The King and I have been holding family prayers with Babboo since he was born. A few months ago he started being able to say the prayers, with a little help from mommy and daddy. Last night, before bed, he asked to say the prayer all by himself. His first family prayers went something like this:

“Bless Jesus be happy. Bless we watch shows. Bless we eat. Bless we play with toys.”

This morning before I left to catch the bus, and before Babboo woke up, I told The King how sweet I thought it was that the first thing Babboo prays for is for Jesus to be happy. The King looked at me and said, “He isn’t praying for Jesus to be happy, he’s saying ‘bless Isabel be happy’.“

Does my toddler really know that I haven’t been feeling very happy lately? Can he sense it?

I need to be happy for myself, for my husband and for this sweet little boy.

I was asked to give a five minute presentation tonight for a church activity for the ladies in my congregation. (We call evenings like this Enrichment Night. You know, so we can go and get enriched on a Tuesday night.) My topic is “How to start your own blog”.

That’s right.

I’m giving a presentation. To a room full of Mormon ladies. On blogging.

That will only take FIVE MINUTES!

Okay, to be honest I was initially told I would only have five minutes but then they told me yesterday that I could take “ten, maybe fifteen minutes”.

TEN MINUTES to talk about blogging to people that have no idea what a blog is. Basically they want me to show step by step instruction on how to start your own blog. I figure I’ll tell them about blogger. No need to talk about domain names and servers and self-hosting. It will just be easier to tell them to start with Blogger.com. Don’t you think?

Since I knew I had a very short amount of time to share blogging with the ladies from my congregation, I figured the easiest thing would be to come up with a PowerPoint presentation. Not only will this be easier, it’s just more fun for me. This way I can use screen shots and add pretty colors and embellishments. (Too bad I can’t use glitter. As you all know, glitter just makes things so much more awesome.) (Oh my gosh, I should use glitter on the print outs I give them.) I’m hoping that the use of my laptop and my work’s projector will help the ladies better grasp the concept of blogging.

Below is a list of blogging items I plan on sharing with the ladies in an attempt to enrich them:

• Blogging is a great way to journal.
• Blogging is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends.
• Be smart about blogging. ( Be careful using real names, addresses, etc on the interweb.) ( Watch out for google stalking!)  (Oh my goodness, how I love google stalking.)
• Google Reader is your friend.
• Google alerts are pretty awesome.
• SiteMeter is also your friend.
• Technorati is also pretty friendly.
• Blogging is way better then Facebook. (Rumor has it that some ladies from church are always fighting over which is better. I’m here to tell them…blogging rules!)
• Be prepared for blogging to take over your life. In a good way.

Below is a list of blogging items I DO NOT plan on sharing with the ladies.

• www.holaisabel.com
• www.seattlemomblogs.com
• www.newtous.blogspot.com
• www.weheartlogan.blogspot.com

Yep, that’s the kind of information I’ll be keeping to myself.

I think I also want to tell the church ladies that they’ll be surprised at how much they’re going to enjoy the blogging community. I want to share with them stories about meeting bloggers in real life and the love and generosity I continually feel from those inside my computer.

Yes, all of this in ten (maybe fifteen) minutes.

So tell me, what else should I tell them about? Any secret awesome “how-to make your blog awesome” websites out there?

The Thursday of every month here in Seattle is First Thursday. This means that all the museums are FREE. The art galleries also premier their new pieces and stay open late serving wine and cheese. For most people it’s an excuse to stay in the city after work and look at the new art. Typically you see people in black turtle necks with berets and skinny jeans walking from gallery to gallery while smocking Clove cigarettes.

Okay, they don’t all look like a beatnik, but you get my drift.

Back before we moved into the new house and were living in a high rise apartment in downtown Seattle, we used to frequent First Thursday. This was much easier when Babboo was younger and not able to reach the canvas on the wall. From time to time we would even meet friends at the Seattle Art Museum and take advantage of the awesome Happy Hour menu at the Museums restaurant (that place is awesome, by the way).

When we moved into the new house we learned that our community also hosted a First Thursday, or sorts. Sure there was no swanky Seattle Art Museum to attend or any official art galleries, but there were some cool jewelry stores and real estate agencies that showcased local art for the event.

Plus, it’s a good excuse to get out of the house and be able to be apart of something cooler then cleaning bathrooms and going dishes. It’s always makes me feel like less of an Old Lady when I can say, “Oh we went to First Thursday last night” to my coworkers on Friday morning.

