Turkey Bowl MMVIII

I should have put this post up like a week ago, but we've been really busy, so I'm putting up two posts today (don't miss this one). I made two trips to Weatherford last week and a trip to Ft. Smith this weekend for harp stuff. Kenta has been super busy with final projects and presentations. I don't think he got to bed before 2:00 a.m. this entire week. I warned him during Thanksgiving that he needed to get some work done, or he would be severely regretting it (man, I sound like my mom). He decided to play during the break and pay for the consequences. Not that I blame him - if I was still in school, I wouldn't want to be doing schoolwork while there was family in town and fun to be had.

My take (Kenta): This is the biggest moment of the year for the older guys...the chance to beat out the young men in a game of touch/flag football Thanksgiving morning while the women stay home to make the majority of the meal, partly because it's usually really cold outside and only the men would be silly enough to be out in that weather voluntarily. It was a great tradition I've been a part of and growing up, it's been a toss up as to who won the game. Sometimes we won and sometimes, the geezers won. Sadly, I play on the geezer team now. I say geezer because we're all getting older and just can't take intense physical activity like we used to. Every practice we had this year, someone was hobbling home because we're all out of shape and most of us were so sore during church the next day, we had to lift our legs with our hands just to get in or out of the car. So yeah, we're getting old. Anyway, the game was a lot of fun. Only one person got hurt and they had to go to the hospital to get stitches in their lip. He happened to be a wrestler for OU and wrestled that night. I doubt his coach was happy. Everyone else was okay fortunately.I didn't fair so well in how I played. I guess you could say I was covering the Michael Crabtree of the young men's team. I could keep up with him just fine and could catch him if he got past me but I just had a hard time because he was so shifty as you will see. Some of it was me not knowing what I was doing either but I still did what I could. Kendall took some good video of all the action and even if I wasn't playing like Derrick Strait, I left it in there. You could say our defense was like Missouri's....not very good for the most part.The boys ended up winning 6-5 but we came within 3 yards or so. If only we had about 5 more seconds. It was very exciting.
Before you watch this (this is Kendall again) I just want to warn you - I threw down an innocent "crap" in the middle of my color commentary...if that word offends you, or if you don't want your kids to hear it, you've been warned. I didn't realize how often that word slips into my vocabulary until Sunday, when I threw it AUDIBLY into the middle of the YW theme while reciting it with the girls (I had a reason - I missed that new line that they added a few years ago - it gets me every time). Enjoy!


Turkey Bowl 2008 from Kenta Hood on Vimeo.

Hear ye, hear ye

At Kenta's request, I am publishing an assignment that I wrote for my Institute class. We were asked to write a modern-day parable. Due to recent controversy in the world of college football, combined with about 10 hours in the car last week listening to the Sports Animal, and a mild case of pregnancy -induced insomnia, I came up with this little gem. If you don't know much about/don't care about college football, you probably don't even want to read this because it will not make much sense to you. Sorry.

However, if you are obsessed with it (like me) and lately have felt the urge to scream any time an ESPN analyst opens their mouth, this is right up your alley. On a personal note: any time I get a chance to slam Brent Musburger, I do so. If you do not know who he is, consider yourself lucky. For those of you who have endured his biased color commentary for who-knows-how-many seasons of OU football - bless you. The only thing that keeps me from muting the TV during an OU football game and listening to Bob Barry on the radio while I watch (thanks for the idea, Steph) is Brent's trusty sidekick Kirk Herbstreit, who I happen to have an innocent celebrity crush on (it's okay - Kenta knows). But even Herbie has been bothering me a bit lately. Anyway - without further ado, I bring you:

The Parable of the BCS

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto the BCS, when one lord of the BCS seeking an heir to his kingdom gathered together his people and spake unto them saying:

Behold my time has come and an heir to my kingdom do I seek. I shall send thee forth for a little season to battle one with another that ye may prove me herewith which of ye shall be deserving of inheriting mine kingdom. This is not all, yea, judges[1] will I appoint and technologies[2] will I use that thereby they may assist me. Yea, it is expedient unto thee that thou shalt emerge victorious in battle in a manner most comely[3], that thereby ye may inherit the kingdom.

The multitude, finding the words of the lord agreeable, went forth battling one with another in green pastures for a little season.

There arose among them one mighty people, the Soonerites, who being the rightful heir to the kingdom, but nevertheless having to prove themselves worthy, went forth in the same manner to battle.

