How do I react to this

This morning Matt called home from work, and told me to check my email. He said he wanted to hear my reaction so he stayed on the phone while I get things settled with Lucas before I even turned on the computer. Once I started reading the email, I realized is was written to Matt from his brother Bruce. I kept hearing Matt snicker on the phone. I hope Bruce doesn't mind me putting his email on our blog, but it was too funny to pass up. My only question is, how do I react to this??

Matt,

I helped someone move last night and returned home at around 8:00. I was tired after a long day of work and some physical exercise and decided I should sit down and watch some tv, you know, to unwind a little. Without looking for it I found I Robot on FX and began watching it. As the story moved along I began to remember how much I liked the movie. Then I saw him…you know…the robot, Sonny. The individual one. And something about him kept bothering me. He looked so familiar to me and I couldn't figure out who he looked like. Take a look, anyone come to mind?



As the movie moved toward its conclusion I found myself thinking about who he looked like instead of enjoying the action scenes that are now so outdated. And then it finally hit me. Look below and tell me what you think. I don’t know if it’s the strength of character in the face, the ponderous look, or what but I think they bear a striking resemblance. I hope this isn’t an insult as it certainly isn’t meant as one but I think they actually look alike. Perhaps even more so now as Luke has gotten a little older since this photo was taken.

Pet Peeve: "You're too young..."

We know. We get it. Just like Brigham Young knew this was the place. Just like we know there’s another divorce looming in Hollywood. The big secret’s out: Brooke and I look young.

Gasp! Is it really true? Can we finally see it just like everyone else? What took us so long to come to such an obvious conclusion?

Can you sense the sarcasm? Something tells me even after making such a bold declaratrion regarding our physical features, it’s not going to stop the many strangers at the local grocery store, or many friends, or even family members from feeling it necessary to tell us how young we look. Or better yet, to tell us that we’re "too young" to be doing something.

We’re too young to be married. We’re too young to have a son. We’re too young to be watching PG-13 movies. As you can imagine, we’ve heard it all, and there’s no sign the comments will cease anytime in the near future.

I guess what bothers Brooke and I the most about the daily “too young” comments, and the many blatant stares we get in our direction is that these same people have obvious physical ailments, or look to be in questionable living conditions themselves. Take the cashier at Dan’s grocery store for instance, who recently told Brooke, “you’re too young to have a baby,” and then followed up the comment by looking down at her wedding ring and shaking his head disgustedly. I guess we’re just supposed to overlook the fact that this man was a 50-something bachelor with nostrils full of overgrown hair, and who looked more depressed than a scene in the movie Crash.

Or take the guy who recently turned to me and said, “you shouldn’t have any kids, man, what are you 12-years old?” This coming from a guy who’s over 300 pounds and eating fried chicken for lunch. Am I missing something there?

Maybe Brooke and I are overreacting. Maybe this is a silly pet peeve. But, as in anybody’s case, unfair judgments based upon someone’s physical appearance eventually take their toll. It might even one day incite an unfriendly verbal response. So, next time you see Brooke or myself, be sure to tell us we look exactly the age our years indicate (25, 22). Otherwise, you could be the one who’s on the other side of the judgment parade :)...

Best FRIENDS

The past 3-4 months Lucas has started playing with other kids. But his best friend is Cooper. Cooper is 4 months older than Lucas, and Lucas looks up to Cooper so much. They have the funniest, most frustrating relationship. Lucas walks over to Coopers and bangs on the door until someone answers, and walks right in, and makes himself at home. He calls for Cooper all day, and follows him around everywhere. Most of the time I think Cooper is pretty excited to see Lucas too. But they fight so much! It is a perfect "love/hate" relationship. Since Cooper is moving (tonight) he has been at his Grandma's for a few days and Lucas has been like a lost boy. He has been walking around knocking on their door and calling for Cooper all day! Cooper finally came home today, and when they saw each other they got the cutest smiles! And they just stared at each other, it was like they didn't know what to do, they were in shock almost. It was so sweet! I took the two boys out for a walk, to keep Cooper out of the way of the movers, and they were so funny. I have taken them out together a few times and every time I hear people say "Oh look at the twins!" Well, on our walk the two boys found a hill, and ran up and down it over, and over, and over, and over. They finally got worn out, so instead of running, they crawled. What cute kids. Here are a bunch of pictures of just how cute they are. We are going to miss having Cooper and Elsie so close! Aren't they cute?!
Running so fast
This one is my favorite, Lucas was petting Cooper like a dog, and Cooper has the cutest smile in it!


