It feels like a four post kind of day

Probably because I haven't posted all weekend. I'm currently without internet because I am dog sitting for Max (aka Maximus, Max-E, Maxwell, etc.) who belongs to a nice couple in my home ward and who I dog sit on a fairly regular basis.


I like Max. He's an easy going dog who listens well (although his hearing is on the fritz at the mo') and only barks when someone is at the front door. I LOVE dogs who don't bark much. It's the only way to have a dog, I tell you. Also, he doesn't stare at me when I eat and he just stays by my side for the most part while I am at the house but not in an annoying "get away from me or else I'll scream" kind of way.


I have lots of pictures to post from my weekend of playing with family and friends (for purposes of this blog, from here on out "the kiddos" will refer to my brother's kids, "the boys" will be Lauren's sons, Monkey and Bug and I'll have to come up with something to call all of them as a whole, but those labels will do fine for now).


I babysat the kiddos minus one (Noah) on Friday night and we had a fun filled evening of Chick-fil-A, pretty sunsets, wrestling and a rousing game of Pretty Pretty Princess. Yes. I took plenty of future black mail photos. Muahahahahaha!


Saturday I slept in! Oh Saturday morning sleeping in is one of my all time favorite things to do. Hmmmm. Then I went out that night to dinner and a movie (Hancock) with friends. It was very fun, although I was in a somewhat grouchy at times mood (my jaw has really been hurting me, then add sinus pain on top of that and I am one unhappy camper), and the movie was alright. If you see it, pay $5 or less or wait for the DVD. Although I liked the characters (even Charlize Theron, who isn't really my favorite) and the story was pretty good, it lacked a little something. I can't quite put my finger on it. Enjoyable though - if you can overlook repeated use of the A-word.


Sunday I went to my home ward in order to stay close to Max so he wouldn't be so lonely. It worked out nice because Lauren invited me and Christy and John to have dinner with them and Wil's brother and his wife who were in town visiting for the weekend. She made delish florentine meatballs. At this I will say that I will forever love Rachel Ray for providing my sister (who was already a wonderful cook) with amazing recipes to make into her own even more amazing meals. Basically, the food was amazing. So we ate and played with the boys and enjoyed each others company and did I mention the food was amazing? I love my sissie and her husband for letting us all lounge around their home.


After dinner, Christy came back to the dog sitting house with me and we played Sims. Christy and I have recently begun bonding over this game. It's silly and it's fun. And then there was this secret on Post Secret this week.

There are a few things I like about this screen shot. I like that my Sim houses are designed a lot nicer than this one. I like that the person admits favortism toward one character (I recently made a Sim die because the character was bugging me so much) and I like that death is wearing a lei. No one else has party clothes on...apparently he really likes his job.

You May Remember Me From Such Posts as...

Here's what I've been thinking about:

Does anyone else have a hard time believing that the children of the stars are just like every other kid? You read stories about stars going shopping, taking cab rides, interacting with other famous peoples children, going to the park, etc. but I don't automatically think of them the same way as I would if I were to hear the same story from a friend of mine and her children. Why is that? Because we know their parents have tons of money, work ridiculous hours and probably have a great deal of help in raising their children? There are some stars that it is easy to believe they spend a good deal of time raising their kids on their own (Michelle Williams and Jennifer Garner/Ben Affleck) because they are seen less at events and in the movies. Of course this is all perception. I just wonder what life is really like for some of those kids. I'm sure they can have anything they want, but it comes at what seems to be a pretty big cost.

My jaw hurts. I did just have my teeth cleaned so I had to have my mouth open for a while - but I've never been so uncomfortable during a cleaning before - not even the three hour cleaning I had post braces removal (we had to get rid of all the glue on my teeth from two years of braces). We had to keep resting - and I was pushing myself as far as I could go. It wasn't necessarily painful, just very very uncomfortable. Like I could feel the muscles in my jaw tightening up. It's weird to have to stop and consciously remind myself to relax my jaw and separate my teeth.

