Your Friends Don't Dance and If They Don't Dance

Our local fire department decided that a dance would be a good fundraiser. Thus, the first annual Shamrock Dance was held yesterday (a semi-formal event!).

I was so excited. After convincing Drek to take me, I packed Ash in her Wrap/sling and walked the four blocks to the fire department to buy tickets. They only to cash (of course) so I had to walk four blocks to Walgreens, get cash back, walk the four blocks back to get the tickets and then walk four blocks home. It was worth it!

Saturday we went over to Drek's sister's house to play games. My wonderful sister-in-law let me try on a bunch of dresses until we found the perfect one! After that is was time for jewelry shopping. I didn't find earrings I wanted so I made some out of the beads from a necklace. I tried to make a bracelet too, but it kept breaking.

Mei-mei's roommate was nice enough to do my make-up, and my sister in law did an amazing job with my hair. It was so much fun! I loved getting all dressed up!

The dace itself was a lot of fun, mostly because I loved being with my wonderful husband. We'd never been to a dace together before so it was a new experience. We had a wonderful time dancing and joking and talking. There were a lot of fireman there and some of them were dressed up in kilts. At first I was confused, wondering if they realized kilts were from Scotland, not Ireland, so wearing kilts at a St Patrick's day function made no sense, but then I realized the whole fundraiser was so the fire department could start a bagpipe brigade. I still don't understand why a fire department needs a bagpipe brigade, but whatever.

Halfway throught he dance the fireman came out in their suspenders and boots and attempted to country line dance for us. I say attempted, because they were really, really bad at it. It was so funny. But hey, at least their pants were shiny!

It was a wonderful night. I loved going to a semi-formal dance with my wonderful, handsome husband, who turned out to be a pretty good dancer!

Whoops? What's Whoops?

I went to the grocery store today to get the ingredients for Pi Day (on Sunday we are having a cousin party complete with a pie eating contest!). As I was waiting in the check-out line I was fiddling with my credit card; you know, tapping it on the conveyor belt thing. And then it was gone. It fell down a crack into the inside of the counter. No, I am not kidding. I dropped my credit card inside the conveyor belt counter.

I told the clerk, who told the bagger, who told the person at customer service, but no one thought it could be retrieved. So I left it there. The good news is that if I can't get it out; no one else can either. Ah well, it was time for a new one anyway.

That Dog Does Look Delicious

It's warming up here enough that the sidewalk are emerging and the footpaths have been uncovered. I have discovered a wonderful path that follows a river. The scenery is gorgeous. So, I have been running there. I am not the only one that is taking advantage of this path. I pass quite a few other joggers and several people out walking their dogs.

My dad taught us how to deal with dogs while jogging; Don't look at them or in their space. You are the Alpha dog, and in dog world if you don't want to stop and talk, pet, play, or be chased, it's polite to ignore the very existence of the dog.

This advice works great. I haven't had any problems with dogs trying to follow me or get in my way or eat me.

As I was going along the footpath near the end of my run, I saw a women walking two dogs. I looked straight ahead and tried not to look in the direction of the dogs. As I approached, out of my peripheral vision, I notices one dog was a golden color with curly hair. I recognized the breed of the dog and suddenly my legs stopped running.

"Oh!" I cooed stopping next to the dog and petting it as he jumped on me and wagged his cute little tail. "Is it a snickerdoodle?" I asked, thinking how adorable these kinds of dogs were. The women paused; "Um, it's a Golden Doodle." She said. I tried to remember what I had said and then laughed.

Of course. A Golden Doodle. Her dog doesn't look anything like a cookie.

I Will Make This Easier to Remember: Keep Your Station Clean... or I WILL KILL YOU!

Mei Mei also lives up here in the frozen tundra. She goes to school up here. One of the benefits of living here is that it we hang out a lot, which is nice. She is living with a bunch of roommates, one of which she hangs out with all the time, and consequently, I hang out with all the time. Her roommate is older than I am, with a lot more experience and tons of advice. She is the motherly-type, who cooks delicious food from scratch, knows how to calm screaming children and always wears an apron. She is the relief society president in her student ward. I value her advice, especially in the food area, as she and I have the same view on food and cooking (that is, the more you can make at home, from scratch, the better. And by scratch, I mean soaking your own beans, chopping your own vegetables and grounding your own wheat into flour).

So when she asked me to be a guest speaker at their relief society meeting I jumped at the chance. Not only because she was going to talk about eating healthy and other guest speakers were going to talk on budgeting and good mother traits, but because I was very excited to be a guest speaker.

The night before, right before I went to bed, I was given my topic and my time limit (seven minutes). I was so excited. It is one of my favorite topics, something I feel changed my life. Alas, I didn't really have time to prepare. The next morning I went on my five mile run (woot!) and thought about it the whole time, but as soon as I got home I had very little time to shower, get dressed, and argue with Drek about who was taking Ash (I ended up taking her). I didn't even have time to finish my breakfast, let alone write and rehearse my speech. Sigh.

The meeting was great. I was the last speaker and the speakers before me were awesome. I learned a lot and was excited to be there.

I failed horribly. Once I got up there, Mei-mei's roommate took Ash. Ash was not happy. She screamed and screamed. She was taken out into the hall but I could still hear her screaming. So I was thinking about that, instead of what I was saying. I ended up bumbling like an idiot, and all today I've been thinking up the things I could have said and done and kicking myself for being so unprepared.

So here, for your pleasure, is what I should have said;

One simple thing in your life can save you time, and money. It will make you happier, healthier, and skinnier. That thing is meal planning. It is easy and it is awesome.

When I was first married (replace with "in college" or "on my own" as your circumstance dictates) I did not plan meals. I went grocery shopping, got whatever was on sale, whatever sounded good, and threw in some carrots just to be healthy. My goal was to stay within a budget, which I usually did.

I would work all day and when I came home my blood sugar would be low, so I was tired and hungry. My husband (replace with "roommates" or "dog" or whatever) wanted dinner and so did I. I would look through the cupboards and the fridge, trying to come up with an idea. But, as I said, my blood sugar was low so I wasn't creative, I wasn't excited about cooking, I wanted something fast, and I was irritated at my husband for not cooking dinner for us. So we would end up having cereal. Not the best, but hey, it was food. The problem with cereal for dinner is

1) cereal is expensive and costs more than a good meal

2) it's not very healthy

3) at nine o'clock I would be hungry again and usually eat ice cream; which is even more unhealthy and eating anything after eight at night makes you fat.

4) a few days later those carrots would spoil, and not only did I never get their nutrients, but I had wasted the money I used to buy them.

So, the solution? Meal planning! It's so easy! Take a piece of paper/calendar/computer program/sticky notes/white board and write down one to two week's worth of meals. I made my own meal planning paper labeled Monday thorough Sunday with space to write the meal title like "Lasagna, corn, and homemade garlic breadsticks" or "Empanadas with pineapple sauce and tres leche cake." You can do whatever works for you. At this point, I would pass out my blank meal plans to everyone, so they could plan out their meals for the following week while I finished talking. On the back of the meal plan would be "Anyone can cook!" at the top followed by the websites and five secrets I mention.

The great thing about this is you can do it however you want, and it makes planning easier. Here are some examples; I know that on Tuesday I have a friend coming over for dinner, so I want to make something fancy that day. I don't get home until six on Thursday so I want something fast. My husband cooks on Saturday so I ask him what he wants to cook that day and write it down. I know I'm starting my period on Saturday so I want to eat a lot of flax the week before (it really helps with cramps). It's my birthday next week so we'll schedule to eat out. St. Patrick's day is on Wednesday so I should make an Irish-themed meal. I have a big test on Monday so Sunday I should eat something with brain food (eggs, oranges, cranberries).

This is how I do it, feel free to do it however you want;

I plan at least one easy meal a week. By easy, I mean ready in ten minutes; Burritos, P B & J sandwiches, whatever you like to eat and can make fast.

