Really Important Stuff -- Slow-Closing Toilet Lids

When you don't blog very often, it is important to make each blog post count. This one is a counter. For a few weeks now I've been contemplating what I could post to benefit my blog readers. I finally hit upon my topic -- slow-closing toilet lids. Are you familiar with them? If not, it's time to get acquainted.

This is the first house that we've ever had slow-closing toilet lids in. I can't remember who clued me into these, but I ought to make them a raspberry pie. We installed one on our master toilet and after a few months decided that every toilet in the house needed one. If you don't have one on the toilets in your home consider investing in one for each bathroom.

Why are they so wonderful? Mostly because they don't bang when you close them, making them the perfect choice for households with small children or careless adults. Opening these lids is the same as for other toilet lids, it's the closing part that is beautiful. All you do is just start to close the lid, and the hinges do the rest, slowly bringing the seat and cover softly and quietly into the closed position. Bliss in the bathroom for sure.

Note: While attempting to find a photo for this post (no one really wants to see a photo of my toilet) I happened upon this video. Apparently now they have toilet seats that don't even require that you touch them to close them. (Opening them is another matter.) Clearly some inventor must spend a lot of time thinking about toilets.

Me, I'm just a happy beneficiary.

New Year's in Tokyo, Japan

I'll be heading down to a class on Google Tools tomorrow and Friday. As part of the class we'll be using GoogleEarth and have been asked to bring 5 photos (digital) relating to our personal histories. This is one that I'm taking.

This is me. Age 18. In Tokyo, Japan. I spent my first college Christmas break in Japan, visiting the family that hosted me in the summer of 1988. New Year's in Japan is a BIG DEAL! To celebrate, they dressed me up in this silk kimono and we toured some of the popular shopping areas in Tokyo. I received many stares, got lots of attention, and loved the experience! (Note: My big American feet wouldn't fit into traditional Japanese wooden sandals. I wore the split toe socks with flip flops. Oh well.)

My mother was an exchange student for a summer during high school. I think that's what made me want to have a similar experience. She went to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and I went to Tokyo, Japan. I soaked up all that I could and had a fabulous host family who took me to many great locales. I'm still in touch with my Japanese family. We exchange e-mails throughout the year and presents at Christmas time.

As of this writing I don't forsee that any of my children will be foreign exchange students, but they have expressed a desire to use their passports before they expire in 2012. (Kids' passports are only good for 5 years -- but cost only $10 less than adult passports.)

Well, that's it for today. And if you were wondering, YES, I loved Japanese food. (Gained almost twenty pounds in the 2 months I was there in 1988.)

Reasons (excuses) for not blogging more . . .

You've probably noticed that my blogging entries have been few and far between this fall. I just figured out another reason (excuse) -- I've been taking on-line classes since the end of September. And by the time I've finished listening to the lecture, doing the assignment, and posting on the discussion board, I want to be off the internet. (Today I'm posting in the morning BEFORE doing any on-line classwork.)

Here are some other reasons:

My on-line time must occur during the hours when my kids are at school. 'Cause once they get home, they want the computer for school work and internet trawling. (When I've got something critical, I do stand up for my computer usage rights and tell the kids they can wait.)

On days that I substitue teacher, there's no time for blogging.

Now that I'm focusing on teaching and getting out to work, I don't feel the need to blog.

I'm learning new skills like crochet and hat-loom knitting. (I want to learn "real" knitting too.) They sometimes take the place of blogging.

I'm facing reality. I started blogging as a means to write. And although I still love to write, I'm realizing that if I'd have really wanted to write a book, I would have done it by now. I like writing. But more than that, I like ideas. I like coming up with titles, but writing the rest of the book . . . that eludes me.

Plus, writing is a solitary pursuit. And I need to be around people. Getting out and working, seeing people, interating in person instead of over the internet has done wonders for my mental health. I may not have had SAD each fall, so much as I had MSP (missed seeing people) when all my kids went back to school, and I stayed home. Alone.

I guess it all comes down to changing my focus. My goal is to get my teaching certificate current and then apply for 7th grade jobs in my school district. I hope to have a full-time position by the start of school next year. In a way, my sporadic posting is a sign of things to come. Maybe even the beginning of the weaning process away from blogging.

But don't hold me to that. A woman can always change her mind.

Wicked Weekend Went Well

I had a great time in Denver this weekend! I went with my sisters-in-law to see the Broadway musical, Wicked. It did not disappoint! (Just FYI, I've referred to this weekend as my "Wicked Weekend," making some listeners raise their eyebrows. But never fear, no real wickedness happened.)