The Colbert Report kills me. Seriously. So funny. There was a clip the other day where Colbert took the Canadian Hockey Night theme song and made it more "American." This entailed waving an American flag, then waving the flag and eating a hot dog, then waving the flag, eating a hot dog and waving a gun around - then he started talking about "patriotic" things which somehow ended up being about punching a beaver in the face. This is the kind of stuff that really can make me laugh.

Alyssa also makes me laugh. That's my friend. She is awesome. She has this laugh that she uses when someone says something that is supposed to be funny, something they think is funny but everyone else just kind of smiles and nods. She kind of does this pity laugh - but I don't think very many people pick up on it because they don't know how she laughs when she really thinks something is funny. All of that makes me laugh - although I'm still not laughing at the lame joke, I'm laughing at Alyssa's pity laugh. For the most part, though, the person telling the lame joke has no idea we aren't laughing at their joke so I think it's a win-win-win type of deal.

This personal review of Twilight written by a boy I don't know who read the book made me laugh. It also makes me love blogging even more because these are thoughts I would not have otherwise come across. My favorite part,

By this point I was welcome to walk away mid-conversation, because whether I stayed or not, the girls would quickly become completely oblivious to my existence. They’d get all caught up in imagining their bloodthirsty yet sensitive Adonis of the walking dead showing up in their bedrooms in the middle of the night to sweep them off their feet and then carry them into the woods so he could blow tenderly upon their necks. It became very apparent during this week that I cannot compare to a 6 foot tall, stone-jawed 200-year-old vampire who looks 17, sparkles in the sun and has a breath that smells more delicious than a vat of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies slathered in liquid pheromones.

Awesome. The review is what you would expect and a lot of the same stuff you hear from boys who ventured into the world of Twilight - it was an okay book, but let's just be clear that you will never find a real Edward. No one is that perfect...or, you know, a vampire.

I've never been one to get all fanatical about things. There are things I like a lot. Things I will go out of my way for. Things I will get VERY excited about. But I've always liked that I wasn't one of those girls who cried at the mere thought of being within 100 feet of their favorite boy-bander, musician, actor, person portraying a fictional character who has now become the embodiment of that character, etc. I can keep my composure. I only whisper excitedly about the possible presence of a celebrity (usually more obscure than most) or point awkwardly while forgetting the name of said celebrity. Total composure.

I kept the volume of my car radio on an odd number yesterday. Nothing like improving yourself, I always say.

I did a really nerdy thing this week. I picked up on a game of Sims2, which I occasionally break out when I feel the need to ignore other, more important (read: real) things. I usually play it for a couple of days, progress in the life of some random character then focus on real life again. This week, I totally created a new neighborhood. and characters. based off of characters from books. I can't believe I'm confessing this...we'll just call it a step forward in my quest to be a more truthful blogger. That's right, folks, so far I have created the Pevensie children, part of the Cullen clan, Bella and Charlie, and a few others stuck in there. I'm sure I'm not the first person to do this, but I'm probably the most secretly ashamed person to do this. haha. Oh well. Now, if you could just instantly forget that I've shared this little snippet. Mucho thanks.

This is one of my more random (and long) train-of-thought posts so I best be moving on. I don't like ending on that note, but what can you do?

I know. A short list of bloggy things I am anticipating:
Corynn and Jer coming home from their trip and the posts that are sure to be posted about said trip.

Posts that are soon to be made to Megan's new London blog (look for the link soon!)

Hopefully some more funny posts from Mike and Miri, who have (thankfully) refrained from becoming one super blogger/i-love-my-new-spouse-centric/boring since joining in wedded bless for time and all eternity.

More posts from Hayley, which I know in my heart of hearts will come soon. I like her updates and her daughter is adorable.

The blog announcement of the birth of little Maren Blake. Simon and Anne are going to be fun parents.

Okay. That's really all for now. Happy reading. Don't judge me.