I like to have one new recipe a week, something I've never made before but sounds AMAZING! I find new recipes online, in magazines, or in books (but mostly online and for me, mostly on vegetarian, vegan, or RAW blogs.) I do this so I can try something new, expand my horizons both for both my palate and my cooking skills, and because I look forward to cooking this meal. That's right. All day I am excited to go home and cook this new meal. It's wonderful.

I like to perfect recipes, so I'll make the same recipe three or four weeks in a row, just to master it. I'll also keep my old meal plans so when I don't have any ideas I can got back and see what I've made before.

I'll look online, or at newspaper ads, to see what groceries are on sale that week. I'll find the best deals, and then think of meals I can make with those ingredients. If I can't come up with one on my own, I type the ingredients in to Google and add "recipe" and make Google give me ideas. Or, if it's vegetables that are on sale, I use this website.

And thus, my meals are planned. While writing the meal plan, I also write my shopping list, so I can be sure to get all the ingredients.

It doesn't have to take a lot of time. you should be done with a two week plan in less than thirty minutes. I promise you, with a plan, you'll save at least that every day of the week when you don't have to scrounge for what to cook for dinner and discover you don't have ingredients five minutes into cooking.

The next step is shopping. You are saving money because you are buying ingredients rather than cereal or TV dinners. You also know that whatever you buy, you will use, so nothing goes to waste.

Once you are ready to start making dinner, you know exactly what to make, you know you have all the ingredients, and you are excited to make it!

When you eat it, it is more healthy (even if you just made cheese soup with extra butter and cream, homemade is healthier than any pre-packaged meal, or any fast-food meal) and more filling. You won't be tempted to eat after eight, so you'll lose weight, and usually there will be leftovers for lunch tomorrow, giving you another cheap, healthy meal that's all done!

When you have a meal all planned with the ingredients already bought, you're a lot less likely to eat out. Eating out is not healthy and is so expensive! Making your own meals is healthier, cheaper, and makes you a better cook, bring your family/roommates closer together and, like I said before, gives you leftovers to eat later.

So, now that we have our meal plans, I'll let you in on a few secrets.

Secret 1) I'm not strict about my meal plan. That is to say, I rarely make Tuesday's meal on Tuesday. Usually when it's time to make dinner, I think about how much time I have, what I feel like making, and what I feel like eating. I'll match that to a meal on the plan, but not necessarily the meal I scheduled for that day. That's why I have at least one super-easy meal.

Secret 2) I know my plan says Monday through Sunday, but I usually only plan six meals. Why? Because I can count on being invited to a parent's/friend's house for dinner at least once a week. If I've planned seven meals, I either have to refuse the invitation, or let a meal's worth of ingredients go to waste. Or, if I'm not invited anywhere, I'll have leftovers on that night. Leaving one day off gives me more flexibility

Secret 3) Meat has the least nutrients, is more expensive, more difficult, and more likely to give you food poisoning. Keep thing simple; go veg.

Secret 4) Fresh produce tastes better than canned produce. Produce from a farmer's market or your own garden is ten times better than store produce.

Secret 5) Crockpots. Seriously. Five minutes in the morning = amazing and delicious meal at dinner.

And remember; Anyone can cook!

Sigh. I wish I had blogged this Friday night.

I love March. March means St. Patrick's Day and Pi Day and Passover and Easter. March means the first day of spring. March means the sun. March means it will only get warmer.

It rained last night. RAINED. As in, not snow. It is a miracle. When I went running this morning I could breathe in the air just fine. And that is why I love March.

The Coffin Was Supposed To Go On the Plane But It Didn't. Apparently He's Somewhere in Transit.

We just got back from a wonderful mini-vacation. Drek's brother is leaving to go on his mission (Hooray! So proud!) and his "farewell centered sacrament meeting" was on Sunday. Drek and I drove down Friday night and spent the night at Krisling's house.

It's odd, but every time I've been away and come back, my first glimpse of those mountains is always like coming home. I never knew I was homesick until I got back. I suppose it's because I was born and raised there, but I really do love those mountains.

The weather was amazing. As we unpacked the car I was outside, at night, barefoot, with no coat or jacket. And I was fine. It was so nice. The next few days were warm and snow-free. The sun was shining, I walked around barefoot, and we even rolled down the windows as we drove. It was about fifty degrees. And then I came home. WAHHHHHHHHHHHH why is it so cold here? I can't believe I'd ever think of my hometown as a warm place to visit in February, but wow, the difference is astounding. How cold is it here? Last week I went running in negative eight degrees. NEGATIVE! It's freaking cold.

Anyway, it was wonderful to see Krisling and Natebot and my little Toby. We had a wonderful feast Friday night and went to bed. Saturday morning we said our goodbyes and I visited with my parents for quite a while. I was supposed to be running errands, but Drek had taken the car to go play Frisbee for three hours. THREE HOURS. I guess he was excited about the weather too. When he got back I went and hung out with my sister and my two adorable nieces. We took a few really cute pictures of Ash with her cousin. Hooray!

And then it was time to run. My sister and I (and my dad, who decided to train and run the half-marathon with us! Sadly, he is in much better than shape than me. I'm not kidding. He has cancer and he can run circles around me. He is amazing) met at the starting point of the half-marathon and ran the first four miles. I LOVED it. Not only was I not slipping on ice or freezing to death, but the altitude was much lower so my lungs were fine. I also decided I love running with my dad and my sister. They are just so much fun! It didn't seem very far at all; we were having such a good time talking and hanging out.

When we finished Drek and I headed to his parent's church to watch his family's ward's (Wow, that's a a lot of 's) musical roadshow. There were a few plays (staring different members of Drek's family) and a lot of songs. It was wonderful! Drek and I both loved it! As an added perk, I got to hold my little baby nephew who was born in December. I fed him from his bottle and he fell asleep on my lap so we got to cuddle for most of the show. He is so darling.

Sunday Drek was, of course, the reason we were there. Drek and his family sang a song for the Prelude, his sister gave a talk, and his brother gave his farewell talk. Everyone did great. Especially the soon-to-be missionary. His talk was excellent.

After a quick lunch and lots of pictures and hugs, Drek and I headed back home. Ash slept the whole ride (she is such a good baby) and when we got home Drek and I decided to (finally) watch the season six premiere of LOST, which was AMAZING!!! I was so right about Hurley. It was wonderful to watch, but I did miss Ismail and Rissy. Maybe we can watch the next few episodes with Ismail when we go back down.

In conclusion, it was a wonderful trip. It was also a very rushed trip, we didn't have time to hang out with friends, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

And My Nose is Froze and My Ears Are Froze

It's so cold here. Well, outside anyway. I am actually warmer than when I lived in the Krayola Box, and the window had cardboard on it and the walls were just plywood with wall paper over it and there was no heat and we turned on the oven to keep warm. THAT was cold.

Here, my house is all toasty warm. It has great insulation. Our heating system is called Radiant Floor Heating, where the floors warm up so you never have to step on cold tile, the heat rises so it's much more efficient, and there are no germs or dust or allergens that get blown all around. Plus every floor is on a different thermostat, so we can keep the bedroom at seventy-five while the bathroom is a toasty eighty. It's WONDERFUL!

But outside is cold. REALLY cold. When I went running last week every time I took a breathe my lungs would freeze and my head would hurt. I just can't run in conditions like that. It is that cold.

So I looked up on a runners forum how to train in winter. Guess what I find out? People run in Alaska. ALASKA! If people can run there, I can run here. The suggestion was to wear a balaclava. Drek just happens to own one. So this morning I put it on and went running. It worked WONDERFULLY! My lungs didn't hurt, I didn't have a headache and I could make it through my run! Of course, it did create a lot of moisture, so by the time I came inside I had ice on my eyelashes and all around the air hole, but it worked!

So Put Your Mind At Ease

I'm pretty much moved in to this house. Yes, indeed. There are dishes in the cupboards, clothes in the drawers and pictures on the walls. There are still boxes, but those boxes will stay packed until we move to the place where the sun shines, and you can recycle glass, and people know what a vegetarian is and what EC-ing is and some of them are vegetarians and are also EC-ing. And the streets are paved with gold.

