Trying for simplicity

New Year's is so interesting to me. I really love the death and rebirth analogy that is New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I tend to entertain thoughts that analyze the cultural New Year's phenomena. I'll spare the mundane details but I am intrigued by the chaotic celebrations at the year's end, the overwhelming, almost expected, acceptance of socially unacceptable and risky behavior, and the desire for resolution, a new beginning, and a forced sense of order that comes with the dawn of the new day. The year starts out fresh and new and by the end of the cycle we have worn it out-- it is old, tired, crazy and ready to die. It even extends into a hell vs. heaven type thing. Just a fascinating analogy to me.

Why do we do this? I think at some point we need a specific event where we as humans can refresh and restart the clock. We are forced to bring everything back into order. January 1 is no different a day than December 31, but in our minds it is the starting point and new attempt at control.

So with that said, I give into the need for control and always find myself looking brightly to the year ahead.

This year I would like to focus on simplicity. I want to simplify my life. I plan to do this by better organizing my time. I must simplify and to do that I must plan.

I want to be deliberate in my actions. I am not going to do something just because I have nothing better to do.

I want to simplify my surroundings. I need to scale back for the sake of my sanity. This will be a year of getting rid of the superfluous.

I have to purge not only the "things" but the obligations and responsibilities that are creating static in my life. I started this by quitting my job this fall. That burden was lifted and I love the freedom I feel from it.

I will continue to blog because I enjoy it and it is fulfilling to me somehow. And since these goals are posted for the world to see, I have a better chance of maintaining them.

Here's to a fresh, vibrant, new year!

This is why we don't get asked to sing in church.

So there is nothing on TV tonight. I was just sitting enjoying my DQ Blizzard (yes my husband loves me) flipping through the channels. I couldn't find anything to watch. I ended up on TLC because for some bizarre reason they were broadcasting a crime show. I watched until the first commercial segment when I remembered why I NEVER turn it to TLC. Are you kidding, "Half Man Half Tree" followed by "Mermaid Girl"? I nearly lost my dinner let alone my appetite for my Blizzard.

And remember when the Biography channel had biographies? I know, crazy. Now it's like "Ghostly Encounters" and "Psychic Kids". Since when did the paranormal fit under the biography theme?

I finally settled on FLN and "Whatever, Martha!" I have never seen this show before and thought I liked it. Two women sitting around watching and making fun of segments from the Martha Stewart show. But then I noticed that one of the women was named Alexis Stewart, you know, Martha's daughter. Then I saw that the show itself was a product of the Martha enterprise. I couldn't like it too much after I realized that Martha was behind the whole thing. Although I was kind of sad that Martha beat me to the punch.

Hockey with the cousins

We got to go to the Avalanche game last night with my brother and his boys, and my sister and her son. We had a really great time. John has been wearing his jersey non-stop. Thanks for the tickets Beth!

The boys were super excited. We had great seats in the club section!


Everyone in their Avalanche best! We all showed our team spirit, even though Tommy and his two boys are from Pheonix (who was the team defeated last night).

Love and Logic?

Long story short-- the school psychologist let me borrow her copy of the book Parenting with Love and Logic to read over Christmas break. I have been interested in this series but have been too cheap to fork over the cash for any of the materials. The whole premise of the "technique" is to get our kids to think and then suffer the consequences of their choices-- I'm all for that.

The book gives examples of how to deal with conflict with our children by offering choices in a calm, almost sing-song approach. I have been trying diligently to apply these techniques for the past two days. Here are some examples presented in the book: "You sound upset. I'll be glad to listen when your voice is as soft as mine." Or, "You guys are welcome to come back as soon as you work that out," (pg. 61).

SO, like I said, I have been struggling to talk to my kids like that for two days. Today I was droning on and I realized I was sounding a lot like the boss in the movie, Office Space.

"Yeah.... so... that's inappropriate and I'm uh, going to go ahead and ask you to go to your room now. Ok, thanks."

Then another time I start in with, "Yeah, so we would love to have you participate with the rest of the family, but--"

and John interrupts, "I already know, you've been saying it all day, 'we want you to join us when you can be nice, blah, blah!" Imagine the mocking tone that is his imitation of me trying to be nice.

