Buyer's Remorse

First of all, does it count on the final tally of Mouse Count! if we caught one in the garage? Didn't think so.... holding steady at 16, thank you very much.


So I do this thing every season where I kind of come up with a "uniform" for myself. I basically pick a look I like & pretty much wear it everyday. Buy one in every color, if you will.

In high school I remember getting a bunch of big (and I mean HUGE) button up shirts and then wearing them with leggings.

In college I was pretty much into huge sweaters and jeans (see ugly cry pic for proof). I also remember loving the knee-high socks with a plaid pleated skirt look. I had a few variations on that one. Pair it with a cute cardigan & you've got the guys lining up in the Lobby of S-hall and calling you on the lobby phone.

Early married years I wore plain scoop-neck t-shirts with high-waisted pants and a belt. Always a belt. Who doesn't wear a belt?? Lame people, that's who.

Anyway, for this coming fall and winter seasons I have decided on my uniform. It will consist of various hoodies and jeans (yes, Memzy, two of those pairs of jeans are overpriced, designer jeans---ha! Beat you to it! Now you'll have to come up with some kind of scrapbooking bit).

I'm going to get me some plain hoodies, some with some bling, fuzzy ones, slickery ones, maybe even some embroidery might be involved here... I don't know. As far as I can tell, the sky is the limit on hoodies these days.

So I was pushing my ginormous cart through Costco a couple of weeks ago and I see this table full of hoodies. I was so excited. I go over, try a couple on, settle on a size and a color and purchase said hoodie. It's a nice plain, take-the-kids-to-the-park-on-a-crisp-fall-day hoodie. Soft, comfy. You know the type.

I get it home.

I go to take off the tag.

This is what I see.



Ok.... what in the AYCHE have I purchased here?? Did I just buy an article of clothing that is being marketed to the 60+ crowd?? Don't get me wrong, I love 60+ year old people. I just don't want to wear their clothes. Honestly, that woman looks like my mom.

I'm freakin' out a bit here. I think I'm losing my edge.

Three Sets of Twins

You probably didn't notice, because I didn't skip a beat with my blog, but I had quite the weekend. On Thursday, our friends went out of town & guess who got some new roomies! They have three kids almost the exact same ages as our kids. The boys are literally days apart and the girls are two months apart. So yeah, I stocked up on chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas and popcorn and we had a heck of a weekend.

The JBird Twins:



The TBone Twins:



Aaaand the BeeBee Twins:



It was pretty much mayhem at any given time around the Landerson home. There was one point where 4 out of the 6 were crying....srsly.

Some things I learned for the next time:

• Your house is going to be trashed. Accept this and move on. Do not let a messy house determine your happiness.
  
• You will get nothing done. Yes, I could blog in 5 minute increments but, believe me, the second they saw me head for the computer there were requests for snacks, turning on a particular show and/or more juice.
• Two 2.5 year olds cannot sleep in the same room. Scratch that.. two 2.5 year olds cannot FALL asleep in the same room. It's one of those Newton Laws you don't hear much about.
• Be lenient when they come home bearing gifts such as crawdads, frogs and other strange fish-type things because that meant you just had about an hour of semi-peace while all the boys were down at the creek.
• Stock up on fruit snacks and paper plates.
  
• Every night you will look at the clock thinking it's midnight (cuz you're exhausted) and it will only be 9:30pm. Use these two and a half free hours you just picked up to do something useful and constructive like watch The Office premier or blog.
• The house will be trashed. Wait, did I already say that?
• The basement will be even thrasheder (think packing peanuts ripped to shreds EVERYWHERE).
• Breathe deep & remember that your friends really needed a fun time away and it's really not THAT much harder than having just your own kids here. Plus you'll get yours when you go on that Caribbean Cruise in December (for NINE days). Yeepaw!
  

Smart Remarks: The Host

::podium lowers a good 5 inches::

::ahem:: Good morning, brothers & sisters, fristers & frousins. ::nervous laugh:: I wore my highest heels this morning hoping that, for once, when I got up to speak that they would have to raise the podium….but I am now thinking that is dream that will never come true.

