It really isn't easy being green

I have hair issues.  I've always wanted great hair like this:

So I actually wanted hair like that in about '89 but didn't everyone?  

Two problems:

1.  I'm not blonde

2.  I didn't know anything about 'product' in the 80s.

My mom was her mother's guinea pig when it came to dyeing and perming and bleaching.  There are many old black and white pictures of my mom when she was around 4 or 5 and she's covered in curlers and perm solution or her natural black hair has been peroxided a horrible orange shade.  With that kind of emotional scarring, it's not surprising that she has really no interest in the mop upon anyone's head, even if I begged her to learn to french braid or make those ribbon laced barrettes with the beads that were popular back in the day.

Nope.  I was lucky to have a banana clip and discover Bold Hold on the shelf of my local drug store when I was a teenager. 

As luck would have it (and the hair gods had sympathy on me) I've had FOUR friends in my adult life who have also been professional hair dressers.  Whoopee!  Now I could get the scoop and ask questions and let them decide what looks good on me.

For the first time in my life I paid one of my hair dresser friends a lot of money to make my natural chestnut brown hair blonde.  Blllloooonde.  I actually got a lot of compliments on it.  It was a bit weird to get used to it at home and I knew it would be a lot of upkeep (read: money) to keep it that shade of honey yellow so it would be a temporary thing. 

Here's a picture of me and my studly husband at this year's Marine Corps ball.  Definitely NOT chestnut brown hair on me anymore.  It's fun.  It's different.  I can't wear the same colors that I did as a brunette. 

This week I decided to darken my locks a bit.  Just a smidgen to a medium brown with blonde highlights.  Once again I paid a lot of money in order to get back to more of a low maintenance 'do.  For some reason my hair dresser used an 'ash' on me.  And now?  My hair is green.  Yep.  Green.  I'm told it will even out a bit in a few days but I am NOT a happy camper.  The woman who did this has her own salon so it's not like she mixed a concoction in her kitchen sink.  She employs other colorists!  I'm about ready to head to the store for a $10 box of L'Oreal and fix this myself.  The joy of beauty standards.  Maybe I'll just chalk it up to being the Grinch this year.  ;)

Meh...

Ever have that "meh" feeling?  Yup, that's about how it is right now.  The Christmas tree is up and I actually LET the KIDS put ornaments on.  Do you know how much control I gave up for that?  A lot.  I managed to get some garland strung around the fireplace and the stocking are hung by the chimney with apathetic feelings.  The lights are up on the outside of the house thanks to my awesome husband.  I've perused lots of decorating blogs with beautiful displays of the season and my normal reaction would be "I've got to run to the store right this second so I can replicate this exact display".  This year?  "Meh." 

We just got back from San Diego where I was able to see family and friends which was not meh but great.  We're preparing to head out to visit Bill's family in a couple weeks.   Also not meh but great.  My poor little house will be empty for two pretty big holidays and hence my lack of enthusiasm.  I hate not being stoked about Christmas.  In fact, if I didn't have kids I don't know that I would have decorated at all.  How Scrooge am I??  I'm vowing that I'm staying home for Christmas next year and my tiding will be glad and meh will just be a saying on a snarky t-shirt.

Wordless October aka Just for Krista

Well...CRAP!

My mom's annual vaca is the beginning of September.  Last year she was out here helping us unpack our very first home!  This year she came out just to spend some time with me and Bill and the kids.  I had a couple of things planned: A trip down to the Garden of the Gods, maybe a tour of the Molly Brown house, a bit of shopping, the usual. 

We started our awesome week of vacation with an unofficial not-really-a-block-party get together Sunday evening.  A few of our neighbors came over to hang out and grill and talk and eat and talk and make s'mores and maybe have a glass of wine or three.  After taking our sweet time to get out of bed the next morning we loaded the car up and traveled 45 minutes south to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  We'd never been before and didn't really know what to expect.  The adults had a great time learning about the area and hiking the trails to look at these natural phenomenons.  The kids however, well, were kids.  "I'm hooooot.  I'm booooored.  I can't walk anymoooore.  My legs are tiiiiired.  Carry meeeee."  So, we didn't spend nearly as much time exploring as we'd like but at least we can say we've been.

The next day the kids were back in school and my mom and I got some good girl time.  We hit the outlet mall and got some Christmas shopping done.  Yes, you may hate me now.  We were spent, literally and figuratively so we had Bill take us out for dinner. 

By Thursday we were doing pretty well with our shopping, dining out routine.  We hit a local restaurant with Bill during his lunch break.  For some reason as we were walking out to the parking lot I brought up this phase that Trey is in asking if my mom will still be alive when he reaches adulthood.  That led into a conversation about how young my own grandma was when she passed away and how Trey still thinks she'd be 62 today since that's the age she was when she died.  My mom and I talked about how she's "timeless" even though she'd be the same age as my grandpa who is 82 now.   We went about our day after Bill left to go back to his office.  We hit a scrapbooking store and the obligatory Target run for some essentials.  While we were perusing the book shelves for reading material for Trey, my mom's cell phone rang.  I watched her face drop and listened to her repeat "Oh my god" over and over again.  Something has obviously gone wrong.

My uncle had called from California to inform us that my very healthy, able bodied, strong willed an strong muscled grandpa had just died.  Complete shock.  My mom had just spent the weekend with he and his wife at Pageant of the Masters in Laguna.  He'd just gone to the L.A. County fair the day prior.  I just saw him in July while I was home.  While I was home he told me that he'd been to the doctor and the doctor was in disbelief that 1) he wasn't on any medication and 2) he was as healthy as he was at 82.  My grandpa was still getting up in the morning and going around the house repairing things, fixing shingles on the roof, replacing brakes on my aunts car and a number of other things men half his age couldn't do.  What happened?  We don't know yet.  It's still to be determined.  It's been twenty years since I've been affected by a death on my side of the family.  Right now, it seems surreal, a bit bizarre and very somber.  I'll be flying home to be with my family.  The family that I will usually see to celebrate a holiday or a birthday.  Unfortunately this time it will be to get together to say goodbye to our patriarch.

God Bless my grandpa.  1928-2010

Summer Part 2?

Wait! I wasn't ready. I'm always ready with plan in hand and calendar filled out but things were just weird this time. Oh...well...I guess there was that time last year when we planned our move around the start time but didn't realize that the start time was in mid-July. Maybe I can just blame the whole thing on Colorado. Yeah, that seems like a good plan to me. That, and then there's the fact that they lied. Who does that?



School started on August 9th. But not really. The calendar that was approved for the school year said that the first day was the 9th. And then emails came in telling us that PARENTS were to attend the first day with their kid. Except that the first day wasn't a full day. It was an hour for one kid (an hour?!) and five hours for the other kid. And on the 10th, they had the day off. But the real real first day was the 11th. Still. Who goes to school that early? Especially in the land of perpetual snow. It could very well start snowing next month and if you recall, it snowed here three months ago. I think the administration hates sunny warm days at the pool and loves green flourescent lighting and the smell of Pinesol. Well, a big fat raspberry to you calendar planners. School ends in May and it will be too cold or windy or tornado-y or hail-ey or some other 'ey'. It better not be snowy.



When my kids go back to school is when I usually feel like I'm celebrating my second new year. A clean slate for the academic/sports/dance year. I start weeding things out of closets and dressers and cupboards. I'm just not there but I really want to be. When does your school year start?

Summer Part 1

I seem to be without words, but I'm certainly not without pictures this summer.

Firepits in the driveway seem to be the thing to do in the neighborhood. The start of the season included lots of gooey s'mores and kids and dogs. And beer. There always seems to be beer.

A little girl turned 6 despite my pleas to stay five.

A tornado warning threatened to delay our Build a Bear party. Fortunately, weather didn't win this time.

That same little girl graduated kindergarten. I did not approve.

I started a super huge project in Trey's room that will only take me about fifteen years to complete.

It was our turn to host the firepit and it started out great. And then, like Denver weather does, it totally changed. The skies opened, the lightning cracked and as you can see from my husband's lovely face he was thrilled to hold a beach umbrella over the pit to save the fire. What a trooper.

