{catchy title about randomness and tuneage and friday}

I have a major announcement to make:




I am going to be involved with bringing a Shakespeare in the Park production to my hometown!

Y'all thought I was gonna say I was pregnant, didn't ya? Ha!

My friend Cari has done a lot of theater and wants to start a non-musical theater company locally. I told her I'd love to be involved, and now I am! We plan to do a production of Much Ado About Nothing next summer. Things are really starting to come together, and we started a blog about it this morning.

I have always loved theater, but have never had the time to devote to it that I wanted. I was busy with other things in high school, which is honestly one of my biggest regrets from those years. I've been in a few productions, but always in smaller roles because I wasn't able to commit to anything more.

But this time, I'm committing. For several reasons, I've decided to be an assistant director. I'll be involved and able to help a lot, but also able to learn a lot. I'm so excited about it!!!

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I hate flies. I hate seeing them buzz around my kitchen. But I hate killing them even more. Not because I don't want to kill the flies -- I have no problem with the thought of their short lives ending. I just don't want to get out the fly swatter and spend 10 minutes trying to kill one pesky fly, then throw it away. It's annoying and gross.

Yuck.

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I am COMPLETELY obsessed with Secondhand Serenade's Your Call right now. I put it at the top of my playlist (instead of in alphabetical order) so that it's easy for me to find. I play it like 5 times a day and belt out the lyrics. I just can't get enough of it!

I'm a fan of Secondhand Serenade's. Every song of theirs makes me feel like it's being ripped right from their heart. Fall for You, Vulnerable....... maybe it's because it's accoustic music, or maybe it's because the singer has this conversational tone to his voice, but every song just sounds like it comes straight from his soul.

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Potty-training is.......................not going so well. We have good days and bad days. I'm committed enough to put the Hulk in underwear every day now (as compared to 2 days of underpants and then 3 days of a diaper because I'm tired of cleaning him up), and that seems like it might be helping. He has really good days and really bad days. It's just frustrating. He'll poop in his pants, then go to the potty. Then he'll pee and want me to be happy for him!! It's maddening!

I'm going to buy him a little watch with a timer so that he can be in charge of going to the potty instead of me telling him to do it all the time. Sometimes he's okay with it, but when he's even the least bit grumpy, me telling him to go to the bathroom just makes him not to want to do it. I don't want to force him, so I don't make him go, then 10 minutes later he pees his pants.

Sigh. It'll happen eventually.

Right?

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I want to see The Time-Travelers Wife. Have you seen previews for it? I'll be honest -- the main reason I want to see it is because Rachel McAdams is in it. (Eric Bana isn't too bad, either!) I developed a serious girl-crush on Rachel after The Notebook and have loved everything I've seen her in since. I would definately cast her as me in the movie of my life. Any movies you're excited about?

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And now, 10 random tunes from my playlist.

1. Eight Days a Week -- The Beatles
2. So Far Away -- Carol King
3. Human -- The Killers
4. Hands -- Jewel
5. Gravity -- Sara Bareilles (makes me think of that SYTYCD routine)
6. Tears in Heaven -- Eric Clapton
7. I Walk the Line -- Chris Daughtry
8. If I were a Boy -- Beyonce (I can't help but belt this song right along with her!)
9. Billie Jean -- David Cook
10. This Town -- O.A.R.

**Bonus: I heard it through the grapvine -- Marvin Gaye**

Got some randomness of your own? Join me in linking up to Motherboard!!!

Tis the Season for the Come-back Kid!!!

So.....y'all know I'm a reality TV junkie. Usually I just get my fix from this awesome site and forego mentioning all the shows I watch on my blog, but not today. I just can't help myself.

First of all, Daisy of Love. (NO JUDGING.) There's this one guy, "London," that it's obvious Daisy has a real connection with. They have a lover's spat, and he leaves the show. He realizes he has real feelings for her, but thinks the show isn't real and so he leaves. She begs him to stay, but he says he's afraid of hurting her and leaves anyway.