Ok, maybe I'm looking forward to this next move a little to much. I like it here, I do. I feel welcome, I feel happy. I just...hate the cold. I think this place just feels so temporary. I like it here, but it feels I'm just waiting for us to move again. This is a transition, not a home. I'm looking forward to being able to settle down, even if I know the next move isn't permanent either.

Even so, I like being unpacked. I'm beginning to relax. I think FINALLY having Internet may have something to do with that. Almost an entire month after moving in, I finally have Internet. Maybe soon I can get a phone, too! I'm relaxing so much that I'm starting to look around for other things to do. I think I'll have the downstairs neighbors over for dinner on Sunday! I think I'll throw another party! I think I'll start planning more trips and vacations and such! Hooray!

Until The End Of Time

Happy Valentine's day!

On Friday the Relief Society presidency came over to visit (this ward is very on top of things and very awesome) and brought me flowers!

I left them out to decorate and make the room festive, and also to make Drek jealous. When he finally noticed them he asked who they were from. "Pierre." I answered. "So the Relief Society, huh?" He said. He's too quick for me. :)

That night we made homemade pizza;
We also went on a date! We went with two other couples to a Broadway Review Show at the local University. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday we went out to lunch. It was meh.

Sunday Drek and I both spoke in church (I told you this ward is on top of things!). It was terrifying, but we lived through it. After church it was time for the party! Anna and I planned it. I think it turned out wonderfully!


The decorations looked wonderful, the food was amazing;
(I made the rolls which didn't rise, and the French bread I made didn't turn out at ALL. Luckily Drek's mom made some and it was very delicious.)


We had cheese fondue, a chocolate fountain and chocolate peanut butter fondue. NOM!
And the games were a blast! There were three couples including us, plus Drek's mom and brother, who acted as another couple. I found a few fun games, in this one;


the girls had to pick which elbow/foot/hand/head outline belonged to their other-half. It was really funny. We played other Valentiny-games and then Drek and I headed home to do a little celebrating;

Run

Hey, remember my goal to run a marathon this year? What have I done to train? NOTHING. Yeesh, this whole moving thing really threw off my schedule.

Thankfully, my wonderful sister called me with a delightful proposal; "Want to run a half marathon with me in June?" Yes. VERY yes.

So we are training together, even though we are in different states, and on race day we will be in the same state and run side by side. I am so excited. This is just what I needed to get my lazy self into action.

There are a few downsides, like the race starts at 5:30 in the very early morning and we have to be there by 4:30 and there are few things I hate more than getting up before the sun. Like, for instance, the cold, which I will be training the whole time, since this land is a frozen tundra in witch spring doesn't show up until late June.

But! It will be good for me. Character building and all that. And I am so excited to run the actual half-marathon. And once it's over it will be summer and I can run in the sun and then we will move to a place where the sun always shines and I can train all year in the warmth of never-ending summers. Rock on.

Today is day one. Today I ran two miles in thirty-two minutes (I haven't run since January '09). Sigh. But I will get better! I also discovered something; This city has no sidewalks. No sidewalks and no recycling. But it does have snow! Lots and lots of snow.

My Spinach Puffs!

My Brother-in-law's birthday is tomorrow. I decided to make a cake for Drek to give him tomorrow. I looked up recipes online and found an intriguing recipe for a Vegan Chocolate Cake. I decided to make it, but decided to be adventurous. I used and avocado instead of oil and added cinnamon. The batter was DELICIOUS!! I was tempted to eat the whole bowl of cake batter since there was no egg, but refrained.

I put the cake in the oven and let it bake for thirty minutes. I inserted a knife into the center and it came out all covered in moist cake insides. I tasted it. NOM!! I put it back in the oven and set the timer for ten minutes.

Apparently our oven timer only beeps once, and does not beep very loud. I walked back into the kitchen and sniffed; "What was that smell?" And then I remembered the cake. My jaw dropped and I looked at the clock: The cake had been in there for over two hours.

Sigh, it would have been so delicious and moist.

Said the Little Red Hen

I got a wheat grinder for Christmas. With the Holidays and moving and such I didn't get around to using it until this last week. It is WONDERFUL! Mei-Mei came over to help me cook and so far we've made whole wheat hamburger buns, whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat apple oat bread.
The tortillas were a special treat. I love tortillas but the whole wheat ones are expensive. Mei-Mei's roommate came over to show me how to make them. They are easy and only use three ingredients. I made smothered burritos with them, using my new homemade enchiladas sauce. I love making things from scratch. I love being able to say that I ground the wheat myself. Now I only need to figure out how to make tasty wheat bread. So far, all my attempts have been...blah.

But We're Not Trying to Find North, Are We?

If I ever catch the person who stole Karen (My GPS unit) THE DAY before I moved to a new city in a new state, I will seriously consider throwing all esteems of pacifism aside and stab that guy in the eye with a fork. Or maybe just turn him in to the police. It depends on my mood, and if there is a fork handy.

I can't find ANYTHING. I am constantly getting lost. This is no small feat in a tiny town built on a grid system. Alas, my inner compass does not point north. That is because I do not have an inner compass. With no mountains to guide me, I really have no idea which direction I am driving. I find myself saying things like "The grocery store is on the same road as the bank and is just around the corner from the post office...where was that? Do I go straight or turn?

Today I drove along a road I thought would take me to my landlord's place. It did not. It took me to the freeway. So I got on the freeway, knowing that the landlord's place was right off of the next exit. I drive five minutes on the freeway and take the next exit. I am definitely in the right place, so I turn left, then left again. CURSES! That puts me on the on ramp going back the direction I just came from. So I drive five minutes on the freeway, take the next exit, get on the freeway again, take the next again, take a left, pass the on ramp and then turn left, only to discover it's the wrong street and I should have turned right off of the exit.

Karen, I miss you so much. I hope your new owner appreciates your precise directions, your beautiful colored maps and your whimsical Australian accent.

Soon She Starts Getting Ideas and Thinking...

I have a Library card! Note to self; When moving again, send a postcard to your new address a few days before you move. That way you can a library card away, instead of waiting almost two weeks.

Alas, the library is...disappointing. One floor, not that big, and it seems they have a bigger DVD collection than book collection. A lot of the books on my "to read" list are not available at this Library. No F Scott Fitzgerald books? None? And you call yourself a library. I might have to have Mei-Mei take me to her university's library and see if I can get a card there, or borrow hers. Do you think we look enough alike?

Speaking of books, my wonderful downstairs neighbor just informed me that Dolly Parton has a program you can sign up for and she will send your child a book every month until they are five. WOW!! Not only is that an awesome program and I am thrilled by the idea, but I GET FREE BOOKS! Woot!

Also, the internets guy came today. I have interwebs! So far, working great! Hulu seems to work, which means I can FINALLY watch the LOST season premier (two days late).

You Didn't Hear About the Polar Bear?

This city has an annual tradition called Snow Fest. It's a fun day where the city has all sorts of free snow-related activities in a park. There was sledding and snowboarding and snow graffiti (spraying the snow with spray bottles filled with colored water) and a snowball throwing booth and so on. The biggest event of the day was a Polar Bear Swim, where you jump into a pool filled with water and ice, and climb out into a hot tub. It sounded awesome. As you may know, I HATE the cold, but I LOVE water. It was such a conflict. In the end, my love of water and adventure won out and I signed up. Also, Dude, my nerves are stretched to the max and I thought this would be a moral booster. Yes, I signed up to do a Polar Bear Swim.

