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.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
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 I should, I've passed 117 credits and have withdrawn from 30 or 40 more, largely due to moves across the country or stupidity on my part.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. :)
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. :)Monday, February 20, 2006
Crazy Crazy
Last week everyone got some sort of sickness. Anders definitely got it the worst. He didn't eat for 2 days, and slept most of the time. On Thursday he started complaining that his ear hurt. I took him to the doctor, but she couldn't see in his ear because of the amazing wax build-up. She tried to get it out, but he screamed bloody murder, so she had the nurse come in and pour warm water in his ear for about 10 minutes to loosen the wax. I gotta give props to the kid. He laid there and let this stranger pour water in his infected ear for a good long while. After the aforementioned 10 minutes, he sat up and said, "I'm all done". She wanted to try one more time, but he wasn't having it. After a struggle, I finally told her enough. The doctor came back, looked in his ear, and said, "Well, it's wet!" All that for nothing. She still couldn't see inside, but figured since he was hysterical with pain she'd treat him for an ear infection. He's much better now.
We had ward parties 2 nights in a row this weekend. On Friday there was a block party, and on Saturday there was an Elders Quorum Party. Tomorrow night we're having a girls night out. What a hip ward we have. On Saturday we went out and about and purchased toys for the kids. That hasn't happened for a long time. We got this duck puppet that quacks songs. Addie thinks it's the funniest thing ever, and Anders loves to quack it at her. I bought the game Cootie, where you put the bugs together and put different hats and eyes, etc. on them. I always wanted it when I was a kid, so now I'm living vicariously through my children. Anders thinks it's pretty cool. It kept him busy during church yesterday. I always wanted a Lite Bright, too. Maybe I'll get one of those before too long. And an Easy Bake Oven. I'm not scarred or anything.
We had ward parties 2 nights in a row this weekend. On Friday there was a block party, and on Saturday there was an Elders Quorum Party. Tomorrow night we're having a girls night out. What a hip ward we have. On Saturday we went out and about and purchased toys for the kids. That hasn't happened for a long time. We got this duck puppet that quacks songs. Addie thinks it's the funniest thing ever, and Anders loves to quack it at her. I bought the game Cootie, where you put the bugs together and put different hats and eyes, etc. on them. I always wanted it when I was a kid, so now I'm living vicariously through my children. Anders thinks it's pretty cool. It kept him busy during church yesterday. I always wanted a Lite Bright, too. Maybe I'll get one of those before too long. And an Easy Bake Oven. I'm not scarred or anything.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Poo
DISCLAIMER: This entry is solely about poo and pee.
Here's a humorous anecdote from this morning- I changed Addie's diaper, and she ran away before I could get a new one on her. I think we all know the inherant risks. A few minutes later she was in the toy closet and I heard her grunting. I went over to pick her up, and lo and behold a piece of poo fell out of her pajama leg. It looked like man-poo. As I was cleaning up the remnants, she sat down on the floor and peed. Isn't that nice? My little Addie. I sure love her.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Another Week in Review
Let me recap the past week:
Monday- We bought a new bed. I know, I know. We didn't get the living room furniture, though. The bed is SO much better! It makes our room look totally different. "Ah-lawk -it-a-lot!" (I like it a lot- isn't that from Dumb and Dumber or something?) We no longer have the white and brass monstrosity overtaking our personal space.
Tuesday- The surround sound system I bought Nils pooped out after an ENTIRE MONTH of use. Here's why we're never shopping at Best Buy again (and we had such high hopes for them): They have a nazi return policy; they won't take returns after 30 days, even if the item is defective. It had been 41 days since the purchase was made, so they were giving us crap about it. To make a long story short, they took the stupid thing back, and we got a nicer one, but had to pay the difference. They also tried to take back the $20 gift card they gave me in Dec. for purchasing the first system by subtracting 20 bucks from the total credit, so we had to fight tooth and nail for that. How retarded.
Wednesday- I don't remember Wednesday.
Thursday- Anders had a birthday party at 5:00. We came home about 6:00 and while I was making dinner he fell asleep on the kitchen rug. I took him up to his room, and he slept all night until 8:30 the next morning. Addie went to bed at 7:00 that night. It was the best night ever.
Friday- I don't remember Friday, either.
Saturday- I ran 4 miles. My legs are now broken. Here's the thing: I like to think I'm relatively fit. I ran the 4 miles without stopping or puking. It's not my ability or desire that keeps me from running long distances. It's my stupid shins. I get shin splints from running 2-3 times per week, even after doing all the precautionary garbage that's recommended. I have the widest running shoes available with all the support you can imagine, and I have the $80 inserts to keep the pronation under control. All this and my body still breaks. My legs have been throbbing all weekend. I think the marathon is a pipe dream.
Lest I forget the rest of Saturday, allow me to continue with the day. We went to Costco, and the Bean Museum. Anders thought it was pretty cool to see all the animals. The dead, yet taxidermed and very life-like animals. He wanted to go to Grandma's house, so he stayed there for a couple of hours while Nils, Addie and I went out and about. He loves Grandma. I still think it's largely because her house is a sugar-coated wonderland.
We've been looking more seriously into Nils attending a different school. We have to shell out $100 for the application, but they'll look at his transcripts and see which of his credits will transfer. I think it's the way to go. UVSC is a fine institution, it's my alma mater, after all. It's just not giving Nils what he needs. The school we're looking at has a very specific program for exactly what he wants to learn. Me thinks it's time!
Monday- We bought a new bed. I know, I know. We didn't get the living room furniture, though. The bed is SO much better! It makes our room look totally different. "Ah-lawk -it-a-lot!" (I like it a lot- isn't that from Dumb and Dumber or something?) We no longer have the white and brass monstrosity overtaking our personal space.
Tuesday- The surround sound system I bought Nils pooped out after an ENTIRE MONTH of use. Here's why we're never shopping at Best Buy again (and we had such high hopes for them): They have a nazi return policy; they won't take returns after 30 days, even if the item is defective. It had been 41 days since the purchase was made, so they were giving us crap about it. To make a long story short, they took the stupid thing back, and we got a nicer one, but had to pay the difference. They also tried to take back the $20 gift card they gave me in Dec. for purchasing the first system by subtracting 20 bucks from the total credit, so we had to fight tooth and nail for that. How retarded.
Wednesday- I don't remember Wednesday.
Thursday- Anders had a birthday party at 5:00. We came home about 6:00 and while I was making dinner he fell asleep on the kitchen rug. I took him up to his room, and he slept all night until 8:30 the next morning. Addie went to bed at 7:00 that night. It was the best night ever.
Friday- I don't remember Friday, either.
Saturday- I ran 4 miles. My legs are now broken. Here's the thing: I like to think I'm relatively fit. I ran the 4 miles without stopping or puking. It's not my ability or desire that keeps me from running long distances. It's my stupid shins. I get shin splints from running 2-3 times per week, even after doing all the precautionary garbage that's recommended. I have the widest running shoes available with all the support you can imagine, and I have the $80 inserts to keep the pronation under control. All this and my body still breaks. My legs have been throbbing all weekend. I think the marathon is a pipe dream.
Lest I forget the rest of Saturday, allow me to continue with the day. We went to Costco, and the Bean Museum. Anders thought it was pretty cool to see all the animals. The dead, yet taxidermed and very life-like animals. He wanted to go to Grandma's house, so he stayed there for a couple of hours while Nils, Addie and I went out and about. He loves Grandma. I still think it's largely because her house is a sugar-coated wonderland.
We've been looking more seriously into Nils attending a different school. We have to shell out $100 for the application, but they'll look at his transcripts and see which of his credits will transfer. I think it's the way to go. UVSC is a fine institution, it's my alma mater, after all. It's just not giving Nils what he needs. The school we're looking at has a very specific program for exactly what he wants to learn. Me thinks it's time!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Could that picture be any bigger?
Just so you all know, I'm not a huge narcissist. Nils made me let him take pictures of me yesterday for his digital photography class. What a pleasant surprise to wake up this morning to my big face on our computer.
On a completely different subject, I want Nils to drop out of school. For real. It's a really long story, so I'll try to be concise. He wants to do 3D animation for a living. He isn't learning that at UVSC. They don't teach it enough, so we were thinking he would just have to teach himself, and then with a bachelor's degree in multimedia he'd have no problem landing a job. Well, he's come home from class every night this semester saying, "That was such a waste of my time". So it occured to us, me mostly, that perhaps there was another option. (Oh and by the way, he's got at least 2 1/2 more years if he stays there.) There are several schools online that teach 3D animation specifically, and they are very intesive, and recommeded by companies like Pixar. They're very expensive, but I'm starting to think that's the way to go. Are we crazy?
On a completely different subject, I want Nils to drop out of school. For real. It's a really long story, so I'll try to be concise. He wants to do 3D animation for a living. He isn't learning that at UVSC. They don't teach it enough, so we were thinking he would just have to teach himself, and then with a bachelor's degree in multimedia he'd have no problem landing a job. Well, he's come home from class every night this semester saying, "That was such a waste of my time". So it occured to us, me mostly, that perhaps there was another option. (Oh and by the way, he's got at least 2 1/2 more years if he stays there.) There are several schools online that teach 3D animation specifically, and they are very intesive, and recommeded by companies like Pixar. They're very expensive, but I'm starting to think that's the way to go. Are we crazy?
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