My Happy Selective Memory

A couple of days ago I read a blog about someone who had read a blog... The writer had invited the readers to share their darkest secrets, and it turned into something very dark. I'm something of an ostrich, burying my face in the sand. Frankly, I just don't want to hear your darkest confessions. One comment that grabbed me, though, was how many women compare their lives to snapshots of other's lives.

Here's what Kristy said:

A note to that commenter: facebook is like an online scrapbook. We only put up the stuff we want other people to see. The day I spanked my son after he busted out a hole in his door because he was mad that I sent him to his room? That was not a good day. I didn’t take pictures and wrap them in raffia and stick them next to a plaque that says “Live Laugh Love” or talk about it on facebook.

Kristy is SO right on the money. My family--who sits quietly church--isn't perfect. That haircut that Landon is currently sporting? He's seriously ticked off about it. We're talking fighting mad here. But I'm not going to post the details of that on this blog!

All of that said, I was thinking this morning about how selective memory is. For example, I know that Taylor cried for four stinkin' months straight. I remember the rides in the car, just for some quiet. I remember turning on the dryer, setting the timer for my own time outs, and my tears and frustration. But when I look at the pictures of my baby boy, what I remember is what a love he was (after 4 months old), how much Briana loved him, what he looked like in his striped outfit that I loved, and how he would wear little hats for a minute. I remember him sleeping at my feet in the kitchen and finding him sacked out straddling the rocking chair and the ottoman. I remember him "helping" his dad mow the lawn, running through the sprinklers, and playing video games.

My friend and neighbor, Mona, once told me about a song called "My Heart Took a Picture." Yesterday I watched Bri and Ash and Lando jumping on the tramp, laughing together, and my heart took a picture. And my pictures are good ones, even though I also remember that just 45 minutes earlier they'd been arguing in the back seat of the van.

I guess my belief is that our selective memory gets to be our selection, after all. So what kinds of selections are you going to make?

I LOVE TECHNOLOGY

I love technology, but not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology. (If you can name that movie, you can join our family's Pathetic Club.)

Anyway, I am a complete electronic communication junkie. I have Facebook; this wonderful blog; and especially my friend, Mr. Email. Unlike some of you, I have two email addresses--not 4 or 5. Two is enough. Usually.

But you've never seen someone get so happy as when there is a message from someone I love in my email. In fact, the computer has taken the mailbox's place as a fun place to visit daily. And the computer didn't take President's Day or Sunday off!

My dad is also a computer junkie. He sends most of his communications to my work email. So if I have an especially busy weekend and don't look at my work email for two days, it's stuffed full on Monday morning. I like to spread it out throughout the day. I do something on my task list, then read a journal entry. Then another task, and then a Fishin' Hole. You get the idea. Mondays are fun.

This morning I've been exchanging email with my dad. In a way it's almost like IMing because we live in such a fast world with faster internet connections. Imagine! I can have a conversation with my dad, who is 600 miles away, in just moments. IMing is fun (I've done some of that in the past week). But one fun thing about email is that the other person understands if you don't answer right away. If I go to a meeting, I can still respond to my dad later, just as if our conversation never ended.

Email has made it a smaller world, and I love it!

Twenty-five Random Things About Me

I'll be honest. I'm not good at Facebook. I love checking in with people. I've had several fun IM conversations with people. I can put a message on my wall or yours. But I can't figure out these "tagging" things. You can go ahead and say it. I know. I'm not too savvy.

So here is my response to so many of you who have tagged me for 25 random things. I'll have to think about it. If there's a fire at the COB, you'll know what happened.

1. I was the president of the Shaun Cassidy fan club in, like, 4th grade. OK, so the club was just me and my friend, but we were die hards. I had Shaun Cassidy on my wall (my very first poster--and my mom even had it laminated for me!), I owned his record(s?), and I was fairly certain that if he'd just wait for me to grow up, I was the girl for him! My friend's parents even took us to the Shaun Cassidy concert at the Salt Palace. Ooooo... Ahhhhh...

2. I single-handedly keep M&M/Mars in business. I love M&M's! I really love the plain ones. I eat them in 3s and I tuck them on the roof of my mouth to melt--I rarely chew plain M's. I also love the peanut M's. Those are the only two kinds I like.

3. I think popcorn tastes better the longer you chew it.

4. I can remember the birthdays of the only two boys I really loved (or thought I did) besides the man I married. Random! I know the birth months of a couple of other boys, too. It's weird the things that stick in our minds!

5. I love just about any kind of performance or production that involves music: grade school, middle school, high school, ballets, symphonies, classical, rock, country, musical theatre--I love it all. Yes, I am a High School Musical fan. (Who isn't?)

6. I think going to the car races is fun. I'm not much for watching them on TV, but the raceway is a blast.

7. I have been skiing. Twice. That's all. That's two times too many for me. I lived for 4 years about 12 miles east of Park City, Utah. I went skiing in California. Go figure.

8. My favorite sport is reading.

9. The doctor told me to find another sport. I chose scuba diving. I didn't like it much till we went back with our kids. Then Spencer and I went to Cozumel to dive, and I fell in love with diving!

10. On the inside, I am a grammar Nazi. I try not to henpeck people about it because I realize that it's just not that important. I blame my 7th and 8th grade English teacher, Mr. McCormick, for this.

11. I HATE sweeping and mopping. I blame my mother for this, but it's a long story, and I won't share. Besides, most of our kids hate it, too, and they will blame their mother for it.

12. Babies do not like me. I don't much like them. But toddlers and young children and I are buddies. I love them! Spencer says every kid in the store wants to come home with me. I wish they would--I would love it!

13. Even though I really love the little kids, being a mom to teenagers is the best thing ever!

14. President Monson invited me into his office. It was cool.

15. I still wonder, "What will Mom and Dad say?" whenever I do something. That's not a bad thing.

16. The only time I ever stole something from a store, I was 5 years old, and I stole a zipper. Yup. A zipper. It was that important.

17. I like to make greeting cards, especially using stamps.

18. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.

19. My grandpa pierced my ears using a long, sterilized needle. It also involved clothespins and a potato. I was 5.

20. I have a long memory. I can remember being in my crib crying for my mom before I ever had any siblings. Brant was born when I was 22 months old.

21. I talk in my sleep. This has led to embarrassing moments--including one on the bus just this week! (Enough about that.)

22. I do not like to drive.

23. The last 3 times I threw up were: when I was 11 and got sick at KFC; when I was 22 and in labor with our first child; when I was 35 and got sick the night before Easter. I just can't throw up, even though I know I would feel better. It's too traumatic for me. :)

24. My nicknames have been Andy, Aud, Dray, and Ahhh-deee-ah. You can call me odd, but don't call me Andrea! (go figure)

25. Of everything that God created, my favorites are the sky and tulips.

And if you're still reading, you must be really desperate for good literature. Call me--I have some recommendations!