But upon journeying southward toward the river Red to battle, they found themselves in precarious circumstances and fell among the people of the Longhorns, beaten and defeated.

Upon receiving this great loss, they remembered the words of the lord that whosoever shall emerge victorious in a manner most comely, unto them shall be given the kingdom. Therefore, they repented and again went forth to battle, with strength and comeliness that had never before been seen among the people.

Whilst the Longhorns, upon traveling north and west to the land of Lubbock, squandered their inheritance falling among the people of the Red Raiders.

They reasoned within themselves saying, yea the Soonerites have we beaten, surely this victory shall be enough.

After a little season, the lord called upon his judges and technologies, and unto the Soonerites was given the kingdom.

And Mack Brown and Brent Musburger murmured within themselves saying, how can this be seeing that the Soonerites gained only onescore and fifteen to our twoscore and five?

The lord of the BCS spake unto them saying: my sons, do ye not remember what I spake unto thee concerning the manner in which ye were to battle? My people, the Sooners, have repented of the evil they hath done with thee whilst thou has squandered thine inheritance, believing all the while that what thou hast done previously was sufficient. Thou knewest the words which I spake unto thee before thou wentest forth unto battle Behold my judges and technologies find fault with thee, therefore unto the Sooners will I commend my kingdom.

And Mack and Brent went their way sorrowful for they remembered the words which the Lord had spoken.

[1] IE Harris poll and USA Today poll
[2] IE computer ranking
[3] IE style points

Custard's Last Weekend

You have probably noticed the ticker at the top of our blog counting down the days until Rusty's Frozen Custard will no longer be serving pumpkin custard. It is a specialty flavor only served during the months of October and November. As you can see, the end is upon us. If you have not yet purchased yourself a pumpkin custard, you are denying yourself a euphoric experience. Pumpkin custard is basically edible heaven. If you still aren't convinced, maybe a visual aid will help:

In my opinion, it is best served with whipped cream on top. So smooth and creamy...yummmmmmm.....

And don't get some namby pamby, sissy-sized custard. Treat your body right. Custard does wonders for your physique. Why, look what it's done for me:

You, too, can look this good - IF you go get yourself some pumpkin custard. Might I suggest a Rusty's run during halftime of the OU-OSU game tonight? Maybe I'll see you there.....

My favorite things....

Well, it happened. Again. I got tagged by my sister-in-law. I'm supposed to write about "8 Things" or something like that. But I'm a rebel who loathes being tagged, but can't say no to my sister-in-law. So I did a little twist on "8 Things" - which I have entitled "My Favorite Things". Just sing my new lyrics along to the Sound of Music classic that we all know and love (well, at least I do). I've even provided some horrible midi music to help you along ( it might take a minute to start). Eat your heart out, Julie Andrews:

My Favorite Things:

Sushi consumed with soy sauce and wasabi

Awesome deals at Target and Hobby Lobby

Kenta,


my family,


triathlon training

These are a few of my favorite things

Miniture horses and soft baby bottoms

Pumpkin custard, OU football in Autumn

Crocs,



Birkenstocks,



BPA-free Nalgenes

These are a few of my favorite things

Any reality series on Bravo

Thanksgiving dinner with orange rolls and pavo (that's "turkey" in Spanish)

Watching the sun rise (most) every morning

These are a few of my favorite things

When my feet swell

When my back aches

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel sooooo bad

So that's my little list of a few of my favorite things. Probably not as extravagant as Oprah's list, but these are the little things that I am thankful for because they really do bring a smile to my face. And how appropriate that it's the Thanksgiving season. I hope you are all able to take some time during the holidays and reflect on what you are most thankful for. What are a few of your favorite things?

Nerds Just Wanna Have Fun

Last Friday evening, Kenta asked me if I wanted to go on a little date the following morning. I wasn't really sure what date he had in mind for Saturday morning so when I asked he said (nervously):

"Um...they're having this, uh, weather festival at the National Weather Center tomorrow morning and it's supposed to be pretty cool. There's gonna be storm-chasing cars and stuff. I don't know...I thought it might be interesting". I guess he thought I was going to shoot him down. Little did he know how enthusiastic I would be.

My immediate reaction was: "It's like Touch-a-Truck for nerds! I'm totally down! Let's go!"

I really didn't know what to expect. I thought maybe a few kids would be there. Boy, was I wrong. We got there around 9:00 a.m. when the festivities were starting and there were already hoards of people milling about.

