Graduation

Tonight my neice graduates from high school. Last night, my other neice graduated from kindergarten. It's that time of year. Big changes for a lot of people. My baby gets his math trophy today. He completed all of his 50 in a minute tests. I'm so proud of him. I know when I was in second grade I didn't know my division problems up through the 9's. It's crazy! But, he worked so hard and did it! And today, he gets his reward. He is so excited. :0) And then tomorrow, he's no longer a second grader. It's over. Third grade here he comes. :0(

What is it about this time of year? So many changes all at once. School gets out, graduations happen, summer sports begin, people are getting married, {Ashlee will have her birthday}...it just gets crazy. I feel frazzled. There are so many things that are going on and that need to get done, I'm feeling pulled in 40 different directions.

Anyway...back to graduations. First of all...I'm not old enough to have a neice graduating from high school! But, my BIL is definitely old enough to have a daughter graduating...so I guess I'm stuck. :0)
Do you remember your graduation? In my high school they didn't have a valedictorian or salutatorian. Just a top 10. Weird huh? I was in the top 10. I walked with my friend, Travis. I had to nab him pretty quick because there were more girls in the top 10 than guys and I didn't want to be stuck walking with a chick. Graduates were supposed to be paired up boy/girl, but the top 10 sat on the front row and so we had to walk with each other. Yep...I got to him first. That's right! :0) And, I'm not sure why...but we were the first pairing to walk into the gym. The first of our class to enter the room. Nice, huh? And, because of this...I was the first to get a diploma. Oh yeah! At the end of the ceremony...to get all of the graduates out of their seats and together at the front of the room, they did this circular walk thing every year. Again..I was in seat #1, so I was in charge of leading the walk. In practice I did it perfect. At graduation....I was far too pump to try to keep a slower pace. I walked with the beat of the music, which was too fast, and ended up in the center of the room before everyone had made it up to the front. It was a mess. Oh well. Everyone made it up there anyway...and we tossed our caps up in the air. We were done! YAY! Then came the mess of trying to find where our hats had landed. :0) I found my hat, but the tassle was missing. Because I'm a snot...I picked up someone else's hat and stole theirs. Aren't I horrible? I couldn't NOT have my tassle. Yes, I'm a selfish brat. Or at least, I was when I was 18. :0) Ask my mom. :0)

I still remember so many things about that day. It was such an exciting time. High school was ending and we were off to live our lives. Such high hopes and optimism. I hope that's the way my neice is feeling. I know she's having a hard time right now. Going from childhood to adulthood is hard. Making big decisions for yourself and wanting to be independant, but still needing our parents....I don't envy her right now. I'm rooting for her though. She's a smart girl and she will figure it out.
Congrats to all the graduates out there! That will be me next year! Yahoo!

Come Home

A new song I thought I'd share with all of you. I love it. Listen and you'll see why. It's 'Come Home' by OneRepublic. Enjoy!

Basement Update

So, we are nearing completion! Finally! Hallelujah! Only a few minor things need completed. Because we were so close, we started moving stuff into the basement. Let me show you around!

This is the tv area. The windowsill still needs to be put in and the cover for the plumbing access. Otherwise...this part is DONE!

This is my computer nook. It was initially built to be a storage room, but as I explained before, the computer needed to be put downstairs. I love my nook. :0)

This will be my craft room. As you can see, this one will be a work in progress. The windowsill still needs installed in here as well. This means the installation of my desk space has to be put on hold. :0( He won't be able to reach the windowsill after the desk is put in. I'll keep you posted on how it goes in here. :0)
This is the main area of the basement. Jaysen went and got the pool table from our old house on Saturday and put it up. It needs refelted, so we can't play on it yet, but at least it's in place! :0) This pool table was my grandparents. They got a new one a few years back and gave this one to me. Score! This is the table I grew up with. That doesn't mean I'm good though. Trust me. It has seen better days.....but it was free! Can't beat that!
Yes! The toilet and sink are in! Wow! Crazy huh? I haven't gotten a real shower curtain up yet, just the liner. I can't decide what to do down here. I want it to be something fun, but don't want it to be too silly. You know? Any ideas?
Poor Landon is still camping out. The baseboards aren't installed in his room yet. So, his bed is in the middle of the floor. This is the one room I haven't been able to straighten up yet and it drives me crazy!
Sorry for the bad lighting in this picture. This is the play room. {Obviously} With my sons soccer shorts on the floor. {Nice, huh?} As you can see, it's not fully finished yet either. The main water valve is what you see in the corner there. Dumb house builder put it in the most retarded spot. Sigh. Anyway, we have to build a little cabinet around it, and the windowsill still needs to be installed.

Anyway...there is your update! We absolutely LOVE our basement. It's been nice to hang out down here. I am the reigning air hockey champ. If you'd like to challenge me....bring it on! :0) Once everything is completely finished I am totally having a party to celebrate. :0) It will be fabulous! You are all invited. I have a guest bedroom....I'll totally put you up for the night.

Indiana Jones?

SO, the hubby and I made it to the theater this weekend to watch the latest story in the Indiana Jones saga. Indiana Jones is now OLD. He is portrayed that way in the movie too. So, don't think they were going to try to fool you into thinking he was young still. :0) Though the movie was fairly good, I was left disappointed. It wasn't artifacty like the other ones. I don't want to ruin the whole thing for you, but the "magical" element that most Indiana Jones movies have behind the artifact was, well....dumb. It wasn't like the others.

It didn't help that the hubby and I watched a special on the SciFi channel last week about Crystal Skulls. So, there wasn't ever a real surprise for us. We knew what was coming. So, I think that might have ruined it for us. Oh well.

