Indulge me while I brag about my incredibly talented friend...

If this Nordstrom commercial doesn't give you goosebumps (and you're a female), then you should check your pulse! Why am I watching random Nordstrom commercials? Because (and she may kill me for this, but...) in the background is the earth-shatteringly beautiful soprano voice of my friend, Marie. Is she AMAZING, or WHAT?!?! I love it, love it, LOVE IT!!! I could watch it/listen to it a million times! (I plan on making my husband watch it, too, so he can perfect that LOOK!)

Oh, What Fun It Is...!

We had our family Christmas Cookie decorating party this week, and while the cookies were in the oven, cousins/BFFs Emilie and Camryn gave us an even sweeter treat! Here they are, performing their rendition of Jingle Bells! My personal favorite part of this video; the big kiss at the end!!! :)





MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

From the Quirky Lit-Up Mind of Zack

With Jon searching for a new job, there is every possibility that we will have to relocate sometime in the next few months. With that possibility in mind, I have been de-junking closets and containers all month. I didn't realize I was treasure hunting, but I've been finding treasures anyway. Last week I came across a Rubbermaid container full of old papers and art projects from the boys' elementary school years.

Zack has always had a huge vocabulary and a fantastically creative mind. He is famous among the high school teachers for his quick wit and quirky, mature sense of humor. Honestly, the kid's an improvisational genius!

Zack's second grade teacher was a great writer herself, and was committed to teaching the kids to write creatively on their own. She would give them a topic or a starter sentence and basically say "off you go!" Given carte blanche, Zack thrived in that class, and here are three examples of his writing assignments (copied verbatim). I remember reading these for the first time, and laughing so hard I was crying and couldn't catch my breath! I thought it would be fun to share this blast from Zack's past with all of you!



When I Grow Up I Will Be A...
By Zack Poulson 2nd Grade

When I grow up, I will be a vet. Not the war kind. The doctor kind. People will bring me their sick, broken, run over, barfing or bald animals and I will fix them and make them well.

After I fix the animals I'll send the owners a big bill and they'll say "Holy cow! Can you believe this big bill?"

If I can't fix a animal and it just dies, I will call the owners on the phone and say "Too bad, but your pet is dead. Better luck next time!"

If my brother Jordan has a zoo I will work there at his zoo fixing zoo animals. I would like to fix chameleons and tigers and zebras and crocodiles, but not elephants because you never know when they will poop and I could be standing under them and get buried.

I will like being a vet because animals are the coolest on earth!



My Home
By Zack Poulson

I love my cozy but huge house. I like to cuddle with my stuffed Pikachu when I go to bed. When I go outside and sit on the bench, I feel uncomfortable because it's made of wood, not fluff. My house has 15 rooms. My bedroom is painted rainbow. I like to jump rope in the living room. But one day when I was jumping rope in the living room I heard something but I didn't know what it was so I kept jumping. I was just about to 1030 jumps but my mom caught me because she is like a ninja. Now I can't do that anymore. My window is decorated with orange paper pumpkins because it's close to Halloween. I have a sometimes hot and sometimes cold swimming pool where insects go in but they never come out. My house is made of brickes. The end.



If I Were Christopher Columbus
By Zack Poulson 2nd Grade

If I were Christopher Columbus, I would not have asked Queen Isabela for the ships. I would just take them and by the time she found out I would be in the middle of the ocean already.

If I were Christopher Columbus, I wouldn't name my ships dumb names like Ninya, Pinta and Santa Maria. I would give them cool names like Avenger, Terminator, and the Battleship Collosus.

If I were Christopher Columbus, I wouldn't discover America. Instead I would discover Australia. I would round up some kangaroos and koalas and goanas and bearded lizards and open a zoo in Portugal.

If I were Christopher Columbus, I wouldn't tell Queen Isabela where Australia was. I would keep it for myself.

If I were Christopher Columbus, I wouldn't wear those stupid tights and baloonish underwear or a slinky around my neck. I'd wear shorts like Steve Irwin and my new iguana shirt.

My Christmas Game

I've been doing a little Christmas shopping this week, but it doesn't really feel like Christmas to me, and I've been trying to figure out what's missing. The decorations are there, the music is there; the sights and sounds and smells that one associates with the season are all present and accounted for. The problem, I thought, must be me. I have somehow disconnected myself from the warmth and love and general goodwill that has always been the Christmas season for me. Looking back over my favorite Christmases past, the thing that stands out as having made them extraordinary was the human connection factor. People. Loved ones, strangers all wishing great and happy things for me, and I for them. Having distinguished that, I went shopping yesterday to test my theory of what's missing.

