Totally Addicted

If you aren't listening to podcasts of This American Life, you are seriously missing out. This is maybe the funniest, most entertaining, interesting, and thought provoking show on the radio (I think it is also now a series on HBO). It's on NPR. It is not a political show. It is a show that tells stories. Hilarious stories. Scary stories. Sad stories. Interesting stories. Every week there is a theme and they produce four stories based on those themes. Give it a listen. It's pretty awesome. It is great on a road trip. It kills the time like nothing else. You can sign up for the podcast on itunes. Anyway, last week the theme was True Urban Legends. I still haven't listened to the whole thing. I only caught a snippet of it while I was driving around doing some errands.

The snippet I caught was the story of the urban legend that cell phone radiation can cause brain tumors. Apparently there are loads of studies. 75% of them say cell phones are safe. Sadly, the show looked into who funded those studies. And well, of course those studies are funded by the telecommunications industry (what a shock). In Europe there are independently funded studies that have a more disturbing prognosis. And of course there is not any conclusive evidence yet, but some studies have some kind of disturbing stats. Oh great! One more thing to worry about right?
Well I am a worrier. And I don't want a brain tumor and I don't want to be a part of some biological experiment. And I don't want my kids tender little brains messed up. So I pulled my ear buds out of a deep dark closet. And I have been trying to use them this week. And it is a royal pain in the butt. And so I think, it would be nice to get rid of my cell phone altogether, but the problem is I am totally and completely dependent on this device that I lived without for about 28 years of my life. And I was fine. And if someone couldn't get ahold of me, it wasn't a big deal. And if I was meeting someone and couldn't see the at the meet up location I just waited and they showed up. We didn't need to talk 20 times to co-ordinate a meet-up. But now? No! I must have my cell phone. I don't get it. I think it is like an addiction. Truly. Like something I would have withdrawls from. I think that is why I have avoided the pull of texting for long. I know once I start, I will be dependent. I will think I can't live without it. And I can live without it. I have for 35 years. I know I am going to give in, and be addicted to texting, but I don't want to. Ironically, now that I am wary of talking on the cell phone, I feel a greater need to join the modern world, to avoid those millions of little calls, and just send a text.

And so until I give up on my cell phone, or until the results on cell phone radiation are conclusive (whichever comes first, and let me bet that it will be the first option) I guess I'll see if I can get the hang of these:
Sheesh, ignorance is bliss for us worry wart- addicts!

School Fun Run

Our school's big annual fundraiser is a 5K/1 mile race. (Note to all PTA type mom's: best fundraiser EVER. We always make a ton of money and it is so much better than cookie dough or wrapping paper). On Saturday the event took place. It was great fun. The kids ran the one mile and Rob and I ran the 5K. Clara got to ride in a stroller with her friend Bria.

Here are Lucy, Anders, and BFF Malia waiting at the starting line:
Here is Tucker and some of his pals at the starting line. Yup, he is almost a full head shorter than them. Those genetics can be a bummer.
Here are the kids just taking off. Anders was running his heart out, speed demon that he is, when suddenly he tripped and skidded across the pavement. It was very sad and it took him out of the race. I had to take him to get bandaids. Which made me miss the start of my race. I had to come tearing across the field to catch up with the 5K pack. Anders did end up running his one mile with his Dad later.
Tucker caught me on camera as I was nearing the end of the race:
The injuries

Last Saturday

The weather has been (minus today and yesterday) wonderful lately, and it seemed a pity to waste a Saturday being productive. So after the kids soccer games, my Dad came up and joined us for a hike in the Salt Lake foothills. It is the perfect spring hike, except some of the trails are very popular with mountain bikers. Yielding to them gets annoying, especially since they are supposed to yield for hikers. But yielding aside, it was beautiful and a perfect way to spend a spring Saturday.

Potty break:


Whenever I see lichen I think of Ted R. who worked in the lichen lab:

It got really windy as we reached twin peaks:
It was steep and once again, Rob towed a heavy load:

We made it:


Then we drove to my parents where Tucker passed of a scout goal or whatever you call them, by grilling us some steak. Yum.:

A pretty near perfect Saturday in my book!

Victory!!!

I shouldn't be posting pictures of urine, but this was a big moment! The breakthrough pee-pee, as it were. And now it appears she gets it. Okay there have been a few accidents, but mostly it seems we don't have any children in diapers anymore. Did you hear that? Let me say it again; WE DON'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN IN DIAPERS. NONE. ZERO. THE END.

SOLD

We closed yesterday. It was fairly painless We didn't have to put it on the market, but sold it to our neighbors who basically wanted it as is. Wahoo!

Spring Break Day 4: Devil's Garden

Our last day we drove through Arches to Devil's Garden. We decided to hike out to Double O arch. It was WINDY!!!! The blowing sand was a challenge. We started at Landscape arch:The monkey on Rob's back:
After dumping the sand we headed up these fins, past the collapsed wall arch:
We stopped at Partition arch (I think):

Then fighting the massive wind gusts we made it to Navajo arch:

The views were incredible with several arches in the view:

To get to Double O arch you have to walk along the ridge of a narrow fin. I'm not the greatest when it comes to heights, but without the wind, I think I could have done it. But the combo of wild wind and heights was more than I could stomach. Rob found me a path around the base and we made it to the overlook to double O where the wind was even crazier.
The smallest arch:


Taking shelter from the wind:

On the way back the wind had picked up even more and the kids were clinging to the fin. Rob rescued them and got them down and we all made it back via the lower path:


Great times!

Spring Break Day 3: The Needles section of Canyonlands

On Easter Sunday we drove to the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park. I've been to the Island in the Sky section several times, but this was a first. I LOVED it. It is an amazing place. We started out with a long drive through a beautiful canyon with a stop to see Newspaper Rock.

Then we went to the roadside ruins:
Being careful not to step on the fragile cryptobiotic soil which is the protective crust that grows on the desert soil:
We explored the cowboy camp where not only cowboys hung out but Indians as well. There were pictographs and signs of lots of old fires. Very cool. As was scrambling up the slick rock to make it to the potholes:



At the potholes we had fun watching the little creatures that make their homes in the potholes:
Then it was one of the coolest hikes I've done. It was to Chessler Park, a 6 miler that crossed very cool terrain with incredible views.
Rob carried Clara, the non-stop talker the whole way. Ouch. He channeled her babbling by teaching her the names of the plants and trees. She could point out yucca, bristlecone pines, junipers, mormon tea, and prickly pears:






Snack time, wherin Clara provided entertainment:
It was a great day, and I want to go back!!!!!