Let's Dish

It was my cousin Calie's birthday last week, so we, the local (sometimes loco) ladies of the Curtis clan, went out to dinner. As is the often the case, we experienced a few things I'd like to dish about:

• In the first picture, there's an older "gentleman" I secretly photog'd. Click on it to see him better. He looked harmless, but only for a moment. As Calie and I were waiting for Kati, he approached us. Looking at the gifts on my lap he said, "Is it someones birthday?". I told him it was Calie's at which point he began, in a normal voice, to sing her happy birthday. He got to the part where you would sing her name and stopped to ask her name...3 times. Then he put out his hand and she shook his. He turned for a millisecond before he whipped around to sing a little more and then he knuckle bumped her. The he kept saying Happy Birthday every few second. The waitresses finally were able to distract him and get us to a table. They apologized. Calie thought he was drunk. I thought he might have caught a touch of loco from us.
• I invented a new word at dinner: thutt. I'll put it in context and let you guess what it means. I was so excited about my boy brief undies until I put them on and my thutt showed. Please don't be nasty or gross in your guess. It's a condition I've had almost my whole life. Also, please still be my friend.
• One more thing. It didn't really happen at dinner, but when I was downloading the photos. If you ever want to see how many wrinkles you have, use Kodak editor and change your photo to a drawing. I looked awesome!

Mascara Review

I LOVE this mascara. Deciding to try a new mascara is a risky venture unless you have loads of cash. Plus, I'm pretty loyal to the brands I adore, but Maybelline's Colossal Volume Mascara was on sale & I was in the market, so I decided to give it a chance. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

No Words Necessary

Practice makes Perfect

I'm a grandma...Yikes

Hunter had a baby. Fine...he was given a baby for one of his classes. He named him Freddy. Are you proud Dad? This is a little snippet from the 1st time Freddy started to cry . Watch how calm Hunter is.

My Little Activist

Cooper is precious, but sometimes precious still gets you into trouble. He and a friend have started a wildlife club. In fact, on our front door at this very moment is a sign with a picture of a white tiger that says, "Nature Savers Inc.: 'Don't kill this animal'". Yesterday his wildlife saving friend came over and then they went outside to play. I started making dinner in the kitchen and the time flew by. When I looked at the clock, it was an hour past the time Cooper was supposed to be in for the night.

I went upstairs, downstairs, to the back yard, in the front yard, all the time yelling his name. No Cooper. I walked down the street toward some other children's homes. Nothing. I called his friend's mom who said they were supposed to be at my house (I'm sure she now holds me in high regard). I started calling other friends in the neighborhood. Finally, one gal told me she saw Coop and a friend standing next to Eagle road (an intensely busy road adjacent to our house).

He isn't supposed to be on that road...ever. So, I walked outside and, sure enough, there they were...holding signs....and yelling things at the cars. As I got closer, I noticed Coop had his sidewalk chalk case with him. He was so happy. He couldn't wait to tell me what he'd been doing, BUT he had to because he was in big trouble. So, once we got in, even though he was grounded for 2 days, he was smiling and happy because he did something that felt really good. He & his friend made signs asking the good people of Meridian to NOT kill the white tiger. He drew messages on the sidewalk and they yelled at the cars, "Save the wildlife".

I asked him what he wrote on the sidewalk and he said he wrote, "Don't kill the wildlife. You're wildlife". Hmmm...where did that kid come from . Even though I'm proud that he stood up for something important, he did still break 2 rules...thus the grounding. So, on behalf of my little activist, if you see any white tigers lurking around, please don't kill them. Thank you.

Teenage Drama

I have to admit, up to this point being the mother of a teenager has been a lot less difficult than I was expecting. Sure, there's been a little frustration here and there, but I just happen to get one of those rare "golden" teenagers who I enjoy being around. Unfortunately, no matter how easy going your teenager can be, drama can still find them. Sunday, a girl in Hunter's Sunday school class asked if he was going to homecoming, to which he replied "No, it's too much money" (that's my boy). Then, she proceeded to basically encourage him to ask her and let him know because she's a cheerleader, the tickets are half off.

So, Hunter came home and mulled it over. Eventually, he decided to ask her. He made cupcakes and I helped him decorate them. Inside 3 of the cupcakes were messages. Two said, "try again", and one asked her to the dance. On top of the cupcakes it said, "Find message!"

