are you there, God? it's me dorkis malorkis...

so on valentine's day night (?)
we got home after our party
& exchanged gifts
(don't worry this blog is rated PG
or PG-13...
which ever one doesn't have sex in it...
that's the kind of blog this is)
so brian gives me a card
actually it was more of a letter
& i was reading it
& came to a part that said:

I like to think I'm decent with finding the words to say
how much i care about you
but i found a song that says it well:
'Love is the answer
At least for most of the questions in my heart,
Like why are we here?
And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy,
And sometimes life can be deceiving,
I'll tell you one thing,
it's always better when we're together'

& so i'm reading this sweetness
& starting to cry
& there's more
so i'm reading the rest
& i'm loving it
but
in the back of my mind
i'm thinking
'i know that the only things that brian
listens to are talk radio
& podcasts
so where did he hear this adorable song?
has he been sneaking around
going to borders &
putting on those gigantic headphones
& listening to song after song
of love n' stuff?'
yes
i can be simultaneously
charmed
& insolent
& so:
er: that is such a neat song
b: don't you know it?
er: no, where did you hear it?
b: on your blog

oh.
right.
when i was shouting the praises of one
mr. jack johnson
& loving his new album
i googled 'jack johnson youtube'
& the first one that came up was better together
& it sounded cute
& jack johnsonish enough
so i put it up...
& when i posted it that was the first time i have ever heard it

& now
needless to say
i have listened to it approximately 27 thousand times
in fact on the way to taking Q to
preschool this morning
i said
'let's listen to a great song on the way'
& we did
(Q calls it 'George music'
because jack did the soundtrack for
the curious george movie)

one night a little later
after the kids were in bed
i told brian i had something for him
(again, PG)
& i put 'better together' on
& we danced in the kitchen
& decided right then & there
that it would be our song...

& thank, God for that
our song before was 'i'll be' by edwin mccain
which is a great song
but we decided not to have it be our first dance
at our wedding because
one of the lines is
'i'll be love's suicide'
& that just didn't seem to mesh with the
white dress & tux & stuff
love's broken ankle, maybe
but not love's suicide...
i had a hard enough time with the song we did dance to
'i swear' by john michael montgomery
which was the first song we ever danced to
right at the beginning of our relationship
at our friends, billy & heather's wedding...
but i was a little worried about just having
been married in a church
in front of God & everybody
& then swearing by 'the moon & the stars & the sun'
even years after
i was not so keen on that song

so this song...
a little more up beat
cute as all get out
fun
sweet
honest about how life is not perfect
come on...
that is so us
especially the cute part
(see above picture)
:)

so thanks, buddy
for being so incredibly great
& for bringing to my attention
something that i had already sent out
for the whole blogosphere to see & hear
but didn't even know it...
(i'm sure glad it wasn't about
being in favor of kicking dogs or something)
& for you, my dear husband:

But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no, combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing
We're better together

:)

& yes there are a few capitalized letters today!
thanks for noticing...
i figured if i was talking about
my favorite third grade teacher
it would be nice to give him
a few less things to circle with the red pen...
not a bunch
but a few...
i don't mind red
it's a nice color...

:)

as usual...

i have blundered
all of my moping about the oscars
& 'poor ellen page'
& 'why haven't i gotten one yet?'
& the best part?
was one i missed...
i saw the 'once' couple win for best song
& was so happy for them
& then a commercial
& i headed up to say goodnight to my little boy elf
& i missed this....


so very cool...

make art, kids
make art
:)

(thanks again to one of my favorites
for this...
tara, you always have the best stuff!)

:)

am i blue....

so i couldn't bring myself to post right after the oscars
mostly because i was a tired chica
but also because i was much sadder than i expected
that ellen page didn't win
it didn't ruin my day or anything
(& she did tell barbara walters that
she didn't think she deserves it...
although who
besides maybe alec baldwin
when asked by barbara walters if they think they deserve an oscar
would say
'why yes. yes i do.')
but my confusion with the whole french language movie thing
just added to my frustration
(truly if anyone knows about this
i would love to hear...)
anyway
i loved it all anyway
& i pretty much agree with what this little filly
says over at her blog
(though she was much more gracious to the french girl:)

i was stunned about tilda swinton
she was such a long shot on all the lists
i do truly love it when that happens...

