From the Desk of... Heather

2009-05-07T15:33:00.004+09:00

...

2009-04-18T13:40:00.001+09:00

I miss you! I'm now posting HERE!!!

Come visit! And change your links...

www.heatherhansen.blogspot.com

MOVING

2009-03-29T12:59:00.003+09:00

http://heatherhansen.blogspot.com/

I'm moving. I needed a more professional address. Please update your links! I don't want to miss anyone!!!!

I don't have all my posts on the new blogger address yet. I'm still working on it. Who knew it would be so time consuming to go through over 1000 posts?!

It’s a PARTY!

2009-03-27T08:14:00.002+09:00

My kids are much better at languages than I am. Living over here is fun because they suck up everything. Seth learns both Japanese and Spanish at school. He leans toward using Spanish, though.

Meanwhile, Bekah has a love for the Japanese language. Half the time she has no idea what she’s saying. If she sits next to a local at lunch, she will repeat their entire conversation in the car on the way home – with the proper diction and voice inflection.

None of us can translate it so their conversation remains private, at least.

As an example, the morning goes something like this:

I pull out the milk carton. “You guys want milk?”

“Si, por favor,” Seth says.

Only to be followed by Bekah’s, “Hai, onoigaishimas.”

Last night Seth was going off in a conversation with Bekah… I don’t know what he was saying. There was a lot of Spanish going on. He’d pause every so often, look at me, interpret what he said and then continue on. Like I was the loser in the group who couldn’t understand what they were saying!

Okay, so he was right. Those three years of Spanish classes were a waste. I can’t remember anything!

Finally I asked, “Do you know what language you’re speaking?”

Seth was offended. “Sure.”

“What language?” I challenged.

“It’s not Japanese. It’s the other one… the fiesta one.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Spanish?”

“Yes! That’s the one.”

Good Intentions

2009-03-26T12:44:00.001+09:00

Open email from Suz.

Read: I need to lose some weight before the conference.

Hit REPLY

Type: OMG! Me too! It’s ridiculous.

Hit SEND.

Walk downstairs.

Heat up a Cinnabon.

Butterflies!

2009-03-26T10:19:00.003+09:00

Wow. My life is full of all sorts of awesomeness lately.

(BTW, Word recognizes ‘awesomeness’ and yet ‘Bekah’ is too crazy. Hum…)

I’m going to California this summer for my brother’s wedding. One thing on the addenda is staying a few weeks extra to attend the SCBWI conference. I’m so crazy happy about this because I’m rooming with the two of my best peeps, Suzanne and Mandy. We’re going to have so much fun!

So in the middle of all the nice/life-changing things that are happening, I got an email from Suz with the room confirmation. It makes it real now!

I have butterflies!

Lots more randomness!

2009-03-25T11:12:00.005+09:00

Steven brought me home the Vampire-Love yesterday. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!

*SPARKLES*

I know, there's absolutely no reason to blog that. I agree. It's a sickness.

Also, it's been a while since I featured a video by my cousin, Deztini:

I think I like watching these because my sister and I made videos all the time. It was awesome. I should find them...

And once again, a post with no point.

Go post some flash on FlashyFiction!!!!

DON’T. GIVE. UP.

2009-03-24T17:25:00.002+09:00

I’d like to say that every writer will find an agent with their first (or even second or third!) finished manuscript… I can’t.

I'd like to say that the first agent you sign with is your one-and-only… I can’t.

I’d like to say that publishing is fair. That the amount of time and effort you put into it is proportionate to the success you will have… I can’t.

I’d like to say that even though you dearly love your friends, and wish them all the success in the world, that you’ll never just be the littlest bit sad that it’s not happening to you too… I can’t.

I can say, without continuing to try you will never succeed. And I also know it’s about the journey. I have learned so much this last year about writing, desire, determination.

I accepted an agent offer today. I am so excited I can’t stand it.

I’ve been in this place before. This time is different. This time I KNOW. This time I’m pushing through.

And I will not give up.

Bekah

2009-03-23T13:37:00.001+09:00

I asked Bekah, "Are you getting dressed today?"

Her reply, "Um... no, I really don't think so. Thanks for asking."

Sunday Afternoons

2009-03-22T12:42:00.000+09:00

Steven (to Seth and Bekah): Who took my watch?

Seth: What are you talking about?

Steven: Where’d my watch go? It’s not here.

Seth: Maybe you put it somewhere else.

Steven: I only put it two places!

Seth: Maybe mommy took it.

Steven: I doubt mommy would take my watch.

Seth: Well, it couldn’t just get up and walk away!

… so says the 6-year-old.

Dear Mommy,

2009-03-20T14:36:00.010+09:00

We need to talk. I know I've been sick, but we've been cooped up in this house for two weeks. I'm starting to get that wild look in my eyes...

And you're not looking that much better, I have to say.

We need to get out. Go somewhere. ANYWHERE. I don't care. As long as we get out of this house.

How about lunch? Somewhere easy. Somewhere Zen...

We could have lunch overlooking the China sea! How relaxing is that? It won't be strenuous at all.

And they have yummy soup!

Their food's good too!

I give Zen my vote.

Plus, they serve chocolate ice cream. Not that I'm exactly in love with ice cream, or anything...

You can take some pictures too. That always makes you feel better.

Come on, Mom, what do you say? Can we go?

Love your favorite daughter (Or only one, whatever),

Bekah

A Little of Nothing

2009-03-19T08:04:00.008+09:00

I know I've been quiet on the internet lately. I do post updates on Facebook, though, and Twitter at least once a day.

Just so you know I'm alive.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I have an aversion to blogging, I guess. I mean, there's not much to write about.

For instance, did you really want to read about how I did the one thing that I swore I was not going to do? I bought tennis shoes. UGH! The only reason I bought them was because we are going to be walking a lot in China and I didn't own any. What's the point of spending sixty plus dollars on UGLY shoes that get dirty and sweaty?

Gross. Gross. Gross.

Or I could write about how, when I was in the PX, I overheard two young marines talking. One was trying to talk the other guy in to buying an iPod touch. To which the guy responded, "I don't know, man. The iPod is like three hundred dollars. I can get a Zune for seventy."

I walked away (VERY QUICKLY) to keep myself from shouting: THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!

Good gravy.

Or I could write about this morning when I was leaving to walk Seth to the bus stop, he asked me clearly irritated, "Why can't I walk to the bus stop alone? I'm six years old!"

"That's the answer to your question."

"What? Six years old? That's... like, that's OLD!"

"Old enough to get in to trouble if I didn't walk you."

*ahem* moving on...

On Facebook I have kept you up to date on the fact that I'm now addicted to watching Battlestar Galactica. My friends were pretty clear about what they thought of that announcement (hahahaha!). I swear to you, it's a GOOD show.

BTW, I downloaded the miniseries and first season from iTunes onto my iPod - you can't do that with Zune. Just saying.

It's important for me to watch so that I can talk about it intelligently. Unlike this chick talking about Star Wars:

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Okay, so there you go. A post on absolutely nothing.

Mario Cart

2009-03-16T19:24:00.004+09:00

The fact that Bekah pronounces all of her "V's" as "B's" gives me hours of entrainment.

Finishing a Mario Cart race -- Bekah can't make a turn ... "Good Heabens!"

The race finishes and Seth and Bekah are about to start a new one:

Bekah: Let me pick the lebel.

Seth: Alright, fine.

Bekah: That lebel!

Seth: How about this one?

Bekah: Go back! Go back!

Seth: This one's much better.

Bekah: Go back to the other lebel! I want the other lebel!!!

Seth: How about we compromise? How about the earth level?

Bekah: Erp! Erp! Yes, do the erp lebel!

... And It's Monday!

2009-03-16T09:26:00.006+09:00

The repair men came for the fallen ceiling.

Verdict: The pipes to the A/C unit upstairs were/are leaking.

They brought the broken piece of pipe to show me. They don't speak English and I don't speak Japanese so this is how we communicate. The pipe they showed me, yeah, that sucker has to be original 1960's. It was so corroded and rusted - wow. They'll be back later with a new piece (if they can find one to fit! ha!). Meanwhile, I still have a hole in my kitchen ceiling, water still dripping down (from where it collected) and now I can't use that bathroom.

Bekah is feeling better. She has a desk downstairs next to mine. Usually I put a laptop on it and she plays for hours. This weekend I had Steven set up my old desktop (that we scrubbed) so that I could convert some movies for our iPods in order to prepare for our upcoming China trip.

Bekah saw the computer on her desk and fell in love. She's done nothing but play on it for three days. I can't get her off of it! And she's told me that she's not going to "allow" me to put it away when I'm finished with it.

I need another bedroom to devote to our computers! Between mine, Steven's command center and now Bekah's they're taking over the living room!

The Snail

2009-03-12T12:29:00.005+09:00

This is a blog post about my writing – for once. I know! Snazzy.

I joined a group writing 30K in 30 days. See the progress bar on the side? – Yeah, I’m not doing very well at the moment. Heh. ~~Life is distracting!~~ My life is distracting. I don’t mean that necessarily in a bad way… just busy. *shrug* Things happen. Like the trip to the ER or the ceiling falling down:

[I haven’t called anyone to come and fix it yet because it’s still wet - the air conditioning unit upstairs leaks between the two floors.]

One of the big reasons I’m lagging on this manuscript (and have been since I started this book) is because I’m writing it by hand. It’s not that I haven’t tried to type it out. For some reason the words won’t come when I’m on the computer! It’s frustrating!!!

Rather than not make any progress at all, I’ve been handwriting at night and then each morning transcribing it into Word. That makes for slow progress. Not only because of the extra time it takes to type it, but because I have no way to gauge of how much I’ve written for the day.

Daily word count is not necessary, but without it the manuscript will move at a snail pace.

me = snail

And the writing is sort of scatterbrained too! I spend my morning typing it only to realize that it’s out of order to how it should go. And that I’m missing huge chunks of what should be there.

*Make notes… Switch paragraphs… Tighten up… Switch more paragraphs… Switch sentences… Make notes*

Only to stare at a white screen again.

