Loads of Fun

When you are blessed to live in a household of six active, very dirty people as I am, at some point you find yourself to inevitably be surrounded by laundry.  I can't seem to escape it.  I am drowning in dirty towels, jeans, scrubs, sheets, blankets, socks, and panties.  And even when I finally manage to get caught up with the dirty stuff, I end up with a very large pile of clean stuff.  My family room couch is continually bearing the burden of loads of clean laundry, anxiously waiting to be folded and nestled away somewhere in a drawer.

 Yet it never seems to happen.  There they stay on the couch until they are plucked up and used again, ever subject to the dirty/clean cycle.

 

Don't even get me started on the socks.  They are the bane to my existence.

 

 

 I love how laundry detergent commercials depict doing laundry like it is a happy family event.  Oh how sweet, the little girl is happily helping her mother out in their pristinely white laundry room.

 

 

This is a little more accurate depiction.

 

 

And of course I never have a smile on my face after smelling my laundry, as it is generally done in order to determine if something has been cleaned or not.  It is never clean.  It always stinks.  Bad.

 



I must say that I am grateful that my laundry day does not look like this.  I am ever so grateful for modern appliances.

 



I cannot promise that my face doesn't ever look like this, however, especially after trying to unroll Ethan's crusted stinky socks.  Seriously?  You want me to touch that?!

Just Around the Corner

A cute random kid I found on the internet... :)

We are in the middle of looking for housing for Heidi to attend BYU-Idaho in the fall. We are lucky, because Heidi's cousin Kaylee will be on the same tracks as her (fall and spring terms), and they are excited to be roommates together. Also, Kaylee and her family live near BYU-I so they have been able to scout out the housing situation for us.

The only problem is, I feel like I have entered the Twilight Zone.

When did this child of mine grow to be old enough to leave the nest? I didn't give her permission to grow up so soon, she did it all on her own. I don't remember agreeing to this part of the bargain. It seems like she should still be a cute little thing, barely big enough to lug around her suitcase with a sticker proclaiming "Off to Gramma's House!" on it.

The problem is, I know that I did agree to this part of the plan. From the moment this tiny little bundle was handed into my arms nearly eighteen years ago, I knew that someday I was going to have to let go.

It doesn't make it any easier, of course.

These eighteen years have made it all that much harder to let go. Every day I have had the privilege of watching her go from a teetering toddler, full of smiles and laughs, to a beautiful young woman, full of promise and courage. I have seen her struggles and triumphs, her heartaches and growth. Watching it all, I have had the opportunity to love her more every day.

Yes, she may still be just a cute little thing, barely big enough to lug around her suitcase (she is mine, after all), but now it will be emblazoned with a sticker shouting "Off to COLLEGE!" The collection of beloved dolls and stuffed animals are now replaced with a collection of fashionable scarves and bright bottles of nail polish.

It is just around the corner, and she will be off to start her own adventures, but she will always be my sweet little girl.

This one's my girl!

Wisdom Teeth

On Thursday morning, I took Heidi to the oral surgeon's office to have her wisdom teeth extracted. When we set up the appointment, we had joked about how it was the day before Valentine's Day, which meant she would not be having any special dates on that romantic holiday.  We even envisioned her, with cheeks swollen, and bloody gauze hanging out of her mouth, saying, "Do you wanna be my Valentine?"  Yes, we have a sick sense of humor.

Heidi made it through the procedure just fine.  They put her to sleep for it, so she doesn't remember anything from it.  Ethan was disappointed that she wasn't acting silly or saying anything embarrassing.  She was just sleepy.

Yesterday she did get a cute Valentine in the mail from a special friend, however.  I am sure it made her day.

She has been eating homemade chicken soup, ice cream, and popsicles since Thursday, and getting tired of it.  I noticed today that her jaw is a little more swollen.

Eric likes to remind me of when I had my wisdom teeth extracted.  It was one month before we were married. Since we were living on opposite sides of the state during our engagement, he wasn't there when I had the surgery done.  When he came to visit that weekend, however, he said that he couldn't believe how huge my cheeks were, and that there was a significant amount of bruising on my jaw.

We went to see the new Disney movie "The Lion King" in the theater with my family, since I didn't feel up to doing much else.  I remember that it hurt to laugh.  I think that was the hardest part, because I love to laugh.

Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery for my girl that shares my same crazy sense of humor, bloody gums and all.

The Saratov Approach

We recently took the opportunity to see a movie recently released by a fellow LDS director, called the Saratov Approach.  There are a number of "Mormon movies" made, most of them humorous depictions of Mormon culture, but this one was different.

This movie portrayed the true life story of two Mormon missionaries who, while serving their two-year missions in Russia 1998, were captured and held for ransom.  It shows the struggles they and their families faced while being held captive, and the relationships that they were able to create with their captors.  By trusting in their faith, and relying on the understanding of a higher purpose for their circumstance, they were able to remain safe against all odds.

