Two books and a pot of frustration

Frustration has been my middle name this week, as our computer has been refusing to cooperate.  My already over-due family newsletter was typed and then immediately frozen away in the inner chambers of its lifeless form.

My upcoming blog pictures were locked away, too. 

Useless.

And then….

Robbie had his surgery on his knee (soccer injury) and the ceiling right by his newly spruced up recovery bed (the sofa bed in the family room by the television) had a water leak that sent messy chunks of soggy sheetrock falling to the ground.  Now all his well wishers get to sit under a gaping hole in the ceiling.

The ice maker on the fridge decided to quit working.

What do we feed the pumping machine that keeps his knee cold?

The wiper on my car window broke off (I turned it on before de-icing it)

…on the day it snowed!

Today I accidently deleted all my math grades!

Whine, whine, whine….

I could go on, but I’m sure no one really wants to hear any more.

Now, on the other hand, I do have some positive things to share, too!

I received volume three of my blog books.

☺

Liz put it together for me as a Christmas surprise.

I love it!

I also received this wonderful book from a blogging friend.

I love it, too!

Marg, of Home Again, is one of the authors and we exchanged our cookbooks.  I sent her our family cookbook and she sent me their wonderful book.  It is full of beautiful photos and yummy sounding recipes.  I had to laugh as I read how all the women made their families wait to eat their prized dished until they had taken all the photographs of the food!

Can’t you just picture a hungry family, stomachs growling, heavenly aromas filling the air, and a busy, focused cook trying to get the right angle and the best lighting on the mashed potatoes?

Isn’t it refreshing to know that other people in the world have the same desires for perfection as you do?

Wouldn’t you just love to have these ladies as friends?

Check out their blog, Mennonite Girls Can Cook, and see a much better photo than the one I took from the book cover. 

Thanks for the wonderful book!

(By the way, all proceeds from the book go to a charity to feed hungry children.)

Well, I’m afraid I need to get this published before the computer goes on strike again. 

I’m afraid I’m still on that unlucky streak…..

JoAnn

P.S.  Robbie is doing very well after his surgery!

Finally, a little fun in the snow!

Utah finally got some snow.

It has been a very dry winter and we needed moisture.

(Really, we just needed some winter fun.)

Snow!  Snow!  Snow!

JoAnn

A weekend of fun- besides Home Depot

This weekend we managed not ONE outing, but TWO fun events.

(And neither one involved aisles, shopping carts, cashiers, or lumber!)

First….we had a fun date night with friends.  We ate dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants Su Casa ,and then went went to Desert Star and saw this play:

http://www.desertstar.biz/playhouse_now_playing.htm

We have had season tickets with three other couples for years, and this one was one of the best plays we’ve seen in a long time.  They do funny parodies of other movies and shows  (always adding a villain and a heroine). 

We laughed and we laughed and we laughed!

The cute little “mommy” had her baby right there as she helped catch the mysterious murderer.  She was hilarious.

The whole cast also performed a musical olio at the end of the play and they were all talented singers, too.

♥

We also had a party with our ward Bishopric and two service missionary couples serving in our ward (church).  We hosted at our house, but everyone helped with the food. 

We had cordon bleu, rice, stuffed mushrooms, tossed salad, glazed carrots, home made rolls, etc.

(I love eating a gourmet dinner and only having to prepare one thing!)

I pulled out the linens, china, and goblets. 

Ken picked up some fresh flowers.

Our Bishop’s wife made everyone a little treat.

Chocolate covered fruit!

Grapes, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries that were all delicious and looked so pretty!

It was a really nice weekend.

Now, if I could only get rid of my head cold.

I usually wait until I am half dead before I go to the doctor, so this time I went in early to avoid the month-long  prolonged coughing, sneezing, and general pain. 

The doctor told me it was a virus and sent me home without any medicine.

I guess I’ll just have to wait until that long, miserable month is over (and the “virus” settles in my chest) to get some sympathy from my doctor!

My friend Sandi just gave me a list of “home remedies” to try.

I’ll let you know if they help!

Have a nice Monday.  We get to stay home from work!

JoAnn

 

Is this you?

This Sally Forth cartoon seems to echo my life.

Or Costco.

JoAnn

 

Double Nines, anyone?

We had some serious games going on on New Year’s Eve.  I managed to play Chinese Checkers with Joshua while playing Racko with Maddie and Brooklyn.  At the same time!

Of course, we didn’t play by any rules so it didn’t really matter that I was playing two games simultaneously.

We enjoy playing games as a family.  Some of our favorite ones are:

Double Nines

Farkle

Hand and Foot

Telestrations

The Marble Game

Imagine IF

Phase Ten

Catch Phrase

Apples to Apples

Julie and Julia are playing, too.

(Not the movie version!)

 

We took a little break to watch fireworks!

(There’s a sleeping baby under my coat.)

What games do you enjoy?

JoAnn

Happy New Year!

Just experimenting…

We are back on a routine. 

Two days of school are under my now-expanded-from-too-many-holiday-treats-belt.  It is hard going back to work after a vacation.

(I would make a really good couch potato!)

I need to get motivated and start some home projects.

It’s time to begin a diet.

I want to organize all my old photos.

Sigh…

In the meantime, I’ve been playing around with some digital scrapbooking things.  I don’t have any instructions so I’m just trying on my own.  I’ve  never had the patience to do fancy scrapbooking, so I probably won’t  be very good at digital scrapbooking.

I once went to a fun scrapbook party at my friend Winnie’s house and while everyone else made a lot of cute pages, I made ONE very average page. 

So… since I’m avoiding starting anything really productive (I just need a few more days of holiday withdrawal) I decided to cutesy up a photo of one of my favorite little grandkids.  (I have four and they are all amazing!)

This is my version of “making it fancy”.  I told you I’m not very original!

But…

It was more fun than folding the batch of towels waiting in my laundry basket.

Does any one know a site that teaches how to do this?

JoAnn

P.S.  I am loving my new ipad2!

Thanks, Ken!

(I also need to learn how to get around on it!  Any more free lessons, Andrew?)

P.P.S.  Thanks for volume three of my blog books, Liz!

Wrapping Up a Good Year

2011 was a pretty good year.

It wasn’t perfect, but the good always outweighs the bad.

We have many things to be grateful for.

We learned a few lessons.

We had some fun.

Here is a little recap of the past twelve months.

(It was really hard choosing just one picture for each month!)

And one of our most precious blessings:

THANKS FOR THE GOOD MEMORIES!

I hope 2012 is a year full of promise for all of us!

XOXOXO

JoAnn

P.S.  You can click on the picture to enlarge it.