Conversation in the Car

The Babe, "Mom, guess who can fix our car?"

Mom, "Who can fix our car?"

The Babe, "Bob the Builder!

Me Laughing....

The Babe, "Do you have his phone number?"

The Babe Singing

Check it out..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deV6XSwGty8

I Survived.....

I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time ever and the first time at my new house this year. So there were lots of firsts.

First time:
a. I cooked a Turkey
b. I had 17 people in my house
c. I had 12 of those stay the night
d. Buying 45 bolts of fabric
e. I got everything I wanted (with 1 rain check) the day after Thanksgiving
f. I froze to death on Thanksgiving (well the first time I can remember.....I miss Las Vegas!)

Here's my table setting. I picked leaves from the neighbors apple tree and dried them. Then wrapped the silverware in the napkin and tied the leaf on with raffia. A lot of work? Not as bad as you think. Worth it? Yes.

Here's all the grandkids. Mine are the crazy haired girl in the back (the Little Lady) and the front row dear caught in the headlights blue shirt boy (the Babe). You wanna try getting 7 kids to sit still for .5 seconds and smile? Good luck. This was the best of a series of pictures. At least most of them are looking at the camera...right?

Overall, I had a really good time and I'd have them all over again. It was a lot of fun! But someone brought a cold and my dad left feeling sick. I now have a sore throat too. Yucky. Today.....the Christmas Tree went up!!!!!

I Shouldn't Be Allowed to Cook

Business Adventure

Today I bought fabric at the day after Thanksgiving price. The nice people let me do it early so to help with the stress of that day. I wanted to buy fabric for the whole year because it is just a great price ($1 a yard compared to $6 regularly and $3 with a coupon). So I had to stay within the budge of $300-$500 and I did really well! I bought only stuff I thought was really cute and tons of backs (for the back of the blanket). I bought 43 bolts of fabric with 8 yards on each which makes 344 yards. It was really fun! Have you ever bought and entire bolt of fabric? It's weird. No cutting. They just give it to you with the cardboard and all. Here's a picture of it all lined up in my house.

Guilt Parties

I have never hosted a "party" before and I got roped into my first one recently. I HATE these kind of parties. I don't go to them because I feel guilty and end up buying something I don't need/want. So I got roped into doing this one and I hated everything minute of it.

The kicker is this. I did everything they asked. They told me to send out X number of invitations and I did. They told me to call and remind people about it and we did. I even made cookies for them to eat. Well after the party was over, the lady explained to me that my party sales had to total $175. This is the part where I choked. The 2 people that ordered spend $40 combined (they both bought out of guilt). She said to get any of the benefits that were explained you would get if you hosted a party then you have to come up with $135 in sales by next week. She encouraged me with the fact that it could include my order. What order?!!?! I was banking off the fact that I didn't have to order anything because I got all these benefits of hosting the party! NOPE! I didn't get one thing from hosting the party. Park Lane Jewelry stinks! Don't buy from them and especially don't get roped into hosting a party with them.

This brings me to my point. Why do people sign up to sell things like jewelry, or stamps. Do they really make money off it? Does anyone really buy the stuff without just buying because they feel guilty? I don't understand what the big deal is. The lady who roped me into doing the party also does some stamp thing. It confuses me why they do that. I might spend the initial money to get all the free stuff and pose as a seller. But to host parties.....I'd just feel like I was making my friends feel guilty enough to buy stuff from me all the time. I guess they really believe in their products like I believe in I Hemstitch's products. Yes, I believe in my products but I don't shove them down people's throats all the time. I'm really upset at these Park Lane people. They don't know how to keep customers. I'll never host another party.

Name Confusion

I was in the car with the Babe and he asked me what his other name is. Being confused, I asked what he was talking about. He said well like your other name is Kendra (the first obviously being mom). I was quite surprised that he knew my first name but not completely shocked because lots of people call me that. If there is anything about being a parent that I have learned, it's that children absorb everything! Then they'll typically bring it up when it's the most embarrassing. So I knew he had figured out his name, the Babe, already but what trying to figure out his name where he fit into the family (like my being called mom). So I struggled on what to tell him. The hubby came to the rescue and told him his other name was brother. That satisfied him.

This brings me to my other story. The hubby and I were talking. I told him how comfortable I am with my maiden name and how proud I am to be associated with my family. Then I said that I am very happy that I married him and I loved taking his name to be associated with him. But that I didn't have the same feelings of gratitude about being associated with his extended family. Not that I don't like them! They are just different than I am. Which is ok! It's ok to be different. Perhaps it was just that I don't know then ALL very well (extended family and so on). I guess the conversation was going no where and I really didn't have a point. I was just thinking about how when I'm 39 how I'll have been with my married name longer than my maiden name. I realize that I naturally am drawn to my own family. It's just weird automatically being a part of a family I didn't grow up with. And it's completely weird when someone I met casually says, "oh do you know so and so (with my married name)." Since I married into this family, I don't know all their distant relatives or really their not so distant relatives. Please, don't get me wrong. I love my in-laws. They are the nicest people ever and I enjoy how they've accepted me into their family so willingly. It's just hard mixing two different families.

When it Rains, It Pours...

The hubby is now banned from driving any of our vehicles.....forever. Today he broke our only working car. Well I guess it wasn't entirely his fault but man, it's still broke. I guess he was driving back to work and once he got there, he noticed that 1 of the tires is flat. Must be a bad week for us car wise.

Yesterday, we met a guy from Germany who helped us push our 1st broken car out of the busy road. He missed his bus because he was helping us so we gave him a ride home. He told us that him and his wife share 1 car (been there, done that, am currently doing it) and it was broken down so he took an hour and a half bus ride to and from work. I thought man that would be awful. But tomorrow the hubby is going to have to experience it because he's banned from driving our vehicles.

Even as I write this, more trouble is happening. The Little Lady fell down the stairs again. She's fine, just accident prone. lol.


P.S. There is a new poll down there so check it out. Well it's been there a few days but nobody is voting so.....check it out.

Life's Semi-Emergencies

So you're driving down a busy road (down a hill) and all of the sudden you notice your car is not running. And it won't start. What do you do? Tonight, the hubby's car broke down on his way home from work. He pulled over to one side then coasted off to a side road when there was a break in traffic. He called me and said to come get him. We got the car safely to the hubby's office and met some interesting people in the process.

For some reason, I have this problem with reacting the wrong way to semi-emergencies. When I was in high school, I was rear-ended on my way to school. Instead of doing what normal people would do and stop, I took off. I'm not sure why except that maybe I got scared. Once when I was 8 months pregnant, my car broke down in the middle of the road. I got scared again and walked home. I didn't know what else to do. When I go to get my children out of bed in the morning and they have had a bloody nose during the night, I freak out. I don't know what to do so I leave them until the hubby can take care of them. I'm sure someone would tell me this all has to do with my childhood or something crazy. But for some reason, I freak out in those little semi-emergency situations. I'd hate to see myself in a real emergency.

Anyway we are down 1 car again. And perhaps we will let it rest in peace. We'll see what the diagnosis is later.

Voting

Today is voting day. We're not voting for anything exciting but we're voting. The hubby and I usually vote opposite of each other and cancel each other out too. But we're voting. I have a huge pet peeve with people who don't vote then complain about the leaders. If I vote, then I get complaining rights. Yes I think Pres. Bush is a bozo because no I did not vote for him. Since this year the President is not up for election, we are stuck with him another year.

The only things we get to vote for are like city council and local stuff. There is only 1 real thing I am interested to see what happens to locally. They put a referendum on our ballot. For those of you who aren't from Utah, I'll explain. They want to pass a bill or whatever for school vouchers so children can go to private school and we as tax payers can help their parents by giving them a voucher for X amount for their private school tuition. I hope that made sense.

A couple of days ago I was fairly set upon which way I was going to vote even to the point of not understanding why anyone would vote the other way. I don't think I knew anyone who was voting the other way. Then I talked with my dad, uncle and aunt on a conference call. Most of them said they were voting the opposite way! I was shocked! What is wrong with them? Then it dawned on me. I had no idea what the people on the opposite side were even saying. I was so stuck in my mindset that I hadn't even taken time to look at it from both sides.

So that's my voting advice today. Really look at things from both perspectives. Even if you're sure the way you are voting is correct. After thinking about this referendum from the other side, it didn't change the way I'm going to vote. I still have the same strong opinions as I did before. Now I am much more open minded about how other people are going to vote and how they feel.

