Geek or Nerd

I was introducing my coworker, Ed, to Joanie and Spencer. I described him as a nerd with no intended insult. We discussed which is better, nerd or geek. I've always thought nerd meant uber-smart with some social ineptness and geek was uber-inept with some smarts (the showerless guys that carried around their upteen-sided dice hoping for a pick-up game of D&D). The group consensus was that I had it backwards.

freedictionary has identical first definitions for geek and nerd.
Webster has a more favorable definition for geek.

So which is it?

Zebras and Dinosaurs

When Emmett was almost two, we had a funny experience that we recently repeated with Eden. Grandma Myrna was visiting and helping with brand-new Mariah. She had just returned from the store and was putting away groceries. Emmett started throwing a fit and asking for "zebra". We kept trying to guess what zebra meant and with every failed suggestion, Emmett became more and more upset. It must be extremely frustrating to know what you want and not be able to communicate it. Finally, after we had given up hope and were waiting for Emmett for cry out his fit, someone was dishing up some recently purchased yogurt which had white and black splotches on the container, kind of like a cow or maybe a zebra! Emmett was ecstatic. We were very relieved and I'm sure Emmett never enjoyed yogurt so much.

So, imagine Jani's horror in the grocery store when Eden started demanding to see dinosaurs. Jani instantly recognized the problem and she realized she only had short amount of time to either find "dinosaurs" or finish her shopping so Eden could throw her fit in the peace of the parking lot. Jani rushed for item to item, eyes peeled for dinosaurs but bent on getting everything on her list and getting out. Only milk left, Jani dashed past the meat department and Eden found her dinosaurs--a tank full of live lobsters. Jani was so relieved she let Eden watch the dinosaurs for quite awhile before she grabbed the milk and checked out.

Now, every trip to the grocery store includes a stop by the lobster tank to see the dinosaurs. I'm sure there's got to be linguistic term for substituting a known word or concept for an unknown but related word or concept. Any linguists out there? Anyway, kids are amazingly adept at communicating even if we adults have hardened our categories to the point we can't understand.

Cheese!

I was playing with the new camera (we had to open it before our first at-our-own-home Christmas) and I accidentally took a video when I meant to take a picture but Mariah doesn't disappoint.

Painting the Kitchen with Milk

As a young child, my sister Joanie and I got into some trouble and made some messes. One in particular that I remember was a Sunday afternoon where we painted the kitchen with milk. That's right. . .I think we had heard my parents talking about painting the kitchen and decided to help out. Oh, well, it wasn't as big a mess as the time we got newspapers wet and used them to wallpaper the hall from four feet down.

We finished painting our kitchen this morning, and once again I painted it with MILK. That's right, the name of the color we chose is called "Malted Milk".

Blogging without a _____ is like canoeing without a _____

I keep thinking things like I should blog about the house or Emmett's first day of school. And then I remember, "oh, that's right, I dropped the camera and I don't have a picture of Emmett's first day or the recent house progress".  The correct answer to the sentence completion is C.) Digital Camera -- Paddle.

Who can compete against the blood-and-gore of finger-drilling spouses or cute kindergartners without a picture or two? Anyway, I'll do my best...

My sister-in-law, Arwen, lives with us. She's saving money while going to grad school. Occasionally, people ask us how it is to have her live with us. We always tell them we love it. We usually list out the pros (have another adult to talk to, she helps out around the house, etc). Soon or later, we mention the baby-sitting.  

Arwen has always been generous with the free baby-sitting--usually once a week plus lots of unplanned stuff. She usually even plans an activity or picks out a movie just for the babysit night.

Now that Jani and I have gotten ourselves in over our heads with the house project (it takes a lot longer to paint a house than we thought) and the move she has been fantastically helpful. She has babysat every free evening she's had for the last two weeks plus Saturday mornings (no, I didn't mistype that).  She has really enabled us to spend a lot of time over at the "big" house, not to mention putting up with all the extra mess and clutter at the old house while we get ready to move. Thanks Arwen. We really appreciate you.

