The Project

They aren't done yet, so I don't have a picture of the finished product. However.

Over Christmas Dave and Kelly (my favorite brother-in-law ever) worked diligently on a project for me. They went to Home Depot, bought some wood, and proceeded to build a huge bookshelf/entertainment center for me in the basement. This required measuring a lot, dealing with a not straight wall, cutting a lot, driving back and forth to Tooele to use the table saw a lot, a lot of a lots. Let's just put it that way.

A LOT of work.

Hours and hours of it.

The Prince of the woodworking world. Norm's the King.

Almost ready for priming and painting.

Now I need a tv.

Multi-tasking

Ask me what I am doing right now and I will say...

I'm listening to my Spanish Immersion cd's so that I can become fluent. I'm gearing up in two minutes for a phone interview with the President of a company who has applied for one of my positions. And....I'm pedaling.

That's right - pedaling my little bike pedals that fit under my desk. I ride it periodically throughout the day now. With my heartrate monitor on. And in six hours of doing it sporadically I have burned 1300 calories.

I'll take it.

Amusing

Ya know those mean girls from Junior High? The ones that are popular and that are mean to you even though there is no reason? Yeah, now you know who I mean. Unless you WERE one and then a) Shame on You! and b) I hope you have changed and are nice now.

So today I got an invite on facebook that surprised me. C.R. asked to be my friend. I have to say that I hesitated to add her. C.R. Wow. C.R. is one of those people that for years I thought, "If only I NEVER have to see her again I can live a happy life." But I am one of those non-grudge holding people, ya know. We've discussed that. And she did write, "Hello friend from GRADE school!!! I can't believe how many memories Facebook is bring back...like playing @ ur Mom's house after school. Weren't there black shutters? I hope all is well - what have u been doin over the years?"

Except for the fact that she wrote u instead of you, I thought the tone was nice and friendly. So I added her.

Then she sent me a message that said:

Hi Heidi -
It's so fun to hear from you. Your pictures are so entertaining - You did a great job of preserving those 80's pics - Believe me, I wore the same stuff and had my hair the same way!
Your daughter is beautiful and you are too! Wow, you haven't changed much - except for the 'do!
How was North High? I dated Scott McCabe during most of high school, who would have been 3 yrs older than us but he still had plenty of friends there. Unfortunately, he was murdered in '97 by Joey DeLuca (remember him?).
I went to Central High, then to ASU. What about you? Did you go to college? Where do you live? You and ur husband make a really cute pair.
I hope you are happy and have a wonderful New Year. Please keep me updated - you were such a cutie in grade school :-)

Seriously? A cutie? No, not a chance. And the "Unfortunately, he was murdered..." That's sort of a weird way of putting it. And for the record, I don't remember either of those guys.

And this is why I love facebook. Because 23 years later you get to find out that C.R. thought you were a cutie in grade school. It's helping me heal from the Mean Girls.

Sometimes there are just no words.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

I'm Sorry! I'm Sorry! Blame my "mother"!

Here is the thing.

I grew up with a mom that corrected my English constantly. It has been deeply ingrained in me since birth. Therefore hearing incorrect English, or seeing incorrect English is like nails on a chalkboard for me (unless I like, do it myself). I'm a stickler for spelling and punctuation, too. I'm glad that blogger has a spell check.

Christmas is a particularly difficult time of year for most people when it comes to punctuation.

For example, I recently received a card from my cousins that said, "Love, The Smith's." Smith is not their last name. What went through my head was, "The Smith's what?"

Love, The Smith's dog?

No apostrophe needed. It's just "Love, The Smiths". That's all.

I was discussing this with my friend Lisa who I can count as one of my snobby literate friends, when she pointed out the misuse of quotation marks that runs rampant in the world.

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

Now this is going to bug me, too.

We all have our thing. Please don't hate me because this is mine!

Lots of Stuff

This past week we had Josh's preschool program, Clara's preschool program, and a great deal of snow. We braved the blizzard and met our friends at Harvest last night (favorite restaurant) to celebrate their little girl's birthday, and then came back to our house to hang out. It was picture taking Nirvana. This morning we had our ward Christmas breakfast where the kids got to see Santa/Ho-Ho Christmas (which is Clara's name for him).

Music

I am not a music guru. I'm not. I love music. I leave the guru stuff up to Kacy and Carly. My taste is eclectic and I honestly cannot tell you anything on the radio these days unless it is on K-Love. And you can mock me, but it's good music. I've even converted a few people to listen to it. It's uplifting and I don't have to change the station for my kids.

