Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Oh, the Ingratitude

As Heidi pushed her breakfast away and yelled, "I don't WANT this, MOM!" (we are all a little cranky today due to her NEVER sleeping last night and waking all of us up several times), I thought about how rude my kids can be sometimes. And I remembered how my little brother Sam would say, "Hey, let's save this for later," when he didn't want to eat something or got full. It was so cute and sweet.
What would that be like? My brothers Sam & Willy and my stepdad Guido, circa 1996

Meme Thing

I've had this Meme Thing on my blog for several months...tonight I decided to fill it out and post it...
THE FIVES
What I was doing 10 yrs ago:
I was living in Tucson, working at the AlphaGraphics corporate store while attending the U of A and nursing a heart broken by a cartoon-drawing lacrosse player.
5 yrs ago:
I had just moved into our tiny little Provo house next door to Rob & Georgia, watched the Olympics in Salt Lake City, celebrated our first anniversary and Addie’s three-month birthday.
1 yr ago:
I was just getting over pneumonia and starting morning sickness, as I was about 13 weeks pregnant with James…we had just gone to Helena Handbasket to meet Baby Sam Post and I posted THIS
Yesterday:
I was sleeping at this time yesterday, but I had been working on the dang Liahona newsletter and Cousin Bill’s wedding video, much to the chagrin of my family.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. White chocolate raspberry Yoplait yogurt
2. Beef or Turkey Jerky
3. Nachos
4. Very Crisp (never mealy) Apples
5. Costco’s Rice Cracker mix with those yummy wasabi balls
5 songs I know all the words to:
Puh-leez, y’all—I can remember just about anything if it’s put to music whether I want to or not. For instance: The Preamble of the Consititution and The Warrior by Patti Smythe.
5 Things I would do with $100 million:
Give $100K to each of our siblings on both sides and our parents and grandparents
sell this house and buy a slightly bigger one
Buy Rich a Cooper mini and an FJ Cruiser
Send myself to fat camp and fly nana out to stay with my kids
Establish a scholarship through the perpetual education fund, send people on missions, and build a charter school here in Livingston
Become a SNOWBIRD!!
5 locations I would like to run away to:
Tucson
Hawaii
Mexico
Florence (Italy, not AZ)
Washington DC
5 bad habits I have:
drinking soda
biting fingers
scratching itches & scabs
yelling at my kids
thinking about too many things at once
5 things I like doing:
Taking baths
Reading
Writing
Getting Mail
Taking naps in the sunshine, especially through the windows in winter. I am a siesta girl!
5 things I would never wear:
Super low-rise pants
Synthetic socks
gold teeth or a grill
a tube top
anything immodest or sheer
5 TV shows I like:
Scrubs
The Office
The Daily Show
My Name Is Earl
What Not to Wear
(and almost any news/investigative/biographical special)
5 Biggest Joys of the Moment:
My Immediate Family
My newfound sense of faith that allows me to freak out much less than I used to
Spring is coming, the sun is up longer
Getting Mail
Going on Dates with Rich
5 Favorite Toys:
This computer
Jetted Tub
DVR/ TIVO
Mini-Van w/ DVD player
New Camera (Canon Powershot A710 IS)
5 next victims:
Do five people even read this blog? If YOU read it, I’m tagging you; leave a comment when you’ve responded!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Addiesms

"I'm gonna tell Bubby a secret. It's the secretiest secret ever."

"Be careful on this ice, Heidi. It's the slickiest ice of the winter."

Consistent favorites:
"You're ruining my life"
"When I grow up, I'm putting YOU in time out" (yeah you are--it's called "assisted living," honey, and I say BRING IT ON!)...

There are more...I'll add them when I have time to think...by the way, her arm is healing great and she doesn't have to wear the sling anymore; She just can't wrestle or play on the monkey bars for another month. Her X-Ray showed this cool band of bone (the doctor called it a "Bone band aid, like a scab") around the fracture. Our bodies are so cool.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Are You KIDDING Me?

