crafty craft service mom and her big break

today is my mother's birthday!
she's like 40 something (cough...)

and this is what she looked like yesterday on her big break:

peg is in san jorge to help with a film my brother is doing.
and by help, i mean she is the craft service queen.

for those of you luck enough to have done that job-
you know it.
it's tough.

she is there all of august,
slaving away to make/purchase food products for important people
(one is "**pam" from "the office." apparently, they are good friends now...)
and today she is planning herself a little party (as she should be).

thanks for everything mom.
hope you get to take five today and chillax with your boyfriend.
sure glad he upped and surprised you.

happy day to you.


**afterthought correction:
apparently it is jan that peg is hobnobbin with - not pam.
oh oh well...

highlights

dear blog,
i wanted to repent for being neglectful....

here are some weekly highlights:


· had a meltdown because of my suspicious recent weight gain
and my inability to make it stop last week,
then listened to a talk on saturday morning that reminded me not to care.
and i cried:

"He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

· spent the night playing house and watchin the niece so another one could come.
i like playing mom.

· baby Chantelle Lorraine Moffat was born at 5:11 on 10.5.2009.
7 pounds, 9 ounces of adorable joy.


· yesterday i was listening to my talk radio podcasts on my phone,
cause i have culture,
and heard that obamanation won himself a nobel "piece"
for "capturing the world's attention" and "inspiring hope"
where is michael jackson's piece then?
ironically, i just lost hope in the nobel peace prize...
11 days? you gave the man 11 days to be in office
before nominating the man for changing the world?!
...don't get me started...

· my coworker who never does anything for anyone else,
helped a student at 5:05.... (after his shift!).
he declared, "today will go down in history!"
a breakthrough that makes me smile.

· after not feeling so awesome for the past few days,
and coming home a groggy hot mess everyday,
i got into the car after work yesterday,
rolled the windows down,
blasted some tunes,
and sang along.
smiling the whole way.
a surge of happiness for no reason except that God loves me.

· then we played with some cute friends
long overdue!
ate good food,
laughed a lot,
and went home with smiles on our faces.

today?

today i have 2 years of homework to do...
and i have about 100 blogs left to read...
and groceries to purchase....
and a gym i should visit...
a baby i need to play with...
and a husband to spend ample time with slash go make breakfast for like now...


so far, i'm O for 6.

happy day for moms getting older!

happy birthday mom!!

you rock dot com.

as we speak,

she is sitting in a comfy chair waiting to see fantasmic.
hate vibes comin your way...

[not really]

love your face!
i wont even tell anyone how old you are....

but this was last year.... so.....

my parents are liars

i went to get my name changed,

ya know, to be a clifford officially,

apparently the government thinks my birthday is 4/6

why, parentals, would they think this when we have been celebrating in on 5/6

for 24 years.....hmmm?

everything else i had with me couldn't prove my birthday.

great. one more thing.

today is the day!!!

we will see what happens to the poo team... keep voting.
i will close the polls just before the show!
(so far the mass public is all over that tara machine
...we shall see!)

and today is the day that my dress should be here!!!
(i will rave more about the fabulous designer in a minute)

today is the day that announcements will be sent out all over the country....
to many people who wont be able to come to the fabulous party to be held on the 23rd.
i wont even tell you how many.
its sick.

and today is the day of the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of
French forces at the Battle of Puebla.
(i know, you thought it was their independence day. its not. wikipedia)
mmm.
for you and i that means that it is cheap taco day at filibertos.
enjoy!


and, today is the day prior to my 24 years on this earth.
i almost forgot all about it amid all the other stuff.
18 days left
and i could care less how old i am!

she's only one...

and already having second thoughts about being here...

kennabug, its a rough life, the one you live...


"hey guys... i am a little concerned with something..."

"i think someone should call PETA..."

good birthdays have lots of little friends...

"seriously... are we doing this now.... that's a lot of candles for a wittle me..."

"hey guys... does this have high volumes of high fructose corn syrup...?
cause i am not allowed to have this...."

but she figured it out...

and then got drunk on life...

then hailed the gods who made this fine food...

and when she wasn't looking....

she got robbed!

its ok kenna... some of us aren't that excited about getting older either...

thanks for letting us come to the party though- much fun!

an ode to my sister

foto by meg

Maddi-

- smarter than me, (4.2 gpa, takes college classes as a Junior, has read more books than i have...ya know...)
- more talented than me (sings; dances; acts; improvs; plays the piano, violin, jaw harp, harpsichord, triangle, and finger chimes; debates; leads organizations...)
- knows exactly how she feels about herself and her beliefs, and wouldn't change that for anything
- smiles and laughs all the time...which is very very contagious.
- she bleeds purple and gold, but loves orange
- never sleeps. in fact, i usually find her in the morning on her knees flopped ever her bed. dead, but excruciatingly diligent.
- knows how to be a true and honest friend and has many of them that all adore her
- is way more confident in her own style than i ever was at 18...
- loves to learn and soak up new things
- wonderfully supportive daughter, aunt, and sister.

she was recently told, apparently, that she is "more adult than her sister." which is quite true. i look up to her.... in a very literal way!

