Arlington Highland Games/ Scottish Festival

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to the Highland games/Scottish festival here. Other than the fact that it was 103*, it was quite fun. Whoever schedules the games really needs to move it to March or October!!! It would be better suited for us whities. Seriously, not 10 minutes after getting out of our nicely air conditioned vehicle and slathering our bodies with 70 spf sun screen, we had a woman offer us some sun screen for the boys since they were already so flushed!!

We tried to keep them pumped full of liquid, and we applied a second coat of sun screen about half way through the day. After this horribly mottled face picture, I took walt to the bathroom and wet a paper towel to blot him down. The pic. of Dean with the blue ice was at the very end of the day. He fished around in the lunch bag and pulled it out to put on his belly!

We enjoyed the children's tent (where Dean made a necklace), the music tents, a long awaited traditional scottish meat pie, a fried mars bar (Matt had that while I went to the car to get more water and had the audacity not to save any!), Irn-bru, a delicious burger and slinky fries, and it was fun watching the actual games. We were unfortunately at the harp tent when a hammer was thrown over the fence and landed in someone's windshield!! Now that's not something you see every day. I actually heard her on the phone crying in the bathroom when I was changing Walt. Poor girl.

We were all quite worn out by the end! It was a good day.

The Phaaaaaantom of the Opera is There

I can't believe I haven't blogged this yet!

Last Thursday night my friend Kirstin K. and I went to our first professional production, Phantom. This is the last year that The Phantom of the Opera will be performed on the road and I decided I really wanted to see it. I was so happy when Kirstin said she wanted to go too. We had a great time together. Neither of us knew what to expect really, but we were both quite excited. We got the second to cheapest seats, so we were way up high in the balcony, but overall it wasn't too bad.

The worst part of it was the spotlight that was RIGHT behind us. Luckily that was only used a handful of times because it was quite bright and distracting. The people in front of us kept leaning forward, fanning themselves (and oh did her perfume stink), and passing their "opera glasses", but the singing!

Oh the singing! And the theatrics! And the live Orchestra!

It was so unlike anything I've ever experienced. I mean, sure, I've performed a lot of those songs, and I've seen plays and what not, but this was amazing! It was so different from watching a movie. I almost felt like I'd stepped back in time. I imagined what it would be like when theater was the main form of entertainment. I think I would have really enjoyed that.

I got my taste and I want more. I'm now looking to book Wicked tickets. If next year has a good line up, I may just get season tickets for cheap seats at least.

Guilty as charged

Ok. I wasn't actually charged. I just know I'm guilty of having perfectly good things to blog about and choosing to do different things all together. So, this post is merely to tell myself that life is still moving forward even if I'm not religiously blogging about it. I know, catch up posts are never as good as "in the moment" posts. Too much stuff. Too disjointed. Whatever though.

We had been renting out an electric piano we are keeping for my in-law's and it was returned to us last week. After a year of renting they decided they needed to make a commitment and buy something if their son was going to continue. We pushed down our dresser and set it up in our bedroom so I can have something quiet enough to practice on when Dean is sleeping. It is not a piano, nor does it feel like a piano despite the pedals and weighted keys, but does allow me to practice when I could not otherwise. I am grateful to have it back. I don't know if we'll have room for it when I set the baby up in there, but maybe, just maybe, I will be able to pull something together for my spring recital. It is the first time I'm attempting to learn and perform an entirely new to me piece for a solo performance since...well, I guess since the Miss Navajo County pageant way back in 1999. Brahms' Hungarian Dance no. 5. The song is not extremely difficult except that it has a HUGE left hand range that jumps back and forth with chords that make my hand feel too little. I just have to work on my hand strength and extension and musicality a bit. We'll see if I can pull it together in a month...

