This and That

This post doesn't have any kind of theme, just a bunch of random stuff I want to put out there. Enjoy my arbitrary thoughts:

1. Bubbaism of the MONTH. The comedy around here has been a little sparse lately (every comic genius needs a breather, the Bubba is no exception). Anyway, today was Colonial Day at school and so I dressed like a early American colonist, bonnet and all. I came upstairs tonight and heard this," Hey mom, how do I look in your BANDANNA?" and saw this:

My son in a pilgrim bonnet and apron-could I be more proud?! No, I do not encourage cross-dressing in my home, the boy just happened to find my discarded costume on the floor (yes I am a messy pig!), and wanted to try it on for size. He looks much better in the getup than I did and if you want a picture of me wearing the "bandanna," aka bonnet, just picture my face in the above scene-that's as close as it's going to get.

2. Can't seem to get enough of these lately. Don't know why. It's not like I've never eaten them before and they are all of a sudden new, different and fantastic. Yes, they are pleasing to the palate, but why all of the sudden would I rather eat them than do much else? Did anyone else notice that the snack size weren't in any of the mixed chocolate bags of candy for Halloween this year? All Bubba brought home in his stash were the plains! What is up with that? A coincidence? I think not. Some kind of conspiracy to drive us mad and make us run to the store to buy a pounder? I think the FBI should get onto this. No I am not being paranoid. Don't underestimate the power of a peanut M & M.

3. Twilight. The movie. Opens tomorrow. I'm going. I hope they don't ruin the book. I think I might snack on some peanut M & M s during the show. I think that would be an appropriate time to indulge, don't you? That's all I have to say about that.

4. The weekend is coming! HALLELUJAH! This has been such a frantic and exhausting week, (last week too with parent-teacher conferences), I can't wait to sleep in! (Maybe until 8 or 9 if DH is feeling generous). Definitely not going to be sleeping in next weekend-I'm one of those freaks in line at Toys R Us at 4 a.m. I know, get a life, but my mom and sister and I go every year and we are convinced it's fun so I'm doing it!

5. Now, I'm going to go relax, put my aching feet up and watch Grey's Anatomy. Lose myself and all my worries watching a bunch of dysfunctional TV characters. It doesn't get any better than that!

My New Favorite Book

So thanks everyone for all the great blogging ideas-nice to feel so loved. That's okay, I don't need any help after all, I just finished my NEW FAVORITE BOOK! Here it is:

Such a captivating read! I started reading it to my class and ended up finishing it on my own because I can't read all day at school and I had to know what happened. (Don't tell the kids I cheated and read ahead-they are really into it too!) It's about a Mongolian girl named Dashti who becomes the ladies maid to a girl who has been banished to a tower for seven years. She helps the time go by faster and keeps from going crazy by writing thoughts down in her journal. That's how I feel about this whole blogging thing sometimes-it helps keep me from going crazy! Who knew how cathartic the writing process could be? Anyway, I don;t want to give away too much, because anyone who hasn't read it has to run right out and get it, but it has adventure, suspense, romance, war, and lots of fascinating cultural references just for fun. I give it FIVE stars! Has anyone else read it?

Blogger's Block

I am experiencing a serious case of blogger's block! I love to blog, I want to blog, but for the life of me I can't think of anything that I really want to write about. I want to get Andrew's adoption story down at some point, but that is a HUGE complicated story and I am too lazy right now. I need to stop being lazy, however, before all the important details are lost to me. I am so desperate for a topic that I am asking you, my reader out there to give me an idea and I will write about it. Anything at all. Thank you, in advance, faithful reader, I wait patiently for you to inspire me!

Happy Birthday Bilbo Baggins!

This here post is a shout out to my one and only sibling, Hillary who turns the BIG 3-OH today! Here are the top ten reasons I love my sister:

10. She’s my only sister-do I have a choice? (JUST PLAYIN’!)

9. She is a good cook-capers anyone?
8. We have a lot in common-cats, music, books, shopping, kids, movies, (except the horror-sorry Bill)
7. She doesn’t hold grudges (see above nickname- get it -Hillary=Bilbo, and reference childhood Dumbo incident). I can be grumpy and she still calls back.
6. She thinks I’m funny and laughs at almost all my lame jokes. I’ve got her snowed pretty good.
5. She is always open to trying new things (scrapbooking, blogging, snowmobiling, John Mayer, Wicked, etc.)
4. She is humble. (she doesn’t realize how amazing and smart she really is!)
3. She is a great listener. I can call her and vent about anything. She’s always there.
2. She is fiercely loyal. I know she always has my back. That’s a nice feeling.
1. She loves me unconditionally. Even though I am not the best sister in the world, she loves me anyway and I knever doubt she'll always be there for me.

Happy Birthday Hill! You don't look a day over 29 babe! I wish we lived closer so I could really torture you today! Seriously though, I'm so glad to have you for my sister, you are the BEST!

LOVE YOU!

Halloween Fun!

Halloween Haiku

This is one of the only poetry forms I know by heart and since Halloween was so fun this year, I had to dedicate some prose to the occasion. Here are my five best and most thought provoking pieces-go ahead and pick your favorite. Just to warn you, they are unusually good and it will be hard to choose. They kinda sum up my night-so you have to read them in order to get the full effect. I thought Haiku was more fun than another boring narrative. You get to read between the lines!

#1

At Last, Halloween!

Dress up in your scariest,

Knock and beg for food.

#2

Dark, Halloween night,

Pirates and cops haunt the street,

Run while you still can!

#3

Let's go trick-or-treat,

This bag is much too heavy,

I need more candy!

#4

Can we keep going?

It's my turn to ring the bell!

Scream and stomp my foot.

#5

Finally we're done,

Tired children eat some treats,

Then bounce off the walls!

And The Winner Is...

Please bear with me while I brag about my darling son. We had quite the excitement Friday night at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Andrew loves the dinosaur park and we go there often during the summer, but this was our first experience at night. The whole park was decorated for Halloween and they had all kinds of fun things going on. As soon as Bubba decided to stop being scared to death by all the strange sounds and creepy decorations, he had a ball trick-or treating around the park, interacting with the characters they had walking around, drinking hot chocolate, toasting smores over the fire and going on a wagon ride. The best part of the evening came when they announced it was time for the costume contest.

Initially, we weren't going to enter because we had arrived late and didn't want to take time in the contest that we could spend doing other fun things in the park. But, I let my curiosity (and maybe a little competitiveness and possibly just a dab of greed) get the best of me and off we went to the playground where the contest was being held.

So, it is pretty packed at the playground. We're talking at least 60 kids and their accompanying adults all squeezed into the bleachers and surrounding area in front of the playground's sandbox. I look around and think to myself, "There's no way Andrew can compete against little baby witch over there or darling little sheep boy over there." But, I didn't have the heart to tell the kid he couldn't cut it, so we stay and the contest begins. The kids are paraded in front of the parents, with the judges giving kids they think look good a number which is their ticket into the finals. Twenty kids got numbers. I was thrilled when Andrew was given one.(Oh I of little faith!) Cool, I think, at least he's in the top 20. I was happy with that. But it gets better!

So, they take the top 20 (yeah, this contest was pretty high tech and detailed considering it was just a little po dunk thing at the dinosaur park), and bring them up five at a time to be judged. They are looking for originality, cuteness, and audience appeal. Andrew was in the last group and the crowd went crazy for him (not just his shrieking mother in the front row, either). They kept yelling,"The cop! The cop!" So, he ends up in the top four.

The judges (who were from Roberts Crafts-the contest sponsor), came up and starting announcing the winners. Fourth place; a skunk, third place; the aforementioned baby witch, (no Bubba the cop yet), second place; belly dancing sisters, and first prize, THE COP!! The crowd goes wild-I think I might have blacked out for a minute and the next thing I know I am being handed a huge bag with what they said was $125 worth of cool stuff from Roberts. I was beyond thrilled and proud! I think I now have a better understanding of women who compulsively enter their children into beauty contests. Seeing your child win something is quite the adrenalin rush let me tell you! I know that my son is the cutest thing ever, but it is nice to have this knowledge publicly validated once in a while. Since the Roberts goodies were mainly for me, (I did buy the costume after all), his reward for strutting his stuff was a plastic mammoth replica from the park gift shop and he hasn't stopped talking about being "the winner," since Friday night. What a sweet victory!

Andrew looking stunned immediately after winning the contest.