All That Happy

Lindsey's "Making Monsters" Cake!!

Somethings are better in your head. Others end up surpassing even your most optimistic expectations.  Our trip to Missoula, MT for the premiere of "Making Monsters" fell into that latter category.  Seeing everyone who worked on the show was amazing.  As as one person summed it up so wonderfully, "everyone was so joyful."

It was true.

I am grateful for my part in the show. I'm partial to episode 103 with the Roswell Aliens. I can't wait to see it!! But all of the elements came together to make a great product. (OK, I'm partial to the entire thing, but that's what you get. This is my blog.)

For starters, I'm moderately in love with everyone on the crew. What can I say, I have a lot of love to give. I love talented people. And there are a lot of them on the crew. It was fun to see them with their families and girlfriends and lives outside the warehouse. I think I hugged everyone 10,000 times.

Ellie and Parker stayed at home with the grandparents and actually watched the show too at their own little premiere party at our house. Eliana loved it. (I'm a little worried what will come up at her Christian preschool this week....) and Parker told me it was "Pretty scary but the monsters are just pretend." Good job, little man. And thanks to all of our family who make it so easy for us to get away for a day or two.

And as always, Mr. Pope was my biggest champion. He always has been. He stood outside the room where I defended my Honors Thesis ten years ago just so he could be the first to congratulate me on being a big smarty pants and getting to publish a thesis at 21. And he's still the exact same way. That blows me away....

It all makes me "joyful."

The Customer is....big boned?

Like most folks, I spend a fair amount of time online.  I'm home ALL DAY. This is how I get big stuff done. I order the kids clothes. I buy furniture. I use all of the cooking websites. I chat with Derrick. We keep Amazon in business...let it not be said that we aren't doing our patriotic duty to stimulate the economy.

And so, since I really want a new dinning room table and chairs I've been looked at some online. I'm not actually going to buy something new - I think I'll just re-stain the one that I have (and love.)  But I've noticed that the art of buying furniture online comes with something both awesome and annoying: customer reviews.  

If I look at new chairs online I might see something like, "These chairs are cute but they are flimsy and broke the first time I sat in one. I'd like to see them have much more structural support." This is good information from some lady in New York who shops at Crate & Barrel six times a year and is a 5Star reviewer. But what's missing is something very important.  How much does she weight?

I think about this all the time and apparently I'm a jerk for wanting a little clarification.  If I weigh less than 500 lbs and you, as a reviewer, weigh more than 500 lbs, well, then we have different needs in chairs. But how am I do know this if the information is lacking in the review?!? 

In a world of information all I want is a little frame of reference, something to qualify all of said info. Everyone likes to blab about themselves all day long online, so lets make some of it useful.

If people want to review a restaurant in the neighborhood I want to know how often they eat out and how often they send food back. And if they've ever worked in the restaurant biz before I trust their judgement. 

If someone complains about a mechanic down the street I want to know how often they change their oil and if they know how to change a flat tire. That should just be a standard qualification before you start complaining about people who know things about cars.

Complaining about a company you've worked for? I want to know how many jobs you've had, how often you're late, and how many days of work you missed while employed there before I believe that the management there is unfair in their personal-leave policy.

Let's start setting some standards here people! A little information goes a long way.

"Making Monsters"

I had the amazing good fortune this year to get to work as a producer on the new Travel Channel series, "Making Monsters." I had the most fun with some of the very best, most talented people.  I'm so excited to see the show and hope you all will like it too!

"Making Monsters" premieres Sunday, October 2nd at 9PM EST on the Travel Channel. Check it out!

More videos and information here @ the Travel Channel.

True dat

Source: sawdustcityllc.com via Amy on Pinterest

And this is cool, too:
"V is for Veronica"

The Good Stuff

I come from a family that loves food. All good things include food. Good food. So it's no surprise that all of Ellie and Parker's favorite things of late are based on the quality of the food supplied at the event. Naturally the winners are 1.) The Wheat Ridge Carnation Parade (hello!?!? buckets of candy!!) and 2.) camping out in the backyard over Labor Day Weekend (S'mores!! And BBQ!! And cinnamon rolls!!)

Thanks Mom for the fun at the Parade. Thanks to Wendy & Cole for the awesome camp out. Thanks to all of our friends for taking such good care of us over the past few weeks. We needed a little love. And when the love comes in the form of Mt. Dew Cake, it's even better.

Moods

Mr. Pope feels like this.....sans binky.

And since Parker looks EXACTLY like Mr. Pope we'll just say this is Mr. Pope's recovery photo.

I feel like this: old & thoughtful.

Parker feels like a smarty-pants. He's telling us everything about everything.

Next week the Binky Fairy comes for his binkies....

Ellie feels like an awesome big sister. She's been reading lots of books.

And we all feel better having the Washington Popes here to take care of us.

Quotes of the Day:

1.) "Parker - you eat so much guacamole, I'm gonna call you 'Parkermole!!'" - Elles Bells

2.) "I wanna watch the Batman Movie!! One more time." - Parkermole

3.) "I just want a little bit of water for the water table...." - Colester

4.) "People should ask me questions. I'm drugged and brutally honest." - Mr. Pope

Energy

I'm one of those people who is both religious and not. I suppose some might see it as non-conformist and others might see it as flat-out lazy - but that's okay with me. I find faith to be an incredibly personal thing. I know lots of people have to go to church and publicly confess their beliefs or discuss them openly with anyone willing to listen - but that's not me.

But, nonetheless, I'm frequently struck by the grace of God. And I feel the energy of our lives coming together in the little moments and the in-betweens. They say you should just keep moving. Waiting for your life to happen to you will leave you empty and lonely and with little to show for your time. So we just keep going. And I just hope our energy is keeping us from having regrets, or getting caught up in self-pity, or falling into anger.

Ellie is getting ready to go back to school in the next few weeks. Four days a week! I can hardly believe it. She's four going on 22. And she's decided full on that she's an awesome big sister. She reads to Parker everyday. Sings him songs and plays with him in a mostly awesome manner. And Parker's Batman obsession is just about the funniest thing our house has ever seen. I've started a photo essay tentatively entitled, "I'm Your Batman." More to come on that...

And Mr. Pope, version 3.0, is just now out of surgery. I'm waiting to go back and see his blue eyes gleam when he first sees me, just like they've done every time he's looked at me for last 10 years.

And we'll just keep going.