I'll stick to the book...

The fates conspired together and I did end up going to see Twilight at midnight yesterday. I had told Denae a week or so ago that I didn't think I would be up to going. I thought I would be exhausted having worked Tuesday and Wednesday but I ended up getting sent home at midnight on Wednesday eventhough I didn't go to bed until 4am. It is impossible to turn off your brain once you have convinced it that it must stay awake all night long! Lisa had Malakai on Thursday so I was able to get some sleep. My friend Leya has been going a little stir crazy since her husband has been out of town for business ALOT and she is left home alone with 6 teenagers so we decided to see if we could find some tickets. She also threw in one of her teenage daughters as a free babysitter...SOLD! Luckily, the theater in Spanish Fork still had tickets. They opened all 8 theaters for the showing so it wasn't even very crowded. I even convinced my mom to go see it with us!

We showed up at the theater a little after 11 and got good seats and then we waited...and waited...and waited...and wasn't this supposed to be a midnight showing?!...and at 12:25 started watching the movie. Edward had just barely graced the screen when a strange siren and lights started going off. I was thinking, "boy, they sure are making his entrance dramatic." when I realized it was the fire alarm. Stupid! Most people's reaction would be to calmly evacuate the theater especially since there was a voice on the intercom saying "Please calmly evacuate the theater." But, not us. No, the entire theater just looked around blankly. We had waited an hour and a half for this movie and we knew one of two things would happen; either the alarm would shut off and the movie would resume or we would eventually burn to death. We were too tired to care which. After a couple minutes the alarm shut off and the movie started again. In hind sight, I can see that this was really the best option.

So what did I think of the movie? Eh, it was ok. Not nearly as good as the book! There was some serious over acting. Rosalie had a jiggle butt and I could hardly call her the most beautiful girl in the world and Carlisle's hair was a very unnatural color of blonde. But, all that aside I thought it followed the story relatively well and surprisingly I really liked the Victoria. My recomendation would be to go see the movie but also read the book because the movie leaves out so much. I guess it is kind of hard to pack a 600 page book into 2 hours.

The "Ex" Factor

Well, it is official. As of November 18th, 2008 I am now divorced. It took 13 days from the time I filed...my lawyer said that was fast and I had to agree. It was relatively good timing though. I started full time this week and got my benefits all straightened out. I am doing good. It was a bittersweet day. To be honest, not a whole lot changed for me. It wasn't like I had the papers in my hands and everything hit me. I went through that in early September when Charlie moved out and I had to come to the reality that we were done. This was more like closure, though I would hardly admit that I am completely healed. It is going to take time for all 3 of us to be completly healed from this divorce. Charlie and I are working hard at trying to be friends and keep Kai's life as stable as possible. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts...please don't stop them just because the divorce is over! If anything I need them more now than ever!!!

Haircut

This is going to be a short post. I just had to say that I did it again! I don't know how Kai is every going to have decent hair with his mom always giving him crazy haircuts that usually lead to a buzzcut. His hair has been looking rather fuzzy lately so I thought I would just trim a little off the sides and top but I got distracted and ended up taking a little too much off the top. I did my best to save it. He now has a mohawk! Goodness, when will I learn?!

Sorry...

So I am apologizing in advance. I haven't blogged this week...again. It wasn't because I didn't think about it. I went to my blog several times this week hoping that something had magically been posted but sadly there are no magic blogging elves. The truth is...my life has been fairly tame this week. I spent time working in my basement with my wonderful family. I suppose I could have blogged about that. But, I am pretty sure that the only people that find bead board that exciting are me and my mom and we got to see it in person.

Kai and Brynlee had fun playing in the bouncy house. I got put on call again this week. Counted my shifts for the month, been on call for 5 of my 6 shifts! Thank Heaven I go full time on Tuesday.

Kai has been going through daddy withdrawls. The other night he threw an all out temper tantrum that he couldn't go to his daddy's house at 9:30 at night! I knew this wouldn't be easy but seeing my baby crying for something that I did...that I chose, nearly broke my heart! I pray to God that someday he understands and can forgive me. So in a vain attempt to make it up to him I took him to Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday. Charlie came and met us. It was nice to see the two of them playing together. That night helped me put things into perspective. Yeah I am hurting...yeah Charlie is hurting but that is all SO very secondary. This little boy is the most important thing in our lives and he needs to know how much his mom and dad love him. I am glad that Charlie and I are still friends, that we can go and eat pizza together and not fight over Kai. I have seen first hand what a nasty divorce with nasty people can do to kids (I lived with them! I'll tell you the stories later.)

