The Suisse Family Robinson

Reed and I are big fans of Dave Ramsey and he is always talking about Murphy (of the law variety) moving in when you are not financially wise. This month for us would be a great example of that except we are trying to be financially wise so at least the month hasn't broken us.

1st scenario- One of our cats, Murphy (kind of ironic, eh?), decided this last week that our living room would be his litter box. Not o.k. I took him to the vet and $204 later we discovered he had a bladder infection. Pretty not cool, but totally not as uncool as the next scenario.

2nd scenario- Since our Melaleuca products finally came we had set up a time on Saturday for us to deliver some Renew lotion to some friends of ours and give them a presentation. There were also other things going on that Saturday such as a work party and talent show so we were in a pretty big hurry. We left the house in a rush and discovered that we had left the Renew lotion at home. Back we go. We remembered that Reed had given his house key to my sister earlier that morning, because she was coming over to scrapbook and we weren't going to be home. She had left the key on our mantle but we had forgotten to put it back on the key ring. We hadn't taken my keys because we were driving Reed's car. No worries, we always leave the back door unlocked. Oh but wait, last night there was a police helicopter circling around our area so we had locked the back door! Reed tried to open a window but both of the ones on the bottom floor were latched shut. Well, maybe the attic? Reed asked two of our neighbors if they had attic openings but neither did. So, we call a locksmith. Do you know how much locksmiths cost? $135!!!!!! Yikes!!!!!! But what were we to do? We were able to find a few good things in this tragedy. 1- If we hadn't left the Renew we would have discovered we were locked out of our house at 11:00 that night. Not fun. 2- The locksmith told us our lock is hard to pick. Yay for us.

My motto this month has been: DOWN WITH UPS!!!!

I'm sure that in a few weeks I will have calmed down and UPS will be back on my good side. But for now I am anti-brown.

Explanation- We have ordered household products from a company, Melaleuca, every month for the past 3 years. Every month, UPS has delivered the packages to our door or has left them on our back patio if we are not home which is often the case. Then, a couple months ago, we started having to sign for the packages. Pretty tough when we're never home but not a big deal because there's a place on the little sticky note that the delivery man leaves where we can sign and he can leave the package the next day. Or if we forget to do that, UPS will hold (I should say, used to hold) the package in their warehouse for 2-3 business days and we can go pick it up. This month we received the regular sticky note saying "This is the first delivery attempt, yada, yada, yada." But this one also said that a signature of an adult 21 or older was required, and the part where we would usually sign was scratched out. No big deal, we could hope we would be home when they came next or we'd go pick it up at the warehouse. But nooooooooo, UPS decides to change their policy that after the final delivery attempt the package is automatically shipped back to sender. Does the sticky note say that? Nooooooooooo, it still says that we have 2-3 business days. Reed went to the warehouse and was told that the package was already on it's way back to Idaho but he was given a number he could call to stop the package and have it shipped back. Did the number work? Nooooooooooo. The number was disconnected. What in the world is UPS doing handing out a number that is disconnected???? And does UPS care that because our package was sent back, by the time I had it resent Melaleuca was sold out of the limited time only men's fragrance collection that was to be Reed's Father's Day present? Noooooooooooooo. Do they care that I've waited 3 weeks for my vitamins which means I'm way tired all the time? Noooooooooooooooooo. Do they care that their delivery man is probably just lazy and doesn't want to put the package on our back patio (because the signature was not required by Melaleuca. It was the delivery man's choice whether or not somebody had to sign for a package)? Nooooooooooooooooo. And they have no way of telling me who the driver is so they can't tell him to just DELIVER THE PACKAGE!

So now next month I have to write a note and stick it to our door- Dear UPS Delivery Man, please leave our Melaleuca package on the front porch or the back patio. It contains much needed items necessary for our survival in this world. Without them we will die. The patio is only a short walk around the back. It will take 2 minutes. If you do not deliver our package within a timely manner, we will never ship with UPS again. Thank you. Sincerely, Melaleuca Customers in Need of Their Vitamins.

Man, it was HOT today! So, my product this week is Sustain Sport, the best hydrating sports drink out there. I don't know if Reed could survive the hot days at work without this stuff. Sustain Sport contains 4 electrolytes and keeps him working hard with his shovel for only 30 calories! Far less than Gatorade or Powerade which is just gross. Reed's favorite flavor is the Orange Splash while I prefer a mix of the lemon and berry. I've also used it in place of Pedialyte for Lara when she is sick.

Well, I was pretty happy that Kris Allen made it to the Top 2. Like I said, I didn't think that Danny did horribly, I just thought that Kris had better songs. Sooooo.... tonight...

Kris Allen- Great first song. I remembered that I liked that song the first time he sang it and it was even better the second time around. I understand what Simon was saying about his second song but I still liked it. It reminded me of an acoustic concert by Jason Mraz or John Mayer. Even though I've never been to one of those. :) I've always disliked the third song on these shows- a new single with an uplifting message. They're always hokey and cheesy, and the song is hard to sing if you're not a pop artist. But whatever, he was a little pitchy on this one.

Adam Lambert- Mad World was a great song when he first sang it. This time, he made it darker with the long trenchcoat and darker lights. I liked it better the former. He rocked his second song. He did his best with the third but it wasn't enough to make it a good song. Adam is a wonderful artist and I would definitely buy his album.

Who should win- Adam, based on tonight's performances. But if Kris wins, I wouldn't be sad!

