Cole Ethan

Finally, Little Cole is here! Cole was born yesterday, December 27th, 2007, to Aly and Rob . I think Aly would say "It's about time!" For the past 2 weeks, Aly has been doing everything in her power to get Cole here. Finally, she succeeded in conning him out with the help of pitocin. Cole is 8 lbs. 6 oz and 20.5 inches long. He has hair! Thick, 1" long, jet black hair. Either he has no cone head, or his hair does an awesome job hiding it! So far, he's a sleeper. We'll see what happens when he get home!

I got to keep Aly's kids while she was in labor. You never would have known that Shalyn was at my house. Avery kept wanting to play the "Crab Game" with Dan. She drove him nuts. If she wasn't harassing Dan about "Crab Game", she was busy playing Nintendo or Little People. She played "Little People Amusement Park" with Jonathan's beloved Nascar model cars. He was not thrilled. Zane was impossible to ignore. He is a busy, busy 19 month old. He rearranged all my nativities for me. He played blocks with my advent calendar. He dragged around a Santa rug while telling me "ho, ho, ho". He removed "Redeemer of Israel" from the hymn book. He cleared off Nolan's bookcase for me. Zane cleaned out my kitchen cabinet with paper goods in it. He crushed all the plastic cups he could find, threw plates around, and dumped out the plastic utensils. He ate pretzels and wanted "molk" all day long. He did take an awesome 2.5 hour nap for me. He must have been exhausted from being so busy!

So now Aly has a spouse, 12 year old, a 5 year old, an 19 month old and a newborn to keep track of at home. Good luck Aly!

Our Triceratops

So we have a dinosaur computer. Really- it's about 5 years old; doesn't that qualify it to be a dinosaur? It is an HP. We have an equally ancient screen- no nice flat screen; it's a incredibly heavy, bulky monster. Anyway, our triceratops came with only 256 mb of memory (not the hard drive, but the other memory). Anyway, Dad decided that he would help give new life to our triceratops and gave us and additional 512 mb of memory to help speed things along (think of the added memory as fiber for the ol' dinosaur). Memory is easy to install and Dan was motivated today (he even started organizing the garage!). He stuck the memory in the computer and did a reboot (would that be considered CPR?). Our triceratops roared to life! It sang us the "Windows" song; the wallpaper popped up; all the icons appeared on the desktop. We were getting excited as we timed it to determine its new boot up time. Then, a meteor hit our dinosaur. In a instant the screen went black and a lovely message appeared- No Operating System Found. What? Our triceratops had been plugging along for years. Okay, limping is probably most accurate, but at least it was working. So we turned it off and tried again. Still no operating system found. We removed the new memory, but alas, extinction for our triceratops. We called in the expert- Dad says weird, reinstall your Operating System. Yes! New life for the triceratops loomed on the horizon. As quickly as a ray of light was provided, it was snuffed out. Our operating system disks were missing. I considered the Geek Squad. I thought about our old mailman David's new Computer repair business, but then I remembered Brad. Brad is a computer wiz who removed nearly 100 viruses from his in-laws computer and rebooted their OS. We put in a 911 call to Brad. 30 minutes later, Brad was here to save the day- armed with 2 boot up disks (a CD and a floppy!). He started to weave his spell on the triceratops. He wiggled the connections and did a trial boot up (without installing anything) to see if there was any hope. The triceratops roared to life! She booted and found her operating system! She rose from the dust, emerged from her demise as a phoenix rises from its ashes! Yes, the triceratops lives on. We got to keep the boot up disks; but I still plan to back up my important files before she becomes permanently extinct.

So I'm a blogging failure

Well, I guess the best thing I can say about my blog is that I am inconsistent. I have good intentions, but not the time or energy to "write it down". But, hey, I've got a few more entries on my blog-journal than I would if I was limiting myself to the use of a ball point pen and paper journal keeping. Here's what's been keeping me so busy (not in chronological order!)

