phones, cameras and automobiles...

So I have this cell phone - it's a Motorola razor phone that my students last year told me was WAY outdated. "Razors are out, iphones and blackberrys are in Mrs. Anderson. You need a new phone." This was last year, so I must be truly out of date and uncool now - it's 2009. However, my phone makes calls, receives calls and stores phone numbers. What else do I need? I am a stay at home mom, and a "phone" - something that makes and receives calls - is just fine for me. I have always believed that a cell phone is for MY convenience, not everyone else!!! Who cares what it looks like and who cares if it takes pictures or not (it does, I'll have you know) but I own a camera that also fits nicely into my purse or pocket. It's a camera, so it's made for taking pictures, and they come out better than most phone pictures. Cause, after all, it's a phone. And frankly, I am haunted enough by emails, I don't need to check them while I am at the store or in line at the post office.

So, this lame, outdated Razor phone of mine stopped working yesterday. It is on, but is says I have no service, so I can't make or receive any calls. Rob and I have tried everything to get it to work, but it won't. Ugh! So, I have to drive to Salt Lake and visit the Verizon store, which if you ask me, is equivalent to a root canal from a dentist with bad breath. Fewer places are more painful to visit than the Verizon store in Sugarhouse. And, to make matters worse, I may have to get a new phone. Before yesterday, I didn't need a new phone and I didn't want a new phone. Mine was serving me just fine. I don't want to get used to a new one. I liked my OLD one - archaic if you ask my former students. Can't wait to see what "deals" the Verizon people can offer me. Can't wait.

And, since I am so pleased with technology right now, we also discovered some exciting news about our video camera yesterday. Rob and I purchased a really nice video camera right after Sawyer was born. We used it a few times and then Rob took it on a Young Life trip. One of his leaders was using it to video the kids until he left it under the seat on a ride at DisneyLand - The Happiest Place on Earth! The place where people find a video camera that doesn't belong to them, and they keep it.

So, we replaced that camera with one identical to it. All was well in video and memory making land until the door on the camera became stuck open. Who knows why, but the door stopped closing. It sounds like something very simple to fix. Everything else on the camera worked, but the door wouldn't close.

So, last week we took the camera to Best Buy to see if they could repair the door. We paid $50 up front just for them to look at it and see what was wrong. (It's obvious what is wrong and shouldn't take $50 to see that the door won't close.) We did so and discovered that we were a month (ONE MONTH) past our warranty. It had expired. Of course it had. Doors close when they are under warranty. We heard back from them yesterday with the news that it will cost $300 to repair the camera. THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS to get the door to close. Really.

The camera is still sitting at Best Buy until $300 falls from the sky. We just spent that and more replacing the fuel pump in Rob's truck.

Call me and we can talk and I'll share my other thoughts regarding the camera. (Oh wait, I can't receive your call because my phone doesn't work. You can leave me a message and I'll check it from my husband's fancy phone when he gets home.)

Thanks for listening. I truly am not this bitter all the time.

Ahhhh Sundance...

Every year for ten days in January, a beast invades Park City. The beast is Sundance.

Sundance, for many, is a time of star gazing, movie going, late night parties, walks up and down Main Street, free gifts, concerts and wine bars, and brushes with fame.

It looks a little different from my perspective.
For me, Sundance is:

Lots of people - everywhere - all wearing black and toting sponsor bags, computer totes, designer handbags and hideous man purses that someone, somewhere should have deemed wrong a long time ago.

Traffic - lots and lots of traffic. What used to be a five minute drive has become a 45 minute drive - all because of the PIBS (People In Black) This is what the local high schoolers around here have labeled them.

More fur coats, fur hats and furry boots than should ever be in one place. It really is a spectacle.

An occassional glimpse of someone famous but it's highly unlikely since they don't hang out at Albertson's and they're probably not going to stop by my house. Last year I did see Screech from Saved By the Bell. Does that even count?

Road Rage! The limosines, buses, vans, taxis and private cars driven by people who don't know where they're going and don't care if they're causing traffic jams get a little old when you are just trying to get to the post office.

No parking spot for my haircut that is WAY overdo! What about the little people who just want to get their hair cut?

Houseguests (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we have had them come and go non-stop for the entire festival.) I have had a half day in between departures and arrivals to wash sheets and towels for the new guests. Two left today and two more arrive tomorrow. I literally just heard the buzzer on the dryer - the sheets are done. Time to do the towels.

Snooty people. Remember you are a guest in this town, and just because you are wearing black, were fortunate enough to get credentials and have them so humbly displayed around your neck, and you pulled out your furry boots because we have snow here, that really doesn't mean you are better than me. It just means you can get into more places than me for ten days, and you'll regret having ever purchased those boots.


Don't get me wrong. I am not a hater of Sundance. In fact, these past few days have been really fun. One of our houseguests is a musician who was invited to play at the Sundance Cafe. Others who played there this year were Damien Rice, Wynonna, Gin Blossoms, and the guitar player from the Doors (can't remember his name) to name a few. So, it was fun to hang with our friend Dave and see him perform. He was awesome.

Also, sweet Pete and Jenny invited us to a few films and one of them was a premiere. It starred Kevin Spacey, Dallas Roberts, Saffron Burrows and Robin Williams. Kevin Spacey and most of the cast were there after the show to answer audience questions. So, I actually got to see Kevin Spacey. I even got to hear him say the "F" word in the microphone.
This was all after a girl two seats down told me to shut up. (It's an extremely long story - too long for the blog - but I still can't believe it happened. I have never experienced someone as rude, and let's not forget I was a high school teacher! And let me say that today I discovered that she is no longer a Sundance volunteer. She was relieved of her duties after her behavior last night.)

Then, Jenny and I went to see a movie this morning and it was awesome. It wasn't a premiere so we didn't think there would be anyone special there. Until, the director and Anthony Edwards (Top Gun, ER) came up to the front! They answered questions from the audience and shared insight about the movie. I am a huge fan of Anthony Edwards after today. He was extremely casual and very humble - he was funny too.

To close, we have two more guests coming this weekend for a little Sundance fever. On Sunday they leave, along with the PIBS, the furry boots, the traffic, the congestion, the movies, the stars, and the craziness. It's been fun, but I am not sad to see it all go. The Sundance beast will return next year, only the fashion and the movies will be different. Everything else remains the same. OK, even some of the fashion remains the same - black coats and fur never cease to make an appearance. It is, after all, a beast.

I'm off to wash some towels!

Back to the routine...

I meant to add more photos that same day and never managed to get around to it. Here are a few more from the holidays. My apologies!

More to come from our time in Austin!







The holidays were great and full of good time with family and friends, but we are glad to be back to some sort of normalcy around here.

Here are a few highlights from Christmas in Park City and Austin!