The Future Generation

I am worried about our future generation. The hubby is teaching a class here at the local college. He rather enjoys doing this in addition to his regular job. This is the first class that he has taught that is a general education class though. So of course he has hired forced asked me to do his grading for him. I of course said no yes.

He has given one test so far. After grading that, I thought perhaps the hubby wasn't teaching the concepts very well so they did poorly. This may very well be the case but it really doesn't make a whole lot of since because they missed concepts that I know he taught thoroughly. Now I am grading a 3 page paper he had then write on a famous scientist.

What is wrong with these kids?!?!!

They can't write. They can't form complete sentences. I know most of them did not proof read their papers before handing them in. I am fairly sure a few of them just made up tons of stuff that was untrue about the person. One guy spelled his scientists name wrong! Helloooo? Earth to students. *Hint* You should probably spell the guys name correctly if you want to get any credit whatsoever for this paper. I have seen a paper that was completely plagiarized (that's the kind of doctor I want take care of me...one that cheats). I have seen papers where they completely misunderstood the assignment and wrote about the scientist's personal life when they were supposed to write about their contribution to science. I don't know how many grammar errors I found. And I didn't even count the missed commas or numbers not being written out completely. Do they not teach English in schools anymore?

I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say maybe most of them are freshman. But how do I grade a paper that has the scientist's name spelled wrong? How do I deal with plagiarizing? What should the hubby tell these kids to help them understand how poor their writing skills are?

Crusty Bread

A few days ago, the Baby and the Little Lady were playing outside together. The Babe came in and told me the Little Lady was hungry. I'm sure he knew that through telepathy. So I gave him a piece of bread and told him he could eat half and he should give half to his little sister. He took off and I watched from the window to make sure he was sharing. It was so funny. He went out and sat next to her and carefully took the crust of the bread off and gave it to her. Then he ate the good part of the bread. I laughed so hard!

The sad part came when I called the hubby to tell him this story. He said, "Well that's what little sisters are for." It's sad but true. I'm sure my big brothers gave me the crust too. The hubby's poor little sister for sure got the crust.

Halloween PIctures

This is our little chicken eating some chicken nuggets.

I Hemstitch

Ok, today, I need to tell you where I've been all this time. Things have really been a little crazy. This time I do have a valid excuse. I started my own business. Now don't run away scared that I'm selling Pampered Chef or Stampin' Up. I promise not to try to sell to you individually. But it has really been an interesting experience and I wanted to write about it.

When I bought my hemstitching machine, I had no idea if it would even work. I didn't know anything about hemstitching machines. When I got it, I sent it off to a "repairman" for a month who overcharged me and took forever. When I got it back, it worked for about 2 seconds and broke again. So after another repairman who taught us how to work it, the hubby figured out how to fix the thing. And I only get furious at it every other day. I have seriously almost cussed at the thing. But it hasn't got the best of me yet. If you didn't already get this, it's very temperamental. Sometimes it randomly chooses not to work correctly.

So I had the machine and had to do all the legal stuff (e.g. apply for a business license ect.) and I was in business. I decided to sell my products at craft boutiques this fall and set out to find a few inexpensive ones to keep me busy.

These have been crazy! I've done 3 boutiques and each has been unique. I can't figure it out. What makes one so profitable and another so unprofitable? So I'm thinking about whether I want do anymore or if I want to decide that wasn't for me.

Craft fair people are a whole new breed. These people drive up to the place in a truck with a trailer and unload literally a whole store complete with walls and tables. It's crazy! They bring in boxes and boxes of product, tables, linens, hanging baskets, drills to assemble walls and the kitchen sink. I dunno, I guess it's a way of life.

Anyway, I also decided to make my own website and sell my products online. So having very little knowledge of html, I learned enough html to get me in trouble and made a website. It was super super fun! I didn't realize how much I would enjoy designing and making a website work. This has kept me busy in between craft boutiques.

In another aspect, I have to buy fabric, track all my products and account for all money. This part I also very much enjoy. It can be a little stressful though too. Like last week, I ordered $200 in fabric. So I had to process all of it and make sure I had updated my website. I also had to put each piece of fabric into my accounting and account that the money had left. I think this is fun but again stressful.

The part that I do not like the most is the actual manufacturing of the blankets. I have to first lay them out and get them nice and even. Then cut them, sew them, and package them. This part is very tedious and I usually leave it for the last second.

I have learned a lot! I never understood how much time/work people put into running their own business. I've enjoyed every minute of it. I really never thought I would start my own business. I wasn't one of those entrepreneur type people. But I'm enjoying it.

I miss you!

Dear Blog,

I've missed you sooooooooo much! It's been so long I can't even remember what you look like. After taking a quick peak, girlfriend we've got to have a little makeover. eek. I missed our long discussions on parenting, our cute pictures posted of my kiddies and the banner change every month. I have to admit it, I just couldn't live without you. Apparently, some stranger named Matt missed you too.

The last time we talked, I showed a picture of stuff from my garden. Now the garden has long since been ripped out and it has snowed since. Another post I wrote just before we lost contact, the Little Lady was barely walking. Now, she's running and climbing. And talking!!!!

So today I come back to my old friend like children always flock to sugar. Like a dog always returns to his vomit. And I promise to be a better friend this time. I won't take month long breaks from visiting you anymore. I promise not to post ugly pictures of myself anymore. I promise not to write crazy things about racism. And most of all I promise to continue shopping at Target. So we meet again Buzz Lightyear. Ohh wait. Nevermind. Ok I promise to stop watching so much Toy Story. My children will go hungry again because I must write. My bathroom will again be dirty because I must blog. I hope you're happy.

Love your dearest old friend,
The writer of this blog.

The Fruits of Our Labors

Racial Issues

Yesterday, I watched a movie called Something New. I'd seen the preview somewhere and was interested in the concept. I was seriously offended by this movie and I wanted to bring your attention to it and then to a bigger concept.

The movie was about a black single woman who decided to broaden her perspective and go on a blind date. The blind date was with a white guy (she didn't know, she assumed he was black). She left the date within 2 minutes excusing herself saying she had work. The rest of the movie is a love story about how these 2 fall in love then she breaks it off because he is white. Then at the end she overcomes her racism and decides to really love him for who he is.

Not only do I think the concept of this movie is bad, I found there were prejudice jokes, tons of issues how black people discriminate against whites and poor cinematography. I found that the woman was constantly focusing on race when the man never noticed it. Her friends were unsupportive of her dating a white man and told her that even though she dated him it wasn't like she was going to marry him.....he's white. It showed the worst scene where a black comedian gave a monologue about how bad white men are. I just don't get it. If a movie were made about a white woman not dating a black man because he was black the press would have a field day with it. I doubt the movie would ever actually hit the big screen. So why is it ok for it to be the other way around?

I wonder if it is because there is this long-standing notion that blacks are still being discriminated against when perhaps they aren't? Maybe that's too much of a blanket statement. Yes, there are still racists out there. But in general, I think people are more open-minded about it. The thing I found with this character was, why did she dwell on skin color constantly? The boyfriend guy said to just not talk about it for 1 night and she freaked out. She couldn't do it. She was surrounded by a black culture just as racist as the people discriminating against them.

My husband told me about a situation in Washington where a high school was accepting students on an application bases. There came a certain number of applications that were equal in standing. The people decided picked minority students over white students because they wanted a more "diversified" school and wanted to meet standards for white to minority students. What makes me even madder is that colleges offer scholarships for minority students. Where are the scholarships for white people? Why should a minority have more opportunities to get a scholarship than a white person? It is because schools look better if they have more minority students (including women). That is sad.

It's stuff like that that bothers me. I don't care about skin color. But doesn't it go both ways? Aren't black people sometimes just as racist as white? Let me know if I'm wrong here.

Yeaaaaa!!! It's up!

Yeaaaaaaa! It's finally up and ready! Go check it out and tell me what you think. www.ihemstitch.com

Will Walk for Food

Coming Soon....

Yes, I've been absent lately. But for good reason this time. I have been feverishly working on the business. And hopefully, cross your fingers, tomorrow the website will be live. I am super nervous.....so once it's up you all need to go at least look at it so I feel cool.

