DTDW

So my family always had a saying, "Debby's Time - Debby's Way - DTDW." I guess there is some truth in that - I do like things just a certain way - and I'm pretty stubborn. You can only get me to 7do something if I want to do it - and when I want to do it. I guess I passed this trait on to Cadet. He is 3 1/2 and I was beginning to wonder if he would ever be potty-trained. When all the coaxing and bribery failed - I decided to not push the issue. My mom kept telling me he would do it when he was ready. She was right. He just had to decide it was his time. So....two weeks ago - he randomly commented that he wanted to use the bathroom. So - he did for the 1st time. He just took his diaper off - and that was that. Funny how easy it was! Well...kind of. We've had a few bumps along the way - but lots of success. Of course, he decided to do this the day before we were going to take a 7 hour drive to Colorado for hubby's work and a visit to my sisters!!! It made for a fun drive. It only took us 11 hours to get there. (I need to go - I need to go- every 30 minutes.) So...yeah Cadet! We're very happy to be down to one diapered kid!

5K and the Call of the Wild

It has been almost a month, and I haven't written in here. I suppose that is because I haven't had much interesting to say.

I ran my 1st 5k two weeks ago! Yippeee! I have walked several of them - in San Diego I did the Father Joe's Thanksgiving 5K and the March of Dimes. I am just NOT a runner at all, though. In fact, prior to running this 5K - I have not ever run a mile in my life. I kid you not - I just have never been able to do it. I can walk for forever, but running is a different story. But, I signed up for the South Ogden Twilight 5K for fun, and hubby offered to watch the boys in the park - so without kids I thought, why not try to run? So, I did. I was super slow, and finished back at the pack with all the old grannies and grandpas, but I did it. I never stopped running. It was a great feeling. I think I could get into running, just not much further than a 5K. My time was 35:27. It was such a breakthrough for me to realize that I could run that I signed up for the Syracuse Cure for Scleroderma 5K the next Saturday. My finish time on that was 31:14. I was excited to be getting faster - so I signed up for the Idaho Falls Firecracker 5K on July 4th. My finish on that was 28:01! Not the fastest in the world, but I am improving. I think I can see now why people run, it is a great feeling to push yourself a little bit more. So, there you have it - I've been running a few miles.

I've also been enjoying nature the last little bit here. We came back from a fun vacation to IF to see our families for the 4th - only to be greeted by a broken Air Conditioner. Our house is just way to hot without it. It was 89 in the family room, and that was the coolest room in the house. So we put up our tent and we've been in the back yard camping out for the last 2 nights. Cadet loves it! Tink does not to say the least, but we are surviving. Hopefully our neighbors are, too. Anyhow - it gives us confidence that maybe we could go camping in Yellowstone in September. We were worried it wouldn't work well with the boys, but I think we can do it. Also---hubby says that I am officially ready to camp now that I did something that everyone has to do at least once in the open. We were soooo hot on Sunday we went for a walk down a paved pathway trail here. I was so hot I was drinking like a fish. The trail is a little over 4 miles, and there is only one restroom on the trail - at the beginning. We got to the halfway point about 2 miles in and I HAD to go. I could not hold it. (Complements to having Tink.) So....I did what I thought was the unthinkable. I found a bush. I went in the wild. I have always had a hangup about doing that. I just have never been able to bring myself to do it before....but thanks to a weakened bladder - I had no problem. So...I guess we can go real camping now. I still think I want to find a site with a toilet, though. I'm not sure I want a repeat performance of connecting with nature quite yet!

Home is where the Sun Shines

I got to take my trip to San Diego! I had so much fun. It felt like I was going home. I kept super busy and felt like I finally got some closure on having to move. We left the week of the terrible fires. I felt like I never really got to say good-bye to everyone and was so tired and stressed out and pregnant that I didn't get to go around see my old favorite haunts. Being such a sappy and sentimental person - that was all pretty important to me. So on my trip this time....I went to Seaport Village, walked along the Bay, went to the Coronado library (I know I'm weird, a library on a vacation? I had always wanted to go there, though and never got the chance. It has a FABulous children's section. I miss the libraries of San Diego. They are really stellar. They just don't make them like that here. )

