Relative Comparisons

My sister and I think her newest baby (Littlefoot) looks like our mom when she was a baby.  So I thought I'd post a few pictures and let you decide.  Above is baby and here's mom . . .

Maybe you can't really tell because she is small in this picture, but I think you'll get the general idea.  So, what's the verdict?

Monster House

When I moved in with my sister and her family I was introduced to a fantastic movie called Monster House.  Monster House is an animated film about 3 kids who attempt to survive increasingly aggressive attacks by a haunted house.  It is an excellent and hilarious movie.  Do yourself a favor and watch it.  You won't regret it.  My nephews have seen the movie so many times that they spontaneously erupt in dialogue from it.  The reason I'm telling you about this movie is because there's a real monster house.  We saw it.

My nephews, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, got bicycles for Christmas.  They are extremely enthusiastic about these bicycles and want to go bike riding everyday after school, so I go bike riding.  Alarms should now be going off in your head given my previous near-death experiences riding bicycles.  The bike I ride was originally intended for a 6 year-old and says Tony Hawk on its miniature chrome crossbars.  When I ride Tony (I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate the rumors surrounding that statement), I have to leave the earrings at home because I swear my knees brush my ears.  Unfortunately, I have not mastered the art of riding a bike standing up.  That would solve the problem of me eating my knees every time we go bike riding and solve the problem of my bum getting sore.  Think 6 year-old bike seat--OUCH!

I mistakenly made the comment on the first day of bike riding that my butt was getting sore.  On our next day's bike ride Clark Kent, who is 4 and always lagging behind because of his training wheels, yells up to me "NAJAH, is your butt sore?!"  I was mortified and ignored the question out of shock.  Undeterred Clark screams all the louder, "NAJAH!! Is your butt sore?!!"  Luckily the street was vacated which gave me the chance to yell something back that I will not disclose at this juncture.  I deliberately navigate away from the topic by suggesting we bike to an abandoned and dilapidated house the kids have nicknamed "the monster house".

The monster house is located at the end of our street as you turn onto a backwood winding road.  I wasn't too scared to approach it because I had my nephews to protect me.  They do attend an after-school program called Little Ninjas, so I was leaving the defense part of our plan to them.  Anyway, we left our bikes at the stop sign and walked the short distance to the monster house.  The boys believe it was the first house ever built, and from the looks of it that could be true.  Bruce Wayne, who is 6 years old, initially wanted to venture into the house but as we neared it and the eerie ambiance of the house enveloped us, we decided against entering.  We looked through glassless and broken windows into deep darkness.  We could barely make out a dilapidated mattress flipped on its side in one of the rooms.  We dared not tread upon the rickety porch in order to turn the rusted doorknob of what must have been the front door.  

The three of us stood there silently getting spooked out by how creepy it all was.  Suddenly we heard a startling noise that became a nonverbal cue for all of us to simultaneously start running for our lives.  You'll be surprised to note that I didn't scream, out loud anyway.  We made it safe and sound back to our bikes without being attacked by poltergeists and we rode home to a conversation that sounded like this:  "Man, that house was scary," and "That house is going to give me bad dreams tonight!"  Then, of course, we rented Monster House.

Soulmates

Someone gifted me a miniature edition of Dating for Dummies.  Don't worry, I wasn't offended.  I'm 32 and still single so I've accepted the fact that I need all the help I can get.  After all, I am a reject of eHarmony and LDSPromise.  So I started reading, thinking maybe I'd add to my oh-so successful repertoire and learn something.  Chapter 1, subtitled Predate Warmups, contained a checklist determining if I was ready to date.  Number one, you've got a stable place to live and a way to make a living.  Hmmmm, I guess I don't need to read anymore, but I continue anyway.

Moving on to the subject "where to meet people".  The classroom--I don't go to school, next?  Parties--I potentially have some work to do here.  Movies, this book specifically mentions the lines we stand in to get a movie ticket.  I would have never thought of this one since couples usually go to the movies together and I go with family.  What's the consensus, should I check the guy out ahead of me in the movie line?  Never underestimate the power of a well timed butt pinch.  Grocery stores, Laundromats, and bus stops are also listed.  These seem a little farfetched to me.  They don't really seem the place for a "What's your sign?"  But I obviously haven't gotten to the pick-up line chapter.  I mean really,  a bus stop?!  I think my chances are better for picking up a homeless guy at a bus stop instead of a date, but then again the book wasn't specific.

My next post will be about the transient I might be dating (we're perfect for each other!) or Chapter Two of Dating for Dummies.  

UTAH

When I saw the snow covered mountains as the plane was landing in Utah, I actually teared up. I missed this place. I always say that winter is my favorite season, but only in Utah. I love the way the snow transforms the world around me. I feel like the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker. I also love the crisp cold air. The coldness is refreshing to me and I almost took a friend up on an invitation to go snowshoeing during my stay here. The most beautiful place I've visited while in Utah is St. George. It's been a while since I've made my way down to Southern Utah and I was shocked by the brilliant colors of the land and mountain plateaus. The red rock never ceased to enthrall me.

My mother lives in a nearby suburb of St. George that's so rustic I was surprised not to see Micheal Landon around every corner during the day and Jason's hockey mask chasing me down during the night. Besides snow, street lights rank pretty high up there as one of my favorite things. Mom kept myself, my brother and sister well fed, as usual, and I got to see both Seven Pounds and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The latter took place in a theater that could have had a Billy Bob, a Bobby Ray, and a Cletis in the audience. I'd wait for the video on both movies, though. Benjamin Button was so long, I started prematurely aging myself.

All in all, it's so nice to be around loved ones in a place I still call home even though I live miles away. There is nothing like being around family and feeling safe and warm on a cold winter day during the holidays. I think that's enough prepostitions for me. Happy Holidays, mine sure are.

Turning Point

I've just read a book about The Black Plague called Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.  I've also recently seen the new Batman, The Dark Knight, on DVD.  On the surface, these two stories seem unlikely to contain similar themes, but they do.  In Year of Wonders one of the main characters is a young priest who decides to quarantine his little English village when the plague strikes to prevent exposure to others.  As he watches 2/3 of the population die he wonders if instead of sparing those outside of the village, he has become the cause of great fatality within it.  In like manner Batman struggles with his role as hero.  He feels that in his effort to defend all that is good in Gotham he has become a mere murderer, like those whom he fights.  The implicit question in both stories is "Where do you draw the line between what is good and what is bad?" and "Do good intentions negate the means by which those intentions are carried out or the tragic outcomes that result?"  

Another common theme between Year of Wonders and The Dark Knight is the turning point at which man can lose faith.  In Batman, Harvey Dent is out to destroy organized crime by acting as an aggressive district attorney, but he becomes badly wounded and his fiancee is killed.   He then turns to a life of crime himself as the villain Two Face.  In Year of Wonders, the young priest and his wife render incomparable service to plague victims by buoying their faith, ministering to them at their deathbeds, comforting living relatives and even providing burial ground.  (*Spoiler Alert*)  At the end of the book the priest loses his wife and he, in turn, loses his faith prompting the question, "Are there tragedies from which we cannot recover?" and "Can you understand someone losing faith in light of their life experience and is it then justified?"

I don't know about you but sometimes when I pick up a book or see a movie, I want my brain to be able to shut down for a second.  These stories I found more disturbing than entertaining because they addressed human issues and questions about humanity.  I think I'll move on to video games.  Pac Man can't be all that deep, could it?

Festivities

If I could, I'd be into garland on the staircases, lights outside and stockings on the fireplace mantel.  I cannot remember ever having a mantel.  Fireplace, yes.  Mantel, no.  Therefore, no stockings on mantels.  Just last year I instituted Christmas stockings, though.  At first, my family used coming from a non-Christian background as an excuse for a lack (and I mean dearth) of Christmas traditions, but having now celebrated sixteen years of Christmas, I think it's high time for some annual traditions.  I'd like some suggestions that can include festive holiday foods, inexpensive ways to give, homemade gifts, places to visit, or stories to share at the holidays.

I do, however, have a limit.  Many families have a tradition of decorating for the holidays to get them in a festive mood.  I want to make a public announcement that I'm not really the lawn ornament type.  That's where I draw the line.  Plastic Santa Clauses and such just don't do it for me.  By way of confession, I think it's sort of creepy when lawn ornaments move by themselves.  I"m sorry but it's like Night of the Living Dead or something.  Other than that, I'm open!

Thanksgiving

This was the best Thanksgiving ever! All six of my siblings, my mom and my grandma came to my sister's house and we had a blast. You know how you sometimes forget how much you like your siblings? Well this was a time to remember. Looking back, I don't even know how we had 10 adults, 2 kids and a baby in a three bedroom house. It was like the miracle of the bread and the fish, we somehow had enough room for everyone. It helped that the entrances and exits were staggered. People were coming and going even on Thanksgiving Day itself. Some of us made trips to the airport so often we could drive the route blindfolded.

I have never played more games in my life. It was games galore. We played UNO at the insistance of my two nephews, but I am willing to admit there were a couple of uno games played in their absence. We played my grandma's favorite, SCRABBLE. We played SPADES, SPEED and a game that I love but no one else seems to: APPLES to APPLES. Go get it if you don't have it. It's loads of fun. It was also the source of family feuds so my only advice to you is identical to that given to Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, "Choose wisely."

The funniest game by far was ghetto SCATTEGORIES. There is a real game that you can buy but we decided to each grab a sheet of paper and create the categories ourselves. We played girls against boys and much to my chagrin, the boys won by the skin of their teeth! They were not gracious either, there was hooping, hollering, jumping up and down, backbends (I kid you not) and my personal favorite, donkey kicks. Donkey kicks are performed by getting on your hands and feet then jumping both back legs into the air simultaneously. These were executed by a six foot thirty-year old. Instead of being upset, us girls were so entertained by their various victory antics that we were laughing until we could not breathe.

All in all, good times. Definately a holiday I look forward to more and more.