Go to sleep, or I will put you to sleep!

I'm actually talking to myself with that one. I have not gone to sleep until 2 am for the last few nights. I have become obsessed once again. First it was "Twilight" (so over that), then blogging (hmm...that's waning a bit), then couponing (still going strong), and now "Lost" (Holy mother of M-O-L-Y! Could the nerd coils be any hotter right now!)

I'm always a little late jumping on any fad or bandwagon. I know big bangs are out, but are A-line bobs still in? OK, good. So, even though Lost began in 2004 I didn't become a true follower until 2008. Four whole stinkin' years I was missing out. So, after the ever-so-gentle prodding of my SIL, Tiesha, and brother, Jason, I watched the first DVD of the first season. So, about this time last year I watched Seasons 1-3, then just recently watched Season 4, had DVR'd Season 5 and as of last night I can join the ranks of Lost freaks. Ah, it feels so good to be "current."

So, sorry, right now instead of spying on my fellow bloggies, I will be immersing myself over at www.ew.com where Doc Jensen is my new crush. This guy is either brilliant or he has some insider knowledge about the island. In either case, I have become mesmerized, and will now fully participate in the postulations, what-ifs, and maybes of all things LOST.

This Doc Jensen fella is all about the literary allusions of Lost. I admit, I do find his theories pretty much right on and fascinating. Finally, six years after the fact, lessons from my literary theory and criticism class are finally clicking. I sat glossy-eyed and in another dimension myself in that class and have no idea how I survived. But Doc's analysis of names and symbols in Lost are finally making elements from that stinkin' criticism class make sense.

I have to confer with my brother after Lost episodes and he has ever so enlightened me with his own theories:

1. Richard Alpert (hmm...he is good-looking meat) is really an Egyptian who has found a portal from ancient times that has lead him, and possibly others, to the island. This would explain the black eyeliner. And this would also explain the giant statue, whose only remains are a four-toed sandled food. The statue, which we only get a quick look at during one of the time warps, resembles the many-eared god of the underworld, Hades. (Jason theory)

2. Eloise is Daniel Faraday's mother. She is also the woman with the gun during the "Jughead" episode. She is referred to as Ellie. (Jason theory)

3. If Ellie is Eloise, I'm betting that Daniel Faraday is the love child of Ellie and Charles Widmore, who were both in Alpert's group of others at the same time. This would explain Widmore financing Faraday's ventures. (my theory)

4. Claire is not really dead - and I suspect that at some point we will see a reemergence of dead characters who will be resurrected in some respect according to the islands wishes.....OK, that one's a stretch. (my theory)

5. It's hard to say who is absolutely good and who is absolutely bad. I think we'll find Charles Widmore is a better man than that lying sucker Ben Linus would have us think. After all, he told Desmond how to reach Eloise and isn't Eloise the master-mind behind getting everyone's butts back to fantasy island? Why doesn't Eloise just send her former lover back there herself? (my theory)

6. John Locke got talked out of killing himself by Ben....yet another example of Ben's smooth convincing. The island wanted John to die (not sure why yet), but Ben is once again assuming control - just like he did when Locke was supposed to turn the wheel, but Ben did it instead. (my theory)

7. The Dharma Initiative's symbol looks eerily like a snake - snakes were very much a part of Egyptian life/mythology. We think of serpents as evil (Adam and Eve), but not necessarily so for the Egyptians. (my theory)

There is so much going on in the show. I hope they can tie up so many lose ends. What about Walt and the other special children that were on the flight? Anyway, I will be all about LOSTing it on Friday mornings now. And Sam better not change the channel and screw up my recordings. Doesn't he know I have "lost" of TV to keep up on??

