Melarky

I gave Wellington two choices of what he could be for Halloween this year. The other option was “Honey Pooh” (Winnie the Pooh). It was probably best he picked a “lightsaber guy”, Honey Pooh is too baby-ish for such a big boy.

The Jedi robe was hand made by friend and super Star Wars fan, Nat. We had the jedi robe now for a few weeks and Wellington has been loving it.

We ordered a karate uniform off of amazon and borrowed a lightsaber. We figured he could use the uniform later for fun dress up or possibly lessons when he’s older. And we just borrowed a lighsaber because I can’t stand lightsabers. I’m a mean Mom I guess, but lightsabers always seem to get confiscated because well, it’s a weapon, and I always seem to get smacked.

When I took Wellington outside for a little costume photoshoot, he chased me around swinging his lightsaber. Chasing Mom is always fun. In one of the previous picture you can see he was pointing. He was pointing to a small mound in the grass, which he referred to as “the mountain”. It was pretty cute he knew just where he wanted to pose.

Today while Wellington was watching me make my Halloween costume, a homemade robot head made out of a box, he said “I want to be that”, pointing at the box. Great…if I only I would have known he would have been just as happy with a box. Kids are funny. He can be a robot box next year. He’s very excited to be a lightsaber guy and I’m sure he’ll love carrying that lightsaber around, swinging it at people and fighting his way to candy!

His little brother, Hilyard, is going to be Darth Vader. Pictures of him are to come later.

While I was huge and pregnant I couldn’t bend down to pick up anything! My shoes had to be tied by my husband. My house fell into chaos because I couldn’t pick up a sock or a toy (sure that’s why the house was so messy). I even fell over once trying to reach something on the floor while I was sitting down. It wasn’t a pretty sight, so in my frustration, I bought the GrabIt.

Let me tell you, it WAS AWESOME!!!!! If your very pregnant, unable to bend because of a medical condition, lazy, or okay I’ll just say it, 400 lbs. this is the product for you!

It was so handy to just walk around the house, pick up toys, yarn, etc., then set them up on the couch. Then from there I could put them away.

After I had my baby, I lent my Grabit to a neighbor who had knee surgery in both her knees and was in bed for weeks. She said it was a life saver for her. She could reach things without having to leave her bed.

Okay, I probably could have been okay without it, but truth be told, my husband really wanted it, to do this with it…..

…TORTURE!!!

I always knew that texting while driving was dangerous. But I’m scared crazy now after watching these videos.

Both videos are powerful and teach an important message. The first video is a British PSA about texting while driving and it’s a bit graphic. Even though its graphic I strongly believe that ANYONE with a drivers license should watch one or both of these videos. Even if your not a texter and you only talk while driving you should still watch this video.

British Public Service Announcement

After I watched this video it actually made me a little scared to drive that day. Before I picked my husband up from work I said a little prayer. I don’t text while driving, but I was afraid someone out there was. I was on super alert (like we should always be) and more of a defensive driver.

I have since cut WAY down on my talking while driving. If I do need to make a phone call, I do it before I put the car in drive or if I’m sitting at a stop light. I used to call my sister Barb just to chat if traffic was slow or if I had a long ways to go before I got home just to pass the time. Stupid! I’m ashamed to admit it but I even checked my email once while I was sitting at the long stop light at center and main. Stupid!

The second video is the Logan PSA about texting while driving. The video is about the fatal accident that happened right here in Cache Valley. Because this one shows what happens to families and REAL people it was more powerful to me than the other one. To actually see the wives of the men who were killed and to see the young man sitting in the Cache County jail crying was pretty moving. This one is not graphic, it’s very powerful and sad. This video is a bit longer, about 15 minutes long. I strongly encourage all to watch these too.

Part One:

Part Two:

Here are some texting while driving facts!!!:

• In 2007, driver distractions, such as using a cell phone or text messaging, contributed to nearly 1,000 crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
• Over one-third of all young drivers, ages 24 and under, are texting on the road.
• Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25% of car accidents.
• An estimated 44 percent of American drivers now have cell phones in their automobiles.
• Utah passed the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel. Offenders now face up to 15 years in prison.

Do you dial (push contacts, find the contact and push dial) while driving? Do you make a call while at a stop light? Do you think everyone with a drivers license should see these videos or one like it? If you saw someone texting while driving would you call the police? (I would. Watch out.) Would a solution be just eliminating yours (or your teens) texting option off your plan all together?

You can now leave a reply to a specific comment, just click the reply link below the comment you want to reply to.

Woot.com is having another woot off today. In case you missed our earlier post about woot-off’s, it’s basically taking all of the stuff that they didn’t sell out of in the past, and marking it down even further until it does sell out. Usually you have to wait until midnight for a new deal, but on Woot Off’s, a new deal is posted after the previous deal sells out, so check back often as they will have lots of good deals through out the day. And by often, I mean don’t leave your computer. They’ve already had some great deals (xbox 360, digital picture frame). I’ll be up late tonight clicking the refresh button and doing some early x-mas shopping. I mean we’re the family that owns their own set of blinking usb woot lights! That’s right! We’re mega dorks. There will be a status bar (just like the one above) that will tell you how much an item is left (doesn’t give an exact number, but as the stock diminishes the bar goes down).

Happy Wooting!

If I can prevent one person, just ONE person from going to Andy’s this post will have been worth it. I don’t have much to say about this place, but that I was very disappointed. After eating there, I said to my husband, “I’m really sorry I picked that place, we should have just stayed home.” And that’s how I feel. If you’re thinking about going to Andy’s you might as well just stay home.

