RED, the quad or Verda's ride to work

I've been riding my bike from work because Garrett is taking a summer school class   monday thru thursday.  Gary took pity on me and bought this quad for me to ride instead. I  bought the helmet at the thrift store. My next adventure is riding this during the monsoons.  So far it has been dry.  We will see how long that lasts.  Who wants to go for a ride?

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun please shine down on me...

One of things I share with my daughters is the wonderment of watching the sun set.  I enjoy watching it most on the ocean.  When I would visit my mother in La Jolla, California my favorite part of the trip was sitting on a bench above the beach and watching the sun slowly drift into the horizon. I 'm generally with my sister during these times and it's so nice to be together quietly  visiting, solving the problems of the day.. There is a peacefulness that accompanies  that time of day.  It's just you, the ocean breeze, the waves brushing up on the shore and the sun.  Depending on the day there would be or not be a display of vibrant color.  It doesn't matter to me, I like watching the sun go down.  It's relaxing and soothing.  Since my daughters have both lived on an island, I have enjoyed this early evening wonder with my grandchildren.  I also like to watch the sun rise, but I don't get around to that too much.  It was something I looked forward to when I taught early morning seminary.  I love the color the sun projects onto the clouds in the early morning hours.  Alaskan sunsets are amazing also.  I have been dazzled by the effects of the setting sun on the ocean and ice. Brad and Kerri always chase the sunset, not matter what the temperature is outside.

Many times we have to pre-plan to have these experiences because you have to drive a ways to find  "just the right spot" to sit and watch.  It is always an adventure and unforgettable.   As you might already assume since I live in the Prescott area that I also enjoy the sunsets in the mountains.  It is not uncommon for me to pull over while I'm driving during the sunset to take a picture.  I have so many photos of sunsets.  They might look all the same to someone else, but I know the difference and remember the circumstance of just about every one of them.

 One I will remember is while visiting Kim and her family we sat on the beach and while waiting for the sun to lower we also had the fortune of watching the whales.  Two for one.    When I visited Kerri just recently we took fun photos of the sunset. Unfortunately my camera is not the greatest and my photography skills are very weak, but the time we spend together on these adventures is priceless.  Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden Sun, thanks for shining for our fam-i-ly!

Abs of Steel or WOW Rylee, that's amazing!

The Easter Bunny brought Rylee to us for a visit.  I have now had the opportunity to spend time with each of my grandchildren.  What a blessing. I sure do  "lubba" my babies.  It's so sad that they live so far away and the time between visits is so long...but i'm grateful for the fun I have enjoyed this last month.

relaxing in Hawaii

This is what you can do to pass the time while you are visiting family on the Island of Oahu

Oh what do you do in Alaska when all the world is white?

Oh what do you do in the winter time when all the word is white:       Do you...     Ice Skate  *   Cross Country Ski.* Soak in the Hot Springs. *Chase the sunset. *Spin in a frozen bowl.* slide on a frozen slide.*.Take pictures with Ice sculptures.*  watch the northern lights dance in the black sky.* watch the reindeer run  *  cheer at the dog sled race*... is that what you do?  So do I  

Snow and Ice/Tropical Rain

I just returned from a visit with my girls.  It was wonderful to see them face to face and give them a hug.  My girls are young mothers and they don't have too much time to themselves, how I remember those days in my own life.  They handle it well.  They are so happy to be "stay at home" mothers even though there are many days when life is monotonous and can be boring.  They simply love being a mommie. Their husbands are supportive and do what they can to give them some free time.  Both girls live for the outdoors and go nuts whenever the weather will not permit them to go outside.

It was fun to go from cold, dry weather to warm, humid weather all in one trip.  I would not suggest this to anyone else.  I had to be very creative packing clothes for this trip.  I do not like to check a bag so you can image how small my luggage had to be for  carry on.  But i did it.  I left my coat with Kerri because it didn't make sense to drag it along to Kim's.  i also packed my clothes for Hawaii in a flat rate box and prepared it to be mailed to Kim while I was with Kerri. Oddly enough the space I used for my coat was the same amount of space i would need for my light weight clothes that were mailed,so I was able to fit them back in my luggage for the journey home.   Next time I will just check a bag, it will be a lot easier.  Or Maybe I will just visit one daughter at a time and space it out a bit.

