The Story of the Dead Bird

Yesterday Cindy came in from outside very stressed and starting talking very, very fast about Yoshi and a dead bird. Yoshi indeed had killed a small bird and it was presented to us on the carpet that is outside the kitchen door. Cindy was so upset by this. She started crying and wailing (and we almost had the gnashing of teeth). I think she is starting to understand death a little more. She kept asking me when it was going to be alive again, and "how long do we have to wait before it gets up again"? She was even more sad when I said that it would not. She wailed and moaned, "But how will it get to go home and see it's family?" I finally told her that we should bury it. She was adamantly opposed to this idea! "Then we won't be able to see it or know where he is!" she said. I kept telling her that this was the proper thing to do. Finally, she called Dad and told him all about it. Dad told her to bury it. So she got off the phone and told me "We need to bury it!" like it was her idea. :) Why does Dad always get that much clout?? But I digress... So we buried the bird (which Cindy decided to name "Dead-y" (there is a pattern in her names, in case you haven't cracked the code yet). I was busy digging a small hole in the ground near our fence when I heard the camera flash go off. Cindy told me she was taking a picture of him so we would always remember him. (And if she is truly my daughter she was also thinking "we could put this on the blog!") Then as I put the last shovelful of dirt over Deady, Yoshi came frolicking out of the garden and, no lie, was covered in feathers. So add Baby Blue Jay to the long list of prey that have fallen to Yoshi the Conqueror. (The list that includes numerous snakes, a squirrel, dragonflies, mice, and about eleventy twelve hundred lizards). Now, if I could just get Yoshi to stand up to the wussie grey cat the steals her cat food every night, then we would be making some progress...

Getting Ready

We carved our Halloween pumpkin last night. Jacob is not so into it, but Cindy and I always have a great time every year. Here is this year's creation. Not too imaginative, but Cindy wanted it to look just like a ceramic pumpkin we have. I TRIED and TRIED to make it have rabbit ears (in honor of Rosa and to go with the two front teeth it has) but to no avail. Cindy would not have it! She thought I was so weird. Meanwhile, I am hard at work on Rapunzel-esque length hair and Luke's italian chef outfit. This will be a great Halloween, I can feel it!

DJ's Rule! Or, I mean, Rules of the DJ

Every six months or so it happens that Jacob gets double booked for DJing a Stake Dance or wedding reception. Therefore, I, the second best DJ in all the land, get to go and brush up on my mad DJ skills. So Saturday night I had the privilege of being the DJ for the Tri Stake Youth Dance at our building. Now, back in the day when I was a youth at Stake Dances, I always thought I could do a better job than the DJ- and last night I was pestered all night by a kid who obviously felt the same way. So as I was thinking about that experience, and remembering all the many dances I have done and kids I have interacted with, I have decided to present you here and now with....(drumroll please) The 10 Rules of Song Requests and DJ Interaction Etiquette. Ta-da! Oh, and these aren't meant to be mean or jade you- mostly they come from fond memories of dances of the past 9 years. And the realization that no mater where you go, people are pretty much the same :)


1. The way to a DJ's heart is to tell them how great they are-not how you really feel about them. If you want even a chance of getting your song played, do you honestly think saying "So when are you going to play something good?" is the way to go? Hardly.
2. Even if the DJ agrees to maybe play your song, you definitely do not get to decide when it gets played. Great dances have great flow and momentum, and playing someone's "Favorite Song" right when they request it most definitely will kill any it had going. This leads right into...
3. Give the DJ some time to play the music! If the dance is from 8-11pm- the last thing we want to hear is someone at 8:07 and then 8:18 and then at 8:19 ask us when we are going to play the Cha Cha Slide. That is why we make the big bucks- to judge the crowd and play things accordingly. Besides, we can't burn up all our good stuff with two hours left to go.
4. Nine out of ten songs the DJ plays, he personally hates. We don't play all those goofy songs because we like them- we play them because they work. We secretly do not have a mix CD in our car with Macarena, Cotton-eyed Joe and Electric Slide on it that we listen to on repeat anytime we drive somewhere. You think you have heard those songs a million times??? No, you haven't. :) I have calculated that I have heard the Boot Scootin Boogie more than 400 times- but you can't argue with the fact that it makes 150 teenagers have a great time.
5. If your requested song is not on mainstream radio, you have no chance of hearing it. Seriously, when a kid comes to me and says "Do you have "Melting" by The Screaming Popsicles?" what am I supposed to say? Come on, people. Get real. Which leads me to....
6. Just because it is YOUR favorite song, DOES NOT mean "Everyone else will like it". No, they won't. I am the DJ and I don't get to play MY favorite songs- it is about pleasing the masses, not the individual.
7. If by some miracle your request is played, for the love of all things good and holy- Dance to it!!!!!!! Do not endlessly pester me to play a song only to stand around and Sing it. It is called a "dance" (not a "radio") for a reason. (And do not be in the bathroom when I play your request, either. Stick around!)
8. NEVER start speaking to us by using the phrase "Hey, I have this CD out in my car and I was wondering..." This will not end well.
9. Deep down, DJs don't like announcing birthdays, dedications, or any other announcements in general. It clutters the dance.
10. When we ask for requests, we are assuming that you already know the song you want to hear. It is really not an invitation to come and look through our music while we are still trying to DJ the dance. Additionally, our music is usually not organized in any meaningful way to anyone but us. Thus, you just might find that CD we have that has the theme from Neverending Story- as well as Stand by Your Man and Up In Here by DMX. It isn't going to help you too much.

