Yes, I owned a set of Bump-Its. But, like my previous confession, it can be explained. In some odd pattern of events, I did use my own hard earned cash on this as well, butit's not what you think. Really! I'm standing in line at WalMart and I notice the Wall o' Sweets has been replaced by "As seen on TV" products. There was some Touch n Bond, What Odor? spray, Snuggies and the Bump-It. Out of sheer boredom beyond my control, I picked up a box and read the back. Spouting the exact crap that is on the T.V. commercial, it touted the 'volumizing effects' and 'stylish hair in seconds'. I can't say I wasn't mildly intrigued; who wouldn't want a low maintenance style with added body? My hair needs all the help it can get! It was $4.99, with just 3 heights. Compared to the $10 T.V. one that has like 6, I was willing to try this over ordering. I tucked it into my cart and put it on the checkout counter under a package of children's socks.
When I got home, I went to work experimenting with this so-called 'wonder product'. I tried all three levels and the only one I didn't feel completely ridiculous in was the teeny mini comb. And with the volume it provided, I could accomplish the same effect with some intense back combing and mousse. And it's not a fast fix, either. You have to back comb, spray, wait to dry, then anchor it, arrange the hair, spray again, ugh. They are uncomfortable and feel like they're going to fall off. I did a pony tail with one in it, and I felt mildly at ease with it in. And I tried the up sweep twist; it looked great, but both times I felt like I had a baby porcupine living on the crown of my head. If I was a reviewer, I'd give it 4 thumbs down. (if I had that many thumbs.)
On that same thread, Mairyn walked in on me whilst I was trying them out. I felt like I'd been caught doing something naughty, and quickly shoved the hairpieces in a drawer.
"What are you doing, Mommy?" "Nothing, sweetie, just fixing my hair."
She scanned the bathroom, looking for some evidence of misdeeds taking place. I wasn't as sneaky as I thought. The box was teetering on top of a full trash bin, in plain sight.
"Mommy!!" she exclaimed excitedly, "You got Bump-Its!!" "Ummm, yes?" I said, a bit confused. "Just like on T.V.! Cool!" she gushed.
Well, I learned two things that afternoon. One, don't try to hide anything from Mairyn, she will find out. And two, she has seen waaay too many commercials. She quizzed me down until I guiltily pulled the pieces out of the drawer. She wanted to know when I would wear them and if she could try them, too! Never and heck, no. She'd look like some overdone kiddie pageant queen. Well, I fibbed a little, I did wear it out in public. Once. It was a humid, sweaty day and my hair was doing nothing except flop flat. I pulled that brown, prickly thing out of hiding from the back of the drawer and put it at the crown of my ponytail. And who should walk in right when I'm placing on my crown of glory? Yep, Mairyn.
"Ooooh, you're wearing the Bump-It!!" she crows.
Yes, I'm wearing the Bump-it. While we're at the family function, Mairyn whispers in my ear, "Can I tell everyone that you're wearing the Bump-It?" No. N-O. No freakin' way. It's my dirty little secret. **p.s.** I have never worn it since nor will I again. Unless it can resurrect itself from the garbage, it ain't coming back.
Ok, so I've made a crude little blurb on the sidebar. Right there --> It has a complete evening Christmas moment. Each scripture, carol and story is hotlinked. Just click and it will take you to where you can read it! Hope this helps make things easier!
We all have one. Or two. A dirty little secret. Some we care to share, others we like to keep in the deep dark corners of our room. I'm willing to admit to two today just because of the stigma attached to them and how hilarious I think they are!
I admit it. I OWN a Snuggie. I'm not proud of it, but I do have one in my possesion. In my opinion, they are dumb. A backwards robe; just take your bathrobe, turn it around and put it on. Everyone has a snuggie. But mine is an officially licensed namebrand bona-fide real one. How did I get it? Was it gifted? Nope, I spent my own money on it. Why? Because I didn't know what I was buying. At the end of October, we went down to Provo for a weekend. We also went to a BYU football game. (one of only two games they lost this season) At the game, I saw this great poncho; it had sturdy duckcloth on the exterior, a nice embroidered BYU logo on the front, a hood and on the inside; warm, snuggly goodness. It was lined with polar fleece that had BYU logos on it. Perfect for any Cougar fan! They told me where they bought it and my memory remembered 'WalMart'. So we swung by WalMart and I searched high and low for that darn poncho. They were cleaned out of a lot of BYU merchandise. I flagged down an employee and she said, "Oh yeah, it's at the front of the store on an end cap." Perfect. I grabbed the box, threw it in the cart, checked out and ran to the car. We got home and I'm unpacking our loot. (we hit Ikea that weekend too) I open up the supposed poncho box and I pull out a Snuggie. What?? Yes, a college football themed Snuggie. Apparently you can buy them for just about any sports team. I thought I might as well try it since I'm stuck with it. Yes, it does keep you toasty, but my back gets cold. Especially the back of my neck. And those commercials where the fans are wearing a Snuggie then leaping to their feet to cheer on that homerun? Completely impossible. I tried a one person wave on my couch and you just get colder. And I tried turning it around and it doesn't meet evenly in the middle. What's the point? Just put on your robe and quit complaining, people. Oh, and I was mistaken about where the poncho was bought; not WalMart, Costco. Ahhh, that explains a lot.
