I'm thinking bedroom.

Does anyone want to teach me how to sew this because I can't spend $200 on a single duvet cover. Seriously does someone want to teach me?

The M's meet the W's

Yesterday was a special day. A day devoted to all the spoiled only children out there. A day Chelsey has been counting down to for months. The Wiggles came to Phoenix! Scream! She literally had a calendar that she was crossing off the days, in anticipation for this blessed event. She even took this calendar on vacation. She so graciously invited Chloe and me to attend. And every time she got mad at me she told me, 'That's it. You are not allowed to come with me to the Wiggles concert." I am telling you, Chelsey is The Wiggles numero uno fan. We were sitting 9th row. I realized the Wiggles are a lot older (I said "older" not "old" as not to offend) than I thought, as I could see them so up close and in person. They are in their late 40's and one is almost 60. They must keep pretty healthy and spry with all the wiggling they do. I was also surprised they really do, do all their own music. For some reason I thought them playing the keyboard, guitars, and drums was all fake. They really are the "greatest band of all time!!!!"-Chelsey Mott.

Half way through a clap.

Chloe loved the concert although you wouldn't know it by looking at her. She was captivated and a little overwhelmed I think.
See-you can tell she is having a ball! I think this is my dad's 5th Wiggles concert. My dad is the number one supplier of the Wiggles livelihood. He bought them their boat, I am pretty sure.
Dancing in the aisles.

I told you I had some moves.
Not as good as these guys though.
My fashionista. She sure knows how to match her accessories to her outfit. Nice work Chloe.

Don't tell anyone, but I think mine was the cutest little wiggler there. And all the other mothers with only children thought the same thing of theirs.
The souvenir stand. There were a bazillion people in line. They literally were the last ones there. Not because they were the last in line, but because it takes time to buy the entire souvenir stand.

How the Wiggles bought their boat.

Chelsey has been earning money for weeks for precisely this reason. I paid her to help me with some stuff around my house.

One time she put away my dishes and I asked her what she thought was a fair payment.

She told me, "10 dollars."

She wasn't playing games. She had merchandise to buy.

After the concert we got a ride on one of those bike chariots (I don't know what else to call them but I think this is a perfect description) to our car. This has always been a dream of mine, but I am too cheap to ever pay for one of them. Don't you love doing things with parents? "Oh Dad...I am hot...do you guys want to get some ice cream?"

The ride was just as amazing as I had always imagined it being. We felt the refreshing 113 degree air on our faces as we glided through downtown Phoenix.

We had a fantabulous day. How could you not have a great time with adult men dressed in primary colors, and an audience full of adorable children? Although, MINE is the cutest.

Thanks to the Wiggles and my dad for the perfect day.

Kitchen Makeunder

Some of you may remember back when, when I said I wanted to redecorate my whole house. I put those feelings aside for a few months hoping they would relinquish, however they did not. I could not be restrained any longer. I had a spark of insanity yesterday and said to myself, I am tired of this brown wall and mismatching kitchen! One side of my kitchen looked like the Kirkland store, and the other half of my kitchen looked like the plate department at Bed Bath and Beyond.

3 years ago when we moved in, I had a designing identity crisis. I thought for some reason that my house should be brown or taupe or neutral or something along those lines. But as I have stared at that brown wall for 3 years I realized I am a cool girl. Cool as in cool colored, oh and cool in general too. So I got rid of my pumpkin butter and traded it in for winter frost. By the way, I have decided my dream job would be to name paint colors all day. How great would that be? "Oh, now that color reminds me of a summer moonlit walk. I shall name this color, summer moonlight." How do I get this job? I want it. That or a restaurant critic. These kinds of jobs are easy to find, so I hear.

Kirkland Store.Plate City.
2 different styles, Same kitchen. You see what I am talking about.
Seriously could there be any more plates in one area.

So I went about trying to rectify this situation. And here is how it turned out.

Oops. This is my old kitchen. Silly me. Let me try again.

Beautiful! This style I call Contemporary Forest. Okay okay, so this isn't it either. But I had to show you something truly awful to get the perfect kitchen image out of your mind. Just cleansing your palette.

