the rich and famous

With all the Olympics hub-bub I need to share my connection with Michael Phelps. Well, it's not like I ever met him or anything, but I do consider us "connected." He's from Maryland, as am I, and per my mom, who is super observant and always passes on great local gossip, he has a number of friends at Salisbury University, the university in my hometown (where I took swimming lessons for many years, in fact).

Anyway, one fine day a couple years ago, post-Athens, I believe, he was stopped/arrested/charged/I don't know what they call it for drunk driving in Salisbury. As part of his restitution, he had to go speak at the local high schools about driving responsibly. I don't think it's admirable that he was driving drunk per se (especially since he was only 19!!), but I am glad he was fully cooperative, took responsibility for his actions, and then used his fame and prominence to educate people.

There was a great op-ed in the Seattle Times yesterday about the whole John Edwards thing. It's like, people, the world is watching you. DON'T SCREW STUFF UP! If you want to be president, prove to America that you can put the needs and happiness of someone else (your wife who is battling cancer, your children) above your own, which would make us at least partially believe you could put America's needs and happiness above your own. But he didn't do that.

But that isn't what I wanted to blog about. I wanted to blog about my brushes with famous people. I have met a few famous people personally:

• Homer Hickam, the author of Rocket Boys, the book October Sky was based on, who was portrayed in the movie by the super hottie Jake Gyllenhall. He wrote another book and came to BYU on a publicity tour. Very very cool to meet him.
• Brett Scallions, the super hottie former lead singer for Fuel. I won backstage tickets to their concert in Salt Lake in 2002, and it was totally awesome.
• Eve 6, one of the coolest bands ever. I met Max and Jon, not Tony, after a gig in Salt Lake. Since I'm obssessed with them, it was most cool.
• Jimmy Shea, USA gold medalist. I volunteered at the 2002 Salt Lake games in a journalism/PR capacity. My claim to fame was when I covered the skeleton competition. After Jimmy Shea won the gold medal, I had to take a vanpool to another part of the park. It just happened to be the same vanpool as Jimmy Shea and his entire family. I think his mom was there. So me, another volunteer, and Jimmy Shea and a half-dozen of his family members just chilled after he won gold.
• Jon Heder, aka Napolean Dynamite. He took classes for his film/animation degree at BYU in the same building as my communications classes, the Harris Fine Arts Center (or HFAC, which Shane refers to as "Hamburger Flippers After College). I saw him in a few short films he did at BYU, and saw him the hallway all the time. Once I complimented him on one of the short films I saw, and he said thanks. Everyone at BYU is so friendly. No biggie to speak to the future Napolean Dynamite!

Those are the only famous people who I have met personally. Now, through one or two degrees of separation, here are some other famous people I'm connected to:

• Shanester served his mission for the Church in Ventura, California. Marie Osmond, a famous Mormon, was in one of the wards he served in. One day he was watching General Conference at someone's house and she came over. Very cool.
• I have a bunch of Seattle friends who have run into famous Northwesterners, namely Tom Skerrit, Dave Matthews (as in the band!; he lives in Wallingford!), and the late Layne Staley of Alice in Chains. I don't know anyone who knew Kurt Cobain, though.
• The COO of my company once sat by former President Gerald Ford in first class on an airplane.
• Once this developer in Chicago wanted to build the tallest building in the country. It looked like a huge birthday candle; they were calling it the Chicago Spire. Word on the street was Donald Trump was upset about it. One of my bosses at my job was Chairman of this international tall buildings organization (they dictate the standards of what makes the tallest building the tallest and they declare what the tallest building is), and he decided he wanted to talk to Donald Trump. So, I had to get The Donald on the phone. I called the Trump organization in New York, gave my story to three or four people, and finally got to Rhoda, from The Apprentice (which I acutally don't watch). She told me she'd interrupt Donald's meeting and get him on the phone. I felt pretty special. So yeah, my boss and Donald chatted it up for awhile. He said Donald talked very very fast.
• Also, work-related, my company does a lot of work with hot shot architects. Brad Pitt is totally into architecture and has met with a couple of the architects we work with. One of them came to our office once, and I shook his hand. I shook the hand of a man who shook the hand of Brad Pitt.

This is the image that was in People magazine. The guy right under the "oop," in the black shirt, I've shaken his hand.

I just realized I've been talking about Brad Pitt a lot lately. I haven't even seen that many of his movies.

OK that's all for now. If I think of more I'll do a new post. I've totally got stuff to do while baby is napping! Leave a comment if you have met anyone famous, or spyed them at the county fair or the zoo or what. I'd love to know!

anything that reminds of brad pitt...

As I mentioned earlier, I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately on 88.5 KPLU (a community service of Pacific Lutheran University). The music is great to dance around the room with a fussy swaddled baby, bouncing and calming him. But, the other night I realized exactly why I like the jazz tunes:

drumroll

The music reminds me of the Ocean's movies. I love those movies! Well... I guess I have a love/dislike relationship with those movies, since I feel a little devious rooting for the "bad" guys, i.e., the guys breaking the law and hoping to get away with it. It's weird to watch a movie like that. But regardless of my personal morality, those movies are really fun and the jazz adds a definite flavor.

On a related note, I wonder how jazz musicians come up with the names of their songs? I mean, there are usually no words, so to me the song titles are arbitrary. Here are a few of the weirder ones that I've heard the last couple days:

• Watermelon man
• Sweet sucker
• Polka dots and moon beams

Yes, those are names of actual jazz songs.

Anyway, I suppose I'm also feeling the Ocean's 11 vibe since Bernie Mac died, and I need to honor him by watching a few of his films. Another great actor lost in 2008. What kind of strange year is it shaping up to be? I honored Heath Ledger by watching A Knight's Tale every day for a week back in January.

But Bernic Mac, he was fun to watch. I also loved him in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, one of my favorites (way better that the first. The first sucks. Don't even watch it). We love the part where he smacks the surfer's stomach and yells "It's grape!" (referring to flavored surfboard wax). In fact, I smack Shanester's belly, yelling "it's grape!," in Bernic Mac fashion all the time. So his legacy will live on in our home.

Ahh, jazz and Bernie Mac. What good are blogs if you can't talk about whatever you want?

P.S. Did anyone understand Ocean's 12? I've watched it several times and I still don't get it. I usually feel the same way about Mission Impossible (the first Tom Cruise movie). Some movies I can watch over and over again and still not get. I don't think I'm clueless... they're just confusing.

fly on the wall

Conversation in our house today:

Angela: (singing to herself): Dancin', yeah! Dancin' yeah!
Shane: (muttering under his breath) You're strange.
A: (exclaiming defiantly) Yeah! Well at least I'm good lookin'!
S: (exiting stage right) That's true.

There you have it everyone. At least I'm good looking.

so much more than just a grocery run

I did it. I survived my first absolute baby freakout at the grocery store.

I was halfway done shopping when Wesley decided he no longer wanted to be asleep. He instead wanted to be awake, wide awake, and screaming, and maybe it would be fun to be hungry. And it would also be fun to gouge his cheek with a fingernail, so he was also bleeding.

So, I multi-tasked. I:

• Wheeled the cart to an empty aisle (sugar/flour and spices, to be exact)
• Dug out the diaper bag from under Doritoes, bread loaves, cans of Progresso soup, etc.
• Used my water bottle to wet a baby washcloth (kept in the diaper bag), to wash the blood-smeared face
• Scrambled to find the pacifier (also in the diaper bag)
• Attemped to swaddle him in his carseat

I got his face clean. That's about it. He continued to bawl and bawl. I darted for the back of the store.

So, yes, that was me, nursing my baby in the corner chair at the Albertson's pharmacy this afternoon. I used an apron to be discreet, but sorry if I offended anyone. I even asked the pharmacy tech -- a male -- if he felt it was inappropriate and he said if I felt comfortable doing it, I should do it. I felt a lot more comfortable doing that than having a crying baby all throughout the grocery store.

That placated him a little bit, but he was definitely done with the grocery store. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I still had some stuff to get. So my mind was racing. I strategically mapped out the whole store in my head and and I rushed through my shopping list. Wesley wasn't thrilled.

Along the way, I attemped to (and sometimes succeeded) swaddle him in the following locations:

• Aforementioned chair at the pharmacy
• Chair of an outdoor patio furniture display
• Top of a mega-box of Huggies diapers on display

I got lots of compliments on my swaddling. Too bad I didn't get compliments on my well-behaved baby. Maybe one day.

Holding a swaddled baby with one hand and a pacifier in his mouth with the other, while steering the cart with, well, my foot, proved to be quite difficult. But I made it. I got out of there and we're all alive.

Here is where I get mushy.

When we got home, I opened the trunk of the car to decide which bags could come upstairs with me and the little man, and I glanced at him over the backseat. He was quietly looking out the window at who knows what, his blue eyes wide and so intent on taking in this big new world he has discovered. He was just so precious. Even though I said to myself, "why couldn't you quietly look at the world in the grocery store?," I found myself unable to stay mad at the little guy. It was a crazy, frustrating afternoon, but it was just one piece of my new life that includes him. Sweet baby Wesley.

sigh

I always knew my life would change. I did. I told myself that over and over again for 9 months. But I never really knew. I just didn't. I couldn't. Sometimes things just happen in our lives, and we're never the same. Yes, we know we won't be the same... but at the same time, we have no idea.

Whether it's as small as moving up to middle school from elementary school or as big as taking the plunge by getting married... it's change. We never really know what's going to happen. We just can't. But we do it anyway, and we always make it. We live.

Well, more adventures to come, I'm sure. It's the nature of this change in my life. I'll keep you posted.

back into the swing of things

Today was the first day of the rest of my life.

Q: What do you mean, Angela?
A: Today was the first day since May 22, 2008, that I completed actual cardiovascular activity with the goal of getting and staying in shape.

Q: You mean you've sat around like a slob for 2 months?
A: Well, under doctor's orders I couldn't "exercise" for 6 weeks... so that was a good excuse to do nothing and eat everything. I've taken walks with the Wes-man every now and then, but it's doubtful my heart rate got above 150 for any period of time.

Q: How did it feel?
A: It was tough. But it was worth it. I didn't push myself too far, since I have been on hiatus. You can't expect too much the first day back, you know.

Q: What did you do?
A: I went for a run. There's a 2-mile loop I like around where I live. The sun was out; it was nice. Actually, the timing of it is rather convenient (because I'd never work out if it wasn't convenient): Wesley went to bed at 10 last night, then woke to eat at 4:30 this morning (6.5 hours, whoo hoo!!). He was done and back in his crib sleeping semi-soundly at 5:15... and I decided to get changed and go for a run. I did 2 miles, came home and did stretches and core exercises on my stability ball, and took a shower all before Shane got up at 6:20. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Q: Wow! You're a superwoman!
A: Ha ha. Tell that to my legs and arms and abs and everything else that hurts right now. But thanks. They say 9 months up, 9 months down. We'll see. I actually returned to my pre-pregnancy weight pretty fast (i.e., immediately), but since that was nothing impressive and I hadn't even started trying to get back into shape, I have plenty of motivation and have had plenty of time to mentally prepare for this new journey of mine. A long journey back into healthiness, that started this morning with a single step.

Best of luck to you all and your goals. Remember, today is the first day of the rest of your life. What do you want to change?

warning: graphic post below

I am tempted to blog about the messiest diaper in the world.

I could mention something about how I heard Wesley take care of business toward the end of the first hour of Church, and I decided to wait until the end of the meeting to change him. I could mention how it smelled so bad, I was worried the people sitting behind me were giving me evil eyes. I could mention how when I opened up his diaper I saw more and more poo than I have ever seen in my life. I could mention how it got all over his clothes. I could mention how, as I started to strip him of his now poo-laden clothes, he started crying bloody murder. Then, I could mention how it got all over his back, arms, legs, and feet. I could mention how I ran out of wipes and had to start using paper towels soaked in cold tap water, which was even less pleasing to the little man. I could mention how his head was even falling off the cushy changing pad and hitting the countertop but I had to live with it because better he have a semi-concussion than get himself re-smeared in poo. I could mention how I finally got him clean and picked him up, as naked as the day he came, to inspect every square inch of his tiny body for poo remnants. I could mention how I am so glad my friend Michelle made it to Church that day, since I let her borrow my "spare" onesie from my diaper bag last week, and I forgot to pack another spare, but she luckily returned it to me just 30 minutes earlier. I could then mention how, even though I used a disposable changing pad on top of the cushioned changing pad, and promptly disposed of it, I felt compelled to wipe down the Church's changing pad with hand soap and paper towels because my little spray bottle of disinfectant was in my OTHER diaper bag. I could mention how I was so freaked out I not only used hand sanitizer on myself, but I put some on Wesley's hands and legs as well. Then I could mention how Wesley was so pooped from screaming at me cleaning up his poop he fell right asleep in the next Church class. Lastly, I could mention the ordeal in cleaning out his little onesie when I got home (the onesie I disgustingly wrapped in a cloth diaper, put in a Ziploc bag, and ignored until I got home), an ordeal which includes rinsing it and letting it soak in a sink for hours, creating some very unnatural-looking poo-colored water.

I could mention all of that, but I probably shouldn't. It's just too gross.

the seven dwarfs

Last night was a reunion of our childbirth class now that we've all survived labor and delivery and have cute babies to show off. It was so fun to get together. This was the funnest part:



One of the dads made the comment that from right to left the babies are progressively more awake. Notice Wesley on the most left, screaming his little head off. Can you believe that of our seven babies, all 2 months or less, he was the only one whining?? I was shocked. It was so funny. I just laughed and laughed as this picture was taken. They are SO CUTE. But yeah, the poor guy, I don't even know why he was crying. I think he was tired. That is Shane's hand, holding his hand as he is crying. (Can you see his shirt? It was a hand-me-down and says "Daddy's Little Wingman" !!)

Our childbirth instructor came to the reunion, and she said in all the time she has been teaching, this is the first reunion where everyone from the class came. We totally loved our class. We clicked, I guess. Some couples were quieter than others, but many of us were outspoken and even the less talkative ones joined in most of our discussions. We did discuss a lot.

The coolest part of the reunion was this game we did. Well, not really a game. It was Vicki's idea -- she is a teacher in her work life -- but I actually carried it out since she was also hostess and was overwhelmed getting ready for the event. I took three posterboards and typed up questions, printed them out, cut them up, and glued them on. Questions like:

"My water broke.... At home. In public. At the hospital, by my doctor."
"I had my baby on a.... Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday."
"During labor I.... Developed a fever. Needed oxygen. Swore at my husband."

I had sheets of stickers and each of the seven couples got a different color star. For everything that pertained to the couple, they put one of their stars by the answer. It was very very cool to see how it all shook out for the seven of us. I wonder if statistically we are a microcosm for the universe? One of the seven had a preemie, two of the seven had c-sections, four of the seven pushed for less than an hour (first-time moms, wow!), and all seven of us attempted and are still breastfeeding. I should research that.

It was a blast. I totally need this network right about now, since I'm terribly afraid of 1) being all alone and 2) feeling all alone. Having these gals, with babies all at the same age as the Wes-man, just rocks. We've actually gotten together a couple other times, and one of the girls was like, "oh, I'm so glad to hear you say you have piles of laundry all over your house, too! I've been working on folding four loads for the last four days!" Case in point, we are all going through the same thing, and it's totally normal. Whew. Now I'd better get to my laundry.