Zombie Haiku

Sent to me by the awesome and amazing Joan. Yet another one of the reasons why I want to be just like her when I have teenage kids.

Oh. Wait.

"Zombie Haiku"
Brains brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains brains


Does poetry get better than this?!

Oh, yeah. And Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008

It's getting ridiculous that I haven't posted about Christmas yet, so here in no particular order are pictures of Christmas 2008. We were lucky enough to have a last minute visit from Crummy and Grampy from NJ. We sure loved having them here with us for the holiday, but I have no pictures of them. I do that a lot. No pictures of people. But there will be lots of pictures of a pie.

Not in this post.

I'm just saying.

Anyway, on with the Christmas pics!

The Tree.

The Little People Nativity Scene. With the rhino that somehow visits every year. And Doomsday. (Yes, they were both added by Caleb.)

Cute little boys in their new PJs on Christmas Eve opening up the presents they got for one another.

Opening up stockings. Check out my matching PJs. Apparently, if you are short enough you can find FABULOUS pjs with feet in the boys section. Very exciting!

We love Star Wars. Star Wars everything. Everything. I'm still mad that Pottery Barn Kids doesn't make this bedding to fit a king sized bed.

After opening all of the presents upstairs, the kids were very sad because they were so certain they were going to be getting a Wii this Christmas. Nathaniel (our budding gamer) even burst into tears of sadness, until Todd took them downstairs where it was already set up and ready to go. Rejoicing commenced.

Nathaniel, Todd, Benjamin, and Grampy playing Wii.

Musical Monday

Because the other day I said to a friend, "...here is my favorite goat headed demon."

He is my favorite because he is a goat headed demon who sings and dances and does back up for Buffy. A Musical + Buffy the Vampire Slayer= happy me!



This one I also love because it has the line "It could be witches! Some evil witches
Which is ridiculous, 'Cause witches, they were persecuted, Wiccan, good, and love the earth And woman power and I'll be over here."

And the bunny thing. My kids love the bunny thing.

Alpha 1 in the News

Nathaniel was diagnosed with Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency when he was about six weeks old.  Due to some liver problems, he had to take medicine twice daily until he was 4.  Who knows what future medical treatment holds, but at this point it means in order to maximize his shortened life span he needs to do a whole lot of clean living. (Fortunately, he was born into the right family and set of religious beliefs for that.)

Anyway, Todd's mom told us today that Alpha 1 is in the news thanks to none other than Michael Jackson.  Not the person I would have chosen to highlight, but whatever.  All the reports I read of him are, if they are true, sloppy reporting at best. The mention of internal bleeding and blindness in the articles is ridiculous as neither one of those things are in any way connected with Alpha 1.   Here are a few facts about Alpha 1 from Web MD (which is not my favorite site for many reasons, but happened to have a relatively concise explanation, so I'm forgiving them this time.):

Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
In this inherited liver disease an important liver protein known as alpha-1 antitrypsin, is either lacking or exists in lower than normal levels in the blood. People with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency are able to produce this protein; however, the disease prevents it from entering the bloodstream and it instead accumulates in the liver.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin protein protects the lungs from damage due to naturally occurring enzymes. When the protein is too low or non-existent, the lungs can become damaged, leading to difficulty breathing and, in about 75% of the people with the condition, emphysema. People with this disease are also at risk of developing cirrhosis.

What Are the Symptoms of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency?
The first symptoms of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency will usually be symptoms of its effects on the lungs, including shortness of breath or wheezing. Unexplained weight loss and a barrel-shaped chest, which is commonly associated with the presence of emphysema, are also signs of the condition. As the disease progresses, symptoms typical of emphysema or cirrhosis may appear, and include:

Fatigue
Chronic cough
Swelling of the ankles and feet
Jaundice
Fluid in the abdomen (ascites)
How Is Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Diagnosed and Treated?
Physical signs, such as a barrel-shaped chest and respiratory problems, may lead your doctor to suspect alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. A blood test that tests specifically for the alpha-1 antitrypsin protein will help confirm the diagnosis.

There is no established treatment to cure alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency but it can be treated by replacing the protein in the bloodstream. However, experts are not clear on how effective this technique is and who should receive it. Other approaches to treating alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency involve treating the complications such as emphysema and cirrhosis. This includes antibiotics to combat respiratory infections, inhaled medication to make breathing easier, and diuretics and other measures to reduce any fluid build up in the abdomen.

Personal behavior, such as avoiding alcohol, quitting smoking, and eating a healthy diet, can also help keep symptoms and complications from becoming severe. Your doctor or dietitian can recommend a diet that is right for you.

Because the disease affects the lungs, people with the condition are more prone to respiratory infections. Therefore both flu and pneumonia vaccinations are recommended to help prevent these infections. If you feel you are developing a cold or cough, contact your doctor so treatment can begin as soon as possible. Occasionally the lungs or liver deteriorates despite treatment. In such cases, liver transplantation may be advised.

Musical Monday

I watch this movie every year. And I cry every year when the general comes in. In the beginning and end of the movie. If you haven't ever seen "White Christmas" watch it. It you have seen it, watch it again.



Not at all related to Christmas, but I love it. I wanted a dress just like theirs when I was little. I could still pull it off, right? Especially with an enormous blue feathered fan. I predict it will be next season's must have. Just you watch.




This is way better than the dresses, though.

NJ All-State Chorus

The further chronicles of Todd and Emilia, the teenage years:

I spent the rest of my sophomore year of high school being mean to Todd Smith.  Not terrible mean.  But biting, scathing, sarcastic mean.  Which he took as friendly.

Boys. [insert eye rolling]

So, Todd became more friendly towards me and would seek me out to talk to me at meetings and dances.  Because I was mean to him and didn't want him around anymore.   He even came to see the musical I was in that spring.  (I did NOT go to see his.  A fact that has been brought up several times in our marriage.)

Throughout my sophomore year, I discovered many other people on which to have massive crushes.  Maybe "many" is overstating it a bit.  I remember two.  One of them was more plausible than the other, but I was desperately shy.

There are those of you who have only known me in adulthood.  I can assure you that outside of my own little circle of comfort I was debilitatingly shy.  I wouldn't call people on the phone until I was 10 or 11, and only then if they were my very best friends.  I was so shy about talking to strangers that once when my parents wanted me to place my own order at McDonald's (I think I was 8 or 9 at the time) I responded by bursting in to tears.  The summer in between my sophomore and junior year of high school I went to live and work in Wyoming.  I lived in the apartment which adjoined my grandparent's house and worked in the hardware store partially owned and soley operated by my Uncle Garth.  I realized upon arrival that for all the time I had spent in Wyoming, I had been to shy for anyone to actually know me.  So, I decided that shyness was a choice.  And I was going to choose to not be shy anymore.  I talked to everyone that summer.  I was still more quiet than most, but for me it was quite an acheivement.  Granted, some of my conversations were more prudent than others, but still, it was a big deal for me.

When I returned to NJ, I decided that life would be different.  I could carry some of my new found not-shyness back to school with me.  And I did.  Which is why it was so delightful that one of the boys I had a crush on was the only boy from my school to have also been selected for the NJ All-State Chorus.  And I was the only girl.  We would travel together to rehearsals on Saturdays.  Neither one of us said a whole lot, now that I think about it, but it was still more than I had ever said coherantly to an almost stranger that I had a crush on.  I suppose we were getting to know one another in a slow and quiet way.  One night after a Halloween party, he offered to drive me home.  I accepted and we ended up driving for a couple of hours before we made it back to my house.  Just talking.  Quietly.   

All-State Chorus culminated in a weekend down in Atlantic City where we performed at the NJ Teacher's Convention.  This boy and I were the only two from our school to be down there.  Did I mention that?  Our friends whispered that THIS could be the weekend.  Two relatively shy people practically alone (with 300 other choir members)!  Surely, under those circumstances we would figure something out?!

