It's gonna be a loooong Birthday

Samantha goes to pre-school two days a week. Her birthday is on March 21st which will land during spring break, so they celebrated her birthday today in school. I had also signed up at some point at the beginning of the school year, to bring the "S" snack for today. So, I turned it all into one big Samantha Fest! They had cupcakes formed into the letter "S" in which I stuck a picture of Samantha onto each.

They also had Starburst, which are Samy's candy du jour. I think sticking a picture of Samantha on each and every cupcake was a bit much, but what the heck. It was cute and it was her birthday celebration at school, so there!



For her actual birthday, we will either go to dinner with our very cool neighbors, or go to the Church Easter party - because it's not always that you can have an egg hunt on your birthday - can't decide. Then on the 28th we are having her "official" party at a jumping place combined with her best boy-friend, Ty, who is two days older than her.

Samy is very excited, (she keeps asking "how many more sleeps until my birthday and my party?"), and drawing this out and milking it for all it's worth. For an almost four year old, she knows how to work it! So basically, Samantha is having one big brithday from now through the end of the month. You only turn 4 once!

My baby is a genius

He looks all sweet and innocent and typical almost-seven-month-old, but underneath, there are things going on in that head that I'm afraid to even think about. You can just tell by the look in his eyes that he is watching you and taking everything in. Then I walk into the living room one day and happen upon this:



That's Harry Potter 3! I could barely make it through Number 2 before I just couldn't handle the children who wouldn't obey the rules and had to close the book for good. Maybe Christian is getting ideas.....





Logan, on the other end of the spectrum, has found a new use for the Bumbo.

Recommended Reading

I love to read books, but admit that I am a very slow reader. I read a couple blogs where the authors frequently post book reviews. These gals go through 50+ books a year, whereas I maybe get through 6, and that's a good year. Beside the point...

I just finished this book about a woman who grew up as the daughter of Saddam Hussein's personal pilot. It was creepy and very fascinating to hear her tell of Saddam's rise to power and the frightening similarities between him and people like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. In fact, she says, that Saddam idolized those men and not only wanted to be like them, but to be "better than them". She described some of the "parties" that Saddam's sons held and what they did to people, women in general.

The most amazing thing to me was learning what Iraq was like before the reign of Saddam. Women wearing mini-skirts, affluence, neighborhoods that one would mistake for Suburban Middle America... It was amazing -- a whole different world than Iraq seems to be today.

When Saddam was preparing to take power and become President of Iraq, he very carefully chose "friends". These people were the cream of society, young couples or families who were well-off or wealthy financially, and might have any bit of influence. One of these families was Salbi's. He surrounded himself with these people and basically guilted or blackmailed them into being his followers. The level of fear that one man, along with his 'clan from Tikrit' put upon a whole nation of people is absolutely incredible. It was a very enlightening read, to say the least.

Should I be offended...

... that a lawn service truck drove down the street, stopped in front of my house, got out of his truck, and meticulously put a business card on my door?

He then got back in his truck and drove away, not stopping at any other houses on the street. (Yes, I watched.)

Oh, and I....

voted for Mitt Romney today. Hey, they asked me who I wanted for President. Mitt's name was on the ballot, so that's who I voted for. I'm just considering it an early vote for 2012. That works, doesn't it?!?

I also, as a matter of principle, did not vote for anyone who called me repeatedly with pre-recorded messages constantly for the past week or so. John Manlove, you, my friend, did not get my vote!

But it was kind of flattering that Barak and Michelle did take time to contact little old me and ask me to work with them in "changing America". I wasn't that impressed with the call from General so-and-so who is a friend of John McCain....

Although, having America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) talk to me about Hillary every five minutes on the radio did make me consider voting for her -- but only for a quarter of a second.

Good night.

Back to the grind

So my fabulous trip of the century has come and gone and I am back to my life and laundry. San Diego is beautiful and there absolutely was not enough time to do what I wanted. Most importantly, though, Geoff and I were so happy to be in the temple for Andrea and John's sealing. It was a great event and very good semi-reunion with a number of family members.