& that this wonderful song from once won

*sigh*
that was perfect
they so deserved it
& you should see that movie
it is delicious!
:)

& a sad part for me
is that i missed the farewell montage...
i always love that
& like to get to think about the people
that i knew of one last time
& always inevitably say
'i didn't know she died!'
also sad to have not seen heath
(wow this is a downer post...
perk up lady!)

anyway
i always love it
no matter what
but this does not even compare
to the year gwyneth won
or the year Q broke his arm during the show
& we didn't realize it until the next morning
(we knew he was hurt
just didn't know to what extent
i know
nice parenting.)

okay well
me & my little meloncaly self
are going to go listen to the cure
that should perk me right up

oh
& if you want a much better assesment of the oscars
be sure to check miss kate's blog
(she even has pictures!)
& for another great opinion
here's the email i got from a certain
80something year old stinking cute relative of mine...

I watched the Oscars last night because I knew you girls would be watching and I felt we were having a private party.
Did you hear my comments?
Emily, you sure were close in your predictions. Since I didn't see any of the movies, I judged the clothes. Guys always
look handsome in tuxes. Some of the dresses left something to be desired. When did it stop being smart to wear dresses
that made you look good.
I felt sorry for that poor skinny woman who appeared to be just a sack of bones. And what's with the form fitting satin dresses
that make your tummy seem to pooch out?
And lastly, I thought the best actress was the gal, Marion Cotillard. If you are nominated and talked up for weeks why would
you be so surprised when you won. All the nominees generally have prepared speeches.
Oh yes, my vote went to Hal Holbrook - he's a great actor. He's been in movies I've actually seen.
Yes, George was gorgeous as usual.
Love from the lower Willamette Valley critic,
Grandma

oh how i love her
:)

....not the grouch

okay
so i just need to get my oscar picks in
before it starts
i have only seen one of the movies
so my picks are based on loving that movie
listening to filmspotting every week
& reading roger ebert
very scientific...
(have i ever told you how much i like roger ebert?
plus the title of his post today says
'2008 Oscars:
My heart screams 'Juno!'
but my head says Coen Bros.')

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement"
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"

though i thought amy ryan was great at playing
a horrible person in 'gone baby gone'
i have seen clips of cate blanchett as bob dylan
& she's just great
really cool
i think she will get it
besides beautiful women always do well
at the oscars when they
1. play men
2. aren't looking too cute
(see: boys don't cry, monster, monster's ball
million dollar bay
& many many more...)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War"
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton"

i'm pretty sure javier is going to get this
but i love casey afflek
& i think it would be cool if hal holbrook won it
at 80something years old
that would be a kick!

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie in "Away from Her"
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney in "The Savages"
Ellen Page in "Juno"

i think it would be so darn awesome
if ellen page won
i loved 'juno'
& i thought she was such a bright light in it
but she did lose to marion cotillard
at the golden globes so....
who knows?
ps 'la vie en rose' is in french
& has english subtitles
shouldn't it be in the foreign language catagory?
just asking...

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"

don't hate me george
but i'm thinking it's going to be daniel day-lewis
but i will be happy to see you dressed up in a tuxedo

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"

let's see
which one of these have i seen?
571 times?
hmmmmm

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" Julian Schnabel
"Juno" Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" Paul Thomas Anderson

okay
i don't really like the directing category
i mean can you have a great film with bad directing?
can you have a horrible film with good directing?
it seems like if the directing is good
then the film is good
therefore best director & best film are the same thing...
i think it's just so if there
are two amazingly great films in one year
they can say 'yours didn't win best picture
so here's the best director oscar
cause your movie was pretty great
i hope that makes you feel better'
& if one film wins both
(which often happens)
it's just clear that it was the best...
plus directors just like getting awards...
that being said
i like the idea of siblings winning together
& my filmspotting boys say
'no country for old men' is amazing
so i'll go with that...

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

so 'no country' is the front runner
but i love an upset
so i'll go with my golden girl
'juno'

okay
only four hours til red carpet
have fun!

:)

ps i'm sad i didn't do this early enough
to get your picks
but i will expect your opinions tomorrow for sure!

throw a party thursday...

last night i got to go to a super fun
creative artsy scrappy party
okay
i helped throw it
but i got to go to it too...
24 ladies
(hi girls!)
24 cocoa daisy kits
2 cheesecakes
1 pan of brownies
1 brownie cream cheese raspberry concoction(sp?)
3 rooms of shopping
1 technique demo
& a whole lot of fun...
this is my favorite way to hang out with
my scrapbook friends these days
it's not really a class
not really a crop
just a good creative time
to do what you want
& we are planning to do more
maybe coming to a town near you...
watch out
:)

& yes
i have no pictures
who needs pictures?
if i had a blog i might take pictures
or if i scrapbooked
or if i had a nice camera
(or four)
yep
if only....

