We're all a little Nutty

It's not every day that someone you know gets something they've written published in the National Geographic.  Just thought I'd share. All because of an assignment given by an English teacher...

My husband has disliked colored lights as long as I've known him.  They remind him too much of Tijuana.  This came in handy for today's celebration, however.  We wanted to throw a big party for Sam on her 18th birthday.  We told her we'd have a "diez y ocho-aniera"(it doesn't matter if it's spelled right, since it's made up anyway, right?) and invite all her family and friends.  There would be prom dresses and pinatas and tamales and lots of great music.  She was horrified.  How about if we add chocolate cake?  "No, mom.  Please no.  You will embarrass me."  Lucky her...we were kidding...mostly.  So instead, we settled for a Saturday shopping spree and a nice dinner tonight.  But, we decorated the kitchen anyway.  She was greeted this morning with breakfast, fresh made horchata, Mexican radio, and twinkle lights. Lizzie asked how come we decorated with Christmas lights for Sam's birthday.  We told her they ...

Winter has arrived in full force.  We got 12 inches of snow last week and then another 6-8 over the weekend.  Plus 2 more inches last night.  The high temperature the past 7 days has been about 30 degrees. My kids begged to sled after school last Thursday and Friday.  I insisted that the younger ones stay close by, and limited their time outside since it was a balmy 15 degrees outside in late afternoon.  Friday, Dillon and friends walked to the park for some more exciting sledding than what the church across the street had to offer.  15 minutes into their adventure, I got a phone call telling me that Dillon had hit a tree and could I come pick him up.  10 minutes later, we were back at home.  2 minutes later, he had vomited.  He had no idea what had happened and kept repeating himself.  I was sure that my brilliant boy was going to have a permanent brain injury and all his potential had gone down the toilet.  Literally.  I cr...

I was feeling a little hum-buggish this year about the arrival of Christmas and the holiday season.  More anxiety and stress than usual, I guess.  Plus my kids lost faith in me last year and I'm still sensitive about it.  But, that's another story for another day... Lee insisted that we head up to SLC for the day on Saturday.  He said he "just wanted to walk around and enjoy being together."  So we left our kids with instructions to: "Watch movies all day.  No computer games.  Be nice to each other. (You have to remind them or they forget...)"  We rushed to make the train.  As we sat there, I thought out loud, "Dang!  I meant to bring cribbage so we could play it on the way!"  Lee smiled slyly and said, "That would have been a good idea!"  And then we began our cribbage game, because as it turned out, he had had the same thought.  A few moments later, I said, "We should have brought some of those bananas sitting on the c...