As far as I knew only the art museums were free on First Thursday. But guess what? It’s not just about art anymore. The Museum of Flight is also free as is the Experience Music Project. Holy crap, score!

Last week I went with the youth from my church congregation to the Experience Music Project, or just the EMP, if you’re from around here. I had been to the EMP years ago after someone gave us tickets for a wedding present, but that was a long time ago.

The King and also attended a special night with Rhett Miller, lead singer of the Old 97’s, at the EMP weeks before Babboo was born. This was something we bought tickets for without knowing what exactly we were buying tickets for. That event ended up being very, very cool. (But also hard for a very, very pregnant woman to sit through without multiple trips to the potty.) Anyway, The King and I had been able to sit in the audience while an interview with the lovely Mr. Rhett Miller was recorded for the EMP’s archives.

So last week I returned to the EMP. Not much seemed to have changed since the first time I toured it all those years ago. Except this time they had a wall documenting all of the recorded interviews they’ve done for their Music Archives.

You’ll never believe whose name I found.

Yes, I forced one of the 12 year old girls from church to take my picture.  Yes, I looked like an idiot.  Yes, none of the teenagers knew who Rhett Miller was.  And yes, I proceeded to inform them.

(Yes, I am a nerd.)

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Check out my latest post over at SeattleMomBlogs where I discuss my commute hurting my heart.

I haven’t seen a rated R movie since 1999. That’s right, I don’t watch rated R movies. In those nine years a lot of rated R movies have come out that I’ve wanted to see. And by “a lot” I guess I mean there are a few that I’ve wanted to see. Like “Garden State”. And “Knocked Up”. And maybe “40 Year Old Virgin”.

One particular movie I was bummed about missing recently was “Sex and the City”. Like most women I was a huge fan of the television series. But unlike most women I never watched SATC on HBO. Instead I waited until the show had ended, was edited, and was shown on TBS. It was a happy day at my house when TBS started to play the entire series, EDITED. Sure I was a few years behind the rest of you. I was drooling over Carrie Bradshaw’s outfits long after all of you had tried to incorporate her style into your own wardrobe.

Oh yes, I had missed the boat on SATC. But I didn’t care. I eventually got to watch it. I finally found out who Mr. Big and Aiden were. I knew who people were talking about when they mentioned The Russian. I understood what people meant when they said “I’m a Charlotte.” Or “she’s totally a Samantha!”

(For the record, I never quite was able to decide which “Sex and the City” character I was more like. I often felt like I was most like Charlotte. Except that I wasn’t as dreamy about love as she was. I also felt like I was a little like Miranda. Not in the career-driven way, more in the black-hearted way.)

(And also, for the record, I was always more a fan of Aidan. I know nobody else was. But I was. He was just such a good guy. I guess he didn’t have the town cars and the clout that Big had. Even if Aidan didn’t win Carrie’s heart, he won mine.)

So yeah, when the SATC movie came out this year my heart broke a little. While I knew I wouldn’t be seeing it in the movie theater, I knew I would see it eventually. I was just going to have to wait a few years until it was edited and shown on TV. I knew this; I had accepted it and my wait began.

I read your blogs about going and seeing the movie and about how awesome it was. I was jealous that I wouldn’t be seeing it with any girlfriends. (I’m not even sure any of my real-life girlfriends watched SATC.) Whatever. I was over it.

And then I boarded my plan from Seattle to London last month and saw that “Sex and the City” was one of my choices for the in-flight movies. I thought I had heard that movies on planes are edited. I wasn’t sure where I had heard that, but I was 65% sure it was true. As soon as the flight had taken off and we had reached cruising altitude, I turned my little personal TV screen in front of me on. I breezed through the menu until I found “Sex and the City” and put my headphones on.

I figured I’d known if it was edited about two minutes into the movie. If it wasn’t edited, I would turn it off and watch something like “Indiana Jones”. But dude, if it was edited, I was going to get to see “Sex and the City”. On the plane! What a great way to start my European vacation.

I think I was about thirty minutes into the movie before I realized that I was thirty minutes into it and I hadn’t heard one little swear or seen a single boobie.

IT WAS EDITED!

So yeah, I watched it. I finally know if Carrie and Big end up together. I know if Miranda and Steve are still married. I know if Samantha is now a one-man-woman. I know.

And I got all of this without having to hear the F word or see Samantha naked.

Next on my list I need to convince Zach Braff to edit “Garden State” and put it on TBS. Because dude, I’m still dying to see that movie.