Dirty Little Secret #2:
Um, let me interrupt. This post has gone on a bit longer than I intended. I won't air all of my dirty secrets today. Besides, I haven't given my Christmas Idea #2 yet.
Christmas Idea #2: Evening Devotional Have a nightly Christmas themed devotional. A song & poem or story. I am lucky enough to have a book with a scripture, carol and story for each night leading up to Christmas. But here are some great sites that have all of the aforementioned topics available. Last night, the kids and I sang Angels we have heard on High and read the story "The Littlest Angel". If anyone is interested, I can email you the current devotional. Wait, I just had an idea. I'll try and make a sidebar "thing" with the day's scripture, carol & story. We'll see how it works out.
Ah, commercials from the 80's. Much like full length songs of the era, those jingles were power ballads. For once, people belted from the rooftops their love of deoderant or soap. Why aren't commercials like this anymore? I guess it's just not cool.
Wow, where did the year go? Really, I was just here, December 1, 2008. Except it's 2009. A lot has changed, but at the same time, not much either. I am not in Cairo, but am without husband. Last year he was gone, too. But I'm fine with that. We keep in contact every day; talking at least once daily and emailing everything.
I do miss not having my husband around the house, but I also miss the "Man Around the House" aspect of it, too. Like wrestling with the Christmas tree yesterday. I bought a new, fake, pre-lit behemoth. I love it. 7.5 feet tall. (2.3 meters) But it's heavy and unwieldy. It would have been a lot easier with some help. I already solved the "Christmas Lights on the House" dilemma. I paid someone to do it. 6.5 hours later, I have a lighted house.
Or hauling out the Christmas boxes, bulging with decorations. I did it. It just took me longer. But I feel like the house is holiday-ready. Green pine scented candles are scattered around the main living area and I have all my nativities set up. I'll probably rearrange them a few more times, but that's what they're for! The kids are making present lists and delivering them to my office, complete with illustrations. My sister and her husband visited at the beginning of November and Uncle Chris asked Mairyn what she wanted for Christmas. Her response? Egypt. Hmmm, I don't know how to package that up, sweetie. She has since rearranged her priorities and already has 9 items on the Santa list. You want to see it? I think it's hilarious.
For Santa What I want for x-mas. (yes, she wrote x-mas)
1. A snuggie. 2. A Pillow pet. (dolphin shaped, i think, b/c there's a dolphin drawn next to it) 3. All of the doll's like this. (and there's a nondescript 'doll' drawn) 4. A pair of roller blades. 5. A pack of animals. 6. A sticky frog, red. 7. A toy of Troy and Gabriella (with troy & gabriella drawings) 8. A toy of an ayd kid ( i'm thinking a first aid kit?) 9. A glow dome
Alright, kid, we'll see what Santa can do. The kids do miss Spencer, but they are handling it pretty well. They get to talk to him occasionally. He gets off work about mid-morning our time, so they're at school when he calls. Sundays are our reconnect days, they get to talk to him. Saturdays sometimes, but they can be busy days, too.
I am going to try and post a Christmas idea every day until said holiday. First holiday idea? Plan to do the 12 days of Christmas for someone, anonymously. Now, I know there are different ways of doing it. The original 12 days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas and continue until January 5th. Is it called Epiphany? I don't know, I'm not Catholic. But the Americanized 12 days of Christmas begins December 14th and continues until Christmas. For me, that usually means 12 anonymous gifts to a person(s). Keeping it with one person usually makes it quite fun and full of mystery for the receiving end. But start thinking about it now. Usually I realize that, "Oh, today is the first of the 12 days of Christmas, crap!" and hurriedly whip something together. Take time, put thought into it, and I know you'll feel like you received more!