First off, let me say, Snow Fest was a blast. I loved it. Second, when they started the Polar Bear Swim, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I thought we all went at once, you know, everyone climes into one end of the pool, swims fifty feet splashing and dunking each other and then climbs out the other side. I planned to glide underwater the whole way. But no, they take three or four people at a time, raise them into the air, then have them jump five feet down into the water one at a time so everyone can gawk at you. There was a HUGE crowd of people and a news camera and a professional camera crew. It became obvious that this was no small event about the mystical healing powers of ice water. This was a huge spectator sport about pleasing the crowd and daring your friends. There were costumes. Costumes; A bunch of teenage boys dresses up as the statue of liberty, a girl dressed in a jail outfit complete with a ball and chain, and a group of ten year old boys with super-man capes (The youngest age you could sign up was ten, and there were indeed a lot of ten year olds). The best costume was a Marvel Comics version of Wolverine. With the yellow spandex and the claws and mask and everything. He jumped off the platform in a full wolverine claws-out-yelling-belly-flop way. It was so great.

Anyway, I had planned to swim in my swimsuit (what else?) but it soon became apparent that that wouldn't work. Not only because it wasn't a costume, but for modesty reasons. All the other girls were wearing T-shirts and shorts. Also, this was my first time out in public in bathing suit after Ash was born and I was VERY self-conscious. I decided I just couldn't go up in front of the crowd and the camera in my bathing suit. I still wanted to do the swim, I just couldn't do it in a bathing suit. So I ran home to change into a summer wet suit. Summer wet suit are the thinnest wet suit and aren't designed to protect you from extreme cold, so I thought I would still get the full effect. Let me emphasise I wore the suit to protect my fat from the cameras, not to protect me from the cold.


It was cold. VERY cold. There was no air in my lungs, my hair was instantly frozen, and I had a headache by the time I climbed into the hot tub. It was SO GREAT! As I was climbing out of the pool, this little kid threw a snowball in the water. Thanks, kid. We appreciate you keeping the ice levels up.

I would do it again. Maybe not in front of the crowd, but I would do it again.

I Have Internets!

Finally. I don't even know where to start.

The move went great. Friday night Ismail and Ben and Yelli came over and helped us move some of the bigger stuff into the truck. They were so wonderful to come help us! The next morning everything was ready to go! We actually had a few people from the ward show up (I know, I was shocked too) and Drek's family was wonderful and came. We got it done less than an hour! The truck was loaded, the donuts were consumed and we cleaned a little before saying our goodbyes and leaving.

The drive was actually fine. Acouchi rode with Drek in the Uhaul. Drek said she meowed for the first three hours before her voice left and she couldn't meow anymore. She was not happy. Ash rode with me and woke up about an hour in to the drive. We pulled over and tried to entertain her, change her and give her a bottle, but in the end she just screamed for ten minutes before falling asleep for the rest of the ride. She does not like her car seat. Poor thing.

The fish are still alive. Acouchi likes to drink from their bowl, but doesn't want to eat them. Mmmmm! Fish flavored water! So we packed the fish up in the car and took them along. They didn't make a single peep the whole ride up.

We made it here safely, and in great time. We got here and Curtis had arranged for all the cousins to come help us unload. Mei-mei also brought a few people to help. We unloaded really quickly and Drek and I felt so welcome! It was so wonderful to have support on both ends. People were so wonderful to help us.

Our downstairs neighbors are wonderful. They have four kids, the oldest one being seven, the youngest one being a few months older than Ash. I love them. They love Acouchi. They are letting us borrow their Internet until ours is set-up (scheduled for Feb 4, two weeks AFTER we called them and two days after LOST season six premiers *whine*). I love the mom. She is so very wonderful.

On Saturday we went to bed very tired and Acouchi went to bed very angry. Sunday morning we woke up and Acouchi was in a great mood. She decided she loves the new house and maybe the move wasn't so bad after all. We went to church and the ward was surprisingly friendly. I', not sure if it's the ward or that making friends is easier when you have a kid, but either way, we feel very welcome here. After church we checked Drek's phone (mine is still lost) and discovered three missed calls telling us that Anna was having her baby!! I have a new niece! She is tiny, but doing well. Ash got to see her new cousin and I got to see my new niece through the little window in the hospital. She's still in the NICU so I haven't got to hold her yet, but she is doing well and should be out soon!

So here we are. We have been in our house for a week and one day. The only rooms I can say are officially unpacked are the kitchen and the living room. Upacking is more difficult with a baby. But we are safe, warm, and happy.

What Did the Snowman Say to the Other Snowman?

Drek's dream was to have the moving trucked packed with identical boxes. Each box the same size and shape as every other box. He decided banana boxes were the best way to accomplish this. The problem is that banana boxes come from grocery stores, and they don't break down. This means that the grocery store can't keep banana boxes. As soon as the box is empty, it is thrown out. Also, no one unloads bananas at one time, bananas are unboxed through out the day. It's tricky. So, we would call in the morning and ask them to save as many boxes as they could. We would drive down a few hours later and they were always kind enough to have around nine boxes waiting for us. Sometimes they would have seventeen, sometimes thy would only have three. It didn't take long for the produce workers to anticipate our needs and save the boxes for us without us calling. They would smile when we walked in and go get the stash. We became known as box lady and box man.

The final count is ninety-three banana boxes. And also four non-banana boxes. Of those four, two are plastic tubs, one is a box full of files and one is a special insulated box for china. I think we won the box game.

To answer the title; Desmond finally tells boxman: "Smells like carrots." Other answers are "Freeze!," "Chill," "Ice to see you!," and "We're stuck in a bloody snow globe!"

And I Lost My Phone

Our car was broken into this morning. We are moving tomorrow.

Bring it on.

Fish Are Our Friends, Not Food

Yesterday Krisling and I volunteered at the aquarium for Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day program. We had a blast. The volunteering part was cleaning our paint brushes, folding pamphlets (pamphlets that said what fish you should not eat, which fish are ok, and which fish is fine to eat as far as stopping over-fishing goes. Do YOU know if the fish you are eating will be extinct in three years?) and cut up cardboard for birds. It doesn't sound fun, but it was SO MUCH FUN! Afterwards we got behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium and then got to wander around the aquarium. Krisling and I pet the stingrays and starfish and got shocked by an electric eel! And the two tickets to Disneyland don't hurt either!

Are You Watching Closely?

I love my wonderful husband so, so much. He is amazing and wonderful.

Drek's family has a low tolerance for self pity. They also have a low tolerance for bad moods. I love this about them. I love this about Drek. He is rarely in a bad mood. Since being married to him, he has really changed my outlook on life and attitude. I feel I am a happier person because of him.

When he was young, if someone in his family was in a bad mood, the children would gather around that person and say "you're a gazelle" over and over again. I know, weird, but his family is always in a good mood, so it must have worked.

My mother gave me a piece of workout equipment. I can use it to run indoors when it is too cold to run outside. It is called a gazelle. Also, keep in mind that I like to make "your mom" and "your face" jokes, along with "you're a insert last word said here" jokes.

Drek and I are discussing our plans for tomorrow. I tell him he needs to move the gazelle. He pauses. "The what?" He asks.
"The gazelle." I answer.
"What's a gazelle?" He asks.
"You're a gazelle!" I laugh hysterically. The set-up was flawless. Drek was not impressed.

I finally rescued Annette from the Mac store. Evil Mac store.
I love having my laptop back. LOVE!

I still can't find my iPhone. Alas, I don't think I can get a new cell phone. I think I will have to live without a cell phone. I'm looking in to skype vs traditional land line. Both can only be used at home.

We are packing up the moving van on Saturday, January 23 from 8-9am. It will take less than an hour if we can get some help.

I hope we can get some help.

I've Lost My Marbles.

I lost my iPhone. Lost it. I have been looking for it for over 24 hours now.

When I told Drek I lost it he sighed and said "One day something will click in your mind and you will stop losing your things. And then what will I do with all of my free time?"

Yeah. No iPhone, no Laptop, and oh-right-moving-in-eleven-days. Grrrrrr.

But Where Will We Live? Hmm, Don't Know Don't Care

Wednesday was a fun day. I played with Ash, cleaned a little, and Val came over to play some games before she leaves forever to Sweden. After playing two games of Dominion, I went upstairs to see if Drek wanted to play a game with us. As I walked into his office and looked up and asked; "Are you ready to go?"
I paused. "Um, go where?"
"To Idaho, we're leaving in fifteen minutes." He answered. Ah yes, now I remember. That's what I was supposed to be doing today; packing. Whoops.
So, of course, I go downstairs and play another game of Dominion. Of course.

