It drives me wild...cause I'm real

I'm sure all of my fellow SYTYCD watchers have noticed the obnoxious and confusing "sign" that many of the dancers are displaying this season. You know the one....the four fingers on the shoulder. Well I just can't take it anymore and I needed to figure out what it meant. I mean even LL Cool J did it last week after his performance. So here is what I found in my internet search...


1. A rep for the show told EW.com that the symbol stands for IV (roman numerals) REAL. An inside joke among season 4 contestants that started with Comfort, Joshua, Twitch, and Will. About this being "FOR REAL" and the "4th season". They even had tee-shirts made.


2. Many have also speculated that it might have a connection to the website 4real.com which is "a community of individuals around the world who are passionate about creating social change through action, art, and culture".

Whatever the reason is I think it needs to stop. Cause just like most cool things that black people come up with, once older white people start doing them (like nigel and mary) then the coolness has completely gone and it's time for something new.

tell me bout it...tell me how you feel

Just a few little things I needed to jot down.

1. My sister Kimmie and my friend Em are putting together a little shower for me. Em has a shout-out about it on her page if you are interested.

2. I wanted to apologize to anybody who has tried to call me to talk or see how I am doing. I really appreciate it, and although I mostly likely don't answer I know you care and that means a lot. I have never been a big phone talker, and especially now it seems hard to talk. But thank you.

3. My mom's estate sell went really well and we are only left with a couple large items that we are going to try and sell online. It was a lot of work, but we all pulled together and got through it. We had everything from furniture to antique items, clothes to kitchen supplies. Boy did my mom love to shop! I mean the amount of christmas items, bras (34 to be exact), and candles (2 huge bins full!) were just the topper. If nothing else she was a "consumer" and definitely kept the economy going. :)

4. Now that my mom's house is empty it's time for me to go through mine and get it ready. Yep, after only 7 months of being a "homeowner" it's time to retire. I am hoping to sell my house and move into my mom's. Kim and Aaron are there for now, but will be moving out in the next couple of months, and I will take over the space. If my house sells quickly (hopefully) I will move into the house and we will just have one big party for a little bit. good times.

But now it's time to go, Curtain's finally closin'

So on the MSN homepage last week they had a list of
10 ARTISTS WHO SHOULD STOP MAKING RECORDS

Their list included:
Madonna (agreed. see below)
Black Crowes (are they still making albums?)
The Who (again...agreed...see below)
Ray Davies (who?)
Joni Mitchell (didn't realize she made anything after that parking lot song)
Bryan Adams (I love him but will he ever top that Robin Hood theme song....probably not)
The Rolling Stones (I just can't believe they are still alive)
Elton John (I think he must have peaked with the Princess Diana "candle in the wind" remake)
Carly Simon (again...is she really still making records...and who is buying them?)

So of course I came up with my own list....here are a few more suggestions....

1. Any band that has been around since the 60's. For example The who, rolling stones, any former member of The Beatles, Steely Dan.... C'mon guys you will never had the success you once had. Why not leave the music biz on a high note?

2. I will repeat...Madonna. Just stop. seriously. It's getting old. You had your time. You made your mark. Now just fade away. Nothing will top "The immaculate Collection" and you should be okay with that. You could be scandalous and inventive when you were single and young, but you are married with children...seeing you half naked or singing about sex just isn't appealing to anyone.

3. Alanis Morrissette. C'mon "Jagged Little Pill" was an amazing album....and everything since has just been.....well....unrememberable. So why not just try something else. You were really good in "Dogma", maybe acting may be a way to go....use some of that knowledge you gained from "You can't do that on Television".

4. One word....Meatloaf. I don't know if any of you remember his amazing (...ly awful) rendition of "it's all coming back to me now" that he sang with Katharine McPhee on the American idol finale....but wow! It was horrible. This guy should stick to acting. He's got a couple hits out there that will never die, and i think that's more than enough. My eardrums can't take anymore...

5. Bands that need a "frontman". Queen and Van Halen for example. Is Queen really anything without Freddy Mercury? Why even bother. And Van Halen....how many frontmen have the Van Halen brother hired and fired? Just give up. Maybe your time has come and gone, and it's time to find something else....private music lessons perhaps?

I'm sure there are plenty of other artists out there that people would like to see "JUST GO AWAY".....so start the comments now...

there's an air of love and of happiness...and this is the Fresh Prince's new defintion of summer madness

So I was looking on my camera today and realized I had tons of random photos taken in the last month or so, so I thought I would use them to make a photo essay entitled...

WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS SUMMER

1. Played in the pool:

This was one day when the weather wasn't super awesome, so we blew up the kiddie pool and let Elsie climb in and out of it in the living room. Hours of fun apparently.


