Well, I guess it's about time I dusted off this here old blog! I can't believe my last post was on October 21st. Almost 4 months ago! Well, really, I can believe it. Life has been one big ride on the crazy train around here since then. I looked at that post from October 21st and took a deep breath and sighed as I remembered the simpler times. Since October 21st I have had some health issues and a pretty major church calling that have been taking up every spare minute of my time and then some. Not to mention all the holiday fun that was mixed in. But today I said ENOUGH! MY blog is important to me and to my family (they have been asking if I'm ever going to blog again) as a way of recording our family history. So I'm back. I think. We shall see....
So this morning, just a few minutes ago (it's before 11am so it's still considered morning, right?) my girls and I (2 of them are on a legal holiday from school, the other somehow cashed in on her sisters day off) were eating blueberry pancakes in the kitchen. Emily had her iPod playing and I was singing along. Then I realized what decade it was and what decade the song I was singing along to came out, and then I did the math in my head. Which, if you have ever seen me do math, you know what a big task that is, in my head or otherwise. And even though I've learned to doubt my math skills, I still knew something wasn't adding up.
Hello, Hello, Hal-low, Haaal-low
I asked Emily why she was listening to that. She asked me why I was singing along. I asked her if she even knew the name of the band. She did. Nirvana. What? And what really surprised me was when Aubrey started singing along with her own words to the song...Here we are now, in containers, avocados, in containers...
So we ate our delicious blueberry pancakes. After we finished eating, Emily started singing, "Carry on my wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done..."
What can I say? They get their diverse musical taste from me.
So I've been sickly for over a week but yesterday I was pretty much on my death bed. Well, OK, thankfully it wasn't THAT bad. It was pretty bad though. I'm still feeling bad today, but nothing compares to yesterday. (♫ Nothing compares. Nothing compares. To you. I went to the doctor and guess what he told me, guess what he told me? He said girl you better try to have fun no matter whatchoo do. But he's a fool. ♫) And I digress.
Anyhoo...
I have found that with my sick voice, I am one mean soul singing machine. Hello! So I've been taking great delight and pleasure in my new soulful sound. I've been doing my own rendition of "Let It Be" over and over again. It's pretty awesome. Now that I remembered the song I just sang above, that I haven't heard in years, I'm singing it. Shoot. I'm givin' Sinead a run for her money, honey.
I reminded myself of Phoebe when she had her sick voice and she was delighting in her singing. Not because I sound like her. Psssht. I'm way better. But I'm just as pleased with my sickness as she was.
I also remind myself of this:
If you are reading this in Facebook, click here to see the video.
It's the music we were raised on. The soundtrack of our family. It's in our genes. It's like a day in our life. Whenever we've had a good morning or a hard days night, and we want to come all together now, and all we need is love, or it's someones birthday, or if we just need to fix a hole where the rain gets in, we need a little help from our friends, or wanna hold your hand in the strawberry fields forever, across the universe or if you wanna besame mucho. Either yesterday or when I'm 64. If you say you wanna revolution, or you love me do. Eight day's a week and yesterday. Even if it's just for the benefit of Mr. Kite or Eleanor Rigby or Lady Madonna or even dear old Prudence. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore and it's getting kinda outta hand so I'll just get on with the post now.
It's like this. Our family LOVES the BEATLES. Like ob la di, ob la da, kinda love. And Kristy, she's gotta ticket to ride and she's leaving home and we couldn't just let her and her kids start down that long and winding road and go back to the USSR without a little revolution. I mean, Help! So we had us a little Beatles Rock Band party one night. It lasted for hours and Honey Pie, with a little help from my friends, we twisted and shouted all night long.
Helter skelter, I'm gettin' on my own last nerve, so I can't Imagine what it's doing to you but they're just flying outta my head, so I'll just shut up now and give you the pictures.
I have had a little vacay from the computer. It was kinda nice. I was outta town and when I got back, I managed to steer clear for several days. I was a-feared that once I got back on, that would just be it. I would be back on. But alas, my head is just way too full of stuff and it's time to clear it out.