And yesterday when Kitty wanted pudding for breakfast I told her no. John chimes in with, "Mommy you'll just make her mad. You need to say it the smart way," he then turns to her and tells her that if she eats her breakfast then she can have pudding.

How is it that my 5 year old is already an expert in Love and Logic?

Moving Mountains

Why is it that I can never fully overcome my laundry pile? I hate it because it is always whispering in the back of my mind saying, "You will be defeated."
It's not the process I can't seem to grasp- sort, wash, dry, fold, put away. It's the follow through.

Sometimes it's: sort, wash........... wash again, dry, fold, put away.

Other times it's: sort......... sort more, wash, dry............... fold, put away.

But more often than not it's: sort......... sort more, wash.......... wash again, dry, fold............................................................................. sort.

I really get hung up on that put away step.

I used to have a grasp on my mountain of laundry, I had whittled it down to a mole hill. But just one day off, or two days of being sick and the cycle starts all over again.

I Love Copying

I am such a copy-cat. I've been wanting to do a list of things I like for a while but thought it would require too much thought. I was afraid I would post it and then remember something really important to add and then I would have to edit the original post. I was afraid of the finality of a single list. So following (copying) Shay I am just going to list a "few" of my favorite things, that way I can feel free to explain a little and add future installments at any time.

• Peanut Butter Anything. In fact, TCBY used to have a peanut butter sauce that I still dream about.
• New Pens. Sometimes a new pen is all it takes to make a bad day better.
• Notebooks and Journals. They have to be ruled and big enough to write in. I prefer spiral bound, but if the binding is not too tight I can make it work. The page has to be just the right size so you don't feel pressure to fill the whole page.
• Artifacts. I love finding old trash. I love looking through prehistoric and historic trash and piecing together life in the past. I love the human connection. It's the recording part I hate.
• Cross County Hiking. I haven't done this in a long time but I love it. Which brings me to my next favorite thing--
• Maps. I love reading maps, I love being the navigator on trips! I love that I can find myself as long as I have a map. Last spring I was on a field visit with some Native Americans and I was the only one of the group who hadn't been to the location before. When we couldn't figure out where we were supposed to be on the landscape I pulled out my map and figured it out. I was beaming with pride, they're the one's who are supposed to be so in tune with nature and find their way around...
• Taking a Shower. My family can attest to this, I am protective of my shower. My shower shapes my attitude for the rest of the day. A shower is a real luxury that gets taken for granted all too often. I'm not saying I shower every single day, but if I decide I need my shower, watch out and don't you dare flush the toilet!
• Library Books. I love the smell, the texture of the pages, and the excitement of getting a well read book from the library.

That's all the thought I can dedicate to this for now. The next list I make will be of things I hate and I guarantee it will be eight times longer. In fact, I think I love to hate certain things, is that possible?

Gonzo vs. Squidward

I was devastated this evening to learn that my kids had NO IDEA who the Muppets were. I had DVR'd the Muppet Christmas show and was confused by their less than enthusiastic reaction to my excitement about watching it tonight. They sat with blank stares as the show began.

Kitty: I like the girl one.
Me: You mean Miss Piggy?
Kitty: I like Mr. Froggy too.
Me: That's Kermit the Frog, you know that!
John: I like the one that looks mean and grouchy like Squidward.
Me: You mean Gonzo? Come on! You guys are acting like you don't know who these people are!

John: Who's that one?
Me: It's FOZIE BEAR for Pete's sake!!!

Once I regained composure I was able to calmly teach them (as I should have long ago) who each character was, except for the French shrimp guy who I don't remember from my youth.

Nothing Beats Neil Diamond

I can't compete. My sister informed me that she gave my parents Neil Diamond tickets for Christmas. It doesn't help that I haven't figured out what to get my parents this year. Everything I think of just pales in comparison. Next year I will have to get Neil Diamond tickets and a copy of The Jazz Singer, that will show her.

Oh yeah, and by the way, I'm thinking of skipping the Christmas card this year, it's too hard and I can't compete with all the fancy one's floating around. Nothing new or exciting happend to us this year, so why try?

Rubbing Shoulders

Last night I watched Taladaga Nights for the first time. It was kind of funny. There was a reference in the movie to Highlander and that got me thinking. I don't know if anyone remembers the TV show called Highlander, but I used to watch it with a lady I lived with in Kanab. We would spend our evenings sitting in our respective Lazy Boy recliners watching Kung Fu, Walker Texas Ranger, and Highlander. In her defense (as well as my own) she was my grandmother's age and she was a little crazy. And she was letting me live with her for free so I pretty much had to watch what she wanted.

A few years prior to this I worked Room Service for the Provo Park Hotel and actually served the actor from Highlander, too bad I don't even know his name. Yes, that's right; I served room service to a famous actor who no one remembers today. I also brought room service to Iron Butterfly, don't be jealous. Oh and then there was that time I gave the guy who always played the dad in the 80s movies (Licensed to Drive comes to mind) directions to the state liquor store because the Provo Park Hotel bar was closing. He gave me a $20 tip, too bad I don't know his name either.

My brush with fame started when I was 5. My grandparents took me and my sister to a Donnie and Marie concert. Toward the end, Donnie went running up the aisle and my grandpa grabbed me and I stuck my hand out just in time for Donnie to slap it as he ran by.

More recently, I stood behind Lyell Lovett in the sky cap line at the Spokane airport. As we were pulling up, I looked at him and thought, "Hurry up Lyell Lovett, you're in the way!" But then I looked a little closer and realized it really was Lyell Lovett, not just some ugly guy that looked like him. While we were in line I had plenty of time to observe him. Of course I was taller than him, taller than even his Kramer-esque hair. He had on tight black jeans and I remember thinking he had the lower body of a woman. You know, soft around the edges. Several people came up to him to tell them how much they enjoyed the concert the night before, he graciously thanked them. I was proud of myself for leaving him alone, but then again I didn't go to the concert…

These little stories are nothing like my sister's brush with fame that she only just recently told me about. She was in New York on business and ran into Gene Simmons in the lobby of her hotel. They actually spoke to each other, mostly about her height. Another time in New York she saw Lenny Kravitz getting out of a cab or something. Which is a little ironic since "Mr. Cabdriver" is a fun song about not getting a cab… maybe it was a limo.

I Hate WalMart

I know I'm not alone. I really dislike going to WalMart, I want to avoid it but seem to end up there sooner or later. I hate that every time I go I can't find parking. I hate that the bell ringer gives me a dirty look even though I gave my change last week. I hate the carts. Oh how I hate the carts. Every cart has a bad wheel, a squeaky wheel, an alignment problem, or sticky stuff on the handle. I hate that the aisles are close together. I hate that there always seems to be a group of confused people who are not sure where they are going- right in front of me. I HATE the pharmacy section. I can never find what I need and the aisles are super crowded with those confused people (including myself this time) and some employee with an angry face stocking ace bandages. I hate that there are literally 85 registers and only 3 open at a time. I hate when the person in front of me needs to buy stamps and they have to page the keeper of the stamps to deliver the stamps to the register. Oh, and those people who pay with a check and wait to fill it out until the cashier pushes total... don't get me started.

Icy water Dora, anyone?

Kitty wants just one thing for Christmas and I don't even know if it exists. She wants an "icy water Dora". Huh. I have no clue. Has she seen it on TV? Yes. Does it change color in the water? No. Is it the mermaid Dora? No. Is it big or small? Big. What does it looks like? "You'll see when Santa brings it."

Who?

Ok, so forgive me for a minute here but I kind of freaked out because Tyler commented on my last post. I don't know Tyler. But then I realized the irony... here I was reading everyone else's blogs assuming that no one I didn't know would be reading mine. I was like, "who is this mysterious Tyler character, and what interest does he have in my blog, and how did he find it in the first place?" I went through a few possibilities like maybe he did a key word search for blogs that included the words, "pickle soup" and mine came up. Or maybe he found it under the category, "Boring Blogs" or "Blogs about nothing". That's when I decided to use my powers of deductive reasoning and investigate (or is it inductive?).

I clicked on his profile, found his blog and read it (so there!). He is actually a very talented artist and I liked several of his paintings he had posted. He had a "live-feed" gadget and I examined who had been visiting. Then I saw it, a familiar domain name! Hooray, Tyler is a friend of a friend! Mystery solved. I feel like I just finished a Law and Order episode where it all works out like you wanted it to. Not like the episodes where they leave you disappointed not only in the lack of resolution, but in humanity in general.

So welcome to my blog Tyler, I hope you return once in a while. I appreciate your sage advice and determination to help me out as a total stranger.

So this blogging thing IS ok...

This blogging thing has become my most favorite hobby. It's not like I had all that many hobbies before, but now it's nice to go through my day thinking of what to write about. So the bottom line is, I'm sold. I also get a rush of excitement when I see my friends have updated their blogs. Who knew it would be acceptable to become openly obsessed with other people's lives? I mean, not in a creepy way, just in a curious way... right?

I was just reading up on a friend's life and then decided to read some of her favorite blogs and so the cycle begins. I came upon a very funny one that pretty much had me laughing for real. I wasn't just smiling and making a little breathy sound-- I was truly laughing. All alone. By myself. The dog came into the room to check on me.

So since I don't know any blogging etiquette I hope it's OK for me to post the link to her blog with the rest of my list-- even if she doesn't know me, or that I admire her humor and aspire to be her, whoever she is! And I would go one step further and recommend it to anyone who needs a real belly laugh. You can find the link on my sidebar as "Every Day I Write the Book".

Oh and if anyone knows how I should give her proper credit on my blog let me know the rules, I'm new around here.

A Breakthrough!

The saga with John and Christmas continues...

I got a great new Christmas CD called "Mary's Lullaby: Christmas Songs for Bedtime" from Deseret Book. It is a quiet, peaceful collection of some of my favorite seasonal songs. Because both children were content and happy, I decided to test the waters as we ran errands today. I slipped the CD in and within three notes of the first song John was in hysterics.

"Is this church music?"

"No it's Christmas music."

"Ahhhhh!! It's church Christmas music! It's not even church day!! Turn it off, turn it OFF!"

The tantrum continued while Katherine was saying how much she really liked it, so I turned it up to drown out the screaming and crying. I heard too many reasons to turn it off to list here, but my favorite was, "Mommy! It's too cute, the music is too cute for me, you have to turn it off!" As if he would melt from listening to "cute" music.

The breakthrough came during song 6: The Little Drummer Boy. I told him he had to be quiet because it was one of my favorite Christmas songs and it was about a boy playing a drum. I knew the drum might spark his interest. By the end of the song he wanted to hear it again. By the end of the CD he said to me, "Mommy, I was wrong. I actually like this music. It is so soothing." And he was right, it is way more "soothing" than it is "cute".

AND I read four days worth of Christmas stories before bed. Of course, none of them could mention the actual Christmas event, but they definitely didn't mention Santa either.

Church Christmas

This evening I decided that I needed to do something to get into the holiday spirit and being the copy-cat that I am (Shay, Korie...) I decided to read some pertinent scriptures to my kids about Christ and Christmas. There is a list of 25 different passages to read every day in this month's issue of the Friend Magazine. If you want to know what they are just hop on over to Shay's blog at http://getkinetic.typepad.com because for some reason she is one of those amazing people that actually takes the time to copy the list for our use, make the scriptures have links, and manages to make it sound inspiring and doable all at the same time. Seriously, once you read Shay you see how simple my mind actually is... but come back, don't let Shay suck you in, I like your company.

Back to the point. I started to explain to my kids that this month we were going to do something different for stories before bed and before I could say any more John interrupted with, "I know what you are trying to do and I am not falling for it." I just looked at him in disbelief. Firstly, I was not trying to do anything hoping he would fall for it, and second, how did he know?

"You are trying to trick us and it's not going to work," he says.

"Trick you how? I just thought we could talk about Christmas-"

"I knew it! All that church Christmas stuff, I'm sick of it."

WHAT? As a parent I'm totally stumped because (don't tell anyone) we have not talked about the "church" Christmas stuff at all this year. Not even a little.

So as I get out my Bible and search for the passage to read for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (we have to catch up) John continues to refuse to listen. Sweet Kitty on the other hand says she wants to hear the church Christmas story. So I decide to read regardless of my audience. Long story short-- the misbehavior increases, my patience decreases and I end up yelling at them both to pay attention to the scriptures, or so help me. I don't think the true "reason of the season" was conveyed.

I guess I will have to be more creative in my trickery.