The Road

I always have a novel that I'm working on, but the one I finished last night deserves some sort of elite status ... like Supernovel. Seriously. One of the best books I've read. Period.

So if you haven't yet struggled with the man and his boy (they remain nameless throughout) along the road in a post-apocalyptic world, you should.

I actually told Seth last night that I wish I had an English class I could discuss this with. He reminded me that there are groups of people who read and discuss books together all the time ... and they're called book clubs. But I have yet to join one (who has time with two rugrats to chase all day?), so instead I'll give you my two cents on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Some authors write about depressing subject matter for the sake of being depressing (Ernest Hemmingway is that way for me). But other authors (like John Steinbeck) take their characters through difficult, seemingly hopeless situations to show that no matter what the circumstances, there is always good in the world. This book does the latter.

The man and his boy wander through a desolated world that has suffered a nuclear attack or something of the like (the book never specifies). All their food, clothes and possessions they have had to scavenge. They travel along the road on the way to the coast, but they must be careful of other travelers and survivors of the mass devastation; some people have resorted to cannibalism and other atrocities.

I won't divulge any more details--I wouldn't want to give anything away--but I encourage everyone to read it! So many incredible themes: the contrast of the man's extreme caution with the boy's unfaltering hope in mankind, the boundless love between a father and child, the battle between our travelers and all the horrors of man ... I could go on.

And I just found out from my dear friend Google that they're making The Road into a movie. Before this discovery, Seth and I had speculated on who could play the man "if" they were to make it a motion picture. I couldn't think of anyone. Seth suggested Nicolas Cage. I gagged. Turns out it's Viggo Mortensen. A respectable pick, we think.

Interested in what others have to say about the book? Check out this link.

today's bekahism

"Mommy, before I was a baby, how did I get in your tummy?" (thinks a moment...) "Did you eat me?"

Pictactures

The other day, I was looking through the summer's photos so I could get prints made. There were many that were super-cute, of course, (when you have two adorable girls, the pictures ALWAYS turn out super-cute) so I thought I'd share a few with the world. Enjoy!

This is Bekah jamming on the recycled percussion booth at the Snake River Roaring Youth Jam. The Jam is way cool. Different organizations put up booths and let the kids go willy-nilly for three days. This was our first experience attending the Jam, and I have to say we'll definitely be there next year. See the other girls in their cutesy outfits? I felt like a delinquent mom for dressing Bekah in her hand-me-down Muppet Babies shirt until ...

she got started painting. There were at least three booths where they just hand the kids paints and brushes and let them go to town. You can see that Kermy has an extra coat of green by this point. Here is Bekah playing the giant xylophone she has just painted, with Analee watching in the background. Poor Ana ... at several of the booths I wouldn't even let her out of the stroller. I didn't want her eating paint.

And here is the aftermath of the Jam. I had asked Bekah if she wanted to go to the face-painting booth, but she took that to mean that she should take the brush that was laden with black point and paint her own face.

Analee doing Wii Fit with her daddy. I think it's supposed to be some yoga pose.

This is how Ana gets up on the couch--she leads with her head.

Llama, Analee and Seth at the petting zoo at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

Seth and Rebekah inside the giant kaleidoscope at the EISF. This is the only picture in the batch that includes me. Look to the right of Bekah.

Analee enjoying a spoonful of gingersnap cookie dough.

Bekah in the tub showing off the shiner she got from falling off the back of the couch.

Rebekah enjoying an apple on the couch before church last week. Both girls have been living up to the "apple a day" adage because of the fall crop.

Analee eating her pre-church apple while watching TV.

To see more such pictures, kindly click here.

Braces tightened & surgery scheduled

I had my first post-braces-installed orthodontist appointment. Again, not fun. But not nearly as bad as the installation appointment. We're hoping that in five weeks my upper bicuspids will have rotated back to where they belong. Then I'll get a stronger wire.

And I have a surgery date--June 8, 2009! It's tentative ... but the orthodontist thinks I'll be ready to go by then. Poor Seth will have to spend his 27th birthday at the hospital with his doped-up wife who won't even be able to talk to him. Maybe he can pick up a piece of cake from the cafeteria. No candles, though. I doubt the hospital staff would appreciate their fire alarms going off.

I picked up a helpful little pamphlet called "Orthodontics and Surgery" from the ortho's office when I went last week. I thought I'd share a few choice selections:

#1--"In addition to affecting a person's appearance, an improper bite can lead to serious problems, such as abnormal tooth wear, periodontal disease, and possible joint pain."

Abnormal tooth wear. Check. The teeth on my right side are worn down a LOT more than those on my left.

