You say it's your birthday....

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Happy Birthday William Karl Petersen

34 weeks and counting

I just got home a little while ago from a double doctors appointment. My regular appointment with my ob (I am a spazz and showed up 1 hr. early...just a little eager perhaps?) and our monthly ultrasound.

Here's a quick rundown on the status of "Gary" from the doctor:

• At 34 weeks and 2 days I am measuring 36.5 weeks. That's still only two ahead.
• Baby's heart rate is stable at 140 beats per minute.
• Doctor predicts that the baby will make it to 38 weeks as long as my bp is stable (no toxemia) and my sugars stay "normal" (90-120 range).
• I only gained 1 lb. over the last two weeks...bringing us to a grand total of 28 lbs.
• Stretch marks are ugly...very ugly.

At the Ultrasound however, we got a little bit different story:

• No pictures of "Gary" today. Why? He's too big. They couldn't get a clear shot because: 1) he's dropped considerably and has "assumed the position" of getting the heck out of dodge and 2) He's huge.
• How big? Let's try 7 lbs. big. What should he weigh? At 34 weeks he should weigh at most, 5 lbs. and be about 19 inches long. We don't know if he's huge because of the diabetes or genetics. We won't know that until he's born, but it looks like naming him Henry and calling him Hank the Tank might not be such a bad idea.
• "Gary" is in the 80th percentile in size, his head is huge and his legs are long. That right there makes the decision for a c-section worth it.
• "Gary" has fat rolls, under his arms and very chubby cheeks. Through the ultrasound video we could see the layers of fat that are forming around his body.
• Right now, "Gary" is the size of a baby at 38 weeks gestation, not 34.

What does all this mean you may be asking? Ross and I have no idea. Basically, it means that the kid will be born soon and hopefully before the 10 lb mark. I told Ross the other day that "Gary" was starting to feel very heavy and I was right.

Since there are no pictures of "Gary" from today's photo session (Though we did bring a VHS tape and recorded the ultrasound if you are interested in watching a giant fat baby) I've posted the only picture I've taken of me throughout the entire process...to prove to certain peopel (Craig) that this whole baby thing isn't a figment of my imagination.

"Gary" is one lucky baby

Last night was the baby shower. It was hard for me to be the center of attention (no really, it was) and open all the tiny blue outfits (blue better than pink?), but throughout the entire shower, I just felt so lucky to have such a wonderful family and great friends who are so generous and kind to not only come and show their support, but give us such wonderful and much needed gifts. "Gary" made quite the haul, and has wonderful great-grandmothers, grandmothers, great aunties and a cool aunt.

Thank you to Cindy and her family for hosting and to everyone who came. I had a great night and am just so grateful and lucky.

Wedding Portrait Success

Haley, James, Willie and I went on a photographic adventure this afternoon to get pictures for the wedding announcements. I must say that, even though we didn't really have a plan, and we ended up at the Great Salt Lake on a road that really wasn't a road, we got some great shots. Haley even commented tonight when I showed her some proofs that I made them look better than they look in real life. Not true, but there is a lot to be said for taking pictures on an overcast day.

I liked a lot of the pictures, but the little postcard I Photoshopped was my favorite. Haley didn't like it too much. What do you think? (click on the picture to see it full size on my flickr account.)

A Year in Review

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This is the little movie I made to commemorate 2006

(The movie opens in a pop-up window so if you can't see it, turn off your blockers)

The Holidaze is over and we survived

Christmas is over and the goose got super fat....oh wait, we didn't eat goose, but I'm super fat! Today, the day after Christmas is a time of reflection. After all my whining, complaining, and overall scrooginess, we survived a very nice holiday with the family.

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma Huber's house with a very nice dinner and program. This year Grandma asked me to bring my camera to document the plethora of presents under her tree, the coffee table, in the dining room..pretty much everywhere. When you buy gifts for like, 60 people, things can get a little crazy. After pictures and food, mom and the little chillins prepared a nice program reading from Luke:2, intertwined with some musical numbers with Haley as maestro on the piano. Perhaps the sing-along after, with all made up and improvised verses was a little more entertaining however.



By the time Christmas day was over, it felt like we had run a marathon. Ross and I got our sorry heads out of bed around 7:00, got ready, opened our presents and headed to my parentals house to greet Willie and his exuberance early in the morning. We opened gifts with my family then headed to aunt Karen's house for brunch and a gift exchange. By the time we got settled at Karen's, it was time to move on because Haley and James had places to be. We rushed back to the units house, watched James open his gifts, packed up and headed to Grandma Hubers for more food, fun, and gifts galore. We finally left as daylight was fading and headed to Ross mom and dad's house, even though they weren't there, to play with the dog. Well, for Ross to play with the dog and me have the animal jump on my lap and stick it's rank butt in my face. After Ross got his fill of puppy and gave the dog a bath, we finally headed home for the night to sit and stare at all the gifts we received and so Ross could watch Monday Night Football.

I went to bed at 8:30...Gary and I were exhausted, well I was exhausted. Gary was just gearing up for a night full of flips, summersaults, and vigorous attempts to escape his internal world and get a taste of the outside.


This morning when we awoke from our long winters nap, the house was still a disaster, with gifts floating all over the living room. We'll dig ourselves out eventually.

Ross and I received some very lovely and thoughtful gifts and even though I said no baby stuff, we got some of that, too and it was great! We even got a Gary for "Gary" (Pictures of that later). Ross gave me a gift I had been asking for for months...a new compact digital camera. Our hundred year old 2 mp broke and has been replaced. Yeah! I love cameras.

Photo Shoot

Next week I am going out with Haley and James to shoot their engagement/announcement photo. We had a dry run on Sunday that didn't turn out too well...it seems that there was a third party in the picture. The big kid, almost taller than Haley, with the cheesy smile. I think that he might think that he gets to be in the picture. Sorry kiddo....you can come, but just harass and embarrass from the sidelines.

Ketchup is her code word

Last night Ross was busy with church stuff and I headed out to the family compound in the WV to drop off some Sub-for-Santa gifts and do a little calligraphy for my mom's neighbor. As the evening started to wind down and we were wrapping up Willie's science homework (It was a group effort to define all his science terms...we even had two dictionaries going) thing started to get a little....crazy!

Mom beckoned dad from his Soduku induced hide-a-way in the office to come out to the kitchen. She needed him to run to the store, immediately!, and purchase two things: dish soap and ketchup. Why these two items you ask? We have no idea except that it made mom laugh when we started teasing her about whatever ketchup could be. We decided it was code for something....just not sure what. Hygiene products? A mysterious Christmas gift that could only be purchased at the local grocers? A secret mission involving tomatoes?

