Computer Stuff

So I'm not actually MIA (or should that be MIB "missing in blogging"), but I've been having to take long breaks in my blogging because my computer is dying. It is so sad! I love my computer. I got it for mothers day when I was pregnant with Nina so that I could play computer games on the couch while on bedrest (and I did play a lot of Diablo!) and in these almost 4 years it has become so slow and now has stopped working sometimes all together. I'm lucky in that Adrian has been able to bring it back from the brink many a time with his surgeon-like computer skillz, but of course every time Adrian fixes it I have to hear all about how if it were a Mac I wouldn't have these problems. Insult to injury! I really don't want a new computer or frankly want to pay for a new computer. This totally sucks. Oh well. Hopefully Adrian will be able to fix it again, whilst mumbling about how evil Windows is I'm sure, but in the mean time I might be MIB for a while. Bummer.

Happy Valentines Day from the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood and John Keats (but really from Jenni)!

La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John William Waterhouse, 1893

Time for my annual Valentines day hello from the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood. This painting is by John William Waterhouse and is called La Belle Dame Sans Merci (which translates to "a beautiful woman without mercy or pity"). I finally looked up what this painting is all about - it's kind of weird with the girl grabbing the knight and all - and found out it is based on the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats. It is kind of a weird (and tragic) romantic poem just like it's kind of a weirdly romantic Waterhouse painting. Being that I am a fan of the weird I thought this was the perfect Valentines day painting for me.:) Oh oh, and did you notice the little heart on her sleeve? Totally Valentines day! SO happy happy valentines day!!

La Belle Dame Sans Merci, a poem by John Keats, 1819

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
And the harvest's done.

I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withered too.

I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful - a faery's child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.

I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery's song.

Seh found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said -
'I love three true'.

She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.

And there she lulled me asleep
And there I dreamed - Ah! woe betide! -
The latest dream I ever dremt
On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried - 'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!

I saw their starved lips in gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the col hill's side.

And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

A Weekend in Pictures (with captions)

Friday NightAfter a week at home with sick kids it was so fantastic to get out on a date with Adrian. We went out to sushi and then saw An Education. Man, that movie was upsetting! It was a GREAT movie though and I can see why Carey Mulligan is nominated for an Oscar. She was amazing. You want to strangle the leading man the whole time so it's quite a change from most British period dramas were you want to be swept away by Colin Fir...uh hum I mean whoever the leading man might be.


Saturday MorningAhh sleeping in... And this is what Adrian and the kids did while I slept for a couple hours. Yes, that is all 3 of my children sitting symbiotically with each other playing the Wii.


Saturday Afternoon
Grocery shopping for the next 5 weeks. Boring I know, but it's done and was actually a little fun to go to sample day at Costco all by myself.


Saturday EveningPizza night! A Little Caesar's just opened up by us and nothing beats 5 buck pizzas. Usually I make our pizzas on pizza night, but every now and then I think 10 bucks is worth someone else making them - especially after a day of shopping.


Sunday MorningNina and I stayed home from church and Nina spent some quality time with "Bubbles" her nebulizer fishy mask - her asthma has been kicking up for the last 2 weeks after getting a regular old cold that Ben got over in 2 days. I hope that soon we'll get to put Bubbles away for a while.


Sunday Afternoon
During Sunday naptime for Nina (and Adrian) I watched the movie Food Inc. Yeah the day after I went shopping for the month, at 2 huge national chain stores and bought a whole bunch of chicken, pork and beef, I decide to watch this movie. Not the best move on my part.It was educational, disturbing, and well down right scary in parts (i.e. the e-coli part). I did not think it was a movie just for crazy environmentalist. It shed light on how our food is produced here in America and it's definitely worth watching.


Sunday EveningSundae Fast Sunday is always a popular day in our house. After a day of fasting (for me, Adrian, and Sophie) we were excited for dinner which was Pioneer Woman's fabulous BBQ Meatballs but more importantly ice cream sundaes for dessert. I made homemade hot fudge sauce and ooooh it was good, if I do say so myself.


Sunday Night
The final installment of Masterpiece Theatre's Emma!! Wow, we had quite the movie weekend didn't we! Emma was so great!! I loved this new version! And Adrian did watch it with me without falling asleep. Success!!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Adrian and Sophie went to their first Daddy Daughter dance tonight and had a great time. For the refreshments all the dads and daughters brought a cake that they decorated at the dance. Adrian actually made a cake. A chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. All by himself. I am impressed. Sophie and Adrian decorated the cake together and it turned out very cute. They also had lots of fun dancing, Sophie especially liked being spun around. Adrian reported that it was very fun to see Sophie laughing and dancing with her friends. Fun times. I love these memory building moments for our family!

And here's what Ben and Nina did while Sophie and Daddy were dancing away. Nina's cheesy grin always cracks me up!

