sassyjose

The One Where There is a Wall

2012-01-25T08:47:00.001-07:00

There is a wall in cancer treatment, I think in any treatment actually. It is kind of two fold: One you are as low as you can get ... you do not feel like you can get any lower; and two you actually feel like you have run full force at a wall. Mom hit the wall this week. The good news is that she is engrafted. The transplant took, now whether it put her into remission is another thing, we have to wait 100 days for that test. But her transplanted cell seem to be working in her body to build her immune system back up. Her counts look great. She feels like shaz.

They explained like this to us: Mom's body is acting like a computer right now, it has crashed and needs to reboot. Her heart is firing wrong, her lungs are breathing wrong, her gi track is working wrong, her hair is falling out, her brain is working wrong, her speech is working wrong, her lips and mouth are dryer than anyone should have to experience, her temp is working overtime, her energy is being used to repair the organ function and she feels like crap. She even admitted yesterday she feels like crap. Her words exactly "I admit I feel like crap." Where she used to be able to walk all the way around the block of the East Wing. She can make it down the hall right now. This is not bad news, they expected this to happen, but frankly it does not make it easier on her. Mom is tired, she sleeps a lot. She is understandably a little frustration with being in the hospital for the last 2 weeks.

But hitting the wall means she is at the bottom of her treatment, and now she will start to climb. As her counts go up, her energy will go up. As her body fights, she will feel better. She is on the up swing. I was proud of her for eating solid food yesterday for the first time in days.

So Mom hit the wall, or the wall hit her, hard. But she is climbing out of it. Fingers crossed and prayers she can go home soon. I know once she is home, in her own bed, with her own shower,with her own tv, and her own food, she will be feeling better.

Oh goodness

2012-01-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I went up to grab Mom's laundry today. She is having a kind of rough day which translates into me having a bit of a rough afternoon thinking about her. I was sitting at my desk and clicked on my Reader feed. I had too many unread blogs to catch up on. I like things to be empty so when it said I had 274 unread blogs my head exploded ... I digress.

Well my friend from church wrote a blog that had me snorting; fixed my afternoon right up! This is what she had to say:

It is all I can do not to respond to every Facebook update I see using the phrase "Your mom....."

For instance, a friend wrote "Lansing Ward potluck tomorrow. The theme is "Soups and Breads". Bring your favorite soup or bread. Hope you see you there!!"

I want to reply: " Your mom is a soup and bread." or "Your mom is a potluck".

Another update from a friend "off to Moab for the weekend with liz and a yurt." My (desired but not actually written) reply: "Your mom is as yurt."

Sometimes in real life I forget that there is no "Edit > Undo" function. Example: last Sunday when I was participating in an object lesson in RS. A few of us sisters were standing in a circle using our hands to hold pieces of yarn the RS Prez was winding around- you know, demonstrating how connected we were....Well, my ladyfriend standing next to me said "My piece of yarn is loose." My response? "Your mom is loose". What's particularly awesome about this example is that I found out about 30 minutes later that her mom was starting chemo the next day- so probably not the best time for a your mom joke- or maybe the best time for a your mom joke, it's hard to tell.

I had the chance to hang out with some church ladies Saturday writing cards to people who maybe needed a card (I did not get one ... sad day!) but I wrote her one that said "Your Mom is writing a thank you card." I personally think it was the best time for a 'Your Mom' joke! Plus I do not know that I have ever been called a 'ladyfriend'; I really liked it! And all I have to say, Emily, your Mom is a ladyfriend!

The One Where There Was Excitement

2012-01-23T08:27:00.001-07:00

Mom's doctors told her before she went in a few weeks ago that they really like a boring life; they want patients that they do not have to see often because life is treating them with boredom. They do not like excitement. Excitement during a transplant is bad. Boring is good. Mom has been bored stiff until Saturday.

The shots they give her to promote her stem growth, neupogen, really hurt. It hurts going in, they bruise something fierce, and once they start working they hurt the body. But what these shots do is make the baby stem cells grow which, along with the transplanted cells, make it so the cancerous cell that have been killed can be replaced with new nice cancer-free cells. This is good, especially in a transplant like Mom had. Well they affect Mom in giving her body spasms. These bone spasms are primarily in her spine, then rest on her chest. The spasms started last week, got pretty bad on Saturday, and Sunday were less than stellar. Another side effect is a fever that Mom has right now, which is rather high. Any time a transplant patient gets a fever they send him or her down to xray for a chest xray to rule out pneumonia. Mom does not have pneumonia, however they have not ruled her out for getting it because of how sticky her lungs are. Additionally they gave her an echocardiogram which showed that she has atrial fibrillation or a-fib. This means that her heart has an extra flutter even though it is beating strong. Her resting heart rate got up in the high 170's which is not great. It is not has bad as it could have been, but they called in a cardiologist to check her out. They all agree that these issues are a result of her cell counts going up. This is a good thing, but her body should not be reacting like this. To treat the a-fib they gave her amiodarone which kind of kick started her electrons to fire correctly in her heart. They also gave her a rider of magnesium and potassium as they were lower than should have been. The amiodarone started working almost right away. When I left Sunday her heart was beating at around 90-100 which is alright. If she were not in the kind of room she is in, with the HEPA filter, she would have been transferred to ICU to get the cardiac treatment she is getting now.

While I was there for a few hours Sunday I watched a parade of doctors and nurses come though at rapid pace to ensure she was alright and to fix what was going on with her. Dr M. actually reminded Mom that they do not like excitement, rather they want things boring. Mom was not allowed to be in bed yesterday, but on the bright side she was excused from doing her walks yesterday. Is that a bright side?

The good news is her counts: In the last post I mentioned that her neutrophil count was 0, her white count was 0.2. Sunday her neutrophil count was 100 and her white was 0.7; so they are in the rise, which is causing some of her side effect issues but that also means that if they can get these other issues under control Mom can feasibly come home next weekend. I am trying to think positive about it but not get my hopes up. Life has to get boring again in Mom's room for that to happen. So everyone: fingers crossed, good thoughts, plenty of prayers, and thank you!!

Side note: The whole time I was sitting there listening I had to be grateful that I watch Grey's Anatomy so I could understand what they were saying! Thanks Christina for specializing in cardio!

The One After The Transplant

2012-01-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

Mom has been in the hospital now for 11 days. Hopefully she will be out in a week or so. She has had a few bad days. But overall she is doing alright. The chemo hit her pretty hard this time. She was not super sick last time; but the chemo was not her friend at all. The night before her transplant Colleen and I took her girls in to see Mom. They played with Grandma for a while, showing off how much they love her ...

Then on the day of her transplant Sissy went up to see her and gave her some lovin as well. That line in her right chest is where she gets all of her treatments done.

Here is a pic of Mom during her transplant. It is not so taxing as one might think, however it does smell bad. Mom is sucking on a sucker because it tastes bad to her. Deb said it best "Imagine creamed corn and fish." Gross right? For days.

I went up to see Mom today, this was her attempt at smiling for a picture. Bless her heart.

Here are the (not so graphic) details. If you do not want to know then I suggest you just look at the pretty pictures of Mom again with 3 of her 5 grandchildren. By the way the other 2 grand kids have been up to see her too, but I was not there to take a pic.

Last Thursday was her transplant given by cute (married) nurse Ben. We were told by Mahmoud, the transplant tech, that the cells they collected 3 years ago have been stored at -195 C which was like -315 F or something crazy like that. They thaw them to about 98 F but they are still cold going in. The DMSO causes the bad taste in her mouth and the smell of creamed corn. They had 6 bags of stem cells this time. The transplant took about 90 minutes ... the smell lasted days. Mom was tired the rest of the day, but had many visitors to share the day with. The next day the chemo kicked her trash. She was not feeling good at all. Sadly the next day I got sick so I could not see her for a few days. However, she has been nauseous and very very tired. Yesterday her numbers dropped, as we knew they would, so she has no energy. Her neutrphil count is 0, her white blood count is 0.2. Her red count and platelets are heading down too. They have her platelets today, she will have a few more blood transfusions before her numbers will start going up. The lack of blood counts is what makes her so tired ... well that and the fact she has cancer ... and just had chemo.

One side effect of this treatment that is new that she did not really expect is that she is weepy. She is not depressed, she is not sorry for herself, she is not even really sad about anything. She was not really weepy last time that I remember. Actually Mom is a trouper. She really is one of the strongest women I know. She makes a decision and goes for it. She is not one who second guesses herself. She knew what she signed up for this time, having done it before, and she knew it was going to be hell (my word not hers) and she chose to do it anyway. I love that she wants to fight. I love that she is fighting. I love her.

What can she expect in the next week? Life is going to get a little worse, then it will get better. Her numbers will hit rock bottom. She will have more blood transfusions. She may start getting sores in her mouth, throat, esophagus, intestines, or stomach (knock on wood this does not happen.) She will start to lose her hair next week. Some of the other side effects of chemo are not really blog appropriate, but use your imagination on how sick she could get. So far, knock on wood, she has not contracted any stomach viruses; she got one last time and they do not give her any meds for it, it has to go away on its own which is miserable. When the patients get this they put in place contamination protocols where those who come in contact with her have to wear gloves and masks and the kids probably would not be able to go see her. So it could be worse, not much but it could be. I can imagine if Mom is reading this now: "Really Steph, it could get worse? Tell me!!"

She still takes walks around the floor, though she gets more tired quicker than she did. I was proud of her today she went a little longer than she did for our walk yesterday. She said she feels like she is getting slower, she is. But I am proud of her. It is hell. And she is a fighter.

The One Where Everyone (else) Gets a Haircut

2012-01-12T10:13:00.003-07:00

Last Saturday we gathered to get some haircuts. I have never been so envious of someone else's good fortune. I know, I know it is just a haircut. However when a person is used to REALLY short hair and currently has 8" of hair she may get jealous of haircuts. 4 more inches ... give to take.

LoMo, Sissy, Mac and Deb all got haircuts. LoMo, Sissy, and Deb donated theirs to Locks of Love. Colleen and Candice had donated earlier. Jealous! But mostly proud. If you ask Sissy why she cut her hair she says "I gave it to my friend, who is short, and has not hair because she is sick."

Then we went out to eat so Mom could have a really good salad, something she does not get while she is in the hospital or for the 100 days after.

LoMo before and after

Sissy before and after

Mac during

Deb before and after

CoCo after

The three girls after

Playing with Mom at the hospital last night

The One Where She Got Unlimited Popsicles

2012-01-10T09:39:00.002-07:00

Mom had a good first day over all. Pleasant? Not so much, but not the worst day ever in her cancer treatment. We had to be there at 7:00. Mom and Dad got there earlier than I did and by the time I got there she was already back being prepped for surgery. They installed a central line in her right chest. This will be used for most of her treatments. She has an IV in one port, another port they use to take blood daily, and the last port is used for chemo and her transplant. It is kind of gross to look at day one, until she can take a shower and wash everything off. This took longer than we expected because they did not start her line until almost 9, but we did not know that. Imagine sitting for 3 hours waiting for news on the simplest procedure she will go through and thinking the worst because there is no news. No news is not always good news! :)

While she was in there, I went up to set up her room; got her all unpacked so she did not have to do it later. She took some cute pictures of her grand-babies and a scrapbook with all of her family with her, so I had those set up along with her quilt when she arrived.

She got up to her room around 11:30, got dressed, filled me in on the details (because they do not put you to sleep for that procedure; the idea makes my toes curl!!!) She was tired, and I had to get to work, so once she was settled and knew she could order some lunch I left. Dad stuck around for a while. After lunch they gave her her first round of chemo. They do it a little different than last time. They made her suck on ice chips the first 20 minutes, then gave her chemo which took 20 minutes; during this time she got to suck on Popsicles the whole time, followed by 20 minutes of ice chips again. They have found that if they do this while getting their chemo there is a lower chance of getting mouth, throat, and stomach sores later. At least they have found that when the sores do come, they are not as bad.

After this she took a nice long nap, waking up around 6 to order dinner. I went up with a few things she needed around this time. One of my old mission ... well we were not companions, but I do not know what else to call her ... has a company called Happy Chemo to help people when going through cancer treatment. Ginger came up to meet Mom, sang her a song, and took off to meet some other patients. Mom, Dad and I took a walk after that (she has to take 3 a day) and then I took off. When I left they were going to look at her line because it seems to be bleeding more than it should be, but it was not a huge concern.

She gets her second round of Popsicles today ... during another heinous round of chemo.

I am tired, I went to bed early last night after doing some much needed dishes. I fully admit to taking a sleeping pill and slept all night! And through my first alarm. Oops, but I still made it on time for my early morning meeting today. Yesterday was not such a bad day considering.

The One Before the Transplant

2012-01-09T13:00:00.002-07:00

Mom has cancer. It ismultiple myeloma which is a blood cancer (related to bone marrow). It istreatable but not currently curable. She was diagnose in 2008, and went througha stem cell transplant later that year. This transplant put her into remission forthree years, when she had a recurrence of cancer earlier this year.

In the last few weeks shehas had a lot of test run. She has had 27 vials of blood drawn for a barrage ofblood tests, she had a kidney test, full body bone scan, bone marrow biopsy,pulmonary function test, she had to have dental and other exams too, and I amsure I am missing something. Her tests all came back with good news. If any ofthe tests came back abnormal she would not have been cleared to have atransplant. Her numbers all look great. In face the doctor said that if theirtests were not so advanced the cancer would be undetectable. This means it isthe ideal time to do the transplant. One interesting thing is that her cancerspots have moved a little; last time her cancer spots were primarily in herspine and shoulders. This time they are on her scalp, left shoulder and lefthip.

The treatment is harsh,unpleasant, painful, and taxing on the person. The previous transplant washarder than this one is expected to be. Last time she collected her stemcells before the transplant occurred. This process is called the harvest. Theygave her shots to promote growth of new baby stem cells. These shots did thingsto her body that were painful to watch, I cannot imagine what it was like forher. The good news is that she collected enough cells for two transplants. Thereason this is doubly good is that the harvest is kind of a one shot deal. Ather age it is unlikely that they will ever do that again.

Her last transplant wasrough. She was in the hospital for 18 days total. She is going to do the samething this time, and they do not expect her to be out much before 21 days.So tomorrow morning she checks into the hospital at 7:00. Shewill have surgery to have a central line (pick) put in place this is a goodthing because they have a lot of blood work to run, she will have her chemothrough it, her transplant and blood transfusions will be through it aswell. This prevents her from being stuck with needle multiple times perday.

Soon after this surgeryshe will be given enter first round of chemotherapy. She will be given a secondround the next day. She then gets one day off, but stays in the hospital.Thursday will be her transplant day. They will bring the cells she collected 3years ago, that have been cryogenically frozen, to her room. They thaw them outnext to her bed. They then hook the bags up to her like they would an IV orblood. It smells like creamed corn. She says it tastes like creamed corn. Wewill never eat it again! If they put it in too fast or slow her body gets coldor hot. She has to suck on candy so that the chemical taste does not linger inher mouth.

After this she will be inthe hospital while the chemo does its work. She will have sores in her mouth,esophagus, and stomach. She will start to lose her hair; her hair will continueto fall out over the next few weeks. Her blood count will drop which willrequire her to get different blood transfusions, depending on what is low thatday (plasma, red, white). Her white count will drop so low that she will not beable to fight infections on her own, which is why they keep her in thehospital. Once her counts start going up, she will be evaluated a few more daysthen released. She has to stay in semi-isolation for the next 100 days to avoidcoming into contact with people who are sick.

Her taste buds will die alittle. Nothing tasted good to her except chocolate. Do not worry; she wasgiven a 5lb block of milk chocolate to munch on over the next few months. Shehas to be very careful what she does eat because of the microbes on food. Shecan only eat salad if we prepare it carefully and she eats it right away. Shecannot eat food commercially prepared unless it comes out right away.

She cannot be aroundanyone who is sick. So while she is lonely because she is isolated, it isbetter for people who have been or are sick, or take care of someone who issick to stay away from her. This is not to say the visitors are forbidden, theyjust have to mindful and use their best judgment.

Last time when she wasgetting ready for her transplant we all shaved our heads with her. This time weare not doing that; rather Colleen, Debbie, Ains, and Lottie all donated theirhair to Locks of Love or Pantene's program. Candice did it too, a few weeksago. I really wanted to donate with them. But apparently my hair does not growfast. I have been growing it out for 2 years ... it is still kind of short. ButI'll get there, so will Kate. I started taking prenatal vitamins so it willgrow faster! EDIT: I cut Mom’s hairshort last night for her stay in the hospital. Barry, Patrick and Everett allshaved their heads with her.

So it is going to be arough month(s) ahead. Mom has told some of her pals to come here for news onher, so if you do not want to read up on her cancer treatments I encourage youto skip them! I promise not to be too graphic, I promise to try to be honesteven if the news is bad. We could all use good thoughts and prayers sent ourway.

Watching someone gothrough this treatment is hard. I cry often, sometimes I cry for no real reasonand cannot stop. And I am not the one with cancer. It is a disease that affectseveryone in our family. So thanks to everyone who has offered help already, Ipromise to let you know if anyone of us needs help!

Written 1/8/11

Mom's Quilt

2011-12-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Check out this post on Sister's website about the quilt we made for Mom for Christmas.

You can find the info and detailed photos on The Busy Bean. I tell you what, that Sister of mine is super talented. Mom loved the quilt, of course, and will enjoy it in the hospital. It'll be like a daily hug from her family ... or something. She goes in January 9 for her second transplant. Her first transplant was in October 2008, an account of which can be found in my blog archives if you are interested in reading up, there are too many posts to link. Cancer sucks, still, but Mom is doing great.

That being said, if you are a prayer-er (Yes Annelle, I pray!) we certainly could use some extra good thoughts and prayers for the next 2 months. Our family is fasting on Sunday (yes we know it is not the official Fast Sunday this month, but we have 2 reasons to fast, and the second reason happens before Mom goes into the hospital) that her transplant will work and put her cancer into remission again. Anyone who wants to join that day, or include her in your regularly scheduled Fast Sunday prayer, we would appreciate it. (btw her name is Gloria Johnson.)

It was a good Christmas!

Hanukkah Images

2011-12-29T14:35:00.001-07:00

Hanukkah ended this week. I love Hanukkah because I love the symbolism and light. Well Brad taught me how to use my phone camera. So I experimented on my menorah.

That plate next to my menorah is one that Mom and Dad gave all of the kids. It is a Bing and Grondahl plate from Denmark, where my Mom served her LDS mission. She has one from each year she was there. All of my sibling and I got one with our birth year form Christmas. I love it.

Then Colleen introduced me to a program to edit pics on my phone too. Man these phones are cool!

'Tis the Season ... to do battle?

2011-12-27T17:30:00.002-07:00

Fa La La La La

Christmas is a time for family togetherness. To share in the cheer and merriment of the glitter and the spirit. Most holidays are. Unless you are a Johnson. If you are a Johnson (as in my family, not necessarily applicable to other Johnson clans) you food battle. We might be too big of fans of the Food Network. For Thanksgiving Sister and Brother challenged each other in Battle Pie. They each made one pumpkin and one 'other' pie. If I remember right Sister won battle other and Brother won battle pumpkin. I could have that backwards.

For Christmas we had Battle Soup. Sister, Little Brother, and I all made a different soup. Sister made a root veggie soup (rather tasty), Little Brother made a gumbo (never had gumbo before, loved the shrimp!!) and I made a homemade cream of tomato (which I had previously experimented on a friend and got a stamp of approval on.) It all came down to one vote between the three. I won with 4 votes, then Sister with 3, then Little Brother with 2. Some people did not vote (chickens) because they did not want to make one of us feel bad. I think that I would have been in trouble if they did vote, frankly!

