Personal Flaws

Consider flaws...like personal flaws....


Is there a flaw that while you would never never judge anyone else for having and in fact, love other people who have this flaw....

if it turned out that you had this flaw, would you be horrified, embarassed, and deny it vehemently?

I have a head cold this week and am rather stuffed up in the breathing department.  Other times of year, I have seasonal allergies that stuff up my nasal passages.

My husband says I snore.   (aaah I can't even tell you how horrified I am to even be typing this.)

I say:  

#1 loud stuffy breathing (where the sound comes from your nose) is not the same as snoring (where the sound comes from your throat)

#2  Snoring absolutely does not fit with the mental image I have of myself in my head.  Therefore it is impossible that I snore.

#3 It is very ungentlemanly of him to mention something that happens when I am asleep and completely unaware of it.

See?  It is impossible that I snore. 

I'm off to purchase some Nyquil. 

Sweet Action

a conversation en la casa:

Me:  Is "sweet action" something that only a guy says to another guy, or is it something that anybody could say to anybody?

(because I'm wondering if I said it to a guy if that would be weird.)

Dear Husband:  "Sweet Action" is something that your family says and thinks is cool, but nobody else says it.

Me:  Well, my brothers say it to each other, that's why I was asking if it is a guy thing....

DH:  It's a your family  thing.

Me: So... I shouldn't say it to anyone else?

DH:  No



p.s.  I checked the urban dictionary and it has 10 entries for "Sweet Action"  so I'm pretty sure it isn't just a phrase my family uses, but I'm still not sure if it is a phrase I should use.

Pajamas are for being cute!

My sister asked me about pajamas today and it made me curious.  What is your opinion of pajamas?  

There is a poll on my left sidebar.  Vote!  Comment!

Momma don't take my Kodachrome Away

I thought I just needed new batteries.........

Turns out, my camera is dead.  Now the Man of the House has an excuse to get that digital SLR he's always wanted.

In the meantime, my blogging and documenting the kiddie pies' growth is SERIOUSLY hampered.

Personally, I think a new Iphone would be the solution to this problem.....hint...hint....

In the mean time, I'll have to come up with posts that only require the borrowing of other people's pictures.


Coming soon......Homicidal Pets and Their [former] Owners





p.s. don't you think square [brackets] are so much more ominous than (parenthesis)?

There's got to be a way to make it sweeter

It is amazing what a sincere apology plus lavish compliments can do for a girl's happiness! 

Today is a lovely fall day.  Gentle rains have been falling since sunrise, and the air is cool.  It is a lovely day for Pumpkin Cake.  I know I've spoken disparagingly of cake mixes in the past, but there is one time when they are just the ticket, and that is when you are making a "dump" cake.

*************************************
Pumpking "Dump" Cake

1 can (29oz) Pumpkin Puree
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cans (15 oz) evaporated milk

1 cake mix (yellow or spice cake)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*F
2. Mix pumpkin, eggs, sugar, and spices together.  Stir in Evaporated milk.
3.  Pour pumpkin mixture into a 9X13 casserole dish.
4.  Dump the cake mix evenly over the top.
5.  Sprinkle with pecans and coconut.
6. Melt the butter and drizzle it over everything.
7.  Bake 45-55 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.   Allow to cool at least a little before serving.

Serve with whipped cream.

P.S.  This is pretty much my favorite dessert in the whole wide world, ever.

Mrs. Sparkly

Part 4 of 4

This might be my favorite award. 

Mrs. Sparkly Award

The sparkly award has 10 commandments which is perfect for someone like me who loves rules.

1.  **Describe yourself in 7 words: Brave, Happy, Hard-working, Creative, Reflective, Quick, Goal-oriented.

2.  **What keeps you up at night? great books & exciting plans.  also small children.

3.  **Whom would you like to be? I tried to think of an actress that I would love to be, but just came up blank.  So I googled "Who would I like to be" and got a couple of pretty interesting reads.  I'll share:
College 101: Who do I want to be?
Create a Character Study for your Ideal Self.

