Dwight's Joke

QUESTION:

WHAT IS WHITE,BLACK,

AND RED AND CAN'T THINK?

A NUN WITH A

BEET FOR A HEAD

Herschel Made the Utah Men's GoalBall Team!

We're really excited for my little brother, Herschel. He just found out he's made the Utah Men's Team for Goal Ball, a sport for the blind.
Herschel has a corneal disease called keratoconus, where his cornea grows irregular hills and valleys across the surface. When he was 12 they told my Mom they couldn't do anything to improve his vision until he was eligible for surgery when he was 18. So little Hersch went through Jr. High and High School with poor vision. He always struggled in school and we assumed it was from lack of motivation or laziness. He's extremely smart, so he'd ace the tests but fail the classes. Anyway, last summer he was 17 1/2 and my Mom took him to the Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake hoping they'd be open to begin treating him before he was actually 18. They were shocked at how bad Herschel's vision is--he's legally blind and one eye had a volcano so large, it created a depression that made his cornea so thin the opthamologist was concerned it could burst if he got hit in the eye, which could cause permanent blindness. They got him on the list for immediate cornea transplant. They were shocked to find Herschel hadn't been involved in blind school throughout his life. The doctors said he should have been in Special Ed to accommodate his visual impairments. So for his Sr year of high school, Herschel finally got the help he needed and went without for 6 years. They provided all sorts of gadgets for him to still function in mainstream public school: telescope to see the white board, special binoculars for TV, magnifier for text books, text books on CD, and these sweet reading glasses.
We were busting up laughing when he put them on. One eye is so bad there is no help, so it's just glass, but you can see from his magnified left eye how strong the prescription is just to read. Hersch actually qualifies to have a blind-seeing eye dog, but the years without help made him adjust and create coping mechanisms where his ability to deal with being almost blind make him ineligible. He's also been in blind school after public high school and from that program he discovered Goal Ball.

Goal Ball: The game of goal ball was invented in 1946 by Austrian Hanz Lorenzen. The first idea for the sport was a rehabilitation activity for blind veterans of WWII. It was first introduced to the world during the Paralympics held in Toronto in 1978. Since this time the sport of goal ball has grown throughout the world.
From it's description, goal ball seems like a combination of soccer, volleyball, and bowling to me. All the players have to wear black out goggles making everyone completely blind. They tape rope to the gym floor so the players can feel on their hands and knees to have reference points of where they are. The ball looks to me like a basketball sized ball, but it is filled with bells so the players can hear where it is.
My Mom says it's really interesting to see a game because it's the only sporting event where it is absolutely silent and you can't cheer during the game. The players can communicate a little to let each other know who has the ball, to get a reference where the other team mates are, etc. They basically have to throw the ball back, trying to get it beyond the court to score, like soccer. The game begins with someone basically bowling the ball across the court, then the rest the players are on their hands and knees the majority of the time.
Anyway, Herschel missed the high school season for his Senior year because he got into blind school too late, but they had an opening on the Men's team for the whole state of Utah. Yesterday was the tournament to decide who'd get the spot, and we're so excited Herschel made it!! He's still pretty green, only having played a few months, but one of his team mates plays on the USA Olympic Goal Ball team so Herschel's excited to hopefully learn a lot from him

RANDOM PICTURES OF GOAL BALL

Rhett and I are excited to be able to go see some games this fall when we're back home. Way to go Herschy!! It was funny last fall when we all found out just how bad Herschel's vision was and how well he'd hidden it with his coping skills, we felt like the dumb family that didn't even know their brother was blind. Anyway, blind school and knowing all the help available to visually impairment has changed his life, he's making awesome grades for the first time in his life and has hope for his future. We're all really proud of Herschel.

Painting for the Baby

I finished a painting I've been working on for the baby's room. I'm not an artist, so it was quite a big project for me to take on. As a kid I loved the book, My Father's Dragon. My Mom has an original publication from 1948 and it was one of my favorites. I really liked the story, but even more the illustrations and I remember tracing the warthog quite a few times as a kid, thus the warthog's prominent spot in the scene. :) I guess we're kind of having a jungle/safari theme for the baby room and so I got excited about painting all the characters from one of my favorite books.

I painted the animals based on the illustrations. It's 16"x20" and was a cheap canvas I found at Wal-Mart. I used acrylic paint. I was actually surprised with the turn out, I'd ask Rhett for critique and he could tell what each animal was supposed to be, so I considered my first canvas attempt a success.
Also I'd recommend the book, but maybe it's one of those things that is amazing as a kid and in reality quite lame...but I'll always love it.

Freezing and Thinking of Warmer Times

It's been pretty cold this month with everything from freezing rain to snow. I was thinking how great it would be to be on the beach. Not only would it be warm and sunny, but I could dig a hole in the sand for my prego belly so I could take a nap laying on my stomach...doesn't that sound like paradise? Also maybe some fresh pineapple. So here are a few pics from our Hawaii trip a few years ago and me drooling over those who are on the beach right now.