::audience courtesy laughs at lame “ice breaker” joke::

Anyway, I am so grateful for the opportunity to speak to you today. The subject I’ve been asked to speak on is the novel The Host by Stephenie Meyer. You may be wondering how The Host fits into a talk of this nature. I hope I can share with you some of the insights I had while reading it although I am sure I learned much more preparing this review than I will ever be able to share with you today.

I remember as a youth in the church we would oftentimes discuss the War in Heaven. We would discuss the two sides of the argument: Satan’s Plan and Christ’s Plan. In Satan’s Plan, of course, none of us would have our free agency. We would all have come to earth, lived perfect lives due to the fact that we could not choose otherwise, and then return to heaven having had no hardships, poor decisions, or growth. Christ’s plan, however, would involve us deciding things for ourselves, making wrong choices, reaping the consequences & learning and growing every single day.

I often thought how nice it would have been if Satan’s Plan would have been the way to go. How easy would that have been? No wrong choices? No trials? Plus, everyone else would be making the right choices as well—life would be so peachy!

This is how the entire “Alien Earth” seemed to me in this book. Everyone going around, doing what they are supposed to be doing, no questions asked. You don’t have to pay for anything. You need to see a Healer for some No Pain? Maybe some Clean? You walk in (having cut yourself with a knife first, of course) and get treated. No insurance cards, no co-pay, nothing. You simply exist. You trust everyone because, well, why wouldn't you? If your host body seems to take a liking to some other host body then you pair up. It’s as simple as that. Everyone is cordial. Everyone is … well, peachy. Everything is honkey-dory.

Cut to where the “wild” humans are… some stinky cave out in the middle of the Arizona desert. Emotions run high. You can punch people whenever you want. There is some guy walking around with a rifle yelling out “my house, my rules” whenever he senses trouble a brewin’. People make mistakes. They inflict pain on others and have pain, sometimes, as a result. They experience true love & happiness. They experience the depths of despair. Their skin burns where someone touches them. They grow. And that was just Day One.

Believe it or not, this is how it is supposed to be.

The alien way is creepy. The pleasantries they exchange mean nothing. It seems to be a pointless existence. No one learns anything. No one steps outside of their comfort zones. No one takes chances. I much prefer the labyrinth cave way of life. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m now so glad Satan didn’t win (k, I’ve been glad for a while, like, since adulthood but I thought that would sound really poignant if I just came to that realization as I was preparing my talk). I like being human.

As far as the writing went, I thought Stephenie stayed true to form. Some things were so over-the-top melodramatic and other things were right on. I think she spent a little too much time in the desert with Wanda/Melanie near death. Then there was way too much time with Wanda curled up in that weird hole while JARED! kept watch over her. I also could have done without the incessant descriptions of Wanda’s other worlds. I swear this book could have been 309.5 pages rather than 619 if she would have consulted me first. The overused word of this book was “flinched.” Everyone flinched at what everyone else said all the time. Someone walked in a room and people flinched like crazy.

On the up side, I loved the inside conversations Wanda & Melanie would have. I kept thinking how it might be nice to have a little voice inside your head giving you inside information on everything and everyone. That is, if you were an alien who had been transplanted into another body and if the former tenant of that body was still kinda around. I wouldn’t want the kind of voices that require medication though. And I hearted Uncle Jeb like you would not believe. I have a soft spot in my heart for crazy, old, level-headed gize who are full of wisdom & have beards.

Major disappointment? The body they chose for Wanda at the end. Who wants to be some fragile, dainty, wimpy girl with a “high, reedy voice?” No one, that’s who. Especially after you’ve been running around in Melanie’s athletic body kicking everyone’s butt at soccer for the past however-long-this-book’s-time-frame-was. I thought they should have found someone who was strong but drop-dead gorge for her. I was extremely let down, as was Miss Wanderer. She didn’t let on too much, but I could feel it. Lame choice, Jamie. Lame choice.

