Letter to a Friend

My friend,


You want to have a pity party but you keep holding it back. But you are only treating the simptoms. The underlining problem is still there. You give so much of yourself, and no one gives back it seems. Hey girl, that's totaly laget.! We have all had cause to ask "when is it MY turn?"


But you have the solution in a pefectly beautiful circle that takes us back to the start of it all. You give give give. You want to give. 


You like it.


When you start to feel you would like to be on the reciving end, give. Give to yourself something nice, do service for you, take time out of your busy life for you. Even if it's just a friendly hello when you pass yourself in the hall, we forget how much good that can do... Yep, that's the making of sci-fi right there. "Hi me, how are you today?" "Well, life kind of sucks, and I'm the only one that seems to care!"

Anyway, yes, sometimes life is self serve. But there is no reason why we can't take care of some of our own needs. Want a girls' night out, but no ones invted you? Invite them. If they can't go, you still go and enjoy yourself. Your husband doesn't get you flowers? You go buy them for you.


You get the point.


Life is too short and we are too tired to waste time wishing. Go and make things happen. 


Viv

Does That Make Me Codependent?

When it comes to mood/social/emotional/mental disorders, I'm something of a hypochondriac. I'm just your average O.C.D.A.D.D.A.C.D.C.Scitso.Over-anxer.Nympho.Addictive-Personality like everyone else these days.

But codependent? That would be like finding out I'm a puppy kicker.

And yet I want to give someone some advice and since it's late and my brain has turned off for the night, I cannot for the life me figure out why. Why do I want to give this person advice.

They need it?
They asked for it?
I want a thank you?
I want someone's life to change for the better because of something I said?
I want to repair a friendship by changing the person so I can be friends with them again?

Heaven help me, I don't even want to touch this one with a *ten foot pole cat. Move on, Viv, move on. Let it go....

But I'm not a teenager anymore. Isn't it childish to be so petty about who I will or won't be friends with? Haven't I put childish things behind me? Isn't it me who's always telling myself I don't have time for nonsense from anyone, especially me?

Oh well, time for bed.

*Now THERE'S a scary thought!

Party Time!

(c)

More Invasions at:

twininvaders.blogspot.com

Oh, One

The big 0 1 is tomorrow. My twin's b-day. Simply put, it was like 2 years wrapped into one. Or maybe 2 years squared. They are such sweet little guys. And I've become closer to Jeff. Tomorrow is the dawn of not only a new day, but a new year. One that will start with a kitchen full of messy dishes, way too much laundry piled up and a living room floor that may or may not still exists. I asked Jeff to tell me I'm doing a good job. (I needed a boost and I don't have time to wait for him to figure out what to say. Just tell me what I need to hear!) He said I am doing a good job. I was still bummed though and told him to look around and say that. He was very profound. He said "You are doing a good job. The house isn't on fire, there's no poop on the walls and the babies are still alive."

So everyone, Happy New Year! Here's to having a fire free house, and may this next year find you without poop on the walls!

Now let's muddle through old angs zine or what ever it's called so I can call it a night.

The Trip To the Zoo That Never Happened

I love the zoo. Yeppers, I sure love the zoo. I can go anytime I want because I got a membership and I can drag a friend with me so I don't have to wonder around the zoo alone. I don't even mind (very much anyway) that a double stroller with twins in it becomes an attraction at the zoo for everyone else. Yes, I hear you as I pass by "Look, twins!" And no I'm not stopping so you can admire them because this stroller is getting heavy and I'm pushing up a slight incline.

Anyway I'd go a lot more if I had a car during the day. But today was to be the day I went with my friend Heather (she's the one that came up with the nail brush to remove stains! Yea Heather!). But alas, she had to cancel due to lack of gas funds. Understandable. So we're going tomorrow instead. Yea Zoo!

Today was quite the adventure though. It started off craptastic with babies beating me up. When we finally got out of bed and had breakfast I was in such a bad mood! Bob has thrush, I was so Tired! The kind where you sit down and cry. So I called my friend Sarah and she said she'd be right over, which is awesome of her 'cause it's an hour drive! 

Then I found out my MIL was going to be home after all, and I really wasn't facing a day alone. Since we have a standing agreement that she'll come to the zoo with me I asked if she'd like to today because some of her plans fell through. She said that there wouldn't be time. It'd be 12:30 by the time we got there and she'd have to leave by 3:00. It wouldn't be worth it.

Uh.... that's 2 1/2 hours at the zoo. With twins. Strapped into a stroller. Twins that aren't even a year old yet and the most exciting thing at the zoo so far as they're concerned is the wooden poles that make up the fences around the real fences that hold in the animals. 

Oh well, didn't really want to go to the zoo anyway, I was in a crappy mood and Sarah was on her way to keep me sane.

Then Jeff calls and tells me his plans fell through and he was going to come strait home after work so I could have the car to go to the zoo! Yea!! 

But when Sarah got here she suggested I come back with her and the idea came up that she could drop me off at the zoo and Jeff could pick me up on his way home. I couldn't reach Jeff to see what he thought, said "What the hell" and off we went, babies, stroller and all. 

