how to tell that you are getting old

I graduated high school 11 years ago.  I know, it does not seem like it was so long ago.  Where did the time go?  I've been back several times though because my brother in law Jordan is a senior at the same school.  Go Falcons!  I (have to) go to every choir recital.  I actually really like going because Jordan, and the rest of the kids too have great voices, and Liam loves to dance to the music.  This year is the 10th anniversary of the Hollywood Bowl.  It's basically the end of the year choir show.  Since it is the 10th year, the choir teachers asked the choir alumni to come back and sing a song.  Since I'm going to the show anyway, and the chosen song is "Seasons of Love" I really couldn't say no.  So yesterday I went to the one rehearsal (the show is tonight) and Jordan is the only person there I know.  Turns out not many alumni responded, so the seniors are singing "Seasons of Love" too.  Most of the other alumni had graduated within the last two years, so they still seemed like little kids to me.  I naturally gravitated over the the choir teachers and talked to them. 

Do you know how weird it is to come back to high school and have far more in common with the teachers than with the kids?  So weird!  The choir teachers (a married couple) even have a son named Liam.  It was really funny then singing with the "kids" (who thought it was awesome that I'm Jordan's sister-in-law because apparently he's a hot commodity, and they were all jealous that I'm a mom with a cute kid who works barely any hours at a clothing store and really only for my discount).  I had a lot of fun at practice, and am really excited for the show tonight.  I really miss being in a choir!

It was interesting too, being with the "kids", because everything seems so different than it was when I was in school.  Everyone was texting and talking about keeping their ratios on twitter of needing to keep more followers than people they follow at all times.  And not a single girl (besides me) had frizzy hair.  Every girl had that "I spent 2 hours doing my hair and makeup today to make it look like I wasn't trying at all to look cool" look.  I definitely never put that much effort into my appearance in high school (or ever, really).  Good thing I had a steady boyfriend all through school and didn't need to worry about that stuff anyway.  Wheow!

Being back in your old high school is so strange.  And it made me feel a bit like Marshall from HIMYM (you know, life among the gorillas?).

confusing products

We were given a baby bath chair (possibly one of the most pointless baby purchases ever in my opinion because by the time the baby is big enough to fit in this chair, they are big enough not to need one) that was the brand "Safety 1st".  However, this greatly confused Jeff because a huge notice posted right by the brand name states "This is not a safety device."  The chair also states that children can drown while using it.

My thoughts run along the lines of wondering how much water someone would put in the tub while giving their baby a bath?  I mean, you're only supposed to fill a few inches.  Are kids drowning because their parents are filling tubs up to the brim?  Because there is no way possible for a baby to drown while strapped in a chair in 2 inches of water.  Even if the baby was a contortionist it couldn't bend itself down enough to purposefully frown in a chair in two inches of water.  And if they could, then the chair really isn't safe, and the brand name would be even more laughable.

back to Christmas

Several days ago I gave a bit of a Christmas teaser, so I figured I should probably make good on the rest of the story.  Christmas Eve was a lively event with the in-laws that ended up turning a bit white trash.  That, of course only made everything funnier.  The interesting stuff mostly started with a monther v. daughter game of beer pong in the kitchen.  For anyone who has not seen their mother-in-law almost win a game of beer pong, this is very funny!  And the whole thing was captured on video.  Actually, it's probably already on youtube.  Hmm, I should look for that... Then all the boys (this includes ages 3 to 31) went into a bedroom and several of them walked out later with multiple pellet gun welts.  Mostly given out by the 31 year old.  Of course.  Then one of Jeff's cousins decided he was overheating, and in the middle of the whole family event, he stripped down to basketball shorts and an undershirt.  Also, he supposedly took a shower to cool off at some point.  So random.  Oh yeah, then the 3 year old played beer bong against several people.  Don't worry though, his dad drank the beer for him.

Then the next night at my family's Christmas get together I heard that the night before, my aunt was showing everyone the (hopefully self published) book she had just written as was selling for $22.  It is a children's book with a story that revolves around a dead beetle.  I swear I am not making this up.  In a between bouts of laughter at retelling the story, my mom and uncle managed to tell me bits like, "Hey, why aren't you getting up?  Oh, that's right.  You're a dead beetle."  Unfortunately she didn't' bring it with her Christmas day, so I never got to read it in front of her while trying to keep a straight face, like the rest of my family.  My family wasn't nearly as funny as Jeff's.  Mostly just my grandmas making truly awkward and uncomfortable comments about my baby.  Apparently she thought I only would tolerate having a girl and she kept trying to tell me that boys are ok too.  It was soo awkward!  I really missed my tradition cosmo with mom before that family arrived...

Anyway, I know it's way past cause I took a break of writing for awhile, but I hope everyone had awesome holiday stuff going on.  Let me know if your stories can top family beer pong tournaments, pellet guns, stripping, and a dead beetle book.

tech support "fun"

So I've decided that AT&T is full of stupid people.  I just got asked if my land line had a dial tone, I said no.  The follow up question was (no joke) "Are you calling from this line now?"

silly questions

the two silliest questions I have been asked today were asked in the same conversation today.
1. Do you mind if I make brownies?
and
2. If I make brownies will you eat some of them?

brilliant

Hey!  I have a brilliant idea!  Let's take a REALLY long movie that just barely got out of theaters, say James Cameron's Avatar.  Then let's put it BACK in theaters, and add 3D and nine additional minutes.  Seriously, what the hell?!  How does that make sense?

25 things

Ok, so its my turn for 25 things...  (Thanks Tova) Where to start?


1. I love to read, but my guilty pleasure books are mostly "young adult".

2. Whenever I'm supremely upset I listen to "La Vie Boheme" from Rent, and by the end I'm always smiling, head banging, and singing along.

3. I understand a fair amount of French, but rarely speak it, even when asked, because I'm afraid I'll sound stupid.

4. I'm obsessed with Glee and planning on going as Brittany for Halloween (with Carra as Santana).  No joke!

5. I've never eaten meat (except when I was little and didn't know fish sticks were meat).

6. I've dyed my hair since I was 14, and don't really know my natural color.

7. I really couldn't tell you my favorite movie if I tried.  I own more than 500, and I love them all (mostly).

8. When I get bored, I play with makeup, otherwise I barely wear any (but I like to buy it too).

9. I have the most spoiled (no, well taken care of..) cat ever.  She has a kitty pool in her bedroom.

10. When I was 18 I went to England and saw part of the filming of Harry Potter 3, and I met Daniel Radcliffe and had a conversation with him about a rat stuffed animal (yeah...lame.  I know).

11. When When Tova and I were little, I thought she had the best dress-up ever!  It was all about the peach dress.

12. I love cooking and baking, but am best known for scones and granola bars.

13. Jeff has gotten me completely hooked on Frontierville on facebook.

14. If I was super rich my entire wardrobe would come from Anthropologie.

15. I am not a gym person, but I feel awesome after going to pilates.

16. Last summer Carra and I went to Oregon and Washington to visit Twilight sets.  Tova, I know you think I'm crazy, but it was super pretty.

17. My favorite two ringtone songs are "The Final Countdown" and "Let's Go to the Mall".

18. If I wasn't married to Jeff I would want to marry Marshall from How I Met Your Mother.

19. My ultimate favorite part about my job is dressing mannequins.

20. I've been to France 5 times.

21. Mupma bought me liquid silver glitter eyeliner just so she could borrow it.

22. Nine times out of ten when I play the piano I play All I Ask of You from Phantom because I play it best out of all my sheet music.

23. I looooove candles, and I have occasionally lit them even when its hot.

24. The only careers I ever seriously considered (between fourth grade and high school) were opera singer, stunt man, and any job involving special effects.

