Chaotic thoughts

I had a few changes/additions I wanted to suggest for the movie script.

When Captain Chaos is on the phone with ACME Rent-a-Hero, asking about Invisible Girl, Super Runner, etc.

Chaos: Well what about you, can you come?

ACME: I uh.. I've got a lot of admistrative work I need to take care of here. Schedules, billing, that sort of thing. You know how it is.

Meanwhile the camera shows ACME playing computer solitaire or something.

When Skip and Torpedo Boy meet Havoc, I still liked Skip dressing up as Captain Chaos and pretending to be him.

Havoc: Who are you supposed to be?

Skip (doing Chaos's dramatic pose): I'm Captain Chaos.

Havoc: Nice try buddy. You can't fool me. I am Havoc! (pose) And Captain Chaos is my father.

Skip: Well, Super Funny is my, uh, roommate.

The other minions (I'm visualizing them as a gang of wannabe superheroes) start citing relationships to other superheroes, like "Green Lantern is my uncle" and "Underdog is my sister's pool guy"

Minion played by Mom: Laura Ingalls Wilder is my grandmother's cousin.

Minion played by Brooke: Torpedo Boy is my little brother.

Torpedo Boy: Hi! (He runs to give her a hug. She screams and runs away.)

Then the music starts and song and dance begins, introducing each of the wannabe superheroes in turn. Yes, I can even throw in "Skip to my Lou" at the end so fake Captain Chaos doesn't feel left out.

So what do you think? Good, bad, indifferent? What suggestions do other people have?

It's almost December

Mom reminded me that I needed to get my calendar updated... so I did. I also updated my and Michelle's Christmas lists. Some people have said they were still trying to decide what to get people. Don't worry, we really do have affordable things on our lists.

And More Snow

Today the only reason I find the snow significant is because I had to go out and stand in it in order to put kids in their cars.

My mice have been renamed. The tan one, formerly Sally Sue, is now named Ginger. The grey one, formerly called Betty, is now named Saphira. Saphira really likes her new home... especially the wheel for running around in. Ginger has been a lot more lethargic since moving in here. Hopefully she's doing okay. I really don't want to have a mouse funeral.

Anyway, I was feeling awful last night, but I'm feeling better today. I'm still at work and have tons to do... and I want to be out of here before it gets dark at 5:00.

Have a nice Tuesday everyone.
Love,
Tawnia

Yay!

Yay for having my own account! :c) Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving - I know we all have so much to be thankful for.

Love you all!
Manda

The ultrasound ...

... is scheduled for December 20. So when people say, "Do you know if it's a boy or girl?" you can answer that we will find out on Dec. 20. I still say it's a girl and refer to the baby as "she" and "her" (rather than "it") and I will be genuinely surprised if "she" turns out to be a boy. Our friends John and Muriel are due about 3 weeks before us, and they just found out that they're having a girl. Taylor says "That's what you think ..." because their ultrasound reading was "we think it's a girl but the cord is partially in the way." Heh. They have Ethan now, born in April. Not a girl.

I had another check-up this morning ... the baby's heartbeat came through strong and clear. She's doing fine. My sciatic nerve and right hip are not happy campers and I've already been in pain for about a week. The doctor said that sciatic pain is normal, but not usually this early. Lovely. It hurts to walk, particularly up stairs, and it really hurts when I'm going from standing to sitting or vice versa. I had to stop wearing my CTR ring this week - it's already left a mark on my finger. My wedding ring has been fine so far - it was a little loose anyway, so now it fits.

In other news, I have a new calling as of yesterday. I've been released as a ward missionary and Sunday School teacher, and now I'm the Primary pianist. There are 2 of us and we switch off, and the ward music director plays sometimes to help as well. So I'll actually have to play only one Sunday in December, because we're having only sacrament meeting on Christmas Day.

Mice

It has been a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Monday and Tuesday we had school. Wednesday I was able to sleep in, do a little bit of work for school, and then spent the evening making chocolate covered pretzels and playing cards. Thursday was turkey day. I woke up early, read my scriptures, watched the Macey's Thanksgiving Day parade and then had dinner over at the Bishop's. It was a lot of fun, and good food. Friday I spent a lot of money... but I only have a few more presents to buy, so that's good. Saturday I spent the day at the school getting ready for this next week. I am feeling a lot more prepared now, so that's good... and then I went to PetCo and bought my class petS. Yes, I bought TWO mice. They are female mice and they are very cute. One is tan and the other is grey. I currently call the tan one Sally Sue, and the grey one Betty.... but the kids will be giving them their official names on Monday. They are very tiny and fun to play with.

