Christmas and all that

Christmas was dandy. We started shopping Thursday night. We're good people. It really didn't feel like Christmas this year. With moving, getting sort-of settled at my mom's, finals, and cold, cold weather...it just made it difficult to get into all of it. Anyhoo, I'm sort of glad it's over so we can focus on house finding to some degree. Having said that, Anders was thrilled on Christmas and enjoyed it immensely, so at least one member of our family had the Christmas spirit. The above picture just might be my favorite of Anders EVER. He was checking out his other presents, but humoring dad by giving a nice fake smile. I love it.

Sickness wise, I'm starting to feel better. I still have a bit of nausea at night, but as long as I have a mint or mint gum I'm okay. My appetite has returned, which I'm very grateful for. I'm still not crazy about sweets and baked goods, but I suppose that's a blessing in the long run.

Nils' family came up Wednesday night and is staying until Saturday. They're staying with Grove and Andi in Eagle Mountain, so we went to their house last night to see everyone and to do the Rasmusson Christmas exchange. We haven't seen everyone since July, so it was a lot of fun. We left at 12:15 a.m. I don't think Anders and Addie have ever been up that late. Everyone was so tired, needless to say. It's almost 10:00 and they are still sleeping. That's nuts.

I just want to give a shout out to our fellow bloggers Dave and Holly- you two are probably two of three people that have read this thing, so thanks and welcome! By the way, yours is fabulous.

Regression

We moved out of our townhouse on Saturday. We close on it this Friday, but Nils has finals this week and wanted to move before all that. Where did we move, you ask? My mom's basement, thank you very much. We haven't had time to look for a house. We've been out a couple of times, but I've been so sick that I can't handle the process. I now associate house hunting with vomiting, and it's just not good. We're hoping that we can start looking for real next week after finals are over and our house is closed on, etc.

I went to the doctor for my first prenatal visit last week. The first thing he did that gave me joy was prescribe me anti-nausea medicine. I'm going to fill it tonight. I haven't had time with packing, moving and all that crap. I'm excited to see if it works. Since I've had pregnancy induced hypertension in the past, and my last baby weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz., I've been instructed to gain no more than 15 pounds, to exercise as much as possible, and not eat salt. Believe it or not, I was really glad to get those guidelines. The doctor was optimistic about the outcome of this pregnancy, so that made me optimistic as well. I've been a little nervous given Addie's traumatic birth and first few weeks of life. Hopefully all will go well with this one.

Anders and Addie are loving living at Grandma's house. Anders got into bed with me this morning and said, "Mommy, I like living at Grandma's house", and this afternoon he said, "Grandma's house is so nice!" Addie woke up this morning and first thing went upstairs looking for grandma. They're funny little whipper-snappers.

Katrina is faking it. She's not even pregnant.

Whoa- everything's different. I'm a bit surprised that Katrina changed the look of the blog. Go Katrina! Right now Anders is hugging me for the third time in the last two minutes.... fourth now. He's not letting go. Aaaah, my Anders. He's really happy because I told him that we could stay up and have a 'Special Night' tonight. That means that he doesn't have to go to bed at 8- instead, he and I get to hang out and stay up late. Last time we watched Cars together. This time we're gonna play a racing game (Burnout Revenge- mostly for Dad) and then we'll watch a fun movie of sorts. You know, like Saw 2 or something. Or The Ring... or Elmo.
So I've been busy. Katrina's last posts are funny. You can tell how much she's enjoying the pregnancy. I do what I can to clean up, keep the kids amused, help cook and most importantly: attend to Katrina's every last need. That mostly involves little trips downstairs or upstairs or to the store for water, medicine, salt & vinegar potato chips, cereal, a blanket or whatever else she stands (or lies) in need of. Sometimes I'm a grump about it but I really don't mind. I'm just glad men don't have to have babies. I think I would pass away. Thanks for having our babies, Katrina. I sure love 'em. Speaking of which, our little one is now 3 inches long. I'm excited. He's got a massive head and looks a bit tadpole-ish, but he's cute. Or so our Baby Center e-mails tell us.
Work is going really well. I've been really busy the last few days because my bosses have tons of crap that they're eBaying off. I mean- I'm eBaying off. I think I've got 24 items up right now, which should bring in about six thousand dollars. Mostly giant gumball machines. The make 'em. Not my bosses, but the people at the company. I've been working a lot on our new company website. Talk about a portfolio booster- check this out. Here's the current website and here's a preview of the new version. It doesn't work in Firefox because the server technology is old but that was supposed to get update today by our host. Sorry. Anyway, I really like doing web design and everyone is really glad that I'm there. They need a lot of help when it comes to design and web presence and anything aesthetic. I'm not the best but I'm alright- a lot better than what they've had in the past. I also get to work on a Mac Pro with dual 2.66ghz DuoCore Intel Processors, which is hooked up to my 30" cinema display. Oh, it's tough.
By the way, if anyone is reading this, check out my company's other site- it's for the gaming simulators that they make. This one looks ten times better but I'm gonna redo it and make it ten times better again. But the product is so cool. I'm gonna have to get one for a Christmas Bonus- or something. They're giving me a $5,000 bonus when we buy our new house but I don't think I'll be able to talk Katrina into letting me use that to buy a game simulator. Oh well. I'll have to play at work instead. Well, Anders and I have some racing to do now. Not on a $5,000 simulator, but on my sweet 27" TV, and my six and a half year old couch. Until next time.

The Candy Man Can!

Friday night my throat started to hurt. Saturday, during the Super Saturday I helped coordinate, I started to feel absolutely horrible. Saturday night, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I wanted to die. Certainly a virus would start to improve after 5 days, right? I finally went to the doctor yesterday, and the kind man gave me a Z-Pack and Tylenol with codeine. I can't believe the difference. I don't feel 100%, but I can get out of bed now and not want to die. I think I had strep throat. The doc didn't do a strep test, but indicated my symptoms were either viral or strep. Thank you, Zithromax. Mix pregnancy and vomiting in with strep and we've got ourselves a party, people! I'm so thankful to be feeling better. I was really starting to think I'd never get well. My house is such a wreck. I got up this morning to find the downstairs in shambles. Crayons and play-doh all over the floor, sticky counters, dirty dishes in the sink, garbage overflowing, laundry overflowing. Our room smells like sickness. I think I'm going to sanitize, sterilize and disinfect everything today. It's so interesting to see how everything around here falls apart when Mom's not available. Nils put Addie to bed in her clothes last night. Bless his soul, he really does what he can.

We're having Thanksgiving at my mom's tomorrow. I asked her what my assignment was, and she told me nothing because she doesn't want me throwing up while trying to cook. Excellent point. I think we're going to get some frozen pies and bake them. I think I can handle that.

I'll be 12 weeks on Friday, and I'm hoping the sickness just magically disappears. Wouldn't that be fabulous?

SOLD

We sold our house in four days. All I did was put a sign up. No ads, no listings, no agents, nothing. We got full price for it, too. I think we have to be out by December 15. Crazy.

I went grocery shopping yesterday and was on the verge of puking the whole time. When I got home I went to get the food out of the van and I actually retched. It was lovely. I want cravings. I crave cravings. Instead I have stupid aversions to everything except cereal. It's the only thing that doesn't make me gag.

So I'm hoping my last day working at the gym is Thursday. I haven't written anything about my crappy job, have I? Well, I hate it. I hate it less now that I'm quitting, but I've hated it from the first day. The time goes so slowly. It's boring, despite the 12 thousand children there. Sometimes it smells like poo, and you just can't figure out why. Obviously some kid is poopy, but pinpointing which one is tricky and sometimes dangerous. I think I also hate it because I don't feel well. No one knows I'm pregnant, so I have to snarf crackers in the back room so I don't heave all over the children. I also just hate having to commit my time to a job. I'm not used to that anymore, so I resent it now. Fortunately the whole moving situation gave me an easy out, so I didn't have to come up with some lame excuse as to why I wanted to quit after a month of working there. I'm scheduled for next Wednesday, but I marked that someone can pick up the shift if they want it. I really want to be done with that place.

Feeling Whiney

Humor me while I have a little whine session. I'm so sick. This is the worst it's ever been. I don't know if it's having 2 kids already or if this pregnancy is just doing me in, but I feel awful. In the past I've had nausea, but it was controllable as long as I ate regularly. Now, I can barely choke food down, and I still don't feel better. The likelihood of me puking is decreased, but I don't feel much better. I'm feeling quite cheated of cravings as well. I have no cravings. Everything sounds disgusting and makes me gag.

Also, I'd like to complain about the frequency of my feeling nauseous. In the past, it's been limited to the evenings. I'm currently nauseous all waking hours of the day. It's really annoying, and it makes me crabby and irritable. I announced to Nils last night that I won't be cooking anymore until further notice. I'm very fortunate to have a kind, understanding and patient husband. He lets me lay around. Last night I laid on the bed and watched him fold laundry. He even put it all away. I love him.

Gripe session over. 'Til next time.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Good heavens, where do I begin? The week before last when Nils was at school he heard about a possible website gig. A company in Salt Lake wanted a new website and wanted a student to do it. Nils has been doing a lot of freelance stuff lateley, so he e-mailed the guy and set up an interview for last Tuesday. (He was deathly ill with the runs and puking all day, but went anyway. So glad he did!) He took a portfolio and a sample of a new website he had designed. They started talking about all these other things they wanted done for them, which they were planning on outsourcing. Nils does all of those things either professionally or has taken classes in them. They told him they wanted him to work for them full time. He gave them a salary number, and Thursday they called him with an offer. He'll accept it tomorrow. It's all very sudden and strange, and we're still processing it. The only negative is that we have to move. They were pretty clear with him that it's not realistic to live in Springville and commute to Salt Lake every day and be happy about it. So, we have to sell our beloved townhouse and head north somewhere. We have no idea where we'll live or what kind of house we'll get, but it feels like the right thing to do. He's been with Craft Supplies for almost five years, so this is really a major life change. I'm sad because I have a lot of really good friends here. I love opening my door and having an instant party with friends and neighbors. I'll really miss that.

The next item of news is a big secret, but since no one reads this it doesn't matter. We found out about three weeeks ago that we're having a baby in June-ish. I must say it was a little surprising; I got my IUD out at the end of August. It's taken at least 5 months with our other kids. This one took about 3 minutes. Someone's anxious to get here! Anyway, we're very excited. I've been pretty sick though, and that sucks.