Trey started baseball and loves it. If you know my kid, that's huge. A sport he actually likes. Halleluja! He's holding up first while Bill coaches first. And that awesome contraption in the back is our local water park that is uber cheap to get into.

We had to have the perfect kicks for 4th of July.

And that's the end of the beginning chapter to summer. We have a lot more to cram into a few short weeks before the kids go back to school. Seriously, who goes back to school August 9th??

Summer Time Blues

I'm at a loss for words. No, nothing tragic has happened. I just don't have any words in me that are dying to come out in story form. My brain has hidden them somewhere in the deep while it continues to produce phrases ad nauseum.

• wash your hands
• turn off the tv and go outside
• I'll make lunch in a minute
• what do you mean you don't want to play with your sister? Why do you think I had 2 kids?
• you can pour your own cereal
• did you flush?
• get a napkin and clean that up
• put your markers/Legos/Wii remotes/dolls away

My brain is fried with summer time commands and we've only just begun. There are stories. Somewhere. I hope I find them soon.

I thought it was May

It snowed last night. My yard is covered in a white blanket. This sucks. The end.

Clicking My Heels

Last year's birthday I told anyone who would listen that I would NOT be in Denver for my next birthday. I knew that late falling snow is normal in Colorado and I didn't want any part of it. I made good on my promise and got an awesome deal to fly the heck outta Dodge, er, Denver. And to add a pat on the back for my decision, it snowed on the way to the airport. Ugh. GoodBYE Colorado and hello home.

In just over two hours I was back to my home sweet San Diego, sniffing the salty air and admiring the leaves on the trees. Those hadn't shown up out here in CO when I left. Just a bunch of bony fingered branches on the naked aspens. Oh California. Thank you for perpetual warmth and palms. I'll admire the chapparal and cacti if need be. I don't care. It wasn't covered in frozen crystals.

Our first stop was Rubio's. Love that place. Apparently there is one out here but I haven't seen it yet. When I placed my order, I looked at the guy at the cash register and said, "Did you know it's snowing in Denver right now? Snowing?!" He looked at me like I obviously spend too much time on the weather channel and shook his head 'no'. Extended periods of cold weather make me a bit loopy apparently.

About an hour after I got to my mom's I headed back out to join a couple of girlfriends for a wild and crazy girls night out. I mean, WILD. These girls are insane. Oh wait. Nevermind. I don't have friends like that anymore. We hit the stores, we had dinner at a hot spot for prom dinner apparently and saw a movie that wasn't animated. That's wicked awesome in my book. And I got home after curfew. But don't tell my mom, she still doesn't know.

The day before my annual celebration of life, my mom and I drove up to L.A. to visit the Getty. I've wanted to go since it opened and it did not disappoint. I haven't been to a museum without at least one child in tow for um, eight and a half years so it was a treat to be able to look and read and talk without potty interruptions or requests for food or hearing, "mooooomm...I'm booorrred".

The Getty has an awesome garden to meander through. I wish I could have walked through this mini labyrinth, but it's in the water. I don't think they let you do that. Buzz kill. The weather was less than perfect. We had a lot of fog that day *BUT* no snow so I was ok with that.

This is one of the strangest poppies I've seen. When I looked at it from the side in passing, I thought there were bugs inside.

This is my new bed--The Getty just doesn't know it yet. It was huuuuge. Oh those French. Always over the top.

My mom and I spent about six hours there. We decided it was time to leave when our brains expanded past the point of capacity. We couldn't learn anymore at that point. With the Santa Monica pier being just a few miles away, we decided to stop before heading back to S.D. I've never been to this pier so I fit in with the rest of the camera toting tourists.

Here's where Route 66 officially ends. It's actually over the water and cars are allowed to drive and park on part of the pier which is foreign to me.

There's a Bubba Gump restaurant on the pier and these plates just made me laugh. My favorite is the plate with the rainbow. Ha!

