Bizarre

I was out to lunch the other day, when a random woman came up to me and told me she recognized Tamsine and moi from some photo's posted on the blog of the photographer that took our family pictures. She then proceeded to tell me which of our photo's were her favourites and that she really enjoyed looking at them.

I was flattered, but left with a little sense of unease that we were recognized. Bizarre!

Jefferson

I had lunch with an old film school buddy of mine yesterday.

Now I felt a little sorry for Jeff having to have lunch with me, cause while he is still working in the industry, flitting off to the next shoot, meeting interesting people etc. I am feeling sorry for myself. Its true. Thats what I spend my time doing these days - feeling sorry for myself. I once had an interesting life, I used to go places, my banter was witty and my repartee would cause more than a few smiles. Now, my conversation has been reduced to the happenings of characters from daytime TV, and my days are filled with nappy changes, stretchy pants, and an array of shirts with the tell tale, off white, sour milk smelling stains on my shoulders. What could I possibly say to entertain Jeff, that didn't include a little baby talk with Tamsine on the side.

So, instead of trying to come up with interesting conversation, I decided just to sit and complain about the sad state of my life and what could have been. Now, Jeff has this uncanny knack of speaking the harsh truth, while remaining a completely gentle and caring person. ( Meaning, Jeff has always been able to call me on my crap without me being able to get mad at him for it).

Mid whine and whinge, Jeff started telling me about how he had always wanted to be a cinematographer. How he worked so hard at learning to use the different cameras, how he consumed any book on the subject matter he could find, and how once he had reached his goal of being called "Master cinematographer", he thought he had made it. He was so proud of himself. And then - he dropped it on me - with one little sentence - He said, "You know Leith, I spent all that time and energy on becoming a cinematographer, but at the end of the day, my camera doesn't cuddle me, and it doesn't keep me warm at night." And then he sighed and changed the subject. I felt the sharp sting of a slap in the face. Not by Jeff's words, but by my own stupid selfishness.

I've spent quite a few hours pondering Jefferson's words. Word's that I really needed to hear. Word's that finally made me feel a little more content and dare I say it - at peace - with the season that my life is in right now. I know this phase of my life is "but a small moment", and that one day my child(ren) will be older, going to school, and will hopefully not be puking on my shoulders anymore. That I'll have a little more time to pursue my own interests. That its okay if I don't have that much to say right now to entertain adults. My time right now is for my kid(s) and all too soon that time will be gone. I need to embrace and enjoy it and not think about the could have beens or the phenomenal job opportunities that I've turned down.

So Jefferson, thanks. I needed that!

Give a Child Some Bread

This is what happens when you give my baby a crust of bread. Hours of entertainment!

Sunday Cuteness

Frost Outside My Window

Our Little Family

Mack's mom asked for only one thing for her birthday last year - that her whole family would get together for family pictures, pose, smile, and not be complete brats about the whole thing. We complied and these are the results. Well worth it I say!

Look What I've Done

Nabbed from here.

Things you've done: bold
Things you want to do: italics
Things you haven't done and don't want to do: plain

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run (I'm blind in one eye - so this will never happen)
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
36. taught yourself a new language (I'm trying to teach myself Spanish right now)
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris ( I stood underneath it - it was too expensive and the lines were way too long to go up)
51. gone scuba diving or snorkelling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies ( I prefer eating them)
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person
96. swum in the great salt lake ( I stuck my toe in - its too smelly to swim in it)
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

Not Amused!

My life is amusing when I think about it after things have happened, but a little less than amusing while things are happening.

We still have a cat. Unfortunately. I am a sucker and can't say no, and so now we still have a cat. And, to make matters worse, Tamsine and Phoebe are fast becoming friends. (How am I supposed to get rid of the cat then?)

Let me entertain you with the latest bout of "fun" that Phoebe has brought into our lives.

Its been snowing ALOT lately. Phoebe enjoys using her little cat door and going outside to play around a bit, but she is not a fan of the snow and cold so has been staying in doors over the last few days. This makes for one really bored feline. But, she is a resourceful cat and I didn't fear that soon she would find something to occupy herself. Alas I was right. The snow, brought with it, not only a bored feline, but a bunch of stupid little birds (who did not fly south for the winter) sheltering from the snow on our porch. It didn't take Phoebe long to notice these stupid little creatures, or for her natural predatory instincts to kick in. The first time she noticed them, I was watching and silently chuckiling to myself as she stalked them from inside the house while peering through our sliding glass door. My silent chuckiling turned into full bellied laughter as she pounced - right into the sliding glass door. The perplexity on her face was fanatastic.

Now Phoebe is anything but stupid, and realized quickly that pouncing into a wall of glass would not bring her closer to her prey. She very, very quickly realized that she could stalk the stupid little birds from the comfort of the house, and if she waited paitiently enough, soon one of them would come into the vicinity of her little cat flap. As soon as it did so, she darted out of the flap and you guessed it, caught one of the little feathered idiots. What I didn't anticipate was that just as quickly as she darted out, she darted straight back in with the wildly flapping twit(ter) locked in her jaws.

I completely freaked out. Mack fell off the couch laughing. Eventually we rescued the little bird and put it in a shoe box. The bird sat there for a while, pooped, and keeled over. I was not amused, and so made Mack clean and disinfect every area that was touched by the bird. Phoebe was most upset that we removed her toy, and spent the next three hours looking for her bird around the house.

I had finally gotten over the incident, and was in the middle of regaling my family with the story of the bird snatcher, when Phoebe strutted passed us with another wildly flapping birdie in her mouth.

Now Phoebe wears a little jingle bell around her neck. Annoying, but far more hygenic. And, for the first time, Phoebe is the one thats not amused. Justice!

Christmas Cookies

Look at what I created - from scratch. I am so proud of myself.



And they taste good too!

Toothiness

We have a tooth!!!! About three days ago, Mack told me he felt something in Tamsine's mouth. I kind of nodded in acknowledgment to him, but you know - eh. Then, a little later I stuck my knuckle in Tamsine's mouth for her to munch on, (she likes fingers). She bit down, and I yelped in pain. It was a bonafide tooth. Our little muncher is getting munchier. Awww!

Hours of Fun!

I just bought Tamsine the best toy ever. It was completely by fluke of course. There we were at the supermarket checkout, when she grabbed a small packet of Flamin Hot Crunchy Cheetos. I was just about to grab the bag and put it back on the shelf, when I decided not to. Best 88c I ever spent I tell you. She spent about three hours yesterday, fully committed to her bag of Cheetos. She can't open it of course, but she loves the vibrant colours, the crunchyness of the packet, and the noise it makes when she shakes it around madly.

Now why did I just go out and spend money on educational toys, when I could have just bought her a couple more packets of chips?

Oh Christmas Tree

I did it. I went out in the bitter, freezing, biting, disgusting cold and bought a Christmas tree, only to haul it home and find out that it was too big for our Christmas tree stand. I took out our little hack saw and proceeded to do a little work on it and voila - One fully decorated Christmas tree for me to enjoy.

For all those eco friendly greenies out there - I went with a live tree, because I saw a show on TV that said it was the more eco friendly option. For every tree cut down, three are planted in its stead, and once it has lost its luster and becomes only good for one thing, it gets shredded and used for hicking trails and in parks, where eventually it will go the way mother nature intended. I know it was cut down in its prime (or before), but thats a sacrifice I'm willing to allow the tree to make so that I can smell the pine at Christmas.

Bad Mother?

Does it make me a terrible mother if I sit and laugh at my child when she gags and dry heaves on her first taste of peas?

Does it make me a worse mother if I call my husband, then feed her more peas so he can see her gag and dry heave too?

Busy, Busy, Busy

Have you ever had one of those days (or months in my case) where you just don't want to do anything, but you have so much to do that you can't take the time you want (and need) to just veg a little and get over your lethargy.

