I can't wait!

FINE, Kari you suckered me into it!

10 things I can't wait for!

1. I can't wait to see "the movie" (you know the one that John the Beloved and Moses and other prophets got to see - about where the world is going - so bad that they can't even WRITE the whole thing?!!)

2. I can't wait until school starts again.


3. I can't wait to get this house unpacked & decorated! (But it doesn't look like I can't wait, as I sit here and dream about it!!)

4. I can't wait to finish losing this baby fat! (because I can't really still call it baby fat when she's 20?)

5. I can't wait until my kids figure out how to do things BEFORE having to be told.

6. I can't wait until summer is over (I know, I know - see #2)

7. I can't wait to have time to do something other than be on the computer! (The day gets away from me!!)

8. I can't wait for this obligatory "year until you feel comfortable in your ward" time has come so I can start enjoying myself on Sundays again!

9. I can't wait until July 16th, when I will be in Idaho for my annual hair do!


10. I can't wait to have a disposable income!

THERE - now I tag Amie, Kris and Stephanie what can't you wait to do?!

Syncro meet!

Well, this week was the city figure championships! The girls both did phenominal especially since there were over 100 competing! Kali got 8th place, she could have done better, but she didn't hold he position as long to get a higher score! DORK! Kiersten got 6th place! Which - her division is the most competative (most participants in her age & experience) So she's VERY excited - she has a GREEN ribbon!

Then Brynn got her new bed set up...she really loves it, although -- she only loves it when its not bed time - so she still sleeps in the port-a-crib - and she's a picky sleeper and until we have some normalcy back to our schedules, she'll be in the port-a-crib!

Memories from the kegger

My friends had a 10th wedding anniversary party. They invited a ton of people over and - well - they served alcohol. I should be uncomfortable around parties with alcohol, but this one was great - no one was plastered out of their mind - everyone was VERY friendly (as opposed to actually going to my ward where no one talks to anyone for fear of making more friends where they would then have an overwhelming responsibility of actually remembering a new phone number and kids names - it's just too much...) It was nice at my friends house - where no one knew anyone except the happy couple - and were anxious to get to know anyone who walked in the door. It was very cool!
The cake was my favorite part of the night! They had this Ken & Barbie doll as their "cake topper" on their wedding cake - so instead of the couple being in a wedding dress, Barbie's hair was CUT to match the one she was mimicking - and Ken - well, some hair styles never change...

Of course, this is not an example of art mimicking life - because - well, they have 3 children - and we all know - that sort of stuff just doesn't happen when you have kids! LOL!

Writers block?

I'm so annoyed right now.

Personal life.
Family life.
Ward life.

My private life's good.

I love that my girlfriend came over after her ward today and sat down veggin' out with me. It's awesome - I think we're both in need of a break - so we just sat, didn't talk - just enjoyed not doing anything - and she left. I love friends like that - ones you don't have to talk to for them to know you need to veg...ones that are comfortable enough to come over and veg because you can tell they're stressed out, too. And sometimes not talking is just as good if not better than talking!

Meanwhile I got this one from the Marathon Mama...Anna. A club sandwich.

You Are a Club Sandwich

You are have a big personality. It's hard for anyone to ignore you! You dream big. You think big. And you eat big. Some people consider you high maintenance, but you just know what you want... and when you want it. Your best friend: The Tuna Fish Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

And I wonder why I feel more comfortable at my ex-neighbor's 10 year anniversary kegger party than I do in my own church?

Today is my "those" day

You know - I'm having one of "those" days - I don't even know what qualifies as a "those" day - but I can say this much, the cherry on top of my 1/2 finished day: Brynn just wet me...it was a warm wet, the kind you get when a diaperless toddler is on your hip...and that topped my day. Her warm pee dripping down the pants and turning cold by the knee of the pants I just washed after having delayed washing for almost 3 weeks because my washing machine apparently hadn't gotten enough praise from me in the last few years.