Here's a little blow by blow of my weekend: I got into San Diego at about 2 pm. Geoff called to say that he was stuck in LA traffic and about an hour and a half away from me, so I got into a cab and went to the hotel by myself. This was the second cab ride ever in my life. The first was about twelve years ago and I had just gotten off a red-eye flight and was six months pregnant, so I don't really remember it. But this cab ride pretty much cured me of thinking cab rides were neat! First off, (not that I am a math wiz) the sign on the door in regards to pricing, and what he actually charged me did not add up in the slightest. Secondly, the stench in that car -- even with my window down -- was just plain bad. Can you say B.O.? It was bad. Now, the positive thing about a cab ride is that they definitely take the "scenic route", so I got to see some great things that we could do later in the day.

Now I have to note that had I been stuck at the airport with any children, I would have been annoyed, but I didn't have a care in the world at that time. I actually got on an airplane with my purse and a book. That's it! My purse and a book. Ahhhh....

So, I went to the hotel and checked in and laid on the scrumptious bed and ate the complementary crackers and cheese and watched a grown-up show (not adult, just grown-up -- thought I'd clarify.) and waited for Geoff to navigate the Southern California freeways.

After Geoff finally arrived, we decided to head out for dinner. We had a gift card for a fancy, schmancy restaurant and walked over to dine. We got there about five pm and slowly ate each course. Ordered expensive bottles of water (because tap just wouldn't do here!) and talked without being interrupted even once. Finally, dinner was over, and we both just felt exhausted. Seriously, we were about to fall asleep at the table. We looked at the time and it registered 6:18 pm! We are so lame. Even with a time zone adjustment, it still would have only been 8:18 pm for me. This cracked us up good. So we took a nice stroll back to the hotel and fell fast asleep. So much for all the sight seeing and touring I thought I wanted to do!

Since we went to sleep so early, we were wide awake at 4:30 AM! But we weren't alone because little Michael in the room next door was up too and raring to go to Sea World. (Seriously, in a $450 a night hotel, you'd think they could do something about that!)*

*I do have to note here that the hotel (along with the plane fare) was totally paid for with points. That is my big "perk" for being a single parent during the week is that once in a while when the sun and moon align, I get to cash in on all the racked up hotel and air points.*

So, we spent the majority of Saturday at the temple doing a session and at the sealing/wedding. I got to help Andrea get all dressed up pretty, and the ceremony was a great "refresher" of the reasons why we got married so long ago. That was probably the greatest part of the weekend; renewing my friendship with Geoff and remembering that I really do like him.

Sunday morning we got to walk around the Marina and the "Gas lamp" Quarter before heading off to the airport and saying farewell to each other for another week.

On the plane home, it was just me and my purse and another book. I got to watch, and pay attention to, the movie (Becoming Jane, starring Anne Hathaway -- it was decent, but the main gentleman character was the same guy who played the goat/man in Narnia and it was hard for me to get past that), and just relax.

So, thank you to Andrea for getting married so that I had a great reason to have this trip. And most thanks goes to the neighbors for spoiling the girls for the weekend (they had a mini Christmas, I think) and Kelly A. for having my boys and waking up with my baby at 4 am! I missed the kids a tad bit (not really, but you have to say that don't you?), but I had a total peace of mind the entire time that they were safe and happy and very well taken care of. The big boys are already itching for me to take another trip so that they can stay with their "cousins". (Don't worry, Kelly, I have no plans...)

What fun! Now, I'd post a couple pictures here, but someone (Geoff!) made me let him have the camera for the week. Humph!

Guest Blogging by Kelly

The following was posted (and then put into my drafts) by Kelly A. who had my boys for the weekend. It is complete sarcasm, but she worried that readers might think there was a cat fight going on. In my defense, the Nerf guns and gum were unknown contraband in the duffel bags. And hey, she didn't say they couldn't come back.... so I'm good. I'll post about the wonderful weekend tomorrow!

Dear Nicole,

I am super happy to watch your kids and hope your second honeymoon is filled with fantastic memories to carry you into eternity. But when you send your kids to my house with ammo shooting toy guns and gum. YOU WILL PAY!

Love,
Kelly