I cannot wait until Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to see what battle will commence then! kidding

The reason this one meant so much to me is because soup is something I can do and do well. Usually Sister and Brother are far better cooks than I, until it comes to soup, and Little Brother rocks the appetizers; Big Brother usually does not battle with us. However, there was this one batch of soup ... I do not want to talk about it. It was bad. Let us just say that when it went up against Sister's batch she won hands down. So Sister has been the current reigning champion of soups. I wanted the title back! I wanted it back bad! So admittedly I played it safe with my soup choice. The others really win points for creativity ... I mean gumbo and root veggies?! Come on! Good show! I just knew that tomato is something most of my family likes so I played it safe. And I won ... Battle Soup Winner in the house!

Some random thoughts on Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-23T13:22:00.002-07:00

Last night there was a Hanukkah party. (Do not be offended if you were not invited!) I have discovered that I cannot hold the mass quantities I used to be able to host at Mom's house. Hanukkah is not for the diet minded person!

As a rule I do not talk about work here on this blog because I think it is unprofessional. However, there was a discussion this month at work that I think is worth noting. We were talking about our yearly gifts we give our customers in December. One person said off hand that she was so tired of not being able to wish people a Merry Christmas because it was not pc; that just because everyone does not celebrate Christmas she is not allowed to say it? I told her I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, I do not say Happy Holidays. I was asked to design our card this year that we send, and I put a graphic that says "Have a holly, jolly, Christmas on it." Everyone loved that we did it that way, and on person even said "It is like a friendly big middle finger to everyone who has banned Christmas." Maybe not quite how I would put it, but it is true. When did it become taboo to with people a Merry Christmas? I celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. Two very different holidays, but both have great meaning to me. So I am making it a rule, that it is ok to wish everyone what you celebrate. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, or Have a good Sunday.

When lighting the candles for Hanukkah this season I have not had any drips. Of course last night there issues after issues lighting them, and they dripped on my fireplace.

I bought a new microwave a few weeks ago and it has not worked. I plug it in, program the time, select something to cook, and it counts down but has not been cooking. So last night I had a friend at my place who is REALLY good with fixing things. I asked him to come take a look at it and said, right before I pushed start, that if it worked with just him looking at it I would be really pissed. Of course it worked! He did not even touch the darn thing. I did exactly what I had done before, and it has never worked for me. So this morning I got to microwave my breakfast. Isn't that how it goes? Like when your computer does not work UNTIL the tech walks in? Or your car makes a crazy sound UNTIL you take it to the mechanic?

We had another discussion at work the other day that made me think. It was about kids with special needs, specifically autism. For the record I did not bring the subject up, I say that only because I work with kids with special needs at church. One of the guys mentioned that he was perplexed because it seems like there are more people with special needs around, especially autism. I have 4 girls in my class at church who are autistic so I have a special place in my heart for those with autism (plus if you have ever worked with Jessie in a show, you will know how great she is!!) The point of this ramble is that some people do not know how to act around those with special needs. I get it, I did not either when I started working with them 5 years ago. One thing I do know is that they usually require more patients, love, and really enjoy talking to anyone ... And they give the best hugs when they want to!

I love that the small snow storm we had here in Utah recently clean up the air as much as it did. I propose that the weather does a skiff of snow every night to clean out the air, not enough we have to shovel every day, but enough to clean the air. Who is with me?

This is my first Christmas alone. Before anyone in my family freaks out, I mean living alone. I have always had my family, a mission companion, or the Richters on Christmas morning. So this year my stocking is filled with Christmas cards from those I love who mailed them to me. I told Sister I thought it was sad to see my lone stocking hanging from the mantle. She said "Yes especially with mail in it?"

I usually leave my presents unwrapped until Christmas, the ones from coworkers or friends. Well one friend told me I had to open hers right then. Fan of Big Bang? I have a sign now by my bed that reads "Calm Down and Sing Soft Kitty." I did not know that Calm Down was a thing ... I guess it is. So Calm Down and Have a Merry Christmas!

I am kind of tired of the question "So are you ready for Christmas?" Um, let's see. Am I ready to celebrate the birth of my Savior? Pretty sure I am. There is very little prep work for that. Do you mean am I done shopping for people? Yup. That was made pretty easy by buying a home and not having any money for presents for people. That sounded jaded and rude. Not my intent. Yes, yes I am ready for Christmas.

Those are my random thoughts today on Christmas Eve Eve. Merry Christmas everyone!

That Nightmare ...

2011-12-09T12:36:00.001-07:00

You know that nightmare you have ... only you realize you are awake? And it is real? Last night I drove up my driveway at 8:50 or so and heard what sounded like sprinklers running. I thought to myself "Who is running sprinklers at this time of year?" So I went to investigate. It was me, my faucet in the back yard had sprung a leak. My back yard was flooded around my house. Pure panic set in. Honestly my first thought was "But no! I am having people come to my house tomorrow, I cannot have a flood!" Never mind the cost of the flood, it cannot inconvenience my guests! So I ran inside to grab a flashlight, throw my things down, called Dad for backup, then braved the flood to shut off the water. Lucky for me the only damage was outside, and it was minimal. I survived my first homeowner flood.

My big plan last night was to make the majority of the food for tonight so I did not have to rush home and cook. I shake my head. Not so much, I flooded instead. So I thought I would get up early this morning to do that instead.

When I woke up this morning I thought it was mighty cold in my house. I got to work making this soup for tonight and walked past a heating vent ... blowing cold air. My house was a balmy 62 degrees. (balmy is sarcastic!) So I called Dad again, who thought I would be better served to call Uncle Ed, who installed the furnace, to come look at it. I did, he said he would be there in an hour. So during this hour I was able to complete the things I wanted to get done last night. Ed came, fixed the furnace in about 20 minutes, charged me a reasonable fee, told me my house looked nice, and left. I love Uncle Ed. My house started heating up, I got ready for work, and walked outside ....

... to hear the sound of a sprinkler running again. I was like "Cuss NO!!" (no I really used the word 'cuss' there, not a swear!) So I ran around back, my yard looked fine ... well as fine as it can since it was already icy and slightly frozen. I walked around my whole house and could not find anything wrong, but I kept hearing the noise. So I looked in my neighbor's yard and their faucet was doing the same thing mine was yesterday only bigger. Much bigger. So I ran to their door and started pounding. No one answered. I braved my uneasy feeling at just walking into the yard of someone I have never met to turn it off. It would not turn off. I went to another neighbor I had never met, knocked on their door, and asked for help. Carl seems nice. He grabbed his tools, and followed me over. I knocked again for good measure, no one answered. We discovered it was not the faucet, it was the pipe from the house had actually burst and there was no way for us to turn it off. Neither of us knew what to do, so we called the fire dispatch, but the police came. They could not get it off, so they called the fire department and public works to come over and shut off all of their water. They told me I could go then, which was good because my pants were soaked, I was freezing, and needed to get warm. My house is not warm yet, so I actually was looking forward to my office because it is nice and toasty! I am still cold, and I have been sitting here for 2 hours ... in sweat pants ... at my office. Professional? You bet!

So my real life nightmare adventure is over ... or is it? See in my nightmare I have a very clear vivid picture of my house falling apart some more. The guests coming over? A potential roommate ... who reads this blog ... and I adore!! So of course I want to impress her. Of course I want to rent part of my house to someone I know, respect, and love. So of course things fall apart because she is coming to see my house tonight. Of course. But then of course she is great and totally understands things happen which are out of my control, because she is pretty kick-cuss cool. (The thing with me using 'cuss' instead of choosing a swear is to let your imagination run wild! Fill in anything: kick-apple cool, kick-kleenex cool, ... etc)

It has been an adventure. And I would like to get off the ride for a minute. You know when you go to Disneyland and you ride the Indiana Jones ride, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain fairly close together? And you really crave It's a Small World just so you can relax for a moment? That is what I feel like right now. All I need for the rest of the day is to sit on a blue boat and watch silly animated characters who have the same 4 moves that they rotate through and sing that annoying song over and over and over again. "It's a world of laughter, a world of tears, it's a world of hopes, it's a world of fear, there's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all." I need a Small World day!! Now having said that, the last time I was on Small World the ride broke down. We were stuck on the boat for a while.

Su-prize su-prize!

2011-11-28T16:45:00.001-07:00

The super secret surprise weekend was rather fun. Since it was almost 2 weeks ago now, and I am almost caught up with the work that piled on my desk while I was gone 1 day of work ... I shall tell you what the super secret surprise was. Ready, set, go!

Mom and I drove up to Walla Walla, Washington on Nov 17-20. If you think Walla Walla is not interesting, well you would be almost right. It is a cute town, great food, crappy drive from Utah in the winter. So why Walla Walla? Well we went up to see a ball game.

The back story? I was a nanny from 1994-1996 & 1999-2000 for the same family in Chicago. When I got there my boys were young: Dylan was 4 and Brady was 1. Well now D is 21, a senior in college; B is 18 and a freshman in college. D goes to Washington University in St. Louis and B goes to Stanford. Smart kids. Good kids. Handsome handsome men! D plays basketball for WASHU and B is in the Stanford band. And yes they have time to study!

Another back story. I recently had a bout of insomnia. Like BAD. Like go to the doc because I could not sleep and I was rather depressed. I have never really been depressed, so I did not know what it felt like. It was bad. One night I was laying in bed, not sleeping, so I grabbed my iPad and started surfing the interweb. I decided to check and see when D's games started because sometimes they broadcast them. I shot straight up in bed when I saw that they were playing 2 games in Washington State in November.

WASHU was playing Whitman College in Walla Walla on Friday and then a game in Spokane on Sunday. I had 1 day of vacation left. I asked Mom if she wanted to drive up there with me and see his game. She was all in. So we left Thursday after work, drove to Boise, then on to Walla Walla the next day. D had no clue we were coming. As it turned out his folks were the team parents that weekend away. What luck! So we met Jim and Laurie for dinner before the game. I do not remember it much because I was SO excited to see my boy again!

I think D was surprised. What a handsome man he is. I wish I had a digital pic of him when I was his nanny to show you. Bright red hair that was kept in a bowl cut for years. His hair is short, he is ridiculously tall, and what a gentleman. He was always a great basketball player. Now, as I brag about him, he is the captain of the team and was last year too; his freshman year they won the DIII National Championship. Yea, he is that good.

This is D after the game. They won, of course! I knew my boy would not let me down! (they played a game on my bday last year, I asked him to win the game for me. He did. Obedient kid too!) Though the game in Walla Walla was close!! I went horse from cheering and yelling throughout the game.

This is Mom, D, and I after the game at a restaurant. His dad had to get the dead animal in the pic. Bless him. I made this sign for him with his number. Mom and I both wore WASHU shirts. Good looking kid, right? He reads my blog, I can only imagine him right now going "Um Steph, a little less about how handsome I am, kind of creepy, you know?" Alright, message received, but you are handsome D.

I was glad to have one hour to sit and chit chat with him. Sadly I did not have enough time off of work to stay for the game in Spokane. 18 hour round trip drive for a 2 hour ball game. You bet!

Love you D. Thanks for indulging your favorite nanny (self proclaimed!) for a night.

Dreams - Grandpa Edition

2011-11-23T09:17:00.001-07:00

Both of my grandfathers died before I was born. Grandpa Johnson split when my dad was a little kid and died not too long after. Grandpa Parker died just a few years before I was born. I have a cousin not much older than I am that talked about Grandpa Parker often when we were growing up. She would say things like "Do you remember when Gramps ..." and I would always have to remind her that he died before I was born. From what I have heard of Gramps I would have liked him. My only 2 run-ins with Gramps include walking in to Grams house (which I now live in) and seeing Gramps leather strap hanging by the back door and the smoke in the wall paper. The strap was more of a threat to be good. We knew it was there, we knew we would be paddled with it if we did not behave. I remember Grams grabbing the strap and chasing after one of my cousins who was a bit of a boundary tester. She caught him, he got the strap. I still laugh when I think of Grams chasing him around the back yard; she may have been old but by golly that woman could move. The second encounter with Gramps was just recently when we were stripping the wallpaper in the kitchen and we hit the layer from when he was alive. The house filled with the noxious smell of his cigarette smoke. We had to open the windows and vacate the house while it aired out. He was the last person who was allowed to smoke in Grams house. One more piece of back story for this dream: There is a room in my basement that was my Mom's bedroom back in the day but has more recently been a storage room. This room is not cleaned out of my Aunt's possessions yet. There is a wall of closet space in this room that I have NEVER seen the inside of. I am 35, I have known this house all of my life, I have lived in this house for 2 months now, I have never seen the inside of these closets. Plus the room scares me just a little. I think it is the scary wallpaper.

Well in my dream last night I was moving the Aunt's things out of this storage room and my things in. I opened the closets and found that it actually led to a 3 room cave under the front lawn. In this space I found a bunch of Christmas decorations, Grams paints and a bunch of cards left over from her boutiques, Then there was a closed door. My cousin, the one one who is just older than I am and remembers Gramps, was there helping us move things. She and I opened this door together. It led to my Gramps secret workshop. It was full of wood creations he was working on when he passed. There were toys for kids, violins and bows (some of the bows were made out of old wood hangers ... just because) and all of his tools were still hanging where he had left them. The cool thing about this super hidden place was that there was no dust or cobwebs. I found a really cool cookie jar in the shape of a pig that I HAD to have (I am allergic to pork ... so why not?) When I opened it up I found that it was filled with hard tack candy. (Grams used to have a bowl of hard tack candy sitting out.) I picked up a really cool looking violin, one of the wood hanger bows, and started to tune the instrument. (No I do not play the violin) But magically I was able to start playing "Oh Susanna" flawlessly. My cousin asked me how I knew how to play that song, and my response was "Grandpa's violin is magical." Then I woke up.

The funny thing is that when I woke up this morning I felt like I actually knew Gramps. Like I had these fond memories suddenly of Gramps because I had spent time in his secret room. It made me want to run down to this room and open the closets to find these rooms. Then I had this sudden fear again that it would all be not real (of course it would not be real, it was a dream) so I did not go down. I need to find a pic of Gramps so I can put it up in my house. I have to admit it was the most lifelike dream I have had in a LONG time. It makes me miss Grams and Gramps. Grams only died 10 years ago or so, so I knew her very well. Now that I live in Gramps house I miss him. I miss him and I never even knew him. Is that possible?

Amazing music video

2011-11-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

I am on a super secret weekend vaca with Mom, it is a fun surprise I have been planning for a while. More on that Monday. Well my friend Heather sent me this video and I LOVE IT! So please allow me to share!!

I love watching ASL music!

The 2nd craziest thing I have ever done ... or the one where I show you the outside of my house

2011-11-17T08:55:00.001-07:00

I am not a very adventurous person, so this may sound boring to many. I also may define crazy differently than you. Taking a red-eye to New York for a madcap weekend is not crazy to me. Diving in a frozen lake for a Polar Bear plunge is crazy to me. Lining up at midnight for an after Thanksgiving Day sale is crazy to me. Strapping wood on your feet and throwing yourself down a mountain for fun is crazy to me. Seeing Twilight movies is crazy to me (just kidding!) So there is your frame of reference.

One day, I may tell you the craziest thing I have ever done. Not today. I am getting ready for a long weekend vaca with Mom.

Last night I left my office early to run home and get my leaves up off my grass before the lights went out. Whose idea was daylight savings? I would like to meet that guy (wasn't it Benjamin Franklin? I actually would like to meet that guy!) and tell him it was not a good idea in my opinion. Of course I am not a farmer so having daylight early is not important to me. I am in HR, so we like daylight after work to get things done. Just sayin.

So I get home, put together my riding lawnmower ... oh did I mention I have a riding lawnmower? It is pretty sweet action. Two of my brothers did help me with this step. Pat was driving by and came to help. We discovered there was no gas in the mower. What?! So I ran to get gas and then Ev came by to teach me how to use the darn thing. Off I went after a brief tutorial. Let me show you what I encountered first:

This big apple tree is in my back yard. It has some nice low hanging branches ... for now. I will cut them next year. It was an adventure mowing under them. By 5:30 the sun was down and it was pretty dark. I was determined not to quit. The lawnmower has headlights. I know, right? So I flipped them on and kept going. Well Sister dropped by around this time. She came around the back to see what in the world I was doing. She vowed to stay until she could not stay any longer so that "if I knocked myself out mowing under the tree someone could call 911." I did the only logical thing anyone could do: I went downstairs where I have stored the construction supplies and pulled up the halogen lamp. Plugged that puppy in, and shone it on the back yard. (Is that the right tense of shine?) I finished the back yard and headed to the front:

Where I ran into trouble was on the side. That dumb apricot tree is pretty bare. I could not believe how many leaves there were. So here is where I encountered an audience. My neighbor was out in his yard with a pal working on a project also with a halogen lamp. Oh did I mention my Aunts live next door to me? Well they do. So Aunt C came over and just shook her head, but told me she was proud of me for not giving up. The neighbor just laughed and laughed; I told him I wished I could tell him that I am normally not that person, but to be honest I really am. Picture me, on a riding lawnmower, mowing by the light of halogen lamps, wearing an awesome winter hat. I was not going to give up! Was not. And for the record I HATE apricots.

Yup, that is what I felt like ...

So the project that should have taken an hour, took 3. I finished at 7:30. I bagged 3 huge bags of leaves and grass. I missed a few spots. I have bumps, cuts, and bruises to prove that it was a fool-hearty mission. I am allergic to grass, so my eyes itch and I am sneezing. BUT, I did it. I mowed my lawn for the first, not the last, time. This morning the apple and the two little trees on the side of my house shed more leaves. I shake my head and fist at them. Who mows their lawn in the dark? Could it BE more dangerous? (Thank you Chandler for your guest appearance!) Second craziest thing I have ever done.

Oh, by the way, this is my house. House meet my internets. Internets meet my house.

I am fully aware that I have not posted the "moved in after"photos. Once one box is unpacked I seem to find another one. So it'll happen one day.

Annual Christmas Boutique

2011-11-16T11:05:00.001-07:00

For any of you new to the blog, please allow me to introduce you to our annual boutique. The back story is thus: When we were growing up my Grams had a Christmas Boutique every year from November through December. She sold greeting cards, wrapping paper and homemade crafts that she made throughout the year. It was so much fun to go to her house and look through the different things she was selling. I still to this day cannot see a white light bulb without picturing the bunnies she used to make. Fast forward 30 years: my sisters and I all had our own businesses and decided, along with some cousins, to resurrect the family Christmas Boutique.

This year we are holding out boutique the Saturday after Thanksgiving. You know, eat turkey, the crazies go shopping on Friday (Colleen will be one of you) then Saturday come on over to Mom's place and enjoy browsing everything without the angry crowds because you picked up the last Wii game or Barbie. We have the foods, we have the fun, plus we have the nice warm house!

Saturday November 26

10:00 am - 3:00 pm

7792 South Coolidge Street (90 West)

in Midvale (Utah)

My sister Colleen owns The Busy Bean (I may have mentioned it once or twice) where she makes beautiful handmade fabric creations. Plus she names her products and sewing machines, which is just cool. She will have some items on hand or, as always, she does most of her work as custom orders. All items will be done in time for Christmas delivery.

My SIL Kate is a brilliant photographer via Kate Johnson Photography (I may have also mentioned this one). She is running a special this year where she will have her screen set up at the boutique and for $35 she will take your family photo and give you 5 images on a photo cd with a card template that you can take anywhere and have your Christmas cards printed in time to send out before Christmas. If the family cannot make it, she is doing an outdoor shoot on December 10. Appointments are STRONGLY encouraged for both days. Of course she would be happy to schedule any time that is convenient for you. (Holla acting buddies, she also does headshots!)

I used to sell Pampered Chef. I miss it sometimes, but frankly did not have the time to devote to it. However, I am hosting a catalog show (there will not be a consultant on hand) for you kitchen gadgets. If you need something from Pampered Chef but cannot make it to the boutique the address to order items is www.pamperedchef.biz/chefchristine enter my name as the host (Hi, I am Stephanie Johnson) and you can order that way. Party closes the 26th.

We always have others join us, though at this point I really cannot give you a list of everyone (have a business and want to join? Give me a call or shoot me an email.) I will talk my brother into making his AWESOME caramel apples. And if she is up to it we have a lady who makes BRILLIANT chocolates. That is not a guarantee, however!

See you then if you can make it. We always have snacks, and often sit around chit chatting. Let's be honest, that is half of the fun of a boutique!

A wayward text

2011-11-15T10:50:00.001-07:00

I got this text last night from a pretty great guy ... whose identity I erased from the image to protect the innocent ... but had to share!!

I had gone to bed early, so for a minute I thought it was a dream. I was really confused as to why he was inviting me to go on vacation with him and his family. I mean we are friends, but we certainly are not "dating." That is one way, though, to take things to the next level.

A First Date ... of sorts

2011-11-09T14:34:00.001-07:00

I had to run home today because they were fixing my treadmill and I had to pay for it, a very grown up thing to do. My brother in law Brad uses my house during the day on Wednesdays for work so that Sister can sew, and my folks watch their kids. He is a brilliant tech blogger for Engadget, have internet can work. If you like tech things, especially phones and tablets, you should follow him on the tweets; I do not know how to do that, but there is a link on his Engadget page. I do not know how many times I have said "Brad how do I do this on my phone?" Bless him!

So anyway, the date ... of sorts ... so I ran home during lunch to make sure the guy did the work right on my treadmill. While I was there I made myself a turkey swiss sandwich for lunch and offered to make one for Brad. Then I sat down at the table and we ate lunch together. I sent Colleen a text that said "Just having a lunch date with your husband. Whatever." She send back a text that says "Lucky." I have seen people who are more technologically unchallenged than I show their iPhone screen in a blog post. I just do not know how to do that. Brad how do I do that on my phone? What is wrong with you that you do not know how to use your phone? Shut up Matt's Italicized Voice! (that will only make sense to 3 of you!)

We were eating our respective turkey sandwiches I noticed it was rather cold in my house at the same time I noticed Brad's hand was shaking. So I went to turn up the heat and Brad says "Oh don't worry about it, I always get nervous on the first date." snort! Sometimes Brad actually is funny!! So I just had a first date with a married man. tsk tsk

A Pause from House pics

2011-11-02T10:08:00.000-06:00

I need to give Sister's Sister-in-Law credit for these pics, but I only know her name is Melanie, I only met her once, at their wedding ... but by the look of these pics she is a picture taking genius! (Every family needs at least one) She could not have caught the personality of these two great kids any better. So one day if you live in the Tri-cities in Washington and are looking for a photog, let me know and I WILL find out more info on her to pass on. Mad props to Melanie for these GREAT photos!

Mac is now 2, LoMo is 3. How I love these girls! I admit it does kind of bug me that I have been growing my hair out longer than Mac has been alive and her hair is longer than mine ... but whatever, she still is stinking cute! And I have taught these two girls that a bird says "kaa kaa, kaa kaa, tukki tukki!" Mac says the kaa kaa part, but waits for me to say tukki tukki.

Mac thinks like I do, it is obvious!! Check out the uber flattering pic sewing here. Little MJ tongue action

Mac is roaring like a monster, she has a really deep growl

LoMo laughing at her cousin.This little ones laugh is so sweet

So I am sure this is not what happened here but this is what she looks like when any of her clothing gets wet before she has to change them

I honestly do not know why, but this pic makes me giggle. Hard.

Mac is working on a super special training today, good luck mostly to Colleen who has a long day ahead of her. If you run out of DC, Sister, let me know! I can't bring you any more, because you live in Egypt, but I will think hard about you and drink one for you ... vicariously.

House Pics - During Edition

2011-11-01T10:34:00.000-06:00

My aunts moved out of the house August 20, it took 2 months of work to get it to where I wanted it to be. It was indeed a labor of love for me. I do not think my hips will ever be the same. My calf muscles sure have never been this pronounced.

This is my bedroom with some of the wall paper gone. We found 2 layers here.

The cable company sent a contractor to install my cable. This is what it looked like. This is also where I found that if I complain enough I get the cost of the install taken off and one month free service!

The ceilings in the bedrooms had the cottage cheese stuff on there ... oh and it was painted over. My brothers are so great to scrape it off. It also pays to have asthma so I do not have to do the work!!

Brad and Everett worked really hard to get it off and sand down the walls. Brad told us after I took this pic that he is actually smiling under his mask. Bless him. Funny kid!!

This is my bedroom with all of the ceiling and wall paper gone!!

Under the ceiling I found that an old vent had been "fixed". There are quite a few of these fixes in the house. You should see the fix down the stairs. It is card board!

This is the kitchen wallpaper layer 5. When we hit this layer the house filled with the smell of old cigarette smoke. My grandpa was the last person who was allowed to smoke in the house. He has been dead for almost 40 years.

This is the dining room, the wallpaper in this room came off so easily because the wall had been painted, then wallpapered. If I have not yet told the internets enough, do not wallpaper your house. OR if you have to wallpaper, may I recommend painting the wall first?

House Pic - Before Edition

2011-10-31T09:51:00.000-06:00

Alright the internets, please allow me to introduce you to my house ... Internets house, house internets. There now you have been introduced. I moved in Saturday, not a stitch of my ... anything ... is unpacked, but I have moved in. I slept there for the first time Saturday ... or rather I should say I was there over night Saturday. Sleep did not really happen. I do not know if it was because my entire body ACHED or because I was nervous or because I was excited. True to her word, Mom had a sleep over with me Saturday night. She did sleep. The next morning she helped me put a few things away before she went home to get ready for church and by that I mean took a nap, then went to church.

So allow me to start off with the before pics. Then I have during pics and after pics. Notice in each room the overabundance of wall paper. These pics are just of upstairs because that is where I live. The downstairs will be done soon, hopefully, so I can get a roommate.

Before: The bathroom. Yes it is THAT small.

The kitchen top layer of wallpaper. We found 6 more under

This is my bedroom. That orange is painted OVER wallpaper.

This is my closet ... or second bedroom. The actual closets are rather small and I gots lots of clothes. This also will be my office and my treadmill lives here now.

This is the dining room with the minimal record of only one layer of wallpaper. Notice the white entry way to the kitchen because that was a ridiculously awesome project that took us 2 days. I LOVE it!!

This is one wall of my living room.

The dining to kitchen view.

Sadly I did not get good before pics of the living room because when I took these there was still stuff that did not belong to me in that room. So obviously there was some work to do.Today the kitchen, hall and bathroom are not finished. The rest of the upstairs is ready to live in. The scene last night went a little something like this: Steph walks in the house, closes the glass door, locks both locks on that door, closes the wood door, locks both locks on that door, does the same for the front doors, sets the alarm perimeter, leaves the motion sensor off, goes into bedroom and locks that door too. Sleeps well. Is woken up around 3 with a loud crash outside, pictures being killed in her bed, then falls asleep again and sleeps really well.

During pics to come. I moved, whatever. I live in my house.

A Conversation with Mom

2011-10-27T13:17:00.001-06:00

Originally the plan was for me to move the big stuff into my house this last Tuesday. That fell through so the big stuff is going over Saturday morning (starting at 8:30 if you are not busy and want to drop by ... whatever.) So the following conversation, as best as I can remember it, happened earlier this week:

Mom: So are you going to start sleeping at your new house this week?
Steph: Are you crazy?! It is scary over there!
Mom: (pause) What?
Steph: There are a lot of weird noises and stuff. It is straight up scary over there!
Mom looks with a sympathetic look at the crazy that is Steph.
Steph: I do not think I can sleep there the first night without you. Wanna have a sleep over?
Mom: (thinking I am sure that she just wants to get rid of me says in a kind voice) Sure Steph. I can have a sleep over with you.

What would we do without Mom's? Mine is so great. Not only is she going to have a sleep over so I am not scared in my new house, but she has been baby sitting every weekend and many nights so I can have my siblings help me build a house AND one night we were working so hard and what did Mom make for us to drink with dinner? Butter Beer. I ask you ... how great is my Mom? I answer ... SO GREAT! Best. Mom. Ever. (no takebacks!)

By the way, the odd noise I was hearing? My washing machine changing cycles. Straight up scary, boo!

Cruel cruel man

2011-10-25T09:59:00.001-06:00

I went out for the night Monday with some girlfriends to see the most silly ridiculous disturbing fun show I have seen in a long time (holla Witchapalooza crazies). My brother volunteered to help me with some last minute finishing touches in my house so I can move in this week and was gracious enough to do it alone. So I left him a list of what I would love done: Paint my trim white and assemble my bed.

Shall we pause for a moment to tell you about this bed? It looks like this sans the bedding:

I have never owned a bed like this. With the exception of when I was a nanny and they had a beautiful bed in my room, I have had a metal frame and mattress though there was a spurt with a waterbed. I don't want to talk about it ...

So it is a pretty bed, it is an expensive bed, and it is my bed! The first bed I have owned on my own bought with my own money ...

Last night I get the following text from Brother: "I think it's going to take 3 coats to get this headboard white and I only have time tonight for 2. Sorry."

I gasped. Audibly gasped when I got it. In fact one of the girls I was with asked who had died and I said that I did a little. I had a very short ride home where I had a little bout with hyperventilation, squeezed L's hand for strength, and decided that it all was alright. It is just a bed, worse things could happen. There are starving children in Africa who do not have a bed. I took a deep breath and walked into my house.

That punk. He thought that was a funny funny joke! My bed is not painted, it is assembled and beautiful. He said that if he did not hear from me soon, he was going to send a follow up text that said: "Just kidding, it only took 2 coats of paint." Bless his heart.

So tonight we are going to hang the trim he painted yesterday and move some of my bigger pieces of furniture and then I will just have the small things to load into my house this week and I will be moved in! Before and after pics to come.

The Irony ... a Confession

2011-10-20T10:08:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking of doing a post about hateful language lately in light of the simpleminded comments of a pastor claiming that Mormon's are not Christian. Which, frankly burns my ... what did they call it the other day in the studio meeting ... sitter bones? I think it was sitter bones. For someone to make a blanket statement against my religion like that made me angry. (Dude, you do not know me. You do not know what or who I believe in.) For the record I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am LDS. I am a Mormon. I am a Christian. If I were doing one of the "I am Mormon" commercials my ending would say something like: I am an actor, director, producer. I am a friend. I am a daughter; a sister; an aunt. Don't tell my Dad but I am a Democrat. My name is Stephanie Johnson and I am a Christian; I am a Mormon.

The ironic part, and reason for this post, is that last night I could not have used more hateful language toward people I have never met. My baby brother was laid off of his job yesterday. He worked for a company that used to employ 3 of my brothers, my sister, and my sister-in-law. In the last 2 years this company has laid off my SIL, and all three of my brothers (one brother they hired back, then laid off again for good measure.) The only person from my family who still works there, very part time, is Sister. (My spidey sense says she will not be working there long, but on her terms.) Well since they laid off my SIL, Brother was the only one working full time in their family. With him being laid off they have no steady income. I have never been so indignantly mad for someone else. Ever. If I could quote Ralphie "I have since heard of people under extreme duress speaking in strange tongues. I became conscious that a steady torrent of obscenities and swearing of all kinds was pouring out of me as I screamed." A slew of obscenities and name calling toward the owners of this company issued from my mouth. For about an hour. I actually owe their mothers an apology because they might be really nice women, but I might have inadvertently called them a name in talking about their sons. And I may have questioned the marital status of the mother when the son was birthed. Sufficient to say, it was not pretty. I was mad. Still am. But I digress. If any of the boss's mothers are reading this and can figure out that I am talking about your sons, I am sorry for the names I called you last night. If the bosses are reading this, well I should not have called you names, but I still am not fond of you, your business practices which have caused you to lose money, and I am not fond of you laying off my family and the other hundreds of employees you have had to lay off.

So here is the real confession. When I get mad I swear, obviously. I use language unbecoming of a lady and a Mormon. Although I would fit in with longshoremen. No I did not drop the big one. But really I was no better in my rash, hurtful language than the pastor (really pastor, that is how you want to be remembered?) who called members of my religion un-Christian and a cult. So last night after I apologized to my Mom and Brother for using horrible language and being truly un-Christian, turned on Christmas music because it always makes me happy, and painted in my house until my body ached ... I realized that my language was no better than the hurtful language of others that directed their bile in my direction. Maybe even worse. I expected my mom to put a bar of soap in my mouth like Ralphie's Mom did. I want to make a blanket statement about society, but know it is not be fair to everyone. I do think that our society in general today has a problem with anger. I know I do, as was evidenced by last night's tirade. I think that the political assaults between politicians has really enraged society. I would love to see a political ad where one politician says "My opponent is a good person, would be/is a great leader, and is doing the best that he/she can do. I just think I would be a better leader because ..." My response yesterday should have been "Pat I am sorry that your bosses do not value all of the employees that they have laid off. You will find better employment, how can I help?" In fact he did find better employment yesterday. It was such a blessing. After I left to go work on my house, he walked to one of my neighbors who is a general contractor and asked if he needed help on his crew. In fact he did, and Pat just happens to be going to school for Construction Management. So he got a job in the field he wants to work in, he is getting paid more than he was at the other job, he did not really like the job he was laid off from, so overall it was a blessing. But I was rash and did not see the positive. I only saw that someone had hurt my family and I lashed out. I fell into the trap of the current society norm spouting ungraceful words at people I do not know, instead of acting like the good person my folks raised me to be and who I normally am. Not helpful. Not right. Not me. I shake my head at me!

So there is your Thursday confession from me. I think I need to put the rubber band back on my wrist. I flick my wrist every time I swear. It helped me stop once before, because it really hurts!!! (Granted it did give me a cyst that needed to be removed surgically.) So now I need to live up to the titles I listed earlier. I am a friend. I am a daughter; a sister; an aunt. My name is Stephanie Johnson and I am a Christian; I am a Mormon. Now act like it.

A Purse Sale ... I think

2011-10-18T09:18:00.000-06:00

The Busy Bean is being featured on BelleChic tomorrow with a sale on her camera straps, wristlets and wallets. I have all but one of those things and honestly cannot live now without my wristlet. Not only is the fabric the BEST (what child of the 80's does not remember the View-Master?), but it holds little things that used to roll around in the bottom of my purse and get lost. Did I mention she names her purses? The wristlet is Monica, and the wallet ... wait for it ... Stephanie. There is a version of the wallet called Stephanie Anne, the middle name I never had.

Check out the info on The Busy Bean website ... if you dare. Fair warning, she makes super cute things!! Not a fan of View-Finders and green/white stripes? She makes these out of so many types of fabrics. They already are super inexpensive (Monica is usually $15), so I cannot wait to see what this sale looks like. 3 words for you: Early. Christmas. Shopping. 'Nuff said!

New Phone

2011-10-17T11:46:00.000-06:00

I got a new phone last week. I held onto my old phone for 4 years, so it was a really old and outdated phone ... as cell phones go. This new phone has a feature where I can push a button, ask a question, and the phone answers me. I am so nervous to use that feature because what if I say something like "I need directions to Vegas" and I stumble upon the nuclear launch codes or something. Mr. Weasley taught me well "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you cannot see where it keeps it brain." Sister thinks it would make a good movie. Challenge accepted, I will write the script from my jail cell.

BTW Squitch, I just laughed out loud writing the word 'script!' I think you know why ...

Free Concert

2011-10-13T08:41:00.001-06:00

These guys played a funeral I went to (yes they put the fun back in funeral!) and I really liked the music. My pal Paige is in it, and by golly, this should be a fun night. I wish I could make it, but alas ...

Ta-Tow

2011-10-07T09:23:00.001-06:00

Sister spent the night at our house last night with her girls as her hub is on a business trip. This morning she left for a quilt thing, because she enjoys that sort of thing. So Mom and I were getting the girls ready for the day. Mom was putting LoMo's "so pretties" in her hair and Mac was hungry. When asked what she wanted for breakfast she replied "Ta-tow!" She pointed to a nice basket of tomatoes as Sister was leaving, so Sister helped her pick out a nice tomato to eat for breakfast. She chose a juicy tomato and was mad at me that I would not let her eat it right away ... I saw some potential mess vs jammies ratio. So I dug up a bib for her to wear. Well Mac is 2 ... and she does 2 very well!! She would not put on the one I picked ... like I said ... she is 2. We finally agreed on a bib, after much crying ... from me. She was sitting on the counter at this point and she went to town on that tomato. She would take a bite, show me her tomato, and say "ta-tow!" So I did what any good aunt would do: I grabbed Mom's phone to take photos so I could post on my blog.

Breakfast of champions! See what I meant about mess vs jammies potential? I could eat this girl's cheeks ... and frankly I do sometimes. I ended up with some seeds on my shirt; and more to my surprise than anyone else, I did not change my shirt before I came to work. Growing as a person!

So put away your cold cereal, your toast and eggs, or your bagel with lox ... the new breakfast craze sweeping ... well my house ... is ta-tows. Recipe? Oh that is easy, grab a tomato and bib, hoist your pockets up on the counter, and chow!

Questions of the Day ... That Need No Answers

2011-10-06T16:50:00.000-06:00

Why does going to the dentist suck even if you have no cavities?

Why does a cackle laugh annoy me when anyone but Bert and Ernie does it?

Is it wrong, as a person who hates surprises, to be planning a surprise for someone else?

Is it wrong to celebrate loosing 8 pounds last week if I did it because I had a stomach bug?

How cool is Ben Davis? Follow up question: Could he be more inspiring? Follow up question: I wonder why he weighs in with one sock on his right foot?

Could stripping wallpaper suck any more?

Could my Mom be more annoyed that I just used the word 'suck' twice this post?

How annoying is to ALWAYS loose at Words with Friends to the same people?

Could Grey's Anatomy be any cooler and slightly more inappropriate for this young LDS woman?

How much does paying a mortgage and not living in the house suck? (rhetorical, it sucks SO much)

Could I love ambien any more right now?

How sad am I that I had to give up teaching Musical Dance Theater classes?

Could I be more sick of eating chicken soup? Follow up question: How great is Jello?

How timely is the release of the new iPhone? (My old phone is dying a not so slow death. Upgrade)

How much did I snort when I logged on to FB today and saw a wall post from a teenager that said "Who is Steve Jobs?"

How old do I feel that the boys I nannied for are now a senior and freshman in college?

Who has two thumbs and is excited to paint this weekend?!?! (This girl)

Who is asking too many questions today?

The one where I show sweat equity

2011-09-27T12:25:00.001-06:00

This is what I looked like at the end of the night last night. See that wallpaper in the background? It's coming down too like the paper I tackled last night in the closet. (By closet I mean the second bedroom upstairs that I will be transforming into my closet/gym/office.) The shirt? Why thank you for asking. Besty gave it to me for Christmas. I cannot wear it out in public because for some reason people get mad about it. It says Team Edward or Jacob? Team Shut the Frak Up! Those Twihards? They will cut you!

My favorite part of this pic is the sweat ring on the bandana I stole from Sister (technically she left it when she moved out) and shirt collar. What this pic does not show is the excess of dust on my legs and feet. I was sanding a layer of paper down so I can texture the wall. Sanding paper, you say? Why yes, because after stripping it down to the lowest layer it is easier to sand the final paper backing than it is to scrape it off. Then I'll prime that paper layer as if it were the top layer of sheet rock. Stripping that last layer often will strip the paper of the sheet rock too. Why? It is not primed.

Here is a tip to anyone I cannot convince to NEVER put wallpaper up in your house: Before you put the wallpaper up prime the sheet rock so that when you want to strip it off it is easier to do so. OR NEVER put wallpaper up in your house!

The one where I take over my sister's blog

2011-09-27T09:06:00.000-06:00

No secret here my sister Colleen is super talented. I have referenced this many MANY times. I am not so much with the sewing talented, but excel with other talents ... come on, you know it is true! Well once upon a time I told Sister that I wanted to be a guest blogger on her sewing site. Paused for her laughter which never came. Last night it happened. I am a guest blogger on her site with a sewing project so easy even I can do it ... with her help.