So there is the run down of my weekend. It was nice... but now I'm ready to get on with the next month so I can have Christmas break!!

Love,
T

Update

Hello, family.

I spent a lot of today working on my computer. I have added the first part of my latest story -- "The One-Winged Dragon" -- to my page. I hope you like reading it.

Emily

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, I went to the movies with Sarah, Amber, and Jaron. We saw "Chicken Little," which is a pretty good movie, but what was more important was spending time with my cousins. I am grateful for all my family, for the good times that we are able to have, times when we visit, feast, and play games.

Yesterday, we went shopping, and Clarissa and I sang all the way down to Salem. I got some presents. I also bought a new winter coat, a really nice one. I'll post pictures soon. I will need it in Virginia. I am so thankful that I am going. I leave in a month.

Mom and Dad bought a new Christmas tree, one with lights already on it, but we haven't put the ornaments on it. We did put up the Christmas village and the Nativity scene. We'll finish decorating this evening.

thanksgiving 2005

On Thanksgiving morning, for the first time, I felt the baby move. I've felt it a couple of more times since then, always when I'm lying on my back very still. Yay! We are, of course, very thankful this year for each other, for all of you and the Caudle extended family, and for the gospel and the temple and the scriptures. It's also actually kind of nice when people ask us about our Christmas list, to be able to say that we don't NEED anything. We're not well-off by any stretch of the imagination, but we're comfortable and we were even able to pay off most of our debt this year. (Everything except student loans.) It's a good life. It's going to change A LOT in the next 12 months - I hope the next phase can be just as nice as this one.

I am thankful for ...

This weekend I was very thankful to be in Utah with Tawnia. This was the first time I celebrated Thanksgiving with a family member since 2001 (and that was with Tawnia too!). I wouldn't have tried to make pumpkin pie if I hadn't been here, and I wouldn't have had help making chocolate covered pretzels either. (By the way Tawnia, we need more pretzels and more colored chocolate.) And I'm thankful for the snow that is falling right now, to make it really feel like Christmas is coming soon!

So who is doing the costumes?

Vacation Update

I was going to give you a vacation report with my last post, but we were getting ready to leave for downtown Dallas. We visited Thanksgiving Square and also went up Reunion Tower. On Tuesday, we drove from Houston to Grand Prairie, and made stops in Huntsville and Corsicana along the way. In Huntsville we saw the gigantic statue of Sam Houston, and also the prison museum. The kids loved playing in the prison cell replica. In Corsicana we bought some candy at the Russell Stover factory, the went to the pioneer village. Again, the kids' favorite part was playing in the jail cell and the paddy wagon. Should I be worried?

Today most of Michelle's family is here. Three of her siblings are missing. Anthony's sub launched yesterday, and Trevor left the MTC yesyerday to go to Salt Lake City. Diana stayed in North Carolina; her husband is in the army there. Jeremy brought his fiance Diane to dinner today, but unfortunately we're not going to be able to make it to the wedding. They're getting married on Monday afternoon.

I don't know yet what we'll be doing the rest of the weekend. We plan to go to Fort Worth tomorrow or Saturday, but other than that we're pretty open. We'll be driving home on Sunday after church.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good morning my wonderful family,

I am very thankful for each of you and the special and unique part of my life that each of you are. This year I have a lot to be thankful for. A year ago I was unemployed, in school, and childless. This year I have a good job, a Master's degree, and the sweetest baby in the whole world. I am astounded at my blessings. I'm very grateful to be home for the holidays and to have everyone safe and healthy.

Today we're going to Whittier to have Thanksgiving with the Palmers. It should be a delight as always. We're looking forward to Christmas and New Year's, culminating in Mom and Dad's visit and Stevie's blessing day.

Again, we love all of you and hope that you'll be safe and happy.

Eric and Laurel

Happy Thanksgiving

Let me be the first to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! It's not quite Thanksgiving day here but it is for some of you. I hope you are all having a wonderful celebration and enjoying yourselves with friends and family. We're going to Deb's and there will be between 20 and 25 people there. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time.