The blue is definitely more blue than I had imagined. I had wanted a hardly noticeable hue, alas I forgot that paint dries darker. This Don did not know either. He told me yesterday that, "It will be lighter when it dries. It is like hair. Your hair is always darker when it is wet."
Evidently hair and paint are not as similar as some people suspected.

Don told me today, "Nice Job Melissa. It doesn't look as bad as I thought it was going to look. Yesterday I wasn't so sure."

I suppose this was a compliment which I put in the same category as comments like, "Oh, you got your hair cut."
This side of the kitchen I am not done with. I don't know what I want to do yet, but it needs something.

Now I have a kitchen suitable for dinner guests. And a picture to prove just how homemakerish I am.

Next room:bedroom.
But first I am going to need some moola.
Anyone know of anyone hiring paint namers? Or food critics?

Another post devoted to hair.

So I was watching "What Not to Wear" last night...another too fun to handle Friday night... and I noticed my favorite tv hair stylist Nick, is off the show.

Guess he was replaced for some reason.

So I googled it and found his salon website.

And found out that a regular person like myself could go to his salon and get a haircut for...wait for it.....500 bucks.

I plan on telling this to Don. Maybe $35 will sound cheap.

Did you know I used to get my haircut every 4 weeks like clock work?

It was very short. And I liked every hair in perfect place....what can I say, I lived in hair sprayed Utah.

Did you know I also went on a date with a guy who went on a church mission to Scottland? Which apparently gives one the right to wear a kilt in the middle of Salt Lake City. It was a fun date. We went to a Symphony and PF Changs. And I am pretty sure he got the intended reaction: everyone staring. (at his beautiful date of course, um just kidding)
He told me that he wanted to wear his kilt at his wedding. And I said to myself, well, you will not be marrying me because I wouldn't be caught dead at my wedding with my husband wearing a skirt. So either he married a girl more open minded than me, or his fiance told him you will not ruin my wedding pictures by wearing that thing. I hope no one was offended. I love Scottish culture. Um, the very little I actually know about it. I could definitely marry someone with a Scottish accent though. That would be very nice. I think Nick, my favorite tv hair stylist is Scottish. Aren't you impressed by how I can tie everything in? I have literary prowess.

This pose makes us look like I'm the mom, and these are all my daughters, doesn't it? See, I told you my hair was short.

In other news, Chloe is watching Dora on the Spanish channel. So I expect her Spanish to be improving at double the speed now. Complete immersion instead of words here and there. Abaho Chloe Abaho! I have no idea how to spell that or what it means. I just know Dora says something like that a lot.

I have nothing else to report.

Good day.

Can you believe...

...this is how my daughter chose to take her nap?

Dipped Cones and Thievery

So I was eating a cherry dipped cone at Dairy Queen last night (delicious by the way, haven't had one of those in years). Just chatting it up with some friends. When suddenly we hear this very loud noise that sounded like someone was moving a table across the floor. At first that's all I thought it was, but it was lasting a long time. Then I hear several people start running to the door yelling, "Call the police! Get his license plate number!"

Bizarre right??!!
Some guy came in, stole the life size coin collector intended for the Children's Miracle Network (hence the dragging sound, it must have been heavy) and chucked it in the waiting getaway car. The only thing I actually "saw" was the car driving away with some guy in the back desperately trying to hold on to the large loot.

It was the weirdest thing ever. Also...who steals from children?
And that was my excitement for the night.
But the cherry dipped cone was excellent.

Snuggie part 2

Remember the old Snuggie commercial? Well good news, there is an upgrade!

And I am pretty sure making the snuggie "stylish" will require more than an animal print.

"Nice weather we've been having here..."

No.

Nice weather, we have NOT been having here.

You know how when you are baking and you open the oven door and it singes your eyelashes and blows hot air on your face....

Welcome to Arizona. That is what it is like here every time you open the door and walk outside. It is like one big oven. And we are all cooking in it together.

In fact the other day I was in my kitchen, felt a gush of hot air and said to myself, am I baking something? Did Chloe just open the oven door? No. She opened the back door. And millisecond later I felt it.

Sunday, we arrived at church to an un-air conditioned building. The speaker talked about church in South America where no one has air conditioning. He meant it in a "hey, this ain't so bad" sort of way, and yes I stopped and felt grateful. But I got to say, talking about how hot it was in South America succeeded in making me feel hotter. You know, how like if someone says the word "yawn" everyone yawns? How many of you just yawned after reading that? I just did. 2 times. I seriously did. Anyway, it was quite a sight to see half the congregation, the women, fanning themselves, and the other half, men, manly sweating it out. Guess fanning oneself is not a masculine thing to do.