So in closing, I’d like you to know that Stephenie Meyer basically plagiarized parts of the Gospel for this book. She still needs a thesaurus and she needs to create a leading female character who isn’t so “Bella” for once (Melanie doesn’t count). To recap: I’m glad Satan didn’t win. And you could not have paid me enough to take a bath in that weird inky pool thingy where you couldn’t see anything. Oh, and a little Edward thrown in wouldn’t have hurt anyone. I mean, I'd love to have seen what happened when the aliens tried to cut open the back of his neck. Am I right or am I right?

PS THIS is who I pictured as the Seeker.

Mailbox Mania

I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through this with out crying.... ::sniff, choke::.... but... something happened yesterday that has ::sniff:: completely rawked my world.

So I go out to the mailbox (all these years of Gty & I taking pics of each other while getting the mail has TOTALLY just paid off!):




I look in the mailbox and see a package!! Is there anything better than getting a package???



I immediately take the package and sit on the front lawn, giddy with excitement..... return address says A.B. from Utah. A.B?? Ay, Bee.... hmmmmm. Who could that be?



Then I start to think a little harder because it's addressed to "Landee"... could it be THE A.B. of Blogger fame? I rip open the package (I had a pic of this but it was beyond ugly, think "chinless" so sorry). And as soon as I see the Mudd shoebox I know....

Keep it together Landee!! ::sob::



I am overcome with emotion. I have no idea what I've done to deserve such a prestigious award. Is it my witty comments? My ability to post funny pictures of Memzy? The amount of time I spend on the internet? I don't know. And then this is what I find inside....



How did I get so lucky???? (Markie, I know you are now seething with jealousy. Just remember, Thou shalt not covet my burnt offerings.)

Another lucky thing... we were just jumping in the car to head off on a 'round the world adventure (kinda like that Dora episode). I thought I'd take the idol along for some photo ops.

Here it is in France. It loved the pastries they have here. It kinda fell in love with a baguette. She was all (spoken in a thick French accent), "Once you go burned...." well, you know the rest. They had a sad farewell when it was time to go.



We then headed to Russia, the Mother Land (is it the Mother Land? I forget). Anyway, BurnedPoo thought it was a bit cold there (funny coming from a burned, stale, cold bunch o' would-be cinnamon rolls-- he's soooo picky!) but he enjoyed Lenin's Tomb.



Finally, China.




Poor guy could not figure out how to use chopsticks!! It was hilarious watching him try though.


So that is my adventure with Burny (that's what I call him now). We sure had fun! I'd like to thank AnnaB for sending this my way. That was quite the gesture. And I'd like to thank the usual suspects: Jenny for creating Burny & Memzy for shellacking him. I'd also like to thank my husband (and kids) whose favorite activity is taking pictures of me for blogging purposes (right?). Kisses to all! And to quote Sally Field...

You like me, you reeeeallly like me!!

Be watching a mailbox near you.

Fave Foto Friday: False Advertising

I do love this photo so very, very much. It came to me in the mail along with Memzy's graduation announcement. From the denim shirt to the braided belt it is 1993 perfection. I would like to clarify my comment (that I said way-back-when which Memzy mentioned recently) that this picture was "false advertising." I wasn't at all implying that she looked better in this picture than she did in real life. I meant that this picture gave off a certain vibe. I mean, doesn't this pic make Memzy look... well... you know.... sultry? She looks all "come hither"-y and all "yeah, I'll make out with you"-y. I assure you that in reality Memzy was as pure as the driven snow. See... false advertising.

What this picture did advertise however, loud & clear, was her love of the hotsticks and hairspray.

I love you, Memzy Memzerton!

Installment #4: Floors

I have saved my last bit of wisdom in the Art of Cutting Corners for last.

This is what you need:

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What is this cray-zee advice? A dog? But dogs are just like another mouth to feed! Their breath stinks! And their farts are worse!

Ah yes... but lookee at what they do!

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I had no problem taking a fist full of Cheerios and throwing them all over the floor to take this picture because I KNEW Miss Maggie would do a thorough job of cleaning them all up. You see, that is what she does. This is the beauty of dog. This is why you need one. I can't remember the last time I picked up/swept up/wiped up any kind of food off my floor. As a matter of fact, I've been so spoiled for the last 9 years of Maggie-ownership that when I go to other people's houses who don't have a dog & I drop something on the floor I'm like, "Srsly? I srsly have to bend down and pick that up? Are you kidding me?" It's annoying. I'm used to having this little furry maid around at all times, eating all things, and in all places.

