This weeks Golden Nugget

The other day, on their way home from work, Calder and Bert were listening to a book on tape about John Paul Jones.  During the story it mentioned Paul Revere. Calder turned the volume down a bit and nonchalantly said, "I've not only been to his house, I've licked it too."  He then turned the radio back up so that they could hear the rest of the story, and they continued the drive without further explanation.  Later that night Bert repeated the story to me somewhat puzzled.
Next day:  "Calder, did you tell Dad you've LICKED Paul Revere's house?"
"Yes."
"Licked?"
"Yes."
"....why?"
"Lot's of people can say they've been there, Mom, but very few can ever say they've tasted it."
Bwahahaha....snort.  Gosh I love that kid!

Businessman of the year?

Well he gets my vote!
Sheer genius to have the state pay for your most effective advertising.

Just one big belly laugh-

Calder thought it would be funny

to put this absurdly large,

 copperhead snake skin in the corner of my bedroom.

 

Can you hear me laughing from there?

Hilarious.

Well, that can't be good....

Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative. -H. G. Wells

Conference grab bags are wrapped and ready for the morning and afternoon sessions today.  Each one contains a rare family favorite such as: cherry turnovers, apple cider, play doh, caramel for dipping, etc.  Whenever a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak, and after Hydn has correctly matched them to their picture, he chooses one for all of us to enjoy, who have been quiet enough for the rest of us to hear the talk.  However, .....there's a tiny little twist this year (it's probably long past due.)  Whenever a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak, and after Hydn has correctly matched them to their picture, he will choose one for all of us to enjoy, who have stayed AWAKE UNTIL THE END OF THE TALK.
The stakes are high.  We've raised the bar. This could get interesting.

I'm almost positive one learns more from the summer job to earn money for schooling - than the actual schooling itself...

Some favorite outtakes from Jesse's summer-

Dear Family!

  My goal this week is to find little things to enjoy in life.  I noticed that I find myself counting down the hours untill my shift gets off.  But, it's dumb because once you get off you eat, then go to bed, to repeat it all over. 

  So this was the list I came up with on why I like my job/day.

1.  My dinner was all yellow.

2.  Anyone can fart as loud or as deadly as they wish.  Nobody will hear or smell it in the factory (proven fact.)

3.  I will become a champion in water fights, because I don't even flinch when getting sprayed with water/blood in the face anymore.

4.  I always look forward to when Sam comes to check the freezer, cuz he always stops to say hi.

5.  Also look forward to Mario's visits.  He's the trident guy that checks the fish.  Super shy from Mexico but I really admire him.  When he checks fish we never say anything but he will smile, squeeze my arm and then do his thing.

  I'll stop there, but it's amazing after 12+ hours the things you can thing of.

My bed is top left.

   *I've been super busy and tired... and sore.  I'm bruised from head to toe.  And that's no lie.  I still have a scar on my forehead and my toes are covered in blisters.  Ha.  Last week I was able to pull 95 hours tho!  And in those 95 hours I have discovered the trick of falling asleep standing.

  *I feel like this boat is a reality tv show (that I would never care to watch), and I keep waiting for my interview.  I got things to say!

  *Because of the storm it's been an uneventful few days (work did pick back up today though.)  Even to the point where we decided to play Scrabble - which is not something I would normally do outside of family.  But I forgot where I was; I had nothing to worry about.  Nobody can spell!  Ha!  The teacher on the boat came up and saw the board and just started laughing.  Apparently it was a funny sight.  But it looked normal to all of us! ;)

 

 * I was telling Mom though that I did get to go hiking the other day.  I went with Joe.  He's shorter than me by a few inches, 25, and has a very long red beard.  He looks like a dwarf from Lord of the Rings.  There is this trail that goes up the mountain that is super steep.  There is a ladder going all the way up and a rope to hold on to.  We were in our work boots too.  So we were slipping all over.  Joe stole a steak knife from the galley and he found me an old rusty wrench on the way up the mountain.  So that was our defenses if the bear's came.