It was good though! Don't NOT go and see it because of my opinion. Most people have really liked it. Like I said, I think we ruined it for ourselves.

Next on my list of movies to watch? The next Will Smith movie. He's a superhero....a drunk superhero. It looks interesting. :0)

Cinderella

Was just introduced to this song and thought I would share it with all of you. It is a tear jerker...especially if you have a daughter of your own.

It is the music video followed by the story of how he wrote the song. If you make it through to the story portion, you will learn that he wrote this story for his two daughters. Unfortunately, the older of the two {she just turned 5 years old} just passed away. I'm sure this song means more to him now than it ever did before.

Anyway...enjoy the song. Have a fabulous weekend!

4 years and counting

I was a single mom. Because of this I had to work full time. My son was my entire life at that point and so dating wasn't really important to me. I worked all day, so my nights were dedicated to him. The only dating I did back then was blind dates. My friends would set me up with some guy and it would never make it past a second date. If there was no connection, it wasn't worth it to me to keep it going. Fun dating wasn't an option, because it took precious time away from my son. My neighbor set me up with a guy from one of her college classes. She said we were a perfect fit because I was a "Molly Mormon" and he was a "Norman Mormon". Ummm....ok. She obviously didn't know me as well as she thought she did. :0) She knew I loved to bake and that I loved family time. Apparently that makes you a Super-Mormon or something. {If that's the case...a lot of you that aren't Mormon now qualify as Super Mormon. :0) } Anyway, he came over...and brought his roommate along with him. What? And he came over at 10:00 pm. Ummm....3 year old son. Bedtime....he obviously had no clue. But, I figured I would endure him for a short period of time and he would then graciously leave. It didn't happen that way. He was oblivious to my hints for him to leave. And the conversation? He bore his testimony to me and talked about how his mission made him strong. What? On the first date? Sigh....my son tried to throw him a ball, and he didn't even know how to interact with the kid. He was clueless. The date was HORRIBLE. Blind date hell is how I like to refer to it. I swore I would never go on another blind date after that.

I was an assistant manager at an apartment community at that time. It was after this horrible experience that one of my residents {who I knew from high school} told me that her cousin {who I also went to high school with} had someone she wanted to set me up with. Really? Are you kidding me?

I was such a snot. I told her that I would think about it, but that my answer would be no if his name was Jason {I had already dated a couple of them since getting divorced. I figured they were bad luck} or if he was divorced {because when couples divorce it's always the mans fault right? Can you tell that I was still a little bitter towards men? And how hypocritical could I be? I was divorced for heaven's sake!} I really think I just didn't want to go through another horrible blind date again. Another guy that wouldn't cut it. It was kind of depressing. I had actually just resigned myself to being ok with being a single mom forever. It wouldn't be so bad right?

I ended up saying yes even though his name did turn out to be Jaysen {at least it's spelled differently right?} and he was divorced. I honestly wasn't holding out much hope. I told my friend from high school that we had to double date because there was no way I was going alone with some stranger. So, on October 9, 2003 we all went to Chili's for dinner {Jaysen picked me up at my house though} and then we went bowling. I tied him. Best game I've ever bowled...124! At that point we separated from my friend as they had to get home to their babysitter. Jaysen and I went to Dairy Queen for dessert and stayed there until they closed. I still wasn't sure about him after that first date. We went out again a week later. This time it was just the two of us. We went to see a Nicholas Cage movie and then out for dessert afterwards. We talked for hours again. He liked 80s music. I was intrigued. I still wasn't sure if I liked him or not, but knew there was something. I figured even if we ended up really good friends, it wouldn't be a loss.

Date #3 was exactly a week after date #2 and exactly two weeks after date #1. It was like he wanted to make sure to give the "proper" amount of time in between them. It was during this date that I knew. Which was scary. He accidentally met my son that night. I hadn't introduced them yet because I didn't want Landon to get to know him if he was just going to disappear. But, there was a flood in one of the apartments and so I had to go take care of the emergency call after work. I rushed home to get ready and Jaysen showed up right after I did. I told him to sit down and wait because I needed to touch up a bit. Landon came out with his little basketball and Jaysen taught him how to "slamma jamma". It was adorable. Anyway...our 3rd date was great. He knew I loved photography and so he took me out to Shoshone Falls and gave me a photography lesson {he has a degree in it} with his fabulous camera and all the lenses and cool gadgets that went with it. Afterwards he took me to Sunsations, which is a spa, and hung out for an hour while I got a massage from a masseuse there. He paid for it. :0) And after that we went out to Johnny Carinos for dinner. {Italian...my favorite!} Again...we talked until they were closing. They had to kick us out. It was a fabulous date.

After that, I lost ten pounds. I was stressed out. Have you ever heard about people praying to know if the person they are dating are "the one"? I didn't do that. I prayed that if he wasn't the one that God would make him go away. I was scared because I knew I was falling for him and I didn't want to get hurt again. It was a horrible feeling. Luckily I had a friend that talked me through it and I made it through it. Jaysen never went away. And I'm so glad.

We were married May 22, 2004 in the Boise Temple. It's been four fabulous years. We added a new member to the family since then and are now complete. Landon and I weren't meant to be alone. We needed Jaysen and Kenzee to finish the circle. My heart is so full of love for this man who completely changed my world. He opened my heart up again, when I didn't know if I could let it. His unconditional love for me amazes me. His spunk makes life fun. His compassion and love for our children is truly one of the sexiest things about him. :0) I love him more and more every day. I can't wait for the years to come!