Well thats me right now. But, this is such a busy time of year. I'm thankful that thanksgiving is over, I'm almost done with Christmas shopping. Its stinking FREEZING outside and I need to hibernate. My child has been suffering through her first cold, which translates into - I've been suffering through her first cold, and I started a business with two friends, but more of that later.

So even though I've wanted to blog, any spare time I have, I usually use it to relax just a little.

I'm Ba-ack!

I just got back from a three day trip to LA. I visited with my friend Gillian, I walked on the beach, ate large amounts of British sweeties (candy) and ate soft serve with Flakes in them. Hmmm Yummy!

I also got a telephone call from my friend Jenni. She lives in England, so it was one of the best treats ever. She told me if I take fish oil tablets with a total of 1000mg of EPA a day, that I would feel better, sleep better, and that my moods would totally lighten. And you know - she was right. I've been taking them religiously, and even have Mack starting on them now too. The next thing I'm going to add to my diet is a vitamin D supplement. Apparently that too does wonders for the winter blues.

I raise my glass to natural cures to the ho hums. Take that Prozack.

A Little Down

I know I haven't written much lately. I've been feeling a little down. I'm not sure if its because of all the time I've been spending at home, or the fact that the weather has turned all cold and rainy and even a little snowy if you can believe it. I'm trying to figure it out. Hopefully the ho hums will leave me soon and I'll be back to normal. Till then. I'll just be a little quiet.

Reserved to Fight

Did I ever tell you the story of how Mack and I met? Here's the condensed version:

Over 5 years ago, I was a very enthusiastic documentary film student at Brigham Young University. I was in a class with two incredible friends, and all three of us were working on our own little documentaries. Manju Varghese did this amazing piece on her mother (she's from India) and how to put on a sari. I did a short doc on the translation of the Book of Mormon from English into Xhosa, and Chantelle Squires was documenting a few stories about her neighbour who had just returned from Iraq.

Manju and I both finished our docs and eventually started helping Chantelle with hers. We realized that the story Chantelle was trying to tell was so much bigger than any of us could have anticipated. The soldiers that we were interviewing were dealing and coping with more than just a few war stories.

It was at a Marine Corps ball in Las Vegas that I met Mack for the first time. He was one of the soldiers that Chantelle had been interviewing. And, he was completely in love (besotted actually) with another friend of ours (also in film) at the time.

We followed, interviewed, probed, filmed and pretty much made a nusance of ourselves with these soldiers for the next two years. After one trip where we went to film a few of the guys in Vegas, Mack started asking me out. He was a cool guy, I had fun with him, and I loved chatting to him. Going out with Mack would be fun. Besides, I could relax with him and not be my usual nervous self around guys. You see, Mack was shorter than I was and so the relationship couldn't go anywhere. That was my rational at the time. Ha,Ha!

The group of guys we were following was cut to 4 main guys. Mack was not one of them (although he does make a few cameo's in the film). Two months after Mack and I started "hanging out" Mack told me that he wanted to marry me. I laughed in his face.

I was on a work visa at the time, and so sadly could not be as involved in the documentary as much as I would have liked anymore. I had to work to stay in the country. The girls continued their work, joined by another good friend, Coby Broyles. By this time "Reserved to Fight" the documentary had become a huge project. They had more footage than they knew what to do with, and needed funds to finish the project. Grant application after grant application was written. We were turned down three times by the same people, until eventually we had figured out the story well enough to be granted an ITVS grant.

This story ends with my marrying Mack, and the girls finishing "Reserved to Fight". The documentary airs this month on PBS. How cool is that? In the Salt Lake area, you can see it on November 12 at 9pm on KUED, otherwise go here to see your local listings.

I am so proud to be associated with this project.

Jackpot!

Technical Difficulties

Apparently not all the photo's that I've uploaded are showing up on my blog. I have Mac computers, and so do most of the people I know. I've never had a problem with pictures loading, but if anybody else has experienced these "technical difficulties", please let me know so I can try and fix the problem. Thanks.