Houston, we have a problem

So, for the longest time, James has been yelling like a maniac at the radio stations (ok, we all know James and he doesn't yell like a maniac, but he was certainly grumbling with abandon) demanding that they play Major Tom. I already knew my husband's taste in music was somewhat bizarre, but this was weird I thought even for him. You see, when he said he wanted to listen to Major Tom, this is what I was thinking: (Please listen to at least the first couple of lines to this song so you can understand the full extent of my confusion).



Turned out (as we found this weekend) what he really wanted to listen to was this:




Which to me, fit James's tastes a little better. It was pretty funny though as I had planned as a birthday surprise to buy him the first song, the one I thought of as "Major Tom" (the impostor). We had a laugh picturing just what he might have said when I gave it to him... "Uh ... thanks honey, I ... love it" >chuck< "Hey honey, how come you never listen to Major Tom? I thought you loved that song?" "I, uh, I do, of course I do, I was just listening to it... really quietly..."

Book Recommendation – Audio Style

A coworker lent me the audio book of "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War," and I have to pass along this deliciously amazing story of absolute absurdity. It's told in a series of interviews with "survivors" of an apocalyptic zombie virus plague. Each story comes from a unique perspective on the war—international political leaders, civilian survivors, army personnel, doctors with intimate knowledge of the virus, etc. It's told absolutely seriously, with no indication that the author is being facetious or satirical, and the issues that come up really make you think about international relations, the importance of survival, and the various gray areas as far as means of survival. Ultimately it makes you think about that ever-looming question: Am I ready for the zombie apocalypse?

Warning: Several of the characters are quite polite and restrained in their commentary on the zombie crisis, others are not so poised—be warned, there are recurring instances of harsh expletives.

Babysitting at Leeann's Wedding

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

We had such a great time babysitting Beck and Ainsley at temple square while everyone was in the wedding. Here is a scrapbook of these goofy kids--and a few pictures of goofy us.

A Dream Fulfilled

When I was maybe 15 years old, for whatever inexplicable reason, I got grounded. Now, this didn't happen all that often (lest you think me some sort of teenage miscreant), but it did happen and this instance of groundation was particularly painful. Warped Tour was coming to town and Matchbox 20 was one of the highlighted bands. As a semi-angsty teenager, I was drawn to their music and felt a kinship with the spirit of the songs—I often wished the real world would just stop bothering me, I had several long days, my sisters definitely wanted to push me around, and all I really wanted was to get it back to good. So, when my loving and all-wise mother absolutely refused to revoke my punishment to allow me to go to Warped Tour, I was devastated, embittered, and most likely forever scarred. But, last night, that old wound finally healed when my friends Brad and Shelly took me along to see Matchbox 20 –with Alanis Morisette. What more could I possibly have asked for? All the angsty music from my teenhood, with several of their newer songs speaking to the adult in me.

Best part of the night? Singing along at the top of my lungs to good music with good friends, and realizing that I don't feel all that angsty anymore—not even semi.

Weekend in Colorado: The Blog

*Note: Blogging is so fun.

Over Presidents' Day weekend, James and I took a car trip to Denver, Colorado to visit my brother and his family. It was such a treat for us, so I'd like to commemorate (however late) the enjoyment of the occasion by sharing just a couple of stories from the fun-filled weekend.

• After we arrived and got big hugs from three-year-old Beck and suspicious looks from nearly-two-year-old Ainsley, we all sat down to an amazingly delicious dinner made by my sister-in-law Jennifer. Beck had been chatting a mile a minute from the moment we got there and it didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon. Christian tried to shush him so we could say a prayer, but he said "NO! I have to tell Aunt Charery something!" Christian: "Can it wait til after the prayer?" Beck: "NO!!! It's important!" Christian: "Ok, then go ahead." Beck: -Huge dramatic pause- "I got ... NEW . . . underpants! With Mickey Mouse!" Yet another pause, but this time because everyone is laughing so hard. Christian: "Is that all? Can we say the prayer now?" Beck: "Yep."

• Christian and Jennifer have been trying to beat me at Wise and Otherwise their entire married life. I have always reigned champion and squashed their dreams to a smeary pulp. Unfortunately, they made a terrible decision and chose to cheat horribly and managed to beat me three times over the weekend. There is no other explanation besides outright, dastardly cheatling.

• Poor James got sick pretty much the day we left Utah and is still feeling the effects of it. He spent quite a bit of the weekend hiding in bed trying to combat his fever. The kids often asked where Uncle James was and I had to reply that he wasn't feeling great. They quickly caught on and Beck could be heard the entire weekend to answer the question "Where's Uncle James" with "He's sicky."

• Beck, for whatever reason, always chose who was going to say the prayer at dinner. He invariably pointed out his Aunt Charery. Well, one night we convinced him to actually say the prayer himself and he proceeded to say a very nice prayer, which began to ramble somewhere in the middle. So Christian whispered, "Don't forget the food." To which Beck responded without missing the beat, "and don't forget the food. Please bless this food, and this food, and this food. . . " and would have continued pointing to all the food on the table but Christian stopped him by prompting "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

• Jennifer's sister Leeann had a birthday the same day as mine. Her family lives in Colorado Springs and they were having a little birthday party for Leeann that night. They were so overwhelmingly wonderful and made it a party for me too, complete with some beautiful gifts and a birthday song. I'm so grateful to them for making room for me on my special day—they are such sweet people.