What I learned, or finally realized, on the fifth anniversary of my 29th birthday is that people in my home town are RUDE. I know it's not a California thing because I'm a Californian and all the friends I grew up with are (duh) and we weren't raised that way. People expecting you to move out of the way for them, letting the store doors close on you, not even giving you eye contact when you hold the door for them. It's so annoying. As much as I love home, that is one thing that Denver does well. People here are polite. There are too many stinkin' people in San Diego. They all need to go back to wherever they came from. Oh, sorry, was that rude? Bill and I went to Target here in Colorado. On a Saturday. And it was empty. But I digress.

It was so great to be around people I have history with. To see familiar faces and have people see me. To recognize and be recognized. I'm still not there out here. I love home and we already have our next homecoming planned. I'll just have to take enough Xanax that I don't care about rude people.

Two Inches and a Bit of Ignorance

I went to a new (to me) salon yesterday for a much needed haircut. My hair had been threatening to band together and gnaw itself off, so I knew it was time. For me, it's always awkward to start a new potential client-professional relationship. You don't know one another so you have to go through the dreaded small talk. What happens if you don't like the results? Can you come back and see a different person? What if the person just bugs you? I think about things way too much.

So our conversation started. And of course it led to where we moved from. She had been to San Diego a few times so I thought it would be nice to talk about home with someone who was at least a little familiar with the place. And then came the inevitable "it's really expensive to live there, huh?" Ha! If she only knew. The conversation went on about things to do: the beach, the zoo, the Wild Animal Park... She continued with, "I bet your kids have been to SeaWorld a bunch of times." I knew where her head was starting to go.

"Actually, no" I said, "It's super expensive so we've only been twice. And the only reason my kids have been to Disneyland is because my in-laws paid for them to go."
"Oh really? Doesn't everyone who lives in San Diego have a lot of money?"
*blink blink*

Yes, and everything in Hollywood is sparkly clean. Everyone in Southern California knows how to surf, is super skinny and drives a convertible. Disneyland is real and the "characters" never go in the back, remove their heads and take a smoke break while talking about which gay bar to hit that night. Yeah, I said it. When we lived in Orange County in a teeny apartment, our neighbor that we shared a balcony and a landing with was Goofy. The Goofy and was as staight as Lombard Street.

"Um, actually no. There's a lot of poverty in San Diego as well." And then she looked at me like I was smoking crack. I couldn't believe that someone who has actually been there only saw the pretty parts and not reality.

"My friend lives in Escondido. That's a really rich area, huh?"
"No, only certain parts, like every city. There's a lot of scary-ghetto parts there, too." But again, she didn't see that part. Which means she went no where near the heart of the city. "The only area that is exclusively wealthy is Rancho Santa Fe." I had to explain where it was and that a few celebrities have homes there. I should have said 'that's where the Heaven's Gate Cult lived' but I didn't.

I left feeling like stereotypes are alive and well. All Californians are rich, all Texans wear stetsons and spurs and all New Yorkers are Italian and say things like "fuhgettaboutit".

And my haircut is uneven. Next!

Not What I Wanted to Hear

Here's the deal. I've been pretty anemic for a while. Like, your body is supposed to store extra iron as a backup when you're not getting enough. It's supposed to be anywhere between 20 and 80. Twenty and eighty what, I'm not sure, but my store number was two. Maybe that would explain why I can take a nap any time of the day and never have any energy to do much of anything. For the first time in, oh, forever, I have a doctor who wanted to know why. So I had some more blood drawn and was ordered to take iron supplements three times a day. My test results came back positive for celiac disease. I never would have guessed. I didn't have any of the typical symptoms other than the anemia. I thought maybe it was a mild case because of the lack of symptoms, but once again my body isn't playing by the rules. Numbers again: under 5 (I don't know 5 what, but stick with me) means no celiac. 5-8 you need more testing but probably have it. 8 and over you have celiac. My number was over 100. Seriously?? I have a serious love of bread, cereal, pasta and all things gluteny. Now I have to change my way of thinking, eating, and apparently digesting. Now I will join the ranks of those irritating people asking what the food has in it because I have "special dietary needs". I give that a big fat raspberry.

