Thursday, August 27, 2009
Worst news ever!
That's what I said to my husband today when he came in the kitchen and he saw that I had been crying. Okay, I had to point out that I had been crying, but nonetheless, he thought that the worse thing would be if someone died or was hurt. No,I blubbered, the worst thing would be if my work called me and told me that I had to work the weekend of our rim to rim hike, even though I had my vacation approved weeks ago. I COULD NOT believe that it was possible to cause that much emotional trauma, but there was a lot of planning and coordinating that went in to the reservation for the shuttle from the south rim to the north rim, getting the lodge at the north rim (VERY difficult this time of year), then the south rim lodge, and Grandma's plane ticket to babysit. Maybe I was so devastated because I was on the treadmill at my 12% incline with my 20 lb backpack for my endurance training and had been planning on being on there for 2 hours, and then the phone call cut it short by 30 minutes. So, I called my dear friend Emily, and told her about all of the drama, and she had the best words of comfort which she said her "Nordstrom" lady would tell her...she was going to pray for me. That warmed my little heart. But then it got better when she dropped off a card with a Payday and Take 5 candy bars inside! I couldn't even share those with my family since they are all allergic to nuts (well, not Chloe-she just refuses, and I don't want to risk anything on my dear little baby). I knew things were going to look up from that point on. I was able to switch everything to the next weekend except I have to hope and pray that a room will become available at the north rim lodge. One of the three reservation agents that I spoke with today, said that there are cancellations constantly, due to people making reservations so far in advance. So I have to be persistent and in the words of Yo Gabba Gabba "Keep trying, keep trying, don't give up, never give up" (this song may be the reason why my children don't take no for an answer). Because if I don't, Kevin says that we are going to camp out in the lodge by the plate glass window.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Worst Blog Ever!
I need to rename my blog. This comes after several inquiries from my adoring fans about when I'm going to post and these same fans in the same breath tell me how bad I am at blogging. If I could blog while running or folding laundry, it would be an exceptional blog, but I can't so it's sub par. I will now recap my lovely trip to Utah.
It was a lovely trip to Utah. I mean it, sisters. I bet a couple of them giggled or rolled their eyes, but all in all, I enjoyed my time. These are the highlights, in no particular order.
I wanted to share pictures of the trip from Phoenix, but I am technologically stunted (underdeveloped, maybe?), so I will have to describe. Please use your imagination if you have not made the trip. We take the route that takes us through the Native American Relocation Land (the Indian Reservation). All I can say is, the lone and dreary world. At one point it looks like we've landed on the moon. Not fun. And we've never even stopped for a necklace or anything. When we get to the small Utah towns, for the past four years, sitting in the same exact spot, are police cars that have a dummy in them to get us to slow down and obey the speed limit. I wonder how many people panic when they see them.
My children and I stayed at The Residence Inn in a two bedroom suite. I will never go back to regular hotel living. I could close my door and their door. It was great. PLUS, they had a treadmill that would go to a 15% incline. Perfect for my Grand Canyon training.
The whole fam damily went to Lagoon. For those of you not familiar (that would be you, Toia), it is an amusement park with a water park. I looked forward to going there every year on Stake Lagoon Day. We had fun at the water park and went on many spinning, throwing, shooting up in the air rides, which I love. Growing up, one of my favorites was the Rock-O-Planes, which is like a ferris wheel that you and your co-rider (someone you know) can spin the cage around that you are sitting in and even stop in upside down. I'm getting a little dizzy thinking about it. No one ever wants to go on it with me. That is, until this year. My niece, McKellyn, said she wanted to go on it, so I jumped at the chance. She said that she had been unable to spin it more than once with her cousin, so she did not have high hopes. Little did she know she was going with a pro. We spun that thing around so many times, I cried Uncle. She would not let me stop and the next day had a bruise on my leg from all the spinning. She's crazy! Probably why I love her.
Alison had her baby. On MY birthday! Happy birthday to me! It wasn't supposed to be my present (my real present was a day at the Japanese spa. Domo arigato, shujin.), but she had an emergency C-section and delivered a scrawny 5 lb 2 oz Rolf Olav Vagen. I will be calling him Jussi because that's the name I picked and felt that since he was born on my birthday I would get to choose. Her excuse was something like people would call him "Juicy" instead of "Yussi", so they went with the Skule's dad's name. I would let her choose my baby's name if I had a baby on her birthday. I realize that I can say this without any hope of that ever happening. But he was super cute and little. And she said the doctor was shocked at the extra small placenta (I know Kevin doesn't read this, so I feel confident that I won't upset his tender sensibilities with that), but of course it was no wonder given the stress that she had been under, what with the being evicted under false pretenses, pregnancy induced high blood pressure, cafe being shut down suddenly for two weeks, and husband who is an illegal alien. I live vicariously through her. I have no drama, so I marvel that anyone can handle it. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend. I wouldn't be who I am without her.
There was a brush fire right outside our hotel. I mean, we could smell smoke in our room. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I wondered why I could semll hot dogs roasting. It was the fire. The winds had been super crazy that day and when we were driving to the hotel, we saw a small brush fire. By the time I got the kids ready for bed, they had shut down I-80 because the flames were jumping across the freeway. YIKES!!! I tried to remain calm, and FORTUNATELY, Chloe had slept over at my mom's. She would not take a brush fire that she could see without anxiety. We saw flames and I just stared at it. They were able to contain it, but it was all way too close for me.