Plus your kids will love you for it. You don't have to tell them the real reason you got one.

(Not for the faint of heart: Once Maggie even licked up some of JBird's diarrhea off the bathroom floor before I could get to it. I took the rubber gloves off & gave her a doggie bone. We had to make a rule that no one could get kisses from her for a year. It was awesome.)

Bonus Tip!

Obviously there will be times when you need to actually wash the floor. This is what you do. First, throw away your mop, Swiffer, w/e you use to clean your hard floors. These are nothing but back-breakers & money wasters. All you need is an old towel & your bare feet. Wet the towel, wring out the excess, plop the towel on the floor & then walk around (plzthanks ignore the wrinkly workout pants and chipped toenail polish, tyvm).



No need for costly refills & getting all sweaty while cleaning. You simply walk around. You can even talk on the phone because your hands are free. You can even (gasp!) make your kids do it. About halfway through you just flip the towel over & continue. Then throw the towel in the washer & voila. Yer done-zo. It takes 1/2 the time as regular mopping (I've totally timed it).

This wraps up Domesticity for Dummies. If I think of/make up any more I'll be sure to post. All of these techniques are like any recipe ever submitted to a ward cookbook. Totally tried & true.

Flank me later.

Installment #3: Bubbles = Clean. Always.

This next method of shortcut "cleaning" could be used in various situations.

• People are coming over in five minutes and you have a pile of dirty dishes on the counter.
• Your dishwasher is full of dirty dishes & you don't feel like washing the rest by hand/don't believe in hand-washing (like me).
• Your dishwasher is full of clean dishes & you don't feel like emptying it to put in the new dirty ones.
• Your dishwasher is completely empty & you don't feel like loading it.
• You're a fan of "soaking stuff" (that is Gty's fave way to do dishes...soaking).
  
• You're trying to get away with doing as little as possible in the dishes department.

So, here's the technique.

1) Fill one side of your sink with hot soapy water like this:



2) Proceed to fill it with dirty dishes (due to any of the situations listed above). Do you see how "clean" it looks there? One would never suspect that beneath the clean looking bubbles is a couple meals worth of plates & bowls & sippy cups. If you fill it just right, the bubbles almost look like an extension of the counter top, creating a nice flat surface.

3) When you muster the strength, go ahead and load the dishes into the dishwasher. Bonus: No rinsing required now.

Question: But what if I wake up in the morning and STILL don't feel like doing the dishes? (see dramatic recreation below)



Answer: I'm so glad you asked! As you can see, by morning, all the bubbles are gone revealing the atrocity lurking below the surface. All you need to do is simply run the water again to create more bubbles!! (note: depending on how many times you do this, you may need to add more soap). When it comes to dishes, out of sight, out of mind is what I always say.



This will then free up many, many hours to do what you really SHOULD be doing anyway....

Installment #2: Let the Duping Continue

So, yesterday we discussed the fine art of "decluttering" for guests. That was not a long term solution, of course, as we then heard horror stories of hundreds of bins being used for that purpose and then never opened again.

This next tactic will really drive home the point that you are not only clean, but also very organized. I mean, anyone can have a clean countertop, but what about your cupboards?

Here is what you do:

1) Go to Costco when Shelf-Reliance is in town and spend a little bit of dough on their cupboard and pantry "Cansolidators" (afterward, Gty said that if he knew they were called something so lame he never would have allowed/aloud them in our house). You then clean out an entire cupboard, throw away the many cans that expired in 2000 (<-- not a joke) and you create nothing short of a masterpiece that looks like this:


I realize this takes a bit of effort but it will PAY OFF! Because....

2) Anytime you have guests over, you figure out some way to make them look in your beautimus cupboard. You offer them a drink of water and then say "Oh, could you get a glass out of that cupboard over there? Oh, whoops! That's not where I keep the glasses!" or "Hey, I want to show you something really cool on YouTube... just open that cupboard over there. Oh whoops! That's not where we keep the computer!" You get the point.

