Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend was a weekend of accomplishments for me. I was finally able to give my mom her birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day present (for many years running.) As many of you may know, my mom collects nativity scenes. In my guestimation, I would say she has over 400 of them. When I was back in high school, I found a pattern for a Nativity scene cross stitch and vowed that I would do it for my mom some time. Four years ago, I lived with a roommate who was into cross-stitching and she convinced me to do it. 3 1/2 years (and many movies, road trips, and football games on t.v. later) I finished it... That is the one thing that Pret and I have 100% claim on from my parents house when they both die! This isn't the best picture of it, so maybe I will have my dad take a more "professional" picture of it that I can post. Thank you to Robert and Cynthia Brown who took it up to Sheridan for me, thus saving me on shipping costs and protection!



This past weekend, our stake did a Broadway Musical Review that I participated in. I was just a member of the overall cast, but it was a lot of fun to do. I loved being part of a production once again. It was also nice to get to know some of the other people in the stake. I hope that if we aren't in the stake next year, they will adopt me in and let me be a part of it anyway.

This is John and Charla Jordan. They were a really cute, fun couple to hang out with. They have been married for over 10 years and still act like newlyweds-it is cute.


This was Cherokee (like the Native American tribe). She was one of the leads and just a fun girl to hang out with. I changed before I got a picture with "Belle," who was played by a girl in our ward (Nikki), but we had some fun times together, too.



And this was the whole cast. I know it is hard to see, but note the set in the background. It was an amazing mountain scene painted by Nikki's mom and one of my friends.



Overall it was a fun weekend and good to finally be done with some things I have been working on for a while.

Finished!

Pret just took his final for his Pathophysiology class. He got a 95.95% on the test, thus securing an A in the class. We are so happy! Now he has 10 days to relax before starting his crazy summer schedule. Anyone looking for something to do on a Friday, let me know, because Pret will be working every one of them!

Way to go, Pret!

Too short, but good for a change

No, this entry is not about a vacation or trip; it's about hair. In November I found a hair dresser that I really like. She specializes in curly hair--definitely a breed of its own (www.cutcolorcurls.com if you are interested yourself). When I went 5 months ago (way too long, I know. Blame it on lack of money and good planning...) I came away with a new vision of how to care for curly hair, but my hair didn't look much different. As I planned to go this next time, I knew I was ready for a change. My hair has basically looked the same for the last 3 years (don't get me wrong, I love the long and curly look and so does Pret), and change is good, right?!?!

I went in planning on getting it a little bit shorter than last time, but as she looked at my hair, she realized how dead it was and was willing to go for the more extreme change. She showed me a quick preview of what she was going to do, then began cutting (she doesn't do wet cuts for curly hair.) The first few cuts began to scare me--it was a lot shorter than I thought. Luckily, that was one of the shortest layers, but still!! She kept snipping away and soon there were piles of curls on the floor. I wish I had had my camera, or that I had kept some of the perfect little ringlets.

By the end, I was a little sad, mostly because I knew Pret would be a little dissapointed at the length, but at the same time, I was strangly exhilerated. I am now a changed woman! After being sick for so long and thinking I had pink eye so not really wearing make-up, I am now ready to start taking care of myself again. It is amazing how a little change in one area can cause a chain reaction of change. Hopefully it is all change for the better.


Sorry the picture isn't the best--it was taken with my computer... And I am not trying to show off, I just have friends and family that I won't see for a while that look at this...

Death and Sadness

So it has been a long time since I have had a grandparent die. In 1999, my mother's father passed away at the age of 94. He had lived with us for about 6 months 3 years before and I grew close to him and learned a lot from him, especially about prayer and faith. Then in November of 2005, Pret's grandfather died, but I had only had the opportunity of meeting him a few times, so it was't too difficult.

Growing up, I didn't live close to either of my sets of grandparents (I only met my grandma Sohn once before she died when I was very young). But next door to us lived Pat and Keith. They were both older and all their children had moved away and their grandchildren were all even older than I was, so I "adopted" them as my "grandparents" and they adopted me.

