Not so bad

Okay, I realize that I'm a dramatic soul who possibly reacts too strongly to stress. I thought I would follow my whine with a "Thankful Thursday" moment.
1) I'm thankful for live mariachi bands playing at the wal-mart. Sweet!
2) I'm thankful for boot wielding firemen who were collecting money for charity at the stop lights.
3) I'm thankful for a son who says in a very cool way "Let's Roll." when it's time to get out of the car at the grocery store.
4) I'm grateful for the abundance of chihuahuas that exists in Lubbock and how adorable they all are- especially mine.
5) I'm thankful for the comforter that guides us and helps us feel at peace when things seem to be going wrong.
6) I'm thankful for prayer and quick answers to prayer.
7) I'm thankful to have a worthy priesthood holder in my home who can deal with the drama.
8) I'm thankful for blogs and people who show support to me when I'm being a whiner.
9) I'm thankful for a return to good health and all of the abilities that I have.
10) I'm thankful for the scriptures that guide and comfort us when we need it.

Whine Alert!

This past Sunday, things were going well... until the same psyco who came after Owen on Thanksgiving day was at it again while O was walking the pooches. Lame! We've been having several problems with our neighbors of late. Things that are too awful to relate in words have happened to all of us, and it's gotten to the point that we feel that we need to move to a safer location. It's a shame. We love the house we're in. The Landlords are the best we've ever had, we're right next to the best park in Lubbock and super close to the University. But when your personal safety and well being is threatened too many times, it's time to move on. House searching is tricky here because there are basically three categories:

First are the student apartments that are unarguably awesome in every way, but also harbor super hard core partying young people. Not family friendly.

Second comes the reasonably priced homes in crack whore/ bandito neighborhoods (aka 90% of Lubbock) where the living conditions become a study in patience, perseverance, and extreme tolerance for those who are not cw/b's .

And lastly there are the " we might as well get a mortgage" houses that have a rent that you either have to be stupid or really desperate to get away from the cw/b neighborhoods to be willing to pay the exorbitant prices.

Whatever.
I'm just frustrated today. No luck in finding a place to live. There's a part of me that wants to just get a tazer for each of us and just stay where we are! So in honor of my self-pitying and frustrated state, I made a sound track to get it out of my system. Enjoy the whining folks! :)

Romance is...

...bowling with the family! We had a great time celebrating our love by knocking a few pins down. Here's some pictures of our fun:

News from Owen

I just finished reading Milton's Paradise Lost. It was outstanding. It is an extremely well-written and highly poetic (epic poetry) account of many gospel events and doctrines, especially The War In Heaven and The Fall of Man. The author takes a lot of liberties by adding all kinds of information to the Biblical accounts, but most if it is excellent. There are a few errors, but what is right far outweighs what is wrong. I also recently read Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamozov and just started reading Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. After years of restricting myself to reading only psychology books and articles, and never having been much of a reader in general, I am now addicted to reading high quality literature. I was deluded for a few years into thinking that works of fiction weren't worthwhile. That was a mistake. The great works of "fiction" are just as meaningful as the great works of "fact".

I'm also addicted to pizza, as usual. I'm still on the Atkins diet, but I regularly cheat by eating pizza. Papa Murphy's take-and-bake is my favorite.

I recently wrote a little poetry-like thing in honor of my 13th wedding anniversary. Here it is:

This Friday, 13th

13 laps around the sun
Some say is far for two to run

13 circles of the globe
For some is pain like unto Job

But what to them is dev’lish trial
Is our love’s season most fertile

And as May 1st our love re-Spring’th
We celebrate this Friday, 13th

The Mighty Artichoke

We love artichokes at our house. I don't know if there are any others who feel this way about this particular vegetable but we do. Every once in a while, some food item will really catch my imagination and I will embark on an iron chef like quest to involve that particular food into almost anything. This has been the case with the artichoke. It's simply an amazing food! It can turn an omelet into something phenomenal; the lowly pot roast becomes exceptional; pair it with its friends sweet bell pepper and olive oil, and you have something close to ambrosia. It's even a beautiful thing to behold! Such a lovely, symmetrical work of art. I would pay money (assuming I had some someday) for a beautiful artichoke sculpture or painting if I came across one. There are even legends about the lovely artichoke blossom. What an amazing food! I guess today it was a strong desire to eat the said choke that sparked this ode. If you haven't tried artichoke yet, may I suggest that you do so post haste! You haven't lived until you've experienced it.

Weekend Funnies

This weekend, Dylan was on one. He said a few funny and somewhat shocking things that I thought would be amusing to share:

On Friday afternoon, it was hot! I mean 90 degree desert hot. When I picked Dylan up from school, we decided that it was hot enough for a half price drink from Sonic. (Diet blue ocean water please!) After Dylan drew deeply from his straw, he said "Mom. There's two things that you need on a hot day. A good air conditioner in your car and a blue ocean water!" Indeed!
Later that same afternoon, we were talking about super heroes and Owen said "Dylan, what superhero would you be?" Said Dylan: "I'd be Nacho Man! I'd ZOT! (making a magical looking gesture with his hands) and there'd be all the nachos you could eat and then I'd SHLAM! (pointing dramatically with his finger) cover them with cheese! YUM!" I bet you can guess who was hungry for junk food!

Tonight, we were reading from section 18 of the D&C for family scripture study. Owen took the opportunity to discuss what it means to cry repentance and bring one soul unto God. He then explained what it means to be "saved" by Jesus Christ. I guess Dylan stopped listening after he heard the word "saved" because at the end of this discussion Dylan said "If I saw someone who needed to be saved, I'd run over as fast as I could and give my best Karate kick in the crotch to the bad guy and then I could save people like Jesus!" Oh my! At this point I'd lost it and had to bury my face in my arms. Owen, with his indestructible poker face, helped Dylan to understand better what being "saved" really meant in this context.
On another note, I'll be blogging later this week about school, work, and Dylan's re-entry into the public school system. Until then...

Update From Owen

Until now, Becky was entirely responsible for the content of this blog. No longer. For better or (probably) for worse I will now directly contribute to this blog by posting entries from time to time. I decided to join this blog because it's devoted to the family, and I am an important part of the family - husband and father. My personal blog (www.deadundead.blogspot.com) will now be entirely devoted to my reviews of horror movies. All that I want to blog about (besides horror movies) will be included here, on the family blog. Here's an update about me:

1. I continue to slowly lose weight on the Atkins Diet. People have commented that I look thinner. I recently figured out how to make a very tasty soy pancake-omelette. (Combine eggs, milk, and soy flour. Cook it like an omellete. Apply generous amounts of butter and sugar-free syrup). I also eat a lot of jalapeno flavored sausages, bunless burgers, bacon, vegetables, and nuts.

2. I am writing my dissertation proposal. I will use "real-time data collection" to study how exercise influences mood/affect among severely obese individuals (and whether stressors and general health symptoms function as moderators).

3. I recently read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. It was incredible. I am now halfway through The Prophets by Abraham J. Heschel. It is very educational and enlightening. I recently started reading Foundation by Isaac Asimov, but I quit after a few chapters because it wasn't interesting enough. I read it several years ago, but I forgot most of it. It is a very influential book, but you need to be a fan of science fiction novels in order to fully appreciate it. I am VERY selective about what I read. In general, I stick to stuff that is "real" or otherwise very educational and/or profound. For some reason I feel this way about books, but when it comes to movies I'll watch all kinds of crap.