So if you please, take a stroll on over to The Busy Bean blog and check out the post: Denim Skirt From Pants Tutorial. Excuse the lack of nail polish on my toes or the crazy hunchback pick with my tongue hanging out all over the place. (That is really the only way I can sew ... Michael Jordan style sewing.)

The Prank

2011-09-22T10:39:00.000-06:00

I make it a point not to talk about work here. I think it is rather unprofessional to complain about work on a public forum such as this. So let me just be clear, I am not complaining about my work conditions or a coworker here. This is just a story, that happens to take place where I work, after hours.

Mom and I went to see Mary Poppins again Tuesday night. We both happen to work at the same place, so I left my car here and we drove downtown together in her car. After the show ended (cherry seats so good I can tell you that this Mary Poppins has blue eyes!) we drove back to the office for me to get my car. When we pulled into the parking lot the lights of her car hit mine and I had a sudden panic attack. Something was wrong with my car. It looked like someone had keyed it REPEATEDLY. I might have cussed a little. Then we were able to see the car closer and it was not in fact damaged. Someone had wrapped it in shrink wrap. Then I know I cussed. So at 11:00 at night, in a rougher than some neighborhood, I was forced to unwrap my car while my dear Mother watched helplessly. I knew immediately which one of my coworkers had done it. So yesterday morning I told him he was a jerk, with a smile on my face!

This particular coworker loves a good joke. He frankly loves a bad joke. But pranks are his thing. I generally do not approve especially at work. Because it is all fun and games until K burns his eyebrows off or J eats a meal worm and is diagnosed with cancer. Know what that means for me? Paperwork.

That being said, opportunity knocked for a sweet action payback last night on this coworker of mine. He is a hunter. I would in fact call him a mighty hunter. He just shot a deer in the bow hunt. I do not know if they call it a 5x6 or an 11 point buck. But he sure is proud of that thing. So he brought in the antlers to work (I don't get it either) and for some reason left those antlers on the shipping table. Now I did not touch them, or harm them in anyway. That is just gross. But he got a text from me at 5:30 last night "Payback is sweet. Two words for you, son: Deer. Horns." I knew that would be enough to cause fear in his life. I knew it. And I was right!

He told me this morning that he stewed over it last night as to what I could have done to those antlers. He was envisioning me wrapping them in shrink wrap which would have ruined the width of them, or hanging them on the wall (they are not cured enough or something), or decorating them for Christmas, etc. I know I should not feel this good at a simple payback, but words are diabolical sometimes too!

Playlist anxiety and random thoughts

2011-09-15T12:09:00.000-06:00

I did something which is causing some little bits of anxiety in my heart right now. In my car I am listening to my Broadway music playlist ... on shuffle. This morning I had a a song from Caroline or Change followed by Sweeny Todd followed by Aspects of Love followed by Secret Garden followed by A Chorus Line followed by The Woman in White followed Bklyn by and rounding off with Les Mis. Good line up, I grant you! However my CDO was kind of screaming at me that the world was going to end because the songs were out of order! Grow from love.

I am trying to teach my niece Mac, who is turning 2 this month, that a birdie says "Ka Ka, Ka Ka, Tukki Tukki." She will say Ka Ka. We'll get it!

Cancer still sucks. Legit! Epic fail, cancer! Epic fail! (that does not mean anything new has happened with Mom's relapse, just a statement)

I had a cable company come an install services at my home ... after they left I cried. I now am a firm believer that cable installation is not something that should make a person cry. The install is shotty and the equipment does not work. I put on my angry face (shout out Foxy! Happy Birthday) and laid into the voice mail of my sales person. It will get fixed or they will lose me as a customer AND I will blog about it all using the name of the company. They are trembling I am sure. The 10s of readers that I have on the internets unite!

The wallpaper stripping is, I would say, 50% done. That makes me smile. I think that it will be done on Saturday. I am already taking preventative ibuprofen so my back won't hurt after an all day Saturday strip day. That might not be the best name for the day. My sisters and I are stripping wallpaper while the bros knock off a lot of cottage cheese from the ceiling in the bed rooms.

If you are thinking about wallpapering your home for any reason ... like you have lost control of all of your senses ... please call me first. I will do an intervention!

Tuesday night when the I was crying from the cable fiasco, Sissy came up to me and said "Oh Stephanie, don't worry." Then she gave me a hug and a kiss. That girl is the oldest 3 year old I know. But, it is amazing the restorative powers that a kiss from a niece can have.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

I am just going to leave that in, apparently my finger hit the 9 key when I looked away to answer a phone call.

I have some great friends. I have been blessed so many times in my life with dear ones that make me laugh and cry at all the right times.

My family pretty much rules. Nuff said.

Deep Thoughts ... by Starbuck

2011-09-14T12:33:00.000-06:00

People who have a death wish should ride a motorcycle without a helmet AND smoke at the same time ... especially if they have long unruly hair. Also people who want to be mocked on my blog should ride a motorcycle without a helmet AND smoke at the same time ... especially if they have long unruly hair.

Mary Poppins meets Utah

2011-09-08T15:01:00.001-06:00

My girls and I went to see Mary Poppins last night at the Capitol Theater for our season ticket night. I was riveted! There were times I looked over at Sister and said "That just happened!" I will not give spoilers here because it is playing in Utah for 2+ more weeks. RUN!! Do not walk to get tickets. RUN to get them if you can. Or just click HERE. I am not kidding you! This show was brilliant. I had only two complaints ... and one was under 4 feet so I do not know if I can ethically slam his performance and really no one else would mind the shotty spot job like I did! :) The following things made my jaw drop: the sets, the lights, the props, the choreography, the flying, Mary Poppins and Bert, the sets, the lights, the props, the choreography, the flying, and the flying. I love that I already had tickets to see it again (I sometimes do that when a good show is coming to Utah because I do not get to New York, Chicago, LA or Seattle as often as I would like to to see good theater.)

I was like a kid again watching the movie for the first time. I wanted to feed the birds. I wanted to Step In Time. I wanted to learn to spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious again. I wanted to run on stage and play with the carpet bag. I wanted to go up to the booth and teach whoever was spotting Mrs. Banks how to not cut off her head. I wanted to sing along. I wanted to get up and dance on every single bit of that stage. And I mean EVERY bit of that stage! My jaw dropped at one specific part with Bert's dancing. Jaw dropped. It was practically perfect ... in every way.

So what am I saying? Loved it. Go. See it if you can. I do not think you will be disappointed!!

My New Friend ... Shawn

2011-09-07T11:17:00.000-06:00

I have a new friend. I take her with me wherever I go, though I did have an impulse to pluck her from my life. She is bold, she is short, she is not afraid to be the center of attention. She is currently the bane of my existence. She is my new friend. I call her Shawn. She is a short, WHITE hair right up front and center on my head. She is my first white hair. I have had some grey hair (which were all shaved off when we shaved our heads a few years ago and I have not seen since), but Shawn is white. Brilliant white. Short and white. I am not afraid of grey hair, I am old enough to have earned a few ... but white? C'mon really? I am only 35. White?! I guess I cannot really complain, I have a friend who shall remain nameless here (like he reads my blog anyway) who is 18 months younger than I am who is rather dapper with his uber salt and pepper hair. But Shawn is here to stay. I welcome her with open arms ... that have clenched fists at the end.

Workout Dude

2011-09-06T08:07:00.003-06:00

Every morning when driving to work I pass this park and ride lot. And every morning there was this guy who parked his black Toyota FJ Cruiser in the south west corner, at an angle, and worked out behind the car, partially hidden from view. There was a weight bench fully stocked and Workout Dude was actually in the park and ride working out. Now I would pose the same questions every day to myself as I passed Workout Dude: Why does he workout in a parking lot? Why does he carry his weight bench in a Toyota? Does he live in his car with a weight bench and that is why he does not leave his Workout Dude equipment at home? I wonder how Wretchel is doing? I wonder if Workout Dude is training for something. What is this guy's story? I bet Workout Dude is lonely.

All of those questions make sense especially if you know Wretchel because she has that car but in blue.

Well last week Workout Dude was not at the park and ride. He was not working out. I did not think of Wretchel all week. I miss Workout Dude. It put a smile on my face every day to see this random guy in a parking lot working out with a weight bench that he obviously keeps in his car at all times. If I had a weight bench I might keep it in my house, but Workout Dude may be on to something... he can workout whenever he needs to or has the time or passes a park and ride. You are a smart and elusive man, Workout Dude. You intrigue me. Please come back! I miss you ... and Wretchel.

It's a baby day

2011-08-30T14:24:00.000-06:00

Today has been a day of babies ... wanted and not wanted. My beautiful niece was born this morning. She is the wanted one. She is a healthy 8lb 2 oz baby named Eleanor Stephanie Ann Johnson. She has the middle name I never did. I am touched that Pat and Kate would use my name and both of their Mom's (Ann is both of their Mom's middle name.) If I could have chosen a middle name for myself (and who knows maybe one day I will get it) it would be Anne. I cannot wait to meet her. I cried when I heard her name. I am very happy and touched. A nice touch to try and make her my favorite!!

Then about 15 minutes after I got the text about El, I was sitting in my office (this is the part about unwanted babies) and a coworker walked in to give me something. He paused, looked at the floor and asked "What is that on your floor?" I looked down to see the second biggest spider I have ever seen in my lifetime (the biggest was a tarantula that my cousin used to have as a pet ... a pet spider? hm) He was closer to the spider monster, and I am wearing opened toe shoes, so I asked him to step on it. He paused to look at it ... I cowered like a little girl. Now before you call PETSCT (People for the Ethical Treatment of Stupid Crawly Things) on me, I have a strict rule about crawling things: If it is in my living space I can kill it, if I am in its living space I leave it alone. It was all up in my living space right then. So he stepped on it ... and ... shudder ... little spiders scrambled. Like 30 of them. I am still sick about it. It was so gross and my skin is crawling. I am torn between having guilt at killing little babies, and elation at not having to kill them myself!! Enter in a whole scenario where I screamed, my coworker stepped on the little spiders, another coworker got Raid, and everyone came running to see why I had screamed. I am not afraid of spiders, I will kill them, but this scenario might have been bigger than me. A few shots of Raid, a vacuum, and my inhaler later ... all is well! Gross, but well. Have you seen Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? You know when Aragog's descendants scamper after Harry and Ron in the forest? Picture that only on my carpet, and with baby spiders. My skin is still crawling. Still crawling. Still. Crawling. Still. I think you get the picture.

So today has been a baby day. Welcome Ellie! I need to come up with a blog name for her. I am think Elsa.

A blog tease

2011-08-29T08:53:00.002-06:00

I ~~was invited to be~~ insisted on being a guest blogger on my sister’s blog. The blog post is coming. I will keep you in the loop when it is done. So here is the deal with Sister. Not only does she work full time as a mother, she works part time as a technical writer, she owns her own online business AND she could not be more talented when it comes to crafting, sewing, quilting, raising her kids, decorating her beautiful house, sewing, being a good person, helping whenever someone needs help, sewing and sewing. Want to know what I am not talented at? Crafting, sewing, quilting, raising my kids, decorating my house (yet), sewing, sewing, or sewing. (I am good at being a relatively good person and helping when someone is in need, so I can own that.) Sewing and crafting in any form cause me anxiety. Mom and Sister do it without problem. Colleen, in fact, can make stuff up when sewing. The purse I am carrying around that kind of looks like this but with a buckle not a bow? She just made it up! What? Yup. My last purse, she made it up. My wallet? She made that up too, and named it after me. I do not get it. I can sew on a button without any help. What? Yup. So I am in awe of her. Did I mention she can crochet too? I did not. We were at a family reunion last Sunday and I had to tease her because she was sitting having a conversation with our cousin (they are both in their early 30’s) and they were crocheting like a bunch of old women. Bless her.

So when I told her about this blog idea for her successful {The Busy Bean} blog I was super excited when she said yes! A few weeks ago I went down to her place in Egypt and we sewed for the evening on a repurposing sewing project so easy even I could do it. I learned a lot, like A LOT!! For example, did you know that if you tack down the seam it will not bunch? I did not. Also did you know that if you serge an edge it will not fray? So if you are looking for a frayed look this is not the right sewing option. I did not know that. I did, however, know that good music and great company make any project better (can you say Fresh Prince?!) It was a fun night. I love the project we made and have worn it more than once and it is has not fallen apart like the other similar project I made. Spoiler alert, it is a skirt.

What I'll Miss

2011-08-25T09:06:00.002-06:00

After high school I moved to Chicago to be a nanny and, though I lived with the family I nannied for, I was in a separate "wing" of the house. I lived with a missionary companion every day in Michigan (sometimes 2-3 comps at a time.) When I moved home I lived in a home with 3 of my siblings until they moved out one by one because they got married. Then my folks were moving home from Seattle and moved into the house with the one remaining un-married brother and I. We have lived this way for a while now. So I have been in a home with people my whole life. Next week I start moving out into my own brand-spanking old house. Alone. I was getting ready for work this morning and had many many different thoughts running through my head.

"Seriously, you are 35 and still live with your folks?"

"Get off my back, I they moved in with me."

"Stop fighting, random head voices!!"

"I do not have anything of my own any more to care for a house!!"
"I need new ... EVERYTHING!"

"Crate & Barrel needs to open stat!"

"I am going to miss so many things that go along with living with my Mom ... like shopping in her food storage."

"I need a vacuum."

"I do not have a microwave oven."

"I'll need to buy q-tips."

"You are single, what the crap are you going to do with 5 bedrooms?!"

"The wallpaper needs to go stat!!"

"Can I live with the ceiling for a while?
"Of course you can, you need a new microwave!"

"You need to find a roommate for the basement."
"Where would you find a roommate that you know you could stand to live with? You have issues, sis!!"

"How odd do you think you are going to look mowing your lawn riding the mower wearing a surgical mask because you are allergic to grass?"

"Cable or satellite?"

"That house is going to be seriously empty ... you have no furniture."
"Why are you suddenly talking to yourself in the second person?"

"At least it is not third person, she says."

Mostly I will miss the comforts of a well established home. A stock pile of toothpaste and soap, a vacuum and broom, dish towels, food, a home cooked meal when I get home from work, a microwave oven and q-tips. I have to go shopping. I hate shopping! That sounded negative. You know the cure for this? Ikea.

#60 - See Mount Rushmore

2011-08-22T13:04:00.002-06:00

Yes I know my 101 is technically done, but I am so going to continue to do all of them even if I did not do them in the timeline.

#60 was to see Mount Rushmore. I went last weekend with my folks and a friend. I will blog more about it once I have caught up, but I wanted to share just one pic.

I found out when I got home that my favorite family from Chicago (no offense to everyone else from Chi, but they did feed me for 4 years) will be there this week. Seriously? My timing sucks! I would have loved to see my boys for any reason! D - if you read this before you go - enjoy my friend!! Can't wait to compare notes!

Let the good ducks roll

2011-08-12T14:13:00.003-06:00

I have a pal who works for Make-A-Wish foundation here in Utah. Every year they have their Rubber Ducky Derby. This fundraiser helps to raise money to help fund the wishes of sick children. I have to be honest, when I was a kid I always hoped someone would submit my name to Make-A-Wish so I could go to Disneyland. Then I found out you had to be really sick to have a Wish granted, and stopped hoping someone would submit my name.

Anyway, back to the point. Craig is looking to raise some money this year. If you are interested in sponsoring some ducks the link is here. There are many ranges of support from $6 on up. No amount is too small I say, because it all adds up. There is a very small chance that your duck could win the race and you could win ... something. Not the point of it all, but still prizes are cool. The deadline to donate to this duck derby is 8/19 at noon.

Highly recommend.

The Green Head of Jealousy

2011-08-10T08:48:00.001-06:00

I am not one who gets jealous a lot. I have bouts of envy from time to time. But usually I just am happy for the fortunes of others. Usually. From time to time, I get the green (pun intended) head of jealousy.

I now have been jealous of my mom twice in a week. Jealousy 1: We had tickets to see Idina Menzel with the Utah Symphony in Deer Valley. When we walked in there were camp chair set up. I asked what they were for because we were told that chairs were not allowed. I was told they were ADA seating. I asked how people get them because my mom has cancer and sitting on the ground was not ideal (what a good daughter!) They gave us 2 tickets to sit there. Well since Kate is 8 months pregnant, she got the other seat. I was so jealous I was seeing green (again, with the pun for Idina.) They were so close they got these great pics during the bows.

Side note, the concert was so great even from the cheap seats!!

So jealousy #2? Mom will be in Chicago today for a week. My Chicago. My town. Mine. I want to go to there too. My boys are there. I am jealous. Jealous of my folks' 2 week vacation, jealous Mom will be in Chicago for a week while Dad is at a conference in Iowa (to be honest I am not really sure if that is where he is), and still a little jealous that she was so close to Idina! I know, grow up Steph. Two of my favorite things in a week and my Mom gets them.

There is a side of me that some of you have never seen (or read) but there you have it. Of course on the flip side, I could not be happier that Mom and Kate did not have to sit on the ground and that she gets to see Chicago, and that I get to meet up with her in South Dakota in a week. I also got to be at the concert, who cares if I could see her well. And I did get to live in Chicago for 4 years. I think we all know what needs to happen now. I just need to go get a pizza from Sweet Home Chicago Pizzaria here in Utah. I think I shall. Who is in? Monday night?

Presidential Challenge

2011-08-05T09:27:00.003-06:00

A few things to note: I am a HUGE political junkie and fat!! So when I heard this morning that the President of the United States wanted to push his fitness challenge I was ALL IN!! Are you kidding me? The chance to get a certificate that the President will personally sign and send me (it may looks like a stamp on it and one may think a staffer might send it out, but I know the truth!) So I signed up today.

The concept is to move 30 minutes a day, for 5 days a week, for 8 weeks. (For kids it should be 60 minutes a day.) This is a challenge for anyone, regardless of current fitness level.

Since I also know that I do better when I have the encouragement of friends in a group, I started a group: Drama Queens. I kept it a private group, so people I knew could join and it would be a little more manageable. So if you too are interested in getting a major award from the President himself, and would like to join me in this group, I would love to have you.

Check out the challenge site here: The President's Challenge

If you want an invite to the private group (it will not be found doing a public search on the site) leave me a message here with your email address. I will not publish it on my blog, but will invite you to the group. Comments with no email address will be published on the blog.

Let's Move!!

The Mean Girls

2011-08-04T16:26:00.002-06:00

I had a memory hit me today from when I was younger and lived in Washington. We were picking berries so my Mom could make jam. My siblings and I all went to the patch where we could pick as many as we could. After we had been there for a while my bag was pretty full. We were getting ready to leave and some older girls asked me if they could see how many I had picked. I showed them my bag, pretty excited that I had so many. I think you can guess what happened next. Those mean girls took my bag of berries. I remember feeling like a failure for not being able to give Mom berries. I remember crying. Mean girls suck.

Mean girls still suck.

Huh ... Now that was a dream

2011-08-02T12:17:00.002-06:00

I had this dream last night that just cannot not be put on the blog. (Grammar check Bean?)

I was at home resting on the floor when my friend Margo from Chicago walked in. We were talking and rested on the floor a little while longer and then decided to get some dinner because the people in my house were being annoying. I ordered a hot dog and the guy making the food bit my hot dog in half before putting it in the bun. He ate half and then tried to give me the rest. I felt anxious about this. So I thanked him for his kindness but could not eat the dog and left. Margo and I went to the local high school where Margo turned into Candice, you know in dreams people suddenly are other people? We were attending a fund raiser. In walked Punky Brewster and her little friend Cherie, only they were adults. Tricky part was? The people were the actors who played Blossom and Rudy Huxtable. Candice and I were the only ones who accepted that these women were Punky Brewster and Cherie. Everyone else thought they were just people there to watch the fund raiser. People became rude to Punky Brewster and Cherie and I felt like I needed to defend them. The entire dream felt chaotic. When I woke up my thought was "I really need to clean my room."