Julie and I went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, on the day that it happened to be National Cheesecake Day. Who knew? SO they were offering half price cheesecake. I asked our waitress if anybody was crazy enough to turn that down, and she pointed to a table with a couple of men and said they did. We all were shocked. Julie, of course, looks fabulous and is enjoying hjer little family. I miss being with her everyday. She is such an awesome friend. She even brought me a necklace for my birthday. What a thoughtful girl.
OK. I admit. This is getting a little boring, and it's about me. You can scan quickly through here and just look for your name and see what I say about you. I won't be offended.
The children and I went to Sheri Louann's house to make happy memories at her house, instead of the last time, when Chloe got slivers all in her hand and Sheri gave my children salt water taffy to ease the pain. Sheri has a cute little family and has the cleanest house! I did take a peek at her food storage, since I'm a little obsessed with it and the fact that the Utah girls have so much space for it. We talked about everyone we knew. She was a wealth of information. I guess that's what happens when you live in Utah and see people you know from growing up. That never happens to me here.
I had a funny temple experience. Yes, I risk being sacrilegious here, but I can find humor in any circumstance. So, Stephanie, Kellie, and I went to the SLC temple. Of course it's beautiful and brings back wedding memories. We missed the session that we were aiming for, so we got to sit in the chapel for about 50 minutes. That's a long time for us who are geared toward silliness. A woman came in walking with a Moses staff (I have no other way to describe it) which would not have been THAT funny except for the fact that she had crocheted a cozy to go around it, the entire length of the staff. I took one look at that and, well, I giggled. It's just like when one sister starts crying, we all do. Same with giggling. I just pictured that woman measuring her Moses staff to get the precise size of cozy for it. The best part about it, though, was that the woman didn't even use it! She walked without the assistance of it, but she had it in her hand, just in case, I guess.
We went down and saw Mrs. McKellar in her love nest. She looked great and their apartment was so cute! She makes the best bows and gave some to my girls. I had an odd experience in the BYU Smith's grocery store. I was in line, when a man walked up behind me and looked me in the eye then poked me in the arm and shocked me (literally and figuratively). I couldn't believe that someone would accost another at BYU!
If you've made it through all of this, you are either my mother or a true friend. Or I guess REALLY bored and willing to suffer through the travelogue. Or maybe you are like my sister, Jen, who will read this in its entirety to make sure that I don't out her as a mean sister who teases her little sister, Sweet Stephanie, for having a "grandma purse." I know MY mother didn't raise me to think I was better than someone else.
It was a lovely trip to Utah. I mean it, sisters. I bet a couple of them giggled or rolled their eyes, but all in all, I enjoyed my time. These are the highlights, in no particular order.
I wanted to share pictures of the trip from Phoenix, but I am technologically stunted (underdeveloped, maybe?), so I will have to describe. Please use your imagination if you have not made the trip. We take the route that takes us through the Native American Relocation Land (the Indian Reservation). All I can say is, the lone and dreary world. At one point it looks like we've landed on the moon. Not fun. And we've never even stopped for a necklace or anything. When we get to the small Utah towns, for the past four years, sitting in the same exact spot, are police cars that have a dummy in them to get us to slow down and obey the speed limit. I wonder how many people panic when they see them.
My children and I stayed at The Residence Inn in a two bedroom suite. I will never go back to regular hotel living. I could close my door and their door. It was great. PLUS, they had a treadmill that would go to a 15% incline. Perfect for my Grand Canyon training.
The whole fam damily went to Lagoon. For those of you not familiar (that would be you, Toia), it is an amusement park with a water park. I looked forward to going there every year on Stake Lagoon Day. We had fun at the water park and went on many spinning, throwing, shooting up in the air rides, which I love. Growing up, one of my favorites was the Rock-O-Planes, which is like a ferris wheel that you and your co-rider (someone you know) can spin the cage around that you are sitting in and even stop in upside down. I'm getting a little dizzy thinking about it. No one ever wants to go on it with me. That is, until this year. My niece, McKellyn, said she wanted to go on it, so I jumped at the chance. She said that she had been unable to spin it more than once with her cousin, so she did not have high hopes. Little did she know she was going with a pro. We spun that thing around so many times, I cried Uncle. She would not let me stop and the next day had a bruise on my leg from all the spinning. She's crazy! Probably why I love her.
Alison had her baby. On MY birthday! Happy birthday to me! It wasn't supposed to be my present (my real present was a day at the Japanese spa. Domo arigato, shujin.), but she had an emergency C-section and delivered a scrawny 5 lb 2 oz Rolf Olav Vagen. I will be calling him Jussi because that's the name I picked and felt that since he was born on my birthday I would get to choose. Her excuse was something like people would call him "Juicy" instead of "Yussi", so they went with the Skule's dad's name. I would let her choose my baby's name if I had a baby on her birthday. I realize that I can say this without any hope of that ever happening. But he was super cute and little. And she said the doctor was shocked at the extra small placenta (I know Kevin doesn't read this, so I feel confident that I won't upset his tender sensibilities with that), but of course it was no wonder given the stress that she had been under, what with the being evicted under false pretenses, pregnancy induced high blood pressure, cafe being shut down suddenly for two weeks, and husband who is an illegal alien. I live vicariously through her. I have no drama, so I marvel that anyone can handle it. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend. I wouldn't be who I am without her.
There was a brush fire right outside our hotel. I mean, we could smell smoke in our room. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I wondered why I could semll hot dogs roasting. It was the fire. The winds had been super crazy that day and when we were driving to the hotel, we saw a small brush fire. By the time I got the kids ready for bed, they had shut down I-80 because the flames were jumping across the freeway. YIKES!!! I tried to remain calm, and FORTUNATELY, Chloe had slept over at my mom's. She would not take a brush fire that she could see without anxiety. We saw flames and I just stared at it. They were able to contain it, but it was all way too close for me.
Julie and I went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, on the day that it happened to be National Cheesecake Day. Who knew? SO they were offering half price cheesecake. I asked our waitress if anybody was crazy enough to turn that down, and she pointed to a table with a couple of men and said they did. We all were shocked. Julie, of course, looks fabulous and is enjoying hjer little family. I miss being with her everyday. She is such an awesome friend. She even brought me a necklace for my birthday. What a thoughtful girl.
OK. I admit. This is getting a little boring, and it's about me. You can scan quickly through here and just look for your name and see what I say about you. I won't be offended.
The children and I went to Sheri Louann's house to make happy memories at her house, instead of the last time, when Chloe got slivers all in her hand and Sheri gave my children salt water taffy to ease the pain. Sheri has a cute little family and has the cleanest house! I did take a peek at her food storage, since I'm a little obsessed with it and the fact that the Utah girls have so much space for it. We talked about everyone we knew. She was a wealth of information. I guess that's what happens when you live in Utah and see people you know from growing up. That never happens to me here.
I had a funny temple experience. Yes, I risk being sacrilegious here, but I can find humor in any circumstance. So, Stephanie, Kellie, and I went to the SLC temple. Of course it's beautiful and brings back wedding memories. We missed the session that we were aiming for, so we got to sit in the chapel for about 50 minutes. That's a long time for us who are geared toward silliness. A woman came in walking with a Moses staff (I have no other way to describe it) which would not have been THAT funny except for the fact that she had crocheted a cozy to go around it, the entire length of the staff. I took one look at that and, well, I giggled. It's just like when one sister starts crying, we all do. Same with giggling. I just pictured that woman measuring her Moses staff to get the precise size of cozy for it. The best part about it, though, was that the woman didn't even use it! She walked without the assistance of it, but she had it in her hand, just in case, I guess.
We went down and saw Mrs. McKellar in her love nest. She looked great and their apartment was so cute! She makes the best bows and gave some to my girls. I had an odd experience in the BYU Smith's grocery store. I was in line, when a man walked up behind me and looked me in the eye then poked me in the arm and shocked me (literally and figuratively). I couldn't believe that someone would accost another at BYU!
If you've made it through all of this, you are either my mother or a true friend. Or I guess REALLY bored and willing to suffer through the travelogue. Or maybe you are like my sister, Jen, who will read this in its entirety to make sure that I don't out her as a mean sister who teases her little sister, Sweet Stephanie, for having a "grandma purse." I know MY mother didn't raise me to think I was better than someone else.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Jig is Up
I thought that my sisters were not reading my blog since NONE of them took my How Well Do You Know Me? test on Facebook, and my specific instructions were that they were NOT to read the answers until they took the test and their results were posted. They all took it and guess what? No controversy over the Who Is My Favorite Sister? question, even though none of my biological sisters were the correct answer. I guess none of them really cared that they were not my favorite sister. So now I get to thank Julie for being my favorite sister and she actually cared that I chose her. But the jig is up now and I can't divulge any privileged information on here about them. However, since there are so few following this blog, I can blog about other people. Hmmmm....
Now that I am here in Utah, the land of Zion, where you can go to your local Costco and buy Church related materials, and no one looks at you weird when you have four of your children plus extras (I haven't heard ONCE "Boy, you have your hands full!" given with a disapproving look). It is such an interesting experience to come back and the differences between here and Phoenix (or maybe for that matter, anywhere else). I saw a billboard for same day missionary package delivery. I was with my dear friend, Alison, and her nurse knew what a ward was, even though she's not LDS. We went to Lagoon and they had dinner prayer over the loud speaker. OK, I made that last one up, but it is definitely Zion.
The last thing on this post, is what my nephew, Noah, had to say about me. When my sister, Stephanie, was relaying this exchange with her children, she made me promise not to be offended by what she had to say. So there had been a incident where her daughter was left out of a sleepover with Chloe, and instead of us being upfront with her and telling her what was going on, I chose to not tell her, in an attempt to not hurt her feelings. It didn't work because she found out about it and was upset that we had done something behind her back. I talked to her that it was my idea to not tell her and that it was my idea and not her cousins. She was still hurt even after her and I talked about it and was asking her mother who knew about the sleepover. Stephanie told her that it wasn't the best idea to have kept it from her, when her son, Noah, piped in and said "Well, Malia, you know Aunt Kim isn't as developed as Mom." Wh-a-a-t? Mind you, I teased Stephanie RELENTLESSLY when we were growing up on her lack of development, stating several times that I had taken her fair share. So this is very humorous. Noah goes on to explain, though. When Stephanie asked him what he meant by that he said "Well, you know she's like a kid, she likes to have fun and you don't, Mom, you're more of a party pooper." LOVE that boy! Little does he know how true his words are.
Now that I am here in Utah, the land of Zion, where you can go to your local Costco and buy Church related materials, and no one looks at you weird when you have four of your children plus extras (I haven't heard ONCE "Boy, you have your hands full!" given with a disapproving look). It is such an interesting experience to come back and the differences between here and Phoenix (or maybe for that matter, anywhere else). I saw a billboard for same day missionary package delivery. I was with my dear friend, Alison, and her nurse knew what a ward was, even though she's not LDS. We went to Lagoon and they had dinner prayer over the loud speaker. OK, I made that last one up, but it is definitely Zion.