Just a couple of things....

First of all...congrats to David Cook for winning Season 7 of American Idol. He did a bang up job this season and won me over. I'll admit I didn't want to like him. But his originality and rock edge were hard to NOT like. You know? Plus, he fixed his ugly hair. This picture doesn't do him justice at all. This was from the beginning of the season when it was ugly. It's so much better now. And the soul patch is gone. Whew!

And then, I must tell you...I am typing this post.....

in my basement.

Yes, that's right. The computer has been moved into our little nook downstairs. It's perfect sized for our computer desk, filing cabinet, and bookshelf for my school stuff. I may just live in here. I'm on the computer enough....

I am loving this whole moving in process. Maybe because we're not really "moving", but finally able to fully unpack and put things away. And I can do it little by little at my own pace and do it in an orderly fashion. You know...the PROPER way. Instead of piles of boxes everywhere. This is way better.

Final thought here....

We had a friend over for dinner tonight. He's been a friend of Jaysen's since high school. I met him when Jaysen and I were dating. Awesome guy. He's been having a rough time this last year. My heart has gone out to him, but we haven't been able to connect because he's "Jaysen's friend". That sounds weird. What I mean is...though we get along great, it's more like acquaintences, even though it's been over 4 years. Tonight though....we were chatting and we found a link....a common thread....and he lit up! It was awesome. I know this sounds wierd....and I'm rambling here...but he immediately changed. It was like a switch. He realized I knew a little bit more about what he was going through than most. He wasn't alone.....and I love that I was able to help him see that. Maybe I really am going into the right profession. :0) He was so excited he left and came back and brought us movie bucks. It was so funny! :0) We thought he had left for the night, so when he walked back in I made fun of him. {Because that's what I do} He knew we were going to the movies this weekend and so he went and got them for us as a thanks for dinner. {We've fed him numerous times....}

I don't know if any of that even made sense...or if maybe you are wondering why I rambled on about it. It was just a real warm fuzzy for me tonight. I am going into Psychology and to know that I really can make a difference and help others to feel better is amazing. I can do this! And, I made a friend in the process. He's not just Jaysen's friend anymore! :0)

I hope you have a fabulous evening. Don't forget to watch So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow night! It's almost as good as American Idol!

On With The Show

I just barely watched this much talked about movie this last weekend. I heard good things, and then I heard that it was naughty. So, what does a person do? I can't very well make an educated decision about it if I haven't seen it right? :0) I loved it. I was shocked, surprised, saddened, humored.....it was great. Warm and fuzzy and a great story. It was reality. And sometimes reality sucks. Ellen Page did a fabulous job portraying the main character.

This is the movie we will be seeing this weekend. I can't wait. Who doesn't love a little Indiana Jones? I grew up watching the first three. We have been impatiently waiting for this one to come out. I'll let you know how it goes.

You Live, You Learn

Remember that song by Alanis Morisette? Just asking...

I have been learning all sorts of fabulous things from my two year old lately. I had no idea she was so insanely smart. I bet your toddlers are just as smart. In case they are 'slow' I'll share in the wisdom of my wee one....

1. If you want something....scream. whine. throw yourself on the floor if you have to. It may take several hours of this, but in the end your dad will give you whatever you want. It doesn't work with the momma. So, only use these tactics with the father figure. Sure, mom will be angry, but you get what you want. And that's all that matters right?

2. Dora is cute. Her songs are catchy. Learn them and sing them at the top of your lungs. Your parents will think you are cute too....like Dora.

3. If you want to sleep with your parents wait until 3:00 in the morning to crawl into bed with them. They will be to tired to do anything about it.

4. Dresses should be worn every day. It doesn't matter if everyone ends up seeing your panties. What's modesty? I haven't learned that word yet. And getting dirty? It's all part of the fun.

5. Markers are better than crayons. Especially for books, walls, and doors.

6. Doritos are a food group.

7. Whatever your brother can do....you can do it too.

8. Baths should be taken several times a day. If you get yourself dirty, your mom will make you take one. So get dirty a lot.

9. Learn phrases such as, "But, mommy....I want you." and "Mommy.......wuuuuuvvvv youuuuu." Use them frequently. They are heart melters.

10. Pretend you can't hear or don't understand. Your parents might let you get away with it. If they've caught you pretending...give them a sassy smile and do it anyway.

But I'm sure your toddlers knew all of this stuff too......

And how about you? Are you still alive?

So, how was your weekend? Mine.....

was psycho.

Friday was our school carnival. And, though we raised enough money to finish paying for our library bookshelves and still have some left over for next years Open House, the carnival itself was crazy. Not enough helpers. I was supposed to be a "wanderer" to ensure things flowed smoothly. What did I end up doing? Selling tickets for THREE hours. Why? Because the event coordinator didn't get enough people to cover it. I'm going to leave it at that, because otherwise I'll go off on a little tangent about how people shouldn't try to do EVERYTHING by themselves. Especially when help is being offered.

Friday was also the day that I found out.....

Even though my basement is completely done {just finish work left}, my contractor needs to move on to his next job. Yes. It's true.

Because I love my contractor {he's my cousin people! Don't be thinking bad things!} and because I know whose house he is working on next and I am excited for their basement to be done too....I can't be angry. He has promised that he will come work nights here to finish up. It shouldn't take much longer as we only have a few baseboards left to install, windowsills, handrail, and touch up painting left to do.