My good friend Isa organized a dinner for me with a bunch of my friends. Thanks a million Isa!!! It was fun to see them - especially since many of them are graduating from UCSD and moving on to Portland, Northern CA, maybe Boston, etc.... I was a highjlight of my trip! I also went to my old stroller strides class, Del Mar, Torrey Pines Beach, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla Library, Point Loma lighthouse, bayside trail, Pint Loma lighthouse, walk around my old neighorhood, the temple, Pacific Beach, an Asian market - and of course I had rehearsals and the choir concert. I'm amazed I squeezed all this into 4 1/2 days. I didn't get to do Legoland or Sea World or Shelter Island or hike Torrey Pines but I still had fun. I had a great time with Leslie - thanks for putting me up - and putting up with me!!! We made tomato soup cake and sour cream enchiladas and ate lots of junk food and stayed up late talking! It was fun! Unfortunately - I had to come home. I did miss Cadet and hubby, but other than that I really miss San Diego. Some things I miss the most are:

1. The people

2. Fish tacos - the edible kind- they are nasty out here in UT

3. Papaya Salad from Thai cafe on Coronado

4. the ocean

5. The Sunshine - being able to walk outside every day with great views!

6. The Temple

7. My old neighborhood - perfect for walking

8. My piano students

9. The choir - I miss making music

10. the nursing lounge at church - it is social hour every hour in there!!!!

Well - enough reminsiscing for now! San Diego I love ya' and I miss ya'! Hopefully before too long it will start to feel like home here, too.

Rabbits, Dinosaurs, Hikes, and the Earth

So, after my trip to San Diego, I came home lamenting living here. I have been determined not to sit and mope about it though. So....I tried to go out and find some fun things to do around here. It proved somewhat challenging because the weather was not cooperating. It has been pretty chilly and rainy. But, I did find a few things to do with the kids to save my sanity! We went to the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park for the first time in Ogden. It was a lot of fun. It had just a bunch of dinosaurs and fossils and a great playground for the kids. We also found a flat "hiking" - more like a walking trail to go down. We went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden and they had a giant inflatable earth set up. Every day this month they are giving a passport to you and you get to go and learn about a different country every day, complete with facts, slides, pictures, and a treat. We learned about France on our day, and got a greatEiffel Tower Stamp for our passport.

So there are some pictures from the Dino Park and the Earth.

And finally....at the Dinosaur Park we saw some rabbits. Cade was very excited about seeing them. He asked me to take a picture and then asked me..."Mom...what are they doing? Mom mom - tell me what they are doing!" Of course - he would ask me this. Here is the picture of that.

The Carrot Seed

One of my favorite books as a kid was The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. My mom used to sing it to me as she read it. If you aren't familiar with it - its the story of a little boy who plants a carrot seed and everyone says it won't come up - but in the end it does. Here is a link if you want to listen to the story and music - its free. They also have lots of other classic kids stories on here, too. I love Little Black Sambo, too. Another throw back to my childhood. So here's the link: http://www.kiddierecords.com/2005/index.htm

Well....my carrot seeds didn't work. Sad. Oh well...but I was greeted with other success in my garden.

I actually grew something from my garden. I'm quite surprised, and VERY happy about this. I am such a pessimist. I didn't think anything would come up....but it did. So far we have harvested 9 very tasty heads of Romaine lettuce and 11 Radishes. We still have 2 more heads of lettuce and I think that our beets are ready now. Yippee. I think I like having a garden, if you couldn't tell.

"....and now you can have a grand piano!"

We've been trying to teach Cadet that you don't always get what you want. "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" (I keep repeating ad nauseum to him.) He will often tell us that he wants this or that, and I'm getting really good at saying no. For several days when he was telling me what he wanted I responded by telling him that I wanted a grand piano, but that just wasn't going to happen. We just don't always get what we want. Sometimes, we do, though. The other day I was driving by and saw that a daycare was going out of business and so they were selling all their toys. I came across The Millenium Falcon from Star Wars with 7 figurines inside for $7 - a total steal - so I caved in and got it for Cadet. He was so ecstatic. When I gave it to him he smiled and hugged me and told me...."and now you can have a grand piano! Dad and I will go and get one for you tonight." How thoughtful.

"Who are you and what have you done with my wife?"