In true Emily fashion she was willing to be our source of entertainment one Saturday and spent hours trying to get herself on top of this floating turtle. Sad to say the turtle won most of the battles. I have a more embarrassing picture of Emily on this particular day but I will refrain from posting it. let's just say...we convinced her to go down the slide!


I had to post this picture (sorry Aaron) to show off the amazing farmer's tan on this body. Since then the two tones have evened out a bit, but doesn't this look amazing.


2. Hung out in the Sun

Look at Chlo-bo giving me a smile.


Jared teaching Carson the best way to play Crochet. He better watch out though, cause one day soon Carson is going to beat him.


Elsie loves outside....can't get enough.


The women watching the men battle it out as "poison" in crochet. You haven't lived until you've seen not only Jared but now Aaron do the Bel Biv Devoe Poison dance.


Sometimes smiles from Kaiya for the camera can be hard to come by....but a little hug from Gi-Gi can do the trick.


3. Spent a lovely summer evening at a Concert in the Park.

The "Coats", formerly known as the "Trenchcoats" (apparently they changed their name after Columbine because people were getting confused and sending them hate mail) came to town. So we headed out to the amphitheater to get our acapella on. It was a good concert, but when Kim and Aaron had to leave early to get Elsie to bed Emily and I got surrounded by a group of carnies, who apparently thought their singing was better than the Coats and proceeded to sing along to every song...loud enough that after awhile it was only their voices I heard. not awesome.


this lady was some interesting entertainment to watch. Apparently she understood what Gloria Estefan was singing about...cause the rhythm sure got her. Too bad actual rhythm and dance skillz seemed to have passed her by.


Elsie was loving the music!


This lady was the #1 fan of the night and spent the entire time dancing right in front of the stage. by the end of the night she was accompanied by tons of children, but we all know who the star was.


Two things Elsie loves....straws and climbing on her parents. what a great night huh elsie!


Kim and Elsie in a face-off.


crowd shot.


After awhile Elsie got really fascinated with my camera and wanted to take her own pictures. She loved seeing Kim's face through the screen. So here is Elsie's shot of her mommy.


4. Took a little day trip to Leavenworth to visit friends.

My friend Tamu and her family were in Leavenworth for a few days, so Emily and I headed over there to spend the day. I hadn't been there is years and had forgotten what a cute town it is....but dang was it a hot day.

Here is Tamu and the kids. Her husband Keith had gone to find more food.


who likes aplets and cotlets? seriously? but we thought this statue was just creepy enough to be cool.


Emily and I had to celebrate her Germanity and get a Brat. This place was delicious!!!


5. Attended a funeral.

Probably the most significant event of this summer. Here is a little family picture we took before the funeral. Not the best of all of us but I had to post it. (why is the pregnant girl in the front? not cool.)

I'm goin' once, goin' twice, I'm sold!

This week is going to be a little rough. Jared and Lindsay are coming up and we are all going through my mom's house and getting stuff organized for an estate sell this weekend. It's gonna be so weird being in that house without the stuff that made it my mom's and (even though I haven't lived there in a few years) my "home" as well. I spent so much time there, with my mom, with my family, that it's going to be tough to see it all disappear. But I guess that is what happens. I keep telling myself that the stuff will be gone, but the memories will remain....

So anyway....here is a little shout out to everyone in the area. This Friday and Saturday we will be having an estate sale at "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch" to sell my mom's stuff. Friday and Saturday 8 am-1 pm. We will have everything furniture, household items, candles, lamps, decorative items, clothing. So come on down and check it out. It will make things easier to know that items went to a good home I think, so come say hello and see if there is anything you can use.

Hope to see you there.

What you know about that?...

Although I have not been officially tagged for this little survey, I have nothing else coming to mind that I want to write about so I figured I would fill this little ditty out and see how it goes.