I spent many hours over there--mainly because they had cable TV (including Nickelodeon!), pop, and gum available to me at any time. They would let me in any time I came over and welcome me with open arms. I would even get to eat dinner over there sometimes, which was quite a treat! They had a little weiner dog named Cletus, who they would ask me to "dog sit" when they had parties or other things going on in the evening. Basically, they were the grandparents I got to visit every day. They had both been heavy smokers, but Keith had a heart attack and was told he had to quit, so instead he always kept a pack of gum in his pocket and would pull out a piece when he wanted "a smoke." Pat on the otherhand, smoked, what seemed like, almost continuously, but it never seemed to bother me when she did, even though I still can't stand it when others smoke around me. I didn't even notice that my clothes smelled of cigarette smoke when I got home, although I am sure that it bothered my mom and dad.

When I left for college, they had moved out to "The Place," their ranch house about 25 minutes out of town. There, Keith had built a beautiful log cabin in the middle of the Hidden Valley. My mom made sure I went to visit them anytime I came to town for an extended period of time. I went begrudgingly, mainly because I felt like they were "old" and I didn't have anything to talk to them about anymore. But after I went, I was always glad that I had.

Yesterday I got a message from my dad telling me that Pat had died on Monday. It is hard for me to even write this without crying (I am failing, to be honest.) I never thought that this would have hit me so hard. I know that I was close to them when I was younger, but I have not been in contact with them for years. I guess it comes from thinking about when my own grandparents will pass on and not looking forward to that time. I also hope that Keith will be able to get on by himself. As Pret has told me, it is probably a good thing as I'm sure her health wasn't too good after smoking for 50+ years. She also has a daughter and sister that have passed on, so she can now be with them once again.

The funeral is tomorrow and I am horribly sad that I can't get up there for it. I hope that my thoughts and prayers will pass the distance and provide some comfort to the family and friends.

To Pat--know that you have made a wonderful difference in the life of one small girl whom you loved unconditionally!

Allergies--again!

So I went and got poked yesterday! I went in to the allergist yesterday thinking that I would probably be allergic to cats and maybe a few other things. Boy was I surprised when they decided to test me for 65 things! (She said the average is 64, so I guess I wasn't too abnormal)

After the initial pokes, she came back 5 minutes later and immediately took off 5 of the grasses/trees/weeds because I was reacting to them so badly. After the 15 minute mark, the nurse took all of the grasses/weeds/trees off and said I was allergic to almost all of them. I was so shocked! The doctor asked later if I had ever suspected that I had so many allergies and I said no--it is true! It has only been this year that I have really been affected consistently. Then the nurse said that the cat and dog were not really reacting at all, but based on what I had said about cats, she wanted to test them again.

So I got the arm pokes too, just for cats and dogs. The cat came back completely negative, but the dog was a 1 on a 0-4 scale, so we probably won't be able to have an indoor dog (sorry Pret and our future children...). The doctor came to analyze everything and was shocked that I wasn't allergic to cats--I had a 1 in 10 chance to NOT be. I am very happy that we can have cats--Kitty has been a life-savor for me on the nights when I have to go to bed alone because Pret is at work late.

Anyway, he has me on Allegra and I start getting the shots next week. I also have to go see an ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) doctor to check out the connection between my now-messed-up sinuses and irritaded eyes due to pro-longed sinusitis symptoms because of my allergies. I am not happy about all the medications and doctor bills that we will have to pay for (luckily we have pretty good insurance), but as long as I can feel like I am not always tired and sick, it is worth it!

One Year and Counting!!

Well, we have made it one year! Saturday, April 14th was our One-Year Anniversary. We did a few things to celebrate. We started a week early by staying a night at the Anniversary Inn in the "South Pacific" room. We slept under a bungalo and took a shower under a waterfall. It was a great break from the norm!

As we were eating dinner that night we asked each other whether marriage was what we expected. We both said no, but it wasn't because it was bad, mainly because neither of us could come up with what we expected it to be. We did both say, though, that it was better than we had expected. We both gave the year positive reviews, although with some bumps and bruises along the way that we have both learned and healed from.



Then, on our actual anniversary, we decided to go eat at Rodizio Grill at Trolley Square (the place of the shooting two months ago.) It was good food, but Pret was sick, so he didn't eat much, which meant I felt like a pig as I kept eating. We were both so full by the end that we had to hold our breaths walking by any food so we wouldn't throw up! It was good, but a bit pricey, so I don't think we will be eating there again for a while.



For my birthday, Pret had arranged for us to go see a show at the Desert Star theatre, but we had some other things come up, so we put it off and planned it for our anniversary instead.


