I'll sleep on the bus all the way to the beach.

I'd like to feel the sand between my toes.

The beach is ALWAYS nice.

You just found a bus pass on the ground. It'll get you somewhere within 50 miles and back – where do you go?

I really don't care as long as I can...

...Fly something...a fighter jet for the Navy, a helicopter for the Army, Air Force One, a super star destroyer for the Marines (you didn't know they had those?)...as long as it leaves the ground.

I'd LOVE to be a pilot!

If you were drafted into the military but could pick your branch, which would you choose?

I'd like to eat Bassett's Allsorts well into old age.

Lately, no one is selling these in my town and I'm sad, sad, sad.

It would have to be Bassett's Allsorts. Especially the chocolate ones. I also like the coconut ones...mmmm. I'd probably give away all the ones covered in nonpareils at Halloween to unsuspecting kids(can you tell I don't like those ones?) but keep the rest for myself!

You've just won a lifetime supply of candy! Which type do you pick?

'The Book of Mormon' is true.

Did you know that The Book of Mormon mentions Jesus Christ every 1.7 verses?

I've learned so much about the Savior's atonement from 'The Book of Mormon'.



For example, Alma 7:11-12 some of my favorite verses -



"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.



"And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."



Knowing that Jesus suffered for all my pain and sorrow, as well as for my sin, comforts me and gives me hope.

I'll take a tattoo of a big heart JUST for a week

A big "Amy loves Stan" kind of thingy with hearts and flowers and ribbons and birds - you know what I mean - right across the small of my back. And, no, I'd never get one permanently. I think I'd feel like I was never totally clean and completely naked and that would be a bummer!

If you could get any tattoo for just a week, what would it be?

Rhumba, Tango, Waltz!

Stan and I just signed a contract with our local Arthur Murray studio and 8 days before our next lesson, I broke my back. Right now, dancing is the last thing on my mind, but by my next birthday, the brace I have to wear and my worries about healing should be well behind me.

With my muscles limbered up, a few more lessons under our belts and my sparkly silver dancing shoes back on my feet, we should be ready to dance the night away!

What would you like to do on your next birthday?

You just HAVE to listen to 'I Dig your Wig'.

I <3 The Ben Vaughn Combo.

I Dig your Wig by The Ben Vaughn Combo

M-Motor Vehicle by The Ben Vaughn Combo

Jerry Lewis in France by The Ben Vaughn Combo

Name three songs by the same artist that you'd recommend to someone who's never heard them.

I'd say the cat.

The house cats that wander in to my backyard are much more brazen than the shy Cooper's hawk we only see occasionally...

Animal face-off! Who would win in a fight between a house cat and a hawk?

I used to wish I was named "Victoria", because...

...it seemed so exotic. It had so many syllables! So many letters!

Now, I appreciate my given name - Amy - short, sweet and to the point!

Describe a childhood fantasy of yours.

I would give them a case of Nutella to take back with them.

I wouldn't have to explain once they tasted it :)

Aliens have landed! They're friendly, though – they want one idea to take back to their planet.

'The Wizard of Oz' terrified me.

Her green skin made it worse!

I still remember hiding behind the seats in the movie theater and whimpering until she went away...I think I was about four.

Name a movie that frightened you.

I don't get young girls dressed like pop stars.

What are their parents thinking!?!

I just don't understand why parents dress their young daughters in an overtly sexual way, or even why the let their older daughters dress themselves that way. Don't they want them to develop who they are on the inside instead of focusing so much on the outside?

I am trying to teach my daughters that their value lies in their character and intellect, rather than their lust-inducing powers. Every girl has that ability, but it shouldn't be where she gets either attention from others or her own self worth.

I think every time a woman uses her sexuality to get ahead instead of true merit, she objectifies and thus diminishes all women a little bit. And all those little bits add up to a lot.

What's something you can’t understand no matter how hard you try?

Once my powers of invisibility kick in, I'm heading to the beach.

I'd make any beach a nude beach, but only for invisible people...

...because I really hate tugging at swimsuits, but feel too shy to swim in the nude...at least with the possibility of spectators :)

Oh boy, you have invisible powers! Where's the first place you go?

Are you kidding?

A comedy, duh! With seven kids, five chickens (make that six with the one that wandered in from the neighbor's yard), a rabbit, a guinea pig, and a turtle - what else could it be? Although we do have some teen angst inspired drama occasionally...

If your life were made into a movie, what genre would it be?

I wish I could have gone with Thor Heyerdahl on an expedition.

I went to a lecture he a gave a couple years before he died at one of the Smithsonian Museums. I loved seeing one of the heroes of my youth in person!

What famous people have you seen in real life?

Point the getaway car to to Stan!

I'm sad and lonely - my sweetheart is out of town :(

All I'd need to spend it on would be room service!

The getaway car is waiting outside – where is it taking you?

What should I sell - lingerie or beads?

Maybe I'd have both!

I'd love to have a store...

I would either sell beads, because I could buy so many (but would I be able to sell them - that is the question) or lingerie.