It has been hot and oppressively humid (my mom said it was 85% humidity or something) here this week, and I have not liked it one bit. I have gone to bed feeling very sticky almost every night this week. Yesterday the heat broke, we had our windows open and fans blowing, and our temperature in the house was a nice 71*. So much nicer. The temp. started to rise again today, so when it really heats up again this week, I'll have to break out sprinklers or go to a sprinkler park or something. I wish I wasn't so paranoid of playing in our big yard. Darned fire ants. It will be quite nice when the pool opens again on May 23rd. I have a feeling many of our mornings will be spent there instead of the park.

Dean's obsession with the park has been rekindled. He begs every day to go, and regardless of how long we stay, he always wants "mo bahk" or "mo bahp"(more park). He's getting very good at climbing the fake rock wall up to the slides by himself. He won't slide by himself, so if I slide down with him, I am very careful to keep his feet inside mine so we don't hurt his foot again.

I got a whole slew of books to read from my friend Laura. I'm nearly finished with Emily Climbs, and I just got it on Thursday night.

I attempted to work on my unfinished skirt on Friday. I made a little progress, but as I was trying to gather the bottom ruffle, the basting stitches busted so I will have to figure out a different method to gather it. It's just way too much ruffle to pull through the thread I have.

Our garden's starting to look like a garden with everything popping up. We've had tons of rain this week, so that's been helpful. I really hope it does well this year since we got it planted much earlier than the last two years. We have planted:

• 1/2 row watermelons (though I don't have much hope for them)
• 1/2 row cantaloupe
• full row green beans
• pickler and straight eight cucumbers
• 4 tomato plants (I had only planned on two. The first two I got looked like they froze since we had a freakish cold wave in April. I pulled them up and left them on the side of the garden with their root ball still attached. My friend Erin noticed that they were alive and growing on Friday! So I replanted them along side the two replacement plants.)
  
• 2 bell pepper plants
• 1 jalapeno plant
• 1/2 row of yellow squash
• 1/2 row of zucchini
• 3 planter boxes with strawberry plants (I think we have about 7 plants that made it through the cold spell)
  

I had my 28 week check up on Friday and things are looking on track as usual. Gained another 5 lbs. this month, so I'm now up to 147 with a total weight gain to date of 16 lbs. I think by this point I'd gained about 20 with Dean and continued to gain about a lb. a week thereafter. We'll see how this one compares. It was the 1 hour glucose visit, so I had Matt work from home so he could stay with Dean. I can't imagine trying to entertain him for over an hour at my doctor's office. It was a pleasant hour by myself and I spent most of it reading. I'm leaning toward Monday July 27th for my c-section. Four days before Matt's birthday. One week before the due date. We're having a hard time coming up with names we both like.

Matt and I went on our anniversary date last night. Nothing too fancy. Dinner and a movie. (Our annual Olive Garden visit- purely for the salad dressing on my end since I'm not terribly impressed with their entrees, but Matt likes their food better than I do- and X-men: Wolverine.) It's something we never really do, so that was nice. The movie was good and entertaining. I really do like that Dean goes to bed early enough that we could put him down before we left. Nice to not have to mess with a sitter trying to do it. The girl who baby sat for us was our 12 year old neighbor (or R.S. Pres's daughter) and she did it for free! The missionaries challenged their family to do service for 3 people in our neighborhood, so she chose this as one of her opportunities. Cool.

So, all-in-all it was a good week. It went by quickly and it was nice to have a low-key week after our medical craziness last week. However, Matt has had a rash for the last 3 days, and the doctor thinks he's allergic to the antibiotics (sulfa).

The end.

Can't...stop...(just yet at least)

I have always gone through cycles of enjoyment and fulfillment. I'll hit something with all my energy and then in weeks, months or years I'll get bored and feel the need to conquor/learn something else. When I feel sufficient time has passed, I'll often return to my old hobbies and start cycles all over.

Last year scrapping was one of my hobbies. Then I splurged and bought lots of paper and shortly after I lost interest and switched to sewing. I've been sewing quite a bit (for one who had no previous knowledge of sewing) since Christmas. Books, bags, wrap blankets, clothing, etc. Recently I splurged on materials for skirts I wanted to make. I got to the last one, nearly finished, and have felt unmotivated the past few weeks to complete it. I'm a little worried I won't find enough motivation to finish it in time to wear it this pregnancy!!!

