Random Goings-On

Derrill cut Joy's hair. "Yay! I like having cut hair." It's a few inches shorter so it isn't as likely to drag on the ground.

Derrill got a rejection notice on a journal article. He sent it back out the same day to another journal. "Yay, Derrill"

We have broken 4 dishes this month while washing them: three cups and a bowl.

This week, Hyrum met Winnie the Pooh on television. Pooh books are in ascension as a result. Hyrum's Buzz Lightyear stock is down, though it may be making a comeback in heavy playing today. Bob the Builder reigns supreme. "To the point that he has to carry a Bob DVD case everywhere he goes." The Bob the Builder theme song has now had more play time than the Hallelujah Chorus, with "Bob Song" the number 1 two-word request.

Hyrum has begun using the word "more" when he wants more food in combination with the food he wants. Sometimes, though, it's just "m," as in "m Peachy." Today he ate 2-3 ounces of dark chocolate.

We finished books!

• Harry Potter 6 - the family book
• Talking for Two - a romance novel about a shy ventriilogquist who wants to do the Lord's work.
• By Love Restored - a romance novel about a remodeler hooking up with a former beau whose house she is working on.
• Doctrine and Covenants - family scripture study for 2009
• Moving in His Majesty and Power - Elder Neal A. Maxwell's last religious book - finished the manuscript days before he died.
• Finding Light in a Dark World - A collection of Pres. James E. Faust's talks, including some really 'political' material
• The Infinite Atonement - Elder Callister describing many ways in which the Atonement is infinite and has the power to bless our lives
• Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson, a unique fantasy work - unique world, unique magic setup, intriguing characters, minimal reliance on blatant archetypes, very difficult to predict
• Joy is 1 week away from finishing the Old Testament and I'm thirdway to halfway through "Scoop," "Mansfield Park," and Easterly's "The White Man's Burden"

We both decided that we won Facebook's Cafe World and have largely stopped playing them. Joy has also given up on FarmVille and I've abandoned 3-4 FB games as well. I've also been enjoying (once a week) my new Tropico 3 game.

We really enjoy teaching a temple prep class for a couple friends getting married soon. It's fun to spend time with them, it's fun to spend time talking about temples, and I've been learning a lot of new scriptural insights as I answer questions. Our sacrament talks for two weeks and the temple prep classes have really dominated our scripture study lately, Joy notes.

Joy has returned to the Wii My Fitness Coach for exercise, leaving Hyrum to the VeggieTales Dance Dance Revolution or putting him in his playpen for getting impossibly underfoot.

Derrill has been greatly disappointed by the South Beach Diet the last month. We've been on level 1 - the fast weight loss section - for 3 of the last 5 weeks and I've got about nothing to show for it. We're back on level 2 and I'm kind of discouraged. "Joy is not discouraged."

We decided to start adding in-season fruits and vegetables to the diet "so that we might obey the Word of Wisdom more fully" and had three grapefruits. We enjoyed them with a few drops of vanilla and some Sweet and Low. We think the pink grapefruit won out over the white or red, with the red being Joy's least favorite. Tomorrow we will eat fresh beets and beet greens.