Anyway.

Sorry to complain. Polly Positive would like to say that for much of the year, AZ is a perfectly beautiful and delightful place to live. I am currently reading "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" hence, the glass is half full comment.

Now I will return to complaining.

So it is like, majorly hot. I feel bad taking Chloe anywhere because the moment she sees I am about to put her in her car seat she says, "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

Yes indeed Chloe. You are correct. It is hot.

Well last night glory, glory hallelujah. The rain came! Every year we Zonies wait for the monsoon. You can almost see the steam rising from the sidewalk as the rain neutralizes the scorching ground. It is...beautiful.

I love the monsoons. My half empty glass is filling up faster with each rain drop. Suddenly the summer is not so bad here in the Valley of the Sun.

Black Levis

( Don and I, the dating days)


So I have no new stories or anything new to talk about really, except for how ridiculously hot AZ is in July, but who cares about weather, really? And I suppose that is really not new news anyway. But I remembered my favorite Don story the other day and I figure, heck, you should write that down Melissa. And so I am.

Back in the day, Don used to wear these black jean Levis. I pretty much hated them. I was surprised Don liked them because he has good taste in clothes. I didn't share my true feelings until we were late in the dating game. And then I sprung the bad news on him:
"Don. I really think your black Levis are dorky. Nobody wears colored jeans anymore."

Don, by the way, did not lay down and die.
He replied, "Black Levis are in style. I have gone to many salsa dances, and all the good Latin dancers wear black jeans. You are wrong about this."

And furthermore...
"Well, I don't like your black knee length shorts. I don't think that black dress pants should be made into shorts. " This being his rebuttal to me saying that jeans shouldn't be black.

Well he stopped wearing his jeans and I stopped wearing my shorts. One day I decided I did want to wear them however, and could not find them anywhere. I figured they were shoved somewhere and they would eventually show up so I wasn't too worried. Well they never showed up and I was perplexed. I had pretty much given up on them and then one day I saw something black sticking out from underneath my mattress. And wouldn't you know it, my black shorts emerged.

Don fessed up to the kidnapping and merely stated, "I was mad you didn't like my black jeans."

And it still makes me laugh. Although I am pretty sure Don is still mad about his black jeans.

The End.

My Favorite Comedian

Have a laugh, it's on me!

9 years.

I want to stop and acknowledge, that today is the 9 year anniversary of my mom's death.
I wrote a long essay about it, posted it, and decided 5 minutes later to take it off. I decided it was too personal to share.
Instead I make this simple post to acknowledge my mother's life and to say, not a day goes by that she does not cross my mind, even after nine years.
As with Easter we stop and solemnly remember the death of Jesus Christ. And today I stop, and solemnly remember the death of my mother. It was the day my life changed in profound ways. But...the overriding message of Easter is that He lives. And so, I ponder on this today. Because He lives, she lives. I have been keenly aware of this fact at specific moments in my life...and if I fail to notice, it is merely because I am not paying attention. I believe she is with me more than I realize.
I have not forgotten you mom.

Daily Musings.

I gave Chloe some chicken penne for lunch today.

And she apparently was unhappy with the seasonings, as she dumped half a bottle of syrup into her bowl while I wasn't looking.She seemed to like it. From the other room, I could hear with every bite a sigh of satisfaction, like she had just taken a sip of the most delicious and refreshing drink on the planet.

I plan on filling the syrup bottle up with corn syrup next time. That will teach her.

Terry

Don reminded me of this story today and I thought I would share because I like telling stories. This goes down as one of my most embarrassing moments. I don't really get embarrassed that easily, but in this instance, it served me right to be embarrassed. It was not one of my finest moments.

I was a substitute teacher a few years back. One day I went and taught a 1st grade class at a charter school.
I remember looking around at my class for the day and saw one of my students and said to myself, "Oh that's sad. That little boy must not have very much money because he has a girl's jean jacket on and feminine boots, and his hair is really poofy for a boy too."

This little boys name was Terry. The only Terry I have ever known was male.

