Goodbye Old Friend

Coke Zero.

Oh I how I miss you.

Soda is so bad for you. Intellectually I know this. Which is why every year I vow to stop drinking it.

It's been 13 days. (I have made it several months before...but always have gone back.)

Because...sometimes it calls to me.

"Denise."

"Denise."

I can hear it.

Even now.

It's All a Matter of Perspective

I was at the store buying milk.

I usually buy six gallons at a time...it will last anywhere from one to two weeks.

So...I had my six gallons on the belt when the people in front of me noticed my milk.

They started to speculate why I needed so much milk...and the consensus was that I must be running a day care.

Hummm...

sort of.

Peeping Tom

My friend Lara wrote this post about the crazed wild life in her window.

Well...not to be outdone...we have crazed wildlife of our own.



This little guy has taken up residence around our house.

He started out just sitting in the window in the family room...watching as we hung out in front of the tv...or took meals in the kitchen.

But lately...he has started to look for me in the other rooms of the house...and often sits in the window of the bathroom...just watching.

I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to him because he has taken to pecking on the window until I notice him.

Seriously...am I the only one who thinks this is creepy?

Word of the Day

The word for the day: poop.

Nuf' said.

Marching One By One

Apparently, I am not the only thing crawling back into my house this week.



Seriously...yuck.

But, as bad as the ants are...the little children who leave crumbs all over my house are worse!!!

Fortunately...I don't forsee it being a problem to get rid of the ants...but what do I do with the crumb bums?

Hail to the Chief

I couldn't let the day pass and not say that today is an historic day in our country.

An important day.

I love that we live in a country where the transition of power is seemless. Where there are no riots, or power struggles, or violence.

We have made a choice as a nation, and even those who did not support that choice, support the idea that we live in a nation of laws, and it is up to each of us as citizens to support that choice.

There is much to be thankful for today. Not the least of which is that we do not have to go to D.C. today. phew.

Rocked The Vote

So, I know everyone is blogging the same thing today...but I just wanted to say, I voted.

Troy voted.

Now, let's just keep our fingers crossed.

Grrrr.

That's it.

Just grrrr.

Just Six Words

There is a new book out about people who have written their memoirs in just six words.

It's so funny.

Some of my favorites were:

Extremely responsible. Secretly longed for spontaneity.

I'm my mother and I'm fine.

I peaked in the sixth grade.

I thought it would be fun to write my own.

Somehow, they all seem to revolve around my kids. Mine were:

My kids made me do it.

And

Had six kids. Lost my mind.

or is it?

Lost my mind. Had six kids.

But seriously, how about:

More blessings than I can count.

What would your six words be?

No College Requried

This was from Andrea. It's a website that checks what level of education is required to read your blog.

Here's mine.

What's yours?

Thanks Andrea! I thought this was funny.

Where did the time go?

So Troy and I were at Paul and Sarah's Saturday night, and we started to talk about this huge list of movies Paul wants to see.

One of the movies that I said he should add to the list was "The Outsiders" ... which, I am still having trouble believing that he never saw!

So we started talking about all the big names in that movie and I said that Tom Cruise was in it.

Well, of course, neither Troy nor Paul believed me and Troy even went so far as to bet dinner on it.

Do I even need to tell you that I was right?

And it got me to thinking about all those things that I loved about growing up in the 80's. I know you have all seen those lists, you might be a child of the 80's if...

But I really LOVED the outsiders. I went again and again to the movies to see it.

Holy Cow, was I in LOVE with C. Thomas Howell (aka Ponyboy). And since he lived not too far away from me in Valencia, I used to hope that we might someday meet and fall madly in love. (I would say that this is akin to Troy praying that he might actually find the crysal in his barn that would in fact confirm that he was Superman!)

Other things I LOVED were:

The Princess Bride
Duran Duran
Neon
Pegging my pants
Having a haircut that entirely covered one eye
Saying things like TOTALLY, and GAG ME (with the full on valley girl sound...yeah, yeah, a Korean Valley Girl, I know!)
And, man, did I want a swatch...but no way was my mom buying me one of those!

Did you know that they have 80s dances at the high school here? It was 50s dances when I was in high school. An 80s dance? That was just a dance!

The Earlybird Special

So, my friend Andrea blogged about how she felt like she was getting old because of her gray hair. (You are SO not old Andrea! Young and hot, REALLY!)

Well, in addition to already being really gray myself, I am feeling sadly old myself today.

I was so tired I went to bed at 7 o'clock this evening (yeah, okay, I got back up to blog, but that's another issue).

Anyway, next thing you know I am going to be eating dinner at 4:30 p.m. and telling my children that their music is too loud.

I've Been TAGGED

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: (Jan 1998) I was living in Provo with Troy and Mikayla. I was working while Troy was completing his masters (with Mikayla in tow).

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Get Ready for Enrichment (I am the Enrichment Leader)
2. Survive the day with Troy out of town
3. Blog
4. Cancel a doctor’s appointment (which I foolishly made for the same day as Enrichment)
5. Survive the day with Troy out of town

Snacks I enjoy:
1. Cheese – in almost any form
2. Hummus with pretzels
3. Chocolate – in almost any form
4. Shortbread Cookies
5. S’mores

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Pay off our debt
2. Buy new houses for my parents and my in-laws
3. Buy new clothes (not from Target)
4. Pay for the kids to go to college
5. Take a trip to Hawaii (just for starters)

3 of my bad habits:
1. Staying up too late
2.Procrastination
3. Being Late

5 places I have lived:
1. Bangkok, Thailand
2.Huntington Beach, CA
3. Provo, UT
4. Vienna, VA
5. Manassas, VA

5 jobs I have had:
1. Library Page (Shelving books, checking in/out)
2. Intern at the Huntington Beach Police Department
3. Cashier at Sports Chalet
4. Franklin Covey Assistant Product Manager
5. Circulation Manager at BYU Law Librarian

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I am always worried about what other people think – even when I seem hugely confident – I never am. I am working on this, and as I love myself a little more, I worry a little less.
2. I love the movie Grease 2. It is a huge guilty pleasure and one that I am HUGELY embarrassed to like.
3. I have always wanted to be an actor. It is my secret (um, used to be secret) dream.
4. When Troy and I first got married, I wanted 12 children (I know you all thought it was just him). Now my number is somewhere around 8. We’ll see.
5. I am a compulsive rule follower. It drives Troy crazy, especially when the rules don't make sense or seem really arbitrary. I can't help myself.

I tag Aimee, Robin, Kim, Katie, and Talease.

The Magic of Ordinary Days

I love this phrase.

The Magic of Ordinary Days.

Most of the time, this is how I feel about my life. Life is good. There is magic in being with my children, and doing for them, and for my husband, and every now and again, for myself. The beauty of my life is in the journey, and the joy I find in the everyday.

But today, is not one of those days.

Today the dishes are piled so high I can't even do them. The counters are dirty. The floor is disgusting. And the laundry...oh the laundry...with six kids, we do more laundry than you can imagine, and today, I just don't feel like it.

I can admit (though not proudly) that I don't have the tidiest house on the block, but I do usually manage to hold my own (its usually clean, although often cluttered)...especially considering how many people we actually have running around this house.

But today, there is no magic. Just dirt.

Why don't moms have sick leave?