This & That

Silly internet quizes are fun to take sometimes - iamboymom had one our her blog asking what type of coffee you are - sorta hard to take when you don't drink coffee (though I just inserted my ideas about good hot chocolate in there instead in order to take the quiz). Apparently I am Capuccino

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Also....

apparently I'm also a brownie cheesecake (which sounds delicious)...but apparently means I'm hedonistic....

You Are a Brownie Cheesecake

A little chunky and a little gooey, you pretty much run on sugar! You take hedonism to the extreme.. And people love you for it.

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

And as long as we're on the subject of food and cakes, here's this quiz

You Are a Red Velvet Cake

Rich, decadent, and sensual. You have a deep appeal that transcends all trends. You are the definition of passion: intense, adventurous, and seductive.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

I did not take the quiz that asked "are you a good cook?" I mean, let's don't be silly, either you are or your aren't but a quiz isn't going to be able to tell you.

I do however, take this quiz very, very seriously:

You Are More Like Angelina Jolie

Bad girl with a heart of gold. You are smart, sexy, and strong willed. You aren't against stealing another girl's man... If he's better off with you!

Are You More Like Jennifer or Angelina?

[in all fairness to Angelina and to me, I think the quiz is a little unfair and makes Angelina sound like a jerk...I won't go around stealing anyone's husband but I would rather look like Ms. Jolie]

Also:

Shando updated her blog and you can find out about her past 20 or so years HERE

And, thank you to the nice comments from unknown internet users (and the girl I found accidentally) I really am planning on getting back to you but I'm a bit distracted lately with multiple things (this is just me wasting time while I should be working!)

Factoids

I'm calling it factoids but I recently found out 'factoid' means a false 'fact' and not a tid bit of information like I thought it was...

Nevertheless (I totally saw this on someone else's blog and thought it might make a good blog):

My life, in a nutshell

20 years ago I was:
1. 21 years old, and a biscuit away from being engaged (aug of that year)
2. Going to school at BYU and writing to my missionary who was coming home in July
3. Miraculously, not working and managing to survive nonethess (thanks mom & dad)

10 years ago I was:
1. 31 years old with a bunch of kids (8 yr old, 3 yr old & 1 yr old)
2. A biscuit away from buying our house (October)
3. I met Shannon around this time (well, met her sooner than this but became good friends)

5 years ago I was:
1. Had a 13 year old boy and that was NOT fun.
2. Kirk was still the Bishop
3. The rest is a blur

3 years ago I was:
1. All our home remodeling was finally finished!
2. We went to Scotland with Holden which was soooooo great. So glad we did that.
3. Again, a bit blurry

1 year ago I was:
1. Going crazy flying back and forth to Provo every week to go to my classes at BYU.
2. Worrying a lot.
3. I think I had a hang-nail somewhere in there too.

This year so far I have:
1. Lost 60+lbs
2. Taken more classes towards my degree
3. Really enjoyed my kids

Yesterday I:
1. Lost 1/2 a pound
2. Missed Kirk while he is in Florida, but enjoyed not worrying about making dinner
3. Drove my kids around all day as per usual

Today I will:
1. Go to the swim meet and help run the concessions with Shan
2. Drive my kids around as per usual
3. Drink a lot of liquid

Tomorrow I will:
1. Go to Salon Sandoval and get my hair cut & colored (my favorite thing in the world)
2. Eat lunch afterwards with Shannon maybe at Pita Jungle where I will have the salmon
3. Go to Last Chance

In the next year I will:
1. Be a lot thinner
2. Finish more classes at BYU
3. Try to be happy for my 18 year old rather than sad that he is leaving home for college (I'm going to miss him like crazy but I am trying to be POSITIVE)

So I'm tagging Suzanne, Cynthia (otherwise known as Ms. Hale), Shando (hmmm...wonder who will write that?), Geri and anyone else who wants to give a whirl.

Birthday Wishes...Eddie Izzard

I totally love Eddie Izzard. I told Kirk I wanted tickets for my birthday. So Kirk said "go ahead and get them". Then I sort of balked at the price. They are between $180-400 per ticket. And I'm not saying they aren't worth it. But I have never paid those kind of prices for tickets to anything. The most I've ever paid is $215 for baseball tickets. But that's the thing - I like Eddie Izzard way, way more than baseball. Thoughts?

