Ok, I'm back.

I apologize for being such a boring Blogger. My life has been crazy and I find no time to be doing personal things on the computer. Hey, I work for a living (outside the home, that is). I'd love to be sitting in my kitchen, with the slider door open listening to the breeze in the trees, the birds chirping, and smelling my baking cinnamon rolls in the oven. Oh wait, I just described an afternoon at Noelle's house. I'm so dang jealous. And I wish I was home to greet Caslon when she walks through the door. It's the opposite at my house - she greets me. Sometimes with dinner started and laundry going. I tell ya - start them VERY YOUNG and you'll have help when they grow up expecting to do it.

It seems like there's been a lot of grief lately - parents or friends passing away, sickness and sadness. Then a friend has a baby and it all makes sense. I held a new baby boy this week and instantly fell in love with him. His moms having a hard time getting any sleep but I know it will become easier and she'll become less worried about him continuing to breath while he sleeps. Its a miracle when people decide to have babies - Noelle is having her 4th and it blows my mind. Just the fact that she'll be one child busier and that's ok with her is beyond my understanding. But I love her for it. We're commanded to have children and bring them up in the light of the gospel. She's definately doing her part. In fact, all my sisters are. It makes me sad that my parents and 3 of us girls live within 15 minutes of each other but I rarely see them. What if something happened to one of us? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for not spending more time with them. Bec and I spent Friday night cleaning house and had a great time talking and laughing while we worked. I wish we all had more opportunities like that. I don't even know what my parents are up to. I left a message a couple weeks ago, but haven't heard back from them. I talked to Stacey for about 45 minutes last night as I drove home and had so much fun talking about relationships and other girl talk. She always makes me laugh so hard. I love how I can call any of my sisters and it feels like she's right next door. I'm very grateful that we are close.

I read Twilight and instantly fell in love with Edward. How can he possibly still look 17? I think of him looking more like a mature 30 or something. I'm starting New Moon tonight and hope its not too depressing. I wish I had hours to read, but it seems like something is always planned for me between dinner, Caslon and David. Maybe I should hide away in the bathroom and take a nice long bath. Who'd notice if I came out all pruny. Probably no one.
I suppose I should get back to work. There's never a shortage of things to do at my desk. I love my new job and its challenges. I work for the nicest guy.

One Word About Me

One Word

Yourself: friendly
Your partner: honest
Your hair: shorter
Your mother: righteous
Your father: righteous
Your favorite item: ear plugs
Your dream last night: graphic
Your favorite drink: ZipFizz
Your dream car: Suzuki XL-7
Dream home: mine
The room you are in: office
Your fear: death
Where you want to be in 10 years: here
Who you hung out with last night: David!
You're not: analretentive
One of your wish list items: piano
The last thing you did: breakfast
You are wearing: jeans
Your favorite weather: 75*
Your favorite book: NationalGeographic
Last thing you ate: cereal
Your life: amazing
Your mood: willing
Your best friend: David!
What are you thinking about right now: groceries
Your car: Suzuki XL-7
What are you doing at the moment: thinking
Relationship status: lovely
What is on your t.v: nothing
When is the last time you laughed: 11:00pm

Needed Some Pictures to Spice up my Blog

Here are some beautiful pictures of Seattle and the Washington coast. I am so lucky to live here. There's nothing better than a sunny day in Seattle! It will be nice when summer comes and we have more consistent weather than we've had this winter/spring. I hope my out of town friends come on here and get homesick and come back home.

Down in the Dumps

Ok, I know I've been sooo lame at blogging but I just haven't had time to do it. I'm really trying to stay focused at work and get everything done in a "timely manner". But the last few weeks I've been kinda down and its been bugging me, not to mention David and Caz. I mean, I had Karen Jr. and Bec over to scrap and I wasn't even that excited about it. Such a lame hostess. That's not like me - I usually LOVE haveing people over. And I haven't been acting that nice to David and Caz and they are basically sick of me. I tend to start feeling numb to things and it shows in everything around me, home, work, church. It scares me to think I'll have to increase my meds and I can't stand that thought. I won't just try to make it better by doing that. I need to work on myself and hopefully get through the times it happens. Last month it started with PMS and then it drug on for another 2 weeks. That's practically a whole month.

My sweet husband sat us all down last night for a family meeting. He was very nice and patient about telling me how hard it is on us all when I'm a rag (my word). Basically, he doesn't want to deal with me when I'm snotty and sarcastic, so he's going to keep his distance when I'm in that mood. I think that really helped. I mean, I felt so good after that because we were able to sit there and talk about what's been going on with each of us. I'm lucky to have a husband who cares about that and wants to have a happy family.

