Dracula versus The Hunchback

So this Friday & Saturday are the last two chances to see Dracula versus the Hunchback at The Off Broadway Theatre in Salt Lake City. Hubby & I went last week and it was really awesome. Fantastic spoof comedy, fun audience participation... It was great. And whenever I go back to the OBT I have a great time. I used to work the candy bar & box office in high school & right after HS I met Hubby there. Now years later my brother is in shows there & it's so much fun to go back. I love to see Eric & Sandy, and seeing Jesse act with Eric like our dad used to do is really great.
So I got a few pictures in the lobby.

Dracula!

The Hunchback!

The Hunchback, Esmerelda & Jenny

I have to say that Jenny was a side part but probably the best one in the show (sorry Jesse! - I love you!) She was hilarious! Both Hubby and I were riveted to her antics every moment that she was on stage!

Me & my baby brother, the hunchback sorry about the flash - big shiny metal behind us!

The Cupcake Charade

I decided to make cupcakes last week for Dante's soccer party. I let Dante & his friend Tyler ride their bikes to the store for cake mix & frosting because when I say MAKE cupcakes I mean by adding oil, eggs and water of course. I'm not my sister after all. And I got the awesome idea of frosting them red since they are Team Inferno with red jerseys.
I hit a snag when I found the box made 24 cups and I had a one dozen pan. So I knocked on a few doors around the neighborhood but no one was home. Except Jill. So I gathered my courage and knocked on the door (Jill and I don't get along ever since she said Dante broke her Santa yard sign and I slammed my door in her face). We played nice like all hateful women do, and I asked to borrow a muffin pan for the boys soccer party (Yeah it helps that Joey is on the team too). Amazingly she didn't have a single muffin pan. Is that strange? I don't know. But she had bread pans galore and was happy to loan them to me. So I took them and decided I'd make do.
Dante helped crack the eggs and they both helped me rinse the dishes.

Noah looks like he got a little drunk on cupcake batter:

And then he got very mad when it was all gone.

There were 12 in my muffin pan and 6 cups nestled perfectly into two large bread pans. After 15 minutes in the oven I pulled out 12 perfect cupcakes and 2 loafs of cake. A dozen round and a dozen that needed to be pulled apart around a bunch of fallen squared muffin cups.

Once they were cooling we set to making red frosting. HAHAHAHAHA! Let me just say that no matter what you do, if you start with white frosting, and you use red food coloring, you're going to get pink. Period.

The good news: not one of the boys at the soccer party gave a damn that their treats were bright pink. I was going to get a picture of them eating them happily to prove my success, but it just happened too fast. I blinked and all the cupcakes were gone.

Yay! Look what I got!

So Sus has awarded me with the:

Apparently I must share my 6 favorite things to keep my award & status. So...
These are a few of my favorite things:

First!
My boys - I love their smiles. I love their laughter. I love the smell of their heads after a bath. I love the way they look when they're sleeping. There is absolutely nothing in the world that can make me feel the way I feel when I'm with them.

Second!
My husband - I know, how unoriginal I'm being. But I can't help it, it's true. He's amazing. He makes me laugh, he keeps me sane (I was about to say calm, but there are times when no one alive can accomplish that! lol), he's totally hot! ...what? ...it's true.

(the next 4 are in no particular order)
Third!
My tweezers - I have two pair of Tweezerman tweezers. I recommend these above all other brands. One, they're simply far superior to any Maybeline or La Cross crap you'll buy for half the price (you get what you pay for), and two, they offer lifetime free re-sharpening (if you pay shipping to send them in). I've come to feel like my tweezers are an extension of my fingers. I really go crazy when I can't find them.

Fourth!
Books - I escape in books. I can only imagine where life would be without them! Mine personally would be very dull. And obviously without books in general, life would be nothing like it is today. Maybe we'd all still be scratching on cave walls, I don't know.

Fifth!
The Internet - Man! Do you remember having to go to the library to find things out? It's hard to believe that even up through High School I couldn't just sit down at a computer and find virtually any piece of information I was curious about. What was that movie that one guy was in? imdb.com here I come. How high a fever is too high? WebMD you are my friend. Directions to a friends? How late is that new restaurant open and while you're at it, what's on the menu? Seems like there's nothing you can't find online these days.

