45 Things....

We pause from our regularly scheduled Emma programming to jump on the "100 Things You Didn't Know You Wanted to Know About Me" bandwagon. I have enjoyed reading Andi's, Amy and Dave's, and Angie's lists, so I'm chiming in with my list of 45.

1. I was born on my mom’s 30th birthday.

2. Once in first grade the teacher asked what the capital of the United States was, and since we had recently visited Grandmother in Salt Lake and I had seen the capitol building, I eagerly raised my hand and said “Salt Lake City!” She snickered and said no.

3. I won an award in high school for being the year’s fastest typist. Got a certificate at the awards assembly for typing “102 gross words per minute,” presented by Betty McGlasson, the office practices teacher.

4. I also won $150 bucks in a typing contest sponsored by some temp agency in Portland. They were having the contest in the lobby of the building I worked in. I went down on my lunch hour, typed for 3 minutes, and won the pot.

5. I played electric bass in stage band for one semester my senior year in high school. The regular bass player quit and they needed someone fast, so I taught myself over Christmas vacation and played for the rest of the school year. Was not very good.

6. I played flute in band from 7th grade to 12th grade. Sometimes I played piccolo, too, and especially liked the piccolo part at the end of “Stars and Stripes Forever."

7. I attended 7th grade in Provo (Farrer Junior High) while dad was going to BYU for a year.

8. I like going to stake temple night at the Salt Lake temple because they have dinner beforehand in the cafeteria and serve one of my favorite dishes – chickeny gravy over rice. I love beige, squishy food.

9. I love the sound of someone typing on a computer keyboard.

10. I got all four of my wisdom teeth taken out at once before my mission. The dentist accidentally squirted Novocaine down my throat and I remember driving myself home on the freeway not being able to swallow.

11. I threw up my first day in the mission field – combination of jet lag, nerves, and car sickness from a wild ride from the airport. Got to the mission home and barfed discretely in a tiny little bathroom that just had a toilet and a sink.

12. I was Girls’ League President my senior year in high school and was in charge of periodic goofy assemblies. For one of them we did a take-off on the Dinah Shore talk show, but we called it the Shine-a Door show and started off with someone polishing a door.

13. I’ve never seen the movie “Grease” from beginning to end.

14. I was a bottle dancer in Dad’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” when I was about 15. The bottle was glued to the hat and I wore a fake beard.

15. I like tomatoes only if they’re fresh from the garden, and never like them on sandwiches.

16. Once when I was on a date with someone at BYU we were playing arcade games in a movie theater lobby. I stuck my left ring finger all the way into a hole that was on the steering wheel of a race car game and then couldn’t get it out. The nice ladies behind the concession stand tried putting popcorn “butter” on it, but it wouldn’t budge. They finally called the paramedics, who had to saw off part of the steering wheel to get my finger loose. This drew quite a crowd. I told the paramedics I played the piano and to watch the finger. Fun date, huh?

17. I generally prefer the night before a holiday to the holiday itself.

18. During my last two years at BYU I worked in a funny little research center called the “Values Institute” (Institute for Studies in Values and Human Behavior). It was in a little house on the south edge of campus. My typewriter was in the former breakfast nook.

19. I went to Disneyland for the first time at the age of 36.

20. Watching good tap dancers brings tears to my eyes. That’s entertainment!

21. I took tap dancing for one semester at BYU and can still remember about four measures of the dance we learned to “Singin’ in the Rain.” I sometimes have the urge to tap dance in grocery store aisles, which are so wide and shiny and tappable.

22. I also took International Folk Dancing during one summer at BYU. I lost interest part way through and stopped going. I got an “E” (the nice way of saying “F”; it was only half a credit and I figured my GPA could take the hit.)

23. I was afraid of cyclopses when I was little.

24. On my flight home from my mission, leaving Copenhagen airport with mom and dad, the airplane lost an engine during our ascent. It was at that moment during liftoff when you think, “Gee, I hope the plane makes it all the way up.” Right at that moment there was a big “BOOM” and a shudder and the plane kinda…struggled for altitude. A girl across the aisle shouted, “There’s flames coming out of the engine!” Holy cats. We had to turn around and go back and get a different plane, after circling around the ocean a few times to dump fuel. I had large drops of sweat on my palms. Mom and dad seemed surprisingly calm.

25. Charlie Sheen bugs me bad.

26. On my first date with Joe (August 12, 1995) we did the following things: 1) Had dinner at a place called Bubba’s on 45th South and 9th East (it’s not there anymore); 2) drove up to Park City for the hot air balloon festival (it started to rain and we got soaked as we listened to the Oak Ridge Boys); 3) came back to Salt Lake and had pie at the J.B.’s across from the temple; 4) drove out to the airport and walked around the backroads in the dark; 5) went back to my apartment and chatted for a while.