Abbreviated (due to my lack of time) Oscar Thoughts:



-Helen Mirren looked stunning...LOVED the dress, and she NAILED Queen Elizabeth



-Here's an inconvenient truth: Al Gore shouldn't host or present ANYTHING, ever again! I watched "An Inconvenient Truth," because I like to hear all sides of an argument, even those I don't a gree with. And I certainly appreciate an argument that is well-supported with charismatic and passionate delivery, even when I don't agree (por ejemplo, my addiction to "All Things Considered" and "The Daily Show"). So my hatred for "An Inconvenient Truth" stems not from my conservativism and love of big business, but from Al Gore's stunning BORINGNESS!!!! I have seen the same data on a Discovery Channel show, delivered with much less bias and political posturing, and much more personality (and that was from a SCIENTIST on the DISCOVERY CHANNEL, y'all--how Gore made it in politics with the personality of a soggy sponge, I surely will never know). But good for him for finding something (besides donuts) he's passionate about and for doing us all a favor and NOT running for President in 2008. I just don't think this was the best documentary of 2006--not by a LONG shot (I was thinking maybe "Iraq in Fragments," though I have yet to see it).



-How sweet was Ennio Morricone? I felt so happy for him and his darling Maria. The soundtracks to "The Mission" and "Cinema Paradiso" contain some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard...he deserves lots of kudos for his beautiful composing.



Also, this weekend we FINALLY bought a small rocker recliner from LA-Z-BOY (so we can be lazy boys)...


...and I realized that I am too old for deep fried foods when I ate a Monte Cristo sandwich. Shucks. I'll be back soon with new pix from my cool new camera (and I will try to figure out how to post wee movies, too), AFTER I am finished creating The Liahona and a wedding video for Cousin Bill.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

One Last Belated Valentine

This one is for Sam."You said that it would,
Now everything should
be all right."
Love, Maj

A Sad Story

Q: Know what these are?
Yesterday when Heidi went down for a nap, I told Addie I had to finish something on the computer before I could play puzzles with her. So she was dinkin' around and a few minutes later, she came in the office holding these two mega blocks, upside down, each half-full of water.
"Mom," she said with a sniffle, "do you know what these are?" [fake SOB]...
"Ummm...mega blocks with water in them...why are you playing in the water?"
"You're WRONG! These are all the tears I cried because you said it's not puzzle time yet."
A: Tear Vessels

Dear Nana...

You asked for an email, but mom needs to blog, too, so here's your letter! It sure was fun to talk to you today and we're so glad that you made it back to Utah safe! Only one more week til you're back in Missouri! It's been nice having you out west, even if we didn't see you all that much. Here's how we're doing today: This morning Daddy took Addie to school and went to work while Mommy took Heidi and James to our co-op pre-school and then a WIC weigh in. Heidi weighs 38 pounds and is 39 inches tall, and James weighs 19-14 and is 27 inches tall--BIG KIDS!

After WIC, we made our two-week menu and grocery list (so we don't have to do it Saturday) and stopped by the office to see if Daddy wanted to come on his lunch hour.

When we got there, he had just received mommy's cool new Canon camera in the mail, so we took this cute picture with it (it does fun movies, too). He came and helped Mommy and James and Heidi do the grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks (most of it, anyway). Then we picked up Addie and went home. Miraculously, for the first time EVER, all three Melin kids took naps from about 2pm-4pm (probably because they were emotionally drained from the fish funeral we had this morning--Dory, our 14-month-old Beta, bit the dust cuz we neglected her while traveling; but shhhh--the kids just think it's cuz she's old)! Mommy got lots done, including some of Cousin Bill's wedding video, Baby Shower invited for a girl she visit teaches, and some Segullah stuff. Later, when everyone woke up, we read stories and started dinner (that's when we talked to you). Here's Addie reading to James (this was taken while you were on the phone).



And here is a picture of Addie and Heidi playing NICELY (!) in their room! Cute sisters!
And here is a picture of James and his bright eyes

(all blurry because mom forgot to change the camera speed!)

And now we have eaten our spaghetti and salad and we are getting ready for bed. The girls are having a "play bath" with lots of bubbles and mommy is getting ready to watch the "American Idol" she tivoed while she was doing Young Women's New Beginnings last night.
Aren't they silly?! Bubble Monsters! Anyway, Nana, we love you and we wish you lived closer. Life is sweet in Montana and it's sweet being a family! Have good dreams and stay healthy! XOXOXOXOX...Love, The Melins


PS: Just to make you Montana-sick...


