To all the fictional characters I've loved before...

Well, with all this hype about Edward lately, I am feeling a little bad about neglecting my other fictional loves. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Edward. But there are many others who deserve a shout-out as well so I've compiled a short list of characters who have influenced my life/appeared in my dreams. Here are my top 3:

Number 1 would have to be Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. I first read this book in the 5th grade and have since read it probably 10 times or more and every time it just gets better, all 2 million pages of it. No, Clark Gable just doesn't do him justice in the movie and I always liked the book better anyway. Rhett, you will always have my heart. Scarlett, you are a moron. Why can't I be you and make the right decision!!! Heck, Belle Watling doesn't have much to complain about, either. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read the book.

Another hottie that wow, is just hot, is Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, the book and the 5 hour movie. Don't waste your time on the shorter movies. It is well well well worth 5 hours of anyone's time to be in love with him. I have the DVDs if you need to borrow them. My favorite thing about Darcy is that at first I thought, oh, what's so special about him, but by the end, every little twitch of his eyebrow leaves me fanning myself and thinking, oh man, I need water. Colin Firth is a perfect Mr. Darcy. Trust me. This is one of the few movies that I really enjoy more than the book.

While we're on the subject of movies, Captin Von Trapp from The Sound of Music, while not entirely fictional, is also just well, hot, for lack of a better word. When I was young and we would watch the movie over and over I really never even noticed him. I was actually a little grossed out by the dancing-in-the-gazebo scene, and I thought Rolff was cute, which is just embarrassing. But a few years ago I watched the movie again and I was like, oh my good heavens, no wonder Maria is constantly making a fool of herself. He is like the hottest old guy ever. And Maria is such a nerd. He would totally be better off with me. Note to self, though: don't get too excited. I saw him on a talk show recently and he's about 100 years old and he looks horrible (the actor who plays him, I mean, and I'm not even going to tell you his name because then you'll look him up and be like, blah! sick!). I was way disappointed, but I can still watch the movie and pretend he looks like he did in the second World War. And I can pretend I'm Maria, minus the hideous hair-do. I mean really. Besides that, she's such a wuss. I totally would have sent those kids off to boarding school. Except maybe Frederick. He had potential. And sorry about the long white arm in the picture. Ever hear of self-tanner, Maria?

Well, the list could go on and on. I guess I should try to pick some more contemporary loves, but Edward about sums it up in that category. And yes, he is only 17, but really he's like 100. I'm sensing a pattern here, though... do I have a thing for old guys? Hmmm... who did I name my first son after? I guess maybe I do.

Twilight Series Update

Well, in case you are wondering, I am STILL in love with a vampire. Only, I am way more in love with him than before. My husband thinks I'm really weird. I've tried to point out to him all the things he has in common with Edward, like they are both hunters, and, well, I guess that's the only similarity. So I'm trying not to talk to him about the books, but it's really hard. Yes, I just finished book 3, Eclipse, and I'm so happy right now. But I have to admit, I was partially in love with a werewolf through some of the series, too. I guess I can't say any more, because it would be a *spoiler* for all of you out there still working on it, but oh man. I kind of don't want there to be a book 4. Right now it is all just so RIGHT. I want to take a quick poll, though. If you are reading or have read the books, you HAVE to answer:

Do you or don't you love Jacob? And why. I'm just curious because I have heard so many different view points lately!! I think it's so interesting!

Well, THAT was pretty freaking weird...

Don't you just hate it when you are so in the mood for lemon bars and you go to all the trouble to make them and when they are finally done you take them out of the oven and set them on the counter top, and the whole pan just explodes all over your kitchen? I hate that!!! That is exactly what happened to me last night and it scared the living crap out of me. Jason has been out of town for the last several days, so I was a little on edge anyway, but then to just be in my kitchen, minding my own business, and suddenly it sounds like a shotgun is going off 3 feet away and glass is flying everywhere... kind of freaked me out. I am just glad my back was turned and the kids weren't in there, because there were shards of glass all over the whole kitchen. It was a heavy-duty Pyrex pan, too, and the counter top wasn't even cold. It was 74 degrees in the house, so it is all too weird for me to figure out right now. I guess it just wasn't meant to be that I ate a whole pan of lemon bars by myself for our FHE treat. "Sorry kids, I know you hate these, I'll just eat yours too." Such a thoughtful mother.

Where oh where will my little Luke sleep?

