This is Colby and his beautiful Homecoming date, Brittany. Sounds like they had a great date. . . I know the restaurant was excellent since they ate at Big Ed's Steakhouse (aka our house!) There were five couples in the group and they had smoothies at Roxberry and went bowling for the day date. Photos were done by Phil Struthers and then we hosted dinner- prime rib, smashers, green beans, rolls, and a Ceasar salad. Cindie Roberts and I were the "waitresses". And yes. . . they left us tips!!!! After the dance we cooked up a bunch of Belgian waffles for dessert. I think they were all tired. I know we were!

STRESSED???? Could this be why?????

One of my good friends forwarded this to me today. I think it is a hysterically funny rendering of our beloved LDS hymns. And we wonder why we get stressed out and depressed that we aren't doing enough?

"Glancing through the hymnal last Sunday I noted that: As sisters in Zion, we, who are called to serve are all enlisted to go marching, marching forward because the world has need of willing men to all press on scattering sunshine. We wonder if we have done any good in the world today because we have been given much and want to do what is right, keep the commandments, press forward with the Saints, choose the right, and put our shoulders to the wheel going where He wants us to go. However, as the morning breaks high on the mountain top, truth reflects upon our senses, and while we still believe that sweet is the work, we also realize that we have work enough to do ere the sun goes down. And thus we ask Thee ere we part, where can we turn for peace?"

Thanks, Joan. Now I have to go scatter some sunshine!

Darn Camera!

I am happy to be the owner of a Canon Xti Rebel Digital SLR camera. Over the past two years I have taken some amazing photographs and it is the main piece of equipment in my memory keeping efforts. This spring I began to notice dust in my photos, so I had it professionally cleaned by a gentleman who came with high recommendations. He thought that it might be a great idea if I didn't take so many photos at baseball games when it is windy. Hmmph.

Two weeks ago I became quite distressed when I was trying to take pictures of Colby in his room after Brittany filled it with balloons and candy as a "yes" t0 his Homecoming invitation. The image looked very blurry and I could not get it to focus, but once I clicked the photo and oit came up on the display screen, it looked OK. I just kept shooting, thinking that the problem would shake out.

Then I took the matter and did what just about any wife would do. I complained to Ed that my camera was broken. He bought it for me, after all, so he should take some care in the maintenance and repair of said item. Right? Well, he did what just about any husband would do in the same situation- he totally ignored me. Ah, frustration.

So, here I am in Las Vegas with no camera because I wasn't about to bring that broken thing and lug it around for several days. Since I wasn't taking photos myself, I was conscripted into taking them with other people's cameras as an impromtu photographer. The first camera that I used was just like mine. I was stunned that it was having the same focus issues, but I didn't have time to talk to the owner about it because another camera was being shoved into my hands. I figured that I would have to Google it and find out what glitch was affecting the Canon xTi. That thought slipped away as I lifted the next camera, which was a different brand and make, to my eye and realized that it had the same problem! For a split second I thought that was really odd. . . and then the trut began to settle in:

There was nothing wrong with my camera. The problem had to be my right eye and how it was focusing (or failing to focus!) What the heck?????????????? How awful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what? The optometrist already told me that I am getting old and that I should just plan on needing readng glasses. Do they make photography glasses or am I doomed to a lifetime of guessing? Dang. Getting older stinks.

And I thought I was safe!

Imagine my surprise when I looked at my blog tonight and found out that I had been hacked. . . by my husband! He is very supportive of my endeavors and thank you to all of you who are supporting my run for city council. So far it has been mostly fun. . . except for the one bully I ran into last week. After listening to him rant and rave about EVERYTHING for about 20 minutes I decided to push back a little. My daddy taught me how to deal with bullies! He calmed right down and by the end of the discussion we were almost friends. Scary.

I have been so busy that I don't have any coherent thoughts in my head, so here are some short ramblings.

• So, how about BYU beating Oklahoma? Time for the west to gain a little respect from the BCS.
• And why do we always find work projects to do on Labor Day? This year we stained the decks at the cabin.
• I watched Camp Rock on the Disney Channel. . . and enjoyed it.
• At what point do you stop having brown hair and have gray hair instead? Is it at the 50% mark or where? Ed needs to know.

Sad, huh?

THIS IS KAYE COUNTRY!

So I hacked into Kaye's blog. This is a bad thing for me in the long run. . .it may prompt her to change her password protocol. I'm willing to risk it. Any of you who are local know that there are Kaye Country signs spread all over Lehi. However, there aren't nearly enough of them out and the Primary is on September 15th. If you can take a few signs and place them around town that would be great. You can contact me directly by email at emcollins@civilscience.com. I will bring you the signs and stakes. If you're thinking you don't know anyone in a good location, please understand there are no bad sign locations. We have about 100 signs that I would like to see out in the next few days. Please help us if you can.