I encountered dozens and dozens of people. Most passed me by without even making eye contact, and not one person smiled or said "Merry Christmas" to me. Nobody. I was surprised at how sad that made me feel. It made me want to go back in time 60 years or so, and move to whichever place most resembles the fictional Bedford Falls.

At the end of the day, someone did finally speak to me, and it's not her fault that I was dissatisfied with her attempt. When I checked out at the grocery store at 9 o'clock p.m., the clerk said, "Have a nice day!" Have a nice day? It's 9 p.m. It's December. It's the Christmas season. Have a nice day? When, tomorrow? What about "Have a nice Christmas!" Have a nice day??? I walked out of the store shaking my head. What the heck is going on?

Rainer Maria Rilke, a personal favorite, once wrote “Just as language has no longer anything in common with the thing it names, so the movements of most of the people who live in cities have lost their connection with the earth, with each other; they hang, as it were, in the air, hover in all directions, and find no place where they can settle.”

Are we so disconnected from each other that we're just floating, isolated and disinterested, through lives devoid of real communication and relationships? Most Christians believe that we are all the spirit children of a single Heavenly Father. If that is truly the case, then it stands to reason that we are already profoundly connected. "They" say we should be afraid of offending someone who may not share our beliefs, but when did we all grow to be so easily offended? And why is it another person's responsibility to see that we don't get offended? No matter what they do or say, we could choose to be affronted; it's a game no one can win. If who we truly are is a literal spirit family, then being so proud and so defensive and so separate must be very hard work on a subconscious level, as acting against our nature always is. No wonder we're so lonely. No wonder we're so tired.

The struggle to stay out of each others way seems pointless when, in moments of selflessness, we realize how simple making a difference for a fellow human being really is. No one understands that better than this guy, Juan Mann. All he does is to encourage people to let down their guard for the amount of time it takes to embrace each other. Watch this... it's beautiful! (and read Juan's story here: http://www.freehugscampaign.org/)



The philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo wrote, “Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.”

I'm totally down with that, and willing to take it on. That's what Christmas is all about... paying special attention to people! I love people, and I want them to experience being loved, especially at this time of the year! I believe that every person who crosses my path, does so for a purpose, and to let them simply pass by unnoticed is a missed opportunity to make a difference. So here's the game I'm playing; wearing my biggest, brightest, most welcoming smile, I'm going to wish a "Merry Christmas" to as many people as I possibly can between now and Christmas Day, and I'm going to mean it! It doesn't matter what your personal beliefs are... I hope that on December 25th, 2008 you are as merry and as happy as you have ever been! I hope your heart is light, and you have a day filled with joy and love and fun! My way of expressing that wish for you is "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Will you play the game with me? Play it in your own way, but please play it all out, and share your results with me!

Oh... and God bless us, every one!

Ashamed of my Complaining

I am humbled.

God bless Brendan's sweet spirit and the family he left behind.

One of those days...

I have three main complaints at this moment. If you think that they sound unimportant, you should know that, in my mind, taking into account number three and the fact that it's 2 A.M. and I'm still awake due in large part to number two and in some part to number one, they seem like highly significant problems.

First... I have been a mother for over eighteen years, and, as it turns out, I have not had any idea what I was doing since they weaned themselves and left their diapers behind forever. In the realm of parenting, I am a clueless wonder.

Second... My left ear has been ringing for almost three hours and it's making me insane. Were this to continue, I would most certainly be certifiable within the week. William Shatner's ear rang for ages and ages and did he complain? Heck, yeah! He says it ended his second marriage... he even thought about killing himself over it. You'll be pleased to know that I have not yet reached either of those critical junctures, but it is driving me up the wall.

Third and finally... If you look up "hormonally imbalanced basket case" in the encyclopedia, you will find a picture of me there. I am completely unreasonable, and ridiculously emotional. I gain weight on the "No Cheese, No Fun, No Joy" diet, freeze my butt off all day long, and cry just because it feels good. I'm convinced that mood swings are only built on the Devil's playground. This afternoon, as I gazed at my brand new, very sparkly french manicure, I felt sexy and sassy... a mere twelve hours later I am old, upset, and wholly uninspirable. Spell check says that "uninspirable" isn't a word, and I don't even care. I just re-read my last post, and when I got to the end I thought to myself, "Pffft!"

If I wake up tomorrow and number two is no longer an issue, I'll be my cheerful self again, because that's the nature of number three. Number one may continue to be true, but with any luck I'll discover that loving them so much that it aches inside and being a passionately committed stand that they have happy and fulfilling lives will be enough to get them safely through to adulthood.

And my nails still look amazing.