It’s Just Me

Wow, it’s nice to have a 90% clean house (still have a little ways to go, but we’ll get there).  The cleaning crew came in today and got this place into shape.  The realtor comes by tomorrow and then WHAM.  The house will be on the market.

I’m scared and excited and emotional, and it hasn’t even sold yet.  This is such a great house.  We’ve been here 11 years.  I’ll be sad to leave it.  Lots of good stuff happened here.  Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

Next subject:

Let’s talk Jim & Pam, shall we?  Last night’s episode (Chair Model) sent me flailing back into my couch cushions in happy shock!!!!!!  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  An upcoming engagement?  Happy happy, joy joy (should it actually happen….)!!!!  The whole OFFICE episode was hysterical – one of my faves ever.  Emmys Emmys Emmys Emmys Emmys.

And more TV – - LOST starts up again next week.  And David Cook on Idol is freakin’ AMAZING. 

So – did you get your new Entertainment Weekly in the mail today?  The one with the SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW?  As always, I devoured it practically on arrival.  Movies to be excited about this summer: Iron Man, The Happening, Get Smart, The Dark Knight, Step Brothers, and everything with Colin Firth in it (Then She Found Me & When Did You Last See Your Father & The Accidental Husband & Mama Mia — even if ABBA music makes me wanna hurl).

I’ve been reading up a storm – - I have fallen in love with the books CROW LAKE and THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE, both by Mary Lawson.  I couldn’t put either one down.  She is an author to adore.  Stories of families in a fictional town in northern Canada (yes, both of them) – and both books alternate back and forth in time -  and are heart-wrenchingly beautiful.  I will be reading these again.  Just started WINGED CREATURES – (which will be a movie later this year about 6 people’s lives after they survive a random fast-food restaurant shooting).  I love reading books that are going to be movies.

SPIDERS – so far this week, one landed in the jelly jar while I was making a sandwich, and I have approx 6-8 spider bites on me and only me (because spiders never like anyone else in this house except ME). Oh, and WHO was a spider crawling on last week while all us girls were watching American Idol?  Oh yes, that would be me.  On MY shirt sleeve.  Freaking ME (and Annie and Heather) out.  Gadz.  It’s horrific.  Yick.

Latest pages for Peppermint Creative:

May you have a happy and spider-free week.

It’s April. That means the following:

1. April means two more months til Annie is out of high school.  Two more months of getting up early, making lunches, and driving her there.  Two more months til we can sleep past 7:20.  Neither of us can wait!!!!!!

2. April means there’s approx 2-3 months til we actually move (for real this time).  (yah, right… you’ll all believe it when you see it).  I have GOT to get my rear in gear.

3. April means the it’s RASCAL FLATTS CONCERT TIME!  YAY!  We see them on the 11th!  We are SPAZ level excited!

4. April means new episodes of THE OFFICE (is it nuts to be so excited about a TV show?) – - I’m pretty much in a constant state of skipping, I’m so excited!  (on a side note, April also means more episodes of LOST coming up in late April. Put on your seatbelts, it’s gonna ROCK!)

Eric got home from an almost 2 week trip to Singapore/Malaysia on Friday – he’s still pretty tired, and today woke up with a horrible pain in his ear.  A trip to the doctor revealed nothing, but he’s feeling better.  We do love Advil at our house.

Fun news for me – - I am now a member of the Peppermint Creative Design Team (a digi-scrapping site that I adore) – go see all her cute stuff!  I’m beyond thrilled!  www.peppermintcreative.com

Layouts for Peppermint Creative and a few pics to share -

Jeff with cousin Oakley. She wasn’t too sure of handing out “high fives” that day.

Cute Cousins!! Hailey, Megan, Annie and Eryka.

Pancake decadence.

HAPPY APRIL!

Good glory.  Just got back from a walk with my son Jeff and one of the dogs.  I tell ya, Jeff walks FAST.  Sure, it’s good for me, but dang, I’m so out of shape, my heart is still POUNDING 15 minutes later.  In the truly brilliant words of Dory, “JUST KEEP SWIMMING”.  Whew.  Here’s hoping it’ll help me shed some serious poundage as I have put on serious poundage this year.  Oy.

Some quick TV thoughts:

1. David Cook on Amer Idol – - YOU ROCK MY FREAKIN’ WORLD.

2. The first 8 episodes of LOST have been awesome – hurry April 24th when it comes back for 5 more.  Yeeeeeeowzza.

3. 15 days til THE OFFICE!!  Gaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

4. So glad to have THE BIG BANG THEORY back on – - isn’t it great when a show makes you laugh REALLY hard!??!!  “Unravelable!”

5. I can see that HULU.com is going to make me sit in this chair even more than I already do. 

6. Really enjoying NEW AMSTERDAM – - (just one suggestion – more back story and less cop stuff).

7. Fire up your TIVO’s for Sunday’s Masterpiece Theater – - they’re doing Sense & Sensibility (in 2 parts) and it’s getting great reviews!  Eeeeeeee!