Regardless, it was a good laugh that sparked the start of a conversation, well, multiple conversations that I could barely keep track of. So, I decided to write as many key words down on a left over piece of wrapping paper, just in case I needed it later.

Interesting baby fact

This is from my baby e-mail of the week:

A Russian woman holds the record for having the most children. Between 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children.

Progressive Party

On Saturday, we had the 23rd annual Huber Family Progressive Party. As usual, there was good food (deep fried cajun turkey, sweet and savory crepes, shrip and shredded beef tacos and ice cream sundaes), fun (dancing, laughing, loud-ness), and creative entertainment. My favorite of the night may have been 2 year old Gracie at the end of the evening doing her Tai-Chi in the center of Jackie's family room to Christmas tunes.

If you are interested in my pics from the party, click on the link below. I had an idea that it might be fun to use Photo Booth to document the night and I was right. Even the grandparentals got in on the action.

Progressive Party 2006

Happy Chanukah!

Now, if anyone asks you what the difference is between Christmas and Chanukah you will know what and how to answer!

1. Christmas is one day, same day every year, December 25. Jews also love December 25th. It's another paid day off work. We go to the movies and out for Chinese food. Chanukah is 8 days. It starts the evening of the 24th of Kislev, whenever that falls. No one is ever sure. Jews never know until a non-Jewish friend asks when Chanukah starts, forcing us to consult a calendar so we don't look like idiots. We all have the same calendar, provided free with a donation from the World Jewish Congress, the kosher butcher, the local Sinai Memorial Chapel or a Jewish funeral home.

2. Christmas is a major holiday. Chanukah is a minor holiday with the same theme as most Jewish holidays. They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat.

3. Christians get wonderful presents such as jewelry, perfume, stereos, etc. Jews get practical presents such as underwear, socks or the collected works of the Rambam, which looks impressive on the bookshelf.

4. There is only one way to spell Christmas. No one can decide how to spell Chanukah, Chanukkah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, etc.

5. Christmas is a time of great pressure for husbands and boyfriends. Their partners expect special gifts. Jewish men are relieved of that burden. No one expects a diamond ring on Chanukah.

6. Christmas brings enormous electric bills. Candles are used for Chanukah. Not only are we spared enormous electric bills, but we get to feel good about not contributing to the energy crisis.

7. Christmas carols are beautiful...Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful. Chanukah songs are about dreidels made from clay or having a party and dancing the hora. Of course, we are secretly pleased that many of the beautiful carols were composed and written by our tribal brethren. And don't Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond sing them beautifully?

8. A home preparing for Christmas smells wonderful. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes baking. Happy people are gathered around in festive moods. A home preparing for Chanukah smells of oil, potatoes and onions. The home, as always, is full of loud people all talking at once.

9. Christian women have fun baking Christmas cookies. Jewish women burn their eyes and cut their hands grating potatoes and onions for latkes on Chanukah. Another reminder of our suffering through the ages.

10. Parents deliver presents to their children during Christmas. Jewish parents have no qualms about withholding a gift on any of the eight nights.

11. The players in the Christmas story have easy to pronounce names such as Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The players in the Chanukah story are Antiochus, Judah Maccabee and Matta whatever. No one can spell it or pronounce it. On the plus side, we can tell our non-jewish friends anything and they believe we are wonderfully versed in our history.

12. In recent years, Christmas has become more and more commercialized. The same holds true for Chanukah, even though it is a minor holiday. It makes sense. How could we market a major holiday such as Yom Kippur? Forget about celebrating. Think observing. Come to synagogue, starve yourself for 27 hours, become one with your dehydrated soul, beat your chest, confess your sins, a guaranteed good time for you and your family. Tickets a mere $200 per person. Better stick with Chanukah!

How do you spell Oquirrh?

Yesterday, Ross and I attended (because he had to set up the stake center) the satellite broadcats of the "South Jordan, Utah Temple" groundbreaking. I had never been witness to such an event before and it was very interesting.

Perhaps the most interesting part was when President Hinkley spoke, announcing a new name for the Temple. He said that after much deliberation, the Temple would not be called the South Jordan, Utah Temple because that would be too confusing with the Jordan River Temple. So, the new name of the temple will be the Oquirrh Mountain, Utah Temple. Pretty cool and a great recognition for the West side of the valley that I have called home for my entire life. After the announcemnt, the Prophet cracked a joke saying that no one will be able to spell Oquirrh, but they can't spell Timpanogos either...and some people probablly can't even spell Salt Lake. But, he said, we don't go to the temple to spell.

The entire ground breaking was over in about 40 minutes and we had a couple hundred people at our stake center to watch. It would have been most excellent to witness the event first hand, in the big tent they set up on the bluff where the Temple will be located, but being able to watch it "live" via satellite was pretty cool, too. It's not every day that a temple is literally built in your neighborhood, just up the street.

Playing with Passion like the Beatles

Tonight, Haley has to play guitar in a band at the church party. She has been attending trainings with the Martinez family (the other half of the band) for weeks and weeks. Last weekend, Haley wasn't playing with enough "umpfh" and inspiration that Mr. Martinez made her sit down to watch a video of the Beatles so she could see what it is like to play with passion. The band originally set out to play 6 numbers, three Christmas songs and three "traditional" songs, one of which was Tequila. As of last week, if I remember correctly, they added at least one more song and it appears to be something by Black Sabbath. I am sure that will go over great at the Ward Party!

Ross and I are not going to the party to watch the band. I figured that the fam. and the grandparentals was enough to stare at her whilst playing some Ozzy. Instead, I think that we'll just crash out at home. It's been a long week for the both of us. Between work and other commitments and this whole "baby" thing, I've completely run out of steam. Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment and it was very disappointing. "Gary" and I have been overachievers for the last 8 months in weight gain, size, measurements, health problems, etc. and it seems that we are evening out. My blood pressure was good, the blood sugars are under control and Gary seems to be "average" right now. I only gained two pounds and measured 34/5 centimeters which means that I haven't grown any (even though I feel 28.6 pounds heavier) in 2 weeks. To the doctor, that is a good sign...to me it means that January 15 might turn into the actual due date of February 7 and that stressed me out to no end. The doc had put the 15th as D-day into my head months ago and I've pretty much settled on it. Well, as everything progresses "normally"...it looks like early isn't as realistic as I thought. Suck! So, after the appointment I was a little disappointed. I'm better now, but I wasn't the nicest person for a while last night. Sorry Ross! Part of my problem could be these ankles. They hurt. The other night they were super swollen and as Ross and I were working on some projects in the office, I decided to document the swollen-osity. Ross' is the hairy ankle in the middle and represents what mine used to look like, w/o the hair.




