Fave Foto Friday: The Ghosts of Halloweens Past-- EDIT

I admit it. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I don't like the decor. I don't like the premise. I don't like that the end result is I've just spent a bunch of money on costumes & then what you get is a bumload of candy. It just doesn't sit well with me. I keep hoping the First Presidency comes out with some kind of statement... I know, I'm shooting for the stars there.

Anyway, for FFF I thought I'd post some pics of past Halloweens. You know, so maybe I'd get into the spirit a bit.

****EDIT****

I found/scanned in some more you gize.

Halloween 1996



Our first Halloween as a married couple (aaaaawwwww.. cute!). I know. I believe we're trying to look like our pumpkins. I hope that's what we're doing anyway.

Halloween 2000



Red jammmies+Devil horns & pitchfork from Old Navy = costume

Halloween 2001



Somebody was not excited about being the puppy/mouse/bunny. He was probaby like "clean the freaking fireplace you gize" too. What is with that?

***end EDIT***

Halloween 2002


No, you're not seeing things. That is Brains & Boogs Shederton. They came out to visit over Halloween when we were living in Ohio. Yay! Good times. Srsly.

Halloween 2003



Red Power Ranger and... a mouse.. no wait, a puppy... no a bunny.... w/e it was it was cute. And that is so not my goose dressed up as a jack-o-lantern, in case you were wondering. Who DOES that?

Halloween 2004



Please note the repeat of costumes. A) I don't like Halloween anyway and B) we had srsly JUST moved to South Carolina. If you could see into the house you would see piles of unopened boxes. The last thing on my mind that year was costumes. I think you'd be surprised at how non-breathable that Red Ranger suit was in the SC humidity. Or maybe you wouldn't be that surprised I guess.

Halloween 2005



If you don't know what they are then yer dumb. Hint: sports

Halloween 2006



Anakin, Yoda & Princess Leia. Yes, yes, I KNOW it would be impossible for Anakin to be holding his daughter as ANAKIN cuz he was already Darth Vader when she was born, but c'mon you gize. It's Halloween. Here's a close up of Beeb's awesome wig my SIL's mom helped me make. I hearted it, you gize.



Halloween 2007




A boxer, Mudkip (a Pokemon) and a bumblebee.

So there we have it. I'm still not in the spookiest of moods but this did help a little. This year we've got ourselves a football player (yes, again), a vampire (not in the Edward way, in the traditional way-- lamerz!), and Snow White. A blonde Snow White.

Happy Halloween to you. May your pillowcases be too heavy to get home tonight!

Tonight: A Special Episode of Landee's Blog

Have you read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins? If not, hurry and read it so you can participate in tonight's sure-to-be-historic-event here http://smartremarksbookclub.blogspot.com/

I will be the special reviewer of tonight's discussion.

I have been given this honor because Jenny knows I'm the smartest of the group. And because everyone agrees I write the best reviews. And I know the most about 90s Trivia.

And mostly because I recommended the book.

Tune in here http://smartremarksbookclub.blogspot.com/ tonight at 8pm Pacific/9pm Mountain time.

And may the odds be EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!!

Every Bit of 3 Minutes 50 Seconds

Can you spare about 4 minutes? I promise, after this I'll be done. Unless I think of some other stuff I wanna say about my Living Blog trip, that is. Studies show that if you put pictures together with a catchy tune, people will watch it 97% of the time. Don't be the 3% that I'm disappointed in, mmmkay?

Also, just so you know, there was a question in the 90s Trivia Game that we played that asked what Michael Jackson song SWV sampled for their remix of "Right Here." Poor poor Memzy could only think of a small little bit of the song. And singing it a brazillion times didn't help either. She eventually called & woke up Gty for the answer but alas, it was too late.

But yeah, here we go.....



PS If you're dying for more click here, here, here, here and here. You won't be sorry, you gize.