The last thing on this post, is what my nephew, Noah, had to say about me. When my sister, Stephanie, was relaying this exchange with her children, she made me promise not to be offended by what she had to say. So there had been a incident where her daughter was left out of a sleepover with Chloe, and instead of us being upfront with her and telling her what was going on, I chose to not tell her, in an attempt to not hurt her feelings. It didn't work because she found out about it and was upset that we had done something behind her back. I talked to her that it was my idea to not tell her and that it was my idea and not her cousins. She was still hurt even after her and I talked about it and was asking her mother who knew about the sleepover. Stephanie told her that it wasn't the best idea to have kept it from her, when her son, Noah, piped in and said "Well, Malia, you know Aunt Kim isn't as developed as Mom." Wh-a-a-t? Mind you, I teased Stephanie RELENTLESSLY when we were growing up on her lack of development, stating several times that I had taken her fair share. So this is very humorous. Noah goes on to explain, though. When Stephanie asked him what he meant by that he said "Well, you know she's like a kid, she likes to have fun and you don't, Mom, you're more of a party pooper." LOVE that boy! Little does he know how true his words are.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Successful Blogging 101
It has come to my attention by one of my faithful followers (thanks Mom!) that I have been slacking when it comes to updating my blog. This is not out of lack of information or things going on. It seems as though there is always something going on, so I will now describe a typical week during the summer for the Partridge family. Get ready for high action, drama, and maybe even tears.
This summer is the summer of Dillan. I know, he's the oldest. always gets the most attention, is our "break us in" child, but this summer has really been devoted to improving his abilities. The other dear children have not been neglected, as you will see, but Dillan has had the lion's share of enrichment activities. Monday -Friday this is where Dillan started his morning at7:45:
This is our community pool known as Melrose, no relation to "Melrose Place" as some fan of the show from the nineties may wonder. It is super great and fun for these guys as it brings our community together with swimming, Foosball , basketball, barbecues, and movie nights. This is our first year being a part of the club, because in years past our children have swam with the city league, which is much less expensive, but unfortunately closed this year. Chloe is on the swim team as well. We tried having Olivia on the team, but she did not fare as well. I guess we will allow this since she's four, but next year, NO EXCUSES!
Next event was Dillan's summer school at Brophy Preparatory Academy, which is a parochial high school for boys. He took speed and strength, arithmetic, and study skills. I kept asking him to ask his coach when the mom/ son day was for speed and strength, but he just rolled his eyes at me. That's my boy! You have never seen such a sea of boys as when it's quitting time there. Lots of rough housing.
After taking CHloe to and from swim, Blake got a nap, mommy ran on the treadmill, and Olivia went to and from art/ music school, it's lunch! I do not excel at my lunch making abilities. My goal is fiber. Increase every one's fiber intake. Call it my nursing instinct taking over.
Usually, at this time, a dip in the pool is warranted. Now for me, my first real venture into the pool did not come until the last week in June. THE LAST WEEK IN JUNE! We live in the hot desert, and it was not warm enough for me to get in our pool. This was a first for us to have such temperate conditions to prevent me from swimming.
Dillan and Chloe are taking piano lessons and violin lessons in the evening. It warms me heart so much to hear them. It warms my heart to hear peace too. It warms my heart to hear cooperation. OK, I'll take plain old getting along.
I have begun my job, as I have mentioned before, so three nights a week I work from the comfort of my home and go in to the office on Saturdays. So fab that I have this job. And I haven't killed anyone. Yet. That I know of.
Kevin's days go like this. Leave the house when he's good and ready. Get hot and sweaty, or enjoy a lovely lunch appointment. Sometimes he does both in the same day, enjoying a hot, sweaty lunch. I sure am loving tree trimming season though. Until it came to our trees getting trimmed. Last ones to get done.
So maybe the reason for my small fan base is that I am not as adept at blogging as I originally intended. There is always room for improvement. And material. Have I mentioned that I am going to Utah in a little more than a week. Not only will I have sisters who don't read this, which means I can say whatever I want as long as you people SWEAR not to tell them, I will also have all those Utah Mormons to observe their peculiarities. Thus begins my improvement in my blogging skills. And again, you can throw out criticisms of me for not gettin' 'er done, but this is MY BLOG. If I want to let it be a failure, well it's my prerogative (feel free to sing Bobby Brown).
This summer is the summer of Dillan. I know, he's the oldest. always gets the most attention, is our "break us in" child, but this summer has really been devoted to improving his abilities. The other dear children have not been neglected, as you will see, but Dillan has had the lion's share of enrichment activities. Monday -Friday this is where Dillan started his morning at7:45:
This is our community pool known as Melrose, no relation to "Melrose Place" as some fan of the show from the nineties may wonder. It is super great and fun for these guys as it brings our community together with swimming, Foosball , basketball, barbecues, and movie nights. This is our first year being a part of the club, because in years past our children have swam with the city league, which is much less expensive, but unfortunately closed this year. Chloe is on the swim team as well. We tried having Olivia on the team, but she did not fare as well. I guess we will allow this since she's four, but next year, NO EXCUSES!
Next event was Dillan's summer school at Brophy Preparatory Academy, which is a parochial high school for boys. He took speed and strength, arithmetic, and study skills. I kept asking him to ask his coach when the mom/ son day was for speed and strength, but he just rolled his eyes at me. That's my boy! You have never seen such a sea of boys as when it's quitting time there. Lots of rough housing.