I don't remember the bus ride down to Atlantic City at all now.  Did we sit together?  I can't remember now.  But we tried to coordinate meals and walking from the hotel to the rehearsal site together.   I remember the fluttery feeling of walking down the stairs of the hotel with him, when Todd Smith came bounding up to me like an excited puppy.  I was predictably mean to him in the hopes that he would go away and allow me to make doe eyes at my crush.  As usual, my meanness made him stick to me like glue.  For the ENTIRE weekend.  There was only one moment where crush and I stood closer than necessary to one another.  I was sitting on the rail of the boardwalk and he leaned his back into me while I put my arms around him.  Every time I hear the creak and smell that smell of a black leather jacket, that's the moment I think of.  A moment, I should add, that we only got because I sneaked out of the hotel purposely to avoid Todd Smith.

Our case was not helped by the fact that there was a very cute girl flitting around my crush when I wasn't around.  But I choose to blame Todd for the fact that we never ended up together.

Which meant that I spent the rest of that year treating Todd Smith with even GREATER disdain than I previously had.  When I got home from my weekend away, my Dad asked about Todd.  I made a disparaging comment about his singing voice.  My Dad said, "Well, he got in.  He must be good."  I shot back a viscious "Oh, please.  He's a tenor.  They don't have to be good.  They just have to have a pulse."  

And then I stormed up to my room.  (It's choir geek vindictiveness.  Trust me.)

I will say that it turned out for the best.  The crush and I ended up going to the same college and even eventually lived together.  He was a good roommate.  I would have missed that if we'd dated.

Dr. Smith

I didn't think I was one of those mothers who had preconceived notions about career paths for my children.

But apparently I am.

Nathaniel has to be a doctor. Or a biologist.

It's just uncanny the way he needs to know everything that happens in the human body. Last week, Nathaniel had the wonderful throwing up virus. Apparently my lame explanations for why he was throwing up were unacceptable to him. (This is usually when we call in Dr. Dan, or Dr. Sukhvinder, or Nurse Jenny...but it was the middle of the day and I feel guilty interrupting them when they may be saving lives.)

So, after we dropped Caleb off at preschool, we swung by the library to get books and movies about viruses. Nathaniel sat wrapped up in a quilt with emergency bowl dutifully on his lap while we read and watched all about viruses, diseases, and the immune system.

Dude, when I got sick at his age, I wanted to hang out on the couch and watch cartoons about animals that chased each other all over and then dropped anvils off of cliffs.

I mention it just for comparison.

Later that night, when he was feeling a little better, he asked if we could get a stuffed animal leukocyte from giantmicrobes.com. The fact that he even knows about giantmicrobe.com should tell you enough. The fact that he knows that a white blood cell is called a leukocyte and that it is something that should clearly be available from giantmicrobes.com is quite another thing. (It is kinda cute, though.)

But it got even better! The other night at dinner, we had tomato soup.


I served with it tarallini which are little crackers shaped like tortellini.



Nathaniel tossed some crackers in his tomato soup and laughed saying, "Hey, look!! Red blood cells!!"

Weirdo.

Seriously?

Everyone at my house has been throwing up lately.  It's all the rage.

Monday night, Benjamin came home from school not feeling well.  He seemed more upset than usual about the prospect of missing school the next day.   Silly me assumed there was a class party or some such really fun thing that he didn't want to miss.   Here was the conversation:

Me:  What's so special about school tomorrow that you don't want to miss it?

Benjamin:  I have library tomorrow.

Me: Um.  Okay.  What special thing is going on in library?

Benjamin:  I REALLY want to get that video out that teaches all about nuclear energy!  It looks really great, Mom!

Me:  Seriously?

Benjamin:  ... [withering stare]

Where did he come from?!  It's a mystery.  

Pals

More of me and Todd, the teenage version.  I know you've been breathlessly awaiting further installments. 

From my journal 9/24/91:

This year is looking up.  I'm on the Stake Youth Council [That meant I got to help plan all the dances and activities that I had spent the previous year going to for the sole purpose of flirting with Todd.  Todd was also on the Stake Youth Council, which did not excite me my sophomore year, because I was older and wiser.  So much older and so much wiser.  ;)]  I'm getting good grades so far, and I came to the happy realization that I'll never be more than pals with Todd.  Not even friends.  Just PALS.

Sisters

I have a million things to blog about today.  But first and foremost I have to say how completely surprised and overwhelmed I am by the amazing acts of love and service I see all around me on a daily basis.   My recent calling as RS President brings with it many challenges, but it has opened my eyes to the wonderful love and compassion constantly shown by those around me.  I am blessed to know such an amazing group of women.

Musical Monday

Today's selections feature a few of my favorite things:  

1. David Tennant.

2.  The song "The Gambler" 

3. A song by Morrissey when he was singing with "The Smiths."

4.  David Tennant singing along with both of those songs.  And dancing.  It makes me practically quivery with happiness!

5.  People randomly bursting into song while doing mundane things.  Like eating ice cream while staking out a shady bloke.  Or making a drug bust.  Because no matter how much most people try to deny it, life really is a musical.

Enjoy!

Gift Ideas

Okay, world. 

I am in need of gifting help.

What does one buy for a 16 year old boy for Christmas?

Help.

Summer 1991

The summer after my freshman year of high school was very fun.  I was all done with Todd Smith and a new, wiser teenager had resulted from my first knock down drag out unrequitted crush.

We went to Cape Cod, Mass as soon as school was out for what had become a mostly annual camping trip for our family.  I went on long bike rides, made friends with fellow teenage campers, read books next to the campfire, swam with turtles in the lake and spent as much time as possible either in or on the water.  It was a wonderful trip.  We had some other friends from NJ join us and their teenagers and I romped and swam and canoed all over the lakes, as well.  Mostly, I pointedly did not think about Todd.  Because everything I did, I just thought about how ridiculous I had been.   

Later that summer, we drove out to Wyoming.  There was much hiking and visiting and playing with cousins.  Also a wonderful trip.  Here's a journal entry from that experience:

August 15, 1991:

"I left NJ planning on having a rotten time in WY, but when I got here I realized that it really wasn't worth it.  My family won't be moving out here until I graduate from High School, so I no longer feel threatened.  I've taken lambs and llamas for walks while I've been here.  So, that's been an experience I wouldn't have back home.

Now, on to the good stuff.  Todd Smith called while I was here!  [He called my house in NJ.  The person staying there told me.]  Drat.  I do wonder what he wanted!  I think my problem with guys is that as soon as I meet someone, I see us married with kids.  It puts too much pressure on a friendship.  I'm almost mad that Todd called.  I was just starting to convince myself that I really didn't care."

Back in the Day

And now we return to our regular programming.

My journal from June 14, 1991:

"Kurt Bestor was the speaker at Youth Conference.  Spiritually, it was wonderful.  Socially, it was a flop. (For me and Todd.)  I let my temper get the better of me this weekend.  I realized he doesn't like me.  He doesn't even like a lot of the things I like.  On the way home from Youth Conference, I was in a rotten mood so Bishop Smith said, "Don't worry, Emilia.  All boys are gravy-suckin' slime balls."  I don't know what it even means.  But it made me feel better."

Two weeks later on July 1, 1991:

"I just apologized to my Mom and everybody else for my behavior over the past 6 months.  I've been such a dip!  It is definitely the end of an era.  I've even packed away all of the banners and countdowns in a big manila envelope.  What better way to start the summer?"

See?  I was ALL DONE with that Todd Smith.

It had been short and sort of sweet and was a learning experience which left me free to go on and find other boys to adore with my new found knowledge of what NOT to do.

Incidentally, I still refer to dumb boys as gravy suckin' slime balls.  And I still don't know what it means.  And it still makes me feel better.  

Heartbreaking

Almost son while talking to me on the phone:

"It feels weird to be wanted."

JCS

Caleb tonight at dinner:

"Mom?  Where do we go when we die?  College?"

TEN YEARS

We are going to pause in our regular programming of me posting my embarrassing journal entries written about Todd. But here's a silly picture of him:


In case you aren't sure how the story ends, Todd and I were married almost ten years ago on December 23. We are never letting our kids do anything that silly. Christmas is a terrible time to have an anniversary! Some years we barely acknowledge it, but we decided that every five years we'd do something "real".

I should mention that we have weather issues. The day we were married there was a big ice storm. It took people who attended the wedding ceremony nine hours (instead of the typical 3.5 hours) to get home from Washington D.C. to NJ.

On our fifth anniversary we had a wonderful weekend in NYC. The first night it was so freezing cold that we ventured outside our hotel only long enough to get bagels for dinner, and then the next day it was pouring rain. We ended up going home early. I don't love the city in a monsoon.

Friday night, the awesome fabulous and wonderful fellow book group broad, Heather (and her hubby, of course), took my boys so Todd and I could run away for 24 hours. (Big shout out to HEATHER!!! Gimme an H!!...)

It was 15 degrees outside. And I planned for us to walk from our hotel to Latitude 41. Which I LOVED, btw. I definitely recommend it for a grown up evening out. They use local, seasonal ingredients and have a very small selection. But every single thing they offered was excellent! Here's us at the restuarant with our desserts:

(Mom, I didn't brush my hair before this picture was taken.)

After dinner we walked quickly and coldly back to the hotel along the mostly deserted city streets. (Everyone else was smart enough to stay inside that night.) I kept reminding my freezing husband that for as cold as he thought he was, I wasn't even wearing pants. He countered by reminding me that he has no body fat. We'll call it a draw.

Back at the hotel, I wanted a picture of the two of us. I have a ridiculously small number of pictures of the two of us together. So I handed him the camera and told him to do it because he has longer arms. Bless his humble heart, the man has no idea how to take self pics. Here's what happened:

"No, honey. Closer and more centered."

"Without being completely unflattering."

"Give me that!!!" "No!" "Give me that!!" "No! You can't have it!"



" It's mine because my arms are longer!!" "Yeah, well, I'm heavier than you are!"

Ha! I got it. But apparently I can't take pictures either.
That's better.

The next morning we woke up to lots of snow and wind and cold and slipped and slid all over the city for the rest of the day. I am just pointing this out to the people who cursed us while driving home from our wedding ten years ago. The curse stuck.

Saturday morning, after we'd chased a postal worker all over downtown Columbus (there's a story there, too) and we'd finally eaten, Todd asked me what I wanted to do. I responded that I had really wanted to wander all over the North Market and Short North areas. But the weather was uncooperative. Todd laughed and reminded me that I'd said the exact same thing in NYC five years ago.

I suppose it's good to have traditions.

Musical Monday

I loved this song before I knew the story of the show behind it. I love it even more now. "A Little Night Music" is my favorite musical by Sondheim. The entire show is either in 3/4 or 6/8 which makes you walk with a little lilt in your step or feel like you need to waltz while listening. The lyrics are clever, clever, clever, and the interpersonal relationships exhausting in their involvements. If you haven't listened to it before, I recommend getting the CD from your local library.

Enjoy!

Foreshadowing

My journal entry from May 4, 1991:

"Before the Scripture Bowl [This was an event in which all the kids who attended early morning seminary would race to see who could find a scripture the fastest based on a keyword, spiritual principle or historical reference. Because, yes, we are that kind of geeky. My ward won, btw.] started, Todd was holding a little baby and when he came over I naturally took him (the baby). Then Vinny came over and asked me jokingly if it was my child. I didn't say anything, I just kept playing with the baby, but Todd took over. He put his arm around me and said, "No. He's ours." I didn't say anything to that either. It was just a strange feeling."

I should mention that every now and then I will see Todd and burst out giggling. This is usually followed by me saying, "I can not believe that I grew up and actually married you!!" I mean that in a nice way. Really.

