It's All about the Boxes

It's all about the boxes this week. Do you know why it's all about the boxes? Because WE'RE MOVING ON OUT OF HERE!!!!!!! Pardon my yelling. I'm just a tad bit excited. Brigham accepted a job offer in Salt Lake City. Personally I was hoping for Austin, TX. Don't ask me why, but I just wanted to live there. Brig had no intention of it though. Just like he has no intention of ever indulging my English countryside fantasy.

We drove down this last Saturday and looked at 12 different apartments. Wow. What a range of places. Every place I looked at I tried to imagine my mother's face as we'd be moving in. Most of those places I'm pretty sure she'd be crying her eyes out and cursing Brigham for taking her daughter to live in such a place. But we found a wonderful, wonderful neighborhood and a great landlady. We will be living in, don't laugh, a basement apartment underneath the landlady and her husband and two older sons. The house is old and charming and is blocks from Liberty Park and Ninth and Ninth.

I have to give Brig props for even considering a basement apartment because he really does not like living in basements. The ceilings are never high enough for him and he loves sunshine (horrible sunshine) pouring in through big windows. But he knew I was in trouble when we parked outside the house. When we climbed back in the car he looked over at me and said, "You're smitten aren't you?" I replied, "Heaven help me but I'm in deep smit." So thank you honey for indulging me because you knew I'd be happiest there. When I called and made the final deal with the landlady after I hung up he said, "Are you crying?" Yeah, that's how relieved I was to find a place that was nice and safe.

I'm not sure how long we'll be in Salt Lake. The plan is for Brig to get his masters while he is working. Both of us would like to live out of state for once in our lives, but I guess if we really like Salt Lake then we'll stay for however long. I don't know when we'll get internet hooked up again after we move in this Saturday so this post could be up for a while. Taking the Mattress War to SLC, can't wait!

Knee Deep in Tissues

Which can only mean one dreadful thing...I have a cold. A cold in the summer time? It flies in the face of cold logic. And I always, and I mean always have my worst colds in the summer, when it's hot and dry outside and my daughter wants me to run around in the backyard with her and I just feel like making myself a Nyquil cocktail and nursing on it until I pass out in a deck chair. Unfortunately I can't do that because I'm a semi-responsible mother who doesn't wish to neglect my child.

This morning in the wee small hours while I was hacking up a lung on the couch (I was trying to be considerate of my husband's beauty sleep) I remembered I had recorded "You've Got Mail" some time ago and well it just felt right to finally watch it. Again. I mean I've watched that movie like 693 times since it's conception. And it never gets old. Every perfectly written witty line of that movie makes me happy.

Meg Ryan before bad plastic surgery, and Tom Hanks before he started to show his age. Anyway, I watched the scene where Tom goes to visit Meg after he's run her shop out of business and she has a cold and he brings her daisies. How sweet is that? At that moment I wished that I had my own wealthy enemy man who deep down adored everything about me and who I had undeniable chemistry with who would just show up at my door and tuck me into bed and carry on random banter as he put the flowers he bought me in a vase.


It was a nice fantasy for the time that it lasted, but what I'd really like is someone I trust to come and take Ava off of my hands for a few days so I can sleep and linger in my cold drug induced state while I watch romantic comedies. Oh and maybe someone else to come and keep the house up and fold my laundry and make dinner for my family and go on a Coke run for me. Is that too much to ask?

Confession

I love the UFC.

A couple of years ago my husband started going to "fight night" at a friend's house. I was grateful for these nights. Call me strange but I love some alone time. I'd put Ava to bed at 8 pm and then the world was my oyster. Well the small Logan apartment was my oyster and activities would usually range from soaks in the tub with candles and classical music playing to incredibly indulgent chick flicks that my husband wouldn't watch with me in a million years. Brig would come home around midnight or a little later and I would be passed out in bed, legs and arms askew luxuriating in my aloneness in our queen sized bed. Brig occasionally would try to get me to come along with him. But I didn't want to give all that alone time up.

Now a few years later and some Spike TV and I got hooked on a show called The Ultimate Fighter: UK vs. USA. Oh man. Those accents, those abs, those wicked upper cuts. Those Brits made the men of Team USA look like school boys. Whiney, gossipy, low class school boys. And admittedly Nick Osipczak (pictured above and resembling another tall, dark and handsome man in my life) had alot to do with my initial interest in the show I soon was just blown away by the type of training these fighters do and the heart they show stepping into that octagon ready for a beating.