So tell me, were you happy with the way the SATC movie played out the rest of the story about Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha? Was there anything you thought should have happened? What was your favorite outfit? What about your least favorite outfit?

(Because I know y’all saw it, right?!)

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In keeping with today’s Sarah Jessica Parker blog theme, my latest New Thing is all about trying out SJP’s “Bitten” clothing line.

First off, it must be said, I am so over The Rain. It’s August. And it’s raining like it’s the end of the world. (Crap, I hope it’s not the end of the world. I do not have sufficient food storage.)

The Highlights from the Garden Party I attended last nigh with the ladies from church:

• The fajitas & grapes (Dude, of course the food is number one.)

• The woman who admitted, during a heated game of “Two Truths and One Lie”, the back story of her “truth”.

• Apparently she had participated in naked cliff diving.

• The friends she was with were upping the ante with each dive and diving off higher and higher cliffs.

• She decided to “up the ante a nipple” and jumped naked.

• Watching as the room full of nice Mormon ladies busted out in laughter will forever be etched in my memory.

• Seriously, she said “up the ante a nipple”.

• That’s comedy gold.

• The looks of confusion on the faces of the nice Mormon ladies when another woman read her list, which included, “has had a Brazilian”.

• I was shocked and horrified that nobody knew what this was.

• I’m half thinking they were just playing dumb.

• It was her “lie”.

• My friend’s husband who graciously offered to watch Babboo so I could attend and The King could get some work done around the new house.

• Just being around fabulous woman made the night extra fabulous.

The Lowlights from the Garden Party:

• Having the woman, who was sitting next to me, inform me that the baby she’s currently pregnant with has a congenital heart defect and might not live after she gives birth to him in a few weeks.

And because I don’t want to close on that note, here’s a video of my second favorite thing (not to be confused with my first favorite thing) about the new house.

Shower Room in the new house from holaisabel on Vimeo.

Right after I arrived at work this morning I got this e-mail from The King:”20 days, 18 hours, 55 minutes till we leave on vacation.”

Oh yes, in twenty days The King, my Sweet Babboo and I will be headed to Europe. We’ve The King’s been planning this trip for almost a year. While he’s been busy reading travel books, making travel itineraries, reserving rental cars, researching hotels and buying backpacks for the trip, I’ve been attending my weekly Weight Watchers meetings and cooking better meals for my family.

I’ve been back on the Weight Watchers wagon since April. I haven’t missed a single weekly meeting. While I admit it’s hasn’t always been easy, I’m proud of myself for sticking with it and getting my eating habits a little more under control.

Plus, holy cow, I’m going to be spending most of September 2008 wearing things like this:

I’ll also be wearing lots of this:

And we can’t forget about this little number:

And when I’m not wearing one of those outfits I’ll most likely be wearing something like this:

(I call this last outfit “nudity obligatory”. One of the beaches we’re staying at in Spain informed us that the entire hotel observes “nudity obligatory”. And so, we must oblige.)

(Although we’re not sure if Babboo has to also oblige. Do you think he will?)

While my outfits will most likely consist of as little fabric as possible, I won’t be the only one in such fashions.

Don’t think I’m kidding. Check out what The King will be rocking in Europe ‘08:

Hey, when in Rome, right?

So yeah, I needed to get my eating in check. It helps that I have a month in Europe as my motivation. It also helps that it’s summer time and the stores are full of fresh fruit to fill my belly with.

(Is it just me or is fruit extra expensive this year? Every time I go to buy grapes and strawberries [which are ZERO WW points] I have to take out a freakin’ loan!)

If nothing else, our backpacks will be ultra light on this trip. While I will be taking my expansive bikini collection, those things really don’t weigh anything at all.

To help get the image of The King in his Speedo out of your mind, may I present you with this picture, that was weeks in the making:

Frema, this is for you. I had to bribe my kid with his first ever Oreo to get him to sit still long enough so I could get his shirt and his face in the shot.

(He refers to the monster as “Mr. Tuba” and the little blue bird as “Fi-fi”. It’s quite precious.)

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For anyone that’s keeping track, I officially went two days without a calling at church! (TWO DAYS!) You’re looking at (via your computer screen) at the newest member of my congregations Young Women’s presidency. I’ve haven’t been in Young Women’s since I was a young woman. I think I’ll be teaching the Sunday lessons and attending the weekly activities on Wednesday’s nights.

Here’s hoping I can be a good example to the girls in my congregation. Yep-here’s hoping.

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Happy Anniversary to The King. Eight years and he’s still got it.