(if you're unfamiliar with this brilliant man, here are some clips to enjoy)










And finally a tribute: Love this:




warning, might be a tad bit of *language* in the above clips

Announcing A Fabulous Sale

Most of you know that Kirk and I collect art. We started collecting at Art One in Scottsdale because they are new and emerging artist's and there are great deals to be had. One of the things I love about discovering an artist there is that you can fall in love with something that's probably cheaper than a poster you could get framed at Michaels - and it will be far more meaningful to you and have a creative energy about it that will never exist in any reproduction or print you would buy in a store.


(our latest painting by Melanie Corradi, titled "girl" which we absolutely adore at top)


We've made some pretty decent choices over the years too - one of our favorite Artists is Brian Boner and Brian has now moved on to being represented by the Wilde Meyer Gallery (which also resulted in almost doubling the price of his work, and thereby, the value of some of our paintings). We've had some other similar good luck with some of the other artist's we've chosen. Even Brennan bought a painting for around $75 (on sale) one day and now that artist has moved on to another gallery, at triple her old prices.

So if any of you are even thinking of beginning a collection now is the time. Kraig at Art One is struggling a bit right now. During the booming economic times people had money to spare and they were spending it on art. Right now is a down time for the gallery. And summer is the worst - because often the people with money to spend go away for the summer. Kraig has pulled all his old inventory from the back rooms and in addition, has a lot of donated pieces from his artists. Some of his former artists have moved on to expensive Santa Fe galleries as well as museums, but they have still donated a few peices to keep him afloat this summer. We picked up a new painting yesterday for an absolute song because it was a donated piece. We paid about 1/4 of it's actual worth. He has things there right now for
as cheap as $30! Brennan decided to add to his collection yesterday and picked up a cool encaustic for $30. So if you've ever thought about it, go check it out, the gallery is full to the brim with cool stuff and most of it is not on the website. On a lot of the stuff you can just make him an offer. Last week you could have picked up a Steve Yazzie painting for 1/10 of the cost (though of course that was snatched up immediately)!

Here's an idea of some of the great things at the gallery, and these are not even the bargains! (though still a GREAT price).




By an artist we adore - Aaron Dunham, a totally nice guy and local artist - he did the two metal pieces in front of our house, as well as the benches - these are steel and enamel. Very cool between $300 and $1000.


















Lydell Palermo has all these great bold candy colors right now - she has these hot pink panels I love (though I might have a hard time talking Kirk into them) - great abstracts for around $300










Erik Lyon is a super talented artist who spent a lot of time in South America sketching people on public transportation with amazing precision and feeling. This is a great sketch of downtown Phoenix. Almost all of his work is between $100 and $300.







Anthony Zeh has been with Art One for quite a while and only recently began doing these high energy abstraktions (his spelling). They really are so fun - I have two of them and I love the depth of color and complexity. Such a bargain too between $300 and $100 for most of them.
















Tom Stephenson is one of the best airbrush artist's around. He does a lot of work on motorcycle airbrushing. His amazing paintings are all done free hand with no stencils or pre-sketching. This great piece on glass is only $300.


















Kirk and I have not managed to get anything by this artist yet but we both really like her. Her name is Stephanie Bucholz she does both landscape and people with these interesting dark colors she somehow manages to keep the mood light in her paintings, which is very hard to do. Someday we will buy one of hers - this one called "personal Las Vegas" is $600. I guarantee Stephanie's prices will go up, up in the future.














Also I'll put in a little plug for Holden, Kraig is letting him have a little show of some of his artwork this month. He's been working in spray paint and has some pretty cool stencil work as well as free hand paintings and sculpture. He has about 6 pieces in a show.

Art One is located on Marshall Way just North of Indian School in Old Town Scottsdale.

Happy 4th

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend.

There was a fascinating discussion today on NPR as to what consitutes patriotism or how to define oneself as a patriot.

The simple Websters definition of a patriot is: "one who loves or defends his own country".

Of course life is more nuanced sometimes than a simple defintion, as the discussion on Diane Rheem's show expressed.

I know for me, it's very nuanced. But I can definitely say that I fit under that definition of a Patriot.

I believe in the principles the country was founded on. Living in Virginia for 3 years in Thomas Jefferson's home town gave me a massive appreciation of so many things that happened at the genesis of our country. Plus I learned to greatly admire Jefferson. What a truly fascinating man.

So anyway - Happy 4th! And let's hope for good things for our country's future.

ps - Shando wants me to mention her blog has been updated by Pat: HERE

pss - to read about my encounter with a jerky 20 year old kid read: HERE

Things I bought that I really, really dig...