To end the whiny post on a more positive note, I finally did some holiday decorating. After mucho harassment from Willie, Mom, and even Grandma, I bought a "tree" at target. It is small, silver and sparkle-y and I made a "shrine" for the holidays. So it's done, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future won't get me, and a blah humbug to all.

I'm not an idiot! Sweet!

About three years ago I started a process called National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification. At the time I thought I was hot stuff and the best teacher in the world. I selected a mentor to help me put a portfolio together, video tape myself teaching, and prepare for a pretty heinous exam. All in all, the first time around, I think I put in about 240 hours. And guess what - I failed! I actually failed quite miserably. Good thing there are retakes, right?

Well, the next year, I decided to get a new mentor (one that actually knew something about history, not art like Mentor #1) and I had her help. Unfortunately for me, I chose to cut corners and rely on my natural intelect and test taking ability. Big mistake because guess what...I failed a second time around. Idiot! Failed a second time.

After much deliberation I decided to try for a third and final time. I was nervous and had a bad track record to rely on. But, I got my scores today and I PASSED with flying colors. Yeah me! I am not as big of a moron as I thought I was and now I get to have the title of "master teacher" for the next 12 years...that's when my certification expires.

I just wanted to share.

The love of a good hairdresser

Romela does my hair. She loves me and I love her back. I waited years for her to be able to cut my hair and the wait was well worth it. She can work wonders with my boring look. I got the hairs cut today and am quite pleased with the results. I am definitely in a fashion/style rut and have resorted to mostly wearing jeans and men's rugby shirts for lack of anything better or more comfortable to wear over the basketball that has become my belly. The haircut today was the perfect therapy for my increasing waistline. If only other things in life were so easy.


The Pathetic News Anchor hair of this morning and afternoon



The shorter, sleeker, and a little less "late breaking news story" hair of this afternoon.

Saturday is for winners

Yesterday was the second jr. jazz game of the season. Willie's team won. They smoked the other team, as I am sure they will do to the three remaining teams in the small league they are in this season. Willie's team is also huge and, the actually run plays. Strange for a group of 11 year olds to run plays but it's cool.

The funny thing is...all the kids in the league are11-12 years old but Willie's team is so big. They just tower over all the other kids. Dad definately put together a winning bunch. Here are a few pictures to check out if you are interested. If you want, more, I can tell you where to get them.


Is this type of score fair? It is to the winning team.


He shoots and I think he scored. If not, he got all the offensive rebounds and somebody scored.


Giant amongst his age group. They really are ALL 11!

WaYs To MaInTaIn A hEaLtHy LeVeL oF iNsAnItY

• at lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point at a hair dryer at passing cars. see if they slow down.
• page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
• every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
• put your garbage can on your desk and label it "in".
• put decaf in the coffee Maker for 3 weeks and once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addicitons, switch to expresson.
• finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy"
• dont use any punctuation
• as often as possible, skip rather than walk
• order diet water with a serious face whenever you go out to work
• specifiy at the window that your drive in order is "to go"
• sing along at the opera
• five days in advance, tell you friends that you cannot attend their party because you are not in the mood.
• when leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling, "Run for your lives, they're loose."
• tell your children over dinner, "due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
• speak a foreign language, even if you don't know what you are saying.

Someone to watch over me

Driving to work this morning I got a phone call. The caller ID on my cell said, "Family." I figured it was my mom calling to tell me that I had messed up on the family party invitation and even though the envelopes were sealed and stamped, I'd have to make changes.

It was my mom, but that wasn't the purpose of the phone call. She called because Willie had something important to tell me. However, after some major prompting to speak from my mom, he couldn't quite spit it out and there was quite the dramatic interchange between Mom and Willie ("tell her"..."no you tell her", etc.). Mom finally told Willie that it was his job to tell me what it was that was so important and Willie said, "I can't because I'll start to cry again"....at that point, I got a little concerned.

The boy that is the cutest little brother ever finally spit it out, very quickly (and then my mom had to clairfy because I wasn't quite sure I got what he said), but he told me.."If you don't get a Christmas tree then all the bad ghosts will get you and you might die" (Or something to that effect).

Obvoiusly, I was a little confused, until Mom told me that Willie is reading Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol" for school and they just got through the Ghost of Christmas Past last night and apparently it not only scared the crap out of him (probally because he realized there are still two ghosts to go) but, he came to the conclusion that if his scrooge of a sister doesn't get her act together and get a Christmas tree and some holiday spirit soon, then there may be trouble in river city.

Willie, thanks for caring and always looking out for me. I'll see what I can do about the tree.

Sartorial Sense

I realize that everyone has a 'uniform' of sorts - especially for work. For example, I work in a business casual environment and therefore stick to khakis and solid or plaid cotton shirts. I usually do not get too caught up in what people where, but there is a strange guy in my office that I must comment upon.

There is this guy who wears black every day. Black plants and black button down shirts / mock turtle necks / or polos. It is very odd.

Is he a goth?

Is he in mourning?

Is it a fashion statement?

I don't understand, but I did notice that his screen saver is is 'star trek' themed. Better all black than a 'one-sie' Captian Kirk.

Something to think about...

I was just catching up on a little blog reading and read something very interesting on Malcolm Gladwell's blog (which I think you should all go and read). Gladwell is the author of "Blink", a book I am currently reading and fascinated by. Just like the book, "Freakanomics" which I also recently read, Gladwell takes a hard look at reasons why people do what they do. His most recent blog post is about racism and, like his book, his comments are fascinating.

I think that racism is such an interesting topic to talk about in modern day society. It seems that we see it everyday and in light of recent situations involving, as Gladwell mentions, Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, etc. it seems like our society is starting to revisit the race issue in America...even if it is a little leary of the topic.

Issues of race have always fascinated me. Throughout history, it seems that race and religion are the intense human factors involved in all conflicts, celebrations, and other important and significant occassions we study, revel and revile. As a former history teacher, I always beleive the adage that we study history to learn from it's mistakes to prevent us from repeating them in the future. A quick look at the US government will show us that this isn't the case, but still...haven't we learned anything from the rough course of US and world history? We learned many times over that genocide is bad, but doesn't it still happen every day all over the world? Where is the lesson, compasion, emotion, and will to fight it? Do we really just not care as long as it isn't in our front yard?

