Here's a rough sketch of the new breezeway raised deck with removable ramps. Dad needs 14 feet of ramp to get into the house and this gives him 13.5. I hope that is enough because that is all we can get and still have landings that are big enough to maneuver a wheelchair across. The other pictures are railing options. One of them is from Matt Bishop's deck (which I know dad really likes) and the other is a redwood option that I thought was kind of pretty.

I've got a new chunk of low nap carpet going in under the corian dining circle on friday and then we will get a few things adjusted in his bathroom. The ward is going to decorate the house for Christmas and Bishops are making mom soup and salad over the weekend. Anything else?

Discuss among yourselves and get back with me tonight about what you think about the rail. We're gonna getter done this week!!

KSL GOLD MINE -- OTHER!

Found this on KSL. It's somewhere in West Valley City, Utah. I think it is going to be the next thing I build. It would be great in my Orem neighborhood.

And is $300 too much to pay for the moose head?

I have found a little oasis of delights in the desert of my life. Today I stumbled on the section called "OTHER". I never knew how much fun something called "other" could be. Amid the hundreds of posts of moving boxes and used carpet, there are a few gems. One day I should gather a few of the more interesting posts and write a collection of KSL short stories.

For example, I give you LaDean in Taylorsville and her Men's Diamond Ring. I'm not saying LaDean's ad is slightly suspicious, but LaDean's ad is slightly suspicious! Just putting it out there.

$50000

Man's Diamond Ring

Taylorsville, UT 84123 - Oct 19, 2009

I have a beautiful man's wedding ring. My fiance died and I would like to sell his ring.

Seller Contact Info

Contact Name:

LaDean

Home Phone:
801-268-1556

Work Phone:

Or, what about "Scratchy" of the Wasatch Front, hmmm???

$2357

Itch Scratchers

Wasatch Front, UT 84115 - Oct 24, 2009

We are the Itchy Scratchers on Call 24 Hours A Day, 7 Days a week. Our Trained Professionals will Come Out & Scratch Your Itch In Places You Can't Reach And Some Places You Don't Even Want To Talk About. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. So Call& We'll rush right out. Reasonable Rates & Friendly Service. Quick Response Is our Objective.

Seller Contact Info

Contact Name:

Scratchy

Home Phone:
801-577-7196

Robert's ad doesn't need any narration. He wrote his own short story with a photo of his infected incision. I think I am going to drop off some homemade bread at his house tomorrow. It's a sad and compelling world out there. It's not as happy as you would think in our Happy Valley.

Any assistance You can offer

Swine flu namonia, Stahp of lung

utah county, UT 84601 - Oct 24, 2009

Just got out of the hospital. Got admited for namonia. While I was in ther I contracted swine flu and mrsa.I had to have a surgey to remove the mrsa out of my lungs.The tryed with a scope but did not work.They had to open me up. They sent me home telling me to follow up with a primary care doctor. I dont have one insurance either.Its going to take atleast a month to heal enuff to go back to work. I started a small tree buissness a couple years ago and have done pretty good.This is a crucial time of year for buissness.In the winter we get by from saveings and pushing snow.Our saveings are depleted and the snow hasnt came yet.Our rent is past due and utilitys are in jeaopordy. We are not Lds so the church frowns on helping us. My fiance is five and a half months pregnant.Never have asked for help in my life,I was always the one offering it.If theres any assistance you can offer us please give us a call 8014275706. .If you can spare any money at all please send it to us At 575north 1080 west provo utah 84601 .

I think I need cookies.

Earwax on Swab

Don't wig out, man. Its just mini marshmallows poked onto a lollipop stick and dipped in butterscotch. YUM!!

Hey, I just realized I really need to get Melissa's carmel recipe. Melissa ... are you out there???

Try some.

I know what you're thinking ...

You are thinking you wish you could pick out the perfect trim and door colors to go with this green. Quick, they want to paint tomorrow -- no pressure or anything!

(I am hoping that eggplant works its magic. Does anyone remember the eggplant I painted the walls of Kirsten's apartment for my final show?? That's a can of paint that I wish I had held on to. You might also remember that it was not only fabulous, but also that she was in RUSSIA on a mission when I had James Lyon paint her living room. Ahh, those were the days!)

Rocky Raccoon Gets the Tread

It's morbid, but true. This is the crime scene we drove past on our way home from Alpine. Marco turned around just to make sure the kids could get a good look. Poor little guy.

I can relate to this plastered fur ball. Lately I feel like I have been done in by paint too.

Please, if any of you out there in the blog-o-sphere drive past what looks like me on side of the road -- with a fatal stripe of paint across my body -- turn around and make sure you get a good picture. Best to start the search somewhere up Provo Canyon.

South Fork -- come visit!

Look, it's fall in the canyon. I love this place.

This isn't our cabin above. It's the lovely green one below!

It's coming together. (FYI - The beige is just the color of our Hardiboard, not our destination color. Should we do one green below and a lighter color on top??)

Obama Permission Slip

Zina's painting of Pres. Obama if he were a princess.

Xanny's letter from school explaining that IF they show any part of the president's speech, he will need a PERMISSION SLIP stating whether or not we would like him to participate. Other schools in Utah have already issued apologies for advertising Obama's message to stay in school and get an education.

