Mo' Halloween

I love costumes that are particularly suited to the person—like our Jolly Green Giant-sized Leprechaun with his awesome carrot-red hair. Or Getty's favorite teacher, Mrs. Black, dressed in all white.
BumbleBee has a tall order protecting his lil' cousin womenfolk. This is serious business. Good thing Ironman's got his back.
Another costume change for Getty (only not sure what he's goin' for here—Michael Jackson?)
I Love Nerds!

Hallowe'en Friday dress rehearsal...

Vintage Halloween!


Gorsh, it's Goofy!
Teen Wolfie (that's no wig)

Love that JAZZ! Complete with "ice" in her ears
Sneak attack on poor unsuspecting Goofy...
BumbleBee and Cinder-Elle

Recent Events

Homecoming. He brought her a bouquet of daisies when he picked her up from the house. Awwwww.
Cy's Baptism. My boys look like the angels they are in my life :)

Rocky calls it "Mentally Irregular"

The psychiatrist William Glasser's basic model for good mental health is this:

"You are mentally healthy if you enjoy being with most of the people you know, especially with the important people in your life.... Generally you are happy and are more than willing to help an unhappy family member, friend, or colleague to feel better. You lead a mostly tension-free life, laugh a lot, and rarely suffer from the aches and pains that so many people accept as an unavoidable part of life. You enjoy life and have no trouble accepting other people who think and act differently from you. It rarely occurs to you to criticize or try to change anyone. If you have differences with someone else you will try to work out the problem; if you can't, you will walk away before you argue and increase the difficulty. You are creative in what you attempt and may enjoy more of your potential than you ever thought possible. Finally, even in very difficult situations when you are unhappy,... you will know why you are unhappy and attempt to do something about it."

So, there you have it. Your sister, daughter, friend Lorenne is mentally ill. "It rarely occurs to you to try to change anyone." Does "rarely" mean "frequently"? Cuz that would work for me.
"If you can't [work out the problem], you will walk away before you argue..." Arguing is how I work the problem.

Bottom line is: keep your distance. I could be dangerous...

Postscript: This definition of mental health has actually been an epiphany for me. For 41 years, I have believed that arguing an important point, as opposed to avoiding or failing to resolve issues was the most productive and "best" way to manage issues. "Discussing" issues, in my mind, was just a watered-down form of arguing, lacking passion—passion being a good thing. All of a sudden, I see a better way. It's nothing new. I've heard it all before: listen and then be heard. End of story. It's not my job to convince anyone of anything. There are no winners and no losers in the exchange, just information and then the opportunity to enlarge my own perspective and maybe return the favor. And maybe not. But in any case, it's respectful and reasonable. All it took was for some book definition to tell me I'm mental, and now I'm properly motivated to be temperate in all things. One of my edges finally seems to be rubbing off. That took awhile....

H.U.P.

One day when I was DONE with the responsibilities of the day—the ink scribbles on the upholstered chair; Flarp smashed into the carpet; dog poo on the soccer blanket; the eternal lost shoe; the 3 soccer, 2 football, and cheer schedules; the dead car battery—DONE, plus the fact that I don’t do well without some semblance of order… I walked into the laundry room to do yet another “emergency” load of laundry and found a mess of school papers I keep in large envelopes tucked away as storage. The papers and drawings were strewn across the floor and which envelope they belonged in was anybody’s guess. I had already become unglued earlier in the evening and was just now arriving at the point of full-on rage, “WHO. MADE. THIS. MESS?!” Cam immediately walked up behind me and said quietly, “I did.”
Now that’s what I call honesty under pressure.
Geez, I love that kid.

A Few (—er, Several) Things About Me...

Always sit in my stand-up shower, and on rare bad days, I lay down
Agonize over what to wear every single day, because I have to hit my mood right on (ever see George Costanza’s “Morning Mist” outfit? I totally relate).
Opposite of a procrastinator. Dread entertaining because so much of it has to be done last minute.
Flip out every so often to keep the kids on their toes

Stomp around when I'm mad

Fear being misunderstood
Put off going to bed as long as possible and when I finally lay down, think, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" x 41 years
Think patience is a stupid virtue. Patience with others enables them to be stupid for waaay too long. haha (...but, uh, be patient with me, cuz you know...)
Still use my IHC nursing mug as my personal binky and keep ice water in it all day
Try to do as little as possible before noon and as much as possible until midnight
Plan to age gracefully (or whatever it is when you're not graceful)
Love texting
Best junk food: potato chips and onion dip, Rob's malts, Costco cheesecake
Drink hot Ovaltine every day 9 months of the year
Have read most of Dr. Phil's books. Love his fairness, insight, compassion, no-nonsense approach, problem-solving, and optimism
Memorized beach scene in Rocky III. "At first, I didn't care about what happened. I'd go in the ring, get bust up. But now there's you and the kid. I don't wanna lose what I got! - What do we have that can't be replaced? What? A house. We got cars. Money. We got everything but the truth. What's the truth, dammit?! - I'm afraid! All right? You wanna hear me say it? You wanna break me down? I'm afraid...." bahahaha
Was a few seconds from being run over by a train
Work from a Daily Plan sheet most days
Love the temple. Hoping it will protect my kids.
Believe exercise is the gift that keeps on giving. Have exercised 3x a week for about 25 years, minus the combined five years I was pregnant. (During those years I made up for it by doing as little as physically possible.) Favorites: kickboxing, running, Exercise tv. Indoor soccer would be FUNNER if I was GOODER. No go: at home on a treadmill.
Don't mind doing anything alone, except eating in a restaurant. Would go to a movie alone.
Love the quiet (driving alone in the car or at night when everyone's asleep)
Hate grocery shopping. What's to love? Grocery list, which means menu and inventory check; buy boring stuff; unload on the conveyor belt; unload into your car; unload from your car to your kitchen; put it all away. It's the chore that never ends. Rob loves it because he gets to compare prices on a hundred items. Not catching that vision....
Listen to Pandora Bon Jovi station during work outs, then scriptures during cool down. (Now that's just twisted....)
Favorite recent quote, "Saints are sinners who keep trying." Yesssssss.
"Favorite" G.A.'s: Holland, Uchtdorf, and Oaks
Career ambition: Be the awesomest grandma called "Nana" ever.
Other ambition: Go on missions with Rob, where he does all the work, and I'm just there for moral support, BUT I get full celestialized blessings.

(That was for you, Linda and Crystal ;)