I'm Trying to Force It

Every year it's the same thing for me.  I DREAD putting up all the Christmas crap.  Some people get so excited they have it up right after Halloween but not me.  I generally think of myself as an optimist, but in this case as I'm putting it up, all I'm thinking about is how I'm going to have to eventually take it all down. 

Last year I talked about the Christmas decorating frenzy taking over about half way through emptying my Christmas bins....  let's just say the "Christmas Cullens" have moved in and I'm still waiting for the fever to set in.  I may even cut my hair and get a tattoo.  I have been getting mad at everyone easily lately... hmmm......

Here is what my living room looks like right now:

That was taken not 5 minutes ago.

Normally this would bother me.  Normally, the sight of the stacked bins, bare tree, ladder and semi-empty bags would disturb me every time I walked down the stairs.  But this year?  Nothing.  I look at it and go "Eh, I'll do it later.  No biggie." 

Is this the first signs of clinical depression?  Or is it because I'm in the middle of The Time Traveler's Wife and all I wanna do all day is read?  Am I mellowing out with age?  Do I need to drink more diet beverages? 

I'm at a loss.

Hopefully I'll pull out of it but if not we may be coming to one of your houses for Christmas. That seems like a lot less work on my part.

SHAZAAM!!!

So, there we are.

The SF7 (as we so named ourselves).

The above picture was taken on Thursday night/Friday eve as we awaited the premiere of New Moon.  You can see the crazed look in a few of our eyes (::directing you to Memzy in particular::).  After a full day of travel, reuniting and eating we were ready for what we went to SanFran for... and I think I speak for all of us when I say it did not disappoint.  As for me and my house, it far exceeded the expectations.  I adored the movie.  Literally fell in love with Ja.. I mean, it.  So so so so fun.

What I can't figure out now is, did I really adore the movie or the hilarious girls I saw it with??  And now that I can't separate the two we will never know.  Thank goodness.

Here is Eeka taking pics of the group.  I put this pic up to show her authentic Forks sweatshirt she bought on our last trip to Seattle/Forks, WA.  Yes, we are those people. 

And here we are at the second time we went to New Moon not 16 hours later.  It...uh...was raining...and....yeah...the rain made us do it. ::whispering:: Rain scene.

What else did we do in SanFran?  We rode the BART like professionals.  Some with friends....

Some alone.

We took what we thought were "teenage FB profile pics" self portraits of ourselves.  I particularly enjoy HotPants in this one.

And tried to re-create our sister's FB profile pic.  Dang me and my normal-sized head!  I couldn't quite capture it.

We rode the trolley just to be cliche. Until it broke down.

 

Then we were forced to ride a yucky bus.

We rode on an intensely informative double decker bus in which we learned which houses our "tour guide" found nice looking.

 

 It was cold?

And we met Willie who is the most famous musician we would meet down there (according to him).  He only charges $1.37 for his autograph which is sweet.  I'm assuming you need to bring your own pen though, cuz he's homeless and stuff.  Why take a pic of him and Katie together?  Oh, right, cuz after we met him the FIRST time he had a lovely dream about her.  He tried to give her the details of the dream after we met him the SECOND time but I didn't hear much.  It's difficult to hear things when your hands are over your ears and you're screaming. 

I found this pic online of the band "Graham Central Station" of which he claimed to be a member of back in the day.  I'm trying to figure out which one is him.... the guy in the back, second from the right?  It's hard to know what homelessness does to a person's face.  Homelessness and toothlessness, that is. 

I'm not surprised by his dream though after sorting through my pictures.  Look at how Katie is looking at him!!  He couldn't resist, obviously.

Here are all the girlies who brightened up my life this weekend.  I had so much fun reenacting scenes from the movie, figuring out where the songs are in the movie,  playing games, dying laughing, eating "free" junk food, walking in the rain, tasting macaroons, admiring intricate details, screaming "Jacob!" randomly, giggling at parts in the movie that weren't supposed to be funny,  singing Morissey every time someone said double decker bus, texting from room to room in the hotel, laughing so you'd think you were missing out on something, staring at Willie's one tooth together, mocking your hand sanitizer, pretending to love stories about your kids and singing in the car, bus, etc.    I can't wait to wear my cape Stands made me next time!!!!!

PS Feel free to add to the list above in the comments.  I'm compiling a complete history of November 19-22nd.  It's for my genealogy project.

Infamous Wedgie Incident: Family History in the Making

So, it finally happened.   I don't want to say I saw this coming, but I will say I'm a bit surprised it hadn't happened already.

I got a call from the assistant principal at the boys' school (the one that's in charge of discipline....yeah).

::ring ring::

Me: ::seeing the school on the caller ID and thinking it was JBird asking to go to a friend's house as is usually the case when the school is calling::   Hello?

Assistant Principal (AP):   Yes, Mrs. Landerson?  Hello, um, we have TBone here in the office...

Me: Oh no...

AP: Yes, and there was an incident on the playground today during lunch recess.

Me: ::pinching the bridge of my nose while squeezing my eyes shut::  Uh-huh...

AP: Apparently TBone and another boy gave another boy a wedgie....::dramatic pause::...it was such a bad wedgie that the boy's underwear ripped and his mother had to bring him a new pair & he is now quite sore.

(It must be noted here that the AP is extremely dry, monotone and devoid of any personality whatsoever.  It wasn't even a struggle for her to say wedgie with a straight face.  Another note: I hate the word "sore.")

Me: What?

AP: Yes...so TBone will be spending the afternoon recess in here with me & I just wanted to let you know so you can talk to him and do whatever you think is appropriate there at  home.

Me:  Ok...well...thank you for telling me...we..will...talk to him.... and stuff....


It's not that Tbone is a mean kid.  He's not.  He's a really nice kid, actually.  Very charismatic & friendly.  He's just.... a little spazzy? A bit crazy?  And a little "doesn't know when to say when"-zy? But never malicious in his actions.  At least not that I was aware of. 

So I call Gty (who was out of town), I stew about it, I post it on FaceBook...you know, all the usual things.  And then I'm ready for him when he gets off the bus.

TBone: Where's my DS?

Me: Gone.

TBone: What? Why?

Me: You know why.

TBone: Wha? Huh?....::face falls as he realizes what is going on:: Oh.... but I.... ::crying::

He then goes into this whole story about the kid he wedgied ("Austin") & why he did it. "Austin" had been picking on him, throwing his shoes over the fence, he was his "mortal enemy," etc.    I felt empathy.  I suggested that maybe instead of retaliating, he tell the playground monitor about it.  He was silent for a while.  Then....

TBone: Well...maybe it wasn't "Austin."

Me:  Um, WHAT?  Then who was it?

TBone: Maybe it was "John."

Me:  "John?"  Are you kidding me??  WHY????

(Note: "John" is the nicest kid ever.  Smallish.  Takes TaeKwonDo at the same place as TBone.  Is always like "Hey TBone!  What's up!  Hey TBone!  Hi TBone!" etc.  Not to mention his mom is an inactive member of our ward and his dad is not a member..... ugh.)

TBone then proceeds to tell me that a group of kids had been giving "John" wedgies every day this week and they said he (and the other boy) had to give "John" one if they wanted to play with them.

To say I was devastated would be an understatement.  I so wished the story of his "mortal enemy" was the truth.

How did my son come to the conclusion that it was fine to turn on his friend in order to fit in with a bunch of jerks?  Why did he feel joining in on this bullying of "John" was OK?  And why, oh why, did he need to give him such a bad wedgie that it ripped his unders and caused pain?

Luckily Gty flew in Friday night and we had a family meeting about bullying.  We are disappointed on so many levels here.   1) Don't bully...ever.  2) If you SEE someone getting bullied be strong enough to stand up & say that isn't right fhs!  3)  If anyone ever tells you that you need to be mean to another person in order to be their friend, that person is a jerk and you don't want them to be your friend anyway.