So, so sorry

Most of you know that I'm very fluent in sarcasm. I mean, it's my spiritual gift and all. And, well, sarcasm and drama are best friends and I guess drama kinda crept into my last post. Although, it will be dramatic for me. Yes, I was supposed to find out what the heck is going on last Thursday BUT when I went in the lady at the desk told me that my appointment was actually for Wednesday. Don't blame me! They called and told me it was Thursday. I've had to lie in wait all stinkin' weekend, too. So today I have an appointment and I'm hoping to hear some news and I WILL (pinky swear) share it with you as soon as I announce it on TMZ call my husband and my mom to tell them what's up.

Huh?

Tomorrow I may hear some of the saddest news in my adult life. It has the potential to be very traumatic inconvenient for me. I may have to change my entire life some things in my life. I'm going into this with a positive pessimistic attitude because I don't want to hear what has to be said.

So as to not get all worked up (you OR me) I'm going to leave it at that and let you all know what the heck I'm talking about when I find out tomorrow.

Hope

It's been a REALLY long winter. It's been six months of on and off snow and for someone like me, that is five months and three weeks too long. At first it was kind of cool, seeing the flakes flitting down. The kids were in awe. I was even a little bit in awe. And then I got over it in a big way. A blizzard? In October? For my entire life, October has meant hot, dry winds and clear blue skies. Not a blizzard. Unless we're talking Dairy Queen.

I'd had my fill. The reports of snow on the news got annoying. I couldn't see my beautiful yard because it was covered with that evil white stuff.

Now, spring is starting to show its face and I just want to kiss it! My grass is starting to come back. There are buds of future leaves on my aspen trees. The tulip bulbs have sprouted and I'm elated.

To give myself a little push and a little color I bought some seeds. Now, if I can actually plant them AND keep them alive, that will be a miracle.

I've never been this happy to see spring. I'm not sure I'm cut out for this Colorado life.

Is it Something I Said?

Moving out here to the sticks, I imagined living in a neighborhood full of families similar to mine: husband, wife and a couple of kids. We found that neighborhood and knew it was perfect when no less than six families came over to introduce themselves before we were in the house for 48 hours. This was going to be great! Maybe we could get together over margaritas and watch Grey's Anatomy. Maybe our kids would all play together. Maybe this would be our happily ever after.

We got settled, we got into our routines and I started talking to more of the moms at the bus stop in the morning. All of out there in our pj pants, coats, Uggs and mugs of coffee. We're quite a sight. Unshowered, bed head and no make up. We rock. Anyway, one of my new bus stop buddies mentioned that she had just gone through a divorce. She's a year older than I am with four kids. Rough, to say the least.

A few weeks later another mom asked if we had any boxes left over from our move because she was trying to clean up her basement. Sure, we have tons of boxes. I thought it was a bit weird that you'd need moving boxes to tidy up a basement, but maybe I'm just crazy about my plastic bins? Turns out she was packing up herself and her daughter and high-tailing it out of the state, leaving her soon to be ex-husband behind. Interesting.

Through the grapevine known as the nosy mom club I was informed that my next door neighbor who hasn't taken two seconds to even glance our direction, is also going through the Big D and I don't mean Dallas. What?! No kids this time, but she's my age. Not that people my age don't get divorced, they do, it's just weird. Almost like when you find out your doctor is your age and if you'd gone that route, you'd be a doctor!

Ok, so this is getting weird. All of these families live within five houses of me. They were all married when we moved in back in September. Now seven months later we have three that are single? Oh wait...

Just today another bus stop mom told me that she was done. Done with what? I assumed she'd meant the counseling she and her husband have been attending. No. She thinks she's done with him. Yeah, you guessed it, she's my age. Is there just something that hits you in your early to mid-thirties to make you feel like it's not worth the fight? There have been times when I didn't even want to be in the same house with my husband, but to not be married? I can't fathom. It's been a lot of hard work but the payoff is so worth it. That and the fact that I made specific promises to him before friends, family and God.

Since all of these separations have happened since we joined the neighborhood, it's obviously something to do with me, right? I mean, is there any other logical explanation??