We had a blast! It was so random and fun. We stopped at Arby's and got this amazing phily cheese stake *drool* sandwich and ended up with free curly fries! Yum! Anyway, I finally got ahold of Jeff who tells me he's getting off work early, can't talk right then, but wasn't too thrilled with the idea of me coming down there. Since the zoo was out now because Jeff won't come with me (boo!) he asked what I was going to do once I got down there. I said he could pick me up and take me home. 

You would have thought I was asking him to date his sister.* "What? Come all the way down just to come home?" 

So we get there and there's a mix up about where to pick me up, but that gets sorted out and Jeff's none too happy with me because I waisted something, and he had to make a detour to pick me up. Whatever, Sarah and I had a blast! So many things had come together to help cheer me up. I really felt that someone up there was looking out for me, you know. 

But here's the thing I keep thinking. Why does everything I do have to be productive, efficient and worth it? Where does it say I can't have a waisted effort, a plan not working out or a random trip to the valley just to turn around and come back? No one used more gas than they would have anyway and I got out of the house. Maybe I'm feeling like I can't live up to some expectation that may or may not be there. 

I mean, let's face it here folks, there is no way I'm spending all day at the zoo. With twins. It stops being fun real quick. So if it's not worth it to someone, fine. It's not about what it's worth, it's about ME. No really. It's about getting ME out of the house, out with MY friends, seeing the animals I want to see. Walking so I can lose weight, and getting out of the house so I don't have to look at the mess that I'm not cleaning up. 

To sum up: I'm going to the zoo- yes, again! and no, we won't be there long.

*yep, a trip waisted is THAT obscene. 

Toes

Baby toes have to be the cutest things in exsistance. Well, now mine don't look so shabby either. That's right, I finally found 5 minutes to paint my toe nails!

Crap Happy

There are a handful of phrases that will make me giggle hysterically. One of them is "cherry chocolate shit" and another is from MST3K but I can't remember it right now. Anyway, the point is, shit is funny. Sometimes. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it stinks to high heaven, and when you open the diaper your eyes water and flowers wilt and the baby flips over and crawls away before you can fully remove the diaper and then not only does it stink, but it's everywhere. Then it's not very funny.

Fortunately, I've never had that happen. But last night in my dreams I was single handedly responsible for a terrible catering disaster. So I bit the smiles off of gold fish and that made me feel better.

A few stunning photos for y'all!

Miles and Momma

Happy Babies!

I love you too, Bob!

"Dude, Miles, I think he's dead."

"Good! Let's eat!"

Daddy and Miles

My Coming Out Anouncement

For some of you this won't come as a surprise. To those that knew me when I was a teenager, this may come totally out of left field. I hope I won't lose too many friends, but I have to be true to who I am. It's time I came out of the closet.

Everyone, I am a Trekkie. I have abandoned the ways of the Fox--I mean Force, and embraced Paramount--I mean Star Trek. I'm trading in my lightsaber for a phazer set to kick ass. (Did I spell phazer right?) And I'm changing the twins' names to Kirk and Spock. Oh, and I'm changing my own name to Princess Sha-nai-nai, but that has nothing to do with Star Trek, I've just tipped over the edge.

I heard once that there were Trekkies and Trekkers and the difference was even though they'd both wear Spock ears, the Trekkies will believe they are Spock, where the Trekkers know thy never could be Spock. I have a lose enough grip on reality that I think it's safe to say I'm a Trekkie. 

Life....

I have a question for everyone. (I love doing stuff like this!) And I want some honest answers! 

What is life really about? 

Go on, leave a comment. You don't have to sign up or anything. I really want to know what you all have to say on this one.

What is life really about?

=^.,.^=

It is so me!

My father in law saw my blog the other day and said the picture of me on the side isn't me. Of course it took me a while to figure out what he was talking about, but then I realized he must be blind or something. Have I really changed that much?

The thing is, that wasn't that long ago. That was the summer before I got married, when Jeff and I went down to Page so he could meet my parents and we could tell them we were getting married. Sure, I was skinnier but still...

Some thoughts...

I found this quote today on Kellymom.com and it really touched me. So much on that sight is just wording thoughts that I haven't taken the chance to say out loud, or when I did, it wasn't understood. Anyway, here's the quote:

"In some cultures it is considered a child's birthright to be nursed until the age of two. It is believed all your sins are forgiven when you nurse your baby, and an angel stands behind you and pats you on the back when you are done. I like to think of an angel standing behind me every time I nurse. It is a very comforting thought when things aren't going well. If you can't get support from your family, at least the angels are behind you."
-- Diane

I don't take all of this as doctrine, or offer it as such, but there are things I've heard, impressions I've had and verses of scripture I've found that support my belief that being a mother is a very sacred thing. And the acts of nurturing children are a big part of that. I understand that not every woman chooses to breast feed. I'm not saying that if you don't you role is less sacred than if you do. But I do consider nursing my babies a sacred selfless act. That in some small way I'm learning what it means for Christ to succor us, to care for our every need, to always be there for us when ever we need him, even if what seems huge to us He knows is but a small thing that will pass quickly. Someone once told me that they knew the love of God because they had a mother. 

Anyway, at the risk of sounding sappy, (why stop now, huh?) as the day approaches that we take a moment to honor Mothers I'd just like to say that there are angels behind each mother, supporting her when no one else will, guiding her instincts and helping her care for her little ones. We need not doubt, we need not fear. 