So the above two items are pretty major- we're in for an exciting next few months. I'll try my best to keep writing. I've been feeling pretty darn lazy lately, so no promises!

Update on Life

It's been forever since I wrote. I'm not sure why, exactly. Maybe because Nils is on the computer most of the time when I could write, or maybe I haven't really felt like writing. Who knows? Anyhoo, here's the latest exciting news at the Rasmusson compound:

I got a job working at the gym daycare. It's really the best situation I could ask for in a job. I get to take my kids, and it's only a couple of 3 or 4 hour shifts a week. I'll be working more than that the next month or so, because I'm filling in wherever they need me. I started Tuesday.

Nils is exceedingly busy with school and work. When he's home he's doing homework. Since we see light at the end of the tunnel, we don't complain too much.

We had our carpet cleaned this week. It was disgusting and made me want to vomit every time I looked closely at it.

There's a mystery smell in our van. It stinks to high heaven in there, and we can't find a source. I'm not sure I want to. We bought some Febreze just in case.

Anders and Addie are both doing well. Addie's a little spit-fire. We call her our ice princess sometimes. She's very smart and is figuring things out. Anders is learning how to write his name, and is really into mechanical pencils right now. He loves coloring and playing with Play-doh. Both kids love playing outside with the neighbor kids.

So long!

Catching Up- It's been a while...

Hello world, it's the long lost Nils. I haven't written much lately because I'm insanely busy. I'm currently typing from a borrowed laptop in the Galt Room Hotel in Louisville, KY. I'm here on "business" (that's what all of us drug lords say). I thought I'd do a quick catch up entry since it's been a while. School started- hence my absence. I don't mind school so it's OK. I just wish I had a little more time to spend with my family. Katrina and I decided that I should attend school full time until I'm done. At this rate, I'll be pretty much done by this time next year. It will have been 11 years since I started at UVSC. I rule. I'm excited at the prospect of finishing, though. I see change in my future. Katrina and I talk a lot about ambitions and goals and potential and we both feel that I'm headed for something better in the next couple of years. I'm doing some websites on the side right now and I feel like I can earn some decent side money from them if I keep at it. I have a few names in mind of people that I could contact to see if they're interested in having me do a website for them. I finished my first paid site for a guy named Mike Mahoney (www.bowlmakerinc.com). My brother helped me but I think it came out pretty good. I'm working on two more right now. One is in exchange for my old amplifier (I sold it and am now trading it back for a website). The other is for $750. I'll keep upping the price as my skills increase because I think I produce some pretty good work, if I do say so myself. Perhaps my many years of classes and dinkin' around are starting to pay off. That's what I can see myself doing after graduation, though- working for a larger company doing website design for more money. I have been with Craft Supplies USA for 4 years and I have always enjoyed working there but the winds of change are arriving, in my opinion. In the words of a song by someone I don't know, "We were meant live for so much more." It's true.
Anyway, I'm taking Web Languages, Web Design, Interaction Design and Senior Projects. They're all pretty time consuming and I'm doing an OK job so far. We'll see how well I hold up through the semester. I plan to attend my first (and last) summer semester immediately following this semester so we'll see how that goes, too. Should be a blast.
While I'm blogging, I want to express my thanks. I have so much to be thankful for. Topping my list is my wife. She's the best. She supports me and pushes me to go further, be better, live up to my potential. She does this without being demeaning or condescending, which is tough to pull off. She's just good for me, and good to me. Her cooking is the best on Earth, her mothering skills are unmatched, her kindness and consideration towards others is inspiring. To top it all off, after 10 years together, I couldn't be more attracted to her. I'm sure she's sick of me but I think she's the hottest thing on two legs. In case you're wondering, I don't think that there are hotter things on four legs or anything-- that's just gross. So what I'm trying to say is that I'm one lucky son of a gun to call Katrina Rasmusson my wife.
Not only do I have Katrina but I have these two adorable little kids that are ours! Anders is a funny, happy, kind little guy that I love to spend time with. I can't imagine my life without him and he really makes me want to be a great person and an awesome dad so that he can have a lifetime of excellent memories with dad. Then there's Addie. She's got me wrapped around her finger. I call her my little potato because she's so small, but she can make me smile from the inside out. She's cute and funny and temperamental and feisty and sweet and earnest all at the same time. She tries hard to learn new things, say new things and do what the big kids do and she gets frustrated when she can't. But sometimes she gets in a silly mood and just cracks us up.
We have a nice little home, two working cars, a good job, friends, family, health, the Gospel, our education and so much more. Hopefully we can one day contribute as much as we've already received. I'm reading a book right now called First Things First by my man Stevie Covey and his homies. I'm not too far into it yet but I'm already seeing the importance of living your life based on importance rather than urgency. I hope I can improve on that and live up to my potential in the most important areas of my life.

Thinking Positive

This week we sort of stumbled into the secret of life. Listen closely, because this is it: Positive thinking. It's a long story, but we were given a movie all about the law of attraction and how to get what you want out of life, etc. This week we've been trying to think positive and make goals. Supposedly when you do this, opportunities open up, ideas come to you and all your wildest dreams come true. It may sound as if I'm being sarcastic (I am a little) but I actually believe it. If you focus on only negative things, those are the things that are persistent in life. If you focus on positive things and are thankful for them, those are what persist in life. Anyway, we've been devising ways to get rich. I realized I have a billion articles of Anders' clothing stuffed in his closet, dresser, etc. that are too small. When he was a baby, I actually shopped at name brand stores for him, so I've got tons of stuff that's quite sellable. I got it all out today, and what an overwhelming task. Sorting, sorting, sorting. Our bedroom is completely covered in clothes. We put a few of Addie's old things on ebay, hopefully they'll sell. It's all cute stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to get to all of Anders' things. I can't believe how much there is. The kid isn't even 4! I'm sure there's more to write about, but I'm pooped. Bonsoir.

Moab

We went to Moab this last weekend. Most of my family went for a family reunion of sorts. It was fun. We stayed in this crappy house called the Watermelon House; basically a really old, triple-wide trailer decorated with garage sale finds resembling watermelons. It sleeps around 20 people, so we all fit just fine. We went to Arches, which I've decided is my favorite National Park of all, Canyonlands, and drove down the Colorado River to Castle Valley. We were able to hike the Delicate Arch trail while Grandma and a couple of sisters stayed with the kids. Everyone had a good time, which is saying a lot for my family spending 3 1/2 days together. Check out the pictures on our website, www.nilscreations.com/nilsandkatrina, and you can even take a tour of the Watermelon at www.lazylizardhostel.com. I promise you'll love it. It makes it look way nicer online, but don't be fooled! We stayed on the upper level. Totally sweet.

In other exciting news, Nils came home from work yesterday feeling sick. We were pretty much out of food, so he ate manicotti and dehydrated mangos for lunch. He says the mangos made him sick. He was sick all night at school, too. When we got home he got Addie out of the van and proceeded to vomit all over our sidewalk. It was really disgusting. He threw up a lot. I thought about calling our HOA president to come clean it up, but you know, I probably would have just been yelled at. Anyhoo, he was totally fine after he puked. Funny how that works.

HOA Revolution!

We got a flier on our door about a week ago stating that our doors would be painted on a certain date and time, and we were to be home to allow the painters access, etc. That day was today and yesterday. The painters painted 7 doors yesterday. The doors were being painted red and yellow; one door red, the next door yellow, etc. Kind of a golden, iradescent yellow. Disgusting. The exterior of our buildings are grey/taupe, earthy tone. The doors have all been black up to this point and look simply smashing. Since we're part of a home owner's association, and no home owners actually remember voting on drastically changing the appearace of our homes, we started a revolution. I opened my door to the painter this morning at 8:30, and told him I didn't want my door painted. I knocked on several other doors and told them not to let their doors be painted. We called our management company, HOA president, and knocked on doors to get people riled up. Apparently our HOA president and one guy at the management company decided to paint the doors these wretched colors without telling anyone. Excuse me? Is Ronald McDonald taking over here? We all met out on the street this morning, HOA president, management company guy, and a mob of angry homeowners. It was fabulous. The HOA president acted like the victim, crying that no one appreciates all he does for us, blah blah blah. The moron from the management company tried to patronize us by "explaining" that this is how it works, and this is how government works, too, stupid-stay-at-home moms. We explained to him that in government there are checks and balances, thanks. Long story short: our doors are staying black.

Thank you, and remember to FIGHT THE POWER!

My Friend the Freeway

On my way to the gym today, while on the freeway, the car in front of me swerved out of the way. Out of the way of what, you ask? Why, a mattress. I didn't have time to swerve, so I hit the mattress. It got stuck under the van so I had to pull over. Hmmm. Me, the kids, the freeway- it's all sounding familiar, don't you think? I got out to assess the situation, and the mattress was stuck under my van. Then I smelled smoke. I turned off the vehicle, got the kids out, and waited for it to blow up. Springs were everywhere. About 2 minutes passed and a highway patrolman stopped to help me. He assured me the van wouldn't blow up, so we all got back in, and he was able to shimmy the thing out somehow after about 10 minutes. Holy crap. I'm not driving anymore. Some moron is probably looking for their mattress right now- I hope they have to sleep on the floor for awhile.

Happy Birthday, Nils!

Today is Nils' birthday. He's 28, just like his old woman. He makes fun of me often because I'm 7 months older than him. Punk. Anyhoo, we went to lunch at Brick Oven today, and it was yummy. I have had a horrible headache all week. I thought it was getting better yesterday, but this morning I started getting extremely dizzy. I feel carsick. We're supposed to climb Mt. Nebo tonight. The plan is to leave at 2 a.m. so we can be at the top by sunrise, and be home before it's too hot. Harmony and Ben are sleeping over so we can do this. That is, if I'm not too ill.

For Nils' birthday, he got a TV tuner card, and a Bonsai Tree. Let's talk about the tree, shall we? He took a sudden, strange & obsessive interest in Bonsai trees. He asked his parents for one, and pretty much the next day we had one on our doorstep. He's named it Bonsie. He feeds it with a sippy cup. He refers to it as one of the children. Should I worry?

On a different subject, I think I'm getting released from my primary pianist calling. I can't even to begin to say how happy that makes me. It's been well over a year. I didn't mind it so much for a long time, but the last couple of months have been close to torture for me. I am so bored. I miss Relief Society tons. I have about 45 minutes when it's sharing time for Jr. and Sr. and I have nothing to do. This is inbetween when Sunday School ends and Relief Society begins, so I don't get to hear any sort of lesson. I usually catch announcements in RS and then have to leave. I heard through the grapevine that they have a replacement for me and everything, but I haven't officially been told that I'm getting released. I wonder if it will just happen during sacrament meeting, or if I get called in and they do it personally. I don't think I've ever been officially released before. We always move first. Either way, do it, and do it soon, people!

High School

This Saturday is my 10-year high school reunion. Weird! I've been looking forward to it for quite sometime, but now that it's approaching, I'm feeling a bit anxious. It's really retarded, but all of a sudden I feel like I'm in high school again. There are several people in my ward that I graduated with- strange coincidence. One in particular is driving me nuts. She's seriously stressing about what she's going to wear, how her hair looks, and that she's gained weight. I think it's safe to say the vast majority of us have gained some weight. Especially those of us who have born children. We're 10 years older, for crying out loud. Anyhoo, I thought that ten years later people would be mostly over the whole high school image thing, but this girl is making me have a complex. It's really not healthy. Which brings up another point:

I feel that there is undue pressure on people to look a certain way, be a certain way, have certain things at a certain time, etc. I know it's cliche- society makes it so. I guess I'm feeling it pretty bad at this point in my life. I don't get it, though. I know I'm blessed. I have a wonderful husband, two great kids, a nice little home, cars that work, etc. A lot of people around me totally obsess about appearance, and it's really bumming me out. It's making me actually think these shallow things are important; I don't like it. When are you thin enough? When do you make enough money? When do you have to stop upgrading? It's so dumb. I can't even think about it anymore. Maybe when this stupid reunion is over I'll feel better.

Photo Album of Our Trip

You've seen Katrina's report of our trip but now you can see the accompanying photos. I posted them on our website so you can see them with captions. Enjoy!

SEE THE PHOTOS!

Oh my- What a week!

So this last week has been just crazy. Last week was filled with wedding festivities. All of Nils' family was there, so it was quite monumental having everyone in the same place at the same time. Monday we all went to Zion Ponderosa Resort for a family reunion. It was pretty fun. They have all sorts of outdoor adventures/activities. We tried camping, but that only lasted one night. When we realized that everyone else was staying in a very cushy house, we managed to switch over for the second night. When the reunion was over on Wednesday, Nils, the kids and I drove to the Grand Canyon- the South Rim. We were told that is the more spectacular of the two rims, and an additional couple hundred miles away. It took seven hours from Zion NP! The kids were hysterical by the time we got there. We stayed in a lodge inside Grand Canyon NP- $120 for mediocrity- but now we know. Yesterday we tried to take a shuttle bus along the rim for a nice free tour, but Addie was just not having it. She screamed and tantrumed the entire time. People on the bus were looking at us like we were insane for bringing small children to the Grand Canyon in the first place. We were able to see an adequate portion of it. Our visit lasted about 17 hours, including the overnight stay. We decided to drive home, but once we hit Kanab, we realized we were two hours from Nils' parents house in Logandale, NV, or 5 1/2 hours from home. Addie screamed pretty much the whole way from the Grand Canyon, so we drove to Logandale and spent the night. This morning we drove to St. George with Nils' dad and spent a few hours at the Fiesta Fun Center playing mini golf, go-carts, etc. We drove home, and the kids actually slept the majority of the way. We had a goal of not coming home until Sunday, but it's tough to wing a vacation with an 18-month old. Anders was great. He was great in the van and a great sport no matter what we were doing. Addie, on the other hand, not so much. We will delay any serious traveling until she's a little more reasonable.

Weddings & Punch Bowls

Nils' sister is getting married on Saturday. This week is filled with pre-wedding festivities, like the bridal shower (last night) and the bachelorette party (tonight- I won't be attending) the wedding tomorrow and the reception. All of Nils' family is scattered around the country, so everyone is migrating this way. After the wedding, there is a family reunion in Zions NP starting Monday. Busy busy. I borrowed my mom's punch bowl for the shower last night. She's had it for a gazillion years. This morning I washed it, dried it, placed it carefully in it's box, took it out to the van to keep it safe. Then I dropped it, and shattered it. I feel like throwing up. I don't know if she'll be really upset or not. I'm worried because she lent it to someone a few years ago, and they lost the ladle. She's been talking about that ever since. I found the exact same bowl set on ebay, and as luck would have it, it has no ladle. I need to ask her if she wants the same set, or if she wants a new set with a ladle.

Way to go, Katrina. Butterfingers.

Jewelry

I have a complex about accessories. I don't know if it's the way I was raised or what, but I have a hard time wearing jewelry. I feel like a hooker if I wear big earrings, big necklaces, etc. I also can't wear lipstick; pretty sure I'll never get over that one. Anyhoo, I went to a bead party a few weeks ago and made some really cute stuff, and gave it to my mother-in-law. Then I saw everyone in my ward wearing their cute earrings and bracelets and necklaces, so I was sad and covetous. There was another bead party last night so I went and made up my mind to get over myself. I made two bracelets and some earrings that are quite large, and I must say I love them. I know I'll have very little trouble wearing the bracelets, but I'll have to ease into the earrings.

This is the last 15 hour day that Nils and I have. It's his last day at his second job. Yay! This week has been great. He worked Monday, but had Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights off. It makes the hugest difference. Anders is much happier when his daddy's around. So am I, as a matter of fact. I got the worst headache last night, and I'm still feeling it this morning. I hope I can keep it at bay through this long day.

Friday!

It's been a long week. Nils got home on Sunday at noon. He caught an earlier flight and got home 12 hours earlier than anticipated. What a good husband I have. He quit his second job again, but gave them two weeks notice this time. He's worked every night this week and is working a couple of nights next week, but then he's done after that. Halleluja! He doesn't have to work tomorrow, and it will be the first Saturday we've had together in a couple of months.

I've been going to physical therapy for a couple of weeks now. I'm skeptical that it's working, but the experience itself isn't all that bad. Everyone there is pretty chipper and jokey, so it's really just a barrel of laughs. I'm banned from running until my knee "calms down". I like running because I feel like I'm shaking the fat off faster. So this is a bummer.

The Day My Tire Fell Off

One of my back tires has been low the last few days. I've been filling it up with air, and I thought I'd let Nils take care of getting it fixed since he's the man and everything. He's gone until Monday, but I didn't think the thing would actually FALL OFF. Yesterday I drove to Sandy, filled up the tire on the way back, and went to Target. On my way home from Target, I heard a really loud noise and thought, "Wow, whoever's making that noise is screwed". Then I saw smoke billowing around me, and I realized that I was the one making all the noise. Oh, this was all happening on the freeway, by the way. So I managed to make it to the University Parkway exit, pulled to the side, and watched as my tire rolled away. I didn't panic or freak out or anything, but I didn't really know what to do. I realize that we could have died, so I'm immensely grateful that nothing happened. Anyway, I called my mom to see if she could look up a number for me, and she was acting all freaked out like she didn't know what to do so that got me frustrated. Nils being gone, my tire falling off on the freeway, my mother acting incompetent; it was all too much for me at that moment, so I started bawling my head off. A man stopped to help me, and this is what he saw: A stupid girl talking on her pink cell phone, crying, two kids in tow, no back right tire. Classy. He put the spare on, gave me lecture on tires, and that was that. Thank goodness this guy stopped. I hope he knew I was thankful.

I went to Big O this morning and got new tires, and they gave me a package deal for a trip to Disneyland. Nice.

Good News, Bad News

I'll start with the bad news. Nils has to go on another trip tomorrow. This one is particularly bad. He leaves tomorrow (Tuesday), and his flight gets back Sunday night at 11:00 pm. That's pretty much a whole week, and I'm a little bitter about it. It's his third trip in a month. This time he's going to Louisville for a woodturning convention. He found out about this one on Friday. Another guy was supposed to go, but his wife is having premature labor. Geez, nice excuse. Just kidding. He'll probably get a few extra vacation days out of it, so I guess it's fine. So that's the bad news. The good news is that Nils got a raise. Being the beast wife I am, I made him ask for a significant raise about a month ago. He talked to his superiors a couple of times, and they seemed to drag their feet forever about it. So Friday when they broke the news to him that he had to go on another trip, they softened the blow with the news of a raise. This will help us a lot. We're not rich by any means, but now we can afford to live, and we might even be able to save a little. What a novel concept! Nils is still going to work his second job a few nights a week so we can save money for a trip to Disneyland in November. My whole family is going to attempt to caravan to Disneyland before the holidays. I smell a Griswald Family Vacation in the making! Nils and I haven't had a real trip/vacation in a long time, so I'm looking forward to it.

Other exciting news: I have patellar tendonitis. I don't even know what that means, but it hurts and I'm annoyed. The dr. said I need physical therapy. I think I need mental therapy as well.

Mysterious Future

So it's been quite a week. Nils was gone all of last week. He was home Saturday night and Sunday, but back to it all on Monday. He didn't see the kids at all on Monday, which I think is sad and must be weird for him. On Tuesday, I was having a bad day. The kids seemed to be on one, and I was getting frustrated and feeling quite overwhelmed. I called Nils bawling and he came home, even though he was on his way to his second job. Good husband. He came home and quit the job. We decided to be poor and happy instead of less poor and on the verge of insanity all the time. Got an e-mail from second job boss, saying he'd be willing to have Nils work a couple nights a week instead of every night AND Saturdays. That I think I can handle. 3 nights a week is like school. We've always done that, so I think I can handle it. We'll see what happens. Nils is supposed to be discussing his future with the superiors at job #1, and if the discussion goes well, he might not need a second job at all. That would be super swell.