Periodontal disease. Check. I had to go to the dentist several extra times so they could treat my gingivitis while I was pregnant with Bekah.

Possible joint pain. Check. Some days my jaw hurts from chewing/talking/singing too much.

So, again, I'm very grateful to be able to have the surgery. Thank you, Seth's insurance, for choosing to cover it!

#2--The four pictures on this page depict the types of problems that can be corrected by surgery and orthodontics. (Click on it to see a larger version.) Lucky me ... I fit into three of the four categories! (The lower three, to be exact.)

Anyway, those are the jaw-related updates. Goody!

lost but now found

While on my mission I was able to obtain a highly delicious but highly secret and well-guarded recipe for Italian dressing. I thought I'd lost it, but apparently I sent a copy to Andrea for safe-keeping. In the spirit of blessing the human race, I am posting that recipe here, although I am changing the name so as not to incur legal retaliation. If you like Italian dressing, welcome to Shangri-La.

"Adurtla's" Italian Dressing

1. Mix the following in 3 ounces of red wine vinegar:
   
   
   
   • 3/4 teaspoon of sugar
   
   
   • 3/4+ teaspoon of salt
   
   
   • 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
   
   
   • 1/8 teaspoon of ground mustard
   
   
   • 1/8- teaspoon of celery seed
   
   
   • 1/8+ teaspoon of thyme
   
   
   • 1/8 teaspoon of oregano
   
   
   • 1/2 teaspoon of cilantro
   
   
   • 1/2 teaspoon of tarragon
   
   
   • 1/2 teaspoon of basil leaves
   
   


2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.


3. Peel garlic and press about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of garlic (w/juice). It is okay if you add additional amounts in small increments to taste. Make sure your garlic is white or light beige with no green stem.


4. Shake the dressing vigorously and let site for approximately 30 minutes before adding 3 and 1/2 to 4 ounces of 100% vegetable oil.

who hasn't covered this one?

Today was killer at work, so I decided to unwind by slamming out a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" for my weekly offering to the intertubes. Everybody and their dog has covered this song, from Jimi Hendrix to Dave Matthews to Devo. (Okay, probably not Devo. Maybe, though.) Probably not my most refined work, but good for blowing off steam.

Instead of taking up precious blog real estate, click here to watch.

Da Bears

While Seth was cavorting in the Island Park wilderness searching (unsuccessfully) for the elusive wapiti, the girls and I decided we needed to have an adventure of our own. So we packed our bags and headed off to Yellowstone Bear World's free kids day.

The girls enjoyed seeing the animals as we drove by, and they even made sure to make the appropriate animal noises. Bekah's "eagle eyes" even spotted an animal I didn't expect to see in there: turkeys. I'm surprised at how many animals they have. We saw mountain goats, deer, bison, elk, turkeys, grizzly bears, black bears and wolves.

This wolf was missing an eye. Bekah was very concerned about it. "Why is the mommy wolf missing an eye?" (Who knows if the wolf was actually female; Bekah had seen a "daddy wolf" earlier, so this must have been the mommy.)

One of the many black bears we spotted on the drive.

After the drive-through, we stopped the van and saw the bear cubs:

Bekah and Ana at the bear cubs' fence.

Then we checked out the petting zoo.

Looking at the deer inside the petting zoo, although these in particular were obviously not there to be petted. Fences kinda prevent that.
with holding Ana.

Then the last of our 45 minutes at Yellowstone Bear World were spent riding their amusement park rides. Over. And over. And over again. Ana was a good sport, which was quite a feat for a one-year-old, especially because Bekah insisted that we ride the roller coaster three times in a row. Followed by the train. And then the roller coaster.

Sorry ... no pics of the rides. I had my hands full with holding Analee. But if you're interested in seeing more pictures, click here.

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a change will do you good

I needed a haircut.

Just play the song, Schneebly!

In high school I probably wrote twenty-some-odd songs. In college I wrote two. Since I've been home from my mission, I hadn't written a single one. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it was all those angsty adolescent hormones, or the way teenagers see the world as a black-and-white exaggeration of the way it really is. Maybe it's just that I don't make the time to play like I used to. Whatever the reason, I have not been as prolific of late.

But over the last year I've had a song kicking around inside my head. I've thought about for nearly a year, but I never got to the point where I felt satisfied with the lyrics. Anyway, last week it finally came together for me. The song is done! It's such a satisfying feeling to have written something I can feel artistically proud of after such a dry spell.

So, I thought I'd share it with the world. If you feel so inclined to listen, I'd love to hear your thoughts. At some point I'll probably go about actually recording, editing, and mixing it into a somewhat more refined product (I've got some ambitions in my head I'm not exactly sure how to fulfill, strings and drums and such) but this will do for now.