I'd love to have a classy lingerie store where a girl would feel comfortable going to shop (it would be tasteful) and where she could take her hubby, too (I wouldn't have huge pictures of scantily clad women). I went to one once (in Las Vegas of all places) and it was so nice. The proprietor of Le Boudoir Boutique told me it was a lingerie shop for women. What a concept!

So, that's what I'd do in my own town. I'd have a lingerie store with class. It would be so fun :)

If you owned a store, what would you sell?

I'd love to hear the Sermon on the Mount.

I would love to see Jesus when He lived on the earth and hear a sermon of His.

I've often wondered what He really looked and sounded like.

You can time travel! What year or era do you visit?

The Staten Island Ferry is the best people-watching spot in the universe.

The ferry is where I met my biggest high school crush,

so maybe I am biased.

It has the perfect combination of seeing the same people every day and having fresh faces to gaze upon.

Romance, drama, sea breezes, foreign tourists, the Statue of Liberty, a snack bar...

the Staten Island Ferry has it all.

What's your favorite place to people-watch?

I can't travel without a good book...hey, even a bad book

Hey, kid, can I borrow that Fablehaven book when you are done?

I can't abide airports without something to read. All the lines, all the waiting...people watching can only take me so for before I am begging for something to read. The only problem with solving my boredom with a book is that it is tempting to get a quick book fix at other times I am bored...like red lights. Honk, honk!

P.S. the Fablehaven books definitely fall in the "good read" category!

What do you have to have with you when you travel?

The reason I NEED so many pairs of shoes...

...is to express complexity.

Today I wore running shoes most of the day while I ran (albeit in the car) kids all over town. As the mother of seven darlings, I do a lot of running.

But then...this evening, I put some heels on and went out on the town with my hubby/boyfriend and was anything but matronly.

Right now, I am winding down, relaxing and...barefoot.

Maybe I don't wear different shoes to exhibit to others as much as I wear shoes to help me keep track of what is going on and where I am supposed to be in all the craziness!

If the shoes make the man (or woman), what do your shoes say about you right now?

Hey, camera, when are you going to pull some weight around here?

My Pentax K1000 is the most useless thing in my house right now. It was my first "big" purchase. I took it to Israel as an exchange student. I took the first pictures of my first few babies with it!

Bu..u..t, ever since I bought a digital camera and gave up those trips to Walmart to pick up my pictures, I haven't looked back. I'll never use it again, but I can't, can't, cannot sell it, give it away, or give it up!

What's the most useless thing in your house right now?

Oh, for three more hours...

...to make strawberry jam! I have eight pounds of ripe strawberries in the fridge calling my name, but the bills (and being distracted by my weekly Plinky, OBVIOUSLY) is more urgent. Bummer.

There's never enough time, is there? What would you do with an extra three hours today?

I dress my feet to impress.

I don't know why (because I am taller? because I feel more polished?) but whenever I want to feel put together and impressive all over, I wear heels...preferably SANDALS with heels to show off my most recent pedicure creation.

Describe (or show) what you wear when you're trying to impress.

The Giant Jam Sandwich is...

...a wonderful book! It has everything - danger, intrigue, strawberry jam!

I used to read this to my eldest daughter so often (we both loved it) that I would start the rhymes on each page and, at age two, she would finish them.

I read it to my seventh child now and still have it almost memorized.

Name a children's book that makes you nostalgic.

I demand a clean and freshly painted house.

I am a simple girl. I don't need gobs or cash or loads of power. I would love to have a spotlessly clean, from top to bottom, house. I would insist that all the papers in my "to figure out what to do with pile" be handled and every speck of dust be excised. I want the kitchen counters redone and the popcorn ceilings removed. Please (or I'll never let the prisoners go) wash, iron, and while you are at it, starch my curtains!

Give us your unreasonable demands.

'The World of Mr. Mulliner' is Wodehouse at his best.

I read these out loud and loved ones laugh so hard they cry.

What's so funny? Everything - snakes snuck into beds, golf matches to NOT win the girl, stuttering bullies and Hollywood starlets gone insane on the Orange Juice Diet.

This was my first of many books by P.G. Wodehouse and will always be my favorite. In the introduction, the author writes, "I must warn my public that in 'The World of Mr. Mulliner' I am writing as funny as I can, and I can only hope that there will be no ill results."

Recommend a book to someone who needs a good laugh.

Tuesday Musings #28

What is your worst public restroom experience?

I KNOW I have a ton of public bathroom post traumatic stress syndrome, but I have been thinking about it for almost a week and couldn't remember any specifics.

Luckily for all my faithful readers, I like to blog about the crazy things that go on around here and I was able to search the archives and find the perfect answer for Tuesday Musings, March 10 edition.

Happy Reading!

I, or in other words...

...Incredibly Optimistic About Finishing Sewing Projects, keep buying fabric and patterns! Why, why, why do I keep piling up more ideas (with supplies to go with them) when I KNOW I never sew unless I have some kind of unavoidable deadline?
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By the way, which Sunday is Easter this year?

