Justin's Before and After

Clair wrote for Justin:


"OH WAIT! I totally have another one. It might be against the rules to submit a second one, but this one is too good not to share. This is my masterpiece. For Halloween 07, Justin and I went as rockers and it was up to me to come up with the outfit and transform my husband into the hunky rock star that he could be. I used the lead singer of Green Day as my inspiration. The best part was spending 20 minutes putting tons of eye makeup on my husband. Quite an experience! lol".


BEFORE:





AFTER:

Robin's Before and After:

Robin wrote:

"Thanks for the email and the challenge. This reminds me I still haven’t sent out our Christmas cards. Attached is what we were attempting to send. Maybe I still will. So I just wanted to share a Kendall family update. On January 17th Devon and Jaimee received their mission calls. Devon to Florida Orlando Mission Spanish speaking and Jaimee to California Ventura Mission Spanish speaking. They both reported to the MTC on April 2nd. What a fun time to prepare two missionaries to serve. They spent their 2 months in the MTC in the same district, with Devon as District Leader. I prayed that would go well. They have been in the field one week now and both are very excited and happy. We are too. Needless to say our house got quiet very quickly. I loved cruising through your blog to see your adventures. I’ll see what I come up with on your challenge. Robin"

AFTER:

Tanya's Before and After

Tanya wrote (stolen from her blog):

AFTER (as quoted from her blog):

"Magic Blanket Challenge
So, a while back, a friend of mine gave a challenge. You can read about the challenge here. She was one of my companions in the mission field and is definitely someone I look up to. She is awesome and a great friend!

Anyway, this post is way overdue. But, one of the things I've accomplished that I'm very proud of is our emergency plan. Our ward has been talking about being prepared for a while and at New Years, when I was home for Christmas, we had put together a 3 day emergency food storage. However, we still didn't have anything for emergency or have a plan. So, finally, I sat down and we bought an emergency pack that was made for 2 people and created our emergency plan. Basically, it just lists what each person is responsible for grabbing and where it is if we need to evacuate the house.

The next step in our emergency preparedness is gather all the important documents and contact information together. Hopefully I can get that done soon. You can never be too prepared.

Well, part of the challenge was suppose to take a before and after picture. However, I think it's okay if I don't post a before picture. Once I take some pictures of our emergency packs, I'll post it.

Thanks Suzanne for the great challenge! Also, it's definitely a fun challenge and you should all do it."

Tracey's Before and After

Tracey wrote:

"I have a great one, just don't know how to get a picture of it and I have been working on it for years and years . Actually, it is the project's fault that MY closet is a shambles, a total mess and disaster. It is this projects fault that I am completely unable to imagine a clean garage. It is this projects fault that I jump from one "have to do it today" project to another rather than being carefully organized and doing things at a well-planned pace so that all is done in its most opportune time.

BEFORE 1996 I had lots of time to do all those great things AND I did my hair and wore matching CLEAN clothes everyday!

AFTER 2006, and six children later, I am lucky to sneak a peek at my hair before someone yells that they almost made it to the toilet on time and aren't I proud of them. "There isn't too much in my pants" is supposed to send me to unreachable levels of joy. I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed to say that those words actually DO bring me joy immeasurable.


Anyway, hope you are laughing.....I am sure that project will also be the reason that I don't accomplish something fantastic for your fun challenge.

The blanket story was great!

Love you - Tracey"



Later Tracey sent me the following, after I begged her for a family picture:



"My Dear Friend -
You are under no obligation to put this entry anywhere. I was just playing with you. I am sure others came up with much more ambitious and successful befores and afters. Mine was more for your personal entertainment value. Although, that said, I would like to think there has been some success along the way with my entry as well.

You, of course, may do as you please with my blessing and I hope others get a good laugh out of my well-intended spin on your competition. I will have to get a photo from "before" - I don't have anything on this computer. I will see what I can do.

