Chugging along

Been going to church more consistently than before but I wouldn't say that we are super-duper active. Cub Scouts is still going on but I'm ready for a break. Its not that I dont like little kids, I just happen to work with teenagers all day and then you want me to work with 10 year olds? Wowzers. The good part is that my husband takes care of the interactive part and he's been ok with me just doing the tracking of achievements. What really makes me laugh is that here they are, trying to help us get a foot back into doing good things, and then they put us in the job that makes you want to go home and have a tall drink. Forced temptation? Jacked up.
Other than that, I actually want to go to church. It certainly doesn't fix everything but its been a nice change to go back. Maybe the rest of the family doesn't share my feelings on that, but for me, lately, its been nice.
Well, time to get kids to sleep. Night. 

So soon? Scouts?

Missed church this past weekend (lazy and it was first day of dove season) but the biggest news is that we were asked to help with cub scouts. I about died when my hubs told me this. Cub scouts is a huge reason we quit going to church in the first place. We got tired of thankless parents and hearing the complaining but never any suggestions on what we could do better. I thought they were insane.  We agreed though and we did our first den meeting this past week. It went all right and we have hope that things will be ok.  
As I freaked out about doing scouts again, my hubs pointed out that this was all for a reason and it involved our boys and making sure they learned to grow up as honorable young men. Dang. he got me there.
We also attended pack meeting and that went well. Everyone was friendly and didn't give us crap for falling off the face of the earth. No one cried either, that was nice. The goal is to get to church this weekend. If Johnny cash went to church, so can i.

two sundays in a row

Got to church again this past weekend. stayed the whole time. more people came up to say hello. it was nice and awkward all at the same time. some people wanted to drop by and visit. I'm not really a social character. when its time to visit, i will visit. If you're my close friend, we can sit and talk for hours. if i barely know you, its best to just say hello when we see each other at a social event and then go our seperate ways. some of these people dont understand that. i guess I'll keep dodging while i can.
there were some good lessons. there were times i wanted to say something but decided against it since i havent been there for a while. just didnt seem like i was worthy to voice an opinion yet. I did get a chance to play piano for a song. playing the piano makes me happy, even if im not an expert.
all in all, it went all right. a part of me doesn't want to be there, but the rest of me is trying to get used to all of this again. johnny cash went. i should go too.

Do you want fries with that?

I am frustrated with the service industry as of late. Thursday I went to Sinic and ordered one of their half price cheeseburgers. The voice over the mic asked me if I wanted cheese on it. I said, "what?!"

She replied, "do you want cheese with that?"

"Doesn't it come with cheese?"

"No. Cheese is extra."

"Wait. I'm ordering a cheeseburger. Shouldn't cheese come with it?"

"No. You have to get the cheese... Oh wait. Yes, it comes with cheese."

My 10 year old was dying from laughter. "It's a CHEESEBURGER!" He says, "it's SUPPOSED TO come with CHEESE!"

My friends were sure our food was going to get spit in. I, in the other hand, was dumbfounded that I had to even clarify cheeseburgers should come with cheese.

 

Today I wanted to take my kids to see Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. We got to the ticket booth. "Yes, I'd like 3 tickets to Sea of Monsters".

"We don't have that movie anymore. No more Monsters" I am told..

I point to the marquee above my head. "It says right there you have it in 2D and 3-D."

"No, we don't have monsters anymore."

"But I checked Fandango this morning and it listed times. It says you're showing Sea of Monsters."

This other kids steps in and they discuss Monsters. He turns to me and tells me that they no longer have Monsters. That they got two new movies in and that they aren't showing Monsters.

I again, point to the marquee and then behind the booth to the movie poster with Sea of Monsters. He again, insists they don't have it anymore. I tell him that they need to update their sh*t because I checked the Internet this morning AND the marquee clearly shows they are showing.Sea of Monsters and I raced my butt down there to make the 12:15 showing, They look at me like I'm an idiot and I tell them they suck and I walk away, I was in utter shock that they would market a movie they weren't showing and so soon after it had been released. We got back to the car and I called the theater. The message listed the times for PERCY JACKSON: Sea of Monsters. I tuned to my son, "do you think those idiots thought I meant Monsters University, when I CLEARLY said SEA OF Monsters?" He nodded in affirmation. "Those dumbasses," I mumble to myself.

