This is where you make up an interesting title for me

So, let's see, where did we leave off last?

So, yeah, my emotional distress on Sunday. Because (1) I screwed up. And (2), yeah ... TMI, I'm sure, but about a week before my body does it's monthly betrayal, I go batcrap crazy.

In fact, I was emailing with a friend ... and she'd talked to the sister of the gal who I failed to get a ride for. The sister said that the gal had cried about it nearly all day.
If I had heard that LAST Sunday, I'd have had to drown myself in the toilet for shame and for being the biggest failure in the entire history of the world.

Whereas, I learned it yesterday. And, after calming down a bit, being reassured ad infinitum that it's okay (even by my RS President, who assured me that she wanted me to keep on keeping on in this responsibility and that, no, I wasn't going to be released because I've failed ONE TIME), when I read the email, I just responded, "Yeah, [the gal] wasn't the only one."

Because it was true. I was a wreck.
But I turned it into being a proactive wreck.
I ran it by my RS Prez, who approved my idea of having a sign-up calendar.
I did have to get someone for this last Sunday (thanks to a friend's suggestion, I found someone).
And, with the premiere of the calendar, I have a wonderful lady who's going to be providing transportation for the next two weeks.
I've already created the Calendar for the next month ... and I've asked our RS Secretary to include it in the binders passed to the RS sisters AND a blurb about it in the weekly RS newsletter email.
So, there's that.
And I don't feel like I need to test the edges of the kitchen knives for possible hari kari.
(Apparently, I am in touch with my inner samurai. Or something.)

Besides that, let's see what else has gone on ...

When Mom came up last week, we ran some errands and got bolts for the new kids' chairs that she got (their old chairs were falling apart). And we waited for the kids to come home.
And waited.
And waited.
And realized that, hey, there's not an early release day this (first) week of school.
*sigh*

But they got home safely and it was fine.
And there was a HUGE storm last Thursday. HUGE.
I thought the power might go out ... but, thankfully, it didn't. Or else we'd have eaten ramen with the hot water in our water dispenser. (I had my bases covered.)

Michael and I had a date (with Bubbles along). We went to our favorite little Thai restaurant. Then we went to Target. (Woooo!! We are WILD AND CRAZY GUYS!) We did find the new minifigs (LEGO) and I am the proud owner of the constable. Bucket got the gingerbread man that she really wanted. Bruise got the mountain climber. Michael got TWO -- The yeti and ... the warrior, I think.
Of course, with this bout of minifigs, between the four of us (Bubbles hasn't put in her two cents yet ... but she's more Duplo-sized), we want all the figures.

We also had the Ward (church congregation) social.
I had griped on Facebook about how I was irritated that the dishes were assigned (the SAME assignment ALL THE TIME) ... and that I was rebelling and I'd bring a SALAD.
And I brought a Snicker Salad (chopped up apples and Snickers, Cool Whip, vanilla pudding mix, milk, and some caramel topping). What?
IT'S A "SALAD." SAYS SO RIGHT IN THE NAME.

I think most people supported me just because they find my whining amusing.
But, also, there are some people in the other half of the alphabet who ARE tired of bringing desserts.
So, yeah.

Saturday was the drawing for the city's summer activity.
I assured the kids that, even though they might not win ANYTHING, we still had fun and we had other fun stuff to do.
I shouldn't have worried.
Although not every kid there won something, Bucket won a pack of cards (with scenic Oregon pictures on the back of the cards) AND a gift certificate to a local pottery shop (she can paint something and have it fired).
Bruise got a prize that he's excited about: a gift certificate to a pizza place downtown. (They have a fun little play area that the kids love.)
All in all, great prizes. And they had fun going around to places, too.

Then, after that, we dropped Bubbles off with the grandparents (to be spoiled, since she's too little for all but one ride) and took Bruise and Bucket to a local theme park.
Bruise went through the haunted house again. I let him hold my hand and chatted at him through the whole thing. (It's way creepier and darker than Disney's Haunted Mansion.)
Bucket refused. She said that she might do it again when she's eleven (so, in another four years).

Besides that, they went on all the rides ... most, more than once. Bucket and I went on the log ride a second time. Bruise waited with Michael.

It was fun to spend time with our bigger kids. I think they had a lot of fun, too.

Then we went back over to Michael's folks house. I chatted with Mom C a lot. She didn't know that my mom was from such a large family ... or that she's the older (surviving) sister.

Dad C talked us into staying and helping make dinner. (They liked my pasta sauce. Woot!)
I really am blessed to have married into a family that accepts me (because, face it, I'm kind of a weirdo. I know it) and loves me.
I hear and read about awful in-law relationships ... and I can't relate (which makes me 99 percent glad, but also a little guilty) at all.

Last Sunday, like I said, I DID have someone to bring the one gal ... so that went well.
We dropped Bubbles off in Nursery (the class for 18 months- 3 year-olds) and watched Bruise give a scripture in Primary. Then we got to go to Sunday School. And I went to Relief Society ... but I got pulled out halfway through, since Bubbles had a breakdown.

She was REALLY tired. She had conked out about ten minutes before Nursery started. And we woke her up for that. The Nursery leader told me that Bubbles would remember that Michael and I weren't there and go to the door ... but they were easily able to distract her again. Until a little boy pushed her.
Then she just wailed.
Enough so that I could hear her out in the hall.

So I grabbed my purse and took her to the Mother's Lounge to rock her until she was calm.
She ALMOST went back to Nursery. Then she wanted to go into Primary. Then she was mad that I wouldn't let her RUN into Relief Society ... so I just carried her around in the hall for a bit until church was over. Then I got the calendar sign-up sheet, collected Bruise and Bucket, and found Michael so we could all drive home (where we watched a Miyazaki film). Michael did some Home Teaching and, after that, we went to Choir.

Yesterday, I got caught up on the dishes (EXCITING! Next installment: Watch Allanna get caught up on the LAUNDRY! Whooo!!!! Then, watch Allanna clean the kids' room! Since OBVS they're not going to do it! Maybe Allanna will even clean HER room and the master bathroom, so it won't look like those rooms vomited the contents of all their cupboards/closets and then a hurricane blew through!!!) and the house looks a lot cleaner after the kids helped clean so that I could sweep and vacuum.

I also went out to lunch with a friend who's working in town. She and I talked books most of the time.
It's very lovely to talk books with someone who adores them as much as you do. ^_^
We have plans to meet up in a couple weeks and talk books again. ^_^

Today, I was able to get Bubbles's WIC appointment rescheduled to the morning, so we wouldn't be late after snatching the big kids JUST as they get off the bus and hightailing it over there. There had been a cancellation, so Bubbles and I had a much better time of it.
She's doing well ... a little low in iron (so I can work on that). Got her vouchers.
Then, I remembered that I needed to run by the craft store for something (which, of course, turns into "a few things").

But I got the iron-on fusing that I needed (because I like to be able to fix the puzzles so that I can, someday, hang them up -- We've got quite a collection now. And, of course, all of them have special finishes, so you can't just buy the puzzle glue and smear that over the fronts. Naturally.) and some needles and some white thread (what is the world coming to when I start to run out of white thread???) and some yarn for a scarf for Bucket (after I finish mine. I finished Bruise's ... and then I should make one for Bubbles).

Good times, good times.

But, yeah, the kids will come home in a couple hours ... and Bubbles is asleep. I want to work on my current puzzle while I have time.

Good-bye, 2009. Hello, hello 2010.

I can totally admit to the fact that I tend to live in the past. I can AGONIZE over choices that I could have (maybe SHOULD HAVE) made at various points in my life. ... I still get VERY peeved when I see all the changes that have occurred in my hometown. I know, I know. The world does NOT revolve around me and my inflated sense of nostalgia ... I'm trying to come to terms with this fact.

I also cannot believe that it's been a year since I was flitting around town, scrambling to find edible glitter and the correct food colorings for Bruise and Bucket's birthday cake and cupcakes for their third birthday.