Since our basement is so near completion, we are able to start moving SOME things downstairs to declutter the upstairs. {Hallelujah!} So, Saturday we moved in "Old Blue", the tv was hung on the wall, and the moving process began. For clarification...Old Blue is the name of my hubby's old blue sectional. Yes, he named his couch. Let me explain....

The couch belonged to his parents. I think he said they had it in their basement. When he went off to college, he took it with him for his bachelor pad. That's where the sectional got it's name. Boys are wierd. What can I say? When I met hubby, Old Blue was in his tv room of his home. After we got married and moved into our first home together it was in our tv room. One day I decided that our house was arranged retarded and so the family room became the dining room, and the dining room/ living room became JUST the family/living room. More spacious. Better flow....you get the idea. This meant that Old Blue no longer had a place in our home. So, we plopped it in storage. Over two years later, it now has a place. Unfortunately. We were hoping to buy a new sectional. Do you know how much money those things cost? Holy cow! Yeah...we spent our couch money on carpeting for our upstairs {which wasn't in the initial plan, but was a MUST for my sanity}. So, the new sectional will have to wait until Uncle Sam sends us our nice rebate check in the mail. :0) Old Blue required some serious steam cleaning after two years in storage, and he doesn't look quite the same. BUT! It's still such a comfy couch. Seriously...comfy.

Anyway...back to the psycho weekend. Saturday was killer. My calves are burning from how many times I walked up and down the stairs. BTW...I forgot how much I hate stairs. Ok, not really. But on Saturday I was hating them. :0) I took my vacuum to them to pick up the left over carpet fibers from the installation process and yuck! Vacuuming stairs is NOT on my top ten things that are most fun!

Did I mention that my daughter did NOT take a nap all weekend? That we think there is REALLY something wrong with the sump pump downstairs? That I hate toddler beds because now my toddler WON'T stay in bed?

Sigh.

Here's to a new week! PTA is OVER! Hallelujah! The organizing of my basement can continue! hallelujah!

Did I mention that I got to alphabetize my DVD collection....only to find out that there is still another box of DVDs in the black hole garage. So, I'll have to re-order all of them once I find them. Oh well...at least I have a place to put them now!

Just reminding you....

Ah...the life of a golfers widow.....

Every Thursday night...I'm a loner. He leaves for work in the morning and doesn't get home until after the kids are in bed.

Did I mention Thursdays were REALLY long days for me?

The Evolution of the Family

I'm looking for some opinions here...and I know you all have them. :0)

My final project for one of my classes is an essay on THE FAMILY. I chose this topic because it means something to me. It's something I feel passionately about. I'm sure all of you can relate. :0) Because my word count is limited, I had to break down this topic to one aspect of THE FAMILY. I chose the "evolution" of the family. Meaning...how the family has changed over the last 50 years and has it changed for the better or has it gotten worse?

My view is that the strength of our children lies within the family unit. If we are a strong family unit, we have the ability to raise strong children. Sure, there are cases when "strong" can end up meaning "strong willed" and our kids rebel and do as they please. :0) BUT, if we instill values in them when they are young, we have a better chance of them living by those values as they grow older.

My question for you is this...

Are our children stronger than we were as children? Were we stronger than our parents? Were they stronger than theirs?

Are you seeing where I'm going with this? In the 1950s the family consisted of the "bread winning" husband, stay at home mom/wife, and several well behaved little children. Right? Everyone appeared to be clean cut. This was the "norm" for back then. This was the era my parents were born in. Television came out about this time. There was no internet. No text messaging or cell phones. You catching my drift? Entertainment was dependant on family and your friends in the neighborhood.

Today, there is no "norm" for the family unit. According to the 2000 Census, the number of married with children households was only 24.1 percent of the population. Numerous families are now what we call "mixed" families. "Step" and "half" parents and siblings are "normal". My family is not immune to this. I was previously married. During this marriage I had my son. I got divorced. I remarried my fabulous hubby and we had a daughter. My children are "half" siblings {though we don't see it as that} and my hubby is my son's stepdad {though he's just dad around here :0) } My ex-husband is remarried. My son has a step-mom as well. Two mom's and two dad's for that kid. They are expecting their first child. He will have another "half" sibling that lives in a different house from him. {Are you confused yet?}

On top of the "abnormalities" with the family unit now, the differences from 50 years ago are numerous.

1. Double income households. Both parents are working. I have been a working mom, a part-time working mom, and a stay at home working mom. :0) I'm not insinuating that one is better than the other. So, don't feel I'm picking on you whatever your situation. I will be going back to work once my daughter is in school all day. I'm just stating the difference. :0)

2. Fewer children per household. {Like my two kids vs. my moms 4 kids vs. my grandma's 8 kids} See the difference?

3. Technological advances. We've got internet, cable tv, video games, cell phones, text messages, and hop in our car whenever we feel like it to go wherever we want. Our new form of family entertainment is to find SOMETHING to entertain us vs. entertaining each other.

4. Stranger danger! I'm a freak when it comes to this. I worry about my kid getting kidnapped everytime I watch Law and Order. Back in the day, neighbors were neighborly. They looked out for each other, including the kids. Though I know a couple of my neighbors, I can't say that we "watch out" for each other. :0(

5. Pre-marital "relations". The whole "family values" thing was strong in the 1950s. Though not everyone saved themselves for marriage, it was more the norm. Nowadays, kids in Jr. High are getting to "know" each other.

So, let me ask again. Do we have stronger family units now? I know we all feel passionately about certain areas I've brought up here. Some areas more than others. Though we are an ever evoloving society, have we become better? Should we go back to the way it was in the 1950s? Maybe in some ways and not others?