Halfway through the day I noticed Terry was crying.

Another student pointed it out to me and after I asked Terry what was wrong and received no answer (his head was buried in his desk), I tried to get the rest of class on task by saying something to the effect of "Terry is having a hard day. Let's just try to give him some space."

And then...this...echoed through the whole room:

"Terry's not a Boy...Terry's a girl!!"

And the wheels started turning very fast in my head and then came to a screeching halt. Oh no! How many times today have I referred to Terry as a boy!

Try digging yourself out of that one.

Poor Terry went from sad to a downright wretched mess.

I have never felt so terrible in my life. I made up some story about how I had short hair when I was a kid and someone thought I was a boy. But the hole I had dug was pretty deep.

Needless to say I did not win the teacher of the day award.

Lessons Learned:
1. Mothers: If you decide on a unisex name, make sure hair style leaves no room for gender error.
2. People in general: If you are not sure on a child's gender, be very, VERY careful
Although this was not really my problem. Which leads me to Number 3.
3. Melissa: Think outside your perceived perception. (you have no idea how many times this has gotten me into trouble).

The End.

Please don't think I am a horrible person.

Things that make me go- wow.

I was watching a show on PBS tonight about a man named Jason Crigler.
It was...fascinating. And inspiring.
He was a well known guitar player in NYC who played for the likes of Norah Jones, and others.
One night he had a massive stroke.
The doctors told his family he would either die or be in a vegetative like state.
They told his family he should be put in a nursing home and offered little hope of a normal life.
His family decided against that route and put all their combined efforts into his rehabilitation.
He had to relearn everything. Everything.
With the help of his family and motivation from his little baby girl and wife, he has almost fully recovered.
And as you would imagine, he had to completely relearn how to play his guitar, and now he is performing again.
It was totally amazing.
Watch this video of him performing.
If you need a triumph over tragedy story, this is the one for you.



For more info on the documentary go here.

Mark your calendars people!

Last weekend Don and I were driving through the desert to get to the in-laws. We decided it would be a grand idea to camp out there some day. In the summer. So what better time than this weekend to make it happen?! The impending forecast this weekend is predicting 116 degrees. Hooray! We would like to invite anyone that would like to come, on a camping trip to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather. Here is the itinerary so you can plan ahead! Let us know if you can make it. I promise, it will be a trip to remember! We will arrive at scheduled destination (ie. middle of the desert) around 11:00 AM. We plan on staying just the day, until about 6:00 PM, to enjoy the best part of the day. We wouldn't want to miss the sun! So I guess it is not really a camping trip. More of a day trip. Well, we might bring a couple towels to lay on in case we decide spur of the moment to spend the night. Or to take a nice afternoon nap....

We thought we would eat lunch around 3:00 PM. We are planning on bringing a couple dutch ovens. One for hot chocolate, and one for a potato casserole, made with lots of melted butter and cheese. We thought we would bring some saltine crackers for a nice snack. To drink we will have some warm diet Dr. Pepper.

Then we thought we would have a pleasant bonfire. Don is bringing a few of our large garbage bags full of Chloe's old dirty diapers to burn, so we should be able to get a good fire going! Bring some fun stories to share, like dreams you've had where you are really super thirsty but every time you try to take a drink, you are never satisfied. And then you wake up! What a silly/fun bonfire story! Or maybe about the people stranded on the ocean with only ocean water to drink, and then they drank it and all died! Those are just ideas, any fun appropriate story will be welcome and appreciated!

After the bonfire, we thought we would have a 3 mile race around the desert. And to multi task, we will have a contest to see how much trash we can pick up. Whoever picks up the most, wins! And the prize is they get to finish up the rest of the hot chocolate! Fun!

By 6 PM or so, we will start to clean up/pack up. We want to get out of there before the sun goes down.

Oh I forgot to mention, we will have a snake scavenger hunt- so you better brush up on all your desert dwelling snakes! You also might want to bring some anti-venom serum if you happen to have some handy.

Unfortunately we will have to drive our car without the air conditioning or tinted windows, but lucky for us it has black leather seats! Yeah! High class! Our other car,we just barely scheduled it today, is going into the shop to get a stripe painted on it.

If you want to come up later than us, just look for us on the side of the road, mile marker 321. We will be the couple in all black clothing dancing around the bonfire.

