Marvelous Pigs in Satin

**I began this post to celebrate turning 33 last fall, but I never finished it. I was having trouble thinking up 33 things. It seems a strange coincidence that I stumbled over this old half-finished draft on a day when other people are also talking @ the number 33.

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This post is egotistically all about me (as opposed to my other posts *eye-roll*), so if you want to skip this one, feel free.

1. If you were to ask me what I do in my free time, I would say I sew things, read books, and surf Pintrest. The truth these days though, is that when I have an absolutely free moment I usually end up wasting it by sitting on the couch and marveling over the fact that I have a free moment.

2. I think pineapple on pizza is yucky.

3. I think vegetable soup is delicious and I could eat it every day.

4. I think green matches everything.

5. I’ve never been kicked out of a place for being rowdy, but I did get in trouble for playing spoons in the back of Home Ec. class in Junior High. Good Times 🙂

6. Project Runway is my favorite TV show ever.

7. Tim Gunn’s mantra (“Make It Work”) is almost the same as mine (“I’ll Make it FIT“) ……It’s like we’re twins.

8. I particularly adore quoting favorite movies in conversation.

9. The novel I have re-read the most times is “Gone With the Wind.” I’m not sure why it is so compelling to me. It is not my favorite book. It might be because I see all of Scarlett O’Hara’s faults in myself and I have to keep reading the book to make sure I am not becoming too much like her.

10. When I’m angry I listen to Melissa Etheridge and clean things in the house that require fierce scrubbing.

11. When I’m sad, I play the piano. It usually makes me feel better.

12. I love to watch Star Trek The Next Generation. And no, I wasn’t in love with Will Riker or Wesley Crusher when I was a girl–Captain Picard was the man for me.

13. But I adore Wil Wheaton

and think he is awesome. I blog to keep in touch with my far flung family, but in my wildest dreams, Wil Wheaton would stumble upon my blog and leave me a comment telling me that I’m hilarious. However, the amazing Bloggess I am not. I read her blog and laugh myself silly until the cursing gets too much for me and then I have to stop and take a break. So I cannot be her, even if I was that funny.

14. I love love love pumpkin pie. I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite food ever.

15. Some people shower in the morning. I must shower at night. I can’t sleep if I’m dirty. My skin crawls just thinking about it.

16. When I go to the airport and they make me take my shoes off and walk down the line, I totally stress about having to put my shoes back on my now dirty socks.

17. I cry at the end of “Nanny McPhee” every time I watch it.

18. I’m 33 and I’m still scared of the dark.

19. Admit it. Life would be so boring without me!

20. I know lots of Spanish vocabulary, but can’t string any words together to make conversation.

21. I let my 3 year old take hour long baths because it keeps her happy and busy.

22. My sister, Amanda, can talk me into doing just about anything, no matter how crazy, illegal, or life-threatening.

23. I do not like the movie “Edward Scissorhands”. But I do like “Nightmare before Christmas” and “Corpse Bride”.

24. I have blue eyes. It is my husband’s favorite thing about me.

25. He won my heart because he values education & intelligence. ..and he writes poetry to me sometimes.

26. If you ask my kids what cartoon character I am most like, they will tell you “Kim Possible.” That makes me super happy

27. This might be my favorite number. It made me happy to type it.

28. If you ask my kids why they love their mother/are proud of their mother, they will say it is because I fix them food and don’t let them starve. I’m glad their standards are low.

29. Why did the elephant cut off his back legs?

…..

So he could go bummin’ around the jungle. hahahahahahahahahaha I kill me.

30. The only time I really regret not having tv/cable is during the Olympics. Then I permanently camp out at someone’s house who does have TV.

31. I am really loving my thirty’s. For the first time in my life, I feel very comfortable in my own skin. I know who I am and I know what I like. I’m old enough to be taken seriously but young enough to still be young. It’s great.

32. I had a geography professor in college who’s political philosophy I despised (Would you categorize thinking *China’s ideas on population control are to be applauded* as a political philosophy?). But he said one thing which I believe is true: “We are ALL dirt farmers.”

33. Genuis tid-bit that makes you laugh and love me and sums up my entire existance *here*

A fellow blogger has awarded me this Sunshine Award. Thanks! Yay! 🙂 My first blog award!!

I think I earned it mostly because I comment often on their blog. It’s a great blog, well thought out and intelligent and surprisingly funny. By which I mean that the humor isn’t always obvious, it sneaks up on you unexpectedly. That’s the best kind. Ya’all should check it out here: LDS Convert

I comment so much because I love it when people comment on my blog posts (hint! hint!)

Anyway, here are the rules: (Made to be broken, apparently. I’ll feel free to break them.)

The Rules: *made to be broken*

Include the award Logo(s) in a post or in your blog.
Answer 10 questions about your self.
Nominate 10 other fabulous bloggers. I’ll nominate who I want
Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blog, letting them know about the award.
Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

The Questions: (which I totally changed, via permission to break the rules above)

1. What is your Favorite color? green, green, green. It is happy and peaceful.

2. What is your favorite animal? Elephant. I always wanted a pet elephant when I was growing up.

3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink? raspberry lemonaideDo you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Closed! You never know what big dark shadows will turn into after you close your eyes.

4. Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter? Refuse to even try twitter. And I really have a KindOfLike/Hate relationship with Facebook

Do you like Post-it Notes? Do I ever!! Wanna make me happy on my birthday? Give me a shiny new stack of Post-it notes (Note to the Man of the House: If you are reading this, you are the exception to this rule. Do not give me Post-it notes for my birthday. More is expected of you –like a new package of manilla file folders. I’m sure you knew that already.)

5. What’s your passion? Depends on the day Do you have freckles? Yes, yes I do. In fact, Cutie Pie was just bragging to a friend the other day that her mom had polka dots on her arms.

6. What’s your Favorite pattern? My favorite pattern that I have actually sewn is Insa skirt from the book “Sewing Clothes Kids Love” by Nancy Langdon & Sabine Pollehn. I blogged about how it turned out here.

7. What movies could you watch over and over again and still love? Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, Pride & Prejudice (A&E 1996 version), Scrooge the Musical with Albert Finney, The Muppets’ Christmas Carol, Ben Hurr, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Importance of Being Earnest.

8. What’s your favorite number? 7

9. Favorite day of the week? The day I wake up and know that I have no commitments and can spend the whole day doing what I want. Which usually ends up being clean the house.

10. Favorite flower? Tulips Do you ever dance, even if there is no music playing? Yes. There are times when you don’t need music, times when the music of your soul is enough.

And now to hand out the nominations: (Ooo! Feel the power! ..Oh, I feel it.)

Dear Goodness– Because yours is my favorite blog to read

Adventures of the Almost Great–Because you haven’t blogged in over a year and I miss you!!

Melanie’s Photos–Because your blog is sunshine and hope and you always make me smile.

and
WellBread Mom – I just want to hear you answer 10 questions and also I love your blog.

It is amazing how my attitude sinks in direct proportion to how low the baby is sitting each day.

Then again, when I spend a sleepless night because my legs hurt so badly and I’m sure my hips are going to pop out of their sockets from the pressure, perhaps it isn’t surprising that I’m crabby and impatient and depressed the next morning.

The same thing happened to me on Saturday night. So Sunday (my birthday) I was not a pleasant person to be around. Then Monday the baby floated back up and I became much more cheerful.

Now it is Wednesday and we are both down, down, down.

Because my sister posted about her husband’s secret favorite song, I got to find out that my husband has a secret favorite song, too. I can’t tell you how happy I was to find this out–especially since most of the music he likes is the kind I’m sure will damage my children’s brains permanently.

My Pregnancy Countdown ticker says I have 92 days left.

