Yuck. Yuck. And Again Yuck.

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Joshua vs Goliath

Taggarific

Malisa tagged me...

5 Shows I Love to Watch:

1. The Office
2. Project Runway
3. Top Chef
4. So You Think You Can Dance
5. hmmmm...that's about it. I like Arrested Development on DVD, too.

5 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Thai Siam
2. Log Haven
3. Cafe Rio
4. Citris Grill
5. really, anything I don't have to cook that is not McD's...

5 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1. Went to dinner with David. We got to have a date! Yippee!
2. Read a book
3. Paid bills
4. Had a headache
5. Did lots and lots of laundry

5 Things I Look Forward To: (ok, 7)

1. The kids in bed
2. Running when it's not 35 degrees
3. Reading
4. Dates with David
5. Happy family time
6. Good, thoughtful conversations
7. Feeling the Spirit

5 Things I Love About Fall:

1. Running through crunchy leaves
2. The colors
3. Wearing sweaters
4. My birthday
5. Wassail

5 Things on My Wish List

1. Steinway
2. Everyone in my life to be happy
3. For the political process to be simpler and more positive (is that like asking for world peace?)
4. World peace
5. The habit of going to sleep earlier

5 People I Tag

1. Christina
2. Liz
3. Jessie
4. Karissa
5. Janae
5a. Seriously, I tag you all. If you want to do it, go for it. If you don't, don't. I'm easy like that.

Cool Songs for Slideshows

Think of this as a Public Service Announcement. My sister-in-law and I decided to do a slideshow for my mom's birthday. Surprise, surprise; this was harder than it sounded. One of the trickiest parts was deciding on songs for everyone. Internet searches helped a little, but most of the songs that show up when you google music for slideshows end up being, well, lame-o. So just in case someone is looking for songs for their OWN fantastic slideshow, here is what we ended up using. Remember, our family is large, so we needed many songs. The siblings all chose their own songs, so there is a good variety. And yes, I did choose a couple of rather overused songs, but they worked, so deal with it.

Mom: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)
Dad: Sing Sing Sing
Mom & Dad: Love and Marriage (Frank Sinatra)
Me & David: Mushaboom (Feist) and Life in Technicolor (Coldplay)
Eric & Christina: Better Together (Jack Johnson) and Three Little Birds (Bob Marley) (Three Little Birds got thrown in at 2:30 in the morning. I may change that later after talking to E&N)
Chad: Where is My Mind (Pixies)
Matt & Ananda: Feel Good Inc. (Gorillaz) (This needed a little editing to make it family friendly)
Brent: Move On Up (Curtis Mayfield) Brent was also going to use Superfly (Curtis Mayfield) but I ran out of time to edit them together.
Kurt & Ashleigh: Time to Move On (Tom Petty) Loved this one. Also had to add something at 3 am to fill in for time, so I chose the Johnny Cash version of In My Life. I love that, but again, I may change it after talking to K&A.
Steven: North to Alaska (Boxcar Willie) Since Steve-o spent the last five months with sled dogs in Alaska, this fit beautifully, but I'm not sure it has Wide Appeal to the Masses. It made me laugh, though. Good choice, Steven.
Bri & Mike: Good Day Sunshine and Got to Get You into My Life (Beatles)
Chelsea: Fabulous (HSM2 Soundtrack) and I Always Get What I Want (Avril Lavigne)

Then came the grandkids. They got to choose their own songs. You will be able to tell that. Christina and I, as parents, had other ideas, but oh well...:
Joshua: Island in the Sun (Weezer)
Sophie: Walking on Sunshine (Aly & AJ)
Abby: Life's What You Make It (Hannah Montana)
Kate: Soak Up the Sun (I edited out the first verse...Kate doesn't have any Communist friends. As far as I know.)
Will: Life is a Highway (Rascal Flatts)
Ezra: Upside Down (Jack Johnson)
Ben: Beautiful Boy (Ben Harper. It was hard to not use John Lennon, but the kids liked Ben Harper better.)

Then a few group pictures to Our House (Madness). My brother and I used to, um, well, um, make up dance routines to Our House. Sorry, E, to spill the beans. Don't you wish we'd videotaped our old dances for posterity? Well, I wish we had, because then I'd have some great blackmail material.

Here are some other songs that nearly made the cut:
My Favorite Things (Sound of Music)
Shiny Happy People (REM)
Material Girl (Madonna)
We're Going to be Friends (White Stripes) (I'm still going to use this one for a cousins outtakes section)
Send Me on My Way (Rusted Root)
Circle Game (Joni Mitchell, although I love Jim Harmon's version)
A Bushel and a Peck (Doris Day)
You Are My Sunshine (a not cheesy version (I know, amazing) from Elizabeth Mitchell)
Happy Together (Simple Plan)
All You Need is Love (Beatles)
L.O.V.E. (Nat King Cole)
Big House (Audio Adrenaline)
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
These Are Days (10000 Maniacs)
When I'm 64 (Beatles)
Wonderful World, Beautiful People (Jimmy Cliff)
Be Kind to Your Parents (Michael Feinstein. That would have been funny.)

I've got more, people...but I'm going to stop. I need to clean my house.

P.S. If you need more ideas, click here.

Home Again

Back from California...

We had a wonderful time with my family over the weekend. My mom turned 60 (!) on Monday, and it happened to be our school UEA break, so we drove down on Friday and home Tuesday. I dreaded the drive, but it ended up being quite nice. We listened to books on CD, the kids watched DVD's, we talked, and I even got to read. Ben didn't love being stuck in the car seat, but he even did better than expected. I love having low expectations. I'm so rarely disappointed, and often pleasantly surprised.

Fall Pictures

We spent last Sunday afternoon in Heber, having scones with David's mom, his sister Rachelle, and her family, and watching the afternoon session of General Conference. To top off a lovely day, we drove back into Wasatch Mountain State Park to enjoy the beautiful fall colors. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

(That last picture of clouds was taken by Josh. He's getting grabby with my camera. Little stinker. Now I have two kids fighting over it. I asked him if he wanted a camera for Christmas, and he said, "Not some dumb little one.")

Post Postscript

I hit a parked car while I was attempting to parallel park at Sophie's violin lesson. This has been a fun day!

More Parenting Advice

Postscript to my last post.

Teach your older children to:

1. Flush the toilet

If they forget to do that, at least:

2. Shut the lid

If they forget to do that, at least:

3. Close the bathroom door.

Otherwise, the baby may decide to help clean the toilet with the plunger, leaving another wonderful mess for me to clean up. On the same day.

Let's not mention the dog food spilled, the coloring on the kitchen table, and the lift-the-flap books which are now without flaps-to-lift.

Today.

I Love My Eighteen-Month-Old.

Birth Control on a Blog

If you're considering having a baby, just think about this.

Your baby might one day decide to play in his poop. And wipe it all over himself.

Did you know this was a possibility? I did not. I'd heard stories, of course. You hear stories when you're a mom. But to really see it? To smell it? To know that you are the one who gets to clean this up? When you picture motherhood, this is not one of the things you consider.

Sometimes, in the middle of motherhood, I think, "I got a masters degree for this? I learned how to interpret Bach, Mozart, and Prokofiev, and I'm spending my days cleaning up poop?"

Well, yes. In a nutshell, here it is...the poop will only last a few years. But these children will be dear to me always.

Oh, wait. This post turned sweet. And I just intended it as a warning.

So, consider yourself warned. And if it's too late, and you're already in the middle of the whole motherhood thing, just remember...

Put your babies in a onesie and pants at all times. Or you may be writing a post just like this one.

I Love Some Things

I try very hard to control my tendency towards materialism, but I must admit that there are some things that I LOVE. These are Things-with-a-capital-T because I really really like them. I don't really want to live without them. Is that so wrong?

So here are my top five Things:

1. My Bob Duallie Ironman Stroller.

Yes, it's true. My number one Thing is a STROLLER. How can it be? Well, if I didn't have this three-wheeled wonder, my bottom would be parked at home instead of running four mornings a week. And therefore, said bottom would be larger than it currently is. Ben loves to run. I love to run. The Ironman makes us both happy. This morning at 6:30, we spent four miles greeting the dawn. It was perfect. Thank you, Bob.
2. My Garmin Forerunner 305.

(This pic is actually the 205, but they look nearly the same.) Why do I love this watchy Thing? Well, before I owned it, I spent a lot of time driving over courses, trying to determine a new 3 mile route, or a six mile route or whatever. It took time. It took gas. My kids thought I was weird, driving up and down street after street. But now I have my little GPS unit telling me how far I've gone, how slow I'm going, and how way-too-fast my heart rate is. I love this watch. It is my friend.
3. My camera.

I just love my camera. I love it. I love its lenses, too, but I didn't list them today. It feels so good to hold you, camera dear. Thanks for all the fun.
4. My iMac.

I've converted wholeheartedly. iLife Suite, I love you, too. Sorry, brothers. I know you love your PCs, but Mac and I will live happily ever after.
5. My Yamaha U1.

I shouldn't be rude about this. It's ungrateful. I have a love/hate relationship with my Yamaha U1. I love him because he's a reliable, dutiful friend. He mostly stays in tune. His touch is not too hard, not too soft. We have had a lot of great times over the years, and he's made me lots of money. BUT...
He's not a Steinway. Or even a C3. So, I love him, but I'll dump him as soon as I can get my hands on something better. Sorry, U1. You deserve someone who'll love you for who you are. Maybe one day, but until then, I'll treat you mostly right (tunings twice a year, polishing when I get around to it. You know the drill.)

So these are my Favorite Things. Maybe if I'm sincerely grateful for them, I won't fall into the materialism trap? I can hope, anyway.