Ice Skating

This week is Andy and Marcus's Spring Break. I only get Friday off. So, I took the day off yesterday to hang out with my family. We had a fun day.

First thing in the morning, Andy actually took one of our good friends to the airport with her 2 kids. He was up at 4:30am. Which set the mood for the day. I kept trying to get him to take a nap all morning, but he wouldn't.

After playing outside on the playground we went up to the Rec Center and everyone went ice skating for the first time. I was the only one that could let go of the wall. Anneke could not even stand up holding onto the wall. She hit the ground once and gasped, "This ice?!" We managed to hold onto her pretty well otherwise. Marcus was of course scared, but was actually pretty good. Andy was cute. It looked more like he was trying to ski. He had to wear Hockey blades because they did not have any others to fit his big feet.

Denver is only about 30 minutes away, so we went to the Denver Children's museum in the afternoon. It was super crowded and slightly annoying. One of my biggest pet peeves is when parents don't help their children follow the rules, or just totally ignore them. That happened a lot, so my children ended up cleaning most of the time, doing what everyone else should have had the courtesy to do. (If I had been able to mentally prepare myself, it would have been better.) Regardless, they had a great time pretending to be woodland creatures and Anneke loved the pretend supermarket and restaurant. We are hoping to go back on a less busy day. Since it is right by the aquarium, next time we might do that, too. On Friday since I have off, I think we will try the Denver Zoo. That should not be as bad, there is a lot more area.

Twilight

Thank you so much for your comments on my last post. I have been trying to get life back together. I think yesterday I was close to having a mini mental collapse, but it seems fine now. My stomache was tied in knots all day like something bad was going to happen. I called my family and everything was fine. I am still not sure what the deal was. Today I am fine and feeling better.

Okay, I am going to tell you about 2 AMAZING books that I just read. Now, gauge what you know about me and my personality as I give this suggestion. I am a romantic and love to read. I will read just about anything, but rarely recommend books. I am afraid that no one will heed my suggestions and if they do, they won't like it like I like it and that would be hard. It is almost like a rejection of me. So, no pressure! (Hee! Hee!)

The books are called "Twilight" and "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. (yes, with an e) I read these books after 2 people recommended them to me. I was sceptical. Come on, a high school girl falling in love with a "good" vampire. How cheesy can you get? But, Andy liked it, so I read it...over 500 pages in 24 hours, same with "New Moon". I have read them both TWICE in 5 days and each book is over 500 pages long. I have never read a book a second time that close to reading it the first time. I have only ever been obsessed like this with the Harry Potter books and one other. (The other is a secret, but if you want to know, you will have to ask.) So, I recommend them. Another fun thing is, on her website www.stepheniemeyer.com she has a playlist of music that kind of helped inspire the books. It actually helped to understand it on some levels. Anyway, don't think me dumb, but really, trust me. If you don't like them, let me know. If you do, let me know. I am quite curious at others reactions to these.

We are happy here and having a chill day. Next week is Spring Break. I only have 2 days off, but we are trying to do fun things. I am going ice skating for the first time, the children's museum in Denver and the Denver Zoo. I also hope to get my hair cut. I will try to keep you guys posted. I like Melissa's Top 4 list, but for me it would have to be Top 5. I am OCD and I like to count by 5's. I am really blushing a lot as I write this blog. Too many potentially embarrassing things.

Emergency Trip continued

If you did not read my last post, please do, this will make more sense.

Anyway, the trip to Utah was pretty stressful, but we tried to make it fun for the kids. We got to see Andy's best friend and meet his wife and step daughter. The children loved playing with Ephiny. (Don't ask about the name. If they have a boy next they are naming him Orian and a girl will be Avalynn. Dave's wife likes to make up names.) Then, we hung out with my sister, the reason we were there. I kept asking Pam what she wanted from me and she said just being with her is enough.

