The Windy City

I must say, the wind in Idaho Falls has to compete with that of Chicago. I have never lived anywhere so windy. Personally, I'm sick and tired of it. Seriously, how many places can you live and experience wind (regularly) at 15-25 mph (yes, this is from today's weather report.) Let me repeat that: fifteen to twenty miles per hour! This being the case, you just can't get anything done! Just walking to the mailbox is a test of strength (or weight for that matter)! And it never lets down. I parked my car earlier today and was just sitting in it for a minute and the whole thing was jiggling and vibrating like it just might take off! There's no point in doing your hair. The garbage can blows across the street. All I can say is I hope that our house is properly built and the roof remains intact.

Reno or bust!

Jed and I drove to Reno, NV last weekend. Nine hours of fun-filled driving bliss (one way)! I had a good friend, Trista, from hygiene school who was having a wedding reception there. We had a pretty good time. Reno is a lot bigger than I had expected. We shopped, went to a movie, shopped some more, had pulled pork (from best in the west ribs winner BJ's BBQ). We hoped to catch them filming an episode of Reno 911 (is it really filmed there?) We had good intentions to maybe play the slots or something, but it never happened. We also discovered a truly great invention: the portable DVD player. We borrowed one from Jed's sister, Melissa, for the drive. Of course, we thought that it was so great that we bought one while we were there! (Sweet! Now I can take it to entertain me for my future travels to NYC next month!) Any future road trips will require movies and popcorn now!

Tomatoes, Anyone?

I just finished reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. It was a great book! Now, I need to rewatch the movie. It also is pretty cool because Jed and I ate at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Georgia. (Of course, we had grilled cheese instead of the fried green tomatoes!)

I also reread one of my favorite books of all time: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. This was brought on by the fact the Jed and I just watched the movie with Johnny Depp. When I first saw the movie, I thought that Willy Wonka was a bit too weird. (Although I do love Johnny Depp!) The second time around, he was still a little bit weird, but I could appreciate it. The movie follows the book really closely - (With the exception of the additional traumatic dental scenes, of course.) I think I need to reread (and PURCHASE) all of Roald Dahl's books. He is still my favorite childhood author. How can you not love his books?

It's a JUNGLE out there!

Literally, a jungle. Today, for the first time, I mowed the lawn in its entirety. It took me two hours. There are sooo many weeds. This picture doesn't do it justice. Our lawn is HUGE! (Why did we think that MORE property was better, again?) Surprisingly, the grass is quite a bit taller where there are more weeds. I think I mowed a thousand ladybugs down this morning. To the untrained eye, it may not look like the undertaking that it has been. We brought in three dump truck loads of dirt, one (or two?) loads of road base. Two rentals worth of a bobcat, one ditch witch - pipe puller, a grater, the purchase of a landscape rake, probably over a thousand feet of polypipe, hundreds of feet of funnypipe, over twenty additional sprinkler heads, over nine thousand square feet of hydroseed and lots of waterings later, we do have the semblance of a lawn! I think it'll be worth it!

Top 10

I don't really care for TV Drama. No CSI, SVU or 24 for me. I prefer comedies. These are what I consider the top 10 Comedy series of all time. (In no particular order) However, some you must see from the first season. They just get better and better.

• Psych


• 30 Rock


• How I Met Your Mother


• Freaks and Geeks


• Arrested Development


• The Office


• Rules of Engagement


• Pushing Daisies


• Scrubs


• The Simpsons


• Dexter (Okay, this is probably a Drama, but it's also number 11, so who cares right? It also MUST be edited)

10 Years

A few weeks ago at work I had a patient that I was talking to about school. (I work in Rexburg, therefore I have a lot of BYU-I students that I see.) He asked me if I was going to school. I informed him that I was done with school - "I went to school here when it was Ricks college, then I graduated from ISU," I said. "Oh, well then you're QUITE a bit older" was his response! Holy cow! I'm still not sure on how I should take this - does this mean that I don't look quite THAT old yet, or what? Anyway, I thought it was pretty dang funny.

Speaking of old, my ten year high school reunion is coming up next month. Wow! This makes me feel old. I got onto the website for it and saw what a lot of people have been up to. It's a bit weird seeing who married who and what they're doing now. Hopefully Jed and I will make it to the reunion!

Back In the Saddle again

So, I'm on prednisone yet AGAIN! Not even off for two weeks and already having problems. I'm almost at my wits end! I will be having an appointment with a nurse practitioner on Tuesday, but who knows what the result of THAT will be. I'm almost to the point of considering the double wham-o expensive infusion Remicade. We'll see how my appointment goes and then go from there, I guess.