I'm actually thinking up a blog posts on the benefits of ideals. So exciting, huh? Try to restrain yourselves from mobbing my house for the pre-press version.

4.  **What am I wearing right now? Puffin Pajamas (thank you, Amanda)

5.  **What scares you? Tall places and the dark.

6.  **What are the best and worst things about blogging? The best thing about blogging is I like to write and read about my friends & family.  The worst thing is when no one comments on a post that I think is particularly clever.  Then I'm like.....but....hello?...are you there?....

7.  **If I could change one thing about myself, what would it be? My compulsion to tell fibs if I think the person I'm talking to won't like the truth.

8.  **Slankets, yes or no? What the heck is a slanket?...googled it.  and Yes I would like one.

9.  **You can never have too many...... Lindt chocolate truffles.

10.  **Nominations:  And the Mrs. Sparkly award goes to Rachel at the Hatch House who is so creative and definitely adds spice to life.  Just check out these awesome Halloween Costumes (I hope that link works)

So fill in the blank.  What can you never have too many of?  I'd love to know.

Illuminating Blogger

Part 2 of 4

Rules

One illuminating thing about me:

I still think I'm going to find a doorway into Narnia one of these days.

And the person I feel whose blog is both informative and illuminating is Rena at The Spartan Experiment

She tried all the diet and exercise advice from Redbook for a whole year and told the world what worked and what didn't.  That takes guts.

Beatiful Blogger

Somewhat recently, I was generously given four blog awards by Jon over at ldsconvertblog.com

He once shaved his glorious hair off for a good cause, which is super cool.

I was only too happy to receive awards with words like "lovely," "sparkly," "beautiful," and "illuminating."   Thank you, Jon, you are a real sweetie pie. 

Along with the awards came permission to bend the rules a bit, so I will.  I will only be nominating one person for each award, because that makes it more special.

Rules

Seven Things about me:

1.  There are 2 things that while I would never judge anyone else if it happened to them, I am horrified and embarrassed if they happen to me.

snoring:  this just doesn't fit with the image I have of myself and I have no control over it, but I did snore a couple of times while I was pregnant last year.  I get positively squeaky if my dear husband brings it up.  I really do not think it's a very gentlemanly thing to mention, wouldn't you agree?

car trouble:  I feel so ghetto/trailer trash when my car breaks down.  Like, gosh, can't I even maintain a vehicle?

2.  I suffer from a teensy bit of Beiber Fever.  I just really like his version of "Love Me"

3.  Whenever there is something that I need to do, but don't want to do, my house gets really clean.  Like, suddenly the floor must be mopped right now, and the laundry must be folded, and the crayon marks must be scrubbed off the walls; all these things are more pressing than the thing I don't want to do.

4.  Calling someone on the phone and asking them to do something is the thing I don't want to do.  I am just not a phone person.  I can't see the other person's face and my cheek gets all sweaty where the phone touches it. urg.  The video phone with speaker phone that I got for Christmas from my dad is the best thing ever. 

5.  Another thing I don't like about phones is when people put me on hold to answer another call.  Hate that.


 6. The clothing in my closet is organized by color and then subdivided by sleeve length.  The fronts all face north.  This makes me happy.

7.  Could I live without chocolate? Yes, but I would be sad and my children and Dear Husband would suffer.   I eat it all for them.

I’d like to pass the Beautiful Blogger Award to Melody because her blog is beautiful (she takes great pictures) and she puts so much of her loving heart into each post.

part 1 of 4

Pet Peeve

image from The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.


My pet peeve is self-righteous slogans like this one. And shame on them because a foundation for reason should avoid such obvious logical fallacies.

Because evil has never been done in the name of Science, or scientific progress.

Oops! except for a million times over. Try googling Doctor Mengele and Dr. Sigmund Rascher, The Tuskegee Study, Unethical Experiments done in the United States, or Top Ten Mad Scientists for a scratch at the surface.