Home again...

To Alaska, Hawaii to see my grand kids,
Home again, Home again, jiggety jig

Had a wonderful, fantabulous trip.  Pictures and stories will be posted soon

Leaving on a jet plane...

Friday I  begin my journey.  First stop, ALASKA  I will be making a visit to The Call Family. Second stop, a visit to the Howard Family in Hawaii.  I will be gone for about 3 weeks.  I'm looking forward to seeing my daughters.  Of course getting to spend time with the grand children will be fun also.  I'll post pictures when I return.

hair and wrinkles

In my home I am the only one that has a head of hair.  My men are bald.  So all the hair laying on the floor, clogging the drain,  unwanted in the bathroom sink are all due to me.  I have a lot of hair. And to make matters worse, I have decided to grow it out.  Hmmm....more mess.  I have dyed it black to cover my grey.  Since I started working beside a much younger woman I don't want to look any older than I am.  Although many people act surprised when I tell them my age I am, nevertheless, getting older and I  look it. BAHHH  I want to grow my hair longer simply because the length of my hair has not been past my chin for 30 years.  So I thought I would give longer hair a try.  Do not know how long this will last.  I'm very lazy when it comes to "doing" my hair.  I hope it will be long enough to pull up into a pony tail by this summer and if I can last through the summer, I should be able to let it grow down to my shoulders and we'll go from there. My goal is to have it all one length to my shoulders.  Why?  I don't know, just thought i would see if I could do it. I haven't had my hair all one length, to my shoulders since I was in junior high.

On the subject of getting older, I noticed my hands the other day.  Oh my, they are starting to look their age.  I can always tell a woman's true age by looking at her hands.  The rest of our bodies can be fit and trim but our hands tell the truth.  Because I am on the heavy side I don't have many wrinkles. If I would loose about 25 pounds, my neck and face would show wrinkles.  But wrinkles or not, I'm tired of carrying around all this extra weight and it's time to slim down a bit, even if I have to have wrinkles.  No I am not going on a diet.  I'm just going to exercise more often and eat better.

This is my story and I'm sticking to it!

Just keep swimming

Last night when I went to bed I was feeling so trapped.  No matter where I went, what I did,  how I moved, I felt contained.  It was a terrible feeling.  I put my hands on my head and gave it shake. GO AWAY! i said, my thoughts were strangling me.  I finally fell asleep after pleading in my prayers for a simple answer to this negative thought process.  In my dreams I saw a maze.  A huge block wall maze.  It looked just like the one that was used on "Wizards of Waverly Place"  a Disney show I watch from time to time because I love the characters.  Anyways, on the show Alex just used a spell and walked through the walls and found her way out.  My thought, well, I can't wave a wand and walk out of this maze.  Then I said out loud, why not?   I'm in my head  The maze is not real.  No more walls.  Than I was trapped in a large cardboard box, I thought again, there is no cardboard box. The walls fell away. Than there was a prison cell, this one came from a memory of visiting Alcatraz.  I didn't go for that one either. No more bars.   Soon nothing held me.  I could go and do whatever I wanted without boundries.  I do not know why I am struggling with my thoughts so much these days.  I did go to the doctor and she adjusted my meds so I am doing better.  I just try to picture Dorie the little blue fish and I tell myself, "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming, just keep swimming!"

New Solutions

REGRET (ri gret)  to feel sorry about an event, one's acts, etc.

 mourn, bewail, lament, cry over, rue, grieve, have compunctions about, feel conscience-stricken, concern, worry, self accusation, disappointment, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, discomfort, annoyance

cry over spilled milk--kick oneself--looking in the rear-view mirror--spiritual distrubance




Garrett asked me the other day to do something for him...stop being negative about everything.  So I thought it over and decided he is right.  I'm so negative because I am so bitter about my own actions.
This year the only thing I am going to change is the unhealthy way I beat up on myself.  Regrets are and always have been on the forefront of my mind.  I have decided that if I can just push them aside (really, I would rather squash them, send them through a high speed blender, than wash them down the drain) many of my so called "problems" will disappear.  Wish me luck and if any of you can spare the time, pray for my success.

