Jessica, I used a chicken recipe from the cookbook you gave me. Thanks
Elliot's birthday is tomorrow. He's the kid who made me a mom. He was born at 1:23 in the morning, and didn't breathe for a long ten minutes -- until the hospital's respiratory therapist on duty was summoned and she came in and slapped his little foot hard. He cried. And I cried. And Steve cried.
We had a birthday party for him today at the local skating rink. Elliot is good at roller blading, so we try to encourage that talent at all costs. There was a grandpa at the rink who looked an awful lot like LaVell Edwards, so I kept staring at him to see if it was him. I don't think it was. There was also a large group of older tweens and their forty-something skating mentor who was teaching them how to jam skate. Should I sign Elliot up for some lessons? They didn't do too many tricks, but when Britney Spears' Piece of Me came on, they all got in a long line that stretched halfway around the rink and skated in synch. It was sort of impressive, for tweens. At the roller rink.
Last night we had some new friends over for dinner. We had met them at the park a few weeks back and talked for a long time. We specifically talked about how they -- being non-Mormon new residents of Utah -- might discover that the Mormons are friendly enough here but are so caught up in their busy family and church lives that it will be hard(ish) to make good friends. We exchanged numbers, and then Steve and I promptly became so caught up in our family and church lives that we didn't call them. Doh. They called us, and we quickly invited them over... to show them that we aren't like that. It was nice. They have a cute four-year-old who plays well with Isaac. I made a dinner that was pretty good: breaded chicken, breadsticks, fruit platter, cheese, and Izzes to drink. They, however, may have brought more to our dinner than I provided. They brought: a lovely hostess gift of lotion and perfume, Fritos and a fiesta dip, a pistachio cake, grocery store frosted cookies, and dollar store swords for all the kids. Yup. I think they contributed more to our dinner than we did. The wife reminded me a LOT of Jenny Christensen, for those of you in my vast readership who are lucky enough to know Jenny of Kennewick fame. Also, her mannerisms reminded me of my friend Alyssa.
This is all pretty random. Even when I have nothing to say, I sometimes force myself to blog at least once a week. This is that time.
Happy birthday to Elliot tomorrow! And to Katie. Hope you have a great day!
Comments
So. . . tell me about my mannerisms. . .
Yay for friends that look like Jenny Christensen!
Andrew, thanks for the nice compliment. Steve says he likes you because you make him burst out in song. Probably other reasons, too.
So tell me more about "jam skating". I have to admit that I've never heard of it.
Way to go for being friends to these people! The story about these new people makes me feel ashamed that we as Mormons think we are so nice... and then we just aren't all that nice. Hello, they brought you gifts! Okay, I'm scum. I hope more Mormons reach out to them, so they don't decide that we're not nice and leave with a bad taste in their mouth towards us. It's gotta be major culture shock for the poor people. But, it's true what you say. It happened to me too in Utah,... (after first going through a period of culture shock myself feeling jaded thinking that people are only nice on the surface...smile, say hi, ask your name, and then promptly forget they ever met you. It's a lonely start when you don't have family yourself).... There are so many family ties up there and the social ties are so tight, people don't often have time or resources to venture outside of them often. Besides the fact that they mistakenly figure that everyone else is Mormon and involved in their own tight nit Mormon family social group... and then just stop trying. I would ask people over for dinner and after they'd all turn us down saying they were having dinner at their in-laws, or sister's-husband's-sisters house, you figure that everyone must be fine in their own group and you stop trying. Sad, huh! It's a reminder to not let myself get caught up in that mind set again...if I ever go back. Thanks Emily.
How funny that the one day I happened upon your blog, I was given a cameo in your post! Whether or not it was complimentary remains to be discovered, as I've no idea what this woman looked/acted like, but I'm going to go with the assumption that she's beautiful and clever. Just a guess. :)
By the way, it feels GOOD to be called "Jenny Christensen" again. Thank you much!
and another p.s. Your blog really IS fun and interesting. You have a knack for storytelling. And your family is just beautiful.