Things We've Done Lately

Went on a mock vacation to Park City

My sister-in-law invited us to stay in Park City with her last weekend. We were only able to stay one night since I needed to be back for some church things on Sunday, but it was really fun and really nice to get away from home for a night. The kids had a blast playing in the pool and hanging out in the condo. We were pretty lazy, and it was awesome.

The biggest source of entertainment was the shoe tree. It kept my kids (and Scotty) busy for over an hour as they plotted ways to get shoes down from the tree so they could throw them back up into the tree.

The kids did some crafts, and we walked around Main Street. It wasn't very busy so we were able to ride the trolley (which was very exciting for our little Daniel Tiger fans).

Ate at a real restaurant... 

with a server and everything

A few years ago, as we tried to implement regular family scripture study, we started a "family store." Each time we read scriptures as a family, we would give our kids a marble. Then at the first Family Home Evening of each month, we would bring out the "family store" - a box of dollar store crap and treats that our kids could buy with their marbles. This worked really well, and our kids loved it, but I got tired of having cheap junk all over the house (something that will never go away, but why should I be the one providing it?) so after a couple of years, we told our kids we weren't going to do the family store anymore, and instead, we would do a fun outing or have a special treat every time we finish a book in the Book of Mormon.

Since the book of Alma is really long, we wanted to do something "bigger" when we finished Alma. The kids, of course, thought this meant we could go to Disneyland. Um... no. But I wish. We finsihed Alma recently, and Scotty and I decided to take the kids to dinner at Texas Roadhouse for our celebration.

Just a side note: Kids meals at Texas Roadhouse cost no more than kids meals at Chick-Fil-A. My three-year-old ate STEAK, mashed potatoes, and bottomless rolls for the price of chicken nuggets. In fact, my meal only cost a dollar more than the combo meal I like at Chick-Fil-A since we got the "before 6 p.m." dinner deal.

Anyway... taking kids to a restaurant is always risky, but our kids were so good! Sure there were moments of crawling under the table and there was some very loud commentary about the progress of Zoe's bowel movement in the bathroom, but overall, our kids were pretty well-behaved and the country music was just loud enough to drown out the worst of their noise. We realized that it's been a really long time since we ate at a sit-down restaurant with our kids. In fact, every time our server came to that table, Eva would say, "Who's that?" or "Why he here?" She had no concept of being served food in a restaurant, and she was really confused.

Put on a concert

For the past couple of years, Scotty has played bass in a band. Sometimes the band puts on basement concerts. It's a fun event with lots of friends and family of all ages. Scotty's brother came for the first time, and afterward he said, "That was awesome! I wish I would have brought my kids, but I thought there would be marijuana."

There was no marijuana.

Just music, popcorn, glow sticks, hand sanitizer, and a fog machine.

Worked on scout stuff

Scotty, Nicky, and I decided we would try to get Nicky's Eagle as soon as possible because we thought the LDS Church might drop their sponsorship of the BSA within the next few years. We've been checking out merit badge books from the library and signing up for classes in the community. Now the end date has been announced: December 31, 2019. I'm actually really happy about the change, but I'm also glad they gave us enough time to meet some goals before the transition.

Dealt with snow

We are eleven days into May, and there hasn't been any snow. Phew! But during April, we got a few bizarre weather patterns where we had almost 80 degree weather one day and snow the next. I couldn't even get out of the neighborhood because the traffic was so bad from the storms.

 Went on a date

I already wrote about our experience seeing Hamilton, but what I didn't tell you was that we started the night really early. We went out for cheese steaks and cheesecakes!

And then we found some seats on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, and we just sat there for an hour. Because we could.

We got to the theater about 45 minutes before the show started (I wanted to be in my seat as early as possible so I could just enjoy being there). The doors opened 30 minutes before the show, so we used the extra time to get some photos, use the bathroom, and check out the merchandise.

I wish Scotty and I could go on more dates. They don't all have to be this fancy. But right now we hardly ever see each other. It's not a good thing. 

15 Topics in 15 Years

Fifteen years ago today, Scotty and I said "I do."

(Actually, that's not true because our wedding ceremony didn't include that exact wording, but suffice it to say that by the end of the day, everything was tidy and legal, and we were stuck together in all of the official ways).

