A Blatant Rip-off of Amy's Blog

So I should be really busy trying to get ready to leave for China, but I'm not motivated by the mundane takes that are in front of me. Actually I've already been pretty productive for 9:19 a.m.- I got Jonathan's absences excused, signed off on the Oak Canyon Trust Lands Expenditure plan, paid 9 bills, and filed my 2007 federal taxes.

Anyway, I thought I'd copy a post from Amy's blog and do the "about me" questions...

1. What is your occupation? I'm a mom, and listed as "retired" with the AARP as a cytotech.
2. What color are your socks right now? White
3. What are you listening to right now? Nothing, but everything on my iPod got deleted yesterday thanks to my stupid old computer deciding to randomly shut down.
4. Can you drive a stick-shift? Yes. Automatics are for wimps!
5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red- the real red, not any other blend of red
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Aly- she called this morning to report that Sean (Amy's dude) spent an obscene amount of money on a bike from WalMart (makes Dan's bike look cheap!)
7. How old are you today? 36.448 years old
8. Favorite drink? Water, but not the frigid Utah tap water
9. What is your favorite sport to watch? My boys think it should be NASCAR... I like to watch skiing.
10. Pets? Right! I intensely dislike animals. I tell Nolan that he's my pet.
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, and what a bad experience it was. Never again. I'll go gray peacefully.
12. Favorite food? Right now, quesadillas from Taco Bell or an Ensalada Bajio from Bajios.
13. What was the last movie you watched? Harry Potter IV on DVD
14. Favorite day of the year? The one when my daffodils bloom... means the end of winter to me!
15. What do you do to vent anger? Call Aly, say Grrrrrrr!
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My doll Ann
17. What is your favorite--fall or spring? Spring! Fall allergies kill me!
18. Hugs or kisses? Depends- from my boys- hugs! From Dan- well, you know!
19. Cherry or blueberry? Love cherries/hate blueberries! When cherries are in season, I'll eat several pounds a week. I hate blueberries because of that pokey part on the bottom (or it that their top?)
20. Living arrangements? 1 house, 5 bedrooms, contemplating moving to the guest room downstairs and making our room the guest room. 34 house payments to go!
21. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and dirty laundry.
22. Who is the friend you have had the longest? I really am not in contact with old friends, except at Christmas Card time. If we count that, the answer would be Lora Lee Mather.
23. What did you do last night? Sat through Nolan's baseball practice (and froze!), made waffles, colored Jonathan's homework, edited Jonathan's research paper, delivered 2 wedding gifts, fought with the old @#!$ computer, reloaded my iPod, watched the news.
24. Favorite smells? The air right after it rains!
25. What inspires you? Jonathan
26. What are you afraid of? Big spiders, snakes
27. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Nope! Must be a Veggie burger with ketchup, lettuce, and tomato on whole wheat bread/bun.
28. Favorite car? Any that is paid for!
29. Favorite dog breed? Hate All Dogs!
30. Number of keys on your key ring? 5- car key, truck key, deadbolt key, door knob key, Bona's house
31. How many years at your current job? nearly 13
32. Favorite day of the week? Whichever one resulted in the boys doing their work and not fighting!
33. How many states have you lived in? 4; Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, and Utah
34. Favorite holidays? I like my boys' birthdays. It's fun watching them feel so special.
35. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? No, but I got a burn on my leg from a motorcycle exhaust pipe.

Back to Blogging after China!

NASCAR

So, if Jeff Gordon gets the pole tomorrow, does the dancer come with it?

Phraseology

I love the way Jonathan says things. He has such a unique way of expressing himself. Two recent examples...

Today Jonathan has a band festival at Oak Canyon. I told him on Sunday that he needed to make sure that his Grandpa and Grandma Belnap knew about the festival. He was practicing his sax and clarinet in a spare bedroom at Parley and Bona's on Sunday. Bona poked her head in to listen for a minute. She came out laughing and quoting Jonathan, "For your information, I have a band festival on Wednesday, March 26th at 9:30 a.m. at Oak Canyon". Bona couldn't get over the "For your information" part.

Second, I think it's great that I have a twelve year old who is still willing to talk to me about anything (except for who he eats lunch with). I hope he continues sharing his thoughts, feelings, and concerns for years to come (even though often the stuff he shares with me is TMI for me- stuff that I wish he'd share with Dan and then Dan could share it with me). Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Jonathan was watching the Percussion Ensemble prepare for 6th Grade Day at Oak Canyon. He came home and said "Mom, weird stuff is happening to me- stuff that's never happened before. Girls are 'fawning' over me". "Fawning"? Haven't heard that for a while. Anyway, he got a big ego boost when he noticed a girl (thankfully) in the Percussion Ensemble staring and waving at him (and she was even a 9th grader).

I'll have to keep my ears open for more Jonathanisms and keep recording them.

