I'm Just Sayin'

The Injustice of it all!

2011-06-02T10:52:00.001-07:00

I bet I hear the words, "It's just not fair!" at least ten times everyday. And no matter how many times I say, "Life's not fair." My kids just don't seem to get it. I try so hard to purposefully NOT be fair. My hope is that at some point it will sink in, but it hasn't yet.

The more I think about it though, EVERYTHING we do screams that life is fair. Everyone has to have an equal number of tries or attempts at things. They all get the same amount of time on tests as everyone else. If there's a treat or snack, everyone gets the same amount. I've even heard of baseball leagues where every kid gets one at bat EACH inning before the inning can be over even it that means 9 outs.

I'm just as bad... Even in my attempts to not be fair. When we dish treat there are four equal pieces cut. Each kid gets the same number of dish days, chores are equally split, each kid gets their "turn" in the good seat in the car. Their bedtime is all the same. If I give Jenna a piece of candy, they all get a piece of candy. Practice time on their musical instrument is 30 min. The list can go on and on. About the only thing I do that isn't fair is their punishments, what works for one doesn't work for any other (because that would be too convenient if it did).

In the grander scheme of things (I'm gonna get a little 'deep' here) life really isn't fair. I know of people who have the worst problems (in my mind) and have to suffer through so many trials, (that make mine pale in comparison) while others get a seemingly "easy" life. I know that in this life, we truly need to be "tested" and I realize that for each person that means something entirely different.

So the question is, if we are to be a "good" parent, shouldn't we be following the same kind of example? The answer is yes, but that is certainly easier said than done. Just sayin'.

I Love Index Cards

2011-04-28T13:17:00.001-07:00

I buy them in bulk, they ARE the best thing since Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Dark Chocolate and Diet Coke. {Well... maybe not the Diet Coke, but they are a close second} They have become the answer to all my prayers and problems.

I use them for everything...

A book mark - I even can jot down the page that I was last on if one of my kids thinks it would be funny to pull it out.

A chore chart - I have taken up giving my kids each a chore list on an index card everyday when they come home from school. I list on them what needs to happen before they play with friends, activities they have that day so they (and I) don't forget and even stuff that needs to be done before bed. Which is great, so that when they ask if they can play with friends, or play on the computer, or watch TV, I can say, "Is your card done yet?". I am no longer the bad guy. The fun thing for them too, is that they like crossing things off as they get them done.

A reminder - I have a card for me too of the things that have to be done that day. That way, I can constantly remind myself of what is happening that day and hopefully not forget anything. It also helps me prioritize what has to be done.

A scratch piece of paper - I keep several in my purse. They are great for writing down things like prices for comparisons when you are out shopping, or an address when you are out and someone tells you where something is.

And the all important toothpick - and don't say gross! It has come in handy when I have been out at a restaurant with Jayden and he gets something stuck in his teeth. He is not a patient kid, and when something is stuck, he wants it out NOW!

Like I said, I LOVE index cards! Just sayin'.

The Simple Things

2011-04-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I found myself saying, "I just ran 6 miles." As in I only ran 6, no big deal. And compared to the miles I've been clocking to get ready for the marathon in a couple of weeks, that doesn't seem like much. But the reality of it is, that is more miles than most people clock in a week, if not a whole month. And somewhere along the line, I've lost sight that it is a huge accomplishment to even run the 6 miles while most people were still at home in bed.

It's got me thinking, that as a society we are losing sight. Somewhere in the hubbub of activities, we are losing the vision that even little accomplishments are still accomplishments, and not to be taken lightly, or given any less worth than they are. Kids are so highly scheduled in so many things, that they are given the time to just enjoy the little things either. The other day, Melissa had a little extra time, so she went out in the yard, and took pictures of the blooming trees, and thought it was the best thing ever.

My sister in law posted pictures of her daughter that she took because it was a nice spring day. It got me thinking of when was the last time I did something just because the weather was nice. Really I can't tell you. It's a sad commentary in my life. I have become so hugely focused on things that the little things haven't mattered as much, and the little things are becoming so non-existent.

I have decided to quit teaching piano. I think I just need to take more time and focus on my kids. The other day I was thinking about Spencer. He isn't a very motivated kid, and he has a hard time taking some things seriously. I tried to think of all the ways that I could teach him how to take more pride in his work, and do a good job, and most of all, WANT to do a good thorough job, and the answer that came to me, is I need to teach by example. I am so caught up in doing so many things, and spread so thin right now, that I am not doing a good thorough job at things either.

So the 23rd of May is my final recital, and then that's it, I'm done. Also, my marathon is on the 21st. My plan is to finish the marathon, cross it off my bucket list and never do it again. Once is good enough for me. I will probably still do half marathons because I actually enjoy those. But the full, not so much {a different post for a different time I think}.

I have one more year before Jayden starts Kindergarten, and I am excited to think that this next year I will be able to spend more quality time with him before he is sent to the wolves, I mean public school. I am excited to be able to focus on other things with my kids also. The past couple of years, I have still had piano lessons in the summer, and I think that it will be nice this summer to plan projects and have the time and energy and motivation to do them. And it's true that piano lessons didn't take up that much time of my day in the summer, but there were some days that it just got in the way of things that my kids needed or wanted to do.

So, I have to say I am excited to finish up old endeavors and take up a new focus in my life. And hopefully help my kids to understand that there is beauty and excitement in the simple things. Just sayin'.

What I learned from Easter

2011-04-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

Before I forget, Happy Easter Everyone! We had a pretty great day, and that is despite the fact that I got hardly any sleep the night before. Here's what Easter taught me this year...

Easter is just as exciting as Christmas to our kids. Apparently, next year before the kids go to bed we need to have the "You can't come out of your rooms until after 7" talk. I had kids (minus Melissa, she now values her sleep too much) coming in and out of my room beginning at 4 in the morning.

Melissa will make a better Mom than me. After me getting after each kid who came in to wake me up, Melissa got out of bed, had them all get their scriptures and then had them all take turns reading in their scriptures about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the REAL reason we celebrate Easter. Like I said, a better mom than me...

Jenna is already making her list of things she will NOT do like me. At 10:30 Saturday night, Jenna came in and said, "Mom, can I give you a suggestion as to how to do Easter better?" After listening to her suggestion, I said, "We'll see." {A great response for a parent!} To which she said, "Well, I'm going to do it when I'm a mom."

The Easter Bunny and Santa are the same person and are thus treated the same. Jenna told me before she went to bed that she wanted to leave out a treat for me because I'm the Easter Bunny, and I told her that was very nice, but I didn't need any treats. However, when I went out to the Family Room to start hiding the treats, I found a note from Jenna that said, "Dear Easter Bunny, I would like a Barbie for Easter. Thanks, Jenna" . Apparently, the Easter Bunny gets lists too.

Lastly, Jenna is the best at finding Easter Candy. She found EVERY single hard thing I hid. I left some out in the open for Jayden, and some hidden in the obvious spaces, but thought I would do some hard ones for Melissa and Spencer, but it was Jenna that found them all. In fact when there were two peices left to be found, and the kids couldn't find them, we sent the kids back to the bedrooms for Steve and I to look in places we hid them. Only we couldn't find them either. When the kids came back out, they started looking again, and it was Jenna that found them all. Go figure.

Seven Year Itch

2011-04-22T17:16:00.001-07:00

The other day, I told Steve I wanted to move. We've been in our house for a little over six years now, and I'm kinda tired of some of the people that we live by. I'm ready to meet some new people. They talk about the seven year itch for marriages, and I'm wondering if it applies to friends as well. Does it take a little over six years to REALLY get to know someone, and then can you only hack it for year before you just have to get out?

I have been in a couple of social situations recently where I realized that I can't stand hanging around some people anymore. When I first met them, we had some things in common, but then it seems like we have been having the same conversations about the same things for the last six years, and now, it's kind of boring. And I've realized that some of my friendships are all one sided. Them always asking for my help, and never willing to give anything in return. And then there are those who will only help you if there's something in it for them. I can really do without those kind of people you know.

Don't get me wrong, there are some people I live by that I absolutely LOVE to hang out with. We have actual, meaningful conversations, different ones every time too. However if we were to move, I'd still hang out with them. And there are still some that I would love to get to know better. But what do you do with the ones you're sick of? Could it be that if you stuck it out long enough, you could find out why you were friends in the first place? Is it even worth it? Some are really draining you know... needy, judgemental, flakey...

Well I guess one thing is for sure, if you've made it as my friend after 7 years, you're my friend for life! Just sayin'.

{As I side note, I really won't ever move, unless I absolutely HAVE to - I really like my house.}

AHHHHH!!!!!!!

2011-04-20T18:55:00.001-07:00

I am in timeout in my room...

This is what I was going to post on Facebook, but then thought twice because I am friends with some of her friends on Facebook, and it just would not be a good "mom" thing to do.

PMS is going to kill me... (Not mine, but not really hers either {yet - or at least hopefully not anytime soon because that would really kill me}).

Just sayin'.

I NEED to Blog!

2011-04-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in quite a while... and my mind is muddled. I have found, that blogging is a necessity for me. It is therapeutic and helps me keep my mind clear. Especially when I am blogging because I want to and not because I have to.

So why haven't I blogged lately? Mostly because of Jayden and partly because life is busy. Jayden has this thing with playing on the computer. He loves it! And of course the MINUTE I get on the computer to do anything, he is BEGGING to play. I can usually hold him off while I check my email and facebook, but we all know he is not that patient, so the blogging just gets put on the back burner. Now that we are finally wireless, and can have more than one computer online, I don't have to worry about that anymore. However, now Jayden doesn't seem to care much about the computer when I'm on, and he's playing toys more. Go figure!

And life? It's just busy. It just seems like I always have things that need to be done, and they aren't even the important things. The important things always seem to get shoved to the side and aren't getting the proper amount of attention. I have decided it is time for a priority check.

Melissa is in this Study Skills class. She had an assignment recently about setting priorities and getting things done in the proper order. And while I am completely against the fact that this assignment was for parents and students to do together (because really, that's just what I need is homework for me that Melissa's grade depends on) I actually got something out of the assignment. I am making lists. I make a list of all the things that need to be done throughout my day. Then I go back to the list and write down timelines for when they need to be done. Then set deadlines for each thing, and organize the list according to their level of importance. Works pretty good in getting stuff done. Doesn't solve the problem of me sometimes forgetting to put things on the list... but one problem at a time right?

It's too bad that I haven't been blogging either because I still think about what I would blog if I could, and you've missed some good stuff, that is all lost in my mind somewhere. Bummer for you! Hopefully some of it will come back to me and you'll be able to catch it the second time around.

One of the things on my mind lately, is the fact that I am in kind of an identity crisis. I'm trying to figure out if I am becoming the person I want to become, or the kind of person that I think everyone else wants me to become. There's a difference you know. Only I am trying to figure out what part of me is me and what part is just an act. How do you know? I am determined to find out. Just sayin'.

My favorite memory...

2011-01-13T11:18:00.001-08:00

I know, I am WAY behind in getting this post out, but I think better late than never. My Grandpa passed away Tuesday night. And I have to say, when my Dad called to tell me, I wasn't sad. I knew that he was happy, and it was WAY overdue. I was just grateful that we got one last chance to see him in October.

In thinking back through all of the great memories of him, I thought that I would just share my favorite one. I think that it describes the type of person he was perfectly. Sometime during me senior year, we went to his house to visit - we were probably there to watch some sort of sporting event I am sure because we did that a lot. And somehow within the conversation, we got talking about mirrors. I told him that I had a full-length mirror that was supposed to go on the back of a door, but it got knocked over and broke. He asked me why it wasn't on the door like it was supposed to be and I told him that we couldn't fasten it to the door because our bedroom doors are hollow and the screws would just fall out and not support it.

Well, wouldn't you know, just a couple of days later, he shows up at our house with a mirror. He had figured out a way for me to be able to have a mirror fastened to the back of my door. He took the woodworking skills and knowledge he had and made a frame for the mirror to sit in that was tall enough to be able to be fastened to the top of the door where there was wood that would support screws. I loved my mirror. Not because I'm vain and loved looking at myself in it, but because he had made it for me just because (as he said), "Every girl needs a mirror."

That is just the kind of person he was.

And the winner is...

2010-11-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

Heather! I'll bring the toothbrush to you next time I see you!

Because I like the taste...

2010-11-18T08:53:00.001-08:00

These cartoons seem to say it all...

It seems to happen to me from time to time. Especially when I am tired and my filter is a little slow. Well, it happened to me again. I said something that once I said it, I realized that it didn't sound like it did in my head. However, before I could even clarify, someone (who I wasn't even talking to) jumped all over it. Called me rude and started to rip me up one side and down the other and on and on, blah, blah, blah.... So at that point, of course I just wanted to cry, and I wish I could have clarified myself to the actual person that I said it too, but it would have just come out a blubbering mess. The thing that made it even worse, is that the person that was chewing me out, was totally making assumptions and judgements about me that were totally unfounded. And she knows me. It isn't like we are strangers. She should know that I am not that way right? So what do you do in that situation? I just walked away... it was one of those moments that I wished I wasn't so emotional. Just sayin'.

Optimism

2010-11-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Funny, I couldn't remember how to spell the word, so I looked it up in the dictionary - online of course because who would actually go look in a dictionary. The funny thing was, one of the five definitions given was "the belief that goodness pervades reality". Ha! so does that mean it's not real? Just a belief?

Two Sundays ago we had a lesson in church about optimism. We talked about always looking for the silver lining in everything, so this past week, here was my attempt at optimism:

To the snow - at least it will warm up enough to not hang around...
To the cold - I get to have Hot Chocolate everyday if I want...
To Jayden pooping on the carpet (twice if you must know) - at least he took his pants and undies off. That tells me he actually knew that he needed to go poop - he is capable. Even if he doesn't want to. That means I can punish him for his naughty choice.
To the kids not wanting to eat what I made for dinner - More for me to eat.
To Steve working a TON - I got sole control of the TV remote.
Jayden throwing up in the middle of the night - at least it was only once and didn't get on the carpet.
Stake Conference on Sunday - We could play hookie and no one would know.

I know, for every ONE reason that I came up with for it to be a good thing, I can think of AT LEAST THREE different reasons why it sucked... just sayin'.

Pobanz Orthodontics in Ogden, Utah

2010-11-15T08:54:00.001-08:00

Last week, I was given the opportunity to attend my first ever "blogging event". My friend Motherboard who is kind of like a celbrity in the blogging world, invited me to join a group of local bloggers to tour a local orthodontist office and write up a review about it. When I told my Sister in law Heather about it, she said, "Do they know that you don't always give rave reviews about everything?" Probably not, but at least you'll know that it's an honest one, right? The Orthodontist, was Dr. John Pobanz. That is him on the front row.

To begin with, we met in the waiting area for everyone to arrive. And as we were waiting there, the cute office lady offered us some bottled water, which at first I thought was because they were putting their best foot forward for us, wanting a great review. However, that was NOT the case. They do that for EVERYONE! Because that is just the way they are. Seriously, you can tell that the people who work there love their job. We were there for a couple of hours, and let's face it, you can't fake being that nice for that long.

They took us on a tour of their facility, showing us all of the things that they have to offer. Including all of the different types of braces that they offer. {Boy braces have come a long way since we got em!} They offer Invisalign, SureSmile and the Damon System (which actually uses a robot to shape the wire in a way that would be most beneficial for the patient - like I said braces have come a long way). I learned that they have become so efficient at braces that you don't actually have to have them on as long now as we did.

I was really impressed with how up to date and knowledgeable Dr. Pobanz was. He is constantly researching the newest stuff out there and not only that, but he publishes in medical magazines. When you are dealing with something that will affect your physical look in the future, you want the best right? I know what you are thinking, sometimes people like that are so knowledgeable, they are hard to communicate with, but not this guy, he is really down to earth and explains thing really well. He is the type of doctor and has the type of staff that I would not hesitate to call up and ask about any questions or concerns that I am having. The other nice thing is he actually talks to the patient, not just the parents. He makes sure that they understand what is going on. He has parties for the kids when they get their braces off, they have theme days, where the staff dresses up, and the office itself is just a fun place to be.

The parent waiting chairs in the exam room is an actual ski lift chair.

There are video games and TV's in the waiting area.

And of course a "brushing station" for those kids who come to the office straight from school. The station is even equipped with prepasted toothbrushes for you to use. {See what I mean, they are just that way - they think of everything when it comes to making your ortho visit fun.}

They did give us a fun gift bag that included a teeth whitening kit for us as a "thanks for coming". Here I am getting my teeth molded for my whitening kit...

Which I was super impressed with the girl who did my impressions, when I told her that I have a hard time with getting impressions, she did a good job of talking me through it, and I only had to do it once. And that is no small feat.

Also included in the Thank You bag, was an Oral-B, CrossAction Rechargeable toothbrush for us to give away on our blog. So, if you want to win the toothbrush, leave me a comment, and on Friday, I will randomly select one person to win it! I'll post next Monday who the winner is...

All around, it was a fun afternoon, probably the most fun I've ever spent in any sort of dental office and I've certainly been in plenty. In fact it makes me excited for Melissa to get braces - just sayin'.

The answer to your maturing problems!

2010-11-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to a Daily deal on-line. Everyday, they send me a new deal good for that day only, and here's what was waiting for me in my in-box!

Do you ever wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and say, "When did I get so old? What happened to my face in the last five years?" Instead of looking five years older, it's more like fifteen. There are fine lines creeping up on your forehead, laugh lines framing your mouth, crow's feet encroaching on your eyes, and a fatigued dim topping it off. You miss the supple skin, fresh eyes, and youthful glow of previous days.
If you are aging exponentially, don't panic. Although Enlighten Laser Cosmetics can't skim the last five years off your age, they can certainly remove the damage done to your complexion, with a variety of services that will help you recognize that young, sprightly, woman in the mirror again. Today's deals are an answer to your maturing problems.

Whatever... I don't think I call those "maturing" problems. "Maturing" problems for me always meant having a period at the most inopportune time, or a flat chest while your friends are all sporting C - sized bras, or a zit-covered forehead from using too much hairspray to achieve my "bangs to heaven" look. I mean let's call it what it is... we are getting old!

Steve and I recently ran the Ragnar with Steve's coworkers and spouses. Our team name was "Hard Assets" - they are a bunch of accountants. It is a 195 mile relay race where there are 12 runners in 2 vans. Basically the two vans leapfrog from one exchange to the other and it took our team about 32 hours to complete. I was runner number 12. In our van, Steve and I were the older ones. We had a couple who just barely got engaged (she ran, he drove) and then another guy who has a 6 month old child and another couple who have a 15 month old. When we got in the car to drive down to the race (it was in Vegas) Steve was driving and I was in the front seat and one of the guys goes, "You guys are like the Mom and Dad of the trip." Which ended up sticking, they referred to us as Mom and Dad quite a bit. Then at one point, we were at one of the exchanges and a lady comes up to the van and asked which one of us was runner 12. They said that it was me, and we began talking about the previous run which was an 8 mile up hill run on a rocky trail at 2 in the morning. When we were just about done talking, she goes, "Well, I'll see you at the finish line Mom." Seriously...

I used to look forward to being in my thirties. It just didn't seem like anyone took you seriously as a Mom when you were only twenty-something. However, now that I am here, I wouldn't mind just slowing them down a bit.

I must admit, I am looking old these days, and I swear in the last five years, I have aged exponentially. Those fine lines, crows feet, laugh lines, and fatigued dim topping it off? Check, check, check and check! Having kids will do that to you, but I certainly wouldn't trade any of the last five years for anything, so tonight vefore I go to bed, I am going to look in the mirror, slap on a bunch of age-defying cream and then whatever is left in the morning, so be it! Just sayin'.

Bedside manner matters!

2010-11-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

In our quest to get this girls feet fixed, we decided to seek a second opinion on her bunions. And boy! what a difference a doctor can make!

This time, we took her to a podiatrist. We actually talked to a podiatrist in another state to see if he had an opinion about what kind of a doctor would be a better fit for bunions (now that we knew they were bunions). He gave us some good things to think about, as far as what to look for in a good doctor, what kind of questions to ask, etc. So I called my neighbor across the street who has yet to steer me wrong when it comes to doctors. She suggested a podiatrist that has actually seen her daughter, so I made an appointment. The crazy thing was, when I went and checked Melissa out of school for her appointment, my neighbor was at the school checking out her daughter for an appointment (I know, what are the chances) her appointment was with an orthopedic doctor because the podiatrist had recommended that's what they should do. So, there's sign one of a good doctor, they aren't so full of themselves to think that they can solve it all. The other good thing about running into them is her daughter was able to tell Melissa how much she liked the doctor, so it put Melissa's mind at ease a bit.

The doctor came in and first examined her foot. He actually held it, bent it looked at it, measured her pain, felt the bones, etc. It hadn't donned on me before that the first doctor didn't actually LOOK at her foot. He just looked at the x-rays, and made a suggestion. This doctor looked at her foot from all sorts of angles, and measured her arches. And then was able to come up with a plan of action that will be the best for HER. WE (Steve and I) were sold on this guy.

However, that wasn't the best part, Melissa is sold on this doctor as well. All throughout the exam, when he was talking to us, he was talking directly to her as well. Explaining everything to her in ways that she would understand. He even asked her about her interests. He found out that she is really into dance. So, when he was dicussing her options, he made mention to how it would affect her dancing, what kind of recovery time was involved, and how when all was said and done, she wouldn't have to give up dancing. At one point, he looked at her and said, "What kind of questions do you have for me?" And then when she said she didn't have any, he said, "Well, let me tell you what kind of questions you might have as soon as all of this soaks in." And then proceeded to tell her all sorts of good stuff that probably are or will be concerns to her.

So, to end an already long story, Melissa will have surgery in the summer after her dance competitions are over and then most likely be able to begin dancing again in the fall. This doctor is also suggesting a different kind of a surgery that will hopefully mean less recovery time, and also not as much joint stiffness. He also doesn't seem to think that she will need the surgery again any time soon. He said that if she does need the surgery again, it will be well into her adult years. So more good news! Just sayin'.

