CUT!

It's cut!!

Isn't she adorable?

I'm so proud of Megan- She's so happy that she gets to help other kids with her donation.  I looked on the Locks of Love website and saw that you don't have to go to a salon to donate. 
You just have to make sure that the hair is clean and bound in a ponytail or braid securely and measures at least 10 inches.  Megan's actually came out to 11&1/2 inches.  I watched a few youtube videos to learn how to cut a graduated bob/A line.  It was easier than I anticipated.  Except meg has a cowlick right at the nape of her neck so next time I'll keep that in mind when I'm cutting.  She says every 30 minutes how much she loves her haircut :)  It's pretty cute.  She stared at herself in the mirror every minute she got today.  She kept asking if so-and-so will recognize her when they see her.  It's fun.

She also told me how glad she was that her hair wasn't getting in her spaghetti at dinner tonight.  My job here is done ;)

Locks of Love

Today while we were doing yard work and washing the car Megan decided that her hair made her too hot and she wanted a haircut.   So tomorrow we are cutting 10&1/2 inches off to donate to locks of love and I'm going to try my hand at a haircut I learned on youtube tonight.  Wish us luck!!

12 years. whoa.

I was just thinking about our wedding anniversary that's coming up in August.... it's been 12 years. wowza. 
I'm trying to decide what to do for Aaron for our anniversary since things are tight with Medical School Applications and things.  We already have tickets to see the Decemberists that we bought a few months ago.  Needs to be something creative.... hmmmmmmm.  Suggestions?  And don't be dirty ;)
Also, I just looked at this post titled Ahhhhhh-nostalgia that I posted 3 years ago about old pictures from our wedding. Umm wow.  I look like a teenager.  oh wait.  I WAS a teenager.  Married at 19, baby! Aaron is so handsome :)  hee hee  I love the pictures. 
Maybe I'll get him a thinner wife.... I figure if I stop making such scrumptious things to eat all the time, I might be able to be that wife.  Last night we made oreo ice cream (oh me oh my) and right now I've got strawberry icecream twirling in the ice cream maker..... ok, after that's GONE, I'll work on that present...

Apple Camp

Meg went to Apple Camp this week at the Apple Store.  It was a free day camp that taught the kids to make their own video with footage they shot and they added transitions and music, etc.  Well, the video she did didn't turn out so hot because they couldn't hear the sound when they did it and ended up leaving in segments that should've been cut and cut out segments that should've stayed....  Soooo..... we did it at home on our PC with Windows Live movie maker (which really stinks) and had a blast... We used music from my music history listening quiz CDs from last semester :) Here is Meg's movie.......(as to the subject matter-she's obsessed with Greek Mythology right now- she's going to be a goddess for Halloween this year)

Some of the dialogue is so quiet in this video so I added the script (which Megan wrote, too)

Script

Narrator: One day in Ancient Greece.......
Persephone: Oh I’m all alone picking flowers in the fields
Hades: Ah Hah!
Persephone: Oh no it’s Hades!
Hades: We shall go to the underworld together!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Demeter: Persephone! Persephone my daughter!
 ..............Hades took her!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demeter: Zeus look what I found! It’s Hades' ring of death- and he’s taken Persephone! Can you help me?
Zeus: Yes I can- as long as Persephone hasn’t eaten anything from Hades’ garden
------------------------------------------------------------------
Persephone: These pomegranate seeds are so good!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hades: Ha ha ha! It’s too late! Persephone has already eaten from my garden.
Demeter: Noooo!!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Zeus: We can work out a plan.  The first part of the year Persephone can live with Hades.  In the other part of the year Persephone can live with her mother.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Narrator: And so every year in the spring and summer Persephone was as happy as she could be and her singing would make the flowers bloom, but for the other half of the year, when she had to live with her uncle Hades, she would cry and it would make the plants wilt and die. And so Persephone is the goddess of the four seasons.

Haiku Wednesday

Holy Gluttony

I ate way too much tonight

Mirror meet Walrus

Today the kids are cleaning their rooms (It's been a looooong time coming). I sweep things that they have on their floors into a pile and set the timer for 10 minutes.  Even though nothing happens at the end of the ten minutes they still rush to clean the pile (most of the time).  Today Megan finished her pile early and I told her to run go help Matthew with his pile before time was up. She went into his room and this is what I overheard:


MEG: Matthew, I'm going to help you with your pile!
MATT: But it's sooo hard!
MEG:  No it's not!  It's easy as lemons!


Uhhhh WHAT?

