Imagination Fascination

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

- Albert Einstein

So Matt and I were watching the Burn Notice marathon.  Side note: Burn notice is awesome.  Suddenly we hear THUD! THUD! THUD!  We look over by the stairs and Jeremy and Bailee are in their pillowcases holding their hands in the air as they are sliding down the stairs. We shrug it off and continue to watch our show.  Suddenly we hear Jeremy "OK Bailee, this is where you put your hands in the air and scream because we are going down a really big drop.  You don't know about it because you weren't there."  So that peaked our interest.  Matt quietly heads over there and find Jeremy in front with Bailee holding onto him from behind.  They were giggling as they were heading down the stairs again.  They get to the bottom and look up at Matt like they were in some serious trouble.  So Matt asks them what they were doing.  "Bailee didn't get to go on Splash Mountain, so we are pretending that we are in Disneyland."  Jeremy thought for sure that he was in trouble because he then proceeded to say how sorry he was.  Matt looks at them and says, "Well you can't go on Splash Mountain without the music."  So he stands at the bottom of the stairs and sings "How do you do, mighty pleasant greetin'.  How do you do, say it when your meetin'.  How you come on with everyone your greetin', pretty good sure as your born." So the kids ride Splash Mountain over and over for about 10 minutes and then Matt got tired and came back to the couch to finish our show.  I love the fact that my kids have a very vivid imagination.

Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which is everything in this world.”

Blaise Pascal

Happy Birthday America!

Well, another Fourth of July celebration is under our belt.  Every year we take the kids down to the park to have a little fun in the sun.  First, we start off with a little tire swing ride.Then we headed over to play a little Price is Right "Plinko."  Gotta love the Plinko.

Of course, no Fourth of July celebration is complete without a turn at the sucker tree and fishing for frogs.  The kids got a kick out of it.

We finished off with a spin around the park in the jail.  Of course, the jail birds got what they deserve when some boys ran along side the jail and squirted everyone with water guns.  They were less than enthused.

Matt took the kids home to cool down and take a nap.  I however, had to stay three more hours and help the Young Women with their booth.  They were spray painting hair, and I had the 1-4 time slot.  It was hot, hot, hot, but very fun.  Joni even got to give a grandma a red Mohawk. Her idea, not Joni's, she was ecstatic.

  By four, I was hot and tired, so I went home and showered.  While I was in the shower, Matt had ordered Chinese food.  Love Chinese food.  So we vegged on the couch and waited until it got dark.  We got the glow sticks out and headed to the High School football field. The fireworks were awesome.  Laying right underneath them made them seem HUGE.  An excellent 35 minute show.

The kids went to bed sunburned but happy, so I would say that my job is done. 

The Dreamer's Disease

There are songs that will stay with me forever.  All I have to do is listen and I am suddenly transported back to when I first made that memory.  Is there anyone else out there like that?  For Matt and I, Lifehouse will always be "our" band.  Forty years from now when we are driving 45 MPH down the freeway and "Hanging By A Moment" comes on the oldies station, we'll take out our dentures and start making out, because it takes us back to our courtship.  Whenever I hear "Today" by the Smashing Pumpkins the world dissolves away into the summer before my senior year (the summer of fires).  Every October I listen to "From Cumorah's Hill."  It takes me back to the fall of my Senior Year of College.   I love music.  I love that no matter how much time goes by, you still remember what you were wearing, what it smelled like, what was going on when you made your first and lasting memory of that song.  As we were driving home from the relay for life, a song came on that spurred a 40 minutes discussion between myself and Matt.  The song: "You get what you give."  The band: "New Radicals"  The memory: Matt's last year of college.  Now I'll explain why, here are the lyrics:

Wake up, kids.
We've got the dreamers disease.
Age fourteen, they got you down on your knees.
So polite, we're busy still saying please.
Frenemies, who when you're down ain't your friend.
Ev'ry night we smash a Mercedes Benz.
First we run and then we laugh till we cry.
But when the night is falling,
You cannot find the light, light.
If you feel your dreams are dyin', hold tight.
You've got the music in you.
Don't let go.
You've got the music in you.
One dance left.
This world is gonna pull through.
Don't give up.
You got a reason to live.
Can't forget.
We only get what we give.
I'm comin' home, baby.
You're the tops.
Give it to me now.
Four A.M., we ran a miracle mile.
We're flat broke, but hey, we do it in style.
The bad rich, is flyin' in for your trial
But when the night is falling,
You cannot find a friend, friend.
You feel your tree is breakin' just then.
You've got the music in you.
Don't let go.
You've got the music in you.
One dance left.
This world is gonna pull through.
Don't give up.
You got a reason to live.
Can't forget.
We only get what we give.
This whole d*** world could fall apart.
You'll be OK, follow your heart.
You're in harms way.
I'm right behind.
Now say you're mine.
You've got the music in you.
Don't let go.
You've got the music in you.
One dance left.
This world is gonna pull through.
Don't give up.
You got a reason to live.
Can't forget.
We only get what we give.
Don't let go.
I feel the music in you,
Fly... high.
What's real can't die.
You only get what we give.
You're gonna get what we give.
Don't give up.
Just don't be afraid to leave.
Health insurance rip off lying.

