Out of the mouth of babes

Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. I don’t know whether to contribute it to a case of writer’s block…or maybe laziness….or maybe the recent realization that I don’t really have that many interesting things to contribute to the cyber society that I keep (The frequency with which David Hasslehoff has popped up in recent conversations I’ve had has kind of brought this to my realization….you wouldn’t think he would be such a driving force in my tête-à-tête, but of late you would be sorely mistaken.) So, if you’ve missed my driveling rants we will chalk it up to me sparing you my recent (albeit inexplicable) enthrallment with the Hoff.
Recently several of my friends/family/comrades have been posting about the cute or funny things that their children say or do. I enjoy these tidbits (particularly since I don’t have the pleasure of enjoying them myself on a frequent basis). Well, let me tell you about some interesting run-ins I’ve had with children lately. Let me preface this with a little explanation. Most people who know me, know that I generally get along pretty well with most kiddies. Well, this weekend while shopping at Walmart (minding my own shopping business) a little girl in a passing cart pointed at me and announced very loudly, “I don’t like you!” It was totally weird, but I attributed it to the fact that she was probably a brat. Well a little while later (on the same Walmart excursion...still minding my own business) a different little girl in a different passing cart started growling loudly at me! What the heck am I supposed to make of that?!?! Now admittedly I could have used a little more makeup, and the hair wouldn’t have suffered had I ran a brush more carefully through it, but I didn’t think I was frightening enough to elicit such responses from children! I must admit I felt a little Quasimodoish.
Well, to end on a less self esteem devastating note, I’ve decided to share with you some cute children anecdotes (mostly from my nephews because they are pretty much the only kiddies I have interactions with)
-Recently I went to lunch with my sister and my youngest nephew, Wyatt, at a restaurant with a fountain in the middle which people tossed coins into. Wyatt was over looking at the water and excitedly yelled out to us across the restaurant, “Look there’s nipples in here!!!” (He meant nickels)
-While talking with Jess (my middle nephew) about college I was trying to convince him that when he grew up he should go to my alma matter. His response after thinking for a while was, “Hmmm….I think I’m going to be busy that day at a junior rodeo.”
-This is another Wyatt one. It was bedtime and Wyatt wouldn’t stop talking (as usual). My sister tells him, “It’s time to go to sleep and stop talking.” His response was (of course), “I AM asleep, you’re the one talking.”

Gotta love kids! So what are some of your favorite kid anecdotes?...Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

O, google yourself

Last night I had the opportunity once again to take the young women swimming. I love swimming. It makes you feel invincible, like you can do almost anything, flips and turns, handstands and all the other things that gravity usually impedes (except you can’t run very fast…although it is fun to try). Well the girls were very excited…that is until they saw that a group of guys from their school were there as well. Needless to say there was some serious teen angst going on. Unfortunately, I’m now the heartless adult who thinks it’s all very VERY humorous and entertaining. If nothing else it reminded me what it was like to be a 15 year old girl around a boy who I may or may not have a crush on. In my head I’m way too old for that jazz but seeing as how I’m still single I may still be one of those silly stupid girls from time to time and should therefore have more sympathy for their plight. I don’t think I am but no one really thinks they are when they are in giddy crush mode. Anyway, moral of the story is that it was fun to remember what it was like to be a teenage girl.
On another note…. I, like most people, google myself occasionally…you know, just to see if there’s anything that is actually me on there. It can be pretty fun sometimes. It’s interesting to see what other people with my name are doing…and then it’s sad that they are doing much greater things than I am. Then I usually get over it pretty quick when I see like an obituary of someone with the same name (helps me to remember that it could be worse). Msn actually has a list of most searched and I was thinking about maybe spending a full day just searching for myself, or maybe starting a campaign so that I would show up on that list….but then I thought that would be really creepy. You can even find this blog through google! Well, my blog has a counter that shows me where people are loading my page from. I’ve had several hits from all over North America (and Germany…shout out the Robertsons!!), which I think is very cool. Well I noticed yesterday that I had a hit from the local news station where my arch nemesis works. So, I imagine that he probably googled himself and found my blog. Now I must assume that he is fully aware of our conflict. It made me laugh and oddly enough I feel less bad about blaming him for everything. So what is the most interesting thing you’ve found while googling yourself?

Name that tune

So, a couple of days ago a friend of mine mentioned that he had been partying like it was 1999 (in reference of course to a New Year’s celebration). Well ever since that fateful day (it was only like 2 days ago) Prince has been singing a non stop medley of his greatest hits in my head. I imagine that it would be this one song over and over again but since I know exactly one line of this song (“we’re going to party like it’s 1999”), my super awesome brain has turned that into a medley of the seventeen lines from about five different Prince songs that I do know. It’s kind of turned into a song about the kiss of a secondhand raspberry beret in a 1999 little red corvette. Trust me; it could easily have turned into a lot dirtier song than that (you know Prince). If you’re confused…welcome to my world. Funny how an effeminate straight man singing in a falsetto voice can be such a star (for all you Prince fans out there, he will be releasing 3 new albums this year…I heard that on the radio yesterday. I know, I can hardly wait either…or maybe I can).
This actually got me thinking about how the strange or funny songs, jingles and other catchy phrases stuck in our heads. I, unfortunately, was not blessed with the ability to memorize things. It is something of a curse actually….you know, in school or trying to find my way home. When I sing along with songs I’m generally the person that is making up completely wrong lyrics even though my very memory blessed siblings have corrected me on numerous occasions (I even sometimes make up movie quotes that were never actually in any movies….if I ever do that when I’m around you, just humor me). So, when some little tune gets stuck in my head it generally isn’t right. I do feel sorry for the hardworking advertising people who try so diligently to get me to remember their jingles or slogans because I am something of a lost cause in this area.
So what are some of the tunes that always seem to get you?......And you’re welcome for the Prince song now stuck in your head too!!!

Welcome to an Odd year

Happy New Year! For some reason I feel really excited about this New Year. This is actually quite unusual for me as generally I just feel like it’s another day...somewhat of a lesser holiday to ease us back to reality from the previous months of “real” holidays. The fact that it’s an odd year (numerically) really surprises me that I’m so excited (I have a really weird thing about odd numbers, I don’t even know where it stems from but I have always preferred evens…just crazy I guess). Like everyone else in the world I too have resolved to be a little better this year (I know what you’re thinking, How can she possibly get any better?...It was difficult to find some, but I did set some goals…..if any of you were actually thinking anything remotely close to this….Hello, my name is Amanda. It seems we’ve never met.) I won’t bore you with the details of these personal goals but so far so good.
My vacation was lovely…although I feel more exhausted now than I did before I left. Funny how something that is supposed to be relaxing generally tires you out. One thing that my excursion to Utah helped to remind me was how much I DON’T love the snow which leads to mud which leads to a very crabby me. (No offense to you snow birds. I do love Utah, particularly in the springtime) Looking on the bright side, we made it safely and had a wonderful holiday.
I did have a bit of a run in with a pair of tweezers and now am sporting something of a quizzical brow (but only on my right side). I think it makes me look like I’m interested…hey, maybe it’ll land me a hot date!! One more thing for me to look forward to in the New Year....so if you know anybody, send them my way!
So, what are some of the things you are looking forward to this New Year?