If you were named based on your traits, habits, or likes, what would your name be?

Sharkola

When I am near a wild bear, I am slightly nervous. When I encounter a wild shark, I am terrified.

Animal face-off! Who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark?

Tuesday Musings #27

Write about one of your memorable high school teachers.

I had an unmemorable (Mr. Who?) Social Studies teacher in 10th grade with a weirdly memorable habit...well, let me back up. I went to high school in the eighties. BIG hair was in. I didn't have big hair which was one of many reasons I was not Miss Popularity, but my lack of big hair served me well in my 10th grade history class. I sat in the front row, right next to a girl who had big hair, not super big, but she obviously spent some time in the mornings with her can of Aqua Net to get that eighties look. Here, let me show you an example of what I mean by "eighties look". This picture is not from my yearbook since I am too lazy to go downstairs and get it, but it could be.

So anyway, you get the picture, me with my small hair, the aisle between our desks, then her with her big hair. That spot, right between our desks was our teacher's favorite place to stand and talk. We were kind of front and center, so I can see why he chose that spot...but...still to this day I can't understand why he felt compelled to put one of his hands on the top of each our heads during his entire lecture!!! I guess the NYC Dept of Ed was too stretched to buy the guy a lectern, so he made due with two students' poor beleaguered craniums.

The other thing I don't understand is why neither of us ever told him to stop. If I had a psychoanalyst, that would be the first question I'd ask him or her!

I wasn't the only one who was scarred by the experience. When my big haired friend signed my yearbook two years after the class was over, she wrote, "Remember Mr. So and So's class and how we always left with flat hair?"

Tuesday Musings #26

Last week's topic was birthdays. I had a birthday this past week. I turned forty. I thought it was kind of funny because a few people called to wish me a SAD birthday. Not literally. They actually said"Happy Birthday", but then, in a commiserating tone of voice, asked me how I was doing and...if I was okay.

I don't mind turning forty. I think it is kind of cool - the turn of a decade and everything. It does provide for some reflection.

One of the the people I have been reflecting on is Jennifer Aniston.

She turned forty the same week that I did.

I am infinitely more happy to be myself than I would be to be her and I am fairly certain that she wouldn't want to trade places with me, but what about everyone else?

I wonder if you gave women around the planet a chance to choose between her life and mine which they would pick?

Just in case anyone is waffling, here is a run down* of the two choices.

*Disclaimer - most of these (on the JA side) are just wild guesses. The last thing I have time to do is troll the internet gossip world to find alleged facts.

me - seven kids
JA - seven bagillion dollars

me - a four bedroom house
JA - four houses

me - a pile of laundry
JA - a team of stylists

me - a secondhand rodent
JA - purebred dogs

me - a housekeeping list
JA - a housekeeper

me - a gorgeous husband
JA - ?

Tuesday Musings #25

If money were not an issue and you had a full time caretaker, what would be your dream pet?

This is such an easy answer for me - a horse!

I'd LOVE a horse.

Ever since I took that horsebackriding class in college I have loved horses - the way they look, the way they sound, the joy of riding, the pleasure of grooming a horse. I even like the way they smell. The hardest thing would be choosing the color - Buckskin or Dapple Grey? Strawberry Roan or Palomino?

Oh wait, money is no object, right? I guess I'll get them ALL. I think I'd like the Dapple Grey to be an Arabian and I'd also get a rare Palomino Thoroughbred. I'd throw in a draft horse just for fun, how about a Friesian. And Shetland Ponies for each of the kids under ten, Pintos for the older girls. Then, I'd get this mansion to keep them in (the kids and the horses). Wow, that would be fun :)

Tuesday Musings #24

If anyone reads these, maybe you have noticed they have been few and far between. I actually suggested the group take a break (which most of us were doing anyway) until the 1 st of the year, and then, we'll see. This is a picture I sent out as our last topic and I am in a writing mood tonight, so...


..what this makes me think of is riding a horse. Doesn't that look like a lovely place to jump over the fence and ride through the trees, with cool, moist air rushing through your hair?

Is there any other relationship with an animal that is so close as the one you have when you ride a horse? Maybe I just think that because that has been my experience. I have never had a dog or cat, but I have been on a horse all day long rounding up cattle in Wyoming. I have gotten to know a different horse, during a horsebackriding class (PE!) in college. I brought him into the barn every morning we had class, before dawn, brushed him down, saddled him and learned to ride. I got to know Snowshoe well enough to understand his strengths and weaknesses and love him for them.

I am fascinated by the communication you can have with an intelligent animal and the pleasure of accomplishing something together.

Tuesday Musings #23

Post, 1st-a baby picture, 2nd- a junior high or high school picture, 3^rd a picture of you now!

Well, I had these montages already in my photo file, so you get four for the price of one on the first two. The first set is baby to about age four. The second set starts in middle school and goes into high school. The last one is a picture my friend Linda took about 6 years ago - is that close enough to now? As you can see, my goofy smile hasn't changed even though the rest of me has :)