Bragging Rights

Let me just explain the following picture: El Guapo = Jared, ComeBackRocket = Chappo, Pinch Hitter = Jeff, Logos = Bryan.



If only reality could keep pace with fantasy!

Weekend at the Cabin

As Jared mentioned, we spent Friday and Saturday at my parents cabin, shingling the roof. I can't say that I helped out much on the roof. I think I spent approximately 4 minutes up there, lining up shingles. I was called down to be the official shingle cutter, while Willie, Jared and Dick did the roof work. I can say that I didn't mind getting off the roof. The cabin roof is a lot steeper than the roof on our house. So my dad and I did the groundwork for the men on the roof. They would tell us what size of shingle they needed, I could cut it and my dad would toss it up. We had a pretty good system going. When Heather and Candace weren't wrestling with kids, they helped out with some cutting also. They also got stuck taking the old shingles to the dump and emptying out the truck. They claimed that they had the worst job of the day. We ended up finishing before the rain hit and the roof looks great. Even though we don't use the cabin as much as we would like, it's nice to at least help out on some projects when we can.


Inside the cabin is where the hard work was. Bonnie, Charlene and my mom were trying to keep all the kids happy and out of the roofers way. After spending some time with the kids inside, I think the people on the roof had the easy job. Kennedy seemed to enjoy being the family bully this weekend and at one point had Dax crying because she kept stealing his Cheetos. She's really not a bully, but seems to know what buttons to push to get someone mad at her. Besides making all the kids cry at least once, Kennedy had a blast at the cabin. She played hard all day and by the time we left, she was exhausted and filthy. She crashed on the way home and Jared and I were out pretty quick after we got home. It was a fun, but tiring weekend.

Deja Vu...All Over Again

Well, for the third straight year I've shingled a roof. This time I spent the weekend at the Cabin, tearing off the old roof and shingling the new one. This was an in-law driven project as Willie, Dick, and I were the principle roofers. In-Law Pride!!! I don't really mind roofing, it actually moves pretty fast once you get around the vents (don't let the Elders' Quorum know I said that I don't mind roofing!). The only problem I have is getting out of bed the next day. Surprising enough the only really sore spot on my body was my hand from using the nail gun all day - weird!

My favorite part of the project came after we had finished and I went to use the bathroom. While I was sitting there, I looked up and noticed the results of our handiwork - nails were coming through the ceiling! I'm just glad I wasn't using the bathroom when the nails came through. It's safe to say I wouldn't have been very comfortable!! At least I wouldn't have stained my drawers!

Well, I guess I'll have to wait until next year to find out where I'll be roofing again. If you're in need of a little roof repair, let me know - I want to keep my streak alive!

Evening Conversations

Last night Kennedy and I engaged in another of our conversations. This time topics included: Her bath, her cousins, going outside, looking at pictures of her Grandparents, and milk.

Unofrtunately, the conversation was cut a bit short by Kennedy's desire to go "Nite Nite". Still, it's been a while since we last had a little chat for the blog. Enjoy!


Listen to our Evening Conversation.

Hidden Messages

With The DaVinci Code in full force this week perhaps some of the students at the U have gotten into the idea of secret meanings. I came across these two sidewalk paintings the other day in between the Social Work and Psychology buildings. The first is a bit ambiguous, but I think the second's message rings loud and clear.





Shouldn't this be near the business building? I don't think there's a lot of money changing hands between Psych and Social Work.

Just a Normal Saturday

I can't believe how quickly Saturday always seems to go by. I spend all week at work and get geared up for a nice relaxing weekend, but before you know it, I've gone to bed on Friday night and when I open my eyes, it's Monday morning. Where does the time go?
Last Saturday was an interesting mix of chores, church, fun, and family. Let's recap.

The day started with a time honored tradition in the Big Cottonwood Stake. The 3rd Saturday in May is the annual Stake Olympics, a track meet in which all the youth compete against one another for ward bragging rights. Since our teenage population is in a major downslide in the Holladay area, having kids show up gives you a pretty good chance to compete. Just so you know, we didn't compete. It's not like I'm the biggest cheerleader for the event, but it would be nice to get a few kids out to participate. You don't even have to be athletic, my event growing up was the stick pull - a made up event for fat kids who only have to plant their butts on the ground and hold onto a stick. What a display of athleticism!! I still have my gold medals from being the champion at "sitting on my butt and not letting go of the stick."

