Play-DOH!

We were called as Nursery Leaders at church. Probably because I don’t see small children enough during the week. Anyway, I pulled out a pack of play-doh and let the kids pick their own colors. The boys picked greens, the girls picked pinks, and Darby, of course, picked black. That’s right; black. Should I be worried?

What’s something weird that you did as a child or that your child has done?

Sorry

hang in there, people desperate for diversion. i'm in the process of moving. it's so nice to have my Dad here with us, even though i'm making him work like a slave. Darby is sure loving having Pappy around and so are Frankie and i. so, when things calm down, i'll be back (that might be a threat).

Monkey Breath

Do you ever catch the tail-end of a conversation or commercial or some form of communication and get the weirdest thing you’ve ever heard? That happened to me this morning. What I actually heard on the t.v. was this: “Now THERE’S a ship that couldn’t be sunk by monkey breath.” Come again? Is there a ship that COULD be sunk by monkey breath? And why do we allow this monkey to live? It seems pretty dangerous to me.

What’s something weird that you have heard out of context?

Scary Beyond All Reason

Is there anything that just gives you the willies? For me, it is lizards. I shudder at the very thought of a lizard. Don’t tell Adam; he’ll catch one, tie a string to its tail and then tie the other end of the string to me! Just ask Britney (it was mice for her, and Frankie was a culprit, too); it’s no bueno. Anyway, once my dear friend Jamie came over and a lizard got in when I opened the door. In that split second, I thought, “I’ll get a cup, put the cup on the lizard, tape the lizard cup to the floor, and wait for Frankie to come home.” Jamie, sensing my hysteria, boldly offered to remove the little beast. And I let her. I let my 8 months pregnant friend bend over and touch that nasty reptile. That’s the kind of person she is, and the kind of person I am, apparently. So, as I was trying to clean the new house (we all know I’m neurotic), I went into the small bathroom to scrub it clean. I saw motion, I flinched. I fought the urge to run. I looked a little closer, making sure it wasn’t a scorpion. The closer I got, the more the dark figure appeared to be, wait for it…wait for it…, a lizard! I screamed and ran out the bathroom. I shoved something under the door so that it couldn’t get out. I called Frankie, who had little sympathy, so I considered calling Jamie. I decided that was too much and I left the house. That was Saturday morning. On Sunday night, we went over to hang some curtains. Frankie bravely searched the bathroom for the intruder, but found nothing. I went over yesterday to finish the pre-move cleaning (thanks to Alisha for babysitting the Darbs) and as I stepped into that bathroom, of course I saw that nasty lizard! But I was all alone and I needed to clean that bathroom. I put on latex gloves and got a cup and a piece of paper. I chased that creepy thing around the bathroom, screaming all the while, and finally captured him! I put him outside, finished screaming, and ran back to the house and locked the door (you know, just in case). It was traumatic, but I was so awesome!

What gives you the willies for no real reason?

The Leap

We are homeowners. For finally! It took 4 months from start to finish, but Brett and Corrine were generous enough to let us live in their Mesa house while we went through the whole process, so we are very grateful to them for that. Also, Adam, Frankie’s brother, was our real estate agent and we put that poor boy to work! So, we are really excited! Our first house! I think we got a screaming deal and it has all the elements we were looking for. We’ll start moving in hopefully by next weekend. Because I don’t have an income, the lender had me sign a disclaimer saying basically that I have no legal claim to that house. I said, “so, if Frank takes off on me, I can’t get his house?!” She didn’t think I was funny. They didn’t think I was funny when we started the process either. They asked me to list my occupation and I said, “trophy-wife.” Come on, that’s hilarious. So, my daughter and I will soon be living in Mr. Parmenter’s house. Sounds a little scandalous, right?

Great Men

So, I love Elder Holland. He’s like, the Lord’s bouncer. "Don’t believe it, you schmuck? You’re out of here!" I loved his testimony of the Book of Mormon today. When he said that attempts to discredit the scripture were “frankly pathetic” I just wanted to cheer and cry out “hallelujah, praise the Lord!” He speaks so honestly and plainly and while I’d be terrified to meet him face to face, I am always impressed and emboldened by his words. What a great conference.

Also, today is my darling Frankie’s birthday. He is the most amazing person ever. I rank him with my own dad, and that is a pretty hallowed place that very few have ever reached. I am so thankful that he is my husband. Frankie is the most intelligent, hard working, and good man there is. He’s not too shabby of a kisser, either! I won’t extol him too much here as there are no words sufficient to describe him. I just love him and am thankful he was born.

What was your favorite part of conference?

There Is No Middle Ground

What is your stand on denim shorts?

Once, when we were in high school, my brother Dustin and I went shorts shopping. Now, Dustin is no respecter of name brands and so he wanted to go to Wal-Mart. How sensible of him. So, there we were, perusing the aisles of possibilities when Dustin’s eyes landed on a pair of denim shorts. He picked them up and tossed them into the cart. We had moved on to a nearby rack when a chubby and otherwise unfortunate looking 10 year old ran over to the rack of denim Faded Glories we had just passed. “Mom! Cool!” he yelled as he grabbed the exact same pair of shorts Dustin had chosen and threw them into his mother’s cart. Without a word and without hesitation, Dustin removed the shorts from our own cart and placed them back on the rack.

When I recently recanted this story to Dustin, he laughed and added, “Wait, why was I buying jean shorts?” I said, “Dust, that’s not the point of this story.” He paused momentarily before asking, in truly confused tones, “yeah, but why would I buy jean shorts?”

And thus we know where Dustin stands on the matter. So now is the time for you to take a stand; there is no middle ground. Do you or don't you wear denim shorts?