3 1/2 hrs. and finally RIC FLAIR

What? You don't know who RIC FLAIR is? "The Nature Boy"? Neither did I until a week ago. Unfortunately, my 9 year old son does. He is an "older" WWE Wrestler and because I am "Mother of the Year" I sat in a Walmart line for 3 1/2 hours so my kids could meet him and have one minute of face time with this "crazy big biceps" man. I even got my own signed autograph (which I used as a table protector for gluing crafts). This story gets even better when I tell you that I wasn't wearing any make-up and I was wearing very comfortable clothes (because I came prepared to sit on the germ infested floor of Walmart). Of course, as with all unprepared moments there must be a TV crew there and they just happened to interview the lady in front of me in line who almost cried as she spoke of her idol, Ric Flair. Are you kidding me? I felt like a caged animal- no where to run so I position myself right behind her and hoped the kids got on the 11 o'clock news but that I'd be blocked. Well, we got on the news alright. Stranger Lady, ME, Lane and Paige's hand. (Paige was crying that she didn't get on until she realized that her hand did.) Of course no one stays up to watch the 11 o'clock news... except for my friends. UGH!

Hopefully, I can download the photo off my camera. It's not working right now.

New News Alert!

I have been so blessed with a mother who can turn wheat into ice-cream, a wool suit into a beautifully hooked rug (dyed with kool-aid, of course), and raise 5 semi-normal kids while baking bread into the shapes of turtles, alligators, and snowman. Well, that's only the maternal side. My dad is a watercolor artist that makes nature scene just pop off the page (almost 3D-ish, not good for my vertigo). I know, right, they're amazing. Well, somehow it has rubbed off on me.  Not the "amazing" part, but the love of crafting and creating. I've been doing jewelry for about 7 1/2 years and I've loved it and challenged myself with new techniques. It all began when I had my baby girl. She just had to have a bracelet (or 20 of them). I've decided to take it up a level and open up a business to focus on my jewelry, watches, and anything bead-able (is that even a word). The new company name is Beaded Living and I have a new blog that will bring all my chaos together. To make it even sweeter for me is that I have two graphic design brothers. One of which begged to design my logo (coming soon). (Okay, I begged him or I was going to beg him if they weren't both so darn willing to help out their baby sister.) I feel as though I'm technically ignorant in all the computer stuff but I also have a SIL who is taking baby steps with me. Are you seeing how the star are all aligning just perfectly? I'm enjoying the challenge. Stay tuned and check in with the new business and pass it on. I think I'll even put it up on Facebook. Oh WOW, I'm crossing all my barriers. Watch out world.

New Old Bathroom

I have been waiting to show you our new bathroom once we finished it 100% but I just can't find the right green bamboo to put between the toilet and sink. If I wait too long the pictures will never go up. So, here is the before and after photos. (I think you'll be able to tell which came first--the chicken or the egg.) This is the main floor bathroom that probably gets the most use so I especially love the wool rugs that started the whole renovation. You know how it goes...If you give Jen some new wool rugs she'll want some matching towels to go with it. If she has the matching towels she'll want the walls painted to look pretty. When she realizes that she doesn't have enough paint for all the walls she'll decide that bead board is the answer. When she doesn't want to repaint she decides that the lights need to be changed. When the lights don't fit she'll realize that the ugly medicine cabinet mirror needs to come down. Then she finds the perfect mirror to replace it. But Jen wants the wood colors to match so she'll convince her husband that the whole vanity needs to be replaced. So when you give Jen new wool rugs she'll want a new bathroom to go with it. And so it began... and finally ended. (If you give a mouse a cookie... See the pattern.)

There are still a couple more finishing touches to put up but the main part is done and the faucet doesn't leak. Blake was handier than he thought and I have less patience than I thought. I wanted to start throwing things at one point in the project and Blake just kept chugging away. You know it's bad when I started to consider not using the sink and just having it be for show. But the leaking stopped and now we'll let you use it if you come for a visit.

Election Day 2010

In honor of election day I'm going to share with you Paige's Political Platform that she has been working on in 2nd grade.

What I would do to improve:

Education- provide more school supplies for schools.

Business- provide jobs for people that don't have jobs.

Parks- add more sandboxes and add more trees and plants.

Laws- give people enough money to buy a house and a car.

Town Pride- say the "Pledge of Allegiance" more often.

Can't tell if she's going to be a Republican, Democrat, or an Independent yet. But she's got her brain working.

What's in a name?

I have been in the mist of starting a new company and the hardest part for me is the name of said company. I started asking my family for ideas and these are some of the ideas they gave me...

1. Big Buck Crafts. That was Lane's idea. Can you tell he has his mind on hunting this season (or any season for that matter)? Just say that 10 times as fast as you can and you'll end up saying what I did... Big Butt Crack. Yeah, that one was vetoed.

2. BMC Designs. Which stands for "Buy My Crap". Yeah, vetoed.

3. Shiny Things & Things. That reminds me of some rabid animal spazzing out for shiny things. Yeah, vetoed.

I've been dealing with a bout of vertigo this weekend so let's just say that the ideas were getting worse and more desperate as the time went on. Any ideas?

Do as I say...

not as I do. Lane loves reading books filled with facts so it was no surprise to me that he brought a book home from school titled Don't Try This at Home by Laura Layton Strom. (I really don't feel like the title and author is extremely important but I figured I'd give her her dues for making my life harder). This book basically reinforces things we've been teaching our kids about from an early age. LDS families know of it as the "Word of Wisdom" which encourages a healthier lifestyle (no drugs, no alcohol, no tobacco, everything in moderation, early to bed and early to rise, etc.). This book gives cool statistics and facts and really helped Lane understand why these substances aren't good for us. So of course he had me stumped when he preceded to tell me that I was addicted. "WHAT?" (I think I know where he is going with this and I am quickly trying to come up with a very good parent response to save my skin.) He reads to me from his book, word for word,

"People can become dependent on things other than drugs. Some people feel the need to drink excessive amounts of a particular brand of soda every day."

See, we all knew what was coming. I just wish he wasn't so quick to put two and two together. My "very good parent response" was, "Well, I'm not drinking one now. Look, what am I drinking?" (yeah, it sounds a little bit defensive to me too). Lucky for me that day it just happened to be water. I'd already had my excessive amounts of a particular brand of soda that day. My mature response now is, "We can't all be perfect" (yeah, still sounds a little bit defensive). Maybe if I'm lucky they'll send me to rehab where I can sleep as long as I want, no stress, no running errands, and crafting or doing whatever I want all day.

Or then again maybe you could just give me a taco.

Cat Questions???

1. Is it okay to "banish" Jimi to the basement while we are sleeping and during the day when I'm not there or does that seem too mean? The basement has full windows, glass doors, litter box, food, and plenty of rubbermaids to climb on because I'm lazy and haven't put them away. Plus it has a cozy beanbag or two.

2. We think Blake may be allergic to Jimi. What is there to help him (Blake, not Jimi. He thinks he owns the house anyway)? Does Claritin actually work?

3. What do I do to keep him from jumping on the counters?

4. Is it normal for them to stretch their fingers and claws out and then pull them back in while they are laying on you and how can I get him to stop or will he grow out of it?

That's just a few questions for now and I'm sure I'll have others. I'm so animal ignorant. Lane told me that he wished he could have a deer for a pet.