The one where I admit to being a geeky talk radio listener.

I have become completely enamored with NPR of late (which I always type as NRP - I'm not sure why.  Self-correction or something.)

Anyway, the past few weeks I've entertained my brain while I do random jobs while listening to back stores from the NPR website.  It's changed my world.  These are the things I've discovered, and I want to share them with you.  You know, so you can be a geek like me.

Beginnings.  It's a feature they are doing on All Things Considered about pregnancy and early childhood. The first episode, about infant and mother mortality in Mozambique, brought me to tears. 

Culture Happy Hour podcast.  4 NPR employees sit around and talk about pop culture and what they do to fill up their time.  They are hilarious and sweet and sincerely entertaining.  My favorite episode was last week's, when they talked about what one does while their time is "unstructured" - like when your sick or on maternity leave or otherwise homebound with time on your hands.  There was this awesome anecdote about a possible link between liking smoking and watching General Hospital that made me laugh out loud.  I'm a tad bit jealous of them all to tell the truth; they are all really funny and have an audience for their humor.  But I listen anyway.

NPR Book Podcast.  NPR does bits about books all the time, but they put 5-6 together in a podcast twice a month.  Sometimes I will hear a repeat of one I listened to already, but I also hear some that I wouldn't have taken the time to listen to otherwise.  I've gotten quite a few book recommendations through NPR this summer and have been pleased with the results.  And listening on Monday inspired me to challenge my kids to a week of reading - Thomas has to finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Ben has to read 15 books before the end of the week.  Of course there is a bribe/prize if they meet their goal. It's been awesome - Ben worked his way through The Big Hungry Bear, Head to Toe, and Go, Dog, Go! yesterday, and Thomas is 1/3 of the way through HP.  Ah, the sweet sounds of children reading, rather than watching TV or playing video games.  As they are going back to school next week, I needed to feel like they had actually accomplished some reading, and now I will have.

Last night, I discovered that iTunes has a bunch of podcasts, so I downloaded a few.  This led me to a new story podcast site - The Moth.  I listened to a story this morning about a girl who meets her brother for the first time at their dad's funeral - I had to make an effort not to cry.  And now I'm swooning over their website and their radio hour episodes.  Be still my soul.

So, now I've come to the most important part of this post: the part where I ask what you listen to when your mind needs occupying.  Do you have geeky talk radio proclivities?  What satisfies your cravings?  As I am completely new to this genre, I need your suggestions.  And I can't wait to see what you have discovered!  I'm hoping to immerse myself in geekiness until my fingers are pruny.  What else have I been missing?

100 years.

My Grandma, who was known on this earth as Florence, but was called "Flossie", is 100 years old today.

Oh, how I wish she were still with us.  There are just so many things I want to say about her, so I'm going to.

• She loved babies.  And kitties and puppies and anything little.  And they always loved her back.
• She was kind.
• Her fingers had the softest, squishiest pads on them.  I could play with the softness that was her hands for hours.
• One day, she took me to the dentist.  They told me that I couldn't eat for a half-hour afterward, so we went to her house and I watched Sesame Street. 
• Another day, we moved the furniture around in her house so we could vacuum her living room floor.  She kept telling me how strong I was and what a good helper I was to move the furniture with her.  I felt so strong and happy making her house clean.
• She loved to shop at Ream's. And she could never turn down the ice-cream counter at the front of the store.
• She liked to eat hamburgers at Wendy's.  I can still remember how good felt to eat a hamburger with my grandma.
• Our house had a hummingbird feeder in the kitchen window.  During the summer, when we would invite her to dinner, she would always sit with her back to the window.  I can remember exclaiming over the hummingbirds that would come to eat and her always turning around too slowly and missing the hummingbirds.
• She lived with us for a while.  She had a caretaker person come during the day.  One day, she locked the caretaker in the closet.  I have no idea how she did this, but it makes me giggle a little.
• During her bout with Alzheimer's, she did some interesting things.  She one day told my mom in a clandestine conversation that that "man" who was there all day was a "mean boss."  That mean boss was my dad.  I find this sweet and sad at the same time.
• I used to make her tickle my arms and legs for hours while we sat on her living room couch.
• When I would sleep over at my grandma and grandpa's house, I would sleep in a roll away bed they put between their beds.  I would have to stifle giggles when they would fart, because I was scared that they would think I was rude (because they didn't laugh at the farts.  But I couldn't help myself.) 
• The roll away bed was always covered in a quilt my grandma's mom, Amy, had made.  My sister Amy now has that lovely quilt, and my mom has the sewing machine it was made on.  (I have a different, unfinished quilt made by my other great-grandma and her sewing machine.  I love the symmetry of it!)
• She lived with Alzheimer's for 7 long years, and passed away when I was 15.

I could go on and on.  I miss her so much.  I can't wait for the reunion we will have one day.

Happy Birthday, Grandma.  I love you.

Non-rock-star status = Denial

My family has a few traditions.  Mostly involve food (cheese potatoes at Christmas, brown rice at barbecues, Brussels sprout casserole at Thanksgiving), but one is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  It comes around but once a year, and it has been something that my mom and sisters and I have done since the 1980s.

Well, until this year.

You see, everyone got rock-star status this one.  Haley is on the fashion board, so she and Amy went last Saturday (and got 15% off the sale prices = rock star status #1.)  My mom, Suzette, and other nieces went on Tuesday.  I imagine them sitting in a private dressing room, sipping on faux-champagne while skinny, fabulous people model the clothes that they want to buy.  (This is probably not the reality, but this is what my non-rock-star status mind comes up with.)  It appears my sister's 4 daughters have helped her spend enough over the last few years at the sale to enable their cool new status.

And then there's me.  No early invite to the sale.  No fashion board inclusion.  Just boring old Becky, who is sitting around today and trying NOT to the think of the fabulous shopping that is going on merely 58 blocks away.  I'm in denial that I'm not missing out on anything (well, except for that really cute bracelet, but I know it was $129 and I also know I won't spend that kind of money on a bracelet. Maybe 3 bracelets, but not 1.).  And since I've looked at the sale catalogue and looked at every shirt on sale online, I know I'm not really missing out on anything but the best part of the sale: the tradition part.  The part where I search everyone out at the store, because they arrived hours before me.  The part where I find some things to try on and join a sister/mom/niece in their dressing room to see if I like and/or want to spend the money to take those things home.  I miss the going to lunch afterwards part, the stowing of bags underneath the table. I miss the critiquing of jeans and shirts that I would do with Amy and Jacqui and Lyndsay.  I miss visiting finding Suzette who has been stuck in a room for hours amidst piles and piles of clothes for her daughters.  I miss bringing some things home for Shane that I'll tuck away for Christmas presents. 

I miss you guys.  Maybe one day I will be cool like you.  And I still love you, even with your new rock-star status.  Hmph.

Me and 50 Cent.

Or "Fitty" as I like to call him.  There are a few things that are different about me and this beloved rapper:*

• He grew up in a suburb of New York (Queens), I grew up in a suburb of Provo (Springville).  But I once was near Queens when I visited New York.  Maybe I saw him....
• He was a boxer, I was a gymnast.  But at least we were both doing something to combat childhood obesity, right?
• He competed in the Junior Olympics, I watched the summer Olympics. 
• We both went to 10th grade.  But I didn't get caught taking drugs and guns into my high school.  I wonder what those crazy Devils would have found had my school had metal detectors...
• He went to boot camp, I had friends who wore combat boots.  Not really the same.
• He gets paid to talk about Reebok, I pay to wear Nike's.
• He gets paid to sing; I could get paid not to sing.

So, what could this high-profile troublemaker and I have in common?

• We've both had to relearn how to walk: him because he was shot in the face 9 times, me because I was clumsy and broke my foot.  He had a walker, I used crutches
• Tattoos.  For a short time this summer, we both had a tattoo on our right bicep.  His is a marquise (but is permanent), mine was a Ragnar symbol (temporary).
• We both have sons.  Well, I have two and he has one.  But still, we've raised little men.
• Neither one of us like Sean "P Diddy" Combs.
• He would have voted for President Bush, and I'm pretty sure I did vote for President Bush.  Man, the political discussions we would have would be awesome.

Most importantly: We are exactly the same age.  Today is our birthday.  And while I doubt he likes to do any of the things I like, we will always share this day, July 6th. 

Happy birthday, 50 Cent!  I hope you don't get arrested. Or shot.  Maybe you should just stay home with your kid and eat some cake, okay?

*Source: Wikipedia - 50 Cent.

Happy birthday to the USA

So, this is a little of what we've done this weekend:

Thursday, Ben and Thomas went swimming. They both just completed 3 weeks of swimming lessons, which means they can swim now!! This means I had an awesome time watching and catching some rays from the pool chair. 

Friday I got a pedicure. 

Then we went to the zoo.  It was awesome!  It was only open for another hour by the time we got there so we didn't have to be there a long time.  That is my way to do the zoo!

there is a tiger in the background...he's on the left, hiding by the pole. 

Saturday I "ran" in a race.  It was more of a fashion show, complete with costumes and photographers (aka "the husbands").  It was a ball.  Our team was called "The Swans" and we each had a black or white counterpart.  We made tutus and headbands and did funky Black Swan makeup for the occasion.  It was fun getting dirty for a good cause.

My white swan.

I still got it...well, kind of.

Flock of swans, sending each other off into the world to get dirty.

Sunday we drove go carts and did fireworks at the Bell's house. 

Melanie made me a cake.  She is so nice!!

Today we went swimming.  It was cloudy all day, until we came home from the pool (this is my luck.)  Then we bought a new camera and we all took some practice shots.

Ben wanted a picture of Racooney.  Here it is.

Self-portrait.  Better than some I've taken, honestly.

Now we are waiting for it to get dark so we can light some fireworks.  I love the 4th of July - it is one of my favorite holidays.

Happy 4th to you!!  What made your 4th great?