Icky Stuff

I've had to do some terribly not fun things the last couple of days.

First, I had to visit the impound lot to pick up Prima Donna's things that were left in her car after the accident last Saturday. I didn't get a chance to see the car at the accident site since they had already loaded it onto the wrecker, so I wasn't prepared for the damage and devastation.

It didn't help that it was terribly cold outside and my hands were like ice cubes as I sorted through the debris looking for anything of value. I couldn't open the trunk at all; not with the key nor with the button. I hope she didn't have treasures hidden in there.

Then today (after 3 doctors' appointments - 1 for me and 2 for Scout), I drove to Ogden so I could take Prima Donna to court on a "failure to appear" charge for a traffic violation she got when the car was only 3 days old (to us, anyway). I have never had to go to court like that, so it was pretty unsettling, but the judge was extremely kind and reduced her fine as far down as he possibly could without dismissing it altogether.

Then I had to drive back from Ogden. I'm running way behind in my holiday preparations. My next task is to make sure I am ready for our Girl Scout Christmas Party on Friday. There is always way too much to do.

Guest Post: Dress-Coded! by Drama Queen

The past two days have been so foggy...I mean that literally!  The Salt Lake Valley has had a thick blanket of inversion and fog since late Monday afternoon.  With that has come a drop in temperature that's left many of us shivering.  I don't know about y'all, but I spend 98% of December wrapped in scarves and Christmas sweaters.  At work, I keep two different lap blankets: one for my lap and the other to wrap around my shoulders.  I'm so chilly, I actually keep my socks on when I'm at home.  And that, for me, is just unheard of.

Burrito's band concert was awesome!

So the thing that I really don't get is how my little siblings run around in just a jacket or a thin hoodie when they are outside.  They walk home in temps below 40 everyday and they each have their own very nice coat.  Yet they still head out the door every morning insisting they'll be just fine with a hoodie.  It's crazy!

Lately, that same imperviousness has extended inside and that (plus an unwillingness to bring down their dirty clothes) has left for more skin showing than usual.  Shorts, sleeve-less dresses, and even tank tops are sneaking out.  Heck, I walked in on Scout just changing her shirt in the middle of the family room yesterday!  Between that and Prima Donna's new wardrobe, Momma has had to start issuing dress-code citations.   Basically, that means if you are being immodest in a public area, you get a request to change, and if you don't figure it out on your own, then Momma will pick wha
tever she wants and make you wear it - and just for fun, it usually clashes terribly.

Well, the other night, I finally got to taste such sweet, unadulterated power myself when Baby Doll brought her Barbie to the dinner table.  The scandalous thing was stark naked!  "Dress coded!" I shouted, grabbing the doll.  And with Momma's approval, in a trice, the doll was more appropriately dressed.  Check out our picture.  Doesn't she look just so much more stylin'? 

Dress by Napkin, Belt by Spaghetti

Also, here's the photos from Prima Donna's car wreck.  :/

Painting Reindeer

We had so much fun tonight for FHE! The only thing missing was my sweetie. He got stuck at work on a problem and didn't come in until we were nearly finished with our project, which is sad, because it was his project in the first place. Wait, let me back up.

About 20 years ago, we got really into painting ceramics. There was this little shop called Macs that had so many choices for super cheap prices, so we stocked them up, thinking we would get to them. This past week or so, Bossy came over and we got talking about them so I passed a bunch of them on to her and then we pulled down the reindeer.

My sweetie had found this super cute deer and painted the first one. It turned out so well, that we had to keep going back to the store until we bought all they had (which happened to be 7, the wrong number, I know) and a little sleigh to go with them.

Then one day 13-year-old Bossy painted one of the deer, but it was the wrong color and my sweetie was pretty annoyed so we put them back up on the top shelf and there they sat until last week when Bossy pulled them down. My sweetie had long since gotten over controlling this particular project, so we painted them tonight. His job was to paint the sleigh, but I guess it will have to wait for another day...or possibly 20 more years....

So cute and so different!

Three Wise Men Sought Him

I'm feeling a bit melancholy this evening, maybe even a little bit weepy. Perhaps that menopause monster is finally hitting me. Or maybe I'm just tired. That's probably it. I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am to finally have my sweetie home from his business trip.

My family does a little devotional every night with our scripture study. We sing and then read a story from the Christmas book Bossy's family gave us last year. Scout reads the word of the day from a different Christmas book and Grandpa shares his daily scripture. Then Dog Walker tells us about the new Light the World challenge for tomorrow. I love that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is trying to help us remember to love and take care of each other.

When Teach was on her mission, the church came out with a music video that I absolutely love. Please take a minute and watch this one. I want to be the kind of parent who teaches her children to be like this family. The love radiates from them in every scene. I know, they are just actors, but what they portray is attainable. I know it is. The world can be a good and happy place full of peace and acceptance if we try to live like our Savior, Jesus Christ.