Sixth!
Bed - I love to crawl into my soft white sheets after a long day and feel my body sink into the mattress. It feels so good to get horizontal and snuggle down under my fluffy covers.

There's so much more. Despite all my "issues" I really love life. I'm passionate & animated (at least I think) and I bet I could fill a list with SIXTY of my favorite things without breaking a sweat, so these six are really just a surface-scratching. But that was fun. :)

And so ends the tale...

Tuesday I came home from the Ped's with the boys and there was an evil baby spider lurking between my doorknob and door frame. It peered at me with tiny little beady eyes (I say tiny but really how tiny could they have been if I was able to see them?!) He was dark and hairy with an orange spot. He had little chomper fangs - ew I shiver just thinking of the little menace now.
Well obviously I didn't want to get my hand near him so I kind of kicked at the door a little bit. This was a brilliant idea (as far as safety of the SPIDER is concerned) since my foot is far too large to get between the knob and the frame, and he is far too small to be squashed by a huge athletic shoe banging against the doorknob far above his head. So I settled for alarming him with my furious foot-banging until he ran down the door - to get away from the noise I think. Then I grabbed the knob, opened my door (to make more room for my big foot on the small door-step) and began a vigorous stomping campaign. Stomp and miss. STOMP! - and another miss. Now he was making a break for the edge of the porch! I could see him running for the shelter of the railing and the bush. One more quick as lightening STOMP right at the edge of my porch... But oh so sad for me - the spider hater - not fast enough. He was down over the side and safe in the shadows.
Yesterday I came back from the Gyn's (yes it was a week of Drs appointments here at our house) and who is there to greet me? My nemesis the hairy evil baby spider. Hangin' out between the knob and the frame again! Oh. I. don't. think. so! I grabbed a vine from the bush that's constantly trying to choke our porch railing, yanked on it to get a little slack, and started sweeping at the mini-monster. He dropped to the ground in a hurry, surely hoping for another amazing escape. But this was just what I waited for. I was poised and ready for anything he could throw at me! And then he wiggled under my door and into my house! Damnit NOOOO! I threw the door open and he scuttled back out. STOMP! He was nowhere to be seen, surely under my shoe THIS time. I dragged my Sketcher along the porch and exposed a sticky streak of former spider. YES! I WIN!
And so ends the tale of the spider in Wonder-Rachel's door.

No on Prop 8 in California

I know I don't live in California anymore, but it seems the state is a starting point in our nation. Ideas and movements tend to start in our largest metropolitan areas and spread to the rest of the nation over time. I've been getting bombarded with Yes on Prop 8 propaganda from a friend of mine that still lives in SoCal and it's really had me thinking.
There's an ad the Yes on 8 campaign shows - a little girl runs into the kitchen as her mom is preparing dinner: "Mommy Mommy! Guess what I learned in school today!" her mother smiles and asks her what? "I learned a prince married a prince and I can marry a princess!" Oh the horror. Yeah, they're trying pretty hard to "protect marriage" down there in California right now. And if you ask a Prop 8 supporter why they want to take these rights away from gay couples, they'll tell you all about protecting their children, the school curriculum, etc. And they'll quickly point out to you this is not unfair to gay couples in the least: gay couples already have all the rights married couples have anyway! They can be joined in a civil union (I believe this classifies them as "domestic partners"?), they are entitled to share health benefits, etc etc. Well doesn't that all sound nice? So why would they even need to be married huh?
I'm sorry. When I married my husband, it had nothing to do with our tax status or sharing health benefits, or even being deemed somehow legally legitimate. I married him because I am madly in love with him and it was important to me that I commit my life to him in tradition and ceremony.
The whole thing makes me a little mad.

What is it with boys & wheels?

I took Noah over to the school to watch the last half of Dante's soccer practice. Of course most kids live nearby so a lot of them just ride their bikes over to the school field. We get to the school playground and there are bikes everywhere. And this is the first time he hasn't made me chase him out into the parking lot or follow him all over the too-big playground. No, tonight he was far too interested in the bikes. He circled round & round one, touching the frame, spinning the pedals, jabbering away passionately the entire time.
I thought, so is this love of any kind of wheeled transportation just born into boys?

My letter to voters

So like I said: I can post whatever I want here... I posted a funny McCain election pin on my eBay blog in honor of the last presidential debate tonight - I figured I should post something political here as well. Anyway I wrote this a few nights ago and figured I should post it here as well.

I read a MySpace bulletin from a Republican Christian friend today that began like this:
"This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced. From the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees.
Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon His name, then stand back and watch His wonders to behold. His scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it." It went on to tell the story of Churchill in WWII asking all of England to pray each night at 6pm for the bombing to stop - and it did. Then it asks everyone to stop what they're doing at 6pm Pacific time each night and take one minute to pray that (among other things) The Bible will remain the basis for our laws in America etc.

This offended me. It was clearly stating that Obama (ahead in polls) is not Gods preferred candidate and if enough of us show our devoutness to God, he will make McCain victorious.

Do you believe in the power of prayer? The power of positive thinking? What about the power of thousands (even millions?) all combining that intention at a single moment? I believe in that power. Do I want it brought to bear in force and support of McCain? Absolutely not.

Many people are fervent supporters of Obama. Others I know feel like the presidential race is nothing more than a choice between the lesser of two evils. And I will admit that there are things about my own chosen candidate that bother me. But there is one thing I am passionate about and that is the inheritance I leave to my two sons. And I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about the life I gave them & this planet that sustains that life. Now, being a mother, more than anything, environmental issues are on my mind. It used to seem like a hobby or pet project that could be dismissed - tree huggers. But it is more & more evident that if we don't change the way we think about our lives and impact on this planet, things will reach a point we may never come back from. And I am not willing to sacrifice the home of my children!

I could go on but I won't preach. I hope you feel like I do and I hope you see some of the differences between the candidates. I don't know how much better my choice will be financially, or with foreign policy (I feel he's still the better option) but I DO think Obama will try harder to preserve our planet. And that's important to me. So I ask, if you're willing, that you set the alarm on your cell phone for 6pm Pacific (7/8/9 depending where you are) and take a moment each evening (you don't even have to do anything that would be evident to those around you) and apply that power of positive thinking, that power of suggestion, that power of prayer - and intend that we will elect the man that will really "heal our land."

Thanks for reading, I love you all and feel free to pass this along.

He does everything himself these days

How does Noah make everything look so damn cute? Even juice boxes are made cute by this kid!

(later):HA HA HA!!! I didn't even notice the crucifix! He found this crucifix around the house (no idea where - we're not Catholic or even Christian) and LOVES to wear it around his neck! lmao

This shirt doesn't fit!

Shirt NOT Medium – wrong sized – I’m not a FATASS!
This is clearly a case of discrimination - eBay sellers must have access to unlimited personal buyer info. The seller had a picture of the buyer and said to himself "This guy can't wear a medium! I'll send an XL instead."

Nice shirt, but didn’t know it had a bra inside. :(
I'm wondering if this is your standard built-in bra... or if the seller included a little adults-only prize inside!

Amazing Creatures & Stumblebums

You might ask yourself, who uses the word stumblebum anyway? eBay buyers of course. And this pair of Shure headphones brought a river to life. Leave it to wacky eBay members...

"Uncomprimising,inflexible,ingrate.Stumblebum commo.Worst Seller in my experience"
Worst speller in my experience?

"I hear the natural sounding river. It sounds like an amazing creature."
For a pair of headphones... oookaaay...

This smells like smoke!

So I found this feedback tonight, all for the same member:

"hand bag smells of smoke really bad will never use because of smell"

"purse smelled heavy of smoke"

"Shoes were beautiful, but have overwhelming odor of cigarette smoke"
"Response (2008-04-04): I DON'T SMOKE!"


Hmm... yeah sounds like they don't smoke. I'm convinced.