Wrapping- Yuck. Yep, that sums it up. I hate wrapping Christmas presents. Buying = fun. Disguising purchase with wrapping paper = chore. Sometimes I wish I could be as tacky as Dan and think that a Walmart bag is good wrapping paper. This year, not only did I have to wrap all the carp that I bought, but I wrapped Jonathan's stuff, Nolan's stuff, Amy's stuff, and finished my Mom's stuff. Whatever... 2 rolls tape, and 3 finished up rolls of wrapping paper later, I am done! I have too much wrapping paper- This year I limited the choices of wrapping paper to stuff that was already partially used. Now I have 7 rolls of partially used paper, and 13 rolls of still cellophane sealed paper to use (and that's just the Christmas stuff).

Choir Concerts- Nolan has had 3 this month (and a Sacrament meeting musical number too). Yes, I conquered the snowman for the school performances and he was such a hit that the choir goddesses have put him away in the deep freezer to save him for another year. I don't care what happens to Mr. Snowman as long as he and his iridescent glitter stay far away from my house! (Oooooo look! I learned to upload images to my blog!) By the way, Nolan was fabulous at all his performances and did a great job with his one-line solo... "We built a slick kicker in the backcountry all the way". I don't know what that means.

Driving Freshmen to the Airport- Yes, of course this was horribly time consuming, but alas, a necessary evil! I got to assume taxi service for Amy and Leslie to the SLC airport so they could return to California for Christmas and defrost. Not a big deal, right? Well, Amy knew someone who needed a ride to the airport as well so we took him too. I warned Amy and Leslie to pack light because, #1, their closets and dressers in Livermore are still full of clothes, and #2, I have a very small Prizm or a very uncomfortable to ride in pick-up truck to use as a taxi. We didn't warn Taylor to pack light because he is a boy and by nature, boys think that for a 2 week break, they only need two outfits- one to wear and one to pack. So I figured thing would be aquishy, but no problem. Amy brought 1 suitcase and a duffel bag, Leslie brought 1 suitcase, Taylor brought 2 monster sized, turbo loaded suitcases. Good thing I brought the truck. Unfortunately, Amy and Leslie ended up in the back seat (or back half-seat) with the front seats jammed into their knees. Sorry girls, but it was free transportation.

Homework- Yes, Jonathan is still organizationally challenged. He lost an entire term's worth of journal entries for drama. It took days to track down the assigned subjects and hours to motivate him to re-create the entries that took him less than an hour to write. For some reason, grades aren't too important to Jonathan this term. It's like he is thinking, Straight A's... been there, done that. Grrrr! He's doing awesome in all his academic subjects, but lousy (for him) in the wienie classes.

Vacations- Vacations are a necessity. We spent 4 days in Midway, Utah doing absolutely nothing scheduled. The boys swam at least 2x per day. We went sledding. We cross-country skied twice. We watched Elf twice. I watched "What Not to Wear" about 6 times. We watched the U of U and BYU bowl games. We ate candy. We played ping pong. We slept in (everyone but Nolan, that is). I took a nap at 9 a.m. one day! Sounds like a perfect trip.

My final excuse- I was at Walmart before 7 a.m this morning. I know, what a great excuse for not maintaining my blog. Last night, at 10:52 p.m. when I thought I had finished all the wrapping, I realized that I had given the gift I bought for my friend's bnirthday (whose birthday is tomorrow on Christmas) away to someone as a Christmas gift. Ahhhh! Off to Walmart I ran today. Not only did I have to buy her a birthday gift, but I had to finish Amy's shopping for her. Smooth and slick Amy! I bought Shauna a book, handheld Yahtzee for Dan from Amy (and Leslie the shopping procrastinator), batteries for all the new carp that the boys are getting tomorrow (17 AA, 4 AAA, 4 D), milk, and bananas for the stocking.

So there, you have a few of my lack of blogging excuses. I'm sure my inactivity has cost me my entire blog following, but oh, well- maybe I can bribe them back. Here's to good intentions!

Snowmen Should Be Made Out of Snow.

That's right (see title), hence the name "snowman". I guess I am a little slow at the concept of the main ingredient of a snowman being snow. On Friday I started making the biggest snowman of my life. His bottom is 36" diameter. His tummy is about 30", and his head is 16". It's all made out of paper mache and is sitting in pieces in my kitchen. Why? Well, somehow I got volunteered to be the set designer and creator for Nolan's school choir (sounds like something my mom would have volunteered for). Seriously, I was asked if I would help with the decorating, I said I'd help, then boom! it's all mine with no one helping me!

