operation: P4P tribute

so i am totally hacking into this ladies blog to leave her a tribute. why? because it was her birthday on friday and her no-good-husband didn't do a dang thing for her. guess i'm gonna have to show him how its done.
-antimatter








honestly babe... all fun aside, thank you for being my wife, my friend, my lover, my sweetheart and my constant. you are true, genuine, selfless and the embodiment of devotion. i've loved you since the day i first saw you.
sincerely,
your prize (spouse)

Turkey, turning 31 and such

Turkey Trot Saturday November 22

After seeing and hating my last race pictures I decided to apply some tanning lotion. Tan fat looks better than white fat, I always say.

#2 ran in the 2nd heat of the Kid's dash with a couple of buddies.

Thanksgiving in New Mexico

What the?

Lovin' the cousins

Good gravy! Here's my sweet sister in law, 10 weeks post-partum and already cooking up a storm with 5 house-guests trashing her place.

My little bro carving up the world's tenderest 19 lb turkey.

Here's the spread pre-feasting. Homemade everything. Rolls, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, salad, pies and turkey. Ok, the turkey wasn't home made.

Spouse's famous mashed potatoes. You don't want to know how much butter he used. At least I don't want to think about it.

The pig-sty. Errr....the boy's table.

A little after dinner rough-housing never hurt anyone. It's all fun and games till a 5 year old gets her face kicked.

Did you know N.M. is cold? Well, it is.

On Friday we drove up into the mountains for a short hike in the crisp air and muddy trail. Yes, I am aware that my eyes are closed. Spouse's curse of the photo-eye-closing is rubbing off on me.

The kids loved running free in the wilderness. #3 was in dirt-caked heaven.

I'm not really taller than my brother. We're on a steep slope.

Did I mention I turned 31? Yeah, well I did.

SPOILER ALERT

I just did something wild, crazy and unfortunately, regrettable.  I saw the midnight premiere of Twilight.  Why am I writing my review here at 2:45 in the morning? Because I had to drink 32 ounces of diet coke in order to stay awake and now here I am, still awake. 

Ok.  So everyone who has read the book is going to see the movie.  But maybe you won't be so let down (movies from books are always let-downs, but this one is the worst) if you go into it  knowing a few things.  Like:

Edward looks like a clown.  His (and all the vampires) make up is terrible.  He looks like a powder face, with an unblended jaw line and too dark red of lips.  It is distracting.  

The actor playing Edward uses two faces. 1)wild staring eye 2) sad face

The action scenes are hilarious. Watching the vampires run fast is like watching Tom and Jerry. All they are missing is the little cloud of dust like the ones the Flintstones kick up after their feet do that blurry-run thing.  And the climbing of the trees - it makes Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon look like Cirque du Soleil.

And the sparkly skin scene. Oh dear.  How can I prepare you for it?  Just bring a kleenex to wipe away the tears of laughter.

Jacob.

All is not lost.  There are a few scenes that deliver:

The baseball episode

Edward chasing off the mal-intended men in Port Angeles

The fight scene at the ballet studio (just look away when Edward sucks the venom out of Bella's arm -it'll remind you that they are just actors playing in a fictional movie.  And isn't the goal to forget you're just watching actors playing in a fictional movie? Suspend the disbelief?)

To sum it up: It looks like Twilight was hastily filmed, hastily edited and poorly produced.  It's been touted as a blockbuster but really it's just a B movie.  

Two thumbs down.

1.5 star out of 5.

Boo.

But still go see it.

nerdy thirties

I used to think I would always be hip and with-it and never, ever, ever fall into the easy trap of the nerdy thirties. Yet, here I am, approaching the big 3-1 and it's only getting worse. My clothes are getting closer and closer to vintage; my taste in music is stuck in the 80's and 90's; my hair style hasn't changed in years. I AM A NERDY THIRTY! Please don't start thinking of a nice, sympathetic comment to write. This isn't one of those "I'm fat" - "No! You're not fat" things. This is the best (or worst) part of being a nerdy thirty..... I DON'T CARE! Maybe this is the joy that comes with getting older, you just care less and less. Hence, you get nerdier, and nerdier. One day you find yourself wearing comfortable, stretch-waist-band pants and nurse shoes and you have arrived at complete care-less-ness.

The good thing is that you have hopefully replaced all those material, worldly cares with real things like children, grandchildren, spirituality, giving, and bingo.

This conversation is what forced me to take a good look in the proverbial mirror (not the real, wriggle-ridden reflection):

#1: Why are you wearing that?

me: (on my way out of the house for some errands) What do you mean? Wearing what?

#1: Those clothes? Why aren't you wearing your normal clothes?

me: My normal clothes? What are my normal clothes?

#1: You know...(thinking).... your pajamas.





Oh, I have so arrived at not caring.

Family Photos

Just a little preview of what you may be getting in your Christmas greeting this year:












Tomorrow is #1's birthday. Six years old. It's an anniversary for me too; the day my life changed more than I could have ever known.

So about last night.....

I'm not going to write anything. Just this :( or I might revert to the downward tailspin that had me wallowing in worry and disappointment this morning.

Onto happier subjects: Halloween! This picture of #2, the pirate might even make John McCain smile today. And the ghoulish #1 is so spooky she could have put a damper on the zealous crowd at Grant Park last night.

Putting politics aside for a minute, we had a great time at our ward's truck 'r treat. However, now that we know that the end of the world is nigh, (The One has finally arrived) we probably should have been collecting food storage. How long do Snickers keep?

Halloween night a mummy and a shark joined us for our 2nd annual Halloween bbq. We listened to "This is Halloween" one last time and then canvased the neighborhood like an Obama volunteer except we were only asking for candy.

We trudged around the warm night for more than an hour, wearing the kids out and collecting loot. But all in all, nothing could have prepared us for election night 2008. The hopes, the dreams, the change... what? That isn't my line? I told you I wasn't going to talk politics so quit trying to change the suject.