It only compounds the problem that I’m 24K in and I don’t feel the story is even reaching the halfway point yet. Not that it’s lagging at all. The pace is really good (actually, it’s the best manuscript so far at the 1st draft point). I’m concerned, though, because how long is book going to be?! It’s YA so it can only be so long, you know?

Add to that the fact that I fully realize that I’m going to have to go back and add sub-plot. I tend to write the entire book with a singular plot and then, when I’m finished with the first draft, I go back and add plot points.

*shaking head*

And yet, I love this book. I just hope that by the time I finish the 30K challenge (and I’m closer to a 60K manuscript) that I’ll see an end.

Dear Uncle Joe,

2009-03-11T08:27:00.010+09:00

First, Uncle Joe, let's get the important stuff out of the way. Presents. Where are mine? I've been sick and in my mind that means presents. I'm sure Aunt Ally has my address.

Okay, on to the other stuff...

My mommy told me that you were concerned that I would be upset about the blog when I grew up. You don't have to worry, I know all about it. I'm well aware that my mom shares my business.

As a matter of fact, I make her write about me. Like in the hospital. There I was sick -- and I thought, this would make a great blog post! So I told my mom, "Take my picture."

My mom was surprised, but got out the camera (she always does!).

And just to make sure that she understood, I said, "Make sure you put this picture on your blog."

I have no idea why she was laughing while she took it.

When she was done, I asked for the camera. I told her, "I'm taking pictures so we remember it. Make sure to put these on your blog, too!"

I started by taking more pictures of me. My mom said she got one, but I don't believe her. I never do. Just to make sure, I took about fifteen self-portraits:

And then I moved on to document the room. But only the really important stuff, like the clock:

Then I tried to take a picture of mommy reading. She looked up, which frustrated me. So I told her, "Read your book! Act natural."

Someday when I'm really, really, really old... say, eight.... I might change my mind and not like my mom posting about me anymore. She said she'd stop if I asked.

So, see? You don't need to worry about me at all.

My mom did say, though, that if you'd like to be "blog fodder" (whatever that is) that she's more than happy to use you. She says that anyone who collects poisonous plants and is a life-time member of the NRA is just begging for a blog post of his own.

I've got to go now. Important business to attend to - cartoons and all that.

Love your FAVORITE niece (or your only niece, whatever),

Bekah

ER Drama

2009-03-10T23:30:00.007+09:00

*** this post includes the word vomit***

I couldn't take it anymore. Something was seriously wrong with my child. The fourth time I cleaned vomit off my couch (within an hour) I called Steven and told him to come home. Then I took my kid to the emergency room.

A trip that lasted....

*drum roll*

SEVEN HOURS.

That would be seven hours of wait time. We're not talking IV bags or anything.

Let me break that down for you:

5 hours in the ER waiting room
2 hours in the back room
THEN Bekah and I saw a doctor for 10 minutes.

I guess I'm lucky that we didn't die.

Vomit Verdict: UTI and possible kidney infection.

We're seeing the doctor tomorrow for a follow-up on the dehydration. That is, if Bekah makes it through the night without vomiting.

*crossing fingers*

If she does vomit... I will be spending yet more hours at the ER. Any bets on how long it will take me to see a doctor? I might as well keep my appointment tomorrow afternoon. ;)

I do have to say, the doctor I saw was really nice. Not the first doctor -- I couldn't understand a single thing he said. NOT ONE WORD. But the second doctor was awesome. She told me that I needed to do an AFN commercial on how to take care of your kid and what warning signs to look for, because I did everything perfect and that was rare.

Ha. Well... It helps to go through it a few times.

I'm going to bed now. Night!

Sickness Silly

2009-03-10T08:35:00.007+09:00

Since yesterday's post caught most of my peeps off guard (and I don't know why it would because I always talk about gross stuff!) I'm giving you a warning that I shall again be discussing vomit - again.

**** fair warning*****

You still around?

Yesterday was a day of vomit... on the couch... all over the floor... Bekah never quite made it in the toilet. Not. Once.

*sigh*

So when she puked in her bed at 1am this morning that was my breaking point. I COULD NOT TAKE IT ANY MORE. I did what any good mother would do -- I woke up Steven and told him that he needed to take care of it.

Being the good man that he is, he did.

Bekah was whining and crying and carrying on. Steven put her in the bathroom to finish puking there. I could have told him it was a worthless move. We all know that she wasn't going to get it where it needed to go.

Of course, I would have missed this:

"Stand there... no there.... lean over the toilet... over the toilet!... make sure it goes in the toilet!... No, no, NO -- LEAN OVER THE TOILET!"

When Bekah was done she was crying about having vomit on her hand. Steven, who was stripping sheets at this point, told her to wash it off.

Um... that didn't work. More crying, more whining, some dribbling of water...

Steven marched into the bathroom and turned the faucet on full blast.

The next thing I heard was a very pissed off little girl. "Daddy, you made a mess!"

Peeps, I lost it. I was laughing so hard I had tears. I love that in her mind Daddy is the one making the mess.

The Value of Proper Instructions

2009-03-09T11:31:00.010+09:00

At 3am I was awakened by the sound of Bekah vomiting (well... vomiting, crying and generally acting like she was dying). When I got to help her out, I stopped -- too shocked for words -- at the bathroom door.

There she was, sitting on the toilet and puking on the floor. (!!!)

I was pissed. In hindsight it's pretty funny, but at that moment I was not pleased.

"Why are you puking on the floor?" It was more of an accusation than a question.

"I'm sick."

"Yeah, I got that part. Why on the floor?"

"I had to puke."

"Why aren't you puking in the toilet?"

"I needed something to sit on!"

I decided not to say anything at that point, and began to clean up her and the floor. Several minutes later she asked, "Why are you mad? You said if I needed to puke to go in the bathroom."

"And puke in the toilet!"

"You never told me that part."

Maybe not, but I had no idea I had to explain that!

I spent the rest of the night helping her. And now, guess what? I have a fever.

However, I will be vomiting in the toilet. Thankyouverymuch.

Night-re-Cap

2009-03-08T17:02:00.014+09:00

I'm missing margaritas with my girls. *sadness*

Steven has to work tonight. I was all set to go, with the babysitter lined up and everything, when Bekah got sick. And she is really, really sick, poor thing. She doesn't even want to play Wii or eat popcorn! And now she's asleep at 5:30. That places somewhere near death, I think.

I guess the universe is telling me that I need to finish the never-ending-rewrite-of-the-novel-of-headache (NERNH). With that in mind, I decided to listen and sweat out the pages this weekend. You know what? I'm kicking NERNH's butt! I'm almost done. If I can buckle down tonight, I should be finished by Tuesday.

Um, yeah. That's it. No margaritas, sickness, and writing.

And I've eaten an entire bag of sunflower seeds in a day and a half.

UPDATE: Bekah woke up. The Tylenol is not helping to bring down her fever. I put a cold cloth on her forehead which she left on for approximately 10 minutes before she declared that she couldn't wear it because it made her "shibber." Then she asked for sushi for dinner.

Not going to happen. However, I am quite proud to have corrupted her enough that sushi is her comfort food. She asks to have it for dinner nearly every night.

A Little Of Nothing

2009-03-07T18:11:00.001+09:00

It’s Saturday, right? The days are running together with frightening swiftness. Are we a week into March?! Already?

Wow.

What have I done lately?

I purchased the trip package. We’re officially going. The kids are jazzed. They keep asking every time we leave the house, “Is this China?” Uh, no.

Flashy Fiction is off to a good start. Man, I’m having fun with it. It gets my writing juices going when I write a piece of flash every morning. That’s part of the reason I blog, to start putting words together… those first couple of the day are always stressful.

Of course, I also use the blog to procrastinate – LIKE NOW! :D

I’m rewriting what I am now calling the never-ending-rewrite-of-the-novel-of-headache. Only this time, I’m having fun with it. At least, I’m trying to have fun with it. We shall see. It is far too soon to make that prediction. I’m stuck at the moment thinking: is this beginning big enough?

And can I just say, I have the best friends a girl can have. They rock. Every single one of them. I got so lucky. So lucky.

Spring Break

2009-03-06T14:16:00.002+09:00

So, um, what are you doing for spring break?

Me....

I'M GOING TO CHINA.

We're booking the trip tomorrow. I'm so excited!!!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No.... It's a BLOG!

2009-03-05T13:22:00.017+09:00

Yea! I have a new group blog. I'm so excited about it.

Introducing: FLASHY FICTION!

Here's the 411. Basically, it's a blog that offers flash fiction prompts. We provide the prompts and you leave flash fiction in the comments. How fun is that?!

There's 7 of us giving prompts:

Monday - Patti Tucker
Tuesday - Casey McCormick
Wednesday - Trish Doller
Thursday - ME!
Friday - Suzanne Young
Saturday - Christy Raedeke
Sunday - Amanda Morgan

The first prompt was just posted. Come by for the fun!

I Like Meat

2009-03-05T07:46:00.007+09:00

Sometimes life works so perfectly I can't help but think it's kismet.

For instance, I went out to lunch with my peeps yesterday and we had a lovely discussion involving, uh, vegetarianism and sporty dogs.

(It makes no sense, but go with me on this...)

That night Amy and her dog Rana left me a treat on their blog. OMG. I don't think I laughed so hard in a long time. It was one of those belly laughs where Steven looked over and asked, "WHAT are you laughing about?" Of course, when I answered, "A dog with a hair bow," he wasn't as amused as I was.

And then, when I checked Nerdfighters this morning there was the following embedded this video by Hank Green. It ties my life together so neatly. Like he knew about our discussion and wanted to be on my side!

Two notes of interest before you watch it:

1. There is a nod to Charity in it too! Or rather Cooper. Can you spot it?

2. He asks for mayonnaise and then uses Miracle Whip. Miracle Whip is NOT mayonnaise. It's a disgusting imitation of dog barf, as I assume they can't package real dog barf for health and legal reasons.

I love this video.

Jailbird

2009-03-03T10:06:00.007+09:00

My children adore me. They love to show me just how much, too. For instance, take this drawing Bekah made of me yesterday:

"See the long hair, Mommy? That's you. You're in jail."

I can't believe she would draw me in jail! "Why am I in jail? What did I do?"

"I don't know. It must be something bad. You better watch it!"

Uh, point taken. Is she trying to tell me something? Like I should give her more ice cream after dinner or she's going to call CPS? Geez.

They Crack Me Up

2009-03-02T15:25:00.004+09:00

I'm not quite sure what was funnier today:

(1) Bekah asking about Botox. And she was seriously asking with followup questions to make sure she understood why someone would shoot their face full of death.

or

(2) Seth getting off the bus with a stamp (They have three sticks each day. When they're bad they get a stick pulled. If they have any left at the end of the day they get a stamp). I made a comment as to how it was a good job he got one (it's rare).

He said, "I managed to hold on to that last stick." A sigh escaped his lips, telling me just how difficult it was.

"Yeah? You managed to hang on to it?" I teased.

"You have no idea."

PARTY!

2009-03-01T14:27:00.010+09:00

I think I'm going to officially retire my party shoes. I'm too old. My body doesn't bounce back the way it used to!

Last night Steven and I went to Charity's Birthday Bash. Lots of my peeps were there (Jess! Amy D! Amy H!) and I met some new ones (Kelly!!!).

Ugh... I consumed way too much alcohol. But it's really not my fault. Charity was practically holding my mouth open and shoving the bottle in. And besides, she was way more smashed than I was! Friends can't let friends be smashed alone. Though, Jess was right there with us. hee hee.

Charity posted pictures on Facebook. I'm sure they'll end up on her blog at some point.

Seth and Bekah were watched by my friend's oldest (Hi, Laura!). Bekah was very upset today when she found out Kelsey wouldn't be coming over again tonight. She said, "Mom, I want you to go away so that we can have some fun." Um, what? LOL

Needless to say, I was dragging this morning. Then my bedroom door opened and Steven appeared with coffee and Cinnabon (which he apparently ran to the shoppette to buy) in hand. I LOVE THAT MAN.

Now I feel somewhat better. Ready to start hacking away at a certain manuscript, at least. It's kind of fun to cut everything in the first chapter or so.

Smart

2009-02-28T15:41:00.004+09:00

My power of observation is somewhat lacking.

I've lived in Okinawa 10 months. You would think in that amount of time -- with all the takeout that I get! -- I would have noticed that in the disposable chopstick package they include a toothpick.

I didn't pick up on that until about 10 minutes ago when I threw out an empty chopstick wrapper and felt something inside along the seam.

It is pretty ingenious, though.

Link: Ticket Trauma

2009-02-27T07:46:00.003+09:00

A man is ticketed after saving lives. And the women whose life he saved are not ticketed.

WTH? I have no words. Remind me not to move to Denver.

Nerd Boys

2009-02-25T13:41:00.004+09:00

Two posts in one day -- it seems to be a theme with me. However, since I'm sick I have to find things to entertain myself and YouTube always cheers me up.

John Green made my day with this line: "Katie, I know that nerd boys don’t sparkle in the sunshine..."

Awesome! I wish that was on a T-shirt or something. I'd totally wear it.

All The Single Ladies!

2009-02-25T11:02:00.005+09:00

Sorry I haven't been around lately. I've been a bit under the weather since my parents left. I don't know if my body has been run down or what. But me and my bed, we've been getting cozy.

I am determined to get two (as of yet) illusive videos of Bekah. Every time she does one of these two things and I pull out the camera, she stops. It's getting frustrating.

One: Playing air guitar. Which makes me question where the heck she learned air guitar and I really need to buy Rock Band, she'd enjoy it.

Two: Her singing Beyonce "Put A Ring on It" complete with hip action. First of all... good gravy, she's four. Where does she learn this stuff from?! She does not watch MTV and I don't even own the song! Can someone explain to me how she knows the words?! Let alone knows the hip shakes that go with it?! I'm baffled. But it sure is hysterical.

Hum...

2009-02-21T11:16:00.007+09:00

Remember when I said that I wanted to get better at taking portraits? Part of my problem is the ~~snots~~ cute little kids that I have to work with. They don’t obey any direction that I give them. If I ask them to look at the camera… they look away. If I ask that they smile (because really, how simple can that be?)… they give me the “fake look.” If I say, “Chin down a little”… you guessed it: I get the chin pressed all the way down on their chest.

I have a feeling that every picture of their childhood is going to include a look of pain. *SIGH*

Maybe I need to practice on kids that are not my own. Perhaps they will listen better. Anyone want to let me borrow theirs? Or do you want to let me take your picture so that I can practice?

A little of this... A little of that...

2009-02-20T11:10:00.003+09:00

Let’s catch up on my life, shall we? I know, two posts in one day! Esh.

I’ve started reading Coraline to Bekah. I have no idea when (or even if) the theaters here will play it. I figure that I have enough time to read it with her before we see the movie version. What I wasn’t expecting was Bekah to sit quietly while I read. She’s really into it, too. Which is surprising. Well, maybe not. She is my daughter.

I also made it to the uniform store. Okay, don’t laugh when I tell you why I went there…

I wanted to get some all-weather paper and all-weather pens because I have a habit of writing while I’m in the tub. I don’t have the intention of doing it, I go in with a book, but eventually something will hit me and I’ll have to jot it down. And then (every stinking time!) I drop the paper and/or pen in the water. You have no idea how difficult it is to spread out the papers, wait until they dry and then try to decipher my scratching.

Worse, Steven makes fun of me. He doesn’t understand why I can’t remember something a half hour later when I’m out and dry. Apparently he hasn’t met our children. They’ve taken my cognitive recall from me.

The all-weather paper and pens are supposed to work in the rain – I don’t think the inventors were quite thinking being dunked in a tub. I can’t wait to try them out and see if they’ll work for me. Who else keeps paper and pens under your bathroom sink, raise your hand…

What?! Only me? All righty then, moving on…

I got a new computer. It is COOL-I-O. My husband didn’t understand why l needed a new laptop since my last one is 12” and weighs 2.5 pounds… But I ask you, how could I pass up this baby?! OMG! I’m in LOVE. It is SO TINY, SO LIGHT and can hold a charge for THREE HOURS on high battery usage!!!

Le sigh. Life is good.

And so it ends...

2009-02-20T09:26:00.005+09:00

My parents are gone. Steven left with them at 9:15 to take them to the airport. Since then, I've been kind of in a daze. Like the type you get when life throws you a bunch of curve balls and then there's a lull and your brain has sort of clicked off in the meantime. Yeah, like that.

Two weeks flew by. I can't believe it.

I'll miss seeing things like this:

That's Papa smoking his "smogar" and Bekah playing with his blackberry. If Papa wasn't on that thing, then Bekah was. She's miffed that I don't have an iPhone here like I did in the states and made a point to tell me that Papa's phone is better than mine since he can "play lots of games besides the nin-ernet and stuff."

At some point I need to start going through all the pictures I took. There are so many that it took three DVDs to burn them for my mom. I have an obsessive trigger finger.

Shurijo Castle

2009-02-16T11:33:00.012+09:00

Deztini's 50 random things

2009-02-14T11:26:00.002+09:00

This is my second cousin, Deztini. OMG. This video made me laugh so hard! I love her!!!

Compliments -- are a dish served cold

2009-02-14T11:06:00.003+09:00

Yesterday...

As we were leaving, Bekah looked at me. She gasped. "Mom, you look so beautiful!" There was a pause. "Like someone else. Not like you at all!"

Gee thanks, kid.

Yummy! -- Not

2009-02-13T09:07:00.009+09:00

I've noticed a few things since my parents have gotten here. Much of the annoying behavior my kids have is not inherited from me. It's from their Papa.

Like... eating everything in sight only to walk out of the restaurant and complain that they are starving. Yeah, so we've been eating a LOT of food.

And other things that I wouldn't consider food... like dried fish.

FYI, these things are nasty. I'm all about my kids trying things, but this takes it a bit too far. At least Papa tried it first:

Papa and the FISH from Heather on Vimeo.

Not to be outdone by Seth and Bekah who had to try them too.

Bekah and Seth eating the fish from Heather on Vimeo.

Turns out Bekah loves them. UGH! Of course, this should not come as a shock to anyone who knows her. She'll eat anything. For instance, shrimp roe... now there's a tasty treat.

Bekah eating shrimp roe sushi from Heather on Vimeo.

[I have no idea why when I post videos it doesn't show the comments. If you don't see a comment link at the bottom, you can click the title of the post (and scroll down) to get to the comments.]

Naughty, Naughty!

2009-02-10T10:20:00.003+09:00

My BFF, Suzanne, was interviewed for her new series, The Naughty List. And she gave a shout out to me! How cool is that?!

Pictures 411

2009-02-09T15:24:00.012+09:00

Thank you, peeps, for the compliments on my last set of pictures. I've been trying to work on my photography and editing skills since moving here. I was okay before, but with so much opportunity to practice I feel that I'm improving.

To answer the questions in that thread, I do have an SLR. I have two cameras: a Sony point & shoot (which I do have two lenses for, but have no ability to manually focus) and also a Canon Rebel XTI. I have an extra telephoto lens for that (I used that to take the up close pictures of the cherry blossoms and the bridge photo). For the most part, though, I use the stock lens. I'd love to upgrade to a better lens. However, before I do that I'd like to make sure my skills can make good use of it. :)

If you're looking for a camera, I recommend the Canon. There is a world of difference between a p&s and an SLR. For instance, this first pick was with my p&s:

Because there is no ability to manually focus, change settings, etc., these pictures tend to look flat.

The p&s cameras do have their uses, though. They're tiny and can fit into your purse. Which is why all of my restaurant photos (my sister says that's all the pictures I take!) are with that one. But they cannot get shots like these:

This bridge picture was taken with my Canon and my telephoto lens. I had a heck of a time getting everyone to look toward the camera at the same time while making sure I had a shot without other park visitors. It was nearly impossible. For that reason, I ended up having to blur certain parts of this photo (the guy in the wheelchair) so that your eye doesn't travel to him.

I've been also trying to work on my photography of people. I'm pretty good with nature and buildings... I kind of suck with people. I'm getting better.