We hung out at Cabela's, which was very near my little sister's house. She lives just south of Thanksgiving Pointe. Anyway, it was like a museum with all the animals and stuff. The kids loved the shooting range and the fudge. The fish were fun and were quite attracted to me. That made Marcus sad because he didn't think they liked him. Anyway, I would put links to all these places, they have websites that are fun, but again, it is not as easy on a Mac.

My oldest sister, Carianne, and my 2 year old nephew, Noah, came into town and we went to the Hogle Zoo. That was a blast. It made me want to go to the Denver Zoo. The children loved the animals. Marcus was disappointed there was no lion and Anneke called the giraffes, Jeff, because that is what she heard us say. We let them pick out souvenirs which we don't usually do. Marcus got a stuffed bat he named Bo (my little sister has a blind dog named Bo, so it was fitting) and Anneke picked out a pink stuffed monkey with velcro hands and feet. She likes that it will hug her and she named it Dora.

So, while we were in Salt Lake, Andy's grandpa collapsed and was at St. Mark's hospital. His heart beat went really low and stopped a few times, so he has to get a pacemaker put in today. Andy was glad he got to see him, but is scared that this will be the last time.

Also, I found out that my grandfather is going blind and should be completely blind within a month or two. They say that bad things happen in 3's, so I hope we are good for a while.

On the way home yesterday we stopped at Fort Bridger, Wyoming for a picnic. All the buildings are closed during the week, which was a bummer. Still, it was nice to have a small break. We also got lost coming home, but made it 2 hours later than we thought. Wyoming is pretty, but windy and there is not much there.

So, it was good that I went to be with my sisters, Pam and Carianne. Pam said that it was nice to know that some things never change. If she needs her sisters we will come (except selfish Heather, but that is another story) and we have a connection that will never be broken. We talked about a lot of things and I hope I helped. She did make a promise not to try and kill herself again.

(If you are interested in the Heather story, here it is. She is the second of the four sisters, I am third. Anyway, she lives in Las Vegas, a 5 hour drive. She did not feel as if she could come. She thought Pam was being stupid and was annoyed that it inconvenienced her life. I took 4 days off work to see my sister, not to mention the money. My oldest sister spent $1500 to see Pam during her children's spring break. It was not easy, but she needed us. Yet, the one sister that it was easiest for to get there did not come. I will step off my soap box now.)

Pam recommended a book call "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. It is a vampire book, juvenile literature, but it is supposed to be good in an unexpected way. Andy is reading it now, I get to next. I will let you know how it is.

I hope that covers everything. I am home now and crashing. I hate not being able to be there with my sister, but I can't mother her. I am glad that I could be there for a little while.

Emergency Trip

Saturday evening we sat down to have a movie night with our children. We watched "Beauty and the Beast". During the show I got a phone call from my mom asking how I was doing. I told her I was fine and then she said, "Oh, you haven't heard about Pam?" She then told me my sister tried to kill herself by ODing on medication. I called my older sister and she and I debated whether it was really a suicide attempt. After getting a call from Pam's husband, Chris, that it was, I knew I needed to leave. The question was, "When?" I called Carianne (my oldest sister) again and she said, "Heavenly Father made us sister's for a reason. Now is the time to see if we can do the good for each other that He planned for us to do." I hopped in the car with my family at 9:50pm (before time change) and drove across Wyoming arriving in Salt Lake City at 5:30 in the morning. I have to go work out and will post more later....

Ordinary Day

Marcus and Anneke have to be woken up on the weekdays, but on the weekends when we can sleep in they get up before 7am! We just made blueberry muffins and that was fun because it was so easy. I like Saturdays because I get a break from working out. Luckily, it's not because I get to sleep in.

So, I have not been on a date with Andy in a while. I think Valentine's was the last time. We are trying to coordinate it for today, but everyone is crazy busy. Marcus has a birthday party to go to. Ugh! At least it is not at Chuck E. Cheese.

