Foiled… again.

Every year for Valentine’s Day, our youth group puts on a dinner theater night for the adults in order to raise money for camp.  We have enjoyed every single year of quality entertainment, dancing and acting.  This year, however, Rick and I were asked if we wanted to be part of it.  “Sure!  Why not?”  They never answered our ‘why not?’ part of the response.  That should have been a clue… but NO!  We were fooled into believing we had small speaking parts and would enjoy most of the night from a dinner table seat.  Not so, as we’ve come to find out.

The play is about super heroes who are having a conference called Super Con… where old, retired super heroes come and encourage wannabe super heroes.  But the super powers have been sapped and there is a culprit to be found.  Just guess who Rick and I are????  Yep, Superman and Wonder Woman.  At first, when they told us our parts they said that we didn’t have to don super hero attire.  The story has since changed.  If that isn’t bad enough, we both have to DANCE…. which is mortifyingly embarrassing for our 15 year old daughter (who is Spin Sister, a super hero wannabe who can spin her pony tail to fly).. and SING… not in a chorus either.  This is quite a stretch for me.  It’s out of my comfort zone foshizzle.  But it’s all done in fun, with the understanding that we are amateurs.  No one more amateur than Rick and I….  as we will surely prove.

We just returned home from practice.  Superman’s back keeps giving him problems so he’s frequently frozen in painful positions.  It makes me laugh so hard.  I even get to spin… just like Wonder Woman.  I’m waiting to see the boots I’ll be wearing.  Should prove interesting if they are at all anti-spin-able.  OH, don’t you worry your little head… I’ll post pictures for your eternal amusement when it’s all said and done.

How do we get ourselves into these situations???

Accountability Group Mtg. #4

(Cheer up, Dad.  You weigh less than Hulk Hogan!)

Yeah, yeah.  You thought I was avoiding the issue, didn’t you?  I forgot.  Here’s the skinny:

Total pounds lost this week:  0   Total pounds lost in 2009:  7.8

And Rickey (the Canadian) is holding at 11 total pounds lost in 2009.  (I WILL WIN! Not that I’m competitive at all.)

So the good news is…. I’m not gaining.  The really good optimistic news is that if I keep up the 7.8 pounds per month… I’ll be down 62.4 pounds by the first of Sept.  Quit rolling your eyes at me!  I’m trying a few new techniques this coming week…. no Starbucks  (I’m finally out of gift cards),  no apple pie (it was only in the house because I forgot to put it in the oven when guests were here), and a few walks in the park to improve circulation and oxygen intake.  Hey, start small.

I also find it helpful when I make a meal list so that I have all the ingredients needed AND I can see the list and pick something that I’m craving.  This pick and choose through the freezer when I’m starving is not working well.  I keep resorting to eating peanut butter out of the jar.  Protein, right???  Have you read how much sugar is in creamy Skippy?  No wonder it’s addicting.

Any suggestions?  I’m WIDE open.

Raising Boys….. what next?

I was browsing through some old pictures on the computer and every other file folder contains pictures of my boys doing stunts, teasing the dog, wearing costumes, etc.  Some of the pictures were even taken by them…. as proof that they did stupid stunts in my absence.  This first photo is one such picture.  Would I let them jump down the stairs?  No.  The only thing about this shot that made me breathe easy is in the bottom right hand corner there appears to be one of their bunk bed mattresses…. for the soft landing, of course.

I did take this shot.  It made me laugh.  We put the old washing machine out on the curb for “large garbage pick up” and the boys decided to turn it into a race car.  They stripped the “instrument panel” and spray painted it gold.  Then returned the speedometer and the other pertinent gauges.  They used masking tape to make racing stripes before spray painting the entire auto body.  It was very authentic as only one driver could get into the vehicle at a time.

Here’s a scene I happened on in our backyard.  It’s our very own border patrol.  Funny thing is, he’s in his church clothes… with his brother’s pellet gun… what was he thinking?  Who knows?  What was he shooting?  Who knows?

Before we landscaped our yard, Austin decided to dig a hole to China.  He almost made it.  He would climb in there and pull the plywood over the top and we wouldn’t know where he was for hours….  makes a mother wonder….   why buy electronic toys when you can give a boy a shovel?  We later used his hole to plant a nice plum tree. 

I thought I’d throw this one into the mix… this is my husband’s side of the bathroom counter in the master bathroom.  See anything peculiar?They never grow up, do they?

Choose Joy!

Now I am fully aware that Choose Joy! is my theme when I speak.  I can work it into any topic, any season, because we all need to remember to look on the bright side of life.  It’s the verse I write inside my books when I sign them, I Thes. 5:16 Be joyful always.  It’s pretty clear cut and simple…. to READ.  But not always that simple to live out.  I remind myself often to choose joy.

On the darker side, there are several little things in my life currently that when piled on top of a sinus headache, become gargantuan annoyances.  They blind my ability to choose joy.  Usually I can choose joy when seeing these MINOR details in my life.  Please let me get these off my chest and then I’ll go take some more sinus medicine.  I’m not sure why little things bug me, but I’ve got a list that I feel compelled to share.  And if Mr. Fixit happens to read my blog and get with the program, hey, there could be a lasagna in his future.  (Who ever said that a man can’t be reached through food???  Remember Queen Esther and her TWO feasts???)

1.  The back tail light cover for our brake light on the van has been MIA for … oh, I don’t even know how long.  I feel like I’m driving the ghetto van.  My dear husband has put effort into locating a new one, but it has not happened yet.  (2005 Dodge Caravan, in case someone sees one at a garage sale.)

2.  The toilet rings in our 3 toilets are all old and stick.  This may seem like a trivial deal, but when you’re using them every day …  WITH a sinus headache, it gets on my last nerve.  And do those rings only have a 3.27 year life span?  Why all three at the same time?  At least space out my trips to Home Depot.

3.  The dead grass in the backyard.  We failed to seed the winter grass in October, when all good Phoenicians are supposed to seed.  Now we’re just waiting for the summer grass to reappear.  Nothing can be done about this, short of ripping it up and putting in sod.  And that ain’t gonna happen til you-know-where freezes over.  I just love looking at green grass in the desert, that’s all.  Makes me feel like I might be in the northwest.

4. Weeds.  Need I say more?  Where are my children, the weed pullers?  Most AZ landscape plans involve lots of rock.  Our entire front yard is covered with rock.  Tasteful, peachy-colored rock that is supposed to save water and be easy to look after.  Not in January after it has rained.  The weeds are prolific.  If I bent over to pick them right now, my head would blow up.  And do the kids want to clean up mother’s blown-up head?  I think not.

5.  The purple low-rider in the driveway.  I have absolutely nothing to say about it.  (Getting rid of it is on Rick’s 2009 list…. that he made himself!)

Ok, that’s enough.  It’s time to choose joy again.  I’m thankful for my God, my family near and far, my cozy home, our cars (that run), homeschooling, my church, my wonderful friends, my royal blue lobelia that is blooming in the backyard and for hot chocolate on a cold day.  The joy has returned.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Why, oh why?

I am going to write a whiny blog today.  I don’t think I ever have profusely whined and complained on here.  But through my squinted eyes, as I look at the screen… the monitor light is hurting my head.  What’s up with that?  I felt perfectly fine this morning.  I taught History of the World to three high schoolers from 9 to noon.  I ate a healthy lunch and jumped in the car to take Larisa to piano lessons.  Immediately, I put on my sunglasses, as it is sunny Arizona with clear skies, albeit only 58* today.  Brrrr.  About four miles up the road I got hit between the eyes with a sinus/weirdo headache.  Why does it hurt behind my eyes?  Why as soon as I’m outside?  Am I allergic to the sun?  Almost nothing is in bloom right now in Phoenix.   I took sinus medicine ten minutes after it hit.  About an hour later I went to bed and slept for 1.5 hours. I’m ready to take more sinus medicine and it hasn’t been long enough between doses.  Where is my husband to rub my templesand apply cool rags to my head????  At a Coyotes hockey game, of course.  At this point, I’d lie face down on the Coyote’s ice for some pressure relief.  Keeve is the only one home…. I’ll see if I can bribe him into rubbing my temples.  This should prove interesting.

That’s what I need!  A dog to lie on my face.  Where’s Trixie??? 

Piano Lessons

(note to self:  wipe SIDES of piano keys!)

Did your parents make you take them too???  Mine did.  I rather enjoyed it and wish that I had kept it up.  I switched to the saxophone after two years of piano… then 5 years later I sold the sax to buy a typewriter.  Little did I realize that writing was my passion, not music, and that there were books trapped inside of me waiting to get out.

So, we have forced our children to take lessons too.  Like all good parents… whether the kids want to or not.  We have one that wants to.  One that is indifferent, but would like to learn the electric guitar.  One that wants to play the drums…. now.  It is SOOOOO obvious when listening to their lessons what they really think about mandatory musical instruction.  The one that enjoys making music plays at different levels of loudness, different tempos and tries the songs in different octaves.  He is graceful on the keys.  He can also play EXACTLY with the metronome.  This is the same kids that asked for Wii Music for Christmas.  :o)

When the kids began their lessons in September, my Dad asked if we wanted the metronome that we used as kids.  Of course!  Then I found out that Dad actually made it!  Cool, huh?  It still works too… 34 years later.  Dad always made cool stuff.

What do I remember of piano lessons?  I remember my recital songs, The Tarantella and If I Were a Rich Man.  I can’t play them by memory anymore, but I can still whip up a saucy Sentimental Journey.  It’s one of those songs that you feel like you should be lying on the piano in a slinky dress when you sing it.  But it’s hard to do that and play at the same time.  I also remember driving my sister to her piano lessons.  I was such a big help raising you, Christy!

Long live piano lessons.