In thinking of the holiday I'd like to mention a few of the things that I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for each of you, my family, for Frank and for each of my children and their spouses and my beautiful grandchildren and the new little one who will soon be with us. I'm thankful for the opportunity to keep in touch with each of you through the blog, email, the phone and in person. You keep me going. I'm thankful for the church and its teachings and I'm especially thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and all that he has done for me. I'm thankful to be an American and for the freedom we enjoy here in our country. I good go on and on but I need to get some sleep so we can celebrate this very special holiday.

Love always,
MOM

Good morning!

So here's the cast so far:
Captain Chaos - Dad
Archivist -
ACME Rent-a-Hero - Jared
Torpedo Boy - Bryan
Skip - Nathan
Havoc - Amanda
Minions -
Lawyer - Adam
other lawyers -
Egbert - Eric
Writer - Emily
Super Cute Babies - Stevie, Baby Caudle

Is that it?

Happy Anniversary, and so forth

Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!

Sorry you didn't hear from me since I left the homestead Sunday afternoon.

I had a nice time in Seattle (pronounced Sea-tull), but my flight to Denver was delayed in Alaska and I didn't get there until around midnight on Monday. Early this morning I guess.

But I survived and the classes went well today. Actually among the best I've had so far, surprising for the amount of sleep and food I've had since Sunday (not much). And the weather in Denver was beautiful, clear and 65 degrees.

The flight from Denver to Santa Ana was delayed on the ground, mechanical problems or something, but we made good time and Laurel had gone off to fuel up the car anyway, so the timing turned out to be perfect. I sat by Stevie on the way home and we stopped by Burger King and got Whoppers and Star Wars watches.

Jared

I saw on your Rita Relief page each paragraph began with a letter from the word Rita. Very clever.

Nathan

HAMD

Translation: Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

As far as I'm concerned, the Christmas season has begun. Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas, and we're getting ready for it. Adam went grocery shopping this morning for the weekend, and I'm looking out my office window at the decorations on Union Station. There are 3 big arches on the front, and they put a HUGE wreath in each arch. They're really pretty at night because they're full of lights, so they become rings of light with a bow. We haven't walked around to see all the decorations inside yet - they have a really nice miniature train set in Union Station that apparently was a gift to the US from Norway. For FHE activities in December, we'll go see the lights and displays at the temple visitor's center and at the White House. The lighting ceremonies for both will be next week after Thanksgiving. The temple usually has an ambassador of another country throw the switch for their lights.

I just came across a press release on LDS.org - the Church is releasing a new movie about Joseph Smith to be shown at the Legacy Theater in Salt Lake. It will start on Dec. 17. AND, on Christmas Eve, it will be shown at temple and historic site visitor's centers all over the place, including here in DC. So maybe we'll head up there for Christmas Eve instead of staying home.

Updated Script

Hello, family.

After a discussion with the Producer of the family movie, I have rewritten the script. You may notice that there are some additional characters, and the ending has been changed. Please note that we still need to finalize the casting. I hope you enjoy it.

Mom and Dad, have a good anniversary and have fun with your new toy.

Emily
Writer and Mastermind of 2006 Palmer Family Movie

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Ma and Pa-

Happy anniversary. I am sorry that it is happening on a Monday, but that isn't going to stop it from being a nice one, I hope. Go out to dinner or something, or make Clarissa make you something. Emily could make you something too. Don't you love how I volunteer others? Have a good last night with The Kitty formerly known as Phantom because we are taking him tomorrow.

Love,
Nathan

oh I forgot a couple of things on my list:
Soundtracks~
Labyrinth
Corpse Bride

Happy Family Time

Hi all,

I'm at the Palmer house in Oregon right now. I'm training in Seattle on Monday, so I came in for the weekend. I flew in last night. Today we had a meeting about the movie with Mom, Dad, Clarissa and Emily. We came up with some good ideas for the script.

We went to the Fry's store in Wilsonville and then to Costco. Mom and Dad bought a new video camera. Then we came home and Mom and Nathan and Amanda taught me how to play Settlers of Zarahemla. It was pretty fun, even though I lost. Amanda won, by the way.

I've been on the road all week. I was in Phoenix and Vegas, and this week I'll be in Seattle and Denver. I miss Laurel and Stevie, but I'll see them for Thanksgiving.

