it's not a job I'd want, but. . .

School photographers should know better than to use a bright blue background.  Come on.  My kid's skin isn't usually gray.  I tried to edit this one to make it better.  It's better than the original, but it still bugs me.  The prints aren't good, but my kid will gladly send them to you if you'd like.  I'd recommend printing it again yourself though.  I haven't tried yet, but fingers crossed, hoping for a better result. (I'll put it up on shutterfly shortly.)

I'm trying to decide if I should complain.  I think they need to know for next time, which hopefully there isn't one with our school, but whatever.

My cutie did her closed lip smile due to the fact that there were very few teeth inside.  ;)  I still can't believe how grown up she is all of a sudden.

Retakes?  Nah, it was photog error not my baby, so why should I expect better results with a round two?  Maybe I'll edit the background and see if that helps.

Am I focusing on the wrong thing here?  Yes, I know.  I love my first grader and she looks like her cute self.  Don't mind me while I complain about the professionals hired to capture it all.

**(Update)  I contacted the photographer (Bell Photographers Inc.) and they said to just do retakes.  Yeah, I don't recommend them.

the curse of 3

I don't know if it's a rule or a curse, or totally made up in my head, but things tend to break in threes.  When something big or expensive stops working I tend to duck and cover until the storm has passed.

First it was the batteries on our phones.  I count this as one breakage since Dave and I have the same phone purchased at the same time.  They were struggling to stay for the whole day, well even half.  Batteries replaced, thank you Apple.  Apparently this is a widespread problem and if your iPhone is having it check to see if they'll replace it for free, cause they will if they have the batteries. . . there seems to be a shortage.  Shocker.

That problem could have been worse than it was.  I could see the need for a new phone growing in Dave's greedy little techno eyeballs.  Thankfully, snuffed it out with the free repair and also the next break in the curse.

Second, took my car in to get the oil changed.  They said I need new tires.  Excuse me what?!!  No, no I don't think so.  Way too soon for that.  It turns out I got lemons on my car.  Seriously. . . and I don't know how to make lemonade out of this one.  We have the worst luck with tires.  Once our tires (2 of them) were swapped out during a tire rotation for a couple of crappy older ones.  Yeah, that was fun when we found out.  That was in the past though and also on Dave's car.  So now Honda is looking into what they can do for us since they gave us these crappy bicycle tires in the first place.  We shall see.

Third, and the straw that broke the camel's back. . . or in this case Dave's easy going spirit. . . our TV went kaput.  Is that how you spell kaput?  What is a kaput anyway?  I digress.  So our TV won't turn on, and in the grand scheme of things we could definitely live without a TV, but it's kind of nice to have it too.  Dave would have immediately started researching and shopping for a new one had we not just experienced two previous breakages.  I guess I'm a little grateful for that, cause buying a TV is not high on my list, but neither are tires.  Hmmm.  I wonder if TV ranks higher than tires for Dave.  ;)  He's decided to focus on fixing it ourselves.  I'm onboard with that.  Should be fun.  I'll let you know.  In the meantime we set up our projector and used a blank canvas to watch a show.  See, who needs a TV anyway.  If I make a giant blank canvas and hang it on my wall I think it can count as art and entertainment.

Does this breaking in threes happen to anyone else or does karma love me especially?

oh the drama

A couple dramatic stories for you today.  You'll have to add the dramatic flare to your inner voice to get the full effect.

So, we've had issues with birds killing themselves on our windows.  I've tried reflector stickers, no go.  I stopped cleaning them, and that didn't help either.  OK, that wasn't a solution just laziness for a time.  ;)  I'm going to get a wind chime or something, though hanging CDs didn't scare anything away either.  Man, birds are stupid.  Maybe my windows are providing a service to the bird community.  Like natural selection.  Survival of the fittest.  That's good an all, but I'm tired of cleaning up carcasses, which brings me to my story from last week.

We heard a thud and I got up to see if my services were required outside, when I saw another bird flying straight at me.  Thud again.  Shudder.  It wasn't dead though and was flapping about on the patio when a giant hawk swooped down and picked it up and flew away.  Didn't land at all.  Right in front of me.  My girls, thankfully did not get up to check on the noises and so missed the live show.  Miley did ask why I was yelling though.  I immediately looked for my dogs to make sure they were in the house.  I need to get bigger dogs.  All was well, but now I'm not sure our backyard is safe.  ;)  Snakes, scorpions, and now attacking hawks.  Crap.

Miley's first week of school was going well until Thursday and we got a phone call saying that due to enrollment our child's class would be changed.  What?!  So it turns out that they weren't good at predicting numbers or every other child on the list fell into a black hole.  I don't know, but they hired a new teacher for this year, which Miley got, and then in the first week of school fired her as well because her class was just too small.  I was not happy.  Miley found out that afternoon in class and when we picked her up she was BAWLING.  My kid gets attached to her teachers.  I was hoping that one week was not enough to bond, but first grade is a big change and the stress of it was too much to take this much change.  I was soooooo mad that they made my baby cry, which of course meant I cried, livid-angry-tears, not the kind that damsel's shed.  ;)  We hugged her first teacher, who was heartbroken and that didn't help my angry tears, and then met her new teacher who seemed nice enough but I was too ticked to really pay attention.