I'm not a huge shopper, but a couple of things I bought lately are just too good to pass up, and too good not to pass along to my friends.


"The Immortelle flower defies aging - it never wilts or withers, even after being picked. Microcapsule technology concentrates hand-harvested essential oil of Immortelle, which grows in the sunny Mediterranean island of Corsica, in a formula that helps to boost microcirculation and increase collagen synthesis. A velvety, patented-ingredient moisturizer with proven wrinkle-reducing benefits."

Does that totally make you want to buy it? It should, besides it smells delicious and it really works fabulously. Doesn't the gorgeous little cobalt jar just say "buy me, buy me, buy me?".

Besides it's called "Immortelle" - I mean really, what more can you ask for. It's a little $52 jar of goodness that will make you happy.


Salt Water Sandals

Do you love them or what ? I have them in yellow, red and hot pink and I am contemplating buying them in brown and white - or maybe I need all the colors including the minty green.

I can't say enough.

The product description states: "Called the "Salt Water" Sandals because they stand up even in salt water. Flexible, high grade sole and heavy, durable leather straps for easy-going comfort and long wear."

Okay they need to hire a new copy writer because that is so boring and doesn't at all live up to the awsomeness of the sandal. Let me give a better description a whirl:

"The salt water sandal is total retro-cool. Uber comfort, and perfect for a day at the beach, around the pool and just because. You'll want them in every color. And doesn't someone hip like you deserve footwear that is equal parts urban and understated trend setter? Thought so."

You'll especially adore the price at between $28 and $35!



How cool and cute are these? The woman who makes them is an artist from Prescott. She swirls hot glass at 1700 degrees to make this jewelry she cleverly calls "eye candy".



I got the earrings this weekend and I totally already wish I had a lot more. Wish I had the necklace and the bracelet too. And lots of colors. SO cute. And SO not expensive. And you're supporting a local artist. ALWAYS a good idea! (if you're interested you can order from her website at eyecandybychelsea.com (I think these would make great unique gifts too)!

Familia, Famiglia, Famille....

How many kids is too many and how do people decide?

I've been thinking lately about how this has evolved over time within the mormon community.

When I was growing up most families I knew had 4 or 5 kids. Four or 5 was kind of "normal" - 6 wasn't very weird and 7 wasn't even that big yet. You weren't officially a big family until you had 8. But eight wasn't enough to be a big deal. In my ward growing up we had the Evan's family who had 11 kids and that was pretty big. But across the street from them was the Ferguson family and they had 18. So in my ward, anything under 18 was kind of ho-hum because the Ferguson's couldn't easily be topped.

We had 3. So we were kind of weirdos. The only other family with three was the Leathams and both Sister Leatham and my mom ended up having to adopt 2 of their 3 kids. Infertility was almost a mark of shame. My mom wanted more than 3 but it just wasn't in the cards.

On my street we had the Robison's next door with only 2 kids but they didn't really count because they really weren't very active in the church. So they were sort of considered heathan so that's why they only had two. Down my street we had the Neville's with 5 kids, the Smith's with 4, the Laddles with 4, the Peck's with 4, the Gallups with 5, and the Sessions with 6. Obviously the Robison's stood out in that crowd with their piddly two kids and we were just scraping above the point of garnering frowns from little old ladies with our 3. But everyone knew about the adoptions and the infertility, so it was forgiven.

My best friend had 5 kids in her family, and my other best friends had 5, 9, and 11 respectively.

Growing up I sort of envied all the sibling relationships and the sheer volume of people inhabiting their households. It seemed more exciting. Less boring, and more likely you could find a sibling or two who you really liked.

People didn't pray about how many children they were going to have. To my knowledge most people had the number of children they physically could have. There may have been exceptions. But I can say with certainty that at least among my friends families, every mom had the number of children she was capable of having. Birth control was sinful and that was that.

Sometime in my teens the tone on that topic changed. I specifically remember a talk in a general conference on the topic and it reallly stuck in my head that they were saying that the mothers mental health needed to be taken into consideration when having children. An exhausted and depressed mother is not really an effective mother.

As I got older, I realized that having 10 children, for me, would be crazy talk. I am somewhat impatient and not that type of person at all. Yet in some weird way growing up it had seemed like such a badge of honor to have a lot of children, that I had pretty much accepted that is what you were suppose to do if you could.

And I know people have their religious reasons sometimes why they think they should have a large family. But it never seemed to be about that to me - it seemed that it was just de rigeur.

By the time I got married in the late 80s, there were no more thoughts of having lots of kids for me. I knew I probably would never have more than 4 or 5 and I wasn't even sure about having that many.

I started talking a lot more with my friends who had come from those large families and you know what they all said? None of them wanted families as large as the ones they came from. My friend who came from the family with 11 kids talked about all the ways she felt ignored growing up as the 5th of 11. She talked about how no matter what she did to get attention, someone ahead of her had already done it. The lead in the school play? Your sister Rebecca did that two years ago. First chair in violin? You sister Kara did that 5 years ago. Lead soloist in the choir? Your sister Lanee did that 6 years ago. You won the award for best freshman artist? Ralph already did that. Everything she did earned her not much more than a pat on the head and sometimes not even that. She had a lot of resentment about it. When we were young I totally idealized her family. They seemed so perfect. But apparently, that was not how it felt growing up there.

I had a sense that how many kids I had were totally up to me. Well, me and my husband. It was our personal decision and no one else's. And I know where I got that idea - I got that idea from the church who told me under birth control in the Bishop's hand book (and on their website):

Birth Control

Children are one of the greatest blessings in life, and their birth into loving and nurturing families is central to God’s purposes for humanity. When husband and wife are physically able, they have the privilege and responsibility to bring children into the world and to nurture them. The decision of how many children to have and when to have them is a private matter for the husband and wife.

Notice it doesn't say anywhere there that you have to have as many children as you can. Notice also it says the number is a private matter for husband and wife. Now if you want to read further on that topic the church also says this:

God has a plan for the happiness of all who live on the earth, and the birth of children in loving families is central to His plan. The first commandment He gave to Adam and Eve was to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28). The scriptures declare, “Children are a heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Those who are physically able have the blessing, joy, and obligation to bear children and to raise a family. This blessing should not be postponed for selfish reasons.

Sexual relations within marriage are not only for the purpose of procreation, but also a means of expressing love and strengthening emotional and spiritual ties between husband and wife.

Husband and wife are encouraged to pray and counsel together as they plan their families. Issues to consider include the physical and mental health of the mother and father and their capacity to provide the basic necessities of life for their children.

Decisions about birth control and the consequences of those decisions rest solely with each married couple. Elective abortion as a method of birth control, however, is contrary to the commandments of God.

Having children should not be delayed for shelfish reasons.

Husbands and wives are encouraged to pray and counsel together as they plan their families.

Sexual relations are not only for pro-creation but to strengthen marriage.

Issues which should be considered in planning children are health of the mother, emotional/mental health, and financial capabilities to provide.

Abortion should not be used as birth control. All other birth control is a private decision of the couple.

So I can be down with all of those thoughts and points. Wise thoughts. Good points.

But what is really weird to me is that after we moved to Arizona I kept hearing woman talk very weirdly about these decisions. One girl I knew said she wished she was done having kids but that Heavenly Father had not told her yet that she was done.

What?

Do we not have free agency? Did you not just say that you wish you were done? Does God not expect us to use our brains? I didn't know I needed some sort of revelation that I was done. Some sort of directive. What I thought I was suppose to do based on the information and advice given by my church leaders was to use my head, make a decision based on all the information available to me, make that decision in conjunction with my husband and then check in with God and let him know my thoughts - if he disagreed or wanted to tell me differently, then I guess he'd have something to say, otherwise it was my decision.

So that's what I did. And I never looked back. I always felt totally secure in that decision. It was right for me, it was right for my husband and I think it was right for my kids (though sometimes I wish Jordan had been a twin so she could entertain herself a bit more - but the upside is she and Brennan really do hang out a lot, which I don't think would have happened if she had a little sister or a sister her age). Basically I felt that I made a reasoned, thought through decision. I let God know what I thought. He and I talk everyday. He never disagreed with me so I thought that was that.

Still do.

So what is up with all the girls who think God will tell them when to stop? Why should God tell you that? I don't get it at all. And I guess if you really want to have a lot of kids, it's fine. But that's not what they say. They don't say "we really want to have a lot kids". That I can accept. It's not for me, but different strokes for different folks. I'm very laissez-faire about having much of opinion about other people's choices. What drives me insane is that they don't say that at all - what they say is "we are going to keep having them until heavenly father tells us to stop".

Doesn't the fact that you are saying that indicate to Heavenly Father that you're willing to have more kids?