Haiku Wednesday

Ode to my chapstick

Cherry goodness on my lips

Perfect for kissing

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 SPOILER ALERT

We ended up going with our friends, the Hixons, who also had tickets to the preview of this movie and we got there a little later than we wanted. They stamped our hands and we got in a big long line. 

I can't tell you how warm and fuzzy inside having the word VOID stamped on my hand makes me feel...... 

After about 100 people were let into the theater we were told (with about 30 people in front of us) that the theater was sold out and that the rest of the seats were reserved for media. Booooo!  However, they said, if we stuck around and some of the media didn't show up, we would be given their seats.  Of course no one got out of line.  Then they came out and started letting people in to the media seats- and guess what.... We were the last ones in.  The people behind us in line didn't get in.  whew! That was a close one!  We ended up getting better seats than we would've had we gotten to the theater earlier since they saved the best seats for the media. yay!  Thank you, whoever didn't show up! 

We didn't know beforehand, but this was a 3D screening and we were all given glasses that were shaped like harry potter glasses!  here I am modeling them for you:

-
-

Oh. my. nerd. 
Seriously, can someone put me out of my geeky misery?

Ahh well....It was pretty cool and we got a sweeeet group picture afterward with all of us in our glasses (Which I will post as soon as Jamie gets me the pictures) 

As for the movie... to tell you the truth this movie felt like a blur... If you're like me and only read the DH once when it came out 5 years ago, then you might be a little rusty on the details of this story- Harry and his two friends are hunting down and destroying Voldemort's horcruxes (finishing up what Dumbledor didn't finish before he died- and if you don't know that he died a couple movies ago and are mad at me for saying so, please see post title) 

I really felt like they expected everyone to remember all the details of what's happening and didn't explain very much or take any time on anything... the first horcrux was destroyed within what seemed like 15 minutes and they kept on-a-truckin to the end of the movie.  Harry's viewing of Snape's memories was not given ample time to tug at one's heart strings and I felt like Harry's processing of what he viewed wasn't even shocking to him at all. 

All in all, I felt like the movie didn't give enough build up or reaction to the events in the story but it had some good comic relief, which was quite unexpected.  Anyway, it was entertaining enough for a two-er (as you know from my previous post, I DONT LIKE two-part movies) and you should see it. Except not in 3D- it didn't add anything to the movie, however, it did add a pretty rad pair of HP glasses to my 3D glass stash (No, I haven't such a stash, but if I had, these babies would definitely be a welcome addition)

Off to Show Low and HPDH2

My friend and I are taking our kids up to her cabin in Show Low for a few days.  It'll be nice to get away for a little bit- away from dishes and laundry...oh wait, I still have to do that stuff there. dang nabit.  My arms can't do dishes right now.  or scratch my nose.  I think maybe I shouldn't do arm exercises in my routine.... my arms feel like limp noodles. :)  Leaving early this afternoon to go see the sneak preview of HARRY POTTER and the Deathly Hallows part 2 in Scottsdale-  I will write a short review with spoilers so if you don't want to know (who doesn't know??) what happens, don't read it!

Gala

I want to take a moment and thank everyone who has supported my husband and I in the musicals we've done this past year- From watching kids to coming to our shows, we've really felt the support of our friends and family as we've gone back to our theater roots.  Copperstar Repertory Company has been such a fun organization to be a part of- we've made some great friends and put on amazingly entertaining shows.  Most people who come and see them tell us that they are comparable to or better than many that they've seen in NY.  This is one of the reasons we keep doing shows with them- They are exceptional people doing a professional job in delevering high quality show to the East Valley community.  They are non profit, however, and in these tough economic times are seeing smaller audiences and in turn smaller budgets to put on said shows.  Please consider coming to this fundraising event in August-  It's a way to donate but still get an evening of entertainment out of it.  Both Aaron and I will be singing in it :)  Here is the ad:

A Broadway Review and Gala for Copperstar Repertory Co.

August 20, 2011 at 7:00pm

Copperstar Repertory’s annual gala fundraiser, honors individuals and corporations with the Community STARS awards (Sharing The Applause Recognizing Support). This elegant evening will feature a special performance of BROADWAY BUDDIES, an amazing review of Broadway hits featuring top-notch Broadway performers from around the US and some of our Arizona favorites including Steven Grey Romande, Mark Reis, Kristen Drathman, and more. Join us for this event with a delightful reception, fantastic show, and a sneak peek at the 2011-2012 Copperstar Season. An evening you will long remember!
Proceeds from this important event support our education and outreach programs as well as our four main-stage productions.

