The Life and Times of Della Hill

Another Royal Wedding Post or Why I'm Watching

2011-04-26T09:18:00.010-04:00

I never put a pillowcase on my head and acted out my dream wedding when I was a little girl.

I did wear my mother's nursing cap with dreams of being a nurse one day, and I also dreamt of being a princess. So far one of these two has come true, and I am left with my childhood fantasies of becoming royalty.

My sister managed to marry a Prince, and I did marry my Prince Charming (after kissing my share of frogs) but somehow missed out on that tiara.

So this brings me to my blog topic, (que the trumpets), The ROYAL WEDDING!!

Okay, so some of you are immediately clicking out and moving on to something that applies to our country and doesn't include an out dated, essentially powerless monarchy.

If you are still reading at this point it's because you're either a hopeless romantic like myself, or you are a family member who feels compelled to read my blog out of loyalty. And maybe both.

I was 4 years old when my mom woke me up in the middle of the night and sat with my sisters and me on the folded out hide-a-bed to watch Prince Charles marry Diana. I remember fighting to stay awake, and I remember that everyone exclaimed about her dress and it's 25 foot long train.

I remember that the newlyweds kissed on balcony.

I was in awe of this beautiful woman who found love and with it became a Princess.

And I remember wishing, as a 4 year old girl, that I could be a Princess too.

Unfortunately, royalty didn't go so well for Princess Diana, but she left her legacy of two handsome young men who carry her good looks and are the future of Britain's royal family.

And now, 30 years later, I am still enthralled with this family, these young men who are trying to have some level of normalcy by attending college and joining the military, yet carry the title of Prince, the burden of one day being King, and live in the world's spotlight.

Enter Kate Middleton. Beautiful, sophisticated, stylish, daughter to millionaires, and (gasp) a commoner!

There is a list of things I love about this couple. It was romantic that William gave her time to understand what she was getting into. She seems similiar to Diana in her simple yet sophisticated style. The couple looks adorable together. She is keeping her dress a secret until the last minute. And lets not forget that I feel more a part of it because I watched Charles and Diana's wedding 30 years ago.

But I think what I love the most is the idea that this woman was once a little girl, who like me, probably dreamed of one day becoming a princess. And for her, the dream came true. This is the magic that makes this wedding appealing to me.

Adlai Stephenson once said "In America, any boy can grow up to be President. And that's just the risk he takes". This is one of the things that makes America great.

But the happenstance, the coincidences, the glass slippers and fairy god mother that can turn any girl into a Princess, that is what makes a royal wedding, and especially this royal wedding magical. At least for me.

Oops, I Did It Again, or Sorry- Gotta Run

2010-09-06T19:26:00.006-04:00

As busy as I have been with nursing school, I had not planned on running in the Rock and Roll Half Marathon this year. I have had almost no time to exercise, much less train for a marathon, so even though the idea of missing it made me very sad, I tried to put it out of my mind and try to study.

I have had several friends, and even a few nursing instructors who were training for it. I wished them luck and told myself I would make it next year.

One of my friends, Matt, had signed up several months ago, but tore his meniscus at Army National Guard training. He still picked up his race packet to get the t-shirt even though he knew he couldn't do the marathon.

On Saturday afternoon I asked if I could take his number and do it for him. So Saturday evening around 8:00 I picked up his race number and pinned it to my marathon shirt.

Chris told me I was crazy. I figured he was right, but 7:00 Sunday morning found me at the start line of the race with all my runner gear on and ready to go.

I knew I couldn't run it, I would have to walk. But the guy that finishes in one hour and the guy that finishes in 4 hours are both half marathon finishers and both get the same medal.

This picture is when we are going over the bridge around mile 3. There are lots of people going up. The few that are coming toward us going down the bridge are on mile 10 and probably finished in the 1 hour 15 minute range. (They started before us).

At mile 4 I was feeling great. The timer says 1:32. I started at 0:33, so I was maintaining a 15 minute mile at that point. Not bad for walking.

We ran under this rock and roller on Camp Pendleton around mile 8+

When we made the turn onto the boardwalk at mile 12+ we got a full view of the ocean.

The boardwalk seems like it's forever long, and even though I could see the finish line, it just didn't seem to get closer.

Mile 13 is a wonderful sight. But that last 0.1 mile seems to be the longest of the whole thing.

Even though I was just walking, I was still pretty tired by that point.

About this point I started to run, so I could at least cross the finish line running.

Even though this was my 4th half marathon, I still started crying when I crossed the finish line. And like the 3 other times, I made myself stop because I couldn't breathe when I was crying.

I always consider walking to the water and getting my feet wet, but everytime so far I have opted to just head back to the shuttle.

If my mouth looks a little blue here, it's from the popsicle they handed me after I crossed the finish line.

I have worn the same white shirt and the same Hill Cumorah visor for all 4 of my half marathons.

I think my final time was about 3:36, which I actually feel pretty awesome about considering my complete lack of training.

The only downside of doing this is that my muscles are getting even with me today. I am in PAIN. But I still think it was worth it. The pain will wear off, but I will remember completing my 4th half marathon -with NO training- forever.

So who is going to join me next year? I promise we'll train better.

The Past Tense of Text or The Word of the Day

2010-05-31T13:54:00.006-04:00

Among conversations I often hear different pronunciations of the past tense of the word "text".

Some people say "I tex'd you." While others will say "I texted you." with the word having 2 separate syllables; "text-ed".

In order to resolve this matter of grammar, (as I am a bit of a grammar fiend), I have spent some thought and google time studying it out.

Apparently, the word "text" is still not recognized by many as a verb. Most dictionaries still list it as a noun and it is only considered a verb when used as slang. Under which rule it would be most appropriate to say "I sent you a text."

So while we are waiting for the officials who define the English language to catch up with the people who actually use it, I have come up with the answer.

Most Americans text (v.) everyday, so it must have a past tense.

Most English verbs follow one of three rules:

1) Many English verbs become a different version of the word when used in past tense:

sit, sat

run, ran

lend, lent

drink, drank, etc.

2) Many verbs end in -ed which is simply combined with the last syllable:

walk, walked

pour, poured

look, looked, etc.

3) Many English verbs that ends with 2 consonants, the second of which is a hard D or T (when not following rule #1), add an -ed as an additional syllable:

lift, lifted

act, acted

halt, halted

mend, mended etc.

One can assume, that when the word "text" is finally accepted as a verb, and in the mean time while it is being used at length by the American public as a verb, that it will not follow the first example and become a different version of the word ("taxt? tixt? I don't think so).

"Text" should instead follow other verbs such as handed, landed, gifted and sifted such as referred to in the third rule and should be pronounced "texted" (text-ed) with 2 syllables.

Please realize that I am not a linguist (however cunning I may be), and I am certain there are further exceptions to the rules I mentioned. If you choose to disagree with me? Fine, just go disagree with me to someone else. You might even sound smart.

Tiger Mom Loves Baby Piggies or False Advertising

2010-03-18T10:36:00.008-04:00

According to an email I received the other day, there was a poor Mama Tiger in a California zoo who gave birth to tiger cub triplets. The poor cubbies died and the mother got depressed. She was failing to thrive.

The Zoo personel felt that if she could foster some other cubs it might reinvigor her desire to live. They contacted other zoos but were unable to find any orphaned tiger cubs.

What they found instead were a litter of piglets whose mother had died.

The zoo personel wrapped the piglets in tiger skins and put them in the habitat with the tiger. They then waited to see if the piglets would be a treatment tool, or if they would become lunch.

I thought this story was incredibly sweet and good blog fodder if it was true, so I checked it out on snopes.com.

Unfortunately the whole story was not true.

The pictures were actually taken in a zoo in Thailand at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. This zoo has more than 400 tigers and occasionally gets bored with the normal tiger habitat exhibit so they cross exhibits by putting the tiger cubs in with a mother pig or vice versa.

This was the case with these pictures. All the same, these pics are adorable and serve to be a sort of Lion-laying-down-with-the-lamb example.

The Square Root of a Duck

2010-03-12T18:30:00.010-05:00

Random wanderings on the internet bring up interesting findings. For example, someone on Yahoo Answers asked "What is the square root of a duck?"

. .

Even more interesting than the question were some of the answers.

See for yourself:

Answer #1, given by Questor

D=500 (roman numeral)

u=(.000001) (prefix of of millionth)

C=100 (roman numeral)

K=1000 (metric system)

DuCK = (500)(.000001)(100)(1000)

=(5x10^2)(1x10^-7)(10^2)(10^2)(10^8)

=5x10^1

=50

sqrt*50= +/- 7.07

And you may add the inverse of Duck is roasted duck lying on its back in spices and sauce. (kind of makes me hungry, what's for dinner?)

Answer #2, given byDylan:

Well, I'm sure you've heard 2+2=fish, so a fish=4, so the square root of fish is 2.

Ducks and fish are closely related, they both live in/on lakes, both have 4 letters and are both part of the canine family. So the square root of a fish must be very close to 2.

Therefore the square root of a duck is 2.2

Dylan cites his source as: Personal experience in being a duck.

Answer #3, given by 3k1yp2:

I disagree with Dylan. I have been a duck and a fish, and ducks and fish are very different. I can make blow kisses to everyone when I'm a fish, but not when I'm a duck.

When I'm a duck I have an indescribable desire to wiggle by butt. So butt wiggling considered, and also considering that a duck has only 2 wings (unless it is a dragon duck) so... the square root of a duck must be 7.

Yes, 7. But not seven. Just 7.

There were a few other answers given, but I felt those 3 were the most worth posting.

Do you have a better answer? (Mike, you should take this as a direct challenge.)

OK GO!

2010-03-11T17:46:00.002-05:00

In a few minutes of blog surfing during a class break today I found a great video by a music group I had previously never heard of.

Apparently this group, Ok Go, is better known for their videos than their music. This video is a good reason why. The song, "This Too Shall Pass" is cool, but way better for being in this video.

Call the kids in to watch. You're going to want to see it more than once.

Alice in Wonderland, a Review

2010-03-09T10:18:00.013-05:00

I was able to see the new Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3-D this weekend with my family.

My personal experience was that it was a delightful, visually delicious, modern remake of a very old story, written by Lewis Carroll in 1864.

This creative story has been through it's own rabbit hole of evolution since it was first told as a bedtime story. From verbal tale to book, to cartoon movie, to 3 dimensional film, this one time children's story has taken on life and adventure of it's own.

As with any book made into a movie, those who have been fans of Alice and her experiences in the rabbit hole for years may be disappointed by the changes in the story line and the calignosity (it means darkness, look it up) of parts of the movie. Not to say that it was gothic or had a dark mood, it just wasn't luminous and bright in every scene. If you are familiar with any Tim Burton movies you should expect that darker element.

Part of what made the movie so visually captivating was the changes between the bright and colorful scenes and the grayer, starker scenes. I found myself waiting anxiously for the brightness again. I have always felt that the books had a slightly dark side. I remember being terrified of the Queen of Hearts when I read the book at the age of 8.

The characters were bold and entrancing throughout the film. Alice actually seemed a little boring to me, although she had some really great outfits. My personal favorite was the dress made out of curtains while at the Red Queen's court.

(Not the one pictured below.)

Let me clarify that I have never been a die hard Johnny Depp fan, like so many females, but in this movie, any time that he was not on screen was just not as engaging. From his first appearance as the Mad Hatter when he walks the length of the table at the tea party, to the very end when Alice bids him goodbye before returning to her world, I enjoyed the movie more when he was in the scene.

My favorite scene in the movie was a relatively short bit where the Mad Hatter is walking through a tulgey wood with Alice on his hat and he quotes a bit from the poem, the Jabberwocky:

"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimber in the wabe: all mimsy were the borogroves, and the mome raths outgrabe."

One critical addition to the plot of this movie was the integration of Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky.

(Thanks to aeromental.net for the picture.)

(You can learn more about Jabberwocky by clicking here.)

I particularly enjoyed this addition as I have always loved "Jabberwocky". I recognized that this would be an element from the first time a character referred to the "Frabjous Day".

With the release of Avatar a few months ago, we have entered a new generation of film making and viewing. Use of computer animation, special effects and 3-D has taken movies into not a new chapter, but a new book in film making history.

Movies will never be the same.

Many of us tell our children about the days before cell phones, not so long ago. I believe our children will be telling their children about the days when we watched everything in 2-D.

Alice in Wonderland will be to our children what The Wizard of Oz was to children a few generations ago and moving pictures were to their grandparents.

This movie was not just a retelling of a classic tale, it was a recreation of a story in a form never seen before.

Even if you are not interested in Alice's plight I recommend seeing this movie, and the film Avatar if you haven't already, for no other reason than that it is unlike any movie experience you have ever had and you will be witnessing movie making history.

Enjoy! And pour some m&ms in your popcorn just for me.

Fue De Joie

2010-03-02T08:37:00.004-05:00

In case you aren't aware, because I haven't announced it here, I have returned to college.

I am working on my RN degree, to finally, finally reach the dream I have had for 30 years, to be a nurse.

With a lot of studying and God's grace, I will graduate in about a year.

I am super excited and I am really enjoying school.

For my English class I wrote a paper that I have been mulling over in my head for about 14 years. It is about a morning and a sunrise that I witnessed when I was 18 years old and had just moved out on my own.

This was a special morning for me. Special enough that I still remembered it clearly enough to write about it 14 years later.

I decided to post it here for posterity and anyone else that might be interested.

Please read, but don't steal. This is my own work and plagiarism will get you kicked out of school.

Fue De Joie (Fire of Joy)

I let out a slow breath and closed my eyes with a tired smile as I leaned against the wall by the time clock. The last 12 hours, all through the long night, had been exhilarating. It was my third shift on the OB/GYN floor and I had witnessed my first on-the-job birth. It was my second birth to be present for. Assisting my sister in her labor and delivery three years before had cemented my desire to work in L&D. After CNA classes, a volunteer internship, and countless hours of dreaming, my wish had come true.

Still smiling, I walked out of the double doors into the cool darkness of the early November morning. In the arid Southern Utah town of St. George the morning air was crisp and chilly, but not cold, as it would have been in my hometown of Provo, Utah, in the mountains far to the North where they would surely be getting snow very soon.

