A Series of "Did That JUST Happen?" Events

First, a warning - this might be a long post (since I haven't written in a few weeks), so if you want to read the whole thing and look at the pictures, make sure you have a few minutes to do so. You might actually make it through my entire play list of songs while reading this.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by the gas station to get some gas... and take a picture of the price of gas, because I thought the picture might last longer than the price itself.


Yes, this picture is already outdated. But I was flabbergasted. I hadn't seen prices this low for ten years! And then, when my little car was done filling with gas, I was even MORE amazed at what was being debited from my account.

YIKES. I had to take a picture of THAT too, since it probably won't last either.

Those of you that talk to me on a regular basis know that I've been messing with the idea of getting a new car for several months now. A month ago, I went with my brother to watch him lease a car - he was trading his car in for something with all-wheel drive. Mostly I was curious about the transaction, and how it would work, in case I decided to eventually trade my car in too. Talking with the salesman led me to the conclusion that I could probably get more out of my car if I tried to sell it myself, then use what I made off that sale as a down-payment. Made sense, so I decided to give it a try.

Only, I never got around to it.

I put off cleaning my car out and was too busy (or lazy?) to go get estimates done of what simple repairs would cost. I did a little research to see how much my car was worth, but that's about it. I thought maybe I'd see how I fared with one more winter in my little car. But then it snowed last Monday morning - and that decided me. I was on the phone with the guy who sold my brother his car by 2:00 that afternoon. By 4:30, he had worked the numbers and came up with a pretty decent trade-in deal for me, and a car lined up for me to look at. At 8:30 Tuesday morning, I went and picked up my new baby.

It's a Nissan Rogue SL, Phantom White, with pale gray/tan cloth interior. It has a Bose sound system with a 6-CD changer, a moon roof, it's wired for bluetooth, and most importantly - it has ALL-WHEEL DRIVE. I drove it in the snow this past weekend, and it handles beautifully. I feel safe driving in snowy and icy weather for the first time in three or four years! Yes, I realize I have a car payment again... I loved not having one for the past four or five years, and enjoyed a little extra play money. But a little more safety - and the "new car" smell - is TOTALLY worth it. Plus the fact that even though she takes mid-grade gasoline, I will fill up for a cheaper price than the last time I filled up my Sentra with low-grade gas. Huh. Anyway, I haven't named her yet, so I'm taking suggestions.

Speaking of this past weekend... I spent Friday night at the Grand America hotel with my mom and sisters. The Grand is the only 5-star (or 5-diamond, depending on the review you read) in town, and my sister Kate works in the spa there. So we got KILLER discounts on the room rate and spa treatments! (We got pedicures.) Pays to know people, I guess. But I've always been curious about that place, and it didn't disappoint. It was amazing. The rooms were HUGE, and the bathrooms were incredible. We shared two rooms (since there were five of us) and the views from the rooms were awesome. Kate showed us around a little, and we ate dinner at the restaurant there - the Garden Cafe - and the food was delicious. We sat in the hot tub, and ordered a movie (which cut out right in the middle, but they sent someone up to fix it for us. Very professional, but kind-of embarrassing since we were all lounging in our PJ's by that point). We ordered room-service for breakfast - again, YUMMY. It was so fancy! We had a great time together.

*SIGH*

Reality kind-of stinks after a weekend like that. BUT - I still have my new car to drive! HOORAY!