Mostly, toddler pee is colorless and odorless - but THIS toddler has been out in the sun & it very well may be colorless, but the odor is very "8 year old wet the bed" smelling. On my jeans. I've been doing about 1/3 of the laundry I normally do because my washing machine is just NOT balanced. Since the move, it's less like a washing machine and more like Al Pacino's "good friend" (Can you e-hear the noise his "good friend" makes after he says "say hello to my good friend!" putt putt putt bam BAM BAMMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!!!)

My friend finally told me "Go home and change your smelly clothes - I'll take the kids home from swim." I thought kissing her fully on the lips would be appropriate, but instead started to cry as I ran out the door to the sound of Midol calling out for me....

The good news is - I think with this extra hour - I'm going to actually shower and perhaps even brush my teeth - I know - it's the middle of the day, right? Not even Sunday - boy, I'm really pampering myself today, huh?!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

36 things about the love of my life:
1. He rubs my feet
2. He is a white tornato!
3. The kids actually listen to him!
4. He is a great father.
5. He plays HORSE with the kids in the pool
6. He will cuddle with Brynn while I'm trying to cook!
7. He will cook when I've just been too busy to think about food!
8. He doesn't complain when he has to cook when I've been to busy to think about food!
9. He notices when one of the kids does something cute and we look at each other to approve of the cute behavior!
10. He is amazing with finances.
11. He is determined to learn all he can about whatever he wants!
12. He is patient with the kids with homework long after my patience has run out.
13. He doesn't complain when I'm on the computer, although I know it bothers him, but he knows I need an outlet from time to time.
14. He shifts into overdrive right at the point where I'm ready to throw in the towel w/ housework!
15. He works with my brother and doesn't complain to me about it! (honestly - that's a feat!)
16. He helps me make the bed
17. He makes Sunday morning breakfast
18. He makes Sunday afternoon lunner (lunch/dinner!)
19. He does his calling 150% - no matter what it is!
20. He works side by side w/ Rossi making sure the lawn is beautiful!
21. He sits and talks with Kiersten about this and that.
22. He keeps the peace w/ me & Kali, long after the peace with her is gone!
23. He is strong enough to spank Howie even when he's being disrespectfully cute!
24. He laughs with the kids.
25. He's a good tag-teamer!
26. He doesn't mind when I put my feet up for the night.
27. He lets my moods swing all around him, and does well to help my laugh!
28. He is an honorable priesthood holder.
29. He takes time off work to take care of the daily routines w/ the kids when I'm sick!
30. He babies me when I'm sick!
31. He babies me when I'm not sick!!
32. He's got his head on straight.
33. He has an award winning smile that melts my heart.
34. He listens to me when I talk.
35. He asks me how my day went, and actually cares about my response!

AND

36. He's always going to be older than me!!!!

Heat advisory? And other ramblings...

Hello - the "news" today is there's a heat advisory out for the valley. Okay - like I need someone advising me it's hot out there? And if they're advising the people watching the news INSIDE with air conditioning, what good does this do? It's 111 today - maybe hotter - it's only 2:38 - I'm sure in another hour or two the heat will peak - until then, I think I want that job...a heat advisor...yah, that's what I want to get paid for, lick my finger, stick it outside, "Yep, it's hot!"

Swim Meet update!

Well, we got 9 blue ribbons, 4 red ribbons, 2 whites and one yella (that's 4th place)

Poor Ross was in two relays where the kid just could NOT swim - so that pulled his white & yellow one...the ones where he swam in the individuals, he got a blue and a white (dangit all if they didn't put him against 4 other 15 & 16 year olds - his division is 13 & up - he's barely 13!)

Kiersten got 3 blues and a red - BARELY got first in her individual - I'm going to try and post a picture of her pulling ahead -- she did the flip turn on a 50m back stroke too soon - and didn't hit the wall, so she had to go back to the wall & then get back in the race, but pulled ahead - I'm going to post a video - and hopefully I don't sound stupid yelling for her!! LOL! Here's her race! I was so shocked at how she pulled through! (she's in the first lane - closest to the camera!)


Kali got 3 blues & a red, too - she's so dorky - she stops in the middle of the race to look around where everyone else is, then gets back into it! And still does pretty good!

