Birthday Girl

Today is my moms birthday. Hard day. Instead of posting on this blog, I thought it would be more appropriate to blog on her blog. If you want to see it, you can go there. If not, carry on.

Five Year Blogiversary

Today marks my 5 year blogging anniversary. How crazy is that? 5 years? Wow. I'm just gonna recap some of the things that have happened over the last 5 years. Some have been blogged, some have not. Either way, I need to remember why I do this. In no particular order, other than this is how my memory works, we have the following:

My mom died.

I had Gretta.

Moved to Illinois.

Moved back to Utah.

Attended marriage counseling twice.

Lost 40ish pounds.

Started running.

Been through approximately 3 broken bones and a set of stitches between the kids.

Sean had 2 surgeries.

Traveled to fun parts of the country.

Made awesome friends.

Dad got married.

Meg got married.

Gained 2 1/2 neices on my side, numerous others on Sean's side.

Started a business.

Had some awesome girls' trips.

Made a fool out of myself repeatedly.

Started homeschooling.

Been through a job loss.

Suffered through a major bout of depression.

Tried to find the true meaning of Christmas.

Had my first garage sale.

Hung out on the porch with Kate.

Hid in the basement when the tornadoes came.

Crashed the Vangina twice.

Sean got rear ended 3 times.

Been through the coldest winters I have ever felt.

Realized I need my family.

So many other things have happened. I still go back and read my old blog posts, and though most of the time I remember writing them, sometimes it's like I'm reading someone elses blog. I don't recognize my writing style or my humor. For some reason when I write, the words sound different in my head than they do on paper. I guess it's okay, seeing as it's my blog, and I can read it and write on it however I choose. But still, I can't believe it's been 5 years. I never imagined I would stick with something for this long.

Happy Haunting, Again

My mom is back. She is haunting us for reals now.

Yesterday I was at PT, and Sean was home doing chores. He likes to do chores. It's not because I make him, I swear. He was changing the sheets on our bed, and at that moment, he heard a loud pop! and a hissing noise coming from the master bathroom.

Upon investigation, he found that a can of dry shampoo had ruptured, spraying its contents all over the bathroom, and it spun feverishly around and around in the sink where it had landed.

Now. I have been around hairsprays and cans of product under pressure for years. I think it would be safe to say I have come in contact with thousands of cans of this nature over the years I've done hair. Not one time in my life have I heard of a can rupturing like this without a good reason. It wasn't hot, there were no heated tools near it, in fact, none of my hair tools were even in the bathroom at that time. They were in the car with me, since I had to go to work later that day. It literally burst on its own, with no rhyme or reason.

Except I think my mom was trying to tell us she is still here.

Sean said after it happened, he sat and "chatted" with her for about 5 minutes, telling her we are all doing okay, and that we're happy here, and that if she needed us to do anything, to let us know. I'm not sure what an exploding can of dry shampoo means, but it could mean we need to clean up more? I don't know.

I don't really care what the meaning of it is, I'm just glad that she's around to keep us on our toes.

Let's Get Physical

You know you're singing that song now, huh? I loved that song when I was little. I love ONJ, she's so cute, with that short shaggy hair and that accent. Ahh, young Olivia Newton John. Now she's a cancer survivor and has endured the heartbreak of a lover lost at sea. Weird, no?

None of that has to do with this post.

Today I start Physical Therapy! Can I get a Woop Woop? No? Party poopers. I bet you're thinking I need PT because of my last marathon. You'd be wrong. As hard as it is to run a marathon over the course of one month, that is not the reason.

I dislocated a rib.

I know, right. I didn't even know that was thing. I still sort of have my doubts, except I've seen it on an X-Ray, and my awesome chiropractor says he can feel it pop in and out. And it's pretty painful. My doctor said he sees this a lot in elite athletes. Yeah, totally me. He also sees it in working moms with anxiety and depression and anger management issues. Nope, not me.

Since there's pretty much zero they can do about it, I decided that PT was my best, if not only, option. Actually, the chiropractic adjustments have helped, but still, when I run, it comes back, and it's hard to breathe, and when you're chubby and running, it's already hard to breathe, so there's a good chance my next run won't end well.

I've heard good things about PT. I know lots of people that have had good results from it. I also know lots of people that say they were on the verge of punching their therapist in the face because they hurt you so bad. That may have come from my grandma, she was awesome. And with my anger management issues, he better watch it.

Happy Haunting

Thanks to Spencer, Sean has been on this scary movie kick for the last few weeks. First it was The Crazies. Scary at the beginning, then just got dumber and dumber as it went on. I thought maybe I had grown up a little and could handle a scary movie in my old age. I was wrong.

Friday night brought A Haunting In Connecticut. Holy crap. Seriously? That is some scary stuff. I think the fact that it's based on a true story (or so they say), makes it even more scary. There are glimpses of ghosts that disappear the second you turn to look for them. There is a locked room in the basement that has been sealed off for some unknown reason. There are rainy nights and full moons and creaky floors, you know, the works for scary movies.

I don't mind the creaks and dark basements so much. I mind the men jumping out and the old fashioned mortician appliances that look like tools of torture.

But it makes me think of my mom. I know, creepy, huh? But I'm pretty sure she's haunting us. My kids love it. I love it. And it's not scary at all. I love that she is around this house, bumping things at night and making things fall down. I hope that means she likes having us here since she hasn't done anything to make us scared.

I wonder if I could make a movie about a happy haunting? It probably wouldn't draw much of a crowd, huh?

Pretty Scary Stuff

We went to Lagoon's Frightmares on Saturday. (Sort of like FrightFest for you Six Flags peeps, but with less cool make up and more kiddie themed stuff.) You know, since we have season passes we have to make the most of them! It was the second day of Frightmares, and a Saturday, so I thought it might be crowded. Turns out, no so crowded. It was a perfect day. Cool in the shade, warm in the sun, not a cloud in the sky. The kids were having a blast, and I got some relaxing people watching time in, which I will miss dearly when the park closes.


Shortly after this photo was taken, we decided to go through one of the haunted houses they make specifically for Frightmares. It was a 3 Spider rating on a scale of 1-4. Pretty scary sounding to me. But Maggie and Sean were up for it, so we left Gretta with Emma, and headed in to our doom. The whole haunted house was painted in 3-D paint, and you had to wear 3-D glasses. It was pretty cool. Maggie did well, she didn't put on her glasses, and that helped a lot. As we got toward the end, I commented that it smelled like gas. Just then, a masked man jumped out and pull started a chain saw and chased us down the exit ramp.

I'm pretty sure Maggie pooped her pants. Or maybe that was me. I don't know, but it was pretty darn scary.

I think we'll stick to the kiddie straw maze and the haunted house rides. Those are just up my alley.

Fun For Friday

Today I give you this little gem. (Oh, I totally crack myself up with that one!) Found in Las Vegas, next to our favorite frozen yogurt place, USwirl.


Do you see it? Do you? At least they're "Better Jewelers", and not "Best Jewelers", but I'd hate, or love, to see "Good Jewelers", and the grammatical errors they could come up with.

I'm such a grammar snob. I see errors all the time, especially on professional custom signs. It makes me think that the sign makers should double check all the proposed spelling, otherwise, it makes both companies look stupid.

But it gives me good stuff to blog about.

Happy Friday!