Thirty Years

Thirty years ago The Mr. and I got married. Whoa! Thirty years -- that's a long time. The on-line conversion chart tells me that would be 133 years in Dog Years. I'm guessing it would be something like 233 years if there was such thing as a Movie Star Marriage conversion chart. Either way, it's a long time. A lot of things have happened or changed in the last 30 years. The most obvious is our appearance.

Here we are in 1981

And here we are 30 years later

And here are some of the highlights over the past 30 years:

Birth of Daughter #1

(Look at that top-of-the-line baby seat/play pen. Nothing but the best for our children!)

Birth of Daughter #2

Law School Graduation

The purchase of our first home

(After seven years of apartment living, we thought we had died and gone to heaven.)

Birth of Sons #1A and #1B

Birth of Daughter #3

Our year in Utah

Some great family vacations

(Please try not to be envious of my groovy pants.)

The wedding of Daughter #2

The wedding of Daughter #1

The arrival of some adorable grandchildren

1A and 1B's mission call to Russia

(Where they apparently almost starved to death!)

Thirty years is a long time to be married. When you try to sum it up in a few paragraphs, it can't quite capture the true feelings that have developed over that time. Feelings of love, obviously, but more that just that. When I see my husband I feel comfort, relief, excitement, security, romance, joy, and a whole bunch of other emotions that I'm sure I'll think of (and wished I would have included) after I've pressed the "PUBLISH POST" button.

The Mr. and I have had a great 30 years together. I'm looking forward to the next 30!

Dixie

No Matter Where You Go...

On Sunday The Mr. and I visited a church in St. George, Utah. Funny how all Latter-day Saint wards are pretty much the same. We've all got the same types of characters, just taking up residence in different bodies:

• The Sacrament Meeting chorister who leads the music with so much exuberance that it feels like he/she has just participated in an athletic experience.
• The thirty-something dad of several young children who puts his head down and falls asleep, leaving his wife to take care of all the kids.
• The older gentlemen in Sunday School who has a comment for everything. Sometimes he even says something related to the lesson.
• The Relief Society presidency member who is so sugary sweet. You're sure her daughters all wear matching home-made dresses.
• The sixty-something woman who seems to be the authority on everything. If there's a dispute over the date, time, or place of any church or community event, she seems to be able to finalize it with her comment.

It's kind of reassuring to know that it's not just the doctrine, but the people, that makes "the church the same, no matter where you go in the world."

Dixie

Kids -- Gotta Love 'Em

Overheard at the foodcourt:

Young Boy: Last time I was at A&W I had a baby burger.

Woman: Was it good?

Young Boy: Yeah. It kinda tasted like hamburger mixed with.... babies.

Told to me by a mother of one of my youngest members of Showbiz Kids:

Olivia: (Pointing out the window to Daughter #3 riding her bike) Look Mom!!

Mom: Oh, we know her, don't we? Good for her for riding her bike.

Olivia: She's only riding with one hand. She's so cool!

(Later that day the mom noticed Olivia riding her bike in the driveway.... with one hand.)

When I mentioned this to Daughter #3 she said, "Oh, I guess I should've been wearing my helmet."

Kids -- gotta love 'em!

Two Things

There are two things that The Mr. has been threatening to do for several years.

There are two things that I vowed I would never let him do.

Oddly enough they are the same two things:

1) Get a pair of cowboy boots. (And actually wear them.)

2) Shave his head before he goes on a summer vacation.

Guess what two things The Mr. did within the past week.

Guess what two things I found myself aiding and abetting.

Pictures may or may not follow.

Dixie

There's A Last Time For Everything

As mentioned in my last post(s), Daughter #3 has just finished grade 12, and with that have come a lot of "lasts". Her last day of school, her last day of early morning Seminary, her last high school exam, her last day to attend church with me in our family ward, her last time to attend Young Womens, her last school play, her last rugby game, her last awards ceremony. It's amazing how these things that are "hers" have become such a big part of "my" life. I guess being the last of five children, she probably gets a little more of my attention than my other children got. Probably more than she wants!

So, we're each entering a new phase in our lives. She's so excited to be moving on to that next phase. Me? Not so much.

Dixie

In All Fairness....

I am boring. At least that's what someone might think who checked out my last post of Daughter #3's grad. I know that's what I thought when I checked it out a few days later. The pictures I posted where pretty staged and serious. So today, in all fairness to said daughter, I've posted a few pics of what really happened that day:

"My sister, the GRADUATE!"

"I knew you could do it!"

"I salute you!"

"C'mon, be respectful. She doesn't look that funny in her cap and gown."

"Okay, sorry. We'll quit flirting now."

"Enough with the pictures. I'm about ready to fall asleep."

"Someone called for a limo?"

"Okay act natural. Show enough to look like a good sport,

but not enough to look like the best sport."

"Can you believe he let us take our picture with him?"

"You lookin' at me?"

I love this kid!

Dixie

And The Winner Is...

