We are putting our house on the market on Friday and hoping it sells fast. Lightning quick. Like, as in the first 24-hours.
We put an offer in on a little bit larger home about a half mile away. It's the perfect situation as far as getting a little more space and the kids not having to change schools.
Sadly, it means we have to let our little bungalow go. We've loved living here. But, adding a sixth person to our family has made the space just a little more cozy than we want.
We only have one week to get an offer or we will lose our contract on the other house. So, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and if you know anyone who's looking for a house in Ogden, be sure to send them our way.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
How I Came to Know Gangrene
Brian is always saying, "We should do something more original." You know, a more original date night than just going out to dinner, or the occasional dinner and a movie.
This is the story of how we came to take our family to see a band of Sasquatches perform.
Two weeks ago, I came home after a long day of work and sat down on the couch with a sigh. There were only five more days of summer vacation. All I wanted to do was focus on ending summer with a bang and getting the kids ready to go back to school. Ahhhh . . . it was Thursday night. I didn't have to go to the office on Friday. I was ready to start my weekend.
I opened my e-mail to discover a story assignment that would have to be worked on over the weekend. Normally, I wouldn't mind. Actually, this is normal. But, on this particular night, I was wishing to not have to work over the weekend. Plus, the house was needing some TLC, and the kids were probably needing some extra TLC too. The assignment was just one more thing.
I really started to complain when I saw that my assignment was to cover a film festival involving an opening act of a band with all of its members dressed like Big Foot. "Who does that?" I was asking Brian. "If you and five of your closest friends all own Sasquatch costumes and you like to wear them and rock out in your garage . . . ?" Needless to say, I was less than enthused when I picked up the phone on Friday and started making phone calls.
Over the course of the next few days, I spoke to organizers of the Gangrene film festival and a spokesperson for the band (those Big Foots are too shy to talk to humans after all). We exchanged e-mails and and phone calls and they won me over with their sincerity and kindness. I learned that they were super nice people just having a good time.
The organizers, four film producers, said they always loved to throw backyard parties. And, to keep it interesting, they also liked to base the parties around a kooky theme. One year, they invited all of their friends to watch some of their short films on a big screen in their backyard and they called it "The Gangrene Film Festival" after their production label "Gangrene Films." Their friends liked it so much, they begged them to do it again the following year and to allow them to invite their friends.
The crowd of 40 grew to 100 and they had to move it to a high school auditorium. And, so this film festival was born 12 years ago. Since then, the crowds have grown from the hundreds to thousands and they have had opening acts including tap dancing grandmas, break dancing pirates, and -- my personal favorite -- Mini KISS, a KISS cover band comprised of little people (I didn't see them perform since I just learned about the film festival this year, but google their photos and you will love them too).
Word is out and now they receive hundreds of film entries each year. They choose which films to show based on two criteria: 1) It has to be hilarious and 2) It can contain no offensive content.
I loved that they created a family friendly film festival and that the price was family friendly too ($35 for the 7 p.m. session or $50 for the 7 and 10 p.m. sessions for the whole family). After I got over myself and decided to loosen up and think about how much my kids were going to laugh their heads off at a big foot playing the keyboard or electric guitar, I decided we would go.
I figured it was a bit of a gamble -- funny? Or, just bizarre? But, my instincts were right and the film festival was fabulous! I would totally go back again. The Big Foots of Wasasquatch were really quite talented. And, when they performed "Stairway to Heaven," and a string quartet joined them on-stage, followed by a team of graceful dancers, followed by an entire marching brass section, I realized we were getting way more than our money's worth. The films were funny and quite professional too.
The best part was that it was something the whole family enjoyed. And, definitely original. Even Brian, the naysayer, (what? you asked for original babe) had a great time. I'm excited to see what they come up with next year and I would recommend this event to anyone (although we may leave Isaac and Katie home next year since Isaac in particular started to go "it's past my bedtime" crazy about 45 minutes before the early session ended at 10:15 p.m.).
This is the story of how we came to take our family to see a band of Sasquatches perform.
Two weeks ago, I came home after a long day of work and sat down on the couch with a sigh. There were only five more days of summer vacation. All I wanted to do was focus on ending summer with a bang and getting the kids ready to go back to school. Ahhhh . . . it was Thursday night. I didn't have to go to the office on Friday. I was ready to start my weekend.
I opened my e-mail to discover a story assignment that would have to be worked on over the weekend. Normally, I wouldn't mind. Actually, this is normal. But, on this particular night, I was wishing to not have to work over the weekend. Plus, the house was needing some TLC, and the kids were probably needing some extra TLC too. The assignment was just one more thing.
I really started to complain when I saw that my assignment was to cover a film festival involving an opening act of a band with all of its members dressed like Big Foot. "Who does that?" I was asking Brian. "If you and five of your closest friends all own Sasquatch costumes and you like to wear them and rock out in your garage . . . ?" Needless to say, I was less than enthused when I picked up the phone on Friday and started making phone calls.
Over the course of the next few days, I spoke to organizers of the Gangrene film festival and a spokesperson for the band (those Big Foots are too shy to talk to humans after all). We exchanged e-mails and and phone calls and they won me over with their sincerity and kindness. I learned that they were super nice people just having a good time.
The organizers, four film producers, said they always loved to throw backyard parties. And, to keep it interesting, they also liked to base the parties around a kooky theme. One year, they invited all of their friends to watch some of their short films on a big screen in their backyard and they called it "The Gangrene Film Festival" after their production label "Gangrene Films." Their friends liked it so much, they begged them to do it again the following year and to allow them to invite their friends.
The crowd of 40 grew to 100 and they had to move it to a high school auditorium. And, so this film festival was born 12 years ago. Since then, the crowds have grown from the hundreds to thousands and they have had opening acts including tap dancing grandmas, break dancing pirates, and -- my personal favorite -- Mini KISS, a KISS cover band comprised of little people (I didn't see them perform since I just learned about the film festival this year, but google their photos and you will love them too).
Word is out and now they receive hundreds of film entries each year. They choose which films to show based on two criteria: 1) It has to be hilarious and 2) It can contain no offensive content.
I loved that they created a family friendly film festival and that the price was family friendly too ($35 for the 7 p.m. session or $50 for the 7 and 10 p.m. sessions for the whole family). After I got over myself and decided to loosen up and think about how much my kids were going to laugh their heads off at a big foot playing the keyboard or electric guitar, I decided we would go.
I figured it was a bit of a gamble -- funny? Or, just bizarre? But, my instincts were right and the film festival was fabulous! I would totally go back again. The Big Foots of Wasasquatch were really quite talented. And, when they performed "Stairway to Heaven," and a string quartet joined them on-stage, followed by a team of graceful dancers, followed by an entire marching brass section, I realized we were getting way more than our money's worth. The films were funny and quite professional too.
The best part was that it was something the whole family enjoyed. And, definitely original. Even Brian, the naysayer, (what? you asked for original babe) had a great time. I'm excited to see what they come up with next year and I would recommend this event to anyone (although we may leave Isaac and Katie home next year since Isaac in particular started to go "it's past my bedtime" crazy about 45 minutes before the early session ended at 10:15 p.m.).
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