Anti-BlogHer Post

For all my regular readers, BlogHer was a conference that took place recently intended for women who blog to come together not only to learn something about blogging but also to network and meet other woman bloggers. My regular readers can all tune out now because The Blog Her Conference is a waste of your reading time.

Last year the conference was in L.A. and I didn't go because they were sold out by the time I found them. Then after the conference there was a flood of posts about how "great" it was. I found that, to read about it from an outsiders point of view, I never wanted to go. It sounded way over my head with sessions that were focused more on bloggers who wanted to launch their career via their blog. While I realize the conference isn't only for mommybloggers, I still had a hard time figuring out why a mommyblogger would go. I also realize that there are non-SAH mommybloggers but still what is the point of going if your blog is not a launching pad for a career in writing?

This year, the conference was in Chicago and after the bad taste everyone had left in my mouth from last year, I didn't even mention to my husband that there was a conference. And boy was I right. Again, the flood of posts reassures me that BlogHer is not the place for me. With posts calling out a woman who was "curt" and discussion's about monetizing and advertising, it makes me wonder shouldn't the conference be renamed Blogging Conference for Businesswomen (who use big words). I read the entire post about the "curt" woman and I have no idea who she is. I went to her blog. Nothing exciting. I know the poor woman doesn't need any more bad PR. Was anybody there who wasn't a big name blogger? If so, what did they do while the big time bloggers argued over whether they think they'll get a book deal soon? Is there a list of people I should read up on before I am allowed to go because I would look like a total idiot?

Honestly, is this really the place for all women bloggers? I most assuredly say no. Why target top bloggers with huge traffic numbers and invite all women. I think the conference is misadvertised but a good place for business women.

Parenting Issues

Today a serious problem with the Babe came to a head. He is in this phase where he has decided he doesn't want to listen to anything I say. I thought this didn't start until he was a teenager. lol. But the best way to describe his attitude is that he is apathetic towards authority. Meaning, I, being the parent, make the rules and he doesn't want to follow them so he doesn't. I don't mean that I'm making unrealistic rules, I'm just trying to get him dressed in the morning and feed 3 meals a day. He talks back like he'll tell me no, I don't want to. I thought that reasoning through things would work but it hasn't. I thought perhaps I was being too strict. So I decided to consciously pick my battle and let him do things in his own time. For example, my girlfriend told me that she wouldn't make her kids get dressed until they were ready but if they missed activites then it was their lose. So I tried that and it completely backfired. He doesn't care if he gets dressed. No, he can't go outside but oh well. So I understand that I need to change my parenting approach....but how? What should I be doing that I'm not? I hate this parenting. It's always changing. Why couldn't it just stay the same for a few minutes?

Fatness

Last night the hubby, the Babe and I were jumping on trampoline. It's fun to go out there and play with the kids. The Babe loves to put a ball on it and try not to get hit by it rolling around and try not to let it fall off. So I got on and was jumping with the hubby when one of the springs flew off! They are held on by a strip or tramp material around a triangle where the spring connects. The material ripped clean off.

At about the same moment, our backdoor neighbor came out. The Babe just had to announce that daddy had broken his spring on the trampoline. The neighbor said oh how'd that happen. The Babe then told him it was because daddy was too fat. That's when I crawled under the trampoline and died.

I promptly made the Hubby look at the tags attached to the trampoline to see if there was a recommended weight limit. He looked and it said something weird like only one person could be on at a time and they weren't allowed to breathe. So not 2 minutes later, the Babe was "reading" the "instructions" as he calls them. His instructions went, "Daddy's aren't allowed to jump on the tramp because they are too fat and they'll break this thing right here. And then they'll fly off because he's too fat." I reassured the hubby that he's not fat.

Exciting New Adventures

I am so happy to announce that I found and bought a hemstitching machine! For those of you who don't know what hemstitching is, look here and here and here. Anyway, the machine I bought was made in the 1900's (like between 1900 and 1910) so it's old! It's not here yet so I can't show you a picture. But soon. So I need help with a name for my hemstitching business. Any suggestions? Anyone ever started a business? Anybody wanna be my first customer? I think I might take your dollar bill and frame it on the wall.

The Lost Art of Writing (You know by hand)

Yesterday, I wrote by hand about a page on regular old paper. A little while later, I started complaining that my hand was hurting. I thought that perhaps because it was raining that it was aching from the change in weather (which sometimes happens). But then I thought about it for a minute and realized it was because I had hand written that page today. I mentioned it to the hubby and he asked me when the last time I had written anything that long was. I really had to think and I couldn't remember the last time I had written a full page of handwriting.

Isn't that sad?? Everything I do is on the computer. I used to keep a handwritten journal and this blog has overtaken even that. I still write little to-do lists or I write down notes from a phone call but never is it a very substantial amount of writing.

So I am rallying around the lost form of art, handwriting. People used to write with a feather quill and ink and have you ever seen any of their writing? It was so gorgeous and neat. I find that my handwriting gets sloppier the more I don't use it. My 3-year-old son knows where the first letter of his name is on the computer but he can't write it yet. I really wonder when they teach typing in school now? I took it in junior high school and I bet if I asked my parents, I doubt they took it. Maybe they don't even teach it anymore because kids now learn it quite quickly with their text messages on their cell phones.

So I am going to handwrite another page today and another tomorrow until my hand stops hurting. I think it's a shame that I can't even write 1 page without feeling my unused muscles hurting.

Quest for Fulfillment

I usually like to try and keep my blog positive. This post will eventually get positive....I think.

I have been struggling lately with boredom. Now before you jump all over me, hear me out. I have 2 children. The 3-year-old can entertain himself and the almost 1-year-old needs attention but not all day long. So I find lots of dull, empty hours during my day. This has led to feelings of accomplishing nothing and not having a purpose in my life. I mean how many times can you clean the house and have it dirty in 2.5 seconds before you stop cleaning it. These feelings lately are leading to me finding any excuse to spend time away from my children and almost wishing I had never had children in the first place.

I read something in Harry Potter this weekend that kind of brought all of this to a head. There is a portion that one of the greatest wizards in the books talks about a time in his past. His mother died when he was quite young and had just finished his schooling. He, being the eldest, had to take the responsibility of his younger disabled sister and brother. To make a long story short, his sister died and his brother estranged himself from the family. He talked about how sad he felt that these things happened but how relieved he was also. That he wasn't tied down anymore. That he was free to be the great wizard that he was when he told this story. That was exactly how am feeling. That my children are tying me to a life that I don't want. But of course I made the choice to have children so I have to live with it.

This comes down to my point. I can't stop the feelings that my life is moving by without me and the feelings of un-accomplishment and no purpose. But I can't get rid of the guilt of leaving my children with a sitter to raise them while I go work because I'm "bored". So I wonder how other women do it? How do you deal with the daily rigor of being a stay at home mom? I am by all means not saying I am giving up on my children. Perhaps, I just need a break? Or should I give up? Perhaps I am not cut out to be a stay at home mom? If I'm truly honest with myself, it really doesn't seem it fits with my personality. I mean I wasn't one of those loving girls who babysat and loved babies. I'm sure this too will pass but how can I continue without going crazy?

Harry Potter (not a spoiler no worries)

No, I'm not finished with the book. I'm only a couple hundred pages into it. I had company today. But I wanted to write about my going to buy the book at midnight yesterday.

I went with one of the hubby's friends for book 6's release at midnight. We went to Wal-Mart in Vegas that I thought surely would have tons of people. But there weren't that many. So we were out in 15 minutes no prob.

Here I went to the Wal-Mart near our house and it was nothing short of insanity. When I got there at 11:45 there were people lines up out the door on both entrances. They handed out colored wristbands to go in order by color. I luckily, got a colored wristband that was first in order. So the lady told me I could go up to a short line. Then I got doubly lucky when they opened another checkout line in my line. The annoying part was when I got finished buying it. They had 15 employees standing by the books just handing the 5 checkers stacks of books when they ran out. 15....Wouldn't it have been more efficient to have 10 of those standing around employees ringing people up? They also had 3 policemen guarding the books. I can understand that. So I was out in 30 minutes by my sheer stroke of luck.

On my way out the line was probably 100 feet out the door when I first got there it was only barely out the door. Crazy! I really only went because we had friends over late and I was awake so I thought I'd "run" get it. Well at least I wasn't there till 2 am like I thought I was going to be when I got in line.

Newly Widowed

The hubby has decided again to take a 2nd job teaching at the University one class. So I will go back to being a widow. Well figuratively anyway. This time he is teaching a more general education class in the science department. So if you see a crazy lady with 2 kids yelling at her kids in the grocery store without a husband, that's probably me.

No, I'm really excited for him about this. Teaching has always been something he has wanted to do. It is just impossible for him to do full time. He would take a huge salary cut initially and then over the long run his pay wouldn't increase like it would in the business world. He is very nervous today because his license should be coming in the mail and he is just crossing his fingers that this time everything went smoothly with his paperwork (they are a little finicky). We'll see. So we have reason to celebrate!

The hubby has promised that if he teaches this job then I can buy a hemstitcher machine. I am very excited about this. So stay tuned for more info on that.

Booki Baaki Returns

First of all, I did take a much needed break from blogging but hopefully I'm back for good. You know with all the stress of buying a house everything kind of got to me.

But today, I just couldn't help it. It's the most bizarre story about our cat. A few weeks ago, we got 2 little 5-week-old kittens. The Babe lovingly named them Booki Baaki (boy) and Petunia (girl). They were fun for the Babe to play with but he was slowly learning what was appropriate and what wasn't (e.g. throwing cat in pool= not acceptable, throwing cat up or down slide= not acceptable).

Last weekend, Booki Baaki came up missing. I didn't realize how attached I was until he was gone. So we went looking for him but decided surely someone found him and thought he was a stray because he was so small. Well this week, Petunia has been driving me crazy! So I thought we'd just get another cat to play with Petunia. I looked and couldn't find one. Every time I called about one, they would have been taken like 10 minutes before I called.

Well last night, a traveling salesman came to my door to sell me some carpet cleaning stuff. He said, "Oh that's a nice cat, he looks just like mine. *long pause* Did you happen to lose a cat recently?" I said of course and we identified that the cat was ours. He told me that the kitten had wandered a street over and was meowing at his carpet cleaning truck during the day. He thought it was pretty hot out and didn't know what to do with the kitten so he took it home. His wife was immediately smitten and they lovingly named him London. Well after he explained this, he called his wife to break her the news. She was upset and hung up on him. Then she called back and said they would not be returning the cat. The man left assuring me that he would bring our cat back that evening.

I really thought I'd never see him again. But a few hours later he came back with the kitten. I guess his wife was very heartbroken but that wasn't my fault. They are the ones who stole my kitten and got attached to it. Petunia was so happy to see her brother. They've been fighting ever since.

New Car

Today we bought a new/used car. It was exciting! We are now a 2 car family. How exciting! For 5 years, we've had 1 car sometimes no running cars. We're living the good life.

P.S. I left that nice glare on the windshield (it really was in the picture) because it looked new car-ish.

The Poop Eating Child

Today my mommish stomach of steel gag reflex met its challenge. I was enjoying my morning with one kid gone with grandma and only the baby to look after. So I thought I'd do some very normal pre-2 children things shower, read some blogs, check email and generally just relax.

As a forward to this story, we got 2 little kittens last week. They are tiny tiny. They weren't litter box trained and still want milk hence them licking up my daughter's constant spit up. They are generally quite disgusting. The Babe wants to name them Booki Baaki and Petunia. But we are still taking suggestions for names. The hubby and the Babe love them. I'm thinking more realistically especially after this story.

So the Little Lady is crawling around spitting up followed by my 2 nasty clean up crew cats. She was getting into anything she wasn't supposed to. I had cleaned up 300 spit up spots on the carpet, pulled 3 objects from her mouth that weren't supposed to go there and pried her death grip off one of the kittens for the uptenth time. Things were going normal. Then I noticed she was being very very quite, which any mom knows means trouble. I look over at her and one of the cats had pooped ON MY CARPET and she was EATING it! Well that's a bit dramatic. I never actually saw her put any of it in her mouth because I then would have surely ralphed on the spot. But she had it all over her hands and clothes and knowing my daughter she puts everything in her mouth. *insert throwing up a little in my mouth*

Let's not lose our calm here. There are worse things a child could do....cut her arm off?! After getting the Little Poop Eating Lady (maybe I'll change her name to that) cleaned up, I called the hubby to declare to him that cats have to go. They've had a short life with us but a good one.

Oh How I've Missed You, My Love

Dear Long Lost Friend,

I have missed you so. The way your children's clothes are just perfect with my style. I've missed those late night visits. Now that I live more than 5 miles away, I haven't been able to visit you and accure those large debit card charges. I miss roaming your isles and basking in your wonderful displays of clothes, electronics and beautiful home decor. I even miss your catchy red target symbol.

I came for a short visit this week and it was refreshing to wander through you wonderfulness. But, wait, something was wrong. It didn't seem like you were your old self because someone had mixed up all your insides. I looked for your isle of candles but found an isle full of food. Right smack in the middle in the most wrong place was your pharmacy. I still wandered through your children's clothing with the same rapture as before because it was the same.

I have visited you via the internet but it wasn't the same. I couldn't find that clearance rack with super good steals. I didn't even coming close to finding the perfect clock that I have been admiring for months now. So I wait.

I have hope that we will be together again soon. I heard a rumor that you will coming to a location within 5 miles from my new home. I was so excited I wanted to ready my debit card for my next visit. The longing will only be for a short time then we can be together again.

Love,
Your Faithful Target Shopper

Patriotic Hair Bows

I finally figured out how to make the curly Q ribbon. After months of work, I don't like them. lol. But here is the finished product. I guess it kind of looks like there are little firecrackers exploding on her hair. But that's just my observation, you might think she's cute.

P.S. They're all skiwampas because she had been pulling at them all day. But even before that, they didn't look too much better.

Painting Pictures

It's not very often that I will post a bad picture of myself on my blog, so feel special. Not very many of the pictures turned out. I got a lot of pictures a blue wall or a bathtub and you can't really tell what color the walls are. So here are the 3 best. They are good progression pictures. All 3 are taken in the Babe's new room.

This first is a terrible picture of me so try to focus on the wall.

The next is the 2nd coat where the Babe is "helping" for the 2 seconds it took to take the picture. Don't worry, there isn't any actual paint on his roller. And me in the same clothes I wore for the entire week. We'll get there in the 3rd picture.

Now the 3rd picture is the Babe acurately describing what me, the hubby, my 2 children and my mother (who graciously watched my children all week) felt like at the end of the painting week.

Tomorrow perhaps I'll have my house in shape enough to take some moved in pictures which will show the colors of the walls also. But no promises this time.

Internet!!

Yeaaaaaaa! We are back online. Today I finally got my internet connected. It wasn't lack of trying. It is just very hard to find an internet provider here. I had to finally ask the ladies at church who they used. And I promise (for real this time) that I will have painting pictures up tonight.....

It's Offical!!!!!

The house is ours! We went in yesterday and today and started painting. So it's really offical. More painting pictures to come. Today I went outside to take the beloved picture of us in front of our new house with the sold sign and guess what? They had taken the sold sign away! Without even asking the homeowners. So here is the beloved picture minus us and minus the real sold sign plus the dummy sold sign.

House Closing

Today was the big day! We signed our lives away in a million places. We are offically homeowners*. The actual signing process wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Today I got all the paperwork and read it all which was exhausting. They clarified all my questions, explained how everything was "unimportant" except like 3 pieces of paper, and we signed away. It was fun. They lady brought us in drinks, cookies, crayons and a coloring page (of course for our son) and our children still had major meltdowns. Afterward, we went to Target and let the Babe detox for a while.

Here is a picture of the blessed event:

This may be an actual picture of the real signing or just a dramatization.


This may be an actual picture of the real amount of paperwork or just a dramatization.

* Well not offically because the sellers have to sign and the transaction has to fund and record. So not quite yet but close enough.

Dietary Breakthrough

The Babe has made a breakthrough in his picky eating! He has sucessfully eaten a corndog (including the hot dog part) for 2 days in a row. This is exciting because he doesn't eat meat usually. I guess you could consider a hot dog meat. But come on, what kid doesn't eat hot dogs? We are thrilled! Perhaps tomorrow we'll try something green.

