Politics/5Browns/Mentalist/Food/Turning 40

1. I guess most of you, like me, are sick to death of the political crap. Since Januray of 2007 it’s been non-stop with candidates on every talk show, dancing with Ellen, doing cameo's on SNL, and taking turns being on liberal NBC/CNN stations as well as right wing stations such as Fox- to answer tough questions. I just can’t wait for Tuesday when we can put the last 8 years behind us and find out who our new President will be. And more importantly-get back to watching normal television, with normal commercials (which I mute anyway). It will also be nice to get back to actual “news” going on in the world. I’m sick of seeing John McCain and Sarah Palin and every other local politician from North Carolina to South Carolina. I'm even sick of, hearing Obama and what he'd do. I just want him to get to it now and do what he says. And if I never hear, "Joe, the plumber" again, it will still be too soon. :-)

2. Speaking of Television- have any of you seen the new show “Mentalist” with Simon Baker. He's a mentalist turned private investigator and uses his skills to help the police. It is pretty good and I don't normally like cop shows.

3. This is the 5 Browns. They have been my new favorite group to listen to. If you haven’t heard of them, they are 5 siblings, who are all gifted beyond measure musically and they all went and graduated from Julliard music school and they now perform all over the world. Watch this video on youtube of a very familiar tune. Oh, and they just happen to be Mormon too, which is not the most important part, but just another trivia tidbit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K__aSYGCvqQ


4.Joni and I have decided that going to the store to get things to make dinner is more expensive than if we just went out to eat. Sure you can use spices numerous times but if you have to buy truffle oil, capers, or red curry paste, you won't live long enough to use it all. These are the times I'm thankful for Martha Stewart's website where you can look up recipe's by ingredient so that you make something else with the large jar you bought.

5. I will end this blog with patting myself on the back about an achievement, and I'll tell you why.
So I turn 40 this year (next month) and while it is kind of exciting to turn another corner in life, every woman knows that when you turn 40 you begin the annual physical/papsmear/mammogram tests. UGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! So Joni made me promise her that I would do this. So yesterday I called to make the dreaded appointment thinking, "They're probably busy so it may be January before I can get in." Oh no! The only appointment she had was the very next day (today) so I had to take it. At least I didn't have to stew about the unpleasantries for weeks on end.So I just want my mom and every other sister and friend out there to be proud of me for doing this. But I did it. Part of my dignity is gone now, but I survived and so can you. The Mamm is yet to come, although I had one two years ago so I know what to expect with that.
The best present we can give ourselves is to do these annual physical checkups, however unpleasant they are, so that we have the peace of mind that our bodies are ok and our happy lives can continue. So if any of you out there have not scheduled yours yet, do it! If I can, anyone can. It's just a moment of uncomfortableness, at worst, and your doctor has seen more ho-ho's than they can mention so yours is not anything new.

Memorial/Washington D.C.

Hello friends/family. We're back after a long week of emotional stuff. Joni recently lost her birth brother, Steve. They buried him next to his parents and remembered his life. Joni's doing great and appreciates all the emails and notes. We were able to have fun also though, while there. This is Lynn, Donna, Senga, Joni, Cindy at a Renaissance festival. The one below this is Joni with siblings, Cindy, Donna, John, and Ronnie.

So we went to a Renaissance festival in Annapolis, MD. Which is something I would have never seen myself going to but I was actually really entertained and we had a great time together with Joni's sister's Donna and Cindy, plus Lynn and I. Lots of people enjoy dressing up like Shakespearean people and the renaissance years, so I admit I'm not part of that crowd but it was fun to see. We found a group of Scottish folks all dressed up so we asked to take a picture of them.

My old high school friend, Janet, who lives in Washington D.C., took us to the 9/11 memorial that just opened last month outside the Pentagon. There's a bench for every person who died that either was on the plane or in the Pentagon when the plane hit. She taught us that if the bench points inward, that person was on the plane and if the bench points out then they were inside the Pentagon when the plane hit. It's an amazing design starting with the youngest person who died and it goes outward to the very oldest person. Very sobering to see. Each bench has the person's name engraved on it and has water running underneath it and every night the workers gather up all the things that people left on the benches and they catalog and warehouse it. We went in the evening time and it was really reverent hearing all the water from underneath it. I suggest you all see it sometime.
This is my cousin Jacky with Glynis and Joni and I. I hadn't seen Jacky in probably 30 years. It was a great reunion and we enjoyed a great steak dinner at Smith & Wollensky's. Thanks for the visit Jacky and I look forward to many more times together with you.

Places in Utah we've missed

I try to convey to our friends out here in the south what I miss about Utah and how beautiful our mountains are. So I thought I'd post a few pictures worth a thousand words. Isn't Mount Timpanogos beautiful? This is in my old house's backyard practically. Robert Redford's Sundance Ski resort is up there. Park City, right behind the mountain. Utah is a beautiful state of various different kinds of mountain ranges from high rocky mountain peaks to national parks of red clay in the south.



This is Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon, on your way to Sundance or Park City. You can view this from the road or walk up to it and hike the beautiful surrounding trails and under the falls. It's just a hop, skip, and a jump from our old house too.




This is Delicate Arch in Moab. Probably the most famous arch of Utah. It's a wonderful 45 minute hike up to see this majestic piece of art. It has an energy all of it's own too. You walk around the corner where the arch reveals itself and it is just breathtaking.




This is the "Narrows" in Zions National Park. Another spectacular view and hike for all you outdoor folks to enjoy when you come out to Utah to visit us.



I miss skiing at Alta and Sundance so much too. Utah has the best snow on earth by far!



And we have a great capital city- Salt Lake City with all kinds of nightlife and restaurants, museums, theaters, and history.

Home is home, what can I say? We can't wait to be back and hopefully soon.