25. My favorite celebrity encounter was when I met Sutton Foster and she told me she liked my dress.

cute thug hamsters (no, I'm not kidding)

So I really want to know why wannabe ghetto hamsters are being used to sell Kias.  My other thought was that I'd rather have the toaster.

crazy apple crazies

Anyone who got their new 4G iphone today is a crazy person.  Trust me on this.  I had work today at 6am, but I was a little early, so I got to the mall around 5:30 (I know... ick, right?) and the usually empty parking lot was mad full.  I was kinda confused, but I figured, whatever.  Then as I walked up to the entrance there was this huge crowd of people lined up and two mall cops next to the doors.  I know its crazy, but my first thought was totally "oh my god.  There must be a hostage situation or something."  Yeah, I've seen way to many movies...So I go up to a mall cop and ask what's going on.  He tells me all these losers (my word, not his) are waiting to get their stupid (again, my words, not his) new iphones.  Apparentally some of these crazies had been waiting since 6pm last night.  I have to say, I did feel way VIP when the mall cop unlocked the doors and let me in right in front of the crazies in line.  Woohoo!  At 6:30 the losers were let into the mall to the apple store (which was being all secretive with black material covering the windows) and put in two lines.  One for people who preorders, and one for suckers for didn't.  Each line started at the store entrance, and ended in seperate directions down the mall.  I had an excellant vantage point of this whole charade because my store is right across from Apple.  At 7 the doors opened, the employees ran out past everyone in line (all several thousand of them, and not I am not making up the size!) and clapped and yelled and acted like idiots.  When I left the mall at 10am, the lines had only gotten bigger, despite the fact that the phones had been selling for the past 3 hours.  For those of you who are familiar with the Arden Fair layout, one line exited Apple and wound around past Macy's and in front of The Children's Place.  So yeah, you people are all crazy!  And by the way crazy people, why are you at the mall at 10am on a thursday?  Shouldn't you be at work so you can pay for your expensive monthly phone bill?  What do you people do for a living that THOUSANDS of you can just take the morning off?

Website of the Week

I actually should have titled this "website of my week", because I don't intend to actually have an official website of the week, unless it is by popular demand.  Let me know.  Anyway, this week is definately peopleofwalmart.com and once you check it out, my reasoning will be obvious.  I suggest you search photos by highest rated.  Let's just say that after scanning a few pages of this, Jeff probably wanted to strangle m because I kept laughing, snorting, and wanting to describe it all to him.  Warning: this is thescariest site I have ever seen!!!!!  This site also makes me want to never ever step foot in a walmart again, cause I don't want to be anywhere near the...well, let's just call them "beings".  Ugh!

hide and seek (cat style)

Cats remind me of an evil/ sneaky version of Doug from Disney's Up.  No, don't get me wrong, I love cats (I mean, who wouldn't look at these and be jeslous of not owning anything as cute?), but sometimes Luna can look kinda...well, sneaky and evil.  She loves playing (but mostly hiding) under newspapers, and it's really only a matter of time before she jumps out and tries to attack your ankle with the attitude of an ADHD 2 year old on a sugar high (Tova, back me up on this).

Yeah, she looks all sweet and innocent here...

ready to pounce

now she's just grumpy at me for taking her picture and thus ruining her hiding place.

west side

I just saw this shirt this morning.  Wow...

Uh, yeah.  Apparently the wicked witch of the west went ghetto or thug or something.

awesome

So I got kinda bored today, and stumbled upon these fantastic signs.  For the most part, if you know what these signs/ tattoos mean, you are a huge nerd.  Of course, I know what all of them mean, so what does that say...

Something that will keep me awake...

Yeah... Gotta love those days where you start work at 6am, but are forced to park like a mile away (I'm not kidding) so you have to get up that much earlier. Grr. So halfway through the day I start trying to eat stuff that will keep me awake (it's basically a game of "how much sugar/ caffeine can I consume?"). My personal favorite for the day is the graham cracker & chocolate frosting sandwich that my dad created (no shock there for anyone who has ever met him). Maybe I'll make some coffee to go with that...

Followers...mhah ha ha (evil laugh)

Is it wrong that when I see the section for my blog followers (thank you Tova) I think of cults? If only I could change the title to "People Who Must Be Very Bored", or "Yes, I Was Tricked Into Viewing This Page!). Those title might be more appropriate. Let me know what you think. Ok, imaginary people who are actually reading this?