Saturday, January 31

My Jaw is stuck on the floor

So if you remember something i said a couple of posts ago, you know what this means.

I did convince my sister to come up and celebrate with us. Last night we had a rip roaring time filling out our taxes. Daniel played PS2, and Alice ran amok. It was a party. Tomorrow we will go 'shopping' and 'eat out' and it might not be a dollar menu. I won't say it won't be a dollar menu because we eat out rarely enough that even the dollar menu's seem fancy.

Thursday, January 29

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

So, as Rebecca iterated a little there was a position I tried to get at work. I didn't get it. Now because my supervisor told me to I am trying to get the position that other person had had. The crazy thing is that she was then in on the interview. The supervisor she had been talking to about me when I hadn't applied when they decided they should encourage me to do so... was also in the interview. The supervisor who would actually be my supervisor if I got the position was my first supervisor and had originally asked for me to be on her team because she liked me.

I can't help but feel like I have a serious chance of getting this position.

The problem... I never get anything I apply for at this job. It always ends up going to someone who already has a position that requires applying for and then it's just cyclical and crazy like that. The other problem, I'm already sick... and my supervisor went out of her way to really make me want this posistion so now I can't help but be like UGH if I don't get it my life is ruined! Of course that makes no sense, but I'm sick! That being said I can't sleep my throat hurts I'm coughing up flem and I'm stressing my mind and wracking my brain trying to think of what I could do to increase my odds. Naturally I prayed for help in actually getting this because um... for crying out loud I wasn't even going to apply but my supervisor intervined and told me to do so and that I could even do it on the clock. It feels like a set up... if I don't get it I'll be sad. :-( It sounds like the actual job would be similar to what I did as a team lead for Sorenson Communications only without the ridiculous amounts of downtime and with other duties that will remind me of being in the mission office, hence better pay.

Heh, when I worked for Sorenson a Team lead that spoke no Spanish would make less money than a new hire who did speak Spanish. The wage system was like so... base pay $10. Spanish speaking increase base pay by 5%. On the job trainer bases pay increased by 2%. Team lead an additional 2%... What trivial raises. The whole point of getting promoted was just so you could be like sweet... I'm promoted. I matter, I have more responsibility and I get trivially more money unless other people speak Spanish... then they outwage me. But here... let's just say it would be about a 50% pay increase to do a job that will be much more interesting and entertaining. Win-Win...
Let's cross our fingers and hope I can relax enough to be able to sleep tonight.

Scavenger Hunt!

For poopy.

Alice made a giant poo. She was wearing her footie pajamas as a cape...so it was booty, diaper, freedom.

The poo didn't have to travel far.

#1. On the stamps
#2. On the couch (where mommy was sitting)
#3. Next to Daddy's pants.
#4. In the corner.

Thoery. Alice likes to poo in corners. She comes visit once she is poopy. She shares with the blanket. She shares with Mommy's pants. She shares with Mommy's T-shirt.

Emergency poo Scavenger Hunt!

Fun times on Northwood Lane.

This just in...

Sleeping cannot happen when your neck hurts like a $(^*$%#@#() (insert your fave swear word here).

Also, the stimulus 'plan' passed in the house. Not one republican senator voted for it. 11 democrats voted against it. Yes, we now have a puppet master.

I read this on CBSnews.com "Democrats argued that the bill was imperative with the economy in the worst shape since the Depression." So I looked up what exactly happened to end the Great Depression. Lets face it, I wasn't around, I hated History class, I dunno what happened. Anyone wanna guess what saved us from the economic plight?

War.

Oh the irony. {maybe i am the only one finding this ironic} We are ending a war (and everyone knows war=jobs cause thats what one of my teachers told me in high school) and trying to throw chinese money at people to make things better.

What? You didn't know it was chinese dollars? You thought the Chinese had the Yen? You were so wrong. China owns so much of America's debt. All the people refusing to buy things from China know. All the anti-Walmart stack em high people know. I don't dislike China, but lets face it they pown us. I am powned by the people that made bird flu famous. I am powned by people without central heating, running water, or democracy. Go China. Way to show us up. By the way, I love your cinema, can I get a tax break?

{i took cold medicine}

[my head is funny]

And they are still trying to 'strengthen' the stimulus plan before it gets to Obama's desk. Strengthen. As in add more to it. It was 816 billion, now 825 billion...and thats after they recalculated and found out someone forgot to carry a 1 and they miscalculated by 3 billion dollars. Can my bank account be miscalcuolated by 3 billion dollars? That would be awesome. No actually, it would be disturbing.

Hmm, I wonder if Obama will veto it. *insert sarcastic chuckle here*

He has a new website out. Thats right new websites = more jobs! One person to be the IT guy, two more for content management, 2 for the budget for them, and one who keeps refreshing the webpage to watch for hackers.

I am not even againt the stimulus thing, not completely. It just feels like we are using a bandaid when we need stitches. I want my Novacaine dang it people. Give me my minor surgery. It will be better than pain for life.

