Monday means "What the..." (on Tuesday)

This week's "What the..." was a no brainer, and the reason why I'm a day late posting about it.

Yesterday, our car was broken into.  The SOBs broke our back door passenger window and stole our portable DVD player and some DVDs.

The portable DVD player was a generous gift given to me by my in-laws for my birthday last year.  

And, the DVDs that were stolen?  Oliver and Company, Baby Beethoven, Baby Monet, Hotel for Dogs and Merry Madagascar.  Notice a pattern?  That's right, they're all movies for kids.

The freakin' idiots that decided to steal from me didn't actually steal from me at all.  They stole from my two year old daughter.

This is the first time I've ever been robbed, and I realize things could've been a lot worse.  I, along with my daughter, can live just fine without the DVD player, and all the DVDs can easily be replaced. 

No, the worst part really is that I looked over my shoulder all day yesterday.  I double checked all the windows in my house because going to bed.  I kept lights on in the house when I wasn't using them.

I doubt this crime will make me a paranoid person, but the fact that they stole from my kid AND made me change my behavior just a little bit really makes me mad.

What the...!!  is all I have to say!!

MONDAY means "What the..."

In an attempt to update my blog more often, I am going to start doing a weekly theme post.  Out of all the themes I could choice from, leave it to me to choose to post about something that bugs me.  The point is not to be a complete Debbie Downer.  The point is to just vent for the sake of venting.

I'm calling my weekly posts "What the..."  because I say that phrase basically daily and it just sums up the point of all this fun-ness so perfectly.

So, here we go.

But first let me start with a little bit of background so we're all on the same page.

As stated on my side bar, I'm a Mormon.  Or, I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Or, I'm LDS.  Like other Christians, I go to church every Sunday; however, my Sundays are a bit different than other Christian churches I've been to in that I go for three hours.  Yes, three hours.  Within those hours are three different meetings, the last of which is called Relief Society.  Relief Society is an organization just for women.  On Sunday, in Relief Society, we have lessons on a variety of different topics.  We also sing hymns.   And, we also have a chorister to lead during the hymns.   My calling (my job in the church) is to be the chorister.

As far as church callings go, this one is a cinch, especially when it is widely known by all members of the LDS faith that NO ONE, seriously, NO ONE, watches the chorister.  Their heads are usually glued to the hymn books.

I'm not 100% comfortable leading music, but I have a musical background, so the process makes sense to me.  Plus, no one will be looking at me, right?

Well, actually, there is one person that should be watching me.  That is the pianist.  After all, I'm the one leading the song; therefore, she should be watching me for the tempo, right?

Well, not so much.  And here comes the "What the..." portion of my post.

I learned the hard way that the pianist doesn't watch me, but everyone else does.  So, instead of leading the music, I'm essentially following the pianist trying to make sense of her less than steady tempo.  Instead of waving my arm in a seamless, perfect stride, it's going all over the place in less than a desirable way.

All the while everyone who is NOT suppose to be watching me is watching me.

Yesterday, after church, two elderly women came up to me and told me I was getting so much better at leading  - that I was finding that "down beat" almost all the time.

I know with all my heart that they didn't mean absolutely any harm and that all they wanted to do was compliment me on my apparent progress of (unbeknown to them) "following the piano."  It took all my strength not to correct them, to tell them I knew exactly what I was doing and if the pianist would follow me I would be on the "down beat" every single time.

But, I didn't.  I wished them a happy day and then vented the crap out of my husband about my adventures in piano following.

This is SOO not how it's suppose to be.

WHAT THE...!

my SOUNDTRACK

I felt like making a mixed CD tonight, so I asked Karen if I she would like it for her blog swap package.  She accepted, so I began the fun task of choosing only 18 of 2487 songs for what I am now referring to as my Blog Soundtrack.  You can even preview it here if you're interested.  Most of the songs are available for a 30 second preview.

I hope whoever gets my CD loves it.

currently.....

My friend Karen once suggested I write a "currently" post.  At the time, I thought it was a great idea, so now, at least 3 months later, I'm getting to it.

CURRENTLY.....

Reading:
Wicked.  Yeah, I'm a little behind the times when it comes to reading popular books.  I'm enjoying it, but I'll admit I'm excited to finish it and move on to my next book.

Listening to:
My most recent iTunes purchase was "When I'm With You" by JJ Heller.  It's a cute little song, and my daughter loves it and has already started to memorize the lyrics.  She's 2.5 and loves to sing.

Watching:
We don't have cable.  No, we're not those kind of people that think TV is bad.  We don't have it because it's expensive, especially when you pay for 200 channels but only watch 3.  We're thinking of getting it again, but for now we watch all our favorite shows via the Internet or Netflix.  Anyway, our current queue is filled with seasons 1 of The Middle and Modern Family.  Great shows!

Addicted to:

Farkle.  The oh so exciting dice game that has a free app and allows me to play with complete strangers as often as I want.  It's a game of complete chance and virtually no skill is needed to win, but I still feel great when I'm the first to reach 10,000 points!

Drinking:

Water and Dr. Pepper.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I get the water from the Dr. Pepper.

Loving:

That my daughter was just invited to her first ever friend birthday party, cooking dinner, and being unemployed by choice.

Looking Forward to:

Seeing the play Sleepy Hollow, my brothers wedding and seeing Melissa Etheridge in Nevada.  These are in chronological order, by the way.  For sure I am MOST looking forward to the wedding.

Surprised by:

How busy I am.  Luckily for me, it's all fun things like going out to eat with my friends, bridal showers, baby showers and birthday parties.

In desperate need of:

New clothes.  I choose comfort over looking good almost always, and I imagine my husband would love to see in me in something besides jeans and a t-shirt.  There's gotta be more comfortable, yet fashionable clothes out there, right?

Thankful for (besides the obvious of family, friends, jobs, etc.):

The changing of the seasons.  Not only do I not have to use my A/C anymore (hence, a lower utility bill), I get to enjoy the beautiful fall colors.  It's the best time of year!

Wanting to change:

How many times I log into Facebook.  It's sort of losing it's appeal, isn't it?  Who's with me?

Favorite time of day:

8:00 pm - my daughter's bedtime.  Enough said.

Wanting to buy:

A computer desk.  We're currently using a night stand because we haven't been able to find a desk we like.  The limited room on the night stand is starting to get old.  IKEA, here we come (hopefully)!

Hopeful for:

That I can jump start this blog again and get lots of comments!

the INEVITABLE BLOCK

My goal for this blog has gone horribly, horribly wrong.  I rarely post and when I do post, it seems as though my writing lacks "umph."

I've decided this all stems from the reason why I began this blog to begin with.  I was living in Idaho, a new(ish) mom, and I remember feeling this need for "more."

So, I started this blog in hopes of finding "more."

And, now, over a year later, my life is a lot different.  I'm in a new state, a new house, new friends, closer to family, etc., and it seems as though my need for this blog is no longer there.

I've expressed interest in closing the blog down completely, but a few people have encouraged me to keep writing.

So, to my 1 or 2 readers, I need help.  Help me decide what to write about.  What sorts of posts do you like?  Does my blog need a theme, or are random thoughts good enough?

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated.

that one SPECIAL DAY in JUNE

My husband and I tend to take a "less is more" approach when it comes to holidays.

Father's Day was pretty easy, breezy this year.  We made plans to spend the day with Dustin's side of the family who live two hours away from us.  On Sunday morning we woke up early, got ready and then hit the road.  Before we left, though, I gave Dustin his present.  It actually ended up being a two-for-one because I ended up getting somewhat of a gift too.

I bought Dustin 'Fierce' from Abercrombie & Fitch;.  It is an awesome cologne that, I swear, The Gateway (an outdoor mall near our house) pumps through the vents so it can be smelled all throughout the greater Salt Lake area because it haunts me every time I am shopping.  I tried my best to resist the temptation to buy it.  I really did.  But, eventually, it's awesomeness won, even at the risk of losing my hearing (it's so loud in A&F, seriously!) which means it's that good of a cologne.

Dustin loved it, and now he and our house smell so wonderful.  It's like heaven in here!

But, wait, it gets better.  When I left the store carrying my first ever A&F purchase, I walked out of the store with this bag.  It was WAY too big for my little cologne box, but it had cloth handles which made it both cool and ridiculous.  Cool in that how often do you get bags with cloth handles, and ridiculous because, hello, cloth handles?  What a waste of money!

No, the best part is not the handles.  It's the bag itself.  I mean, seriously, how often does a bag with this type of picture on it come along?  Forget that this is a bag from a clothing store and the picture is of a half-naked man modeling a swimsuit that isn't really even on his body, begging the question, "Does A&F really even like their clothes?  They don't advertise people wearing their them."

Just forget all that nonsense.  Sometimes we all just think and analyze too much.  Just look at the bag.  The bag, in all it's glory.

Ya, the bag was my present.

P.S. Dustin, I love you so much.  And one of the reasons why I love you so much is because you can appreciate the humor in this post.  :)

CHOCOLATE, anyone?

The day before Mother's Day, my in-laws came into town to take me out to dinner.  I live in a suburb just north of Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake is the home of the Hatch Family Chocolates store. Some of you may know this store from the show "Little Chocolatiers" on TLC.

My in-laws wanted to buy some chocolate at this store before heading to dinner.  I wasn't aware of the detour until we were basically at the store, so I didn't really have time to think about what I would do or say if I saw the famous chocolate makers.  I think part of me thought they wouldn't even be there.  Another part of me realized I wouldn't even know who they were unless someone told me as I had never watched their show or had been to their store at all.  The last part of me was tired because I had just gotten off work.

We walked into the store and much to my mother-in-laws delight, the store owners, Steve and Katie Hatch, were there.  He was doing computer/paperwork and she was walking all around the store doing "her thing."

As my in-laws browsed the store, my husband and I stayed in the back trying to keep up with our toddler who had discovered the water fountain.  We took turns trying to get her attention elsewhere, but it didn't work too well.  My lack of energy and her extreme excitement for new things clashed brilliantly.  Needless to say, I cleaned up a few puddles of water while I was waiting.

In between water spills, I couldn't help but notice how awesome the store computer was.  It was Mac.  I LOVE Macs, and this one was awesome.  

As I watched Steve, from a short distance, work away I wanted to ask him about his computer.  I guess I'm a nerd that way.  But I caught myself before saying anything too dumb.  I mean, here I was in a fun, popular store known for it's chocolate and I wanted to talk to the owner about his computer.  Lame!

I was proud of myself for not putting my foot into my mouth, but unfortunately my victory was short lived.  Yes, alas, Steve started talking to me.  He said I looked "thrilled" to be in the store.  I chuckled and told him I had just gotten off work and was pretty tired.  He asked me how long I had been at work. I told him and then felt even more stupid.  It had only been 6 hours (mind you, all on my feet and in a fast paced environment), which is probably seconds compared to how many hours as day he works.  Ya, I felt like a douche.  Big time.

We eventually left the store.  My in-laws with their celebrity sighting and chocolate, me with another embarrassing story to share.  

Ya, my name is Emily and I tried to get a "little person" to feel sorry for me...in a chocolate store no less!

Thoughts?