Sideways in Short Hills

new blog

2010-11-17T09:14:00.002-05:00

Hey all,

I figured since we didn't live in Short Hills anymore, Sideways in Short Hills didn't really make sense as a blog title anymore. So I direct you to the new blog:

HERDS

thoughts/update/keeping everybody in the loop

2010-11-15T10:21:00.002-05:00

Don't really have tons of time. I am not even remotely done unpacking. But thought I'd throw some words down.

We somehow made it through the packing/loading/cleaning/driving/cleaning/registering/immunizing/unloading/unpacking. We are still buried deep in boxes and packing material, but are slowly making headway.

The kids, with the exception of Rian, started school today. Rian was short a vaccination shot (every state has different rules) so they wouldn't let her start until she got that done. She will start tomorrow. Both Sammy and Hank were nervous, but are going to such fabulous schools that I know they will both have a great day and make tons of new friends (fingers crossed).

Went to church yesterday. That always sucks. I hate being the new family. Kept hoping to turn around and see the Reynolds, or the Leishmans or the O'Neils.

Rian was back in the seminary swing this morning. We aren't 5 minutes from the church anymore, so that will be an adjustment, and they start 15 minutes earlier here. That 5:30 alarm was a killer.

We are SLOWLY getting used to the trains going by the house 24 hours a day. Some are louder than others and I am trying to figure out what makes the difference. Not loving getting woken up in the middle of the night by thundering train sounds.

Can't wait to finish unpacking so that I can get out there and get to know our new town.

Moving

2010-10-29T12:00:00.003-04:00

We found a rental house in Pittsburgh.

It's been all redone inside and is quite nice. What you can't see behind the house are train tracks that have fairly regular trains going by. What you can't see across the street and 4 doors down is an electrical power lines "hub" that we are fairly sure will give us all cancer if we have to stay longer than 6 months.

Wish us luck as we move next week, that our NJ house will sell and that we will find something we love in Pittsburgh so we can park it there for a while.

Sammy turned 12 (2 weeks ago)

2010-10-18T09:14:00.002-04:00

It's a sad day when your 12 year old daughter has to remind you that you didn't document her birthday on the blog like all the other years. She pretty much got shafted this year, and this just adds to that feeling! Sorry Sammy!!!!!!!

We couldn't find the special birthday pin. So Hank made her a sign for her to wear.

We had an open house that day so we couldn't decorate until late and she couldn't have a special home made meal (we had to do that the next day).

We tried to make it special by driving into the city and having lunch at Roy's, one of our favorite places in our old 'hood. Hey did you know it's not even there anymore? Yea, we didn't either. That stunk. Plus we got stuck in crazy city traffic and ended up at a perfectly adequate chinese place for dinner. So, it just wasn't feeling too special for our favorite 12 year old!

BUT, we found a delicious cake at a bakery in the WFC, came home and quickly decorated and played some fun games.

And cash from grandparents is ALWAYS a hit!!!

We love you Sammy. We are sorry that your birthday was not as special as we usually try to make it.
You are a wonderful kid. I couldn't ask for a more helpful daughter, and your siblings couldn't ask for a better sister! You rock!!

not dead

2010-10-06T08:48:00.003-04:00

Putting something up so that people know we aren't dead.

Life is kicking our collective butts.

The kids are trying to keep up with the game at school.

Ed is getting up to speed at Dicks. He is loving the new job and the new challenges. Plus, not having to talk about fair lending and credit cards is a joy. I got to see his office and it is quite nice.

We thought we had sold the house. But obviously we accepted an offer from a crazy person. So now we are back on the market. We get steady traffic but I'm not sure who is actually shopping for a house right before the holiday season, it seems like most people are just being curious. So my hopes of selling before Thanksgiving/Christmas are dwindling.

So we are looking at possibly finding a place to rent in Pittsburgh. Being apart is just getting harder and harder. Everyone feels a bit out of whack, which is never good. We will see if we can find something that works.

So, not dead. There's your proof.

fester

2010-09-17T08:40:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time, there was a crazy uncle who lived in our basement (and no, it wasn't Kent).
He scared the kids and made funny noises all the time. And when he was really into it, he could really heat up the place.
We called him Uncle Fester.
"What's making those banging noises? " says the friend at our house for a slumber party.
"Oh, that's just Uncle Fester, nothing to be afraid of", says us.
"Who is Uncle Fester? I want to see him", says the brave friend.
"Ok, but don't say we didn't warn you"
That is when the curious are introduced to the 30+ year old boiler that we got to keep when we bought the house.

Big, huge, inefficient, pain in the rear.
So we have sent Uncle Fester off to the old boiler retirement home.
Now we have "The Incredible Hulk" (cause, ya know, he's green and awesome and quiet?)

Much less scary.

And hey, if you know anybody who is looking to move to Short Hills, NJ (home of the #1 schools in the state and the best deli this side of NYC), point them to our house. We are finally on the market!

pittsburgh part 1

2010-09-13T07:14:00.003-04:00

*Only had my phone for pictures this trip.
This was taken at the top of the Incline.

We moved Ed to Pittsburgh this weekend.
He starts his new job today.
The last time we moved (3 years ago) we lived apart for 6 months.
Let's pray that it doesn't last that long this time.
We spent the weekend house shopping. Which you think is going to be fun, and it is when you find "the one". But when you don't it's really just a bit of a pain.
What we've learned...ward shop first. It helps you focus.

We tried to do some fun stuff this trip to Pittsburgh. We rode the Incline which is an old rail car type thing that used to transport people who lived on top of this hill outside Pittsburgh down to the city to get to work. It's basically a train car on tracks that are on an incline (duh) except the car stays level as you ride down the face of the hill. People still use it today, but it's also a bit of a touristy thing.
You can see Heinz field behind with all the yellow seats.
That place was PACKED full of people Sunday as we were driving home. They love the Steelers in that town!

Rian was pretty sick of her family at this point in the trip.

This is on a porch swing at one of the houses we were looking at. I thought it was a precious moment.

first & lasts

2010-09-07T09:36:00.002-04:00

Here it is, the one you've all been waiting for...
The first day of school pictures and post!

Rian is off for her junior year. It's a big year for getting ready for college and we all know she is going to do great!

Third grade...when did that happen? Not excited for school, but he is excited for our daily games of hockey while waiting for the bus.

And don't even get me started on how much it pains me to see how this one is growing up. Seventh grade!?!?!

Now this one, well this picture is of him as he leaves for his last day with his current company. 12 years. On to a new adventure!

As for me, well, I have about 10 guys in my basement all day giving me a new boiler. No first day peace and quiet for me.

Our life with Uncle Fester (the boiler in our basement) will have to be a whole post in itself, but we won't miss him, that much I know.

off the grid

2010-09-03T08:15:00.002-04:00

I've been a bit off the grid these last couple of weeks.
I'm just trying to hold the head above water.
Trying to get everything done to get the house up on the market, get the kids ready for school (Tuesday!!!), get Ed ready to move to Pittsburgh (Thursday?!?!?), plus we had a problem with our water main line so we had to have it replaced all of a sudden. When it rains it pours.

just call us gypsies

2010-08-20T22:18:00.004-04:00

Ed has accepted a job at Dick's Sporting Goods. After 12 years with Amex it is time to move on. This not only means a new job, but a move (of course, we've been here 3 years, it wouldn't be us if we weren't moving).

See if you can guess where we are going next:

We are excited to live in the city that beat out Ogden (#2) and Provo (#3) as the most livable.

eddie turns 40

2010-08-13T09:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Ed turned 40.

He makes 40 look good.

He is still going strong.

He's still got most of his hair.

He still puts his all into everything he decides to do...even if it's just blowing out his birthday candles.

I guess 40 isn't as old as we thought it was when we were 12.

Of course, he still plays video games to celebrate, just like he did when he was 12.

**Just to note this momentous day, I would like to mention that I surprised Ed for the first time ever!! He ALWAYS guesses his presents. He came home early the ONE TIME I tried to throw him a surprise party. He has a sensor built in that always figures out whatever I am trying to do.

This year I was racking my brain for weeks and weeks about what to do to make this year special. He didn't want a party or anything so it was really driving me crazy. Finally on Tuesday morning I had an epiphany. I remembered a conversation he and Rian had a couple of weeks ago about how much he missed his brother Charles. I decided to try and fly his brother out here and surprise him.

As luck would have it, Charles was available to drop everything last minute and come out. So I bought him a ticket and picked him up yesterday from the airport, so that when Ed came home from work he walked in to Charles standing there by the stairs. I wish I'd thought to have a camera for the moment. But it was beautiful. He was honestly surprised! And happy. He's excited to spend the weekend doing brother stuff.

it's been a while (again)

2010-08-04T15:46:00.003-04:00

Blogging and I are on a bit of a hiatus right now. Mostly because I am melting from all the heat and therefore spending all my time at the pool reading books while my kids do who knows what because I'm not paying attention. I hope they hired good lifeguards.

But I thought I would share something just to keep my few readers from completely forgetting about me.

I don't watch a lot of tv. But when I do I usually choose home improvement television. I don't know why, because I'm not creative or really all that into design. I think part of me wishes I was cool and had a cute decorated house.

Which is why I sometimes do silly things like think I can make things when I can't find what I'm looking for. They do it on all these shows I watch, so why shouldn't some of that rub off on me? Right?

In Sammy's room there is an alcove where she likes to put her bed. The space is exactly long enough for a bed. No headboard or footboard, just bed. So when I switched the girls beds a couple of months ago I had to retire Rian's bed to the attic and just her mattress and box springs ended up on the floor in the alcove. There it sat for months and months while I tried to find some kind of platform bed or frame that wasn't bigger than the mattress so it would fit. No luck.

This is her old bed in the alcove:

So, what do I do? I figure I can make it myself. I have tools. I'm not a total goof when it comes to using them.
Behold...

A completely beautiful (which is what I wanted because I didn't want to have to use a bedskirt) creation of my own design. Unfortunately it is up against the wall and not actually under the bed because it was not strong enough and bowed in completely. I feared that the bed would collapse any time Sammy rolled over in bed.

So, I gave up, drove down to Sleepy's and bought an ugly metal bed frame and a white bedskirt and I'm calling it a defeat.

I do think that that the picture frame, word and bird that I painted and put on shelves looks cute though.

Before:

After:

See ya in a couple of weeks. I'm going back to the pool.

updates

2010-07-15T07:48:00.002-04:00

Summer is a kicker. You are simultaneously bored out of your mind and busy, busy, busy. Ya know?

We had a great 4th of July. Our town does a nice job with their celebrations. We missed most of it because we were at church, but we didn't miss the fireworks.

We finally got our driveway repaired. It looks beautiful.

I've been up since 5 am because Ed had an early morning flight and I couldn't go back to sleep. Boo. I'm going to be tired later.

But for now, I had better go make some rice krispy treats for the swimming lesson party that starts in an hour. Getting up before 9 is going to kill the kids. They haven't done that for a couple of weeks now.

Rian comes home tomorrow!!!

grandma marian

2010-07-09T09:45:00.002-04:00

This is my grandma holding Rian as a baby. That is me next to her and my sister Amy picking her nails (it must be genetic).

This is me in the forefront, with my grandma behind looking "amused" at whatever dramatic thing I seem to be doing. She was always a good audience.

My grandma passed away yesterday. She was always one of my favorite people. Friendly, fun & feisty. She was a great lady.