The Good News and the... Exam

So I went to the doctor on Monday to follow up about my cholesterol... the doc put me on me on medication to try and bring it down, because it was at a whopping 156. (Apparently they like your 'bad' cholesterol to be under 100. My 'good' cholesterol was perfect.) When I went into the exam room and the doctor sat down to chat with me, he realized that the lab never sent the results of my blood work back to him, so he went to have his assistant call and have them faxed over. While we were waiting for the fax, I decided to ask him about something I've been struggling with for a a couple of years: I can't sit in any one position for very long without pain. If I DO sit for too long, it hurts to stand up. I thought it might be a bruised tailbone or something, until a few weeks ago, when I felt a kind-of grinding sensation near my tailbone. Huh - that can't be good. So I asked the good doc about it. He said, "Well, I can check it out for you. I know it's not the best area to want to be checked..." He trailed off and gave me a sort-of half-smile. A half-smile that sort-of made him look like George Clooney. NOT HELPING. "I could send you for an X-Ray, but I'd kind-of like to check it first out so I can order the correct one." "Ooookaaaayyy..." I say.
This is a very nice man. VERY nice man, probably in his mid-to-late-forties, very professional, very soft-spoken and kind, and very married. He explained to me that I could leave my 'undergarments' on and he would be okay to try to locate the source of my pain. So I thought, why not - maybe we can do something about this pain thing. So he left the room, and I did it - I disrobed from the waist down, leaving my undergarments on and a thin paper 'shield' around my waist, and waited, red-faced, for him to come back. When he did come back, he had me stand on a stool and turn around, and he started putting pressure on my backbone and tailbone, gently explaining to me what each bone was that he was feeling. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't until he got to the lowest bone - the coccyx - that I felt any real pain. When he put the slightest pressure on that bone, I got a jolt of pain. "Yep, yep, that's it right there. Ouch." At this point, I'm just mortified and red all over. "Okay," he says, "I'll order an X-Ray of the coccyx for you. If it's actually broken, and it's a clean break, there's not really a lot they can do. If it's fractured and there are misplaced bone fragments, then we'll talk about your options." I step off the stool. "Okay, sounds good," I say. After he left, I got dressed and tried to compose myself. It's not that it was un-pleasant, it just wasn't very... pleasant. I kept telling myself that he's a doctor and I'm sure he's seen it all.

*sigh*

Next time I think I'll just suffer.

Oh, and my cholesterol? Down to 71. Hooray for modern medicine.

It's December Already??!??!!?

This morning I went outside to scrape off my car, and only ended up needing to wipe of the windshield, really. It's supposed to be 53 degrees today. WELCOME... to December in Utah. It'll probably snow tomorrow.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did - it was really small, just my immediate family, minus Mar and Jesse and Addie, who were with Jesse's family in California. We missed them! But it sounds like they had a blast there, so lucky them! :) Anyway, I helped my mom make pies (well, mostly I rolled out the crusts and poured the fillings in when they were ready), and I also helped her put the stuffing in the turkey... she bought these cheesecloth bags that the stuffing went into, and then the bag of stuffing went into the turkey - hands down, THE most disgusting thing I've done in my life to date. I held the turkey open while my mom and I both shoved the bag of stuffing into the turkey, juice leaking everywhere... UGH, I want to throw up just thinking about it. But it turned out really yummy! My brother Mike mashed real potatoes (YUM), and my sister Kate made yams, complete with brown sugar and marshmallows on top (YUM YUM)! It was quite the feast. Since I didn't have to work Friday, I just lounged around... I don't think I got out of my PJ's until after 2:00 that afternoon, it was such a nice lazy day!
Now, it's back to reality... time to pay the piper! I have to go back to the doctor today to see if the cholesterol medication he gave me is working, and I'm signing up for spin classes this week so I don't burst out of all of my clothes from too many Holiday goodies!

Happy December!

Gratitude

I can't even believe that it's Thanksgiving this week! I was out walking my dogs tonight, my ears ringing from the cold, my breath visible in the night air, and I wondered - where on earth did Summer go?? It wasn't that long ago that I could walk my dogs at night in capris and a t-shirt. Now I have to bundle up!

But I got thinking... I was walking past all these homes that had Christmas lights up, and I've been listening to Christmas music off and on during November, and I realized how much I really love this time of year, in spite of the cold weather. I started a mental list of all the things I'm thankful for, and I thought I'd share just a few.

Family - I have the best family in the world! I love them all so much - parents, siblings (including my one brother-in-law), my adorable niece, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins-in-law, second cousins, third cousins, my grandma's cousins... I love them ALL, so much! I feel so blessed to be born into a family like this one. My best friends are my brothers and sisters and cousins.

Friends - I have fantastic friends. True, a lot of them are family members, but I have some WONDERFUL friends that I've had since high school, college, and ones that I work with now that I can't imagine my life without.

My Job - Even though I complain about it from time to time, I am SO grateful for the opportunity I have to be working at a good firm and having a steady income, especially in today's economy.

Modern technology - like my cell phone that lets me keep in contact with family and friends and my car that gets me from A to B. I'm also thankful for modern medicine - I truly believe it is divinely inspired (most of the time, anyway) and it is a blessing to have doctors and medication for anything from the flu to childbirth. I never would have made it as a pioneer... I'm too much of a wuss. I need hot showers and a car to drive.

Speaking of hot showers... I'm thankful for the roof over my head, hot showers, and an abundance of food and water.

There are many other things I'm thankful for and am blessed with, but I just want to mention one more - perhaps the most important to me - and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so very thankful for a 14-year-old boy who had a deep desire to know which church was true, and had the faith to know his prayer would be answered, and was eventually given the charge of restoring the fullness of the Gospel to this earth. I'm so thankful to be a part of it, and for the knowledge I have of its' truthfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I love you all! :)

Nap Time

Thank you to everyone that has been so supportive this past week - it was a hard one! But grandma's funeral was yesterday, and it went well. It was a beautiful day, and I loved seeing all my cousins and aunts and uncles. I have the best family and friends ever!

I took an extra bereavement day off work today, to try and put myself back together emotionally. But instead of staying home and being depressed, I went to my sister Marianne's house and baby-sat Addie all day. I could not have asked for a better pick-me up! I have the cutest niece in the whole world, seriously. I got to Mar's just before 9, so she could give me some instructions. She told me that Addie should be about ready for her morning nap, and then I could feed her a bottle around 10. But instead of napping...

She did that for probably 15 minutes or so! I was laughing so hard, I just picked her up and played with her until around 10, when it was time to feed her. She fell asleep while she was eating. She's such a talented little baby, too - she can sit up on her own already!

She just makes me melt! It was the perfect thing for me to do today - hanging out with Addie all day long. NO ONE can be unhappy around her.

Seriously, you can't even be unhappy just looking at a picture of her, can you.

I thought not.

Farewell, Grandma!

Asenath "Sann" Louise Passey McKinlay

June 1911 - November 2008

I 'love you first,' grandma!

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Tuesday night America elected a man for president that I do not care for; I am not thrilled about the socialist changes that are coming, and I strongly disagree with the man's principles. But the office commands respect, and I will respect it. I will look forward with hope, as we were counseled by Church authorities to do this past General Conference, and pray that our country is not headed for as much trouble as I think it is, and hope that I am wrong about the man elected to lead it.

One bright spot, though, is that Prop 8 passed in California. HOORAY!! I whole-heartedly agree with this Proposition, and commend all that were involved in working to promote its passing. I didn't know how strongly I felt about it until I heard concerns from California residents about what would happen to their kids, and how it would affect their freedom to practice religion as a family. I love that it's not just Latter-Day Saints involved, but the Catholic church, the Baptist church, the Lutheran church, and many other churches, I'm sure. It's great to see how many faiths banded together in this one common belief, trying to protect it.

On to different topics... I woke up this morning to this:

I had to scrape SO much snow off my car! And this poor tree just had a little bit of time to turn colors before...

It's only early November - I wasn't prepared for this already! Oh well. It'll melt by the week's end, I'm sure. When I finally got to work, I turned on some Christmas tunes to lighten my mood. And NO, it's not too early! Turn on some Greensleeves and enjoy the time of year! :)

I took Indy and Bo out for a walk tonight, thinking they'd have a great time romping in the snow - which they did - but it's a miracle I made it back home without any broken bones. I didn't think about all the ice and all the possibilities of me slipping and falling on it.

Note to Self: Get better snow boots, preferably with metal cleats on the bottom.

November Chill

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Mine was a success - I was involved in a big party at work, then had chili cheese dogs, donuts and cider with the fam, and watched Clue. The Aldrich Family stopped by, and so did the Palmers -SO fun to see everyone dressed up! Kate brought her friend LaToya to my office party to help out (or good off, whichever)...

... and Mar brought Addie in and put her in her cute monkey costume, and it turned out that another gal in my office had the same costume for her little boy, so we had to get a picture!


When the Aldriches stopped by, Natalie was adorable in her ladybug costume, and Jon was hysterical in his old man outfit. Shawn looked pretty cool in his b-ball costume, and Steve looked awesome as a Ghostbuster.

November first dawned warm and sunny, but this morning was more November-ish - cold, windy and rainy. I LOVED it! We turned on the gas fireplace tonight and I can hear "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" on downstairs. Oh, I LOVE this time of year!

Happy Halloween!

Darkness Falls Across the Land...

The Midnight Hour is Close at Hand

Creatures Crawl in Search of Blood,

to Terrorize Your Neighborhood

And Whosoever Shall be Found,

Without the Soul for Getting Down

Must Stand and Face the Hounds of Hell

And Rot Inside a Corpse Shell!