Anyway, there are a few songs that are my "defining" songs. Like I said - eclectic.

1. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel - this song is timeless for me. If it came out now I would still love it. And not just because of my timeless crush on Lloyd Dobler. It's more because of my crush on Dave Totten. He doesn't want to buy anything sold, bought, or processed, either.

2. "All I Want is You" by U2 - it is so intense. It is so powerful. And I loved that they used it in "Reality Bites".

3. "Purple Rain" by Prince - I don't know - I had a thing for Prince in the 80's. I like most of that album - a few songs glaringly excepted.

4. "Rainmaker" by Hans Zimmer - This is actually from the soundtrack to "The Power of One". I like to listen to it turned way up. I love African music. It's very spiritual. This isn't the complete song, unfortunately. I would recommend it.

5. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" sung by Josh Groban - I like his version because Josh Groban's voice has an addictive chemical in it. Like Kentucky Fried Chicken. Two points if you can figure out that reference. Seriously, though, this song pretty much sends my soul soaring.

Brand Spankin' New Office

For the past year and a half I have worked from home on a roll top computer desk with about 15 cubbyholes and not a lot of workspace. Thanks to a decent year, I could afford to buy new office furniture (and use it as a tax write off - bonus!) and it arrived this week. Try not to be green with envy. I'm just sayin'. :P
The problem is that now I just want to be in here non-stop. I have a much better view of the Sudweeks' house. I can even see the Taylors' front door in case they want me to spy on them, too.
But really - I will now be so much more productive and make twice as much money and I'll take all of my blog readers on a cruise. :)

Maybe.

Sucky Mom Award - 10 Reasons I Win Today

I should know that if I don't wake up and immediately take a shower it is going to be a downhill day.

1. Loads and loads and loads of laundry because it has been two weeks and we should never go two weeks without doing laundry.

Reminder: Laundry doesn't wash itself.

2. Cheerios all over the carpet that I had just barely vacuumed. Not just all over, though. Stepped on and ground in.

Reminder: Make carpet cleaning appt.

3. Hear the words, "Mom?!" yelled in a panic. Enter bathroom to find Josh nekkid with poop smeared all over the toilet seat with the toilet paper in a nice heap on the floor.

Reminder: Just because they are five, doesn't mean they can't act like they are three.

4. Get an email saying that we are doing "secret santa" at work with a $25 limit and we are giving them on Friday. Had no plans to go into the office on Friday due to work party Thursday night. Now have to spend another $25 on something not budgeted.

Reminder: Send out a reminder email next July to schedule Holiday party earlier in December, along with any other fun things they want to do.

5. Office furniture not being delivered until 6pm, but the office is a disaster and there is no way to FIT the office furniture in.

Reminder: Don't do anything non-Holiday related during the Holidays.

6. Trying to decide whether or not to start South Beach, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Slimfast, or Sonoma diet due to feeling exceedingly puffy due to excessive Holiday treats.

Reminder: None of those diets have worked long term in the past. May as well stay puffy.*

7. Lots of snow the week before Christmas and I am not positive where the sleds are.

Reminder: Put sleds in garage around Halloween just in case.

8. I'm out of caffeine free diet coke.

Reminder: Get some.

9. I'm almost out of popcorn.

Reminder: Get some.

10. I FORGOT THAT JOSH IS "STAR STUDENT OF THE WEEK" at preschool and didn't make him a poster and his response was, "It's ok, Mom. I understand. I'll tell my teacher and we'll work it out."

Reminder: Put the kids first.

*I will not say "fat" because as we now know, there are good fats and bad fats. :)

Holiday Humor

I can totally picture this happening to me! My mother in law sent this to me. I'm sure as a warning...

THE
GOOD NAPKINS... ahhhhh...
the joys of having Girls...

My mother taught me to read when I was four years old (her first
mistake). One day, I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet
doors was ajar.

I read the box in the cabinet. I then asked my mother why she was keeping
'napkins' in the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen?

Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she told me that those
were for 'special occasions' (her second mistake).

Now fast forward a few months.... It's Thanksgiving Day, and my folks are
leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for dinner. Mom had assignments
for all of us while they were gone.

Mine was to set the table.

When they returned, my uncle came in first and immediately burst into
laughter. Next came his wife who gasped, then began giggling. Next came
my father, who roared with laughter.

Then came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when she saw each place
setting on the table with a 'special occasion' Kotex napkin at each
plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the
little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge!!

My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my response sent the
other adults into further fits of laughter.

'But, Mom, you said they were for special occasions!!!'

Isn't it easier to just tell the truth?! ????????