Forks, Flanks & Fun

Apparently while I was gone Giggity came up with a phrase for what I was doing when people would ask....he'd tell people I was "On my living blog." He doesn't even know how true that is! Honestly, when I came off the airplane & met everyone (I was the last to arrive) it felt like I was meeting characters out of a favorite TV show. I felt like I have known them forever but... I'm sorry, what? You adored me the second I got off the plane too? Aw, thankies you gize!

So yeah, that was reason Numero Uno for the Big Blog Bash in Washington.

My second reason? Well, to make all those Twilight fans I know out there uber jealous, of course!! So let's get right to that, shall we?

Friday morning we got up, ate our free continental breakfast (steamed veggies & rice were an option, I kid you not), and headed up to ....



Luckily JennyESP brought her book so we were able to determine that the italian restaurant Bella & Edward ate at in Port Angeles was on First Street. We went there & whaddayaknow? There's a freakin' italian restaurant there!



Here is what they had posted in the window:



See that girl behind Stephenie, touching her shoulder? She was our waitress... so yeah, I pretty much hung out with Stephenie.

There was some squealing & heavy breathing everytime we came across any sign that said Forks on it.



But first, here I am being scared outta my mind in an alley in Port Angeles.



And here I am doing what Bella SHOULD have done but she's an idiot so she stayed there to wait for Edward to rescue her.



And finally, after another couple of hours, we arrive in FORKS!! I'm telling you, this place has absolutely embraced the Twilight phenomenon with all their hearts. There are signs up everywhere suggesting you can buy Twilight souveniers there, on the marquis in front of a hotel it said "Edward DIDN'T sleep here!" (get it... cuz he never slept... get it?), etc etc.

These two ladies were so adorable I could hardly stand it. We found them in the Visitor's Center. Marcia and Marsha. The one on the left is the director of the Chamber of Commerce for Forks and she is one passionate Twilight fan, lemme tell ya. We were eating it up.



A nice note from Steph. It says "To the people of my favorite town-- I'm so honored that you've chosen Bella's birthday, September 13th, as Stephenie Meyer Day. Thank you for being such gracious hosts for my vampires! You're wonderful! ::scribble scribble:: PS Landee, Edward is really in love with you." Or something like that.



One thing these two cute ladies do is save any letters that come to Forks for any of the Cullen family. There were quite a few letters in this binder they had put together. Here is Sara doing a dramatic reading of one to Alice. It began "Dear Alice, I bet you saw this letter coming, didn't ya?" HA! I'm totally drafting up a letter as we speak. It will be to Carlisle and he better write back.



Bella's truck! And me in the most awkard position evah.



Here is Bella's house. Obviously.



And here is the group in front of the Twilight display they have in the sheriff's office. I think Charlie musta quit early that day cuz we totally didn't see him.



Allz I'm saying is, if the people in the book aren't real, then why do they have THIS at the hospital. Huh? Right. They wouldn't, so they must be real. I'm so good at figuring things out.



And here we are flanking our flanks in front of the Cullen's house.



You don't believe it's really the Cullen's house? Whatever!! READ.THE.WHITE.BOARD.



And finally we headed over to Forks High to get a good looksee.



All of a sudden a van came into the parking lot & couldn't stop. It was about to hit me when, inexplicably Edward came outta no where and stopped the van from hitting me. It was a moment I shall never forget. And thank you to Sara for capturing it all on film/memory card.



It took a bit longer to get to Forks than we had counted on so we didn't make it out to La Push like we had planned. It was going to be dark & we were tired & plus, since Jacob imprinted on that creepy baby he's lost a little of his appeal.

Anyway, jealous??

"Sealing the Deal"

This is what you need to see today.....




What will you need to see tomorrow, you ask? I guess you'll just have to wait and see. It may be a smattering of my favorite pics from the trip, it might be a slide show, it might be a lengthy narrative, it might be a video I put together. You never know. That's what makes me/my blog so exciting.