• James finally felt a little better on Sunday night and we all played and read books in the living room that night. Nothing truly special or funny happened, but it was a really nice night.

All in all it was a great trip, despite James being sick, and we're looking forward to getting together again.

Weekend in Colorado

Here's a little scrapbook I made of our trip to Colorado. Blog entry to follow.

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Book Recommendations

I just finished reading "The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor. And I would highly recommend it. It's a new and interesting take on the story of Alice in Wonderland, and it's very original. The characters were interesting, the story was exciting, and the best evidence that I really liked it? I'm actually excited for the sequel instead of groaning that they stretched a story out longer that it needs to be. This story actually merits a trilogy to tell it. I'm excited to go find "Seeing Redd" next.

Today

Today's Impossible Wish: I wish I were a cat, so I could lie in this giant patch of sun by my (what shall I call it? It's not really a cubicle) workspace and soak up the warmth.

Today's Possible but Not Likely Wish: Since I can't be a cat, I wish I had a cat so he could lie in a giant patch of sun and then I could snuggle with him and soak up the warmth.

Today's Mental Pep-talk: Just an hour and a half left and I can take a nap.

I <3 the bus

I'm on the bus right now, on my way home from work, and I'm feeling positively cheerful. I didn't know how much of a difference it could make, not sitting behind the wheel for an hour and a half for a change. It's true, taking the bus made the commute a little bit longer, but I think it's worth it. I don't feel exhausted right now, like I usually do making the drive home from Murray to Provo. Sitting on the bus, I get to hear the soothing bus-voice that tells you "Next stop—Lehi Park and Ride" and "Please be sure to take all personal belongings as you leave the bus." I get to be rocked gently, and sometimes not so gently, but the swaying of the bus. I get to people-watch. I get to see the scenery. I get to read all the billboards without feeling like I might go veering off the road if I look a second too long. Summing it all up, I get to do something other than drive!

This morning I saw something kind of interesting while boarding the bus in Provo. When I got on the bus, there were no completely empty seats—every two-person block of seats had just one person sitting in it. So, I just sat down next to someone—a nice Asian lady. Okay, I don't really know if she's nice because I didn't talk to her, but she sat very nicely. The guy that got on after me, though, he just looked around, saw no completely empty seats, and opted to stand. I thought that was just so typical of our culture. I don't know if we're afraid of each other, or if it's just that bubble of space we all need that makes us uncomfortable if we get near someone. I mean, even I was uncomfortable. I sat as skinny as could, trying to make myself as small as possible to avoid touching the Asian lady or any of the air around her. We Americans are weird.

I had a really pleasant day at work today—which I attribute mostly to the nature of today's commute. I didn't feel tired or antsy or bored. The other factor I'm going to acknowledge is that today I was (practice) editing multiple choice History tests. That was the most fun I've had editing so far. I like when I get to learn something along with fixing the awkward sentences and spotting the obvious answers.

So, my life is good. Today was good. And the best thing is I'm guaranteed to go home and enjoy a pleasant evening with my wonderful husband. I <3 my life. I <3 the bus.

A Christmas Review

This was my first Christmas with the West family, and it was indisputably a wonderful time. So many things happened and I had such a good time that I can't possibly write every detail of it here. So, I'm going to steal a technique I learned from my father-in-law and give you the top tens of the vacation.

My Top Ten Favorite Things About This Christmas Vacation:
1. Playing with Gigi.
2. Talking books with my sisters- and mother-in-law.
3. Playing Mario Galaxy with Little James- seriously, that was a blast.
4. Christmas shopping with the whole family and conversation with Dad West over lunch at McDonald's.
5. The food: homemade ice cream, tons of chocolate, and delicious meals. Mmmm.
6. Our awesome Lord of the Rings Marathon!
7. Being exposed to new tv shows and movies--including Firefly, Serenity, Twelve Angry Men, and yes--even Night at the Museum.
8. Meeting Tim and getting to know everyone better.
9. James getting his face cast done by Tim, and then scaring Anthony with the plastic mold of my husband's head.
10. Christmas pajamas.

My Top Ten Favorite Things about the Road Trip:
1. Not dying when we ran off the road in Nebraska, and getting rescued by some nice Air Force boys to boot.
2. Stopping to meet Heidi and her family.
3. Free breakfast at Penny's Diner in North Platte, Nebraska. Really nice people, great food and fun, classic atmosphere. We haven't shut up about it since.
4. Listening to musicals--Newsies, Les Mis, Phantom, Into the Woods, Wicked, and Trail of Dreams. Can't get better than that.
5. (And this one's really the best) Stopping in Ohio to see Chauncey and Melanie, Little Chauncey, Jackson, and Kate.
6. Their hot chocolate maker--we're obsessed! We want one now.
7. A side trip to Kirtland where I learned the meaning of the phrases "The whole nine yards" and "Let's get down to brass tacks."
8. Playing DDR with Melanie.
9. Allison's delighted exclamations of "Snow!" as the fierce winds blew gusts of snow across the road and I hid my face in my pillow.
10. Getting home, safe and sound, eating some pizza and sleeping in my own bed.

And now, for your enjoyment, some pictures: