A Few of My Favorite Things

I was thinking about a few of my favorite things lately:

1. The smells of Christmas; pine trees, spiced apple cider, baking cookie (all), candy making (and friends that volunteer their house for these projects!)
2. My kids; Lauren's joy over it being both Christmas and her birthday (26th), Tylor's subtle gift suggestions (random comments made at odd times - not when asked directly!), Connor's not so subtle gift suggestions ("Hey, Mom you need a new phone - this company has a 2 for 1 deal!" - plays on my frugal side!)
3. My home. I love being here more than anywhere else.
4. My sisters and dad and Frankie ... and brothers. I love that they are there for me always.
5. Christmas movies. I am such a sap! I love the old classics and the goofy ones too. I cry at all the appropriate places!
6. My husband. I was telling someone that he was shopping without me then going home to make dinner and they wanted to know where they could get one like that. Sorry I got the only one!
7. The Gospel spirit. I love going to church during the weeks before Christmas because you can feel the warmth (and our chapel freezing right now!) of the Gospel everywhere.

I am thankful for all those who make my life great and possible.

Clown Car

There are lots of things that doctors fail to tell you when you are having 'work' done. I have come up with a handy list of questions I'm going to use if I ever find myself in the position of needing surgery again:

1. Will you be pulling anything akin to a dozen clowns out of a bodily cavity? (answer: Yes.)

2. When I eat for the first time will I be stunned for any reason? (answer: Yes, your eyes will bleed and, as in every apocolyptic movie, you will die shortly thereafter...dramatically.)

3. Will there be swelling? (answer: Yes, you will feel like you are drowning because of said swelling so be sure to stay awake for the first 24 hours. See above for potential outcome.)

4. Any unexpected side effects? (answer: Yes, you won't be able to see well or wear your glasses since you have a cast so forget about catching up on any reading.)

5. Will I be able to rest? (answer: No. You have children, they don't make enough drugs for this)

6. What will it/I smell like? (answer: You don't want to know.)

7. When will I feel normal again? (answer: HA! HA! HA! (tear wiping involved) HA!)

I'm sure I will feel normal again but for now I will sniff and try not to gag.

Let's See....

So in the last two weeks since my last post the following things have conspired to make me not post:
1. Ward Christmas party preparation - how did I get roped into doing 40 goodie bags & gallons
of hot chocolate, 2 dozen cookies, costumes and 4 gingerbread train center pieces?
2. Connor sick (2 days), Tylor sick (2 days), Lauren sick (2 days), Jim sick (7 days) and me sick,
am I over it yet? You'd think I could have squeaked out one post in there but no.
3. Almost hit our neighbor's dog and child - they ran into the street at night
4. Multiple trips to Costco because no one else has a Costco card
5. Thanksgiving - lovely but busy as usual
6. Work
7. Going to the court house not once but twice in one day - long story but the witness protection
program isn't part of it ... yet.
8. Serious annoyance over Jim calling saying, "I'm taking a walk down a beach....".

I'm sure there's more but my addled brain can't remember what. And now there's Christmas shopping to throw in the mix, and three parties to throw at school and surgery and cards to mail.

Is it over yet?

13

At 9:38 pm November 17, 2009 I will have a teenager. Let me say that again. I will have a teenager. I haven't seen my only toe-headed toddler for years but I miss him right now as my 5'4" teenager leans over to hug me.

Happy Birthday Connor!

Time Traveler's Wife

I am a time traveler's wife. "How so?", you ask incredulously. Well, Jim is leaving leaving China on Friday at 10 a.m. to get home to San Francisco at 8:25 a.m. on Friday. He has obviously overcome the time/distance issue so why can't he .... uh, I was going to find something slightly pithy to say here, but, I got nothin'. Nice thing to have me be stumped on! I'm just ever so happy he will be home! And now we dance to "12 minutes of Silence by Raymond Wornton". Hum along if you must!

Breathing 101

For the last few years I have noticed that breathing through my nose has been getting worse with each successive year. I had a doctor tell me, I don't know, 10+ years ago I had a 'bit of a problem'. Well, in the last few months it has blossomed into a full problem.