"The Saratov Approach" truly was an inspirational film.  I was so excited that our local movie theater played it for two weeks straight, despite the fact that it had an obvious religious message.  The movie continues to set records, as a Mormon-based film, in viewing theaters around the country and amount of money made.  I highly recommend watching it.  The message it gave was universal, not to Mormons only, about the power that the faith of a community and nation can create.

Magic

~Albus Dumbledore

 

A little magic happened tonight.  Not only did I write on the story that had me stumped yesterday, but I cruised right through an addition to the next story in my line-up.

 

Magic really does exist.

Nothing to Writing

I am supposed to be writing right now.  But not on this....

I am stuck on a story that I am trying to continue for my writing group.  I have been thinking about it for days.  Where is this supposed to go?  How do I get there?  What do I see happening?  What is the bridge that I need to build to lead up to the grand finale?

Ugh!

This quote from Ernest Hemingway totally sums it up.

"There's nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter--and bleed."

Only a writer would know EXACTLY what he is talking about!

When you write, you are not just sitting down, with the words pouring out of you like an overflowing pitcher.  You fight for every word.  Every sentence.  Every thought.  How do they blend together?  Does that sound right?  This sentence needs to have a choppier rhythm, while this one needs a languid fluidity.  Not enough description.  Too much description.  Too obvious.  Not obvious enough.

Sometimes I sit for an hour, staring at the computer monitor, rolling words around in my head.  Sometimes nothing comes out.

But sometimes, every once in a while, magic happens, and the words roll out so fast I can't even keep up with them.

Those are the days I live for.

I need me some magic about now.

The Best Christmas Ever

In case you didn't notice, Erica is making a heart shape with her hands. It's own of her new poses for pictures.

 

We had a really wonderful Christmas together.  Following a delicious dinner of ham and cheesy potatoes, Christmas Eve entailed the traditional kids photo in front of the tree.  They then each opened a present from Grandma Terry, who had flown in for the week.  It was a pair of new pajamas for everyone.

 



Erica was just a little excited....

She kept doing this silly dance once the presents were opened and the Santa hats were brought out.

 



Elise got into the action too.  I had a hard time getting a shot of the kids in their jammies because she was moving so much!  Here she is actually moving her legs open and shut over and over again.  She definitely caught on with the idea that something fun was coming!

 

On Christmas morning, Eric and I were awoken to little feet running up and down the stairs, then Erica bursting into our room and saying in a really loud whisper, "Mommy! Santa really came! Santa really came!"

 

We had a wonderful morning opening presents and enjoying our fun new toys.  After lunch and a much needed nap, we headed to Mukilteo beach to burn off some steam.

 

It was such a beautiful day!  The sun was shining and it was relatively warm, so the kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the Sound, climbing on washed up logs, and playing on the equipment at the beach's playground.

 



 

The day after Christmas, we took the entire family to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen."  It is very rare that we take everyone to a movie, so it was a special treat.  I know that I really enjoyed the movie, and I think everyone else did as well.  Now Erica keeps insisting that she wants to have "white" hair, like the Frozen girl.

 

On Saturday, Terry and I went with a few of my friends to see the Broadway musical "Oliver" at the 5th Avenue Theater, in downtown Seattle.  We had such a fun time together, and I was so glad to get to share that experience with her!

 

I will remember this Christmas break as a time spent with those that I hold most dear.  It was a simpler year, with simple gifts shared and received.  I was a little anxious about what the kids would think about receiving fewer gifts this year, but I shouldn't have worried.  A few days after Christmas, Ethan came up to me and said, "This has been the best Christmas ever!" 

 

I couldn't agree more, Ethan.

Books

I have a curious dilemma, one which I haven't encountered for a number of years.

I don't have time to read anymore.

My life has suddenly been encumbered by so many other activities that I have lost those precious moments, curled up on the couch in the front room, a blanket tucked snuggly around me, a glass of Diet Dr, Pepper sitting on the end table next to me, delighting in and devouring the written word in front of me.

It is a strange situation to find myself in, as I have always (at least over the last twelve years) found the time to read nearly every day.  Now I spend my free time sitting bundled up in my bed with the laptop balanced on my knees, reading blogs, writing blogs, working on web pages and websites, or working on stories which are in various stages of development.

I am even behind in my book club books.  I ALWAYS read the books for book club!!  It's my club!!

So today, in celebration of New Years, I curled up in a fuzzy blanket on the couch in my front room, with my Kindle fired up, a bowl of fresh popcorn and a glass of Diet Dr. Pepper fizzing on the end table next to me, and I READ!

I finished a book that I have wanted to finish for a while, and it felt great! Then I opened up the next one on my list and started on that one.

It felt like a vacation.

I should do it more often...

Happy New Years, and Happy Reading!!!