Well, here we are, the last day of NaBloPoMo. I feel like I should write something profound or riveting, like my life has found serious purpose because of this challenge. Not that it has, that just sounds like something that should have happened! Or that I want to blog every day now that I've done it for a month. No, actually the opposite reaction has happened. Though the thought of not blogging makes me feel like I'm slacking and I should post something!
Truth be told, I have learned from this month of daily publishing that I have more ideas than I thought I did. I have at least 6 nuggets of blogging gold in my notebook, waiting their turn to be melted down and turned into a charm on my posting necklace. (eh, how's that for analogy?) More often than not, I was met with the evening panic of, "Eeek! What the heck am I going to post about tomorrow?" I always had back-up ideas, it's just I didn't always have the time to compose. I felt like I'd be wasting that idea if I just threw it out there for the sake of posting it. I wanted to spend time with it, feel it out and create it. I just wish I had a computer that could translate my thoughts as fast as I think them!
Now, another question I have for myself. What did I hope to accomplish by participating? I think I wanted to complete the challenge. I wanted to see if I could do it. And I also hoped that I would have more ideas and that I could hone my writing skills a bit. Practice makes perfect, even in writing. Even if I didn't compose my magnum opus this month, I learned some things about my writing. If I really like the topic, the ideas just flow. Alternatively, I can be just as passionate about an idea and be completely stumped when it comes down to conveying my message.
All in all, it was very therapeutic for me. I ignored the taunts and jeers when I mentioned that such and such would make for great blogging fodder. I think I've been surrounded by blogger haters most of the time and I thought there was a stigma attached to the practice. I'm also not one to follow the crowd; if everyone is blogging, well I'm not going to. Just because I'm facetious that way. I'm glad that I did resurrect this blog and have kept on posting. What I have appreciated is all the support from my bloggyfriends! Comments make my day! And since I've had such a positive experience, I will be posting more regularly. I am a little more "okay" with posting something that isn't exactly perfect. Thank you NaBloPoMo! Even if I don't get a prize!
Where did I leave off? Oh yes, Grant and his nice 'present' to me. Well, we hopped back in the car and continued on down the windy road. Gina the GPS kept us informed that we would be arriving in Boise at 5:15 pm. As we neared Nampa, I all I felt was hungry. I asked Gina to find me an Olive Garden. Lo and behold, there was one 2.5 miles from the next off-ramp. My sister and I pow-wowed and decided that if we still fell the need for speed, we would just skip Boise and continue on to Rexburg. After all, Gina said we would arrive at 11:34 pm.
We had a lovely, filling dinner and exited the restaurant to a steady rain. Hmmmm, not ideal, but we still wanted to sleep in our own beds that night. Baby Taylor was crying, but she always calms down once the car starts moving. She doesn't like it when the car stops! Well, Baby Taylor did not stop screaming and I had hit a wall. Being on the road for 12 hours was enough. We pulled off and found the Auntie's house and crashed.
I set my alarms for 5 am, just wanting to plow home and be done. I laid in bed until 5:45 am when Baby Taylor started her alarm. I piled the kids into the car and we were back on the road by 6:45 am. 40 miles down the freeway, an interesting sight loomed ahead of us. It looked like a sandstorm wall cloud, except it was black and not sandy. Steady drizzle followed us all the way to Pocatello. *sneer* And, I think the stretch between Boise and Pocatello could be on par with I-80 that runs along Southern Wyoming as the most boring piece of scenery that ever was. It also doesn't help that I had a snoozing co-pilot and zoned out kids. Not much for conversation.
We reached Rexburg by 11:10 am and beat Gina's prediction of arriving by 11:30 am. Yes, my whole purpose in life is to beat arbitrary time limits set by a mini-computer on my dashboard. The rest of Saturday was spent unloading (a little) and then taking my sister to Idaho Falls for some shopping she needed to accomplish. Baby Taylor managed to poop through 2 outfits during the outing. And we had to cajole and sweet-talk the eye doctor at Sams Club to give Katelyn one contact. See, she forgot her glasses in Montana and last night, she somehow missed the mark and her left contact did not make it to the case. So she was a cyclops all day, trying to figure out how she would make the drive home to Montana today. We waltzed up to the Vision counter, baby visibly bundled in arms and looking very cute. We explained the dilemma and, after much persistence and cute baby showcasing, they forked over one contact. Whew, mission accomplished, time to head back home, crash into bed and get up in the morning and do it all over again. Except not for me. Only Katelyn. Sorry, sis. But she only has 4 hours to go. I'm glad we did it, but I'm glad it's done!