Walking across the blacktop of the parking lot towards my car, I rounded the corner of the sprawling five story building, suddenly revealing on my left an edge of pink and gold along the rugged black skyline in the East. I stopped in my tracks and stared at the early morning light peering over the horizon. The hints of bright color and the pulled cotton clouds low in the sky promised a beautiful sunrise.

After my long graveyard shift fatigue pulled at my body and I debated for a moment the choice of driving home to the warm and inviting bed in my new apartment. But the desire to watch the sun come up over the city that was now my home pulled harder.

The parking lot was already becoming an ant hill of people. Employees, doctors and nurses showing up for duty, and patients arriving for early procedures were already crawling in and out of the hospital doors. It seemed an unceremonious place to witness a small miracle of nature, although the labor ward had been perfect for the one I had witnessed during the night.

Folding my gazelle-like legs into my maroon Volkswagen Rabbit, I remembered the park I had just found the week before on the bluff to the North of the city. Looking again at the glowing coals on the edge of the sky, I wondered if I would have time to get to the high park before the glory of the dawn was over.

Judging that the sky just might wait for me, I pushed my gear shift into drive and pulled forward out of the lot and onto 3rd West. The avenues of my new city were dimly lit by street lamps. As the town and its roads were still new to me, I paid careful attention to the street signs as beams from my headlights bounced off of them. I drove quickly, but carefully, not wanting to miss the sunrise, or the road that would lead to the park. I found the right street and carefully maneuvered on to it.

Urging my little rabbit up the steep hill, I rounded the hairpin turn and summited the rise. Brighter now, the Eastern sky was directly in front of me. An infusion of pure white light battled for territory into the darker shell that covered the earth. Quietly creeping upward, the light overpowered the stars that dared to rest too close to the rim of the horizon, winking them into invisibility. Hints of pink, bronze, yellow and gold glistened on the bottom edge of the wispy low hanging clouds.

Excited, I turned my little, puttering car into the park and rounded the narrow lane to the parking area. This park was not a typical grassy lot with children’s playgrounds, but was a playground of a whole other sort. Intruded only by the one lane road, a few parking and picnic areas, this park was several acres of the red sandstone characteristic of “Utah’s Dixie”. Rocks, boulders, cliffs, crevices and solidified mounds of what looked like thick red pancake batter spread all around me. I parked, and wrapping my light jacket around me, hopped out of the car.

One huge boulder sat aside from the smaller cliffs. I ran to it, across and around the other rocks, the light growing behind me. At the boulder I found the crevice on the inner side, hidden from the front, that supplied hand and foot holds to the careful climber. My red scrubs and white Nikes were poor rock climbing gear, but I mounted the huge rock with a little effort.

Pulling myself up, I stood triumphantly on top of my sandstone monolith and surveyed the world below me. Beginnings of daylight just began to unveil the shadows of the wind-and-rain crafted rock formations spread around the base of my vantage point. To the South, at the base of the bluff, sprawled the city. The white temple in the middle of the town glowed among the other buildings like the beacon that it was to this town’s early settlers. If I looked carefully I could make out I-15 snaking around the neighborhoods.

To the East the sky grew more luminescent with each passing minute. The lowest edge along the mantle of the earth was electric white. Shining brass grew and spread above the white, tingeing the clouds with metallic red.

Ruler of my kingdom, I took my seat on my boulder throne facing East and watched as the conflagration before me grew. The orange ozone deepened to crimson and traveled upward, higher in the sky. Where the blush collided with the clouds new explosions of colors appeared. Purple and burgundy lined the nebula. Silver spread along the crest of the earth, shining, glistening and shouting out to the world that day had arrived.

The caliginosity over my head retreated slowly, giving way to a dark blue, then lighter, then crisp, ceruminous azure, lifted by the purple, red, bronze, and gold inferno. The stars of the firmament dimmed and disappeared one by one, as the night surrendered its grasp.

The battle of light over darkness continued in the celestial sphere as I sat above the world and witnessed the glorious rebirth. Brilliant pigments appeared not only in the sky, but in the earth below me as the nocturnal gloom crept hesitantly back like a beaten dog.

Like the infant that had entered the world just a few hours before, a new day was born. In only a few hours I had been privy to two fantastic miracles of beginning. My chest felt full of unwritten poetry; glorious, descriptive words, thoughts and ideas that had been spelled out by the incendiary vision that I felt I alone had witnessed; scripted across the plane of the heavens in better pigments and fonts than I could ever have translated into a mere humans English. Sitting on my throne, on top of the world, surrounded above and below by the cacophonous morning, I felt invincible.

The new day had begun, not just for my city and the people who still slept in the houses below me, but for me. In a new town, my dream job, my emerging independence and new adulthood. This was my sunrise; my day to seize, my future to grasp.

I stood again on the stone tower above the world, and raised my arms to the East. Closing my eyes, I let the morning light pour over me. Bathed in the brilliance and hues of God’s palette I faced my Day. My beginning. My sunrise. My feu de joie.

Finally, the sun, following its radiant prelude, lifted majestically over the horizon. The symphony of colors emblazoned the celestial sphere all around it. The piercing light stabbed my weary eyes, and my body achingly recalled the last 20 hours I had spent awake.

I lowered myself carefully from my lofty perch and walked smiling, face to the sun, back to my car. It was the new day of my adulthood, but this day would be spent curled up sleeping in my bed.

Snapshots

2010-02-21T21:24:00.016-05:00

All of the following are pictures that I actually took (or drew) over the past few months.

Z-CoiL Pain Relief Footwear. They look funny, but they are awesome.

Advice for Sunday.

Some of my favorite children's books.

CJ and Mark playing in a very rare snowfall.

It actually snowed 4 consecutive weekends in a row. Absolutely crazy for here.

8 inches of snow! In Virginia Beach!

The piggy I disected for school.

Poor little piggy.

Security FAIL!

Think about it.

Pony ride.

2 dropperfuls of Purecap make for some hot chili.

I won the Pepto Award for the hottest chili. But they liked it!

Norfolk Used Tires, a great place for cheap tires.

Mark wasting my tape, lol.

Cultures I grew at school.

Lamborghini

Seriously? "Kiss" Mr. Potato Head.

How I eat m&ms

Geotracks!

Sam, pretending to be someone she's not.

Chris wrestling with the boys

Chris and Mark napping

Cozy fireplace

Mark (Joseph in the maroon robe) and CJ (Shepherd in the red t-shirt) in the Christmas Pageant.

Mark eating cotton candy

Arlington National Cemetary on Veteran's Day, 2009

Lion Cheetah Woods

2010-01-12T21:24:00.005-05:00

Yeah, it's time for a new post.

Here ya go.

Tags: Tiger Woods, Lyin' Cheeta' Woods.

Go Della! It's your Birthday!

2009-08-14T19:47:00.006-04:00

Hey ya'll.

It's that time again.

The day of year that I get whatever I want and I'm the most special person for one whole day.

At least kind of.

At the very least I get Cajun Chicken Penne (my favorite!) for dinner, and my family sends me loving videos like this one:

(Click >>>here<<< if it doesn't load).

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

They also write on my facebook pages and write things like this:

Happy Birthday, oh Happy Birthday.

Hate and envy in the air.

People dying everywhere.

Still we want to wish you:

Happy Birthday.

One year closer to the grave,

think of all the food you'll save.

Still we want to wish you:

Happy Birthday.

And though it may seem odd, these things truly make me feel loved.

Happy Birthday to Me!

"Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" or "Another Cool Song"

2009-08-05T15:57:00.005-04:00

I seem to be eating a lot of sack lunches lately, which tend to consist of a lot of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and Cheetos.

I take my variety in trading out regular Cheetos for Flaming Hot Cheetos.

But I stick with Crunchy peanut butter over creamy. Hey, if I'm eating the same thing all the time it should at least be fun to chew.

I have found that while I prefer Strawberry jam on my fresh baked bread, when it's smooshed against Peanut Butter, it doesn't really matter what flavor it is as long as its sweet and fruity.

And grape jelly is way cheaper.

For some variety in my lunch, (or dinner as the case may be with my night classes), I bought a jar of whole pickles today that I can zip up in a plastic bag and throw in for some extra tangy crunch, (which I will eat separately from the sandwich in case you were wondering).

In order to better share my enjoyment of PB and J, I invite you to view the following video. Performed by Inside Out A Capella, and arranged by somebody with too much time on their hands.

Inside Out A Capella is a really cool group that also sings a lot of primary songs and a few about snowmen.

Totally worth a youtube search.

"Just Out Today" and "More Weird Al"

2009-08-04T07:13:00.009-04:00

Two times now Weird Al has gotten together with >>JibJab<<. The newest one was released today.

It's about Charles Nelson Reilly.

You saw it here first.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

And if you're not scared off already, here is the other Weird Al, JibJab joint work.

I think I've posted it before, but it's good enough to watch again.

2009-08-02T16:53:00.001-04:00

My new favorite movie line:
"Yippee Kayay, coffee maker!"
From G-Force, the movie about special agent guinnea pigs.
Yes, really.

"More Weird Al" or "Something to Post in the Meantime"

2009-07-26T21:21:00.002-04:00

This video is from a song Weird Al did as a parody to the Backstreet Boys' "My Way".

I heard once that Ebay had a big conference where they hired Weird Al to sing this and the Backstreet Boys to sing back up for him. .

Good Old Al didn't think he had messed with enough online service sites, or mimicked enough bands, so he had to write this one about Craigslist.

In case you don't know, he is mimicking Jim Morrison and "the Doors".

Thanks for checking back in. I'll be back soon. Promise.

"Search My Blog" or "Does Everyone Know This But Me?"

2009-07-15T17:55:00.004-04:00

I have been thinking about trying to find an addon for my blog that would allow people to search all of my blog posts.

Like a blog search engine.

Then I realized there already is one.

Do you see that little box in the top left hand corner of the page? Right above the "The" from the blog title, and right next to where is says "search blog"?

Let's say that you wanted to look up the blog post where I listed 100 Chuck Norris jokes, or wanted to laugh again at my "maternal instinct" pictures, or wanted to reread the comments from my controvesial post about nutrasweet and diet soda, or maybe you are fairly new to my blog and wondered if I ever posted my Christmas Wish List, just type the topic into that little box, click enter and the marvelous power of the blog will reveal to you everything you wish to see, so long as I ever posted about it.

I dare you to try it and leave a comment about what you found.

Did you know you could do this? Am I seriously the only one who didn't know?

"Happy Anniversary" or "How Blessed Am I?"

2009-07-13T11:28:00.003-04:00

My Parents celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary this week.

That's about two thirds of their lives that they spent with each other.

I know that they have benefitted beyond what I can even understand by being part of a happy, loving marriage.

But I have to point out that I have definitely been blessed by their marriage as well.

Mainly, I was born to a mother and father who wanted me and loved me.

I was raised by loving parents who taught me, nurtured me and provided for me, and taught me God's gospel.

I have never known the pain of divorce close to me.

My parents are still together and still there for me whenever I need them. (Even though they are almost never home).

I love my parents and I am so happy for them.

42 years down and eternity to go.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

If you would like to read the post I wrote for them last year >>>click here<<<. It'a pretty good one.

"A Tribute to Grandpa" or "Here, Mom. It's Finally Done"

2009-07-10T17:38:00.003-04:00

About my Grandpa

I have been asked to write a tribute about my Grandpa.

I have been putting it off, partly because I am by nature a procrastinator and partly because I couldn’t decide what to say.

You see, my Grandpa was such an amazing man that there is simply too much to talk about.

I have so many memories of him.

I was blessed to be able to grow up only a few minutes from him, so I got to see him a lot.

Here are some of my simple memories:

Grandpa hammering a nail through a coconut so I could drink the milk.

Grandpa putting my bike together that I got for my birthday.

Grandpa pushing wheel barrows of dirt out of our basement so we could have more room.

Grandpa coming over for dinner on Sundays.

Grandma feeding Grandpa when both of his arms were in casts from breaking them while playing street football with neighborhood kids.

Talking with Grandpa about serving in World War 2.

Grandpa telling stories in Uncle Randy’s backyard about his favorite horse.

I could go on and on, but let me share a few more specific memories.

When I was little Grandpa would greet me, and very often my best friend Holly by saying “Hello Fred”.

She or I would answer “That’s not my name!”

He would respond “Oh, I’m sorry George”.

We would say “No, I’m not George”.

This game would go on for a few minutes until he finally admitted to knowing who we were and giving us a hug.

10 or so years later, after I had moved out, my good friend Holly went to see my mom. She was there visiting when Grandpa showed up.

She was excited to see him, and he was excited to see her as they had not seen each other in a few years.

He said to her “Little Holly? Is that you?”

Holly’s face fell and she answered him, “No Mark, it’s me, Fred!”

They both laughed as they hugged each other.

Another more recent memory happened only a few years ago.

I was in Provo visiting and my Mother had not been able to get a hold of Grandpa. She asked

me to drive to his house to see why he wasn’t answering his phone.

I found him in his garage building shelves. He hadn’t heard his phone ringing from where he was.

I stayed and visited with him for a while.

While I was there I noticed that his couches, which I knew he had had for a while, still had the tags on them.

I loved that he was too busy even at the age of 89 to sit down long enough to cut the tags off his couches.

I said to him, “Grandpa, didn’t anyone ever tell you that 89 year old men are supposed to sit around and watch tv?”

He answered “No, and if they did, I’d tell them to go to hell!”

I admire Grandpa so much. Enough that I even named my son Mark after him.

He was an amazing man, just as my Grandma was an amazing woman.

There was nothing that Grandpa couldn’t do, from flying an airplane or building a house from the

ground up, to soothing a sad child.

I love Grandpa, and I consider myself blessed to be his grand daughter.

More about Trek

2009-07-09T17:02:00.003-04:00

Victoria requested that I tell more about Trek.

There was a lot that happened and I will try to cover the high points.

First, let me explain that a Pioneer Trek like the one we went on is a re-creation of the treks across the country that a lot of early pioneers made about 170 years ago.

We dressed in similiar clothes to what the pioneers wore. Meaning I wore a long dress, an apron and a bonnet. (And NO makeup).

I did get to wear my nikes, and would have worn hiking boots if I had them.

We all met at the church at 4:30 in the morning on Thursday.

There were 6 Ma and Pa couples and about 60 kids. Plus several Leaders from the Stake.