Thanks for your opinions. It will help as I write my paper. Though I can't use your actual words because it's an expository essay, it will help me to focus more on certain aspects over others.

Just for fun....

I haven't done a meme in a while...so I thought I'd play along with Kathleen's today. If you want to play along...go for it! I won't tag you. I promise. :0)

1.Your name plus “ness.” Ashleeness {sounds like a great word to me! Everyone needs a little Ashleeness!}
2. Two feelings at the moment? overwhelmed and tired {wow...that's sounds pathetic!}
3. What are you listening to right now? Dora the Explorer is taking Benny the Bull to the wizard because he accidentally turned himself into a potato. Go figure...He should come to Idaho...we've got plenty of potatoes. :0)
4. Done anything you regret so far this week? I ate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups last night. During an 8 week challenge. Probably not the smartest thing....but they tasted really good!
5. Describe where you are right now? my dining room
6. The highlight of your week? When this dang carnival will be over and will be done with my PTA Treasurer duties FOREVER! HA HA HA!!!! {laughing crazily here}
7. What are you craving to have right now? Not craving anything really right now. Desperately wanting to move my living room full of toys into the basement...but that's for another post...
8. Who were the last people you went out to dinner with? Holly and Montay
9. What are you scared of? Harm coming to my family...I hate that feeling of dread....
10. Last movie you watched? In the theater it was Baby Mama, but you all knew that. :0) We watched Tom Sweeney, Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Johnny Depp the other night. It was wierd. It didn't help that poor Jaysen would sigh loudly everytime they broke into song. It's a musical! I'm not sure what he was expecting. They don't talk a lot in musicals...they sing EVERYTHING. :0)
11. Do you have feelings for someone? I have feelings for a lot of people. You must be more specific with the questions here. What kind of feelings are we speaking of here? Do I have feelings of hatred for someone? Not really... Feelings of love? YEPPERS!
12. What is your heritage? I am a proper English woman. :0) And I'm Danish too. Maybe that's why I like danishes so much!
13. Are you thinking of someone right now? No. I'm thinking about the answers to these questions.
14. Britney Spears is a skank. Agree or disagree? What? She really is EVERYWHERE! Even in blog meme's now! Wow. That's popularity! I disagree. Skank is such a mean word.
15. Last thing you downloaded on your computer? I don't remember. Probably when I updated to Microsoft Office 2007.
16. Have you changed much this year? Yes. I got older.
17. Say something about the person who posted this before you? She seems super nice, though I've never met her before. She always has warm, fuzzy posts. You should really stop by her blog!
18. Do you like moms? Ummm...I am a mom. So, of course. Mom's rock!
19. Hugs Or Kisses? depends on who they are from!
20. Say one of your friends and an inside joke with them. Wow...I haven't had an inside joke with someone in years. Those rock.
21. How many homes have you lived in? 25. Why do you ask?
22. ?? #22 is experiencing technical difficulties...please stand by
23. Who was the last person to text message you? I don't text.
24. Where was the last place you went besides where you are? I went to a PTA meeting last night. Last one of the year. Yahoo!
25. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb? When I was 10, people told me that I looked like Candace Cameron from Full House.
26. Do you speak any other language other than English? Si, muy pequito.
27. Last thing you watched on TV? I watched American Idol last night.
28. Do you dress for style or comfort? Mostly comfort...with a sassy pair of shoes. :0)
29. Name someone with the same b-day as you? I went to Jr. High with a girl that had the same bday as me.
30. Ever had a drunken night in Mexico? Nope. Not in Mexico. Is that fun?
31. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done? Scrubbing carpet just days before it is ripped out and replaced. You remember that post don't you? I claim temporary insanity. :0)
32. Favorite color(s)? BROWN and BLUE
33. What are your plans for tonight? Tonight will have to be homework.
34. What are you looking forward to tomorrow? Nothing exciting happening tomorrow. Maybe my toilet will be installed downstairs! Now that will be exciting!
35. Last time you smiled? Have I smiled yet this morning? I don't remember. I probably grinned at the wee one. She's too cute not to smile at.

BFF

I'm going to share a warm fuzzy with you here today about this handsome young man to the left here. Normally I write about my family in my family blog. But, there's another part of this story that I must discuss here with all of you. I'll get to that in a moment.

Landon's best friend, Hatim, is from Africa. They moved here last year. I live in Idaho. We are a bunch of white rednecks. :0) OK, so we're not. But the only color we see around here is in flowers. You catching my drift? Landon and his little friend have so much fun playing together. Landon will go over and play at Hatim's house, and then we'll swap the next time and they'll come over here. His friend is such a well behaved, nice little boy. :0) {Glad my son is picking nice friends}

So, to get to the story here...Landon came home off of the bus on Friday with a sad face. Normally when this happens it is because some punk kid on the bus has called him a name. My son is sensitive. He can get his feelings hurt very easily. So, I braced myself for his story of who said what on the bus that day. {Is it wrong that I want to beat these mean kids up?} But, that day his story was different. He told me that a kid made his best friend cry. This mean kid told Hatim that there was no way he'd ever let him come over to his house. I think there was more said, but that's all that Landon would pass on to me. To make his friend cry, something pretty mean must have been said. And because his friend was being picked on, it made Landon sad too.