I'm bugged

2010-11-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

... or so I think I am. Well, actually, I KNOW I'm bugged, I'm just trying to figure out if I should be or not. I posted on our family blog, (or at least I think it posts tomorrow) that Jenna has this new found love of reading. Her class has had a contest this past two months to see who could read the most minutes in month. Jenna won the first month hands down, and won this last month by a landslide as well. At parent teacher conference her teacher asked Jenna if it would be alright if she gave her a different prize other than the giant Mr. Potato head that was the prize she already got. Jenna said that would be just fine. And I am totally fine with that as well, however I am totally NOT fine with what she came home with yesterday. And no, I am not referring to the prize she got because honestly Jenna would have been happy with a sticker. I am bugged that she came home with a 2nd place certificate. Because clearly, she was not in second place. She read the most minutes, and now her certificate states otherwise.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't care about the recognition or whatever, but I am bugged at what it represents. It is as if her accomplishment has been down graded. I am sure the teacher was just thinking that perhaps the other kids might become more motivated knowing that they could have a chance to win the prize the following month. However, don't you think she could have said something like, "This month's winner was Jenna Gardner, however since she's already gotten the big prize, this month it is going to go to so and so." Don't you think the kids would have been motivated that they too could win the prize still.

It just leads me into the entire problem with schools. Why do we have to downplay what others do just so that we don't hurt people's feelings? Why can't kids just be inspired by greatness? Why have we downplayed grades? Our old school had gone to a 1,2,3 grading system. 1 means they don't really know the concept, 2 means they know it and 3 means they've mastered it. The kids new school actually does letter grades, so when my child comes home with anything but an A, I know there is room for improvement. And no I don't require my children to have all A's, I understand that some struggle, however, I also feel that when they don't get an A, I know better where I can help them.

I know that Utah is the lowest when it comes to how much we spend on Education per student, and somehow that needs to be addressed. However, why are we making matters worse by dumbing down the standards? It is so irritating. When I taught HS, the first year I had a normal grading system: 90% and above an A, 80% - 89% a B, and so on. However, the second year, as a department we decided to raise the standards, 92% and above was an A, 84% - 91% was a B, and so on. And you know what? Statistically, the number of students getting an A or a B or a C was essentially the same. Kids knew what they wanted, they knew what they needed to do it, and they acted accordingly. So why aren't we giving our kids higher standards? Why are we doping it down for them?

Argh! I feel my blood beginning to boil, so figure I should stop. However, my main delema now, is what do I do with the stupid certificate? I usually keep those things and scrapbook them, but I just don't think I can actually scrapbook this one. I'm just sayin'.

{So really, I am interested in knowing what you think on this one. Am I wrong for being bugged? How would you handle it?}

A follow-up

2010-09-17T07:47:00.001-07:00

After Melissa's foot doctor dealio, I had my own Dr. Appt. Like I mentioned before, since we have almost met our deductible for the year, Steve thought it would be a good idea for me to go in and see if anything needs to be done for me this year. So I go into be measured and weighed, and the nurse does my height and says, "So you are 5'8"." I said, "No." And she goes, "that wasn't a question, but I can do it again to make sure." So she checked again and said, "Yeah, maybe slightly under 5'8", but I would call it 5'8"". I told her that the last time I was checked height-wise, I was five-seven, is it possible to grow after you are an adult. And she asked me when it was that I was checked and I told her right before I got married when I was 19. And she said, "Yeah, especially if you were a late bloomer..." Twice in one day...

Seriously, I hate doctors sometimes. Just sayin'.

Did you say Bunions?

2010-09-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took Melissa to an Orthopedic Doc to have her feet looked at. With all of the "extra" medical stuff this year, we are close to our deductible and figured why not. They have been bugging her quite a bit lately and so figured now is as good a time as any. After filling out the paper work at the desk and giving a brief explanation of what has been going on, they showed us into the exam room. Shortly thereafter, a nurse comes in and says I just wanted to come in and see if we are going to need x-rays of both feet or just the one. Then she took one look at Melissa's feet and says, "Oh, you've got Bunions, I think we have to do both..." and walks out.

Um what? Did you say Bunions? Bunions are for old people. And isn't a bunion just a growth on the bone that just sticks out like a big bump? But she wasn't there to ask (the nurse). The next thing we know, the X-ray tech comes in to collect Melissa and off they go for x-rays. Long story short, yep, she's got bunions. Only they aren't actually a "bump" on the bone, her big toe is all sorts of deformed. The PA comes in and starts the exam goes over all kinds of information and actually ended up being just as thorough and knowledgeable as the actual doc himself. They were telling us that they have found that by having the PA come in first and look over the patient, there are some things that he can just take care of completely by himself and then send the patient on their way, or the doc can come in at the end if the patient is insisting or requesting it, or the doc will come in for a second opinion or a more specialized opinion. That way the doc can get some other stuff taken care of and they actually see more patients that way. That's kind of a long explanation and not really pertinant to the story, but on a side note, if they can afford to hire a PA to kind of "double" up like that they must be making all kinds of money. (just sayin')

So anyway, back to the story. I don't know how many times the doctor said that he was shocked after "peeking" at the x-rays that Melissa was only 12. He said that in his 20+ years of being a surgeon, he's only had 1 case of juvenile bunions. So here's the kicker. Melissa needs surgery. Ony we have to decide when. The doc says there are several kinds of bunion surgery. The kind that Melissa needs now is a somewhat "simple" procedure. However since she is not skeletally mature yet, she most likely will have to have it done AGAIN when she is "mature". So we could wait until she is "mature" and then do it. However, the draw back to that is if we do wait, it will get worse and may get to the point that she will need a different kind of bunion surgery that entails dislocating her big toe from her foot and cutting into the foot bone from the top, rearranging a bunch of stuff and then putting the toe back on. So basically it comes down to making a decision and not knowing for three more years if we made the right decision. That stinks. Just sayin' (agian).

On another side note, I asked the doctor how long until she is skeletally mature. He said, "Oh probably in about 2 to 3 years. Generally they say 24 months after you have your first period." The PA starts to laugh and says, "If you could only see your face right now." And it's true because I was in some sort of a shock. I am not prepared for Melissa to be starting anything of whatever anytime soon. Do the Math! 2 to 3 years from now means she could start any time now. After I explained my shock to the doctor he said that generally nowadays, the average age is 12! TWELVE I tell you! as in one two. As in not even an official teenager. Then he said, "Well how old were you when you started?" I told him (I'll spare you all the details- you're welcome). And he said, "Well, then you matured with the boys." And yes, that stinks too. Just sayin' (again).

One question...

2010-09-08T20:12:00.001-07:00

How am I supposed to be a good Mom when my kids drive me crazy all the time?

Take a Chill Pill People!

2010-09-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

Can you feel it?

Or maybe it's just me...

Today I have been a witness to several people, just losing it...

First of all, there was the lady at the grocery store yelling at the checker that the "kind" of treat she likes wasn't all sale. "All of the others like it are on sale, why not the one I actually like." {Cause maybe the kind that you like are the same kind that everyone else likes, and they are trying to even out their inventory... duh!} Only the lady didn't say it so nice. And as if the checker had anything to do with it!

Then there was the lady in the carpool line at the kids school... Who pulled her car in front of another, gets out and proceeds to yell at a Dad for not following the proper "carpool protocol". Seriously? It was probably his first time ever doing it, and give him credit for actually being around to pick his kids up from school. Not to mention he wasn't even in the carpool area, he was parked on the side of the street waiting for his kids to walk to the car. I do the same thing.

Then there are my kids, losing it over the tiniest thing... Jayden looked at me... Yeah, you are quite a site to see when you are throwing a fit! But he wasn't looking at me very nice... How was he looking at you? He was smiling! Yeah, that isn't very nice is it? You know, that kind of stuff.

But I have to admit, I'm not in a very good mood today either. I think you could even say that I'm a little mad today too. Not sure why, just am...

As I have been observing all this kind of stuff, I couldn't help but think that perhaps we are all being inundated by some negative thoughts from unseen "forces". And perhaps we would all be better off if we just "chill out". Don't allow the negativity to get to us. We are better than that. So I am telling myself that I refuse to give in to the negative thoughts, and I am going to choose to be happy. Right now. And so should the rest of you. Just sayin'.

The Geek vs. The Nerd

2010-08-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

My Sister-in-law and I took my niece out for frozen yogurt the other day... In the process, she was telling us about a boy who is interested in her, but she's not sure about. So I asked her what was the hang up. Here's our conversation:

Neice: He's a nerd.

Me: Nerds are good. Nerds are rich. Its the nerd who ends up being the boss of the jock.

Neice: Not that kind of a nerd, the kind that are in to Star Wars and super heroes.

Me: Oh, well those aren't nerds, those are geeks, so run!

Just sayin'.

I'm proud of you Brett...

2010-08-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

I just have to do a quick shout out to my Brother-in-law Brett. I heard from my sister this week that he did a major shake up in the callings in their ward. {Did I mention he's the Bishop?} I love shake ups. I think that they are a healthy and necessary thing for every ward.

My thought is that if you leave people in their callings too much, they start to get too comfortable, and then they start to relax a little, and then they just kind of stop doing their job. And if they don't actually stop doing their job, they start not doing it right. You start to notice that "burned out" feeling eminating from them. You ask them politely in the hall at church how things are going in whatever area they are over and the first thing you get is a sigh followed by, "It's going..." Then I say, get them out of there. It isn't good for the people they are supposed to be serving, or the people they are serving with who have to pick up their slack.

Have you ever noticed too that when there is a major shake up in a ward, there is a little bit of electricity in the air. There is so much talking and laughing and hugging and comraderie going on in the halls after sacrament meeting, that just seems to energize a ward. People are excited to be doing something else, they are ready to give it their all, they are excited for a new start, a fresh start, and a clean slate. Who doesn't love that. And the more often that you shake up Primary especially, you don't hear the phrase, "I got stuck in Primary" so often either.

So, Brett I'm proud of you, good job! And here's to hoping for a shake up in our ward sometime in the near future... just don't shake me up 'cause I've been shook up quite a bit in the last little while... just sayin'.

What a sight!?

2010-08-25T08:50:00.001-07:00

For those who are friends with me on Facebook, I posted something about this already, but there are those of you who don't go there, so "for you, I post again." {Said in a Mr. Miyagi voice - we watched the original Karate Kid the other night, so it's kind of stuck in my head}

I was at Sam's Club yesterday and when I got to the check out area, I saw this guy dressed in slacks and a nice shirt and tie, totally picking his undies out of his bum. Now, there are four things (that I see) wrong with this picture:

He was in the check out area which is probably the most crowded area of the ENTIRE store (besides the sample tables that is). So it isn't like I happened to surprise him by coming around the corner while he was trying to be discreet about it on an empty aisle.
It wasn't just a quick tug and move on. There was a movin' and a shakin' and some adjusting going on. If I ever see you, I can show you the dance because words can't even discribe it... like I said so wrong...
He was well dressed, so I assume somewhat educated. He was buying snack stuff for an office meeting he was having (I heard him tell the checker - we were in the same line). So he SHOULD know better. I mean seriously I don't know how many times a day I tell Jayden to leave his undies alone. Didn't his Mom ever say something to him? Let this be a lesson: don't assume your kid will just "grow out of it" because apparently they don't.
This one is according to Steve: He said (after I performed my reinactment of it) that apparently I stared a little too long. And maybe I did. And maybe if Melissa was with me, she would have gotten after me for staring (is it one r or two? starring? whatever, you get the jist). I know I was as bad as the first time Melissa ever saw a black person in the grocery line. It is just not something you see everyday, so you can't help it but stare. So I guess from here on out I'll have to cut my kids some slack when they are staring at people.

So seriously, people be more careful of what you do in public! Just sayin'.

School

2010-08-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... every year I do a tirade on the public school system. Because I think for the most part it stinks and is hugely (is that even a word) flawed. However, not this year...

Spencer came home from school on Friday happy. Really happy. And that has not happened since Kindergarten. He LOVED Kindergarten, he had a fantastic teacher who he thought, thought that he was just the greatest smartest kid ever. And I am sure that all of her students thought that. She was just THAT kind of teacher. She's battling cancer right now (for the second time) and I hope she beats it. The school would greatly suffer if she didn't. However, first grade hit and that was the end of loving school. He started getting teased more and more, and his teacher let it happen. How do I know? I saw it. I helped out in the class and I watched it happen and her do nothing about it. And it wasn't just Spencer, there were other kids getting teased as well, but if the teacher says nothing, then as a kid being teased you are screwed. She was completely unorganized and well, we really struggled with her. Especially considering that Spencer tends to be kind of OCD about things. He NEEDS structure to feel safe and happy. And he didn't have that.

Second grade got better. He had a more organized teacher who actually did a fantastic job. She was well structured and even got to the point where at the end of the year she started teaching them the 3rd grade curriculum. Knowing full well that they would forget some of it over the summer, but also knowing that at least when they relearned it in 3rd grade it would seem familiar. However, the teasing continued. Teasing about everything, his ears being big, the things he was interested in, the fact he doesn't play sports, the kind of underwear he wore (he was pantsed in the 1st grade - yea that was NOT a good year) you name it and he was probably teased about it. Add on top of that some bullying on the bus and we needed a change.

So, at the end of the last school year, I put my name in the lottery for the charter school near us. It opened a year ago, and I heard good reviews about it from two families that are in our neighborhood and I figured it was worth a shot. I was told from the beginning that there was a chance Spencer would get in, but not Jenna because 1st grade was full and there was a waiting list of kids whose siblings got in to other grades. So we waited. Spencer finally got in on the third lottery and so Jenna went on the sibling wait list. That was on a Monday, by Wednesday Jenna was in. It was a small miracle. And really I felt like it was going to be a really good thing for the kids, especially Spencer.

On the Sunday before school started, we got an email from the Principal, who wanted to send out an email reminding the families of the "charter" that the school was founded on. The goal of the school or main focus is Constitutional History. And the charter had a ton of excerpts from Pres. Reagan's farewell address. Seriously! Steve could not have been happier.

On the first day, I worried. All day long. And Jenna of course came home COMPLETELY happy. But I didn't expect anything less. She LOVES to meat new people (I know, whose child is she?). She had a fantastic day. Spencer on the other hand said he had a good day and that things went good, but he wasn't over the top excited like Jenna was. And this went on for a week. Until Friday. Friday he came home from school just beaming. He said that he had the best day ever! And I may or may not have gone into my room and cried...

The test was Monday. Was it just a one day thing or was he finally glad to be in school? So yesterday when I go to pick him and Jenna from school, he gets in the car and was just chatting away. He loved it again. And then this morning when I was dropping the kids off at school, a boy saw Spencer get out of the car, and yelled, "Hey Spencer!" and they went walking into the school just talking away... That hasn't happened in a long time, I just hope that it keeps up... just sayin'.

School Shopping...

2010-08-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

I hate it. What else is there to say?

I hate it even more with an almost teenager. Melissa starts Jr. High this year, and we have gone all over kingdom come looking for anything and everything and finding nothing. And who knows how many of the shopping trips have ended in tears.

First on our list is jean shopping... Enough said right? She is at that stage where she fits in the girls clothes still, but then thinks they all look too little kiddish. We did figure out that she could do a size zero short. But finding zeros first of all is a HUGE task and when you add on top of that that you want "short" zeros, the task becomes almost impossible. Then add on top of that the fact that you don't want holes in them, you like the "cute" pockets, the color has to be "not weird", and they can't cost an arm and a leg and you have a "never gonna happen" situation. I finally got wise and told her that we would go online to the JCPenney catalog and order some of what we want and have it shipped to the store, that way she could try them on before we buy them. I know, sometimes I amaze even myself with my strokes of genius.

* On a side note, I am a fan of skinny jeans for Melissa because even if they are on the long side, they look OK bunched by her ankle a little bit. It also allows for some "growing" room. {We can be optomistic too :)}

Shirts weren't any better. We found (I mean I found) that sizes meant nothing. I did more trips back and forth between the clothes and the dressing rooms than I think I EVER have. Trying to get shirts that were not too tight looking or high enough on her was no easy task. I did notice that she likes two different styles of shirts and I talked her into a third style (just to be different). I am guessing that she won't wear the one I picked out much, but it was in the clearance rack and so was super cheap and so if she only wears it a couple of times, it is no big loss.

The funny part about the trip was watching her worry about how much things cost. I gave her a budget before we left and I was amazed that she kept looking at the price tags, and then calculating in her mind how much she would have left if she bought it and then debate about which things she liked the most. The funny part was we bought quite a bit from Kohl's and they were offering Kohl's cash. As we were walking out to the parking lot, she said, "You know those shoes that I put back? I now have enough Kohl's cash to get them!" {As if the Kohl's cash is hers!}

She still has to find a "bag" to take her school books in. I finally convinced her after looking at five different store (no joke) that she should just use one of her little dance backpacks that she has and then after the first day, wait and see what others are carrying and what will fit in her locker and then we'll go out on Monday and find something.

One last note, after all of our school shopping. All of the clothes we bought are still in the bags with the tags on them because after suggesting waiting on the "bag" she decided that she would wait and see what everyone else wore the first day of school and then decide if she likes what she got or not. And then "we could look for other clothes on Monday..." whatever.... I hate Jr. High... Just sayin'.

The Weight Loss Wait

2010-08-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

This week on Facebook a friend of mine passed on some words of wisdom from her sister. It's the funnies thing I've heard all week and it has really got me thinking... She said, "I'm not addicted... I just need it to cope."

Seriously sister, amen and amen.

This week my lovely little Jenna in all her sweetness came up to me and said, "Mommy, is there a baby in your tummy?"

"Uh, no Jenna, that is just fat..." - followed by me changing clothes...

I am training for a race in October. Steve's work is doing the Las Vegas Ragnar and the original six employees (they are now up to 12 employees - yeah! but that is another post for another time) and their wives are running it together. For those of you who don't know, the Ragnar is a relay race and there are two vans of six people each and between the 12 of you, you run a total of around 200 miles. My part of the race is three legs of about 5 miles each leg. Originally my part was a 3 mile a 5 mile and an 8 mile run, but for some reason it was changed. So, long story short, I have been exercising. With school starting I have been getting up at 6 every morning and doing my 3 miles and then once a week doing 5 miles. The exercising is there. However, I still have this baby of fat in my belly.

So what's the problem? The problem is food. And I am convinced that my food problems are not really food problems, but emotional problems. I'm worried about Spencer. He's started this new school this year in a hope to get away from all of the problems we've had in the past associated with school (another post another time) and I worry THE ENTIRE TIME he is gone. I worry about whether he is making friends, whether he is happy at the school, did I make the right decision to move him - which deep down I KNOW I did, but I still question and doubt myself anyway, and I worry about him making good choices. Then there's Jayden, do I do the preschool thing or not, he still occassionally has accidents and 90% of them are when he's at someone else's house (probably another post another time too).Then I worry about Piano I want to scale back, but I have so many students, plus people who I teach one kid and the parents want to start siblings too, then there's the whole payment issue, this year, I've changed it and I'm worrying if it is going to work or people are going to be OK with it and on and on. Do you get my drift? I've got a lot going on in this little brain of mine that seems to only be getting littler as I age.

And when I worry, I eat...

And eat...

And eat...

...

And yes, I realize that I am not really all that fat. I do only have 10 pounds that I need to lose, I know boo hoo. Yes, I realize that I have been blessed with a really good metabolism, I shouldn't complain... But I also have this nagging little voice in the back of my mind that tells me, the unhealthy eating is what will kill me in the end. And really, who wants to die in a way that they could have totally prevented?

So I am at a crossroads, I eat because I worry and I can't lose the last 10 until I stop. So the question is, how? When you figure it out, let me know... just sayin'.

What's the deal?

2010-08-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Why is it that when Mom wants to do something for herself everyone suffers?

The kids suffer because they are "stuck" with Dad. Dad suffers because the kids are acting like they are "stuck" with Dad, and Mom suffers because she has to deal with the before and after of the kids being "stuck" with Dad.

At least this is the situation at our house. And I am convinced our house isn't the only house associated with this problem. I know that I have kind of blogged on this subject before, but it keeps being an issue, and I keep talking about it.

A couple of weeks ago, Steve went to a Rush concert. Totally had a great time, everyone did. He went with two of his brothers, a friend of his brother, and his Uncle. Called on his way home and couldn't stop talking about the great time he had. Was completely in a great mood the following morning despite the late night. Since he wasn't going to be home, the kids and I got some pizza for dinner, I let them play late with some friends, had a fun dessert and then went to bed. Really an enjoyable evening for all of us. And there was happiness still in the morning from the kids too.

So why is it that I can't go out like that and do something for myself and have the same results? I'm not going to Steve-bash or anything, so I'll leave out any specific details, but seriously? What is so hard about taking over for Mom ONCE in a blue moon and just enjoy the time with your kids? Why does it have to be pain and torture for the kids and dad when Mom is gone? Play with the kids, have a fun treat with the kids, watch a movie together with popcorn, go to the park, go for a walk, explore a weed field near your house together, shoot some hoops at a school nearby (if you don't have a basketball hoop at your house), show your kids how to do a hobby of yours, go get an ice cream cone at Mc D's, make a box of brownies together and then eat them, color together - make mom some cards, do sommersaults in the family room, really it isn't all that hard to come up with something out of the ordinary to do with your kids when Mom is gone. I just suggested 12, that should last you a year, maybe two.

Give Mom [me] a break... I'm just sayin.

Another Confession

2010-07-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

I love to watch the Bachelorette. Yes, I know that it is probably the biggest hoax in the world, and yes I also know that in the like twenty seasons that it has been on, only one of the couples have gotten married and stayed married. But, in this summer season of absolutely NOTHING to watch (I don't have cable, so no HGTV for me) it entertains me. I love it when the Bachelor or Bachelorette says, "I am really starting to believe that this process works, I am falling in love with these guys (or girls in the case of the Bachelor) and I really believe that I can be engaged by the end of this show." Um, seriously? The funny thing is I ACTUALLY think that they think that it is going to work for them this time, so I say knock yourself out! It's more entertaining when you are "all in". Know what I mean?

They just aired my favorite episode this week. It is the episode where the Bachelorette meets the potential hubbies family. And of course they didn't disappoint! They had them all, the crazy family, the somewhat normal family, the sceptical/cautious family and of course the hopeless romantics. After watching the show, it got me thinking about what it would have looked like if a camera crew was following me or my family when we first me the "in-laws".

For example, the first time I met Steve's family. They served me "chicken" enchiladas for dinner. Only it wasn't chicken. I knew as I was eating that the "chicken" was really chewy and kind of hard to cut, but it actually did taste like chicken. In fact at one point during dinner, I was having a hard time cutting one of the chicken pieces, and as I was struggling to cut it, the piece kind of flung acroos the room. Only noone seemed to notice, except me. Or if they did, no one said a word. So I left it. On the floor. And then when dinner was over, I nonchalantly went over and picked it up in my napkin and then threw it away, and no one was any the wiser. Like I was saying though, they didn't tell me at the time that it wasn't chicken. It wasn't until I put two and two together after we were married that I figured out what it was. I knew at the time that they had rabbits in the backyard, but I thought they were pets. However AFTER we got married, I learned that he raised them for meat. That's right, for meat. Those enchiladas were rabbit enchiladas. They fed me Thumper for dinner. And didn't tell me. Probably a good thing too, or my last name right now would not be what it is. {not really I don't think, but I do wonder if I knew if it would have affected my thinking or not.}

Then there was the time we met my sister-in-law Cindy for the first time. She came out at Christmas time to meet my parents, so my sister Michelle and I were home from school also. We almost killed her. For reals. One night we went to bed and the pilot light went out on the furnace. It was crazy though that it seemed like we all came to the realization that the house was filling up with gas at the same moment. I remember sleeping on the couch and then all of a sudden, I sat up and knew that the house had gas in it, and right at that moment, my Dad comes flying out of his room to turn off the furnace. My other siblings have mentioned similar things. Good thing she didn't take that as a bad omen and married him anyway. It is funny if you think about it in a twisted sort of way.

Then there was the time we met Heather. She was coming to our house and again ALL of us were there. ALL of us, my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband, my other sister and her husband, and me and my kids. So it was the classic MEET the family. Of course we were all increadibly nice, in fact my sister Lisa, sister-in-law Cindy and I went all over the town looking for Tulips since that was her favorite flower and Jim wanted a bouquet for her when she got there (I know, how did one of us wind up a romantic? - don't worry though he isn't too much of a freak because I don't think he does that kind of stuff anymore, so he's back to normal again). I was actually REALLY surprised how hard it was to find Tulips, but we did find them, and of course, she LOVED our family and had to marry Jim to be a part of it. The funny thing about her coming was Jim actually proposed to her while she was there, and we all knew it was happening before she did and were waiting on pins and needles for them to get back from him proposing (on the beach - I KNOW, where did he come from!). I wonder though, what we all looked like when they walked in the door. I know we were trying to act normal, but I bet we didn't. I mean seriously, how do you act normal, when JIM is getting engaged and all of us were still in shock because he ACTUALLY talked to a girl in the first place, let alone ask her on a date over and over again and then ask her to marry him. It was a shocker to say the least.

Sorry Brett, but I don't remember a thing about meeting you, but maybe that is a good thing because that means you are normal, and everything went good. Right? Or maybe I just wasn't there. But you are a good addition to the family, we need some stability - and no I am not calling you boring. Actually I think the fact that we hung out on the veranda with you at David's apartment a couple of times, just makes it seem like you've always been there. Sometime it would be fun to hear your version of meeting my family though because I am sure that it is a pretty boring story considering how normal and not weird we are.

Lisa's husband Blaine, well... what do I say?... You just have to meet him and then that will speak volumes! He's just a lot more lively of a person than the rest of us. I am actually having a hard time coming up with a way to describe it. I mean none of this in a bad way because honestly our family get to gethers would be pretty boring if it weren't for Blaine. If you ever have some spare time, search "blaineusa" on youtube some time, and you'll see what I mean. {My favorites are his trying out the nose cleaner and getting psyched, and the bird one is kind of funny too, I just hope that there weren't any eggs in the nest Blaine}

And that is my thoughts of meeting our in-laws. Or at least my family's in-laws. And so far so good. We are all still married, all have WAY too many kids (not really) and for the most part have a good time together. So there you have it, that's what I'm sayin'.

It's been a while

2010-07-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Can you see my smile? I am one happy Mama! Not to jinx things or anything, but I think that it is safe to say that Jayden is potty trained! So I just might be officially done with all that crap! Yes, literally! It took some of my not so proud mothering skills to get him to go poop in the toilet. But he finally did and we could not be happier. He even celebrated with an ice cream cone, and I let him play video games for the rest of the day. Dr. Phil said that every kid had their price and I guess the video games are his. In fact this morning when he woke up, the first thing he told me was he wanted to poop in the toilet so that he could play video games. And being the fantastic mother that I am, I let him. But seeing as how I have been in this place with the two older than Jayden and had to somewhat start back at square one at some point, I am cautiously optomistic and knocking on wood and throwing salt over my shoulder and praying and wishing and hoping and so on and so on, that this is it!

And hopefully in the next few days with most of our computer problems behind us, I will be able to get back into the blogging thing because 6 months is a long time, and I have A LOT to say! Just sayin'...

:(

2010-01-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

I gave up...

Clearly I am not ready...

Either that, or the thought of being a work widow from now until March (or more like April) finds me with very little patience these days. I'm just sayin'.

Jayden's perceptive

2010-01-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Jayden came up to me and said, "Melissa's bossy and responsible."

"Yes, I know that, but how do YOU know that?"

"Apples"

Aha, have you ever played the Apples to Apples game? Well aparently Melissa, Spencer and Jenna were playing and Jayden was watching. The way the game goes, without going into too much detail, is you collect these cards that have adjectives on them and in the end, you read them all and the kids say that they are supposed to describe you. Well when the game was over, Melissa read through her slew and the only two that Jayden caught were bossy and responsible. And yep, describes her to a T!

A love/hate relationship with the toilet

2010-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

I am potty training Jayden. I know, believe me, it took long and hard for me to deside to take the plunge. And while I have just completed Day 2, I am ready to quit. I did not think that I would potty train him until he BEGGED me to do it. After dealing with some of his older siblings (hows that for anonymity?) I swore I wasn't going to jump into it. However, ALL the signs are there. He knows when he needs to go potty, he knows I KNOW he needs to go potty. He does the whole dance thing and then it dawns on him, he has a diaper, so he looks at me, smiles, and then you can hear him going in his diaper. He's dry for long periods of time. He wakes up most mornings dry (because he will usually go potty before he goes to bed at night only because he is trying to delay going to bed). See? All signs, say potty train right? Not to mention, there is a little bit of outside pressure mostly for me because he is now in the 3 year old class at church and he is the ONLY one not potty trained. Of course he is 6 months younger than all the rest, but still. I have put it off as long as I have because he just doesn't want to take the time to go. That lazy bum (pun 100% intended), doesn't he realize that it would take less time to go potty on the toilet than it does to change his diaper every time (which he hates having that done too)?

I refuse to ask Jayden if he needs to go potty. Spencer (anonymity just went out the window...) would stand there and do his little potty dance and then say, "Mom!" followed by me saying "What?" and then him continuing his potty dance and saying, "Mom!" several times until finally I would say, "Spencer do you need to go potty?" Where he would then say "Yes!" and run into the bathroom. He just had this idea somewhere in his mind that I needed to give him permission to go potty. So as to avoid that this time, I figure I will keep my mouth shut and allow his (Jayden's) accidents to do the teaching. I don't know if that's the right approach or not, but that's what I'm trying. I think with each kid I have tried so many different things, who knows what's right. And he's my last, so I can hack it right?

So back to the subject, it is not MY love/hate relationship I am referring to with the toilet, it's my kids. Why is it that when kids are first learning to go potty on the toilet, they don't want to go on it, but then when you finally coax them to sit on it, they want to stay for hours? And they want you to WAIT with them. But they don't want to sit there and do nothing, they want something to do. I don't let them though, because that is just gross to think of mixing potty germs and toys (yes, I am a mean Mom), so I sit and listen to them whine about wanting something until they finally give up and get off the toilet only to have an accident two minutes later.

Then today, my kindergartner I realize can not get in and get out fast enough. Half of the time, I am sending her back in to first flush the toilet, then to wash her hands, then to completely dry her hands, and then to hang the towel back up on the rack. And it seems like EVERYTIME, we are going through the ritual.

Of course, kids find themselves staying in the bathroom longer than usual when they are supposed to be doing something else like doing the dishes or cleaning their room, or are supposed to be practicing their piano for 30 minutes, and yet spend 15 of that in the bathroom. {I finally had to change it to they have to practice each song a certain number of times before they are done practicing}

Then there is my oldest who is doing who knows what in the bathroom FOREVER. Seriously, I think she is just enjoying the breather, which I have to admit is a good place to do it. I find myself doing that as well. Sometimes I am having a "time-out' while several of my kids are either standing outside of the bathroom, banging on the door, or after being properly threatened, are sitting on my bed waiting for me to come out.

Like I said, a love/hate relationship, I'm just sayin'. (And yes, I would love it more if Jayden would use it - I'm just sayin' again.)

My newfound ADD (attention deficit disorder)

2010-01-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

For the past little while I have been the 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency in our Ward. Roughly translated for those "non-LDS" readers: I was incharge of the younger children's group (age 18 mo. to 12 yrs.) at church for our neighborhood. Recently I was released. Now I teach the 14 year old Sunday School class. What a difference!

The way primary is set up, there is the nursery. That is the class/baby-sitting {yes, I said baby sitting, cause basically that is what they are doing} that is done for the kids that are 18 mo. up to 3 yr. old. Then, the other kids are broken up into two groups Junior and Senior Primary. The younger kids are junior and the older are senior. Within those groups, each kid is a part of a class, that is based on their age. During the 2nd and 3rd hours of church, the kids take turns going to Sharing time and then to class or vice versa. Following me?

Sharing time is setup where there is some singing time and then a lesson. Once a month, I was in charge of doing the lesson, and the other three weeks, I would help manage the other things. So, I was always going. Either helping out with kids needing to go to the bathroom, or making sure each of the classes had teachers, sometimes I was in the nursery helping out, sometimes I played the piano for the singing time... You get the picture. Rarely was I ever just sitting there.

So, now, during the 2nd hour, I teach the 14 year olds, which I LOVE. So I am constantly talking, moving, and presenting my lesson. Then during the 3rd hour, I am expected to go to Relief Society (the class for grown up women). And don't get me wrong, the lessons are usually really great as was this Sunday's (at least the parts I heard). I just could not sit still. After 5 years of being in Primary, I found that I have ADD. To have to sit there quietly for an hour was complete torture. And yes, I probably could have made comments to keep me somewhat occupied, but honestly I would have had to make a comment every three minutes to keep me engaged in the lesson. And I think the other ladies would have gotten sick of me (not to mention, I don't really have that good of things to say). AND, that means I would have had to have been paying attention in the first place to know what questions were being asked. I just about had to get up and leave "pretending" to go to the bathroom with 15 minutes remaining because I couldn't stand it anymore. However, at that point, she (the teacher) pulled out a children's book to read as a part of the lesson. That was actually pretty great, she would read a page and then show us the picture. Just enough to keep me stimulated to listening.

That got me thinking, Relief Society should be more like Primary. Why couldn't we break into a rousing rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" when the teacher sees that she's losing her class from boredom? Or pull out some cardstock fishes with little magnets on them that we get to then use a pole with a magnet hanging on it to "fish" for the questions that she is going to pose for the class? Or why don't they use for visual aids so that we have something to look at when they are talking? And by visual aids, I don't mean word strips, cause Relief Society is already very good at that, I mean pictures, something that is a little more exciting to look at. Or my all-time favorite, learn about the good things to do on Sunday by playing Family Feud.

My one saving grace, besides the children's story, this Sunday was that the lesson ended 5 minutes early. I think that I am going to have to follow Sher's example and make a reverence chair for myself. Whenever her little boy acted up on Sunday during Primary, she would have him sit in a "reverence" chair for so many minutes (kind of like time out) and fold his arms and sit quietly. {Which is a GREAT idea - for serious - and it worked for him, he was pretty good at sitting still in Primary.} That way, I can train myself once again to sit quietly during church, or use my parents old form of "punishment" for not sitting quietly in church and tell myself I don't get any dessert on Sunday after dinner. Wouldn't that be a bummer? OR they could just take my suggestions and liven Relief Society up, I'm just sayin'.

My Green Thumb, or lack there of...

2009-10-19T20:00:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of the summer, Jenna brought home the little white flower plant that as a sprout was no bigger than the palm of her hand. Then, a friend of mine, Sher gave me the other plant (which for the life of me I can't recall what it is - which is dumb because it is a pretty common one). So, Jenna and I went out back and planted them. We planted them in a flower bed that gets hits by the grass sprinklers and that's it. Then we did nothing, not one dang thing. Just left them there in the dirt and what do you know?

Those things grew! I love that kind of gardening. Makes me wish I had gone out and gotten more and planted them EVERYWHERE! I haven't ever ventured into the world of annuals, but I think maybe next year, I will!

{Seriously, what are those things called (the pink one)? I think it will bug me and I won't be able to sleep tonight.}

A Conversation with Melissa

2009-09-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

Have you ever noticed that most of my conversations with Melissa seem to be really thought provoking? Who would have thought that you learn more from your children than the other way around. Seems kind of backwards, but I guess that's how it's supposed to work. Or at least how it does in our house.

Melissa and I were discussing her "Personal Narrative" that she is supposed to be doing as a writing assignment in her class. She is a little frustrated because as she put it, "If I do it the way my teacher wants it done, then it just won't be me..."

{Insert pertenent information necessary to the story: Two weeks ago, she wrote a poem entitled "I Am" which if she gives me permission, at some point I will post the whole thing, but for now, I will tell you one line of it. She wrote, "I try to please everyone."}

It reminded me of a time in High School. I had this English teacher that simply put did not EVER share my point of view. If I wrote a paper on some subject using my own thoughts and ideas, she would return the paper chuck full of red ink, with a big "Re-write" on the top. The comments throughout the paper would say things like, "You didn't support this idea enough." or "What about {insert contradictory idea}?" She would thoroughly pick apart the paper because she didn't agree with it. So one time I went in to her class during lunch, and she told me all of her ideas of how my paper should be, what should be said, and I went home and rewrote it, and got an A. So, I learned my lesson. Each time she gave us a subject for our next paper, we would have a little discussion about it. I took very careful notes on what EXACTLY her position was on the subject and wrote a paper based off of that. Got an A everytime.

I am a people pleaser, just like Melissa.

What is sad about being a people pleaser, is I think that each time you cater to someone else in order to please them, I think you lose a little bit of yourself. I think you become what everyone else wants you to become instead of what you yourself wants. I think I am that way, but I don't want that for Melissa. I want her to be able to be her own person, and not cater to so many other people that she doesn't ever decide what SHE wants, or stand up for what SHE believes.

I know, shame on my teacher or any other teacher for that matter who isn't open to all thoughts and ideas. And accepting of ANY paper that is turned in as long as it is well written and done under the proper guidelines. And shame on the rest of us who aren't as open and accepting of others in their own thoughts and ideas. I'm just sayin'.

My form of AA...

2009-09-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get a bad wrap for having a clean house ALL THE TIME. I go to other people's houses and you know what, there houses are clean too. I think just because my house doesn't have a lot of decor people mistake that for being overly clean. However, I have a confession to make. Deep down, I really am a messy person. BIG TIME. Ask my parents, or my sister Michelle who had to share a room with me until my parents took pity on her and let her have her own room.

Growing up we had rules about keeping the house clean. "Everything has a place and everything in its place" was my parents motto. That one didn't work so well. My parents even tried the rule where I would get my curling iron taken away for a day if I left it out. I just wouldn't shower the next day so that they were still somewhat curled and just used A LOT of hairspray to achieve my "Bangs to Heaven" look. I even remember dreaming once that I had cleaned my ENTIRE room and was so shocked when I woke up the next morning and realized that it was still dirty. I used to even get grounded from watching TV if my room was a mess.

Then when Steve and I got married... You know how you would hang out with your married friends and they would all talk about how their husbands would leave their clothes all around the hamper, but not in it. Yeah, Steve's comment, "I wish she (meaning me) would even care to get it THAT close." Because, yeah, I'll admit, I didn't so much. And yes, I know how to clean, I know how to organize, my parents taught me well. I just didn't care to do it so much.

So what happened? How did I get from there to where I'm at today. {I am a pretty clean person} I'll tell you what happened, Spencer happened. Spencer went through a time in his life, where he seriously freaked out. All. The. Time. And not just freaked out, FREAKED OUT! As in scream and cry unconsolably if I wasn't around. It was like he didn't feel safe in his own home, if I wasn't around. And no, Steve wasn't good enough for Spencer. I couldn't even leave him with his own Dad. He needed to always know where I was.

Then one day, I noticed he was actually doing OK. And I said to him, "Spencer, you are doing really good today." And he said, "Yeah, Mom, the house is clean." Tell me that just doesn't make you want to cry. I did. So, at that moment, I realized that cleanliness, orderlyness, and routine, mattered for Spencer's well being. His "spiritual" well being. And so I changed.

When we were in our last house, a friend of mine introduced me to "The Fly Lady." She has a way of cleaning and organizing your house, that is only a little work everyday. Her philosophy wasn't that different from my parents growing up. Everything has a place and everything in its place. And I did her little program the last little while of living in our last house. Then we had to move in with Steve's parents because our house sold quickly(within a week of listing it, and they wanted us out by the end of the following week). We hurridly packed up and moved all our stuff to a storage unit and went to Steve's parent's basement. There wasn't anywhere to put our stuff, the basement was flooding every time it rained, carpet was being pulled up, the family room furniture was all shoved to the other side of the room. And even the room the kids were sleeping in flooded a bit and had to cram all the stuff onto one side, and that's when his problem kind of started. Then it just got worse when we moved here. I hadn't really gotten everything into any sort of an order. Not until we were having some friends over to see our new house and it kind of forced us to get things in more of an order. That's when Spencer made his revelation.

It was a pretty hard blow to my ego. I always fancied myself as a "clean person". But I wasn't. I knew how to clean, and I did it when I had to {read: when company was coming over}, but really, I am a messy person. That was the first step, admitting I had a problem. And then every day, making a conscious effort to change. And it is something that I work hard at, all the time. My tendency to to be messy. {Just look at my counter in the bathroom when I am done getting ready in the morning. Stuff everywhere. Not like my husband where the counter is perfectly cleared before, during and after he's done getting ready.} And everyday I try to overcome that tendency. And just like anyone else trying to change any behavior, sometimes I slip a little bit. {Like right now, my house is a bit messy}.

So, when someone comes into my house and makes a comment like, "Your house is so clean!" with the undertone of it being something disgusting. Yeah, my feelings get a little hurt. Or if my house tends to be messy, when someone sees it and says, "I can't believe your house is a mess!" As if I have just done something horribly wrong, yeah that stings a little too. I do slip every once in a while. But I won't slip for long because I notice a change in my kids' behavior when the house is a mess. It's kind of a crazy thing. They aren't as happy when the house is a mess. Same thing goes for routine. They are happier with a schedule. Life goes better when things are in order.

So, here you have it, "Hi, my name is Andrea and I am a messy person..." I'm just sayin'. {Now I think I'll go clean the kitchen... gotta jump back on the bandwagon so to speak!}

The Bare Chest Backlash

2009-08-26T07:43:00.001-07:00

The Bare Chest Backlash

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We caught this on Nightline on Monday. And after looking for the video, I found that it originally aired in January. It's good news for people like Steve. What do you think? Bald or "man fur"?

ksl.com - Women with high testosterone take more money risks

2009-08-25T11:20:00.001-07:00

ksl.com - Women with high testosterone take more money risks

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Testosterone and Money

2009-08-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

So last night, the news has this story about how some study somewhere has shown that women with higher testosterone levels are more reckless with money. And basically that was it, {it was one of the reports that kind of ends the night broadcast, and so it was cut pretty short}. But it got me interested, so I looked up the study on line.

Basically Northwestern University noticed that in their MBA program, only 36% of females were choosing high-risk financial careers compared to 57% of males. There was already some research done in England that (supposedly-I'm a little skeptical as to just how you could prove this) higher levels of testosterone boosts short term success at finance. That study tested only male traders and found that those with higher levels of testosterone in the morning were more likely to make an unusually big profit that day. Having heard of that study before, the university decided to test their students and see if the same held for women. They found that women with higher levels of testosterone were almost seven times more likely to take risks than women with lower levels.

One other side note: The study also showed that married men and women had lower levels of testosterone than single individuals and were therefore, more risk averse than unmarried people.

So here I am, thinking when I was younger and unmarried, I was not very good with money. At least not like my sister who has ALWAYS been good at saving it and spending it wisely. When Steve and I got married, we went to the bank to consolidate our funds, and I had $25.47 to my name. {you would remember that number too if your husband had a lot more than you in his account} The bank lady asked before we closed my account if there were any outstanding checks that hadn't been cleared yet. "Ummmmm.... I don't think so." Followed by Steve's, "Don't you check?" And no, not really I didn't check, and we went ahead and closed the account only to have a 3 dollar and some change check bounce and have to pay the bank back that amount plus the $20 bounce fee which means I basically had a little over $2 to my name when we got married.

But you know, I worked really hard to save money and not spend it. I worked as a teacher for a couple of years after being married, I feel like I contributed to us being able to buy our first house and pay off all my own student loans.

So now, after hearing this report, I was thinking all along that I was actually learning to be good with my money and really budget, but according to this "study" they are saying that really, I just had high levels of testosterone in my body when I was single, and just as time has gone on, the levels have decreased, and so therefore I am just less reckless with my money? Yeah, whatever, I don't buy it. I think when it comes to anything that we are either good at or bad at, there is some personal effort in it. There is some amount of physical and mental discipline that comes into play. And it is NOT just all based on how much testosterone is in my body.