Saturday was the finale at The Palms in Las Vegas with 3 Brits representing and only one American making it to the finals. And some of those other fights on the ticket...wow. I can't believe the punishment these men can take and dish out. Mixed Martial Arts may be barbaric to some, but to me it's very oddly entertaining, combining the best of wrestling, martial arts and boxing. I know it's a long shot that any of you are fans of the sport, but I just had to tell someone, anyone about how amazing the fights were on Saturday night. Sanchez vs. Guida...these men are insane!

I'm sooo looking forward to the fight coming up between the two coaches of The Ultimate Fighter: Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson. Does anyone want to come over and split the Pay-per-view fee?

Enjoy, Be True!

I finished reading "A Three Dog Life" by Abigail Thomas this morning. It was a short read at 182 pages with fairly large print. Abigail writes honestly and with very little self-pity about her husband's accident that left him permanently brain damaged. The memoir flows along like a stream winding through a landscape. The love she has for her husband is tangible and although the person he is now is so utterly different than the man she married they still find a way to connect with one another.

About a third of a way through the book I discovered a torn electric blue piece of a sticky note with the words "Enjoy, Be True!" scrawled on it. It made me smile to know that the previous library patron thought to leave a scrap of inspiration behind. I love little suprises like this. My dad is notorious for leaving me voice messages that are funny. On Saturday he left me a message which mostly consisted of Abba's "Super Trouper" chorus. It made me cry. I'm funny like that. I love my Dad. Anyway, I've decided I am going to start leaving little messages like this in the books I have loved. Here is one of my favorite passages of the book:

I was on a small island once, in the middle of a great big lake, mountains all over the place, and as I watched the floating dock the wind kicked up, the waves rose from nowhere, and I imagined myself lying there and the dock suddenly breaking loose, carried away by the storm. I wondered if I could lie still and enjoy the sensation of rocking, after all I wouldn't be dead yet, I wouldn't be drowning, just carried off somewhere that wasn't part of my plan. The very thought of it gave me the shivers. Still, how great to be enjoying the ride, however uncertain the outcome. I'd like that. It's what we're all doing anyway, we just don't know it.

- "A Three Dog Life" pgs 169-170.

Vote! For which Haircut I should Get...

I always feel like cutting my hair when the temperature rises. Just throw a blanket on the back of your neck and go walking around, you'll soon know how it feels. Lately I've been watching those Mennonite women that live in these parts and have actually debated on if I should approach one and ask where I can pick me up a bun coverer. It would probably be a bit disrespectful to say the least but think about it...some days it would be wonderful to just twirl your hair into a bun and slap a head covering on it. Never a bad hair day in that community. I guess they make up for it in their long hot pioneer dresses though. A double edge sword, there.

I've been googling short curly haircuts and I have to confess the pickings are slim. Perhaps it's because as one online curly haired sister put it The shorter the haircut the more poodle-like the curls become. It's probably true, but still you can't blame me for wanting variation. I've put a few pictures below and would love your honest opinion. Please cast your vote. Without further ado...

#1 - The Sideshow Bob. It's wild and crazy, but mostly crazy. To be quite honest I probably have the puff in my hair to pull off this style. Remind me to let my hair air dry with no product in it and take a picture. I can assure you any and all envy you may have once felt will vanish. I let it air dry once and asked Brig if he still would have pursued me with my hair this way. He was pretty quiet. He changed the subject. Point taken.

#2 - Guy Curly. I'm not sure what this guy's name is but he looks like a Guy to me. I've always steared clear of fellow curly heads of the opposite sex because the genetic offspring we could potentially create would hate both of us forever. How do you think I'd look with this haircut? Sexy, right?

#3 - The Carrot Top. This haircut would satisfy two of my recent longings. Red hair and a short cut. Wow, that's frightening. I hope your toddler didn't toddle up to the computer just now and spy a glimpse of this freak. Nightmares, I tell you. Is that guy liner I detect?

