Big Whoops

A friend of mine called my attention, much to my embarrassed chagrin, to a statment made by the author of the Twilight saga, Stephenie Meyers, that renounced the distribution of Midnight Sun over the internet. I feel terrible. I usually think of the internet, erroneously, as truth. Stupid. The illegal distribution of her manuscript was not planned. So, I'm yanking the link and apologizing for my contribution to her violation. My apologies to Stephenie Meyer and please clear your head quick!

And more apologies and clarification...I had posted some music to my playlist without realizing that it contained some profanity. I was HORRIFIED when I finally listened to a playlist all the way through.

The Potty Train and First Day of School

Lately, we've been trying to familiarize Calvin with the concept of potty-training. Everyone goes pee pee and poo poo on the potty. No one else wears diapers, and pretty soon he'll wear underwear like everyone else. Potty train, potty train, potty train. Yada yada yada.

Fast foward to Target a couple of nights ago... We were getting some toys for the kids, and Calvin got a wooden train set. He was SOOOOO excited and our potty discussions must be making an impact as evidenced by the following:

"Look mama! Look mama! A potty train for Calvin!! Hurray potty train!"

"Parting is such sweet sorrow..." unless you've spent the summer all over each other. We all gleefully went our separate ways after dropoff...(I almost did the Toyota jump!).

Love Me or Hate Me

So, many of you may have heard that the first 12 chapters of Midnight Sun (Edward's version of Twilight) have been leaked. If not, they have. Click (link removed) if you're as crazy interested as I am.

And, no, this isn't exactly what I'd deem Sabbath appropriate either.

Oh, Yeah, and the Kids but Edward, too

Yep, I still have custody of them even after they've had to mostly fend for themselves while I disengaged...for a while. Has anybody else needed an "un-"reality check so badly before? Three loads of laundary wait to be folded. Cereal...well, let's just say I'm forever in debt to Shredded Wheats and mostly any food that Calvin can get for himself!

School is approaching it's start: August 25th. We're ready. Former-home-school-advocate gone bad. I never thought that I'd join the ranks of the "I-can't-wait"-ers. But I have and am leading the charge. Too much travel disrupted my beautiful, educational, warm and fuzzy plans. No camps. No classes. Just Austin and the pool. Which was a blast. But we all saw a lot of each other. Can you say "personal space please"? I'll be curious if, by, say, Thursday next week I'm missing them so horribly I can feel it. Whenever I get frustrated by my darlings, Remi Candland's voice pops in my head: "How mad can I get at a person who still believes in Santa Claus?"

To less heady discussions...

Back to my backup career as a casting agent/soundtrack...er....uh...maker.

I'm on board. Edward actor is great.

And wouldn't it be great if Jason Patric or Keifer Sutherland made a cameo in the movie? You may need to be a little older to get that reference...

Erring on the Side of Obsessiveness

I think I just made that word up. Not as in 'word up' (homie), but Obsessiveness. Or maybe to make a real 'Dubya' out of it, I'd just ad '-ity': obsessivenessity. Perfect.

Ok, I'm totally copying my friend Allie (who rocks) with her alternate casting for Twilight. I'm not so young or hip as to know who young actors are, so I'm going with what I know. A work in progress. Please, please make your contributions. What do YOU think???

Also, I'd like to add a couple of overly popular songs, but they are soo, sooo appropos:

Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

No Air - Jordin Sparks w/Chris Brown

Bella: cast fine, but I like Allie's suggestion for Danielle Panabaker as well

Edward: Hayden Christensen (um...brooding look? check) or a guy in my ward at church (I know...scandalous, huh)

Charlie: this guy that Allie chose... I can imagine him turning purple. Or Will Patton (far left).

Renee:

Jacob: I like who they have (for a young Jacob)

Carlisle: Aaron Eckhardt or the guy next to him from 'Wings'

Esme: Jennifer Connelly

Alice: well cast

Jasper: what is UP with the guy's hair in the movie poster????! How about Wentworth Miller...or Jesse Spencer...just plug and play

Emmett:

Rosalie: Scarlett Johansen

Breaking Dawn...About When I Finished

I've joined the obsessive ranks of those people fanatic about these books. After a week, I finished all 4 of the books. Satisfied in that I love, Love, LOVE a happy ending where loose ends are tied up. There's also a bit of a let down...like after you finish training for something and the event is over.

THIS IS SO WEIRD FOR ME. But I actually feel a...a...void? Those characters are so COMPELLING. And when written in the first person as it was - the emotions just capture you.

In fact, if Jon hadn't taken Twilight with him, I may very well be reading that again instead of pathetically cataloging my need to talk about this BOOK!

Anyone else? Maybe I should stop documenting my weirdness for future posterity...

Obsessive Compulsive

I've already admitted to eating my humble Edward pie. So, now the obsessing begins...

Just finished New Moon. Am I the only one who cries as I read these books? I know I'm not particularly hormonal... Hmmm...the characters are so compelling! Will the last book leave me...satisfied? I guess I'll find out in the next couple of days.

I've resigned myself to the casting...although Edward's hair is too dark and Rosalie isn't attractive enough. She needs to be more ethereal - like a younger Angelina Jolie as a blond (think Gone in 60 Seconds). I'm still working on the others.

The Jon Con

Jon is a softie about a lot of things. Primarily snacks. Case in point...

I'd taken the older kids to the pool, so Jon was left with a sleeping Calvin. Upon his waking, he recognized that Dad was the only parental unit, and apparently, masterminded a devious plot to con Jon that went something like this...

Calvin aka Lil Cheney: "wofei;weon kfwoie;hovsn...want snack pack (bag of cookies)."

Dad (oblivious to the fact that dinner is less than an hour away): "ok, here!"

After one bite of the mini Chips Ahoy, Calvin: "lfiwhe fjwieof don't like this kind. Other one."

Dad (sucker): "ok, here!" and hands him a snack pack of Oreos leaving the room in search of his Crackberry, I'm sure.

On Jon's return, what to his wondering eyes might appear? Calvin finishing off both bags of cookies...with that mischevious little grin on his face asking for more.

Calvin's First Boquet

This beautiful, overcast morning, I was out talking to our supercool landscaper in the front yard. (Thankfully he has more ideas than I do.) Calvin stumbles out and starts exploring the field (suburban code for 'unsold lot') next door. Mid-conversation with Alfonso, supercool landscaper, Calvin interrupts with a boquet of flowers for me with that oh-so cute husky baby voice: "Here, mommy."

Oh, the cuteness.

Brevity

Brevity...

As in this post and a friendly visit.

This post is brief because I'm totally caught up in the sensual tension...in Twilight (as opposed to the lack thereof...er...outside of Twilight). Yes, yes...I should have picked it up sooner. It's a perfect summer read. Since the author is Mormon, does this count as scripture study? =).

My friend, Danielle, called for a brief visit and was like, "I just got cute clothes in the mail...can I bring them by to show you and bring you a loaf bread I baked and leave so I can get my kids down by 7:30?" It just made my day. The unexpected drop-by visit is just so familiar and comfortable. Don't you just love those?

Now back to Edward. Oh, and I saw who they've cast in those roles for the movie. Samantha? I think Edward needs to be HOTter. For the record.

It's the Little Things...and the Big Things, Too

Certain things in my universe have just worked out well for me today. Not until 6:04 pm, but hey...

After a typical Monday consisting of chore chart amnesia (I hate to burst any bubbles here, but there are, indeed, stupid questions and they are often asked by the short people roaming around our home), kid-less gym-bliss, playdates, and not quite enough of the right groceries, I headed out to run errands...at 5:08 pm. In the course of (my) human events, I'm on the phone with my friend, Heidi, telling her how I'm sitting in the parking lot of the grocery store waiting for my kids to wake up and emailing some VA friends, Audrey and Remi. (Don't you love all the name-dropping in this post?) The sweet friend that Heidi is...she insists that we come over for dinner. They're having left-overs, and we'd be doing them a favor. Let's refresh everybody on the fact that I'm a whore for free food-ok, that's a bit strong for some audience members...ummmm....er...I really love it? I absolutely become a frat guy going home for the weekend. My really good, care-taking (that's a whole 'nother post) chef friends, ReBecca and Dawn, know this about me. I digress. Yada yada yada...Heidi and her left-over roast and various accouterments made our day!!! Thank you, Heidi!!!

However, we had to leave the comfortable harbor of her culinary bliss to the choppy waters of 'keeping the kids out way too late for any one's good at SuperTarget'. Yes, I was THAT mom. But there's a silver lining. You know how Target knocks off all sorts of labels? In particular, Pottery Barn and various clothing lines? Well they just knocked off one of my favorite JCrew dress! Wahoo! So I picked one up in grey. Or gray. Which is it? And why are both spellings acceptable? Or except-able? Whatever. Cuz 5 wasn't enough...issued. This, I know about myself.

There was a third thing...but I've been side-tracked thinking about how cute that dress is. And the pic is SO not doing it justice. It reminds me more of the blue one.

Maybe it's because I spoke (albeit briefly) to my friend, Remi, and it was nice, and she made me feel missed...and the 2% milk I'm drinking cuz we're out of blue milk.

Oh...and I finally broke down and bought Twilight. Mostly cuz I'm curious as to what the cult-like, frenzied fuss is all about. This will be my first fictional reading in...a long time.

Total Texan

Apparently, I was meant to be a southerner. Or a warm weatherner. Case in point...I took the kids to the pool last week in the late afternoon. It was still, like 95 degrees. We played for a while, and finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I was too cold. Too cold? My, my has my blood thinned out. Next thing you know I'll be griping about how cold the 50 degree winters are.