Happy Mother's Day

Eeek!

We have one of those bar height tables and I'm sitting here on one of the stools for it and there's babies swarming around the floor, circling like sharks. Little piranhas ready to attack. Be afraid. Be very afraid.  

Back Then

Ok, so there's a little blast into the past. This was almost 8 months ago, can you believe it? 
There's Bob, Me and Miles, then Miles, Jeff and Bob, and then Bob and Miles.

awwww! Babies!

East Coast/ West Coast

If you're in NY and you're a jerk, people will tell you "You're being a jerk."

If you're in CA and you're being a jerk, people will still be nice to you, but they'll talk behind your back.

People, just say what you're thinking! Life is easier that way!

Anyway, here's the pics of the day!

Bob in his Bum Genus Diaper.

Jeff Repelling

Me playing with the camera 

while Jeff gets ready to repel.

The kitty loves grandpa

and so does Miles!

Flying Into Day 8!

Ok, so I'm not doing this perfectly, but I think FlyLady would beat me over the head with her duster and timer if I tried. Yesterday I was supposed to lay out my cloths for today. I laid them in the hamper and put them in the washer this morning. It's funny, 'cause that's already a habit I have, to pick out my outfit for the next day. 

As for today, I was supposed to find a 3 ring bider and start my control journal. Well, I'm under babies so I decided my control journal may as well be iCal, then I can load it all to my iPod. After all iCal is taking up space on my 'puter and if I don't use it for something it's just clutter. So I did that. I put in my morning routine and evening routine. 

I'm Flying!

Enjoy the Pics of the Day!

I love this pic! It looks like Bob is taking the picture!

This is me trying unsuccessfully to take a pic of Jeff and myself.

We were on our way to what turned out to be not repelling.

This is right by the cliff that wasn't good enough to repel down.

Would you believe it? That poem was just floating there!

PS- Ok, I know that poem says "ski" where it should say "sky". That's going to be a painful thing to fix. I'll do it later.

Miles' hands

Just for all you who haven't seen them yet, here's Miles' extra fingers! Yep, there's even little fingernails on them. No, they don't work and won't help him play the piano, and mostly he just tucks them into his fist. Enjoy!

Picture of the Day

Just one today, but for the 2nd time in our little family history it's got all four of us!

Me, Miles, Bob, Jeff

Stress

Jeff and I were talking about stress last night. I remembered this morning a saying my mom use to have. 

"Stress is when your mouth says yes and your heart says no."

So really, stress doesn't come from outside sources, it comes from within. 

Pictures of the Day!

This is Jeff out in the mission field.

You can't get sweeter than this!

Sleeping Miles.

Me playing with the camera. 

I can finally take decent self photos thanks to wiki-how

I love that site.

NOM!

A few changes...

It's making me sad that some of these pictures of the day go away. So I'm going to post them as posts from now on. That way they can change, but you can see past ones too. I know, I'm cool like that.

I had a big boost today. I told the twin forum about my snapping clothes together and one lady said I was a genuis and a goddess. So I'm wearing a crown today.

Day 4 (for, four, fore...)

My kitchen is clean. 

I'm not even kidding. Wanna see? 

It's not perfect, but it's clean :)

What you can't see in the picture is that there are various pans and bowls on the floor that the babies were playing with. They thought that was great fun! My in-laws upstairs must have thought I kept dropping stuff what with all the fun new noises Bob and Miles discovered! ;) 

Flylady talks about how the shiny sink is her way of giving an encouraging hug. But you know something? Now that my kitchen is warm and inviting the whole room is one big hug. And I do love hugs. And food.  Food is nice....

I'm hungry. 

Day 3

Keep on keepin' on. That's the fly lady task for today. I tried to sign up for the emails 'cause I like emails.... but yahoo's server is taking a break. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. I'm dressed and I did my hair. No kidding! I really did my hair! It's cute too. Oh, and I've lost some weight. I'm kind of between sizes so one pair of pants I can take off without unzipping them, and the others are just bit too tight. I'm wearing the tight ones. Why? Because they'll keep me from sitting too much. 

The babies are eating breakfast and taking a nap. Can I just say, I love breast feeding! I've often wondered about Eve, how she survived with her first kid with only Adam there to help out. I've often wondered how much was trial and error, blind leading the blind. However, over the years I've learned a few things about God. He never leaves us alone. (Even when we shut Him out, He still works to get back to us.) So He gave women tools to help them raise babies. 

The first is Mother's Intuition. We've all heard of it, but what is it? It's the spirit of course! How better to help all mothers everywhere than to give them the spirit to guide them in one of the most important tasks we'll have in this life. There was a bunch of advice being handed out at the hospital when the twins were born. Some of that advice just felt wrong to me. It went against my instincts. Looking back, none of those things worked for us, and only when I stopped doing them and went with my gut did things start to go relatively smooth. So I've learned to trust my own voice, to listen to those promptings, the gut feelings and the instincts. And I've found that so far I'm the kind of mom I've always wanted to be. Joy!