PS The gang sign is really an "F" which either stood for Forks, WA or "flank"... it depended on our mood. If someone yelled "Flank it!" or "Fork it!" you were supposed to do that with your hands (Memzy thunk it up on the plane there, btw <---- giving credit where credit is due). JennyESP apparently didn't hear the command. Since getting home my hands have spontaneously done it without me even telling them to several times. It's starting to scare the children.

PSS Here is the other pose that everyone else was too cheap to pitch in and buy so I had to secretly take a pic of it on the monitor when the guy was distracted.

I like it because everyone is flanking me like they're my entourage or sumpin. And Cristin and Sara are giving their own versions of the "S'up?" look.

Bon Voyage

Suitcase packed: check
Itineraries of everyone printed off: check
Schedule written out for Gty: check
Camera packed: check
Worry that IRL the Morgan sisters are complete jerks: check
Obtain knowledge that Memzy will be there to spoon me if the above is true: check
Have no worries about Cristin's niceness: check
Leave Gty with a thrashed house: check

Mkay... I guess that's it. I'll be taking my laptop so if the hotel has free high-speed internet you may get some surprise posts from some people but I'm not counting on it. I'm taking it so that when my 4G memory card in my camera gets full I can download the pics & start anew.

I'll be back Sunday with bumloads of stories and pics.

Landeelu

PS If any of you locals could plzthanks take your camera to church on Sunday and sneakily get a pic of how Gty does BeeBee's hurr it'd be much appreciated! I'm dying to see. The girl stuff befuddles the man.

Warning: Kid Stuff

I started thinking that I better be keeping track of what my kids have been up to lately. I mean, are people 100 years from now really going to want to read about what TV shows I like to watch? Or how many times I barfed the other night (it was like, 7 times, you gize)? No, they're going to want to know what my kids were doing this past weekend. So here we go. Read on if you want. But it's really not for you. It's for those people 100 years in the future.



JBird: All the pain & torment of hurrying home this past Friday from UT totally paid off! We came home to make it in time for JBird's final football game and.. WOOT WOOT!... He caught an interception!! We were hoping he'd have at least one big play for the year and that, my future people, was it. He was ecstatic & so was Gty. Since then I cannot tell you how many times Gty has turned to me and said (in front of JBird) "So, do you know anyone who has caught an interception?" And every time I look at JBird and he's sitting there with a smirk on his face pointing at himself like he's "all that." It was good for him because, I gotta tell ya, the kid's attitude these days STINKETH. He's in this "Why do I gotta do that?" mode and all mopey & stuff these days if I ask him to do ANYTHING. I keep telling myself it's his age & he'll pull out of it but it seems like a long road ahead. Time will tell I guess.



TBone: This kid has definitely turned a corner with his behavior.... and that can only be a good thing. I swear to you... he is obedient, happy, and so much fun to be around. This is HUGE! I don't even know what to contribute it to either. I'm thinking Tae Kwon Do has helped a ton. They are good at emphasizing discipline & obeying your parents and things of that nature. But also maybe he is just growing up? It used to be that you'd say "K, T, after you finish that game you need to go brush your teeth, get in the shower & get your jammies on" and then a half an hour later he would either be a) still playing the game or b) doing something else. Now we say that and then forget & 10 minutes later we hear the shower going & he's following through with every last request. It's a freakin' miracle, I'm tellin' ya. I love it. The best part is he is keeping the silliness alive as well. I'd hate to have him lose his personality in the name of obedience.