Lara's triplet friends had their 3rd year birthday party today. Their house is like Disneyland to us with tons of toys, play equipment, large spaces to run around in, and a bouncy! Lara found a little guitar that was just her size and she played it with such finesse. :) She was quite serious about it as you can see by the look on her face. Take a look at that brush stroke! She's a music therapist in the making. Sorry for the video quality. It was taken on our digital camera instead of our camcorder.




It was also the annual Elder's Quorum Ultimate Pinewood Derby today and the guys went all out. They had moved the ramp outside so they could see how far a few cars would go with the C02 cartridges. Let's just say that the guys had a "blast."

Finally, it's the top 3! And in the first time in the history of American Idol, it's all guys. I'm going to switch up the format of my post tonight so I can go contestant by contestant.

Danny Gokey- I had never heard of Trevor Tyler whoever, probably not a good thing at this stage of the competition. His dancing was pretty bad but worse than that the song was really quite boring to me. His second song, muuuuuuuch better! I actually liked that version better than the original.

Kris Allen- I really like the song Apologize but truthfully, not even OneRepublic can sing the song like in the recording or better. (I saw them perform on some TV show and they were quite awful). At first I cringed when I heard his second song choice. Really? Heartless? Doesn't he know that's a rap song? But it was quite brilliant!!! I've never seen a contestant come out on stage with just him and the acoustic guitar before. And to do that with a rap song? Absolutely awesome. I don't know if he can win against Adam but I hope he gets the chance to try.

Adam Lambert- He did a great job tonight, as always. My one little peeve is, what was up with the back-up singers mics?! The sound balance was way off in his last song.

Should go home tomorrow- Danny. Not that Danny did terrible tonight. I just like Kris better.

I know that I already spotlighted the other tooth polish but now it's the kid's polish's turn. Lara absolutely loves this tooth gel. It tastes like apples, doesn't contain any sugar (xylitol instead), and no fluoride. Xylitol is a sweetener that comes from fruits and berries so no tooth decay! Melaleuca also carries small toothbrushes for kids :)

For one of my mother's day presents, Reed took me to see Star Trek tonight and it was FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!! Seeing this movie took me back to when I first became a "Trekkie." I was probably 8 or 9 years old on one of our family excursions out west in our van and, being way back before DVD players, my family would listen to books on tape. My parents had checked out a few Star Trek books on tape from the library and one of them was called Faces of Fire. I actually don't remember what it was about but I remember being totally gripped by the story and thinking that Kirk, McCoy, Spock and the rest were sooooooo extremely cool. That began my Trekkie life with the shows (except for DS9. Ick), movies, books, and documentaries :) No conventions yet but maybe someday.

Needless to say, I was very excited to see the movie tonight. I actually paid full-price at a good movie theater (which I never do) and it was totally worth the $9. Musical score- awesome, visual effects- awesome, sound effects- awesome, acting- awesome (James T. Kirk = dreamy), little one liners put in for the fans of the original show- awesome. I'm going to see it again with my family. Then in the dollar theater. Then I will own the DVD (of which I am sure that the special features will be awesome).

Live Long and Prosper.

Last night we took Lara and Vivi to their first orchestra concert. Because I'm a music therapist and a registered Music Together teacher I was very excited for the wondrous event, although a little apprehensive about how they would do since the concert started at 8. Reed's mom's cousin's daughter (what does that make her? A cousin once removed? I can never remember) won the concerto competition at Oberlin University where she is a double violin performance and history major. She was able to play the Shostakovich's 1st violin concerto (all four movements) with the Oberlin University Symphony Orchestra. Let's face it, no one says that Shostakovich is their favorite composer. He's just not that kind of composer. But Lara and Vivi were awesome for the whole 35 minute performance! Lara didn't sit and listen to every single bit of it, but we didn't have to take her out into the hall. Yay, Lara! And Vivi was just mesmorized by the orchestra. She just stared at everything. I wish I had taken pictures but the digital camera remained in the diaper bag :( Kudos to Erin for a wonderful performance, that was one difficult piece.

The competition is coming to an end soon and still, Adam Lambert is up on the top. Why was he in the bottom 2 last week? I have no idea. Thought the duets were a cool way to go.

Top performance- Adam Lambert. Most surprising- Allison Iraheta, I actually liked her tonight. Worst performance- Danny Gokey. Um, what was up with the scream at the end of his song? It was dreadful! Kris might be in trouble this week but I don't think he was as bad as Simon said in his comments. Who should go home tomorrow?- I'm not sure. Based on tonight's performances, either Danny or Kris. Which pains me to say.

I've been meaning to post this for a while but am just now getting around to it. I had been looking for a good granola recipe but was having trouble finding one that I really, really liked. Reed's boss's wife (how's that for a title) gave my mother-in-law some of this granola and I had to have the recipe. One batch lasts a long time even when I eat it every morning for breakfast. I use it in place of cereal, or mix it with yogurt or cottage cheese. Lara likes it too! She calls it "Nola".

8 c. oats (the recipe says old-fashioned but I've used quick rolled oats and they work just fine)

1/2 c. wheat germ

1 1/3 c. coconut

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. real maple syrup

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. brown sugar

Add ins- dried fruit, nuts, flax seed, oat bran, sesame or sunflower seeds, etc. My favorites are the flax seed and sunflower seeds.

Directions: Mix and cook in microwave- 4 minutes. Stir. 3 mins. Stir. 3 min. Stir. 3 min. Stir. (13 minutes total) Mix add ins after cooked. (Nuts can be cooked with oats.)

Alternatives: peanut butter in the place of the oil, honey in the place of maple syrup, almond extract in the place of vanilla.

I've tried the honey alternative and that is rather tasty. You can, of course, half this recipe but just remember to cut the cook time also. I forgot and it turned out mighty burnt!