Busy, Busy

School started last week. We realized that Nils actually has class on Mondays and Wednesdays, so that kind of sucks. Oh well. Perhaps one day we'll get through the abyss of education. We finally got our financial aid check this week. That's a big relief. Upon celebrating at Subway (yes, that's a celebration for us) we remembered that we have to pay property taxes in November. So there went that check! Sometimes we miss renting. We were able to get some things we've been needing, and that was barrels o' fun!
We bought Anders some underwear and a potty. He thinks the underwear takes the place of pants. He wants to wear them and nothing else. He'll also sit on the potty and say, "I need help pushing" or, "Peeing is too hard". He doesn't understand that it's something he has to do all on his own, and Mommy and Daddy can't help the pee or poo come out. Poor kid.
So I have to say- I don't like sharing my name with this major hurricane. Nils goes into work and people say, "So how many people did Katrina kill last night?" Hilarious, isn't it? Why can't it be Hurricane Bob or Jane? I don't like being associated with devastation. It's a little disturbing to watch CNN and see the headline "WRATH OF KATRINA" or "KATRINA'S FURY". I'm a nice girl! It really is sad, though. When these things happen, it puts things in perspective and makes you realize what's really important in life. Thanks a lot, Katrina.

The Half-Blood Prince

OK, so if you're not a Harry Potter fan- why not? I just finished reading the latest book- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I gotta say, it's great. My favorite book is probably still the 5th book: Order of the Phoenix. But what a great series. This is coming from a dummy who has read maybe 25 books or so in life. Reading has never been my favorite thing, mostly due to the fact that it requires solely the use of the mind and not of the hands. I'd prefer to create, to dream up, to build, to invent. But not so with Harry Potter. Ever since the first book I really liked reading about his adventures and the wizard world. I won't say much more. I just really enjoyed reading this latest book and the end is bittersweet. If you haven't read it, take a clue from this illiterate Winsted boy- Read it! If you haven't read any of them, you're in for a real treat. A fascinating tale that you'll love every minute of. Alright, soapbox removed. G'night.

The Joys of Fatherhood

I know that sounds like a sarcastic title but I really am going to write about the joys of fatherhood. I really love being a dad and I feel so lucky to have our two little squirts in our family. Some days I look at my kids and Katrina at the end of the day and I just feel like I've got it all. We're all healthy, we're all together, I don't work 600 hours a week, Katrina is a stay at home mom, we have a nice little home and two cars that run. I think we're doing alright. Yeah, we're broke and living almost paycheck to paycheck (the almost is because we run out of money three or four days before the next paycheck) but we have our family. Anders is so funny and clever and cute and sweet. Addie is so happy and adorable and sweet and fun. Katrina is the greatest wife a guy could ask for and I'm more in love with her now than I was during our late teen head over heels infatuation that most romances start with. That was just shy of 9 years ago! We don't make out as much but that's OK because we're old. OK, so we're not but we feel like it sometimes.
My point is that I love my little family and sometimes I feel overwhelmed with this connection that I have to them. It's a dad thing, I s'pose. Times are rough in many ways and things could be better but at the same time- they couldn't be any better. What an exciting time in life when we get to start a family and watch these little tiny babies grow and learn and grasp and struggle. There aren't many joys in life that compare. So that's my schpeel for tonight. G'night.

Why am I Awake?

It's almost 2 in the morning, and I'm not asleep. I've decided Addie needs to stop waking up in the night, so she's crying right now. And, being the neurotic mother that I am, I can't sleep when she's crying. I think most moms are this way. I don't know any dads who are. Nils is sleeping like a rock, completely oblivious to my personal mission. I also have a bad stomach ache. I don't know why I have a stomach ache. The last time I ate was at 6, and usually if something I eat bothers me, it's within an hour.
So I'm all hyper because I have a Pampered Chef party tomorrow (today, actually) in DELTA. I've never been to Delta before. It better be a good one, because I'm driving an hour and a half both ways to get there. I hope to make it as quick as possible. I'm kind of sad that I don't get to spend my Saturday evening with Nils and the kids. Well, maybe I'll make some money. Money is good. Okay, I'm going to check on Addie again to see how the crying is going for her. Good night.

