My Thoughts on Facebook

You may not want to hear them...in which case, you can stop reading now. However if you visit this site with any regularity, then you are probably used to my over-opinionated self.

I joined Facebook today. I have been dragging my feet about it, but I finally decided to cave for the mere fact that I might be able to find people that I couldn't find any other way. And that is where I think Facebook's benefits end. True, I don't use all the features yet, so maybe I will find something else that I enjoy, but for the moment, I am not that impressed.

This is how I see it. Facebook is like a continual party in motion. You see someone you know across the room and you yell out a greeting to them. You might meet someone you haven't seen for a while at the party and exchange some info. People are living at the superficial level; and that is what a party is for. It is lacking in reality and sincerity.

And that is why I will never give up blogging. A party is not the place to have a heart to heart conversation. It is not where I want to reveal glimpses of my soul (and yes, I know this blog is not private, so anyone can read it). But I hope that if you visit here, you care a little more about who I am, my family, and what I am doing.

So, if you see me on Facebook, give me a shout-out, but if you want to know the real Maleen, this is where you will find her.

I Sing With the Quyir

June asked if we could play Scrabble the other day. Normally she likes to play by herself and she will make the alphabet out of the tiles. But today, I thought we could go for a real game (and by real game, I mean you can spell anything as long as it makes sense phonetically and if you can't find a place to play, then you can start your word in a new spot. So basically, the totally fun rules). June did a great job making words out of her tiles. She asked for help a few times, but in general she held her own.
This may have been the best game of Scrabble I have ever played. Some of my favorite words were:

GLEM (gleam)
NEET (neat)
JOO (Jew, and I was very clever and added an 'L' later to make JOOL)
KUT (cut)
SED (said)
but my favorite by far was
QUYIR (choir—creative huh?)

We didn't keep score but if we had, she probably would have won (just kidding, I totally rock at Scrabble—if you want to get beat, just come on over; although you have to play the regular rules if you are over 10).

This is Only a Test

This here is my first test. You can see the lines in it as I exposed each section longer to see how many seconds would be optimal. I told Tyler it was a test picture and he said, "What happened to it?"
"It's supposed to look like that," I said. It should get slightly darker going from the left to right.

I didn't have time to do the finished product, but I thought you might enjoy a taste. I am loving this class.

The Fabulous Cat Lady....Oh, and a murder too!

Sunny, this post is for you. I apologize deeply for letting those pictures just sit there. Mostly, I despise my scanner and I wanted higher quality, but I finally opted for just getting it done. So that said, let us delve into what was a night of mystery, suspense, and leopard print...

...November 21, 2008
It was a cold night when Georgia (me—complete with southern accent) invited her guests to her gallery show. We pause here to mention how utterly cool Provo Art Services was for letting us borrow almost all their art for one evening. They are by far my favorite people for framing and the like.
Those attending included the Archeologist and Comedian/Crazy Bird Lady,



the Heiress and Sportscaster,



the Psychiatrist and Congresswoman,



the Entomologist and Alien Baby (she thinks her Dad is an alien),



the Big Game Hunter and the Multi-Level Marketer,



the Photographer and Hostess (um, I was actually Nancy Drew here, but I'll explain that later),



the Actress and Mystery Writer (not pictured),
the Second-hand Lawyer and the Fortune Teller,



and of course, the Fabulous Cat Lady (too bad her Kung Fu husband was home with a sick kid).



Sunny was freaking hilarious. The picture just doesn't do her justice. She was in everyone's face and so animated (you have looked into local theater, right Sunny?). I am including this picture just so you can see her fabulous tights (I am a little jealous of the whole ensemble).



We had a good time chatting and accusing people of past deeds. Eventually someone went too far and killed the poor Fortune Teller.



(This is where I change costumes and reenter as Nancy Drew to solve the case). I can honestly say that I was stumped on this case for a few moments—mainly because I had told her to put the spider in her sock and when I arrived at the scene, she wasn't wearing socks. After much investigation, I did find the bugger though.



I'm not sure if we ever really put the blame on someone, but the evening was not wasted. The company was good as was the food. And like I said, it was all worth it just to see Sunny in character (especially with those teeth).



I did come away with one telling clue from the evening. I was definitely meant to be a brunette. Here I am as the Hostess, and then Nancy Drew.



Although, I may audition for the next Twilight movie...put me in black hair and my skin practically shines, I am THAT white.

Success!

Today, I developed my first roll of film.

Well, actually my second.

See, I kinda loaded the film incorrectly into the camera the first time, so there were no pictures taken, so when I developed the film there was nothing on it (yep, that was a great moment—developing film for 30 minutes to find nothing on it—good times).

So, today was the first time I developed film WITH pictures on it.

They are just negatives for now, but I am really proud of myself, and excited for the finished product.

And I am reminded that school is all about learning from your mistakes.

Check.

Teeny-Tiny Déjà Vu

Well, if any of you have seen my baby recently, you may have remarked on how small she is (everyone does). I was not worried because all my children are small. They started that way and remain that way. What can I say? Tyler and I bare midgets.
That said, there have been some problems with the kids being too small at times. I recall taking Robyn in for her six month check-up and she hadn't gained an ounce. Apparently the doctors frown on this. I immediately went into 'plump' mode and we started her on formula and solids. She never did take a bottle, but the solids were enough to jump-start her growing again. She was small for a while, never really acquiring a ranking on the charts until she was almost three, but if you saw Robyn today, you would not think her inordinately tiny.
Fast forward four-ish years. I took Daisy in for her six month check-up. Good news, she was not the same weight! Bad news, she had actually LOST weight. Apparently the doctors frown on this even more. So we are in 'plump' mode yet again. Daisy won't take a bottle, so we are starting her on solids. Some days are good; some, not so much. Here is Tyler trying to use gravity on his side to force some food into her.



Here are some quick stats:

2 month check-up: 10 lbs

4 month check-up: 11 lbs

6 month check-up: 10 lbs

6 month and 1 week check-up: 11 lbs

We weigh her again in another week and a half. I am hoping to break the 12 pound barrier. She is such a happy, fun baby and developmentally she seems to be doing fine; it is just the weight that seems to be an issue. I think we can safely presume that I make skim milk. I want her to be healthy of course, but as for size...who needs a stein, when you can have one pint-sized?

The Silver Lining

I have heard from many people that they are sick of the cold and snow. Me too. I don't really like winter to begin with. It involves entirely too many days where going outside is not an option (I have to say option, because even in the summer I stay indoors, but I could go outside if I wanted).
To me the only things that make winter worth it are...

Glitter mornings—that is when the ice crystals have frozen on to everything and then they come off and float around in the air and everything sparkles. It is like being in a fantasy ice kingdom (very cool).

No scorpions. This may sound random, but I appreciate that I live in a climate that does not come with creepy things with stingers on their tails. So, it snows some a lot, but at least there are no scorpions.

You have to find the silver lining somewhere.