Hannah vs. The Outbreak Monkey

Over the past month or so, everybody in the family has been battling one form of illness or another.  It all started with everyone suffering from bad stomach cramping.  It then evolved into a mutant virus that might be confused with the stomach flu.

Emma was the first to begin exhibiting flu-like symptoms.  She ended up missing two days of school and, even now, is still not functioning at 100%.  Holly also got hit by this bug causing her to miss three days of work.  I think that she is now finally over it after a week of suffering.  I’ve been experiencing some symptoms including stomach discomfort and a fever but, so far, I’ve managed to avoid too much downtime. Alex has been able to avoid the majority of the contagions very effectively.  Hannah, on the other hand, has not.

11 Years

On Saturday, Holly and I celebrated our eleventh year of marriage by realizing that we’re old.

I wanted to do something nice with her so I made reservations at Ye Lion’s Den, a restaurant in Ogden specializing in deliciousness.  When we usually go out to eat, I try and get something that won’t break the bank; anniversaries are different though.  I like good food and if I go to a place with really good food, I want to enjoy it.  Needless to say, I enjoyed it.

Holly decided that she would be a bit adventurous and order her rib eye steak medium.  (Normally, she likes her meat very well done.)  I think that she mistakenly asked for medium rare though because that cow just needed a few band-aids to get it back out grazing in the fields.  She ended up sending it back and a few minutes later, she received a piece of meat that was no longer mooing and was absolutely amazing.  Fortunately for me, she couldn’t eat it all so I got the leftovers.  The meat wasn’t as good the next day but it was still very tasty.

Halloween 2008: The Aftermath

So Halloween this year was pretty good.  We started our festivities early in the week with some pumpkin carving.  We had five huge pumpkins but a lack of time so only three of them ended up getting carved.  Holly decided that it would be fun to do Shrek and I unleashed my inner geek (what’s new?) and did Mario of Super Mario Bros. fame.  Emma decided to do an original creation which turned out pretty good.  Like every other year, there were lots of dads commenting on how cool our pumpkins were as their kids took our candy.

This year will be known in my mind as the year of the recycled costume idea.  Emma decided that she wanted to be a devil, Alex wanted to be a tiger, and Hannah wanted to be a clown.  Whether it is dumb luck or just coincidence, we have each of these costumes in the appropriate sizes in our costume box.  Everybody was happy and we saved money.  You can’t ask for more than that - especially if said costumes yield free candy.

Trick Or Treat!

Holly is out with the kids, roaming the neighborhood, asking strangers for candy.  I’m on door duty.  I’m sick of running up and down the stairs and it’s only 7:00!  I anticipate that I’ll have more content to post in a few hours but, in case I don’t get to it tonight, I wanted to wish everybody a happy Halloween.

Remember, if you decided to play a Halloween prank on somebody and try and scare them so bad that they we themselves, be careful.  You might get punched in the face.

Having Two Remotes Is Fun

Some of you may remember a few months back when I posted my thoughts on Logitech’s Harmony One universal remote.  I love this remote.  It has got to be one of the best gadgets in my house.  Anyways, I discovered a new use for it: teasing my kids.

Sunday night, Emma and Alex were watching television.  I was standing behind the sofa with my Harmony One while Emma was trying to surf channels using the television’s remote.  She would change the channel and I would mute the television.  She’d then un-mute it and I’d change the channel.  After a few minutes of this Emma became extremely frustrated and actually got up to change the channel.  I muted the TV again.  She was so angry that she shut the television off and told Alex that they couldn’t watch TV because it was broken.  At this point, I couldn’t contain myself any longer and began laughing.  I told Emma that the TV was fine and that I was the one causing the problems.  She responded by hiding my remote when I wasn’t looking.  Lucky for me, I was able to find it relatively easily.

The Baseboards Strike Back

I’ve come to a horrible realization over the past week as I have been cutting and installing the baseboards and door moldings in the basement: I’m allergic to the wood that I’m using.  Well, that’s somewhat misleading because I’m not using real wood.  I’m actually using medium-density fiberboard or MDF as it’s more commonly called.  MDF is an engineered wood made by breaking down softwood into wood fibers and then combining it with a wax and resin binder.

Something that I’ve learned about it is that formaldehyde resins are commonly used to bind MDF together, and testing has consistently revealed that MDF products emit formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds that pose health risks at sufficient concentrations, for at least several months after manufacture.  Well, I think that I have some recently produced MDF in my basement.

I Need To Do Better

UNOFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

For those who have not heard yet, my sister, Chelsea, is engaged.  Since it’s not my wedding, I’ve been spared from having to do too many things.  One thing that I did volunteer for though is making a DVD slideshow of Chelsea and her love interest, Nick.  I get to choose what pictures and music are used.  Can you say “bathtub pictures”?  It’s going to be fun.

On Sunday, I started going through stacks of old pictures deciding which ones I was going to use.  As I was looking through Chelsea’s scrapbook, I found pictures of my graduation, when I went on my mission, our mom at an Amway convention, and my first Christmas with Holly.  It was like taking a trip down memory lane.

Thank Goodness For Helmets

No, I didn’t crash my scooter.  I am grateful for motorcycle helmets though.  Have you ever been shot by a BB gun?  They hurt.  Lots of stinging and usually a nice welt for the next hour or so.  Well, driving on a scooter at 55 miles an hour is a lot like getting shot repeatedly by a BB gun.  There are lots of little bugs that would normally hit a windshield when you’re in a car that hit your face, hands, arms, and neck when you’re on a scooter.

This morning as I was driving to work, I got hit by at least three big bugs on the visor of my helmet.  One of them left a nice little splat the size of a dime.  I’m so glad that it didn’t hit me in the face because it would not have felt good.

Happy Fourth Of July!

As a kid, whenever anybody would ask me what my favorite holiday was, the answer was obviously Christmas.  After all, what kid doesn’t like Christmas?  Free toys, lots of candy stuffed into clothing designed for feet, and did I mention free toys?

Now that I’m a bit older, I still love Christmas (I think it’s the free toys thing), but I’ve developed a deep appreciation for other holidays.  Thanksgiving is awesome but the Fourth of July holds a special place in my heart.  There’s something about seeing an American flag flying as a wing of F-16s fly overhead that makes me extremely grateful to live in this wonderful country.  Add to the the fact that we’ve developed some really fun family traditions, and you have a day that we all look forward to each year.

The Zohner Super Family Funtime

This past week we had our stake Lagoon day.  Since we had free entrance tickets and the ability to go on a few rides, we decided to take the kids and go have some fun.

I love amusement parks.  It used to be that I could ride roller coasters all day long.  As I have aged, I’ve learned just how much fun traveling at high speeds in an open car along a steel track can be.  That being said, Lagoon just doesn’t excite me like it used to.  The kids, on the other hand, are thrilled at the prospect of going to Lagoon even if it’s only for a few hours.