Are we a racist nation? Does everyone harbor a deep rooted hatred for those not like them? Or, do we live in a world where everyone is so concerned about what they say and who they say it to that we don't know which direction to head in anymore and can't start the dialogue to solve the problem? Or at least be comfortable talking about it in the first place.

I'll be the first to admit that there have been situations in my life where I have, for whatever reason, felt like the minority, picked on a little, or even nervous in my surroundings. Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't I learn from those experiences and become a better more accepting person? I think that I should and know that I have.

For me, the bigger issue is that it seems like we now have a culture that doesn't feel bad for doing wrong. In the news we see celebrities, politicians, actors, athletes, even the most common and lowly individual...none of them ever apologize for breaking the law, saying something inappropriate or cheating on their wife. They just "apologize" because they are sorry that they got caught...not that they did something wrong or broke the law. Honestly, I think that is a bigger issue. I watched Michael Richards "apologize" on David Letterman's show for his remarks at the Laugh Factory. It wasn't an apology....it was just a, "oh crap I screwed up and got caught on film and my career is over."

This is an interesting soapbox for me to get on in the realm of my little blog about nothing, but I guess these are things I really spend a lot of time thinking about. Maybe it is because I am weeks away from being a parent and I've been hit with the, "bringing a baby into the big bad world syndrome" or maybe it's just my nature to worry too much about all the kids in Africa dying of AIDS and there isn't anything anyone can do about it. Too much thinking about the world starts to make my head spin and my stomach ache, but, there has to be a way to make things better, right? Besides moving to the middle of no-where, creating my own fuel, living "green" and raising free range chickens?

Let basketball season begin

It seems that football just ended and now we are at the start of another Jr. Jazz season. Willie's team, cleverly named, the Wolverines (you can tell that it is a bunch of boys that all play football together) played their season opener this morning and smoked the competition 35-11. They held the team of much smaller 11-12 year olds scoreless for almost the entire first half. I tend to forget how big my widdle bwoder is until I see him stand next to average kids his own age. Willie is so big. On the football field, he looks the same size as everyone else, but today, on the court, he just looked like a giant.

The boy had a good game getting some nice rebounds, a couple buckets and 1 free throw. Willie, if you are reading this remember..."free throws win and loose games" and you had better start hitting yours or you'll be practicing outside in the snow.

If your interested in some pics from today's game, just click on the photo link.

Basketball 06

I claim no responsibility

Those of you who look at this blog regularly may have noticed that it was hijacked last night by Ross and his rabid rantings about b-y-woo. When he told me that he had something to blog about...I told him that he couldn't blog about the game because 1) this isn't that kind of webspace and 2) the game is almost a week old and 3) (I didn't tell him this one just thought it) I'll delete anything he writes.

Well, before we went to the Utah basketball game last night, he went to town writing perhaps the longest blog entry in our 1 year history of taking up internet space with mindless ramblings. Before we went to the game he was terribly excited to have me read what he wrote and I was terribly upset after I read it. He corrupted a sweet, innocent, blog for his angry zoobie ramblings.

Rather than delete, which I threatened to do, I realized that censoring the boy that I married and protecting you all from his "I'm not one of those byu fans" claims, I figured I would leave it, and let you read. Now, you can judge for yourself.

Jared at work asked me the other day why I didn't blog about the "big game". I didn't want to start blogwar2006 between Ross and myself (even though this post may have done it) and I really didn't have anything to say. I figured the Utes would loose anyway so I didn't have anything riding on the game. And, I sat and did my Christmas cards the whole time, hardly paying any attention until the very end...and even then, in a house full of upset Ute fans, I really didn't care. Plus, I figured Ross needed a chance to gloat. His team has lost the "holy war" for so many years to good and bad Utah teams that he could use a little time to shine.

So, on this, the last day of NaBloPoMo, rather than talking about how challenging and inspirational it has been to blog everyday for the last 30 days (even though I missed two...it's still an A for effort, right) and all the fun and interesting blogs I was introduced to through the blog randomizer, I'll end with this post, about a stupid football game.

Fully Digested

Now that I have had the chance to fully digest the football game from Saturday (as well as the comments from fans following the game), I will post my thoughts in no particular order.

1 - Utah fans should be asking the question, "where has this team been all year?" As someone who watched / listened to every game for both teams all year, you have to be disappointed. Where was that passion and energy against UNM, AFA, WYO, and Boise St.? Face it. Utah is a home team and cannot play well on the road....either way, props to them for actually challenging the Cougars.

2 - The might have fallen. From an undefeated BCS team a mere two years ago, the Utes have reverted back to the role of little brother / spoiler. A good season is not based upon whether you beat BYU or not, it should be measured in Wins, Conference Titles, and Bowl Appearances. What happened to that attitude (among fans, coaches, and players)?

3 - I know that most fans in this state of both schools are total tools. Most did not even attend the school that the root for and furthermore, most are fans of the school and not of the sport. This is most clearly exhibited by attendance at Rice-Eccles. If you truly support your team - go to all home games, not just the last game of the season.

4 - Both teams could make legitimated complaints about the officiating in the game. There were calls (or on-calls) that went against both teams. Don't blame your team's loss on the refs. Blame Resident DA Mtn West Commissioner Criag Thompson. As far as pass interference calls go, get a clue. Defenders must play the ball and not the man. Over the past 3 years, I have seen more than my fair share of PI calls on Cougar DBs. If you do not turn around (this is for you Steve Tate and for your Joe Jianonni) you will get flagged every time. If you as a fan do not understand this rule, re-read bullet point #4 and watch some games once in a while.

5 - Jo. Beck is the man. He was thrown into a terrible situation in his first couple of years. He fought through it and never complained. Class guy who made the most of his potential and proved all of the doubters wrong. He played his best when his team needed him with the game on the line. Kudos. To all of the Utah fans that may mock him for showing emotion and crying in a press conference 3 years ago need to look at their head coach and his tears following the game on Saturday. Don't be hypocrites. Sport is a great venue to show passion and emotion and people should not be criticized for it.

6 - Andy Ludwig is the luckiest man alive. Dude got pounded every day all season long for their anemic offense and he gets bailed out by Jo. Beck improvisation on Gary Anderson's defense. All of you Utah fans that are calling for Anderson's head are morons. One play does not a season make. Had called a blitz (like the play before), Beck would have gotten the ball to Harline over the top (you cannot stop that play two times in a row). Where was all of this criticism when Utah gave up a huge lead in the second half to UNM? How about the two first half blow outs to WYO and Boise St? Further evidence that the BYU game was the only game that Utah fans watched.