 *Oh!  I've seen two Bears!!  Yea!  It was crazy, they came right up tot he coast line next to our boat... kinda creepy cuz I like to walk that shore line.  But man, it was awesome!  The first one caught a fish and then took a nap on the beach.  The next day the other one just went back and forth on the beach.  They were SO close.  Me and Joe realized how stupid we were for going on that hike....

  *One guy came up and just stared me down and said, "You have the same eyes as my wife.   This is awkward."  Then he walks away.  Only thing he has ever said to me.  There is just so many things that I find so odd about half the things these people say and do.  It's fascinating.

 

*For work today the fish was coming slow so me and Jay were goofing around a lot.  We would find the biggest fish, wrap it around our belly's and charge at one another.  It kept us going for the 12 hours. 

P.S.  I'm getting to the point where I can think of other things besides fish while working -that's nice!  Jay gets bored too easy and can't just work and think.  So he looks to me to entertain him... hence the game above.  The other day it was 'I spy' for 3 hours.  Day before that was balance the fish by the tail (12 hours is a loong time to fill!  Love You! 

 *The town's pretty cute here and the landscape is just breathtaking.  It's beautiful!  Come to think of it I lied to you Mom, I have been on quite a few walks.  The other day one of the guys on the boat wanted to go get some coffee at the itty bitty coffee shop and then he looked at me and asked if I wanted to get a smoothie.  (The whole ship knows I'm Mormon.  Word spreads like a wild fire here - it's pretty funny.)  But the coffee shop was closed so we went to "our store" which is the funniest store ever!  It's these people's house.  So you walk in the door and it asks you to take off your shoes and then you just wander through their living room and kitchen.  They put up roll away shelves everywhere and once they close they just roll away the shelves and they are back to home!  It's super cute.

 

 *Our sacrament meetings are pretty funny.  We have all of about 6 minutes before Justin's breaks over so we run up to my room, sit on the floor, pull out this tiny stool and run through it.  We're going to start up each having a spiritual thought to make it feel not so rushed and to add something.  Last week another guy wanted to watch so that was a little weird.  He pulled out his camera and started recording.  That kinda upset me.  Mostly because I think I was sick of the world and wanted something familiar but he was ruining that.  So I kicked him really hard and he stopped. :D

 
*You know that game where there is a jar of jellybeans and you have to guess how many there are inside?  Well not sure if you knew but I sucked at that game.  That's kinda how I felt my job is while guessing the weight of the fish.  We throw them into different spots: 2-4 lb, 4-6lb, and 6-9 lbs, and I'm as good at guessing the weight as I am at those jellybeans.  Not only that but we sort the different kinds of fish as well: chum, sockeye (red), pink salmon, coho, and king.  I enjoy that part tell them apart but some of them only can tell by the silver or no silver in the tail.  And when the fish come at you so fast you have to pick one type fast.  Yeah... I'm not the best.

 

*But the part I'm worst at is finding belly burn.  Oh man!  It should turn maroon colored if it is but eh... I find it hard to spot.  Often times I just throw out a fish here and there because I know I've had to run into it a few times and hopefully get the right ones.  Or worse, I'll think I've finally figured out what it looks like so I'm throwing out more than half the fish... then I start to question if I'm looking at the right thing, cuz pretty soon it all looks belly burned.  It reminds me of Jenny when she asked me to cut her split ends.  After 10 minutes she had to pull the scissors out because it all looked the same to me.

  But on a good note, I can't be that bad because the lady said I became an official grader today.  So moving up in the world ;)

 *The cooks - one hates me... or everyone, but I swear he just glares me down and the other one is in love with me and brings me my favorite cookies.  Or asks what my favorite chip is and sure enough, that's what we will all have for lunch the next day.

 *I'll admit, I'm going to miss being treated like a princess.  Even if it's a boat full of fishermen.