We had to drive about 5 and a half hours to the mountains north of Richmond.

When we got there we were organized into families.

We got 10 awesome kids. Miles, David, Justin, Jared, Elijah, Brett, Amanda, Katie, Nicole and Christine.

We also got an Uncle. Uncle Joe was assigned to hang out with us and help our family.

We initially played a get to know you game and came up with a family cheer.

Our cheer was "Thundercats HO!"

Then we put together our handcart and loaded it.

Naturally our family was done before everyone else, so I taught them all a song while we waited for everyone else. We learned this song:

I have 2 little hands folded snuggly and tight.

They are tiny and meek yet they know what is right.

During all the long hours till daylight is through,

There are plenty of things for my 2 hands to do.

I have 5 little fingers on one little hand.

I have 6 on the other I don't understand,

During all the long hours till daylight is through,

I have 1 little finger with nothing to do.

Then we started up the mountain.

We didn't have enough room around the handcart for 13 people to push all at once so we took turns.

The kids were awesome about taking over for each other and giving each other breaks.

Partway through the day we met up with a general who asked all the young men to join the army.

All of our boys left with them and the girls who were left, along with the Pas and Uncles had to push the handcarts up the hardest hill by ourselves.

When we got all the carts up and turned around I could see all the boys in their blue hats from the army.

That was almost the best part of the day.

The real best part for me was when we finally got to camp.

All the kids helped peel and chop potatoes and carrots for dinner. We cooked them with 2 chickens in dutch ovens.

They were delicious.

After all the families ate and cleaned up we had a camp devotional.

Following that we returned to our family campfire for our family devotional.

I had prepared several things to read around the fire, but because it was so late and we were so tired I kept it short.

I did read them The Jabberwocky, just for fun, then I got more serious and read them the words from "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief". I didn't sing it, I just read it like a poem.

Then we went to bed, girls on one tarp and boys on the other.

The next day, Friday was the hardest day.

We pushed our handcarts about 7 or 8 miles. What wasn't uphill was downhill. And believe me, downhill isn't necessarily easier.

Our family led the way for a while and we didn't just lead the way, we plowed ahead.

We kicked rutt.

The night before, while we were preparing dinner I had started to tell the kids, "You know, I'm not saying that our family is better than anyone else's, but nobody is better than us."

That became our mantra for the next few days.

I would say "I'm not saying we're better than anyone else..."

And everyone else would say, "But no one is better than us".

We were very blessed with the food. It was limited and if it got burned in the dutch oven there

was even less, but ours was always good and we always had enough.

There was another Pa who kept saying "Are you having fun yet?"

When the truth was, at times, no, I wasn't having fun. Pushing an 800 pound handcart up a mountain wasn't necessarily fun. But that didn't mean it wasn't a valuable experience. That doesn't mean I wasn't benefitting from it.

You can work hard and grow even when you aren't having fun.

But that doesn't mean I didn't have fun. We had a lot of fun.

When we finally got to camp on the second day we were sooo glad to be there.

We got dinner going and set up camp.

After we ate we had a little time before the devotional so I sat around the fire with my family and we sang songs.

We sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" in English and Spanish. We sang "Popcorn Popping", both verses, including actions. We sang "Give, Said the Little Stream" with and without the "Give"s.

I even got them all to sing "Ah Too Dee Tah" with actions.

It was awesome.

At any time all day long, if anyone needed help one of the kids would jump in and help.

Everyone got along, everyone worked together, everyone joined in.

Everyone was awesome.

Some shared their testimonies at testimony meeting. Some shared their testimonies with our family.

I was so impressed with every single one of those kids.

There were some very spiritul moments along with the fun and goofy ones.

There was another day after that, during which more awesome things happened. But I'll wrap up here, and maybe talk about that later.

Chris and I are hoping we get the chance in 4 years when they do it again.

It was really a privilege to be a Ma and Pa to those young men and young women. They were amazing.

The whole experience was awesome. I think that we got as much out of it as the youth did.

-Della

"Crazy Busy", "Handcarts", and "Cub Scouts"

2009-07-07T18:19:00.004-04:00

It seems as though I find myself apologizing a lot for not being on the blog. So I'm done apologizing.

But I will try to fill you in on some of my activities.

I spent most of last week driving to and from and supervising Cub Scout Day Camp.

I couldn't be there every day, so several other people stepped up to help out, which was awesome.

CJ is no longer a cub scout, but Mark went for the first time and loved it. Especially the archery and bb guns.

Last week was also busy because J started his summer job.

He is working as part of a summer job training program. So we are having a lot of driving him to and from his job site.

The week before last I was literally cut off from civilization for 3 days while Chris and I went on Pioneer Trek with our stake's Youth Conference.

It was absolutely amazing. We were Ma and Pa to 10 teenagers who completely blew me away with how hard working, fun and just plain awesome they were.

I could devote several blog posts to talking about the Trek, but I don't think my words could do justice to the experience.

It was the most fun I've had working so hard in a long time. We basically pushed an 800 pound hand cart up and down a mountain for about 16 miles over 3 days. It was hard, it was fun, it was spiritual and it renewed my faith in the younger generation. The 10 kids in our family were amazing. Everyone of them worked so hard, pitched in together, and made it a great experience for each other and us.

I mean, I wouldn't go so far as to say that our family was better than any of the other families. But I will say that nobody was better than us.

Chris and I are already hoping we get asked to go again in 4 years.

While we were gone a couple of things happened.

Apparently some singer died. And our house was broken into.

I'm not too worried about the singer, he has a lot of people who care enough that I don't need to.

It did concern me a great deal that when we got home the screen was off the front window and the window was wide open. In addition, my dog Toby was in the back yard instead of in the house.

We called the police and they went into the house before us to check it out.

I think that Toby scared off the burglars when they opened the window by jumping out at them and barking like crazy as he tends to do when anyone comes over, especially if we are not home.

It is my guess that Toby hung out on the porch until a neighbor put him in the back yard.

Regardless, nothing was missing or broken when the cops searched the house.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough to keep us busy both Chris and I have been sick.

But we are getting better and life is either returning to normal or we are adjusting to the new level of crazy.

I'll try to add pics soon.

Thanks for caring and checking the blog.

-Della

Check the Time

2009-07-07T17:24:00.002-04:00

If you should wake up early in the morning tomorrow and notice that the time is 4:05, if it happens to be just 6 seconds after 4:05 you should note that the time and date are 04:05:06, 07-08-09.

Just something to think about.

2009-06-25T06:11:00.001-04:00

The zip code 12345 is assigned to General Electric in Shenectady, New York.
The zip code 23456 is in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"More Mormon Jokes" or "Strike Me Down Now"

2009-06-24T10:51:00.004-04:00

There is another blog out there called The Sugar Beet, which is kind of like The Onion newsletter, but mormon style.

I apologize at this point to my non-mormon readers who will probably only be confused by this post or by anything they might read at The Sugar Beet.

Believe me, when you understand the "mormon culture" this stuff is funny.

Actually the following list is titled

"Things that seem like they would be funny but are not".

See if you agree.

• Using grilled cheese sandwiches for the sacrament

• Solemnly appointing high priests to be captains of 50 for the march to Jackson County

• Sending a letter to all the Laurels saying they can wear whatever they want to girls’ camp

• Telling the priests they can serve as priesthood chaperones at girls’ camp

• Standing to bear your testimony, and then falling to the ground screaming and wrestling with an unseen demon

• Telling the nursery leader that, like an apostle, her calling is for life

• Tie-dying your Gs

• When called upon to read a scripture in Gospel Doctrine, making up something like, “And the Lord sayeth unto the children of men, It is not meet in mine eyes that thou nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant shall witness the Super Bowl, nor the harlots therein, for the Sabbath is mine”

• Telling the choir director to include a drum solo in the next Easter program

• Referring to the art displayed in the Church Office Building as “Corn in the COB”

• Dumping your fiancée because she’s not physically fit enough to make the walk to Missouri

As for that walk to Missouri....I'll have more on that later......

2009-06-22T00:08:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad.
I am so blessed to have gotten you for a father.
Thank you for being my dad.
I love you.
-Della

2009-06-19T20:02:00.001-04:00

Did you know that an ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain?
Now you do.

45 Life Lessons

2009-06-19T13:15:00.003-04:00

Here are 45 life lessons by Regina Brett of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Ohio.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10.When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

2009-06-18T17:05:00.001-04:00

License plate I just saw:
WERNUTS

Hooray for CJ!

2009-06-18T08:07:00.003-04:00

Today is the last day of school for my kids.

CJ had an award ceremony yesterday, and won "Most Improved Student".

He has had a rough year and has worked really, really hard to do well.

It wasn't a matter of intelligence, everyone agreed he was well and above smart enough. It was more a problem with focus.

This is an issue we have worked with him on for the last few years.

After all our best efforts I finally took him to the doctor.

Now he takes one little blue pill every morning and voila! instant success!

He recognizes the difference as much as anyone and is very proud of himself.

But we are very proud of him too.

And I can send him to middle school next year with confidence that he will do well there too.

Hooray for CJ!

Jabberwocky or Glorious Nonsense

2009-06-18T07:26:00.004-04:00

I have loved this poem since I was a little girl.

I think I heard it first from my dad.

Other than from him, this is my favorite reading of it.

You can follow along with the words. It makes it a little easier.

JABBERWOCKY

by Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird,

and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought -

-So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

It also reminds me of going to scout leader training with my parents.

When someone would say "We have a few announcements" everyone would sing the Announcements-are-a-horrible-way-to-die song, then someone would yell "Speak freak!" and someone else would yell "Jabber wocky!"

I wonder if I'm ever going to teach that to my cub scouts...

And if you are interested in more places and things this poem has affected >>>click here<<<.

2009-06-17T18:20:00.001-04:00

Stacey's quote for the day:

"There is never a time when fishnets go with galoshes".

From TLC's What Not to Wear

Today's Giggle

2009-06-17T07:25:00.002-04:00

According to the email I got, there is a certain tree in Africa that produces a fruit that contains alcohol. Being the desert and all this juicy fruit is extremely tasty to all the animals.

The problem with this being, of course, that they get intoxicated when they eat the fruit.

I don't know if this is for real, but I can't imagine what else would make elephants and monkeys act this way.

The narrative in the video is in French, but you don't need to hear it to understand. But the music adds to it I think.

Newspaper Ads

2009-06-16T07:50:00.000-04:00

Washer. Owned by clean bachelor who seldom washed -- $100.

Snow blower for sale. Only used on snowy days.

Free puppies. Part German Shepherd, part dog.

Cows, calves never bred. Also, one gay bull for sale.

Free puppies: part Cocker Spaniel, part sneaky neighbor's dog

Full-sized mattress. 20-year warranty. Like new. Slight urine smell.

Found: dirty white dog. Looks like a rat. Been out for a while. Better be reward.

Nice parachute. Never opened. Used once. Slightly stained.

Free Yorkshire Terrier. Eight years old. Unpleasant little dog.

Tired of working for only $9.75 per hour? We offer profit sharing and flexible hours. Starting pay: $7 - $9 per hour.

Help a Friend and Listen to Great Music

2009-06-15T07:40:00.003-04:00

I have a friend named Justin who is an amazingly talented guy.

His voice can move you to tears.

He just started a website to showcase his talents.

It is justinyoung.com

Check it out and enjoy! You'll be glad you did.

I Miss You All

2009-06-15T07:24:00.005-04:00

Hi Ya'll.

I'm so sorry I've been away from the blog for so long. I miss you all dearly.

My life has been very busy and involved and I have had little time to sit at the computer even to read e-mail, much less blog.

We are possibly undergoing some exciting changes in our family.

For one, Chris has 6 weeks left of school and he will (finally) receive his BA in Criminal Justice. (Hooray!!!!)

He has a lot of ideas about how to put this degree to good use.

I have been having a lot of thoughts about my own education as we have said all along that when Chris finished it would be my turn to go to school.

I have had a difficult time deciding what to study as the most obvious choices didn't seem to feel right. I think I have got my plan worked out and I will give you more news on that as it develops.

CJ is graduating 5th grade this week and will be going to middle school in September!

Mark will start 3rd grade in the fall. We are planning his baptism for some time this summer when his cousins can be here.

Well, that's the brief update on me.

I will try to continue blogging on random topics when I can fit in the blog time. And I will still be reading all of your blogs regularly too.

I love you all, I miss you, I value you. I'll be commenting on your blogs soon.

Love, Della

Yay, School's Out! or Help, I'm Afraid for my Sanity!

2009-06-08T14:02:00.004-04:00

My kids have 8 more school days until they are out for the summer. We have a few things planned for the summer to help keep us busy, not to mention our close proximity to the BEACH, so hopefully we won't be getting too stir crazy, but I still tend to stress about the summer. So I was excited when I got an email that gave me another cool suggestion for a summer activity.

If you haven't heard of >> Kidsbowlfree.com <<, check it out.

It is a great program that allows children 15 and under to go bowling every day for free.

They can play up to 2 games each day, and I don't think shoe rental is included, but it is an awesome program.

Check the website for participating bowling alleys near you.

(I apologize in advance to my Utah readers as I think there is only 1 alley that does this in Utah).

They also offer an inexpensive membership for the adults in the family so you can bowl with your kids.

Have a great summer and if you have cheap recreation ideas I'd love to hear them.

A New Version of Pirates of the Caribbean or A Mormon Ad

2009-06-04T17:16:00.001-04:00

In case you haven't seen this...

2009-06-02T15:08:00.001-04:00

Interesting fact:
In ancient China people committed suicide by eating a pound of salt.
Yuck!

"Garage Sale Steals" and "I've Reached The Next Level in Life"

2009-05-30T20:32:00.003-04:00

This weekend our neighborhood had a subdivision wide yard sale.

It was a veritable garage sale gold mine for the high intensity yard saler.

One out of every 3 or 4 houses had their driveway filled with furniture, clothes, knick-nacks and dusty exercise equipment.

I drove through the streets as I was on my way home from an errand.

I didn't bother stopping at most of the homes because I was only looking for one thing: couches.

The couches in our game room have been abused for several years now and are overdue for retirement.

I have put off buying new ones because whatever we get will continue to be abused, so I haven't wanted to spend much, and I have been hoping to find a couch with a hide-a-bed.