One thing that the study forgets to look at, is what are the levels of testosterone like in men who are not risky with money. Or, maybe they did and found that there were more men with higher levels of testosterone in their body who were NOT high-risk takers and it just didn't support their "findings" so they left it out. I have added the site for you to take a look at if you are interested in the study at all. I know that I am just rambling, but this story kind of seriously bugs me. I'm just sayin'.

Random stuff and then some tunes {a little late}

2009-08-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

I missed Friday. I took the kids up to my Mom's house to get in one last fling before school started. We even stayed the night at my sister's Friday night and enjoyed hanging out and playing.

While my sister Michelle was visiting, I made pancakes for breakfast one morning, and she was surprised to find out that I made homemade syrup. I DON'T like homemade syrup, but Steve prefers the homemade syrup and so I would make it for him and it seemed like my kids liked it better too, so I thought it was kind of a waste to buy just me syrup. However, one day while my sister was at the store, she picked me up a bottle as a litte "gift" and it tasted so good! Not only that, but the next time I made pancakes, I put brown sugar on my pancakes followed by syrup. It is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to eat for breakfast. Thanks Michelle!

Last week when we were out shoe shopping for the kids we happened on an accident where an older model car had hit a newer model SUV into the first row of cars at a car dealership! Yeah, tell me that wouldn't suck! There were at least three of the brand spanking new cars that were affected. How would you like to call your insurance up and explain that one?

Another thing I witnessed last week was a Dad and son almost getting hit by a commuter train! There are two sets of tracks along the freeway nearby, and a father and son were walking and stopped to wait for a slow freight train to go by. Only the "genius" was waiting on the other set of tracks. Which I didn't think anything of it until I heard the horn of the commuter train. I looked up, the dad looked up, the kid looked up, and they FROZE! I was surprised though that the commuter train was able to stop so fast. Cause if not, yeah, that would have sucked.

We watched the new Hannah Montana movie this weekend. {It came out on DVD} I thought that there were some good entertaining parts on the show, but I can not stand those parts where the characters are faced with a predicament and then doing such crazy and obnoxious things to try and get out of the predicament. When all they had to do was be honest in the first place and it would have been so much better and easier. There was a little too much of that in the movie, that I considered it obnoxious.

I have had a hard time lately coming up with things to make for dinner. It seems like we are eating the same things over and over again. Even my kids seem bored by the food I make. I swear every meal I hear something like, "Not this again!" Not only that, but when I go in the kitchen to start dinner, I feel like I just made that meal last night. It's not the case, but it sure feels like it. Where do you come up with your ideas?

Well, that's it. Now for the tunes (since it's back to school, I did a playlist full of sings that remind me of my school years).

Please Don't Go Girl - NKOTB {I went to their concert my freshman year of high school}
Istanbul (Not Constantinople - They Might Be Giants
Bicycle Race - Queen
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Don't You (Forget about me) - Simple Minds {This was actually our senior song}
Right Stuff - NKOTB
We are the Champions - Queen
We Will Rock You - Queen
Oh L'Amour - Erasure
Summertime - NKOTB

Bonus: A little Respect - Erasure

Random Stuff and then Some Tunes

2009-08-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to play, but part of the rules in playing the Random 10 Friday, is you have to have a playlist. Which up until this past week, I have not had one. However, thanks to Melissa who set me up, I've got a playlist and I'm going to play. For those of you who are not familiar with Random 10 Fridays, I got the idea from Motherboard and Sher. The rules are you ramble off some of the random thoughts you've got going around your brain and then at the end, you hit your music player to play randomly and then list the first ten songs that get played. The idea is to get some ideas for some good music. For me though, the idea is to hear what random stuff people have going around their brains. Although, every once in a while I have stumbled across some good songs.

So, random thought #1 has to do with my playlist. I had Melissa put on songs that she thought would be considered some of my favorites. She did a pretty good job, although I think there are quite a few songs that would actually be considered my kids favorites. There is one, "Don't You Want Me Baby" that for some reason, my kids and I all like to sing along with when it comes on the radio and I mean belt out at the top of our lungs sing. I guess you could call it our theme song. Just don't listen to the words to carefully. Funny thing is, Spencer was always excited for it to come on the radio when he was a little tike and now Jayden is the same way, I guess they are brothers.

Why is it that some people have embarrassing moments, and they make great blog posts, but I have an embarrassing moment, and it becomes a "yeah, you only wish you knew" kind of moment. I may someday be brave enough to post it, but it has to do with some girlie stuff, so it borders on the maybe too graphic to post. So why it is that some people have "embarassing" moments and I have "humiliating" moments is beyond me and from my perspective completely unfair.

I also have this remarkable talent for putting my foot in my mouth. I mean seriously it could be listed as one of my best worst qualities. The dumb thing is, you would think that by now I would have learned to think before I speak, but the problem is, I HAVE thought before I spoke, I just didn't hear it in my mind the way it actually came out. Those moments are the worst. Like the time in the past couple of weeks where I was taking a picture with two other ladies. Neither of whom I am very good friends with, we just happened to be standing next to each other in the food line, and the person taking the picture said, "Scoot closer together." To which I replied, to the lady standing next to me, "I guess we have to pretend to like each other." I say that all the time to my kids and it's no big deal because they know that they really do like each other, but I guess you shouldn't say it to someone who thinks that you don't actually like them. And the truth is, maybe I don't, but I didn't mean it that way.

When you are counting down the days until school starts, do you count today or not. School starts here on the 24th, and today is the 14th (I think, but since the kids aren't in school I really don't keep track of the days actual date) so does that mean there are 10 days left, including today or 9? Just wondering.

We have officially gone (well almost, the summer's not quite over) the complete summer without taking any sort of a vacation. I feel jipped and I think my kids feel jipped. What are my kids supposed to write about in the ever popular first day of school assignment, "What did you do over the summer?" We've stayed busy, but nothing real exciting. Kind of sad if you ask me. It almost makes me feel like I want to hop in the car and go somewhere for this last week of summer. Any good ideas?

So there you have it, here's some tunes:

Love Story, Taylor Swift
Slipping Through My Fingers, Meryl Streep
Lie, David Cook
Our Last Summer, Benny Andersson
Viva La Vida, Coldplay
I'm Not That Girl, Idina Menzel
Crush, David Archuleta
Touch My Hand, David Archuleta
SOS, Meryl Streep & Pierce Brosnan
Home, Daughtry

Bonus: Human, The Killers

Thanks for letting me Play!

Let the Countdown begin! {Mostly}

2009-08-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Every time summer comes around, I am pretty excited to have a break from the school thing. It is nice to not have the constant battle every morning of:

"Eat your breakfast."

"Are you eating your breakfast?"

"What are you supposed to be doing right now?" {Answer: Eating breakfast}

"Well if you are done now, why don't you put your bowl away and go get dressed?"

"Are you planning on wearing your jammies to school?" {Replied: no}

Followed by me saying: "Well if you don't hurry up and get dressed, you will be 'cause the bus is coming in like 5 minutes."

{You get the picture.}

So when summer comes around, it's nice to not have this conversation every morning. But when it gets to the point where we are having conversations such as, "You can NOT stay in your jammies all day." And "Just because you don't have to go to school, doesn't mean you don't have to brush your teeth."

And when our fights are sounding like this:

"Mom! Melissa BREATHED on me!"

"Mom, Spencer is looking at me like a weirdo!"

Or, {my personal favorite} Spencer and Melissa telling me that they are sick and tired of Jenna doing her "I get whatever I want face - and she knows it!"

The countdown officially begins and I can't wait! So here you have it, 12 days until Melissa and Spencer go to school.

{I am a little nervous yet for Jenna to start school, so the countdown for her will have to wait another year.} I'm just sayin'.

Family Foods

2009-07-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

I know I have spoken on this subject before, but it's my blog, so humor me...

I have had this conversation several times in the past few months/days with numerous people and I'm wondering what's the deal?

I have found that there are certain foods that families just seem to like, but it is only THAT family. It doesn't seem to leave the immediate family. For whatever reason, you just can't seem to initiate the in-laws into believing how wonderful and how much of a delicacy that meal is.

For example, (and I have brought this up before) our family enjoys a thing called rice custard. We just about had either that or mac n cheese with pigs in a blanket everytime my parents went out for a date. However, I don't think ANY of the in-laws in my family like it.

Then there is the Choc -o- mint that we (the family I grew up in) have for Christmas each year. Some, who will remain nameless {read Brett} can't get past the fact that it is made with lime jello. Now I will admit that there are a few in-laws who actually like it, but not many and not all.

Then there is the fact that every family has it's own lasagne. Everyone seems to like it the way they had it when they were growing up. However, why is it my kids don't like the lasagne I had when growing up? Why do they like Steve's Mom's better? And why is it that as a whole my kids like the kind of food that Steve grew up on better than the food I grew up on? When in reality (no offense to Steve's mom) the food I grew up on was {I need to say it carefully} more flavorful? A little side note on the lasagne: Steve's Mom's lasagne literally made me puke everytime I had it, but as the dutiful wife, I continued to eat/choke it down everytime, AND made it for my husband and have as a result produced an acquired taste for it.

In my defense though, Steve's family does have it's share of weird things. For example, they always mix eggnog with orange juice and Sprite. And being the typical in-law, I hate it. Then there's the fact that ALL home-made ice cream revolves around some flavor of jello {there are some I actually like}. Then there is the Spam and Cheese that they all seem to like or Creamed Tuna on Toast. And like all "family-type" foods, I think those will die with his immediate family. I'm just sayin'.

So, what kind of "family foods" do you have/like?

Those Things we Hate to Love

2009-07-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

I know before I ever had kids that I was could be heard saying, "I will never let my kids EVER watch Barney!" Yeah, famous last words... We now even own the videos and know ALL the words to ALL the songs. And even know ALL the kids names clear back to when it was Barney and the Backyard gang with Michael, his sister Amy (who at sometime overtook the older brother in size), Lucy and her little sister Tina, Adam (who they changed the actor that played him partway through) and Derek.

Then there were the "Teletubbies" who 'experts' came out and said was detrimental to your children to watch. It would slow them in their vocabulary development. But who cares because for a while there we never missed an episode, it was a chance for me to sleep in an extra 30-minutes in the morning while Melissa was completely engrossed in mindless entertainment.

And who could forget Caillou who was so sickly nice to his sister 99% of the time and was so unnaturally good that it made you want to puke. Yet, Jenna thought that it was the best thing in the world. She even wanted to go get her some fast new running shoes just like he had in one episode.

And last but certainly not least the "Boobah" who I loved to watch with Spencer because it made him laugh so hard, I could not help but laugh right along.

For as much as these shows were completely annoying and obnoxious, there is something about them that kids just love. And we love them too because lets face it, it keeps our kids occupied and entertained so we don't have to. They're happy, we're happy what's not to love? I'm just sayin'.

What would you add to the list?

It's been a while!

2009-06-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

So why is it that it is summertime and I don't have time to do anything. I think the reality of it all is that we aren't in a routine anymore like we used to with school. I spent the first week of Summer get the kids hooked into a new summer routine and then the second week, that all went to pot!

I started out with making my kids 6 3 by 5 cards, one for each day of the week. Those cards had a list of chores they were supposed to have completed by the end of the day. And then a 'Master Card' for them to mark off when they did their chores. They were totally gung-ho on doing their cards, but then the second week, not so good, and the third week hardly at all. Dang! huh?

Then not only that, but the first week I was doing so great on limiting their computer/game time to only a half hour each, but that has been thrown out the window as well. I guess that's because I have been completely busy myself with other things, and just letting them play on the computer kept them occupied.

So, what have I been busy with? The yard for one. That's right, the yard. I have weeded, tilled and raked every flowerbed we have in the yard, not to mention transplanted several bushes to other parts of the yard. I have also planted several new plants. Then right now I am in the process of covering all of the flowerbeds with some mulch that we got last week. The weather has been so rainy, I have only been able to start putting it in the flowerbeds this week. And when I am all done with it, I will take a picture, so you can see just what a project this was. And then you can understand why 1. My house looks a mess and 2. why my kids have neglected their chores. Oh, and 3. why we haven't had a "real" dinner in quite a while. We've been eating sandwiches, cereal and whatever else is quick and easy. However I am proud to say that NONE of those days have been any sort of fast food. (Although I can't count how many times my kids have slyly said, "Mom, since you are so busy, why don't we just go get some Wendy's?)

Steve is usually the one that does the yard and stuff like that. However he has been so busy this past week with their company moving their office to downtown. He has been put in charge of all of the making sure the new office gets finished, and arranging all of the moving and stuff, so he has been AWOL for yard work. So, once all this stuff is done, we are getting back to a routine! (Or at least for one week until something else comes up!)

Seriously!

2009-06-04T13:06:00.001-07:00

Each of my kids seem to be different in their sentimentality (I don't know if that's a word, I just made it up it means some are more sentimental than others). Melissa saves everything, Spencer could care less, half of the time, it is me rescuing stuff I want to scrapbook out of the trash. Jenna seems to not care so much either. I have been wondering how Jayden would be, and now I know! I have thrown this:
away who knows how many times! And yet each time, it finds its way out and on the floor somewhere. I guess I now know that I have to throw Jayden's stuff away in the outside garbage if I don't want to see it again!

I have actually gone to the box method of saving things. I put all of my kids' stuff that is 'special' to them in a box downstairs. And then when the school year is over, they have to go threw it and decide what they want to save and what is OK to keep. However, the catch in all this is they only have 1 plastic bin of stuff they are keeping 'forever' (or so they think) and if that's full, they have to go through that stuff too and decide what stays and what goes. I know, I'm a mean mom, but if I didn't my house would be filled to the brim with school art, know what I mean? They honestly do like five art projects everyday!

What are your kids like? And what do you do about it?

The proof is in the shaving!

2009-06-02T11:50:00.001-07:00

Shaving of my legs that is! I don't like having any sort of leg hair. And mostly is just bugs me when I go to sleep at night. I don't like the feel of there being pokies on my legs rubbing against the sheet. We all have our quirks right?

When I first started shaving YEARS ago, (or least it seems that way to me) I could get away with shaving just once a week. And then as years have progressed, it has needed to be done more and more frequently. And up until recently I have only needed to shave just about every other day. However, as of late, I have needed to shave every day! And what is up with that? However, I had an epiphany in the shower today. Isn't hair made up of dead cells? So, there you have it! My brain cells really are dying and is manifesting itself in the growth of my leg hair! So there you have it... I'm just sayin'.

The daily grind...

2009-06-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

So seriously! Do you ever get the point that you wonder how you ever got in this situation? I mean honestly, you are just going on in your life and then wham! All of a sudden, your house is in complete shambles, you have a bunch of projects and activities that are needing to be done like yesterday, and there really isn't anything in your kitchen that you could possibly make into something even remotely resembling a dinner (besides opening a can of soup, but then two of your four kids won't eat it, and there isn't even bread in the cupboard to tell them to make a PB& J sandwich). And yet, I can recall that just Friday I was sitting on the couch in a completely clean house Melissa, Spencer and Jenna were off playing at friends' houses, and Jayden was taking a nap. I was just sitting there thinking that I could just relax and do nothing. And that thought was bliss.

So, how does that happen? What I ask you could have possibly occurred in the last three days that I am suddenly in this predicament? The bad thing is, it makes me not want to do a dang thing though. I just want to sit and reconjure up those feelings from last Friday and then open my eyes and suddenly have it be so.

I am not sure why I am actually looking forward to school being out. I am sure that the kids being home all weekend had something to do with the current state of the house. But I have these grand images in my mind of the kids actually doing chores and being completely productive and wonderful over the summer. I have thoughts of getting a routine established that will continue through to the school year, and only slightly be interrupted by school starting in the fall.

I guess you could say that my state of mind today is all due to the reality check I had this morning. I thought that after getting Spencer and Melissa out the door that I would make a list of things to do today {I do that when I am in a delusional state of bliss - you know, think that I could just about do anything cause I'm miracle mom}. So, I started off writing on the calendar upcoming events this week and slowly realized {oh crap!} all of that is THIS week! And I gotta do THAT this week, and THAT's got to be done too, and all of a sudden my somewhat restful week just went completely CRAZY! So in my state of frenzy I thought that I would at least make sure dinner was a go for tonight, but then realized that of about the five meals I thought I could make, I am missing some ingredients for each one. So to add to my already busy day, I gotta go grocery shopping as well.

So here's to hoping that Jayden cooperates today in what is going to be a rush from here to there! And again that is wishful thinking! I'm just sayin'.

What a waste

2009-05-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

School should have been out like two weeks ago. The kids have all finished with their end of level testing, in fact, Spencer's teacher already had their scores and everything back from the state. So if you ask me, why are the kids still in school? All they have done for the past two weeks and now one more to go is play. And I am fine with having end of the year parties and what not, but not every dang day. Spencer has gone on a 'walking' field trip seven of the last 10 school days and then also on a 'real' field trip to the zoo. Their walking fieldtrips have all included such like visiting the post office, the police station, the firestation, the bank, a grocery store, and two others I can't remember. And the kids are naughty. The lady giving the tour will say, "I need you all to take a step back and not touch this while I am telling you about it." And the kids all swarm around it and start touching it. All while the teacher is just standing there {although that is a different rant for another time} and the mom's who volunteered to go on the fieldtrip are reigning the kids in. So, the teacher's tired of school, the kids are tired of school, and so nothing is being done. So I say either the teacher's keep on teaching, or just let the kids go home. It is just such a waste to do nothing for three weeks, party the last week, but that's it... I'm just sayin'.

Tough choice

2009-05-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

I'm just sayin'!

Clothes Suck!

2009-05-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last twenty minutes standing in my closet trying to figure out what to wear. I have 17 shirts (I counted) hanging there, all clean and ready to wear, but yet, I don't have anything to wear. I can't wear that shirt because the shorts that go with that, are a really like khaki and I am going to be spending sometime with Jayden today running errands and at the school watching Melissa's program, so that's out because without a doubt that situation means Jayden shoe prints all over my shorts. Those shirts are out, cause they are just to grungy for going out in public. So then, once I weed it down to the three shirts that are OK to wear, which surprisingly are three of the five shirts that I seem to wear all the time.

And you know why I wear those five shirts all the time? {I don't care if you really want to know or not, cause I'm gonna tell you anyway} Clothes fit differently at the store than they do when you get home. Or at least, after the first wash. What is it about washing your clothes that make them not fit the same? And I've tried it all, believe you me I have! I have tried every single cycle or method you could imagine trying to preserve the store quality clothing item, but I just can't get it right. Not to mention, but sometimes the clothes just don't move the way that you need them to move in order to go through your daily tasks. And I am just not all that comfortable with just letting my bra hang out. When I try on clothes at the store, I seriously move my body all around in various positions to make sure that everything stays put and keeps things covered, but for some reason, getting that clothing item home and in real life situations, it just doesn't seem to work. And its not like you can take clothes back once you've given them a real 'test run'. Wouldn't that be nice?

So, then once I had it weeded down to the three shirts (the two other regulars were dirty) I went to the pant options. And why is it that some days your pants fit and some days they don't? And yes, I understand the dynamics of the female body, but seriously, can't our clothes. Can't they make them so that no matter what time of the whatever our body is in, our clothes would adjust to compensate? I do have to say thank heaven for stretch denim! Those old ladies who have been wearing stretch denim with the elastic wastes, have had it right all along. It's just nice that they are a little cuter now than they used to be. However, the only pants I have clean that go with my three shirts, were either not fitting right today or just not very appealing to wear.

So that leaves us with clothes suck, and I'm sitting here in my jammies thinking that I am literally just going to have to suck it up and put on something! I'm just sayin'.

0 for 7

2009-05-20T20:14:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's right! I have yet to been right as to who would win American Idol. I TOTALLY thought that it was going to be Adam. Just like I totally thought that it would be David Archuletta, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken and all the other number twos. And if I had actually watched season 1, I probably would have been wrong then too, I'm just sayin'.

Sherrie's Release Concert

2009-05-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

So, last night, Sherrie had her release concert of her new CD "Solitude". And I have to tell you, it was A-MAZ-ING. And the crazy thing is it got better and better as the night went on. I was in complete awe the entire time. I could not believe the music that was coming off that piano. As I was driving home, I was trying to figure out what song was my favorite and I couldn't decide on one. They were just all so great. And the worst part of the whole thing was my emotions got the best of me. I had to duck out quickly at the end because I was so close to completely losing it, and I did not want to majorly embarrass myself. So sorry Sherrie, I wish I was more under control to have said you did a fantastic job... and even that is an understatement. I would suggest those of you who haven't heard her music, go listen here. It will be time well spent, I'm just sayin'.

To whom it may concern...

2009-05-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I had the privilege (or not) of attending our states PTA convention. They had quite a variety of classes to attend. However, as the day progressed I realized that what was in the class descriptions and what was ACTUALLY presented in the class were two entirely different things. The first class called, "Organization in your life" could be renamed, "What kind of PTA nut are you?" That's right, there were some completely crazy PTA ladies in there. When we first arrived at the convention, we parked our car a ways away from where the classes were being held, and they had shuttle vans to take us to the main hall where the classes were at. There was one lady on our van who had a rolling suitcase, with a matching purse and her shirt matched too. I wondered what in the world she could possibly be carrying with her. Perhaps she was from far away and had to check out of her hotel room, and that was her luggage. However after attending the first class where the lecturer instructed us all that we too should be carrying all of our PTA files and what not around with us {and a rolling suitcase is a great place to put it - cause it would also fit things like bottled water for those meetings that last just a little longer than anticipated} I realized that there are some crazy, wacked out PTA people in this world. To be fair, I should mention that there was maybe 10 to 15 minutes in the class talking about how to organize your PTA stuff {not your life like the class description said} the majority of the class was about how to set aside 1 hour every week that is completely devoted to doing your PTA duty. And she even went so far as to suggest that if someone asked us to do something else during that time we were to say {and I quote}, "I'm sorry, but I have other plans for that time." And then ask to change to a different time. Really? A whole hour every week? I know that there are events here and there that need extra time devoted or what not, but not 1 hour EVERY week of the ENTIRE school year. Come on, I am just not THAT much of a PTA person, nor should anyone else be. And seriously if you had a friend call you up and want to go shopping would you really say, "I have other plans for that time."?

