I Heart Washington DC

We just got back from an amazing trip to Washington DC. We had the BEST time. Kirk's law firm argued a case in front of the Supreme Court and we were all able to be there - even the kids and I had a front row seat. It was awesome to see our judicial system working before our eyes. I have further insight on the whole supreme court aspect of the trip, but I'll go into that more in another entry. We were there for about 10 days total and every day was full of wonderful things. We managed to squeeze in:

Double Decker Bus Tour of DC & Georgetown
Supreme Court
Printing and Engraving
Air & Space Museum
American History Museum
National Gallery
Archives
all the memorials!
Arlington
White House
DC Temple
Dupont Circle
Sculpture Garden
Union Station
Natural History Museum
Williamsburg
Charlottesville
UVA
Monticello

Plus some amazing four & five star hotels, wonderful Thai, Indian, Italian and American food, and some time every evening to RELAX. Who could ask for more?

Here's a slide show (Kirk's sister, and her husband and kids were able to meet us there the first couple of days too, which was fun, they live in New Hampshire so we don't get to see them that often):

Political Thoughts - Not My Own But Points to Ponder

Bob Cesca writes an op-ed that I think raises some good points. Mostly I think they are good points because they are points I raised in my own head without writing them down when I heard all the flack recently about this new report on right-wing extremism. Nuts come in all flavors, leftist nuts and righty nuts. Here's Bob's take:

One of the very bizarre accusations overheard at the tea bag protests Wednesday was that President Obama is somehow a "fascist." At the same time, and often in the same protest, he was also accused of being a "communist."

Of course it's ideologically impossible to be both, in the same way it's impossible to be both informed and a FOX & Friends host, but then again I'm expecting too much logic and message coherence from people who spent all of Wednesday protesting against socialism and wealth redistribution while gathered in publicly funded -- dare I say "socialized" -- parks and town squares.

But back to that "fascist" accusation. I'm not convinced that tea baggers like Michelle Malkin understand that fascism is, in fact, a form of right wing extremism. Because for the last 24 hours or so, Malkin, Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the usual band of apoplectic brainiacs appear to have been vigorously defending "right wing extremism" after having previously accused the president of being on the same flank of the ideological spectrum.

Yeah, I know. It doesn't make sense.

Rewind to Tuesday morning: a Homeland Security report covering potential threats from "right wing extremist" groups, including militias, white supremacists and neo-Nazis, was obtained by talk show host Roger Hedgecock. And, predictably, the gang who can't seem to decipher basic high school level social studies concepts, kneejerked into one of their paranoid tantrums -- insisting that the report was entirely about them.

Almost right away, the far-right blogs and FOX News Channel were set ablaze with reports that the Obama administration was targeting conservatives with a massive surveillance operation. But here's the thing: the DHS report wasn't about conservatives. The word "conservatives" doesn't appear anywhere in the report. It was all about radical domestic terrorist groups who happen to subscribe to outlandish ideologies well beyond the mainstream of political discourse. Notwithstanding this very clear distinction, Malkin and the broader wingnutosphere lost their collective shpadoinkle and insisted the DHS was targeting the mainstream tea baggers.

Now, when this story first broke, I was at a bit of loss as to how to accurately interpret the right's wildly conspiratorial, victimized reaction. Either Malkin and Beck were just as confused and incoherent as always, and, in their loud noises anti-government rage, they were inadvertently coupling themselves with right wing extremists. Or they not-so-subtly admitted that there isn't much difference between a garden variety conservative, a garden variety wingnut and a garden variety right wing extremist -- that they're all basically militant racists who are plotting to blow up federal buildings. I don't know.

There's one thing we know for sure, however: they're definitely freaked out about the government's post-9/11 intelligence apparatus -- the very same bureaucracy they actively and vocally cheerled throughout the Bush years. Malkin, in particular, was one of the most outspoken and cheerleadery endorsers of allowing unchecked executive power via the vice president's office, the NSA, the CIA and the military, while encouraging these agencies to use any means necessary to smoke out the evildoers. This included illegal wiretapping, rendition, suspension of habeas rights and every awful provision found within the USA PATRIOT Act.

Yet in light of this DHS report, Malkin seems to believe that the government might be spying on people. Her people. "Right wing extremists."

So they're suddenly worried about privacy are they? Whatever happened to Rush Limbaugh's maxim: "Our civil liberties are worthless if we are dead!" Or Senator Big John Cornyn's words of wisdom: "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."

