My British Invasion

It's official: The Brits have conquered my summer, and their victory has nothing to do with the London Olympics Games that officially started today.

This is is not my first Anglo-fied summer vacation. Since moving to my cute little cowtown, my free minutes between school stuff, Relief Society stuff, Institute stuff, library stuff, and family stuff have been filled with Colin Firth movie marathons and my yearly rereading of the Harry Potter series.

But this summer has been different.

My own personal British invasion started before the school year ended when my dear pal Val and I decided to end a fabulous girls-night-out with a DVD she had borrowed from a former kidlet.

We were just going to watch one episode of Downton Abbey... and four episodes later, somewhere around 1 a.m., we were still cheering on Mr. Bates and chastising Lady Mary from our perches on my couch. (What do you think, Val? Is it too late to give Bonnie some extra credit for the use of her dvd's?)

But the upstairs, downstairs drama of of Downton was only the first wave of attack, the infiltrating force that softened up my already squishy start-of-summer brain.

The real shock and awe campaign came when I bought Homely the 2nd season DVD's of Sherlock. He and my mother insisted I watch the first season with them and, only one 90-minute episode in, I knew I was a goner. Nothing else on TV could compare.

At least, nothing on American TV...

Since watching all six Sherlocks (They only film three every 18 months! That is three episodes every year and a half! Not getting any new Sherlocks until the Spring of 2013 might be grounds for a replay of key revolutionary war battles!), I have relinquished control over my precious little free time to the BBC. I have surrendered to the accent. I have capitulated to the dry wit. My short supply of summer free time has been completely given over to British TV.

Val (I'm beginning to think she might be on the British payroll) recommended a very clever show about a doctor with a fear of blood (I think the character must have been based on one of my British relatives).

And then my sister got me hooked on the campiest, silliest show in the universe. I only started watching Doctor Who because the co-creators of Sherlock act in  and/or write for The Doctor, but it has earned my love and respect on its own since then. I watched the first season on my Kindle while I sat in the baking sun and soaking rain during the library book sale, so I kind of feel like The Doctor and Rose saved me right along with all of those other clueless earthlings.

I am trying to get as many episodes watched as I can before school starts, but it is kind of difficult to make progress when I want to go back and rewatch my favorite episodes. I am anticipating a lot of late nights come the middle of August. And perhaps the use of a few sick days come September...

Of course, once I make it though all of seasons of Doctor Who, I will still have to wait until spring of 2013 to get a new Sherlock fix, so hustling through might not be in my best interest. I may have to spend Thanksgiving break in Washington so that Charlotte,  my dearest darling mission companion who lived in England while earning her masters degree can educate me on BBC-detox procedures.

Anyway... if you catch me humming "God Save the Queen" or pricing plane tickets to Cardiff, don't be surprised.  Of course, if you hear me speaking with an English accent at any time, feel free to slap me.

Aunt In Absentia

Normally by this point in the summer, I would have been to see my Utah niblets at least three times.
Water guns would have been purchased,  snow cones would have been consumed, Harry Potter movies would have been rewatched, wii games would have been played, and another doughnut garden might even have been planted.

But this hasn't been a normal summer and I have only been to see Jenny and John's kids once... the week after school got out.

I have been an absentee aunt, but for good reason.

 In  case you haven't noticed, this is an election year, so limited contact between Jenny and I is in the best interest of everyone living within shouting distance of my sister's home.

We tend to disagree about political things at a loud volume, before apologizing in our own special ways. I forgive her for being unreasonable by buying her children Nerf weapons and DVD's full of fart jokes. She forgives me for being obstinate by making sure that the evening meal contains the one food guaranteed to give me hives.

Ha ha! Just kidding! It being an election year has nothing to do with my lack of visits.

I mean, sure... Jenny and I do disagree (sometimes violently) about most things political, but that happens every year.  I don't need a political calendar to give her kids weapons and movies heavy on bodily function humor, and she doesn't need a special occasion try to poison me (I like to think that bit is more of a subconscious thing, though).

No, the real reason I have only been to visit once this summer is because this summer has been abnormally busy, for me and for Jenny's family. I have therefore been forced to preform my auntly duties from afar... most recently in the form of personalized CD's for my three oldest nephews.

Bentley, Maxwell, and Jonah listening to their CD's. Photo courtesy of their mama's cell phone.

Bentley ( a.k.a Bent, Bent-el-bee, Yeltneb), is a hip, modern kind of kid. His CD has music as popular as he is and includes Stereo Hearts (Gymnclass Heros), Fine By Me (Andy Grammar), Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen) and his favorite We Are Young (Fun). I also included a couple of Weird Al songs that his mother finds annoying, The Saga Begins and Ode to a Superhero.

Maxwell (a.k.a Max, Max-Pax, Max-Wax) is more of a old school, classically quirky type of guy. His playlist includes We Will Rock You (Queen), New Shoes (Paolo Nutini), Kung Fu Fighting (Cee-Lo Green), and his favorites Drift Away (Uncle Kracker) and Collision of Worlds (Brad Paisley/Robbie Williams). Max claims that his momma doesn't disapprove of any of the 12 songs on his CD, which is sooooooo unlike me. Sorry Max, I dropped the ball this time, but I will do better with the next CD.