3) Under no circumstances are they to look in any other cupboards like this one:



If someone does accidentally open another cupboard you'll need to go full-force on getting them to the "right cupboard." Then you'll have to figure out a way to make them sit & stare at it so long that it burns into their retina so when they close their eyes they can still see it. That may be difficult to do so I suggest you prevent them looking elsewhere to begin with.

All it takes is one cupboard, people. Seriously.

Domesticity For Dummies

This could also be called "How to Dupe your Visiting Teachers" or "Keeping Up Appearances."

I've worked many years on creating a persona of a clean person. I tell Gty all the time how tidy I am and that he might want to consider following suit. When people come from out of town to visit, you better believe the house is tip-top right down to the polishing of my silver (IF I had silver that is). But what about the day-to-day? How does one convince the locals of these things? They are dropping by on a regular basis. Sometimes completely unannounced. Or they announced it, but then you forgot and went to WalMart (sorry Ashley!).

I've decided to compile all my best Shortcuts for the Desperate Housewife (another alternate title for this post, btw). These are fail safe ways to make even the most finicky visitor feel like you do nothing but clean your house. And isn't that what being a good LDS woman is all about? Yeeeeeah.

Today's Installment aka Shortcut #1:

If you're like me there is one place, or four, that you put all your stuff the second you walk in the door. This might be called a Dumping Ground, a Hot Spot, two feet inside the door, etc. Mine is in this little alcove area as you're walking from the door to the family room. Wherever it is, it can quickly get out of control. Be assured, it's fine to have these areas. I'd venture to say that we NEED these areas. The problem is, if the dumping ground is in clear view, like mine, it may need to be taken care of before visitors come over. That is, if you're trying to keep up appearances... like me.

So, how do we go from this:



To this?



Take any empty laundry basket you have laying around and place it just below the height of the counter. You then extend your arm, and keeping it as straight as possible, start at one side of the area and gently "sweep" all the crap you have sitting there into the laundry basket (note: make sure your laundry basket is large enough for the amount of clutter you have accumulated here).

You then take the laundry basket and place it in the laundry room:



And proceed to do this to the laundry room door:



You can also improvise with a master bedroom or even the garage. The key is to shut the door. Only the flankiest visitor would be so rude as to open a closed door.

Installment #2 tomorrow... stay tuned for more educational blogging.

I Love Technology

"So, sorry Tuna, but if you don't know why that's awesome, then... you need awesome lessons."

Have you seen the new feature of Genius on iTunes? If not, I highly suggest you figure out how to get it. You click on a song, click the fancy swirly Genius icon and BAM! iTunes puts together an impeccable play list from your own music to entertain you for 25 songs. In the side bar, it then suggests songs you might enjoy buying from them, of course.

In the mood for some hip-hop? Click on some Timbaland song & you're off on a hip-hop journey to rival even the best DJ.

Something more mellow? Try clicking on a Jason Mraz song & see where it gets ya.

Lately I've been starting with a good Til Tuesday song (no they were NOT just a one-hit wonder!) and Genius has then chosen a plethora of artist with slight or full lezbeen tendencies.... Tori Amos, Alanis Morisette, Indigo Girls, Lisa Loeb and Hanson. It's reminding me of that one King Of Queens when Spencer's Tivo thought he was gay. I wonder if my iTunes saw that picture of me with the mullet in Ohio.

Favorite Foto Friday

Everyone seems to be snatching up days of the week like crazy around here so I thought I'd take Friday. In going through old photos recently I've come across some pictures that made me laugh out loud, made me get all sentimental, made me cringe & made me snort. Yes, I've been on an emotional roller coaster.

So I thought that each Friday I'd post a picture that I love & share it with y'all (that was for my SC friends). They might be pictures of people you know. They might be of animals. They might be of bumper stickers I thought were funny. One never knows. That's what makes me/my blog so exciting.

Just so you get my drift here, we'll start with this one taken May 27, 2006. Tbone is 4 yo.