The director wants a sign that says "Snow Biz", a bunch of snowflakes, and this monster snowman. Sign- easy. Snowflakes- it got really monotonous, but not a problem. Mr. Snowman- well, so far he is winning. I blew up balloons for his body forms and got 2 coats of newspaper and starch on him on Friday morning/early afternoon. Amy and I got coat #3 on him Friday night. Saturday came around and I was so anxious to pop the balloons inside of him that I couldn't wait any longer. I popped the balloons and that's when the troubles began.

First, the deflating balloons pulled the snowman's sides inward with the deflating balloon. Not a big deal- I just blew the sides out and he was round again. Next, I cut part of the bottom off so Mr. Snowman could sit on a flat surface and not roll around. Fine. Then I cut a piece of the top of the bottom level of the snowman off so his tummy could sit securely on his bottom. Worked fine. Same procedure for the head- no problem. Then I put a scarf on him and he collapsed. The weight of the scarf was too much for the flimsy body of Mr. Snowman. So I reshaped him and am solving that problem by using a piece of fleece that is lighter weight than my scarf. Now I decide it's time to paint Mr. Snowman white. The edges where I cut Mr. Snowman got too wet from the paint and have started to tear. That's where I got frustrated and left Mr. Snowman to stay in pieces all over the kitchen. He's really annoying me and and I wish he would come together as I envisioned. Time for more creative thinking.

Maybe I could use him unassembled and he can be a knocked over snowman. Or better yet, maybe I can convince the choir director to make it Christmas in Tuscan and there can be a giant Saguaro instead of a snowman.

Hospitals are Good.

To put it simply, the title of this post says it all- Hospitals are good. My dad is in one right now and I'm feeling very thankful for that. The modern hospital is a good thing- a hospital 100 years ago would not necessarily have been a good place to be- I'm glad they discovered that cutting/bleeding and leeches were not a cure all for the vast majority of all ailments.

Dad left my house on Monday. He spent Tuesday catching up on life and spent Wednesday throwing up everywhere. Thursday rolled around and he was so weak that he couldn't support himself. Mom decided a visit to the ER was in order. She was helping Dad to the car when Dad passed out (and broke the neck off his guitar in the process). After Dad came to, he crawled out the front door and to the edge of the porch. Mom met him there with the computer chair on wheels and used the chair to get him to the car. From there, it was to Walnut Creek Kaiser.

The medical team at Walnut Creek jumped into gear and started to work their magic. They pumped Dad full of IV fluid, put him on oxygen, drew a whole lot of blood, and put a few more tubes in various other places. Then they waited to transfer him to the ICU unit. Dad's heart rate was sky high, his blood pressure was all wonky. His kidneys were on leave of absence as well. Hours later, when a bed became available, he was transferred to the ICU unit. He was visited by his bishop and a neighbor (who brought my mom a coat and some food. A tube was bothering him, so they gave him a morphine injection and off to la-la land he went (and Mom went home for the night).

Today, Dad is much better, based on vital signs. He heart rate is below 100, and his blood pressure is within normal limits. He is bored, which I think is a good sign. His unofficial diagnosis stands at Sepsis. It's obvious that there is a massive infection, but what type and where he got it are yet to be determined. Blood cultures should be back tonight so hopefully he'll have more information tomorrow. Until then, he has his new digital camera and handheld Sudoku game to pass the time with.

Reality TV

Reality TV is so stupid! Saying that, why do I watch it? I watch Survivor, Amazing Race (at times) and last night I watched the finale of The Bachelor. So "The Bachelor"... what a retarded show. Some random hot guy becomes king of the castle to 25 ultra skinny and hot (in their own opinions) fleabag (my opinion) women... He's supposed to date them all while being supervised by a camera crew and end up finding true love and proposing to his love all in a matter of 12 weeks or so. Right. I guess I have to say, in defense of the show, that I don't think I actually dated 25 guys before I got married (well, really The Bachelor doesn't date 25 either since he kicks off about half of them after the first party night). but I least I knew something about each guy I date before I ever went out with them (oh wait, there was that one blind date from Hades). I personally chose to go out with all the guys I dated (except for Mr. Blind Date). Anyway, my point is that the odds of finding the right person out of a randomly selected pool of people isn't too good. Aly said that out of the 12+ seasons of the show, 1 couple got married (and it was a Bachelorette show, so the lady picked right!), 1 couple is engaged, and 1 other couple is still together. So, if you're looking for true love, don't bother submitting a video tape to be a contestant on the show. I think you'd have better luck finding what you want at the local Wal-Mart.