So on that note, I talked to my lawyer on Friday. Paperwork has been submitted to the judge. We are now just waiting for a signature. My lawyer was hopeful that it would only be a couple more weeks.

I mentioned before that I was on call a lot so on Friday when staffing called I wasn't really surprised. But, I had dropped Kai off with Charlie and being home alone didn't sound like much fun. Hanging out with Denae did sound like fun. She and I went and saw The Duchess. It was pretty good. Then on Saturday my mom and I went to the Provo temple. It was so nice to go and feel peace. I never really liked the Provo temple. I thought it was a little outdated. But since I have started attending there I have grown to love it! I guess it really is whats on the inside that counts.

After our temple trip we went to lunch and then hit the mall...ahh unfortunately, neither of us were really in a shopping mood. Isn't that unfair?! I get to go to the mall without my crazy little boy and I don't want to shop! So we went and saw HSM3 again...I got the crazy love of all things musical gene from her! I remember as a little girl on the drive home from visiting my grandparents in Idaho we would be singing show tunes at the top of our lungs. Oh, how the boys loved it!!!

Well, that was my week in review again. Sorry it was kind of boring. Maybe I will think of something zanny to do this week...Hmmm.

Deja Vu

Well, I went to my blog today and lo and behold it has been a week since I posted last. Hmm interesting since I said I was going to do better. That got me thinking about my week and I realized that this has been a week of repeats. To start with I got put on call for both of my shifts this week...same as last week. This has been a little frustrating. Charlie has been my lifesaver. He gave me our allotment (so I could pay the mortgage! YAY!) and his first paycheck for the month which was bigger than usual due to his annual clothing allowance. I also got my check which wasn't huge because I only had 2 shifts on there but it was big enough. So bills are paid as of now and I am hoping that this week will be a little better for hours...that or I won't get a check at all! I did finally get a hold of Human Resources and applied for the full time position. I will start that on the 18th so no more worries about hours...I hope. I did have to take a HUGE pay cut. That hurt a little but I suppose the benefits are worth it.

Second repeat of the week. I finished reading Twilight again. I know! For someone who kicked so furiously against the trend I sure have embraced the series. I owe everyone an apology for all my whining about it. You were right! I was wrong! Good books and hopefully good movie. I think that I enjoyed it even more the second time around. I wasn't so wraped up in the action and was able to focus on relationships and such. Maybe I should put this much effort into my real life. I might even get out of the house a little with an attitude like that.

Third repeat. I have decided to start work in the basement again. The little extra cash in my bank account (thanks again Char!) and the fact that half my house was unusable finally pushed me to do it! My mom, Kai and I have spent many a night this week covered in paint. She is the GREATEST mom in the world! I am so truly blessed to have my best friend as my mom...it helps when I have to call in free babysitting...not that she has had to do a lot of that lately with the lack of working hours. But, we have made MAJOR progress. The walls and doors are all painted. I bought trim yesterday and Wyatt is picking that up today for me in his truck. Proper planning was not evident when I showed up at Home Depot last night to get the trim and realized that 12 feet of board will NOT fit in my van...interesting. He is going to help me out today and tomorrow on his day off. What an amazing family I have! Heavenly Father must have realized that I would need a LOT of help down here. I am determined to have a party when it is all done. I think I will shoot for a Christmas party!

Fourth repeat...kind of. So with all the painting and not working and reading Kai has been pretty housebound so my mom and I decided to take a night off and go to Madagascar 2 on Friday. He did pretty well. He really enjoyed the music and more than once was up in the aisle dancing...guess he likes to move it move it too!

I did have a few firsts this week. I got to celebrate Christin and Stephanie's birthdays with them and other coworkers at Pizza Factory. I had a lot of fun. I also threw the diet out the window. Though, this whole throwing diet out the window thing isn't new to me, cheating on the 11 Day Diet was. I have been very vigilant for 3 rotations but this one was just not happening. Ask Maureen who watched me snarf down Fetuccini Alfredo for lunch. I think it has to do with monthly timing...hehe. Yeah, I am definately going to blame it on that! But, it is a GOOD diet and it has been working so I am going to rededicate myself...just going to take a little break before.