Parents' Visit: Day Two

2009-02-08T21:10:00.011+09:00

I'm exhausted. I took these pictures today. I'm so in love with this island. I can't believe I live here!

Yogi Park:

Kokusai Street:

I took five hundred pictures today. My mom took... ten. Every one of them featured the kids. I have no idea how how she'd remember what Okinawa looks like if I wasn't her photographer. :)

Dun... Dun... DUUUUUUUUUN!

2009-02-06T11:26:00.010+09:00

My parents will be here tonight! I'm so excited. I would be more so if my house were perfect right now -- It will be. I just hate getting it to that point.

ANYWAY...

Remember how I said that my dad emails me and/or sends me pictures everyday? He apparently was bored this morning at the airport. I got several random emails, including this one:

We are at the airport. Early as usual. First ones here. No plane even. Mom thinks I'm nuts. It was a pain packing. I have 41 lbs. Will you wash my underwear? See you soon. Papa

GROSS! Seriously, I hadn't even consumed my first cup of coffee when I read that. The last thing I wanted to do was think about my dad's underwear. Even now I'm vomiting in the back of my throat.

Then two emails later (yes, TWO more emails because he can't sent just one like a normal person), he sent me a picture of my mom:

Isn't she cute? Well, except for the blurriness of the picture. Every other one my dad takes is blurry.

I told my mom (REPEATEDLY!) to get a eReader. They travel way too much for her to be carrying around books. Maybe after this plane flight she'll listen to me. Although, she said that she was bringing me Neil Gaiman's Coraline. I can't wait -- And she better have remembered!

That means for the next two weeks you'll be getting one of two things, either lots and lots of pictures as we explore the island -- Or nothing because I'll be away from the computer.

Some People Really Need A Gag

2009-02-04T15:43:00.008+09:00

Remember when your mother told you, "If you can't say anything nice..."

Can you finish that sentence?

Heather wrote me an email and asked if I'd read the interview where Stephen King said that "Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

Am I surprised? No. Don't you remember when he said:

I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got, the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's, it's not as bright. So, that's my little commercial for that.

[VIDEO CLIP]

So now, not only am I married to someone who is not bright -- I am not bright either for enjoying reading Meyer.

Nice.

Mommy's Helper

2009-02-04T10:34:00.002+09:00

Bekah: Mommy, you can't go in the kitchen anymore.

Me: Why?

Bekah: Because I mopped it.

I should tell her that next time she should use Pine-Sol and not just water, but I'm afraid that she really would use it and make more of a mess than she did. ;)

Hum...

2009-02-03T10:45:00.004+09:00

I thought this was hilarious, so I had to share. I was checking my accounts and saw this for my credit card:

(click to make larger)

Balance: $140.65
Minimum Payment:$139.00

What the...?!?!

I'm going to pay off the balance anyway, but that's not the point! The point is, it's a credit card. If I wanted to be forced to pay off the balance every month, I'd have gotten an American Express!

And I LOVE how they left off the $1.65. What's up with that?!

Wells Fargo is dumb.

Take 2: Cherry Blossom Festival

2009-02-02T09:18:00.019+09:00

I finally (!!!) got the pictures edited and uploaded. I worked on them for about three hours yesterday and then again today for about another three. I started thinking about it and realized that if I didn't get them up before my mom and dad got here at the end of the week, I'd never get them done! I'm sure I'll be taking lots more pictures when they get here.

This is the link to all 122 of them. There are LOTS more so be glad I culled it down. Ha! I have a very heavy trigger finger.

Included in the set are funny family (and friend) shots like this:

And our kids got their pictures taken again (like they always do!). It's super funny.

This time Seth took one of his own (it's one of my favorite shots of the day):

There are also a lot of festival shots:

Enjoy!

Cherry Blossom Festival – Nago City, Okinawa

2009-02-01T11:28:00.005+09:00

I took hundreds of pictures yesterday. Some were AWESOME. It’s going to take me some time to edit and upload them. Plus, Steven’s taking the kids bowling today so that I can have some writing time by myself. I don’t want to waste it!

Until I can get them edited and uploaded, I’ll leave you with a few to tide you over.

Aren’t cherry blossoms beautiful?

Can we take your picture?

2009-01-31T09:41:00.009+09:00

On Thursday the girls’ lunch this week was at Jai Thai in American Village. It was pretty good. I’d go back. They seem to be a popular restaurant with the American set.

Charity and Bekah stopped for some picture taking:

Jai Thai is located right by the noodle place where Charity and I had our first “date.” I had joked with her the night before that we should get our picture taken there. I know better than to ever joke with Charity because she takes it as a dare and then we have to do it. So we did.

And then… There were some Judo players who fell in LOVE with Phoebe (Amy's daughter). I get that, she’s a doll. They started taking pictures of her, and then of Bekah. They did ask first, so that’s good. In the end there were about seven of them who kept posing with the baby. Ha!

This girl – she wanted to take our picture for us. This is what we got:

(L to R: Jessica, Me, Bekah, Charity, Amy and Phoebe)

How much do I love that it’s off center?! LOL!!!!!

And finally (after we were able to get away from all the crazy pictures being taken) we left. On our way home Charity said, “What a pretty rainbow!”

“What rainbow?” I honestly had no idea where she was looking.

“That rainbow.”

“Where?”

“Are you KIDDING ME?! You can’t see that rainbow? It’s HUGE!”

And then I did and was sort of embarrassed.

In other news: Here are some pictures of my new bedroom furniture. It came yesterday. Yea! The last one is of the kids’ playroom where we stuffed all the government furniture until we can return it on Monday. They’re not happy about their playroom being taken over.

I'm Sorry

2009-01-30T12:53:00.003+09:00

I was going through Seth's homework folder and found this apology letter:

I asked him, "What did she do?"

"I have NO IDEA."

Hahaha. Obviously it scarred him for life.

That's a good kid, though, to write an apology letter. She must have good parents.

Crash and Burn

2009-01-28T09:22:00.009+09:00

I try to be nothing if not transparent (to a point) on this blog. In that regard, I thought that I would give you a night in the life of me.

Steven came home and wanted to try a new restaurant for dinner. No specific restaurant, just one we haven't been to before. Okay, whatever, I'm game.

First off, some people had to change because they had dressed themselves that morning:

Steven observed that, "She certainly has the hobo look down." Heh.

Before we got to wherever we were going (at that point it was undecided), I wanted to hit a store that I've been eyeing. The kids were awful in the back of the car and I gave them the camera to keep them somewhat entertained.

In the end, the kids were acting so crazy that I didn't want to try anywhere new. It's one thing to take them on base, and another to take them out around the well behaved Japanese kids while they're acting like hooligans.

We decided on Macaroni Grill. The fact that I wanted pasta and chocolate cake tipped the scale.

Seth got a pizza -- which he ate upside down. I have no idea why. According to him, it tastes better that way.

The kids were all right during dinner. Even so, I came to a point where I realized, I haven't had a girls' weekend in a LONG time. I said as much to Steven and indicated that I was going to go on vacation by myself. Seth declared that he's going with me "just to bug me."

Mac Grill 2009.01.27 from Heather on Vimeo.

After dinner, Bekah and I were waiting for Seth to finish using the restroom. Bekah had a bit too much sugar. THIS is the reason I don't feed my kids desert very often. I was just saying, "You do realize we're in a restaurant" when this happened:

Crash and Burn from Heather on Vimeo.

Every time Bekah sees this video she says, "Mommy, that really hurted." And she blames the restaurant. Clearly, they're at fault!

Never fear, she's okay:

Then we came home (after buying an overpriced Tivo) and I was in bed by 9pm.

The end.

eReaders

2009-01-28T07:36:00.002+09:00

I posted my article on eReaders (it's too long to copy!). I thought I should let you all know, since you asked. You can leave a question here or there, if you have one.

Not Good

2009-01-26T15:30:00.001+09:00

I’ve been suffering from a headache all day (this is my excuse for the dumb move I just pulled).

I randomly looked at the clock. The time read five minutes AFTER the bus was supposed to be here. I literally took off running – without shoes.

Poor Bekah didn’t know what the heck was going on. I screamed, “I’ll be back”… Um, I think I did, at least. Maybe I was having a Terminator flashback, I don’t know.

Anyway, I ran my shoeless heart out. The bus was about to pull away, but the bus monitor saw me. THANK GOD.

The first thing out of Seth’s mouth was, “Hey, where’s your shoes? I thought we weren’t allowed to be outside without shoes?”

Uh, yeah.

Now my feet hurt and my head hurts even worse.

“Libby says, ‘Hi’”

2009-01-26T09:10:00.008+09:00

I wasn’t on the computer yesterday so I have a whole lot of randomness stored up. You ready for it? Here we go…

This morning I was trying to find Seth’s bus pass in his black hole of a backpack. When found it, Seth was impressed. “How’d you find it?”

I smiled. “I’m just that good.”

“Well… You’re not the best in the whole world.”

“Excuse me? Of course I am!”

“No, Daddy is.”

Steven’s got those kids brainwashed!!! It’s terrible. Isn’t that a form of child abuse, or something?

***
Last night was the season opener of LOST.

[I’m not going to complain (too much) that it takes forever to see things on AFN, mostly because I’m so happy that they’re showing LOST. There are many television shows that they don’t bother to include in their programming, like Grey’s Anatomy.]

Anyway…. OMG. Did anyone see it? Anna Lucia?! And… “Libby says, ‘Hi’” !!!!!! Who was the old lady in the church? She looked familiar but I can’t place her. I need to know!

ETA: Old lady was Ms. Hawking. I KNEW I recognized her!!!

***
This weekend Steven and I cleaned out The Pit (AKA the play room). Not fun. We organized all the toys and then to ensure that the same problem will stop repeating itself we came up with a solution:

Improvise, adapt and overcome.

Those kids will not beat us down. Oh, no. Mommy WILL have a clean house.

ETA: I forgot to tell you, click on the picture of the closet doors and see who's learned to write his name quite well. ON THE DOOR, peeps! Ugh. There is plenty of paper around here, believe me. Why is he writing on the door?!

And finally, this was me and my littlest monkey this morning:

See ya!