I'm going over to Nathan's house now. Gotta go. Bye.

addendum

While I was at work this evening, I realized that I did want a few specific games - like Boggle, Scrabble, and any other word type games.

my Christmas wish

My Christmas wish is that we will be able to schedule the ultrasound for the week before Christmas, and find out what the baby is so we can get on with the business of REALLY planning for the baby. We do finally have a boy name on the table - Michael William (not going back to Matthew - it doesn't feel right). We're sticking with Summer Marie for a girl. My other Christmas wish is that whatever this child is, he/she will let me go 10 minutes without feeling like I'm going to die if I don't eat something RIGHT NOW. It must be growth spurt week, because I haven't been able to get enough to eat for about 4 days now. I'm not avoiding food, and I am eating healthy stuff rather than empty calorie junk. We made a whole ton of spaghetti the other night so we'd have leftovers, and I polished it off within 24 hours. I just had a baked potato for lunch and now I'm eating applesauce straight from the jar.

As for gifts to wrap and put under the tree, I still don't know. I have plenty of things on a list to get for Adam - enough that he's not going to get them all. But I have no ideas of what to get for me, and Adam is at a bit of loss too. I'll think about it some more, and try to come up with something by this weekend.

Mindy's Wish List

DVDs -
  Pirates of the Caribbean
  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  Sweet Home Alabama
  Importance of Being Earnest
  Spirited Away
  Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
  Monsters Inc
  The Grinch That Stole Christmas (live action)
  Paycheck
  How To Steal a Million
  Much Ado About Nothing

CDs -
  Sountracks -
   While You Were Sleeping
   Legally Blonde
   Coyote Ugly
  Anything by -
   Mandy Moore
   Michelle Branch
   Hillary Duff
   Kelly Clarkson

Books -
  Any church books (I only have Teachings of Gordon B Hinckley and Miracle of Forgiveness
  Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series (all of it!)
  Phantom of the Opera
  Anything you've enjoyed and would like to share

Games -
  Group games, trivia games, board games, card games - I'm not too picky

Victoria Secret Vanilla lotion
Vanilla Musk perfume
Little bottles of lotion to go in my purse
New set of drawing pencils
Mechanical pencils (good idea Clarissa)
Nice pencil case
Flat Screen Computer Monitor

Posting, posting

1, 2, 3 (hehe... you know, instead of testing, testing, 1,2,3)

Okay, so we had pajama day today... I should have just forgotten about teaching math because the kids were WAY to hyper for that. I'm going to have to reteach these concepts next week or the week after anyway.... oh, well. That's life. We did have some good reaing moments though. It made the day REALLY long though. I'm not sure why.

Anyway, I have plans for tonight but no plans for the rest of the weekend. Maybe I'll go see a movie tomorrow.... I don't know. I'll probably end up back out at the school tomorrow... but I'm hoping to avoid it! I can do correcting next week. =) And then it will be Thanksgiving!!!! I'm very excited for the break. Everyone travel safe if they're traveling. Oh, and Mom and Dad... is it weekend minutes on the phone next Thursday?? I hope so, because I'd like to call everyone.

Love,
T

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone's Thanksgiving is nice next week. We are planning on going to my parents' home. Jared took all week off next week. We are hoping to use the first half of the week for a mini vacation, though we are not positive what we want to do yet. It should be a good week.

I sent Brooke back to school today after keeping her home yesterday for stomach flu. She also has ringworm on the back of her left thigh so I needed to treat that with antifungal cream before she could return to school. That is contangious too, of course. We need to treat the fungal infection for about 4 weeks total. Poor Brooke. We are doing good over all. I am excited about Jared being with the family for 9 days straight. Jared is, too. Besides having a cold, Bryan is doing great.

Michelle

a picture

When I read the script and read the part about Captain Chaos crashing into a billboard for Jungle Chicken I thought of a picture I once saw. If this picture is used, Amanda recommended putting an animated picture of Jungle Chicken into it, obviously to make it more Jungle Chicken authentic.

www.insanityinc.net/nathan/images/junglechicken.bmp

Nathan

A new video

This is a video that Amanda put together... It is pretty big, so if it takes up too much room I can take it off. Just let me know. But if it is ok I want to leave it on for a little while to give people (ie family, friends, employees) a chance to see it. Some of the music is by yours truly... that means me (Nathan).

www.insanityinc.net/nathan/images/earlylife.wmv

I hope you enjoy it.

