This is how old I am.

I'm over at this music website, Blender, enjoying its 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born list and cracking up at such literary gems as, "When you spend the first few years of your career chirping cheeky dance tracks while encased in white shorts so tight you look like Elton John’s pool boy..."

There's some language, so skip it unless you're just really into knowing which songs made that top 500 list. I was surprised to see which ones landed where.

So I'm chuckling at this and Brennan's wondering why I'm laughing, so I read the above and said, "They're talking about George Michael."

"Who?"

"You know, George Michael, the singer."

(blank look)

"You've heard of Wham!, haven't you? You know, wake me up before you go-go? And then he went solo, and he sang 'Faith' and ... um... he sang this..." and I turned on "Freedom 90" for him. I realize that this song came out two years before he was born... holy crap.

He has no idea who George Michael is. None.

This is the only George Michael he knows: George-Michael Bluth on the TV show "Arrested Development," played by Michael Cera. The character was named after his grandfather, George, and his dad, Michael... get it? George-Michael? See, it's funny, son. They were thinking of George Michael the singer... Get it?...

Wow. I feel crusty.

Cousin Mandi

... always sends me awesome stuff via email. My favorite was Politics Made Easy: "You have two cows..." Here's the latest:

Hummingbird Babies - so cute!

And: A family lives on the outskirts of Anchorage and they decided to build a sturdy, colorful playground for their 3 and 4 year old sons.

They lined the bottom with smooth-stone gravel all around to avoid knee scrapes and other injuries. They finished building it one Friday evening and were very pleased with the end product. The following morning, the mom was about to wake up the boys and have them go out to play in their new play center. This is what she saw from the upstairs window:


This gives a whole new meaning to "If you build it, they will come!"

Thanks Mandi!

Completely unrelated: My babies just surprised me with some Ben & Jerry's S'mores ice cream from Albertson's. (Yay, now that it's private, I can say "I live behind Albertson's on Fourth Plain!") Awwww. That made my heart go pitter pat!

Dying! I'M DYING!!!

Here's why. I mean, seriously, I am going nuts. I can't even get the bishop on the phone. The Universe is conspiring against me.

Also, it's the first day of summer vacation and Rosalind is not yet used to having her brothers home and in her face all day long, and frankly, neither am I. I have already had to have The Sister Talk with the boys:

"Do not taunt your sister. Do not look cross-eyed at your sister. Do not play keep-away with toys belonging to your sister. Do not anger your sister. Do not make her scream. Do not think it's funny when you make her scream. Do not make ME scream at YOU. When SHE screams, it makes Mommy crazy-mad at YOU. We want to have a happy house this summer."

AND this has already been heard throughout the household:

"Stop fencing with spatulas!"

The summer wind came blowin in...

... and brought us summer colds... Dad and Brennan are sick, Harrison is hacking and my head feels suspicious - like at any minute, it could go south. Avoid our house at all costs. Isabella has been cut off from close contact because of her two upcoming soccer tournaments (we're making her sleep in the car).

(OK, not really - not in this neighborhood.)

On the upside, I ate a tomato on a Wendy's sandwich last night and did NOT get salmonella. It was risky but I figured I'd take one for the team.

I think I miss blogging in my old blog. I'm up to three posts now without a picture. How about this:

Carter, January 2006, at Grannie and Grandpa's house, looking through their magnifying glass - I could just eat that little nose

Tomorrow is the kids' last day of school - and I've decided that the one good thing about the school year lasting so long here is that the kids get to make gifts not only for Mother's Day, but Father's Day as well.

Father's Day

Our favorite Father's Day moment happened in Sacrament meeting. Our three Primary kids (Harrison, Carter and Rosalind) went to the front of the chapel with the other kids to sing such perennial favorites as "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home." Roz heard the first few notes and as the other kids started singing, she burst into tears. "Daddy! I'm scared!" Her Sunbeams teacher happened to be sitting on the podium with her husband, so she grabbed Roz and held her until I could come and take her out. We got LOTS of smiles from the audience.

Later Roz told me that she was scared because she didn't know the words to the songs.

Around the Apartment

Brennan

The maid is on holiday :) 

The girls' room

Oh the books.

Girls' bed. Pretty :) 

Before - covered with a fish net. Very bad.

After!!!

Heather's Home!

Cousin Heather came home yesterday from her mission in Florida and Alabama! Rachael posted some pictures and a video of her homecoming at the airport, Whit also posted pictures, and Deen couldn't be there, but she posted pictures too. Yayyyyyyy!!! We're so glad to have you home!!!!

Kristy Has Conquered the High Cost of Gas

May 11: Kristy and her new toy, which she named "Reggie." She looks hot!! We've been thinking about buying one for Bri, but we think we might have to get a small work car instead.

Pictures From BC & Tawnee

BC & Tawnee sent me some great pictures yesterday and I couldn't wait to put them up! Thanks, guys! If you don't already have a blog but would like to share some pictures here, you can email me at brinatty @ comcast . net.

I didn't know what was happening in these, so I made up my own narration - maybe Tawnee will email me more details. :)

March 23: Kiley, Neenaw and Zane. Now we know what the bottom of Zane's tongue looks like. :D

March 23

March 30: Looks like Kiley found a cool place to sit by the river

March 30: Zane fishing

April 18: Kiley & Grannie - something wrong, Kiley?

April 18: Grannie & Zane - cute

April 18: Halloween came early this year, or ...? Looks like it was fun.

May 17: Beautiful Kiley

May 17: Throwing in the ball (Bella will be excited to see this one)

May 18: Zane & BC - looks like Zane just finished a sno-cone

May 28: Zane playing baseball - wow, everything's so green. It must have rained that week. :)

May 31: BC & Tawnee - slap a bandana on Grandpa Dysart's head, and you'd have BC's twin. Where were you two in this one? Is this the gorge?