But I still love you, Reagan...

My Dad Layton sent me this quiz, on which I scored a 29. That places me somewhere on their conservative scale between Jack Kemp and Bush I. I can live with that.

What was YOUR score?

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

On This Date in History...

...just last year, "Little Sam" Post was born to my brother Matt & his wife, Amie. Happy First Birthday, Sammy!
(that's Sam with his Daddy on leave last month--1/19/07)
The coolest thing about Sam's birthday is that he shares it with his Grandpa...
Papa Post!

(that's Grandpa with Heidi in 2004)

Feliz Cumpleanos, Dad!

Click On Over...

Grandma Muriel and Aunt Maxine in 1940
...to Framanisco to read about the life and times of my darling Grandma Layton.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Belated Valentine

Overheard at my house the day after Rich explained to Addie who Cupid is and why he's on Valentines.
Addie (to Cousin Danny) : That's Cupid.
Danny: Why?
Addie: He shoots people in the heart. Know what? My dad went to a party a long time ago when he was a little boy and he saw my mom there and Cupid shot him and he fell!
Danny: Where did he fall?
Addie: In love with my mom!
***

In honor of Valentines Day, I present to you the best kiss from my favorite, most hilarious and romantic movie EVER (even as I fear that I am casting my pearls before swine, so to speak). I have the soundtrack and when I listen to it on rainy Sundays, I can almost smell Florence ("Inhale! A truly Florentine smell..."). Oh, George...what you did to my teenage heart! And then I happily married your opposite! Happy Valentine's Day from me, my dear husband, Lucy Honeychurch and George Emerson. Enjoy your sweetheart today! (A Room With A View, 1986)


More Arizona Photos

Central Arizona Mountains
Grandma's beautiful flowers--pink & purple never looked so pretty!

Dad and Me
(me looking buck-toothed--what is that tooth doing catching the light like that?)

Aunt Gwen's grave
My Mom (right) and her sister, Aunt Marti--so cute!
A Gang of Laytons
backrow- Erin, Dad holding Kennady Layton, Becky, Sam, Jake, Dasha, Ross Canaday, Willy Post; front row-Tyler Oslin holding Willy's Maeby, Cody Oslin, Kristen, Me holding James, Aunt Maxine Canaday (Dad's sister), Kliss Crosser, Audrey Post, Spencer, Melanie, & Liam Post

Great-Grandpa Elrey got to bless Maeby Lynn before the family dinner
Sam at Grandma's House-

the last inhabited house on Church street, where the Laytons lived for 67 years.
Willy with Maeby, and Kristen at the house.