Some finer points to focus on: I have not seen Margo in probably 10 years. The people in my house were not my family, they were annoying strangers. I would never lay on the floor to rest. I would never order a hot dog because I am allergic to pork. I would not thank a man for eating half of my food and then trying to serve it to me; I would give him the business end of a talking too. I loved Punky Brewster, Blossom, and The Cosby's so to have them mixed up in a dream seem rather chaotic to me. I do need to clean my room because I could not find something in it yesterday which is probably why I felt I needed to clean my room.

Meh?

101 ... Time's Up

2011-08-01T16:42:00.002-06:00

I have been working on 101 goals, and the time limit I set for myself ended yesterday. I am pleasantly pleased by how many of them I was able to do. And I am not giving up, I have a few of the things scheduled, such as a trip to see Mount Rushmore in 2 weeks and fishing in 4 weeks. Some of the goals were just not realistically feasible because people moved or just did not have time to get with them to do what needed to be done. I learned a lot from it. I had a ball doing a lot of it (i.e. trip to Boulder and cruise to Europe!!) I would do it again. Not all of my goals were accomplished in the time I had set (i.e. I just graduated) but they were accomplished, so I crossed them off. Thanks again to Wretch for inspiring me! Love to copy you in so many things (see future post about me playing in the rain this weekend with my nieces!)

I was able to finish 72 out of 101, C average?! Yeck yes! Some of the goals were not finished, but are close (i.e. watching all of the Oscar winning films from over the years) So the final list with things crossed off is below:

Starting Date: Tuesday, November 1, 2008

Ending Date: Tuesday, July 30, 2011

Short Term (within the month of November)

1. ~~Make the List~~

2. ~~Get a pedicure~~

3. ~~Get a facial~~

4. ~~Deep clean the house for Mom’s return~~

5. ~~Vote~~

6. ~~Clean and organize bedroom~~

Long Term (Before the end of 2009)

7. ~~Graduate from College~~

8. ~~Write 7 PLA essay~~

9. ~~Take a class to improve computer skills~~

~~10.~~ ~~Design plans for improvements to new home~~

~~11.~~ ~~Blog daily for a month one thing I am grateful for~~

Long Term (Before the end of 2010)

~~12.~~ ~~Direct another play~~

~~13.~~ ~~Take a continuing education class~~

~~14.~~ ~~Take a dance class~~

~~15.~~ ~~Visit teach monthly 100%~~

~~16.~~ ~~Participate in one civic event as a volunteer~~

Family

~~17.~~ ~~Tell one member of my family a week that I love them~~

18. Start a date night with the nieces once a month

~~19.~~ ~~Eat all currently frozen Power Cooking meals~~

~~20.~~ ~~Make new Power Cooling meals~~

21. Plan and execute a Family Reunion

~~22.~~ ~~Cook a Thanksgiving Dinner~~

~~23.~~ ~~Host a Hanukkah party yearly with a new food to try~~

Friends

~~24.~~ ~~Participate in a Girl’s Night Out quarterly~~

~~25.~~ ~~Have an afternoon tea with the girls at The Grand~~

~~26.~~ ~~Learn a new skill from a friend~~

~~27.~~ ~~Organize a friend’s service project~~

28. Plan a surprise J&JDOF

29. Have a ba/grl party where I have to invite a man

~~30.~~ ~~Host a cheese night~~

Health/Beauty

31. Reach insurance goal weight by October 2009

32. Reach goal weight by the end of this list time

33. Get my dream 90 minute massage from Hutch

~~34.~~ ~~Get a hot rock massage from Lisa Jo~~

35. Plan a menu for a month and adhere to it

36. Read 4 health books (3/4)

~~37.~~ ~~Invest in 4 new exercise videos (4/4)~~

~~38.~~ ~~Get a bra fitting~~

~~39.~~ ~~Replace clothing as it becomes unflatteringly too large~~

~~40.~~ ~~Plan a weekly exercise schedule until October 2009 and stick to it~~

41. Train for and participate in a sprint tri by 2011

~~42.~~ ~~Exercise with someone new to learn a new workout~~

~~43.~~ ~~Clean out shoe closet and get old shoes repaired or thrown out~~

~~44.~~ ~~Get a new pair of great running shoes~~

45. Yearly tune up for bike

46. Take a tai chi class

47. Learn yoga

Home

~~48.~~ ~~Clean and organize every drawer in kitchen~~

~~49.~~ ~~Buy all of “my dishes” by the end of 2009~~

~~50.~~ ~~Donate unused items to DI~~

~~51.~~ ~~Organize DVDs and get shelving for them~~

~~52.~~ ~~Buy 2 new book shelves and organize books~~

~~53.~~ ~~Keep bedroom/office organized and clean for an entire month~~

~~54.~~ ~~Have laptop fixed~~

55. Make a meal for home once a month

Travel

56. Go on a rafting trip with Tonya

~~57.~~ ~~Plan a trip to Boulder Colorado for 2009~~

~~58.~~ ~~Visit one national park I have never been to~~

~~59.~~ ~~Plan my next cruise for 2011~~

60. See Mount Rushmore

~~61.~~ ~~Go to Vegas with Candice and eat one of “her” steaks~~

~~62.~~ ~~See one of Brady’s plays~~

~~63.~~ ~~See one of Dylan’s games (or visit D at school in case of injury)~~

64. Go fishing

~~65.~~ ~~Road trip to St. George~~

Personal Growth

~~66.~~ ~~Study the Book of Mormon each year with a different learning theme in mind~~

~~67.~~ ~~Say morning prayers daily for a month~~

~~68.~~ ~~Say evening prayers daily for a month~~

~~69.~~ ~~Read one good book a month after college graduation~~

~~70.~~ ~~Have Mom teach me how to make the baby blankets/rags~~

71. Have Colleen teach me to knit

~~72.~~ ~~Volunteer for a political campaign locally~~

73. Join a book club

~~74.~~ ~~Start a mini enrichment class at church~~

~~75.~~ ~~Do all of the required reading for one class in school~~

76. Read the weekly lessons for a month at church

Finances

~~77.~~ ~~Plan a budget for 2009~~

~~78.~~ ~~Add $150 from each paycheck to savings~~

79. Invest in a stock

~~80.~~ ~~Ask for a raise~~

~~81.~~ ~~Take a class on economics~~

~~82.~~ ~~Pay off credit card debt by end of 2010~~

~~83.~~ ~~Consolidate student loans~~

84. Pay off car

Random

85. Go to the Zoo

~~86.~~ ~~Go to the Aquarium~~

~~87.~~ ~~Visit a new museum once a year~~

~~88.~~ ~~Write a policy and procedure manual for work~~

~~89.~~ ~~Submit payroll policy manual for work~~

90. ~~See a school production,~~ ~~a community production~~, ~~a regional production~~, and a ~~professional production~~ (4/4)

91. Paint a picture with the help of Liz

92. Take a skiing lesson

Personal Enjoyment

93. See all of the Oscar Winning Best Picture Films as available from Blockbuster cue 53/83

~~94.~~ ~~See all of the Best Picture Nominee Films for 2009~~

95. Go to the Sundance Film Festival; see at least one Sundance film

96. Audition for 4 plays or musicals (2/4)

~~97.~~ ~~Try 2 new places to eat next Done O’Round~~

~~98.~~ ~~Stay overnight at one of the really nice hotels downtown~~

99. See a movie in the theater once a month

~~100.~~ ~~Hold “Award Show” parties for the big 4 in 2009~~

~~101.~~ ~~Have a spa day~~

The Tears That Flow

2011-07-28T10:54:00.003-06:00

Ever have one of those days when no matter what you do the tears will not stop? I am not having that day now, I did have one last week, but something today made me think about it. You know the day I am talking about? It is the day when so many small things happen that just pile on top of each other and then one final thing happens and you CANNOT STOP CRYING?!

Last week, during the run of All Shook Up I was exhausted. I would get up to go to work around 7 a.m. on most days (or 6 on the day we have our meeting), work all day, run home to change into my tech outfit and shovel food into my mouth, be at the stage at 6 p.m. to open the rooms for setting up, run the show, clean up, get home around 11:30 p.m. most days, then have to count the money in the cash box, clean the mics, and some nights take a shower. I would crawl into bed around 1:30 or 2 a.m. on a bad night. Get up and start it all over again. Well after a few days of this I was so tired I could not see straight. Add to it some new medication for shingles that made me foggy and I was pretty messed up.

Wednesday was an average day. Though I was pretty busy at work, had to work through my lunch hour, was late to set up for the night, and forgot my keys. So I was already a little frantic that night. Something small, and relatively innocuous happened that was unrelated to the show that broke my hear a little. It happened at the show, and in front of me, and it set me off. I could not turn off the water works. I sat in the sound booth and cried pretty much through the entire show. The end of Act I in All Shook Up is a song "Can't Help Falling in Love" and the cast signs part of it. It really was a touching bit of the show. Again, I cried. Then in Act II the character Sylvia sings a song to Jim "There's Always Me" where Jim rejects her. Again, I cried. I went to bed in tears that night, I woke up in tears the next morning. You could have told me that my shoe lace was broken and I would have cried (especially since I was wearing flip flops.)

The funny thing (now in retrospect) was that I really had no reason to be upset by what I had seen. I did not have any real cause for the tears; the emotional cause was real, but the rest of it was fluff. I had, in my mind, convinced myself of a possible reality that would, in actuality, never be. So the "death" of that dream is what I guess I was mourning. Once I accepted that this dream or hope was never going to be a reality, I was fine. I had to have a conversation with my mind (for those who were in drama at Hillcrest crica 1994 - I said to myself "SELF! AHHH!!") and the sad thing is, I actually talked back to the voice of reason in my head. So not only was I weepy, but I was actually talking to the voices in my head.

I do not know when crying became a sign of weakness. I think it is a natural part of being human, obviously or God would not have given us tear ducts. I think that everyone needs and deserves a good cry from time to time. I felt like I was letting people down by crying when I was supposed to be the boss for All Shook Up. I will never forget the kindness of K, S, & P who just let me cry. Especially P who came over and put her arms around me at the sound board and let me sob a little. M & L after the show, without knowing what was going on, each gave me a hug and told me they loved me. Isn't it interesting that these little things that are good do not add up as quickly as the little bad things do.

So I say we should celebrate the small triumphs more than we mourn the small losses. We should be able to accept compliments easier than we accept criticism. We should be able to look at life's little miracles easier than we see the little piles of crap that life deals out. And we should eat more chocolate!! So let it be written (or rihhun) so let it be done!!

My Program

2011-07-27T15:39:00.002-06:00

When I was growing up my Grams had her "shows". These were the soap operas that she would watch daily. I admit to knowing 'Days' pretty well when I was younger. I was home-bound, in bed, recovering from getting a new roof recently so had some time to find a new program.

I always have been a bit of a nerd when it comes to space, the final frontier. I grew up in a home where Star Trek and Star Wars were watched, quoted, and revered. I remember where I was the day of both the Challenger and Columbia accidents and always wanted to see a shuttle launch; I missed out on that one. So when I stumbled across NASA TV, I thought I had died and gone to heaven ... not literally died ... but you get my meaning.

NASA has its own tv channel (212 on Dish). All day, all night, NASA. I watched this program day and night for a few days. Not much happened, but the sights were AMAZING! The obvious star of the show was the space station and shuttle. (I know, nerd, much?) But there was this one supporting character that cracked me up. Sandy Magnus made me giggle so often, a painful experience with shingles, that she is my new favorite astronaut. (What do you mean you do not have a favorite astronaut?!) The episode where she found the socks she had left on the space station was epic!! Oh and then the episode where they were transferring supplies from the shuttle to the station and she would fly past the camera doing flips and twists. Oh my goodness, I laughed. I actually hit rewind a few times to watch her. Oh and the episode where they were interviewing the astronauts and she let her hair fly? Classic.

I was worried that once the shuttle program was over that they would turn off NASA tv, but they did not. They are replaying old episodes right now. I highly recommend. I mean the NASA tv is the recommendation, not getting shingles. I would highly recommend never getting shingles, because it hurts ... and itches ... and hurts ... and itches some more.

So if you missed my program, here are some great images from the show.

Zumbathon

2011-07-26T09:06:00.002-06:00

My mate River asked me to post this link:

http://www.wwhi.org/events/dance-the-day-away/

Sounds like an interesting way to raise money for women who could desperately use our monetary help. The Women's World Health Initiative is sponsoring a fund raiser that will raise funds for their organization while allowing participants to exercise for their own health. Worthwhile. Check it out. If I did not already have plans that day I would be there to get my Zumba on!

I Hope You Go Soon

2011-07-23T09:59:00.001-06:00

For those new to the blog, or as a reminder to some who may have forgotten, my mom has cancer. She was diagnosed 3 years ago, underwent a stem cell transplant, and was in remission for 2 years. It came back this summer, we knew it would. So now she does a milder treatment than a transplant, she takes an oral chemo which is designed to hold off the cancer for a while. She will have to do another transplant in the future when the oral chemo does not work any longer against the cancer.

She went to a bbq the other day and was talking with the wife of an old school chum. At the end of the conversation this lady leaned into my mom and said (in regard to her cancer) "I hope you go soon!"

I pause for effect ...

Really lady? Really? You hope my mom dies soon? Okay, how about we apply a filter to your brain - mouth connection? How about a more appropriate way to communicate what you meant to say as "I hope you do not have too much pain!" Or "I hope when the treatment options no longer work that your pain is manageable" Or how about "Good luck with your treatments, you are in my thoughts and prayers!" ?????? How about you think about what you say before you say it, and if you would not be offended by what you say then continue. If you would be offended by what you are about to say, if someone told you that they hoped you would die soon, then maybe do not say it.

Lady, you're an idiot! Have a fruit roll-up! (quote stolen from the live CD Stunt by Barenaked Ladies.) I do not always filter what I say, this blog is evidence of that, but there are some things that you just do not say to a woman in the early battle stages of cancer. "I hope you go soon" is one of those phrases. When she is bedridden and in pain all of the time, then you hope and pray she goes soon. But when the cancer fight is still raging and there is still a fight to be had, you do not tell someone that you hope they die soon. I ... you ... wow! Just wow!

Did I Not Turn You On?

2011-07-22T09:03:00.002-06:00

I promised my Riss and Foxy (shout-out!!) that I would blog about this last night, so here it is my lovey's. I have uttered phrases like this over the last 2 weeks: I forgot to turn you on. I forgot to turn you off. I totally turned you off to early. I finally turned them all on at the right time! Come here I need to turn you on. I just turned you off.

I am referring to the microphones for the show I am teching (in addition to producing) right now. Teching is a term we techies use that incorporates lights and sound. In our little community theater we have to set up and take down our tech booth every night for outdoor shows. So sound and lights are always an adventure!! Every night there is a new issue.

I get to play every day with a 20 channel mixing board (small by some standards but perfect for what we need!) We have 12 body mic packs for the actors. But we also perform outside on a cement stage which means that when it is 96 degrees, like is was last night, my actors sweat. In order to prevent these mic packs from getting ruined with sweat we cover them with super specialized microphone pack protectors. Trade secret what these super specialized microphone pack protectors are. I could tell you, but then I would have to ... watch you blush.

The other day I did not have one mic at all. Someone had unplugged the receiver in the back. To trouble shoot that problem took 15 extra minutes. 15 minutes we do not have. I could not turn on #12, which is Tif and Mark. Tif has a solo in the show, and Mark needs to be on at the very end. So I was heard to mutter an expletive or two (to be honest probably more like 37) along with the phrase "I cannot turn on Mark." Last night Mark's mic did not work for the end of the show. I uttered the phrase again "I cannot turn Mark on. I have lost Mark."

Last night I also had some pre show troubles with Foxy's mic. Now this lady is a gem. She has worked a board before, she knows the frustrations of the board and just was ideal to work with. We plugged her mic into another channel and she was golden. (I think my board needs some tender loving care from my dear pals at Poll.) To her I posed the question "Why can't I turn you on?" To which Foxy smiled and (paraphrasing) said "You'll figure it out and turn me on."

I understand the alternate meaning of this phrase. Every time I ask why I can or cannot turn someone on or off, everyone seems to get a smirk on their faces. Oh theater is an interesting beast. It is an industry I love! Pretty much everything has a double meaning, and the second meaning can be taken in a sexual connotation, as in my mic phrases. Sometimes I wonder why I do it, why I love it, why I keep coming back to theater? I get so tired during a show's run that I have been known to cry for no reason (i.e. 24 hours ago) and the cuts, bumps, bruises, and bug bites make question my sanity. I swear more when I do a show (confessions of sailor's daughter), I sleep less, I manage to some how do all of my work (though I do not know how that happens), I use parentheses too often when I blog (effect of the show, I am sure), but I love it.

Someone asked me the other day which I liked better: producing or directing? I have to admit I love to direct. It killed me to not be able to have more creative freedom during this show. As a producer I get to choose the show, hire the staff, pay the bills, and organize the crap out of every aspect. As a director I get to let the producer do all of the dirty work while I play chess on stage with actors; placing them where they need to go until I win! They are two very distinct jobs. I love to be organized so producing appeals to me. But I can sit down to read a script and something magical happens inside my head: I can see a staged show production. I can see in my head what a show can look like. As a director I love to make that vision a reality. I have said to the cast this week that I am an actor first, director second, and a producer third. Mostly because that is the order in which I grew in my theater progression. If I had to choose my chosen field I would be a director first, actor second, and producer third. I will produce again for the MAC. It is kind of my job on the Council now. Once I get good enough, like Suzanne did, I hopefully will be able to produce and direct a show. Or produce and be in a show. But for now, and thanks to a challenge from Besty, I will produce and nothing more. I love it. I really do. I loved making the choices, I loved being the boss, I loved doing it all.

Hearing the cast perform, listening to some amazing women sing (the men are good too, do not get me wrong!), watching the crowd's reaction during the show, hearing the applause after, and seeing the smiles on the faces of the cast after a good night's show is all worth the extra time and effort of being a producer. It makes the sound trouble of not being able to turn people on or off on time all worth it.

Resignation

2011-07-21T16:43:00.003-06:00

To resign, to submit, to yield, to give up. I think that resignation usually involves giving up something that one cares about. Submitting to the will of another, realistically yielding claim on a dream, or resigning oneself to accepting something that is hard to accept.

Resignation is hard. Hopes and dreams are meant to inspire. It is hard to accept that sometimes dreams are not, nor will be, a reality. It is still nice to dream, though.

How I Know

2011-07-19T13:49:00.003-06:00

Here is how I know that I am in the middle of a show right now, in no particular order:

1) I am tired, in fact I am so tired that it is clearly indecent. In the sales meeting this morning when someone asked why a printer in my office was not set up with the network, I took it as a personal insult.

2) I quote lines from the show that only those who have seen it would laugh. (He was a war hero, who died in war. It is only the most beautiful thing ever rihhun.)

3) I wake up daily with a different tune in my head. Today it is "Can't Help Falling in Love."

4) I have various cuts, bumps, and bruises on my body. (Here is an abridged run down: blood blister on my left pinkie, blister on my left hand and right foot, 27 bug bites, both big toes are trashed, 17 distinctive cuts, too many bruises to count, and crazy cankles.)

5) I have a crazy summer cold on top of getting over shingles.

6) If I do not make a list of things that need to be done, they do not get done.

7) I am so tired when I finally get to bed that I cannot sleep.

8) I am hungry all of the time, and extremely thirsty.

9) I am grumpy ... really grumpy sometimes. (I pulled out my angry face with the cast the other day, not a fine moment!)

10) I am blissfully happy!!

Deseret News Article

2011-07-18T09:01:00.001-06:00

This news article was in the local paper about our show: The link is here

Deaf Utah woman is major part of upcoming musical

By Hillary Bowler

For the Deseret News

Published: Sunday, July 17, 2011 3:00 p.m. MDT

MIDVALE — Karen Chatterton, director of Midvale City's upcoming performance of "All Shook Up," says a deaf person performing in a musical is "totally possible."

And it's a reality.

Sandy native Anne Fife, who is deaf, first found out about the musical when her son Nick decided to try out. He expressed his mother's interest in trying out to Chatterton, producer Stephanie Johnson and other staff members.

Johnson, who was already friends with Fife, sent her a text message asking if Fife would like to try out, and she did.

Fife actually sang at her audition, but at the same time explained to staff members that she would be happy perform the song in sign language if they preferred.

“When she was auditioning, I was thinking ‘What’s going to happen? Are people going to make fun of her?’” Nick said. “I was deathly terrified.”

When it came time for callbacks, Fife didn’t get a call and was ready to shrug it off. But after a little while, the cast list was up, and her name was on it along with Nick’s. They were both to be part of the supporting ensemble.

Nick said they about screamed their heads off because they were so excited. They wanted to keep it a secret to surprise the family, so they rehearsed together late at night.

“My personal philosophy in the arts is that they’re for everybody, and that means everybody,” Chatterton said.

Rehearsal in the city park runs just like any other musical rehearsal, except two languages are spoken.

Melissa Espinosa and Crystal Nichols, both volunteers from Salt Lake City, have served as Fife’s interpreters throughout rehearsals and will do so for the performances as well.

They sat in front of the stage during one rehearsal with scripts in their laps practicing their parts for the community theater’s ASL nights.

The musical will run for a week from July 15-22. Two of the performances — July 18 and 22 — will be interpreted for the deaf community.

When asked by way of interpreter about the challenges of rehearsing, Fife simply said, “I haven’t really seen any challenges.”

“Obviously, there are things I can’t really do because of not being able to hear,” she added. But Fife, the staff and cast members don’t view these as barriers. They simply had to make some little adjustments.

When Fife doesn’t have her interpreters with her, she gets help from Nick or other cast members. She said she was surprised to discover just how many of the cast members knew a little bit of ASL.

DeeDee Palmer, who Nick said is the most helpful with his mom, welcomed the opportunity to help Fife and brush up on her own ASL.

“It makes you just understand and realize that even if you don’t have some of your senses, it still won’t hinder what you want and love to do,” Palmer said.

Because Fife can’t hear the music or any of the spoken lines, it can be difficult to follow cues and rhythms. Palmer and other ensemble members give her barely noticeable physical cues like a tap on the shoulder.

Her interpreters will sit in the audience to help her get back on rhythm if she ever gets off beat, but she rarely is.

Marty Buhler, who plays one of the lead characters, Dennis, said all of the cast members have a lot to learn from Fife.

“She’s always on her cues. She always knows what to do,” he said. “She’s been on top of her game. Watching her do that we need to pick up our game because we can hear our cues.”

Fife saves questions for before and after scenes and says that the director, choreographer and fellow cast members take extra time to make sure she understands what’s happening.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride, but we really have a lot in common, and we work it all out,” Fife said. “I have really good feelings for this group and everybody I’m working with.”

Of Fife’s deafness, Chatterton said, “We could either mask it or embrace it. We chose to embrace it.”

Chatterton helped with writing a subplot telling Fife’s story.

“It was important to us to use her in showing inclusion throughout the story,” Johnson said.

The musical, based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and Elvis Presley’s songs, centers on themes of inclusion and unity. The unity of the hearing and non-hearing worlds provided a perfect opportunity to illustrate that.

There’s one scene in particular where the cast performs the song “C’mon Everybody.” Nick leads his mom over to the jukebox so she can put her hands on it to feel the vibrations of the music that everyone else is listening to.

“It’s this really cool connection moment when she starts to realize that there’s music,” Nick said. Fife then begins dancing with everyone else.

Fife taught the whole cast a little bit of sign language to use in the musical number “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and they will all sign the last line together. Fife will also participate in some of the songs by way of signing.

Both Palmer and Buhler think Fife is a wonderful actress. Because sign language requires a great amount of expression, it’s not surprising that acting comes naturally for her. She’s also no stranger to performing, having been in performances with the Utah Opera and at the Black Box Theatre at the University of Utah.

But Fife hasn’t been in any performances for almost a decade. She’s loved having this opportunity to return to the stage and express herself. She says she “will definitely do it again.”

Fife was adamant about deaf people not being afraid to get involved.

“Being involved is what a community is,” she said. “They can’t just oust you and say only a specific group can be in this play — a hearing group — because really all of us can be involved. We need to have variety in the plays.”

“It doesn’t matter where you come from," Chatterton said of the message of the musical. "We’re all human beings, and we all have something to offer."

There’s always a place for someone, whether they can hear the music playing or not. They can certainly feel it.

“It’s really inspired me,” Fife said of her experience, “and I think it can inspire other people.”

For more information about the performance and tickets, visit http://midvalearts.com/.

Get Your Shook On

2011-07-14T10:52:00.002-06:00

All Shook Up opens tomorrow night, we are up to our ears in tech this week. I hope you will come out to see it; we run July 15-22. Information on the show can be found here at the Midvale Arts Council website where you can purchase tickets online. Of course tickets are always available at the door as well. Bring a camp chair or blanket if you do not want to sit on the ground!! We have a deaf actress in the show which has been amazing!! The show will be interpreted for the deaf on July 18 and 22.

I stumbled across this little gem today and laughed right out loud!! Hopefully I remember how to embed video here. My blogging skills are a little rusty right now. So much to catch up on, like my hip getting a new roof.

Deep Thoughts ... by Starbuck

2011-07-05T16:17:00.001-06:00

Do not clean out your gmail folders under the influence of pain medication. Nothing good can come of it.

Being followed

2011-07-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

So this guy I know recently told me he was following me. It honestly took me a minute to figure out what he meant. See, call me old fashioned, but in my day when a guy says he is following you it meant you had a crazy stalker who physically followed you around everywhere you went and waited outside your window to look in and asked your mission companion if he could have your hand in marriage so the mission president had to transfer you out of the area literally at midnight. It did not meant that you clicked a button on the internets to see what said person was up to and then 'like' what they are doing. But my good friend D, apparently follows me!! (Hey D!! I totally talk about you and your brother here sometimes!!)

One day I will have to have someone explain to me about Twitter. I am not a Twit (?!) yet and have never tweeted. But I do the blog and the facebook on the internets and apparently I am being followed. I kind of had a stalker once in real life in case that was not obvious, story for another day, so this is like good clean, free therapy to get over being followed, I guess!

I do not have one of those phones that is smarter than me, I am still smarter than my phone ... I think. I am waiting to upgrade to see if maybe Apple is going to release a new iPhone in September or something before I get a smart phone. Right now my phone would be average, not dumb, but average.

Have you ever heard someone utter this phrase "What did we ever do before the internet?" Well I will tell you what we did before Al Gore invented the world wide interweb. We picked up our rotary to make a phone call. We looked in the newspaper to see what time a show was playing, and then we washed the black residue off of our fingers. When you had a research project to do you had to go to the library to look in their reference books. We picked up our stationary and pens to write a letter to someone, and then licked the envelope and stamp to mail it. A tweet was the sound a bird made. If someone was "sick of being sick" or "tired of being tired" it was not broadcast for all their friends to see. And telling someone you were following them could land you in hot water with the police.

I am not saying I want to go back to those days ... ever. No, no. The internets are for me!! So follow me, blog stalk me, tweet, and like!! I am all in, baby!! All in!

I'm ALL SHOOK UP!!

2011-07-01T11:57:00.003-06:00

The Midvale Arts Council presents All Shook Up, a musical inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley®. July 15-22, nightly except Sunday, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Midvale Outdoor Stage in the Park; 455 West 7500 South in Midvale, Utah. ASL interpreters will be available on Monday July 18 and Friday July 22. Tickets may be purchased online at www.midvalearts.com or at the door. Tickets are $7 - general admission, $5 - children and seniors, $25 - family pass (one household please), group tickets are available at our website. Midvale residents receive $1 off admission with proof of residency at the door.

If you enjoyed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and are a fan of Elvis Presley’s music, you will love All Shook Up. The show is being directed by Karen Chatterton, Stephanie Maag, and Patricia Rogers. The cast includes Larissa Villers as Natalie, Jace Mitchell as Chad, Kevin Cottam as Jim, Lorri L. Cerva as Sylvia, Sarah Rogers and Lorraine, Marty Buhler as Dennis, Korinne Ivory as Sandra, Melody Chapman as Mayor Matilda, Bryant Roberts as Dean, and Mark Hansen as Sherriff Earl.

The Outdoor Stage in the Park is a beautiful venue which allows you the freedom to bring blankets or camp chairs, a picnic lunch, and enjoy this theatrical presentation under the stars. Shows may be postponed or cancelled due to inclement weather.

For more information visit www.midvalearts.com; for group ticket information email stephanie@midvalearts.com.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2011-06-26T16:16:00.002-06:00

I had the chance to teach the 4-5 year old class today at church. Here is the conversation that took place about half way through the lesson:

Mik - What is your name?
Me - Stephanie

Mik - Snephanie?
Me - Stephanie

Ali - Snephanie.

Mik - Snephanie?
Me - Sure.

Mik - Um, can I call you Sarah?

Me - (pause) Sure.

Mik then proceeded to call me Sarah for the remainder of the class. When his mom came to pick him up I asked Anna to have Mik tell her my name.

Mik - Her name is Snephanie, but I am going to call her Sarah.

You know, whatever works!!

Summer Concert Series

2011-06-23T08:58:00.003-06:00

The Midvale Arts Council hosts a free concert series every year. For the last few years there has been a summer outdoor concert series as well. This year it is a Music and Movies in the Park Summer series. FUN!! The first concert is tomorrow June 24; on the Outdoor Stage in the Park 455 West 7500 South in Midvale. Since these concerts are at our park bring blankets or chairs to sit on. The info is below:

Friday June 24 7:30 p.m.: The 23rd Army Band will be performing a free concert. The Midvale Arts Council will be selling a fried chicken picnic dinner for $5 a person; the proceeds will go towards upgrading the Arts Council facilities. After the band the cast of All Shook Up will give the audience a preview of the show. Then at 9:30 once the lights have dimmed, we will be showing Operation Petticoat. Please, Cary Grant AND Tony Curtis? I am so there.

Saturday July 23 7:30 p.m. (the day after All Shook Up closes): Christmas in July!! Christmas Karaoke followed by the instant classic film A Christmas Story. "I can't put my arms down!!"

Friday August 12 7:30 p.m.: Broadway night starting off with Broadway Karaoke and then stay to see a very young Ginger Rogers in 42nd Street.

For more information or to sign up to karaoke for the last 2 concerts visit www.midvalearts.com to visit the summer concert page.

A Review

2011-06-09T08:55:00.003-06:00

I love theater; this is not news, just a reminder. A friend of mine lent me his copy of a new musical to listen to. I have not seen this musical, only listened to the soundtrack, but I would like to share my views on it. And since this is my blog I get to do what I want.

The Book of Mormon musical opened on Broadway to mostly positive acclaim. It is nominated for many Tony awards, including Best Musical. To be honest it will probably win. Which is a shame. This was not a good musical.

I am sure critics of my review will claim that I do not like this musical because I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon.) I have a pretty healthy sense of humor. I can take and make jokes about my religion. And in actuality the Mormon jokes in this musical were not offensive to me. There were some lyrics that contained false doctrine. Whatever, a musical about the Catholic Church would probably include some jabs about recent scandals involving priests which is not indicative of what the Catholic Church is or believes. I get it. That is not at all what I found offensive.

I was offended by the authors making light of the conditions in Africa. The story revolves around two young Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda to preach the Gospel. These two white, young men (19 years old) from Salt Lake were sent far away to a land and culture that is foreign to them. In Africa they find that 80% of the people they are sent to teach have AIDS, that warlords terrorize their families, and that some of the cultural beliefs of the people are vastly different than those from home. The African people curse God for their situation in life, and conditions in which they are forced to live. The musical goes on to talk about the atrocities that happen to the defenseless, i.e. infants and virgins. If these things truly happen, they are not funny and should not be made light of.

I was offended by the language. I am by no means a prude. We had a missionary stay at our house this week on his way to the Missionary Training Center and I had to promise my mother I would not swear in front of him. There are two swear words I will not say and many other words that just are offensive to me. This musical has every word I will not say ... multiple times. The f-word is particularly prevalent. In addition they take the name of the Lord in vain many times. One particularly jaunty number in the musical is the African people singing literal curses to God. Over. And over. And over again.

I was offended by the tone. I have seen musicals with dark or hard content before. Rent and The Color Purple are both a little harsh in language and subject matter but they really tell the story as opposed to make fun of the situation. They made fun of the situation in Africa, like I said already, and there are very explicit sexual jokes in the show. I have a rule that if I can sit next to my mother during something and not feel uncomfortable it is probably alright. You know instead of WWJD (What would Jesus do?) I live by WWMW (What would Mom watch?) and this ain't it kid!

I was not offended by the jokes about Mormons, though it is fraught with inaccuracies on the Mormon Church. I do hope that everyone who walks into the show knows that it is a sacrilegious romp. The musical, at least the released soundtrack, has little scriptural basis for any of it. Unless you believe that Mormons believe in Boba Fett and Mordor (from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings respectively) or that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were equal to African warlords in the things they did before they were visited by God and angels. Anyone who believes that what is being "taught" as fact deserves to be lied to. Of course, what should I expect from the creators of South Park and Avenue Q?

The overlaying lesson that I took from the story of The Book of Mormon musical is that we all need to fight for our beliefs and question what we have faith in; that when life is bad, we may question our faith, we may have doubts, but we should fight for our answers and for a better life. It is alright to dream and aspire for a better life; in fact, it is our right as human beings. The show actually has a good moral message, if you can get past the offensive language ... which I just cannot.

The music for this show is great. It is catchy and upbeat like a good musical should be. If the lyrics for the musical were not offensive to me it probably would be a new favorite musical. I think it is a shame that this wonderful music was filled with sexual references, foul language, and offensive content. I honestly do not know which song they will choose to perform at the Tony's because of the language and content. Then again, if it were not an offensive romp, a story about The Book of Mormon probably would not be on Broadway, nominated for a Tony.

Bottom line, would I recommend this musical to anyone? No. I would not. In fact, I have told some of my musical loving friends to steer clear of it. This musical could have been great without the offensive content. That is my review.

Dance Concert

2011-06-08T15:08:00.003-06:00

I have been a substitute teacher at The Learning Circle for the musical dance theatre classes. I tell you what I am having a great time. The dance concert is next Saturday if you care to see some great little kids dance ... and sing ... and act ... The teachers are going to perform too. Stephanie, Kim, and Chelsea are dancing. Jenn is playing Mother Goose. Oh and also Casey, Patti and I are singing. My three nieces are in the show also along with their mommies. The information is below, the price for the ticket helps to pay for the use of the venue.

The Learning Circle Performing Arts Studio is happy to present our first concert:

A Goose Tale

Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
Union Middle School

(7500 South 700 East)

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at The Learning Circle (8685 South Highland Drive, Sandy) or at the door. Please call or email Stephanie if you have any questions. (801-943-1757 or thelearningcirclellc@gmail.com)

Improv adventures with MDT3

2011-05-25T10:13:00.001-06:00

Since Squitch was on bed rest and then maternity leave, I have been able to teach the musical dance theater classes at The Learning Circle for the past 2 months. Now Squitch is back so we are going to teach for the next 4 weeks of class to get them ready for concert. Last week we did an acting exercise, a 5 minute free write. For 5 minutes each person can write whatever he or she wants to.

I got permission from 6 of the kids to share what they wrote. 2 of the members of the class wrote random words or thoughts that popped into their heads like “Romeo is a stalker” “What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?” “winner” “5 4 3 2 1” “shoes” “blue” “spots” “Did you bring that book for me?” etc. The other 4 girls wrote little stories. These are in their own voice and spelling (they are 12-15 years old.)

LJ wrote” There was a flower in the garden that grew. The flower was red, pink, purple, and white. There were a lot of flowers in the garden but this one was unique. The flower grew in the garden for months; it grew until it reached the sky. The flower stayed in the garden. No one ever touched the garden with the amazing flower because it would die.”

RN wrote “It all began on that fateful, sunny morning. My sister walked out the door with a bag of seed to plant our lonely field. She was not to return. As I watched, a giant bird flew down to grab her. Its claws gleamed silver under the shining sun as they closed around her body. Its beady, red eyes stared at me mockingly. Then, with a great whoosh, it lifted its pale wings and rose into the fresh air. My sister let out a terrified shreak before she disappeared, never to be seen again. I raced outside, screaming. The time had finally come. War was upon us. Now, the only question was, how many would survive?”

KA wrote “The rain was pounding on my face. I heard the thunder crack. For some reason I was ingoying the thunder and the rain. Who cares about how soggy your clothes are your getting a temperary shower. I know this sound much to weird for a normal kid to be doing homework in the rain and enjoying it, but that’s the kind of girl I am. That’s also why my name is Falon. My mother know there was something a little bit different about me the first day I was born. I stood on my feet after 24 hours alive. The nurse ran over to lay me back down but I just walked over to her. She was so astonished that I could walk at only one day old that she fainted. But that’s how I am. I learn quickly. You see I am only 13 and am in Colage getting a Doctorates degree in a month.”

RN wrote “Have you ever wanted to kiss a zombie? Now I know it’s a strange question, but ever since my friend convinced me too look up my facts on zombies I’ve been obsessed with them. Of the different kinds from shuffling, black & blue, crusty lipped, dark eyed human eater, to the stunningly attractive & flawless beauties that look very appealing to you, & yet your flesh is even more appealing to them. One story of an encounter w/a zombie especially caught my attention. The description of a young girl sharing her first kiss w/a zombie who hungered for her brains. In the end she became a zombie herself, forced to seducer her meals for all eternity. I want to kiss a zombie. I want to be a zombie. Ok maybe not, but it would still be cool to kiss a zombie.”

This little group of kids have a great imagination and will do great things in the future.

The Week ... The Friends ... The Moms

2011-05-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have had 8 friends in my life that have at one time or another claimed the title of best friend. I remember S from when I was a lot younger. She introduced me to Barry Manilow and the song I Write the Songs (which ironically he did not write); I thought we would be best friends forever but she moved when I was in 1st grade and I have no clue where she is now.

Then we moved into the neighborhood I grew up in and I had 3 really great friends: JO, JE, & KH. These friends all lived around me, within walking distance, and we all were friends from 2nd grade on. I thought of each of them as a best friend. I know it is hard to have 3 bests, but there you have it. JO moved away; JE and I kind of drifted apart; KH and I have always been close though she now lives on the west coast.

7th grade meant a new school and new friends. I met JK & WW; they took over the title of best friends and remained through high school. Their parents became like second parents to me. I called them Mom and Dad (fill in last name.) I adored their families. They really treated me like I was one of them. All three of us played the same band instrument, though JK & WW were infinitely better than I was. They were either first or second chair in band. Both of them were, admittedly, smarter than me. They were both in honors classes all through school. But they never treated me like I was less intelligent. I was fine with it all, because I was and still am the funny one. (I am also humble ...)

In high school I met SC and immediately became enamored by her because she was different than any friend I had ever had. She was smart and could dance like an angel; she was my first real friend who was a performer like me. She has this infectious smile that I could not get enough of. I had other friends in a core group in high school too, but for me it was JK, WW & SC.

After high school I moved away. JK & WW went off to different schools. And sadly I lost contact with SC for a while. After I moved back home I met CB (or the adult version of CB, she actually is a friend of my sister who kind of bugged when we were younger!) JK & WW have been a constant in my life, SC and I luckily found each other again and have been great friends again for 15 years. CB has been like a sister to me for the past 10 years. Besides my own family these 4 women are the closest friends I have in my life (... although recently I add CM to the list!)

That is the background to bring us to present day ...

Last week was a best friend week for me, and not all in the good way. JK and I got to sit and chat for a long time last Saturday which was great. SC and I see each other often (like twice a week) and CB was gone on a family vacation and I missed her terribly because it was a hard week. You know those weeks when you just need it to be over and done with? Mine was like that by Tuesday. I just needed the week to be done.

I won't get into all of the details of the crappy week, but by Wednesday I actually said “If one more bad thing happens I will cry, right out loud!” Then WW called that night to tell me her Mom had passed away. She now has lost both of her parents. Mom W was an angel here on earth. I loved this woman as a second mom. I was devastated for WW. Luckily for me I was actually with SC when WW called to give me the news. SC is pretty amazing! I am lucky to have had her there because she let me cry and cry and cry ... and then I cried some more.

The next day my dear mother went to the oncologist for her quarterly check up expecting great news, instead finding out that her cancer has returned. Cancer just sucks. While they caught the cancer early this time, and she is not nearly as sick as she was last time she was diagnosed (3 years ago), it was a devastating blow. Within a 24 hour window I mourned the loss of Mom W and was hit with the mortality of my own mother's disease. We have to wait a week to know all of the details of her prognosis, but hopefully she will be on a pill chemo for a while and not have to have another transplant for a few years.

I admit to feeling despair. Yes I know Marilla Cuthbert, To despair is to turn your back on God (Anne of Green Gables) but I felt it. So I did the only rational thing I could think of Thursday: I had ice cream for lunch, cried again, and prayed. I am amazed with the peace and comfort that these three things combined can provide. I was able to gain some perspective, the sarcastic part of me says it was the ice cream, but I know it was the Lord who helped give me some clarity. Mom is not as sick as she was 3 years ago. Her cancer is not as progressed as it was 3 years ago. The transplant gave her 3 years of relatively good health. She may have many years until she needs another transplant. Cancer still sucks, but the Lord is in charge and knows what we need to make it through this trial.

I am blessed to have the amazing friends I have. These friends who bring so much to my life. I have an amazing family that I was born into, but I also have amazing families that I have adopted because of the friends who have come into my life.

I would, however, not object if I never have to have another week like last week again.

Deep Thoughts ... by Starbuck

2011-05-16T14:11:00.000-06:00

Cancer still sucks.

Graduation

2011-05-10T12:31:00.003-06:00

Saturday was a really long long long day!! I have to admit though, I am super happy I walked. It took long enough to finish my degree that it was a pretty big deal for me. Honestly though, I think it was more important to my folks to see a kid walk. None of us walked when we finished our associates degree (at least I think none of my siblings walked, I know I did not) and I am the first one of their children to graduate with a bachelors. My brother-in-law has his degree, but I am the first of the Johnson family with one.

I wanted to share some pics, but since I was the one graduating I have none of them. I will share them as soon as my amazing sisters or Mom share them with me. However, Kate did take some pretty great pictures the night before, one of them is above. I cannot wait to see the rest of them, though. (Can I endorse her again? Of course I can it is my blog and she is family. If you need a great photographer, her info is on the right of my blog.)

One thing that is interesting to me is that before Saturday I was kind of embarrassed to share where I went to school. People would find out I was close to graduation and the first question they asked is if I went to the University of Utah. I would say in an apologetic tone, "Oh no, I went to the University of Phoenix." I honestly do not know why. I received an amazing education from UoP. I did all of my classes online and worked really hard to graduate with honors. I am really proud of that. On top of going to school full time I worked full time, worked part time at the studio, directed 3 shows, worked with the special needs mutual at church every week, and still managed to have time to spend with my family and friends. I could not have done that all at the UoU. So I say proudly "I am a Phoenix!"

I certainly could not have done it on my own. My family and friends were an amazing support to me. Beside the tireless encouragement from my folks (who hung my first report card on their fridge!), my sister proofread every paper I wrote in the first few years of my associates program (she majored in English when she went to school), my brother helped me pass my math classes (I think I could not have gotten the B's without him; I was never so proud of a B in my life!!), another brother cleaned our house on more than one occasion because I was buried in homework, and Besty even proofread a few papers for me too. I think that is why it was important for me to have my family there with me that day. We walked out in our procession and I knew where my family was sitting so I looked for them. Lucky for me I have a few really tall brothers so they were pretty easy to spot. When I found my family it all just hit me and I could not help but tear up. I am so not a crier normally but I could not help it. It was a pretty exciting day.

So thank you to everyone who ever encouraged me or helped during my degree program. I now am a proud college graduate with an Associates of Arts in Business, Bachelor of Science in Management, and Certificate in Human Resource Management. And I could not have done it without ... you!

I have something to say ...

2011-05-04T16:19:00.002-06:00

Spoiler alert: Socio-political rant

It has been a pretty big news week. First with the Royal Wedding (of course I watched it ... yes at 3 in the morning) and then with the assassination of ObL (his name need not be on my blog.) I have watched the news with interest at the reaction of the crowds at these two events. Interestingly the reactions have been pretty much the same: cheering in the streets. In my opinion only one of these events should have cheers accompany it.

I remember so very vividly watching the news after the 9/11 attacks and being saddened at the events. I was sad until I saw news footage of jihadists dancing and cheering in the streets at the mass devastation and destruction. When I saw people cheering for our loss and devastation I was IRATE! People were cheering at death. It was wrong.

Friday when I saw the crowds cheering for the Duke and Duchess I wished I had been there. (But to be fully honest I wish I had been the Duchess married to that handsome handsome Prince ... I digress) The reaction was completely appropriate. The circumstances warranted dancing in the street!

Sunday night I was watching a very different story; one about death. Let me make this point very very clear: I think justice was served with the assassination of ObL. I feel sure that were a peaceful option available that our military would have preferred that in lieu of killing someone. But even before President Obama verified the news reports announcing the death of ObL there were shots of people cheering in the streets at the White House and Proud Zero.

Someone is dead. More than one person, in fact. This is not cause for cheering or dancing in the street. ObL embodies evil and I do not mourn his loss on this earth. I think that he will be dealt with justly in the eternities and answer for the evil he committed/bought here on earth. However, someone is dead. Someone lost a father, husband, and child on Sunday. Cheering and dancing the streets is not only inappropriate at the news of death, it is gross. It is wrong. I think it is immoral. It makes me mad. I am disgusted with the images of these people cheering and dancing at death. I think it makes us no better than the jihadists who danced after 9/11.

I regret that these are the images being broadcast to the world. I do not think that these attitudes fully express the views of the general public in the USA on the death of ObL. It is a shame that people act this way, but more so that it is the public image being sent to the world. It is an ugly side of our country. That is what I have to say today.

All Shook Up Auditions

2011-05-03T11:12:00.004-06:00

The Midvale Arts Council is letting me produce a show this summer. I could not be happier about it! We are doing All Shook Up which is the story of Twelfth Night with the music of Elvis. It is a fun, high energy show with a bunch of rock music.

Open auditions are May 14 from 12 - 3 at the Midvale Performing Arts Center 695 West Center Street (7720 South), in Midvale. Auditioner should come prepared to sing 16-24 bars of an upbeat song. You may be asked to read from the script and do a short dance routine. Headshot and resume is encouraged, but not required. Full information is found on this flier OR by visiting the Midvale Arts Council website: www.midvalearts.com. If you have any questions you can email me at stephanie@midvalearts.com.

This show has an amazing production team as well: Karen Chatterton, Stephanie Maag, and Patti Rogers. Performance dates are July 15-22.

New Season

2011-04-28T13:40:00.003-06:00

Anyone else get this in their email today ago go "YEA!!"

And then go "Oh interesting ... season." I am excited about 2 of the regular season shows, and then 2-3 of the season special shows.

Replace All

2011-04-27T08:38:00.002-06:00

Replace all is usually my friend in Word. I love being able to just take out a bunch of stuff when I edit, or replace words with what I want it to say. I was doing some address labels and wanted to change 'and' for '&' so I did a replace all. Not even thinking about some of the names. I ended up with some doosies:

C&dice, S&y, R&y, Ch&ler were my favorites. Note to self, replace all does not always work for every situation!

My Dream

2011-04-26T10:16:00.002-06:00

This is not a post about what I want to be when I grow up, it is in fact about my dream last night. I remember it so vividly and that does not happen to me often.

I was sitting in my office at work in a meeting with our printing vendor. I was asking them to change our sales person to someone specific and he was telling me no. All of the sales staff from my company walked into my office needing something from me, ignoring the vendor who I was meeting with. I noticed in this group was also a lady from special needs mutual with the script to the roadshow in her hand, my special needs co-teacher, my uncle holding a sink faucet, and someone I did not recognize. The vendor and I could not finish our conversation, so I asked everyone in my office to leave immediately and I would come find them when I was done with what I was doing. They all left except my boss. He told me I was needed next door immediately in another office. I excused myself from the meeting and walked next door. Instead of finding another office I found myself in a hospital room where two good friends of mine were sharing the space. One of these friends just had delivered her baby who was sick and the other one was pregnant but had an infection and needed to be monitored. Instead of their family sitting with them my special needs co-teacher was sitting there reading from style magazines. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the whole dream and the aspects of my life that I felt I had no control over right now. I walked out of the hospital room to the lobby of my office which was abandoned and sat down and cried.

I would analyze it, but I think I already know what it means. I think it means I need to eat more protein ... or chocolate ...

My first gardening injury

2011-04-25T10:01:00.002-06:00

I bought a house last year, a house I do not yet live in, but I did get the tax benefit of owning a home. This house that I will be living in by the end of this year is my Grandma's house. Currently living in the house are my wonderful Aunts who are looking for an apartment to live in. In the back yard Aunt Colleen has done a marvelous job of building a beautiful garden area. When I was growing up the garden was the place to be in the spring and summer. We all helped pull weeds and pick the veggies when it was time. I still to this day can picture so vividly sitting on the drive with Grams doing peas. The garden now is much smaller than it was in those days, and in a different location on the property. Well this weekend the rain and snow temporarily stopped and I was able to go out and get a start on this late garden.

So I am out in the garden tilling ... after I put the till together like an amazon woman ... and got my first injury from the till. Yes I still have all of my toes, it was not that kind of injury. The tiller hit the wood in the planter boxes and jumped back and jammed my thumb. I have a really pretty bruise on both sides of the thumb and can't quite bend it. After the tilling was done and I managed to rake the soil flat Aunt Colleen pronounced my efforts "not bad for a first timer!" I took it as a compliment considering I could not actually close my hand around the rake (injured!) Now if the rain and snow would actually stop I could plant all of those wonderful seeds I bought 3 weeks ago. Peas, corn, green beans (gross), potatoes, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cantaloupe. My biggest fear? Weeding the garden and mistaking weeds for the actual plant and pulling everything up. I did not say it was a rational fear!! :)

The Dentist

2011-04-18T07:30:00.003-06:00

Let me start this post by a confession that may contain too much information: I would rather visit my gynecologist than my dentist. No offense to Dr B, he is a fine dentist as was Dr S growing up. I just have never enjoyed going to the dentist even for a cleaning. Today I have my second appointment with Dr B in as many weeks. I had a cleaning two weeks ago and today I have to have two fillings replaced. Allow me to tell you what I hate most about visiting the dentist. One might think it would be the drill or shots ... alas no. I really really really dislike that sucker thing. Don't get me wrong I dislike the smell, I really dislike the drill sound, and I really really dislike the shots. But I really really really dislike the sucker. I think it is the most unnatural thing about the dentist. See that is 4 things to dislike during my visit today where as at the gynecologist I only ... just kidding I am not going to finish that sentence.

Growing up I was pretty good about brushing my teeth. I remember one visit to Dr S where my siblings walked out one at a time "Look Ma no cavities" (to be honest no one calls my Mom 'Ma' but you get the idea) and I walked out with 10 (you read that right) cavities. One would think I would have taken the lesson that it does not matter what I do to my teeth I am going to get cavities, but instead I walked away with a tooth cleaning neurosis. So when I am told I have a cavity or need to have a filling replaced I always remember that visit years ago when I walked out so sad because I worked so hard ... and I did not get a prize from the toy chest. At least when I was leaving Dr B's office two weeks ago they gave me some carrot seeds for my garden.

Okay so back to the sucker thing ... So here is the deal with the dentist sucker tool: It is not natural to not swallow. I do not want to swallow what the dentist cleans my teeth with, it just is not natural to not swallow and to have someone stick a tool in my mouth that "swallows" for me. Then they rinse my mouth and instead of letting me spit it out they put the sucker thing in my mouth and tell me to close my mouth around it ... shudder at the thought. Just gross and not natural. So there is a look into one of my many neuroses.

On a completely unrelated note yesterday was Sister's (or Sista's) birthday. When I went to bed last night everyone was still up playing a game and I truly truly hope you got to cheat at least once for your birthday!! The funny thing about this game set up last night was they were playing Five Crowns which is a card game while at the same time playing an interactive word game on their smart phone or iPods. That is multitasking fun!

The Oddest Thing ...

2011-04-16T12:26:00.002-06:00

The oddest thing happened to me today. I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I have a full day today: my family was assigned to clean the church this morning, I had to come in to work to get a jump on the crazy upcoming week, then I am meeting a dear friend to go see a show we are both super excited about, dinner with same friend, then home to plan a lesson for church tomorrow.

So since the day was crazy I grabbed the breakfast of champions on the way out the door on the way to church ... it was a pop-tart. I bet you thought I was going to say cold pizza, common mistake when I say breakfast of champions. My assignment at church this morning was to vacuum. So the pop-tarts were unopened in their wrapper in my purse which I hung up by the primary room. I started the vacuuming there and went to the other end. When I was done I grabbed my purse and drove to work. When I got to my desk I reached into my purse to grab my breakfast. Instead of grabbing the pop-tarts I grabbed an empty pop-tart wrapper.

I emptied my purse thinking it was odd and maybe the wrapper had burst open and my pop-tart was in my bag. I pulled out my wallet (still full of money and credit cards), my cell phone, my iPod, my iPad, and misc papers. All there. But my pop-tarts were gone. I am 100% convinced that I did not eat them because I still had a full thermos of milk. (really one should not eat pop-tarts without milk!) It is the oddest thing.

I honestly do not even have a crazy explanation for how it could have happened. Including me, there were 6 people at the church today. I can pretty much guarantee my folks did not eat my pop-tarts, and why would anyone look in a purse that had an iPad, iPod, and a wallet full of money and credit cards and have eyes only for pop-tarts? Furthermore I ask why would someone eat random pop-tarts found in a random purse and PUT THE WRAPPER BACK?!

From the bottom of my heart I am convinced whoever took the pop-tarts needed them more than I did and I just wonder if I should deduct that from my offering next month (bazinga). But I tell you this much, I will never look at a pop-tart the same way ... or vacuuming the church ... Oddest thing ... Ironically? The lesson I am teaching tomorrow is on honesty.

Intervention

2011-04-14T08:29:00.002-06:00

My brother B was working from home yesterday and since he does not get the keys to his new house until next week he was at our house. He walked up the stairs to see a big box on the porch that was left there. He brought it in, saw my name on it, and put it in the living room. Then he walked out the back door and found 2 more packages, all with my name on them. So three packages in one day arrived on our doorstep. B has decided I have an online shopping problem! Mom tells me all of this last night before I had to run to teach classes at TLC. So I went to see what packages had arrived ... because I have not bought anything online recently with the exception of pre-ordering the new HP movie due tomorrow. So what came?!

2 of the boxes contained birthday presents for my sister whose bday is Sunday. (Happy Birthday Sister, your presents are here and NO I will not tell you what they are!) Well Mom ordered them from Amazon using my account, so the boxes came addressed to me. Two boxes were not even mine!

The other box, well it sure was mine. I did not expect it so soon. When I found out Monday that I had passed my class I also found out that I can walk in the UofP commencement exercises May 7. So I ordered my cap and gown. That was what was in the third box. I thought it would take weeks to get to me. In the box was not only my required regalia, but I had ordered a few announcements, a diploma frame, and an honors medallion. The later two are going to look amazing in the closet of my new house! (There are two bedrooms upstairs, one will be for sleeping, the other is going to be turned into my closet/den/exercise room so the diploma and medallion will go in the den area.)

In light of what was in the boxes, I cannot wait for the online shopping intervention from B!!

Some non related items that made me happy today

2011-04-11T13:41:00.004-06:00

First thing is first, my super cute sister is having a giveaway of these super cute dresses ... or I should say one dress in the pattern below:

For more information visit The Busy Bean's website and look for the blog Simply Stated. Cute nieces, right?! Follow the instructions for a chance to win one for a little girl in your life.

Well then I got my final grade for school ... I passed! I will be graduating with honors and have the chance to walk in the commencement ceremony in May. It is a huge relief to be done, or I should say 99% done, with school. And to meet a goal to graduate with honors is alright too!!

I have to give my utmost undying love to Mom B for looking over my taxes yesterday before I sent it off and finding $1200 more in refunds for me!! Bless her. I have never really had a refund, so this is all brand new to me and I cannot wait for it to come so I can take Mom B out to dinner (and Dad B too!) and then put the rest in savings.

Saturday I did not get out of bed until 4 p.m. You read that right. I woke up when my body normally does (6:45 a.m.) but instead of getting out of bed, I rolled over and grabbed my iPad to finish reading my book. I finished it, downloaded and read another one, and finally got out of bed at 4 to eat some breakfast. Best. Day. Ever!!

The Power of Music

2011-04-07T15:56:00.002-06:00

I have been a little more aware of music the last few weeks (thanks Squitch for being on bed rest so I can teach MDT ... Nolan be nicer to mama!!) Music shapes my life. My life has a soundtrack and frankly it differs from one day to another. I have music for all of my moods. So last week when the speakers on my work computer went out I had a few days of panic. I had no music in my life during the day.

Music can affect me more than anything else. Take for example my guilty pleasure: Grey's Anatomy. I loves me some dark and twisty, some McDreamy and Steamy, and who can resist Sara Ramirez's smile? So when Grey's pulls off a musical event episode ... oh let's be honest some of the songs were just shamefully bad ... but mostly it was such a good episode. Speaking of Squitch, she and I watched the episode together and cried like little girls whose favorite dolly had just been decapitated. Grey's can make me cry faster than any other show, but add the characters singing and I am a goner. I have seen this episode now 5 times and cried each time. (I would say it is 90% that the show is moving and 10% I am still kind of sleep deprived from this last weekend of school.)

I am also reading a book that is centered around music ... you read that right ... I am reading a book for pleasure right now. So right now music is so central to my life. I was thinking about music last night and wondered if I had to make a list, a mixed tape if you will, about my life what would it be? What music would I include on my life's mixed tape? Right now you might be thinking I am going to give you my list, right? Well it is harder than it might sound. The only two songs I know would be on there for sure is 'For Good' from "Wicked" and 'The Little Drummer Boy' because it is a family favorite. The rest, well that is a little bit harder to narrow down.

Those crazy kids at Gmail!!

2011-04-01T09:11:00.001-06:00

I tell you what those Google engineers are ahead of the game again. How incredible is their new technology?

Gmail Motion

Can't wait to try it, looks so user friendly!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

2011-03-31T08:53:00.002-06:00

I chortle in my joy!

It is not a secret to anyone who has seen me this week that I really am a walking ball of stress. My eyes are pink and puffy from being tired and have gained 4 pounds (although I am eating right, frustration.) I am just putting this out there, finals suck!

But in the midst of all of the stress I have received two bits of great news in the last 12 hours that have just made me actually squeal with delight. I share them now.

As a single woman with no dependents I almost always pay taxes at the end of the year. Two years ago I got a refund but the IRS then found a mistake and took most of it back. Last year I got a small refund, but not complaining!! I have been putting off doing my taxes because I did not want any more bad news. Yesterday I was already in such a foul state of mind that I thought, being rather sadistic, that I better just get it over with ... bring it on! I was delighted to find out I am actually getting a rather nice refund this year.

Then, as many know, when I was 18 I moved to Chicago to be a nanny for two handsome little boys. They are all grown up now. D is a already in college, you might remember that his basketball team won the DIII NCAA championship last year. Well the younger boy, B, is currently a senior in high school (overlook the fact that I was his nanny when he was 1) and just found out he has been accepted to Stanford AND Harvard for next year. How would you like to be faced with that decision? "Oh gee, I do not know which of those elite schools to choose from! What do I do?!" :) I am like the proudest nanny ever!

And the silver light at the end of the tunnel? 5 more days of school.

9 Credits

2011-03-27T20:53:00.002-06:00

When I went back to college years ago I thought it would be a long journey, I just had no idea it was going to FEEL this long. I have had my major declared from day one, but then I added a minor which added some time to school. I have 9 credit left. 9 credits until I am a college graduate. 9 credits. I remember when 9 credits were so easy! These 9 credits seem like they are taking forever. 3 credits will be done in a week (I will know in 2 weeks if I passed.)

When I was in high school I always wanted to graduate with honors. Although, let's face it, I did not really put in all of the effort I could have to accomplish this goal. I missed graduating with honors just barely ... by 0.05 of a GPA point. So in college I set the goal to really graduate with honors. Wouldn't you know it, my college has a higher GPA honors requirement than high school did. My associates program I graduated with 3.88 GPA. Nice!! My minor study in human resource management is almost done and I am sitting at a 3.73 (I thought it was 3.74, but I was wrong) and I need a 3.75 to be an honors student. So close, it hurts!! If I get an A in the class I am in right now I will graduate from the minor program with honors. Then I have 6 more credit hours in my bachelor's program to meet my goal. For this program my school takes the cumulative GPA of all three programs which right now is 3.85.

So here is my problem. I stress. I stress over the little things. I stress over the big things. I stress about how I am going to get all of the homework done. I stress over how I am going to be able to get all of the other things in my life done. I stress over how cranky I get with my family. I stress over everything. I sometimes get so stressed over the little things that I make myself sick.

Let's be honest here, I would really need to screw up my last class in order to fail at my goal. My final 6 credits are dependent on essays I have written instead of taking classes. Standing back and looking at the big picture I am really on track for this goal. So why post this? Because in the next week and month I might freak out. If you are physically around me and see me freaking out I need you (crazy internet followers who may turn into true life stalkers) to remind me to, as my Brother puts it, calm down ... have some dip (no I do not think he is a George Carlin fan, he just says it!) I will graduate with honors and be the first and second person in my family with a bachelor's degree. First and second? Not possible, right? Wrong. My brother in law has his bachelor's degree so I am the second person in my family to get one, but the first of my siblings!! Ha take that my genius siblings!!

Now I am babbling and I should stop because I do have some homework to get to. Calm down ... have some dip! Breathe, relax, and enjoy the rest of the crazy college journey.

Vaca - Disneyland

2011-03-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

Disneyland is one of my favorite places to visit. I really like Southern California. A. Lot! I do not think I have ever been to SoCal without visiting Mickey and Company. It was hard to narrow down the pics from the trip. This time was my first time with kids. The experience is totally different. Sissy turned 3 in December; LoMo turns 3 in May.

Let me just get this out of the way right now, I have the CUTEST nieces and nephew. No take backs!! LoMo has a very strong willed personality. She has a touch of the baby OCD, and she is so stinking smart!! This is her "Don't talk to me, I am working on my world shattering physics theory that will one day win me the Nobel Prize" look. Or Blue Steel. One or the other.

Sissy is just a flirt who will kiss anyone on the nose. Meeting Minnie

I have two favorite pictures from Disneyland. This is one of them. LoMo was eating lunch and she would not eat a chip with her eyes open. Every time she ate a chip she closed her eyes. It was so much more cute live!!

On our last day in DL, LoMo was really missing her Daddy. Uncle Barry was a good substitute, though. Or at least his finger was, for about 20 minutes.

LoMo and Sister in front of the girls' favorite ride: The Blue Boats. They even learned the words to the song "It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all." What? There are other lyrics? No one told them. over. and over. and over again.

Tigger was grabbing Sissy's face and 'kissing' it all. She thought it was so funny.

This is my other favorite photo from DL. Sissy is kind of obsessed with Cinderella. This picture with the Fairy Godmother makes me think the two are up to something. They are planning global domination. When the Fairy Godmother kissed her on the cheek (I wish I had snapped a pic) you would have thought Sissy had won the lottery. It was a magical kiss!

LoMo loves Arial. In fact she has Arial dolls in both pink and blue dresses.

Jessie is pointing out to LoMo that they both have red hair AND braids.

The Toy Story Mania Ride at California Adventures is my personal favorite ride mostly because everyone looks sexy in those glasses!

Riding Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. After this trip I signed to LoMo that I loved her; her sign back was not quite right, but now I know that all those years that people have been flipping me off that they were just telling me that they loved me too! (Editor's side note, LoMo now can sign I love you very well!)

The girls in front of the castle and Disney

As mentioned Sissy is kind of obsessed with Cinderella. I have not seen anything cuter than her sitting on the floor singing A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Okay the germ hater in me really cringed every time one of my nieces kissed the one of the characters. Even now I look at this pic and say "Oh gross! And cute!"

These girls love Mickey Mouse! They were so excited to see him in his house.

Sleeping Beauty? Let's be honest after a while all of the princesses just start looking the same. Case in point, look at the picture of LoMo with Ariel ... (same cast member, different dress)

Well I had a blast on this trip, I admit to being ready for another one ... today. And not just because I got to play with Sister's camera.

Vaca - The Nixon Library

2011-03-18T11:49:00.001-06:00

Our plan for California was simple: Go to Disneyland and visit the beach. A few years ago we were driving to DL and I saw a sign for the Nixon Presidential Library. I did not think much of it until after I visited the Carter Presidential Library when I was stuck in Atlanta last year. If I had a bucket list, visit all of the Presidential Libraries would be on it. So I asked the crew if we could visit the Nixon Library and Birthplace. Luckily for me it was raining Friday so it fit in well to go to the Library. Should I mention now that I am kind of a political junkie for those who may not know? I am kind of a political junkie!

When you walk in the Library you are greeted with a huge Seal of the President of the United States and off to the left is a replica of President Nixon's Oval Office Desk.

The hall leading to the Museum is lined with the Stars and Stripes. I did not get a picture of the other hall, it was lined with all 50 State flags.

My question is: How do the nice white space suits get so dirty in outer space? Sissy thought it was cool to stand by the space man.

I could not believe all of the pins they had on display. My favorite pin said "Pat for First Lady" it just made me laugh.

Some back story is required here. I was seriously obsessed with President John F. Kennedy when I was in elementary school. I read and reread all of the books on him in the school library. To this day I still am a fan and just get giddy when I see something that JFK has touched. This is a signed copy of Profiles in Courage. One thing I have to say about my friend JFK, his handwriting was not so legible.

Probably the only pic I have of me on this vaca. I was walking to the space section of the museum and saw myself in the helmet. I said to myself "What would Katie do?" So I snapped my pic and I love it. This museum is different than others, it did not have a replica of the Oval Office. Rather it had a replica of the Lincoln Sitting Room where President Nixon liked to spend most of his time and wrote his resignation speech.

Outside the Museum is a beautiful rose garden. The roses were not in bloom, but the plants were still really beautiful.

The museum also houses the birthplace and final resting place of President Nixon, the house he was born in still stands. Though on rainy days visitors cannot tour it. In the garden President and Mrs. Nixon are buried.

Debbie visiting the graves.

At the back of the property is the helicopter that served four different Presidents. This helicopter served Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. When it rains the visitors cannot take tours of it, darn it. How cool would it be to breathe the same air as President Kennedy? Because do not even try to tell me that the air is not the same after all of these years. It is.

It was not until a few years ago that I learned why the flag is backwards when looking at the right side. When marching into battle the flag star field always faces forward looking and the rest of the flag appears as though it is blowing in the breeze when the person or vehicle moves forward.

Sissy walked up the stair with her M&M's. Can you guess what happened next?

After Brother cleaned up the spilled M&M's from the mat he helped the girls learn to do a military solute.

Dad was in the military when President Nixon was in office. It was interesting to watch him pause to remember his Commander In Chief.

When we got back into the building we found Sister playing the piano in the White House East Room replica. What an honor! To be able to play the piano in the East Room of the White House? Nice. I would totally put that on my resume.

This is a view of the Library from the garden across the reflecting pool.

Even if I were not a political junkie, I would have found this stop interesting. 2 Libraries down, 11 to go. The sad thing is, one of them is in Grand Rapids, MI where I lived for 4 months on my mission. I totally missed out on that opportunity.

Vaca - The Beach

2011-03-16T11:41:00.006-06:00

I have learned something very valuable, I will never catch up from taking a week off. I am just destined to be eternally a week behind. The first step to recovery is acceptance, right?

As mentioned before, on this semi-family vacation Sister let me play with her super awesome camera. I now know I want one, I need to go to there. Then I need software so I can touch photos up, and then my favorite photographer can hire me as her second and pay me the salary to which I would like to become accustom to!

Stop one on our vaca was an overnight stay in Las Vegas. No pics, no amazing memories to share other than a very cold drift down a lazy river.

Our first stop in California was to go to Huntington Beach. We got there in time to play and then see the sunset. It was rather pretty, and I know that one day I could live on the beach.

Sister and LoMo heading down to the beach

Brother and Sissy

Sissy making a sand castle

LoMo was really put out that I kept trying to take her pic

Can you tell who played the hardest?

The sunset was quite amazing; seriously I could live on the beach

It was too cold to get in the water, but it was still a beatuiful trip to the beach.

Day Light Sucky Time

2011-03-15T20:00:00.001-06:00

I would like to start a petition to end Day Light Savings Time. Others may like it, but this girl does not. I am not a farmer, the light saving does nothing for me. My curtains are dark enough that they block out the sun either at night or in the morning to my room. I like to sleep. My body likes to get sleep on the schedule it likes.

Should my fictional petition fail, can we at least vote on calling it Day Light Sucky Time?

Twice this week I have been so tired that I almost crashed my car … it has been a combination of factors: 1) I AM TIRED!!! and B) my hair is longer now than it has been in years. Confused much? So here is what has been happening to me … I look over my right shoulder to check my blind spot and see nothing. Then when I turn my head back to the front I see out of the corner of my eye ‘something’ that appears to be a car and is in fact my hair. I dislike greatly Day Light Sucky Time.

End of rant.

Vaca ... to come

2011-03-02T08:00:00.002-07:00

Last week I was able to go on vacation with some of my family. Most, actually. I went with 8, we left home 6. Sister let me play with her camera, so of course I took over 1,000 pictures of LoMo and Sissy ... and the beach ... and Disneyland ... and the Nixon Presidential Library. The thing is choosing the right ones for here AND catching up on work. That will happen one day hopefully soon.

All I have to say is that was an amazing trip. I came home a little tanner, a little more rested, and ready to face life this week!! So pics to come.

So until that happens, allow me to share my favorite story from the vacation, that has nothing to do with anyone else in my family. We stayed at my brother's timeshare condo close to Disneyland. Every morning we would get on the ART bus and head to the park. Well one morning everyone but me went early for the Magic Morning. I just did not get ready fast enough. So I was standing waiting for the bus on my own. There was a little family in front of me in line. The kids were running around the garden area having fun. The parents were not really paying attention to the kids. It got kind of quiet, the kids bent down and were looking at something rather intently. They picked something up, and came over to their parents. I hear "Look Mommy, what is it?" In the little boy's hand he was holding a condom in the wrapper. I could not help myself I started laughing. The Dad did not find it funny at all. He was mortified that the kid had found, picked up, and then showed off the condom (in the wrapper which was promptly thrown away in the trash) and I could tell he did not appreciate my laughing. I told him that that was my favorite part of my vacation! He scowled. I think he missed a really important teaching moment for his son who could not have been more than 4 (the daughter looked to be 3) to tell them that people use those to cover microphones when they do plays to keep the sweat out of the mic pack. Favorite story of the vacation!

A Double Treat

2011-03-01T14:21:00.003-07:00

I am shamefully behind in introducing you all to Mr. February and, while I am at it, I might as well introduce Mr. March from my Nice Jewish Guys Calendar. Can we blame it on my brain being older?

Mr February is Brian L.

Brian is a comedy writer and his favorite food is eggs. Brian likes the "nerdy" type of girls. He has never been to Israel, but loves matzo ball soup. His hobbies include going fishing and to dive bars.

Mr. March is Jordan S.
Jordan describes himself as an "East Coast Jew and a hippy." He lives in Venice where on weekends his two Boston Terriers pull him down the blvd on his skateboard. This law school student has to admit his mom drives him crazy but makes great soup.

I am so glad I have this calendar so I can dream big. Dream big, sister, of the man I may one day call my own!

Dear 34 & 35

2011-02-18T09:22:00.001-07:00

So here is the deal, let’s face it 34 you kind of sucked! Not all of you, but a fair share of you did. I mean it took 6 months to diagnose The Chaz issues, then another month to recover once The Chaz was removed. Add a really long 2 month bout with bronchitis, I have not felt well for 3/4 of this year. I spent more in medical bills than I did on college, and let us be clear I spent a ridiculous amount of money on college this year. So 34 I am not sad to see you go away; you were not my favorite year. Now, before I send you away in tears, I really did have some great things happen this year too … my first trip to Europe was pretty amazing. Seriously can a year be totally bad if it includes a trip to Italy and France? I submit to you that it cannot!! Of course I also went to Spain and I did not like Spain; but I digress. I am now the very proud godmother to an adorable little boy. My 3 nieces and 1 nephew are amazingly healthy and still seriously adorable. Mom is still in remission and really can I ask for more? The rest of the family is doing relatively well; I mean for the first time in a long time everyone FINALLY is employed!! So not all bad of a year. I was able to play onstage again which I loved! I took my first ballet class which was amazing. I was able to see many great theater productions, which to me is the breath of life sometimes. I bought a house and one day I may even actually live in it. I just directed an outrageously funny play. So I guess 34 you did have some redeeming moments.

35, here is the deal, I have great hopes that you will be nicer to me than 34 was. Really can a year that starts playing in Disneyland be all bad? I submit to you that it cannot. Sure last year was Italy, but DL has It’s a Small World and I am sure I can catch a glimpse of Italy there. We get to have a new friend join our family in 5 months or so, and we all know I love new friends in my family. So here is what I would like from you 35: I would like to be able to replace the savings I spent on medical bills and school in 34, I would like Mom to remain in remission, I would like to keep all of my organs inside and functioning, and I would like our family to have a relatively easy go of it this year. I know that is a lot to ask, but it is what I would like for my birthday. Oh and world peace. Too much to ask?

An inadvertent fish killer

2011-02-10T11:19:00.002-07:00

Now before you call PETA, please let me explain. It is true, I am not an animal lover, but I am not an animal hater. I would never kick a dog (I admit to kicking a cat once, but he was the spawn of Satan himself and jumped on my feet so the kick was a reaction ... Harry did not attack my feet after that, lesson learned!) I am allergic to most furry animals, so it is just best we live in different worlds. However, I like fish. I always have, and I always will. My fish Gwen died last month, I had her for a few years. I already am planning where a nice aquarium will live in my house. Since I want a nice big one I have a plan for buying it over time so I do not go broke buying fish. There is the back story, so when you hear the current fish dilemma you will be more understanding of how traumatic this is for me ... and the fish. I am not a serial fish killer.

I really wanted to dress the set of The Curious Savage with some fun treasures. People in the cast have put a small personal object on the set that is just theirs. I have a giraffe that my Mom gave me last year, there is a Navy hat, a pair of shoes, sheet music, the Thinker, etc. I thought it would be fun for the cast, and it was! I also added a bowl of goldfish to the set; it sits on the bookcase which was brilliantly dressed by Craig. I bought 3 goldfish at first (these are the 15 cent feeder goldfish, by the way) and all three lasted a week, and then died. Their names were The, Curious, and Savage. So then I went back to the store to replace them. The lady would not sell me 3 more fish, she would only sell me one at a time. (Story for another day, and is best told in person!) Thinking that this fish might also die, I also bought a beta fish as a back-up. So fish #4, The Curious Savage, died after a week also. I guess these little 15 cent goldfish are bred now to live in filtered tanks only and not in bowls ... sad ... gone are the days of winning a goldfish at the State Fair and having it live for decades unless you have a filtered tank. Alas. So the beta fish became Fifth, The Curious Savage. Fifth for short

Since most of the fish died over the weekend when they were left at the theater alone, I decided to bring Fifth home with me during our 2 day break so that he would be taken care of. I decided yesterday to clean the bowl and give him new water (I know it is a he because they tell you what gender of beta you are buying.) So yesterday morning I washed the bowl, put new water in, put in the water conditioner for betas, and then put Fifth in a bag in the new water so they could become the same temp. When I got home from work, I pulled out the bag and tried to empty some of the excess water so the bowl would not overflow. Here is where things got tricky ...

Fifth is obviously a champion fish jumper. I had him isolated at the bottom of the bag and I will be darned if he did not jump over my fingers and straight down the drain ... of the side of the sink with the garbage disposal. Let me pause for a moment so you can just get a visual of this situation ...

Got it? It should look something like the escape attempts from Finding Nemo. All drains lead to the ocean, right? Well not this drain, Fifth, it leads to death ... a painful death!

I immediately swore and then turned on some water so it did not dry up too much down there and put in motion a plan to save the fish, I was not losing FIVE FISH in 2 weeks! It just was not going to happen. Then I swore again, this is a full disclosure blog, right?

Maybe at this point it is important to remind my viewers that I have a really big issue with germs. Really. Big. Issue. With. Germs. I took a deep breath, took the ring off my finger, and stuck my hand down the drain to save the fish. Gross. Luckily for me, it appears someone had recently run the disposal and there were no real big messes down there. That being said it still was slimyyuckygross (just one word would not do, all three even seem not enough.) I got the fish in my fingers and gingerly pulled him out of danger. Mission almost accomplished.

The bowl of water was right there so I introduced him to the water. Fifth just laid there for a while, like too long of a while, and had that look in his eyes like: Lady what are you doing to me? I was almost free. When he did start to move, he only moved his left side. I thought great, is this fish hurt and I am being inhumane by keeping him alive? (see I do have feelings about animals that are good.) I put a few food pellets in there, which were ignored. He mostly just laid there. Not moving. Bless his heart. I decided to give him 24 hours before I make a decision about replacing him. He bounced back and is using both sides of his body.

I tell you what, if Fifth can survive 2 more shows I would be happy to release him to the wild if that is what he wants. Maybe he just does not know that he is the star of a stage play. I bet if he understood that, he would not have jumped.

A Curious Review

2011-02-08T11:04:00.003-07:00

A few days before we opened The Curious Savage, Craig asked me if he could schedule a reviewer to see the show. I so extremely nervous to say yes. While I knew our show was funny, I was nervous that a reviewer might not like it and would say things that might adversely affect the performance of some of the cast. I should have known better. A very nice reviewer, Jennifer Leigh, came opening night. Her review was very gracious and I could not be happier with it. Check it out:

"The Curious Savage" by Midvale Arts is Not to be Missed

Sadly the reviewer missed naming one cast member in the review, even though she is mentioned in the caption under the photo so we assume it just was an oversight as I originally was not listed either but rather the producer was listed as the director; things happen. Melody Marse plays Florence. The rest of the cast is listed and is amazing. There are 3 more shows: Tuesday (tonight), Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Friday and Saturday are going fast online so I recommend coming tonight, buying tickets online at showtix4u.com or coming early on those nights to ensure you can buy tickets at the door.

The other night my pal Larissa, who explains it all, said I need to blog about this show. I do indeed. That post will come as soon as I have some pictures to go with it!