BeeBee: My BFF. So fun. So cute. Love hanging out with her all day long. She is so reasonable it's astounding. If she wants something that she can't have/we can't do all I have to do is explain why and she is totally good with it. Fits are such a rarity that I cannot even remember the last time she had one. She loves her brothers & her Dad like crazy. Usually I will put her down for a nap, go back in to check on her and she will be asleep wearing one of her princess dresses. One thing happened on Sunday however... church is from noon to 3pm. This screws up naptime like you would not believe. So usually I don't even put her down. This past Sunday she fell asleep at 6pm. Hmmm... wake her? Hope she stays asleep for the night? I chose B. I chose wrong. She woke up from her "nap" at 10:15pm. When she came walking down the stairs with her rat's nest hair I cringed. Yeah, she didn't go to bed Sunday night until 1am. But, like I said, at least she was pleasant to have around in the late hours of the night. :)

So there you go Future Blog Stalkers. My kids, right now. Maybe by now they are your grandparents? Great grandparents? That's too weird to even think about.

TV Musings

You know how some people "work themselves right out of a job?" I think I've matured myself right out of good mindless entertainment. Or maybe there have been a couple of shows that have raised the bar so high that everything else seems like a waste of time. I don't know. All I know is that I watch very little TV these days. I'm not saying I like it. I'm just saying that is how it is. I WISH there were more shows out there I couldn't live without, but there just flat out aren't.

Here is a list of shows I have now dropped, officially (many I'm embarassed I EVER watched, btw):

Grey's Anatomy- I have zero interest in this show right now which is weird because I BAWLED for a good 20 mintues over the whole Denny thing way back when.

Desperate Housewives- One of the embarassing shows I mentioned above. Totally lame now. Don't care what happens. Don't even want to see commercials about it.

Intervention- If you've seen one addict go to rehab because their family forced them/Jeff VanVandervonvondsen came for a visit & then relapse as soon as the get out, you've seen them all. If they had more eating disorders on there I might tune in again, but the heroin thing is getting old.

Kath & Kim- I had high hopes and big plans of watching this but I have not been impressed. I'm trying to reserve judgment for another couple of episodes but it's hard.

Supernanny- There isn't a technique that she has that I haven't seen already. She calls the same technique different names and calls it a new show. The "Naughty Chair Technique," "The Naughty Bean Bag Technique," and "The Naughty Step Technique".... THEY. ARE. ALL. THE. SAME. TECHNIQUE. Kid gets in trouble and has to sit somewhere for a while. That's THE technique. She's not fooling me anymore.

Shows I'm Keeping/Borderline Obsessed With:

The Office- Fer super duh. The whole Holly/Michael thing makes me giggle & the Jim/Pam issues keep me on my toes. Geniuses I tell ya.

Boston Legal- This is where I get all my current event information from. That David E. Kelly is right on top of things. I heart James Spader & have an unfortunate crush on William Shatner. Plus, Candice Bergen... need I say more? Love her. Maybe this is why I bought a hoodie marketed to retirees??

Heroes- I don't have a clue what is going on but you gotta love a show that makes you look over at your husband at least 5 times and go "What the??" That puppeteer guy just about sent me over the edge though. He took creepy to a whole new level. I am loving/hating the blurring between good & bad though. Suresh=GOOD, Silar=BAD.... ycome can't they just stick to that??? Geniuses I tell ya.

30Rock- Obviously not on yet but I made a paper chain and am counting down to October 30th.

Scrubs- When it returns on ABC... what is up with that? Me & Zach Braff are both from the Garden State sooo... yeah.

So you can see my taste here. If you have any suggestions of shows I might be interested in let me know. I'm OPEN to other shows, but I am getting pickier & pickier in my old age. I hope this doesn't start happening to other areas of my life.

Who Says Blogging Doesn't Pay?

No, I probably can't make a living blogging, but it can have some major perks! For example, I came home from my trip just a little bit richer as the following was waiting for me on the doorstep:

• One package Brach's Autumn Mix candy
• One Family Circle Magazine
• Cherry Carmex
• One can Stephen's Gourmet Hot Chocolate (Belgian Dark Chocolate)
• One package of three Bic "Mark It" Fine Point Permanent Pens
• One package of 12 spiffy blank note cards.
• One pack Orbit Bubblemint gum
• One cute note from Annie in which she explains this is a sampling of her favorite things that she was able to gather at Walmart in about 10 minutes. I can only imagine what would have been in there if she'd have had 20 minutes... my heck!
  