We hoped that we would be able to do something special for this anniversary (15 years is a good excuse to do something fun), but it just isn't in the cards (see #3 below). The good news is that we have five years to start planning something great for our twentieth (ha!)

(Now please imagine a picture of Scotty and me together posted here. Perhaps we are looking at each other, laughing candidly. A twinkle in each of our eyes. This picture does not exist outside of anyone's imagination, so try to hold it there a while...)

(Keep holding...)

(Look how happy we are!)

(Wait for it...)

(Don't you want to be us?)

(Just a little longer...)

(Okay, you may release the image).

In honor of our fifteenth anniversary, here are 15 things that Scotty and I talk about all the time:

Topic #1: What we see on Instagram

We have very, very different Instagram feeds. Scotty follows a bunch of people he doesn't know. His Instagram is full of food, travel, and sports. I only follow people I know personally (with the exception of Fallon, Jackman, Timberlake, and Underwood). At the end of the day, we have lots to talk about.

Topic #2: The shapes of our heads

When we were young and skinny, we joked about how I had a "hamburger" head and Scotty had a "hot dog" head. Sometimes I wonder if I had an exaggerated image of Scotty's long, skinny face, but then I look back at photos, and I am shocked at how truly narrow his head and face used to be.

Scotty and I stand in front of the mirror a lot and talk about our head shapes and how they have changed. I'm still a "hamburger" head, but the bun has gotten thicker. Scotty is no longer a "hot dog" head, but I still take every opportunity to call him one because I think it's funny.

Topic #3: Vacations we can't actually go on

We have a really big list of places we'd like to go but probably never will. Scotty likes to type in scenarios on Get Away Today, just for fun. I like to look at flights I'll never go on.

Topic #4: Things that bug us

This is probably something we should spend less time talking about, especially lately... because there are a lot of things bugging us.

Topic #5: Our ten-year plan

In about ten years, we will hit some pretty big milestones. Our kids will start entering adulthood which means college, missions, and weddings. We've tried to be proactive in planning for these things, but we'll see... part of me thinks the world can't possibly last another ten years, and if it does, we'll be living in an underground bunker. But it's good to have a plan just in case.

Note to self: add underground bunker to ten-year plan.

Topic #6: Things we want to do to our house

The list is long, but there's never enough time or money. Just today I asked Scotty if he would put an outlet in a particular spot in the living room. He said yes, and then I said, "Well, I can wait, like, twenty years. No rush." Because really...

Topic #7: Moving

This is actually something that I try to talk about a lot, but Scotty shuts me right down. Moving is not part of our ten-year plan, but for my own peace of mind, I have to entertain the idea every now and then and see if I'm still where I belong.

Topic #8: The calendar

We have a family meeting every Sunday night where we go over our calendar for the week. Without this conversation, we are completely lost and dysfunctional.

Topic #9: Our bed

Anytime we spend a night away from our bed, we come home and talk about how much we love our bed. Here's the truth about our bed: we sleep on a mattress that we bought for $25 from a hotel that was remodeling. It has a ten-year-old memory foam mattress topper on it that has huge chunks missing from our children and our cat (may he rest in peace).* There is no new mattress in our ten-year plan. Why ruin a good thing?

But really, after fifteen years, we are still living primarily on hand-me-downs and second-hand purchases. This is not what I envisioned my life would be like at this point, and yet, there's nothing wrong with it. Nineteen year old me would have died if she'd seen what my life is like now!

Topic #10: How lazy we want to be

We make a lot of comments to each other about how we don't want to be parents "today" or how we just want to stay in bed and watch TV. I'll have you know, though, we have never stayed in bed and watched TV all day, and we parent our children daily despite our lack of motivation. It may not be quality parenting, but it is parenting nonetheless.

Topic # 11: Vasectomies

Scotty and I talk about vasectomies ALL THE TIME.

ALL. THE. TIME.

My friends can attest to this. In fact, raise your hand if I've talked to you about vasectomies in the past six months.

See?

Topic #12: Church re-caps

Since we spend at least two hours in entirely different areas of the church each Sunday (I'm in primary and Scotty is in Young Men) we give a full report after church each week.

Topic #13: What I bought at the store

I'm also always recounting everything I buy at the store. This especially includes stuff I get a good deal on, like when ClickList is out of something, and they substitute something bigger and better to make up for it! Woot woot!

