November 24, 2010

Giving Some Thanks

Thankgiving. The time of year when most people make long lists of things for which they are thankful. These lists often say things like,

I am so thankful for my loving and supportive family, my amazing friends, the roof over my head, and the delicious meals I am able to cook and share with others.

We have all seen these lists. We have probably even made these lists (Don't deny it). However, this Thanksgiving I wanted to mix things up a bit. Wooooo hoo, wild Emily, I know. I wanted to get deep down into my life and find the obscure things about which I am very, very thankful. Buckle up your Pilgrim shoes and tie on your Indian headdresses because here we go:

1- I am thankful that I have indoor plumbing. Isn't it fantastic? I don't have to go outside in the cold and dark to go to the bathroom. You don't either. We are so lucky.
2- I am thankful that I was born in the South where the summers are filled with magnolia blossoms, the winters are not filled with mountains of snow, and where everybody wants to figure out if they know my family several generations back. I live in a small enough town where this happens almost on a daily basis. Everybody knows Mr. Diddy and Mr. Diddy knows everybody. And now, after reading my blog, everyone will know me.
3- I am thankful that a) I have a sister and b) she was born to keep me amused and entertained. Did you know that 15 year old Ann Elizabeth has her entire wedding planned already? The only thing she is missing: the groom. Her favorite way to spend her day: looking at her wedding app on her Itouch.
4- I am thankful that I take drum lessons because they are better (and cheaper!) than therapy. Also, probably way more fun.
5- I am thankful that my family allows me to steal the space heater every winter and sit with it between my feet until the warm weather decides to come back around. Did I mention I am GREAT at sharing?
6- I am thankful that I have danced on pointe for so long. My feet are so beaten up and used to pain that I think if a piano or anything else large and heavy were to fall on my feet I wouldn't feel pain at all. You only think I'm kidding...   (Let's not test it out, however.)
7- I am thankful that I have a bff who loves Disney as much as I do because when I say I got this ring in Mexico she knows that I am referring to Mexico in Epcot, not the country. Nobody else seems to understand that.
8- On that note, I am thankful that my brother works at Disney and we are able to get in free. Disney is like my second home. I think I may spend an equal amount of time there as I do here in Newnan. (Not really, buuut that's not a bad idea...)
9- I am thankful that I have grown up always having pets (yes, pets with a "s", multiple animals in our household) because this only reassures me that I never want to have pets. Sorry, future children.
10- I am thankful that my third grade teacher taught my class that our signatures needed to have something unique about them so that they would be harder to copy. My name doesn't necessarily look like Emily when I sign it, but hey, it's unique and Miss Powell would be proud.
11- I am thankful I got the following traits from my father: I like my sheets untucked, and I like to eat on a very regular basis.
12- I am thankful I got the following trait from my mother: I am able to multitask.
13- I am thankful that my uncle is a very handy man to have around. Holmes on Homes has got nothing on Uncle John. I hope he realizes that his handiness will not only extend to his sister, but also to me when I get my own home. Did you read this Uncle John??
14- I am thankful that my uncle is a Marine because from going to several of his ceremonies, I have realized that one of my life goals is to re-choreograph formations for the Marines. My idea is genius. That could be a whooole other post.
15- I am thankful that my ancestors had crazy names that I will be able to pass on to my children. Example: Potch, Zella Mae, Pink Pauline. No, I am not kidding. I cannot wait to have a little Zella Mae running around.
16- I am thankful that Christmas is right around the corner (30 days, 8 hours, 30 something minutes to be exact) and people have starting decorating for the sole purpose of keeping me excited and beyond thrilled as I drive around every night and look at their decorations.
17- I am thankful that my family realizes I am serious when I say I seriously dislike the outdoors, therefore they do not take me camping. This one ties in nicely with #1. I will always choose my indoor plumbing and indoorness over anything outdoors. This is partly because chiggers think I am DELICIOUS. Nothing like nom noming on some MLE Moore.
18- I wish I could be thankful that I can sew, but my mother has never taught me. Hint hint. The only thing I can sew is a pair of pointe shoes. That will get me far in life.
19- I am thankful that my mother did not have 19 children. While the Duggars are one of my favorite things about which to talk and watch on t.v., I think I am doing just great with Joseph and Ann. I am sure sometimes I have been such a handful that my parents feel like they have 19 children, but I will only admit that on here.
20- I am thankful for TLC for creating the show Sister Wives which keeps me highly entertained and fascinated. You do not understand, I am obsessed.

So, there's my list. I could keep going and going and going and going...but I will leave that to the Energizer bunny. I have too much cooking that needs to get started to sit here typing all day. Although, I could go ahead and get started on that choreographing for the Marines post...
Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat lots. Have fun. Be Safe. Oh, and P.S.-


I AM  thankful for my loving and supportive family, my amazing, friends, the roof over my head, and the delicious meals I am able to cook and share with others.

November 20, 2010

Fire In Da House

Monday night was a scary night in the Moore household. Actually, it would be more accurate to say early Tuesday morning was scary. To be even more accurate, 4 a.m. was scary. You are all dying to know what was so scary, right? Are the Moores scared of the dark? Did the monster under the bed  decide to reveal himself at such an hour? Well, the monster stayed under the bed on this particular night, however I can't speak for my family on their fears of darkness. Anyways, it started out just like most nights.

    Example: Ann and I head to bed around 11. Instead of sleeping, we attempt to watch lots and lots of Friends episodes. (We have made it to season 7, less than halfway to go!) During our attempt, Ann watches with great enthusiasm, laughing at all the right places. I, however, usually fall asleep about 5 minutes into the first episode.

So, on Monday night, I fell asleep and Ann watched 4 or 5 episodes. La la la, I was off somewhere in dreamland having wonderful dreams. My wonderful dreams turned into dreams about me being in gross smelling places. In and out of my sleeping state, I realized that Ann's room was the host of this foul stench.  This was when my mind woke up at full speed with thoughts like, 

"Oh no, we are all going to get carbon monoxide poisoning. Something is wrong with the heat. There are toxic fumes in our house. We are going to die in our sleep. Who is going to find us? We need to run outside right now. Right now. Oh no no no no. Where is an escape window ladder?"

The smell was even worse when I was awake and conscious. (Imagine that...) I resorted back to the 5 year old Emily that hurriedly ran into her parents room at the thought of anything terrifying. There went 21 year old Emily, quickly dodging furniture in the dark to get to her parents room. Dad was mid snore when he must have noticed me because this is what I heard, "zzZZZzzZZZZhum mum bah cough hack cough, yes?" I calmly (as calmly as anyone can be with death and toxic fumes looming around the corner) explain that there was an overwhelmingly foul smell in Ann's room. I'm sure my parents were thinking, "Seriously, Emily? You woke us up at 4 a.m. because something SMELLED bad?! Why don't your try breathing through your mouth and GO BACK TO SLEEP." Whatever they were thinking, Dad groaned and moaned and cracked and stretched his way towards Ann's room. As soon as I opened Ann's door the smell decided to spread like butter and get in all the rooms nearby. UH HUH, I DO NOT allow foul stenches in my room. You are not welcome. As I was standing in my room praying that a few squirts of Febreeze would chase the smellsies away, I hear Dad's disgust as the smell greets him. EW. There was no denying that something a little janky was going on up in here. Dad turned from "half-awake Russ", to "frantic run around the house and sniff every room Russ." Guess who was right there with him? Ann? Mary Caroline? No, Emily the smell patrol was there. Detectives Russ and Emily figured out the horrible smell was pretty much contained to Ann's room slash the upstairs. Ann was still completely unphased that A) There were horrible fumes trying to kill her in her sleep and B) People were running around loudly talking and sniff sniff sniffing. In fact, when Dad came in and turned on her light for further investigating she didn't seem to even notice that A) her light was on and B) there was SMOKE all over her room. TADA, I'm not crazy. (No comments from the peanut gallery.) Ann's fan motor decided that it was tired of properly working and that it'd be way more fun to burn out and release the most grotesque and horrifying smell known to mankind/Emily Moore. Dectectives Russ and Emily saved the night! I'm sorry, the early morning. Just let us know if you ever need our services/slash my dog like nose. No smell gets past this schnoze.

What an adventure. I felt like I needed to spray 4 or 5 bottles of air freshner just to remind my brain (and nose) that there are pleasant smelling things in this world afterall.


 What I wish I had been smelling all night...

Lesson learned for all: Follow your instincts on those bad smells. If not, your ceiling fan might catch on fire, right? ;) Also, maybe I should never live alone. I don't know whose room I would go running into when something went wrong...

