Can Only Be Classified As Out of Control

Lindsay does not mess around when it comes to Christmas decorations.

When I got home from work last night there was a tree (a real one!) in the garage. And once you have a tree you can't just let it sit in the garage naked. So, we skipped the gym to hit up Target for some decorations. Lindsay claims that I didn't have the Christmas spirit on our shopping trip, but I maintain that I just didn't have the vision.

For example:
S: "Can't we use the pink and silver ornaments we used last year?"
L: "That's lame. We need new ones."

And new ones we got.


It turns out that a couple months ago Lindsay budgeted a certain amount for "Christmas decor". I'm telling you, she doesn't mess around.
Our cart was not only filled with ornaments for the tree, but with other decorations for various places in the house--including the largest wreath I've ever encountered in my life.






The rest of the evening was spent listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree. About half-way through decorating Lindsay announced that I finally had the vision.

I think it looks wonderful!

Sisters! Sisters!

The annual Thanksgiving picture...

Let Christmas Begin!

The Christmas season has officially started and I'm excited!

I was thinking that since Christmas can't officially start until Thanksgiving is over, maybe Thanksgiving should be a little earlier in the month. One month just isn't enough time to get into it and at 12:01am on December 26th it's all over.

Maybe not. Just a thought.

One thing I have been doing to get into the Christmas spirit is listenting to Christmas music. Sarah McLachlan's new CD, Wintersong, has been playing in my car for about a week but my all-time Christmas favorites are Bing Crosby's Merry Christmas and Johnny Mathis' The Sounds of Chrismas . They are Howard family classics.

What are your favorites?

Let Me Tell You Something 'Bout My Best Friend

This being a long weekend + me feeling a little under the weather = plenty of time to catch up on all the shows I've recorded. I cleaned the DVR out and had to resort to channel surfing. I struck gold and found my new favorite reality show: "Rob & Big" on MTV.

The show is about a pro-skateboarder, Rob Dyrdek, and his bodyguard "Big Black" and I can't even tell you how much I love it. They're like little boys that just play all day and they are hilarious.



Thursday nights at 10:30 on MTV. You won't regret it.

Five Stars

I saw "Stranger Than Fiction" on Friday night and it just may have been better than I expected. I loved it.

Will Ferrell, "Buster", Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah...c'mon. You just can't go wrong. I thought Will Ferrell was perfect for the part. He pulled off the comedy without a problem and did surprisingly well with the serious moments.

I left feeling very satisfied and, in my expert opinion, would give it five stars.

Duh...

I love the word "duh" lately. I don't necessarily use the word myself, but when used in the right situation I can't help but laugh. Sometimes Nat even busts out the "double duh" which is also great.

Here's an email I just received from Scott (in it's entirety):
"That was my plan from the beginning. duh"

Loved it.

Injured Bad...

I had forgotten about this commercial, but it was on Ellen today and still cracks me up!! This kid is fantastic.

Completely Unsanitary

I came in to work today to find a teddy bear on my desk with a note that said, "Hi Steph, I'm Teddy Ruxpin!" Clearly Matthew's doing. My plan was to return the bear when he wasn't there, so I pushed it aside and went about my business.

Later this afternoon, Matthew came over for his daily chat and revealed that he had found the bear in the shop. This fact automatically made the bear dirty. He then went on to tell us that he found the bear in the men's bathroom in the shop.

Two questions:
1. Why would you bring a teddy bear from the men's bathroom in the shop and put it on my desk? I work there and sometimes eat there (including today).
2. Why is there a teddy bear in the men's bathroom in the shop?

TJ BearyTales Is The New Teddy Ruxpin

When I was a kid my Grandma Howard bought me a Teddy Ruxpin. It was a teddy bear that read stories out loud as I followed along in my book. I loved my Teddy Ruxpin and think I actually still have him somewhere.

I just saw a commerical for TJ BearyTales which is basically Teddy Ruxpin 21 years later. Now the toddlers of 2006 get to experience the joy of having a talking, rock hard teddy bear with slightly creepy blinking eyes...

House of Carters

If you haven't seen an episode of House of Carters, you need to. It is absolutely awful and I watch it every week. They start screaming and crying at the drop of a hat but will for sure "hug it out" (in the words of Michael Scott) in the end. They are serious WT living off of Nick's money.

I just watched last night's episode where they had a family discussion about dental hygiene. None of them should be giving any hygiene-related advice. Leslie said that brushing once a week is enough. Nick said that three times a week is about right. BJ said that she went to the dentist recently (shocker) and was told that everyone should brush and floss up to three times a day. You don't say?

These were the arguments against brushing daily:
-That's an ancient way of thinking (Rebuttal: No, I have a very young dentist.)
-Mummies always have perfect teeth
-Brushing too much rubs off he enamel

Wow.

It's a train wreck and I can't stop watching.

That's Some Good 'Sheed!