Topic #14: What the "bros" are up to

Scotty spends time with a couple of friends throughout the week. They do some side jobs, play basketball, and... who knows what else. So I get updates on the bros. Things like, "Today Mark send me a twelve minute Marco Polo of his dog staring at a hamster."

Topic #15: How fat we are

I try really hard to not use the "f" word, but can I be honest for a second? Scotty and I are blown away by how fat we are. We don't know how it happened. We just woke up like this one day!

----

We've had a wonderful fifteen years together. Here's hoping we're still willing to share an underground bunker after fifteen more.

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Just for fun, here are links to my past anniversary posts:

Five

Seven

Eight

Ten

Thirteen

Fourteen

*I feel like I should clarify that my cat's death was unrelated to the claw marks he left in our memory foam. 

If My Kids Were Characters

Nicky:

A little on the mopey side. Often steps aside at school and scouts to let the more dominant personalities have their way. Easily overlooked. Feels picked on for being the only boy in the family. 

 When he's happy, he's really really happy! But when he's sad, he's really really sad.

Daisy:

Stubborn and sassy. Will argue about anything. Acts out to get attention. A bit of a diva who loves having people do stuff for her. 

 Difficult at home but very well-behaved everywhere else. Teacher's pet.

Zoe:

Spunky and silly. Always moving. Always up to something. Has big ideas. Makes really big messes. 

 Does not like to wear socks.  

Eva:

Not a baby anymore but not a big kid either. Still little and cute but has her own ideas and opinions. 

Never likes to leave my side. Peed on the floor at Smith's today.

I want to live in stretchy pants permanently (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I've lived in Salt Lake City my whole life, and I've been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints my whole life, but I've never had a run-in with an apostle. I've seen them from very far away at Conference Center events, and one time Elder Ballard was the presiding authority at our stake conference, but I didn't go anywhere near him.

So imagine my surprise this weekend when I was standing outside a non-Church bathroom, and I turned and saw President Oaks within arms reach of me. My jaw about hit the floor.

Then, about an hour and a half later, Scotty and I found ourselves waiting at a crosswalk with Quentin L. Cook and his wife. Just us and them. I was sure it was Elder Cook, but at the same time, it seemed so out of context to see him out wandering the streets (at 11:00 at night, no less) that I found myself saying, "Are you Elder Cook or just a really good look alike?"

He said, "I am Elder Cook!" and he reached out and shook my hand... in the middle of the road. This was my first apostle meet and greet.

Fact #2: I am still on a Hamilton high.

Fact #3: Last week I bought 80 pounds of chicken, and then I had to do some crazy Tetris configurations to get it all to fit in my freezers. I got it all in, but now I just want to eat out for the rest of my life so I don't have to unbury my food.

Fact #4: Here are a few sheet pan dinners I've made lately that don't suck (all featuring chicken - see fact #3):

Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken

Sheet Pan Unstuffed Chicken Cordon Bleu

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken & Veggies (I used mushrooms, zucchini, and snap peas)


Fact #5: My kids hate my cooking. Just so we're clear. I don't want you to think that, because I posted some recipes with vegetables, my family actually eats them! Pshaw!

Fact #6:

Today's plan: Wake up at 5:30. Walk 3 miles. Healthy breakfast. Shower & full groom cycle. Send kids to school. Be productive.

Today's reality: Woke up at 4:50. Walked 3 miles in the rain. Cereal for breakfast. Three year old took over bath tub. Nearly froze to death waiting for shower. Finally showered. Forgot to wash my hair. Forgot Nicky had to be to school early today. Fought long battle with five-year-old over pink pants. Gave up on all expectations and went to buy a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich.

Fact #7: At the Brittish household, we've been responsible for a lot of lives lately. Obviously there are the six humans who live at our house, but in addition to that, we also have five chickens (formerly eight, may the three we lost over the winter rest in peace), two rabbits, and two parakeets.

But...

That's not all.

We got some caterpillars for Easter, and they have been coming out of their cocoons over the past few days (at this point, we might just need to write off the remaining two as dead).

AND... for the past month, I've been taking care of some green bean plants that we planted in primary.

Fact #8: The green bean plants didn't all grow, so I had to pull a fast one on the primary kids and buy some green bean plants. Yep. Totally lied to the primary kids. That's how I roll.

Then I gave a plant to one of the kids to take home, and he pretty much killed it before he even left the building.

Fact #9: It snowed this morning.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Fact #10: The other day I was listening to a Backstreet Boys playlist on YouTube, and Daisy asked me if it was One Direction.

Girl, please.

Hamilton

On Friday night, one of our dreams came true! We were able to see Hamilton.

In two hours and 45 minutes, we felt every emotion our mortal tabernacles are capable of experiencing. We were transported to a different place - a place I don't even have the words to describe.

We emerged from the theater changed.

Lin is a genius. Whatever goes on inside his mind that creates, that thinks deeply about things and makes them come out in words, is beautiful. Every word of his work was pondered and deliberate. In fact, a quote from The Book Thief comes to mind that I'm sure Lin-Manuel Miranda can relate to, "I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."

He made them right.

As I was sitting in the theater, I kept thinking about how much I wanted to write down all of my thoughts. Over and over I thought, "I want to remember this. I want to write down what I thought about at this moment, at this scene, at this lyric."

I knew the only way to capture it was to write like I was running out of time...

I didn't write it in time. So much of it has already left me.

But here are a few remaining things I can write about Hamilton:

I loved Aaron Burr. The actor and the character (it took me a few minutes to accept each of the actors in their roles, as I'm used to the original cast, but they all won me over). Before seeing the play live, I always thought we were supposed to dislike Aaron Burr, but now that I've seen the play unfold, I no longer believe that. I think we are supposed to imagine ourselves in his shoes and acknowledge our own capacity to be jealous, hesitant, or vengeful. We are all one reaction away from Aaron Burr. We are all one reaction away from being a villain in history - from being "the damn fool that shot him." The way Aaron Burr is written reminds me a lot of Hugo's Javert. He is a character who draws sympathy.

And then there's Eliza. Prior to Friday night, I didn't know how powerful Eliza is in the play. I know the story. I know the songs. "Quiet Uptown makes me sob like a baby." But I never realized until the play was drawing to a close that Eliza is everything.

One of the most beneficial things I did prior to seeing Hamilton was read Hamilton: The Revolution (I tried to read Chernow last year, but it was while I was in my last two semesters of school, and I couldn't afford the time). I loved going into it with Lin's annotations in mind and knowing a lot about his creative process. I also found it imperative for my own experience to know all the characters and be familiar with the song lyrics. I, personally, would have missed a lot of the story without prior research. There are some things that you are supposed to either just know or infer from a brief song lyric. The fast-paced music and characters on stage who dress very similar to one another make it easy for pertinent details to slip right past.

I can't say that I recommend Hamilton to everyone. I would never say you need to go see it.* If you and I were to stand at a cliff's edge and look out over a beautiful landscape, our eyes might not be drawn to the same things. Maybe you will notice the water, and I will be captivated by the flowers, and you will be frustrated with me because I'm not getting what you want me to get from the water, and I won't understand why you're not more interested in the flowers.

I will only say that if you do get the chance to see Hamilton, I hope it touches you! It was meat to!

Friday, Feet, & Ta Da Lists

It's Friday!

Some weekends are worth looking forward to. Some aren't. This one should be pretty good, but it's going to be so busy I'll hardly have a moment to breath. I have a lot of stuff to get done before 4:00 this afternoon, and I keep having to take breaks to rest my feet.

My feet are in rough shape. They hurt all the time. I think I had plantar fasciitis from June 2016 until last summer in one foot, and then after two months of relief, it started in the other foot. It seems to be gone now, but for the past two years, aside from the plantar fasciitis, the entire surface area of both feet hurt ALL THE TIME. It feels like I've ran a marathon every day, and it only take five minutes on my feet doing absolutely nothing to make them feel that way. So I do little tasks, like load the dishwasher, and then I have to sit and put my feet up for 20 minutes to relieve the pain. Why have I put up with this for two years? Why can't I just go to a doctor? What is wrong with me?

(Part of the reason I don't go to the doctor is that it's incredibly hard for a mother to go to a doctor appointment for herself. I'm pretty sure that more work goes into arranging a doctor appointment as a mom than is required to coordinated the Olympics).

(Last week's dentist appointment more than proved this).

(Also, I don't want cortisone shots or ugly shoes).

(Aaaaand I don't have a primary care physician, and I need to start there to get a referral to a foot doctor, so it's just one more inconvenient step in taking care of my medical problems).

