80s Week

Megan has decided to devote this week to the 80s. I am sure that I can come up with many posts regarding that decade. Born in 1974, the 80s covered the years of my life six through sixteen.

As I reflected on the 80s I realized that they were some of the most happy and also the most difficult times of my life. I'm sure that doesn't sound original. Who doesn't have major ups and downs in childhood and into adolescence? I was a very happy child but the onset of puberty seemed to trigger a couple of hidden auto-immune things in me that have been at the base of my largest trials in life. I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata just as I entered my teens and I began experiencing a lot of depression and, now that I can look back, some other mental issues. It is my theory that a lot of mental illness, including mine, is auto-immune. So, anywho...the first half of the 80s felt mostly like this:



































The Second half of the 80s had a lot of this (thank goodness for mom!):

The 80s were a time of discovering myself. A lot of my memories are tied very closely to music. I was a KJQ girl all the way with some occasional hip hop or rap mixed in, but mostly only for dancing pleasure with my friends. This song from Freur was one of my all-time favs of the 80s. And, strangely enough, I still really like it. So, I will come up with some 80s memories. Look for new posts coming soon (or avoid my jib for the rest of this week if you have no interest in my life during that precious decade).

Kelly, if this song doesn't make you want to leave a comment, then nothing will!

Shirley T

When my dad was a little boy he had a crush on Shirley Temple. He had a special cup with a picture of Shirley's face at the bottom of it. Those beloved curls and that smile encouraged him to finish his milk regularly. In fact, I may just have found the photo used in advertising the sale of those cups. Does this look familiar, Gordy Boy? As a child I was always amazed and a bit jealous of that gorgeous, singing, dancing, curly-headed little thing. I loved her movies, especially Heidi.

The other night Deedle and String Cheese asked me to do their hair in sponge curlers. I happily rolled their hair after their baths. At first they didn't like the idea of sleeping on the curlers, but got over it quite quickly, especially knowing how cute their hair would look in the morning. Regrettably, when I took the curlers out the following day, they both had small, blond fros. SC looked at herself, touched around the edges of the puff and said, "Uh...I don't like it."

Well, I did! Once I picked through the curls a bit, they loosened up some and I had two tiny Shirley Temples of my own!!! I loved the curls so much that I have now left their hair unwashed for four days! Their hair is starting to get ratty in the back, so I guess I'll have to give in and wash it tomorrow, but I have delayed because I don't think they will let me do it again any time soon.

Saturday and today, Deedle was in a performing sort of mood. I took the opportunity to catch her singing some of her favorite songs. She may not possess the natural ability of Shirley Temple. Maybe she doesn't look at the camera or hold still for one tiny second or remember what her hands are supposed to be doing and she may occasionally zone out and forget where she is and why there is a strange bald woman in front of her with a camera, but she has a pretty good little memory and I absolutely adore her. Shirley T, you may be an Academy Award winning, Ambassador living, good will giving, iconic child star; but in my mind, you've got nothing on Deedsy!

Another 'Do

Nancy asked me what Loumy's hair looked like after telling her that it took me six hours (in two separate sittings) to complete. So, here it is. I feel no need to apologize for bragging about my son. Hopefully when he is older and reads about my gushing here, he will remember more about how much I love him and less about the times that I lose my temper.

