Out Sick...

I and my daughter have caught a virus directly sent by the Devil. I'll be back later this week. Until, then I will paint a great big red x on my door so nobody will catch it.

Heel Decision

Every Sunday morning I am faced with the decision: To Heel or not to Heel. When I was single, this was a no brainer. I wore high heels every moment I got, they were fun, made me feel fabulous, and proved to be a great distraction when church got a little dull. When I got married, I stopped for awhile. I think it was because I thought married ladies should be more conservative at church and wear things like loafers and appliqued sweaters. But, I couldn't change who I was and eventually drifted back to my high heels. Now that I am a mom, things are different. I often times chose to wear flats and it has nothing to do with myself and everything to do with the safety of my daughter. Please read the following:

Beyoncé Knowles fell face first down a flight of stairs during an Orlando concert Tuesday night – only to recover and complete her number nearly without missing a beat.

Onstage, wearing a trench coat and high heels, Knowles, 25, was singing her hit "Ring the Alarm" while descending a staircase. As she flipped her hair around, the headliner lost her balance and slid down about a dozen steps.

I always flip my hair and I'm always carrying my daughter. The journey to nursery requires walking down two flight of steep stairs. What if I flipped my hair while walking down the stairs? If it can happen to Beyonce, who I am sure has practiced this move, I am sure it can happen to me. Mostly, because it happens to me all the time while wearing flat shoes. A hideous memory involving me at the front of a packed gigantic stadium size class and a bag of chips comes to mind.

So, every Sunday I reach for my high heels. I hold them in my hands and see a flash of myself swishing my hair, then tumbling head first down the steep stairs, clutching Gracie to my chest, praying that nobody saw my bum. I drop the shoes and pull on my trusty ballerina flats. I then pull my hair back in a ponytail. Safety first.

Harry Potter Brain...

I've been out of it more than a lot this week. I've been doing this and that, and none of it is in the slightest bit creative. It's beginning to bother me. I always like to be doing something creative, like writing...or writing. But I will have to push it back a little bit farther because tonight I will be at a local bookstore to get my copy of the final Harry Potter book that I purchased a long time ago.

The last time I did something like this was when I was a sophomore in college. I went at midnight to get the new Dave Matthews Band CD. Even then I thought I was being a little foolish, but you see I want to read the book before some idiot drops a spoiler. I have to do what I have to do.

Sean and I will not hold a decent conversation until I've finished it, which I gather will be most of the weekend. I'm so excited to have a book that will force me to stay up late. I even almost bought a T-shirt with a picture of Hermione on it, just to get in the spirit of things. Thankfully the shirt was in store for teenagers. My toe wasn't cool enough to cross the line. That, and I knew I would regret it later.

So, here's to Harry Potter. I daresay I will post more on this later, but tonight I will get the final book to a series I began reading seven years ago, the summer before my junior year in college. This series actually caused me to forget all semblance of a social life. Boy: "Do you want to come to my apartment?" Me: "No," as I would turn and run to my apartment so I could read the next chapter.

I daresay that I how I will be this weekend.

27th Year

On Saturday I crossed the threshold from my mid-twenties to my late-twenties. I feel okay about this as there is nothing I can do to stop this from happening, nor would I want to. When I look at my life, as fun as some of those years may have been, I would not trade in my knowledge gained from being older for being younger. I wouldn't want to relearn those lessons. So, I thought that maybe this year I should try to do 27 different things, or at least to try to ACTUALLY do some things I've been meaning to do.

1. Be happier with myself. - So much easier said than done as I am constantly racked by insecurities, but I'm going to give my best effort. I know it will make me a happier and more pleasant person.

2. Kick the junk food habit.- I'm about half way there. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was my need for a daily sugar high.

3. Don't give up on exercise. - I have my good days and bad. But this year, I won't give it up, even if it requires me running to the end of the driveway and back on snowy days.

4. Take a new exercise class. - I really want to get good at Pilate's or brush up on my old ballet days.

5. Take a jewelry making class. - I already know the basics, but I really want to expand my horizons and learn how to work with different metals as well as beads.

6. Cook more often. - Sean does a lot of the cooking, but if he gets a new job and starts coming home later, the duty will fall to me. I think its best if I buck up now.

7. Cook delicious and healthy food. - I want to set a good example for Gracie, and I want her to love fruits and vegetables. So far so good, but I fear I haven't hit her picky stage.

8. Read only books I love and want to read. - I get caught up reading "classics" because I feel to be a better writer I should have read such things. I usually waste three weeks of flipping the pages before I drop it and move on. I'm going to read stuff I like.

9. Write only books and stories I love and want to read. - I often times find myself writing things that I think are good, but don't love. I'm going to write for me and write about the things I love.

10. Chill out if and when the mood strikes. - I need to learn how to relax better. I like to be going and doing stuff all day long, but I want to learn how to be comfortable with just sitting on the couch, looking out the window.

11. Be a better mom, wife, daughter, sister and friend. - I feel like I shouldn't really include this in my list as it is always something I am striving for, but I feel like if I don't it will look like I am being really self-centered. This is the most important thing to me and it is what I spend 90% of my waking hours trying to achieve.

12. Go on a vacation that requires a stay in a hotel. - Since Gracie was born Sean and I haven't seen the inside of a hotel. This is fine. She's needed us and we've been through some hard times, but it's time to make a change.

13. Learn how to make delicious treats. - I love to bake. So far, I've only truly mastered brownies. I would like to master something else.

