Wednesday, May 28, 2008

What Color Blue?




You are Ocean Blue



You're both warm and practical. You're very driven, but you're also very well rounded.

You tend to see both sides to every issue, and people consider you a natural diplomat.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A Night to Remember

So my oldest girls had their first ballet recital last night. I was so proud because they are both 12 years old and this is their first year of dance. No, I am not the "good mom" who puts her kids in dance shoes as they pop out of the womb. The idea just never occurred to me. Had I thought of it though, I might have considered it. (BTW: they are not twins, one is the blessing of marriage (stepdaughter), and one is a biological blessing (my baby).)

Anyway, Emily and Melanie were put in Ballet 3 this year even though they hadn't taken dance. It was a challenge for them and they performed beautifully. Unfortunately, their names were left out of the program! Mistakes happen and this is just another opportunity to show grace. But the being the mama bear that I am, I am having a hard time with it. My girls were dissapointed, but got over it pretty quick. On the other hand, every time I think of it, I get upset. Their first recital... Which brings me back to reality. It was about the girls, their chance to show what they have learned. I must say, I was so proud to see both of them up there, smiling and having a great time! The entire performance was amazing! The teachers are so gifted and they share their ability with our kids. All of us are so blessed to have such gifted teachers and a dance school that strives to promote worship and love for God above all else. Shelleigh Beeson is the school director. She was Em and Melle's teacher for 5th grade last year at Cornerstone Christian School. We adore Mrs. Beeson. (Her husband is pretty entertaining too. You should see him bust a move!)

Thanks go out to Patty Offt who did the girls' hair for us. Patty is our regular hairdresser, however, she had a skiing accident in March and is not really able to do hair regularly right now. She was able, thankfully, to put the girls' hair in quick buns while I did their makeup. WOW. I don't think we should be encouraging the wearing of makeup for a long time, if ever. My girls are beautiful, but makeup makes them stunning. At least I think so. Seriously, we will need to keep a bat or a shotgun by the door to scare off all the boys who will come calling!

Melle's close friends from school also came to watch and Emily's mom and her friend also came to congratulate her at the end. I intend to buy the DVD so we can all relive this night to remember! (Photos to be added later.)

I am proud of you ladies! It will be hard to top this performance next year, but I am sure you will be able to do it. You both are stars in my eyes and keep me looking up! I love you both very much.

Monday, May 12, 2008

I Got In Trouble

I guess I haven't been posting regularly enough. I didn't think anyone was actually reading what I was writing! So in a way, I am glad you all have been keeping up on my silly little blog. And, to tell the truth, I have been reading some other blogs and these people are so entertaining that I thought my life too boring to write about.

But hey, aren't we all sort of boring? That's why some of us scrapbook isn't it? Because putting photos in a photo album just doesn't tell a story. Sure, the photos are nice to look at, but really, there is nothing to draw you in. No story; no explanation of what in the heck is going on here; no pretty embellishment to distract you from the inevitable lame photo that makes you think "and why did they take this picture?" But sometimes life is boring, sometimes interesting and other times a little overwhelming. (Like too many embellishments or way crazy paper in a scrapbook! Or too many parenthetical statements in a blog. Sorry - there are more!)

Lately my life has been busy. Boring, but busy. OK some of it has been interesting and overwhelming (but in a good way).

Like the birthday party I threw for this boy I know. He was turning 40 and had never had a birthday party in his life. No dinosaur cakes, no boy-themed party favors for him (mean mom...) Anyway, my darling husband was turning 40 and I decided to throw him a party. I am a social person and he is learning to be social. (He's an engineer... he gets social when people call in the middle of the night asking some random question about the moisture content of pulp or why in the heck isn't their printer printing?) (By the way, if your printer isn't printing, check the cord. It might be loose or unplugged. I hear that there are little gnomes that run around unplugging people's printers around 2 and 3 am - well, it seems to happen at Potlatch fairly regularly anyway. That's why Phil makes the big bucks. Someone needs to be able to figure these things out!)

So I get the engineer to invite all of his "friends." He invites people from work, and I invited some random people from our church - about 5 days before the party! Turns out, we had 32 people over!! This is only the second time I have ever invited more than 2 people over at the same time. (Except for Pampered Chef parties, I invite 40 people two weeks early but only 5 come.) So here I am just freaking out because all of these people are showing up and I am wondering: Where are they parking? Is Phil talking to them; welcoming them? I worry because I am in the kitchen trying to make hamburger patties out of 6.5 pounds of meat and simultaneously mixing up a pasta salad and a green salad. (Don't worry, I washed my hands a lot!)

Also I am thinking about how lame our landscape looks in our backyard. I bought a bunch of pony packs of pansies but didn't have time to plant them so we just dropped them in pots. No dirt, just plopped them in there, then placed the pots here and there. I know, no one noticed... "They were all there just to visit us." Whatever. Half of the people were women. They noticed. Oh well.

