Random thoughts and random tunes

Linking up to the fabulous Motherboard for this one. Gotta love Random Fridays!

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I am SO SICK of seeing stuff about Michael Jackson. I really thought that once the memorial was over, we'd be done with it. But no. There's still an MJ headline on my Yahoo! homepage every time I log in. And I haven't been able to watch Entertainment Tonight or the Daily 10 for over a week because they're still talking about the guy.

It's just driving me bonkers. Even if there's still stuff going on with it (where he's going to be buried, was he murdered, yada yada yada) I don't need to hear EVERY DETAIL. Is ridiculous.

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It's hard coming back from a blog break. My biggest issue with it right now is my reader. I'm scared to even open it up and see how many posts I need to read. I know you all will suggest just clearing it and starting over, but it's not that easy. I use bloglines, and I have to click each blog to clear it. And I feel so guilty doing it. Like I'm just ignoring all my friends.

There are a few blogs that I check each time, without going through my reader. Sometimes I'll just look at the bloglist in my sidebar and go from there. But I inevitably miss people. Someone whose blog I'm new to. Or a "real-world" friend who doesn't post regularly, and I end up missing 5 posts because I haven't checked there in two weeks. You know what I mean?

I'm just scared to even start.

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I finished that book the other day. I decided that I'd read a little further into the book and see if the language persisted. It didn't. The worst of it was over. And I'm glad I read it. Only now I'm left wondering how much of it was fiction and how much was rooted in truth. Have you ever read a book that left you feeling that way?

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I'm excited for the weekend! Tonight Superman and I will probably enjoy Vh1's Great Debate for a few hours, then watch The Soup with Joel McHale. (Assuming he's doing it tonight. It's been kinda spotty lately, and I hope we're not disappointed tonight.) Then tomorrow I'm going to a blog lunch with the fantastic Erin and some other bloggers. Woo hoo!! Can't wait to meet her. And finally, tomorrow evening I'm getting together with some friends to scrapbook. It's gonna be a total girly day, and MAN do I need one of those!

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And now, 10 random tunes from my player:

1. Yellow -- Coldplay
2. The Way I Am -- Ingrid Michaelson
3. I Don't Care What You Think -- Fall Out Boy
4. Jesse's Girl -- Rick Springfield
5. Goodnight, Goodnight -- Maroon 5
6. Without Your Love -- SheDaisy
7. Far Away -- Nickelback
8. I Will Survive -- Gloria Gaynor
9. Realize -- Colbie Calliat
10. The World I Know -- David Cook

**Bonus** Where I Stood -- Missy Higgins

Mama said

there'd be days like this.

I'm having a small health issue I decided to call the doctor about. I walked into the kitchen to get the phonebook, only to find a small colony of ants by the back door. Great. So I do the only thing I know to do -- get some kind of chemical and kill them. The thing I happened to have the most of was Windex. So I Windex the little suckers to death, then wipe them up with paper towels. Put them in the trash. I realize the trash needs to be taken out. I do that, only to realize that the kids have spilled some stuff outside that I need to hose down to the street. I do that. Then remember to water my flowers. I look at the grass, wondering why our spinkler system isn't working, and decide just to use the manual sprinker we have. But it's in the backyard. With the dogs. Who haven't been fed yet because it's Superman's responsibility. But I know they're starving, so I feed them, then get the spinkler. I hook it up in the front yard, then spend 10 minutes messing with it, trying to get it to water all my grass, and only my grass. I come back inside soaking wet, and starving. I start some macarroni and cheese, then realize I need to do the dishes so we have something to eat on. As I'm standing there, mindlessly washing, I become aware again of the minor pain, and the fact that I was going to call the doctor.

Does any of this sound familiar? Like If you give a mouse a cookie?

Later on, I'm catching up on some blogs. The boys are 12 feet away from me. Laughing, having a good time. I turn around to see what they're doing.

They're using puff-paints. PUFF-PAINTS. Fortunately they found some computer paper and were only drawing on it. Whew.

Later in the day, I'm folding laundry, and hear the children laughing in the back of the house. Aww, I love it when they play so well together. Those laughs make me happy. I wonder what they're doing? Obviously nothing horrible, since I can't hear anything but them laughing.

Two minutes later, they're still laughing, and it finally clicks that I should go see what trouble they're getting into.

They're pumping foaming handsoap into and onto the toilet. The entire bottle. And flushing relentlessly. I wipe them up, wipe the toilet up, then give a stern warning about how we aren't supposed to play in the toilet. Why? Because the toilet's yucky. Why? Because there's germs in there! Why? Because that's what poop IS! And it will make you sick! Now get out of here!!!

Finally, I'm about to start dinner. Between my family being in town to cook or buy dinner, and grilling burgers or getting a pizza, I haven't cooked dinner in over two weeks. But I'm actually excited to do it tonight. I've decided I either want lemon-pepper chicken with rice pilaf, or chicken-taco soup over white rice. Mmm......they sound delicious, don't they?

But when I check the cupboard, I discover I don't have all the ingredients for either. And I'm without a car today.

Mama said there'd be days like this.

There'd be days like this, my mama said.

Thanks for the warning.

I've got another question for y'all

I'm reading a book right now that's pretty intriguing. It's The Quiet Game by Greg Iles. I read one of his books a few weeks ago that I really enjoyed, so I went for another. The plot is captivating. It's about a man from a small Mississippi town that hasn't changed much since he was a boy growing up there in the 1960s. He comes back after 20 years and is immediately thrown into an unsolved murder case of a black man killed by a car bomb. There's quite a bit more to the story, but that's the jist of it.

