frazzled & frumpy

If you could have dinner with any celebrity who would it be? I've been asked this before and honestly, my answer is no one. I'm a fan of many people, but, really,when you meet them, what do you say? "Uh...huh...I'm such a fan. You're so awesome. Like, totally." It's not like I have anything in common with Jennifer Garner or Sandra Bullock. Maybe I could give them beauty advice. I know. You're laughing. So are they. There is one celebrity, though, that I thought I'd like to meet. Are you ready? (Photo credit: survivor.wikia.com) Doesn't look familiar? Does this help? Yes, Dawn is a Survivor contestant. She was originally on a couple years ago, and is back this year as a 'favorite'. Why would I want to meet this 'celebrity'? Because we do have things in common. Dawn is from Utah, she is the mother of 6 kids and she's a Mormon.  (She's also a professor at BYU, so clearly, much smarter than me, but we...

I have high hopes for myself. Every week begins with me telling me that this week will be different. This week I will blog, and write, and just be an all-around amazing mother to my kids. Sadly, reality rarely meets up with my expectations. (I also expect to lose 5 pounds each week without dieting or exercise, so you see, there's a trend.) This week, (wait, let me check my phone/calendar) my to-do list included the following items- call about campsite for the 4th of July babysit twins on Wednesday call about temp job buy groceries make fabulous meals for the family write four blog posts work on book editing daily do laundry every day exercise! Not bad, really. I mean, I'm a grown up. I can do this stuff. I have time. I'm disciplined. (OK, I got ahead of myself. I'm so NOT disciplined.) Here's what I actually did this week- called about temp job (even had my assessment, and guess what? I'm fit to do menial labor. woohoo!) babysat twins (th...

My children's elementary school was evacuated today. They were told it was a fire drill and their lovely teachers led them as they walked down the street to a church. To them, an adventure. A chance to go home early. Exciting. That's the bliss of childhood innocence and ignorance. Me? I know. I know that it was 'what appeared to be a pipe bomb'. I know that police, and firefighters, and bomb-sniffing dogs converged on the school once the children were safely away. I know that they 'disabled' the device in the parking lot. I know what could have happened. I know . Because I know, I am fighting the brain-numbing, heart-gripping fear that threatens to completely disable me. Boston is too fresh in my mind. And Newtown.  I could consider the possibilities of today. I could sit and think and give in to the What-If's that blare at me like a neon sign. But, I won't. Because I don't believe in living in fear. There is no comfort in closing ...

Last night, my husband drove me down to Provo. (Have I mentioned that I don't like driving?) I left instructions with my oldest boys about dinner and bedtimes and a firm, 'Behave yourselves.' to the rest.  Then, I sat back and relaxed while the Handy Man took the wheel. Well, relaxed isn't the best word. I sat back and tried to calm the butterflies that were dive-bombing my stomach. When I got to the library, I easily found the room. Inside, I began meeting my new friends. We sat around the table, getting to know each other and snacking on treats. (My husband thinks women can't get together without food. We can , we just prefer not to.) I tried, in my very best just-like-a-high-schooler-way, to fit in. I looked around at these women I've been blog-stalking, and wondered what kind of universal mistake allowed me to be there. We began reading our pieces and suddenly, my brain cracked. I have daily headaches, and they're something that I mostly ignore--back...

Noah has been sick for four days. Fever. Stomach stuff. Lethargic. Won't eat. Now, I'm not one of those paranoid moms who rush their kids to the ER for every cough and sniffle. I think I'm pretty level-headed. Until you add in the internet. This morning, Noah was on my bed watching Word World. I was being a really good mom and reading blogs. I looked over and he was sort of curled up. "My tummy hurts." I could see he meant it. Since I was on the internet anyway, I decided to get a little free medical advice. How could the internet be wrong?  I found my way to webmd and their symptom checker. After putting in his age and gender, I got down to business. Please check the following symptoms- Severe stomach pain -- check! Then a question- Is your child's abdomen swollen or hard (rigid) to the touch? Hmm. I got up, made Noah lay flat and pulled up his pj shirt. Oh, yeah. His stomach was rock hard, like he was trying to imitate Matthew McConaughey...

