A Utah Family Travel Writer's Adventures with Altitude
This year for Mother’s Day, I got tickets to see Wicked and the flu. One is MUCH better than the other! For my mom, I put together this cool little video of some quality blackmail shots of us all.
How was your special day?
I adore this boy (picture was taken at the summit of a recent hike). Not only is he the sweetest most cuddly kid but he is also my ally, as was evidenced during a recent conversation.
“Amber, please do not ask me if I have the car keys.”
“But you frequently forget them, Jamie.”
“If I forget, I will simply go back in the house and retrieve them. I don’t need you nagging me about it.”
“Fair enough.”
[A few minutes later as we walked out to the car, out of habit I started to ask him if he had the keys. I fortunately stopped myself before I uttered a word and slipped into the car. Bode, on the other hand, had his own ideas.]
“Daddy?”
“Yes, Bode?”
“Got keys?”
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On another note: see my new widget on my sidebar? It is an ultra-cool Colorado-based company, The Blog Frog, and one of the founders is a Denver mom. The Blog Frog is a great solution if you want to turn your blog just “just a blog” into more of a community.
When you sign up for TheBlogFrog, it asks for the address of your blog. Behind the scenes, TheBlogFrog visits your blog and looks at your Blogroll. The people on your Blogroll then become your Blog Friends. Once TheBlogFriends knows who your Blog Friends are, you can install “Social Add-ons” on your blog and start having fun with your friends with an interactive community that includes a forum and Twitter. It is the answer to all my blogroll dilemmas because I just can’t keep up with adding everyone. Best of all? It is a great way to promote your blog and it is a part of a network of thousands of blogs.
So, if you’re a blogger be sure to link your blog to mine and then just click on my nifty widget. Your latest posts will show up in my stream!
It has been five years since I saw her.
I was recently at the post office and she was standing near me in line. Our eyes connected and she blankly smiled. She did not recognize me. She really had no reason to. But five years ago, she left an indelible impression on me.
In the world’s eyes, she is an overlooked middle-aged mom, with unkempt hair and clothes. I had initially dismissed her as well. But during our interactions, I came to know a beautiful person. Possibly one of the most beautiful I have ever known.
When we first met, I was on the cusp of a new life: a newlywed, pregnant and with a whole new world of hope and possibilities in front of me. In my eyes, she was weary and beleaguered.
I came to know why: she gave and gave, often leaving nothing for herself. She was a foster mom and had adopted many into her home. Not just any children, but those with physical and mental handicaps. The forgotten children, most of whom had been severely abused and then abandoned because no one wanted them. But she did.
“I sometimes wish my kids were as little as yours,” she wistfully said in the post office, pointing to my little boy. “Just last night, I was at the police station with one of my teenagers.”
There was no bitterness in her voice. Only love. She knew if she was not there to catch them when they fell, that no one would. And she was willing to give them everything she had to give them a shot at life.
Many moms deal with these same struggles and special needs. The difference between the rest of us and this woman is that most of us do not choose this path but we are chosen. And we do the best that we can with what has been handed to us.
Just as I had five years ago, I marveled at her. And mourned the society we live in where people who can throw a ball or who make millions at the box office are those we place on a pedestal.
Heroes surround us. Most do not receive any recognition and quietly go about their business. But on that day in the post office as I gazed at this woman’s glistening blue eyes, I was sure she was as close to a hero as I have ever come.
Spring is in full swing here at the pumpkin patch, which is not without its stresses. Jamie planted a few of his seeds indoors last week and much to his chagrin, they did not sprout when anticipated. His best seed never germinated at all. As a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin, this causes an immeasurable amount of stress. He will replace the dud and move forward with the others, which will hopefully flourish.
Look at me. Being all supportive of the Lord of the Gourds.
I’ve been thinking about pests lately. Not of the little brother or sister variety that we all endured growing up, but creatures. Most of us have ‘em and we’re always battling them at our house. We have a vole that completely wiped out our rose bushes and we are replanting some new ones.
Rabbits are also our household pests. It pains me to say that because I had pet bunnies growing up and absolutely adored them. But alas, Whiskers and Snowflake never dug out a hole under and through our front porch nor completely obliterated our garden, snacking on my favorite crop of all: strawberries.
Game on, Bunnies.
Of course, our pests don’t have anything on my in-laws. Their pest de choix? Skunks. They took up residency under my inlaws’ front porch last year, creating a very real dilemma whenever entering or leaving the house. Animal control wouldn’t do anything about them unless they were rabied which, I don’t know about you, I really wouldn’t want to be the one to test that out.
My in-laws tried to stink them out with mothballs. They were unsure of exactly how many skunks they had and had only spotted a couple at a time. But imagine their delight to come home from church, only to find NINE skunks sunning themselves on their lawn. Call me crazy but having pet skunks in plain view is exponentially worse than having them burrowed under my house.