Title: Lil' Arm Guy



For a good two months straight, every time TBone put on a new shirt in the morning, he'd be "Lil' Arm Guy" for a while after. I say "a while after" because the time differed from day to day depending on if he had to get something from up off the counter, or if he just sat there watching cartoons. Once the arms were out, they were out. He didn't put them back in. He'd patiently wait until the next day when Lil' Arm Guy would return with a fresh shirt. The slicked down hair with the rooster tail could not be more perfect.

Moderation in ALL Things?

For my b-day this past year (I turned 33, btw, I'm not ashamed) my dear sweet surprised the crapola out of me and got me a MacBook. I have loved it like I've loved no other piece of machinery. Scratch that, I really like the DVR. It's close though. And my minivan is right up there. I'll stop the list right there.

Anyway, I just got myself a 750 GB external hard drive for it so I don't slow Ole Mackey down (this is the first time I've called it that, just so you know).

So I took some time a couple of days ago, in anticipation of my Unflattering Pics post, to transfer all the photos off the old HP on to my hard drive so I could access them easier on Ole Mackey (second time, that is really catchin' on!).

I was astonished at how many photos I have. Nay, floored to the ground.

24, 996

I mean, if I had a nickel for every photo I transfered, I'd have, like.....::getting out calculator:: $1,249.80!!!!

And that was just since 2004 when we got our first diggy cam plus a smorgasborg of scanned in pics.

Averages:
6,249/year
521/month
17/day

Oy.

Aside from slowing down our desktop to a mere slug's pace, I can see no downside to having TOO many photos. So I'm not changing my ways behind the lens, I just thought you should know.

See, proof that even the most meinial things in my life are fascinating.

How About We Break with Tradition?

So, if you'll please notice, I had to change my banner at the top. Gty wanted me to take this picture off:




He was like "You just want it up there because YOU look all cute... but I look like a complete doof." After some serious soul-searching I came to the conclusion that he is absolutely right. I don't think I'm alone in this business of only looking at myself in pictures to determine if I like them or not, but that does not make it right.

As a peace offering, I have decided to go through my pictures and pick out some of the most unflattering ones (of myself) that I could find. However, in doing so, I found a bunch that I love so don't be surprised if in the next little while I do a post of "All the pictures of myself that I LOVE!" cuz I believe in the yin & yang business of life.

So let's commence with the uglies, shall we?

Let's begin with Kindergarten:



My posture, my smile, my extra long ponytail on the right side... it screams "delayed development" to me.

Next, this is maybe the beginning of 9th grade? Right before I got my braces on. Now thems are some TEEF.



Now we're heading into some really unfortunate years for me. Ninth and Tenth grade were....not good. Those bang, while not big, are still very unattractive...and what am I wearing? A sailor suit? Geesh.



This next pic was taken that same year. We were going to the MayQueen Dance. Ugh. I need to go back and ask Ethan why he agreed to go with me (it was girls ask guy, btw). Oh, and we were wearing our dates' bowties which is always awesome.



Let's go to my senior year of high school.... I'm looking a bit... manish.



Now college... YEAH!!!



In our defense, LeeAnn was going on her mission very early in the morning. We had no time to shower. We were tired. So that's all in our defense. But tell me again why I look preggers?

Here is an unfortunate picture of me that same day, minutes later.



Yup, it's the ugly cry. It was just because I was sooooo sad to see LeeAnn go on her mission & I was going to miss her sooooo much! And totally NOT because I had just seen some random little brother break down saying goodbye to his missionary big brother. Totally NOT that. It was the LeeAnn thing.

So now Gty & I are married and the pics don't get any better I'm afraid. On the back of this one all Memzy wrote was "Enough said."



I have no words for the following...



The next one was taken when we lived in Ohio... I had some of the worst hurrdids there. This one takes the cake though. I wonder if my hair dresser knew I was married.... to a MAN.



General rule of thumb, sleeping pictures of adults are rarely cute.



Um.



Yes, I was competing in a family reunion log roll event, but that doesn't make it any more flattering, does it?



In addition to the obvious, this one shows off my five-head in all its glory.



Pregnancy pictures = never good. I have much, much worse ones, if you can believe it, from when I was preggers with JBird (why is the first one always the worst?) but I'm too lazy to scan them in.