I am going to go to San Diego! YIPPEE!! I'm so excited about this, if you couldn't tell. One of the old conductors from the San Diego Children's Choir didn't know that I had moved. She saw my profile still up on the San Diego Children's Choir website under personnel ( http://www.sdcchoir.org/personnel/index.htm) - and I still have my cell phone with a San Diego number. She called me and asked me to play at an honor choir choral festival for Middle Schoolers. At first, I told her - umm....no...I moved. I called her back a few hours later, and there you have it. I get to come for a visit! It is just a Saturday festival - and it will pay enough to pay for my flight. I still have to pay for a car, etc... but it is soooo worth it. I have missed San Diego, and playing the piano soooo much. I can't wait to go. Hubby is a bit surprised I'm going though. His response, "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" I have been terrified of Airplanes in the past. (Think of Meg Ryan's freak out episode on French Kiss magnified times 10 - that's me. I have had panic attacks on airplanes, tried to run out of my seatbelt, shredded paper to try to calm me down, and have been threatened by a drunk man once "I've been drinkin' Tequila since 4 A.M. and if you don't quiet down, I'm gonna make ya!" ) Needless to say, I don't like flying. I have done much better after I got married, but I have always vowed that I wouldn't fly without my whole family. If we die - we all go down together that way. Welll..... it is just Tink and I headed out on this trip, and I'm okay with that. I am ecstatic and not scared at all. I think that says something about how bad I've missed San Diego. At any rate.....I can't wait for a fun weekend. I'm leaving at the end of this month, and I'm counting down the hours! I hope to see some of my friends there before a lot of them graduate and move on. I also can't wait to show Tink the beach. Here I come!

A Yardin' and a Garden

May 1 - SNOW

May 2 - MOW

This weather is crazy I say. On May 1st - I had a picnic lunch planned with two of my old college roomates. We got snowed out and had to meet inside, where Cadet was going crazy. Snow. In May. Yuck. on May 2nd - I got to mow our yard for the first time! YEAH!!! I really enjoyed it. I know it sounds crazy, but it felt good. Our mower is not a self-propelled mower, so it was a pretty good workout. It made me remember all the summer days I spent mowing my lawn growing up. I always enjoyed it. It is fun being outside, and the smell of freshly cut grass makes me happy. In the past, I enjoyed putting on my walkman as a teenager, and blasting my classical music, and dreaming about how I wished that my two neighbor girls would move and some really cute boy would move in and be all impressed that I mowed the yard and loved classical music. (NERD ALERT!!! I can't believe I just wrote that for public consumption - and if Tink weren't needing my attention soon, I think that I would simply erase it - but no time to revise) moving forward. Now- I just enjoyed a break from the boys, and the symmetry of going in cirlces and the whole patch of unmowed grass getting progressivly smaller. It took me a good hour and half to mow our huge backyard. I attached some pictures of our yard - so you can appreciate my small feat.

Enough about mowing the lawn.....as a family we have started to garden! We are loving it! I don't know if anything will grow. I think I have a black thumb - if there is such a thing. Everything I touch wilts or dies. But - so far it has been a blast. We have planted the cool weather crops and we are using the square foot gardening method. It has been fun. We planted some peas, Walla Walla Sweet onions, Kohlrahbi, Eggplant, Bok Choy, Cabbage, Romaine Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots, Spinach....I can't even remember what else, that might be all. We have 16 squares so far. I'm very excited about this. I am a veggi-a-holic - so this is so exciting to me to be growing my own food. Now...we'll see if it yields anything. My peas actually sprouted, even with all the snow! YEAH! I was so excited. I'm loving it. Here are a few pics of my garden.

On Saturday - after going to the dentist to pick up my free teeth whitening kit - and getting my tooth sanded (I chipped it eating a carmel!!!!)- I went to 7 garage sales. I emerged triumphant. I found a patio set for super cheap....and I also managed to get it delivered for free from a complete stranger. This nice couple at the garage sale -(not the ones selling the set, I might add) offered to deliver the patio set for me. We got talking, and they found out I moved from San Diego, and they were also from Southern California, and they were so nice - they brought it by for me for free. Their comment, "Welcome back to Utah - we hope you like it!" We had barbecued chicken and onions tonight out on our new patio set. It was nice. I think I will like it here once the weather stays warmer!