It just didn't work out

I tried. I really did. I've driven past it a couple of times and told myself that I would go in and look at the potential and the life that could be brought back. I wouldn't be judgmental. Even my husband said he'd try it-that he'd thought about going in before I even said anything. So many bloggers have found abandoned jewels there and shined them up nice and pretty for their homes.

Today, we ventured in. The parking lot was packed. I took that as a good sign. And then we went in. And it was crowded. And half of the people in the building weren't speaking English. I'm used to that in San Diego, not here. We made a bee line (b-line?) to the home goods section. It was full of *junk*. I tried to look beyond the junk for the sparkling jewel but the whining kids and funny, stale smell and people continuously competing for the tiny aisle space that I was in was too much of a distraction.

And so we left. And I felt snobby. The Goodwill and I did not get along. So we took our Pottery Barn tastes and our Target budget elsewhere. Sorry Goodwill. Maybe I'll get over myself and go treasure hunting another day.

Illin'

Part of my acclamating process out here on the wrong side of the Rockies is to try and get involved. Involved in anything. Easiest thing to get involved in? Bible studies. I mean, it's a rule that the other girls have to be nice. Right? So on Wednesday I started a Beth Moore study and those of you familiar with Ms. Moore know that she's very in depth. So in depth in fact, that I blamed my headache on her. I don't really ever get headaches and this one lasted all day. Surely it was her fault, right? By Wednesday night I just wanted to shove two O.B.'s up my nose because it just wouldn't stop running. I went to bed relatively early (i.e. before 1am) to try and sleep it off. I woke up with the gift of a MAC truck lodged in my head.

This is so unlike me. I don't get sick like this and the last time I was, I think I was pregnant with my 8 year old. And the kicker is, I didn't catch it from one of my walking petri dishes kids. They're both perfectly healthy. I sludged through the day, even making a trip to Target for milk (one of the great things about Colorado....Super Targets!!) and drugs. Too bad I had my kids with me and didn't notice the drugs I bought did NOT contain an antihistamine. So for the rest of the day I had that I'm-going-to-sneeze-any-second feeling. It really is quite fun, if you're a glutton for punishment.

I'd been bribing my kids during their off track time with a movie in exchange for good behavior. With today being the last official day off, I had to make good on my promise, sick or not. So I divvied up our candy and put it in my movie purse. Oh come on, don't tell me you don't do that. We headed out and sat through 'The Tooth Fairy'. Cute kids movie + sinuses on vacation = minimal interest. But I did it. I didn't whine and complain like I wanted to. I wasn't selfish and claimed I couldn't leave my bed like I wanted to. I didn't even pout because I wasn't willing to buy popcorn I can't taste like I wanted to. On this last day of off track time I celebrated, mouth breathing and all, by making good on my promise and letting my kids have their way. Now it's my turn as I sit on my couch, bundled up and watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics and whining to my husband that I can't breave fru my dose. Go U.S.A.!

Q & A

Have you heard people ask those silly questions like, why do you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway? I have my own set of silly questions that have been swimming in my brain. If you can answer them for me, you get a prize*.

• Why did it take 18 years for my husband's job to completely rock AND why are we so far from friends and family when this kickin' job is finally happening?


• Why were we finally in a place of financial freedom in California (I know, sounds like an oxymoron) and then get moved to Denver where it feels like we're back to where we were two years ago?


• When making knock off Chipotle guacamole, one is instructed to dice a serrano or jalapeno pepper. When you do this, you're supposed to wear food prep gloves or you risk burning your skin. But then you put said peppers into your MOUTH and they eventually end up IN your body. Man, good thing they instructed me to protect my fingers.


• When you find something at Costco that everyone in your family loves, why do they quit stocking it?


• Any time I state, "I will never", it ends up happening. Why?? Examples? I will never date a Marine--married one. I will never drive a Ford--had it for 3 1/2 years. I will never live where I have to shovel snow or endure a tornado--double check...oh Denver you wacky city.


• Why does my eight year old think that he is smarter than I am? Doesn't he know he needs to be at least twelve before he starts that behavior?


• Why does my cat feel the need to yak on whatever is cleanest/most difficult to clean in the house? We've got a ton of wood flooring and tile in the house but apparently my oversized comforter and freshly changed sheets are a better option.

