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This morning as I am getting my gym clothes on, Caylee says, "Good Mom. Go work out that belly of yours."

Indignantly I reply, "Where d'you think I got this belly, Caylee?"

Her response, "Food!"

So I must correct her, "OR BIRTHING YOU AND YOUR SIBLINGS!"

***Tyler during this whole exchange? Giggling while brushing his teeth.

What? Where'd May go!

Tonight I stopped by a friend's house to pay my entrance into her Summer Scrapbook Challenge contest. Since I rarely have cash on me, I had to bust out the ancient checkbook and write it out by hand and everything. I know, poor me, right?! Nah, but in doing so, I had to mentally check into the date. Today is May 26. May freakin 26. How is time flying by SO fast?

And yes. I know that when I ask questions like that, it does indeed prove that time is going by because that's what old people say, (old, creaky voice) "Where'd the time go?"

I had honestly thought that I'd be totally on the ball and call my visiting teaching ladies tomorrow, because I didn't want to wait til the end of the month. Uh, guess I blew that since there are only 5 more days in the month and 3 of them are a long weekend. I stink at visiting teaching, which is really too bad, because I have THE best partner and ladies to visit teach AND *Sigh* I can't bake, so it's just an all-around bad scenario.

What really perplexes me is how I can get so little physically accomplished in a day where I am completely busy and the day seems so long, yet it all goes so fast. About a month ago I decided we were going to surrender the toy room, seperate my girls into their own rooms, de-junk the garage, and get rid of the crib so all three boys could be in one room. {Yes, I know, my brother-in-law already pointed out the unfairness of the situation, "So, each of the girls get their own room and the boys all 3 have to share one? Sounds fair." While my sister pointed out the obvious, "They're just going to get messier and stinkier, so leave them all in one room."} Part of all that rearranging was moving all the junk/clutter/treasures into the middle of our living room so I could "go through" it and trash/D.I./re-organize it all before finding a new home for it. It was a beautiful plan, and for the most part, I can claim success in the rearranging and the garage. However, my living room has two long church tables set up and stuff piled all over it. And by stuff I mean old mission letters from Tyler, our school memorabilia, fly-tying stuff, scrapbook/craft goodies amongst so many other unfinished-totally-good-intentions gems. Blech. It has started to goad me when I walk into the room. "Hey Sarah! Look at all this stuff you hoard and can't part with, yet can't muster the strength to toss or pack back away. mwuuuaaaahhhhahahaha!" Too, there's nothing like having people walk into my modge-podge front room and feel like I need to explain the inner garage sale look I have oh-so-deftly designed for our home. Maybe if time stood still I could take care of all it. Maybe.

p.s. I did manage to go through 3 years of magazine subscriptions and pull out the things that I wanted to be able to refer back to in upcoming years . . . so, that is one miniscule pile pulled off the tables. And here's the after product of the boys' room. I think my other pictures are all still on my camera(s).

And to close this totally random (and yes, probably uncool post) here's another way I know time is slipping through my fingers. Tyler just got home from an Elder's Quorum party (which, is also what they call, in our ward, getting together to watch the basketball game and ultimate fighting for 2 hours on a Wednesday night) and was telling me that his youngest [and arguably the most hip] brother, Brandon, was ordering him some kind of knock-off fashion jean. But Tyler couldn't remember the name of them. "Jesus jeans?" he tried. I had NOT heard of those. "Wait, maybe they're called 'Lord' brand or something?" Still hadn't heard of it. And it was then I realized neither of us are young, hip, and savvy enough to know what to even offer as the real name. He finally did remember it was TRUE RELIGION jeans, but you'd think, if we weren't so out of touch, we'd have known that right off the bat. And does that ruin someone's cool factor if they wear knock off jeans? Time will tell, I s'pose.

Where You been all my life. . . or at least the past couple months?

Rewind a couple years ago and envision me HUGE pregnant with Briggs. The Anthem stake (neighboring church zone) was putting on a play called Savior of the World and my high school choir teacher was directing the choir, so I figured there wasn't a better way to gestate than to go sit in an orchestra pit for a couple weeks and sing pretty songs. There were some very lovely people down in the hole and some super talented musicians and by the time it was all said and done, I had checked off another month of my pregnancy.