& last thursday
another party
a valentines day dinner
that my friends from church & i planned
& it was fu-un...
brian took pictures of all of the couples

nice sweet ones
(as pictured above:)
& funny goofy ones with props
(which you might get to see in a post to be named later
if you're nice)
& there was good food
& good conversation
& fun interviews of couples of four different generations
& a video of couples wedding pictures & pictures of them now
(oh how i wish i could share some!)
& communion together as couples
& drawings for awesome prizes
(like brake alignment at les schwab)
it was just so fun...

i love to plan parties
i love to plan them almost as much as i like to go to them
sometimes more...
when i was in college
(i love to say that
since the real truth is that i went to 1 3/4 years
to lane community college
& i took every art class available
& then there was nothing there for me
so i went to work at a gas station...
this is true
but for another day)
anyway
when i was in college
or college age we might say
for the sake of truth & justice
i lived in a house with 4 other girls
5 girls
1 bathroom
good stuff
& get this
when you put the first letters of our names
together it spelled HEART
Heather
Emily
Alicia
Rachael
Theresa
who figured this out i have no idea
but when you're in college
& you've decided not to allow alcohol in your house
you have lots of time to think
(right.
we didn't drink so we all just sat around
pondering life.
right.)
anyway
we would throw these great parties
& one time we threw a
'dance through the decades' party
& we all dressed up from a different decade
& we decorated one wall with black & white squares
(why?
i have no idea
the 50's maybe?
though none of us where born anywhere near the 50's)
the point is this
by the time we had the wall filled
we pretty much wanted to leave the door unlocked
for our guests
& go have the grand slam breakfast at IHOP
(you can get it any time of the day you know)
but we did not
we put on our bell bottoms
or lace leggings
or belly shirts
or 'let's get physical' head bands (you rocked it rach)
or matchy jacket & short skirt combo ala clueless
& we danced like it was
1979
1989
& 1999
(but i think it was 1996 or something)
cause that's what you do when you plan a party
you plan it
then you go to it.
thus ends my class on how to have a party...

oh & here's a picture
of us HEART house girls
from that dancie night



& yes we are posing in the laundry room
because every other inch of our house was filled with
decade dancing college students
& not a drop of alcohol to be seen...

party on, dude
(oh, you know you would have been
disappointed if i hadn't said it...)

:)

gotta go check the dryer......

this is
a great site that has funny do's & don'ts
(is that really how you spell don'ts?
it looks like it the shorthand for donuts)
all about raising your baby
i got it from dooce
who makes me laugh
or say
'oh my goodness i can't believe she wrote that'
nearly every day
thanks dooce!
these are my two favorites
but there are plenty of funny ones...

:)

better with milk...

so what exactly do you do when
you got home late from a valentine party
picked up your kiddos
who were still awake at 11pm
took everything in the house
put the kids to bed
exchanged valentine gifts with your husband
fell asleep
woke up with the sun
got the kids ready to take your boy to school
almost close the door
realized that you left your purse
with your keys & cel phone in your locked car
walked out to the street & flagged down a neighbor
& used her cel phone
to call for help?
what do you do then?
eat cereal on the porch while you wait
for pop-a-lock to come
of course...
:)

que?

senor valentino says
'i wish you muy love
& muy candy this valentines day'

& his sidekick
fraulein sweetie pie echos
'sehr glücklicher valentines day too!
& be safe
& watch out for chairs with broken arms rests
or you will end up with a sad looking eye like me!'
(oh dear
her first major accident...
but in comparison to her brother
who had already broken his first arm by this age
she's doing pretty good!
it's just sad to see this sweet little
blondie curlie whirlie girl
with the big bashes on her face)
(& nevermind the messy face
that is normal around here
cute & normal)

the international duo would also like to mention
that celebrating valentines day need not be complicated
just get out the
paint
paper
& brushes
& start painting

channeling the painting pony
is always a fun way to shake things up

then let them dry

then ask mommy to draw a heart on the back
& use the big scissors
to cut it out

draw a big Q on it
stick it in a envelope
& send it off to far off relatives...
no sweat!
i mean
no sudor!

happy hearts day my friends
tell somebody you love them tomorrow...
what the heck!
tell them today too!

