Granny B’s Cookies

So for those of you that know me you know I have an issue with that dang Pink Cookie and there is a good reason too, at least I think so.

Back when I was in high school I took a summer job at a local Pizza place that was walking distance from my parent’s house in Orem called Papa de Marcos. I was considered a waitress so I only made $2.50 per hour, because I should get tips. Granted this was back in 1986, but I still thought I was getting robbed because I also cooked and cleaned that place as well. Not only that the “restaurant” only had four tables, from what I remember, and most of our orders were for pick up or delivery, translation NO TIPS.
Our biggest draw was a personal size pizza and 32 oz drink at lunch time, but we did not sell anything sweet. One day Diane Homolik, the owner, brought in a cookie recipe she made growing up. We made a batch and we put them out to sell for 25 cents. They were really good and most of them sold. The next time we made them I suggested using the red food coloring and sprinkles that were on a shelf, both were in large restaurant size containers and what they were doing in a pizza place I was not sure, but she agreed and we used them. As people purchased them they would refer to them as the “Pink Cookie” and so it stuck. Soon we had “The Special”, the personal pizza, drink and pink cookie, and the word got out and we kept pretty busy at lunch time.
The pay sucked, but at the end of the day whoever was working (usually my friends Slade Z. and Sunny H.) would split up the rest of the cookies and we would take them home. Not a bad deal considering that they were dang good, but back then they did not have packaging with the calories printed on them. It is a good thing I had a young high school metabolism because one cookie is considered FOUR SERVINGS each at 113 Calories. I think I ate at least one a day that summer right up until the day I quit. Ya, I said quit, with my dad’s permission.
I don’t recall what the circumstances were around why I quit, but I just remember that my parents were ok with it. I walked in and handed over my white Papa D polo shirt and quit. At the time I though that was a good thing, looking back I kick myself every time I think about walking out of there with out writing down that dang cookie recipe I made every day!
But that is not why I have issues... I have issues because I put the pink in the pink cookie and I don’t even get credit for it!

The Snooze Button

Argumentatively one of the best inventions on the earth at this time. The extra 9 minutes of sleep that I get from hitting my snooze button is a brief glimpse of heaven, or in the case of this morning; the 36 minutes. Let me paint the picture for you, my alarm clock is not next to me on a handy nightstand, I have a crib where a nightstand should be (*Tangent: It’s a beautiful black crib that Kyle refuses to sleep in except for naps!), it is on the other side of my room, so I have to get out of bed to turn it off, or in this case to hit the snooze button. This morning, I got out of bed 4 times to hit that button, every nine minutes. But it was worth it.
I went to bed late, these days anything after nine is late for me. I had to do some laundry for the fashion show Alexis will be in tonight, so I had about 2 hours to kill. Tracy and I started talking and around 11:30 I went to bed. Only to be woken up by Kyle at 1:00 am begging for milk. “maaammeeee Milk, Milk, maammmeeee, (something that sounds like downstairs) maameee, go!” Freak kid! It’s late, mom’s tired, go to sleep! At what age can you tell them to get their own milk?
After 30 minutes I decided to give in and get him Milk.
Upon returning to bed he got mad when I put him on his pillow and not mine, this completely upset him to the point that he could not even drink his milk. Fine I give in. Have my pillow! So I laid there awkwardly on a corner piece of my pillow and tried to go back to sleep.
The wind outside was loud and strong. It was beating the trees around and casting shadows on my walls that were creepy to me, so it was only natural that Kyle wouldn’t like them either, so soon he was not only on my pillow but up against my head, shoulder and on my arm. Great, I am sure I am going to get a good night of sleep now!
We must have both crashed hard after that because I don’t remember Kyle moving back next to his pillow or turning sideways and kicking off all of his covers. But when my alarm went off at 6:00 he stayed sound asleep. That was when I decided to hit the snooze button for that blissful extra 9 minutes of sleep!

An update on my so called “Life”

I am back to life, or at least what I have of one. Kyle and I spent last week enjoying the flu together. Poor boy, he got the worse end of it I think. Wednesday morning I changed his diaper 9 times between 7:30 and 9:00 am, or wait; maybe I had the worse end for having to change him? Either way, we spent the next few days sitting on the couch watching Signing Times, playing Lego’s and driving his toy tractor, airplane and jeep over mom’s head (it made him happy so I let him.)
My neighbor stopped by briefly and I must have looked worse than I thought because she told her husband, Steve, we needed blessings. Later that evening Steve Y. and Christopher S. come over to give both Kyle and I a priesthood blessing. Tracy had just made the girls dinner and had sat down to eat when they arrived. I did not want her to feel awkward, so I told them to go ahead and eat dinner. They proceeded to giggle through the whole prayer. I did my best to ignore them and listen to the blessing, but it was tough. It was very nice and I am thankful I have great neighbors that watch out for us.

