My First Tag

Boy, oh, boy! I am so excited. This is my first ever "tag". I feel like someone just asked me if I wanted to each lunch at the cool kids' table! Tami, you totally made my day. And yes, I really am that geeky.

Okay, so the deal is 5 joys/5 fears/5 obsessions/5 surprising facts. Whoo-hooo!

5 Joys
1.) Date nights with Chad
2.) Rainy, gloomy days
3.) The zoo
4.) Sunday Dinners
5.) Going on crazy "adventures" with my family (i.e. driving around until we get lost and then finding some cool restaurant/store/park/etc.)

5 Fears
1.) Talking on the phone (I hate talking on the phone)
2.) Losing one of my children
3.) Losing someone else's child while I'm supposed to be "in charge"
4.) Falling in public (this should probably go into the "bad habit" category not the "fear" one, considering how often it happens)
5.) Walking around with my skirt tucked into my pantyhose. That seems like it would be horribly embarrassing. No one needs to see my bum squished and squeezed into those unforgiving hose.

5 Obsessions
1.) A clean bed. When Chad and I were first married, I wouldn't let him snack when we watched tv in bed because I was so neurotic about getting crumbs on the sheets.
2.) Funky socks. I love socks with patterns or stripes or tons of color. When I find cute ones on sale, I buy them in bulk and hoard them.
3.) Hair dye. I can't help it. I need to dye my hair. And often. If I were just a smidge braver I would try hot pink or electric blue for a few weeks.
4.) Cloudy weather. When it's sunny for more than a few days in a row, I get depressed. How's that for backwards?!?
5.) Food. I live to eat. As soon as one meal is done, I'm fantasizing about the next. My last thoughts before drifting off to sleep at night are often about what I will eat for breakfast the next morning. I went to the Puyallup Fair (my first fair experience) and I talked about all the food vendors for days. It was heaven.

5 Surprising Facts
1.) I was the official "rapper" for my third grade class. At each school assembly, I would get on stage and perform a rap written for our student of the month. My friend would supply the beat box noises.
2.) I used to be so incredibly shy that I would make other people order my food for me when we went to fast food restaurants. Talking to the cashier was just too frightening. I would've rather starved.
3.) I was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in High School. If by "succeed" they meant "drop out of college to make babies," then they were totally right.
4.) When my baby sister was a kid, she couldn't say "heather." When she tried, it came out "Ho-Ho." My whole family picked up on it, and that became my nickname. With time my family got lazy and shortened it to "Ho." Cute, right? Yeah, real cute...
5.) I can't whistle.

Okay, now I tag Ashley, Michaelynn, Courtney, Merrilynn and Melanie. Or, anyone who feels like answering.

Pre-Ballet and Other Things

Today was Natty's first "pre-ballet" class. After years of sitting through brother's karate classes and t-ball games, Natty was very excited to have a class of her very own. It helped, of course, that she got to dress up as a ballerina to go to said class. Little girls are just fantastic.

Anyway, the class was adorable. Miss Mary instructed a group of six teenie, tiny, prima ballerinas. When it was time to plie, Natty did squats. When it was time to gracefully raise and lower their hands to the music, Natty did what appeared to be the robot. But she did it all with her chin raised proudly in the air, her toes pointed, and her most princess of faces on. She loved it.

Just watching the class was enough to be the highlight of my week, but the kids also said so many funny things during class. While Miss Mary was explaining to the class that girls are called ballerinas and boys are called ballet dancers, Mikey turned to me and whispered in his most serious voice, "Mom I will never be a ballet dancer. I would have to do too much girl stuff."

At the end of class, Miss Mary asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. Natty announced that she wanted to be "an animal. Probably an owl." Nice. The mom next to me tried to console me by telling me that yesterday her daughter wanted to be a pink hotdog. Well, you got me there. An owl probably is a bit more achievable than a pink hot dog.

Finally, tonight while I was snuggling with Natty and watching cartoons (Oswald, to be exact), my darling daughter broke wind on my lap. She apologized profusely for the offense. I told her that she didn't have to be sorry because everyone toots. She then told me, "No mom. I'm a ballerina. Ballerinas don't fart." Well, good thing I never wanted to be a ballerina. Apparently, I would be automatically disqualified by my digestational habits. And let me tell you, Natty has some serious reforming to do in that area if she's going to go pro in the ballet world.