We entered the weather center and were given some snazzy stickers, which we proudly displayed

And a bingo card to fill out.



We were promised that if we filled out the bingo card, we would win a fabulous door prize. I wanted to go for a blackout, but as you can see, there was too much to do and we ran out of time.

First, we stopped at the booth that Kenta's friends were working at (think: science fair for college students). They all work together in a group called "Atmospheric Radar Research Center" (ARRC). What they do, I don't really know. I just went to the booth to get a sticker on my bingo card. Here's Kenta posing in front of the group's poster:



Next stop was to see a local celebrity:



Yes, my friends, that is Rick Mitchell of the KOCO-TV First Alert Storm Team. And by the way, pregnancy and camera phone pictures aren't good for your self-esteem. I promise I look much better in real life. Moving on....

Then, we went up to the seventh floor observation deck to check out the view. We didn't see any storms, but we saw a whole lot of rooftop and Highway 9.



(sorry about the picture quality - all we had was Kenta's cell phone).

After that, we made a few more stops to collect some stickers. Then we went outside to see the weather balloon launch. Apparently every day at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. a weather balloon is released from the weather center. It has all these sensors and things that measure stuff in the atmosphere (that's the really diluted version of what happens - if you want more details, ask Kenta). Anyway, they did a few special launches that day during the festival. They didn't have any of the sensors attached to them, but you still get the point of what the balloon is and does.


As you can see, it was a beautiful day for weather balloon launching.

And, as was promised, there were storm chasing cars on display:



Apparently these guys are on the Discovery Channel quite a bit. Check out the hail damage:



There were some pretty fancy schmancy cars.



One of the highlights (for me, anyway) wasn't even weather related. As I was going about my business, I saw a very (fortunately) rare creature out of the corner of my eye. Its very appearance terrified me, but I couldn't take my eyes off if it. Kind of like driving by an accident. I followed it, trying to capture footage of it on the cell phone. My first two attempts proved to be futile:



The creature proved to be very elusive and was being followed closely by more mature guardians. It wasn't until we were out in the open that I was able to capture this rare photo:



It's tragic, but true. Under the Mullet Classification Section III, No. 21, this would be described as the "parental negligence/child abuse" mullet. I haven't seen one of these in years. I thought that they had become extinct in this part of the state. I guess the weather festival affected its migratory pattern. Kenta was not very happy about me following this kid around. I was more worried about his WWE-looking dad finding out that I had taken a picture of his son and beating me up for it. I managed to get the picture without them finding out. If anyone knows this child, please take some scissors to that hair and put him out of his misery.

So, all in all, it was a fun date. I met a celebrity, saw a weather balloon launch, followed a mullet, and perhaps best of all, we won a set of magical plastic cups.



When you pour something cold into it, it turns blue. Cool, huh?

Teach Your Children Well

I've discovered an interesting phenomenon. My growing belly is increasingly attracting the attention of people who are very eager to give me unsolicited baby/parenting advice. I welcome all of it - it is our first baby, after all, so why not listen to everything? - but I also have learned to put a filter in my brain (there are deifinitely some parenting tips that I would never try). When all is said and done, however, I think Kenta and I really lucked out in the parenting department. Everything we ever needed to know about raising kids we learned (are learning and will yet learn) from our very own parents.

We happen to be the children of some expert parents. Combined, they have somehow managed to successfully raise (so far) ten college graduates - six of which have completed or are working on advanced degrees (including a medical doctor, a dentist and Masters of Psychology, Education, Enigineering , and Geophysics). Seven of their offspring are return missionaries, and twelve (so far) have been sealed in the temple. Considering their ages span from forty to (almost) twenty, we are amazed when we think about all our parents were able to accomplish. How did we survive childhood, high school and beyond, relatively unscathed by a society with deteriorating morals? How did they keep us from killing each other (or keep themselves from killing us)? I really have no idea. They are just normal people who started out like all other young couples:

Okay...maybe Kenta's parents aren't really the norm. My parents are fairly "normal", but I unfortunately don't have a picture of their wedding to show you.

After a few years of marriage, our parents found themselves in fairly similar circumstances:

That's Kenta on the right, by the way, and his sister, Ami, on the left

This is my Mom and Dad (circa 1972) with Doug and Shelly - long before I was ever a gleam in their eyes.