Jonah (a.k.a. Joe, Joe-Bo, Scooter) was trickier to soundtrack because he lives and breaths all things animal. I had to do a bit of Googleing, but now Joe jams out to Fly Like an Eagle (Seal), Crocodile Rock (Elton John), Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon), Hound Dog (Elvis), and a few more, including his favorites The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Tokens), and Eye of the Tiger (Survivor). His non-mom-approved ditty is Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey (Lou Monte) which I thought I was being nice including instead of Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer.

Ruby (a.k.a Rube, Rubi-Star, Her Royal Highness the Queen of Everything) and Milo (a.k.a. The Baby) didn't get CD's this time. If Ruby were to develop a sudden interest in music, her CD would be pretty easy to put together: either a Brittany Spears Greatest Hits collection, or just perhaps just her ode to flirting Ooops I Did It Again twelve times on the same CD. Milo would be trickier. He enjoys backhoes, going to Target with Mama, and not wearing clothes, so what kind of music would he like? Ray Stevens The Streak, perhaps?

Maybe I should wait until after November to make any more CD's? By then I should have a better idea of what I can get away with.

In the meantime, these links are for you Jenny!

I love your guts!

In Memorandum

Last week, my laptop died.

It was a dismal and distressing development, but not completely unexpected.

Poor Speed was getting on in years and had been showing signs of impending system failures for the 11 or 12 months. He was whirring and clicking and grinding and making all sorts of other pitiful noises. And despite his name, Speed had slowed, dragging his feet on the simplest of tasks.

But even after observing (and quietly lamenting) all of those symptoms, I was still in denial about the eventual end result of his issues. I made sure the most important of my photos were safe, but dropped the ball on backing up the other things that he had been hanging onto for me. Hence the dismay and distress mentioned previously.

Thank heaven for my natural propensity for pack-ratted-ness.

 It was bad enough losing my recipe files and my three year collection of ward conference talks, but I would be a basket case if I hadn't kept hard copies of my 2 1/2 years worth of Sunday school handouts and five semesters worth of institute lessons.

I have always felt that my worksheet hording habit was one of my more endearing qualities, but this is the first time it has actually paid off in a tangible way. Yeah me!

Speaking of my endearing qualities, you may have noticed that I have a tendency to name inanimate objects. For example: my car (Bling) , my blender (Juan) , my tv (Phil) , my camera (Tina) , the yearbook camera (Chad) , my ice cream freezer (Rose) , and a variety of other inhabit my home, my classroom, and my life.

 It's endearing, right?  In a cute and quirky and not at all in need of shock therapy kind of way.
I promise.  And you have to admit that Speed was a great first name for a laptop with the Surname of "Acer". A crazy person wouldn't be able to come up with something as clever as that.

At least, that is what Rose the ice cream freezer was saying over the weekend. And Rose has never been one to sugar coat things. She is very pragmatic and strait forward, almost to the point of being cold hearted.

Unlike Dante, who tends to be a bit more hot headed. Yep. Not crazy at all.

For a day or so, I thought I could make due with Dante to meet the majority of my Internet and computing needs. But I was wrong. Turns out that writing talks, preparing institute presentations, typing book sale info, working on lesson plans, putting together end of course assessments, and blogging all require an actual computer. (But don't worry, Dante. You and I will always have Where's My Water? and my Atolia novels.) So I spent money that I didn't have (Who needs new school clothes? It's not like appearances matter AT ALL in a junior high setting) and got myself a rebound laptop.

And for my sweet mother who was wondering how Hamish came by that particular moniker....

I also have a tendency to fixate on things, especially during the summer. Endearingly quirky, right?  At least that is the story I am sticking to until school insurance covers electro shock therapy. And even then, I will probably name the shock therapy machine.

History Repeating...

I spent the last few days hanging out at the homestead, celebrating my mother's favorite holiday: The 4th of July. And as everyone we have ever met assembled on my parents front lawn for the parade, I started having some flashbacks to my childhood. And because I can't afford therapy, I decided to blog about it.

My parents have lived in this house for thirty-something years, and every year my dad has run the Scout Camp/Girls Camp snow cone fundraiser from our driveway. All six H kids served time as snow cone sales people, and this year the torch was passed to the next generation as Warren introduced Kenna to the fine art of snow cone selling.

While I was trying (unsuccessfully, it turns out) to find photos of the original H kids selling snow cones, I found some other old photos that correlated to this weekend's activities.

For example, I found this photo of Spencer and Mikey (and Warren) cuddled up taking a snooze. This past week, Spence and Mikey and their very understanding brides spent the holiday in NYC... sharing a hotel room. History repeating itself once again!

And then there was this photo of Greg napping on the couch. And no, it wasn't taken at Christmas time. I'm not sure why the santa hat is there...

Which mirrors this photo of Greg sleeping in the same living room on a different couch (but possibly still wearing spider man undies) this week. Tradition!

And speaking of Greg and traditions, here he is getting ready to set off for his first day of school.

Yesterday, my parents sent him off to school again... this time so he can get back to his job at the BYU bookstore.

Greg should be pretty used to being shipped off by now...

...but at least this time he got to ride in style on the shuttle instead UPS ground shipping.

The theme of the 2012 4th of July Holiday: The more things change...

... the more they stay the same.