Tonight I attended my first Pistons game ever and I loved it! All my boys were there (minus Big Ben, of course) and they lived up to all my expectations (minus winning, of course). Despite not scoring a field goal for probably 10 minutes in the 3rd quarter, Detroit only ended up losing by a measly 2 points! Final score: Jazz 103, Pistons 101.

The tickets were free, parking was free, Lindsay and I found boyfriends at concessions, I got to eat a hot dog AND a soft pretzel...what could go wrong? Crabby Jazz fans, that's what.

We were sitting behind a girl (and her boyfriend who sat through 90% of the game with his headphones in) who thought she knew all there was to know about basketball and seemed to believe that without her cheering, the Jazz just wouldn't be able to pull through.



Needless to say, she did NOT appreciate that we were cheering for the Pistons and Lindsay and I really enjoyed the fact that it bothered her so much. Near the beginning of the game she said, "I really like sitting over there because you don't ever have to deal with people cheering for the other team." And for a while she would turn and give us dirty looks every time we clapped. I had no idea that there were official rules about only being able to cheer for the home team...silly me. All she really did was make me want to cheer louder and I made sure to lead forward so she could her my claps.

Alas, my boys couldn't pull it together in the end but it was still a great time.

It's the little things...

...that make me miss home. These are a couple pictures my Dad sent of my Aunt Rena's farm.

Lunesta

I hate the Lunesta commercial. In fact, it makes me want to poke my eyes out. We get it! The name of the drug is Lunesta. Please stop saying it.

Next time I see the commercial I'll try to get an official count of how many times they say it to prove just how ridiculous it is.

Bringing in the Troops

Since Max isn't really fulfilling his role as the official mouse hunter of the house it was necessary to bring in back-up. I woke up this morning to 3 furry little kittens with super annoying bells around their necks.

Apparently they have experience catching mice, but all I've seen them do is eat, sleep, and wrestle each other. Max is feeling a bit neglected, but someone has to do the job. They'll be leaving tomorrow and Max can continue to not catch mice.

PWT's

Last night was the Plain White T's concert and it was excellent! They are currently on the Nintendo Fusion Tour, which didn't stop in SLC, so they decided to give up one of their days off and show us some love. We are glad they did.

The place was packed--the complete opposite of 4 years ago at Muse Music in Provo when they were playing shows for no more than 20 people. Even though it was packed by the time we got there, Jenny and I still managed to make our way upstairs and secure a good spot. We were pleased that they played three songs from their first album--Fireworks, What If and finished out the night with Stop.

It took me back to the good ol' days in Provo.

Tut-tut, it looks like rain.

Did I really just see a life size Winnie-the-Pooh skipping through the halls of the office?

Yes, I believe I did.

Matthew made my day by putting on Eric's Pooh costume (Why he has one and why he keeps it in his car, I don't know. Two very excellent questions.) and skipping through the ENTIRE building. Maybe next time Eric could be Christopher Robin.

It is definitely Friday.

Luke

I'll admit that I don't normally love dogs, but last night I saw one of the cutest puppies I've ever seen! His name is Luke and he's the newest roommate in Stephen's house.

I just can't get over how adorable he is! That's all.

I'm a 12 year old.

Today at work I realized just how immature I really am.

We were on a conference call with a vendor who had the worst stutter. It didn't seem like a speech impediment--it seemed like maybe he was nervous or excited and for some reason couldn't think of the words he wanted to use.

After about 15 minutes of the stuttering, I lost it. I couldn't focus on what he was saying, only on how he was saying it. I started to laugh. I turned around to face the wall in an attempt to gain composure. Then Carlee, in mid-sentence, started to laugh. So much so that she had to stop talking. I made a dash for the door (not before getting stuck in my chair) because I didn't want to be responsible for Carlee not being able to finish the call. I felt like I was in church and got the giggles.

Seriously, how old am I?

Dinner And A Show

Last night Lindsay and I decided to celebrate Halloween by going out for Chinese food. We headed to my favorite restaurant in Bountiful, Joy Luck, without knowing we were going to get dinner AND a show!

The restaurant wasn't very full so they were seating everyone in the same area. As we started eating we realized that there was some action going down at the table to my left. A mom and dad were interrogating their daughter who must've been around 15 years old. They were trying to get some sort of information out of her and she didn't want to talk.

Of course Lindsay and I stopped talking so we could hear better. I wanted to walk over and say, "Excuse me, do you think you all could speak up a little? We're having a little trouble hearing."

Here are some of the snippets we were able to catch, mostly from the mom who wasn't really trying to keep her voice down:

-"I didn't raise you to be a bi#@h so stop acting like one."
-"You've done things in the last 6 months that I never though you would do."
-"So you're telling me that you never pair off? What about the time I caught you and Brent in [insert name here]'s bedroom?"
-"You need to take some time to figure out who you are as a person. I don't think that's too much to ask."

Really? You're having this conversation in the middle of a very quiet restaurant? If I were that poor girl I wouldn't have talked either.

But I have to admit, I was a little glad they were having their private conversation in public because it made for some good entertainment.