utah voter information pamphlet

So... we received our Utah Voter Information Pamphlet in the mail the other day. Surprisingly, it made for some rather humorous reading. Here are some of our favorites:

U.S. Congressional District 1

• Joseph Geddes Buchman's email is "votefordrjoe@gmail.com". His 8-year-old son must have thought of that one.
• Incumbent Rob Bishop is feeling pretty good as his opponent, Kirk Pearson, says "we do not need change". I guess if he's not offering anything new, I'll follow his advice and not vote for a new guy.

U.S. Congressional District 2

• Every page, minus this one (p. 8), is lined with suit-clad men and women. Mathew Arndt thought it best, when running for a congressional seat, to instead look very professional by including a picture from his high school yearbook.

U.S. Congressional District 3

• Jim Noorlander says, "Voting for either major party is tantamount to rearranging the chairs on the Titanic."

Utah Governor and Lieutenant Governor

• All of "Superdell" Dell Schanze's statement was priceless: "SUPERDELL is your only choice because YOU didn't file. Huntsman took away your freedoms and raised taxes more than any governor in the history of Utah. Springmeyer has admitted that he doesn't care about the constitution. The definition of the word insane is voting for the same people while expecting change. There is no question that Dell Schanze is different [you can say that again]. There are only 3 people on the ballot and SUPERDELL is the only one that is NOT socialist. If you are unsure then fill your heart with love, completely open your mind and pray to God earnestly. You can't afford to get this wrong and will be held accountable for your choice." I am sad to admit we own a Totally Awesome computer.

Utah Attorney General

• W. Andrew McCullough says that he envisions "... fewer people going to jail or prison for simple possession of drugs". Yeah, possession of addictive, illegal drugs is no big deal. Let 'em go.

Utah State Auditor

• Clare Collard has the cool factor going on. She's married to a guy named Que. Is that Q or K? Either way, a letter for a name is a vote in my book.
• Richard D. Proctor says, "Our presidential candidate, Chuck Baldwin, has established goals that I believe in." Chuck who? I'm going to vote for Proc because he has the same goals as Chuck What's-His-Name?

birthday boy!

We now have a 2-year-old on our hands! It was fun planning Zach's birthday festivities which we celebrated in a two-day extravaganza. We had the Tuckers over on Saturday for a BBQ and then the Allans over for Sunday dinner. Zach loved having all his friends come visit!

As a side note, I took Zach to the doctor today for his 2-year wellness check-up. He's healthy. The kid is skinny, a tad short, and has a large head. Because Zach is under the 3rd percentile for weight, my doctor gave me a stack of papers labeled "Power Packing for Children". They should probably rename it: "How to make a Chunky". It gave me all sorts of ideas for introducing calories into Zach's diet to make him chunkier. I laughed. One of the tips: "Compare labels to choose higher calorie products". Zach would get fatter, so would I (bad side effect), and Brandon would stay the same weight he's been since high school. I think Zach's weight is genetic more than food intake. I mean come on, Brandon's not going to be competing for a heavyweight title any time soon. I'll have to see what I can do with my skinny boy - some of the tips sounded pretty tasty to me.

martha stewart - I think not

I would have to say that I watch a bit of TV. You would think with the time I've invested, I would be learning something. I'm disappointed to say, this is not the case. I watch What Not to Wear and I still feel fine wearing sweats in public (though I no longer wear pajama pants - a small step's good, right?). I watch design shows and my house still bears the same white walls that we purchased it with. And even though I watch Ace of Cakes, I cannot decorate a cake to save my life. Really, how hard could cake decorating be!? So, when Zach's 2nd birthday rolled around, I planned on making him a cake and decorating it myself.

Below is my pathetic attempt at a car birthday cake:
It is looking very pink in the picture, but it was actually purple - the color picked by the birthday boy. After I was done, I couldn't stop laughing. Brandon told me it looked very car-like (like that's a real compliment) and started laughing with me. It was pathetic. At least Zach could tell what it was supposed to be and loved it just the same as if Martha Stewart had made it.

fresh out of perspective

I love the scene in Ratatouille when the waiter asks the food critic, Anton Ego, what he'd like to eat:

Anton Ego: ...you know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That's it. I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?

Mustafa: With what, sir?

Anton Ego: Perspective. Fresh out, I take it?

My answer to that: "Exactly! I am fresh out of perspective."

A little while ago I purchased this t-shirt for Zach that seemed to represent his personality well:


At times, that 99% seems to drop slightly and today it seemed more like this:

During a 54% Angel moment, my eyes were drawn to a birthday card my grandmother had sent to Zach. I opened it up and read the sweet message she had written to him:
Thank goodness for my wonderful grandma who had the perspective I was fresh out of.

best time of the year

The countdown begins - just 4 short weeks until the college football season kicks off. For me, the football season began the day the Jazz lost to the Lakers in the Playoffs, so my anticipation has been building for months. This year I think I'll be a Ute fan. After Utah knocks off the Wolverines in the Big House, it should be easy sailin' to the Fiesta Bowl. Since my brother now lives in Phoenix, I think I'll plan my bowl trip to Arizona now. Who's with me?

"bad action figure"

Zach has had to go to time-out a few times in his short life. He's familiar with the routine. It may be a little too familiar because this morning he put an *action figure in time-out. He put it in the time-out spot and was leaning over it with his pointer finger out telling the action figure to sit. "Sit, sit, sit" he kept telling it. Brandon and I busted out laughing.

At least he remembers what he's supposed to do in time-out...

* well... it wasn't exactly an action figure - it was a Harley doll we got from my grandma

strangest thing

Tell me the strangest thing you've seen this past week.

The strangest thing I've seen: A dude running a marathon... BAREFOOT. Who runs 26.2 miles on asphalt without any shoes on? Maybe he got ready in the dark!?! Very, very strange....