Goodbye, President Hinckley

I was so sad when I heard the news of Pres. Hinckley's death. I guess a death at 97 shouldn't be shocking, but I think I just thought he would live forever. Men don't get better than him. When you listen to Pres. Hinckley, you feel like you can do what he asks. He is firm in his beliefs and standards and preaches them in such a loving way instead of hellfire and brimstone.
I told Parker (who was already in bed) about his death. It touched my heart to see Parker cry. He is only 7 years old and isn't supposed to be prone to feeling for others (because of his AS), but was truly sad because he really loved him. He then read the "Walnut Tree" book about Pres. Hinckley and went to sleep.
I'm so glad President Hinckley is reunited with his cute, little wife. He deserves it.

Famous People

I was inspired by my friend Kari's blog about a celeb party she went to once and it got me thinking about my list of famous people sightings.....notice I say sightings, not meetings. So, in the spirit of Sundance, here is my list:

1-Pat Sajak....I stood in line behind him at the LA farmer's market. I was in high school.....it was cool at the time.

2-Orville Redenbacher...I stood in an elevator at my parent's time share in Coronado with him. He wasn't wearing the famed horn-rimmed glasses, but it was him. Apparently, he was an owner of the resort.

3-William Shatner...he was walking down the street right next to Central Park. I was with my dance company girls at the time.....they didn't know who he was. I'm so old.

4-Robin Williams...one of the coolest. I was at the San Francisco children's museum the day after Mark's wedding. He lives in the area and used to frequent the museum a lot when his kids were younger. He was very nice to all around him.

5-Jerry Springer....in the JFK airport.

6-When I worked with the Olympics, I got my eyes on a lot of celebs: Sting (I kissed his trailer), KISS, Christina Aguilera, Kristi Yamaguchi, Moby, N'Sync, and Earth, Wind, and Fire (Boogie...on DOWN!)

7- Also at the Olympics, I was within inches of Angelina Jolie. She was there for some charity. This was post-Billy Bob, pre-Brad. She looked remarkably normal....no viles of blood.

8-Oh yeah....I shook hands with Pres. Bush at the opening ceremonies. Mitt, too.

9-I saw Brian Austin Green (90210) and Sarah Gilbert (Roseanne) as featured guests at a national drill team competition. Woo hoo!

10- David Letterman....I sat on a stinky NY street for 6 hours to get standby tickets. In my single days......

11-On broadway, I saw Nathan Lane (A Funny Things Happened.....) and Jerry Lewis (Damn Yankees).

12- In concert, I've seen B-52's, Janet Jackson, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Howard Jones, Def Leopard (sp?), and various others.

13- Perhaps my closest brush with celebrity....Dennis Miller(Saturday Night Live). Bill and I were in Sun Valley with some friends. People were just milling around the streets, enjoying the summer night. Bill was goofing off with some crosswalk flags....I don't remember why. Dennis Miller, his wife, and sons started laughing at him and were walking up to talk to us. Bill looked at him, pointed the bright, orange flag at him, and yelled, "It's DENNIS MILLER!!!". He walked away.



14- Oh yeah....when I was in London, I guess I was on the Tube with some actor from "Tron". This really impressed the computer nerd in our study abroad group.

Random thoughts for a Thursday

1-As horribly cold as it is right now (if you live in Utah, you know what I'm talking about), I still find myself running to the store without a coat or running out to get the mail barefoot. Stupid!

2-New delicious snack......buy the 2 types of Costco salsa (peach and regular) and combine them. Sweet and tangy. Don't you love the universal language of Costco?

3-Why does my cat insist on using his litter box ONLY when I am around. He waits until I come downstairs to do his business. This is just one little glimpse into his completely messed up head. He is literally crazy. It's pretty sad.