Power Cooking

So on my last trip to Idaho I did some power cooking. Power cooking is where you make a whole ton of stuff all at once and then freeze it. It is exhausting, but then you only do it once every few days. What is happening to me? Call me Chef Crockett, you can - or Chef Disaster, more acurately! My family needed some help with meals because of my sister's extended hospital stays. I hate cooking, but I also saw a need. My mom has come to my rescue so many times. Before I had Tink she came and cooked a dozen meals or so for me and I froze them in my freezer. It was so nice to have on hand afterwards. I knew that she could use the same thing, and that it would mean a lot to her....so I decided to try it. It was so good for me. I learned how to make a lot of new things, and so far, they have told me it was surprisingly edible. So - before I forget the recipes I thought I'd write them down on here.

Here's the Menu of what I cooked (with a TON of help from Hubby - thanks)

1. Shepherd's Pie
2. 2 pans Sour Cream Enchiladas
3. Tator Tot Casserole
4. Tuna Casserole (YUCK - but they liked it)
5. Lasagna
6. Goulash (enough for 2 meals)
7. Italian Seasoned Chicken
8. Stuffing Chicken Casserole

We first made a HUGE pan of browned meat. We used I think 1 pound? (one of those logs they sell in the grocery store) of hamburger for the Shepherd's Pie, 1 for the Goulash, 1 for the Tator Tot Casserole, and 2 for the Sour Cream Enchiladas. We cooked it up with onion, salt and pepper, and Worshtershire Sauce. Thanks hubby - I hate cooking meat.

For the individual recipes:

Shepherd's Pie
- take meat, mix with one can of tomato soup (don't add water), put one can of beans on top of that, cover with prepared mashed potatoes, and put shredded cheese on top.

Sour Cream Enchiladas - a double batch
-take 1 big container of sour cream, mix with 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 2 cans cream of celery soup, and 2 cans of diced green chilis
-take 24 taco size flour toritllas, spread the mixture on the inside of each tortilla, add some meat, and tons of shredded cheese.
-roll them up, put them in the pan, and then smother them with the rest of the mixture
-put tons of shredded cheese on top
makes two pans

Tator Tot Casserole-
-mix some hamburger with 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 bag of frozen vegetables - we used peas and carrots
-cover with tator tots and top with shredded cheese

Goulash
-combine 1 1/2 cans of tomato juice (the extra big ones) with hamburger, cook a bag of noodles, add lots of curry (seasoned to your taste buds), and some salt and pepper. Boil on the stove - add the other half of the tomato juice can left out, because you'll need to add it after it has been refrigerated.

Tuna Casserole -
make macaroni and cheese, mix it with yucky canned tuna, and frozen peas. Barf!

Lasagna -
buy a frozen one. Much cheaper and easier

For the chicken recipes - too bad, I left the recipes at my mother in law's house. They looked good. Another day, I'll have to try them out again.

So - there are the recipes as much as I can remember of them. The sad thing is I don't have very exact amounts or temperatures for cooking these, but enough info. that I think I could figure them out again.

So....there are my cooking adventures. I haven't made many meals since that point, for the last three weeks. At least now it is recorded - take note - I cooked. I came I conquered. I'm taking a break from it for now.

Beet Chips

So....I've been trying out all sorts of different veggies lately. I'm not super adventures yet. I've loved Chapote Squash (mmmm).....and well....beets. I never have really eaten beets, but I gave them a whirl. I decided to make beet chips the other night. Super easy, and very tasty for me. I just sliced them up - and then sprayed them with Pam and put on some sea salt and baked them for 40 minutes, turning them after 20 minutes. They turned out delicious in my book. The recipe said to drizzle them in olive oil - but I was too lazy, so I just sprayed them with Pam. Cadet LOVED them. In fact, we had a little war over them. I had made them for me and was particularly hungry, and had waited 40 minutes for them. I really didn't want to share, but I did. He ended up eating most of them. I guess its good for him. (I made another batch for me the next night.)

Beet chips sure taste great, but they do have a funny after effect. Cadet was very excited to share all about beet chips two days later. Our landlord stopped by to fix our bathroom sink. While he was crawling under the sink, Cadet ran up to him and was soooo excited and said,
"Hey - did you know that Beet Chips make your poop red this day?" And then, Cadet just walked away. So, there you have it. Enjoy beet chips, but be wary of your toddlers if they like to share all of their bathroom adventures with everyone.