After the Stake Olympics, we headed up to Farmington for a geocaching meeting/ event. I know most of you are bored with me talking about our little trips with the GPS, so I won't say more - other than to point out that Tara is just as into this stuff as I am. I did not take this picture and you'll notice someone is no one where to be found.

By the time we got back from the North I barely had time to mow the lawn, and we went out to dinner with my cousin Knute Kleven from California (by way of Las Vegas - it didn't have the same aliteration the other way, but you get my drift). Knute was in town, with his girlfriend Amy, for a wedding at Wheeler Farm. I think it's safe to say that a wedding on a farm isn't exactly a black tie affair, but I could be wrong. It was fun to catch up with Knute at dinner and afterwards we went over to Alicia's for an intense game of Bocci. I know I should be better at that game since I'm an Italian, but I am still languishing in Tara's athletic shadow.

As you can tell it was a hectic Saturday, highlighted by the fact that Kennedy didn't take a nap. You've got to love it when, right after you put a baby down for a nap, the doorbell rings. Murphy's Law never ceases to amaze!

Wishing I was There

As you read in my previous post, Annie was living it up with Red Sox Nation while I was seething with jealousy in Utah. Here are a few more of her pics from the Sox/Orioles game.








I know it seems a bit obsessive to post someone else's pictures of a Red Sox game I didn't attend. I know I have a problem. Remember the first step is admitting it.

Diary of a Red Sox Fan

On Monday I received an IM and photo from my friend Annie. Normally this wouldn't be blog-worthy, but I knew where Annie was on Monday evening. She was at Camden Yards in Baltimore watching the hapless Orioles play the mighty Red Sox. Here is the transcript of our IM (isn't all IM in transcript form, hmmm)


Hey Jared

Ouch!

Just wanted to say hi and that I took some good pics. See U Wednesday.

It pains me to know that this is the closest I'll get to a Red Sox game this year. At least Annie got to see an 11-1 rout by the BoSox. I can almost hear the chant, "Let's go Red Sox....."

In the News

Not that I'm a publicity whore or anything, but the "Amazing Race" activity I was involved with last week made the Deseret News today. It was fun to read that all the teachers involved enjoyed themselves and that they learned a lot. Kudos to UEN.

To read more about the event go to :http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C635207655%2C00.html

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day and it was fun to be able to celebrate this holiday for the second time as a mother. As far as being a relaxing day for mom, that didn't quite happen. With Jared in the bishopbric, I made breakfast, wrestled with Kennedy during church, made lunch and even drove to my parents house and back (2 hours round trip). Jared did make up for it with a great gift from Kennedy and himself. They gave me a fun book that has tons of cute pictures of Kennedy from her first year and the Five for Fighting cd. (Good music)

We spent most of the day on the run, but it was worthwhile. We were able to spend a couple of hours with my parents in Mapleton. We went down early, so we didn't see any of the rest of my family. Don't tell them, but it was kind of nice having some quiet time with just my parents. Kennedy played on the swing, tried to pet the horses and had fun playing with her Grandma and Grandpa Houtz.

After visting my parents, we headed back to Salt Lake for dinner with Jared's family. As always, Kennedy loved playing with her cousins in their backyard and hanging out with her nana and papa. All in all, I think all the moms in our family had a good day and felt appreciated.

Late Nite Confession

I am typing this in the dark so no one can know my horrible secret. Earlier tonight we went to dinner with my family. Nothing out of the ordinary - my parents were in town for the week and we wanted to get together. After dinner I suggested we go back to my house and play croquet. I told Tara we could stop by Target and pick up a set pretty quickly. So off to Target we went. One problem - Target was out of croquet sets. The 16-year-old helping us said, "I don't think we've had any of those thingies since like August." Strange considering there was an add in the paper two weeks ago with croquet sets on sale at Target. Needless to say, we were forced to make a decision: go home without a croquet set, ruining the evening for my family or stop by the only other store nearby - walmart (I can barely type the word..ughhh).