The show we saw was Nunsense-Amen. We both enjoyed it, I a little bit more than Pret. There were a few times I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt! Two of the actors were excelent stand-up/on their feet comedians! I would recommend it to anyone. Although it was a little a little more than we would spend going to the movies or something of the likes, it was a wonderful change and well worth it!!


Thus ends our anniversary celebrations. I ended up getting some LEGOS for Pret (I didn't think I would actually win the auction on E-bay), but that's about all we have done for presents for each other. All-in-all, it was a wonderful anniversary and we look forward to many more together.

Spring Break and Allergies

So I'm sorry it has been forever since I have posted anything. I have a couple excuses. My first is that I have been sick--dealing with allergies--for the last week and a half, so I have been avoiding staying long at school, which is when I usually have time to write on here.

Second, I had spring break from last Wednesday to this Monday, so I was away from my computer (I left it at school) and easy internet access for six whole days, then today I was at home with Pret, thus resulting in no updates. Hopefully this will suffice for a few days until something exciting happens and I have something to update.

Thanks to all those who have been updating their sites, thus giving me something to read when I am bored at work or while Pret studies...

Tax Woes and Miscellaneous Pictures

Again, I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted. It has been a crazy time for us between tests, relaxing, weird work schedules, and trying to get the taxes done.

TAXES--Now that is an interesting story. I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the year that I would have our taxes done by February 28th. I was proud of myself as I walked away from Shannon and Michael's Turbo Tax at 10:00 on the 27th with taxes in hand and the promise of a pretty good tax return. But then we realized we had deducted too much for charitable donations, so I was back a few days later to remedy the problem. A few days later, I took them to school to get them mailed out (I don't get things like that done at home--don't ask) and realized that I needed Pret's signature. So back they went to home and it took a few days before Pret and I had coordinating schedules to get them signed. We also sat down and planned all the great things we would do with the return--we were pretty excited to have a little bit of "free" money to spend.

Again, I brought the papers back to school but as I went to put them in the envelope, I noticed the line that reminded me to include the W-4 forms, which I hadn't--they were with all the extra copies and papers I had used to do the taxes. So back they went again. I got the W-4's and put them on the counter, but forgot them there for a few days.

Finally I had everything together on Tuesday, ready to go in the mail. As I was putting the state forms in the envelope, I noticed that there was a retirement benefits page. I looked carefully and saw that Pret was over the age of 65. I knew that wasn't right, so I looked closely and it had his birth year as 1892 instead of 1982!! WHOOPS!! I caught that the first time I did them, but when I went back and made the changes, it must not have saved with all the new information. As I told my co-worker, Anne, she got the biggest kick out of the fact that I was romping around with a 117 year-old man!!

Back to Turbo Tax I went and got things all straightened out only to find that our return was cut almost in half! :-( We are pretty bummed and have to now re-budget our free spending. At least we still didn't have to pay... So I got them in the envelopes, sealed and in the mailbox yesterday. Today when I went to gather things up, I saw the W-4's still sitting in my bag. So I had to run out, grab them, break the seal, put them in, tape/re-lick the envelopes (yes I was too cheap and lazy to just get new envelopes and stamps), and finally take them to the post office ready to go. If something else goes wrong with them, I will scream!!

Here are some pictures of my cute nieces and nephews--Lauren, Matthew, Susan and Tyler (Melanie and Alan's kids). Enjoy!!

He did it again!

Pret just got a 94 on his test today! Way to go Pret!

Natural Birth Control and Its Antidotes

Just to start off, the last week and a half have been much more calm and accident-free, so we are happy. We are submitting a claim to have the car fixed, so I will be driving a rental for a few days--I am excited! Unfortunately, as detailed as these stories are, I don't have any pictures to go with them--sorry!

Last week, though, I babysat for a couple in our ward. They have a 3-year old boy, Mason, who is full of energy and lots of fun, and Anna, a little girl who just turned 1. A disclaimer about the following story: Anna is really a cute girl and is normally not a problem.... This was the first time for me to babysit them, so I was still getting to know the kids and the way things work around their house. We ate dinner and then played for a little while when Pret came over to hang out with us before leaving to do a few other things. At 8, I started getting them ready for bed. The parents mentioned Anna would take a bottle for a bit, go to sleep for about 45 minutes and then wake back up, but i was to just give her the bottle and she should be fine. So I got Anna to sleep while Mason cried for his mom (he hadn't had a nap, so I figured he might be a bit harder to deal with.) Finally I got Mason to sleep with relatively no trouble once the crying stopped.

