80 is the new 60

I know, I’m really behind in blogging, but I’ll try to make it up to you (if you care).

In June, my mom celebrated her 80th birthday. So, to honor her, on June 26th we had a huge family reunion/open house. Of course, when you get a family together, there is always drama, right? We didn’t disappoint.

We scheduled a family dinner from 2:00 – 4:00, then an open house from 6:00 – 8:00. My brother the chef was not only in charge of the food for the dinner, but for the open house as well. As it turned out, my nephew had his Salt Lake wedding reception the night before, and my brother catered it, so we were able to use the fruit and veggies for both events. My sister-in-law’s sister-in-law (confusing enough for you?) was awesome enough to provide tablecloths, and my sister-in-law’s sister let us use the left over brownies and mini-cheesecakes. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on these goodies, so I had already ordered 4 cakes from Costco (and we all know how large cakes from Costco are) – one for the family dinner, three for the open house. Needless to say, we had almost all of the cakes left over.

My brother got up late on the 26th, so he had to recruit me to come help with the food preparation – thank goodness we were able to use the kitchen where he works in Orem. OK, did I mention that the family dinner was supposed to start at 2:00? Well, my brother and I arrived with the food AT 2:00 – I was still in shorts and a T-shirt, not to mention the fact that I was all sweaty from the food prep. Luckily, my mom hadn’t even arrived yet, so…

Roger and I went home where I took the fastest shower in history, and got ready. Of course we were taking pictures, so, of course, I look gross – but what are you doing to do?


So, I think the dinner finally started at 3-ish. We had the open house at the clubhouse of a housing community where my cousin lives. My sister decided that in the two hours between the dinner and the open house, family could swim at the clubhouse, or come to mom’s house (which lead to hiring cleaners to come clean the house). Since we were running on Blomquist-standard time, we didn’t have two hours between the dinner and the open house; we barely had enough time to clean up from the dinner and get ready for guest by 6:00.

All in all, it was a success! Lots of people came, and I think my mom really enjoyed it.

1st Birthday

So, the Saturday before I left for Boston, I went to my great-nephew's first birthday. He is just too, too cute. Thanks, Amber, for letting me come join you!

Watching him eat his cake was so cute (and yet, I had to watch my gag reflex). I guess the only baby cake Amber could find was red velvet... makes an amazing looking mess.

Michael and me

Michael Jackson died on Thursday, June 25, 2009. I had just heard on the radio that he was in a coma when my friend texted me and said that he had died. My first reaction was “huh… that’s weird.” It really wasn’t until Friday evening that I really thought about it. No matter what Michael’s life deteriorated into, back in the 80’s and early 90’s he was untouchable. Not only did he impact the music and music video industries, but he impacted my life as well. So many memories, but just to list a few…

1. Michael Jackson was the first man I ever loved – as much as a young teenager can, anyway.

2. I had to have sleep tests done at the local hospital one Saturday, and I was not allowed to sleep the night prior to the tests. My parents said I could rent some movies to help me stay awake. I rented Lili (GREAT old movie) and The Making of Thriller. It’s amazing how long “all night” is to a young teenager. I must have watched Thriller 5 or 6 times that night (of course, trying to do all the dance moves along with the video).

3. My friend Kristen slept over one Friday night so we could stay up late and watch Friday Night Videos to see the music video of Beat It (yes, this was WAY back in the olden days when a. MTV played videos but b. MTV was not a free channel). Of course, since that’s the video we cared about, it was the very last one they played that night (I think Friday Night Videos started at midnight and lasted until 1:30 or something). We loved it!!

4. 1984 is the only year I’ve ever watched the Grammy Awards (and I watched the ENTIRE show).

5. I used to buy every magazine possible that contained pictures of Michael Jackson – my room was plastered in posters, pictures, etc. I might have been a little obsessive, but heck, I was a teenager.

6. When I learned that Michael Jackson was a vegetarian, I thought I’d try it out – much to my mom’s dismay, as she prepared the meals. I don’t know how long it lasted, because I really do like meat. ☺

7. In 1984, my father was in a car accident that left him a partial quadriplegic for the rest of his life. He was in intensive care for quite awhile, and for awhile we weren’t sure whether he’d make it or not. Even after he left intensive care, he was in the hospital for almost a year. Being a Michael Jackson fan provided me with something stable that I needed at a time when my life was anything but.