Donovan took the kids to Idaho for Cory’s mission farewell. On the way he dropped Alexis off in Kaysville so that she could go to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, with Heidi and family. That left me all alone… with Tracy, but then she left me too. So I caught up on all the TV that I had recorded and not watched yet. After that I watched P.S. I Love You, a good love story, not something a pregnant divorced woman should watch alone.

**Side note, the divorce is final. The documents were officially signed on May 1st; yep that is right, 13 years to the day!

Saturday morning I was feeling quite a bit better, other than my voice that was still only half there, so I decided to tackle my yard. Our trimmer broke the week before; evidentially it was old and ready to go, so I ventured off to Home Depot to buy a new one. Now just so you know, I refuse to mow a lawn, I will hire someone to do it before I have to, and I do (two kids in the neighbor hood, $15.00 a week, plus $5 if they weed or edge), but I thought I could tackle this edging thing. I spent the next hour talking to a Home Depot sales guy about the pro’s and con’s, having him teach me how to turn it on and take care of it. I was very proud of myself. I knew I could do it. So with trimmer in hand and a trip through the nursery to grab a few bedding plants I was off.
When I got home I was ready… but I didn’t have gas for the edger. So I decided to move onto the flower beds. I think I did a good job weeding the side of the yard and planting the front. I wanted to pass out before I was done, so Tracy stepped in and helped out a bit. I was very happy with the outcome.


Sunday I did church alone for the first time in like FOREVER! I had to do Sharing Time in Primary with the nine girls from my 10 year old class. Brittany is in my class but was in Idaho. It turned out better than I thought it would, I was pleased.


After church Tracy and I were required to attend dinner at my grandparents. My cousin came down from Layton and my mom was not going to let us get away with not going.
My grandpa is not doing so well these days and has a very hard time keeping up his oxygen, but he sure is still sharp as a tact and had a few words to say about my current situation. I believe the exact words were “I never expected anything like this to come from that (enter Ex #2’s name here, to be known as “D” going forward), I though he was as sure as that sun in the sky.” Well we all did grandpa.

So I have to end this super long post with the best story of the weekend. Around 9:00 pm on Sunday I get a call from Courtney that they just picked up Alexis on their way back from Idaho and were running late because they had stopped to eat dinner and to expect her in about an hour. Ok, sounds like all is well and everyone had a good time. At 9:39 I get a text from Alexis that reads “Brittany just threw up all over the car”, yuck! At this point they were on the freeway near Ikea, almost home. I later found out that Brittany was in the front seat and with that full stomach from dinner, threw up out the window while going 75 MPH on the freeway. I guess when you do that it all comes back into the window and into the back seat of the small truck cab, spraying Kyle who was behind her, going across the back window, continuing to go onto Courtney who is behind her dad and then onto him. Alexis was very fortunate to be riding in my ex-sister-in-laws car that was following them. After a brief stop on the side of the freeway and Courtney switching cars, they were off again.
I received a phone call about 15 minutes later from Alexis, “Mom, “D” just blew a tire, he swerved all over the road, but everyone is ok. Can you come get us?” Wow, when life comes at you fast… Well, I grabbed my keys and left to meet them on the side of the freeway, but he was able to get the spare on before I got there so I met him at the next exit to get Alexis, where she proceeded to tell me the whole story about her ride home and how thankful she was to not be riding in the truck.

The story of my weekend did not compare. What a life.

Your over the hump...