::huge, enormous, gigantic sigh::

So, he's grounded from all video gaming devices & TV until I leave town on Thursday (no need to punish Gty for this).   He seems genuinely sorry for what he did to "John" and he is definitely feeling the loss of his luxuries.    He's actually had to use his imagination for the past couple of days, if you can believe that.

I hope & pray I never write another blog post similar to this one.    Why am I thinking I won't get off this easy??

Walgreens Never Disappoints

Halloween Leftovers

How many days has it been since Halloween?  ::getting out calendar & counting out loud to myself::

Ah yes....11.

That's precisely how many days in a row this one ^^^ has insisted on wearing her "Rapunzel Hair."  I've some how managed to make her understand that it's not for public consumption (i.e. school, church, etc) but there always comes that point in the day when she brings it to me with a rubberband and says "I want my hair on."  I'm guessing I would have been the same way had these things been invented when I was little though.  Instead I had to make do with turtlenecks pulled up on my head and cascading down my back as my fake hair.  Dang.  Now I'm all jealous of Beebee.  She has it good.

As you can see she gets all glammed up for the most mundane tasks such as raking leaves and taking naps.

 

She wanted to make sure we got ALL the leaves.  Even the ones still on the tree.

 

As princessy as she appears, she really was our best helper.  She hauled up the bags of leaves and stomped them down in the garbage can.  She was also in charge of bringing us a new bag when we needed one.  All with her beautiful hurrdid.

Speaking of Halloween stuff...here is the "Egyptian Daggar" Tbone chose as his ninja weapon.

Take a closer look at the description:

 

 One size fits most?  MOST?  Praytell what "size" would this daggar be insufficient for?   Are they worried they'd get sued if they promised one size fit ALL and then somehow it didn't fit, say, Hagrid?  I need answers. 

Good, Cuz Green is His Favorite Color

TBone tested for his green belt last week.  Stay tuned to the end of this post to see if he got it or not.  But just look at the height of that front snap kick!  That's a hint right there. 

Please focus in on the fact that he does these push-ups on his knuckles and not the fact that his bum is so far up in the air.  Also, he goes down almost a full INCH, you gize.  But yeah, knuckles.  He's one tough dude.

So, due to the fact that he memorized his little purple belt routine so well and he stayed focused long enough to complete it, he got his GREEN BELT!  "MassaKwon" runs a tight ship so he earned it. As he was tying TBone's belt on he was saying (please insert your best Korean accent here) "Good work, Tannah, now you don't need to give MassaKwon any more gray hairs, ok Tannah?"  TBone promised him nothing, btw. 

 

PS The picture in the previous post was taken at the "board breaking" part of the testing which was last Friday.  I realized there are only a few of you who are secure enough to comment on such a post.  It was eye-opening to say the least.   Gty & I were snickering the whole time they were like that.  But it was also insightful.  The first guy was having kids run & jump off of him in order to kick a super high target (aka The One Taking the Abuse).  The second guy was there for "support" (aka The Supporter) and the third guy just wanted attention (aka Adds No Value, Just Wanted Everyone To See He was Involved).  So think about which one you answered and then turn this into a FB quiz.  "Which athletic supporter are you?"   

Would You Rather....

...be the first dood or the second?

(Gty made me post this....srsly, made me)

Wicked Guests

Look who came into town!  That's right.  Dotty & Stacey!!!  Dotty = my our cute niece and Stacey = Gty's cute sister/my cute SIL.  Poor Blane (cute BIL) couldn't come but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway. 

What is the reason for the visit, you ask?  Behold the photo below and see if you can guess.

 

WICKED is in town and Stacey has been dying to see it.  It just so happened that SolidGold had been so kind as to get us tickets as well for a fun group date with some other friends (The Poels) so it worked out perfectly!  Stacey got her ticket for the same night as us and hitched a ride down as the 7th wheel to our triple date. 

 

Here we are in our seats.  We were about 8 rows from the front and off to the left a little.  They were great.  I could even see some spit coming out of the Wonderful Wizard's mouth as he spoke sometimes.  Oh, side note...guess who our Wizard was.... Larry from Three's Company!  Who knew he could sing?