Glenn Greenwald wrote on Tuesday:

When you cheer on a Surveillance State, you have no grounds to complain when it turns its eyes on you. If you create a massive and wildly empowered domestic surveillance apparatus, it's going to monitor and investigate domestic political activity. That's its nature.

It's like that classic SNL sketch from 1988 with Tom Hanks as Mr. Short Term Memory. Hanks is at a restaurant and orders his favorite meal: poached salmon. He takes a bite of his fish then, forgetting he took a bite, shouts, "Ah! There's something in my mouth! There's something in my mouth!" The wingnuts begged and fear-mongered for this gigantic overreaching surveillance state and now they're suddenly alarmed that it's covering terrorists other than brown-skinned foreigners with funny hats?

That could be the clincher, though. The far-right outrage might have something to do with skin color.

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project reported that as many as 60 domestic, white right wing terrorist attacks were thwarted by law enforcement in the ten year span following the Oklahoma City bombing which, by the way, was also perpetrated by an American right wing extremist with boy-next-door white skin.

The plots, all foiled by law enforcement, reportedly included violent plans by antigovernment militia groups, racist skinhead organizations, and Ku Klux Klan members to use various types of chemical bombs and other weapons.

Nice. More examples of right wing extremists. Extremists who are evidently being coupled by Malkin with the broader conservative movement. I hasten to note here that I'm not citing these examples for the same reason Malkin and wingnutty websites such as Religion of Peace like to highlight Islamic terrorist attacks: as an ongoing feargasm intended to incite more wars and cultural intolerance. I'm merely presenting evidence that, yes, right wing terrorists do exist. Sorry, Malkin. There are also left wing terrorists, by the way, and they were the subject of their own DHS report issued back in January, according to the Washington Times.

The point being that terrorist attacks can be orchestrated by anyone -- not just brown religious zealots. (I can't believe I actually have to write that.)

Whether intentional or not, the talkers and bloggers who appear to be driving the post-Bush crazy train, have, intentionally or not, opened up the conservative tent to some pretty unsavory and dangerous characters. And in light of what happened in Pittsburgh, are they really so sure that deliberately conflating conservatism with the radical, violent end of the ideological spectrum is such a wise strategy? Beck and the others were so shocked and disturbed that their rhetoric was being partly blamed for Pittsburgh. But that was last week. This week, they definitely seem to be sharing their tea bags with the psychotics. And such behavior can cause a serious infection. Political infection. Is what I meant.

Dude...this is pretty awesome...

Okay so last night late (didn't start til after 10 pm, which for people like us on a work/school night is a tad bit late dontcha think?) we went to the Phoenix Film Festival and the Phoenix premiere of a local film - the name of the film is "Hi, My Name Is Ryan" - it was directed by Steve Rose and Paul Eagleston - Steve is Brian Rose's brother, for those of you who know Brian, and Paul is his cousin.

It was pretty awesome. It's a documentary about a bizarre kid who lives here in Phoenix. I don't know if the movie is ever going to get distribution, right now you can only see it at film festivals, but it's seriously a great little film. Here's the trailer:

Sofia Bulgaria Mission!

Okay - a lot of people have already heard this news through word of mouth and facebook, but in case you missed it:

We've been waiting for Holden's mission call for 3 weeks now and he finally got it yesterday! He's so excited that he'll be serving in the Sofia Bulgaria mission!

He doesn't leave until August 12th, so he has a lot of time to prepare! (I think that's the only slight downside - I think he was wishing he'd be leaving by June, but it seems like they send out the missionaries in huge groups about 4 times a year)

It will be a huge adventure!

Why I totally Disagree With Glenn Beck

So I have been watching with somewhat bemused interest in the shift of attention lately on the political arena to a new obsession in some groups with this whole "We Surround Them" bit that Glenn Beck keeps promoting. Recently I've been in touch with some old high school and even elementary school friends and there are a few of them who really seem to be on this bandwagon (one of these guys really cracks me up with his facebook profile photo of him literally clinging to his gun).

Just as an aside - and I'll get to the Glenn Beck thing in a minute - it is very interesting to see how all these mormon kids I grew up with now run the gammut from people contemplating forming their own militias to a guy raising goats in the wild using "herbs" to commune with nature and everything in between. Just goes to show that you cannot predict how anyone is going to turn out! (and the "herbal" dude's dad was a DEA agent!)

But I digress. Glenn Beck.

