Montana: It used to be just a state.

I am writing this entry in response to the feelings brought up by reading another blog about Miley Ray Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana. These feelings and thoughts, however, have been brewing in my mind for quite some time.

Warning: I could have done research on this topic before writing, but the entire situation may be more amusing the way I perceive it, regardless of fact. I have never watched the Hannah Montana show, but I have seen commercials for the movie and seen Miley interviewed and singing in various forums.

Hannah Montana is a Disney show on Saturday mornings. The actress who plays Hannah Montana is Miley Cyrus. Ironically, both Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus sing and play the guitar or some such. And now Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus act/sing/play/dance around both on a television show and in real life on a stage. Oh…and more recently, on a movie screen.

The way I see it, there is simply no point in Hannah Montana being a “different” person than Miley Cyrus; they both apparently do the exact same things. And in fact, they are NOT different people. When Miley wants to be Hannah, she puts on a blond wig. Other than that, I can see no great difference. If I was blind, or if I just heard a Miley/Hannah song on the radio, how would I know whether I was listening to “Hannah Montana” or Miley Cyrus?

Is Hannah Montana a person, an event, or a television show? Where does Miley Cyrus fit into each of these situations? Is anybody really supposed to be duped into believing that Hannah Montana is, in reality, a different person than Miley Cyrus?

Not only am I confused, but it seems a little creepy. After all, there could be some dissociative identity disorder here. Does Miley really know that sometimes she’s Hannah Montana? Or is someone capitalizing from this whole drama while Miley is unawares? Or maybe it’s Hannah who is unaware.

I am definitely confused. How could Miley/Hannah not be confused?

And the children. Is it right that we are exposing children to such a complicated intrigue?

Don’t even get me started on the fact that Miley Cyrus’ dad, Billy Ray Cyrus (that’s right, as in “Achy-Breaky Heart”) is her father in real life and on the television show, but with a different name as her dad on the television show. Whew.

Just so you know...

I am easily startled. I really don't mind quiet. I spend quite a bit of time by myself, especially since John is working so much right now. Most people would probably describe me as an introvert. Once I start having a thought, I can pretty much block out the world and sink into my own brain. Maybe all these facts add up to: I am easily startled.

I realize that hands-free mobile phones have been a part of the culture for, well, years. Since before we moved overseas. (Recently I've noticed I try to place events and happenings by "pre-Amsterdam" and "post-Amsterdam.)

Surely I am not the only person, easily-startled though I am, that jumps a little when a random and completely unfamiliar person in public near me seems to be looking in my direction and says something like, "Hi!" or "Do you know where I can find artichokes?" or "I can't believe how rude that woman was to Auntie JoJo."

OK, maybe I'm not startled so much by that last statement. I don't even know an Auntie JoJo.

It is especially disconcerting when my own name pops up in the greeting. "Hey, Erin! I haven't talked to you in forever!" I jump, turn, and find a strange woman that seems to be talking to me.

It still takes me a second to notice the hands-free mobile device from which is obviously emanating the other half of a conversation not involving me whatsoever.

An unobservant alien to our planet would surely conclude that half of us are crazy, having one-sided conversations with thin air.

And it startles me.

Is that snow?

I feel I should have words to write on this blog more often. Not so much because I think many people are reading it, but simply because I like to write. I just need to be more creative since the actual facts of life may not be that entertaining.



There was a storm in Dallas today. I happened to choose just the right time to be inside the grocery store while the sky opened up. Strangely, on my drive home I noticed something that looked like snow piled up on the eaves of a house just down the street from us.



I was startled to see "snow" since it has been about 80 degrees for the past two days. Even now, I can't think how I calmly kept driving after seeing what definitely looked like snow on a roof while the temperatures were quite spring-, even summer-,like. I remember being shocked, realizing what the temperature was outside, looking around quickly to see if the "snow" phenomenon was pervasive throughout the street, seeing no other "snow" at first, and then suddenly approaching my own driveway and seeing more "snow" piled up around my front porch and the garage doors, all while trying to convince myself that the white pile on top of that house must be from a tree, or maybe some kind of construction work. What kind of construction would result in snow-type material being left on top of the roof of a house? Well, I have no idea. All of these thoughts took place in a matter of seconds.



This is a reminder to me of how we just cannot make sense of even the most rational, real things when we are faced with them out of context. For instance, I might run into a friend from college in a local home improvement store and not be able to remember her name or how I know her for the life of me. After all, she doesn't belong in the home improvement store! How am I suppossed to place her face and come up with a name when I'm looking for roofing tar?



I am quite aware of the fact that I wear my emotions visibly in my facial expression, so it is no surprise to me that everyone knows when I am utterly confused. I'm sure my facial expression in the car after seeing the "snow" was one of complete bewilderment.



Maybe that's why the guy walking his dog was laughing.



The entire mystery was answered as I pulled into my driveway and saw the "snow" up close. It was actually pea-sized hail.



Quite an "ah-ha!" moment. (Not every revelation can be world-changing.)

Plumbing

I think we might need to start looking for a new plumber.

Let it be known that we are an equal opportunity employer.

As long as the price is right.

Since John's family has lived in this area...forever, we have had the good fortune of being able to use "family" home maintenance people since the beginning of our marriage.