I went to Lagoon yesterday with the kids, my brother & family, and my mom. It was pretty fun. Going with the kids made it all about them, so I spent most of the time on the kiddie rides. I did manage to sneak in a few good ones. I got stung by a bee in the process. I was getting off the Wild Mouse, and felt a stinging on my leg. I lifted up my pant leg to see what it was, and a bee flew out. I felt so violated. I've never been stung by anything. I had a life goal of never getting stung, and this sneaky little piece of crap bee ruined it for me. Anders did really well on the rides. I thought he might freak out a little, but once he got going he had a blast. He and I rode on the skyride, and he wanted to ride on the ferris wheel. I hate that ferris wheel, so I told him when he gets a little older, he can ride it with Dad. It was a fun day for him, so I'm glad we went. Addie ate licorice all day, and thought it was funny to run away from me. Yes, that's hilarious at an amusement park. I couldn't believe that they were conscious the whole ride home. We left the park at 8:30, and when we got home at almost 10, they were still awake. WHAT?

New Phone

Nils got home from Chicago last night around 9:30. He works today, tonight, tomorrow day, tomorrow night, and Saturday day. I told him I'd see him Sunday.

On Tuesday the kids and I were outside playing with the neighbors. Anders was playing with my phone. The kids went over to a drain in our common area, and the rest is history. I don't think he dropped it in there on purpose, but the phone was submerged in sludge. The neighbors and I were able to construct a fishnet/pole and get it out, but there was no saving the poor little guy. I took it apart, but nothing could be done. So I bought a new phone yesterday. I had no idea that it would cost $170, but what choice do I have? I thought I'd make lemonade out of lemons, and I bought myself a pink one. So I'm now the owner of a $170 pink cell phone. I could do a lot with $170- but there it is. A stupid phone. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...stupid technology.

Update

Saturday I ran the Nestle/Art City Days 5k. It was quite fun, actually. There were about 1800 runners/walkers, so it was crazy to see the streets of Springville literally clogged with people. I ran with two of my friends. My time was 28:34. It would have been better, except I started dry heaving at the end, so I couldn't sprint to finish. I was pretty angry about that, but I feel good about the race overall. All of my miles were under 10 minutes, and it was fun running with friends. There was a huge raffle at the end, and they had tons of food for everyone. Nils and the kids came at the end, so that was cool. It was a really fun event. I want to do more of them, so I'm thinking about the Freedom Festival 5k on July 4. It's $20 to enter, though. Geez. I'd like to not dry heave. It's so stupid. I've always dry heaved at the end of races. Whatupwitdat?

My mom took Anders for the afternoon yesterday. They went to the mall, played at her house for awhile, went to see some cousins, and came home. He was SO excited all day for her to come get him. Addie and I went shopping while they were gone. She was really good the whole time. She just sat in her stroller and behaved, which was a little unexpected at this age. My mom bought Anders at new "Cars" t-shirt, and it's 3 sizes too big for him. He's completely in love with it, though and wants to wear it today, even though he wore it the second she bought it for him yesterday. The neck hole is so big it hangs off his shoulders and the bottom of it goes to his mid-thigh. Ahh, to be 3.

I do nothing at work.

Here I am at my second job, taking calls for Bronson Vitamins. Here's how it works. I enter in a ton of mail orders and then I sit at my desk and surf the web until 9PM, answering an occasional phone call. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off from Craft Supplies to work here all day and get my official training but I've been here for two weeks and I can't imagine I'll be learning much. Oh well. After that, I will only have to do as many mail orders as the rest of the guys. Currently I do about 200 orders a day and I enter them very quickly compared to anyone else here (at least that's what I've noticed). Maybe I should slow down so they stop giving me work. Anyway, I think this is an ideal second job because starting Friday I will take calls, do some mail orders and still have several hours of leisure time. I'm connected to the phone at all times but I can read, surf the web, pick my nose, eat ice cream or whatever else tickles my fancy. I hope to get a raise at Craft Supplies any time now so that I don't have to work here forever. Even though this is a pretty decent second job, it sucks being gone for 16 hours/day.
I know nobody reads this (except you, Emmy- you're cool) but I have to express my excitement about being able to get a new PDA. I am what's known as an UberDork. I revel in my geekdom. I'm building a website for a guy right now (because I have so much free time, and no- I can't really do it at work) and he's paying me $500 so Katrina and I are splitting the cash and blowing it on whatever we want. I want a pimpin' PDA. Why? I use my PDA quite a bit but I'd use it even more if it were more stable and more capable. I'm looking into getting a new one that costs around $290 and is the ultimate PDA. I will be able to surf the web wirelessly, connect to my computer at work and at home wirelessly, watch compressed DVD's, listen to tons of music, do all of the Microsoft office stuff, check email, play games and a lot more with this little bad boy. I'm excited. I'm gonna be getting a Dell Axim X51v so I'm pretty excited. I have to save up a few bucks first, so that demonstrates a major commitment for me. I'm not good at waiting for my geeky toys but I really wan to get this and I'm willing to wait and save up for it. I'm selling my old PDA and a few pens hopefully so that I can finance the rest of the cashola. Sorry to bore you with this. Rant over.
I'm off of work in a few minutes so I'm going to log off. I look forward to coming home to my sweet Katrina. She's the rockinest. Hopefully I'll get some web design stuff done tonight so I can get my hands on that $500 that much sooner. Tchau.

Memorial Day

Nils had to work on Saturday, but we spent the night out together as a family. He had Sunday and Monday off. It was nice. Yesterday we went out shopping. We got some stuff for the kids, and I got some new clothes to wear to the gym. I tried them on when we got home and I hate all of them, except one pair of pants. I'll be returning the others. Speaking of the gym, I attended a Pump class today. I've been to one other class in my life- a step class, and it was horrible. This was a little better. I think my legs will be sore tomorrow. I'm running a 5k on Saturday morning. I haven't run a race since I was a freshman in high school, so it should be interesting. I ran the course a couple of weeks ago, and it was relatively easy. I hear they have good raffle prizes at the end, like Little Giant Ladders and stuff like that, so it should be a barrel 'o' laughs. Nils doesn't have to work on Saturday, so he'll come to the race, and then we can spend the day together. He's going to Chicago again on Sunday, and will be gone until Wednesday. Then the whole work thing starts all over again. Goodness.

What a Week

This has been the longest week. It hasn't been that bad, but it's been super long. Nils has worked from 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. every day. He had last night off, but works tonight, and works tomorrow during the day. Geez! He gets home at 9:30, and by 10 we're both so tired we just go to sleep. It's going to be a great summer for our relationship. Fortunately, there's been something to do every night so far. On Tuesday night, all the neighbors were outside until almost 10:00, so I let the kids stay up and play outside until Nils got home. On Wednesday night, me and a few other moms orchestrated a "widow's barbecue". There are several girls around here whose husbands are gone a lot, so we figured we may as well suffer together about once a week. Yesterday afternoon we had a popsicle party. There were 20-30 kids running through sprinklers, and we had 2 slip-n-slides out. I think Anders ate 10 Otter Pops. Anyway, it's been good. I told Nils that this is the right time of year for him to be gone all the time. If it were winter and we were cooped up inside, I couldn't do it. Summer is so superior.

Long Day

Today will be a long day. Nils is working until 9:00 tonight. He'll have worked about 14 1/2 hours when it's all said and done. He started his second job on Thursday. It's turned out to be a funny coincidence. His new job uses the same database program that Craft Supplies does. They're the only two companies in the area that use it, so Nils was pretty much trained before he even started. On his first night there he created a macro and taught everyone how to do their work 10 times faster. Go Nilsy, it's your birthday. We're both sad that he'll be gone all the time, but we're even more grateful for the opportunity for more moolah.

So we saw The Da Vinci Code on Saturday. I hate to say it, but the critics were right. Not a great movie. I wonder what I would have thought of it if I hadn't read the book first. I loved the book, so perhaps my expectations were set a bit too high. The movie was fine, I suppose, but just didn't do the book justice. There's my movie review for the year.

Addie is actually napping right now. She hasn't taken a morning nap in a week. Last night she cried for 2 hours after bed time. We finally got her up around 10:00 and let her hang out with us for about 30 minutes. She finally went down at 10:30, but she woke up bright and early this morning at 7:30. She's such a stinker. Anders wore his underwear to church yesterday for the first time. He did so well all day. He didn't have one accident. He even went poop in the toilet at my mom's house without any promptings from us. I feel like I'm going to jinx everything by actually proclaiming that he's fully trained- but I'm so proud! I never thought that poo would be a source of pride for me, but here we are, and it is.

Speech

I think I wrote a month ago about Addie having to be evaluated by Kids Who Count, an early intervention program, because she wasn't speaking. Well, four people came to our house on different occasions. On Thursday a speech therapist and a developmental specialist came to evaluate. It was interesting to see what they did. They had their own toys that allowed her to demonstrate her abilities. Anyhoo, she's fine. She's started saying words in the last few weeks. She says Mommy, Daddy, bye, no-no, and her own version of hello. I'm glad she doesn't need treatment. I was willing to do whatever she needed, but I'm glad I don't have to worry about taking her every week for speech therapy.

Nils and I are going to see The Da Vinci Code today at the new Megaplex Theater in South Jordan. It'll be frickin' awesome.

What a Day

Today has been a little wild. Both kids have been pretty ornery. Addie wouldn't nap this morning- I'm not ready for her to be down to one nap yet. Anders woke up on the wrong side of the bed and has just been whiny. I've got a headache in addition.

On a good note, I do believe Anders is potty trained. He goes pee in the toilet without reminders, and we can even go places and he doesn't pee his pants. It's crazy. I wondered if this day would come, and I wondered how it would ever come. It's been a very gradual process for him. We've had to convince him a little, wean him from diapers, etc. I don't know how people potty train in a day. It's taken about a month for Anders.

I need to do something fun tonight. I want to go spend money. That's hilarious, isn't it?

Long Awaited Facial

My mom and I went this morning for our facials. I had no idea what to expect. For those of you who have real lives and get things like facials, pedicures/manicures, etc. this will probably sound strange- but I don't know that I'd pay to have one. It was nice, yes. The girl that gave me the facial didn't speak the entire time. I tried at first to chit-chat, but she really wasn't having it. I had no idea what she was doing the whole time. The absolute worst part was when she blew my face with hot steam for 10 minutes. I have this thing...I'm a bit claustrophobic as far as breathing space goes. I can't cover my face with anything for more than a few seconds. Having hot air blown at me was torturous. After she brushed my face with the goopy mask, she put hot towels over my face, leaving only my nostrils exposed. I wanted to jump off the bed and strangle her. I think it was all exacerbated by the fact that I didn't think I was allowed to speak or move. I was trying really hard to relax on one hand, but didn't want to suffocate on the other. She massaged my arms, hands and fingers, which was heavenly. So how much would you pay for an hour long facial? $30? $40? SEVENTY DOLLARS? Now, I realize I'm poor and have a bit of a skewed perspective, but $70 for a FACIAL? Goodness, people. That's groceries for a week at the Rasmusson's. Thank goodness for Mr. Gift Certificate.