After taking CHloe to and from swim, Blake got a nap, mommy ran on the treadmill, and Olivia went to and from art/ music school, it's lunch! I do not excel at my lunch making abilities. My goal is fiber. Increase every one's fiber intake. Call it my nursing instinct taking over.
Usually, at this time, a dip in the pool is warranted. Now for me, my first real venture into the pool did not come until the last week in June. THE LAST WEEK IN JUNE! We live in the hot desert, and it was not warm enough for me to get in our pool. This was a first for us to have such temperate conditions to prevent me from swimming.
Dillan and Chloe are taking piano lessons and violin lessons in the evening. It warms me heart so much to hear them. It warms my heart to hear peace too. It warms my heart to hear cooperation. OK, I'll take plain old getting along.
I have begun my job, as I have mentioned before, so three nights a week I work from the comfort of my home and go in to the office on Saturdays. So fab that I have this job. And I haven't killed anyone. Yet. That I know of.
Kevin's days go like this. Leave the house when he's good and ready. Get hot and sweaty, or enjoy a lovely lunch appointment. Sometimes he does both in the same day, enjoying a hot, sweaty lunch. I sure am loving tree trimming season though. Until it came to our trees getting trimmed. Last ones to get done.
So maybe the reason for my small fan base is that I am not as adept at blogging as I originally intended. There is always room for improvement. And material. Have I mentioned that I am going to Utah in a little more than a week. Not only will I have sisters who don't read this, which means I can say whatever I want as long as you people SWEAR not to tell them, I will also have all those Utah Mormons to observe their peculiarities. Thus begins my improvement in my blogging skills. And again, you can throw out criticisms of me for not gettin' 'er done, but this is MY BLOG. If I want to let it be a failure, well it's my prerogative (feel free to sing Bobby Brown).
Sunday, June 14, 2009
How Well Do You Know Me? Answers Revealed
Many of you (who am I kidding? There aren't "many"people who read this) may be familiar with the social networking site known as "Facebook" which is a great tool for reconnecting with former friends and flames, and it also serves as a narcissistic outlet with such things as 25 Random things about Me and How Well Do You Know (your name here)? Recently, I engaged in said self serving behavior and made a quiz about me, aptly titled How Well Do You Know Kim Partridge? If you haven't taken the quiz , please stop reading this and return to facebook and take the test. I mean it, sisters. The only one excluded from this is Mom and that's only because she doesn't belong to facebook. Okay. Now that you're back and have taken my entertaining, yet educational test, here are the answers revealed.
1)What is my favorite store to shop at?
a) The Home Depot
b) The Gap
c) R.E.I.
d) Williams Sonoma
e) Victoria's Secret
The answer is D. Home Depot is Kevin (and Olivia)'s favorite store, Gap is not fashion forward enough for me, REI is purely utilitarian, as for that matter so is Victoria's Secret, but Williams Sonoma entices me every time! I love to cook and especially all the tools that go with it.
2) What time am I usually in bed by?
a) 8 p.m.
b) 9 p.m.
c) 10 p.m.
d) 11 p.m.
e) It's an all night party for me
The correct answer is 9pm. Now I am not ASLEEP by that time, but I am in my pajamas by 8 and in my bed at 9, usually reading or posting on my blog.
3) What am I scared of?
a) Spiders
b) Snakes
c) Paper
d) Lizards
e) Hair
This was like a freebie because if you know me at all, you know I am TERRIFIED of spiders. Even writing the word give me the creeps. I threw hair in there because out of all the blood and guts and poop and phlegm that I've seen/ handled, hair BY FAR grosses me out the most. THe first time I had to give a patient a bed bath and I shampooed his hair with a shampoo tray and all this hair came out I was dry heaving. Seriously, I can't stand my own hair coming out.
4) What is my favorite movie?
a) The Princess Bride
b) The Notebook
c) As Good As It Gets
d) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
e) Twilight
This was disappointing to me. 79% of you (well, I guess now that will be different after all of my sisters take the quiz) said that The Princess Bride is my favorite movie, but alas, it is not. I enjoyed The Princess Bride, but only one person, Cady Jardine, got this one right. I love As Good As It Gets. Whenever it's on TV, I have to watch it. The Notebook I did not like, although, surprisingly, Kevin did, and I appreciate those who thought that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (shout out to Nurse Ratchett!) and THANK HEAVENS no one thought that Twilight was my favorite movie. Haven't even read the book yet, but I do have juicy gossip on the author.
5) What did I want to be when I was little?
a) Teacher
b) Beautician
c) Broadway actress
d) Nurse
e) Office Babe
Yep, it's nurse. When my youngest sister, Kellie, was born and we went to the hospital to see her, I remember thinking what a great job the nurses had and I wanted to be a baby nurse when I grew up. Now I have nursed babies and I have been a nurse to people who acted like babies, but I haven't been a baby nurse, still a dream of mine. As you may have guessed, beautician would NEVER have worked for me. I would love to be a Broadway actress, but I do know my limitations.
6) I am most happiest when ________?
a) Sleeping
b) Eating
c) Running
d) Playing with my children
e) I'm always happy
I know, this one was super cheesy, but I am happy. I think I get that perspective from being a nurse and seeing people in terrible health and social/ economical situations, so I am acutely aware of all that's great.
7)What song would I choose to sing at a karaoke bar?
a) Stop! In the Name of Love
b) Bad Medicine
c) New York, New York
d) Stayin' Alive
e) Oh baby! You better keep me out of that bar!
