26 years...not bad

Yesterday was my 26 anniversary with the magnificent Mr. T. I spent most of the day flying home to get to him. I almost told the man sitting next to me on the plane that it was my anniversary and I was the luckiest woman in the world but he seemed too interested in his mini turkey sandwich and teeny weeny bag of fritos they called lunch to care. I was thinking about telling the obnoxious lady on the shuttle bus to the park-n-fly after she told the entire van about her daughter who just flew in from New Zealand with a nine month baby on her lap and how she met her in California to fly the last leg with her and how she thought that the park-n-fly should have better markings on their vans so she wouldn't be confused and blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda. Nope she wasn't special enough to tell. Instead I kept my secret until I was in the strong arms of a tall dark and handsome not too stranger and whispered it in his ear..... Happy 26th anniversary good looking....I am the luckiest woman in the world. 

She Did It!

I am back from my blogging hiatus,
and proud to report that I have one down
And two to go!
Raar graduated from college.
My alma mater to be exact and I could
not be prouder of her.
She is going to make one awesome educator..
She has already taught me much, being my first born.
When we brought her home from the hospital I was
scared spitless.
I had no idea what to do and wondered why in the world
anyone would leave me alone with a baby.
The first time we were alone I sat in the living room watching her
sleep and breathe....for 3 hours.
Just sat there
Overwhelmed with the responsibility
Overwhelmed with the love.
Scary love.
If I had been smart I would have slept because that was the last
time she slept for 3 hours straight for the next 6 months.
Raar was my test case baby.
She was my trial and error child.
She taught me that I could do anything
(well almost anything)
She taught me that love is a bottomless pit.
Scary sometimes and never ending.
Congratulations Raar.
You did it!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (old time after hours tv sound)

I may not have reliable internet for the next few days
so just in case
I am signing out for right now
If you are of a certain age you will know what this picture
symbolizes.
If you don't know then ask your mother,
but don't tell me that you did.
I don't need to feel any older today.
This concludes our regularly scheduled
programming.
Please keep checking back though.
I will return.
(with some awesome pics and thoughtful
musings)

Oh Yah! I got a new toy!

Yippee! Yippee! I got a brand new toy! It's is like the fourth child I never had... It's my new baby. A camera! I have been lusting after a decent camera for YEARS. And I finally took my little nest egg of savings from Christmas's and birthdays and bought it. Well my brother actually bought it for me and brought it to me today. He is the handsome guy in the picture. The baby of the family. I handed him a roll of twenties and fifties with a rubber band around the middle. It was an impressive wad of cash and we both felt a little dangerous. I have always wanted to give someone money rolled up like that.....well it would have been a better wish to receive a wad of cash like that. I even broke down and bought a second lens that will zoom me right up to your face from down the street. It felt heavy and substantial in my hands and I went outside and took random shots of the neighborhood. So what if the neighbors stared and looked uncomfortable. I looked like a professional......even though I had no idea of what I was doing. I waited by the door for Mr. T to get home from work and snapped a picture of him as he opened the door. FLASH!! It was a surprise picture attack. I won't post that picture because it didn't look so good. Note to self: Surprise picture attacks don't really flatter the person you are photographing. I think that I will sleep with it beside me tonight.... Mr. T won't mind. He's a good sport.

They Don't Make Them Like They Used to.

Here is a shout out to all my "mature friends". Remember her? Don't worry I won't tell anyone.. That you're old too. I got my Chatty Cathy when I was about 3 I think. Here is the really funny part. That Christmas my sister and I both got Chatty Cathy. With a real bonus. My Mom made her a wardrobe from left over scraps from our dresses that she had sewn. Here is a wrap up: A. She made our clothes. B. She made our doll clothes. C. My doll and I's clothes MATCHED. D. Her house was probably clean while she did it. Something about that is just not right. Man I wish of all the junk in my house I had that doll and those clothes that matched right now. I would take the day just to sit and admire them. But alas they are gone. Sure my mom was super woman but evidently she could not see into the future. I guess she didn't have the help of cool things like facebook or the internet. I guess that's why she had all that "free time". 

Facebook! We have a problem

Ok Facebook...that's it. I love you but you are dead wrong. You are not the magic 8 ball I thought you were and you wanna know why?
I didn't mind so much when you said I was a font that was....well a little stuffy.
I didn't think too much about it when you said that I was a children's book that I had never heard of (and I took Children's Lit in college..I am an elementary school teacher for pete's sake)
I tried not to be offended when you told me that the breed of dog that I would be was Siberan Husky.....uh HUSKY! (no offense intended I'm sure)
When you said that of all of the really cool characters on Grey's anatomy that I was most like Meredith Grey!! Are you kidding me? I'd rather be any character than her. Someone cooler like Christina or Bailey. Heck I would have even settled for Alex Carev. Meredith always sits around complaining with that hang dog look on her face. She is so wishy washy and whiny. And as much as I would like to be thinner, let's face it a gentle breeze would knock her over....no thanks.
But what really made me question your psychic abilities....
What 70's sitcom star would you be??
MARYANNE from Gilligan's Island?
MARYANNE??
No flippin way.
Not even if she was the last person left on the island.
It's not that she is not a sweet character or perky cute but I can't see anything that even resembles who I am.
Oh I know what you are thinking. You think that I think that you think I'm Ginger. Well you are wrong. As much as I would like to claim that title I think that I am probably most like the Skipper. (well at least I am honest with myself)
So facebook I am not going to be taking your quizzes anymore. You have lost your credibility with me.
So goodbye facebook...it was nice while it lasted.
(don't worry we'll always have pet society)

I am hereby coming out of the closet and admitting it!!