4-Last night, I found myself fipping between "Super-Nanny" and "American Idol". I think both make me feel superior....maybe that's why we like it. The auditions on "AI" are so pathetic and crazy.....not that I have a good singing voice, but I know better than to audition for it. "SN" is always a favorite because, no matter how bad my kids have been that day, they are still not swearing at me or flipping me off (yet). I hope the writer's strike is over soon.....

5-Zupas just opened another location by my gym!!!! If you've never experienced the Zupas, you are missing out. Now I don't have to fight for a parking space in the Draper location to get my Vermont Maple Blueberry Salad and chocolate covered strawberry.

Happy 1st Birthday, Quinn!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!
Quinn has been SO grumpy teething....in fact, he was pretty miserable on his birthday. He mustered up some energy for his party and was fairly pleasant. His favorite presents were definitely the Animal Train from Grandma and Grandpa N. and the Sock Monkey from Grandma and Grandpa S.

Signs

Parker has taken it upon himself to create some reminder signs for my dance studio. My favorite two are the "No Smoking" sign and the "Please Do Not Light Any Fires" sign. Those darn 3-year old ballerinas.....always lighting fires and smoking! Now, if he can make me a "Please don't talk loud on your cell phone while I'm teaching your daughter!" sign, that would really be helpful!

New York, New York!

Here are the top ten events of our fabulous New York Christmas!
10. American Girl cafe with Emi and Caroline.....so cute.
9. Staten Island Ferry....ok, so we lost Bill and Parker for a time, but still fun. A great way to see the Statue of Liberty. We also walked up to Ground Zero...strange and sad. This adventure also marked Bill's first attempt at driving in NYC. We are still married.
8. Train exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. So fun...and I don't generally dig the trains. Grandpa was in heaven.
7. Bronx Zoo....with LIGHTS! Other than being completely SOAKED with rain (our only bad weather), it was so fun to see the seals, ride the bug carousel, and eat smores. The boys also got to experience Central Park Zoo while the girls went to American Girl.
6. Museum of Natural History....this was basically in honor of "Night at the Museum". Had to see it all....like "Dum-dum" here. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who had to have a pic of Dum Dum who likes the gum gum. After this, we subwayed to Time Square, saw Toys-R-Us, and remembered why we weren't staying to see the ball drop!

5. Top of the Rock....great view of everything. Parker is in LOVE with the Chrysler building. There was also a cool light show up there. Fun surprises everywhere in NYC.
4. WICKED! Loved it....this was our anniversary present to each other. I loved that I didn't know much about it before I saw it. This was preceded by a yummy meal at Dos Caminos ( I think that translates to super cool restaurant with killer guacamole and awesome lighting) and a great (yet fast) shopping spree in HM. I'm kind of a machine when shopping with a time budget. Still managed to get 2 outfits, jewelry, and a purse (all for $100)!!!

3. Rockefeller tree

2. The Rockette Christmas show. As a former "precision dancer girl" myself, I knew I would love it. But the kids were still the whole way through! 3-D stuff, hundreds of tap dancing Santas, Toy Soldiers falling, and a live Nativity. I didn't want it to end!
1. The best part of New York was COUSIN TIME!!! 7 little bodies on Christmas morning is a sight to behold. I'm still amazed we maneuvered through the city with 7 kids under 9.

Thanks Mark and Kathryn for having us (and Grandma and Grandpa for helping us with crowd control). Can we come for Easter, too!

January can be happy?

I just have to share that I am having a wonderful January so far.....which is rare! I usually HATE January....Christmas is over, inversions, etc. Well, I find myself in a great mood this week. What's not to be happy about? I have a great vacation behind me (more on that later), Bill and I just booked a Mexican cruise for March, the kids are being unusually good, nobody is sick (December was NASTY), and I made my dance classes listen to my YAZ cd during class. Love the YAZ..it's just fun happy music. Ahhh, the early 80's. Anne and I would hang out in her brother's room and listen to YAZ and Devo. So fun.
Happy January! Oh! and Happy 71st Birthday, Dad! You are truly amazing!!!!!!!!