More Dances

Journal entry from April 13, 1991:

"We danced together ALL night.  [This isn't exactly true.  I remember specifically dancing with Maury and Vinny that night, as well.  But apparently they didn't count.]  I had a simply wonderful time.  I can't believe that it's over.  Sometimes I just wish that I could read guys' minds just to find out how they interpret a situation."

We did dance together quite a bit that night.  It was a ballroom dance.  So everything was waltzes and foxtrots and cha-chas and polkas.  There was one particular time as Todd and I were galloping around the room, he stopped and picked up a couple of daffodils from off of one of the tables and handed them to me.  Not only did I totally melt inside, but I took them home and dried them.  I kept them inside my curio cabinet with all of my precious music boxes until the summer of 1994.  I was packing my room up so my family could move to Wyoming, and I found the flowers tucked behind a music box on the top shelf.  I decided that I had been ridiculous and silly at age 15, and who needed old dried flowers from that silly Todd Smith anyway?  (By age 18, I was sooo over him.)  ;)

I totally wish I'd kept the flowers.

The Dance

This is where the story of Todd and I gets interesting.  Because at age 14 I was a great journal keeper.  I can pull out the actual overly dramatic documentation of the night, written on the very night it happened!!

(Todd hates it when I get out my journals for things like this.  He usually points out that just because I wrote it down that way, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the way that it happened.  I'm sure I recorded every detail with absolute integrity, but I'll include his disclaimer nonetheless.  Because I love him.  And he's cute when he gets all indignant about things.)

 Journal Entry from Dec. 27, 1990:

"We had a dance at North Branch tonight, but I just wasn't in the mood, so I moped around for a while.  After a while, I went out to the Clinton foyer and was looking at the bulletin board when all of a sudden a voice behind me said, 'You bored, too?'  It was Todd Smith, but he had been asleep on the couch with his back to me, so I hadn't expected to hear a voice.  Especially not his.  He was having a rotten time, too.  So, we decided to do something useful.  We grabbed some shovels and went outside to shovel snow.  Then we went in the kitchen and helped to get dessert ready.  It got me in a better mood in no time, but then he left.  It was fun, though.  I hope we can get to be friends."

Poor Todd.  He had just passed the time with me.  I decided I was head over heels "in like" with him.  At future activities we did spend more time together and got to know one another a little better.  But I had a very romantic sub-plot going on in my head.  Todd didn't.

My other girl friends from church had boys at these same dances, that they liked, so we came up with code names for all of them, so we could talk about them during early morning seminary and church without the boys from our ward knowing of whom we were speaking.  We weren't nearly as stealthy as we thought we were, but the memories sure are fun!  I have an entire folder of paper hearts, dance countdowns, and posters with lyrics to our favorite song, "Somebody" by Depeche Mode, on them.  All of them made with our respective "love" interests in mind.  We were so wonderfully silly together.  It still makes me smile to think about it.

Because of Todd, my attendance at Stake Youth Activities was 100%.  Here's an entry from the Valentine's Dance in 1991:

"Tonight was the Valentine's Dance!  [Todd] and I had an awesome time. .. We were being quite immature the whole night....He's so fun to be around.  We sat next to each other at Friendly's after the dance  and had a blast....When it was time to leave Friendly's he got up and gave me a hug, but I couldn't get really 'into it' 'cause his Mom was standing right there watching us.  However, when I was just about to leave I told him to give me a hug.  He said he already had, but he gave me one anyway.  It was a 10 as far as hugs go, and even after I let go he kept his head on my shoulder.  It must've looked like more than it was because Brother Clegg on his way by said, 'Keep it up, Todd.'  It was a wonderful night."

Wow.  More embarrasing journal entries later.  I was extremely prolific about Todd from January to June of 1991.  After that...not so much.  ;)

Boys Who Sing

My Dad was in the Stake Presidency when I was a little girl. Basically, that meant that he had lots of church meetings and had to travel around to all the congregations within the stake. Sometimes my Mom and I would go with him.

