FYI

The problem is apparently not my hair, but my inability to STYLE my own hair.

This is me and does anyone know where I can take a class in styling my own har?

Calls From The Future

I don't usually post twice in one day - spread it around mateys - but this was too freaky.
You may or may not have known that we cancelled our telephone landline and bought a MagicJack to cut down on the monthly bill. We mostly use our cell phones but telemarketers and people from church call us on the house phone. It hasn't been too much of a bother to switch.
But since the MagicJack only works when my computer is on, we will ofttimes come home to an email saying we have a new voice message. The weird thing is that we have been sitting here all evening, with my computer on and I just received an email saying we have a message. A message from Tuesday, June 29th. This is the exact wording, except for the x's of course, that's our number and their number:

"You received a new 0:37 minutes voicemail
message, on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 12:16:50 AM in mailbox xxx-xxx-xxxx from
xxx-xxx-xxxx."

This is me and that's spooky right?

Not Enough Spaces

Is it sad that I forgot how my desk was laid out while we were gone? I couldn't figure out how to plug in all the accessories - my speakers, the printer, the MagicJack, the external hard drive, my mouse and the cooling pad thingy - until just now.

This is me and we are back, open letter to the airlines to follow.

Three Thousand Words

This is me and there you have it.

Countdown In Ten

Shopping, cleaning, picnic, volleyball and noses, family, bonding. It was a busy day today but tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting for.

This is me, I hope my dress isn't too blue.

A Snippet Of The Good Times

Today was spent bonding. First, Rocketgirl and I - and a very classy friend - went to have our hair done. It was an experience I have been severely overdue on receiving and so I may have indulged a tiny bit. So much so that Rocketgirl and Lola sat around with me for almost an hour, watching my highlights dry and chatting up the other stylists. How is that for friends? It was tres to the awesome.
I had Tarzan take the before - with the growth and the leftover super old highlights: And the after: Also the after from the other angle:
Pictures. Perhaps not the greatest lighting for my color to shine but I think it will be excellent. Very violet-red so it won't look so obvious when my hair grows out and it's an easy to care for and versatile style. I think I might want to marry Dorene my stylist. She was awesome.
The afternoon was spent hanging with the children - why do I always think "that would be a great picture" AFTER the moment has passed? Because I am a genius that way - and doing some cleaning up.
Dinner was quite possibly the most fun I have ever had ever eating in my life. Tarzan, his siblings and their spouses and spouses-to-be all went to eat at The Melting Pot in the area. (How lucky are we that there is always one around when we need some fonduing?) It was hilarious, there were so many stories - thanks Rocketgirl for asking us each to share how we met and got engaged, so awesome - and so much food. We were all stuffed and barely able to move but I think good times were had by all. Rocketgirl - the veteran blogger among us - thought to bring a camera so she has the pictures which I will steal in a short while and claim as my own. That's the point of having a genius family.

This is me and it was a red letter day.

No Time

No time, no time at all - not like I ever really have any - but we flew into The Rockies last night to be with Tarzan's family because PhatFiddle is getting married on Friday. She's a doll and seeing everyone is fantastic but there is no time to blog. I have dozens of pictures and videos from the pool this afternoon, adorable shots of cousins playing, sisters, brothers, in-laws, it's awesome. And it will come. I promise.

This is me and I have got to get some sleep before we get our hair all wedding-ified tomorrow.

It's Always Been Blue

I totally copied Cathie's post today and took the color test to see if my favorite color has changed:

It hasn't. It's still blue.

The interpretation is fairly accurate I suppose. I am, by nature, an introvert (55%) and have had to grow extrovert wings (45%) to keep up with my husband, his family, my profession (WHY did I want to be an architect?) and all the tasks that come my way.

I am balanced in my understanding of the environment with 35% morals, 33% ideas/feelings/experiences and only 31% facts. Facts just cloud up my mind anyway.

My relationships with others are 53% influenced by my own creativity and spiritual impulse and 47% by my family and personal ties.

My decision making is 65% inner conviction and 34% conversing with others. Does that make me independent or just stubborn?

Tarzan should be happy to know that I take my spouse's sensibility into account 43% of the time. I am driven by my personal goals 56% of the time.

Apparently I am imaginative, intellectual and well-thought (I don't really understand that one) but I don't care too much about others. Perhaps a little resentment still lingers from last night.

This is me and the short version is I am a moderate person. Straight down the middle of the road. At least according to my color preferences.

