Hello everyone, my name is Sommer Christoffersen, and I have a confession. I am a Micheal Jackson fan. Not the child predator MJ. Not the wearing PJs to the courthouse MJ. Not the hiring AL Sharpton to fight the white music industry MJ. I'm a fan of the Jackson 5 MJ, with the fringed vest and bellbottoms. The Beat It MJ. The Thriller, Moon Walking MJ. The sequin glove, The Wiz, Captain EO MJ (Melinda, Katie, do you remember the Disneyland show? Love it!). I'm even a fan of the E.T MJ, even though now I have an incredible phobia of E.T. (That's another post). One day as a child, I saw a teenager across the street at my neighbor's house. He must have really liked MJ too because he was dressed very similar to him (or at least that's what my 6 year old memory remembers) and I thought MJ himself was across the street. I just couldn't understand how my neighbor, Yolanda, knew MJ. It was amazing!

Well, though my husband doesn't appreciate it, I am passing on my love of the singer to my son. After the passing of MJ, I began to feel nostalgic and began downloading old school MJ tunes. Then I netflix'd "The Wiz." Wyatt and I cuddled on the couch and watched it Friday night. Wyatt was enthralled. You could feel the beat of "Ease on Down the Road" start pumping in his little soul. He asked all kinds of questions:

• "Why those crows buggin' that scarecrow?"
• "What happened to hmmm, what's the doggy's name?" "Toto" "Yeah, where's Toto?"
• "How come Dorthy and the Lion are sleepin'?

The questions didn't stop that night. We've been talking about that movie ALL WEEKEND LONG! I went ahead and downloaded the soundtrack and now he wants to relive the story through the songs. "What's happening in this song, Mommy?" It reminded me how fascinated I was with anything MJ sang or did as I was a kid. And then I start to feel sad for ol' MJ. I think MJ was awesome in The Wiz. His acting is really good and sincere. And I can't help but thinking if somebody who knew what they were doing got to him around this time, MJ might not have have died with all these secrets. He could have gotten more movies, but who wants to put someone in a movie who has a pet monkey and the Elephant Man in his closet? Its freaky. Its my opinion that the Jacksons are talented wacky people that didn't have the right guidance because they were too selfish to accept the right kind of help. MJ had a PR just as wacky. And so he was allowed to turn into the odd ball he became. No one did a good job keeping MJ grounded. I find it sad. He was a talented soul that I loved! So for your enjoyment, here are some of my favorite MJ moments when I was a kid!

Just a side note, there is a link to the E.T MJ rather than an actual picture, because I am truly freaked out by E.T and the thought of him on my blog just makes my skin crawl. I'll really have to do a post about that.

I've decided I need a vacation, not going anywhere, but a vacation from the mundane, the chores, the obligations. I'm not stressed out, or needing to get away from anything (or anyone), but my body has been moving very slowly lately, and its time for some rest. In place of going to the grocery store, Wyatt and I are going swimming. This is a big deal, because there is barely any food in our frig. Fresh produce is consisting of baby carrots and a baggie of cherries that are getting mighty old, and really need to be thrown out. Our breakfast will consist of Pop Tarts and Eggo waffles. Our lunch, PB and J. Because there is no going to the grocery store on vacation, and I'm sure this is one of those times the Church has told us to be prepared with food storage, right? Hamburger Helper with canned veggies anyone?




I'm sleeping in and not waking up at 6 AM as I usually do. Who wakes up at 6 AM when they are on vacation? Poor Byron will have to have some lonely mornings, but for the last few days, I haven't even heard the alarm go off.

Now, I will say I haven't completely let go of my dreams of getting the mother of the year award. The floor did get mopped and the laundry did get washed yesterday. And though I don't mind folding the clothes ever since the creation of "Tuesday Laundry and a Netflix'd Movie Day," I would much rather teach my friend Sula how to make her blog pretty. Because, you see, I'm on vacation, and I do things that I want to do, rather than what I have to do. Speaking of which, I plan on scrapbooking everyday this week. I got started on Saturday, and haven't been able to stop! I love that!
My typical workout routine has been thrown out the window. That was the sign that I needed a vacation. Last week, my motivation to workout for a measly 40 minutes was at ground zero. Of course that could be due to me devouring 6, yes, 6 slices of the most lovely homemade bread from my sweet visiting teacher, Sister Lata, an angel grandmother from Hawaii that I adore and hang on every word. Did I mention I devoured 6 slices, all in one day, after weeks of barely eating any bread. I think it put me in a carb coma that I'm still stuck in. But, see, I'm on vacation, and you just naturally eat more on vacation (even though the vacation didn't officially start until yesterday and the bread incident was over a week ago!). Part of my workout routine is walking the dogs briskly through the park for 20 minutes. Duke and Da Vinci wait, oh so patiently for me to get my fanny out of bed, and then look at me with sad eyes. "Will you take us today, Mother? May we go on our walk today?" they say, tails wagging, ears perked. But there are no workouts on vacation, so the dogs can just go swimming like the rest of us.
So if you need to find me, I will be at the Buhecker Resort Pool in the mornings and the Christoffersen Scrapbooking and Blog Creation Center in the afternoon. Come on over of YOU need a vacation, but don't come looking for chores to be done and any workouts to occur. I'M ON VACATION!

*As a side note, I ended up making the Hamburger Helper, but with lean cuts of venison and spinach, topped with mozzerella, and it turned out quite lovely, so I'm back in the running for the Mother of the Year award, so :P!

FYI, Minima Stretch is a lovely thing!

I know, I know, my blog layout is all funky. I'm trying to figure it out, but the main purpose it to make the following pictures bigger for all of you. Patience please! :-)

Finally done posting all the great Seattle pics. These are my favorites, and so I saved the best for last.













Thanks Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy, Adam and Esther, for a great trip. It was wonderful and we miss you already!

I've been making an effort to keep track of the vegetables that Wyatt likes to eat. So while I always try to get him to try new things, I like to have his old favorites as an option. I knew he liked mushrooms and so do I so one day I sauteed some mushrooms and Wyatt got the idea to add some basil from our herb garden. YUM-O! So for your eating enjoyment, here is the recipe for Wyatt and Mommy Mushrooms.