May 31: CHEEEESE! Looks like there's sunshine on B's shoulder.

Sunsets always make me smile. (Did you guys take this one?)

Florality

Hubby's been in Denver since Sunday, coming home tonight, and he sent me these gorgeous flowers yesterday, just because he missed me (and his friend Charles was doing the same thing for his wife and Hubby thought it was a nice idea, as he modestly told me last night).

Now for some random pictures of the boys:

First Brennan and The Controversial Hair that he finally had to have cut... we are NEVER letting our boys grow their hair again - live and learn...

But being the wonderful parents we are, we choose our battles. I love those cute little faces, even when they're surrounded by tighty-whiteys. This reminds me of when I was a kid and I'd play my Indian song on the piano, and my siblings, when they heard it, would run into the bedrooms, find some underwear, run back out to the living room and dance around with undies on their heads. You have to admire our creativity.

Random Movie Review

The best movies are on TV at 4 AM (unless the movie is "G!rls G0ne W!ld" - I hate that stupid Sp!ke network).

This morning I caught Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte on AMC, starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, in a suspenseful story about a couple of Crazy Southern Cousins! YEEEE HAW!! And you know how people clap at the end of movies, even though the actors can't hear them? I clapped at the end of this one. The people in the movie are all dead, and I was clapping for them. It's that good.

For you Waltons fans, Ellen Corby, pre-Grandma Walton, and one of the Baldwin Sisters are seen gossiping in the last scene of the movie; Samantha's mother Endora in "Bewitched," Agnes Moorehead, also plays a pivotal role. Pivotal, I say. She's quite the actress - I didn't recognize her. Bette Davis was her usual wonderful self, and Olivia de Havilland was a huge surprise. Wow.

It's a good "chick power" movie, so next time you feel like watching something freaky, yet chick-friendly (and if you're like me, this is pretty much nightly), this is a good choice.

"Hey! You look like us!"

Almost all the girls on the Dysart side of the family look like they came out of the same Grandma Keen cookie cutter.

I was just talking to Melanie about all the cousins' business websites. I asked her if she'd ever met Candace and Lynda and she said, "A long time ago." Then she told me this story:

"Ernie and I were going out to Clackamas River, and he was going to fish and I was going to go swimming. We were hungry, so we pulled into the McDonald's right by the bridge before you go over the Clackamas River. We went through the drive-through, and when we pulled up to the girl at the window, I looked at her and said, 'Hey! You look like us!'

"She agreed, and somehow we figured out we were cousins. I think I asked her what her name was because she looked so much like us, it was weird. Then we all laughed because we thought it was funny, because that's what everyone in our family does. 'Hey! Someone from our family! Hahahahahaahha!'"

She can't remember if it was Becky or Karen Dysart, but it was the McDonald's that Becky managed and Uncle Doug and Karen worked at. "It's pretty bad that I don't remember."

Our cute little exception is Kiley, who is beautiful like her mother and resembles BC quite a bit too.

UPDATE: Candace just started a new picture blog - you can see even more people who look like us. Dena also started a blog. Yay for the cousins getting sucked in!

Quick! What Makes You Smile?

I'm chair-dancing to "More Than a Woman" by the Bee Gees right now and thinking, OK, that Barry Gibb is one inspired, God-given-talented dude. Yes, it's disco (I love disco, so watch it), but it's GORGEOUS. I feel the same way about other 70s greats like ABBA, Ambrosia and some Hall & Oates. (Did I just say "watch it"?) You probably have music or something that makes you feel the same way.

What makes you burst with joy? What makes you want to get up and dance for happiness? What makes you melt in a pool of tears at the beauty of it? What makes your heart go "pitter" and/or "pat"?

Finding old stuff I used to watch on TV as a child makes me happy:


And

I await your findings.

"Your Eyes Need Diapers!"

But First: Someone's having a baby tomorrow! Please go and wish her well!

Are you a crier? Does it take much to make you cry? Or can you pretty easily conjure up tears whenever you need them? While crying can be a powerful tool that in the past, I may or may not have used to my advantage - two facts remain: I am a crier, and I hate it.

Sariah saw me wiping my eyes at church yesterday and asked, "Are you weepy?"

*sniffle* Yes... again.

Although I really don't like being a crier, there are some advantages. One is that people who see you do it, can tell you're having a problem. There's no beating around the bush or guessing or "She seems down lately" - it's out there for the whole world to see. I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by people who care when I cry, and try to do something helpful.

Another great thing about crying at the drop of a hat is the health benefits. Rather than holding everything inside and developing an ulcer or high blood pressure, I have the option of letting life's crappy moments go slipping, dripping, and sometimes exploding out of my face. Marilyn H. said yesterday, "Well, obviously something is bothering you, and that's what your tears are for. Let 'em out!" No problem there.

I don't just cry when I'm sad or upset - happiness, excitement, strangers' genealogical breakthroughs at the Family History Center, contestants winning both showcases on "The Price Is Right," and exceptional dance numbers in movies ("That's How You Know" and the barn-raising scene in Seven Brides) will also do the trick. Not to mention new babies, weddings, singing "America the Beautiful," Kleenex advertisements, sweet moments between Jim and Pam on "The Office" - "Pam, I was wondering... if you would wait for me while I tie my shoe" - yep. Those too. Fortunately Hubby finds this quality endearing - well, usually.

But yeah, that's me, I'm a crier. I'm a big wet sponge, a whole-body gleek waiting to happen if you look at me too closely or say the right thing. If only the Depends people would come out with some discreet little tear-catcher...

I'd probably cry for joy.