Story Time

Instead of reading a story at bedtime, Nils decided to tell his own version of The Three Little Pigs. How could I resist this picture?

Update (for Courtney, mostly): Our house consumes our thoughts, words, actions, money and lives. They know us by name at Home Depot. So here's where we are on it: The kitchen floor and landing have been completed. The carpet is being installed as I type this. Tomorrow we pick up the cabinets, and Nils and his brother will install them. Saturday-ish, our counter tops will be ready for pick up and installation. We've started replacing light fixtures and doorknobs. I, Katrina Rasmusson, installed two doorknobs (almost) single-handedly by myself last night. I can't say I enjoyed it, but there ya go. I'm not really good for much else at this point.
To do: Paint, finish doorknobs, hinges, lights, etc.

I suspect this is incredibly boring for everyone but us, but it's all we do these days. It's been pretty cool to tear everything apart and slowly see it come together the way we want it. Nils told me last night he's almost sad to see it end, because he enjoys the work so much. Two words: Basement, baby! That gives him joy.

The Fam

Nils wanted to get a family picture on Sunday after church. We went into an empty lot in back of my mom's house, and here's the best one. Addie doesn't wear shoes anymore. She screams like she's in intense pain when we put shoes and socks on her. I'm not sure if her feet really hurt, or if she's just being difficult. I have a hunch it's the latter.

I finally broke down on bought maternity clothes last night. I've managed so far to wear normal clothes with a little extra stretch in them, but that's getting to be unacceptable now. I don't get a cute pregnant belly, which is irritating. I get thicker, so I don't look pregnant...just thicker. I've never been one to pose sideways while pregnant, because it's really not attractive. Maybe one of these days I'll be brave. Anyway, I was able to find some non-heinous maternity clothes last night, so maybe that will make the progressive abdominal "thickening" a little less mentally painful.

Anders has changed the baby's name from "Uniquah" to "Fix-it". Nice.

Flooring

This week was pretty eventful. Nils took the kitchen out of the house. It was surprisingly easy, especially for me since I sat and watched him. Did you know that cabinets are just screwed into the wall? I assumed it was more complicated than that. Counter tops are also disturbingly easy to remove. Yesterday Nils and Anders spent the majority of the day and night putting in the new kitchen floor. Next Saturday the new carpet will be installed, and next Tuesday our cabinets will be done and ready for installation (by Nils, of course). I've discovered a role for myself in all of this: I'm darn handy with a screwdriver, and boy can I remove doorknobs and hinges! It's my own personal mission. I got new ones yesterday, so this next week I'll toil away at putting them on, while Nils does all the hard stuff.

Having said all that, I'd like to brag about my husband for awhile. Most people know that Nils is pretty handy. But did you know that he can do anything? He really can. Here's the kicker, though; he enjoys it! Over the last few weeks as I've told people what our plans are with this house, they look at me as if I'm cute for dreaming- especially about the basement. But, Nils will do it because he wants it done, and he doesn't stop on something until it's done. So here's a key difference between Nils and Katrina: After a long day, I like to sit on my butt and watch TV or read a book (a trashy one, of course). After a long day for Nils, he likes to build websites, learn an impossible programming language, finish a basement, or something else ridiculously time consuming and difficult.

Something else to brag about: Nils and Anders got home at about 11:00 last night. We all went to bed, and at 2:30 a.m. Anders woke up in a puddle of vomit. I changed his clothes and got him cleaned up, but when I got a whiff of the puke, I thought I would lose it. (Quick aside: this pregnancy has intensified my sniffer more than any other, and I'm super grossed-out by a lot of things.) I felt bad for waking Nils after such a long day, but he got up and washed the barf out of the blankets and sheets and even said to me after, "I'm really glad you got me up, because I honestly don't mind that stuff at all". Can we all cry together for a moment? Could he be more fabulous? I think not! So to Nils I say, Thank You for being so darn swell. I hope you know that I love you like crazy.

Juicy Fruit

I bought Anders a pack of Juicy Fruit today at the store. We opened it up, and lo and behold, the good folks at Wrigley have changed it to yellow! This is probably old news to most of the civilized world, but I had no idea. Good call, Juicy Fruit! I never was a fan of the mysterious beige color of yesteryear. Let us all consume more artificial colors! Now, if they could just make it taste good for more than 45 seconds. More aspartame, I say!

Done Deal

This last Wednesday we became home owners yet again. After much last minute stress and a few thousand dollars in unexpected closing costs, we have ourselves a house. We went there yesterday to get some official cabinet measurements, so it's all starting to roll along. I keep imagining how wonderful it will be to have my own house again. I'm very thankful that my mom is willing to let us stay here in the meantime. Having said that, I'll be glad to have dirty dishes in the sink and not worry about it bugging her.

We met a few of the neighbors yesterday. They were all very nice, and happy about someone moving into the house. Apparently it's been empty since August. They said there are almost 300 kids in the Primary. Anders is going to have a complete meltdown. There are 40 Sunbeams! Anyhoo, we're both feeling very ready to move on. I think living with my mom for the last couple of months has been good as far as transition. We were really sad to move from Springville, but now we're ready for whatever comes next. (I must admit to still being in mourning over good old Camelot, though.)