I have such a headache. Does getting your face rubbed for an hour do that? Maybe it was the lack of oxygen. I think I'm traumatized. My mom said the lady that did hers talked the whole time and told her what she was doing, etc. She seemed to really like it.

Nils got a second job. The details have yet to be worked out, but he'll be working there from 3-9 at night three or four nights a week. He'll be at Craft Supplies from 6:30 am-2:30 pm. We'll miss him. We're so looking forward to having some extra money, though.

Mouse

I'm going to murder this mouse. The computer mouse. It's been sort of broken for a couple of weeks. It's been choppy and slow, but this week I've come close to beating it with a bat. I have to click on something 20 times before it responds. I'm not exaggerating, either. I can't tell you how annoying it is. We need a new one, so I'm just waiting for Nils to come home so he can pick one out. It's a big deal for him, you see. I look forward to having a functional mouse again. Funny how this stupid little piece of technology has made my life miserable.

The week hasn't been too bad as far as Nils being gone. I miss him, but I've found that I'm more efficient when he's not here. I've decided that when he is home I wait for him to help me, so I end up being lazier and things don't get done as quickly as I'd like. When it's just me and I'm not expecting help, I just do what needs to be done. Interesting. He gets home tonight, probably around 11:00, but then has to be to work at 7:00 tomorrow morning. I wonder when the kids will eventually see him. We shall see.

I can't think of anything else to say. Have a wondrous day, one and all.

All Alone

Nils left this morning for Chicago. He's gone until Wednesday night. His flight gets in at 9:30 Wednesday, so he's really gone for four full days. Uggh. I did church by myself today. That was pretty brave of me. I even played piano in Primary. I told the presidency that they had to help me with Addie, and they did. It all turned out fine.

Nils is getting another job. He interviewed this week with a vitamin company to answer phones and take orders at night. Hopefully he'll get it. The pay is pretty decent, and he seemed to think it would be a good place to work. We need money. That's the final conclusion. There are no more corners to cut. The corners have been cut off. We have all the little tricks of poor people. We don't eat out, Nils takes his lunch to work every day, I try not to drive too much to save on gas, I haven't turned on the heat or a/c in a month. We don't buy DVD's or other frivolity. Our stupid mortgage has gone up so much since we moved here, and regular life just costs too much. Health insurance, utilities, HOA dues, food, clothing, gas, etc. It's disturbing how much everything costs. We talked about me getting a job, but Nils doesn't think he's capable of caring for our children on his own. I know better, but he doesn't think he could nourish them adequately. Anyway, it will totally suck having him work 60 hours a week, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to have more money.

Anders pooped in the toilet yesterday. I went to Wal-Mart in the morning and bought a box of blocks. I came home and he saw them and wanted them, but I put them up above the TV where he couldn't get them. I told him he could have them when he pooped in the potty. He was devastated and tried immediately to do it, but you know...you have to wait until the bowels are actually moving and all. A few hours later, he did it. It was fabulous. Ahhh, bribery. How does one parent without it?

Well, I'm going to sign off. I've started watching Grey's Anatomy the past couple of weeks. I thought it was trashy when it first started airing, but I actually like it quite a bit. It's a little trashy, I guess, but it's funny, clever trashy...because that makes it okay....or something.

Oh, the Crying

Nils is still sick. He didn't sleep well last night, which is very unusual for him. He's been coughing up junk and blowing his nose constantly, and yesterday he started complaining that his face hurt. I made him stay home from work today, and made him go to the doctor. Sinus infection. They're so sneaky, those sinus infections. Addie is sick now, too. She's got snot dripping out of her nose, and a terrible cough. She's been very fussy today. Seriously- it's MAY. Listen to me, viruses and bacteria everywhere! We are done with you! Please leave us alone!

I went to the ob/gyn today. What a treat. I always have major anxiety when I go there. My blood pressure was 136/86. It's really normally very good. The doctor is convinced that I have hypertension and I need to be on medication. Just between you and me, it's the p-a-p-s-m-e-a-r. Anyhoo, it was an uneventful visit, and I'm assuming everything will be normal. He asked me if I want to have another baby soon. I told him I'm good for awhile. We can't afford another baby. And I'm really enjoying the whole sleeping through the night thing. I guess I'll know when it's right- right?

I'm Bored

I haven't been bored in so long. This is weird. Addie just went down for a nap, Anders is eating yogurt, and I'm bored. I could fold laundry. Yeah, that's okay. I think I'd rather be bored.

So the facial thing on Saturday fell through. My mom thought the appointment was at 9:30, but it was actually at 9:00, so they wouldn't do it. Nice. We had to reschedule. We went to Kohl's, and I got a couple of new Sunday outfits. I guess I didn't realize how raggedy I've been. I haven't had new church clothes in years. I guess being pregnant and larger after pregnancies had something to do with it. A couple of Sundays ago, I was getting dressed for church, and I realized all I had were t-shirts. Not trashy, rock concert t-shirts, but mommy, I'm going to the grocery store type t-shirts. Anyway, I'm happy to have some non-t-shirt items to wear on the Sabbath.

Nils came home sick yesterday. It's the flu. It's May- shouldn't we be over this? Sickness is SOOOOOO January-February. I got some Thera-Flu for him last night, so he should be alright through the work day today. Thera-Flu's the greatest.

Oh- here' s some exciting news. I get to go to the gynecologist tomorrow for my annual examination. Can't wait for that. I'm being dilligent because of the darn IUD. They say you have to check it every year, and I don't want to die or anything so I thought I'd do as I'm told. Ah, the IUD. Has it been a year already?

Saturday Fun

Yesterday at the gym I had my friend show me some ab exercises. I'm sore today. I'm so flabby in the middle. Having babies stretched my belly out. I also carry my weight in the middle, so that's the last place it leaves. I'm like a mushroom. I think that's a more appropriate comparison than "apple shape". Wow. I think I win the prize for most boring entry ever. Sorry.

This morning I'm going to get a facial with my mom. I've never had a facial before, so I don't know what to expect. Are they going to put cucumbers on my eyes? A mud mask? Do I have to be naked and wrapped in a towel? Could they wax my eyebrows while they're at it?
Nils is going to replace my mom's garbage disposal and rewire some of her outlets today for money. Do it for free, you say? Of course not! It takes all day and it's a pain in the you-know-what. And she offered. And we need money. While he's doing that, I'm taking the kids to Kohl's to spend the money he's earning. Jolly good plan.

Celebrating Pee

How long do we celebrate Anders peeing in his potty? Every time he so much as dribbles in it, he proudly announces, "MOMMY! I GOED PEE PEE IN MY POTTY!" I'm starting to get worn out from all the excitement. He's also expecting some sort of goodie every time, which is fine. This morning, however, he's gone about 4 times, but each time is literally 1/2 a teaspoon. Should there be a minimum volume requirement? I'm confused. He also wants to sit on the thing constantly. Maybe I should get him a Reader's Digest. I think he needs to learn that he has to live normally. Then when he feels the urge, he's to pause, pee in the toilet, and then resume normal activity.

Addie woke up at the crack of dawn this morning. She's supposed to be napping but thinks it's funny. I'm so tired and cranky. I need a nap.

Pee and Popsicles

I thought I should write since Nils has sorta taken over the last few entries. Anders decided to start peeing in his potty Sunday. He's been doing it ever since, but only if he's naked from the waist down. He still refuses to wear underwear. I told him if he goes poop in the potty, we'll go to the store and buy him some new blocks. He totally wants to, and he sits down frequently and says he's going to go poop. After a few seconds he asks for help. He says, "push on my sides". I don't know either. Anyway, he has yet to poop in the potty, but he will be rewarded greatly when the time comes. He gets a cool popsicle when he pees. Now we just have to figure out how to get him in underwear, and how to leave the house without a pull up or diaper. Honestly, I've been dreading potty training since the boy was born. I think we've done a good job of not making an issue of it, and he's coming around. It's all about the bribery. I hope Addie is easier.

Speaking of Addie, she's my little velcro baby lately. She has to be held or touching me most of the time. She won't even go to Nils. It's crazy. Yesterday she was trying to stick the headphone jack into an outlet. Nils told her no, and she threw a major fit, and then was mad at him for an hour. She would run away from him if he tried to pick her up. She's 15 months old. Isn't this coming a little soon? She acts devastated if she's told no. She crumbles into a heap on the floor and screams. Maybe we should stop being so mean.

What a Fun Weekend

April 22, 2006. Six years of marriage. Katrina and I were walking with the kids tonight and we talked about how we never would have guessed where we'd be today when we got married. So here we are- a three year old and a one year old, our own little home in a fun neighborhood, a good job and I'm still in school. The school part is the only part we kind of expected but I really hoped to be done before now. Anyway, I think we're really blessed and we have a lot to be thankful for.
So since today was our Anniversary, I had a few plans to celebrate. About a week ago I booked a hotel so we stayed in a nice room last night. Nothing too fancy but much better than we had expected. The room was about as big as our first floor and everything was in good shape. We started our evening by picking up my sister, Harmony, to watch the kids. We went to dinner at the Art City Trolley and then we weren't sure what to do because none of the movies that are out look too fantastic to us right now. So Katrina remembered a friend telling her about a place in the Riverwoods where you can buy pottery and paint it or decorate it yourself. So we headed over since Friday night is date night there and admission (normally $8) was half off. The place is called Color Me Mine and it was a lot of fun. We each made a big mug and we ended up paying about $28 because we chose some $10 mugs. We were there for two hours and it was really a good time. They even had live music playing the whole time. After you're done with the pottery, they glaze it and bake it for you so we'll pick ours up on Tuesday. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll post pics. While I'm remembering, Tuesday is also Free Ice Cream Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's. If you live near one, be sure to head over on Tuesday.
After our pottery painting session, we headed across the street to Border's Book Store where I spent a half hour being amused by a book entitled "Why Do Men Have Nipples?". It was a book about medical curiosities that you never ask your doctor. Pretty interesting stuff. In case you're wondering, men have nipples because our embryos are patterned after the female sex for the first six weeks of development, at which point males receive their male chromosome and start to develop into males. The nipples, however, stay.
We checked into our hotel after that and we were both in the mood for ice cream so we headed over to the Maverick gas station where, for $1.49, you can get a good sized soft serve ice cream and load it with sprinkles, nerds, candies and more. So we each had one of those and we even made time to do a little reading. I'm reading the DaVinci Code and it's really gripping. I don't have a lot of time to read so I like this one, because every time I read, even if it's a just a few pages something good is going on and there aren't any lulls in the action. Katrina's reading a book for her ward book club but it has some long name and I haven't the foggiest what it is.
In the morning we slept in, got ready and then headed to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We had French toast, eggs, sausage, etc. and it was mediocre. Then we did a bit of shopping at Wal-Mart, then walked over to a little strip mall by Wal-Mart. Katrina went to the Scrapbooking Store and I went to the Video Game Store. Neither of us bought anything but it was fun to look. I have an XBox that I got for free but I only have one game so some day I'll have to get another. After that we went home.
Katrina took Harmony home and then took Addie to a ModBe party. It's one of the many modest wear for girls types of parties or something. Anders and I took out the trash, bought a new tube for my mountain bike, fixed the tire and then headed out on our first father-son bike ride. It was a lot of fun. Anders has a sweet BigWheel and he's pretty fast on that thing so we rode on the path that circles around our whole development. It's quite a long ride for a three year old but we did it and he handled it like a champ. We each got a little pink in the arms from the sun but we could both use some color, so it's OK. We came home, had some Tunafish Casserole, bathed the kids and then went on a walk. The walk took 80 minutes because we saw some friends outside their house so we chatted for a while. Then our neighbors were out on a walk with their kids so all three families were there chatting. I've currently got some brownies in the oven so I'm going to end my night on a sweet note.
So it has indeed been a fun weekend. It was great to spend some time alone with Katrina just hanging out and having fun. I wish we could do that more often. I've got two conferences coming up in the next month and a half so I'll be out of town for four days each, so it was good to have this time together now. That's it for now. Rock On!
-Nizzle.

Mullet-Head

It's a little bit hard to tell from this photo but Addie is sportin' a serious mullet these days. Her hair on top is about an inch and a half long. The hair in the back and some of the sides is more like four inches long. Tonight I gave her mullet a bit of an Afro Puff and it suits her quite well. Aaah, little Addie. She's a cutie.

Anders is quite a handsome little guy. I shot both of these pictures just a few minutes ago and this one came out pretty cool. I got him frozen in the frame while the camera was moving so the rest was blurred.
Today was a good day- I got a lot done at work and even showed up an hour early again. I bled the brakes on the car and it was easy and successful- a total change of pace for me. Then I mowed the lawn, trimmed the edges and watered it. It's looking pretty good. After a great dinner we all walked to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and then Katrina went jogging while I bathed the kids and put them to bed. And here I am. It's Final project time again so off I go. Just thought I'd check in with some pictures. Rock On! -Nizzle.

Know When to Not Do-It-Yourself

Have you seen these 'TLC Life Lessons'? They're pretty funny. I couldn't help but think of this particular life lesson as I changed the brakes on my '91 Honda Accord Wagon on Saturday. I've changed brakes before and it went fine but this one was a bit of a bear. My brake pads went from working fine and no signs of problems at all one day to grinding metal on metal and no pad left the next. Crazy stuff. So I thought, "I am man. Me fix stuff. Me strong." A brake job costs in the neighborhood of $90-$120 depending on the place and assuming nothing extra/typical has to be done. The parts cost under $30 and the labor shouldn't be too bad but everything I do turns to ruins so of course the 90 minute project took me about five hours and didn't even work. I replaced the brake pads- that part isn't too bad. I needed my rotors turned but I couldn't get them off. Those suckers were practically welded on so there they'll stay. Then when I finally finished the brakes didn't work. What the heck? As it turns out I let some air and or moisture into the brake lines in the process so now I have to bleed the brake lines, which is another project. Oh joy. That's hopefully going to be done tomorrow. The brakes work a little bit right now. If I pump the brakes, pressure builds up in the brake line and I can stop. I can't STOP, but I can slow to an eventual halt. So I've been driving around since Saturday with my hand resting on the E-Brake and at the ready. I know- I'm not too smart. I learned what mistakes to avoid for my next brake job, though, so that's important. My next brake job will be in the very near future since our van is in need of new brakes, too. Happy day.
I really shouldn't be blogging right now because I have three final projects due next week and I haven't started on any of them. I've got time... right? Sure I do. Nothing is late yet and I'm a quick worker. I get in my zone and start producing. Next thing you know it, it's midnight and I have a semi-crappy product to turn in. Yippee.
So guess what Saturday is. Our SIX YEAR ANNIVERSARY. How cool is that? Six is not a significant number or anything but I'm pretty excited. I just did a quick search and apparently this is our Iron Anniversary. Talk about special! Iron- whoa. It's not every year that you get to celebrate your Iron Anniversary, eh? Next year is the much anticipated Wool Anniversary! That's gonna be special, huh? Who comes up with this stuff. I think this year will be our Play-Doh anniversary since I've acquired a bit of dough around the middle and Anders loves Play-Doh. Yeah, that's way cooler than Iron.
I've got something worked out for our anniversary this weekend but of course I can't divulge it on the internet. That would certainly ruin any chance of surprising Katrina. Nothing special but I think Katrina will like it. OK, OK- I'll tell. I got her a one year subscription to the Spiderman Comic Book.. er.. I mean.. Illustrated Novel. She's gonna love it. I'm kidding. I got her a huge tub of laundry detergent and a new iron. Kidding again. Perhaps I should go to bed before I start getting hate mail.
In a few weeks (sometime in early May) I'm going to go to a huge conference in Chicago for retailers. They have a marketing segment that I'm hoping to learn a lot in. I'm going with the President of our company and the IT guru dude. That should be interesting. The president's name is Darrel and he's like a 40 year old teenager. He's the nicest guy ever and is as generous and smart as they come but he constantly puts meetings on hold with his... his... how should I put this... Stanky Farts. He also plays paintball for at least two full work days every week and he talks like a fourteen year old when he's in a good mood. He's very intelligent so I know he's just having fun but it's kind of funny. He started the company 23 years ago and now he's somewhat wealthy and doesn't have to be at work if he doesn't want to be. That would be cool. So I'm curious to see how this trip goes. I've work with Darrel a lot but I've never actually traveled with him. We shall see. I've been to shows out of state with the IT guy, Don, and he's pretty cool. Also a smart fella. Then in June I have another conference that I'll be attending but I'm going on my own. I plan to meet up with York (my brother) one of the nights and I'm going to meet a friend of mine who lives in Chicago another night. He's a retired Chicago PD officer and we've never actually met but he's just a really cool guy that I know through work. This guy spends hours making pens and other cool stuff on his wood lathe so that he can then give the items away to people that are having a hard day or people who he thinks deserve a gift. He recently returned from Iraq. He wasn't called to go over or anything but he volunteered because he saw a need. He helped the Iraqi police force with their training under their new policies. How cool is this guy? I hope I can be as giving and humble as he is someday.
Speaking of role models, my Dad isn't doing too hot right now. Poor guy. He found out he had Prostate cancer about a month and a half ago and then had surgery to have his Prostate removed about a week ago. He's been in bed and in a chair for most of the time since his surgery and then he was told that the surgery had spread outside his Prostate, so the surgery didn't even do the trick. The cancer was very new (he's checked every year) but it's obviously quite aggressive and has metastasized quickly. So now he's sitting at home with a catheter (which has got to be as cool as having your arm steam-rolled, or something), staples in his organs and a tube in his stomach. The guy is as optimistic as a recent lottery winner, though. He's never down. He doesn't waste any time with pessimism or negativity. He'd rather just learn from life and enjoy the lessons. I'm not sure how he does it. Personally I enjoy the occasional wallowing in self pity session. It helps me feel good about myself for some reason. Gotta love that pity. So if you're reading this, keep my dad in your prayers. He's an excellent man and is much too young to deal with any debilitating illnesses. On a positive note, my likelihood of getting cancer is about 90%. My Dad, my Grandfather, my Great-Grandfather and many of my extended family members have had cancer. It gives me a challenge to look forward to, right? So I'll be getting tested quite often starting a few years from now. I'm only 27 now so I should have to check for at least 8 or 9 years but it doesn't hurt, right? Well- maybe it does hurt but it's still good. Isn't it?
This is the longest blog entry ever. I had better turn this computer off. If you've read this far, get a life. Just kidding. If you've read this far you're obviously named Katrina and you're checking my post for accuracy. Otherwise, my hat's off to you. You're a brave and bored soul. Until next time,
-Nizzle Foschizzle in ya Hizzle.

Winter

Everyone I've talked to in the last two days is in a bad mood because of the weather. Yesterday it snowed and rained all day. It was a cold, gloomy day. I took the kids to the doctor yesterday for their check-ups, and the doctor looked out the window and sighed. She said, "It's so gray out there." Word, lady. Speaking of the check-up, all went well for the most part. Anders did very well. He had an eye exam and they made it like a game and told him how great he was, and he beamed the whole time. He told the doctor that she's a pretty girl. Wow. Coming from Anders, that it quite a compliment. I think he loves her. He's been saying all day that he's sick and wants to go to the doctor. We had to take him in on Friday night for an ear infection, so he's gotten used to seeing her lately. Addie's fine and gross motor skills are right on track, but she doesn't say any words so we have to have her evaluated by a speech person. The dr. said she could just be a little behind because she's been working on other skills, but just wants to be sure. I had a dream last night that Addie couldn't hear because her ears were plugged up with wax. In reality I think she can hear, because whenever she hears Elmo she looks, and when I say her name from across the room, she looks. Hopefully she's fine.

It's Friday!