Not to mention the fact that the 9/11 attack wasn't really about religion at all. The media says jihad and Bin Laden may have said jihad to the pilots, but here is the real reason it happened: anger over US foreign policy



Religion doesn't kill people. people kill people.

image from here

No Thanks

Pintrest Love #2

I refuse to try Twitter. (at least until I have a cell phone with WiFi) and I only like facebook part of the time.

But I LOVE pintrest.

So because I love pintrest, and because Baby Dumpling is still not asleep yet, I have created two jpgs that can be pinned!

I always knew I'd leave my mark on the world.

You're Welcome

33 things

**I began this post to celebrate turning 33 last fall, but I never finished it. I was having trouble thinking up 33 things. It seems a strange coincidence that I stumbled over this old half-finished draft on a day when other people are also talking @ the number 33.

**********
This post is egotistically all about me (as opposed to my other posts *eye-roll*), so if you want to skip this one, feel free.

1. If you were to ask me what I do in my free time, I would say I sew things, read books, and surf Pintrest. The truth these days though, is that when I have an absolutely free moment I usually end up wasting it by sitting on the couch and marveling over the fact that I have a free moment.

2. I think pineapple on pizza is yucky.

3. I think vegetable soup is delicious and I could eat it every day.

4. I think green matches everything.

5. I've never been kicked out of a place for being rowdy, but I did get in trouble for playing spoons in the back of Home Ec. class in Junior High. Good Times :)

6. Project Runway is my favorite TV show ever.

7. Tim Gunn's mantra ("Make It Work") is almost the same as mine ("I'll Make it FIT") ......It's like we're twins.

8. I particularly adore quoting favorite movies in conversation.

9. The novel I have re-read the most times is "Gone With the Wind." I'm not sure why it is so compelling to me. It is not my favorite book. It might be because I see all of Scarlett O'Hara's faults in myself and I have to keep reading the book to make sure I am not becoming too much like her.

10. When I'm angry I listen to Melissa Etheridge and clean things in the house that require fierce scrubbing.

11. When I'm sad, I play the piano. It usually makes me feel better.

12. I love to watch Star Trek The Next Generation. And no, I wasn't in love with Will Riker or Wesley Crusher when I was a girl--Captain Picard was the man for me.

13. But I adore Wil Wheaton

and think he is awesome. I blog to keep in touch with my far flung family, but in my wildest dreams, Wil Wheaton would stumble upon my blog and leave me a comment telling me that I'm hilarious. However, the amazing Bloggess I am not. I read her blog and laugh myself silly until the cursing gets too much for me and then I have to stop and take a break. So I cannot be her, even if I was that funny.

14. I love love love pumpkin pie. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite food ever.

15. Some people shower in the morning. I must shower at night. I can't sleep if I'm dirty. My skin crawls just thinking about it.

16. When I go to the airport and they make me take my shoes off and walk down the line, I totally stress about having to put my shoes back on my now dirty socks.

17. I cry at the end of "Nanny McPhee" every time I watch it.

18. I'm 33 and I'm still scared of the dark.

19. Admit it. Life would be so boring without me!

20. I know lots of Spanish vocabulary, but can't string any words together to make conversation.

21. I let my 3 year old take hour long baths because it keeps her happy and busy.

22. My sister, Amanda, can talk me into doing just about anything, no matter how crazy, illegal, or life-threatening.

23. I do not like the movie "Edward Scissorhands". But I do like "Nightmare before Christmas" and "Corpse Bride".

24. I have blue eyes. It is my husband's favorite thing about me.

25. He won my heart because he values education & intelligence. ..and he writes poetry to me sometimes.

26. If you ask my kids what cartoon character I am most like, they will tell you "Kim Possible." That makes me super happy

27. This might be my favorite number. It made me happy to type it.

28. If you ask my kids why they love their mother/are proud of their mother, they will say it is because I fix them food and don't let them starve. I'm glad their standards are low.

29. Why did the elephant cut off his back legs?


.....


So he could go bummin' around the jungle. hahahahahahahahahaha I kill me.

