The Mattress: Conclusion of the Brad Pitt Moment

I went to pick up some bunk beds and when the man loaded them he insisted we do it a particlar way as to keep the cherry finish on the bed from getting scratched up. The mattress was on top and its one of those box frame types with the foam on top. My trailer has almost six foot sides on it so i never even gave a thought to anything blowing out.

When i got on the highway (major four lanes 70mph), about a mile up a semi truck passed me and i felt the trailer jerk. Mr. Semi was going pretty fast so i thought the wind difference is what caused my trailer to jerk. its pretty light weight and the bed didn't really make that much difference. Unfortunately, i had taken too long at the Wal-Mart andthe sun had set so i could not see my cargo.

When i stepped out of my van once i arrived home, i immediately noticed the mattress was GONE! My pioneer woman bliss and delirium was instantly replaced with dread. My stomach went from being stuck in my throat to dropping in a super milli-second to my toes. Sort of like when you go down that first 87 degree slope on a hundred foot drop steel roller coaster?

I go inside and sit on the couch. Superman wants to know what's wrong. i guess something about my face doesn't look quite right. I tell him about the mattress. He's a bit perturbed.

He says he'll go find it but i don't know how he's gonna when he doesn't know exactly where Mr. Semi passed me. Of course, i may not know either because of my pioneer woman coma. Then i tell in a very shaky voice about seeing her. And then i start laughing. I laughed harder and harder until i was laughing so hard i was crying! and Superman definately thinks i've totally gone off my rocker.

I cannot believe that one minute i can be so elated with joy and the next be in the dumps because i am simply this--A Woman. A Female. A Girl. i believe if a man had to endure the never-ending, ever-changing emotions of a woman than they would be a heck of alot more: #1. grateful to be a man and #2. way more understanding of their womenfolk.

Superman did go back and find that mattress. He couldn't believe that the thing blew out of that trailer. Actually, his exact comment went something like this, "i don't know how you could lose anything out of that trailer" and when he got home i endured a lecture on how to load a mattress. i tried to explain that i did let A MAN load the thing but i'm not sure that sunk in.

On a Lighter Note...

Mommy Moment

Q. is doing something extremely silly, again, and I say,"Someday when you have a boyfriend i'm gonna tell him...". Q. cuts me off and says very enthusiastically, bouncing off the ground, "i'm gonna have a boyfriend? i can't wait to have a boyfriend..." then thoughtfully, " when i turn five." Not the reaction i was hoping to get here.

Obama Rhymes With Osama

*Warning*: This post may contain inflammatory remarks.

I absolutely cannot figure out what is wrong with Americans anymore. That we could even consider a man like Borak Obama for the presidency is ludicrous and insulting to everything America should stand for. I just heard something on the news about Obama requesting that people please disregard anything that is said about his background or beliefs and that "can someone please introduce me to this man, Borak Obama, because he sounds pretty scary."

The crazy thing is, Obama seems to have successfully used the reverse psychology tactic on the democrats and others of this nation.

i personally do not claim to be for either party; i prefer to elect the best man for the job and i think it is time for the United States to stand up for our old world values. i don't believe this is the vision our founding fathers had when they fought for our independence.

the fact that the largest percentage of Obama's supporters seem to be African American proves that racism still exists and that no matter how many years ago the Civil War took place, the war will never be over for this country. There will always be an undercurrent of racism among blacks and whites between blacks and whites.

The idea of this infuriates me. We would rather be a people acting as a fighting married couple in an argument trying to prove who is "right" and going to every last ridiculous possibility to be the "right" one. We would sacrifice what we know is honest and true in our hearts to prove a point no matter what the cost. We would trade our American integrity for selfish pride to win a foolish, man-made, and losing battle against who? Our brother in liberty? Our neighbor in freedom?

The media contributes the reason for Obama's success as a need for change; enough of the same old, same old. How ignorant...Obama's way of politicking is just as twisted and dishonest as the rest of 'em and i am starting to wonder in Superman's words, "is there a decent man (or woman) left...?"

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDIN' ME!!!! We have to choose between MCLAIN and OBAMA! I thought the last election was bad. I guess I need to start prayin' real hard that i might be allowed to live to see a day when a decent, moral, upstanding man will be chosen to run for president; when my vote counts for a man i whole-heartily support rather than just counting in order to keep another man off the podium.

As for those of us who are not racist and are supporting Obama because it would be a great moment in history to elect the first black man as president, please, PLEASE, do us all a favor and go educate yourself on his background! and PLEASE DO LISTEN to the reports on his background and childhood education. PLEASE DO BELIEVE the reports of what his pastor, his wife and Obama have said about this country being un-American and racist.

This man has been raised to believe this country is run by white supremacists and racists. Some of the reports may be exaggerated but i know some of them are true. How else could they all stand as such great witnesses to one another?

Superman's advice to me in my fury: "Lord grant me the patience to accept the things i cannot change, the courage to change the things i can, and the wisdom to know the difference." (unknown to me whom i'm quoting.)

This is frustrating advice because i dislike feeling powerless to make a difference in this world. it seems more and more to me that the a very small percentage of people have all the control and the rest of our voices do not matter. of course, i believe there are alot of voices not speaking out or simply not givin' a dang which leaves the others stuck in the mud.

can i blame the older or younger generations for sittin' around? for one, i remember being the younger and just NOT KNOWING and for the other, well, i can see where my road is headed--to a frustrating dead end. how much can a voice take before it decides to give up?

today i'm a fighter. today i'm determined. tomorrow is tomorrow.

even if i'm the only one to read this, so what. i can't say i didn't speak up somehow, somewhere. i can't say i'm not completely off the mark here either, but i don't think i am.

those of us wanting to make history--let's be patient and elect the "right" black man, not the "first" black man!