My Studly Hiker Husband

Rick, along with 10 of his buddies, hiked down into the Grand Canyon from the south rim on Thursday.  It’s a ten mile hike in on Bright Angel Trail and seven and a half mile hike up Kaibab Trail on the way out.  There was snow on the ground for the top three miles, then it was pretty warm and they wore short sleeved shirts.  They spent two nights at Phantom Ranch and Rick gave it a 9 out of 10 for a hiking establishment.  He did add that they could’ve fed him mule stew and they would’ve loved it after hiking down.  Today they hiked out.  And they all lived to tell the story.  How did Rick do?  Well, he doesn’t have any blisters from his new boots (worn three times before the hike) and he wasn’t in the slowest group.  Yeah honey!  We’ll see how his legs are in the morning.  Bring on the A535!  Or is is called BenGay in the USA?  One of those is Canadian, and I can never remember which is from which country. 

And can I just add that pictures of the Grand Canyon NEVER do it justice.  They are beautiful, but it is WAY more spectacular in real life.

Blog-erview by Yours Truly

So here’s the deal.  My blog buddy at  http://morethananelectrician.wordpress.com/ wrote a post answering random questions that someone asked of him.   So then he posted his answers and said he’ll send interview questions to others, if they post the answers.  Well, you know what a sucker I am for filling out forms, or answering the census questionnaires…. of course I responded.  Here are his questions and my answers… in black and white.  The truth hurts sometimes.

1.   What is something that your husband eats that you cannot stomach?  Just one???  Dr. Pepper, jalapeno peppers, coffee, cayenne pepper mixed with pure maple syrup and grapefruit juice.  Ok, that was four.  Disgusting, huh?

2.   Name one popular band or musical group that if you hear on the radio, you are forced to get up and change the channel or turn it off immediately.  OK, I need to ask my kids the name of the group, but they are all in bed.  It is a scream-o Christian rock group that gets on my nerves in a nanosecond.  (I’m thinking Skillet, or Disciple???)

3.   What is the biggest piece of advice in your life that you ignored and now regret?  Write down what you are thankful for every day.  I have done this on occasion, but wouldn’t it have been monumental if I had a record of thanksgiving from every single day??!!??  Shoot!

4.   Since you have written, how do YOU take an idea and turn it into something that can be published?  Most of my writing is about life’s situation that have come my way that I find either humorous or intriguing.  I strive for short, succinct stories that placate people with short attention spans. If I pull the stories out later in life and they still make me laugh.. or at least smile… I think, ‘maybe someone else would think this was funny too.’  I edit my writing at least 27 times, reading it out loud and then send it to my mother for more editing.  Oh, and my friend Jill edits my work too.  When I had a collection of stories, I researched publishing houses that already printed my type of stories, and sent out many proposals.  (Your Germany saga is worthy of publication, by the way.)

5.   What do you put on a hamburger?  Good question to end on.  Grilled onions, mayo, ketchup, cheddar cheese, grilled mushrooms, lettuce and tomato.  Salivating like Pavlov’s dog.

Now that all that is over with, if you’d like to participate in this little “ask me anything” assignment, here are the rules for anyone else who wants to be interviewed…

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

On your marks.  Get set.  Go!

Announcing a new BLOG!

I finally got with the program with other adoptive families and started an adoption blog for Zaza’s adoption.  (You know, in all my free time.) Yes, you will still hear most of the same news here, but for those who just want adoption news, they can go there.  “There” is located at:  www.zazasmama.wordpress.com

Go have a peak if you love hot pink and adoption news.

? # 21 From My Sister’s Jar – A Day of FUN!

Yes, it’s been almost a year since I started pulling questions from My Sister’s Jar.  And yes, I’m only on 21… sad but true.  For posterity, I dusted off the jar and pulled one out for today.

If you dedicated an entire day to “fun,” what would you do?

It would definitely be a “girls day out” with either my sister or a close friend.  It would start with a pedicure (hot pink of course, with bling bling) while sipping Starbucks.  Then we would go for a late breakfast at Paradise Bakery, but not so late that we miss the breakfast menu.  I hate it when that happens.  They have the best breaky foods… quiche and fruit and croissants with ham and cream cheese.  Next, we would take in a girly flick at the new Harkins by our house.  That theater is beautiful!  After laughing and crying and laughing and crying during the movie, we would head off for a bit of purse and/or jewelry shopping at Steinmart.  I love that store.  It’s the mother ship of bling bling and fancy shmancy purses.  Obviously the original home of my cute orange purse with the leather circles. 

Next is a hard one, because I would want to spend a couple hours in a ultra-fabulous scrapbooking store picking out a cute acrylic album and all the ribbons, paper, buttons and cha-ching that match.  However, our fabuloso store closed.  I need to research the current stores to see if I can find a suitable replacement.  My sister and I did just do a run on Scrapbooks, Etc. in Mesa, but they just don’t display stuff that makes you drool and SPEND.  Anyway, the evening would be wrapped up with take-out from PF Chang’s and a pajama clad night of scrapping at home with Harry Connick Jr. music serenading us into creativity and frivolity.

Any takers???