Introduction to Lying

When we were little we had a toy pot.  It wasn't like the one in the picture. The sides were made of clear plastic, and there were two layers with water in between, so it looked like the pot was full of water.

You know that game where you try and make the other person "flinch"? We would often pretend to douse each other with the "water" in that toy pot and then say "Made you flinch!"  

I always flinched.

Ben never flinched.

Being a much older and wiser sister, I knew it was time to get creative.

One unsuspecting day, I put water in the pot. Ben didn't flinch, but he got wet!

Unfortunately for me, this was back in the day when "I'm telling on you!" invoked a lot more fear than it would now.  But I had a solution.

I doused myself with water too.

When mom came up the stairs to ask me why I dumped water all over my brother I had a quick answer.

"Ben tricked me and dumped water on me from this pot and when I said I was going to tell on him he got himself all wet and ran downstairs to tell on me but I didn't do anything!"

Ben got in trouble.

He still reminds me of this incident at least once a year.

I taught my brother how to lie. 

Let's Get Christmas Posting Over With, Shall We?

Allright, enough is enough, I've officially taken too long to post my Christmas pictures. Here are the rest of them, though. For our ward activity we had a "Night in Bethlehem." Steve and I were Mary & Joseph, but unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of us. Here are mom and dad as the tailors, and Grandpa and Grandma as Bethlehem visitors. The decorating was fantastic, but way too much work, if you ask me. We had a good time, though.

We spent Christmas Eve at the Halls. Ben sat down on Steve's lap and we realized we were all wearing red shirts, which, of course, meant photo-op. We had a good time reading the Christmas story, playing games, and trading white elephant gifts.

Santa filled our fun new stockings, and we dressed in our matching 1-piece jammies to be festive.

The Kenningtons also had matched jammies. There is something about a bunch of kids matching that is a lot cuter than 2 adults doing the same things.

Christmas morning brought a beautiful snow storm that we thought was going to prevent us from getting home, but the sun came shining through after lunch and we decided to take a chance- the roads weren't great, but we made it without incident. The snow was perfect packing snow, so Lydia, Charlotte, Steve, and I made a big snowman before we left.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well, and now I can get on with current happenings instead of flashbacks!!

Happy New Year from the Flynns!!

I am From

I have been a slow blogger because I want to put up our Christmas pictures and couldn't find the camera. Today I found the camera and pictures, but I'm not going to put them up yet, because I'm too tired to make a lot of sense. For the last week, however, I've been reading other people's blogs (strangers, mostly, and I know it is weird). It is kind of addictive, though. Anyhow, one of my favorites is owlhaven.net. If you get bored, check it out. Anyhow, she re-introduced me to the "I am From" poem, and I decided I needed to make my own. Today's post is a little about my childhood, here is my poem.

I am From

I am from books read by the light in the crack of the door, from Skipper dolls with houses of wood and Ninja turtles spinning on their backs like dreidals.
I am from the grey and blue house painted yellow and green while Mom was in California, in the middle of 24th Avenue, between two old ladies who respectively accepted help in the garden and yelled at you for shoveling their snow.
I am from crocuses popping up in the middle of the snowy yard to announce spring had come, the forbidden afternoons in the maple tree with wooden steps that make it cry.
I am from oysters on holiday mornings with Christmas presents wrapped like animals filling the front rooms, from Smiths and Tolsons and Sunday dinners where Andy and I shared our greatest adventures.
I am from those who cry at the pulpit and baby-sitting should be free so they can attend the temple.
From “she has to come to our house this time” and “will you please vacuum and set the table” and watching mom dance with her broom.
I am from Sundays sitting on pews playing games on paper with brothers, singing hymns and shyly, proudly baring testimony. From reading the scriptures and kneeling in prayer and “sometimes Sunday School answers are the best ones”, from families can be together forever.
I am from Utah and Germany, England and Scotland, sour cream enchiladas and mashed potato mountains.
From a grandpa I met through stories of train rides and not waking up the veterans, and the orphanage he was fleeing. From I’m “helping” dad work in his shop.
I am from photos in albums and boxes becoming digital and put on CD’s, from spending New Years Day giving them labels, and this is my favorite, no this one instead, I remember that, and I hope we go back there again.

5 More Things... For Fun

Angie asked me to write some things that are more specifically about me, and since it is a slow day at work today, I thought I would.

I was the "Little Red-Headed Girl" in my high school's production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown." I was no longer attending that school at the time, but I was dating "Linus." I wore a short denim dress and leggings, making me look very pregnant. No wonder Charlie Brown blushed everytime he looked at me!

When I was 17 I testified in front of the House of Representatives as a proponant of the "Bully Bill" in behalf of the PTSA. I mostly spoke about my own experiences in the public school system. The bill was eventually passed into law, and the legislative process became very real to me.

My first car was a 1980 Datsun V210. I bought it from a guy living in a storage shed, and I'm pretty sure I was the first person to take it out of Yakima. It was so small that I could park in the cart return at Fred Meyer. It lacked power steering, so I developed really strong arms. The transmission died in 2004 when I towed in improperly to Utah. U-haul took the blame for not telling me I did it wrong and gave me some money. That was nice of them, I had to sell my car to the junk yard for $50.

I once sued JoAnn Fabrics (don't hate me, Angie!) for discrimination. I only accepted the money for lost wages, although I was pressured to try and get more out of them. I just wanted them to change their policies, though.

I've seen every Harry Potter movie on opening day, most of them at midnight. I've also dressed up for most of them. The same goes for the last 3 Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings series. I love movie lines. People are silly and excited, everyone plays games and eats pizzas together. The weirder you are, the cooler they think you are, because they are all weird too. Its lovely. I actually enjoyed the movie lines more than most of the movies!

Did I surprise anyone? Am I the same girl you thought I was before you started reading?