(I'll spare you a pic of Daisy. No need to subject anyone to that if it's not necessary.)

Fast forward a few episodes. London contacts the show, says he wants to come back. Can't stop thinking about Daisy, yada yada yada. Realizes the show is "real," and wants to see if she'll have him back.

She does. And ends up picking him in the end. Honestly, I think he was the best guy there for her. Daisy said, "Vulnerable hot mess, meet vulnerable hot mess." They are perfect for each other. May they have a long and happy 6 months together!!

And now, the Bachelorette.

Meet Ed. He doesn't get a lot of airtime until about half way through the season, when he decided to leave. His boss contacted him and basically told him to leave the show or lose his job. Apparently the place was falling apart without him. So he tells Jillian he has to leave.

She's devasted. Heartbroken. But what can she do? She told him she really didn't want him to leave, but he felt he didn't have a choice. At this point he has a 1 in 7 chance of ending up with her, which is a pretty big risk when it comes to your career.

Then two weeks later, he comes back.

Jillian is thrilled to see him. He tells her that he couldn't get her off his mind. He wasn't able to get any work done, thinking about her and wondering if he made the wrong decision. So he came back.




And won the girl.

So apparently, leaving and coming back proves to a girl that a man is committed to her.


I'll have to remember that.

You know you're old and boring......

...............when the closest you come to taking a walk on the wild side...............

............is switching sides of the bed..............

Gettin' my random on

I've lost 3 followers in the past few days. I'm not mortally wounded --- I'm sure it's 'cuz I've been a major slacker when it comes to posting lately. Even though I'm a P.O.S. blogger ----->, this week has been worse than most. Basically because we had a 15-hour drive to see my brother and his wife sealed in the temple. We were there for 3 days, then turned around and drove back. Between the trip itself and the recovery, blogging has been pretty low on the priority list.

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Where did Avril Lavigne go? I just heard a song of hers on the radio and realized that she hasn't done anything for a few years. I liked her style. I'm a fan of the female pop/punk singers, and there just aren't a lot of them. I guess Avril got married and went all soft. Bummer.

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Do you love music? I do. A LOT. Music can have such a power over me. If I'm moping around the house, trying to motivate myself to do some chores, all I really need to do is get the tuneage going. Instantly, I'm happy and singing and willing to buckle down. The station My 99.5 is the only reason I'm able to do my dishes. I'm an avid car-dancer, too. I'll pump up the jam and "encourage" my kids to sing and dance along. What's better than little boys singing along to Beyonce?!

Music can speak to me like nothing else can. Remember when I talked about Sherrie's music? Her songs touched me deeply, and there aren't even any words!! And every time I hear Far Away by Nickleback, I think of a YouTube compliation of The Notebook and get tears in my eyes.

Music helps me set the mood for Sunday. I have quite a collection of LDS CDs that we listen to every Sabbath, and I love the feeling in our home when I do so. I'm our ward's organist, and love picking the music to play as prelude. There's a difference in the tone of the congregation when I play "We Are All Enlisted" loudly and when I play "Our Savior's Love" in muted tones. I love that I can contribute to the spirit of the meeting in such a way.

I just LOVE MUSIC.

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We've got some major events going on here locally. Not only is today Pioneer Day in Utah, it's my town's Fiesta Days. Most of the little townships in Central Utah have their "days": Strawberry Days, Onion Days, Steel Days, Art City Days, Cherry Days . . . I'm not kidding. And that's not even a comprehensive list. All the festivals are held during the summer, and they're all about the same. Street vendors and carnivals, special musical performances, local theater productions, rodeos...They're a lot of fun. Because of Pioneer Day, we have a parade with our Fiesta Days. Not too shabby.

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Wanna know something weird about me? (Of course you do. Why else would you be reading my blog? Why do we blog if not to let the world know all our crazy idiosyncrasies?!) I can not eat popcorn without wanting a Diet Dr. Pepper. I get the 100 calorie mini-bags of popcorn and every time I pop one, I open a DDP. I cannot have one without the other.

Do you have any obsessive food combinations?