First, this song is driving me crazy today. I was working outside this morning and it came on the radio and it has been playing in my head ever since. I was going to post the video but then I remembered my kids read my blog and they lead pretty sheltered lives, so here is a clip of Zac Efron dancing to the song:
I guess I should be thankful that this song is no longer stuck in my head, because it has been for over a week now:
Oh great. There it is again. Now I have no choice but to put my hands up and nod my head like yeah, move my hips like yeah. Say what? I just watched the video. Hey, guess I could have posted the Young MC video after all.
I should not be allowed to use teeth whitening toothpaste. Really. I never buy it, but Steve was out of town and he used some whitening toothpaste and asked me to buy some. So I did. And now I have little bleached out flecks on one of my favorite shirts. Why can't I brush my teeth without flecking?
My sister Kristy is here visiting from Russia. It has been fun having her here, but just last night she brought two evils into my home. And when I say evil I say it, E-viel. Like the fru-iets of the de-viel. Which reminds me, Kristy is supposed to watch that movie with me while she is here. But that's not the point. The point is this. Last night she made dessert crepes. And she taught me how to make them. Evil #1. And to make it even better, guess what she put in the said dessert crepes? Umm hmm. Evil #2. Nutella. I walked into my kitchen last night and saw it sitting there on the counter and stopped dead in my tracks. How dare she bring that hazelnutty cocoa heaven into my house! Nutella and I sadly parted ways a few years ago and unfortunately now we have become reacquainted. It didn't take long. Kinda like when you see an old friend and the two of you just pick up where you left off. Yep. Me and Nutella, we're like this now. *crosses fingers*
"And a Jay-Z song was o-on, and a Jay-Z song was on...."
Normally, I can fall asleep in 2 seconds flat. But when I am really tired, for some reason, my mind starts racing and even though I am exhausted, I can't fall asleep. Well, last night was one of those nights. I collapsed into bed and then it started. It started with a little
Jai guru deva
om
And then one thing led to another and my mind started its racing thing. It was going 1,000 miles a minute. This is how it went:
Jai guru deva, ommm...nothings gonna change my world-
Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me-
But then that was the only part of that song that I knew and I couldn't think of another song with Oklahoma in it.
But then it didn't take me long to come up with this:
He was born in Oklahoma, his wife's name was Betty Lou Thelma Liz, he's not responsible for what he's doin', his mother made him what he is. And it's up against the wall redneck mother, mother who has raised a son so well. He's 34 and drinkin' in a honky tonk, just kickin' hippies booties and raisin' hell-
Woman. Woe-man. Wooooooooah man. She was a thief, you gotta believe, she stole my heart and my cat. Betty. Judy. Josie and those hot Pussycats. Girls of cartoons, won't leave me in ruins, I want to be Betty's Barney-
YABADABADOOOOOO! Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they're a modern stone age family, from the town of Bedrock, they're a page right out of history-
And then I thought about history and that made me think of Martin Luther King and then I thought, "I have a dream"-
And then I thought, "Dream". That is what I should be doing right now. And by that time my little brain was all tuckered out and I was finally able to fall asleep.
This song was on the radio last night. I went to bed singing it. And I woke up this morning singing it. It just so happens to be in one of my favorite movies and in one of my favorite scenes from said movie:
Wowsers! I have been a bad, bad blogger lately. I haven't blogged in 2 weeks! And I was on such a roll. We have been a little busy around here and well, the blog gets pushed to the end of the list. I have a lot of catching up to do.
The above photo is a picture of Aubrey I took when we went to visit Steve in Arizona earlier this year when he was working. I entered it in a photo contest and was in the top 10. But alas, I just found out today that I did not win. Oh well. Life goes on. Life goes on....
♫ SINGING ♫
Desmond has a barrow in the market place
Molly is the singer in a band
Desmond says to Molly - girl I like your face
And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand
Ob la di ob la da life goes on bra
La la how the life goes on
Ob la di ob la da life goes on bra
La la how the life goes on
(Kristy, I think of you every time I hear this song)
KRISTY! My dear sister Kristy and her husband and 3 children are in Russia! Yes. Russia! Even though they lived in DC (or there abouts) when they lived in the United States, and I hardly ever saw her, I still knew she was only a few, lots of states away. But now. I think about her everyday now. I wonder how she is doing. How she and the kiddos are adjusting. Why she wanted to up and move to the other side of the world. KRISTY! I love you. I miss you. One of these days I will get skype so I can talk to you!
