Happy Birthday Paige!

Today is Paige's 17th birthday! She is the baby of the family and I can't believe she is getting to be so old. Some of my favorite memories about Paige :

• One of her first words was Jessi
• Watching movies/Freaks & Geeks/Arrested Development/Intervention on Sunday nights
• Going to concerts together...I especially remember the Big Ass Show from 2003 when we missed half of the AFI set because of stupid Eve 6. Also, I thought she had been trampled in the mosh pit...turns out she was fine, but lost a shoe.
• Displace Me 2007: "No, the cows do not eat the roots of the grass!"
• Texting into the wee hours of the night
• Knowing she will never judge me

Remember when she had black hair and was obsessed with AFI?

Her favorite things to do: sleep and talk on the phone




She's kind of a messy eater...



She likes to take self-portraits





She always makes me laugh

I love you Paige!! Happy Birthday!

Weekend Update

I had a fabulous weekend! My sister Aimee, her boyfriend Jack and my nephews were in town from Dallas. I hadn't seen them since October...it's so hard to have them live so far away.  We started off with lunch at Pat's BBQ.  SO good!  Jack said it even rivaled Texas BBQ so if you enjoy lots of meat (and who doesn't??) it's highly recommended.

Braden enjoyed his rib


Aimee and Macklin


Auntie J and Braden


The rest of the day we hung out in the sunshine, dug some holes and ate graham crackers.






Spiderman made an appearance and helped plant some seeds


Later I took Aimee and Jack out to Murphy's to meet some of my friends.

Me, Aimee, Jack, Monty


Some of you may remember my old friend Ryan! He was in town from Austin for a wedding. I missed him! We're still BFF after all these years...


Aimee hadn't seen Ryan in years...this is how she shows her love


Even Scottie dropped by and graced us with his presence


Jack sandwich


Mont did a nice impression of Ryan


Here's his impression of Sonny from a few weeks ago. Monty will have to be his proxy since Sonny was lame and went home early to go to bed.


Ry tired to fix my hair...a bit too edgy for me


Mabe and Les


Monty and Allen have become really close since that one night at Sound


Friday afternoon we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Jack had never really seen big mountains and he was impressed!

Mack made a snow angel


Aimee and Jack


Me and Aimee


Friday night was the Jazz game and they kicked the Spurs' asses!


Saturday afternoon we went bowling. When Macklin says his nightly prayers he has asked God very politely to let him go bowling so we had to go!


Paige had the distinction of having the lowest score the first game and the highest score the second game


Braden tried to bowl, but the ball weighed more than he does


Later I was off to Ryan's niece's wedding. I had to go all the way to Utah County and reception was outside on the damn rooftop! But I got to dance later so I was ok with it.

Ryan and me


Ry and his sister Allison


This could be our family if we were still together like it was 1995


I dragged Ry out to the dance floor and he was not amused 


Brunch and family party on Sunday

Auntie J and Braden


Mack


Mack made some Spiderman brownies


Paige and Mack


My mom showing the boys how to bust a move


Mack self-portrait


Braden

Hello, My Name is Jessica and I'm an Addict

It's official, I have a problem. I'm addicted to Arrested Development. Lesley and Sonny have been after me for months to watch it and I impulsively bought the first season last week. Bad move. Like my good friend Smokey Robinson says, a taste of honey is worse than none at all. Now it's all I can think about and I had to run out and buy the next 2 seasons so I could stop the shakes from withdrawal.  The good news is I will now be able to follow conversations between Lesley and Sonny without feeling like an idiot, since I will get all of their jokes. Also, I think I might be in love with Will Arnett...Amy Pohler better watch her back!

Fear of Sleep

It's back. My dreaded insomnia has returned. I wish I could say I did something useful or productive with all this extra time on my hands. Maybe organize my closet, clean out my cupboards or just do the dishes. No, I like to torture myself. I decided that I should clean out my e-mail and I ran across some old shit. Bad idea. Add to this mess a sad mix I made awhile back. For some reason I made this cd thinking I would need to listen to every song that has ever made me cry. It's worse than the Sad Bastard mix I made 4 years ago! Another bad idea...I never learn. Bad ideas seem to be a pattern of mine. Remember this post from December?

Back to e-mail. Most of my inbox was easy to archive or delete. It was the starred e-mails that got me. Most people use stars to keep track of really important stuff: travel plans, deadlines, addresses. Not me. Apparently, I only reserve stars for e-mails about heartache, bad decisions and inappropriate behavior. I'm a sentimental person by nature, but why do I think I need to re-live these things?? Some of my favorite lines I came across (some are from my replies):

• It pisses me off that it pisses me off.
  
• As usual, I got caught up in my emotions. (A version of this statement is in several e-mails from me. I'm so predictable.)
  
• I'm sorry that I have hurt you in the past and caused so much pain.
  
• Why am I even friends with him? I get NOTHING from him. 
  
• I am a different person than I was 6 months ago; perhaps you have changed too.
  
• Please know this had nothing to do with you or anything you've done.
  
• We were good together, I think I just let my idea of who I thought you should be get in the way.
• No need to apologize for anything (I’m as guilty as you, if not more so).
• He sounds like a sex addict to me, gurl.

So now I'm dreading getting into bed because I know I'll just toss and turn until the sun comes up. Maybe I'll chant my new mantra as I try to drift off to sleep: live AND learn, live AND learn, live AND learn!