Success

The swimming lesson today was pretty much successful. There are 6 kids in his class 3 boys and 3 girls. One of the boys and one of the girls (who are friends) are completely out of control and the teacher spent most of the time trying to keep these 2 from drowning themselves. The Babe spent most of his time hanging on to the wall. But the neat part was, I could see the teacher show him something, tell him good job when he tried and then he would just light up at this praise. It was a very sweet mommy moment.

The success part comes this afternoon when we went swimming in our pool. I took him out there while the Little Lady was sleeping just before Daddy got home from work. And I encouraged him to do some of the things that they taught him at class and he did them! He successfully kicked across the pool while holding onto a noodle (unassisted) and he jumped off the side while holding my hands. He also went all the way under the water for a few seconds (in hopes of grabbing a penny off the bottom....motivation). This wonderful swimming session ended after I left the Babe with the hubby. Apparently, the Babe almost drown. Well probably not but it scared the hubby and the Babe. So we'll see how excited he is about going to lessons tomorrow.

Swimming Lessons

Tomorrow the Babe is starting swimming lessons. How scary?! I called the place to register him and to ask how it works. I ask if I was supposed to get in the pool with him and they assured me that wouldn't be necessary. Then I ask if I was supposed to stay at the pool during his lesson. The lady told me I could run errands (for the all of 30 minutes during the lesson). Then I ask, "what if he drowns?" To which, I got the response that they would be with a lifeguard. You know he's your first when you ask stupid questions like that. I should have ask if he drowns do I get my money back?

The Babe is super nervous about swimming and I'm guessing that he'll come home telling me he's not going back because they made him do something scary like put his face in the water and blow bubbles. But that's the beauty of paying someone else to teach him to swim, I don't have to force him to do that.

So we embark on a new adventure tomorrow. The adventure of carting kids around to various "lessons." Everyone told me how exciting this would be but somehow I'm not feelin' it.

The Dirt Eating Monster *UPDATED*

Ok first, Booki Baaki survived more than 24 hours in my house. But not much more. He stopped eating his wilted old celery and no one gave me any suggestions on what snails eat. So I didn't want to starve him to death.

Well actually, I let him out to crawl around on the table (which in and of itself is gross but I sterilized it thoroughly afterward) and I forgot about him and he fell off the table and cracked his shell. I then felt bad for him and thought that he could go heal in the wild.

Ok now to the monster. Isn't she crazy?! Look at that hair? I'm sure I had it put in some cute bow that she pulled out in about 2.5 seconds. Since the Little Lady has started crawling, we can't keep the dirt/sticks/old dried up nasty food/trash out of her mouth. She crawls around our apartment and finds the nastiest things on the ground. Yesterday, I turned my head for 2 seconds while cooking and sure enough she had gotten into a bag of potting soil we had just outside our door.

*UPDATE* The hubby came home and wanted me to add that she not only got into the bag of potting soil but SHE WAS EATING IT!

The Father I Married

This month the Blog Exchange is tackling “Dads” in honor of Father’s Day. You can read my post over at Simply Nutmeg. Welcome Nutmeg, who is hanging out with us today!

My husband is controlling. He refuses to admit it, because he's too controlling to accept somebody else's opinion. We dated for three years before we got engaged, and he managed to hide this side of his personality the entire time. He was all, "No, you pick the movie! Where would you like to have dinner? I'll listen to whatever music you feel like hearing."

Really, when you're young and dating, the decisions are all little ones.

And then I said yes.

Nathan has been Best Man at like maybe a hundred a few weddings and he always includes this little ditty in his speech:

After Einstein and his wife were married for thirty-five years, someone asked them what their secret of married success was, and Einstein answered, "Before we married we made a deal; she could make all the little decisions, but I would make all the big ones. So far there haven't been any big decisions."

We've had a lot of big decisions.

The problems started when we tried to plan the wedding. I wanted tradition. Nathan wanted to get married on Halloween, have a costume reception, and make "Love is kind of crazy with a spooky little girl like you" our wedding song. Can you imagine the mother of the bride in a gorilla costume?

Then came buying the house. The day our realtor showed us the house we live in right now, I thought it was so ugly and disgusting I wouldn't even look at the second floor. Did I already mention we're living in that house right now?

Then we started decorating. And picking paint colors. I think there's something soothing and clean about an entire house painted in linen white with bright white trim. Currently we have a dark blue room, a dark red room, a dark green room with darker trim, a bright green and blue room, a brown room, a purple room, a pink room, and let's not forget the clouds in the entrance hall.

I thought all husbands cared more about football than house wares and when asked to help choose the new dishes, all husbands said, "Whatever you want, dear. I just want you to be happy."

Nathan loves to choose dishware. And curtains. And bedding. Don't even get me started on wall art.

Then came naming our children. I could write volumes on this experience alone, but I'll keep it short.

Top two names on Meg's list: Emma and Samuel.

Top two names on Nathan's list: Akahana and Geronimo.

You may be thinking that I actually won that one if you know the names of our children, but then you clearly don't know all of their names. They have eighteen between them and Madigan's third name is Akahana.

Right now you might be wondering what it must be like to parent with somebody who has to stick his nose in every stinking thing, and I'm going to tell you:

I have never had to sit up with a sick child without Nathan either right by my side or taking his turn.

Nathan goes to every parent teacher conference, every back-to-school night, every play, and this year took off from work for a first grade Poetry Breakfast.

Nathan really wants to hear how my day went when he gets home from work.

Nathan took all four kids to Take Your Child to Work Day and they stayed the entire day.

Nathan reads books on how to raise strong girls.

Nathan asks other parents for advice.

If a toy breaks, my children turn to their Daddy to fix it.

Nathan has made a mix CD of special songs that each of our children listen to as they fall asleep.

Nathan will lie in bed at night next to me for hours discussing how we can best educate our children, how to handle Rowan's temper, or how to get Finn to take naps.

When Keira got hit in the eye with a ball this weekend at a neighbor's, she ran all the way home and threw herself into her father's arms. (I was with her at the neighbor's.)

Nathan once drove to twelve McDonalds to get the girls a specific Happy Meal toy they really wanted.

When prenatal testing revealed a very high likelihood that Madigan would be born with Down's Syndrome, Nathan said, "So what? She's still our baby."

My first three children are Daddy's Girls. Finn is not. He's a Daddy's Boy.

Nathan works two jobs and sometimes only gets two hours of sleep at night to make sure his kids make it to Disney World and can look forward to college.

Nathan and I take turns reading novels to the girls. Nathan knows what he will be reading for the next twenty years.

If one of the girls really loves a book, Nathan will read it himself after she has finished. Sometimes he will read it out loud to me.

When the girls say something funny or tell an original story, Nathan writes it down and saves it.

Nathan knows the names of every one of the girls' friends, where they live, the names of their moms and siblings, and a little bit of their likes and dislikes.

Nathan saves every piece of art our children make. He asks them to explain each piece to him, and he writes what they say on the back.

When Madigan was two, she ran a mysterious fever of 105° for seven weeks. Nathan never left our side except to keep his jobs.

When Finn had surgery at 28 days old, Nathan never left our side for a minute and slept in a chair holding his baby, tubes and all, for most of the first night.

When Nathan watches old videos of the kids, he cries.

When Nathan measures the kids and marks their height on the wall, he cries.

When Nathan sees a bride dance with her father, he cries.

And as I write this, I cry.

Nathan is controlling. I wouldn't change him for the world.

A writer, editor, teacher and mom to four little menches, Nutmeg takes life with a grain of salt and a little vodka. You can visit her cyber sitcom at www.simplynutmeg.com.

Ahhhhhh!

Look....

Ok so these aren't the keys to our new house but they are! We bought a new lock to go on the front door of our new house! So they will be the keys to our new house! Soon.

Lack of a Driver

Today we had a scary experience for the Babe. To explain, I must give you a little background. In Vegas, there are tons of car washes all over town that cost $3 and there are guys who scrub your car a little before you go through the fun car washer with all the funny things that slap against your car and the spiny things that hit the sides. With a 3-year-old, we would frequent the car wash near our house. It was his little treat for being good at the store or library. At $3, it was cheaper than ice cream and hey I got my car cleaned too.

And. then. we. moved.

Here there are no neato car washers with guys who scrub your car. There are those places where you have to get out of your car and use the brush to scrub your own car and you actually pay for it. And we have yet to find one of those old fashion ones at the gas station that just have the neato spiny things that get the sides.

Today we were so excited when we saw and a place called something like Super Duper Car Wash. We pull in and it looks like the places we are used to, it smelled like the places we were used to but sure enough it wasn't the places we were used to. First, I was a bit upset at seeing their prices start at $6 and go UP from there. And that was for the exterior only. I begrudgingly agreed and went to pay the nice man when he told me I needed to get out my car and take the money inside.

Get out of the car??

I had my sleeping 9-month-old and overly excited 3-year-old in the car. So I asked the man if I could leave my kids in the car for the 2 seconds while I ran in to pay. He said sure. *insert bad mother comments* Well I paid, came back out to find my car was gone! GONE! Apparently, they take the car through the washer for you. Well my 2 kids are in there. ALONE! I go back in the place and there are huge windows where you can watch your car go through and me I could watch my kids. I could see my son freaking the heck out in my car. As soon as the car came out, I notice a man get in the drivers seat and drive the car off. Again, I have lost my car. What is with this place?

They drive it over to a drying station where the nice men dry it off. I run over there to find my 3-year-old of course freaking the heck out. I thought he was just upset because it was loud, or dark, or mommy wasn't there, or scary. But he was freaking out because the car had gone through the car washer without anyone driving it. LOL! Of all the things he could be scared of. I guess that's an important one on his list.

A New Arrival

We have made an addition to our family today. We found a.....snail and have added him to our family. He is lovingly named Booki Baaki. Sorry, we couldn't wait until we got a cat (if we ever get a cat). We are now taking any suggestions for what these things eat and how to take care of them. Anybody know anything about snails? We gave him some celery leaves and he ate some of that so we think that's good for him. But that was just because I had some old celery in the fridge. What is something that I can gather from my yard that he'll eat? Something I don't have to buy specially for our pet.

Isn't that great? I'll go to Petsmart tomorrow and ask if they have snail food. You think they'll laugh at me? You think I can bring my pet snail in with me like those people who take their dogs with them. I'll make a little snail purse to carry him or her in. Then maybe we could market them. Maybe there's a huge snail carrier market?

Ok maybe we'll keep him today and see if I can stand the concept of a snail being in my house for more than 24 hours before we go overboard.

P.S. The wonderful new header picture is of our lovely Booki Baaki taken by the lovely me. Isn't he cute?

The Real Truth About The Grand Canyon

Actually, my previous post was a little misleading. lol. They really had a great time at the Grand Canyon! They hiked from rim to rim in 4 days, 3 nights. The hike was 27 miles. They carried all their food, sleeping stuff, clothes, cameras ect. on their backs. They didn't have to carry all their own water. There were water stations throughout the canyonso they just carried enough to get from station to station. There were 11 hikers ranging in age from over 50 to 12ish. I'm not exactly sure. There were 5 wifes left home with 8 children (collectively). Lonely wives. lol. But they all had fun! Every single one of them made it out. None were hurt and the hubby assures me he would go again today. Here are some of his favorite pictures:

Grand Canyon Trip

The hubby and my family just got back from hiking rim to rim through the Grand Canyon! He's so tough! I stayed home with the kiddos. But my dad, brother and half sister went plus a bunch of other family friends. Apparently, this is what some of them thought of the Grand Canyon.

The Love of My Life

5 years ago, I married the love of my life! We were so young and in love. It was so sweet. Our families surely thought we were crazy. We'd only known each other a very short time and we were so young.

But 5 wonderful years later, I am so very much more in love. Marrying my sweetheart has been the best decision I've ever made. He compliments me in so many ways. Where I am weak, he is strong. And of course, he has no weaknesses. He's perfect. I mean come on have you seen this guy?

I wonder how I got so lucky. Somebody must have been watching out for me. I got the whole package, my bestfriend, sweetheart and lover.

Booki Baaki

The Babe is fascinated with making up his own words. His latest is Booki Baaki. When we were moving, he told me that Booki Baaki was moving with us. I thought it was the beginning of an invisible friend. But since then he's named everything Booki Baaki. The hubby told him that we might get a cat when we move into our new house. He then asked him what he wanted to name the cat. The Babe doesn't get the concept of naming animals. So he was confused. But the hubby came to the rescue and told him we should name the cat Booki Baaki.

Now every day we talk about Booki Bakki and whether (s)he will be moving to the new house with us. I think he might be sad to realize that Booki Bakki isn't a real cat. It was just an idea.

Parenting Insecurities

The Little Lady has been acting funny. She got a rash all over her body last week. I was sure it was an allergy and mentally went over anything I had given her that could have possibly caused such a rash. I cut out a few things from her diet and the rash got better. But then the next day, it was back in a milder version. It has since been only on her arms and face. Coupled with magical disappearing/reappearing rash, she has been waking up in the middle of the night a bunch of times. She is inconsolable! The only way to calm her is to feed her. She's 9 months old! She doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night...twice. So of course I am again mentally going over anything and everything it could be. Seasonal Allergies? A medicine she was taking? Food Allergies?

This brings me to my concern. Why is it that I can't trust my own instincts? I know the answer. Because I am bombarded with information from everyone else. I ask an opinion of a friend and she tells me about someone she knew who's child went into an allergic reaction where her throat swelled up after having a mild rash for a few days. Then I look on the net and find that she could have any number of scary maladies. Then I pull from my mental bank a show on t.v. By this point, my motherly instinct is completely gone and I've convinced myself that she is going to die if I don't take her to the ER right now. Which thinking rashionally (lol) now is just silly.

No, I didn't take her to the ER. I am considering taking her to the doctor in the next week but still haven't convinced myself that it's serious enough. So I'm back to square one. What did she eat? What has she touched? Which I am sure is all the doctor is going to ask me.

Another Exciting Post About Our Soon To Be House

Ok the stress is pretty much over except the part where we sign our lives away in 500 places just in case they the first 499 times weren't enough. We are in the fun stage now. I went back to the house last week to show my dad and auntie. Combining trips, I also measured windows for curtains (not because the current owners are awful but because they are completely awful). I am also picking colors for paint. I have neglected to post pictures because I am waiting for the dramatic picture of us in front of the house with the sold sign up! But to let you in on a little surprise, the current owners have their sitting room (aka home teaching room...piano room....study?) painted Christmas Red with Christmas green couches and Christmas green blinds. And of course, I just brought in a few paint samples to try to match the bold blue carpet in the family room.

I am now one of those people who walk around Home Depot for hours just ooooing and ahhhing over all the fun stuff that I could do to my house! But because we will now be living below the poverty level we can in no way afford to do any home improvements save the much needed paint. Every time we leave that store with nothing the Babe says where are the groceries? As if we can't go to a store and not buy anything. Besides any project that I want to do costs upwards of $500 and that's a lot of money.

But the hubby wanted to mention that we are debt free for probably the last time in our lives. We have 0 debt! No credit cards, car loans, student loans....nothing! But it's a short-lived accomplishment. So congratulate me while you can.

My Mother's Day Present

I bought myself my mother's day present a few days before Mother's Day. I bought myself (via the hubby's money) a flat panel monitor! I love it! It frees up so much space on our computer desk! So I thought I was all lucky and special but today the hubby bought me a super duper special Mother's Day Present.

We signed an agreement on our first house! Happy Mother's Day to me! Isn't that the ultimate Mother's Day Gift? What better gift for a mother than a brand new home! Yes, I'm super scared and yall probably need to pray that we'll be able to eat now. But there's no turning back now (well actually we could get out by such and such date). But we're not going to turn back. We're going to buy our first house! It's so exciting! And scary.

The Little Lady

The Little Lady has recently gotten teeth! Now she thinks that she's supposed to eat only table food and is not satisfied unless she's a part of every meal. She's only 8 months old! But she is still very, very cute!

Iceland

Today I am compiling my week long study of Iceland. I find this country to be so interesting.

Some basic facts are: population-309,699 people, 39,770 sq miles of land (slightly smaller than Kentucky), Capital- Reykjavik, Government- Constitutional Republic, Language-Icelandic, Climate-Cold Oceanic (winters=mild, windy and summer= cool, damp). Their highest temperature recorded is 86.9 F and lowest is -36.4 F (that is negative)! They use the Icelandic Krona which convert 66ISK to $1.

Their language is called Icelandic. Here is a link to hear some common phrases. Their literacy rate is one the highest in the world coming in at 99%. Here is their national anthem, Our Country's God. Wouldn't that be interesting? To have a national anthem about God?

The country is predominately Luthern based. They do have 3 LDS branches and more than 200 members. The hubby seems to remember that they have 4 missionaries there but don't quote me on that. Although, the LDS website says they are open for missionary work.

Some animals they have there are the Icelandic Sheep, (regular) Cattle, Icelandic Horses and fish. Other animals would include arctic fox, mink, mince, rats, rabbits, reindeer. Birds include puffins, skuas, and skittiwakes. Only one tree is native to Iceland known as the Downy Birch.

They produce potatoes, turnips, green vegetables, mutton, dairy and fish for industry. Their fishing industry makes up 40% of their income.

Their most claimed popular tourist attraction is the geothermal spas with the most famous being The Blue Lagoon.

Some of their native cuisine includes pickled ram's testicles, putrefied shark, singed sheep head, singed sheep head jam, blood pudding, liver sausage and dried fish with butter. None of which I would eat.

From what I saw, houses are cheaper there. Just to give you an idea I found this one for E110,000. Although, it is very expensive to live there because they have to import almost everything. Flights are cheap from NYC to Reykjavik round trip coming in around $480.

They claim to be the 4th Happiest Nation in the world. They have serious gender equality there; even having a woman president for a number of years. Women even retain their surname after marriage. This is because they don't use surnames. Their entire phone book consists of first names only. Abortion is illegal but gay marriage is legal.

99% of their electricity comes from hydropower and geothermal energy. The hubby knew that one.

Their government is Constitutional Republic which is very similar to a democracy except that instead of majority of the people they go by the rule of law. Whatever that means. Their current President is Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. They have no standing army but have the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit and a Coast Guard. They are guarded by the US and Norway.

Their education system starts at age 6 and goes through higher education at 23. It is all government based but some of which you have to meet specific requirements.

The Stress Begins

After successfully moving, the hubby went to work Monday leaving me with an apartment full of boxes. I, being the rebellious person I am, have just simply skirted around them almost pretending they don't exist instead of actually unpacking them. Then when one of them gets in my way I simply take everything out of it and set the stuff randomly around the house in order to make our hallway walkable. It would probably be easier to just unpack the boxes and put the stuff away but where's the fun in that?

Anyway, I'm rambling. Today we started shopping for houses again. Have I said, I hate buying a house. I. hate. it. So the next 30 years few months of our lives will be stressful. We looked at 5 houses today. Add that to the 5 we looked at when we were looking before we moved which makes a grand total of 10 houses. (I realized 10 isn't a lot) I'm not sure how many more I can look at!

It's impossible to compare the houses because they are so different. One's nicely priced but too far from work, the other is overpriced but has a jungle they call the front yard, another is great on the inside but sitting on the side of a hill with our back door looking at a huge rock wall 3 feet from the door. It's impossible. The house we LOVE is a little bit too expensive for us but do-able. It also has 8 people living in it right now, which means it has more than the usual wear and tear.

So we think perhaps we'll put an offer on the house we love. That is the moment house shopping is no longer a game of dreaming about us living in this or that house/neighborhood. That's when it becomes scary and non-fun. The financing is frightening to even semi-educated people like us. The risk of buying an overpriced house is real. The thought of having an astronomical mortgage payment become a reality.

The American Dream of owning land and calling your house yours is no longer appealing to me. I think I will go stake out a nice spot for our cardboard box house in order to get that feeling of ownership.

I now understand why people have such pride in the ownership of their house. It's because it about killed them to buy the house.

I'm Back

I fell off the face of the earth....but I survived. We sucessfully moved and I didn't kill any of my kids in the process. I was without internet for a total of 5 days! 5. days. It about killed me. I couldn't mapquest anything. I couldn't google anything. I was supposed to buy an ethernet cord but I had no idea what that was and couldn't get to a place to buy one without the internet. But I survived. The wonderful hubby finally bought me the cable and I'm happy again. The Babe is relatively bored because now all I want to do is sit here and admire my internet. Oooooooo it's nice and fast! Yes, I'm spoiled.

On Becoming a Mother

When Michael was born I thought he was dead. See, his heart rate dropped during labor and he was born with the cord around his neck, and when they put him on my stomach he was gray and didn't move. And for that split second, I thought he was dead. Now, looking back I realize that they would not have put him on my stomach if he was in fact dead, but I really honestly did not think he was alive. And I wouldn't touch him. The nurses must have thought I was the coldest person. And finally, the nurse took him away, cleaned him up, and he started to cry. And so did I.

And then, they handed him to me. And our eyes met. And the minute I saw him, I thought, of course, it was you, all along. And I couldn't believe how much he looked like his Dad.

Now for the confession. I cheated a little on this blog exchange post. It's stolen from my "Real Moms" post. I tried and tried to write something else, but I kept coming back to this, the moment I became a Mom.

And now, Mommy is my favorite word.

This post is part of The Blog Exchange. Jodi is mom to a 2 year old, a part-time lawyer, and wife. She blogs at Jodifur about all these things and many more. Please visit her site, and you will see Kendra's post!

Goal

First, let me just get it out there. I've been really busy moving and have neglected this blog. Please, don't stop reading. I still love you guys and I promise once these settle down, I'll continue writing, daily if I have to.

As a part of a new set of goals I am setting, I have decided to undertake a serious study of other countries. I thought it might be appropriate to spend 1 week studying each country. I decided to start in the top left corner of Europe and work my way through Europe. Anyone know what the top left hand corner country of Europe is? I didn't!

So next week, plan on a wonderful synopsis of my discorveries of the top left hand corner country in Europe. Still don't know? First person to comment, will get a surprise.

Barf-O-Rama

Our family has a history of barfing. Both our children had reflux and barfed constantly for the entire first year. First up are our 2 favorites from the Babe's childhood.

Both happened at church. Maybe there is something especially puke-friendly about our church. The first was that I was sitting next to this woman who was playing with the Babe. He was looking in her direction when the barfies came out all over her scriptures. When I apologized profusely, he comment was, "Oh I was planning on getting new scriptures anyways."

The 2nd we didn't actually see. We were sitting in sacrament meeting letting our son crawl around on the floor under the pew. The next day we were visiting with the couple that happened to be sitting behind us at church the previous day. They told us that it was so funny what our son had done at church. We had no idea what they were talking about. They told us how he had crawled under the pew and barfed all over one of the hymnals then closed it. We didn't even know so now I have visions of some poor person opening the book to sing finding my son's surprise.

The Little Lady has recently topped the Babe's 2 favorite barfy stories. This lovely one happened at the fair last weekend. We sat in some crowded bleachers to watch a tiger exhibit. The Little Lady had just eaten and was loaded. Of course right in the middle of the show she spit up. I hurried and grabbed a rag to clean it up. Once the show was over, I noticed that she had really spit up a lot. Not only had she gotten my pants a bit, but also the bleachers were covered and the back of the man sitting in front of us was covered. I didn't know what to do. So I ran. Hopefully, he didn't notice?

This is why any pictures we have of the first year of our children's lives, they have large wet, colorful spots around their necks. Yes, I do try my hardest to keep my kids clean but how many times a day can you possibly change a child's clothes? And if perhaps I do leave a portion of my carpet showing in a picture, pleeeeease don't look at it.

County Fair

The hubby left his sick wifey *insert ohhhh poor sick wifey* home with the mean Little Lady today to enter his prized peas in the county fair. He drove 1 hour each way to get to the fair grounds. Yesterday he read that they would be judging him on presentation. So he sent me to Target to buy a decorative plate to display his peas on. He convinced me to get a babysitter today so I could take them out the 1 hour drive for him. But I got sick and so he took work off to take care of his sick wife to take his peas out there. When he got there, they said that he should take them off the cute decorative plate I bought him and put them on a plain white paper plate they had stacks of.

He is sure he is going to win a blue ribbon and I hope he does! We shall see.

P.S. I'm so sick I didn't even take a picture of the prize peas before he took them.

Anxiety Issues

Today my anxiety issues were taken to a new level. The house of one of our very best friends down here was broken into. That alone is horrible but it was in the middle of the day when she was home! She is alright and her kids are also. They hid in the closet and the intruder never found them. But how scary is that?

It just absolutely freaks me out! I will now admit that I already had some serious anxiety issues. I more often than not wake up 2 or 3 times a night hearing a noise and freaking out. It started when we moved to Vegas. We live in a relatively safe neighborhood but I still freak out. I'm not sure why. I just have anxiety issues.

I go through phases. For example, one night the hubby forgot to lock the door so every night for weeks I won't trust him to lock the doors, I'll personally have to go around and check all the locks sometimes several times. One day, I left the back door open and went to the store. When I walked back in, I'd forgotten I'd left it open and freaked that someone was in my house. I'm starting to wonder if I'm going crazy!

But the hubby assures me that some of these thoughts are normal and we just have to talk ourselves off the cliff. That typically works but now I know someone whose been broken into. The icing on the cake is the man was a registered s e x o f f e n d e r for crimes against a child. I am just absolutely shaken up tonight and I hope they put him in jail for a really long time.

Almost Tragedy

Today I will hold my little ones a little closer and say my prayers of thanks. We really had angels watching over my 2 little children. I know that sounds so cliché but I really do believe it today.

This afternoon my kids were driving me crazy! The Babe didn't have a nap and wouldn't stay in his bedroom for quiet time. The Little Lady is getting teeth and quite disagreeable with them. I forgot to eat lunch so I wasn't feeling well. It was just after 4:00 and I wanted the hubby to come home and rescue me. Instead, I decided I would go outside and let the Babe push the Little Lady around in the stroller, while I sat there and relaxed.

I went out and put the Little Lady in her stroller and told the Babe to push her around. I ran back in the house for literally 1 minute to grab some water and some fruit snacks because it was super hot outside and I hadn't eaten lunch. *insert bad parenting remarks* Yes, I'm a terrible mother and left my precious little ones outside for like 2 seconds unattended. Today it almost cost them their lives.

While I was in the house, I heard a loud noise outside. It sounded very much like the stroller had tipped over. I was sure I was going to go back out and find the Little Lady dumped over with her head cracked open because my 3-year-old had been careless with her. What I found I thought was worse.

I ran back out and I saw a black car right next to my stroller. The front side was all smashed in right where my stroller was. Of course, my heart stopped dead right there. I think it at least skipped a few beats. There were a couple of girls running towards the stroller. Then my brain kicked in and I realized the stroller wasn't mangled. Then I saw my kids unharmed! My children never looked so sweet and precious! I immediately grabbed my son into the best hug ever. The poor thing was shaking all over. The Little Lady had no clue what was going on and was surprisingly quiet.

There were 4 boys who got out of the car and a neighbor was running towards us. The first thing they all ask was if the children were ok. Apparently, this car, driven by an underage driver, had turned the corner to come down our street going waaaaaay too fast. He lost control of the vehicle and went up on the opposite curb. Overcorrecting, he went up on our curb and hit the back corner of a truck parked half in the driveway / half on the sidewalk a few houses down from ours. Then the underage driver decided to gun it to get away. He drove about 150 feet with one tire missing scratching the street with his exposed rim.

The part that really makes me so upset comes here. First, they tried to lie and say the underage kid wasn't driving. Some neighbor girls saw it and were fully prepared to tell the police of their lie. Then the underage driver called his parents and his father called to try to get the owner of the truck to lie to the police. What kind of message does that send to his son? Not only that lying is ok but even a step further that you can manipulate others to lie for you instead of being accountable for your actions.

Two hours later the police show up. Two. hours! The policeman made the comment that the underage driver had no idea of the magnitude of the situation. I couldn't agree more. We are so lucky that the truck was there or he would have killed both my kids. He could have gone to jail for vehicular manslaughter. But my children would still be gone.

It really made me think about a lot of things. First and foremost, I learned that if I turn my head for just one second something could happen. Another thing I learned would be that I should never take for granted my children and really try not to get so upset with them because you never know when that would be the last conversation with them. Also, I think I will lock my kids in the basement from the time they become interested in driving till they are 18. That started yesterday.

Shaken Nerves

My nerves are so shaken up tonight...I can't even write. I'll calm down a little tomorrow and write. Until then you'll just have to wait.... Everyone's safe...barely.

The Truth About Television

We don't have cable. We don't have rabbit ears to get any channels. If you turn our t.v. on, you see blue screen unless you put in a movie. I let out the secret that I've been watching Grey's Anatomy via abc.com. Here's the truth, I'm addicted. I started by watching Grey's Anatomy, then I liked Dancing with the Stars and now I've added The Bachelor to my abc viewing pleasure. I've had to think about why we don't watch t.v. and find better reasons for justifying my watching t.v.

This brings me to my thoughts today. I haven't watched t.v. regularly in at least 5 years probably more like 7. No, I don't know who the last American Idol was and I have no clue what the plot on Desperate Housewives is (although I think the name speaks for itself on this one). Anyway, I'm rambling.

Since my regular viewing has been so long, my brain has changed. Now that I have been watching t.v., it's freaking out on me. I enjoy reading and watching movies. My brain understands these. There is a character, they go through life and then they live happily ever after. The problem comes with t.v. is that you get a 30 minute glimpse of that then you are left hanging. When I read a book, I'll read for a while then put it down and my brain will be left wondering what happened to Cinderella. So later that night or the next day, I'll finish it and find out what happened. The problem with t.v. comes here. I can't pick it back up and finish. The stupid t.v. makes me wait a week before I get another 30 minute glimpse. By the time the next episode comes, I've forgot what happened the last week or that there even was a character named Grey.

My brain is seriously confused as to why I am putting it through such torture. I watched The Bachelor today and all day my brain has been wondering who he picks. But I know that by next Tuesday, I'll have forgotten who the contestants even were.

I guess this brings me back to my original notion that there was a very good reason why we don't watch t.v. It's a waste of time.

My Greatest Hits: The Many Faces of Friendship

I recently read the wonderfully insightful book, "My Friend, My Friend: The Story of Thoreau's Relationship with Emerson" by Harmon Smith. It was a remarkable book not only because it was about the personal lives of two of my favorite authors (I'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment actually), but because it was quite illuminating in its discussion of friendship.

While many of us know about Thoreau and Emerson as authors, transcendentalists, philosophers, proponents of the anti-slavery movement - what was most interesting to me was that this book portrayed the two men as human in that they found a profound connection in one another, yet their relationship was strained.

Emerson, who was 14 years older than Thoreau, was often quite critical of his dear friend because he felt that he was not living up to his potential as a writer. Thoreau, who was not blind to Emerson's feelings, often felt as if Emerson was not so much a friend, but an overbearing, overly critical father figure. And this great tension between them often puzzled the pair because they did indeed feel so deeply connected to one another.

While I read the account of such an honest and real friendship I was constantly reminded of my own friendships and they are a most sacred thing. Friends are people we feel a mutual connection with and when we allow ourselves to open up to such a relationship it makes us vulnerable - more vulnerable than I think even romantic love makes us.

Afterall, romantic love is based on a mutual physical attraction that involves the body and the heart, while our friendships put us in contact with one another's souls and inner most thoughts and feelings; allowing us to confess to one another what we would never tell even our therapists.

And while we ask our partners in love to fulfill the ultimate role of loving our entire being, we can have several friendships that satisfy individual aspects of our whole and because of this our friendships often run deep - ie a friend who shares our love for writing, another who is our connection to the past, still another who we can share our insecurities and questions about parenthood with, and even one who shares our (secret) love of cheesy (especially those involving tap) dance movies.

It is this vulnerability and the depth of feelings in such relationships that sometimes causes great tension. You see, we have great expectations of our friends because they have such an intimate role in our lives and when they betray that role or they change the relationship without permission or they simply don't need us anymore or they become self-destructive and we cannot stand by and watch because it hurts too much - it is some of the greatest pain we ever experience.

But when I think of my own precious circle of friends I realize that without such relationships we cannot experience life, or ourselves, to the fullest because friends provide us with the opportunity to take the greatest risks and receive the greatest rewards through a shared trust of one another.

"A friend is one who takes me as I am." ---Thoreau

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it's the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friend." ---Emerson

May we all have friends such as these.

This post is part of a Blog Exchange. My name is Nancy and I am the proud mother of two rambunctious boys, ages two and four. I've been writing fiction most of my life, but now have a new passion for blogging. You can usually find me over at Just Thinking . . .

where I write about everything from family to politics to writing to, well, not much is off limits.

And to Kendra, who you can find today over at my blog, I appreciate you're letting me contribute to your space :)