Preamble to the Constitution

I give this a big AMEN! I saw it on a friend's blog. My feeling lately when I hear people spout of what is legal/not legal, is that we should all go back and read The Constitution! It's amazing what people think are "rights" in this country.

The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA. This guy should run for President one day...

'We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and
secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights.'

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives
independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are
quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. (AMEN!)

ARTICLE IX: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X: This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from! (Lastly....)

ARTICLE XI: You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!

If you agree, share this with a friend. No, you don't have to, and nothing tragic will befall you if you don't.. I just think it's about time common sense is allowed to flourish. Sensible people of the United States speak out because if you do not, who will?

Cookie Day!

Last year we started a new tradition of Cookie Day at Ms. Mert's house. This is an epic production, my friends. As in - 9-10 different types of cookies/bark/oreo balls. It takes planning, concentration, diet coke, and chocolate. We were armed with all four going into the day.

We started at 10:00am with Ms. Mert, Ms. Hilari, and Josh making a gingerbread house.

Mert, Josh and Hilari

Then I took the kiddos home and we started in on the good stuff. I made oreo balls, nutter butter balls, and peppermint bark to start. We made the peanut butter cookies with kisses, cranberry and white chocolate cookies, oatmeal cookies, and sugar cookies (santas and wreaths). This year we decided to try something new. Hilari and I spent much of the afternoon making chocolate lollipops in a variety of flavors. Chocolate cherry, Vanilla Cinnamon, Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate mint with crushed candy cane, White Chocolate oreo, and one other that escapes me. It was a fun addition and we made a ton. Mert had flavorings and molds so we just went to town. I think we will include those every year and get creative on the flavors and molds.

When all was done we were wiped out, but happy. Full of sugar, but happy.

2 Signs I am Getting Old

1. I can't name a single brand name of jeans. Seriously - not a single one.
2. Chocolate and Chipotle regularly give me heartburn. Almost to the point where it isn't worth it.

I'm only willing to come up with two at this point. I don't want to scare off any of my younger friends. They might not want to hang out with me if they realize that I wear Lee jeans when no one is looking. I mean Liz & Co. I'm assuming that is Liz Claiborne? If not, Liz who? Don't tell me. I don't care.

I'm not even touching the chocolate and chipotle thing.

A Simple Problem

Tonight Kristen hosted our third annual Christmas book club, which consists of a dinner and book exchange. It is always my secret most favorite Christmas party because not only do I know everyone there, I know them well, and everyone is very comfortable with one another after so many years in this club.

Kristen is the perfect person to play hostess for this particular month because she is the queen of making everything look like it is straight out of Martha Stewart or Real Simple. This year was no exception! She even had parting gifts of homemade bread. She never ceases to amaze me with her fun ideas.

So what is my problem? I have signed up to host book club in March. And since that really is only a couple of months away, I decided to get on the ball and find a book so that I can get it read over the Holidays. I jumped on Barnes and Noble and figured it would be easy. I would look at best sellers.

Right.

Did you know every best seller is written by either Barack Obama or Stephenie Meyer?

So I went to Good Reads in order to scour Kacy and Tara's lists. Kacy's are weird and eclectic and of the neurotic self-help genre. Just kidding - they aren't. She is extremely well-read. But most of her books are not the easy fiction that my group requires. So I went to Tara's list for help. She has reviewed 525 books. I'm still trying to get over that. I mean, in my life I am pretty sure I have read that many, but I couldn't remember them if you paid me. Well, maybe I could depending on how much you paid me.

And then I saw it. On Tara's list. THE BOOK. The book for March. The book that I would move mountains to read in the next few months.

Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir

Last year I did The Constant Princess about Katherine of Aragon. This will be the perfect follow-up. I can't wait.

In fact, I think I'll just go with historical fiction surrounding Henry VIII from here on out.

My book club will love me.

Nursery

Yesterday my little friends went to Primary for the first time and I was so proud of them! They sat on the front row and were so well behaved and stayed in their seats. They also participated and tried to sing the songs. It was so cute. Even the crazy ones like Londynn (just kidding, Emily!) were amazing. Actually, just so that Emily knows - yesterday Londynn really was awesome. She sat next to me and was very reverent. She even let me know that she needed to go to the bathroom and told me what she needed to do. It was really cute!

Anyway, I only have a few more weeks with these kids and I am going to miss them so much. I know I will still see them around, but that is very different from the one on one interaction. It's been really wonderful to see the changes they have made the past year. Being the nursery leader is the best calling in the church if you do it right! I love it. I would honestly do it forever if it wasn't so isolating.

