A Closet Job.....

Yeah, that's right, on most days of the week you can find me in my closet. My closet? Why you ask? Well because I've landed one of the sweetest jobs and it's all done in my closet.

Let me explain by first giving you a little history. Before having children, I worked for about 13 years. I remember as I was quitting my job - Which I loved (loved my job, loved the company, loved the people I worked with, but my heart longed to be home and raise Daria), one of the Vice Presidents said "You're quitting? but you're so young!" I said "Yeah, that's right. I AM young. I can have kids, raise them, work later" It was a great deal.(I did consult for that same company from home for a year after quitting) I've chosen to stay home with my kids at least until they are out of High School. Life is busy as a mother and wife and that's a big job in itself.

Now that brings me back to my closet. I wasn't looking for a job, but when Brother W. offered me a job I couldn't refuse, I found myself back in the working world doing none other than "voice over" for training videos for an environmental company relating to the handling of nuclear/radioactive materials. How cool is that?! I immediately pounced on the prospect. Flexible hours, I can do it any time of day or night so it doesn't interfere with my number one priority, family. Extremely super good pay (which would be hard to get after being out of work for 10 years), no office politics, AND all I have to do is walk upstairs to my new and improved sound proof closet (it's a big closet), log on to their server, pull any modules off, record, then put them back on their server. Just me, the microphone, and my voice. So there you have it, on any given day you may find me working in my closet!

Musings of March

The B-24 and B-17 bombers. Flown during WWII

This picture is for cousin Jonathon who is in the Marines

Dustin's excitement. One cannot just tour a plane or touch it, one must hang on it!

Daria's non-excitement. It wasn't really that bad. She was happy to get her flight pin.

During Spring Break I took the kids to see some WWII aircraft, the B-24J and a B-17G bombers. Daria wasn't overwhelmingly impressed mostly because she was worried that someone would turn the planes on. She hates loud noises. If you paid a whopping $425.00 you could take a ride in one of these metal beasts. I was tempted, REAL tempted, but felt that was a lot of money. I would rather wait for the opportunity to take a ride in something that could fly a little higher and faster. Dustin on the other hand was so excited I practically had to tie a string to his feet so he wouldn't float away with immense glee. He toured in and out of each plane several times, touched them, and even hung from one of the wings (much to my dismay). I could barely keep up with him as he ran in and out. Dustin's a lot smaller than me and can maneuver inside quite easily. As an adult you have to be very strategic about walking through the cramped space. Hard to believe that a crew of 10 grown men could fit inside one. As a souvenir both Daria and Dustin bought a flight wing pin and Dustin also got a .50 caliber machine gun bullet. If you've never seen one in real life you would be surprised at their size. War is real people and I would hate to be on the receiving end of just one of those bullets let alone the some 600+ rounds per minute that it can spit out.

Speaking of planes. As a family each night we've been enjoying the book "Supersonic Saints" by John Bytheway. It's a compilation of stories from LDS pilots. I bought the book to read to Dustin, but the whole family has joined as we read the heroic, and faith promoting experiences of these pilots. It's a great book even if you're not into planes.

Karie, Kenneth Cope (a fantastic recording artist and song writer), and Jen
"Bishop Cope, can I have your autograph?"

Also in March the ladies and I attended Time out for Women. Deseret Book had a great program lined up with top notch presenters and performers. It was completely worth the price and time, and as always I love the chance to hang with the gals. An added touch is the presenters and performers make themselves available to the crowd for questions and photo opportunities. Can't beat that! Here are a few photos of some that I met. (I'll post later about our book club and meeting Chris Stewart. It deserves a post of its own)

Jenny Jordan Frogley. In my opinion, very few singers can top this gals vocal range, singing abilities, song writing abilities. Check her bio out at LDSAudio. Reading about her is impressive but listening to her live will knock your socks off.

Karie, Abe Mills of Jericho Road, Terry and Jen. Another stunning performer and Celeste, he lives in your community. Cool eh!

And none other than the ever amazing Sheri Dew. This woman has inspired millions, she can talk, and she can write in a way that motivates us all.

Thanks everyone for sharing your talents !

Oreo Update

I did it. I went to the store, purchased a large pack of Oreo cookies, and brought them home for an evening of festivities walking down memory lane (for the complete story click here). Daria, Dustin and I sat down, opened every single one of those cookies, scraped out the white middles and formed big balls. Yes, I stood in the kitchen with my kids and threw Oreo middles at my own kitchen walls. It was fun, short lived and a lot to clean up. I learned from Dustin that if you throw your Oreo middle ball with super g-force strength that it not only sticks to your wall but explodes all over the kitchen too. Daria and I had no problem making nice round splats. I probably laughed the most. The kids thought it was fun, but I'm thinking that it's moments like these that are funnier when your parents aren't around. There's something fun about doing strange things without adult supervision. Anyway, it was fun and probably something my kids will never forget.