In conclusion, it was a great game and I am glad that my team came out on top and that I get to mock all of the Utards. Have fun in Ft. Worth with our sloppy seconds. Just like TCU, we gave you the blueprint on how to beat Tulsa (and we softened them up for you).

Look at the bright side, Utah fan, you always have basketball season!

Nothing left to blog about

Blogger month is almost over. I haven't got anything left to blog about.

here's some random-ness for you:

• took me 2 hours to drive to work today because of the snow. yuck!
• my blood pressure is always higher at the dr. office than at home. I don't think that they beleive my home read-outs. I do.
• after today's dr. appt. I am still measuring 4 weeks ahead of schedule.
• did I mention it took me 2 hours to get to work?

Our feet are famous!

Haley is getting married. Yeah! Because of this, she asked me to look up the most wonderful photographer that did the pics at our wedding. Ross and I felt very fortunate to find Jonas for our wedding and once we saw his portfolio, we were sold. He is one of the most amazing photographers I've ever seen. Jonas now lives in Las Vegas, so if he ends up doing Haley's wedding, there is a little bit of distance to cover...even though we know the pictures are well worth it.

Here's the cool thing...when I went to Jonas' website on Friday to look up his e-mail address, I came across this:

On the front page of Jonas' website, is a picture he took at MY WEDDING! I thought it was super cool, a sign perhaps. Upon further investigation, this photo from my wedding was submitted into a contest and won! How cool is that?



It's nice to know that my feet, as well as Ross and Haley's, and cousin Hans' bored face are worth more than a great memory...they won a prize. If you are interested, visit Jonas and his very cool photographs at his website Feel the Photo .

Gary Update

Today was another ultrasound day. They must have been in a hurry in the Maternal Fetal Medicine office today because they rushed us right in and right back out. Not too much time for the kid to pull faces and put on a show like last month, but he did kick up a storm. Funny that my child already can't hold still. I wonder where he gets that from (...um, his dad?)?

Anyway, things are looking good and "gary" may not be a giant after all, at least not a TANK giant, just a "Manute Bol" kind of giant. He seems to have very long arms and legs, but his weight is right on, about 3.5 pounds. Good. I don't want to carry around a 10 pounder if I don't have to and at this point, maybe I won't. However, he is definately squished and if he tries to stretch out, it seems that his feet hit me around my collar bone. Not quite, but you get the idea.

Today's photo's aren't that great, either, but, what is a ultrasound technician to do when the subject won't hold still? I'll tell you...give us blurry pictures. Here they are anyway.


Good luck making out a face in this one. Ross and I had a hard time, too.


This is one of gary's arms. You can't really see a body connected to it, but his hand is definately clenched in a fist. Ross and I have figured for some time that the kid wants out...NOW! so maybe this is his attempt to show us future rebellion.

Rivalry in Utah

Today is the Utah/byu game. Ross is having a party with all his zoobie alumnist boyfriends. I am hanging out with Mom and Haley doing wedding planning. We must be separated on days like this.

I got up early this morning to paint "gary's" room. I got two coats (sp?) finished before my back gave out and my feet hurt to bad and my blood sugar dropped me into coma range. There is still a lot to do this afternoon...after the big game, but it is a good start.

Livin' in the Projects

As if Ross and I don't have enough going on, what with just barely finishing our landscaping enough to get the HOA off our backs, church callings, family commitments, Utah basketball games, growing a baby and...um...breathing, we started another project today.

You see, "gary" needs a place to rest his little head come January and the room that will be his is currently pink. I realize he won't know that, but everyone else will so today started the pink to yellow transformation. We got all of our supplies taken care of this morning and I spent the afternoon hunched on the floor pulling, cutting, and scraping bad caulk from the baseboards. So much fun. We took a break to go to the grocery store and to find food, but are back at it this evening.

It's funny because I like painting a lot...the prep work though? Not worth the effort. My back is killing me, my knees hurt, and my elbows are raw from leaning on the carpet all afternoon. Our biggest concern though has been resolved. We were nervous that the lemon yellow would not be dark enough to cover the raspberry on the walls w/o primer and neither of us wanted to deal with the step of priming the walls. So, I did a test run and voila! No primer necessary. Definately two coats, but I was planning on that anyway.

I hope "gary" likes yellow.

Lemon Yellow Sample


Ross working hard removing dead caulk (I worked hard today too, there just isn't any photographic evidence.)

It's about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, right before Ross and I left for his parents house to celebrate turkeys, laziness, and football with Ross' parents, Haley and Willie stopped by because they had a "Thanksgiving prize" for me. I like prizes, but can't say that I have received very many for this particular holiday.

To make a very long story short, last night, in the parking lot of Chili's before they went to the Barenaked Ladies concert, James asked Haley to marry him. Yeah! My sister is getting married. And, she has asked Moi to be the wedding planner, even though she thinks that she has veto rights! Little does she know that mom and I will take over. Backyard Barbeque, here we come!

They have tentatively set the date for March 9, 2007 and are waiting for me to be not quite so fat after "gary" is born. What a nice sister. Just last night as Ross and I were driving home from running errands I told him that if my sister ever got married, I had found the perfect dress to wear to her wedding and today...she tells me the exciting news! Not that I am psychic or anything, but I thought it was a pretty cool coincidence.

I think it's very cool. I'm so excited that I just can't hide it...(you can finish the song for me and the pointer sisters!).

Purely Random

• Ordered new glasses today.
• Ross spent the night playing Tiger Woods Golf with Willie. They have a video game date for Friday (I beleive the entire day) as well.
• Found out that my mom's neighbors daughter-in-law, who is due around the same time as me, has gained 90 pounds. Can you beleive that?! 90 big ones. Makes my 21 sound fantastic.
• My belly button has almost disappeared. It's gross. I hope that it comes back.
• Ross found the fingernail clippers that have been lost under the passenger seat of my car for weeks. I was very appreciative.
• Sat in the car tonight watching Ross in a video game store, forever, trading out old play station games for new ones. He was the lesser of the nerds in the store, but still....I'm not to sure what to think abou it all.

Extreme Suckosity

Ross and I got season tickets to Runnin' Ute basketball this year. Because of "gary" we are splitting the season with his parents but last night, Ross had church meetings so I went with Ross' dad to introduce him to the suckin' utes.

Question: Where do you draw the line between a poor basketball team or a poorly coached basketball team? I know that my Utes are not playing the type of basketball they are capable of, because they have very brief glimmers of "better-than-average-ness" on the court. However, when your center cannot and will not catch the ball, but bats it away as if it is a disease, and your coach (Coach Aletti) does 5 man substitutions like he is coaching hockey, who do you call bad?

