here is my parting HALLOWEEN shot for you to enjoy. This wasn't really meant to be a decoration, they just happened to be together. It was a $1 section stuffed bat shoved in a $1 section orange bucket. It was sitting on my desk. It was cracking me up and infusing me with halloween joy. I thought maybe you would want to be infused too.

Truth, Justice and the American Way

This week I was able to fulfill my civic duty and serve on a Jury here in good ol' SBC. It was mostly boring and took time away from stuff that I shudda been doing. I was happy to serve though and glad I could.

I'm glad the case was a civil trial and not a criminal trial. The lawsuit was a teacher suing the school district for firing her for being pregnant. So really, if there was any trial that was made for me to serve on, this was it. There are very few things I "know" about in my limited existence and some of those things are schools, teachers and motherhood.

I enjoyed the process of seeing justice served. I'm glad I live in a country where there are not "professionals" making the final decisions. It was comforting to know that all those who served on the jury with me were just regular people. And that because of the laws and procedures set in place, we could make an informed and fair decision. I really feel like it was.

Like I said it was mostly boring as they questioned witness after witness and asked basically the same questions of most of them. I thought a lot about how fun it would have some excitement in the courtroom.

Like:

How exciting would it be if someone flipped out, drank lots of water, beat them self up, and made crazy noises right there in the courtroom? Many lines from Liar Liar popped into my head during the 3 days. I won't bore you with them here. Go watch the movie, you need a good laugh anyway.

Fletcher: You're honor, I object

Judge: Why?

Fletcher: Because it's devastating to my case.

Judge: Overruled

Fletcher: Good Call

Ok, sorry I couldn't help it... NOW go watch it.

Bailiff: I found him in the bathroom this way. Someone beat the heck out of him!

Judge: Who did this?

Fletcher: A mad man your honor. A desperate fool at the end of his pitiful rope

Judge: Can you describe him?

Fletcher: About 6'2", 180 lbs. big teeth, kinda gangly.

Ok, I'm stopping now.

Or what if the 3 Stooges were there? I would have loved it if someone had trouble swearing in, got gum stuck on their shoe or they did a little dance right there in court. And what about the time Larry squawked like a chicken stuck in a fence? That sure would have added to the excitement.

Oh, and it would not have been dull at all if Perry Mason were there. There would have been a dramatic and emotional courtroom confession at the end. And it would have been very cool if someone walked right up to the jury box to address us. (By the way if this had been my jury I would have been sitting where the guy with the white hair and glasses is sitting. I was juror #6)

Remember Mr. Burger the D.A.? I wonder if he ever got tired of losing?

There were no cute sayings in our trial like, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." The most entertaining phrase for me in our trial was about the meeting where the public found out the teacher in question was going to lose her job, and many at the meeting were very upset. The teacher's attorney would ask, "Was anyone at the meeting crying?" The answer was always "yes". Then he would say, "Was anyone sobbing?" Again the answer was "yes." He asked it so many times I looked forward to the way it was worded.

"Was anyone at the meeting crying?" "Yes" "Was anyone sobbing" "Yes".

I don't know, call me weird. But even I know, no matter how you look at it, its still not as cute and catchy as, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." (Just as a side note: I read that the items from the courtroom during OJ's trial are going to be in the Smithsonian. Hmmm?)

And remember this guy Kato Kaelin? I don't know... in our trial there were no memorable witnesses, not this memorable anyway. All the ones in my trial made sense and didn't really contradict themselves. And I'm not sure any of them went surfing after the trial either.

So here are some things that stood out to me during my 3 days of Jury Duty.

~ They really use terms like, "May I approach the bench", "Objection", and "Do you swear to tell the truth?"

~ The bailiff was a small woman (nothing like Bull from Night Court)

~ Court reporters are mesmerizing. How do they keep track of it all, read it back verbatim if asked and still be able to shop for pants and buy airline tickets while doing their job. (Yes it's true, we could see her computer from the jury box.)

~ The teacher's first name was Cherub.

~ In the jury of 12 (with 2 alternates) there was only 1 man.

~ The courtroom wasn't full like you see on TV. It was mostly empty with an occasional person or 2 in sitting in the back.

~ The teacher won by a unanimous vote from all 12 jurors.

~ The answer is not always clear on who is right and who is wrong.

~ Be careful what you say when you are in a position of power, like on a school board (even when you are not acting in that position at the time of the comments)

~ Don't mess with a mommy bear

~ The teacher's attorney's name was Mr. Martyr

~ I kept humming "The People's Court" theme music

~ Parking is free around the Hollister Courthouse

~ Judge Judy came to mind several times (even though our judge was soft spoken and a man)

~ I ate Subway everyday for lunch this week. Sonny is going to miss me today. (yes I'm on a first name basis with the owner of Subway)

~ If I didn't understand before, I now understand the importance and need for several witness all testifying of the same thing.

~ There were 3 members of the school board that testified. Their attorney kept referring to them as, "The Three Witnesses"

~ I'm glad I don't have to serve again for at least another 12 months. It is very distracting to regular life.

Troy - It's Been A Year

Well, how can you do it?

Can you dislike the sun, even when it burns you? Can you dislike ice-cream on a hot day, even if it drips on your pants? Is it possible to turn your back on a rainbow, even if it is in the middle of a downpour? Can you hate a kiss from your grandma, even if it is a little wet and leaves a red lipstick mark? Impossible, right?

This is how we feel about Troy. I tell ya, that dog has issues. Some are inborn and some, I'm sure, are from a questionable puppyhood. But you can't stand not to absolutely love him. He is full of personality. He is never sad or unhappy and it is absolutely impossible to make him that way. He thinks everything is a game, a party, a shindig. He thinks we all exist solely to play with him. He thinks all other dog exist solely to play with him. The vets all adore him. They call him a keeper. But ugghhh, he is definitely his own person, er... uh... dog, and sometimes you don't know if you'd like to hug him or just really arm wrestle him (movie quote alert.)

The vets are right, he IS a keeper. But is it worth it, at the risk of all of us going completely insane? The answer is YES! A whole-hearted and totally unanimous YES!

Waiting

I'm waiting for my iPod to charge so I can take it with me when I run in a few minutes. So while I'm waiting I thought I would post about "Da Ma-chine" (this must be said with a deep, slow, monotone voice). "Da Ma-chine" lives in our neighborhood and always seems to be out running or riding his bike. He is very focused and very stiff and very unfriendly. He is always decked out in the latest gear and seems not to notice anybody or anything he shares the road with. This has earned the poor guy the title, "Da Ma-chine".

The other day while I was out running I passed him going the other way. Usually he avoids me by crossing the street or going a different direction. But this particular day there was no avoidance. We were on a relatively narrow path that pedestrians use to get by the gate at the front of our neighborhood. I waved and smiled and said good morning as we passed. I could almost hear the gears and wheels whirring as they tried to access his neuro-processor to see what the "collective" stationed aboard the mothership would recommend he do. At the last second he raised his left arm very slightly, and while looking away, executed what I'm sure he considered to be a very genuine wave. Wow! I felt honored.

I keep hoping he'll run by while I'm writing this so I can snap a picture... but it looks like I'm out of luck today. Someday, if I'm ever so fortunate I'll post it for your viewing pleasure... You're welcome!

Watch out! Resistance is Futile!

several days later... I got a shot, enjoy