I also can't believe that it's only been a matter of months since the recession started. THAT, my dears, feels like it's gone on FOREVER. The bad kind of forever (as opposed to my feeling like Michael and I have been married for forever. That forever makes me happy. And almost wipes out how I agonize over what COULD have happened if I HAD kissed K in that play during the Ren Faire when we were sophomores. Could I have had a date for Prom my Junior year ... and then P and I wouldn't have had our friendship go all weird there for a while. But then he (P, not K) and Rox wouldn't have gotten engaged ... and he wouldn't have cheated on her ... Yeah, I don't know. Would things have been better? Or just different. And I probably wouldn't have liked myself all that much, since I WAS dating F right then. Not that he had a problem with my stage-kissing boys. Which was good, since I was in theatre ... But he and I really didn't suit. We didn't (and still don't) have all that much in common. (Truly, we have even less in common now. And I still think about the fact that I owe him a form punch in the nose for taking advantage of a friend of mine ... But that's neither here nor there, now is it?)

We should take down the Christmas tree soon. I need to get a picture of it. I feel bad that we really didn't get presents for the kids this year. Stupid recession hitting us hard. But, hey, they really didn't notice that at all. They got their yearly ornament (or, in this year's case, a set of ornaments each) and they received more than plenty from their family who loves them very, very much. (Costumes, dolls, Transformers, pajamas, lightsabers, cars, Lincoln logs ... good stuff. Yes, my babies are SPOILED.)

We bought their birthday presents today. Nothing really huge. I'll post what they got on their birthday.

Michael's getting a new calling. Glad that it's not me. I freaking LOVE my calling. I'll be so absolutely depressed and dejected when I have to give it up. So, yeah, we'll have a few changes happening around here ... even in our family schedule. Nothing really, really huge ... just different.

Bruise and Bucket start Primary this Sunday. What's nice is that one of their Nursery leaders is now their teacher. And I get the other in YW with me. I love them both ... and I'm so excited to have one with the YW. She totally makes me laugh so hard. (Seriously, you have not LIVED if you haven't played Scattergories with her. HILARIOUS!!)

In my YW Presidency meeting yesterday, it was brought to my attention that I had accidentally moved my birthday to be the same day as our president's. She and I have a couple days in between our birthdays. I played it off, citing that (1) I'm quite fallible and (2) that I wanted to be her TWINSIE!!! We had a good laugh about that. ^_^

I should use the pasta maker that I got for Christmas. It'll be a good thing. Get me off the computer more. And fresh, homemade noodles will be yummy and healthy and (most importantly) CHEAP.

I've been reading (Dexter in the Dark, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, Shakespeare's Landlord ...) and proofreading paper for a friend of mine. (LOVE the "Track Changes" in MS Word. Makes it easy to proof papers online.)

Michael and I went to the temple. And saw Sherlock Holmes (GOOD. Liked it a lot. I'm ready to own in on DVD.) Boxing day, we went with Michael's family and the kids to see "The Princess and the Frog." First time taking Bruise and Bucket to the movie theater. They did really well. Phew! Maybe we can make more of a habit of this. ... When we have money to do so. ^_^

BUMMER THING: My daughter, who takes after her mother in the area of childhood tact ... well ... My mom emailed me last night, letting me know that Bucket was talking about my mom's rear. And using the words "really, really big." Which had really hurt my mom's feelings.
If Bucket hadn't been asleep, I think I would have dragged her out of bed and raked her over the coals, vented my spleen, read her the riot act, and really have let her have it. Since she was asleep, we waited until we were all up and awake and had a DISCUSSION. And touched on this DISCUSSION repeatedly. We DISCUSSED using KIND WORDS and what is and is not appropriate to discuss.
(I can say that she takes after me because, as a child, I kinda offended/hurt my Pop-pop by getting after him and his smoking habit. ... I'm sorry that I hurt his feelings. But, deep inside, I really was right. Because he died of lung cancer. ... I really would give near anything to have been wrong. Sucks, huh?)
But, hopefully, Bucket will stop "trying to be funny/silly" and treat my mom with more respect. (And my mom felt like maybe SHE was being too sensitive. No. My daughter just needs to learn tact and how to filter. STAT. She's not allowed to hurt my mommy's feelings. That's that. Or else I'll be SORELY TEMPTED to handle it how my mom handled it back in the day when _I_ questioned why her posterior was the size it was. ... She slapped me across the face. I learned REAL FAST not to ask THAT question again. ... I don't want to do that, though. It's kind of my last resort. Let's pray that I don't have to resort to it.)

That's mostly the whole catch-up ...

I should, like, I don't know, write down goals or crap for this year. (Hope for more goals and less crap. ^_^

• Really, for real, make a steady habit of personal prayer and scripture study.
  This shouldn't be such a struggle. But, for me it is.
• Make a steady habit of exercise. Because _I_ am tired of being out of shape.
  And, really, how am I supposed to be a good example to my kids if I'm not making exercise a priority? ... Yeah, that's what I thought. Thanks.
• Back up all my stuff to the external HD once a month.
• Review the guidebooks and stuff for YW (Our YW Pres recommended this)
• Attend the temple at least 1x/month.
• Maybe start doing FLYlady again ... it'd be nice to have a consistently cleaner house.
• Plan meals out at the beginning of every week (or, even better, every MONTH) -- so that I will have an idea of when to start dinner and what to shop for and all that.
• Get my computer up and running again. *sigh*
• Maybe do that 365 picture thing ... Just maybe.
• Be prepared for NaNoWriMo this year. ... Since I lost all my previous work, do you think that I should restart the plot that I had going this year? Since I'll have some time and all, I could easily revamp and make an outline and, I don't know, have NAMES PICKED OUT FOR CHARACTERS and stuff?
• Finish Bruce and Bucket's baby books. BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING TO BE FOUR. THEREFORE IT'S DEFINITELY TIME FOR ME TO GET THAT STUFF DONE.
• Finish the two books I have from Thomas Nelson publishing and review them. So I can get another free book to review, and so on and so on and so on, worlds without end, Amen. (Was that sacrilegious? Or blasphemy? I'm not TRYING to be so, just so you know.)
• Get my girly-bits examined and a general check-up. Since that'd be a good thing to do. Not enjoyable, per se. But good, preventative medicine.
• Make a little marker for Gingi-cat's grave.
• Update my address book in Gmail ... get everyone's physical addresses added into that, so that, should anything happen, heaven forbid, I will still have people's addresses.
• I want to get my visiting teaching done every month. Not just for the numbers ... but because I feel better when I know that I've done what has been assigned to me. I hate feeling like I've dropped the ball.

Well, I think that's enough for now. *sigh* We'll see how well I do. And, hey, since I've shared these goals with you, you get to help keep me accountable.
If I fail, don't rub my nose in it, TOO much. Just enough to keep me humble. Not so much that I'll be calling every doctor I know, trying to get a prescription for Valium or anything.

Happy New Year's, everyone! Let's hope and pray for a year of health, love, and some material wealth. ^_^

Or, at least, that things will be getting better and better ... as opposed to the contrary.

The Good, The Excellent, and the Gross

Yesterday was a good day.

The Gross part and the Good part are rather intertwined ... so if you don't want to read it, just skip down.

Gross/Good: Ginger-cat's abcess poppped. I'll be blunt. There was a LOT of pus (I mean, her chin was about TWICE as big on one side!) and the wound is deep. But she's moving around a lot more and drinking more water. This is a VERY good thing.

And I was told (by Bri) that I'm a good "fur mom" ... since I had taken Gingi to use the kitty box ... and I clapped when she went potty. ... Also, Ginger wanted to be held, and I did hold her ... and she got the yucky stuff from her chin (blood and some pus and some drool) on my arm. And I didn't freak out. I wiped it off with a wet wipe and put a clean wet wipe on my arm for Gingi-cat to rest against. ... And Gingi licked my arm. Silly girl.