Anyway, they lost last night to Colorado. Colorado got beat last week by 40 points, to Air Force.

It's going to be a rough season. Good thing we bought the cheap seats.

Go Utes!

Is it really worth it?

I'll admit I'm a scrooge. At this time last year, I posted this. Well, let's add to the scrooginess again today.

I suppose that I can understand being festive for the holidays. I am sure that it is difficult to constantly suppress the urge to purchase giant blow-up turkeys, Santa's and Scooby Doo's from Wal-Mart as you are buying cheap crap that will break before you get it home. However, if you decide to put up your christmas lights and have a very tall house, please, a few things to keep in mind.

1- don't put lights on the top of your house.

2- if you must put lights on the top of your house, perhaps strapping yourself to the roof in some way is a good idea.

3- straddling the highest pitch point of your roof seems dangerous...don't do it?

4- hooking icesicle lights to a broom and dragging the broom around the roof while you are laying down and straddling said roof may cause expletives to fly from ones mouth.

5- said expletives may be offensive to your wife, standing on the ground yelling back at you and to various neighbors out and about, innocently getting their mail after returning home from work.

Just remember neighbor...what goes up must come down. December is only 31 days long. That won't matter a whole lot when you fall of your roof, cursing the holiday all the way down.

Something to think about during the holidays

"There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

--Macbeth

Ramblings

Yesteray, while at a truck stop getting gas, Ross saw a rather gruff fellow with a large green parot on his shoulder.

Today, I guilted Ross into coming to work and helping me. Yes, I did it on a Saturday and yes, it was the Saturday of the big football game (Michigan and Ohio i think). Anyway, I had 20 people at various degress of struggle that were desperate for help and even on a day when my ankles weren't swollen and my stupid stomach wasn't getting in the way I would need help. Regardless, as I was helping one of the women in my camera class said to me as I was helping her, "your husband is really cute."

I guess it is Ross' weekend.

Not much else to say

I am ready to meet my maker, but whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

Winston Churchill

soon to be known as TANK BABY

"Gary" is a great pseudonym for a baby that has yet to show it's face to the world. Spongebob's snail is cuddly and cute and meow's like a cat. How clever. I think though, that it may be time to change Gary's name to TANK BABY.

Yesterday was my 28 week dr. appointment. The good news? Everything looks great. My blood pressure was actually normal (even dropping a bit which is always nice), I only gained two pounds in 2 weeks (instead of 9 lbs in 4 weeks), and things are on track for "perfectly normal, perfectly healthy"....except in one respect: THIS BABY IS GOING TO BE HUGE!

As part of the doctor visit, I have to get my stomach measured. According to "science", I should measure 1 centimeter for every week of pregnancy. Thus, 28 weeks should measure 28 centimeters. But, because I can't do anything "normal" or the easy way, at 28 weeks I measured...ready for this, 32 centimeters. That is, in theory, 4 weeks ahead of where I should be. What does this mean? Big Baby!

When Ross and I lived at the "U" after first getting married, we went to church with a very nice family that had two children. A very cute little girl and boy. However, the son, who was about 1 year old at the time, easily weighed 50 lbs or more and Ross was obsessed with the remarkable girth of the child that could not easily be held on ones lap. Thus the phrase, "tank baby" was born because, well, the kid looked like a human tank. Well, it looks like Ross might be getting his very own tank baby. A child that, as a newborn, may look months old and weigh a good 10 pounds...which is so exciting for me because I get to carry him around for the next 10-12 weeks or so.

At least we won't have to wait until February to meet the kid.

Wednesday is West Virginia Day

I like Wednesday's. Not only is it the middle of the week and the weekend is fast approaching, but Wednesday is "Peter sends e-mails from the WV" day. If you remember from this blog post here Peter was called to the same WV, Charelston mission as his older brother Alex. He's been officially gone since May, and even though I'm not sure, I beleive that Wednesday is his P-Day (prep. day) and this is the day that he writes. He writes e-mails to his mom, which she so graciously forwards to everyone in the family, and if I'm lucky, and have writtten him the previous week or sent him a very nice package of Univeristy of Utah paraphanelia because he misses school, he will write me my own e-mail.

Today, I got two. I actually caught him writing, sending and responding. That never happens. Peter is funny and very smart. He also seems to find it fascinating that Ross and I will be parents and is never at a shortage of baby names. Since we have no real name for "Gary" yet, maybe one of the names off of Peter's latest list will stick.

Here is one of his e-mails from today.

we're going to not have turkey
we're going to have rat noodles and dog gravy.mmm...mmm...good.

quel heure est-il? la-bas? what timw is it?

do you ever see Lauren at school?

have you decided on a name for good old Jamal? or Frederick or Shawn or Byron or Vladamir or Dimitri or Jean-Jaques or Luc or Mattieu or Shae or Ro or Jake or Billy or Justin or Austin or Stetson or Carl or Martin or Marc or Sterling or Dane or Dana or something else.

Love,
Elder Stoker!

Chillin' in the Trailer Park

Yesterday, I went out to Tooele to hang with Haley in the trailer park. She called teh relocatables, or portables, the trailer park. The kids call it the same thing, I guess they can in some way identify.

I had some official work business while I was there, but I also just wanted to spend some time hanging out in a school. Sometimes, I miss teaching kids. But, when I sit in a room full of goofy 9th graders for 90 minutes, the desire to hang with kids dissipates a bit. These kids though amusing, made me tired. One girl asked if the "France Class" was going to France this year. I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. One boy had major issues with a ruler as well. He couldn't seem to keep the ruler or his hands to himself. That would drive me nuts. These kids, goofy as they were, also helped me to see, once again, how hard teachers, in this case Haley, have to work to keep kids interested, engaged, and get them excited about learning.

While there in my official capacity, I took pictures...I also killed a spider crawling on the desk.

First Snow

Art Project

New Blog Name?

I've been thinking this week that I need a new name for the blog. "Howden Family Blog", catchy as it is, just might not be working for me anymore. Everyone who has a blog seems to have a cool name for it and mine isn't that cool so, I've decided that since 2007 is going to bring such immense change into our lives, that I ought to consider a new and improved blog name.

I am completely open to suggestion but, I've already saved a few on blogger, stupid as they may be. Here they are in no particular order. Let me know what you think.

Oh Honestly Annabelle
Livin' in the Boonies
What about prom? (For all you "Pretty in Pink" fans out there)
Have Camera Will Shoot
Outnumbered I am

I suppose by sharing these few ideas 1) everyone now knows that I am not creative AT ALL and 2) I'm dumb? Anyway, I need inspiration so feel free to share some.

Friendship

This is something I've been contemplating writing about for a while but after a nice experience last night, I've decided to final sit down and share a few thoughts.

I will readily admit that I haven't ever had many friends and it seems that many of the friends I have had in my life haven't been the best. They have either moved away (every good friend in elementary school and a couple in jr. high), or only wanted to be my friend when it was convenient and they didn't have a better offer (post high school and during teaching). Outside of my mom, dad, sister, and brother, my circle of friends was always pretty small. Once I met Ross did all that dumb dating stuff and got married, I realized that I added another permanent friend to my short roster, and like my sister...he didn't have too many options to escape.

Now, I feel that I am at a point in my life that I actually have some people who I would call friends. The girls in my book club, people that I work with, and reconnecting with friends from 7th grade. I actually feel like there are people in the world besides my mom and sister who want to talk to me, and are interested in what I have to say as well as people who want me to be their "listener". I like it and think it's cool.

Last night a person whom I hope I can call a "friend" came over to borrow some cake pans. She ended up staying and talking to me for over an hour. That was the best. I had a great time talking to her, hope she enjoyed her stay and am happy that she wants to talk to be and be my friend, too.

It sometimes feels like all I do is whine and feel sorry for myself. It's so wonderful sometimes to be able to talk to someone about nothing in particular, laugh, and have a nice evening at home with a guest.

Biology lesson

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. He turned 52. Happy birthday dad. Last night, we had a small get-together for dad's birthday. Aunty Chris and the Grand-parentals came over for gifts, cake, and ice cream. It was just as Ross and I were getting ready to leave that Haley's friend, James came over. The following paraphrased conversation took place at this time:

Grandma: So, I hear you have a test, what subject?
James: Biology
Grandma: I like science, what part of biology are you studying?
James: Cell Division
Grandma: Oh good, I was great at cell division. I've got 8 kids after all.

So you are saying that there is a chance....

Alex - you must take the view that Brit's split with Fed-Ex is a positive...she is available!

The Anti-Election Blog Post

Alex (my cousin): Isn't today your dad's birthday?
Me: Yes, yes it is.
Alex: Sweet. Thank you cousin.
Me: No prob bob. How are you? Did you hear the news about Brittney and K-fed?
Alex: I am great and yet Joe (at work) so tragically informed me about the bombshell split...so sad...
Me: Yes. Tragedy. I am in mourning. Don't know what to do.
Alex: All there is left to do is.....End our lives! Oh the humanity!
Me: I think I will choose life. Have a good day!
Alex: You too.

Generosity or Sucka!?

As I pulled into the parking lot at work today, there was a rather distraught looking old woman wearing a head scarf and holding a bag standing in the median between two of the facing parking sections. The second I parked my car she started walking towards me. She approached me and asked in a very humble voice, which I pretty much ignored walking to my office, for $1.50 to pay for bus fare. I told her that I didn't have any cash with me, which of course, wasn't completely true, and just walked right into my office.

Call it my new found "mothering" instinct or a guilty conscience but while sitting at my computer waiting to log in, I felt terrible. I could afford to give an old haggard lady a buck fifty to take the bus back to wherever she was supposed to be couldn't I? She was obviously out of place at the University and seemed very lost and confused. So, the guilt got to me and I decided to take my diet coke stash in my desk drawer and give it to her.

I walked to the door of my building and looked. She was still there. I walked out of the building to the cross walk...she was in the process of asking and being denied by two other people. Then, I sucked it up, walked across the street and gave her the $1.50 she had asked me for almost 10 minutes earlier. She said "thank you" to me several times and, with the few teeth she had in her mouth, blew me a kiss in the air and said "thank you" again. I felt good.

Once I got back to my building I just stood and watched. She was still standing where she had been when I gave her the money, waiting, I assumed, to ask the next person for $1.50 in bus fare.

I'll hope instead she was just asking for directions about which bus to take back home.

Random Quote

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base.

Dave Barry

Productive Weekend

Over the last, oh, almost 7 months, I haven't been too productive. Unless you call whining, ocassional fits of crying, and an overwhelming urge to feel sorry for myself (on ocassion only) productive. This weekend however, I was the epitomy of productive and guess what! It feels good to actually get something done.

Here is my list:

• laundry done and almost entirely put away
• put clean sheets on my bed (this does get done every two weeks so don't think it hasn't been done for months)
• summer shoes in storage
• cleaned my bedroom and dusted bookshelves
• blogged twice
• vaccummed spaces that haven't seen such suction power in months
• attended 2 little league football games and took almost 100 pictures
• put all the dishes away
• returned purchases to their stores of origin
• taught primary, even an extra class because their teacher didn't show up.
• maintained good blood sugar numbers all weekend even after eating cherry dump cake (the best ever) with dinner tonight.

It may not look like much but trust me, it is.

Sad, sad wolverines

Today was the playoffs for the Mighty Mites. They played Murray. They played well, until a bad call at the end (stupid officials) caused them to panic and quit, like all 6th grade boys are prone to do, and unfortunately, cut their season short by one championship game. Willie, played well, dare I say, excellent in his final game of the season, and the boys should be proud of how well they did over the last 3 and a half months of football.

End of a Long Day

I probably stayed up longer today than I have for months. Got up at 6:00 am, did my normal morning stuff and then headed to a conference of librarians to participate in their discussion groups and present in the afternoon. Librarians are smart! A fun group to hang out with.

After that, Ross and I ran a few errands, went to dinner at my FAVORITE place to eat, the Rio Grande (pork enchilada....yummy) and then headed up to the season opener exhibiton basketball game between the Runnin' Utes and some Canadian team whose mascot was a badger.

What kind of sound does a badger make? If you know, I'm curious.

Utah won, 90 something to 50 something. Ross was well behaved.

Time for bed. That means I have been awake today for almost 17 hours today. Yeah me!

Weight is all relative, right?

How much weight did you gain in the last five months? Me? 10 pounds.

How much weight did you gain in the last four weeks? Me? 9 pounds.

Just goes to show what a giant baby (Who, after yesterday's doctors appointment, is predicted to very big and arriving around the middle of January), a 1000 a day increase in calories (per the request of the Diabetes Center because I wasn't eating enough or gaining enough weight for them), and a completely famished girl who no longer cares about body image (well, cares but can't do a whole lot about it at the moment) can do for weight gain.

How long can being very tall hide the fact that you are becoming very fat?

"Gary" Update

I had another ultrasound yesterday and here are the results, with some random commentary thrown in for good measure.

• Still definitely a boy
  
• 2lb, 6 oz (approximate)
• Too long to measure (which means he is about 12 inches long, but all scrunched up because there isn't any more room to stretch out)
• Head is big (so was mine when I was a baby...still is says my mom) and brain looks good
• Heart is beating around 134 bpm
• Feet are huge (Poor guy, takes after his dad)
• Due date has been changed to January 31, 2006 (bumped up a week because the kid is already an over-achiever)

At the ultrasound, "Gary" was opening and closing his eyes and mouth, sucking his thumb, and grabbing his toes. He apparently is a very talented multi-tasker already and a little hyperactive. It also seems that he enjoys the spotlight, and definitely put on a show for all those who were there to watch.

The following are a few pictures from yesterday's photo session.



The profile shot


Big Foot himself


If you concentrate, you can make out a face

NaBloPoMo

I'll admit I spend a lot of time reading blogs. I read "mommy blogs"(even though I am technically not yet a mommy), technology blogs, education blogs, political blogs (sometimes), the blogs of my friends and family, and so on. Because of this, I feel that I am sort of up on the blogosphere and wanted to officially make mention of an event that starts tomorrow. November is National Blog Writing (or Posting) Month. Though I have not officially signed up on any of the sign-up blogs (too chicken and boring for that) , I have decided to unofficially participate. So, for the month of November, I am going to blog daily. Yes, the content will suffer tremendously (because it is such amazing, intriguing, and insightful content to begin with. Ha!) and there will probablly be a lot of pictures qualifying as blog posts, but come on, that's 30 posts in 30 days. Quite a feat, don't you think?

If you are interested in participaing with me in my unofficial National Blog Posting Month participation contest thing, Good! Great! I'm excited! If not, why must you be such a party pooper?

If you want more information, you can get it HERE or you can get it HERE . They both eventually lead to the same place.

You've got to love David Letterman

I can't say that I stay up to watch Letterman anymore. I'd rather sleep than watch late-night tv, but, Idiot O'Riley was on Friday night and apparently, there was some controversy. Watch the clips and judge for yourself, but it seems pretty apparent that Letterman is a much smarter man than O'Riley. And, better looking, too.

With no real intentions to get political on the blog or ruffling feathers (remember what happened, HERE?), anyone who listens to Bill O'Riley and believes anything he says is a freakin' idiot, and as Letterman said 60% of what comes out of O'Riley's mouth is made up and all he does is put words into others mouths.

If you are going to watch, watch both clips. Or, at least watch the end of the second clip, it's the best.

Clip One

Clip Two

This could also be a test to see if Ross reads the blog. Considering we don't agree with each other politically, he may feel the need to retaliate.

Sunset

E-mail Conversation (from yesterday)

Me: I forgot to tell you, but he is starting to "wake-up" around 3:30 in the morning and guess what, that is when I wake-up, too.

Him: I wonder why he wakes up at 3:30am. That is sort of interesting.

Me: I don't know why he wakes up at 3:30 but I've got a good feeling that he'll do it on the outside to. Something good to remember, right?

Him: He will be an early riser - morning person like his father.

Me: You just called yourself a father. Was that weird?

Him: I was hesitant to type it. Babies having babies.

Why do these situations always happen to me?

Let me preface this entry with the fact that I am not obsessed with bathroom incidents or humor, but it seems like, no matter where I am at, or what country I am in, I encounter strange goings on in public restrooms. Thus, today's story.

There is a woman in my building at work that has nasty public restroom habits. How do I know this? Well, we seem to be on the same time schedule and 6 out of 10 times I go to use the bathroom, she is coming out or heading in. I've become familiar with her patterns and she, to put it nicely, doesn't hold back and does not courtesy flush...ever! (Sorry mom for being gross!)
So, as my class ended today I headed in a desperation sprint to the restroom. As I walked in, I knew that she was there because of three distinct clues: 1) odor, 2) orthopedic shoes, 3) voice. Voice you ask? Yes, she was talking on her cell phone whilst doing her private business. Anywhoo, as I was wrapping up, she continued to talk on her cell phone and apparently ran into a few problems. The conversation I picked up on went something like this..."Did you notice that I cleared out all the [grunting and straining] grrr boxes?" There were a couple further statements of a similar strain (get it?) but I was too overwhelmed to listen. I washed my hands and headed out the door as quickly as possible.

I don't know why these situations happen when I am around but, they do. When will I ever learn?

The yard update, you know you want it

First, thanks to everyone who helped us with the yard this weekend: Ross' Dad, Paul, Preston, Haley, Dad, Mom, Willie, John, Hannah, Eva, Grandma, Grandpa, Chris, Jerry, and Alex. Ross and I are so happy that you all helped and so lucky to have a family that enjoys manual labor.

As our yard deadline fast approaches, we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. The pavers are nearly finshed, more shrubbery has been planted, and all we really have left is a few rows of pavers, drip lines, planting and bark (ruf! ruf!).

Here are a few pics from the weekend of work and helpers. Thanks again!

It's all Gary's fault, part deux

I mentioned a few posts ago that I am fearful of completely loosing my mind. Well, I had another incident today that is starting to turn my worst fears into a reality. I left work early today because I just wasn't feeling well. Friday's are starting to be hard days for me to function. I had to run a couple of errands on my way home, and I was starving, and my blood sugar was pretty low. So, rather than try to make it home to eat, I knew I needed food...STAT!

I decided to avoid the freeway and drive down state street, with the thought that the first place I found for food, on my side of the road, would be lunch. That happened to be an Arby's. I drove into the drive thru lane, checked my blood sugar and shot up in the car so I would be ready to chow down. Here is where I started to run into problems. The drive thru required that I exit west bound on 1700 South. Fine, I thought, I'll just take 17th to 3rd West and hop on the freeway at 21st South. Well, once I got to 3rd west it was too crowded and I didn't want to wait. This caused me to veer out of the left turn lane and keep going down 17th until 9th West, where I knew I could once again get on the freeway. While driving on 9th West I did everything right until I got on the ramp to get me to the freeway.

Now, I knew the exit I needed...I-15 South/Las Vegas. Even though I knew that, I stayed in the far right lane, for Northbound I-15 and 9th South. ARG! ^#(@&*%*&^@# I AM SO STUPID! I got on the wrong ramp and headed back into downtown, where at this time, I had already been trying to escape for nearly 30 minutes. Lucily, it didn't all end badly. I managed to get off on 1300 South, go right under the freeway and loop back on. I did make it home in once piece and was so embarassed and exhausted by my adventure, I slept for 3 hours.

People tell me this will just get worse. I can't wait.