I mean, right? How awesome is that? And I got all of that simply by leaving a comment! This blogging gig just got that much sweeter. Thanks Annie! I need to come up with a way I can "pay it forward" now.

Another perk? I had tons of people at church today ask me how I was feeling after my bout with the flu. Pre-blog no one would have known/cared... but now? Ah, I was feelin' the love, people. Really, I was.

Now I'm off to a "Mini-MTC" over at the church for the youth. We're supposed to come dressed as missionaries... I'm thinking long skirt, cardigan & unfortunate looking but sensible shoes. Oh, and I better wash my make-up off ASAP. Unless I pretend like I got called to Temple Square..... hmmmm.....

Am I still alive? It's hard to tell...

Ugh. I think I caught a nasty bug from Katie. I'm so mad at her. She should have warned me to spray my keyboard with Lysol before & after reading that post. As we were driving home from Utah yesterday, I started feeling a little car sick. This happens to me often as a result of having to turn around to pick stuff up for my kids, yell at my kids, look at something "really cool" my kids are doing in the back seat, etc. I didn't think much of it. But then, even when we got home my nausea was not going away.

At about 10pm the party got started.

I woke up every hour until 4am to barf. And in between the barfing I was having these crazy dreams so I'm not even sure I ever went to sleep.

I feel like I got hit by a truck. My abs hurt. My arms hurt (wha?). As I type this I am lying flat in bed with a splitting headache.

The good news is that this only happens to me about once every three years. So I'm free & clear for Seattle next week.

I'm sure you were worried.

Unplugged

The Wheatleys JUST got internet set up in their new house. I feel like I've been detached from civilization for the past formyever.

We'd be like "Hey, check the gym schedule online so we know what time the class is... oh wait..."

or

"Well, let's just MapQuest how to get ther.... nevermind."

or

"I'm just gonna see how all my internet peeps are doing.... dangitalltoheck!!!"

Painful I tell you.

I just thought I'd check in real quick like so you don't think I'm deaderz in a ditch somewhere. I have really been running around crazy (because there is no other way to be with Mrs. Wheatley). Never made it to the bookstore. Never made it to Cafe Rio. Won't have a chance to meet up with Annie, Mandee & Markie (::sooper frowny face::).

It's almost like I'm not in Utah or something.

I'm heading up to Logan on the morrow for some R&R. And to get my "winter hair."

PS Memz & Aunt Visor, guess what? MrsWheatley & I went to a step class at the gym on Monday and guess who came in & took the class with us totally randomly! Cousin Jen!! It was hilarious. We screamed & made fools of ourselves before getting our butts kicked by "Kaycee" the torturous step instructor.

Fave Foto Friday: Oh Crap

August 23, 2006.

I walk by BeeBee playing happily in her excersaucer. I smile, pat her on the head & go into the kitchen. Tbone comes into the kitchen not 30 seconds later.

"BeeBee is rubbing her feet in poo."

"W/e Tbone."

"Really."

I go back around the corner and see this:



Closer look, cuz I know you wanna:




See it dripping?

You're welcome.


P.S. Survived the Fall Event... 1500 people maybe? It went well & is being touted as a smashing success. I shall never do anything like that again.

Anonymous

Ha! Gotcha! No, no, no... I am not going to dedicate an entire post to my new BFF, Anon. That's what he/she asked me to call her/him, btw. He/she is just trying to make the world a better place and apparently this is how he/she figured he/she could do it best I guess.

'S ok. No prob.

No, see what I'm going to blog about today is my upcoming schedule. I'd hate for you to have to detox from Landeeland with out any warning so here is your warning.

Thursday: Getting ready all day for the big Fall Event at the elementary school. We're expecting 1,000 peeps? Yeah, so I gotsta decorate & pick stuff up & do some meditation/self-medication so I don't jump off a cliff, do laundry & pack. I doubt my blogging will suffer though. I'm an excellent multi-tasker.

Friday: Wake up at the bumcrack of dawn, do my Fave Foto Friday post & head to Utah (wazzup my Utah homies!!!). We are going to a reunion of sorts of some of our college friends. We're staying at one of the friend's cabin in Heber on Friday (after dropping off our kids at The Wheatley's house-- that's what you get for moving away Wheatleys!). This is the day when you probably should go back and read old posts of mine or find old comments I've made on your own blogs so you don't get the shakes from withdrawls. If you need to, call your sponsor to get you through the tough times.

Saturday: Going to the Homecoming game at the BY. Apparently the rule is that I have to have authentic BYU paraphernalia for the game so I guess a stop at the bookstore will be in order before the game (it draws me to it anyway so I'll just go willingly this time). Then we'll head to the Wheats & stay there. Also going to be a tough blogging day. Luckily Saturdays are kinda slow anyway. So yeah, in honor of me don't post this day so I won't miss anything, mmkay?

Sunday-Wed: Staying at the Wheatleys, doing creepy drivebys past Annie & MM's houses, toiletpapering Markie's house & eating at Training Table.

Wed-Thurs: Heading up to Logan to get my hurr did. I heart my girl up there. She is soooo good and is soooo cheap. It's almost worth it to just fly to Logan to get my hair done sometimes. Anyway, I'm in desperate need (I've put it off a good 3 weeks longer than I should because I knew we were going out there) so that's going to be in my top 3 fave activities of the trip for sure.

Fri: Driving home.

Sat-October 23: Business as usual.

October 23-26: Magic

Stop. Now.

Why? Seriously, WHY?

So I'm checking out at Target yesterday and the guy cashier proceeded to do one of my biggest pet peeves for about 6 minutes.

He commented on what I was buying.

I don't ask much. Really. Just ring up my stuff and then give me the unbelievable total (Target always gets me!), I'll swipe my card, sign on the digitized pad thingy and go about my business. That is how this relationship should work. This is how I NEED it to work.

But no, it went something like this (just so you can picture this more vividly, he was possibly mildly retarded and had some gay tendencies... just so you can "hear" it, k?):

TargetGuy: Ooooh, nice shiny hooks! These are so useful & cute!

Me: ::blank stare:: Um...

TG: Did you find anything on clearance toda..... oh yes! Back in Domestics! ::said all singsongy::

TG: Wow, look at all these cute little fall decorations you got... where are you going to put this?

Me: Er....

TG: Have you been up to the mountains this fall? It is absolutely GORGEOUS! You HAVE to go!

TG: Wha? Wait.. I've never seen this before? How long have we had this? Hmm... I need to get me some of this...

Srsly. Unbelievable.

And THEN at the end he gets my receipt along with those annoying coupons that print out automatically and he said in the loudest voice ever "Ooookay! So now you get a coupon for two dollars off Pampers Kandoo Toilet Wipes!"

This is not the first time this has happened to me. I remember the first time was waaay back in Indiana pre-Jbird. I had gotten some Redi-Whip and this punk 16yo kid who was bagging my groceries picked it up, paused, and goes "What are you going to use THIS for?" I was so bugged I just said "Don't comment on what people are buying." I hope he never did that again and my on-the-job training for him was a success.

My friend told me of a time when she had gotten a meatloaf kit-in-a-box thing and the kid cashier picked it up and goes "Yuck." Sadly, on this one I have to agree with the kid. Meatloaf is sick. A meatloaf kit is even worse. But still, no commenting.

