Merry Christmas to All!

I've been working on some new dance moves for the holidays. Check 'em out:

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"I listen to the radio..."

I've discovered (through reading the 100 hour board) a website I think is pretty cool. It is www.pandora.com and you can enter music that you like and it will find other music that is similar. Then it plays the music like a radio station (without ads). Tonight I set one up for Mom and I (Dad too, but he fell asleep - guess Mom's music is just too soothing) to listen to while Mom was reading blogs and playing online Sudoku and I was reading more archives from the 100 hour board. Do you know what Mom likes to listen to? A Norwegian group call The Secret Garden and Josh Groban.... I like to listen to music while at work (it's ok to do). I don't have a favorite group but I listen to Star 94.1 radio and select out favorite songs to put on my playlist. Maybe someday, I'll look some up and make a list of them on my blog (fat chance, huh, Mom!). PS the title of this blog is from an old Carpenter's song mom liked as a teenager.

How do my glasses look?

So, this is what happens when my sisters are allowed to write on my blog.... They post silly pictures of me as a child. Although, I must say, I am a cute kid aren't I?

Hmmmm, Nov 4. What happens on Nov 4?

Today was my first time to vote. Dad and I poured over all the flyers and info we have been receiving in the mail for the past month or so plus the voter guide and Roger Hedgecock's picks. We weighed things out and came up with our best choices. So, this morning, Dad, Mom and I headed over to the polls shortly after they opened at 7AM and completely filled in the bubbles for our selections. Of course, I got the, "I Voted" sticker and put it on my shirt. I volunteered/worked at the polls my senior year of high school so things were familiar.

Last Saturday, Mom, Dad and I volunteered to pass out doorhangers to encourage voters for Prop 8 (marriage is between a man and a woman) to remember to vote. We took a section of Crest since we were somewhat familiar with Crest. Whoops - that turned out not to be true. We had the south end of Crest ( the street just north of grandma's all the way down to the south end of Crest). Some roads had no road signs as well as some houses had no addresses and one address had no house (just a chimney left from the Cedar fire). The car overheated with too much idling so we took a break at Grandma's. When it overheated again, we headed home for lunch and a rest. Then back we went. It took us about 7 hours to finish and we sure hope that this was an effective way to pass Prop 8! One lady was in her front yard when I hopped out with the doorhanger. This house was on the edge of the world where no one would ever accidentally visit! The lady looked at me and said, "I hope you are doing the right thing young man!" Then she saw it was for voting and she said she had already voted. Then she read, "Yes on 8" and called out to me, "Good, you are doing the right thing!" I'm staying home from work today as I am sick (like Mom and Dad). Do you think I'll be watching the election updates?

Feed me!

I need to eat on a regular basis. My parents can skip meals, but I can't. This can be difficult when I'm out and about especially since I don't have a purse for carrying snacks and fanny packs certainly are NOT in style.

Segway

The segway tour was great! I really enjoyed it a lot. I checked in before the park was even open, signed the papers and waited for everyone in the tour to arrive (probably about 10 of us). We spent an hour in the Innoventions building for orientation and training. The city segway costs $5,000, and the all terrain is several thousand more. After this training we all rode single file on out to the World Showcase. We stopped a couple of times and the tour guide told us some interesting information about the countries represented there. All the buildings were built by sponsors except for Morocco. The Prince of Morocco wanted it built a certain way and so sent his people over to build the buildings. They believe in making things not quite perfect as God is the only one who can make things perfect. Also, we learned that the buildings were built to reflect how Americans view these countries more than how the country views itself. So, it was a great hour touring around on the segway. It was easy to use! Sure wish we could have used one while visiting Disney World for the 5 days. We have had a great time visiting the different parks and riding new rides and some old rides as well. One of my favorites was Mission Space at Epcot that simulated a launch takeoff (with spinning to create G force) and going into space. Well, back to CA today!

Whish

Well, this is exciting! I went over to Epcot's Innovations and learned more about the Segway. I found a brochure that told about being able to try out the segway and take a two hour tour! So, while Mom and Dad were slowly finishing up the world showcase at Epcot, I hurried back to Innovations for the time period set up to trial the segway. It was very cool! The guy (employee) giving me the segway summed me up quickly as 6'2" as his son is about the same height. They were telling everyone to place their feet in the center of the segway, but he said, that didn't apply to me as my feet were big enough to take up the whole area for feet! (his son has size 15 shoes as well) It was so great! The segway checks your balance 100 times a second, that's 600 times a minute! So, I decided to sign up for the two hour tour on Thurs morning! We will spend one hour indoors and then the second hour will be riding the segway around the World Showcase at Epcot (that's where they have all these great buildings representing countries from around the world like Germany, Italy, China, Norway, Mexico, Canada...). So I am really looking forward to this tomorrow! (Not that we haven't been having a lot of fun the past two days at Disney World.) Last night I told Mom that I thought it would be good for me to have a harness with a leash. Mom asked if I would give Dad and I each one of the leashes and then I could pull them up to me. No! I meant then they could control how far ahead I am of them. I remind Mom of her dog, Thunder, who would race ahead and then wait til they caught up with him on long hikes.