Happy Birthday
not-so-little-and-now-a-legal-adult sister!!
i took a picture for you:

Facing West

i'll admit it. cause i am a real woman.
• • •
gunna miss these faces...

and these dear friends...

and hey guys- thanks for helping me play 3D Tetris with Hubs, i still have no idea how we (and by we, i mean you) got all that shiznit into that baby blue...

and thanks marrieds for letting me come play with you even though you are married and have better/more interesting/awesome lives then mine...

oh and thanks so much for making me cry you girl!


i don't miss P-town... but the people there...

Peg and i made the trek...
it was good to be home...

for Rob's B-day... 31 this year! much impressing huh! Hope your birthday sufficiencies were suffoncified here in the hellish hot AZland with dad's naughty homemade ice cream.


met up with some old friends...


THEN • • •
i had to sit Mackenna down and get her to agree to not walk before Christmas...
she just laughed at me... seriously. right in my face. what a precocious little bratface. she'll be walking next month. yep- that's eight months. no, but seriously, some tears were shed. ahem.


then i put by big girl panties on, packed up all my baggage... (of which there is plenty...)



kissed my parental units,


and safely landed over 2094 miles from home.

Bring it.

... hopefully i can satiate your need for east coast musings soon... it has been a good time so far. i will get in my own place in the next day or so and then we will really get down to biz. i also might get to NYC this weekend... with some cute new girlfriends just for the helluvit. cause i can, ya know.

Love it.

"Meg and Peg sounds like it would be an awesome tv show doesn't it?"

no fabio. it doesn't actually.

but regardless, i like the sound of the two together.

today, my mother is...


this many today.... whoah- slow down, right?


i have to say thanks to a mom that i revere for many reasons:

• she laughs at me all the time... even after we tease her about stuff...
• she spills on her shirt at every meal...
• she does nothing but spend her time trying to figure out how to make other's lives happier
• she is one incredible cook- and i am still learning...
• she knows how to throw an event -- anything that involves people and food really...
• she loves every color as long as it is red...
• she is funny and my friends love hanging out with her... usually more than me
  
• she gets excited about a lot of things which makes life fun
• she's crafty (and not like the Beasties song...)
  
• she is attached to her family, in the emotional sense, and loves to be involved in our lives
• she is a brilliant seamstress and helps me with all sorts of silly projects...
• she is so accepting and non-judgmental
  
• she is one proud g-ma to 3 irresistible grand-chicks
• she loves serving and talking about her strong beliefs about the gospel
• she knows how to cut a rug when she has to... or bust out a song when needed
• she knows every girls camp song ever written
  
• she cries a lot... like things that make her smile... like right now she will laugh out loud to read this... and then cry because it is so true... and i love that...

thanks for everything mom--
i hope you know how important old ladies are in the lives of their kids...
even at 55!

(at Gecko for lunch today... where else would you go on your birthday really?... der.)

{oh- and just to set it straight from the last post.... i am,
and excuse me here, sure as hell not planning a wedding anytime soon!
I would let you know if and when that would be occurring... but i wouldn't hold your breath for a few years.
honestly though- my brain really is that retartedly sporadic as i attempt to sleep... }

speaking of...

Happy Birthday Blog

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

{It's Truly a Dog's Life}

I enjoy your spontaneity
and your useless rants
and all of the fun memories
and people that you feature here that mean so much...

Here's to one year of bloggin-
and now we will all exploit the child-blog
and watch him eat that cake with his hands
and film it for all of his friends to laugh at when he gets older...
awesome.

Posts: 109
# of visits: 16,945

So, who is still even reading this thing anymore?

thanks for ordering my sunshine mom...

remember when it was sunny and beautiful yesterday?

and then how today the sky wept in provo...

{lametown}

all i could think of was my poor dying tulips all over campus...

anyway... the birthday was mostly uneventful except for an

a{freakin}mazing dark chocolate cake that my roommate made...

and calls and notes from cute people i love...

other than that, i am older-- and not a hint wiser for it.

