Call me narcissist if you must but this blog is all about ME. I have another blog about my kids, whom I love and adore writing about. But I was Nicole a long time before I was mom and I don't intend to give up being Nicole overnight.

p.s.
You can read all about my kids at Naptime Optional.
Or you can follow along on our Arizona adventure on my 365 project blog.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Name that Movie Monday

Was it as hard for everybody else to wake up to Monday after the extended Holiday weekend as it was for me? I almost forgot that there were good reasons to look forward to Monday. Like another action packed edition of Name that Movie Monday.

Today being December the 1st we are in full-on holiday mode. Which means I'm feeling particularly generous today. Which means you get not one, not two, but THREE quotes from the SAME movie to help you in your movie guessing today. Too easy you say? Well, I'm just kind that way. I like everybody to feel like a winner. So, are you ready?



Character 1: This is either maddness or brillant.

Character 2: It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide.

Me? I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for. Because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid.

I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.




Give it your best guess!

And enjoy your free redbox movie: CC67M4

Now I'm off to find some more Mucinex, Sudafed, and Ibuprofen. Don't worry, you can't catch what I've got just from reading my blog. :)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Flashback Friday

I think this week, in honor of the holiday, we will do a Thanksgiving memory.

Mike and I spent our first married Thanksgiving in Lake Tahoe. Mike's mother's family was having a family reunion in that neck of the woods so we made the trek with Mike's parents, his sister Kim and her husband Andrew. Andrew's bother Allen also made the trek with us.

We got a 2 bedroom condo for the weekend. Mike's parent's took one room and Kim and Andrew slept in the other. Which meant Mike and I got the pull out bed in the family room.

Oh, and did I mention I was pregnant?

Well, the pull out bed was the most uncomfortable thing I ever laid down on. You could feel the bar of bed frame right through the unbelievably thin mattress. After about 2 minutes of laying on it Mike and I decided to fold it back up and try to sleep on the couch. That was kind of a joke, too. We pulled the chairs over and tried putting our heads on the couch and our feet on the chairs but the chairs just kept sliding away.

Needless to say, it was a VERY long night.

So, the following day we found a Kmart and bought an air mattress. A double decker one so it wouldn't be so low to the ground for the pregnant woman. It sounded like a good idea. There was just one tiny problem. The thing would NOT hold the air. And as the air would drain from it in the wee hours of the night it would force Mike and me into the middle of the bed. Then the bed would start to close in on us like a giant taco.

Of course, being pregnant, I had to pee all night long. And if you think a pregnant woman rolling out of an inflatable taco bed is easy, then you are wrong. I felt like a beached whale each time I tried to roll myself out.

To make matters even worse I was SO STINKING HOT that I eventually found myself sleeping in just my t-shirt. At one point I had to use the bathroom, again, and just didn't want to bother finding my pj pants. I rationalized that everybody was asleep AND that they were probably sleeping with their doors closed anyway, so I should just make a mad dash for the bathroom.

In the morning my brother-in-law Andrew told me he thought he saw a ghost in the middle of the night. He said he saw a white streak dash past his bedroom door. The streak sort of looked like me, but it was moving way too fast to a pregnant woman!

Lake Tahoe was beautiful but boy was I happy to see my own bed again!

Hope you all had a memorable Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Name that Movie Monday

It's that time again! That's right wood-chuck chuckers, it's NAME THAT MOVIE MONDAY. And no, that's not your quote today, although I guess you can have extra credit if you know that movie, too.

I'll keep it short and sweet today. Ready?

"This is not worth $11.50 an hour."


Do me a favor today. If you don't know it, make something up.

And then go rent a movie at RedBox: 2MNC92


And, just in case I don't make it back here before then....Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Watch out ladies, he's taken

So my husband was a bit mortified by my last post. He said "Come on, I'm much better looking now, and much smoother."

So, in all fairness, I promised to post an updated picture of him. You know, vindication. Being the good wife that I am I promised to do so.

what?

Or there's this one:

Photo0003

Here's one of his good side.

when I let my boys do the laundry

And now I must run, very fast! Before my blogging privileges get suspended.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Flashback Friday

So, as a relatively new blogger I keep having all these great ideas that I think are TOTALLY original. Only to find out they've been done like a million times.

See, lots of Bloggers out there have a themed day of the week. I think the first one I saw was What I'd wear Wednesday over at Growing a life. I thought this was a fun thing to do and so I started my own Name that Movie Monday.

I wanted to try another one, to kind of keep me blogging on a more regular basis. So I came up with this brilliant idea to post pictures or tell stories about things from the past. And I tried to come up with a catchy title.

Some of my rejects for weekly post titles include "Remember When Wednesday" and "So Long ago Saturday" and "Tell it like it was Tuesday".

I finally thought of Flashback Friday and thought it was brilliant. I was seriously patting myself on the back.

Until I realized that it's been done before. I Googled it and you know, there are entire blogs dedicated to Flashback Friday. And a flickr group, too. And various scattered bloggers around the blogosphere doing their own version of Flashback Friday.

But I am not deterred. So what if it wasn't an original idea. I'm going to do it anyway, dangit! But I found that many of the sites/groups promoting this idea want you to post stories or pictures that are pre-1985. And since I was only 6 in 1985 it kind of cuts out half my life (and all the truly interesting stories) if I limit myself to that time frame.

So, the rules here are that it can be from anytime in your past. Last year, or 10 years ago. Doesn't matter!

I'll probably even run with this same idea over at my other blog and post old baby pictures of the kids. Of course first I have to finish that 100th post that I've been working on for like oh a month!

So today it's a picture and a story. See, I've mentioned before that my husband and I have known each other since Jr. High. But did I mention that he took me Homecoming Sr. Year? Here's the proof:

Sr. Homecoming 1996


What you may not know is that he only asked me because a mutal friend, Riley, coerced him into it. Here's Riley:

Sr. Homecoming 1996


The gist of the story is that over the summer Riley had played a practical joke on me, that involved phony email address and a few post cards, that kind of went bad and he felt really sorry about it and wanted to make it up to me and make me feel good about myself blah, blah, blah. So he made Mike take me to Homecoming. Really romantic, right?

Of course I didn't know until years later that Mike only asked me out to ease Riley's conscience. He was a true gentleman about the whole thing.

In face, (and sorry honey, I know this is going to embarrass you) there is still one point of that night that I still vividly remember. I mean yea, we almost got killed by Chris's crazy driving. And we got locked in at the Red Butte Gardens. But the most memorable part of the evening occurred later on.

We were dancing (which is what we good Mormon kids actually did at High School dances. Crazy, I know!) And I don't remember what song was playing, or what we had been talking about prior. I just remember Mike saying, seemingly out of nowhere "I am the luckiest guy at this dance, because I'm here with you."

Little did he know 11 years later he'd be married to be and have 3 kids!!!!

The story starts to get really interesting if you know that, years later, I was trying desperately to flirt with Riley when I started to fall for Mike....but that's another story for another day.

So, I invite all who want to play along to post your own Flashback Friday. Pictures not necessary, but sure are fun. If you play along be sure to include the link to your blog in the comments below.

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I missed my calling

I think I missed my true calling in life. In retrospect I think I should've been an actress. Because I am fabulous at acting like everything is in control and that I know exactly what I'm doing! Seriously, I have some Oscar winning performances!

I take the whole "pretend you know what you're doing" cliche to a whole new level. For instance, if I'm walking somewhere unfamiliar and I realize I just passed where I needed to be I utterly refuse to simply turn around and walk back to it. Because then others around me would know I don't know where I'm going, or what I'm doing. So I'll keep walking and find a round about way to get back to where I want to go, all in the name of looking like I know exactly what I'm doing.

I also manage to put on a graceful show of happiness and exuberance at places such as playgroup and church despite my nearly year and half year struggle with postpartum depression. I had two ladies from the neighborhood over today and was opening up to them for the first time about my struggle and they were shocked. And somewhat embarrassed. They kept saying "We've been your visiting teachers for 2 years now. We've been here in your home. And we had no clue!" Yea, because I'm that good at acting. Like I said, Oscar winning performances.

I figure this skill is going to come in handy in the upcoming weeks seeing as they have just asked me to be in the Primary Presidency at church. Yea, not sure who thought THAT would be a good idea. There are days that I barely tolerate my own children, and now they want me to hang out with other people's children for 2 hours every Sunday!

And so it begins again. I start acting like I know exactly what I'm doing. Because that's what I do best. Too bad it took me this long to realize how good I am at it. I think Julia Roberts got several million for her last film. I could use a million or two right about now.....

Monday, November 17, 2008

Name that Movie Monday

Here we go again. Seems like no matter how hard I try Monday always come around again. Which means you have to put up with me spouting off my random movie trivia. Because I can't help it. I literally think in movie quotes all the time. Which is actually quite sad. I need to get a life.

Sometimes the hardest part of picking a good movie is that there are so many good quotes in any single movie that it's hard to pick just the right quote. I had that problem with this week's movie. So many quotable moments. But I've narrowed it down to just one. Are you ready?

What do you think is going on here? You think this is vacation or something? Mom and dad's lives could be in jeopardy. Or worse, their marriage.


Just for kicks and giggles even if you have no idea what movie the line is from, just make something up. That could be fun, right?

And, since I know you really just stop by on Mondays for you free Redbox movie code I'll give that to you, too. 57DRW3

Now go do something productive. I will not be held responsible for causing unproductive Mondays.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Your funny for the night

I had a bad day. I mean a REALLY bad day. Like wanted to run away from home bad day. So, I needed something funny.

So, since the Name that Movie Monday movie this week was Music and Lyrics, and since I was sick on Monday-I took the opportunity to watch Music and Lyrics.

Which got me in the mood for 80's music and 80's music videos.

So I came across this and it was just too good.

Did you ever watch a music video and wonder what the heck it had to do with the song lyrics?

Then you will enjoy this.

First, the original 80's music video, with the original lyrics. You don't even have to watch the entire thing. I just wanted you to get the idea.





Because here is the literal version. And I do mean literal. Hope you enjoy, and that it makes you laugh as much as I did. (Or maybe it's not really that funny at all and I was just so desperate for a laugh today that anything dumb would've done....you be the judge.)




Okay, and this one is pretty good, too.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Sorry ya'll!

I detest that silly little word verification thingie that I'm forced to fill out each time I want to comment on somebody's blog. And so up until now I haven't had it on mine. I also wanted to allow comments from people who didn't have a blogger account. But the only way to turn on open ID comments is to ALSO allow anonymous comments. Which is LAME. I think I should be able to allow one type but not the other. But whatever.

So, up until this point I have had zero issues. No rude anonymous comments. No spamming. Life was great.

Tonight my brother called me and told me I had a problem. He had gotten 10 emails in the last minute or so of anonymous comments on my blog. And, unfortunately they were a bit crude. And so because there are people out there who think it's funny to set up some program to go out and spam other people's blog I have not been forced to turn off anonymous comments and to force you all to type in the fun letters to leave a comment on my blog. For that I truly apologize.

Please still leave comments though. They make my day.

Guest post

Okay, not really, but sort of. Too lazy, tired to write my own post tonight but this post over at a little blog called Lip Zip was just too funny NOT to pass along. So, go read her tonight, so I can go to bed.

Thanks.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Name that Movie Monday

I had to crawl out from under a rock to write today's edition. I'm actually really sick today. I mean, really sick. And it hit me out of nowhere. I was fine all day yesterday. About 10:00 I got a raging fever and chills and couldn't get warm. Ringing ears, achy body, coughing, puking. Yea, it was a long night.

My sweet husband stayed home from work today to take the kids because I just have zero energy today. But I dragged myself up long enough to give you today's movie quote. Because I know how disappointed all 3 of my readers would be if there was no movie quote.

Okay, fine I know you really only read my Monday post to get your free movie code. So I'll give you that, too.

Ready?

I am a happy has-been. Really. It's a very clear statement. I live in the past. Everything good I ever did was long ago so don't expect anything new or exciting from me now. Really takes the pressure off. Especially on a first date.


Okay, hop to it. And just because I'm feeling really generous, here is another clue. Too easy?

And, before I forget, your free movie code: LK43CE

Now I'm going to go crawl back underneath my rock. Stay healthy ya'll!

Friday, November 7, 2008

So what?

I just started following Anderson Cooper on twitter. To which you are probably saying "so what!"

And, it's your lucky day because I'm going to tell you so what!

Does anybody out there remember having to watch Channel One News in school? (I'll know how old you are if you say yes!) For those of you who are older than me, er I mean who missed out, Channel One is a news program that school kids are forced to watch on a daily basis. In exchange for agreeing to torture students to the program schools get free television equipment.

Anyway, I was forced to endure Channel One during second period from Jr. High all the way through High School! My Jr. High geography teacher even made us take notes on it! And gave us quizzes on it. (rumor has it that the math teacher got tired of the interruption and ripped the cable from the wall, making Channel One obsolete in her classroom. Ha! We all loved that math teacher!)

I am getting to the point, I swear.

See, in 7th grade the Gulf War was nearing it's end. Of course we didn't know it was almost over so it was on Channel One nearly every day. And you want to know who their war corespondent was? Anderson Cooper!

But it gets better. See, in the 7th grade I sat next to Sydney Jones in second period choir. And Sydney was sarcastic and rude and the the combination of the two of us together was dangerous. Despite my own dream of someday being a broadcast journalist we would constantly make fun of the Channel One anchors, saying they got stuck on Channel One because no real news station would take them.

We were especially fond of making fun of Anderson Cooper. Even back then he had grey hair and looked quite a bit older than the other trendy, young reporters and anchors.

We especially loved his trade mark red parka vest that he seemed to always be wearing. He'd be sitting in a trashy hotel room in Kwait and talking about how he has to keep the blinds drawn because it's so dangerous outside, and yet he sat there in his bright red puffy vest. We used to call him target boy.

Never in a million years did I dream he'd be a hot shot anchor of his own program on CNN. And have his own magazine. And a staff of underlings to twitter for him.

Because whenever I see him my first thought is always "target boy", and then I giggle to myself.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

A little introspection

As I sad down last night and finally wrote out that check to the IRS I had a startling revelation.

See, I've always been a rule follower. Well, except in the 4th grade when Stacy Sumsion was my best friend and I lied to the teacher so I could stay in at recess because Stacy had an "in" note that day, too.

But other than during the 4th grade, I really am all about following the rules. I don't like to get in trouble. I have an inner need for authority figures to hold me in high esteem. So I didn't chew gum in class. I always turned my homework in on time. I knew all the answers in Sunday School. I kept my room clean. I have a spotless credit report. And I never speed. Well, sometimes I speed.

The point is, I realized that even though I was upset about being audited and owing the IRS money it really wasn't about the money. And it wasn't about the accountant who advised us and then wouldn't return my calls. I was mostly upset that I somehow feel like I have this big permanent black mark on my IRS record now. Feels almost like having a criminal record. Like the next time I try to get a job they'll be like "Well, you have an impressive resume and glowing reference letters, but you were audited once and so we had to give the job to somebody else." Or worse, I'll want to be the PTA president once my kids start school and will be denied. The board will say "I'm sorry, we can't have somebody who was dishonest with the IRS influencing the tender young minds of tomorrow."

Okay, I know it's not really like that. But that's how it feels to me. Like some auditor thinks I'm this horrible dishonest person who was trying to trick the IRS. I mean I hate paying taxes as much as anybody. But I understand it is a necessary evil and needed for society to run and I'd never ever in a million year purposefully try to be dishonest about paying mine!