What are your unanswered questions? I know I'll have more. I've had a LOT of time to think lately with all the not working and the snow and the kids being home. My brain needs a vacation in San Diego.

*One shiny Gold Star. Woohoo!!

It's a Secret

I've been spending lots of time with my babies lately. Alright, they're not babies but they resemble them at times. Out here on the wrong side of the Rockies, my kids are in year round school which means they have WAY too much time off. We're in week two of a three week break. Pray for me. My husband's been out and about quite a bit lately as well so quantity time is a-flowin'. One of my favorite things to do with my kids is to read with them. It's out of sheer laziness. I get to sit on the couch and read books and they'll usually play with my hair or rub my arm while I read. Not a bad deal.

So I'm sitting with my son in the family room and my daughter is still upstairs. I smell something funny. Not like something burning, or foul, or play doh mixed with animal cookies smooshed up and used at hair putty. Kind of a good smell, but not one I recognized. New air freshener? No. I didn't put in a new plug in any time recently. I wasn't wearing perfume or lotion. My eight year old wasn't trying a new aftershave. Hmm. I ignored it and waited for Leah to join us on the couch for story time. As she sits next to me, the air around us is stirred and I smell it again, but this time stronger. I lean over and sniff her and then lean the other direction and sniff Trey. "What is that smell?!"
"What smell?"
::sniff sniff: "I don't know. Trey, did you put lotion on?"
"No."
"Something smells...powdery."
Then Trey tells me it's his arm. I grab his arm and sure enough, that's where the smell is coming from. "What is that?"
"I don't know. It was in the bathroom and I put it on. It was that blue thing."
"My new deoderant?
"Haha, yeah I guess." Clearly at this point he really doesn't know what deoderant is. Apparently he's been living under a rock.
"Trey, I put that on my ARM PITS"
"EWWWW!!!"
"Ok, no more putting things on your body if you don't know what they are."

Seriously.

To Save a Life

Ever feel like all the good stuff happens after you leave? You bail out of a party and two hours later the cops show up because someone spontaneously combusted. Or maybe the year after you graduate high school, your alma mater is recognized for a winning streak in football, some genius sophomore finding the cure for cancer in Biology and Oprah shows up to do a speech at your pep rally. I'm having one of those moments.

At my last job back home, I happened to work for a guy who wrote movie scripts when he wasn't being youth pastor to hundreds of kids. I was his "executive assistant". Whatever. I did all the paperwork and other busy work he hated to do. I did a lot of other random things too, but that's not where I'm going with this. In the summer of 2008, one of his scripts came to life in the form of an actual movie with, like, real actors and stuff. I got to hear about some of the bigger names that would come out for readings when he was in Hollywood. Pretty cool if you ask me. Part of the agreement between my boss and his boss was that I still needed to do my job, not be on the set as an extra or doing the dazed fan thing. I was able to be on set a couple of times during my off hours and watch the filming as it happened or chauffer a few of the actors here and there in my oh-so-fancy Expedition.



The actor I spent most of the time talking to (because he was hostage in my front seat...ahem) was this guy:

Most recently, he's been on a Citibank commercial. He's been in Desperate Housewives, iCarly and a ton of other things here and there. He's VERY tall and that's coming from a very tall girl. He's loud. Not obnoxiously, but his voice carries. Well. He seemed nice from the short bit of time I spent with him.

About a month after the filming had commenced, I found out that this guy's part in the movie could have been played by him:

OH. EM. GEE. Seriously? When my boss told me this, I almost grabbed him by the collar and yelled "WHY DIDN'T YOU CAST HIM???" I couldn't believe it. Dylan McKay could have been sitting in the front seat of my car. I don't know how close Luke Perry was to being cast in the film but I was in la la land for the rest of the day at work. Mostly in awe. And shock. And more awe.

Anyway, the film opened last Friday and sold out in my home town more than once.