The Foulest Stench is in the Air-

The Funk of Forty-Thousand Years!

And Grisly Should from Every Tomb

Are Closing in to Seal Your Doom.

And Though you Fight to Stay Alive,

Your Body Starts to Shiver...

For No Mere Mortal Can Resist

The Evil of the Thriller!

AAAHHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

This weekend was a very Halloween-ish weekend! Friday night I went to Gardner Village with Kate, Mar, Jesse and Addie. Turns out it was 'Witch's Night Out' that night, so the place was crawling with people dressed up as witches! It was fun to walk around and see how it was all decorated, and have tasty pumpkin pie cake.

Saturday night, I went to This Is The Place Heritage Park's 'Haunted Village' with Melissa, Mar, Kate, Dan and Steve. We went five years ago, so I thought it would be the same - hot chocolate and cider and donuts, and then going from house to house listening to professional storytellers tell classic ghost stories. Well, apparently it changed - now it's a "haunted house" of sorts - you walk around the village waiting for things to jump out at you, and several of the homes up there are decked out in cobwebs and spiders and coffins and a teensy bit of gore. It was actually pretty entertaining! I always freak out at those sorts of things, but that was actually not that bad. I don't have pictures of it, but Seesa will probably post some in the next couple of days.

LAST weekend, we all went to ride the Heeber Creeper for a 'Haunted Canyon' train ride. Seesa has pictures of that too, but here are a few I took:

I think it was at Haunted Village last night that Steve or Mar or someone made the observation that our family does more activities for Halloween than we do for Christmas. That seems a little messed up.

Well, not really - this IS the Sloan clan we're talking about.

MWUAAAAAHAAAHAAAAAAA!!!! :)

Sun, Wind, Fire, Sand, and Water

The elements of camping at the beach in California.

Sun... We saw some glorious sunsets, and I got a pretty awesome sunburn - in spite of the sunscreen I slathered all over myself.

Wind... The last day at the beach was super windy, so most of us bundled up in hoodies, but that just added to the adventure of it all.

Fire... Campfire is one of my favorite smells on this earth. Jesse likes fire too - pretty sure he built this one.

Water... I can only describe it the way I describe mountains: Majestic. This was my view when I opened the door of my tent on Thursday morning.

Sand... It gets everywhere, but I love how it feels on my toes. And yes, those are my toes at the bottom of the picture.

The sun was out, the surf was (mostly) up, I ate when I was hungry and slept when I was tired. I also walked to the camp store with my niece, my brother-in-law, and some of his family, so we could all buy ice cream. I tried my hand at boogie-boarding - which I suck at, but loved trying anyway, and I caught a couple of good waves. I went to the Surf Ride surf shop and bought some trendy new "sandals" and a new hoodie, and I went to the 7-Eleven twice in one day.

AHHHH... I love camping at the beach.

San Diego and and Four Main Questions

Wise words spoken by my brother-in-law Jesse, last time I camped at the beach in San Diego with him and my sister Marianne, and his family:

Mel: "Hey Mar, do you know what time it is?"

Mar: "Ummm, I think it's..."

Jesse: "It doesn't matter what time it is! Time doesn't exist in this place. All that matters is,

is the sun out? Is the surf up? And are you hungry... or tired?"

AHHHH... Best... Vacation... Ever.

See ya'll next Monday when I'm back from sun, surf, food, and sleep!

Fall Colors

I didn't make it up the canyon this year to take some shots of the fall colors; I've heard the reds and oranges aren't that brilliant anyway, because of the bizarre weather pattern Utah has been experiencing. But on my way home from work the other day, I turned into my neighborhood and had to stop and take these shots:

I love the mountains! Their beauty and majesty always leaves me breathless. Sometimes I wish my camera could capture what my eyes can see and my heart can feel when I see things, like this, that are so inspiring.

Haunted...

Happy October, everyone!!

Welcome to my fun new blog! Yes, you're in the right place. :) Be sure to enjoy some Halloween tunes while you're here, and check out a few of my new additions. I'm still working on adding more, so every time you visit, there might be something new! Any suggestions on what I should add? I want to add that "What I'm Doing" element but I haven't figured it out yet. But any other suggestions on ways to make my blog more fun are most welcome!

