what 6 year olds do to 30-somethings... it's not good

6 year old birthday swim party...
Happy Birthday Jocilyn!
Tired much? I think he had an allergic reaction to all of the tiny females here at the birthday party- what a good daddy for helping out though, really- i love him!
Here's Matthew and I the night of Jocilyn's birthday party- most self respecting 30 somethings would not put this pic on their blogs... but if you love me, you love me, if you don't- okay~ I don't know what's wrong with my face- oh yeah- i'm old, tired and without make up... unflattering combo... oh well...

Hope it wasn't "freeze tag!" because i've been moving!

Oh, for the love of Pete!!! I got "tagged" on the 26th of July, clearly i've not been watching my fellow bloggers closely enough. Here goes the tag bag- watch out, you may be tagged at the end!

4 JOBS I'VE HAD...
~Rent a flick- clerk, that was fun- free movies- good times
~CNA at Hearthstone of Mesa nursing home- I have a lot of respect for these hard working folks, i just had to keep telling myself, "how would you like your parents to be treated if they were being taken care of?"
~Registered Nurse on the mother/baby unit at BDMC, Mesa, AZ
~Registered Nurse Liberty Dialysis Nampa, ID

Fun places to go for a girls weekend get-a-way
~Vegas is SOOOOO fun- several times with my Jess- she still holds the "ill-gotten gains" we play with when we go! ... hopefully that happens.....
~Tuscon, not really that fun of a place- but with girlfriends, it's more about who you're with and how hard you laugh!
~Great memories of "girls weekend" in Provo, the carriage house with Lynn-a-gin

Movies I can watch over and over again
~ Meet Joe Black
~ Any classic with: Doris Day/Carrie Grant/Rock Hudson/Debbie Reynolds/Tony Randall
~ How to Lose a guy in just 10 days
~ Only You
~ Parent Trap (original)- it's just cute and funny- attatched to good memories with family and cousins the first time i saw it at Aunt Debbies

My Guilty Pleasures
~ Diet Soda (almost any kind... as long as its got good fizz....)
~ Taking down time when my kids do- i could get so much more accomplished if i didn't!
~ Shopping- doesn't even have to be fancy, a dollar store can make me pretty happy

Places I've Lived
~ Birth to age 3: Colorado (Red Mesa and CO Springs)
~ 3- 17 years old: Gallup New Mexico, "Heart of the Indian Nation"... yummmy...
~ 17-31 years old: Phoenix Metro area: Gilbert, Mesa
~ 31- present: Star, ID... wish we had a store... a real one...

Shows I enjoy
~ 24... Jack Bauer is my hero!... I need a t shirt that says that!
~Friends... dvd or reruns- love, love, love friends....
~My Soap..... "Like Sands through the hourglass" this is a waste of our lives! alas... i am a faithful viewer... so sad...
~BURN NOTICE!! new, and we love it...

First thoughts when i saw my someday significant other
~ Who are we kidding? He was so full of himself! What a cocky son of a gun...
~ What a yummy hunk of Italian... looks like he could spell trouble... but mmmmm' handsome-
~ What a tease- who does he think i am? Who does he think he is?
~ Why does he hang out with Haskel? (if you never knew "Hack"... well, the name should tell you enough)
~ After we spent time actually talking- i realized he was very nice to look at... I'm still enjoying the view 9 years later!!!!

Vacation: Places I've been
~ Orlando- loved that- and the kids did too
~ Hawaii
~ All over the US growing up, Washington DC is one of my favorite places to go- someday with Matthew- he'd love all of the history
~ Mexico

Favorite Foods
~ For over a week I've had a mad craving for oriental food- I love orange chicken
~ Mexican- ahhhh, a good chicken chimi..... mmm'mmm' good-
~ I love a good pasta!
~ Han Sach Rene' - it's German- and it's Nazi awesome (I just made that up... lol... nazi awesome... )

If in a "jam" with your spouse, what tactics do you use to get out of the dog house?

~The sure fire one... just kidding... kind of...
~ There really aren't many jams to speak of, and if there were, i'm sure Jack Bauer could fix it, he is my hero you know...

Websites I visit Daily
~I'm spuratic... lately I don't even go online daily... usually yahoomail
~ Blogspot (when i'm having a day with enough down time)

Best 1st Kiss Landmark
~ Sadly, I dont have one... Matthew and my "1st kiss" was at the Luvruski's house in Gilbert, AZ - good memory, but not what i'd call a "landmark" kind of location

Where I'd rather be right now
~maybe on a cruise with my honey- far away from real life, or real worries
~ A tropical paradise?
~ High on a mountain top in a nice hammock reading a book... with my honey
~ In a clean house instead of this one that i have a million things to do in and i've been working on this blog every 2 minutes i've been home during a very "in and out... here and there" day... I hate days like this- they get really mucked up and feel very unproductive..... I'd rather be a lot of places

Tag Others to do this on their blogs!!!

(I haven't checked to see who all has done this.... so if i duplicate tag you, i guess you get an "out"- but if this is your first "tagging" do it... or else!!!!)
Amanda Turley
Dianne Owens
Tricia Wirig (except with your new "s" name that i can't remember!)
Brittany Slade

Fell asleep bleaching!!!! (hair, not teeth!)

oopie!? What do you think of it?

Have you ever been letting the bleach/frost/lightener sit for the prescribed time and fallen asleep? Yep- I have... last night! Lucky i have a hubby that woke me up an hour later, luckier still- my hair didnt' fall out!!! ... or at least it hasn't yet.... hmmmmm.....

So, I've been dark brown for a while now, it was time for a change. Matthew said, "just go have it professionally done...." I was shocked, aghast... what do you say to that? Colorists who know what they are doing are only real in movies! I've paid hundreds (litterally) at a time for color- lots of color- color that has taken hours from me that i will never get back..... why pay for that? "Professionals," as my husband kindly refers to them as, have turned me: green, purple, pink, orange, and more green (lots of shades of green.... just not a good color on me). It is worrisome when the entire salon staff is in on a decision of how we might go about "fixing" this.... the only thing they didn't do in front of me is call the color manufacturer for their advise... and then at the end of this 10 hour day (the one that sticks in my mind- and this was a nice salon, highly recommended by friends...) they had the man parts to ask for money!!!!!!! Well sure!!! I'm thinking, that was fun, why wouldn't i pay for it? In fact, I think i have paid for it with my time and will continue to pay for it until your "fix" works itself out..... yeah, um, no.

That said.... Yes, we ended up just winging it here at home. I know the photo looks brassy, but its more sass than brass- no, it's not really that bad- and it does have to settle out a little bit...

I also am getting an antique headboard and dresser ready for my kids new room. Here is a before and after of the headboard i did today- feedback welcome~BEFORE AFTER

I needed to do so much today- but mostly i've blogged my daughters 6th birthday stuff. I decided that was just as important (if not more) than laundry.... or toys on the floor. The blogging went less than smoothly- which you will see if you check their blog out at www.friendorfoefables.blogspot.com That's all for today friends! Be good! More later- lots happening in our lives: new jobs, mental breakdowns, the new Harry Potter.... I could go on and on... but you'll get it all in due time my friends... in due time.

amethystic ionic negativity & pain

I shall write in purple to pay tribute to the amethyst. I have a neighbor who is a massage therapist. This is a good thing- I intend to utilize her. Anyway, at a BBQ on Saturday (thank you Wheelocks and Roberts, you're better people than me) so this neighbor massage therapist gal starts talking to Marie and I about her new "bio-mat." She thought it might be good for my mom. So then Marie volunteers my lil' ol' pain issues and the diagnostic label I've been handed (don't take that wrong Marie, I was not/am not upset with you) so, Rose (ha! the masseuse has a name!- and would she still be the same if she had a different name?) says, "I'm having people come to the shop right now just to try it out. I've had such great response after they have a session. Each person has a positive experience and feels better physically and mentally afterward. (to quote McKenna- and blah, blah, blah) I want you to come try it. I'll meet you at the shop at 09:30 am on Monday." Okay...I agree. I am a skeptic, albeit a hopeful one. I'm very open to others (my mom) trying alternative approaches to medicine/health, in fact I encourage it... but when it comes to me I'm never convinced the pain will improve (oh, wishing for drugs right now!). (no worries- only Tyl/IBU 4 me)

So... what is a bio-mat? I went this morning and tried it out. (here is where you discover the reason for this blog title and the purple font color) The mat is comprised of crushed amethyst, which apparently has negative ions that act on the cellular level of our organ tissues. So, as the ions did their little dance, I lay there wearing headphones and listening to a woman with a very nice voice guide me into "deep relaxation." (she did not however guide me out- so I'm in a coma as i type- it's a miracle, truly).