Screaming child

I feel the need to convey my stress level right now. Addie has been screaming bloody murder for about 40 minutes now. I know I'm not unusual in this, but it stresses me out to listen to my children scream. I feel frustrated, guilty, sad, sorry for them...but mostly frustrated. She's EXHAUSTED. You would think the screaming would have worn her out by now. She refuses to give in, the little stinker. She seriously sounds like she's being tortured. At this point I'm debating whether it's even worth it. Bedtime is in an hour and a half, but I know if we do anything other than sit on the floor and play she'll fall asleep anyway. Anders is dying to go on a walk in the new stroller, but if I get her up and take her on a walk, she'll be out in 30 seconds and bedtime is shot. I hate teaching babies to sleep. It seems so cruel, but at the same time you could lose your mind trying to rock, feed, cuddle, soothe, all the while baby refuses to relax in your arms. She's so interested in what's going on, the cuddling doesn't work anymore. Just thought I'd share.

Jack Johnson

Tonight we're going to the Jack Johnson concert. Nils got us tickets for our anniversary in April, so this is very exciting. I'm in love with Jack Johnson. I've been to one other concert in my life, it was Ben Harper, and it was pretty lame. I was bored the whole time. I think tonight will be better because I actually know and like Jack's music, and it's out doors, and we're leaving our children with a babysitter. Actually, we're leaving them with Tom and Jamie, so I guess babysitterS would be more of an accurate term. But I digress.
So school starts tomorrow. Oh joy. I don't think this semester will be all that bad, actually. Nils is only taking 6 credits, and one of his classes is online. He'll be at school only 2 hours a week. So I think we might still like each other at the end of this semester. It's a little sad that summer is ending. I'm a happier person in the summer. Winter is not a great time for me. I think it has more to do with the time change. I hate when it gets dark at 5:00; it's depressing to even think about.
We're waiting with baited breath for our financial aid check(s) to arrive. How wondrous and great they are.
I have nothing more to say. I must shower. The RS President is coming to visit today, and I don't want to stink when she comes.

Good Saturday

Today was pretty busy, but it was a good day. Emmy hosted a Pampered Chef party for me today, and it was a lot of fun. I left at about 9:00 this morning for that, and got home at about 2:30, so it was pretty good time-wise. Harmony watched the kids for me, because Nils decided to scale a mountain in the middle of the night. But I'm s ure you'll hear all about that from him. We went shopping tonight. Addie has no clothes. She's starting to out grow her 3-6 month clothing, which is fine since she's 7 months old, but she has not a single item larger than 3-6 months. We found a bunch of stuff at Wal-Mart on clearance. We were able to get PJ's and onesises for ridiculously cheap, so she's stocked up on those for awhile. We went to the mall and I found the cutest shorts and shirts for next summer. 2 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts for $8! Sears has the best clearance racks. I love it. I've decided to search ebay for her winter clothing, since everything in the stores right now is too expensive.
On a different subject completely: Anders has had a tail for about 2 months now. You know, the tail that boys used to grow when they got their head buzzed, except for a piece in the back that they let grow long? Yep, Anders has had one. When I cut his hair last, he was resisting me pretty bad and tilting his head backwards, so I couldn't get the bit by his neck. Over the last couple months, his tail has grown to where people have started to notice it. We've tried to cut it, but he says, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO CUT MY TAIL!!" Well, tonight was the night. We bought him a Push Pop at the store for bribery purposes, and I was finally able to snip the tail off. What a relief. He freaked out a little, but at least it's gone.
Oh, good news. We bought a double stroller. It's the kind I wanted. We were able to scrounge up the money to buy one. It's so nice. Both kids really like it a lot, and I'm so happy that I can take them both on walks without having to put Addie in the carrier.
Alright, I'm pooped. Nils lost consciousness quite awhile ago, so I think I'll join in the realm of sleep. Good night.

Poverty

It's always a bad sign when you get 7 thin envelopes from the bank in your mailbox. That pretty much sums up the last week. We're retarded. We don't have enough money, but we think we do for some reason. I don't even want to talk about it. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening, which is why I haven't felt compelled to write anything all week. I really want a double stroller. We sold a bunch of formula on ebay, so I think we'll take the money from that and buy a stroller. We went to the mall tonight to look for a watch for Nils. It was his birthday Thursday and he has some birthday money to spend. Oh, his parents bought him a flat screen monitor for his birthday, so that's really nice. I don't honestly understand why it's worth spending $200, but whatever makes him happy. Our old monitor was pretty crappy, anyway. As I was saying, we went to the mall tonight and Addie loved it. She was laughing and sqealing the whole time. I think we're in trouble when she gets older if she loves the mall so much right now.
I'm so tired tonight I can't think straight. I still have to go to the gym, too. Oooohhhhh, the gym. My ball and chain. Au Revoir.