Minty Goodness

2009-01-23T10:34:00.003+09:00

It’s the little things that make me happy, especially living overseas. I’ve been craving peppermint tea so bad. The commissary didn’t carry it (of course!), so I’ve been on the lookout for it close to seven months now.

On Wednesday after our weekly lunch date, Charity and I were driving by a store and I said that I’d wanted to go inside that store for quite some time. The traffic had us backed up to the entrance of the parking lot – it seemed fortuitous, so we stopped.

Guess what I found? Peppermint tea. I am one happy girl.

This Morning

2009-01-22T12:53:00.004+09:00

Seth grabbed his lunchbox out of the fridge. "I don't want to forget this. Lunch at school today is gross."

"Why?"

"It's spaghetti." You could substitute 'booger sandwich' and you'd get just about the same expression.

"Ah."

He packed his lunchbox in his backpack, and then asked, "What are you making for dinner?"

"Spaghetti."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Today

2009-01-21T10:06:00.011+09:00

Things I should be doing:

Typing in the writing I did longhand at Starbucks last night.

Getting ready for my lunch date (I don't want to go without makeup, it might scare people!)

Getting Bekah dressed and ready.

Uh... folding laundry. *shudder*

Mopping the kitchen floor.

Figuring out my dinner menu and grocery list.

What I am doing:

Shopping for books at Fictionwise! It's a 60% rebate sale, can you blame me? And I am working on that eReading article. My goal is to get it posted by next Wednesday.

Speaking of books, I started Septumus Heap Bk 1: Magick last night. It's pretty good so far. I'm enjoying it. I put the rest of the series on my buy list. I can't just read the first one! I've got to find out what happens.

Oooh, and it's been a long time since I brought you an installment of my fashion advice, hasn't it? Well, last night at Starbucks I noticed something that should NEVER be repeated.

This lady walked in wearing all black...

In my opinion, all black is a good look. I wear it all the time. HOWEVER, she made two mistakes.

1. She wore a hair scrunchy. Do we need to have a discussion that hair scrunchies are only to be used in the bathroom to tie back your hair in order to wash your face? Do NOT wear them out of the house.

I could forgive that, if not for...

2. She was wearing black capris with --

[Capris are a tricky item of clothing to wear. You must always pair them with shoes that are delicate and strappy, preferably with a heel so that your leg does not look stumpy.]

--She was wearing black capris with BROWN CLOG MULES.

The only brown item of the whole outfit -- and they were mules! Ick. People.

What have we learned today?

Heather is a serious procrastinator who has an unhealthy addiction to books.

Fictionwise is having a sale.

Do NOT wear scrunchies out of the house.

If wearing all black (especially with black capris), brown clog mules are not the best shoe choice.

6 Things I Loved this Morning

2009-01-20T10:59:00.006+09:00

Casey tagged me with the six things I love. Quite honestly, I hate tags. And this one is especially hard - only six things? Everything in my life makes me happy (except laundry and cleaning bathrooms) so...

How about I list the six things that made me happy from the time I woke up an hour ago?

The rules are as follows: link to the person who tagged you; write down six things that make you happy; post the rules; tag six others and let them know you have done it; tell the person who tagged you when your entry is up.

1. Steven's off of work today so he let me sleep in and he took the kid to the bus stop.

2. COFFEE! Steven made me some when I got up. MMMM... I love me some coffee.

3. A day ahead of me with nothing to do. I could work -- I mean, YES, I'M GOING TO WRITE.

4. Twitter, Facebook and Blogger (technically, I guess that should be 4, 5 and 6). I love me some online socializing. You peeps make me laugh.

5. Getting a friend to switch to eReading. That put a BIG ol' smile on my face. I'm a 100% eReader and I LOVE it. It really is the only option when living on this island if you want books ASAP.

6. My dad sent me a picture email this morning from his blackberry. He sends them everyday. They crack me up. Today's was of Lola.

Only two more weeks until my parents are here!

TWILIGHT - Movie Night Recap

2009-01-18T19:00:00.009+09:00

Yesterday I was going to do a recap of my girl's night out. However, Blogger wouldn't let me upload pictures.

BAD, BLOGGER! BAD!

Today I was running around and when I came home, Charity had already blogged the scoop - complete with pictures. Aren't they cute?

That's because she stole them off my Facebook page!!! Just so we're all clear that Charity is a picture thief. ;)

I shall add a few items of interest to her observations.

Tara and Joelle were there with like... 50 kids (okay, more like 11 or so, but still, it seemed like 50). It was totally obvious that they had NO IDEA what they'd gotten themselves into. It was sort of cute that they were scared of the crazies (ahem, me). Their kids were screaming before the movie... "OMG... OMG... OMG..." OF COURSE, I was right there screaming with them.

The BEST part was when Edward told Bella that he'd been in her room for the last three months and then one of the girls that were with Tara and Joelle gave a hissed, "STALKER!" That was AWESOME, I've got to say.

And then Charity was complaining about how crappy the movie was (it is, but anyway...), then she pauses and says, "I sure hope the next three are WAY better, because I'm totally going to see them." HAHAHAHA!!!

SPARKLY

2009-01-16T08:48:00.002+09:00

I have a hot date tonight. I’m going out with my posse (Charity, Heather, Jessica and Laura) to dinner and a movie.

Why???

BECAUSE IT’S OPENING NIGHT OF TWILIGHT!

And you know how crazy I am about Twilight. And how I’ve been counting down the days to see the movie.

[Rant: Stupid Okinawa movie theater that shows the move TWO MONTHS LATE. Don’t they understand the there are people who really want to see it?!]

Here’s how excited I am… I went out and bought a new shirt so that I could look cute. I want to be prepared in case there are any hot vampires hiding in the theater. You never know…

Of course, it is cold. Two jackets over the top might ruin the look. But, hey, I did try.

TEAM JACOB!

This is what happens

2009-01-14T20:23:00.003+09:00

When you have a mother who buys really weird food from all over Okinawa and makes you try it…

Blueberry, please.

2009-01-13T14:44:00.005+09:00

I was going to blog about my fun day yesterday, but Charity already did it. Why reinvent the wheel?

Instead I'll talk about something totally random.

I read this week's PostSecret and I started dying laughing when I read this one:

Hahahahaha!

My Mr. Smarty-pants husband would say that because he thinks he's a funny guy. Ha!

The question to the secret person is... Why would you ask him something like that? You obviously knew how he was going to respond.

Happy 6th Birthday, Seth!

2009-01-12T08:27:00.005+09:00

It is impossible to take pictures of Seth when he doesn't want to take them. He won't stand still and wiggles. Plus, it was really cold. His teeth were chattering, poor thing.

He wanted to know why were were taking pictures.

I said, "I take a picture every year on your birthday."

"Hurry up and get it over with!"

I did and ended up with these less than stellar shots.

Birthday 2008

Birthday 2007

In 2006 I didn't post his B-day picture (here's one from a couple days before), but this was the year that I messed up his cake.

Marriage Vs. Mommyhood

2009-01-11T13:19:00.002+09:00

I got nothing today. I think I'm too hopped up on Cinnabon to make a coherent post.

BTW - Cinnabon is evil.

So why don't we have an open forum discussion today? I haven't done this before, so we'll see if anyone participates. You do NOT have to have an account to leave a comment. Nor do you have to use your real name. I'm all for being anonymous, if that's what you prefer.

This article from Dooce got me thinking. Heather (Dooce, Heather) was saying that she found raising children to be much harder than marriage and then was surprised when no one agreed with her.

Well... I agree.

Marriage is work, sure. BUT. I must have missed the memo where it's really hard work. Because I don't feel like it is.

With a marriage you can have conversations, with an adult, where you tell the other person your thoughts, feelings and what you need from them.

With kids... I'm talking to a wall. They don't care how you feel or what you want. They're going to do their own thing anyway.

What do you think?

Friday Movie Night

2009-01-10T12:16:00.008+09:00

Last night:

Friday Movie Night 2009.01.09 from Heather on Vimeo.

Sorry about the video going out of focus. The car was moving and it's digital, so it loses focus as we drive.

Take note of the part where Steven is severely sucking up to my parents. Sick.

And a couple of pictures:

Hell has FROZEN over...

2009-01-10T10:07:00.002+09:00

My mom joined facebook. I. KNOW.

I'm her only friend right now. She needs some friends! Everyone, go friend her!

And this is where I came from...

2009-01-09T10:10:00.004+09:00

I was talking to my mom today. Remember when I blogged that she follows my life through Charity? She's in love with Charity. It's Charity this... Charity that... "Charity is so funny."

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Then she said, "Did you read what she wrote about your lumpy boobs? It's the Fergie song. Have you heard the Fergie song? Just sing the lumpy boobs with it. My humps, my humps, my lumpy, bumpy humps..."

*Dying*

"Did you just sing Fergie to me?! How the hell do you know what a Fergie song is?"

My mom laughed. "Of course I know Fergie. I didn't think you would."

"Seriously, Mom, I have a headache now."

My dad walked into the room and told my mom, "Ask her if the kids have the playroom clean. I know that the rest of the house is clean, I read it on her blog."

My head exploded. "Dad reads my blog?!"

I recovered somewhat and told her, "You know I'm blogging this, right?"

Her response, "Don't you dare do that! I don't want people knowing I can sing Fergie."

I've decided that I'm "lunching" everyday

2009-01-08T16:17:00.004+09:00

I went to lunch with the girls -- to a sushi and pancake place. It was yummers.

You'd think that would be the highlight of my day... but it wasn't.

After lunch, I came home to a CLEAN HOUSE!

OH! YES! I! DID!

My husband ROCKS.

Facebook

2009-01-08T09:30:00.002+09:00

Holy Moly! Is the whole world on Facebook and I didn't know it?! Sheesh!!!

I've signed up. And seriously, I'm bugging out at how many people I know who have accounts.

Find me.

I'm working on figuring it all out right now. Um... yeah.

Another thing to suck up my time!

How'd you find me?

2009-01-07T19:29:00.008+09:00

I haven't talked about how people stumble on to my blog in quite a while. Mostly because the searches weren't that interesting. For instance, I get a bizarre amount of Google hits from "Midnight Sun draft copy." -- Here was that post.

