The horror!!!!

Tonight Riley came running into the TV room, "Mom! There's some creepy animal in my window well! Come listen!" So I ran in there and we listened and sure enough after a minute I heard a distinct and loud chittering/chirpy sound. It was obviously coming right from the other side of the glass. So we ran upstairs and made Matt come down to listen. Sure enough he heard it too. He thought it was probably a bird or something, but I was imagining all sorts of crazy woodland creatures, opossums, raccoons, etc. and in my imagination they were just waiting to leap at my face!
We decided to get flashlights and sneak up on it from outside, because of course that would be more dramatic and more scary. So all three of us crept around the side of the house and quickly shined our lights down into the window well!! AAAAUGH!
It was a giant snail... It was slowly sliming it's way down the window and as it crept, it's shell would rub on the glass making a strange chirping noise.
So if you ever want to scare someone, just stick a big snail on a rain soaked window late at night. It's terrifying!

D.. d.. d.. d.. Dora....

Last week I took the girls to my salon for haircuts. I got one at the same time. Riley & Sammy looked in a hair magazine and found two really cute short cuts they liked. I wish I'd done the same thing, because somehow my description was lost in the translation. I now have what is best described as a Dora the Explorer hairdo. It's absolutely lovely. Everyone knows that when you have a big head, it's best to get a short rounded hairdo with bangs to accentuate it.

Stock Tip: Invest in Rubber Gloves

I finally took Riley to get her ears pierced. A friend suggested we go to a piercing studio rather than one of those places at the mall. I had to agree, since I doubt those 16 year old girls at the mall are really very worried about sterilization and stud placement. I know this partly because my own earrings are all cockeyed and point in different directions.

So Riley went to Iris Piercing in Sugarhouse and when we got there the guy asked if I'd brought her birth certificate. Doh! I'd forgotten... and I really didn't want to drive all the way back home to get it. I mean.. couldn't he TELL she was my daughter? I suppose I could have started saying embarrassing things and let her freak out publicly as proof of our relationship, but instead I dug through my purse until I found an insurance card with both our names listed.

Next she got to pick out her earrings. She went for some tasteful Titanium hoops, and we headed back to the piercing area.

It looked like a doctor's examination room... if he had spent time in Tibet and Africa and decorated with masks, paintings and bamboo. There was the little exam table in the center of the room, the red bio-hazard bin for the old needles, the boxes of rubber gloves... beyond those medical necessities the room was tricked out in granite counter tops, one of those cool bowl-type sinks and copper faucets. Oh and The White Stripes were playing in the background, so it was a pretty cool "doctor's" office.

A very nice guy named Nick did her piercing.

Apparently at Iris they are ALL about sterile conditions. Nick used 5 pairs of rubber gloves. First pair.. he swabbed her earlobes, 2nd pair he uses a toothpick & paint to mark her ears (this takes a good 10 minutes as he's looking at her from all angles and marking & re-marking the fronts and backs to get them just right).. 2nd pair of gloves in the trash, 3rd pair.. he swabs her earlobes some more.. then opens a metal container that has been sterilized. 3rd pair in the trash.. he removes the 4th pair from within said sterilized container and wipes something new on her ears.. gloves go in the trash. 5th pair of gloves are now on and the piercing may now commence. He uses a 2 inch long needle and pushes it through one earlobe, then attaches the little hoop to the end and pulls it through, closing it by pinching a little ball between the two ends of the hoop... meantime Riley is uncharacteristically calm and quiet and doing deep breathing exercises. Next ear goes just as well as the first and she's done! We had a 5 minute after-care discussion of just what should and shouldn't be done in the next 6 weeks. (I don't remember those girls at the mall telling me any of this stuff... nor do I remember them requesting that I come back in a couple of weeks just so they could check on it)

So... long story short... Riley was completely happy with her ears and even claimed that it was worth the pain and it didn't hurt that bad. I was satisfied that not only would her earrings be directionally accurate and well centered... but there was little to no chance that she would be getting an infection from THAT piercing studio. Now... if we can only follow the multitude of rules for aftercare... One of the rules being not to wear tight clothing.... I'm thinking that one may be for a different kind of piercing altogether.

Your Mom Wears Combat Boots!

I thought my opening song was appropriate for this latest post.

You know how they say, "the sqeaky wheel gets the grease"? Well... I have a new one for you, "the bitchy woman gets her Combat Boots!" Oh Danila, thank you for your comments on my previous boot related post, I think it may have had an effect on Matt's opinion of old ladies like me wearing them.

Matt took Riley shopping for shoes Saturday and came home with a pair of Zombie Stompin' Combat Boots! He had Riley wear them into the house and pretend they were hers. I think she's a little disgruntled because she wanted to share them, but since they are 9's and she's only a 4, I'm saying no.

Of course I tried them on immediately. Dani, Ethan, Arianne & Troy were there and I could tell they were all secretly jealous. It was very hard to see but I can spot that Combat Boot Hunger in a person's eyes. I've often seen it in Catherine's eyes, though I doubt she'll admit it. Hey Catherine... you could stomp some wolves in these... I'm just saying...

Well they felt just kick butt awesome! And they looked sublime, though the effect may have been ruined a little since I was wearing capris at the time. I threatened to wear them to church the next day but I don't think Matt believed me... he did look a tiny bit scared though.

Now I just have to keep an eye on Riley, she keeps trying on the "Lara Croft" boots and begging to either wear them, or have some of her own. Hmmm... maybe if I can convince her they are for stomping boys who get too fresh....

Next step... the 20 eye boot that comes all the way up your calf!

Bubble, Bubble....

Riley's 6th grade class is doing a redition of MacBeth. She got the part of one of the witches. She was a little bummed because she originally wanted to be King Duncan, but they gave that one to a boy. hehe. She was also asked to introduce the play at the beginning and then close the play.

She does a great job! I have to say it's nice to see the drama-queen in her paying off in a possitive way. Seriously though, she loves doing plays and really gets into it.

Here are some pictures:
Riley and her friends Tasha, Jessica & Wyatt(he's a cheerleader) Did you forget MacBeth had cheerleaders?

RockNRolla

We finally saw RockNRolla. It wasn't as good as Guy Ritchie's earlier movies, Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. But it was still pretty good.
And I was right about one thing... Gerard Butler in high definition is TOTALLY worth all the website work I've been doing. hehe.

Sweeeet...

My friend Jen recently sent me this picture. It was taken at Snowbird back in 1990 while Matt & I were engaged. I think this is also the first time we met Tricia (Mark's wife now.. then girlfriend).

Look at those old boards! Too funny. There weren't even good boarding boots available yet, at least not that I can remember. We used to wear Sorel's and duct-tape the crap out of them to make them rigid. It was also a rare sight to see a GIRL snowboarding, a fact that I was very proud of.

Yeah.. we were cool.