D is for Doctor

Aurora and I had a long girls' day prompted by her need to visit the doctor for her latest set of immunizations.

I picked her up from school and then we headed for a few errands, such as filling the gas tank (whose light came on half way from school to our house) and then to get the car washed.  Aurora was very excited because, like most children, she loves going to car washes and she got to pick, "the one under the strong tooth."  Which made perfect sense as the billboard by the metro express car wash is a giant angry tooth.  We EVEN vacuumed the car, so it was very pretty afterwards.

Then we went to lunch at Red Robin (which was my favourite college and prego food haunt).  Aurora got to pick the dining and this time it was prompted by the fact that she needed to go to Red Robin because they have balloons and quite handy as it is next door to the car wash. 

We then headed into the big city to waste some time getting some much needed clothes.  Having lost so much weight (unfortunately, a lot of it in my chest) all my shirts are too big and I'm down to about 5 I can kind of get away with wearing.  Fortunately, the store I stopped it had an extra 30% off clearance (score) and I picked up lots of plain colored tees (long and short sleeves) and an extra pair of slacks (for a steal) and a few tights.  Aurora even got a couple of shirts and cardigan.

We then headed to the pet store and mooned over the snakes and lizards and stopped to quickly pet the kitties (okay, they were all over 1, but we don't discriminate) but we had to leave quickly after that because they always make me cry.

And because we still had some time to kill I attempted to take Aurora window shopping at Toys "R" Us.  I explained that as much I would love to buy every single toy available we just didn't have the means, but we could LOOK at all the cool things.  I must admit, SHE was far more restrained then I.  I picked out a coloring book and a Monster High key chain (for her Draculaura doll) and she was ecstatic and so thankful.  "Mom, are you sure?  You said we weren't going to get anything... it's okay if we get these? Thank you so much for picking these out for me." 

And then the doctor visit.  She knew there were shots coming.  I couldn't hide it (since I am terrified of needles and they often make me cry and/or faint).  She was a bit worried, but was so well behaved for the whole visit. And she didn't even want to hold my hand for her three shots.  She certainly complained about them hurting and cried by the third but didn't scream or try to beat the nurse.  So considering how I reacted at her age when I had MY shots, which was screaming my head off and busting blood vessels in my forehead and had to be held down by five people and then couldn't walk for a month because my leg was so swollen... and we all know exactly why I haven't liked needles since.  The really funny thing is MY pediatrician is now HER pediatrician.

And to make sure her legs fully healed from those evil needles we went to Baskin Robbins and had ice cream.  When we got home we colored in her princess coloring book and then headed out for a walk to the College.

And to top the evening off I had someone order 4 things from my etsy shop.  WOOT!

Quirky Things

I am hoping to make it to bed by 9pm.  Try to play a little catch up with my sleep (not that I'm not getting sleep, I just think with the jogging early in the AM my body thinks I'm not getting sleep). So for a quick update I thought I would share some things that make me giggle.

• Me helping Aurora memorize scripture for school
• Scrounging change to put gas in my car - aren't I 30?
• Exercising - and not the jogging, but actual routines that I haven't done since 50 lbs ago.  WOW - what a world of difference
• The felt zombie book Choo Choo brought back from Powell's. It is very fun (expect to see work from it soon).
• Realizing that the great love of my life (aside from my daughter) is my teddy bear, Fluffy (why, yes, I did get a bit jealous when Aurora was snuggling with him this evening and insisted she give him back).
• snarky emails (of the playful nature) which make sitting at my desk tolerable (and occasionally enjoyable)
• Going to bed at 9pm so I can get up and jog more "comfortably"
• Aurora singing Ke$ha's Tik Tok verbatim but insisting she'd forgotten the alphabet when homework time came around
• Me finding the patience to do homework with Aurora
• The fact that I actually just checked what time it is so I don't miss my 9pm deadline for bed...

and with 3 minutes to go... I'm going to wish you all a lovely evening (or morning) and hope you are finding some giggle worthy things in your life as well.

xo

Rising to the Surface

I have not, as some of you may have feared (or wished, depending upon how well you know me), been sucked through Stonehenge during Mabon, the last Wiccan holiday. Instead I lost track of most of my time, thought and ability to function during the time between the movie premier and Homecoming.