By the way, Mr. Bachelor didn't choose anyone. He left the show unattached, but devastated both of his final two choices.

Me & Food

I eat strange. No questioning it! I am a vegetarian by choice, well sort of by choice- the texture and feel of poultry just gross me out, I've always hated fish, and beef is just so bad for the heart (and there's that Mad Cow Disease thing). Anyway, today I ate so randomly. I had chocolate chips for breakfast; toast, black bean soup and bread for lunch; and a baked potato, lettuce with carrots, peas, and popcorn balls for dinner. Nutritious, I know. Anyway, Bona made a nice dinner tonight, but hey, I didn't eat most of it because it was against my way of eating. There was chicken, a "no go" since I'm not into fowl, a monster sized banana squash- yeah, right, 2 kinds of juice; sorry, don't drink my calories, and the stuff I ate. For dessert, there was these Austrian wafer things that Dan brought back from Austria... didn't eat them- loaded with hazelnuts and didn't feel like an epi-pen injection and a trip to the ER tonight. I'm fairly appalled at what I ate today. Must go take a mulit-vitamin!

I also have become a fairly picky eater since I moved out on my own. I thought I liked all sorts of food when I lived at home. Somehow when I moved out, my taste bud were liberated from the things I coerced them to like and now they are free and independent to like whatever they actually like. I'm not sure that is a good thing, but at least I don't have to gag down tomato chunks in soup anymore. By the way, thanks Mom for always making sure I was fed decently and didn't have days like today's food when I lived at home.

The one food I never had to try when I lived at home was eggplant. My mom doesn't like eggplant. One day last year I got adventurous and curiosity got the best of me and I ordered eggplant on my whole wheat veggie pizza. I was optimistic about the eggplant. One bite into the eggplant and I was done with it for life! Ugh & nasty are all I can say. That eggplant was not meant to be in my mouth and I promptly spit it into my napkin (yes, at a restaurant). Jonathan still loves to tell the story about "Mom and the Eggplant". I learned form this that if my mother won't eat a certain food, it must be really, really bad.

Confession

So I went to the grocery store today to do some of the Pre-Thanksgiving grocery shopping. I got the cranberries, the apples, the onions, the poultry seasoning (?), the rice vinegar, some cream, more stuff, and the biggest ol' bird I could find. It's just shy of 18 pounds! Anyway, Mr. Tom Turkey isn't in my refrigerator. He isn't in my inside freeze. He isn't in my freezer in my garage. He isn't even technically in my house. The turkey is in an ice chest in the garage! I have no where to store the bird so I packed him away in ice and left him in the garage! Today alone I spent nearly $60 on stuff just for Thanksgiving dinner. I still have to get the Costco stuff and the sweet potato (yuck!) stuff, but Mom hasn't given me a sweet potato shopping list yet. If I don't get a list from her soon, she'll have to brave a grocery store herself on Wednesday when she gets here. Also, what is with the proce of apples? 9 apples cost nearly $10! The apple pie better taste real good!

Dan has a growth on his jaw/neck. It's huge- about the size of a nickel in all dimensions! He says it feels weird when he plays the violin. I've checked it for ingrown hairs- none! No sign of a zit head either. If it's still impressive I'll get a picture of it tomorrow. I asked him if he was Frankenstein and if a new bolt was emerging from his neck.

I crashed another ward's Super Saturday today. I actually had fun. I got to talk with some ladies who I haven't seen in nearly 8 years, since the wards were split. I made 72 hour food kits and tiles with vinyl letters. I like them- the tiles, not the food. I came home from the Super Saturday to a great surprise! Dan and the boys were re-barking the front yard! Yea! Bonus points for them. Then the boys went over and raked Parley and Bona's leaves and I folded 8 loads of laundry. Last week I rediscovered that if you fold each load as it comes out of the dryer, that folding the clothes is painless. Evidently that lesson didn't stick with me and I had accumulated 8 loads that needed to be folded. New goal for next week- fold the laundry as it comes out of the dryer.