My kids came to visit rehearsals and peered down at me in the alto section and then watched snatches of the show. Mackenzie, especially, was taken by the whole process and I told her (flippantly) that she could audition the next year. BUT that was last year and we would have missed the way fun Coral Pink trip with the Mohler family, so I was pretty much a liar to my daughter and told her THIS year would be the year for auditions. Annnd, of course, she remembered that was deal, so she tried out.

There are only a couple speaking parts for young girls and Kenzie got a call back with about 15 other pre-teen girls. I figured since adults had to be with the kids, I'd audition for an angel role (which ended up to be fabulously embarrassing and humiliating and a whole 'nother post all together. But does anyone even want to hear that story?). Basically, the night of postings I was a nervous wreck for Kenzie trying to figure how I'd break bad news vs. how we'd properly celebrate good news. [Tyler totally asked for her first autograph when we got the official word she'd been cast as Rebekah . . . sweet daddy!]

So, the past couple months we've been to lots of rehearsals, me and Kenz, and many nights it's been good just to go and sit, waiting for my bit parts (because, yeah, I got pulled onto stage for a couple scenes . . . it was a real pull, too. You know me and the spotlight . . . just dug my heels in ;)) Here's us on the way to our first rehearsal:

The whole experience has been SUPER interesting to me. I've always admired show of the stage, but had NO clue what was involved with "blocking" and preparing a show. One of the most mind boggling aspects is the freakin' LINES and LINES and LINES the actors and actresses memorize. Really. Mad props to them for that work, because not only can they sing and move in the right spots on stage and emote and all that jazz, but they do it well.

First we had rehearsals at a warehouse in Green Valley and then we moved to the Henderson Pavilion (by the multi-gen) to rehearse.

Kenzie's scene is in Act II (she's an angel with me in Act I . . . somewhere in this there's a joke about her calling herself a "perfect angel," but it'd take too long to explain without her sounding completely conceited.)

There's been a lot of ongoing conversation about Savior of the World, especially since it's the 3rd year the show's been produced. There's a lot of angles to look at the play, but I have REALLY learned to appreciate a lot of the show's messages. Tyler said one night (and it kinda hurt my feelings, but it also might be the case), "Savior of the World is only good for the people who are actually IN the show." Because, here's the deal. It's about Christ's birth and then about his resurrection and EVERYONE knows that story (for the most part) and the rest of it's just theatrical interpretations and a lot of blah de blah blah blah with some songs in between. What I've noticed is I have REALLY gotten a lot out of the blah de blah blah blah parts.

Here's a one of my favorite messages: The show starts with the story of Elizabeth and Zacharias (John the Baptist's parents) and there's a song that has the line, "I'll give God forever and then give one day more." Both of them are singing about their particular trial in life [not having children] and it's made me think about my expectations for God's timing. Really, I shouldn't HAVE expectations, but faith. If I trust in HIM, I will be provided for, EVEN when I feel like I've had "enough" faith. It's not like God doesn't know my heart. He does. And I believe whole heartedly that he cares. He wants me to be happy, I believe, and so the trials I face aren't to make me weaker or sadder or less than. It's the continuing faith that will bring me solace through those trials, and my opportunity to continue the faith for 'one day more.' I tend to be a little more impatient with it all. I want Tyler's job to be firm and secure once again without so much effort and so little payback. Have I felt right on the brink a few times of feeling like the past several months have taken 'forever?' Yes. BUT, I can give one day more. I am pressing forward with the faith that the blessings and joys I will have will be equal to that of childless years being blessed with an infant son. (However, I do feel like I should clarify, the Lord's blessing I seek is not in the form of a baby boy. Thanks. I'm set on that. We'll be all good with something a little more appropote to our fam and our trials.)