Also (really gross): The pus makes my arm smell like butt. I'm not joking. It's nasty. And I'm SO GLAD that it's not in her chin/jaw anymore, making her hurt.

Good: I love prayer. It rocks.

EXCELLENT: Bri-bri came over!!!!! I haven't seen my Bri in, like, a YEAR!! But we chatted and shared links on the computer and played with the kidlets and petted Ginger.
Yes, my friends are my Balm of Gilead. Seeing Bri changed my day from "Pretty good since my cat's doing better" to "HELLS YEAH! MY LIFE IS GREAT!!"

Good: I finally finished the books that I borrowed from Jenny a year ago. Now I just need to return them to her. :P

And when I (finally) got dinner made, it was really good. I certainly enjoyed it. Too bad the kids didn't eat so much.

Okay ... I need to get ready to take the kids to storytime.

Good thing it's going to be much cooler. Only in the low 90s today!! (As opposed to the last few days where it was in the triple digits. ... Yes, there is a reason why I DEMANDED a heat pump when we were looking for a house. Totally worth it. ^_^)

Just a few reasons ...

... why my husband TOTALLY ROCKS:

1. Since I was at Camp, he's been working at getting the house clean. So I don't go batcrap crazy and start doing what I did last year for the Pampered Chef party (I mentioned the reorganizing of my bookshelf, which is REALLY, in all actuality, a CHINA CABINET.) ... I could blame of friend of mine for my total OCD tendencies when I know I'll have company over. Once, when we were in the apartment, she had come over and, during the visit, remarked about how we had one bathroom cabinet shelf COMPLETELY FILLED with toilet paper (Hey, we shop at Costco! Hey, I like NEVER being without tp!) ... and I've been worried about people looking in bathroom cupboards/shelves/etc since.
   (Yes, I do have issues. Not news to anyone, right? :P)
2. Yesterday, I had a meeting about the time Michael was getting home. So we switched vehicles in the church parking lot. He dropped his coworker off and took the kids to Costco. I asked him to buy two things - OxiClean (hey, I love it! Gets my clothes clean! And if they sit in the washer for a day, they're still smelling clean!) and popsicles.
   HE REMEMBERED BOTH ITEMS AND ALSO BOUGHT CHICKEN, SINCE WE WERE OUT OF THAT! I hadn't given him a list or anything.
3. This one requires a conversation:
   I've gotten home from my meeting. I've said 'hello,' gone in to kiss the kidlets goodnight, and he's putting last year's charm onto the bracelet I have from Camp (AND HE MANAGED TO DO IT -- Seriously, my hero!)
   Him: (after NCSI has ended) Hey, can you hand me the remote?
   Me: *gets up. Tries to figure out which remote he needs*
   Internal monologue: Okay, so the show just ended. Does he want the DVD remote, like to change the volume? Or maybe the DTV box remote? Probably, to change the channel. Hey, why am I thinking of the movie Coraline? I mean, yeah, Mom mentioned it a couple days ago ... and I really loved the book ... WHAT??? HUH???
   Me: *happy gasp!!*
   Michael: I wondered if the 'get-me-the-remote-trick' was going to work.
   Me: Hee!!
   Michael: It's nice to surprise you.
   Me: *as I pet the pretty, pretty cover of the DVD* ... because I act like a little girl?
4. He gently snickered at me as I tried on, and consequently WORE the 3-D glasses around the house for the next 15 minutes. (Btw, what is it called when both your eyes try to be the dominant eye? Because, wearing the glasses, I could tell they were duking it out. Magenta, teal, magenta, teal ... it's a good thing I can handle strobe lights. ^_^)
5. He gave me time to start a new book ... which enables him to re-read HP & the Deathly Hallows. ^_^ I love being married to a man who's rediscovered the love of books.
   (Did I mention that we're halfway through reading The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) aloud? If you haven't read it, you should. It's not all that happy, being about the Holocaust and all ... but it's REALLY good. It lost out to Looking for Alaska (John Green) for the Printz award a couple years ago. Zusak's I am the Messenger = ALSO GREAT, by the by.)

But yeah ... it's good to have Michael. He gets me. Which is really nice.
And even when he doesn't get me, he still loves me. Yay!

For my fellow bibliophiles

I have a friend who's an awesome gal: teacher, reader, mom, likes to run (for FUN!! Can you believe it? Well, maybe you can. But my lazy-buns self is still flabberghasted at the idea. :P) ...

AND, Kari and her friends have a blog, Reading for Sanity. Right now (until June 30) they've opened up a giveaway.

All you have to do is become a follower of their blog (like, SIGN UP to receive updates follower), write a snippet about it on your blog or social networking site (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) and leave them a comment with your name and which of the books they've reviewed that you'd like to read next. (Seriously, they've reviewed a LOT. Lots of different genres. ... Of the newest reviews, I TOTALLY recommend "The Thirteenth Tale." It was really, really, really great.)

At this point you have, what, 22 days and just over eight hours to get signed up. So, go! Go read some reviews, see if there's something you need to add to your to-read list. (THIS list, for me, has passed 2000. Yes, I have issues. BUT I use goodreads.com to keep track of what I have read and what I want to read. TOTALLY beats the ten scribbled-out scraps of paper I used to rely on. ^_^)

Come on, what are you waiting for? You could win FIVE books!! (I don't know which ones. That just adds to the mystery! Whee!!)

And, hey, if you win ... and, um, you don't WANT some of those books ... you can TOTALLY send them my way. I'll love them and adore them and pet them and call them "George."
(I may be joking about that "George" part. You never know with me. :P)

Randomness

Conversation that just took place -- Bruise and Bucket are running around chasing each other. Bruise is apparantly a ghost. Bruise falls to the floor (on purpose).
Bucket: He died.
Bruise, on floor: I dead.

This morning, Bruise was in the windowsill in the dining area ... and somehow turned on the treadmill (I was alerted to this by the hum of the treadmill on low). And he starts SCREAMING, since he can't get out of the window with the treadmill on.
I go to rescue him. He is half-sobbing and CLINGING to my neck. I'm TRYING not to totally crack up at this ... and then he says, shakily, "It a TWAP!"
Then I nearly totally lost my crap, giggling over how the treadmill is a trap.

Also this morning, Bruise wakes up at an ungodly hour (it's still ungodly early when Michael leaves for work) crying that he's peed his bed. Remarkably, it was JUST the sheet. So I strip the bed and the boy, get him a clean pull-up, put a blanket on his matress, and tuck him in until it get lighter.

YESTERDAY, as we are coming up the sidewalk to walk into the church building, Bruise trips and EATS IT on the sidewalk. He's got himself a scrape on his forehead ... and miniscule little scrapes on the palms of his hands. Thank heavens for Dianne, who (1) opened the door for us, (2) enlisted Bucket to get supplies with her while I changed Bruise's dirty diaper (hey, we're in the midst of potty-training. We still have some off-days), and (3) brought me band-aids and an ice pack. I rocked the boy and sang to him in the mother's lounge ... and he's doing fine. He's actually REALLY verbal about it. Sis. P, one of the Nursery class leaders, asked me about his bandage ... asking if it were from at church. ... Because Bruise was telling her about it. 
(YES! My son is finally getting some words in edgewise around his extremely verbal sister.)

The house is cleaner. And I need to read one book (well, really, more like seven ... but I'm just gonna cut my losses and turn in books and check them out later ... when I have more time [Ha!].) today ... and two more before Thursday. 
One of the fridges isn't being cold. Good thing we don't have a lot of food in that one. I'm going to try and pull it out and run a hairdryer in the back ... and dust it and whatnot. At least the freezer portion is working. Or I'd be SO torqued off.

I also need to do about two loads of dishes. Then I'll be CAUGHT. UP.  ... for, like five minutes.

And I have a veritably MOUNTAIN of clean laundry to fold. At least it's CLEAN, right?
But I'm going to concentrate on dishes and reading. And making the munchkin brigade clean up after themselves.

What would you suggest?

There I was, my dears, surfing my usual array of blogs ... and the phone rings.

So I answer it.

Now, usually I have a decent ear for voices ... I'll KNOW that I know who you are ... and I'll chat with you until I can make sure that I really can put your name with your voice.

And I'm a chatty-type of person.

So, I pick up the phone ... no one speaks, but I can hear stuff going on, so I stay on the line and say, "Helloooooooo? Hello??" and start singing the Jeopardy theme ... and I'm about to give it up, when a guy's voice says, "Allanna?"

"Hi! Yes, this is she."
"Hi"
"Um ..." I say, "What's up?"

And this guy is a soft talker ... so I can't quite figure out who he is. Almost sounds like my Ty-bro ... but not quite, because Ty would be making me nearly pee my pants with his jokes and conversation.

Also, Bruise comes over and is trying to get me to give him certain papers and things from my desk, which is NOT GONNA HAPPEN, so I ask soft-talker-dude-on-the-phone to speak up. MORE THAN ONCE.

"Your voice is sexy," he tells me. 

WHAaaa?? Seriously, what the H?!? WHERE in Hades or otherwhere does it seem like an appropriate or smart or whatever thing to do to tell some person (who's happily MARRIED and SURROUNDED BY HER CHILDREN) this??

Point: It's NOT.

FACT: I have a semi-healthy amount of self-esteem. However, there are not many people (especially guys) that I would feel comfortable with telling me that I am/sound/look/smell/whatever "sexy." ... I think that Michael's 90% of that list. I have some guy friends who are wonderfully platonic and decent that would not be ... WEIRD/PERVY/WHATEVER by telling me this. ... I can only think of ... well, maybe two. Three -- two that are practically my brothers (through our own adoption of each other) and one who is gay.

Yeah, completely weird-making. 

So I told this soft-talker that I thought he had the wrong phone number, GOODBYE. *click!*

I'm thinking that it was this magazine sales-guy who had called back (this was MONTHS ago) the next day, just to chat ... and it promptly got strange. And I told him that it wasn't appropriate and I thought it was a good idea if he didn't call back. Like, EVER. (Which, for me, is rather mean.)

It did sound like him. And he did seem to have this problem with me feeling weirded out. 
(The conversation went like this:
Me:Um, I really don't think that my husband would be comfortable with us having this conversation. [Meaning: Dude, you're weirding me out. I don't like it. And Michael wouldn't like it ... especially because it's weirding me out.]
Him: Do you have to tell him?
Me: [Thinking: Oh HELLS, YES, since you said THAT.] Yes, I tell him just about everything. I see no reason to hide anything from him. He's my husband.
[And, yes, I DO tell Michael just about everything. He's my bestest besty-friend])

So, yeah. I don't have Caller ID on the line that this soft-talker guy called on. I think he may have called again after I went to the shower. 

... Yes, I did what any normal woman would to after being phone-accosted:

I scrubbed out the shower stall and got dressed for my mother to come over.
Completely normal.

I also texted my husband and told him that I missed him. Because, dude, if he were here, he'd have told that soft-talker-stalker-dude what for.

Gosh, I wish Michael were here.

SO, my dears, what should I do? I'm hoping that soft-talker-dude NEVER calls again.
If he does, I'm going to tell him that this is entirely inappropriate and to never call here again.
I might try to get his name and information so that I can get the police involved if I have to ... but I worry that asking for that would only encourage him.
Maybe I could tell him that I died. And that this is her twin sister. The bounty hunter. Who's a double black belt in Judo and specializes in armed combat. Who served time for disembowling a dude, years ago, who called her sister a lightskirt. And who wouldn't have any issues taking out a hit on the guy who called her previously and propositioned her for phone sex. (Okay, it wasn't phone sex ... but it didn't feel like he was just making an innocent observation.)

INNOCENT OBSERVATIONS that wouldn't make me feel all yucky --

"Your voice sounds:"

• melifluous
• lilting
• husky
• raspy
• angellic
• fluting
• mild
• well-modulated

ANYTHING like that would be acceptable.

Anything sounding like flirting? Not quite so welcome.

Ew.

*shudders* 

I don't know WHY I get so freaked out by this. 
I'm just hoping that being firm about my version of "these are not the droids you're looking for," might have given him a little wake-up call that this is not any kind of attention that I'd welcome.

I think I'm going to curl up in a ball and pet my hair, okay?

Or, since my mom'll be here anytime, maybe I should do a load of laundry and finish up the dishes.

Or I could finish reading "Dearly Devoted Dexter" and imagine that Dexter would take this guy out if I needed him to. Yup, I do really like that sociopath. Something about how he TRIES to act like a normal person and how he LIKES and PROTECTS children ... and he tries to take care of his foster-sister and his girlfriend ... I just like it.

I don't watch the show, since we don't get that channel ... and we watched the premiere online (well-done, really ... but I don't care to hear that much cussing. Or else I'd probably watch Deadwood or something. Firefly is really about my speed, as far as language goes. ... However, for some reason, I can READ it and it doesn't seem to have such the impact. Why is this? ... Probably because I can edit it a little as I go. Whereas, when other people are SAYING it, it's a little jarring. Why is that?), but I do like the books better. Judging by the premiere, the television series stays pretty faithful to the books. Hard to judge from just one episode. You'll have to ask someone else, really.), but the books are good. I'm reading the second one right now. The first was EXCELLENT.

Talked to my mom. She says that I handled the soft-talker-dude well. *whew*

Hopefully this is the last time. I really hope so.

Any advice?

stuff ...

So, I'm tired.

Big surprise there, huh? :P

I should get a few loads of laundry folded. I should make dinner. I should tell my dear hellions beloved loinspawn that it's not crying/whining/screaming time, it's NAPtime. Emphasis (BIG EMPHASIS) on N.A.P.time.

I should finish the load of dishes (hey, only ONE load, mind you! I've made some wild headway).

I should vacuum.

What am I going to do instead?

I'm going to run a warm bath and read a book that's due tomorrow. And I'm going to make dinner after that.

Because I need that bath. And I WANT to finish this book SO badly.
And I'm also going to watch the video that's due as well.

And I'm not going to worry my little head at all about the three DVDs that I haven't watched and will be turning in. Because I'm going to be okay. It's going to be cool. No one's going to judge me.

Right?

Question for you ...

Just out of curiosity, ... Which book(s) would you like to see be made into movies?

I just finished the second volume in the Skulduggery Pleasant series (Playing with Fire) ... and, gosh, I'd love to see it optioned for a film (or movie series). I really would like to see how exactly they decide to portray the characters ... the writing/dialog is already excellent ... It just seems like a fun-type movie (although it's somewhat dark and rather violent ... but it's an urban fiction for Young Adults. Makes me happy.) (Since it's a little gritty and nowhere like being from the p0rntastic files of Laurel K. Hamilton <-- I started out likeing being near obsessed with her Anita Blake series ... and then she spiraled into this cycle of less plot and more sexxxorings. Vair, vair dissapointing. When there's more pages devoted to scenes of ever-increasing sex than what is actually furthering the plot, you've left urban fiction and entered erotic fiction. I'm just saying. And that's why I've stopped reading her series -- Yes, I did try the Merideth Genrty series. It had a cool premise! ... and even MORE sexxxorings. If such a thing is possible.)

*sigh*

I'm half expecting the Luxe novels by Anna Godbersen to be picked up, since they're the Gossip Girl series, circa 1900. (Guilty pleasure of mine. I'm eager to read Envy, the third in the series. Rumor left us at a bit of a cliffhanger.

Michael and I have, since reading the first in the series (over two years ago), been trying to determine our dream cast for the Barker and Llewelyn mystery series by Will Thomas.

Since Heath Ledger died last year, we were hard-pressed to come up with someone else to be the protagonist. ... But maybe Shia LeBouf? (Did I even spell his name correctly? I am too lazy to Google it. Sorry!)

What are some books that you've read that you'd love to see as movies? Or just some good recent reads?

Stuff to Share

So, yeah, here are some links and vids and such.

From me to you.

With lurve.


Srsly, is this not AWESOME?
I likes me some lightning. Except for when a storm knocks out the power. Because then I can't go online. Sucks much.

From the ever-charming and darling FoldMyLaundryPlease - Her BIG Project! (and I'm in it!)
(And you can tell that I'm not the only one with a webcam.)

So, go, GO! And show her some lurve. She totally is deserving of your affections, okay?

And to get in touch with my inner Belle (Antebellum Belle, that is), The BBQ Song!


Nabbed from the Fail Blog:

Ken Lee ... You're a "lucky" man, all right. Very lucky, indeed.

For my shoe aficionado-friends (Prissy, I'm looking at you), here is the SECOND VOLUME of the World's Craziest Shoes ... which are all overpriced, of course. ^_^

Since I'm just that odd, I kind of liked these contacts. If I wore contacts.

Why you shouldn't date a T-Rex.

Why it'd be cool to date a unicorn.

If you've ever read the novel "Rebecca," you'll probably REALLY enjoy this podcast episode (7 min. long). If you haven't read it ... you'll probably still enjoy it.

Yesterday was Eric D. Snider's birthday. HERE is one of his hilarious blog posts. I have to remember to share it with best-friend-T (She loves Bring It On.)

If you want to see how you look if you were in a manga, go to faceyourmanga.com.
This is me:

What do you think? Any resemblance?

And, lastly, because as much as I like the Twilight series? I like mocking it even more.
Here is the BESTEST EVAR preview I've seen for the Twilight movie. (From SmartBs Blog)

Quick Link ...

Do you love the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer?

Do you love to mock it?

If you can find humor in the idea, you have to check out this parody of Breaking Dawn.

I totally snickered. Lots.

I sure hope that Pluckie is in Breaking Dawn. I really, really hope he is.

Really, really, really hope he is.

**Update: Oh! Oh! There's a second part to the parody!!!!

I loved the ending for chapter 13, btw.

Word.

Okay, so I now have a new favorite site for killing WAAAAAAY too much time.

But it's so neat. Wordle.net takes a selection of text, the text from a website, or a user on de.licio.us's tags and turns them into an attractive little "world cloud."

Here's an example:



It's from a George Elliot poem about marriage. I did do a little tweaking. The size of the words in the cloud directly corresponds to how many times that word is used in the text given. So, to exaggerate certain words, you can repeat them.

And to keep certain words or phrases together, you can use a tilda (~) -- That's how I got the phrases "joined together," "be one," and "each other" to be so closely placed together. (Seriously, just go fiddle around with it. If you type two words with a tilde in the middle, instead of a space, it'll keep them together.)

And you can print them out, which is cool. You can also save them as PDF files (since you can't save a Java applet as an image ... I don't know why. I'm not a Computer Science major. Though I do have friends and a brother-in-law that are ... so if I REALLY want the run-down of WHY I can't save it as an image, I can get it. For now, I'll just accept it. I don't have to like it, though.)

And there are quite a few fonts to choose from. My favorite is "Loved by the King." It's just pretty.

** Update: Oh, and if you are copying the HTML they give you to post your world clouds somewhere, take out all the spaces. If you don't, the code doesn't work. Gosh, it's a good thing that I've picked up some HTML-speak as I've been on the internet. Comes in pretty handy. Too bad that I'm not fluent in it. Then I'd REALLY be able to spice up this blog, eh?

Blearing through the antihistamine ...

Really, this is the first year that I'm all, "Whoa. Allergies are like this? How do people handle it?"
I'm actually taking some benadryl every so often ... and I'm kinda in a fog most of the time. And I'm so sucking it up at blogging. I really do love you. And I really DO mean to tell you SO much more about my life and all ... and share about a metric crapload of links with you.

Today, my Bucket made me laugh so hard that I about couldn't breathe. She was sitting on my lap after her bath. I was putting on her pajamas ... and she was talking about how the flowers on her PJ top smelled yucky. (I mean, really ... They're IMAGES. They don't stink. But, you know Bucket, she's got a mind of her own.)
And suddenly, it morphs into "I gonna smell Mommy! Peeeeee-yoooooooo! *retching sound*"

I seriously have got to get this on tape. When I do, I'll share it with you all. Because I seriously about wet my pants over this.

... Really, though, I don't stink. I mean, I took a shower and brushed my teeth and wore deodorant and EVERYTHING. I smell good, really!! She was joking, I tell you!

Bruise is talking more and more. He made it through storytime yesterday (which was a special musical presentation for the preschoolers) and the regular storytime today pretty well. If they started acting up, all I had to do was threaten to take them out. Then they behaved. Phew!

In other news, Mary Murphy (on STYTYCD) has been wearing MUCH more appropriate styles for her. Phew. And Neil Lithgow, in a leather jacket? Who does he think he is, Neil Gaiman? (KIDDING! He was fine.)

Well, Michael's telling me that I HAVE to go to bed. And you know me ... I'm a docile creature, always obedient and sweet ... never rocking the boat.

*laughs hysterically*

I mean, I'm not totally DISobedient ... and I'm not a terrible homemaker (I mean, sure, I leave MUCHO room for improvement. But, hey, I did some dishes today! We have clean spoons and forks again! (I TOLD you that I was being all sluggy from the benadryl. You believe me now, huh. And how does one spell benadryl? Am I spelling it correctly? I mean I COULD go and LOOK IT UP ... but I'm all lethargic and weak. But I can breathe. And I can swallow without it feeling like a huge ball o' HELLFIRE is lodged in the back of my throat.)

*sigh* I'm tired. And I am not being a good typist. And I'm REALLY tired.

But, oh! I finished Pretties by Scott Westerfield today. I'm totally digging that dystopian-future-thing he's got going in that series. AND they had Specials AND Extras at the library ... so I can finish the series soon.

And I still have to read Sheri's book so I can return it to her sometime. Oh, so many books ... so little time.

But, now, off to bed I go!! See, Honey? I listen and obey!

It's just kinda in the Lord's on time. Sorry!

Why I <3 our prophet ... and In which I get a little preachy, I think.

(Also, why I <3 the personalized Google homepage)

As I may have mentioned in previous posts, I very much am a fan of the Google personalized homepages. Michael and I both have our own set up.
(His is very nice and organized. One main page for weather, email, and some news feeds. One page for comics.)
(Mine? Well, it's organized ... for me. I have a main page with my email, some bookmarks, weather, the Nat'l Geographic Photo of the day, the moon cycle, a couple widgets for friends -- like Sheri's widget and the countdown until Bri gets back to town. Then I have a news page, a comics/fun stuff page, one for "smarts" with feeds to Neatorama and mental_floss and such, one full of blogs, one full of crafting blogs, one full of parenting blogs ... Yes, I am a little OCD, no?)

BUT, as I was saying (because I so WAS saying this), on my "News" page, I have some RSS feeds for Church News and such. I also added widgets for quotes of the day for Gordon B. Hinckley, Neal A. Maxwell (who still is one of my favorite apostles. I was SO. DANG. BUMMED when he passed away), and (of course, our living prophet) Thomas S. Monson.

Today the quote from Monson (I don't know how the widget's creator has them organized. For all I know, they're completely random. No bother to me.) is

Choose your love. Love your choice.

It just speaks to me. If you love something/someone, choose them. If you've chosen them/it, love them or it.

So many relationships would be better if this advice was followed.

If you love learning, choose to expand your education.
If you love sports, choose to practice and better yourself for them.
If you love your spouse, choose him or her. Let them feel/know that you love them.
If you've chosen to tie your lives together, don't allow yourself to "fall out of love."