Nathan

Clarissa’s Wish List

Books:
A Little Princess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Any books based off the Andromeda TV series (I have the first one)

Mangas:
Fruits Basket (there are 12 in English so far)
Cardcaptors Sakura (6 volumes)
Cardcaptors Sakura: Master of the Clow (6 volumes)

Music:
Celtic Woman
Finding Neverland soundtrack
Peter Pan (live action) soundtrack
Phantom of the Opera (special edition movie) soundtrack

Movies:
Phantom of the Opera
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Andromeda

Sketch book
Mechanical pencils
Camera

Emily's Christmas List

Well, since it's time to start shopping, here are a few things I would like.

1. Books. In particular, I want the fourth book of the Star Wars X-Wing series: "The Bacta War" by Michael Stackpole (I have the first three books, and I really like them). And I want "The Tolkien Reader," which has some of his short stories and an essay on writing fantasy. And I want the novelization of the third Star Wars movie: "Revenge of the Sith," so that I'll have the books for all six. I like reading, especially fantasy and history.
2. Music. I would like some church music, such as "Light of the World" or a Michael McLean collection. And I like instrumental music and movie sound tracks. My favorite composer is John Williams.
3. Clothing items. A thick and fluffy scarf. Nice warm gloves. Thick happy socks. Sweaters and sweatshirts. Remember, I am going to be moving to Virginia in January, and I hear it can get very cold.
4. A wall calendar and a day planner.
5. Pictures to hang on the wall of my dorm room. Pictures of the temple would be nice -- my favorites include Portland, Nauvoo, Washington D.C., and L.A. Pictures of family members would also be really nice.
6. A camera. (I don't care at the moment if it's digital or film.)
7. Card games, like Skip-bo, Phase 10, Uno, etc.
8. Movies. I want some of my old favorites like "Willow" and "The Princess Bride" and "Star Wars."

I hope that helps. Merry Christmas!
Emily

New stuff from Jared

I had a very busy weekend as well. I spent all day Saturday in Vidor TX helping clean up from Hurricane Rita. Click on this link to read more about my adventures there.

Also, as Trina already mentioned, we were noticing that the request for Christmas lists was late in coming this year. Which is why I already had this "list"
made up. I hope you all enjoy it.

Brooke has all of Thanksgiving week off from school, so I decided to take that week off work as well. We're going to have a real family vacation, which will of course include visiting Grandma and Grandpa for Thanksgiving dinner. Sorry, that's the otherGrandma and Grandpa.

I've typed a post twice and it didn't show up. SO - I substituted for my teacher today. I was nervous, but the kids were good. I survived.

target=blank

I do not know why this is happening or if it is just happening to me, but sometimes after looking around the family site for a while I will click on someone's link and a new window opens up instead of it opening in the center. I do not like that. I hope that it is just a silly computer thing that will go away soon. So if you did it on purpose, please make it stop. I am referring to the main subsidiary pages. If you do it within your page I am fine with that. I just figure what is the point of the center if it is not going to be used.

Nathan

PS I did look at the "View Source" and it shows that everything except for the pages that aren't subsidiaries should be opening in the center. What is going on?

Is it that time already???

Remember guys. I was called to the YW Presidency the end of July and school started in September with a new teacher, who isn't there anymore, (we have a long-term sub right now). And we've been making plans to see our new grandbabies and trying to figure out what and how to get the editing equipment for our movie. Yeah, I haven't started working on Christmas much, yet. But you're right, it's time to get busy and figure out what everybody wants. We're not going to have a lot of money to spend but we do want to get people what they want. SO SEND ME THOSE LISTS!!!

We've just had a nice three day weekend that was busy every single day. On Friday we were on our way to the temple when a tire blew on the van. We came back home and stopped on the way to look at the price of cars. We've decided to wait on that project. Then Dad took the van in and got the snow tires on, so when it's time to take them off they can just put new tires on it and we won't have to pay the $50. On Saturday we finally made it to the temple, then Costco, then we went to a couple of stores to look for editing stuff. When we got home we finished preparing our talks for Sacrament Meeting.

Today was one of my busier Sundays. I got up and reviewed my talk, and got dinner in the crock pot, then went to a YW Presidency meeting followed by a class presidency meeting. Then it was time for Sacrament meeting. After all the church meetings we had ward choir until nearly 3:00. When I got home it was almost time to get dinner on the table. After dinner we left for Messiah practice and I can finally change my clothes and relax. My sabbaths aren't days of rest lately.

