When the stars appear

Supper, teeth brushing, face washing, potty visits, scripture reading, kids book reading, prayer, stuffed animal choosing, hugs and kisses......... and then, finally, singing. In other words, bedtime rituals. Last night was no exception to the rule. But the singing part had a new twist to it.

A while back I introduced Selina to my ultimate favorite song ever: "More than words" (by Extreme). When she asked me to sing it to her AGAIN at bedtime last night, I willingly and happily agreed and did my best without a guitar or someone to harmonize with me. It's just not quite the same. So I got the lap top, pulled up youtube and watched the music video with her, I never get tired of that song. I first heard it back in '91, and I think I can safely say I'm pretty tired of most songs I heard in '91. Except this one. It's a true work of art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_dN1WXBxuw

Do you hear what I hear?

The thing about ears in an interesting thing in my opinion. Take my kids, for example. I really don't know why they have ears. I guess they have what's known as the infamous selective hearing phenonomen at this stage and will fully develop the use of their ears as the years go by. Maybe by the time they're 18 they will hear all I have to say? Wishful thinking I know.


I am grateful for my ears. I am grateful that I'm able to listen to my kids giggle. I am grateful I am able to hear them say "I love you, Mommy".


I am grateful I am able to listen to music. This is no doubt one of the best things in life in my opinion. Last night was an exceptionally great oportunity to listen to some great music. Link and I joined a few other thousand country music fans at the Toby Keith concert in Oslo. I had no idea that many people even knew who he is. But they showed up in their boots and cowboy hats. It was great!


The concert was beyond awesome. Toby Keith no longer scares me. In fact, after bonding with him for about an hour and a half, listening to him share his experiences about his friends, horses and Willie Nelson, I have the feeling he's a pretty cool guy.

I have one wish, though. He needs to stop doing those Ford commercials. We're Chevy fans in this household.

Gratitude

With Thanksgiving being a week away, I wanted to take some time out of my EXTREMELY busy schedule to ponder about some things I'm grateful for.

I really didn't need to think very long to realize that I have many things to be thankful for. But I'm not much for clichés, and some things, such as family, friends, food, clothes etc, are too obvious. (I'm not saying they're not important to mention, just simply too obvious.)

So I had to think a little harder to come up with something that maybe I don't realize I'm grateful for and take completely for granted. Quite a challenge.... I'm still thinking.....

Got one! I'm thankful for contact lenses. I am blind without them and would be a circus freak with glasses! It's nice not to have to sit face to face with the TV and also not to have to glue my eye balls to a book while reading. It's a relief to be able to recognize my own children when they come running towards me, it's comforting to be able to see the road when driving and it's of course reassuring to be able to see my eye lashes when putting on mascara.

I'll try to think of another not so obvious thing tomorrow. Too much thinking for one day already.

Later!

Freaky

With Halloween just around the corner, I've been reminiscing about times I have been scared. You know, heart-in-your-throat-blood-pumping-scared. (Most of them are for some reason movie related).

The first thing that came to my mind was when I was around 9 years old. I had watched "Jaws", which resulted in me having vivid imaginations of sharks in not just the swimming pool, but also the BATH TUB! How sad is that! That's the mindset of a crazy 9 year old, though.

In the early 80s I also watched "Aliens" with my brothers. I was terrified to be around pregnant women for a while after that. I guess I was half expecting something grotesque to jump out of their belly.

About a year after we got married, Link and I moved in to an apartment in Murray, Utah. It was just the 2 of us then. One of Link's favorite things was to hide somewhere in the apartment and then freak me out. I remember walking around in there, knowing he was somewhere just, waiting to give me a heart attack. He's just really good at that stuff.

One time, Link somehow convinced me to watch "The Ring" with him. Those kind of movies really aren't healthy for me and my vivid imagination. For weeks afterwards I was scared to walk past the TV. (This will only make sense to you if you know anything about "The Ring". I don't suggest watching it just to make sense out of my not being able to walk past the TV, though.)

