Has anybody seen a dog dyed dark green?

***WARNING***This post is long and has several photos

I LOVE the B-52’s! I have been a fan of them since my early teens. I am a huge fan of songs such as Planet Claire, Mesopotamia, Summer of Love, Rock Lobster, Housework, Quiche Lorraine, etc. Their lyrics are quirky their sound is funky and fun. I loved their Cosmic thing album—It just annoyed me when people would say “have you heard ‘Love Shack’ by that NEW band?"—Excuse me! They’ve been around since, like, the 70’s so get with it, puh-leaze! One more thing I love is the awesome Beehive updos!

The first time I went to a concert was in August 1989. I was supposed to go with some friends from school-Jessie and Val? I think. But for some reason they couldn’t go, but I went with my brother Mark anyway. I remember waiting in a HUGE line outside the Rivera in downtown Chicago. When we got in it was kind of a standing room only thing and Mark and I were so close to the stage we could practically touch it, but first we were subjected to endure Royal Crescent Mob! They were awful (all I can remember of the lyrics and songs are :’Walkin along with my bay-bee, walking along blah blah blah’ It was horrendous. But Mark and I had fun—we made friends with a guy who was so drunk. He was really funny to talk to. (until he asked for a ride home) He commented that the “mob” was a test to see how dedicated of fans we were and if we would stay for the B-52s. Mark told everyone he was my boyfriend or date or something and kept me close by him because we were packed in there like sardines and being pushed to and fro. At one point I was standing on his feet to avoid being stepped on myself. It really was a madhouse! But I was going to get to see the B-52s so it was OK. But then they were delayed. It felt like an hour for them to come on stage after the opening act, and by that point, Mark and I had had enough of being trampled on and went up to the balcony to watch. The Riv was small so the balcony still wasn’t too far, but wouldn’t you know as soon as we left they came on AND the crowd settled down because the B-52s told them to. Oh well, at least I got to see them and hear them LIVE! It was awesome!

See. Here is my T-shirt from the concert. Notice the Neon Pink color-very indicative of the year isn’t it?!

Did I mention that I LOVE their Beehive hairdos?
That year for Halloween I dressed up as a member of the B-52’s—like a wannabe back-up singer or something. I looked so cool I even made it into the school newspaper!
Who makes up these quotes! I’m sure I didn’t say something that sounded that dumb and lame!

And who IS that CUTE farm girl!? She is simply adorable—what a twinkle in her eye!

I had to get full use out of my cute dresses so I must’ve changed for trick-or-treating. (Hey if you dress up it is OK to go at ANY age)Later that year, in December I went to another B-52s concert. This one was at the Aragon Ballroom and the Band that opened for them was soooo good. I had never heard of them before but they had a Funky name—something like Toad, the Wet Sprocket—I even thought of buying their album that night but didn’t. I hope they became successful cause they sure were good.;) (unlike the aforementioned band) This time I went with Bryn—We dressed up for the event. Who are those two hip chicks? We had people ask us “What’s that on your head?” and if you are a true fan you will know the answer to that question if it is asked of you at a B-52s concert and you have a beehive or boufont do. (Paul-I’m talking to you) We may have gone with other people (Werner? Juli? Lame- I know! Bryn fill in the missing details ) I just remember that this concert was a much more positive experience than the first—better music & crowd.

I love the B-52s so much that I wrote it in my succinct (read: pitiably short) introductory letter to my freshman room mates. One of which decided she was not going to like me based on my letter and my love of the B-52s and my “dooby-dooby” music as she called it. I still don’t get the ”dooby-dooby” label, but whatever. Imagine her horror as she walked into her freshman dorm room with posters of the B-52s hanging all around. Not only did she have to share an apartment with me, she had to share a room (we got along wonderfully despite our vast differences in musical tastes. We were roommates til I got married, even.)

So why the tribute to the B-52’s? Well, Their album, Funplex, came out yesterday and I have been listening to it online to decide whether it is worth buying and I have to say, I am really disappointed. They still have the same sound, yet it is lacking the magic to me.
The song Funplex has a fun sound and I did hear a good remix of it in Jamba Juice, but I don’t LOVE it. The only song that I REALLY like and will download is Juliet of the Sprits it has really great Kate and Cindy harmonies which I have always preferred. I am disappointed. I’m trying to decide if I’m just getting old and too mellow or if this album is just enough different to simply not do “it” for me—I’ll go with the latter cause I refuse to admit that I'm old!  

As a side bar I just learned that Kate Pierson  owns a hip little motel in the Catskills in NY so if you're ever in that part of the country and need a place to rest your head this could be fun.

What are you're opinions on the B's new album, if you have any opinions on it at all or even care!?  Are there songs you feel I should give another listen to for another chance?

Digital Scrapbooking Freebies!!

For any of you out there that are interested in digital scrapbooking, I found a blog that actually finds free papers, embellishments and templates, etc. for you! Every day this blog brings you new freebies! So much fun! I am so enjoying the digital scrapbooking thing!