PEOPLE. Go to Stephenie Meyer's site. It really isn't that difficult to find. Promise!

But then... Something odd has been happening lately. People are suddenly becoming concerned about caffeine and lumpy breasts -- Here was that post.

I'm getting at least two searches a week with those tag words.

Weirder... I'm hit number THREE on Google (this was a search done three days ago by someone):

How's that for lumpy boobs, huh? It's like I'm famous or something.

Tonight I looked at my sitemeter and there's another one! Only this time it's from "Yahoo UK & Ireland." I've gone international, baby!

Even better, I'M NUMBER ONE! Woo hoo!

I'm the Queen of lumpy boobs!

Are you jealous?!

She's still four, right?

2009-01-05T09:03:00.006+09:00

Bekah asked if she could put on a movie. I said yes.

I waited for her to find one and ask me to start it...

And then.

I heard the movie playing.

Wait? What?

I went over to the TV... She'd switched everything: the TV, the tuner and she'd even put in the DVD and started it. CORRECTLY, I might add.

I was in shock. "You know how to switch it all over to a movie?" Sheesh. Sometimes even I have a hard time figuring it out!

She gave me the look... MY look. The look that I give Steven when I'm patiently (or impatiently) telling him something, but really thinking, do you think I'm stupid, or something? It's very uncomfortable having that look thrown back at you.

Her eyebrows were raised and her head dipped slightly forward, so she was looking up from underneath her eyelashes. "I know how to press all the buttons." Then... she rolled her eyes at me.

!!!

Well. That sure told me, didn't it?

My Bekah

2009-01-03T16:16:00.003+09:00

"I want to stay up all night!" from Heather on Vimeo.

Liquid Lemon from Heather on Vimeo.

Lunch Meat

2009-01-02T14:52:00.002+09:00

Purchased YESTERDAY from Lester Shoppette:

EXPIRATION DATE: October 3, 2008

The Sheriff Restaurant

2009-01-02T13:35:00.003+09:00

Why did I randomly capitalize "pizza"? I don't know. And I'm too lazy to change it. :D

Christmas Morning...

2009-01-01T23:14:00.004+09:00

I wasn't going to post these...

My family has a tradition, we take pictures every Christmas morning. Early. After we just rolled out of bed (read: no makeup and nasty hair). Before we open presents. I hate this because I always looks pathetic. And trust me, I have a Christmas morning picture for every year of my life -- and it only gets worse.

I checked... I've been smart enough (up to this point) to NEVER do a blog post that includes the "Christmas Morning" picture.

Why am I doing it now? (yeah, good question...) I feel bad because our families didn't see us at Christmas. It's worth a little humiliation to share our morning (well, maybe not, but I'm doing it anyway!).

Seth wanted the "reindeer picture." I'm not quite sure what Bekah's doing.

I'm TWITTERING!

2009-01-01T15:45:00.001+09:00

Find me.

Heather_Hansen

Perhaps my life is too “out there”

2009-01-01T13:31:00.004+09:00

I was talking to my mom about my parents’ upcoming trip to Okinawa (OMG! I’m so excited!), and I said, “Too bad you’re coming in February. I don’t know if the cherry blossoms will still be here – we’re pretty far south and they might be gone by then. Did I tell you? I’m going to the Cherry Blossom Festival with Charity and her husband. I’m SO EXCITED.”

There was a pause, then my mom said, “Um… actually… I already knew that. I read it on Charity’s blog.”

My mom’s a stalker! “It’s good to know you keep up with my business.”

***

Did you all have a fun New Year ’s Eve? Steven and I stayed home with the kids. It was fun. And NO DRINKING – at all. Steven says it’s a first for him. Heh. He has duty all day today, so…

However, he did buy cream soda in glass bottles and was walking around like he was drinking beer. I thought it was cute.

He wasn’t the only one pretending. We bought the kids Martinelli’s and let them drink it in my good stemware. When Bekah was done with hers, she asked for, “More yine, please.”

“Wait,” I was flabbergasted, “You think I’m giving you wine?”

“Um, hum. I love when you let me drink yine.”

Fantastic. “Can we not share this? Let’s not go around telling people that mommy let’s you drink wine, okay?”

“Okay. Can I have more yine now?”

And we were in bed by 11pm. Yeah, BIG celebration over here! Ha.

At midnight, when people were blowing air-horns and the fireworks went off, a half-asleep Steven leaned over, kissed me and then groggily said, “Happy New Year’s,” only to fall back asleep again within seconds.

*grin*

When did we get old?

***
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope you all have a very happy 2009!!!

Do you Tweet?

2008-12-31T17:07:00.014+09:00

I've been thinking a lot about Twitter.

For those of you not in the "know," Twitter is sort of like a blog/ Instant Messenger / place to dump random thoughts. The tweets are limited in characters -- usually each entry is only a sentence or two.

At first I was like... whatever, not my thing.

Then I started following a few Twitter feeds. I put them on my Google Reader... and sort of became addicted to them. Because it's hilarious to read someone's random thoughts.

So the question is, should I twitter? Because random thoughts, I'VE GOT SOME OF THOSE!!! If I had an account, these would have been today's tweets:

DUUUUUUDE. Just put your pants on already!

I need a cookie.

Is this day ever going to end?

NAP!!!

So you see, maybe I'm too random for twitter. If someone read those tweets they'd be like, who is this crazy chick?! For shizzle.

What if... what if I decide to twitter and no one reads it?! Now THAT would be embarrassing.

Maybe I'd better stick with blogging. Or should I give in and tweet? I can't decide. I need a poll.

OOOOOOOHHHH! That's what I'll do!

(Can you tell I'm thinking of all this stuff as I write it? -- It's 100% on-the-fly
blogging).

Okay... ~~I'm putting a poll in the sidebar!!!!!!~~ PLEASE VOTE!

EDITED:

~~Blogger poll did not work... I'm embedding one in the post.~~

2nd EDIT:

I have no idea why the poll hates me. I'll leave the HTML in just in case it decides to show up. If it doesn't, these were the choices:

To TWEET or not to TWEET, that is the question...

A) Hellz ya, rock it!
B) Nah, it's dumb
C) Twitter? What is Twitter? Is that like a burrito?
D) What are you, TWELVE? Don't give in to the dark side!

casino free polls

Blot Thoughts

2008-12-30T14:27:00.002+09:00

I feel like I haven't updated in forever.
Busy.

Off the computer for two days...
Lots of stuff written in longhand.
Need to transcribe. YUCK.

A horrific amount of emails to catch up on.
Don't want to mess with it now.

I put Seaberry in the header...
Because I'm in a Seaberry kind of mood.

Anyone want to draw a cartoon picture of me for my header?
I'll give you credit in the sidebar.

Things that make you go: HUM

2008-12-28T15:21:00.003+09:00

I don’t know what it is about the New Year that makes me so introspective.

Yesterday Steven was playing WoW (shock!) and said that Andy and Kim wanted to go to dinner.

[Andy and Kim are the neighbors who play WoW with Steven. It takes 1.5 minutes to walk from my front door to theirs and yet, we only interact with them online. Does anyone want to make a comment about that? Go ahead, I know you want to.]

I said, “Sure!” Anything to get me out of cooking dinner and I’m all for it!

When we got to the restaurant I was informed that it wasn’t going to be a dinner with just Andy and Kim, but with another online player and his wife (who I hadn’t met yet). I didn’t mind that the group was larger than I thought it would be - it just caught me off guard.

Had I known it was going to be a WoW convention, I would have worn my Blood Elf costume. Of course, I usually save that for when I’m battling my Mage in our dungeon… er, bedroom. So it probably wouldn’t have been appropriate.

[Ignore crass WoW humor.]

The wife ended up being delightful. I really liked her. When we left, I told Steven as much.

He said, “I knew you would like her.”

“Why’s that?”

“She’s the type personality you’re attracted to. Loud. Opinionated. Funny.”

I hadn’t really thought about it till then. He’s right, of course. I am attracted to women who are those things. And while I do have a number of friends who are quieter and more reserved, those friendships are the ones that take me a while to build. The “instant connection” friends are the ones who have the bigger personalities.

So why is that? Not that it’s a bad thing – not at all. I just find myself reflecting on it today. Why am I drawn to that? And its women only, make no mistake. The men I dated who had big personalities never worked out. As a matter of fact, opinionated men really turn me off and I can’t stand being around them.

Steven can have a big personality (especially if drunk - *ahem*), but for the most part, he’s the go-to guy for my calmness and serenity.

Why do I seek the opposite in female friendships?

There’s no answer to this, obviously. I’m just throwing it out there…

Best Line From A Movie EVER

2008-12-27T22:38:00.007+09:00

(I know, I'm a little late. I finally saw this movie for the first time tonight!)

From: Horton Hears A Who

"In my world everyone is a pony, and they eat rainbows and poop butterflies."

Think of the possibilities for that sentence. It could be the best comeback to the most mundane questions...

Q: What are you doing today?
A: Pooping butterflies.

Q: What's for dinner?
A: Rainbows!

Q: What time is it?
A: Neigh. I'm a horse, I can't read a clock.

Seriously. My life is complete now. You do realize, this is going to be my ongoing joke -- for at least a YEAR. It's just that good.

Neigh.

2008 Recap

2008-12-26T12:05:00.027+09:00

Dear 2008,

Wow, what a year we've had. You sure took me on a roller coaster this year, buddy! I started this post thinking that I'd pick a few wacky posts per month, make it something fun... but while doing it, I realized, that you really screwed me.

Perhaps I'm more positive than I thought. Because I never really saw the impact you made on my life this year, until I went back and saw it all laid out for me. I had been thinking, "Why am I in such a funk?" Uh, yeah. Now I know. And knowledge is half the battle because I will come back swinging next year.

What do you mean you don't know what I'm talking about? Here, let me show you...

JANUARY started off with a messy house and blowing pizza chunks out our nose. Starting the year off sick -- I should have known how the rest of it was going to go! And let's not forget Seth reminding me of the pecking order in this family.

FEBRUARY rolled around. Big things happened that month -- things that have now changed and I removed the link. IT WAS A GOOD MONTH. A REALLY GOOD MONTH. Looking back on it now, I kinda feel like this.