Okay, so a while back I promised to post the winner of Daughter #3's graduation dress shopping spree. I realize the picture's not great, but it just happened to be the only shot we got of her that showed the entire dress, from head to toe. What you can't really see from the picture is the tiny little flowers tucked into her Taylor Swift-style bun. Nonetheless, I think she made a great choice.

Here are a few other pictures from the day:

Overall, a very fun day, but........how can she possibly be old enough to be graduating from High School?

15 Minutes of Fame

Just a few minutes ago I was checking in on one of my favorite blogs -- catalogliving.net -- when I saw something that caught my eye. Off to the side, in the area where it shows a few people who "like" this website on facebook, was a picture of Daughter #1. The fact that she likes it wasn't surprising. The fact that out of the 26,046 people whose picture could have been there, hers just happened to be there when I was checking! Okay, that deserves even more emphasis. !!!!!!

I have to admit, I exited and entered the site a few more times in rapid succession to see if her picture would still be there. It was.... for just a few more minutes. And then just as quickly as she rose to fame, she vanished. Oh well, you know what they say. Everyone has their 15 minutes of fame.

I discovered that I also have been captured on the internet. While checking out google earth satellite maps one day, Son 1A found our town. Zooming in a little closer he found our street, then our house, then ........me! I was so excited to be famous. And I even looked pretty good. I was bent over the lawn mower filling it with gas. (I'm so glad I was caught doing something industrious, and not just lounging on a lawn chair eating bonbons.) But just now as I've been searching to find that same image, it's disappeared.

Oh well, you know what they say.

Dixie

The Resident Entertainer

I took a little drive this past week to visit my mom. Since I have last seen her, she has moved to a Senior's lodge. We used to call it "the old folks' home" but I suppose that's not politically correct anymore. Initially I was a little worried about her moving in there. I thought she'd be a little lonely, or missing her home, or whatever. Hah! She's loving it!

• While everyone else complains about the food, my mom thinks she's died and gone to heaven. No more meals to make.
• While everyone else misses their homes, mom's relieved she doesn't have a lawn to mow or sidewalks to shovel.
• While everyone else whines about their tiny living quarters, she's grateful she doesn't have very much to keep clean. And to top it off she gets maid service once a week!

So, her spirits are in pretty good shape. She's having a good time, and seems to have taken it upon herself to be the resident entertainer. She puts on musical programs and tells jokes about old people. The funniest thing, though, was her walker. At first glance it looks pretty normal.

But upon closer inspection.....

you will notice that the contents include:

1. one kleenex box (okay, so that's pretty reasonable)
2. one garbage bag (for the used kleenexes) taped to the handle bar
3. one bottle of multi-vitamins
4. one piano book of rag music
5. one tambourine
6. one set of maracas
7. two harmonicas
8. three kazoos
9. one wooden train whistle
10. one pint jar of Roger's Golden Syrup (in case they serve pancakes for breakfast)
11. one bottle of cinnamon (?)
12. one bar of Irish Spring soap (your guess is as good as mine)
13. one pair of sunglasses (perhaps to give a hint of "rock star" while playing the kazoo?)

I think she has every right to claim the title of "resident entertainer". I only hope the other people are laughing with her.

Dixie

Today

Today I am:

.....packing my suitcase with chips and salsa, games, strawberries, bananas, caramel popcorn, photo albums, chocolate (of course) and a couple of favorite movies. Oh, and a few clothes. I'm getting ready for a girls' weekend with my three daughters. We've never done this before, and I'm so excited about it!

.....trying to figure out how to arrange my Showbiz Kids classes for next year. I've had an unusually large number of registrants, so I need to make some adjustments to the class sizes and age divisions, and try to keep everyone happy. It's not proving to be too easy.

.....hoping that The Mr. can make it through the day. He's been sick for the past several days and having a hard time keeping up with everything. He needed to be out of town today for a long day of meetings, but he was up most of the night coughing, so didn't get much sleep. Hopefully, he can sleep on the plane. Hopefully his coughing won't stop others from sleeping on the plane!

.....making meals and doing laundry so The Mr. will be well taken care of in my absence. I think I should probably leave him something special while I'm away. Something just for him. Like maybe a package of cough drops.

Holding My Tongue

When I was a young mother, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a sewing machine and learn to sew. My first few disastrous attempts were so frustrating, that I found myself wanting to curse like a sailor! I decided maybe it would be a better idea to put the machine away until the kids were off to college.

That sewing machine has pretty much remained unused over the years -- until the past few weeks. I've been sewing like a maniac trying to create, repair, or alter a ZILLION costumes for my Showbiz Kids. My experience this time around wasn't much more successful than it was the first time. But, as long as the costumes were only viewed from a distance, they looked okay.

But now that it's over, I don't want to see that machine again for a loooooong time.

Dixie

Spring Break

Sixteen years ago we took our five children to Disneyland. It was a great trip, and we all have some fun memories. Everyone except Daughter #3. She was only a baby when we were there, so we always told her that we'd take her again sometime. Well, since she'll be graduating soon, we figured that we better follow through with our promise.

Yea! She finally made it!

Hanging out with the big guy.

The happiest place on earth!

She always knew she'd make it to Hollywood!

