Was That A Compliment?

Well it finally happened. I thought I had another 10 years, at least, before I heard what I heard, but I guess my time's up. What was said? Well, it went something like this...."Oh my gosh, how many kids do you have?" (this coming from a skinny, totally hot, young 20-something mother of 1) I happily reply, "4 kids, the two youngest are twins." (I always add that last part because I feel like I have bragging rights to the fact that I had 2 at once inside of me, sqeezed them both out and lived to tell about it.) Here comes the whole reason for this post, her response: "Wow, I hope I look like you when I'm your age and have had a few more kids."

I didn't know how to react. Was that a compliment? How old does she think I am? At that moment it hit me, I have said that a few times myself, always meant well, but it is not a compliment. Oh no! I would just like to take a moment to apologize to all of the hotty, old ladies I have ever said that too - I'm sorry, I understand now. I didn't realize my age was so obvious to other people! I was hoping that no one else had noticed the steady increase of cushioning to my back seat. I kept trying to tell myself that those crows feet are not really on my face they're only in my head. And I was sure that my gray hair really only shows up in my bathroom lighting at 11:00 P.M. I guess I'm wrong.

I'm not sure I'm ready for this - to be put in that "you look good for your age" category. It just means you're not as young & skinny as you used to be. I was sure that when I walked down the halls at the high school, (after dropping my kids off at the preschool that the child development class runs), that I fit right in and looked like one of the students. I suppose those boys weren't checking me out, they were probably wondering whose mom I was. And now I bet the girls were saying to themselves, "Oh my gosh, I hope I look like that when I'm as OLD as her." I was sure that the young 20-somethings thought I was one of them and that I must have had London when I was like 11. Oh well. Ready or not, here I am. I'm 33 and proud of it. I may not look as young as I used to, and I may not be as in shape as I once was, but I'm not totally giving up.....yet. Until then I'll just keep trying to "look good for my age"!

Beauty School

The 1st step to getting ready for a new school year, after buying school supplies...and school clothes.....and paying all the fees and filling out all of the endless registration papers......Okay, the 4th or 5th step to getting ready for school is getting a good haircut. And what better place to go than to the Beauty School. Last Friday, I made the trek up to Rexburg, to The Hair Academy, the Paul Mitchell school, with all four kids in tow, to get freshened up and looking good for school (Two of my sisters in law and their husbands are co-owners in the school).

Epee wasn't too happy, at first, about getting his hair cut. My sisters in law, M. and B., are going to school there right now. (BTW, I love the family I married into - they are simply Awesome!) Aunt M. did the trick, he's smiling, a sure sign she passed.

Aunt B. is very precise in her work. London was so excited to get highlights in her hair, I still can't believe I let her do it (but coming from this family it was only a matter of time).

Her hair turned out really cute! B. always knows how to have fun.
Another student, N., got to do Sydney's hair - nothing too drastic, just a trim, but we love it.

Hoodee was last, he had some fun waiting for his turn......in my purse & spinning in empty chairs.
He probably made the funniest faces in "the chair". It really was not as painful as he's making it look. M. is always so patient with everyone - I was so grateful for her.....
Now they are finally all ready for school! Thanks M. and B. (and N. too), you all did a wonderful job on these haircuts. We love you! *For the record, M. and few of the other students were dressed up as hobo's that day because they were having a theme day at school to help raise food for the local food bank.

The End

**SPOILER ALERT!**

Yes, I am talking about 'Breaking Dawn' by, Stephenie Meyer. So if you haven't finished it or even started it yet then don't read any further. I am going into detail and I want to let it all out! So consider yourself warned. But, when you do finish please come back and leave your opinion about it - I need to talk. Manuel's a good listener, but judging from the eye-rolling and snickers, I don't think he really takes this very seriously.

So, okay, I finished the book last night and wondered what happened. I mean are any of you as let down as I am? And I want honesty here, if you really loved it then say so - you don't have to agree with me to leave a message- in fact I would especially love to hear from you. But, I have one word to sum this book up for me....BUMMER! I feel jipped, I feel disgruntled, I feel cheated.

Why? Well, don't get me wrong I am a happy ending kind of a girl - I'm all about chick-flicks (or books in this case) and gooey romances where the stories are all tied up at the end with a nice, pretty pink bow. This book ended exactly how I hoped it would. My problem was the rest of the story. The beginning was fun, the end was satisfying, the 650 pages in between were disappointing to say the least. It was mostly filler - no real substance. If I offend any Jacob fans out there, I'm sorry, but I don't really care about his perspective. I would have much rather heard it from Edward - what torment and pain was he going through that only he could describe - I mean, isn't this more about him & Bella than Jacob & Bella? Edward totally got put on the back burner in this book not only when the story was told from Jacob's perspective, but also and especially when Bella turned into a Vampire. It seemed to me that once Bella became all super strong then there was no more need for our lovely Edward. He wasn't the hero anymore. Also, there wasn't much of a relationship between Edward and Renesmee, I guess I just assumed that he would make the best ever dad, especially to a daughter, because of what a perfect and protective and thoughtful boyfriend & husband he was. But we hardly saw any interaction between the two of them.

Where was the conflict? Everything kept getting resolved too easily, all of a sudden there were answers to problems that they couldn't get figured out in the first 3 books. Like with Charlie being all cool with everything. And what happened to Renee, wouldn't she have at least tried to be there with her daughter if she was on her "death bed"? It wasn't until the last 100 or so pages (out of an almost 800 page book) that there was really any major problem and that didn't last long. Remember the baseball scene, or the ballet studio scene from Twilight? The fast action, the intensity, the goose-bumps - it was awesome. Remember how your heart was pounding and you knew that if you had to put that book down at that moment you wouldn't be able to survive the anticipation? (I came so close to skipping a Tues. night mutual that I was in charge of the day I was reading that part.) You just had to find out what was going to happen! Where was that in this book? Bella's whole transformation went way too easy. At first I liked how it was easier for her than most - I get it, it was a special gift, but after 3 months she was back to her same old self except not even as sassy and as spicy as before. I would have also loved to have heard more from & about Esme and Alice - where were they? I felt like Stephanie was just writing it to get it finished. I didn't feel the same love and excitement in this book that I did in the other 3.

I guess I just had such high hopes for this book and they didn't come true. Please help me with this, I'm in mourning. I hope it went better for you - let me know, maybe you can give me a new perspective to look at, and yes, I do know this isn't real life, but still........

Never Say Never

Have you ever said you would never do something only to realize that you were doing it? Manly & I both have long lists of 'nevers' that we have had to swallow over the past few years. Like the time Manly said he would NEVER be a lawyer - it's true, he was a geology major when we got married. Or the time I said I would NEVER be one of "those ladies" who just doesn't get ready in the morning and goes out in sweats, a ponytail and no make-up. The only difference now is that since I got my hair cut 2 weeks ago it's not long enough to put in a ponytail anymore. There was also the conversation we had where Manly swore he would absolutely NEVER EVER get a v....you know what I mean (he only did it to save my life, but I'm glad that was worth it to him). And there was a point in my life when I had parenting all figured out and could just 'see' all the mistakes parents were making, of course this was my pre-children era, and I proclaimed I would NEVER be inconsistent in my discipline, and I would NEVER yell at my children, and I would NEVER use T.V. as a babysitter. My biggest weaknesses, okay! It's so much easier to let them get away with murder while I blindly & happily sit in front of the computer typing away, until I lose my temper and yell at the top of my lungs, 'STOP IT!!!' and then wonder why they aren't listening to me. And hello PBS, what would I do without you?!
My list could go on and on, my point is I am the queen of going back on my 'nevers' and if those examples weren't proof enough then this blog is. Last spring when I started following some of my good friends and families blogs I would give Manly an update of your lives when he got home each evening. One day he finally asked "You're not going to do a blog are you?" (Knowing how much time I'm already on the computer, he was groaning under his breath- not more time on the computer in our already hectic lives!) My quick response was "Of course not! I would NEVER do a blog!" Well, I got a few more suggestions from some friends and family members about different blog ideas that I didn't ask for. Like, "You should start a Book Blog, to talk about your books with friends." And, "You should start a Picture Blog to show the different events you've decorated for (this girl saw some of those pics on my facebook account)." And, "You should start a blog so I know what's going on with you guys." To each of these I replied "No way! I don't blog." So here I am, my first post on my new blog. Thanks to all of you, you've inspired me by your creativity, honesty and willingness to share your lives with the rest of the cyber world. I really have enjoyed watching your lives progress over the last 6 or 7 months and I decided, to heck with this 'never' crap! I'm doing it. So I hope I can keep up with this, I hope you will help me and I hope I will Never say Never again!