There was a red carpet premiere, a meet and greet with the actors and the writer (but I already know him...remember?...former boss) and a whole lotta Hollywood right in my back yard. But alas, I am 1500 miles away in my new home away from home wishing I was there to be a part of the finished product. I haven't made my way to the theater yet to see it but I did get to see it before we moved, before the final editing was done. If you're interested in seeing it, check out the trailer here:

http://www.tosavealifemovie.com/

You'll be glad you did.

Things Running Through My Mind

• I've recently become obsessed with home decor blogs. Like, OCD, obsessed and recently added about 10 new ones to my reader.
• I have about five ideas for a real blog post in my head, but no real direction to get them to say anything interesting.
• My husband and I are tackling our very first home improvement project and it's taking WAAAAY longer than expected.
• My typically non-sick kid has been sick for a week and it's really bugging me.
• My mom's birthday is today and I have yet to send out her gift, let alone her card. This is only the second time in my life where I've not been "home" for her celebration.
• My husband's birthday is on Monday and until I went shopping (today) I'd forgotten that I bought something for him a month ago and hid it away.
• I'm really sick of looking at all the patches of dead brown grass and piles of snow that haven't melted yet. I'm yearning for the glistening Pacific and palm trees of home.
• I hit the jack pot at Old Navy yesterday. Possibly a short blog post? Go there. To Old Navy I mean. Now. 50% off clearance through Monday. Seriously.
• I'm about to finish reading a non-parenting book. It's the first novel I've read in quite a while and I don't want it to end. I hate it when good stories are finished.
• I could totally go for some Pat & Oscars right about now.

Yes, those are the random things running through my brain. That, and I think I want some hot chocolate and I'm really wishing I had the stuff to make some Valentine-y craft right now.

Procrasti-wha...?

New Year. New beginnings. New page. New calendar. I love the beginning of the year, where everything is fresh and clean and there's all those perfectly square boxes hanging on the wall waiting to be filled in. I have such great, grandiose ideas for myself which rarely come to fruition, but whatever. I can dream, right?

Better organized
Get this and that done on time/right away/when it happens, etc.
Clean this more, spend less time there

Well, part of my New Year's tradition had to be pushed back a day because Bill's family was still in town and I just thought it might be a tad rude to bring out the giant red and green boxes and start tearing down the tree. Instead, we lazed around the house, much like we had been for the entire week, and ate. And watched tv. And ate some more. And played games. It was great. Granted, I was itching to get things cleaned up, but it was only a day off of my original plan.

I started my routine clean up the next day, but because everything is in such a different order in this house than in the last house (where we had six Christmases) it took a lot longer to find where everything needed to be. And the neighbor kids came over. Which meant mulitple interruptions. Which meant, I didn't finish putting Christmas away.

Then it was the third. And a Sunday. So we went to church like usual and I insisted hubby stop at Target on the way home so I could check out the picked over Christmas leftovers at 75% off. There was hardly a thing left, but I managed to find some "filler" ornaments for next year. We got home, ate lunch and then of course it was the kids nap time. They desperately needed it. Ok, more like I really needed them to go away, but I digress. Bill used that time to play Wii and so I decided to read. Do you know what happens to me on a lazy day when I read? I fall asleep. And when I woke up, football was on. That meant Bill's butt was glued to the couch. Do you know what that meant? I obviously felt justified in keeping my butt glued to the couch as well.

And then came today. Today was the day to *really* start anew. The kids were back in school, Bill was back at work, company is gone... On the agenda: start my little excercise routine and finish putting Christmas away. My SIL gave me one of her Wii DVDs to work out to. All I did was complete my profile which had a couple of excercises on it and I was D-U-N. Can't blame it on the altitude as we've been here since summer. I'm just that out of shape. GOOO ME! Obviously I need some work. Ok, fine, how about putting Christmas away? First, I had to take a shower. Then go and get Leah from school. And then make lunch. And then Leah wanted to watch me do something on the computer. And THEN I decided to keep working on Christmas. And then I ran out of oomph. And now it's 5:30 and my butt is glued to the tv, Trey's head is resting on my shoulder while he watches tv and Christmas is still not put away.

Maybe tomorrow it will get done. If I don't kill myself trying to excercise. Or, you know, if other things don't get it the way first.