FDA big bankers buying,
Fake computer crashes dining.
Cloning while they're multiplying.
Fashion shoots,
With Beck and Hanson,
Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson.
You're all fakes,
Run to your mansions.
Come around,
We'll kick you’re a** in!
Don't let go.
One dance left.
Don't give up.
Can’t forget.
Don’t let go.

It was the time when Matt was going to school full-time, working full-time, and doing a part-time internship.  There wasn't a lot of free time (or money) and our most favorite thing to do was to scrounge up $3.72.  We piled the kids in the car and we headed to KB.  $3.72 bought Matt a LG drink, me a Med one, and the kids both got baby root beers.  After we got our drinks we headed up the hill and cranked the new radicals.  We had dreams a plenty but trying to reach them was WAY hard.  Matt was never home, he was working for the future, but the present was lonely and tiresome.  It got to the point that whenever the kids saw the business building on campus, they would start crying because that building represented the absence of their father.  When we would start to get down on ourselves and ask "Why are we doing this? We are tired, we never see each other."  The words to this song came into our minds:

If you feel your dreams are dyin', hold tight.
You've got the music in you.
Don't let go.
You've got the music in you.
One dance left.
This world is gonna pull through.
Don't give up.
You got a reason to live.

Then we would kiss each other goodbye and hold on until we saw each other again around 11:30 that night.  There is a particular line in this song that became our motto.  Almost everything we did revolved around it.  "We're flat broke, but hey, we do it in style." Most of you who have gone to school know the joys of eating Ramen for a month or heading to Walmart on Saturday just so you can eat the free samples they give out.  Yes, we did this, but we did it in style.  I love this song, not for the words, but for the sentiment behind what it means to me and my little family.  So when you start to get down on yourself and wonder what the point is, grab hold of the dreamer's disease and just live your life in style - your style.  Anybody else out there have a song like this?

The Sandwich Man

(sung to "The Candy man")

Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it with bread.
Cover it in cheese with some Miracle whip or two,
The Sandwich Man, The Sandwich Man can.
The Sandwich Man can 'cause he makes it with love
and makes the world taste good.

Who can take a rainbow
Wrap it in a bun
Toast it in the oven and make a he'nly combo.
The Sandwich man, The Sandwich Man can.
The Sandwich man can 'cause he slathers it with love
and makes the bread taste good.

So here is a little background.  Friday morning, oh around 10 I say to myself, "Abby, you are going to be up all night, you need to start inundating yourself with caffeine."  So I went to Conoco, as luck would have it they had a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel, so I swiped that up along with a 32-ounce Coke.  Man, I love Coke.  Anyhoo, the day progresses.  Around Noon, me interior monologue begins again, "You are going to be up all night, get some more caffeine and you will be just fine."  So I went back to good old Conoco and got a refill.  Caffeine count: 64 ounces.  I told Steve I wanted to leave work around 1 so, I went home to load up the car and so some light cleaning before we left for Richfield.  My tummy was rumbling so I looked in the fridge.  Nothing!  I had cleaned out the fridge the day before (because it was garbage day) and my fridge was bare.  I looked in the pantry.  Everything in there required me to use the stove and I haven't touched the thing since I started it on fire a few months ago (Matt does all the cooking).  I poked my nose around some more, but to no avail.  Then I remember that Matt made some pink popcorn.  Score!  As I was eating my nutritious lunch the monologue started up again, "You need some more caffeine, sure you will have to run to the bathroom, but you will be able to stay up, besides, who knows when your turn on the track will be, you might me walking at 2 in the morning, you need the caffeine."  I, of course, agreed with myself and headed up to Chilly's (they have really good ice and it is much closer to my house)  32 more ounces of coke and 3 sugar daddy's (the popcorn just wasn't that fulfilling).  Caffeine count: 96 ounces.  So, I head back home and the kids are over to mom's playing so I figure I should do a little bonding time with them before I leave.  I spend some time over to mom's and then Matt arrives and we hop into the car and head to Richfield.  We stop in Scipio (also because they have the good ice) because Matt says he needs some caffeine.  I figure, might as well have some more: 32 more ounces.  Caffeine count: 128 ounces. 

We arrive at the Relay for Life.  It was awesome.  They had the opening ceremonies and the survivor walk.  

Then everybody decided to get some dinner.  Cory mentions "Hey, how 'bout Subway."  Everyone dismisses the suggestions (but a seed was planted in the back of my brain) and decides to support the Relay and have dinner there.  Inner monologue: "Finally some food.  You have way to much energy and you need to soak up some of that caffeine."  We head over there.  I am not a fan of Dutch oven.  Especially when they smother EVERYTHING in gravy.  So I had a few bites of Matt's so-called "pork" which tasted just like turkey and then helped Sam eat his hot dog.  Shauna arranged the walking hours.  Matt and I were slated to walk the nine and ten hours.  So it rolls around and we hop on the track.  We made a few laps and suddenly I smelled the most delicious smell.  It was like I was walking down Main Street in Disneyland.  I sent Matt to go find out what that smell was.  He came back with a great big bag of cotton candy.   So, by 10:00 at night I had eaten a bacon egg and cheese bagel, lots of pink popcorn, 1 sugar daddy (Max stole the others), a bag of cotton candy, turkey/pork, and 128 ounces of caffeine.  Needless to say, I was jumping off the walls. 

So about 1 o'clock, Sharon pulls out the Uno cards and I see Matt and Brandon with some sandwiches.  I force them to go back and get a sandwich for Sharon and myself.  Now, I have NEVER been a sandwich person.  School lunches for me consisted of crackers and cheese, soup, and maybe a banana.  Never a sandwich.  I hate sandwiches.  I hate bread.  Condiments aren't my bag.  Lunch meat is weird.  The texture, the smell.  Eeeww.  So Matt and Brandon bring us back sandwiches and suddenly music starts filling my head.  Suddenly I hear a voice start singing the Sandwich Man sung to the tune of the Candy man.  Yes, I had taken a bite out of heaven.  I could hear myself praise sandwiches up and down, over and over.  I had, not one, not two, but three sandwiches.  And the entire time I was eating them I was raving about how awesome sandwiches are.  How sandwiches are God's greatest gift to mankind.  Finally around 3:30 I gave up and got some shut eye.

The next morning, I woke up and I wanted to DIE.  Sandwiches are not God's greatest gift to mankind.  Sandwiches are evil.  I felt like I got ran over by a steam roller.  It felt like I had a sandwich wedged in my sternum.  I hate sandwiches.  Sandwiches are from the devil.  I have learned a very important life lesson this weekend.  Sugar and caffeine are very fickle friends.  Don't trust them.  Sure they taste good and they give you a little extra kick, but you will pay for it later.  In summation:  Sandwiches - bad.  Sugar - good, but bad later.  Caffeine - very good, but very bad later.   Family - good.   Cotton Candy - good.  Sugar daddy - good.  Pink popcorn - good.  Relay for Life - Good

My Guidepost

Through-out my entire life there has been one influence that has remained constant and true - steadfast and immovable.  Someone that has always pointed me in the right direction.  Someone who has laughed with me and cried with me; hurt for me; and lifted me up when I was down.  My guidepost.  Someone whom I always gauge myself against.  My mom.  So for mother's day, I decided to make her a symbol of what she means to me.

The first definition of a guidepost is: A post with a sign giving directions for travelers, usually placed at a crossroad.  However, the second definition explains perfectly how I feel about my mom and the impact she has had on my life: Something that serves as a guide or an example; a guideline.  My mother set the standard for me early on by her example and he unwavering love for me.  Because of her, I have been able to weather the storms that have inevitably come in my life.  She taught me about Job and his firm commitment to our Savior and His plan of happiness.  She taught me that I can weather any storm that Satan will throw at me, she helped me overcome my insecurities, and she rallies around and completely supports any decision that I make.  She watches my children so I am able to help support my family.  She teaches them the same principles that she taught me.  She is helping shape and mold them into strong and faithful servants of our Heavenly Father.  I love you mom, thank you so much for all that you have done for me and all that you will continue to do for me.  You're the best.