Okay so he has this new thing he's promoting called the 9/12 society or some such thing. As near as I can tell the basic premise is that he has these 9 principles and if you agree with a majority of them, you should join his "group". Or something like that. I'm not entirely sure I understand the point exactly, but there's a point in there somewhere beyond Glenn Beck making money and selling books and getting you to watch his tv show. I think? Or is there? I don't know. But anyway these are his principles:

1. America is Good.

well, I mean yeah, that's hard to disagree with but...inherently good? or is it her people who are good? Is it the system of government that's good? I think it's pretty good. I don't know exactly what Beck means though. Beck complains a heck of a lot about our "government" while simultaneously expressing deeply held love for America. Well...he also spends a lot of time talking about the founding fathers (using books to promote learning about the founding fathers which, by the way, are not the most scholarly treatments of the founding fathers - all the parts where Jefferson rips out the pages of the bible that he doesn't like are conveniently ignored. Don't fool yourself Jefferson was a rebel folks. A likeable rebel, but a rebel.) But I digress again - anyway, he complains a lot about America for someone who loves it. So I love America, but I'm not sure what Glenn Beck means when he says he loves America. He sure does get irritated a lot with system of government set up by the founding fathers he says he loves while simultaneously being irritated with a lot of American's. So what is it that Glenn Beck loves exactly? What exactly does he think is good?

Who but the most blatant anti-american is going to answer "No" I don't think America is good. So I will answer this in the affirmative, but I'm suspicious of Beck's answer.

2. I believe in God and he is the Center of my life.

Yeah. But the trouble with this one is that I know lots and lots of good people who don't believe that - people who in my opinion contribute to the "good" that is America and the "good" things in my life on a regular basis. So I'm not sure exactly what the relevance is here.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

OK - I mean, I try to just do that everyday, not necessarily that I have to improve over yesterday. I try to do my best every single day. But again, who is going to answer other way? What kind of assinine statement would it be to say "I think I should always try to be more Dishonest than I was yesterday". What?

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

Well yeah. Except that pesky Article of Faith that says "We believe in being subject to Kings, Presidents, Rulers, Magistrates..." So what about that Mr. Beck? Plus I guess I missed the part where we are now living in communist Russia and the government is trying to dictate what I do in my home. Unless you're gay and you live in California. Oh...maybe that's different? I don't get it. Didn't we just decide on prop 8 that were in favor of telling the gay people in California that they CAN'T do certain things because the government (the voter) says? I'm confused.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

Well yeah. Unless you can afford a really good attorney. Then obviously all bets are off.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

Ummm...well, I try not to complicate things. I just prefer this version: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." What the heck is wrong with that version Mr. Beck? I thought you were all "Pro-Founding Fathers". But you don't like how they worded the Declaration of Independence? I guess I'm just more of a patriot than you are.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

I love this idea that if the government forces me to be charitable, that's Satan's plan. Yeah, because Satan was all about being charitable! Satan loves it when you feel coerced to share with your neighbor. You know, I could quote A LOT of scriptures on this one but let me just say that I totally disagree with this idea. WE are the government as he is so fond of telling his listeners. And I think WE all should be charitable. End of story. (I think Satan loves to feed people this idea that they aren't being selfish at all they are just defending their right to be selfish)

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

FINALLY. After 8 years of feeling this way, I'm glad Glenn Beck saying it finally lends credence to the idea. Maybe I can get away with making this statement now, because I certainly could not get away with it for the past 8 years. Someone at church told me I was not "patriotic" if I disagreed with the president. Some people really should look up the meaning of the word patriot. So on this one Beck and I whole-heartedly without reservation agree!

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Has Beck ever heard this "We the people in order to form a more perfect union..." There seems to be a basic misunderstanding of what "government" is and how it works. So on this one I recommend Beck take a civics course or something.

Score: I have no idea how to calculate this nonesense.

But rest assured, my disagreement with Mr. Beck will certainly not stop the flow of money into his pockets. Lately he seems to have ramped up the fear rhetoric to a fever pitch.

Mr. Beck is mormon, but I'm not sure he's paying attention. There is no fear in love. It will be interesting to pay attention to General Conference this weekend. I know I'll be keeping track of how many talks are on loving your fellow man, living in hope and not fear, etc. Every 6 months the messages are positive and beautiful and somehow, a certain segment of the church never really hears that.

Not only is there no fear in perfect love, but the opposite of faith is fear. Maybe I should start a facebook group "Faith Not Fear"...

But I don't think I'd get nearly as many people to join.

Projects...

Remember a while back I was trying to decide what to do with that couch in the front room? After much deliberation I decided to go the route of that patchwork look - I spent some time picking the fabric and then got Dale Cheshier to do the actual work. I LOVE the way they turned out!