The next class, was supposed to be entitled "The secret to parenting". Now who wouldn't want to know the secret to parenting right? Well, a more appropriate title would be, "Why the campaign, 'Parents empowered.org' is so great". I sat threw an HOUR of some guy up there talking about the states campaign to curb underage drinking. He talked about how wonderful it was, how brilliant he is, and a bunch of hoopla about filming the different commercials, challenges they had to overcome to be able to get the shot they wanted on film, yada, yada, blah, blah...

Pretty much every class went this way. There were a few of the other classes some of the other ladies attended that were exactly what they thought they were going to be. However, for the record, whoever is in charge of writing class descriptions, you did a poor job, and next year maybe you should find someone who could write a more accurate description. Either that or communicate better with your presenter as to what the topic is supposed to be 'cause that just didn't happen, I'm just sayin'.

Odds don't look too good...

2009-05-13T14:48:00.001-07:00

There is this great giveaway over here. I don't actually know the lady, but who cares, a laptop is a laptop. Although, I have three different entries and so the 3 out of 1604 odds, are certainly NOT in my favor, but then again, hopefully luck will be on my side.

I'm taking the High Road

2009-05-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been working with my kids on helping them to not make assumptions about people based on their outside appearance. Today at the store I saw a guy with several gang tattoos buying nothing but this:

So in the spirit of taking the high road and being a good example for my kids I am just going to assume that the guy had a rusty chair in his backyard he was going to paint... and then pray that I'm right and it doesn't end up on some wall or building somewhere... I'm just sayin'.

Somethings got to be up huh?

2009-05-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

You know how you see someone maybe once or twice a year, and they ask you, "So, what's new?" And my typical response is "Nothing." Yeah, really in the year since I last saw you, nothing has changed... Maybe a more honest response should be "Nothing worth mentioning." When you don't have a new baby, you aren't pregnant, and you still pretty much do the same dang thing every day, what would be worth mentioning? SO, in the last week, or really month of not having much to say on my blog, what's new?

First of all, I am going through all the stuff in my house again. I know, it's a sickness, I got it from my mom. We used to do what we call trash and DI several times a year. We would have to go through our rooms and dejunk after Christmas before the summer and before school. It's one tradition I have continued, but sometimes I find myself doing it more than the traditional three times. And I am sure it is just because I don't want to actually just clean the bathrooms which is why the house feels dirty. This time it was spurred on a little by some shelves that we got in the basement from Steve's brother. Under the porch we have a cold storage area that we have some shelves in for our food storage, but then it just got to be so jammed packed, we had to move some of it out into the storage room.See? We've been busy. These are the shelves in the storage room. Pretty fancy-schmancy shelves huh? They are on rollers, so they can be loaded from behind! And below is our cold storage area that is now a lot less congested.

Then there's my bedroom. I went through my medicine cabinet and besides the 27 jars of expired medicine I threw out... yeah, seriously 27 bottles of expired meds. Who in the H needs 27 different kinds of medicine, and why would they all have expired like five years ago? Because I KNOW that I cleaned it out more than five years ago because we moved into our house only 4 years ago, and I WOULD NOT have put expired medicine in the cupboard in the first place which leads me to believe I bought expired medicine...The other crazy thing about this particular closet in my house is the fact that I have a bunch of smelly soaps, lotions, and girlie type stuff that is perfectly good, never been opened, and what do I do with it? I don't use that kind of stuff. I have one brand of lotion that I use and mainly because it actually DOESN'T smell. In fact I am very particular about what kind of deodorant I use because I can't stand to smell myself. Occassionally I wear perfume, or maybe I should say rarely. So, if anyone wants some smelly lotion/soap, let me know, you can have it. I am sure that I will have another bar of glycerin soap up for grabs after Sunday {being Mother's day and all}.

Honestly, I could go on and on about cleaning my house, but I won't bore you with the details. So next time you ask me what's new? Just be grateful when I answer with a "nothing" because seriously what really is going on around here just isn't all that exciting. I'm just sayin'.

I think I'll play it safe...

2009-04-24T09:32:00.001-07:00

Back to the issue of spending other people's money...

I could list some specifics, but for fear of what might be read, I'll just keep it in general.

My question to you is this: How careful are we when we spend other people's money?

One specific (because I am no longer teaching) way back when I was a teacher (which I don't know why it shocks me so much that it was over a decade ago that I started teaching, but that is besides the point) teachers got some money that was intended to be used for the classroom. At the time it was $200 that was just given to you. When handed to you it was explained that you were to spend the money on things for your classroom. You didn't have to turn in receipts or show any proof on what you bought, but that you perhaps should keep receipts "just in case" you were audited for that money, but no one had EVER been audited for that money so don't be too worried.

Some people I knew, used the money for their classrooms, others though thought of it as just a little pay bonus that they could do whatever the heck they wanted with it because teachers got paid so little anyway and they felt they earned it. I even knew of some teachers who would use it to by their "work attire" saying that it was being used in the classroom. Somehow, I don't think that was the 'intent' of the money.

So now when I see money being spent, I wonder just how careful people are when it comes to money they have been entrusted with. How much effort do people take to spend the money in the best possible way. It really bothers me when I hear people say that a certain amount of money has been budgeted and you need to spend it all because the next time you won't get as much. Well why not? Maybe if we could actually spend less and have just as great of an activity as we would have with more money, why shouldn't we do with less money the next time? People are pretty creative, and I bet given the chance to do more with less money, they could come up with something. And I still subscribe to the opinion that you don't always need money to do something fun. Just a really good imagination.

Of course, I am not opposed to every once in a while spending a little more for a really great activity, but that should be the exception, not the rule. And maybe if people didn't expect such huge elaborate things all the time, they would be so disappointed all the time.

And really we should be this way with our own money, but even more so when that money is entrusted to us by someone else be it church or school. Especially in this economic down time. When you have someone who is tightening their belt because they have taken a pay increase donating to the school because they think that their childs education experience is a worth while thing, then I think we ought to treat that money as if it is a huge deal and truly use it to make their childs education experience better. And that's all I'm sayin'...

I'm in a funk...

2009-04-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

I think that my life goes in circles, and right now I would say that I am at the bottom. I am in a complete funk. I have so much I could/should be doing right now, but I don't. I just go through my day, do the bare minimum and mostly waste a bunch of time. Sooner or later, something will kick me back into gear and I will get to all of those things that I could/should be doing. Until then, I bought me some Dove Dark Chocolates with Almonds. They seem to actually help quite a bit. And you know, there is a chocolate company that seems to understand women. You look on the back at the nutrition information, and some chocolates put one or two pieces for a serving. Not Dove! They give you a whopping 5 pieces! Nice...

Sometimes I wish I had the guts...

2009-04-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

I just put together this real nice post about how responsible are with other people's money, but I just don't have the guts to post it. It's like those times when someone does something to really tick you off and you have the perfect comeback for it, but just don't say anything because you just can't bring yourself to be mean (at least not in public). I don't know if this is a strength or a weakness, but for now I will just keep my rant on people spending other people's money under wraps (until I get the guts). I'm just sayin'.

There's more to be said...

2009-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

So aparently my last 'regurgitating' post where I purged what was on my mind worked. I haven't had anymore "mountain climbing" dreams, and I have actually slept 'crazy dream' free for the last little while. Which is saying a lot since I dream quite crazily quite often. So, in order to continue with my peaceful slumber, I thought I would purge some more of what is on my mind. And yes, this post is going to be very random.

While watching Conference this last weekend, I heard someone say, (and no I don't remember who because quite frankly I wasn't paying THAT much attention) "Things that happen in your life is a result of choices that have been made, not destiny." And who knows, maybe that wasn't EXACTLY how it was said, but that was the gist, and maybe I even dreamt that part. But, it has kind of stuck with me. Kind of puts all of the responsibility back to us on what goes on in our life.

I get asked from time to time if a person that I have annonymously mentioned in my blog is them. And pretty much everytime I have been asked that question I have been happy to say that it isn't. In fact, I just might be talking about myself. However, if my blog makes you take a step back and look at how you view different things, or how you react to different situations, I don't think that is a bad thing. It is a good idea to have a little bit of self-reflection. I have noticed with myself that a lot of things that I truly don't like about other people are those things that I do that I really don't like about myself. Sometimes I think that why we find it so hard to think that people might actually like being around us because we know all of our flaws. Funny thing is, other people really don't care, they see all the good stuff about you and that's good enough for them.

Do my kids really know how lucky they are? Do they understand that they are pretty damn lucky to live where they live, have what they have and have the ability to do what they do? I think the only way for them to really know that kind of stuff is to take it away from them for a while. But how exactly does one go about doing that? Because lately they have been acting pretty selfish about a lot of stuff. And, I think 90% of the fights we have around here are centered around them being jealous about something. How do you help them to see that just because someone is good at something, it doesn't mean that they are not good at it? Or even if they stink at something that someone else is good at, why can't they be happy for the other person. Competition is good thing up to a certain point, it's what makes us strive to be better, but how do you teach them to be good losers if that's what happens in the end? It kind of bugs me that in church they ask you not to have any sort of game where there is a winner or a loser. Because honestly when I was little, I paid attention more in class if I knew there was a game because by dang I wanted to win! {I know I am all over the place in this paragraph, what's my point? There is no point, I am just purging my thoughts. Welcome to my brain...}

One last thought, and then I will go. Jenna is playing "Mouse Trap" and singing a song that goes, "She doesn't get any CHE - ESE! We get all of the CHE-ESE!" Over and over again. I remember those days of being able to just make up your own game, not have to play by the rules. I used to like to get the game of "LIFE" out and make the little people in the cars drive around and play with it more like 'house' rather than the game that it was intended. I miss those days, wouldn't it be nice to just make up our own rules and not have to play by everyone else's rules? I think for one day it would just be nice to have a totally unconventional day. You know, make some meatloaf for breakfast or something. Do something totally spontaneous and crazy. I'm just sayin'.

The "Downers" of vacationing...

2009-04-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Getting back into the "swing of things" - you know, having to get up in the morning and go to school... do "chores" around the house... make sure bed-time is strictly followed... actually planning and making dinner...

And the mound of laundry that you brought home with you...

Enough said...

Step up and Be a Parent!

2009-04-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

I've struggled for a while about the whole trend of people who punish their kids 'nicely'. And by that, I am meaning people who... well for lack of a better way of describing it, let me give some examples. I have witnessed some child doing something naughty. The kid is three, but they are hitting another kid. Nothing out of the ordinary, typical behavior of a 3 year old who is learning right? So, the parent goes over and to get the kid to stop, goes over to the kid and simply removes them from the situation. That. is. it. Or, another time when I witnessed another kid being destructive to some property and the parent going over to the kid and just suggested that they find something else to do. It is something I see more and more. In a parents attempt to 'parent' they just get the kid to stop. Not very often do you actually see a parent actually tell the kid that what they are doing is wrong. You don't hear the parent actually say "No, that is not acceptable behavior."

I've also heard it said on numerous occassions parents say that if they just ignore their child's naughty behavior, the situation ends sooner because if they try and stop it, it turns into a tantrum and having to haul the kid off to their room or do time out, or yada, yada, yada. So seriously? You aren't going to tell your kid that what they are doing is wrong because it just means more work for you? Uh, OK, if we just ignore the guy who is stealing from a bank because it is so much 'work' to hunt them down, arrest them and go through a trial, it's OK because the situation is just going to end... Same difference...

And it doesn't just stop with our kids either. When you see someone else doing something wrong or harming someone else, do you just sit and ignore it, or do you say something? When you overhear someone saying something mean or degrading to someone else, do you stand up for the other person? More and more I don't think we do. I think that we just let them happen because it is too much work for us and we don't want to get involved. And shame on us. There was an incident a while back where I saw a kid doing something that I knew was not going to turn out well, and I didn't do anything (mostly because I knew the kids parent was seeing the same thing that I saw and I assumed they were going to do something about it) and I didn't stop the situation and someone got hurt pretty badly too. While I know that the situation wasn't my fault and such, but I can't help but feel a little guilty that I didn't do anything. I didn't step up and be the parent, but I hope to never say that again. I'm just sayin'.

My Random Thoughts

2009-03-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those days that I swear I have a hundred different things swimming around in my head. And it is probably because it has been a while since I have purged my mind on my blog. So, here it goes: (And no, I won't give you all 100 things, that would be crazy! I'll just give you the highlights)

Item #1: How far do you go to see that someone who hurt your child is punished? Over the weekend, I was with my family and my sister-in-law was telling us about a kid who hurt my nephew on the bus. The way she handled it, which is by far a much more mature way to handle it than I would have was to talk to the principal. She explained to the principal, that if this was an unusual show of behavior for this kid, then she was fine with him being talked to, but if this was behavior that was somewhat of a pattern, then she would prefer that he be more harshly punished. I actually thought that this was an interesting way of looking at the situation. In general, I am a believer in harsh penalties {remember Spencer's 'swear club' punishment?} but this was the first time that I agree with maybe not dealing out a harsh punishment. However, how do you tell if it is a pattern or not? Do you rely on the parents or go by behavior at school? And does all of the naughty things that kids do always get reported? {Like I said, these are my random thoughts - stuff just swimming around my head}

Item #2: I am losing my mind. I used to be able to multi-task with the best of them. I could do several things all at the same time, and get them all done, no sweat. Things were always done to the best of my ability, and in somewhat of a timely manner. Not any more. And Lisa can attest to it. During Melissa's birthday party that we had here, we were making breakfast and I swear I could not remember from one minute to the next what I was doing. I can't even count how many times I misplaced the stupid spatula. And seriously it was a good thing Lisa was here because she knew where it was everytime I asked. I don't know if it is because I am worrying about exponentially more things all of the time now as opposed to when I was younger and had fewer kids and less to worry about, or if it is just an age thing, or just me, but sometimes I really wonder about myself.

Item #3: Why is it that it seems like some people go from one presidency in the church to another? What is it about those people as opposed to others? {I know this sounds somewhat hypocritical because I myself am in a presidency, but for the record, this is my first one EVER.} Is it that those people have some perception of being ultra-spiritual, really organized, out-going, with it (mentally) or more qualified than others? Really, I can look around at the people specifically in my area, but I'm sure that you have the same kind of things that go on around in your area, and I can see SEVERAL people who would be really fantastic at being in a presidency, yet they NEVER have. And I know, people don't really petition or aspire to high positions in the church, but sometimes, I really think people are under-utilized, and talents are being wasted.

Item #4: I teach piano. And there are some students that I want to fire. I feel like they are somewhat wasting my time and more importantly wasting their parents money. I could just let them keep coming and keep on taking their parents money each month, but I don't want to. When I have people calling me up all the time asking my if I have openings, and having to turn them away, it makes me ill. Because I would love to take them over some of the ones that I have. At the same time, it is not an easy thing to do. Especially for my personality. I hate to be the bearer of bad news so to speak. And also, I CRY! That's right, I cannot call them up with a complaint or concern and not cry. It is flat out embarrassing and doesn't really seem very professional either.

The biggest complaint that I have over the people that I want to fire, is the fact that they just don't practice and they don't care to either. Then they complain that I give them such boring stuff and they hate the songs. I really do try to make things interesting. I search all over for some good stuff, and I try to find them good stuff, but you can't just always 100% of the time, play fun stuff. Sometimes, you have to suck it up and just get through the "boring" stuff so that you can play harder, more fun things. Truth be told though, I have given them "fun" stuff and they don't practice that either. So what do you do?

Item #5: I've been asked why I prefer afternoon kindergarten. It is mostly just because of Jenna. I have nothing against morning kindergarten. I put Melissa in morning kindergarten because it was best suited for her. She was/is a morning person. She loved to walk to school with the other neighbor kids, and I would go walk and pick her up when school was over, come home eat some lunch and then put Spencer down for a nap and she and I would have one on one time and it was great. Spencer and Jenna, are not morning people. Spencer still isn't and if it weren't for the fact that he wants to get out to the bus line for a good seat I would have to be on him every minute to get ready for school. Jenna doesn't even eat breakfast. For one, she doesn't like it, and even if it is the one thing that she does like (roll-up pancakes) she really doesn't eat much. Around 10:30, she finally decides she is hungry and then she'll eat a sandwich, or something not breakfasty. So, I worry that morning kindergarten will be tough for her. And yes, I know that eventually she will have to go to school in the morning, but I think by then she will be older and better able to handle it. Although, I may change my mind for her. After talking to the school about her speech, her particular speech problems aren't critical enough to insure that she'll get any help this year. However, if she is in a class with not very many speech problems, they will have room to take her. If there is a class with a lot of need though, they won't. I just worry that she'll be perceived as less intelligent just because of her speech. Because less face it, it happens. So, if I find that there is a class with less speech problems and she could get some help in kindergarten and not have to wait until first grade, I will move her to mornings.

So as to not bore you any further, I think I will stop there. Who knows, maybe if I still can't sleep tonight because of all the crap going around in my mind, I will purge more tomorrow. OK, just one more little tidbit. Ever since Friday night, I have been having dreams about climbing up mountains. In my dream, I don't know why I am climbing, sometimes it is a path that is icy and slick, other times it's rocky, another time, I was climbing up a path that had water cascading down it. I have no idea why I am climbing, all I know is that for some reason or another I have to get to the top. And even like last night when Jenna woke me up from one such dream because she had a bad dream, when I went back to sleep, I started climbing some more. I keep thinking that it is because there are so many of this kind of stuff going on in my mind, and so much that needs to be done, or whatever, but I am hoping this purging of my random thoughts will make them go away. Either that or some of you will have good comments to help settle my 'issues' . So, here's hoping to a restful sleep tonight... I'm just sayin'.

I should be shot...

2009-03-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Steve and I took Melissa to the Draper Temple Dedication. It was the first time she has ever had an opportunity to go. And while I was very excited for her to be able to go, I myself was not so enthused. In fact I even offered to just have Steve go and take her while I stayed home with the other three.

Because, let's face it, they are really rather boring. I even found myself nodding off several times. Mostly during the prayer. I will admit that yes, there were two moments where the speakers said something interesting and I took note, but overall, I think I could have done without. When it was announced that there would be a song and then a closing prayer, a kid behind us said to his Dad, "Is it really almost over?" When the Dad said that it was, his reply was exactly mine..."YES!"

SO, it begs me to ask, what is wrong with me? I have a Mom and two sisters that seem to REALLY like that kind of stuff. And I heard other people on the way out talking about how great and wonderful it was. Really? Or are you just saying that? What is it that makes it so that we both go into the same experience and come out with two totally different responses?

And you can't tell me that it is because I went in with the wrong attitude/spirit because really, I tried. I did it for Melissa. We talked before hand about what would happen, and I even suggested to her that she pray about it before we left, and I did too. Yet, when all was said and done, it was like, "OK, that was nice..." {Melissa's response was she was glad that she went, it was kind of neat, but kind of a little boring}

So again, I ask you what's wrong with me? I rarely feel the spirit in those grand opportunities. For me, it is more in the day in and day out kind of stuff. It's the small things that happen that really seem to catch my attention. Like the time when I was potty training Spencer (which was an ordeal in and of itself) and just when I was about to stick a pull up on him because I couldn't handle one more accident, and the thought pops into my mind that I should give it one more shot. And the next time, we had success! Or even just finding an extra 20 minutes somewhere in my day to take a little time out for myself in an otherwise VERY busy day. And sometimes it is during a crisis that I feel it the most. Just the calm thought that everything would be OK.

The more I think about it though, maybe nothing is wrong with me. Maybe I'm doing just fine. I'm just sayin'.

What more could I have done?

2009-03-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Honestly I don't think there was any more I could have done... I tried to turn my stuff in on time, actually early even and you wouldn't take it. You told me that it would be alright to hang onto it for a bit. I even asked you twice. Then I told you that this happened to me two years ago, but still you assured me it wouldn't. But guess what? I was right, it happened again. And it makes me mad.

That's right, Jenna got put into morning kindergarten. Just like Spencer got put into morning kindergarten. With Spencer, they had us turn in our kindergarten registration at kindergarten round-up. And while we were turning in our packets, they asked us for our preference, Morning or Afternoon. I requested afternoon, she wrote it down on his registration packet, and that was that. Then it comes time for us to get our assignments in the mail and it says - Morning Kindergarten. SO, I called several times I called and it wasn't until I actually got the principal on the phone (by some small miracle, he actually ANSWERED the phone) and we got it changed.

So this time around, when it came to registering Jenna for Kindergarten, I filled out all my forms, however, I couldn't get her shot record fully completed because you can't get all your shots until you are five which was this month, not by February 20th which was the registration deadline. So, I got on the phone to the school's office, explained the situation with the shots, and asked the office lady if I could just turn in all the other stuff and then turn in the completed shots after they were done. She said sure. SO I got all my stuff together, went to the school, and tried to turn my paperwork in and this time, the head secretary of the school said to just hang on to all of it until the shots were done. Then she said, "Did you have a preference for teacher?" To which I said, "No, but I do have a preference for Afternoon Kindergarten." Then I preceded to tell her about my situation with Spencer and so I would like to make sure that it gets written down somewhere that I want Afternoon. She then assured me that if I turned Jenna's packet in on March 20th when she got her shots (that's when her appointment was scheduled for) we would be OK.

Secondly, the secretary called here after the February 20th deadline to ask about the whereabouts of Jenna's registration packet. So I reminded her of what we had talked about above and she said again that it would be alright. Then I once again asked her about requesting for Afternoon Kindergarten, and just wanted to be sure that before they started to make class lists, they had written down somewhere that I wanted afternoon. She assured me that I would be fine.

But no, when I went to turn in all my stuff, the asst. secretary told me that I was not fine. Jenna would be getting morning kindergarten. I am just hoping she is wrong. And somehow we can just sort this all out. For now, it sucks, I'm just sayin.