All of this is good news for my homeschool friends who have tried to talk me into rising to challenge of home education. In truth, I never thought I would consider homeschool because there is NOT ENOUGH government in my kid's public school.

Ah, Utah. You gotta love it.

Intervention!!

I confess -- this morning in the paint store at 7:20 am, I burst into tears in front of my contractors ... and every painter in the greater Utah county area. When they asked which red I was going to pick, I had to tell them that red (yellow, green, blue, purple, magenta, violet and all related wallpapers) had been voted off the island. And then I cried. You know you have the nicest builder in the world if he will hand you a clean tissue as you begin sobbing in the back room of Jones Paint.

I told him all contractors should have a little section of their tool belt dedicated to the medication of their clients during unexpected frustrations. You know, you got your hammer loop, your tape measurer slot, your V-a-l-i-u-m dispenser. It's just incase the homeowner's paint color turns into banana peel yellow. And I don't mean a quart of banana peel, I'm talking TWENTY GALLONS of banana peel yellow. (Of course I am just being dramatic. It's not that bad.)

Don't worry, crisis averted by being nursed back to mental health by my neighbor, Amy. She keeps an emergency supply of neutral Ivory paint chips around Just In Case. Please remember Impressionist Ivory is way better than Greenmount Silk. I had to learn my lesson the hard way.

I know it's bad for me, but ...

I LOVE this ...

I lust for this ...

and this room makes me want to change my religion.

The kicker is that I just told the painters to paint everything GREEN. Lord help me. Well, that is exactly the problem. The Lord isn't going to help me. At the end of the day, Jesus doesn't care what color I paint a room. How depressing is that??? Color is driving me MAD and Jesus doesn't care.

Man.

This is the President of the United States -- thinking deeply about color -- looking fabulous -- in his red room.

Could this be the sign I've been waiting for???

I heart KSL

Today I came across this ad on KSL.com classifieds. Many of you know that I have quite an obsession with this website and this is exactly why ....

$450.00

Must sacrifice daddy's big old brass bed.

Salt Lake City, UT 84152 - Aug 20, 2009

Dad was talented guy...a cleo-award-winner and a randy fellow. Boy, if his bed could talk...my mother would melt it down to make candlesticks.

I'm looking for studly man to buy my daddy's bed. As you can see, it's a genuine winner, precisely the magic you need to inspire a new family...hell, it practically glows in the dark. Buy it. I guarantee, "She'll dig it."

Call me to see it at DEAD PEOPLE'S THINGS in Holladay.

801-230-8203.

Ciao for now.

'Tis the Season

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU HAD ZUCCHINI FOR DINNER!

Someone should write the national anthem of Utah in August ...

"50 Ways to Make Zuchini"

"The problem is all over your yard, there's tons of squash

The answer is easy if you know how to be posh

It is so versatile, in everything from soup to succo-tosh

There must be fifty ways to make ZUCCHINI!

She said it's really not my habit to intrude

Furthermore, I hope my recipe won't be lost or misconstrued

But I'll repeat myself, at the risk of being sued

There must be fifty ways to make ZUCCHINI!

Fifty ways to make ZUCCHINI!

You just split it down back, Jack

Fry it up in a pan, Xan

You don't need to EAT SOY, Roy

Just get yourself free

Make zucchini musch, Gus

You don't need to discuss much

Just drop IN SOME PEAS, Lee

Make some rattatoille, Louie

And get yourself free

Stir it into stew, Sue

Ooo Shred into slaw, Ma

Just bake into bread, Fred

Just listen to me

Leave some on the bus, Gus

You don't need to discuss much

Just drop in some ghee, Lee

And get yourself free

She said it grieves me to see your yard filled up with squash

But you can mix it into anything if you only have a bosch

I said " 'ppreciate cha" and would you please explain

About the fifty ways to make zucchini

The fifty ways to make zucchini.

(Who says the words have to match up with the music? Ah, just eat some more zucchini!)

FOOD!

Relations ...

Guess what, my children are related to these children. I'm pretty excited about that. I stopped by Jeff and Kara to get a new born pic of baby Katira JPD and her older sister kind of naturally jumped into the spotlight -- literally speaking.

I don't know which I like better, Katira's "O" mouth or Amara's toes. Ah, babies -- I love 'em. (I especially love them when other people go through all the work of having them!)

Mike and Catherine -- part 1

Guess who is a beautiful bride ...

... that would be Catherine. The groom, Mike, wasn't too bad either. He is the rugged river runner type and she is the cosmopolitan New York fashion type. Together they make for a fabulous wedding.

Here are a few of pictures from the pre-shoot. The reception was in downtown Seattle and was a night to be remembered by everyone. I'll post more pictures soon. PROMISE!

This couple was extra lucky because they choose my anniversary as their wedding day. It made me work extra hard to get great pictures. Plus, Marco flew out and we went to the reception together for our anniversary. Kind of a working vacation. (Way more work than vacation!)

THANK YOU, Catherine and Mike for a beautiful couple of days in Seattle and a great time.

(This might be one of my new favorites. Usually I'm not a sepia fan, but I don't mind it here.)