Now we're on the backyard project. This is how my backyard looked a couple of weeks ago:





And this is what it looks like right now:


YIKES! I hope this is all worth it in the end. It's costing a lot of money and as of this moment I am feeling a little sick about it!

Best Movie Scenes

So Kirk and I were having a discussion this week about movies that you would bother owning. There aren't that many movies I care to see more than once or twice. When I start analyzing it I find that my favorites are all from the 80s. This could be because I really think 80s teen movies are the gold standard in teen movies, but it could also be because these movies make me feel like I'm still a teenager myself.

Here are a sampling of some of the best:


1. Some Kind of Wonderful - one of the best kiss scenes ever




2. Pretty and Pink - I SOOOOO badly wanted to be Andie in this movie - I dressed like this for several years.



3. Say Anything - best movie EVER, hands down (the trailer does not do it justice).




4. Breakfast Club - best TEEN movie EVER, hands down



5. The Sure Thing - more John Cusack, always a good thing...

Insert Frowny Face Here

Not to make light of the current economic climate, because I realize a lot of people are facing serious loss and trouble - my heartfelt sympathies go out to them. But I have a frowny face on right now because I just found out that my FAVORITE magazine in the whole wide world is going out of business because of financial troubles with it's parent company.

What a Drag Dude!

I love Domino Magazine with all my heart! I get Elle Decor and California Homes, and Metropolitan Home and they are Okay but Domino is my absolute love! I will miss it so! And they didn't even bother to tell us it was going to be the last copy until it was said and done - so last months copy was the last one. Now maybe someone will scoop in and save it - someone saved JPG magazine a few months ago, and I was glad, because I've actually been published in that magazine (SEE HERE) - but I digress.

What will happen to my recently renewed subscription? I have a feeling that is just $12 I just donated to their under-funded pension plans. I'm pretty sure I'm not getting a refund.

So here's a montage of awesome images from recent issues that I drew inspiration from. I loved you with all my heart Domino and you will be sorely missed!

So Many Thoughts, So Little Time...

After a period of relative quiet here I suddenly have many thoughts and things I would like to do blog posts about. Alas, I do not have time for most of them.

One little explanatory note, some people have noted the absence of my old blog, bandanamom-120days. I had to take the blog down due to legal reasons that are silly and I don't want to go into. Suffice to say there was a bit of a dispute as to what I was allowed to say or not say regarding my diet.

The new chart on the sidebar is my new weight loss chart which excludes all the weight I lost last year. I actually feel like I did pretty well while I was totally off of it for the past 3 months. In the first month I gained nearly 17 pounds and since then my weight has stayed roughly the same. I consider that a success because it shows that the diet does have some rebound weight loss gain immediately after stopping it, but the trend does not continue after the first two or three weeks.

Anyway, I can start officially back on the diet again because I am finally at 6 weeks post-surgery!

At any rate, I am not at goal but I still weight A LOT less than I did at this time last year.

Maybe later I'll have time to blog about decorating, renovations, politics, children, aging, or art.

Slumdog

I was going to write a whole long thing on Slumdog and how much I liked it when I saw it in December and that I am tempted to allow my underage children to see it even though it's rated R, and my reasoning on that point. But I'm not actually going to write that whole long thing or explain much of any of that. Just instead I would like to say that I enjoyed Slumdog quite a lot and recommend it inspite of it's 'R' rating. (though there is one disturbing scene I would probably fast forward a bit if I were watching it from home to spare my children).

Holden's whole apartment up at BYUI is in a fight over 'R' rated movie watching. Holden being the only neutral person in the entire household. 2 roommates are rabidly against and convinced that everyone else is going to hell. 2 roommates insist on ONLY watching 'R' rated movies just to irritate the 2 who are rabidly against. Holden's Bishop has asked him to mediate the dispute as much as possible since he is basically neutral and think both sides have decent and valid points. Holden told his Bishop that he does watch 'R' movies sometimes and the Bishop asked how he decides if it's an 'R' movie that is appropriate. Holden said "If it's something I would watch with my parents or with you there". It think that's a good rule of thumb. Apparently the Bishop agreed. He started out saying that maybe the rule should just be 'no R' but then backtracked when he had to admit his favorite movie (the Bishop's favorite) was "Saving Private Ryan".

I have to say that I see a whole lot of PG-13 movies that I am disgusted by and would not allow my kids to watch but often see an R that I don't have a problem with them watching (especially that 18 year old mentioned above). Wisdom in all things I suppose.

But anyway - there's a new post on the Shando blog, wherein, Shando wants you to know that she totally called the Oscar picks, and wants you to know she feels vindicated by her dislike of Mama Mia.