What We've All Been Waiting For..

NBC will begin airing new epsiodes of

The Office

April 10, 2008!

Way to Go Delta Wrestling!

Delta High School took 2nd in the

3A State Wrestling Tournament.

For those unfamiliar with Utah high school wrestling, I think it's safe to say the 3A bracket is the most competitive for wrestling, for example, Kael Sanderson, the god of wrestling wrestled in 3A for Wasatch High in the mid-90s.

We're pretty excited about Delta doing so well this year. 16 wrestlers placed this year, which is pretty awsome since there are only 14 weight classes, meaning some of the JV wrestlers placed. It was close, going into the finals Delta was up by 11 points, but Wasatch ended up in the lead with their 7 state champions.
I guess Delta Wrestling is in my blood...or maybe my ear since wrestling deformed it for life. Either way, Congrats Rabbits!

Pretzel Day

"I wake up every morning in a bed that's too small, drive my daughter to a school that's too expensive, and then I go to work to a job for which I get paid too little, but on Pretzel Day?...Well, I like Pretzel Day." -Stanley Hudson-

I was in the mood for soft pretzels, like the ones I used to get at Costco for .99 before they switched to Churros. I searched through some recipes and remembered an episode of Good Eats I saw on food network dedicated to the soft pretzel. I tried Alton Brown's recipe and they were good. They didn't end up being the most beautiful pretzels of my life, but the best I've been able to produce myself, getting that chewy outer crustishness with the soft center. I made half cinnamon/sugar, but next time I'm going to try just baking them plain, and after their done, brush some melted butter on, then the cinnamon/sugar because it kindof burned being baked with the pretzel itself.

Soft Pretzels

-1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water

-1 tablespoon sugar

-2 teaspoons kosher salt

-1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

-22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups

-4 T. unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for pan

-10 cups water

-2/3 cup baking soda

-1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

-Pretzel salt

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper (I just used one cookie sheet)and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Os Coxa gig #2

There was a luau party for the SAA, organization for spouses of med students. Rhett's band backed up a portion of the chorale group from their school. The songs were from the chorale group so not as much their style, but they had fun. Rhett didn't need his whole drum set, so that is always nice. If you check out the photo, I had to turn the flash off, so you can see his right hand IN MOTION. We won a sweet gift certificate, had fun chat with friends and saw some pretty limber guys limbo it up. Here we are together--only 10 weeks until our son's due date!

Spouse Tag

1. Where did you meet your husband?

At a church activity which was volley ball and a BBQ, we were on opposite teams, Rhett hates volleyball.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?

"You're in a band? We'll totally go to your shows and be your groupies." Click here for explanation

3. Where was your first date?

It was a date loop-hole. We had been really good friends and he invited me to go see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with a "group of friends" which turned out to be his best friend, Travis and his wife...I think we may still owe them for the movie tickets. I kept putting out "please hold my hand vibes" throughout the movie, but nothing came of it. Rhett still holds I sat there and didn't put out any vibes, but later that night we held hands and I gushed about my crush on him.

4. Where was your first kiss?

An incomplete snow igloo in Rhett's front yard. That winter, 2003-2004 it snowed over 3 feet in Ogden and Rhett and his roommates were buidling an igloo. You pack down snow in a huge mound, it was at least 5 feet high, then chisel out a room inside. It was still Christmas break and we had recently crossed the difficult void of friendship into a romantic relationship and we'd spent the morning hacking away in this igloo. Rhett's full body was in the igloo and I was in the entrance tunnel. He would chisel away and shove the remnant ice/snow back to me and I would shove it out the door like moles or gophers. We were wet and cold, and before ending I went in to check out our progress. Igloos are quite cozy actually, and it was just big enough for us to basically lay right by eachother. Rhett was on his back and I was next to him on my stomach. We were chatting and there was a pause and he smiled at me and went for it. I saw his head and shoulders approaching, and put my head down, nestling into his shoulder. All the sudden his shoulders went rigid and he quietly asked: "No?" In my head sirens were going off. THAT WAS A KISS ATTEMPT YOU IDIOT!! WHO WOULD GO FOR A HUG WHEN YOUR FACES WERE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER SQUISHED IN ONE OF THE NICER IGLOOS!! I gasped and pulled back and apologized, rambling on and on about how sorry I was I ruined the romantic set up and how dumb I felt. He just lauged and was glad I was just stupid rather than rejecting him. Later he did kiss me, but kindof grabbed my head so I knew it wasn't meant to be a hug. Thanks for more warning bud.

So pretty much one of the most romantic first kisses you've heard? I'm just waiting to see it reinacted in a survivor film set in the Arctic that surprises the audience by ending up a romantic comedy.