14. Drop my subscription to Real Simple and pick up one for the Ensign and for National Geographic. I need the latter magazines for my mental and spiritual well-being far worse than I need an organized closet (which is pretty bad.)

15. Celebrate family time! -Sean is graduating soon and with that comes the promise of more nights spent together as a family.

16. Do nice things for other people's birthday. - I like to do this, but often times forget. I like to surprise people in the ward on their birthday with a lip gloss or something. I'm really going to triple my efforts on this.

17. De junk my house. - I have so much stuff that either doesn't fit, is no longer my style, or is silly. It's time to clean house.

18. Make my blog the best I can. - I love to read well-written blogs. I want to make mine better.

19. Limit my time on the Internet. - I really could get so much more done if I limited my online time. It's the shopping that takes up most of my time, and the clincher is that I never buy anything. I think I will be happier if I stop looking at things I can't buy.

20. Learn how to decorate. - We hopefully will be buying a house soon, and I want to decorate it with style and panache, not with dork and overdoneness (you get my point.)

21. Potty train Gracie. - I almost bought her a potty today, but figured she needs to learn how to take her pants off first. This is so on my to-do list.

22. Bed train Gracie. - Yet another obstacle that will need to conquered this year.

23. Finish more cross-stitches.- I'm working on a fabulous one that's sucking my will to live, but will be beautiful when finished, I would like to finish a few more. They make my house cuter.

24. Do better at my church callings. - I could do better.

25. Purchase white sheets. - Right now I've got this plaid number that works with my bed spread, but I would like some fancy universal white ones.

26. Get Crafty? - Not sure I'm ready to commit yet, but I would like to learn how to sew and do other cute things that all my friends do. Crafts sort of intimidate me. But maybe I could do them. I need to work on my desire, then I will work on my skill.

27. Have fun. - I'm going to make this a fun year.

So, maybe I will, maybe I won't. But at least I've got a few things to work on!

What goes around...

Gracie: Garbage (points to my face).
Me: (Nervously laughs)
Gracie: (Scoots in closer, continues to point at my face) Garbage
Me: (Nervously laugh as I touch my face. I feel a zit.) Yes, my dear, there is garbage there, and I sincerely apologize about your bad hair cut. I swear I will take you to a professional next time.

New Running Music!

Okay, I'm in serious need of help and suggestions. I am bored of my exercise music. It makes me feel ill just thinking about listening to the same old songs again. I'm in dire need of some new downloads. The thing is, all the new music I want to purchase is slow, jazzy stuff, not good for exercising. When I hit the streets with my stroller and ishuffle, my music dictates how fast I go. If I'm listening to a slow song, it takes me three hours to walk the block.

I would love to know what you guys listen to when you need a pick me up. No matter how much I love Beyonce, I just can't listen to her or to her wanna-be Rihana friend anymore. No more! This would not be such a problem, but you see, if I don't have music, I don't move at all.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. You will save me from chucking my ishuffle off the overpass.

Lately I've discovered that I don't have any creative thoughts or urges. Not one. None at all. I think the heat is sucking my will to live by zapping all my fun thoughts and ideas. As a result I just lay on my bed, stare at the ceiling and accept the fact that I am officially the most boring person...ever.

Why is this so? Here are some ideas:

1. Gracie has just recovered from the flu. Memories of this might still be blocking any fun memories for the moment.

2. I am finally feeling better from what ever it was that I had. I think it was a fun killing virus.

3. I am trying to eat healthier. This is a kill joy. I am still not used to it. Not being able to shovel food into my mouth at all times of the day has dampened my personality.

4. I am keeping a regular exercise schedule. Please see #3.

5. Sore muscles. I would like to use the bathroom or sit on the couch with out cries of pain. However, this does prove to be dramatic.

6. I went to the zoo today from 10am -1 pm. Sweat dripped off my body in torrents, each drop taking a touch of fun with it.

7. Bad TV. Seriously.

8. I went to Downey, Idaho this weekend to visit my grandparents. Across the street is the hospital I was born in. It now looks worse than a haunted house, broken windows, gigantic cobwebs, overgrown lawn. I find this both haunting and a tad depressing. Is this what grand things turn out to be?

9. Bills. I haven't had the energy to use bill pay and every day more mail comes, and everyday the pile grows bigger. I think I will pay them when I am done with this. I might give me some more energy.

10. Oh yeah! Hello, I almost forgot, the drain that our washing machine uses keeps backing up, causing our laundry room to be repeatedly flooded. It is now fixed, but I got a leg cramp from scooping out so much water. Kill Joy.

See, I can't even think of more then ten things to write about. I think it's the heat. I really do. Maybe I will go get a Popsicle, maybe not as I am trying to stay away from sugar. Instead, I will order these cookies and decide that being healthy is not worth trading in my personality...

Sunshine Lotion

Seeing as I spent a grand part of the morning scraping icky stuff off the shoulders blades of my flu-sick daughter, I thought I would blog about something to add a little sunshine of what could be a bleak day.When I was pregnant with Gracie, Sean bought me this lotion from the True Blue Spa at Bath and Body works. He bought it after a discussion, that carrying a baby does in fact make me a mother so I should get a gift. I think I said something like this "I'm turning so ugly I should at least get some kind of token."

He pulled through with this lotion. It has a perfect tropical smell that makes me feel happy, like I am sitting under an umbrella eating some pineapple. Just the thing I need for a day like today. I just bought some on sale and keep little mini sizes with me at all times, to be used when my days are anything but tropical.