An open letter to everyone at the BYU game... okay, well... some of you at least...

Dear guy behind me to the right: No matter how many cute names you come up with for the refs - they still don't care what you say. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that neither Baldy, Buzz-cut, OR Zebra even heard you. On the other hand, I did... I think I still can :)

Dear supporters of the opposing team: We're sorry that you guys went home disappointed. (well, okay - not REALLY sorry, but you know...) Engaging in a shouting match outside under our victory bell didn't exactly make you look brilliant.

Dear cheerleaders for the other team. Ummm... weren't your midriffs cold?

Dear guy in front of me. Ummm... the bench is only so big - and bringing a stadium seat that is BIGGER than the bench does not give you the right to shove it back as far as you can. Your knees do NOT need to touch the bench... as a matter of fact, when they do - that support you are feeling on your hindquarters is no longer the chair but my FEET. My feet which felt very uncomfortable providing such support. I suppose this may not be your fault... as my brother in law so nicely pointed out the stadium WAS built back in 1972 when the fans were less "huge"... I myself have gained over 100 pounds since 1972 so I can understand.

Dear guys who set up the "name that tune" game at half time... ummm, pitting husband and wife against eachother doesn't exactly inspire in me the spirit of "fair competition" - oh, and seriously - you should have mocked the guy a LOT more for mixing "brown eyed girl" up with "under the sea"...

Dear guy sitting right next to me that didn't grab that T-shirt... ummm... M.O.T.H. - it's okay to be a little more aggressive :)

okay - that's all. It was SO my kind of game because I like a nice close game that keeps me on the edge of the seat. Well, normally it would have kept me there... this time it just kind of kept me anxious because being at the edge of my seat would have made my knees be in the back of Mr. Foot Sitter - and there had been PLENTY of togetherness!

Happy Thanksgiving!

it's Turkey time again - that day of the year when I remember how desperately I need to renew my desire for a healthy diet.

Also that time of year when I take a few minutes to reflect on how many things I am thankful for... last year (if I remember correctly) I did a whole ABCs of thankfulness.... that was a lot of things.

You know what - I don't need that many this year. Not that I'm having bitterness and resentment or anything. I think I'm just as thankful this year....

I've just learned (remembered) one important detail:

It's all thanks to God. Every little thing I have that is good - Every person that touches my life - Every personal achievement - Everything. It's all thanks to Him.

This Thanksgiving I'm going to focus on seeing His hands and how they have touched my life. How they have brought me to where I am, who I'm with... and you know what - I'm pretty happy with all of that. I might whine - I might complain - I might annoy you as much as Bella Swan annoys any guy that tries to read those Twilight books... but I like life - it's been pretty good to me all around.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you - with the sincere hope that life is treating you well also!

another book review or two...

since I'm having a hard time coming up with things to tell you about my life that don't involve doctors and boredom... I'm sending you over to the book blog where I've reviewed a few books this month. (waiting rooms are a good place to read)

special attention should be paid to the books there by Kathi Oram Peterson (a good Christmas gift for hard-to-buy-for people on your list) and Mark Shurtleff - WHY these ones? Well, because they mark the first two books I've reviewed for a new publisher and I just love that sometimes I don't have to pay for the joy of reading - it's such a deal! Maybe when I grow up I will be a full time reader? Maybe that doesn't pay so well... and maybe it will give me a severe case of "couch-bum" - but it sure sounds good to me.

Okay, that's all... go off and read about what to read - I'll tell you all about my crazy life later... when it's not so crazy?

I'm not one to run off to the doctor... really. So over the years I think I've had to fill out a few new forms because the prior ones have been shredded by an office trying to keep their shelves free of unnecessary clutter.

Why? Maybe it's because I'm just inherently healthier than you. (coughing into fist) ... or maybe it's because I'm not so sure that most doctors really have the "answers" I need.

Case in Point: I sucked it up and made an appointment last Friday. Symptoms: Recurring earaches and some dizziness... kind of like I'd been on the tilt-a-whirl recently... for a day or two... I'm thinking this is a Slam-Dunk ear infection. Hand me that prescription and I'm OUTTA here!

but wait... apparently my dizziness is called "vertigo" (I actually knew this word before, but being an old film fan... Vertigo just means tall towers and falling to a certain death...) and btw - how is it that Hitchcock has gotten TWO mentions on my blog recently??? After quite a lot more time in the doctor's office than I would have preferred I walked out of there with prescriptions for allergy medicine (gotta get those refilled before spring!) and a motion sickness medicine... and a referral to another doctor.

The BEST part - the doctor told me (and you might want to sit down for this one...) - he told me to go home and search the internet for suggestions about how to deal with vertigo... in his defense he also said to rest for a few days and drink a lot of water and hope it went away. He even suggested I go to WebMD.com to read about vertigo and... what was that other word... ummm... labyrinthitis... (this name ALSO reminds me of a movie... but not a very well-made one You want to know what it said????

(you can go look if you'd like... I'll wait...)

Like EVERYTHING else on WebMD.com vertigo is a possible symptom of a brain tumor. Yep, I could be dying right now... but wait, don't plan the funeral yet... it could also be a whole PILE of other things - some of which I can pronounce. For now all I know is that I don't trust any doctor who wants me to get my medical advice online. If this "specialist" tells me to check out a website I think I'll walk out of there without paying my co-pay... THAT will show him!

(and just in case you are all worried about my health - I am 99% sure that it's not a brain tumor... but I haven't ruled out ear infection still!)

Thank goodness I can blog without having to walk around... or uncover my ears... :)

The question of the hour (and a teensy tiny favor...)

Okay - apparently there are some of you out there wondering how my new job is going. Coming out of "retirement" after my SAHM years has been... an... adjustment. I will say though that I'm glad that I'm doing what I do!

So what DO I do??? well, sometimes I am driving around between schools, sometimes I am sitting IN schools being a literacy tutor, sometimes I am sitting at my office chatting with the other people there (and sometimes I'm even getting WORK done there). The BEST part of what I do though comes after school - our team goes to a number of the local elementary and intermediate schools to run an afterschool Media Literacy Lab... where we help the kids write scripts, take pictures, etc... Can I admit that I've learned WAY more from these kids than I've been able to teach them??? Remember when I was trying to cram PhotoShop and MovieMaker and a few other programs into my head in a short time period???

yeah... didn't work so well... but I'm getting the hang of them now!

But I'm telling you these kids are AWESOME! They have come up with some amazing photography, claymation, live action, paper animation, etc...

So here's where I'm asking a favor... because these kids have a crazy goal in mind... and because I luv them SO much I'm willing to give it a go... there are a number of places to view their work - but for today we'll focus on Facebook because that's what the goal is all about!

THIS should take you straight there... I hope.

you can also subscribe to the free monthly podcast - because that makes the kids smile... but there are FAR more videos up on facebook... and these crazy kids have it stuck in their little heads that we can get 1,000 fans by the end of the school year. and no, I didn't type an extra zero!

SOoooo... I promise not to stalk the "fans" of media literacy lab - and I'm probably giving up ALL sorts of personal privacy since I'm one of the admins of that fan page... but do a girl a favor. Better yet - do a girl and those passel o' kids a favor :) just click the "become a fan" button... but, as long as you're there check out a few funny videos - I can only claim credit for the Monster Mash one - but hey, I'm new to this insanity :)

All in all, I love my job... it's keeping me UBER busy and has probably forced them to remove my name from the "mom of the year" nominees for the 14th year running - but we do good work - and we make kids happy - and SHOCK - I learn things :)

Embarrassing Moments in recent history...

My life is full of embarrassing moments - some of which nobody knows about and so they really shouldn't be categorized as "embarrassing" because I got away with that...

I'm one of those slip and fall and bounce back up people though - minor things do not embarrass me much. Maybe because I slip and fall so much? The bruises on my posterior prove it.

I won't go into all the dumb things that happened in High School... the best of which revolve around wisdom teeth, pain medication, and orchestra pits... but I think I told that one before... if you missed it you'll just have to cope... or go back in bloggy time and read it yourself. Here.

The fun thing is I work with a bunch of people now who do embarrassing things ALL the TIME - like sitting in complete strangers' laps at a concert because you wore shoes with no traction... or jumping into the car after a quick run into the convenience store and complaining about all the crap on the floor before you realize this is not your car - and not your Significant Other in the driver's seat...

See, with all of this fodder nobody teases me at ALL about the conference we went to and they had to hold up a missing phone. I look and that's MY phone - so I admit to having lost it in front of the other 40 conference participants and because I'm a little embarrassed I babble (hey, that's what I DO) something about that being my cheap piece of junk phone - I'd recognize it anywhere... only not long after I realize that MY phone is actually still in my pocket so I have to stand up and announce that this is actually someone else's cheap piece of junk phone.

Funny - nobody else claimed it...

but whenever I'm feeling stupid I just start to razz my co-workers about their exploits and I feel much better!

So... who's willing to fess up with their most recent embarrassing moment - I don't want BEST here - although if it's worth a really good laugh go ahead and share :)

Confessions of a Halloween Seamstress...

I like to pretend I can sew. Why??? yeah, I wonder myself sometimes - but I think that in my heart of hearts (or maybe it's the spleen?) I equate sewing with being a good mom. When reality breaks back in I remember that buying my kids clothes is MUCH much MUCH more time efficient and (dare I say it?) "cheaper" than making them myself! Yes, I've made a number of dresses for the girls and before M.O.T.H. forbade it I even made a cute outfit or two for those boys (when they were much younger)





Now that the girls are getting older my dresses don't quite cut the mustard...





Why? you ask??? (you did, didn't you???)





It's because I am what is affectionately called a "Halloween Seamstress"





There are three things you must understand about your typical Halloween Costume:


1- it's going to be worn ONCE, maybe 2 or 3 times if you're really lucky... how good do those seams have to be??


2- if you live somewhere North of... well, me... when those kids go out to trick or treat they are going to need something to wear over the costume... light jacket, heavy parka... whatever - the point being that you could probably skip the costume entirely and just do a funky hairdo, maybe a little make-up - and ta-dah... grab that pillow case and get out there!


3- it's dark when you're trick or treating - nobody is looking closely at your seams - and especially nobody is checking out the uber-crooked zipper on the back of the Cinderella Dress that you slaved over.





See - when you're a Halloween Seamstress you can get away with a TON of little errors. What? you say you made the puffed Cinderella sleeves out of backing fabric??? Pshaw... it'll make it through the night right??? Heck yeah - it actually made it through the next year too!





So there you have it - I'm a Halloween Seamstress... I sew, but only enough to make it look good for a day or two. You want REAL skills??? yeah, talk to Sue Q or Tracey... because if I ever want something that will look nice, I'm going to get THEM to do it :)

(and this is where I USED to have the description of the kids and their costumes... it was very witty... but it disappeared into the ether...)

To sum up: #1 - The Waffler - from Mystery Men... yeah, nobody at school knew either...
#2 - Road Kill... same as last year - no skill involved in driving over some stuffies and shirts.
#3 - Draco Malfoy - made that costume when Harry Potter 3 was released!
#4 - Pirate - picked up that costume 3 years ago on a 90% off after Halloween sale - ch'ching!
#5 - a cheerleader - proof that borrowing is better than sewing - a neighbor had this costume in her costume box completely unused... and it fit perfectly! (well, after a tuck here and there because little M is such a skinny-mini!

and thus begins our holiday season... I'm not ready at all... are you???