My Brad Pitt Moment Part II

I was at Wal-Mart. It was the night before we were to depart for our much anticipated family vacation to San Antonio. It was about 9pm and i was at the check out counter worrying about the time. I was running behind. I had wanted to get home before dark because i was hauling a bunk bed in our trailer whose lights do not work.

I catch a glimpse of motion out of the corner of my eye so i take a quick look to see. Its a boy...a very pale boy who i guess to be about four or five. He stops his figeting when he realizes he caught my attention. He looks up at me with these huge blue eyes. I turn back to my check book and then look at the boy and realize he's very familiar. This all happens in a split second. His dad is there and i glance back and our eyes meet. The man quickly looks away.

My heart is now racing and about to pound out of my chest. My ears are ringing and I can't breathe. My head is swimming, my stomach is in my throat. It can't be...or can it? I try for a glimpse of the lady with them who is very absorbed in writing the check for their purchases which appear to be some long, skinny boxes (perhaps florescent lights?) and some light fixtures (very nice ones) and other stuff i didn't notice. I've never seen them in person so i can't be certain but these people were spitting images of my favorite hang-out online--the pioneer woman.

It was Marlboro Man in the flesh. It was spunky Ree in all her glory and her "not favorite" boy. He's as white as he appears in his pic's.

Did i try to say, "How the heck are ya?" or "i've got your chocolate pie in my fridge right now" or "your apple dumplins' are the talk of my hubby's engineering department" or "Is this stuff for the lodge?"or "You are my role model, mentor, internet superstar person whom I idolize even though you think i'd have outgrown that phase in my life, every recipe i've ever cooked from your site is to die for, my family and friends are sick of hearing me talk about you, they should know the answer to 'where'd you get this recipe?', i love you, thank you for your photoshop tutorials, i think you are hilarious, and did i mention you are a blogging superstar and i think you should meet Oprah someday and my family thinks i'm crazy because of you?"

YEP. That was a huge run-on sentence but that is what was going through my mind as I took my cart, walked by with my eyes glued to MM's SHOES...they were very worn out looking tennies covered in dry wall dust, old cement, and dirt...they must have been working on the lodge that day (which her blog confirmed for me later)...and...and...KEPT WALKING. I walked out the double sliding doors, out to my van with the trailer without lights, loaded my groceries, got in and drove 20 minutes home to my little country town in a delerious daze and by the time i got there my face hurt because i had a smile plastered there that wouldn't come off. And my heart was still pounding and my chest was still tight. I climbed out of my vehicle, trying to decide how best to tell Superman of this event and instantly noticed the mattress that should have been in my trailer must now be somewhere out on the highway...

My Brad Pitt Moment

Recently, a trip to Wal-Mart took me down memory lane. It all started a little over six years ago when I got assigned to serve my church mission in North Sydney, Australia. After spending three weeks outside Salt Lake City, UT in the mission training center (MTC), i received my flight itinerary. I was traveling with some other "greenies" to Australia and we were to fly into Los Angeles in the evening, have a couple hours layover, than board our fourteen hour flight to Sydney. When we got to LAX, we hung out for awhile and then decided we would takea stroll around the terminal.

We were a little anxious about our journey...anyways, we are strolling along...me (Sister Philippi), another young lady (Sister Roberts), and a young man (Elder Gann). *In case you've never met one, a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aka 'Mormon Church' is known as "Sister" or "Elder" along with their last name.*

ANyHoo... This guy passed us and we all kinda' took a minute to register who it was but it was Elder Gann who stated the unbelievable first. "That was Brad Pitt." Yea! It was the GUY in the group who noticed first! Sister Roberts and I said, "yea it sure looked like Brad Pitt" or somethin' along those lines. SisterRoberts may actually have this recorded in more detail than me.

Brad Pitt had walked by to grab a smoke in the outdoor smoking area. We followed him and tried to non-chalantly confirm it was him by glancing sideways out the window into the designated smoke area. Brad had on a colorful knit cap, was completely unshaven, and shorter and slighter in build than he appears on TV. But it was him. We turned around and walked by again. Elder Gann said we should talk to him. After all we are missionaries. This is our job now. To talk to people. My palms started to sweat, my heart was racing and felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. My ears started to ring and my head was swimming.

I guess Brad had finished his cigarette because he passed us on his way to wherever. This time we weren't the only ones who noticed. Some flight attendants walking towards us (and Brad) said "That was Brad Pitt".

This was our chance. We could walk a little faster and catch up to him and introduce ourselves. We could shake his hand...actually touch Brad Pitt...look in his eyes...my stomach is turning flip-flops still today just thinking about it...but we didn't. We didn't walk faster, we didn't introduce ourselves, we didn't shake his hand. The first person we could have talked to as new missionaries could have been Brad Pitt but we let the moment go. We let the opportunity pass. We chickened out.

And the other night, when i was at Wal-Mart, when i glanced behind me and saw Pioneer Woman, THE Pioneer Woman, Ree, all those queasy stomach, head swimming emotions rushed back at me like a tidal wave. To Be Continued...