It's been a long week, but hasn't been too bad. I credit the weather for that. Nils has been gone most nights, but we've been able to play outside with all the neighbors, so that's made it very bearable. Ah, Spring. This is the time of year that brings new hope for me. It's amazing. I think I made it through the winter fairly unscathed, but it sure is nice to have sunshine until 8:00 at night.
Our midweek activity committee started a bunch of sub-groups, like a book club, recipe swap, scrapbook group, etc. Last night was the first book club meeting. It was supposed to be at another girl's house, but got changed to my house last minute. It turned out fine. I've never been part of anything like this, so I felt like a moron trying to lead the discussion. Plus, I've haven't thought deeply since college, so it was a real strain on my mind. I think it went fairly well in spite of it all. A couple of the girls brought their kids, which would have been fine if one of them didn't beat the crap out of the others the whole time. I had Addie there, but sent Anders next door. This one little girl kept hitting, shoving, taking things away from Addie and the other little girl there. I didn't see her attack my kid because I was trying to "entertain" the crowd, but I was told afterward. Addie didn't cry, though. I guess she's used to getting beat on. Anyway, I guess a few people were annoyed that the mother didn't leave sooner. Oh well. I'm looking forward to reading some of the books people suggested, and I'm glad I got the whole hosting thing over with first.

The kids woke up at 7:00 this morning. That's early to be up and at 'em. At least give me 7:30.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

So Anders is three. This is Nils, by the way. For weeks now he asks the question "Why?" after every statement, order, suggestion, question or observation we make. He continues with the 'why' questions until we tell him to stop. Sometimes it seems like he's genuinely curious and trying to learn. Other times, he does it because he knows we've had enough. Clever little boy. We've tried turning it around on him and asking him why after everything but he quickly gets annoyed and says "Stop saying that!". Oh well.
So my dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer just a month or so ago and we've all been kind of worried about him. He's in great health and had caught it very early. After a bone scan, they determined that it had not spread outside his prostate. After much research, my dad decided to have laproscopic robotic surgery to have his prostate removed all together. That took place earlier this week, on Thursday. My mom called and let us know that he's well and the surgery went smoothly. We're going to call him today, as he should be back home and doing better. It could take months for him to get back to full health, but he runs every day and watches what he eats, so I think he'll be up and at'em before long. When my parents called to let us know the news, they explained that my great grandfather had cancer, my grandfather had cancer and now my father has cancer so... watch out. I'll be getting tested regularly as I progress in age since it seems pretty much inevitable. I can't wait for that :)
It's early April and that means that school is almost over for a little while. I've decided to transfer to Westwood College Online to persue a degree in Game Art and Design but now I'm having second thoughts. I still feel that it's the best option for me but I'm also feeling a little confused and overwhelmed about school in general. My fear is that we'll pay all this money for me to be able to finish within the next 1.5 to 2 years and then I'll either have a difficult time finding a job (if I find one at all) or I'll only be able to get a job that would involve a severe pay cut. I make a decent living right now considerring the fact that we live in Utah County and I have no degree. I work for a company that I really like and I enjoy the atmosphere there. The only thing is- I don't do what I really want to do. I want to do 3D modeling. I want to create environments and characters out of thin air and make them look real and entertaining. Instead, I do marketing. You know- email specials, search engine optimization, sales and promotions, etc. I'm extremely thankful for my job. I feel really fortunate to have a good enough job that allows me to provide for my family and have a nice little home and a minivan. So I think that this is what we'd be up against upon graduation: Continue what I'm doing for x per year, or do what I really want to do for 1/2x per year. Hmmmm. I dunno. We can't live on much less than what I live on now, so I don't think 1/2x is an option. We shall see.
That's about all I'm going to blab about for now (thank goodness, right?). I'm sure Katrina or I will keep you updated as decisions are made. For now, I'm really looking forward to being done with this semster and spending some time outdoors in the nice weather. I hope to darken my skin tone from angelic white to caucasian white. I don't know if that's possible. Rock on, folks.

Stupid Dog

When I was a Jr. in high school, my brother bought a dog. We never knew what kind of a dog he was, but he was a pretty good one. His name was Champ. He was a little hyper, but really good with kids and good natured. My brother got married and left the dog with my Mom, who doesn't love animals. She took care of Champ anyway, and even took him with her on her morning walks. A couple of years ago my sister and her family decided to adopt Champ, so he went to live with them. They love animals, so it was good.

Champ got hit by a car on Friday night and died. When I found out I cried. I didn't even really care about the stupid dog. There was a time in my life when I did, but I haven't really cared about him for a long time. I guess the thought of him suffering before he died makes me really sad. He died in my nephew's arms- also very sad. This is one of the reasons I don't want pets. When they die, it's such a loss. There are many other reasons I don't want pets: they stink, they're tons of work (and mom usually does all the work), they mess things up and crap on the lawn. But look at me! I CRIED when I found out Champ died. And I didn't even think I was emotionally invested in the stupid dog. We were at the park last night and every time I saw a mid-sized blackish dog, I thought it was Champ. But it wasn't, because he's in doggie heaven now.

Trainer

Monday when I was at the gym a trainer came up to me and asked me if I had done bicep curls on the incline bench. She had a cancellation and started showing me a few new weight exercises. I knew what was coming- the sales pitch. I thought I'd take the "complimentary" session, learn all I could and that would be that. Oh, Katrina. You should really know yourself better.

Here's the justification:
I've been able to lose my baby weight, plus about 15 lbs. Not too shabby, but I still feel tubby 'round the middle. I've also gotten a little lazy about weights. I don't keep track of what I do, I just sorta do whatever I feel like doing when I'm there. Which isn't much most times. I've also been eating like crap lately. This weekend, I told Nils that I want to lose 5-7 lbs by the end of the month. I had my body fat tested on Monday, and it's still a little high. So I want to get it down a few points.

So guess what I got yesterday? That's right! A TRAINER! Yes, I realize I'm a sucker. However, I did manage to talk them down quite a bit- really. Almost half price. I worked out yesterday with the same girl that approached me on Monday. It looks like she's the one I'll always be with. She was really nice, but she kicked my butt. I'm really, really sore today. How's this for a sign; we worked legs and abs yesterday, and my arms are also sore. So even though I'm a sucker, I'm excited about having a task-master. I think I'll see results. As the sign says in their office, "Nothing tastes as good as fit feels!" Oh gag me. I still need frosting.

The Da Vinci Code

We were at Costco Friday night and I bought The Da Vinci Code for $4.27. I started reading it on Saturday night and finished last night at Midnight. I couldn't put it down. I managed to break away for General Conference and food. I love reading, but I have a hard time finding books that aren't trashy. I've only read 3 or 4 books in the last year for that reason. Anyway, I LOVED this book. I'm not exaggerating when I say every single page is interesting. The story never lets up. It keeps you guessing the entire time. Everything I'm saying is cliche, but it's true! I'm wondering how the movie is going to be. There are elements to the story that are pretty graphic, and I imagine seeing them on screen would be much more gruesome than what I imagine when I read it. Anyway, if you haven't read this book yet, I recommend it.

On an entirely different note, we tried potty training again this weekend. Saturday it went quite well, and Anders peed in the potty numerous times. We had a party for him. Yesterday he wasn't having it. He cried and cried for a diaper. I think he has an unusual attatchment to his diapers. He picks through them to find the ones with Bert on them, and he carries them around. I figure I'll take it as it comes. Everyone I've talked to with boys says it's much harder and you have to wait for them to come around. Anytime would be nice!

Nice Spring Day

Today was a nice Spring day. The weather was gorgeous. We had a midweek activity today. We threw an "Un-Birthday Party". I realized today that we do a lot of work for these activities, and we're really not recognized or rewarded in anyway. I know that's not why we do them, but it's kind of irritating. If we stopped doing them I don't think anyone would say anything about us specifically, but people would probably complain that our ward is lame because there aren't any activities. Anyway, like I was saying we threw an un-birthday party. I think it was a rather clever idea. We made cute invitations and put them on every door. I made a gazillion cupcakes and frosting so the kids could decorate cupcakes after a cake-walk. We made a pinata, had pin the tail on the donkey, and we had everyone bring their kids a little present. We had about 5 mothers show up. Out of about the 3 million in the ward. Seriously- what do you want, people? I honestly don't think we could go to any more effort. Okay- done ranting.

This afternoon we went outside for awhile and played with the neighbor kids. It's so nice when we can go outside. The kids are so happy, and they love playing with other kids. It's nice to see other people, too. I'm really ready for the weather to turn nice for good.

I'm so tired. I'm all partied out. I think my kids ate nothing but cupcakes today. Well, pizza for dinner. I'm a good mom.

Our Weekend

We spent the weekend in Logandale, Nevada to visit Nils' parents. The trip down went pretty well, no major incidents or crying fits. Friday night Addie started to feel a little warm, and Saturday she was feverish and sluggish. On Saturday Nils, his Dad and I went to the Valley of Fire State Park. It's much like Moab. We hiked around a bit, but I was stuck with 2 major photo geeks so what would have taken someone like me about an hour took over 3 hours. "Oh look! It's ANOTHER rock! Let's take pictures!" It was fun nonetheless. Nils' mom watched the kids while we did that.

We left yesterday afternoon for home. Addie cried the entire time. 5 hours. We stopped a couple of times and she was fine, but the second she went back in the car seat she was furious. When we got home she went to bed, but wouldn't settle down. When she was finally asleep for about an hour, she woke up again crying. It was 9:30, but I called the doctor. I feared an ear infection and didn't want to go through an entire night with crying and no sleep. Nils took her to the doctor and she's fine. Sometimes I feel like I'm insane, you know? My kid is sick all weekend, cries for 6 consecutive hours, wakes up crying. The crazy debate starts in my head: Do I call the doctor at 9:30 on a Sunday night and risk looking like a moron, or do I not call and risk a miserable night of screaming and pain? I've learned to err on the side of looking like a moron. Anyhoo, I don't know exactly what the problem was, but I'm sure she was just feeling crappy and didn't want to be strapped in the carseat. I started feeling awful this afternoon with flu-like symptoms. If this is how she's been feeling, it all makes sense. I hate being sick. It's such a monumental waste of time.

Quick Update

We're leaving for Logandale in a few minutes, but I thought I'd write a quick update. Addie is a full walker now. It's like something clicked, and she realized that walking is a good thing. She's been taking a few steps at a time for a couple of months now, but in the last week or two has been walking around more than she crawls. It's very cute.

Anders' room smells awful because of the water incident. He had to sleep on a crib mattress for a couple of nights while his mattress dried out. The crib mattress was over where the water was (we thought it was dry), but when I lifted it up, the smell almost killed me. Ahhh, mildew.

I'm getting a bunch of free Body Shop stuff in a week or so, and I'm really excited. My friend sells it and I gave a party for her this week. The rewards are great. I hate being annoying party girl, but I can't afford to buy anything and by hosting parties you get free stuff. I live in partyville, so I don't feel that bad about it.

I should probably go. Nils is doing all the work to get going. 5 hour drive, here we come!

The Worst Night So Far

I really don't know where to start. Last night we babysat our neighbor's kids, as the final part of our deal with them for the computer chair. Nothing too terrible happened while we were babysitting, but when the neighbors came back, it all happened. They stayed at our house for awhile talking, and Anders and Eliza went upstairs to play. They came downstairs and few minutes later and Anders said, "I got a haircut!" Yes, it happened. They found scissors and cut the front part of his hair off. He actually has a bald spot. We didn't react much, figuring we would just cut his hair and that would be that, and we would hide all scissors forever. However, a few more minutes passed, and Nils went upstairs to make sure they weren't doing anything naughty. That's when he found it. The flood. The two little monsters had been filling up a toy construction hat with water and dumping it all over the bathroom floor, Anders' bedroom floor, as well as his bed. It took about 15 towels to sop it all up. His mattress is still drying out. I think we could have beat them both.

New Socks

I convinced Nils to take the day off on Monday. We did nothing of consequence, but spent the day together doing various things. We cleaned out our closet and took a load to DI, and Nils wanted to browse around the store. He loves DI. Me, not so much. We went to Target and I finally bought some new socks. Every one of my socks had holes in them. It's really just pathetic. Talk about a mother's sacrifice. I was always embarrassed to take my shoes off. Feel sorry for me, please.

Someone Stop Us!

We are OUT OF CONTROL! Give us a little money, and look what happens! This week we bought a new DVD player/recorder and a printer. Granted, those things are difficult to live without. Tonight we went to Old Navy and spent $100! Oh my poop! I wanted to vomit when I heard the total, but remembered that Nils and I both have like 2 pair of pants each. It's kind of sad, so we got some new clothes for our ragged little selves. We've actually been good with the money we got from our student loan and tax return. We paid off 1 credit card, paid for the bed, paid off the overdraft, and we are planning on paying our Escrow account so our mortgage doesn't go up in April. Stupid property taxes. Seriously, I can't think of why our 1,213 sq. foot townhome equates $900/year in property taxes. But whatever. I guess my point is that it's nice to buy pants.

Last night Anders and Nils were reading stories on the computer before bedtime. It was the funniest thing ever, because Anders knew all the words. Nils would say the first couple of words of the sentence, and then Anders would finish it with the proper intonation and everything. We were cracking up.

So I'm obsessed with a couple of shows on TV. There's a show on TLC about a family of little people. The parents are both little, and they have 3 average sized children and 1 son who's a little person. It's very interesting. The other one is about this family in Arkansas that has SIXTEEN children. Has anyone else seen this family? They look like polygamists, but they're not. This woman has given birth to 16 kids. They all have "J" names. It's one of the craziest things I've seen. Sixteen children? The thing that puzzles me the most is that they seem happy and well adjusted. I wonder what kind of adults they all turn out to be.

Ah, Life.

Our DVD player stopped working. So did the printer. What's up with that? I think these things should just last forever. It's annoying that now we have to look at buying new ones. Stupid technology.

On One

I don't really have anything to report, but just thought I'd write as my daughter screams. I put her down for a nap, and she's screaming more than I've heard her scream in a long time. I went in there because I thought maybe she was hurt. No, just standing there with her arms out. Mad at me. It's heartbreaking. She must sleep.

Flibbertyjibbit

What a day. Addie's been sick since Friday with diarrhea, and she was puking all day yesterday. It's been pretty gross. Poor thing. She feels crappy. Literally- hyuk hyuk. Anyhoo, since I couldn't take her to the gym today, I decided we'd spend the day out. We went to lunch with Nils, then I took a grand adventure with the kids. We got a new windshield. We had an IMPRESSIVE crack in our windshield. It was horizontal almost all the way across, and it gradually cracked down and around, making it come within centimeters of coming full circle. The cold earlier this winter made it the biggest crack I've ever seen. Since it was raining all day, they couldn't do mobile service so I had to take it to their shop. It was the crappiest little shop, but they by far had the cheapest price (no overhead, apparently). 5 smelly guys, a couple of hootchie secretaries, and we have ourselves a new windshield, ladies and gentlemen. They even sent us over to the Arctic Circle to get a free cone. SAWHEET! (hey, Michelle- got that from you!) Thank you tax return.

I've done nothing with Pampered Chef since November. I knew that if I didn't submit an order by today I'd lose my status with them and go inactive. I don't care that much, but I want to stay active at least until April because that's the 40% off month. You have to be active to take advantage of that. I asked a couple of my neighbors if they wanted anything, and my sister-in-law called her family and friends. In one day we got over $300 in orders. I also offered a 10% discount and free shipping, so that definitely helped matters. People love the Pampered Chef, I tell ya. I love it too. I really love the products, but doing parties is a lot of work. I'll see what happens, but I've bought myself another couple of months of eligibility. Yes, you can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Nils has to do homework now. I'm being kicked off. Good night.

New School for Dad, New Potty for the Boy

I haven't written in quite some time so I thought I would. I found out recently that I'll be starting my new school in May. That means that after nine years and no degree to show for it I will leave be saying goodbye to Utah Valley State College. A lot of times when we move on to something new we have the tendency to talk trash of our past stages. I don't really have any bad feelings about UVSC, though. It's been good to me and I've learned a lot. I should, I've passed 117 credits and have withdrawn from 30 or 40 more, largely due to moves across the country or stupidity on my part. UVSC has its flaws like any school but all in all I enjoyed my time there. I'll finish out this semester for financial aid purposes and then be done with it. I'm on to Westwood College Online where I'll be pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Game Art & Design. Yup, I'm gonna help make video games. At least there's a good chance I will. If I end up in a similar field where I'm able to make 3D creations (aka modeling) then I'll be equally pleased. Hopefully I'll finish at Westwood before I turn 30 and then I can get into my career of choice.

On an unrelated topic, we attempted to potty train Anders yesterday. We chose a bad day to do it, though, because we went out and about yesterday morning. Katrina and Addie went to a Women's Conference in Orem and that lasted like four hours or something. So Anders and I were looking forward to some 'guys only' time. We hopped in the sweet 91 Accord wagon and drove all the way down the street to Wally's World (Wal-Mart) where we bought Anders some flippin' sweet shoes. From there it was on to the always exciting land of Spanish Fork. Spanish Fork. Who named that place? I digress. We froze my gym membership since I have decided that my education is more important than my health right now. Then we went to Kmart where I purchased a lamp to use with my photo tent that I've been working on (to help me shoot photos of my pens and such at nilscreations.com) and from there we went to a 10:40 AM showing of Curious George. That was especially cool for three reasons: 1) It was just Anders and I in the entire building. Other than employees there were no other souls in the entire place so when Anders asked if we could leave four times I encouraged him to sit whereever he wanted and he thought that was cool so I stayed where I was and he occupied most of the seats in the front row. 2) I like animated films and this one had a cool look to it. It also featured music by Jack Johnson. You gotta love Jack Johnson. 3) It was great Father-Son time. There's nothing better than hanging out with your boy. I had fun and Anders did, too.
From there it was on to Burger King for lunch. Whopper for dad, nuggets for Anders. I'm always amused at the staff of fast food joints. It's as if they're oblivious to the fact that there are customers present. They yell strange things, stand around talking, throw things, mock one another or whatever else they learned in Jr. High School and they don't seem to notice that they're being watched by seven people in the eating area. I'm proud to say that I've worked at McDonalds, Burger King and a Sandwich Shop so I know all about it. I hope I never forget the valuable nonsense I learned in seventh grade just in case I work at one of those places again. One can only dream.
When we got home it was time for potty training. I explained to Anders how it was all going to go down and he seemed pretty cool with it. Off went the diaper, on went the Thomas the Tank Engine undies. After a while he said he had to pee so he sat his bum down on the 'You pee in me and I'll sing you a song!' throne. Nearly 30 minutes went buy and still no pee. If he had peed he surely would have missed, though, because he spent much of the time squirming around. Later on he peed his undies while I wasn't looking. His undies were wet so he stayed in them and got a taste of the discomfort that comes with that. Later he peed again, I cleaned the floor up again and he stayed in his undies. Then it was nap time and I should have put a diaper on him but I didn't think about it so he peed some more. By the time he got up, we were babysitting our neighbors' daughters so we put a diaper on him and called it a day. So from this experience we have gained practice cleaning pee up from the carpet (as if we needed more), a little more laundry to do and a three year old who has probably learned nothing about potty training. Katrina is going to try again tomorrow and the next day and so forth and I'm sure she'll be much better at it than I was.

Well I'm all typed out now so I'm going to post a few photos. First is Addie. It may look like she has jelly on her nose but unfortunately it's a scab. She fell down three or four stairs face first and got rugburn on her little nose. It's sad but she's been a trooper about it.






This picture may look strange but if you click on it you'll see a better view. This is how much of a geek I am. This was taken at 12:51 AM a few days ago. The cool thing about it is that I didn't alter this image in any way. I set my camera's shutter speed to 15 seconds (a super long shutter speed), turned out all the lights and got my flashlight with a blue lens on it. I took a dozen or so shots like this, then Katrina came home from her stamping party to find me in my underwear with the lights out and the camera set up. I quickly showed her the pictures to erase any suspicions that may have arisen. :)

Here's Anders playing some coloring games on the computer. It's pretty cool to see him using the mouse and playing games on the computer. He still has a hard time with certain aspects of it but all in all he's doing pretty well. Aaaah, my little geek in the making. Mwuhahaha! I'll have him building websites and modeling characters in 3D next year.






Katrina and the kids. :)