Alvin Ailey

We went to the Alvin Ailey dance performance at the Mesa Arts Center last night (by the way, how great is the Mesa Arts Center...love that place) - I took a somewhat reluctant husband and a somewhat skeptical 11 and 13 year old. It was awesome. Dance has such a magical power sometimes, and this production was gorgeous magical perfection. If you get a chance to go sometime, do not pass it up.

How Ridiculously Gorgeous Were These?

Those earrings and that ring she had on were RIDICULOus!

Poetry Slam

One thing I miss these days is being surrounded by Holden's poetry. There were always random poems and books of poems lying around, poems being memorized and practiced, read, explored, and said. I miss lots of things about having Holden around. Holden is laughter and smiles and serious thoughts and art and poetry and speaking and quiet contemplation and goodness and more laughing. I never paid that much attention to slam poetry before Holden did and it makes me happy to see our youth holding on to this art form that holds so much power.

Mockingbirds - By Rives

Mockingbirds are bad-ass.

Mockingbirds are the MC’s of the animal kingdom–
they listen, and mimic, and remix what they like,
they rock the mic.
Outside my window every morning
I can hear them sing
the sounds of the car alarms
like they were songs of spring.
I mean: if you can talk it,
a mockingbird can squawk it.
So check it:

I’m gonna catch mockingbirds.
I’m gonna trap mockingbirds, all across the nation
and put them gently into mason jars
like mockingbird Molotov cocktails.
And as I drive through a neighborhood, say,
where people gotta lotta
I’ll take a mockingbird I caught in a neighborhood
where folks ain’t got nada
and just let it go, y’know–
Up goes the bird, out come the words:
“Juanito! Juanito! Vente a comer, mi hijo!!”

I’m gonna be the Johnny Appleseed of sounds.
Cruising random interstates and city streets,
rockin’ a drop-top Cadillac with a big back seat,
packing like thirteen brown paper Wal-Mart bags
full of loaded mockingbirds.
And I’ll get everybody.

I’ll get the nitwit on the network news, saying:
“We’ll be back in a moment with more on the crisis.”
I’ll get some asshole at a watering hole
asking what brand the ice is.
I’ll get that lady at the laundromat
who always seems to know what being nice is.

I’ll get your postman making dinner plans.
I’ll get the last time you lied.
I’ll get: “Honey, just give me the frikkin’ T.V. Guide”
I’ll get a lonely little sentence some real bad judgment in it:
“Yeah, I guess you could come inside–
but only for a minute.”

I’ll get an ESL class in Chinatown, learning:
“It’s raining, it’s pouring…”
I’ll put a mockingbird on a late-night train
just to get an old man snoring.
I’ll get your ex-lover wishing someone else good morning.

Cuz I’ll get everyone’s good mornings,
I don’t care how you make ‘em:
Aloha. Konnichiwa. Shalom. A salaam malaikum.

I’ll get uptown gurus, downtown teachers,
broke-ass artists, and dealers, and Filipino preachers.
Leaf blowers, bartenders, boob job doctors,
hooligans, garbagemen, your local Congressman
and the spotlight guys in the overhead helicopters.

Everybody gets heard, everybody gets this
one honest mockingbird
as a witness.

And I’m on this. I’m on this ’til the whole thing spreads
with chat rooms and copycats and moms, maybe,
tucking kids into bed, singing: “Hush little baby, don’t say a word–
wait for the man with the mockingbirds.”
And then come the news crews, and the man-on-the-street interviews
and the letters to the editor–everybody asking:
“Just who is responsible for this citywide,
nationwide, mockingbird cacophony?”
And somebody’s finally gonna tip the city council
of Washington D.C. off to me
and they’ll offer me a key to the city,
a gold-plated, over-sized key to the city,
and that’s all I need, cuz if I get that–I can unlock the air.

I’ll listen for what’s missing–
and I’ll put it there.

Randomness

I did this list the other day for facebook and since I haven't had much time lately for a blog entry, I've copied it here. My progress after surgery is slowly but surely, so I hope to be off crutches within the week. In the meantime, I am getting a lot done in my Abnormal Psych class so I am trying to see the silver lining. These are just 25 random things about me:



1) Everyday I hope it will be a day I discover some new little gem - an obscure band or song I like, a poem, an artist, a well written book -- these things make me happy.

2) I love the sun and I love to be warm. I love swimming pools -- even just looking at them.

3) I think the swimming pool thing goes bak to a Chanel No. 5 commercial from the early 80s. The tag line for the commercial said "I am made of blue skies and yellow sunlight and I will feel this way forever". This had a big affect on a girl living in the frozen tundra of Idaho.