How long can a cold last before a Doctor will feel sorry for you and give you something to get over it? My precious young son gave me his cold after returning from St George with his dad, over 3 1/2 weeks ago!
I started with insane head congestion and a headache, which led to an earache, and then the body aches and chills alternating with fever set in for a day. But wait it gets better, then the sore throat started and I lost my voice. Oh I forgot to mention the cough, the kind where you feel bits of your lungs breaking off and then you have to spit them out in the sink. (Gross, I know) And if that is not enough it is draining, as if being pregnant didn’t make me tired, now I’m tired all of the time.
I broke down and went to see a doctor a week and a half into this thing. Feeling like I was going to die! He said I am sure you’re over the hump of this virus, not much I can give you and your ear infection is not bad enough for an antibiotic! WHAT THE? Not bad enough, UGH! $10 later he sent me on my way telling me to drink lots of fluids.
So I had an appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, I gave him the same “I don’t feel good and I am tired of it” speech. You know what I got… the same your over the hump reply! Was this a class they took when they got their doctorate, “Things to say to clients with a virus 101”? Oh and he threw in drink lots of water too! Freak!
So I will continue to deal with my crappy cough, my earache and my cracking voice while I drink lots of fluids and hope I really am over the hump of this thing!
Oh- on a side note, Kyle also gave this crap to Cody, soon to be ex’s brother, HE got an antibiotic… you think it’s just a conspiracy against pregnant women?

Our New Roommate

We have a new roommate at the house. I am sure my kids would have liked the new roommate to be small, brown and fluffy be she’s not. She’s tall, blond and bossy.. at least that is what Brittany thinks.
It is my sissy, Tracy.
She is moving in not under the best of situations, but I am happy I can make room for her and help her out right now. It will be interesting to see if we get on each others nerves or actually take the time to enjoy being around each other and lean on one another for support.
She is moving into the room that was going to be for Kyle and the baby, but Kyle can continue to share a room with me, I don’t think he has a problem with that at all! He prefers to sleep in the big bed over his extremely nice and pricy crib. So the crib will be for the baby in November and that will work out fine.
I think the girls are already excited about the new situation. I have been told that Tracy cooks better that I do, that is because she makes a great Chicken Alfredo and that is Courtney’s favorite, so by default EVERYTHING Tracy makes MUST be better! Tracy also has cool friends that tell fun stories and sit around and laugh for hours… trying to get the girls to bed when that is going on is tough, they are afraid they are going to miss something. Tracy has a cool car... ok I have to admit I think the Nissan Murano is cool myself. Tracy takes great pictures, dresses cool, and is fun to be around, even though she is tough on the girls when they get out of line. Overall she is pretty awesome, I can see whey they are excited t have her around.
So to my sissy, welcome home, I hope you find the peace and comfort you need when you need it and the support to get you through this time in your life.
I love you!

Big Toys for Little Boys!

Kyle is only 21 months old but he knows what he wants and he is going to make sure he gets it. Yesterday was such a nice day, so after dinner I asked Kyle if he wanted to go outside to play; Kyle always wants to go outside regardless of what the weather is like. Alexis offered to take him out, but he was very frustrated that I was not going, so he ran back grabbed my hand and walked me to the door. OK, I can go, I thought. As soon as he was outside he started to run to the back yard, stopping several times to make sure I was behind him. I thought he was just excited to go play on the Little Tykes slide we have in the back yard, but I was wrong. He stopped only briefly at the slide to wipe off small flowers that had fallen from the tree next to it (a bit of OCD I think), but then ran on to the shed. When he got to the shed he tried to open the big door… that was not working so he grabbed my hand and gestured for me to do it. I said “Kyle I think it needs a key.” He looked at me real quick with a furrow on his face of confusion, looked at the lock, pointed at the hole and said something in Kyle talk that I am sure meant “Key!” Then he turned around and ran back to the house, up the stairs to the front door, and waited till I opened it, ran into the kitchen where the key is kept and pointed. I picked him up, he grabbed the correct key and put him down, and he ran all the way back to the shed and tried to get that key into the hole. That was not working, so he handed the key to me and grunted, so I opened the door, that was when the biggest squeal of delight came out of that little boy. He ran right in and tried to climb up onto the 4 wheeler that had been his goal. After all of that hard work I had to take him for a ride, how could I deny him that? After a bit of a fuss over letting Alexis sit on the back with him he was ready to go for a ride. We rode around the neighborhood; saw some pigmy goats, horses, dogs, tractors, and trucks. The ride was long enough to satisfy him, a big smile on his face let us know he was happy, and he got what he wanted

The Good, My Dad and the Ugly

Ok, ya I know that is not how the title should go but it works for this post.