Easter Egg Dying

In the past, I've been kind of stingy about how many Easter Eggs we dye. Mainly cause less than half of the family will eat hard boiled eggs, So every year my children get to dye about 2 eggs each. But this year I figured What the heck--whatever we don't eat we'll throw in the compost pile, thus providing rich nutrient soil for our garden (except we don't HAVE a garden--but that's beside the point.) This year we bought 5 dozen eggs and let the kids have at em. It was lots of fun! And an extremely enjoyable FHE activity. And so far we've been able to consume half of them. We'll see about the rest. . .)

If You Have Five Seconds to Spare. . .

My Brother Paul just started a blog. He is very witty and fun and frankly he's an all around great great guy. He's a wonderful big brother! Everyone should go read his blog because he is so awesome. Also if you were into the Smith's or Madness or any other hip 80's music you may find some fun, yet subtle, references! (OK Paul, I expect that $20.00 for plugging your blog now )

Bizarre Request

I had to add this to our brick oven excursion. We have a ritual of while we are waiting to be seated at a restaurant of looking at the menu and having the kids decide what they want before we get to the table. It cuts down on having to wait EVEN LONGER--which can be awful with 5 kids in tow. Tessa was having a hard time deciding. I told her to take her time because we had plenty of time before we were going to be seated. One of the options on the kids menu was chicken nuggets and she absolutely HAD to know the shape of the nuggets before deciding. So I approached the hostess and asked her the shape. They looked at me somewhat befuddles and perplexed--those college kids obviously have never tried to feed a five year old before. However they were very accommodating and tracked down the answer-which was Oval. I told them they could add it to their list of strangest request of the day. Tessa decided to go with pasta. I guess oval just isn't her shape. . .I wonder what is!

Balloon Art

How cool are these?! Aaron's mom was in town over the weekend. We went to Brick Oven for dinner and there was a VERY talented balloon artist there! He says he can make 240 different balloon shapes. I believe it. We were treated to Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Darth Vader, A Storm Trooper on a speeder, and a goal post with a football that can go back and forth over the goal! SO cool! And So Much fun!

One Reason it is good to live in Utah

I am happy where I am. It's just that sometimes I wish I were somewhere else. Our original plan was to get in and out of school and get out of Utah. Well, 13 years later. . . we are STILL in Utah! Obviously, the Lord has big plans for us here. So, I like to try to find the advantages to being here that I would miss if I lived elsewhere.

I made a quick run to the grocery store this morning and MY cashier, Carol, asked me if my ward just had our RS Birthday Celebration (oops! I missed that one!) because lots of people in my ward had just bought ingredients for the dinner and charged it to my ward's account! (So, the good thing about Utah is not having your grocery cashier know about what your ward is doing--although this may be somewhat unique to Utah) The cool thing is I can PUT IT ON MY WARD'S ACCOUNT! I have learned that the copy store does this too! I can't tell you how much money I've "donated" to church causes because I lost the receipt or forgot to turn it in! Now all I have to do is put it on the tab! I am going to start asking at all the stores I go to when I make YW purchases ". . .and by the way does the Spring Creek 9th ward have an account with you?" That is SO Cool!

Sitting on the other Side of the Bed. . .

Women make a life inside their body & that life comes out and holds onto them--clings to them--calls them up from school and says, "I'm sick, Ma, Come pick me up." That baby is theirs for life. Don't you see? To be able to look back from their side of the bed, with their eyes, at last! --Prelude to a Kiss

This week I have had sick children again. Tessa has been sick most of the week and she has been very clingy and needy. I have spent a lot of time just holding her and laying next to her to comfort her. Then on Friday, Nathan called me and asked me to pick him up from school because he was sick and as I was driving to pick him up, this quote ran through my head. I thought of what a blessing it is that I am at home when my children call me and need me. I feel blessed to be able to see life from the "other side of the bed" -from a Mother's perspective. It certainly isn't all roses but I feel like I understand so much more and my perspective feels more complete as I try to see things from how I saw them as a child and now as a mother. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I am in a situation where I can answer my children's calls and their needs. I have felt like I need to find ways to be there for them even more than I currently am. It is interesting how sickness obligates us to slow down and take care of the things that are really important. This week was a gift, because I stopped to evaluate the amount and quality of time I spend with my children. I only hope to do better as each day passes.

More Digital Scrapbooking

I saw a really cute template idea but it cost $7.50 for ONE template! I thought "I can do that!" I borrowed some ideas for style and then made it mine for FREE! I am really enjoying creating Tessa's Book. This will be the title page. I am going to love this product when I'm all done!

Graduate School Here we come!

Aaron just got accepted as a graduate student at BYU in the Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology!!!!!We are both SO excited!  This is going to be such a good thing for him and our family!  Currently he is in the Master's program and after a couple of semesters he will submit to upgrade to the doctoral track!  Woo Hoo!  I know that Aaron will be successful in this program and that it will ultimately help him advance in his career in the world of higher education! Congratulations Sweetheart!

Scholar of the Month

This year at school, there is an assembly once a month to recognize the kids for academic and social achievement.  Last month Ada was named Scholar of the month.  The month before that Ryan was the scholar of the month for his class, but he was sick on the day of the assembly and I 've had to hound the teacher to get after the principal to finally get him his award for January which he finally got this Monday!  Nathan was actually the first to get an award, the very first month they started doing this.  Pretty Cool.  I am glad to see that my kids are doing so well in school  this year and loving it so.