I Believe in Miracles

So I need to complain more often.  Since my post on October 22nd, Excedrin is back on the shelves!!!  And my Dad found a grocery store that still had two packages of Grapefruit Crystal Light for sale.  I now am in possession of both of the things I wanted that I couldn't find in stores anywhere.

My next wish, for those who are wondering, is for a nice, cute, funny boy who also thinks I am nice, cute and funny.  After the miracle that is Excedrin and Grapefruit Crystal Light, I now believe anything is possible.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

All right people.  I know you read this blog, you just don't post comments.  And 99% of the time, that is ok.  But today I am asking for your help.

The question is - what was your favorite book when you were 10 years old?  What did you check out from the library time and time again?

I just read a children's book called "Oddfellows Orphanage" by Emily Winfield Martin.  Then I jumped right into "Dancing Shoes" by Noel Streatfield.  It's snowing this morning and I can see myself curled up on the couch, under a blanket, reading children's literature for much of the winter.  I loved the Shoe Books when I was little (me and Kathleen Kelly, bonus points for you if you can quote the scene from You've Got Mail where she talks about Noel Streatfield) and now I want to know what favorite books you remember.  What kids books should I put on my list for this winter?

I loved Anne of Green Gables, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankwiler, The Westing Game, and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.  So that should get us started.  Ready...set...post.

Please Come Back

There are two things that have been taken off the market that I really want to see come back.

#1)  Excederin.  Since the product recall, I have tried every other pain reliever out there to help with my migraines.  Nothing compares to Excederin.  I really need them to bring this back.

#2)  Ruby Red Grapefruit Crystal Light.  This was the best Crystal Light flavor ever.  And now it has disappeared.  This is only slightly less important to me than the Excederin is. 

Cupcake Carly

If I didn't want to eat Carly up before, this picture has definitely sealed the deal.



Adventures in Reno

Don't be fooled by this peaceful and serene photo of the Reno Temple.  My stay in Reno this weekend was anything but peaceful.

Let's start with my rental car, a brand new Chevy Aveo.  I hop in the car at the airport, head for the freeway, and find myself thinking "Wow, this car has NO get up and go."  Twenty seconds later (and I am already on the freeway at this point) I realize the car will not go over 30 miles an hour.  Will.  Not.  Go.  I am fiddling with the gear shifter, examining the parking brake, searching madly for warning lights on the dashboard, all while crawling down an unfamiliar freeway at 30 miles an hour.

After the longest half mile of my life, I pull off the freeway and into a parking lot.  I do the only thing I know how to do at this point, which is turn the car off and back on and hope that it works right.  Which it did!  I drive around on side streets for a few minutes hoping I don't have to explain to a Nevada State Trooper why I am driving 50 in a 25 mph zone, and then make my way back to the freeway.

Arrive at the hotel.  Phew.  I check in (along with every college baseball team in the western United States) and head up to my room to drop my suitcase.  My room was upgraded to a suite and I have seating for 10, a dining room table, a full size bar and a bathroom that is bigger than my apartment.  That'll do for the night.

I head to the Reno Temple (the purpose of my trip) and enjoy a session.  As I am leaving the temple, the real fun begins.  Reno was hit with a major power outage.  Let me tell you some of the things that don't work in a power outage - traffic lights, my GPS, debit cards and gas pumps.  All the things I was kind of counting on for the evening!  After an eternity of four-way stops at every intersection, a gas station with bars on the windows, and a scenic tour of the homeless population of downtown Reno, I arrive back at the hotel.  I will not be going out again tonight!

As I sort of suspected, the majority of the slot machines at the hotel were still working.  Who needs traffic lights when your city generators can keep Wheel of Fortune slots running?  I couldn't get a sandwich at Port of Subs, but I could have played poker all night long.

Which I did not choose to do.  I went back to my room, locked the door and watched a movie in my suite.  It was wonderful.  I got up early the next morning.  I still couldn't use my credit card to get gas, as all the networks were down from the night before.  But I didn't care.  My only concern at this point was that I not miss my flight!  I was ready to leave Reno far, far behind.

Voice Mail I Left My Dad

Hi Dad, this is Traci, your oldest, smartest child.  So they're doing some work at my apartment and they needed to open my garage during the day so I had to pull the red thing so it would be on manual.  How do I reset it so I can push the button again?  I knew how to pull the red thing but I doubt that I have to push the red thing to get it back working.  Anyway, will you call me?  Thanks.

Fall Fun

Last week I took a couple of days off work as a treat for getting my website up.  (Check out www.american-ins.com for the new and improved American Insurance website that I have been working on like crazy for the past few months.)  I went to Idaho so I could maximize the amount of fun I could have in a few short days.

Thursday morning Tyler and Bryce took me shopping for M&M's, juice boxes and white bread.  We needed M&M's for the cookies we were going to make and juice boxes and Wonder Bread for a picnic with our friends from Boise.  Ashlee and Jaimie + kids came up to Mountain Home and we went to the Pumpkin Patch and the Bruneau Sand Dunes.  We climbed sky high on bales of hay, went for a tractor ride, and ate a lot of Oreos.  Perfect.

That night Ashlee and Sara introduced me to the Flatbread Community Pizza Oven.  So, so good.  I always feel like we should call ahead and warn the restaurant to expect a party of 3 with exceptionally loud and raucous laughter.  They figure it out pretty quickly though. 

I spent Friday with Tyler, Bryce and Tanner.  We made cookies at like 7:00 in the morning (because that's how long the boys could wait to get going) and had Unhappy Meals at the airplane park.  I say Unhappy Meals because the cheeseburgers I ordered didn't end up being PLAIN and 3 of the 4 of us had meltdowns over it.  Good thing Tanner is a good sport.  Thanks buddy!

Saturday I got to watch Tyler and Bryce play soccer.  This is their first season on a soccer team and I was very excited to watch the kiddos follow the ball in a slow-motion clump of kids.  I loved watching them try to do jumping jacks during warm-ups.  And, let's be honest, Bryce is just there for the oranges at half time and granola bars at the end of the game.  Probably the highlight of the game was when Tyler came over to the sidelines and started emptying the pockets of his coat of the 29 action hero toys he had stuffed in there.  The kid is a great runner though.  You would never had known he had half of the playroom weighing him down.

It was a great weekend.  Thanks to my Idaho friends and family for always making me feel welcome.

Red Letter Day

I joined Costco today.  I've always been opposed to the idea of paying money to a company just for the privilege of walking into their store to spend more money.  But I'm in charge of my ward's Relief Society activities... and I don't see how I'm going to make it through the holiday season without a Costco card.  So there you go.  The things we do in the name of church service...

Let's Run Away

I'm a control freak.  And it's been an out-of-control day at work, so the overzealous English Major in me is ready to run around the office with a red pen stabbing people's eyes out.  It may be time for me to consider a change of career  away from the world of insurance.

In fact, just last night I was thinking that I would love to lead a water aerobics class for old people.  Random, I know.  Hear me out.  Heather and I went to our first water zumba class last night and I was watching the instructor cheese it up and thinking "I could do that."  So maybe I should quit my job, dye my hair so I look a little more Latin, and start doing choreography.  Does anyone know of a local senior center that would like to hire me to lead water aerobics?  Please.