I have a dream and it involves me and a karaoke machine. My parents gave me one for Christmas before I was married and I believe that was one of the stipulations that Kevin have was that I left it at home. So now, I have to wait until the Guthries annual Halloween party to get my fix. I feel comfortable posting this since Kevin doesn't read it, but I have big plans to sing him a special number this year and it's one of the options above.
8) Who is my favorite sister?
a) Jen
b) Nikki
c) Stephanie
d) Kellie
e) Julie
Alright, this was a trick question. It was meant to stir up trouble with my sisters and I in anticipation of our annual pilgrimage to Utah for family togetherness, but since none of them took the test, they don't know that I put this out there, so the gathering will have less sparks than I wanted. I put Julie who is technically my sister in law, although I consider her my sister, and fortunately, she got this one right.
9) What am I currently addicted to?
a) The Real World
b) The Bachelorette
c) McDonald's Vanilla Ice Crea, Cones
d) Coke
e) Facebook
Only two people didn't say facebook. Really. I know that it would seem as though I am addicted to facebook since I did the quiz on facebook, but I don't know what to do on there except for look at what friends are doing and that takes me a couple of minutes, then I'm done. But, I NEED a McDonald's Vanilla Ice Cream Cone every day. It's 150 calories and 6gm of fat goodness. The Sabbath is the only day I don't enjoy one, but maybe I could get two on Saturday and freeze one.....
10) Which one of these insects have I NOT had in my hair (that I know of)?
a) Cockroach
b) Spider
c) Fly
d) Beetle
e) Earwig
The answer is beetle. Let me tell you how the cockroach got in my hair. When I was doing a home visit for a baby from a teenage mom that lived in a trailer with her parents, I usually don't sit down because a lot of times there isn't a clean place to sit, but I had to assess the baby and the only place I could do that was seated on the couch. The grandma of the baby was fascinated with my hair because I had it in a french braid. I was wrapping things up when she smacked me on the back of the head. I turned to look at her and she said Oh, I think I saw something in your hair, and that's when I saw a huge cockroach running away. I don't think I ever packed up my things as fast as I did that day.
11) If I was running out of my burning house, what item would I grab?
a) The remote
b) Violin
c) Make-up
d) Bra
e) Clothes
After reading the question again, I realize why there were a lot of wrong answers. I pictured myself running out of a burning building in the middle of the night since that's when I have imagined it happening. So you all get credit for this one. Which brings me to the answer I put which is bra, because I don't wear one at night and I would hate to have the firefighters see me unkempt. Many of you said makeup and while I do love makeup, again, I saw it as the middle of the night and really nighttime is when I rest my face. And by the way, I wear pajamas because I believe that it is part of emergency preparedness. I would hate to have the firefighters see me in my garments only.
So now you know more about me and you read it on another narcissistic forum.
1)What is my favorite store to shop at?
a) The Home Depot
b) The Gap
c) R.E.I.
d) Williams Sonoma
e) Victoria's Secret
The answer is D. Home Depot is Kevin (and Olivia)'s favorite store, Gap is not fashion forward enough for me, REI is purely utilitarian, as for that matter so is Victoria's Secret, but Williams Sonoma entices me every time! I love to cook and especially all the tools that go with it.
2) What time am I usually in bed by?
a) 8 p.m.
b) 9 p.m.
c) 10 p.m.
d) 11 p.m.
e) It's an all night party for me
The correct answer is 9pm. Now I am not ASLEEP by that time, but I am in my pajamas by 8 and in my bed at 9, usually reading or posting on my blog.
3) What am I scared of?
a) Spiders
b) Snakes
c) Paper
d) Lizards
e) Hair
This was like a freebie because if you know me at all, you know I am TERRIFIED of spiders. Even writing the word give me the creeps. I threw hair in there because out of all the blood and guts and poop and phlegm that I've seen/ handled, hair BY FAR grosses me out the most. THe first time I had to give a patient a bed bath and I shampooed his hair with a shampoo tray and all this hair came out I was dry heaving. Seriously, I can't stand my own hair coming out.
4) What is my favorite movie?
a) The Princess Bride
b) The Notebook
c) As Good As It Gets
d) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
e) Twilight
This was disappointing to me. 79% of you (well, I guess now that will be different after all of my sisters take the quiz) said that The Princess Bride is my favorite movie, but alas, it is not. I enjoyed The Princess Bride, but only one person, Cady Jardine, got this one right. I love As Good As It Gets. Whenever it's on TV, I have to watch it. The Notebook I did not like, although, surprisingly, Kevin did, and I appreciate those who thought that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (shout out to Nurse Ratchett!) and THANK HEAVENS no one thought that Twilight was my favorite movie. Haven't even read the book yet, but I do have juicy gossip on the author.
5) What did I want to be when I was little?
a) Teacher
b) Beautician
c) Broadway actress
d) Nurse
e) Office Babe
Yep, it's nurse. When my youngest sister, Kellie, was born and we went to the hospital to see her, I remember thinking what a great job the nurses had and I wanted to be a baby nurse when I grew up. Now I have nursed babies and I have been a nurse to people who acted like babies, but I haven't been a baby nurse, still a dream of mine. As you may have guessed, beautician would NEVER have worked for me. I would love to be a Broadway actress, but I do know my limitations.
6) I am most happiest when ________?
a) Sleeping
b) Eating
c) Running
d) Playing with my children
e) I'm always happy
I know, this one was super cheesy, but I am happy. I think I get that perspective from being a nurse and seeing people in terrible health and social/ economical situations, so I am acutely aware of all that's great.