Which bring me to another quote that I feel is very relevant, especially in this day and age:

Love is a verb.

I've heard it around too mnay times to give it an attribution. If anyone knows who said it, let me know. I'll correct it and give you total props, okay??

But, really. You can choose whom you love. You can choose to treat people with love.

Just as you can choose to withdraw your love. Which can be really sad.

Love is not just that little rush of hormones and fluttery-feelings. Love is something that one DOES.

I like to liken it to parenthood: You love your children. Even though sometimes they make you want to rip out your hair and devour them like hamsters do to their young.

You spend time with your children. You praise them. You try to teach them and to lead them so that they will be better than you were ... and in doing so, you become a better person (since everyone learns best by having a good example).

Why can't we do this with others in our lives?

I have to work at this, too. Sometimes I get a little offended. (Truly, I'm still coming to grips with a "mentor" teacher <-- Since I still can't refer to her without putting mentor in quotes, you know that I'm still not completely over it.) I need to buck up and start loving the people that have offended me. Because, really, they probably need my love most of all. And, truly, I probably will grow the most by learning to love them.

So, yeah. That's really my thought process today.

I mean, if I use an example from my marriage -- Michael likes having a clean house (Truly, so do I, but I don't always love the work that I have to put into it. :P). When I've let the house go, he starts to feel like I don't appreciate/love him.
So, an easy way to let Michael know that I do care is to have the house tidied ... or at least don't let it get too out of control (since a tidy house and toddlers are sometimes mutually exclusive).

Suggested reading: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.
Really, I think his books (he has some variations. I own "the Five Love Languages for Couples". The books all have some different case studies/examples, but the lessons from each are the same. Follow the link to the website. There's even a test there!

(For the record, I'm a "Words of Affirmation" type.)

Excuse the general silence that was ...

I can make excuses --
1- We visited family
2- I was trying to recuperate from the pestilence that had taken root in my sinuses (for about a week), then decided to migrate into my lungs (Coughing until you puke up some bile? FUN!! <-- Not really.)
3- Sleeping to get over my plague

(Seriously, Today I scheduled a doctor's appointment. About two hours before the appointment rolls around? I feel FINE. Like, I'm breathing normally through both nostrils and my lungs are clear. Wither the fries?!? And I was able to cancel the appointment. And I'm still feeling better. Not quite 100%, but TONS better than even yesterday.)

Bruise and Bucket are being cuter and cuter. Bucket actually BONDED with my stepdad ("Poppi" as we refer to him, since my mom is "Mutti." And we didn't think he'd much relish being "Vatti," which sounds suspiciously close to "fatty."), so he now ADORES her. (He and Bruise have always enjoyed each other's company. They like to "play" the piano together. Poppi does a nice job. Bruise still is working his ... um ... modern jazz style. :P

Besides that, we had a good weekend, for a traveling one. We dropped Michael off with his carpool buddy, I cleaned up the house and packed. We loaded up the car (We= ME) and jetted down to pick him up, drove down, saw my Nana.

(Aside, Bucket LOVES Nana. As we were driving up the street to Nana's house, she pipes up, "I go see NANA! I pway wif Nana. I pway books and toiws (toys)." And I'm just all, "Whoa. She's got a good memory. It's been like a FULL month, maybe two, since we went to Nana's house." Also, Bucket can be a little shy/snobbish/introverted around lots of people. --- She THREW herself at Nana.)

Then we went to Dad and L's to spend the night. I ate ribs for the first time.
Dude, I've been missing out.

Next morning (Saturday, if you're keeping score), we watched cartoons and then met up with Mom at her school's fundraiser (Yum! Doughnuts!) and went to Mom and C's for a visit. This has been the first time that Bucket has actually given C the time of day, really. They ended up watching cartoons together while Michael and I chatted with Mom (as Bruise ran between rooms/conversations) and watched Pop-Up Videos on VH1 (Oh, how I have MISSED Pop-Up Videos. They're one of my secret addictions. I would watch them every chance I got when I lived at home. When I wasn't watching Daria. ^_^)
And, as you can see above, I came home with the link to the online Pop-Up Videos.

Life is Gooooooooood.

By the time we got home, though, my sinuses were killing me (again). And I had started coughing more. So I finally caved and took my inhaler. And I ended up skipping church again to sleep. Slumber, my elusive lover, how I have missed thee!!
And why does it seem that I am only getting the good, deep sleep on Sunday, when I SHOULD be in church? Seriously, people are going to think that I'm faking it and really going inactive or something.

But I did make an appearance after church so I could renew my temple recommend. Yay!! I can go to the temple again! I'm no longer feeling like a total reprobate!

Today, Michael stayed home to take care of me. And to watch the kids if I needed to go to the doctor's office. As I mentioned previously, I didn't quite need that trip. But I was more than happy to have him home.

We finally set up the digital receiver up to the antenna on our house. WOW. Our signal looks WAY good. Like we'll be able to READ the questions when we watch Jeopardy! Who knew?!?

And, I'm really out of stuff to say, so I'll close up with the latest fun stuff:

LINK: What Teenage Angst Novel Are You? - By E. Lockhart (A YA Author)

Right now, I'm "Kissing Vanessa." Yet another book to add to my to-read list.
I was something else on Friday. Was it "Twilight?" I can't remember.

Want to be depressed and amused at the same time?
LINK: What Other People Did When They Were Your Age -- Enter your age, see what people did. Between the ages I was this year? Yeah, I could be really depressed. I haven't written a novel/screenplay, climbed any mountains or run in any marathons, I haven't even gotten drunk to where my friends could dress me as a clown.
What is my life coming to????

And this commercial (It's in French. I don't really know what they're saying. But, be assured, it's cool.) makes me want to practice when I'm grocery shopping.

Too bad I have kids in my cart.



Dude. Color me impressed.

Now to flush my sinuses with more saline solution. Pray that this pestilence will decide to LEAVE. Or that my immune system will start kicking some serious virus-patootie. I'm sick and tired of being sick ... and tired.

No attempt at a clever title

What's been going on since I last blogged?

- The young women's meeting last night went very well. Our centerpieces look lovely. I forgot to take pictures, since I was too busy chatting with these fun young ladies.

Some of them are too smart for their own good, methinks. A conversation:

K: Are you on the internet a lot?
Me: Well, yeah. Probably more than is healthy. <-- See I own up to it!!
K: I thought so. You're always "I read this on a blog!" or "I found this online" or you're emailing back and forth with my mom all the time.

Guilty as charged.

Today I about killed my son. (And by "about killed," I mean I got really mad, screamed, spanked him, and sent him into timeout while I called Michael to calm down.)
His crime? He started to pull the tape out of my VHS of "Emma."

I think he may now realize (FINALLY) that Mommy does NOT approve of when he plays with those big, black boxes. And that, even though he's an adorable little boy, cuteness will NOT get him out of everything.

We didn't go to storytime today. I hadn't gotten a shower and just wasn't really motivated. We'll try for tomorrow.

However, I did take the kids out with me so I could do some yard work. We now have about half the amount of leaves in the front yard. I also pulled out the dried stems from last year's irises on the side yard. Go me.
And the kidlets were really well-behaved. I mean, there was the one part where I had to ask Bruise to PLEASE not stand in the road. And the other time when he went jetting off around the corner of the house. (What I wouldn't give for a fenced yard!!)

We also got a package from my mom today (I knew what was in it, since she ordered it when she was up here last. Bruise and Bucket are enjoying their new Sesame Street DVDs as we speak). The kidlets loved "helping" to open the package.

Funny aside: I gave Bucket a refill on her water and said, "Here you go, Bucket."
She misunderstood me, since I don't call her "Bucket" all that often. She readily answers to "Princess" and "Sweetie" and "Munchkin."
BUT she looked at me and said, very seriously, "Not bucket. CUP."

I also finished a book. I enjoyed "Dragon Slippers" very much. More than I thought I would. It was very cute. And would make a decent screenplay, I do believe. ^_^
Looks like she's a member of the Church. Makes sense, since I learned about Dragon Slippers on Shannon Hale's blog, not that all the authors she mentions are LDS. But, still.
And, it looks like there's a sequel, so now I'll have to add THAT to the 500+ books I've marked "to-read" over at Goodreads.com. *grin*

Well, since Bucket's taken over my lap and I'm trying to type around herartistic endeavors (which usually culminate in blocking my view of the keyboard and -sometimes- the monitor), I'm going to close up. But, oh, she LOVES drawing with this pink mechanical Eeyore pencil I got in my stocking about, what?, within the last five years, anyways. ^_^ I don't mind her playing with pencils so much ... as long as she doesn't point them TOO near my eye. Then I start to freak out. ^_^

Getting my geek on: Book sites

As you can see on my side bar, I have a couple of widgets for book sites. And I thought that I'd talk about them. Because I'm a freak like that.

I have the most experience with Goodreads. It's nice in the fact that you can see what other people are reading, rate books, discuss them/write your comments about them.
The other plus for me is that I have friends using this site.
When I first started using Goodreads, I just made it so I could keep track of all the books on my "saw it/read about it on the internet and what if I lose my bookmarks or the pieces of paper I've scribbled all these titles on??" list.

(Truly, I can't forget to mention Amazon.com. I enjoy looking up books and then following the reccomendations and other books that people who bought "this item" looked at. I could waste a god hour or so that way, if I allow myself to.)

Shelfari is new. I only learned about it last week. And it seems that I actually learned about something before everyone else and their dog (which is usually how it is. I'm SO often the last to know).
The cool thing about Shelfari is that it LOOKS like a bookshelf.
I'm not about to give up my Goodreads for it. But it's nice and visual.

The newest site I've found (and that would be this morning) is Booklamp. The idea behind it is about matching books ... if you like [title], then here are books that are like it in the areas of description, dialogue, pacing, action, and density. It's in SUCH the new state that it's not really working ... they admit it. BUT you can request books for them to add into the database. (Title, Author and ISBN required ... so I go to Amazon. ^_^) I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.

If you're looking for ideas for books, What Should I Read Next? is a decent search engine. You can even register and add books -- so you'll get even more tailored results.

I also am a member (but not very active) over at bibliophil (because my dear librarian-friend, Cynthia invited me!) and Library Thing, both of which are rather like Goodreads. (LibraryThing is free up to 200 books. That's probably why I don't use it much ... says the girl with over 1300 books over at Goodreads. Like half of those are on my to-read list.)

A couple more sites that help you to decide on what book to read:

Whichbook.net: what are you in the mood to read? Click on the corresponding option. It'll narrow it down for you.
The book quiz: Find your literary match. (It's fun, anyways!)
And literature-map.com: Enter an author and they'll map out a bunch of other authors. It goes with the assumption that if you like this author's body of work, these authors will be up your alley. the closer another author is in the "map"/cloud/arrangement, the more likely it is that you'll enjoy his or her work.
(A funny thing about literature-map, some of the author names hover ... like they're not quite sure about the placement. Makes me laugh.)


Funny, on mental_floss, they have a discussion about "Deal Breaker books" ... what would be the book(s) that would bring about the end of a relationship? A lot of people seem to really hate Dan Brown's books.
(I don't know. His books seem fine to me. Do I think they're the paragon of modern literature? Nah. But I've read worse.)

I don't know that I really have a deal-breaker book. If you really loved Birdman (the only book to give me repeating nightmares for WEEKS ... Yeah, I kept dreaming that I'd been abducted by a sadistic rapist. And he was driving me to where he was going to ... well, yeah. and I KNEW what he was going to do. So, I'd wake up in a cold sweat. Over and over and over. *shudders* I threw that book away. Like in the garbage can. I don't do that to books. For that one, I made an exception. And Stephen King? Doesn't phase me too much, nightmarewise. I do think that Room 409 is one of the freakiest short stories. Like deliciously, wickedly freaky. But I liked The Sun Dog even better. Enough to make you think twice about that Polaroid camera.)
I had one nightmare over a different book, one that T loved and lent me. About a virus that affects only women. So, in my dream, they used a different treatment involving testosterone ... and I was growing a pen!s. Yeah, I woke up patting at my pelvis. And thanking the Lord that I was not going to freak out my husband by suddenly having equipment I was not meant to have.)

(Oh, hey! You got a bonus section of Allanna's crazy dream chronicles! Aren't you THRILLED?!? :P Seriously, my subconscious is a very scary place to visit. Unicorns, Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Death, recombinant DNA, various celebrities and school friends, road trips, goblins and boggles, sunshine and flowers, incense-filled sepulchers, ... it's like Edgar Allen Poe meets Lewis Carrol and then got together with the Powerpuff Girls. After they picked up a biology textbook and a copy of the Princess Bride. All while quoting Monty Python and Dorothy Parker.)

(Seriously. You should try living with it. :P)

(Maybe that's why I read so much.)

If you want to comment with any deal-breaker books, I'd love to hear them! Or you could comment over at mental_floss.

Okay, that's enough for now (Meaning that I've run out of material. But still! That's quite a few websites of bibliophila, no? And I didn't even mention Bookswim, where you can RENT books, like Netflix. I haven't tried it myself, but I'm loving the idea ... especially if I didn't live near a decent library.)

Sick Sad World

When did I last blog? I should have looked before I started writing this, huh?

Well, what's pertinent? I've read some books. If you ever go to goodreads, you can see what I have rated. I'm terrible at comments. I don't think I've commented on a single book there. (I think the link works. If it doesn't, let me know. I'll work on it.)

Friday, we went and fed the ducks at one of the local parks. The kids really enjoyed it.
Saturday, we ripped up the stanky carpet in the master bath (seriously ... carpeted bathroom?? Add a shower door that drips when you open it and a couple instances of cats using the "alternate" litter box -- or lack thereof. It was nasty). Then we painted the bare floor so we can use it ... since we don't have the tiles for it yet. Hopefully in a few months.
Sunday ... what can I say about Sunday? We were supposed to sing in ward choir (Sorry Di!) ... but as I was trying to get the kidlets to take a nap, they emptied two drawers of their dresser ... adding that pile to the three other drawers that had been emptied ... I just ...

I don't know if it's February itself, but I have a noticeable LACK of motivation. And my period is making me all crazy. AND I had a meeting in the afternoon. AND I wanted the house in some state of order when my mom came in that afternoon ... And with the kidlets NOT taking a nap that they needed ... I pretty much just took a personal health day for the most part. I cleaned up the house, tried to take a nap, and went to my meeting. I still feel crappy and kinda stupid that I missed church.

I got to see one of my friends that I hadn't seen in a while today. This was the first time I've seen her daughter (I used to play with her eldest when she still lived in town. Then we were pregnant at the same time ... and she moved in the middle of the pregnancy, but she comes to visit family ... and my kidlets and her second are days apart in age). It was good to see her. Unfortunately, she's up because some catty little bint accused her husband (a teacher) of indecent actions. A totally ludicrous claim -- because she was reprimanded for playing with her cell phone during class. Ugh. So she throws people's lives into upheaval. Ugh.
I know that it's totally low of me, but I totally hope that this bint get her karma. And that it bites her, FAST and HARD, in the bum-oley.

Besides that, not a whole lot is going on right now. I'm enjoying PBS's Masterpiece with the Jane Austen novels-into-movies. I've seen the A&E "Pride and Prejudice" before. I like it. Michael and I get to make some snarky comments during it ... like how Darcy's gangster name would be "Wet Shirt Darcy."

Or how Michael's like, "Is this the part where he falls in the lake?"
Me: NO. He goes for a swim. "Falling" implies that it's not on purpose and give a completely different mental image. Like slapstick. And that doesn't fit. ... Though it would be funny.