Did it work? Well, I still have menthol patches on my left shoulder, which hurt insanely when i arose this morning at 03:30 a.m. with a febrile, emotional almost 6 year old. While i was there she did a mini massage and found a lovely knot on the right shoulder and now it hurts too (I'm being melodramatic) Honestly? It was very relaxing, but that could've been the heated crushed stones i was laying on in a very calming environment. Hard to say. I think there is more intrinsic value in alternate modalities of healing than our society gives. As for the bio-mat, i think it would take a whole lotta sessions in combo with intense massage therapy to be useful... and I'm so cheap that when it's not a free trial, i likely will not participate as needed to achieve the ever elusive pain free status i so desire.... babble, babble... is anyone still reading? Bless your heart...

Hair Flare

What does hair mean to you? Why do such strong gender bias' dictate how we wear our hair? OR if we even have hair?!?!? Women, as a general rule and this is just my observation, don't love their own hair. It's not the right color. I wish it were straight. I wish it were curly. The length is all wrong. I hate this cut. My hairline is stupid- look my: huge forehead, widows peak (don't shave it girls!... very bad idea), I don't have enough forhead.... I don't know why we are so silly about something that is....

DEAD... it no longer lives! Why does it make or break our day?

I do this too. I wish mine had an ounce of curl to it so that it might not hang there like over cooked spaghetti. My hair is thick, but it isn't the "right" texture for me. I love and hate short hair, same with long. And i REALLY dislike the "inbetween" length- ladies, you know of what I speak. I would probably shave it all and go with the Mr. Clean approach- but that is not so much acceptible in our society... and even less acceptable in my marriage... and yes, his opinion matters to me.

So what do we do about it? Well, what have we tried so far? In our attempts to control the fur that afflicts us we have: tweezed, cut, waxed, permed (scary gamble), added pigment and stripped it. Many nights with poor sleep due to foreign roundish things tightly screwed into our hair so that in the morning we can be beautiful. Have you ever thought about it though? The only time we've done this is when we are children and someone does it to us... we do not grow into adults and carry on the practice. No, as adults we move onto things like: nair, bleach, fake little add-ins made of narly plastic hair- or a whole wig (I am not above this- and those of you who know me, know that!!!). Isn't it the cutest when we put toilet paper between hot rollers and our ears so they don't burn? but the burns with the barbaric curlers, straighteners, spiral thingys, and the unforgettable crimper- what a look- grrrr, sexy mama! Have you been the parent who says to their child, "No, no, don't touch- that's hot, owie, will burn you." But we keep touching it and burning our forehead, scalp, ear, neck (lovely when those look like love bites) burns hurt like a son of a gun!!! So, no, no, don't touch- that's hot, will burn you, and you've not outgrown the dreaded "owie" consequence any more than the child.

The chemicals..... oh the chemicals. We stand in stores fervently reading labels and looking like bafoons taking lids off to smell the shampoo, pomade, gel, etc., sometimes shooting it out at our nose and then looking around to see if anyone saw that. The advertising is so tricky- and we believe it, uh-huh, we do! No more frizz, put this in and hair goes straight for a date, or suddenly curly to meet Mr. Burly. One will inflate your hair like a balloon- watch out for sharp objects, another shines it all up so it appears you've been collecting

oil for days, and finally, you too can have hair just like a horses mane and tail. Now, there is a nice visual.

I don't know what the point of all this was- just random thoughts I guess. Probably started this morning when i pulled out my tweezers to get leg hairs... "owie." Have a blessed hair day my friends!!

Yet again, sleepy, but not sleeping

warning: the format of this blog is disturbing- my photos won't cooperate and i'm tired of fighting them! I need professional blogging help... but not tonight, it's 3:45am and i'm going to give sleep another chance!

