8 things...

8 Things I'm Passionate About

1-optimism
2-laundry
3-being a good mother
4-organization
5-the way people talk about and to each other
6-choosing joy
7-proper usage of "then" and "than"
8-life being about people, not about things

8 things I want to do before I die

1-go to England
2-hug my grandchildren
3-finish more scrapbooks
4-become comfortable in my own skin
5-watch my husband retire
6-become a "real" photographer
7-see my children live the lives that make them happy
8-learn to sew

8 Things I say often

1-"Well, where is the last place you remember having it?"
2-"Dear Heavenly Father..."
3-"I know I came in here for a reason..."
4-"Food." (in response to 'what's for dinner?')
5-"In case you haven't noticed, Mommy's losing it!!!"
6-"Talitha. T-a-l-i-t-h-a."
7-"Well, crap."
8-"Bye, babe. I love you!"

8 Books I've recently read

1-Here If You Need Me
2-Twilight
3-Life and Death in Shanghai
4-Language Report
5-The Very Hungry Caterpillar
6-Keeping it Together in a Pull Apart World
7-The Great Divorce
8-Parenting Teens with Love and Logic

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over

1-I Had a Dream, from Les Miserables
2-Remember When, Alan Jackson
3-Celebrate Me Home, Kenny Loggins
4-Sometimes, Nicole C. Mullins
5-Samson, Regina Spektor
6-Nothing, from A Chorus Line
7-How Can I Keep From Singing?, Shaker hymn
8-Life is a Highway, Rascal Flatts

8 Things that Attract Me to My Best Friends

1-how they make me laugh
2-that they notice the little things
3-the way they see the world
4-their commitment to becoming the best people they can
5-the gentle ways they help me
6-how they choose to focus on what's good
7-the way they parent their children
8-the acceptance I see in their eyes

8 things I've learned in the last year

1-children grow up in a moment
2-how to use my husband's electric drill
3-there is no greater blessing than a good marriage
4-white vinegar and apple cider vinegar are VASTLY different things
5-my 15 year old needs me to say I love him before he can leave the house
6-I might actually like pushing myself
7-people just want to be listened to
8-I'm not 18 anymore

8 People that I think should do "8" (in no particular order)

Please, anyone who feels like doing this:
If you have a blog, put it there.
If you don't have a blog, email it to me, I'd LOVE to read yours.

Quote of the Week...

"You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him."

---Leo Aikman

Quote of the Week...

"It's too bad I'm not as wonderful a person as people say I am, because the world could use a few people like that."


--Alan Alda

What did she just say?

I was picking up teenagers at church after an activity and some boys ran out in front of my car, just being silly. From her car seat behind me, I hear my 3 year old daughter shout:

"MISCREANTS!!!"

Seriously, where does she GET this stuff???

Quote of the Week...

For Labor Day: (hey, I know it's late...you don't need to make me feel bad, geez)

"It does not seem to be true that work necessarily needs to be unpleasant. It may always have to be hard, or at least harder than doing nothing at all. But there is ample evidence that work can be enjoyable, and that indeed, it is often the most enjoyable part of life. "
--Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Do you ever feel...

totally stupid?

There are days when I just sit and think about everything I don't know.

• how to grind wheat
• what all the settings do on my camera
• quantum physics
• Barack Obama's position on illegal immigration
• where my tweezers are
• my kids' orthodontist's first name (I think it starts with a "T")
• how much a postage stamp costs
• the occupations of pretty much every one of my friend's husbands
• why milk is so flippin' expensive
• how many miles I still have left after my gas gauge reads "empty"
• whether or not there is mustard in our food storage
• who the president of our PTO is
• how to take apart my dvd player
• what purpose the "Farmer's Almanac" serves
• when my entertainment book coupons expire
• what my point was starting this post to begin with...

Quote of the week...

"The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation."


--George Bernard Shaw

I just figured out that...

I can never run away from home.

Well, okay. I can. I am physically capable. Let's not get all 8th grade English teacher about it.
(totally just had a flash of Mr. Houghton at Payson Middle School... Me: "Can I go to the restroom?" Mr. H:"I don't know, CAN you?" Good times.)

But the thought came to me last night that if I were to run away, as attractive as it may sound, it would probably end up being a bad idea. Why, you ask? I submit the following:

1) Nobody in my family knows where anything is.

So, I wouldn't be 5 miles from home before the cell would start ringing. Things like where Mom keeps the scissors, masking tape, gum, garbage bags, food, water, and other necessities...these are mysteries to my children. And Dad, well...Dad knows where the things that Dad cares about are. So, if you want to know where the air compressor and nail gun are, he's your guy. Your Pretty Pretty Princess game, not so much.

2) I love my home.

My hubby is always saying, "Hon, go out and just be alone and have some time." But, the thing is, I like being at home. I am a homebody. I really don't even WANT to leave...I want EVERYONE ELSE to leave and let me enjoy myself in peace. And--let's face it. I am the only one who really cares if this house is clean. So, I leave, and it's Lord of the Flies up in here.

