Conversations with Smiths- Part 22

I've mentioned before that an alternate title to "Conversations with Smiths" could easily be "Poor Todd". Bless the man and all that he puts up with from the rest of us.

Also, for the record, and for context. Benjamin is totally better at doing make-up than I am. Not that it's a high bar or anything. In fact, a toddler could step over it. He's been doing dance and theater since Kindergarten, though, so he's a pro. Other than the occasional swipe of mascara and lip balm, I just don't wear it often enough to be good at application. My sisters who are makeup experts look at my blank face with lamentation whenever we go to visit them.

However, make-up is necessary on stage, darn it.  So a few times a year, I have to suck it up and paint my face.

Me: Benjamin, I'm going to a stage make up workshop in a couple of weeks.

B: Oh! Will they be doing age makeup??

Me: No. They're doing "looking fabulous when you dance on stage" makeup.

B: Hm. [Knowing he doesn't actually need that.]

Me: Could be useful for you.

B: Well, I guess if you won't let me be a stripper, drag could be the way to go.

Me: Drag is much classier than stripping. You have to entertain, not just titillate.

B: Good point. And to do good drag, Brendan said you need to know how to do your contour makeup correctly.

Me: True. Although, you're welcome, for those already fabulous cheekbones you have. Anyway, it's good to keep your career options open, right?

Todd: SHHHH!! Will you two behave? We're at church!

(Church hadn't started yet, btw, but we were probably not adding to the overall reverence of the pre-service ambiance.)

Conversations with Smiths- Part 19

Benjamin has been doing ballet for 5 or 6 years now, but other forms of dance for far longer. His ballet teachers have been trying to convince him of "proper ballet attire" for nearly as long. Since all the other dance forms he does are far more casual, he resists. Oh, he'll don a white t-shirt, and maybe some black athletic pants if black ones happen to be clean, but black ballet tights and a dance belt? No.

Just no.

[A dance belt, btw, is a balladore's version of a jock strap. Imagine, however, that a jock strap and a thong got together and hybridized. Visual confirmation NSFW.]

I am sure I'm biased, but Benjamin is a beautiful ballet dancer. (So is Caleb, but Caleb totally doesn't care about ballet other than to torture his poor teacher.) I can't be totally biased, though, because one of Benjamin's current ballet instructors wants him to audition for a summer ballet intensive that he seems to think Benjamin will have no trouble both being accepted in to and given a big scholarship to attend.

My son is feeling very flattered at the idea of such a thing and is planning on auditioning at one of the regional auditions in a couple of months. His teacher pulled him aside last week and said, "So, you know you're going to have to wear ballet tights and a dance belt to audition, right?" While I wasn't there for this conversation, I have this teacher for a dance class also, and I can imagine the gleam in his eye as he said it. There was probably internal clapping going on, too, as he thought, "Aha! I got him! He'll HAVE to come to class properly dressed NOW!"

This was the conversation Benjamin and I had following:

B: Mr. Adam says I need dance tights and a belt for the audition.

Me: Did he cackle maniacally as he told you? Or say, "Neener neener neener?"

B: No.

Me: You know he was doing it on the inside. 

B: Yeah.

Me: The time has come, my son.

B: It is the coming of the great and dreadful day of the dance belt!

Me: You poor thing.

B: There shall rain down hellfire and brimstone and dancebelts!

Me: I'm sure it's not that bad.

B: I don't even know if everything will stay in place given my lack of bottom.

Me: Maybe it will help your bottom look better.

B: I'll be in tights

Me: Yes. Well, we'll have to make time to go shopping for dance belts and tights one of these days.

B: Hellfire and brimstone and dancebelts. [heavy sigh]

Conversations with the Smiths- Part 12

Me: "So, tonight Benjamin has to be at the church at 6:15 to go over the music for the choir on Sunday, then Caleb has scouts there at 7, and the older boys have to go over to Rosie's house for the campfire, also at 7. AND Nathaniel's hippie commie high school parent meeting is also at 7. So, I'll take the kids at 6:15, leave Caleb there at 6:50, take the other boys over to the campfire, then go to the parent meeting. Can you just go and catch the first 10 minutes until I get there, and then you can pick up all the boys and take Benjamin to dance?

Todd: Or.....I could just go to the parent meeting.

Me: WHAT???? After what happened the last time I sent you to a parent meeting at the beginning of the school year??

[It was before preschool for the same child that is now starting high school. But still, he told me nothing and I spent the whole year in utter confusion. The teachers and parents would look at me perplexed and say, "But we covered this at the parent meeting at the beginning of the year. Don't you remember?" Grrrrrr.]

Todd: That was a LONG time ago!!

Me: He skipped two grades in the meantime. It wasn't THAT long ago!

Todd: I promise I'll take notes.

Me: Hm. You promise?

Todd: Yes

Me: Really good notes?

Todd: sigh YES

Me: Fine. I guess you can go instead. But they'd better be excellent notes!

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Epilogue: Not only did he take good notes, he took them in Google Drive, so he could share the file with me. He brought me the dates and agenda AND he even asked a clarifying question or two that he knew I'd want the answer to.  He has redeemed himself nicely. Although, when I asked if he wanted to go to the regular high school parent meeting tonight since I went last year for the other son, he totally balked. Ah, well.

Conversations with the Smiths- Part 5

Benjamin is kind of an amazing dancer. While I have rhythm, there is no grace from me. Todd was graceful once upon a time, but lacking in physical confidence. Benjamin has neither of these problems.

I have long told Benjamin that he has to take at least one dance class throughout high school regardless of his busy schedule, just so when he's in college he can get a part time job at a local dance studio teaching.

When I mentioned this to a friend of mine who has 4 daughters who dance, she said, "Oh! I'd never thought of that! That's a much better option than using the skill set to strip!"

We laughed, but I later mentioned the conversation to Benjamin.

While we were at the grocery store.

Ballet Boy.

The conversation between he and I afterwards went something like this as we were standing in line:

Me: Look, all I'm saying is that we've invested thousands of dollars  and hours over the years in dance classes and you have a skill set that you can use to help you earn money in college. You might as well get some future use out of it, even if you're not going to go on professionally.

Benjamin: That's true. Although, some studios only hire if you have a degree in dance.

Me: Then don't apply for a job at those studios. There are plenty that don't do that and just look at your dancing, performing, and teaching experience.

Benjamin: [Nods while looking at the candy and gum in the check out aisle.]

Me: Just DON'T use that same skill set to be a stripper!

Benjamin: [Loading groceries on the belt and looking thoughtful] I don't know, Mom. I think I'd make a pretty good stripper.

Me: [beat...then throw my head back in laughter] Ah! Just what every mother wants to hear!

Benjamin: I've got the moves AND you know I have the abs.

Me: Yes, but you also have inherited the Smith No-Bottom. You need a good firm rump to be a good stripper.

Benjamin: I can call Great Uncle Blake and ask what exercises he uses for a better bottom. 

Me: That would be a fun phone conversation. "Hey, Uncle Blake. You don't remember me probably, but I'm your nephew Todd's son and remember when at that family reunion my Mom joked you all had the same Smith-No-Bottom, you showed yours off and said 'Not me, I have exercises for that!'? Yeah. I need the exercises. Why? Oh, to further my stripping career."

Benjamin: Hm. Maybe Dad could call for me.

Me: Yeah, cuz that would be less awkward. Seriously, though, No stripping.

Benjamin: I bet the money's better.

Me: I'm sure. But you have no bottom, so it's a moot point.

Benjamin: WHY do you know about what male strippers are supposed to look like??

Me: Oh, look. The car. Quick put the groceries in so we can get home before the ice cream melts!

Seven Things Sunday

Phew! This week has been exhausting. Here are 7 things we did this week:

1. Lilyanna went to her friend's birthday party. After 2 days of school being cancelled due to frigid temps, some playtime with friends on Saturday was a blessing. Getting her face painted like her beloved white tiger was a dream come true for her!

2. After 2 days of those aforementioned frigid temps we then got a large snow storm on  Saturday. The roads were awful Saturday morning, but alas, the school district's science day did not get cancelled. Nathaniel was not happy about having to slip and slide through the storm.

3. Friday night was the opening of  the high school's production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". Now the last time I saw this show was on Broadway, so I went in with very low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised, though, and enjoyed the show very much. Their Bud Frump was better than the Broadway version, IMO. Benjamin was one of the Junior Executives and in the chorus and had a great time dancing and singing his little heart out. And then Saturday's show was cancelled due to the snow. (NOT THE SCIENCE DAY, just the play. Grrrr.)

4. Earlier in the week, Nathaniel deigned to get his haircut before his audition for his school's production of "The Sound of Music". I took lots of pictures of the process and kept trying to convince him to stop at each phase, because he had kind of a cool emo thing going on. Alas, he didn't think it would be authentic to the period of the play.

5. Nathaniel was cast as one of the children in the Von Trapp family. I believe he was typecast, as Kurt is the incorrigible one after all! ;)

6. All of my careful trip planning for this summer fell apart this week. We were supposed to spend part of our trip this summer visiting our relatives in Spain, but they discovered this week that they have a conflict the only days that we can be there, so in a flurry of fb messages, phone calls, texts, and emails, we managed to purchase tickets for a few weeks from now so we can visit the Spanish relatives in the Western United States while they are visiting other relatives. We're really excited to see everyone, but figuring things out almost cured me of my omnipresent wanderlust for the week. (Almost. I was back at it today to try to figure out where to go for the days we would have been in Spain. I know. We should all have such "problems".)

7. Warren got not 1, but 2 jobs in the last couple of weeks! Fingers crossed and prayers said that all will go well for him.

BONUS:

8. I had my first mammogram yesterday. After the first couple of pictures, I wondered what all women were whining about. (Unless they are relatively flat chested women. That would be awful.) THEN they did the sideways pictures with the arm up and all manner of contortions and just OUCH!! The technician gave me chocolate afterwards, which did help assuage my shock at the whole thing. But still, I think at the very least a good dinner beforehand should have been warranted. Oy. This was also on the same morning of the icky, slippery roads. The upside of all of this was that everyone else had cancelled, so I was in and out of my appointment before my appointment was even supposed to begin. Silver linings, you know. 

Dancing

I love dancing. Not me personally doing it, but watching others do it. I'm amazed at the grace and control that dancers have over their bodies and how effortless they make it all look.

My four youngest kids all dance, and three of them are good at it. One of them enjoys it, but has to work harder for it than everyone else.

I realized that I needed a dance class. I've taken gazillions of exercise classes over the last 20 years, but not a single dance class. I haven't had to do any choreography for anything in more than a decade, so I was rusty.

Heather the Awesome suggested a year or two ago that we take a belly dancing class that was being offered up at our rec center, and finally last fall everything lined up to make it doable.

It's been a little over a year now that we've been taking the class, and I am SOOOO glad that she suggested it. Our teacher is wonderful! She makes everything seem completely attainable, but is realistic that practice is necessary. And I've had the opportunity to perform with her and my amazing classmates at both a belly dance workshop/retreat and several smaller community gatherings.

I feel like belly dance might be one of the forms of dance that is the most accepting of all body types. I know that seems weird since we all imagine perfectly shaped women in their little bikini tops and toned abs. For the most part it isn't that.  It's normal looking women who have learned how to isolate muscles that I wasn't even aware of having before I started belly dance.  And for some moves, the more belly the better!

I'm not quite ready to bare my belly while dancing, but I'm becoming more accepting of the idea.  Thanks in part to my religious beliefs and standards of modesty and in equal part the tremendous number of scars left by being pregnant with excessively large babies, I'm still a bit hesitant to don a spangly bra and let the rest of my torso hang out.  But I think I'll get there eventually.

Here are a few of my favorite ladies from our very first performance last Spring:

I've been pleased to learn that my body is capable of more than I'd ever believed. I always assumed there were people who could move "like that" and people who simply couldn't.  I placed myself firmly in the latter category.  However, with practice and the right teacher many things can be learned.

10 Things Tuesday

1. I am done Christmas shopping for Benjamin and Lilyanna and am very excited about their presents!  I will be done with the other kids next week.

2. The laundry in this house may devour us all.  Clean laundry, mind you.  The approaching storm made us get laundry clean just in case we lost power (something we do with alarming regularity in this neighborhood every time there is a healthy breeze).

3. Speaking of the approaching storm, I have been something of a nervous wreck for the last few days.  Watching all of my favorite Jersey shore boardwalks, beach towns and haunts get pummeled, not to mention the crazy things going on in North Jersey and NYC, has made me all edgy.  It has taken everything in me to not be in constant communication with friends and relatives in our home state to check in on them. Instead I frequently check in on facebook for updates and keep my phone at hand at all times to check for texts letting us know how everything is going there. I didn't know how to verbalize this anxiety to anyone, until I saw my friend today at preschool drop-off.  She is from NJ, too, and has friends and relatives all along the coast as well.  She totally got it. (Thanks, Val!)

4. Last week I read three books.  This may help explain the massive piles of bags of clean laundry.

5. I'm going to attempt to make gluten free homemade oreos or gluten free homemade twix.  If you clicked on either of those links, you'll see that they aren't actually gf.  I will make a gf sugar cookie mix and go from there.  If they work, I will shout from the rooftops...and possibly gain 5lbs because oreos and twix are two of my favorite things and I've gone without them for more than a year!

6. I do not like candy corn, but every year I find myself snitching a couple just to make sure that is still true.  It's been 36 years.  It seems like at this point I should just accept it.

7. This year I forced Caleb to take tap dance.  I am mean like that.  However, two of his favorite friends signed up as well, so it's become one of the things that he looks forward to each week.  And he practices all week long.  I'm very happy about his happiness.  However, I now have not one, but TWO children who tap dance in the shower!

8. Today it snowed.  Tomorrow we Trick-or-Treat.  I have plans to do cute Halloween dinner things like this and this.  We'll see if that all comes together.

9. I love my belly dancing class and am so glad Heather the Awesome suggested it to me all those years ago.  It's been fun to learn something new and learn a different type of dancing than I've ever been exposed to before.

10. I am obsessed with Private Selection Cherry Cordial Hot Chocolate Mix at Kroger right now.  (Smith's probably has it, too, western folk.)  It warms my tummy every night lately. Try it.

Dress Rehearsal 2011

I mentioned the broken camera, right?  Here are Benjamin and Nathaniel's dress rehearsal videos.  They're not great, but you get the idea.  Nathaniel's dress rehearsal (he's the one in the blue shirt) was good considering it is his first time dancing on stage, but he did GREAT in the actual show.  (which we're not allowed to record, so you'll just have to trust me.  ;)  )  I'm so impressed with how far he came in the few short months that he's been taking dance.  He's all fired up to do it again next year!  Benjamin is adding Jr. Tap Company to his Jr. Hip Hop Company AND dancing a duet for next year.  He's very excited.  (I'm mostly excited that we've worked it out that I only have to be at the studio twice each week as opposed to four times!!!  Although, then I might have to start cleaning and/or cooking again...)   You may recognize Benjamin's dance as being the same one from the talent show but this time with the rest of his class.  He was going to do his own choreography to another song, but since it was the thick of competition season, he went with something he was already working on.  And here are my dancing boys!

Ten Things I Learned from Benjamin's First Dance Competition

1.  I am really grateful for the age appropriate costumes that our studio director insists upon.  One word to describe the majority of the little girl dance outfits there:  Prosti-tot.  Also grateful for the age appropriate choreography that our director insists upon.  Watching 8 year old girls do pelvic thrusts and shimmies is just a little awkward for everyone.   One of the Moms next to me said, "Well, someone has to train the future strippers of the world."  It was that bad at times.

2.  Benjamin is very chill in the face of a big deal when there are lots of girls watching him.

3.  I am not very chill in the face of a big deal for my baby!  I stood and fidgeted for almost two hours before he even came on stage.  Only then did I sit down.

4.  I NEED to pack ibuprofen for the next competition.  I had a headache and the loud and blaring music combined with shrieking girls was no fun.

5.  I am so lucky to have a boy because it means I don't need to mess with the crazy eye makeup and false eyelashes that everyone else in the studio has to worry about.

6.  Simply having a boy in your dance gets you an extra 3 points in competition.  It's not much, but every little bit helps, right?

7.  Apparently bronze, silver, and gold are passe.  Instead we now have gold, high gold, and platinum.  Ridiculous.

8.  When you own a studio and know a few neat little tricks and have like 80 numbers from your studio performing on the same day, PLEASE don't put those few neat tricks in EVERY SINGLE DANCE.  I wanted to throw rotten fruit at the choreographer every time the girls from that studio did the same move in every dance.  I should bring rotten fruit next time.  And buy a program so I know who the choreographers are.

9.  The kids at our studio are really kind to one another.

10.  Benjamin is a good dancer.  I don't know where it comes from, but I'm glad he got it, and I'm glad he's really enjoying it.  Next year he wants to compete with the tap company also.  And be an assistant for tap and hip hop classes.  I'm glad he's loving this right now.  I don't know how long it will last, but the social and physical skills he's learned over the course of the last 6 years will be an asset to him forever.  

Mr. Footsteps

2011: Must blog more.