He delivered them Sunday night around 9pm. He was nervous, this was his first time asking a girl to a dance. I was nervous...for him. As a mom, you don't want to see your children hurt or rejected. Well, last night she came over with a cake. I answered the door and she asked for Hunter. I heard her tell him that when she got home from church someone else asked her to the dance. She thanked him for asking her and gave him the cake. *Ouch* How would I comfort Hunter and encourage him to try again? Then, Hunter came into my room with a big smile on his face. He was so happy about the cake. That's right....no forlorn downward glances, no fighting of eye moisture,...pure glee about the yummy cake (and it is really good). He said, "I think I might still ask someone" and went off to cut a big piece of delicious, gooey chocolate cake.

Embarrassment 101

You may recall I had to attend graduate assistant training a few weeks ago in preparation for my duties this semester. This training happened to fall a few days after my kidney surgery. Although I wasn't on any pain meds by that time, I was very dizzy and still in quite a bit of pain. Unfortunately, I still felt like I should go. After what occurred, I made the wrong decision.


The training was held on the 3rd floor of a new campus building. There were over 100 people attending it. A few hours into the training, I was feeling terrible and needed to go to the bathroom (it's not unnecessary information...you'll see). I had never been in this building before, so I left class to scout out a restroom. I walked down a long hall and, right before the end, found a little corridor with a bathroom. I looked at the sign (pictured above) through my haze and something seemed off. There was a person, a child, and a wheelchair but so insignia. I looked around the hall but didn't see anything else, so I figured it was a family bathroom and I opened the door and entered.



This is where I should have realized something was amiss. On the left was a baby changing table and right past it were urinals which seemed strange to me. Across from the urinals were stalls. In my state of mind I secretly thrashed BSU for creating such a family bathroom. I stood there for a second, but I really had to go and figured this was just how they were creating restrooms now. As I sat in the stall it occurred to me that I could possibly see something I wouldn't want to see if a man came in and used a urinal while I was in the stall. I decided I would just stay in there until everybody left. Luckily, when I was done, no one had come in. I washed my hands and went back to class


Later, I was talking to my Aunt Kati who is an expert on the new building and I told her about the strange 3rd floor bathroom. She said she didn't know that floor as well, but the family restroom on the 1st floor didn't have urinals. I asked her to check it out the next time she was in the building. Well, she called me last week and said she found the bathroom from my directions. It was a MEN's bathroom. Where was the women's bathroom? Right across from it. Unbelievable, no really...I couldn't believe her. She must be mistaken. So I met her at the scene of the situation and, sure enough, I invaded the men's bathroom that day. I'm guessing people saw me go in & out of there, but they didn't say a thing. The lessons I learned that day: Don't pee in a room with urinals. Don't go somewhere academic too soon after surgery.



Most importantly: Always sneak in and out of restrooms just in case you make the same mistake I did! Incognito all the way!

Things that make you go hmmmm

This is a protester, living in a tree....for 21 months. I think she calls herself muffin top. Go here for details. Let me be clear: I admire people who stand up for what they think is right, but this left me with some questions & I don't know if anyone can answer them. Has this woman actually been in that tree 21 months, 24 hours a day, all day long? If so, how does she sleep? Who brings her food? Does she stink? Maybe she gives herself smoke baths. Then there's the fact we all have bodily functions...how does she take care of that? I can only imagine her yelling, "Look out below".

Plus....boredom. I think I might go out of my mind with boredom. What about the money she could have earned to donate to her causes in the 21 months she has sat up there? I bet it's lonely at Christmas. Does she drop candy down at Halloween? Is that box stable? One big Montana wind gust and it would come tumbling down for sure.

Anyway...can anyone answer my questions? Can you help me make sense of this? Do you know muffin tops real name? Hmmmmm.

Now you know something I know

The exciting news you have all been waiting for: My sister-in-law, Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Olympian and World Record Holder, will be inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame this month. Kurt & I were invited, but I will be staying at home with the boys & doing homework/housework (BOO!!!), while Kurt gets to watch his sister honored. Oh well! I'm so excited for Tiff. She definitely deserves it and it couldn't happen to a more down to earth gal! Congrats Tiff! (Click on above Invitation to authenticate this blog entry)

Little Miss Muffit

I'M NOT!!! There is no WAY I would let a spider sit beside me. I'd run as soon as I sensed movement in the distance. But, it's that time of year again and the spiders are revolting. They want to sit by me so bad. I must emit some kind of spider pheromone. In fact, today one HUGE spider made itself cozy in my bedroom. Truthfully, it's probably been there for awhile but that thought could keep me up for several nights so I'll just hope it's a new inhabitant.

Hunter's chores today included garbage and mowing the front lawn, but he was here when I saw the monster and, using my phobia against me, cut a deal. He trapped and removed the spider in exchange for postponement of mowing the lawn. What can I say? I'm weak, but the spider is gone!