Memories of my grandma (some from Jana):

Going to the dairy (milk comes from cows? not the grocery store?)
Milk toast (she loved it, I still can't do it)
Setting up the modular Springbar tent in her yard for camp outs
The reason I know "The old lady who swallowed a spider" song by heart is from her singing that to us in the tent
Her wigs
Her purple bedroom
Nothing was off limits at her house. She would let you explore. I remember just going through her closets like crazy. (which would have driven me nuts if I was the adult)
She took me to the play of "Anne of Green Gables" at Weber State (is it still called that?). I felt very special.
She regularly invited us up for time with her. I found the quiet of her house and alone time with her to be the best!

After I moved East, my grandma still worked hard to keep in touch with me. She would call me every couple of months to touch base. I appreciated that a lot. I'm not very good at reaching out, so it was good to have that connection.

She has lived without my grandpa for a long time. I'm happy that she is with him again.

2010-07-06T10:29:00.002-04:00

I stole this picture from Louise's blog
It shows my daughter arriving in Vienna this morning.
She is off to spend 2 weeks exploring Austria with her grandparents.
I'm jealous and excited at the same time.
I hope she has a wonderful time.

I was at girls camp last week. Because of the generosity of the leaders and mothers of the girls in my ward I didn't have to spend the whole time up there this year. It's odd for me to say this, but I'm not sure that is a good thing. Because the girls didn't have a regular leader and instead basically got a different shift each day, they didn't really bond. Which is pretty much one of the best things about girls camp. I guess I'll have to think about the cost/benefit ratio of days spent at girls camp so that next year I will make the right decision about how much time to spend up there.

It's hot here (100+) so we will be at the pool all day.

ed got an iPad

2010-06-24T21:21:00.002-04:00

I'm writing this blog from ed's new iPad.
The coolest wife in the whole world gave it to him for our anniversary.
It is sooooo cool.

three weeks

2010-06-23T07:29:00.004-04:00

Here is a recap of the last 3 weeks:

1. Started fixing paving stones on deck. Still not done.
2. Dug out old grout and regrouted shower upstairs.
3. Got bids for electrical work/air conditioning needed.
4. Continued work on new driveway (yea, they start tomorrow!)
5. Wrapped up another season of baseball for Hank.
6. Lots of field hockey for Samantha.
7. Getting Rian ready for camp and Vienna.
8. Took a driving tour of Bucks County, PA & the covered bridges.

9. Kent and the SFS's came to visit. What did we do while they were here?
Saturday:
Yankee game.
Sunday:
Yankee game.

Monday:
We rested and went to school, they went to the beach.
Tuesday & Wednesday:
DC

Thursday:
We rested and went to school, they went into the city and saw Wicked.
Friday:
Six Flags.
Saturday:
SFS's went home :(
We went to dinner with friends and tried to get Kent to go talk to some hot girls.
Sunday:
Fathers Day!!! Hot wings and Millburn concert series!
Monday:
Back to reality of work and school. Kent slept. I tried to do laundry, but discovered that my dryer was broken. Two weeks until I can get it fixed.
Tuesday:
Dropped Kent off at the airport. :(

So today I am off for a run then to find a laundromat. Shoot me now!

tried to hold out

2010-06-23T07:27:00.003-04:00

I haven't been posting because I told Ed that I wouldn't blog until he did. I miss his blog.
But he isn't going to do it. Not because he doesn't like to blog, but because he says he doesn't have the time.
So I give up.
The standoff ends and I am defeated.

Listen to outside run II

2010-06-01T07:38:00.001-04:00

running playlist

2010-05-28T15:48:00.004-04:00

My friend Kacy is a MASTER playlist maker. She posted a playlist for her friend to run to. I will admit that I stole a few songs from the list (and a couple others were already on mine). I was so grateful for the new songs that I figured I would post some of mine just in case others might like them as well.

I have a running playlist on my iPod that currently has 520 songs. That number goes up and down at least weekly. I get bored of some songs (I said bye bye to all Beatles recently), and add others (I recently went through a Britney Spears phase). When you run as much as I do you have to keep things changing or it just gets dull.

Which is also why I just put the list on shuffle. I like to be surprised by what comes up. It's a bit of anticipation in what can be a monotonous experience.

I like songs with a beat that encourages me to run harder, but I also like it when a song comes on that is slow and beautiful that helps me slow down and remember why I'm running. To help me remember that I run because it is a relaxing, stress reducing thing.

These are some of the songs that make me happy when they come up.

***Just actually clicked on my blog for the first time since posting my playlist and saw that there was some messed up code. I couldn't figure out the fix so I have tried something new.

*****Ok, that didn't fix it either. But if you click on pop out playlist you can actually get the scroll down bar on the right and see all the songs that I posted. (If you care)

dplumm's thoughts on life part II

2010-05-27T16:15:00.002-04:00

iPhone thoughts:

I have a first generation iPhone and it has served me well. It is starting to give me trouble. I need a new one. I need to hold out until the new ones come out. I would just like to know when that is. June I can probably handle, July...I don't know. I'm having to reset the phone all the time in order for it to work. I spilled some polyurethane on it the other day while touching up my cabinets and now the screen feels bumpy and slimy. Can I continue to do this?

I have reached the point that I don't think that I can live without my iPhone. It has my whole life on there. Scary.

I find that I don't plan things as well as I used to because the ability to google or map something from anywhere has really spoiled me. I'm not sure this is a good thing.

Has anyone else that has an iphone found that you now expect a double hit on the space bar to give you a period whenever you are typing something?

I'm addicted to minesweeper.

I'm addicted to wordwarp.

I don't care for tetris on it. I can't seem to transfer my tetris skills to the tapping screen instead of arrow keys.

My church bag is much lighter since getting the iphone since I have my scriptures on it. I don't have to lug that heavy book to church every week now.

nothing to say

2010-05-25T08:37:00.002-04:00

I've got nothing.
But I feel bad that it's been 10+ days since a post.
I've been busy checking things off my list. It's what I do.
Lost ended. :*(
I went on a 12 mile run with no ITB problems.
I have a poison ivy rash all over my arms.
Kids are busy.
Ed is BUSY.
Life is busy.

dplumm's thoughts on life part 1

2010-05-14T08:43:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure what this blog is for. It used to be a way to keep in touch with my family. Now we are all on FB so why blog?

But I do have thoughts. Lot's of them actually. I thought I would start writing them down on here. Because...well...why not?

For living in the most densely populated state we have a TON of wildlife. Deer are always in my yard, we have 2 HUGE groundhogs that live in the bball field behind us, squirrels everywhere, and we've already talked about the OPOSSUM in my garage.

We also have raccoons. They love to get in my trash. If I don't have the garbage cans in the garage with the door sealed shut they will find their way in there. It drives me nuts.

Tuesday night the trash can was left out in front of the garage. Apparently we had eaten something with rice recently. Wednesday morning there was a tipped over trash can and rice spread all over my driveway. I cleaned up what I could, but there was still a ton of rice all over the place. I didn't have time to get out the hose and spray it down right then, so I left the rice figuring I would come back to it.

The birds in the neighborhood took care of it for me.

Now I have bird poop EVERYWHERE.

I'm not sure which is worse, the raccoons or the birds.

mday recap

2010-05-10T09:07:00.002-04:00

M-day. Hank says that is much easier to say than Mothers Day, so that is what he called it.

5 Reasons Why M-Day is just like any other day:

1. My family was nice to me.

2. I ate waaaaay to much.

3. We went to church.

4. My hair was a mess.

5. It was all about me.

5 reasons why M-day is special:

1. I got presents.

2. My teenager said nice things to me.

3. The men taught our classes so we could go to RS.

4. I purposely sat on the couch so I wouldn't see the mess of a house and start cleaning. I took the day off.

5. Back tickles and foot rubs.

Wonderful.

what's goin on?

2010-05-07T08:57:00.002-04:00

Am I the only person who can't say "What's goin on?" without thinking of the Marvin Gaye song?

Anyway, cause I'm sure none of you care, here is a list of what has been going on around the sideways house lately:

1. Car stuff. In December during an ice storm one of my sliding van doors froze shut and the cable that makes that whole automatic door thing work snapped. The door still works, you just have to do it old school and pull it open and shut. I got an estimate to fix it yesterday. Still trying to decide if I'm going to spend the $1100 (yikes). I'm keeping this car at least another 2-3 and it only has 74,000 miles on it and runs perfectly so I'm thinking I should fix it. I just HATE spending money on stuff like that. But with a husband like I have (see below) it makes sense for me to keep my car as long as humanly possible.

Ed hates his Mazda that he bought in August. He's hated it since September. It drives great and is super peppy which is what he wanted. But he hates that it is a stick shift in New Jersey (lots of hills and stop and go traffic), and he misses the "luxury" aspects of his other cars. So he is car shopping again (really has been since September, but now he is getting serious about it). Unfortunately, we noticed the other day that while it is idling it blows out white smoke so he took it into the shop this morning. The warranty ran out 3 DAYS AGO. They think Mazda still might pay for it, but 3 DAYS AGO!!! Are you kidding me?

So it'll be fun to see what car Ed ends up with. He is a loyal BMW guy, but I think I have him talked into giving Audi a try. I love Audi's much more. He is loving the S4 and the A5.

2. It is full on spring out here so we have been spending the last 4 Saturdays cleaning up the outside of the Sideways house. Winters here are brutal. We have been scrubbing and sealing decks, repairing broken gutter covers, caulking and power washing. Fun, fun, fun.

Now we are getting bids to have the driveway redone. We have some HUGE potholes at the entry point. This'll be painful I am sure.

3. The kids are loving the spring weather. We are playing hockey non stop either outside in the driveway or downstairs with the new set from gma and gpa stephenson. We are spending lots of time at baseball games and field hockey camps. We are all just trying to keep it together until school gets out AT THE END OF JUNE!!! It feels like forever.

4. I am SLOWLY amping my running mileage up. I hadn't run over 7 miles since the whole ITB flare up of 2008 and that was keeping it at bay. But my itch to start running half's again is starting to really irritate, so I'm testing the waters on some longer runs. If it all goes well I am going to do a half in Philly in September. Ed says he will do it with me!! My cross training has strengthened my supporting muscles so I'm hoping for good things ITB wise.

5. We got passports for all the kids. That's a bit of a headache gathering all that documentation. We are taking a road trip this summer up into Canada and you can't do that now without passports. Plus Rian is going to spend 10 days in Vienna with her grandparents, so we kinda needed to get that done.

Am I a little jealous that Rian is going to see Europe before me? Um, Yea! But I wouldn't let this opportunity for her pass because of my infantile jealousy.

6. We are coming up on our 3 year mark in NJ. This will be the longest we've been anywhere. Part of me is trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing now because normally I would be prepping for a move. The other is glad to be calm for once. We'll see how long that lasts with my gypsy husband.

Ok, better out for that running I was talking about.

moprom

2010-05-04T09:03:00.003-04:00

In a lot of places outside of Utah they hold a dance they like to call a "prom". They do this to offer kids a special dance to go to that isn't as "inappropriate" as the proms at school can be. I think it's nice to have the choice. I helped with the decorations this year and they really go all out. It takes days and days to set up for this thing.

Rian turned 16 in March so this was her first chance to experience what is affectionately called MoProm (short for Mormon Prom). Maybe I can get her to write something about it, but from what she has told me, she had a great time.

In our ward the parents throw a party beforehand for all the kids who are going. We provide the dinner for the kids so it makes Prom a little easier on the pocketbook. It's really a fun tradition. It allows all the parents to go and take pictures and the kids get to hang out and relax before the dance.

This was Rian's first official date and marks her entry into that part of life. I wish her the best. Dating sucks, but try and have a good time.

mothers day 2010

2010-04-26T08:26:00.004-04:00

Dear Ed,

Here is a list of things I have been desiring. Mothers Day is coming up. You do the math:

1.

