November, I have failed you

So, I did not blog much in November, but do you want to know something ironical? I saw almost all of you gize 4realz this month... with a few exceptions. I didn't see Cristin or Mich, and I missed them terribly (but in a twist of fate, I did see both of their mothers). I don't think I saw Q in November either, but I can't be positive about that as I've never seen her 4realz, so maybe I did see her but simply didn't recognize her. I almost didn't recognize Landee the first time I saw her 4realz, running through the airport. She was tinier than I had imagined, like a faerie. I could fit her in my pocket. But she is real you gize. I saw her again this last weekend, and her hair was much longer. She wore it in a low side-ponytail, and had curled the ends. Adorable.

I've discovered that it's not weird/nerdy/creepy to meet virtual internet peps 4realz, or even invite them to take an extended vacay with you, 11 days after you meet them on the internet. The key is knowing a flesh-and-blood person who can vouch for their sanity. In the case of Landee, it was Memzy who solemnly swore that Landee was no weirdo. And in Jana's case, it was Krissy. Yes, I met internet-Jana 4realz for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend at Carl's Jr.. And I scratched our initials on the booth we shared near the children's playland after she left.

Anyway, I better go to bed. I'll spill all my travel details tomorrow...

Gus, the wolf...

My Twilight Rating: Five Forks Up

Hmmm. Loved it you gize.

But first, here are some self-explanatory pictures of Erin and I before we left to see Twilight:

FAN

I have to say, I have never had so much fun at movie before. There was a palpable excitement in the air, and I felt like I was part of something bigger than me, something loud and screamy, something silly and sweaty, something tense and romantic, something cold and hard. The whole thing was irrevocable. Make sense?

La La Land.

That's where I've been for the last week or so. I keep reading book after book after book after book... "why can't I quit you?" I meant to review a couple of the better ones on the Smart Remarks book club blog, but then I'd have to stop reading and that's not an option at this point.

But I will tell you something that happened today. Gus lost his loose tooth. I quick and stuck it in a Ziplock cuz it was so tiny and I didn't want to lose it. But he kept taking it out and playing with it. Over and over, I'd take it away from him and stick it back in the bag, warning him that he's gonna lose it if he doesn't leave it in the Ziplock. Well, guess what? He dropped it in the crack of the couch and lost it, and then came bawling to me. I was secretly delighted that he had proven me correct. "Told ya so! Ha! Burn!" I said. But I'm not so mean. I helped him fish it out of the crack, and that tiny tooth was not easy to find, camouflaged as it was in a couch crack filled with busted up potato chips.

Hey You Gize...

Lovin' Memzy

LET MY PEOPLE GO

I've been reading an epic novel all week (more on that later, but my title is your clue). It crippled me emotionally, so I couldn't blog. I finally finished it, but I am totally depressed and unmotivated. Keep me in your thoughts during these trying times.

Anyway, because our book club is reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, I put out a call for you gize to email me "Uglies" self-portraits. The response was incredible. Some of those ugly faces have kept me up at night. Go to the Smart Remarks blog and check them out if you haven't seen them yet. And if you want me to add your Uglies picture to the contest, email it to me, mmK?

So, it had been about a year since I last took ugly pictures of myself and I REALLY needed to update them and push myself to be a little uglier.

I did my hair and make-up, and then had a little photo shoot. I was really excited about the results. When Anthony got home from work, I showed him the pictures and he did not even crack a smile. He looked horrified. He said I looked really ugly, and I saw him actually cringe away from the computer as he flipped through the images.

Success!!

But then my sister Erin saw them, shrugged, and said I looked kind of pretty in the pictures. Whoa, wha...??!!!???! I had worked so hard! Was it all for nothing? Then I was sorta embarrassed. If you go check out those Uglies on the Smart Remarks blog, they really put me to shame. Landee and Memzy tried to reassure me that I did in fact look ugly, but I don't know if they were just trying to be nice or what.

So now I don't know what to do. Should I retake these and go uglier, or are these pictures ugly enough? Appreciate any input.

Foe Toe Fry Day: Happy Birthday Mich!!

Today is my SIL, Michelle's birthday and I had to give her a shout-out! I LOVE her and I'm so lucky to have her as a sister-in-law. I always have a blast with her and I wish we lived closer. Someday, someday.

She's the Philadelphia Eagles' #1 fan... or is it Seagulls... or Seahawks? Her shirt says "Eagles" so I'm gonna go with that. Anyway, she hearts football. I took this picture from her facebook. It's her and Brett Esplin (my BIL) at the football game of her dreams.



I hope you had a great day today! You're the best. I'm your #1 fan!

Tooth

Gus (my 2nd grader) finally has one loose tooth. Phew.

He says he's the only person in his class that hasn't lost a tooth yet, and he feels like a total Kindergarten baby. I guess it's kind of like if all your friends started their periods in junior high, and you're in high school and still haven't started, but I wouldn't know cuz that didn't happen to me. BUT, in high school, I did have several of my baby teeth left. Five baby teeth, in fact. I was teased and taunted about it mercilessly. Traumatic. Those five teeth never fell out, for whatever reason, and my sophomore year, my Orthodontist got impatient and pulled out four of them (and while he was at it, he went ahead and extracted all four of my wisdom teeth). That's 8 teeth. Gone in one day. Traumatic.

Now, if you have even basic math skills--and I know you do--you should be thinking: "But JennyESP had FIVE baby teeth left in high school that never fell out, and the Ortho only pulled FOUR, which means... whoa wha...?" That's right mathematicians, I still have one baby tooth left.