I just took a quiz to name all 50 states in 10 minutes. http://www.ironicsans.com/state22.html You have to spell them all correctly and I could not spell Massachusetts. I had to look it up, but I still named them all in under 5 minutes, without cheating. Can you beat it? At least Melissa will take the challenge I know.

I have to get to laundry and other fun Saturday projects. My life is not exciting. Oh, wait...

I told off another co-worker. He is a trust fund baby and driving me crazy with his lack of work ethic. He walked in late and laughed when I asked where he was, he laughed! I lost it. We had a talk yesterday and he said it was very effective and he would try to be better. I told him I felt awful about the way it went down. He is a really fun person and I like him, so the blow up was totally out of character. Last night I had a dream that we kept kissing. That was especially odd because he is gay and in a relationship. So, whatever, the guilt is there.

Anneke's teachers told me she was ready to potty train, so I went and bought underwear and pull-ups in October. We have had very little progress since and have stopped wearing the underwear. The teachers were angry that I did not get the Huggies brand pull-ups and we have had an ongoing battle for over a month. I decided to finally accomidate them. On Wednesday Anneke asked to wear underwear again, so Iet her. They were upset at me and I said that I am letting her take the lead, not them. Well, yesterday in Anneke's mail folder I got an article (only we got it) about potty training. The worst part about the article is that they highlighted areas I need to work on! It was not my idea to potty train her anyway. So, my new mantra is 2 1/2 more months, just 2 1/2 more months. I am getting frustrated by things that usually would not affect me. My mom asked when I should get my period. So not helpful, Mom!

Wicked

So, I finally purchased my Wicked tickets. I waited too long! We could only get nose bleed section and I know that it won't be that bad, but I am sad. I should not procrastinate. I might have learned my lesson now. There may have been better seats had I been willing to go at a different time.

Marcus has been with me at work the last few days. His teachers have inservice and so there was no where else for him to go. I hate not being able to focus on him 100% when he is there. But, he did choose the 2 days that we were doing fun things. Friday we had a pajama party and watched Cinderella and today we made sushi. (We had a Korean mom in the class make special Unagi rolls for the teachers. I had no idea there was a difference between Japanese style and Korean style sushi.) Marcus is not a sushi fan, but not too many of the kids were.

Crazy! Yesterday I found out that a guy from my old ward in Cedar City is the son of a lady in my ward here in Boulder. It is fun to know how small the world is and it gets even smaller when you are LDS. (The lady's son is a putz, but his wife and daughter are way cute.)

Andy got his passport today. His photo looks so scary, like a mugshot or a terrorist photo. They say that if you start to look like your passport photo it is time to come home. In Andy's case, I hope it is time long before that or he may be jailed for questioning. :)

I finally got the pictures back from Marcus's birthday. How do you think the castle cake turned out?

Snow Again

So, we got a lot of snow again yesterday. I don't mind the snow, unless I have to drive in it. I am not a good snow driver. Every Thursday morning I have to take Marcus to school. So, I pray that the weather will cooperate for that. I have not had many stress free Thursdays, however.

I have been sick lately. Yesterday I was sent home from school(work) because of it. It was nice to rest and I feel so much better today. I didn't work out yesterday and I regret it, but am not sure what I would have done. I was pretty weak and sore.

Life is fine for the most part. Andy is for sure going to Oxford. He got accepted and is excited. I was proud of myself for being more excited about getting accepted to this than I was when he got accepted to school in Boulder. Marcus and Anneke don't fully understand what it means. They have a hard time when he is gone for an evening. I am not sure how thay will handle a whole month. My sister has offered for us to come and stay with her in Texas. The prospect of travel by myself with 2 children is daunting, though. Then she suggested having my mom come and stay. Umm, do they not think I can survive without my husband? I am actually kind of looking forward to it. I can reconnect with my children and be independent for a little while. Still, visiting my sister might be fun, I am still thinking about it.

So, I am not getting friendster updates. They don't like my e-mail address anymore, so I will have to figure something out. It is frustrating. I wondered what happened to everyone.