You can laugh, mock, whatever you want, but I am a Michael Jackson fan. And, as I mourn Michael Jackson, I mourn, at the same time, a time gone by. Actually, better said, as I celebrate Michael Jackson I celebrate, at the same time, a time gone by. Thank you, Michael, for all you gave me. I hope you are finally at peace.

Family Time

After returning to the States after two weeks abroad, I was able to spend some quality time en famille as the French say (with the family). Monday was my sister-in-law's birthday. Since I didn't get home until Monday, we went out to dinner on Tuesday.

My brother, Roger

My adorable Mom

My sister-in-law Michelle and her daughter, Kambray. For some reason, we were all trying to pick up ice cubes with our chopsticks. Bray had a really hard time.

Finally, success!

My brother Charles, and his wife Mariah

Wednesday, my nephew (Eric) and his wife (Carolyn) took my mom out for Mother's Day. Another nephew (Kris - evidently he now goes by Kristian, but I missed the memo) was able to come, and I finally got to meet his girlfriend - she's adorable! I got to hang with two of my grand-nieces (great-nieces?) - also so adorable.

Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day. My brother (the chef) and sister-in-law arranged a great party with delicious food. PLUS, two of my nephews were there with their families (one nephew all the way from Seattle). I am quite blessed to have such a great family! I really do love them all!

My nephew Matt, his wife Heather, their four amazing boys and my mom

Henry with his red mustache

Heather and Matthew

Eric and his daughter, Caty

Caty on the swing (I know, I know - you can't see the swing, but trust me)

Cute Carolyn, trying to NOT get her picture taken

Cannon and Luke

Swinging Abi

Norrköping

NOT pronounced Nor-k-uh-ping. Actual pronounciation: [nawr-chœ-ping] (I think nor-shuh-ping is pretty close).

What? You’ve never heard of Norrköping? Well, I don’t blame you. The only reason I’ve heard of it is that my mom’s grandmother and great-grandmother emigrated from there.

My sister visited Sweden a few years ago (her husband served an LDS mission in Sweden) and they went to Norrköping and had a great experience (family-history wise), so I decided I should go, too. However, it wasn’t until the night I arrived in Stockholm that I thought of looking for the location where my great-great-grandfather was buried. Poor planning on my part (or lack of planning) but seriously, how hard could it be to find it? I knew what parish he belonged to (East Eneby, Hedvigs Parish) – surely they had a cemetery where parish members were buried, right? Sadly, no.

Norrköping is about a 90-minute train ride out of Stockholm. Just a few blocks from the train station I found Hedvigs Kyrka (which was pretty good since I had no idea where I was going), but as I said, there was no nearby cemetery. That’s OK, I would just ask where they would have buried people in 1862. I arrived at the door just as they were closing for the day. I stated my case and everyone at the church was extremely nice and tried to help me. They gave me a map of the city, and pointed out a cemetery that would have graves from the 1800’s. So, I set out on my quest. Since it was Sunday, no one was working at the cemetery for me to ask whether or not I was in the right place. Again, I figured it would be OK, I would just walk around and see what I could find – shouldn’t take long. I started with a lot of energy, but after a couple of hours (and a lot of snow), I decided that I was out of luck. That said, I did have a nice time and was able to take some great pictures.

Hedwig's Kyrka

St. Matthew's

river in Norrköping

I know it's March, but...

I know I’m about a month late blogging about it, but I had a GREAT Valentine’s Day this year. My youngest nephew is going on an LDS mission to Zurich, Switzerland (yes, you read that right, my youngest nephew is 19). So, on Valentine’s Day, we had a big family day at the Salt Lake City temple as Kyle went through the temple for the first time. My sister even flew in to town for the event.

Kyle - I mean Elder Blomquist

If that wasn’t cool enough, my newest niece Madison (formerly known as Lupita – see Look ma, no hands & Will someone explain this to me, please?) was sealed to my brother and sister-in-law. It really was a privilege to be a part of this day.

Then we all went to dinner – there were probably around 30-40 of us. Being the quiet, subdued family that we are, no one even knew we were there.

Madison and her "twin" McKenzi

Harold, Kathy, McKenzi and Madison

Harold and Mom

Christmas (mis)Adventures

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (Happy Holiday, etc.). I had a very nice Christmas week. Over a three-day span, I was able to spend time with three of my brothers and their families (well, partial families, in some cases).

On Christmas Eve, my mom and I were preparing our traditional Christmas treats – peanut clusters, Rice Krispies Treats®, and Chex® Party Mix. We ran into some problems, which ended up providing us with much humor.

Due to my last minute, two-week trip to London, I wasn’t quite prepared for Christmas, so I was shopping on Christmas Eve – the lines in the stores were crazy, by the way. My mom called and said she had run into a problem with the peanut clusters, and needed some help. So, after a fruitless shopping experience (I ended up buying stuff on-line and printing out a picture of the item to be unwrapped. Lame, I know, but what are you going to do?), I returned home to see what she needed. My mom has been using the same recipe for peanut clusters for, oh, about as long as we’ve had a microwave, so what, 20-some-odd years (maybe 30)? For some reason, this time, as she melted the butterscotch and chocolate chips, the butterscotch chips caramelized instead of melted. I really think she had a bad batch of butterscotch chips – because the next batch came out OK. However, my mom kept the messed up batch because, in her words, it was sweet so someone might eat it. OK…

Rice Krispies Treats® are my FAVORITE holiday treat. My mom has doctored up the usual recipe a little bit (including adding more marshmallows AND a tsp. of vanilla). Anyway, I got out a bag of marshmallows – they felt a little old, but they weren’t TOO hard, and since we were melting them anyway, I figured we’d be OK. Well, we weren’t OK. As the marshmallows started “melting” (and I use the term loosely), I quickly realized that this batch just wasn’t going to work. This mishap following so closely after the Peanut Cluster debacle, caused my mom and me to double over with laughter – we were laughing so hard we were crying. My mom had the genius idea to mix the caramelized chocolate/butterscotch mixture in with the clumping marshmallows– again, using the reasoning “they’re both sweet.” Needless to say, it was a mess and ended up in the garbage. Luckily we had some newer marshmallows on hand, so Rice Krispies Treats® were to be had.

All in all, we had a very nice, white Christmas (the snow has been crazy) – we were able to spend time with family, eat good food, watch Christmas shows (we watched A Christmas Story, finally), and celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Attitude of Gratitude Challenge - the end? or just the beginning?

I am truly amazed that I made it through the month.

Today, the final day of November 2008, I am grateful for:

1. This Attitude of Gratitude Challenge. Some days were easier than others, but each day has been a blessing. I echo my good friend's wish – that I will continue to look for the blessings that surround me, even though I’m not recording them here on my blog.
2. Text messaging. I know it’s not a face-to-face conversation, but I love that I was able to have a very nice conversation with my nephew throughout the day today – a conversation in which I didn’t offend him with my playful teasing (I forget that he can be sensitive sometimes).
3. Experiences – good and bad, we are a sum of not only our experiences but also how we react to said experiences. As much as I hate trials and hardships when I’m going through them, they have made me who I am today (whether that’s good or bad is open to debate ☺). I hope that I can continue to grow from whatever life throws at me and that I can keep a positive outlook on life.

In September 2005, The Profound Power of Gratitude, President Thomas S. Monson quoted this newspaper story from several years ago:

The District of Columbia police auctioned off about 100 unclaimed bicycles Friday. “One dollar,” said an 11-year-old boy as the bidding opened on the first bike. The bidding, however, went much higher. “One dollar,” the boy repeated hopefully each time another bike came up.
The auctioneer, who had been auctioning stolen or lost bikes for 43 years, noticed that the boy’s hopes seemed to soar higher whenever a racer-type bicycle was put up.
Then there was just one racer left. The bidding went to eight dollars. “Sold to that boy over there for nine dollars!” said the auctioneer. He took eight dollars from his own pocket and asked the boy for his dollar. The youngster turned it over in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters—took his bike, and started to leave. But he went only a few feet. Carefully parking his new possession, he went back, gratefully threw his arms around the auctioneer’s neck, and cried.
When was the last time we felt gratitude as deeply as did this boy? The deeds others perform in our behalf might not be as poignant, but certainly there are kind acts that warrant our expressions of gratitude.

Only 2 days left

Today I am grateful for:

1. A friend that I haven’t seen since high school who took time out of her day to help me move.
2. A friend of my brother’s who took time out of his day to help me move.
3. My two brothers who took time out of their day to help me move.

It’s so easy in life for us to receive blessings, many of them almost uncounted, and have things happen in our lives that can help change our lives, improve our lives, and bring the Spirit into our lives. But we sometimes take them for granted. How grateful we should be for the blessings that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings into our hearts and souls. I would remind all of you that if we’re ever going to show gratitude properly to our Heavenly Father, we should do it with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—because it was He who gave us life and breath.
--David B. Haight, Were There Not Ten Cleansed?

