Misunderstood

First just want to give a big thanks to everyone for making me feel better about moving. I do have great friends!

So yesterday I was talking to one of those great friends and we talked for about 10 minutes before we realized that the actor and show she was telling me about was a different actor and show than I thought she was talking about. Then we had a good laugh. Now normally we understand each other pretty well, but once in a while we end up being on totally different pages. This experience yesterday made me think of my favorite time that Aly (yes, I am pointing you out) and I misunderstood each other.

It was the week that we got to go Orson Scott Card's Literary bootcamp. Now imagine how much fun we were having...getting to be with your best friend, not having to worry about kid or housework, or anything but writing! So Card had given us an assignment to go out in the world and find 3 story ideas. One from going to a book store or library. One from interviewing a stranger, and, one from our surroundings. Well the story idea that I had found was about a man that was found off the coast of England and was said to be a merman.
So we were brainstorming this idea and had come up with some good ideas to expand on this (Aly is the worlds best brianstormer). Than I began to talk about OSC and his writing. Well Aly was still brainstorming my stroy idea and said to me..."I wonder if he was a feral child" since I was now focused on Card the first thing out of my mouth was shock. "Why would you say that?" To which she began to respond of how maybe he had been abandoned by his family and on and on. Well as usual, by the time we realized she was talking about the Merman and I was talking about OSC we had a good laugh. But even better was after I wrote my story and then I got to tell OSC about our little misunderstanding.

Okay so this might not make much sense, but I wanted to write it down, not that I think I will ever forget it, but it just goes to show, sometimes two people, no matter how well they know each other can be speaking to one another but having totally different conversations. Has this ever happened to you?

Loving it? Not so much.

Yes we are loving our new house. We have put a lot of work in it and I promise to post pictures soon. We had to move, I could not live in my mother-in-laws basement forever. The kids like their school, and have made friends, who unfortunately don't live close by, but still they have play dates. D can come home from work for lunch and never gets stuck in traffic. But I can't say I am loving the area. Maybe it is just moving from such a great neighborhood, but I mean we are going on like 3 months and there are a few people at church who say hi to me, but no one comes up and talks to me, no one invites me to sit by them. Even the times I have tried to be social I have been made to feel like an outcast.
I remember when we looked at this house, the owner could not stop talking about what a great ward this was. Well the people behind us are nice, and the people next to us, but not in the same way it was in our old ward. Not in a lets have a girls night out, or oh your sick what can I do for you way. More like a you can trust me to not rob you while you are out of town, but lets not hold a lofty conversation way. I remember even when we were new in our old ward, having at least 3 or 4 neighbors I could ask to bring the kids home from church if I wasn't feeling well. Now I can't even think of someone to make sure M gets home safe from achievement days. (They have it at night so it is dark when she gets home). I hate feeling this way, but now I know why people have a hard time going to church if they don't have a support base.
Yes, I know the church is true. Yes, I will keep going. But it is awful to feel like an outcast, like I have the plague and no one wants to be my friend! I guess I was lucky that I had a chance to make good friends in Orem. Maybe I am just feeling sorry for myself because I am so sick right now, but all I can say is to everyone in the old neighborhood, I love you, I miss you, and I am bummed about missing bookclub tonight. You guys are the best! Thanks for still letting me come.

My Favorite Vampires

Vampires? Who needs them? Give me Aliens any day, or at least humans in Alien situations! That was me. I never made it through Dracula, and even though Van Helsing was played by Hugh, it would have been so much better if he was fighting spacemen! But then I picked up a book, a little teeny bopper book that my niece and all her friends were going gaga over. Come on, you know the book I mean. And all of a sudden vampires could be good, they could have morals, they could be in pain over the need to take human blood, and they could turn you into mush as they tried to convince their human counterparts that Immortality is not all daisies and sunshine.
Yes my friend, we have entered a new world, the world of good Vampires ( or at least really spunky bad ones) so here is my list of the Vampires I would not mind running into and why.




The Cullens. Need I say more? Not really but I will. The whole family has something good in them. Whether it is Emmet's joking around, Alice's persistent happiness, or the way Edward looks at Bella when he stops the truck from hitting her. They were the ones to start it all for me. Edwards constant battle inside himself as to if he was a monster or not, when everyone looking in could see he was better than most the "humans" around, gave me a new perspective into Vampires and I found myself thinking, hey these bloodsuckers are not so bad.



Fast forward to last year, when I finally decided that I needed to watch Buffy. Oh I had seen the movie in high school and laughed my head off at the corny lines, but I had put it off for a long time because as I said, I was an alien girl. But the Cullens had softened me and after all, Joss Whedon's masterpiece Firefly is my favorite series of all time, I figured it was time to give Buffy the series a go. And it was there I discovered my next two favorite Vampires.

First we have Angel, played by David Boreanaz. A Vampire that has been given a soul. A Vampire that refuses to take human blood, a vampire who is in love the Vampire Slayer. His tortured portrayal of the monster he could become, of the crimes he had committed in the past made him such an icon that they ended up giving him his own series. My favorite episode is when he becomes mortal, finally he and Buffy can be together, but then he is faced with the choice to be with Buffy, or to be able to protect her, which he can only do as a Vampire. Oh the tragedy!



Next is Spike, who is so not the good guy. He is bratty, hates humans, and is a pain in the neck (literally). But he is one of those bad guys that you love to hate. What would Buffy be without Spike always showing up causing problems for pretty much everyone? If the vampires in Dracula had had Spike's sarcasm, snarl, and snarkiness I may have began to enjoy the whole Vampire world long ago.



And finally we get to the heart of this post. The show that has got me Gaga over Vamps. Moonlight. Take Mick St John, a private eye in LA who uses his speed, stealth, and strength to help fight crime and protect the woman he loves--even if she has a boyfriend who is a really great guy and so each episode of each extremely short run (1 season, stupid writer's strike) leaves you wondering who she should be with. The man who can never age, never give her a life, but looks at her in a way that makes you melt? Or the nice respectable DA who loves her just as much, but maybe just doesn't have that look of desire quite down yet? I finished This last night and all I have to say is Thank heavens, even though they only did one season at least they left you with a clear promise of what the future for this PI might hold.



Last, but not least is Mick's friend Josef. He bugged me at first, but I have to admit by the end of the show he had me. Rich, cocky, and yet still having that little sensitive side that lets you know, if the right girl came around, he just might change.

So there you have it. I have been converted. Now don't get me wrong. I still like my Sci fi shows, Farscape, Firefly, Stargate. Oh yeah, hey Deep Space nine was responsible for me falling in love with my husband. But from now on when I see Vampire I won't be turning a blind eye to what could be a great new show, or book. Vampires, tonight you win!

The Big Cut Part Two

So last summer a friend got some of us together to cut our hair and donate it to Locks of Love, a foundation that helps provide hair pieces to children who have permanent hair loss. At the time I asked M if she wanted to join me, mostly joking because I could not have stood the thought of her parting with her beautiful locks. But last week after a particularly trying Sunday where getting through tangles lead to tears and sorrow we decided that it was time to cut off a few inches. After deciding how short we should go we realized that if we added 5 more inches M could send her hair to Locks of Love. She decided that if she was going to cut her hair it would be for a worth while cause and so 11 inches later her hair is cute as ever! I am so proud of her because she really has loved her hair, but when we cut it she just said, it will grow back and now some other little kid can have hair too. What a girl!