I guess I'm a bigger believer in free will than some people.

I'm not really kidding about that either. I really think that I should make decisions and then consult God. Not the other way around.

There have definitely been times when God has had to step in with me and say "that's a bad idea". And when he does, I totally listen.

Anyway, lately, I'm really grateful I had 3. The perfect number for me.

Fifty is Nifty

Get your own graph at skinnyr

I'm pretty happy about this - I'll include more thoughts and info on the weight loss blog.

What Happens In Vegas Stays in Vegas

Except when you are a mormon mother, I'm not sure anything happens in Vegas that needs to stay in Vegas.  It's all pretty much above board fun.

Shannon and I have been going to Vegas for quite a while, though it has been YEARS since we have been able to get away.  I don't even know the reasons - kids, school, busy schedules...

So for one of my rewards

 on this diet I asked for a trip to Vegas with Shannon.  

I love going to Vegas with Kirk but that's  a whole different trip - Kirk does NOT want to spend the day in the spa.  

Here are some photos of us in Vegas and to hear m

ore about our adventures there you can mosey on over to the Shando blog.  

(this is the view from our room - we stayed at the Luxor this time so this is a view of Excalibur next door - we started out in a different room which had a view of the pool but which also had a leaking ceiling - or at least it had been leaking at some frequent rainy past - and stains on the window sill and general dreariness.  On vacations where something like this happens I am glad to be with Shannon because she has no problem calling up and telling the hotel staff how wildly inappropriate our acomodations are and that we would please like a different room - then she proceeds to let them know in great detail every possible problem until they relent and give us not only a different room, but an upgraded room - so we ended up in the new tower in a more expensive room with this view)

(this is me at the pool at the Luxor - see my smile, that is the smile of a woman who does not have to worry about feeding anyone, cleaning up after anyone, driving anyone anywhere, etc. etc.  basically this is me when I am totally relaxed which only happens on vacation)

(here we are in our room right before we left to go to "O" at the Belaggio - We took about 20 photos to try to get this because we are not teenage girls who take photos of ourselves all the time and kept not managing to get ourselves in frame - then we had to take it over multiple times because Shannon felt her skin was not quite taut and youthful enough so in this one she is simulating a taut face, but it mostly ends up looking like she is strangling herself - this is the only photo she will let me have here though I took several others of her but apparently her lipstick was too pink and her hair was not the proper shad of auburn and a plethora of other concerns and complaints so we should feel lucky that we get this one here to prove she was on the trip and I am not totally making that part up)

And basically the trip was fabulous - we ate yummy steak and chicken at the Bellaggio, spent almost a full day at the spa (more on that in the Shando blog) sat by the pool, walked down the strip, went to the movie, read our books and magazines and....okay I'll admit, played the penny slots for a while (look, I can't help it, I'm incredibly lucky, I almost never lose - I ended up ahead 50 dollars by the time we left vegas and all playing penny or nickel slots - if you think that's shocking or sinful.....I kindasorta respectfully disagree) 

Bliss is...

Here is what I like to do while I am in Mexico:











And when I am not looking at my book, I'm looking at this:

Ranting Corelates to Inverse Hunger Ratio

Sometimes my political spouting off directly corelates to the amount of hunger I am feeling on a particular day. Sometimes my diet makes me cranky. (ask my husband)

I normally have tried to stay a bit clear of politics here because I know many people who read the blog are republicans and probably disagree with a lot of what I say. And I am fine with that because I think that's what makes the world an interesting place - variety.

I'll try to squelch my thoughts in this area a little more effectively in the future.

For more on my hunger see here

My Boyfriend & a Little Ranting

My boyfriend John Cusack just did an ad for Moveon.org

It's been mentioned here before that I love John Cusack

He admits that he's no more important and his opinion is no more important than anyone else but that it's important to speak up about things we care about.

I'm super tired of ridiculous oil costs in a country where our options besides sucking it up and paying are extremely limited, lack of healthcare for the needy (and though I have healthcare - some would say the "cadillac plan" I pay $800 a month for it, which many families cannot even consider and it's STILL not all that great if someone has to go to the hospital), no intelligent plan to help the immigration problems we (Or maybe I should say immigrants) face, Insane spending getting us into further and further debt, a war fought on false pretenses where I fear we will continue to lose lives for many years to come, fear mongering, greedy, greedy, greedy "the dollar is GOD" decision makers. I'm so tired of hearing 'let the market decide'. Yeah, let's keep letting the market decide when it makes economic sense to cover healthcare costs for the poor. Let's keep letting the market dictate when viable renewable energy will become our main source rather than fossil fuels. Because that's worked incredibly well so far.