I checked on Anna before going out to the living room to read the book I had brought. I had read about 4 pages before I heard her crying. I figured I would be able to rock her with her bottle for a few minutes and quickly return. But alas, things didn't go quite as planned... I tried to give her the bottle, but she pushed it away (I had no idea 1-year-olds had such a mind of their own!), I tried singing songs, but she cried through me, we tried looking at the family picture, but all she would say is, "Mamamamamama..." After about an hour, I remembered what worked for my neice, Lauren, at this age and whipped out my cell phone for her to play with. That pacified her a little, but she still whimpered a little. I tried taking her back into her room and pulled some toys off the shelf, but she wasn't too interested in those. The books, on the other hand, were a sucess! That is the only way that we made it through the last 30 minutes (after her parents were about 15 minutes later than planned.) I don't think I have seen a child as excited as she was as she heard the garage door open which meant salvation!

Needless to say, I went home and crashed, so much so that I could barely mumble a hello to Pret when he got home about 15 minutes later. There goes my story of the best NATURAL BIRTH CONTROL (NBC) EVER! Pret and I definitely are not ready for kids, at least not when I have to be up at 6:30 the next morning. Pret did save me, though, as I left the kitchen a disaster when I left for the babysitting appointment as I had to drop off dinner to my visiting teachee who had just had a baby, but when I came home it looked fabulous!!

The baby mentioned in the previous sentence and the one that we got to visit last night (along with many others we have encountered recently, to make sure that we are not offending any of our other friends with children...) luckily are the antidotes to the NBC! One of Pret's mission companions is married and has a little boy about 9 months old. We ate dinner with them last night and he is a doll! He was falling asleep while eating dinner and Pret would not stop laughing at him. I already feel sorry for our kids! He has also recently discovered his tongue, so he was blowing raspberries the whole night. He loves being kissed on the neck, so I had fun necking with a 9-month-old!

Anyway, Pret and I were again discussing last night that we are not ready for kids. We are still trying to figure out what we are doing with our own lives, let alone adding another life to the mix!

CRUNCH! and stitches!

**Warning--Nasty pictures below!!**

Read the title and you will have a summary of last week for Pret and me. It was a crazy week and we are glad we have moved on to a different one that has things looking a little better for us.

Last week Pret was stressing about whether to try to take a test on Friday, but in the end decided to wait and study over this week, which is his spring break, and take it instead next Monday. Then, I was stressing because it was parent-teacher conferences and report cards were due and we were really not ready for them. We both had our own agendas and they didn't go together very well, so we really didn't get to spend any time with each other until after 10 p.m. on Thursday.

Ok, now that you are bored of reading without any of the good stuff, I will proceed to explain the title. I managed to make it almost 7 years without an accident. Those of you who have never gotten in one, count yourselves lucky and get knocking on some wood! Thursday morning on my way to work, I was noticing a house that was for sale and wanted to take a closer look. Traffic was already slow as there was a stalled car up ahead of us. As I was trying to examine the backyard of the home through a fence, I noticed that the car in front of me was moving forward. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that it stopped VERY soon after--hence the CRUNCH! (I have determined that the only time "crunch" has a good sound is when you are eating a Nestle Crunch bar (and that's only when you like them, which I don't) or crunchy caramel popcorn (which I really like!) or playing in fallen leaves. Any other time, it usually means something is getting smushed or broken: glasses, toys, important papers, etc.) The two funny things are 1) I hit a newly restored 1967 Mustang with duel exhaust pipes, so it did minimal damage to his car (just a new $100 bumper) and 2) I was literally a block and a half from my house. Pret was really nice about it and we are now trying to decide what to do with our car. It is perfectly drivable, so it just depends on what we want to do about insurance.

Next, Pret's stitches. We volunteered to help out our old singles' ward with a "Mystery Dinner Cruise" on Saturday night. It was held at the Jordan Institute building where we attended church and other activities for over two years. Pret went to go talk to someone out in the hall, but as he opened the door, he noticed it was dark. Thinking he knew the way, he ventured out, mis-stepped, and was seeing stars. He immediately realized he had cut his chin and would need stitches.
Luckily, we were literally across the street from the hospital, so we were there in minutes and had no waiting time before he was admitted. The whole process took about 2 hours and ended with Pret receiving 5 stiches in his chin. He is still swollen and in some pain (the worst being when we make him laugh!!), but luckily as mentioned before, he is on spring break and was called off of work this morning, so he is getting some good rest.