All I've wanted to do recently is read. Matt savors his books and reads only a little every night to stretch them out. Most of my life I've devoured books, finishing them in a day or two, regardless of length, if I got caught up in them. I have tried to switch to Matt's system after having Dean since it's not really practical to read all day long with a toddler running around needing attention. I did really well stretching out the Anne of Green Gables series. Then this week I read Fablehaven in 2 days (the first book, the rest were all checked out) and Emily of New Moon in about 3 days I think. I couldn't put them down in my "spare moments" (i.e. Dean's naps and evenings after dinner was cooked and at least mostly cleaned up). TV and the computer haven't held much interest for me. Much of the housework suffered because of it. Not horribly. Just enough for me to notice really.

I just finished Emily of New Moon. Maybe I can finally convince myself to finish that skirt that's been haunting my sewing table.

Or maybe I'll just go check out the other books in the two series tomorrow (if they're in) and continue to take a little break from life. Sometimes little breaks are nice. Even if they're not productive.

Ode to Anne (with an "e")

Well, I've never read the whole Anne of Green Gables series, so I thought it was about time. I read the first two books and went back to the library to check out the third. To my dismay that they do not have the third book!!! Ack! So, if anyone in my area has the series and would let me borrow them, I'd appreciate it.

I also wanted to say that I now think of "kindred spirits" all the time and how grateful I am for them. It's always fun to find an unexpected kindred spirit. I love being able to attend Relief Society and enrichment activities because it offers the opportunity to find friends you'd never have come in contact with otherwise. (We had a really fun enrichment and I got to know some sisters I didn't really know.)

So, thank you Anne for reminding me how great people are.

Crazy 8's

8 TV shows I watch
Some of these we actually watch on Matt's computer on the weekends in stead of movies...
The Reaper
Burn Notice
Battlestar Galactica (waiting for the end of the final season, so this won't be on the list much longer)
Are you smarter than a 5th grader
Heroes
The Office
Pushing Daisies
Iron Chef America (Occasionally)

8 Favorite Restaurants
Sadly, most of our favorite restaurants are not located anywhere near us...
Bajio Grill (Good cheap Mexican food)-UT
Bombay House (Indian)-UT
Cafe Rio (Only ever eaten their grilled chicken salad..love it with the tomatillo dressing)- UT
Dumpling House in Chinatown- NYC (If you ever go, their veggie stuffed sesame pancake sandwiches are just about the most scrumptious food ever...)
Taco Bell if we go the fast food route
Jimmy Johns
Which wich
(Verona Italian?) The Italian Place inside Stay's Furniture in the next town over has BY FAR the best pizza we've eaten in TX.

8 things that happened yesterday
Woke up to Dean crying at 5. Didn't go in until 6:30.
Taught Relief Society The Great Plan of Salvation. (It was one of my favorite lessons yet.)
Made Chicken Taco Soup and Brownies
Made dough for Lavash Bread to go with our dinner tonight
Played Rockband with Matt
Took a walk around the neighborhood with Dean
Watched an episode of The Reaper with Matt
Talked with my mom on the phone

8 things I look forward to
The holiday season
Matt's parents' visit for Dean's birthday
Evenings once Dean's asleep
Fridays since I have no piano lessons
Possibly going to Scotland
Cooler and less humid weather
Dean walking and talking
Hearing from friends and family

8 things I love about fall
Sugar pumpkins for baking yummy things and freezing the puree for later baking if I have extra
Making Pies and other holiday food
Jackets, Sweaters, and Pants
Snuggling up under blankets and reading
Holiday crafts and decorations
Cooler weather
Halloween costumes and pumpkin carving
Leaves changing colors, though that doesn't really happen here...

8 things on my wish list
New furniture
New TV
New flooring (carpeting, wood, tile)
A house big enough to have a piano room separate from the living room
A good swing set or pool for our big backyard
A pedicure
A storage shed
Time and/or a place to practice the piano without the fear of waking Dean up

Like always, I don't tag anyone else. So, feel free to do it if you need something to blog about!

Out for the Olympics

I tell you what, the TV has never been on so much as it has been the past week (hence my non-blog updates...good for my crafting though since that's what I've been doing during my 4-5 hours stretches in the evening while watching swimming and other such events). I truly love the Olympics. Matt, on the other hand, does not. (He thinks that one competitor from every country should compete in all individual events and see who turns out on top. Sure it might take a year or more, but it would sure be interesting to watch.) I like that it is positive, that you see people who have worked hard and overcome adversity, and that it shows that people can achieve just about anything they set out to achieve. I sometimes wonder how in the world people keep breaking world or olympic records! It seems at some point it will just be beyond human capability to get faster or stronger or whatever.

In 2001 I was living in China while they were bidding for the Olympics. It was fun to see Chinese kids dress up in world clothing, do world dances, and show everyone China's commitment to opening doors that had been closed for a long time. I remember hoping they'd get the bid because of the impact it would have on the rising generation's global perspective. I told myself that if I was in a position to return to China in 2008 that I would. Well, I wasn't and I didn't so the next best thing is to get out old journals, photos and watch the Olympics at home.

Oh, and don't they know how to put on a good show?

Anyway, I hear Dean waking up from his nap.

Last time I swear!

Blah, blah, blah blah. I know I've posted too much about SYTYCD this season, but I promise this is the last post (this season at least) since it was the finale tonight!

Favorite dances: The boys' Russian dance. Smokin' hot, I say. I also really liked Katee and Twitch's Foxtrot.

I thought it was a little over the top to require the jive AT THE END of the FINALE (and then it's no wonder Courtney didn't have enough oomf to get that one over the head lift in the final number, good heck)!!, but I guess like Nigel said, "Nobody gives a damn if you're tired. They paid their money and they want a good show." (Or something like that.)

Last week I said I wanted Joshua to win. I kept going back and forth all night between Joshua and Twitch. I voted for Joshua, and then I couldn't stop myself and I voted for Twitch too!

I kinda feel for Katee, because I think she danced almost flawlessly on every dance the whole season, but I just can't see her beating out both boys. They're just too good and are the underdogs. I won't lie, I really want to see an untrained (yet phenomenal dancer) win. Plus they have really great personalities. They're both confident, strong, humble, nice, funny, not cocky etc. I really think Benji's personality propelled him to the win his year, and they make me think of him.

I do think that Courtney was out danced by all tonight, though I've loved her the whole season.

I think if we're to consider the whole season and not just tonight's performance, Joshua and Katee are the strongest of the four.

Who's going to win??? I actually think it will be Joshua, but it really could be Joshua, Twitch or Katee. They're all extreeeeemly close in my opinion. This is the closest competition yet I think.

The end.

Movie Knight

This week has been rough with Dean being sick. So tonight I decided it was the perfect time to take a little break out for myself and go to a movie. I had a gift pass to use, and I chose to see The Dark Knight.

I loved it. Did I love it as much as the first? Ummm...it was very different from the first. I mean, how can you top the cool Ninjas in the first movie? I think I liked Batman Begins slightly better, but this was still quite good. Two thumbs up from me.

I was caught off guard to have Rachel played by Maggie Gyllenhaal rather than Katie Holmes Cruise. I guess I haven't watched the previews closely. Oh, and Randa, I'm sure you've heard it over and over, but holy crap you look like Maggie. I thought that the last time I saw her in a movie, and I thought that tonight.

And for any who refuse to see the Batman movies because the original Batman movies were kind of lame, these really are great. Give it a chance...

Finally, a whole show worth watching (SYTYCD)

This was actually the first night that I thought the entire SYTYCD show was up to par with past seasons. All of the dances were stellar, and all of the dancers were hittin' it right. While I was quite angry that Mark made it through, he did much better than I thought he would. He should never be allowed to do a solo again (ack, leave your shirt on please!), though, so I truly hope he goes home tomorrow. I will be a little sick if he makes it to the finale.

I think that Joshua should win it all. He was the only one that REALLY impressed me in both his dances AND the solo. But if a girl wins, I hope it's Chelsie. I underestimated her in the beginning, but I've changed my tune. But really, at this point, it's anyone's game (except Mark...*shiver* who the heck is voting for him???).

The top 10 (SYTYCD)

It was interesting to see the dancers split up this week. A lot of them seemed extremely lost and vulnerable.

Least favorite dancers: Mark and Kherrington. They had two sucky dances though (are you kidding me??? the 2 step on this show???), so I feel for them. They had zero chemistry together too.

Favorite couples: Joshua and Courtney (I LOVED the first dance of the night and I thought Courtney did better than the judges gave her credit for) and Gev and Chelsea. I know that Will and Katee should be because they really did dance well, but for some reason I didn't want to vote for them in the end.

Favorite solos: Joshua and Gev. They both really nailed it in my opinion.

Least favorite solo: Mark. Creeped me out a bit.

As for Comfort and Twitch, I thought they did well, but they didn't stand out for me.

Wii finally found one

It's ridiculous how difficult it is to obtain a Nintendo Wii. I've been calling about 10 stores every day for the past week checking to see if any of them have it. Usually the answer is a plain "no and we don't know when we'll get any". Yesterday one guy said they got some in at 10 AM and were sold out by noon (I was calling at 12:30 pm). Today I finally found one! It was unfortunately bundled with Wii play and a nunchuck, so it ended up being about $90 more than the basic package, but we got it nonetheless. We'd probably have gotten the nunchuck eventually and the other controller, so we're okay with the unfortunate bundle package and are going to keep it. They didn't even set them out on the shelves. They just kept it behind the counter and waited for people to ask for it.

We've wanted one for awhile since I've heard such rave reviews from gamers and non-gamers alike, but we decided to bite the bullet so we could take it to our family reunion this weekend. Now we just have to find a rockband bundle and we'll be all set.

Like a chicken with its head cut off

I've been running around like crazy this past week. Well, not really running around. Most of the action has taken place in my kitchen. I hosted a stamping party for my friend Erin last night so I was baking up a storm in preparation for it.

(Her stamps are ready and waiting for you to purchase them! Click here if you're interested in purchasing or browsing the pure awesomeness of her acrylic stamps.)

I rarely host parties for various reasons. Two reasons are that I tend to over plan or under plan. Sometimes I will go all out for a party and end up with way too much stuff. Then I try and remedy that and the next party I end up with not enough and feeling like a bad hostess. This time I totally did WAY more than I needed to.

I had seen some fun things on a couple of food blogs recently that I wanted to try out. I ended up making Bakerella's Easy Cupcake Bites and The Daring Bakers' Challenge Cheesecake Pops. I also made some homemade turtles.

I started the cheesecake on Wednesday, made it into the "pops" on Thursday and dipped them. I made the cake for the cupcake bites that night as well. Amidst all of this, I somehow pulled myself together to make some focaccia bread and salad for one of my friends who's had a run of bad medical luck in her family. Around midnight I started making the little turtles. By the time I finished kitchen clean up on Thursday it was really 1 AM on Friday.

Friday I didn't have any piano students, so that left me a little more time to finish my cupcake bites. I didn't use the red velvet cake like Bakerella. I used a butter pecan cake and mixed it with an almond flavored frosting. I think this made the cupcakes a bit too sweet. Matt said they were good, but I felt like I was eating a straight spoonful of almond flavored sugar. (I am a little sensitive to sweet treats though. I get sugared out very quickly.) After dipping it in the melting chocolate they looked cute enough, but I wasn't sure if they were worth all the effort.

I wasn't sure how the cheesecake pops would hold up at the party. I displayed them standing up in a flower foam like a little bouquet. It looked cute, but once they got to room temperature, Some of the cheesecake ended sliding right down the stick. Ah well. Live and learn.

I almost think it would have been better to combine the two. Make a cheesecake bite rather than the cupcake.

I'll post recipes on my blog and some photos of the process. I also had a few issues with both the cheesecake and the cupcake bites, so I'll tell you how to remedy those on my recipe blog soon. Here are a few pictures of my end results.

Why I don't watch news anymore

I seriously never watch the news. I rarely read about news stories. The majority of my world news comes from two sources: Leno and Matt. A little pathetic, I know.

Here is why:

1. I don't want to hear about the mom murdering her babies. I just don't.
   
2. I don't care about what celebrity is doing something scandalous. Is this really news?
3. I'm a little sick about hearing global warming talked to death. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Be kind to the earth. I agree.
   
4. I'm tired of hearing about all the shootings and robberies and child molestation.
5. I honestly don't have much faith in either Presidential candidate and I don't believe half of what either of them says. Even if they are sincere in their beliefs, it seems like a lot of lip service for stuff they don't really have control over as president anyway.
   

...You Can Dance

Overall it was a hard night to pick. It's always like that when there are 2 dances, though. I don't know if there was 1 couple that I just loved both dances. I really liked one of the two dances for each couple. So, I actually voted 3 times.

Ok. Ok. I take it back! Chelsie H. is good enough for the finals. Even if she looks super young. She did dance really well, and Mark wasn't so bad himself.

I liked Thayne and Comfort better than I did with their old partners. I can't remember their first dance, though, so that's a bad sign...

I think Twitch is one of the best storytellers and Kherrington is right up there with him. They have a really, really good partnership. Of all of the dancers, their average for the two dances was the best for me. They were one of the couples I voted for.

I think Jessica's seriously holding their partnership back, but I did feel sorry for her when the judges said that for the billionth time and she was about to cry. She did better on their second dance than any other dance I've seen her do. What's up with the negligees and half dressed men though? I didn't like feeling like I was intruding on bedroom private moments...

I imagine that if Kourtney and Matt are in the bottom 3 they'll boot Matt. Not sure about Kourtney (depends on the other girls in the bottom...if Jessica's there, I'd boot her...), but I wouldn't be surprised. I did like their mambo a lot more than the judges gave them credit for, though.

I was a little shocked that Gev seemed so "soft" on the hip hop routine (that was hip hop, right?). He just didn't seem very confident in himself on that oddly enough. The whole time on that dance I thought she out danced him. HOWEVER, I thought that he was really great in the Broadway. I couldn't stop watching him.

I thought Katee and Joshua were both really good. I think they danced well. I did not like her hair in the first dance though.

I think the competition between the girls is really tight honestly. I'm still seeing Will, Twitch, and Joshua at the top for the boys though. I guess we'll see how good everyone is at adapting when they mix up the partnerships.

The hard-hearted harbinger of haggis

Since I alluded to So I Married an Axe Murderer in my last post, I thought I might as well carry on the theme.

I ate haggis. Matt wanted to try it since he'd never had it; I just had to try it as well so I could say "I ate haggis." It wasn't as disgusting as I envisioned.
Today I also ate Scottish Meat Pies, deep fried Mars bars, and shortbread. (Fried Mars bars really are big in Scotland.) The Mars bars were probably the best of the "food". Way better than normal Mars bars. The meat pies were good, but OH SO PRICEY! (As was everything else we bought at the Scottish Games today.) Man you have to pay through the nose for limited-time specialty items.
Dean was so good the whole day! He even fell asleep while we were listening to a Scottish rock band playing really loudly. He must have been reeeeaaaally tired.

We browsed the tents, listened to good Scottish music (though we sadly missed the bag pipe competition since it was in the evening), sat through a presentation on Scottish castles, and watched a few games. And we can't forget the aforementioned food. We were disappointed that they didn't have any cool imported candies like they do at other Scottish Game venues.