Here's a couple more pictures of dress rehearsal (mostly of Kenzie's scene):

So, all the rehearsals and practices and conversations about Savior of the World will come to a climax tonight for opening night. IF you'd like to come and watch me and Mackenzie and hear some pretty good talent, go to the website HERE and purchase tickets for $5.00 or you can come sit on the grass for free. The show runs tonight and tomorrow and then next Tuesday through Saturday. I do, too, want to thank (blogly, which is pretty publicly, for all the support that Tyler has given to Mackenzie [and me] while we've been rehearsing. Also part of our entourage has been Grandpa Bruce who's filled in many a nights of babysitting while Mackenzie and I rehearse and Tyler's busy doing church stuff or recovering from his shoulder surgery. It's an inordinate amount of time to be part of a production like this and the families of those on stage really are unsung stars of the whole experience.

P.S. There's no real program for the play with actors' names or anything, so know that my mother-in-law, Dodie, is in the choir (as well as several friends of mine) and a couple friends (holla Jeannie and Shannon) are in the orchestra. Kenz is an angel throughout and in Act II's "apple scene" with some of the apostles. I am making brief appearances here and there as a shopping townsperson, a wedding walker, Tirzah (an Alleluia girl in Act II) and an angel in between. We'll be breakin' a leg, so, again, please come. Let me know if you're coming because you know I'd love to visit with you :)

Spring Break

Why is it that MY Spring Break seriously looks like this:
Clean bathroom cupboards and drawers
Organize coat closet
Scrub kitchen drawers and cupboards
Clean car
Text tball parents about practice
Finish 4th yr. prep for meetings/get out invites
Laundry
Yard work
Shift wardrobes
Install attic access in garage/rearrange garage
Lunch out without kids
Clean grout
Recaulk shower and kids' tub

And my kids' list looks like this:
Playdate
Sleepover
Library
McDonalds
Movies
Playdate
No cleaning
Swimming (what?!)
Play with cousins
Sleepover

And my husbands' looks like this:
Work
Therapy
Eat
Sleep
Sex

hmmmmm.

The open-backed medical gown

It's getting hot in here,
So take off all your clothes . . . and look to the left and cough.
Because now more of you can go get annual check-ups as part of your government-semi-mandated insurance coverage! :)

Ok. So, I have a total personal commentary blog about the health care debate, but I am going to post this one JUST in as simple terms as possible for my sister-in-law, Stacy, a self-proclaimed "not really into the political thing" person, for now, and then post my thoughts afterward. I'm going to type this like I was talking with Stacy.

Alright. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the numbers guys, there are approximately 32 million people living in America without health insurance (that's a little more than 10% of our population). With this new bill 25 million people will be required, by law, to carry some sort of minimal health insurance by the year 2014. By 2016, if you have elected to NOT have medical insurance, you will be fined ($2,085 or no more than 2.5% of your household income as your family's fee.) It's very similar to the idea of auto insurance. The money that the younger, healthier, haven't-really-needed-it-and-never-wanted-to-pay-for-it-unless-I-have-to-and-now-I-have-to generation of medical insured will help offset the costs for those who, under this new bill, CANNOT be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions, amongst other things.

So, out of those 25 million people who HAVE to have medical insurance, 19 MILLION of them will qualify for government subsidies (or financial aid). They figure whether you need a subsidy based on your family size and income (similar to how they figure your taxes.) If you make less money, you get more of a subsidy to help pay for your health insurance. If you make more money, you will get less of a subsidy. It's kinda like a sliding scale. As your income goes up, your help from the government to cover your medical insurance goes down. Now, if you make a bunch of money (over $250,000/year per couple) or are collecting interest and dividends on monies you have, you will pay more taxes on that sitting money AND you will have to pay more for Medicare (Part A [the hospital Medicare]). That's one reason people don't like the plan. If they make more money, they are definitely paying more money into the system for those who DON't make as much money.

The extra taxes and cutting of their Medicare for the wealthy, along with a bunch of other taxes and fees that have been enacted (i.e., new tax on expensive health insurance plans, drug manufacturers, insurance companies, and other smaller fee collections [like a 10% increase on indoor tanning tax. . . lol]) AND government monies that have been cut (like the Medicare Advantage, Home Health cuts, and certain payments to hospitals) will be where they get some of the monies they need to get this health care plan moving. IF you work full time for a company (that is over 50 employees) they must provide health insurance to you. If they don't they will be fined and if they do, but it's not enough and you qualify for a subsidy, then they have to pay into the government system $2000.00/employee for the year (first 30 employees they don't have to pay into the government system, but every full time employee after those 30, it's $2000 bucks into the system.) If they DO pay for some insurance, but it's more than 8% but less than 9.8%, this new bill would require businesses to give their employees insurance vouchers so they could go out into the marketplace to get their own insurance.

OK. SO. The marketplace is probably one of the more radical ideas of this whole concept. Shopping for medical insurance will take place in state-run EXCHANGES where individuals can shop for their family, and become part of a group (kinda like a co-op) that gets a better rate. If I understand right, it's how most of the government officials have gotten their insurance, because they have banded together and made their own bigger group. So, if you're self-employeed, or not making a ton of money, or work for a company with less than 50 employees, you can take your employer voucher or your government subsidy and check out the plans in the exchange and opt for a plan. At least a minimal plan, but each state will have 4 levels to choose from. (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). The insurance companies are now (well, in 2014) to allow the same rates for people inside a plan and for outside a plan and all plans must be "in the interest" of the people. The theory is this bill will inject competition into the medical insurance field, so even the average guy who's been paying for his own insurance can get a better deal on the exchange. The bill also expands the coverage of Medicaid so they can cover more people in the government's program if it's necessary. ALL of the subsidies and appeals about qualification as well as oversight of the state exchanges will be part of the Department of Health and Human Services. It's already a government department, they just got a whole bunch more responsibilities in their laps.

So, when is all this going to happen? Like, SHAZAM? No. The bill was passed by the House, and now the Senate and the House will go back and forth working out the terms. Plus, there's 2 more elections before it's supposed to go into action. One of the reasons people have been upset that this was being "pushed" through was because there's a Democratic majority and so, the chances of it passing were REALLY good, especially since, in these times, most all major decisions are decided by party lines [which I will get more into when I have my say on the next post.] Another reason for people getting more upset is that they're mandating that we HAVE to have insurance . . . [again, later I can talk about that.] There has been some issues (quite a lot, actually) about this new bill allowing money from the federal government to be used to fund abortions. It's one of the reasons why they weren't sure the bill would pass because several of the Democrat representatives wouldn't vote for it UNTIL President Obama signed an executive order specifically stating that no federal monies would be used to fund abortions. What we have now is that there canNOT be any lifetime caps OR annual caps on existing health coverage. SO, if you get really sick, you can't be kicked off your insurance for using up too much money. Children cannot be excluded from insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions and can stay on their parents insurance until they're 26, guaranteed by this bill. Until the "exchange" program is available (in 2014) there will be a temporary "high risk" National plan that's available for some, and a credit available to senior who fell into the "gap" of the Medicare prescription plans. Also, effective immediately, businesses that already offer insurance to their employees will recieve tax credits of up to 50% of their premium costs (that's a big plus to businesses.)

Is this the answer? I do not think it's the complete answer. I can see where there is a lot of wiggle room for the plan to work one way for the good of the people and another for the tighter control by government . . . but that gets all too personally motivated for me, to keep it simple, so I will have to talk about that next.

Hope this helps, Stac.

Clover Clever

I know, right! SHE BLOGS . . . and it's a lousy hair do blog. However, those hairdo's are NOT lousy (nor are the African-ish, as my friend Jennie called them . . . she's just jealous of my mad hair-do skills!) and were completely inspired by my friend Rachel Burnham who is REALLY amazing with the art of doing hair. Really, check out her blog if you're looking to be inspired. These four-leaf clovers (that's the visual you should be getting here, peeps!) took us a bit to complete this morning and once Caylee bemoaned not having her hair all did like Kenzie's, I succombed to the pressure (uh, ok, the thought of both my girls being fawned over for their cuteness is what REALLY got me) and we were a whopping ten minutes late for school. It was a sacrifice considering our stellar on-time record [honestly, no sarcasm in that . . . especially compared to last year], but both girls were happy. Brevin really got the shaft, though. He didn't think his teacher would care that it was his mom's fault because she was doing fancy hair do's on his sisters. Oh well. Get used to it now, buddy.

