Synchronized Diving, are you kidding me?

I would like to begin this entry with a list of new events I think they should add to future Olympics. First of all I think we should have synchronized 3 point shooting, you get extra points if you get the ball to bounce twice on the rim in the same location before going in, though a miss is an automatic tenth deduction. We should have synchronized sand volleyball spiking with teams of 4 where the bump, set, spike are in synch between the two pairs. Let us not stop there we can go to synchronized curling in the winter Olympics. When baseball comes back we can have a synchronized homerun derby. You might guess that I am currently watching synchronized diving. This is very near the top of my dumbest sports ever. Let me first say that I am in no way saying that synchronized diving is easy, rather it is just stupid. First of all it is a judged competition which already eliminates it from my list of real sports. The dives aren’t nearly as impressive as those done in the normal diving competition (speaking of which why don’t they have a skydiving competition, that would be cool), but since they are synchronized they suddenly warp into something that the world needs to see. I think the synchronized diving teams should get fools gold medals.

We have enjoyed watching the Olympics. Melissa continues to be frustrated with me for spoiling her swimming trials by announcing the results as she is watching the events. In my defense I didn’t want her to be disappointed when she saw Michael Phelps only qualify 4th in the 200 Free. Speaking of Michael Phelps has there ever been a more enjoyable Olympic athlete to watch? The guy is the whole package. He’s the best swimmer ever, he’s a pretty good interview and he’s taking part in a study where he gets his blood tested for more substances than any athlete in history. Track has lost it’s luster because there’s a steroid shroud over the stadium thicker than that seen in the MLB, but Phelps is distancing himself from that before the accusations even start. I hope he gets his 8 gold medals and I hope he sets 8 world records in the process.

I’m looking for a partner for the synchronized watermelon seed spitting competition in the 2016 Olympics if any of you are interested.

March 19th

That's right folks we're going from 5 to 6 in March. Melissa hasn't been feeling too well lately, but she hides it well. March is a non-call month for me so this was in fact planned down to the date.

As of right now I am laying claim to the trailer at the Corry reunion next year.

The pain of memory

I've been reading through some of my old journals recently. Aside from recognizing what a stupid kid I was in my teen years and early 20s it has been a very bittersweet experience for me. I've been missing a lot of people since we moved away from Cedar (again), but reading through my journals has brought back some of the wonderful memories of places and people that I have not seen in years and I feel a longing for them.

While I love Southern Utah and my family and friends that we have left back on the other side of the Missippi (and some DC area folks) and I miss them greatly I have an assurance that I will see both these people and places many more times during my life so my longing is tempered. When I read through my journals I remember some of the things and people that I loved in Massachusettes, and Brazil. I think about the great friends I made in medical school (though it will still take some time before I miss Pikeville). The longing for these people and places is different than that of home and family. I'm old enough to know that I may never see these people and places again and that causes me great sadness. Some of that sadness comes from knowing that South Bend and many of the friends we make here in the next 3 years will fall into that category.

To illustrate this point I only need to remember my time in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT. There were 6 elders in my district and we got along great. We spent every day together for 8 weeks and became very good friends. We all went to Massachusettes while waiting for our visas and each time we were able to get together for mission conferences it was a wonderful reunion. When we left for Brazil after 4 1/2 months I said goodbye to three of these elders and have not seen or spoken to any of them in 12 years. Three of us spent the rest of our missions in and around Salvador Brazil and once again we were overjoyed when we were able to get together during conferences and such. My last companion on my mission was actually one of these two elders and we had a great time. These two missionaries were two of the best friends I have ever had. We have all moved on in our lives and unless we choose to make a point of staying in contact our paths will not cross again.

In the end this is why I have a blog. Maybe someone from my past will read in their journal and remember Jacob, or Jake, or Elder Corry and when they google me they'll find their way to the blog and we can be reaquainted.



If this post seems somewhat random you should know that I want to go to bed, but Melissa has been reading her new twilight book for the past 30 hours and she won't let me turn off the light until she finishes. Personally I don't see what all the excitement is about. This whole vampire/werewolf thing has already been done in the Blade movies and then again in the Underworld series (though I actually have only seen one movie in each of these trilogies).

Spencerisms

For whatever reason Spencer wasn't too happy with me this evening and his emotions boiled over while I was playing with Kristian while he wanted to play with Kristian. It was at this time that he informed me of his future plans.

Spencer: "When I get bigger I'm going to take my brother and my sister and get my own family."

Me: "Oh really"

Spencer: "yeah, and I'm taking my mommy"

Apparently I'll be living out my days alone if Spencer gets his way.*


*Luckily for me Spencer forgets quickly and he forgave me at bedtime for whatever it was that I did in the first place to draw his ire.

Kool-Aid Play Dough

So Spencer has been asking me to make him the play dough that they had in his preschool since we moved here. I finally remembered to buy Cream of Tarter at the store and so we made it today. He is now in seventh heaven. My cookie cutters are spread out all over the table and he has about 5 butter knives but he is happy and that is all that counts. I am going to post the recipe for this play dough as it was so easy and it is really easy clean up. It doesn't stick to everything like some homemade play dough recipes. The best part about it is it smells like whatever kind of kool-aid you used and that is a plus.

So Here it is

Kool-Aid Play Dough

Materials Needed

1 cup flour
1 Tbsp Cream of Tarter
1 Packet of Unsweetened Kool-Aid
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water

To Make:
Mix all Ingredients together. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly. When it thickens, put on the counter and knead.

Store in airtight container or Ziploc bag.