10 things i love starting with the letter 'w'

my sister assigned me this blog post. i saw it on her blog and it was kind of fun, so here it goes (in no particular order):

1. west. the last name west is a great one. occasionally i still have someone who will ask how to spell it. i try not to look at them like they are complete idiots, but seriously... the best story i have about this is once when i was in the hospital. the doctor came in to the room and looked at the file in his hand. he asked how to pronounce my name, so i said, "west as in north,south, east and..." he looked a little flustered and then said, "oops, wrong file!" okay, glad he asked.

2. wet grass. i just think it is so pretty when the sun sparkles on the wet grass, making it glitter. then you add a few foot prints and you have a pretty picture.

3. winter? okay, i admit, i hate winter but i do love it when winter is over! does that count?

4. wind. at least a soft breeze. it always feels nice on a warm, sunny day to have the wind blow through your hair and cool off your face. and i must confess that i especially like it when i'm overheated and i lift my arms up to let the wind dry out my armpits! you know you like it too.

5. winning. i don't always have to win, but it is fun. i also like to see my children win, i rarely let them win because they never learn that way, but when they do win i love to see how it lights up their whole face and makes them smile, (and sometimes gloat...hmm?)

6. watching people. i like to do this when the people i'm watching don't know i'm watching them. like when the boys are totally absorbed in play and i can peek around the corner and be a part of their interaction. it is fun to glimpse their world. it is also fun at the mall or airport to watch and if the opportunity presents itself i am not above listening in either!

7. whole wheat. i like it in bread and cookies. maybe it's because i grew up with it, but it just adds such yummy flavor.

8. water. it tastes good. it feels good. it is good. drinking, bathing, swimming, splashing, whatever. i love it!

9. women's night out. okay, i stretched to make this one work, i know we call it girls night out, but i just made us all graduate to women status. this is one of my favorite things. i like seeing movies, shopping, grabbing a bite to eat, swapping labor stories, laughing so hard you cry, etc... what would we do without eachother?

10. weeding. i grew up hating this. my dad owned a landscaping business so every summer we earned money by weeding for his customers. we were seen in our cut off jeans and bright yellow 'Gardening Angels" t-shirts weeding homes, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, etc. i thought that when i grew up i would never touch another weed. well, that didn't happen. i can now spot weeds from a mile away and they drive me nuts! there is something so satisfying about pulling out all the bad and immediately seeing the improvement. i think there might just be a sacrament meeting talk in this. just think, there are bad things trying to choke all the good and beautiful out, when we decide to take action we can remove the bad. yes it keeps trying to come back, but if we properly repent we can dig out the root and get rid of it for good. i'll have to think on that a little more...

now you know way too much about me i'm sure. but hey, what are blogs for?

what to blog about?

what does one blog about when there is nothing to blog about. of course there are a million things to blog about, but how do you pick just the right thing? do i make up something so that all my devoted fans will be amused and entertained? do i just leave the blog unattended for months on end? do i steal ideas from other people? i could blog about this evil cat i know. this particular cat belongs to a friend of mine, and not to mention any names, but jen also hates this cat. i know of all the evils of this cat because i have seen her in action. i have read about and listened to stories about her. she only proves to solidify my conclusions that cats are hateful and only good to catch mice. they should all be relegated to the outdoors. if you are a cat lover please don't think me cruel. i am very allergic to cats so some of my views may be skewed... when i was a teenager my sister gave me a book for christmas called, "101 Uses for a Dead Cat". it was a very creative book and we had many hours of fun teasing my little sister, who loved cats. i think we may have scarred her for life. between the teasing and the accidents... wait, you may not know about this accidents. let me explain. one early morning, while it was still dark outside i climbed into the car to leave for seminary. when i closed the door it just kind of bounced back. weird i thought. so my brother josh and i tried to figure out why the door didn't close. it didn't take long. it turns out that the cat had jumped up trying to follow me into the car. it didn't quite make it and would never again be able to go for a ride. we lived in the country and i remember josh and i joking about the cat going to live in a nice place in the city. there was another time when we had several kittens. joanna (the baby of our family) and jacob were playing some grand game. i don't have a clue what this game involved, i only know that jacob in particular had a crazy big imagination. so this game was being played on a hot summer day, it included the baby kittens and possibly leaving them at the doctor. the doctor happened to be the unused ash bin which had to have the lid put back on in order for the kittens to stay put. well, sometime after dropping the kittens off at this doctor the game evolved and went on. i guess they completely forgot about the kittens and a few hours later when they remembered it was too late. the summer heat multiplied by the enclosed, black tin bucket equaled dinner! no, not really. i'm not as calloused as i may sound. this is just reflective of the insensitive teenage sister in me. josh and i thought this was prime opportunity to display our merciless sensibilities. we told them they murdered the kittens and would have to pay the consequences. we probably invented a few forms of cruel and unusual punishment for their misdeeds. as if teasing and tormenting them wasn't enough. i'm sure that joanna and jacob felt horrible enough without us rubbing it in. but hey, what are big siblings for? now however, i am gaining more of an understanding of feelings in regard to pets. after i started this blog last night our dog had an accident. i don't mean the kind that you clean up and spank her nose for. at first we thought she had been attacked by a wild animal because she was out playing in the woods. we took her in to the vet. the doctor said that she had puncture wounds and it looked like an animal had bitten her head and clawed her leg and tail. they gave her an IV and pain medication and tried to stabilize her. well, a few hours later bruising became apparent and they did an ultrasound. it turns out that she must have been hit by a car and had internal bleeding. she was going down fast and unfortunately didn't make it. i had to break the news to my own children this morning. now i am feeling remorse for all the cruelty i imposed on my helpless younger siblings. i picture myself tormenting my own children and know that it isn't possible to be more cruel. sorry jacob. sorry joanna. i will never call you a murderer again...
this is Dory dressed up like batman! we will miss her.