Hair Care

Dear Johnson and Johnson Representative:
I am requesting information regarding my hair. It just keeps growing and I am not sure what to do about it. The woman who cares for me seems unable to cope with or manage it well and unfortunately it ends up in my eyes. She will often try something cute, but I feel compelled to rip it out immediately thereafter.
I need an easier daily style to fit my lifestyle and mood.
Maybe you can tell me what I am doing wrong.
I begin washing it like this:

Then I style it so:

I end up with this hairstyle, but it only works for casual Fridays.

Any information you can give me would be much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Cecilia Benjamin

Shakespeare In Love

SHHHH....Don't tell my husband but I met another man this weekend.



My friend Jeana and I compared notes and we both met up with the same guy. He's an amazing writer, has a great wit and is adored by millions.



Our kids even liked him. Oh well, we will just have to share him with the world.



Jeana and I took the kids to see Taming of the Shrew down at the Shakespeare festival. We had a blast! It was so much fun to get away and both we and the kids had a great time! We are going to make it a yearly tradition.

This Is What I Really Think Of These People

Cecilia:

A tiny tempestuous epiphany

An explosion of will

The life of the party without trying too hard

Passionate, manipulative, beautiful

A scream that eats at my soul

Conner:

An ancient soul worthy of a seat

Around the stone tables of philosophy

Disarming in ability and insight

Fair, reticent, compassionate

Eyes that take me to my Maker

Tony:

As Galahad of old, he seeks the grail

Of a prematurely wrinkled heart and deeply drinks

Unflinching he faces the storm

Velvet intelligence drips with ambition unfulfilled

His hand holds endless possibility

The REAL Swimming Lessons

My first mommy and me class...really. I thought we were supposed to learn something. They informed me that I was supposed to teach my daughter, the teacher is just there to observe.
So here's what I'm NOT going to teach Cecilia.
Lesson #1
Before going to a pool, make sure you have tanned to a nice golden crisp
Lesson #2
You must have acquired a killer body before daring to stuff yourself into a swimsuit
Lesson #3
When you invariably see all the people you know at the pool and the time comes to strip down to your suit, just forget the whole thing and go running off still wearing your husband's t-shirt and the biggest beach towel you can find for support.

Here's what I WILL teach her:
Lesson #1
Have fun and don't cling to mommy with your teeth- really you'll break the skin!
Lesson #2
Mommy's swimsuit really does need to cover mommy so please don't yank it up, down or sideways
Lesson #3
Mommy needs to learn to swim better herself so perhaps you should ignore lesson #1 after all...

A Fish Story

We said goodbye to a plecostomus today. For those of you who aren't sure what that is, it's an algae eating fish. A neighbor gave us a 35 gallon aquarium (lucky :) My two men were thrilled and began filling it with mollies, guppies, catfish and a goldfish. Conner spent a while naming them all and the plecostomas was named Shiblon because that is Conner's favorite son of Alma. (now you know) Unfortunately, Shiblon did not last long. When it became apparent that he had reached a higher sphere, Tony told Conner they needed to flush him. Conner was adamant that Shiblon receive a proper burial. So we dug a very very deep hole in the backyard and had a funeral. Conner said his favorite memory was Shiblon's long fin. Now I am going to make you all a promise here and now. I will not under any circumstance document all the fish the tank will lose over the months-weeks-days, but I do find myself drawn to the tank to check on the others. I love that my boy I adore cares so much about a small swimming creature, every pill bug he sees, butterflies and birds, all the neighbors cats... Truly childhood is magical and I am glad that when we experience it again through our children's eyes, sometimes it rubs off... if even just a little bit. RIP Shiblon.

Walk CC Walk

So, I know that one day CC will choose to walk. She takes steps alone, but just seems bored by the whole prospect. She would much rather be held or do the army crawl or even veg out in front of Elmo. When she gets accolades and applause she likes that a lot. Everyone keeps telling me that she will when she's ready, but what if she's not ready for a long time? I saw this show on the Discovery channel once about a family who never learned to walk and were adults that walked on all fours!! I know she will soon enough, but if one day your kids have a little friend who crawls after them on play dates tell her it's time to come home... I have dinner ready.
A shout out to Conner- thank you for being so patient and giving to your little sis. She adores you and I love watching the two of you together!!

A Good Thing

Today friends and neighbors in our neighborhood came together to show support and friendship to a family in our ward. They are getting deported back to England and though they did everything legally and were above board always in their intentions, because of an error their lawyer made are banned from our country for the next ten years. This family is warm, compassionate, funny and down to earth. It would truly be a loss for us if they had to go. The crews of channel 4 and 5 news were there today interviewing the family and friends and mentioned how impressed they were at how many showed up. As we were leaving the newscaster was calling the personal number of a famous radio personality to see if he would pick up the story as well on his show. I am so grateful to belong to such a wonderful neighborhood where everyone supports one another. I am thankful to live in a free country where if you stand together and speak out you can make a difference. I pray that it does for this wonderful family. I don't know how to do it right, but if you click the long rectangular box above this post it will link you to the ksl.com news video.