On Becoming a Basketball Fan

A little over two years ago, Ben and I got free tickets to a Utah Jazz game. I had an image in my mind of what basketball fans looked like and I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. I was convinced I needed to wear some type of sports attire and running shoes to the game, but after scouring my closet, I came out empty-handed.

I settled for a t-shirt, jeans, and some Chuck Taylors, and we went to the game. That’s when I found out that I was completely wrong about basketball fans. Not only did I fit in just fine, but I ran into my friend Nels at the game.

Nels is the guy who packed his guitar and Tevas and moved to an organic farm in Costa Rica one year. You know the type, right? Everybody's got a hippie friend. If Nels could watch basketball, I certainly could.

Last night Ben and I got free tickets to a Jazz game again, and for the first time in over two years, I ran into Nels again.

Coincidence? I think not. I had the image of a basketball fan all wrong.

You Know You're a Stay-at-Home Mom If...

Your only news source is the gossip you hear while out to lunch with friends, and when you find out that the vice president of the United States is in town, your only concern is that the freeway will be closed from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Tagged by Kat

This is me:


A) Four jobs I have had in my life :
1. Receptionist at a Jewish temple
2. Horse corral cleaner
3. Editor
4. Musician (What? I really have been paid for it. Like twice.)

B) Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. So I Married an Axe Murderer
2. Raising Arizona
3. Airplane
4. Signing Time!

C) Four places I have lived:
1. Southern California
2. Provo, UT
3. Saintes, France (Does 2 months count?)
4. Salt Lake City, UT

D) Four television shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. 30 Rock
3. Lost
4. AI—just kidding, I don’t. I just wanted to use the acronym because I only found out about it yesterday. I honestly thought there was a new TV show about artificial intelligence. Surprise—it’s just American Idol.

E) Four places I have gone on vacation:
1. Costa Rica
2. Caribbean
3. Scotland
4. Fallon, Nevada

F) Four websites I visit almost daily:
1. The Spanish word of the day website
2. HomestarRunner.com (for the Strong Bad e-mails)
3. UtahRealEstate.com (to look for a new house)
4. Rebecca’s friend Jordan’s blog (for the great ideas)

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Xtreme Veggie pizza from The Pie
2. Layered desserts with pudding
3. Sour strawberry belts
4. Liam’s cheeks

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. The beach
2. In bed, reading a book while Ben plays with my hair
3. Inside Liam’s head
4. Moscow, Russia (I’ve always wanted to see St. Basil’s Cathedral in real life.)

I) Four people who I tag:
1. Schmath
2. Tricia
3. Paige
4. Maggie O' the Irish

Cut and paste and then fill in your own info.

My Worst Enemies

I decided to do a little experiment and start counting the dandelions I pick every day.

Can you believe I found 1,426 dandelions in my own yard this week? Sure, I’ve only been picking the yellow flowers and not the whole plant. But still! Fourteen hundred of those stupid things! I’m sure there weren’t nearly that many last year, and we got new sod less than two years ago. At this rate, we’ll have only dandelions—no grass—next year.

Don't tell the suckers who end up buying our house from us, okay?

A Hard Day's Work

Sometimes King Liam gets tired of people bothering him with their tedious questions all day long.

Berried Delight

My all-time favorite dessert is the one with a layer of nutty crust, a layer of cream cheese mixture, a layer of vanilla pudding, a big, fat layer of chocolate pudding, and a layer of Cool Whip. You know the one, right? I think everybody makes it, but nobody calls it the same thing: Four Layer Dessert, Five Layer Surprise, Clouds Over Pudding, Heavenly Chocolate Delight, etc. It looks like this:


Up until last weekend, I thought nothing would ever come close to comparing with my layered love affair. But then I decided to try out a recipe called Berried Delight. It had a layer of graham cracker crust, a layer of cream cheese mixture, a layer of strawberries, a layer of vanilla pudding, and a layer of Cool Whip. It was so good, I would even say it tied for first place with its chocolaty cousin on my list of favorite desserts. If you're into layers and pudding, like I apparently am, you should definitely try this out:

1½-Year-Olds Are Totally Rad

I know it’s only been a few months since I was shouting from the rooftops about how great one-year-olds are, but I’ve realized in those short months that my new favorite age is 1½.

Liam can climb up and down the stairs by himself now, which means he is independent and free to roam the entire house on his own. He doesn’t open doors on his own yet, though, so I can still trap him upstairs or downstairs whenever I want. I’m still the boss.

He can keep himself occupied just wandering from room to room, making my job as entertainer more of a part-time hobby.

He eats regular food now, and he even likes to hold the spoon and feed himself. Even less work for me.

He’s still soft and sweet-smelling and he still sleeps a ton, so I haven’t had to give up my favorite baby characteristics to turn him into a toddler. I just get the entire package now.

Also, he talks. He doesn’t just sign milk and cracker anymore, he actually says them. Plus, from what I can gather he’s fluent in some alien language, which he uses to communicate with extraterrestrial beings through his baby monitor.



Genius? I think so. One and a half is where it’s at.

New Age Caller ID

Ben and I rented The Holiday last night, and I’m just wondering why Jude Law’s teeny tiny daughters each had their own cell phones, or possibly their own phone lines. How else would "Sophie" and "Olivia" show up on his caller ID? Does England have some kind of new technology where you can enter a different caller ID name every time you make a phone call? If so, I can’t wait for that technology to cross the Atlantic. I would enter “Amanda Hugandkiss” every time I called someone.

The Toilet Fascination Begins

Things I have found in the toilet in the past three days:

• Pencil sharpener
• Keychain
• Orange juice pitcher
• Eye shadow (2)
• Eyeliner
• Pen caps (2)
• Balls (2)

Dandelion Duty

This week dandelions have been popping up in our yard, so Liam and I have been picking them out of the lawn every day. I wanted to show Liam that although it’s okay to pick dandelions, it’s not okay to pick real flowers, so each time we came across a dandelion I would point to it and say, “Yuck!” before I pulled it out of the ground.

Yesterday was day three of Project Dandelion Removal, and I thought Liam was ready to pick his own dandelion. Enough standing by the wayside, it was time for him to get to work. I didn’t carry him in my womb for nine months for nothing.

I picked the first two weeds to remind him of the process, and then I stood him next to his very own dandelion and asked him to pull it out. He started out so well, by pointing at the yellow flower and exclaiming, “Yuck!” But then he reached down and pulled up two blades of grass from an area five inches away from the dandelion, handing them to me proudly.

I’m afraid my training was all in vain.

That's My Boy

Since Ben's not a huge fan of candy and Liam's not old enough to appreciate the Easter bunny, I decided to just order my favorite candy from the Sweet Factory for Easter this year.

Liam's innocent little tastebuds didn't appreciate the first sour bite, but by the end of the night he was a huge fan.

Genius

My mom is here visiting this week, and she's teaching me all kinds of cool mothering skills. Just yesterday she tricked Liam into liking applesauce. How, you ask? Simple. She told him it was ice cream. Now he can't get enough of it.

My Husband the Stickler

Last night Ben told me, "I didn't do so hot on my home teaching last month. I only visited 18 of my 20 families."