~happy humpday~

...and counting...

foto by meg

Today marks:

7 days free of DDP {yay-us} -

7 days of my new love of water
1 full work week,
3 pounds down,
3 full days of glorious sunshine...

my new love/obsession with brightly colored tulips

23 years of being alive...

foto by meg

reviews for you....

in no particular order or from any particular thought process...
do not attempt to decipher:

Amelie is one of the most beautiful films i have seen in years...

and come to think of it- i haven't seen it in years.

but it is one of those you do not easily forget.

she asks you to do something and to think

and play and smile about life.

the movie is so colorful too- i love bright colors,

and i think it is how all pictures should be.

Waiting for Guffman, another flick i can never get enough of. perhaps it is because of the chillingly accurate depiction of life as i know it... being about awful community theatre and way intense performing types... but also just the nature of a mockumentary. kills me. the way it is made makes it seem so white trash- but it is one of those niche films that with the right crowd... will make you sauce your pants.

Tucanos. where tonight, with a great crowd of awesome people, i consumed copious amounts of brazilian meat and pasta and loved life... until now at the very moment that i need to sleep and cannot due to reoccurring unsatisfying burpage...nasty. but the garlic beef and the tenderloin....naughty. very naughty. the grilled pineapple...also naughty.

the phoenix suns. a valiant effort and a big boy get you fouled uselessly because of a handful of sissy boys from San Antonio. i don't know if i could teach that kind of acting. sad to say that i think next year will be the year for the boys from the hot town. this year the suns are a teenage boy going through puberty. just give em time.

foto by meg

oh- and another random thought. today was my brother's birthday! Mac's. it is his golden birthday, when you turn the age on the actual date or your age ya know... i was six when that happened and i don't recall it being that awesome.
so yeah- he's 29. he's a dad. he loves basketball and his wife and a-freakin-dorable daughter...
and apparently takes far more trips to the DQ than i had ever imagined. also awesome.
we graduated together the last time i did that... and when jake was on his mish, we bonded and shared college friends for a while. he loves to laugh and make people laugh and is one of the best examples of service i have seen.

anyway, after i talked to him, it made me think of how funny it is that we call each other on birthdays and rarely talk to each other like the inter-communicators that we used to be in the olden days- ya know... like with phones or the good ole' "lets do lunch". back when phones were mustard green and hung in all of their cord glory on the wall.
i wish it didn't take birthdays to call people we love. not that i don't talk to my brother, cause we do... occasionally. but not enough for my taste. in fact, there are far too many people that i don't talk to that i used to. and should. but don't.

SO, here is my challenge to you: call someone that you would normally only check their blog, or facebook, or email, or whatever it is that we do now instead of talk like real humans... but do it for no reason.
i am going to try to get 3 in this week.
calling people i love that i should talk to more often....
like a normal person!

and, for the record, i have started my "healthy track" today,
and so far things are looking good...
a full 24 hours without ddp... and going strong.

at Eyring's suggestion:

i ran for 50 minutes at the gym yesterday... and after 40 minutes or so, without feeling the numbness in my legs or my usual 60-year-old heart failure, i found a second wind.

long story short: dear GOLD's GYM, continue to have a cinema room. continue to play "Rudy" because the music and the constant small dude getting rocked that accompanies it, for some reason, left me without the ability to stop running. at the end of the 50 minutes i found that i was running at 8 mph and crying. at the gym. in the dark. by myself. that, i know, is pathetic—and awesome too... guess that movie and i go way back, like to cuddling with dad on the couch and leaving us both leaking from the tear ducts.


it made me think of something else as i watched Rudy get into the school of his dreams and watch him do exactly what he wanted to in life: i am about to graduate from college! i guess i never thought twice about coming here though, i just did. i am so lucky to be here and i do thank the Lord for the blessing every day.

in my first class ever here at BYU, my American Lit History teacher took a moment and showed us a slide show of all of the authors and texts that we had learned about throughout the course of the semester. again, in the dark, i may have shed two or three. i was so amazed for some reason (i can still learn crap?). can't put together a video for what i have gained here in the 3 years, but it is nevertheless priceless.

I would also like to note that today is my grandmother's birthday- she must be like 65 today or something ;) I have sure learned a lot from her and wish that lived close enough to hang out with her. She is one of the hippest, most stylish, and witty (by default!) grandmas I know! And lets face it, every one who knows her loves her. She travels more than most people I know just to be close to her cute people and she writes her personal history for me to keep forever. What an inspiring treasure that I get to keep forever! Thanks grandma for years of yummy meals, matching sister clothes, movie analyzing, support, advice, chats, laughing, and love.
Sure love you—Happy Birthday G-ma!