And finally, there is nothing better than a picture of yourself yelling at your son to stand up already so you can take a nice picture on Mother's Day.



So there you have it. I can never be accused of only putting good pictures of MYSELF on here again. ::glaring at Gty::

Mizundastood

A few weeks ago at a YWs activity, we all sat down and took a personality test. It's The Color Code. I had remembered taking this a looooong time ago. I remembered the color I turned out to be. I thought that now, being older and wiser, I might have changed colors. But apparently your personality never changes. Wierd.

So here are the personality colors & a quick synopsis of what it means to be that color:

• RED (Motive: POWER)—These are the power wielders. Power, the ability to move from point A to point B, and get things done is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, proactive and assertive.
  
  
• BLUE (Motive: INTIMACY)—These are the do-gooders. Intimacy, connecting, creating quality relationships and having purpose is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of quality and service and are generally loyal, sincere, and thoughtful.
  
  
• WHITE (Motive: PEACE)—These are the peacekeepers. Peace, or the absence of conflict, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of clarity and tolerance and are generally kind, adaptable, good-listeners.
  
  
• YELLOW (Motive: Fun)—These are the fun lovers. Fun, or the joy of doing something just for the sake of doing it, is what motivates and drives these people. They bring great gifts of enthusiasm and optimism and are generally charismatic, spontaneous, and sociable.

So there are about 45 different questions to answer. Most of them are made up of 4 different words and you're supposed to pick which word best describes you. Some of these questions were difficult because I'd like to think I'm all four words like:

a) independent
b) dependable
c) even-tempered
d) trusting

or

a) confident
b) disciplined
d) pleasant
d) charismatic

Right? I mean, who wouldn't want to be those things? I picked B & A respectively, in case you were wondering.

Then there were the tough ones because I didn't want to be ANY of them. Like:

a) insensitive
b) judgmental
c) boring
d) undisciplined

or

a) tactless
b) hard to please
c) lazy
d) loud

I mean, who wants to be any of those? Again, I picked B & D cuz I can sense you are dying to know.

I was surprised they didn't have one that said:

a) lame
b) stupid
c) ugly
d) gassy

I guess I woulda had to pick D on that one. IF that were a real question. Which it wasn't. But if it were..... I'm just saying. I'd rather be gassy than those other three. But I digress....

My point is that I turned out to be a YELLOW. I was the only YW leader who was a YELLOW, btw. Almost all of the rest of them were BLUEs. What a bunch of freakin' do-gooders!!! And "having purpose" is soooo o-ver-ra-ted ::clap clap clapclapclap:: No, I'm totally kidding. Of course they are BLUE... that is why they are in YWs. But everyone was like "Oh OF COURSE Sister Anderson is a YELLOW! Duh!!"

But here's the thing that no one realizes about me. I had 19 answers that were yellow..... but I had 15 that were white. FIFTEEN! I think it's a odd mix myself but, really, I think it's dead on. I tend to avoid conflict to a fault. I don't like returning things to the store because I always think they are going to question why I'm bringing it back. Gty learned long ago that he needed to be the one to call if there were problems with our CC bill or something because if they were like "Um, yeah, you bought $100,000 worth of stuff from Croatia and you're gonna pay for it." I'd be like "Oh, um, ok." And I can adapt like a chameleon, baby. I just thought that was because I have lived in six different states in 12 years though. The thing is that people rarely see my whiteness (except in Hip Hop class---hazzah!).

But this begs the question: Is it because they can't get past the yellowosity that is me or because I don't let them?

Deep Thoughts by Landee Handy

I'm guessing it's the latter. I like to keep my great gifts of clarity and tolerance on the DL.

******EDIT**************

Click HERE and take the test yourself. Then let us all know what you are so we know what your motives are and how to deal with you.

Nahnahnahnahnah, you say it's your birthday....

...nahnananana, it's Gty's birthday too!!

That's right, people. It's my baba's birthday today. In honor of him, I shall do a photo tribute to him. And no, tribute is not too dramatic of a word... it's his birthday, c'mon.