I almost didn't see this set because it was kind of hidden by bushes from the direction I was coming.

But when I did see it, I pulled over and went to inquire.

This set, which has been recently reupholstered, has a hide-a-bed in the larger couch, and was within my budget at $100!

J calls them the Cheese Cake Couches, because they reminded him of the rasberry swirl cheescake he ate today.

(I am going to have to get a new rug.)

Now please understand that I try hard to not be material, and to not judge others or myself by possessions.

But, regardless of my efforts, I have felt at times in my life that I have reached an accomplishment because of something that I have aquired.

Like the first time I bought a car from a dealership (instead of my parents or a friend), the first time I rented a house instead of an apartment, when I bought a home instead of renting (I don't own that home anymore), when I got a job that offered benefits.

You know, things that showed that I had met some imagined status.

Well, one of those things happened today.

I have dreamed of this. I have even been in possession of one or two of these when it technically belonged to someone else.

As I was driving through a culdesac eyeing secondhand wares, I spotted a cardboard sign.

A light shone down on me from heaven and I heard the angels singing to share my joy.

The sign said:

Free Piano

It was a good thing there were no cars or children in front of me, because I was staring out the side window at the sign.

I quickly pulled over and went to ask.

Surely there had to be a catch.

Nothing is actually free, right?

If it sounds too good to be true it probably is, and all that.

I hardly dared to hope.

The only catch was that in order to get the piano I had to be the first one to drive to the house it was at and pick it up.

I visited with the couple giving the piano away and made arrangements to meet them at the other house to pick it up.

They wanted nothing for it, other than someone to take it away so they wouldn't have to move it.

So after calling a friend and his son to help, (and isn't that the most cliche favor in the world?), my piano arrived at my house this afternoon.

It is a New York Rudolf. It is very tall, probably 5 feet or close to it.

This piano has been loved and well used for many years.

If it had a voice it could speak to me of the children who first learned middle C on this piano.

It could tell of the tears that have leaked out because of the beautiful music that came from it.

It could tell stories of how it got paint splatters, how it's wood was chipped and scratched in places.

It could talk of the families that loved it as it shared its music with them.

Of the homes that were warmer, more comfortable, calmer, because it's notes floated through them. As I dusted it and played my first few songs on it I bonded with it. I felt it. I loved it.

It is old and has seen better days, but it is beautiful, and it has a soul.

Maybe that's a poor description, but this piano, old and abused as it is, carries power. It brought it's strength in to my home.

I am so excited to have it, and so blessed to have gotten it.

And somehow, I feel that I have crossed that imaginary line where yesterday I was a lesser person, because today I own a piano.

On a Church Billboard

2009-05-29T06:59:00.000-04:00

Kindness is Love in work clothes.

Incredible Pictures of Waves

2009-05-25T09:33:00.004-04:00

This guy from Oahu named Clark Little is a surfer who takes pictures of the waves he rides.

These pics are beautiful and incredible.

Doesn't it make you wish you could go surfing this Memorial Day?

Happy Memorial Day to all.

Puzzles and Riddles

2009-05-19T07:51:00.004-04:00

I know ya'll love brain teasers, and it gives me something to blog when I don't have any other ideas. So here you go.

. 1. A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed 3 days and left on Friday. How is this possible? (I got this one from the tv show iCarly).

The man's horse is named Friday.

2. Four men sat down to play,

They played all night ‘till break of day.

They played for gold and not for fun

With separate scores for everyone.

When they came to square accounts,

They all had made quite fair amounts.

Can you the paradox explain,

If no one lost, how could all gain?

Answer: The 4 men are musicians.

3. There is a well known story of a famous German mathematician, who showed his brilliance even as a young boy.

While in elementary school, he was given the problem of finding the sum of all the whole numbers from one to 100.

For most of use it would be a long and difficult task of adding "1=2=3=4 etc." This young lad, however, solved the problem in his head in just a few moments.

What is the answer and how did he manage to do it in his head?

Answer: Imagine a measuring tape that measures 100 inches. Fold it in half at the 50" mark. The 1" is matched with the 99", which if you add together equals 100. 2+98=100, 3+97=100 and so on. By adding the matched numbers 1-49 with their counterparts, 99-51 you get 100 49 times, 4900. Add the 100 at the end and the single 50 in the middle. The answer is 5050.

Good luck!

Thanks for playing!

2009-05-16T12:07:00.001-04:00

Surprised by a scout.
The other night at cub scouts I got tricked by a scout that I was trying to trick.
Every week I ask for volunteers to give the opening prayer, pledge, and scout promise.
The boys are anxious to do these things because it earns them a clothespin, which might earn them a prize.
They always shoot their hands up as soon as I ask "Who wants to..."
This week was no different.
After prayer and pledge I needed a boy to give the promise, but I wanted to throw my scouts off a bit. So I said "Who wants to..."
All of their hands shot up, and I said "... Recite the alphabet backwards?" trying to catch them unaware.
All hands fell, except for B, whose hand stayed high and who continued to look at me just as excitedly.
Now let me add that B is 8 years old and autistic. He is a blast to have in scouts because you never know what he is going to say.
I said "B, do you want to recite the alphabet backwards?"
He nodded energetically, so I said "Okay, go ahead."
B then proceeded from Z to recite the entire alphabet backwards all the way to A.
He didn't seem to have it memorized, but looked like he was thinking through it as he went.
He didn't make a single mistake.
He earned a clothespin and a high five from all the other scouts.
It was awesome.

A Few Jokes

2009-05-14T07:18:00.003-04:00

Readers Digest this month has a selection of jokes that were voted to be the best joke in America. . Here are a few of them: .

A ventriloquist is performing with his dummy on his lap.

He’s telling a dumb- blonde joke when a young platinum-haired beauty jumps to her feet.

"What gives you the right to stereotype blondes that way?" she demands. "What does hair color have to do with my worth as a human being?"

Flustered, the ventriloquist begins to stammer out an apology.

"You keep out of this!" she yells. "I’m talking to that little jerk on your knee!"

A guy spots a sign outside a house that reads "Talking Dog for Sale."

Intrigued, he walks in.

"So what have you done with your life?" he asks the dog.

"I’ve led a very full life," says the dog. "I lived in the Alps rescuing avalanche victims. Then I served my country in Iraq. And now I spend my days reading to the residents of a retirement home."

The guy is flabbergasted. He asks the dog’s owner, "Why on earth would you want to get rid of an incredible dog like that?"

The owner says, "Because he’s a liar! He never did any of that!"

A turtle is crossing the road when he’s mugged by two snails.

When the police show up, they ask him what happened.

The shaken turtle replies, "I don’t know. It all happened so fast."

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He’s not breathing and his eyes are glazed.

The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911.

"I think my friend is dead!" he yells. "What can I do?"

The operator says, "Calm down. First, let’s make sure he’s dead."

There’s a silence, then a shot.

Back on the phone, the guy says, "Okay, now what?"

A priest, a minister, and a rabbi want to see who’s best at his job.

So they each go into the woods, find a bear, and attempt to convert it. Later they get together.

The priest begins: "When I found the bear, I read to him from the Catechism and sprinkled him with holy water. Next week is his First Communion."

"I found a bear by the stream," says the minister, "and preached God’s holy word. The bear was so mesmerized that he let me baptize him."

They both look down at the rabbi, who is lying on a gurney in a body cast. "Looking back," he says, "maybe I shouldn’t have started with the circumcision."

You can >>>click here<<< to read the rest and vote for your favorite.

Got any other favorites?

I Believe

2009-05-13T06:29:00.004-04:00

I posted these on my pic blog yesterday, but they are too good to not post here too.

The Impossible Dream

2009-05-12T06:49:00.003-04:00

I love music.

There are many songs that have inspired me, made me laugh, been connected to memories, or gotten me through tough times.

One great song has been running through my mind the last few days.

In the Broadway play Man of La Mancha, Don Quixote explains to Aldonza what his quest is and why he does what he does.

Even if you have never seen the play, you must have heard this song before.

Here are the lyrics:

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star

One interesting thing about this is that Don Quixote is just a bit crazy.

But maybe you have to be crazy to see the world with the hope that he does.

Maybe we could all use a little bit of crazy. (Or maybe I just want an excuse...)

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-11T06:45:00.004-04:00

I have had many mothers.

First and foremost is my Mom, Nancy. Who gave birth to me. Raised me. Fed me. Taught me. Put up with me. And loved me, sometimes in spite of myself.

My mom made my life wonderful and blessed me in so many ways that they can not be counted.

I have also been blessed with other mothers.

Other women along my way have blessed me and touched me, and made me a better person.

Obviously, my Grandmothers are on the top of this list.

My grandmother Gladys' home was the destination for many a family vacation, and I have many happy memories of playing in her home.

I always felt that I was the luckiest of my cousins because I got to live in the same city as my Mom's mom, Esther, and got to visit my Grandma all the time.

Both of those women taught me life lessons and loved me immesurably, (sp?).

I was also lucky enough to have great grandmothers in my life. One died while I was younger and I have limited memories of her.

But my Great Grandma Mumsie, (real name Iva Dell, I was named for her), lived until I was in my 20s and had a child of my own.

I have many memories of her house. Especially having her measure me on her pantry door everytime I came to visit, and seeing how much I'd grown since our last trip.

After I moved out of my parents home, my first real job was at a hospital. I worked with many wonderful nurses there who I often felt nurtured and mothered by.

One of those nurses liked me enough that she decided I would make a good daughter in law. She set me up on a blind date with her son, and, well, if you read the blog a couple weeks ago you saw that we just celebrated our 12th anniversary.

Cathy and I joke that she picked me out. I am extremely grateful for the friendship and love that I share with my mother in law. All wives should be so lucky.

Marrying Chris brought another mother into my life as well. When I married him his Grandmother became my grandmother. Her name is Patsy, but I don't think of her by that name. I think of her as Grandma. I felt accepted the first time I ever met her, and I can't even think about her without feeling loved.

Another mother that made a difference in my life is my best friend's mother. Through all of my teenage years Holly's mom Sharon accepted me as one of her children. I spent a lot of time at their house and she made me feel like I was part of the family.

All of these women affected my life for good. I am a better person because these women loved me.

Now in my life I mother other children. Kids and teenagers whose own mothers can't, for whatever reason, care for them.

I am able to do this now, because of the love that all of my mothers gave to me.

Thank you all.

I love you dearly.

-Della

Utah Census Form

2009-05-08T07:22:00.002-04:00

I got this one in an email from my second mom, Sharon.

I don't live in Utah, but a lot of these things still apply to me.

For my non LDS readers, please recognize this as one of the ways we Mormons laugh at ourselves.

Utah Census Form

1._____________________ _____________________

(GIVEN NAME) (SURNAME)

2. Descendant of:

A. Brigham Young _____

B. Heber C. Kimball _____

C. Laman and Lemuel _____

D. Cain _____

3. Tribe of Israel : _____________________

4. Number of occupants residing in home in each category: (List in chronological order)

A. Nursery _____

B. Junior Primary _____

C. Senior Primary _____

D. Young Women's _____

E. Young Men's _____

F. Relief Society _____

G. Elder _____

H. Dearly Departed _____

I. High Priest _____

5. Occupation [Please select all that apply]:

A. doTerra consultant _____

B. Shaklee dealer _____

C. Noni juice dealer _____

D. NuSkin dealer _____

E. Melaleuca dealer _____

F. Neways dealer _______

G. Xango dealer _______

H. Amway dealer _____

6. Automobile:

A. Station Wagon _____

B. Van _____

C. Suburban _____

D. School Bus _____

E. Double Decker _____

F. BMW (Big Mormon Wagon) ________

7. Favorite place to eat the night before Fast Sunday:

A. Chuck-A-Rama _____

B. Hometown Buffet _____

C. Golden Corral _____

8. Favorite Hero:

A. Nephi _____

B. Abinadi _____

C. Samuel the Lamanite_____

D. Steve Young _____

E. Johnny Lingo _____

9. Which of the following do you bring to church [check all that apply]:

A. Scriptures _____

B. Franklin Planner/ Daytimer _____

C. Pen/Pencil _____ D. Lifesavers/ Cheerios _____

E. Tic Tacs _____

F. Game Boy _____

G. Big Gulp _____

H. iPod _____

I. Sony Walkman _____

J. TV Watch _____

K. All of the above _____

10. Do you prepare your church lessons:

A. A month in advance _____

B. A week in advance _____

C. While in the bathtub _____

D. While on the toilet _____

E. During Sacrament Meeting _____

F. During the closing prayer of Sacrament Meeting______

G. During the opening prayer of the class you're teaching _____

H. Just wing it [according to the promptings of the Spirit] _____

11. Do you think pews should be permanently equipped with Big Gulp holders:

A. yes___

B. no ___ 1

2. How many years has your family sat in the same place for Sacrament Meeting:

A. 10-20 years _____

B. 20-30 years _____

C. 30-40 years _____

D. Over 3 generations ____

13. How much time does it take for you to fall asleep during a high council talk:

A. 1/100,000,000th of a second _____

B. 1/999,999,999th of a second _____

C. 1/999,999,998th of a second _____

14. Which day of the month do you go home/visiting teaching:

A. 31st ______

B. 31st ______

C. 31st ______

D. 31st ______

15. How many church basketball fights were you in last year:

A. 1-10 _____

B. 10-20 _____

C. 20-30 _____

D. You'll have to ask my lawyer _____

16.. Which of the following has been your most effective Family Home Evening:

A. Arguing about getting along

B. Having an opening and closing prayer with dinner

C. Gathering around the television to watch, "Everybody Loves Raymond"

17. How many times a year do you make:

A. Green Jell-O salad _____

B. Funeral potatoes _____

C. Cabbage and Top Ramen salad _____

D. Chicken, cashews and grape- stuffed croissants_____

18. How many water-filled two-liter bottles do you own:

A. 1-2 thousand _____

B. 2-3 thousand _____

C. 3-4 thousand _____

D. Enough to fill the Great Salt Lake _____

19. Which of the following do you feel is the most secure facility in the nation:

A. Alcatraz

B. Fort Knox

C. Ward Libraries

20. How many structural engineers do you hire annually to insure you'll win the Pinewood Derby: _________

21. Keeping the Word of Wisdom in mind, how much of the following do you consume:

A. Chocolate: ___pounds daily X 365 days annually= ____

B. Cola: ____gallons daily X 365 days annually = ____

22. If you had to choose between witnessing the Second Coming or attending a BYU/UofU football game, which would you choose?

