Brain not working

The blog idea God's have not been smiling down on me lately so I'm "borrowing" an entry from Mimi Smartypants that I think is hilarious. If you don't read Mimi's blog you're missing out on some great writing. Santaquin doesn't produce the kind of moms she's talking about (yet) but we have instead, the ultra-competitive/screaming parent. I find that they both have their charms.

HERE COMES THE SNARK

Speaking of gender trappings, are women still supposed to be catty and judgmental? I will get right on that, starting now. Saturday I am standing on the sidelines giggling like MAD at the little-kid soccer, and this woman shows up late, sort of inserts her kid into the middle of a group drill without talking to the coach or anything, and then takes her giant Mary-Kate sunglasses and even more giant latte over to stand near me. She is holding a small pink-and-white basketball.

Basketball Lady: I brought a ball but they didn't want it! They said it had to be a soccer ball.
Me: WELL, DUH Yeah, every kid has to bring a ball.
BL: We signed up late, and then I got a call on WEDNESDAY NIGHT telling me to bring a soccer ball on SATURDAY MORNING. [ed. note: soccer starts at noon.] I said, How am I supposed to do that? I'm a WORKING MOTHER.
Me [nicest possible smile in an effort to control myself]: Oh, we just got ours at Target. They're actually pretty easy to find.
BL: But I WORK!
Me [another sunny, terribly insincere smile]: Me too.

I wandered off then, as I just couldn’t take it anymore, but what the hell? Does she work on an oil rig or something? She could not make a Target run with only two-and-a-half days' advance notice? The kids are too little yet to be embarrassed by things like this, but just wait until this mom is all like, "Oh, you're supposed to have a graphing calculator? Here's a curling iron, good enough." "Signed permission slip and bag lunch? I think I will send this rubber band and a few packs of cigarettes. What do they want from me? I'm a WORKING MOTHER!"

Guitar Hero, You're My Hero

Last Sunday while dining at a friend's house, I was introduced to Guitar Hero and was mesmerized. The next Friday Amanda, Karen, Tisa, Tracy and I had a girls night out and after we did what we wanted to do in Provo, we headed to Tracy's house to play some Guitar Hero. We were still going at midnight and Amanda had her trusty camera with her. I'd began the afternoon with a migraine and by the time Amanda picked me up I'd had two Lortab, two Advil and two Aleve, so I'm not responsible for anything I did or the way I looked that night. I still kicked everyone's butt. Rock on!

Shout at the Devil! This is my interpretation of a rock star move while sitting on a banana chair.


Concentrating hard here while playing "Woman" by Wolfmother


This picture of Karen cracks me up. Those Quists are so proper. Even when playing Guitar Hero.


Now she's feelin' it!


Yowsers! The cheerleader comes out in Amanda.


I look like death but I'm playing a mean ukulele.

"Dolphins are the clowns of the sea."

Hanna and Ryan were watching the news yesterday in which there was a story about Prince Charles.

"Is that really a prince?"

"Yes. He's the Prince of Wales."

"When I grow up I want to be the Princess of Dolphins."

I win Safari!

One of only things I didn't like about Safari, other than most programs aren't written for it which means less little gadgety things for me to use, is that it wouldn't remember my user names and passwords for sites. I would have to use my own little fingers to type in my user name and passwords for the majority of the sites I frequent. Yesterday I took the time to look at Safari's preferences and low and behold there was a little box I could check in the autofill that was for "user names and passwords". It's like a internet rebirth! I can now get into the sites I really need, like Facebook and Blockbuster, without having to type anything. I'm telling you, I see big things happening now that I have this time to spare.

Sunflowers

The sunflowers are taking over! None of these wild sunflowers were planted but I love how they have made a natural fence in front of our house. There is one that started growing beside our mailbox and it's so big now that it's hard to get the mail. The tall ones with the little flowers started out as one tiny plant we ordered from Gurney's. I'm always amazed when something actually thrives here. Why can't my grass and tomato plants do this well?

Problems with Layout

Some people have been commenting about my pictures and links being way down at the bottom of the page. Just wondering if this is a problem for everyone? I haven't noticed it but Jonesy, Kim and Luisa all said it was doing this. I'm a little particular about how things look and knowing this has been irritating me. I also have no idea how to fix it since to me everything looks as it should.