Latest scrap pages and a few recent photos of Annie and her sweetie:

So this last week, I’ve noticed a few TV blogs with top 10 lists of the author’s favorite TV characters on current TV.  How can I pass up this chance to chime in with my take on the subject?

10.  Chuck Bartowski – (CHUCK) – how can you not love this guy?  Adorable, innocent, helpful, funny, and madly in love with someone he can’t have (yet).  Sigh.

9 & 8. Leonard AND Sheldon (BIG BANG THEORY) – these guys consistently have me laughing OUT LOUD – both have been perfectly cast, and their quirks and geeky nuances are perfection.  What a combo!

7.  Sawyer (LOST) – his nick-name abilities never cease to entertain.

6. Barney Stinson (HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER) – his ratio chart sealed this deal.  That was entirely funny.  I will forever be a Barney fan.

5.  Dwight Shrute – (THE OFFICE) – his crying scene in the stairwell was what I deem EMMY WORTHY.  If you haven’t seen it, go find it NOW.

4.  Jack Donaughy (30 ROCK) – I have adored seeing how funny Alec Baldwin has been all these years when guesting on SNL, but when he took on the role of Jack, true TV bliss was born.  The man is a comic genius.  And I love the way he calls Liz “LEMON”.

3.  Jack Shepard (LOST) – reasons: the way he portrays his anguish, his acts of heroism, and always wanting to do the right thing for everyone, and how he looks with that stubble.

2. Jim Halpert (THE OFFICE) – the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen on TV is Jim’s undying love for his Pam.  I would personally like to thank who ever it was that hired JK for this role.  He has become part of my daily vocabulary (“Wow.”), and I make at least 10 “Jim faces” a day.  XOXO Jim Halpert.

1. Benjamin Linus (LOST) – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  No other character on TV scares me more, no other character has been so manipulative and convincing and intense as this guy.  Right from the start, he was TV’s biggest mystery to solve, and we’re still salivating while trying to figure him out. 

March?  Already?

And oh……………. how I’ve let the blog slide…

I spent the greater part of February sicker than I’ve been in years.  My sister called this year’s bout of the flu THE WALKING DEATH.  I concur.  It was a very rough couple of weeks.  Ick poo.  And Matt out in Utah got it last week.  Seems to be spanning the country unfortunately.  It took so much out of me, and now I’m getting asthma again that I haven’t had in well over a year – - my lungs are retaliating I guess.

Eric turned 47 on the 20th of Feb.  He’s not too pleased, but I have to say, he looks mighty good for a 47 year old.  Hubba hubba.

Eric and Annie and Michael (her adorable boyfriend) and Heather all went skiing today at Boreal.  Had a blast!  Apparently Annie came off the ski lift one time and whapped right into the large map about 15 yards ahead of her.  Good times.  No one was hurt.  It’s times like this we wish someone had been taping it.

Annie and the sign:

And some more cute pics from today:

Happy 21st birthday to my Jeffrey!  It’s a mighty weird thing to have your baby boy hit 21.  WAAAAH!!!  I am officially old.  My kids are 23, 21, and 18.  Eeeegaddzz.

Look how LITTLE he was!  (and soooo cute!)

Here’s the birthday boy – all 21 years of him.

I am completely thankful to have this kid in my life.  He makes every day brighter, he is quiet and funny and appreciative.  I’m so glad he still lives at home and that he’s content about it. 

Have a WONDERFUL year Jeff!

Words cannot express my excitement for the new season of LOST that starts tonight.     

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure, I haven’t blogged in a long time, but this is MAJOR.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index

ENJOY!

There’s so much to say, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin saying it all, so I’ll sum up.

-Christmas was FABULOUS!  -So amazing to be with all of our kids!  -New cars ROCK!  -I think I’ve gained 30 pounds in a month’s time.  -Vacation from school makes kids and mom happy.  -Eric enjoyed some much appreciated time off.

How’s that for a wrap-up?

I’ve scrapped a few pages – and for Pete’s sake, they’re all red.  No reason, they just are.

this page inspired by SNOW SMOOCHES by Mrs2a50.

I’ve decided not to make any major resolutions like I did last year (which were to read more, have better posture, etc….) – but I challenge myself and everyone who reads this to just be a nicer person this year.  Sounds simple, but I know it can make an impact.  Have a good one!

So – I got an email from a friend today saying she’d found my blog.  And I realized what a poor neglected place my blog has become.  So back to it.

Man oh man!  FIVE days til Christmas!  Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think I’m close to being ready.  Shopping’s mostly done, probably just one more trip to the mall to take Annie shopping…. then I’m calling it quits.  Four days in a row so far this week is enough, wouldn’t you say?

Someone remind me to start shopping EARLIER next year.

Matt & Val arrive on Saturday – HURRAH!  Her mom is coming this year, too – it’ll be a blast to all be together!

The kids are officially out of school for the Christmas holiday – Jeff and Annie both had their last finals today.  Believe me, we’ll be enjoying the freedom and the sleeping in!