In the meantime... it's OCTOBER!! Even if it IS 85 degrees in Utah right now... But it's supposed to be about 65 degrees on Saturday, and there's a giant orange hoodie in my closet waiting for me, and you better believe I'll be wearing it on Saturday with my favorite pair of Halloween PJ pants!! I love Halloween-time...


Did I not mention that I'm a nerd? Oh. Well, consider yourselves informed.

Ch-Ch-Changes

I've had this blog of a few years now, and the four readers who visit my blog regularly can attest to the fact that I am not that great at keeping it updated. For some reason, I have it in my head that an update should include a photo - and while photos are fun, I don't necessarily NEED them for a blog entry. I read Mug's blog all the time and she has a bunch of entries without photos, and a bunch of entries WITH photos. Also, while my blog has a decent color scheme and an awesome photo at the top (who doesn't love the beach??), it lacks more color, updated pics of my siblings, and let's be honest - it lacks imagination. It's so plain. I LOOOOOOVE to visit the Bachmann blog and cousin Meghan's blog - AND the Baxter blog! SO creative and colorful and... girly! I LOVE it!

So... I think it's time to overhaul my blog. And I'm not just saying the appearance - I'm even going to change the title. I still like Keith Urban and his music, but it's time for a change. (Plus I don't want to get in trouble for using his lyrics without permission, even though I credit him at the end of the phrase.) My blog site is "meloo runs with scissors" so I'm going to go off of that... and as of tomorrow, the title will simply be called "Meloo." Bear with me as I add and subtract photos, websites, and other paraphernalia - and I'll still put a picture of me up so you know you're at the right place. :) And in the future, I will update more often, with or without pictures.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go eat a piece of my mom's chocolate cake and ponder what changes I will be making in my blog. MMMM...

5 Years

Today is my sister and brother-in-law's 5th wedding anniversary, and I gotta give them a shout-out!

Marianne is the first (and only) sibling in my family to get married. My brother Dan says that she's "taken one for the team" - meaning that the rest of us are off the hook as far as marriage goes. And it's a two-for - she has a baby girl, too, which means my mom and dad now have a grandchild. FINALLY. You'd think that would relieve some of the pressure on the rest of us; but mom and dad have other ideas. They seem to think we should ALL get married and have kids. Huh - go figure. :)

Anyhow, it's been interesting to observe their relationship over the past five years - how much it's grown, and how perfect they are for each other. It's awesome to watch. They love each other, they respect each other - and they even LIKE each other, hehe. I read the Knight Family blog and the story Mar tells there pretty much sums up what their marriage is like, even observing from the outside. They have something pretty special!




Plus they have the cutest baby girl EVER.

Congratulations, you guys! I love you!

These Things Might Kill Me.

I buy them several bags at a time - sometimes by the case -and I like to give them away so people can enjoy them like I do. I can down a bag (or four) in no time, though lately I've been pretty good at controlling myself, because once you eat one (or twelve), you can't stop.

Haribo Mini Rainbow Frogs.

*DROOL*

(I love the macro setting on my camera!)

Labor Day

I love days off. There's just something satisfying about sleeping in on a Monday (or any weekday, for that matter). Yesterday, I lounged in bed most of the morning with my window open and listened to the rain, and snuggled down into my blankets and enjoyed the cool weather.

After the rain stopped, it was cool to go out and see all the flags lining the street, posted in the neighbors' yards.

I went to lunch with Mom and Melissa and Mikie and Mar and Jesse and Addie at Litza's. Fun times - and yummy food!

Then I went shopping with mom and Melissa at the Gateway, and later went to Mar and Jesse's house for some home-made ice cream and apple cobbler made in the dutch oven, with mom 's home-made apple pie filling. MMMMMMM...

A perfect Labor Day.

Pretty Pictures

I always borrow my brother Mike's camera when I'm going somewhere that I know I'm going to take pictures - my camera is a little outdated and doesn't take very decent photos. So I borrowed his camera to take to Mug and Matt's wedding and reception. I enjoyed taking pictures with it, messing with the color schemes and finding pretty things to take pictures of, which wasn't hard because the bride was gorgeous and the outdoor reception was beautiful.

Then I noticed the "macro" setting on the camera and started messing with THAT.

AWESOME. Needless to say, I bought my own camera like my brother's. I even kept his camera an extra day or two and snapped a few more macro shots, like this one of my favorite thing in the whole world:

Coke with lime. MMMMMMMMM.

Oh man, am I excited to get my new camera to play with!