As for me, well Daniel hada bit of economic news at work today. The position he applied for was filled by someone else. Thier position was open. He would have had to apply by the end of work today. We decided whatever. Daniel called me in between breaks to give me a heads up. His supervisor took him in her office and told him to apply for the position, and to just do it now on the clock. Aparrantly her and a nother manager were talking about how he would be good at this job, and the supervisor of the area he would be in really likes him (she was his first supervisor 2 years ago when he first got hired in). And pay is unknown, but she thinks its like $18/hr. If he gets the position I will need some help picking my jaw off the table and reattaching it. Of course, if you think of this in similar terms to government and politics Daniel is the economic stimulus plan and the hiring people are democrats. we just have to find out if they are the 11 rogue democrats, or if they are with the majority.

That is all. Now, if only I could stop coughing. And sleep. And stop sweating. Why is our house so warm? Its not like we even have the heat on at night. darn thermally efficient home.

Wednesday, January 28

Politics as Usual - Part Deux the Economy

Today the legislative branch of the government is voting on giving money to people. $900 BILLION. Do you know how many zero's are in that?

I will give you a hint, more than I will ever see in my bank account. In fact, I would recommend using scientific notation once you hit the billion mark, it's less confusing.

Sorry, that has nothing to do with the president's website, but I have to say I don't know how much I am for this. My credit card sent me mail telling me my interest rate would double, just because after they got their stimulus. AIG is giving all their employees bonuses after getting their stimulus money. {why does Their break the i before e rule? so obnoxious, I misspel it constantly}

With all these financial experts talking about decreasing our debt and spending smarter, whats up with the government. (if I get a little scatterbrained sounding, its because I am hacking up a lung and can't concentrate so well currently)

OK so the goals for this term is 1. double the use of alternative energy. I am for that. I know that will cost money. I also know that's not part of this stimulus plan. {Sorry is I sounds stuck on this stimulus plan, I have been watching the news since 6am, and heard lots of vague things about it}.

2. Modernizing federal buildings to make them use less utilities. I have done research into these sorts of things, winterizing, weatherproofing, etc etc. The thing is, it will cost a fair amout right now, but it will pay for itself. Take our house. Last winter right after Alice was born and we suddenly had people in the house all day long, and one was an infant and the other no longer the firey furnace known as pregnancy, we started using the heat more. Our first bill was a shocking $120. The worst part? It still felt cold in the house. All the time. In March when we were gonna bless Alice we got a new front door, thanks to Papaw's inability to do nothing. Thank goodness for plugging up holes. Over the summer we also did some additional work and we have had VERY reasonable heating bills so far. Like seriously about a third of last year's. And we don't feel like we are freezing constantly either! (OK we also got thermal curtains for most of the windows and that has helped too) So what I am saying, it may be a few hundred dollars up front, but we should recoup our losses by next winter. Trust me, that front door was a sad sad joke. We had like an inch gap open to the outside, and the inside was rotted most of the way thru. And hey, after we rip off the front of our house and replace it (I noticed mold growing behind the baseboard in the living room) that room will no longer be the coldest room in the house. We are not looking forward to that project.

3. Three bother me. Investing in computerizing all medical records. Its not the cost so much, as the ability for people to alter your medical records more easily. Its the potential of identity theft getting worse than it is. But hey, its jobs right?

Then he wants fancier computer labs in schools, broadband in the middle of nowhere america, and 'invest in science.' Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. I guess. I mean, sure other countries trump us in broadband speeds, but those countries are the size of one state.

I don't know, the economy is just...man I hated economics.

Monday, January 26

Politics as Usual -- Part 1

So in my sickness and tea sipping I have done some light reading. Political reading is usually good for a laugh. So is, in my opinion of course, the new presidential website. Its not the website itself, its what is written there.

Case in point. The presidential agenda.

He wants to get a larger military. Why? I thought we were getting out of Iraq. If we are getting out of Iraq why do we need 65K more army and 27K more Marines? (I used K for thousand cause it seems more intimidating to me, i mean 65K is a bunch of money. It takes us a couple of years to get that.) I also had to chuckle when I read that him and Mr Joe Biden want to give leadership from the top. I mean, sure you are the commander in chief, but must you flaunt it? He also wants to give tons more funding to the military in general, and deploy troops to OTHER countries.

I admit, I didn't vote for Obama. But, I want to support him; I really do. I mean, he wants to end war in Iraq. I totally think we should give up our occupancy, but we are gonna go put our noses in more countries business? Have we the benevolent dictators democracy of the world decided we are the nosy next door neighbor peeking through blinds calling the cops because we see something 'suspicious.' Hmmm, thats a yes. My guess is that he wants us to put troops in Ireland. Afterall Barak O'Bama is Irish. There all sorts of songs on YouTube about it. (Ok, just one song, but lots of videos.)

I also had to note that they are creating a budget for the DOD as stringent as the Federal budget. *snicker* Come on Obama. Do you really expect me to buy that? And even if you starts prosecuting people using the DOJ when they overcharge the government or whatever, how long will that take? Lawsuits take years, and the federal judicial system is pretty swamped. Well, maybe its not, but when I was working for the EEOC cases before federal judges took forever. These were cases filed a good 4-5 years before. Why add more to the judges plates? I mean, are you planning on adding more judges to deal with this new caseload? (there is no link for judicial dept on the presidential website, though they do include hunting?? and fishing???. Aparrantly he thinks he can get the hunters to conserve the animals or whatever by volunteering to not hunt or something. I don't hunt, my husband doesn't hunt, in fact we don't know anyone who does hunt, but I do know that many people live off of game they shoot and clean themselves. So lets take food out of thier mouths.)