(It's the one I'm pointing at with my Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush)

(My teeth are blindingly white in real life, I swear. It's just that the, er, flash didn't go off and that made them look sorta off-white.)

My baby tooth doesn't look so small by itself, but if you compare it to the tooth directly across the way, you'll notice that it's half the size it should be. Sometimes, having a baby tooth makes me feel really young, like a Kindergarten baby. And sometimes, it makes me feel really old. Srsly, that tooth has been there at least 15 years longer than the others. It's like this really old tooth in my otherwise young mouth.

You also might have noticed a silver bar running across my six bottom teeth in that picture. That's a permanent retainer, and I have the same thing behind my top teeth. I should have them taken out cuz they make it nearly impossible to floss, but those retainers are symbolic of my inner nerd, and I'm kinda sentimental like that. Everyone hangs on to their old retainers, right? And one baby tooth?

Foe Toe Fri Day: Airport

Winners...

Losers...



Gangstas...



LOL...



Awkward

Living Dolls



Wha...



Whoa...

Thursday Question Day...

Today's hot topic: Who's your favorite Jonas Brother?

Da dada da dA DA!!

(^^that's the instrumental opening of our national anthem in case you didn't recognize it)

I voted today. There were no lines, and the old people who directed the voting were very nice and thought I was the child of another voting couple who was about my age, so that was nice.
I am excited to watch the election outcome tonight. This election is particularly interesting to me, regardless of what happens, because I heart US politics you gize. SO interesting, for reals. I don't like arguing about it, so I usually keep my political views to myself, but I DO have strong political views and I AM right.

Proof that my political views are correct...

This is me at an Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn where the president of the United States lives:


Here I am (I'm the one with my hair braided in two loops, holding Tonya Joella--my Cabbage Patch) either at an airshow, or hoping to catch a glimpse of some political figure as they exit/enter a plane. Did both. Don't know what this picture is from, actually.


Here's my dad, Gus Morgan, being a US Secret Service Agent...


Gus, getting the top-secret presidential inside scoop...


...and passing that info along to me in exchange for pushing him on the swing.


Here are a few every-day photos from the Morgan family photo album.




Yes, candid shots of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
And here are Gus and Mary (mom) Morgan socializing with the Reagans...


(Notice the placement of Nancy's hand).

Told you, you gize.

Anyway, I heart politics, and I heart America, flaws and all.

Blue By You...

Here's another song from Destiny's Mama's old folks playlist. I actually burst out singing in this one you gize. It's an emotional song and I don't know many who could listen to it and keep their mouth shut. But now you'll get to see why I'm the silent member of the group, and also, that I sing with my eyes closed.

Destiny's Mama...

Destiny's Mama has a gig you gize! At a local nursing home. So excited. BIG deal. Here are a couple songs from our playlist. The songs are oldies you gize, like from the 1800s, cuz we're playing for old folks. We're a lil' rusty, but we're practicing like crazy.

Old people are gonna heart us you gize.

Rent this...

Son of Rambow



Have you seen this movie? It's funny/cute/touching. I totally recommend. It's about two boys--both outcasts for very different reasons (one comes from a strict religious family, and the other one is a neglected trouble maker)--who become unlikely friends when they decide to enter a movie making contest together. Takes place in the 80s you gize, and the soundtrack is all Cure/Siouxsie and the Banshees/Duran Duran/etc, and the hair is all Flock of Seagulls. Plus, they have cute English accents. Worth renting for sure, gov'na! Good'ay mate!

Edit**I am so confused you gize! I just found out the time moved back an hour. I went to church this morning and no one was there and I was all "What the... was church canceled or moved or something?" so I went home and fell asleep. I woke up so confused, all the clocks had different times on them. Oh, and Anthony went into work an hour early today too, and he never called to clue me in. Rude.

No Halloween Stuff Here

Ha! Tricked you! This post is all about our Halloween day. So many bloggers have mentioned how much they hate Halloween. This is unfathomable to me, because it's one of my favorite holidays. No judgment, though. Weirdos.

There was no school (Nevada Day). First, we went to this over-priced pumpkin patch that sold tiny pumpkins to poor unfortunate souls who were willing to trade their voices or first-born children for a pumpkin. They also had really cute/well-cared for animals...

Next we drove around for two hours (I kid you not), trying to find pumpkins, and discovering that every place we went to was out of pumpkins. Here we are at Wal*Mart "Superstore" which was completely void of pumpkins. Huh? How is that possible? But we got collapsible trick-or-treat buckets for 50ty cent. Huh? How is that possible?

(sorry about the extreme crookedness of these pictures)

Then we stopped by another pumpkin patch that was even more over priced then the last one (srsly, who pays that much for pumpkins?), so we couldn't bring ourselves to buy any. But the pumpkin folk gave our kids free blow up toys for being extra special, and we found a few festive photo opps.






Around this time, Anthony had been out doing some early voting, and he graciously agreed to go from store to store until he finally found four reasonably priced, mediocre, pumpkins. Phew.

Here are the final results:
(Note: we had to carve the pumpkins after we got back from trick-or-treating because we wasted so much time looking for them)




Homer and Frances mostly played with the guts.

Here are the costumes...

Cord (or perhaps this is Gus?) the ninja


Gus (or perhaps this is Cord?) the ninja

Homer as Jack Skellington (he was supposed to be "Indy Jones" but he ripped his costume to shreds right after he got it, so we pulled out that old Jack Skellington costume I made for Cord when he was 5... and what do you know, it fit)




Francie was the Corpse Bride and Maddie was Alvin. So cute. Hopefully, Erin will post her kidses' pictures on her blog. There were better ones than these.






That's it! Happy Thanksgiving!