Lots of love from me - I have missed you this week - Tracey"



AFTER:

Tami's Before and After

Tami did this project with the Young Women at our church branch here in Shanghai:


These girls made these as mats to frame around "The Living Christ" proclaimation. The mat comprises of wallet sized pictures of the savior cut up and lined perfectly.


BEFORE:


AFTER:

Kara's Before and After

Kara wrote:


"Man, why couldn't you have done this challenge like a week ago! I can name about 5 things I've done..going from blonde to brunette, re-doing my entire front yard, getting lasik done, detailing my car (only to get re-ended), etc. However, for you, I will find SOMETHING ELSE to do and I'll even try to make it creative (and since you know me, you know how difficult that really is)!"


Kara later sent me this email:

"Okay, so I totally took you up on your challenge and I totally did it but I'm stupid because I didn't get before and after pictures. Defeats the purpose, right?! Wrong. It was a project that I had put off since April and now it's done thanks to you. My whole family thanks you also because we now have a working front door handle that is no longer a fire hazard and we don't have to ask people to open the front door for us when they come over, we can actually open it ourselves! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Kara"


AFTER:

Jane's Before and After

Jane wrote:

"2 entries...Hey Suzanne, it might be too late, but I think that these are note worthy. Thanks, Jane"

BEFORE AND AFTER:



And to steal from their blog (the most recent update on this project)...

"So the door is on, the walls are sheetrocked, the loft floor is framed, the stairs are in, the mercantile sign is ordered. FYI the front door was made from the old front door my parents just replaced in their home(the home I grew up in). The door knob is the same door knob that was on my parents door.Usually durring the day the kids are in and out every 10 minutes. Once the loft and stairs were complete we couldnt get them to come out of the playhouse. They love it. "

Scott's Before and After

Scott's wife Jane wrote:


"Hey Suzanne, it might be too late, but I think that these are note worthy. Thanks, Jane"

FYI: Scott lost 40 Lbs! Scott, what was your secret?



BEFORE & AFTER:






And to steal from their blog (the most recent update):


(I've added empasis in bold) Scott says:
"It’s hard to believe it’s been 11 years. Time flies when your having fun. We’ve been to Europe, Mexico & Disneyland. We have both put on 40 pounds and lost it again. (Jane did it 4 times; I only had to do it once!!!!) We have lived in 3 different homes, had 4 great kids and had lots of fun. It hasn’t been all fun and games. We have had our times. We have both learned and grown up a lot. Thanks for all you do, and I still love you! (More now than ever!!!)"

Gel's Before and After

Gel wrote:


"This was my Magic Blanket project. Now it's not big, but it is something that I have NEEDED to do for a while and it had just gotten out of control. The diaper bag. It was a total disaster with graham cracker crumbs from 6 months ago! I dumped everything out onto the table, crumbs and all, and sorted through the pile. Half of it was garbage. I cleaned up the rest, put most of the toys back, and put only the few essentials back in. Ah, so nice and neat! You were my inspiration for my teeny tiny project. I won't win the handbag, but it was nice to finally make myself do it. "

BEFORE:



AFTER:

Gin's Before and After

Gin wrote:

"Again you are the motivating factor in my life! I'm not sure if this counts or not, but after reading your challenge and after I had a nightmare last night that the orphanage was going to come and take Bailee back, I've decided that my challenge is completing the Douglas County paperwork to finish the last step in her adoption. I have been really dragging my feet on this, and Tim has been super busy with his new job. It will be a year on the 19th that Bailee was placed in our arms, and I haven't finished this last step. I felt like our county was holding hostage her English birth certificate, and have been bitter at being fingerprinted for the third and fourth time. I also felt that they were just wanting another $200 dollars to add to their banks, since they are only one of two counties in all of Colorado that requires a full re-adoption to get the Colorado birth certificate. I guess my gnashing of teeth needs to stop, and you are the motivation! Thanks for putting a deadline on something I was letting bog me down for a year. Here's to getting it done!!!!PS Carren is being motivated along with me, so you can give yourself a big pat on the back for helping two families get this final step completed!Your forever indebted friend, Ginger"

AFTER:

Emily's Before and After

Emily wrote:

"Too bad I didn't take a before picture of my craft room before I started painting it over the weekend, I may just have to send you an after picture. Love you, Em"

AFTER:

(editor's note: the color on the walls is the Restoration Hardware silver sage kind of color. It was previously white, as they recently started finishing their basement.)