Idaho was a lot of fun. We stayed less than twenty-four hours so I didn't really need to do a lot of packing. We went up there so Drek could interview with a CEO of a robotics company. Here are the highlights of the trip;
It was insanely cold.
The Library is six minutes away from the place Drek was interviewing.
The interview only took six minutes.
Drek was offered the job.
Drek accepted the job (without talking to me. Yeesh.)
We are moving in two weeks.

Also, Drek has this vision of a moving truck packed with same size boxes. His dream is to move using only banana boxes. Do you have any idea how hard is to collect hundreds of banana boxes?

I Just Need Something to Receive Email. You'll Need a Top-of-the-Line Machine For That

Poor Annette. The backlight went out on Saturday. It's a small part so I thought it wouldn't cost that much to replace. I took her in to a Mac store on Monday. They told me it was a simple part, but in order to get to it they had to go through the screen. Total cost = $500.

What the what!!? That's half of a new one! Not doing that. So I took my poor Annette away from the store and contemplated switching to a PC (shudder), but of course I would run Linux on it. Of course.

I called Drek and he reminded me that we covered our laptops with insurance. I called the insurance company and sure enough, they will pay for the repair! Well, half of it. The deductible is $250, but they will pay the other $250! Huzzah!

I took Annette back to the Mac store and explained the plan: They needed to fax the insurance company a repair cost estimate form and then call me. They did. I called the insurance and they told me that the cost was approved and to go ahead and repair my poor Annette. I called the store back, but they were closed for the night. On Tuesday I called again, but they weren't open, so I left a message telling them to repair my laptop. Later that day I called back, but it went to voicemail because they were busy. I left another message. Wednesday I called again, they were still busy so I left a message. Thursday, same thing. Friday I called again. They answered! I asked them if they were done fixing Annette "Uh, we were waiting for the go ahead, we haven't even started."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not having a laptop is KILLING ME! I told them to fix it. They said it would be done on Wednesday. ELEVEN DAYS AFTER IT BROKE. Stupid not checking your voicemail. grumble grumble stupid store.

Anyway, My wonderful husband gave me an iphone for Christmas, so I've been using that. It is more difficult to do things on a iphone, and you can't post a blog entry from an iphone. You can post a title, but not an entry. Also, it's difficult to write a novel on a smartphone.

Laptop Broken...Posting From iPhone...That is All

So Come What May

So, here were my 2009 goals. Let's see how many of them I completed, shall we?

Spiritual:
-Write in my gratitude journal everyday, right before I get out of bed in the morning. If I do, I will be grateful for more things!

At the beginning of the year I did great. I did great right up until the time I found out I was pregnant, and all writing stopped. Pregnancy was hard for me. The emotional part really did me in. I stopped writing in my gratitude journal because my emotions were so very intense and so very conflicting.

-Index 1,000 documents. If I do, I get to find and book a trip to Ireland to find my family history.

Hah! I forgot I set that as a goal. Whoops.

Physical:
-Run a Marathon. So, train for a fast 5k, then train for a 10K, then train for a marathon. If I do, I will be really proud of myself.

Yeah. Pregnant.

Mental:
-Work on Spanish everyday. If I do, Drek and I are going to spend May 5th in Mexico, speaking with the locals

I didn't work on it everyday, but I did work on it. Ever since August I've done great working Spanish. Alas, May 5th came with the Swine Flu and dangerous gang violence in Mexico, so Drek and I had no desire to travel.

Financial:
-Have enough money saved for a down payment on a house. If I do, we can put a down payment on a house (some of these rewards are really easy to come up with).

Um...actually I think we did okay on this one. Considering the housing market had continued to plummet, and 2010 is supposed to be when the next housing bubble pops, I suppose that $10 we saved up will be more than enough for a down payment! Actually, we saved quite a bit. It might be a while before we get a house, though, so we'll have to wait and see whether it's enough.


Side notes:
Travel more. You only live once.
I hate the cold. I hate it. Next winter, I will not be here. I am moving even if it kills me, and if it kills me at least I will be warm.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! This is the one I failed. FAILED! Where did I travel to? Well, actually, I went on an awesome spontaneous trip to St. George, and we went to Idaho quite a few times. It's not Egypt, but it is something. But I am, in fact, still here and not dead. I am spending another winter here. It's okay, though. I think can accept this and be positive about it.

2009 was, in some ways, the hardest year of my life. I am very grateful for 2009; For all it taught me and for all it gave me. Here is my very long and personal review;

At this time last year, I was pregnant and didn't even know it. On January 19th, I got my first positive on a pregnancy test. Even though Drek and I had been trying for a baby, I didn't actually think I could make one. Is that weird? I didn't think my body was capable of making a baby. It had never done anything spectacular before so why would it start now? Once I found out my body did, in fact, make a baby, I didn't think believe it could GROW a baby. After all, it didn't even tell me it was pregnant. I felt betrayed that I had to find out from a stick and not from my self. There was no way my body could grow a baby. No self confidence here. Thus, my reaction wasn't positive or negative, it was more of a "meh, I'll believe it when I see it."

The emotional ride kicked in right away. Almost instantly life became a crisis and I lost all ability to handle situations without getting very emotional. I took everything personally and over reacted to everything. This was very hard for me. I could see that I was crazy, but I couldn't do anything to stop it. For the first three months I also couldn't tell anyone why I was crazy, or why I was so very, very sick.

Drek and I started looking for a new apartment right away, a place with a washer and a dryer so I could cloth diaper, a place with room for the baby, and a place with a kitchen that didn't make me throw up every time I walked through it. We found such a place and I proceeded to pack and move the entire house, by myself, while pregnant and also freakishly sick. Kara left. I was also working full time.

I was in a car accident. I was mostly fine, but I began to cramp and bleed a little and I worried that I had hurt the baby. I called my OBGYN who told me there was nothing to be done so early in the pregnancy and I should come in when I was twelve weeks along. I didn't. I never went to that OBGYN.

Also during this time we found I my dad had cancer. Three, cancers, actually, two curable with chemo, and one not curable. My dad went on for treatment, had a terrible and near-fatal reaction and spent a while in the hospital not knowing who I was.

It was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. I was stressed up to my eyeballs still throwing up everyday. I learned how to trust in God to get me through the day. Drek was wonderful and we made it through. Life continued on.

We settled in to our new home, bought a washer and dryer and started planning the birth of our baby. I also started planning how I would announce my pregnancy. I decided to have a Pie Day Party and announce it there. After much planning, a lot of working around people's schedules and a lot of stress, everyone decided not to come to Pie Day. I shouldn't say everyone, Ismael was still coming, but no family. I was devastated. Because I was pregnant I took it very personally and overreacted. I felt isolated and alone. No one cared I was pregnant, no one was excited for the baby, and no one would be able to help out. Those feelings defined the rest of my pregnancy.

That was in March. Also in March I began to show. You would think strangers are more friendly to pregnant women, but I did not find this to be the case. I found people to be a lot meaner. I got a lot of dirty looks, especially once I was six months pregnant and carrying around my nine month old niece. I got out right glares at that point. It only worsened my feelings of isolation. As a result, I turned to my cat, Acouchi, who has gotten me through the worst times in my life. She always takes care of me.

April came with a lot of improvements. My morning sickness went away, my dad was doing better, Drek got me tickets to see Wicked, Jessi came to visit and I was spending a lot of time with Krisling now that we lived four minutes apart. At the end of April we found out Acouchi had hypothyroidism and thus began a very long and emotion saga that still isn't over.