And you call yourself a doctor?

2009-03-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I REALLY like my kids Doctor. He is fabulous. And I happily drive the 20 minutes to get there even though there are probably a hundred doctors that are closer. And it's times like last night that make me appreciate him even more.

A couple of years ago, we had a little scare with Melissa. She started having all of these bruises pop up out of nowhere. And for no aparent reason. Of course, the big C {cancer} was the first thing to come to mind. And our doctor was fantastic throughout the whole thing. Answering all of our questions and doing whatever he could to personally call the specialist and get us seen by them just as quick as was humanly possible. And all because he knew the wait would be unbearable. She wound up 'just having' (I use the term lightly because it wasn't an easy thing for her to go through, but better than cancer for sure) a blood disorder, which luckily wasn't life threatening.

She had to have weekly blood draws. And the lab would call him at midnight the night of the blood draw with the result. Which we didn't know about until much later. I always just took her in after school, which was a much busier time, so the results would come a little slower and he would get the call around midnight. However, he called one day to see if we could go in one day earlier so that he could get the results before he left for vacation, and then he explained the time that the calls come in and if it happens to be even a minute after midnight, the call would go to the doctor covering him the following day and he didn't want the call to wake up the other doctor. I told him if I would have known, I could have easily taken her in before school, and he would have the results while he was still at work. He just said that he didn't want to inconvenience us. That's what kind of doctor he is. {for the record I did start taking her in before school}

OKay, so back to the actual story of the post, Spencer's doctor appointment last night. Two nights ago, he woke up and told me he couldn't sleep because his ear was hurting. Our doctor (the one mentioned above) had given us some drops that numbs the ear when it's hurting like that so that we can at least make it through the night before we can get them seen. So, I put drops in his ears and sent him to bed. The next day, he said his ears weren't bothering him at all, so I didn't bother getting him an appointment. However, at 6 o'clock, he complained that both ears were hurting him. So I decided to take him to Kidscare that night, and that way I could still send him to school the next day.

How do I put this nicely? The doctor there, was an absolute, 100% bonafide, died in the wool creap. Talk about giving me the willies. From the minute he walked in, I wanted to ask to see his credentials. Not that he was a bad doctor, but just something about him made me sick. He kept rubbing Spencer on the back and commenting on his hair. Which I've gotten compliments on his hair before, but that was from women and known gay men.

And there are those doctors that will give you coments as to what they are seeing as they see it. Like, "Yeah, those ears are red" or "There's a little bit of redness on the tonsils" etc. But this doctor, was just well, cryptic. He'd look in Spencers ears and say, "Huh." So is that a "Huh?" as in "Huh, no redness I'm not sure why they are hurting him." Or a "Huh, they are infected, we ought to get this kid some medicine!" Then he checks Spencer's throat, say,"Ah." Okay, is that an "Ah! his throat is red, I bet it hurts." Or an "Ah, these guys are full of crap." kind of "Ah." Then he went through checking his lungs, feeling his neck, and who knows what else in silence. Then he goes and sits down over at the computer, types away, occasionally asks things like, "How long did you say his ears have been hurting him? Has he had any coughing? and Has your tummy hurt at all? {only he asked that one is some weird way that Spencer couldn't understand, so I had to interpret that one} And then FINALLY we got the verdict.

Double ear infection.

Thanks.

Now give us our medicine and let us get the H out of here. I'm just sayin.

Side Note on the Butter Thing...

2009-03-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

My kids love for my mom to baby sit. Especially when she brings popcorn.

What's so special about her popcorn?

Two things, a bag of microwave Butter Lovers Popcorn, and a CUBE of melted butter.

Combine the two and enjoy. Snack from heaven. Ever since she brought it once, my kids BEG for this kind of popcorn. I have only given in once... However, when they go to bed it's a different story, then, Steve just can't be home...

Confessions of a Closetaholic...

2009-03-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

I have actually started this post three different times, and just couldn't quite decide what to include and not include. Afterall, somethings are better left my little secret... However, here it goes...

Ever since I was little, I have always been aware that there are some things that you should and shouldn't like. But I also found that sometimes you just can't help it, if you like it you like it, and as long as noone finds out, big whoop! For example, I LOVED to play Barbies. Which is no big deal, little girls should like to play Barbies. However, I liked to play Barbies clear past the age where it was socially acceptable. So, I would either hope and pray my little sister would ask me to play Barbies with her and say, "Well, I guess so..." Or just play quietly in my room with the door shut.

So I guess you could say, I have been secretive about certain things for a long time. But not anymore, here are some things I am willing to admit, I like...

Hostess. I don't know how many people I hear say that they can't stand to eat them because it is nothing but lard or whatever inside, but I say "YUM!" Bring them on, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Zingers, Hohos, you name it, if it says Hostess on it, I love it. The one exception is those Snowballs, only if you take the yucky coconut stuff off from around them, then I will eat those.
Pillows. I have always liked Pillows. I had a squishy pillow, two actually clear until I got married. Then Steve made me get rid of them. I think he was worried about how many germs they had in them. If I could though, I would own hundreds of pillows. I would fill my bed with them. I love to just sit in a pile of pillows, kind a like a nest, warm and comfy.
Shoes and Jewelry. I know, what girl shouldn't like those? However, I never have admitted it. They are just so expensive, and if I had all the money in the world, that is what I would buy. I also don't really do the jewelry thing because I don't know how to do the jewelry thing. I see some people with such cute necklaces on, but I don't even know how to pick them out to go with an outfit.
Fast food. McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, you name it I like it, in fact I don't think that there is really any fast food, I don't like. Even the cheap Chinese you can buy in the mall.
Comfy clothes. If I could wear sweats and yoga pants 24 hrs a day and look decent I would. I have seen others wear comfy clothes and look great, but I just can't pull it off, maybe it's because I don't own any nice sweats. All the ones I own I have had forever and so they all look ratty.
Butter. No margarine or spread crap for me. Just straight butter and lots of it. I don't for obvious health reasons, but I would love to just smother anything with butter. You know that commercial where there is a family having baked potatoes for dinner and the Mom sticks a cube of butter in each one? Yeah, that would be about right. {I guess this isn't a closet-type thing because I don't actually endulge myself in this one, but occasionally it is nice to put on a little extra butter every once in a while.}

Well, I think that that's enough of a confession for one sitting. Besides, I can't let it all out of the bag at once. So pardon me while I go eat a Twinkie... only I don't have one, so I guess I'll just drink a Diet Coke instead. Cause that's more healthy... I'm just sayin'.

The Swear Club

2009-03-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, you heard that right, my Spencer is a full fledged member of "The Swear Club". At school. Yesterday, I got a call from the ground duty at the elementary school informing me that Spencer lost his recess priveledge yesterday because he and his buddies were swearing. To each other and to anyone around. She said that she just figured that she would call and let us moms know because she figured that she would want to know if it were her own kid. I told her "Thanks for informing me and that we would take care of it at home as well." She then said that if it helps, Spencer was the one who was openly honest about what they were doing.

When Spencer got home from school, I asked him if there was something he needed to tell me about that happened at school, and he kind of hung his head down and said, "Uh, yeah..." Then he preceded to explain that he and 5 other boys decided to join a 'Swear Club'. I then asked him what words were they using? Which he then said, "I can't say them!" Uh, yeah, you should have thought about that before you said them at school!

So what was his punishment? He scrubbed all the tile in the house, with one of those Mr. Clean magic erasers for tile grout. Then after that he folded three loads of laundry. Followed by no video games, computer games, or friends for two days. At one point, Melissa offered to help him fold the clothes, she told me that she felt bad for him. I told her that she couldn't because he needed to have the full punishment to learn his lesson. Partway through, I said, "I know you are mad at me," But before I could get anymore out, he said that he wasn't mad at me, he was mad that chose to swear.

Really, the situation is kind of funny. But I just hope that the next time he feels like joining his friends in bad behavior, he thinks twice and decides not to.

Why do they call it 'Enrichment'?

2009-03-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

Last week, the Primary President gets a call from the lady in charge of the Enrichment meeting, that happened to be last night. She said that they have noticed that the ladies in Primary don't attend Enrichment night very often. So, they would like to envite the Primary to not only come to Enrichment night, but to sing as well. Well, let me tell you, enviting us is one thing, but making us sing? Come on! I graciously hid behind the piano and just played, but to all the other Primary ladies who sang, you did a great job! And for the enrichment people, next time, just ask us to come.

As for the actual "activity" last night, I have some mixed feelings about the whole thing. The night's theme was "Angels among us". They had a dinner, which I had nailed from the beginning, angel hair pasta and angel food cake for dessert. I had also hoped for heavenly hash (the ice cream) but knew that wouldn't be on the menu. The food was good. As for the program, there was a family that sang that "Angels Among Us" song by some country person that I can't for the life of me think of dang it! {Hate when that happens} Followed by people sharing experiences and what not about people who have helped them and been their own little 'angels'. Followed by inviting those of us in the audience who wanted to share our own experiences or whatever to feel free to stand up and share.

I don't mean to sound callous, or make light of anything that was said because it was all good, and sure, people cried. However, that is not my idea of a great time. It was all just a little too heavy for me. Considering I have had a heavy enough week with life going on around here, the last thing I wanted to do was go listen to crying, cry myself, and then have to sing (or in my case, play the piano). Next time, I think I will just skip it and make a run for Coldstone... Care to join me?

Where is Benji Schwimmer?

2009-03-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

This is a Tag from Sher. As I researched the Tag back, Wonder Woman, added a questtion as to do you know where Benji Schwimmer is right now? And aparently he was staying with a woman in her ward whose son was friends with him. Right here in Utah. (Just in case any of you were wondering.) And for those of you who don't know who he is, he won "So you think you can dance?" on Fox a couple of years ago. We are faithful watchers of the show, given Melissa's obsession with dance. So, back to the tag.

Step 1: Respond and rework. Answer the following questions, replacing one question that I dislike with a question of my own invention.

Step 2: Add one more question of my own.

Step 3: Tag eight other bloggers.

Questions:
1. What is your favorite day of the week? I don't have one anymore. Not one specifically. Life is so busy now, no day really gives me a break. So, my answer would be a day that goes mostly good. (Don't laugh at the gramar, I talk to a two year old all day, and after that, real grammar gets fuzzy).

2. What is your biggest fear? Me dying young and leaving my kids without a mom.

3. What was your worst subject in school? English, hands down, which shouldn't be any surprise, you read my blog, you know it sucks.

4. Who did you hug last? Jayman, he is right here on my lap where I am saying, "Don't touch the computer!" Over and over again. And he keeps saying, "I don't like this song!" But I do, so we are having a little fight.

5. What websites do you visit when you go online? Blogger and email, is there anything else worthy of visiting?

6. What was the last item that you bought? Bread. We have been completely out since Saturday and I have been to the store twice since, but kept forgetting to get some. SO, last night I went and got me a free Redbox (They have a code for free Redbox every Wednesday in March on their Redblog) and bread.

7. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Australia. Of course I would make sure that it is during the "wet". I watched Australia last night (it was my redbox). And man it was awesome during the "wet" that they talked about.

8. What if your favorite book? I don't have a favorite. I just like to read. I am reading "The book Thief" right now and really liking that.

9. What was the longest car ride you ever took? Out trip to Detroit two years ago.

10. What was the last movie you watched? Australia. I liked it, but prepare yourself it is LONG, like 2 1/2 hours long!

11. If you had a whole day to yourself with no work, commitments or interruptions, what would you do? Well, I would have to add 'and money was no object' to the question. I would start of with sleeping in, go out to breakfast, have a pedicure, and go shopping.

12. If you were to win the Powerball, what would you do with the money (besides invest it)? Paint the dang Living room, and finish decorating it.

13. If you could pick the single most pivotal moment in your life, what would it be and why? I think this is the question I will toss out.

14. In your opinion, who is the most significant person in history and why? Ourselves, because quite frankly, if we weren't around, life would mean nothing, right? If more people realized the significance of their own life, I think people would behave better.

15. If you had a choice of places to live, where would it be? I would pick my town up and just move it somewhere warmer in the winter. Other than that, I like where I am. Well, I think maybe in moving the town I would NOT take some of the houses.

16. What's a item on your property you can't live without? Yeah, there's the obvious 'the house', but not having a car would kinda suck.

17. If you were stranded on a desert island, and got one luxury item to take with you, and one perosn to take with you, what and who would it be? I would take Steve and some sunscreen, who wants to get burned?

18. My added question? Who am I going to tag? Honestly anyone who wants to follow it, I would love to hear all your answers.

Sometimes Controversy can be fun?

2009-03-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

Way back during my Freshman year of College (it actually doesn't seem like way back, but almost 15 years ago kind of is way back don't you think?) I had a roommate who went on Acutane. If you don't remember Acutane, it was an acne medication. If you were to get pregnant while on Acutane, it could cause all sorts of birth defects, so her doctor insisted on prescribing birth control while she was taking Acutane. It put her Mom in an uproar. Why should her daughter who was not sexually active have to take birth control? Back then, birth control was associated with even more mood swings, nausea, and irritability. So she faught and faught until the doctor agreed to let my roommate have Acutane without the birth control. I wonder if the benefits of birth control we have now, the little to no period each month, would have caused her Mom to react differently.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who said that her daughter has been asking to get some birth control simply to lessen her periods. Which sent us into a very interesting discussion...

One opinion that was stated was the fact that if she was on birth control, if she ever got into a situation with a guy, there wouldn't be the fear of getting pregnant holding her back from doing stuff with the guy.

Another thought was that if her periods right now interfere with her being able to function normally, then why not?

Yet another thought was would going on birth control at a younger age cause problems in the future, fertility-wise?

Then, on Datelines, "What would you do?" Last night, they were discussing teen-use of birth control. The situation they set up, was where a 16 year old girl went into a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control and the pharmacist refused to fill ther prescription due to 'ethical' reasons (a.k.a. The doctor just was morally opposed to giving a 16 year old birth control). The program wanted to see how people reacted. Most people sided with the girl. Only one guy, who was a dad with a daughter that was 16 as well, sided with the pharmacist.

SO, what do you think? I've tried to not interject my opinion (although I do have one) so that I get honest feedback from you. I'll post my opinion another time.

Maturation

2009-03-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

Don't you love that word? It just so totally fits with everything else about it. What a creepy word to describe all of the other creepy things that you are going to have talked about for the next 51 minutes. Yep, 51 minutes because noone I mean NOONE dares to ask questions. So they schedule the 50 minutes for the info. followed by 10 minutes of Q&A and 1 of that 10 min. get eaten up with "So, any questions?" "No, no questions, really there is no such thing as a silly question." "Usually the questions we get asked are really helpful." "In the past we commonly get asked about {insert whatever here} and the answer is this" {Honestly if it is such a common question maybe you should just consider adding it to the presentation and then save us only 5 min. to NOT ask questions.}

Honestly, the whole thing was just great. I have actually had a couple of conversations about said topic with Melissa in the past. Sometimes it's because she asks questions, or sometimes, I am just that kind of mom and want to make sure that she is not the clueless kid in school. So, today wasn't anything that she hasn't heard from me in the past. All except for the FANTASTIC animation about how to insert a tampon properly. Which seriously and in all honesty was probably THE MOST HELPFUL info of the entire 51 min. Cause how in the world do you explain that to someone? Showing them is alot more helpful and the fact that it was a computer animated presentation of it, well, that was fabulous! As in Sharpay, HSM 2 F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. Isn't technology wonderful?

So, how exactly does a Maturation class go? I LOVE that the first thing they do is pull up a powerpoint presentation that the first slide is a comic strip about how it's an embarassing subject. You know, put everyone to ease, and then second slide is a full on onslought of all of the crazy words. I won't name them all here, {you're welcome} but you get the idea. I had to stiffle a bit of a laugh though when that was quickly followed by a bunch of the girls saying to their friends, "EW gross!" What is so funny about that to me, is that is completely for show, cause seriously most of those girls are genuinely 100% interested in what is going to happen to them, and want to know all the stuff, cause let's face it, they are also 100% terrified and knowledge is power baby, and they want the power. However, if they say the "Ew gross" comment, they are publicly stating their discomfort and are then free to soak in the rest of the info without social backlash.

So, the power point presentation went through all of the physical, emotional, and social changes a girl goes through. All helpful info, but like I said nothing that I hadn't told Melissa before. Then there was the video that Playtex put out. So of course, it had plugs in it periodically for their different products, but like I said before, with the amazing technology we have out now, it puts that little filmstrip we used to watch in 8th grade biology to shame.

So, one down and one to go. I will go with Jenna, but Steve, he will have to go with the boys. That's how it works right? I do have to add here though that Melissa {and me for that matter} was very mature about the whole subject. She asked questions, she expressed her concerns and her fears, and overall, I think right now she is not in any hurry to grow up. And I'm not either, she's already moody enough, I can't imagine how it will be when hormones kick in overdrive.

The rules of the bus...

2009-03-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

In first grade Melissa was afraid of the bus. She started out the school year when we were still living in Steve's parents' basement while our house was being finished so I drove her to school everyday. Then when we finally moved into our house, and she could ride the bus, she wouldn't. After much coaxing, I finally got her to just try it out and she loved it! We had the best bus driver ever back then. She even had a cool name 'Babe'. Towards the end of second grade, Babe left and ever since then, I curse the bus...

Somewhere someone came up with the idea that as long as your backpack is in line at the bus, your spot is reserved. So there are kids who are putting their backpacks out a whole hour earlier than they would even think of going out. There are a few kids, whose brother will put their backpacks down when he leaves for school (he's in junior high). I've even seen kids sneaking out there barefoot in their jammies (during winter of course) just to put their backpacks in line. Then they run back in the house and get ready for school. I have considered putting my kids backpack out when I go out walking in the morning, but I can't. I grew up in the sticks/ghetto and you just don't leave your things unattended if you want them back.

There was the one time that my brother's bike was stolen. He drove up to our house, and left it on the lawn by the front door. Ran in the house around to the garage to open it and then went to the lawn and it was gone. Not even a minute had passed. So from then on, we would just get home, and yell in the house for someone to open the garage for us so that we could watch our own bike.

So, lately getting a good seat on the bus has become important to Spencer, so he busts it to get ready in the moring and get out to get in line. Maybe it is the fact that it isn't freezing outside, so he doesn't mind standing out there forever. It just seems rediculous that he will stand out in line a half hour before the bus comes. And he's not even first. And why has it become so important to him? Apparently all the kids will get on the bus and then save seats for their friends and later stops. There are only two other stops, but still.

One rule that they have is that only family members can butt in line. But apparently that only applies to some of the kids. The first time Melissa went out and butt in line with Spencer, one of the other kids said, "Hey, you can't do that, no butting!" Melissa's reply was "Why? you do it all the time!" I have to admit I was proud of her, way to stand up for yourself. Noone has said anything since. And I have heard Melissa helping Spencer in the morning to get him out the bus line faster. She will let him go first to get his hair combed and brush his teeth. She has even helped him find his shoe so he could get out there faster.

She got in trouble once for hitting a kid on the bus. There was this kid who was sitting in front of Melissa and her friend. He would pop up and hit (not really hard) Melissa's friend on the top of the head and then hide. And he kept doing this and Melissa's friend kept telling him to stop. And he wouldn't. So Melissa had this brilliant idea that the next time he popped up to hit her friend, she would surprise him with a hit herself. Which she did, only it turned into a slap on the face and she admitted it was a little harder than she intended it to be, but anyway, the kid got to school and told his teacher Melissa hit him. Go figure, no mention of the reason why.

You know, even though all this bus stuff makes me crazy, maybe my kids are better off for it. Maybe they are getting some really good life lessons thanks to all the crap they put up with on the bus. They are learning to stick up for themselves for one. Spencer is learning that if he wants something he has to work hard for it, and a lot of times that means not procrastinating. And for once, they have a common goal and are working together helping each other to get a good seat on the bus. So maybe, just maybe all this bus stuff is actually a good thing.

If by chance...

2009-03-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

If for some reason I were in the mood to pamper myself this is what I would do...

I would sleep in. I would not get up at 6 in the morning to go run with some friends. Especially when the plan is to run hills every Monday. Instead I would set the alarm with just enough time to get Melissa and Spencer up for school.

Then I would take a shower. A nice long, hot shower. Without the bathroom fan on. Cause that makes me a little cold. You know, one day of it not on is going to ruin the paint in the bathroom. For the record, I did wipe the condensation off the wall around the shower just so I couldn't be blamed later on.

However, that is where my nice day of pampering myself ends...

My curling iron broke, and my only other two options were to use the skinny thing I use on the girl's hair, or try my hand at the round brush and a blow dryer. Needless to say, neither of them really turned out, so my hair looked like crap all day.

The rest of my day was spent just doing mommy things. I was in charge of preschool carpool. It was my turn to read in Spencer's class, I drove dance carpool, and had piano lessons and making dinner, doing homework and stuff like that. Not to mention I had a primary meeting at my house.

I do have to say that I had a couple of visits from some really great friends and phone calls as well. Oh, and I ate pie for lunch (Thanks Mom and Dad). I also have to say that the kids rose to the occassion, there was only minimal fighting. So I count the day a winner anyway!

While I'm on my soapbox...

2009-02-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

I figure that while I am bashing the medical profession, I would add in the Insurance industry as well. When Steve changed his employment status, we had to find our own insurrance. In changing insurrance, I had to send a letter from our old insurrance to our new insurrance saying that we have had insurrance. That way, our new insurrance would cover us and not give us the pre-existing condition run around.

In the process of faxing a bunch of medical records, and application stuff to the new insurrance, I sent that letter, only somehow it didn't end up with all our stuff. So when the first claim came through, they refused to pay it because we hadn't sent that letter. So the first I hear about it is when I get a bill from the doctor's office for around $900! With a nice little hand written note from the billing lady saying that our insurrance won't pay anything until we submit proof of previous insurrance. Followed by her phone number and how and when to reach her if I had any questions.

So, I called up the insurrance lady and tell her that I sent it once and was she sure that she didn't have it. She didn't, so I gladly sent it over again. Then I called the nice lady at the billing department of the doctor's office and asked her to resubmit the claim. In turn, about five days later in the mail, I get a note from the insurrance, detailing what was billed, how much the insurrance was obligated to pay, and what was our portion.

I am using actual number here: The billed charges totalled $882. The elligible charges that the plan paid, were $367. And we were obligated to pay our $25 copay. So I called up the nice billing lady again to make sure that we were OK and didn't owe any more and she said nope, that's it, we're good.

So my gripe here is why would the Doctor's office bill us nearly $900 and not accept one penny less, yet they smile and say "That's great!" to the insurance paying only $367. Less than half what they charged us? That my friends is obsurd. I'm just sayin'.

Don't say it if it ain't so!

2009-02-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

I cut my finger pretty bad the other day... Monday to be exact, and no it wasn't while I was cutting tomatoes like usual. I was throwing something away in the kitchen trash, and the trash was a little full, and so I gingerly set it on the top and tried to carefully shut the cupboard door so that it wouldn't get hit by a little breeze and fall. But, I wasn't careful enough, and the trash fluttered to the floor. So, I picked it up and threw it away again, but this time, decided to push the trash down and hopefully compact it enough that it wouldn't fall again. I know, I'm lazy, but the trash has to be good and full each time I take it out or else I'd be throwing it away several times a day.

In the process of compacting the trash, there was a lid from one of those huge #10 cans (at least I think that's what they are called, the ones you get from the cannery with your food storage in it) sitting there towards the bottom, so I couldn't see it. And I jammed my finger in it. And not to get too graphic here, but I jammed it in enough that when I pulled my hand back out of the trash, the lid came out a little with it. And then the bleeding began. And bleed it did. I went through several bandaids in a short period of time. Steve asked if I needed stitches. I told him probably, but I didn't have any time for that. I was supposed to be at the kids school by 9 that morning to play the piano for her 5th grade program practice.

I got a call shortly after telling me that there was an assembly that morning, so they were going to practice the program at 1:30 instead of 9. I should have jumped on it and gone and gotten stitches right then, but the bleeding was beginning to slow, so I decided against it. Besides, I had a meeting at 12 at my house, and I needed to do some cleaning.

After going through some more band aids, I got the brilliant idea (Ok, so it was Steve's idea) to put a wad of gauze under the bandaid followed by a second bandaid. That way, I wouldn't go through as many. And it worked quite well. However, once I played the piano with it, there was no use, I was bleeding through that and getting little blotches of red on the piano keys. Don't worry, I cleaned up after myself when I was done.

So later that night (which was the soonest I could do it - program practice went until the end of school, and then I had two hours of piano lessons to do) around six I dropped Melissa off at dance and then headed up to Instacare to get some stitches. I was still bleeding through bandaids at this point. When I walked into the Instacare, there were three people in the waiting room, and there was a sign on the wall that said there would be an hour wait. So then when I was checking in, two of the three people from the waiting room got called back. Which left me and one other person. After getting checked in, I called Steve and told him they said it would be an hour, so he would have to pick Melissa up from dance. I figured that I would be better off telling him to expect an hour, and then be surprised when it took less time.

So, shortly after sitting down, the movie 'Enchanted' started playing opening credits and all. I could hear the nurses whispering about erasing the board and changing the time, and after a little deliberation, they decided to change it. I was thinking oh good, I was right, I may get out of here quicker than the hour that was posted. However, after the nurse changed the wait time and stepped away, it said 90 min. NINETY MINUTES! Not the 30 I was anticipating. And then I hear the receptionist say, "No, that's not quite right..." Followed by the nurse saying, "You think?" Followed by me saying to myself, "Yeah, we think, lower that baby!"

So the nurse walks over, changes the time, steps away and it says 2 hr. And it was no exageration. I nearly finished the ENTIRE movie before I got called back to see the doctor. On a side note, when the nurse tells you to stand on the scale to be weighed and then says, "Oh, you can leave your jacket on." As you are taking it off, it's like "Yeah, right, I am going to take off not only my jacket, but my shoes, and sweater. In fact I'd get nacked if it was a little more private and I weren't such a prude."

So then when the doctor takes a look at my finger, she says that if I would have come in right after it happened, she would have done stitches, but when you wait so long, to do stitches it increases your chances of infection or blah, blah, blah... So, she was just going to do some Dermabond on it - skin superglue. I asked her how it would hold up because I was going to be playing the piano quite a bit this week. She said that it would hold up just fine. She said that it usually takes a little over a week for the glue to come off with normal skin flaking. Then she goes literally on and on about how she's known some people that even after a week are trying to scrape the stuff off. "This stuff is great, it's basically like superglue. Once you glue it, it's stuck for the duration."

So when I left the doctor's office with my finger all glued up, I was confident that I would be alright. So you can imagine my shock when this morning only two days later, from having the finger glued, the glue is completely off. Gone, 100% no where in sight. It's probably somewhere in my sheets. Or my mouth because maybe I suck my fingers when I sleep. Not really, but how else do you account for the fact that the glue is gone?

I have been watching that show "Lie to me" on Fox. Have you seen it? The idea comes from a book called "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell. In it (the book) it talks about this guy who can tell from the get go if someone is lying. He has broken down hundreds of different facial features, body language and hand gestures that people do subconsciencely. One of the things that it mentions is the fact that when people are lying, women in particular, they tend to give too much detail. So, now I am wondering if the doctor in going on and on about the stupid Dermabond crap was lying to me. Was she giving too much detail trying to convince me that she was giving me the proper care, and just making stuff up or what? Cause she was wrong, big time, that glue is gone, and my finger is not by any means miraculously healed.

I'd like to thank the Academy...

2009-02-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

You know I'd be watching the Oscars yesterday. That's what I do right?

To start off though, they cut the red carpet to only a half hour. That is the best part. I like seeing what everyone is wearing. For the most part I didn't see much that people should be ashamed of. Most were pretty nicely dressed. I am sure though that by cutting the red carpet coverage down to a half hour they only showed the good stuff.

It didn't seem like there were very many 'stars' there either. Most of the Oscars are given to the cinematographer and the art director. Or costumes or make-up... Get the picture. It was almost boring. And who wants to see some weird guy (who noone knows) talk about his family or who ever. One guy did get up there are personally thank someone who was left of the credits at the end of the film inadvertantly. Oh, let that be me. Noone reads those anyway, and to have you name mentioned at the Oscars, that's a big deal!

Hugh Jackman did an amazing job. Really, the singing and dancing numbers he did in the show were the highlights of the night. The opening number with Anne Hathaway was especially my favorite. He did a song and a dance that kind of 'summed up' some of the movies nominated for different awards that night. I bet you could You Tube it and see it, it was good.

I don't understand why they give an award for best screen writer. Cause seriously, the person acting the scene is going to make or break it for you. You could be the best screen writer in the world and the actor could just suck and completely ruin your 'good' work.

The worst part of the entire evening or maybe it shares the worst with Sean Penn... But the guy who wrote "Milk" got up and goes on and on about how he was so grateful for his parents having the courage to move him out of a "conservative, Mormon community" in Texas (he said the town, but I don't recall it at the moment) and moving him to California where he could live his life freely as he was intended to live it. I take from that, that he has an 'alternative' lifestyle. I take offense to that. Why did he have to specifically mention 'Mormon' in his comments. Cause really, we are accepting of people, just don't let them get married. And I know as a whole that isn't necessarily true either, but still, why single it out?

So there you have it, my take on the Oscars. And if you didn't see it, you really didn't miss much.

Two Weeks without a cell phone

2009-02-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

One year ago, I got a new cell phone. In all my years of owning a cell phone, I have only had 3. The first one would have lasted forever, but you know, they used to be so BIG, that I thought I should update to something a little less embarassing for my husband. So I got a small flip phone and had that phone for about five years. However, one day I took the kids to the pool and Jenna got out, took my coverup (that had my cell phone in the pocket) off the chair and then stood over it and dripped until she got to her towel. I tried to dry it out as much as I could. I took the battery out and let it dry thoroughly before using it. But I think the chlorine from the pool water got to the connecters and they corroded a little bit. So then my phone wouldn't hold a charge for very long. And then after a couple of months of that, I broke down and got a new phone. A cute little red phone.

However, that phone lasted all of a couple of months (you know, right when the three month warranty is up - I'm too cheap to buy the exteded warranty, afterall why would I need it, my other phones lasted a LONG time). It started out with a little crack on the hinge, that became a bigger crack. Then, the crack broke, and the right hinge broke, then the right side, that has the wires slipped out. After months of trying to open my phone so carefully, it finally snapped in half.

So, after two weeks of no phone because I never had any time to go get it switched, I am finally back to my old phone. I just plug it into the wall whenever I am not using it.

The crazy thing in all of this is I went two weeks, that's right TWO WEEKS! without a phone and I survived. There's been some talk lately of cell phone use in the schools. My opinion? Cell phone use in the schools needs to be cracked down on. Big time and why stop there, it needs to be cracked down on in church.

First of all school. Besides the obvious that kids are using phones to cheat. What about the bullying? Sending texts to each other that are downright degrading and mean. And noone is THAT important that they need to be reachable 24 hours a day. If there is an emergency parents know how to get ahold of their kids (as long as they are where they said they would be). My thought is, phones shouldn't be allowed during school hours, period. If a teacher sees a phone or the phone rings during class, it gets confiscated. Kids would learn quickly.

I will say that I really like having the phone for teens when it comes to them driving because you never know when they will need some roadside assistance or get in an accident. And it is nice for them to be able to call when they are ready for you to pick them up (if they can't drive). But other than that, they don't have to be used that much. They should not have them on and be texting of any sort during school.

And church? Come on! One of the YW leaders in our ward mentioned that one girl came in, sat down by an outlet, plugged her phone in the wall and started texting while class was starting. Have we no shame? And then there's the people that say, "I have my scriptures on my phone." Yeah, whatever, if I actually believed that you were only reading from the good book, I would give you a pass, but I have SEEN you playing games so don't give me that.

SO, in those two weeks of no phone I realized that it is no big deal to go without a phone for any period of time. Noone died, there was no emergency, people called and left messages at home, I didn't miss any grand event. Maybe cell phones aren't as much of a lifeline as we make them out to be, I'm just sayin'.

My Take on the Grammys

2009-02-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

Did you watch? If not, you didn't miss much. However, here's my thoughts anyway...

If you make lots of money as a singer, you don't have to worry about what you wear. Actors and Actresses have to be extremely careful about what they wear, but singer, anything goes. There was MIA (whose pregnant) wearing a completely sheer shirt with three dots on them, covering up the vitals and her tummy and a corresponding dot on her bum. Then there was the lead singer of Coldplay who was wearing a shirt that looked like it was his in Jr. High (too short and ratty) and high water pants. And not to mention a lot of the Rap guys that look like they hit a jewelry store and couldn't decide what to wear, so decided to wear them all.
We saw way too much of Carrie Underwood's dummer's bum crack. Seriously, I don't know why the camera kept hitting him from a backside angle, but after seeing it once and then twice and then yet again, that was quite enough of that. Yet, all of the other drummers that they showed during music numbers, were all face shots.
Coldplay has some serious musicians in their group. Each one (there's four of them) could play several instruments, and they did. Like the keyboard guy, would be playing with his guitar slung around his back, and then when they needed some guitar he would just sling it in front of him, jam and then in a flash be back to the keyboard. That was one talented group.
I spent a lot of time mad at Justin Timberlake. It's stupid, but they had Keith Urban play background to him and Al Green. No singing from him. And for most of show, I thought that it was rip! I was sure that him playing background was all we were going to hear from him, and then Justin goes and sing a SECOND song! And I was starting to get even more bugged, until at the very end, he sang with some other guys a little part, which made it kind of OK, but still, why Justin Timberlake, what's so hot about him? (Sorry, got a little run-on going there, but couldn't stop the rant mid sentence even for a period.)
What's the big hype about Sir Paul? It seems like everyone and their Grandma was ga-gaing over him. So he was a Beatle, big whoop. Jennifer Hudson got a bigger ovation than he did.
Speaking of Jennifer Hudson, she's looking pretty good these days. I don't necessarily like her singing style, but as far as her physical appearance, she is looking good. And I like the humble attitude better than her old snip at Simon attitude she originally had in 'Idol'.
Singers make money for singing, not dancing. And for good reason.

So there you have it, my summary of wasting three hours last night. I'm just sayin'.

My money update #1

2009-02-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

So I've tightened the belt. Cinched it real tight and am on my way to saving for decorating the Living Room. I plan on painting, but don't necessarily want to stop there. So, I am going to start with the paint and work from there.

So what was the first thing I did? And maybe some of you are already doing this, but I've modified my grocery shopping. I go through all the grocery ads that come to the house everyweek, and I write down all the good sale prices on only the necessities (cause no frivalous spending right?). Then I make out my grocery list and take it to Walmart. Apparently it is someones job at Walmart to do the same thing. And they input all those sale prices into the Walmart register's computer. SO when someone like me comes up to the checkout and says, that another store has this bread on sale for $1.57 as opposed to their $2. something, she types in the price that I say, see if it's OK and then continues. If there is a problem, she goes and grabs the book of ads that they have, and verifies. It's all pretty slick. I didn't have any problems with the stuff that I got this week, but I asked the lady doing my checkout what happens if the register doesn't accept the price I give her and she told me what they do.

I have found that on a lot of normal things like Peanut Butter that I buy Walmart is usually cheapest anyway, so now when I add in the other store's sale prices, I can get some good deals. I still go to Sam's club for some of their bulk stuff, but other than that, Walmart is now my store. Big Box or not, I don't care it saves me money... I'm just sayin'.

Whew!

2009-02-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

Steve and I signed up to give blood this past week...

I have never given blood before...

Other than doctors taking blood because they WANT to, I have never given blood for the fun of it. Or just to be charitable. But Steve was going, so he talked/guilted me into signing up with him. The thought of which terrifies me. I've heard some pretty bad horror stories about people giving blood. Including people passing out, throwing up, and having blood squirt out. And up until now, I would say, "NO THANKS!"

However, this time I thought that I would face up to my fears and just do it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, and I would find that it was no big deal. Afterall, if Melissa could do it weekly when she had her blood problem, I could do it just this once.

Let's just say thank goodness I got somewhat sick, and they didn't want me. So, I can now say I tried and was sent away. Missed it by that much!

I finished!

2009-02-02T07:57:00.001-08:00

That's right, I finished the Twilight series. All four of them. I could not put them down, I HAD to see what happened. I have been borrowing them from my neighbor and when she wasn't home for me to get the fourth book, I called Motherboard, and she was nice to drop it off to me. And I stayed up WAY TOO LATE on Saturday and got up early and read the rest on Sunday. And I was left disappointed.

I did not like the fourth book at all. If you haven't read the books and don't want me to ruin it for you, stop reading, but I think I am safe to assume that anyone who was going to read them has already. I have been WAITING and WAITING for Bella to become a vampire, and I don't like why it happened, I don't like when it happened and I especially don't like what kind of vampire she became. And I most especially did not like the second section that was taken from Jacob's perspective. I REALLY wish they would have taken it from Edward's point of view. THAT would have been interesting. As is I don't really like the character of Jacob. I know, sad for those of you who liked him, but I don't.

So now what? I finished, yet I'm not satisfied. I want the story to take a different turn. Maybe she should have written more books, done the whole Harry Potter 7 book thing like she originally said when she started Twilight. However, maybe the story would have gotten worse and worse and I would have just wasted more time. I can't say at this point that reading the books was a complete waste of time, because I was entertained. I just wish they would have turned out differently. I'm just sayin'.

So, back to the chocolate!

2009-01-29T07:51:00.000-08:00

I have had a few inquiries as to the actual health benefits of chocolate. So here they are:

They are full of antioxidants. Which keep the artieries from clogging, promote healthy blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Chocolate stimulates the production of serotonin in the brain which reduces ones sensitivity to pain.
The psychoactive compounds in chocolate can lead to a feeling of general happiness and well being, and even inhaling chocolate was found to induce a sense of relaxation (and by inhaling they mean smelling, not smoking).
And one of the surprising benefits of chocolate was the small amount of caffeine in chocolate which increases cognition. (See, chocolate makes you smarter!)

The only downer is the article included things like, "Chocolate is not as beneficial as eating a large salad or a piece of fresh fruit" or "a higher concentration of this is found in blueberries" yada, yada, yada... The most interesting piece of info though was that dark chocolate doesn't contain the harmful fats in it as opposed to milk chocolate. The article said that once ounce of dark chocolate a day is sufficient for the health benefits without adding too many calories. Not sure what once ounce equals, but I bet it isn't the whole bag, bummer!

Originally, for me any chocolate was chocolate. As I've gotten older (cause I'm so old) I have gravitated more towards dark because it isn't as sweet. As far as what brands of chocolate I like, Ghirardeli is ALWAYS good, I also like the Lindt truffles, and Dove chocolates. There is one other kind I REALLY like, but I only know it by the package, I'll have to get back to you on that one, but it's got like little bits of like raw chocolate shavings in it, and I don't know if that's why, but they are REALLY good. So now, excuse me while I go get my chocolate fix, I mean, take my daily vitamins... I'm just sayin' {with a wink}.

Chocolate...Good!

2009-01-28T08:05:00.001-08:00

Last week I had Jenna into see the doctor. She had pink eye and an ear infection. Bummer, but she loves the medicine so all is good (mostly cause she'll remind me and I don't have to think about it much).

While in the waiting room, we started looking at magazines. And Jayden grabs this magazine and plunks it down on my lap. The main headline? Something about chocolate, so I look at the name of the magazine and it's called "Conceive". I had no idea, they DO have a magazine for just about everything.

It caught my interest, so I looked it up and the article was all about the great things that chocolate can do for our bodies. I KNEW it. I have heard all along people say that chocolate is good, (I've said it myself) but here was the scientific evidence. All that I needed. Pure justification as to why I SHOULD have a little bit of chocolate everyday. Of course, all of the evidence was based on Dark Chocolate (55% cacao or more). However, that doesn't bother me, I LOVE dark chocolate.

So my suggestion to all of you is to go out and get yourself some. And then have one piece (that's the kicker - when you have too much it starts to lose it's goodness) everyday, religiously, like a vitamin. Cause if it's good for mom's preparing to have a baby, it's good for all the rest of us right? Right. I'm just sayin'.

Twilight

2009-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

So I thought that I would give the Twilight Series another shot. I read book 1 and 2 a while back and stopped there. Why on earth did I stop? Bella. She bugs the heck out of me! Seriously, is it just me or does anyone else want Edward to dump her and run?

I just finished book 1 (again) yesterday. And while there are some things that I picked up on the second time around, and while I still read it in a short time (I started it on Friday night), and while I still like the vampire characters, I still can't stand Bella. It keeps me wondering what Edward sees in her.

My main reason for not liking her is she is so dang whiney! And I get enough of that from my kids to last me a lifetime. I do not need to hear it from her during my fun reading time. I don't know what happens in Books 3 and 4, but right now I am screaming at Edward to just bite her and turn her into a Vampire already. Pah-leeese! And do it quickly because she isn't getting any younger. And later on she won't be able to do the highschool thing with you over again in 20 years when you are 17 still.

It's like that whole Benjamen Button thing. Older women with younger men creaps me out. That includes you too Ashton and Demi! Why is it that when a teacher dates her students people get all up in arms about it, yet when a 40 something goes after a 20 something everyone is all, "You go girl!" about it? Afterall, the 20 something teacher and 17 year old student are closer in age.

This post kind of ended up in a different spot than I intended. It must be the fact that I am trying to be good. (Yet I am failing miserably.) I am trying to be nice and not say things that I shouldn't. So, I think I will go back to reading book 2 and hope for Bella to be a vampire. Although as with my kids, I am sure that when or if she gets what she wants, she will find something else to complain about because I think when it comes down to it, some people just like to complain. I'm just sayin'.

Facebook vs. Blogger

2009-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

I am hearing more and more lately that people are switching from Blogger to Facebook and it makes me sad. I have no desire to go the facebook route. It seems less secure in the privacy arena. From what I hear you have to "accept invitations" from people to be your friend so that they can view your stuff. However, I may have known them in high school, but I don't know what they are up to now.

They could totally be the creepy guy next door (not literally, I have really good neighbors here) that sits in his undies and steals people's identities or worse. Not to mention that I didn't graduate with the best group of people. No offence to the good people that I did graduate with, you guys were great! It's just, my senior year one of my teachers told me that in their staff meeting, the principal said that in the first look at getting graduation numbers, only 107 were eligible to graduate. Out of 350 or so, that is crap! They said that they hadn't gotten the make-up numbers yet from adult school, so they did expect it to go up. But still really? That many people didn't have their stuff together enough to be graduating without adult school.

Then, a year later I went and visited some of my old teachers when I was in college and was told about the 'wonderful' kids I had graduated with. There was the girl that was aparently some really great stripper. Who was in so much demand that she was being requested all over the valley... nice. Or how about the guys who were busted for smuggling drugs across the US border.

I hear people talk about facebook and stuff and honestly I worry about it. It seems like it is just a forum for flirting. And not in a good way. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next little while we start hearing about people having affairs because of facebook. I know that there are some people who are 'friends' on facebook with their friends husbands, and that just weirds me out a little.

I know that honestly I am not an 'expert' on the facebook arena, and I could be wrong, but still I am not comfortable with the whole facebook thing. I would love to hear from you Facebook people about why you like it or what its done for you, but for now I think I will just stick to my blog... I'm just sayin'.

{Just so you (any high school friends who may read my blog) I did have some great friends in high school - afterall there 107 (I really don't know why that number has stuck with me for so many years, but for the record, I checked in my journal and yep, that was the number) of us that did allright.

The Problems with Cleaning

2009-01-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

Since the kids have been out of school for MLK and then for a teacher grading day (end of the semester was last Friday) I thought it would be a good idea to begin Spring Cleaning. So, I started in the kitchen. I cleaned the ovens to start with, I still have one more rack to clean, and then I cleaned out the microwave and the cooktop. What's the problem with that you ask? Now I don't want to cook anything in them because I don't want to get them dirty. Those oven racks seriously suck to clean.