Burnt Baby

I am an irresponsible mother sometimes. Oops. It got up to 80 degrees here yesterday! WAHOO!! It was awfully windy - but I didn't care - I had to get out of the house. So....I put the two little chickens in the double stroller and we were off for a walk to the dollar store to get popsicle sticks for our garden we were going to start for Family Home Evening. It is only a 2 mile walk to the dollar store. It only took me 40 minutes to walk uphill there - and then it only took me 20 minutes to run home. (I forgot I was supposed to be somewhere at 2 and didn't leave until 1:40.) So ---I was only in the sun for an hour. I also had the kids bundled (the wind made it still feel more like 55 degrees) and I had the canopy shade pulled over them.

Well...lo and behold we all managed to get sunburned. Poor Tink's face is kind of red. My arms, back, face, and the part in my hair are burned. Unebelievable. I used to go out for two to four hour walks in San Diego with stops in the park, and nothing would happen. This quick little walk without sunscreen did us all in. I guess I forgot to account for our 5 month winter hibernation, lack of a tan, and pasty white skin. For now - we are just enjoying our sojourn as lobsters on this earth. Later - we will be religious sunscreen applicating lobsters. It's a promise.

Grateful.

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Idaho. I'm just so grateful for everything after going. We went to see my sister who has been in the hospital for 4 weeks now. My older sister is just truly amazing. Anyone who doesn't know her is missing out. She's great. She has been through so much in her life, yet she is so resilient and happy and fun to be around. She is blind and in a wheelchair, (residual effects from Reye's Syndrome when she was 8 - and the Aspirin given to her when she had chicken pox.) Right now - she's been in the hospital because a pump in her back that delivers medicine to control her spacticity is malfunctioning. She's been through the mill again. She slipped into a coma a few days ago, and was intubated, etc... but she is awake and doing somewhat better. She's had two surgeries since being in the hospital - and so far still can't control or move any of her limbs. I've kind of grown up with someone in my family always being sick or in the hospital. I often deal with it, just by kind of ignoring it. But, after visiting with my sister recently, I'm not really ignoring this. I got to go up and see her in the ICU a couple of times. It really put everything in perspective for me. I'm a whiner. I often sit around lamenting my "old life." Missing the weather in San Diego, and all my piano students, and the choir, and everything else that I was doing there. Instead - I should truly be grateful. At least I can move my arms and legs and see my children and have children and I'm not stuck up in a hospital bed not knowing when things are going to get better for me.

I'm just grateful that I have a sister who is so amazing who has reminded me that I can choose to be happy no matter what is going on with me. My sister sat up there joking the whole time. She is really funny. She is certainly feisty and was always teasing the nurses and making us all laugh. She can't even turn on the TV by herself, or feed herself, or move herself anymore. Yet - she was laughing, joking, smiling, and thanking me up and down just for bringing her some chapstick that wasn't mom's "yucky Blistex." I think I needed a refresher course in Gratitude 101. I really am grateful that I have so much. Sometimes it takes someone who has so little to remind us that it shouldn't take much to make us smile and count our blessings. Thanks sis. - for being you and teaching me a better way to live.

Book List

I just hosted a book club over the week-end at my home. Part of hosting, meant I had to pick the book for next month. I really struggled. Half my struggle was trying to remember the title of some of the books I had read that I really liked.....so to prevent this from happening again, I'm going to keep a list of what I've read or want to read. I'm doing it here, because it's convenient. If anyone has any "good reads" they want to recommend to me - PLEASE DO!!!! I'd love some more suggestions! Puffbird, if you read this - there was some you talked about at Christmastime that you got from your mother in law, I can't remember the names.

Anyhow - here is a list of books.

FINISHED
1. The Geography of Bliss, One grump's search for happiness, by Eric Weiner (totally funny and refreshing, kind of like a Bill Brysonesque book)
2. Children of the Mind, Orson Scott Card
3. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, by Dr. Laura (had to know why its so talked about. Totally NOT impressed. Huey duey luey fooey gunk.)
4. They Busy Book for Preschoolers, by ?? turned it in, can't remember who it was by
5. I Am Mother byJane Clayson Johnson, great fun easy read.