Though it could stave off those people who insist on coming over unannounced when my house is a mess.
Eventually, the skunks migrated back under their porch because well, they’re kinda used to living with stench. My inlaws’ last alternative was to hire a professional skunk trapper. Now, I’m sure he catches other animals but he was most proud of his ability to round up the Pepe le Pews of the world. He actually knocked on their door holding two captured skunks. Evidently, if you hold them by their tails, they will not spray you.
Just in case you wanted to try it next time around.
Unfortunately, he got distracted and dropped one of them, leaving a path of fresh-smelling roses behind.
How would you like to be that guy’s poor wife?
And so now I turn to you as gardening season kicks off: do you have a garden, what do you grow and what pests do you battle?
Many religious denominations have some kind of voluntary “tithe” they ask their members to pay. We are no different and liberally give 10% of our wages to the LDS Church. Every month, we fill out a little tithing slip, write a check and then give it to a member of the Bishopric.
Even though I have gleefully assigned Jamie to handle our finances, for some reason he has put me in charge of paying our tithing every month. I have no problem with filling out the form and writing the check but tracking down the Bishopric is always a pain. My current “calling” (job) is teaching the 8-11 -year-old girls so I rarely see anyone other than my delightful tweens whose endless barrage of chatter makes me look mute.
I never thought it possible, either.
Last month, I once again objected about having to perform tithing search and rescue when Jamie is the one who attends the same meetings as the Bishopric.
“Jamie, why don’t you just do it? I’m busy teaching the girls the whole time!”
“Because you need to take some financial responsibility.”
“I do have financial responsibility. I am in charge of spending the money.”
It’s no secret that I love to travel. There have certainly been many hiccups in this process when traveling with The Children. But the older they get, the easier it gets.
Or maybe I have just grown increasingly numb.
We usually go on a big trip every summer but this year we will likely discover all that Colorado has to offer. It could be worse. We could be living in Saskatchewan and my explorations would be limited to frozen tundra and wheat fields.
Note: No offense to any of my Saskwatch readers. It’s just your province kind of sucks. I know. I’ve driven through trying to get to my dad’s hometown in Manitoba, which is almost as bad. Dad–not that I’m trying to rip on where you grew up, just to thank you moving to Alberta, The Land of Milk, Honey and Rockies, before I was born.
In The Denver Post, there was a feature on Dubai. If you’re not familiar with it, it is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. Last year Jamie and I watched a special about the over-the-top development going on in this city, the most populous of the United Arab Emirates.
It boasted about their indoor ski resort and the soon-to-be completed tallest building on the world. Oh, and don’t forget Dubai Hydropolis, the world’s first luxury underwater hotel, with 220 suites. They featured all this development that is moving forward at break-neck speed and then juxtaposed this against the squalor people were living in at the work camps.
A high price to pay.
But it was The Denver Post’s article that struck me as over-the-top as they attempt to topple Las Vegas as the entertainment epicenter of the world. Of course, I should explain that I loath Vegas and my idea of fun is carrying 30 pounds on my back as I journey into the back-country without toilets and with wild animals and bugs.
Though I could do without the latter.
Also, Dubai is hot. And if you have ever been around me when it is hotter than 85 degrees, you will know I automatically combust.
That said, let me introduce you to Dubailand:
Dubailand, twice as big as Walt Disney World, with the final stage to be completed in 2020, featuring theme parks, planetariums, more than 50 hotels, golf courses (including the one by Tiger Woods) and retail outlets. Among highlights: The Great Dubai Wheel, bigger than the London Eye, a Ferris-wheel-type tourist attraction on the south bank of the River Thames, which carries passengers in enclosed observation capsules; a see-through Snowdome, with a rotating ski deck, mountain run, training area, snow play area, toboggan run, ice skating rink and a theater with a virtual flight over Antarctica; a DreamWorks animation park; a Six Flags theme park; Restless Planet, a Jurassic theme park with more than 100 animatronic dinosaurs; Motor City, with an “autodrome” for motor sports races and a Formula One theme park; Sports City, with four stadiums for soccer, cricket, rugby and hockey; and Mall of Arabia, at 10 million square feet the world’s biggest mall.
Just a wee bit excessive or totally appealing to you? What’s your opinion on the matter and would you ever go? Also, do you have any travel plans this summer?
So, we survived Spring Break. Barely. Two Snow Days + Seven Days of Spring Break = One Tired Mama. The weather was chilly so we tried to keep busy indoors by decorating Easter eggs, having playdates, going swimming, watching the cliff divers at Casa Bonita, and discovering THE COOLEST story time ever with a toy library and hilarious librarian performer.
All in all, not a bad week.
My dear friend Isabelle is arriving from France this week and we will be swept up in a whirlwind of taking in all that Colorado has to offer. And stuffing ourselves silly with all that glorious European chocolate she has brought with her.