I went to see a friend of my in-laws, go figure she's an ENT, Dr. Freeling. She said I was a deviant, no wait, erase that, go back. That I had an S curve in my septum, weak nasal valves (is this from Mom or Dad's side?) and, here's the kicker, a drooping tip that were all conspiring to make me wake up gasping and/or with a headache each morning. Nice. She said sitting up I am at 40% capacity, laying down with my head on a pillow with one side squashed into the pillow and the other collapsing (remember those weak valves?) I was barely breathing at all. The good news? No apnea. Whew.

So, she is going to fix me right up. I asked about fixing the valve issue - it involves harvesting (never a good term for surgical related issues) cartlidge from my ear (yeah, there's where I want to have scarring!) and rebuild the values and oh, by the way, your nose will be wider. "What do you mean wider?", I asked. "Think Michael Jackson the teenage years.", she says with one glove on. Yikes! So, I have opted for less wide but still breathing. She is going to straighten out my septum - no nose breaking here at all thank goodness! And, this is sort of funny, lift my tip. HUH? She is going to (turn away if you are squeamish) separate the skin from the bump in my nose and sew the skin from the inside up about 1/16th of an inch higher so I will have "more nostril" when I look in the mirror. By doing this it takes pressure off my weak valves allowing me to breath at about 90% capacity.

So now I am walking around pulling the skin from the bump in my nose up just a little bit and boy can I tell the difference. I am a little concerned about the bump though. With those stitches my bump will be about 1/64 higher for about three weeks until the stitches dissolve. No pics during that time..... ;-)

I am going in on December 9th for my nose job.... I don't think wishing me luck would be appropriate. How about sending a nice card to my ENT so she feels good about herself that day?

An Actively Sweet Musical Halloween

Well, we had quite the mix this year. Lauren wanted to be a candy corn while a friend of hers was a banana. I was going to make the costume but when I found it at Oriental Trading for $9.99 I bought it!

Connor wanted to be George Harrison from the cover of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club album - I think I did great! We borrowed the jacket and I embellished (a lot!) He is so cool.

Tylor is a member of the Mexican National Soccer Team. (Meaning he grabbed this at the 11th hour so I would let him go trick-or-treating.)

What is it about Bob?

What is it about Bob?
Many words help describe my in-law
Shrinking man in big pants

Here's to weight loss and buying new clothes. Please buy new clothes!

Working Widow

There are many things that I like about Jim's job; flexible, steady pay check, decent hours, not many night meetings, can meet me for lunch once in a while, he can bike to work, etc.. But the thing I don't like is being a working widow. He has been traveling quite a bit this year. The kids and I get into a routine while he is gone but things are harder. Being always 'on' is the hardest. Even if the kids are at school you have to be 'on' - available at any moment to rush off. Tylor ran away after school on Thursday and we had a blow-out. I had to call Jim to call Tylor to talk to him because I couldn't do it any more. Only 5 more days until he is home for 6 days and then he is off to China for 8 days. This working widow may be down a kid by then....

Trifecta

Seriously! What is it about my teeth that make them so darn rotten? I had to go in today and have not 1, not 2, but 3, count em, 3 crowns replaced! I floss - and boy am I tired of those drippy sweet hygenists that say, "You should floss.". As if I don't! I want to smack them! So, now I have one temporary (she figured they were all in a row why do three separate ones). It is long flat and ugly. I will be eating soup for the next two weeks.

What a Weekend!

You know what I love about sisters? Just about everything, especially mine. I loved what Mom used to say when someone was mad at you at home, "Well, go play with someone else!". Words to live by if you have enough siblings and, oh, wait, I do! And a few brothers too! Thanks to Jody (you might as well be a sister) and Brian too!

We all had a fabulous time surprising Deb (far left) for her 50th. "What? She's 50?", you ask in amazement. It's true.

We proceeded to have a great time shopping (Costco, not at a mall), antique-ing, eating, sewing, chatting and generally having a great time.

Let's do it again!