Thanks J. D. Salinger

J. D. Salinger died last week at the age of 91. You probably already heard, but I found a couple great tributes to him. HERE (wasn't that funny?!) and HERE. For better or worse he wrote one of the great American novels, The Catcher in the Rye. If you can get past the language, and maybe you don't want to and that's totally fine, it is an amazing book that so fully encompasses the feelings of alienation and angst that so many of us went through in adolescence.I have a special place in my heart for Holden Caulfield. He is such a real character to me. I love his constant and unrelenting stream of thoughts. Disturbing thoughts at times, but so real. I connected with those thoughts as a teenager. NOT in a crazy psycho way, but oh if those other kids knew what I was thinking of them at my high school. I was wrong. And I was lonely and deep down just wanted them to like me (which is what all the other high schoolers were wanting too). I think Holden felt the same way. See how I think of him as real?? When I read Catcher now I realize I've gone over the cliff at the end of the rye field despite Holden's efforts. I don't like his potty mouth. He is clinically depressed. But I still love him. I still want to give that kid a hug and tell him the world isn't as bad as it seems. There are lots of non-phonies out there and you won't always be alone. Which is just the type of crummy thing a lousy adult would say, right?! I thank Salinger for this amazing character, Holden, and for the thoughts he put in his head. He had an impact on me and in his profound loneliness made me feel not so alone. Well done and thank you.

Holden would hate this post. I know. But that's okay. I'm more inclined to bake him a batch of cookies now then I am to hang out with him in the rye field. How times have changed.:) I'm sure Holden would also hate emoticons.

Getting-to-Know-You Meme from Julia

I saw this on Julia's blog and thought I'd play along. If you'd like to do it too please do.:)

Welcome to the new 2010 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are supposed to do, Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Have fun and be truthful! I'd love to see your answers!

1. What is your occupation right now? homemaker (I've learned to like that term.)
2. What color are your socks right now? navy
3. What are you listening to right now? Dr.Oz
4. What was the last thing that you ate? some Asian rice cracker mix - how I love wasabi peas!
5. Can you drive a stick shift? sadly no, my high school boyfriend tried to teach me but I never quite figured it out
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? the visiting teaching coordinator in my ward
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? of course - miss you Julia!
8. How old are you today? 32
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? figure skating, gymnastics (I'm so excited for the Winter Olympics!)
10. What is your favorite drink? Coke - I only have it on my birthday
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? no, I got highlights once but didn't keep them up
12. Favorite food? Japanese hibachi
13. What is the last movie you watched? The Tooth Fairy -saw it with the fam and the kids loved it, I thought it was pretty funny
14. Favorite day of the year? Halloween
15. How do you vent anger? sit in my closet (that's when I'm really mad) or talk it out
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I had a toy dog that you turned on and it moved forward a couple of steps then sat and barked (do you know the ones?). Its name was Bernard and I still have it.
17. Favorite season? Fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? both!
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Sure. Well post it on their blog that is.
20. Who is the most likely to respond? I really don't know.
21. Who is least likely to respond? no clue
22. Living arrangements? in my house with my husband and 3 kids.
23. When was the last time you cried? I teared up whilst reading The Actor and the Housewife a couple weeks ago - I hate it when books make me cry
24. What is on the floor of your closet? some clothes I need to take to the dry cleaners
25. What did you do last night? read, The Lightning Thief, and hung out with Adrian
26. What are you most afraid of? fear itself :) (I mean it though)
27. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? cheeseburger, preferably a patty-melt on rye
28. Favorite dog breed? poodle (that's what my dog Alexis was and they don't shed)
29. Favorite day of the week? Saturday or any day that I get to sleep in
30. How many states have you lived in? 4
31. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds I guess... I'm not a big jewelry person
32. What is your favorite flower? creamy white roses like the ones at my wedding

Randomness

Other than the same old same old here's a list of random things we've been up to:

Spy Games: This is one of the cutest pretend plays that Ben and Nina have been SO into lately. We're not sure where they got pretending to be spies from, but they sneak around the house giving each other thumbs-up and whispering in raspy kid-whispers. Adrian and I both cracked up the other night when we spotted them on either side of the door way to the kitchen giving each other hand signals and then crawling away on hands and knees. Ha!

Reading: That's pretty much what I've been doing this month, well in between drop-offs and pick-ups and laundry etc. Since the beginning of Jan. I've read The Help (good), The Actor and the Housewife (goodish, but frustrating), Summer of My German Soldier (I loved this book as a 13 year old and I still like it, but certainly don't love it as much as I used to) and right now I'm reading Murder on the Orient Express and I'm loving it! Agatha Christie is so clever and funny and I love all the clues and cast of interesting characters. Why have I not read an Agatha Christie novel before?!

Middle School Craziness: I honestly cannot believe that I have a child starting middle school this fall. Its nuts. I'm not that old! Really. Okay I guess I am. Sophie is VERY excited for middle school and gets to register for classes soon. She gets to pick out electives and everything and the registration is online. It feels like I'm sending her off to college! Crazy. One bummer is that she can't take orchestra (viola) and a language which I think is totally stupid, but oh well. She has decided to take a language (Spanish) and will still take piano lessons so its all good. I'm glad that she is excited for middle school, but if I'm honest I'm a little sad and scared by the whole thing.

Nina's First Braid: I can braid Nina's hair! Today I got her soft still baby-fine hair into a side braid for the first time. I love seeing that cute little braid fly around as she's playing.

Quiet Nights: Is it wrong that one of my favorite parts of the day is after the kids go to bed and Adrian and I hang out watching favorite shows for a couple hours?? We turn on the fireplace (it's a gas fireplace) in the family room, get our glasses of ice water, and pick either a Netflix movie or something on the DVR and just veg. Tonight I'm going to try to convince him to watch the new Masterpiece Theatre Emma with me.