What is the longest you've ever stayed awake? I think my "record," (not that i'm proud of it) is somewhere in the 60 hour range. Why? Why? Why?!?!?! Can i not sleep? My eyes are tired, my body is worn out and yet sleep eludes me... This hasn't always been a problem. It started with marriage and worsened with kids. So if you can- avoid the aforementioned and you should slumber peacefully. Problem is, marriage and kids are kinda cool. In fact, I rather like them. So, thank heavens I've found blogging in my life because ebay can get expensive when you're up all night!!!! kidding... I read too. ;-)

Current events: My car sucks. Not to look at- it's really pretty and one would think it worked just fine. But on a recent trip to UT for Scott and Britt's wedding a little light came on... oh, you know that spells trouble. This one seemed innocent enough, "check coolant level." So I read the handy little manual and it said, "add 50/50 antifreeze/special h20 solution as needed." So I bought some, I can be responsible. Matthew flew in to drive back with us and went to add it before we departed. I came out to the car and he said, "look at this." So i did... mind you the last time he did this was at the dealership when we bought the car and he asked me to point out the battery to him... after surveying under the hood I decided that it must have been left in Germany- who knew BMW's do not require a battery?!?!? ... Clever Germans. No, the sneaky beasterds put it underneath the backseat or some nonsense. For pete's blinkin' sake, a simple battery change on this car takes 4+ hours and must be done at the dealership... who knew. But, I digress.... So, we get back home and on Monday I called the dealership to get the car in for service. No problem, see you Thursday. This morning i took it in... and told our service advisor everything i could think of that the car has ever done- funny noises, oil leak, the air sometimes slows down and speeds up- and he looks at me like i'm a dumb female, but coddles me saying, "yes ma'am, we'll be sure to check that out and i'll give you a call this afternoon. Do you need a shuttle back home?" why yes, i do. "Where do you live?" ... Star.... he looks like i just said "mars"... and says, "oh dear, we don't go that far ma'am." I'm thinking- sure you do- I just left you my car and you can bet that i'm not walking!!! They took me home- but were adamant that they could not possibly pick me up when it was time for me to return and get my car.... whatever. The call i received later was not, "find a ride and come get your newly fixed car..." It was, "this is this and that is that and the total is..... $4,200.00... roughly...." I'll go in tomorrow and steal a rental car while mine is getting fixed (thank heavens for warranties!!!)

My sister recently said in her blog, "I want to be a kid again and have a razor scooter." Me too... and i think i'll wear rollerblades to ride it, and no helmet- I walk on the wild side... Listen to mom Hunter, only one toy with wheels at a time! (see http://cheerychesleys.blogspot.com/)

The first of many random thoughts and ramblings

For generations now, I have wanted to blog... I just didn't know it. Did you know that blogging began in 1999? I'm so behind... since i didn't know it existed i failed to learn the fine art of the blogger- so bare with me as I fumble, stumble, glue, paste, and blabber on and on. I have hope that my desire to glob, uh, blog- will overcome my inabilities. Let the ramblings begin!!!!

My thoughts today have centered around weight and money. The two are not intrinsically linked, and I don't know why they are floating around in my brain. Try and follow as I work it out. Here are two things in this life that we really have quite a lot of control over. However, getting control over them can be the tricky part. Eating and/or dieting along with exercise (or the lack thereof), are the controls over weight. Currently I am having issues with the weight watchers point system. Why aren't the yummy foods free, I ask you? Here is another thought, fat melts right? so why don't we automatically lose more weight in the hotter summer months (wouldn't that be lovely?). I know I'm being silly here- but I've hit dieters frustration. What can I say?

As for my money thoughts. Those probably stem from a couple of things, not the least of which is the frustration of job hunting. Burnout in the field of nursing is not uncommon. I don't know if I feel that, but i want to love my work again. Lately nursing has consisted of crappy bosses who've treated me like a second rate human, and anything but an adult (as I raise my hand to ask permission to use the restroom). I'm a grown up and I want a grown up job. I want to be the boss and make millions!!!! ... who doesn't? Someone smart once said, "The only people who obsess over money are those who don't have it." I can get with that- my goal is to not even give the green stuff a second thought- just know that there is plenty there for me and my family; and for the needs of others as we see them. I just want "enough".... I'll let you know what that is when i figure it out. Until then, feel free to drop a quarter in my guitar case as you pass! Have a good day!