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to give a shout out to those early October birthday people I know:

Debbie - Turning the big "5-0" and not complaining too much about the fact
she isn't spending it in London - I voted for London in Steve's poll, really....
Jim - It was a quiet and sort of languid birthday for our Jimmy boy. He mowed
we watched conference. He got a battery for his birthday and was really
happy about it. Odd in all ways.
Emma - She is working on having a great birthday in spite of some obstacles as
yet to be named!
Kelly - The 'Tall One' is moving in on 40 and a lot of gray hair. Maybe going
back to school would help!?!
Rhonda - Here's to my ex-sister-in-law. I wish we had kept her instead.
Tia - Okay, is the 19th or the 21st? Curses for being to close to Grandma Hanna's b-day!
Grandma Hanna - "No news is good news!" My favorite motto when I can't see
my kids, or hubbie. Used it today in fact!

I love you all and wish you the very best!

Inigo Montoya: No, there is too much. Let me sum up...

It has been a very full two weeks ... so, in the infamous words of Inigo Montoyo ... here goes ...

My three lovely children started school on 9/9/09 ... a (sniff) beautiful day! This is Tylor the morning of school starting. He looked like a dead body. It took until 7:28 to get him dressed and out the door: just on time!



Also on September 9th, Connor talked to his dad about baptism and convinced him that he was ready to be baptized! Connor said his plan was to ask dad after his sauna when he is the most relaxed and open to ideas - good plan! We spent a harried week trying to plan the baptism. We had just a few obstacles: flood (our chapel is having roof work and they forgot to cover the holes when it rained on the 12th), no fire (the hot water heater for the font in our building had rusted and was surely toxic), the sky fell (okay it was the tiles in the building but it seemed like the sky), and scheduling. They always say you are really tested right before your baptism - it was like it was a Satanic conspiracy as to exactly how many things went awry. But it turned out great! We could see the Lord's hand working in our favor in so many instances; a call from a friend that couldn't make it while she was feeding the missionaries who could schedule the building we needed to be in, a prompting of the Spirit for another dear friend to call to say she couldn't come and ended up agreeing to give the Holy Ghost talk, and people dropping everything to be available for us. It was amazing. Brother James Howell, the Young Men's President, baptized Connor at 10 a.m. on 09/19/2009 in the Comanche Building in San Jose, CA.
Brother Daniel Tayco, the Young Men's first counselor, performed the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Yes, I cried. Yes, I am so happy. Thank you all for the notes and letters!


On September 20th Connor was ordained a deacon. Somehow I didn't think I could get away with taking a pic during the ordination. Brother Jon Conradt performed this ordinance. We now have the priesthood in our home for the first time. Connor's comment was, "I feel very peaceful.", to both the baptism and getting the priesthood.

Finally, on the 20th I was released as Primary President. I have spent about 4 1/2 years in the calling and have to say that I am very sad to let it go. My replacement, Maren Lopez (see smiling woman below), is amazing! She is a teacher and a leader, creative and spiritual. I love her and her energy. It was the Primary program as well. I cried. I cried some more. I will move on but I will truly miss Primary. It was by far the best calling, with the best blessings, I have every had.


9/27 - It has been a week since I was released. I went to RS for the first time in 11 years. No kidding. I have to say it wasn't nearly as fun. I found myself listening to the Primary children sing and picking out voices and listening to Sharing Time. Old habits are hard to break....

Number One is the Loneliest Number

Okay, it's not true. Connor sequestered himself with his I-Pod touch in his room for most of the day. Tylor played a computer game in my room. Lauren watched tv in the family room. No one spoke to each other. No one passed another in the hall. No contact. According to my children it was pretty near to a perfect last day of summer. So, one is not the loneliest number - it's the right number.

Too Late to Stop Now!

We made our second trip to Great America two days before school started. We thought it would be TOO busy. We thought we were in for long lines and wild expenses. NOT! I got 5 tickets for $24 buck each. Sweet! But then we got there and I realized I hadn't bought a ticket for an extra friend (so Lauren would have someone to go on all her rides with her). I was bewailing this when a very kind Good Samaritan gave me a ticket. No kidding! SWEETER! Then the best part. No lines! The kids walked on almost all the rides they wanted, did them 3 or 4 times in a row! Excellent day and no barfing. It was too fun. Two more days....tick, tock.