READING
1. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (been wanting to read this for forever never got to it)
2. Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood by Jim Fay and Charles Fay

WANT TO READ
1. Loud and Clear by Anna Quindlen (I think even M. Russel Ballard quoted her during conference in one of my favorite talks) side note - I love conference weekend. President Monson's testimony just gave me chills. I love laying in bed and soaking up the good words and getting spiritually refreshed. So happy today because of it! :)
2. We are Our Mother's Daughters by Cokie Roberts
3. Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts (new release)
4. Passage to India by E.M. Forster
5. Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West by Benazhir Bhutto( I'm sure I just mis-spelled that)

Story Time

Once upon a time there was a little boy, who started insisting he be called "Prince Charming." He also started to obsess over Princessess. Now, his dear mother always wanted a little girl so that she could ooh and ahh over princessess. The dear mother is slightly surprised that instead she is finding her little boy oohing and aahhing over princessess. Said the handsome prince charming, "Princessess are so beautiful. " When asked if the dear mother was beautiful, "No - you are just mom. Mom's are just moms, not beautiful."

(2 days later, though, when the dear mother opened the blinds - a rare occasion - the handsome prince proclaimed, "Ooooh - it is so beautiful outside. There are soo many beautiful things. Just like you. You are beautiful mom." Who knew that letting some light inside could make someone so happy? I think I need to deprive my kids less of this. It will require the great sacrifice from me of getting dressed before noon, though.)

My little Prince Charming is growing up fast. It is fun to watch. He drew the above picture of Merlin. He also has started to write his name - albeit the letters come out backwards sometimes. His A's are really terrific every time, though. So - he can write his name, but he is still in diapers. :) I'm excited to end the diapers, mostly because of the complex ritual diaper changing entails. He insists on making THE SOUND. ("Ding, Beep, Dadalldalldalldalldalldall Bang." He then proceeds sorting the diapers into piles, methodically choosing the PERFECT diaper, pointing out each charachter, letter, rainbow, and shape on the diaper, and then finally laying down if you are lucky.)

At any rate - it is fun to see him change and grow so fast. He is really into stories and telling stories. I found a "Make your own Little Golden Book" at the Dollar Store here. This one perk of Utah living - a dollar store or two on every corner. I thought it would be fun to have him dictate a story to me. He is always making cool stories, up, and this was a neat way to preserve one of them. Well...when it came time to do it - he insisted that he was just going to retell "Allison Wonderland." (He always calls her Allison.) I didn't want his to be a battle, but I wanted one onf his creative stories, not a retell. I tried to convince him to tell a story about him and his brother. I was so silly. I argued with Cadet for probably 30 minutes over this. (It was a friendly discussion, really.) I should have just let it go. In the end. He agreed to tell a story about him and his dad. Of course they go to the library (via the zoo and a plethora of other places.) They check out "Allison Wonderland." He then proceeds to tell that story. I relented. Silly me trying to tell him what to write. He is a pretty good manipulator and ended up getting his way in the end. A few of my favorite lines from Cadet's story:

A curious girl was there. She was reading a book. And then, she stopped. "The question," called Alison. That's what the girl said herself. "How can I play a parsley with no pictures?" Alice said. "

I just love this kid.

