Friday, August 31, 2012

A Little Bit of Pride

I woke up this morning feeling a little bit excited. Now that the Republican National Convention is over, and all the speeches have been made, for the first time in my adult-voting life, I can finally say that I actually like our guy! The first time I was old enough to vote was in 1992 when it was George H.W. Bush running against Bill Clinton. Bush was nothing to get excited about. And then came Bob Dole. I mean, seriously? And then George W. Bush came along, and to quote American Idol judge Randy, "he was just o.k. for me." Last time around, we had John McCain, who hails from the great state of Arizona, but who fell dreadfully short for me. Honestly, I was just tired of voting for the guy that I disliked the least.

That's not to say I dislike anything our democratic presidents have done, but I'm excited for the possibilities that the Romney/Ryan ticket brings. The speeches I heard this week were inspiring to me. I like the enthusiasm and the energy I felt when I listened to them. It was probably very much the same feeling many Obama supporters felt four years ago. I don't need CNN or Fox News to tell me what I do or do not like. I loved the theme that America is a great country, without exception.

When Mitt Romney first announced his candidacy, I was wary. I'm sure there were many Mormons who jumped on the Romney bandwagon simply because he himself, is a Mormon -- and I just couldn't do that. As the primaries went on, I kept finding myself drawn to Santorum, actually. But now that Romney is the nominee, I support him fully, and it has nothing to do with my religion. His political ideals closely match my own. I like his running mate. I think they mean business. And I'm excited about the possibilities they represent.

Of course, I am proud to able to say that for the first time in history, a Mormon is a serious contender for the White House.

And that's what's so great about this country. Anything can happen. We create our own history. We can cheer for our own guy. Vote for who you will, and so will I!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Campaigning

I'm starting to think my 9-year-old has a future in politics -- as long as his platform is built on super-hero Legos. For the past couple of weeks, he has been doing that thing kids do when there is something they really want: dropping hints.

I'm working at the computer when he comes in and says, "Mom, I think the Captain America Lego set is a pretty good deal because it comes with like, 92 pieces."

And I'm too lazy to calculate the cost per piece, so I say, "hmm," hoping that I can just finish revising the current page I'm on.

Another time, I'm painting a piece of furniture in the garage when he comes out to tell me this: "I was just thinking how awesome it would be if I had two sets of the all the Marvel Heroes Legos because then I could really trick them out and even share them with my friends and I was thinking that I could give some to Layton because he is the only friend I have who is REALLY into Legos."

It's a noble and benevolent thought, but those things are stinking expensive, and I'm sweating to death painting a yard sale dresser that cost me less than any Lego set.

Later, I'm battling my wok for homemade Pad Thai when he saunters in and says, "I was just researching the complete Avengers Lego Set and I think it would be a good investment. Plus, they have all these cool details you can add to your Lego guys, and I already have the markers to do it. But I'm going to need some stickers to give Captain America some helmet wings, because, you know, he doesn't come with them."

I fling a noodle at him and say, "You're right. He's supposed to have wings, isn't he?" And then I think what a rip-off it is to pay twenty bucks for a 92-piece set that doesn't even include helmet wings.

I'll admit he did add some pretty cool detail to Loki's sword with nothing but a magic marker. And Iron Man is looking fine with his now bright-blue arc reactor. However I'm far more impressed with his campaign strategy, slipping in subtle hints here and working it into the natural flow of a conversation there. Sometimes he's just so in-your-face about it that you can't help but pay attention. But like most politicians, eventually the sound bites turn into rhetoric and you find it pretty easy to tune them out.

Especially when you're the one who has control of the banks.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Calgon, Take Me Away!

Aaaarrrgghh!

Okay, I need to vent for a minute. As weepy as I got the other day when school started, I was expecting to have a little more freedom by now. Thursday and Friday were fine. Saturday, we spent at the lake paddle boarding (Have you tried it? I love it!). By Sunday night, Jamison was complaining of a sore throat, and he woke up Monday with a fever of 101.

After a much needed work-out this morning, I spent a couple of hours taking him to the doctor and getting a prescription filled. He has strep. After TWO DAYS of school.

Are you kidding me?

Is it a dirty little secret that we moms all breathe a collective sigh of relief, respite, and a glory hallelujah on the first day of school? Or is it just me? My husband gave me a gift certificate for a massage on VALENTINE'S DAY that I was really hoping to have used by now. So there's the side of me that whines.

And then there's the side of me that feels guilty for whining. I'm a mom, and it is my job, after all, to take care of my kids and make them my first priority. And I do it gladly (sometimes most of the time). However, throw in a husband who travels frequently, a small business to get up and running, a household to run, church responsibilities, a myriad of other little things, and well, I'm a little stressed at the moment.

"And technically, there are still a few weeks of summer left," she said, through gritted teeth.

But I'll post about that later, because my daughter just handed me an assignment that we are supposed to do together.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

What Their Mama Saw

Today is the first day of school, and I'll admit, I've been counting down the hours the last few days. Still, there is a part of me that gets a little weepy, sending them off into the world, even if both schools are within a few minutes of home. One is starting 8th grade, the other, 4th.

What they looked like this morning:




What their mama saw:



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Happy Birthday, Jett!

Yesterday was a bit of depressing day. You know, just one of those days where nothing goes quite right. As I laid down to sleep last night, the last thought that went through my head was this: We have bad days like this so we can better recognize the good days.

Well, when I woke up this morning, it wasn't hard to recognize that this was going to be a GOOD day. I was absolutely delighted (and quite surprised) to find out that my newest little nephew decided to join the world at 2:42 a.m. -- two weeks earlier than expected!

The kids and I drove to Salt Lake City as soon as we could and gave that baby some love!

When my brother, Anthony, was born, I was in second grade and I took him to school for show-and-tell. This blog is now the closest thing I've got to show-and-tell, so here he is!


 Jett Anthony Alvey
Doesn't he have the sweetest little face?


Charlotte, Tony, and little Jett
Can we all just take a moment and be jealous of Charlotte and how good she looks, just hours after giving birth -- WITHOUT drugs?!?!?!?!?



I'm so glad that my brother and his wife moved to Utah and had a baby! I am going to spoil that kid rotten! For those of you who like stats, I can tell you he weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces and he's the same length as two plastic forks laid end to end. We measured. It was very scientific.

Thanks for a good  fantastic day, Jett!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

My New Job... One Day

So if I haven't mentioned it before, I kind of have a thing for sea turtles (and giant tortoises). Crush and Squirt from "Finding Nemo" always do my heart good. When I was in Hawaii last week, I finally got to see some sea turtles up close and personal. I'm pretty sure I took well over 60 pictures of the first one I saw, swimming in a shallow lagoon. And delusional as this may sound, I was really tempted to jump on its back and go surfing... you know... like riding a unicorn over a rainbow.

Fortunately, I had my zoom lens, because the problem was (besides being physically impossible) that there were two women on the beach whose sole purpose in being there was to keep people a minimum of 6 feet away from the sea turtle. They were very official looking with their matching rash guards and lanyards. If you've ever seen an episode of "Arrested Development," they were kind of like the prison guards who yell, "NO TOUCHING!" every time  Michael Bluth tries to hug his dad.

And then it dawned on me. THIS is my dream job: to be a sea turtle body guard. I'm sure it pays slightly less than I'm making now, which is almost zero, and I realize that the cost of living in Hawaii is quite high compared to the main land. So I've got some numbers to crunch. But can you imagine the fun I could have, yelling at tourists to stay back? I've taught kindergarten, and tourists are kind of like kindergarteners, so I've got experience.  I'm thinking I'd need to get some dark shades and an ear piece.

I'll tell you one thing, those sea turtles would be safe with me. They'd know I've got their backs. And if I'm lucky, just maybe, one of them will give me a ride on his back.