frazzled & frumpy

You ever have one of those friends you would love to hate- but you can't. They are super cute and dress so stylish and probably the captain of the cheerleading squad and Laurel president? And, you want to just hate them and talk about them behind their back. But, thing is, they're also so super nice and not stuck up at all, even though they have every reason to be. Ever have one of those? Yeah, me too. That's how I'm feeling about the Clark family. Who are they, you ask? They are the famous bloggers named nienie and cjane. You already know that I can't stay away from those blogs for more than a day. Well, I recently found out that their brother has a blog too. What??? Yep, and guess what? He's the football captain and the prom king and Priest quorum assistant. In other words, his blog is just as fabulous as his famous sisters'. He's funny. So funny that I had to provide you a link to his horoscope post. It made me laugh, and since I'm all about givin

Every morning, I turn on my computer, check facebook, try to think of something witty to say, go to my blogs, see if I have comments, see if my friends have posted anything new, read nienie , then cjane . Then, when I can avoid it no longer, my little hand-curser hovers over my gmail icon. I check my email with nervous trepidation these days. I'm waiting, quite impatiently, for a response from a publisher. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee It's a nail-biting situation, for sure. Like I said before, I've been rejected. I can handle it. That doesn't mean I enjoy it. Or look forward to it. I don't. After going on today and finding just one email, (from Hunter's teacher. SEP conferences-yay.) I still have butterflies. They are reticent to leave the warmth of my stomach, I guess. I figure if I'm going to get a response, it'll be first thing in the morning. Why? I don't know . Maybe it could come later. Great. Now, I'll be nervous all day.

My daughter's friend was over yesterday. When I walked in the room, she said, "Mommy," (two of my kids' friends call me this. I love it.) "what have you been doin' today?" She said this with a little twinkle in her eye. I knew what she was asking. She's read my book and was a little perturbed with the ending-it's a cliff hanger-and has been bugging me to get going on the sequel. I smiled at her and told the truth, "I did laundry, went to the grocery store, vacuumed." She frowned. I gave her a shrug. I haven't been very motivated to write. I'm waiting on a publisher-again- and honestly haven't given it much thought. If you read my other blog, you'll know I've been sewing. I made two bags last week. I was a sewing-maniac! Really. I'm not the kind of person who enjoys sewing. After my mom taught me, (she's a very talented and patient seamstress) I would do the absolute least I could to finish a project. Which,

The Bait- We are lured in by this, aren't we? A sweet, snuggly baby. Just imagine him on your chest, his head tucked under your chin. When I got married, this is all I could think of. So, we had one. That opened pandora's box. My hormones, once dormant, were fired to life and I had to have another, and another, and, well, you know. And they are sweet. They completely consume you. I was lucky. I had very healthy babies and their infancy was bliss. The Switch- They grow. They venture out of your reach. They no longer rely solely on you for their support, friendship, and entertainment. They go to school. They have friends. Or they don't. They have heartache. And there it is. What seemed to be a great idea, a baby you could care for, and suddenly you can't protect him or make him happy with a simple game of peed-a-boo. He hurts and you have no power to make it better. And that breaks your heart. I laid in bed last night worrying over Hunter. His autism doesn't affec

Last Sunday started like any other. When I got to church, I saw my friend in the hall. I asked how she was doing and she gave me the eye roll. "Well, we're here ." It turned out to be a great testimony meeting. When J. got up, I was so glad. She always says something that inspires me. This was no exception. I took notes. The spirit was incredibly strong, even making its way passed my struggles with Noah. When we sang the closing song, it brought tears to my eyes. After church, same again, but it seems a bit easier when you have that lingering spiritual feeling. In the evening, we had a Bishop's Youth Discussion. Our bishopric had been asked by one of the youth to talk about 'How you got where you are.' I love how different people can take the same topic and give such different talks. Our two, very young, bishopric counselors told about their lives and bore such strong testimony of the gospel. Then our bishop spoke. He's amazing. He tied everything they sa

"Welcome, welcome, Sabbath morning, Now we rest from every care." Luckily we don't sing this song much any more. I have a hard time getting through that first line without cracking up. Rest from every care? I looked to see who wrote it. Robert Baird. Yep. A man. Clearly he didn't have to get 7 children ready for church. I know I shouldn't say it, but very often, I hate Sundays. They're hard. Now that we have 11 o'clock church it's better, but still. My morning is a mixture of getting breakfast, referee-ing fights, getting clothes ready (ironing if I didn't do it on Saturday, my bad), getting a shower, doing my hair and makeup, putting the church bag together, referee again, getting kids dressed, making sure the teenagers are up and getting dressed. Then, we load into the cars and it's off to church. Which is it's own set of challenges. Bathroom visits before sacrament meeting, drinks, then getting settled in. My husband and I sit on opposit