Miley made some pictures and a card to go with a little present for her first teacher, while I drafted a thorough list of the ways this school has disappointed us into a letter.  The next day Miley got to visit the counselor's office for some grief counseling.  Yeah, her tears were more of the damsel variety, but they've dried up and I think we're on our way to a normal school year.  Fingers crossed.

Jovey definitely deserves to make this post as well.  She's trying out the terrible twos in dramatic fashion. . . with well, her fashion.  She HAS to pick our her clothes and pajamas, and shoes, and accessories or the crocodile tears erupt and the ugly bawling commences.  Seriously, where did she learn this crap?  Don't get me wrong, she's still my happy little monster, but she's serious about her look.  Girlie girls x 2 I'm afraid.  I asked Dave if this freaked him out, but he blew it off and said he was used to it now.  So I guess that means Jovey learned it from Miley.  ;)

(I put her in the wrong pajamas, she wanted the Minnie Mouse nightgown in her hand)

crickets therefore feminism

It's been awful quiet around here, and yet in my head it's been pretty noisy.  I've been reading too much.  Articles on every subject from different perspectives.  I've been sucked into social conscientiousness and I can't get out. . . not until I fix the world.  ;)  OK, I don't have the answers, but after reading something about speaking up I feel I need to say something, anything.

So today I'd like to talk about why I am no longer a FEMINIST.  I don't know if I actually ever was a feminist, but I do know now that I can't claim membership in the club.

Is that surprising?  Don't get me wrong, I have felt the distinct bitterness of sexism and I would love my daughter's to never know that taste.  I remember the first time it hit me in the face, it was in high school.  I was a sports writer for the newspaper and had to cover boys sports.  After my first experience interviewing the coaches, I dreaded it ever after.  They were condescending jerks.  I thought it was just because I was a student and not a real reporter and they were, well, jerks.  I asked the other journalism students and their experiences were different.  They were also boys.  I thought maybe I wasn't asking good enough questions.  I tried harder.

I became a sports writer in college as well. More interviews with males coaches about male sports.  I didn't expect the same treatment, I was more confident in my abilities, but I was surprised with a very real deja vu.  Then I saw how they interacted with other reporters on the staff, the male kind. . . very different.  Bubble burst.  They treated me like I was a stupid because I was a girl.  I guess it could have been my blonde hair.  Maybe I could have won their respect in the end, but after a year I left journalism.  My editor asked me to stay, but it just wasn't worth it.  Did I let feminism down then?  Maybe.

I am grateful for the women who came before me who fought for the right to vote and own property and be recognized.  I do believe feminism had a purpose.  I think it's been twisted into a bitter angry thing.

I admit, I love the song in Mary Poppins about votes for women.  My favorite line, 'though we love men individually, as a whole we feel they are rather stupid.'  Come on, that was funny, but not something I want my daughters thinking.  Maybe I watched that movie too much, cause the thought comes to my mind too frequently.

These days you see in every TV show a bumbling fool of a man, a turn around from the previous standard of ditzy woman doing the man's bidding.  I don't agree with either.  It changes how we think about the opposite sex.  Strip that away and does that make for some pretty boring programming, well maybe.

I watched a video today that someone made of the Disney princesses singing a song about how they don't need a man and how since they got a happily every after with a prince they didn't get what they really wanted to do in life.  Seriously?  This theme seems to be repeated a lot.  Blame someone else, in this case men.  I think feminism has gone too far.

Why do we need to step on someone else to feel empowered?  Couldn't they have sung a song about doing whatever they want because they are capable of doing it?  Why must we always push someone else down to feel greater?

Let's face it, we do need each other.  Why is needing someone a bad thing?  I'm not great, myself, at asking for help.  Maybe I am a feminist.  ;)  Of course, when I find myself thinking that it usually gets me in trouble and so obviously it is flawed.  We'd also be completely blind to the whole survival of the species by saying we don't need men.  Stupid princesses.  ;)

I was reading about school violence and how the number of incidences have not decreased since Columbine.  The efforts to stop them have not been successful in that way, though the number of casualties have dropped.  The ones inflicting the violence are males feeling very ostracized from society.  I hadn't thought about the common gender of the attackers.

I think making boys feel useless and unnecessary is a nasty consequence of feminism.  I don't think the violent boys watched that princess music video, but I don't doubt that boys and men get the message loud and clear from everything else the media pushes.  Women can do everything men can do.  We don't need fathers.  We don't need marriage.  We don't need men.  They are stupid.  That has to impact them.  It's unrealistic to think it wouldn't.  This is why the feminist movement came to be, to right the wrongs against women who were treated as second class citizens.  No one should be told they are stupid or have less worth.  This is the generation of men we are now raising.  It's a bleak outlook for our society.

We are belittling instead of building and it still happens on both sides.  I believe the root of all our problems is the disintegration of the family, of respect for each gender.  We are now so full of ourselves that we need no one else.  What a pointless notion.  Our aggrandizement is out of control.  Feminism is no longer building up women, but propping up women on the heads of men.  We're competing with each other for some reason I can't figure out.  What do we get if we win?  How do we win?  If it's proven women are better. . . what happens?  I don't want a trophy for that.  It wasn't earned.

We are different, as genders, as individuals.  In our strengths and weaknesses.  Why can't we be ok with that and not compare EVERYTHING?  Where is the middle ground where we promote people because of the good they can do and not in terms of BETTER than. . .?

Miley complained to me once that something 'wasn't fair.'  We had a little talk about how ridiculous that concept is and made her promise never to say it again.  ;)  Right, we'll see, fingers crossed.  I do believe that society has become obsessed with fairness.  I understand it to a point, but don't believe that we will ever be able to discern fairness for ourselves.  It isn't possible to compare the complexities on a chart and say, yep, it is now completely fair.  My life doesn't look like anyone I know, so . . . fair?  Unless you're talking snow cones and motion sickness, please don't use the word around me.  It's aggravating.  Actually, maybe not at all, Miley is slightly obsessed with going to the fair.

So what's the answer. . . everyone hold hands and sing Kumbaya?  That'd be nice.  ;)  For me it's to pay attention to the media's influence in my own home.  To check what I say and how I treat my husband and make sure my girls see that I respect and love him always.  I want to make sure my actions flow out from there, to everyone else I encounter.  It's not easy, I have a sharp tongue.  Change starts in the home though.  I really wish the government understood that.

In conclusion, I may not be a feminist but I am grateful they existed.  I'm feeling less than happy with Republicans as well, but I refuse to get into those politics here.  ;)  Disenfranchised, and now craving an elephant ear.  Hmmmm.

a full plate

I'm used to people telling stories about how busy they are and list off a dozen things.  Poor overflowing plates of stuff.  I'd think, that doesn't sound like too much, or why don't you cut x,y, and z off, or why are you telling me.  Now I'm thinking I shouldn't tell you what I'm thinking, will you stop talking to me if I divulge my inner monologue?  ;)

Everyone is going through different things and everyone's plate is a different size I've decided, sometimes depending on the day.  See, I think nice things too.  ;)

I also think listing things off is cathartic.  My plate is feeling dessert sized today, like fancy restaurant portion dessert sized, not like mine where the dessert may be the main course.  So roll your eyes if you want, cause I understand, but let me get some of this stuff off my chest. . .

- insta-friend bday invites -  We've received our first bday party invite from a classmate, of which I have no clue who it is.  What is the etiquette of these things?  I don't have a lot of time to do some sleuthing.  I got a positive recommendation from another friend about said person.  Is that enough?  Do I have to buy presents for every member of Miley's class now.  Ughhhh.  Grateful her birthday falls in the summer a little, cause I don't have to worry about inviting a lot of kids I don't know to my house.

-pets and pills-  Having health issues with my pups.  Giving me stress.  Thyroid in one, allergies in the other.  Hoping all these pills resolve something.  They are my babies too.  What can I say.

-soccer starting- We put Miley is soccer this year.  Starts this week.  She's kinda nervous, kinda excited.  I'm trying to be positive and not expect her to fall down and get hurt immediately.  Should I bubble wrap her just in case?  ;)  She has a friend on the team.  She asked me if they would have time to talk to each other while they play. . . this should be interesting.

-waiting- My perennial adoption status update.  Right now we're waiting on paperwork from the government so we can go to the next step of name changes, court petitions, and social security cards.  It's been almost 11 weeks.  They are SOOOOO slow.  I just want to be done with all the paperwork already.

-mama's girl-  Jovey has trust issues, for obvious reasons.  She's very attached to Dave and I, but now that Dave has been working she's more nervous about whether he'll be around or not.  She's extra clingy to me.  So last week I had to leave her with Dave to do an activity for the 10-11 year old girls.  This was the first time I had left her at all in like 12 weeks.  I assumed she would be fine since she had her dad.  She was not happy with me when I got back.  I burst her safety bubble.  Had some struggles since then, but she seems to be relaxing again.  I don't know if it's a good idea to do it again and live through those few days of not-fun to show her I'll always come back. . . ??  Stumped.  I don't like to see her panic.  She doesn't trust us fully yet.  I understand it, but it makes me sad.

- I can't relate to tweens -  Do they call 10-11 year olds tweens?  I don't know.  So I'm in charge of activity days for these girlies and let me tell you it is no walk in the park.  I'm doing it by myself, so no one is there to help my wrangle the pack of rabid squirrels.  I swear, that's what tween girls most resemble.  I had them make necklaces last time and found out that they couldn't tie knots without my help, or turn the fabric right side out, or follow instructions. . .they of course know a better way.  Oy ve.  My girlies will not be tweens, ever.  It is a lost and empty stage where parents probably just put their heads down and soldier through.  Oh and in the end they only complained that I didn't bring treats for them.  I learned my lesson the last time when they complained about what I brought.  Is it wrong to call them out on my blog?  Sorry parents of ungrateful tweens in our ward, but maybe you needed to know.

-baby to 1 year in no time- My (three month old/family age, nine month old/chronological age) J is growing and changing so fast that I feel like I'm constantly behind.  She's starting to walk.  She wants to feed herself.  I don't know what a 9 month old eats anymore.  I feel like I should be starting at square one with lots of bottles, but we're already to solid foods and less bottles.  I have learned my memory is crap.  I don't remember anything from Miley's babyhood.  How did I keep her alive?  No idea.  Do I try to slow J down since she missed some important baby experiences?  Our doc says she is perfectly on schedule developmentally, so I shouldn't worry.  Silly doctor, of course I'll still worry.  I can't believe she'll be one in a couple of months.  I gave her some Ethiopian food today, cracker/cookies we brought back with us.  She was a fan, so was Miley.  Sometimes I forget that she hasn't always been with us, strange but true.

- dancing queen - My Miley is a dancer and singer. . . well a rock star pretty much.  Jovey dances to any music now because of her sister's influence.  Miley has her first dance recital this weekend and she is once again nervous and excited.  I am the same.  Hoping she doesn't fall down and hurt herself.  ;)  Recurring worry, yep, it happens. . . a lot.

- homeschooling - That's what I'm doing for Miley.  Kindergarten is letting her brain atrophy.  It is way too easy, but Miley loves it.  She's always happy and excited about everything.  Her teacher sends home 1st grade homework for her to do, but of course she doesn't get the lesson in school. . . so I'm giving her the lesson and we're doing the work.  Kindergarten is just a social event.  I am sooo not good at homeschooling.  I didn't remember what the long U sound is.  Yep, sad.

- rain damage -  My yard is still a mess.  I cleaned up one mudslide, but hadn't gotten around to buying more bricks to dam up the wall, so of course the rain came again and renewed the red mud pile.  Let's call my first effort practice or just exercise.  Lucky.  ;)  Haven't found a solution for our waterfall yet either.  Stupid landscapers.  I am almost using that word as a curse word now too.

- favorite holiday - I'm not ready for my favorite time of the year.  I have nothing finished, and only minor things started.  Feeling sad that I don't have more time to devote to creating spookiness.  What I had for Miley didn't fit, so now I'm altering.  Hoping I can get it done, or that no one will notice when I re-use a costume from a previous year.  Also, fingers crossed, this doesn't freak J out.  Maybe cross yours for me too on that one.  Maybe I should make our costumes not spooky this year.  Oh that hurt to type.

- fired again -  So when we were getting ready to go to Africa the RS presidency changed my visiting teaching list.  They asked me to do the mail out ones, since I'd have my hands full with my baby.  I agreed and I did it without a problem.  OK, a small problem, I forgot to call the supervisor and report it.  She never called me either though.  Got a call the other day saying that I didn't have to do visiting teaching anymore cause apparently it was way too much for me.  Total deja vu.  This happened when Miley was a baby too.  Fired, even though I was doing it this time; that time it was hit or miss but I blame my partner for complaining about my kid's napping schedule.  ;)  Should I be offended or just happy and relieved to be off the hook again?

- drugs are bad - I hate taking meds.  I am still sick.  Don't worry you are not at risk.  On big time antibiotics and steroids.  This is the mother of all sinus infections.  My doctor said if it turns out to be dengue fever then there is nothing he can do about it.  Honesty, I appreciate.  He gets me.  Having to take medicine for the side effects of the big time antibiotics and steroids.  So sick to my stomach.  Blech.  Being healthy is now just a foggy memory.  ;)

- I also broke a finger nail -  Yeah, it's bad here.  ;)  Thanks for not thinking bad things about my plate size, or not thinking them loudly enough that I could hear them.

i hate the post office

I've discovered a black hole between the post office and our mailbox.  I think that means I get to name it, like a star, right?  I've lost two packages and one very important document in the last month.  They made it to our local office, but not the couple of miles to our door.  So frustrated!  We complained.  Squeaky wheel you know.

So I mentioned that we had to get re-fingerprinted for immigration stuff awhile ago, anyway, we've been waiting to get our approval letter. . . for over 6 weeks.  ?!@#$$  Started to worry, cause they expired in May and we were being submitted to Embassy and. . . . My caseworker told me not to panic, but then gave me the list of numbers I needed to call to see whether our approval had been sent to NVC and the Embassy in Addis.  I skipped to the end and called the embassy first.  They were there.  Phew.  Now we called USCIS to see if we could get a copy as well.  Our officer told me she sent them in April, like the week after we did it.  Stupid stinkin post office, what are they Irish?, (anybody know that reference?).  That was a government document with our personal information on it and they lost it?!  They delivered it to someone else and those idiots didn't put it back in their mailbox to get to us?!?  Seriously.  Dave thinks that it probably just got thrown away by whoever received it.  I get other people's mail all the time (see our post office is doing lots of great work around here), and now I'm just going to start chucking it too.  OK, I'm not, cause I think that is rude but I really want to, for revenge.  Really lame revenge.  So yeah, not a fan of the post office and the near panic attack they gave me.

Talked to our postal worker at the house the other day to see if she'd found any of our packages yet.  Nope.  Miley was with me, she told her that she was very disappointed to not have received her graduation package from her Aunt Tiff.  We didn't raise a shy girl, that's for sure.  Another squeaky wheel, you know, when necessary.  ;)

I found out recently that some, maybe more than I realize, teenagers don't know how to use a mailbox.  Yep.  Had a conversation with one that didn't know you could put mail in the box for the postman to pick up.  She thought the little flag was there for patriotic purposes.  Seriously.  Blew my mind, and made me wonder what old-timey stuff Miley doesn't understand.  Apparently mailboxes are archaic now.  Miley knows how to use them so the knowledge will live on in our family.

Though maybe we should let the postal system die out.  I don't know who to blame for their awesome work on our behalf, so I don't yet have a name to put to my black hole.

It really felt good to vent that, but I think I should have added a few more stupids and stinkins to really show the depth of my disappointment.  ;)

*Update. . . still no USCIS documents, but they did recover the packages (after two weeks of looking). . . probably found them on a vacation home doorstep.  Who knows.  Please don't let this dissuade you from sending us mail.  We love getting it, when it actually makes it here.  ;)  But maybe get a tracking number and then check with us to see if we got it, if you want to be sure.  ;)

january and i don't get along

I figured out why most of my thoughts about January have the word crap attached to them.  You know how when you make a list, and to make yourself feel better you add something you've already done to the top of the list and immediately mark it off?  What you don't do that?  Hmmmm.

Well January is that list, that whole new year ahead of me with all those holidays, events, and projects to do all over again, with nothing, NOTHING to mark off as completed.  January is too big.  It is not my friend.  It is twelve months of responsibility staring me in the face.

Miley's suggestion. . . yoga.  She sure is smart.  ;) . . . but not as flexible as she once was.  Man, getting old is hard on us all.

It is still January no matter how much yoga we attempt, so I'm off to accomplish something. . . other than complaining on the blog.  Looks like that didn't make the resolution list for this year.  ;)  Right like I do that.

Stay tuned for February, I'll be brighter and lighter then.  ;)

29, lessons learned

What did you learn this month. . .

I learned that getting a point-and-shoot camera is a matter of sacrifice and compromise.  If you're not into reading a lengthy review of recent camera purchases you might want to skip the next little bit, I'll bold it when you can read again.  ;)

I love my DSLR.  It's awesome, but it's way too big for dragging along with me everywhere.  I have been on a search for a decent little camera FOREVER. . . (you know like in Sandlot).  I got one for Christmas, but I just wasn't happy enough with it.  It was a Samsung Dualview with the cool front screen.  It was to replace my Sony Cybershot (little red that in fact gave a lot of red eye and too much noise in the pics) that just didn't cut it for me over the last few years.  Sad.

Here's the thing, I have high expectations.  I expect the camera to be 1. Fast (in focus and shooting), 2. have Good pictures.  I didn't say great, I can't expect that, just good enough, clear with good color.  My Sony is fast, but not good.  The Samsung, well it was all bells and whistles without the quality, and the menus were tiresome to the extreme to deal with.  Oh and when did they stop printing out manuals?  You get a CD now instead?  Lame.  I didn't buy a Nook/Kindle because I like tactile feel of paper in my hands. . . which apparently trumps you know, trees and air to breathe.  Oh well, still a little annoyed.  ;)

So anyway, I traded it in for the new little Nikon Coolpix 8100.  I mean, cool is in the title so it's got to be great right?  ;)   My DSLR is a Nikon and I love it's pictures, so I expected probably more than I should have from the little thing.  It's pictures were great, but it's a trade-off, cause in less than optimum lighting it is not fast.  In fact is has an annoying stutter.  And I hate using a flash, they slow everything down, but with a little camera they are pretty much necessary.  Bummer.  Oh and the flash pops up, right where my finger goes, also a pain.  Ashton Kutcher was hawking this camera's lowlight awesomeness. . . he soooo got paid for it.  Another thing, after you shoot any video with it, (which is HD and pretty nice) it makes the stutter worse when taking pics again, talk about lag time.

This brings me to the Sony T99, upgrade from my very old Sony.  Bought this to compare to my Nikon.  Turns out Sony didn't change so much over the years.  Took me four hours to decide it wasn't good enough, and all that time was mostly spent charging the battery.  ;)  Same crappy pics, but it does have a cool panorama feature that I won't really ever use either. . .

Well my decision came down to what do I want more. . . Fast or Good?  After reading hundreds of reviews, it seems, on a dozen top rated cameras I think that I'm 1. exhausted, 2. know too much and now believe even less of their hype, and 3. tired of typing this review because it will just add to the noise of the thousands of other reviews.  Oh and 4. finding the numbering device a little annoying.  ;)  I think that means I'm keeping the Nikon for now, because I may be lazy like that.  I do have a slight desire to try out every camera Costco carries. . . they have an amazingly nice return policy.  ;)  And the new Sony Nex3 with interchangeable lenses. . . looks fun.

Here's what Mie and I look like after dealing with all these dang cameras. . .  (oh and her nice bruise is from running so fast, no really, that's what she says)

If you have any recommendations I'd gladly take them. . .

You can read again, if you skipped the camera nonsense. . . I also learned that I want to boycott perfection, live in the land of enough and be a minimalist.  Sounds so nice and catchy.  ;)  I read this awesome blog about cutting down your wardrobe to 33 pieces per season.  I don't know if I can cut that much, but I'm trying.  It is surprisingly fun to purge.  I also read somewhere to make a list of things that I don't need in my life and cut them out this year.  Working on that too.  After a stressful end of the year, I'm looking forward to letting go of a lot of stuff around here.

I learned that beta versions are pretty much crap. . . hello skype 2.8, coming back to you.

I learned that it is really for the best that I not read or hear the news, it only aggravates me and then Dave gets to hear one of my rants on the topic. . . and sometimes you do on the blog as well, though I resist that one pretty well.  I'm sure he appreciates my ban of this kind of information from my life.  Right now I'm fuming about immigration law and anorexia/bulimia in little children.  Seriously, don't get me started.  ;)

Oh and the iPod touch is the coolest invention ever, and why I also want an iPad and iPhone (Feb. 10, Yay!).  If it can entertain a 2 year old in a doctor's office for hours it's miraculous to me!  Steve Jobs may be my new hero, sorry Davey.  ;)

super powers

Do you ever think that you have super powers?  Not like you can don a cape and fly or anything.  Well if you have those thoughts then maybe my husband can help you out.  ;)  I'm talking little ordinary awesomeness.  OK, maybe it's just me. . . well not just me, my stuff too.

Like how I think that I'm immune to sunburns now, well for a few years now.  Yep, true story.  Superness.

I have a super cell phone too.  On our recent vacay my phone charger got busted.  I don't know how.  I'm blaming Dave.  ;)  It was his only thing to pack.  Go figure.  So to sustain my little phone we had to replace it with some generic multi-adaptable charger found at the 'knowledgeable' Best Buy in the area.

My orange phone is magic.  Well, was magic.  It could last FOREVER without charging.  Yeah, like years.  I don't remember when I received this miraculous phone, but I swear I've only charged it like twice.  OK, well I didn't actually keep count, but I'm sure that's dang close.  And it always has a signal.  Maybe it's because it's orange.  Magic.  Well, I plugged it into the new 'charger' in Idaho because I wanted to see if it worked.  Yeah, it sucked the magic right out of my phone.  I've now seen the icon with less than a full battery.  Weird, that's new.

I've charged it like 30 times since then.  Once again, I can't be sure about the accuracy of these numbers.  ;)  Bummer deal.  Truly disappointed.  It's met it's kryptonite.  Dave's only comforting words were, 'now you're just like the rest of us'. . . bah.  Oh and, 'it won't be long before the iPhone to goes to Verizon anyway.'  Yeah we've been waiting for that for what, years now?  Stupid Apple.

So, ramblings

So, I've been trying to keep the posting up to an impressive standard. . . quantity wise, and as I have done so the comments have fallen off.  I guess my quality isn't holding up it's end of the bargain.  Oh well.  What do you want people?  I'm wondering what you want to find here when you deign to click over to our blog. . . . what are you hoping to see?  Just curious.  Does this need a poll or can you comment with your thoughts?

So, I'm not so good with the trust thing.  It doesn't come naturally to me.  I try it out once and awhile and I get bit. . . they had to replace our grass, right, cause they put the wrong stuff in the first time.   Well they did it in pieces, since we have two spots of grass.  They replaced the big swatch. . . and we're loving it, but they used all the leftovers on someone else's house and had to reorder to do the little play patch in the corner.  OK, fine.  Well, since they've already replaced it because it was wrong, I assumed they'd be extra careful and not do that again.  In short, I trusted.  My fault.  I didn't check up on them.  I won't say who did. . . and yet didn't stop them, however blame is irrelevant at this point. . . ;)  They put in the wrong stuff again.  Not a match.  Two different types of grass.  Yes, you can tell.  So I'm wondering how mad should I be about this?  How much of a problem should I cause?  I can't decide.

So, Miley isn't a vampire.  If I can believe her dentist, but then again we come to the trust thing.  ;)  Her hurt tooth has healed impressively well.  She even survived the appointment with minimal tears.  She didn't freak for the x-ray at all.  Gold star!  Miley even let him put a mean scrapper tool in her mouth.  The highlight, however, was the treasure box which she happily picked a large pink bouncy ball out of on our way out.  So happy in fact, that she needed it for her nap.  I'm sure it was very cuddly.

So, the change is in the air.  The heat is increasing.  I have nearly no appetite, but a constant thirst.  Mmmm, juice.  We're on the brink of needing the air conditioner.  I'm fighting it as long as possible.  I woke up this morning and it was hot in the house already.  I hate that feeling.  I think I block out the negatives of summer all year and then the harsh reality hits me around now.  I believe the air conditioner will relieve all this for me. . . eventually.

So, Miley has a knack for getting her fingers, hand, foot, body, stuck.  She likes to try and squirm into places and then cannot get out again.  I've pried her fingers from all sorts of nooks and crannies.  I've explained how unpleasant amputation would be, but as of yet it is not a good deterrent for her.

So, I guess the Republican party needs my help.  I got the $$$ donation request in the mail.  I never really thought I aligned with any particular party really well. . . until Obama's crap plan to ruin the country.  Yep, I'm a Republican.  I would get on board with the party, but they may be disappointed to learn that my political fire has burned out and I've been looking into Canada.  Aye.  Yes, plan B is desertion.  I'll apologize to Jefferson on the other side.

So, I ran into someone else today that has come across my look-a-like, or so I think.  I get told a lot that I look familiar.  I get asked what my name and maiden name are constantly, with confused looks and a lot of hmmms.  I don't know.  I don't recognize any of these people, so I'm assuming that I have a clone out there who apparently is a lot less hermit-like than myself.

So, I think I've finally accepted that it may be my fault (that was so hard to type that I misspelled it and then left off the 'my' part) that my husband doesn't understand me. . . or anyone understands me for that matter.  I guess I skip steps.  I'm not a detail person.  I don't like to be told exactly what to do.  I can fill in the empty spots myself.  I guess that means that I'm not so clear.  Hmmm.  Oh well.  Surprisingly this makes me feel better.  It absolves Dave of a lot and although I don't know if I can fix it so much, at least I've identified the problem.

So, I saved Miley from an injury the other day and took her place instead and sliced open my finger pretty good.  That's karma.  Lovely.  On my right hand too, so it's a constant reminder of my heroism, or that heroism hurts.  ;)  Either way, she's ok.  Well, I can't always save her from herself.  She tripped on the patio the other day and got her first scraped knee.  Sad.  So anyway, Dave comes home and asks if I want something for Mother's Day this year. . . No honey, just a ride to the emergency room for stitches will suffice.  ;)  OK, I didn't need stitches, but talk about adding salt to a wound.  ;)

So, little miss has an opinion about her hair now.  She wants me to do it of course and she has a few suggestions as well.  Piggy tails were requested on this day. . . and I'm not so sure it's a look for her.  ;)  There's an equally big tail coming out the other side as well.  At least it's finally out of her face.

Is that too much to ask?

Oh how I hate trying to find a babysitter.  Why must teenagers have a life of their own?  Shouldn't they be waiting by the phone for my call and my $$$?  

I am considering adopting a teenager to relieve this problem.  And to love of course, that sounded awful heartless of me.  ;)  However, I'm pretty sure that's the primary reason my mom had me.

Other solution. . . move closer to family.  Umm yeah, I'm not there yet.  Sorry, too drastic.  I'll just complain some more while at home watching my own family for free.  ;)

**lightbulb** I guess I'm not really looking for a babysitter, I think the correct term would be nanny. . . part time, or on call. Hmmm?

experiencing a little. . .

Dear readers,

I've become lazy in checking the stats of my blog. . . checking up on who my readers actually are.  Well, recently I did just that. . . checked.  I'm racking up a lot more hits that I even knew about.  A lot more.  So here's where the paranoia sets in. . . I still only get a couple of comments every other post, which means I have a lot of silent unknown onlookers.

Then again, I also get comments from people I do not know whatsoever.  I appreciate comments, so thanks to all those who brave the comment page.  I guess you can blame my inflated sense of importance for not going private with this blog ;) so I have little control of my viewers, and yet I still have this curiosity eating at the back of my mind. . . WHO ARE YOU? 

So here's what I'm going to do. . .  I've tried begging and bribing for the answer to that question, no avail.  Plan C & D to follow.  You'll soon see a tutorial on how to leave a comment and acceptable commenting procedures.  ;)  But first. . .

I am putting in a simple poll next door in my side bar.  Now is the time to claim your blurking identity!  Choose the best fit and I'll finally have a clear-cut idea of who is following my little life here.  It's not painful to do, just click.

Yours sincerely,




p.s. stay tuned for a poll on my next burning question. . . why are you here?  ;)

More angry posting

I hate Utah drivers. I'd rather live in California at this point. Some inconsiderate person, whom I'm trying not to cuss out in my head, hit my car in the parking lot and took off. Of course they took off, that's what they do here. We saw it happen just a couple of weeks ago to someone else. Our insurance agent says it happens weekly down here, and that's just the calls that he gets. I've got to say that I am so not impressed with the quality of our fellow drivers. Apparently we're running low on consciences here. Right after we bought our car someone keyed it here too. I should have seen worse coming; the foreshadowing was there. Oh well. I just needed to vent.

*I realize that many of my readers are in fact Utah drivers, and I would apologize for my generalized criticism, but I'm too angry and just can't absolve anyone at this time. ;)

Surviving Mondays

I need to complain a little, but I'll end with a funny/gross story that should make the read worthwhile. . .

Miley is getting her two bottom teeth in. . . and as we all know, she does not cope with pain well. So cranky, and the teeth aren't helping any, coming as slowly as possible. Sorry, no pics, she doesn't like people seeing them.