I miss the 90s.

At least Richard Nixon had the balls to say "F*** the doomed". Now everything is just pretense and posturing.

Keeping Tabs

New Shando Post Here

Just letting everyone know since that blog is updated so infrequently.

A Silly Quiz

This isn't very scientific but it's the short version of an often used well known personality test.

Interestingly, I don't think our personalities are completely static. At various time in my life I've been an INFJ, and a INFP depending on my current mood.

Take the test for fun and see what you are [these things are also what that whole 'gold, blue, orange, green' personality thing is too - there are 16 personality types, for the purposes of gold blue orange green they break them down into just 4 - but when you think about it and rank the colors in an order (I'm usually Blue/Orange/Green/Gold) there are really a lot of possible combinations.]

I'm curious what some of my friends are so leave a comment and let me know (that's the budding shrink in me)

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

More thoughts on Rocky Point...

I love going to Rocky Point. I love the sea and the sand and the sun. I love the smell of shrimp on the grill while the surf lulls softly in the background. I love waking up to a full moon that shines so bright off the sand, you have to close all the blinds just to be able to sleep.

I love getting up early in the morning and feeling the slight chill outside while people run up and down the beach, take morning walks and look for treasure in the tide pools. I love finding perfect shells and sea glass and the occasional octopus.

I love watching my kids have a blast body surfing, horseback riding, and running hard to wave down the banana boat man. I love buying freshly made tortillas from the local ladies. I love talking with the guys who sell their jewelry on the beach. I always feel the warmness of the people is so wonderful when you take the time to talk to them.

I love all the bold colors. I love how the ladies stand outside their homes and sweep the dirt to keep it away from the front of their house. I always find it fascinating how clean everything is in a certain kind of way - how much everything smells like 'fabuloso'. Every person you walk next too smells strongly of laundry soap. And yet how weirdly un-antiseptic everything is too. At the grocery store there are strong smells of the produce over ripeness mixed with fishy fish and strange cheese. The bakery smells sickly sweet and the fresh seafood on ice is just feet away. It's a cacophony of olfactory over-load that amazes me. Everything here in the U.S. is so wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. It's a shock to go from carefully saran wrapped meat to hanging beef on a hook with a few flys for good measure. In a strange way it's refreshing to be reminded of where your food really comes from.

I admire the people. I admire the work ethic. Even the beggars are offering to clean your windows and do a better job than I've ever dreamed. Their circumstances are often meager - yet they always seem happy. There are a lot of smiles. There are a lot of school kids with ice cream, families getting ice cream or popsicles on a hot day. It's not an easy life, but no one seems unhappy. I feel so spoiled while we are there.

When I come home I stare out the window at the vast wealth. It's a little hard to reconcile. Neighborhoods which did not look that nice the week before appear completely differently to me when I come back. We're all so rich and most of us don't even know it.

Rocky Point

Back from Rocky Point...

Very, Very, Reluctantly back from Rocky Point












I'll talk more about it later but right now I wish I were still on the beach...

Update

For those of you keeping track on my other blog this news comes as a rather ho-hum declaration, but for those of you who are not, I am proud to announce that I have successfully cleared the 30 pounds lost hurdle and now have my eyes on 40. Here's a portion of my chart for the past little while (these skinnyr charts are cool but they can't post more than like 10 days at a time or something)

Get your own graph at skinnyr

Next up I'm planning to write that embarassing moment post for Shando that Cynthia tagged her on. I think that's something we can all look foward to -

(don't end you sentence in a preposition! Mrs. Barton my high school AP English teacher would tell me...but I don't really answer to Mrs. Barton anymore - I like to live on the edge and dangle my participles as well)

Lezlee

Making Scents

I have always strongly associated perfumes with different eras in my life. When I think about it, in terms of perfume, my life can be roughly divided by decades with a perfume brand:

Love's Baby Soft (and isn't this ad from the same era rather disturbing? but this was back in the days when Brooke Shields was "pretty baby" and donning her Calvins, and Jody Foster was playing a teenage prostitute in Taxi so...)

Love's baby soft is so Jr. High for me. I had a lavendar turtle neck sweater (which I wore with my deep purple corduroy pants and my brown high heel clogs) and the inside of the neck of that sweater was sprayed with love's baby soft so that I could smell it all the time. I loved that stupid sweater.

