Up, Up and away . . .

Over the weekend I ate lots and lots and LOTS of Japanese rice crackers.  And I made LOTS of SPAM musubi, which made me extremely pop-U-lar on the home front.  And then I made a ginormous pot of orange soup with the leftover Costco Rotisserie chicken.  And then it snowed and my kids went wild with excitement all over the front lawn. 

For 10 minutes. 

But the honeymoon ended as soon as my daughter burst back into the house and declared: 

"Snow is not that fun." 

Shoots.  Why do honeymoon's have to end so quickly?

So we lit the fireplace and snuggled up on the couch and watched UP because I had not yet seen it. 

But now I have seen it.  

And it made me bawl like a newborn baby that gets what it's like to try and fly her townhouse over the Pacific ocean with a bouquet of helium balloons but has to let it go somewhere near Catalina Island because it's not as easy as Pixar makes it look to drag your past behind you with a rubber hose. 

But what a cute movie. I love action/adventure movies about grumpy old men seizing the day with a bunch of helium. (But then I love anything that advocates seizing the day with a bunch of helium. Especially if it involves the Bee Gees.) 

One thing I thought about while watching the grumpy old man get overcome by the spirit of adventure was: Ain't life just so unexpected!  And yet so predictable. 

If you had told me in June if I was going to gain five pounds before Christmas, I would have said, "AND HOW!"  

But if you had told me I would learn to make apple pie and that my twins would go to scouts in FULL uniform and that my daughter would be playing basketball for a high school in Utah where she would be voted team captain, I would have said, "Whatchyou talkin' bout Willis!?" 

My daughter quit playing organized basketball four years ago because no one would pass her the ball. 

Yet somehow, here we are. In Utah. Baking pies and wearing scout uniforms and playing basketball. 

btw, my daughter finished up her soccer season and was voted by her team mates as the Best Defensive Player.

I'm sorry I didn't say as much about her season as I did last year, but, remember how Jack Johnson used to show up at the soccer games when she played for Kahuku? 

Yea, well that never happened this year.  

Insert frowny face here. 

But back to the post . . .

I predicted that my thirteen year old son would play basketball, but I didn't expect him to play in his socks and in the snow and in his socks in the snow, or to watch YouTube (in his socks) so he could master the Allen Iverson killer crossoveror the Steve Nash counter streetball move or the Manu Ginobili jab counter.

And I never would have expected him to be invited to practice with a high school varsity team or to play a whole game without letting his feet touch the floor. 

You just never know what's around the corner, or when a a ginormous bouquet of helium balloons will lift you out of your comfort zone. 

It was a wonderful life in Hawaii, but if they ever make a movie about my life in Utah, Jimmy Stewart could totally play me. 

But he'll have to gain 5 lbs. 

P.S.  For those of you who don't believe me about my twins wearing full scout uniform, here's some photographic evidence: