Quirks and Quarks

I've spent most of my brain time (yes, brain time is limited around here) this week trying to figure out what my unspectacular quirks are, just for this tag from my cousin Hollie. Mostly I just wanted to make things up or reveal bad habits, like picking my nose. Just kidding. I never pick my nose. Ever.

Rules: Link the person that tagged you. Mention these rules on your blog. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yourself and tag 6 fellow bloggers. Got it? Let's go!


Quirk #1: I secretly don't believe in science. Seriously what's with all this stuff about "Yes, the speed of the feather is the same as a bowling ball if they are dropped in a vacuum," or "A rolling ball will never stop if its in a vacuum." A vacuum? The only kinds of vacuums I know of that occur naturally are Hoovers and Kirbys. And those don't even occur very naturally around our house. Science is a crock. (Disclaimer: In case I am ever tapped for some government position in NASA I will deny ever having written this)

Quirk #2: I despise changing my clothes. It's just so inconvenient and laundry-causing. This is a problem now that I have children that wipe their nose and thier sticky hands on me. (They are sticky from fruit juice. Becuase I don't feed them candy. Ever.) Even changing from workout clothes to regular clothes after running sometimes seems to much to ask. (But I do. I change them because otherwise yucky things would happen)

Quirk #3: I am super competitive. This is why Heavenly Father gave me no hand-eye coordination. He knew that if I had any skills with ball, I would not use my powers for good. I think I have cried angry tears of frustration over losing a game of Scrabble. I will probably be the jerk parent who always beats their children in 'Go Fish!' because I CAN'T LOSE. AT ANY COST. I've calmed down a little since college. Actually, I just hide it better.

Quirk #4: I cannot leave a bag of chocolate anything alone. I will eat them all. No matter the cost. M&Ms, chocolate chips, Snickers, Reeses peanut butter cups, Cadbury mini eggs. Halloween is a bad time for me. As long as the bag is closed it is safe in my cupboard. As soon as I open it, I just figure, "Why not eat them all, RIGHT NOW." This is partially why I have to run and probably why I can't lose my last 5 baby pounds. And why I sometimes get lots of zits. And why I visit a therapist. Just kidding about the therapist.

Quirk#5: I have a lot of conspiracy theories that probably make me seem crazy. That's why I keep them to myself. Mostly. Sometimes I tell Mike and he probably freaks out in his head about the weirdo he married, but has to shake his head and pretend I am normal because he's in it for ETERNITY.

Quirk #6: I haven't worn nylons for 10 years, and I refuse to wear nylons. EVER AGAIN. I don't buy that crap about them keeping your legs warm in the winter. The filmsy disgusting smashing things don't do anything but make fat look tanner. And you can tell it's fake. I hate them.

Okay I tag Alisha, Jared, Val, Kellie, Holly, and Natalie

Nie Nie Recovery

So this family needs some help and I entered some writing contest that's for a book that will benefit them.
So anyway . . . Here's a link to their site


I would share the contest with you, but it ends tonight in 1 hour. I just found out about it. This is a link to the blog that is sponsoring the contest. She seems nice, maybe she will still let you submit an entry.

Attempting the Impossible. . . Little girl hair

Apparently one of the talents I should have acquired instead of working on my totally unused Library Science degree is "Turning ultra-fine, breakable and uneven hair into fabulous hairstyles." This is not something I am good at. Poor Kenzie and Hannah will have to suffer the indignities of uneven parts and bows that sometimes look like tumors growing out of their heads until I learn.

Here is our first attempt at french braids. They worked out beautifully--for about 5 minutes. Then they self-destructed into crazy-girl hair. I often think that Kenzie's hair at the end of the day reflects how I feel inwardly---Frazzled, out-of-control, and crazy.

At least there is one small moment where everything is put together and lovely. So, I am determined to learn the secrets of fabulous little girl hair, because I remember what a difference it made to me when my mom would come home from work to do my hair for me. I always felt pretty, or at least presentable, when she did my hair (which was everyday up until like eighth/ninth grade at a great sacrifice to her) .
My friend, Kathryn, put together some great links for little girl hair--and they have some great (and impossibly difficult looking) ideas. Now, I'm not saying that I am going to be supermom hairstyler, but at least I will attempt it. Sometimes. When I have extra stores of patience. And Kenzie does too.

Another sign that I am strange

Our television has not been hooked up for 2.5 years. What started out as laziness (gosh the cable to hook it up is far away and too short, and I'm too lazy to buy a new one), has morphed into a lifestyle. I have never seen a full episode of American Idol, and I'm not sure where the romance between Jim and Pam stands (once I watched part of AI on youtube and it was David Archuleta vs. that other David and old episodes of the office have somehow found a home on our xbox).
Sometimes I have a hard time fitting in with others because I don't know about the latest episode of Lost, or Dancing with the Stars, or some other tv show. This can usually be remedied by reading magazine titles in line at the grocery store and reading the entertainment section of the paper. (I don't watch tv shows, I read about them, how's that for nerdy?)
But mostly, I forget how strange it is to not be joined into the fantasy world o' fun until we have a baby sitter come over. Here is my rushed explanation to said b-sitter, "So once the kids are in bed, I guess you could watch a movie, if you can figure out the Xbox, it's really quite simple, no never mind. Well, I have a lot of books. And if those are boring, you can use the computer. Nevermind, I don't have any parental controls on the computer and I don't want you inviting any online predators over. So here's a deck of cards and instructions on how to play Solitaire. Have fun."
This usually isn't an issue, since our family lives close enough that they baby sit for us a lot. (Which reminds me, I am in serious favor-debt for all these hours of b-sitting.)

So our prime-time-less situation is not usually at the forefront of my mind. But then I read somewhere that educational programming after the age of 2 is beneficial to children and helps them learn their numbers and letters. Then I started pining after Sesame Street. I felt the need to incorporate educational programming into my children's life (and did they really say 2 years old? What about 18 months? Isn't that good for children too becuase I need something to do with Hannah after all the coloring, dancing, eating, reading fun is over). I even asked Mike to hook up the t.v. Luckily, laziness hit again (or actually in Mike's case busy-ness because he is working on his supersecret alien project "The Host", you know). And before Mike hooked up the tv I found this:
http://www.sesamestreet.org/home
It's a new version of the Sesame Street home page that has playlists of games mixed with old and new sesame street episodes. It is wonderful! We love it! Hooray for Sesame Street! I even found my new favorite singer--- Feist-- on this website. She does a guest appearance and sings 1,2,3,4.
So does anybody else have some good suggestions for educational preschooler websites?

The Ghetto is Surprisingly lovely

So, even though Mark of Kristen and Mark told me that it wasn't the ghetto, per se, I still think of O-town avenue A by the Mountain Apartments and the train yard as the ghetto.

Mike and I took the girls, and we invited Mark and Kristen, to have a picnic and maybe canoe a little at Fort Buenaventura. I'd never been there, and although it is suprisingly located right smack in downtown O-town, it really is quite lovely. There's a pond, trails, a river, a small visitor's center, lots of large trees, a campground and a great picnic area.

Kenzie had a great time. Hannah never has a good time any more. She just wants to bury her large head into my small chest, all the time. She is too big for this feat so it is very awkward these days, what with trying to hold all 30 pounds of her below my waist so her head can rest comfortably. Anyway.

It was too windy to canoe, but Kenzie and Rusti (and Addison) had a great time pretending they were canoeing and exploring the teepees and fort. On the way there I tried to explain to Kenzie what a fort was and decided that I needed some pc story-telling skills. This is me trying to tell Kenzie why people wanted to have a fort, "See the white people came and there were the Indians, I mean, Native Americans, and they fought with each other, so we, I mean the white people, built a big wall to protect their stuff."
At the fort Kenzie asked me where the white people were. Then she asked me where the Indians were. I want to be kind and fair to others who don't have my viewpoint, and give my children a balanced education about history, but I have a hard time knowing how to do this. I guess I should check some books out and see if they can tell her better than I did.
Here's Kenzie in the old school house. I wonder what the fort settlers would have to say about the history?

Oh yeah, thanks everyone for the camera advice. I finally saved enough money (by stealing toys from people's garbage) to buy a new camera. Actually I wrote this camera into existence. Thank you Standard-Examiner for the new camera. Can't you tell by the stunning quality of my latest photos that I have bought a . . . Nikon D40? :) It's a real low-end SLR, but hey I can only write so many stories for the Standard and garbage day only comes once a week. Eventually Mike and I are going to buy a new little camera as well. We like the idea of having both. Besides the SLR doesn't make movies, nor does it travel well on moonlit mountain bike rides.

I'm trying to think if anything else exciting is happening. Aha! Mike got accepted to a 6 week class at Maxwell Airforce base in the spring. Only 54 civilians get accepted and it's supposed to be really great. I think we are going to try and go with him. So what should I do on a six week "vacation" to Montgomery, Alabama with two small children? Any ideas?

Alrighty then

Rules associated with this award:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator......a student in Texas(http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)

2. You must post these rules if you receive the award. (done)

3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself. (check the list below and see if you are on it)

4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient. (look below)

6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.

7. You must thank your giver. (Natalie Vincent)

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude.

2. Must love one another.

3. Must make mistakes.

4. Must learn from others.

5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.

6. Must love life.

7. Must love kids. (Stephanie Speaking--Maybe I should decline this award, because I love kids, but sometimes I think bad thoughts about them. Should I add some more requirements to this award like: 8. Never swears (out loud, or unless it is really warranted). 9. Manages to find humor in poop and 10.Sometimes smile wears thin, but manages to pull it off anyway?)

5 Awesome Bloggers Who Qualify for This Major Award!

Hollie--my cousin, who despite stressful attempts at canning still makes me laugh every time I read her blog. When I see her (like once a year at Christmas), she is always smiling.

Holly--my aunt, who's not really my aunt, but kind of is. She has been a major help in this bloggy world and I love reading about her adventures and zest for life.

Kristin--my friend, who shows me how to relax and not be so uptight about things Mike might want to do. She is like the ultimate "cool" wife and is a really patient mom. Her blog is funny (and private) too.

Kathryn-- my friend, who is cute, smart, amazing, crafty, talented, etc., etc. Kathryn convinced me to get into this blog stuff, and boy am I grateful. Kathryn was a great friend through many times and always helped me smile!

Emily R.-- A new bloggy friend, who grew up with Mike, Em is the absolute example of smile. She has a precocious pre-schooler and toddler twins and she manages to smile and laugh through all their antics. Thanks for your nice comments Em, they always make me feel good.

Lots of other people make me smile! Thanks everyone!

Applause Please

The Dread Piano Chambers is done! (well almost, there is this one part that I thought wouldn't show, but it does, and now I have to do it, and I was going to buy a new bench but then I had an aneurysm when I saw how expensive they were and that I would just have to paint it to match, so I'm redoing the bench now too)

Feast your eyes on this sight:
Before pic:
Before I went crazy with the piano it had splotches of white paint all over the front. Otherwise it was probably fine. (I started this DPC project in August of last year, before I really got into documenting everything with pictures, so this is the best before picture I have. See that sexy pink bench? That's what I'm redoing now)

After:
I'm a little bit distressed about the distressing. I want to love it because I put SOOOOOOOOOOOO x10 to the 3,000 power much work into it. But I just kind of like it, I don't really love it. I don't walk in and think, "Dang! I'm good." I think, "Sheesh. That was a lot of work. And gosh, who beat up my piano?" I have refinishers remorse! But I am kind of determined to love it.

I guess my piano and I will have to have therapy. Anyone know of a good piano/person relationship therapist?

Perhaps I should just "Fake it til I feel it."

At first, I planned to refinish it with a beautiful stain that brought out the original grain of the beautiful wood. The best laid plans of mice and men. . . can be ruined by a power sander and high grit sandpaper in one instant. (Do you think that could make a good poem or book?) So now it is black. Then since I was having such a hard time with it, I decided to distress it. Now I am not sure about that.
Maybe instead of piano therapy I need some retail therapy-- some decorations to accessorize my beautiful, unique piano (see I'm already trying to fake it).

Other news from the world of us: Mike and I took "Excited and Confused" to a whole new level on Monday night. It was a full moon, what can I say? We took our mtn bikes up to Snowbasin and biked up Cold Water to an overlook of Ogden with only the light of the moon (and Ryan Watkins) to guide us. Wow! It was awesome. I haven't been on a mtn bike (on a mountain) for two years now, so I was a little bit worried about my first endeavor being in the dark on an unknown trail. Really, it was probably better that way, because I couldn't see a lot of obstacles I just went over them and afterwards thought, "Hmm, that was probably scary." My butt is only a little bit sore.

On Saturday we went to HAFB airplane museum. Once a year they have an event where they open up the planes and let people climb inside. In each plane the guide was usually a veteran that had flown the plane. We heard some great stories and Kenzie loved sitting in the "pirate's" seat. (I tried to explain, but she has selective hearing). Pictures:
Mike in the navigator's seat of the C-130

Hannah got a lot of enjoyment out of this trip.

The C-130 from the outside. It's huge. Mike kept saying, "And they did all this before computers. Can you imagine?"

Kenzie in the "pirate's seat" of the C-130. Obviously this was our favorite plane.