Magic Mimi

This story kind of reminds me the old cartoon, "Hey! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" "RAWR!" What I'd really like to see is Obama pull all those promises out of his - but this isn't one of those kind of blogs.
I have a ten year old daughter who knows magic. Yep. She goes by the stage name of "Magic Mimi." If you were ever wondering, her real name is Amelia and her toddler version of her name was "Mimi", so it stuck.

Trick Number 1: When her grandpa was staying with us a few weeks ago she decided to show him some of her magic card tricks. She had her stack of cards (a very short, suspicious stack of cards) and fanned them out and told Grandpa to pick a card. He drew one from the deck and looked at it and put it face down.

"Make sure you memorize it," she said.

He looked at it again, "Okay."

"Concentrate real hard and don't forget your card," she says in all seriousness.

He cackles, looks at his card to humor her and says, "Okay. I think I have it memorized now."

"Now place it back in the deck."

Grandpa, who's played this card trick one too many times in his life does the old switcheroo. "Okay, close your eyes." She closes her eyes. He places his card in the deck. She then straightens the deck.

"Let me go get my magic wand." She then runs to the other room and returns with.........a glow stick! She taps the deck three times and starts rummaging through the cards carefully in one direction, then in the other direction. She straightens the deck again. She gets the magic wand again and taps the deck a little harder this time, three times, and does the same thing again. She's looking a little panicked now. She straightens the deck again and this time beats the deck with the wand three times and says, "I don't know what's wrong with this magic wand!" She looks through the deck again and she finally says, "Hey! Did you trick me?"

Trick Number 2: Mimi laid out 12 cards face down on the floor and told Grandpa to memorize his card. She mixed them all around and tapped each card with the "magic wand" once and then went back and tapped each card in rhythm three times. It was like watching a ritual. Then she went back to tapping each card once again when I finally said, "Okay, Mimi!" She stopped (got the message, the build up was too much.) Then she pulled a card up from the display and said, "Was this your card, Grandpa?"

He said, "I don't know, you never showed me the card in the first place."

In which we all burst out laughing and she said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot."

There's real potential there, I know. She knows how to capture an audience, admit when her wand is freakin' broken (happens all the time) and adds humor. We're bookin' her for parties now, so book early.

Here's a few pictures from our "Roman Ruins - How to Host A Murder" night. We had so much fun and had yummy food and wonderful company! I get to play the poor widow of the victim (Flabbius) and everyone at the dinner table were suspects. I was Mercedes and drove a four horsepowered chariot. Jared was Harangus Adnauseum, a senator.
Then there was Cleptopatra and Maximus played by our friends Gretchen and David.

Matt and Rebecca were Licentius and Rotunda. Licentius was a trend setter in Roman fashion.

Then there was Bogus the priest of the Cult of the Blue Oyster and Flotilla who had a hard time keeping her ships afloat. These were our neighbors Lance and Jodi.

We had a great spinach dip for appetizers (that Clepto stole off the Internet), I tried my hand a Souvlaki - (also from the Internet - glad to have friends to sample a new recipe - it was so good I may have to post it), pita bread (that I remembered half way through dinner), saffron rice, Greek Salad and a peach dessert.

Your Best Guess!

Nancy & Karen (Rocking Pony) if you send me your address I will send you a little somethin' somethin' for your lovely guesses! Email at galahs@juno.com

I love you. Actually I loved all the guesses. Now if they would quit ID-ing me everytime I buy spray paint......

Is This The TMI Award?

My BFF Karen tagged me with this meme. Now, if I want to keep this award I have give 10 honest "juicy" things about me. I'm so boring....how honest do you want me to be? I guess as long as I'm not confessing, I'm okay.

1. I'm deathly afraid of bugs. Australia has many large and strange bugs and I don't miss them. I especially don't like preying mantises. Even though spiders are considered arachnids, they're still bug-like and scare me, too. I tried to find a picture of a huntsman spider that would show how big they are this is the only one I could find. They are about as big as your handspan.

2. I'm very insecure. Though I'm very outgoing and can befriend anyone I get anxiety thinking about what people might think of me. I know I shouldn't care and unless you were one of my bff's you would never guess this about me.

3. Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Paul Lynde were my childhood heroes. I still think the Carol Burnett show was the funniest of all time.

4. I dated many guys in my single days but I've only truly loved two guys. One of them I married, my darling Jared. He has recently treated me like nothing less than a princess. I'm very spoiled. He's good looking, too.

5. I don't like cats. I like dogs much better.

6. I have trigeminal neuralgia. That means I have a nerve in my face that sends pain signals for no reason. I have to take a pain killer occasionally for this. It comes and goes in cycles. I don't talk about it much since I've had it for about five years.







7. I used to be a Martha Stewart. I don't have that kind of time or desire to be her anymore. I think she was one of my split personalities and she finally split off for good. Carol Burnett is one of my split personalities.

8. I don't like getting my hair wet. I have a blonde afro that's very hard to tame and unless I have conditioner, BioSilk, blow dryer, straightening iron and hairspray around, I refuse to get my hair wet.

9. I'm addicted to Sudoku! I love word puzzles, games and even board games except Monopoly, which bores me.




















10. Something juicy......yawn.....uh.....I need a.......reduction? If you would like to donate to the cause let me know. Be careful what you wish for as a teenager. No photo for this one, sorry.