Yesterday we were getting ready to run to Home Depot when Malakai started panicing and talking about his "tiny baby" that we were forgetting. I had no idea what he was talking about. We went upstairs to try and find this elusive baby and he picked up the monkey and baby tiger. Apparently, they are now his "tiny babies." He wrapped them in blankets and we all took off to the store. He even took them to bed with him last night. This morning we got up and got ready to go to church. I thought that he had forgotten about them but as we were walking out the door he suddenly turned around and goes "Oh NO! My tiny babies are gone!" I couldn't help but snicker. I told him that his babies were still sleeping and we would wake them up when we got home for church. This is the one and only time that I am glad we have 9 o'clock church. The boy makes me laugh!

Well I'll Be...

So an interesting thing happened last night at Walmart. Charlie had Malakai for the weekend and I had to go to Walmart to buy paint rollers. I realized this was the first time that I had been to Walmart without Kai since...well I can't remember so that tells you something. I thought I would take advantage of the time I had. I wandered to the women's department. I fully intended on taking my sweet time, strolling casually, holding things up that I thought were nice...maybe even trying something on. To my disappointment I was bored. I was not in a shopping mood. My first and last stop was a clearance rack where I picked up two sets of workout pants, held them up to see how long they were and made the fastest shopping decision I have ever made! $10 sure...why not?!

This is the weird part...I then walked back to the toy department!!! I know! I had no reason to go there. I took my sweet time in this department. I strolled casually through the aisles. I held up toys that I thought might be nice for Kai...I even tried the automated dinosaur out! I guess that just goes to show how priorities can change. Like they say you can take the kid away from the mom, but you can't take the mom out of the woman.

8 is Great

So Denae tagged me on this. I tried to tell her that 2 is terrific but apparently that isn't as cute as 8 is great so here is my best attempt.

8 Favorite Restaraunts:

• Applebees
• Brick Oven
• Cafe Rio
• Zupas
• Chili's
• Hogi Yogi (Philly Cheese Steak...Yum!)
• Wendy's
• Wyatt and Lisa's on Sunday

8 Things that happened yesterday:

• Slept in
• Watched real TV (not Scooby)
• Missed Kai Kai when I realized I wasn't watching Scooby
• Got put on call at work
• Went to Walmart and bought paint rollers and cute workout pants for $5! SCORE!!!
• Ate Pizza (Diet starts again tomorrow...down about 15 pounds!)
• Ate Ice cream and oreos (Yeah I am living up my 3 days off!)
• Played Scrabble with Denae online (She won this time so we are all tied up 1:1)

8 Things I look forward to:

• Watching Kai learn something new
• Listening to Kai tell me about what he learned
• Seeing how Kai reacts to being in trouble for learning something new and not ok with mom (for instance the toilet brush is not a good sword and should not be used to fight Tigers...plunger also falls into this category. Yes, kitchen chairs will help you climb onto the counters but mom said to stay down!)
• When I actually work (going full time on Nov. 17th)
• Wednesdays (My mom has them off so we get to hang and usually we have Brynlee too!)
• Finishing the Book of Mormon (I am on 3 Nephi 20...the BEST part of the whole book!)
• Having the divorce finalized (not because it ends something that was wonderful at times and brought me the best thing in this world, Malakai. But, because I will finally be able to think about something else.)
• Falling in love again!

8 Favorite TV Shows:

• Grey's Anatomy
• ER
• Samantha Who?
• The Unit
• Desperate Housewives
• Ghost Whisperer
• So You Think You Can Dance/American Idol (I LOVE these because I watch them with my family! That makes everything better.)
• America's Next Top Model

8 Things I love about Fall:

• The gorgeous scenery
• The little nip in the air
• Lisa's hot apple cider
• Pumpkin as an ingredient (Mmm pie!)
• Getting Kai ready for Halloween
• Being around family for the Holidays
• Snuggling up in a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and a great book
• General Conference

8 Things on my wishlist: This stupid question made me cry like a baby!

• Charlie in a good happy place in his life.
• My basement finished
• Enough hours at work to keep my bank account sufficiently full to pay all the bills.
• A strong testimony for Malakai to help him fight all the evil in this world.
• My mom to outlive me! I don't think I could go on without her.
• Someone who loves me for who I am and works with me to make our family celestial. Who finds as much joy in the gospel and in the temple as I do.
• Another baby!
• The dome light in my van to work.

4th Folder...4th Picture:

Kai on the Heimich Ride at Disneyland.

8 People I tag:

K so see here is the problem. I don't think that there are 8 people that actually read my blog. I blog for me and Kai and for my family. I guess this is my slacker way of keeping a scrapbook. But, I actually enjoyed doing this post. It made me think about my life and what was important to me. So, if any of you want to do this...great...I tag you!