November 9, 2010

Babysitting Harry Teeth

Don't worry, not "hairy" teeth.

I've had some trouble writing a new post.  I haven't been on any other 1200 stair hikes. I haven't gone to any other football games. I haven't had any recent trips to the Farmer's Market or COSTCO..(I know, I am terribly upset about this as well.) I have been babysitting a lot. I have been re-reading the 7th Harry Potter. I have (finally) gone to the dentist. These three things are totally blog worthy. Who doesn't want to read about children, Harry, and teeth?

If you answered "I don't" to the above question, then I suggest you stop reading here.

_____________________________________

During my absence from school, I have been babysitting for several different families. I have always loved working and playing with kids, one reason I was drawn to studying Education in college. Yes, there are times when children make you want to pull your hair out (I was never that way as a child, of course). However, there are also times when other adults make you want to pull your hair out (I have never been that adult, of course). Babysitting has kind of helped keep me somewhat sane for the past several months. Every new day babysitting is like a birthday. No, not because I get lots of presents, but because the day is FILLED with surprises. You never know what the kids are going to do or say next...and I LOVE it. One girl I babysit loves talking about Ann, who also babysits her sometime. Now, some of you may not know that Ann eats Goldfish crackers like they are going out of style. She carries a big box of Goldfish around with her pretty much everywhere and nom-noms all day. As the girl and I were discussing what she was going to be for Halloween she exclaimed, "I can be Ann!" I asked her how she was going to dress up as Ann. She said, "Emmmmmily, it is easy because all I would need is a box of Goldfish to carry around." And you know what, that wasn't a half bad idea. Easy costume--she got that right.  If y'all need any ideas for next Halloween, write that one down. Next time you see Ann, be sure to ask for some Goldfish. I'm sure she'll share. The next question I asked the girl was what she wanted for dinner. "I'm not going to tellllllll you," was her response. See, SURPRISE, I bet you wouldn't expect to hear that answer from the person for whom you were making dinner. Like I said, I really do love it. Life is way more fun that way :)

I can't really say much about Harry Potter other than, OHMYGOODNESS9MOREDAYSUNTILTHEMOVIECOMESOUT. I think one reason I am so attached to Harry Potter, other than its obvious greatness, is because my generation grew up with the series. When Harry was 11, we were 11. When Harry was turning 15, we were turning 15. When Harry was graduating Hogwarts, we were graduating high school. I had forgotten how intense the last book is. Needless to say, my last year of high school was not that intense, but still...me and Harry, bffs for sure.

Still reading? Want to hear about my dentist trip? Ok, good. When I was born, two very special things happened. Actually, many special things happened, like the world became peaceful and happy, but these specific two things were different. 1) A cow licked my head and gave me the worst cowlick known to mankind. 2) Some kind of fairy sprinkled an anti-cavity shield on my teeth. Hate #1, love and am perplexed by #2. Between being at college, and this and that, and blah blah more excuses it is has been awhile since I've had my teeth cleaned. "Awhile" means lots of chocolates and candies and sugars. I was sure I would be scheduling an appointment (or 2 or 3...) to get my new cavities fixed. I was sure, so so sure. I talked about it a lot, ask anyone in my family. In fact, I just asked Ann and she agrees so, obviously I am not writing lies in this wonderful post. Before my exam, I received a text from mom: "Let me know if the dentist 1- tells you you have pretty teeth and 2-tells you you have a bajillion cavities." Now, I won't go into detail about her number 1 because I could go on and on about other issues I have with my teeth, but I know that post would REALLY bore you, whereas this post only kind of bores you. During my exam, I was told 1- I had very pretty teeth and 2-I had zero cavities. I couldn't help but laugh at both of these things. No cavities? Really? Are you sure? So, that is when I decided that Ann got my cavities in addition to her own, and the fairy gave me the anti-cavity shield at birth.  I know what you're thinking, what a nice fairy. I'm thinking the same thing. Love her.

Well, there's my week. Good times all around. I promise to do something exciting this coming week so you all can once again live vicariously through my super exciting life. Let's see what's on the agenda... a trip to Ann's school to see her dressed up as Marc Antony. Now, there's something worth waiting to read ;)

Oh  wow look, it's my teeth!