With this in mind, I found this picture from last June when Benjamin was literally crowned "Mr. Footsteps" at his recital.  His studio gives this award to one of the boys at the studio each year who they feel has exemplified some quality that "makes Jesus smile".  Benjamin was selected for last year because of his incredible individuality.  Mentioned by the studio director were some of his fearless fashion choices, but also how he remains true to what he knows is right.

We already know these things about Benjamin, but it's nice to get a crown, scepter, and sash as proof that other people see them, too.

I promise that's a costume under the sash and not further proof of the fearless fashion choices.

Dance Recital 2010

This is actually from the dress rehearsal, which is the only time I'm allowed to record.

This first one is from his tap class.  For some reason the entire thing is blurry, but Benjamin is the only boy in the class, so it shouldn't be too hard to follow.


Next is from his hip-hop class. Which is just funny to me. Five skinny white boys doing hip-hop. He loves it, though, and has been accepted into the jr hip-hop dance company at his studio, so he's really excited! They danced to "Ice Ice Baby" which I hated when it first came out. The fact that I've had to listen to it A LOT for the last six months has done nothing to improve my opinion of the song, but Benjamin loves it. Benjamin is the tallest one, mostly in the middle.


This was their exit for their dance. I just include it because I love the little thug boys on stage with the ballerinas!

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.  

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.  ;)

List

A few weeks ago after a conversation with broads Katey and Dena, I decided to make a list. I like lists. They make me happy. This particular list was "Ten Things I Want To Do Before I Die". Todd keeps telling me it's called a bucket list, but that's just because he saw the movie by the same name. I don't like the name bucket list, so it's my TTIWTDBID List.

My stubbornness is often ridiculous.

Anyway, here is my list:

1. Go back to the U.K. with my kids and Todd and spend at the very least two weeks romping about. I'd rather spend 3 or 4. We'll see. I did all the math a few weeks ago at how I can make this happen financially. It will take 8 years. Which will actually be perfect timing since the boys will be 16, 14, and 12. It will sort of be the last summer of kid. The following year Benjamin will need to be working and getting ready for exiting the nest. But the summer that he's 16, he will still be mine.

2. Send a manuscript to publishers (well, a letter to book agents, anyway) and collect the stack of rejection notices that follow. I will put them in a lovely book with all of Todd's rejection notices from poetry submissions years ago. I have one manuscript one solid day away from being done. I never have one whole day, though. So it's more like a week away. Then there's the letter. I'll make Todd write the letter. He's in marketing...

3. Visit every state in the U.S. I'm getting closer all the time on this one. I picked up South Carolina on our most recent visit to FL. But I'm missing the entire southwest of our country. A vacation clearly needs to be planned for that region. I have 14 states left to go.

4. Get and keep all of my family's scrapbooks up to date. When I read the list to Todd he laughed and said that this one was the most likely to be the one left undone when I died. It's true. I'm going to make a goal to spend a couple hours every Sunday night working on the kid's books, though, so I can get closer to realizing this one.

5. Take a ballroom dance class with Todd. On my list it actually says, "Take a ballroom dance class with Todd, dammit!" Every year that we've been married I've said, "Hey, Todd, wanna take a ballroom dance class with me?" and every year his answer is "Not right now." The years that I was pregnant or nursing a baby, this answer made sense to me. Now, I'm all done with it. For TEN years we have moved his ballroom dance shoes from apartment to apartment to house to house and never ONCE has he put them on. I am going to take a ballroom dance class in the next couple of years. He is becoming less of a factor in the decision. But if I take it without him, his shoes are so going to end up on ebay.

6. Take our boys on a backpacking adventure. When we were younger and less tired, we wanted to take six months and do the entire Appalachian trail with the boys. Now, we're thinking more like two week sections of the trail every summer. They're still a little young for such adventures, but in about five more years we can start.

7. Act in a play or a musical again. I miss the stage. I'm very happy to be in the chorus or just be an extra, but I miss the thrill of being on stage.

8. Hike to the top of that really tall mountain in Yosemite. My friend, Sukhvinder, keeps sending me pictures from the almost top. I want to go all the way, though. So, I just have to get back to California, so she and I can have a new adventure!

9. Learn how to swim for real. I'm a really strong swimmer. My Mom liked to swim underwater and tug our feet down when we were kids. Consequently, I learned to swim strongly to avoid drowning. But I never learned how to do all the strokes. I can mimic what I see, but I don't know how to do them officially. And the whole breathing under my arm thing never worked out for me.

10. Participate in an organized race. DONE!!! Big check mark for ME!!!