L'Air Du Temps was roughly high school. I never really loved this perfume, I was just trying to be more mature. It had a strong floral scent. I ditched when I got to college (I never loved it much, and never particularly loved high school either so I figured it was bad karma to wear it in college).

I replaced it with Lutece. You can still buy Lutece though it's a bit tricky to track down. It's a bit more mature floral scent. It's softer. I still like it. My husband loves it because it's what I wore all the time when we were dating.

Into my 20s I paired this with Anais Anais, I wore them both intermitently. Anais Anais was the first really expensive perfume I ever owned. It's a floral too but it has a lot of very soft and subtle undertones. You can barely smell this on someone but it's very distinct. It has the slightest hint of spice but maybe just a touch of baby powder underneath. Very soft, but sophisticated. I wore it well on my way to 30.

Sometime after starting to have children my perfume consumption sank. It seems silly to put a lot of perfume on when you're just going to be changing diapers all day and running kids around. (though as I type this I am wondering if that wouldn't be a more practical use of the perfume). At some point I wanted my perfume to be more fun and I started buying Escada in my 30s. Escada does this weird thing where they slightly tinker with a scent every year (sorta like someone there is a little ADHD) it smells almost exactly the same as the year before, but not quite. I guess they think you will not get bored with it that way. So I started out loving Ibiza Hippy and then it was Rockin Rio and then it was Pacific Paradise and then it was Sunset Heat...you get the idea. It was suppose to make you feel like you were on a exotic vacation all the time and that really appealed to me (I'm highly suspectible to marketing ploys like this). When I sprayed it on I would imagine that Ibiza Hippy was the perfect scent for a free spirit like me. (nevermind that I've never been to Ibiza or that I don't qualify as a hippy in any way). Escada is floral, but it's fruity and fun.

So on to my 40s...time for a new perfume. I asked for this for mother's day:



The ad copy for Le Feu d' Orange reads:

A heady mix of blood orange, woods and fruit with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla.


This stuff smells delicous. And of course I like to imagine that it's a bit more serious than Escada - more appropriate for my 40s. I feel like a sophisticated internationally travelled woman with good luggage and chic though practical shoes.

Well...it's important to have a rich fantasy life anyway don't you think?

Dipping My Toe into the Political Topic

Most people know, I am a democrat -

a majority of my friends (though not all) are republican.

I usually avoid discussing politics for that reason.

Politics are super important to me. Of all the things I do everyday to keep myself plugged in to the world, my favorite is to listen to a lot of political analysis and read a lot of political articles. I read things from all over - I read things I totally disagree with fairly frequently because I like to understand how other people think.

This morning I am happy. Obama is my guy.

I used to like McCain a long time ago and I used to say I could vote for him. I liked the fact that he thumbed his nose at the republican party fairly often - seemed to follow his heart and his own sense of right and wrong rather than a party line. I think that appeals to a lot of democrats.

But seemingly winning the primary has made him re-think that strategy and he has to appeal to a broader range of republicans (many of whom have despised him for years...we have die-hard republican friends who absolutely can't stand the man - some of them say they will hold their nose and vote for him, some say they are considering Obama). In doing so he's totally lost me.

I've never loved Hilary. Never hated her either. I never understood people's intense dis-like of her. And when I ask my republican friends about it they usually say two things - her intense drive to scamble to the top (and they think that's the only reason she's stayed married to Bill) and the comment she made about Tammy Wynette and "standing by her man" and the whole "baking cookies" thing. One woman I know doesn't like her because she put up with Bill's wandering eye all those years. Ironically that woman had an affair herself so...I could write a whole psychology study on that thought process. At any rate I always liked Obama more than Hillary. For the record I started out as a John Edwards supporter - and I still like him very much and wish he had stuck in the race longer. But Obama has always been a close second to Edwards for me. But until recently, I felt, that I could definitely vote for Hilary if my choices were McCain vs. Hilary (though a year ago I would have said that race would probably have me voting for McCain). In the last few weeks I have been very disappointed in her behavior.

I saw this quote this morning that really summed it up for me: "After the Reverend Wright controversy, Hillary Clinton had the nomination in her hands. Obama was suffering the worst press month of his campaign," said Republican media consultant Alex Castellanos. "Then she had a choice. She could have gotten bigger, more presidential, less political, could have risen to defend Obama. 'This is outrageous and has no place in politics.' She didn't do that. Instead, she chose to become smaller, more political, less presidential. Her own political instincts betrayed her."