HSM3

Last night after Denae's girls were tucked into bed and Charlie had Kai, Denae and I went out to dinner and a movie. Denae has become my official date night person! I am warming up to the idea of real dating slowly. Just kidding. We decided that we would go see HSM3 mainly because we had seen all the other good movies (Remember our last date? 3 movies in 1 day!) I was curious as to how Disney managed to make 3 different films from the exact same storyline but from the very first moment of song and dance I knew I was going to love it! It was cheesey and innocent and made me smile. Picture a basketball court...16 minutes left in the championship game...East High Wildcats are behind...Cue music...Fade lights...Introduce dramatic tween love scene of Gabriella standing up in the crowd...single spotlight on her...pledging her belief in Troy. Yeah, it was pretty awesome!

I have since decided that life would be a lot funner if it were a musical! I can just imagine...well, I will spare you all my glorious voice and will not narrate my life in song, unless it is in my car or shower then all bets are off!

Trick or Treat?

As a kid I enjoyed Halloween because of the candy and my giant sweet tooth. As I sit here and reminisce I realize it has been an exciting day in my past. I remember the one year when Trent was just little (I think maybe 3-4?) and was a GI Joe. He was so excited that he ran across the street and ran SMACK into a dark blue minivan! The van had seen him and was virtually stopped but he still plowed head long into it. Good thing he was wearing that cheap plastic helmet otherwise he might have had some permanent brain damage...hey wait, I wonder if that is why...Just kidding!

Then there was my senior year when I was dating Michael Chatterton. A couple of my girlfriends and I dressed up and went over to his house for a party. I was a very lovely Tinkerbell. He lived in Lindon and the streets had a lot of really deep dips. I of course, was driving my awesome 1981 Nissan Pulsar and took a dip too fast. I ripped off my muffler, of course I didn't rip it off all the way, that would have been too easy. I just ripped off the front end so that as I drove it would drag on the street. Nothing announces your arrival like a car without a muffler and the grating of the metal muffler on the ground. So being the resourceful girl that I am I climbed under my car and tied the muffler back up with my tinkerbell belt! Mike was sweet enough to take the muffler off all the way when I got to his house. That was a noisy ride home!

After that year Halloween kind of lost its appeal. I was in college and then married. So it was fun to be able to get excited again for Kai. This is our conversation yesterday:

Me: Kai Kai! Today is Halloween. What are you going to say today?
Kai: I'm Scooby Doo!
Me: Yeah...you are going to be Scooby but you need to say Trick or Treat. Can you say that?
Kai: NO! I AM SCOOBY DOO!
Me: K Whatever.

We have had his Scooby costume for a couple weeks and I think he has worn it about 8 times so it was no trouble getting him into costume. I was another story. For Christin's Halloween party Denae and I were Marines. I asked Denae what the plan was and she said Sexy soldier and Maureen was being a sexy cop. I wanted to fall back to my previous plan and go as a nurse but I thought well if they are going to be silly then I will too...hence the sexy nurse! Or atleast, my attempt at sexy. I don't do sexy nearly as well as I do clumsy and awkward.


I am wearing half the clothes that I graduated nursing school in. The cap is really my nursing cap from graduation as is the top. The skirt I bought online to wear to graduation but when I tried it on it was WAY too big so I wore pants. Yesterday I pulled the skirt up over my boobs and wore it as a dress with my tank top over top. It really was that long!

Malakai had a great time hanging out with his "girls". Aren't they adorable? I will readily admit that Bailey is a much cuter Tinkerbell than I ever was.

Kai did really well walking but after a while he got tired and hot. It didn't help that I dressed him in a sweatshirt and then his polyester Scooby costume. He has a paranoid mom that is always cold!

This is him taking off his Scooby hood and telling me his hair is wet. I told him it was just sweat and it would dry...he was not so sure that was ok.

Kai made a pretty good haul. I have already eaten all his little candy bars. Good thing he likes suckers (they must have been on sale somewhere because everybody was handing them out). This is him sitting on a swinging porch bench in front of Denae's uncle's store checking out his loot.

He settled on Skittles! Then he spilled most of them on the ground. Quick...10 second rule!

I thought this was hilarious! He saw this mask at the craft store and wanted to try it on...Yeah sometimes he can be a little demon but I love him all the same!

*Special thanks to Denae for pictures of yesterday! Love you!