Howie, my poor man! This asthma season has really done some serious damage to his lungs - I just want to cry when I watch him race, he used to glide through the water with no cares in the world - now, he'll have to stop here & there on only a 25 meter race to catch his breath. It really breaks my heart - despite that, he got 2 blues, a red & a white! The white was a result of a relay - where the kid - I am NOT joking about this - took 8 minutes to swim like a rat on acid the 25 meters - I don't get why he's even in swim team! Really - it kills me! But the coaches wanted to get him a ribbon, so they only put him against two lanes in the relay - sadly - howie was on his team - I really hate that kid's parents, too - I'm sure I'll vent on that later...

Still - Howie is the favorite among the coaches & they asked him to wear a mohawk tonight - he had no problem doing so - here's his mohawk...


Then all the kiddo's with their ribbons from their first meet!

Syncro meet

Just got back from the girls first syncro meet. The judges, as is the experience every year, don't know head from tail - I think they may actually judge on the way that a girl's hair handles in the water? It's okay - but Kiersten has a hard time, she's in an upper division for the first time this year - and there's a lot more competition out there - so she got a "dumb participation ribbon" whereas Kali, who's still in a beginner category swept the scores & wow'd the judges & got first in her division. Then Kali went on to rub it in Kiersten's face the whole way home.

You just can't explain the level of difficulty and competition to her, I was crossing my fingers & toes that she wouldn't get a participation - but there were at least 10 girls in her category and since this is her first year in an upper division, I knew she wouldn't place - although - she did VERY well!

Then there's Kali - who is sure she placed because she's cool. Two completely different girls!

The summer schedule

(what can I say, she's got the fountain of Youth RIGHT there!)

up at 6:30 - walk around in circles trying to find something to wear and brush at least one of my teeth, because I'm too tired to actually move my arm to get my whole mouth clean.

6:45 - take off w/ all the kids to drop the olders off at swim practice which starts at 7, then take the youngers to free school breakfast, breakfast opens at 7:30

7:45 - think to myself, "tomorrow I will bring my toothbrush, cause ewe" (yes, I think this every day - have not yet done it, though) as I'm putting the kids back in the car to bring them to their swim practice

8:00 - drop youngers off at swim practice, bring olders to breakfast, which closes at 8:30. (this is last year's swim team picture)


9:00 while swim practice is over for the youths, they need a good 15 minutes to warm back up in the showers and another 5 minutes to sit around huddled in the sun while they dry off - this won't last much longer because in a few weeks it will be 100 degrees by 9:00 in the morning.

9:30 arrive back home to check on the board & e-mails - I know, but I love my e-life, somewhere between that and 10:45, I will also walk around in circles trying to decide which of my "fires" (messes) I should put out...and try to do ONE thing.

10:45 - leave to take Rossi to Jr. Lifeguard - yep, he took the test, swam 500, picked the brick off the bottom of their bottomless pool and successfully retrieved a 150 pound mannequin from the middle bottom of the pool, to pull them up & out of the pool and give him CPR for drowning victims - he's one of the elite, yes in deed - so he will train w/ the life guards and if he's good, he is a shoe-in for life-guard when he's 15. (year after next) meanwhile, he is a free lifeguard at the kiddy pool -

11:00 take other children to free school lunches (see how I don't cook at all in the summer? - at least until dinner time) we leave there by 11:45 (we have friends there, so we talk while the kids run amuk in the cafeteria - I know - hardly responsible, but I need my adult time!)

12:00 back to the pool for syncro team for the girls. Howie takes advantage of free swim & splashes around in the kiddie pool w/ Brynn while I talk with more adults...it's okay - because Rossi's life guarding the kidding pool and he's under strict instructions to keep her from drowning.

1:00 it's time for tsunami - yep, me & a bunch of other rolly pollie ladies go in for water aerobics - you should SEE the waves we make - it's so fun, except the life guards totally have to refill the pool when we're done! LOL!

1:30 Kiersten takes Brynn to the "mommy & me" class - while she's already comfortable in the water & can float & do the monkey crawl - loves to be "torpedoed" between two people under the water, apparently they teach some other kind of basics or something - maybe she swims under a hula hoop? I don't know, I'm busy making tsunami

2:00 - water aerobics is done, mommy & me is done, jr life guard is done, every one's tired and ready to go to bed...

then we head home - leave all the wet towels & clothes in the car because mildew is cool - and it's also fun to wrap up in a smelly wet towel after swim practice, the next morning.