Nothing much to blog about lately. I worked three days this week and Friday was not the best day. It's amazing how a few kids can make a class nearly unbearable. Hanna and Grace are both in soccer and doing really well. Grace is a running and kicking maniac while Hanna is a good defender. Hanna is our Eddie Pope and Grace is our Freddy Adu. I'm going to take some video and photos next week to post.

Here is a photo of Grace having a tea party in her room a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was a rather elaborate set-up.

Je suis Sylvie

My french speaking friend Noelle sent this to me today.
"Enjoy this funny video containing loads of french stereotypes, straight out of my old textbooks in Canada."

Flight of the Concords Video

Slow weekend so let's talk layouts

I'm toying with the idea of changing the blog layout. Any thoughts? Would it rock your world, in a positive or negative way, if I changed it? I find it a bit irritating that blogger has about 10 layouts you can choose from. You'd think with all the millions of blogs they host they could come up with a bit more variety. If you want a larf go over to Amanda's blog (click on Miss Southern Belle on the left) and read the entry "Where's the cat?" I found it funny and disturbing at the same time. I told it to my kids and they were very upset. Hanna said, "I feel so sad for the kitty."

Back from first day of work

I'm back subbing again since no one would hire me for a real job. I guess I only put my name on the list for one 1/2 time kindergarten job but still it stung when I didn't get the call. Subbing really isn't that bad and I love the flexibility. I wish it paid as much as it does in Canada but I do ok. I'm basically making $10/hour which is better than I'd do working at Walmart which, by the way, would leave me feeling slightly suicidal at the end of a day. At least with subbing I am actually doing what I (and my parents) paid thousands of dollars to BYU to train me to do.

Last night I told Ryan I had three things I wanted to do with my money. I wanted to get the carpet and furniture cleaned, buy a new entertainment center and get some new pants. (What?! I need pants for work!) I have this thing where I think dirty furniture=white trash. We've had our cotton sofa for over five years now and it has a few spots on it, plus it's cotton which I would never purchase again. Leather all the way baby! We also have a chair that is lighter fabric and the girls always put their dirty little hands on the one arm. Then there is the spot in our bedroom where Grace projectile vomited and even though we used a Bissel carpet cleaner on it, it refuses to leave. After we get the furniture cleaned I'm buying plastic coverings for it all. Ha! I'm not but that would be funny. I think I finally found the entertainment center I want. I saw it at R.C. Willey yesterday when Karen was shopping for new furniture item #68. Karen works at R.C. Willey and has said she will get me a "killer deal" on it. I think I deserve it because I hurt my arm screwing in door knobs for her yesterday. Workers comp? So whenever I hesitate to book a new sub job I'm going to picture our old entertainment center ignited in flames and me staring at our new beautiful one.

Isn't she sweet?

I be up in the gym working on my fitness. He's my witness.

Ryan bought me an iPod Shuffle off a friend over a year ago and I use it when I'm running. When I run I like music that motivates me and has a good beat. It has music on it I would never listen to in any other situation but it keeps me running when all I want to do is roll up in a ball on the next lawn and fall asleep. Today this Fergie song came on, which BTW I got from Monti and Becky originally, and I just started laughing at some of the lyrics. One being the title of this post. There is one song that I save for the last five minutes of my run because it almost always keeps me going. I quite enjoy Eminem's "Lose Yourself", it won an Oscar ya know.


First Ten Songs on my Shuffle Today


1. Gorillaz "Feel Good Inc."
First-class beat.
2. Veruca Salt "Seether"
Seether describes how I feel when I get really mad. I can't hide the seether.
3. Avril Lavigne "Girlfriend"
Guilty pleasure with an outstanding beat.
4. The Von Bondis "Come, on come, on"
This is a first-rate (using my thesaurus) song and if you're not watching "Rescue Me" on FX you're missing out.
5. Fergie "Fergalicious"
I know, it's bad but it keeps me entertained while running.
6. Eminem "Lose Yourself"
Five minutes long. It will keep you running those last five minutes.
7. Fegie "Barracuda"
Appreciable remake of the Heart song.
8. Modest Mouse "Float On"
This is just a marvelous song with a sterling beat.
9. Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
MORE COW BELL! Remember that church video we watched that said this song was evil? Good times.
10. Green Day "Holiday"
This is a really excellent song with a hunky-dory beat. I like to turn this up loud in my car and sing along.

Who's the moosey moose we know? Marty Moose, who's the star of our favorite show? Marty Moose!

It's that time of year when I need to get me some Disneyland. We've booked a trip for the end of October and it's going to be fabulous!