Oh yeah, and I got my ring back, but it was all wrong, so we are waiting, yet again, to have everything just right on my wedding ring. I feel so naked!!

Thus ends our tragic week. Hopefully this week will result in a more positive post.

Pret's Quiz

Here is the quiz about Pret. We both got 100%, so I guess that means it is ok. Good luck!

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070301172843-923131&

A Quiz About Megan

So I am bored at work and don't really feel like going to do anything that I should be doing, so I thought I would make-up this little quiz about myself. Some of them are pretty easy, especially if you have been reading this blog. I will try to get one up about Pret, too, but I wanted to do this for now.

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070301171639-136303&

Pounce

For those of you who are not familiar with the topic of this blog entry, you may know this fast-paced card game by "Nerts" or even some Italian version of the game. It is hard to describe for those who have not experienced the game, so about the closest thing is Skip-Bo mixed with Solitaire, but playing against other people.

I was first introduced to this game in high school by my friend Lauren and her family. They used Rook cards as they provide four different colors/suites without using face cards. So that is how I learned how to play. When we got to BYU, Lauren and I taught it to all of our roommates, who taught it to all of our friends, who taught it to their friends and soon we had a group of about 15-20 people who would get together and play it on Sunday nights. It was crazy fun!

After our freshman year, our group of friends broke-up a little and we didn't have a whole group who would play much, so we maybe played once a month or so. Then, when we were all no longer roommates, we kind of forgot about the game. Then we got together in December and played again for the first time in years. It was the introduction to the game for Pret, and Sarah's husband, Eric, had only played a few times, so it was fun to have them play for the first time. Pret really enjoyed it, so it was on our minds for the next few weeks.

We next played it around New Year's with a group of friends and were able to introduce it to many of them, this time using face cards, as Rook cards were not available. They all enjoyed it and we will have to play it again with them. We were talking about it with my cousin Jordan and his wife Alison as well as my sister and brother-in-law, Shannon and Michael. Jordan and Alison have played a version before as Nerts, but we quickly converted them to our way of playing Pounce as we taught it to Shannon and Michael and we have been getting together monthly since then to play it--forgoing all of the other games on Shannon and Michael's "Wall of Games."

Finally, we got together with some friends, Ariana and Jordan, last week and were planning on playing games. We happened to bring up Pounce, and they were unfamiliar with it by name, but had played the "Italian name" version (sorry I don't remember it...), and we altered our version to play theirs for a bit. We ended up playing much past our bedtimes, but good times were definitely had by all!

Anyway, thus ends my narrative on Pounce, but I hope it doesn't end the fun of playing the game. I am sorry that this is another boring entry with no pictures--I will try to take some the next time we play--maybe even a video of the game in process. (Hopefully we won't have to edit any language or actions--it get to be slightly violent and vulgar. But all words and bad feelings are left at the table.)

95, 96, 97, 98, 99,...100

We made it to the 100th Day of school! The kids have been looking forward to our party since the first day of school, so this was quite an achievement! It is cute when the kids think that either 1) there won't be any more school after this, or 2) that they will be in first grade after today. Unfortunately for me and them, I still have them for another 80 or so days.

We are doing the midterm assessments for the students to give parents an update on where they are in their learning. It is so much fun to see how much the students have learned since the beginning of the year. Some of the kids come in not knowing anything and now they are reading words and sometimes even books! After working with one that I know has made tremendous growth, it almost makes me cry! I love kids.

Speaking of working with kids, I have a new calling for those who don't know. I get to combine two of my greatest loves--kids and music--to be the new Primary Chorister. I am very excited about it, but I have to remember to actually prepare things ahead of time. I like the songs that the kids are learning, and this will hopefully help me learn more families in the ward.

Finally, I have gotten back into reading and it is wonderful! Recently, I have read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (a non-scary/gruesome book about vampires) and it's sequel New Moon. Also, I am about half-way through The Secret Journal of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum (a cheesy, but very cute LDS teen fiction book about a girl who finds her older brother's journal after he died 14 years before.)

Pret is just about to take his second test in Pathophysiology. He got an A on the last one (I don't remember whether I told you all about that or not) and we are hoping he does as well on this one.

That is about all for our family. Love to all!

So it's been a while, sorry...