I am down to 2 forks from the set we got in the early years of our marriage. I would love a new matching set of utensils. Nothing fancy, this set from Costco is just lovely.

2. I am determined to learn how to better use the very nice camera that I received for Christmas last year. It's sad to have a good camera and use it as a point and shoot like I do. Because of that, I would like to go to this workshop on May 17th in NYC:

http://enlighten.bluelilyphotography.com/index2.php#/info1/1/

3. I would like a black leather jacket. I am unsure of the style I want just yet and these things are $$$$. So I thought I would plant the seed now so you can save your pennies and perhaps by my birthday I will have decided on the correct style.

4. I would like to wake up to a clean house and not have to cook all day. Talk to the kids they can help with this one.

These lists are hard. I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I am making for you!

pumping gas

2010-04-21T09:10:00.002-04:00

I remember my first road trip out to see my sister, Jana, in Washington state. This trip was memorable for many reasons (speeding ticket, white out snow storm, SCREAMING one year old in back seat). But it was also memorable because it was my first experience with a state that doesn't allow you to pump your own gas.

The first time I pulled up to a gas station in Oregon and someone came up to pump my gas I thought I had pulled into a full service pump and freaked out. I didn't want this guy checking my oil and cleaning my windows, I just needed gas. And plus, I didn't have any idea what you should tip. But then I was kindly informed that in Oregon they have people who are employed to pump your gas. Period. That is what they do.

I thought it was weird and I didn't like it. If felt strange to sit in my seat while someone else pumped my gas. On the way back from Washington we tried to arrange it so we didn't have to get gas in the state of Oregon. That is how weirded out I was by it.

I now live in a state that employs people to pump your gas. No way to avoid it now. I was going to HAVE to let these people pump my gas. I spent the first couple of weeks trying to figure out if I had to tip them (you don't), or if they don't get to you right away if you can get out and pump it yourself. You CAN, but you will get a LOOK from them. Believe me, it's not worth it. Just wait.

All I have to say about this now, is how do you suckers in other states deal with having to actually get out of your cars in the freezing cold or blazing heat to put gas in your car?

As far as I'm concerned, not pumping your own gas is one of the best things anyone ever thought of. Right after the Super Big Gulp.

snot

2010-04-19T08:44:00.002-04:00

I've got a lot of it. Snot.

I know I've been talking about how I'm so happy for spring. And I am.

But oh my goodness, the allergies!!!

Even with a daily Zyrtec I am hating it. Snot and sneezing and then I woke up yesterday without a voice.

Ed's biggest wish has finally come true. I can't talk! Well, I can, it is just really hard and no one can hear me.

But life goes on. We are busy people with school plays, baseball, field hockey, teenagers, church stuff, friends, spring window cleaning, etc. blah blah blah.

Kim is coming this weekend!!! (oh, and Jim too). Can't wait. Hope I can talk by then.

hank the tank is baptized

2010-04-12T09:01:00.002-04:00

Hank was baptized on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and it was great to see my baby become official. He took the decision to be baptized pretty seriously and I was impressed with his maturity.

Ed did a fabulous job. He is 3 for 3 with one dunkers. He is a keeper!

Rian gave a great talk using a hockey analogy for the Holy Ghost that was perfect for Hank to really understand and remember. Thanks to Ed for coming up with that one!

Samantha gave a rousing closing prayer and I took care of refreshments.

All in all, a wonderful family day.

Thanks to all our friends who came to support Hank on this special day!

spring break in the city

2010-04-08T15:05:00.002-04:00

Spring break + summer temperatures (high 80's). What does that equal?

A trip to the city, of course.

This is a picture of the line at a place called Shake Shack. I'm not sure why all these people (including myself) are waiting in line for a hamburger, but we are. It's a good hamburger with yummy fries and shakes, but why are we all willing to wait for 40 minutes? I don't know and to make it worse I've done it on multiple occasions. Then to top it all off, there are no available tables so we end up sitting on the ground to eat.

Then it was off to the Metropolitan Museum. We checked out the Greek and Roman area which Sammy loved because she is studying that in school right now. Then we checked out the new King Tut exhibit. Sarcophagus' (or is it Sarcophagii?) are cool. Camera died in the Greek area so no pictures of Tut. Bummer.

Kids on the subway. They are cute.

Apparently when I have my kids in the city on a hot day my right eye starts to twitch. That is the only explanation I have for the appearance of my eye in this picture.

sugar

2010-04-06T17:06:00.002-04:00

I LOVE sugar. There is no question about that.

It's no longer hard for me to give it up for Lent.

Yes, there were times that I wanted a girl scout cookie/brownie/ice cream pretty bad. But for the most part I was fine.

So, if you're wondering, it only takes 3 years of Lent sacrifice to kick a sugar addiction.

Good to know.

The only problem now is what do I give up next year?

And DON"T say Diet Coke.

rian is 16!

2010-03-29T08:35:00.003-04:00

Rian had a birthday on Friday.

She turned 16! When did that happen?

16 is pretty monumental. Even when you don't live in a state that let's you drive at 16.
So of course we had to have a big party.

Rian wanted kind of a "white trash" theme to her party this year.

So, Friday night Rian and 10 of her girlfriends met at iHop for a fancy bday dinner. Those poor people at iHop. 10 teenage girls are loud.

Saturday was spent with some girl and guy friends at Six Flags. It was supposed to be Coney Island, the ultimate in White Trash amusement, but they don't open until next weekend. So Six Flags it is.

It was about 40 degrees until the sun went down, and then it got even colder. Which meant no lines and a whole lot of wind burn from the roller coasters. But it was a good time!

An incomplete list of what I love about Rian:

1. She is funny.

2. She can be fun to hang out with.

3. She is smart.

4. She is a fabulous writer.

5. She is a wonderful artist.

6. She has finally learned to make mac n' cheese! :)

We love you Rian. You were the birth that changed our lives forever. We wouldn't change it for the world.

hank is 8

2010-03-26T08:54:00.002-04:00

Hank had a birthday yesterday.

When we asked him months ago what he wanted for his birthday he said all he wanted was to get to go to the Devils/Rangers game that was scheduled for his birthday and sit in REALLY GOOD seats. (Usually when we go to hockey games we sit in the last row. They are the cheapest you can get and it still costs us almost $200 to take our family to a game.)

He got an indoor hockey kit from Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson which we immediately set up and played. That's going to be tons of fun, I can tell already.

Then he and Ed headed off to the game. With REALLY GOOD seats we couldn't afford to spring for the whole family. And even though the Rangers won in a shootout, Hank had the time of his life. He even got on the jumbotron!

An incomplete list of what I love about Hank:

1. He gets excited about stuff. When you take him to a sporting event he cheers like crazy and is emotionally involved in every play. No fail, by the end of the game everyone around us has interacted with Hank. Giving high fives, fist pumps, whatever. It's fun to watch. It's contagious.

2. He is a comedian. He is already showing signs of a quick wit. And he enjoys getting a laugh.

3. He is kind and sensitive to others.

4. He likes what he likes and no one is going to convince him otherwise.

5. He is loving.

6. He is a hard worker. I never have to remind Hank to do his chores or his homework.

7. He loves to flaunt that he is the only boy. He loves the word p*nis because he knows it will make his sisters giggle.

I love you Hank. I'm so glad that you were born.

bam part II

2010-03-24T11:20:00.002-04:00

Last night was another BAM function.

No celebrity sightings.

4 hour production of Purcell's "The Fairy Queen".

My feet were completely swollen by the end of the night. If I was sitting down, why would my feet be so swollen that I could feel my arches on the ground? And I have REALLY high arches, so that is something I have NEVER felt before.

Got home really late.

This morning, Instead of napping which is what I should have done, I watched last nights episode of Lost.

I don't know if I'm less confused or more. At least we know the island isn't Hell. I know that's a popular theory.

My question is this:

If the man in black doesn't have his own body and has to use other's (Locke), what happened to the one he used to use in all the flashbacks with Jacob and now Richard?

what a lovely weekend

2010-03-22T09:04:00.003-04:00

75 degrees.

All weekend long!

Heaven!

Saturday Ed and Rian were off doing some stuff and Samantha had play practice. So Hank and I hit the town. We had a lovely lunch at Tinga and then walked around the park. We played "who can throw the rock the farthest" into the stream and I'll have you all know that I didn't win. Granted, Hank made me play while sitting down so that it was "more fair" (his words), but I still did lose. I don't think I have too many more years until he will be beating me even if I'm standing. Ugh! I hate to lose! :)

Wish I'd had my camera.

Came home and played hockey in the driveway until Ed and Rian came home. Then Ed did this:

You've got to love a nap in the sunshine. Of course he got a sunburn on one side, but it's worth it!

Sunday after church we went to the park. We are approaching the stage in our life where we don't need to find a park with a playground. Isn't that odd? Hank and Sammy played for a bit on the playground, but for the most part they hung out with us on our blanket. Next time we will remember to bring a frisbee.

this says a lot about my kids

2010-03-18T07:28:00.002-04:00

This picture was taken with Samantha's new laptop.

About six months ago Ed made a proposal that anyone who saved up half the money needed for a new laptop he would pay the other half. He thought for sure no one was going to actually do it.

Wrong.

So in this picture, taken the first day of acquisition of said laptop, shows Samantha looking pretty darn satisfied with herself. Rian is trying to smile but secretly she is seething with jealousy. And Hank is just hamming it up in the background.

how i know it is almost spring

2010-03-17T08:32:00.003-04:00

1. I hear the sound of children's voices during the day from the school field behind our house.

2. Hank has gotten his first case (of many I am sure) of poison ivy from playing in our yard.

3. The hockey net is out of the garage and in the driveway.

4. I have to check behind my car before backing up for scooters.

5. I have the desire to burn my winter coat.

If it snows again I think I may cry.

random questions

2010-03-12T15:35:00.003-05:00

1. What is a pastry cutter? While I like to cook, I don't bake. I'm not a big baked good consumer and have never had a need to create my own. I'm trying to make my own pie crust today for chicken pot pie. Normally I just use the ones that come in a box wrapped in cellophane. But I was out of those, so I'm making one from scratch. I don't own a pastry cutter. I used a knife. I'll let you know if that ruined it or not later when I eat it.

2. Why is the construction of a bra so obviously important and yet hard for companies to grasp? I own a LOT of badly made bras. It is sad.

3. Do you let it bother you when someone unfriends (defriends?) you on FB? Or do you not even notice?

4. Why do my knees creak when I am doing squats?

5. I own a Toyota. Should I be scared?

one of those days

2010-03-10T09:14:00.002-05:00

I'm avoiding. I'm not quite ready for my day to start. So I am hiding at the computer making snarky comments on Facebook, Twittering and wishing others would blog so I'd have something more to read to avoid my list.

My list is long today. And I know I can't put it off because I am BUSY the rest of the week and won't have time if I don't do it today. Plus it just keeps getting longer. This warm weather has allowed me to see my back yard for the first time in a month. There is going to have to be some serious work out there come spring. We've got some downed fence posts and broken tree branches EVERYWHERE. Lovely!

I took some dinner last night to some friends who had a baby. Seeing them makes me simultaneously glad that I don't have a baby and sad that I don't have a baby. I know I'm done with babies, but the smell and the snuggling and sweetness. I could go for some of that. Which is why I volunteered to sit for her on Thursday and I hope she takes me up on it! That way I can get my baby fix and then give it back. You get the good stuff and they are the ones that have to deal with the nightly feedings and colic and teething.

I think I will take a rest day from working out. I am still hobbling and sore from Saturdays run. I thought that perhaps exercising would help work that out, but obviously not because I am still a mess.