What makes Arwen's help must amazing is that Arwen hates to move ("don't we all!", you say, not like Arwen). And this move is shaping up to be pretty crazy. We didn't get the carpet in or the painting finished so all non-essentials are going in the garage and we going to camp out in our house until we finish. Not exactly fun for the routine-minded. Sorry Arwen. We tried to finish it.  

House Update

I should be showering (I'm covered in dust) but I wanted to share our recent, partial victories. 

So I was probably a little premature in describing the remaining floor project as "a few stubborn pieces of grout". Those few stubborn piecies took two more evenings of three people (Our friend Andrew really came through), two compressors, two air hammers, another chisel, 4 lbs sledge hammer, several masonry cut-off wheels, and finally (and really this is the only one that matters since everything else failed in some way) a demolition drill. If I was gushing about the sawzall, I'm head over heels for the demolition drill. Unfortunately, it was strictly an overnight lend. Andrew really went the extra mile in borrowing tools for our project. As he was leaving tonight, he made an off-hand comment that he was laying some pavers next month... I guess he thinks I owe him one (probably more than one).  Now, I can say that there are only a few specs of grouts that were too tedious to get with the demolition drill and a few gouges where we got a little carried away and a lot of dust.

I finally found some more stair tread. The same lumber yard that insisted they didn't have any, magically found 32 of them in their yard when I called to special order them. The grand total was $68. Jani was quick to point out that this is how much she saved us with her dumpster-dive. I was wise enough not to mention that I get at least $34 of credit because I refused to make shelves out of them. 

 

Treasures from Trash

A little over a year ago, Jani came home with a bunch of lumber from a dumpster-diving drive. She was hoping to talk me into making shelves. I was reluctant to build shelves in our rental house and the pile of lumber in our garage and back yard quickly became a sore point. Eventually, the weather got the outside pieces but the select pieces continued to take up room in the garage.

Don't worry, the story has a happy ending for all. It turns out the prize pieces were actually stair tread. One of the unfinished projects of the former owner of our new home was to tile the stairs. As part of the project, she cut the nosing off of each of the stairs. I've now replaced the worst six stair treads with our treasure from trash. I'm still struggling to find where to buy the rest of the stair tread and I'm considering making a drive past a few construction dumpsters and see if I'm as keen (or lucky) as my wife.





My favorite part of this project so far was justifying the purchase of my very own Sawzall. This is an extremely fun tool to use and I wonder now how I survived without one. It is also an extremely dangerous tool that could quickly ruin any project (more later on how I almost cut my water main with my sawzall).

Home, sweet home!

Well, we finally did it. We committed to buy a house (only 360 payments to go). We officially closed Friday although we've been working on the house since we signed. The house is in some need of some TLC (I'm sure our house-fixing adventures will be the subject of several posts to come).

The bulk of the work so far has been scrapping up what I call the Pagan symbol. We're down to a few remaining stubborn pieces of grout.

Doe a Deer

I am staying with my parents and their neighborhood is very close to the mountains. This morning when I went running at 5:45 I saw not one, but three female deer (does). There I was chuncky, winded, and probably jogging only a 20 minute mile--it was a steep hill. They were lithe, slender and graceful. The deer bounded quickly up an even steeper hill to the side of us with a few second glances behind them. I wonder what their percentage of body fat is?

My Dad

Happy Fathers' Day

I love my Dad. He is a wonderful father and an excellent example to me of how to pattern my life after my Savior. He gave me a name and a blessing when I came into the world and he was a witness to my temple sealing when I got married to my beloved husband. I love him for how he has taught me to love life:

My very earliest memory of my Dad is special to me: I can remember standing at the window (we had windows that went really low, within a foot of the ground), looking out, and being excited that my Dad was on his way home. I could hear him whistling as he came along. As I saw him come toward the house, I was very delighted. When I think of him, he is surrounded by music.

