Favorite Things

I'm linking up to the favorite things blog.

Here's a few of mine:

It's the only picture I can find, but that bag. It's a roomy slouchy over the shoulder kind of purse that my sister brought back from Ghana and I LOVE it. (the adorable baby in this picture is one of my favorite kiddos too).

This is the shower gel but I use the same scent of grapefruit shampoo from Whole Foods. It smells sooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Definitely my favorite candy.

Another favorite. Reminds me of my mom and sister.

My favorite kind of toothpaste. It just tastes really fresh,

Oh my goodness.... Even after all of these years... And even considering that we get along fine 95% of the time.... No one can push my buttons like Isaac's dad.... He really brings out the very worst side of me. When I interact with him I am at best a nag and at worst an overprotective, maniacal shrew. I know that I need to be in better control of my emotions, if nothing else than for Isaac's sake. But MAN does he make me want to kick him in the nuts. Grr...

No wiww today. I spent Friday/Saturday/Sunday in bed hopped up on Vicodin due to dental issues, so yoga pants and sweatpants were the outfit of choice. Maybe next week. In it's place I will leave you with a nearly perfect mashup. DJ Earworm is the one that does all those cool Top 25 pop mashups.

"People will pay you to be inhumane"

Getting my tooth pulled next Tuesday. Looking forward to only ROUTINE visits to the dentist after that...

I love postsecret

Saturday 9

I love a good blog meme and I stumbled across this one. 1. Who was the last person who entered your life and was just what you needed? A kind nurse yesterday at the oral surgeon. I was FREAKING out and she was patient with me, and reassured me. 2. What is one of your fondest childhood memories? My dad pushing us kids on this giant swing he had made for us in a big walnut tree in our back yard. I remember going so high that he would have to jump up to push us. Also going for long bike rides in our neighborhood with my dad. He worked extremely long hours when we were kids and any special time we got with him was a treat. 3. What would you like to be doing in 7 years? I would love to be mothering more children. Ideally I would be married and have more of my own biological children, but if not, I would could see myself doing foster care or maybe even adopting one. Who knows? I enjoy being a teacher and that is a huge part of who I am, but I was born to be a mother. 4. Tell us about a blogging pet peeve. The only thing that comes to mind right away is when people have music on their blogs that starts right away. That would be annoying enough by itself but then when the player is hidden somewhere down at the bottom of the blog and you have to search for it to turn the music off. I also dislike patterned backgrounds behind the text. Too hard to read. 5. Tell us about a general pet peeve. Well besides this one I shared the other day.... I would have to say cell phone ettiquette. We are all guilty from time to time of course. But the bottom line is it's rude. Texting during movies in the theater is rude. Texting when you are at the dinner table is rude. Texting on a date is rude. Texting during a meeting is rude (especially when there are parents present, come on unnamed colleagues/supervisors!). There was a pretty extreme example in the local news the other day (after a bullied student in a neighboring school district killed himself, parents attended a school board meeting to voice their concerns and the school board members were texting during people's tearful and outraged comments. Here's a link) 6. For one day, who would you like to trade places with? Hmm, I would like to be a guy for a day I think. Just to get that opposite perspective. (Just for a day though, not for forever. I'm very happy being a girl!) 7. Where is your least favorite place to be? Oh gosh: the DMV, my old dentist where they used this super painful waterpic thingy to clean your teeth, a meeting with an angry parent, the zoo on a hot day, Chuck E Cheese on a rainy Saturday, anywhere where I am forced to breathe cigarette smoke... 8. What do you like about fall? Everything! I love fall wardrobe staples - sweaters, boots, tights, scarves. I love back to school excitement and school supplies. I love decorating my house for fall. I love pumpkins and gourds. I love roadside farm stands, especially the ones near my parents house with little barefoot Amish kids running around. My birthday is in the fall. I love Thanksgiving. I love that I live in a place where I am surrounded with breathtaking beauty as the trees change colors. I love bonfires. I love a cool, crisp feeling in the air. 9. If you or someone you know are chronically late, do you believe it's the result of poor planning or choosing to be late? Oh gosh, I don't think I am chronically late, but I am definitely not chronically on time either. For me it is often the result of poor planning. Even though Isaac is five, I still sometimes underestimate the fact that it can take so long to get out the door. When it is just me going somewhere I can be ready to leave the house in no time, but when we are going together there is (sometimes) a long process of convincing Isaac to go period, locating lost shoes and missing socks, arguing about whether or not a jacket is needed, etc. If I am meeting someone and I am running late, I always call or text them to let them know too. As for others, I don't know. I have a girlfriend who is chronically late (like, almost always showed up a half hour late whenever we were meeting up) and it would make me SO ANGRY. She rarely called to let you know she was running late and it is just known among our circle of friends that if you want this girl to show up on time, you better tell her it begins a half hour earlier than it really does. It really started to affect our friendship because I began to feel that she felt her time was more important than mine was. Anyways, I am off to get ready for some shopping and a nice family dinner. Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday night your stockings needed mending...

It feels like a while since I have had a real everyday kinda post. There isn't too much to say. Life keeps plugging along. For the most part, everything is going well, which is a relief, but doesn't make for exciting blog material. Sunday I drove all the way out to the Northeast to hear Elder Cristofferson, a member of the 12, who was doing a special young single adult fireside (which was suspiciously filled with old people, and tons of kids, but whatever). One part of his address which stuck out to me was he spoke about how President Monson has always been an apostle of compassion and how we should in our own ways become apostles of compassion. He said "Don't worry that you can't do it all for everyone, don't hold back on what you can do, do what you can and that is enough." (Except probably not in a run-on sentence like that, but that is what I had in my notes). That remark pierced me because I have been thinking about that kind of stuff so much lately. He also gave a special blessing on the saints in this area which included (among other things) a greater capacity to do good, and a blessing that we would always have food on the table whatever may come, with enough for our needs and some to share to help others. I found both of those promises to be very comforting. Isaac declared the other morning that "I just love kindergarten!". His teacher is very creative and nice and she seems like a singer! Isaac will often burst into an adorable song that he has picked up there. He seems to be doing a little better socially in kindergarten than he did in pre-K. We have conferences just before Thanksgiving break, and I am really looking forward to it. He is starting to recognize sight words and try to sound out and spell words which is so exciting. I was a pretty reserved child and reading was a huge part of my childhood. I hope Isaac loves reading as much as I do. It's almost my birthday. I will 29 years old, which is pretty crazy. As per usual, I will work a 12 plus hour day on my birthday due to parent conferences. Boooo. We are also doing a family dinner and hopefully I will get to do fun stuff with friends too. We'll see. It's my last year in my 20s, so I feel like I should really do it up, although I keep hearing 30 is the new 20. I guess we will see. We both had dentist appointments today. Isaac did very well and had no cavities. The dentist did remark that he has the largest set of baby teeth she has ever seen. The other dentist in the practice (who is actually her husband) said the same thing last time around. Isaac inherited all my super weird physical traits, like freakishly colossal cuspids. It was super cute too when dentist asked his name he said "Isaac: I-S-A-A-C". It's sad that at five he already understands that most people have no clue how to spell his name and that he better just get it out of the way and give people the correct spelling right off the bat. Anyways, my dental prognosis was not so good. The tooth that has been killing me since June was officially declared an absessed tooth worthy of a root canal by a specialist. So I'm totally looking forward to that -- NOT. Anyways, I don't have much more to say. Hope things are well for you. If you are reading this, leave a comment. What's new where you are?