30. The only time I really regret not having tv/cable is during the Olympics. Then I permanently camp out at someone's house who does have TV.

31. I am really loving my thirty's. For the first time in my life, I feel very comfortable in my own skin. I know who I am and I know what I like. I'm old enough to be taken seriously but young enough to still be young. It's great.

32. I had a geography professor in college who's political philosophy I despised (Would you categorize thinking *China's ideas on population control are to be applauded* as a political philosophy?). But he said one thing which I believe is true: "We are ALL dirt farmers."

33. Genuis tid-bit that makes you laugh and love me and sums up my entire existance *here*

Sunshine Award

A fellow blogger has awarded me this Sunshine Award. Thanks! Yay! :) My first blog award!!

I think I earned it mostly because I comment often on their blog. It's a great blog, well thought out and intelligent and surprisingly funny. By which I mean that the humor isn't always obvious, it sneaks up on you unexpectedly. That's the best kind. Ya'all should check it out here: LDS Convert

I comment so much because I love it when people comment on my blog posts (hint! hint!)

Anyway, here are the rules: (Made to be broken, apparently. I'll feel free to break them.)

The Rules: *made to be broken*

Include the award Logo(s) in a post or in your blog.
Answer 10 questions about your self.
Nominate 10 other fabulous bloggers. I'll nominate who I want
Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blog, letting them know about the award.
Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

The Questions: (which I totally changed, via permission to break the rules above)

1. What is your Favorite color? green, green, green. It is happy and peaceful.

2. What is your favorite animal? Elephant. I always wanted a pet elephant when I was growing up.

3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink? raspberry lemonaideDo you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Closed! You never know what big dark shadows will turn into after you close your eyes.

4. Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter? Refuse to even try twitter. And I really have a KindOfLike/Hate relationship with Facebook

Do you like Post-it Notes? Do I ever!! Wanna make me happy on my birthday? Give me a shiny new stack of Post-it notes (Note to the Man of the House: If you are reading this, you are the exception to this rule. Do not give me Post-it notes for my birthday. More is expected of you --like a new package of manilla file folders. I'm sure you knew that already.)

5. What’s your passion? Depends on the day Do you have freckles? Yes, yes I do. In fact, Cutie Pie was just bragging to a friend the other day that her mom had polka dots on her arms.

6. What’s your Favorite pattern? My favorite pattern that I have actually sewn is Insa skirt from the book "Sewing Clothes Kids Love" by Nancy Langdon & Sabine Pollehn. I blogged about how it turned out here.

7. What movies could you watch over and over again and still love? Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, Pride & Prejudice (A&E 1996 version), Scrooge the Musical with Albert Finney, The Muppets' Christmas Carol, Ben Hurr, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Importance of Being Earnest.

8. What’s your favorite number? 7

9. Favorite day of the week? The day I wake up and know that I have no commitments and can spend the whole day doing what I want. Which usually ends up being clean the house.

10. Favorite flower? Tulips Do you ever dance, even if there is no music playing? Yes. There are times when you don't need music, times when the music of your soul is enough.

And now to hand out the nominations: (Ooo! Feel the power! ..Oh, I feel it.)

Dear Goodness- Because yours is my favorite blog to read

Adventures of the Almost Great--Because you haven't blogged in over a year and I miss you!!

Melanie's Photos--Because your blog is sunshine and hope and you always make me smile.

and
WellBread Mom - I just want to hear you answer 10 questions and also I love your blog.

To judge or not to judge,it's not a question

image from here

This week I have caught myself a couple times passing judgement on others around me. Doin' too much gossipin'. I've had to remind myself that I don't know the whole story and those people are probably doing the best they can. Perhaps there's something I need to find in myself and root out--something I'm trying to hide from by stirring in everyone's business but my own.

~~Don't Find Fault by Edgar A. Guest

Don't find fault with the man who limps or stumbles along the road,
Unless you have worn the shoes that he wears or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hut, though hidden away from view;
Or the burdens he bears, when placed on your back might cause you to stumble, too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall, or felt the shame that only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but yet the blow that was his, if dealt to you
In the selfsame way or at the self same time might cause you to stagger, too.

Dont' be too harsh with the man who sins, or pelt him with words or stones,
Unless you are sure, yea doubly sure, that you have not sins of your own.
For you know, perhaps, if the tempter's voice should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him when he went astray, it would cause you to falter, too.
~~~~~~

My amazing cousin has written a short essay about this and is trying to win a scholarship. You can vote for her to win here:

We could all do with more mercy and more understanding. I know I could.

Luke 6:37

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Attitude

It is amazing how my attitude sinks in direct proportion to how low the baby is sitting each day.

Then again, when I spend a sleepless night because my legs hurt so badly and I'm sure my hips are going to pop out of their sockets from the pressure, perhaps it isn't surprising that I'm crabby and impatient and depressed the next morning.

The same thing happened to me on Saturday night. So Sunday (my birthday) I was not a pleasant person to be around. Then Monday the baby floated back up and I became much more cheerful.

Now it is Wednesday and we are both down, down, down.

Thanks, Sister

Because my sister posted about her husband's secret favorite song, I got to find out that my husband has a secret favorite song, too. I can't tell you how happy I was to find this out--especially since most of the music he likes is the kind I'm sure will damage my children's brains permanently.

Not Panicking!--well maybe a little

My Pregnancy Countdown ticker says I have 92 days left.

If I flunk my sugar test next month, that will minus 14 days off the total. YIKES! I'm so not ready yet!

Plus you know that means it is only 97 days until Christmas. Are you ready? I'm not.

Plus I am a little over 2 weeks into my first month of Sales Director Qualification with Mary Kay. The company gives us 4 months to meet the requirements, but my goal is to finish in 3, a.k.a BEFORE the baby is born.

I've been working so hard! I've done more facials in the last 2 weeks than I've ever done in a month. Right now, all I can do is keep working and hope the numbers add up to what they have to be by September 30th. I must just focus on the work I need to do and not focus on the worry. Worry won't get me anywhere.

In just a minute I'm going to take a deep breath and leave this computer and get to work. I'm pretty proud of myself that I've had the house clean, dinner on the table and the laundry caught up--all while working 15-20 hours a week on my Mary Kay. That in itself is proof how much I've learned about time management and self-discipline in the last few years. I even went to the temple last week.

But I also grouched at my kids several times and let my 3 year old watch too much TV. So I'm not even close to perfect yet.

I keep worrying that part of my current efficiency is due to the fact that I have only 1 child not in school and 4 big kids who come home and do at least 1 chore for me every day. In other words, I'll lose all this wonderful control over my life in December when the baby arrives. I have to keep reminding myself that it is a temporary and unavoidable thing--not being able to get anything done after a new baby arrives. Plus that new baby will be so much fun to cuddle and kiss.

I'm so excited about what is going on in my life right now and I am determined to keep working and not drop back into the old procrastinating me. The ostrich who liked to just stick her head in the sand periodically and pretend that nothing was going to fall apart if she just ignored it for a week or 2. As we learn in physics, 2nd law of thermodynamics, the entropy (disorder, randomness, chaos) of a system always increases unless we apply a counter energy or work.

So I'm off to work with a sense of urgency (not panic).

I *HEART* Picasa

Did I mention how much I love being able to use Picasa?

Well, some pretty strange people have been visiting my home. Luckily, my security camera caught most of them on film. Don't worry, I'm sending the footage to America's Most Wanted.

My To Be List

Have you ever heard of Wordle?

I just found it thanks to Pink&Green Momma, though apparently my children have known about it "forever" and just didn't think to share with me. Wordle allows you to create word cloud art. You just type in the words you want--type the word more than once to make it bigger. Then you get to play with the font and color.

Beware. It is addicting.

Some Random bits of wisdom I gleaned from the Universe this Month

And some other things I've learned before, but were brought back again to me with power.

I will contend with him who contendeth with thee and I will save thy children. Isaiah 49:15