Tres, Tri, Trio, Touo, Three

I made a fatal mistake today. I mentioned the 'S' word (school). I have never seen 3 kids mope about as much as these 3. Seriously. You would have thought that I had mentioned a firing squad. I finally had to pull out the 'I' word (ice cream) to get them out of their collective funk.

I do not remember ever being in a funk to go back to school. I loved school because it wasn't home. I got more attention at school from dad than I did at home - no offense intended, it was what it was - and I loved it. Dad and I would split a lunch, get ice cream, or just hang out if neither of us had money. It was great. People will still tease me when I tell them my dad taught at the school I went to and I liked it. He was a great back up. If I was having problems with a teacher he would have 'a word or two' with them. (At least one time more than that!) I can remember a teacher calling him to the nurses office and the two of them laughing of me smashing my finger (my fault for being late to class and not hearing the instructions). It makes me smile still.

Thanks dad for being great!

Four Ever on My Mind

I can actually remember when there were just four of us kids. My first really solid memory is the day we moved into the house on Hayden Bridge. We had been in the car forever and when we stopped Mom made us put on our shoes - glass in the driveway - before we could go play. We ran, we hid in that old bush next to the driveway and climbed the pine tree at the front of the teardrop. We laughed running through this very small house that was all ours. We all piled into the front hall to sleep and woke up and did it all again. It was wonderful! I remember 4 - how many do you first remember?

Day Trip for 5

Five people went to the SF Academy of Science and one of them was not me! Connor, his friend Ben, Lauren, Tylor and Jim went. We were supposed to go to Great America but it was closed of all things! I couldn't join them so I was seriously bummed all day. No, call it a funk. When I mentioned it to Jim he said, "Now you know how I have felt for the past 12 years.". That made me sadder. Now I am a little sad school is starting ... Five days from now I'm sure it will change. ;-)

Six Shoes

Six shoes, three pair, one for each kid. School shoes were always a huge deal. We got the brown and white saddle shoes, they hid dirt better. They were school shoes, sunday shoes, all winter shoes. If they got wet you prayed the house was warm enough to dry them out by the next morning. New school shoes that gave you blisters on your heel every stinkin' year but you loved those shoes. The new smell, how clean they looked, how the leather was polished. I love school shoes.

Seven Deadly Sins

I know what the real 7 deadly sins are:

1. Coveting other people's school (that it is in early and we are still out...)
2. Greedily thinking of when my children will finally be in school for longer than public school
3. Being slothful and not buying school supplies, backpacks, shoes, or uniforms early!
4. Being proud when you finally finish it all and still have to wait for school to start
5. Envying parents waving good-bye to their little darlings daily starting weeks ago
6. Being wrathful that I can't find 2 green pens on the supply list
7. Gluttonously drowning my sorrows in homemade lemonade (oh, so tart!)

Ate Days ...

Out of 51 potential hot lunch meals my kids could get at school they chose a total of 8. Eight. Ate. Lauren, the culinary explorer, chose 5, Tylor, the culinary meanderer, 2 and Connor, force feed me if necessary, 1. One day per month I don't have to make lunch for any of my kids. And the meal that tempts all of them you ask? Teriyaki Chicken over rice with fresh fruit and veggies.

9 ....

Nine red pens ... 9.

Ten days 'til school,
Nine red pens,
And a happy dance on the way....

10 ....

Ten days until school starts....10.

ALIENS VISIT SAN JOSE

No, there is no photographic evidence. No, I did not get them on a fuzzy video. No, I do not have a sound bite either! But none the less it's true! Brian, Jody, Jacob, Kendra, Natalie, Melanie, Morgan and their Aunt Jori came to San Jose!

We had an awesome visit. I forget sometimes how much I like people that I don't get to spend a lot of time around. We talked and talked and had a generally good time. The kids all agreed that they liked each other (Tylor did get overloaded but it would have happened sooner or later.)