MARCH dawned clear and sunny... Life was very much the same then as it is now: my husband is addicted to WoW, I overindulge in sweets when stressed, the overuse of the word "totally" is still in high swing, and no one yet has a clear understanding of their job!

Items of note: I started Rewrite #1 in early March.

APRIL. Hum... let's see...

In April Seth and Bekah went on a boat for the first time. And I still think I'm sort of mean for enjoying the video of Bekah screaming.

Then everything started changing. We found out that we were getting orders to Okinawa (only three months before leaving!), that I needed to do another revision and we had to give away our dogs. I'm not sure what was more devastating. It's all sort of a blur to me, even now.

MAY. Bekah had a UTI on Mother's Day. -- you know, I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. What is up with all this sickness?!

OH! And the best ever... I was told I had lumpy boobs! That was awesome. I admit to some paranoia about it now, and give myself a breast exam daily. I only think that I have a cancerous mass every third day now, so I'm making progress.

JUNE. A LOT happened this month. I am reminded that I have a "great husband" -- and a funny one too. Aunt Amy had her baby and Bekah named him Indiana Jones. The 57 died days before we got on the plane for Okinawa. Finished revision #2 and sent it. Left for Japan...

JULY. I shall call this the month of adjusting to Okinawa life. Started revision #3.

AUGUST. Flew back home to be in my sister's wedding... and then ROYALLY SCREWED UP the return flight. Um... and remember that link in January where Seth told me where I rated in the family? Apparently, he had to remind me in August. We got our first visit from a gecko -- little did we know that it was a female who was going to produce LOTS of babies!

SEPTEMBER. Uh... I messed up Seth's first day of Kindergarten. Oops. But I did manage to get him there on the real first day.

OCTOBER. Learned an interesting fact about nutrition that I was unaware of. Sent Revision #3. Can't forget to include a picture of what I see from my desk. More interesting stuff Seth learned at school. A GECKO LANDED ON MY HEAD. And I learned how to overcome the language barrier. Phew. It was a busy month!

NOVEMBER. Lots of sickness -- it's not even worth picking out the posts. I put nasty things like this in my mouth - YUCK! Rereading that post made me taste it again in the back of my throat. I pretty much just gagged.

The breakup (as coded in the first paragraph of this post) -- you knew it was coming, didn't you? Look at how many times I rewrote the book... We didn't work well together. Sigh.

DECEMBER. Steven continues to make me laugh. Sickness... starting and ending the year with it. I declare NO SICKNESS in 2009! I'm feeling pressure to procreate, but I will not give in.

2009 will be my year. How do I know? Because I'm making it so. My success (or failure) depends on me and I WILL NOT BACK DOWN. Of course, if Santa wants to leave me a late Christmas gift, I won't complain.

2008, you tried... but you can't keep me down. I will return, better than ever.

Love, Heather

***
Dear 2009,

It's you and me now. We're going to rock this year. Take no prisoners! Accept no defeat!

This is OUR YEAR!

GOALS:

1. NO SICKNESS.
2. New Agent
3. Book deal (!!!)

Think you can handle it?

Love, Heather

AIRMAIL: North Pole

2008-12-24T13:44:00.005+09:00

Dear Santa Claus,

How are you doing, big guy? Mrs. Claus well? The reindeer okay? Biltzen recovering from that cold? Did Cupid get through that nasty divorce? Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have mediated that. You know better. I tried to tell you…

Anyway, I’m writing about business this time. My business. Yes, it’s that time of year again when I drop you a note to let you know what I’d like for Christmas.

Erm, I realize it’s the 24th. Sorry about that. Time sort of slipped from me this year. Mother Nature decided to gift us with lots and lots of colds and flu's in the last few weeks. I have no idea what I did to piss her off. If you see her, you tell that b****

*Ahem*

You tell her, that I am so sorry for whatever I did. I promise not to squish any huge brown Okinawa spiders when I see them in my house. Heck, I even give the geckos free room and board! I will be a better partner with nature, I swear. Just tell her to lay off the sickness.

Oh, right. This was about my Christmas list. I forgot.

Santa, I ask for the same gift every year. You know the one I’m talking about.

DON’T ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME! You might think you answered me last year, but that didn’t work out. It’s not my fault. Sometimes two people aren’t compatible – and we weren’t.

Sigh.

Can I have another chance? Please? Yes, I want a Christmas miracle.

Yours devotedly,

Heather

Chicken: The White Meat

2008-12-23T19:44:00.003+09:00

I'm on the computer, minding my own business...

Seth (the 5-year-old Lothario) comes in the room. He throws his arms around me and starts to nuzzle my face and kiss my cheeks. "Hello, Darling." Kiss... Kiss... Kiss... "I love you so much."

What's he up to? "I love you too."

"So, Sweetheart..." he kisses me again.

Now I'm really suspicious. "What do you want?"

"What's for dinner, my sweet mommy?"

"Chicken."

"CHICKEN?! I HATE CHICKEN!!!! WHY ARE WE HAVING CHICKEN?!"

Stage Whispers

2008-12-23T10:17:00.004+09:00

Last night I was in bed and I heard someone (*ahem* Steven) flip on and off the light switch to the hallway. And then again... and then again... and then seventeen more times. Until I finally yelled, "It doesn't work, the light is burned out!"

There was a pause, and then he tried it two more times, as if (a) he was testing my theory and (b) the last nineteen times he flipped it, and the light didn't come on, must have been a fluke.

Then he stopped.

From across the hall I heard Bekah use a loud whisper, "Hey Seth, the light's burned out."

"I know."

"But why is it burned out?"

Seth gave a long exasperated sigh, as I imagine any five-year-old would when explaining the intricacies of life to their four-year-old sister. "Because we need a maid."

And the PACT shall commence...

2008-12-21T11:46:00.009+09:00

I'm going to start working on my YA again. I haven't actually written anything new on it yet (no, that would be too easy), but for the last two nights I've dreamed about it. No story -- more plot and what will make it work. Weird, huh? I'm taking this as a sign that I need to dip back into it.

Suz and I came up with a writing pact. I'm blogging it because I need it public to keep me honest and living up to my part. Every week we must turn in a new chapter (due on her Sunday). Ugh -- actual work. What will I do?

I've told her that I might switch between books. At least that gives me a little leeway if I need to write something else and take a break for a while.

My writing discipline is sadly lacking at the moment. I will get my mojo back. I'm going to rock this hard.

That means that I have to stop reading so much (or not - ha! How could I give that up?). This month I've read 16 books so far (and it's the 21st). Sheesh, I'm behind. That's not even one a day! ;)

So only (maybe) five more books this month and the rest of the time I really do need to write. Really. I do. I need to stop reading, already. And talking about writing, and do it.

Right.

Going now.

Off to work.

And the Day Turns Around

2008-12-19T14:16:00.003+09:00

Bekah picks out a movie she's never seen before (and shall remain nameless).

"You want to see this?" I asked, wondering where the heck she found it.

"Yup."

"Did you know Mom is in this?"

Shocked -- "What?"

"Mommy was in this as a kid."

Bekah's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not. Let me show you." Fast forward to the two scenes. "See."

"That is so cool! YOU! ARE! SO! COOL!!!"

Knowing I did nothing, but perfectly willing to accept praise, "Thanks."

"I want to be in a movie."

"Don't talk to me about it. You'd have to ask your Papa."

"I'm going to do that!"

Hum... I wonder if I should tell her about the TV show or wait until she thinks I'm a loser mom again. I don't think I have a copy of that, though. And she won't believe me without proof.

I’m not going to win any Mother Of The Year awards

2008-12-19T09:37:00.001+09:00

I hate guilt. I try not to feel any when it comes to my children – it’s unproductive as far as I’m concerned, and all I can do is the best job that I can. But when Seth is sitting, staring at me with huge eyes that have crocodile tears in them, and asks, “Why can’t you come to the Christmas party? All the other moms will be there. Don’t you love me?”

It’s hard not to feel guilty.

I explain that Bekah is sick and that I don’t have a babysitter for her. And their father is at medical this morning because he was looking a wee bit green and what wasn’t green was pale.

Seth didn’t care that there was no possible way that I could go. He continued to insist that if I loved him, I’d want to do what the other moms do.

I totally get it. I’m the oldest of five – I NEVER had my mom do anything with me. I remember crying too. And I remember the two field trips she did go on, because I remember the begging, pleading and (yes) guilting I did to get her there.

On the other side of the coin, Bekah is ticked that Seth gets a party and she gets, “Nothing. Never. Ever. I get nothing.”

Sigh.

So I promised her a pajama party, with movies and popcorn. And I might throw in some chocolate. She was game.

However, now that it’s come down to it, she’s mad. I’m dressed – she wants me to change back into my pajamas. I mean, can’t she just stay in hers and let me stay in what I’m wearing? Doesn’t she understand what a major accomplishment it was for me to be dressed before 8am in the first place?!

And. Then.

She wants me to invite people over because, “a party is not you and me. A party has people.” Well. Excuse me. I didn’t know I wasn’t a person. I hadn’t planned on inviting anyone over to veg in front of the TV.

I told her this and she said, “You never do anything right. NEVER!”

Once again – big loser mother.

Is it only 9:30am? I have the rest of the day. Fantastic.

The Secret Life of the Wise Men and Shepherd

2008-12-16T17:58:00.005+09:00

"Seth, the three wise men and the shepherd do not need to be carrying around a cannon."

"But Dad, they're trying to build an army of the undead!"

Re: Nativity Set

What Seth Wants for Christmas

2008-12-15T17:40:00.004+09:00

Seth's Homework assignment was to make a Christmas list. Ready for some laughs? FYI, he came up with this list all by himself.

1: Legos.

I have no problem with that one. I've already purchased them and they're ready to be wrapped. So we're good.

2: Turtle

"I want a real turtle. That, you know, that you can put in a glass with water in it and watch it grow."

Not going to happen. No way. No how.

3: Baby

"I want a new baby from Mom's tummy."

He'd have a better chance with a turtle. AND I had no idea this list was fictional. In that case, I'd like a million dollars... world peace... a ten karat diamond ring...