Let the thanksgiving continue

1. Playing games with the family – Tonight my brother and his family met at my mom’s for Thanksgiving, part II. After dinner – if you read my blog yesterday you’ll know it wasn’t made up of leftovers – several of us played Phase 10. We had the normal cheating, competitiveness, and gloating – that is normal, right?
2. Time to relax – haven’t had much of that lately, but it’s so nice to have a few minutes to sit, think, breath and just try to recuperate.
3. My Savior, Jesus Christ. I love Him. I am so grateful for His perfect example, for His love, and for His atonement.

Let us give thanks for what we are and for the circumstances God has given us for our personal journey through mortality.
--Dallin H. Oakes, Give Thanks in All Things

The 20th, really?

1. Good memories – Tonight I made a stir fry for dinner. I know you’re asking what that has to do with memories. Well, I made it from one of my mom’s recipes…a recipe we used to make all the time when I was in high school. As I was chopping the carrots (yes, it’s true, I actually ate carrots this evening of my own free will), celery, onions, etc. I remembered many of our family dinners. So, not only did I have a delicious meal, but I also had great memories to go along with it.
2. Lip balm – I live in such a dry climate, my lips would shrivel up and fall off (wouldn’t that be a sight?) if I didn’t have a constant supply of lip balm. C.O. Bigelow® is my current favorite.
3. Fun co-workers. A friend/co-worker sent me the following saying: “my work friends are the reason why I love my job.” I couldn’t have said it better.

"The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!"
--President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939]

Yes, I'm a nerd

Having just spent 13 hours at work, my first items of gratitude are techie software things that helped keep the 13 hours from becoming many, many more:

1. notepad ++ – a free source code editor. This little application let me look at all of the invisible characters in a text file I was working with until I found that annoying character that was causing my problem. Without this app, I’d still be at work banging my head against a brick wall.
2. Text Translation Preview – a little feature in one of my company’s applications that allowed me to easily preview my progress rather than use the 20-step process it would have taken without this feature. Twenty might be an exaggeration, but not much.
3. Totally not work related, but I’m thankful for my mom’s home teacher. He and his wife are so good about visiting my mom each month. Not only does he visit her, but he takes a genuine interest in making sure she’s OK. Scot is awesome – I know my mom appreciates him, and thus, I appreciate him.

"We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we meet on the way. Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don't overlook it."
--Author Unknown

Day 12

1. Restaurant Delivery – it’s so nice to be able to relax (read be lazy) at the hotel and have someone bring food to my door.
2. Humor – my friend Kris mentioned this yesterday in her blog (which I didn’t read until today), but I thought of this today all on my own. The guys I work with in Pittsburgh are so funny…even grumpy Bob. And, as Kris says, laughter and humor are contagious – so spread the humor!!
3. My dad – he passed away in 1992, but I think about him and miss him every day. He was (is) a great example of love, tolerance, faith, compassion, dedication, work, courage, service, and the list goes on. I’m totally bawling so I better leave it at that.

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.
"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues"
--Thomas S. Monson, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Ensign, May 1992, 54

Day 7's giving of thanks

I’ve set a precedent now – if I skip a day, I’ll feel guilty. So, whether you like it or not, I’m going to continue with my daily giving of thanks.

1. Christmas music. I know what you’re saying – I said it myself: isn’t it too early for Christmas music? As it turns out, no, it isn’t. I was driving home from the airport this morning, scanning through the local radio stations when I ran across a Christmas song – actually, several stations are playing Christmas music now, but I digress. After my initial “it’s-too-early-for-this” reaction, I started singing along (notice how I didn’t CHANGE the station?). Immediately (and I mean immediately) the annoyance I felt toward the driver of the truck and trailer who just cut me off disappeared. It was awesome. So, I sang Christmas music all the way home.
2. To go along with the Christmas music, I am grateful for my hearing. What did you just say?
3. I drove my mom to her local library tonight so that she could get her library card. I had mentioned the Gratitude Challenge to her earlier. As we were getting out of the car, she stopped in the parking lot, looked over at the sunset and said, “you should be thankful for that,” pointing to the gorgeous sunset. She’s right – I am thankful. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera. But wait, fortunately I did have my iPhone, so enjoy!