I think if anybody had ever told me that one day this beautiful boy would be mine, I couldn't have believed that I would be so blessed. He has such a tender heart. He has such a cool sense of style. Yes, I buy his clothing, but he usually dresses himself and ends up doing a great job. I mean, check out this outfit. He put it together himself, complete with his backpack worn the same way that Diego wears his. And he requested the hairstyle. He tries to come get in bed with me every night during the middle of the night to cuddle and is sometimes successful at getting by Molly. He can't pronounce his "r"s. He asks me this question EVERY SINGLE DAY, sometimes up to 15 times per day, "Mom, can I be your big brother?" My answer is always yes. Sometimes he then asks me to name him. Once that is done, he runs off to play. Sometimes I choose his name (most recently he was Uncle Rico for a few days). Sometimes he gives me choices ("Do you want me to be Derek, Bosco, or Steven?"). He loves sports. Anything to do with a ball is interesting to him and he wants to try it. He can crash on his bike three times during one ride and still get back on (thank goodness for helmets!). He gets along well with other children. He likes to make his sisters happy. He likes to tease his sisters, especially getting their goat by copying whatever they say. He always asks, "Can us...?" Instead of, "Can we...?" He loves to snuggle. He sits still for six hours to get his hair done. He learns things very quickly and is starting to write letters. He is in awe when he gets to be around older boys. He thinks his older cousins are super cool and always talks about them but then gets shy when he is around them so they think he might not like them (ie. big Andre and Beau). He likes to pretend that his shoes are roller blades. He prays every night and "thanks" Heavenly Father that my hair will grow back and that he will get two skateboards. I think of the whole family, his prayers are usually the most sincere and thought out. He thanks God for what has happened that day that made him happy and he always includes, "Thank you for my Mommy and my Daddy and my Sistuhs." I love this boy so much that sometimes I think my heart will explode.

Iran So Far

Now that I have figured out how to embed videos (why was it so hard to "figure out"?), you will probably be seeing more of them. This is one of my all time favorites and I laugh so hard, as well as sing the chorus for 48 hours after watching it. But beware, it is rated PG-13 for suggestive humor, gay and political references.

Amy, this clip is for you

String Cheese Takes the Writing Plunge and Deedle Visits the Dentist

My little String Cheese is a very smart girl. She is also cautious. Maybe a perfectionist? She often refuses to try something if she is not 100% sure that she can do it. She is in kindergarten and could read hundreds of words but refused to actually read a book for fear of not knowing a word until about a month ago. Finally I found the Bob Books and now her reading confidence has sky-rocketed and she is doing very well.

Anywho...same thing with writing. She would never write anything unless she knew for sure how to spell every word correctly and would usually only copy down a sentence that she had first asked me to write for her. She has oft times drawn pictures for me depicting her angry or sad feelings towards me. But, yesterday, she took the plunge and wrote me her very first note. I am so proud of her. She wrote it during church. For those of you unversed in Kindergartenese, it says, "I want to be with you because I love you." Today I got my second written note ever. It was not quite as happy as the first.

Deedle had a dentist appointment this morning, which was totally unfair to the Nth degree to String Cheese. All three littles had been to the pediatric dentist (that had toys and gave free tooth brushes and floss and let you choose a prize out of a really cool gum-ball type machine) a few weeks ago and it had been a lovely experience, mostly. Loumy and SC had great teeth. Deedle had four cavities. In an effort to not frighten her, I didn't talk much about what might be unpleasant regarding the second dental visit, rather tried to keep it positive when it came up. So, SC took that to mean that I only loved Deedle because she was the only one that "got" to go to the dentist again. And poor little Deedsy. First of all she has cried every morning since our first visit because I won't give her "melk" because I thought her teeth were not going to rot out and now I find out that even that morning-after-7am-cup DID make them rot out. Sheesh...

Anyway...They didn't really explain what would happen when we got to the dentist. I checked in and Deedle was playing a little video game when a nurse walked out to the waiting room and said, "Here, drink this." Deedle did it and was quite horrified at the taste. Then the nurse or whatever she is said, "Keep on eye on her. It will take about 10 minutes," and left. What will take 10 minutes? I "kept my eye on her" and soon she was laughing and tumbling around and asked, "Why is this room so hard to balance in? This is a really hard balancing room." Then the nurse was back and picked her up. Loopy little Deedle just stared glazedly at me.

"Can't I come back with her?" I asked this stranger that was carrying off my daughter.

"Nope," she said pleasantly. "We'll be back in a minute."

Twenty minutes later I see a different nurse hauling Deedle out but only holding her under her arms and trying to make her walk over to the machine to pick her toy. Before I could force my way back there, she had one of those sticky-hand things that I know she wouldn't have chosen if she were lucid. I picked up my little pile of tooth fillings and carried her up to the front. I requested another tooth brush and floss because I knew she'd be asking for those later. I was warned that she might hallucinate, which she did over the next hour.