I'm not really complaining about how busy I am. I guess I don't have to be in the choir, let alone two of them, but I love music and singing and it is a break from the stress of every day, because it's something different.

Love to you all,
MOM

lists

Jared and I were talking on the phone a little bit ago, and we were commenting on the same thing - that Mom hasn't asked for lists, and she usually does in September.

Tawnia, the church book you're referring to is called "Lead, Guide, Walk Beside" and it is by Ardeth Kapp. (I can see it on the shelf from where I'm at the computer.) Mom, this would be a good book for you as well in the YW presidency, because it's about good leadership traits.

I don't know that we necessarily have a Christmas list this year except that I'm trying to avoid the movie-book routine all around. We have plenty of both at the moment, and need to clear some things out before we add to the mess. I'm sitting here staring at the wall trying to think of anything that would be a good idea, but I'm totally blank. I'm like that a lot these days ... If you have questions, ask Adam what we want/need for Christmas. I have no idea.

My Christmas List

Well, since the majority of the things I want are priceless (as in, you can't go out to a store and buy them) I will give you the list of the non-priceless items I wouldn't mind getting for Christmas... even though no one has asked for a Christmas list yet (which is crazy since it's almost the end of November and Mom usually asks towards the end of September.)

1. Games! I really like this game called Apples to Apples. I would also like Settlers (either of Cataan or Zarahemla). I also wouldn't mind having Risk (the old school version NOT Lord of the Rings or any of those other ones that are out there.) Ummm... and I like other games too.
2. CDs. I would really like some good Church Music. I also like Disney. I don't have any soundtracks so those would be fun to have. And if Josh Groban has a Christmas CD I would like that. I would like the sound track to "The Majestic."
3. Books. I have a fettish for children's books... but most of mine are now residing at school and getting demolished by my students. I could always use new copies of things (even if I already have them... so don't worry about getting me something I already have.) The only thing I would not get me would be Harry Potter (those did not get taken to school.) I would also love church books. There is one that Trina had and I read back when I was RS president. I think it was by Ardeth Kapp... or something like that. Anyway, It was an easy read, but I really enjoyed it. And my favorite children's book author is Robert Munsch. I would also not mind getting some guitar music (Beginner is best!), piano music (I want the music to Cristifori's Dream), or music I can sing.
4. Movies.... well, there aren't a lot that I want. I don't have a lot of time to watch movies, but I wouldn't mind getting the newer version of Miracle on 34th Street. It's one of my favorites.
5. Food - Yeah, I like food. You could buy me that.
6. Socks (My happy socks got a hole in them. It makes me sad.)
7. Pictures of all my favorite family members
8. A note telling me how much you love me. Yup, that would be nice.
9. A digital camera. I would like to have my own so I don't have to always borrow Mindy's.
10. Tickets to fun events going on in Provo. (Two would be best, so I would have an excuse to get a date.)

Okay, so there you have it. A list of things that you can get for Tawnia. Yes, it was unsolicited, but I figured if I was going to get things I wanted, I should ask.

Love,
ME

Subsidiaries

To answer your question Dad...

http://www.junglechicken.com/animation/logo01.swf

not the Christmas boxes

I just put boxes in the mail this morning to Eric and Laurel, and Tawnia and Mindy. These are NOT the Christmas boxes. I've been meaning to send the box to Tawnia since September but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. For Eric and Laurel, most of the stuff in it is for Stevie - it coulda/woulda been a baby shower gift (if'n you'd told me before the baby shower when it was going to occur!) ... yes, I know I'm a slacker for sending it so late, but I did get sick right around the time he was born and haven't done a whole lot of anything for the last couple of months. AND, if he was born on time instead of jumping the gun so early, I would be on time with the presents. So there! Yes, I will do better with getting the Christmas boxes out on time.

T

Hey Dad - glad to know you're still around.

Emily - I'll have to read the script over the weekend when I actually have time and then I'll let you know my opinion on things.

Was there another question? hmmm... I don't think there was. I was going to try and make it to Stevie's blessing, but I don't think I can afford it. Plane tickets are way to spendy at that time of year (unless you buy them way in advance.) I do have a long weekend in January, with MLK day.... maybe I'll look at going out to Cali then... or during my "spring break". Unless I'm still invited to road trip with Nate and Manda this summer.