The weekend prior to Homecoming found me working my fingers to the bone (almost literally since they were bruised by the time I found my way to work Monday morning) on lots and lots of (owl)ies for the 10^th
  Anniversary Taste of the Harvest (which is my favourite event all year at work).  We have incorporated it into Homecoming and that meant lots and lots of events to attend (it may have also been Greek recruitment so I helped with those events when I could).

Fortunately, since I have one of the greatest jobs in the world, I get to have lots of fun most of the time while I’m at work.  This is because not only do I MOSTLY enjoy what I do but I have the extreme pleasure of working with some of the people with whom I love spending my time (this still awes me.. that even in my free time I enjoy going and doing things with these people).

So I got to spend a lot of time attending a lot of Homecoming events, like dinners and receptions and shows and walking around like a zombie.

Tuesday and Wednesday were recruitment events I could attend.  It’s so fun to see old sisters and new sisters.  

Thursday was a great dinner at Bitner Vineyards with just a little bit too much wine (at least I’m going to stick with the story I only had a little bit too much).

Friday was a nice little reception and improv show acted out by people with whom I attended college.

Saturday was an early morning and long day with Taste of the Harvest (which is an annual scholarship fundraiser in the form of a festival with wine sampling, food, arts & crafts, live music, etc – and is something I’ve been involved with for a very long time and feel like it is my baby).  Gorgeous weather (and we’ve seen it all), lots of vendors, lots of participants and great sales!  Crzylady sold a lot of (owl)ies… this also awes me.  It’s great to see the reaction from people, especially since it isn’t something I can explain, nor can I explain why I like doing it so much.

And ended the day by attending my first Alumni Awards Dinner.

Sunday was a bridal shower and then the long awaited “Woman in Black” at Idaho Shakespeare Festival AND it was also an alumni night, so even more time with my friends from work and away from work!

I have to admit there was very little Aurora time and not very much sleeping time (I’m not sure how those who RAN Homecoming are even still functioning, but they ARE and better than I).

I thank you for those checked in on me to make sure I was still alive during my hiatus and I have missed you (as I always do when I am busy).  This is definitely a week of playing catch up in Blog land with more updates about some seriously cool crafting and adventures.

xoxo

Wait! Isn't that....?

Yes, yes it is.  You may recognize me from such music videos as "Knock Three Times" and most recently the movie "Want Ad".  Did you want me to sign something?  I just happen to have this fine tip pen and this sharpie, just in case you needed an 8x10 glossy of me.  No, really, no trouble at all.  I can sign anywhere.. anything.. are you sure?  Please?  JUST LET ME GIVE YOU MY AUTOGRAPH.

(my look at how cheesy those grins are!)

ahhh, the life of a movie star is rough(er on others).  Above is an unsuspecting movie-goer forced to take a photo with me.. okay, not really.  Everyone say hi to Ed! Thanks for dropping in to the movie premier.  And Frances and Eric - it meant the world to me to have you there!

You guessed it.  In case you haven't been following my incessant blathering on Facebook, or weren't already marking down your calendars every day with a big red permanent marker, September 11th ZrTelford and Puzzled Monkey Productions presented for the first time on big screen the horror film "Want Ad".

We made ourselves pretty and headed to a great movie theatre (which serves food and beer to you throughout the movie).  We are very lucky to have amongst our group of overly talented friends a great photographer, Audra.  You can see her lovely work at LastPictureShowPhotography.  For the price of two admission tickets I got private paparazzi.  She turned out some lovely photos (which I'm sure I'll be posting over time).  But my favourite at the moment is the one I wasn't expecting.

I've heard rumors the next ZrTelford film will be about zombies, so in order to secure my role I'm practicing all the time (okay, true to the first part, false to the second part I just had to think of an excuse for being caught with a ridiculous monster face).  The lovely lady in the middle does not like having her photo taken (because... because.. oh, I have no idea, I love having my picture taken)..  And the Angel on the left is totally rocking that over the shoulder "I can't even see the paparazzi anymore I'm so famous" look.

The movie was amazing!  A lot of people put in a lot of time and hard work into it and it showed.  There were some actors that completely blew the audience away, and some of the scenes were done so well I not only covered my eyes but squealed, ohhhed, ahhhed, gasped, and spit out my drink. And there were plenty of giggle-worthy moments, too.  It was so wonderful to hear the audience (family, friends, friends of friends, etc., of all of us who played a part in the making) yell out at the screen with warnings and jokes throughout.

And now to be able to say, "I had some small part to play in that process. Look!  it happened!  It's done and we have this forever!"  It is such a treat.

And the weekend was a treat, as well.  Friday night we held our "wrap party"/birthday party for a personal long time friend (and father of the director - and the director is my best friend's older brother.. in case you're wondering how I got mixed up in this wonderful crziness).  There was dancing.  There was some prepping for the female Austin Powers movie that's rumored to be in the works.

The was some singing....

(veteran karaoke singer and best friend, Sunny, and introducing for the first time to the karaoke scene, yours truly)

Oh, YES we DID!

A fabulous weekend.  Definitely one for the books (or big screen).

September 11

Is there anyone in America who can think of 9/11 without feeling that first confusion and disbelief?

I heard about the first plane on the car ride to my 8 a.m. religion class (Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, in fact).. I thought it was a joke and didn't find it very entertaining, so I changed the station.

By the time I made it to my class my professor was turning the news on the computer and the second plane had hit.  I don't remember any of us saying anything.  Classes were canceled and people walked around in a daze quietly asking if anyone knew yet if any word had been heard from those friends so recently graduated who were most likely in the towers.  Friends were getting calls from family members; unfortunately, not all the news was good.  Students, lots of students, gathered in the Quad for comfort and words from our campus spiritual leaders.

Today I think mostly about the horrible hatred that cause people to take such an action and how America took that action and used it as an excuse for warmongering, ethnic profiling, burning Qurans, giving Big Brother free reign to create fear and more hatred all in the name of patriotism.

I wonder if all those people who died needlessly, or in heroic efforts, watch us with pity and sadness at how little we learned.

Shalom

On My Mind

I have a million things to say and but this isn't the medium for so many of them.  So after a week of unintentional silence I thought the easiest thing to do is list things that are flitting in and out of my mind.

• Godson on the way to hospital to have appendix out.  I'm on standby.
• My numerous solo dance parties are no longer giving me the fix I need. 
• thank god the movie wrap party is this Friday.
• OH MY GOD the movie premiere is Saturday.  
• Have a dress.
• Still can't get a date.
• I'm down 40 lbs
• I've lost 6 dress sizes
• How is it that for all the flirtations I'm always the last on the list of date-able girls?
• My best friend just had her heart broken
• God, men are wankers.
• Continuous Partial Attention
• Something to work on
• Volunteering to do an intense job at Aurora's new and very religious school might have been a mistake
• Is it appropriate to end a work meeting (volunteer or not) with a prayer?
• I hope A's teacher will be nicer to me after I give her the lovely gift basket we put together for her
• Why am I always so impatient and snappy
• I could really use a day to just sit and read but I keep getting distracted.
• See Continuous Partial Attention
• Need to finish Hopscotch and pass to friend
• I think I'm more addicted to Facebook than tequila
• I had another custom (owl)ie order I need to work on
• I really need to go shopping for clothes that fit so I have things to wear for work
• coffee has been making my tummy hurt
• wonder if I'm developing an ulcer
• I really wish I didn't give a flying fuck about a lot of things
• I should sleep 
• Don't really feel like it
• Why don't I listen to the cards when I don't like the message
• As Angel pointed out, if I could bottle my delusions to give to people I would be a millionaire.
• I should be crafting
• I should be doing a lot of things that are not related to wasting time on the computer
• I'm so glad it's time to start preparing for Halloween
• Things are beginning to repeat....

what's on your mind?