Let's Go To Smartie Pants!

Macey went to Pre-K this month! It's called Smartie Pants and is close to our home. Her teachers are Mrs. Anno and Mrs. Brittney. I was really excited when I signed her up because I thought that she was going to get a lot of attention. There were two teachers and only six kids.

But somewhere between Open House and the first day of school, they picked up six more kids! They have 8 boys and 4 girls.

Macey does not like the "stinky boys" and would not go to school the day after she had to sit at the table with just "stinky boys".

But, I talked to her teachers and asked that she get to sit with at least one girl!! And since then, things have been better, but I do not think that she likes it as much as North Point's First Flight program.

She's beautiful!

Thinking About Almonds. . .

July was a really expensive month (well, so was May & June) and so in August we have tried to be extra extra careful with money. Which is why when I saw the Suave Professional shampoo and conditioner at Target, on sale, I decided to give it a try. Because Suave is cheap to begin with. On sale, it's even more tempting.

I'd seen the commercials when the salon stylists are so shocked that they are using a Suave product and the customers are so happy with the smell and the effect.

Apparently I am as big of a sucker for a good commercial as my kids are (curse you, pillowpets!).

So here's the result. The smell is nice but not as strong or as lasting as I would have hoped. The shampoo and conditioner are fine but I do not think that I will buy more as Suave has a reputation for drying hair out.

And there's my experiment with almonds!

High Hopes, I've Got, High Hopes

I love the new NFL commercial entitled "Back To Football". They've teamed up with Harry Connick Jr., another one of my faves, to produce a commercial where everyone has high hopes because everyone is undefeated. . . .so far. That will change in two weeks, but for now, I've got HIGH Hopes. Go Redskins!

This song also reminds me of life in general. The more old classmates I find on Facebook, the more I realize that something happened on the way to the dream of 2.5 kids, a 2 car garage and a white picket fence for many of my friends. A few years ago (it was just a few, right?) we had HIGH HOPES. I wish that life had not gotten in the way of so many of their dreams. . .

And So It Begins. . .

I knew that there was a danger in moving to South Jordan and being close to my sister Rachelle. My kids would spend time with her and see how the other half lives. . . She is patient and kind, and really patient and really kind.

So far the kids have not said anything. But finally Macey said, "You know, Aunt Shell is always happy. And she does not get mad at her kids." Betrayed by my four year old!!

Luckily I had heard my sister get mad at her youngest and send her to her room just two days before. So I was happy to report that their cousins got in trouble sometimes, too.

Besides, all of my sister's kids are in school. I think I could be a fabulous Mom, too, if I only saw my kids from 4 - 8:30.

But, the point remains, and there's no question that I've got to up my game.

Catching Breaks

Since we've moved into the house there have been the usual growing pains. Flooding basement, broken freezer, leaking ceiling, broken sprinklers, broken water heater, old brakes, flat tire. . . It has been a little overwhelming.

Yesterday I drove down the road and encountered an area where there had been a bad accident that had not been cleaned up yet by the city. By the time I got home I had a flat tire. I was in a little bit of a panic when I heard the ssssspppppfffffff of escaping air -- I have to admit my first thought was to run for the duct tape! (Which is why I do not work on cars!)

I told Garry about the tire that was flattening as we spoke and he said, "We just can't catch a break." I admit, it would be nice to have things not break for a season, but we have caught lots of breaks.

Les Schwab patched my tire. FOR FREE. And the plumber just advised us to watch the leak and it has not happened since (it was a problem with too much water on the floor in the bathroom upstairs) and he did not charge us. His visit was FREE. And the Samsung guy told us what to do about the freezer. And that was FREE.

So, it would be nice if things would stop going ka-put but for now I think we're catching lots of great breaks.

Lazy & Annoying

When we were in the (long) process of buying this house, we found out that the previous owner had some legal problems. We were not too worried about it. She had not lived here in years. Really, it had nothing to do with us.

Except creditors would like to make it about us. Because we share the same address (former or no) I now get calls for her everyday (even though she never had our phone number and vice versa). And last night at 10 pm (okay, 9:52, let's not exaggerate here) we had a constable come to the door looking for her. We are guessing that he was trying to serve her with some papers.

Here's the interesting thing -- she's on Facebook! If they really want to find her, they just need to check out her Facebook page. It clearly says that she lives in North Salt Lake. If they were friends with her, they could probably find out what she had for dinner last night and what she wants to do this weekend and what she's excited to watch on TV. And they could leave us alone ;)

Developing a Fan Base

About a month ago my friend Desiree told me that she had been asked to do a Special Musical Number in Sacrament Meeting and was wondering if I might be interested in doing it instead. I would be accompanying two violinists. It was a month away and the music seemed pretty straight-forward, and so I said okay.

I was really nervous this morning. I would rather give a million talks in Sacrament Meeting rather than play one song on the piano, but yet, there I am, playing every so often.

But today when I was done I was walking down to our bench in the chapel and I saw Emma sitting up and clapping. And Macey asked me when I sat down why they only let me do 'one song?'. And Garry said Molly was clapping in the back (where she was having a time out ;)

I still do not like playing much; it's rather nervewracking. But it's so nice to have my own fan base.