Too tired to run


Make sure you read the post below, it is a good one! :)

Yoda

After I came home from playing with Lucas and Cooper, I put Lucas to bed, and then walked into my room and found this....



I stood there, at the bedroom door, just staring. I can't even tell you what was going through my mind. First I thought, 'Is Yoda really in my room?' then I thought 'Should I touch it?' 'Am I really that tired?' Finally I went over to it, and touched it. It is a card board cut out of Yoda. So I called my friends the ones who are brave enough to come into my apartment since I forgot to lock the door. I don't really know what else to say, except thanks Cyndi, that made my day. :) Turns out Cyndi was waiting for me to leave so she could surprise me. She had been planning this for days. It worked, I think everyone would be surprised to see a giant Yoda above their bed. Tonight I get to sleep under Yoda's watchful eye.

What a cute boy!

So I just have to show everyone how cute my boy is! I came out of the shower one day, and had a towel wrapped around me, so Lucas wanted to wrap his blanket around himself. So, I helped him with it. Then I dried my hair with another towel, and he wanted one on his head. And that is how Lucas ended up like this. Isn't he cute?!




Also...due to the rain, we have been inside quite a bit. And poor Lucas has been bored out of his mind (and me too). He was sick and tired of all of his toys, and didn't want to play, so I turned on one of his favorite movies (which, due to the rain, he is really starting to enjoy), and he just sat with me and cuddled the whole time! I don't think many of you grasp the miracle in this...Lucas is NOT a cuddler, and it makes me so sad! He refuses to hug me, and won't let me hug him for more than 1 second, max. But he sat with me for almost 45 minutes, it was a miracle! So, I made Matt take a picture. I know I am bias, but Lucas is so cute. He is talking so much now. He tries to say almost everything (except Amen, and Love you - those two he refuses to try, I am not sure why). But his favorite thing to say is "Hi Daddy!" And he says it to everyone! He knows that I am mommy, and dad is daddy, and he knows other peoples names. But most of the time whenever he says hi to people he says "Hi Daddy!". He is so cute, sorry everyone, but I had to brag today. He has been so cute lately!

Guilty Pleasures part 2

I wanted to start this out by explaining one of Matthew's comments. My music is not inappropriate. When put on the spot to come up with music I am embarrassed to like, I could only think of songs that I liked in high school. And while I was in high school, I was dating someone who was really into rap, and as you can imagine, not the best lyrics. I do want to apologize for my list of songs, they still are inappropriate, but that is not because I like "bad" music. I like every one of the songs that Matt listed (aside from "The Thong Song") and I am not embarrassed to like them. I like most music, and am not embarrassed to like them because they are 'cheesy' or 'old'. I am embarrassed to like songs that have inappropriate lyrics; hence this list. Well, after lots of thought, I have come to a conclusion, so let's begin.

#5 - "The Joker" (The Steve Miller Band) - This song has a story, as most of them do. I am not really embarrassed about liking this song, I am more embarrassed of why. This song brings back a lot of memories for me, it was one of my old high school boyfriends favorites. We listened to it all the time. So, yes I like this song purely for that reason.

#4 - "Ghetto Gospel" - (Tupac) - Again, I am not embarrassed by this song, I like this song, but did you notice who it is by? That's right, Tupac. That is why I am embarrassed for enjoying this song. But in my defense, John Elton sings part of the song, so that makes up for it right?