The absolute WORSE one was when we had just moved to South Carolina. We were thinking of getting preggers with BeeBee sometime in the near future. As I was going through this little grocery store I noticed they had their pregnancy tests on sale. So, naturally, I picked up a couple for future use. I get up to the cash register and the lady cashier beeps one through and then looks at me, holds up the p.test and says all sneakingly "So, are you hoping for a positive or a negative?"

Um, what? I'm so bugged I didn't have the wherewithal to be like "Well, it'd better be negative or else my sterile husband is gonna be reeeeeal mad!"

The nerve.

Part-Time Single Mother

Gty started his own business about a year & a half ago. Before that he was what I called "a shell of a man" as his work was sucking him dry. They would call him morning, noon & night... and that was on Sunday. It blew, to say the least. So we decided to take a leap of faith & see if Gty could make something work by being his own boss rather than be entangled in the golden handcuffs that is Corporate America. He partnered up with a buddy of his from the mish and they've been going like gangbusters ever since. We haven't starved to death yet anyway, so that's good.

Anyway, with his new "job" he has to travel to Utah every other week (that's where his buddy and the work is). However, on his off-week he works from home. People are always like "Gty is out of town AGAIN? How do you handle it?" Well, you see, what I am is a glass-is-half-full type of girl so I look at the good in each situation. The reality is that I see him more now than I did while he was "working for the man." "The man" had him going in at the buttcrack of dawn and not getting home until 10pm at night- all the time. "The man" was calling him on Saturdays & Sundays and demanding he get into the office right away for some super important stuff. "The man" was a jagbag.

So what we have now is a nice situation where Gty flies out on Monday morning and home on Friday night every other week. What we have now is two separate but equal schedules that kick in depending on if Gty is around. What we have now are two schedules that each have their perks, if you look in the right places.

Schedule #1: Gty is Home

• We eat real meals as a family.
• I put BB down for a nap and head out to run errands free as a bird.
• Gty & I chat all day because he sets up shop right in the dining room off the kitchen (rather than in the office which is far away, and plus that computer is nice to keep open for the boys).
• We go out to lunch on occasion to hold hands & ponder life's big questions.
• We have FHE (I'm not motivated enough to do it on my own, I guess).
• He helps run the schedule of scouts/YW/football practice/TaeKwonDo, etc. It's like having another me running the kids around!
• We bite pillows on the regulah (teehee).
  
• We go to the gym together every day.
  

Schedule #2: Gty is Gone

• We eat cereal & frozen pizza all week.
• I go to bed whenever I feel like it.
• The dining room table is decorated nicely with fall decor and a table runner rather than a laptop connected to another computer monitor connected to a powerstrip connected to a pile of papers, etc.
• There is no talk of sports or sports watching.
• When I reach my hand into my bag of licorice, there is the same amount in there as the last time I reached my hand in.
• I get out of a lot of stuff because I just say "Well, I guess I could... but Gty is out of town so...." It totally works every time.
  
• I'm not late for my gym classes because Gty's not there to "hurry & use the bathroom" right before we're leaving.

So see? We're good either way. Now you don't have to feel sorry for me when I mention that Gty is out of town. However, if you call & need me to do something then I probably can't... because Gty's out of town & stuff. It's so..::sniff:: ...hard.

::winking like the Orbitz girl::

And then there were three....

...more mice caught in the basement.

::running around in circles pulling my hair out and screaming:::

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Why? Why me? Why my basement? I'm almost to the point of having the home teachers come over and command them to leave.

That's 19 peeps.

In other news:

• I put JBird & his best buddy JBird W. on an airplane by themselves on Thursday so they could fly to Utah for the BYU v. Utah State game last night. They loved being unaccompanied minors together. I had stuffed JBird's backpack full of goodies, word search books and his PSP so I think they were plenty busy on their 45 minute flight. Gty picked them up at the SLC airport and they proceeded to have a great time.
  