Unco Hamma and Aunt Dizzen

This is Sam's & Kristen's Home in north Phoenix. It's really quite lovely, and that's where I stayed on Friday & Saturday nights.
This is my brother Willy with his family and my brother Sam on the far left. Sam is holding Spencer, Willy's 3rd child. Spencer used to be a grumpy mama's boy, but he has come out of his shell and his personality is HILARIOUS. He has a funny speech pattern where he pauses between each. and. every.word, and drops or substitutes initial consonants or consonant blends. He also adds a subtle "uh" to the end of certain words. For instance, he calls his baby sister "Maebyuh," he said "I. love. you. too-uh!" when I left, and he calls Uncle Sam "Unco Hamma" and Aunt Kristen "Aunt Dizzen." It's so adorable! On Sunday as we were getting ready to leave, Kristen said to Sam, "Let's get out the video camera! We're never gonna see him like this again. He won't talk like that next time we see him." So they filmed him being so cute and funny.
Here's Sam teasing Liam at a Phoenix fountain. Poor Liam.
I spent a mellow Saturday with Sam& Kristen and the Posties. I will publicly chastise Lisa for not coming and hanging out with us...Lisa, FOR SHAME! What could possibly be FUNNER (yes, I know that's not a word) that hanging out with your far-flung siblings, huh? Anyway, Saturday began with a delicious breakfast cooked by our hosts, then we hung out looking at pix and videos while mom got up and got packed. Then Will & Sam took mom to the airport while we ladies stopped for beverages and took the kids over to a playground and visited. It was nice to be with my sisters-in-law. They are good women and my brothers SCORED. I
t was so fun to play with my niece and nephew and not have to worry about what my own kids were doing--sometimes I really miss being fun single auntie. Liam (who also has some speech issues, which make everything he says sound SOOO cute) tried to convince to me to come ward off the bees so he could pick flowers; Spencer wanted to slide with me, but got side tracked by laying face down on the top level of the play place, looking down through the grate at his siblings below. He was so still and focused, I thought he was asleep there! The boys sent mom back to SLC on the plan and came back to join us at the playground. We went back to the house to freshen up at about 3pm, then headed over to In-N-Out Burger for lunch-dinner, then Old Navy so I could get some spring clothes and we could all shop some clearance sales. We headed back home and the boys went to the store and got us some ice cream. We put the kids to bed and watched "Waking Ned Devine" (one of mine and Sam's favorite movies ever), and ate ice cream and Dr. Pepper in memory of Grandma Muriel. We know she was with us in spirit, enjoying the treats and laughing at the crazy Irish folk on the movie.
The next morning we enjoyed some delicious french toast and we all got ready for our trips home. Will & Audrey loaded up their van and headed off to SLC; Sam & Kristen had to miss their Stake Conference to take me to the airport at 10:30am, but they caught an 11am Sacrament Meeting with Kristen's sister in Chandler. Things went smoothly for me on the way back home, and Rich met right at the curb in SLC. I hopped in and we headed straight up I-15 for home by 3pm. We got home safely by 11pm, dodging lots of blizzards and sleet, and slept soundly in our comfy house.
It's Tuesday night and I am still in my "post-trip funk." I am almost unpacked. I am tired and a bit unmotivated. My spring cleaning seems insurmountable. Did I tell you that our guest room still looks like Christmas threw up in there? I took down all the decorations and piled them up in there, and then piled up all the after Christmas sale stuff in there, too, with stuff for the gift closet, too. It's BAD. If anybody gets a wild hair and feels like cleaning and organizing, feel free to come and share you enthusiasm. Mine is at an all-time low, and I don't' know why, because I know that I will feel SOOOO good when it is all done. UGH! Maybe I need some light therapy or something.
In closing, I would like to welcome two of my best, dearest, most-missed friends to the blogosphere. Tom & Adriane, thanks for keeping in touch!!!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Snowbird

Dad Layton, Me, Lisa, Willy, & Sam at Grandma Layton's Grave 2/16
Pallbearers at the church in Thatcher 2/16



I used to make fun of snowbirds (people who fly south--to Arizona, for example--for the winter). Now I have a testimony of Snowbirdism and wish I were in a position to live the life. I enjoyed a few February days in AZ so much! It will do me good to make a February or March visit a habit. The holidays are just too crazy to enjoy the sunshine! Of course I hope I won't be visiting for a funeral again anytime soon.


I read the entire Ensign, cover to cover (well, I skipped a few articles) in the tub tonight. I've got a new favorite gem from President Hinckley, from a New Year's Eve address:
"You can be wise and happy or stupid and miserable. The choice is yours." Well said, dear prophet. Another gem comes from Elder Nelson's article, Faith and Families: "I want you to think about yourself...50 years from now. Your broad minds and narrow waists have traded places." Too bad that doesn't seem to have taken 50 years for me! Another article deserves its own entry--Forgiving Oneself--but I liked this quote: "We don't' forget the sin and its effects; rather, the memory ceases to be part of how we see ourselves." Think about that for a while. The article goes on to explain that it is Satan who want us to feel defined by our sins, while the Lord wants us to learn from them and use Christ's atonement to move on. I'll be writing about some of that stuff on Framanisco when I get a chance. I haven't been writing much, but I have been musing!

My trip to Arizona was WONDERFUL! It got off to a rough start trying to celebrate V-day AND clean AND pack AND go to two doctor appointments before 11am, but we got off okay and had a good sleep at Willy's house (his family was already gone to AZ). Rich took me to the airport Thursday morning and I got there an hour before my 10am flight, but the flight closed before I even got into the security line. They put me on standby and I missed an 11-ish flight and a 1-ish flight before I got a seat on a 3pm flight (only because a bunch of connecting flights were delayed on the east coast in a snow storm. So that was a fun day in the SLC airport with James. Of course, he never made a peep and enjoyed just hanging out with mommy and looking at new things.