Tonight was one of those nights with Aubrey. I was putting her in bed and she had a "I miss Papa" breakdown. Poor little girl. I was trying to calm down her hysterical crying and I handed her a stuffed dog on her bed that my dad gave to her for Christmas right before he died. I told her to hold it tight and it would help her feel better. Oh boy, that just made it worse. She started crying even more and said that whenever she holds something that someone gave to her who has died, she can feel their spirit and it makes her even more sad. I looked around her room and I was like, "Aubrey, how much stuff do you have from people who have died?" Because as far as I know, she doesn't even know anyone else who has died.
Addy is not allowed to watch Dora anymore. She is learning very, very bad things from that show. There is one episode where Dora makes something Chocolate with her Grandmother. She says "Bate, bate, cha-co-lat-tae". Which means stir the chocolate. So Addy's new favorite thing to do is to "make" things. When I catch her with a chair pulled up to the counter, dumping anything she can find into a bowl, and I ask her what she is doing she says, "I'm making ingredients!" And then she says "Bate, bate, cha-co-lat-tae" while she stirs her ingredients. She has made some pretty major messes. Today it was the pot of leftover mac 'n cheese from lunch, all the grapes from a brand new huge pack from Costco, and cucumber. I wanted to bate her booty.
I have been contemplating moving my family to a nudest colony, just so I could stop doing laundry. It has really been killing me, the laundry, lately. But then, I remembered how I used to do laundry in our old house. I don't know what happened, if it was the craziness from building a house, or moving or what, but I totally forgot how to do laundry. But that's OK, because I remember now. I have been doing it for over a week this way and I am so very glad I remembered. For like, the last year, I have been doing all the laundry in one day. I hate it. It takes forever to sort, then I have piles of dirty laundry everywhere, then I am in a hurry to switch the loads over so I can get them all washed, but I don't have time to fold all of them so I end up with piles of clean laundry all over. Then by the time I fold them, it is an awful task because it is a huge amount to fold at one time, and then my kids have a hard time putting the laundry away because the stacks are so huge.
So this is how I used to do my laundry and how I have started doing it again. I just wash one load everyday. It is so much easier. I hate myself for doing it the other way for so long. We have 3 dirty clothes hampers. One in Zac's bathroom, one in the girls bathroom and one in our bathroom. If I am washing whites that day, I go around to the 3 hampers and get all the whites out, stick them in the washer, then the dryer. No 30 minutes of sorting. No piles of clothes everywhere. It only takes me a few minutes to fold. And the kids can easily take their little stack of clean clothes and put them away everyday. HELLO! All moms out there! Spread the word! You don't have to live with a bunch of naked nasty people! You can stay at home and manage your laundry, one day at a time.
And now, because this song is stuck in my head. And because you can never have too much of the Beatles:
Yesterday, I decided that we were going to go on a strict back-to-school routine. We were going to go to bed at normal bedtimes and wake up and get ready and do all our chores before the time that the kids will have to leave for school next week. We seriously need the practice. I tried implementing back-to-school bedtimes last week and it didn't work so well. My kids are too used to staying up late. So after all my determination yesterday, we stayed too late at my moms house, so we went to bed late. Then this morning, I slept until 8:45 and I had to drag my booty outta bed then. It's 10:12 am and I'm still in my PJ's. The kids are still in theirs and they are all in my bed watching TV. OK. So tonight. TONIGHT we are gonna start the back-to-school thing. For reals.
Emily went to work with Steve this morning. Monday morning is usually our time to watch Design Star because it comes on late Sunday night and we record it and watch it first thing Monday morning. I think it's rude she just left me hangin' today.
I have weird kids. Emily's favorite thing to watch on TV is HGTV and Zac's favorite channels are the Military Channel and the History Channel. I won't tell you what my favorite shows were when I was their age.
You wanna know what my dear, sweet Emily said to me the other day?