In Which I Vent Loudly

Oh my freaking good golly. I do not understand other people's kids. I just don't. I don't understand other people's kids' parents either.
How can they sit and watch their 8 or 9 year old child ignore the instructions, multiple times, from the adult in charge - which was not me - and then throw a fit, a literal fit, screaming and thrashing on the ground when the alternative choice is to sit next to said parent. (As in "if you think casting the fishing line is boring, go sit next to your mother.")
I know, I don't have children, I don't understand the emotional, physical and mental stress of having kids. I realize that children come into this world with personalities of their own and they can't be changed. I really do get that I don't know what it's like to be a parent.
But.
I have seen parenting done well a - very - few times and wonder why some people get it and others don't realize that rules and consequences are a necessary part of life. When your kid disobeys, in a public place, disrupting a large gathering of people, ruining the other children's enjoyment and makes a scene, punish your flippin' kid okay?

This is me and GAH!

Put One Foot In Front Of The Other

An interesting story on the news feed this morning: British College Under Fire For 'How To Walk In High Heels' Course.
I am torn between the two sides - as I usually am with these media 'scandals' - because 90% of women I see in them don't know how to walk in high heels, with the shuffling and the clomping and their ankles waving in and out. It doesn't say that pupils can declare how to wear high heels as their major so I would say it's harmless, like taking a ballroom dance class at school.
Then again, if it's costing taxpayers money, they should have been made aware of it and why can't the students just pay for the six-week class themselves, like they do for any field trip or assignment that's extra in an educational environment? Also, the class should be emphasizing how to walk in the heels they will be wearing in the workplace, pumps, wedges, peep-toes etc., not lady-of-the-night shoes.
And I suppose the real point of the class has been made because I am talking about it and that's the free publicity they were looking for.

This is me and I would have taken the class. High heels are awesome.

Martian Child

Just watched Martian Child, starring one of my favorite actors of all time, John Cusack. It wasn't a new plot - the kid isn't really from Mars but why does all the weird stuff keep happening? - but it was touching. Mostly because the story focused on the relationship between David, John Cusack's character, and Dennis, the "Martian" child. The production team didn't push any romance, or extraneous storylines. It was simple and to the point and I liked it.
I'm also fairly sure they cast the kid because he could hang upside down for a long time, from pretty much anything and not crack a smile.

This is me watching a movie.

He Who Hath Clean Ears

P.S. The guy who invented the Q-tip was a genius.

This is me and it just feels good.

A Typical Monday

Because yesterday was so much fun...
8:00am - got up, got dressed, fed the kittens, got changed after they splattered their solid food all over me and don't get very much in their mouths, then fed the outdoor cats
9:00am - ate my breakfast, did dishes, started the list of what needs to be done today
9:30am - remember the promise to read ATL's final paper for her Bachelor's degree and get on that
11:00am - random wanderings through the Internet to find Kristin Chenoweth is doing a remake of Promises, Promises on Broadway and Promises, Promises is a musical version of The Apartment. All of which I love, Kristin, musicals, Broadway and the movie.
11:30am - fed the kittens, paid bills, sorted through emails, started this blog post, played some Mafia Wars on Facebook
12:45pm - snagged some lunch
1:00pm - dropped ATL off at her school to turn in said paper, then ran errands to the bank, to get cat food and the grocery store. On the way home from this excursion, Tarzan's mother called to ask if I could drive her from the hospital where she is visiting one of her brothers to the hospital where that brother was being transported. Turned the car around, realized I still had ATL in the car with me and she has a final super early tomorrow, turned the car around again and got on the freeway at a point where I couldn't get off when I needed to, had to pass the exit I could see but not use, turned around AGAIN, let ATL off at the house, unloaded the car, prepared to leave and answered the phone just in time to find out Gamma got a ride with the ambulance.
6:30pm - started dinner and fed the kittens
7:00pm - ate dinner, made and iced three dozen cupcakes for Tarzan to take to school tomorrow for the last Book Club meeting of the year
10:00pm - did dishes from dinner and the cupcakes, finished this post and you guessed it, fed the kittens
11:00pm - go to bed

This is me and these kittens really need to learn to feed themselves.