Wednesday nights are Syncro meets, (here's Kali doing the "clam" she's the only one doing it right - both hands & both feet up in the air!)

Thursday nights are Swim meets - Friday is "pass out on the bed" day. No meet, no swim practice, no nadda! Spend most of that day catching up on things of the week!

I generally have to start making dinner at 3 so it's done by 4 - or when the kids get home from swimming, they engorge themselves & aren't hungry for dinner if they have to wait until 6. So Ross gets left overs during the summer.

I put on 54 miles a day (not including meet days because we go all over the city for those!) during the summer, that costs me $12 a day in gas...that's $60 a week in gas - and at the end of my 6 week summer, I spend an extra $480 in gas just to keep them out of my hair? methinks somethings wrong with that equation! Can't wait till school starts back up!!!!

Big brother's back...

Yep, it's that time of month again - okay - so it happens twice a month for me, my brother makes me go all hormonal when he comes down - he's here every other week M-F. We moved in -- well, not entirely - every time I think the kitchen's unpacked - I get another 4 boxes from the old house - and then I stuff the kitchen to the hilt again - and yet another 4 boxes come into the kitchen. I am maxed out full in the kitchen and I still have my china and cake decorating things that have not been packed from the old house.

His room is the only "empty" room, it's got a bed, my tread mill and a dresser w/ a TV on top of it...the closet has about 10 items of clothing that don't quite fit Brynn, but will by the end of the summer. He came in & asked me to sit in the room with him when he cleaned it up. I am sort of glad we had a puky kid in his bed last week when he wasn't here. It's sort of my way of "Sticking it to the man" that is my brother.

Although he treated me to a steak dinner tonight. That was nice. I can't move, now, but it was nice.

**WHY** do you do this?

Take those stupid word verification things off your blogs - they're hard to read and I always have to type them 2-3 times to get them right - I HATE THEM - what's the purpose -- so that no one hacks into your blog and leaves a comment? seriously - just don't allow anonymous comments - but TAKE THE WORD VERIFICATION OFF - you're killing me!

I DID IT!!!

I beat my own personal best on the 5K!!! I try to run 2 miles a day (not always!) But I run 5K once a month - but these last few weeks have been hard since I've been trying to run w/ kidney pain & whatnot! I normally run outside, but since it's too hot, and I have my treadmill set up, I run on it - and since treadmills are "faster" to run on than land (no sidewalk REALLY moves under your feet, you have to push it away!) I run at a 3.5 incline to keep up my endurance! Here is my last 5K...

Who knows if that link will actually post correctly - but if it doesn't it would show you the stride I took (where I slowed down, where I sped up--you can see where I stopped to drink & tie my shoe!) I ran 3.14 miles (5.05K) in 27.50, (it says 28.08, but that includes the whole run which was 5.05K) Yah - not much to brag about - not near what I ran in HS, but still...my personal best in adulthood!

I plan on sweating all over the song!

My High School friend, Pete, (not to be confused w/ my 6th child Pete, who is 15 months older than me...) just i-gifted me this rockin....er, I mean jazzin' song for a change of pace to my runs! I'm excited to get it on my ipod & run like a swinger! Uh - but not THAT kind of swinger...that's him on the sax...I'm thinking this sample is called "Idaho" take a quick listen and tell me what you think!

Dedicating today to Kylie.

She loved, she showed us love. She laughed, she made us laugh. She lived, and in death, she showed us the fragile nature of life. She will be missed more than she could have ever imagined.
Love you, Ky ky!

A little slow posting it, BUT

This was my latest project - this is my before shot:


and here's my after


I painted it and added a whiskey fountain (okay - not really whiskey, but I can dream, can't I?!) Ross is going to hard wire the plug into the wall and make a on/off switch - - and when we do the granite countertops, we'll put granite on the bottom "shelf" where the fountain is sitting.

I think it seems a little "empty" like I should put something else there? Or maybe I'm over analyzing it - what do you think?