For the lyrically inquisitive:

"Rainsong"
Seth Grover

Dry, I'm dry like the season
And so I wander from reason to reason
But when I look up, when I lift my eyes
It burns my face when all I see is a blood-red sky

Sometimes I feel like a piece of paper
On which someone scrawled my name
But it's not just that, it's not just my name
'Cause when you fold it in half, I'm my own best friend
I'm my own best friend

(chorus)
So rain down on me
And let me soak you in
And baby, with your clear running love,
Take the dust from my skin
I need your love
I need it like the rain
I need it like the earth needs water
Again and again

Maybe now things will be a little bit easier
Maybe now I can finally be myself
But that's a hard sell, and I'm just not buying
You drew a line in the sand, but do I have what it takes
To leave myself behind?

(chorus)

(chorus)

A hunting we will go

Well, we survived our week-long hunting trip, thanks in large part to Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks' cabin. We had planned on spending at least three nights in hunting camp trying out our new tent, but the hoards of bees or wasps or hornets or whatever they were persuaded us to enjoy the comfort of the cabin all week long instead.

Instead, we were visited by some nasty little gnats that apparently love to rip your flesh right along the hairline. Poor Analee was vigorously rubbing the back of her head on the church pew yesterday just to get some relief from the itchiness. Here's what they did to me:

Nasty little gnats. Bekah suffered much more than this on our last day at the cabin. I think a small army of them were setting up camp in her hair.

The pain we suffered from the bugs (of both the stinging and biting varieties) and the total lack of elk was disappointing, but we did have fun and enjoyed ourselves as well. Here's a sampling of the week's activities in pictures:

Ana helping herself to the gooey marshmallows we roasted over the fire.

Seth blowing on the marshmallows that had previously been on fire while Bekah watches.

Ana joining Grandpa Dennis in his marshmallow roasting.

Analee swinging on the swingset with Andrea while Grandpa Dennis, Bekah and Seth sit around the fire.

Bekah, Andrea and Analee on top of Sawtelle. I drove the girls up there one day while the men were out hunting. It's weird seeing pictures of myself in braces.

Analee and Bekah chasing Bekah's "friend" (a golfball) on top of Sawtelle.

Grandma Susan showing Bekah how to shoot a toy crossbow. She was aiming for a yellow styrofoam deer.

Rebekah with her cousins, Tav and Mack, outside the cabin.

View from the top of a mountain that Seth and Andrea climbed on a 4-wheeler one evening. It's the year of the forest fire in Island Park.

Seth striking a pose on top of the mountain. Looking good in camo.

To view more such images, click here.

It made me laugh ...

And she was actually making "snow angels" on the carpet before I got this shot.

actually, percocet does

i'm going to be hunting all next week, so i'm posting twice this week. wish me luck!

Another Bekahism

While we're getting loaded in the van.

Seth: Rebekah, will you please get in your seat?
Rebekah: Don't talk to me!
Seth: Is that any way to talk to your Daddy?
Rebekah: (meekly) Talk to me, please.

i'd better not find any brown M&M's

I missed last week because I was running around like crazy trying to get ready for hosting an Elder's Quorum party, going up hunting on Saturday, and getting a lesson ready for Sunday.

Here's this week's offering. I give to you Fallin'. I wrote this in high school.



For those who want to hear it, >click here for an electric version of the same song.

Railroad Tracks

Not flattering, I know. And not natural. That's my all-teeth-showing face so you can see the lovely metalwork.

I got my braces yesterday. Two words: not fun. I just have to keep reminding myself that not only am I doing this for the straight teeth, but also for the surgery prep. I'll be so grateful when this is all over.

Highlights from the orthodontic appointment include:

* The removal of the incredibly painful and annoying spacers followed by the installation of the much more painful metal rings put around my molars.
* The slobber strings that followed the removal of the device that held my lips open for at least half an hour while the orthodontist cemented brackets to my teeth.
* My very own Aspen Orthodontics T-shirt that, if I wear it on my subsequent office visits, will earn me a spot in a drawing for super-cool prizes!
* The look on my face that prompted the assistant to put silver (not mauve, black, chartreuse or robin's egg blue) bands on my brackets.
* "Oh! Don't forget your balloons!" "My balloons?" "Yes! For getting your braces on." "Oh. Joy. Well, at least my kid will love them."

Reliving the days of being a middle-schooler are not the most pleasant, but at least when this whole process is all said and done, I'll be able to eat Big Hunks to my heart's content.