I anxiously check all of the blogs on our list every day to see if there has been an update and am disappointed when there isn't, so I apologize for not updating recently. I really have been trying to do work things during work time (what a novel idea!) and have been busy after school, so I haven't had a lot of time to do some updates.

Pret has started the nursing program with a Pathophysiology Class. It is pretty intense, so they have planned it as a class all by itself. He meets with a study group a couple times a week and then does plenty of studying on the side as well, so we enjoy our time together even more now. He took his first test a week and a half ago and got an A on it, so we are very happy! He is such a dedicated student that he will continue to do well throughout the program!

In school we are approaching the mid-term time so are testing the kids to see if they are improving. I am happy to say that they are all doing very well. I think this is one of my brightest classes overall. It is great to see them actually start to read and comprehend things! They are always cute doing fun things. Here is a picture of them singing their favorite song, "A-Tootie-Ta."



I have been working on a little movie with my students in it, so I will try to get that posted when it is all finished.


We have been to a few different parties over the last few weeks. One was our friends' little girl's first birthday. Cozette was a little tired, but it was cute watching her. They also have a little boy who will be three this month, Ethan. He is a cute boy and is starting to talk in sentences, so it is fun to try to carry on a conversation with him.






Finally, the neighbors came over for a party with their 2-year old girl, Morgan. She talks a storm up and has a perma-smile on her face. She was quite infatuated with Pret, especially when he was pretending to talk on her "phone." Tim, our friend and the father of Cozette and Ethan, got into with Ethan on the floor. It is times like that that Pret really looks forward to being a dad (no announcement intended there...)








Then last night we had an Non-Super Bowl Super Bowl party. Shannon and Michael, Jordan and Alison, and Pret and I don't watch football save BYU/UofU games, so we boycotted the superbowl and just played games and ate treats anyway. It was a lot of fun. We started with a round of "Pirate's Dice involving James and Ben as well. I was a fast looser on that one! For those who play the game "Pounce/Nerts," we are thoroughly addicted. We mixed up teams every round and no one person was able to claim champion. We enjoy our time with them and have decided to start a First Sunday game night tradition. Hopefully they will end a little earlier than last night so I won't be a "First Monday" zombie all the time!

Pret will never grow up!

Now that I know how to do this, I am going crazy. Sorry about all the wind noise. It is still cute to hear them all speaking in Czech.

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Oh, Go Jump in a Lake, Pret!

This was back in August, but I just barely figured out how to get the video online, so I hope this works!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Christmas Pictures

Ok, I finally got my camera back from Pret's car, so here are a few of the pictures of our first Christmas officially together.

We started the holidays with the annual Dahlgren family party. Ricqelle's, our sister-in-law, grandfather had died that week, so Troy, Ricqelle, Riley, and Brynlee were able to join us. It was fun to be with the kids and share in their excitement! Dave also brought his girlfriend Lacey, and it was fun to all be together. Thanks, Riley, for the great butt-shot!












Christmas Eve we ate dinner with Pret's parents again (thanks Dan and Brenda for taking care of us!) I attempted our Roberts Family traditional Christmas Star Jell-o, but it flopped, literally!! Oh well, hopefully I have many Christmases to practice!




Then, it was Christmas morning at our house. Pret knew he was getting Star Wars LEGOS, but I think he was still a little excited...what do you think?

A "Meme" from my cousin...

I got this idea from my cousin, so here goes. The first part is just explaination...

A meme is a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. The word meme was coined by an evolutionary biologist in 1976. In blogland, a meme is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog, such as a question that is posted on one blog and then is somehow answered on other blogs. There are lists of meme's on the web that can be answered by anyone. Here are some websites, among many unlisted ones, that give examples of meme's: Meme's list, The Daily Meme, Friday's feast, The Thursday Threesome, and Unconcious Mutterings.


1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 - of the closest book to you, what does it say?
There was only one paragraph on pg. 18, so I went to pg. 19.... "Late in the afternoon of November 26, Carter made a small hole in the doorway. He lit a candle, and put it inside to test the air. Then he made the hole bigger so he could look inside. Carnarvon, who was standing beside him asked anxiously, 'What do you see?'" This is from Tutankhamun: The mystery of the boy king by Zahi Hawass.

2. If you stretch out your left arm as far as possible, what are you touching?
There isn't anything there as I am sitting at my desk at school (it is after school, as I have tried really hard to do school stuff on school time today...). There is a plastic bag filled with stuff for the "house" here and my computer bag sitting on the floor underneath my arm. And of course, my desk is covered with papers.

