Chocolate Phoenix

Words make me laugh sometmies. Some words sound funny when you are saying them and other words sound funny when you hear them from someone else. Ches laughs at me because we’ll be in the middle of a conversation and I will start to giggle.

“What?” he asks, somewhat annoyed because I’m obviously not paying attention to his riveting description of trumpet mouthpieces.

“That’s a funny word.” And I laugh out loud. I’m just laughing at a word he or I may have used. It just strikes me as funny, and I can’t help it. Then Ches laughs at me because I’m laughing at a simple word.

Could I be more wierd?

Take the word excersaucer. Now that is a funny word. Just say it a couple of times. Don’t you just want to laugh? I have been ever since Christmas Day (Dallin got one). I also like the word giggle. It is such a self-descriptive word. Giggle makes me giggle. It really does!

Other words I just think is cool. I’ll agree with Ben on the word hypothetical. I remember the first time I heard the word plethera. That is also a really cool word. I tried to work it in to a conversation at least once a day for about a year there.

Sometimes a single word isn’t enough. Then we have moved onto phrases. It’s funny how we get stuck saying things for years on end, and then we stop using them. Someone else may use that phrase and you then think, hey, they’re using my phrase! Some of my personal favorites: Dang the system anyway; Cool beans; Holy Hannah!

Ahhh, I love words. And phrases. They crack me up. Especially now with a three year old (and that is a post for another time).

**Ches wants to make it clear that he is not a trumpet nerd who talks about the specs and . . . I can’t remember what else he said. I guess I seriously start to tune out when it comes to trumpet talk.**

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

One more day until my birthday!! Yay me! I’ll be 29 (for the first time), and I can’t wait! Except that I have some wrinkles that didn’t used to be there and some grey hairs that keep popping out of my head and a lot more fat around my waist than there used to be… But overall I am happy to be 29 and mostly healthy with a wonderful husband and the two most dealightful children in the whole world. I think I will go listen to Bear in the Big Blue House sing to me:

Happy happy happy happy birthday, birthday
Happy happy happy happy birthday, birthday
Happy happy birthday
Happy happy happy birthday
Happy
Birthday
Happy happy birthday
Happy birthday
To yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!

We finally got a Christmas tree yesterday. We had been putting it off because of Ches’ work and school schedules, my schedule (concert, Christmas shopping, etc.) then it was raining and raining. We didn’t want a wet tree and our porch doesn’t stay dry, so it doesn’t do to let it sit there and get dry. We finally sucked it up and said we would get a wet tree (we went when it wasn’t raining, although it had rained all night), but all the lots were closed. We ended up in the K Mart Superstore, and we bought a fake tree.

That’s right. A fake tree.

Now, I know most of you probably have fake trees and quite enjoy that. Most people seem to be that way these days. But we are REAL tree people. We love the look, feel, and smell of a real tree. We have a saw specifically for trimming the trunk of the tree each year (okay, so we take it camping with us, too, but it’s mostly our Christmas tree saw). We enjoy stringing lights on the tree. We enjoy measuring out just the right amount of water and everything. Well, maybe we don’t enjoy it, but it is part of the ritual.

However, this tree was on sale, it’s really pretty, and it’s just about the only fake tree that we found that wasn’t pre-lit (we have our own lights, thank you very much). We bought it yesterday morning, Ches went to work, I babysat 4 kids, then we put the tree together and decorated it. I have to say, we are pretty pleased with it.

Next year, we will probably still get a real tree. This is now our official “back-up” tree. And someday, when we have a house of our own, we will have two Christmas trees: one that is all decorated perfect and beautiful that no one is allowed to touch but me, and one that is all lovely and colorful and full of mismatched ornaments and glitter covered pictures that the kids made into ornaments at school. That is the one in the family room with all the presents under it. And that will be the real tree.

Ches woke me up by opening the blinds in our bedroom. It took me a minute to figure out what he was doing. I was thinking, “Why in the world is he opening the blinds?? I’m not dressed yet.” Then I looked outside.

It had snowed! It was all white and beautiful out. I got a huge smile on my face, and Ches just kind of laughed at me, then he closed the blinds (it was too bright, and I’m not a morning person. Sorry.).

When Aiden woke up we went into his room, opened the blinds, and said, “Aiden, look outside.”

He sat up, looked out the window, then jumped up as he exclaimed “It’s Christmas!!!” He was soooo excited! Too bad he has to wait another week.

It was raining by the time we left for church, and most of the snow is gone now. It was fun too look at for a while, though.

Last Christmas, Aiden received a beautiful vest from Aunt Marisa and Peter from their trip to Turkey. Aiden wore the vest to church yesterday, and looked so handsome and festive! I called him my little gypsy boy. Dallin got to wear another vest that Aiden received from a trip Aunt Marisa and Peter made to Hungary. I only have a picture of Aiden in his Turkish vest from last year, so that’s all I can show you for right now. However, both boys looked so great! I love them in their little “ethnic” clothes.

Ches is applying for a job at a university. If, by some long shot (which I’m hoping isn’t that long of a shot after all), he gets the job, he will have to shave his goatee. Now, I love his goatee. I know not everyone is a facial hair kind of person, but I love goatees in general. I especially love it on Ches. When I met Ches, he was completely clean-shaven (those were the rules at Ricks College), and so I never knew him with facial hair while we dated or when we were first married. As soon as he was done with Ricks, however, I persuaded him to grow a goatee. It really didn’t take much persuasion. He apparantly had one before his mission for a little while, and while on break from Ricks he would grow one. He loves it as much as I do.

Anyrate, I hope he gets this job (it would be so great!! Really!), but I would have to get used to a clean-shaven Ches again. Here is Ches when we got married:

And here is Ches with a goatee (this picture was in Preston in 2002, and it’s more scraggly than he likes, but I like it this way):

Thursday started out as an okay day. I was running late, but that is not unusual. I was late picking up my babysitter from school, I was late getting to the band booster dinner. It was a lot of fun, though, and it wasn’t a lot to stress about.

When I got home, my sitter (who is one of my color guard girls) was talking about prom, so I wanted to show her a dress I have in case she liked it. I noticed there were some drops of water on the sleeve. Hmmm, that’s odd, I thought. Then I noticed the other sleeve was very wet. I started to get a little worried. I went into the back of the closet where the dress hung, and pulled out my wedding dress. Half of it was soaked with water, and there was black mold all over a lot of the applique and spots of mold up and down the rest of the dress. In the corner of the closet, coming in from outside, water and mold is running up and down the wall. The other dress seems okay, and an old tux jacket that doesn’t fit Ches anymore was a little wet and has a little mold on it.

My beautiful wedding dress is ruined.

I started to cry right away. It’s not like I’m ever going to wear that thing again, and I know that. Heck, I’ll never even fit in it again (I don’t know how in the world I was a size 4/6 in the first place!!). However, I never owned anything so beautiful before or since. I’ve never worn anything so beautiful. I never FELT so beautiful as I did on my wedding day in that dress. When Ches saw me for the first time, on our wedding day, in that dress, he smiled and said, “Wow!” He has never said that before or since. I will never forget the tone of his voice or the look in his eyes. We were in that pure, young love stage that you can only be in on your wedding day. It was still so fresh and wonderful. My dress is such a symbol to me, and now it is ruined. I don’t know if it can be restored. I have to make some phone calls, but what is the chance?

The worst is that a few years ago, while we were gone to Canada for Christmas, the pipes in our little apartment in Idaho froze then burst, flooding the kitchen and living room. Our wedding album was destroyed. The pictures are salvageable, but not great. That is now two things from my wedding, destroyed. It kind of scares me.

I know that I shouldn’t feel too bad. There a lot of people who have it worse than me. After all, neither Alyson or my mom even have wedding pictures! However, I love my dress. I had to fight for my dress! My father and stepmother wanted me to borrow a wedding dress!! My dress only cost $500, and my mom was so happy because she wanted me to have whatever dress I wanted, but we didn’t exactly have a lot of money. My total wedding only cost $1300, so the dress was definitely on the expensive side for everything else I had. That was the one area where I didn’t have to give something up because of cost or because relatives said, “Oh, you don’t really need such-and-such!” My wedding dress was the first dress I tried on, and I knew it was perfect right away.

Now I just have a couple of unprofessional photos that don’t do the dress justice to look at. Ches was right 7 years ago when he said I should get bridal pictures done. And now it will never happen. Yes, I am very sad.

In many parts of the country bad winter weather has really hit hard. My brother in Ohio had a snow day from school today. My sister in Boston looks totally snowed in, and I’m sure my brother in Idaho is already sick of the snow they have.

Here in northern Nevada, however, we have no snow. It’s really weird. After living in snowy areas for so many years and then having such an unusual winter here last year, this just feels so wrong! There is no snow! And none in the forecast!

I’m normally not much of a snow person. I like it when it first falls and everything is so beautiful from this perfect blanket covering it all. I love the sparkle the snow gives off from the sun. I love to sit inside my warm home, watching the snow fall as I sip hot chocolate and read a book, covered in a blanket while I only have candles lit or minimal lighting (oh, and the kids are asleep, so it’s nice and quiet, too).

However, people go and ruin it by walking in the snow. They don’t know how to drive anymore, so it becomes completely dangerous to set foot outside. The snow melts a little and gets slushy and yucky. Oh, and I hate how it stays around FOREVER!!! Just melt and become spring already!

Right now Christmas is only two weeks away, and it just won’t feel right if there isn’t a good amount of snow. As much as I will hate it by New Year’s, I’m literally dreaming of a white Christmas right now.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

I’m a musician, as I believe you all know. For those of you who do not consider yourselves musicians, there is something you must learn. Musicians have an entire genre of jokes. I mean, we’ve all heard blonde jokes and lawyer jokes, but I don’t think anything compares to a good musician joke. We make fun of ourselves first and foremost, and we make fun of each other. They are all pretty mean jokes, but that’s what makes them so funny!

Music teachers are really good joke tellers. And they make some great puns (you know, the real groaners). I used to swear that they must have a class in college that they learn how to tell jokes and puns. I never found that class in any of the catalogues I got, so maybe I missed out. I don’t know. For those of you that went to Ricks, don’t you think Bro. Jones was the best at it? I sure didn’t like him as a teacher (he and I didn’t get along well, so it was a personal thing. Ches loved him, though), but I always got a good laugh in his class.

My personal favorites are the lightbulb jokes. It seems like a lot of them are similar, or have similar punchlines to other groups of people, but that’s okay. I’d like to share a few of my favorite musical jokes. Some everyone will get, some only some of you will get, and some you may be offended (if you are, sorry. Get over it. You’re a musician, and if you can’t laugh at yourself, then you’re in a really bad position! Everyone else likes to laugh at us!)

How many bass players does it take to change a lightbulb?
I, V, I, V . . .

How many sax players does it take to change a lightbulb?
Five: one to handle the bulb and four to contemplate how Charlie Parker would do it.

How many trumpet players does it take to screw in a light bulb?
16: one to handle the bulb and 15 to say “I could do it better”.

How many altos (singers) does it take to screw in a light bulb?
None. They can’t get up that high.

How many tenors (singers) does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Just one: he simply holds it up and the world revolves around him.

How many jazz musicians does it take to scew in a light bulb? One to do it, three to get their names on the guest list, and five to ask how he got the gig.

How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb?
None. They have machines that do that now.

What do you call one pretty good violinist, one bad violinist, one failed violinist, and someone who hates violinists together in the same room?
A string quartet.

What’s the difference between the first stand of violas and the third stand of violas? About a measure and a half.

A trombone player and a conductor are crossing the street. You are driving and cannot avoid them both. Which do you hit?
The trombone player: business before pleasure.

What’s the range of a tuba? About 20 feet, if you have a good arm.

If you drop a viola and a tuba from the top floor of a tall building, which one hits the ground first?
Who cares??

How do you know if there’s a lead singer at your door?
You don’t: She can’t find the key and doesn’t know when to come in.

How do you get a musician off your doorstep?
Pay him for the pizza.

How do you tell if there’s a dummer standing outside your door?
When he knicks, he speeds up.

And, of course, the world’s oldest music joke:

“Hey mister, how can I get to Carnegie Hall?”
“Practice.”

“Music is the most disagreeable and the most widely beloved of all noises.”
–Theophile Gautier, “Le Figaro”, 20 October 1863

Here are a top ten of some of my favorite things right now:

10. Eating chocolate chips right out of the bag. We usually buy the really stinkin’ huge bags at Sam’s Club, let the bag sit in the fridge or freezer, and grab handfuls (and sometimes a cup-full) right out of the bag. The most recent bag I bought is actually “baking chips”. They are bigger, and darker. Mmmmmmm. I’m in Heaven. Actually, I’m going to go get a handful, then come back and finish my list.

9. Friends who help out in a crunch. Last week, Ches had a Wind Ensemble concert and I forgot about it (he didn’t write it on the calendar!!), so I forgot to get a sitter for the boys. I spent a little time on the phone, just about 3 hours before I needed a sitter, and while the first few people said no (“I’d love to, but I can’t! I’m so sorry!” I appreciated their regret, too. So nice), I did find someone. And they said to stay out as late as we wanted, so Ches and I went out to eat together afterward. Just the two of us. That is so rare!

8. Talking on the phone. Yes, I’m a gabber. I love to talk on the phone. I feel lonely otherwise. I’m always calling my sisters or my mom. I’m always calling my sisters-in-law (that would be you, Alyson and Tanya!). I’m always calling my long-distance friends. I love to hear every detail of everything and tell them about my day, my kids, my frustrations, etc. I love it when everyone calls me (which happens a lot, so thank you, guys!!). It makes me feel loved and popular (yes, I’m still in high school brain mode a lot).

7. Post a Secret. I first saw this on Karen’s blog links, and now I have to check it out every week. Some make me sad, some make me laugh, some make me think, and a lot make me relate. I want to send one in. I have a couple of ideas, so I will send in my own, but I will never tell anyone I did it. Not even Ches. Well, maybe not Ches. I can’t hide things from him very well. I talk too much. I also want the new book that recently came out. The proceeds go to such a good cause, and I just want to be able to look over all these secrets and realize that I’m not alone in my thoughts of so many things!

6. My Crock Pot. I love that I can just put in some food before I eat my lunch, and when Ches walks in the door for dinner, I say, “hey! Dinner’s ready! Good timing!” The Crock Pot was a genius of an invention. The best is when you have something like a roast or chili cooking in it, you are gone for most of the day (church or marching band rehearsals are when I use it the most), and you come home and can smell all the yummy smells. Aaahhh, more Heaven for me.

5. Christmas lights. They are just plain beautiful. Some people tend to overdo their yards, so in the day it looks garish,but I still love the lights at night. I love the colors, the twinking, everything! Good thing I live in Reno. I get to see the casinos and have the lovely colors year round! It’s great! (And I’m not being sarcastic)

4. Being a sub in a kindergarten class. This is one of the hardest jobs ever (ohmygosh! The energy!!), but being a sub is great. When we lived in Arizona and Ches was doing his student teaching, I was a sub in Mesa. I was having a tough few months as at first I was pregnant (and it was NOT an easy pregnancy), then I had a miscarriage. I felt so horrible and yucky all the time, but when I got to sub with kindergarteners, I felt great. Those are the sweetest kids! They would say things like, “Mrs. Sharp, you are wearing a very pretty dress today.” “Mrs. Sharp, I love your hair.” “You’re my favorite teacher ever, Mrs. Sharp!” and my all-time favorite: “You’re the prettiest teacher, Mrs. Sharp.” followed by a hug. What little darlings!

3. Kisses. My husband kisses me goodnight every single night, and he kisses me before he leaves every single morning. If he doesn’t, then I think our marriage has fallen completely apart and he’s leaving me. He knows that (I have mentioned before about how I tend to blow things way out of proportion, right??). I love the kisses because it’s just that little thing that reminds me yes, he loves me, even though I’m still asleep in bed and he’s off to work or even though we had a huge fight because I didn’t do the laundry like I said I would so he has no clean dress pants. He still loves me. Oh, and kisses from my kids… those slobbery, dirty, sticky kisses are the best (when they are from your own kids, anyway).

2. Books! I LOVE to read! A lot! Apparantly, I taught myself to read when I was 3. I don’t remember what it was like to not know how to read. It is such an important thing for me. The other night I stayed up until 1:30 am reading because I was so engrossed in my book. That was a big mistake, by the way, since I still had to get up early with the kids and take care of them all day!! Anyrate, tomorrow is library day, and I can’t wait to browse for some new books. I just finished reading “Single Wife” by Nina Solomon (I really liked it a lot, so yes, I recommend it), and am currently reading “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” to Aiden. What should I get at the library tomorrow? I can’t wait!

1. Watching Aiden play when he doesn’t know I’m looking. He gets so engrossed in what he is doing, and it’s just plain fun to watch. We could probably throw out all of his toys except his Star Wars toys from Burger King and he would never get bored a day in his life. He still plays with his other toys, but not like he does with these. I love all the voices he gives the characters, the conversations they have, and the “action-adventure” scenarios. He gets so into it! What a great imagination he has. When he is pretending to be Spiderman, he moves his body in certain ways that just cracks me up. I can’t describe it. He can play by himself so well, and it is truely a fun thing to watch.

I have more favorite things, but I shall save them for another day. I could go on for hours, but my baby just woke up and I should go hold him (that is something for my next favorite things list).