Ok that last aside was a little mean. But you get my point.

I thought Obama was about change. How is a big military change? Honestly I think Bush got that up and going, much to everyone's criticism. And how can these new strict budgets afford more soldiers? You can look online and see how much our current serving forces are making. They are not rich of course, and if you knew thier base salary you would wonder how people survive, but unlike the rest of the country, you get living allowances, including cost of living allowances for the more expensive parts of the country. And based on GoArmy.com's figures between tax breaks and health benefits you actually make more net wages than a private sector employee. Is Obama's nationalized healthcare plan actually just getting everyone into the military? {I will cover that later}

As an aside, my throat feels much better. Go warm liquids (and probably the ibuprofen as well).

Ouchy Sore Throat

This is night #2 with me up at odd hours of the night not able to sleep because breathing hurts. Its called a cough + congestion + already sore throat = death to me.

I hosed my throat down with the numbing throat spray, but it only worked for a minute or so, and I had to do it again. I finally dragged myself out of bed to suck on some cough drops and see which NSAID medicine is the drug of choice for sore throats. Turns out, you can really take anything you want, even aspirin if you are over 18, of course if you are breastfeeding it might be off limits. I even have this Hydrocodone with APAP I am tempted to take. (I chose the ibuprofen pills as they are tiny). With Hydrocodone I could pass out. Hard. That would be nice.

Instead I am sitting here drinking water and steeping some peppermint tea with honey. I wasn't brave enoguh to add cayenne pepper, or rather we don't own any cayenne pepper, and there is no way I am going to the store at 4am for cayenne pepper.

Mmm warm on my throat. Those online doctors know what they are talking about.

So since I am awake and all, I am bumming around the internet. I could be watching infomercials, but they suck me in too too well. I mean I won't buy thier stuff, but I will keep watching them for much too long. Anyway, here is something I want. It is actually a reasonable price.

Curse you body for thinking drinking means you can start coughing. And I am not letting Daniel take another sick day, though I sort of wish he would. If only to watch the baby who is currently making liquid poo. Like you will hear her rip one and say, oh gosh if that isn't poo thats amazing. No its not amazing. Its just really runny. Like run over the diaper and onto the onesie/pants runny. Like I know she feels like crap runny.

I heard her strart coughing last ngiht when we went to bed. She jst wimpered in pain. You and me both kid. I am glad I don't have the GI upset you have, though now that I mentioned it I will probably become afflicted.

I have nothing useful to say so I guess I will go back to staring at things online until I think I can lie down and not cough a baby awake. Or until I take the hydrocodone. Is it self medicating, if its your own prescription?

Ha, I just noticed that the prescription was filled on Valentines Day last year. I totally forgot that was when I had my root canal. Well it was officially a couple of days before, but we didn't fill the prescription until I had to get antibiotics as well. So happy Valentines Day Rebecca. Lets hope this one is a step above root canal pain. (We already have dinner reservations and sitting done by boy scouts raising money for scout camp.)

EDIT: Ah man I just found out Jello makes diarrhea worse for kids. Dang it.

Friday, January 23

Status Update

Alice is officially sick. She is really really sick in the head. She has eye infections in both eyes... and she has ear infections in both ears. Her nose is runny and her mouth is babbling and occasionally coughing. Poor sick girl. In the words of the doctor, "Oh her eyes look terrible. Cute though." or something like that...

I didn't go to work today because I seemed sick this morning. I've decided that I'm only going to call in sick again if I'm ridiculously sick... like to the point that if I feel bad when I get up and get over it at like 10 am I might just go into work anyway since I don't actually come in contact with my co-workers unless I choose to do so.

We got ourselves some food grade buckets from the local grocery store's bakery. Evidentally this time of year is not a good time to try to get buckets though. You should come after Valentine's day they say... Oh well. We got 5 buckets with gasket style lids that used to have icing in them. I'm told that those will be quite satisfactory. All we need now is some of those moisture absorber things and we can start storing away food. Though Rebecca is thinking we might get some of those. um... heat sealable pouches which name eludes me in order to store stuff and then put them in bins... I suppose it matters somewhat on how long we plan on storing it. I kind of doubt a ridiculously long time since this is our experimental food storage.

Did I mention that I'm getting a $1.00 raise? Or rather... all up I'm supposed to get another $1.50/hour over what I have been making? The ridiculous thing is that I'll be making assuming I get what they've told me I'll get about $3 an hour more than I was this time last year. Finally there is obviously no reason for me to quit my job and move to work in a meat packing plant like the rest of the family. Sweet! I applied for a positions at work as well. Apparently there's quite a bit of delay about what's going on but dropped hints and casual comments imply that I might actually get a second interview, which means I actually might have a chance of getting the position.

Rebecca has gotten really into puzzles. It's nice that she's found something that she can get really into because honestly she gets pretty bored a lot of the time. The problem is that I find her puzzle doing kinda boring. And now she dares to questions me! Honey, I'm blogging. I'm doing your job for you. Anyhow, I don't feel like sharing more things right now or thinking of things to share... Have a good one.