3) I'd have to pack.

I really don't think this needs a whole lot of explanation. Packing to me is about as much fun as [insert something nobody finds fun].

4) I like my husband.

We always joke that if we got divorced we'd drive the new people in our lives crazy with always needing to talk to each other. It's one of the annoying side effects of being married to someone you find genuinely interesting. So, even though I'd enjoy the first few hours of freedom, more than likely I'd be on the phone with him by day's end, having one of our legendary "What are you doing?" "Nothing, what are you doing?" conversations.

5) Gas prices.

Hello?? I'd spend a week's paycheck and get to, like, Grand Junction.

6) Fine, I'll say it. I'd miss my kids.

I'm not going to get all motherly, but, dang it, they are pretty amazing. That's the thing, isn't it? There's the stuff that drives you crazy, but it never even comes close to the stuff that fills your heart and makes you happy. And there's that pull--that pull to be there--to protect, to comfort, to listen, to guide, to love.

So. I'm not going anywhere. But I'm still going to fantasize about it, and you can't stop me.

Quote of the Week...

An oldie but a goodie:

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

--Benjamin Franklin

(This one came to me as I lovingly pushed my two teenagers out the door at 5:45 am for Seminary this morning.)

A great read...

It's been awhile since I have read something that really knocked my socks off.

Here I am, sockless, after reading Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup. Kate is a wonderful writer who tells the story of losing her husband (a Maine state trooper) in a car crash, and how she works her way through it. She became a chaplain for the Warden Service after his death, and she intertwines stories of some of the many search and rescues she has attended with the story of her moving on as a mother of 4 after her beloved's death.

Now, I'll admit that I have an instant affinity for the themes of this book. My husband is in the same profession as hers was. Her job is quite similar to that of a victim's advocate--the job I will take when my youngest goes to school. They had a large-ish family. So perhaps I have a personality suited to find significance to her story. Fair enough.

But you know what? A story well told is a story well told. And she really does tell this story painfully, tenderly, optimistically well.

Put it on your "to read" list. If you live near me, I might even let you borrow my copy.

Quote of the Week...

Well, look at me, posting a quote. This one is meaning a lot to me these days:

"Learn to be what you are, and learn to resign with good grace all that you are not."

--Henri Frederic Amiel

Quote of the Week...

I got this from a quote thread at my home away from home internet board:

"Doing the right thing is fun. If nothing else, it surprises people."

--Thomas Sowell

Two of my favorite faces...

This was Em's baptism day, posing with her proud papa. It was one of those days that you just tuck in the center of your heart to remind yourself what life is all about.

What a blessed life we live.

Quote of the Week...

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

---Mahatma Gandhi

Belated Quote of the Week...

" To laugh often and much: to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."


--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gasoline: $140
Sunscreen: $8
Snacks for the road: $25

Getting to spend the weekend with my extended family: Priceless

Why I haven't been here...

*our sweet daughter was baptized
*I started a new "good enough for now" job
*I had a special musical number to rehearse and perform
*my husband and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary (IWLYSFA, babe)
*aforementioned hubby turned 39...hanging on to those 30s by the skin of our teeth, man!
*I am continuing to work through the hiring process for "the one I'd really love" job
*my wonderful sister and her equally wonderful husband were in town
*I went to a funeral where a cell phone rang...loudly. Seriously, people. Is this what things have come to??? We can't even lay someone to rest without some cheesy island congo ringtone interrupting?? Sometimes I am so embarrassed to be human.
*it's the last few weeks of school for my older kids
*the weather has been insanely warm, requiring my children to whine to be taken all manner of outdoorsy places
*the quarterly activity for our women's auxiliary group that I am in charge of was this week
*we are gearing up for a family reunion which is a) out of state; and b) hubby cannot go to since he will be out of state for Army Work (that's what the kids call it).

Here's a quote, and fingers crossed for my improved ability to come here and write. I miss it.

"All my possessions for a moment of time." --Elizabeth I

Quote of the Week...

"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep the streets even as Michelango painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Quote of the week...

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

--Mother Teresa

It was 82 degrees yesterday...

So, we went to the water spouts and had some fun. It was such a gorgeous day, and after a long winter and a very wet spring, it felt really good to come out and just PLAY.

As usual, little man just wanted to survey the action at a safe distance. But the other kids surprised me with their fearlessness! Even the little ones just ran right in and giggled and splashed. At first, Dad and I tried to tell them not to get "too wet". Yeah, right. We realized quickly that if they were going to have any fun, they had to just let loose and go for it.

So they did.

They had such a ball. And they got SOOOOO wet!! They'd run around in it til they couldn't take it anymore and then would lay on the ground in the sun to try and warm up. I am so ready for summer, now. Sitting outside, watching the kids play like this, reminded me of what is so terrific about this time of year.