Now for my warm, fuzzy. My littly boy told that mean kid that he didn't care what he said. That there was nothing that would ever keep him from being friends with Hatim and he would never stop going to his house to play. {Remember these kids are 8}

When my Landon told me that he said this, and that he had stuck up for his friend to the "mean kid" on the bus....my heart was practically bursting with pride. So, when Hatim called on the phone not 5 minutes later inviting him over to play.....how could I say no? We had plans and places to go. But, I couldn't say no. Could I? When I picked up Landon from his friends house his mom thanked me for letting Landon come over on such short notice. She said that her son would have been heartbroken if I had said no, so she was glad we weren't busy. Whew! Glad I let him go. She had heard the story of the "mean kid" too from her son.

Now for the discussion part of this post....the reason I posted this family story on my random blog. Why are kids SO mean? Landon gets made fun of for being smart. They call him a momma's boy, they tell him he's stupid for being smart...{doesn't make sense does it?} I hate seeing his head hung low as he walks home from the bus. I know something happened on the bus. It breaks my heart. I try to tell him to ignore them, but it's hard. I ALWAYS tell him that as long as he knows he's not stupid or any of the mean things they say about him, then that's all that matters. Because those mean kids don't know him. They're just mean. But it still hurts his heart, which means it hurts mine. I remember being picked on in elementary. It affected my self esteem for years.

So...discuss! Honey Bunch posted about this type of thing today as well. I feel helpless at times. What can I do? What do you do?

Sharing is caring! So...share! :0)

At Least They Are Understanding The Need...

They want an awesome mommy....they need to let the momma go! To my monthly girls nights anyway...

Happy Mother's Day!

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along. ~Margaret Culkin Banning

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

[A] mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled. ~Emily Dickinson

Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother. ~Beverly Jones

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

There's nothing like a mama-hug. ~Adabella Radici

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, "where mother is." ~Keith L. Brooks

The Beat Goes On....

Do you remember that song?

OK, so the beat is not continuing...but my massive organizing spree is! :0)

The carpet is now in the bedrooms! Yahoo! All three upstairs bedrooms had to be emptied COMPLETELY to allow them to install the new carpeting. Even the closets. So, when he was done in MY bedroom, it was time for me to put things back. Time to re-organize shoes right?

These are my shoes. Well, some of them. These cubes hold my heels, jogging shoes, and other lace ups. I think I have 31 pairs of shoes in this baby. Some squares are holding two pairs of shoes. See that one square with the single pink shoe and the single red shoe? That's because their mates are behind them. I did that with a couple of the cubes. :0)

These are the rest of my shoes. They are really parked in the other half of my closet, but for picture purposes {to show my true obsession with shoes} I placed this rolling shoe cart in front of my cubes. :0) This cart holds my flip flops and sandals. Do you see the holes at the bottom? That means I need more shoes to fill the holes with! :0) Actually two pairs of sandals were missing amongst the mess that is currently my living room. So, I really only have six empty squares. But still!

And since we are on the subject of shoes....do you love my recent shoe acquisition? They go with my sassy new dress that I will be wearing on Mothers Day. :0)

Anyway...back to the point here. Organized shoes means you are able to find that cute pair that goes just PERFECT with your outfit. It also means they don't get ruined as easily. Now...go. Organize! And buy some shoes! :0)

Flashback Friday Week 9

So, we have now said goodbye to my years in Texas. The summer before I went into 7th grade my family moved to Hagerman, ID. This town has a population of 2. I'm kidding. It's about 500. Seriously this time.

Why Hagerman? My parents decided to buy the Rock Lodge. It was an inn located on Billingsley Creek. This picture is what was in my backyard. The Inn was one of those getaway type places with little log cabins for people to run away for the weekend in. We lived on site. Now, I'm sure all of you are thinking this is fabulous. But, for us, it meant cleaning hotel rooms after school. This was a family run business. I learned at a young age about "sanitizing for your safety" and how to check someone in to their room. Yes, it was my very first job, and I was 12.

Jr. High was when I had my very first boyfriend. His name was Shane. He sat in front of me in class. Yes, my one class. Even though it was Jr. High, because the town was so small, my entire 7th grade class fit into one classroom. The 8th grade class met in the room next to ours. And these 2 Jr. High classes were a part of the High School. It was crazy. Anyway...back to my "boyfriend". By boyfriend, I mean we had a crush on each other. That was it. Yeah....boys were still kind of wierd for me. Cute....but wierd.

Being 12 years old now also meant that I got to go to Young Womens at church. This was HUGE for me. I had waited impatiently for over a year to be able to go to YW. My mom was the Stake YW President when we were in Texas and so I always got to hear about all of the fabulous things that the older girls were doing. I was dying to be a part of it. My Beehive teachers did not let me down. They were great.

And, one of the best parts about this move was that we were closer to family. My grandparents and several aunts and uncles live here and so, we were now a mere 45 minutes away from them. Much better than 2,000 miles. :0)

I Can't Help Myself

Today was a long day. My dresser is in the dining room. :0) The bedrooms are torn apart as we try to rearrange things for the carpet layers to come and do the bedrooms of Friday. The were pre-booked for today and tomorrow, so they can't come back and finish up until the end of the week. I'm not complaining. It will give us {or rather me} enough time to re-situate things to make way for that phase of the complete destruction of my home. :0) I mean...re-construction. Did I mention I love my new carpet? It's beautiful. It's like a whole other house. I can't wait to ditch it in the bedrooms too.
Anyway...back to my long day. I came home from my PTA meeting last night to Jaysen telling me he decided to haul the Air Hockey table downstairs. It's all set up. What? Brandon...I am so sorry. I know I already told you that three times today...but I'm repeating myself. In writing. The hubby can't help himself. It's his "man space" and he's dying to set it all up. Though I realize the table is completely in the way, he is oblivious to this fact. Sigh. Did I mention that I'm sorry?