We drove back for the next showing and I marched up to the ticket kiosk (like hell I was going to deal with the ticket booth people again) and there it was, Sea of Monsters. Heaven forbid I not say Percy Jackson before it. As we went to turn in our tickets for the theater, there was the kid who treated me like a dummy. "Percy Jackons?" he asked.

"Yeah," I reply, "Sea of Monsters."

His eyes got big as he realized who I was and then he glanced away quickly.

I don't ask much, but I do expect managers in the service industry to make sure the people they employ are competent and don't treat the customers like they are dumb. If the girl had been smart enough to try to clarify my request, we could have avoided the whole scene. As it is, I will forever be happy to use the impersonal kiosk to purchase tickets as it prevents me from dealing with an incompetent service worker.

If you are going to be in customer service, learn your product and don't act like a turd when you mishear the customer. Just politely clarify the request and provide a helpful response. It's not that hard. It'll help your company retain customers and help you stay employed.

Posted with Blogsy

Rough evening

It was a strange evening. Not something I'm really interested in going through again. I hate doing vague posts cause it reminds me of those stupid facebook statuses but I promised to forget tonight and never speak of it again.
What I got out of tonight was that its getting to be time to get the family to a different place. We've grown stagnant where we are at and in order to move forward with our lives, we need to go elsewhere. Problem is, we have obligations here that need to be addressed. One obligation might disappear but another will last for another while. Its a bit nerve wracking and I did my best to try to just listen (I have this habit of trying to fix things when people tell me their problems, which made a doctor laugh once. He said its usually the husband that is a bad listener and is trying to fix things. Glad he had a good chuckle.) Anyway, did my best to listen. I hope that helped. These things weigh heavy on both our minds and I wish there was an easy answer to it all. I keep trying to tell this person that things will be ok. That no matter what, everything will be ok. It feels like he doesn't believe me. Its strange to have this need to believe everything will be ok. Its pretty much how I get through the day. If I lose that, then what have I got? For me, for my family, it has to be ok, no matter what.
I hope it gets ok. Not better. OK is fine at this point. What I need is for everything to be cool. Can it be cool?

Johnny Cash went to church...

This morning I went to church. I thought my kids would go with me but I made the mistake of giving them an option to stay home, so I went alone. It wasn't torture but I hated sitting there alone and getting stared at or having people wonder who the heck I was and if they were supposed to talk to me.    A couple people did say hi, which was reassuring. The talks were nice but I admit I kept myself occupied by working on school stuff. I sat by a noisy family but I understand its hard to manage all those kids.
Overall it went all right. It was your basic meeting. The prayer ended and I ran. It's really awkward to have everyone tell you they missed you or ask where you've been or where the rest of your family is, so I ran. I know they're trying to be nice but its awkward. A plain, "hi, how you been?" or "nice seeing you" would suffice. Not the people gushing about how they knew you'd come back and howthey've  been praying over you. Its not that i dont apprciate it, i just think theres other people who deserve those prayers more than me. I told my mom-in-law and she was supportive as well as my father in law. I'm glad to have them accept the fact that we aren't perfect but they love ipus anyway.
They're good folks.
How does Johnny Cash play into all this? It was my self pep talk all this morning as I got dressed. I had a rockabilly station playing and good ole Johnny was singing gospel. The thought occurred to me, Johnny Cash is pretty badass. And he went to church. He believed in God. If Johhny Cash could do it, couldn't I? Strange the things we do to help us do the things we ought to.

I went away.

I just got back from my summer vacation. It was good. Kinda weird since I dont normally attend church and haven't been active for a while. I grew up in Utah so going home can be interesting seeing as I live in a community that is void of Mormons.

My sister got married which was a good reason to return home. She wanted me to be her Matron of Honor which meant I needed a dress. I looked around here and didnt find anything so I hoped I would find something in UT. I spent 3 days looking for something that my mom would approve of. THREE DAYS. My poor boys were shopped out and dreaded going anywhere with me since it meant they might get stuck in the ladies department.

Well, the time came and she got married in a temple. Since I hadn't gotten my act together, I had to wait outside. That day, I didn't really let it get to me that I was on the outside. I figured it was her day and that my attendance in the actual room wasn't going to affect the goodness of her marriage. The event went well, the reception afterwards went well. It was good. Then I headed out to the in-laws' family cabin for my vacation away from my vacation. Surrounded by family and church stuff, it became apparent to me that perhaps I needed to get my act together. I have a son who is getting pretty old and has priesthood responsibilities coming up, if he so chooses. It really hit me today what had happened was an idea of what I may face after death. Everyone in my family was in the temple and they were all asking where I was. It dawned on me that heaven might be like that, that everyone will be there asking where I was and because I let my pride get the best of me, I wont be there. And it could be that my children wont be there because I'm a dork. And that will be on my head. Its some pretty heavy stuff. So I'm starting to try to get my act together and its not easy since my husband wasn't up there with me to have the experiences I did. I'm not really sure what I'm getting myself into. Its kinda scary to decide to change your ways. Like, I keep wondering if this is just temporary or why I'm doing this. Is it peer pressure or is it truly something I want? And why do I care what people think about my beliefs or anything like that? it should be about me and God right?

More to come later. Its late and i'm rambling. :)

Madness

I started watching Mad Men. Halfway through the first season. Got to the end of an episode where a neighbor threatened to shoot the main family's dog for trying to eat his pigeon. At the end of the episode, the mom goes out and starts shooting a BB gun at the pigeons and the pigeon guy thinks she's gone nuts. I don't know why but I loved it. Wish my hubby was here to watch with me cos I know he'd have liked it too. 

Shoes

Today I went looking for a new pair of running/regular sneakers. What I found was shelves and shelves of what people call running shoes but were really just Rainbow Brite vomit. I realize that I'm not the target consumer anymore but they should have a "I've gotten older and am getting stuck in my ways" section where the shoes we have loved over time (the First Nike Dual Fusions, the DC Synergy, the Globe Chet Thomas IV) all other shoes we have loved are available in normal sizes and colors. 

I guarantee that my age group would not disappoint in sales, as we actually have money to spend. My plea to all show companies is to continue to produce best selling shoes. Please. I'm tired of wading through Rainbow Brite vomit.

The day after - enchiladas

Turns out my recipe made two casserole dishes worth of enchiladas and so we had leftovers today. Much to my surprise, the household was pleased with the enchiladas, especially today. They said it was better than my chicken enchiladas (which is requested weekly by the boys). So I guess I'll try the other recipe but feel better about the first recipe I used. Maybe I will cook the meat for the full time. Ok. Well that's all I have for now.

Today's Sunday Dinner

Homesick again, this time for Mexican. Which is funny because I currently reside in Texas, the tex-mex capital right? Yes. The problem is, despite the wonderful food I've come across (I discovered Carne Guisada and mexican corn soon after moving here), is that most places use ground beef instead of slow cooked shredded beef. While ground beef is ok, it's the shredded beef that I miss as it is highly addictive. I miss the shredded beef tacos, the shredded beef enchiladas, oi vey, I miss slow cooked shredded beef. I went out on the net and did a search for Los Hermanos shredded beef and came up with a recipe that might be similar. While Los isn't always spectacular, I do enjoy the shredded beef, plus I wasn't sure if my boys' favorite spot (Mama Chus) would have a recipe posted. - by the way, Mama Chu's has THE best horchata and Mexican hot chocolate. - the beef is currently slow cooking and will be used in enchiladas later tonight. Woo! More to come!

*update*
Ok sooo, it didnt turn out quite like I'd expected. The meat was fairly good but it's still missing a flavor. Something either more vinegary or some kind of pepper. Then I used corn tortillas but apparently you're supposed to fry them before using them, and i didnt, so the tortillas got soggy. They weren't horrible, but I know I can do better. Plus the sour cream wasn't a very tasty addition. I'm gonna have to play with this one or find something else. If you'd like to try the meat recipe, here's the site I pulled it from:

http://vittlesdivine.blogspot.com/2010/06/shredded-beef-enchiladas.html?m=1

Good luck!

PPS- trying this next time.
http://davidsfreerecipes.com/shredded-beef-tacos

Last Sunday

Last Sunday I made Kalua Pig in a crock pot. It was fantastic. I've been a tad homesick and missed the random luaus that the Polynesians in the area would have. The recipe I used was from

http://www.feedingmyohana.com/crock-pot-kalua-pig-recipe.html

It was quite tasty, although the kids said it was too salty. I compared it with other recipes and will probably cut the salt and liquid smoke in half.
Served it on Hawaiian rolls and had salad on the side. I'll be making more very soon!
P.S. sorry about not having pictures. We snarled it down too quickly.