Around Town

Spring Fever

Here are some signs of Spring that I’ve seen around town lately.

I will be sad to see this beautiful season go, even if I’m not single and don’t have Spring Fever.

Here are the promised dogwoods.

And, look at the tones of the jay and sky, they are almost the same exact blue.

Prom Night

Look at what I spotted downtown on Saturday night.

A baseball playing kid who thinks he belonged at prom back in 1979.

Wow! I wonder if his date approved of his “statement”.

Maybe she should have called in Taylor Swift to pick her boyfriend as her publicity stunt.
It is so nice to be 32 and comfortable in plain old clothes that are comfortable. (oh and I just re-read this and I am 34, not 32 – wishful thinking, I guess)

Thou Shalt Not Murmur
When no matter what, I can’t force myself to write, I shall post church signs.
(And when you people out West have bad blogging days,
I would really like to see what you come up with for interesting church signs)


So, my life is out of control.
Living the gospel consumed every waking moment and
even many of the sleeping ones last week.
After the weekend, I thought I would be rested….
And, I admit that I was mad that my husband and I didn’t get (nor still haven’t gotten) 2 minutes to ourselves to celebrate the good bar news.
(I mean you think after 10 years of married college life and still succeeding at having three children , we would have figured out how to steal away 2 darn minutes?)
So, what did I do in response to our craziness?
I had a weak moment and murmured to a friend this morning.
So, what did God do in response to my murmuring?
He took away those protective “your car is 10 years old angels” and he let my minivan die!
Man, I should have read these church signs more carefully last week
and been happy with our lives of service and not angry and resentful.
So, yes, I am going to learn from my mistake.
Instead of saying, “Holy CRAP what am I going to do this week without my car?”
I am going to choose to say, “Wow, God is so good to me. I am so grateful to have one car that both my husband and I can share this week. What would I do without that one car to carpool my kiddies, my hubby, and myself to ALL the places I need to go in preparation for the Ward Picnic I am in charge of on Friday?…Oh, I am so blessed to have that one little car.”

Tears of Joy
I now have a very intimate connection to this scripture:

John 16:20
Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Here is the name of my husband on the list of those who passed the TN Bar.
G
SHAHERYAR SHER GILL
JENNIFER LAUREN GILLIS
AUTUMN LYNNE GILLMORE
REBECCA BISSON GOBER
LEGRAND GOLD
ANTHONY BRADLEY GRAY
ANTHONY NICHOLAS GRECO
DOUGLAS SCOTT GRISWOLD
SAMANTHA KAY GROSLAND
JORDAN MITCHELL GWIAZDON

Here is the picture of me in the car, driving with my knee, talking on my cell phone, crying tears of relief and joy, while simulatenously capturing the moment for my blog.

P.S. I am seriously considering re-naming my blog to “My Life in My Minivan”

Rear View Mirror

While on the road to pick up Sophia from school today, I noticed that Bella has picked up my love for rock and roll. It is hard to tell from the video, but she is a head boppin’ fool. (I have to apologize to my mother in law here who hates it when I drive and operate anything other than the car at the same time) Bella’s rock out session was much better before she realized that I was trying to catch her in the act. I resorted to videoing her through the rear view window so she would act naturally. I think that she still kind of knew what I was doing because she isn’t half as zealous as before in this video. When I got done and put my camera in my purse Bella said, “Mommy are you going to put me on your blog?” She didn’t want me to, but I hope she’ll forgive me someday. She is kind of blog shy.

I am always happy when I can catch something entertaining while driving in my car. Have you noticed my new K-town label. K-town is label for the things I see around Knoxville; it’s amazing the things you notice from your car when looking for blog photos. (usually while driving in the car – because you all know that I am in my car a good two hours every day) So, I was trying to figure out how I was going to come up with an excuse to post this cute blurb of Bella. I don’t want this to my “kid” blog. I don’t like reading other people’s blog when all they blog about is their children. (I do like to read about their children, just not ALL the time)

Sheila, my new blogging friend, just gave me the best excuse ever, to post my rear view mirror catch. WOW! I only had to wait three hourse to find a good reason to justify posting about my children again. Anyway, read Sheila’s post with a rear view mirror analogy. I loved it. It is good advice for all of us who need to learn to let go of our mistakes.

Free Entertainment

Here is a photo of one source of free entertainment…a tree swing. This one just happens to be in our yard.

Another source of free entertainment is the American mall. The mall, free? What? How is that? Keep reading. I shop at the mall about once a year. I just think everything is so OVERPRICED! I can’t even afford the underwear that they sell at the mall. But I’ve learned to be a smart mother and I now can use every lack of funds moment to my advantage.

A few months ago, we stopped in at the mall just to eat at the food court.) O.k. so I go to the mall more than once a year, but going to the food court doesn’t count.) About twice a year, we like to go as a family and let everyone get whatever kind of food they want.

After all 5 of us have ordered food from different establishments we give our kids a lesson in sharing and divide the smor·gas·bord around the table. When we have each eaten every possible food group and we can feel them sloshing around in our digestive systems, we can’t help but feel like we’ve made it in life! The food court is a true symbol of American life. When your whole family can get their favorite mass produced food and enjoy it at the same table, you know you live in America. Or Japan, but we aren’t counting the fact that everyone in Japan has rice as their same favorite food.

Well, how do we top a night off when we have all just gorged ourselves on MSG? After forking out $20 for food, we are then ready for some free entertainment. First, we stop at the little kiddie quarter rides. The kids know we won’t pay the quarter, but they think it is fun to climb in anyways. It is the same concept for LG. As I watch the kids on the kiddie rides, he goes inside the video game store. LG knows that I won’t give him the quarter, but he likes to climb anyway.

And, then, before we leave the mall, I get my entertainment….no, not the IceCream Dots, but watching the family take bottomless rides on the….you’ve got it.. the escalators. Even though the girls have graduated from calling the escalators “alligators”, they still always love to ride. Now, as Mormons, you know we don’t believe in excess, (so we try not to go overboard on the riding) but we ride just enough to properly bother every possible mall-goer who believes the escalator was made only for floor transition. My daughters are 8, 6, and 4 and still think it is the escalator is the greatest invention in the whole wide world. LG usually putters out after 2 ups and 2 downs, but I like to keep on riding, so that I can keep getting a good glance at the girls smiling from ear to ear.

So, see, ladies, there are advantages (besides appeasing your budget nazi husbands) to only going to the mall three times a year….all kinds of free entertainment right under your nose.

And the quote of the day:

“I like an escalator because an escalator can never break, it can only
become stairs. There would never be an escalator temporarily out of order sign,
only an escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience.” ~ Mitch
Hedberg