Another of my early memories is my first trip to Timpanogos Cave. I was less than two and he probably carried me the whole way there, but I still remember it. It was fabulous then--and I still love to cave. I participated in the BYU Caving Club in college, and my first date with my husband was to a cave. I actually belong to a caving grotto now.

Dad-isms: He has simple sayings that taught some of life's great values, such as: "Don't sweat the small stuff", "footsacker", "space-cadet", "hardening of the categories" and "Don't be a dog in the manger."

He truly taught me a love of learning. There is a family saying, "Dad knows everything, and Mom knows where everything is. . ." Even though he doesn't truly know everything, he wants to know everything. He is always learning. He taught me to love maps, adventures, reading, traveling, and much more. I attribute my great love of hiking from him. When I lived in Alaska with my in-laws, after about the fifth day, my husband's little sister said to me: "Are we going to go hiking every day?" I probably would if I could, but sometimes other, albeit trivial, things come up like laundry, schooling, chores, etc.

One of my favorite things about my Dad is his music. He truly has a beautiful voice, a talent from our Heavenly Father that he has always shared with others. Not every child's Dad wrote cool songs like Chattanooga Choo-Choo, or Yellow Submarine. I must say that he never professed to have written them, a little girl just assumes that only her Dad could write such silly songs. He also has a song for each of his children.

The other day I found myself on a family camping trip that I had planned, doing a 3.5 mile hike with my three children age 5 and younger, under the unrelentless Arizona sun, reading Roadside Geology of Arizona in my spare time and loving it, wishing that I had brought my guitar because it lends itself so well to singing.

Thank you Dad, for how you have shaped my life. Thank you is simply not enough. I always love you.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Lately, Mariah has taken to saying: "I give hugs, pink hugs, and purple hugs." Then she proceeds to give you a pink hug, which is a hug where she kisses you on the cheek as she is hugging you. I love purple hugs.

Last night, Emmett commented about how Mariah was unable to do a certain thing. It went like this, "Mariah can't open her water bottle, nor me. Will you open it?" Nor? How proper. Do I say nor when appropriate. . .I suppose I must.

Eden calls every animal a dog--it was her first word. We see a bird--it's a dog. A cat is a dog. Even a lizard is a dog.

Yesterday at the park, Mariah told me that the ants were going to bite her because she was a predator. I laughed and laughed.

Mariah, this morning said, "Mom, Eden lost her temper!" Eden was crying because she had been strapped in her carseat.

Emmett said, "I'm hungrier than you, Mom. I could eat a whole elephant."

Wanderlust is German for Wanderlust

Last week, we had our good friends the Peterson's stay with us for a day. Like us, they met and married while working at UVSC as flight instructors. But then came the fork in the road. Jared left UVSC for SkyWest and then, a couple of years later, went to Continental. Jani and I did not take the airline route (forays flying in Alaska don't count). We chose the 8 to 5 engineering job in Tucson, Arizona. Visiting and talking to the Peterson's is like a window into our own parallel universe. We love to swap work stories and compare lifestyles.

One statistic from my survey of one participant: airline life smothers wanderlust. Wanderlust: a strong desire or impulse to wandering. And it makes sense. If your job forced you to constantly navigate airports and security, live in a hotel and eat fast food all the time, how fun would traveling sound to you? Of course, the little-understood airlines benefits (aka, flying standby) is a big part of the problem. For anyone who hasn't flown standby with airline benefits, here's the game. You are never guaranteed to get on the flight. All paying customers and employees of higher seniority seat first. You are forced to constantly "check loads" like some paranoid stock trader. Sometimes you have to spend the whole day at the airport hoping someone else misses his/her flight so you can get on. Oh yeah, and that is just the first leg. You get to do it again on each leg. Our good friend, Verla Jackson (technically we are also related but who wants to say my second-cousin-once-removed-in-law-in-law), said it best, "Flying standby is not free. You pay for it... just not in cash."