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And now for 10 random tunes. I'm changing it up a bit today. I listened to my all-time favorite radio station and wrote down their last 10 songs while I typed this post.

1. The Call -- Secondhand Serenade (love this song!)
2. I miss you -- Avril Lavigne
3. Here's to the night -- Eve 6
4. Please, don't leave me -- Pink (makes me think of Annette's Spires of Stone)
5. All at once -- The Fray
6. Life in Technicolor Ii-- Coldplay
7. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun -- Cyndi Lauper
8. Little Wonders -- Rob Thomas
9. Gone -- John Mayer
10. Kryptonite -- 3 Doors Down

Bonus: Come back to me -- David Cook {ROCKS}

Clip time!

Have you been watching So You Think You Can Dance this season? My life is too crazy for me to like so many TV shows and not have a DVR, but alas, that is my fate right now. I've probably only see about half of this season, but I love what I've seen.

A few weeks ago Mia Michaels (an Emmy Award-winning choreographer on the show whose pieces I always love) choreographed a piece about addiction. It is beyond powerful.




I mean, wasn't that fantastic?! Kupono looked liked the devil himself, don't you think?

But as awesome as that piece was, last night's show had a number that completely stole the show. It was one of the most beautiful and moving things I've ever seen.



I think Melissa is absolutely incredible. Not only is she the first classicly trained ballerina to be on the show, but she's also 29. By far the oldest contestant to ever be on SYTYCD.

Have you been watching this show? If you haven't, WHY NOT?!?!

Further humiliation. Because I can't think of anything else to post about.

When I was 16, there was this boy I had a crush on. He lived an hour and a half away from me, so I only saw him at stake dances. (Remember, people: I grew up in Kansas. We lived for stake dances.) The crush became mutual, but we never actually dated. We did, however, have a song. "God must have spent a little more time on you, " by N*SYNC. (I can't help but smile as I write that. So cheesy!!!) This was 2000, right at N*SYNC's peak, and they played that song at every stake dance. And we danced to it every time.

Fast forward a year and a half. We no longer have crushes on each other, but still maintain a friendship and dance to that song at the stake dances.

So we're at a dance, and I hear the opening bars of "our song." I look around and see that the guy is talking to another girl, then see that he's asking her to dance!! WHAT?! How dare he?!

Honestly, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. We didn't "like" each other anymore and I wasn't mortally wounded by him dancing with another girl during our song. But I decided to be kinda funny and confront him about it.

I went over to them as they were walking out to the floor. "Excuse me!! I think you're dancing with the wrong girl! Do you realize what song it is?" I teased.

They both looked at me like I was crazy. I can't imagine why. The guy started to stutter something when it dawned on me why he looked so surprised.

The lyrics had started, and I realized that the song playing was not, in fact, "our song." It was "I knew I loved you before I met you, " by Savage Garden. The songs have kind of similar openings, and I had got them confused. Probably because back when I liked the guy, that song made me think of him, too. Please tell me you were like this as a teenager.

I was mortified. Of course I would choose to make a spectacle of myself on the wrong song. Of course! "Oh, this isn't...........the song I thought it was. Uh, never mind," I stammered, walking quickly out of the gym. Not only did I look like an idiot, it looked like I still had a crush on him!!! And that I knew I loved him before I met him!!!!

What a stupid, stupid girl.

Please, I'm begging you. Share an embarrassing boy story with me. This one was actually triggered by Fiauna's mortification at a dance she went to. I nearly peed my pants it was so funny. I'm sure more than one of you have an embarrassing moment you wouldn't mind sharing with us!! Spill it!



p.s. Further humiliation concerning what I posted the other day: Sometimes I forget that members of my family read my blog. In particular, family members who have connections to the people I tell stories about. Like, spousal connections.

Open mouth, insert foot. Rinse and repeat.

Indecent Exposure

When I was about 9 years old, I was staying the night at my grandma's house. I wasn't the only one -- my family was there, with my cousin's family. Grandma's house was big enough for all of us, but there were still quite a few people there.

I woke up in the morning needing to use the bathroom. I went to the first bathroom and found it occupied. I went to the next one, just to find someone using that bathroom as well. By this point, I really needed to go. I went to the final bathroom, praying it would be open. I knocked on the door, but no one said anything. I thought I heard a noise from inside, so I knocked again. No response. I slowly opened the unlocked door.


My uncle was just getting out of the shower. He was standing there just like the pictures you see in anatomy books.

I did NOT know a man could be that hairy.


I sputtered, "Sorry!" and slammed the door.

I don't think we've spoken a word since.

You can do that when you never see each other.



No pun intended.

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So there it is folks, my most embarrassing moment from childhood. You got one you wanna share? Emmy's got a Mr. Linky up. Post yours and link to her. Besides -- what's a blog for if not for personal humiliation?!

Adventures of an Incurable Optimist Rebroadcast

A few months ago I talked about a special ABC did on Michael J. Fox's book, Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. It was a FANTASTIC special, and I know more than a few of you were sad that you had missed it.

Well, I've just discovered that TLC is going to rebroadcast it this Sunday and Monday night!!!

I'll be tuning in for sure.

Random thoughts and random tunes

Linking up to the fabulous Motherboard for this one. Gotta love Random Fridays!

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I am SO SICK of seeing stuff about Michael Jackson. I really thought that once the memorial was over, we'd be done with it. But no. There's still an MJ headline on my Yahoo! homepage every time I log in. And I haven't been able to watch Entertainment Tonight or the Daily 10 for over a week because they're still talking about the guy.

It's just driving me bonkers. Even if there's still stuff going on with it (where he's going to be buried, was he murdered, yada yada yada) I don't need to hear EVERY DETAIL. Is ridiculous.

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It's hard coming back from a blog break. My biggest issue with it right now is my reader. I'm scared to even open it up and see how many posts I need to read. I know you all will suggest just clearing it and starting over, but it's not that easy. I use bloglines, and I have to click each blog to clear it. And I feel so guilty doing it. Like I'm just ignoring all my friends.

There are a few blogs that I check each time, without going through my reader. Sometimes I'll just look at the bloglist in my sidebar and go from there. But I inevitably miss people. Someone whose blog I'm new to. Or a "real-world" friend who doesn't post regularly, and I end up missing 5 posts because I haven't checked there in two weeks. You know what I mean?

I'm just scared to even start.

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I finished that book the other day. I decided that I'd read a little further into the book and see if the language persisted. It didn't. The worst of it was over. And I'm glad I read it. Only now I'm left wondering how much of it was fiction and how much was rooted in truth. Have you ever read a book that left you feeling that way?

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I'm excited for the weekend! Tonight Superman and I will probably enjoy Vh1's Great Debate for a few hours, then watch The Soup with Joel McHale. (Assuming he's doing it tonight. It's been kinda spotty lately, and I hope we're not disappointed tonight.) Then tomorrow I'm going to a blog lunch with the fantastic Erin and some other bloggers. Woo hoo!! Can't wait to meet her. And finally, tomorrow evening I'm getting together with some friends to scrapbook. It's gonna be a total girly day, and MAN do I need one of those!

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And now, 10 random tunes from my player:

1. Yellow -- Coldplay
2. The Way I Am -- Ingrid Michaelson
3. I Don't Care What You Think -- Fall Out Boy
4. Jesse's Girl -- Rick Springfield
5. Goodnight, Goodnight -- Maroon 5
6. Without Your Love -- SheDaisy
7. Far Away -- Nickelback
8. I Will Survive -- Gloria Gaynor
9. Realize -- Colbie Calliat
10. The World I Know -- David Cook

**Bonus** Where I Stood -- Missy Higgins

Mama said

there'd be days like this.