I arrived in Phoenix the same time as my half-sis, Erin, flying in from Boise. So my sister, Lisa, picked us both up and we slept over at Lisa's house in Ahwatukee (south Phoenix, Tempe area). Sam called from North Phoenix to tell us they'd rented a minivan and would pick us up at 8:30am to drive to Thatcher. That got messed up and he picked us up at 10am, so we high-tailed it across central Arizona (ewwww!) to Thatcher for the family viewing at 1pm, followed by the funeral at 2pm.

We barely made it, but had such a nice reunion! Grandma looked beautiful and the decor and memorabilia around the building were so nice. I really do not like funerals, but this one was very well done, with very talented family musicians and a really entertaining life story given by my dad's cousin, Jenene, and my cousin, Dasha. I suppose it helps if you've led an interesting life and you have a sense of humor. I have emailed a request for a copy of those remarks and I will post them on Framanisco when I get them. My Grandma was already "old" (59) when I was born, so there was much from her life that I just never knew. It was so cool to think about how much of my personality and tendencies came from her. I certainly know where the smart aleck part comes from now! Grandma was buried at the LDS Cemetery, next to Grandpa, whose grave we had visited so many times with Grandma--walking around the corner from her house and straight up to the dirt hills where all those hardy Arizona pioneers and their descendants are buried. It was a sunny, windy, warm day and the starkness and brightness just really struck me. So many people are born, live, and die in this valley--it's so weird. And I wondered what Arizona will mean to my kids, if anything at all, since they were born in Montana. Will they return to Arizona for a funeral some day and look around and think, "Why does my mom love this place?" (I have been known to say things about the Gila Valley like, "If Brigham Young had sent my family here, I might have pulled an Emma and gone right back to Utah.") But I do love it...I love the way my ancestors marched right down there and made that desert blossom like a rose, just like the prophets said they would.


The whole day was surreal to me. I felt like I was in some kind of bubble or time warp or something. And I also got a little bit sad and sentimental about what might have been--perhaps what should have been. After my parents divorced when I was five, I was young enough that it didn't bother me all that much. It's just the way things were, and we stayed close to my Layton side, even when we became Posts. It wasn't until recently that I have found myself wishing--like some pouty teenager--that my parents had found some way to stay together. that they had grown up a little faster and let the two worlds of my Elrey family and my Layton family be ONE. Because seeing everyone together at stuff like this (my Elrey grandparents were there, as were my mom and her sister, Marti) reminds me of that Nibley quote on my wedding announcement ... "memories of how things should be."

*Sigh*
I'll write about the rest of my trip and post more photos later...G'night, yall.






Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Update

(a) Addie's arm is broken. It's fractured at the top of her humerus, so close to her shoulder that they just gave her a sling and a big fat ace bandage-type thing to hold her arm to her chest. She's taking it well, except the part where I had to sign the rest of her Valentines because her right hand is tied up.

(b) Still no news on my biopsy, but I am healing up well and the topical treatment seem to help, so no worries. And James is getting better, sleeping through the night, and having only one breathing treatment.

(c) I am in Utah AGAIN--we left Bozeman at 1:30 pm and got here to Herriman at 9pm. Rich and the girls will drop off me and James at the airport tomorrow morning to catch a flight to Phoenix, where I will meet up with my Layton family and head over to Thatcher for Grandma's funeral on Friday. Rich has some fun things planned for the girls--they will hang out in Salt Lake City and pick me up and head back to Montana on Sunday. And then we are not going ANYWHERE!!!!! ;) Not for a while, any way!

So life is good. It has been a long hard two months (I keep singing that dang Counting Crows "Long December" song in my head). I am ready to stop the world and catch my breath for a while. Monday night after our own little Family Night, we went across the street to watch a movie with my SIL and her kids. I came home early with James. As I looked across the street at my little cozy house all covered in snow and smiled down at James in his carrier, my heart swelled a little bit. Life is really hard sometimes, whether you're struggling or someone you love is struggling. But it's really, really beautiful sometimes, too, like when you're walking through super-sparkly snow on a February night with a beautiful, happy baby you prayed really hard for, to a warm, comfy house you built with the man you love to house the family you cherish. Like the three little birds sang, "Every little thing's gonna be all right."