The electrician was here today finishing up his work down in the basement. {I can't explain that one, but there has been frustrations in that area.} But...he did finish! And look at my pretty new lights!

I went to do one of my assignments, but realized it was not possible because when we moved the computer out of the bedroom last night and put it back into the dining room {This desk has some SERIOUS miles on it!} until we can then move it into the basement, the speakers were not hooked back up. I couldn't find them. Needed the speakers to listen to the presentation that I was supposed to critique. Sigh. It's not due yet, but I like to have all of my assignments done by Thursday so I have the weekend to rest and play. {Hubby is lovingly hooking up said speakers as I type this. He's such an awesome guy.}
So, I decided to go to Lowe's {NOT HOME DEPOT. LOVE YOU MONTAY!} and purchase the slab of wood I will be turning into my desk workspace in my new craft room. It will fit in my car right? I can just lay down the seats all the way up to the front and they'll slide right in. I had it all figured out. So, off Kenzee and I go to Lowes. The nice man there cuts it for me to just the right measurements and another nice gentleman helps me out to the car with it. Wood is heavy! He begins to slide it in the car...and guess what? Today is the day I realize my front passenger side seat DOES NOT fold forward. Nope. Not even a little bit. The wood does not fit. Good thing I live in Idaho, where it is perfectly acceptable to use twine to tie something inside of a car {I drive a Pacifica} and even more twine to tie the hatchback down. They actually have a big box of it inside the exit door for people just like me. The guy loading my car was a pro at it. The wood didn't even budge the entire way home. Of course I drove like an old lady the whole way {15 miles per hour}. I wasn't about to have that wood fly out the back of my car. That's the last thing I needed. And yes, there was a pile of cars behind me for quite some time. I think several of them turned down side streets to find an alternate route. :0) For you locals...no, I did not take Blue Lakes. I'm not that stupid.
And, finally....to indulge my inner OCD...I began the process of going through Landon's "mess" to see what will be going in his new room and what will be going into the play room {and what ended up in the garbage. But SH! Don't tell him!} The poor kid is sleeping on the floor right now. His bed has been moved downstairs, but downstairs isn't ready for him. So, he's camping out in his bedroom. Thankfully, he thinks it's fun. :0) I don't think I could say the same.
As part of this indulging, I began organizing his puzzles. Landon started putting those 100 piece puzzles together when he was 3. He loves puzzles. He amazes me. He doesn't even have to look at the picture to be able to put the puzzle together. {that's what I have to do.} He just starts matching them up like it's a piece of cake. It's crazy. Anyway...needless to say, he has OODLES of them because of this. But the boxes can only be taped back together so many times. And, they take up a lot of space. So, I solved that problem tonight as I watched Jason Castro get booted off American Idol. :0)

I cut the picture off the top of the puzzle box and dumped the puzzle pieces as well as the picture of what the puzzle was into a ziploc bag. I can now put these in ONE tupperware {see through of course} and save SO much space. And, there is no longer the worry of another box breaking open and puzzle pieces spilling everywhere.

This re-organizing stuff is almost naughty for me. :0) I can't help myself. I truly love it. I know...I'm crazy. But I get some serious satisfaction out of organization. Yes, I have OCD. So sue me! :0)

Yahoo! Basement Update!

People! I've got carpet! Really! Well, mostly anyway. The bedrooms need to be tacked down still, but other than that, the basement has been carpeted! I went downstairs last night and did little carpet angels. :0) I'm not kidding either. Mackenzee joined me. Giddiness overtook me. I went and got all of the DVDs that have been scattered around my house and started organizing them in preparations for the official move downstairs. {I know...I'm a dork}
See? Old, ugly carpet that was never meant for children because it's WAY too light...and beautiful brown carpet below. This picture actually makes it look a lot darker than it really is.
See? It's not as dark as you thought. Do you also see the stacks at the end of the room? That's the stacks of stuff that were piled in my dining room. And now they don't have to be in the way anymore! Yahoo!
This is "the closet" and the tv room. Isn't it gorgeous? Ok...so it's just painted walls and carpet. BUT STILL! Do you know how long I've waited for this? MONTHS! And we are at the end of all of it now! Hallelujah!
The DVD shrine the hubby had Brandon install for us. No, it's not crooked. The picture is. Or maybe it's the picture taker? I was kind of loopy from the smell of the carpet glue!
And, because hubby worked so hard....here is the bathroom tile. He did it this last weekend. I know it's just an edge shot here...but the bathroom is full of stuff. We had to shove it all in there while they carpeted. But, didn't he do a good job? Kudos to the hubby!

They are coming back today to finish up downstairs and then put in the carpet in the living room and hallways upstairs. My polka dotted living room carpet will be NO MORE! You name a color...and it's on my floor. Can't wait for it to disappear. :0) And the threat has gone out to my children! Though the carpet was pre-polka dotted when we moved in, the pink polka dots are from my daughter. {Go figure} I fear I will become Nazi mommy. "Take your shoes off!" "No food on the carpet!" Sigh. What can you do?

Dating Myself

On Friday night I went and saw Baby Mama at the theater. By myself. Let me address the first sentence...and then I'll address the second {incomplete} sentence. {Sorry about that incomplete bit, my English teacher would kill me for writing a two word, incomplete sentence like that.}

Jaysen rushed home Friday morning to help me rearrange the stuff in the basement. We were supposed to have carpet installed {it's getting installed today instead} and they were going to be here earlier than we had anticipated. We had to shove as much stuff into the bathroom down there as possible so that the area to be carpeted would be clear and ready for them when they got here. As we sat upstairs afterwards chatting before he went back to work he tells me that it's such a gorgeous day, and he's pretty much caught up for the week, so he might just golf that afternoon. Sigh.