One thing that I really got out of this is that it is so important to get to know all of the kids in your ward. They need to know that other adults know them and are "watching" them. I am going to try to make a point of knowing the names of as many kids in the ward from now on. And that is my challenge to my readers, too.

Gripe

I have a gripe. I go to a lot of parties. They might be Pampered Chef, Lia Sophia, Scentsy, and the like, but still. A lot of parties. And at all of these parties I am required to take my shoes off when I walk in the door. I realize that we are all trying to preserve our carpets, but then, what is the point of wearing cute shoes to a party? Assuming my shoes are ever cute?*

Instead, I have taken to wearing really ugly birkenstock clogs to everything. That way, I can keep my potentially cute shoes nice and preserved.

Just in case Natalie (wood floors) has another party.**

*I just bought these shoes and I think they are way cute. Even if you don't.
**Natalie - this is no pressure on you to have another party!

Reindeer

Tonight, when I met up with Kathy at Thanksgiving Point, we discovered they have a real live reindeer hanging out there. How cool is that? We had to get a picture. Now, originally all four of us were going to go tonight. However, Josh had the hiccups, which led to him saying to himself, "I can get rid of these if I drink a lot." Which led to him drinking five cups of apple juice, a cup of milk, and a cup of water, in the space of about 2 minutes. Which led to him yelling, "My tummy hurts!!!" Which led to him throwing up. Which led to me taking Clara and Dave staying home with Josh. Good times.

Mom and Clara and the reindeer

Don and Kathy with their four kiddos

Agenda

I have many days where I think, "I'll do that when my kids are older." Well, now they are older and want to do stuff. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. And thank goodness for blogs with cute ideas for Christmas, eh?

Today I am taking the kids to get haircuts because they are looking seriously shaggy. I should have done it prior to our trip, and prior to Josh getting his school picture taken. I know that most school pictures end up pretty dorky, but let me just say...DORKY. Poor kid. They are so wretched I probably won't even post the picture on here. At least it's preschool and not Kindergarten. We have time.

Then later this afternoon I am going to meet an old friend at Thanksgiving Point so we can meet each other's kids. There is a strange and wonderful story associated with this friend that I am going to share.

When I moved to Virginia 12 years ago (almost) I didn't have a place to live. I stayed with my mom's cousin and his family for a few weeks. Then I moved into a townhouse and took over Kathy's lease. We didn't actually become friends until probably a year or so later. But when we did, we became great friends. She was my visiting teacher, too.

One night at Institute it somehow came out that I was related to the Brothersons. She called me and asked me if I was related to a Mark Brotherson, who had died in a car accident. I said that he was my oldest cousin. She then asked if I knew Mark's best friend, Don. I had gotten to know Don after the accident because he spent a lot of time at my aunt and uncle's house. Then she told me she had dated Don briefly. Lights went off in my head and I told her she should call him, that he lived in Alaska, and that I could get his number. Long story short - they are now married with four kids.

My point is - you just never know how lives will end up intertwined. I had no real idea why I moved to Virginia back then. Just that I seemed to have been led there. Getting Don and Kathy together ended up being one of those reasons. So now I try to always follow promptings. :) I haven't seen Kathy since she left Virginia to get married so I am excited.

And then I am going to bed early!

Turkeys, Hearts, a Magnifying Glass...and Mom

Yesterday Josh wanted to color and color and color. So I let him because coloring is good for the soul. Like chicken soup. He asked for paper. Then he asked for an envelope. It was a super secret project.

Turkeys, Hearts, a Magnifying Glass, and Mom.

After the turkeys were done, he asked me for my camera. Always willing to encourage more creativity, I let him run wild. Here is a sampling of the pictures he came up with.

Joshua Train - a gift from his friend William Christmas 2006
The Kid Tree - Obviously bottom heavy, but beautiful anyway.
Clara crying - probably over something Josh did.

Totally unrelated note - I am home alone listening to Christmas music in Spanish. Because I can.

Half Day

Today is one of those days when everything gets half done. I got half the Christmas decorations put up. I got lights on the tree, but no ornaments. I feel like a dangling chad.

But tonight I sat down to catch up on Friday Night Lights and the dangling chad turned into a really painful hangnail because ONE OF THE EPISODES DID NOT RECORD.

And it looked like a good one. And now I have to wait until, like, April, to see it on NBC. And the episode tonight didn't have Matt Saracen in it. It was like a half episode.

But at least I got to see it. Poor Keysha and Natalie have to wait until January 15th to even start the season.

I'm not gloating. I bet their trees have ornaments.