 

I have been a huge fan of Wicked for just over a year now.  My other SIL gave me the CD and I listened to it non-stop for months.  I knew every song but had never seen the actual performance.  It was uber hard not to sing along.  I am in awe of these people's talents.  What would it be like to stand on a stage and belt out songs the way they do?  Mind boggling.    I highly recommend Wicked to anyone (shocker!).  It's funny, clever, great music and Gty even loved it.

I also highly recommend having Stacey & Dotty come and stay at your house!  Dotty is the cutest dang thing ever & I got to see a little of what Beebs will be like as a babysitter.  She was diligent in following Dotty around and making sure she wasn't getting into too much trouble.   I had made the grievous mistake of telling Beebs they were coming a good week in advance.  Why do I do this to myself over and over?  She then asked EVERY DAY if that was they day they were getting here.  You'd think I'd learn fhs (that's for you Markie). 

PS 14 more days to SF!!!!!!

The Expected Halloween Post

I'll admit it.  I'm not a fan of Halloween.  No, that's not even strong enough.  I ALMOST hate Halloween.  It's true.  What?  You didn't take me for a party pooper?  Well, I am when it comes to this most lame of all lame holidays (and that includes ALL CAPS DAY!).  It's a lot of prep and fanfare for nothing.  Go around and get candy while simultaneously giving candy away?  It makes no sense.   Lemme just say this....if the brethren came out tomorrow and said Halloween was no longer to be celebrated by members of the church I'd be the first one to organize a "Halloween is Dead" bonfire in the church parking lot where we all threw in all ugly Halloween decor (cuz there is no cute stuff), annoying-to-carve pumpkins and all receipts of all the money we, as a society, have wasted on this pagan observance.

::stepping off my soapbox/Debbie Downer ramiumptum:: That being said, here are the kids' costumes for this year. 

As you can see, we don't do "homemade" stuff.  I try to do as little effort on my part as possible while still making sure the kids have an enjoyable time. 

JBird wanted to be Tim Lincecum this year.  He's the dy-no-mite pitcher with the San Francisco Giants and is JBird's favorite player.  If you've ever seen Tim Lincecum you know that he has some sweet long black hair.  We have a black wig but JBird didn't want to wear it.  So really, he's just a kid in a Lincecum jersey.  Ah well, people still gave him candy. 

Tbone headed out to Target with me thinking he wanted to be a skeleton.  When he got there, however, he saw the weapons section and realized skeletons don't carry weapons.  He quickly switched to a ninja (I didn't have the heart to tell him these are historically inaccurate weapons for a ninja) and was happy with his get-up.

And then we have the princess.  She started out as Sleeping Beauty but then we discovered my fake ponytail from HERE and she instantly became Rapunzel (according to her).   I didn't realize what we were getting into though.  We tried the hair on her Friday for the ward Trunk-or-Treat and she wore it all day.  Then she insisted on me putting it back in her hair on Saturday morning, wore it all day, took a nap with it on and then wore it for trick-or-treating that night.  Before going to bed she begged me to let her wear it to church in the morning.  Uh, no.  So we made a deal.  I'd put it in right when we got home from church and she could maybe wear it to dance class on Monday. What am I gonna do here?  I canNOT have a girlie with a fake pony running all my errands with me.  People are gonna think I'm on Toddlers and Tiaras fhs. 

So, while I hate Halloween in general, this year was better than most.  Why do I have no pictures of the kids actually trick-or-treating? Because our friends invited us over for soup/rolls/pizza/caramel popcorn and then the womenfolk stayed home while the husbands took the kids around.  So no trick-or-treating OR manning the door!  I'm going to try and make this an annual tradition with said friends. It made the evening delightful.

Wondering about the snow?  Yes, it is still on the ground but it was about 60 degrees yesterday and made for a pleasant evening.  Cool enough where kids didn't stay out all night, but warm enough that the little kids could stay out for a goodly amount of time.  {so plz still move here}