Friday, April 24, 2009

Graduation

My brother in law graduated from the Marriott school of business today. He is now an MBA. Which is great. But the actual commencement was a little depressing.

I went directly from my class of fourth graders to the Marriott Center filled with people far more educated than me. In other words, within an hour and a half, I went from being the smartest person in the room to, well, not. That's an intimidating feeling.

But I started playing with Sam, my three year old nephew, and I began to feel a little more in my element. Then the commencement speaker got up.

Everyone knows that commencement addresses are supposed to be ignored. They aren't really meant for the audience. So while the graduates are (pretending) to listen and be inspired, their families take a nap. It's a time honored tradition.

Only one thing could make these speeches more boring.

PowerPoint.

That's right. This speaker used PowerPoint. Guaranteed to put more people to sleep than Ambien.

Next time, I'll mail the card.

Congratulations Rob! That's more work than I ever want to do!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Sleepover

I am trying to be more diligent about blogging, because I know I hate it when everyone else forgets to keep their blogs up to date . . . Erin.

So my new goal, added to my burgeoning list (lose weight, exercise daily, scripture study . . . ), is to write at least once a week. My problem, like Autumn, is that I like to astonish. Or at least make people laugh. Unfortunately, my days are pretty mundane. Wake up, get ready, go to school, teach future leaders (or not) of the world, come home, correct papers, go to sleep. Riveting.

The last few days have been my spring break. If you're wondering why I'm not jumping and shouting, it's because this year has been a bit of a let down compared to last year's spring break. As breaks go, it's been fun, but last year, I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. This year I went to have my car's emissions done, some blood labs done, and I had Holly and Sam for a sleepover Friday night.

While both a cruise and a sleepover can be placed in the "fun" category of life, I think you will agree that a cruise is a little different than a sleepover.

We had a very rowdy time. We stayed up until midnight . . . not on purpose. We watched "Bolt" twice and "Enchanted" almost twice. I don't have kid food here so we went to McDonald's for dinner and we had boxed fruit drinks and M&Ms while we watched the movie. Remarkably, no accidents occurred.

Sam fell asleep around 9:00 in my bed. Holly was the night owl. While they were both excited about sleeping in their own sleeping bags, everyone eventually ended up in my bed to watch the movie. They both got to sleep in my bed. I got the floor. Around 4:00 Holly wanted to sleep in her sleeping bag, so I got my bed for an hour, and then I got up and showered. Which was smart because they were up and at 'em by 7:00 and I wouldn't have been able to shower until 1:00. I can hear all you moms saying you do that everyday. We had dry Lucky Charms and more juice for breakfast. Then we played on the computer and woke my roommates up. (sorry guys!) We played with our Happy Meal toys and watched Saturday cartoons until Erin came. By then they were grouchy because someone didn't get them to bed on time.

What did I learn from all of this? The floor is hard, but if you're tired enough you can sleep anywhere. Holly can talk to a brick wall. Sam talks in his sleep, just like his mom. Holly is smart . . . like scary smart . . . "This juice is better, see it is 100% juice" . . . What the heck?! It really doesn't matter how late I keep them up or what I feed them when I send them home the next day.

And sleepovers are just a different kind of fun than a cruise. Less sun and snorkeling but a whole lot more giggling.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Pictures

I have pictures. Some are cute and some are just of my new hair cut which apparently is very important to see. (Settle down Sharlon.)

These first pictures are of Max, who is smiling and turned 3 months old yesterday. Erin took them and I think she did a great job.


You can tell he is a Wells. He looks just like Holly did, but he has Sammy's incredible blue eyes. What a cutie!

I have been learning new things this week. I have learned how to use a blow dryer and a round brush . . . at the same time. And I figured out how to use the timer on my camera, so I could get some pictures taken fast and post them. It is amazing how one haircut can change your life.
You may ask why I am tipping my head . . . I don't know. I really wasn't trying to be cute. Maybe I was trying to hide the open bathroom door in the back. It's more likely I am not used to bangs and I am flipping them out of the way.
I took a dozen or so pictures and these are the best of my hair cut, not of me. I took them at 5:30 in the morning, and I am not wearing makeup. I look, well, my age.
To answer your questions: No I didn't color my hair. This is my natural color. I cut out all the highlights from chemicals and the sun.
Yes, I donated to "Locks of Love."
No, I didn't cry. You should have seen how gross and damaged the cut hair was. I was glad to see it go.
Yes, I love it. It actually moves, and I no longer have headaches or neck aches from the weight of my hair.
Can you tell this has been a big deal all week? I forget that you should never do anything drastic to yourself when your teaching. The kids can't concentrate for days. The thing is, I didn't think it was that huge. I've had bigger changes. But even the teachers were a little freaked. On our field trip to Ballet West Monday, they sent people looking for me because they couldn't find me. I was standing right next to them, but they didn't recognize me. (Actually, I thought that was funny.)
So, not an exciting post, but at least the pictures of Max are cute.