#4 - The Keri Russell Before She Turned Against Her Natural Roots (Circa 2000). Nothing peeves me more than a celebrity that has naturally curly hair and then gets famous and perpetually straightens it JORDIN SPARKS. I understand the need to see how the other half live every once and a while. And I'm sure it's more and more tempting when you can hire someone to straighten your hair for you but come on! JORDIN SPARKS! Really this is the cut I like. It's cute. I'd love to see how this looks on.

A Two Click Kind of Gal

The mystery was solved Sunday morning by my husband. The mystery as to where our errant hundreds of dollars are going each year. Brig was in the bathroom doing his weekly shave (I love his smooth face but he only treats me to it on the sabbath) and I was about to dress myself after getting out of the shower. I reach for my Secret Clinical deoderant, which I highly recommend. I've never had a serious sweat problem but anything that is going to help me sweat less is a good thing. The price tag is admittedly a bit steep. Here's how things went down from there.

Denise: "I'm out of ideas for sacrement meeting. Nothing keeps Ava's attention anymore." click. click. I apply the deoderant to my armpits.

Brig: "Did you just click that twice?"

Denise: "Yeah, so?"

Brig: "You only need one click. You're two click habit is breaking us. That's expensive, Babe."

Denise: "Oh please. If I used one click it wouldn't be enough. See..." To demonstrate how little actual comes up with one click I try it. A larger amount than expected comes up. I look a bit sheepish and smile my best appeasing smile in Brig's general direction.

Brig: "When will you start listening to me? I told you so." Brig chuckles to himself. (I secretly believe part of the reason he married me was because he found me so amusing.)

Denise: "I grovel at your feet, oh wise one!" Just kidding, I didn't say that last bit. If I ever said that last bit you can bet it would be in an extremely sarcastic manner.

Moral of the story: One click does indeed appear to be enough and sometimes my husband is right. Sometimes.

Ava Funnies

Ava and her cousin Cam

I love the age Ava is at right now. I love the things she says and how bright her personality shines. I've also become aware of how receptive she is. She picks up on things that before now I wouldn't have thought she could. And some of the things she says just crack me up. Here are a few things she's said recently (you're all in suspense, right? I thought so):

If you weren't aware there was an earthquake on Wednesday here close to Tremonton. It wasn't anything major, but Ava and I were in the kitchen getting her a drink when the house kind of jolted. Before I figured out what it was, it was over. It felt like a car had crashed into the house or something but I realized it had to be an earthquake seconds after it was over. I took Ava and stood in a doorway just to be safe and paranoid. I said, "That was an earthquake, Ava." She looked serious and said kind of eerily, "It came from the sky," and pointed to the heavens. I laughed and laughed.

She was running around outside with her Daddy and Nana one evening. I was downstairs watching t.v. when I heard the door open and little foot falls coming down the stairs. She came towards me with a sheepish smile, dripping wet and shivering. She'd been taking advantage of the sprinkler system. I immediately exclaimed, "WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" and she said, "Simmer down, Mom, simmer down!" and made this funny motion with her hands. I burst out laughing and any thought of chastizing her was out the window. She said, "Daddy told me to say that." Which made me laugh harder. Those two know exactly how to manipulate me.

This one breaks my heart. I was trying to sneak out the door to run to the grocery store by myself while I thought she was distracted with her Dad downstairs. Just as I opened the door to leave she comes up the stairs and yells, "Don't leave me mom!" I said that I'd be back in a second and that she'd have fun with Dad. She then says, "I can't go on without you, mom." Right, leaving her after she said something like that was out the window. I mean, where does she hear things like that?

I'm a big sweets fan. I had bought Brig a large chocolate chip cookie. He thanked me and then set the cookie on top of his dresser where all his sweets go to linger for weeks while he gets around to eating them. I do not understand this! If you have something yummy to eat, you eat it. I mean I'm sure I'm more piggish than most, but who lets good candy just sit around? I was craving some choloclate a few days later and I was in a bad way. While Brig was upstairs talking to his brother I snuck downstairs and was opening the cookie wrapper and as I was about to break off a piece Ava says loudly, "Mom what are you doing?" I said, "Just sneaking a piece of cookie but we better ask daddy first." She then gets a very mischievious look in her eyes and whispers, "He will never know." WHAT?!!!! Apparently I am a bad example to her. I was alarmed and told her it wasn't right to sneak someone else's food. Talk about do as I say, not as I do!