Over"dough"se

I made Easter dinner. Hard to believe, but I did it. Inspired by the "Did Jesus Really Live Again" song - we had fish. (...."and of the fish and honeycomb he did truly eat.") Really - fish just sounded good. I'm not a red meat fan at all. On the menu was snow cod fish in a heavy lemon marinade, fresh asparagus smothered in Hollaindaise sauce, red potatoes baked in olive oil and french onion dip, and Lehi Mill Rolls. So - it turned out pretty good...and wasn't as hard to make as I thought. The rolls were pretty intense for me, though. For Christmas 2 years ago someone gave us a Lehi Roller Mills mix and I wanted to use it before it expired next month. It required yeast and letting the dough rise and everything. It was much more intense than packaged dinner rolls or Rhodes rolls. Cadet loved helping me make the rolls - so I was glad that I tried it. It reminded me of when my mom used to make fresh homemade bread and Cinnamon rolls every Friday. The smell of it brought all those memories back to me. As much as I hate cooking - I sure do enjoy the finished product. I realize I owe it to my kids to try a little harder. In all of my nostalgia - I also remember eating bread dough. I loved it as a kid. As a kid, though, my mom was around to make sure I only ate a little. As I was getting the dough ready last night, I ate it like cookie dough. Hubby though it utterly discusting (which it probably was) - but I loved it. I couldn't stop. I ended up getting quite the overdose of bread dough. For those of you who haven't eaten bread dough, I recommend starting off with just a small bite. Don't indulge in a spoon full or two or three plus the beaters plus licking the bowl plus sampling a dollop from each roll. Its just not a good idea. Within a few minutes, I was burping bread dough burps. It was not good. To try to get rid of the burps - I hit the Easter candy. Yum. Chocolate. It felt like a good idea at the time. So, after eating a ton of bread dough, and 7 or 8 pieces of chocolate I was still burping. Enter the cream cheese pumpkin roll. Exit my self-control. Half a roll later, I'm still burping yucky burps. Half an hour later I'm on the couch writhing in pain. Burping. Nauseated. Belly expanding. Dough expanding. No room in the inn. Still having to feed the baby, and regretting my indulgence. It was a rough night, but I survived. I think that I won't be making any more rolls for a long time. Bread dough is just too dangerous in my hands.

Wii the Artichokes

Just two random things on my mind this morning. First - I'm still sore. We went home this weekend to visit our families and celebrate my nephew's birthday. It was a lot of fun! (Except for my sister being stuck in the hospital and missing out on the fun.) My other sister bought a Wii a few weeks ago. I'm usually so anti gaming system (probably because I never had one, and am exceptionally terrible at them.) But - I love the Wii. I am addictd to the boxing. Hence - why I am still sore. My back, my arms, my neck, my abs, my sides. Who knew a video game could be such a workout? It is three days later and I still hurt. But - it was a lot of fun.

The second thing on my mind - artichokes. Last night I went grocery shopping and went crazy in the produce section. I've been craving greens like nothing else. So...I found an artichoke. This is only the second time ever that I"ve eaten an artichoke. It was so yummy. It took me 20 minutes to research how to cook and eat it - another 20 to cook it - and an hour to eat it! I totally enjoyed it, though. I ate the entire thing myself and it was just splendid. Even though, I didn't finish until 11 p.m. I truly enjoyed it.

Stumped

One of the things that I just love about our rental is this stump. In our front yard there obviously used to be a tree. Now....it is just a stump....and it has these great spotlights shining all around it. It's just beautiful - truly :) Actually, I love it because Cadet loves it. He likes to pretend to get the sword out of the stone from it. It's great entertainment. So...its just an example of how sometimes when you look at something from first glance with dismay - it doesn't have to always be so bad. The eyesore in our front yard is fuel for the imagination - and a great babysitter for me - happy day.

Hammer and Nails

"I'm bored." I would say when I was younger. "Go get some hammer and nails, then." My mom would always reply.

So...yes, I have been incredibly bored since we've moved. But, I've started to put some hammer and nails back into my life and I'm feeling better now. Here's what I've been doing for the last 4 months.

1. Moved and unpacked all my junk.

2. Had a baby 3 weeks later. His older brother calls him "Tinkerbell" all the time. So, its not the most flattering name, but it is what I'm going to call him, because I have to call him that half the time anyways. (Yes, I am net-security-a-phobic. I won't put pictures of my kids on my blog, or their real names. So kid number one is "Cadet" and kid number two is "Tink.")

3. Reading. Reading. Reading.

One of the great pleasures of playing all you can eat cow buffet (nursing/breastfeeding) is that I get a lot of time to read. Mostly I end up reading to the Cadet while I'm nursing, but I have managed to squeeze in these few books in the last three months:

• Ender's Game (for the 2nd time) by Orson Scott Card
• Speaker for the Dead by Card
• Xenocide by Card
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• New Moon by Meyer
• Eclipse by Meyer
• Your 3 Year Old: Friend or Enemy by Louise Ames
• 106 Mistakes People Make when Buying a Home (and How to Avoid them) by ? Can't remember
• Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
• How to Buy your 1st Home by ? Can't remember
• Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell
• Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
• 200 Best Home Businesses by ? Can't remember
• The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
• The Kite Runner by Khaleid Housseini

4. I found 3 piano students for a total of 4 students. Not bad, but not great. I still have my one loyal student form Seattle. I met her in San Diego and she moved to Seattle, but she calls me and we do lessons via speakerphone. I really love teaching. I hope to get some more.