The second tool is breast feeding. I'm not kidding! What a god send! Feeding, comforting, bonding, relaxing, all in a ready made source always with you! Can't figure out why the baby is crying? Pop him on the breast. Can't get him to sleep? Plug him in! Can't calm him down? Have a boob! Sheesh! Not to mention the health benefits for baby and mom! Ever need a testament that God knows what he's doing, look at our own bodies. 

Well, breakfast nap is over, and I can't sit here all day. I need to put on my shoes and shine my sink! Have a moment of Cuteness! Actually, have two!

Miles

Bob

PS- We had a Milestone and a Bobstone yesterday! Miles did a hands and knees crawl, and Bob stood all by his self! Yea!!

=^.,.^=

Day 2

Ok, so I was supposed to get up and get dressed, and put on my shoes. In typical S.H.E. fashion, I didn't because I couldn't take a shower this morning. I know, lame excuse, but I had my mind set on a shower and I couldn't get past that. Until about an hour ago when I took off my frumpy shirt, put on a better one and some socks and shoes. Then I cleaned off the pool table. I want to beat my husband at pool tonight and I can't with a pool table that's acting like a hot spot, now can I? 

Anyway, better nate than lever-- wait that's wrong. Better late than never! And the best part is, all that moving around has woken me up. I've been zombie Viv all day! 

THAT'S IT! A romance about a high school girl in love with a guy that turns out to be a Zombie and just wants to eat her brains-- oh wait, that's been done with Vampires, hasn't it? 

Anyway, here's your moment of Cuteness:

Miles loves that bucket

and Hermione the Cat

Flying and Babies

I'm leaning to fly with the help of flylady.com. Today is day one of the baby steps, and I've shined my sink. That's right, pat me on the back. There's not a clean dish in the place, but the sink is shining and ready for work! That's what I've done today to make my home a better place.

Don't you just love the Miles and Bob of the day today. Having these two little goofballs was the best thing I've ever done. (Certainly better than the last two movies I watched with Jeff, twilight and The Day the Earth Stood Still. ;)  Seriously though...)  Moments like this are great, where I'm just taking the day as it comes, letting the babies nap on my lap, and enjoying having them in my life. This is me doing my part to make the world a better place. 

Bob & Miles

Trapped....again.

We just watched The Day the Earth Stood Still. As a lover of classic Sci-fi I was really looking forward to seeing it. It put Jeff asleep and the twins are asleep too although probably more because it's their nap time than the movie. (That's why I'm trapped, the babies nap on mommy's lap.) Anyway, it was kind of a lame movie, but it really made me think, you know? 

I know, as a general rule I resent movies with a message designed to "make people think", but I'm not thinking about what the movie makers wanted me to think about, so I'll allow it.

***WARNING***

In order for me to make my point, the following blog contains SPOILERS for both versions of the film, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Read on at your own risk. Thank you.

******

My brother once pointed out that one of the tricky things about sci-fi is that as soon as it comes out, it's dated. This is due in large part to the technology depicted. In the '50's the future had a definite look to it that definitely did not come about. And my dad told me about a short story where space travel was calculated on slide rules. 

But it's not just dated by tech stuff. Themes seem to fit the times as well. A wonderful example of the are the various versions of The Time Machine. In the middle of the story our time traveler stops in our future (he's from early 1900's) and shows some bleak thing we're doing to ourselves, then goes on with the story. In the '50's it showed a world wasting away from nuclear war. In the latest version it showed us destroying the moon trying to build a moon base on it. They tailored each version to fit the time it was made in. 

It seems there was a bunch of sci-fi in the 60's, 70's and 80's about government control of the masses with secrets, lies and other sinister stuff. Soilen Green, Parts: The Clonis Horror, Brave New World, and Logan's Run all come to mind. 

The message in the original film, The Day the Earth Stood Still was, humans need to stop their wars and fighting, or the enforcers that keep the cosmos safe will have to wipe you out. Very '50's era message, just coming out of some wars and having a lot of tension between nations. 

This new version is very now as far as its message goes. If you kill the earth you won't survive, but if the humans die, the earth will survive and be better off. So we need to change. We need to stop our watches and drilling for oil and become more natural. (That's the modern term for Holy because in stories like this God has no merit or place. Which is a shame. I seem to remember in the older version there was a place. Something about God being the only one that can overcome death. I could be wrong on that though.)

So here's what I'm wondering: were people back then just as annoyed by the anti war message as I am by the anti-human message now?

It really makes you think.

Vampires

I watched Twilight last night (still trying to figure out why it's called Twilight.) and I have to say, I'm not impressed. There was a shocking lack of explosion, making for an unsophisticated movie. I have to say the music matched the lack of anything happening very well though. And what's the deal with having a leading young lady that has less life in her acting than the guy playing the undead? The movie took its sweet time to deliver dialog, then when it came it was all in monotone dead pan. I can only remember one scene where one of main characters even cracked a smile, and that was the undead guy! Not the girl who finally hooked the guy, it was the vampire! I'm mean really people! Are you kidding me? I anxied just about as much as the average 17 year old from AZ, but even I cracked a smile when I saw my boyfriend! You know that scene in Waterwold where the main guy's boat is burned and everything he owns in the world is gone and he finds it and says "my boat". Imagine a whole movie like that. That was Twilight. I said to a friend of mine the other day I'd like to wait for a Rifftrax to come out for it before I watch it. She told me there was no need, it made fun of itself. She described it as one long awkward moment. 

People have been bugging me to read these books for years now and I just have to say, I'm just not interested. Sure, I'll become obsessed with just about anything that comes along, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Michael Fredo and Hello Kitty. Except in the case of Hello Kitty, these obsessions die. For Star Wars it was when Revenge of the Sith came out. For Harry Potter it was after I read book seven. It was like, ok, story's over, move on.  After so many years being obsessed with stuff, frankly, I'm tired. I really can't work up the energy to get all into a new obsession. And don't sit there thinking "but you don't have to become obsessed with it, just read it!" Yeah, and how many people do you know that didn't become obsessed and start swooning over Eddy the Vampire? Not many, huh? I'm not taking my chances. Besides, I'm still just a little bitter that Myers was able to write a book and get published in six months. I'm still trying to finish a book I started over five years ago! 

I have learned a valuable lesson though: never underestimate the buying power of hormonal teenage girls.

Twinnovations

I love this word. It's the little things I hear or come up with to make life easier. (That's Twin Innovations, not twInnoations, which I think is some company owned by someone.) Anyway, today's highlighted twinnovation is prozak-- wait, no, snaps.

Snaps on baby clothes use to drive me nuts! Mainly 'cause no matter the age or stage of the baby, when you're trying to snap up the clothes, the baby some how gets away from you before you're done. But I discovered something about snaps that is so wonderful I just might never say anything bad about them ever again. 

I found that dressing my twins alike is a big life/time/sanity saver. But digging through a draw trying to find the matching onezy wasn't so time/sanity saving. So I've started sapping the matching outfits together. When Grandma Cilla saw what I was doing she pointed out I can wash them that way too. Tears of joy come to my eye when I think about snaps. Most baby clothes have them. So two onezies go into the wash together, come out together, go in the drawer together, come out together. Many mini tasks that use to be doubled 'cause I have twins have now morphed into something singular. (Let's all take a moment to admire my wording.)

Anyway, that is my Twinnovation for today. 

I just can't STAND it!!

I have a question for everyone:

What's you're pet peeve? That thing you can't stand! The thing that when it happens there's fingernails going down the blackboard of your soul and your hair stands on end and you want to scream and throw a mattress across the room. (Wow, what great imagery. I should be a writer. ;) ) 

Answer in the comments just below this blog. You don't have to register to comment. (Although, if you want to keep up with my blog by all means sign up as a follower! I'm leaving facebook so if you want to keep in touch with me and see pics and what not, this is the place to do it!)

I'll post one of my pet peeves here to get the ball rolling. 

I'd have to say, philosophically speaking, I'm my biggest pet peeve. When I prevent myself from doing something I have every right to do because I want to avoid the reaction of other people. Instead of taking an example from my own life I'll take one from my dad's. He won't eat in front of people at work because he hates to have people question what he's eating. (Although, seeing as he's been clogging his arteries, maybe they were just trying to save his life. J/K dad!) I talked this over with my husband the other day, this not wanting to be questioned pet peeve. He told me that people just want a reason. Once they have one they're satisfied and back off. 

But you see, I borrow a jack, as my mom says. I think "but what if I give them a reason and they don't like my reason. Then they tell me I should be doing this or that different and I have to back up my reason, even though it's none of their business and it's no skin off their back if I'm eating italian sausages with raman noodles and hot sauce and a side of boiled pickled eggs. Why can't they just accept it and move on?!" When really, people are more laid back that I tend to give them credit for. It's the "what if--" that will kill ya, you know. You can't live on what if's. You just have to live your life. If you're always afraid of a vague what if you won't live, you'll be hiding. Which is what I keep having to tell myself and it's what I keep not listening to and so I become my own pet peeve.

Oh, and I can't stand Celine Dion. Look, hun, if it hurts that bad to sing, do yourself (and us) a favor and stop doing it. 

What's your pet peeve?

Baby Signs!

So when you walk into someone's house and there's a play pen and you trip over a rubber ducky, that's a sure sign there's a baby in the house!

Also if you open and close your fist while you hand is by the side of your face, you've just made the sign for milk. (think of the milking a cow action)

That's what I'm talking about today, milking cows-- i mean baby signing. I'm finally getting serious about it. Oh, I'll sign their names once in a while (After all, we pick the name Bob in part because it's so fun to sign!!) and an I love you sign here and there. I can sign the words to Red, Red, Robin. But it's time to get with it so they can sign back. 

I found this website: http://www.signingbaby.com/main/

as well as this fantastic ASL dictionary: http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

The first sight has a great article on getting started, and guess what age they recommend starting? 6 months!! I'm so excited!! I'm sure you can start sooner or later, but hey! I'm right on with something! Yea for me!

Ok, so they said to start with 3 to 12 signs in the categories of Needs and Fun. Every time you say the word, do the sign. Every time. EVERY TIME. Sign and say! (Did I emphasize that enough for ya? ;) )

Here's my lists:

Needs:

Milk

Sleep

Diaper

Fun!:

More/ Finished

Laptop

Dog

I'm also throwing in family names and words I already use all the time with them:

(Twin) Brother

Mommy/Daddy

Grandma Joyce/ Grandpa Doug

Grandma Karen/ Grandpa Sam

Uncle/ Aunt

This is going to be so much fun!! Looking at the ASl dictionary, I got really excited. I forgot how much fun I have with ASL. So if you see me around, don't be surprised if I'm talking my hands off!

