At Night, the Ice Weasels Come...

It's SEPTEMBER!!! I should not need snowpants.

Grr.

Family Moment

Last night was a perfect moment. I was on one side of the beanbag, holding my little baby daughter in my arms. Drek was on the other side, mostly in the same position, holding Acouchi in his arms.

Aw, I love my family.

It's Never Lupus

A few days after I found out I was pregnant, I found out my dad had cancer. It was hard time, made harder by the fact that I couldn't tell anyone I was pregnant (except Drek, of course). I was so tired and so nauseous but my dad was even more tired, and even more nauseous.

My dad is better now. He still has cancer, but it is the uncurable kind that works very, very slowly, so the doctors are not concerned. They were concered about the other cancer he had, which was fast-acting and also curable. The chemo was for that cancer. The chemo appears to have worked. He will have to go get tested every three months to make sure it stays that way, but for right now everything looks good. I am no longer tired and nauseous, and neither is my dad.

So, crisis; Over! New crisis; Begin!

I called my mother to tell her we had finally named the baby (it only took four days. I thought it would take a year, we are so quick with this naming thing!). She told me she had been having terrible leg pain for the last two weeks. We talked about it and I came to the conclusion she had; blood clot. So that same day she went into the hospital and yes, she has a blood clot in her leg. Oh! And in her lungs, although that one took another day and another hospital trip to find.

It's ok, she is on medication and will be for the next six months (this sounds familiar) with frequent monitoring, but the doctors are hopeful (very familiar).

Now my legs hurt. This is not new, they hurt all through my pregnancy, but now they REALLY hurt. It's like they are atrophying. I need to go running again!

I wonder if it's coincidence, or if the baby and my parents are somehow linked in a bizarre way. If so, I'm scared to see what happens when she turns sixteen and gets her driver's licence.

Isn't She Beautiful?

You’re Not Going to Eat Any Pork? Yes. Bacon? Yes. Ham? Dad All Those Meats Come From the Same Animal. Right Lisa, Some Wonderful, Magical Animal.

It is my opinion that the average person living in my state and probably mt country does not know what an ovo lacto vegetarian is, let alone what they eat. In fact, when I first decided to go veg, I was thrust into a world of despair and desperation; "I can't eat ANYTHING! I'll starve! EVERYTHING has meat in it! I can't just live on salads and apple juice!" But then, as I calmed down, I began to see that the possible food choices are endless and since then have enjoyed hundreds of dinners that are vegetarian specific, and hundreds more that just didn't get the meat added to them.

I blame the initial mind block on that catchy piece of music "Hoe-Down" from Aaron Copland's "Rodeo". Better known as the music in the "Beef; It's What's For Dinner" commercial. That, and the fact that I remember when the meat industry funded government health ads. You remember it too; that was when there were only four food groups (Fruits&Vegetables, Meat, Dairy, and Grain), not a whole pyramid, and you needed equal amounts of all four to be healthy. Let's face it, most people think that "meat" means main dish. if there is no meat, you don't have a dinner, you have appetizers.

In Doctrine and Covenants it says;
12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
(Doctrine and Covenants 89:12 and 13)

And yet, I would still say that the average Mormon has the same mentality as above. You would think that if we "eat meat sparingly" it would mean "not for EVERY dinner," but I dare you to find an average Mormon who can come up with a dinner that does not involve meat. The above scripture is usually skipped over, it's just not a big deal. I think we can all agree that there are more important aspects to focus on, like service and family and not killing people.

What is the point of all this? The point is this;
A few days ago, before I had my baby, my visiting teacher (I have a visiting teacher!) called and said she would arrange to have meals brought to our home after the baby was born. She talked excitedly about how nice it was to have a parade of dinners brought in night after night for the first few weeks of her child's life, and then I told her that I was vegetarian. I felt bad, telling her, I hate making it an issue and I hate that she wants to do something nice but I am making it difficult, but I felt it was a fact she needed to know. I pointed out that Drek is not vegetarian, and that my main concern was feeding him. She listened to this and then answered "Well, we can a few snacks brought over, at least."

Sigh. I know, I'm difficult.

But she did better than that. The first night she came by with dinner. Dinner was...any guesses? Meatloaf. No, I am not kidding. She brought meatloaf. I find this hilarious, and actually, logical. When someone says something as a fact, you automatically think of things to prove that fact wrong. You think up opposites. She asked herself what vegetarians eat and her answer was "not meat". When she tried to think of a vegetarian dinner, all she could think of was what she couldn't make, and the ultimate opposite of a vegetarian meal is meatloaf. So she brought over an entire meatloaf. Drek was delighted.

She also brought a bowl of zucchini soup for me, as well as rolls and fruit. The fruit was inspired. I devoured that fruit. It was the only thing I wanted the day after the birth.

The next night the compassionate service leader brought dinner. She brought chicken. An entire chicken breast. The meal was a vegetable medley, and the chicken was supposed to go in the medley, but since I was vegetarian, she wrapped up the chicken separately. Again, this makes sense if you think about it logically; What do vegetarians eat? Vegetables. I know a dish with a lot of vegetables! I'll just hold the meat. She also brought over cake with fresh peaches. It was delicious. Frek and I ate the cake first and then ate the dinner. He didn't bother to add the chicken to his medley, he just ate the chicken. I ate the medley, and you know what? It was AMAZING! So delicious and filling it is now on my list of favorite vegetarian dinners (I'll ignore the chicken entirely). I just need the recipe.

The last of the dinners (I guess they could only find three volunteers to feed the difficult vegetarian) was brought over by by my other visiting teacher (I have two visiting teachers!) She came to the door, handed Drek two boxes and said "I don't know what vegetarians eat, so I let Stoufer's do the work." She had brought two personal-sized microwave dinners, one meat lasagna, and one vegetable lasagna. Despite her lack of cooking, I was impressed. Not only did she actually bring a true vegetarian dinner, but it is one of my favorites, and one that I don't buy very often, since it is so expensive. I was touched that she would spend so much money on me.

So, what do vegetarians eat? Well, Krisling made me Curry. All Indian food (food from India) is a great place for vegi ideas, since most Indians are vegetarians and only add meat to their dishes to get Americans to buy them. I also love Mexican food (most authentic Mexican food doesn't have meat, since meat is so expensive and considered a luxury) and just substitute Taco TVP instead of ground beef. Most Thai food uses tofu instead of meat (I love tofu!). I can eat most pastas; Italian food is great for vegetarians. In fact, my sister brought me Basil Pesto Pasta. That was delicious. I frequently eat Chinese food, and seafood. So what can't I eat? Well, American food. Go figure.

One day, I will live in a world where I am considered "normal" and not "difficult". One day. . .

Born at 2:09am in the Year 2009

We have a baby. The baby is perfect. Drek is perfect. Life is wonderful.

Sparks are Igniting. Flames are Spreading. And the Capitol Wants Revenge.

A while back, I read a wonderful book called "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I very much enjoyed the book and looked forward to reading the sequel: "Catching Fire" which wouldn't be released until September. I put it on hold at my local library and was surprised to find out that I was 153rd in line to read this book. Keep in mind this was MONTHS before the book was even released.

So you can imagine my surprise when I got an email from my local library on Friday telling me that "Catching Fire" was on hold for me. That was super fast. Either 153 people are super fast readers, or they ordered a lot of copies of this book. I'll go with the latter, since the library system is set up for my county which has about fifteen different libraries.

On Monday I went in to the Library to get this much coveted book. I found it on the hold shelves and was excited to see that it was in pristine condition. It looks like I am the very first person to read this copy. Glee!!

I took the book to the self-checkout and searched through my purse to find my library card. I searched, and searched, and searched. No card. Panic! I can't borrow someone else's card, this book is on hold for ME, no one else's card will work! I can't tell them I forgot my card, they don't let you forget your card at this library! What will I do? I HAVE to have this book today or it goes to the next person in line! If I have to wait for this book again I will be waiting for months! I let the next person in line go ahead of me and dump out my purse. My card is just not in my purse. I have no idea where my card could possibly be.

And then I had an idea. The self-checkout system asks for either your card, or your card number. Obviously, I have not memorized my library card number (I mean, come on. It took me almost a year of being married to Drek to memorize his cell phone number) and I do not have it written down anywhere, but...

I called Drek. I asked him to get on my laptop and go to the Library's website. I use the Library's website all the time to search for books and to place books on hold, so I think my library card number is saved on the log-in screen. It is!! Drek gives me the number over the phone and I am successfully logged in to the self check-out system! Huzzah!

I place the book on the scanner. The system hesitates. There is no magical bell-ringing-check-out-successful sound. Instead it tells me there is a security hold on my book. I try again. Same thing. I remove the book from the scanner, wait, and put it back on. Same thing. I try again, same thing. It seems the Library does not want this book to leave their shelves. I frown. I press a few buttons on the screen, place the book back on the scanner and hold my breath. Success! That magical bell-ringing-check-out-successful sound dings and the title goes green.