A Typical Sunday

I thought I'd try and document exactly where my time goes in a week. Once I quit work I figured I have all the time in the world to do things I liked to do. Read, garden, decorate, sort through old boxes, visit the beach, you know. It hasn't exactly gone according to plan. This was today's schedule.
7:30am - get up, get dressed and feed the kittens.
8:30am - out the door for church
9:00-10:45am - Ward Council - which is not supposed to be more than an hour - wherein we discuss A LOT of people, family situations, needs, calendars and organizational issues along with the jokes and quips that come with being at church two hours or more earlier than the rest of the congregation.
11:00am-2:00pm - church, wherein Tarzan does a lot of things and I never get to talk to a grown-up.
2:00-3:00pm - wait for Tarzan to finish counting the tithing money and then make the deposit at the bank. Yes, of course I could drive my own car to church and then not have to wait for him but since the time we spend in the car is often the only time we have together in a day, it's not a bad trade.
3:00-3:30pm - come home, eat if it's not Fast Sunday like today was, feed the kittens, do the dishes I didn't get up in time to do in the morning, field phone calls from family
4:30pm - out the door to the Stake Center for a baptism, fireside, home teaching or like today, four baptisms
6:30pm - come home, change out of church clothes, start dinner, feed all the rest of the cats, feed the kittens again, set the table, call back the family we didn't get a chance to speak with previously
8:00pm - eat dinner
9:00pm - do dinner dishes, store leftovers, empty compost,
9:30pm - start the blog post about my day, sort through emails and comments from Facebook
11:30pm - feed the kittens
11:59pm - go to bed


This is me and I thought the Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest?

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Finally, what you've all been waiting for; THE TRIP recap. We thank you for your patience.
The short version is we went up to The Temperate Zone to see my brother, his wife and their kids. Most especially because my parents hadn't seen his newest daughter, Halo, yet:

Luckily Tarzan had last Friday off from work, so we rented a moving truck, picked ATL up from work, emptied her apartment, drove back to our place, emptied the truck and returned it. Then we headed out to get the rental car which we then packed and went to get my parents and siblings from The Desert who got off work at 9pm. Once we got there, I unloaded the kittens to leave with the sister who was not coming with us and we were on the road around 1am. We were blessed with really great traffic and no accidents. I drove the first few hours and Tarzan slept, then I slept and he drove and we traded off all the way up to my brother's house and we pulled in there at 10:45am.

Tarzan, bless him, looked like this practically the whole trip:

He was unstoppable. Unfortunately I was not as virile. Anytime I sat down - especially Saturday - and wasn't actually speaking, I fell unconscious. This is one picture in which we were not asleep on that couch:

Sunday was much better, after a full night's rest, and when church was over my brother took us on a little trip to show off his town. I had not know the "sundial bridge" was so close to where he worked:

It's very tall and it's hard to get the whole thing in one shot:

My brother and LittleJ:

BabyR:

My brother and sister-in-law:

His whole family:

Me being totally cheesy with the daisies:

ATL and BHB creating optical illusions with the bridge:

Looking up at the spire from underneath by the water:
The Canadian geese who like the water:

BHB and me, and Tarzan sneaking in a smooch:

A bluejay in the tree:

I cannot believe this is the only shot I got of the creepy and very large spider that was hanging around:

It was pretty extreme. ATL and BabyR ignored it however in favor of happier things:

The whole gang in the shade of the bridge:

Then we wandered on over to the lake/dam/mountain spectacle that the whole place is named after:

ATL and BHB creating optical illusions with the dam:

Funny story; LittleJ wanted to walk around the lake and look at something so I went with him and took a picture of the rest of the family from our side with my 18X optical zoom lens. What with LittleJ wanting to stand on the side wall and everything it wasn't until we got home that I actually looked at the peeps I had snapped:

This is the group I really wanted:

And then it was time to go back home, have a BBQ dinner, sleep and hit the road pretty early in the morning so we could get back to The Jungle while it was still Monday.

This is me and the next time I get a new neice/nephew, remind me that it's better for everyone involved if I don't drive all night to get there.

Little Know Fact

More about the trip later but first I have to ask your opinion of Glee this week. I don't care how young they are, pregnant women just do not do that do they? I have never been pregnant so I don't know firsthand but I have met a few women who were expecting and they did not bend that way or jump that high. I suppose it's my fault I never asked them to try, but can you blame me? Also, I could have done without the chorus line behind Quinn and some of their bulges looked - and moved - a little funky. I know, none of them are actually pregnant but there is clearly an enormous costume budget for the show so they could get some better fake stomachs.
Clearly this show is not entirely based in reality but if we're going that far out of this galaxy why not have them in moon suits dancing through the stars?

This is me and I am deeply amused AND horrified by this show. At the same time. I will, of course, continue to watch it each and every week.

Edited For Time

Driving all night and going the next day with no sleep is not the novel lark that it was when I was twenty-four. I like my sleep, I need my sleep.
I have tons to tell you, pictures to post and it was a good trip but wow am I tired right now.

This is me and as you may have guessed, we are back. Can I ask you; WHAT was I thinking?