A = ADVOCATE FOR: stopping the spread of stupidity.
B = BEST FEATURE: can you really put something here without sounding arrogant? I guess maybe my eyes....or people seem to like my hair as well. I always thought I had nice earlobes.
C = COULDN'T DO WITHOUT: television. seriously. My outlet fuse was out yesterday and this morning, and my tv wasn't working...I felt lost and out of control.
D = DREAMS AND DESIRES: I'm still holding on to the dream of being a "solid gold" dancer.
E = ESSENTIAL ITEM: Coke Icee from BK. delicious in my belly.
F= FAVORITE PAST TIME: Reading good books. Although I have been known to waste time on a stupid book too, just because I started it and then felt the desire to finish.
G = GOOD AT: I guess I can be pretty funny.
H = HAVE NEVER TRIED: stabbing myself in the eye, but I would imagine that would hurt like a "b".
I = IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: (why is it that the barenaked ladies song instantly came to mind here?) stop working immediately, buy an rv, hit the gameshow circuit.
J = JUNKIE FOR: reality tv and soul soothing food.
K = KINDRED SPIRIT: I think me and Joel Mchale from the soup would be best friends.
L = LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I like to freeze my twinkies so I can eat the sponge cake around the frosting first and then eat the glob of filling.
M = MEMORABLE MOMENT: Almost getting in a fight at spring fest a few years ago, cause some carnie thought we stole their seating at the amphitheatre. she was all up in my grill, swearing and what not, and I was totally patronizing her...I couldn't help it, it was too easy.
N = NEVER AGAIN WILL I: trust other people's advice about "good movies"...opinions are so subjective.
O = OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Grandma's scones....oh my!
Q = QUOTE: "Doing stuff is overrated. Like Hitler. He did a lot. But don't we all wish he woulda just stayed home and gotten stoned?"
R = REASON TO SMILE: Project runway, monk, and psych all start this week!
S = SORRY ABOUT: not thinking before I speak sometimes. but you probably needed to hear it anyway. :)
T = TAG SOME FRIENDS: If you are reading this, then consider yourself tagged.
U = UNINTERESTED IN: reading any of the Harry Potter books....so quit asking. :)
V = VERY SCARED OF: dying alone. and mall santa clauses'
W = WORST HABIT: Putting off the boring stuff.
X = X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Disneyland. It really is the happiest place on earth.
Y = YESTERYEAR DECADE OF CHOICE: I think I may have peaked in the 80's, but I'm hoping for a comeback soon.
Z = ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini.

the roof the roof the roof is on fire...

So I wish I could post about my feelings on the SYTYCD results show last night...but I can't....cause instead...there was like 3 hours of reports on the fires in eastern washington taking up my network tv last night! oh i hate that. After looking on the internet this morning I know who got kicked off and i am quite excited about that. But i missed the group dance number. The local Fox channel said it was going to replay the show tonight so hopefully I can catch it then....but it's too little too late.

every mile a memory...

I could be really sad today. In fact I'm trying not to be, which is why instead of focusing on the fact that 1 month ago today we had to turn off the machines and watch my mother pass away, I am going to focus on something that will make me smile.

TOP 5 QUIRKY THINGS ABOUT MY MOM THAT NOW I ACTUALLY MISS:

5. She would talk as if somebody was actually listening. This would happen especially at work. She would have a conversation with somebody, the person would walk away, and my mom with her face to her computer would keep talking as if they were still around. Completely oblivious. Since I sat the closest to her I would constantly be looking up, thinking she was talking to me, and say "who are you talking to...". It was so obnoxious. Or at home she would talk in the softest voice as if the acoustics in her home would magnify her voice loud enough to be heard in all rooms....then she would get frustrated when none of us heard a word she said.

4. She had no sense of time. Ever. She would run out for a couple errands and be gone hours. Or we would plan to leave the house at a certain time, and without fail she was never ready. Luckily I have my friend Emily who is afflicted with the same problem, otherwise I would actually miss this a whole lot more.

3. She watched a lot of tv shows. Seriously. ALOT! She had three satellites that pretty much ran all the time taping shows all day long. Every channel you could think of. "It's me or the dog"...who watches that show....well my mom did. We used to make fun of her all the time for the amount of hours that she used up watching everything, but now...when I want somebody to talk to about the shows that we both watched....I really miss her.

2. Her choices of travel food were ridiculous. I talked about this at the funeral, and then a week or so ago I was going through her drawers at work I actually found a bag of those stupid sesame seed cracker things that she always ate in my car leaving seeds all over the place, and I just smiled.

1. She had the worst gas issues. I'm not talking about running out of gas in her car here...i'm talking about actually bodily gas issues. Not to be gross or anything, but seriously she was let out little bursts all the time and just follow it with a casual "oh sorry" as if it was nothing. Home, work, in public....no scene was too awkward for my mom to lose control of her bodily functions. One time, while trying to step over my legs to get out from the couch her knees locked and she was caught straddling my legs with her butt right in my face. She started to laugh and then let out a gunfire of gas explosions right at me. Each laugh let out more bursts right into my face. I ridiculously tried to stop it with the hands, but we were all laughing so hard only making the situation worse. The gunfire finally ceased and she walked away with only a "well you should have moved your legs" spoken in my direction.

Life is a highway....

One month ago today I got the call from my sister that she found my mom not breathing. That was the longest 11 hours of my life as I drove from Utah to home.