Archive for September 2008
We put Brendan in his blow-up tub to help him sit up. It keeps all of his toys close to him, and he can’t tip over and hurt himself. A few days ago, he fell asleep in it in front of the TV with Jonathan and Marissa.
So, a few weeks ago I started to feel bad about myself. I am not young and tiny any more. My hair is way thin and I have had three kids. I have seven pounds to go before I have lost the weight from Brendan. Anyway…I needed a change. So, I decided to get hilights in my hair. This is something I have NEVER done before and this was pretty scary for me. I feel like a fish out of water when I go to a salon. I feel like they are all plotting to ruin me…or laughing at me…one or the other. Here are my before and after pictures. I really like my hilights…now I just have to figure out how to do my hair.
Marissa and Adam chose a Mickey outfit for Brendan from the Disney Store awhile back. I put him in it and took some pictures outside. He is so interested in the grass. He grabs at it and you can tell he is thinking so hard. He does the same thing with his red hair. He grabs it very carefully on the top of his head and sits and thinks.
Jonathan’s school was campaigning for office last week. I had come to his school to take pictures while the kids gave their speeches. At breakfast the next morning, I asked Jonathan whom he was going to vote for. He of course said, “I don’t know.” Marissa turned and said, “Maybe you’ll win, Jonathan.” I explained that Jonathan was not running this year…only 4th, 5th, and 6th graders could run. “Perhaps he’ll run next year if he wants to, though.” She nodded and turned to Jonathan. “I’ll bet you’ll win too…” As a mother I thought, well what a nice thing to say. Then she finished her sentence with, “…cause you’re a REALLY fast runner.” Hmmmm…a little different meaning to the word “run.”
A few weeks ago it began to pour rain outside our home. Marissa ran into our bedroom and begged to be able to go outside and “play in the rain.” Of course neither Adam or I really wanted to go stand out in the rain so that she could get all wet. But, I finally grabbed the camera and stood on the dry porch to watch her literally dance in the rain. She was having such a good time. She washed the car…with her hands, ran around in the grass, and even tried to drink the falling rain. As a mother, I should have stopped her from drinking the water as it dripped off of the house. But, it was too much fun to watch her. She was pure joy.
This was her face when it was time to go in because the rain had stopped.
My bestest childhood friend, Erin.
Erin and I go way back to the 3rd grade. Like most childhood friends, we drifted apart in High School, but we were both thrilled to reconnect after nearly 10 years. I caught up with her just in time to attend her wedding last Sept. Her Mom lives nearby in New Jersey and I had the chance to meet her for lunch this past Thursday. She was like a second Mom to me back then, so it was so good to see her again. Erin also attended the wedding and we were able to catch up on life and enjoy time away from our busy lives.
Even more friends from H.S days. We got manicures and pedicures for the big day.
Mandy, me, Erin & Jessica
My camera broke when we were getting our hair done (drink exploded in purse) so I’m waiting for pictures from the wedding/recpetion to be sent to me so I can post them.
Last November we took advantage of a balance transfer offer from one of Erica’s credit cards. It gave us 2.99% until the balance was paid off, so it made great sense. We wrote a check for several thousand dollars and took it to our credit union with my paycheck and a check from Erica’s mom paying her for letting out her dogs while her mom was at work. A few days later, the balance transfer check and the check from Erica’s mom were returned and marked “Refer to maker.” I talked with the credit union to see if I could get any more info and they didn’t know what had happened. We ended up doing the balance transfer another way, so that worked out ok, but Erica’s mom was really concerned about why her check came back. She contacted her bank and they said it had never tried to clear her account.
Well, 10 months later, with some surprise help from the bookkeeper here at Fibernet, we’ve put together the puzzle. All the checks I deposited that day showed up at Fibernet’s bank. My paycheck was debited normally from Fibernet’s account, but the other two checks were somehow recorded as deposits made by Erica. The mistake was later corrected and the checks were sent back to our Credit Union marked “Refer to Maker.” All I can guess is that the teller who took our checks clipped them all together with my paycheck on top and they all went to Fibernet’s bank instead of going to the banks they were actually drawn from. That “Refer to Maker” stamp was the real issue, of course. If it had been “Incorrectly Routed for Payment” or something else a little more descriptive, then the mistake would have been obvious!
Jordan is taking over Mommy duty while I attend a wedding in Nebraska this weekend. I’ll be gone for 3 days. Woohoo! I have never been away from the kids this long. In fact, since Dec 17th, 2003, I’ve never been alone for more than a few hours at a time. Wait, that’s a lie. Jordan and I did go on a 8 day cruise alone; thanks Mom! While I’m so excited to have some time alone, I’m afraid that I’m going to be lousy at it. It’s really hard to deprogram out of mommy mode. I’ll try to supress the urge to hold all the crying babies on the plane and just put on my headphones and enjoy the inflight movie (for once!). I’m not worried about Jordan with the kids at all. I think he will be suprised just how chaotic things can get, but he’s so calm under fire that in all honesty I think he’ll manage it even better than I do….sigh.
We discovered Tattles Bar & Grill in Preston, ID by sheer chance. A couple of years ago when we took the kids to Jackson, WY we decided to drive through Preston on the way to see which Napoleon Dynamite filming locations we might be able to check out. We stopped for gas when we first arrived and I asked the cashier if there was anywhere we could get a good sitdown breakfast. She said, “Well, I dunno. I guess there’s Tattles.” Huh? She told me where to find it and that it was just about the only cafe in town, so we figured we’d give it a shot. We drove about a 1/2 mile west of the main drag and found Tattles Bar & Grill situated in an old house surrounded by a gravel parking lot across the street from a farm implement supplier. We were a bit skeptical. Erica ordered pancakes and I was pleased to see their menu featured a “Garbage Omelet,” which is a tradition in my family and consists of just about every vegetable and meat you can think of tossed in an omelet. I ordered that and a scone. Erica asked the waitress if she could get a scone too, and the waitress gave her a weird look and said “I think one will be enough.” She was sure right about that. They brough Erica a stack of three pancakes the size of dinner plates, and my scone was about 9 inches long, almost 6 inches wide and about and inch and a half thick. One was enough. We’ve been back to Tattles three times now. We even went so far as to plan a day trip to the Cache Valley of northern Utah just so we’d be within spitting distance of Tattles for breakfast.
Tattles on Google Maps:
I am ashamed that I neglected to post anything about this for so long, but Dad (Jon W) retired from Qwest on the 14th of August. He had been contemplating taking that plunge for a few months, but contract negotiations at that time looked kinda cruddy, so he just up and did it. Congratulations to Dad on sticking with a job he almost never enjoyed for so long and for both setting that example of loyalty and for passing on what you learned to your children: “Find a job you love.”
To commemorate Dad’s retirement, all the kids and Mom pitched in to buy him a new lawn mower, something he hadn’t had for almost as long as he worked at Qwest and was in desparate need of. True to his own style, when we brought it into the house he told us we had to return it to the store because we had spent far too much money on him! A few days later, though, he sent out an email telling us he had used it for the first time and loved it. Dad, we are all proud of the way you conducted your career and the way you live your life. Congratulations, and enjoy your retirement!