A. Second Coming _____

B. Football game _____

AMEN

I would like to state for the record that I have never taken a big gulp to church or made a cabbage and top ramen salad.

But I have been living outside of Utah for almost 5 years now, so maybe the most severe symptoms are wearing off?

Admit it, you'd go to the football game, wouldn't you?

A few Brain Teasers

2009-05-06T06:41:00.003-04:00

1- Don't cheat on this one! If you do, the test will be no fun.

Read this sentence out loud and count the Fs. Only read it once before you give your answer.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

How many Fs did you find?

2- What's so special about the following sentence?

A big cuddly dog emitted fierce growls, happily ignoring joyful kids licking minute nuts on pretty queer rotten smelly toadstools underneath vampires who x-rayed young zombies.

3- What do these 3 have in common?

Superman

Moses

The Cabbage Patch Kids

Come on, give it your best shot.

A Sunday Morning Walk, With my Brother!

2009-05-04T18:12:00.007-04:00

Spring has come to Virginia Beach, and I am loving it.

Temperatures have been in the 70s and the weather has been beautiful.

Very often I find myself missing my mountains in Utah, but I am consoled by the colorful vegetation and the variety of wildlife in Virginia.

I took this picture (obviously) out of my car window, of a house I drive past regularly.

These colors catch my breath every time.

Another great thing to happen this spring is that my brother Mike has returned from a 15 month tour in Iraq.

He is stationed a few hours away from me, and since his family is waiting till the end of the school year to join him here he came to visit us for the weekend.

It was really awesome to see him and spend time with him. It only would have been better if his wife and kids had been here too.

On Sunday morning he, Mark and I went to First Landing State Park for a walk in the woods. (We had time because our church doesn't start till 3:00).

Mark brought his scooter which he rode for about a fourth of the way and Mike carried the rest of the way.

There is spanish moss all over the place in this park, and is really pretty. Mark: Live long and prosper.

The trails and walkways in the park are really well maintained. There are lots of look out points and benches if you need a break.

I'm not sure if Mike is posing for thoughtfulness in this pic or if I caught him being sincere.

What are logs for, if not to climb on?

Because we are cheap and we didn't want to pay the 7 bucks to drive into the park, we parked a few blocks away and walked along a path to get in.

This path looks into the backyards of houses along the way.

One homeowner has gone to great efforts to create a beautiful garden for passersby to enjoy.

Including statues and garden artwork.

I didn't get any pictures of the wildlife, but we did get to see lizards, a snake, a momma duck with 10 ducklings, a bluebird (or at least a bird that was blue), and several other birds.

It was another one of those beautiful days.

We really enjoyed the time we got to spend with Mike. And we can't wait to see the rest of his family this summer.

2009-05-04T07:26:00.001-04:00

I saw this on a church billboard:
Forbidden fruit makes many jams.

The Mother of All Giveaways!

2009-05-01T07:01:00.002-04:00

Please notice the new button on the right side of the page. A blog called 5 Minutes For Mom is having a mothers day give-away that is crazier than than the Octomom after dealing with 3 bouts of colic and 6 cases of diaper rash.

They are giving away everything from a blue ray player, flowers, jewelry, and a hotel stay to a LAPTOP!

I don't usually bother with these, but I'll take any chance I can for a new laptop.

Click on over and check it out.

-Della

Great Poetry

2009-05-01T06:35:00.002-04:00

I got some really great responses to yesterday's post. I highly encourage you to go back and read the comments from that one as several people left some wonderful poems. So I decided to share a couple of my personal favorites.

I once memorized an amazing poem by Robert Service. You may have heard of it.

It is called >>>The Cremation of Sam McGee<<<, and you can read it by clicking on the link. (It's too long to retype, though doing that might refresh my memory of it).

I love almost every poem written by Shel Silverstein, and have many of them memorized. But if I have to pick one favorite, it is probably this one:

THE GARDEN

Ol' man Simon, planted a diamond,

Grew hisself a garden the likes of none.

Sprouts all growin', comin' up glowin',

Fruit of jewels all shinin' in the sun.

Colors of the rainbow,

See the sun and rain grow

Sapphires and rubies on ivory vines,

Grapes of jade, just

Ripenin' in the shade, just

Ready for the squeezin' into green jade wine.

Pure gold corn there,

Blowin' in the warm air,

Ol' crow nibblin' on the amnythyst seeds.

In between the diamonds, ol' man Simon

Crawls about pullin' out platinum weeds.

Pink pearl berries,

all you can carry,

Put 'em in a bushel and

Haul 'em into town.

Up in the tree there's

Opal nuts and gold pears-

Hurry quick, grab a stick

And shake some down.

Take a silver tater,

Emerald tomater,

Fresh plump coral melons

Hangin' in reach.

Ol' man Simon,

Diggin' in his diamonds,

Stops and rests and dreams about

One....real....peach.

Any more good ones you can think of?

Poem in my Pocket Day

2009-04-30T14:31:00.005-04:00

Today was Poem in my Pocket Day at the elementary school.

Mark picked out a poem immediately that he wanted to carry around, but CJ was reticent until I told him a poem that my dad used to tell me.

These are the poems they took in their pockets:

Mark took

Read This Poem by Douglas Florian

If you don't read this poem real soon

I'll make you eat a rotten prune.

And if you stop just halfway through,

I'll pinch you till your face turns blue.

Don't even think to finish here

Or else I'll have to pull your ear.

But if you read it to the end,

I promise that I'll be your friend.

CJ took

Fleas

Adam

had'em

I'm not sure, but that one might be by Mark Twain.

If it had been me I might have taken a good Shel Silverstein.

Do you have a favorite poem?

More Flight of the Conchords

2009-04-29T15:56:00.003-04:00

Recognizing that I have a skewed sense of humor, I think this band is one of the funniest I have heard or seen.

This is just a short version of just one of their songs. It's not even the complete song, but none of the full versions were very good quality.

Enjoy it any way.

And if you end up watching related videos for hours and laughing yourself off your chair, I take full credit.

If you don't like it, well, there's no accounting for taste.

An Evening at Mt. Trashmore

2009-04-28T13:13:00.009-04:00

Last Saturday, (yes this post is late), Mark asked me to take him to the rec center.

Well, by the time we were ready to go the rec center was closed. So we decided instead to go to Mt. Trashmore.

What the heck is Mt. Trashmore? you ask.

The story, as I understand it is this: Several years ago, before Virginia Beach was as big as it is now, this was the local dump.

The city was encountering 2 problems. First, the dump was getting too full, and second, the city was growing to close to it.

Someone had the bright idea to cover the whole pile of garbage with dirt and call it a park.

Thus Mount Trashmore Park was born.

Now this might sound like an odd idea, but it was successful. And this park is one of the best in the city.

There is an awesome wooden playground called Kids Cove. Plus several other playgrounds scattered around, (but Kids Cove is the best).

CJ and Mark played in the park while I had a quick run around the 1.85 mile paved path that circles the perimeter of the park, even going around the lake.

Mark had brought his scooter and wanted to go into the free skate park, but he forgot his helmet and wasn't allowed in. (Though I saw one teenager whose helmet was a red plastic firemans hat that they give out to kids at a local restaurant, and apparently, that was enough to get him in).

After my run and after the boys played in the playground for a little while, we ventured up to the top of the hill.

There is a good breeze on top of the hill and several people were flying kites

At the top of the hill I turned around and took a picture of the view, including the Kids Cove.

If the hill was a little higher I probably could have seen all the way to the ocean, which is only a few miles away.

On top of the hill there are 2 pipes like this one that release the methane gas from the decomposing garbage underneath us.Turning 120 degrees to the left you get this shot of the downtown city skyline. And another 120 degrees gives you a shot of the lake that I ran around.

We walked - actually, I walked and the boys ran- down the hill to the lake where they, in true boy fashion, spent a glorious 15 minutes throwing dirt and rocks into the lake. CJ likes the camera. Why is it impossible to take a picture of yourself without it looking like you are taking a picture of yourself? But since I like to give at least one of my bloggies a hard time for never including pictures of herself on her blog, I want to put one up of me.

The park closes at sundown, so I took this as we walked back to the car. It was a glorious evening, and I had a great time with my boys. Tell me when you are coming to visit me and I will take you to see Mt. Trashmore. You will love it too.

Dinosaur Stew

2009-04-27T16:12:00.002-04:00

Many years ago, when I was a second grader, during our study of dinosaurs, we were all given the assignment to bring in an ingredient to make Dinosaur Stew.

I remember this clearly, and remember thinking how good the stew was.

So this month, while my cub scouts were learning about dinosaurs I decided they should have the same experience.

I made the recipe ahead of time at home, since it takes a few hours to cook in the crock pot, but I had my scouts prepare another batch during den meeting. When they were done compiling the ingredients, we enjoyed the prepared stew.

It was highly successful, and I thought you might enjoy it too.

Here's the recipe:

Dinosaur Stew

by 2nd grade teacher Dashel Watkins

2 or 3 seaweed roots (chopped carrots)

chopped club moss (chopped celery)

white sand and volcano ashes (salt, pepper and oregano)

1 can red swamp water (tomato soup)

3 stegosaurus eggs (diced potaotes)

ground brontosaurus (hamburger)

Brown the brontosaurus, add all other ingredients, cook in crockpot or stew pot.

I doubled the recipe and ended up with a second batch that the scouts made. We enjoyed it again for dinner the next night.

My cub on the left is on his second bowl here, while Mark was polishing off his stew. I hope your family enjoys it too.

2009-04-26T02:06:00.001-04:00

Testing.
Blogger says I can send a text message to post on my blog.
You tell me, did it work?

Be As The Little Children

2009-04-24T06:59:00.003-04:00

LOT'S WIFE

The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back andturned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted,

"My Mommylooked back once while she was driving," he announced triumphantly,"and she turned into a telephone pole!"

GOOD SAMARITAN

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan.

She asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"

A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."

DID NOAH FISH?

A Sunday school teacher asked, "Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?"

"No," replied Johnny. "How could he, with just two worms."

HIGHER POWER

A Sunday school teacher said to her children, "We have been Learning how powerful kings and queens were in Bible times. But, there is a Higher Power. Can anybody tell me what it is?"

One child blurted out, "Aces!"

MOSES AND THE RED SEA

Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in SundaySchool.

"Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he radioed headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."

"Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?" his Mother asked.

"Well, no, Mom. But, if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!"

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.

Little Rick was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm.

After much practice, he could barely get pastthe first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous.

When it was his turn, he stepped up tothe microphone and said proudly, "The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all Ineed to know."

UNANSWERED PRAYER

The preacher's 5 year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head for a moment before starting his sermon.

One day, she askedhim why.

"Well, Honey," he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages. "I'm asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon."

"So, how come He doesn't?" she asked.

BEING THANKFUL

A Rabbi said to a precocious six-year-old boy, "So your mother says your prayers for you each night? That's very commendable. What does she say?"

The little boy replied, "Thank God he's in bed!"

UNTIMELY ANSWERED PRAYER

During the minister's prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one ofthe back pews.

Tommy's mother was horrified. She pinched him into silence and, after church, asked, "Tommy, whatever made you do such a thing?"

Tommy answered soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle, and He did!"

TIME TO PRAY

A pastor asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.

"Yes, sir." the boy replied.

"And, do you always say them in the morning, too?" the pastor asked.

"No sir," the boy replied. "I ain't scared in the daytime."

SAY A PRAYER

Little Johnny and his family were having Sunday dinner at his Grandmother's house. Everyone was seated around the table as the food was being served.

When Little Johnny received his plate, he started eating right away.

"Johnny! Please wait until we say our prayer." said his mother.

"I don't need to," the boy replied.

"Of course, you do." his mother insisted. "We always say a prayer before eating at our house."

"That's at our house." Johnny explained. "But this is Grandma's house and she knows how to cook!"

On a Tuesday 12 Years Ago...

2009-04-22T07:44:00.005-04:00

I walked into a big white building hand in hand with my best friend.

This is us with our sealer, Robert P. Manookin

We walked out a few hours later, still hand in hand, still best friends, but now joined as husband and wife for all of eternity.

Chris remembers clearly a visit he had with his bishop while we were engaged.

His bishop, a really great guy named Phil Jensen told him, "If you think you love her now, just wait."

Chris thinks back to that conversation regularly. At the time he didn't think it was possible to love me more than he did. He was wrong.

12 Years seems like a pretty long marriage when you compare it to some marriages, but it seems like a baby step when you think that we have eternity still to go.

Is it possible that I could love him more next year than I do now?

Is it possible that in another 12 years I'll look back at today and think, "Wow, I hardly even understood love back then"?

One thing I do know is the day that we walked into that temple 12 years ago was one of the most critical days of my existence. My happiness for all of my life and after pivot on the decision, the commitment, and the covenant I made that day.

I looked in Chris' eyes and said "yes" that day without fear, without reserve. With my whole heart and understanding.

It was one of the best things I have ever done. I wouldn't go back and change it for anything.

I am so grateful I get to have this man beside me.

He is still my best friend.

And I thought I loved him then.....

Diving Pics!!

2009-04-21T13:18:00.006-04:00

One of our dive instructors, Dave, brought his underwater cam with us on our dives.

He took some pics and e-mailed them to us today.

I am easy to pick out because I am the one with the bright yellow fins, mask and snorkel. These pics also let you see a few of the fun things there are to explore at Lake Rawlings SCUBA park. This is the 3 of us who were getting certified. I'm on the left, Chris in the middle and JW on the right. We are kneeling on the sunken plane that you see in the pic below. It was about 50 feet down. In this pic we are kneeling on one of the 2 sunken school busses. Umm, I think this is JW. Not too sure though. Me on the left with the yellow snorkel and mask. Here I am doing a controlled ascent on a buoy line. I think that's Chris waiting for me to get far enough up that I wouldn't kick him with my fins. By now can you guess which one is me? That is probably Chris on the right. This is me performing a mask clear. This is one of the skills required for certification. You have to let your mask fill with water, then clear it by fitting it to your face again and exhaling through your nose. This actually clears all the water out and you can open your eyes again.