Anyway, I do need to get to work. My TA is gone for the rest of this week and all of next week... which means that life is going to be interesting for me.

Love,
T

Updated Script

The second draft of the 2006 movie is now available for your reading pleasure, including a few more details, some changes to the plot, and writer's notes which detail where everyone's suggestion would be welcome. I am the mastermind behind the story, but you are the family, and this is a family project. Also, if anyone wants to volunteer for certain parts, it would be appreciated.

Emily Palmer
Writer of the 2006 movie: "Pure Chaos, " an Insanity Incorporated Production.

Stevie's Blessing

I tried to post a comment but it doesn't seem to be showing up.

Stevie's blessing will be January 1, 2006. Mom and Dad will be in California for it, which is why we're putting it off until then.

money money money!

Over the weekend, I applied at a temp-agency with my neighbor Natalie. We were hoping to get a seasonal job, the one that she had last year, but that hasn't happened yet. Instead, we got a phone call today, for a job for the next three days - which works out good, because I don't work at Subway for the next three days. I leave at four this afternoon, and I'll be back at 2AM .. for the next three days. For $8 an hour (instead of the $5.15 I'm making now), I'll do it! And I don't have to worry about quitting Subway (which I'm strangley hesitant to do), so it works out. It is long hours, but I'm making more money in one night at this job, than I did in the last two weeks at Subway. I'm excited.

And Eric, when is Stevie's blessing?

I finally did it

I beat Adam at Scrabble.

I have to go finish the dishes and Adam is studying for a test. But I just wanted to say that. Thank you.

Change

I haven't answered the question about change yet. I'm one of those people that does not deal well with change. I think the only reason I'm able to make drastic changes is because I feel very strongly prompted by the spirit.

Sorry Mom, I just realized that this is probably to late for you to see before your Young Women's lesson. Oh well.

-T

Good-bye, Kittens

Dad put up a sign at PetCo that we had free kittens, and we got a call from a woman who lives in Dayton, and she came over with her two little girls and she let them each pick a kitten. They took Mr. Teeny and Mousie (who was quickly renamed Fiona). I think the mom might have wanted Yami more, but Mousie is softer and was not as feisty. So, now we have only one more kitten and one mama cat that need homes.

I need to know everyone's T-shirt size. It has to do with your Christmas presents. Please put you response in the comments or e-mail me. I need them as soon as possible. Thank you.

baby

It was Adam that posted the ultrasound picture, so thank him. I can't see it very clearly, so I wouldn't have posted it.

I had my next doctor's appointment today and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat. It was cool! He put a stethescope type thing on my tummy with some kind of gel, and there it was. It would fade in and out - he'd find it, the baby would move, and then he'd have to find it again. It was kinda funny. It was very, very distinct. It looks like I may be able to have the full ultrasound the week before Christmas instead of waiting until after the holidays. We'll see how the scheduling goes. Anyway, hearing the heartbeat makes it a little more real ... because even with my clothes not fitting and getting sick to my stomach at the slightest thing, it's still not quite connected in my brain that I'm actually pregnant.

I'm very happy that Halloween is over so we can get on with the business of Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's - the REAL holidays. It's going to be good this year.

Yes, I hate that

Well Nathan,

There are a lot of companies out there that will register your domain name for you. I've found that it can go for as low as $10 a year, and generally it's less than $20. The one I've used most recently is www.mydomain.com. The site includes a search tool to find out if the domain name you want is available.

The next step is to get a hosting service. You might have some space with your ISP, the domain name registration site might offer hosting services, or you can do what I did and find another company that will provide your hosting. I have used 1dollarhosting, but for insanityinc we use Exist Hosting ( www.existhosting.com ). They have decent rates for lots of space.

The final step is to let your domain registration site know (usually through a web form) where your space is, so they know where to point the name to. Your host will tell you what that information is. It's the name of the proxy servers for web and email.

And that's it. There's probably better explanations on the web of how all that works, but there's my version, composed with less than half a brain (tonight anyway... I'm rapidly shutting down).

Nathan

Changes

I like changes. I look forward to them. My next big change will be going to college in Virginia, and I am really excited about it. I have had changes before -- moving to Salem with my sisters, going to Disney World, and coming home again to go to Chemeketa. I think change is good. The best way to be prepared is to make plans and learn what you are getting in to, but be flexible. Maybe things won't go according to plan, but it can still be good.

hey wait a minute!

