That Blows

I had no clue that the weather turned all nasty this weekend here in Logan. Kristy, Logan and I were down south in Salt Lake at our nephew's baptism (more on that later) and it was nice and warm.

But apparently the weather up here was not as nice.

Take a look at this tree from across the street from my mom's house! That old pine tree was huge! And now SNAP! It is gone.

My mom and the house are all safe. Thanks to my Aunt Margo and my neighbor Kent for the neat pictures. And thanks to all those that came out and helped my mom clean up the yard. Like I said, I had NO CLUE that Richmond was hit was such foul weather.

Thursday Night Foodball!

Day 314

Ah... last night was bliss.

I love the start of the NFL football season. I enjoy the sport, I can watch any team play and last night we were treated to a rematch of last season's NFC Championship. There are many reasons why I love football. Obviously I like watching the chess match, I like to watch the defensive side of the ball more than I do offense. I also like the company I keep while watching a ballgame. I am surrounded by family (Logan sat right next to me to watch the game) and my mom usually comes over to watch. I also like knowing that cooler weather is on its way.

And the food... how could I forget the food?

Last night we had a Burger Bar. We had three sets of small mini-burgers. We crushed up these really yummy Buffalo Wing Pretzels and mashed them in with the hamburger. We also had ones that had crushed up potato chips and onion dip mixed in and then we had a plain set of burgers. We put them on dinner rolls and we had a variety of cheeses and condiments and we also sauteed some mushrooms so we could have mushroom Swiss burgers. Kristy also made some potato wedges for a side. We had a ton of food and we have a ton of leftovers! For desert we had mini Fatboys and Snicker ice cream bars.

Logan was just as excited as I was!

mmmmmm...

Like father like son.

A good time was had by all. And I got my first prediction right. The Saints beat the Vikings.

Speaking of predictions, here are my thoughts and predictions for the remaining games of Week 1.

Denver at Jacksonville:
I don't think the Broncos will be able to contain Pocket Hercules and he will run over the Broncos defense. The Jaguars open the season with a win but they will have to earn it, it will not be easy.
Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami at Buffalo:
The Dolphins will have to be careful with the Bills, they will be a better team than they expect. The Bills are at home and they usually start the season with a win. The Dolphins will try to catch up but they will have to wait until the next meet up in Miami to get a win.
Winner: Buffalo Bills

Detroit at Chicago:
The Bears will be in the same situation as the Dolphins this week only they get the win.
Winner: Chicago Bears

Indianapolis at Houston:
Is it possible that the Colts start the season with a loss? It is possible especially at Houston but unlikely.
Winner: Indianapolis Colts

Atlanta at Pittsburgh:
The Falcons will sneak a win out of Pittsburgh especially with Big Ben out of the lineup. I could have made a crass Big Ben joke here but I won't.
Winner: Atlanta Falcons

Oakland at Tennessee:
The Raiders will give the Titans some fight but Tennessee will use Chris Johnson to finish them off.
Winner: Tennessee Titans

Cleveland at Tampa Bay:
Both teams should have a lot of fight in them but the home team gets it in a dogfight. (Get it? Browns? Dogfight?)
Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Carolina at New York Giants:
The Giants open up their new stadium with a huge win. But then the Giants always know how to start a season.
Winner: New York Giants

Cincinnati at New England:
Very tempted to choose the Bengals in an upset. But since it is at New England, I am sure Tom Brady will do the usual thing and score touchdowns with minutes to spare at halftime and at the end of the game to just put the game out of reach for the Bengals.
Winner: New England Patriots

San Francisco at Seattle:
New head coach Pete Carroll must love having the 12th man since he loves the college game. His return to the NFL will be more swearing than cheering.
Winner: San Francisco 49ers

Green Bay at Philadelphia:
We'll see how the Eagles look without McNabb, it won't be pretty this week for sure. It wouldn't surprise me if Eagle fans demanded that McNabb return somehow.
Winner: Green Bay Packers