:)

ps
i love the word varifications
that you have to do when you leave a comment
on some blogs...
truth be told i hate them
i just want to say my piece & be done
get in
get out...
oh well since they are just part of life
like laundry
(or lost being simultaneously
annoyingly confusing & deliciously addicting)
i decided to enjoy it
& try to make them be acronyms
or just see the words they accidentally form
like a few weeks ago
i got:
pbhofsam

which naturally means
pottery barn hall of fame, sam!
& i thought of jbmommy's little guy...
good job sam!
(later i realized that a better one would have been
peanut butter hall of fame, sam
but i have bought into this consumerist culture
pb will always make me think pottery barn
sick.
just sick.)
anyway
today on someone's blog this was my
word verification:
kifme

like someone with a speech impediment wants to smooch you
so very valentinie
don't you think?

:)

not that i don't love barack...

jack johnson's new album dropped on itunes yesterday
(wow. i am so cool
i can use terms i've only heard on movies)
& we had preordered it
so the moment it arrived
i was there
& i've listened to it now
um
let's see
approximately 42 times...
this isn't new
but it's great anyway...
check it...


peace out...

:)

oh, here's a song
& him talking about the album
you can see it through the link
it won't let you put the cool little
screen thing on your blog...
whatever.

ALSO
he is going to be sharing the stage with
dave matthews in hawaii
don't you think we should all go?
let's take the jet...

:)

yes we can...

no matter who
you are rooting for
or voting for
(& i'm not sure yet myself)
you must admit
this is cool...
& such a great message
for our nation
our families
our selves...

hope you're thinking about voting...

:)

(i first saw this on one of my most favorite blogs)

slowly wasting away...

so i decided on weight watchers because
hmmm
why did i decide on weight watchers?
i had done it before the little elves came to live at our house
so i understood the points system
(which i will not explain here
emilyruthwonders.blogspot=no math)
also not too much measuring & weighing
don't get me wrong
the scale & measuring cups are on the counter
but i knew someone who did la weight loss
(my lack of caps makes that sound so french!)
& there seemed to be a lot of weighing & measuring
& i should know
because that person that i knew lives in my house
& i was doing most of the weighing & measuring...
with a smile on my face
& a song in my heart of course...

anyway
weight watchers
there are meetings
& also the new booklets they have a square
oh the joy!
seriously
remember i told you about
intro to graphic design at lane community college?
i totally judge a book by it's cover
& i totally judge a weight loss program by the shape
& design of there materials...
they really are so cute

so since starting this lo these many 9 days ago
(i think that's the second time i've used lo
in the last week
note to self: stop talking like a character in a charles dickens novel
you've never read one anyway)
so i have found a few little treats that would love to share with you
why?
i have no idea
but you're still here reading
so i carry on...
well, you were here...

okay first up
baked lightly salted kettle chips
i really like normal kettle chips
don't you?
what is it about them?
if it was any other chips
& every third one was almost burned
i would be totally grossed out
but since they are made in a kettle
they are delicious?
go figure...
anyway
these are baked
& lightly salted
& i see by that website that they have other flavors
but not any of the crazy regular kinds...
yogurt & green onion?
sea salt & vinegar?
what kind of sick people eat those?
oh right
my husband does
& since he was on oo la la weight loss
he can have the regular ones...
anayway they are good
& two point per ounce
& for baked chips that taste good
that's great!
& every fourth one is almost burned
so that's an improvement right there!

also
keebler right bites 100 calorie fudge shoppe mini fudge stripes
that is their actual name
& as i typed it i reminded me of a scene from one of my favorite books
(it's a great movie too!):

Alice Wendlekin: & his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
Imogene Herdman: He'd never have gotten out of the first grade if he had to write all that

anywhoo they are delish!

also when i'm poking around the internet
i have been known to eat a peanut m&m or two
or a spoonful of cookie dough
or half a bag of caramel kisses
so obviously that had to change...
& since i discovered one day
when i looked down & the kiss bag was empty
that i really don't even taste the dumb things
why not eat something that i don't love
but need to have
& can almost kind of enjoy
as i read the theories on what lost was really about last night
(my guess: twinkies)
& so my friendship with baby carrots began
well, we are aquaintances
you really have to earn my friendship...
but this bag i got last week
as i was pulling out 10
(ten! ten equals 1 serving of baby carrots!)
i found the lovely little speciman above
ick
you can make me eat baby carrots
but please don't make me eat baby's finger carrots
& again i say
ick
(& for you 'love actually' fans...
i know you're out there:
'want an appetizer?'
'no'
'i know, it looks like a dead babies finger...tastes like one too'
note to all: don't google dead baby's finger...
just
don't do it)

by the way you really need to visit the
keebler site
it's like a little game...
i can just see some crazed dieter
'all i wanted to know was how many grams of fat are in
freaking wheatables!
& you're making me knock on a door & go through a tree?!'

:)

ps congratulations anna!
miss jane is too sweet:)