Emily: Mom, with kids, there is usually one parent who is really nice and fun and plays with the kids. Then there is one parent who is boring and makes the kids work and do chores.
Me: Really?
Emily: Yeah. In our family dad is the fun one who plays with us. You are the one who is boring and makes us do our chores.
Me: Emily, that's really rude.
Emily: I know. I don't really mean it. Sometimes I just say stuff like that so you will have something to put on your blog.
Me: Oh, well, in that case, thanks for the material.
I just thought I would share my status update from Facebook yesterday, for those of you not on FB. Just so you can know how incredibly freaked out I still am about my little visitor last week:
I used to be a brown flush it down, yellow let it mellow kinda gal. You know, trying to save water and all. (hey, if it has to do with saving the environment that makes me ultra hip, so just shut yer trap) But now I'm scared that the TP in the mellow yellow will give anything trying to escape from my toilet leverage. So now I'm a flush it every time kinda gal. Was that too much information?
And after saying something like that, I just wouldn't be me without leaving you with a theme song to accompany the visual:
I heard this song on the radio about a week ago. I hadn't heard it in a while and after I did I thought, "That used to be one of my favorite songs, I really should listen to it more often". Not a problem, seeing that it has been playing on a loop in my head for the past several days. The other day I was singing it and I sang:
Take a load off Annie
Take a load for free
Take a load off Annie
Annnnnd...
And then Aubrey finished for me by singing:
You put the load right on me.
(stupid blogger won't let me type without making the space between the lines. what if i don't want the space between the lines?!? huh? did you ever think of that?)
Sometimes when I get a song stuck in my head for more than a few days, it really starts to get annoying. But this one, not so much. It hasn't bothered me at all. Yet. Not like this one, which became annoying after 5 minutes. Maybe that's how you tell a good song from a not so good song. No offense to Hootie. Or the Blowfish.
Alright. I'm takin' a chance right now posting this here video. This is why. I don't know where the speakers for my computer are. So therefore I can't hear anything on the video. It has been deleted from my flip camera so I can't go back and watch it there and hear what's goin' down. I could upload it to my blog, save it, and go listen to it on Steve's computer, which happens to be equipped with speakers. However, his computer is turned off. I don't wanna turn it on and wait and go through all the hassle. I just wanna go take a bath in my nice big soaker tub. That's what I wanna do right now. So I'm just gonna be daring and post it. It could be scary. This was shot at my mom's house on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was a long time ago. I could be yelling at Zac when he is being obnoxious trying to cover up the camera. My children could be talking about bodily functions. You could be hearing them perform bodily functions. I don't know. But here it is. It's real and it's raw and that's just how it is.
Compliments of my last post title, I have now had this song stuck in my head since last night. Well, except for a brief moment when I woke up this morning and Grease Lightning was stuck there because I was dreaming I was in the cast of Grease. Which is a much better dream than the one the night before when one of my kids got kidnapped or the night before that when Steve died. I swear I have been having the strangest dreams lately. And I'm not even the P word (pregnant).
So, something really funny happened yesterday. And when it happened I thought, that will make such a good story for MMM, cause I'm kinda low on material at the moment. I also thought I should write it down so I don't forget it. And then I though (scoff) I'm not gonna forget this! And well, I woke up this morning, and I have been trying all day, but for the life of me I just can't remember what was so dang funny.
On the flip side, I can't get this song out of my head:
Some people call me Maurice....Wahhhh....Wahhhh....
FYI: This is a very annoying song to have stuck in your head for more than 15 minutes. I'm going on day 3. Hoooooooold myyyyyyyyyyy haaaaaand, hooooooold myyyyyyyyyyy haaaaand.
Update: I didn't realize this song was 13 years old (where does the time go Hootie?). Sorry for the title drummer. I probably thought you were hot back then.
This song has been stuck in my head for several days now. It probably has something to do with the fact that Sam has been singing it for several days now. You know, in honor of the election and all tomorrow. I think it's fitting.