I like the night life,

I like to watch movies. (You thought I was going to say "I like to boogie", didn't you? Well, I do, but I doubt I'd EVER be able to talk Matt into that again...)

Matt and I were supposed to go to a movie for my birthday back in April, but that fell through because show times were horrible for the night we had a babysitter. That night we just ended up going out to dinner. Yummy but a little boring.

Tonight went much better in the way of entertainment.

Remember when I arranged the piece of music for the Young Women for camp? Well, they were super nice, and as a thank you they gave us a free night out. They got us movie tickets, a gift certificate to a good restaurant, and free babysitting! We actually opted to take the movie and babysitting tonight and just do the food later. Everything worked out nicely. Dean went to bed when he was supposed to (and slept the whole time). (Surprisingly since it was the worst day ever for napping!!) Our babysitter was awesome (one of my piano moms)!

We saw Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, AND THE MOVIE WAS GREAT!!!! I seriously loved it. They really couldn't have casted the movie better. The girls were perfect. I would have TOTALLY had a crush on both the boys (Edmund and Peter. The Prince was ok, but not my type.) if I was a teenager again. The battle scenes were well done. The humor was funny. I need to read the books again. What a great thank you gift!

Potter

I received the 7 book boxed set of Harry Potter today! I pre-ordered it way back when the 7th book first came out, but it didn't actually get released in boxed set form until October 16th. I'm excited to read books 1-7 straight. I think I'll get more of the fine details like that than my previous readings. I devoured a book in a day or 2, and then had to wait a 1-2 years until the next one came out. I generally didn't re-read the books before I jumped into the next one.

Also, Design Mom (someone I don't know, but I happened across her blog which is full of very visually stimulating posts as well as lots of cool giveaways) went to a reading at Carnegie Hall by J.K. Rowling. There was a Q&A on the books afterward that she reported on (follow that link). I found some of her answers to be unexpected and interesting. There are spoilers, so if you have somehow made it thus far without hearing what happens and you don't want anything ruined, don't visit that link.

Pirate Movies

Rated Arrrr.

I can't tell you how often I see trailers for movies that are rated R that seem like very entertaining and enticing movies. Sometimes I think, "I bet it's not that bad..." and want to go anyway.

But when I visit the site kids-in-mind.com and read in detail why those movies got the ratings they did, 9 time out of 10 I am reminded why I don't want to watch them. 175 F words and derivatives? Are you kidding me? That's more swearing in 2 hours than I normally hear in a year. Two years even. No thanks.

I have to admit that there are times I read the rating review and think "I swear I've seen some PG and PG-13 movies with worse content than this." And I'm sure I'm right. Movie people try and draw in specific crowds with the rating.

It's frustrating because there are some movies I'm sure are totally entertaining and would do just as well or better at the box office WITHOUT all the stuff giving it the R rating. Why, why didn't they just leave that out and increase their possible viewer base with the PG-13 rating?

So I just wait and hope eventually they come out TV edited one day (though by the time that actually happens I've forgotten all about the fact that I wanted to see them in the first place).

The Follow up and other short stories

Acceptance has come
Last week I was freaking out at the idea of being called into Primary again. This week was a good kick off, however. It was fun. The Jr. and Sr. Primary both meet together for the summer during Sharing Time, so I get to go to all but 10 min. of Sunday School. And because singing time is first, I get to go to the last 25 min. or so of Relief Society!

The kids were great! Plus, the fact that our primary is small enough to fit into the Primary room makes a huge difference too. The smaller space was so much more conducive to good flow and fun games than the chapel was. Also, I didn't feel bad when the kids got a little noisy like I did in the chapel. I've been given tons of good ideas and resources, so I am feeling much better about it all.

The End
My temporary tax clerk job has come to an end. I stayed 4 months longer than most and 2 months longer than any temp has ever stayed. The work had really slowed down to the point that I was scraping to find things to keep me occupied the last few hours of the day. It was sad because I love the people I worked with, and it would have been nice to keep my money flow coming while I can, but it was time.