Hope you guys can make it!

I know after reading this, you will all be just dying to go!

A good old fashioned Holiday.

I have decided that in order to form a more perfect holiday...the 4th of July should 1. Be spent in a small town. And 2. The small town should not be ridiculously hot. The 4th of July has never been my favorite holiday because most of my memories of the 4th of July involve too many people crammed into a very hot place. Phoenix in July never, NEVER cools off. It is still above 90 degrees at 9 PM. That kind of atmosphere does not make me want to eat a flaming hot hamburger or corn on the cob. And I barely have the energy to sing the Star Spangled Banner.

(Chloe playing King of the Hill with the plastic playhouse. I think most of the morning I heard her standing inside, telling the other kids to "Go...Go" As in "Go away")
Luckily, we know some people who live in a small town, and one that is not ridiculously hot. We have spent the last two 4th of Julys in ST. David, AZ and I hope this continues to be our tradition because I have to tell you...I love the 4th of July now. We spent the morning in Mesa, we went to the annual church pancake breakfast. Then in the afternoon we took off to Don's parent's house. We arrvied just in time for a steak dinner with all the fixings. AND we ate outside. And I said to myself, now this is what the founding father's had in mind when they said we should celebrate the 4th of July as our day of independence.

After dinner we drove to the neighboring small town for a fireworks show. Amazingly we arrived 15 minutes before it started and by golly, we

1.Found a close parking place

2. Got front row seats.

3. Actually heard the music that coordinated with the fireworks.

4. We didn't sweat at all.

And I said to myself, this is how the 4th of July was intended to be celebrated.

Have I mentioned I scored with the in-laws? They are pretty much the best in-laws to have. I married into a huge, happy family. They are extremely helpful and kind.

Chloe liked the show, although she got a little restless halfway through and started climbing all over me. She did much better than my first fireworks experience. My parent's told me they took me to a show in a stadium when I was really little and I hid underneath the bleachers. I am relieved to see Chloe is much braver than me.

And as any good 4th of July inspires...I reflected on the sacrifices made for the freedoms I get to live. Our freedom was not free.

After the show they turned on some dance music and Miss Chloe caught the dance fever. So did I. Unfortunately none of the rest of the family did so I couldn't properly showcase my moves. As you can see, I have some good ones.

We spent Sunday there too. We sat outside on a swing and talked for 2 hours and ate root beer floats.

And I said to myself...I should live in a small town.

But only if they have a Target.

Birthdays Galore

I am having a fantastic day.
Yesterday, Don approached me and said, "Melissa, I would like to personally invite you on a staycation starting tomorrow."

And I said, "Okay! But doesn't the official definition of a staycation involve staying at a resort in your hometown?"

And he said, "Well in that case I would like to invite you on a broke staycation."

So we are having a superb time here at home. It is just nice to have him around. So far we have been to the gym, Wal-Mart, and gone swimming. And right now he is putting together our new Grill. We have been eyeing them for years, and we are now proud owners. Grills. They are on my top ten list for great things about summer. 100 + degree weather does not make my list, in case you were wondering.

This past week brought 2 birthdays in my family. First my brother.

Meet Adam. He invited us to go to California Pizza Kitchen to celebrate. BBQ Chicken Pizza=Awesome.I think this is a real creative name for a chinese restaurant don't you? That's basically all the information you need to know.
Chloe was a good mom and brought her baby with her. She brings this baby everywhere. Chloe decided to wear her pajamas no matter how hard I tried to entice her to wear some "going out in public" clothes. She has so many cute "going out in public" clothes that she just refuses to wear. It literally breaks my heart into little tiny pieces. She also was sporting the pjs gangsta style, with one pant leg scrunched up to her knee.
And then a few days later, my dad's birthday followed. I have no idea how old he turned. But I prefer to think every birthday he turns 61.
I forgot it was his birthday until 6 pm that night. He called and told me he was treating himself to a dinner out for his birthday. Crap.

Luckily I had all the ingredients to make him a delicious Bundt cake and my family came over after dinner. My cable and internet weren't working so we were forced to talk. And you know what, I think the cable should go out more often,

I still can't believe I forgot his birthday. But I gave him a coupon for a belated dinner at Mottsy's.