So here I am in my half of the parallel universe, wishing to travel more and Jared is looking back thinking that being home every weekend sounds pretty nice. Jani thinks the solution is for the Peterson's to give us their unused "Buddy Passes". She really is a glass-practically-all-the-way full kind of gal.

Is it better to have unsatiated (according to my spellchecker, that's not a word but it is the one I want) wanderlust or to have your wanderlust removed?

Places I've been lusting to wander:

• Belize--jungle, caves, keys, beaches, Mayan sites, etc.
• Southeast Alaska--we love it there
• Hawaii, island of--after stopping to see my adventure loving sister and family on Oahu we really want to see flowing lava and camp on the beach
  
• Guadalupe Mountains--more caves
• San Carlos, Sonora--only four hours to the beach
• Anywhere in Europe--My trip to Italy was fantastic but only made me want to see more.
• Cruise to somewhere--Because I love my wife and she wants to do it even though I think we'd much rather be roughin' it in Belize.
  

Obviously, with three young children and early-career engineering pay, we won't be doing any extensive traveling soon but it is fun to dream... or maybe its fun to have a weekend home to write a blog entry and play with your kids...

Caving Subculture

This is Marshall. No, I haven't subverted Jani's blog. She actually requested that I post. We are working on starting hobbies that we do together (We've agreed to disagree on the drawing of house plans and playing racquetball). So, here it goes...

Yesterday, we officially joined the caving subculture by attending the Arizona Regional Association spring camp out. We've been caving for the last 6 months or so but we've never done anything so official. We did our first-ever rappel using a rack and ascent using a "frog". Imagine a frog trying to climb a rope... that is kind of what we looked like. Jani loves hanging from a rope and opted out of a nicer cave just so she could do the rappel.

We weren't the only couple that showed up together but Jani was the only wife that went out with guys into the caves. Guys who love the outdoors are always jealous of my wife and her enthusiasm for adventure.

We were the only ones who showed up with liquid nitrogen. Geeks. Turns out that there are lots of geeks in the caving world (there was lots of geeking-out over GPS, mapping, ham-radio in the caves, etc.) and the liquid nitrogen ice cream was a great ice breaker.

Although we were geeky enough to fit into the caving culture we were under equipped. So, I guess we've got to spend that REI rebate and diet prize money now. Anybody have a used croll or handled ascender we can buy?

I am thankful for clotheslines!

I have wanted to buy a clothesline since we moved into this house and had a backyard, and I have wanted a nice retractable clothesline for even longer than that. Anyway, about two or three weeks ago I felt that I absolutely had no reason to keep waiting and just needed to buy a clothesline.I bought the clothesline I wanted online that very day. A week later, it came.

The next week, my dryer broke. Marshall rigged a temporary set up for the clothesline, and it will just barely dry one load at a time. Hurray! I have already dried three loads of laundry in the spring "Arid"zona air.

The saga continues with an even more unbelievable twist. I was co-hosting a baby shower for a friend of mine on Saturday, and as I was driving there, I passed this garage sale. There was this dryer—I had to ask.

“How much is your dryer?” I said.

“Everything is free,” they replied.

I had the minivan, so I quickly folded the seats forward and the gentleman of the house helped me load it into the back of the van. Marshall hooked it up last night (it is a gas dryer) and it works great!

I truly feel blessed in this situation. If I hadn't already purchased the clothesline, I would have been really stressed out when the dryer broke. Also, the fact that I now only about a week later have a working dryer again and it was free is truly another great blessing. Because shopping is so stressful for me.

So, the moral of the story is that I'm too blessed to be stressed.

However, I think I will still use the clothesline sometimes, because I love the crispness of line dried clothes, and especially the smell on towels and sheets.