Our weekend

We got back from Vegas last night. When we say Vegas, we really mean Logandale. We actually did drive into Vegas to meet York & Luly and Nils' dad, Par, so that we could all have dinner together before Par had to fly out. I have no desire to "do Vegas" when we're there. So we spent the rest of the weekend in Logandale. It's a small little place with not much to do. We spent most of the time inside, since it is seriously hotter than H there. I tried running on Par's treadmill, but was afraid I might get electrocuted, what with the exposed wires and all. I lasted about five minutes. Anders and Xan played together pretty well, but Xan is going through a biting phase, so Anders fell victim to his fangs a few times. He's got a nice toothy mark on his forearm from yesterday morning. It's all good, though. On the way home we stopped in St. George to see my Grandma. It was pretty depressing. She didn't make any indication that she knew we were there. I tried talking to her, and she'd kind of open her eyes, but her look was pretty blank. It's kind of like she's just giving up.
The rest of the trip home was pretty decent, actually. No screaming fits from Anders! We borrowed Tom and Jamie's portable DVD player, so he was entertained by Thomas the Tank Engine and Elmo most of the time.
So this is the first week in forever that Nils will actually be able to come home from work and not have a billion and a half things to do. It's pretty exciting. Maybe we can actually spend quality time together as a family, and get some projects done around OUR house! That would be T-Riffic!

My Sigh of Relief

DONE! I'm pretty much done with my two latest head aches! I have completed all that I need to complete of the tile. Tom will be finishing up- what a relief! I also finished making the last of the 58 pens that I had to make. I will be putting them together tomorrow during work but I'm done turning (I think) so that's a huge relief, too. I feel pretty liberated tonight. It's the first time in a while that I haven't had some huge project hanging over me. I still have lots of projects to complete but no more pens and no more tile.
Tomorrow we're leaving for Vegas around 1 or 2. I'm pretty excited about it. We've need a little getaway for a while now. Not that this will be an amazing trip or anything but at least it's a weekend away. We're borrowing Tom and Jaime's DVD player for the van so that's gonna be a huge help. Anders watched Tomas the Tank Engine on the way home tonight and we were blown away. He sat there quietly and watched. He was good the whole way home. He's not always a cylclone of terror in the car but he certainly can be. We're gonna have to get one of them there DVD players. We just need to win one so that we don't have to pay for it. Let me know if you see any for free.
I bought a cool flashlight tonight. It's an LED light. It's got nine little bulbs in it and it shines very clearly and brightly. That was my belated father's day gift. I used a $20 gift card that Kathy had given me for Target. We also bought a new outfit for Anders and that Tomas the Tank DVD. We're taking Harmony (Gwen) on this trip with us so I hope she's feeling well and isn't too down. She's usually pretty fun to be around but she has a hard time when she gets really depressed. I can't say that I understand it but I guess I can imagine what it would be like. I don't have time for depression. I'm too busy. I just signed up for Math 1050 for the fall semester. This will be my third or fourth attempt at this class. There's a guy in my ward who was also in my mission who is now a math teacher and he said he'd help me out with it. I'll need lots of help. I'm a super sped (special-ed).
So I'm gonna have like 40 pens that I can sell now. That's pretty cool. I don't know how fast I'll be able to sell them or how much I can get them for but at least I get the pens (and some $) out of it. Also, all the pens I made get photographed and put in our Fall Catalog. That's pretty cool, too. I'll have my work in a catalog, so that's neat.
I'm gonna get some stuff ready for the trip now. I'm also going to read Harry Potter for a bit but I'm sure I'll fall asleep. It's a great book but Nils + reading= sleep. Rock on from Nizzle Foschizzle.

Here's the floor I've been tiling.

I'm Bald

I just got my haircut. It's always risky, but otherwise I look like a bushwoman with a pyramid hair-do. It's a good cut, I suppose, but it's really short. I always feel really insecure when my hair is really short. I don't think I have the kind of face to support a very short haircut. But what do I do? I just have to wait for it to grow. I'm sure I'll really like it in a month. Today was quite a day. Some days are non-stop, and some days never end. Today was non-stop, things to do. It's much more difficult to have a million things to do living in Springville. I have to squeeze everything into one trip because I'm not willing to drive to Provo or Orem 14 times a day. It makes for a tired mommy and worn out kids who are sick of being dragged around. Nils finished cutting all of the tile tonight. Hopefully my brother Tom will just finish the floor. There's not a ton that needs to be done. This project seriously needs to be out of our lives. We've made a committment not to go there anymore this week. It would be wonderful if by Monday when we're back from Vegas, it's just DONE!
Have you ever had an itch, and you scratch the part of you that's itchy, but you don't get any relief? That's happening to me right now. My knee itches, but it's not the source of it. I'm going a little crazy trying to scratch everywhere to figure out where it's coming from. I'm normal! I wish everybody could see. Alright, me and my bald head are going to do some laundry.