At any rate, my question for you is: At what point does a fantastic story allow you to excuse the filthy language? This book takes place in the deep South and there are a lot of high tensions. There's quite a bit of swearing. Not so much from the noble protagonist, but from some of those trying to tear him down.

I personally have never been one to swear. Consequently, I'm not a fan of reading such horrible language and having it run through my head all the time. But I'm REALLY into this story. It fascinates me, and I want to read it all. But should I at the cost of the language in the book?

What would you do?

Just what I wanted to hear today

We were on our way to a 4th of July parade this morning, listening to the radio. I said, "You know what we need?" Before the question could be answered, I turned the station and got my answer.

I needed some Lee Greenwood.

A few years ago when Superman was in the Army Reserves, he told me something about this song that I think of every time I hear it. He said that if he were ever taken captive and executed, he would sing this song. Particularly if it were a televised execution. I still struggle with that image whenever I hear this song. But it makes me love him, and our country, even more.

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I went to the grocery store earlier today and saw some kind of fundraising thing outside. I usually walk far around these things so I don't have to tell them "no" to their faces. But today they had a sign that said, "For Families of Fallen Soldiers."

I gave them all the bills I received in change.

I am forever thankful for those who have fought and died for this country, and for my family.

God bless the USA.

Inquiring minds want to know.........

Why do you have friends?
Why do you want friends?

I want friends for a few reasons. One of the biggest reasons I make friends, particularly within my ward, is that I never want anyone to feel like they have no friends. I know what that's like, and it is not fun. I never want anyone to feel that way, if I can help it.

Also, I want people to know that they can call me whenever if they are in a bind. When they think they have no one they can call, they can call me. I also know what it's like, feeling as though you have no one to call in an emergency. I want all my friends to know that they can always call me.

I'm not exactly sure why I'm like this. Maybe I just need to be needed. Although my children "need" me all day, and I get a bit weary of that at times. But it's different when it's a friend. While I'm not a huge fan of cleaning my own house, or doing my own dishes, I have no problem doing them for a friend in need. And it's actually easier to take care of my children when there are other kids over playing with them.

I also need friends, just like every other woman. I have friends on a superficial level, but I need friendships that go deeper than that. My SIL has been my best friend since before I married her brother, and I love the girl to bits. We talk on the phone frequently. But she lives 6 states away. We never see each other. It'd be nice to have bosom buddy a little closer to my bosom. As in within an hour's drive, not right on top of my chest. Ü

I guess this is also one of my favorite things about blogging. I feel much closer to some of the women I've met online than others I've known for 2 years. ♥u, girlies.

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Why do you have friends?

If it's Friday, it's gotta be random

Are you a procrastinator? Or a planner? Or some crazy combination of both? I'm the combination. I always want a plan, but rarely have the focus or determination to make a complete plan. I also want everyone's opinion. What if the plan I come up could be better? What if there are things I haven't considered? But if there's something I have no idea what to do about, I'll just not plan it. Avoidance is my answer. If I ignore it long enough, it will plan itself or go away, right?!

Case in point: Our pack meeting last Tuesday. It was the Raingutter Regatta. For different reasons, we have to come up with an alternative method of making boats. The longer I tried to figure something out, the bigger blank I drew. Then suddenly it was the day before and I still had no idea. I was in major panic mode. Thank heavens my family is in town. My dad is what you might call a "super scouter," and had an idea. We went to Dairy Queen and bought a stack of banana split containers. We cut one in half, then put it on another whole one. Bada boom, bada bing-- we had a boat! Thank you, Dad!

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We've started potty-training again this week. It's actually going pretty well. Much better than in the past. It helps to have 2 other women around who can keep track of the trainee. We also found an Elmo coloring book about potty-training, complete with a two-week chart and stickers. We've progressed to the point that he'll actually hold it in and run to the potty! And yesterday morning he woke up and told me he needed to go potty. It's very exciting. So thanks, Mom and Grandma!!

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Having my family here has been so awesome. And they're here for another week!!! I get to sleep in. I only have to do dishes every 3 days. I can run errands alone! Spiderman is completely in love with my 15 y/o brother. They've been playing hard. We went to see the Manti Pageant the other night. We're going to the Iquirrh Mountain Temple open house on Monday. And the Freedom Festival next week. We'll celebrate Christmas and birthdays next week.

We are all so spoiled when they come to visit. I am not looking forward to the days after they leave. Spiderman in particular will be in serious withdrawals. I will, too. I'll have to clean my own house, do my own dishes, cook my own meals, take care of my own kids..........gah. I'm gonna really savor this last week.

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Finally, ten random tunes from my player. Quite a mix this week, if I do say so myself. (I'm actually listenting to india.arie right now, a fabulous artist I discovered through Motherboard's Random Fridays.)

1. How to Save a Life -- The Fray
2. I Heard it Through the Grapevine -- Marvin Gaye
3. Falling Slowly -- Kris Allen
4. Push (Accoustic) -- Matchbox 20
5. Before it's Too Late -- Goo Goo Dolls
6. You Pulled Me Through -- Jennifer Hudson
7. I Will -- Allison Krauss
8. Vulnerable -- Secondhand Serenade
9. Elephant Love Song Medley -- Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
10. Angel -- Sarah Maclachlan

**Bonus: My Girl -- The Temptations**