27. Joe proposed to me during a walk at the airport (but not the same walk as in #4 above).

28. I am not a morning person.

29. Neither am I night person.

30. Joe and I had our first discussion about possibly adopting a child over dinner at Su Casa.

31. One of the funnest things I have ever done is march in three “Starlight Parades” when I was living in Portland with my friend Dinah. It was a nighttime parade held in connection with the Rose Festival. We were part of the local public radio station’s “radio marching band." We carried portable radios, all tuned to the same station, and did silly routines as we marched – in front of thousands of cheering people lining the streets. It was so dang goofy and fun.

32. When I moved to Portland when I was 23 I didn’t have a job or a place to live. Just packed up my car and moved. When I got to town I drove around until I saw a “For Rent” sign in a little apartment building – Rena Villa on Vista Avenue. Talked to the landlady, paid her a deposit, and moved in the same day.

33. I took three years of French in college, but most of it was pushed out of my head by Danish a few years later.

34. My Danish is now terrible.

35. I remember reading the word “prostitute” in the newspaper when I was little and asking dad what it meant. It sounded like it would be something bland and political. Imagine my surprise when he cleared his throat and actually gave me the definition.

36. I had a big crush on Freddie Prinze (Sr., of “Chico and the Man” fame) when I was a teenager and was quite upset when he died.

37. As much as I love music, I hardly ever listen to it. Like Barbie, I have plenty of “little tunes” playing in my head all by themselves.

38. I like chips and salsa.

39. I am not a good cook, but make pretty tasty lasagna. I have never cooked a turkey or a roast. Why bother when I’m married to Joe?

40. One of my favorite church callings has been teenage Sunday School teacher for 8 months in the Liberty Ward. Dallin Oaks dropped in on our ward once and came to our class. He even joined in reading a verse of scripture. I’m glad I was prepared that day.

41. The most frequently quoted movies at our house are “Ghostbusters,” “Young Frankenstein,” “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “The Godfather,” and “Raising Arizona.” We can carry on most of our conversations just using lines from these movies.

42. I ate my first Big Mac on a stage band trip to Reno in 1975. I had never tasted anything so delicious (remember I grew up in La Grande).

43. I love the song “Long Way Home” by Supertramp.

44. I’ve had only one migraine headache in my life – a doozy in 1982.

45. I was the relief piano player for a show called "Angry Housewives" in Portland in 1986-87. It played at the old Storefront Theatre and at the time was the longest running play in Portland's history.

Emma's Blessing Day

Emma in her blessing attire

She knows she's cute

Emma and her handlers

Some of the family members in attendance (and how many askew wardrobe items do you count?)

Emma’s blessing day was last Sunday. It was a happy day and Emma looked so pretty in her white dress, new white shoes, and white headband (which didn’t stay on her head the whole time, but that’s okay). Emma squirmed around a good deal during the blessing (batting hands away from her, pulling on Baba’s tie, etc.), but made no untoward screeches and overall did a great job (as did her dad). We had a lot of family members there and it was really a wonderful day for us.

Emma is thriving and healthy and keeps us on our toes. We got a cute gift from a friend – a stuffed koala bear backpack (for Emma) that has a looong tail (some might call it a “leash”…but we’ll just keep telling Emma it’s a tail). She loves wearing her backpack around the house, handing me the tail and allowing me to follow her around. She hasn’t quite figured out why she suddenly stops short from time to time.

Emma has been catching up on her immunizations. She got four shots last Friday and did great (sure, some appropriate, indignant howling occurred, but she recovered quickly and was soon as cheery as could be – in contrast to a month ago when she got her first four shots and tantrumed on the doc’s floor for 15 minutes afterward).

We’re still having fun learning sign language and Emma knows signs for at least 20 words, I’d say. She often uses the signs for “dog,” “eat,” “sleepy,” “cracker,” “cold,” “baby,” “cheese,” “milk,” “bird,” “duck.” She babbles a lot, especially when she’s riding in the car, and I can hear her trying out many different sounds. I love hearing her little voice. I don’t think it’ll be long before the words start coming.

She’s still a great sleeper and usually doesn’t cry when she goes down for naps or to bed, although there is often a lengthy roaming around the crib period before sleep finally hits. And sometimes a limber little leg stretches over the top railing and I can see her starting to pull herself over. She’s not quite there yet, but oh man, she’s going to figure out how to climb out very soon.

The newlyweds, Andy and Kathryn, stayed with us for a couple of weeks post-wedding but were able to move into their married student housing apartment at the U yesterday. Sniff. It was so fun to have them here…we’ll miss ‘em. They claim they’ll be back to visit.

And I keep thinking I’m going to be a better blogger but I keep getting worse at posting….so again, apologies for the long delay between posts. It’s not like we don’t have good material!

Happy 2007 to everybody.