7)What song would I choose to sing at a karaoke bar?
a) Stop! In the Name of Love
b) Bad Medicine
c) New York, New York
d) Stayin' Alive
e) Oh baby! You better keep me out of that bar!
I have a dream and it involves me and a karaoke machine. My parents gave me one for Christmas before I was married and I believe that was one of the stipulations that Kevin have was that I left it at home. So now, I have to wait until the Guthries annual Halloween party to get my fix. I feel comfortable posting this since Kevin doesn't read it, but I have big plans to sing him a special number this year and it's one of the options above.
8) Who is my favorite sister?
a) Jen
b) Nikki
c) Stephanie
d) Kellie
e) Julie
Alright, this was a trick question. It was meant to stir up trouble with my sisters and I in anticipation of our annual pilgrimage to Utah for family togetherness, but since none of them took the test, they don't know that I put this out there, so the gathering will have less sparks than I wanted. I put Julie who is technically my sister in law, although I consider her my sister, and fortunately, she got this one right.
9) What am I currently addicted to?
a) The Real World
b) The Bachelorette
c) McDonald's Vanilla Ice Crea, Cones
d) Coke
e) Facebook
Only two people didn't say facebook. Really. I know that it would seem as though I am addicted to facebook since I did the quiz on facebook, but I don't know what to do on there except for look at what friends are doing and that takes me a couple of minutes, then I'm done. But, I NEED a McDonald's Vanilla Ice Cream Cone every day. It's 150 calories and 6gm of fat goodness. The Sabbath is the only day I don't enjoy one, but maybe I could get two on Saturday and freeze one.....
10) Which one of these insects have I NOT had in my hair (that I know of)?
a) Cockroach
b) Spider
c) Fly
d) Beetle
e) Earwig
The answer is beetle. Let me tell you how the cockroach got in my hair. When I was doing a home visit for a baby from a teenage mom that lived in a trailer with her parents, I usually don't sit down because a lot of times there isn't a clean place to sit, but I had to assess the baby and the only place I could do that was seated on the couch. The grandma of the baby was fascinated with my hair because I had it in a french braid. I was wrapping things up when she smacked me on the back of the head. I turned to look at her and she said Oh, I think I saw something in your hair, and that's when I saw a huge cockroach running away. I don't think I ever packed up my things as fast as I did that day.
11) If I was running out of my burning house, what item would I grab?
a) The remote
b) Violin
c) Make-up
d) Bra
e) Clothes
After reading the question again, I realize why there were a lot of wrong answers. I pictured myself running out of a burning building in the middle of the night since that's when I have imagined it happening. So you all get credit for this one. Which brings me to the answer I put which is bra, because I don't wear one at night and I would hate to have the firefighters see me unkempt. Many of you said makeup and while I do love makeup, again, I saw it as the middle of the night and really nighttime is when I rest my face. And by the way, I wear pajamas because I believe that it is part of emergency preparedness. I would hate to have the firefighters see me in my garments only.
So now you know more about me and you read it on another narcissistic forum.
Friday, May 22, 2009
What I do when I have to wait
I am not a fan of waiting. I haven't seen that option on facebook yet, but when it's there, I will add it as my first "fan of" thing. So, since I am waiting, I decided to catch up on the fun that has been going on here in the PHX as the school year, et. winds down and summer winds up. P.S. I got a new camera for Mother's Day, so there are a significant increase in pictures due to me using it more often.
It's the one moment that I caught her just sitting there, not talking to her neighbor, who she hadn't met before, but decided that they were now friends and had a lot of things to discuss. That's my girl!
That's the darling children in front of the beautiful stained glass window in the church. It is so beautiful, and we are so lucky to get to go there twice a year for these recitals in the afternoon when the sun is hitting it. I think it makes the children sound ten times better.
This is Kevin and I on our way to one of our combined best dates ever. I mean, we both enjoyed our time together, not that we don't enjoy each others company, but you know, sometimes a date is enjoyed more by one party than the other. We went to the Scottsdale Gun Club after Kevin had gone to the N.R.A. Convention earlier that day and had an itch for a new firearm. I'm not at liberty to give you all the details, I was merely a bystander in a foreign world. But the things really kicked up a notch when we went to Sur le Table! I could spend hours in there looking at kitchen/ dining things. I came out with a new potato masher, but the damage would have been greater had Kevin not been with me to say things like "We just bought new dishes." or "Why would you need another hand mixer?" So I will go back when I don't have a culinary novice in tow. Then of course to the Cheesecake Factory.
This picture is a correction for Myrissa. The picture I posted for her on her birthday was when we were in the botom of the Grand Canyon, so we had just finished hiking for three hours and were attempting to refuel at Phantom Ranch. But in my defense, it was the only picture I had on this computer. So for her birthday dinner, I took the camera and got a few shots. The meal was lovely and I guess even at upscale restaurants they'll sing Happy Birthday. Who knew?
This is Myrissa and her husband, Brad. That Myrissa is such a saint for marrying a mentally challenged individual. He functions at the level of a ten year old, so needless to say, she has her hands full with that one.
We have two new dogs. They are Frenchtons which is a designer breed of French bull dogs and Boston terriers. We did not purchase these, but were given them by our friends, the Guthries, who were unable to be around enough for them. Their names are Jacques (left) and Pierre (right). They are brothers and act it every bit. If I give them both a toy, they will want the one the other one has, and then fight about it. But then they snuggle up to each other to sleep. Jacque is older but smaller. Pierre has gotten a bad rap for being a bully, but I believe that Jacques is the instigator and Pierre just gets fed up and fights back. We enjoy them and they seem to be working out well.