HAPPY, HAPPY DAY PART 2

So, to continue my Happy Post... Easter Sunday morning came really early - I woke up around 7:00 and reviewed my lesson. I got ready for church and woke Caslon up. I went to choir practice at 9:00. Yes, I'm singing in the choir. No, I'm not good or up to par with the other lovely-voiced singers. But I can usually keep a tune and can add some volume to the rest of the group. Its been fun so far. During practice, we only had about 10 minutes until we were done and one of the bishopric counsellors come in to the room and asked to talk to me. He said Caslon called and need me to call her at home. I got to the phone and while I was dialing, I listened to her voice mail message on my cell phone that had been turned off. She was hysterically crying and saying that David had hurt himself in the shop and I needed to come home right away. When she got on the phone and I actually talked to her she had calmed down a little bit but couldn't tell me what had happened. I drove home as fast as I could. Luckily we live about 5 blocks from the church.

When I walked in the door I found David laying in the bathtub filled with water. He looked fine to me, except he was in excruciating pain. He pointed to his foot and I saw that his big toe had been smashed and the nail was black and blue, with blood dripping from it. What happened was, he was in his shop downstairs and was using a shear where you stood on a steel step which caused a blade to come down and cut metal. His left foot was underneath the step when he dropped all his weight on the step with his right foot, crushing his left toe. He hopped over to the downstairs bathroom where Caslon was doing her hair and he started yelling in pain. Somehow he got himself upstairs and into the bathtub to keep the blood off the floors, and to be able to elevate his foot. I found some Tylenol with codeine and gave him some for the pain. I got him into bed and cleaned up his foot. Caz and I then had to leave for church. His toe is healing well and he was able to drive on Tuesday. He apologized to Caslon for freaking her out, and thanked her for helping him so much. He also apologized to me for not going to church that day on Easter to hear me sing in the choir, like he had planned to.

Heather, Chelsie and Luke came to our ward and sat with Caslon while I sang in the choir. I have no idea how we sounded because I was concentrating so hard on hitting the high notes that I didn't listen. My lesson went well in Relief Society. My ward is great at giving comments and sharing stories, so it makes it easier to teach the lesson. I'm glad Heather was there!

After church Caslon and I went home and took care of David, making sure he was set for the evening. We left for Rebecca's house for Easter dinner of soups and bread, and an Easter egg hunt. We got to see a video of Rebecca's family on their latest ski day together. It looked so much fun! It was great being there and seeing my family.

Monday at work I really missed David and Caslon. Sometimes we have such a good weekend that I don't want to go to work or be away from them. Monday night we made quiche for dinner and watched some of the talks from conference. That was a great way to spend Family Night. I really appreciated Caslon and David being willing to spend time doing that with me.

So, I think that sums up my awesome weekend (excluding the not-so-awesome toe smashing part).

HAPPY, HAPPY DAY! PART I

Wow, haven't blogged in a month. I don't blame you for not checking my site anymore. I'm kinda lame. I'm even too lazy to change the color of my font! I wanted to share some happy things that I've had happen this weekend.

Friday was a day off of work (that's enough to make ANYONE happy). The best part was the weather was 75 degrees! There's nothing better in Seattle than when its sunny and warm. I woke up late and then David and I went out to breakfast at the Brown Bag Cafe. They give you so much food we had leftovers for the day after. They make homemade bread and huge cinnamon rolls to die for, but not as good as Noelle's or Rebecca's. We went up to the junior high to fly David's remote control airplane. It was pretty windy up there and on the first flight, it landed about 30 feet up in a tree. Luckily, a nice neighbor was watching and gave us a long pole and some twine (we were so MacGyver that day) and we coaxed it out of the tree. David tried it one more time, and it crashed to the grass, then he practiced taxiing it around the lot and then we went home after that.

I worked in the yard for 5 hours that day! I totally took advantage of the sun by wearing a tank top and short shorts! I WAS sweating and dirty, so I thought it was ok not to wear my garments anyway. I pulled weeds, picked up leftovers from the December wind storm (sticks and leaves), picked more dandelions, raked and pulled vines and overgrown groundcover, and even did a couple chops with an ax on some branches before David came and saved me from cutting off my foot.. or worse. It turns out he's an excellent lumberjack. Something else I'm amazed at with him.

We took a lunch break and then decided a nap sounded good. It was the best feeling to be able to say "I want to take a nap" and be able to go in our room and do just that. No bosses, no deadlines, nothing else to do. I need more days like that.

That night I went to get my nails done. After 5 years of attempting to grow them out and biting and chewing them, I had acrylics put on again. When I got home, David had the grill heated up for steaks and had made cheese fondue. We had a memorial dinner for his Aunt Mary who passed away last month.

On Saturday we slept in again and then Caz came home from Brian's house. She had been gone all week for Spring Break. We did a little cleaning around the house and then she and I took off for the grocery store. That night we watched The Prestige with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Really good story. Then I worked on my lesson for Relief Society the next day.

63 Random Things About Me

I started this a few months ago and its been sitting in my 'drafts' file. I'm tired of looking at it so I decided to just send it. Here ya go:

1. My favorite color is bright yellow-orange in dishes, paintings, cars, and paper.
2. My favorite thing to wear is whatever I feel most comfortable/confident in at the time.
3. Growing up my sister, Rebecca, always teased me about having elf ears. She would act like she was pricking her finger on the tip of one and say "ouch! ouch!". Ever since I told David about that, he does it to my pointy nose.
4. I love working out but only have an hour and 15 minutes at work to do it on my lunch break. Better than nothing.
5. I have broken both arms, a rib and 2 fingers. One finger is still crooked and one is still healing from last summer's accident.
6. I've been a legal assistant since 1991.
7. My dad called me Sunshine Girl when I was little, much to the chagrin of my sisters. I don't think he'd pick that name for me these days.
8. I got married when I was 19, had Caslon when I was 22, divorced when I was 27 and remarried the same year.
9. My sisters are my best (girl)friends.
10. My husband is my best (boy)friend.
11. I love the tv shows Amazing Race, Survivor, House, Grey's Anatomy, America's Funniest Videos, Ellen DeGeneres Show, Driving Force, ER, America's Next Top Model, American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, LOST.
12. I love reading books but don't take time to do it. I catch about 40 minutes a day in the vanpool.
13. I love bubble baths and using smelly good scrubs and lotions.
14. I have never owned my own home. Although we are currently living in one we'd love to buy.
15. I took 8 years of piano lessons but still can't play without music. I need theory work.
16. The best time is when I get to laugh with people.
17. I hate rap music, but I love most others, including classical (thanks Dad!).
18. I wish I could sing solos in church, and sound good.
19. I want to make more of a difference in my job/life. I'd like to volunteer more and help people.
20. I would love to have an awesome dog (well-trained), but one that doesn't poop or bark or shed or toot. I also love cats.
21. I am a horrible housekeeper but my daughter and husband keep me motivated and I'm glad when its clean.
22. I love reading books because I'd like life to be as good as the good parts in the story.
23. I don't understand how women can look so nice at church and then forget themselves the whole rest of the week. I love wearing makeup.
24. I have an anger/depression problem so I have to take a drug. I think growing up has helped it a lot though, at least the anger part.
25. One of the most daring things I've ever done was go white water rafting, on the family course.
26. I love taking pictures and am so mad when my digital camera fails to do what I want.
27. I went skiing one time in my life. After falling 10 times and hitting my head, skiing over a small sink-hole and fogging up my goggles with my hot tear-streaked face, I called it a day.
28. Its hard for me to watch tv or movies without wondering what its like for actors to act. I can't imagine standing in front a camera and crew and crying or screaming or kissing or other things I'd be embarrassed about.
29. I've been told I'm a good listener.
30. I love watching tv but it doesn't feel very satisfying compared to hard work.
31. I want to grow my hair out to its original color but I'm too afraid of looking plain like I used to.
32. I wish I had a baby.
33. I wish I hadn't been so involved with boys, starting at age 14.
34. I've looked really tired and puffy-eyed the last year. I don't know what to do about it.
35. I hate shellfish because of the texture and sand that gets in it. And because my dad's allergic to it.
36. I love chocolate, but not chocolates. Hershey's is my fave. The best I've ever tasted was a big chunky chocolate bar with lots of crunchy almonds in it. I've never found them again.
37. I'm very hard to motivate, especially at work (niiiiice) and at home to cook or clean.
38. I love living in Seattle, especially when the sun is out.
39. I wish my two out-of-town sisters lived here. I miss them and their kids/husbands.
40. Despite having a lot of responsibilities at work, I am a horrible procrastinator and hope no one notices.
41. I am so thankful for my job.
42. I can't sit still without falling asleep or fidgeting nonstop.
43. I dream graphic technicolor dreams every night (thank you drug).
44. One of my best memories from home is after church falling asleep on the living room floor in the sun.
45. I never thought my mom was pretty until after I grew up and started looking at her pictures again.
46. I hope I can do one little thing for everyone I know to make them feel liked.
47. Caslon was born 5 weeks early because I had Toxemia. I don't know what Nesting feels like.
48. I remember after my mom died, Rebecca and I were on the school bus and started crying. Kids started looking at me and Rebecca turned to me and said "Are you crying?" and I made up some excuse about the sun being in my eyes, making them water.
49. The 'one words' that came back to me about myself were: sunshine (2 times), warm hearted, true, thoughtful, sweet. awe shucks.
50. I've seen Harry Connick, Jr. 3 times in concert.
51. I've traveled to Alaska, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, California, North Carolina, Florida, Canada and Mexico.
52. I wish I could work with 6-8 year olds every day, helping them read.
53. People always get my name mixed up with Jennifer. Must be the 3 syllables.
54. I wish my skin color wasn't so fish-belly white.
55. I religeously get a mammogram every year because I want to catch the cancer when it comes.
56. I love most desserts that are warm, from the bakery, chocolatey and gooey. Or a hot fudge sundae.
57. I've been very blessed with clear skin.
58. I think its so macho when I see David at work in his excavator.
59. David has the most handsome hands I've ever seen.
60. I love board games: Pictionary, Scattegories, OutBurst, Taboo.
61. By the time I was 27, I had worked 11 different jobs.
62. When I'm in an elevator or walking down the hall with someone, I don't have to fill up the silence with talk. I don't mind silence.
63. In theater class in highschool I had to pretend to be in labor on stage. A guy in my class had to pretend to be my labor coach and kept looking under the blanket to see if the baby was coming.