We flew out of SLC early Friday afternoon. We arrived in Denver, got a rental car and drove into downtown to P.F. Chang's to meet some other ladies for an early dinner. (It gets dark early in Denver too.) After dinner we drove to Lakewood, Colorado to a huge outlet mall. Thank goodness for GPS -- what an awesome tool! Oh, and shopping was fun too. Eventually we made it back to our hotel -- the Sheraton downtown. After checking in and unpacking, we pretty much hit the sack.

Saturday was more shopping, lunch at Subway and then ... drum roll ... getting to see the matinee showing of Wicked! The costuming and scenery were fabulous, but better than that was the script and music. For those of you unfamiliar with the story line, it's a look at how the Wicked Witch of the West got her name/fame. I liked how it was a mucial for all different ages. At the most basic level it's a fantastical story with magic and wonder. Teens might appreciate the romantic element in it, and there are all sorts of complexities for adults to appreciate -- my favorite being the whole look at calling good evil and evil good. (There's a bit of political symbolism too.)

The rest of Saturday was dinner and a bit more shopping followed by watcing "Julie and Julia" on the TV back in our hotel room. We packed up on Sunday and, despite initially having a cancelled flight, returned to SLC with only a half hour delay. Whew!

Well, that's all for today -- maybe for this week. Enjoy the beautiful crisp fall days!

All is Safely Gathered In . . .

There's something cozy about this time of year. With Daylight Savings Time ended, it's dark outside by 6 PM. I'm enjoying how we tend to stay home in the evenings, all warm and snug in our home. When a storm blows in and it's cold outside, Hubby will make a fire in the woodburning stove. The girls and I work on Christmas projects. We turn the porch light on early, telling passersby that they're welcome to join us.

In the last week we finished up the outside projects that had to get finished before the snow descends:

Mixing and pouring concrete for the mow strip of the new fence around the garden and orchard. (Nothing tires one out quite like concrete work.)

Draining the hoses of water and storing them away until spring.

Taking the last load of the season to the green waste bin. (Including the pumpkins and cornstalks that have decorated the front porch.)

Working with our contractor as he got the footings, foundation and floor poured for our future shop.

Mowing the lawn short and bagging the clippings so that mice don't make havoc of our turf.

Breathing a sigh of relief that winter is coming.


I like to think of winter as a vacation from yard work. Yes, shoveling snow feels a little like yard work, but I try to think of it more as exercise. Plus I love how the rest of the great outdoors is covered by a bright, white blanket of cold. It's worth shoveling for.

Enjoy what remains of fall!

P.S. I'm headed to Denver to see "Wicked" -- the broadway musical -- this weekend. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Fall At It's Finest

I'm loving the nip in the air, the frost on the lawn each morning, and the warm changing colors of the leaves.

This spring we planted two hills of a gourd-mix. Yowza! We've had gourds coming out our ears! I picked two full apple boxes for us to use, gave some to my mother-in-law, and Hubby posted a you-pick post on his works intranet and a couple people have picked what they wanted. Many will simply stay on the vine and end up in the green waste bin.

Our pumpkins were also robust. We have a dozen on the front porch along with cornstalks tied to the porch pillars. I must say that I love decorations that are practically free and that can decompost back into Mother Earth without needing to be stored for another year. Yeah, that's my kind of decorating!

(Sorry, not photo. I'm writing this well past dark.)

Another great thing about fall is getting to listen to LDS General Conference. I love to be doing some sort of work while listening to the Saturday sessions. This time around Hubby, kids and I stacked wood on the back porch with General Conference blaring on the radio outside. Hubby and I continued to move our "junk pile" in preparation for the footings/foundation/floor of our future shop. For some reason my brain absorbs more of the messages if my hands are busy with a menial task. Go figure.

Hope you're having a great fall too!

Bizzy as I Wanna Bee ...

Those of you who know me well have probably seen my kitchen -- decorated in bees. The title of this blog would make a nice framed addition to my decor. And it's the truth. At the moment I'm as busy as I want to be.

Here's a summary:

In the last 2 weeks I'll have substituted 9 out of 10 days. Seven of those days were in a 6th grade classroom where I had just one day's worth of lesson plans (kind of) and had to forage through classroom supplies and pick the brain of the level II observer to figure out what to do for the rest of the time. It's been a lot of work, but the students have been great! (But I'll be glad to have a week off next week.)

I'll start an on-line course through UEN (Utah Educator's Network). I'll use the credit from it and two other on-line classes this fall to get my teaching certificate current. (Along with substitute teaching and past PTA volunteer work.)

Right now I'm not sure if I'll apply to teach full-time next year. The last two weeks have shown me that teaching school really is WORK. I'm bushed by the end of the day, and boy do I sleep well. (So tired!)

Well, must go. I need to pick up my youngest at ice skating lesson.