This is us on our way to bowling for FHE. Olivia thought that it was for her birthday, which had been celebrated in preschool that day since her birthday is in the summer, hence the crown. These are some action shots of bowling:
This picture was taken after Dillan and Chloe's violin recital on Mother's Day. It was held in their teacher's lovely church. This is Dillan and Chloe with their teacher, a.k.a. Miss Shari.
She is truly a gifted teacher. I owe all of my children's abilities to her. She loves each child individually and motivates them to develop their talent. And, yes, I see that Dillan needs a longer tie. Every time I turn around that boy has grown an inch!
This is Chloe during the performance:
It's the one moment that I caught her just sitting there, not talking to her neighbor, who she hadn't met before, but decided that they were now friends and had a lot of things to discuss. That's my girl!
That's the darling children in front of the beautiful stained glass window in the church. It is so beautiful, and we are so lucky to get to go there twice a year for these recitals in the afternoon when the sun is hitting it. I think it makes the children sound ten times better.
This is Kevin and I on our way to one of our combined best dates ever. I mean, we both enjoyed our time together, not that we don't enjoy each others company, but you know, sometimes a date is enjoyed more by one party than the other. We went to the Scottsdale Gun Club after Kevin had gone to the N.R.A. Convention earlier that day and had an itch for a new firearm. I'm not at liberty to give you all the details, I was merely a bystander in a foreign world. But the things really kicked up a notch when we went to Sur le Table! I could spend hours in there looking at kitchen/ dining things. I came out with a new potato masher, but the damage would have been greater had Kevin not been with me to say things like "We just bought new dishes." or "Why would you need another hand mixer?" So I will go back when I don't have a culinary novice in tow. Then of course to the Cheesecake Factory.
This picture is a correction for Myrissa. The picture I posted for her on her birthday was when we were in the botom of the Grand Canyon, so we had just finished hiking for three hours and were attempting to refuel at Phantom Ranch. But in my defense, it was the only picture I had on this computer. So for her birthday dinner, I took the camera and got a few shots. The meal was lovely and I guess even at upscale restaurants they'll sing Happy Birthday. Who knew?
This is Myrissa and her husband, Brad. That Myrissa is such a saint for marrying a mentally challenged individual. He functions at the level of a ten year old, so needless to say, she has her hands full with that one.
We have two new dogs. They are Frenchtons which is a designer breed of French bull dogs and Boston terriers. We did not purchase these, but were given them by our friends, the Guthries, who were unable to be around enough for them. Their names are Jacques (left) and Pierre (right). They are brothers and act it every bit. If I give them both a toy, they will want the one the other one has, and then fight about it. But then they snuggle up to each other to sleep. Jacque is older but smaller. Pierre has gotten a bad rap for being a bully, but I believe that Jacques is the instigator and Pierre just gets fed up and fights back. We enjoy them and they seem to be working out well.
This is us on our way to bowling for FHE. Olivia thought that it was for her birthday, which had been celebrated in preschool that day since her birthday is in the summer, hence the crown. These are some action shots of bowling:
Bowling is so great when they put the siderails up. No gutter balls! I don't know what I will do when all of our children are old enough not to have them.
So then the missionaries came over for dinner. They had a presentation for the children about putting on the armor of God. This is them putting it on Olivia.
They had a lot of fun and Kevin was shooting the fiery darts at her. Great object lesson.
I am still waiting. Ugh! I could have taken a nap!
Friday, May 15, 2009
She Works Hard for the Money
I have a new job. It pays me money and I get benefits, like health, dental, disability, etc. This is exciting because for the past year as I have been on my leave of absence from nursing, I have been Kevin's "office babe" i.e. accountant, and I never received a paycheck. I did have other benefits such as new plants and trees and an endless supply of toilet paper, but that doesn't help when the children need a check up or stitches, and since Kevin's company does not offer benefits, I decided to check out what was available for me to do from the comfort of my own home as a nurse. I know what you are thinking, isn't one of the key factors in nursing having physical contact with the patient population which would require one to leave their home because who wants a clinic in their front room. Oh no, there are jobs that are nursing jobs that allow one to be at home. I was looking around the Internet one evening, just seeing what was out there, when I came across a job posting for a home infusion company for an after hours triage nurse. Now, I have done this in the last home infusion company that I worked for where if a patient/ family member had issues, questions, problems, or concerns, there is a 24 hour phone number they can call to receive assistance. I was paid very little for this service when I first started 10 years ago, and I had to answer phone calls while driving around the valley doing patient care and teaching patients and family members how to do their own IV infusion. Not fun. So when I saw this job only involved the phone aspect of it, I was intrigued, plus it said that there were benefits with it. So I applied that night, got the phone call the next day to come in for an interview, and the two nurse managers were so impressed with my skills that they hired me on the spot! Crazy. But truly, it was a perfect fit. I mean, after all, the reason I work is for benefits until the "office babe" job has a health plan. I am on call 5:30 pm to 8 am four evenings a week, with an alternating Saturday day shift every other weekend. Now, I'm not necessarily working the whole time, it's just when patients, family members, or nurses for the company call in, which could be all evening, but most likely only until 11 or 12 at night then the phones may start ringing again at 6ish, with the occasional middle of the night call, but hey, if I can do it in my jammies, fine by me. I am really excited for this job and how it will allow me to home with the little ones during the day. Now if I could only find a replacement for my "office babe" job...Anyone willing to work for no pay, but you do get plants, flowers, and trees (this year I got three almond,one apricot, and one peach tree).
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