I was so happy to get my Christmas box, that I failed to notice that you forgot to put my Christmas CD's in it, which was the whole point of sending it in the first place! If you could send me another package that has my CD's, I'd really appreciate it!

it came already!

Hey Mom and Dad - the package that you put together got here today! I was very happy to see it, especially since I wasn't expecting it yet. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my ornaments just yet, but I'm sure we'll have a Christmas tree in the next few weeks. Gloves and scarves are always good to have too. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to being home for Christmas, it's just a matter of figuring out what to get for people.

Change. Yeah, I've been through that. Getting married, being married, not being married, living with roommates again .. anything that I could have done to better prepare?? Looking back I see so much I could have done, but I think I was too stubborn at the time to really pay attention. My advice? Look to your parents, church leaders, siblings, etc. for guidance. I know I thought I knew everything, but boy I didn't. I don't regret what happened though, because I've learned so much, but it will definately prepare me for the future. Also, stay close to the spirit, for it really really helps you figure things out, even if you think you know what you should do - because sometimes it isn't what you think. And if you experience some change you aren't happy with, then lean even closer on the spirit, and everything will work out in the end. As I like to say, if everything hasn't worked out, it isn't the end.

I hate it how you press enter after typing in the title and the post publishes.

I was just wondering, Eric, how you get a webpage with a certain name. Like you have junglechicken.com, ericpalmertraining.com, laurelpalmer.com, etc. How and where do you acquire these?
Nathan

Eric

Change

I like collecting foreign change. Currency is cool too, but I have always liked the metal more than the paper.

The most that I have changed in my life is my clothes. I change them almost every day. At least part of my ensemble like my hat or socks. Change in life is good, because it teaches us how to live life to its fullest. If Heavenly Father did not want us to change, He would not have created this earth and given us the option of becoming something greater. The world is changing around us, and if we are not willing to change some things, there is no way that we will survive. Even our testimonies should change. They should continuously be growing, because there really is no stagnant part to a testimony. I think that it is either getting greater or smaller.

Nathan

My life is all about change

It's funny too, because I don't handle change well. Probably the biggest change in my life was becoming a mother. I definately could have been better prepared. I guess no one is ever really ready to become a parent. I was only 19 when I got pregnant. I could have been more informed. I had no idea kids got sick this much. It is far harder that I could have ever imagined. I knew babies woke up at night, but I didn't know that continues through the toddler years (only louder and accompanied with middle of the night tantrums). More knowledge of child developement may have helped. I had never even held a baby before Brooke, more or less changed a diaper. It doesn't really matter though, if I knew then what I know now, I would do it again in a heartbeat. There is no words to describe love for my children, the way I felt the first time I held them, or how proud they make me. I think that I could have sought the guidance of the Lord more through prayer and drawn closer to the Savior. After all we are sealed together for eternity. I just don't think it would be heaven without my loved ones. That definately includes all of you.

Michelle

Happy New Month

It's November! Time for a new question? What changes have taken place in your life and could you have been better prepared for them? How? Maybe I'll use some of your answers in my lesson this Sunday, (we always have a combined lesson in YW on fast Sunday.) Our lesson is on preparing for change. You have given others good insight in preparing lessons so now it's time to help Mom.

Thank you Trina for including the ultrasound picture. Isn't technology exciting? I'm really looking forward to seeing her or him, next summer. We're going to have such an exciting year. In less than two months we'll get to go see Stevie. I can't wait. I look for new pictures every day. You don't have any other hiding spots, do you Eric? By the way, that was an interesting commentary on Moby Dick. I don't think I ever read that book.

I sure love all of you and look forward to your answers.

Love ya,
MOM

Happy All Souls' Day

Happy All Souls' Day.

Nate - Bill Frist (R - TN) is the Senate leader under investigation for insider trading. He's also considering a run for President in '08.

The main reasons I don't like Fox News are: 1) They never report anything unfavorable about Republicans, 2) Most of their commentators are political hacks of the ultra-right who aren't very pleasant to listen to. This is quite a bit different than the NYTimes, which, while most of it is left, also has a few right-wing reportors (Judith Miller) and will criticize everyone with equal abandon. The NYTimes isn't known for accuracy anymore, after Judith Miller and Jayson Blair.