Yesterday started with the Good. I went to a N.O.V.A presentation for Courtney’s 6th grade class. N.O.V.A. which stands for Nurturing youth to seek out positive Opportunities, internalize good Values, and to accept Accountability for their choices in life, is a program taught by the local Police department that helps kids to build confidence in themselves to make the right choices when it comes to potentially devastating effects of illegal drug use, violence, and negative media influences.
Part of the program required Courtney to not watch TV, movies, play with her Nintendo DS or be on the computer other than homework for two weeks! Another assignment given to the 6th graders was to write a constitution about the things they learned and what they would do with that knowledge. Courtney was one of 6 children chosen to read their constitution at that N.O.V.A. ceremony. She did a great job and I am so proud of her.

My Dad’s birthday was also yesterday. So Tracy and I ran to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and bought him $20 in “Bears” this is what they call their “Turtle’s”. We got him Macadamia nut, Pecan, Cashew and Almond blobs of yummy goodness. Then we went by the house to deliver the hefty box and say Happy B-day to him. Tracy also made him a beautiful card that he is displaying in the dungeon on a shelf. I love my Dad, he is great. I know he is a grumpy guy that hates the idea of another birthday, but I am glad he is around.

The UGLY. Donovan had the kids because of the photography class that Tray and I are taking on Monday nights. I was excited to get home and see them as he had them since Friday and I only saw Kyle briefly at church on Sunday. So when I arrived around 8 I was surprised to not see his truck. Alexis explained that they went to his friends for a family home evening night. Ok, I am good with that, but we agreed that Kyle needed to be in bed by 9 each night and he was pushing it. So when they arrived around 9:30 I was a bit frustrated (I am being nice here), no courtesy call, no heads up “we are running late”, nothing. Now I know I could have called, but I wanted to see if he had enough respect to let me know what was up. Needless to say, I got Ugly, I blew up and let him know that I did not appreciate that he takes advantage of me, he in turn said I was being selfish, I got more mad because I have been extremely flexible with him, even giving him weekends that were not his, like Easter Saturday and spring break. Then he asks me to switch his Thursday for Wednesday because he is going out of town for something he has known about for months! Two days notice. UGH! I am selfish? Seriously! I know I need to learn to handle myself better, and I am sorry I am an emotional, pregnant, single, working mom who just wants a little respect and courtesy.
What sucks is that I honestly would like to be nice to him and have a decent relationship, but I refuse to be a doormat to anyone, and I am sorry that he can not spend as much time with his kids as he would like, but that was a consequence of the choice he made when he left.

Happy 13 Year Anniversary to Me!

So, Should-be-my-ex-by-now and I have officially been married for 13 years. How about that! Today is our anniversary, 13 years ago today started as a beautiful morning, sun shining, flowers blooming, birds singing. We were ready to be married at a local park surrounded by close friends and family. Then the news came, FLASH THUNDER SHOWERS. It did not look like there was a cloud in the sky, but to be safe we moved it indoors to a family friend’s home. She was kind enough to move everything out of her family room, barrow chairs from the church and set it all up. WOW! I don’t know if I ever thanked her for all of that (so Kristen, tell your mom thanks OK.)
We arrived late to the house and almost everyone was already there. There was just a slight sign of rain by the time we got together but nothing yet; till the ceremony started. Moving the ceremony inside brought everyone closer together, it was cozy, but I liked it, it felt nice to me. The sky got dark, making to room that was lit with white Christmas lights strung through all of the greenery look kind of romantic, and when the bishop started the ceremony the thunder started (a sign maybe?), loud rolling thunder. Alexis was the flower girl, she ran back and sat on my moms lap when that started. Our camera man, Cody, turned the camera on when he thought it was off and off when he thought it was on (way entertaining to watch afterwards; but we missed everything.)
Then the rain started, from what I understand it was hard to hear the words being said over the rain and thunder, but I didn’t even notice.
Did I mention we were having a BBQ after the ceremony, and the grill was outside on the back patio. My poor dad and the family friend, Lane, ended up cooking outside in the down pour under a makeshift tarp (Kristen, thank your dad too k.) But in an odd way it was all perfect. I guess I was just so happy it did not matter what the day was like, I was with the man I loved.
Funny how things change; how you never expect that after 13 years you will feel any different. But this morning there it was, an email from my attorney, “the Divorce papers were submitted to the Judge on April 24th and will take about two weeks to be signed and finalized”. Things change, and you hope they will be for the better, but sometimes it is hard to see the positive in something like this. But if I take a lesson from 13 years ago today, what seemed to be a bad weather day for someone else was a perfect romantic day for me.

Happy Anniversary Soon To Be Ex #2