4) I can be very silly. There is a lot of dancing in my house and goofing around. A lot of imitations of people real or imagined.

5) Probably half the people I know are very aware of this silliness and the other half have absolutely no idea.

6) People often think I'm stuck-up or stand-off-ish. I think it's because I often silently observe a lot. I have a tendency to stand back and watch and silently take things in. I have to force myself to be more out going than I'm comfortable with at times.

7) I think my tendency to silently observe makes me good at figuring people out and understanding them. I'm a great listener.

8) Sometimes people apologize for making me listen to them, for showing up at my door unannounced and telling me all their problems. It's hard to make people understand that I don't mind listening to them at all.

9) But it does seem like a good idea to parlay this into a money making way to spend my time, rather than just doing it for free -- which is why I'm still working on my psych degree.

10) I love to laugh.

11) When my husband and I are both laughing at the same thing at the same time -- those are the best moments of the day.

12) I love my kids and I'm amazed at how different each one of them are -- and how truly great they each are in their own way.

13) Being a mom is the hardest thing I've ever done, and the best. What a cliche that is, but so true.

14) My husband is one of my favorite people in the whole world. He is a ball of creative and intelligent energy who also loves a good laugh. I feel so lucky to be married to him.

15) I have great friends I can rely on which is such a nice feeling.

16) I have a "best friend" which seems kind of adolescent, but really, she keeps me sane and entertained.

17) I completely love traveling. Whether it's a trip to Scotland or a trip to the Circle K down the street, I like to be in motion.

18) I'm a very liberal person but also deeply religious and spiritual. This stymies people sometimes but I find it to be the least absurd way to live life.

19) I'm often a liberal in a sea of conservatives -- this is sometimes an amusing position to be in and sometimes entirely frustrating. But I manage to be amused more often than frustrated.

20) My parents are somewhat dismayed that they managed to raise a liberal. They blame my liberal tendencies on BYU. There is a grain of truth in that theory, but it's much more complicated than that. The irony is rather delicious.

21) Every day my husband leaves the house and says "I'm off to fight the forces of evil". It's a lot like being married to super hero. Most people probably wouldn't think a lawyers wife would feel like she's married to a super hero, but I do.

22) I'm having an unexpected love affair with the desert. The other day we drove with the top down near the preserve at Dreamy Draw. I love the smell of the plants and all the unexpected wildlife -- the birds and the bunnies and the occasional coyote. Even though I'm very much a city girl -- I love that there's nature just around the bend.

23) I love my dogs. We have a part chow part german shepherd named "Tanner" and a purely mexican mutt named "Scout". I have a lot of existential angst about Tanner these days. He's 12 and I will be devastated when he's gone.

24) My new church calling in the Stake Relief Society Presidency is one of my favorite callings ever. I love getting to know so many new women in the Stake. I love thinking about all those women every sunday all over the world, united in our efforts to be better people, learning more about what it means to be christ-like -- giving charity and sharing our burdens. What an amazing thing.

25) The world is full of so much beauty -- it makes me feel like my heart will almost burst open sometimes. There is beauty everywhere -- on the wall of graffiti, in the lady waiting for the bus, in the desert bird, in the palm trees swaying in the breeze -- it's all around us if we just choose to see it.

100 Things

I copied this from Cynthia's Blog - while I am sitting here bored in a wheelchair there is not a whole lot happening in my life besides waiting - waiting to see the doctors, waiting for physical therapy, waiting for my surgery to be scheduled. So while I am waiting I went through the list and highlighted the things I've done by changing the font color - the things I've done are in purple.


1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar or escargot
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Been to a foreign country

Beautiful Place for a Mishap...

We spent a good part of our new year vacation here - in a winter wonderland that would make even the most die-hard winter hater (that would be me) forgive the coldness and the bitter low light and wind of winter to appreciate how beautiful it really can be.

When you're on a snowmobile high in the mountains deep in the forest along the border of a pristine Yellowstone Park, where it's just you and maybe some ravens flying overhead, it's absolutely stunningly beautiful.

So things were going great right up until the moment when I tried to make it up a large snow bank across the highway late Saturday afternoon. I say tried, because I didn't quite make it. And when I didn't make it my instinct, to stick out my leg to balance the machine as it was flipping over sideways, was the wrong instinct. I jammed my leg against the road, hyper-extending it as I went over and felt every ounce of breath in my body leave. I had to lay there for a while and contemplate how to catch my breath and to really try to ascertain whether or not I was okay - if I had broken anything or not. I decided that I must not have broken anything because it didn't hurt that much...just felt...weird. But when I tried to get up it felt like my bone in the upper part of my leg was fine, and the lower part of my leg was fine - but the part that connects them, around the knee area, that was definitely not fine - that felt like jello. And even when I couldn't do it the first time, I tried again, and that time I completely fell over backwards into the snow again, the impact breaking my glasses clean in half. So I'm on the side of the highway near the Montana/Idaho border wondering what in the heck I'm going to do. Soon there were good samaritans all over the road, stopping to see if I was okay. 911 was called, sherrif's deputies showed up a short time later, and a nice lady in a big green suburban gave me a sleeping bag to sit on and a thermos of hot chocolate. 20 minutes later the ambulance showed.

If it hadn't been such a scary moment I would have taken time to laugh at the situation. 3 ambulance people, all of whom are 'volunteer' which is code for 'retired and bored'. Maxine is the driver and she's about 80 years old. Maxine is a dead ringer for Virginia Fish, if you're familiar with Virginia Fish. Bobbie is in charge. She's only 70. Jane is along for the ride. Jane is 65. Jane is wearing a large crocheted stocking cap in blue and white. I'm pretty sure she knitted it herself. It has one of those large comical balls of yard hanging off her head like one of Santa's elves. Getting me in the ambulance is a major ordeal. The truck and the gurney is old. It's rickety and rinky-dink. It takes 3 sherrifs and the 3 ladies to figure it out, while almost dropping me twice because they can't make the gurney actually snap into place. It was like being on a scary carnival ride. Once I get in the ambulance I get to ride 90 miles with these ladies while Jane spends the entire time shoving oxygen on my face while asking me questions, if I try to answer them through the oxygen mask she tells me she can't understand, if I move to oxygen mask to answer her, she chastises me for removing the oxygen and shoves it back on my face.

Overheard in the ambulance on the way to the ER in Rexburg (the closest ER):

Jane (to me): Good thing you biffed it right there on the highway, we sure as hell would have hated to take the sled into the back country to haul you out! That just about kills us!

Jane (to noone in particular): Lord I am too damn fat for this coat!

Bobbie: Jane, don't forget you need to get on that CPR certification

Jane: I just did that last year sometime!

Bobbie: I know, but they've changed the requirements.

Jane: Well hell, what kind of new-fangled stuff are they going to expect us to learn now?!

Jane (to no one really): I am too damn fat to get back up in front, once I get back here in the back I am just stuck.

Jane (to Bobbie): What are we suppose to be checkin' on her? Her blood pressure or what?

Then I listed to 80 miles of Jane explaining to me her retirement from human services, how she ended up at the end of the world in Island Park Idaho, how her volunteer service with this ENT unit drives her husband nuts ("What the hell does he expect me to do? Sit around and wait on him all day? I didn't work all those years so that I could sit around a remote cabin fetching him his beer!"), her grandkids in Utah (who are teenagers and no longer care much whether she visits them or not), how the mormons made her pay double tuition for her ENT class at BYU Idaho because she's not mormon, how there are some good mormons including her neighbor Margaret, how God has called her to be an ENT and ever since she started listening to him things have been going really well, how her husband thinks she's a nutjob for talking things over with God all the time (But good Lord, I am up there at that cabin alone with him all day, who else am I suppose to talk to? at least God is a good LISTENER, which is more than I can say for that husband!)....

After an exhausting 45 minute drive that goes on like this, the ladies try to pull me out the back of the ambulance at the ER. Maxine the driver goes down flat on her butt on the incline while trying to pull me out and I am hanging out the door of the ambulance on the gurney like I'm getting ready to luge down the ER driveway. My dad who is there waiting for the ambulance has to help Maxine up - he asks her if she is okay and she replies with some disgust in her voice "I'm FINE, I'm a TOUGH OLD BIRD!".

So...no MRI in Rexburg. I had to come home without knowing exactly what I've messed up in there. Today, finally, I'll be able to see the doctor here in Phoenix.

But if you're going to have a mishap - it's a beautiful place to have one.

An Awesome Christmas

Christmas this year was beautiful. We were blessed materially, but more importantly, we were blessed to be able to all be together for the holiday, happy and healthy. I was more emotional this year than usual, maybe partially because I know Holden will be gone next Christmas, but also because I have felt an incredible sense of gratitude for what we have. I really hope that I am the type of person who lives in such a way as to turn my blessings into blessing for others - that because I am blessed in a myriad of ways, I can help others find great blessings too. Sometimes I feel guilty about being blessed so abundantly.