They were almost way-laid by a fire on 152 that made them go 2 hours out of their way to get here. But they made it.

Yeah for aliens in San Jose!

Thanks for coming!

The Long Hot Summer

It was hot today. I mean really hot: 98' in the shade with the sprinklers on hot. It made me think of the Paul and Joanne movie of the same name - yes, I feel I can call them by their first names.

I first saw this movie in college on the big screen. It was lovely. It was a hot evening and this made it steamy. I went with a roomie so it wasn't so steamy for us.

What movie dregs up Summer memories for you?

August 24th is National Waffle Day!!

Waffle Day is a day that you can waffle on issues and decisions. And, it certainly is a day to eat waffles!!

This is also an International holiday! It originated in Sweden where it is called Våffeldagen. The holiday coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation. This day was also considered the start of spring in Sweden and Europe. It became a custom for Swedish families to celebrate the two events by making waffles on this day.

National Waffle Day celebrates the patenting of the waffle iron by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York on August 24, 1869. All hail Cornelius!

The origin of the waffle: The waffle dates back to the 1300s in Greece. Greeks cooked flat cakes between two metal pans. At the time, they topped it with cheeses and herbs. Pancake syrup wasn't around back then. Waffles are commonly eaten as breakfast or a snack. On the East Coast waffles are sometimes eaten with fried chicken.

Guess what we are having for dinner tomorrow??

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I have this very odd feeling today. It makes my sides slightly tight and me feel as if something is going to happen. Don't ask me what. Don't ask me when.

I don't like this feeling at all. It's that bad type of anticipation that makes me jump a little at odd things or look over my shoulder one more time.

My run this morning was non-eventful but that's when it started. I may have a sore neck by tomorrow morning.

Do you get odd feelings?

3 More Weeks of Summer

There are many good things about attending private schools. They are:

1. School uniforms (No "I can't decide what to wear!", always, "Wear the blue or red.")
2. Longer school days (8 to 3:05 with public being 8:35 to 1:42 - no kidding)
3. Fewer weird days off (2nd Tuesday of each month is a 1/2 day - public every other Wed 1/2 and three weeks of early release)
4. One more week off ("Ski Week" - whatever!)



5. Social skills are expected and generally performed by each student
6. Out of school the first Wednesday of June facilitating an appropriately long summer

Things I don't like:

1. School starts on September 9th this year - WE HAVE 3 WEEKS OF SUMMER W/NO
NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS TO PLAY WITH!!

It's going to be a long 3 weeks....

Workin' for a Living

I have been back in an office for 3 months today. I have been thinking about things I miss about working from home:

1. Doing laundry while on hold
2. Making bread while copying a loan file
3. Dinner started at 4:30 so we are eating by 6
4. Telling people that the owner IS a cry baby
5. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt almost daily (Jim likes my new outfits better but whatever)
6. Having to be seen by people other than those I want to be seen by
7. Talking to my sisters during the day!

I miss my prior life...sounds like I died.

Oh, why not?

I have taken on 3 extra kids for 3 days. We have 3, so, why not 3 more? Let me list the reason:

1. Not 3x the laundry - it would be exponential thus making it 27x more
2. 4 boys in one room maketh that room smelleth ghastly
3. Since it isn't an even 3 girls to 3 boys the girls tend to scream more and the boys beat their chests more - testosterone abounds (see exponential above)
4. My mere 2000 sq ft is not enough space for 5 let alone 8 for longer than a 3 hour cruise

On the plus side:

1. Each child has a matching child to play with - or hang with if you are 12+
2. No one fights along, it's a group effort
3. Shut doors tend to stay shut thus I have no clue what is going on behind them - all good
4. The great outdoors is just that. GREAT!

So, wish me luck. And a side note to Deb: How did you do it???

Newbie

Well, she did it. She made me. SHE is sitting on me. Not really. She twisted my arm. Maybe not.

As a disclaimer I will not be posting daily. I will not be a slave to my blog. I am trying this out. I need to move from scrapbooking - too much time and too much money - to something still creative and fun.

Thank you SHE. (Suzanne Hanna dEller)