I need to wash my sheets today but Ed made the bed and it just seems wrong to unmake a bed to wash the sheets.

Lost was good last night. I LOVE that they have allowed Ben Linus to choose to be good. I love that the show is so centered on redemption. They've got me hooked to see how this is going to wrap up.

I'm reading a book right now called "What Happy People Know". I'm curious, what do happy people know?
Are you happy? And I don't mean happy right now, I mean happy. Happy on the inside. Happy with your life.
I think I am, but I'm a pessimist, what do I know?

the long thaw

2010-03-08T09:04:00.003-05:00

It's warming up here at the sideways house.

I hesitate to think that it is warming up for good, but the forecast of a week in the 50's is absolutely hopeful! I need spring.

I went for a run outside on Saturday. I haven't run outside since early December because I am kind of a wimp when it comes to running in cruddy weather. It felt so good to be outside, that I set out for my usual 6 mile loop but kept taking little side turns to extend my time out there. By the time I got back 6 had turned into 8 and I have been hobbling around like an old woman ever since. Treadmill running just isn't the same.

So today I will go outside again for an easy run to see if I can't work this soreness out of these old muscles.

*Just as a side note, can I just say, that the day your oldest child gets asked to their first date dance is a bit surreal? Sore muscles and a daughter old enough to date...it's official, I'm old.

i hate the girl scouts

2010-03-04T14:44:00.001-05:00

Can I just say that having Girl Scout cookies come out during Lent is a cruel, cruel thing!?!

hey did you get some snow?

2010-02-28T15:19:00.001-05:00

i'm different

2010-02-24T09:06:00.004-05:00

Here is my incomplete list:

1. I like to cook now. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I gave up trying to make things healthy all the time. I now allow myself to cook with butter and cream. Things taste better with butter and cream. And you can make better stuff. This doesn't mean that we don't have our meals of salmon with rice and veggies, just not everyday.

2. I know the rules of hockey. I went to a hockey game during the olympics in SLC and really had no idea what was going on. I now know what constitutes off sides, icing, high sticking, interference and even why sometimes you go to the box for fighting and sometimes you don't.

3. I do my hair and put make up on. Almost everyday. This has a lot to do with the fact that I am getting older. I used to just rely on my "youthful good looks" (ha) (ha ha) to get me through the day. It also has a lot to do with the fact that I don't have an infant or toddler to make doing things like hair and makeup more difficult.

4. I know what to bring to a party and how to dress. (Most of the time). Who knew things like that would be so difficult, but they are and it has taken me a long time to figure out when a hostess gift is required and when it isn't.

5. I appreciate real maple syrup.

6. I have finally come to grips with the fact that you are who you are. I will never like the symphony, or the ballet, or jazz, or fancy restaurants where your food comes out all stacked up with designs on the plate with sauce and you have no idea how to even eat it, or small talk, or enrichment, or crafts, or self help books. And it is ok. I don't have to. I am who I am.

7. I have a hard time staying up past midnight. I used to work graveyards! I cannot imagine trying to stay up all night. I've really gone soft.

I have to go to the grocery store now. But I am intrigued by this list and will think of more while I shop for butter and cream.

week in review

2010-02-20T16:28:00.002-05:00

The kids were off school for mid-winter break this week. You'd think I would have a lot of stuff to review. But I don't. We watched a lot of tv. Saw a movie. Apparently we were very lazy. I'm ok with that.

We did go to the Liberty Science Center. Which of the gazillion science centers that I've been to, this was one of the best. Had a lot of things for the kids to try and play with to help them learn about energy, weather, estuaries, dinosaurs, communication and germs. Pretty cool. As you can tell, Rian had a GREAT time. :)

Friday I got a wild hair and decided to redo the bathroom upstairs. I wish I had take a before picture. But pretend you know that it used to be SUNNY yellow, with a colorful, striped shower curtain. Even the window trim was yellow. That is what I hated about it. I didn't hate the room, but I hated that the trim and window were yellow. So, I used the leftover paint from my bedroom and used a big old coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond and changed the bathroom for under $20. Not too shabby. I like it, I am just afraid that it is too modern for my dutch colonial house. We'll see.

lent III

2010-02-17T08:25:00.002-05:00

And so we are here at Ash Wednesday. The official start to Lent.

For my Fat Tuesday send off, I bought a bag of these. I shared a little, but not too much.

My farewell to sugar for 40 days.

If you can believe it I have actually been looking forward to Lent this year so that I could have an excuse to give up sugar.

Does that mean the sacrifice part of giving up sugar is gone and I am going to have to pick something new next year?

Don't get me wrong...I know this isn't going to be easy. I am a sugar addict. But for some reason, I am glad that I will be spending the next 40 days without it.

Hank is giving up talking like a baby. Hallelujah!!!
Ed is giving up swearing. Good luck babe!

snow days

2010-02-12T08:40:00.002-05:00

Do you like snow days?

I think I am going to like them:
1. Sleeping in.
2. No additional homework.
3. Stuck home all day.

I think one snow day is good. But when it stretches out to two like it did this week...well, I think that is where I start to not be so enamored. Especially when my kids are already off school all next week for mid-winter break.

My house is a mess of snow clothes/boots/gloves/hats. I didn't get my usual things done, so I am behind on my housework.

Which basically means that today which is usually my free day to do what I want is now going to be spent cleaning and more cleaning.

Am I whining? Yea, maybe a little.

weekend of sports

2010-02-08T08:43:00.005-05:00

It was a sports weekend here at the sideways house.

We spent Friday evening cheering on the NJ Devils as they took on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Devils are Hank's favorite team. The rest of our family cheers for the Rangers. But when the Devils are playing anyone but the Rangers we cheer for them. We are just cool like that.

It was a GREAT game. NJ was down 3-1 with less than 5 minutes left in the game and came back to win 4-3! Thrilling!

Saturday Ed and I went into the city to celebrate a friends birthday. This friend has connections to Madison Square Garden so we celebrated while watching the Rangers vs. Devils. We were happy to see the struggling Rangers beat those crazy Devils! We even got to go down on the ice after the game. We are just cool like that too.

*I'm thinking, after seeing this photo, that I need a new coat. I bought that coat when I was pregnant with Hank and needed a coat to go around that big old belly. It really does look like I could fit another person in there. Is 8 years long enough to justify the purchase of a new coat? Maybe I will wait for the after winter sales and score a new one.

To cap off the weekend we watched that big old football game. We were not crazy NFL fans in this house until this year. Having a son who is really getting into sports has opened our sport viewing habits to new things. While Hank would have loved to see the Giants in the Superbowl, he was happy to root for Eli's brother Peyton and the Colts. The rest of us were pulling for the Saints just because it's always nice to see a team do it for first time. We hung out with some friends at their place and enjoyed the game and dinner.

It was a great weekend.

shopping

2010-02-04T08:27:00.002-05:00

I hate to shop.

I'm drained after about 30 minutes at a mall.

I hate to try things on.

My usual way to clothe myself has been to shop at Costco. You don't even have the choice to try things on, you just have to live with your choices. I'm good at living with my choices, even if they fit badly. And I'm sorry, but what is more convenient than picking up a new dress while also getting a vat of olive oil, 250 AA batteries, and some bananas?

I need new clothes. The only pair of pants I have that actually fit me are a pair that I bought at Costco 2 weeks ago.

Can I just continue with my bad clothes? Ed says no. Rian says I dress like a dork. (I've always liked dorks).

Do I brave the mall? The thought alone is making me want to curl up on the couch and watch the first episode of Lost again to see if I missed anything.

one of those weeks

2010-02-01T08:48:00.002-05:00

It was a tough week at the sideways house. All of us, in our own way, seemed to be out of sorts.

There was drama and fighting and groundings and "talks" of all kinds.

So yesterday, as the dust seemed to settle around us, we decided to have a little game night...

"But, Mom, the Pro-Bowl is on."

"I don't want to spend one second with you people."

"Really?"

But as we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace, smooshed them between graham crackers and chocolate, and got all gooey eating them up, things began to mellow.

By the time we had played 2 rounds of Chronology, they were actually asking for a third. There was laughter! And we haven't had much laughter this week.

It was good.

completely normal

2010-01-29T09:28:00.004-05:00

That's what I've been my whole life.

Completely normal.

I was never beautiful, but also never ugly.
I was never a genius, but also never dumb.
I was never the star athlete, but also never rode the bench.

Always completely normal.

And now I have it in writing. I think I will frame it and hang it next to my bed so that I never forget that I am completely normal.

stuck

2010-01-22T09:41:00.003-05:00

I'm stuck at the computer right now, so I figured I'd post something to get that hideous picture of all that skin off the front page.

I'm stuck because I am trying to figure out the snafu that is our photo back up system. iPhoto allowed multiple pictures to be named the exact number. Which isn't a problem in iPhoto because they have a different way of keeping things straight then just the number assigned to the photo. BUT, when you try to back up your photos to a separate hard drive you end up THINKING you've backed up all your photos until you are trying to find one that is named IMG_1992 according to iPhoto, but when you look for it on your back up drive you find that IMG_1992 is a completely different photo because there are actually five IMG_1992's and everytime you backed it up you just erased whatever IMG_1992 was there before and replaced it with a new one. Oh My Heavens I would like to shoot someone.

So I have spent the last two days trying and trying different things to try and fix this so that I can know that ALL my photos are backed up. It has been giving me anxiety worrying that some baby picture that I can't replace is lost.

But, I think we have it figured out, but it is taking me sitting at the computer to "monitor" the process for problems. Fun times! I'm an hour in to the new process. Let's hope for good things.

--------

Ed told me today that he thinks he is losing weight since he has been exercising. I have been exercising for 20 years and I don't lose weight without some MAJOR intervention. He loses weight just by exercising. Sometimes I want to hit him (Just kidding honey :) ). I hope he doesn't lose too much weight. He looks much better with the 20 pounds that he has gained since we got married.

---------

Sitting here I have my iTunes on shuffle. It keeps playing Joni Mitchell. I hate Joni Mitchell. But I own a Joni Mitchell album because the stinking "Genius" feature on iTunes told me I would like Joni Mitchell based on the albums and songs that I already have in my library. Well they were WRONG!!!!!!!!!

---------

I worked at the school library yesterday. I think I may be too OCD to work there. Part of what we do there is straighten the shelves and check to make sure that the books are in there proper place. Every time I am there I find a mislabeled book because I have issues and notice that kind of thing. I think I secretly drive the librarian crazy because I bring them to her attention and she has to fix them.

Yesterday I was checking the Biography section. In that section books aren't in order of Authors last name like they are in the fiction section. They are put in order of the subject of the book. All books about Derek Jeter are all together under Jeter, etc. They have books about Leonardo da Vinci under the D's for da Vinci, but they also have some in the L's for Leonardo. This seems messed up to me, but I decided to keep it to myself. Library volunteer is my favorite volunteer job at the school and I really don't want to be black listed and I think I might be close. So I'm just going to keep this to myself.

----------

Why do we have soooo many photos? Holy crap this is taking forever.

----------

I'm putting together a slide show for New Beginnings. All the leaders are sending me wedding photos for a section we are doing about temple marriage. Without exception we all look WAY too young to be getting married. I look like I am 14. The other women look ridiculously young as well.

I'll shoot Rian if she tries to get married at 21. (Just kidding, Rian) (Kinda)

----------

I'd like another Diet Coke, but I've already had 2 and I really try to limit myself to 2 a day. That's too bad that I am so rule oriented and won't have another because that wouldn't be sticking to the 2 a day rule.
But of course sticking to rules is what got me the Joni Mitchell album and that didn't work out so well.