3. What's the last program you watched on tv?
Man vs. Wild, a show on Discovery about a ex-British special ops guy who gets dropped in the middle of nowhere and has five days to survive and meet up with civilization (a road, a boat, etc.) It is pretty cool!

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
My guess is about 3:15. (It's 3:20).

5. Except your computer, what can you hear now?
The air cirulation system in the building and a few random voices from people in other rooms, the hall, or kids outside.

6. When was the last time you went outside and what did you do?
If that means stepping more than 2 steps out the door, than this morning for recess duty at 10:15.

7. What are you wearing?
My gray work pants, a pink polo, a scarf and my cream sweater jacket.
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8. What did you dream about last night?
I don't usually remember my dreams, but I actually do remember last night's because it was so weird!! I dreamt I was back in high school and we were getting ready for a choir concert. It was also around Prom time, so people were asking people and I got asked by a really popular guy (I don't remember who it was) but I didn't really want to say yes to him because I was really hoping a couple other people might ask me (subconsciously, I wanted Pret to, but at the same time, I already knew he was my husband, or at least would be eventually, so I didn't want to go with anyone else...) I woke up before I decided. But for those of you who know who these people are, Kendall Jaussi asked Morgan Olsen and she said yes!! How ironic is that!

9. When was the last time you laughed?
I chuckled about an hour ago at a blog I was reading.

10. What are on the walls of the room you are in right now?
Way too many things to describe. Just try to remember what your kindergarten classroom looked like and let your imagination go wild (for those who haven't seen my classroom...)

11. Have you seen anything strange lately?
Not necessarily strange, but really cute. My students were supposed to be copying down sentences (yes, we do that in Kindergarten.) They were copying, "I like my bike," but instead of the word "bike," there was just a picture. They were supposed to draw the picture and then sound out and spell the word bike. One little girl was trying her best and got the first letter, but the rest is what made me laugh: BMW!

12. What do you think of this Meme?
It is a little long, but fun, too. Different than all the other "chain mail" things I used to get all the time. I always enjoyed, those, though.

13. What's the last film you saw?
That depends. If it is just movie, that would be Rocky IV with Pret yesterday. If it is movie in the theatre, that would be Work and the Glory III. I actually was not a big fan because I think it was the most anti-climactic movie I have ever seen!

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do?
That is a tough question. First, I would pay off our car so we could be debt free. Next, I would buy my mother a Land Rover (or whatever car she would feel most "safe" in, my mother-in-law a Jeep, and any other siblings reliable cars that will hold all their children. Then I would put enough money in our account that we wouldn't have to worry about making all of our bills for the next two years while Pret is in school. Then I would buy a cool house that would last us for a few years. Then I would save enough that Pret and I could go on a mission later in life (about $50,000). Finally, I would pay off debts that our siblings and parents owe and put the rest into savings, with a special savings that can be spent on whatever we want/need whenever we want/need it. I would definitely keep working until we decided we are ready to have kids, then I would start a really awesome pre-school that would be open to anyone, regardless of ability to pay!

15. Tell us something that most people don't know about you?
I had a crush on one of my student's father. He was married and I was single, but I think it was mainly because he reminded me of my brother (not that I have a crush on my brother, but that it was something familiar....)

16. If you could change one thing in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be? That every parent had the opportunity to be involved with every child every day. I feel so sorry for some of my students who have to spend time with only one parent a day due to work schedules, family situations, or lack of concern/involvement. There is such a difference for those who are involved!

17. Do you like dancing? I love it! I used to make up dance routines of all kinds with all of my friends when I was younger. I still love to go to dances. Now, if I only had a husband who would dance with me--he still owes me our wedding dance!

18. George Bush? I try not to get too involved in politics, especially individuals. It is much safer in my families that way.

19. What do you want you children's names to be, boy or girl? I have always love the name Michael and it tends to run in the family. :-) For a girl, I love the name Meggie, but it is too close to my own name, so I figure I will go with Maggie, but no one seems to like Margaret....

20. Would you ever consider living abroad? I plan on it at some point, if for no other reason than to serve a mission. I have lived in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand, my husband in the Czech Republic; so we both have some international living experiences and look forward to it again.

Well, there's a little bit about me. Sorry you don't get both sides of the story...