May started with Rissy leaving for Japan and me deciding that I couldn't succumb to the overwhelming feelings of dependency I was feeling. I made a huge effort to become entirely independent. Who cares if I was pregnant? I could still stay out all night, lay sod, volunteer at the cannery, learn to bake, and still have a career. Once I established in my mind that being pregnant did not, in fact, equal uselessness, a drain on society and a waste of space, I felt much better about the whole thing. The snow had melted, the sun came out, and things were improving.

In June I took Acouchi in for her RIT treatment. She was gone for two weeks. I guess you could call this the breaking point. With my emotions in overdrive and my baby gone I fell into a deep depression. I took on a few projects to pull myself out of it and Drek and I set off for Durango Colorado for a family reunion. I had a good time despite my anxiety and complete lack of self confidence. I was still very shy and apologetic about being pregnant because I still felt that it wouldn't last, that I would miscarry.

We came home and so did Acouchi. She was happy, and getting healthy. My dad finished his chemo. I spent a lot of time with Krisling. Drek and I started a garden. I began to trust my body and believe (and hope) that I would actually have a baby. Everything in my life seemed to be improving, except work, which was getting worse. It got to be so bad that even though I loved my manager, my co-workers, and my job with all my heart, I could not stand the thought of working for/with my boss one more minute. I tried to quit (unsuccessfully) twice before finally making up my mind, calling up my courage, believing in myself enough to start a business and finally giving my notice.

July was wonderful. I gave up shampoo, Drek and I celebrated our two year marriage anniversary, Krisling was helping enter the society of mommies, I was enjoying summer, and best of all, I found out my sister and my sister in law was pregnant. Suddenly, I didn't feel like such an outcast. I had my last day of work (after working two years, the longest I have ever stayed at one job) and officially started my own business.

August was even better. Rissy was back from Japan and we spent a lot of time together before she left on her mission. I was privileged to take care of Drek's nine month old niece for a few weeks and I absolutely fell in love with her. She taught me so much and helped me feel more prepared for parenthood. Another sister-in-law became pregnant, giving my baby the opportunity to have wonderful cousins, just like I do.

September changed my life forever. My business became successful, My dad's two cancers were declared cured, Rissy left on her mission, and I had a baby. Labor was AWESOME. It is the only word I can think off to describe it. I really learned how to trust myself, my body and my instincts. You know what? My body is amazing. God really knew what he was doing. I finally got to meet the tiny person I had been carrying around for nine months. She was and is perfect. I love being her mom. I loved it from day one.

If I thought pregnancy emotions were bad, after-pregnancy emotions are horrendous. My midwife wasn't kidding when she said the third day would be hard. Between that, no sleep, and an inability to feed my new daughter, I broke down and cried. I cried for the first time in years. I cried and cried and cried. Poor Drek. He had to deal with so much. Even so, right away he became an amazing dad on top of being an amazing husband.

After that things were pretty much wonderful. Life continued on. My emotions returned back to the point were I can now handle life. The year ended with a few more trials, but mostly good and wonderful things. I made our Halloween costumes, I won NaNoWriMo, I met my new nephew, Josiah and got to take care of his sister again for a few days. I successfully cooked a dinner for twenty-four people, my sister had a beautiful baby girl and I even got to hold her. I stopped eating fish and bumped my vegetarianism up a level. I potty-trained Acouchi. I ended the year with a fantastic party.

2009 gave me a purpose in life. Because of 2009 I have confidence in myself and, more importantly, I learned how to rely on and trust in God. I am so grateful for everything that happened this last year. I learned and grew so much. I am looking forward to what 2010 has to offer. Here are my goals;

-Speak Fluent Spanish.
A goal three years and counting.

-Run a Marathon.
It doesn't even have to be an official event. If I have to run alongside the freeway with nothing but myself to cheer me on, I will run a marathon.

-Write a Novel, Edit a Novel and Publish a Novel.
I may have finished NaNoWriMo, but I didn't finish my novel. I will finish it, I will edit, and then I will get it published.

I think I will also add write in my gratitude journal everyday and index 1,000 documents. Those were good goals from last year that I know I can do this year.

Happy 2010!

Maybe We Could Get Unstuck in the Present

I have always wanted to attend a New Year's Eve party. A real party, not just family gathered around talking about goals and watching the fireworks on TV. Alas, I was too young to go to the stake New Year's Eve parties, and by the time I was old enough they didn't have them. Ever. Until I was too old.

Most years I hang out with family. I have a good time, but it's never a party, and every year at midnight I feel slightly disappointed. One year I spent midnight in a crappy restaurant with my head bowed, trying not to cry into my drink (it's a very long and complicated story). It was the worst holiday ever. Ever since then, I associate New Year's Eve with Worst Holiday Ever.

This year looked like it wasn't going to be any different. I planned for Drek and I to head to a parent's house and play games, set goals, mingle and leave at 12:01. Nothing fancy. An enjoyable night, but not a great one.

Drek had a different idea. Right after Christmas he started complaining about all the driving we were doing. And he just kept complaining. At the same time, I had lunch with two of my friends. One friend was complaining about how she would spend New Year's Eve at bars with people she didn't like who would yell at her for nursing a beer instead of getting plastered. Wow. That sounds like so much fun. I took the two complaints and got an idea. I would throw a New Year's Eve party! That way people would come to us, we wouldn't drive so Drek would be happy, I would invite my friend so she wouldn't have to drink, and I would have spend New Year's Eve at an actual party! I texted a list of people from my new, awesome iphone and ten minutes later I had a guest list of ten plus people. Huzzah! I went on to invite another friend whom I was afraid would end up at a bar. He texted back immediately saying he would love to come and he was bringing his vegan girlfriend.

So, the next day (New Year's Eve Eve) I planned vegan and vegetarian hor d'ourves and went shopping for the ingredients. In the end, There were only a few vegan treats, but she turned out to be a vegetarian who eats vegan when convenient, so it was ok. On the menu: Seven layer dip, Chips, Chili cheese dip (vegan), Mini burgers (vegan), Apple pie cups, Pumpkin pie, Chocolate mouse (vegan), virgin strawberry and cherry daiquiris and various snack-y items. I didn't want to buy a lot of sparkling cider and I wasn't sure how many people were coming, so I asked everyone to bring a sparkling drink (we had plenty at midnight!). I loved planning and cooking the vegan stuff. I had so much fun. The best was the chocolate moose, which I made everyone try and guess what was in it. Everyone said they like it, there were a lot of guesses, but no one figured out the main ingredient; Avocados! Giggle giggle. So yummy.

Anyway, Ismael was the first to show up. He said he didn't bring a drink, but he had brought a present for me; The two CD's of Glee songs! Before he arrived I had actually been listening to the songs on Hulu, and he had brought me all the songs and I could listen to them from itunes. Hooray!!! The other guests trickled in (except my friend who inspired the party, she still decided to go out to a bar) including Alexis, back from China! Welcome back! Also there was John, whom I haven't since before he left on a mission to Mexico. We played a lot of games (including some very fun rounds of werewolf. I won every round.) until we began the countdown! By that time everyone had a sparkling drink in a fancy glass goblet and everyone was laughing and joking and creating a load ruckus. At midnight I kissed Drek and clinked glasses with everyone and really had a wonderful time. The party continued on and the last guest left about two. It was an awesome party, my favorite New Year's Eve ever.

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade, everyone!

The Key to Everything is Patience. You Get the Chicken by Hatching the Egg, Not By Smashing It.

In the summer Drek and I took some baby chicks down to his parent's house to they could have fresh eggs. Since then, the family built an amazing chicken coup and the chicks have grown up into egg-laying chickens. Yesterday Drek and I went to visit his parents. No one had collected the eggs that day so Drek and I volunteered. We trudged through the deep snow (and it was still snowing) up to the chicken coup. The chickens were warm and dry inside with their heat lamps and their sturdy built house. We undid the side panel and there, in a little nest, were three eggs nestled together. Apparently all the chickens lay their eggs in the same nest. I was so excited. I'd never collected fresh eggs before! Squee! I can't wait to have chickens of my own!

Anyway, we took them back to the house (they made safely, no small feat in the slippery snow) and Drek's mom said we could keep them! She even gave us three more eggs to take home. One of the eggs was enormous. It was larger than jumbo eggs. We couldn't close the lid on the large egg carton. It looked more like a duck egg, rather than a chicken egg. Apparently some chicken lay double-yolk eggs. We haven't cracked it open yet, but I will keep you updated.

Merry Christmas To All And To All A Goodnight

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Christmas eve was a lot of fun. We went with Drek's family to do the annual trip of sledding behind the van. It was SO MUCH FUN!! I took Mei-mei and she was a pro. I don't think she ever fell off.

It was also Ash's first year but being only three months old, she just stayed in the van and didn't get any sledding time. I did, though. I got in my sled and we started going and someone in the front of the pack starting throwing snow at all of us behind him and in a few seconds my face was the coldest it has ever been, EVER! The next few times I went I made sure I was in the front so that wouldn't happen again. It was so much fun!

Christmas morning Drek, Ash, Acouchi and I woke up and opened out stockings. Acouchi only got food this year, no toys. That was mainly because her present was her toy;


We got Acouchi two fish for Christmas. They are still alive. Acouchi will look at them, but doesn't seem all that interested in eating them.

When we were done with stockings, Drek, Ash and I drove down to my parent's house. On the way was the most amazing sun burst;


You can't really tell from the picture, but there was this glowing pillar of fire under the sun. It was so beautiful.

The rest of Christmas was spent playing eating, openening presents and playing games. We had a wonderful time.

I Don't Care How Poor a Man Is; If He Has Family, He's Rich

Drek and Ash and I just got back from a wonderful family reunion! Drek's family has ten children with five of the ten married and no longer living at home. That makes seventeen adults (including Drek's parents) and seven grandchildren. Drek's parents decided that this year all the siblings should make an effort to get together so they had their first official family reunion. Of the twenty-four people, only four (one family) was missing.

So twenty of us drove up to a cabin in the middle of snow and pine trees and more snow and also snow. There was a lot of snow. The cabin was amazing. It had five bedrooms, each with a full-size bed and a loft with two full-size beds. There were three bathrooms, one on each level, and a hot-tub! There was plenty of room for all of us. Drek and Ash and I had a room all to ourselves! We arrived on Friday and stayed until Monday. We started out the reunion by opening a mission call! Drek's brother is going to the Philippines! He leaves in March. I am so proud of him!

We played a lot of board games (The best way to spend vacations) but we also went out and played in the snow and soaked in the hot tub. We had a family family talent show, family sing-alongs and a family testimony meeting. We played a "How well do you know your partner?" game that was so much fun (Drek and I go second place, first place went to his parents). We ate a lot of yummy food and got to talk to each other a lot.

It was wonderful to be able to spend time together. It will be a while before we have that many people together again; Once brother goes on his mission in March and another brother won't be far behind. That makes it at least two years until we'll all be together again. We a wonderful time and are looking forward to next year!

Don't Panic!

Wednesday I was visiting my sister when Drek called:
"So, the carbon Monoxide alarm just went off." Oh, the thrills. I had Ash with me so she was safe. I drove home, packed Acouchi in her carrier, put her carrier in the car, grabbed her 72 hour kit (yes, I have a 72-hour kit for my cat. It contains dry food, canned food, tuna, a can opener, water, and a collapsible plastic water bowl) and the three of us became refugees (Drek waited at the house for the repair guy to come). Krisling took us in and it was actually fun. I got to see how well prepared I was. It got me thinking about how I would handle other emergencies, like having no water or no power.

Anyway, so as it turns out our water heater was giving off the high levels of carbon monoxide, so they turned off our water heater. No hot water for us. The next morning the guy came to replace it and turns off our water. Just like that my first predication came true. Having no water wasn't a big deal, we have a lot of water in food storage. Drek even made me oatmeal using our water storage. Aw, he is so sweet. Anyway, by noon we had water and a new water heater.

Yesterday we were up visiting Ben's sister. The lights flickered and went dead. The whole city suddenly in a black out. As it turns out, a power station exploded. Huh. So, no power. Prediction number two came true. Maybe I shouldn't think about emergencies anymore.

We were fine. Ben's amazing sister had candles, flashlights and kerosene lamps. I need to get some kerosene lamps. We played Dominion by lamplight. It was so much fun. The power came back on a little while later. We survived with no injuries. Phew!

Thank You

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with gratitude today. I think I'll post some thank-yous.

Thank you to Kara, whose blanket is AMAZING! and warm, and soft, and beautiful. Thank you for the card that came with it. I love you and I miss you.

Thank you to my mom and dad, who are always to willing and cheerful about watching Ash. I'm so glad you love her as much as I do.

Thank you especially to Krisling, who saved my sorry refugee self no less than four times yesterday. Acouchi thanks you too. You are amazing. Thank you for being my friend.

Thank you to Ash, for being the best little baby in the whole wide world.

Have an Eco-Friendly Christmas

Whew! I am done Christmas shopping! Well, almost. I cannot buy Acouchi's present until Christmas eve, so I don't have that done, but besides that, I'm done! I think this is the soonest I have ever finished. I made my last run today and I am all set! In fact, most of the presents are already wrapped and delivered/mailed! Drek's stocking is all stuffed, Ash's stocking is all stuffed...Hooray!

Besides getting done early, I did two things differently this year;
One, I made a lot of the presents. I'm not usually one for homemade gifts (lack of talent mostly) but this year I made quite a few. In fact, I am still working on three homemade gifts.
Two, I wanted the wrapping of gifts to be as un-deadly-to-trees as possible. I have always despised wrapping paper. Not only because it's like wrapping your presents up in death, but also because I have to pay for wrapping paper. Seriously? You want me to spend money on paper? No thanks. So usually in December I get paper bags instead of plastic and cut them up to make my own wrapping paper (I got this idea from the Sound of Music. Brown paper packages tied up with strings is now one of my favorite things). This year, however, I've been using cloth bags for my shopping so I didn't have the abundance of brown bags. One of the packages I ordered used a huge piece of brown paper, rather than packing peanuts so some presents were wrapped in that. Mostly my presents are wrapped in Christmas boxes. On Freecycle I found a women who was giving away old Christmas boxes, so I picked them up. She had a HUGE bag full of Christmas boxes! Between that and the Christmas gift bags left over from last year, I didn't use a single scrap of wrapping paper! Merry Christmas trees!

I think my presents look quite festive:

Well That was Weird

One day, when I was in middle school, I had a dark spot on my vision. It was like I had looked at a bright light, but it wouldn't go away. In fact, it grew bigger and bigger until I was blind. It was then I called my mom to have her pick me up from school. I was very nauseous and as soon as she arrived to pick me up I threw up in the parking lot. I then spent the rest of the day in bed with my very first migraine. I remember it all so well because the pain was excruciating and I'm always afraid it will happen again. I have had the blindness happen again, but never the migraine. Well, until today.

Last night I went to bed late. I got very little sleep as my poor baby has a cold and is having a hard time breathing. And yet, this morning I was wide awake and full of energy. I also couldn't see out of my right eye due to a blind spot on my vision. I had a hunch of what was coming.

As the morning went on my vision became worse, I became exhausted and finally I started to get a headache. I went to lay down, but found myself too nauseous to sleep. I spent about ten minutes in the bathroom, heaving my guts out and shaking on the floor, before I took some alka seltzer and fell asleep back in my bed. Oh the pain. THE PAIN!! I'm quite surprised my head is still in tact. It really felt like it was shattering into a million pieces. Anyway, so I slept and slept and slept. When I woke up, I was fine. I was tired, but I was ok. So I cleaned the house and played games with Noble and Kim. Kim is leaving on a mission to Korea in a week. A WEEK!! So this was probably the last time I get to see her for a while. I'll miss you, Kim! Have a wonderful mission!

It's now eleven at night, I am still tired, I am dizzy, but, otherwise, I am ok. It has been a very strange day.

The Biggest Word You Ever Heard And This Is How It Goes

For Drek's birthday my parents got us tickets to an Egyptian themed date night. They even provided babysitting! We went Friday night and had a blast.

The event started with "Mummy Wrapping" which consisted of each couple getting two rolls of toilet paper. One person had to wrap their date up like a mummy. The couple who did it the fastest won. Drek wrapped me super-fast! I spun in a circle to make it even faster. We used our rolls up first, but, apparently, that wasn't the gaol. The couple who won wrapped up their date and called it good, they didn't finish their second roll. They won, but we had a lot of fun!

The next game was the best; Egyptian Balderdash. As you can imagine, Drek and I rocked that game. With my knowledge or the correct meaning of the words and Drek's imaginative and very convincing wrong definitions, we won.

For the next game they gave us pictures of Egyptian Gods and a list of their names and told us to match the names with the pictures. So, here's an odd story; I have all these useless facts I acquire that I keep memorized because I know that one day, there will be a moment where I can use that knowledge and win! That moment only comes once so I must be prepared. I realized this my senior year of high school. I was in my favorite Creative Writing class with my favorite teacher when he said "Don't kill the messenger" and turned around, pointed at me and asked where that quote was from. I stammered. I stuttered. I knew the quote was from Oedipus Rex, but I was too scared of being wrong to say it, so I didn't say anything. He was disappointed. He asked the class if anyone else knew, no one else did. He called the class illiterate. It was a sad day for me. I vowed that next time one of useless pieces of knowledge had their moment, I would be ready! There have only been a small handful of these moments in my life so far. This was one of them. I had those exact pictures decorating the locker I shared with Rissy senior year. This was it! That moment where I can show off my knowledge and WIN! Alas, I did not. I had forgotten which picture matches which god. I did not rock that game. Another moment lost. Sad. We did get eighteen out of twenty though, so not bad.

Then came Pyramid, where I had to get Drek to say the words on the cards I held in my hand as fast as possible. We also rocked that game. We finished first.

The last three games were grouped as one giant game. To win the giant game you had to score the most points in the three little game. Drek and I had the most points so we won two free ice creams!

The last activity was to paint your on hieroglyphics. This was Drek's. Any guesses on what it says?
They also had pita bread and olives and grapes for authentic snacks. For dessert they had Hershey's caramel kisses and Toblerones. I imagine they chose those because they were shaped like pyramids.

Afterwards Drek and I went and got our ice cream. We had a wonderful night! Happy Birthday, Drek! And Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Oh, and Drek's hieroglyphics read "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"

This Isn't a Veterinary Hospital. Zing!

I went to visit the hospital on Wednesday. I picked my one-year-old niece. It was then I learned the hospital had changed their "No children under fourteen allowed" rule. When I went back to the hospital that same say, I took my baby. They let her in, but put a sticker on the sling to "make sure you leave with the same baby you came in with." Do people really think you can upgrade babies? Huh.

Anyway. On Thursday I go back to the hospital. I have my baby in a ring sling in one arm and my niece in the other arm. I am in a great mood. I love my baby, I love my niece. Having them both means nothing can ruin my good mood. I carry them across the parking lot and into the building. I walk across the lobby and enter the elevator. In the elevator is a women with an ID badge. If I was observant, I would be able to tell you her name and what department she works for. Alas, I am not. The only thing that I observed was that she works for the hospital.

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye.
"What floor?" She asks. I pause, The buttons have already been pushed, we are already moving and I am closer to the buttons anyway.
"Um, four." I say, not sure why she is asking. She runs her tongue over her front teeth under tight lips and shakes her head.
"Nope." She says. Again, I pause. Am I supposed to argue with her? She continues; "They won't let you on that floor with those." The "those" She is referring to are the two children I am carrying. I know she is referring to the "No children under fourteen allowed" rule, which I know has been repealed. I also know I brought both children to the fourth floor the day before with no problems. I think about explaining all this to her, but all I say is;
"Yes they will." I smile. I am happy, and it seems pointless to argue with her. We ride in silence. The doors open. I get off the elevator and walk to the phone where you have to call the desk and give the code to be allowed through the doors onto the floor.
"I'll ask." She says. She walks around me as I juggle holding two children and a phone. She swipes her badge, the doors open and she walks in. Meanwhile, I am waiting for the nurse to answer the phone. I have one knee raised to support my niece and am balancing on one foot. She finally answers, I give the code and go through the doors. I walk two feet to the desk where I am supposed to get the stickers. The nurse is talking to the lady from the elevator.
"Yeah, It's allowed now. I don't think it's a good idea, but, whatever." She turns to me. I smile. She glares at the two children I am carrying. "I don't think it's a good idea." She repeats. I nod.
"I need stickers." I say. She gives them to me.

I found it amusing.

And Many More...

This week is my wonderful husband's birthweek. Yes, he gets a whole week, not just a day. He is that wonderful. It also might be partly due to the fact that I am lazy. I made his birthday breakfast (Cherry cream french toast) today instead of yesterday and will make his cake tomorrow. Hooray for birthday week!

My husband is so great. I'm so thankful for everything he does. Yesterday I was especially thankful he was so supportive of my homebirth. My sister-in-law had her baby yesterday and I went to visit her and my new nephew in the hospital. All I can say is, Wow. Hospital births are not for me or my babies. Thank goodness Ash never had to go through that. Wow.

My nephew was born on Drek's birthday. Happy Birthday; you have a nephew! You have four nieces (soon to be seven) and now you have two nephews! He is five pounds something. He is so small. I thought Ash was small, but when I changed his diaper today, he was so light it was like I wasn't holding him. He is adorable! And perfectly healthy, BTW.

Happy Birthday Acouchi!!

Here is some Birthday Tuna for you.



And I shall blog about Acouchi's continuing saga;

She had her RIT treatment and her thyroid levels came down, way down. When we took her in for her next scheduled RIT treatment, it had gone down even further, so her doctor wanted to wait to see if they would go down even more. In October I received several phone calls saying we had waited long enough and needed to schedule Acouchi for another treatment. I was hesitant (since now I was not concerned with me and a fetus, I was concerned with a little darling baby) and decided to wait a bit. In November we scheduled her blood test, the same day as Ash's last visit with the midwife.

I'm really not sure how people with two children handle life. I cannot handle an infant and a cat. I put Ash in her car seat and Acouchi in her carrier and drove to the vet. Now the problem was getting them out of the car. I couldn't carry both at the same time (I suppose I could have used a sling, but I didn't think about it) so I carried Acouchi in first, leaving Ash in her carseat in the car. I prayed the whole ten seconds that Ash wouldn't get stolen. Then I left Acouchi on the bench at the vet and ran back to get Ash, praying the whole time that Acouchi wouldn't get stolen. Neither did, BTW.

I signed Acouchi in and asked if I could leave her there for thirty minutes. The girl was confused, saying I could just wait in the waiting room; it only took a few minutes to do draw blood, but I had to get to a well-baby visit and didn't want Acouchi in the car during the visit with the midwife. So I left Acouchi at the vet and drove Ash to her appointment. Everything went great and I went back to the vet (the buildings are only a few blocks away from each other. Also, the hospital I would have given birth at had I not been able to have a home birth is across the street from the vet. Weird.) I left Ash in the car, thinking I would rush in, grab Acouchi and leave, but once I got inside Acouchi was no where to be seen. It took two minutes for a receptionist to come out to the front desk and another two minutes for her to leave to go get my cat. After another two minutes she came out with Acouchi. I grabbed her and ran. Ash slept through the whole thing.

Anyway, we had Acouchi scheduled for RIT the following Monday. On Monday her doctor called and said Acouchi's levels had continued to drop! She is now at seven, down from thirty-six! So, we wait. We'll do it again in January, hopefully her levels will be down to zero, which is where they are supposed to be.

She is our miracle. She looks healthy, has gained weight back to were a cat her size should be and doesn't have any symptoms. Her kidneys are still healthy and she has a regular heartbeat (Hyperthyroidism usually ruins the kidneys and can cause arrhythmia). We are very blessed.