Christmas with Garrett

Garrett is now the proud owner of a XBox and Kinect I have only played once but I can see why so many people enjoy this game system. It's FUN!  Now if I can only move a bit faster...
Gary got a camera that takes pictures of wildlife...motion activated. he can set it up and leave it for a few days and than go back and check out whether there is any wildlife action.  He thinks it's cool.

It was a great Christmas.

Counting down to Christmas

A few years ago I purchased a advent calendar garland from one of those fund raising brochures the children pass around in the grade school.  I had forgotten I had had it.  I opened a container in my decoration storage and viola, a garland with red velvet pockets with the numbers one through twenty four in gold on each.  I thought it would be fun to put a dollar bill in each one and hang it above the mirror in the bathroom for Garrett.  He goes to the store everyday to buy a soda for himself and I decided it would be a great daily gift for him.  Why the bathroom?  In years past I have always decorated each room in the house.  So this was a splash of Christmas spirit in the powder room.  Garrett did not even notice it for the first few days and we didn't point it out to him either.  We wanted to see how long it would be before he finally mentioned it. I generally decorate the day after Thanksgiving so this garland was hanging up for several days.  December 1st was approaching and still Garrett has not said anything.  FINALLY, one afternoon when I returned from work he says to me, "Mom, what is with the red pockets and the money?"  I said, "Oh my goodness Garrett that has been hanging there for almost a week, you are just now seeing it?  "No, he says, I've been wondering about it, but you guys haven't said anything so I thought I would ask.  Besides, he says, it hangs up above my head and I had to look up to see it.  Remember, I'm a shorty."

Canell's Soda Cabinet

Some families have cookie jars.  Some have a treat drawer.  And still others have  a soda cabinet.
When I was a child and  visited my grandma Nulliner, she always had cookies in the cookie jar.  We would walk in, give hugs and go straight for the jar.    If our visit lasted for more than  an hour of two, my grandfather would walk us over to Westdale Mall (a medium size strip mall) and we would go to the Thrifty Drug store and get an ice cream, but i'm getting off track because that's different even though it's kind of the same....now where was I, oh yes...the cookie jar.  When my children visited their grand parents, my parents the Nulliners, they would walk into the house, give hugs and head right for the family room refrigerator .  Grandpa Nulliner always had these little juice jars waiting for them filled with tampico orange drink.  Before we would leave, Granny Buns would take them to the kitchen where she had a drawer full of dum dum suckers and they would not leave til they got one. I'm pretty sure most families have a similar tradition.  As for Gary's  dad, grandpa Hebner, there was always plenty of Kraft Cheese Slices. Now his mother, Grandma Canell was a soda drinker and a believer in having a year supply of everything, soda included.  She always had a cabinet filled with soda, canned and bottled.  The ritual was the same, walk into the house, give hugs and head for the soda.

I tell this story because Gary's mother passed away a few years ago and Papa now lives alone.  Up until just recently he maintained the soda cabinet.  But when we made out last visit we witnessed something new.  The soda cabinet has been taken over by the cat.  Yes, the CAT.  See for yourself.

 What once held shelves of pepsi, dr. pepper, mountain dew, sprite, rootbeer, diet coke,  has now become a cat food storage facilty. Too bad, so sad!  There does remain a bit of soda, but just a little bit...a little tiny bit

 All good things come to an end.  There is no need to visit this cabinet anymore. Farewell
Thanks for the memories

p.s.  papa built himself a garage for his truck...looks nice doesn't it.

You can say this or you can say that

Redunkulous
                  Superflipindiculous
                                               Gonga


Isn't language fun.  I just read my daughter's Kerri blog and she described her experience living in two opposite weather locations by just using single words.  I think that is so cool. It was an usual and pleasant way for her to share.  WORDS...they have so much power.  Earlier I was watching a t.v. program and the invented word 'redunkulous' was used to describe an experience. In this instance it was used when the people playing Survivor South Pacific was rewarded with a table of pastries. 'Superflinindiculous' another invention was used to describe the uniqueness of a dance crew's talent.  A 'gonga' deal means you got something really expensive for very little money.  This colorful 
use of word combinations is fascinating to me.  I often hear one and wish I had written it down along with it's meaning so i can use it myself, but i more than often do not follow through.  If you are a language purist this is annoying and testify boldly that the english language is being slaughtered.  I for one feel it is creative and fun and I'm grateful for others who can think of it...  Fantabulous...Mucho Many...I know there are many more even ones I use regularly but for the life of me i can't think of them right now.  If you have any of these fun combinations, share them with me.  I want to make a list to include in my personal history. and include the meaning if you would please.


Have a Glori-a-gous Day.

Fluff vs. Stuff

One of the things I have noticed about people in general is that they are either a 'Fluff' or a 'Stuff' person.  There are times when I have come across someone who is equally  both.  I call them  "Fluff n Stuff." (that would be me)   I suppose I should explain.  These categories are applied to gift giving and receiving; birthdays in particular.  I mention this because I just recently was on the receiving end. 

Gifts in our home fall under these two categories.  Gary is the one who came up with them.  He is a Stuff not Fluff receiver.  When one of us (immediate family members) gives him a gift there is no need to give any attention to fluffiness.  Fluffiness means fancy packaging.  Just give me the "Stuff" is his request.  I like to get stuff, but I like the fluffiness...ribbons, cute paper, unique containers.  I think the fluff makes it more desirable.  Sometimes if you get a rotten gift...well let me rephrase that because no gift is 'rotten'...it is after all the thought that counts, if the gift is not quite your cup of tea and it is given  in a lovely, eye catching package  that in itself  makes getting it FUN.  But in Gary's opinion it's the gift itself that is fun and if you eliminate the fluff you have lots more money to spend on the stuff.  So this has become the Hebner Family gift giving philosophy.  It is not uncommon to receive a gift wrapped in a t-shirt, a towel, or store's plastic bag.

It is true, gift wrap and cards are costly and you can sometimes upgrade a gift if you go with a newspaper or brown paper bag cover-up.  I still like to make the gift look special.  It's the one thing my mother-in-law and I did agree upon. I enjoy unique cover-ups.  For me it is part of the gift-giving fun but in these tough economic times I have to admit it can easily be eliminated.  So I share below a photo of my birthday gift this  year.  Gary at least put it in a nice store clothing box and for a bit of color he added some skittles atop the package.  I really liked my gift and the fact that he made the effort to 'fluff' it up meant so much.  What was nice about this fluff was that I got a sweet treat as well.  Happy Birthday to me!

                                                Fluff, Stuff or Fluff n Stuff, which are you? 

feel the music? than do something about it!

After Halloween Krystal shared some footage of her friends dancing to a video game.  She said we would be doing the same when she comes home for Thanksgiving.  It should be a lot of fun.  In the past I have encouraged our family to do some type of dance together, video it, and share with others so we can all get a good laugh and make some memories.  We have some pretty funny videos.  Last year we did not make a video...so very sad.  I'm looking forward to our dancing antics this year.  The reason I mention this 'tradition; is because I was watching one of my favorite movies "Grind".  It's an oldie but a goodie.  In it is a dance scene .  It's just one of the many parts of this movie I enjoy.  Anywho, after watching it I thought I would track down some of my other favorite dance scenes in movies of the past.  I've downloaded some, there are only a few of them. There are too many to show.  I hope you take the time to watch and "feel the music". Maybe this will get the fam ready for our dance adventure this Thanksgiving.  Funny, of all the dancing in these clips i didn't see a single person doing the 'cyclone'...i wonder why?

Grind (2003)

Hitch Wedding Dance Scene - End of Movie