----------

I need a haircut. My hair grows obscenely fast. I really kinda hate it. I'm thinking of going back to the haircut in the picture above. Not the blond though, that took way too much maintenance. I can't believe I put up with that as long as I did (4 years!). I know most of it is covered with the hat, but it's the length and chunkiness at the bottom that are important. I'll think about it.

----------
Finished! It's a little miracle in my very unmiraculous day. I think I will go work out now since I've been sitting on my butt for 3 hours.

doctors are mean

2010-01-19T11:05:00.003-05:00

I don't like to go to the doctor. If I'm not forced, I don't go. Which basically means I go when I'm pregnant and I force myself to get a pap once a year. That's it. I don't get sick (bad enough to see a dr. anyway). I don't go for every little sore throat or sniffle.

Today I went for a physical. I haven't had a physical in...I don't know, maybe ever.

I went because I am getting old and I figure I better start being a little more proactive about these things.

I've been poked, prodded and EKG'd. Vials and vials of blood were removed from my body. I was asked to fast and then asked to pee in a cup. Do you know how hard that is? I had to get a tetanus booster because I told them I couldn't remember having one so they stuck me!

This is exactly why I don't go to the doctor. They are mean!

hibernation

2010-01-13T08:52:00.003-05:00

Every morning after getting the girls off to school I wake Hank up and he drags himself downstairs, plops down on the couch and watches cartoons while I get him his baggy of cereal for breakfast. One of his favorites is Spongebob Squarepants.

This mornings episode was the one where Sandy Cheeks is hibernating and Spongbob and Patrick sneak in to her igloo and keep waking her up. It got me thinking about hibernation.

I'd like to hibernate.

Eat obscene amounts of food until you are extremely chubby, get all warm and cozy in your bed and sleep until you're thin again.

Sounds perfect!

it can have the garage, I don't want anything to do with it.

2010-01-08T08:03:00.003-05:00

**And it is an Opossum. You learn something new everyday.

deep thoughts

2010-01-07T15:41:00.002-05:00

1. Why have I started biting my nails? I've never bitten my nails. I only bite the nails on my left hand. I am embarrassed by what my left hand looks like.

2. There is an animal living in our garage loft. It scared the kids on New Years Eve. They said it looked like a possum. What's a possum? It gets into the garbage cans. I know it is there, but I don't want to find it. I'm just avoiding the garage at all costs.

3. Ed joined a gym and is actually going. Who is this guy? Ed has never exercised regularly in his life and now he is talking about doing a triathalon. I'm glad he is going, don't get me wrong, but it is a new side of him I'm going to have to get used to.

4. I have started getting light headed every time I stand up. What do you think? Brain tumor? Heart problems? Nothing to worry about? The doctor can see me in 11 days.

5. I've decided that I would like to live somewhere warmer. January sucks!

new year

2010-01-04T09:03:00.002-05:00

Here we are, in a new year. A new decade even (unless you are one of the people who think the decade is from 01-11, then we will just agree to disagree (see new resolution below)).

On a total tangent from resolutions, can I just say that this last decade was easily the decade with most change I've ever experienced in my life? 10 years ago I was working at eBay in the middle of the night, my husband was working on his MBA and working all day, we had two kids, a mortgage, two cars, stress beyond belief, and I was afraid that that was my life and I'd better just get used to it.

Since then we've finished that MBA, had another kid, sold that house (and a couple others), sold those cars (and a lot of others), moved 3 times (clear across the country), and have settled into a whole different kind of life. Life...it keeps ya guessing.

But back on the point. New years resolutions. I have decided to make 2010 the year of ME. Not that every year isn't the year of me, but this year I am going to really work on ME. I need some work. And so I give you my list:

• Learn how to take a compliment.
I SUCK at this. I tend to deflect or try to turn it into a joke.
Example: I have recently lost a little weight. Not a huge amount, but an amount that is noticeable. Anytime anyone says anything I just mention that the lighting must be favorable, or about how black is slimming, or some idiotic thing like that. I need to learn to just say “thank you”.

• Keep it to myself.
I have a lot of opinions. Not everyone wants to hear them.

• Don’t sign up for things I don’t want to do.
I’m tired of doing things out of obligation or guilt. If I am going to sign up to do something it is because I really want to. This resolution is going to mean becoming more charitable. Right now I sign up for and do a lot of charitable things out of obligation. I want those things to actually be done out of a charitable spirit instead, and I’m not going to do them until it is done in the right spirit. Because instead, I am just irritable the whole time I am doing it, and what’s the point of doing charity if you’re just mad about it?

• Be more grateful.
I am amazingly blessed. I have a great husband. I have great kids. I have a home that I love. I have all I could ever want! I need to be more grateful about that.

• Take the GRE.
I’ve been talking about it for years. I want to go to graduate school. I'm being held back by fear. I’m afraid that I will go through the whole process and then not get in. And because of that, I am just not doing it. That’s dumb!!! I will get a grip, take the GRE and finally just do it!

• Lose 10 more pounds. Right now I weigh what I weighed when I got married, but I seem to still have this blob of goo where I once carried 3 babies. I’d like to get rid of that (if possible) without surgery. And if that doesn’t do it, look into surgery. ☺

So, there ya go. 2010, the year of ME! I’m already hungry (cya 10 lbs), so we are off to a good start!

christmas

2009-12-26T13:46:00.002-05:00

Tom and Louise dressed as twins

Christmas Eve, chilling out...

and playing games.

Can hardly wait to come down the stairs to see what Santa brought them.

Ed got a Def Leppard t-shirt from Rian

Hank got Devils jammies from gma and gpa Stephenson

Rian got a sweatshirt from gma and gpa Stephenson

And then Rian smoked some pot and put on a show.

It was a Very Merry Christmas!

wanna hear me whine?

2009-12-23T09:34:00.003-05:00

The day we got back from Pinehurst I started coughing. It was a pretty good, constant, chest cough. So I took the advice of runners everywhere and took a week off of exercising so I didn't make myself sicker.
After 7 days of that I was ready to kill myself so I got back exercising even though I was still coughing quite a bit. I figured my resting the first week would keep it from getting any worse and I would be fine. That whole second week I kept getting more and more tired, but I ignored it figuring it was because I was freaking busy.
Last Monday I awoke feeling REALLY sluggish. I very often feel especially sluggish on Mondays. A little weekend hangover or something. So I laced up the running shoes and went out for a nice 6 miler. It took me 5 minutes longer than usual and I just felt odd. I knew something was up when I got out of the shower and KNEW that if I didn't immediately sit down I was going to pass out.
Took my temperature and saw that it was 100.4. I then proceeded to have a fever of 100.4 for the next 6 days. Nothing high enough to send me running to the doctor, but high enough that I couldn't do anything I wasn't forced to. It hurt to read even.
I've spent the last 3 days trying to rebuild my strength.
My house is...I can't even talk about what my house is. A mess of epic proportions.
It is Christmas in two days and I am not ready.

there's a first time for everything

2009-12-08T12:15:00.002-05:00

I have finally seen a movie that is better than the book.

The book was fine. Certainly an easy read that I polished off in a day or two. But it didn't leave me feeling anything.

This movie was delightful. What everyone said is true. It does make you want to go out and learn to cook french food.

bam

2009-12-07T09:23:00.002-05:00

So, I was sitting at the BAM gala Thursday night...

Don't I wish that I had that life where I could start sentences like that without feeling like a total fake? That is SO not my life.

But in reality, I was at the BAM gala the other night. I got dressed up, rode the train in to the city, and attended a gala. A gala that had a red carpet. Definitely not a typical night for my suburban housewife life.

After dinner we got to see a performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire", with Cate Blanchett as Blanche. I was very excited to see her performance. I think Ms. Blanchett is an amazing actress. She was beyond amazing in this play.

In the audience were a lot of famous people. Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, Isabella Rosselini, Anne Hathaway...WOW! At one point Anne Hathaway sat down 4 seats away from me. 4 seats! Until, of course, she realized that she was sitting in the wrong seat and moved to her much better seats.

In the 5+ minutes that Anne and I were sharing air I could have gotten many pictures with my phone to immediately send out to all my friends and family and post on my blog. But I am just not that person. Instead I chose to update my facebook status as discreetly as possible.

I once was in a luxury box during the 2002 olympics for 2 hours with Michelle Kwan (of figure skating fame). We chatted about our lives and babies (I was 8 months pregnant with Hank) and such, but not once in that whole conversation did I acknowledge that she was Michelle Kwan, a famous person. I didn't ask her about figure skating or anything even remotely close to figure skating. I didn't ask to have my picture taken with her. Nothing.

Why is it that I love to read about celebrities and gawk at what they are wearing, but when it comes to seeing them in person, I will pretend like they are nobody special? I don't know if I am trying to let them know that they are just like the rest of us, or if I am trying to be respectful of their privacy.

I guess the latter makes me sound like a better person, so I'll choose that one.

christmas list

2009-12-01T16:47:00.004-05:00

For a long time now, I have been that person who refused to give her loved one a list for gift giving occasions because I wanted to see if that loved one truly loved me. Because, as you all know, the only way to determine if someone loves you or not is whether they can read your mind about what you would like as a gift.

I've tried many things to still stick by the no list policy. Telling kids to tell the loved one, hints while shopping with loved ones, etc. But, and this shouldn't come as a shock, I just wasn't quite getting things that I actually wanted. (Pearls vs. knives, anyone?)

It was my birthday last month. I gave Ed a list. I got EVERYTHING on my list! I got the PW cookbook, and a runners ID tag for my shoes. I'm not going to lie, it rocked. Why was I not giving lists before? I forget...

And so, in honor of it being Christmas, and it's always better to give then to receive, I am GIVING Ed a list:

1.

We don't have a dvd player downstairs and it is annoying having to transfer the cord from upstairs down there every time I do my non running workouts.

2.

This Willow Tree creche. The one I got for $2.99 at the after Christmas sale at Michaels 15 years ago is really starting to fall apart.

3.

This seems a little more Mother's Day'ish, but I thought I'd mention it now.

4.

I could use some running pants that aren't fleece lined. For when it is cold, but not frigid.

5.

It's cold in our 82 year old house. This would be lovely!

I would appreciate a list in return. Otherwise all your getting is the sweater that is already under the tree (and maybe some new underwear).

thanksgiving

2009-11-29T20:10:00.004-05:00

Pinehurst, NC for Thanksgiving. You just can't beat it! We are never more relaxed than we are there.

We started out Wednesday with a lovely dinner in the Carolina dining room, followed by the fabulous Christmas concert put on by the NC symphony. This year we got to hear a Kwanzaa song that was written by the conductor. Very interesting.

The next two days were spent as usual at Pinehurst. Chilling out, playing games, taking walks, and eating. An obscene amount of eating.

What's it gonna take to get some of you people to join us next year? Come on!

i stole this video from Kacy

2009-11-19T14:11:00.002-05:00

I'm not really a cheesy person, so usually cheesy stuff (like Mormon videos) are not my cup of tea (or hot chocolate to be more W.O.W. PC). But this video isn't cheesy at all and was a perfect way for me to start the Thanksgiving Holiday Season, which is all too often swallowed up in that other holiday season and forgotten.

So, Kacy, here is my list this year:

I'm thankful for Ed. I'm thankful for Rian, Sammy & Hank. I'm thankful for my crockpot. I'm thankful for my husbands job in this crazy time. I'm thankful for Diet Coke. I'm thankful for my minivan. I'm thankful for my beautiful home. I'm thankful for guacamole. I'm thankful for spell check to help me figure out how to spell guacamole. I'm thankful for a body that works and does what I ask it to do. I'm thankful for velcro. I'm thankful for parents (both mine and his). I'm thankful for naan. I'm thankful for Kim. I'm thankful for leaf blowers so I don't have to rake. I'm thankful for Pinehurst. I'm thankful that Sammy is learning the piano. I'm thankful that Rian is growing up to be a good person. I'm thankful that Hank will still snuggle me. I'm thankful for my bed. I'm thankful for Northeastern falls. I'm thankful for socks.

2009-11-12T14:36:00.002-05:00

Bedroom redo pics.

Photo #1 is the old color. Ed HATED it. Said it had too much green in it. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

Photo #2 is the updated look. It's a subtle change, but all evidence of green has been removed. We'll see if Ed likes it when he gets home tomorrow night.

Paint bedroom (check).

ed's out of town

2009-11-11T07:03:00.002-05:00

Ed is out of town for work. Ed used to have one of the highest travel jobs in the company, so we are very used to him being gone. But he has only gone out of town a couple of times since we moved to NJ, so it is a little odd when he isn't around.

How is life different when Ed isn't around?

1. It is quieter in the evenings.
2. We eat at a better time.
3. We go to sleep earlier.
4. My bedroom stays cleaner without his work crap all over it.
5. We are all BORED.

Whenever Ed is away I fill my life with projects. It's what I do. On the list for the week:

1. Paint front door (check)
2. Paint bedroom
3. Take car in for inspection (check, failed, see 4)
4. Remove tint from front windows of Ed's car (check)
5. Reinspect Ed's car
6. Finish slide show for Evening of Excellence (half a check)
7. Finish book.
8. organize/put away summer clothes.

I had a lovely birthday. Thank you to all for the gifts and attention! I looked fabulous in my new Banana sweater that my parents $$ bought me. I got the new PW cookbook and runnerID that I had hinted at. Ed took us out to Melting Pot for dinner and we had a great time! Now I can't wait to eat that cake that Louise sent, I am trying really hard to wait until Ed gets back into town. Wish me luck!

how is this for an oldie but a goodie?

2009-11-06T13:21:00.001-05:00

We all look so young!

update

2009-11-06T08:34:00.002-05:00

Lots going on lately. To keep y'all up to speed I'll sum up:

1. Yankees, Yankees and more Yankees!!!
We watched an obscene amount of baseball this last month. Soooo awesome to see them win it all!

2. Fixed Ed's car.
He has it today, but I will take a picture of it's repaired cuteness for you later.

3. Helping the Jeffries move.
Our good friends the Jeffries moved back to Utah this week. We will miss them terribly. They stayed at our house for 4 days between the closing of the house and the getting in the Uhaul and driving across the country. That was a blast.

4. Staffing the Family History Center. I got another calling about 6 months ago. One Thursday a month I get to work at the FHC. It's usually pretty dull.

5. Halloween. I have no pictures. I don't know where my head was that day. Rian was a rocker chic, Sammy was mustard (and her friend was ketchup), Hank was Patrick Elias (NJ Devils hockey player).

6. Leaves. The leaves have fallen. I'm sure I have spent at least 13 hours over the last two weeks taking care of the leaves. This is normally not my job, but Ed has been busy with work and school is kicking Rian's butt. I may need to start recruiting the younger ones into this project. It's a killer.

7. Parent Teacher Conference, Voting, manning the booth at the "kids voting" at the middle school, YW's crap galore, kids off of school for NJEA, Knicks game, field hockey, football, I feel my head exploding...

in the thick of it

2009-10-29T09:08:00.003-04:00

The World Series has taken over our house. It would be great to finally have the Yankees win it all while we lived here.

We are letting Hank stay up until 10, which usually gets him into the 5th or 6th inning. He complains and complains when it is time for bed.

Last night was very disappointing!

We were watching a pregame show while I was making dinner. On this show they have a guy who walks around and asked people at the stadium trivia questions.

One of the questions was:

When was the last time the Yankees and Phillies met in the World Series?

The guy did not know the answer.

I look over at Hank who is jumping up and down screaming "1950---1950---1950"

Turns out he was right.

I guess he is absorbing all those stats and stuff that he is constantly pouring over on the computer. Weird kid.

what's been going on?

2009-10-26T09:40:00.004-04:00

Those of you on Facebook already know, but I figured I'd just let everyone know what an idiot I am...I hit Ed's new car with my car.

The story goes like this: I was in a hurry to get to mutual, talking to Rian. All day as I am in and out of our driveway I back into the "basketball court"/Ed's parking space so that I can come out onto the busy street front first and not have to back out into it. Now, I have a car with a back up camera and sensors that beep when you are getting near things. I am immune to this when I am backing up in my driveway because it always beeps at me because of the basketball standard so I ignore it. Well, I forgot that Ed was home for the evening and was actually parked there and thought the beeping was just the basketball standard. Not a cheap mistake. So don't be surprised when all you guys get for Christmas this year is a Pez.

Finally got around to redoing Rian's room. She moved into the already lavender room and was fine with it for a while, but was starting to let me know that she was ready for a more "teenager" ish room. Plus the fact that she had the smallest room and the biggest bed finally got me to move on it. I moved her bed to Sammy's room and Sammy's bed to Rian's room, picked out a new bedspread and went with it.

Rian has a friend, Anna, whose parents let her write with Sharpie all over her walls in her room. Rian wanted that. We compromised with a chalkboard wall that is also magnetic so she can hang paper and write away. (Easy to do, but soooo time consuming. Layers and layers of paint)

This is with the walls all clean:

This is after Rian got ahold of it:

Other than that, it is flag football for Hank:

Field hockey for Sam:

And work, work, work for Ed.

thank you tara

2009-10-20T17:38:00.003-04:00

For teaching my daughter the "mormon bird" so that she could flip me off at a church function with no one the wiser.
Classic.

washington rock

2009-10-13T07:35:00.002-04:00

Fall has arrived in NJ. The temperatures are much cooler and the leaves are beginning to change. This is such a fabulous time of the year here.

So near our home that I can't believe I didn't know about it is a nice walk to a place called Washington Rock. I found out about it going on a field trip with Hank's class. It's a place where Washington and his troops camped during the Revolutionary War. I love that you can see the city and our town so beautifully while taking the walk.

I rounded up the family on Sunday and we took a walk so as to not waste what was a beautiful, crisp fall day. Lovely.

(Sammy was there too I swear, but she was behind the camera for a good portion of the time so we have very little photographic evidence)

sammy is 11

2009-10-07T14:13:00.002-04:00

Sammy had a birthday.
I like Sammy.
Some of the things that I like about Sammy:
1. She is responsible
2. She is bright
3. She plays the piano
4. She helps me around the house
5. Whenever I am sick, Sammy takes care of me
6. She is kind
7. She likes to cook
8. She was my easiest delivery
9. She looks after her brother (and sister)

This was Sammy's year for a friend party. She chose to have it at The Funplex. It is a bigger kids version of Chuck E Cheese, with go carts and bumper cars and free falls and video games. I think it is safe to say that she and her friends had a grand time.

As did these two video game addicts:

Even Rian (who got to bring a friend) had a good time:

We are so glad that Samantha was born!

catching up

2009-09-28T08:42:00.003-04:00

It's been a while.

We've been busy (and sick). Here's a quick rundown just so we are all caught up:

Hit Six Flags for our last (probably) trip of the year. It was a beautiful day!

We picked Rian up from a sleepover on our way to Six Flags and she said she wasn't feeling well. She seemed a bit off.

By the next morning Sammy and Hank were sick as well, so I went to church while the rest of them took a sick day. Classic flu symptoms. H1N1? Who knows? Maybe since Sammy has had the regular flu vaccine already.

Monday Ed came home by 5 saying he was sick, and by that evening I was down as well. Ed and I spent the next 3 days trying to recover. Ed slept and I Netflixed 5 seasons of Lost. I am not really of fan of the "sci fi" stuff, but I did love the characters. I am now anxiously awaiting season 6 so I can see how they are going to wrap this thing up.

Tried to deal with the "Slut List" scandal at Rian's high school. If you haven't heard of it, I'm surprised. It was on The View, Good Morning America, and CNN. Basically Mean Girls/hazing in a really hideous way. Right here in our town. Oh joy!

Now we are celebrating Yom Kippur by having the day off of school (Mazeltov!)

I better go clean the basement since 2 of my sisters and some of their friends are coming this week and need a place to sleep. Good times.

sports

2009-09-17T09:10:00.003-04:00

Being a tomboy I kinda figured that I would have tomboy daughters. What did I know about girly stuff? But, of course, life has dealt me two daughters who while they aren't totally girly (no dance classes or desire to where nothing but dresses), neither one of them is that interested in sports. I'm dealing.

Then I had a son. But still, there is no guarantee you'll get one who likes sports. I kept watching and waiting to see if I would finally get the child that would want to play catch in the yard.

Over the last year Hank has turned into a total sports NUT! He tapes and watches all NJ Devils, NY Yankees, and NY Giants games and has plans to add the Lakers games to that mix. Any computer time he gets he goes to NHL.com, MLB.com, etc. and watches highlights and reads stats and opinions about the teams and players. We play an obscene amount of driveway hockey, basketball and I even get to throw the ball around with him.

We have been trying to take advantage of the fact that we live so close to so many wonderful sports teams lately. We couldn't score any US Open tickets this year, but we did venture out to a Yankees game:

Last night we went to the first preseason game of the NJ Devils playing the NY Rangers. We are a split family when it comes to hockey with Hank loving the Devils, the girls loving the Rangers and Ed as "Switzerland" in his Northstars jersey.

It was a great game. Tied 2-2 to go into OT. No score in OT so it goes to a shootout. 2-1 for NJ in the shootout. All you have to do is look at the expression on Hank's face to see how happy he was that NJ pulled out a win!

Looking forward to years and years of sports with this kid.

total exhaustion

2009-09-14T08:53:00.002-04:00

What do you do when you have spent the last week getting kids back to school plus single handedly putting together the neighborhood block party?

Spend the morning eating left over candy from the pinata, drinking copious amounts of Diet Coke and staring at the hurricane that is your house wondering where to even begin.

I'll figure that all out after one more Almond Joy.

9/11

2009-09-11T08:48:00.002-04:00

Like most people I remember Sept. 11, 2001 vividly. Hearing the news in the car while dropping Rian off at school. Spending the day in front of the television. Agonizing about how to talk to my 7 year old and 4 year old about what had happened. Spending the evening with Ed's family trying to think about something else while celebrating Louise's birthday.

What I didn't know then is that by the next September I would be living within 2 blocks of where the towers stood. That I would be walking by "ground zero" every single day to take my kids to school and the park. That my children would be attending the school that became the police headquarters/triage center on that fateful day because of it's location 1/2 a block away. That I would experience the clean up and rebuilding first hand.

I've heard a lot of stories from a lot of people who experienced that day in a much too close manner. Stories of concern for spouses, panic of not knowing where children had been evacuated to, loss, kindness and generosity.

So while I wasn't there the day the towers fell, Sept. 11th will always be especially poignant to me. A day to be remembered.

requisite first day of school post

2009-09-08T09:11:00.004-04:00

First day of school here in the Northeast. All you Westerners have been back for weeks, but we are finally back in school out here.

Samantha was nervous about her first time in middle school. We went down there last week so she could wander around and find her classrooms and most importantly, practice opening her locker. Apparently that makes a lot of kids nervous. This morning she was organized, prepared, and dressed 30 minutes early. Just as anyone who knows Samantha would expect her to be. Thankfully she still likes me, so she allowed me to walk across the street and wait at the bus stop with her. She even allowed pictures and hugs. I hope that doesn't change.

Rian got to go in a little late today because they have the freshmen show up an hour before everyone else to give them a chance to acclimate before things get crazy and crowded. She didn't want me to wait at the bus stop (as usual) and I didn't even get a hug!! So I stood across the street and harrassed her by taking pictures. So she yelled obscenities at me for making her take the bus and not giving her a ride. She's a Sophomore, that is just so weird!

Hank had a tough time. This is the first time that he has had to go to a school without Sammy being there. He cried at bedtime and again when I woke him up. Change is hard for him. But he got himself together and I was really proud that he didn't cry at all when he went off with his class. There weren't any boys that he knows in his class, so I am praying that he makes some new friends today.

As I was walking to my car after walking Hank up to the school I was walking behind two moms who were in business attire, obviously off to work after dropping the kids off at school. One was saying to the other, "you know why all these moms are in work out clothes? (I'm dressed for a run, btw) Because they don't have anything else to do while their kids are at school". I wanted to punch her!!!

you're going to talk about running again?

2009-09-03T08:25:00.003-04:00

Last year I ran 4 half marathons. This year I have done 0.
I miss them, even though I HATE them.
Half #3 last year was about 80% downhill. It caused a condition called ITB to rear it's ugly head. It made half #4 a total nightmare. This picture is of me after just finishing that run, don't I look happy?
Dr. said: reduce mileage, run on flat surfaces, do some rehab.
So I ran almost exclusively on a treadmill for 6 months, haven't ran farther than 7 miles in almost a year, and have added a workout that strengthens my non running muscles.
It was good. I feel good.
I want to train for and run a half again.
But I am scared that the old injury will show up and I will be back at square one.
It is worth it?

Utah

2009-08-27T08:25:00.005-04:00

To sum up our Utah vacation:

1. We hiked to Timp Cave:
Can't seem to find the pictures. They must be on the laptop. Check back for updates.

2. We hiked to the "Y" (and MAY have poured red gatorade on it (Go UTAH)):

3. We rode go carts 50 mph at Miller Sports Park in Tooele (Hank was an inch too short, so he and I ate junk food and watched the others):

4. We ate dinner with Christian and kids (we missed you Kacy!):

5. We ate dinner and played at Boondocks with Cameron, Barbara and kids!:

6. We drove back and forth between South Jordan and Provo a GAZILLION times.

7. We went to Lagoon:

8. We went to Seven Peaks (nearly complete absence of bikinis lets you know you are in Utah):
Pictures must be with the Timp Cave lot on the laptop.

9. Ed shopped for and bought a car and is having it shipped out to NJ.

10. We went back to school shopping at the Park City outlets (and saw Kim and kids!! We miss you guys!).

11. We drove around St. Paul Minnesota for a couple of hours on a long layover to get a glimpse of Ed's early life:
Pics on laptop.

12. Celebrated Ed's 39th birthday (and about 25 other family birthdays, August is huge for both sides!)

13. Ate lots and lots of food.

14. Said goodbye to Anne as she heads off to Germany for a year!

15. Golfed.

What did I miss? We had so much fun that we came home exhausted!

ed "mp" plummer

2009-08-07T07:51:00.003-04:00

When Michael Phelps took the 2008 olympics by storm and all the fuss was about his "peculiar" anatomy, I thought, "What's so peculiar? He has a body like my husband". Especially when I heard that MP was 6'4" and wore a size 14 shoe, I started to think that maybe my Ed had missed his calling in life.
I thought about making Ed pose in his spandex body suit (cause he totally has one) but ya know what, there are certain things that a woman likes to keep all for herself...
So instead I used a 10 year old picture from Utah's Hogle Zoo.

MP
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 195 lbs
Wingspan: 6'7"
Inseam: 32"
Shoe size: 14

Ed
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 185 lbs
Wingspan: 6'3"
Inseam: 36"
Shoe size 14

Ed thinks that if he starts spending about 5 hours a day in the pool he could be the Dara Torres of the 2012 olympics. It's nice to have dreams.

big hair

2009-07-31T12:27:00.003-04:00

It was my 20th high school reunion this year. That makes me feel old. I didn't go. I'm too cool for reunions.

I was talking to a friend at church who is heading to Utah for her 20th this summer as well, about reunions and how painful high school was. This led to talking about things we did in high school, which of course led to the great fashion and hair of the 80's.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have NEVER been nor have I ever claimed to be some fashionista. But I did do my best in high school to not stand out by not being different. Blend in, that was my game plan.

Photographic proof of my big 80's hair? Of course:

Until my senior year I had the classic perm with huge bangs look as evidenced in this fabulous family photo circa 1987:

Then the summer before my senior year I chopped my hair off in what became my year of telling the world to "%*$% off". But, as you can see, I still hairsprayed those bangs as high as I could get them.

Let's hope that big hair is a trend that doesn't make a comeback. That and the dropped waist dress, no one looked good in those.

i've got nothin'

2009-07-30T07:39:00.003-04:00

Seriously, summer takes it out of me. The motivation to do anything at all, even sit on my butt and write my pathetic thoughts on a computer. Sad!

Ed has further complicated my life by turning his car in early without a replacement. He was leasing his BMW and it wasn't done until December, but when he took it in because he had bubbles on his tires (NJ potholes are a nightmare, keep reading) they told him new tires would be $1800. Or he could turn it in and they would only cost him $1000. Sounds like a no brainer to me. So now Ed is car shopping. And if any of you know Ed, you that that is one of his favorite things to do. This means that I have been driving him to the train each morning and picking him up each night. One more person to taxi around, Yipee!

My car was in the shop all week as well. Apparently I hit a pothole (or two) and had to replace a strut and steering column. I had a loaner car. It was a Toyota Prius. If that car was bigger I would try to convince Ed to buy it. It has a computer screen that tells you in real time your gas consumption and getting 50+ miles to the gallon is quite a thing to behold. And it is so quiet. It did get a little difficult to fit all my Costco purchases in there, and one night I had the whole family in there and it was overloaded. It brought back memories of Ed's childhood when the family car for his parents and 4 teenage brothers was a Toyota Tercel hatchback. Can you say crowded?

9 more days until we come to Utah!!! I need a vacation.

Until then, we will continue with swimming, piano, guitar, skating and picking up Ed.

thanks and stuff

2009-07-12T14:41:00.003-04:00

First off, let me say thank you to all who offered your suggestions for my talk. They were all soooo helpful.

The talk itself went fine. I will offer you all one very important piece of advice. If you have to give a talk that comes after 90 minutes of skits and you had a lot to drink that day...GO TO THE BATHROOM before your talk.

Camp was fine. Full of bugs, snakes, mice and teenage girls. I'm not sure which of those things scare me the most. It's a toss up. Not a lot to say about it except that I am glad to be back.

Now my in-laws are visiting. It's always fun to see them. We drove around their old "hood" of Inwood yesterday. I don't know how they lived there for 2 years. I only had to live there for a month and it drove me crazy. We also drove down to Princeton, NJ. That is a beautiful campus. It made me want to be 18 again and going to college. I want to go to there.

It is July 12th and there has only been one day so far that it has been good enough weather to go to the pool. What's the deal with that? That better change because that is what I had planned to do with the kids this summer, and I don't have a back up plan.

Harry Potter comes out this week. I'm reading the book again to get psyched. It's working.

In trying to keep with my goal to add more pictures, I give you this picture that Rian took while we were at a concert in the park. This picture tells a lot about my marriage. Me shoving my dried out, yucky feet over near Ed and him tickling or rubbing them. He's a good guy.

That's all I got.

girls camp

2009-07-03T21:32:00.003-04:00

I have to go to girls camp next week. I'm not looking forward to it. I don't like to camp, and it isn't REALLY camping because we will be in cabins and people cook for us. But still...

I got a call last week from the stake camp director (scd) asking me if I would give one of the devotional "firesides". Here is how that conversation went:

me: "are you sure you are asking the right person? I'm not really a public speaker"
scd: "I've actually given this a lot of thought and I am sure"
me: "huh?"
scd: "I know I don't know you very well, but what I do know is that I think you have a different view of the gospel. And I can think of quite a few girls who could benefit from that."

I don't exactly know what she meant by that. And I am going to assume that she doesn't think I have a bad view of the gospel or she wouldn't have asked me to speak, right? I am aware that I'm a little different than some (mostly because I am almost a democrat), but I figure the gospel works for everyone, no matter their political persuasion.

Anyway, the firesides are all on the theme for camp--Spiritual Mindedness Is Life Eternal (S.M.I.L.E.). I need some ideas as to how to go about that topic in a way that teenage girls can relate to. Being spiritually minded (thinking of/acting on spiritual things) in all things is great in theory, but not so easy in practice. And these girls don't need to have a guilt trip placed upon them if they aren't thinking spiritually all the time (who is? and if you are, how do you do it?). If you'd love to give me your two cents (or stories or examples), I'd LOVE to hear them!

keeping you up to date

2009-06-29T10:13:00.003-04:00

Like you care...but for those who do, here is a list of what we've been doing and why it has been 2 weeks since an update:

1. Last week of school. I think all you parents out there know how that is just a time suck! Parties, concerts, etc., etc.

2. Sammy "graduating" from elementary school. It seems odd that my 10 year old will be going to middle school.

3. Father's Day. Ed is a great father and we had a great day hanging out and going to watch him play hockey.

4. Ed had a work party with 40 of his people at our house. So needless to say, that kept me busy with cleaning and preparing for that. But it went well and hopefully everyone had fun playing DDR, Guitar Hero, Karaoke, bball, corn hole and just plain hanging out on a beautiful Thursday afternoon not being at work!

5. The annual summer concert series at Millburn's Taylor Park has begun. We love sitting on a blanket, eating snacks and enjoying the music on Sunday evenings. Last night we kicked our home teachers out so that we wouldn't be late...was that rude?

This week Sammy has tennis camp, we get to get Rian ready for EFY and me ready for girls camp (ugh!). We are looking forward to Tom & Louise coming to visit next week too! I guess if it's not one thing, it's another.

2009-06-15T16:57:00.002-04:00

Friday marked the 17th anniversary of this picture. It tells a pretty accurate story of what those 17 years have been like.

We celebrated by spending Friday night in the city.

We ate at one of our favorite places, Isabella's, on the UWS. A Shake Shack had very conveniently been put in across the street, so that is where we had dessert. We tried to see "The Hangover", but it was sold out. So we went back to the room, and watched the Penguins win the Stanley Cup. A pretty perfect way to celebrate 17 crazy years!

so proud of myself

2009-06-11T08:54:00.003-04:00

Like most families, we have certain "jobs" at our house that are done by certain people. That is how, in my opinion, a well run household works.

Ed goes to work and earns the $$ we need to eat, have a roof over our heads, buy stuff, etc. He is also in charge of family meetings, keeping up with Rian's school work, emptying out "Uncle Fester" (the boiler), etc.

The kids are in charge of cleaning their rooms, clearing and doing the dinner dishes, cleaning the basement/playroom, and the occasional outside chore day. Rian, in addition, also mows the lawn.

I do the rest. I'll be the first to tell you that I have a big job. And while there are days that it seems like a lot and I whine, for the most part I can do what I need to do and still have time to run, read, and even watch an occasional movie.

One thing that has been a bit of a problem in our house is who takes care of things that are outside of our "skill set". When something breaks in the house I have always wanted Ed to fix it. That is how it was in my house growing up. The boys fixed what was broken. But the man I married doesn't really fix things. And for a long time that bugged me and we would even fight over it sometimes.

Finally, a couple of months ago, Ed laid it out. He doesn't want to be bugged by me to fix things. I just get mad when it sits on his to do list forever and he was tired of me getting mad at him about it. So from now on I am to just call someone to do all that stuff.

At first, I was completely excited. Finally I could get things done on my time table (which is NOW).

Then I had an electrician come out to give me a bid for some work I needed done. Holy Sh**%^&&t!!! Electricians make good money. $250 to replace the porch light that quit turning on???? I just couldn't stomach it.

So I decided I could learn how to do it. I got out an electrical repair book we have. Read it from cover to cover. Went to Home Depot and spent $30 on a cute new porch light, and spent an hour yesterday splicing wire and using electrical tape!

It even works!!!

Now I just need to read up on how to install ceiling fans, because they want $800 to install two of those!!! I think I can do it!

tball

2009-06-08T09:52:00.002-04:00

Hank's tball season has come to an end. He had tons of fun and learned a lot.

And I am sure with this kind of excellent form (from his mother, of course) that he will have a brilliant future!

amnh

2009-06-03T19:18:00.003-04:00

Can I just say that I love that I live close enough that this is where my kids go on field trips?

busy, busy, busy

2009-05-29T09:20:00.003-04:00

Why is it that the end of the school year is always crammed with stuff? And we still have 3 more weeks left!

Plus it's spring which means that I am full of projects. Painting, landscaping, organizing, etc. Why do I do this?

This is my first summer in YW's and I've decided it is certainly the busiest time for this calling. Getting everything ready for girls camp and trek while still doing mutual and Sunday's... busy, busy. And I'm not even doing much for trek because we will be in Utah. (Hallelujah! Sssssshhhhhhhhhhh)

Painted my bedroom. Forgot to take a before picture. It was green. Now it is blueish.

Strawberry Festival at the elementary school. This is the biggest fundraising event of the year. They bring in some big blow up slides, pony rides, and carnival games. And then charge ridiculous amounts for everything. But the kids love it and it helps fund the school stuff, so...whatever! Hank LOVES the blue snowcones!

We made our inaugural trip to Six Flags this year. It was a beautiful day! We let Sammy and Rian bring a friend since we had some free passes. This was nice because now Ed got to hang out with me and Hank. It was a good day filled with junk food, sun, and rides! Yipee!

Our days are filled with piano lessons and practicing. Guitar lessons and practicing. Hank has tball and will be starting hockey camp soon. Sammy has field hockey camp next week and then starts tennis. Rian is supposed to be picking an activity, but as usual is dragging her feet. She did get a spot at EFY at SVU the week that our Greensboro ward is going so she is psyched for that.

We are watching my friend Kim's 2 children for 4 days. This will be interesting! It's already strange that while I am typing this Diego is playing in the background! Ahhh, it takes me back!

I know for a lot of you summer vacation has started. Have fun with that!

eddie plays hockey

2009-05-20T08:48:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time there was a young boy who lived in Minnesota. He loved to play hockey on the local ponds around his neighborhood (even though he had to use hand me down figure skates instead of hockey skates). When that young boy was 15 he moved away from Minnesota and never played hockey again.

Now that little boy is all grown up and he decided he wanted to play hockey again. So he started a league team with a bunch of friends from work and church. Now that little boy gets to spend most Monday and Tuesday nights skating around on a patch of frozen water hitting a puck with a stick. He couldn't be happier.

i am hiding something

2009-05-15T09:04:00.003-04:00

Have you guys met my son Hank?

He is adorable. ALWAYS happy (unless the Devils lose, then he is sad). Always up for a tussle. Still lets me kiss him as long as no one is looking. He's always been just a super easy going kid.

Except for one thing: FOOD.

Hank does not eat vegetables of any kind. The only fruit he will tolerate is pears, and even that he does under protest. He basically eats nothing but carbs, with a few bits of protein mixed in here and there. This is the list of what Hank will eat:

1. Pizza
2. Pasta (will eat with tomato sauce and even meatballs)
3. Rice (but only white. No brown/yellow/or flavored)
4. Chicken nuggets
5. French fries
6. Bread
7. Tacos (with only meat and cheese)
8. Mac and Cheese
9. Meatloaf
10. Crackers
11. Some granola bars

In his defense (and kind of mine, because I am NOT that mom who lets their kids get away with not eating what I make), Hank has something called Apraxia. It is what caused him to not speak until he was 3+ and have those years and years of speech therapy. It is also why he is so sensitive to textures and temperatures. It makes it so he is super sensitive to textures in food as well. He used to gag and throw up if he even saw someone eat a banana, let alone try to eat one himself. If he tries something that doesn't agree with his texture agenda he will gag and throw up everytime. So we pretty much stick to his list and give him a lot of vitamins.

Then I tried a new recipe for meatloaf that had grated zucchini in it. I didn't tell him it was in there and he ate it and liked it. I felt like superwoman! My son ate a vegetable!!!

So, I bought into the hype and purchased the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It is all about hiding fruits and vegetables in regular foods that your kids already like. You basically make purees of different fruits and veggies and add them to recipes.

On Wednesday I made tacos. The meat was made with ground beef, crushed tomatoes and SWEET POTATOES. I told no one. No one knew and Hank even said they were better than the tacos at his favorite mexican restaurant.

Last night I made pizza. The crust was whole wheat pitas, the sauce was pizza sauce with SPINACH puree. He loved them. He asked to take the leftovers for lunch today!

I have plans to make sloppy joes and something called rice balls. I'll let you know how the response is. But for me, I am sold!

ballroom dancing

2009-05-14T09:15:00.002-04:00

Last night I got to go see the ballroom dance team from that university that the church owns that is in my hometown.

I wasn't looking forward to it at all. Dance is not my thing. I don't watch Dancing With The Stars, I don't understand what I should be clapping at and what I shouldn't, and guys who dance have just never done it for me (sorry to any guys who dance out there).

But I had to go because it was a mutual activity and I am in the YW presidency. And then to top it off, this guy in our congregation is the alumni pres. for our region for said university, so he was in charge of getting housing set up for all these kids for last night. So yea, I got roped into that. I had two lady dancers sleeping in my basement last night. It was ok, they were nice.

But the point of bothering to mention this at all is to tell you a funny story regarding one of these dancers and my husband.

By the time the performance had ended last night and the dancers had helped take down the set, changed, etc. and then the 20 minute drive home it was after 11. So I gave the girls a quick tour of the pertinent rooms (kitchen, bathrooms, etc.) and went to sleep.

Our basement is great for guests because there is a door at the top of the stairs and a bathroom down there. So it is kind of like a huge guest room. The only problem is the bathroom doesn't have a shower. So I told the girls they would have to come upstairs to shower and showed them the bathroom off the family room.

This morning when I woke up one of the girls was running on the treadmill (wow, to have the energy of a 21 year old). When she got off she asked if it was ok if she took a shower. I said sure, and she went downstairs to get her stuff. I heard her come upstairs but wasn't really paying attention to what was going on. She apparently forgot where the bathroom was and went all the way upstairs to where the bedrooms are.

Well, Ed was sitting on the throne and she, not knowing anyone was in there, walked right in.

I'm glad to know that this poor girl will never forget her stay here in beautiful Short Hills, NJ.

mothers day

2009-05-11T09:06:00.002-04:00

Saturday morning I declared that I was no longer accepting the notion of a mothers DAY. I demanded a mothers WEEKEND. I declared that all my subjects address me as "The Queen" all weekend and do my bidding. There were doors opened for me & bags carried! All the stuff I normally don't allow because I am just that way. Ed told me this weekend, "You don't allow people to adore you", and he is probably right.

After Hank's tball game Saturday he started saying he didn't feel well. We drug him around on our errands until we noticed that he felt a bit warm. He had a fever the whole weekend and is home sick today as well. Poor little guy.

But because of that I got to stay home from church. Best mothers day gift ever. Sleeping in and pj's! Love it!

We tried to take a drive out to Long Island because it was a beautiful day. But about half way there Hank said he felt like throwing up, so we turned around and came home. We watched hockey and I fell asleep on the couch by 9:30, which is why I didn't even call my own mother. I was waiting until it was later so that I didn't call when she had a house full of people. Guess I owe her a phone call today!

I hope all you mothers had a wonderful day!

old stuff

2009-05-05T13:02:00.002-04:00

Scanning old photos has been such a pain in the butt. It takes forever.

But then you find some gems and it makes it all worth while.

I think I will start to share some just for kicks.

What a cool grandma my kids have. She lived on PEI so we got to go to the Anne of Green Gables thing and she bought us ice cream. And Sammy, so adorable at 3!!

Charles, with HAIR! It's so long it's in a ponytail. (This was at the airport when Ed came home from his mission)

Ed had to have his jaw broken at 17 (?). Here he is all messed up with a very young looking Tom!

Ahhhh! The awkward years (mine was more like a decade). Based on the glasses I would say this was 8th grade. I loved that dress. Man my mom could sew.

tv

2009-04-27T09:22:00.003-04:00

Back in December we made an attempt to watch less television.

We cancelled our cable and got an Apple TV. We purchased season passes to the shows that we loved and had dreams of only turning the television on when we had a purpose.

I LOVED it. No commercials dictating what my kids wanted for birthdays, not having to watch all the crap that is out there. I found that I didn't even miss American Idol like I thought I would.

Everyone else, however, didn't share my feelings.

One by one things were added to try and substitute for the lack of TV:

- We already had a Wii, but we started acquiring more and more games.
- We just HAD to buy an Xbox 360 so that we could stream Netflix movies and shows. And of course, had to buy some games to play on it as well.
- Then Major League Baseball and the NHL playoffs hit. We found ourselves driving around Friday night trying to find a sports bar that allowed children (we had Hank) or a restaurant that was showing the Rangers/Capitals game. We couldn't find the Rangers/Caps but we did find Yankees/Red Sox.

As we drove away from the restaurant Ed turned to me and said, "we need to turn the cable back on". By Sunday the deed was done. Just in time to watch Devils/Hurricanes & Yankees/Red Sox.

Now I need to find a piece of furniture to house all this equipment.

rian

2009-04-24T09:53:00.003-04:00

When you are as old as I am you can actually have children born before digital cameras. Who can imagine it?

So I have been working this week on scanning in ALL of the photos we have from way back then.

There have been a lot of memories stirred up.

One of the most potent was the birth of our first child. We didn't know that as we were taking roll after roll of photos during the birth and the week after, that our camera was broken and not one picture that we took worked. I think I cried for a week about that.

So the first actual surviving picture of my first born was on the day of a baby shower that Ed's mom threw for me. They were taking polaroids and I have a few of them. Doesn't Rian look happy? (She must be having visions of her teenage pain). And yes, that is cute little Anne.

We love you, Rian!

thank you U2

2009-04-21T07:25:00.002-04:00

Running on Mondays is hard.

What I want to do on Mondays is stay in bed and watch movies.

What I have to do on Mondays is get the kids to school, clean the house from the hurricane weekend, and go to the grocery store for the week.

For the last couple of weeks I have talked myself out of a Monday run because I have been so tired. Yesterday, however, I tried something new. I told myself that I would at least walk on the treadmill for 30 min. Even if all I did was walk it would be ok.

I put Rattle and Hum in the DVD player and got walking. Half way through Helter Skelter I was jogging and by I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For I was running full speed and feeling good.

So, thank you Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., & Adam Clayton. (And Larry, my daughter thinks your hot).

testing a theory

2009-04-17T09:21:00.004-04:00

Ever hear that theory about how couples who live together for a long time start to look alike?

1992: Wedding announcement picture (yes, we were children)

2008: I think it is happening. We even have the same smile now.

Kinda creepy!

I'm including a full body shot, just to show you how cool we thought we were then making fun of our height difference. I'm amazed that I didn't seem to care that my shirt was all messed up in the picture. I can't believe I didn't insist that be retaken.