Checking out the stars.

This one's for Daughter #1.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum was amazing.

Life is like a box of chocolates.

Hangin' with my peeps.

The Hollywood Museum was great.

Unfortunately the "no flash photography" rule

once you went inside wasn't quite so great!

The Newport Beach Temple.

Chillaxin'

Legoland was incredible!

Everything is made out of lego except the car.

Oh, and the teenage daughter.

I gladly volunteered to be the one to take the picture.

San Diego Harbour Tour

Unknowingly getting burned to a crisp atop the third deck.

Getting outfitted for battle at the General Mercantile.

The Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center -- San Diego.

We finished off our trip by attending General Conference in Utah, which of course was wonderful. We also went graduation dress shopping while we were there. Here is a random sampling of some of the dresses Daughter #3 tried on. The winner won't be showcased for another two months.

The trip was so fun -- definitely worth the sixteen-year wait.

Somebody's Happy!

It's official -- she's been accepted!

Show Me a Sign

The sign in the store window said, "Spring has Arrived!" I wanted to march inside and ask the clerk if she could guarantee that, but decided against it. (I always feel obligated to buy something once I've engaged the clerk in small talk.)

Anyway, I hope somebody tells it to the completely white rabbit that ran in front of my car early this morning. And I hope the six-foot-high snow bank obstructing the view from my living room window also gets the memo.

Dixie

"She Doesn't Look Like an Axe Murderer"

The other day I was cruising the parking lot at Superstore trying to beat the other eight cars to a parking spot. Any parking spot. But apparently none were to be found. At one point I was stopped behind another waiting vehicle when a complete stranger -- a woman of about 60 -- knocked on my window. She didn't look crazy, so I rolled down my window to see what she wanted.

"I've looked everywhere and I can't find my car!", she said suspiciously. I wondered if she thought I had stolen it. There was an awkward pause while I waited for her to explain further. Then she finally added, "It's the coldest day of the year, and I'm freezing."

Catching her drift, I asked, "Oh, would you like to get in my car and I'll drive you around to look for it?"

"Yes, please." She ran around to the passenger door and hopped in.

It was at this point I wondered if I had made an unwise decision by allowing myself to be alone with a total stranger. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

We slowly drove up and down each aisle of the parking lot looking for her lost car. Nothing. So we circled back and looked again. I suggested she use the key fob to see if she could get her horn to honk so we could find it. Still nothing. Finally after about 10 minutes, I saw a car that fit the description and said, "I'll bet that's it, isn't it?"

"Oh, I could just kiss you!" she said enthusiastically. We both knew that was a bad idea. She quickly introduced herself as "Lorraine", jumped out of the car, thanked me again, and muttered something about her mother being worried.

I soon found a space to park, and went into the store. On my way in, I saw Lorraine getting out of her car, which was now parked right on the front sidewalk. I said "hi, again" to which she replied, "My 87-year-old mother's probably wondered what happened to me. If you see her in there, tell her she can come out now."

I walked into the store and saw an elderly woman and asked, "Are you Lorraine's mom?" She responded in the affirmative. After explaining the situation, she laughed and said, "That's my Lorrainey!"

Somehow I just knew that this wasn't the first time Lorraine had jumped in the car with a total stranger.

5:15

When The Mr. goes out of town for a few days, Daughter #3 and I go out for supper. Granted, most people call it "taste testing at Costco", but we've found a way to turn it into the full meal deal.

Here's the first thing you need to know: You need to enter Costco at 5:15. (Hint: If you want to appear that you're actually shopping, you should grab a shopping cart.) We casually make our way from table to table sampling the wares until we reach the end of the store. By that time it's about 5:30 -- and that's when the magic happens: Shift Change! Then we go back to the first table and start all over again. With a whole new line-up of taste test employees, no one's the wiser, and we get twice the amount of food. By the time we're done, we're pretty much filled up, and we've usually been able to get all the food groups. I used to feel obligated to make a small purchase while I was in the store, but I don't feel that way anymore. In fact I don't even grab a cart.

And I only feel slightly embarrassed.

Dixie

Tons-o-Fun

Recipe For a Fun Evening

Good food -- check

Hilarious games -- check

A handful of college-aged kids -- check

We haven't seen Santana since she was a cute little four-year-old, and now she's a cute (not so little) 21-year-old going to University here. She and her roommates, and one of their boyfriends, came for supper. Sons #1A and 1B also came.

All I can say is, "Ton's-o-Fun!"

Dixie

Getting Misty

For the past two weeks, Daughter #3 has been home from school because of semester-end exams. She actually spent a lot of time with me during her time off, and I loved it! We shopped, worked on a puzzle, shovelled snow, played card games, surfed you-tube, ate out, watched several old musicals (gotta love it!), and ate way too many tortilla chips with way too much salsa con queso. She just becomes more enjoyable all the time!

Yesterday she started a new semester -- her last one in high school. And I have to say, I'm a little sad. Her college plans for the fall will take her not only out of town, but out of the country. I'm getting misty just thinking about it!

I might have to console myself with some chips and salsa.

Dixie