5. Did you have a long/short engagement/courtship? Compared to society as a whole, super short, compared to our LDS religious culture, I would say on the long side of average. We met and became best friends in August 2003, began dating January 3, 2004, were engaged March 20, 2004, and married June 16, 2004. I was 19 and Rhett was 23.

)

6.Where did you get engaged? There are three different accounts. On the record we say in a gazebo that made for a really romantic night...if you want the previous two you'll have to ask in person

7. Where did you get married? Mt. Timpanogos Temple--it was sweet. No reception, just get the check from Dad and run away on our honeymoon!

Hmmm, I'll tag Natalie, Katherine, Rachel, Ashley, Jayne

Another Crapo Story

Before we moved to rural Missouri, and we lived in civilization that had both Target and job opportunity, I worked in Radiology. A patient came in for a chest x-ray and he was a teenager. I went out to call him back, and looked at the name: John or something common Butte. Taken back, I just called John and the kid came back. Before explaining the exam, I asked him: "Do you pronounce your name [Bute]?" (I'm not familiar with all the pronunciation symbols, but blogger doesn't have it anyway, I thought it would be bute, like cute) Without any emotion he said: "Nope it's Butt." I was for some reason really excited by this. "My name is Crapo but it looks like Crap-o. It's too bad we don't have siblings or relatives that could get married because I'm sure they could get on Jay Leno with the "Butt / Crap-o" wedding!" He kind of laughed and mentioned his little sister's friend was a Crapo and maybe he could make it work out.

So you just may see this kid's wedding announcement from his local newspaper on Jay Leno in the next 5 years or so, and I think I may just take credit for hooking them up.

Its Pronouced Cray-po! Like crayon or cray fish.

We are well aware the spelling of our name can put people in a situation where they aren't sure how to pronounce it. It is French and was originally spelled Crapeaux, but upon immigration to the New World, became Crapo.

One of my favorite friends growing up was a Crapo, so I didn't really think much about it when I met Rhett and found out his last name. Later when we were engaged, his oldest brother kind of apologized about it, saying it might be kind of a step down from my Irish common maiden name, Kelly. But I never really thought about it one way or the other, and actually when we first got married, I didn't really feel like it was MY name necessarily. I was of cource a Crapo now, but I didn't feel loyalty to it and would occasionally look for opportunities to make a joke. For example when asked my last name, I would say: "Crapo...spelled like Crap-0." Rhett ever thought the jokes were funny, obviously they were 23 years old to him by that time, but I got some humor out of it.

As time has passed and I've been a Crapo for 4 years, I have begun to own the name, and now my reactions are unpredictable. I try to throw people a bone, because hey--we know it looks like Crap-o, but occasionally if someone brings up one of the many jokes, I find them not funny as I once did and my fangs and claws are unleased. Such an experience happened with the General Surgeon, Dr. McIntire at work...

It as about 2am and work was going as usual. The vascular/thoracic surgeon was finishing late rounds on one of his patients in the ICU and one of the General Surgeons was also finishing up. Part of my job is taking off all the doctor's orders from the charts and after I've done everything I need to, I have to sign my name: J. Crapo. I was busy drooling as I stared at all the heart monitors wiggling their way acrosss my screens when I heard Dr. McIntire laugh (this is the first time in over a year of interactions I ever heard this man laugh) and show the patient's chart to the other surgeon. "Look at this. J. Crap-o." I think it caught me off guard or it was really late, or I'm a pregnant time bomb, but I flipped around and in the most condescending and disgusted voice I can achieve smirked: "It's pronounced Crapo." For some reason, this caught him off guard, (it is obvious that the person who signed it would be the girl sitting at the desk and at 2 am not much is usually going on, so I would obviously have heard his comment) but he said: "Really?" I gave a really teenagerish scoff and blurted: "Yah. I think I know how to pronounce my own name," dramatically spinning around in my seat and clicking my mouse vigorously at nothing.
Really, I doubt I showed him, probably make myself look immature and lame, but later I was rethinking the interaction and kind of laughing because that was probably my biggest blow up about our name being mispronounced and one of the less offensive remarks. Needless to say Dr. McIntire and I have nothing to chat about when he makes his rounds.

One bonus to having an a name everyone mis-pronounces is any call we get asking for Mr or Mrs Crap-0, we hang up and tell them they have the wrong number, because they obviously don't know us or haven't lived in Idaho (the senator is a Crapo). This hanging up on all the Crap-o callers only back fired one time I can think of when it was an important call from our car insurance trying to respond to Rhett and I hung up on them...but they usually call back if they really need us. Also sometimes it's satisfying to correct tele-marketers, surveyers, highway patrol wanting money and act totally offended and make them apologize profusely only to hang up after they do so...am I a mean person? I guess I am...but, hey, they called me.