Twelve Year Olds Should Not Be Allowed to Have Braces

Okay, Jonathan and his orthodontics are driving me nuts. For the past several months I've had to take him to Dr. Gee's office for mid-month repairs. He's managed to pull off the same bracket 3 times already... that is, before today. This afternoon he came into the kitchen with a flossing-stick-thing (which he knows he is not supposed to use with his braces) and tells me that I wire has magically come unhooked in the back of his mouth. He was just digging at something stuck back there when it just came unhooked. Grrr! About a half an hour later, Jonathan sat down to eat some pizza when, lo and behold, that *%&!# bottom bracket comes off again! Yes, we are ow at 4 times with that bracket. Of course it is Friday and the ortho office is closed so it looks like we'll be seeing Dr. Gee on Monday. I'm starting to think that wiring Jonathan's mouth shut for the duration of his ortho treatment is not such a bad idea.

Dan got home from work today and asked me what I did today. I had to actually think about that... what did I do today? Well, after putting some serious thought into that question I made a list. Today I made 2 pancakes, read the newspaper, spilled Nolan's milk, took 1 child to school, doinked around on my computer, bought Aly her Celine Dion tickets, went to Walmart and the copy place, made my house payment, finished washing (but not folding) the laundry, talked on the phone, emptied the dishwasher, made biscuits, picked up Nolan from school and took him to Adam's house (where he only had an okay time), put gas in the car, picked up Jonathan from school, got & sorted the mail, picked up Nolan from Adam's, washed grapes, cooked a pizza, practiced the choir pieces, took Jonathan to hang out with his gang, talked with Dan, and now I'm blogging. What a dumb day. I managed to fill up a whole day and not really do anything. Oh yeah, I submitted my entry to the scrapbooking contest. I doubt the judges will like my entry, but I had fun doing it.

Maybe tomorrow I'll actually have something to say!

Okay- Day 2, here we go!

Two blogging days down, several thousand more to go! Well Dan made it home last night and was off to "Dads and Doughnuts" morning at Nolan's school today. According to Nolan, Dan actually ate a doughnut. Being on travel does weird things to him! I would laugh so hard if he started replacing his daily raw oatmeal with a nice daily doughnut (whole grain, high fiber, and vitamin enriched, of course). Nolan said that the Dad and Doughnuts morning was just okay and that he wished he could have gone to the Fitness Club instead.

So Nolan gets up this morning (after a great night's sleep... not a monster today) and says "Hi Dad! Did you bring me a present?" Dan had the foresight to anticipate this question and brought the boys back model German fighter jets (I assume he bought them in Germany). Sigh! Yes, the boys love models, but this means more model glue on my countertop and more surfaces to collect dust. I'm the only one bothered by the dust collectors because I'm the only one who seems to notice dust. Oh well, Nolan has great plans for a model assembly party tonight. The sooner the planes are built, the sooner they'll be off the kitchen counter and hanging from the ceilings in the boys' rooms. I wonder if they'll let me throw the boxes away; they like to keep their model boxes as a "collection".

God moves in mysterious ways. After I picked Jonathan up from school today, I sat at the kitchen table. The sun was shining through the window warming me (since it is 64 degrees in the house and I haven't turned the furnace on yet this fall). It was so nice and snugly I put my head on the table to rest. Jonathan was in his room practicing the clarinet and I drifted off to sleep in the nice warm sunshine, being serenaded by the clarinet. I really thought I'd just doze for a minute or so, but no, I was out cold! Suddenly, I was jerked awake by Jonathan obnoxiously squeaking on his clarinet. My head snapped up off the table, I glanced at the clock- Nolan was out of school and waiting for me to come get him. Thanks to whatever possessed Jonathan to make that horrid squawk when he did, made it so Nolan got picked up nearly on time and I didn't get a "you forgot to pick up your child" phone call from the school.