For information on this event, sponsorship or to request an invitation, please contact Frank Bria at 

480-699-1655 or email frank@copperstarrep.org

Ticket Prices:

VIP Seating: $40

Reserved Seating: $30

All performances take place at:

Higley Center for the Performing Arts

4132 East Pecos Rd.

Gilbert, AZ 85295

Speaking of crushing......

I just crushed my daughter's heart when I grounded her from books for 2 days.  Yes.  I'm a bad mother.  I just grounded my kid from BOOKS.  wow.  who knew I could stoop so low?  For your information, the reason she is grounded is for putting a sign on her brother's door with a picture she drew of a zombie that said "ZoMbIeS" as if zombies drew it.  He freaked out, I got upset, Megan was smirking at me when I scolded her and therefore Meg lost her books for trying to scare her brother out of his pants (and not taking me seriously when I was upset with her- which is, lets face it, really why she got grounded.  I did WAY worse stuff than that when I was little.... like bike-chaining my toddler sister to our stair banister by her diaper and putting a dead cricket in it so she wouldn't follow my friends and me around). Ahhhhhh.... like mother, like daughter.  I have no idea what she's going to do when she can't read Fablehaven.... I might have to think up some good chores...  hee hee... Being a mom is fun. 

Crushing

If you're like every other 20-something (or delusional 30-something...ahem....) then you're crushing on Ingrid Michaelson almost as much as I am right now... And if you've never heard of her, here's your chance to join mainstream generation X. Welcome aboard.

A.D.D. POST....

Remember what I said yesterday about what you would hear if you were a fly on my wall?  Well, it turns out that if you were, in fact, a fly on my wall yesterday, you'd be dead.  LOL

As I was washing dishes and cooking dinner yesterday there was one fly that kept trying to fly into my head via my ear- and when he couldn't hit my ear, he was flying straight into my face or my hair.  I literally was washing dishes while squealing and cursing with my shoulders up to my ears and swatting the air.  He launched a personal assault on me.  And seriously it was like it wanted to go into my ear!  UG!  I wonder why the death wish?  Oh well.

Here is a bomb picture I came across yesterday. 

Awesomesauce.

Today we were watching Avatar and this line in the movie:
"Ha ha!!  You should see your faces!" 
Prompted this response from Matt:
"I can't even SEE my face!!!" 
I started laughing about it and he said
"Really mom, I CANT!" 
With a look of unbelieving absurdity. 
He cracks me up.  And, on a side note, isn't Naytiri the hottest abariginal alien you've ever seen?  Seriously.

We won tickets yesterday to the sneak preview of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows pt 2 which is playing next Tuesday in Scottsdale. Fun stuff!  I can't wait!  We just barely saw Deathly Hallows pt 1 last week with our friends, the Knudsens, and I groaned when it ended.  I had forgotten that it was a part one-er. I HATE part one-ers, so the fact that I don't have to wait as long to see the resolution is a good thing :) 

Exershize

I started my new exercise routine today (a simplified version of the bootcamp I used to teach) in the comfort of my living room.  It was fun to have Matthew exercise alongside me and count my reps. I got to listen to all of his 6 year old comments.  I love it.  I was laughing the entire time.... and panting. lawl.  Here are a few of the things you'd have overheard had you been a fly on my wall this morning...


Matt: Whoa mom, you're sooooo strong to do 30.  I can only do 5.
----------------------------------------------------
Matt: Whew! Are you tired of those glute bridges, mommy?  Cause your bum is so heavy?
------------------------------------------------------
Me:  Matthew, what are you doing??
Matt:  I'm massaging your bum so you dont get tired of exercising.  Is it working?
Me:  Uhhhh Matt, stop.
----------------------------------------------------
It was fun to tickle Matthew every time I did a sit up while he held my feet.  He'd squeal on every number. ha.  Right now the kids are holding eachothers' feet for their situps. Matt did 9 and then he was too tired to do the rest and he asked Megan to do the rest for him.  I reeeeally wish that's how it worked.  Will you do mine for me? 
Welp, I feel all hungry and sore so I guess I'm on the right track. errr... that seems wrong.... lawl

Retroku

Ug. Cue implosion.

Started diet yesterday

holy hungry hell

Did you miss planting season too?

No worries- here is a list of what you can plant and when

(for phoneix area- sorry international readers!)

AZ Planting Schedule

indiscriminate post. yay.

