Update

 

• The computer is still down and this laptop is better than nothing for sure.
• Our road is still torn apart but I'm getting used to cutting through the medical plaza's parking lot to get home so I'm handling it.
• I went to the doctor today and have been advised to double my meds several days before my monthly melancholia sets in. This may seem obvious, but I never really knew exactly when those days would be until having them hit around bookclub time two months in a row. Now I scheduled with myself so I hopefully I can nip those irrational feelings before they take over. Ah womanhood...
• The DISH guy came on Tuesday and figured out that the trees in our front yard have grown so much in the 8 years we've lived here that they're blocking the signal to the dish. He had to move the dish to the back of the house and tweak the angle...who knew? Now we'll be able to watch our shows without them turning into muted, garbly pixels of doom!

Trying

Today was a B-day at school, and try as I might to be positive about it I left with a raging headache and tears on deck. I am less needed in the classes I'm assigned to on these days (or perhaps just needed in a way I don't like as well) so they seem long and trying to me. I really resent the headache because it stays with me long after school is over and sometimes all night. I went to bed around 8:00 twice last week because of headaches, which is a major bummer considering how limited my time at home is these days.

There I vented...I must retreat to the cozy.

Comment Window Tidbit: I had an itchy eye for a day last week and actually hoped I was getting pink eye because then I'd have to stay home! That's just wrong.

"Book" Club

I may get kicked out of our "book" club for putting up such a fuss about us never having all 6 of us finish the book (I seriously don't think it happened even once this year), but I just don't understand why this keeps happening! This month only two of us had finished the book due to the fact that the book was not available in stores and had to be ordered in advance, so time ran out and books weren't delivered on time or able to be read on time. I think it robs us of credibility and bugs me to no end; but word on the street is that 2011 is our year.


The food for this month was minimal but oh so tasty. We had chips and salsa from Los Hermanos, Artisan bread with spinach dip, wheat thins and a cheese ball (I love a good cheese ball) and some pastries from the French Bakery in town.

We sat around and talked for the whole night. Jana had a very bizarre and lengthy story to share, and Jenn had some updates on her dad's condition. (We were missing Amy this time because she had starting feeling fluish that day.)

It turns out that Michelle LOVES Boston Baked Beans! Who knew? She ended up sifting through Collette's candy corn (which she does not love) to find all the beans. I found it endearing and amusing.


We also chose books for the next few months and drew names for Christmas. We'll be reading The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson for December, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford for January, and Ride the Wind by Lucis St. Clair Robson for February.


Michelle acted as scribe for the night and wrote down some funny quotables.


As I reached into my purse to get my car keys, I found this toy of Whitney's...that girl.

**Any book recommendations to share?
Do you enjoy a good cheese ball?
Would not finishing the book bug you?
Ever found a toy horse in your purse?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I can't seem to get my core temperature up now that I'm home, meanwhile I was totally overheated in a math class during the last 75 minutes of school today. Good Hell!

Talking To My Self

• I have slept poorly for about the last 5 nights and can't account for it. I live a caffeine-free life (sadly) so that's not the culprit. I'm beginning to think our mattress is only pretending to be supportive and cushiony because when I wake up in the morning I feel like my vertebrae have fused together and someone owes me an apology. Not good.
• I am so anti-sweating that summer-time becomes another kind of hibernation for me. I simply must hide out in the air conditioned comfort of my home. It's like being a prisoner, but different. At least there are times of glorious reprieve in the morning (if I can wake up) and in the evenings when our yard is in full shade and there's a breeze. When did I become such a poop?
  
• I starting to wonder if the majority of people are flakes. How hard is it to actually do a church calling?
  
• Psoriasis is one of Satan's tools to get me to swear. I now dream of having some sort of acid bath to soak my scalp in to end the itching once and for all.
• Being afraid of spiders is illogical and yet I persist in jumping out of my skin when encountering them in my house (outside I'm fine with them as long as they're not on me).
• It's only 3 weeks until school starts, how can this be?
• I never thought I'd only have 2 kids. Sometimes I have a moment of panic, like I've forgotten the others somewhere.
• I'm extra fond of kids who say, "Thanks for the ride" when I drop them off. It's amazing how many do and really amazing how many don't.
• Almost every time I walk to the mailbox I panic and think "Do I have all my clothes on?" Which is weird because I never walk around the house without all my clothes on. Maybe the possibility of going to the mailbox in a slip and a t-shirt and no bra is terrifying to me (I'm concerned for the safety of others).
• I've been maintaining my soft heels since my last pedicure (on July 7th) and am pleased and impressed with the results (I think the Miracle Foot Repair cream Michelle gave me is working too) but still want to go get a pedicure.
• We're going to Colorado to visit Kristi's family in 16 days, and I'm so excited!

Congratulations to Lisa Johnson for correctly guessing that I sent 22 cards last Friday, I will be emailing you with your prize options. Thanks for all the guesses.

Comment Window Tidbit: I'm about ready to delete all my RSS feeds because no one is updating their blogs. Wah!

Grievances and Redemption

I had a delightful morning, the sun was shining, the bread and cookies were baking, I was home alone watching "The Office" on the computer while working on some good mail prizes, all was well until...I left the building, and the grievances began.


Why must everyone talk on the cell phones while they drive, WHY?
Why do people in HUGE trucks and SUVs insist on driving approaching 2 inch curbs like they're tire-ripping spikes of doom?!
Why must I limp?
Why did I have to have the feeling of a rogue hair plaguing me the entire time I shopped? I kept taking my sunglasses off my head to see if there was a hair stuck in the hardware or something, but never found the culprit. So instead I walked around in public looking like a crazy person trying to grab a mystery hair from across my face. Aargh!
Why do I always get stuck in the slowest line possible?
Why is my left nostril still driving me crazy?


When did everything get so expensive? I was shopping for a baby gift for a shower I'm going to tomorrow, but everything seems outrageously expensive to me. I finally found a super soft and darling blanket for a decent price on my 3rd stop, but sheesh!

Also, I think I'm nearing the end of being DONE with baby showers. I'm thinking now that my birthing years are over, I'm just not into any of that any more. I'm not against them, I just don't really want to go to them anymore. (I just realized this today!)


I did manage to find a purse at Kohl's that was marked $115 on clearance for $11.99.


I'm very sad to have to retire my current bag, but the zipper has given up the ghost.


I'm so sick of the construction everywhere! I know it means there will eventually be progress, but it's a confusing mess the rest of the time and I hate it!


My mom arranged a sleepover for the younger cousins (Megan, Olivia & Ashley) at her house tonight, which literally took 8 phone calls to make happen! Good Hell, I was ready to throw my cell phone out the window. But coordinating between me, Robyn and Amy, then with my dad getting Amy's girls in Salt Lake and bringing them to Lehi for Robyn and I to swap just took a whole lot of effort. I was seriously feeling like "Serenity Now!" by the end of it all.


My seriously old cell phone finally died for real last weekend, so Randy and I got "new" phones this week. Today was my first outing with it and the phone felt huge to me. Also, I don't know how to use it at all, so I felt like a complete spazz. Apparently I need a tutorial or to spend some quality time with the instruction manual (so NOT my favorite thing to do). We're always so behind the times, we'll probably get iPhones right around the time the rest of the world is getting a phone chip implanted in their brains, thus eliminating the need for phones all together.


I feared I was crossing over to the crusty point of no return (i.e., extreme grumpiness plus headache) but came home to find this note from Randy along with a mini bundt cake, 2 items of good mail and an indication that Randy was making his home teaching appointments. Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas to me!


The girls got down to playing immediately, I unloaded my parcels and then called Amie which provided some much-needed comic relief. She said it usually takes 3 sessions to get her hair under control each day (she has naturally curly hair) and this produced a guttural guffaw from me. Good times.

**What are your grievances?
Do you get grumpy when you run errands?
Do you like baby showers?**

Comment Window Tidbit: Is 7:25pm too early to go to bed?

The Airing of Grievances--Plus An Edit

I know life is good, that it's about finding joy in the journey, blah, blah, blah, but right now I feel like airing some petty grievances, so here goes.

--It's too freakin hot outside!

--My car, even with air conditioning, was too freaking hot while running errands.