So, clearly I have not blogged too much. I have had a ton of things to blog about and have REALLY thought of some doosies when I am driving around, but, frankly, when I have time to sit on the computer, I usually watch some dumb reality show on hulu that I have missed since we got rid of the DVR. I know. I am a deep and meaningful person who is making a difference in society. Instead of sharing pearls of wisdom, I am busy catching up on the Real Housewives of New York. I mean, really, do you want to read about my diatribe on the beauty of a car blinker OR know that I am watching the ladies of New York scamper about the Hamptons. I'm sure you understand. In fact, I imagine many of you aren't even READING this anymore because you've gone to hulu.com to watch an episode or 2. ;)

So, I will let you be. Enjoy your St. Patty's day ladies, gents, and leprauchans!

Re-directing Your Course

So, I am sure the 7 of you that still check in on my blog came to find posts of New Year's resolutions, holiday happenings, or funny musings on the life o the Barlows. Sorry to say this post is probably neither, but I do have something to share.

I was a freshman at Chaparral High School in 1991 and my best friend Tiffany Davison and I had lockers a few rows apart from each other on the upper deck of the English/History Hall. It was a prime location (which we probably didn't fully appreciate at the time), but we could easily meet around there and pass notes between class and do a little upper classmen gawking as they walked by to their respective "older" Government or Composition classes. Many a male Cowboy we swooned over from our orange-fenced perch there. It's where I was first introduced to a tall red-head kid named John Abbott. Tiff had a crush on him for a second, but at that stage of soaking-it-all in, I was placing names with faces like crazy.

And that was pretty much the beginning of my introduction to the Abbott family. The Abbotts lived in our stake and as my world expanded in high school, I realized John Abbott had a really big family and wonderful parents. Garth Abbott, his dad, was gregarious and fun and loving and LOVED his family. Sister Abbott, was SO kind and jovial and loving and busy (again, big family!) Those are my impressions and remembrances of my interactions with the two of them. They were one of the couples of periphery influence on me. They were ALWAYS a good example to me. Later in high school, my senior year boyfriend was best friends with another Abbott boy, Jason, who was a good friend to me and my sister. Many a memory I have with Jason, and his good-natured, fun-loving self is also a testament to his parents' love and example, I think.

Over Christmas break, I got word that Garth was diagnosed with a really aggressive form of male breast cancer and the prognosis was bleak. The Abbott family's scope of influence has been wide and abundently good, and before long, their daughter-in-law (Rachelle, who interestingly enough, I got to know a little bit as our paths would cross as new Clark County English teachers and at the office of the OB/GYN while we were always pregnant at the same time together) began a fund-raising blog to help raise funds to start Garth on the much-needed chemotherapy that he needs.

See, (and this is the part, where, since it's my blog, I can speak freely) Garth Abbott has no health insurance. Because of that, they won't treat him. In THIS country??? Really? Well, yeah. [I'll leave it at that.] Rachelle speaks about this issue on her blog (as well as a really good description of Garth's situation) and it's summed up with he will not receive treatment until they can cash pay some of his expensive treatments. Since I can relate with the don't-really-have-that-kind-of-money-sitting-around predicament, I have been really touched at the outpouring of support and auction items up for bid (at last count I saw there was almost 100). This auction is short and it's really all about helping Garth and his family. And I can relate with that too. Who wouldn't want to help a brother, dad, son, husband, grandpa?

I have added a ScrapFest registration to the auction and hope that will be a small help. And I have made a bid on a Valentine's basket (because y'all know I'm not a good baker!), but there is a great need for a lot more traffic onto the blog. I'm hoping some of you who read this and can, will go pay a visit and find something that strikes your fancy. Then bid, or donate to the bank account. EVERY bit will help.

Here's your next stop on the internet: HELP SAVE GARTH ABBOTT!!!

Thanks peeps . . . this is what makes the internet such a blessing!