I'ts my Birthday

I got home from church yesterday and what did I find? The stairs wishing me a happy birthday on individual balloons!!! Mom made me a delicious dinner, but we all forgot the rice until it was too late to serve it with dinner (oh well). I got lots of great presents and I can't figure out if my favorite was Monty Python and The Holy Grail or the feeding chickens or the great books or the Harry Potter movies or... Anyway, my point is that I am very loved and I was happy to be able to three way Skype with Jack and Tamara, and talk to all of my sisters. Chelsea was taking a video of us as Mom was bringing out the cake(which was amazing) and we were unaware that that was what she was doing. I was going to try and upload the video but am having technical difficulties .

Happy Birthday, Happy Family

Yesterday was my birthday. It started out really great, because I got to talk to my sister, Tamara, on the phone. She was in Nashville wishing she could be in San Diego helping me celebrate in style. She's always filling her plate a little more full than she ought to (yes that doubles as a metaphor and as face value meaning). Luckily, Tamara is still a great sister.
She married a great guy a month or so ago and he's the one that picked out my birthday gift. I still don't know what it is, since it's somewhere between the warehouse and my front step. Tamara said in her card that it's reading. I'm hoping it's not about essay writing or blogging.
She meant to mention, but forgot, that she's sending one book purely for pleasure reading and one that Jack loves on spiritual progress. I'm looking forward to finding out what they are. I do love to read and it seems that Jack and I have a fair amount in common. Anyway, I had a great birthday and I'm glad that I also have a great family.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my little brother. Today is his last birthday as a teenager. With his recent move, I'm enjoying spending more time with him. Brent is a great guy to have around with his witty ability to problem solve and his innate desire for things to be right. Although, having him home has upset the beds to people ratio when I visit for the weekend. Hmmm. I guess his company off sets sleeping on the couch. ;) I hope he has a great year! I love you, Brent!!!

Job Opportunity

Brent started a new job on September 10 working as an engineering intern down in Mission Valley. He does research, test products, troubleshoot and make things work that aren't working, learn about the hardware and software to make it do the things they want it to do. Brent and Dad are carpooling everyday. Dad drives downtown and then Brent drives on over to Mission Valley (free parking vs Dad paying for parking) and then of course a reverse drive home with Brent doing the driving. (Informative, huh?) On the way home, Brent shares with his Dad about the projects he's been working on so by the time he gets home, he is done sharing!! But he seems to really enjoy this job. It sounds like it's the fun of Destination Imagination without the stress of being in charge or working with a bunch of blobs. He enjoys going out to Mexican food for lunch with the group and picks up all sorts of interesting information (refinancing homes, information about the recent bail-outs...). Maybe this will broaden his interest in reading other than just the comics in the newspaper. Hmmmm.

Playing around

Brent really has enjoyed reading the 100 hour board from BYU. Anyone can submit a question to the board and a board writer will work hard to respond to your question within 100 hours. So he's been reading the archives and says he's been learning alot. One thing he learned about is a free playlist you can put on your computer called imeem. So, he's been copying the music from a local radio station's playlist and making up his own imeem playlist. Last night, Brent showed me (his mother) how his playlist works and I listened to it for awhile. It was great. But, though I enjoyed the music he chose, I wanted to start my own playlist with music I like. So this morning he helped me set up my own playlist. Can you guess Brent's favorite song on his playlist? Brent just suggested that I include a link for both of these sites. The 100 hour board: www.theboard.com and IMEEM: www.imeem.com. Hope you enjoy two favorite sites of Brent.

Hmmmm, Who's Writing This?

Brent has been encouraged by many of us to reestablish his blog so we can learn what is going on in his life. Also, a way to encourage his communication skills.... Alas, we've had no success! So this morning, while he was setting up an imeem playlist for me, I suggested once again, that he create a new blog site and tell about imeem. He told me he just didn't want to have to keep up a blog so I suggested that he create one for the rest of us to share Brent updates! He said, "OK," and set up this new blog site. What does Brent usually respond when asked a question? Hmmmmmmmm! so, such is his blog title. So, I hope you enjoy reading what I or you write about Brent! Ha! (I being me, his mother) HMMMM, should I let him approve of what I write before I save or publish - what are your thoughts? (He just read this and ansered, "It's not my blog.")