Happy Halloween!

In commemoration of Halloween, I was going to share my favorite zombie dance clip from YouTube... but then it got disabled. Then I was going to share my second favorite... "Uh, yep, he's missing, too!" (What movie is that from?)

So here is a Thriller performance live. Enjoy.




If that one is too long to watch, how about a funny parody of Harry Potter:

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She Ate It! With Her MOUTH!!!

For those of you who didn't follow my status update on Facebook yesterday... Almonds ate a gecko yesterday morning. For those of you who DID read that news... yes, I'm still shaken up over it.

Here's the story:

I was walking around the house getting things together. (For the life of me, I can't remember exactly what I was doing -- but I know I was doing something!) Almonds started crawling into the kitchen and searching on the floor for something small to grab. Luckily, I thought, the floor is clean of anything small, so I shouldn't have much to worry about. As she started reaching under the oven (like she always does), I turned my back to her to focus on something else (again, it WAS something... something important...) for a minute. Then I stepped over her in the kitchen to pour myself some juice when I noticed she was sitting upright and chewing.

Hmmm, I thought (still recalling that the floor was clean), maybe she's fiddling around with her new teeth.

I drank my juice and left some for her. The juice was part to distract her so I can see what's inside her mouth, in case something really was in there. So I squatted down with my cup of juice; she looked at the cup and began to reach for it, but suddenly stopped her action and proceeded to spit out what was in her mouth. It was a dark greenish brown color, slimy with perfectly circular black spots. What could that be, I thought? I pulled the small lump out of her mouth and tossed it into the trash.

I was right, I thought, that was slimy. Too slimy.

It missed the trash can and landed on the kitchen floor, but I didn't yet pay attention to it. Almonds took the cup and drank the rest of the juice, and while she did that, I crawled over to see where the mysterious slimy thing had landed. I took a good look and gasped.

It was a baby gecko. And it wasn't moving.

I almost cried with disgust. I scooped her up, flushed her mouth out with water, brushed her teeth, prepared her a bottle of formula and had her gulp it down. My mind was racing: Where did she find it? How did she catch it? Why hadn't I seen it? How could I have stopped her? Is she gonna be ok? Is that thing really dead on my kitchen floor? Did she break it into pieces? (No. That answer was obvious: it was still whole.) *shudder* I thought geckos were fast. I thought she would never have picked up a moving creature. What if she'd swallowed it? What if she choked on it?

I flushed my own mouth out with water, and downed a lot more liquid than I had had in a while! Then I tried to call Jobi, who wasn't answering because his phone died (stupid phone). And when I couldn't reach him, Ame and I went to my neighbor Rachel to vent to her.

Almonds, on the other hand, didn't seem affected by it at all. Apparently, something about the "food" was distasteful to her, hence her spitting it out and wanting a drink. But other than that, she was (and still is) alright. I've been monitoring her every minute since then, and she's fine. I think it's just me who isn't fine. I put the news on my Facebook status, and evidently everyone has something to say about it. The ones that hit me the hardest, though, were from my siblings --

"WHAT the HECK?! Can you watch my neice so she doesn't pick up freakin animals and eat them?! HOLY COW, GROSS!! and you were standing by watching, what in the world!"

"...i leave for 3 months and this $£¡¥ is going on, lol. wat the heck? give her a camera not a gecko."

After a long day of dealing with it and other not-so-happy things, and then enduring another consecutive day of unfortunate events, I can't help but take these personally. Eek! I'm only human, people! (Breathe, Dassa. Breathe..........)

Ok, I'm done venting. And that's the end of the story.

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Her Own Strength

So about the PS3...

The short of it is that Almonds broke it.

The long story isn't that long, either. We hadn't gotten any new toys for her to play with, and so a lot of times she just converts whatever she can get her hands on into her own toy. So far she's used pens as witch wands, jar lids as cymbals, ID cards as chew toys, and a whole bunch of other things.

The PS3 became her new drum.

Boy, is she strong. When I go to work and Jobi watches her, oftentimes he'll just leave her to play on her own while he plays a videogame (or two). So apparently when he plays with the PS3, so does she! (hahahahaha!!!) She hit it so hard that at first the CD inside couldn't come out. Now, not only is the CD stuck, but the whole thing won't play. One day I came home from work to Siope's shrieks (more like grunts) of nos and look-what-you-dids and I-can't-believe-it's-brokens.

So now... the PS3 is broken. Jobi is upset. I am thrilled. And Almonds now has toys her own age!

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We Interrupt This Program

... to wish my sister, Sapi, a happy BLEATED 36th birthday! I cried when I didn't remember until 10:00 that night, because right at the time I remembered, we were dancing "Aloha 'Oe" for rehearsal.

Thanks, Vick, for making this video of her...



"I'm missing you like crazy" sis, "And it shows." I love you.

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A Mother's Lullaby

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. in the BYU-Hawaii Stake Center, there will be a memorial service for Amanda Gunter. All are invited. We have been told to wear bright, happy colors, as that is what she would've wanted.

Some music will be sung. Some of us friends had gathered together tonight to practice some music for the service tomorrow, and some of the songs we are singing are lullabies. These lullabies are Timothy Max's project/gift for Levin and Ansley, and the texts have been written by some members of the Concert Choir.

I think about 10 lullabies are ready to give to Levin's family for tomorrow, and two of them will be sung by our little choir. Both of them are absolutely beautiful, but one in particular keeps stopping me in my tracks. It's called, "This Song I Sing for You: A Mother's Lullaby," lyrics written by our dear friend, April (Fisher) Alexander. The words are so simple and so basic, but I can't help but feel sad knowing that this is a love song from mother to daughter, and Amanda will never be able to sing this song for Ansley on this Earth. As a mother, that pains me. I can't imagine not being able to sing for Meliame again. Just knowing that the opportunity to physically share my love for my children with them has been taken... I know it wouldn't hurt my children nearly as much as it would me, but it's a sad thing. And I only pray that Levin as a father will be strong through this tough time, and that they will always remember Amanda's love for them.

Ugh, I can't stop crying, even as I'm writing this! Anyway, here are the lyrics to this lullaby (thanks, April):

1. A day like this, I'll give to you,
Of golden sun and morning dew,
Of passing clouds and sunsets too,
A day like this, I'll give to you.

2. A night like this I'll give to you,
Of silver moon and stars so true,
Of quiet winds and stillness thru,
A night like this I'll give to you.

3. A song like this I'll sing to you,
When golden sun and stars so true
Sing my heart and love to you,
A song like this I'll sing to you.

Death is never an easy thing for the living to cope with. No matter how often it passes in our lives, it will always affect us. Shake us. Remind us of who we really are. And what our lives are really about. Death teaches us lessons, and each life taken from us is a new lesson learned. I learned to cherish the moments I have with Siope and Meliame, to always show people how much I love them, and to enjoy life, every minute of it.

If anyone who knew Amanda and Levin are reading this, please come to the memorial tomorrow (or today, depending on when you read this). If you can't make it, please keep the Gunter Family (and Amanda's family, though I don't know her maiden name) in your prayers.

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