Thursday, January 22

Today WILL be a good day

So I feel like blogging. I think its because I got 7 consecutive hours of sleep last night. Ah, sweet sweet sleep. Its been a long week. A long stressful week. I even got a cold sore. I haven't had one of those since I was in pharmacy school. I got them at the start of every semester like clockwork. Too, too stressful for me. The most recent one is a result of waking up every couple of hours to a baby crying/yelling "Da!" because she can't breathe out her nose. Followed by torturous nose irrigation and nose suckage. I detailed it all previously.

But, I slept from 11pm to 6am. At 6am, Alice wanted to nurse, and kept pulling off to breathe (a sure sign that nose irrigation is in the near future). After some torture, and her being very slippery, but not as powerfully strong as usual, we sucked the nose and left her breathing almost properly. Within 10 minutes of completion she was asleep. And I realized I was awake.

Man, my punctuation in this is horrible, and I don't even care!

So my goal is for the kid to get well enough we can go to mommy and me music time at the church on Friday. She has 24 hours to start eating food again.

My boobs will thank her.

And, maybe she will even eat more baby crack. Her appetite has consisted of "Ooo baby crack! I want some" to within 2 minutes, lets feed Daddy the baby crack. Daddy of course lets her and say "Yumm" Even though I think all those baby puffs are pretty yucky and strangely sweet. I mean, it says sweet potato, but it tastes like sweet potatoes covered in brown sugar. She still sees the container and is all excited about it, but doesn't care to eat.

Here I was all excited that she was nursing less and less often. Then, KABAM!, she got sick and if she could breathe, nursing was all she wanted. She probably has lost weight. Or at least hasn't gained any this week. Even though she ate cookies. (go figure, the only things she wants when she is sick is baby snacks and cookies)

My cooking plan has been modified to deal with all the sickies in our house. Partly because its hard to remember to get thigns ready for the next day. Take last night. I put a chicken and veggies in the crockpot around 12. The chicken had been out of the freezer and thawing in the fridge for 24 hours and was still rock hard. And perhaps people will say, I shouldn't have tried cooking it when it was totally frozen, but I don't feel like arguing about temperatures and cooking food properly in crockpots.

Well come dinner time (6 hours on high later) it looked pretty not done. So I cooked up a vegetarian risotto. Only, we didn't have any corn in the freezer. Shocking I know. I mean, we still have 6 bags of frozen broccoli, but no frozen corn. So I used peas. I also didn't have any garlic cloves, so I used garlic salt in the water (no broth). Lets just say, it was ok, but daniel was pretty sick of it after he are most of his bowl. Just a hint, if you are supposed to use parmesan and mozerella cheeses together, don't switch out the mozerella for sharp cheddar. Its really not the same.

Ok, my brain has been flushed of all thoughts. except i think there is a woodpecker outside attacking the neighbors trees. I would look, but its the east side of the house, and who knows opening curtains might be enough to wake babies. We want her to sleep another 4 hours. Then wake up eat baby cereal, and go back to sleep for another couple of hours. That would be my idea of a good day.

Tuesday, January 20

Nose Aspirators and Other Fun

Alice is sick. Sick enough that yesterday was spent listening to her cry. Try to nurse her, she cries. Hold her, she cries. Don't hold her, she wails.

The things you don't learn about before you have a kid.

I figure I am now an expert at using a nose aspirator. Lucky!

So here is the way to do it.

1. Send husband to store for TP and bread. It should occur at 10pm, or later if this is gonna work.
2. Realize the kid has been screaming your ear off all day because her nose is stuff and she can't breathe.
3. Send husband back to store with list of baby related things.
4. Open saline solution bottle and lose lid.
5. Manhandle the child until she is tilted head back. Squirt in some saline solution. (Or at least be surprised it dribbles on its own, and get her in the eye.)
6. Squeeze the funky blue bulb. Suck out some snot.
6. Repeat at 4am, 8am, 10am, 1pm. And as needed. Also, wear clothing that can handle snot spots. You will be covered. Oh and also notice a fever around midnight, and give her some tylenol. It will help.

This has been my day. How was yours?

Sunday, January 18

I am a Winner!

So last tuesday I opened my email to see this: "You were the randomly selected winner of the eBook A Month of Meals at Momma In Flip Flops2."

Sweet! I am a winner!

Sure, its not $5,000 a week for life, but everyone loves free stuff. Especially this. You see part of my latest scheme (you could call it a New Years Resolution, I suppose) is to actually cook dinner most every night, and to use my cookbooks. After all, what good are cookbooks if you don't use them.

So I spent many hours finding 26 recipes that I wanted to try and were pretty simple. Then I spent forever compiling all the ingredients into an ingredient list, and as we eat each meal, I write how well it went.

Oh man, This book could have saved me so much time! Not that I don't have plenty of time, but if I were crunched for time, this book would be awesome.

You see, in the book there are 26 meals with ingredient lists, weekly set up and even 6 of them are Freezer Meals. I read through the book and was rather surprised how long it really was. I even tested a recipe. There is even a best price guide, and healthy eating pyramid and more. So, I will get down to the nitty gritty.

The Good:
The Book contains main dish recipes, and sides suggestions. It also has a few freezer meals so that would even allow me to be lazier some days. And lets face it, people don't want to cook everyday. You get sick or have unexpected company and take them on a tour of town, or have a doc appointment. Lets face it, some days are just not convenient for cooking.

The Bad:
Well I tried the first recipe in the book. Potato soup. I won't say it was gross, in fact it was very yummy, but I didn't follow the recipe completely. Let me explain. The recipe called for 5 potatoes. After peeling and dicing 4 (smaller to medium) ones, I thought the pot was getting pretty full. So I only used 4. Then Icut up my onion. And because I had it in my fridge, and it wasn't going to be totally used up by my own monthly menu, I added a couple stalks celery diced and a handful of baby carrots. Then after adding 2 cups water, I knew that would not be enough to cover the potatoes, and therefore they would not get cooked properly, I put 4 cups in. (The recipe called for 2 c water and after boiling add 2 c milk. I wasn't sure what I would do when it came time to add milk, but I figured I could add powdered milk and it would be the same effect. So yeah, I finished making the soup and it was great. But I wasn't able to follow the recipe exactly which bothers me. If I were paying to buy this ebook, I would be expecting to follow the recipes exactly. Especially foods I am rather unfamiliar with. But that's me being picky.

The ugly:
Well, lets just say 2 typos in the first page. In the words of Danno "ebooks don't have publishers." Yes that's true. Also, I thought the 'lowest price" list wasn't the lowest price you can find. Like if $2.50 a pound was the best I could do on tomatoes, I wouldn't buy them. I would grow them, or just use canned. But, I am sure that things like produce are very dependant on market. Maybe its because I live in the middle of Kansas that I expect produce to be cheaper. Or maybe her prices are for organic.

Overall thoughts:
This is a reasonable buy if you are new to making menus, or not very familiar with groceries and food in general. I know some people that live on take out, and this would give them great savings. I have found plenty of information in it that I thought was useful, and well planned.

I would write more, but my head is sick of hearing the wails of someone wanting to be on my lap. Seriously, crying has become her new way of getting what she wants. And its not sad crying, its angry siren style crying.

Surprising Surprises

Alice has cold legs because we can't afford to buy her pants. Alice's diaper is also wet because we can't pay anyone to change her. But, I got mail yesterday that makes it sound like soon we may be able to.

Anyway, no more need to be stupid about how I'm talking. So I checked the mail yesterday after we'd done some running around and I got what I would have gotten at work on Friday if I hadn't been sick. Apparently my department at work is so awesome that our employer uses us as an example and is going to give everyone a $1/hour raise. That's pretty dang cool. They already owe me a $0.50 they were supposed to give me before, so I guess now I should be getting another $1.50/hour. That sure would add up! It would be really handy too because it seems like recently Rebecca and I have gotten really good at spending money. I say Rebecca and I but face it I make the money and in general Rebecca decides what we will spend it on. My discretionary spending really only effects us at most like $100... Anyway... these raises I should be getting would give me an extra $3,120 gross annually. That's um... $120 a check... Wowwee... It's theorhetically possible too that I'll end up getting the position that I applied for at work, but I'm not really thinking that will happen.

Note this post occurred because Rebecca decided to force me to post in a dictation style even though I didn't feel like it at the time. And then I came downstairs and she had a post pending that she hadn't wrote anything on. I vandalized it and then scheduled it for many hours away thinking that no one would see it as long as she updated it until then but apparently Blogger is a jerk and will e-mail things to people before they've even posted, which doesn't make any sense. I'm using run on sentences because that's how I roll and it makes me happy and you'll just have to deal with that because I don't feel like figuring out when to use my sentence enders because that's too much effort.

So yeah, last week we started going to our new family ward at church. It was kinda surprising how small the Elder's Quorum was... I mean the people who actually went to class including the teacher excluding the female babies there were 11. That's tiny tiny tiny! I think the High Priest group was actually larger. That'll show me for coming from a ward where absolutely every male goes to Elder's Quorom even if he's a high priest. Our classes were huge but these were small. Another surprising thing was that Alice spent most of Sacrament meeting trying to eat the children who were sitting in front of us. Silly children don't you know that if you look at a baby she only becomes stronger? Oh well.

Yeah, so I guess I'll stop rambling now and update these tags to be more sensible. Have a good one blogger. Cheers

Saturday, January 17

I had to chuckle

So, I was very much not planning on blogging tonight. Last night's ramble was...um I dunno, but it wasn't good. And today has been a long day. Alice had her first extended time away from me and Daniel. I mean sure she has been watched for a couple of hours at a time...but 5. That's like asking for torture. {Oh and thanks Kate for asking for it.} She actually had Alice for like 7 hours because we had about 1000 lbs of food in the back of the van that made the tires look really squishy...then we moved some to a different car...then we drove somewhat slow the whole way home. Next time we might just drive ourselves...but who knows.

Ironically, all my worry at the cannery/on the way home was overreacting. Alice was probably better behaved for Kate than she is for me. Of course, why would she scream for anything. She had her baby animal book, and Kate doesn't have boobs (at least ones that would be deemed acceptable) so she wouldn't scream and grab at her shirt. Or maybe she did. (That thought made me laugh.)

But, I digress. I still need to get to why I posted.

My little sister's blog has been hijacked. I know because I signed into blogger and there were 35!!! new posts under my family. The people listed under my family are me and 2 of my siblings who post maybe once a week each.