You Always Knew I Was Certifiable

2009-04-20T22:56:00.004-04:00

So sorry I have been gone from the blog for so long.

I had an awesome weekend.

This week Chris and I are celebrating our 12th anniversary, so we had the kids stay with friends over the weekend and we took some time alone together.

What better way to spend a romantic weekend than under water? We decided this was the optimum time to get our open water dives in to get dive certified.

Both of us have been taking the diving course over the last few weeks, and all we needed was our open water dives for certification.

We arranged the dives with an instructor from Lynnhaven Dive Center and drove 2 hours out to Lake Rawlings.

Lake Rawlings is an old quarry full of fresh water that has been designed just for scuba divers.

It's essentially an underwater park. There are sunken boats, 2 school busses, a plane, 2 underwater basketball courts, compass courses, and more.

We were inches away from bass and bluegill.

I laughed when we swam past a fire hydrant at 30 feet underwater.

We didn't even get to see everything there was to see.

I can't wait to go back.

Over all we had a blast and got our diver certification.

I am also looking forward to diving in the ocean (that I live right by) when the water warms up.

As it was we were in thick wetsuits with booties, gloves and hoods.

The water was only about 54 degrees, but that gets a little chilly after almost an hour.

It was a great adventure and a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

One of the best parts for me was that we took the long way home, and went to Richmond. We stopped in at one of my favorite restaurants, Chadar Thai.

It's one of those wonderful little hole in the wall places. We hadn't eaten there since we lived in Richmond over a year and a half ago. I'm a sucker for a good curry. Bring on the Thai Hot.

Anyway, it was an amazing weekend, which was only added to when the kids went back to school today after a long spring break.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll be back to blog again tomorrow.

I'm Still Here

2009-04-16T14:01:00.004-04:00

Hi all.

. Sorry I haven't been posting. This week is spring break and our kids are out of school. Between breaking up Wii arguments and regulating easter candy intake I have been fairly busy. Oh yeah, and dual speccing came out on WoW, so I have been busy. I'll be back soon. I promise. -Della

Why Some Wards Fit Better Than Others

2009-04-10T14:29:00.004-04:00

Haven't we all been in a ward, or attended a church where we didn't really feel we fit in?

The ward I had the hardest time in was one where 75% of the members were all related, and if you didn't go to their family reunion they kind of wondered what you were doing in their ward.

I stuck with it though and made some very good friends in that ward.

Happily, most of my wards have been great, and the one I am in now is wonderful.

But I read this article from the Salt Lake Tribune that explains how a different makeup of wards could be beneficial.

Which one would you go to?

Find your niche in specialty wards

-Robert Kirby, Tribune columnist

Salt Lake Tribune

Most Sunday mornings, you'll find me on a pew in the Rosecrest 1st Ward chapel.

It's where I'm supposed to go to church. Lucky for me, it's also where I want to go.

Technically, Mormons don't have a choice. For church, we're bound by the geography of the ward boundary. We worship where we live.

The only time Mormons can switch wards without also contacting a Realtor is when we attend specialty wards.

For example, I went to a Spanish-speaking ward in West Jordan for a while.

Specialty wards allow members with specific common needs to worship together and support each other in their exclusive part of the Lord's vineyard. There are (or have been) lots of LDS specialty wards, including singles wards, college wards, deaf wards, ethnic wards and nudist wards.

OK, I made up that last one. There are even seasonal "snowbird wards" in places where Mormon RV owners congregate.

I talked it over with my friend (despite a restraining order) Ken Wallentine. We think the specialty-ward idea needs to be improved on in our ever-changing and increasingly divided culture.

For example, there needs to be a late ward, a ward Mormons who are perpetually late for church could attend and not feel bad about dragging their herd in 15 minutes late.

The only problem with a late ward would be showing up late for a meeting that was supposed to start late in the first place.

Eventually, you would end up with a ward that ran out of time before it started. "Welcome to the Tardy 3rd Ward, brothers and sisters. We will close now by singing hymn No. 145."

Given the high birthrate among Mormons, I thought about the need for maternity wards. Except that we already have those. They're called married student wards.

A Star Trek ward might do well. The bishop would preside from "the bridge" instead of the stand. High-council Sunday would be referred to as a "Klingon Sunday."

Harley riders congregate to the exclusion of just about everyone else. Why not an LDS biker ward? White shirts and neckties go well with black leather.

Ken really wants to attend a concealed-weapons ward. He says church would be a lot more interesting if real personal risks were involved in disagreeing with a lesson.

There could be a texting ward for teenagers. Bear your testimony with your thumb. In 25 years, they'll all belong to carpal-tunnel wards.

At the less-active ward, maybe there'll be a meeting and maybe there won't.

Testimony meeting in an anger-management ward might be interesting. Nobody's going to sleep through, "HEY! I KNOW THE CHURCH IS TRUE, STUPID!"

A big hit would be the Multi Level Marketing ward, also known as a "Gadianton robber ward." With all the financial scamming that goes on in this culture, it would be nice to have them all in one place for a three-hour block weekly.

I think a Democrat ward is a good idea, although in Utah the best we could probably hope for is a Democrat branch..

Update (and More)

2009-04-09T06:43:00.002-04:00

Thank you, everyone, for your concern about my family and our school.

Apparently the drama still wasn't quite over after that young man was arrested.

Another youth, one of the first ones friends, took a bottle of flamable liquid to school and was found carrying a razor blade and a threatening note.

It Almost Happened to Us

2009-04-08T07:30:00.003-04:00

Word of Warning: Grandpa, you may not want to let Grandma read this one.

Yesterday a student at Landstown High School, in Virginia Beach, where my kids go, was arrested for planning a Columbine like attack at Landstown.

One of his friends turned him in to the police.

When the police searched his home they found 28 pipe bombs, molotov cocktails and other devices as well as the ingredients needed to make more.

I meet with the teachers regularly at this high school, which I consider to be an excellent school.

Many of the students, (and parents) are still shaken.

You can read more and watch a short news video about it >>>here<<<.

I can't believe this almost happened to us.

Thank God it didn't.

-Della

Hail the Conquering Hero!

2009-04-06T08:19:00.002-04:00

Most of you have hopefully noticed the yellow ribbon I have had in the top corner of my blog for almost a year and a half.

My brother Mike left to serve our country and the world in Iraq 15 months ago.

He was able to come home for about 2 weeks around his halfway mark.

Mike has literally been counting down the hours until his deployment was over and he could return to the USA and his family.

2 days ago on Saturday he flew in to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina where he was met by his wife, Niki.

He is back for good. Or at least until he gets orders to deply again.

I am thrilled because he and his awesome family will be about 3 hours away from me for the next year and a half.

I can't wait to be close to family again, and be able to spend time with these people that I love so much.

While he was in Iraq, Mike had the opportunity to meet a few celebrities who travelled there to support the troops.

This is R. Lee Ermey with Mike.

And I think Mike was a little too big to sit on this guy's lap.

Welcome home, Mike.

Thank you for serving our country.

We are glad you are home.

The April 2009 Children's Conference Packet

2009-04-03T07:21:00.003-04:00

It's here again.

April Conference.

For my non LDS bloggies, this is the semiannual event, where instead of going go chruch on Sunday, our church leaders in Salt Lake City broadcast 4 sessions of a General Conference all over the world.

From Alaska to Virginia and Australia to Zimbabwe, church members are able to listen to the radio, watch on the internet, travel to a meeting house to watch a satellite broadcast, or in my case, sit on their couch and watch on television to hear the leaders of our church, including our phophet, Thomas S. Monson, speak to us.

There are 2 sessions on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

It is our family tradition, since I was little, to put together a large puzzle while we listen to conference.

If that isn't enough for your kids to stay busy here is a children's packet that you can print out and have your kids work on while they watch.

2009 April Conference Packet 2009 April Conference Packet earl-girl8086 I updated the packet from last October. Happy Conferencing!!!

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Puzzles & Games puzzles general conference p

I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy conference.

And Melissa, (or anyone else), if you want to check it out, I'd love to have you over to watch a session or two with us.

I Give In

2009-04-02T07:01:00.004-04:00

I have debated for months whether or not I should allow my daily blog hits to assist me in more than merely puffing up my self esteem.

You may notice the new ad banner at the top of the page.

Hopefully, this new banner will generate an income for me from my little blog.

If this is a frustration to the 8-10 of you who actually know me and check my blog regularly, I apologize.

Much of my decision was based on the fact that more than 75% of my hits come from people who do not know me, and find me randomly through web searches.

I love that these people visit my blog, and is it a bad thing if their visits earn me a couple of cents?

I think not.

For my beloved followers who love me and my blog, feel free to ignore the ads, and continue loving me and my blog.

I love all of you too.

By the way, I am currently using Adbrite for my ads.

I heard about it from Aaron, Stock Investor Kid who also has some other great income generating ideas, as well as a great sense of humor.

Harvard, for Free?

2009-04-01T07:19:00.004-04:00

I got an e-mail that sounded too good to be true.

I snoped it, but it wasn't even on Snopes yet.

I googled it, and found out it is true.

Harvard University is offering FREE tuition to lower income families.

Apparently, it occurred to them that 90% of their students come from the upper 50% of the income class.

Recognizing that kids whose parents make less than $60,000/yr can still be smart, and in an effort to even out the playing field, Harvard is offering free tuition for "lower income" students.

Specifically, a student from a family with an income of less than $40,000/yr. will not have to pay tuition.

Families that earn between $40,000 and $60,000/yr will have a reduced tuition rate.

You can read more about it >>>here<<<.

How awesome is that?

(And this is not an April Fool's joke, btw).

Who Said Dirt Wasn't Pretty?

2009-03-31T06:44:00.005-04:00

This is a guy named Scott Wade, who apparently has no problem with dirt.

He is an artist who works by removing dirt from a dirty car in order to create a picture.

To him, a dirty car is a blank canvas.

I think I like this guy because not only does he have a great deal of talent, he also has a sense of humor.

How They Grow!

2009-03-28T18:08:00.005-04:00

My boys celebrated their birthdays this week.

We went to breakfast on Tuesday morning, and to a movie Tuesday night.

I took cupcakes to school for their classmates on Thursday and their new futon was waiting in their bedroom when they got home.

Today we had a small party at Chuck-E-Cheese. Even the teenagers had fun.

I can't believe how much my boys have grown.

This means I have now been a mother for over one third of my life.

How do I have an 11 year old??

We are looking forward to Mark's baptism now that he is 8. But we are hoping to have his Uncle Mike here for it, (and maybe even his cousins).

I dug up some photos and scanned them in for the occasion.

Yes, every mother thinks her kids are the most adorable. I just happen to be right.

Mark-1, CJ-4 Mark-3, CJ-6 Mark-1 Mark- Kindergarten Mark- 2nd grade

CJ- 1

CJ- Kindergarten

CJ- 2nd grade

CJ- 4th grade

Happy Birthday boys, I love you.

Anagrams

2009-03-27T08:04:00.002-04:00

Ever notice that some words have hidden meanings.

Sometimes you can even rearrange the letters in a word to get an often ironic meaning.

Here are a few examples.

DORMITORY ------>> DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN ------>> BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER ------>> MOON STARER

DESPERATION ------>> A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES ------>> THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH ------>> HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE ------>> HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES ------>> CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY ------>> IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS ------>> LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS ------>> ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT ------>> IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES ----->> THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO ------>> TWELVE PLUS ONE

MOTHER-IN-LAW ------>> WOMAN HITLER

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ------>> I AM A WEAKISH SPELLER

Things That Make You Go Hmmm

2009-03-25T07:09:00.002-04:00

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. �
There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead. �
Life is sexually transmitted. �
Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. �
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.�
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.. �
Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to? �
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. �
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism. �
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. �
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? �
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out?'�
If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him? �
Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?�
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle? �
If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from? �
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup? �
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster? �
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?�
Do you ever wonder why you bother to read my blog?

The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room

2009-03-24T09:30:00.003-04:00

I recently was channel surfing and came across an HBO sitcom called "Flight of the Conchords".

You could say they struck a chord with me. With my musical tastes as well as my sense of humor.

So I wanted to share of my favorite songs that they sing.

This video is from when they appeared on the David Letterman show.

If you liked this one and you have an hour to watse on youtube you can view almost every song they have done on their show.

I'll warn that they are slightly pg-13 rated on occasion, but I was laughing out loud at every video.

Enjoy!

Adventures in Primary

2009-03-23T07:27:00.002-04:00

I've been the Primary Chorister now for almost 3 months.

It's going much better than I expected, but I still can't seem to figure out the rythym of what works and why some weeks are awesome and some weeks the kids just kinda stare at me.

One thing I have had fun with is teaching them new, fun verses of songs they already know.

When I was a kid in Primary one of my all time favorite songs was "Kindness Begins With Me" (Primary Songbook, pg 145), except we would sing it "Kindness begins with K".

(Hello? That's just more logical.)

Our poor, tormented Chorister compromised with us and would let us sing "Kindness Begins With K", as long as we sang it the right way one time first.

Another favorite of mine was "Give Said the Little Stream" (pg. 236), but with the slight alteration of being silent any time we were supposed to sing the word Give.

If you have never tried that (and know the song) give it a shot.

One of the fun parts of that was laughing at the kids who screwed up.

I haven't had time to teach the kids these favorites yet, but I have taught them 2 others that we are having fun with.

Did you ever learn "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (pg. 275) in spanish?

For my readers who possibly have never heard this song, it is an activity song. You have the kids stand up and point to each body part as they sing it.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes.

Head shoulders knees and toes,

Eyes, ears, mouth and nose".

If you've never learned it in spanish, the spanish words are:

Head - Cabesa (kuh-bay-suh)

Shoulders - Ombros (ohm-brose)

Knees - Rodillas (ro-dee-yas)

Toes - Pies (pee-ace)

Eyes - Ojos (oh-hose)

Ears - Orejas (oh-ray-hahs)

Mouth - Boca (bo-kuh)

Nose - Naris (nah-reese)

The kids either are enjoying this one or are convincingly humoring me.

But they have requested to learn it in Chinese. So, uh, any chinese speakers out there that can help me with that?

The other one I have taught them is one I got from my sister's blog.

It is the second verse to "Popcorn Popping" (pg. 242).

This is another fun activity song where the kids do actions that go along with the song.

The original verse goes:

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,

Popcorn popping right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and make a treat.

A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.

It wasn't really so.

But it seemed to be.

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

The second verse is:

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Figs are growing on the fig tree.

Summer has brought me such a nice surprise.

Figs are growing right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and throw them in the sea.

A great big wave would bring them back to me.

It wasn't really so.

But it seemed to me.

Figs are swimming in the Sea of Galilee.

I really appreciate all of your suggestions and support about this calling.

One funny "primary moment" happened when I was teaching the kids what the word Omnipotent meant.

I asked if they could tell me who the most powerful being in the universe was.

My own son raised his hand and yelled out "Chuck Norris!"

Thanks, Mark. Now everyone knows what we talk aboutat family home evening.

Even If You Don't Watch Basketball....

2009-03-19T17:06:00.006-04:00

So if you are one of the 32 Americans who is not aware that March Madness is going on right now,

Even if you have not filled out your brackets and entered your office pool,

Even if you are not currently wearing the jersey of your favorite NCAA basketball team,

You will still appreciate this video..

It's only 36 seconds long, but you may want to watch it twice just to go "OOOOOHHH!"

And in case you're worried, his knee was a little bruised, but other than that he is fine.

Tag: Adam Waddell awesome flip dunk basketball video

One Trillion Dollars

2009-03-17T07:19:00.005-04:00

There has been a lot of debate over the stimulus plan recently passed by our new president. Many like it, many don't. I don't think I agree with all of it, but whether or not I think it is the best way to do things, it is the approved plan to help our economy. And unlike some people, I don't want it to fail just to prove a point. I am hoping and praying that it works. That it does help our economy, and that all of the good intentions that it was written under become fruitful.

After all, if we are investing ONE TRILLION DOLLARS that we don't even have, some thing good better come of it right?

Do you know what ONE TRILLION DOLLARS looks like?

Here is a regular One hundred dollar bill.

We've all seen this.

We've all had one in our pocket or purse at some point.

If you stack 10,000 of these together, you get

One Million Dollars.

It looks about like this:

It's impressive in the amount, after all, it would take the average american 30 years to earn that much money. But it's still small enough it would probably fit in your purse and you could carry it around.

Take that amount and multiply it by 100, and you have

One Hundred Million Dollars.

It looks about like this:

And I am pretty sure I will never make that much money in my lifetime. Not even before taxes.

But we hear people talk about One Hundred Million Dollars all the time.

Didn't AIG recently misplace about 165 Million Dollars?

That's more than 1 and a half pallets of money!

"Gee, honey, have you seen that pallet of cash I put in the attic? Did it get put in the boxes marked 'Christmas' again?"

Seriously?

Okay, so what about a Billion?

That's another term that gets thrown around a bit.

I mean, Facebook (you know, that little networking site that even my Mom joined?) was bought out over a year ago for 4.1 Billion.

4.1 doesn't seem like too much right?

Except that this is what One Billion Dollars looks like:

It's a good thing that transaction was electronic, because it might have taken multiple semi trucks to move 41 pallets of money.

While this stimulus plan was in committee, a lot of numbers were thrown around.

It started as low as 500 Billion Dollars, but slowly grew as more and more "divinely qualified" plans and special interests were added.

Finally the number reached

ONE TRILLION DOLLARS

The human mind can't even comprehend that number.

If you started counting now, and counted one dollar every second, it would take you 31,709 years to get to ONE TRILLION DOLLARS.

Even if you counted by 100's it would take over 300 years.

ONE TRILLION DOLLARS is a Million Million dollars.

ONE TRILLION DOLLARS is a thousand Billion dollars.

ONE TRILLION is a 1 with 12 zeros behind it.

1,000,000,000,000

ONE TRILLION DOLLARS looks like this:

Notice the pallets are double stacked.

Can you see the little man with the red shirt standing in the corner?

No?

Apparently neither can Congress.

ONE TRILLION DOLLARS is a whole lotta money.

Money that our country doesn't have.

Lets hope and pray together that good comes from this. That our nation can heal and rebuild itself. That one day we can pay off our debts and truly be free.

In the mean time, lets at least be realistic and honest with ourselves and each other.

We need each other, and we need God more now than we ever have.

-Della

Things That Make You Go Hmm....

2009-03-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

Shout out to Joe

2009-03-16T07:26:00.004-04:00

Any of you that are on my Facebook are aware that I recently experienced a great loss, but that it was rectified last week.

What I mean is, my TV broke, and was repaired.

Several things have been causing me stress over the last few weeks.

(Many of you have offered prayers for our family, and I want to tell you they have been felt and answered. Our family has made more positive progress over the last few weeks than I thought was possible. It is always a work in progress, but for those of you who asked, please know that things are going well and we appreciate your prayers.)

There was one night that I was feeling an exceptional amount of stress. I went to my bedroom, pushed the power button on my TV, and when it failed to turn on, every emotional bulwark I had in place crumbled, fracturing the spine of the metaphoric hump backed mammal, and ultimately, (sparing the messier details), leaving me in a teary mess on the bathroom floor.

The next morning I googled TV repair in Virginia Beach and found the name of Joe Searles.

I called Joe Searles TV Repair and set up an appointment for him to come out to the house and check out the problem.

He showed up right on time, and although we wasn't able to fix the problem here, he was friendly, professional, and polite, and even helped us load the TV into our van to take it to his shop.

After working on my poor TV in his shop Joe found that 2 circuits on the circuit board were not providing the power needed to turn the set on. And instead of replacing the entire circuit board at a cost of several hundred dollars, Joe simply replaced the 2 faulty circuits.

When I picked it up, he and his associate loaded it into my car for me.

Joe was up front about all of his fees and surprised me by not sneaking any extra fees in, the way any car repair shop might have.

In the end, the total repair costs were much less than I had feared, and only a fraction of what it would have cost to replace my whole TV.

So if you happen live in or around Virginia Beach and find yourself needing any TV repairs, (or an Elvis impersonator - Joe is multi-talented), give Joe a call.

Joe Searles TV Repair

459 Lynnhaven Rd.

Virginia Beach, VA 23452

757-340-0850

I couldn't have been more pleased with his service.

(And he's not even paying me for this post).

Thanks Joe!

Seussisms

2009-03-12T06:42:00.006-04:00

I grew up reading Dr. Seuss.

I loved the story of the Sneetches who thought that personal value was decided by the presence or absence of a star on their bellies and spent their every last dollar trying to be better then the other Sneetches.

I found that that story was not the only Dr. Seuss story with a moral, or at least a few words of wisdom thrown in amidst the rhymes and gibberish words.

As a young poet, I envied his ability to simply make up new words when he couldn't find an adequate one that rhymed. My teachers never let me get away with that.

I have always, even as an adult, loved the quirky stories and have loved reading them to my own children.

Today I want to share with you some of the quips of wisdom and insight so often found in his pages.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better. it's not.

-The Lorax

It's a troublesome world.

All the people who're in it

are troubled with troubles

almost every minute.

Just tell yourself, Duckie,

you're really quite lucky!

Some people are much more...

oh, muchly much much more

unlucky than you!

-Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?

I meant what I said and I said what I meant.....

An elephant's faithful, One hundred percent!

-Horton Hatches an Egg

I know, up on top

you are seeing great sights,

But down at the bottom

we, too, should have rights.

-Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"

-How the Grinch Stole Christmas

You're in pretty good shape for the shape you are in!

-You're Only Old Once

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own

and you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy

who'll decide where to go.

-Oh, the Places You'll Go

The more that you read,

the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

the more places you'll go.

-I Can Read With My Eyes Shut.

A person's a person, no matter how small. -Horton Hears a Who

Think left and think right

and think low and think high.

Oh, the THINKS you can think up

if only you try!

-Oh the Thinks You Can Think

Be sure when you step.

Step with great care and tact

and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

-Oh, the Places You'll Go

Schools all over the country celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday last week.

Happy Birthday Mr. Geisel,

Thanks for all the wisdom.

Thanks for all the words,

Thanks for inventing new things,

like Truffulas and Nerds.

-Della

A Confessions Tag, To Tell the Truth (or not)

2009-03-10T19:30:00.004-04:00

I picked up this tag from Marlene over at the SPIT, or Country Girl on the Chesapeake Bay.

It seemed like a fun tag and I didn't have anything else to blog today. So here are some random details you probably never knew about me, and may not have ever thought to ask. Here are the rules: Copy and paste the whole questionnaire and replace my answers with yours. You have to state and create a link for the blogger who tagged you. Pass to 4 other bloggers. Remember to inform them by commenting on their recent post. Last, answer each question with truth and nothing but the truth since this is a confession tag.

Have Fun!

1)What is your blogger name? Della Hill, not so terribly creative, eh?

2) When is your birthday? August 14. I actually was born the day before Elvis died.

3). How long have you been blogging? Since Dec. '07, that's what? 15 months?

4) Who tagged you? Marlene from Country Girl on the Chesapeake Bay. Who, by the way, entered my life as part of a pool of people that I generally make a point of not building close associations with. But over time rose above that pool to become someone that I have built not only a relationship with, but an amount of respect and love for. (I hope that makes sense, I mean it as a sincere compliment).

5) Tell me your 5 most favorite body parts? (Do you really want to know?) Honest answers, right? My legs, breasts, hair, eyes, ... um, can my legs count as 2?

6) What do you wish most for your birthday? Hmm... I don't wish for too much because I really am very blessed. How about being that much closer to completely debt free, and maybe a scuba diving trip to Cozumel, Mexico.

7) What color are your nails now? Totally natural, though I have been successfully battling my nail biting habit and an edge of white is showing on 9 of my 10 nails.

8) Any depressing thoughts lately? More than usual actually. I am really a very positive person. But things have been harder in my life as well as in our country lately, and it is affecting me. But not too much. I am still happy and have faith in a better world.

9) What's your next 1 month's plan? To get through the next month. To get back to running 3 or more times a week as well as strength training. To improve my budgeting and maybe take a scuba diving class.

10) At what age did you have your 1st crush? I vaguely remember my sisters teasing me about someone when I was 5, but the earliest I remember clearly was Adam Walters in the 7th grade.

Or maybe it was Cody Anderson in 6th grade....

11) Did you attend any school reunion after you graduated till now? Ri-ight. That would require a desire to see anyone from my graduating class. So there were maybe 2 or 3 people I wouldn't mind seeing again, including my English Teacher Mrs. Hampton/ Ms. Snyder, but even those people aren't worth suffering through a reunion for. (Sorry Mrs. Hampton, not even if Adam Walters was there).

12) Have you ever passed gas in public and pretended you didn't smell anything? (I'm stealing Marlene's answer for this one), No, not ever...if you believe that, I have some stock in AIG I want to sell you.

13) Are you a clean freak? Double ri-ight. I'm more likely to go to a reunion than make sure my bathroom is always clean. Lucky for me, I have a work at home husband who is a clean freak and I can count on him for more than his fair share of housework.

14) Which era do you wish you were born into? I often think it would have been pretty cool to be born in the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. But under 2 conditions; 1- That I get to be a lady, and not an indentured servant or peasant, and 2- that I not be born with a tendency to get bladder infections or an android pelvis, either of which would have already caused me a slow and painful death.

15) Are you a vegetarian? (again) Ri-ight. Yeah, and I've never farted in public either. Meat is good.

16) How many pillows do you sleep with at night? 2-3. 2 under my head and an occasional 3rd to cuddle with if Chris is still WoWing.

17) Are you a light sleeper or an I-don't-care-if -there's-a-bomb-here sleeper? What? There was a bomb? I must have missed it, I was sleeping.

18) Do you secretly wear comfortable granny panties when your man is not around? No. Absolutely not. I wear them all the time and there is no secret about it whatsoever. He is more surprised (rather pleasantly) once in a while when I don't.

19) What is your ultimate dream job? Being a motivational speaker/ parenting trainer.

20) What is it your hubby does that annoys you the most? He thinks he accepts feedback really well, but he doesn't really. Not when it comes from me anyway. So it's a good thing I have other ways of, um, influencing him.

21) What is your dream car? I don't really have one. Unless it's the one with no steering wheel that I blogged about >here<. Really, I'd just love to get my '84 Kawasaki LTD 700 running again. (Yes, it's a motorcycle). That would make me happier than anything.

22) Do you easily wake up in the morning? I'm sorry, what was the question? I didn't hear it because I was hitting the snooze bar for the 6th time. Did a bomb just go off in here?

23) Do you like hairy men? Hair, in general I don't mind. Random, out of place hairs make me itch for my tweezers. Long, dark hairs growing out of moles cause me to plan secret night time shaving parties, usually while the shavee is sleeping. But really, that's on anyone, including myself, not just men. (Except I don't shave myself in my sleep).

24) How about goatees on men? Yep, goatees are cute and sexy. Unless they have that villianous point, then no.

25) Which one would you prefer, 2 hour spa, 2 hour Thai Massage or 2 hour foot massage?

Can I opt for a facial?

26) Have you ever wished you had a different name other than your real name? In 4th grade I changed my name to Iva Dell, which is the name of the grandmother that I was named after. I went by Iva Dell for 3 years, mostly at school, before I went back to Della. But I had friends that called me Iva all the way though high school.

27) What is the most extreme sport you have ever done? Probably riding a motorcycle. I got my Kawasaki up to 110 mph on north bound I-15 passing Orem, Utah once. Unless Grandma is reading this, in which case I never got over 65 and may never have even ridden a motorcycle.

28) Do you prefer traveling in Europe or Asia? I'd love to go to either, having never been. But probably Europe to start.

29) What is your favorite food? Toss up between good Chinese Hot and Sour Soup and Chris' Cajun Chicken Penne. Ooohhhh, it's good.

30) What is the most embarrassing moment when you were out on a date? I can't think of any right off the top of my head. Maybe because I haven't dated anyone new in over 12 years. But if you want to hear the most embarrasing, -and funny- date story of all time, >click here<.

Kay, that's all. I hope you learned something new about me.

Please feel free to consider yourself tagged.

-Della

Time for a Puzzle

2009-03-09T07:43:00.003-04:00

I haven't done any puzzles or riddles for a while, so here are a few.