There, you have just gained access into the enigmatic mind of a DJ. Use this information wisely and you just might get to hear "Melting" by the Screaming Popsicles at your next dance.

It's My Party and I'll Vote How I want to

Upon receiving my Sample Ballot in the mail for the Nov. 4 election, I noticed that we (here in Florida at least) have 13 choices for President and not just the 2 we hear about on TV. All kinds of parties have candidates to choose from- the Libertarians, the Independent Party, The Objectivist Party, The Party for Socialism and Liberation, The Socialist Workers Party, The Socialist Presidential ticket, and even (and I am not making this up) The Boston Tea Party has candidates on the ballot. Anyway, although this information is pretty much only good for a laugh for me, because, (Crazily!) I am not interested in a socialist society...I DID notice that the Green Party has two women Candidates on their tickets and their names just happen to be Cynthia and Rosa. Too bad those two candidates really aren't a super cute 4 year old and her white pet bunny- because then they might actually have a chance of having one person vote for them. What a country!

Welcome to the Family, Rosa!

So Cindy has been dreaming of having a bunny for a while now- (along with the dreams of a pet butterfly, pet squirrel, birds that land on your finger, etc.) So now her life is complete because we have Rosa. She is a very sweet and has been incredibly patient with Cindy. Cindy has had her for about a day now and is totally obssessed with her, but at the same time, it is cute to watch her talk to her and play with her. For now she lives in her cage on the patio (Rosa, not Cindy), but is free to roam when Cindy is around out there. I let Cindy bring her in her room this morning for about 20 minutes. I am not too keen on the idea of her room smelling all "rabbity" and stuff. Cindy did run in off the patio this morning to show me the little nub of a carrot that was left from the giant one that was in the cage last night. She is thrilled that Rosa actually eats carrots- just like they do on TV. Anyhow, some pics of Rosa and Cindy- best friends. (Can you feel the love?? I can....)

Have You Ever Noticed...?

That any time you watch a show where some poor slob gets a makeover, they always get made over to have straight hair and they NEVER give them a curly hairstyle?? I say this because I am in desperate need of a new hairstyle, but, Alas! I have curly hair- and no one seems to have a good style for curly hair. (Unless they want me to wear it like Syesha from American Idol or Chad on High School Musical--> Exhibits A and B. Yeah, I have curls, but not like that.) So anytime I watch a show where someone with curly hair gets a makeover, I think, Great! Let's see what they do with the curly hair and BAM! Everytime it comes out straightened. This does not work for me. So if you have seen any realistic curly hair hairstyles or know of some magical hair accessories that help with making curly hair look controlled and pulled back from their face- (with volume :) let me know. Thanks.

Life After Triathlon

Wow, I am really having a hard time adjusting to life after my triathlon. I had been training and obsessing for so long about it that now that it is over, I feel completely....well, weird. It is strange to not feel like something is hanging over you like that. I honestly thought it would feel amazing to be done, but part of me is a little sad. I intend to do another triathlon in the spring, but so far I cannot find one that I can really commit to doing. I would love to keep with the Publix Family Fitness series- but they have yet to announce their 2009 schedule, so I am twiddling my thumbs until they do. I did go running today after taking a full week off from exercising and it felt great to get out and sweat again. On the plus side, I have enough house projects to keep me busy for a lifetime, so it is not like I don't have anything to do. I still have 2 more walls to paint in my living room, the garden always needs some attention, as well as the yard, the fire pit still needs the last row of stones, and the house and driveway all need to be pressure washed. Yea, I got things to do, no problem. But I have realized the importance of goal setting and how rewarding it can be to really invest yourself in a goal and literally "work" extremely hard to follow thru on it. Way more rewarding than I could have guessed.

On a completely unrelated note, I took some pictures of the kids the other day while we were at the beach at Ft. DeSoto State Park and then some fall pictures on Sunday. It is the best way to spend time for me because I get to take pictures and spend time with Cindy and Luke-two things I love to do.

Adding to her Resume

I have the pleasure of announcing that Cindy can now blow a bubble with bubble gum. Ta-da! It will now be listed on her resume in the "skills" section, right under Snapping, Whistling and Watching the same DVD over 50 times without tiring of it.

The Fall Garden

I have been waiting for the heat to subside just a hint before I started planting my fall garden. So yesterday I finally got the first of the starts in the ground. I have broccoli and brussel sprouts in now.


My pumpkins are coming along pretty good, however, Karen at Peterson's Nursery tells me that I am going to have to "hand-pollinate" them. On account of the dwindling bee population and all... I since have been researching on the internet about doing this and it is a little creepy in a weird sort of mother-nature kind of way.


Anyhow, the kids dug giant holes in the other garden bed while I was hard at work and pretty much were totally disgusting by the end.







So afterward I turned on the sprinkler and let them frolic and cavort, much to their heart's delight. I love October in Florida!

Update!

I didn't have any official times for you on the last post, other than it took me 1:34:00 for the whole Tri. But I was just online at the race website and they posted all the results, with the splits. So now I can tell you this much about my times:
The Swim: 21:31 (Which is faster than the woman won our group, I might add)
Transition 1: 3:13
The Bike: 35:06
Transition 2: :56
The Run: 33:16 (I am stunned I was that fast, and that is pretty dang slow..)

AND, I finished 15th OUT OF 44!! That is so beyond my wildest dreams. Truly!

So there you go! I promise to not talk about the race anymore and return you to your regularly scheduled blogger programming.