Exercising 2-3 times a week for 3 weeks will result in me losing 5 pounds-even though I wasn't great with the dieting part! WOO HOO!

Having someone chew you out for a couple of days is no fun, but you can learn from it.

Having people chew you out nearly every day for 6 weeks can make you wonder if you really are so mentally unbalanced that you didn't see all these problems yourself before someone else pointed them out.

[We should] Pray for guidance, Do our best, Act with confidence and God will guide our steps. (David A Bednar, April Conf 2011)

Working consistently toward a goal for 30 days is both rewarding and confidence building.

Finding out that you have to face something difficult is better than knowing something is wrong, but not knowing what it is.

Facing something difficult with someone you love is better than facing something difficult alone.

Laziness never was Happiness. (thanks sister)

If you have ever had a month when the 6 days that your baby was so sick with flu that she threw up every 2 hours for 48 hours and then couldn't keep food down for the remaining 4 days AND that week was so much easier than everything else you had to deal with that it felt like a blessing from God to just rest and take care of your baby BUT you still sort of complained about it because it was the only thing that wasn't so devastating that you could actually talk about it THEN you will have some idea of my feelings the past few weeks.

When we have a vision of what we can become, our desire and our power to act increase enormously. (Dalin H. Oaks April Conf. 2011)

The Future is as bright as your faith. Thomas S. Monson

IMHO--ha!

So, I don't know about you, but I loathe it when people whine or complain on facebook. Maybe it is because whining on facebook is usually something like: "I'm so tired of this weather" or "I'm so tired of people who judge" or "I'm so tired of being pregnant" or just plain "I'm so tired."

Whining and complaining on a blog, however, is totally fine. Why? you ask. It has to do with the fact that a blog post is longer than a one line status update. So you can explain how you feel in a more exact way--what's really bothering you.

Plus, blog whiners usually put in a little gimme like- "I know I'm just being a baby about this and I should really be grateful right now, but I just feel whiney...." So I can totally relate to that. They know they are being a baby and acknowlege it

And then, there are times when people have truly, deeply sad things happen and that is worthy of a blog post. A one-liner on facebook is too trivial to handle that kind of hurt.

What do you think? Does whining on facebook bother you?


hmmm. that sounded cranky. I'm really not cranky today. I am totaly wiped out! P90X plyometrics. Not for the faint of heart. It is now 1 1/2 hours since I finished working out and my face is finally close to normal color. It was a flaming beet red. Is that bad, in your opinion? I may not get much done today. Moving hurts. (whine whine whine--I know, when I can fit into my size 12 jeans I'll be so glad I did this--so you don't have to feel bad for me. I'm glad I'm doing it! Victory will be S-W-E-E-T.)

I have complained on facebook, much to my shame. And it wasn't very satisfying, let me tell you. By the time I was over it, people were still commenting sympathetically and I felt so shallow. What happened was, I got a haircut on Valentine's day. I showed the girl in the hair salon a picture of what I wanted and she talked alot about doing this or that and I said that sounds good and I wound up with the haircut she had instead.

This is what she did. After 4 weeks, I can almost make my hair look like how she styled it. Thank goodness I have a super awesome flat iron.

I felt okay about it until I got home. Then I had a complete meltdown and ate a bunch of chips and Nacho Cheese (and whined on facebook shamefully. In my defense, it was not a one-liner.) Then I ratted my hair like this.

Then I laughed at myself and I was fine. Besides, the haircut does look modern and like I know what is going on in the world--which was the ultimate goal. I was tired of people telling me I looked like a runaway from Little House on the Prairie or an escaped polygamist. Sheesh! How much more black eyeliner do I need to add?

The princesses all wanted to get in on the silly messy hair pictures.

One of the reasons I was originally upset about the haircut was that I had set my heart on bangs, and I couldn't see any when she styled my hair. But I found them. So I felt better.

This is another look I have not been able to replicate again. Too bad. Nobody would tell me I looked like a polygamist if my hair was like this.