(This is a post from my 'other' blog from five years ago. Yep, using the 'flashback' theme to cheat today. Someone starting me writing about dragons, and I'm sort of distracted. Happy Friday!) Yesterday I had to go to the mall. Now, understand, I don't shop at the mall. I don't window shop there, walk there, nothing. The last time I went to the mall was to take my little boys to see Santa. We went in, saw the big guy and left. Every now and then, it's necessary for me to go there, when that happens, I want to get in and out as fast as possible. Yesterday was one of those days. Jacob had come up with the money to get a cell phone. the one he wanted was at Radio Shack. Which is in the mall. Dang. So, we went. I had no idea which end the store was on, so I just parked, hoping I would get lucky and park near it. Nope, the leprechauns weren't smiling on me. I parked at the opposite end, which meant we had to walk. Now, I'm not opposed to w...

My garage has become a graveyard. For a week it housed not one, but two dead dryers. I tried to keep the door closed. No need for my neighbors to wonder about whether I'm developing appliance-hoarding tendencies.  We got rid of the dryers. Hallelujah. We can park both cars again. Then my car died. It's been sitting in the garage for four weeks. It blocks my path to the 'storage wall'. That's the place where we stow all of our very-important-totally-necessary-never-to-be-thrown-away junk. I add to and take away from that wall on a fairly regular basis.  So, I've been tossing stuff on top of my car. What? It's not like it's going anywhere.  Then, the Handy Man stopped parking his car in the other stall, I'm not sure why. But that has led to me tossing stuff onto the garage floor. That led to my children following my very excellent example. Now, we have a broken bed frame, an extra mattress, three bikes (one of which is in riding condition), a box...

I've decided it's time to do some spring cleaning. Not in my house. Ha. Wouldn't that shock the family? No, sort of in my mind. I've allowed myself to get a bit muddled and off track.  It's time to get back on. I'm 'recommitting' myself to my blog, for one. I have a goal to post more regularly. I can't promise every day, but close. I've been tossing around the idea of having 'theme' days to help keep me focused. (I have 3 kids with ADD, I'm wondering if they inherited it from me?) My days will be as follows- Manic Monday  -- in which I  whine rant   complain  discuss aspects of my life. One-Word Wednesday --I might just post a picture, but most of the time, I'll write about one word. If you have any suggestions for words, you can put them in the comments, or email me. Flashback Friday --this one is two-purposed, 1-flashbacks on my life, and, 2-re-posting older posts (if you're thinking I'm using this for days wh...

Did you ever wake up in the morning, like usual, you turn over, check the time on the clock, happy to have a few more minutes, listen to the sound of your kids downstairs, cringe at a shout, stretch, then, suddenly-- you remember? Then you lay there all alone and smile stupidly to yourself? That was me. This morning. The reason for my stupid smiling? This- http://www.listentoyourmothershow.com/northernutah/ Last night, just before bed, I got an email. (Yes, I check my email A LOT. It's on my phone, so...) This email congratulated me on being selected for Listen to Your Mother. (jumping, squealing, maybe a victory dance) My audition was such a coincidence that it surely cannot be coincidence. I was perusing the internet and looking at random ads on a local news site. I clicked on 'Auditions/Pageants', hoping I could enter a Mrs. Frumpy Utah contest. (Me in an evening gown and tiara? Dream come true!) And, there I saw an ad for LTYM/Nothern Utah . In a fi...

This is what I wish my tulips looked like. The sun and I are becoming friends again. He is stopping by more regularly, sharing his warmth. (I'll forever be his friend for melting the ice that was hanging off my roof.) His presence stirs something inside me. It happens like this every year. Spring is filled with promise and hope. Like the way I feel when I see my tulips poking their little leaves above the soil. I know that in a few weeks the nasty bugs will start eating away at them. But, for now, they're hopeful. And beautiful. They're growing and stretching despite their uncertain future. They're doing what they're supposed to do. I feel the need to grow and stretch as well. I feel more energy than I did in my recent months of hibernation. I  have cleaned out my closet and pantry. Today, I made and froze over a dozen meals. I made my bed with clean, fresh sheets. (Please don't thing I haven't changed my sheets all winter. I have. Changed them.) ...