Arizona at St. Louis:
I do think that the Rams have a chance to win some games this season. This will be probably one of their best chances. Sam Bradford gets his first win as an NFL player.
Winner: St. Louis Rams

Dallas at Washington:
Oooo... looking forward to this game. Classic cowboys and indians. The Redskins are at home and will win just barely putting more pressure (if that is possible) on the Cowboys.
Winner: Washington Redskins

Baltimore at New York Jets:
HBO and NFL Films should mic this game up. I would love to hear all the chatter. Baltimore gives the Jets problems and the Jets defense bails them out in a close ugly game with lots and lots of hitting.
Winner: New York Jets

San Diego at Kansas City:
This is a hard game to call. I think the Chargers have better talent but the Chiefs are much better this year. The Chargers typically start the season with a bunch of losses and so I am thinking that trend continues.
Winner: Kansas City Chiefs

The Traveling Wilburys

Day 244

I am nearly finished with Tom Petty's Conversations book and I just finished reading the chapter devoted to the Traveling Wilburys. For those that don't know, the Traveling Wilburys consisted of Tom Petty, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison.

I discovered them through my parents and I am not sure how they discovered them. But we listened to their first album over and over again and we just loved them. They became a staple on road trips. Whenever my mom and I went traveling we always took the Wilbury's with us. Sadly, Roy Orbison passed away and we all thought that the Wilbury's were no more.

My mom and I were planning a road trip out to Colorado to visit the Case Clan and we stopped by Hastings to look at some music. And then I made a startling discovery! The Traveling Wilburys had made another album (Volume 3) and we quickly bought the cassette and we listened to it all the way to Greeley.

There was one song that both my mom really got a kick out of. It just had the silliest lyrics and was perfect for Petty and Dylan's voices. We laughed and laughed at the song and I still snicker a bit when I hear it. But I don't think the song is that silly anymore. It evokes some great road trips my mom and I were lucky enough to take.

You Took My Breath Away

You took my breath away

I want it back again

Look at the mess I'm in

I don't know what to say

I don't know how to feel

You don't care anyway

All I can do is wait

You took my breath away

You took this song of mine

And changed the middle bit

It used to sound alright

But now the words don't fit
It's getting hard to rhyme

Impossible to play

I've tried it many times

You took my breath away

One day when the sun is shining

There will be that silver lining

You knocked my headlights out (this was our favorite line)

So turn them on again

I can't see where I'm going

I can't tell where I've been

I don't know how to feel

This hasn't been my day

Seems like I've lost a wheel

You took my breath away

You took my breath away

You took my breath away

You took my breath away

I just love that line. I don't think anything else would have fit.

Mother's Day

Day 223

Yesterday was a nice and relaxing day. I went to work at my dad's from six in the morning till about eleven and I headed home and got ready to spend the rest of the day with my mom.

We first went to Walmart to look at some printers and then decided we were hungry so we went to the Beehive Grill here in Logan. I ate a fantastic Turkey Chipotle Wrap with some fries and a freshly brewed Creme Soda. It was so tasty. Then we hit the road and drove around the valley and chatted.

We drove through Paradise, Hyrum and Wellsville and visited some old haunts. We also drove through the cemeteries and found my great grandparents graves. It was nice to see where they are located and to learn more about my family. We also found my great grandma's (Grandma Kate) old home and also where it used to be located. I don't have a lot of memories of my great grandparents but seeing where she used to live did jog my memory. It was also fun to hear what my mom used to do as a kid when she visited her grandparents.

When drove back into town and stopped by the mall and by Alvey's Chocolates and scored some chocolates. Then we drove up on campus and we went past my old trailer. I then shared with my mom about how I met Kristy and what was happening at the time. I don't think she knew those stories. Then we just had to stop by Aggie Ice Cream. We must have sat in the parking lot and talked for hours.

We finally stopped at my home and we again sat in the driveway chatting for another hour. We spoke about all things, memories, family, religion and politics (and we were nice and respectful), we covered just about everything.