Sunday, February 11, 2007

With A Shiver in My Bones

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost
***



I have been waiting to post until I can find some photos, but I give up. My Grandma Layton died last night, so instead of going to Cousin Bill's wedding in Mesa on March 3rd, I am going to Grandma's funeral in Thatcher next Friday. Rich and I have to postpone our sixth anniversary trip to the Billings Temple (we've done that for 5 years)---we will be apart on our anniversary for the first time. That stinks.



I am sad about losing my Grandma today. I've been okay all day until we sang "Nearer My God To Thee" in Sacrament Meeting. She has been sick for a long time and she has come up to say good bye to me twice, so I know she has been ready to go for a while (my grandpa died almost 29 years ago). But I had just decided (perhaps selfishly) last week that I would go see her while I was down in AZ for Bill's wedding because I would rather see her alive than go to her funeral. I had that exact discussion with my brother Sam on the phone last Sunday, and he agreed to come with me to Thatcher so I could see her and get a picture of James with her. Shucks. So James and I will go down for her funeral instead.





Adding to my blues (as if death and winter weren't enough to be blue about), James went to the doctor for his cough last week and he has bronchiolitis and has to have prednisone, azithromicin, albuterol nebulizer, and a humidifier. He hasn't been fussy at all, never had a fever, just a bad night time cough. He is sleeping better now--the breathing treatments really help (he has this pacifier thing with a little vent on it for his nebulizer--it's pretty cool and it works great, except he is wired and won't stop babbling after each treatment). I went to a dermatologist about a bunch of rashes I have. She diagnosed most of them as psoriasis, but had to take a chunk of skin for a biopsy from the cracks of my legs (yeah, I know--nice. I was just celebrating the fact that I wouldn't have anybody poking around down there again for a long time, but alas--) cuz there's some kind of skin cancer that looks like that. So I've got stitches AGAIN, which means no sanity-saving jet tubbing for a week. I should get the results at my follow up visit on Valentine's day (the day we drive down to Utah to catch my plane on Thursday). Also, Addie fell down at my Mom-in-law's house on Friday and hurt her arm. She is still not using her arm today, so it's off to the clinic tomorrow to get it checked. I think she dislocated or sprained her shoulder, but we'll see.





On the lighter side of things, a fellow blogger needs some help. She is trying to get comments from all 50 states. Click here to see if your state is listed; if not, leave a comment and what state you are from (you could leave a comment anyway--that always brightens a blogger's day).





And even brighter, I have joined the staff of Segullah Magazine as assistant features editor. Have a look at the magazine; it comes out three times a year in print and on line and is aimed at LDS women from all walks of life. Tell your friends and buy a copy if you can! I hope to be able to contribute some writing to the next issue as well as editing (if I can get my head out of these winter clouds for a while). I am really excited, mostly to be exercising my brain a little more and to be in the company of some really talented and entertaining mujeres.

***
I sometimes hold it half a sin
To put in words the grief I feel;
For words, like Nature, half reveal
And half conceal the Soul within.
But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
A use in measured language lies;
The sad mechanic exercise,
Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.
In words, like weeds, I’ll wrap me o’er,
Like coarsest clothes against the cold:
But that large grief which these enfold
Is given in outline and no more.
-Tennyson, In Memoriam (V)

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Weirdness

To get myself to write tonight, I am doing a meme-thingy from My Cuz Brent (whom my kids think is their uncle) and Becca. Brent did seven, Becca did 100--I am going with ten. I think.

Ten Weird Things About Me

1. I absolutely cannot get in bed without washing and moisturizing my feet. I have fallen asleep and actually woken up to go in the 'throom and wash my feet. It stems from this larger weirdness I have about dry skin (which I've had all my life) snagging or scraping against fabric. It's like nails on a chalkboard and I cannot tolerate it.

2. I have a hard time eating mixes--like mixed jelly bellies or chex mix. I usually eat the items in the mix separately, starting with my least favorite thing and saving my favorite for last (in the case of chex mix, for example, I eat the pretzels, then the breadsticks, then the bagel chips, then the corn/rice chex, and finally the wheat chex) (crazy, I know).

3. I cannot understand why using the postal service is so difficult for such a huge percentage of my acquaintances and family. I have gotten used to it, mind you, but I don't understand what is so hard about keeping a basket or drawer stocked with paper, envelopes, a pen, an address book, and stamps. For the love of all that's Holy, people...we have an exemplary postal system and I intend to share the joy of snail mail with my loved ones until it becomes cost-prohibitive, so help me Ben Franklin! (This makes ME weird because I'm the weirdo who still uses the snail mail--me, my grandma, and my friend Lisa Robbins Anderson)

4. When I was a little girl, there was almost nothing that brought me more joy than a clean sheet of white paper. Seriously--I would almost shake with happiness and anticipation of filling it up with something.

5. I can't stand to have my fingernails grow past my fingertips.

6. I am working really hard to stop judging smokers as less intelligent and people wearing heavy eyeliner as trampy. It's really hard and I don't want to be like that. Luckily, in my town I'll get lots of practice.

7. I am an ice connoisseur. I will go out of my way for soft ice because I like to eat it. Chalk it up to my Arizona upbringing. Which leads me to...

8. My beverages must be ice cold. Like bordering on slushy. The only hot drinks I like are cocoa and Postum, but still in very small quantities.

9. I have kept a journal since I was nine. It's pretty entertaining, and I keep vowing to go back into them and do more "on this date in history" entries, cuz hey, there's fodder.

10. I almost always have about five thoughts in my head at once. Sometimes people think I am forgetful or irresponsible, but it's because I have to work hard to shut my brain up and focus. This is also why I require a very clean and distraction-free work environment, and why I have to get my chores done before I can do something creative--if I don't, my brain will not shut up!!! I am sure that's an undiagnosed disorder.

Feel free to add to the list in the comments...:) And happy hump day.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Beautiful Dawn


Take me to the breaking of a beautiful dawn

Take me to the place where we came from

Take me to the end so I can see the start

There's only one way to mend a broken heart



Take me to the place where I don't feel so small

Take where I don't need to stand so tall

Take me to the edge so I can fall apart

There's only one way to mend a broken heart



Take me where love isn't up for sale

Take me where our hearts are not so frail

Take me where the fire still owns its spark

There's only one way to mend a broken heart



Teach me how to see when I close my eyes

Teach me to forgive and to apologize

Show me how to love in the darkest dark

There's only one way to mend a broken heart



Take me where the angels are close on hand

Take me where the ocean meets the sky and the land

Show me to the wisdom of the evening star

There's only one way to mend a broken heart



Take me to the place where I feel no shame

Take me where courage doesn't need a name

Learning how to cry is the hardest part

There's only one way to mend a broken heart



-The Wailin' Jennys (watch the video below)



Rainy Days and Mondays

I was feeling a bit out-of-sorts and very head-achey today (don't worry--I'm chalking it up to a hormonal shift because I am finished nursing James, *sniff, sniff*), when we got TWO packages in the mail to cheer us up! One was from Nana--Heidi's baby elephant (which I had to listen to her cry about for a whole week after we left it in Utah) and a box pf goodies and a sweet blanket for James from my friend Jessica in North Carolina. Here's a picture of Heidi and Addie using the stamps and eating the Laffy Taffy that Jessica sent. Happy Monday! Thanks, Nana & Jess!On another note, here is a really beautiful song which I would like to dedicate to all of my sisters, and especially my sisters-in-law, Amie & Audrey. I love you all. And Georgia, you once said you thought you'd love any band called the Wailin' Jennys...well, here they are....

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Poor James Ole...

We knew it would be hard to have two big sisters! James had to be Apple Dumplin' last night while the girls were playing dress ups at bedtime. Addie is quite the poser, while James just looks worried...

...and Heidi looks crazy!
(trying to get everyone to look at the camera...)

Hooray! Daddy came to rescue James and restore his masculinity.



FAMILY LETTER 07.28.19

Dear Loved Ones,                                                                                                        We have just ...