Welcome to the Lizzardzone!

8 June 2025

Time to catch up on some of the exciting happenings!

Wednesday night found me sitting outside of Best Buy, waiting for the "late night" opening for the release of the new Nintendo Switch 2. Since it was all coordinated to be at 12:01 am Eastern time, it was actually 9:01 pm locally so it wasn't really that "late", but I don't think anyone was complaining. Cody insisted that I go pick up my preorder on Wednesday night in the hope that he would be the first to play it, realizing that Thursday was his sister's birthday and fearing she would use that as leverage to play first. I got there around 8:20 and took my spot outside the bookstore next to Best Buy, since the line had already stretched that far. I enjoyed doing some people watching and reading a few chapters in my book before the store opened and we were allowed inside, a few at a time. It ran pretty smoothly from what I could tell. It didn't take long before it was my turn to go inside. I walked up to a register, showed my ID to the worker and he went to find the items with my name on it. He put my purchases in a bag, handed it to me and I headed out. After I crossed the parking lot, I looked back and saw the line to pick up preorders was still stretching around the corner.

Smiling, I went to my truck and climbed in. As I started the car, I glanced at the GameStop across the parking lot and saw the line was fairly short, so I figured I'd see if they had any extras since Cody had earned a Switch 2. I'd been planning on getting it when I got an invite from Nintendo but if I could get it on launch evening, so much the better! If they were sold out, no harm done. Standing at the counter inside, one worker asked another how many extra systems they had left with the result being "two or three". A quick count indicated that I was in spot number 3! I might get one!! Sure enough, when the two customers ahead of me were rung up, there was still one left and I got it! Hardly daring to believe my luck, I took my receipt over to the corner where they were fulfilling the orders. The man gave me a system in a plastic bag and wished me a good evening. I walked to the truck, put the bag inside the one from Best Buy, climbed in -- and started whooping like a maniac! I'd gotten Cody's system on launch day!! I didn't mention anything via chat to the husband since I'd just gotten a message from his phone from our daughter and couldn't be sure that she didn't still have it -- and I didn't want to risk her getting the message and spoiling my surprise. So, I drove home. Whooping like crazy at random times and brimming with anticipation. A few minutes from home, I saw a message on my watch from the husband asking for an update, which I ignored since I was driving and almost home anyway. When I got there, I carried the Best Buy bag inside and was met by an eager teenager. I handed him the bag and told the hubby to start filming. Fortunately he did so without question - so he captured as Cody took the GameStop bag out, put it aside, pulled out the system I'd gotten from Best Buy with a grin on his face... and then stopped. He looked back at the bag he'd put down, looked at me and asked what it was. "Open it" was my response. He immediately did and started whooping with excitement as he realized I'd somehow gotten his system too. After a quick message to his friends and a hug for me, we started setting them up. Marisol came down and was admiring them ... and every once in a while asked what time it was. She decided to stay up until it was officially her birthday. We all went to bed late.

The next day was Marisol's 18th birthday. While she was at school, I went to pick up the cake she'd ordered. She'd been envisioning the following picture from Tangled but that wasn't quite what she got, as you can see. Nailed It!

What she envisioned...

What she got...

Fortunately, that seemed to be the only hiccup. She had some friends come over and we all tried out the new Mario Kart World before doing cake and presents and eventually taking the birthday girl out to dinner. Then she and her friends went off shopping while the rest of us headed home.

Meanwhile, in Norway, my grandmother was finally laid to rest. She'd wanted to have her ashes placed next to her parents so that's what was done. Until we meet again, Lalla.

26 May 2025

For the last several years, Cody has been enjoying monthly build boxes from KiwiCo and CrunchLabs. They are designed at a level where he's been able to do them all by himself except maybe pushing some connectors together or something like that. He's certainly been able to do all the electronic stuff by himself. With a few exceptions, he's greatly enjoyed the finished product -- and so has his dad who has taken some to his office at the college, usually to Cody's chagrin. A little over a year ago, CrunchLabs announced a new line of boxes designed for teens and adults, though they only happen every other month rather than monthly. You build the kit but then you can customize (or completely change!) the code and make it into whatever you want. Well, I signed up. I haven't always built them as soon as they arrived but I've now completed the first 7. For fun, I thought I'd comment on them. I do confess that I haven't done much in the way of customization since the kits have been pretty cool out of the box.

	This is an IR turret. It shoots soft darts when it detects movement or if the button on the remote is pushed. To use the remote, you have to enter the right code. If you enter a wrong one, the turret actually shakes as if saying 'nope'. All in all, I really like this one. Unfortunately, so does Potato. She's destroyed most of my darts. Fortunately, the company will send me more if I ask...
	This machine sets up dominos in a pattern that you specify. Cody actually built something like this in one of his boxes. I had trouble getting this one to work properly as the dominos kept getting stuck. I probably did something wrong in putting it together.
	This is a label maker. You tell it what to write/draw and it puts that design on the tape. I think I did everything right with this one except the part that holds the pen, because it's not holding the pen worth a darn.
	This one has been my favorite in that this is something I can set up in my home office and actually enjoy using. This uses a magnet underneath to move the ball to create various designs in the sand.
	This is a laser tag kit. It actually comes with two sets of glasses/guns. When one is 'hit', the glasses turn the polarized lenses so the victim is actually blinded for 10 seconds. Cody absolutely loves that bit.
	This is a robot that balances itself. Maybe not overly practical in terms of using it every day but a really cool bit of engineering.
	This is a must for game night, a card-dealing robot. It is already programmed with several games but you can also teach it other ones. In typical Mark Rober (the Crunch Labs founder) fashion, it can be hacked to cheat.

24 May 2025

I've always admired those who voluntarily serve in the Armed Forces. In some countries, military service is an obligation but here in America, military service is voluntary - at least most of the time. While I've never felt a particular desire to join any branch of the military, I have always admired the discipline, work ethic and resilience of those who serve. In high school, I'd see the JROTC kids in their uniforms, though I admit I felt a little sorry for them being required to wear fancy clothes at school on a regular basis. I've gained a better appreciation for the sacrifices their families go through during my married life because one of my brothers-in-law was active in the Air Force before retiring and I saw how often their family had to move and how much they missed him when he was deployed.

The other day, a story about the Plebe (Freshman) class at the US Naval Academy working together to scale a 21-foot monument so they could replace the Plebe hat that was perched on top with an Officer's hat came up on my Facebook feed. Did I mention that the upperclassmen covered the monument with 200 pounds of lard? Apparently that challenge is the final hurdle of Plebe Year, which is known to be notoriously difficult at any of the Service Academies. Anyway, it got me thinking and wondering a bit about military life in general. Obviously the Service Academies are for those who want to be Officers but that's certainly not a requirement to serve. It's possible to simply enlist. Jake has previously mentioned that he'd like to serve in the Navy and I think he would thrive in that highly structured environment like he did during his time at OYCP. He hasn't taken that step yet and only time will tell if he actually does.

This weekend, we honor those who not only served in the Armed Forces, but gave up their lives doing so. These are the people who died so that our freedoms could be preserved. I think of the young men who stormed the beach in Normandy. If they knew or suspected what kind of bloodbath they were storming into, they didn't let it deter them. They saw a very real threat to freedom and were willing to give everything to preserve it for their families. I wonder if, as a generation, today's youth would be willing to do the same. They live in a much different world than the 1940s. Many of them are growing up with different morals than did those soldiers of old or, worse, no morals. There's a much greater emphasis on "me" than "we". Obviously there are examples of young people today who are willing, but I'm not sure the generation is as willing or if they even understand how fragile these freedoms are.

Just a few of my thoughts this Memorial Day.

17 May 2025

Recently, I was slowly waking up. My first thought was that I was hungry and should get up and find some food. Before I could do that, I became aware of a pressure and warmth on my leg and realized that Tater was snuggled up with me. How long I lay there, torn between my desire for food and enjoying the comfort of my feline companion, I'm not sure. All three cats like my bed, though Tater is the only one who sleeps on my blanket. Burrow will sleep on the husband's blanket (not as thick) while Sparks prefers laying on a blanket on the headboard. Sometimes, having Tater curl up next to my leg can actually make it uncomfortably hot but in this case, it was just perfect. There we were, just snuggling.

This morning, almost as soon as I got out of my bed, Cody climbed into it with his kindle. He likes my blanket too and has already called dibs on it in the event of my passing. I'd like to think that both Tater and Cody like my bed because of me but I think it's actually because of the blanket. Take what you can get, right?