If I flunk my sugar test next month, that will minus 14 days off the total. YIKES! I’m so not ready yet!

Plus you know that means it is only 97 days until Christmas. Are you ready? I’m not.

Plus I am a little over 2 weeks into my first month of Sales Director Qualification with Mary Kay. The company gives us 4 months to meet the requirements, but my goal is to finish in 3, a.k.a BEFORE the baby is born.

I’ve been working so hard! I’ve done more facials in the last 2 weeks than I’ve ever done in a month. Right now, all I can do is keep working and hope the numbers add up to what they have to be by September 30th. I must just focus on the work I need to do and not focus on the worry. Worry won’t get me anywhere.

In just a minute I’m going to take a deep breath and leave this computer and get to work. I’m pretty proud of myself that I’ve had the house clean, dinner on the table and the laundry caught up–all while working 15-20 hours a week on my Mary Kay. That in itself is proof how much I’ve learned about time management and self-discipline in the last few years. I even went to the temple last week.

But I also grouched at my kids several times and let my 3 year old watch too much TV. So I’m not even close to perfect yet.

I keep worrying that part of my current efficiency is due to the fact that I have only 1 child not in school and 4 big kids who come home and do at least 1 chore for me every day. In other words, I’ll lose all this wonderful control over my life in December when the baby arrives. I have to keep reminding myself that it is a temporary and unavoidable thing–not being able to get anything done after a new baby arrives. Plus that new baby will be so much fun to cuddle and kiss.

I’m so excited about what is going on in my life right now and I am determined to keep working and not drop back into the old procrastinating me. The ostrich who liked to just stick her head in the sand periodically and pretend that nothing was going to fall apart if she just ignored it for a week or 2. As we learn in physics, 2nd law of thermodynamics, the entropy (disorder, randomness, chaos) of a system always increases unless we apply a counter energy or work.

So I’m off to work with a sense of urgency (not panic).

Did I mention how much I love being able to use Picasa?

Well, some pretty strange people have been visiting my home. Luckily, my security camera caught most of them on film. Don’t worry, I’m sending the footage to America’s Most Wanted.

I ran accross this article in the New York Daily News.

It was all about how quickly celebrities lose weight after having babies. and how jealous we should all be because they get their “svelt” bodies back so fast. I quote, “Don’t hate on them because they’re famous. And rich. Hate on them because they look so darn good so soon after having kids.”

First of all, Some of them don’t appear to have lost that much weight–they’re just smartly wearing clothes that camoflage it.

Second of all, I’m sure those celebs who did lose the weight spent like 4 hours a day with personal trainers and weights and treadmills to lose the weight so fast. Also, they ate nothing but salad and vitamin water and they could get away with that because they have maids to clean their houses and don’t have to worry about having energy to clean and cook.

But that isn’t my main point.

I looked through the photo gallery of 50 different Hollywood stars and Runway models. Each had a baby bump picture and a post baby skinny picture along with a brag about how quickly she got skinny.

The thing I kept thinking as I looked at the pictures was the pregnant celebs were prettier than their post baby skinny selves. Preggo they look glowing and radiant and healthy. On the other hand, in their skinny pictures, most of them have really sharp, anglular faces that look tired and starved next to their rosy pregnant twins. Also, you can see their arm bones under their skin, even on their upper arms.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t like to lose some weight after I have this baby. I would. And I’m proud of those celebrities who had the sense to eat food and feed their growing babies even though that meant they had to work their buns off later (literally). I’m just saying, I don’t think skinny is necessarly the only judge of pretty and happy. I don’t think the skinnier the better. I’m saying skeletal isn’t pretty, in my opinion.
What do you think?

**all pictures came from the article mentioned above

***Yes I cheated and used the pictures that were the most extreme examples of what I’m talking about. But I noticed that many of the preggo pictures were taken at 6 months pregnant or earlier. Thus, those celebs got a whole lot rounder than they let us see.