These photos came to me via one of my fellow missionary moms. All 97 of us hang out on our private Swedish Mish-O-Nary Moms Facebook page (a lot!) just waiting for little paydays like this to fall from the heavens. Awesome how technology can suddenly take the form of a big, fat, better-than-Christmas surprise, right?
Since no explanation came from this mom regarding the photos she posted, I'm asking: Weapons of choice for a scripture duel or dinner? (And, doesn't the Feller look stellar!)
This new Man of Steel may be a bit on the unusual side, but I'll tell ya what, when he is dressed up as his Clark Kent persona, that corkscrew leg of his hardly shows at all.
NOTE ABOUT PHOTO: This may or may not be the actual broom used in this particular incident.
A LETTER TO MY IMMEDIATE NEIGHBORS: Please find it in your generous hearts to accept my very sincere apology for any disturbance of your blissful sleep which may have been caused by the “scritch, scritch, scritch” of my broom as I made a nuisance of myself on our home’s balcony in the wee hours of the morning of 15 May 2013.
In my attempt to clear off an ocean’s worth of water which had accumulated on the balcony due to someone’s (mine) error of allowing the hose to run on the floor of the balcony for an entire hour after dutifully watering the hanging plants as requested by my out-of-town husband, I fear that the loud “scritch, scritch, scritch” of the broom sweeping the water over the side of said balcony and echoing throughout the neighborhood most likely had you all in fits of frustration, not to mention frightening animals and young children with my mismatched sweats and wild (but freshly washed!) hair do. As luck would have it, Dave has spotlights trained on the front of our house, thus fully illuminating my haute couture look for all the world to see.
In my desperation to avoid a repeat of the bubbling of a wall in our otherwise well-built home’s interior and the San Francisco streets-like buckling of our hardwood floor due to accumulated melted snow seeping through the floor of the balcony earlier this year, I bit the bullet and did what I had to do: Face the wrath of you forgiving! kind! patient! nonjudgmental! neighbors and sweep my little heart out.
Two thoughts kept running through my noggin as I was sloshing in inches of water for an entire 30 minutes at 12:30 a.m. First, I totally related to the feelings of futility suffered by Sisyphus of Greek mythology (when will I ever run out of water to sweep?), and second, I am quite certain I have now usurped away the title of “that one neighbor lady who, um, makes us say, ‘whaaaa?’” from the previous title holder, the mother of one of Dave’s high school friends who was happened upon by teenager Dave one day as he pulled into his buddy’s driveway and saw the woman up on her roof. Sweeping. With a broom. In a housedress. (But, at least she was doing her sweeping during regular business hours, unlike me.) Yes, that auspicious title is now mine.
So, with much love for you, my awesome, awesome, wonderful, lovely neighbors, I beg for your forgiveness and understanding, and in a blatant attempt to curry your favor once again, ice cream will be delivered to your doorstep upon request. (Please specify flavor.)
Very Sincerely, Your Embarrassed (and achy) Midnight Sweeper
Happy Mother's Day to my darling, darling Ashley who is the best mama I know!
Not only is Ash the best mama in the world, but she is simply a beautiful and completely sincere spirit with a heart filled with love for all--especially those who are under-served or under-acknowledged.
Ashley is quick to laugh, quick to help, quick to comprehend the true intent of another's heart.
I love this girl with all of my heart, and I am so blessed to have her as my extraordinary and gorgeous daughter!
P.S. to Ash: This is awaiting your arrival in a short few weeks! I didn't want to send it through the mail risking a lawsuit from a glass-shard-impaled postal worker :D
My beautiful mom. I was about four years old when this was taken.
My lovely mother with her six little rug rats.
I had the privilege and the pleasure of being held in her loving arms here.
Mom's arms were always loving. Nothing but loving. Always beckoning. Always open.
I'm wishing my mom the happiest of Mother's Days.
I have faith that she can feel my love for her even now--even now as I trust that she is enjoying a Mother's Day with her own beloved mother.
"And I love her."
On a side note, I have to point out that my dad (the photographer here) was a man ahead of his time; the very au courant and ultra-trendy look of families being photographed in orchards well precedes the hipster photographers of today, with this photo being proof. Just wanted to point that out. :D
I'm quite sure I could also find a photo of us on a deserted railroad track (more hipster photo options, fyi) since there were a ton of those in Idaho back in the day. Pretty sure there is NOT a photo of us hanging out in front of a dilapidated, graffiti-covered, condemned shack (more hipsterness), however.
I have a super-fun friend in my neighborhood whose daughter was getting married. And by a stroke of luck, I have another super-fun friend in the neighborhood whose son was getting married. On the same day! In the same temple! At the same time! What a coincidence, right? Well, actually no, because my friend's daughter and my other friend's son were actually marrying each other! Cool how that all worked out, huh!
Anywho, my mother-of-the-bride friend asked me if I thought Sean would like to get his jazz band back together (without Christian, sadly--but it's all good cuz Christian is where he should be right now!) and play at the wedding reception of this darling bride and this awesome groom. Well, what could I say to that? I said, "Of course!" Now, it was just a matter of me talking Sean into it. I needn't have feared, because what did Sean say when I asked him? He said, "Of course!" Cool how that all worked out, huh!
Sean was able to round up his very good high school buddy to play the bari sax, another high school buddy to play the drums (a former mentor of Christian, coincidentally), and a college friend to play the ivories, and Four on the Floor was back in business, ya'll! Cool how that all worked out, huh!
Here is a little taste of their awesomeness. Please forgive the terrible audio; we were in a pretty big and cavernous venue with lots and lots of chit-chat-chatter-gabby-gab stuff going on in the background, but tell me you don't love this:
As for me, I was back in my element being the adoring groupie once again! Cool how that all worked out, huh!
Here is the gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous bride and her very handsome and dapper groom! (I hope she doesn't mind me putting up this pic!) {Oh, hi there, Mette! ha! You look so stunningly beautiful!!!}
I'll show that doggone snow! I'll show that wicked, horrible, horizontally-blowing snow which decided to rear its ugly head on the first day of May right outside of my kitchen window just what's what around here! If I can't coax, nudge, or even threaten spring weather to show up when it is desperately wanted, I will just have to take matters into my own hands and bring the feeling of that lovely, sweet, warm, wonderful springtime weather into my house, plunk it down, truss and tie it up, and force it to stay put until the real deal finally decides to mosey into the picture. After all, aren't we always reminded that we, and we alone, are in charge of our own happiness? Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Hmm. Let's see. Moving from left to right, we have Farmer Dave (aka birthday boy), the understudy for Kimball, Aldste Sagers, myself, and Sean.
Dave had no idea that I had spilled the beans to our waitress about our dinner out being in honor of Dave's big day, so he didn't see this coming . . .
Poor Sean. He said his ears were ringing from the high decibels blasting
into his eardrums from directly behind his head. All for a good cause, right?
Eh? What's that you say? I can't hear . . . .
I asked our schmoozer if he would do a photo op with Christian, and he was more than happy to oblige. I thought this especially appropriate since Christian had recently taken up the accordion (of all things!) before he left for beautiful Sweden. Do you suppose they have accordions there?
Ashley, Jordan, and Kimball were also present in spirit! Hop on over to Ashley's blog to see Kimball wishing Papa a very happy birthday!
HEY! Ash and Jordan, howzabout I start carrying a nice 8X10 glossy of each of you around with me too? Wouldn't you simply adore me for doing that? Betcha would! Just betcha that you would. (Ahh. Poor Christian; he has no say in the matter, really. Guess this is what you get for having me as your mom.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLD SPORT!
Dave and I just watch the original "The Great Gatsby." He'll get it even if you guys don't :)
Spring is my most favorite season of the year! I love summer just as much, but because I do love summer so much, the spring season carries an extra bit of cachet in the form of anticipation for that lovely, hot, sunny, dry, hot, hot, hot summer! (Sometimes the anticipation of going to that big party is almost as fun as being at the big party, yes?)
However, our spring season has been a bit of a grump this year. We have had one looooong winter followed by a spitefully cold and windy spring (what a grump-grump!), so Dave, bless his heart, brought some springtime cheer to our front porch simply because it makes me so happy!
Ooh, can you see those little pansies struggling with that mean and cruel wind? Shame.
Sweet little things all tucked up in my porch urns. Don't they look so cute!
I shall not complain too loudly or too long about our spring weather because there are other places in this big wide world that have had much, much worse weather than we. I'm looking at you, Naperville. So sorry about all of that! Need an ark, guys?
My young elder is simply the sweetest! (Good grief, what did I ever, ever do to deserve the privilege of being his mom? Because I know that Heavenly Father doesn't make mistakes, I'm pretty darn tootin' that the reason I get to be Christian's mom is for my sake and not his. I do not take that blessing for granted, believe you me.) Anywho, this beyond-adorable Dala horse showed up in the mail a couple of weeks ago along with one of the sweetest handwritten notes I'd ever wish to lay my elder-loving eyes upon. Jeepers, can I tell you how much I love this boy? Just in case you were wondering about that . . . .
(No, he did not send the photo too; that's all my doing #lovinglookingathimeveryday)
Yes, Sean knew very well that he was photo bombing this pic. Please focus on him and not on the kooky, wide, stretchy angle of my weirdo new camera, please. (Can you say, Jay Leno chin? Sheesh.)
In response to my whining for a caption for the photo below, I got a couple of winners! (See original post and comments here.)
My Facebook buddies were also pretty ding-dong hilarious. I was literally busting my gut laughing at some of these (see below)!
Click on photo to enlarge
Okay, here's the thing. I don't think Christian even knows this photos exists. It showed up one day on my Swedish mish-moms private Facebook page from another mish-mom with a little message saying, "I've got a photo for you, Deon :)" Man, sometimes modern technology is simply stellar, don't you think?
After today's spectacularly horrible weather, a couple of Jeff Foxworthy's observations are especially poignant to me and my little sun-loving, heat-seeking, summertime-infatuated heart:
JEFF FOXWORTHY ON UTAHNS!
.. If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Utah.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Utah.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Utah.
If 'vacation' means going anywhere south of Salt Lake City for the weekend, you live in Utah.
If you measure distance in hours, you live in Utah.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Utah.
If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Utah.
If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you live in Utah.
If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Utah.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Utah.
If the speed limit on the highway is 75 mph -- you're going 80, and everyone is still passing you, you live in Utah.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Utah.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Utah.
If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly' you live in Utah.
If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your friends, you live in Utah.
When I was the primary president of our ward, I would put together some fun little general conference Bingo cards, word searches, coloring pages, etc., etc., for the primary kids in our ward to mess around with as they watched general conference in their homes.
After the final session of conference was over on those Sunday afternoons, the kids would make a beeline straight for our house, show me their cute little scribbles, and stick their hands out demanding candy. I always delivered. In spades.
I gave those little candy seekers an extra thrill by taping their general conference handiwork to my wall and leaving it there for a good week or so. I bet all of you interior decorators are going gaga over this wall o' art!
Because Dave whines and complains unless we do, just to make watching general conference fun, I still whip out the ol' Bingo cards, pass around a bowl of M&Ms to use as markers, and listen intently for words like,"testimony," "pioneer," and "Star Trek." JK about that last one. (But, I would bet my bottom dollar that at some point during the conference C.S. Lewis is referenced at least once. Any takers?)
The other day, I came across this blog featuring a general conference activity packet made specifically for teenagers and adults. I think I'll just let you have at it cuz it's pretty doggone funny but brimming with all sorts of truisms. Enjoy your weekend!
One of Christian's classmates put this video together as a tribute to all of his buddies who graduated from American Fork High School in 2011 and who are currently serving missions. While I wish the girls serving missions from this class were included, this is pretty impressive all the same. Doesn't Aldste Sagers look fab!