Thanks mom for taking care of me while my family is away. It was a lot of fun sitting and chatting. I couldn't have asked for a better mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

Day 190

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I am blessed to have not just one but a multitude of mothers help and guide me throughout my life and I know that my life would not be the same without their loving influence. So I thought it would be fun to look back through my life and celebrate those mothers that have been a part of my life and share some small memories.

Of course my mom has been the biggest motherly influence in my life. But that shouldn't surprise anyone, I am talking about one of the best moms in the world. There was a time in my life when it was just the two of us and I wouldn't give that up for anything. My mom has always supported me in whatever I was doing and the best part is that she knew me personally and knew how to respond to me. My mom never pushed me into anything and that is because she knew I would not respond positively to that. My mom and I are a lot alike and it is great that I have someone that I can talk to that understands me. I have many fond memories of my mom which I covered already with her birthday post last December.

But one memory that I would like to share was going on road trips with her. We both basically liked the same music (but I was not a fan of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons but it was her car) and we used to hit the road and sing along with Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Styx, Traveling Wilbury's and the Fat Boys while cruising. I remember one trip we took to Rigby to visit Aunt Julie and the Case family. The drive is not that far but this trip was a little harrowing. It was snowing like nothing else and it was coming down pretty hard and fast. At first we didn't mind since my mom is an excellent driver and was used to winter driving. The roads were clear for the moment so we drove on. But the closer we got to Rigby the worse it got. Soon the roads were starting to collect snow and then soon after that we were all driving in one lane and you could barely see the tire tracks of the traffic ahead. At one point we were not driving very fast at all but my mom remained calm and said, "We will just follow the big rig ahead of us and we'll be alright." And then that truck disappeared and we started to panic. Well, I started to panic, if mom was panicking I would have no idea. She remained cool and calm. A few minutes later we caught up to that truck. It had jack-knifed and had crashed off the side of the road. We both looked at each other and we realized that we were too far to turn around and we were on our own. So my mom asked me to watch for road signs because we were getting close to Rigby. I took this assignment seriously. Whenever any sign came into view I yelled it out. "THIS SIGN SAYS MILE 328 SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT!"

I am surprised that my mom stayed so cool without reaching over and smacking me to shut me up. But then she couldn't afford to take one hand off the wheel. I guess I am lucky. But that shows you what kind of mom I have. One that takes matters into her own hands if needed and leads silently and calmly. I hope I learned this quality from her. Thanks mom! I love and appreciate all that you have done for me and my family.

But my mom didn't do it alone. Whenever I was away I had other moms to help look out for me.

I was fortunate to live with my Grandma Anhder for about nine months before my mom and I moved into our own home. Grandma always had some sort of snack for me when I came home and always wanted to know how my day at school was. She never complained about me listening to my music loudly downstairs and always supported me in what I did. It must have been hard to have my mom and I live with them but I would have never known. They accepted and loved me for who I was and that was enough. Grandma wrote me weekly while I was on my mission in New York. I could always count on a letter from her.

I had a ton of mothers in my family to help me out and encourage me. My aunts were always interested in what I was doing and always had words of encouragement. My Aunt Julie has always supported me and I have always felt that I was special and one of her favorite nephews. I remember one time she was visiting from Colorado and her and my mom were going to visit Great-Grandma Maughan and Aunt Julie invited me to go along. I didn't expect to go at all and I was pleased and proud that she wanted me to come along and share that time with them. My Aunt Margo has always supported my love for art and always encouraged me to practice my talent. No matter what, I can always count on getting a homemade birthday card from her. It is such a small gesture but one that makes a huge difference. My Aunt Barbara has always taken interest in me and what I am up to. She wrote me while I was serving my mission and got her kids to send me letters as well. Again, a small gesture that really cheered and lifted me up. Those cards and letters meant a lot. Aunt Lesa helped me out a ton of times while I was in high school. I remember she got me a leather jacket to use (it was her brother's) so I could look good at a 50's dance. If I ever needed anything she was a call away.