Just remember: Friends Bring Friends Chocolate.
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I attended a social media class last weekend held by the lovely Beckie of Tech Talk for Moms. It was a great class to remind me that I have dropped the ball in so many areas when it comes to this blog. And so after the inception of this blog 25 years ago, I finally added a Share Button that enables folks to StumbleUpon, Tweet, Digg, etc. after each post. I also added a subscribe button to my right-hand sidebar. If you don’t do RSS Feeds, I also included a box for folks to receive a notice via email whenever I post.
That way, you won’t lose sleep thinking you missed something I wrote. I know I do.
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On the last night of Spring Break, Hadley stole a cucumber from the fridge. Yes, you heard correctly. And she took it upstairs to swing it as a bat at Bode, who was substituting as the ball.
He does have a really round head.
Jamie eventually told her to take it back down to the fridge. She refused.
“Hadley, I said please put it away.”
“Can’t do it, Daddy. You need to do it for me.”
“I will not do it for you. I wasn’t the one who got it out.”
“And that’s why you should do it. I got it out–you put it away. You know: taking turns!”
Last night, a few of my fellow Mile High Mamas and I went to hear Dooce at her book-signing for It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much Needed Margarita. Never heard of Dooce? In the real world, she goes by Heather Armstrong; to the blogging world she is Dooce and is one of the most popular bloggers in the blogsophere.
We heard her book signings have been overwhelmingly popular so JoAnn and I left early. Really early. As in we arrived there two and a half hours early. Luckily, we weren’t the only losers early birds–Jolene, a health blogger, was first in line. She claimed she got there just a few minutes before us.
I suspect she camped out overnight.
Lori and Sarah arrived soon thereafter and it became a veritable pow pow with the group of bloggers at the front of the line. Everyone started swapping business cards and much to my dismay, I realized a bomb had gone off in my purse and I could not find anything, least of all a skinny little card.
And so I did what everyone should do in a room of bloggers who document your every move: dumped out my purse and organized it.
I was delighted to find several notebooks and even a Christmas stocking stuffer I forgot to give Jamie. During this time, I heard a voice behind me: a pregnant gal who sat down unannounced. When we asked if she had a blog, she said, “Yeah, it’s Glory Ho. Just be careful. If you type it in wrong, you get a** p**orn.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
Heather’s actual reading was hilarious and the Q&A session was fun. Shy lil’ me even asked a question and addressed both Heather and her husband’s funny tweet (Twitter). I was all hot and sweaty with hundreds of eyes on me and it felt like I was on my first date again.
Well, if I could remember what actually qualified as my first date, it was that inconsequential.
When I arrived home, Jamie jokingly accused me: “So, where were you REALLY tonight?”
“What are you talking about? You know where I was!”
“Dooce. She was on Oprah while you were allegedly at her book signing.”
Busted.
What happens with Dooce, stays with Dooce.
Find out over at Mile High Mamas today and read about some fun April Fool’s Day pranks I’ll be playing on the poor Canuck Clan. If you wrote an April Fool’s Day post, be sure to leave a link over there!
Got Any Favorite Spring/Summer Recipes?
I don’t know about you but I’m ready for some fresh, fun cookin’ this season. Please, please send your favorite recipes (dinner, salads, appetizers, desserts, etc.) my way! If I get enough recipes, I may just compile them all. Either post it over at Mile High Mamas or email it to me at crazycanuck131 [at] yahoo [dot] com and I will post it for you. Best of all? Anyone who shares will get a free entree from Qdoba Mexican Grill.
Don’t have one in your home state? Post a recipe anyway and I’ll eat it for you.
Because I’m nice like that.
Are you on Facebook?
I have been so swamped these days that I haven’t had time to visit all my favorite blogs. Fortunately, I have connected with many of you via Facebook and love reading your short ‘n sweet status updates. If I’m not already following you, please send me a request here.
Enough homework for one day. Perhaps my new tagline should be:
Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck:
It’s just like Junior High, only exponentially less painful.
Bad days. We all have them. I’m not talking about the life-altering ones where there is a death in the family or a terminal illness is diagnosed. I’m talking about the day-to-day ones where life just seems to kick your butt. I recently had a doozy and the fact that is was *that* time of the month impacted everything that happened. A sampling:
I whined to my dear friend Isabelle who will be visiting me next month from France and she shared this hilarious doozy with me. Her family was living in Madagascar at the time and were trying to return home to France for Christmas.
It kinda makes you want to go on a roadtrip with your kiddos, doesn’t it?! My friend Lisa also chimed in with her own “worst day” rendition that involved scissors, spray paint, boxing gloves, blue ink and flooding. Read about it here.
And so now it’s your turn. Had any bad days lately? And if not, feel free to rub it in!
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. Learn More