Day 20

I have GROSSLY neglected this blog - I deserve to be tarred and feathered. I apologize to all who follow it. Unfortunately, a combination of a busy life and fitting in with the Crookstons to the point where they seem less weird has caused the downfall of my diligence. I really need to keep it up, though. Perhaps I should have a rededication ceremony with this blog: "I, Christine, take you, this blog, to write in as often as possible so as to record the events that happen at the Crookston household and not forget them ever, until death parts me and you or until I move out of this house, whichever comes first."

Okay, glad that's taken care of.

The Crookston Moment nominees for the past few days are:

1. I played volleyball at 1:30 in the morning with Taylor and three of his friends. The ground was cold and wet, and the ball kept slipping through our fingers. Taylor decided we needed more players, so he drove down the street and picked up his friend who snuck out of her house to play volleyball. I never did anything like that - perhaps I need to live on the edge more.

2. While hanging out in Carly and Shelby's room, Shelby spontaneously broke out into humming "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." This family is crazy about Christmas. Mrs. Crookston watches It's a Wonderful Life in the summer, there is a picture of a snowman outside my bedroom, and there are ice skates by the front door. Umm...it's June, Crookstons. Perhaps you didn't get the memo - Santa's not watching right now because he's on vacation. You don't need to up the spirit until November, and you'll still get perfectly fine presents.

3. Carly completely hijacked this baby named Isaiah. She said that he is so cute, and if she has a kid like him she's going to have seven. Otherwise, she's giving her kid back. I'm not sure exactly how that would work, so let's all just hope that Carly's future children are cute.

4. Taylor and I had a long conversation about when it is okay for someone to kill themselves. My answer was never, but Taylor had all of these fictional instances when he said it might be okay. Let's just hope he never finds himself friendless and weighed down by the guilt of killing hundreds of people in the Nazi genocide of the Jews. The world would miss you, Tay Tay.

5. After riding Taylor's horse Wrigley, the Crookston's grandparents brought us all Blizzards from Dairy Queen. This is a good Crookston moment because it combines all of the elements of living here: farm life, heavy emphasis on family, and good food.

6. Did I mention Beyonce the toad's new friend? I don't think I did. When we (Taylor and I) went to go visit Beyonce the toad, we found that she was hanging out with the CUTEST little gray field mouse. We have decided to name her Rhianna.

7. Mrs. Crookston's ducks died. :-( This is sad, and not in and of itself a good Crookston moment. The Crookston moment is when I got a voicemail at work that said something along the lines of, "Christine? Is Rex coming over tonight? I mean, could you please ask Rex if he would come over tonight? Because I have this gun, and I want him to kill something." She is still seeking vengence on whatever ended the lives of her feathered friends.

8. Carly just called Eric in my room. Here is the literal voicemail: "Schmuggly Bear, this is Carly. I can't find my phone so I'm on Taylor's. Call me back. Love love love. *kiss* *kiss* *kiss* la la la." WOW...

9. Carly's grandparents decided to play the newlywed game with Carly and I, and she did surprisingly well. She correctly guessed a few (least favorite teacher at KAMSC, pizza or steak, favorite animal, favorite musical, etc.). YAY Carly.

10. TAYLOR - STOP DISSING MY DRESSES! I CAN HEAR YOU IN HERE! I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A MOTHER OF THREE IN THAT! >:-0 Take it back, or we are no longer friends.

11. Carly went on theknot.com to show me an average wedding timeline. She was on a site that was 380 days from "Carly and Elijah's" wedding. I asked "Who's Carly and Elijah?" before realizing that Carly had created a personal website and timeline for her wedding to Elijah Wood. Good luck with that, my friend. Good luck.

12. Carly, Shelby, and I each chose two words to describe our future weddings. Mine: joyful, romantic. Carly's: glamorous, celebratory. Shelby's: classy, sparkly. I can't wait to see how they actually turn out.

Okay, I'm going to be done now since I need to work on my lesson plans for tomorrow's Kitchen Chemistry class. Plus, Carly is pacing around my bedroom in her underwear waiting for me to be done writing so we can talk (not joking). The Crookston Moment today is....#3. I like hearing Carly's future plans. They're almost always so...imaginative and unconventional? Yes, we will go with that.