My friend's moms helped me stay on the straight and narrow while growing up and helped right up till I got married. My friend Damond's mom was always asking about me when I would go over to her house. And it wasn't just chit-chat either. She would sometimes sit down with Damond and I and talk. She helped with planning dates and always told me what she thought of my date when she would get to meet them. What I appreciated about her the most was that her home was open to me. I felt like I was family and I felt like she treated me as family. She made sure I was fed and there were a couple of occasions that she would correct me if she felt I was not acting the way I should. My friends Joel and Lared had moms like this. Joel's mom made sure that I was going to USU (when I got off my mission) by telling me to get an education and that it was okay to stay single for awhile. She also would see me around town and would stop to chat instead of either waving or ignoring me completely. I was always impressed that she remembered me since I was not at her home a lot. Lared's mom also made sure that I was going down the right path. I remember one night Lared and I returned to his house and we had these toy guns that shot plastic discs. We crashed into his home and shot everyone we saw while they were kneeling down together in prayer. I about died from embarrassment so I took off. Then I heard his mom say "You better get back here Matt. We just started and I expect you to kneel with us!" So I did. Afterwards she really took it to both Lared and I about respect and reverence.

On my LDS mission I made a lot of friends and close relationships but I also had a few moms there to take care of me. I had other people watching over me that I became very close to but that was more friendship than anything else. But some were mothers first and friends second. Mama Lopez, Nicole, Beverly, Judy, Sister Child and Maria were ones that offered me a mother's shoulder for help. It was nice having so many moms in New York when I was so far away from mine.

Now I am blessed to have another mom in my life aside from my own. Kristy's mom Colleen takes care of me like I was one of her own. I hear horror stories from friends about not getting along with in-laws. Some of my friends cannot believe that I call my mother-in-law "mom" and not by Colleen (unless I am trying to get her attention!). But I am glad that I have this mom in my life. She always willing to help and does so much for me and my family. She is a hoot to be around too! I remember one time we went to a movie and she came with us. We went and saw Minority Report and during the previews we saw one about a comedy and the preview showed them making fun of this person who had a mole and they kept saying "mole" to this person. Mom thought it wasn't nice (even though she was laughing) and said we shouldn't make fun of people with moles. Such a mother thing to say right? But then halfway through the movie some actor came on screen that had a mole and suddenly we hear Colleen blurt out "Mole!" as she pointed to the screen. We all cracked up. The best thing about Colleen is that she has taught her children well. Kristy is a lot like her and that is not a bad thing at all.

Even though Kristy is not my mom, she is a great mom to my son Logan. She is always willing to help and play with Logan. She has much more patience with him than I do. And she can laugh at all the dorky things he does.

I am blessed with having my mom, Colleen and Kristy as mothers in my life now and I have been blessed all my life with having excellent moms.

Thanks Mom(s)!

I want to wish every mom out there a Happy Mother's Day! You guys definitely deserve more than one day as recognition. But if we men gave you another day, the world would go to pot!

Matt at Work: My First Job

Day 119

My sister Jennifer and my cousin Jaimee recently have had some posts devoted to places they have worked. I have covered a few places (UPS, WestHost) but I have not covered them all.


The first place that I worked for was at Saddleman's. The same place that my mom worked for. She got me this summer job and I am glad she did. I didn't work in the same building as she did, I worked in the warehouse.

My main job was a baler. I would collect all the cardboard boxes and collapse them and put them in this large cardboard baler machine and crush them. I would also help out around the warehouse in cleaning and helping those around me with assorted jobs. But cardboard was my main task. Which is funny since you had to be over 18 to run that machine and I was only 15. So every time someone would come over I had to leave the bailer and do something else. But it was a pretty fun job. I got to work closely with my cousin Wyatt before he left on his mission. I worked with a great set of people and my boss Rick was the best.