Annalisa's Before and After

Annalisa wrote:

"Like I said before, redheads have more fun.This time I went auburn.Surprised Geoff when he got back today. Did it this morning before the kids woke up. LOL. "

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Clairissa's Before and After

Clairissa wrote:

"OK!!! I'm soooo in on this challenge! Are you kidding? You know how to reel em in, offering a Prada purse. hahaha...I can't resist! So here is my before and after. Back story: I've had blonde hair my ENTIRE life and it's been shoulder length or longer for 6 and a half years of my 7 year marriage. This past Jan 08, I decided to live it up and not only chop it all off, but change my color completely, too. You only live once, right? It was the best decision and I've never loved my hair more. So there you go .... my before and afters"

BEFORE:
(editor's note, before Clair moved to Georgia, her hair was all one length, thick blonde to the middle of her back. So, even seeing the hair a little shorter in the before pictures is quite dramatic for me to see).




AFTER:

April's Before and After

April wrote:
"And you better believe I'm up for the challenge. I've just barely decided to start re-finishing furniture, for fun and to make some extra money. Artistically challenged though I may be, I'm excited to try this new adventure. I just finished a small piece (I'll send pics or post them to my blog soon), but don't have any "before" pics. Dangitt. I think I'll find a special old piece of furniture that is crying out for a new start.

From her blog: I am most proud of my latest project, a little pine curio that I found at Savers a few weeks ago. I painted it black, sanded the edges, and put wallpaper on the front doors. I love this one so much I almost want to keep it. But since money's tight, I've decided to sell most of what I create. Someone is coming to look at this today so it may be gone. Sniff sniff. April"

AFTER:

Morgan's Before and After

Morgan wrote:

"I saved this email and meant to write back to you. I never actually did anything that required pictures, but involved lots of pictures. You inspired me to finally get this done.....all of our pictures from the last 6 years have been saved here and saved there and saved in some more places all messed up. Anytime I was looking for a specific picture, I opened 7 folders, and still couldn't find them. Anyways I sat down one night and for hours copied, cut, pasted, and organized!! Now I can find them...it was the project looming over my head and it is wonderful to have it all done!! Thanks for inspiring me, do it anytime! Morgan"

AFTER:

Britta's Before and After

Britta's (husband) wrote:

"Britta is going to put dreadlocks in her hair but that is next week... I added a shortcut to your blog on the firefox. Now we will always be up to date. Peace, Chris

Oh and I think you should post all the pictures so the entire world can see the effect of one persons' desire to change the world. One person really can change the world

Here's the pix of Britta, she's all dready now. Chris"


BEFORE:




AFTER:

Annalisa's Before and After

Annalisa wrote:

"No matter if your challenge has ended (I think today the 16th is the deadline), but I thought up a little book July 2007 and just published it this weekend June 2008....so here's my before and after. I drew the pictures myself.
Smiles, Annalisa "

REF: http://stores.lulu.com/justshapes

BEFORE & AFTER:

More pictures:

The Time I Absolutely Lost It

When I came back from Taiwan, my adventurous brother Todd picked me up in his Winnebago (house on wheels), and took Dave Holly and I out Skydiving. It was amazing, it was like the feeling of putting your hand out the car window on the freeway. You really do feel like you're flying, and have no "falling" sensation (like you would on a roller coaster). If it wasn't the view of the ground getting bigger and bigger, you wouldn't even know you were going from high to low. Exhilarating. Absolutely.

The best part? It was brainless. You only have one cord to pull, once. I even landed on my feet (later found out that most people do-- once again, brainless). So brainless that my brother Dave, who prior was a deputy sheriff, didn't even confront the skydiving guide we were tandem to for being drunk.

Side note on Dave: He had spotted drunk people so many times that testing drunk people became the entertainment that balanced an otherwise very stressful job. The Grannis in him allowed them to try and prove their sobriety in the tests -- you know the ones, walk in a straight line, recite the alphabet without singing or pausing, finger to nose etc. Why not?

So, my point: apparently, some jobs have been done while drunk. Although I think you'd agree nobody should ever be allowed to clock in drunk.

And I am the naive one in the Grannis family (which is usually okay when you're the youngest of the 7 very protective siblings).

Let's just say when I first met last night's hairdresser, I should've known something was up when he started to try to sell me a thousand other packages and told me point blank "Girl, your hair needs it. It looks like ****". I played along, and told him I had the same feelings about his hair. I thought that was an interesting ice breaker. Then he puts the foils in, while dragging on and on about how famous he is in hair coloring, and how he'd gained his fame over the past 15 years (over-confident, another sign of being plastered-- another "Q" that passed right over my head). He was from Singapore, and thought he was above the average Chinese population (I knew right then we weren't going to get along). When he finally wiped out the hair drying machine and looked in my eyes, I smelled it.

Are you serious?? Did I just let a drunk guy foil my hair?! WHAT!!!???

It was too late. The guy washing out the foils confirmed the colorist was hammered. He came over after the washing, blow dried my bangs, and said "I'm fast, aren't I? Okay, my shift is over. Bye. I'll see you in 6 weeks."

Then when the other girl (whose hair cut was supposed to be around $10 US) continued blow drying, there were so many brown/yellow spots, I just started laughing. I swear I needed some kind of medication to knock me out. I really was going crazy. You ever have those moments where as the victim of Murphy's Law you can do nothing but laugh out loud like a lunatic? Oh was it a show for the on-lookers. Which were many. I was just about the last client in the building, that was fully staffed that night. And in Asian culture, it's perfectly okay to stare. And that's just what happened. Then they started laughing too. My hair really was jacked up for a high-end "American" salon. Then, in their native tongue, I ask "you all know he's wasted?" They laugh again. Then comes the part when the original laughter (me) who instigated the congregational laugh stops laughing and glares at everyone. A bit of silence in the room. Okay, awkward silence.

Then I just want to get out of there. Before I start throwing jars of hair wax. I'd gotten there at 5:15, I was hungry, it wasn't a good time of the month for such things to be happening (you caught that, didn't you?), and I had a hot date that could make everything all better.

I tell them I have a date with Tim for the Olympics Soccer game at 9:00 PM, and I need to go. Of course, at that point Murphy's Law attacks again: I'm matched up with a 1.5 hour hair cut. Seriously. Then she says what every hair dresser says to every new client (no offense to my beautiful sister and sister-in-law who are professionals in this area) "who cut your hair last? It's so uneven!!" Don't they know, I could care less about hair cuts. I mean, sheesh lady, at this point, get out the Tupperware bowl and scotch tape-- I'm done here!

I get ready to pay, and they tell me that "Betty", who cut my hair was actually $20 US. Okay, if there is one straw that will break this camel's back, it has to be someone sneaking in a higher price than the original quote. I had it! That was it! It was already past 9:00 PM, and I'd missed the game with Tim. I broke down, and in front of the whole front desk crew asked them if they knew colorist was drunk, and they all smiled and shook their heads like it was totally fine. I took out my wallet, clearly unhappy, and like a raging maniac starting throwing the red Chinese bills across the desk and in the air. That probably sounds worse than it was.

They told me I could come back and have someone else fix the color problem. I told them that not only was I never coming back, but neither were any of my hundreds of American friends. I only have one other friend that goes there, I guess I'll have to work on my bluffing skills.

I storm out the door, and girlfriend Betty follows me holding on to my shoulders. I withold my feminine relfelx to shoot out a WWF-style flying-elbow. And politely say in Chinese "Please don't touch me."

So now it's the morning after. I feel awful. I think if I'd remained calm, I would have seen the real picture. This foreign hairdresser perhaps demeaned the locals and they were just down-right too intimidated by him to confront him. It's not exactly the whole salon's fault for not sending the guy home. And I do believe they really wanted to make their customers happy.

And now I need to collect myself and tell them that me and my hundreds of friends (aka my next door neighbor) will still come to their salon.

Just maybe next time I'll use a different colorist, one that passes the finger to nose test.

My 30th Birthday... will never be forgotten

I always thought that when I turned 30 I'd do something earth shattering. I'd go on some wild vacation, or change the world...

But it was just a jeans and t-shirt day, and I wouldn't have it any other way:

Tann and I getting ready to pick up Hunter from school. There was a huge lightening/thunder storm so we left early to get him. Tanner and I are always thinking of reasons to pick Hunter up early from school. What can we say, Hunter's just one fun guy to have around!

I counted Friday here in China as my birthday (b/c China is one day ahead of the US). Here are some highlights:

1. Helped some neighbors with finding some houses in the area.
2. My gals planned a lunch for Morgan and I (her birthday is one day later than mine). Everyone was heading out to a goldmine find of a restaurant: A MEXICAN RESTAURANT in Shanghai!! I ended up not joining them b/c Tim and I had to get some police clearance documents during his lunch break at work (part of the adoption process). Thanks gals, I hope everyone had a great time! Happy Birthday to you Morgan! And thanks for wrapping Tim's present:).
3. Tim got me my ever so coveted waffle iron, and had it sitting in his office wrapped by the time we showed up. I was so touched that he actually had a mapped out plan for my special day! He is also is getting me a tennis racket, and told me not to tell anyone about the waffle iron, b/c he thought it was a weird b-day gift. What can he say-- he has a weird wife! It's exactly what I wanted!!
4. The boys and I met Tim for dinner at "Johny Moos", which is an American burger joint. We went all out and got ice cream, drinks, the works! Loved it!
5. Tanner kept singing "Happy to you Tanner!" over and over.

Here's the part that melted my heart.

The night before my birthday, Hunter asked Tim "when I wake up tomorrow, is it going to be Mommy's birthday?" Tim told him "yup." Hunter was sooo excited and said "YES!!"

The night before he asked me in the car "Mommy, do you want me to buy you a Cinderella or Snow White dress for your birthday?" Then he said "Maybe Cinderella, because Snow White's dress isn't as beautiful." And then "And I will get you a necklace too."

He must've brought it up at least 3 times during the day. What do you do when his only English speaking playmates lately are girls?!

He also said:
"Mommy, then I'll also get a Prince suit to wear, and then we'll dance together!"
I smiled and brushed it off. Silly boy!

Then later that night, just after Hunter put his PJ's on upstairs, He peaked through the railing of the loft and said (looking downstairs into the living room where I was):

"Mommy, I'm sorry I never got you a princess dress for your birthday today." He was honestly sad he wasn't able to get me one. You should have seen his little slumped posture. My heart broke. I'd never seen someone so excited for my birthday before. He knew I didn't like Star Wars or Transformers, so he really wanted me to have something I would really like. Something girly. He had thought of the girliest thing he could.

On a split second, I said back up to him (he was still looking at me though the slats of the loft on the 2nd floor):

Me: "Hunter, I think you did actually get me one!"

Luckily just the night before I'd skimmed a parenting book called "Preschool Wise", and in he book, they talk about how wild the imagination of a 4 year-old is.

Me: "Hunter, I think you just forgot you put it in your back pack."

Hunter: "I did?! I did!! That's right!" His little feet tapped down the stairs as fast as they could while he giggled out loud.

I pulled out the two washcloths in his backpack (they require those for all the face and hand washing they do in Chinese schools), and tucked in the backpack the necklace I'd worn that day. I tuck one washcloth into my pants, and one in my top. Isn't this the part where the mice in Cinderella make her dress out of scraps? Well maybe that's why I'd gotten away with it. He totally believed in my set up.

He tucked his sword in the waistband of his dinosaur pajama pants and said:
"Okay mommy, this is the part where we dance."

And we did. Me and my little prince, me in my Cinderella dress. And Hunter went to bed happy he'd remembered to put my Cinderella dress and necklace in his backpack.

Thanks, Hunter. Not many people can say they danced with a prince on their 30th Birthday.

Let Go, and Let God

Ever find yourself so worried and so consumed in something that it bleeds to every area of your life?

And waiting is the worst, isn't it?! You could take whatever was given to you, so long as you didn't have to wait for it. Sheesh. That's totally me right now.

I called my mom (I love that I can call my Mom, or my step-Mom Susan at any given time to discuss the depths of my soul, they are great listeners).

My patient mom said "Suzy! What was Christ doing during the big storm at sea while on the boat with his disciples? SLEEPING. Now you let go of this."

Then she quoted a poem (click HERE) about how worries will always be there, but our babies grow up, and they leave the house one day. They should be the ones consuming us.

So I dropped it all, and put Tanner in his mosquito proof PJs (long sleeved etc-- and yes it probably was 100 degrees out), and we went out together. Hunter was at school.

We picked up leaves of all different shapes and sizes on the trail, and flipped them over one by one, and pointed out the veins on them. I kept grabbing the biggest ones I could find and put them in his little fingers. He would respond by finding the tiniest ones, and laugh and put them in my hands.

Then we sang songs on the trail back home after looking at the goldfish. He loved Old McDonald. It made me hungry for french fries. When we got home, we sat on the counter top together and had some fruit and water. I spent most of the time mimicking him, and he would just bust a gut laughing.

So here's the message to you:
"So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

Or my mom's version for me:
"So quiet down robberies, and mold go to sleep,
Go play with Tanner, 'cause Tanner don't keep."

**side note: no, my house hasn't gotten broken into.

Adoption Update

So Lisa (our case worker-- side note, is there a reason why social workers all have to be so beautiful?!), came over to do our second interview.

We finished out "home study" portion in Colorado, but they needed to review/recap everything now that we are in China. Just an FYI, part of the home study process is writing a 15 page autobiography about your life (talk about soul searching!). In addition, you have a 2 hour interview about your life (for each parent), and a 2 hour couples interview.

One of the couples interview questions asked was: What are some positive things you've learned about your spouse/things they have changed over the years that you didn't know or see when you first got married.

I loved this part, b/c Lisa just kept digging. Tim at first said a couple of nice things, and then she motioned him to continue. This is a question/answer piece you might want to try with your spouse tonight. You'll be surprised with what comes out, and you will fall madly in love all over again. Promise.

Things I learned about Tim over the years that I didn't know before we got married:
1. Tim used to not put much effort into keeping things in their place. Now, and in the last couple of years in Colorado I noticed that he started to help me make the bed in the morning, and the room would stay clean for days.
2. Tim is conservative-- he plays on the safe side. I realized the extent of that after he became a father and the financial planner of our family. When he heard a lesson at church about protecting your children from predators, he came up with some clear boundaries to instill their safety with others.

Also while he has been teased for being on the tight side at times, but at least we can go to bed peacefully at night.

3. Tim's a researcher. He reads the news every day. He doesn't make spontaneous decisions, but spends 10 hours researching to make a 2 minute decision. Then he never goes back. He is a planner. At the age of 20 he could tell you where he wanted to be in the next 20 years. He is disciplined enough to get there. Disgusting, isn't it?

Now, mind you, just like every real person, there are balances to our strengths. And to each of his good points he'd fight to say there are bigger holes in his swiss cheese. But all the same, I like him just he way he is. And I'm so grateful to be going through this adoption process with him while in this foreign land. Whatta a ride it has been being married to Timothy William Calton! Thanks Tim. As today is my 30th birthday, and I'm not doing much to celebrate it, I do want you to know my every dream has came true because of YOU!!

Because Most of You Will Find This Disturbing

So Tim tells me I can have the afternoon off while he takes the boys to the gym. Visions of all the wonderful things I'd love to tell you about cross my mind as I look at my blank screen. Then at the sliding glass door behind it. And see this big Daddy behind the glass.

It's bigger, the camera didn't do it justice, heck, you can't even see the fur.

My mom's rule of thumb was that she wouldn't hurt a fly... unless it was on her property and didn't understand boundaries. I liked Susan's aggressive approach-- we would use these badminton racket type things to get 'em. They were from my mission in Taiwan, and the strings on the rackets were electric (found out later they are not legal in the US-- who knew?!).

Tell me, does it look 3+ inches across? Do the buildings in the background help? What about it's ball of thread that I could probably use in my sewing machine. Do you see the ball of thread, it was bright white and thick.

When Tim and I first got married, he assumed the bug killing role. I knew I'd love him for that. When he first assumed the role, I remember him throwing shoes at the pests (mind you, we were in Hawaii, and them things were on 'roids).

But alas, I was alone. I was going to let him get away. Then I saw him making his way up to the top of the door, that one day I'd open only to have him jump into my hair and make his home out of my Paul Mitchell Palace of ratted mess.

So I had to get him. It was him and me, me and him. A show down. I could tell he was a jumper, and wanted to crawl up my neck really badly. WHERE WAS TIM?!! In the past 6 years of our marriage he'd changed from throwing the shoe to stiffening his posture and going for it with vengeance in his eyes (and I swear he flexed his muscles-- but maybe that was just this damsel's version of the story).

So I did what any home alone mother would do that had to hold down the fort. I went to the cleaning supply cabinet. Windex? I always thought I'd had Greek in me. But I needed stronger. I wanted something with Chinese characters on it, something the FDA would disapprove of...

And I found it:

And went out to get him. Me and Mr Muscle, since my Mr. Muscle was at the Gym.

"Bring it on Suzanne. I know you're alone. You wanna piece of me?! How did you get your fur to rat so nicely?"


Me, Mr Muscle and the Book won (above is the book).

Side note: I read an article in High School about some sewer rats that were coming up through household toilets and entering into homes in Washington state. The article was giving tips on how to handle the situation if one came up (as they were working on steaming out the sewers). They compared one man's midnight method with a woman's midnight method. The man saw it, and angrily demolished his toilet with a sledge hammer. The woman poured bleach in the toilet, closed the lid and went back to bed. Both methods exterminated the rats... but isn't it funny how men feel a barbaric need to protect their homes---

Like the guy wanted to make an example of the rat and send a message to the rat world:
"Don't mess with Mr. Muscle's house!"

Olympic Spirit

1st, to answer your questions... YES, we do hope to go to a soccer game. I think tickets will be $150 though. Yikes.

The people here have been so excited for the Olympics to come. I've seen the enthusiasm in the way all the streets seem to be decorated with the olympic spirit.

Even Hunter's school put on a performance where the teachers and students all sang. The teachers sang "Beijing Welcomes You", which has been the Olympic theme song, where all the hottest stars perform in the video (like Jackie Chan). Then each of the classes performed individually.

Can you tell how excited Hunter is to be with his classmates? He was clapping to the beat of the loud music.

I love sneaking up on a smile with the camera.


Here they are waiting to get on stage.

Above are the FuWa mascots. Each have meaning. They have been painted all around Shanghai.

And on Hunter's forehead (they made them in school).

After a day at the pool (Tann and I while Hunter was at school), we just snuggled up to watch the opening ceremonies with Daddy. It was fun. I can't believe it lasted till midnight!