No no that closet. I am going to admit to the world. I LOVE facebook! I am one of the few over forty something who think facebook pretty much rocks. Not that I don't appreciate and love my blogging buddies and our blogiverse, but before I was a blogger....I was a FACEBOOKER! There it is....the ugly truth. And as long as I am confessing I will tell you that I was a facebooker before I was even "allowed" on their hallowed grounds. This goes way back when facebook was only for college students with a valid college email account....before they let the high schoolers on........waaay before they opened it up to joe everybody and his dog. My daughter had an account her freshman year of college and she gave me her secret password, handshake, and let me be the voyeur that I always knew was within. It was so wonderful to see her new friends and read about what was happening in her life while she was 1500 miles away. I was hooked! Then when they let little ole me have my own account...well let me just say it ranks right up there in the top ten special moments of life. But....before you pass judgement on my time wasting silly juvenile guilt inducing time wasting black hole habit.....let me ask you this question...
WHERE ELSE CAN YOU LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT YOURSELF (without paying a professional therapist.)
For instance: Here are some of the things I know about ME!
What color am I?........red
What Disney princess am I?........Snow White
What font am I?........Myriad Pro
What TV mom am I?......June Cleaver
What pokemon character am I?........Pikachu
What movie is my life?.....Footloose
What Golden Girl are you?......Dorothy
Which celebrity should I marry?.....Will Smith
Which element am I?......water
Which Beatles song am I?......Lady Madonna
What cartoon character am I?......Snoopy
What type of Mormon am I?....... Genuine Mormon
I mean REALLY!! where else could I get so much self discovery for FREE! It has really helped me define myself and set some goals for my future. I mean when you know what font you are...you really are truly on the path to enlightment. Please join me everyone....I am sure that I am on to something here. Gotta go now I hear Will calling. Gotta cut footloose.
Love, Snow White

Happy Easter mmm mmm good!

I bet you wish you were eating with me today.
Nobody cooks better than my mom.
Aren't I lucky to be ___ years old(let your imagination fill in the blank) and
I still get to eat
Easter dinner at
my Mom's house?
Well I think so.
Thanks Mom!
You make all of my
Easters happy.

The Easter Picture

Do you remember when EVERYONE got a new dress for Easter to go to church?
In the olden days (aka my growing up days) we also got new gloves, new shoes and a new purse.
Then we would line up in an awkward fashion usually tallest to smallest..... not
unlike a police line up
And my Dad would take a picture.
I like the way we were told to look off to the side.
What were we looking at or looking for?
Possibly the easter bunny?
Not hardly...by the time this picture was snapped,
we had already consumed mass amounts of sugar
and were well on our way to a sugar fit...
a truely sweetened melt down.
Can you see it?
Most likely we saved it for sacrament meeting.
I continued the tradition with my own brood.
The copious amounts of candy....
The primping and fixing and combing and making them look like little angels.
Gathering them to take "the Easter picture".
One of my children who shall remain nameless (raar) HATED that part
of the festivities.
She would end up in tears EVERY easter morning.
She is married now.
I wonder if she misses it?
Will she do the same to her own someday.
I'll let you know.

A Step Back in Time

Peanut today. She is off to a youth conference for our church. To reenact the stories from the Book of Mormon. She will be playing Sariah. She will rock their socks I think, Of course I can say that..I am her mom And as my mother and grandmother always said.... "Every old crow thinks her's is the blackest. Would you like to know more about the Book of Mormon and want your own free copy.... Visit mormon.org

One lucky woman!

Admit it.
Aren't you curious about what someone's spouse or boyfriend looks like?
Do you ever look at couples in the mall and think,
"Huh.......
I never would have put those two together."
Or when you meet a really pretty woman
Don't you want to know if her husband is a "10" also?
Are you disappointed when you get a wedding invitation
and there is no picture?
You look at it and scream in your head....
"Who did you pick and what do they look like?"
When you make a new blog friend,
Don't you want to see who their people are?
And don't you hate when it is a little 1 inch by 1 inch photo,
That when you click on it DOES NOT enlarge.
I am not judging anyone.
Really.
I have never cared what my friends or family look like
(Well except for my kids and that is a whole other can of worms
better left for another day)
And I will be the first to admit that I will win no beauty contest.
It's just so interesting to me
What makes one person attracted to another?
Like my favorite childhood game of concentration.
How do these two things match up?
Or on the flip side of the equation,
"One of these things is not like the other",
as they say on Sesame Street.
It fascinates me.
So who is the peanut butter to my jelly...
the yin to my yang....
the salt to my pepper....
the oh to my la la....
Well let me warn you,
He's good looking.
I am not saying that from my own perspective either.
Everyone should think their better half is hot!
It's because ever since we met people have told me that
Unsolicited.
As in.....My friend and I were talking and we think your husband is the best looking guy in the ward, or
That is the finest looking white guy I have ever seen, or
My dad likes to stand by your husband because he is so good looking he thinks it makes him
better looking too.
(I kid you not these are real statements)
I am not bragging.
That is not why I married him.
I will tell you a secret.....(he does not know he is good looking)
I mean it. He really doesn't.
And
I married him because he is truly the nicest man I have ever met..
even after 26 years.
I am not bragging.
I am just extremely lucky.



(and I guess it doesn't hurt that I think he is gorgeous)
next post; Chapter 2: How we met