=^.,.^= 

Ghost of the Navigator

Ever see a movie title, thought it was about something, then when you watched it, it was about something completely different? 

So if I tell you I want to write a short story called "Ghost of the Navigator" what would you expect it to be about? What images come to mind? Would you expect a sci-fi thriller? Literary fiction? Comedy? Romance? Something else? 

I'm putting up a poll, so you tell me! What is this story about? 

Hmmm...?

I've blogged about this before, and I'll probably get my knickers in a bunch someday and blog about it again. Despite that, I'm going to blog about fwd's now. 

In their very nature they are thoughtless. But the one I just received was even more so IMHO. The thing is, this is one of those rare cases where the story is true, to a point. There was a letter to the editor complaining about a fly-by of F-16's one morning. There followed two responses on the matter explaining that the fly-by was part of a memorial service. What the fwd fails to do, is also tell the end of the story. The apology that followed. I'd cut and paste it, but to avoid any copyright that may be in place I'll post the link to the site and hope my readers will go read it.  http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/wakeup.asp 

I don't take issue with the story, it's a good story, and I think Tom McRae showed a lot of class in apologizing. Personally, I think he ought to be forgiven and not have this story circulate as it does for everyone to ridicule him, even if his name doesn't appear on the email.  It's a pretty crumby thing to rub someone's nose in something after they offered a heart felt apology. 

It's also pretty crumby to miss quote someone, or, as in this case, put words in someone's mouth. The tag line "Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you....Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom." was no where in the original letters to the editor. No one said it. Well, I suppose some well meaning person thought it sounded good and would raise emotion in the readers, so they slipped it in, but what right had they to do so? 

The real thing that bothered me was that the fwd I received also had tagged on to the end some pictures and it said the way phones should be answered in the USA is press one for english, or hung up until you learn to speak english. I know it's a sentiment shared by many people in the US. But it was followed by a picture of Christ. Now you tell me, would that be Christ's attitude? Sorry, I won't talk to you, because you don't speak english in America. (I wonder if the Brits find it truly ironic that we harp on people to speak a language that was theirs before it was ours.) I don't think we should jump to the conclusion that just because we may be offended by someone's presence in our country that God would be also. 

As a writer I know that there are tricks writers use to invoke the response they want from their readers. One of them is the old propaganda ploy of God and Country. It does cause a big stir in people. But a writer who is using this, also has a reason to do so. So what was the reason behind this particular quote in this particular fwd?

To keep is going. Keep fwding it. "Wow, everyone should see this!" That's what they want. Did you ever stop and think what these fwd's are really for? They're actually quite malicious. They are a form of virus. Not the kind that infests your computer, but the kind that clog up servers. As they get passed along they get bigger and bigger and take up more and more space. Some started just to see how long they would circulate. Now I'm not saying some malicious person start THIS email, but any that followed in the same pattern achieves the same malicious goal.

Also there has been some speculation that spamers will harvest the lists of email addresses from fwds. This would mean if you get a fwd from someone, your email addy is on it, you're at risk for spam. I haven't been able to confirm this, but I will soon and let you know what I find out. Still the idea that my email address is floating out there makes me uneasy. I really am trying to avoid a past that was pretty scary for me. 

So here's a few tips when fwding. 

1) Delete all lists of previous receivers. This will make the message smaller.

2) Instead of putting the email address of those you want to fwd the message to in the "To:" field, put them in the BCC field. This is blind carbon copy, which means I'll know you sent it to other people when I receive it, but I won't know who. This respects the privacy of your friends. 

=^.,.^=

Pooped

I mean that in the "boy am I pooped!" since and not the "boy you should have seen the size of that thing I just pooped!" The day seem to start later than it should, and even though there is next to no traffic in Page, when I went out with my dad to run some errands, I managed to get stuck in traffic. So it was about 5 pm when we finally got back, having only complete a fistful of our tasks. Now I am, once again, stuck under babies and my cell phone is dead. Who knew all this technology around us that was designed to give us more time (to do heaven only knows what!) would suck away half our day. 

It's like that book "Momo" by Michael Ende (same man that wrote The Neverending Story). It's not like all this time we save can be stored in some time bank somewhere and withdrawn later. He compares each hour to a flower that is different than any other hour and will only exists once, therefore must be cherished. Good stuff. "More speed, less haste." Splendid work!

I mean, save time for what? Seems like people use had time to darn socks. I never have time to find socks, let alone darn them! I guess if I don't know what I'm going to use the extra time for, I may as well spend it now on visiting with a friend, or doing one of those "I always wanted to do that!" things. 

Since I'm stuck, I'm going to write a short story that's been rattling in my skull.

Luv ya!

=^.,.^=

A sad day for us all...

I know it's going to be hard, but on this day we must all pull together for support. As we eat the last of the pies for breakfast, and put away our calculators, and set aside the debates of wether or not the thousandths place digit is 1 or 5 so you can get the banner just right for when the guests arrive, we let another Pi day come to a close. 

It's the hardest time of the year, after all the waiting and preparation and anticipation, then *bam! It's the next day and it's all over and it feels as though we have nothing to show for it but some left over pie. And all you have to look forward to is dieting. 

I can't help but ask, Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we let all the commercialism crowd in on Pi day? Have we forgotten the true meaning of March 14th? A celebration of Pi, the coolest constant of them all? Next year as we decided wither or not to bake the pie from scratch or just go to the bakery 'cause who has time to bake pies, let us take a moment and reflect on 3.14159265358979323846….

Asimov

Ever since I can remember there have been two household names in my parents house that it seemed three days didn't go by without a mention. One was Robert Heinlein, the other Isaac Asimov. This is because my dad is a hard core sci-fi nut. My brothers and I became sci-fi nuts too, but I have this little rebellious spark in me. Even though I love sci-fi I refused for years to touch anything by Heinlein or Asimov. My dad just got me an anthology called Nightfall and Other Short Stories. All of them by Asimov. 

As I said before, I've mellowed out since I had the twins. 

Anyway, before each story Asamov wrote and intro telling about how each story came about. In the intro to "It's Such a Beautiful Day..." he sounded just like my dad! But that's not the point of this blog, that's just an intresting tid bit I thought I'd throw in there. 

It's the intro to "Hostess" that caught my eye, and as Weird Al said "You all know how painful that can be!"

In it he talks about how his wife came up with a little scheme to be more involved in her husband's writing. He'd dictate the stories and she'd type them up. And he was a bit surprised to find it actually worked! So my writer brain kicked into high gear and I thought "That is a great idea!!" Ok, so I don't know anyway who can type for me, but I could type for me and I can dictate into a little tape player or something. Maybe it would speed things up for me.

Or and an extra step that holds everything up.

Anyway, I figured out why I'm not finished with my story yet. It's all down to where I do my best writing. Unfortunately it's the worst place for it. Yep, the shower. The paper gets all soggy and the ink runs and then all that soggy paper clogs up the drain as bits of it fall off. The bath isn't any better 'cause it's not a shower, and as we all know our talents spike while we're in the shower. That's why we sing and do our best thinking in there. 

I even tried writing on the wall, but then I put off taking my computer into the bathroom to type it up and Jeff rinsed it off next time he took a shower. A whole chapter down the drain! Hmmm....

Maybe Asimov did so great as a writer because he used a typewriter. You can't get distracted by facebook or LOLcats, and you can see the stack of paper growing and growing as you write. A typo sucks to fix, but maybe it would be worth it....

Any one got a typewriter they don't want?

=^.,.^=

Cuteness

Miles sticks his tongue out now. Just a little bit, sticks his lips together and you see just the tip of his tongue and he smiles and it's just so darn cute you could just cry.

Bob crawls for trouble when ever he can. When you ask him what he's doing he stops to give you a very good argument as to why he needs to be playing with the computer cords, or why he really doesn't need a diaper and these things are just the shackles of a flawed society that is designed to hold back his potential.

If you think that's impressive you should see their joint dissertation on quantum physics. 

They're such cute smart little guys.

This is them putting their heads together to disprove Schrodinger

Too much?

My mom saw the new title of my blog and said a daily dose might be too much Viv. I don't know what she means, I've had a daily dose of me everyday of my life and I'm only mildly insane. But if you find yourself O.D.ing, just take a laxative and call me in the morning. Or you can just skip the laxative and just call me. I really like human contact. 

Anyway, that's all just a side note, I really wanted to type about what's been on my mind lately. I love being a mom! Babies are so awesome. I've been letting go a lot lately. Maybe I just need more sleep (ha! as I type this at 11:00 pm when I could be sleeping!) or maybe I'm hitting that 6 month point where things get easier, or maybe the postpartum depression is easing up. At any rate, I feel great! 

However...

I couldn't sleep last night, my mind kept racing :P 

Can I tell you a little about Jeff? (yes, I know I'm rambling. I'm allowed to, I have a bad case of twins.) He really is a wonderful man. I think I married him on pure instinct and I keep learning why we're so perfect for each other. We got married on my parent's anniversary, and had our first kids on his parent's anniversary. The sealing room in the St. George Temple where we got married was the same one my great-grandmother, whom I'm named after, was sealed to her husband in. There's so much past around us, and so much ahead of us. I did find someone who makes me want to be better. He may not realize it, and I probably wouldn't ever tell him, but he's changing me. (He doesn't read my blogs. It's just not him.) There's so many good things he wants, and I want them too, but I tend to be lazy. We're both like that I guess! :D My mom was saying the other day that the character Emma in Jane Austin's novel Emma, never wanted to pay the price. She wanted to play the piano as well as Jane, but didn't want to practice, she had a trunk full of unfinished drawings and embroideries and such. So much that she wanted to do, but never wanted to pay the price that went along with them. I get the feeling from a number of people that me being in Page right now and Jeff staying in Salt Lake is some sort of red flag in our marriage. It's not it at all. I'm restless and need a change of pace every once in a while. Well, and I did need to get over the breast infections, which I was finally able to do! Yea! But I thrive on change and new things. I didn't come here to avoid Jeff. That's not to say our marriage doesn't have its fair share of bumps and rocks, but it's a good marriage, we're a good match and we love each other. We are willing to pay the price to keep our marriage going strong. But since he is who he is and I am who I am and our marriage is what it is, we need to find out how to pay that price on our own. I've never doubted him and I've never doubted us.