• Gty & JBird flew home this morning just in time for JBird to play in the last half of his flag football game (they drove straight from the airport). JBird sacked the QB on the 5 yard line with a couple of minutes left. They won 12-6.
• Parent/Teacher conferences were this past week. JBird's went according to expectations, "He is such a smart boy, I've put him in the advanced math group, he is so great at participation! always raises his hand to answer the questions...etcetcetc." TBone's was a bit of a shocker, "TBone is doing so well! He has really turned his behavior around and is such a joy to have in class!" Wha??? I nearly fell off the chair but kept my cool as if I was expecting this. Apparently he just needs to work on his handwriting. I'll take it!
• I have somehow found myself in charge of the PTO Fall Event at the boys' elementary school. It will be this Thursday night. It's a pajama party. I will be a much happier person as soon as that is over. I'm not the voluteer/event planning type. Luckily I talked my BFF FowlerFam into helping me out. That has made it a gazillion times more tolerable! Even kinda fun? She's new to blogging so I'm totally pimping out her site here.
• Our BFFF (best family friends forever), The Wheatleys, moved to Utah this past week. I raided their freezer and got a year's supply of frozen chicken. WheatleyMom then brought over a box of things she wasn't going to take and thought I might want. As you read the list, please keep in mind she is the most FRUGAL person ever! She's hilarious. I don't think she's ever bought anything that she didn't either have a coupon for or that wasn't 90% off. K, so the items in the box: 5 ice cream cones (not the sugar kind, the foamy kind), one bag of Fritos with 14 chips left in it (I counted), 1/4 box of Reduced Fat Cheez-Its, 1 small stack of crumpled napkins, 1 Pop Tart (flavor unknown due to that foil wrap!), about 15 quart size baggies (no box), a half bag of tortilla chips, a silver container which I believe is half full of hot chocolate mix? It's hard to know because there are no lables. Anyway, long story short... guess who doesn't have to go grocery shopping this week!
  
• BeeBee now thinks she can go to the bathroom by herself. She can't. But she does. Yeah.

Fave Foto Friday: JBird & the Bird

I guess I'm not raising the next generation of PuffySleevers.



This is Memzy's first photographic masterpiece taken almost exactly 8 years ago. LITERALLY one of my favorite photos of all time. If you look closely he's even giving the double bird.

Atta boy.

Prom

There has been a call-out for prom pictures from Girlfriend. I hesitate because, while not really a rebel, I apparently didn't care much for modesty standards. I didn't think much of it at the time but I sure would have if I'd have known this day would come. I would have headed straight for the nearest Jessica McClintock outlet and picked me up something purty. As it was, I got some black slanky thang that my mom added some extra straps to in an attempt to make me look "presentable." She also made me a little shoulder wrap but I'm pretty sure I never saw that again after the limo ride.

Let's start with Junior Prom, though. I was super modest & in keeping with the yet-to-be-printed For The Strength of the Youth pamphlet. If only I would have had that pamphlet..... ::sigh::

Anyway, Junior Prom, the year was 1992. The picture is totally textured and does not scan well. But you get the gist.



Now Senior Prom.... yes, I was still dating Joey. W/e. I can't find the official photographer prom pic, but here we are at my parent's house for a little pre-prom photoshoot. This was before heading over to a pre-prom party with another photo shoot (group shots, etc) and then to the actual prom with the actual photographer which has now gone MIA.



That was the first & last time I have ever had my hair done professionally for a fancy occasion. I didn't even have it done for my wedding.

For a full-length view you can see this card my friend, Queso, made me for my 30th bday. I was going through a "Constantine phase." Please sing his words to that Partridge Family song, thanks.



Yeeeeah, it had a bit of a slit.

So there you go. The checkered past of my prom dresses. I hope none of my Laurals ever read my blog.

::walking away ashamedly::

****EDIT****

So, if you've read this, I'm officially asking YOU to the Prom. I wanna see what everyone was wearing too! If you didn't go, then do a post about why/what you did instead. kyou'rewelcomeforthepostideabye.