Then, I decided to do the floor. You know, not just the normal job, but a really GOOD job. And I wiped down the cabinets and everything too. Only remember Jayden's little throw up problem. Yeah, he got coughing and it made him gag, and well, my floor and cabinets are no longer as clean...

So why do we even bother? I'm just sayin'.

Sometimes I just say too much...

2009-01-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

Why is it that I always find myself saying the stupidest things? And then after saying them just not shutting up? Why do I then feel like I need to explain my stupidity and thus make myself seem even more stupid. Next time I just need to after saying something stupid say, "Did that sound as stupid to you as it did to me?" and then just shut up, leave it alone and never address the subject again. For as long as I live... and then pray for the intelligence necessary to not make the same mistake again... I'm just sayin'.

Boys

2009-01-15T08:50:00.000-08:00

In light of the events of the last blog, Melissa and I had a little chat about boys. She was telling me that it drives her crazy how the other girls will do completely stupid things just to impress the boys. Which I have to add in the fact that I have always been able to tell what boy she is kind of liking at the moment because she starts to act kind of funny herself.

The whole conversation though, made me think that I am not ready for the Boy-drama just yet. After all, she's got 5 more years until she can date. I jsut remember though myself that there was more drama before I could actually date than there was when I could date.

So, here is my words of wisdom on boys that I passed on to Melissa which having said she'll probably completely ignore/forget once the occassion arises, but oh well...

Whenever you like a boy, don't act differently. So many girls seem to get all silly and stupid and lower their intelligence just because they think that's what they like, but when it comes down to it, the want a smart girl right?
Never change your opinion just because the boy thinks differently. Why do girls do that (me included, I was guilty of this in Jr. high/High school)? I remember one guy (cause I didn't consider them boys then) who said something totally rediculous, and I went along with the whole thing because I didn't want him to think that I didn't think like him. But I didn't and that's what makes relationships really great right, is being able to discuss the things that you differ on. If we were the same it would be boring.
Don't assume because a boy is talking and being really friendly with your friend that he likes her and not you because we all know that it is easier to be friendly with the friend than the person you actually like because what if the girl doesn't like you back and rejects you? The friend is safer. Now this one has always just been a theory of mine, but I REALLY think I am right on this one.
This one I didn't share with her yet, for obvious reasons... she's not there yet, but sometime I will. That is, when you are dating (to find a husband) if you get bored of someone, move on. Cause when you meet the one, you don't really ever get bored. You maybe settle into a routine, but it's not like you actually get tired of being around the person. I have known many people that wasted time just being bored with someone, but not breaking up because they didn't actually hate the person. Why can't you break up nicely and agree that it just isn't going anywhere and still be friends?

So what do you think? Would you add any or take any off the list. Because I am certainly new at this and don't profess to have all the answers or maybe even the right ones. I'm just sayin'.

What makes a good friend?

2009-01-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

The other day, Melissa proved her point... maybe she is smarter than me afterall.

One of her friends came up to her and told her that the boys were making a list of girls that were fat and Melissa was first on the list. I know, will she ever get a break? Or is this what it's going to be like for the next several years? You've seen her though, she's by no means 'fat'. She's got somewhat of a tummy, but if you look at pictures of me when I was her age, so did I until I hit puberty. And honestly, it isn't really a tummy, but I'm being real here.

So, after informing me of this incident, Melissa said that she would have rathered that her friend not tell her at all. She would have prefered to just stay in the dark. Well, this got me thinking. I started to think about what would be the good friend thing to do. Do you be honest with your friend or not? And I debated this in my mind for quite a while.

Later when I was tuking Melissa in bed, I told her what I had been thinking about. That I was debating about what the good friend thing to do in that situation would be. Do you be honest with your friend, or protect their feelings? So I asked her, "What do you think?"

Her reply? A good friend would have stood up to the boys. A good friend would have told them that it wasn't true and to knock it off. Good answer, and you know what Melissa, maybe you're right. Maybe (just maybe) you are smarter than your Mom. I'm just sayin'.

Yeah, whatever makes you feel like less of a skank...

2009-01-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

I've already confessed that I watch trashy TV, but last night kind of took the cake. First of all, it was the dilema of the century because there were so many shows on and I HAD to tape 24 for the hubby, so I was left watching 3 different shows all at once. It was the one time that I was actually wishing for the picture in picture feature.

So, first of all The Bachelor... It is kind of ironic to see a girl sitting in the trashiest bikini of all time smile and call some other girl a tramp. Kind of the pot calling the kettle black huh? And then in the first episode, the girls were all supposed to 'vote' for the girl they all don't like the most, and then they go and give her a rose, so she stays. However, last night then, the girl who got the second-most votes, goes off on the girl with the most votes about how everyone can't stand her. Did she forget in just one-weeks time that everyone doesn't like her almost as much as they don't like the other?

The next show that had me just shaking my head, was Momma's boys. It seems like everyone on that show has either posed for Playboy or Penthouse. One of the girls who has been open about it for a long time said that her family is happy about it, so why can't everyone else? And in her own words, said something like we are all born naked and walk around naked, she just gets paid for it. Um... yeah... that makes it better. Then there's the girl who was Penthouse pet of the year in 2008 and she has been keeping it a secret. In her defense, she at least realizes that it may not be the best thing to do for a good reputation, but at the same time, what is she thinking? It's going to come out sooner or later, and what then? She's already seen all of the other girls kicked off for the same thing. But maybe he'll like her more and just excuse it because after all, he likes her more (only she hasn't seen how much we've seen him 'liking' the other girl too).

I know, why do I waste my time? I am thinking the same thing right now, but I like watching other people be stupid and I like being in on all the secrets and them totally in the dark. What I really want to know, is while all the guys are condemning the girls for being trashy, why aren't any of the girls condemning him for kissing all of the girls, isn't that just as trashy? I'm just sayin'.

What do you think?

2009-01-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's just me, but I think that there are a lot of married couples out there who look an awful lot like each other. So much so, that you look at their kids and can't quite tell who they look more like, mom or dad?

So what does that say about those of us who marry someone that looks like us? Are we conceited? Did we find our spouse so attractive because they remind us of ourselves?

I know that there is more to an attraction than looks, but what do you think? One more thought before you answer though. I know for me, I see some 'odd' looking couples and really my first thought is how did they pair up because they really look a little weird together, yet I think nothing of it if there is a similarity between the two of them be it they are both beautiful people or ugly people. I'm just sayin'.

The junk is gone

2009-01-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

That's right, it has taken me a month, but I have officially 'de-junked' my house. I went through all of the kids' clothes, their closets, their toys, you name it, I went through it. And it is gone. I took a bunch to the DI the other day and I have to tell you, it is a good feeling. The funny thing is the kids now have like half of the toys (I did put some of them in the storage room to hold onto for when Jayden gets older) and they don't seem to care. We cut the Barbies down in half, and Jenna has still been playing with them everyday. Only now, when it is time for her to clean them up, she doesn't whine so much.

So, even with all that, doing the dishes and laundry still sucks. Wouldn't it be nice if we could toss out like half of the dishes and clothes that we have? Only that wouldn't work out so well because then I would have to do MORE laundry so that the clothes they do have were always clean. And, then I would be doing dishes by hand all the time so that we have something to eat on.

The one thing that amazed me most dejunking the house, was how much trash piles up in the most bizarre spots all around the house. Every place I cleaned had a least one kitchen sized trash bag full of complete trash. Like why do my kids keep the tags off of their clothes? I cut them off, and usually toss them in the trash, but it was unbelievable how many I found in all of the kids closets. And I think that we need to have the kids toss their church pictures right in the garbage before they get in the house. That was the other thing that amazed me - how many pictures and stuff they had from church just put on a shelf in their closets. I wouldn't dare say we shouldn't have the kids do those things because giving the kids a paper and some crayons makes teaching primary bearable.

My final question though is where do all of the barbie and polly pocket shoes go? We only had matches for only half of the shoes that we have owned. You would have thought that after moving all of the couches to vacuum under them and vacuuming under the cushions in the couch, that we would have found a least some stray shoes, but nope, not one. So, where do they go? Occasionally I find Jayden with one in his mouth, so did he swallow them? I don't remember seeing any in his diapers. So that is the question of the century. I'm just sayin'.

New Year Quiz

2009-01-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

I stole this from Sher, her answers were fabulous and mine not so much so because 2008 was kind of depressing for us.

{Side note: We thought that 2008 was going to be a better one in light of Melissa's 2007 cancer scare/blood problem, but we were poorly mistaken. When talking with a friend over the weekend, we said that we were hoping 2009 was a better year for us and he said, "Yea, it can't get much worse can it?" Yeah, it can, but we hope not! - Cross your fingers, knock on wood, etc.}

A New Year Quiz-

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Get sued. Except it wasn't me that was sued it was Steve, but what happens to one, happens to the other right?

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? One of my new year's resolutions last year was to be a better blogger - um it took me until April to get around to that, but I think I've done pretty well. I can't remember any others, so I guess the answer to that is a big no! This year, you read I already made one.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Lisa and Heather which I still think you guys are crazy, but to each his own. Motherboard did too, and regardless of what other people say, having a baby gives you every right to take a break from "stuff". My next door neighbor did too. Good thing because some day Jayden is going to need a friend. Melany gave birth and she's the winner, she did it in Spain and I am sure that their hospitals are just as good as ours, but the thought still scares me. Brooke my SIL did too. I am sure there are others I am forgetting, but isn't that enough? I'm just glad it wasn't me.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Not close-close, but my SIL sister died and that was close enough for me. All though I would like to see my Grandpa die soon. And no it's not morbid, he's been without his wife a long time and I would like ot see them reunited soon and before he gets to needy.

5. What countries did you visit? Does LA count as another country? Just kidding...

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Steve having a regular paycheck.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why? The day Steve quit his job and all of the crap that ensued after that.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Surviving Jayden's first year without his getting majorly hurt and without being poisoned.

9. What was your biggest failure? Man, this is a toughy because I wouldn't say I had one big failure, but several small ones. I won't divulge those because that would ruin the perfect image you all have of me.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I broke my toe kicking my bedroom door, hurt like hell for about 6 weeks, but I guess you could say I deserved that one. I never went to the doc, I just assume I broke it since it hurt so long, and I couldn't move it. Besides that, we all got the flu in October and that is always fab.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I bought Steve a TV for his birthday. Which was a very good thing because shortly after Steve quit his job, our family room TV went out, and we put the TV from our room in the family room. That TV was the first one Steve and I ever bought and we bought it off Steve's brother for like $25 since it didn't have closed captioning.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My kids and hubby of course, they put up with me!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? No comment...

14. Where did most of your money go? It went towards surviving.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? We took the kids to Disneyland.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? I don't know about that one.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier I think?
b)thinner or fatter? THINNER! It is taking me a long time to get rid of the 'Jayden-fat' as I like to call it. Also I am running a half-marthon this month, so that might have something to do with it.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer, starting out with a new company will do that to you.

18. What do you wish you'd done less of? Complaining

19. What do you wish you'd done more of? Being thankful

20. How did you spend Christmas? At home with my family and then at my Mom and Dad's.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? Besides still loving my hubby and kids, I found a new combo that I really like - Diet Coke and 70% Dark Chocolate. You gotta try it, but I don't know if I'd call it love.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Can I plead the 5th? I kind of watch TV I am sure my parents wouldn't approve of. You know, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, 90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, The Bachelor, Momma's Boys, ER, need I say more?

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Sher said that she couldn't think of anyone that she dislikes, um I can think of several, but none that I would care to mention.

24. What was the best book you read? I would have to say it's a toss-up between A Thousand Splendid Suns and Blink (it's the nerd in me).

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Discovering that Jayden REALLY likes music and it has increased his vocabulary and ability to speak by a lot.

26. What did you want and get? New running shoes (but I bought them myself). Oh, and I guess the credenza Steve bought me for my birthday that is in the entry way.

27. What did you want and not get? Do I have to chose one? I want a guitar and a pedicure - have you seen my feet?

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Mamma Mia, I REALLY like the music.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? {Shouldn't that read how old are you?}
I can't remember what I did, but I turned somewhere in my 30's. Won't say specifically for the whole cyber-terrorist thing.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Steve not being sued.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Lacking

32. What kept you sane? Going to my happy place mentally

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Mitt Romney

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The props in California and Arizona

35. Who did you miss? My friend Melany. I haven't seen her for a very long time.

36. Who was the best new person you met? There are a lot of people that I have already met, but I have really liked getting to know them more through blogs.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Heavenly Father is mindful of us ALWAYS and if we listen to His promptings life may not be great at the time, but we'll come out on top at the end.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "I got a brand new attitude and I'm gonna wear it tonight." Pink- So what. I have definately learned a bunch this past year, but heres to a better 2009!

You are welcome to copy this on your blog, I would love to hear your answers!

Resolutions

2009-01-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

The funny thing about New Years Resolutions this year is everyone says their only resolution is to simplify and then have a list of about a hundred (I'm exaggerating of course) things that they are going to do to simplify. But that's it isn't it? Simplifying means doing a bunch of things differently than you already do. And why is that?

I think in some ways, we have gotten our lives totally out of hand. I really try hard not to over schedule my kids. They have just one activity that they do, and then piano. However, when you add in all of the homework, chores and church stuff they got to do, it gets a little much. Not to mention that we are trying really hard to read our scriptures everyday, which I know, {gasp} we really haven't done that one hardly at all.

So, what is my New Years Resolution? To spend each moment of my day in the best way possible. So when I am faced with a choice as to what to do with my time, I want to do whatever would be best at the moment. For example, if I am faced with some dirty dishes or laundry yet am so cotton-picken' tired, a nap just might be the best use of my time. However, if there are those things that just HAVE to be done now, I will choose to do those first instead of blog. We'll see how it goes.

I did add one rule to my list of blogging rules though. I have this list of rules for blogging so that it doesn't overtake my life. The rule I added was I have to be dressed and showered before I blog. I absolutely H.A.T.E doing the everyday things. I hate showering, I hate having to brush my teeth, I even loathe washing my hands after I go potty. I know, you think that's disgusting, but I didn't say I don't do it, I just said I don't like doing it.

Jenna's got excema. It isn't as bad as I've seen some people have, but she gets these patches of dry skin on her arms and hands, and especially during the winter I have to make sure that I rub some steroid creme on her arms daily. And that drives me nuts because it won't end. My only hope is that someday she is old enough and responsible enough to do it herself.

So, I know there is really no rhyme or reason to this post, but so be it. Maybe you learned something about me today... I'm just sayin'.

It's a toss up

2009-01-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

I am still debating over what to post about. I have a couple of thoughts as I have been reading other peoples blogs, and I am not sure which one to do...

I guess I'll start with the...

OK, here is goes, my thought I will call Grieving 101...

Some of you know, we had a baby pass away eight and a half years ago. Which is crazy to say because I can't believe that it has been that long ago. I remember it like it was just yesturday, but then there are things that I can't remember that happened two days ago. But I think that has something more to do with the nature of the event, but anyway.

When this whole event took place, I could always tell those who had lost someone close to them and those who didn't. And for the sole reason that those who had never lost anyone said too much. And I realize that the things that were said were meant to be helpful, but some of the best intentions just came out plain mean. For example, those who would say, "I guess this was meant to be." Now I fully believe that there is a time and place for everything, but come on! Don't tell me that it was just meant to be like I should just get over it. Or one person who said, "Don't you feel lucky to have a child who doesn't have to go through the yucky stuff in life?" Yeah, I feel real lucky. There were MANY others, but these were to two most frequent and ones that made me feel the worst.

Those who had lost loved ones, simply said, "I'm sorry." Or "It sucks." Because that is right, it does suck and for someone to just acknowledge that it sucked, or felt bad that it had happened, made me feel better. I didn't need anyone to try to give me any meaning as to why it happened, or tell me that I was "lucky to have one of Heavenly Father's best spirits" come to me (on that same note, so do girls who have their babies at 14 years old and put them in a dumpster for them to die - I know that sounds callous, but when you just lost a baby, this is what comes to mind -what can I say? you're mad. Not to mention that it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with her.) You just need the simpathy.

Honestly all of the comfort and stuff comes from powers way outside of what a human can offer. So don't even go there. I will make one exception though, sometimes you may feel entirely inspired to do something, and then you should do it. However if you finding yourself saying, "Self, what should I say?" Then go to the simple "I'm sorry" or "It sucks" line.

Another thought I would pass on is that real plants and flowers stink because when they die, it sucks all over again, you kind of associate the plants dying with the person dying and well you get the picture. We did have some neighbors get us a tree to plant in our backyard, and one thing we really liked about it was that it bloomed every year on her birthday. That was always fun to see. And no, when we moved we didn't take it with us. And I am OK with that because I can still think about it blooming every year on her birthday. That and we plan on getting another one just like it and putting it in our backyard here.

But really, the main thing I would tell you when dealing with someone who has lost a loved one is just to offer the simpathy and then let them be. You know, send a card in the mail or take a treat over (I remember some really good friends of ours brought over this batch of orange rolls and one night Steve and I ate the whole thing and actually did felt a little better in fact, it is a fond memory of mine), but don't stay too long or insist on talking if they don't feel like it. It sucks that things like this happen and that people have to deal with this kind of stuff, but hopefully this helps out in the future, I'm just sayin'.

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy...

2008-12-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

This is always such a dangerous topic. One that is risky in any setting, but I'll give a stab at it anyway. Afterall, you ALL know that I am far from perfect...

Yesterday, Steve and I were finishing up taking down the Christmas stuff. And yes, it was Sunday. We pretty much had it all taken down on Saturday, all except the plant shelf above the fireplace, but you need a ladder for that, and we ran out of time for that. So, Steve was nice enough to go get the ladder out and took down the stuff for me. While he was up there, he ended up dusting the shelf and cleaning the windows. Now, I don't know about your houses, but our house collects dust like mad. As in so much dust it looks like dirt. And the cobwebs (I already told you about the spiders - they are busy little buggers)... So, after dusting the plant shelf, cleaning the windows and knocking down cobwebs, it had to be vacuumed off the floor. So, I vacuumed.

Then, we decided (since we put the kids to bed at 7:30 - they had late nights all week!) we would hook up some electronics, especially since Jayden was in bed. That required moving out the entertainment center a bit, which revealed some more "dust" (read - dirt) behind the entertainment center, mostly on the baseboards, so more vacuuming and cleaning, etc. Then about half-way through Steve says that we are going to have to finish it tomorrow. "What! Why? The kids' are in bed..."

His reply? "It's Sunday and to finish I need to get my drill out..."

"But we just did all that cleaning and it was still Sunday..."

"Yeah, but the drill is a power tool..."

"So is the vacuum, but that didn't stop us."

And we finished. A little side note here, Steve then said, "This isn't going to end up on your blog now is it? You know, I'm just sayin'." I said no, but upon further inspection it IS an interesting subject.

So, truth be told, none of it was probably much of a "Sunday activity". However, Steve and I had a great time doing it, there wasn't any fighting, lots of laughter, and it's done, making my week this next week looking a whole lot more like I may actually get all the cleaning done I wanted before the kids go back to school. So, what's the verdict? Is it justification or what? I'm just sayin'.

Update

2008-12-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

OK, so I didn't get as much cleaning in yesturday as I wanted. I did everything but my room. Bummer because it stinks to spend so much time cleaning only to have a MOUND of laundry left on my bed. AND yes, it is still a mound I just shoved it on the floor and went to sleep. At least when the kids asked me what they could wear this morning I told them to look through the pile on my floor.

For the record on my post before this one, I may have said that Brad Pitt was yummy to look at, but George Clooney is more my type. At least the George Clooney from the old ER days.

I'm feelin' good today. I had a much needed break last night. I enjoyed spending some time with some of my probably best friends from around here. Sher left me some chocolates that she made, and I had them for breakfast. (The chocolate centers were my favorite BTW). Then when I went walking this morning, Kathy gave me some really good ideas for my kids for Christmas shopping, so I think I could actually be motivated to finish. Wouldn't that be nice.

I think I am even motivated enough to do my Christmas card and get it sent out soon. I am not however motivated enough to do that pile of laundry on the floor, I think that would ruin my mood.

Melissa's even doing good with her friends. In fact she even has a playdate scheduled with one for Thursday or Friday. So I am happy about that. I almost don't want to gush too much over this mood I am in right now because it seems like everytime I feel the world is right, something happens to ruin that, but for now I am just going to relish the fact that life is good, the kids are healthy, my house is mostly clean and I am happy. So here's me sending good vibes your way, I hope you are all great too! I'm just sayin'.

I'm not blogging tomorrow...

2008-12-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

I have decided right now that I am dedicating myself to cleaning my house so I am NOT going to blog on Tuesday. So, to make up for that I am going to do a quick post tonight.

Why do people pay to see LeAnn Rhimes sing? Is it just me or does her singing suck? Actually it isn't her singing so much as her enunciation of words. For example, there's that song "How Do I Live (Without you)" that she sings. It ends up sounding like...

HowdoI Lee wi ou ou?
I wannoo know?
HowdoI Bree wi ou ou if ou ever go?
HowdoI eer eer survie?
Howdahi, howdahi, O howdahi lee?

Trisha Yearwood sings that song much better than her hands down.

And what's with Nicolas Cage? I can't stand the guy. I have been told I have missed seeing some good movies like the National Treasure ones because I can't stand to watch the guy. He always looks like he is in pain to me. Like life just hurts him to look at anyone.

Some people I think, just make a bunch of money because they look good, not for much else. There is some pretty poor acting around. Take Brad Pitt for example, there are some roles that he has flat out nailed and then others that just leave you scratching your head. But his movies always make a ton of money because well, let's face it, he's yummy to look at.

I also don' know why some actors/actresses stoop. There are some people who really are great at acting on TV and they have made some poor movies just to be in a movie. I say hold out and do something respectable, or just stick to TV. I'm just sayin'.