matt and his princesses

Jaimi and Danny were nice enough to welcome us to the Northwest the first weekend we got here and we were happy we could drive up North to babysit and see them again. I learned that Matt is a great dirty diaper assistant. 

Since the car trouble extended our trip, there was time to dig up the glorious video of Matt with his buddies perform for their high school Airbands (lipsyncing) contest. Watching Matt belly roll, strut around in a sailor's uniform and dance like a Back Street Boy on stage was priceless.

this is what broken down on a highway in tacoma, wa looks like

We spent a couple of days babysitting Matt's nieces in the Seattle area and as I was driving our way home, I heard a loud thump and the gas pedal stopped working. With the car slowing down and Matt's motivation I pulled over between an on-ramp and traffic.

The story is too long, but with a restless night in a hotel, too much time spent in a sketchy neighborhood, two tow trucks, two taxis, 2 transmission shops, an unexpected pounding to the wallet and an amazing ex-roommate from byu who drove us back to Matt's sister's place later, we probably won't be home until the middle of next week.

It's too soon to laugh about it. As Matt's niece Charlotte would say, "POOEYCATOOEY!".

A happy picture of Matt's other niece, Violet.

i can't wait to see her next week!

I have never been able to work the camera. The bowl cut, yes, the camera, no.

The age difference is obvious when Matt and I talk about movies, TV shows and music we grew up with and he has taken it upon himself to introduce me to parts of pop culture I have missed. Under his direction I have been acquainted with shows like In Living Color and movies like Weekend at Bernie's, Mad Max, The Shining, and Beverly Hills Cop. He is also constantly quizzing me with songs on his iPod or the radio asking if I have heard of this person, band or song.

IMDb has been our guide in making lists of movies we would like/need to see. Last night we played card games while watching the four hours of Gone With the Wind. The cinematography was amazing, but ahhh...what was up with the ending?! The last time we were this disappointed with an ending was 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Classic" 80s films up next for my viewing pleasure include: Willow, Teen Wolf, Rain Man, Predator, The Naked Gun, Beetle Juice, The 'burbs, The Neverending Story, and Time Bandits. Gotta love the 80s!

taking recycling to a whole new level

ridiculously small gray bin for trash + ridiculously large blue bin for recyclables = big adjustment

nerd alert

Matt loves puzzles and crosswords; basically, any kind of brain teaser. I won't even attempt to work on a newspaper crossword any day after Monday.

When Matt gets back from working out of town, he usually doesn't want to go out on the weekends. So, these past few weekends have been about puzzles. Making me a nerd by association. He spent too much time on ebay, like a kid in a toy store, looking for the right puzzles to order. Some of those babies can be surprisingly expensive. We have completed a puzzle of The Last Supper by Da Vinci, (still proudly displayed on the kitchen table and will probably be there until Easter), and we are now working on Dowdle's Washington, D.C. puzzle on the coffee table. My family loves Dowdle Folk Art puzzles.

Now, I like puzzles and I get a great sense of accomplishment when I find pieces that fit, but unlike Matt, I have a short attention span. I get easily worn out and take frequent breaks. Even if I had Matt's endurance, they still take hours and I struggle knowing that every piece we put together, we are just going to have to take apart later.

[I realize in this musing that these puzzles can be easily compared to how much time I spend blogging, watching TV or wasting time on Facebook. It's almost 2 in the morning and will be going back to working on the puzzle with Matt now.]

changing it up

As much as Matt comments and states his opinion eagerly all over Facebook, one would think some of that would spill over on here, but unless he is looking for blog updates by his sisters, Matt is not going to do anything else with this. I can't blame him, he warned me. This blog has been a slow work in progress and continues to be.

Main Entry:	haphazard
Part of Speech:	adjective
Definition:	without plan or organization

Story of my wonderful life.