--I HATE having to pinch pennies!

--I don't look good with my hair pulled back, but it's hot (did I mention that) and thus I want it pulled away from my neck and face.

--My car has been unregistered since last November.

--My computer seems to be running slowly, even though I've been deleting things and ran a program that took 3 hours to defragment the hard drive.

--It takes forever to load pictures into blogger, Smugmug and online sites. What's going on?

--No one is blogging or commenting much this summer, why is that?

--A Paris trip in the fall seems very far out of reach.

--Michelle leaves for Paris in 8 weeks!

--School starts in just over a month.

--Our washing machine is ridiculously loud.

--We now have irrigation water to use in our yard which is good because it's much cheaper, but when filling the kiddie pool today it was brown. Nothing says "refreshing fun" like a pool full of brown water!

--I'm hungry.

--I have no pebble ice at the moment.

--Our recycling container is full and the next pick-up isn't until Tuesday.

There, I feel better just having spewed these things.


Edited to add at 9:00pm: Look what wonderful Hannah dropped off at my door!!!! Suddenly my grievances are gone.

**Will you air your grievances?
Do we share any right now?**

Good Grief

I didn't post yesterday...ME?! What in the world? I was so tired. I had a long, busy day capped by a manageable, but annoying headache so I opted not to blog ("I chose NOT to run!"). I even went to bed at 11:30, which is early for me, but only slept for an hour before waking up (#$@!). I don't know what's going on. I'm bug-bite covered from the outdoor concert Randy and I went to Wednesday night (which is to be blogged about later) so my middle of the night wakings have got me doing a twitchy scratch dance of sorts. Lucky me.

Today is another busy day (not Creative Friday) so I will have to write later. I just didn't want anyone to think I was brooding over the anonymous comment. It wasn't that big of a deal, just triggered my rant about the word judgmental. I felt so much better after writing that, it was so therapeutic. I may actually be growing up, how about that?


P.S. The city has decided to do road construction right in front of my house today AND on every street I need to use (I'm not kidding). What is up with the universe? They're doing it on 3 of the 4 streets accessing the school. Thus, I've had several "serenity now!" moments this week.

**Did you think I was boycotting?
Have you been sleeping?
Any bug bites this summer?
Have you said "Serenity Now!" recently?**

Pots and Kettles

I am so tired of people throwing around the word judgmental whenever they don't agree with something someone writes or says. Doesn't that imply that they are NOT judgmental? Have you ever known anyone who isn't? I mean really, we all have our own opinions about how we think life, families, marriages, kids, morals, toilet paper rolls, chocolate-chip cookies, dishwashers, laundry and everything else should be.

That doesn't mean ANY of us are right, but it does mean we're allowed to feel like we are in our own homes and on our own blogs. If we were to edit absolutely everything we thought or said for fear of someone calling us judgmental then no one would be doing much communicating would they?


I find that when I read a blog that rubs me the wrong the way I have to stop and check myself to figure out why that is. It's usually because whatever they're talking about is a weak point for me that I know I need to improve, or I think they're just plain bonkers and I don't need to read their blog anymore. I must say it's awfully liberating to let go of the blogs and people that make me feel badly about myself. I don't need any help in that area so I'm letting go. Please feel free to drop me if you find that I make you feel that way too, and please stop making wussy anonymous comments!

**I'm afraid to ask, but what do you think?**

It's Our Curse!

Today was our 9th visit to Seven Peaks this summer (we haven't missed a week yet!) and we ended up staying 9 hours, from open till close. The kids seem to really have their groove down with each other and with all the things they like to do there, so it's easy for us to stay that long.

Our personal space was invaded yet again this week, almost hilariously so. We concluded that just spreading our towels around does not keep anyone from infringing on our area, so we're thinking about adding a couple umbrellas and chairs to the mix (or perhaps if Michelle ever joined us that would help). Amie also mentioned that she has a huge roll of Caution Tape at her house, so maybe we'll just tape off our area. Ha.


We had a big group right behind us today, they even had lounge chairs (we haven't seen those there before) so it felt like they were part of our camp. I tried to sneak a picture of the chairs over my shoulder and inadvertently got into the picture myself, but it shows how close they were to us.


Amie and I learned from our experience last week that spending time in kid-filled pools is overrated so we opted not to get wet today. It was a mere 92 degrees today, so we didn't get overheated while sitting in the shade of our umbrellas.

{Landon in red on the lily pad,
Whitney and James are at the rope swing in the background}

We did venture out a couple of times to watch the kids on the rope swing, lily pads and on Jagged Edge (aka The Wedgie). Landon and James have braved every slide except for one (Free Fall) at Seven Peaks, and I have been really surprised by Whitney's bravery this year as well. She has conquered many of the slides and totally amazed me today by going down Jagged Edge (the yellow one) multiple times.


After we watched Whitney slowly make her way down this normally crazy slide Amie said, "She's yours!" She was referring to my slide trauma with Landon this week, so I'm feeling like maybe Whitney and I are a little cursed with slides. (I would blame our girth except that there are many, many rotund people who make their way down those slides without problems. I tried to load video of her hilariously slow descent, but after an hour it still wasn't finished loading, grrr.)


At the end of the day the kids got to claim the abandoned lounge chairs (we usually outlast all the space invaders) that were near us. I am sure they could have played with these and been happy all day if they'd had the chance. The spent so much time arranging them, readjusting them, putting the towels on them, lining them up with each other and so on. It was quite cute to watch.

**Can you believe it was our 9th time?
What do you think of our plan
to keep the space-invaders away?
Would you go down that yellow slide?**

Turning 37--The Gory Truth

As my birthday approaches each year I am usually filled with gooey anticipation followed by logical tempering. I try not to psych myself up so that I won't be disappointed, but I love knowing that my special day is approaching.


This year I didn't have that anticipation and was a actually relieved. I was hoping that maybe I am getting old enough to be over my birthday. It seemed a little sad to be over it, but kind of a relief at the same time.


I picked up Michelle around 12:15 so we could catch an early showing of "Baby Mama" at the dollar theater. Jessie kindly watched Michelle's kids, and my mom and Robyn had my kids overnight so that we could be kid-free for my birthday. Michelle and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, the popcorn, the m&ms and the air conditioning. I even snuck in a cup of ice!


After the movie, we went to a restaurant Marc had recommended called Little Italy. The food was great. I had 4 cheese penne pasta and Michelle had red sauce penne. We both got gelato for dessert as well, it was oh so good.


Michelle ended up making me a birthday card with the super nice list of things she had written about me on her blog for my birthday, along with a coupon for her dessert of the month club (weeha!) and a $30 gift certificate to Royal Nails for a much needed pedicure.


It is such a gift to have a standing date with Michelle for my birthday. I know I'll always be doing something fun with someone who cares about me and understands my neurotic-birthday ways.


As I was leaving Michelle's house she brought out the vanilla custard pie she makes each year for my birthday. I LOVE this tradition and this pie! This was the first installment of the dessert of the month gift. I wonder what next month will bring...


I went straight from Michelle's house to the nail salon to get a pedicure. I had only ever had one pedicure before in my life and it was 9 years ago! My heels were beyond nasty (as shown in my birthday 100 list) so I couldn't wait any longer. It was a glorious experience! So relaxing and so satisfying. It has been a week and I still can't stop looking at my cute toes! That was the fastest I've ever spent a gift certificate in my life.

When I came home I was greeted by this happy display on my porch. The two boxes were from Kristi, and the envelopes were from Melinda and Patsy. There was also a package in the mailbox from Amie. Oh happy day! It means a lot to me when things arrive ON my birthday, so thank you so much for thinking of me you guys!!


There was also a note on the door that an Edible Arrangement had been delivered and placed in the shade on the side of the house. How exciting. When I went to get it this is what I found. It was in this handy-dandy insulated bag to protect it.


I could not have been more surprised to find that it was from my sweet blogging friend Heather! She is so generous with me, but this was beyond generous! After opening it I ran to the computer to email her right away. I was just blown away by her thoughtfulness. Thanks Heather!



Randy and the kids soon returned home and we met up with Lori at Los Hermanos for dinner. They give you a free dessert on your birthday, but they also sing a loud and embarrassing birthday song to you so I opted to keep it on the down-low. No dessert for us. I ended my day by watching So You Think You Can Dance, woohoo, what a great way to end the day.

Now for the gifts...


One of the boxes Kristi sent contained these darling red bookends. They are the perfect red for my house. Thanks Kristi! The other box she sent contained all these cute wrapped gifts.

Inside the cute, wrapped gifts were various paper products. Should I be offended that two of them involve rating my moods? I think not, apparently she knows me well. Thanks Kristi!


Amie's box (which she claims is just good mail, not my birthday present) had dryer balls (which she has blogged about and knew I wanted to try), a fantastic eyelash curler, hot pink nail polish and a bag of M&Ms. I love it all and have been feeling quite sassy with my eyelashes lately thanks to her. Thanks Amie!!


Natasha sent me a box of nice stationery along with this darling Fisher Price Mailman. I absolutely love it, it's so cute. I've never seen this little mailman before. Thanks Natasha!!


Melinda sent me a quote about going to the temple, some Carnation Instant Breakfast packets (I eat this daily), a ranch packet with money for several sour creams, movie passes with $10 for treats and a cute card that looks like a birthday cake. Wow. Thanks Melinda!!!

Laurie M. sent me a this birthday card with a really nice message written inside. I also enjoy her writing around the good mail label on the envelope. Thanks Laurie!!


Patsy sent me a funny birthday card along with a bunch of homemade cards for all different occasions. If only I liked to send cards right? Thanks Patsy!!

Kacey sent me this darling pouch filled with mommy business cards inside. What a clever and cute idea. Thanks Kacey!!

Cecilia sent me a nice card and $5 to Bajio. Thank you so much Cecilia!!


Esther sent me a this nice birthday card, and has been commenting more regularly on my blog. Thanks Esther!!


Jessie gave me this darling birthday card (she's a creative genius) and a Sonic gift card. Thanks Jessie!!

Now for the family party...


On Saturday afternoon we went to Adam and Amy's house for a family party. The highlight for me, other than the food, was the little girls greeting me at the front door with hugs and saying, "Welcome to your birthday party."


Adam usually makes fantastic birthday cards that are heartfelt and cool looking, but has skipped me the past couple of years so I have been bugging him about making me one this year. This is what he came up with! It's a psycho-looking clown and says "the best way to get you in the mood for getting old is obviously an evil clown." Apparently this is his way of getting me to stop bugging him to make me cards.


I hate being the center of attention, so opening gifts in front of everyone is painful for me. Adam gave me this beautiful planter of flowers to go along with the evil clown card.


Whitney (aka Randy) gave me this James Bond dvd and a box of Nutty Bars. I asked her if she knew what she gave me and she said, "Yeah, dad told me."


Landon actually came up with the idea of giving me a Cafe Rio gift card all on his own. He's a genius I tell you.


Randy knew the only thing I wanted for my birthday is an armoire for the family room, so this is what he came up with. He wrapped Season 3 of The Office in a black armoire. I thought he was mocking me at first, but then the note inside says he just needs a few weeks more until he can get it. We'll see...


Instead of giving separate gifts, my parents, Lori, Adam & Amy, and Robyn & Jared went in on a gift card to the fat girl store so I can buy a frumpy summer collection. I was totally embarrassed by this gift so I didn't respond very well. They were trying to help me out, but instead I felt like running and hiding. I'm difficult.


So pretty much any progress I thought I'd made this year regarding not being psycho about my birthday was a complete bust. I did well on my actual day, but not so much the rest of the week or at my family party. I think I'm going to opt out of a family party next year (for the benefit of everyone) and maybe should think about taking a vacation by myself during my birthday week.


My problem is that I take the birthday things that come (or don't come) my way very personally. It's as if this day is an indicator of how people feel about me, so when not much happens I don't feel good about myself. It's twisted logic and I really don't know how I got to be that way, except that that's the way I try to show people on their birthdays. It's awful, I've really got to sort it out and let it go. So there you have it, the honest truth about being grateful and mental at the same time.

**Do you get crazy on your birthday?
Do you mind opening gifts in front of everyone?
Do you have a standing date on your birthday?**