Here is the young man a mere 37 years ago. Sidebar, wasn't my FIL cool? He's all Buddy Holly meets James Dean here. He still exudes coolness, btw. Anyway, that is EXACTLY what Jbird looked like as a baby. Exactly. With no variations. It's actually quite strange to see my FIL at age 30 holding my baby.



Then Gty grew up a little and turned into Dennis the Menace. How cute is he? It's no wonder our kids are so dang adorable. And here I was thinking it was MY genes this whole time.



Whoops.... spoke a little too soon. If Jbird is truly Gty's clone then I guess I need to brace myself for some awkward years comin' up....



I don't even think "awkward" truly describes what is going on below. Is that a saxophone I see there? For some reason I had this picture saved as "ladykillah." Well.... yeah! Obviously!



I wish I had that picture that I made that regrettable comment about but alas, I do not. Needless to say, he grew up, went on a mission and went from totally geek to totally chic! That's about when I jumped on the Gty bandwagon. Try not to stare at the caterpillars that are in the spots where my eyebrows should be. Yikes. My friend, Phoxy, looked at this picture for the first time and, after getting control of her laughing, said "It looks like you... but not really.... like...it's your twin sister that was never let out of the house."



One of my fave pics of Gty & the boys. They were 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 there. Love it.



And one of my favorite recent pictures of Gty. Not necessarily because it's a great picture of him, but because it shows how much he absolutely adores BeeBee. Several times a day he'll turn to me and say "Have you ever seen a cuter little girl?" She sooo had him at hello it's not even funny. I love it. Especially because he was thinking he didn't even really want any girls. Silly, silly Gty.



For those of you who don't really know Gty, I have a couple of stories to illustrate his personality. He is absolutely the funniest person I know. He makes me laugh all day, every day. He handles things in such a great way & makes life so much more enjoyable. The best thing about him is he doesn't let me get away with ANYTHING! I am comfortable enough to admit that some other guys would be unable to "deal" with me... I'm bratty & mean. Gty knows this. Gty handles it. Gty, in some strange way, loves it. ::insert line here about how he's my soulmate, blah blah blah::

Example Numero Uno:

There are times when Gty goes to bed before me. It doesn't happen very much, but when it does I have some complaints. We have several pillows on our bed. Some for show & some for sleeping. Well, when I go to bed, I take all the non-essential pillows off the bed, place them lovingly on the floor, lovingly turn on the ceiling fan, lovingly open the window, and lovingly close the blinds. When Gty would go to bed before me, he'd barely carve a little place out for himself in between the pillows and go to sleep. I would then come in, in the pitch dark, and then have to take off all the pillows, open the window, turn the fan on, etc. It bugged me (I told you I was bratty). So I asked Gty if he would plzthanks be a little more considerate (see?) and take care of some of the pre-bed routine when he goes to bed first so I don't have to do it in the dark.

The next day I walk into our bedroom to go to bed and this is what I find on my pillow (all decorative pillows were off, btw):



See what I mean? His ability to not take anything except BYU football too seriously is truly a gift.

Second Example:

My sister's all time favorite Gty story is when I wanted to toot my own horn & it backfired a bit. Gty had gotten out of the shower & went to put on some deodorant. His was pretty much gone so he then walked over to where I keep my surplus of all things toiletry and grabs another one. I turn around all smug and say "Wow. Isn't it so nice to just walk over there when you need something and just pull it out without having stepped foot in a grocery store for years?" To which he immediatly replied "Well yeah, and isn't it nice to go into a store and swipe that magic card thingy and just get stuff you want having never worked a day in your life?"

a) I totally worked at Staples the summer after my senior year of high school.
b) Oh... right.

See what I mean? I need him. Had I married anyone else they would probably just be over in the corner in the fetal position by now. And our kids would only be half as cute as they are now.

So Happy, Happy Birthday to my dear sweet. "For his birthday" he stayed in UT to watch UCLA get annhilated by the Cougs and is flying home today at 2pm. We will then proceed to shower him with birthday wishes, open presents and eat ice cream cake. Then he's home for two weeks straight! Yay!

I love you, Baba!