“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”
--Margaret Cousins

Attitude of Gratitude Challenge

My friend posted this on her blog, and since it seemed like such a good idea, I have shamelessly plagiarized it (my friend shamelessly copied it from an email sent to her, so it's a challenge several times removed). Anyway, here we go:

Announcing the November Attitude of Gratitude Challenge
Participation is voluntary.

How it works:
Each day during the month of November, send me an email (but feel free to include other people, not just me, if you want).

Each email should include three things for which you are grateful.

The term "things" is used here to encompass a myriad of stuff including, but not limited to: a certain set of circumstances, an event, an inanimate object distinguished from a living being, possessions or effects, a deed or act, a product of work or activity, an idea or notion, a piece of news or information, a person, a memory, anything that makes you smile.

It will be fun, but challenging to come up with three original things each day. Try not to repeat entries.

* The email should be sent by midnight each night. If you miss a day or two, no biggie, but you have to make it up, no skipping!

Quote:
"Gracias, danke, merci—whatever language is spoken, "thank you" frequently expressed will cheer your spirit, broaden your friendships, and lift your lives to a higher pathway as you journey toward perfection. There is a simplicity—even a sincerity—when "thank you" is spoken." --Thomas S. Monson, "The Profound Power of Gratitude," Ensign, Sep 2005

My Three Things for November 1st:

1. I'm thankful for Costco - is that dumb?
2. I'm thankful for the Internet
3. I'm thankful for my mom

One for my sis!

Yo, Karen. I did it!
Readers, if you miss the Rocky reference, too bad for you.

Based on the queue this morning, I wonder how many people will be left to vote on the actual "election day."

Friday, July 4th

We celebrated Independence Day with two AWESOME barbecues. As we drove from Seattle back to Amanda’s parents in Pasco, we stopped off in Snoqualmie to see my nephew Matt and his family. Amanda, Danielle and I enjoyed Matt and Heather’s kind hospitality, along with delicious food. It also gave me a chance to see my great-nephews (that’s still so weird for me to say – I’m too young to be a great-aunt, although I’m a GREAT aunt): Cannon, Luke, Henry and Matthew.






After spending all too little time with Matt and Heather (and after getting growled at by Luke for trying to hug him), we drove on to the Weikum’s, for another great barbecue.


That night we sat in front of the Weikum’s and watched the LONGEST fireworks show I’ve ever seen. Not that I’m complaining – most of the time people complain that they’re too short. It was hilarious – every time we thought we were watching the finale it kept going.

One more day...

Look ma, no hands!

As stated earlier, last night I took my mom to see my nephew, Kris, play soccer in Salt Lake City. He plays for the University of Utah. The game was enjoyable, even more so because we were sitting on the shaded side of the stadium – it was a whopping 98°. Highlights of the evening:

• Kris playing goalie
• Harold yelling at the refs
• Lupita, McKenzi and Noah squirting everybody with water from squirt bottles – which no one minded too much because of the aforementioned 98°
• My mixing and matching of sports terminology (i.e. can’t they get a rebound, if they shoot a goal from mid-field does it count for 3 points, and if anyone had scored I would have yelled “touchdown!”).

But the #1 highlight of the evening goes to my sister-in-law, Kathy. In a rare moment of sports seriousness, I asked the difference between throwing the ball and kicking it, of course, referring to the goalies. Kathy turned around to explain to me that only the goalies are allowed to touch the ball with their hands. She was so nice about it, and I was so shocked that she thought that was my question, I couldn’t even respond sarcastically with “Really? That’s how you play soccer?” Maybe I should have rephrased my question to be more specific, but I understood what I was asking, AND I did ask it right after a goalie chose to throw the ball instead of kick it. After we all started laughing about it, and I explained that I really did know at least THAT rule, my cute niece Amber said that she was going to say something sarcastic but refrained just in case I seriously didn’t know. Maybe somewhere in my mixing and matching of sports terminology, some people missed that I was joking?

Kudos to my mom!! Her health isn’t too great, and walking around too much is very painful for her. To get from where we parked to our seats about did her in, but then when we left, we had to hike for awhile as well. Good thing she wore here tennis shoes and not her 4-inch spike heels.

I took some cute pictures (it helps having such a cute family), but somehow missed a picture of Kris playing soccer – I’m a bad aunt.

Amber (niece)

Cory (nephew) sitting by Harold ("dad")

Kathy (sister-in-law)

Keith (nephew-in-law) and Noah (great-nephew)

Crazy Keith?

Lupita (niece)

McKenzi (niece)

Mom

How adorable is Noah?