Now this would be a Bailout

So yesterday at the airport I overheard a passenger with one of my co-workers ranting about this $700 billion, or rather now $850 billion bailout. He was mentioning a scenario where if the government hadn't bailed out the institutions that got us in this mess and rather had given that money to the taxpayers, we all would have ended up with about $500,000/ a piece. I haven't checked his math, nor do I fully understand the logic how he came up with this number, but it is interesting to think about. If they gave this money to the American people, who could then buy there homes outright and pay off their bills, including all those ugly bad loans, pay off their cars, get back what they had lost in the stock market and with their retirement 401k's, and then some would surely buy back into companies stocks, and we then might be just fine. There's a lot of scenarios that come to mind about this whole concept and even though it wasn't an option, I've thought a lot about it.

And yes, you know that not everyone would use the money wisely. There's a lot of dumbshits (excuse the appropriate phrase) out there who, upon receiving $500,000 would likely blow it, instead of paying off or buying what they'd really need. But as they would do this, they'd still be putting the money back into the economy boosting it from almost every industry. And yet how would it work, if they had selected this option- should they just send money to every head of household or every tax payer? Would it depend on your tax bracket status to begin with? If you are a couple, both working, that's $1,000,000, again according to the unknown math of the passenger. But just think of it. That would relieve a lot of financial pressure, everyone would have the opportunity to buy their home outright and live the american dream in a million different ways. No one would care about the price of gas either. I guess it would open the flood gates of immigrants to become citizens even more, but if this was a one time payout, then it would be done and we'd all pledge allegiance to the flag, and sing cumbiyah (sp?), and EVERYONE would love George Bush, (for once) and congress and we'd accomplish very quickly bi-partisanism that they always talk about having.

And then, yes, at the end of the calendar year we all would enter a completely different tax bracket, which brings up all sorts of further questions and scenarios that are too countless to mention. But isn't it an interesting thought?

Alright, now- WAKE UP BACK TO REALITY. Instead, No one thought of the average American citizen (that's you and me) this way. No one wanted to invest in America this way, Uncle Sam still wants to make money again after all of this is said and done, (even though we owe China in umpteen billions for everything). So I guess we're back to just working hard and paying a lot of taxes for that American dream and maybe the chance to retire before we're physically incapable of working, and pretending that we're bi-partisan again as a united country. I just don't believe that in this outcome that we all stood "United" with passing this bill under duress and now affecting the rest of the world's markets too. Maybe we'll all wake up from this nightmare and Bill Clinton will still be president. If not, we need another Boston Tea party. :-)

Iron Jawed Angels

This is my favorite movie and is the reason I will vote in three weeks and the rest of my life. No one should take their right to vote for granted. Every woman needs to see this movie too.


And one more great scene-

Please don't say this!

Happy birthday Family!

October is a huge birthday month in my family and I just want to do a post on my family members celebrating this month.


1. Lily May is the 8th child in our family. She was born on October 4, 1979. I always remember this day because it is one of my best friend’s birthday too and it’s our sister-in-law’s (Brooke) and my cousin in Scotland (Lisa Blair’s) birthday. I was 11 years old when Lily was born, I took care of her a lot. She and I have become very close because I took care of her so much when she was young. She now has a great husband, Shawn and 4 dang cute kids- Gavin, Dallin, Maile, and Brooks. I love you, Lily. Lily is named after my mother, Lilias, and her grandmother Lilias Bellingham, and a few other generations long. Lily wasn't too excited as a child to be her mother's namesake. I remember when that changed. When Me and my sister, Yvonne, went to Scotland in 1993 to again see our grandmother and mom's siblings, I came back and told Lily all about her grandma and how funny and wonderful she was and how lucky Lily was to be given that name. She seemed to catch on after that. You are the best Lily, or as Don likes to refer to you lovingly, Slog. :-)




2. This is my Mom, Lilias, today (Oct. 7th) is her birthday. She is a very young 63 today. My Mom and Dad came to South Carolina recently to be with me and Joni and we had a great time. I was thinking that I don’t ever remember a time where I had both my Mom and Dad without any of the other family around. I mean, I love my family, but it was just a special circumstance where I got to have them all to myself and I love them both so much. My mother is a Scottish lassie from Falkirk, Scotland. She used to dance the highland fling and catch every man’s eye in town. She is a very good Mom and the older I get the more I respect her unique set of challenges to be where she is today. My dad caught her eye and her altogether, and they’ve been married now for 44 years.



3. This is Yvonne (#2 in our family). Her birthday is October 10th. She is two years older than me and is someone truly special to me. When you’re close in age, you may not always be close but Yvonne and I have always had a pretty good relationship. Sure, we fought at times growing up- but who doesn’t? The older I got, the more I wanted to stay close to her. She was the first person in my family who I trusted and “came out” to and she loved and accepted me anyway. She and I have a lot in common. One is that we’re both very musical both vocally and having played in the high school Symphonic band and Orchestra at Mountain View. She really hates to be talked about but she is one of the smartest people in our whole family by far. She got a music scholarship to Weber State University and later graduated with her Bachelors in Respiratory Therapy and then later her MBA from University of Phoenix. She is an excellent mother of two to Malin, and A.J. and is one of my best friends on earth. Love you, Yvonne and happy birthday on the 10th.


4.Don is 4 years younger than I am. He, along with my brother Ben and I, used to pal around the neighborhood playing anything and everything we could find. We used to play this thing where I was Jim (don’t laugh), Ben was Joe, and Don was Bobby and we were three brothers who did everything from hunting to going to restaurants together and whatever else popped into our brains (the imagination of youth). Don is married to Rae and they have a daughter, Belle, who is so cute. Sure love ya, Don and happy birthday on the 11th.