I would run this large machine. I would throw cardboard into it and it would spit out these large bales that I would tie off and collect.
I remember there was a guy (I think his name was Rick or John) that would come around and buy our seconds. He was a very nice man but he wore an extraordinary amount of cologne. You could smell him a mile away. I remember one time I could smell the cologne and I blurted out "Rick/John must be turning the corner on State Street (which was a few blocks away) cause I can smell him." I turned around and he was right behind me. He didn't say a word to me and I am sure he heard me. I felt pretty bad.

During our first break we would all hop into Wyatt's jeep and hit 7/11 for some donuts or Hardee's for food. They must have left me behind (accidently) about ten times. They would always return and see me working away and then drive off suddenly. They would return to 7/11 to grab me something. At least I got free food!

I split my pants one day. Right down the butt from belt line to crotch. And I had no idea and no one was brave enough to tell me. Except for the receptionist Karen but Rick ordered her not to tell me. All day they would say the strangest things to me about blue moons. And of course that day they definitely took me to 7/11.

Karen was getting married and Rick thought it would be funny to buy her some skimpy lingerie. Everyone knew about it except for me and her. We took her to lunch and at lunch he announces "We have a special gift for you that Matt here thinks will be perfect for you. He thinks you should go try it on for him!" I looked around and saw everyone giggling. She opened the gift and quickly closed it embarrassingly. Stupid me asked what it was and she showed me. I about died. I never heard the end of this at work. Until she took me out to lunch (just me) and we went and exchanged it for something else. We told everyone back at work that I picked out something else. Wyatt and Will were so jealous, they all had a crush on her.

We took a trip to another one of our warehouses in Clearfield. We all piled into Rick's Bonneville and cruised down. It was so cramped and uncomfortable. On the way home we were passed by this station wagon. In the back seat was this kid with his underwear on his head. We could also see his bare knees so we knew that the pair on his head was supposed to be elsewhere.

Rick would oftentimes make these stupid announcements over the PA system. He would tell jokes and sing. Much to all of our embarrassment.

It was a great place to work. Rick was good to me even though I was pretty clumsy and dumb at times. He would take us all out to lunch at least weekly. It made putting up with all the teasing worth it.

Movie Night!

Day 117

Watching movies with my family and friends must be some of my favorite memories because I certainly remember them crystal clear. So here are a collection of some of my favorite memories while watching movies.

My first movie experience was in 1977 with Star Wars. My dad took my sister to it first and came home and took me when they went a second time. I don't remember much about it but from what my dad said, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Now when the sequel The Empire Strikes Back came out that was another story. I was so excited to see it. I sat in my chair taking it all in until the Wampa hit. And suddenly I was on my dad's lap.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the next one I saw in the theatres and I am glad that my parents took me. I think parents nowadays try to hard to shield their kids too much from enjoying things. In order for you to enjoy the good, you have to experience the bad. Raiders was a dark film but even though I was young, I enjoyed it and it didn't make me into a serial killer or anything. The one thing that I remember about going to see Raiders of the Lost Ark was my dad. My sister and I were sitting together apart from my parents. Suddenly during the film my dad bolts up and leaves the theatre. About ten minutes later he came back but sat by me and my sister. At first I thought he was mad at mom for something but it turned out that he thought he had peed his pants. He was holding his Coke between his legs and the moisture collected from all the ice melting and he thought he had an accident. He didn't obviously but was so embarrassed that he sat by us instead of mom.


That was not the end to embarrassing moments in the movie theatre. My dad and I decided to see Arachnophobia (even though we both HATE spiders). We saw it at a dollar theatre and there was only a few of us in there. During the movie, I thought it would be funny to reach around and flick my dad's ear. It was a great idea, I flicked his ear and popcorn went a flying! I thought my dad was going to kill me.

Back in the day, you could rent a VCR and some movies from the local Mac's store (which is like a 7/11) and my dad and I decided to get Aliens. That has got to be one of my all-time favorite movies and it left me breathless. At the end of the movie my dad was turning off the TV and he put his hand up his shirt. He turned to me and said, "That was a pretty intense movie eh?" And then suddenly he thrusted his hand out from his shirt like a chestburster! I about hit the roof. And my dad wonders why I like to scare him all the time! I got it from him.

You wanna know what awkward is? Try watching Predator 2 with your mom. She loved the first one but that second one had some scenes that no kid (no matter how old they are) should watch with his parents.

That was a cool thing about my mom, she liked action movies. You know what one of her favorites is? She called me one day and said she wanted to go see Face Off that weekend. My mom was way into it, partly because of John Travolta. Luckily for me, there wasn't any Predator 2-type scenes.

My sister on the other hand is very "hands on" when you watch movies with her. My arm was bruised for days after watching Con Air with her. Every explosion and gunshot, my arm was swatted by my sister. She shouldn't watch intense movies like that. Con Air was not even that good!

I took Kristy to go see Jurassic Park II. During the scene where all the raptors were chasing the people, one popped out from under the fence. I knew it was coming and everyone screamed when it happened. Well, their scream scared the snot out of me. So right after the audience screamed, I screamed. The girls in front of me turned there heads back to look at me and I pointed to Kristy sheepishly.

Kristy's brother-in-law Aaron and I went and saw The Blair Witch Project together. We must have been hyped to see it because we got scared even before the movie started. We were in the theatre just chatting when suddenly this girl pops her head in between us and asks us for the time. Aaron jumped back and that made me jump back even further! The girl laughed at us, I am positive that she did it to us on purpose.

But I think my all-time favorite movie experience was with my friend Lared. Joel and I took him to see The Phantom Menace. Now Lared has always been one of my most expressive friends and he was a Star Wars fan and he was really hyped up. Toward the end, when Darth Maul killed Qui-Gon it really hit the fan. Out of nowhere we heard this hair-raising "NOOOOOOOOO!" followed up with this heart-wrenching "ARRRGHHHH!" It was Lared. Joel and I sat back in our seats trying to contain our laughter.

I cannot wait for Logan and I to watch more movies together. From past experiences I should be in for a good time.

Pic of the Week: The Pysanka (Easter Egg)

Day 98

When I was younger, we as a family took a trip east about 60-65 miles of Edmonton and visited the city of Vegreville. We visited the city's most famous monument, a giant Easter Egg. And it is something that I will not forget.

First, a little history (thanks to the Vegreville and District Chamber of Commerce for this information. You can see more at www.vegrevillechamber.com) of the egg.


(You can see my dad, sister and I all under that egg. It was raining slightly.)

The city of Vegreville wanted to honor the Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RCMP) for its service and protection of the early Ukraine settlers. They decided on a large Pysanka (Easter Egg) to symbolize the peace and security the Mounties had offered them.

Interestingly enough the design of the project was done by a computer scientist, Professor Ronald Resch from the University of Utah. They had to develop new computer programs to develop the egg. The Pysanka is really an immense jigsaw puzzle containing 524 star patterns, 1,108 equilateral triangles, 3,512 visible facets, 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts. It measures 25.7 feet long, 18 feet wide, and stands 31 feet high.

The dedication message is written in four languages: English, Ukrainian, French and German. It reads: “This Pysanka (Easter Egg) symbolizes the harmony, vitality and culture of the community and is dedicated as a tribute to the One-Hundredth Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who brought peace and security to the largest multi-cultural settlement in all of Canada.”

It was such a cool place to visit. I would love to take Kristy and Logan up there to see it. And eat Ukrainian food like progies. MMMMMMM.

Sunday Confessional: Ladies Night

Day 57

Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for others. This night I just did that. I sacrificed my machismo and took my mom out for her birthday. Just the two of us. Now you might say that isn't so bad, all sons should treat their moms to something special and this night I did just that.

For her birthday, I got tickets to see one of her favorite performers and I would go with her. And I think I was the only guy in a two hundred seat parameter. I admit it, I saw Barry Manilow in concert with my mom.

Yes. THAT Barry Manilow. There is really only one Barry Manilow right?