And how we pick apart Darcy's first (rather pitiful yet passionate) proposal -- "Against my better judgement" = "I love you, even though a smarter man would not." Harsh!!
I'm half-amazed that Lizzie didn't kick the crud out of him for that one.

SO, to take attention away from my odd mental state (or at least distract from it), here are some fun comics that I enjoy:

At comics.com:

9 Chickweed Lane
Pickles
Get Fuzzy
Pearls Before Swine
(the artists/authors for those last two are friends and rip on each other every so often. It's great. ^_^)
Rose is Rose

There's Sluggy Freelance.

I've recently gotten into Wapsi Square. It's got a bit in common with Sluggy, but it's also very different. (Just so you know, it starts off slowly ... but the plot builds really well. And I'm loving the character development. As I do in ...


Questionable Content, whose name is very honest. This artist also writes Indie Tits -- a web comic that features mostly birds with unfortunate names that talk about obscure bands. So I really don't get it a lot. I much prefer QC. It's got plot. ^_^

And there is the newest one I've gotten into -- Basic Instructions. The art's not quite all that to be desired (not that it's bad, by any means ... you'll see what I mean). But the humor involved? Genius. I usually have to share these with Michael, since I know he'd appreciate them, too.

So, that sums of MOST of the comics that I read. (If you are into photography, you should check out What the Duck? for a good read.)

Did that work? Did my evasive maneuver for getting off of the topic of my higher-than-it-should-be mental number work? Huh?

If not, I'll be posting pictures of my kidlets.




"I'm gonna catch me a duckie. Then I'm gonna pet it and squeeze it and call it George."

A bookish post

Bruise, Bucket and I made it to storytime for the SECOND WEEK IN A ROW!!

Yeah, who da man??

Yup, I da man. ... Or as Michael will answer me, "You da WO-man."

Bucket did just about all the hand motions to "The Wheels on the Bus." I was impressed.
Bruise had fun going up to Dana (the AWESOME Children's Librarian at our library). At one point, I looked up from doing hand motions with Bucket on my lap and there Bruise was, bouncing around on Dana's lap. ^_^

Bruise even got a stamp on his hand. A little purple cat to go with the witch tattoo he got trick-or-treating.

Before I picked up my holds, I took the kiddos over to the kids' books. They each got a board book. They were REALLY ENGROSSED in the books this week.

Usually I choose between 4-7 books and they don't seem that into them until after we get out to the car.

This time ... Bucket, who was exhausted, kept her Elmo book open on her lap, even after she was nearly conked out.

Yes, she is my daughter.

One of the staff let me know that there's a circ desk opening.
It's tempting ... but, especially with twins, ... well, with the transportation and the childcare ... I'd be lucky to break even.

Maybe after mom retires ... but that'd be a LOT of time that she'd have to be away from HER home ...

I don't feel that right now is the time for me to go back in the work force. I want to be here to see my kidlets grow ... and I miss Michael too much as it is.

*sigh*

Okay, okay. This post has gone from "bookish" to NOT bookish at all ... Bringing it back around:

Bucket loves her Elmo book. Bruce very much likes the Corduroy book I picked for him. I'm in the middle of a Laura Lippman mystery ... for more books that I'm reading or considering reading in the near future, you can always check the GoodReads widget to the side.

I should get offline sometime so that I can finish my books. Sometime. ^_^

Literacy and a funny thing

I should (keyword: SHOULD) be making sure that I'm all totally prepared for the Pack Meeting for Cub Scouts tomorrow.
Have I done that?

No.

I should also be finishing up laundry. Which I haven't done.
Or finishing up dishes (which I've done a little! I need to unload/reload the dishwasher and I should [keyword: SHOULD] be caught up.

Now, as a confirmed bibliophile, I should share this with you:
******
In less than two weeks Congress will be voting on legislation that will:

1. Get much needed funding to school libraries.
2. Requires that every school in every school district of every state employs at least one state certified, highly qualified school library media specialist.
3. Provides monies for training and professional development for school library media specialists.

What does this mean?
1. It means more monies for schools to buy books and educational materials.
2. It means that young people will have access to more and better books because informed, knowledgeable librarians will be making book selections for their schools and will have more input and influence on trade and educational publishing for young people because they will have more purchasing power. (Many schools' libraries are run by parent volunteers and/or a teacher or other educational professional who may or may not have the skills and knowledge of a certified school librarian.)
3. It means that young people will have a knowledgeable librarian to teach them how to be informed consumers of information and critical thinkers.
4. It means that those wonderful people who are running school libraries who are not trained as professional librarians, will have access to professional develop monies to help them to get the professional training they need to help our kids.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
1. FAX or email or call your congressional representatives in support of this legislation: the Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act. You can find out who your Congressional and Senate representatives are at: http://www.capwiz.com/ala/directory/congdir.tt

2. Copy and paste this email and send it to everyone you know, especially: friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, editors, publishers, authors, illustrators, teachers, librarians, parents---everyone and everyone you know. Add your own short personal note and ask them to please contact their congressional representatives today by fax or email to support the SKILLs legislation. Encourage them to write a very few short words in support of this legislation. If you use a formula message it will not be taken as seriously as a more personalized fax or email. REMEMBER- YOUR VOICE AND YOUR VOTE DO COUNT---THESE POLITICIAN/LEGISLATORS KEEP ACTUAL TALLIES OF FAX , PHONE, AND EMAIL MESSAGES FROM CONSTITUENTS!
******

I mean, really ... if we don't work on getting kids reading, what are we really going to be looking at in a few years?

This??
(Yeah, yeah, I know you've all seen it before. But still, it totally makes my point, no?)

So, yeah.
And, if you're wanting to get political ... you can also get on board with GrassFire.org or MomsRising.org.
I mean ... I don't consider myself the most politically activist-ic person ... but this lets me feel like I might have some effect and might let my voice be heard. which makes me feel a little proactive.

NOW, off of my soapbox and my "shoulds" ... I have to tell you the funny thing Bucket did last night.

Here's the scene: Michael and I are getting the kids off to bed after dinner and some high-quality whining. Bucket is SCREAMING. We change diapers while she fusses and whines and moans and screams. Bruise climbs into his crib (Hey. If the boy can climb OUT, he sure as H can get himself IN the crib. And he does.), I put Bucket in her crib. We tell them to fold their arms for the prayer. As Michael starts with the "Dear Heavenly Father ...", Bucket grabs her blanket and BLOWS HER NOSE IN IT.

Now, yeah, it's kinda disgusting. But I had to work SO DANG HARD to keep from snickering through the rest of the prayer. Bucket? After that, she was calm and all grins.
Once we get to the prayer at night, she's good. We pray, have goodnight kisses and tuck the kidlets in their cribs, we say our "good night"s and "we love you"s ... the munchkin brigade tell us "bye-bye," and Michael and I either watch a show or movie or eat ice cream or read or stuff like that.

I so wish that I had gotten Bucket's nose-blowing on camera, though. It wasn't very dainty. And I could have totally wet myself because of it.

Yeah, my kidlets crack me up. Good thing, too. Or else, with the pre-verbal-stage whining, I might have devoured them by now. :P

So, in other news, I have my pack meeting tomorrow, and a meeting with the bishop ... maybe visiting teaching in the morning ... Thursday I go down to Nana's, visit and drop the kidlets off there, go to Kevin's memorial service (on what would have been his 28th birthday), pick up the kidlets, drive to my mom's and spend the night. Then we'll come back up Friday morning. Hopefully in time for Michael to come home.
Yeah, he's not able to come with us. But he'll be able to get caught up at work. And probably watch more episodes of Bubble Gum Crisis on TV Links.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I will feel better then. I'll have another month to get ready for the pack meeting.
I SO don't know what I'm doing. I know I need to get the boys excited and all ... but I don't know what to do, really. Wish me luck! *terrified grin/grimace*