(BUT I am finally desperate enough that I made an appointment with a primary care physician "to establish care" for May, so maybe there will be a podiatrist visit in my future).

All of this is to say that I'm using my foot resting time to check in on the 'ol blog here.

One of my daily struggles (especially with how often I stop working to rest my feet) is that I never feel like I do enough. I tend to see everything I haven't done rather than everything I have done (can I get an 'amen?' I have the feeling I'm not alone in this). On days where I feel like I'm buried, I've started writing a "Ta Da! List" instead of a "To Do List." I write down all the things I accomplish in the day so at the end of it, I'm not deceived by things like a sink full of dishes or an unvacuumed floor.

Today is such a day. It's 11:33, and here's what I've done today:

• Read my scriptures
• Cooked and bagged 10 lbs of chicken to freeze
• Did a load of dishes
• Washed an additional two sinks full of dishes by hand
• Went grocery shopping
• Went to the nursery to buy a few garden plants
• Planted the plants (there were only 2)
• Started a load of laundry
• Took out the garbage

Ta da!

It's not uncommon to see little scraps of paper with similar lists all over my kitchen. Note to self: you did stuff today!

(There's still so much to do. Yikes!)

In other news, we have another case of strep among us. Daisy's sore throat of last week cleared up on it's own. Daisy is a classic wolf crier, so we never know with her. We kept putting off taking her in because her sore throat complaints seemed to coincide with going to school, going to church, and doing chores, but never with playing outside or watching TV. Yesterday, though, Nicky woke up with a sore throat, so we got him into the doctor last night, and it's strep.

He's home from school today which is nice because he's pretty helpful and chill... as long as Daisy isn't around. Come 1:00 when Daisy gets out of school, they will be at each other's throats.

I don't think I've ever given you the illusion that my children get along harmoniously, but just in case I've fooled you along the way, know this: they are yelling at each other about pizza at this very moment. And if Daisy were home, there would be blood because she is a tornado of fingernails and teeth.

Back on my feet I go. Hold me!

What I'm Doing Right Now

Guess what I'm doing right now:

A) Hanging out in the waiting room at Instacare

B) Waiting diligently at the computer for Donny & Marie pre-sale tickets to go LIVE

C) Listening to the 13 Reasons Why audiobook



If you guessed B, you are correct, though a few weeks ago, I did A & C at the same time. That's when my strep journey began (and I'm wondering if we have a second round of strep beginning in the family. Daisy has been running a low fever and complaining of a sore throat and body aches for two days. She just finished antibiotics for strep last week. I know mostly nothing about anything, but with as many antibiotics she has had in her body in the last two months, I wonder if she has become tolerant) (also, the narrator in 13 Reasons Why is the same narrator as The Wednesday Wars, so it's hard to imagine that Clay is not Holling Hoodhood five years later).

By the end of this post, I'll be able to let you know if I'll be seeing Donny Osmond this summer. Are you on the edge of your seat? I am!

(It's okay if I don't see Donny Osmond this summer, but it would be fun, and it would be a pretty good way to entice Shannon to visit. But THE SUSPENSE of ticket buying! Oh my goodness!)

Six minutes and counting...

In other news, today is one of those days when I want to throw away everything in my house that isn't bolted down. I just took a van full of stuff to Deseret Industries. I keep donating and donating, and I never seem to have less stuff!

Today I took half my closet, half my shoes, and half my jewelry.

32 necklaces gently placed in sandwich bags in hopes of keeping them from getting too tangled.

Yes, that's right. I got rid of 32 necklaces.

You might have noticed that I said I got rid of half my jewelry. So that should give you an idea of how many necklaces I had when I started this morning.

Apparently I have a necklace problem.

Three minutes and counting...

I have a lot more stuff to donate, but I had to draw the line at what I could fit in my van. Perhaps after the Donny chaos, I'll do another load.

One minute and counting...

Gotta go.

-----------------------------

Sigh...

That was rough. 

Decisions, decisions. 

Ultimately, the Donny & Marie tickets were more than I wanted to pay. My price range was on the lawn, and I?

Will not sit on the lawn. 

No thank you. 

So I debated. Do I really want to see Donny?

Do I really?

I texted Scotty. He said do it (he is so good to me). I said, "But I don't actually know any Donny & Marie songs."

Then I had this thought... Donny isn't getting any younger. He could die soon. 

So I'm going.

I wonder what necklace I should wear...