Tara and I engaged in brief exchange in which we debated who should go into the mart and I wound up losing. I crept into the store praying that I wouldn't be seen by anyone who's heard me talk about ***Mart and rushed to the area I thought I'd find croquet sets. I don't even want to think about everything I saw while I was in there. As my blood pressure raised from the thought that I was in a Wal****, I quickly realized that they didn't carry any croquet sets either. In a small sense I was saved. I would not have to purchase anything from the mart. I ran from the store, rushed home and took a shower. It's late in the night and I had to get this off my chest. Please don't tell anyone.

The Amazing Race

In spite of my addiction to reality TV, this post is not about the show on CBS. However, that program played a vital role in what I did for work yesterday. I've been training the Geography teachers in the Jordan School District how to use GPS units and we decided to create an all day event for them called the Jordan District Amazing Race. It was so fun!!!!!

The race took them all over the southern half of the valley and had teachers participating in tons of different challenges and events. One of my personal favorites was a culture challenge in which teams had to pick a physical event or academic event dealing with the Philippines. Most picked the physical challenge which involved downing a tin of sardines in less than a minute. I don't think I could have done it, but the participants wolfed those fish down in record time!

It was such a fun day for the teachers (and for me) and it was a great way to help schools learn more about GPS technology and how they can use it with their students. In fact, the three winning schools all received a classroom set of GPS units. How cool is that! There are some days that I can't believe I get paid for my job, and yesterday was certainly one of those. Come on, I spent all day participating in a giant GPS obstacle course!

Diary of a Red Sox Fan

Last night was another example of the bad karma I'm bringing to the Sox. I was out at Mutual for the first couple hours of the game, during which time Boston had battled back to tie the game 6-6 going into the ninth inning. This is when I turned on the TV. No sooner had I sat down on the couch, than the Blue Jays rally began. It ended with the Sox down one and my closer giving up the lead. There was a little excitement in the home half of the ninth, with a runner reaching third, but it was all for naught as he was stranded there while V-Tek watched the third strike.

Maybe I should stay away from the games altogether. Monday night the Sox played awesome and beat the Yankees on a Big Papi homerun. Of course it's because I was at work and couldn't watch the game on TV. We'll have to see if I can break the Covili Curse tonight, since I am planning on watching the game while Tara is at work. I'll just rub a rabbit's foot during the first inning for luck....

Playing Tag

Since it was a rather slow weekend for covili family news, I've decided to take up a challenge and play a little tag with my friend Annie. Hence I will open up my private life with some personal confessions.

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Technology Trainer for the Utah Education network. Playing with cool gadgets and teaching others how to use them. Awesome!
2. High School English teacher, where I convinced 17-year-old boys to write poetry and share their feelings
3. Legal Assistant for a bankruptcy law firm. Talk about a barrell full of laughs.
4. County Rec Basketball Scorekeeper. It's hard to believe but I've been doing this for over 15 years. Seems like a long time, yet I get paid to watch hoops and talk with friends.

Four Movies I never get sick of
1. Hoosiers
2. Braveheart
3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off- "Ferris, you're my hero."
4. Remember the Titans

Four places I have lived
1. SLC/Cottonwood/Holladay - come on I still live in the same house!
2. 9th and 9th - a world all it's own.
3. Capas, Munoz, Cabanatuan, Mayantoc - cool stops in the Philippines
4. (Isn't it sad that I don't have a fourth!)

Four TV shows I can't miss
1. Survivor - remember, I'm a reality TV junkie
2. The Apprentice
3. ESPN News - I know it's not really a show, but I watch it too often
4. Red Sox Baseball on NESN

Four favorite foods
1. Pepperoni/Mushroom Pizza from Connie's
2. Pork Salad with house dressing from Cafe Rio
3. Ice Cream
4. Kung Pao Chicken from New Dragon Diner

Four sites I visit daily
1. Fantasy Baseball
2. ESPN.com
3. Bill Simmons
4. Geocaching

Four places I'd rather be right now
1. Home with Kennedy and Tara
2. Fenway Park
3. Some remote part of Utah, either the mountains or the desert.
4. Out Cachin'

People I am tagging (even though they probably won't participate)
1. Tara (Let's see if she'll blog about this!)
2. Chappo and Michelle
3. Bryan
4. Brant
5. Jason