That's where she lost me exactly.

What Reverand Wright said was pretty outrageous (though to be fair, I've read the entire sermon and it is not nearly as outrageous in the context of the whole thing) probably even more outrageous was the way he tried to defend what he said. He's quite indignant about it. He took a very bad tone at the press club - was rude to reporters and would not answer questions if a reporter had not read the entire sermon (which is why I did...and he had a point, but it was totally the wrong way to make that point).

I kept thinking "wow! I hope if I ever run for office I don't have to have someone dredge up wacky things, racist things, crazy things my former Bishops have said". I am telling you that on a political spectrum Jed Riding and I do not agree on much. But he's my Bishop. I respect him. I actually consider him a friend as well. I've spent time in their home - I've even been to their cabin. Is it that hard to understand that politics and church don't mix?

I remember the time we ushered out kids out of sacrament meeting with the skinhead was there. The man with the shaved head that said 'white power' in huge letters all the way around his head. We kept looking at the Bishop like "aren't you going to do something?" and he didn't do anything. This guy was down front and center. Clearly his head had been shaved absolutely clean that morning. Come on. Kirk sent a note up to the Bishop explaining our departure. I am still very glad we left. We wanted our kids to be very clear about where we stood. In a conversation with the Bishop later he said that 1. He couldn't see all the way around his head so he wasn't sure exactly what it said and 2. When he realized what it said he asked him to grow out his hair if he was going to keep coming to church and taking the missionary discussions. Now look, I am all for a skinhead coming to Jesus. I have no problems with a skinhead who has fully changed his views and ways. But this guy was clearly still shaving that head everyday. Had I been the Bishop I would have offered to let the guy wear a hat and sit in the over-flow or something until his hair came in. But that's me, and I'm not a Bishop. The guy kept trying to talk with the missionaries but never attempting to grow his hair in. Which is when the Bishop drew the line. 2 weeks later he raped an old lady in the neighborhood. Nice.

But what if I had not gotten up and left. What if I ran for political office and someone said that my church, my specific congregation was being attended by active skinheads and that in fact, my Bishop had welcomed the man with open arms. And I sat in the pew and sang hymms with this man and I had no problem with it. Well of course, I did have a problem with it. But you know, it would have been easy to sit there and justify not leaving - afterall, I think we were the only ones at church that day who did leave. I'm just saying I think it's a bad idea to mix these worlds.

Things happen at church that I think are completely wacky. People say stuff that makes me internally groan. Over the years I've had leaders say things I TOTALLY disagree with. But I stay because over-riding all of that I feel a great spirit of love there. I felt it this sunday. It's a wonderful place to be. And maybe partly it's a wonderful place to be because it is flawed. People are flawed. I'm flawed. And yet God just keeps on loving every single one of us - watching us all try to do our best. Watching us try to serve one another and make the world just a tiny bit better place. I think that makes God happy. All those little kindnesses we show all the time make up for a lot of our mistakes.

So I'm happy that it looks like Obama will get the nomination. That seems right to me today.

Sometime in my college years I became almost obsessed with JD Salinger and Catcher in the Rye. A lot of people dismiss the book far too easily. I don't know anyone who loves it as much as I do.

I've read everything that was every published by Salinger, including all his short stories published in magazines during the 50s. Once you connect all the dots, it's very fascinating.

Holden Caulfield was my hero in a kind of way.

When I named my first born Holden in my early 20s, I caught a lot of crap for it. "Why would you name your child after someone who had a mental breakdown?!" - was a usual refrain.

I always hoped that someday Holden would read the novel and understand. So when he was about 13 or so I gave him "Catcher in the Rye". He read it and liked it. Then he re-read it. I do not know how many times he has read it now.

A few weeks ago I heard someone complaining about what a 'whiner' Holden is in Catcher and how he needs to grow up. Complaining about the book and the plot and the immaturity of it all. Holden became completely incensed. Holden said "Holden Caulfield is just about the most awesome guy ever because Holden Caulfield wants to preserve all the innocense in the world - He wants to catch all the children before they grow up too fast and tell them to slow down!".

Then he told me he was happy his name was Holden. That it's the coolest name ever.

That made my heart smile.

Here is a quote I found recently from JD Salinger himself talking about Holden "The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it."

That almost makes me cry.