I was in an AWESOME book club while living in Utah. We had read a book about unsolved mysteries, such as Jack the Ripper, the Lindgergh kidnapping, the JonBennett Ramsay murder etc. The movie "From Hell" (about Jack the Ripper in case you haven't seen it) came out right about the time we were reading this book, and we went to see it in the theatre. I was so scared afterwards. Link was out of town, so I came home to an empty apartment. I had to turn all the lights on in all the rooms and cranked ABBA up on the stereo.

The other night Link had a full-blow snoring night, so I ended up sleeing on the couch. Half way asleep I hear this sound coming from Amilia's room. It sounded like a mooing cow. I know for a fact the we don't keep a cow in Amilia's room. The only explanation for the mooing then is that her Fisher Price farm is haunted. Let me just say that that's not the first toy that is haunted.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

?

How in the world did my blog counter jump from a little over 3000 hits last week to well over 11000 hits this week? I'm confused......

"Manureity" by Calvin Klein

Last night I became painfully aware of the fact that I am not a city girl after all. I was out for a stroll, enjoying a clear, starry sky and some fresh air. The fresh air didn't last long, though, thanks to the FARMERS in the area. It started out smelling much like the bottom of your shoe after stepping in dog poop. But it didn't take long before the lethal scent of MANURE filled my nostrils and, to be completely honest with you, it almost made me gag. For the lack of a better expression: HOLY CRAP, it stunk! I could not escape it and just had to accept that contryside living also has its drawbacks.

The combination of the organic matter filling the air and Tim McGraw blasting into my ear drums made me think that from now on I should be puttin' on those boots when going for a stroll in the local area. And I might as well throw in a belt buckle and a cowboy hat while I'm at it. (Actually, hold off on the hat. I have too much hair.)

A couple of other signs that I am indeed a country girl: My favorite movie is "Tombstone" and my favorite music is country. My conversion to country music happened quite a long time ago, back in the mid 90s when I hung out with some country music nerds in Salt Lake. They eased me in to it with Vince Gill's "Whenever you come around". I still LOVE that song.

I've tried to convert my husband, but he's a faithful believer in heavy metal. BUT, he actually thinks Toby Keith is allright. Of all country artists, he had to choose the one I never cared much for. In fact, Toby Keith kind of scares me. I think it's because I once had a dream that he was a serial killer. But I have listened to his music over the past couple of years, and I'm warming up to him. In fact, I'm going to see him in concert in November. With Link. Now, Link coming to a country music concert with me is nothing short of a miracle!!!! YEE-HAH!!!

If Calvin Klein came up with a new scent made specifically for us country folks, I would guess it would be called something like "Manuerity". And I would wear gallons of it to the Toby Keith concert. Just to prove that I'm a true country girl.

My poor Duck

"He can at times be a tease, however, there is seldom any malice in his pranks. He's never out to hurt anyone, and if he ever goes too far in his pranks, he is always very regretful. He is a goodhearted and helpful person, always willing to lend a helping hand. He cares deeply for those around him, and if anyone threats his near and dear, he's there to defend them no matter what. Even though he isn't the most lucky character there is, in fact, he has a tendency to "get stuck with all the bad luck", he never gives up."

Taken from Wikipedia's description of Donald Duck's personality. I never knew my husband and Donald were so much alike! Especially the part about getting stuck with all the bad luck. That's Link in a nutshell. (I'm just grateful Link doesn't walk around with no pants....)

A few weeks ago he had a bike accident. And let me tell you, it wasn't just any old bike accident. His knee turned as big as a basketball. It was so swollen that the doctors had to wait over a week before they could do an MRI. When he finally got it done, the doctor didn't waste any time, got straight to the point and said it did not look good. In fact, HE TORE 3 MUSCLES IN HIS LEG!!!! It makes total sense when I think about how he couldn't move his leg at all and also how his leg was a lovely mixture of purple, blue, black and yellow.

It started out just looking really swollen (right knee, of course).

Starting to get a lovely shade of purple.

Yeah, pretty nasty.



So, surgery time again. (Thankfully not heart surgery this time, though.) He had knee surgery on 18 August, and will proudly tell you that he watched part of it. Just thinking about that makes me light headed and almost ready to pass out. SICK AND WRONG! I swear he should be a surgeon.

Now he will suffer through a very long rehabilitation phase. So I just want to say "I love you, Duck!" (Translation for those of you who don't know British: Duck=honey/love.)