I'm excited for the rest of Christmas break to get started too - we are leaving for a vacation to Utah, Idaho and Montana tomorrow - we are attending a wedding in Utah, but I am most looking forward to snowmobiling in West Yellowstone.

I got pretty much every thing my heart could have desired this year, but the best thing was my new furniture in my back room. What do you think? I think it makes the room look a lot more polished. At the same time, they are incredibly comfortable though (and they were an AWESOME deal so if I grow to dislike them in a few years I won't feel too bad about replacing them).

I hope all of you have a great week!

Happy 20th Anniversary!

It was our 20th Anniversary yesterday, we celebrated with a trip to Sedona for the weekend. We stayed in the most wonderful place and had the best time! We ate a lot of wonderful food, did some shopping, but mostly just relaxed the whole time.

Our little mini-trip started on Saturday morning with brunch at La Grande Orange here in Phoenix - it's one of our favorite little bakeries/restaurants - (if it seems this vacation revolved around food a lot you would not be entirely wrong - I'm on a break from the diet until after the new year and Kirk was on a quick break too - Kirk has lost 40 pounds!...so yes, food seemed kind of more important than usual).

On the way to Sedona we spent the afternoon at Arcosanti. Arcosanti is hard to explain. It's kind of an architects utopian vision of the world. It was interesting to visit and see some of the sustainable world ideas they have there. Mainly it was a lot like visiting a 70s commune that time has left behind. But the ideas and the architectural concepts are fun to learn about.

The place we went to in Sedona is called Adobe Grande Villas. It's an awesome little resort with very large suites and all the services of an attentive bed & breakfast. They fix a 3 course breakfast every morning and when we checked in, we had warm bread baking in our room. Delicious! Our suite had two fireplaces, one next to the tub and one in the main room. The bed was the most heavenly thing I've ever slept in! It was the perfect get-away just before Christmas. I HIGHLY recommend Adobe Grande Villas if you are ever in Sedona!

The next day we visited Jerome for a few hours. Some of you have been there with us before. It's a lot of fun - an old mining town, now mostly full of artists, hippies and harleys (the best kind of towns in my opinion!). We also spent some time at the galleries in Sedona around Tlaquepaque and downtown. We didn't buy any artwork though. There is a local artist here in Phoenix who is letting us come into his studio tonight where we are hoping to pick up a new piece.

We ate ate some amazing restaurants in Sedona which were recommended by the staff at Adobe Grande. It was the perfect get-away for 3 days.

We had a really great anniversary! It's been a great 20 years!

Sometimes Bad TV is oh so very Delicious...

It's like brownies, really really good - possibly bad for you, but irresistible sometimes.

Most nights Kirk has total charge of the tv control. I give it over willingly as long as we can occasionally change the channel from "Deadliest Catch" or "Dirty Jobs" or "Survivor Man" to something I want to watch. Most of the time this results in Kirk quietly leaving the room to go paint something.

Kirk has been gone all week and I wait until my kids are in bed around 9 pm to start my really bad tv watching catch-up on the DVR. This year the following programs have made their way onto my "so bad it's good" tv list.


I first noticed "Blush" when Joel McHale started goofing on it on Talk Soup. It's ridiculously watchable. Is that Maxi Dude for real? Probably not, but it makes good television. I like the imagine I live in a world where people dress up as Mary Poppins on Crack for fun. It could be scripted reality parody for all I know, but it's still good entertainment.








Oh Rachel Zoe. How I thought I was going to love to hate you. But it's bananas because I love you for reals. So happy there's going to be a season 2.



















Rumor has it Jeff Lewis is coming back for a season 3 of "Flipping Out". I really really hope this is true. I've been in Jeff withdrawals since early fall. Hire me Jeff. I already worked for someone like you before so I'm totally used to the abuse and I'm pretty good at it. See to me someone like you is just a really true to life psychology text come to life, and that's nothing but awesome everyday of the week.




You know I tried to watch those new york housewives but I just didn't get into it. I don't know. It just didn't have the silicone panache of it's California sister. But Atlanta? Oh honey, we've hit the jack-pot here. In your McMansions and your gawdy excess we see the roots of your trailer-park trashiness and it's purely lovely to watch (yes blondie, I'm talking to you).




The original housewifery decadence. Always delivers.










This show is silly and I somehow cannot buy the authenticity of it at all. Even though I know it really is the editor of Elle and that they are giving away actual prizes like America's Next Top Model...somehow I just can't tak you seriously? THESE are the best we can do for fashion interns? Please. Where do I sign up?