Brianhead

The other weekend we took a getaway trip to Brianhead Resort. (FYI - it is not "Brian Head" or "Brian Head Ski Resort." It's Brianhead Resort. Yes, I learned that the hard way when I got a MFE, or major factual error, on a rough copy of a newspaper article when I wrote for the SUU Journal. Also, the grocery store is spelled "Lins" when you're writing an article for the Journal, even though their damn sign is spelled "Lin's." It's spelled that way without the apostrophe because that's the way it is in the copy bible, aka the phonebook. I am still bitter about that one. So, yes, that's what I think about whenever I hear "Brianhead" or "Lin's.")

So we went to Brianhead. My Aunt Laura is an accountant at one of the lodges and she got us a room for two nights. I grew up in Colorado but have never been a fan of the snow. I never went skiing until I was a senior in high school. Sledding was as outdoorsy-cold as I want to get and that even changed after I saw my brother fly about 15 feet in the air and land on his upper back at Old Powderhorn. Very dangerous.

So, I was nervous for days about going down that sledding hill at Brianhead. But, I stood my ground and refused to go down. Instead, I sent my innocent five-year-old baby and my cousin Beth up the slopes. Who just lays on a rubber tube face first and heads down an icy mountain at speeds of 15 mph? Not me! I just make my little boy do it for photo ops.

The Last of the 20s

A couple weeks ago was a big, last birthday celebration for the last of my big 20s. OK, so it wasn't big - it was actually quite intimate - just me and the (little) boys. Yes, pity party moment for me. Sam was gone on a tow and I was determined not to cook. So, a sandwich for me and McNuggets for the boys. But, I did get a cake (with my name!), thank you Grandma, and I did buy myself a deep freeze. Wahoo, party on!

The chest below sits in Cooper's room now. It was made by my Grandpa Whiting about four years before he passed away. Notice the date - it's been 20 years now. Wow. It's held up really well and has yet to be marred or marked by the kids. I'm sure it'll be with me forever. I took out the "Jem Starstage" and pioneer skirt from my third grade music program and replaced them with baby blankets. But in the drawer below still sits middle school yearbooks, plastic hook beads, and a hopscotch throwy thing (does that have a name??) My, how the years have changed.

Matt is 5!

Matt turned 5 on Feb. 5. Everyday now he asks me when he's going to kindergarten. I really messed up on that one. I've told him that he has to be five. Now he's five, he wants to know why he's not going. How do you explain state age requirements and birthday deadlines to a five-year-old? Somebody just let that boy go to school!

I promise - they tasted way better than they looked. I have never played soccer and apparently I have never seen a soccer ball either. The frosting probably would've looked better if I'd have used shortening, which is stiffer, but it's just hard to know I'm eating sugar coated lard. I mean, I'll do it, but if I have a choice I'm more of a straight butter cream frosting type of girl. Underneath is my favorite cake to make - the ever popular 1970s-esque chocolate mayonnaise cake! Best cake ever!

a basketball hoop from G&G Andrus

And probably the best purchase of the evening - Wal-Mart's $19.99 helium-and-30-balloons combo. What kid can resist balloons? This picture was taken the next day, but still Cooper and Milo were entertained.

And finally, Matt's day was so eventful he literally fell out of bed and didn't wake up.

911, what's your emergency?

Cooper called 911 this afternoon. Yep, that little booger is in trouble now. I was busy doing some stuff for the race team and didn't even know Cooper had the phone. I finally wrestled it away from him and by that time it had been off the hook for 10 minutes. As soon as I hung it back up and I got a call right away. The caller ID says "Washington County." It was 911-dispatch telling me they'd had a hang-up and was everything allright. It had been up until that time, but as soon as I hung up I was ticked - ticked at my baby for doing it and at myself for not watching him better.



I told the dispatcher my baby had been playing with the phone. He then asked for my name. Gave it to him. Long silence as I heard him typing in the background. He asked if I could speak freely. Yes. I apologized profusely and hung up. Forty-five minutes later I get a knock, which in the back of my mind I was expecting. Two sheriff's deputies. They were friendly and understood the situation. I was angry for not being a more watchful mom and for wasting tax payer dollars. And now I still have six hours left in the day and two phones way up high.

The Grinder

My wheat grinder arrived yesterday. Wahoo! My enthusiam for this new little contraption was fueled by visions of loaves of homemade wheat bread, various concoctions of wheat-filled recipes (whole grain brownies anyone?), and the thought that I will save nearly $180 a year in bread expenses.

After the initial excitement wore off, though, I had to think: 1. Has it really come to this? Is my SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) life so predictable and ordinary now that this really gets me all giddy? And 2. $180, huh? I think Sam spent that much alone on a part for his money-pit truck yesterday. Regardless, I will press forward and come hell or high water I will use my wheat grinder! Mine will be the most "regular" family in the neighborhood! Amen!

On the side here: I love ordering goodies off the Internet. But what I love even more is the UPS tracking device. I spy on my goodies and check-in on them about three times a day to see them get closer and closer to their new home. So, yesterday about 5 pm I was irked that my wheat grinder hadn't arrived yet. I hadn't heard the UPS man knock. So, I got online and found that it had been delivered. I pushed my kids out of the way, ran to the front door, which I rarely use, and found my little gem. Christmas all over again! Which, by the way, UPS deliveries have got to be one of the best parts of the holiday season. Yes, it would have been easier to just open the front door and look in the first place, but I'm on the Internet anyway spying on all of you.

Going Private and a New Email

So, it's come to this. I'm being forced to go private now. Yea, I know it's kind of a pain, but it's a compromise after a heated "discussion" the other night with the husband.

Sam doesn't pay much attention to my blog. It's pretty much my own world. But, he got an itch the other night to do some investigating and came to the conclusion that "we have cute kids and there are some crazy people out there." His words, not mine. Didn't know my children would be singled out among all my fellow bloggies, but he told me the blog had to go. I told him that bordered on abuse. So, we compromised. I go private, Sam is somewhat pacified, and I keep my link to the outside world.

So, here's how it works (Grandma and Mom, pay attention): Go to www.blogger.com or www.google.com. Sign up to get a google account - pretty much it's your email address and a password. You don't have to create a blog to get an account. Then, email me your email address and I will put you on my list of "acceptable readers." My email address is sjandrus@aol.com.
I'll probably be going private in about a week.

Sidenote: This is my new email address: sjandrus@aol.com. It replaces my former email address amend1720@aol.com. That email address is so outdated. In fact, other than my mom's email, it's got to be the oldest AOL address there is. In fact, it has a dated history which I will briefly share.

I got that email address in 1996. The "amend1" part stands for the 1st Amendment - freedom of the press, speech, etc. I, at this time, was a journalism nut. Not to brag, but at this time I was part of the second best high school newspaper in the country, "The Orange & Black." My teacher, Mark Newton, was very inspirational. Not only in producing the best newspaper, but in just becoming a better person all around. So, I loved writing and journalism. I even had a bumper sticker on my Ford Escort that said "Talk is Cheap, Free Speech Isn't." Nice, I know. You thought I could've lived in Boulder with that one. I still believe that, but it's not on my nice Ford Freestar mini-van now.

The "720" part is a bit embarrassing. The "7" is for July (the seventh month) and the "20" is for July 20th, a day I went on a date with a crush I had. Now, only my fellow Grand Junctionite bloggers will appreciate this, but my crush was Jared Dean. That crush faded quickly though, when I was gone to France for three weeks and came home to find he'd asked one of my best friends to prom. Kari wasn't keen on going, in fact she brought me a rose from the bouquet he'd used to ask her as she then asked my permission to go. Seriously, what a good friend! She wound up going because she felt bad saying no. But the 720 was already a part of my email identity, and 13 years later it is time to move on! So, there you go - more than you wanted to know about my email.

Don't forget to email me if you want me to add you to my blog list. I love reading blogs and I love my friends to read mine! So that's sjandrus@aol.com.