Eventually, their families were complete:

Hoods, 2004

Michaelsens, 1989 (probably the last time we had familiy pictures taken that were NOT at a wedding - and I'm the super-cute one with the blue dress and pink bow on the front row)

One by one, their children have left home, (hopefully) taking with them all of the principles and values that they tried so hard to teach. It's been fun to watch our siblings become parents themselves and to see them doing the same things that our parents did with us - even the stuff we *swore* we would never do. Like make our kids walk to school if they woke up late, skipped seminary, and missed their ride (Shelly, Mom would be so proud of you for doing that). In fact, I find myself doing things everyday and thinking, "ohmygosh...I'm turning into my mother!" But I'm okay with that - you saw the pictures. She's one foxy lady:)

So when times get tough and I think I'm at my wits' end with the kids, I know I have two very capable, wise, and experienced mothers I can turn to (among all the other sisters, in-laws, and friends).

There you have it. Our parents are basically amazing. Am I bragging too much? Oh, well. I don't have any kids to brag about yet, and our parents brag about us, so why not return the favor? They've survived parenthood and are now reaping the spoils (i.e. grandkids).

Hoods, March 2008

Michaelsens, June 2006 (three grandsons have been born since then - and, of course, more on the way!)

And if you still don't believe our parents are great, just ask one of their other (collective) fourteen children. Or twenty-five grand children. I'm sure most of them would agree :).

But please don't let that stop you from passing along your parenting tips. Our parents weren't perfect, by any means - and like I said, we are very open to creative ways to teach kids. In fact we found this little gem on the internet. (you will probably have scroll down to the bottom of the page to turn the music off first



Sorry :). I couldn't resist. It cracks me up every time and it seemed appropriate for this post. But I promise that I really won't take advice from a cartoon dressed in a Mexican wrestling suit. That's what the brain filter is for, remember?

Update on my blog

Okay, for those of you that may have known or not known, I have my own r/c blog that I have neglected recently but that changed this morning. I updated it with another video. I saw the link to it has disappeared on this blog so here it is!
amazingrcvideos.blospot.com 

I'll have to get the blog link back up on this one so anyone interested can check it out. This video shouldn't give you motion sickness like some of my others might have.

Welcome to the Neighbor Hoods'

Due to the fact that we will have family visiting in the near future who have never been to our home, I thought it would be wise to prepare them a little for the experience. Though I've lived here all of my life (okay, minus eighteen months in Peru), I grew up on the other side of town. I have since learned that life on this side of the tracks is a little..er...interesting.

But life here isn't bad. We have some great local shopping:

a dollar store. a discount liquor store, a shady "family" video store, a bowling alley, a low-end grocery store and this classy establishment:

In my opinion, it's just a step down from prostitution, but hey, if it helps you pay the bills or fund some illegal extra-curricular activities, at least you are saving lives. There's just one catch: after your first week, you can only make $40 per week.

The people here are nice. In fact, I met some neighbors while I was out walking the other day. Here's a little bit of our conversation:

Girl A: Hi!

Girl B: Hi! Do you have a baby or a dog?

Me: Um..hi. No. I'm going to have a baby, but I don't have a dog. Are you out here alone?

Girls A & B: Yeah! We are building stuff. As they move closer I can see dirt and grime smudged on their faces. Yes, they have been building stuff.

Me: Neat. How old are you?

Girl A: I'm six.

Girl B: I'm ten

Girl A: No she's not. She's seven.

Girl B: No. I was seven last year.

Me: Um...so wouldn't that make you eight?

Girl B: Uhhhh...I mean, last year I was nine. Riiiiiiiight.

Girl A: eyeing my ipod. Is that an ipod?

Me: Yes.

Girl B: Can I have your ipod?

Me: No. I need it.

Girl B: Will you buy me an ipod?

Me: No. I don't know you. I barely met you five minutes ago.

Girl B: I know you. I saw you at Wal-Mart. I'm thinking at this point that she might actually be telling the truth but she continues. You work with my mom.

Me: Um...no i don't. Are you girls sisters?

Girl A: Nope. We're cousins. But I'm not supposed to get too close to her.

Me: Is she sick?

Girl B: Nope.

Girls A & B: Head lice!

Me: Ohhh......um...I need to get home and make dinner.

With that, they insist that I give them high fives before I go, which I reluctantly do. I do not touch anything with that hand until it has been thoroughly disinfected. I don't have pictures of the girls, but I do have pictures of some pretty sweet rides that our other neighbors have. Check these babies out:

Apparantly if I really want to "keep up with the Joneses" around here, I've got to pimp out my minivan with some nice rims like these. Here's a close look:

If you still aren't convinced that we live in an interesting part of town, maybe this will convince you:

Does it mean:

Grill?

Grill?

-OR-

Grill?

I think we all know what is really implied by that street sign. And for the record, Flava Flav is NOT our neighbor. But he might like it around here.

With that said, did I mention that we live near a golf course?

Well....a frisbee golf course. And, surprisingly, it's a pretty popular place. People even go on cold and windy days.

So, there you have it. Consider yourselves (those of you that will be visiting soon) sufficiently prepared. We really do have nice neighbors. Kenta's sister lives next door and some college boys with guitars live upstairs. Our landlady is nice and Kenta has even gotten to speak Japanese with a couple that lives a few doors down. So don't be afraid. Bring the family! We have our air mattress waiting for you. And if the weather is nice, we can go golfing.

Weekend in misery...uh...Missouri

Last weekend we took a trip up north to the Michaelsen Hometstead to partake in a longtime Michaelsen tradition - applesauce making. I was really looking forward to the trip. I have such fond childhood memories of tasty, fresh, warm applesauce on cool fall days. I just forgot all the work that it takes to make the darn stuff. For those of you who have never witnessed the process of turning an apple into sauce, how about a little picture essay:

Hand model, Kenta, properly demonstrates how to remove a sticker from an apple.

After sticker removal, apples are tossed into the kiddie pool. Approxomately 1500 lbs. of apples passed through this cleansing phase.

Soren shows of his mad apple chopping skills. Please note that the unique chopping set-up was a brainchild of Soren's - apparently flipping a pot over and cutting apples on it is a more quick and efficient way to cut apples.....? Honestly, I don't understand some of the things that my dad and brothers invent, but they do work. And, yes, that is the same huge blue plastic bowl that was filled to the brim with potato salad at three of my sisters' wedding receptions.

After being sliced, the apples are poured into one of three large silver pots...

....where they cook until squishy. Those of us that were working in the garage where they were cooking baked, too. But we did not become squishy.

Next, the squshy, cooked apples, seeds, skins, cores, and all, are poured into the white bowl of this nifty contraption, which, surprisingly, my dad did not invent. You can see the sauce coming out into the large tupperware on the left. What happens to the seeds and cores?

They are deposited into yet another tupperware. After that....

...they end up in the nasty compost pile in the garden. This is the only step of the process in which I never participated, for obvious reasons. Back to the applesauce...


Here, Soren demonstrates a clean and effective way to fill bottles with applesauce. What you can not see in the picture, however, is the small metal cookie sheet on which Soren methodically organized all necessary applesaucing tools (spatulas, spoons, measuring cups, etc.). Typical dental student.


Soren's lovely assitant/wife, Natalie, properly screws on a lid. It looks fairly simple, but these jars were full of very hot applesauce and the metal lids had been in boiling hot water.



Next, the jars are placed in a hot water bath in a large metal cooker, where they boil for twenty mintutes to seal the lids. Along with the three pots of apples that were cooking, we had three of these cookers going. The garage was so hot.


After twenty minutes, the jars are carfully removed from the cooker...


...and placed on the garage floor to cool. After a sufficient cooling period...


...the jars are placed in boxes for storage.

My dad estimates that we canned about 560 quarts of apples over a two-day period. I worked all day Friday (probably about twelve hours) and started working about 7:00 a.m. on Saturday so I could take a break to watch the OU/Texas game. Needless to say, I was back in the garage making applesauce before it was over. It was too painful for me to watch. My heart is still mending.

Even though my feet and back were killing me by Saturday night, I was happy that we made the trip to Missouri. It's fun to visit my parents and help them with their projects. It's not always fun while we are working, but afterwards, it's nice to look back at what we accomplished together. And I gotta give a shout out to my sister-in-law, Natalie. She was such a good sport and was out there working probably longer than any of us.

So, the weekend wasn't a completely misreable experience (even though our bodies were aching and OU lost). I think this little gem of a billboard put everything back into perspective for us as we drove home early Sunday morning:

Click on the picture, if you want a good laugh. Honest to goodness, these signs are scattered along the Kansas turnpike. I love living in the Bible belt. Capturing this picture made the entire trip worth the effort.