Now I would like to tag: Kari, Diane J., Jared because he's never done a meme before and anyone else who would like to do it!

"My Favorite Ornament" Tag

My friend, Christina, tagged me several days ago and I'm finally getting around to doing it! I really don't have one favorite ornament, but this is one that I bought in England when I was on a mission. It reminds me of very cold times when we wore nylons, leggins and leg warmers to keep warm. This particular ornament I bought at Harrod's. How we ever found our way out of that place, I'll never know! Anyone who's been there knows what I'm talking about!

There are many ornaments that remind me of great times, some I've had since I was a kid, one my best friend when I was 14 gave me, some the kids have made. I used to think all the ornaments should have a theme and look like the ones in the department stores. That is the artist in me, but now I like it however Mimi likes to decorate it! She's the only one who would do any decorating. It's nice still having someone little to keep us in the spirit of Christmas, the magic of Santa and the excitement of traditions.

I will tag my SIL, Diane.

Just for Fun!

My gorgeous friend, Janine, wrote a very nice blog about me and my husband. http://jamean.blogspot.com/2008/11/for-krista-jared-and-tommy.html It gave me an idea! I'm going to say some nice things about her and one other person and those people must do the same. Say something nice about the person who tagged you and tag someone else. Here goes:

Janine
I worked with Janine testing kids with English as a second language. She is fun and bubbly and we had soooo much fun together. She is a gorgeous, single mom, but recently engaged. She loves her kids and is such a good mom. She is beautiful and laughs at my jokes, which puts her high on my list. One word for her....PLANT!!! Okay, that's 32 words with fresh lip gloss!

My BFF, Karen
I cannot say enough about Karen. She is an angel here on earth. She is like a sister and we talk almost every day. She waited for quite a few years before her children came to her and the Rocket Scientist. They adopted four mischievious - I mean beautiful children and she has more patience in her little finger than I have in my whole body. I love her and her family and if you don't have her for a friend, I'm sorry. You're missing out. We have a "cheese and wine" relationship. When one of us whines, the other says, "Cheez." Thanks for never running out of cheese!

I wish I could go on and on about everyone, and if you really want me to, let me know and I'll do my next post on you!

What Color Are You?

At work, our "Workforce Development Coordinator" Rebecca had us take a test online. It was pretty fun but hard to answer some of the questions. The results are one of four colors to help you know your "personality style". I answered the questions, and expected nothing less than a Pollock painting for results.

"Congratulations, you are a Yellow." I wondered if any of the results come back saying, "That sucks, you are a Red." Rebecca comes into the admin. office and says, "Krista, you have to be a yellow." (I hate being predictable!) "Yep! How'd you guess?" I say. She happens to be married to a yellow. You aren't categorized into a box, but have a mixture of colors, but the dominant one is the one to focus on and work with. Here's what it says:

Yellows (Motive: Fun)
Yellows are motivated by Fun. They are inviting and embrace life as a party that they're hosting. They love playful interaction and can be extremely sociable. They are highly persuasive and seek instant gratification. Yellows need to be adored and praised. While Yellows are carefree, they are sensitive and highly alert to others' agendas to control them. Yellows typically carry within themselves the gift of a good heart.

Yellows need to look good socially, and friendships command a high priority in their lives. Yellows are happy, articulate, engaging of others and crave adventure. Easily distracted, they can never sit still for long. They embrace each day in the "present tense" and choose people who, like themselves, enjoy a curious nature. Yellows are charismatic, spontaneous, and positive; but can also be irresponsible, obnoxious, and forgetful. When you deal with a Yellow, take a positive, upbeat approach and promote light-hearted, creative, and fun interactions.

Last Wednesday, there was a meeting and Rebecca was going to go over the different colors and how to work with your strengths and weaknesses. I just happened to be sick that day. I was really disappointed that I missed the meeting and asked her who else was yellow from our work. Can you believe there were no other yellows? The other secretaries said that's why they hired me, to add some fun to the office. It's a hard job but someone has to do it.

Take this test and let me know some things about your color. Make sure you go to the "basic" profile - it's free. http://www.colorcode.com/

Playin' Tag

Karen tagged me with this Meme of "Four Things." Thanks, Karen. I have some material to post now. Besides the fact that I had a nightmare last night of that scary lady chasing me with her lunatic laugh!

A. Four places I go over and over:
1. Wal-Mart because it is less than two miles away.
2. PARC, because that's where I work!
3. The bathroom in the middle of the night. (JK!)
4. A special place in my mind that I like to revisit! (he! he!)

B. Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1. Karen, my BFF
2. Kari, my other BFF
3. My dad in Oregon
4. My cousin who sends me way too much junk mail.

C. Four of my favourite places to eat:
1. I'm not picky, but don't do pasta.
2. Good Thai restaurants.
3. Bajio's Mexican Grill
4. My calendar says this month: "It's not so much as what's on the table that matters, as what's on the chairs." W.S. Gilbert

D. Four places you'd rather be:
1. A massage bed.
2. Thailand on vacation.
3. The West Indies on vacation.
4. Anywhere my hands and feet aren't permanently cold at the moment.

E. Four TV shows I could watch over and over:
1. 2. 3. 4. I don't like watching things over and over. Sorry, no answer. Party pooper, I know.

F. Four people I think will respond:
1. Janine
2. Christina
3. Diane J.
4. Dad

MEMORY GAME

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.