I'm having a small health issue I decided to call the doctor about. I walked into the kitchen to get the phonebook, only to find a small colony of ants by the back door. Great. So I do the only thing I know to do -- get some kind of chemical and kill them. The thing I happened to have the most of was Windex. So I Windex the little suckers to death, then wipe them up with paper towels. Put them in the trash. I realize the trash needs to be taken out. I do that, only to realize that the kids have spilled some stuff outside that I need to hose down to the street. I do that. Then remember to water my flowers. I look at the grass, wondering why our spinkler system isn't working, and decide just to use the manual sprinker we have. But it's in the backyard. With the dogs. Who haven't been fed yet because it's Superman's responsibility. But I know they're starving, so I feed them, then get the spinkler. I hook it up in the front yard, then spend 10 minutes messing with it, trying to get it to water all my grass, and only my grass. I come back inside soaking wet, and starving. I start some macarroni and cheese, then realize I need to do the dishes so we have something to eat on. As I'm standing there, mindlessly washing, I become aware again of the minor pain, and the fact that I was going to call the doctor.

Does any of this sound familiar? Like If you give a mouse a cookie?

Later on, I'm catching up on some blogs. The boys are 12 feet away from me. Laughing, having a good time. I turn around to see what they're doing.

They're using puff-paints. PUFF-PAINTS. Fortunately they found some computer paper and were only drawing on it. Whew.

Later in the day, I'm folding laundry, and hear the children laughing in the back of the house. Aww, I love it when they play so well together. Those laughs make me happy. I wonder what they're doing? Obviously nothing horrible, since I can't hear anything but them laughing.

Two minutes later, they're still laughing, and it finally clicks that I should go see what trouble they're getting into.

They're pumping foaming handsoap into and onto the toilet. The entire bottle. And flushing relentlessly. I wipe them up, wipe the toilet up, then give a stern warning about how we aren't supposed to play in the toilet. Why? Because the toilet's yucky. Why? Because there's germs in there! Why? Because that's what poop IS! And it will make you sick! Now get out of here!!!

Finally, I'm about to start dinner. Between my family being in town to cook or buy dinner, and grilling burgers or getting a pizza, I haven't cooked dinner in over two weeks. But I'm actually excited to do it tonight. I've decided I either want lemon-pepper chicken with rice pilaf, or chicken-taco soup over white rice. Mmm......they sound delicious, don't they?

But when I check the cupboard, I discover I don't have all the ingredients for either. And I'm without a car today.

Mama said there'd be days like this.

There'd be days like this, my mama said.

Thanks for the warning.

I've got another question for y'all

I'm reading a book right now that's pretty intriguing. It's The Quiet Game by Greg Iles. I read one of his books a few weeks ago that I really enjoyed, so I went for another. The plot is captivating. It's about a man from a small Mississippi town that hasn't changed much since he was a boy growing up there in the 1960s. He comes back after 20 years and is immediately thrown into an unsolved murder case of a black man killed by a car bomb. There's quite a bit more to the story, but that's the jist of it.

At any rate, my question for you is: At what point does a fantastic story allow you to excuse the filthy language? This book takes place in the deep South and there are a lot of high tensions. There's quite a bit of swearing. Not so much from the noble protagonist, but from some of those trying to tear him down.

I personally have never been one to swear. Consequently, I'm not a fan of reading such horrible language and having it run through my head all the time. But I'm REALLY into this story. It fascinates me, and I want to read it all. But should I at the cost of the language in the book?

What would you do?

Just what I wanted to hear today

We were on our way to a 4th of July parade this morning, listening to the radio. I said, "You know what we need?" Before the question could be answered, I turned the station and got my answer.

I needed some Lee Greenwood.

A few years ago when Superman was in the Army Reserves, he told me something about this song that I think of every time I hear it. He said that if he were ever taken captive and executed, he would sing this song. Particularly if it were a televised execution. I still struggle with that image whenever I hear this song. But it makes me love him, and our country, even more.

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I went to the grocery store earlier today and saw some kind of fundraising thing outside. I usually walk far around these things so I don't have to tell them "no" to their faces. But today they had a sign that said, "For Families of Fallen Soldiers."

I gave them all the bills I received in change.

I am forever thankful for those who have fought and died for this country, and for my family.

God bless the USA.