One Sunday in particular, we went to the ward (congregation) that Todd attended.  After the main meeting (Sacrament Meeting), the children go to Primary.  There are lessons and singing and all sorts of good things.  Anyway, that day in primary the music leader was introducing a new song called "Love is Spoken Here".    I loved learning new songs.  It was like having a puzzle dangled in front of me.  I HAD to solve it.  So, I paid very close attention to everything that was taught.  (This paid off, because they didn't start teaching it in my ward until the next month.  And I totally knew it already.)  The girls sing the first verse of the song and the boys sing the second verse, then join together to sing the third verse.

  There are some wards where the little boys are very enthusiastic singers.  Then there is the majority.  So, my seven year old self was very interested in the melodious singing coming from the opposite side of the room.

I craned my neck around to see eight year old Todd Smith.  I remember thinking, "Hm.  He's a really good singer.  That's Todd.  I remember him.  He cries when he gets teased."

I should mention that he didn't look at me once.  Nor does he remember this event at all.  Nor did he remember that I was even at Treasure Island all those years before.

He does, however, remember our anniversary.  And my birthday....um, usually.

The next time I saw Todd Smith, I was 14 and he was 15.  But that will be tomorrow's story.

Choir Geek Humor

I totally missed musical Monday which is particularly strange given the fact that it was cold and snowy all day.

Here it is a day late, but it will get everyone in the Christmas mood and make you giggle a little bit.



Hooray for fellow choir geeks!

The Meeting

At the end of this month, Todd and I will have been married for TEN YEARS.

Frankly, I find this unbelievable, but then I look at the fact that we have an 8 and a half year old.

The other day I mentioned something about Todd to a friend and he said, "Where did you find this guy?"

My response: "Girl's Camp"

Naturally.

People usually stare for a minute while they try to process the next thing to say to a response like that.

For those of you who don't know, Girl's Camp is a five day camping experience for all the young women, ages 12-18, from our church. Several congregations (called "wards") from a geographic area (called "stake") gather together to do such a camp. The summer of 1980, my mother and Todd's mother had both been asked to be leaders for the camp. Several of the leaders brought their families to the camp the weekend before all the girls arrived, so they had extra man-power to help set everything up and get it ready for the invasion of giggling teenage girls that would follow.

Camp was at a small island in the Delaware River called "Treasure Island", if you can believe such a thing. Todd and I both have memories of travelling from the NJ side of the river to the island with all our stuff in green boats driven by boy scouts.

I was four. Todd was five. Todd's older sister, Melanie, was there also. (I wonder if his younger brother was there, too... I don't remember him being there, but he was a toddler at the time. Hm.) Melanie had beautiful long blond hair. I wanted pretty long hair more than anything else, but my mean mother wouldn't let me have it because I refused to let her brush it. (Ha!! I showed you, MOM! I've had long hair for years, and I DON'T BRUSH IT. So There.) Anyway, I spent the weekend following Melanie and her pretty long hair around. Melanie's favorite game seemed to be, "Let's make Todd cry." It looked like fun to me, so I joined right in.

So my earliest memories of my husband are of him being a cry baby. ;) (I suppose by right, his earliest memories of me should be me being mean, but fortunately he has a spotty memory.)

One morning he and his Dad went down to the showers. The walls didn't go all the way down to the cement floor, which meant that Melanie and I could grab at Todd's ankles from the outside while he tried to take a shower. I remember running away through the woods with Todd's Dad yelling at us to "Cut it out!" and Todd crying. Melanie and I giggled the whole way.

The Sunday that we were up there, we had an outdoor church service where Todd, Melanie, and I sang "I Am A Child of God" for all the adults. I'm sure that we were adorable. I do remember thinking that it was very pleasant to sing with a boy who wasn't afraid to sing out AND sing in tune. (Even then, I was snobby about that sort of thing.)

And that was it. My Dad and I went home and Todd Smith didn't come back on my radar again until I was seven and he was eight.

But that will be a story for tomorrow.