Anyway, I finally was released from kitchen duty only to move to the great outdoors where I got to slave away at the BBQ, cooking steak, hot dogs, and hamburgers. It wasn't that bad and this is why: I have a secret. I am actually really shy. Having that many people over and I only knew 12 of them (5 were my own family)! When I get around people I get so nervous and I start trying to be funny but it usually ends up that I say something I shouldn't. (Note to self: just shush!)

Case in point (sidenote): Today was our girls' ballet rehearsal. The photographer was Ange Movius. I have never formally met this woman and she doesn't know who I am. She goes to my church. (Actually, most people at my church have no idea who I am) She has a blog that I have read off and on which is linked to from other friends' blogs. So I go up to her and to try to make conversation with her, I say "Hi, I read your blog sometimes." I can't describe her reaction. I think she was trying to remember the 1-800 number for people who blurt weird things out and may need professional help. Anyway, she said something about how interesting it is that people you don't even know read your blog and know all this stuff about you. Basically: You're weirding me out lady, go away. I noticed that any of the times that I came around after that she wouldn't make eye contact. I don't blame her. Why didn't I just say: "Hi, I recognize you from River City Church. I have been going there awhile. My name is Dawn." I didn't say that because apparently my foot thinks it belongs in my mouth.

So, back to the party. I am kind of avoiding all of these people (whom I have invited to my house) by hanging out at the BBQ. Finally I decide I need to go say hello to everyone and welcome them as a good hostess would do. I am thinking in the back of my mind that Phil probably has only spoken to one person the entire time because he too is probably trying to avoid this mass of people who have infiltrated our backyard (again, by invitation). Nope. The guy is a social butterfly! Talking to people, moving about from cluster to cluster, sitting down with them. He is doing this! As I realize this, Phil is introducing me to someone and their wife. I kid you not, I still don't remember their names. I just stand there nodding and smiling and thinking "What are we talking about! Who are these people? Were they invited or were they just walking down the street?" (Note to self: name tags a must for multi-tasking mamas who haven't had a Diet Pepsi or chocolate - or both - in more than 4 hours) Anyway, I mingle, I offer drinks and food. I am getting this down! And I like it! Of course, I seem to be able to handle it as long as I stay busy replenishing the ever-dwindling food supply (teenage boys grow up to be middle age boys... and they still eat as if they are growing.) I never really had a conversation with anyone other than "Here, let me get some more hamburgers for you. Would you like some cake? No, you can't have three pieces of cake. Because I said so. What was your name again?"

Half the people left after we sang Happy Birthday and Phil blew out his candles. Luckily the people who stayed were ones I had met before so I could remember their names (well most of their names). We visited as the night turned chilly and then slowly they all began to leave. As we cleaned up for the night, Phil turned to me with the biggest smile on his face and said "Thank you for the party and all the hard work." That was worth it to me! I was ready to invite them all back the next day!

Actually, as we get the yard landscaped and the house fixed up a bit, I would like to have people over more often. I will learn to be a hostess by practice. I need to just invite people I already know. That way I won't have to try so hard to remember their names and I will actually be able to join in conversation!

How about a July Bunco party? The bunco group I am a part of takes a hiatus from June through August. But that is too long for some of us. I know it makes it harder to get together due to vacations and such, but I would love to host an evening Bunco out in our backyard. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Oooh, how about a couples' bunco night. Just once, so the guys can see what it is we do on those nights we leave them at home! And if you can't be a couple (my friend's hubby is overseas), then bring your best bud. Oooh, how about a BFF night? Nope, too easy to get someone's feelings hurt if they aren't invited. Anyway, I would love to host a Backyard Bunco night sometime this summer if I can get some interest going.

Have I convinced you that my life has been boring the past few weeks? No, well let me add to the dullness:

A few weeks ago, we went to a newsboys concert. Never heard of them? You are missing out. This is a group of men who play pop-rock in a Christian way. They give glory to God and are not ashamed! My family have been fans for a long time so we made sure to bring our kids this time. (Phil and I saw them last year) What really intrigues me about this band is the clever songwriting. They speak about things that you just wouldn't think of and find a way to praise God through it. They crack me up and inspire me. And the best thing is that they are a group that both my kids and I can enjoy together. My girls surely don't roll their eyes when I put these cd's in.

More dullness:

I survived my very first Bloomsday with a few of my buddies. Here's a thought: Have you ever tried to find a needle in a haystack? Have you ever really thought about what that means? Try to picture it. I have a story like that.

I also have a story about surviving the "tell me how much lint your belly button produces in an average year and the total belly button lint production for all years since your birth" type questionnaire I recently have had to fill out (5 times in various forms).

I won't post these stories now. This post is already way too long and violates my "just a minute" rule. I have been typing for a looong time now. Catch me on another day. And I promise to post within 36 hours or else my printer will become unplugged and my parentheses buttons on my keyboard will jam and I will come down with a horrible case of foot-in-mouth disease.

Hope I made you smile. Have a great day. I am going to sleep now. But not here, because drooling on your keyboard is bad adjka;fjeiaoroeiwahfena,jakala. Nope, I am going to bed to steal the covers from my husband and then blame it on him in the morning. Ah hahahahahhaha!

So there!