So I am so excited/scared/butterfly-ie in the stomach/can't sleep kind of being right now. Wahhhhhh! Tomorrow we will find out who our next President will be. Maybe. It could/probably will be contested. Hmmm.....we will see.....I am gonna be glued to my TV all day and night. I just know it. I can hardly sit still right now as it is. Wahhhhhh! When I get hyper like this at night I get kind of annoying. Just ask Steve.
Anyway, I just wanted to say......blobitty blobitty blooo. I don't really know why I wanted to say that. I just did. So.....go to sleep now so you can get out and vote (for J Mc C) tomorrow. Yeah. It's like so exciting. Are you so excited? Cause I'm so excited. I'm so excited.....and I just can't hide it......
So Emily, she can't just say things normally. Like Saturday morning, she was trying to tell me something that had to do with something that happened the night before. Now, if it had just been the two of us in the room, she probably would have said it normally. The thing is, Aubrey was in the room. So in her loudest voice she said, "Mom, remember last night when I stayed up until 11:30 watching TV with you and eating ice cream...", just so she could make her sister jealous. She is always giving way too much information. The other day we were in front of my mom's house and 2 missionaries walked by. So she yells across the yard to me, "MOM! Isn't it exciting that Sam is coming home from his mission in Mexico City, where he is a missionary, in just 3 weeks!".
The cutout of Sam is, at the moment, sitting at the kitchen table. He is wearing one of the girls flower hats and a white and purple scarf is tied around his neck. It cracks me up because it startles everyone else when they walk into the room. But this morning when I took Addy in to eat breakfast, she just waved and said, "Hi Sam!".
I am now the last person on earth to finish reading Breaking Dawn. I just finished it last night. I think I did good considering that I was averaging about 3 pages a day. I really must say that I enjoyed it very much. Bella was not even a little annoying. I have fallen in love with vampires once again. I didn't think I would like the book if Bella and Jacob didn't hook up, but I was wrong. It all worked out. Everyone keeps saying that it was the end of the series, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few years from now we get another little taste of Forks. I mean, the Volturi are gonna want revenge, right. They aren't just gonna let them get away with that. Now I gotta go out and find some kind of library around here.
I know you have probably been worried sick about me not having a life. So to put your mind at ease I thought I would let you know that we now have a DVR in the basement of my mothers house. And this being premiere week and all, I am so excited I can't contain myself. Heroes starts tonight!!!
And one last thing. This song is making me crazy. It just won't stop.
This song, although one of my favorites, is really driving me crazy right now. It might have something to do with the fact that Emily has had it on continuous replay in the CD player for the past 3 days. I can't find a decent version that I can embed so click here to see.
When we were growing up, my mother used to sing this song to us all the time. Now my sisters and I sing it to our kids, and my mom sings it to her grandchildren. I never knew it was a CCR song until today. I love CCR, how did I not know that? I guess you learn something new everyday.
So we are having an open house tomorrow. I am bound and determined to sell my house this weekend. I have been killing myself getting ready for it. I spent the last two days doing yard work. YARD WORK. I don't do yard work. Um mmm, that is not my thang. I have had friends tell me that they think gardening and yard work is relaxing. And I'm thinkin', what in the sam heck are you doin' in your regular life that makes you think gardening and yard work is relaxing???? I have bought plants and flowers (potted-cause that way the work is already done for me) to put around the house and patio areas for past open houses. And then, when the next open house comes along, I take the dead stuff back to the store and get new ones. Just like yesterday, I took what appeared to be the remains of a palm tree back. I think it is fabulous for stores to make exceptions for people like me. You don't even have to save your receipt. If you pay with a debit or credit card, they can just look it up that way.
Anyhoo, I actually planted flowers in my flower bed. Which I am not very happy about. They look nice if you are standing just a few feet away from them. The problemo is I picked purple flowers and I didn't really think it through. I should have picked something that popped more. I looked for red but the red (cheap) flowers they had looked slightly evil and the purple ones were the only ones I liked. But you can't really see them from the street. Oh well, next open house I'll just yank them up and take them back and get new ones. Although there won't be another open house because I am selling the house tomorrow. I forgot. Anyway, I have to keep these puppies alive cause I am not doin' that again. Ever.
Current song stuck in my head:
Which inevitably makes me wish there was more of this goin' on in TV land right now:
