Border Wars

I know that I have been seriously neglecting the blog and for that I am sorry. My whole life has been sucked up by planning an event. I have been charged with planning a Customer Appreciation Day for my Check City. Didn't think it would take over my life like it has, but one week and one day to go, and then I shall be free.
I am pretty much a nerd, I watch a lot of Discovery Channel and National Geographic. At least I can own up to that. There is a show called Border Wars on Nat Geo and I am totally hooked. When I first saw the commercial for it I thought there would be a rather political agenda, but surprisingly it is more story telling.
Rather than go off on a tangent about my thoughts and opinions, I am more interested in what you think. Check it out on YouTube and let me know what you think.

Grocery Shopping

I am terrible at grocery shopping, that being said I still go every week. I have two jobs at the grocery store, entertain C2 and push the cart. Sometimes I get sent to the grocery store on my own and it usually ends up being a disaster. I wander around in a daze trying to remember what I came for and how much MrT needed. I usually end up having to call him and ask what aisle I should be in and what quantity is required. I don't have the discipline for the grocery store. I am one of those people that can walk down every aisle in the Wal Mart with no real need for anything. Just checking things out. Don't leave me alone in the Costco, I tend to get lost and they have to page me from customer service saying that my party is looking for me.
MrT is a man with a plan at all times. Even grocery shopping has a very precise attack plan. He knows what he is going to buy and he knows where everything is in each store we go to. I often wonder what people are thinking when they see us in the grocery store. MrT is usually looking through a handful of coupons and adding things up in his head and C2 and I are usually playing silly games. Talk about role reversal. It must be a pretty funny thing to watch.
I will always remember our first trip to the grocery store. I had just moved to Vegas and we had finished unloading the truck, we had $50 and it had to last for two weeks. I remember the anxiety driving to the Food-4-Less, how were we ever going to make it that long on $50? I was so super impressed that day. MrT filled the entire cart and calculated that we would have about $10 left over, I was skeptical, but he estimated right.
So now that you know that MrT has turned grocery sport into an Olympic sport, I must tell you his biggest pet peeve. When we pull up to the check out line, MrT's face distorts slightly and his breathing gets a bit faster. He unloads the cart in the precise way that he would like his groceries to be bagged. I am not kidding either, he really does. Sometimes he gets lucky and the customer service manager will bag his food, but most times his efforts go unnoticed by the 16 year old, throwing the shampoo in with the bread. By the time the cart is full again MrT's face is bright red and he looks as if he were going to explode. This, however, is not the worst of it. The almost boiling point is when he puts the bags in the Jeep. He continues to grumble and moan and eventually there are cuss words involved. When we get home all hell breaks loose. There are three dogs and a three year old running around checking out all the bags. MrT is on the verge now because he also has a plan for putting the groceries away. Since the bagger put the avocados in with the canned goods it totally blows the putting away plan out of the water. At this point I banish the dogs, C2 and myself to the back yard.
When the groceries are all put away, life goes back to normal and stays that way, until next week.

Sparklers RULE

I think today is the official holiday... well all the banks are closed and Check City has been slammed all day so it is clearly the holiday.

At the Turton household we celebrated all weekend. BBQs and relaxing to the max! I had a lot of customers ask me what we were going to do for the holiday and since I have a husband and a three year old boy, I told them we would be lighting things on fire. And that we did.

Last year C2 loved the fireworks and couldn't get enough of them. This year was about the same. C2 adheres to a strict policy of Cautious Optimism. If he is excited about something, he is super excited only until it is close up. Then he backs up and enjoys from afar.

So the night went something like this: MrT would light the firework and C2 would then run like crazy to the garage and watch from there. When the firework went out he would run back down the driveway screaming "Do it again Daddy! Do it again Daddy!" This went on for about an hour before he finally got tired and just sat in my lap.

C2 and MrT are the same in that they love to light things on fire. The sparklers were the favorite of the evening. Every time C2's went out he would come running back and screaming for more.

He can't get enough of them to be honest, and really who can? They are my favorite too.

Ummm...

Today I was at the beloved Wal Mart and I saw two teenage girls that were wearing denim under ware.

I think they must have been confused or got dressed in the dark because their shorts did not resemble shorts at all. I have under ware that covers more than what those shorts were covering. I was young and skinny once and I still don't think I owned any shorts that were that short.

This is what I am talking about...

This what I am talking about! These pictures are courtesy of MrT and Roger. Roger was kind enough to stop in the middle of the road so that MrT could take a picture. I can't believe that people actually drive cars that look like this. I think they think they are pretty cool, I on the other hand just point and laugh at people like this.

On a side note we had a great time in Idaho with Roger and LindyLoo. We went out on the boat and sadly there are no pictures because I jumped in the lake chasing C2's hat and forgot that I had the camera in my hand. Hopefully Brutus will have some pictures soon.

Bribery works

I am now a firm believer in bribery. The potty training was going absolutely no where except all over my carpet. C2 had lost interest in the Skittles and marshmallows being offered as a reward for using the potty, and I was pretty much at the end of my rope.

MrT and I have wanted to get a bike for C2 for awhile. MrT found one on sale at Wal Mart and we took C2 to see it. We told him that if he went potty in the potty all week we would buy it for him. WORKED LIKE A CHARM! He didn't have one accident all week and this is the result.

See how happy he is? If there was a picture of mom, I would have the same cheesey grin. Best $39.00 ever spent!

I don't want to!

Republican vs Democrat. Neither party is right and neither party is wrong either. I believe that there are many opinions out there and everyone is entitled to their own. I grew up fairly conservative and when I got to college I moved pretty far to the left. Now that I am a little older, I have moved right to the middle of the road. I like the middle of the road, it is a place that fits me nicely. I have strong feelings about politics but not enough to affiliate with either party.

All that being said, I love living in Utah. I know that most people think it kinda sucks, but I love it. It has four seasons and tons of things to do. It is fairly inexpensive to live here and for the most part people are very friendly. There is only one thing I HATE about living here. If I want to vote for a Republican, I have to be a Republican.

Check City often gets a lot of bad press and many below the belt kicks from Democrats who want to control every thing including your money. Even if this wasn't my job, I would have to say that I don't think the Government should say how many loans you can take out or that you can't take them at all. I think that is Government overreaching and that it is wrong. If I am having money troubles that is my business and I can do what I like to fix my own problems.

My boss has recently said that Check City will officially endorse Mike Lee in the upcoming election. Mike Lee has promised not to legislate against Payday Lenders and we need all the help we can get these days in Washington. I would love to vote for him... but I can't unless I register with the Republican party. I called my County Clerks office yesterday and they said that even though I was registered to vote, I had to be a Republican to vote in this Primary. WHAT THE WHAT?

If I were in politics I don't think I would care where the votes came from. Doesn't it matter who gets the most votes? Perhaps I missed the chapter in American History where it is only one kind of vote that counts. Perhaps there is crazy political advisor out there who believes his guy won't win if there are tainted votes out there. Why are the Republicans so concerned that their votes are PURE Republican? I truly don't get it.

After a rather frustrating conversation with the woman at the County building, I was informed that at my local polling station they would have the forms necessary to become a Republican and that when I am done voting, there would be a form to un-become a Republican.

I guess that one must do what one must do, so for a very short moment in time I guess I will be a Republican.