4: Pirates

As if we don't have enough of those. But everyone can use another good pirate, I guess.

5: Video Games

Daddy's got him covered on that one. I like how he's moved the list back toward things that I would actually get him. It makes me think that video games were his number one priority and he was throwing in the turtle and baby thing to throw me off -- maybe soften me up a bit so that he can say, "But mom, if I can't have a turtle or a baby... at least I can have the NEW, EXPENSIVE GAME THAT COSTS FIFTY DOLLARS."

And then I will say, "You're right, you poor child, you're so deprived. Go ahead and buy two."

Yuck

2008-12-15T09:23:00.003+09:00

After being bedridden for so long, there is nothing in this house to eat. And I can't go to the store yet, as Bekah decided to throw up all over my living room this morning.

Sigh.

So I found myself in the kitchen contemplating eating pie left over from Thanksgiving. It's only three weeks old. And I actually said these words, "Pumpkin's a vegetable so it can't be that bad for breakfast."

And I ate it.

And it was disgusting.

I'm fully aware that this is the reason that I am sick. I am slowly being poisoned by spoiled food and my own stupidity.

Playmobil Nativity

2008-12-14T19:41:00.008+09:00

Found: Missing Lamb
Last Seen: Early January 2008 -- thought to be deceased.

The little boy who found it said, "Look Dad, it's the sheep who goes with God."

Still missing: a gold cup and some treasure. Perhaps next year we'll find it.

Where I Prayed for DEATH

2008-12-14T12:52:00.004+09:00

Sorry to disappear on you all like that. No sooner did I write about the sickness in this house, then I got sicker than I've been in a LONG time. I was so sick, there were quite a few moments where I was sobbing and praying for death.

Sigh.

I feel better today. But the house that was out of control last week after the last sickness... It's worse now. I can not stand it.

I need to recover a bit more, and clean my house.

I'll be back soon.

Quick story:

Bekah was watching Barbie Nutcracker on Friday. The ending came where they kiss and la-la-la happily ever after. She gets a big grin, stands up and begins clapping. Then she says, "I love happy endings!"

That's my girl.

Email from Steven

2008-12-09T13:05:00.003+09:00

To: Yours Truly
From: Most Devoted Husband

I don’t really like your new heading on the blog, get out of your funk (snaps fingers) LOL love you.

***
... I kind of thought the header was funny!

EDITED: Adding a picture of the header since I'm changing it...

Life

2008-12-09T09:55:00.007+09:00

My kids and I were sick. AGAIN. What does that make... three? four??? times in the last two months? I had to pick up Seth from school on Friday because he had 102 fever -- that he spread to the rest of us.

Not much going on around here besides that. Although, now I have a really messy house because I've been down for the last few days. SIGH. I may (or may not) clean it today.

I started writing a new book. This one is not a YA. Actually, it's as far from a YA as you can get. I've started a Historical Romance. HAHAHA. I'm having so much fun with it too. I don't know if I'm going to finish it at this point (it only has a very loose plot) because I'm only writing it to get my mojo flowing. I need to write something (the compulsion is too great) and YA -- yeah, I needed a break. So why not?

I haven't, up till this point, tried to write a Romance. When I started writing years ago, my mom was very specific with her request: NO SEX. That left out Romance. ;)

I let her have her way...

Then I realized, whatever, I'm 32. What's she going to do? Spank me? So I called her and told her I was writing a Historical Romance and it was going to have HOT SEX. AND... she should really read some published ones (I'd recommend a few if she wanted) so that she could help me see if I was on track.

Her response? "Email me the titles."

YES! I've successfully corrupted my mom. Or she just loves me that much.

(It's probably the latter.)

Although, once again, I may not finish it. We'll see. Right now I'm having fun, and that's all that matters.

Dressing the Tree

2008-12-04T20:27:00.011+09:00

Chillax

2008-12-02T20:46:00.005+09:00

Funny thing...

When we were watching Twilight yesterday, there's a scene where a guy says, "chillax" (as in chill + relax). Steven acted as if he'd never heard this word before. Which is impossible since I (a) use it all the time -- as in, "CHILLAX, PEOPLE!" (b) use it on my blog frequently -- that he says he reads, and (c) use it in my books (!!!).

He still insisted he'd never heard of it.

Tonight we were in the car and the kids were out of control (a usual state, but anyway...). Steven kept telling them to be quiet. They weren't listening, so he said, "Chillax! Or I'm going to SPARKLE."

Dude. That should strike fear and terror into their hearts. He's going to go all vampire on their butts.

Twilight: My Thoughts on the Movie

2008-12-01T20:28:00.004+09:00

So… I saw Twilight. I’m going to ignore the fact that it was not quite legal. The way I’m going to do that is by figuring when the movie plays here (if it ever does!), I’ll still buy a ticket and I am going to buy the DVD. It’s the same amount of money I would have spent anyway… Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m going to hell. What of it?

My reaction to the movie?

Well, it’s as same as the book, I guess. I laugh when I see grown women saying, “Edward is the perfect man.” What? REALLY? He’s a freaking psycho stalker who follows Bella around without her permission, and if he doesn’t want her to go somewhere, he takes the engine of her car apart so she can’t drive. And let’s not forget the fact that HE BREAKS INTO HER ROOM AND WATCHES HER SLEEP FOR MONTHS before she’s made aware of it!!!! And, uh, yeah she’s okay with it when she finds out (TSTL*).

And yet, I love the books. Love them.

The movie for me was kind of like that. There are a million things that I laughed over. I mean, seeing all of Bella’s TSTL* moments acted out for me… priceless. It was campy, and I didn’t find it romantic in the least. Plus, Steven kept making inappropriate “sparkly” jokes about Edward's -- ahem -- anatomy. I was CRACKING UP. He did it so many times that by the scene when she says… “Three things I knew for sure: one, Edward was a vampire; two, some part of him wanted to eat me; and three, I was hopelessly, irrevocably in love with him,” Steven turned to me and said, “Four…” I finished with, “I want to see your Mr. Sparkles.” He grinned, then said, “OH MY GOSH, you’re a vampire! You read my mind!!!”

Which is to say, I loved the movie. I’m so buying it.

*Too Stupid To Live

In the car last night...

2008-12-01T07:49:00.006+09:00

Seth (whining): But Dad... DDDDDAAAAAADDDDDDD... I'm thirsty. I'm dying. I need a DDDDRRRIIIIIINNNNNNKKKKKK!

Steven: You act like we live on an island with vending machines all over the place, and we can just stop in the middle of the street to get a drink.

Seth: Uh, yeah?!

If you don't know why this is funny(pictures from June 08)...

What's Next?!

2008-11-26T15:08:00.004+09:00

Last night my 4-year-old (going on 30) asked for a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I told her that we were out of bread -- which was technically not true (OKAY, LIE!!!), but I needed the bread for Seth's lunch.

Bekah did not take this news well. She heaved a frustrated sigh, crossed her arms and said in a perfect imitation of me, "Aw, CRAP! What's next?!"

Sending Steven out to pick up dinner, that's what. :D

Seriously? And You Say That You Love Me?

2008-11-24T10:31:00.011+09:00

So...

I'm still in a non-Twilight funk. Steven doesn't understand what the big deal is. He said, "It may be here in January... that's not a long wait. And if it doesn't play here, you can buy it on DVD when it comes out."

Seriously? Does he even hear the nonsense that comes out of his mouth?!

And then there is Suz. She thinks she's funny, or something. Let me assure you, she's not. Suz decided to email me a play-by-play from the theater as she watched the movie on Friday night. She did say, "I wish you were here."

If that's not love, I don't know what is.

AND. THEN.

On Saturday morning I was woken up by my mom calling me gushing about HOW! GOOD! THE! MOVIE! IS!

Yes. Seriously.

And she said, "Did you get my email yet?"

"No, I just woke up." I was pouring myself coffee, while trying not to tell her how incredibly rude she was.

"I wrote you an email telling you how fabulous the movie is."

Depressed: "Great."

I log on to the computer. Not only do I have an email from her, but there's one from my dad -- sent to me from his blackberry: I saw Twilight. Very good. Papa

My DAD saw Twilight and I haven't.

!!!!!!!!

I must crawl into a cave now. If you'll excuse me...

From the Desk of... Heather

MOVING

It’s a PARTY!

Good Intentions

Butterflies!

Lots more randomness!

DON’T. GIVE. UP.

Bekah

Sunday Afternoons

Dear Mommy,

A Little of Nothing

Mario Cart

... And It's Monday!

The Snail

Dear Uncle Joe,

ER Drama

Sickness Silly

The Value of Proper Instructions

Night-re-Cap

A Little Of Nothing

Spring Break

It's a bird! It's a plane! No.... It's a BLOG!

I Like Meat

Jailbird

They Crack Me Up

PARTY!

Smart

Link: Ticket Trauma

Nerd Boys

All The Single Ladies!

Hum...

A little of this... A little of that...

And so it ends...

Shurijo Castle

Deztini's 50 random things

Compliments -- are a dish served cold

Yummy! -- Not

Naughty, Naughty!

Pictures 411

Parents' Visit: Day Two

Dun... Dun... DUUUUUUUUUN!

Some People Really Need A Gag

Mommy's Helper

Hum...

Take 2: Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry Blossom Festival – Nago City, Okinawa

Can we take your picture?

I'm Sorry

Crash and Burn

eReaders

Not Good

“Libby says, ‘Hi’”

Minty Goodness

This Morning

Today

6 Things I Loved this Morning

TWILIGHT - Movie Night Recap

*SPARKLY*

This is what happens

Blueberry, please.

Happy 6th Birthday, Seth!

Marriage Vs. Mommyhood

Friday Movie Night

Hell has FROZEN over...

And this is where I came from...

I've decided that I'm "lunching" everyday

Facebook

How'd you find me?

She's still four, right?

My Bekah

Lunch Meat

The Sheriff Restaurant

Christmas Morning...

I'm TWITTERING!

Perhaps my life is too “out there”

Do you Tweet?

Blot Thoughts

Things that make you go: HUM

Best Line From A Movie EVER

2008 Recap

SPARKLY