5. Exploring. I have enjoyed this! I have found lots of Story Times (Weber County library, Davis County Library, Deseret Book, Barnes and Noble, Family Resource Center, Treehouse Museum, Gerrity Library on the Base) For all of Utah's faults, it sure has a lot of story times for kids. I have enjoyed them. I've also just been playing tourist around here. There actually is quite a bit to do - but its all inside. I can't wait for warmer weather.

6. Started investigating House Buying. Yikes. It's a complicated process. We've found a realtor (Cadet managed to dump her coffee all over her and his hot chocolate all over her at our first meeting) and we have a ballpark range of what we can afford. We've been to see some new homes and also some open houses. I'm starting way early (our lease isn't up until Oct. ) but I'm soooo picky that I have to start now. I want to be able to know what I want.

7. Joined a Mom's Club (part of an international organization.) They have activities 3 times a week or more. It's been fun to have playgroups and walk around the mall, or go to their bookclub with them. It's been fun to meet other moms here. - I have to say the people here ARE great. I was worried that I would move here and hate the culture. I haven't had a problem with it at all. The people are fantastic. I have truly grown to love and admire many of them already. I was worried about nothing. There are great people everywhere. I'm convinced of it. I miss so many people from San Diego terribly, but I'm starting to make some new friends here, too.

8. Walking. Yeah! on a treadmill....not so Yeah. I REALLY miss walking outside. I've been walking 4-5 miles a day, and I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I wish that meant that I was in my prepregnant shape - but not so. The second one has changed me permanently I think. That's okay, the flabby belly is well worth the smiles I get from Tink everyday.

9. Threw a successful Birthday Party for my 3 year old....complete with streamers and balloons and games and even a homemade cake. Unbelievable. I actually made a decent cake. (It took 2 tries and the mold really helped it look like a car, but I did it.) We had to delay the party a week because Tink got RSV - but it still happened.

10. Started Cooking Dinner. I can't believe I'm making dinner but I am. Part of it is that I get sooooo hungry when I'm nursing. I can't wait to eat and cooking takes my mind off the waiting. The other part is that since I'm not working in the afternoon/evenings anymore we can actually eat together as a family. Probably the biggest plus is that I get a break from the kids if I cook. I really hate cooking, but that shows you how ready I am for a break at the end of the day. We eat a steady boring diet consisting of the following "masterpieces" (or at least edible dishes):

• grilled cheese/tomato soup
• soup and salad
• omelets
• french toast
• tacos

....anyhow this is just a smattering of what I've done to hold myself together through the transition. It has been an adjustment to say the least, but I'm surviving it! I can't believe that I get bored. It's amazing, because I"m always changing diapers and half the time I don't get a shower for a few days, and I'm bored? I think its just a by product of motherhood. I am learning to truly enjoy being a mom (but I'm still excited for retirement days when I can enjoy my spouse more.)

The Neighborhood

For my birthday next week - I got a double jogging stroller! YEAH!!! I love to walk, and am so excited to be able to go outside again. This has been the yuckiest winter with so much snow. I finally went outside today with my new toy. It felt so good. I couldn't help but notice how different my neighborhood is here. I've gone from city to rural America. Yikes! I'm glad we're renting. I think I want to be a little farther from the horses. I think I much prefer a busier place to the wide open spaces everyone seems to want here. We've been looking at homes to buy and everyone touts, "Wide open spaces, no neighbors behind you, horse pasture with a view....etc..." I just want sidewalks and stores and libraries and schools and something more than a Wal-Mart nearby. I think we're going to look closer to SLC for our home.

Anyhow...here are some pictures of my old neighborhood vs. the new neighborhood. There are two pictures of the park and temple I walked past every day (sometimes 2-3 times a day) for the last five years, and then now the horse and old dilapidated truck I get to walk by every day now if it ever stays warm enough. It's amazing how much my life has changed the last three months.