Tell me, do you know what Profligate [prof-li-git] means?  I didn't know until tonight- Not that it's a word I'd be accustomed to using even after having discovered it's meaning, but you ought to add it to your vocabulary since it is, in fact, a word. Here we go:

World English Dictionary

profligate (ˈprɒflɪɡɪt)
— adj
1. shamelessly immoral or debauched
2. wildly extravagant or wasteful
— n
3. a profligate person
[C16: from Latin prōflīgātus corrupt, from prōflīgāre to overthrow, from pro- 1 + flīgere to beat]


profligacy— n
'profligately— adv

 Anywho, that's not what I set out to talk about tonight.  I'm waiting for the tie dye shirts we made today to wash so I can hang them up to dry.  They've been sitting for hours, letting the red, yellow, and blue colors set, and now they're washing.  They're so much fun to make!  Aaron, the kids, and I each made one for ourselves.  I'd make a million more if I hadn't run out of shirts and dye.  Now I have weird colored hands.  I wanted to only use blue and red on my shirt, but Matthew made his first and was profligate with the dye that we all had to share.  I, being the last one to color my shirt, had to take what I could get.  They look pretty cool.  I'll post pictures when I get around to it, obviously.  Be ye for-warned; they's a-comin'.

 (No, I didn't take that pic, but yes, there was some AMAZING lightning tonight, in addition to the fireworks)

THAT's not even what I set out to post. blerrrrg.  Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all how much I love Arizona rain.  The Creosote bushes that flavor the air with their musty sweet odor and the newly-wetted dust that is snatched out of the dry air and delivered to your nostrils via aberrant humidity that sets in before a storm are potent music to my olfactories.  We drove home from the fireworks at Schneff Farms sniffing the whiffy rain and singing at the top of our lungs to Weezer's Buddy Holly and Cake's Short Skirt and a Long Jacket.  As Matt would say- "that was the best night ever!!"(We watched the fireworks from Banner Ironwood hospital where my brother in law works- Hi Dr Page! :)Thanks for letting us swim in your pool all day long!). 

Happy Independence Day, y'all!  Sleep tight.  and mind those bed bugs- they're out for blood. no kidding.  They told me so.

Happy Independence Day!

I saw this silly joke online and had to say how happy I am to be an American!  I love hotdogs with mustard and potato chips and baseball and bbq's and dumb American TV.  I love that we can make fun of public figures and then rush to defend them when an outsider does the same.  I love that there is so much variety in the people you encounter everyday, but we're all the same- somehow we are linked- all in this crazy life together.  I love you USA :)  Home sweet home.... that being said, I can't wait to get out of the country for Aaron's medical school. lawl. Happy 4th, blogiverse.

Here's the brittish funny I encountered. Umm it's really long. sorry.

English Humour - Message from Her Majesty The Queen

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:


In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).


Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.


A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)


1. Look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.


2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

8. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.


10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.



11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.


12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.


13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.


14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.



15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).



16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!
Now doesn't that make you glad to be an American? ;)

sup?

I'll tell you what's up.  uhhhhhhh... hang on..... uhhhhhhh
ok, so it seems like nothing's going on, but that's totally not true, it's just that all of my recent commitments are over and I have no huge plans until the kids' school starts in August. it feels wonderful.


-The play is over (it went well, but we were sick throughout so didn't sound as good as we are used to sounding- but like I said it went well- I fell on my face on stage. that was fun.  I just popped right back up, giggled in character, and went on like nothing out of the ordinary happened)


-Had the missionaries over for dinner last night.  Elder Ingram and the other one with brown hair who liked my cactus jelly. Lawl.  I don't remember his name!? boooo Stephanie. Well anyway, I served multigrain crackers and brie with ice cold grapes, homemade lasagna (NOM), homemade cheesy bread (delicious), steamed broccoli, and cheesecake cookie cups (Matthew helped me make them Friday).  It was yummy.  Before eating, Aaron asked the Elders if there was anything they couldn't eat due to allergies or aversions.  Elder Ingram said that the only thing he wouldn't eat was cactus.  Aaron promptly went to the cupboard and got out some cactus jelly I had canned and made him try it on crackers with the brie- Elder What'sHisFace loved it and kept gobbling it up.  It took Elder Ingram a little time to try it but when he did his eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he exclaimed that he really liked it.  I guess he had had grilled prickly pear pads and they were gross.  He looked surprised that it was a red color and I told him that this jelly was made from the prickly pear fruit, not the pads, and that I make it every August when the fruit is ripe.  I gave each of them a jar of my cactus jelly when they left. (I will do a tutorial on how to make Prickly Pear Jelly come August)


-Speaking of August, Megan auditioned and was accepted into the Phoenix Children's Chorus and I'll be a chaparone at their camp in August.  Unfortunately, it's during Aaron's and my 12th anniversary, but we already have plans to celebrate the following weekend when we go to the Decemberists concert.  Wee Wah! fun stuff!  I'm excited for both weekends!