My Kid In A Kilt. Wordless Wednesday

Feel good friday

One more time, I want to ask all my wonderful, loyal readers to please check out http://www.spoonsforscarlet.etsy.com/ and to grab my Spoons For Scarlet button so that we can spread the word and raise money for Scarlet's tree for the Festival of Trees, which brings in THOUSANDS of doallars, 100% of which proceeds go directly to Primary Children's Hospital in order to support, protect, and create more miraculous success stories, like Scarlets! Thank you!

Things that are making me feel good today:

1. Tomorrow is a weekend, and Brandon actually has it off.

2. Chocolate. Specifically Cadburry Creme Eggs.

3. Tax return came...and went. Straight to the credit cards.

4. The Princess and the Frog is out on DVD now- we're renting it for our weekly 'special night' tonight!!!

5. I'm still reveling in the leftover memories and movies of the St. Patricks day festivities. Namely, kilts.

Sorry. No letters today. My life has been sucky lately. I'm a little discouraged. I'll be okay. But for now, this is all I've got.

Thursday Writer's Prompt

Before I get right into things, I have a few reminders:

1. PLEASE do me a favor and check out http://www.spoonsforscarlet.etsy.com/ and read my daughter's story, then peruse the many beautiful, hand decorated spoon ornaments and help me donate THOUSANDS to Primary Children's Hospital!

2. Notice the poll on the right sidebar and VOTE for next month's book!

3. Speaking of the book club, we're reading The Witch Of Blackbird Pond this month, and I promise you'll love it! It's not too late to join in!

4. Please vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking on the button on the left sidebar- that's all you have to do! One click! Thanks!

So, as an avid writer with pretty clear cut memories who thinks in complete sentences, when I look at Mama Kat's list of prompts each Wednesday, I usually know exactly what I want to write about. This time, though, it was harder to decide. I'm going to have to make comments about more than one today.

1. If you had to relive a day in your life, what day would it be?

Assuming this day would be a day that I could change, I'd go back to September 21, 2009 and move the television off of the dresser, as I had intended to that very morning. Then my little Scarlet would never have been in that situation.

As far as reliving a certain DAY without being able to change it? Well, that's really hard, because I don't really remember a specific day that was the best day of my life. I remember some really spectacular summers, some excellent trips and some stellar school years. I remember classes that I was consistently excited to go to throughout the entire school year. I remember some wonderful intimate moments that happened at the end of some really rotten days, and days that started out the best ever, but ended in tears. I just don't think that I can narrow my life down that way.

Here's a question though- does it make me a bad wife that my wedding day was not the greatest day of my life? Honestly, I don't remember much of it. It was a haze. I was stressed out, I was nervous. I didn't really like my dress, I really hated my botched hair cut, my new husband's old car ran out of gas and wanted me to help him push it 5 blocks to the gas station- IN MY WEDDING DRESS. My photographer was kind of a flop, and they were short on corsages for my party. My reception was positively lovely, and that made up for a lot. But really, the whole day was just a nightmare.

2. When do you first imagine yourself wishing you were older or bigger?

Well, honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed my youth. I was born in July and that meant that when I went to school, I was the youngest in my class for most cases. I was also the smallest. Really, I'm pretty much STILL the smallest, standing a whole 5 feet 3 inches tall (beats the crap out of my mom who's 4'11") and I weigh about 112. Still, I reveled in my youth, and was proud of being petite. I actually cried when i turned 25 and I've cried every year since. I'm 27 now. I feel like an old fogey. Really, though, I was boy crazy, which brings to mind the ever classic song "Wouldn't it be Nice" by the Beach Boys, I never really wanted time to just 'hurry up'. I DO, however, remember two incidents where I wished I were older or bigger.

The first time, I was in second grade, and i had brought my little friend, Patty, home for a play date. We were playing dress up, and she already had budding breasts. I was only 7. She was 9 (as I was on the younger end of the second grade spectrum, she was on the older end.) I stuffed toilet paper into my dress and made myself some 'girls'. Little did i know the irritation they'd be when I suddenly grew them 7 years later.

The second time, I was lying in bed at 9:00 pm- very abnormal for me- on prom night when I was a sophomore in High School. Being young, I was only 15 until late summer that year, and on top of that, being Mormon, I was unable to date until I turned 16 years old, so even if I had been asked (which I wasn't) I couldn't have gone. I am a still a little bitter about that whole incident.

I was going to write about my routine as well, but it's late, my husband's wearing a kilt, and we're watching Far and Away (one of our many traditional St. Patrick's Day movies.) So, I have some makin' out to do.

Night, folks!

Wordless Wednesday. Except I don't have ENOUGH words to describe how lovely St.Patricks day is.

Okay, so I LOVE St. Patrick's day.

No, I'm not Catholic.

No, I'm not Irish. Heck, I'm not even MARRIED into Irish. My last name is Craig, but it's the Scottish Craigs that my husband's family comes from- and HE'S adopted. LOL.

However, I'm 99% Scandinavian and 1% Native American (just enough to make me dark instead of fair), and I'm sure I have plenty of Viking ancestors in there who raped and pillaged the Irish, thus leaving my mark on Ireland herself.

Honestly, I brought this all on myself. I'm the odd one out in my family. My parents and my siblings kind of roll their eyes when I get giddy about this. Until I was married, I had never had corned beef or cabbage.

However, from second grade on, my dream was to live in Ireland. I loved it. I still do. Everything about it. I studied it, it's history, it's lore, and I am still as in love as the day I discovered it.

In high school, I joined an Irish dance group Rinceoiri Don Spraoi (Rin cory don spree- It means "dancing for fun" in Irish-Gaelic) and brought my friends with me- my sister in law too, though I didn't know we'd be related then. It didn't take long before we were on the performing team, and we made our way to our first Scottish Festival.

Okay- Scottish Festivals are AWESOME. They always have excellent brewed root-beer, lots of booths about how to find your lineage and family crests, places to buy awesome things like fairy and dragon charms, sometimes Pagan booths and of course, there are Scottish games, like the caber toss.

But NOTHING beats the mass bands. Bagpipes, drummers, all marching, pleats swaying, drumsticks and mallets flipping and spinning...it gives me the chills. It's so haunting. And completely drool-worthy. Mmmmm. Boys in kilts.

Brandon has a canvas utility kilt, and he wore it there, but I didn't take any pictures. I was too busy taking pictures of the pipers. He needs a REAL kilt (traditional 8 yards. GOOOOOOOO PLEATS!!!!!!!!!) in the Craig tartan. I am SO starting a fund right now.

This is my cute sister in law- dressed like a gypsy. Her troupe is in the float above- though they didn't dance. Hard shoes on wet cement don't mix very well.

Yes...bagpipes....and boys in kilts. I have no idea what their faces look like, if they're hot or not...I'm just in a trance while staring at the pleats.

Hm. Apparently I didn't get any pictures of drummers. DANG IT!

These guys are my Sister in Law's rival team. But aren't their dresses BEAUTIFUL!!! I WANT!!!! They're dancing because it hadn't started raining yet.