We'll document our progress as we work on the house, so you'll all be seeing plenty of pictures in the near future.

-Katrina

ps- I used to assume that everyone could tell the difference between when Nils writes or I write- but since Holly thought maybe Nils told Courtney to "work it, baby" concerning the workout video (it was me, by the way) I thought I should decipher between he and I. Just for reputation's sake. :-)

Photographicalaciousnessocity

Yeah, that's right. It's a word, OK?! It was a mild day today (relatively speaking) so I dragged the kids outside for some pictures. 72 Photos later I didn't have a single one of them where the kids are both smiling and looking at the camera at the same time but I got some pretty good ones nonetheless. Is that one word? None the less... I digress. Here it is. Rock on.

Who's With Me?

I just checked the weather forecast for the next ten days. After tomorrow, rain and snow showers until next Thursday. I'm seriously considering moving to Florida. Is anyone else a little affected by this eternal winter bleakness?

Since yesterday was the first time in weeks and weeks that wasn't arctic, the kids went outside and rode bikes for about an hour. It's been a long, long time since we ventured into the great outdoors.

Send the Pain Below

You ever have one of those songs stuck in your head all day but you love it and want to hear it again and again? I've had a song in my head for about a week now and I can't get sick of it. It's called Send the Pain Below by Chevelle. I must have listened to it 30 times so far. I recently discovered Chevelle and I really like most of their music. I'm into quite a variety of music but I particularly like edgy rock that has kick to it. This song definitely fits the bill. The other cool thing about them is that despite their ability to rock it hardcore, I haven't heard a single swear in any songs. You can check out 'Send the Pain Below' here and hear for your self. If you like the song, check out some of their other music. Good stuff. Just thought I'd share that.

Other bands that are relatively new to me and sounding great:
Fallout Boy
Dashboard Confessional
Panic at the Disco
Good Charlotte

If you share my taste in music, be sure to check out 1.fm, available as a website or in the iTunes radio section under Alternative Rock. It's probably my favorite place to find music that really rocks. It's like the Liger of Radio Stations. Not into my hard core trash? 1.fm also has a great classical station available. I dig that, too.

-The Nizzlito.

Waterproof Flash Drive

A year or go or so, I bought a Sandisk Cruzer Mini 256 MB Jump Drive/Flash Drive/Thumb Drive/USB Drive thingy. Why are there 76 names for them? Anyway, this week I accidentally left it in my pocket when I put my jeans in the dirty clothes hamper. The magical laundry elves came and did the laundry and then Katrina called me at work to tell me that the jump drive was probably ruined. I thought "Oh well, I can get a newer one that's eight times the size for the same $40 I paid for it originally." I got home and saw the jump drive that one of the laundry elves had left out for me. I plugged it in and- It was completely functional. In fact, I didn't even lose a single file from the device. So next time you get your jump/flash/usb/thumb drive dirty, just throw it in your pocket and let the laundry elves put it through the wash. Actually, wouldn't recommend that but I'm pretty impressed with my little jump drive.

PS- I know that Katrina is the head laundry elf but I'm just so amazed at how every time I'm running out of underwear my drawer is magically re-stocked. She's got to have magical creatures helping her out.

-Nils

The Mundane

I have nothing exciting to write about, but Nils has taken over the last few entries. I figured I better get my two cents in before he takes over completely. Tee-hee!

So we're starting to get some estimates on how much it will cost to remodel our wee house. Holy poop. I think in almost any other circumstance, $20,000 would seem like a whole lot of money. We see it slipping through our fingers very quickly with all of our little projects. Here's what we want to do: New kitchen cabinets, counters, sink, laminate flooring in said kitchen, new carpet throughout house, new doorknobs and light fixtures. Then with all of the time and money we have left over, we'll get around to finishing the basement. Good grief.

We've had a sick household this week. My mom teaches kindergarten and first grade reading, so she's always a disease carrier. I got a nasty cold, Anders got pinkeye in both eyes, and my mom has had some mystery illness and has been home all week from work. Let's talk about pinkeye for a moment, shall we? What an itchy, goopey mess it is! It spreads like a muthah! I had to pin poor Anders down, manually open his eyes, and drop medicine in them. Talk about hysterical mayhem. Granted, Anders tends to overreact, but seriously...does anyone like having a foreign object forced into their eyes? Be gone forever, pinkeye!

In good news, I've been feeling the baby move a lot lately, and Nils has even felt her a few times. Yesterday I saw her shift from one side of the belly to the other. It's so weird to think that she's just a few inches long but can kick and stretch and roll around; it makes all the puking seem insignificant. Of course I can say that now that I'm feeling better! I have to admit, even the third time around, I'm quite enchanted by it. Talk to me in three months, and I'm sure I'll take it all back. :-) We are still at a loss for names. I'm waiting for a name to appear to me in a vision or dream, because I just have no idea what to name this kid.

Boring blog entry: Done.