Gabe Has Hair!

And I can prove it...

Important Stuff

First, I'm going to start out by saying that Doug's blog output is putting mine to shame. He's done practically a post per day since we got home from Florida*. Of course, my blog will always be, like, a thousand times better, but that's neither here nor there. Oh, and did I mention he tried to tarnish my sorta-good name by making me seem cold and heartless? Well he did. On February 15th, to be precise. (That quote was taken totally out of context, by-the-way.)

B. All three of my kids have been sick for the last week. It started with Sammy getting a fever on the plane ride home. It's been downhill ever since. High Fevers, (104) coughs, congestion, puke and snot, missed sleep, excessive whining and tears. It's been a slightly he!!ish week. I blame the germy little cousins we saw in Florida**. All of them.

Next: In preparation for listing our house on the market, we're sprucing things up around here a bit. While we were out of town, we had our hard wood floors refinished. Yesterday Doug started the process of replacing the kitchen counter tops. Tomorrow, I'll be painting trim all day. It's loads of fun, but we can't do it all ourselves.
That why I'd like to share this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with you!!! If you're a professional home "stager" or decorator, you're cordially invited (for a limited time) for a
FREE, week long visit to the beautiful New England seashore!!!*** Room and Board will be provided, as well as Minivan usage and Professional Tour Guidance. All in exchange for a small smackeral of decorating advice and assistance.
Act NOW! This offer wont last!!!

Fourthly; Here at the Dub house, we have a *general/flexible* "No T.V. except for Sunday Shows on Sunday" rule. Doug thinks 'Nature Shows' are the exception. I think Nature Shows are ALL about s.e.x and violence and that Cooking Shows, Home Decorating Shows, Hallmark Channel Movies, Fox News and Musicals should be the exception. What do you think?

That's all for now. If I think of any more important stuff, you'll be the first to know.

*I made "Florida" orange to make you think of Florida Orange Juice. See how clever and subtle I am?
**I didn't change the color of this "Florida" because you're supposed to be focused solely on my miserable life right now. Not your beverage preferences. You're so selfish.
***No purchase necessary. Airfair, travel expenses, liquor costs, Valium, ear-plugs, and spending money not included. Professional Tour Guide is not actually a Professional. Must be 16 years or older, non-creepy, willing to also babysit while you're here, (just for an evening!?!) and a U.S. citizen to qualify. Actual decorating expertise not all that important.

One way or another, it's all about dressing up.

It was my freshman year of college and I was living at The Glenwood in Provo. As Valentines Day approached, my friends and roommates and I contemplated what do do in our boyfriend-less state.

I'm pretty sure it was Christina who made the suggestion the day before V-day. A friend of Malia, (Or was she a friend of Joanna?) I envied her petiteness and the fact that she could pull-off white blonde hair in a pixie cut with funky glasses. Anyway, she suggested we hold a Halloween Party...the very antithesis of the gooey/lovey/hearty-farty affairs planned by many of our more lucky-in-love neighbors.

We agreed immediately and plans (and phone-calls) were made. First, we had to decide on costumes. Luckily, my closet was filled with thrift-store finds including a vintage lace old lady dress with matching shoes (my costume), a florescent green disco dress with matching hooker boots (worn by Rama) and various polyester work shirts with patches baring names like Steve and Ric. (Worn by other roommates.) Once arrangements were made and costumes settled on, we decided we need to increase the number of invited guests.

(Before the party)

Now, The Glenwood was layed out with all the guys apartments on one side, and all the girls apartments on the other. We, of course, went immediately to the guys apartments and started knocking on doors of complete strangers. The guys who had plans were getting ready to leave or were already gone, but we were surprised to find so many stragglers. Guys with no dates, sitting around either alone or with a roommate, watching t.v. in the dark.

We burst into their apartments and invited them to the party starting in only an hour.

Malia's costume was a string Christmas lights and after Ang and I gave our pitch, she'd ask politely, "Mind if I light up?" and proceed to plug herself into the nearest outlet. A lot of total strangers showed up that night. One guy even called the next day to thank us for inviting him.


For me the highlight was when the Accordian Player showed up to serenade the party with love songs. He'd been hired as a singing telegram and since the recipeint was at the party, he was redirected to our apartment.
I don't remember many of the details after that, but I know the party was a success. It became a tradition and for the next few years. While I had roommates, we had a Halloween Party to celebrate Valentines Day.
(This was one held at the Old Mill and hosted by Anna, Michelle and I. We invited the pizza delivery guy and he came back and joined us after getting off work.)


I have to admit, I do miss those Halloween parties but I'm pretty happy with the upgrade. I love having a perma-Valentine. Afterall, I got delicious French Toast in bed this morning (with vanilla ice cream, syrup, strawberries, apple sauce and spray whip all in little custard cups on the side.)

Tonight for dinner it'll be my turn to cook and I'm going to make Four Cheese Pasta, French Bread, and something gooey and chocolatey for dessert. But of course, not everyone has a significant other to help them celebrate the holiday of all things heart shaped. If that's the case, I highly recommend you consider Halloween as an alternative. Because after chocolate truffles, the next best treat in the world is Candy Corn!


Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Guess where I got to go for my 30 birthday??? I'll give you 3 hints:

That's right, this year I celebrated my birthday with a week long trip to Disney World accompanined by 3 out of 4 of my siblings and all their kids!!!

"Wow!" you say, "They go on a lot of trips!"

"We live life to the fullest!" I say, "And with the maximum amount of student loans!"

Alright, so we actually didn't go to D-world just for my birthday. We ACTUALLY went for the D.S. Call Don't-Call-Me-A-Call-Girl Annual (Sometimes semi-annual or every-other-annual) Family Reunion!

And it just happened to coincide with my 30th birthday.

I believe the reasoning went something like this:

Older (Allegedly Wiser) Siblings: "It's the off-season! It won't be crowded at all!!!"

The reality was more like this:

Naysaying Sister: "It's the week of Mardi Gras and Carnival! All of Louisiana and Brazil are here this week!"

But despite the crowds, it was a great week, filled with sunshine, family, and FUN visiting the various Disney attractions.

And it really is a great place to celebrate a birthday. I got to wear a birthday button so all the employees wished me happy birthday all day long. I even got two free treats! (One Frozen Lemonade and one Mickey Supreme!)

And I'm actually happy to be 30. Don't get me wrong, I had a great 29th year, but there's nothing all that special about being in your late 20's. Thirty on the other hand...thirty is SOMETHING! (I'm not sure what yet, but I'll let you know.)

So that's the story of how my whole family flew to Orlando to celebrate the start of my fourth decade on earth. And why I've been MIA for awhile. And how to properly celebrate a significant birthday. And how to get free ice cream on a stick.

I think we've all learned something here today.

I know I have.

C-you real soon!

Quick Thought

The other day when I was thinking about President Hinckley I pictured him when seeing Heavenly Father for the first time and saying with a twinkle in his eye "Is this because I re-used my last talk?"