Good luck.

Puzzle:

You just dumped a bag of fruit into the deepest end of the fruit bin, and now you can't see what you have.

They're all smooth skinned, and about the same size, so you can't tell by touch either.

You know you have five large plums, five nectarines, and five small smooth-skinned peaches.

How many pieces of fruit must you take out to be absolutely sure of getting a plum?

Riddles, (just for fun):

1. How many Teamsters does it take to change a light bulb?

2. What is yellow and always points North?

3. What is it you sit on, sleep in, and brush your teeth with?

If any of you are interested, I get these puzzles from puzz.com. (But no cheating!).

Beautiful Pictures

2009-03-06T18:05:00.004-05:00

I don't think I was the only little girl who dreamed of being a fairy princess.

I must have spent hours in my backyard imagining that my favorite climbing tree was a magical castle treehouse.

Or that our playhouse was my fairy godmother's forest cottage.

Or that when I was jumping from the roof of my neighbors shed onto the roof of my other neighbors shed, that I was actually leaping across a chasm of lava while I was escaping from the clutches of the evil troll king.

Or maybe I would just curl up in my hammock and read a book, letting someone else tell the story, but still picturing myself as the heroine.

I thought if only I could reach that dream world; if I could just reach far enough, just turn at the right time, peek through the right wardrobe, wake up in the middle of the right dream, maybe I could find it.

Maybe it wasn't a fantasy, maybe it was real, right there, and if I could just hold my wrist the right way....just maybe....I could reach it....

...Maybe....

I suppose this is why pictures like this appeal to me.

They cater to my dreams, to the fanastic.

To what I know will never be, but what I will never stop dreaming of.

Paintings by Jim Warren

Another Reason I Love Grandpas (and Why You Shouldn't Gamble)

2009-03-05T16:56:00.003-05:00

I got this joke in an e-mail from (can you guess?) my Grandpa.

I hope you like it as much as I did.

The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.

The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his attorney.

The auditor said, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment,

Which you explain by saying that you win money gambling.

I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable.

'I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Grandpa. 'How about a demonstration?'

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead..'

Grandpa says, 'I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.

'The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'It's a bet.'

Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it.

The auditor's jaw drops.

Grandpa says, 'Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.'

Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn't blind, so he takes the bet.

Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa's attorney as a witness.

He starts to get nervous.

'Want to go double or nothing?' Grandpa asks 'I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.'

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor's desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a break even.

But Grandpa's attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

'Are you okay?' the auditor asks.

'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Grandpa told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it.'

A few of God's little miracles

2009-03-04T06:27:00.003-05:00

Nitrofurantoin (Macrobid) is an antibiotic that fights bacteria in the body. Nitrofurantoin is used to treat and prevent urinary tract infections. It works by interfering with various chemical processes in the bacteria, which results in the death of the bacteria.

Phenazopyridine (Pyridium) is used to treat pain, burning, increased urination, and increased urge to urinate. These symptoms are usually caused by infection, injury, surgery, catheter, or other conditions that irritate the lower urinary tract.

I got my first bladder infection (Urinary Tract Infection, Cystitis) when I was in 9th grade.

In 12th grade I was hospitalized for one that spread to my kidneys.

Once I had to get IV fluids in my doctors office because I had one.

I had an understanding with one of my doctors that I didn't even need to schedule an appointment when I got one. I could just go in to her office, pee in a cup and get a prescription.

They didn't have Pyridium then and I just had to suffer in severe pain for 3 days until the antibiotics took.

I know God loves me because he gave me Pyridium.

I only get bladder infections about once a year now instead of every couple of months like I used to, but when I do get them they seem to hit me like a truck, even though I recognize the symptoms and get to the doctor as soon as I can.

If I don't get to the doctor right away, the initial symptoms of "frequent and painful urination" are joined by nausea, vomiting, dehydration and severe headache.

Oh and by the way, drinking organic apple cider vinegar will NOT cure your bladder infection.

It will ease the symptoms of severe needling pain while peeing and the urge to pee like a racehorse every 12 minutes even though you release more tears than urine when you go.

But if you only drink the vinegar and don't get antibioics, chances are the infection will only get worse while you think it's getting better and when you stop drinking the vinegar you'll be 10 times worse off than you were before.

(I learned that fun lesson last year).

You are much better off going to the doctor, getting antibiocs and Pyridium, which eases the symptoms even better than vinegar, even if it turns your pee bright orange.

If it weren't for antibiotics I never would have seen my 18th birthday.

If it weren't for Pyridium I wouldn't be sitting in this chair blogging right now.

I would be sitting on the toilet crying.

I am grateful for all of the medical advances that are saving lives. Heart transplants, bone marrow transplants, radiation treatments, progress towards curing cancer and AIDS, all of those are wonderful, and I thank God for them, but right now I'm just grateful it doesn't hurt when I pee.

Some Fun Pics

2009-02-28T15:16:00.005-05:00

I don't have anything really to blog today, so I am just posting some good pics that I don't tink I've posted before.

Enjoy.

And if I stole any of these pics from your blog (Marlene), thank you.

Another reason the DMV sucks

2009-02-26T06:22:00.005-05:00

A few of you may remember the car accident I was in last May.

If you weren't a reader then, or need a refresher >>click here<<.

Like all accidents, I was hoping to be grateful no one was hurt, get the car fixed and put it behind me. Which was even easier to do because it was not my fault and the other guys insurance covered everything.

However, 9 months after the incident, it is coming back to haunt me.

I did some searches recently to find out why I kept seeing stacks of money with eyes staring me down, and if the Progressive web site really had a spunky brunette with a headband (who I'm pretty sure also does yoga on a Glade commercial) who really could make me feel great about buying new car insurance online.

At first I was in disbelief to find out that by switching to one of several different companies I could cut my current premium of $170/mo almost in half to about $90/mo.

I went with Allstate. Partly because I had Allstate before and liked them, and partly because they e-mailed me instead of calling me at home like I had requested in the search process.

So sorry State Farm. You lost out for no other reason than that you made the mistake of trying to talk to me in person. (I hate that).

And I proabably have to admit that I like the Allstate commercials better than any of the others. After I got to know and like the US President from "24" and he became the face of Allstate, how could I not feel like I was in good hands?

Through a process of about 20 e-mails with my local Allstate agent we got the all of the policy preliminiaries out of the way, which included a driving record check.

I had been honest about the fact that I was in an accident last spring, but was not at fault.

However, that's not what my driving record says.

According to my DMV record I was listed AT FAULT for the accident.

Which if true, doesn't explain why the cop at the scene told me he was citing the other guy and why the other driver's insurance paid for all of my repairs.

This one little clerical error, as the agent told me, changed my quote from $90/mo. to $190/mo.

So I am off to the courthouse today to get a copy of the police report, which I then have to take to the DMV to appeal to have my record changed.

My agent can change me back to the original rate if she has a copy of the police report too.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can resolve this with as little violence as possible.

I would really hate to get so frustrated about this that I start to road rage and actually cause an accident that would be my fault.

Maternal Instinct - in Pictures

2009-02-25T19:02:00.009-05:00

One of God's great achievements is the instillment of maternal instinct and the development of a bond between a mother and her offspring.

This can be seen in all areas of nature and is truly a beautiful thing.

And thanks to zibabin.com for the pics.

Hope For My Generation

2009-02-24T08:41:00.002-05:00

Please watch the whole thing.

It is less than 2 minutes long, and valueable.

What My Dad Taught Me

2009-02-23T09:16:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was my Father's birthday.

Chronologically he is 65. But there is some debate as to what his real age is.

To look at him you might think he is only 50-55. If you watch him go you might think he was in his 20s or 30s. But there are those among us who argue that he is actually over 2000 years old.

This is a picture of him with my mom and my sons at Niagra Falls last summer.

Regardless of his actual age, my Dad has taught me many things in my life.

Including, but certainly not limited to:

The abilty and willingness to work is one of the greatest attributes a person can have.
If something needs done, do it.
It should not take all day to do 5 minutes work.
If you look for something you will usually find it.
When things are difficult complaining will not make them better. Effort usually will.
As much time should be spent outdoors as possible.
Be home when you say you will be.
Being dependable is another one of the greatest attributes a person can have.
Hard work will get you a long ways. Hard work and an education will get you even farther.
Arguing rarely solves anything.
True love is not based on appearances.
If you can't say something nice bite your tongue.
Sometimes it's okay to let people see you biting your tongue.
It's sometimes fun to start rumors if you tell people that's what you are doing.
Raising a family is one of the most worthy and honorable things a person can do.
If you choose to have a family, (and it should be an active choice), they should be your first priority.
Your commitment to your spouse should be more important to you than anything on earth.
Your commitment to God should be more important to you than anything in the world.
If you listen to the spirit, it will talk.
You should serve others at any given opportunity. And not brag about it later.
Do your chores before you play.
When you give a talk, don't write it word for word. Just have your outline written on 3x5 cards and speak naturally.
Our goal in this life is to earn eternal salvation. There is a whole plan for this.
To appreciate nature.
How to set up a tent.
How to start a fire.
How to dig a snow grave (for sleeping in).
How to make ash cakes
How to cook in a dutch oven.
How to sweep a floor effectively.
How to shoot a gun.
How to throw a tomahawk.
How to differentiate between kinds of pine trees.
How to watch for and follow tracks.
How to paddle a kayak.
How to make a bed.
You should give your spouse a good long kiss when you get home from work.
You should let your children see you kiss your spouse.
Don't leave the oven on during church.
Sometimes the best naps are on the living room floor.
There are few shows that are really worth watching on tv.
Star Trek is one of them.
Enjoy every minute of being outside.
Find excuses to go outside.
Enjoy life.
Let people know you have a testimony of God.
Decide how you want to live your life and do it with vigor.
Don't let little things (like quadruple heart bypasses) keep you from doing the things you love.
When you fall down get up and try again.
Love your family with all your heart and in every way you know how.
Make sure God is part of every part of your life, and you will be happy.

That was a little longer list than I originally intended. I hope you stuck through and read them all.

I could have kept going, but 51 was enough for this year.

I am so grateful for my father. He is one of the people that I truly admire the most.

He taught me so many things (obviously), and those things have made my life better.

I wish you a happy birthday Dad.

No matter how old you really are, I hope this year is better than all the ones before it.

I love you. Thanks for being my Dad.

-Della

More Good Stuff

2009-02-20T08:19:00.003-05:00

Because the majority of this blog is merely me sharing random things that I enjoy, I feel compelled to clue you all in to a blog I found recently.

My Real Life Was Backordered is seriously one of the funniest blogs I have ever read. DeNae has a witty way with words that I can only envy.

Go check her out.

Her latest post An Epistle to the Roamin's had me laughing out loud.

Any one who has ever 1) read any scriptures or 2) ever had a child vomit during the night, will feel that you have found a kindred soul.

-Della

Woody's thought for the day

2009-02-19T18:01:00.004-05:00

Why isn't Miniscule a smaller word than Huge?

Thank You All

2009-02-18T22:27:00.003-05:00

Thank you all for your prayers.

It hasn't even been 18 hours since I posted asking for prayers, but I have felt them all day long.

This was a hard day, and the work isn't over, but I was strengthened and fortified all throughout the day.

I wish I could share more, but let me tell you that a miracle happened today, something I have been praying for. And it wasn't even part of the bigger issue, but happened kind of because of the bigger issue. (If that makes any sense).

Anyway, not every thing is solved and resolved, but progress has been made.

I have felt God's love and your love in your prayers today.

At many times I felt the strength of your prayers and was touched by them.

Thank you all. Don't stop praying. We still need them.

But thank you so, so much.

Love, Della

Calling for Prayers

2009-02-18T08:17:00.002-05:00

To All of My Beloved Bloggies,

I need your prayers.

I can't go into details in the specifics of my needs, because much of it is confidential.

Most of you know that I have 2 high intensity foster sons and that this is my full time job.

My boys are in crisis right now, and are making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives forever.

One of the sad parts is that they have so little understanding of how their actions today are affecting their lives permanently.

Sadly, their choices also affect my own core family very deeply as well.

We are all hurting right now and at times I don't even know what to ask for when I pray because I don't know what the solution is.

But please keep my boys and our family in your prayers.

Thank you all so much.

Love, Della

A scrapbook

2009-02-17T07:08:00.009-05:00

I have been posting a lot of pics on Facebook lately because it is so easy to upload pics right from my phone tto Facebook. But I have been neglecting putting pics here.

So here are a few random recent pics.

Changing leaves made this stretch of road really pretty in the fall.

Me.

Me, same day, with my hair down. If only it would stay looking like that. My sushi lunch date with Mark.

Hat day. CJ liked Dad's chauffer hat, while Mark went with the Viagra racing hat.

An amazing cloud formation that made a beautiful sunset.

Chris' Superbowl birthday cake.

No kidding, I have seen this limo in front of the elementary school twice now.

Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack had a lot of photo ops.

This mosaic was in the bathroom, so when you looked in the mirror you could see that it says "Eat at Joe's".

My honey. This was me from another lunch.

Snow on the ground yesterday morning. Yes, really.

Friends and forts.

One of my running shirts.

Taken at Mt. Trashmore Park.

This is CJ's orchestra concert. He is the cellist that is right in front of the teacher in the pic.

A Sam's club shopping trip.

Chris napping with Toby.

A cool lit up tree.

Hope you enjoyed them.

Maybe I'll add more soon.

-Della

80 Years Ago

2009-02-16T08:17:00.008-05:00

I seem to have a them going, but don't blame me. Blame my Grandpa who keeps sending me these e-mails.

Check out these ads from the 1930's

Some of these are unbelievable.

But this one is my favorite:

What do you think we are doing now that people will be scoffing at 50 years from now?

One Hundred Years Ago

2009-02-13T16:20:00.002-05:00

Just in case you were wondering, or want to be blown away, here are some statistics from the year 1909:

The 1909 Packard

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles

Of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist $2,500 per year, a

veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!

Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from Entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea

Hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.

Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health'

( Shocking? DUH! )

Eighteen percent of households had at least One full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

And I was able to copy this whole thing without typing it myself. From here, it can be viewed by others all over the WORLD - all in a matter of seconds!

Crazy, huh?

I wonder what things will be like in another 100 years.