Well, maybe I should get a little nap before those little blessing wake up.

Vivian 

=^.,.^=

Fun, for a change!

I want to have fun. You know, the kind of gay abandon you see in engagement pictures. I guess having kids has mellowed me out, which is odd 'cause I was already pretty mellow. Like I was mellow enough to let Jeff wear skate shoes at our wedding. Now I'm mellow enough to let him wear his sunglasses in most of the wedding pictures. Maybe even keep his goatee for the wedding too. Maybe. ;) And can you believe it, I'm using my real name online instead of hiding behind my Mione Beast character. (I wasn't using my name so I could hide from the un-dead, but let 'em find me! I won't put up with their nonsense!)

So even though this blog has taken on a new air of less silly, it will be more fun. Or funner. However you like to say it. Oh, and everyone, check out LOL Cats! It's really great today! http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Have a fun today!

Viv

New blog, new pics

Don't you just love the picture I picked to head up my blog? It was a great little spot on Lake Powell a few years ago, that probably isn't there anymore due to the changes in the water level.  Jeff, Ivan, Mandy and myself went there one summer. 

Anyway, here's the new look and feel of my blog. I mean it when I say Jeff/Me/Miles/Bob of the Day. I change the pictures everyday. Well, except on the days I don't. I do have twins after all. 

I love March. It's my fave month I decided. There's just something about the sun shine and the air. I'm glad I get to spend this March in Page, because there is something about it here that's different from anywhere else.  

I deleted some of my blogs, so check to see if your faves are still there. ;) Anyway, come back often, vote on the polls and leave a comment! 

Love from

Viv

Another great pic from that same day on the lake. 

I need sunscreen just looking at it!

Says who?

Remember that great word, "so"? Here's another great response to nonsense:

"Says Who?"

I've been thinking a lot on the things that are driving me nuts about motherhood, the main stress factors, the things that are keeping me from enjoying my babies. They all go away with a good resounding angry* "Says who?" 

For example:

I breast feed my twins.  It's how they get their food, and it's also how I put them to sleep. Someone said to me "They're using you as a pacifier," like that's a bad thing. I thought about it a great deal and came to the conclusion "Who said it's a bad thing?" Is it a bad thing? A lot of people say it, "Don't let him use you as a pacifier!" but no one ever says why that would be so horrible. So instead of sitting around chewing my nails and fretting that I'm being so ill used, I let it go. I still put them to sleep by nursing them and see nothing wrong with it. 

This brings up some other bits of child rearing advice: "They need to learn to put themselves to sleep." Says who? Ask yourself how you put yourself to sleep. Do you read a book? Watch an hour or two of tv? Have a glass of wine? Take a pill? Why do we expect a baby to do what we can't seem to manage? After all, we tell older kids bed time stories to help them sleep. This advice would call that practice into question. If a baby must learn to fall asleep on their own what business does a child, or an adult for that matter, have using any form sleep aid? 

Here's the parenting breakthrough that just might cure my post postpartum depression. It's not so much advice as it is an assumption, a myth, that a lot of advice stems from. A myth that puts a lot of pressure on mothers who have enough on their plate already: 

Sleeping through the night. 

I can hear some of you now saying, "Hold up Miss MioneBeast. My babies slept through the night at X number of months!" To you I say, congrats. That's very peachy for you and I'm sure that was lovely. But let's get real. I'd like to know "who said?" Who said babies should sleep through the night? I was getting so frustrated with my babies, until it hit me, I don't sleep through the night. I haven't for years before I got pregnant. I'd have to pee, or finish the next chapter in that good book I'm reading, or been stressed out about something, or had a bad dream, and I won't even get into all the new nighttime fun that came into my life when I got married (like a snoring husband ;) ). Sure, we'd all love a nice 7, 8 or 9 hours of uninterrupted blessed deep sleep. But when does that ever happen? After you take a sleep aid? So, I had to ask myself once again, "why do I expect my babies to master something at 5 months that I haven't mastered at 27 years?" I don't dread nights now that I know I'm not doing anything wrong and neither are my babies. 

I have a theory on who said, when it comes to baby advice that only stresses us out and makes us feel like bad moms. A man. That's who. Some man who's never been pregnant, never given birth and has no mother's instinct said it. It may have even been the same man in the 1890's that first said "Children should be seen, not heard." To him I say, "Then look at a picture, mister smarty-pants." Clearly he never had to see a set of twin boys through learning to crawl, teething and a growth spurt all at once. And do you know why he thinks it's so easy to dole out his great wonderful advice? Because while his wife was doing all the hard work, he was at work. Then when he got home, he left her to do more hard work while he went to the bar and smoked cigars with his buddies. 

So I say, a nice resounding angry* "No" to all nonsense.

*We don't use anger enough. We repress it when we really should use it, smile politely when we should take a stand and lay down as a door matt for people to wipe their feet on when we should stand up for ourselves. We do not have to tolerate rudeness, or take anyone's nonsense. Christ didn't smile nicely and tolerate the money changers in the temple.