I walk out of the Library with my book. Bwhahahaha!! Now to devour the pages...

Today Drek and I were released from our calling as Primary Teachers. We gave our last lesson today. They wanted to give us some time off so we can take care of our baby once it decides to be born.

Our last lesson went great, Primary was great...It was a good note to end on. To make it even better, at the start of Sacrament Meeting a women came up to me and asked when I was due, how I was feeling etc. She asked me who my visiting teachers were. I told her I wasn't aware I had any. She nodded and asked who my home teachers were. I told her I wasn't aware I had any. She looked concerned. She asked how long I had lived in the ward. I told her we had moved in March 1st.

"And you've never had home or visiting teachers?" I shook my head. She told me to call her when I had my baby and she would see I was taken care of. It made me so happy. This whole time I've been feeling really hurt, but she made it all better.

And, in fact, after Sacrament meeting the Relief Society president came up to me and said I had new visiting teachers. After Primary my new visiting teacher came up to me and introduced herself. Wow. Talk about getting it down to the wire, but I am so grateful our ward is finally offering to help us out.

If You Don't Like Them We Can Take Them Back. All Right, I Don't Like Them. You'll Get Used to Them.

My big project was to take an old dining room set (one table with two leaves, eight chairs and one china cabinet) and make it look awesome. I have never worked with wood before. I will never work with wood again.

The table turned out good despite me. I was surprised at how good it looks. The cabinet, well, could be better, but it looks fine. The chairs...What a disaster. I will post pictures and details when I am actually finished, but right now I am three days into the disaster and see no hope of being done anytime soon. Anyway, here is my new dining room:


After I got everything moved I rearranged every cupboard in my kitchen. I also rearranged all the pictures on the first level since the cabinet took the place of a picture I have to have hanging up all the time. I took in this whole project to clean out the garage, which is now (almost) clean and has Jasmine sleeping soundly, happily, and safely inside.

To recap; in the last two weeks I have rearranged the garage, the kitchen, the dining room, the bedroom, Drek's office, the laundry room, the linen closet, my closet (four times) the spare room (three times) and the master bedroom (twice). The only rooms I have not completely reorganized are the bathrooms and the living room.

I'm The Money. Every Penny Of It.

I went into the credit union closest to our house. I needed to open up an account for my now profitable business. I did not use he bank I am currently with, because it is in another town. I wanted something local. I went in, sat down, waited for the "new accounts" guy, talked to him, filled out paperwork, answered questions, showed ID, blah blah blah.

The guy asked for a beneficiary. I, of course, told him my husband, Drek. I then gave him Drek's information. He did a little more fiddling on the computer and then said; "You know you already have an account here?" I give him a blank look.

"I'm pretty sure I don't have an account here."

"Drek has an account here; he put you on it."

I am puzzled. "Here? Drek has an account here?"

Now he is puzzled. "Yes, and you are on it. It is a joint account." I am searching through my brain trying to figure out what this guy is talking about. Drek has a secret bank account? Why wouldn't he have told me? Do I know about this? Am I supposed to know about this? Why would he have another account?

The banker guy is intimidated by my blank stare. "Well, let me make sure..."

He types a little. "K la. Right?"

"Yes. He better not have anyone else on his secret account." He reads the address. It is my old address. I confirm it. He looks at the screen nervously. He pauses, and looks back at me.

"Did you not know he had an account here?"

"No, I did not. How much is in it?

"Around $*,***" I must looked shocked. He glances back at his computer. "Yeah. K La and Drek Lastname."

And then it clicks.

"Oh. Drek Lastname is not my husband. Drek Lastname is my old boyfriend (I know, I know. What can I say? I have a thing for the name). He did have an account here, he put me on it before he went on his mission. I got married before he got back."

The poor banker guy. He now realizes he has made a huge mistake. He tries to figure out if I am a vengeful ex. He tries to back peddle, realizing he should not have told me the amount in the account.

I am highly amused.

I ask him if I can take myself off the account. He looks relieved. He informs me I cannot, the main person on the account has to. I thank him, finish setting up MY account and leave.

And yes, I did email my old boyfriend. Not that it bothers me that my name is on the account, but I think he should know.

E-I-E-I-O

On Monday we took a trip to the petting farm! It was the perfect time to go, there was only one other family (that we saw) there, and all the animals had babies! All the animals were also super-friendly. Most would come right up to the fence to be petted!













This last guy is an alpaca. He cracked me up.

I'm so excited! Today I taught an infant massage class and my business in now, officially, "in the black!"

The best part was that Drek came to the class. He did such a great job massaging our niece!

Squee!