Well, I did kind of a dumb thing yesterday. I sold Luke's crib and changing table on KSL. I've been wanting a new crib for the baby, and I want a black one to go with the cute girl decor that I haven't put up yet, just because I think I deserve it even though I don't. I considered painting the old stuff, but there's only so much you can do Wal-Mart plastic. So I thought, I'll just list it and see if it sells, and then I'll put that money toward new stuff. Pretty sneaky. I listed it for $100 yesterday at about noon, and within an hour I had a lady call and say she was on her way with the money. She also wanted the changing table, which I said I would throw in for an extra $50. In the mean time, I had 3 more people call and say they were interested and to call them if it was still available. So the first lady came and got it, handed me the cash, and was on her way. No problem, I thought, I'll just run down to Babies'R Us and get a new cute black crib like I saw on their web site. All my dreams were coming true. Until I got there and realized that they don't actually stock the cribs, you have to order them and it takes 3 weeks, which is why I didn't order one online. And they only had one black crib and it was way more than I wanted to spend. I stopped at Target on my way home just to check, but all their cribs were lame and a half and just as much money. By this time it was about 9:30pm and little Lukie was really in need of a place to sleep and I wasn't about to volunteer my bed. So I decided to give the bunk beds a try, even though I wasn't planning on moving Luke to a bed until a few months after the baby arrives. And guess what? He fell asleep in the bottom bunk and stayed there all night!!! I'm here to tell you that miracles do still happen in this day and age. I'm just so proud of him! I tried to get him to reinact falling asleep in the bed this morning, but he wouldn't have it so this is the closest I could get. (Can you believe that bed-head? He got his hair cut 2 weeks ago and it's already like this huge bouffant again.) Now if I can just get him to take a nap... and I'll worry about the crib later.

I'm in love with a vampire.

Well, if you haven't heard, the latest thing that you need to do to be cool is to read the book Twilight. So if you haven't heard of it you have probably been living in a cave. I heard about it a while ago, but I was a little nervous because it is about vampires and I'm kind of scared of them and I just didn't really know how interesting it could possibly be. But after girls camp and hearing about it from everybody I decided to give it a try. I ordered it online last week, and I ordered the sequel, too, just trying to have a little bit of faith for once in my life. Then, on Barnes & Noble, you get free shipping if you order more than $25, so I had to go ahead and save some money by ordering another book that I have never heard of but sounded kind of interesting and how can you go wrong with young adult fiction. I mean, talk about a bargain shopper. Sometimes I'm so proud of myself. Anyway, my point is that I was NOT disappointed in Twilight. How could I be. Oh my gosh. I heart Edward. I'm halfway through and I am trying to hold myself back from reading every minute of the day and wishing that I could be a vampire. Yes, there is laundry to be folded and cabinets to be painted and stinky bums to change, but they will all just have to wait a few hours more...

As if I need another project...

Dallin and I got started today on refinishing this old cabinet that I rescued from my parents' shed in Burley. It was built by my great-uncle somebody a million years ago and it was in my dad's house when he was growing up, and then it was in our house when I was growing up. It finally made its way out to the shed after many relocations throughout the house, and I claimed it when I found out it was probably on its way to the dump. I feel so cool, like I have a real family heirloom or something. I remember it being in the family room with my dad's stereo on it and dancing around to Abba tapes when I was so little. My dad would always pick us up and sing to us and put our names in the songs. I really thought that Abba knew who I was in those days. I also thought that they lived inside the stereo and sang whenever we wanted them to, but that's a blog for another day. Anyway, my idea is to paint the cabinet black and get new knobs and hinges and put it in my family room and give my kids crazy ideas. I'll let you know how it turns out... And yes, Dallin is in charge of the left door, bless his heart.

And the new Young Women's President is....

Okay, so maybe camp went a little TOO well. I was looking forward to just getting through it and taking a small break from life and all things stressful until the baby gets here in a few months... and then I got a phone call to go meet with the bishop last Wednesday. So I thought, well, our ward just split, they probably want me to do some small thing and that's okay, I guess I can handle it. So I wasn't really worried, even though they said to bring Jason along. I just figured they liked him or something. Then there was a little confusion about the time so I ended up bringing the boys instead of getting a sitter, which was a huge mistake. It was also a mistake to give them suckers to keep them quiet because it had the exact opposite effect on them. So I'm sitting there trying to ignore the two wild monkeys tearing apart the bishop's office and maintain a calm composure using the falsetto I-really-am-a-good-mother-and-don't-beat-my-kids tone with them that is about 3 octaves higher than my normal voice while still focusing on what the bishop is saying to me, when he asks me to be the Young Women's President. I was like, "The holiday who-be whattie? What did you say?" It was one of those moments where time just stands still and you know your whole life is about to change and it feels like it really isn't even happening. Meanwhile, my children are putting on a huge display of why I am a totally incompetent mother, and I don't know why the bishop didn't just change his mind right then and there. But he didn't, and I accepted, and here I am. I'm trying not to be completely overwhelmed, but to tell the truth, at this point, I am. Am I doing things the right way? I don't know. Will I ever get it all figured out? I don't know. Do I need a nap? Yes. Well, at least I know one thing. So I better go squeeze in a few minutes of rest before Jason gets home from work so I don't completely scare the daylights out of him when he walks through the door. I mean, if I hadn't just been at camp and seen firsthand how great the girls are in our ward, I really couldn't do this. But I know that even though I will make a ton of mistakes, and I feel like I already have, it will all be worth it in the end. Right? Here's to hoping....