My husband, who lives life by his own rules, just rolled his eyes at me when I told him my revelation. He said he didn't care what the IRS thought about him.

Thanks for the sympathy dear.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

History in the Making!

You all thought I was going to start waxing philosophical about super Tuesday, didn't you. Well I'm not. I already climbed on my soapbox about voting and the political process and all that jazz. And while I still stand behind everything I said before, the point is, I already said it. And at this point if you aren't already registered to vote and planning on voting then chances are you're not going to. Even if I write about it here on my blog. Which all of like 15 people read anyway. (13 of which are directly related to me.)

So-instead I'm going to write about how utterly and completely excited I am about today's DVD release of Get Smart. I have wanted to see this movie since the very first trailer I saw months and months and months ago. But with 3 young kids getting out to see a movie in the theater is difficult. I laughed every time I saw the trailer, even though I had seen it many times before. I love the old tv series. And I love Steve Carell, in movies. (sorry all you Office fans. I just can't get into it.)

So, while you all stand in line to vote I'll be standing in line at Target to purchase my very own copy of Get Smart on DVD. (which promises 62% more laughs! More than what, I'm not sure....but that's what is says.) And while you're glued to your tv set watching the voting results trickle, feeling great frustration at all the people you voted for that didn't win, in I'll be watching Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 get into all sorts of trouble, and hopefully laughing hysterically!

Happy Super Tuesday to you!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Do you sparkle?

I posted a question on today's Name that Movie Monday and apparently everybody was so excited about the free movie code they forgot to answer my question.

So, I went to the trouble of getting you a video clip of the movie quote, and then I'll ask my question again. (still has a water mark across it because I'm still too cheap to buy software to rip my DVD's. Now you know.)




So, what makes you sparkle? I really want to know. If you've seen Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, then you'll know what I mean when I say I feel like Molly right now. I'm in a funk, and I've lost my sparkle. So I'm really interested in knowing if any of you have ever felt the same way. Maybe you do right now. Or maybe you've discovered the secret to putting sparkle back into your life. Please share!

And, this has NOTHING to do with sparkling but a few weeks ago the Name that Movie Monday movie was A Beautiful Mind. And I went to the trouble that week of getting the movie clip of the quote but youtube was taking forever to process the video and so I just gave up. But today when I was uploading movie clips I saw that it was FINALLY processed. So, just for fun and because I took so long preparing it for you and never got to use it...here's your Beautiful Mind movie clip, too. Enjoy.

Name that Movie Monday: Special Edition

It's that time again! (Do I start every Monday post that way?) Well, that's because it really is that time again. To play Name that Movie Monday!

But today is a very extra special edition, dedicated to my sister. I don't want to steal her thunder, but she had a very important day on Saturday. So, first the quote, and then an explanation.

Today is so much a quote as it is a dialogue. But I didn't want to use real names and totally give it away, so boy and girl are talking here....ready?

Girl: Mutant, when you look at me, what do you see?

Boy: Really pretty eyes?

Girl: No, I mean, like, do you see a sparkle?

Boy: Now? Like glitter? On your face?

Girl: No, like, you know, a sparkle.

Boy: What kind of sparkle?

Girl: Like something reflective of something bigger that's trying to get out. You know what, never mind.

Boy: It might not be so much as a sparkle, maybe more of a twinkle?

Girl: Forget it.

Boy: A glint?

Girl: It's okay.

Boy: You've got that thing that you do with your hands.

Girl: That's a quirk.

Boy: A quirk's not a sparkle?


Okay, now what does this all have to do with my sister?

Well, on Saturday after she had dropped by to tell us her news my husband said to me, "She was glowing. Us guys, all we really want, is for our girls to always glow like that."

So my question to you today is this: Do you sparkle? Do you glow? And if you don't now, I'm sure at one time you did. So how can you get it back?

And on that note, here is your FREE MOVIE CODE: 67JFP8

And if you don't sparkle today-go out and do what it takes to sparkle again!!!! Because, as another character from today's movie quote movie said, "Your life is an occasion, rise to it!"