So if you want read about MySpace layouts of gucci bags. Or just stare at links about them...go on over to her place. And enjoy my chuckle of the evening.

FYI other posts include such gems as "I'm finally getting over my cold, which rocks. Also, I'm not the one making dinner tonight. Score" I think I am in High School Musical. Rockin Score!

Friday, January 16

Friday Funday!

So last night (Thursday) Daniel was sick. Pretty much the whole night. In fact I awoke to find him missing a few times. He slept on the twin bed/hung out in the bathroom all night. He had the same symptoms as he did with the mystery "food poisoning" which leads me to believe he has some sensitivity or IBS or something. Lets just say they have 'cake day' once a month at work for the birthdays and he will eat cake all day. I blame the cake. Or the stress from not knowing he did or did not get a position he applied for. but whatever.

We got up at 5:45. Alice included. Alice was only included because she woke up when I went to find out why Daniel wasn't in bed.

Daniel played Sly Cooper.

We went back to bed at like 8? Who knows. Maybe it was 7. The phone rang and woke me and of course when I went to answer it, I was followed out of bed by wails. I am looking forward to getting the baby in her own bed, but I am not looking forward to doing it. Especially since she wails at nothing just to get her way.

My brother came up because he wanted my cable modem, and his son was sick so he couldn't see him. So we went to mass street.

A piece labeled "Black Boy yard Art" and looking like Little Black Sambo from the children's book was spotted. We didn't buy it. Though it made me chuckle. and, FYI I don't think that book is racist. In fact I thought the kid was pretty smart, and even though I have pancakes, you gotta give it to him for eating 167 [or whatever] pancakes for dinner.

We also visited the hippie herb shop. That place is good times. Good, incense filled times. I bought some herbs for tea. Jarom got him some 'culture' and Daniel was surprised such a place exsisted in Lawrence. Might I say, for Kansas at least, Lawrence is a cultural haven. And thir random artsy pieces were actually cool, and nowhere near as overpriced as the antique mall's junk. I rather dislike antique malls, but Jarom likes his random things, so there you go.

Thursday, January 15

Surprises that aren't really surprises

1-800-Fat Baby is a sex line. Or at least a sultry answering "hey Guys" line.

So its freaking cold here. Like the high today was (maybe) 10. The news was talking about how it reached double digits as if that was awesome. I guess its better than people farther north, but still. Oh, and FYI its 3 right now, and with a very mild breeze feels like -4. Thats like a balmy afternoon.

I made the most amazing potato soup for dinner today. Daniel came home later than I expected, and I had 3 bowlfuls. Yes 3. It was amazing. Alice had some, and also carried her bowl all over the downstairs and I found out where she had left some, by stepping in it. Yummy. I haven't made potato soup in years. I should remember how good carbs taste when the high reaches double digits. yeah!

Well, I would putter around online or something, but the baby is wailing upstairs. Daniel took her to bed, and she is already mad at me because I refused to nurse her after she bit me. So its gonna be a long night. I can already hear Badger Badger not literally, as i have the computer, but I will hear it I am sure.

Wednesday, January 14

Things that I have Eaten, ramblings of a sick woman

Rebecca here. Daniel's account was logged in, and I am lazy enough to not sign into my own account. Is that slothful or what?

I only thought to write this when I went into the kitchen to find something to make for lunch and was reminded we have shrimp thawed. How do we have $4/lb shrimp thawed? Well, last night Daniel was looking for the hotdogs and didn't see any in the fridge. He pulled out the shrimp to get the hot dogs out, and didn't put the shrimp back. Of course the missing hot dogs were in the fridge, unopened because I had not been eating them because I had leftovers.

I also have determined I caught some strange foreign virus from 1st ward. No symptoms, just swollen lymph glands and excess sleeping. Even if you envy the fact that at 3:30 yesterday me and the baby passed out in bed...and woke up at 6...you can't envy the achy yucky feeling I have had. Or the fabulous red mark where I took off a couple of layers of Alice's face while removing a BandAid. That thing was impressively sticky. I think it was even the Walmart brand to boot. I yanked it last night, and you can still see a faint red mark today...over 12 hours later. *snicker* No wonder she wailed when it was removed.

Anyway back to things I have eaten. It shall be a day of reminicing and mild horror.

1. Hot Dogs and sour cream. Don't ask how I thought of this as a kid, but I would dip the hot dog in the sour cream. It is still good today, but I never have sour cream, so it never happens.
2. Hot Dog Burrito. This is probably the cheapest burrito you can make. OR at least the easiest. Microwave the hotdog, put in a tortilla, add lettuce and whatever else you have. Roll and eat. It sounds gross, but it is no worse than a hotdog on a bun. In fact it might be better since I don't eat it with ketchup.
3. Peanutbutter Sandwich Cookies. You know, the el cheapo store brand that has the strange flavors. PB is a good one. Alice also loves it, and since I am sure there isn't even peanut butter in it (well trace amounts maybe) she gets to snack on them as well.