Ken: After volunteering on the ambulance "I got to pick up fingers tonight" - he loves that type of stuff. (Ken has a day job, but his heart is in volunteering as an EMT)

Dustin: Almost daily we have this conversation, which is driving me nuts.

Dustin: "Mom, you're lucky because you don't have to go to school"

Karie: "I already went to school. I'm lucky that I live in a country that allowed me the opportunity to go to school. School is one of the most important things you will do in your life, AND you can't be a pilot without an education."

Dustin (while rolling his eyeballs at me) "I know, I know. I must be lucky then too"

Daria: After watching the "film" in school. You know, the puberty one. (I've already discussed puberty with her, the film just re-affirmed the information)

Daria "They said that sometimes when you are on your period you might like boys"

Karie (trying to contain my laughter, because every woman knows that is the LEAST likely time that we like boys) "Oh, so when you start to go through puberty you might begin to like boys? (I'm still chuckling at that one)

Karie: "Nikon? Canon? Nikon? Canon?" This is the question I ask myself every day. My Nikon is ready to be shelved leaving me open to a new camera. The question is, should I stick with Nikon or venture out to Canon. Tough question because it is literally comparing apples to apples, and if you're going to fork out a couple thousand bucks for a camera, you've got to make a good decision.

More from Dustin: I happen to notice that under Dustin's right eye are a ton of broken blood vessels. In fact it almost looked like he got punched in the eye but that would cause a bruise, not thousands of tiny red dots.

Karie "Dustin, what happened to your eye?"

Dustin "The vacuum cleaner hit it"

Karie (finally figures out what happened) "The vacuum cleaner hit it, or the vacuum cleaner sucked it?"

Dustin "Well, it only sucked it just a little"

Only little boys would think of putting the vacuum cleaner hose up to their eyeball and let it suck. HELLO! who wants to suck their eyeball out with a vacuum cleaner? I remind myself that one of my jobs as a mother of a boy is to make sure he makes it to his 18th birthday. Wish me luck.

More on Daria: Daria hates going to the doctor. I'm not sure why she has such a huge fear of doctors . I noticed a very dark suspicious mole on her back that she wasn't born with. I finally make an appointment to get it checked out. Daria said she didn't want to go to the doctor because she might get cancer. Ok, real fear for a almost 10 year old. I get that. Except doctors don't give you cancer. The dermatologist's office happens to be in the hospital. This doesn't sit well for Daria. While in the waiting room she asks what the doctor is going to do with the mole. Up until this moment I hadn't even thought of that, which is a huge bummer when you're trying to help your daughter not be scared. To make a long story short, the mole needed to be taken off immediately, right then. Great. I mean, great because I was glad it could be taken care of but now had a hysterical girl on my hands. It is one of the worst feelings having to hold your child down while a doctor cuts a huge hole in your daughters back. Not fun. However, I'm glad that I leaned on my instincts and had the mole checked out.

How to Save Your Marriage...

Ok, girls, here it is. If you want to save your marriage, DO NOT put potato peals down the kitchen drain. I repeat DO NOT, even if you've put a few down before and it worked, even if you think to yourself while stuffing those down the disposal "hhmmm I really should compost these" but you put them in anyway. It causes great strain on the seasoned marriage, and will test your husband's love for you, even after 17 years. If you enjoy a risky venture and put the peels in the drain KNOW THIS; your husband will end up spending 2 hours on an Easter Sunday afternoon trying to unclog the drain which isn't easy and will leave your kitchen looking like some bomb of dirty potato dishwater exploded in it. You'll have to borrow the plumber snake from the neighbor, who will also politely remind you to never ever put potato peals down the drain. His wife's done it too (apparently I'm not alone). Your husband will also have missed his Sunday afternoon nap which he was looking forward to because all of the after church meetings were canceled due to it being Easter. Clogged drain means no blissful nap on the couch. His knees will hurt from bending in all sorts of positions on the kitchen floor in order to work under the sink. You'll also hear him say over and over "this sucks, this really sucks", which you never hear him say at any other time. You will feel really, really small because there is not much you can do but stand around and watch, and hand a few towels to mop up the water.

Are you laughing yet? I'm tellin' ya, don't try it! I admit, while I was standing there I wondered to myself what Ken really must think being married to me as it seems that every so often I unintentionally do things that create extra work for him. In fact it reminds me of that fateful day a few years ago, you remember the "unfortunate day where Karie destroyed Ken's laptop and truck all at once" (go ahead, click on that link and re-read it just for laughs, I did, well sort of) In fact right now I feel the same way about potato peels as I do about that darn sub woofer magnet. Are guys also born with the knowledge that disposals and potato peels just don't go together? Who ever knew. For more laughs, here's my post about Ken on his business trip with me at home holding his licence hostage. you'll have to scroll down to the paragraph that begins with "not so funny thing 3". Fortunate for me, Ken seems to forget about all of these unfortunate events and retains me as his wife even with all of the extra work I cause him. Here's to 17 years of marriage and countless silly mishaps. Life is always an adventure!