#3 - "Straight Up" - (Paula Abdul) - Well...This one has no "bad" lyrics, and no curse words. Honestly it just has really lame lyrics. For as long as I have known Matt, he has made fun of this song, and I have always loved it. When I was younger, my sister and her friend and I would make up dances to it. We had the tape of this song, and if I still had it, I would still listen to it all the time. Oh wait...I have the CD, and I do listen to it quite often.

#2 - {I am leaving the title blank} - (Alanis Morissette) - So, I stole this from my sister, Emily. I guess Matt's post sparked some interesting conversations between my sister and her husband. So, I guess we can all look forward to a similar post of her blog. ;) When She mentioned this song, I just laughed. It is not something I put together with my sister, but...I am ashamed to admit it, I like it too. It is just fun.

#1 - "Notorious Thugs" - (Notorious BIG) - Well...I am totally mortified to admit this one. But back in the day, I actually had some of this song memorized, and was somewhat good at rapping along with it; of course it was the edited version. I really hate the lyrics (please do not look up the lyrics, just take my word for it, they are totally unacceptable) but I have some fun memories with this song as well.

Of course, all of these songs the edited versions, and well, I don't listen to them ever (except Straight Up). But, I am humiliated to admit that I do like them. I hope you have enjoyed learning a part of me that I don't normally openly admit.

Guilty pleasures

Recently, Brooke and I had one of those wondrous nights of relaxation. The TV was off, Luke was in bed, a steady stream of rain was softly pelting against the windows. It was a perfect night for....all right, to combat those with the dirty minds, it was a perfect night for music.

We played a variation of our favorite songs all night and as the night progressed we ended up compiling a list of our top-5 favorite songs that we're too embarrassed to admit to others. As you can imagine there were some dandies shared with one another and we both agreed to share them with the blogging world as a joint, cathartic effort. Unfortunately, Brooke's list is too inappropriate to release to the masses at this time (that's putting it mildly), so I'm left alone to share a list of guilty-pleasure music. Without further ado, you'll find my list below (in descending order) and I encourage any of you to share your own favorite embarrassing songs.

5. "Una Noche" (98 Degrees) - This song came out my junior or senior year of high school. Besides its lively beat, it had a special meaning to me. You see, the lyrics offer a ultimatum of sort to a special someone, which is exactly what I wanted to offer to my own special someone, whom I'd had a crush on since 9th grade (friends and family, you know who she was). Not only did it apply directly to my life at the time, but how can a 17-year old resist a foreign woman speaking provocatively in Spanish? The song wasn't inspirational enough as I never offered that ultimatum, but it still remains one I heartily enjoy.

4. "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" (Backstreet Boys) - I used to sing this one with a friend (McKay Probert was his name). We even tried our best to emulate "the Boys" music video efforts. Forget the fact that this particular song ashamedly played the role of male unifier, it actually has a decent sound to it. Haunting/depressing is a fitting description of its tune, which is quite compatible with the song's main content: The sting of loneliness.

3. "The Thong Song" (Sisco) - I have absolutely no defense for this song and I deserve any condemning remarks that come my way. All I will say is that I've always been a sucker for the dramatic violin mixed with a compelling hip-hop beat (which this song had). In no way am I promoting the use of skimpy underwear. Well, except on you, Brooke :).

2. "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston) - I admit as a youngster I'd wait until the house was empty to play this song so as not to disappoint my testosterone-driven brothers. Years older and hopefully more confident, I can fully admit Whitney has one amazing voice. Her last rendition of the chorus is powerful even for a guy trained well in the arts of emotional containment.

1. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Bonnie Tyler) - This one took me the longest to confess. For as long as Brooke and I have been married, I've sought out deceptive ways for her to play this song. I'd pretend that I wanted to hear it to make fun of its cheesy lyrics, or I'd tell her I heard it played mockingly on a sports-radio show and I wanted to make sure it was the right one. I honestly can't figure out why I like it so much. Maybe it's the overly dramatic tone, or maybe it's the way Bonnie gives it a masculine edge with her crackling voice near the end. In any event, it sure has a way of stirring up some unwanted emotion in this guy. I pray everyday my affinity for this song is in no way subconsciously tied to the lyrics.