A penny for your thoughts.....

So a friend of mine asked once how much money do I reallly find on the floor at the theatre? 

So just for fun, I thought I would keep track.  I started keeping tabs on January 1 and so far this year I have picked up $5.48.  I am adding a ticker to my blog to help keep track of how much change I pick up.  Ahhh....the small things I do to amuse myself....
And no, I am not actually saving any of this change.  I have to keep my caffiene addition going.

So today I will be grateful for dropped change and Mountain Dew.

Remembering Amy

Dear Amy,

Two years ago today you left us.  You left too soon.  I know you wanted needed a break from the craziness and did not intend to make it forever.  I know you loved your boys and your husband.  I am sorry that I can't do more to help your boys.  I am sorry that I have not been back to your grave.  I was there when they lowered your body in to it but can't bring myself to go back.  I don't know if I ever will.
I miss seeing you out my garage, miss hearing you yell at your dogs, and your boys.  I miss going shopping at midnight in our p.j.'s.  I miss the girl talk.  I miss the sewing.  I miss your ups.  I even miss your downs.  I miss your cynacism.  I miss your creativity.  I miss having someone save me a seat at all the school functions.  I miss having someone who could pick out my clothes for me whenever I have a hot date with my hubby.  I miss your smile.  I miss your laugh.  I miss you complaining about all our neighbors.  I miss the peppermint hot chocolates.  I miss the crazy crafts, the constant sewing, and painting.  Most of all, I miss having you here.  You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten..........


Amy Beth Hancock-Rudd "Giver of Gifts and Sower of Dreams" Our beloved wife, mother, sister and friend died at the age of 38 in her home after a long battle with illness on January 26, 2008.Born August 26, 1969 to Wayne and Judie Hancock in Salt Lake City, Utah. She attended West Jordan High, LDS Business College, and the University of Utah. She was an honor roll student and earned two degrees. She married the love of her life, Mark Rudd on Feb. 4, 2000. They had two beautiful boys together, Avery and Asher. They were all sealed together in the Salt Lake Temple on June 25, 2004. Fun-loving, smart, generous, loyal and talented, she excelled in sewing creating beautiful wedding dresses and baby-blessing gowns. She loved fashion and worked as a model for many years and enjoyed a successful career in retail management. Amy was always looking out for the other guy and was always more than willing to lend a hand or give of her time and talents wherever she was needed. She loved tutoring and volunteering at her kid's school. She had a big heart and loved her family and friends dearly.  Survived by her husband, Mark: sons, Avery and Asher; mother, Judie; father, Wayne and step-mother Annette; mother-in-law, Mary and father-in-law, Jack; brother, Taylor (Kim), as well as brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. Preceded in death by her grandma Cleo, grandfather Cleve, and grandfather Rudy.

Today I chose to be grateful for life.  You never know when yours will be cut short.

The results and something else to brag about.

So the results of D.J.'s science experiment were not a surprise to either of us.  Ammonia worked the best at getting out the stains in the carpet and also really good for burning your eyes and clearing your sinuses.

Something else to brag about....
Cole is in the eigth grade now at Indian Hills Middle School and we got a letter from the school last week.  I always get just a little nervous when you get those letter addressed "to the parents of..."
But this is Cole, no need to worry.  She has been selected as "CITIZEN OF THE MONTH!"  We are so exicted for her.  She got to attend a special lunch, parents were invited as well, where she recieved a cool plaque, certificate, and goody bag.  I couldn't attend because it was on a Wednesday and that is the one day of the week that I work at the elementary school during lunch.  So David took an extra long lunch to see her get the award. 

She is such a cutie-pie!

So today I am grateful for great kids!

Risks and Rewards

For those of you who have known me a long time, you know I LOVE to sing.  I sing all night long at work. The bathrooms at work don't really have very good accoustics, but it is still fun to sign while I clean them, makes the time go even faster.
So I saw on Facebook that a certain singer/songwriter I know is holding auditions this month for female singers for her group.  I thought, what the heck, why not audition.  What is the worst she could say....maybe just that my voice is not going to work for her style.
So I went ahead this morning and auditioned for her and she asked me to join!
So you are now reading the blog of the newest member of Anne-Marie Hildebrandt's group CITRINE!!!!!!

I am so excited!

Her music is very cool sounding, celtic, earthy, rock, folksy.  Rehearsals start in a month and I will let you know when performances are.  I love the sound of her music so I am excited to learn it and start singing a lot more regularly where I will reall y have a chance to improve the skills I am good at faking :-).

YAY!


So I today I am grateful for music and taking risks!

Adventures in Science with ulterior motives.....ooohhhh......ahhhhhh

It comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am a procrastinator.  It truly is an ADHD thing,  It is simply too easy to find 600 other things to do.  Does not help the situation at all when hubby and all 5 kids have it too!
So what did we wait to the last minute to do?  D.J.'s sixth grade sciene fair project.  I probably shouldn't admit that we knew about it before Christmas.  But as usual, life got in the way.  So here we are, the night before the final project is due and we still don't know what to do.
So good old google came to the rescue.  We simply typed in science fair projects and voila!  More ideas than we know what to do with..... also not a good thing for the ADHD mind.
Once we eliminated all the ones that were going to take a lot of time we ended up with D.J. picking a product testing project.  He decided to findo ut which carpet cleaner works the best.  Can you see where this would secretly delight me...I want to know.  Christmas trashed my carpets!

We have a roll of extra carpet that came with our house and it has been sitting in the garage since we got here.  We cut off a few strips and had fun staining them.
D.J. rubbed dirt in them, ink from a stamp pad, and grape juice.  All common household "problems" that arise around here far more often than I want to admit.
He washed one with water, one with straight ammonia, one with a generic (Wal~Mart) brand carpet spot remover, Resolve, and Spot Shot.
Wanna know what works the best...... I will tell you tomorrow after all the samples have dried!  LOL!


Since I keep forgetting to include my gratitude list......I think I will change from doing 5 every time to just one.  A little less pressure on my cluttered mind.
I am grateful for GOOGLE!  saved the day today!

yes, It's been a while

I have not been very good at blogging lately.  Seems like life is racing by too quickly again.  The holiday season came and went too quickly and I don't remember a lot of it right now.  I know we kept it simple and tried to make it all about fun rather than gifts.
We tried to keep up with the usual traditions.  Every year we got o Temple Square with our good friends the Margetts.  We have gone every year for, well, I don't remember how many years now.  we always try to go out for dinner or something before if we can and then just have fun walking around and talking.
New Years came and went quickly too.  I spent it at work.
We have spent most of January trying to get settled back into routines and back to normal, whatever normal is.