At home I tried to get Deedsy to relax and watch a video but she was very woozy and in quite a bewildered state which included a lot of crying. String Cheese is very compassionate when it comes to wanting to help others herself. She just doesn't like so much to see me helping and comforting somebody other than her. It was in this setting that String Cheese delivered the second note.
Again, just in case you need any translation, "I feel like I don't have enough love. I am sad. Please be nicer to me."

Molly the Babysitter

I will admit, it has been a bit of an adjustment becoming a "dog" family. Molly is huge and she can't help but smell somewhat like a dog, even when she's clean. Chancho was at first afraid he'd made a huge mistake in talking me into a dog, but I think (I hope) he is coming around. As I mentioned previously, I have never been very interested in animals. I have always felt that you should not be cruel to an animal. That certainly isn't right. And I don't really like anything dirty or smelly close to me (I tried vacuuming some hair off of Molly the other day with my Dust Buster. She allowed it but it didn't do much so I tried a to get out my Dyson and use a hose. She thought that was a bit absurd and quickly sauntered outside). Anyway, other than that, I really don't have strong feelings about animals. But since getting Molly I have been particularly interested in learning more about the significance of animals and their spirits and specifically about the beasts that John mentions in Revelations. I read an interesting article that spoke a little of this. Maggie, do you have any more info on this for me? You are my new scriptoral advisor!

Marlin K. Jensen (good friend of my parents, father of my current bishop, and General Authority) gave a talk on the manner of happiness and he had a section about animals. He said, " Nephi also records, 'We began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.' This is an element of a happy life to which many will readily relate. Animals—be they horses, cats, dogs, hamsters, or turtles—touch us deeply and promote our emotional well-being. Given affection and care, they return affection and care generously and consistently. People whose lives include relationships with animals are usually happier. For me at least, heaven will not be heaven unless the animal kingdom is part of God’s kingdom."

So, I'm trying to give this my best shot and if it doesn't work out to have an animal in our family it is certainly due to us and not this particular animal! I feel that Molly has a very noble spirit and I am glad to have her in our home, even if it takes some adjusting and a Glade Plug-In. (Okay, serious question...what is your favorite kind of scent that I could get to put in my house? Meg, didn't you used to get something awesome from Pier 1 or something?)

I recently found out that not only is our Molly a champion herself but of a litter of 8 puppies, every single one went on to be a champion and of her two litters of single puppies, they each will most likely be champions as well. Her bloodlines and character are very strong. One member of our family decided tonight that he no longer likes Molly. Why is this? She has learned that when a child is told to go to bed, he is supposed to go to bed! I kept laughing because Loumy was in bed (across the hall from my room). Molly was in the front room lying down on her bed. Loumy kept turning on the light and playing. Each time he did, Molly would slowly get up and plod over to his door. She would then softly hit it with her paw, as if telling him, "You are supposed to be sleeping in there." Once he turned out the light, she would slowly haul herself back to her bed. A few minutes later I heard Loumy yell, "Mom! I don't like dogs anymore!" "Why not?" I called back. "Molly won't let me get another drink." Sure enough, she was just standing at his door because he was trying to come out. Loumy had already had a drink and gone to the bathroom and I'd told him not to get out again. He thought he could outwit his disabled Mom. But Molly knew better. It was late and the house was entirely dark. This little child needed to be safe in his bed and she wanted to make sure of it. All she did was stand there. If he had walked past her, I'm sure she would have just followed him to make sure he was safe and went back to bed, but finally he quit trying to get out and went to sleep.

Earlier I had allowed String Cheese and Deedle to fall asleep by me on my bed. They were feeling a bit neglected from me staying in bed all day so I let them. I heard Molly pacing in and out of their room. I finally called down and asked Chancho to put the sleeping girls in their beds so that Molly could get some rest. Once she was able to come in and see that they were in their safe places for the night, she, too, was able to sleep.