An Apology To All My Faithful Readers And A Glimpse Into The Weirdness That Is Me!

Wow, that's a lot of words for very neglected blog. I have only myself to blame. The tech gods are not smiling and I'm not the best at adapting to such things. But we're up and running and functional, no thanks to Dell and their laptops!

So, to make up for my lack of pictures (still working on that one . . . again, just lazy), here are some really weird things to laugh about me and my family:

1. I cry . . . a lot. I cry when I'm sad, frustrated, angry, tired, scared . . . or happy, excited, or thankful. The only way to keep me from crying is to go for an extremely boring middle ground. Just ask BJ. I cried at choir practice today while watching my oldest sing a Christmas carol. I need serious help here!

2. I hate it when toilet lids are left up. Not the seat, which is a univeral given, but the lid. I've been known to walk into random strangers houses and put their toilet lids down. No joke.

3. Messy, disorganized rooms make me extremely cranky and irritable. Now, you would think this would mean my entire house is extremely neat and organized. Yeah, you'd think that. Let's just say, my kids have learned secret hand signals for "duck and cover." Momzilla is alive and well in Utah!

4. My youngest has a very creepy habit of coming to our bed in the middle of the night and just standing there, staring at us until we wake up. Very creepy.

5. Bug has recently become my theater buddy. We went to a production of "A Christmas Carol" (of movie fame). Very fun mom/daughter time. Middle child, on the other hand, refused to go. Flat out, no thank you. Rather than fight this battle (there are many with my darling, much loved, middle child), we took one of Bug's friends. A great night. As we were leaving, Belle almost sings to me 'I'll go next time.' Sigh.

6. We are arts lovers at our house, all types. We love to read, draw, play music, all that stuff. Math and science are constant struggles. I've been helping Bug with her math every night for over an hour. And she's still getting some of the problems wrong! Me worried? Nah.

7. I love to shovel snow. After it's stopped and warmed up a bit, mind you. I actually prefer to shovel it by hand, over snowblowing. It's a quiet time to be outside during winter and think. I'm also a bit compulsive about it, though. Everything has to be completely clean and dry and track free. It irritates me when people drive on my driveway before I shovel it. Please don't do it.

8. I have a secret crush on the entire Duggar family, of "18 Kids And Counting" fame. Anyone who can literally build a house themselves, homeschool 18 kids and still form a complete sentence, must be very cool. I won't comment on their oddities, I've got enough of my own to worry about!

9. I go to bed very early most nights. Some nights my kids are barely in bed before I'm headed there myself. You want to see me cranky? Tell me about a project that needs to be done for the next day at 8:30 the night before. (Or leave a toilet lid up, or put me in a messy room . . . that will work too.)

10. In an alternate reality, I live on a cattle ranch, have my own horse and extremely cool boots, drive a big truck and listen to country music openly. I blame my pioneer stock.

OK, now you can laugh at me at will.

Please stay tuned for our favorite Christmas traditions and our month-long Holiday Fest-a-palooza!