Who Says We Mormons Can't Laugh At Ourselves?

When I'm procrastinating writing psych evals or doing my billing (in my office at the computer) I like to keep up with the Bloggernacle, which is the loosely connected system of blogs and websites of Mormons, for Mormons, and about Mormons.  You can find and follow a site in any point along the intersecting orthodoxy, political, and gender spectra.  My favorites are feminist Mormon housewives, by Common Consent, and Times and Seasons, with occasional forays into Exponent, Segullah, and Zelophehad's Daughters.

Even though I often don't agree with posters' specific politics or religious ideas, the fact that we share a common ideological background as Mormons makes what they say innately more interesting to me than your random New York Times opinion column or Daily Kos post and comments.  Every once in a while there will be a thread that makes me laugh out loud.  Here are the most recent giggle-and-snort-until-I-wake-up-John-in-the-next-room posts.

From by Common Consent--another Daily Universe Police Beat post.  Previous posts are linked--if you have a couple of hours and want to end up a giggly endorphin-flooded puddle on the floor, read them all.

From Zelophehad's Daughters, a list of the Bloggernacle's funniest comments from 2010.  The poster also links previous offerings, so you can enjoy them as well.  These items may be more funny if you're familiar with the ongoing discussion topics on the Bloggernacle.

And last, Matsby's Religious Blog, which is just Mormon-themed silliness, but a lot of fun (sort of in the Deep Thoughts vein).  Here are some of my favorite visuals:

and here's my favorite Matsby quote [sigh]:

Some people think the best meeting block is from 9:00 – 12:00 because they like to take a nap after church.

Other people think the best meeting block is from 11:00 – 2:00 because they like to sleep in on Sunday morning.

But I think the ideal meeting time would be 11:30 – 12:00 because seriously… 

Costumes

 I've been scanning family photos instead of writing psych evals.  Here's Chris, age 5, whose outfit of knight's armor, snorkel gear, cape, mittens, basketball shorts, and snow boots really says it all.

Sometimes all you need are a pair of cool sunglasses to set off your outfit (Betsy, age 2).

Sometimes facial hair is what makes the difference.

The nomad look is great for travel, especially if you can take your blankie along as a part of your outfit:
 

Paper bags are very useful in accessorizing (Rob, age 6):

Sometimes a simple sunsuit and cowboy boots along with your doll are not enough--you really need The Look (Amy, almost age 2): 

I wanted to post a great photo of Rob wielding a couple of six shooters while wearing nothing but a cowboy hat, a kerchief over his face, a pair of boots, and his whitey-tighties, but it may be a bit too risque for a family blog.

So We Went to This Really Cool Resort

...in So California, run by this couple (above) and their cute kids (below).

Huh. It's actually my sister Tena, who is the new boss of this plant where they make cool stuff including dog toys.

Here she is in her office, interviewing a potential underling (John). He wasn't hired.

Here she is in her safety glasses and steel-toe shoes before going onto the floor. She has a little motto on her desk top that we should all remember: Women are angels, and when someone clips our wings, we simply continue to fly on a broomstick. We're flexible that way.

We flew to Orange County/ John Wayne/ Santa Ana (SNA) airport—the airport with the most names ever—because the nearby Ontario flights were full, but today it looked like the standby seats were holding steady, and we made it on to come home. Tena was a little worried about the weekend I-15 traffic in from Las Vegas if she had to drive to SNA this afternoon (although she said she could figure alternatives), but their house is a sweet 20 minutes away from Ontario.

Their home is perfect for them—four bedrooms, an open floor plan, indoor/outdoor with tiled floors, austerely furnished (by Tena)—a lovely place to live and a beautiful and restful place to visit. It’s probably a little smaller than our house if you count Grandma Gene’s place, but every inch counts. I am returning for sure, probably in March--fair warning, guys! It is a private family resort, all the advantages of vacation travel but with their own showers, kitchen, and beds. Aisake gave up his room for us and slept on the couch downstairs.

But the biggest treat of all is their backyard, which is a cross between an upscale resort, an Italian bistro, and a jungle camp site, with the palm trees, spa and pool, bar and barbeque, tables on the terrace behind wrought iron, fire pit seating, waterfall, citrus and banana orchard and taro garden. The orchard and garden are small,

but there’s an orange and a lemon growing. It would be fun to go to the beach sometime, but why travel when there’s perfection in your backyard?

Hummingbirds came to the bird-of-paradise plants at the back of the yard:

The land slopes steeply to the north, and the builders made a terrace behind a wrought iron fence (I didn't get a good photo of the winding staircase up to it). Tena has put bistro tables and chairs up there, and said they picnic in dry safety there while Aisake splashes in the pool below.

We gave up on heating the pool after awhile. John and Aisake braved the 65 degree pool water but not for long (John was in and out too quickly for me to get a photo).

The sweetest, absolutely best thing was the spa. With as much body mass as I have, I do one initial warm-up, and then spend most of the rest of the evening wandering wetly around in the breeze waiting to cool down again. John was more pop in and out of the spa-pool-spa-pool, then go indoors and have another nap on the sofa. It really made me decide that we need a hot tub ourselves. Not until we get back from London and I built up my income again, but then heck yeah. We’re all set up for one, it’s just buying it and putting it in.