Did I mention that I was a golfer's widow during the summer? Yep. That's me. So, me being the whiney wife that I am, I asked when it was my turn to take the afternoon off to go and play. He golfs every Thursday night, and has already gone several afternoons and evenings and Saturdays to "his" golf course. I'm not even going to tell you how much we have spent on his membership to the Jerome Country Club AND the space rental for his golf cart. Oh wait...you didn't know? Yes, we acquired a golf cart this last year in anticipation for all the times he'd be taking out Mackenzee this year. It was necessary right? :0)

Anyway...back to the story...I'm a whiney wife...remember? So he says, "Go and do something then." Like what? We spent all of our money on this basement project {and his golfing habit} and so I don't feel comfortable just taking an afternoon to go shopping {though that's what I'd really love to do!} So, he said to go to the movies. Hmmm....I could do that. I don't think he realized I was going to do it THAT NIGHT though. So, he was surprised when he got home and I told him he was on his own at bedtime. :0)

And...my movie of choice? Baby Mama! The commercials looked hilarious.....{to me anyway!} I did call a couple of my friends to see if they wanted to go. But they were both busy. {What? Other people have stuff going on...they have lives? Not fair!} I could have called a couple of other friends...but honestly...I was worried about the content of the movie. I know...that sounds horrible. The movie is rated PG13, but nowadays, that doesn't always mean "appropriate". Now, I'm a grown up. So, I'm allowed to go to even the worst of movies if I so choose {I don't!}, and then I can choose to walk out if they are too yucky. But PG13 isn't horrible people! Can you tell I'm trying to explain away my worries that the actors may have said some questionable things in a movie about a woman hiring a surrogate to have her baby? Yeah....Back to asking other friends to go. Remember when I said it looked funny to me? I wasn't so sure it would look funny to them. Make sense?

ANYWAY......................so I went by myself. Have you ever done that before? I have. Not too bad. Seriously...give it a go sometime. And the movie? It was good! I wouldn't say it was the best movie I've ever seen..but it was good. NOT naughty. And though it was funny...it was warm and fuzzy too, and partly romantical as well. Kind of like a funny chick flick about friendship and life. No, I won't be buying it when it comes out. But it was good. I could have invited those other friends to it. Sigh. Oh well. I was a pretty good date for myself. :0)

Flashback Friday Week 8

Before I leave the Texas years of my life and move on to explaining the Idaho portion of it to you...I thought I would fill in a few things that didn't make it in my original flashbacks. :0)

A few were left out because I was unsure of exactly when things happened {I was 6-11 years old!} or because I didn't remember them until later on. So, here you go....the remains....

Because we lived so close to San Antonio and my aunt and uncle lived there, we were able to go to Sea World while we lived in Texas. I don't remember my exact age. I remember loving the shows and came home with a stuffed Shamu. :0) We were there ALL day. It was fabulous!

When I was in 6th grade, my older sister was in High School. So, she went to seminary. She would get up in the wee hours of the morning and go off to seminary and then hitch a ride to the high school from there. Well, one morning Harlingen, TX decided to have a flood. My sister had left for Seminary before it got really bad. But, school ended up being cancelled that day because all of the roads were full of water. Normal cars couldn't drive in it. "Luckily" our car was in the shop, and our temporary ride was a Dodge Ram. This was lucky, because we had no idea where my sister was. So, my mom piled us in the Ram and we slowly made our way through town trying to find out where she was. {This was pre-cell phone days people!} It was crazy to see the abandoned cars in the road. We did find her, though I don't remember where. The water was so high in the streets that after the storm broke my friend told me her family pulled out their canoe and paddled through the water in it. Crazy, huh?

Just realizing what a crazy place Texas is to live. I've talked about hurricans, tornadoes, and now a flood. All in the space of 5 years. Yikes!

Honestly, I loved living in Texas. There were so many fabulous people there, and it was almost always warm. When we moved to Idaho we all had to go out and buy REAL coats, because all we owned were light jackets. That's all we needed in Southern Texas. :0)

There was one thing about living there that was wierd for me. And it's still wierd for me even now. I remember watching a news story about the teenage pregnancy rate when I was in 5th or 6th grade. It showed a picture of a 10 year old girl bottle feeding HER baby. Yes, HER baby. First of all, 10 year olds having their cycle....crazy! I know it occasionally happens...but wow! And then, 10 year olds doing "the deed"? Seriously? I didn't even like boys when I was ten! Eleven was when I started to giggle at them. Jr. High I started thinking that I liked them FOR REAL. But, I was 14 before I even held hands with a boy! And remember...this isn't nowadays this 10 year old was having her baby...this was in 1991! Seventeen years ago! Kids aren't supposed to be having kids! I knew that even back when I was 11. When I was in 6th grade they had teen mothers come around to my class to tell us to abstain because they wish they had. Then, there was I class I took in 6th grade that taught us ways to "say no" to boys. Seriously? Wow! I know...the world is a scary place...but I still think back on it and shake my head. Kids are supposed to just be kids! I sometimes wish I could just lock mine up so they don't have to be exposed to the "naughty" things in the world. Sigh...

I'm off my tangent now. This was supposed to be a flashback...not a soap box commentary. :0)

Anyway...like I said last week...6th grade was my last year in Texas. We moved to Idaho the summer before I went to Jr. High. But, you'll have to wait until next week to get the scoop on that! :0)