Random Thoughts

As far as baby names go, I don't want people to think we are being conceited by using all of our names in naming our children. It just kind of happened that way. I always knew I wanted to name my first boy Michael Alan. That was going to be my name when they thought I was a boy, or any other boy born to my parents. So it has been special to me. My dad's middle name is Alan. The fact that my husband's name is also Alann kind of cemented the deal, though it did change the spelling a little. I have also wanted to give my middle name to one of my girls. Then when we started talking about kids and names, Alann mentioned that he wanted his first son to be named after him, because he is named after his dad. I can go with that. So it just kind of fell into place that we ended up with names that used ours.

I went to early voting last night. It took me just about an hour. I saw Alann's truck in the parking lot when I got there, but didn't see him in the line. I thought about cutting, but decided I should probably not. If I had, it would have saved me probably 20 minutes. Oh well. As I was standing there, I started wondering if maybe I should have just gone on Tuesday to the real thing. But people are predicting horribly long lines on Tuesday. And it is kind of nice to have gotten it out of the way. I thought about taking some time yesterday and going at a random time- like 3:45. But I don't know if that would have helped.

There have been 5 accidents in the same intersection here by work in the last month. I can't remember a single one in the rest of the time I have been here. Seriously people, stop running red lights! Pay attention to what you are doing (as in driving, not eating, talking on the phone, shaving, makeuping, or whatever)! I always thought that Phoenix had the worst drivers. But I am starting to think it is Salt Lake. They go on red and not on green. They waste green arrows for opposing traffic by turning after their lights turn red. Ok, one car that has been in the intersection, you are allowed to turn after the light turns. But I routinely see 4 or 5 cars go through after the light turns. At this morning's accident, I watched a truck run a red light, with a cop standing right there! The cop was already motioning for the other traffic to go. That takes some guts. I try to be a respectful and patient driver. Sure, I break the rules once in a while. But you can bet I don't break them with a cop standing there. I think people should be required to take a written driving rules test every few years. And not the obscure rules like who has the right of way, a bike going straight or a car turning. The ones that are broken every single day. Should you cross a solid white line? NO. Especially not when the person in front of you has their turn signal on and they have already passed the solid white portion. People do that almost every day here. Getting off the freeway for our work exit, you have to get over almost immediately to make the left turn for our road. But there is enough time to wait until you pass the solid white line to get over. What kills me are the people who get all the way over (it is three lanes of traffic to cross) and then don't turn at the light. They just keep going. Really. Was it that important to cross three lanes of traffic, and cut off numerous people, just to go straight through the light? There is plenty of time between this light and the next if you need to turn left there. Another good question for the test is "what does a yellow light mean" and if you answer speed up, you fail and get your license revoked. Of course, that wouldn't stop people from driving anyway. Maybe what we need are cars that have a slot for your driver's license. If you don't have one with the proper authorization, the car doesn't start. The license would need a chip of some sort, but that is easy enough. Of course it would be a pain if the card reader shorted, and people would find ways around the system. But maybe it would help a little.

I have this awesome idea for a business. It relates to car maintenance. But I think that it has to wait until the economy turns around a little. It is a bit of a luxury service. I don't know how many people would agree to pay for it right now. I think of it every time I need to get my oil changed. Someone already has the name I wanted, but we can work around that. They do a different service anyway.

I am discovering the awesome power of baking soda and vinegar. I have this one pair of shoes that I really like, but they smell. They have smelled bad since the first time I wore them. They are meant to be worn without socks. They should have designed them with Odor-Eaters or something. I have tried everything- baby powder, washing them. They always stink. I scrubbed them last week with baking soda and vinegar (it bubbles like a volcano). They look on the outside much better, and the overall stink has gone down significantly. I didn't get all the smell out, because I was being impatient. But they are better. Once Alann finishes the bathroom, I want to try baking soda and vinegar on the bathtub. It is really gross looking. I usually use Kaboom, but it has a weird smell to it and makes me kind of nauseous. And I am out. And didn't buy more. I find myself leaning more and more to natural ways of doing things. Uh oh- soon I am going to be calling myself green! I think chemicals have their place, but in some cases, the natural items just work better and are cheaper. I am even toying with the idea of not buying myself more shampoo when I run out. I know. Crazy huh. You can wash your hair with baking soda and rinse with vinegar as a conditioner. Just rinse the vinegar out before you get out of the shower or you will stink all day. I haven't tried it. That is just what I hear. Now don't worry, I'm not going to go all hippy on you guys and stop shaving and wearing deodorant. That's just gross. (Though I hear baking soda makes a good deodorant too!) Seriously though, my seminary teacher smelled like BO all the time. That was unpleasant. I don't want to do that to people. I am all for green practices, as long as it doesn't compromise how I look or feel about myself.

I signed up for a free subscription to Parents magazine, because it was free. I had forgotten how high a percentage of ads to actual information exist in magazines. Sheesh. I used to get Time and Discover, both of which are fairly ad-free. We get the Ensign now, which has NO ads. The Parents magazine is probably close to 50% advertising. I don't know that I want to continue the subscription. I try to limit the amount of advertising I am exposed to. I don't like it. It annoys me. It also influences me, and I know it will influence our children even more. Do I really need toy X which lights up and will make my child smarter? No. I can play with my child and make her smarter by interacting with her. But what if she sees the ad and wants it. Will I be able to resist? I certainly hope so.

I burnt my arm on the iron on Tuesday. I have a nice red line across my forearm now. I just scratched it without thinking. Now it hurts a whole lot! I will post some pictures of what I have been sewing as soon as I am able. I want to make an adjustment to something and see if it works a little better. I think my urge to sew is my nesting impulse manifesting. I've also been trying an experiment. I managed to get all of the dishes washed on Saturday. Since then, I have been washing the pots and pans and making sure we can load the dishwasher. I am pleased to announce that 4 days later, the countertop is still clear. This is a record for us. If you have ever seen my house in its "natural" state, you know what a big deal this is. Now, if I can just keep the writing desk clear. Though I have been making the effort to go through the mail as I bring it in and toss the junk immediately. That has helped significantly. Right now it just has the curtains on it, which I thought I asked Alann to clean off and put back up, since he was the one that shoved them behind the couch last time the dogs pulled them down... (hint, hint)