It is now to the point that the family plumber is apparently not capable of meeting 100% of our plumbing needs. The difficult part of crossing this plumber's name off our list and searching for a new plumber is:

1. This plumber is virtually never busy and can usually come the same day we call in a problem.

2. He is relatively cheap...for a plumber. (This should, in fact, be reason number one.)

3. Since the plumber is getting up in years, as is our house, he seems knowledgable enough about resolving the plumbing issues we seem to run into. (Plus, he has the whole plumber's pants, "don't-watch-when-he-bends-over-to-fix-something" look going on. That must mean he's legitimate, right?)

So, what's the problem? Well, when I called him earlier in the week to come fix a leaking water spigot on the outside of our house he warned me that he has a bad knee and cannot crawl under our house to fix anything.

OK. I have little to no plumbing knowledge and could not figure out why he would need to get under the house to fix a leaking spigot. Hoping that this would not be necessary, I told him that he had fixed a similar problem several years earlier and I did not remember him crawling under our house to do so.

I was right. The plumber arrived and fixed the leak within half an hour, never even setting foot inside (or under) our house.

But what if the next problem requires accessing pipes under the house? We will be scrambling around to find a decent plumber at the last minute. Or we will end up paying a fortune to get the issue resolved quickly. If you know us at all, you can assume that the latter option would only happen if the house was flooding or floating away due to an extreme disaster. Yes, we are the people in the commercial who are standing in their living room, up to their ankles in water, as a waterfall issues from the ceiling, telling the plumber that his quote is too high and we'll just keep looking for someone cheaper.

Unfortunately, as John points out, our current plumber will never retire. (If he was going to retire, he probably would have done it about ten years ago.) So, we could potientially keep this man on the list and see what his physical state allows him to repair at the time of our need.

The fact remains that at some point, with a house as old as ours, we will need an able-bodied plumber. Preferably one who comes cheap.

Our conclusion: we need to start interviewing for a back-up plumber. Requirements: readily available and cheap.

Oh, and it would be nice if your pants fit.

Not Alone

Since it’s Saturday, and John is working, Erin has been catching up on blogs she hasn’t read for a while. Sometimes life seems frustrating, or boring, or completely confusing. Reading blogs makes us realize this is not unusual. We tend to imagine other people have more fun, have more adventures, or have a less difficult time. Completely untrue. Here’s what Erin discovered this morning:

Someone is having a rough start to 2008 because of family problems.
A mom cannot take a shower in peace without constantly tossing toys at her baby to momentarily subdue his screaming while she scrubs.
One blogger’s grandmother died this week.
Someone has spent several years doing distasteful work and just now found a job he actually enjoys.
Someone has nothing more interesting than haircuts to write about.
Some people watch a lot of television and are peeved by the writer’s strike.

So what about us? John is working seven days a week right now, as is usual for this time of year.

John reminded Erin that getting a job seems to be a matter of who you know and timing. It sure seems that has been the case for Erin throughout her entire life. Until now. It seems the time should have already come. Or one of the people Erin knows should have been able to give her more than “we don’t have any spots available right now…why don’t you talk to (fill in the blank),” and “fill in the blank” tells her the same thing. And on it goes.

Our nephew is no longer in danger of hydrocephalus, and the hemorrhages in his brain have cleared…a definite answer to prayer. He’s still having some trouble eating on his own, but he must be happy about something because he smiles all the time.

We are grateful for each other and for family and friends who love us even though their own lives are not necessarily easy or adventuresome either.

And now Erin is off to do more exciting life activities like vacuum, trim dead canna lilies in the backyard, and clean out a closet. John will continue sitting in front of a computer and stacks of reports for the rest of the day.

Today, we appreciate that we are not alone in the frustrations, confusions, and everyday-ness of life.

Six Flags "Holiday in the Park"

John's cousin, Katharine, is a maniac on the teacups ride! Out of the many rides we all experienced at Six Flags on Thursday, nothing made us more queasy than the teacups with Katharine. This video is proof of the craziness.

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday Erin's sister, brother-in-law and nephew received the best Christmas present they could ask for: our nephew was taken off of oxygen and is now breathing all by himself! We continue to fervently pray that he will have no other breathing issues. He also was taken off one of his medications that was helping him "remember" to keep breathing, so we think he's now down to only two medications/vitamins that Erin's sister has to give him everyday. Merry Christmas!

These posts don't seem so "adventurous" now that we're not living in a foreign country, but our lives feel full nonetheless. With moving, remodeling the house, Erin's nightmarish job experience, and the premature birth of our nephew the year has been stressful. We guess it's adventurous in it's own unpredictable way.

In other news, it has been close to 80 degrees here in Dallas. Erin thinks it is absolutely ridiculous for it to be this warm less than a week before Christmas. John absolutely loves the warm temperatures and claims it feels like his favorite season outside: spring. Yes, therein lies the problem. It is not spring. It is the time of year for nativities, Christmas trees, caroling, hot chocolate.....and cold weather! Erin is hoping for a cold snap for Christmas. If not, she'll have to make do looking at pictures of Christmases gone by when there was snow and the thermometer dipped down to freezing. (That would really just be the last two years when we lived in Europe.)

The mysterious part of all this is that both of us grew up in the southern United States. Why does John love mild temperatures while Erin continues to believe winter should come with cold, crisp air and snow? She clings to this idea of fall and winter as if she grew up in a place where there were four distinct seasons. Can't anyone agree with her that cold weather lends to more coziness? Fires in the fireplace, hot drinks, fluffy blankets, snuggling with your loved one? In this household she is alone in her sentiments.

Bring on the shorts, T-shirts, barbecues, iced tea and lemonade; it's Christmas in Dallas.