And guess what? The concert was pretty good. Seriously, I think I was the only man in a two hundred seat radius but I still had a pretty good time. Barry had just released his new CD called Here at the Mayflower, which is a concept album based on an apartment complex called the Mayflower. With each song he would take you through the lives of various people living there. Now I like concept albums so I got a small kick out of it. What I really liked is that Barry took the time to explain the album and how it was made.


After he finished up the album he went into all of his classics and it was kinda cool to hear them all live. He also took the time to explain how he wrote the songs. One that stuck out to me was that he brought on stage his old voice recorder and explained that he had written a song early in his career that he tried to sell to everyone but no one wanted it. So he used this voice recorder to record his own voice in layers and put it together. That song turned out to be his signature song Mandy. He then joked that he was so glad he made the song instead of selling it.

I have to admit Barry was quite charming. I don't think I would have enjoyed his concert as much if he didn't go into explaining his songs. That really drew me in, I love that sort of thing, learning how creators create thier stuff.

At first I was a little embarrassed that I was at a Barry Manilow concert. But after a few minutes in I was enjoying myself. Until Barry made an annoucement that really embarrassed me. After he covered his new album and before he went into his classics he said (and I paraphrase it) "You men out there? It will be all worth it coming to this concert later tonight."

I don't think so Barry.

Aside from that, I had a hoot at the concert and if my mom wanted to go again I would be happy to attend it with her. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.

Barry ain't that bad. I loved it when Hellboy and Abe sang "Can't Smile Without You" in Hellboy II.


Watch Hellboy ll - Can't smile without you in Animation  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Christmas Memories: The Movies

Day 45

Christmas is full of traditions and one of my favorite traditions is watching my favorite Christmas classics. There are a few but I am mostly talking about National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

My mom and I saw this movie in the theatres when it came out. We met my Uncle Kurt and we saw it together. I never laughed so hard, sure it was a funny movie but what made it even more funny was the old lady sitting in front of us. She must have been my Grandma's age and she absolutely loved it. She laughed and laughed loudly during the whole movie which in turn made us laugh even more.

There was one part that I will not forget. It is when the SWAT team and police crash into the house and yell "FREEZE!" That old lady laughs out "Look where her hand is!" (I am sure you know exactly what scene I am talking about!) and she laughed about that all the way to the end of the credits.

Every Christmas since then we have a tradition of watching that movie sometime before Christmas. I can't wait to see it this year!



Another movie I manage to catch almost every Christmas is "A Christmas Story". Such a cute show.



Another one that I am going to make a tradition of watching is "The Muppets Christmas Carol". Last Friday night we had what Logan calls "Family Movie Night" and we watched it. It was still as good as I remember and I think it made an impact on Logan.

We still have a Charlie Brown Christmas and of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas to watch. And not the crappy movie, the best, the original cartoon.

List-Mania: All Mom Edition!

Day 41

Today is my mom's birthday. She will always be only 41 years old. Even when I get to that age, she will still be 41.

Today is supposed to be one of my List-Mania columns but it is my mom's birthday. I am very detail oriented and I am very scheduled (re: anal) so how can I fix this? Very easy, I will steal my sister's idea of spotlighting people on their birthday and then combine it with some sort of list.

But I didn't want to make a sweet and sappy column devoted to my mom, those are just not my style and besides, I have still have Mother's Day to deal with later in the year. So instead, I am going to post a list of things you may not have known about my mom. These are in no particular order. And because my mom absolutely likes to be in pictures, I will post as many as I can! Only kidding, I cannot find that many.


1) My mom loves hot air balloons. She has always wanted to ride one. She has pictures and pins and shirts of hot air balloons. Maybe one day she will have a chance to ride one.

2) Her celebrity crush is Sam Elliot. I do admit that he is a fine looking fella. She also likes the wrestler Ric Flair. But that is for another column.

3) She bought the house she wanted when she was growing up. When she was growing up she loved this white house on the corner. Who would have thought that many years later she would actually buy it.


4) She made up a lot of family favorite recipes from scratch. She made up some fantastic dinners all from scratch. Stuffed Peppers, Chicken and Rice and Broccoli Bake are probably my favorites. And they live on in my family too. She made up a lot of other dinners that we loved as kids. Except for Spanish Rice.
(just teasing you mom; we ate it so it must have been good. It was nowhere near the level of hate Lentil Soup was)

5) She bought herself a hot red sports car. After I graduated from high school mom bought herself a new car. And not just any car, she bought herself a new bright red Laser. Everyone in the neighborhood thought I got it for graduating. Nope. It was my mom's.


6) She is a huge football fan. I got my love of the NFL from her. We must have watched hundreds of games together. Sundays were one of my favorite days growing up when we moved to the States because we spent time watching football. We still do it today. She will come over a few times during the season and we always watch the SuperBowl together (with weather permitting). She loves the Redskins but hates the Chiefs. So I am not sure if she is racist or not! (kidding again)

7) She handmade Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls. Back in Canada she used to do a lot of sewing. She made Jennifer (my sis) a lot of dresses for her and her dolls. And then she started to make these cute Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls. She does have quite a creative talent.


8) She directed a musical melodrama. When we moved to the States, our hometown had a celebration called Black and White Days. Basically, it was a place where you can show your cows. They also had a hometown melodrama and my mom was chosen to direct it. She worked hard on it, I was at a lot of the practices helping out, so I know how many hours she put into it. The musical was called "Monster Soup" (if I remember right) and it was a big success.

9) Her favorite author is Belva Plain. She has all her books in paperback. My mom likes to read and always has a novel.


10) She likes action movies. My mom and I went to see movies together often but one of the ones I remember going together to was Face Off. We were the only ones in the theatre and we were both on the edge of our seats. She also liked Robocop and Predator quite a bit.

So there are some little things you may not have known about my mom. And looking back at the list I can see where I have picked some things up.

Thanks Mom! I appreciate all you do for me and the stuff you have passed on to me.

Love ya!

It Begins!

I can't believe that November is here already. Time certainly goes pretty quickly. We had a saying while on my LDS mission. "The days seem like weeks but the weeks seem like days". While that may be true most of the time, there have been some weeks that felt like months but I think that is only during football season. This morning I debated about which entry should be the inaugural entry but I couldn't pick one out. Instead I think I will start out with some of my basic family history. Maybe put some faces on some names I am sure to mention again.

My full name is Matthew Paul Platis. I go by Matt, I think only my mom still calls me Matthew. I was born in 1974 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. So yeah, I am a Canuck. My parents, Paul and Kathy were both born in Utah. They had my sister Jennifer and then they moved to Edmonton. My dad was offered a job with the Provincial Parks and they moved to Canada. I was born at the Royal Alexander Hospital. We lived there for thirteen years. My parents divorced and I and my mom moved to Richmond, Utah in the United States. My dad and sister stayed behind. Eventually my dad moved to Logan, Utah (just a few miles away from Richmond). My sister stayed in Edmonton and she got married to a fella named Dave. They lived up there for a few years and then he applied and got a job at Utah State University here in Logan. So they moved down. My dad got remarried to a Canuck and she (Pauline) moved down to the States as well.

I have a brother named Nathan as well. He is my dad's and Pauline's son. My sister also had a child while she was living in Canada named Jillian. Soon after they were born, I served an LDS mission to New York City. After I came home I soon dated Kristy, my eventual wife. My sister divorced her first husband and I got married. I married Kristy Breinholt back in December of 1997. My sister Jennifer then married a guy I used to go to high school with named Justin. Kristy and I had our first child named Logan in 2002. Soon after my sister had a couple more kids named Dax and Jace.

So there you have it, a basic family history. You will be hearing about these people again so that is why I am giving you a brief look at my family.


Kristy, Logan and I.


My Mom.


Logan, my brother Nathan holding nephew Jace, my niece Jillian and my nephew Dax.


My sister Jennifer and her hubby Justin.


Grandma Pauline, my Dad (Papoo) and Logan

One of my future columns will cover all about Kristy's family. They deserve their own column altogether.