Ok, I am stumped as to what else to add. Thats probably because I have some sort of lymp fighting fatigue. Or brain freeze. I think I eat horrible food when I don't feel well. Mostly because its easier. And even though I could easily saute some shrimp (and it is the food of gods), I would have to load the dishwasher, and wash the pans. And I have done that every day for the last week or so. Ok, maybe not everyday, but I don't feel like it, and its my choice to live in sloth, so there. Oh and I have to find out what sort of handwritten Thank You note is appropriate for a job interview. Cosmo says to do it, so Daniel is going to. Heh, heh, heh. Thats funny.

Tuesday, January 13

Food Storage is Popular!

So we were on the list to go with the University Ward to the Cannery on Saturday. We also made the transition to the 1st Ward this weekend. After finding out there were people wanting to go to the cannery as well, and knowing we could probably sign up with the 1st ward, we decided to go as one of the 1st ward's numbers.

Here is where it gets sort of ironic.

Apparently there are 20 spots available at the cannery for workers. There are 4 wards in Lawrence splitting a cannery day. We were part of the 5 for the University ward. Now we have been added to a list of already 6 for first ward (that means 8). And the relief Society President said there are 6 signed up from another ward. So with one ward in the unknown status, and assuming there are 2 people that want to sign up under the university ward in our spots, we have 19 people going. Ha.

Food storage is popular.

We are getting a bunch o food storage too. Mostly in "Bulk" style 50 lb bags. As in, everything we are planning on using, and can conceivably use within a year or so is getting bought in bulk. And I am going to try canning dry beans. I am not sure if we should buy a pressure canner or not, but we will at least borrow one and try out canning before deciding I hate it (or love it, who knows).

Alice walks. She is walking to the point of trying to carry things. Things that are too big for her. Things like a box that weighs as much as she does. And if she tries to pick something up that's too big, and she can't get it she screams. Bloody murder screaming. Only a couple more years until she learns to regulate her voice volume. Only a couple more years of louds wails and screams...of course in a couple more years there will be someone else in the right age group to keep up the screaming. Yeah, good times.

Sunday, January 11

I'll pee on you

Day 1 in a new ward. Alice was loud and showoff grinning the whole time. So many kids, so little time. I have to say, relief society was the best though. We sat there, being ok...until she discovered Reese's Puff cereal courtesy of a nursery skipping baby. Alice was in love. She loved the peanut butter and chocolatey glory all over her hands face and of course her white dress. My thought: don't expect to get much out of lessons, talks, etc if you have a kid. You will be too busy picking up the spilled food off the floor for the third time that block while hoping she doesn't dive over the pew into another person's kid. Plus, maybe it was my distraction, but I was so lost during the lesson. I honestly thought we were in intro talky stuff for the first 15 minutes of the lesson when the teacher mentioned she was using little things from the book. She was? by the last few minutes of class Alice was wanting boobs/{a nap} but she stopped being destructive so I could actually get out my lesson manual.

Conversation this evening:
Alice, I'll pee on you.
I really will, if Mommy wants me to.

As a side note, while I was writing this he said "it would feel pretty odd, but I reckon I would if you really wanted me to."

And now I am laughing so hard I just might.

Thursday, January 8

Party Over there, ain't nothin over here

We have lived in our house since September 2007. Tonight is the first time the attached neighbor has had a party. A drunken, loud male voices, booming music party.

I am awake.

Obnoxious. Its a weeknight for crying out loud. Its not even like tomorrow is Friday.

If our car gets keyed I will be pissed.

Oh, and the child has got the strangest sleeping habits lately. She won't sleep. (Except tonight, since she is passed out and I am awake listening to the neighbors get their mack on). So really, she doesn't want to take naps. She also has perpetual circles under her eyes. I know she is sleepy, but she won't listen to me. I guess this is a preview of the tween and teen years. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow. I woke up at 6 am today, and its late. Tomorrow I am aiming for 9am. Though I will prolly wake up with Daniel at 7:30.

Cue background sleeping sounds with strange drunken noises coming from windows. Man am I glad our bedroom is on the far side of the house.

Tuesday, January 6

Things that make you go...huh?

Around Thanksgiving we got an ad in the mail from our bank. It wanted us to join an Auto thingy...pretty much roadside service for $20 a month. We already get free roadside service through our car insurance, so we really didn't need it. BUT (There is always a but) it did have a 30 day free trial, and if you signed up you would get a free iPOD shuffle even if you cancel during the trial period.

I was sold. You see, I had decided I would be like my sister and start jogging. I tried for one day, got so bored that before I was at the corner I turned around. Jogging is really not something I want to do, but with music I could stand it. So I told Daniel we needed to buy me an mp3 player. This ad meant a free iPOD shuffle. iPOD wasn't my first choice since it won't play WMA files, but since I have plenty of CDs and music on my computer, it wasn't really a bad thing. Plus it was free, so why not.

Now fast forward a few week or so, after we signed up we got our cards in the mail. And, in the envelope with the cards was a paper you had to sign for your free iPOD shuffle. I was sort of annoyed that we had to send in more mail, but dang it I wanted that iPOD shuffle. That was the only reason why we signed up afterall. So I sent in the card and paid the postage. Total cost to us, was now $0.42 (the initial thing was postage paid).

Well, that iPOD shuffle came in the mail yesterday. Daniel brought it in when he got home and we all went "oooo" together. You have to admit, all things Apple are packaged pretty. Of course I was pretty much hobbling between the couch and the toilet so I didn't take it out and charge it or anything. That was started today. I have downloaded iTunes again, and am charging the shuffle. Its so tiny.

Anyway, I was in the kitchen slicing Alice a chink of cheese to chew on when I heard what sounded like either a knock or something falling down the stairs. I looked and saw no one, but I did see a brown and yellow delivery truck by the street. My guess, they knocked once and pitched the package down. It has happened before since we don't have a car sitting out there in the day.

I saw who it was from and was confused. I opened it and chuckled. The auto vantage sent us a digital video camera. It may not be super fancy comapred to whats on the market now, but since my digital camera doesn't do sound with video its awesome. Plus it can take up to 5mp pictures. My camera does 3. And, it retails for $65 or so bucks. Lets face it, its not something we would be getting for a long while if ever if we had to spring for it ourselves. But for now we will continue to take any free gifts companies send us. I have a camera to open and charge...and maybe even a child to record.

Monday, January 5

The Dragon and the Phoenix

From Rebecca: Warning this is a sordid tale of woe and intrigue.

On Friday night and Saturday morningish we were in Witchita. Now the fact that we were in Witchita is actually quite irrelevant, but that's where we were. Infact, for the sake of this "sordid tale" it does not even matter why we were there or who we were with. What matters is this...

Saturday we went to a place where there was a music video dvd playing on repeat that had silly computer graphics and lots of hoochie momma dancing women. This dvd was NOT in English. Due to that distraction I allowed both a Phoenix and a Dragon to come down in front of me. Luckily they didn't really get along very well so somehow they ended up being dead and lathered in some sort of mysterious sauces. The music started staring at me. Everyone else started staring at me. Alice stood up and roared, and tried to steal the Phoenix from me entirely. I had to eat! I didn't manage to eat much but still I did eat some.

I should have known better! Mythical creatures are not fit for consumption!!! Later that night I got the most severe bout of what can only be considered food poisoning I ever recall. It was completely unknown as to what was the cause or even that that was my ailment. Yet it seems very likely that that was the case. You see... if you eat the body of a mythical creature you imbibe far too much magical essense. For those that are not trained or practiced in this art it quickly overpowers your system and escapes in the most readily available fashion. NOT FUN!

What makes matters worse is that we saved the carcasses. Rebecca saw them last night and thought... ooh so slimy and yummy looking I must eat it! So she did... She isn't practiced enough either, so now she is suffering. Poor Rebecca, and poor me.

Cheers.

P.S. It was Volcano Shrimp and General Tsao Chicken. Ewww.

Saturday, January 3

Weekend (or maybe new year's) Travels

So this weekend...well rather the end of this week has been a whirl. My cousin was in the hospital Christmas Day after some less than wise decisions and had no brain activity. Four days later her parents (perhaps with pressure from the docs, I don't know) took her off life support. Her funeral was yesterday. The saddest part of it for me was when the preacher (who obviously didn't know her all that well) gave the list of surviving family and those who had passed on before. The only people that had passed on were my grandmother and grandfather...the other side of her family everyone was still living. I don't think anyone should have to bury a child. The worst part is that they suspect is was suicide, though she didn't leave a note. Daniel and I both assume the preacher thought she was doomed, though he never said it. His comments were all in all rather in that direction. It was Daniel's first 'not Mormon' funeral that he recalls. Daniel thought it was rude that the minister did everything...the talking and every prayer (like 4 of them including the meal) The luncheon provided after was sandwiches and chips and about 400 types of dessert. The lack of standard Mormon funeral potatoes was obvious. (that was a joke kids)

Anyway here is a list of random things we saw on the way:
1. Billboard advertising "Adult Supercenter" in 25 miles.
2. Billboard right next to "Adult Supercenter" with Biblical scriptural advice, and the note Pornography Destroys Families. Good old Kansas.
3. Tons of folk art style scrapmetal people and signs in Mullenville KS.
4. Greenville, KS the site of that HUGE, F-5 I think, tornado a year or so ago). Lets just say the town looks like a giant construction site.
5. Several 'towns' that consisted of a church and 3 houses.
6. A sign for an unincorporated town that consisted of a cathedral (well that style at least) and possibly a house still. Its historical!
7. The sign advertising a giant well, one of Kansas' 7 wonders. (Cause yes we have them. So fancy).
8. No trees.
9. My old college roommate and her family. Alice has been adopted by her parents. We are required to visit again soon. Lets just say, they are baby hungry. Her and her husband got the "have you been checked out by the doc" talk after being married for 3 months from Both sides. Her mom even cried a little when she held Alice. I was told I brought a ticking time bomb. :-)
10. My nephew's jacket. In our back seat. Once we were 3 hours closer to home. (I left it with my sister who is holding it hostage until my brother comes to visit next weekend.)
11. My sister's kitty. Alice even sort if said Kitty Cat. she also pulled kitty cat's tail, and wiskers and grabbed his belly. When he ran away she cried. Lots.
12. Home, and the joy of greener grass. It might be colder here (it was 68 yesterday in Dodge), but we have green. Even the dead 'brown' here is green compared to the desert brown out there. Thank goodness for trees.

Oh and random observation of the weekend. "It seems like a fake town, trying to be a town." We figure its because there are no trees. No trees = looks like a tv set. Trees = real. So there you go. Dodge is a fake town.