The Cool Suit Guy

This is my awesome husband Nate. He is known as the "Cool Suit Guy" in church. He gets his suits from a contact his dad has with a tailor in Las Vegas. His dad is very strategic in his business deals and seeks out small businesses that are willing to trade services. His dad does their taxes in exchange for deals on goods or services he's interested in. The tailor shop is this little place stuck between an adult store and a tattoo parlor. From the outside, you'd never know it was as cool as it is, but they do great work. Nate kinda looks like an old school gangster when he's all dressed up in his double breasted suit. I think he looks great.

I Have Been Tagged

I got tagged, so here you go.

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

~3 Joys~

1. My family of course, my kids, husband and even my furry children bring me great joy

2. Diet Coke, it just tastes so good

3. My garden - at least right now - just something satisfying about tending it and watching the little plants grow

~3 Fears~

1. Being a bad mom.

2. The economy - I'm not as prepared for a downfall as I'd like to be

3. Having my feet look like my Dad's when I get older -- SCARY!!!

~3 Goals~

1. Get into better physical shape

2. Actually do my visiting teaching

3. Get my basement finished (after getting the tile and carpet done on the main floor)

~3 Obsessions/Current Collections~

1. Blogging and Digital scrap booking have become my current obsessions - thanks Jill

2. Reading - I have to be careful when I start a book, cause I won't put it down till I've finished it

3. Receipts - I'm quite anal about my receipts and my check book registry

~3 Random Facts~

1. I love all things soft - blankets, socks, car seat covers, whatever

2. I sometimes sing very loud to the radio or a CD when I'm alone in my car, I usually always have some song stuck in my head

3. Being on stage and singing doesn't terrify me, but giving a talk in church does - go figure

Yay me! Okay, so I don't have 5 people on my list who blog - my circle of friends is just starting. And Jillyn has already tagged people I know, so I will tag Glenna. Then I will tag Macayla, Sharon, Nate and Sabrina via email :).

The Joys of Grooming

Are all females of the human species instinctively programmed to groom? Hair out of place, an un-popped zit, a smudge here or there must be corrected. I find myself scanning my kids or my husband for something to pick or adjust. It's an irrepressible urge. Most women I've talked to also have this strange inclination. Nate is so used to it (he grew up with 4 sisters, not to mention his mother) that he willingly submits to the grooming with amusement at my fascination. I rarely pass a mirror in the restroom without scanning for some "new development". I have to admit, that when the grooming is done, there is a certain satisfaction at having addressed the source of the problem. I'm pretty sure guys don't have this urge. It would be strange for a guy to pick a hair off another guy's suit. This may be due in part to guy's personal bubbles being a bit larger than women's. Also, I don't think guys care so much or notice such irrelevant details. So what is this instinctive urge that we women feel to pick and groom and adjust one another and those we love?

The Bestest Dog Ever

This is my dog, Annie. She is the best dog ever -my kids and the neighbor kids all agree. She is the epitome of unconditional love and loyalty. Going for car rides, going on walks, chasing the laser, treats, naps under my bed, playing ball, playing keep-away, licking all those she loves are her ideas for the perfect puppy life. We sometimes call her bounce, because she can jump pretty high. She will listen to whatever you have to say and sometimes she'll even cock her head to the side as if she's trying to understand you. She knows how to sit, stay, lay down, rollover and shake - with both paws. Nate even taught her how to drool for her treats (the joy of Pavlov). She hates her front paws touched, when you are mad at her and baths. One of our favorite games we play is the "mine" game. We take one of her toys and put it between our feet and say Mine and she barks. It's quite an amusing game. When she gets her toy back she'll do a few "victory laps" and play her version of keep away. I've never considered myself a dog person, but there's something about the unquestioning love, loyalty, acceptance and devotion that just make it impossible to not love this dog.

The Adventures of Danger Kitty

This is my cat. His name is Izzy which is short for Isiadore (sounds like Is*He*A*Door, to which we add a K at the end so he becomes Is*He*A*Dork - to which the answer is always a resounding YES). He started out in our family as a girl (named Isabelle), or so we thought. He knew he was a boy, it just took us humans a bit longer to figure it out. He has other names like psycho minion, little beastie and my favorite - Danger Kitty. He seems to get a special delight from flinging bits of poo from his litter box, running around like a possessed freak for short bursts, spontaneous grooming and alternating between biting and licking the hand that feeds him. He's been dubbed by my brother-in-law Paul as the alpaca kitty because he is uncommonly soft and fluffy. My husband was against the whole getting a cat, but he was shanghaied into it by the women in his life. So on Labor Day of last year I looked up an ad on KSL classifieds and found Izzy. He was so small when we brought him home only 5 weeks old. My girls were thinking he would be this cute little play thing that would just submit to hours and hours of petting and lovingly adore them. They've never had a cat before. We humans are deemed inferior by cats and must grovel for their affection. You never know if the one you picked is completely mental until it lives with you for a bit. So far, Izzy is just slightly mental.

Fat Fingered Financial Fiasco

So, my husband and I have separate accounts and this works out pretty well for us. We made my account the primary one and it's the one that most our bills get paid from cause I like to do most every thing online (except for when they charge outrageous "convenience fees" - but that right there is a whole topic unto itself). We have been happily transferring funds back and forth for some time now without incident. Then comes what I have dubbed "the fat fingered financial fiasco." I messed up to the tune of $600. I meant only to transfer $212 to cover a bill and ended up transferring $812. Wow, was I high or something. I really have no excuse and didn't even realize what had happened until Nate (my awesome husband) went into check his balance and found it in the negative. Oh boy...I have made stupid mistakes before and undoubtedly will make many more before I'm through on this earth, but 5 overdraft fees later, I hope my future mistakes are far less costly.

Wow, I actually started a blog..

OK, so Jillyn kinda pushed me over the edge on this whole blog thing. I've been thinking about it since I've been reading what Jill and Sarah write. I love the hilarious stuff they write about their kids. So those two are super duper digital scrapbook geniuses and their blogs are super cute so I was a bit intimidated, but I decided - with a little push from Jill - to go for it. The hardest part about starting this thing was coming up with a name. I got to the spot you select one and totally froze up. I considered Melissa's Mayhem, but did you know if you look up mayhem in the dictionary it has all kinds of violent connotations, not what I'm going for. So then there was the Cox's Conundrums, yeah right, say that one five times fast. I thought of Melissa's Menagerie because it does feel like a bit of a zoo around my house at times, alas the name was taken. So I decided on The Frabbish Chronicles. It kind of had a ring to it. If you are wondering about a frabbish, well that's me...sort of. See you get the fish from the Pisces side and the rabbit from the Chinese astrology side, shove 'em together and you get frabbish. Not that I subscribe to the whole astrology thing, it's just fun to say frabbish. Go on......try it out....you know you wanna.....F*R*A*B*B*I*S*H. Fun huh? Yeah, well give it a bit, it might grow on you.