Secrets

Secrets are dangerous things. Ever notice how when someone tells you their secret and you promise not to tell ANYONE, then the temptation to blab it is nearly irrepressible? I know a secret and I'm bursting to tell, but no! My lips are sealed. I know from past experience that the urge to share the secret exponentially decreases after about 48 hours, but when the secret keeps on getting juicier by the minute... then dang! It's hard. I will prevail. I will not tell. Nope, don't bother to ask me what it is because the only thing I may tell the secret to is Nolan's stuffed cat. Maybe telling Haley will reduce my urge to destroy someone's confidence in me and to become a gossip.

The Funniest Story Ever

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but there really hasn't been anything going. I've had zero to write about, until yesterday!

Aly, Amy, Leslie, and I decided to have lunch together yesterday (because I didn't want to substitute for Nolan's class and a "Sisters" lunch was a great excuse). We met at the BYU Museum of Art and ate in their cafe. I got the monster-super-sized-beyond-turbo-big veggie sandwich and ate it all (except for the feta, 'shrooms, and spinach). Immediately after eating, Amy bailed on us to go to class. Aly needed to get something from the bookstore for her independent study class so Leslie and I were going to go with her. Before we left the museum, I decided that I needed to pee. We found the bathroom. It was empty of any users. Aly went in stall #1; Leslie went in stall #3; I chose stall #6. We are doing our business when I hear someone to the left of me (presumably Leslie) fart. I called out, nice and clearly, "I heard that!" Anyway, Aly and I finished at about the same time and were washing up when we realized that the door to stall #4 was shut and there were white shoes showing from under the door. Aly and I start silently busting our guts laughing. Leslie comes rushing out, washes as fast as humanly possible and charges out the bathroom door. We all fall to pieces laughing. I'm so glad I could call to everyone's attention that the lady in stall #4 was having an intestinal issue. I think I may be responsible for the user of stall #4 developing a phobia of using public restrooms. Leslie thinks, that at the very least, that poor woman is going to need therapy for the rest of her life.

Annoyed over STUPID thing!

This is really stupid and I know it is, but I'm still really annoyed by it. So, my 20th high school reunion is in the "planning" stages. It's being planned by all the nimrods who thought high school was cool while in high school as well as at the 10 year reunion. I did go to my 10 year class reunion and it was stupid. Nolan was just a few weeks old (like 6?). I let Dan stay at my parent's house and have "boys and daddy" time. The reunion was an overpriced mediocre meal with wine (which everyone at my table wanted to know if they could have mine) and dancing. My loverly boyfriend from high school was constantly at my elbow and was impossibleto shake off. I endured a few hours of back to high school torture, found out who decided that they were gay, and went home shaking my head at those who thought that they were cool in high school and still thought they were just as cool 10 years later.

Okay- so what'a annoying me... The reunion committee has put together a myspace page to get the reunion information out. Fine, no problem there. What bugs me is that someone decided that the nasty, tacky, revolting song "Push It" is our class theme. Everytime I visit the class myspace page, I am greated with the nasty panting rhythmic pulsations of "Push It". About 90% of the time that stupid vile song is playing before the page has even loaded so I can't hit the stop button. I need to remember to unplug my computer speakers before visiting the class reunion myspace page.

Oh, and by the way, no I do not plan to attend the 20 year reunion for the GHS class of 1989.

Difficult Concept or Not?

Okay, here is the senario. You are in seventh grade. You go to school and have 8 classes. The school has provided you a planner to use to keep track of your assignments. Your teachers give you homework. Now, what do you do?

When growing up, one of my biggest fears was forgetting about a homework assignment. My teachers' late homeork policies were strict- usually something that would result in your maximum score on late homework being equal to a 50%. As far as I can recall, I never, ever turned in a homework assignment late.

Jump forward to 2008. Now, my name is Jonathan. I am a brillant seventh grader with a planner and I have teachers that give homework. I think planners are stupid and a waste of time. Mom just checked my grades. I have a 52% in Spanish because I claim I didn't know I had to fill out several sections on my monthly study chart. Of course, I didn't write anything about that assignment in my planner because I think using my planner is a waste of time. Hey- Mom just checked my health grade. It's down from 101% to a 90%. Now 90% isn't a bad grade, but she is wondering why my grade dropped. Mom checks the assignments listed on the computer from my health class. I haven't bothered to turn in my "Life Path" assignment yet. I had it finished on time, butI just can't be bothered to turn it in.

Sometimes I really want to ring Jonathan's neck when it comes to him and his school attitude. For as book smart as he is, he has to be among the stupidest when it comes to assignments. Of course, he's now encouraging me to punch him in the face because "that's what I [he] deserves". Drama king to the end and never taking responsiblilty or trying to improve. Not willing to try to use the planner to help him out. Well, I pulled out the big guns and told him that he starts using the planner tomorrow or there will be no Jazz Band for him next year.