2 May 2025

I went through and made the picture pages that I've been neglecting for the last year, including our trip to Norway! Check 'em out! While doing that, I came across a picture of my children together. It's about a year old so Cody is certainly a little taller now than he was, but here they are. The loves of my life.

29 April 2025

I realize I haven't done an update in quite a while. Didn't even update the site for the new year until now. I've wondered if I want="" to keep posting on this site since it's mostly for my family and I talk to them all the time so is it still useful? I think it is... even if only to get me to put down my thoughts once in a while. Not sure why that would matter to anyone but it seems to matter to me. Knowing that I have a place to put some thoughts helps me look for the good things that happen in daily life, even if I don't post anywhere near daily.

Probably the biggest event since my last update is the passing of my Norwegian grandmother, the only grandparent I still had in mortality. I am beyond grateful that Cody and I went to go see her last summer instead of waiting for her 90th birthday, which was just a few weeks ago. Had we waited, we would have missed the opportunity to see her in person. I confess to being slightly miffed that she was too self-conscious near the end to keep up our weekly Skype chats. I wouldn't have known that it was time to say goodbye, given how suddenly and unexpectedly it happened, but I would have liked to help alleviate her lonliness during that time. I would have liked to remind her that I love her and maybe put a smile on her face a few more times. As it turns out, what would have been her 90th birthday happened to be Easter Sunday. Somehow, that was rather comforting. I know that through the Atonement, my grandma is not lost to me. When I see her again, she will have a perfect body, free from the ailments of old age that she'd been struggling with prior to her passing. But more importantly, she will still be my grandmother.

The family had fun with my birthday, doing basically an Advent-calendar type countdown for the 15 days leading up to it, called the "Ides of April". I'd open a door on our normal Advent calendar to find a paper with a clue to a location where a present was hidden. It was quite enjoyable, getting a present every day! Cody would tease me that he knew where the next day's present was going to be hidden and refuse to tell me when I'd try to good-naturedly trick him into telling. It was nice to feel special, which everyone needs from time to time.

We had some unplanned excitement on my birthday when the hubby heard some sparking in the walls. He thought it was coming from a light fixture but couldn't figure out why it was still happening even after each of the fuses in the breaker box which were labeled anything relating to outlets or lights had been turned off. His little device that flags if there is electricity flowing indicated there was current in the wall!, not even just an outlet. Turns out that the wire for the water heater had gotten worn down and was the culprit, and of course we hadn't thought to turn off that breaker. An electrician friend, who we knew as a neighbor kid when we first moved here, came over to make the situation safe - though we were without hot water for a few days until he could come back and do the proper fix. Thank you, Andy!!! I'm so grateful we didn't have a fire as it was much too close of a near-miss for comfort. Cody is now convinced that my birthday is cursed.

Marisol is eagerly anticipating her 18th birthday in a few months. Realistically, nothing much will change at that time (or even shortly thereafter) since she still has another year of high school to complete but she will be going to Hawaii with a friend, with grandparent supervision. I remember going on a road trip from Utah to Alaska with my best friend, though that wasn't until after a few years of college. It's good to have an experience like that I think. She's still happily in love with her boyfriend of more than a year. Hopefully soon she'll get a job (had to give up the summer job to focus on grades after school started) and learn to drive so she can get herself to said job without relying on us. Gotta help this little bird stretch her wings and get ready to fly...

Cody is looking forward to the 7th grade field trip to the zoo tomorrow. I'm not exactly sure how I got roped into being a chaperone. I think it had something to do with Cody looking at me with big doggy eyes, a technique he learned young from his father. He was ordained a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood last January and has been performing his new duties admirably... perhaps the most important of which is to remember to bring the sacramental bread each week. So far, no issues at all and he even seems to be enjoying leaving class a few minutes early to prepare the Sacrament since we have class time first. He's very excited for the new Switch 2 to come out, especially the new Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment game, though I think it's not being released until winter while the console itself comes out in June. To earn a Switch 2 of his very own, he is working on memorizing a bunch of seminary scriptures, something Marisol is doing as well though she's taking the cash we offered instead of a game console. He is still obsessed with otters and loves Jake Retzlaff, the BYU quarterback.