Sounds jerky? Well, their hamburger meat tasted exactly like the cheap, frozen, thin, pre-formed burger meat you get at your local grocery store. And not even the most expensive kind of frozen hamburger. It’s like they went to Sam’s club and got the cheapest thing they could find. Then they got some cheap, dry, tasteless buns. They did squirt some ketchup and mustard on it for us and placed one of those big, white, nastiest pieces of a head of lettuce on the top.

The fries, I guess they were the decent part of the whole meal, but no better than a fast food place. Mark got cheese on his, but again you could do the same thing at home, they were nothing special.

The drink, well, that was good, I guess it wasn’t too hard for them to mix syrup and carbonation. And the Pepsi cup did make a cool picture.

The atmosphere. It was generic. Modern. Nice. It was really nice and new, but this is a burger joint could we at least show a little effort and hang a picture? It seemed like it just didn’t fit.

Okay, I’m done dumping all over Andy’s. Poor Andy.

P.S. You don’t need to know where it is.

The whole family got sick this past week, and while Mark and I make it to the bathroom in time to throw up, our kid doesn’t get that concept yet making quite a mess of our carpet. I usually buy the generic, cheapest carpet cleaner, but this time Spot Shot just didn’t cut it.

I tried the Woolite Rug Stick, a new product. I just love new products especially when they work. And I can tell you first hand it worked. I went over the carpet twice where Welly decided to barfy and the smell, crustiness, and mystery red color in my carpet vanished!

It was easier to scrub. I didn’t have to get down on my hands and knees to clean it up either which was nice. I didn’t have to use rags, which was handy because I didn’t have any clean anyway.

The stick came in a box, you had to put the stick together by snaping one piece inside the other. Then you shook the can up and placed it inside the dispenser (? not sure what to call it) but you sick it in there and start cleaning. You don’t push any buttons or anything, the motion of pushing back sprays the foam out.

Anyway, I really liked it and think it’s great for kid stains, small areas, or high traffic areas.

P.S. Is it just me or don’t you think they could have come up with a more creative name for this product?

P.P.S. Okay here’s the REALLY GROSS part of the post. I didn’t JUST use the Rug Stick to clean up the barfy. If you’ve ever cleaned up barf before you know that you need to get a paper towel or something to throw away the chunks first, THEN use the Rug Stick. I just wanted to make sure that was clear. You’re Welcome.

P.P.P.S We all had a stomach bug or something this week. We are all over it now. Poor Welly had it first, then my husband, then me. So far the baby hasn’t gotten anything, although the poor kid has had a cough for 6 or 7 weeks now. I took him to the doctor two weeks ago and he had a sinus infection, but he’s still sick, so I think it’s time to take him in again next week.

Wellington said, “Look Mom, he’s standing up!”

I’m a wordpress girl myself. I like the options, the control, the plug-in’s, the html and for some reason I just gotta have my own domain name. But for most bloggers, blogspot is the way to go. It’s easy! You can set up a blog within minutes, it’s free and heck even my Mom can do it! I like blogspot. I use blogspot for Supergirlystuff(sorry it’s one of those invitation only blogs, but be glad…it’s full of period talk) and sewingitis.

There are plenty of free blogging templates and backgrounds out there to spruce up your blogspot blog. There are gazillions of thecutestblogontheblock templates, which is fine, I like that site, but FYI there are a few others out there:

Here are some that I found (and yes, they’re free):

• Smitten Blog Designs Gallery
• Template Mama
• Pimp My Blog
• Scrap-E-Blog

Today was the funeral of a 21 year old North Logan woman. Stephanie Johnson and her unborn child died Friday from injuries suffered in a vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 89-91

The intersection of 100 West, Highway 89-91 and the new road by the South Walmart has been the scene of two tragedies in the last 3 1/2 months.

Last July, it was late and I was on my usual route to get home, when I had to take a detour. I could see a lot of flashing police lights and thought it was “just a crash” but didn’t think it would have resulted in a death. A 28-year-old man, Jason Troy Bird, was riding his motorcycle when a red Dodge pickup truck from a business parking lot drove onto U.S. Highway 89/91 near 100 West on the south end of Logan and collided with the motorcycle.

For weeks after that accident I would drive over the same stretch of road and couldn’t help but think of that poor guy, so young. I felt bad for the man in the pickup truck, his life effected forever. I was sad for their families. I was scared for a while to drive that way but time dulled the memory.

Well this week the fear is back. I totally avoid going that way if I can help it.

Reports show that John and Stephanie Johnson of North Logan were crossing the highway Friday night, traveling southeast from 100 West near McDonald’s to the new road by Logan’s Walmart when their Volkswagen Passat collided with a northbound Jeep Cherokee.

The driver of the Cherokee, said police Lt. Rod Peterson, was a juvenile female returning from a Sky View High School basketball game in Weber County with several friends.

The Jeep struck the passenger side of the sedan, leaving Stephanie Johnson with fatal injuries. Emergency medics performed CPR on the woman while she was still seated in the vehicle. She was later airlifted to a hospital outside Cache County.

She was 5 months pregnant. A primary teacher. She just graduated in Dental Assisting from BATC. She just celebrated her 1st wedding anniversary.

I wonder how many more accidents, how many more fatalities will happen before they will put a stop light at that intersection? Do you think there needs to be a stop light? What about a lower speed limit (it’s currently 45MPH, but if your going northbound, cars are usually going a lot faster because your usually coming from the highway which means your already at a higher speed)

Who decides where a stop light is needed? Is it city of Logan or UDOT? These are questions I have. And I’m going to find out. I’ve already contacted Mike Morrill, who is running for Mayor (mostly contacted him because I know him) but I’ll go from there. I’ll keep you posted on what I find out.