I'm currently trying to make lists of things I need/should do while I have time before the baby is here. I'm thinking I ought to get started on some family history and get into a really good daily routine that includes set times for exercise, scriptures, cleaning, blogging (yes I'll try and blog more regularly!), meal planning and prep, piano practice, quilting/scrapbooking etc. I also need to figure out things like food storage and 72 hour kits. With all the rain and flooding in nearby towns, it would be prudent to get that 72 hour kit going.

I wish it wasn't bad to paint while pregnant. Our whole house (besides the nursery) could really use paint. I guess even if I could paint, it would be hard to talk Matt into any color other than white. He likes the stark, clean, sterile look. I don't particularly care for super dark or bold colors, but a little contrast and color would be nice.

Fabulous Fourth
Our 4th of July turned out really well. We had the first totally rain free day in weeks, but it was still a little cloudy and didn't break the 80's. Perfect summer weather in my opinion. I signed up to have the missionaries over for dinner, and we ended up getting two sets! They did give me warning the night before, so that was good. Apparently we have a set of traveling missionaries that are in a different city every day helping the missionaries and doing exchanges. It was quite enjoyable to cook for more than the two of us. Hamburgers, jalapeño and cheddar sausages, potato salad, green salad, and cherries. And for dessert, the candy grab bag. In the words of one of our elders, "this is WAY better than brownies!" They all were really easy to visit with and they seemed like great missionaries.

Fireworks. Nothing can top fireworks on the beach near Matt's house, but this year gave us hope for good pyro times in the future. Fireworks were illegal here in McKinney (not because they're a fire hazard, but because they are "a public nuisance"). We weren't even allowed cat poppers or any sort of noise makers or fireworks within 5000 feet of city limits! The penalty here was a $2000 fine. However, there were firework stands in towns 15 min. away, and we were able to light them in county territory. Finding county territory that wasn't considered to be within any city's limits proved to be a little difficult. We drove for about an hour and ended up asking a fireman that was giving warnings to people lighting fireworks. We only spent $12 on fireworks, but we had 3 packages of Roman candles, small mortars, and artillery shells. Next year we'll probably get bigger mortars because they were so cool. It was exciting.

Garden
It's doing quite well. All except the tomatoes. They don't like all the rain and minimal sunshine we've had the past few weeks. We have eaten one radish, we have 4 bell peppers close to picking size, and we have a little zucchini growing. Other plants are coming right along, and we'll hopefully have a good productive season. I am glad we put in the fence because rabbits are a plenty in our yard. I sometimes catch them sitting there, staring at our garden from the outside. Haha wascally wabbits!


I think I'm pregnant
My belly grows day by day. I look pregnant. I can't see my feet if I'm just looking down. I will post pictures later because Matt is occupied and can't take any at the moment. I have outgrown all but one pair of pre-preg. pants, one shirt, and my two pairs of shorts. I have come to despise panel pants, and I have decided the pants with the wide stretchy band that sit below the belly are far more comfortable for me. Otherwise it's just too much fabric making my belly super hot(especially since I wear a camisole or tank under pretty much every shirt I own.

I now have to go jolking rather than jogging. I will do a light jog for 1-2 blocks and walk 1-2 blocks. I don't like to just walk because I find my mind wanders far too easily and I mosey rather than get a good brisk walk.

A couple of nights woke up with major cramps in my calves. I've found that yoga stretches help relieve them well enough. Same with my rib cage aching.

Note to self: add more calcium to your diet.

And I think the baby is a little swimmer. I'm pretty sure he's been swimming to one end, doing a flip turn, and swimming back again. Just kidding. He is moving A LOT though. I can sit there and watch my belly move all over. I can't imagine what it will be like when he's bigger and it's really crowded in there!

Well, I guess that should be it for now! I need to leave SOME things for future blog posts this week. I promise I'll try to blog more frequently.