John is steamed!

The pool and spa lights change colors. Here we look like we're cooking in a witch's brew:

We dried off and warmed up around the fire:

Tena and Teane came to pick us up at Orange County and we didn't get in until about 11:30 pm Friday and Pesi cooked waffles and scrambled eggs for us before we went to bed. Tena and Teane fed us Greek yummy-ness on Saturday. We missed the big BBQ they had planned because everybody was too full until too late. One more reason to return. Below, Aisake and John are silly in the kitchen:

Tena and Teane stayed home from church to take us back to the airport, but Pesi and Aisake were dressed in their Sunday finery. As you can see, Aisake is already out-growing his new suit:

Here we are at the mini-resort. I'm going back for sure! Thanks Tena, Pesi, Teane, and Aisake, for a great and relaxing weekend.

One Ring To Rule Them All

From the Bloggernacle.

Fashion?

So I have never grokked fashion, but have come to a sort of peace with it by only shopping once every two years and only buying things that are comfortable. But I ran across this blog the other day which is by a certified 13-year-old blue-haired fashion genius, and I begin to get a glimmer of understanding. I also like this blog of fashionable old people, and this one for us fatties. Don't worry, I'm not going to change my behavior or my (lack of) style, but I can acknowledge a legitimate art form, even if I don't have the ability to participate.

And always a treat, here is David Bowie.

Me on The Internets...

Here. And here is the cat.

Protecting Insurance Companies

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

I don't quite dare post this on my psych blog,
since it's listed on several insurance companies' web sites.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Death Panel Advisors - watch more funny videos

(found on Ezra Klein's blog)

For Sound of Music Fans...

...a promotional event in Antwerp.

"Your Local Computer Expert"

You mean I don't have to depend upon Brett anymore?

Gratitude

I am attempting to follow my own advice and practice gratitude on a daily basis. When I don't do it, it's because I'm forgetful, not that I'm not thankful.

Today I am grateful for my own sweet husband. Last night at Lara's party I was teasing him about getting into irreparable trouble at BYU (I still expect it every semester), because of his tendency to make whatever joke possible at every opportunity, the raunchier the better. And I still don't remember my dad and brothers ever being so--so irresistibly attracted to 14 year old humor. But it's a small price to pay for my sweet-natured, hardworking, loving, thoughtful, interesting John's company. And he has to put up with a lot from me too. In fact, as he said soon after we were married, "If you didn't laugh just a little, I wouldn't do it." I'm not sure that's true, but...

So here's to my John. May we have 32 more years of inappropriate jokes and wifely disapproval.

At B&Bs

Ethan loves his daddy.


Betsy gets organized. "I organize for fun," she said. She organized and I sat around holding Ethan and giving advice. He still is ambivalent about me, doing a cute (and disturbing, to me) smile/frown/smile/frown/cry-desperately-for-mom face when I'm up too close. Betsy thinks it's because we look and sound a little too much alike. "What have you done to my mother! You've aged her by 24 years and added gray hair, wrinkles, and [censored] lbs!" So now I am the Ambivalent Zombie Grandma Karla (and also because when Ethan growls, which he does--convincingly like Chris at that age--as well as slobber and bite whatever skin is exposed, see him taking a chunk out of Brett's arm, above, I growl back).


Five Guys tummies (well, we can't blame Ethan's tummy on Five Guys).

From the Dark Side

...check out Dr. Wallace's opinion of the Twilight phenomenon. [the result of spending last night messing around online rather than doing my work]

Chris the Photographer

John loaned Chris the camera for the program (as he's done in the past) and he's doing a great job:

You know to go to the UK 2009 blog for more details of what we're doing. Hope everything's OK at home. The numbers seem to work--the worst problem we're having with phones right now is remembering where we put them in the first place, not hearing their rings, and not being able to get them out of backpacks, pockets, etc., in time to answer them. Also, we haven't decoded how to read text messages or hear voicemail. John keeps saying "we've got to figure out the phones" but what he means is you've got to figure out the phones, and I'm too busy doing pictures. And cooking, etc. It was pretty tense there for a few days with John trying to finish his grades, but now we seem to be OK. It's a lot of fun.

Chris Drives

...although we haven't quite made it down to the DMV to pick up his learner's permit yet. He did a great job.
Here's the pickup coming home from Greenjacket today. You can see that it doesn't take much for us to return to our roots. All we need is a pig-house on top and a goat in the cab, and we're J&K Bennion, 1979.

Ethan Still In Process

She's in the "rest and descend" phase now, which may mean that Dr. Rose is busy at the clinic and can't come upstairs right yet. Dilated to 10, but not descended all the way yet. Wow, the epidural sure makes it easier to focus. Yay drugs! Despite my gripes about the drug companies. A scare earlier in the afternoon was when the U around Guardsman Way was evacuated due to a gas leak. The phone rang in the room, which was weird anyway, as B&B requested no calls. Brett listened to it in silence, then calmly got up and went out into the hall. As the door opened, we heard something about "Code Yellow," and the nurse came in to say "we're NOT evacuating!" (A few minutes ago the city called the room again to say we were clear). Good times.

Extreme Sheep Herding

So Dad, you used to do creative facial hair when you got bored out at the sheep herd. What do you think of this!