Reading levels are such odd things. Valley View uses the computerized Star Test to determine a child's reading level. My boys never do well on this test. Nolan has read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and passed a comprehension test on it at 90%. That book is a 6.something level. So Nolan took the Star Test yesterday and it tells him he can only read and retain at a 3.5 reading level. Whatever! Nolan's eyes teared up when he saw the results. He teacher tore up his test results and told him to read whatever he wants and to aim for books up to the 5.7 reading level. It's amazing how fast his face went from crestfallen to elation.

Oh, I got to watch Avery play golf today. She's a wild thing with her clubs. She's also a demon on her bike and likes to play Chicken with Zane. I think Zane is oblivious to the rules of Chicken; either that or he's a master! He never flinched when Avery was barrelling down on him at her high speeds; luckily at the last minute Avery swerves and misses her brother. Avery, Aly and I made "pom-pom and foam turkeys" for Thanksgiving decorations today. Zane got his hands on one of the turkeys and promptly decapitated and dismembered the turkey. Maybe he'll be a great turkey farmer one day!

Meltdown Alert!

Nolan has had it, and it's about time too! For the past several nights Nolan has refused to go to sleep at night. He goes to bed at 9 p.m., but well after 10 p.m. I'd still hear him bouncing around. He's been getting up early too- 6 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m. A late sleeping time and early waking up time leads to meltdowns. He says he is homesick because Dan is on travel. Cute! He says his life "sucks" because his cub scouts is during the day and Jonathan goes to scouts at night. He thinks all Jonathan does at scouts is play nightgames and that isn't fair. It took him nearly 2 hours to do his math homework tonight because it is "stupid" and "too hard" (it's telling time on a clock with hands and he's only been doing that since first grade...). He's been in tears multiple times tonight over every little thing. His screwed up sleep schedule has finally caught up with him. Needless to say, he's upstairs getting ready for bed and it's only 8:11 p.m. Hopefully he'll fall asleep fast and wake up late tomorrow. He needs a good sleep because tomorrow is "Dad's and Doughnuts" at his school. I need him to have a good sleep just because I do.

Why this?

For years I have been meaning to "write it down". I know I should keep a better record of my life, but to take the time to write it down isn't a priority. I spend plenty of time in front of my computer, so why now take a few minutes and jot down my thoughts while I am busy wasting time in front of the PC. Also, maybe my typing skills will improve. I've also thought, what's the point of journaling if it just goes in a book that no one reads until you are dead? Maybe a blog will let me share my thoughts, feelings, etc. with others while I am still alive! We'll see how this goes.

1:49 is all that is left, according to www.flightview.com until Dan's plane lands. He's been out of the country (including Texas, and I think that counts as out of the country) for the past 9 days. It's been a long 9 days- far too quiet after 9 p.m. and I've really missed him. I've also been through a miscarriage while he's been gone. Not fun at all. Now I just want him home, dirty laundry and all! Besides, when he's gone, my family prayer time comes around too quickly. It's also gotten chilly since he left and I could use him as a space heater at night! Flightview now says 1:52 until Dan's plane lands. How did that happen?

Nolan is obsessed with Goosebumps books right now, especially Monster Blood I & II. I went to the PG library today and checked out Monster Blood III and IV (or "eye-vee" as Nolan calls book 4) for him. He's already plugging through Monster Blood III. Whatever! Hey, he's reading! He's mad at us because we don't have "the cable". Somehow he found out that there is a Goosebumps show on "the cable" and he can't see it because we don't have "the cable". I took him to Blockbuster last Saturday to see if they had anything Goosebumps. He had to settle for Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase.

Jonathan is constantly harassing Nolan. All afternoon and evening he's at it. It drives me nuts because Nolan is being a drama king about it, and they are so loud and shrilly. Jonathan started harassing Nolan literally as Nolan walked through the door today. Jonathan made Nolan's tigers, Tony and Hobbes, pounce Nolan as the door opened. About 20 seconds ago, the were in here harassing each other. One more reason for Dan to get home- he can take a turn refereeing! 1:46 now until the plane lands.

The Thanksgiving menu is set. Food assignments are made. Amy and Leslie will be bring the Martinelli's because they can buy it at the Cannon Center with their extra food money! Now it's cleaning time. My parents arrive in a week.

1:37 to go!