We had Annie’s b-day party on Friday, they went to dinner, then came back here to sit around our new little fire pit (or “bonfire” as Annie put it).  The party was perfect!  Such great friends!

Here’s Annie with her new glasses with our SWEET little Batgirl kitty taken a few days ago – - kitty is BIG and absolutely a cuddle bug.  Just adorable.  Will get a better “new glasses” pic soon.

Gonna go watch THE OFFICE and maybe get a little more wrapping done tonight!

Happy Holidays!

Here’s 7 facts about me:

My cute pal Jen Sizemore http://jennifersizemore.blogspot.com/ tagged me today (and also reminded me that it’s time to update the ol’ blog)….

So here we go.
Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
Here’s 7 facts about me:

1. I have an insane sweet tooth.  This does not help in the weight department.  Sigh.  I rejoice that it’s “candy season” (Halloween) and that I have a legit excuse to buy tons.

2. I have been a life long nail-biter.  Ever since I got fake nails for my precious son Matt’s wedding in May (those nails irritated me to no end), I have bitten them lower than they have ever been.  It’s record breaking actually.  Yikes.  I seriously need to wear gloves when watching TV or movies.  I draw blood.  It’s bad.

3. In high school, I was the top student in my public speaking class.  I enjoyed it so much and got so much encouragement, that I considered a future career as a DJ. 

4. I want a Nissan Murano or a VW Toureg.

5. I consider going upstairs exercise.  And I hate exercise.  Thus, I hate going upstairs.  Sadly, my room/bed is upstairs.  (note to self, try not to have your bedroom be upstairs in your next home).

6. All my babies have come early.  Matt was a week early, Jeffrey 2 weeks early, and Annie was almost a month early.  The early thing worked nicely for me.      (otherwise I would’ve given birth to mooses.)

7. I am the shortest of 5 children.

———

Latest family news:

We’re prepping the house to sell.  We hope to have the for sale sign up in another week or so.  Hoping/needing to move by end of Dec or early January.

We’re up to 10 kids at the school we’ve opened in Utah!  YAY!  So nice to see a dream come true!

Matt got a great promotion at work, and Val is LOVING her personal trainer job and will be making some really good $$ with it!  YAY!

Jeffy’s got a really hard semester this time.  I’ve never seen him study so much in my life.  But he’s doing it, and he’s seeing successes, and that’s a great feeling!

And Annie got GREAT grades this last progress report!  WOW!  She’s going to her friends Homecoming dance next Saturday, she got the most awesome black dress to wear!  Gonna look faboooo!

Lexie-puppy has a bad tooth that needs extracting.  Yikes.

Kona-puppy is overweight by 6 pounds.  Not good when you’re supposed to only weigh about 13 pounds.

Batgirl-Baby Kitty is TOO BIG already and we want our kitten back.  She’s sooooo entirely precious!

NOW LET’S UPDATE SOME TV STUFF, OK?

Shows I’ve given up (either didn’t enjoy, or time restraints, etc…)  – - JOURNEYMAN (just didn’t get into it), REAPER (it was just OK), PUSHING DAISIES (I was so hyped for this one, and I can’t remember hating a show more – ick poo!!!!), MOONLIGHT (mostly because it’s on Fridays and I always forget to set my DVR, and I figure I can catch it on DVD at some point), and BIONIC WOMAN (because the villain was more exciting than the Bionic Woman, and that’s just wrong).

Shows I can’t get enough of:

CHUCK – Hysterical, delightful, trendy, and I love Chuck.

BIG BANG THEORY – This is my LAUGH OUT LOUD tv show every week.  It’s not getting the best reviews everywhere, but dangit, it is FUNNY!

HEROES – sure it’s starting off a little slow this year, but C’MON people, this is still GOOD TV!  Everyone’s harping on how dumb Claire’s boyfriend is, well, I disagree, I think he’s lovely, and I’m voting for him to get the lead in the upcoming TWILIGHT vampire movie from the Stephanie Meyer novel.  All in favor, raise your hands. We need more Kenzei story by the way.

30 ROCK – someone PLEASE hand Alec Baldwin an EMMY.  Love this show!

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER – season started off slow for me.  But this week’s episode was back in PERFECT form.  SOOOOOOOOO FUNNY!  I love Ted.

TORCHWOOD – it’s a weird show, not even well acted sometimes, but I’m officially sucked in. 

THE OFFICE – I am so in love with this show, it’s bordering on insanity!  I love how Jim and Pam’s romance isn’t the “theme” for the show, just something they touch on here and there.  That rocks.  (altho they can add more if they “need” to.  Hee). The whole Dwight depression over his breakup with Angela is brilliant.  His “whale crying” in the stairwell – - well, this guy needs an EMMY too.  I’d like to have a group hug with the writers.

Did ya see the preview for the upcoming 24?  Yowza!  Count me in!

And only 4′ish months til LOST comes back.  Good heavens.  This it torture.