Dave spent the entire morning on the phone with various government agencies trying to figure out what was wrong with our taxes. A side note, I had to do them twice because the first didn't get saved. Crap. Oh well, the second time it was pretty easy, not fun, but easy. Anyway, this is a long story filled with many opportunities for me to rant about incompetence, but I'll summarize it like this: First, problem with Mie's birth certificate. . . hospital's fault. Second, problem with Mie's social security number. . . not sure who to blame, but I'm pretty confident that the IRS is the problem here. Third, problem with filing taxes because of previous problems. Fourth, problem with government workers that don't understand their own jobs. Stupid. Their grand advice, wait and see if the system figures itself out. Genius. OK, so this put Dave in a super mood.

Now I have two crankies in the house. Delightful.

Meanwhile the carnage continues on our patio. The reflectors haven't quelched the massacre as much as I would like. I'm not a fan of birds, but I've become even less of a fan when they smash into my windows and I have to deal with their dead bodies. The big ones don't die usually, most of the time they just end up sitting by my door staring blankly for a very long time. I don't know which is worse. I'm leaning toward the second. I'm not completely cold hearted, it does make me sad, though the dominant feeling would have to be creeped out.

It's spring and all of a sudden I can't stop sneezing. Stupid allergies. I never had them like this until I moved here. Just another reason to escape Utah I guess. Miley is suffering from her own form of allergies or teething. Lots of bogeys in our house. I'm sure you want a picture of this one, so I'll happily post that prettiness. . .

The dentist gave us good news as well. I have a cavity. :( Dave does too, but that isn't a shocker. Next Monday I'll have to survive the drilling, if I can make it past the needles that is.

Dave beat some of my high scores on the Wii, and I haven't gotten them all back yet. Grrr. Make that three cranky people here.

And finally. . . Dave was taking M into her room to change her diaper for bed when I hear him yell for me urgently. I run in there worried, expecting blood or something awful and I find Dave standing shell-shocked by the changing table with poop all over his hands and shirt. Ha ha. Mie is crying because she's freaked out that Dave freaked out. Nice one. So I punch him, and tell him to go freak out somewhere else so I won't have to clean up his vomit off of my already poopy child. I'm glad I didn't have to witness his dry heaves, he definitely would have got punched again for that one. So it turns out that our little angel made a substantial deposit and Dave squeezed her too hard in one of his hugs and then laid her down on the changing table thus expelling more feces. . . everywhere. After they were both hosed off it was all fine. Well, fine for Miley and I. . . Dave is probably traumatized. No pictures of this one, that would probably make it even worse for him. Drama.

A piece of good news we received on Monday. . . our refrigerator hasn't been recalled due to fire hazard. yay. Well at least that is something.

Randomness

Still no computer, so no place to upload new photos to, sorry. Instead you'll just have to deal with reading this babble.

So my patience has expired, but Dave's has not and so we gave them until Friday to fix our computer or give the busted thing back so I can get a new one from apple. Totally not happy about the whole thing but trying to be zen. I found a quote today that is helping. . .

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many. ~Charles Dickens

We got snow on Monday, definitely not my fave thing, but it only lasted the day and totally made it feel like Christmas time. And to make the snow feel even cheerier we got some packages in the mail from Miley's Great Grandparents (thanks guys) and in one it had the cutest little ice skating snowman toy. Totally appropriate that day. The last leaf has fallen from the tree too. I guess it's officially winter here. That prompted a purchase of a new snuggly blanket. Oh, how I love blankets.

Whooping cough is going around down here. So not fun. Dave got a booster shot since he's in the line of fire for all these wonderful diseases. After seeing how lovely it made him feel I opted to stay quarantined in my house instead. Coward, yes.

We missed Stake Conference because Dave was feeling poorly, well that and it was at 3pm. Ugh. We're paying for our absence though. We got a call the other night setting up a visit with the Stake Pres. for both of us on Sunday. I must have wracked up some serious bad karma because we're paying for it this month.

A question, why is every customer service person foreign? I'm pretty sure I wasn't making any international calls, but every customer service person we've had to deal with lately (and there have been MANY) has had a hard time with the language barrier. Super helpful when we're dealing with problems more complicated then 'how do I track a package', blah blah blah. This is why Dave is in charge of dealing with those people. I'm mean. And I could rant about this one for quite some time. I think I've found where my bad karma is stemming from. Oh well.

Miley actually ate her oatmeal yesterday. There's a headline for ya. ;) Big news at our house. She actually wanted it, and she polished off her serving. She's so big now. No more babies at our house. Well that's not true, today while eating she bonked herself on the head with the bottle (which was almost empty) and in true drama queen fashion pushed out the crocodile tears. Oh boy.

I have photos of Miley using a binky from last week all ready for a post here entitled . . . It's a girl's perogative to change her mind. For a couple of days the binky was her friend and a true pacifier, but it only lasted a few days. So in fitting with the proposed post's title, she wants nothing to do with it now. What a stinker.

Sent out the Christmas cards on Monday, so if you don't get yours until after Christmas. . . sorry. Another customer service nightmare hindered their release.

Oh and our postal carrier is totally stalking us. Spookiness. I don't know if that story can be told here, he's probably reading this right now. . . ummmm, hello sir thank you for delivering our mail.

Next subject. CK gave me the greatest idea for scrapbooking next year. . . Project 365. I'll let you know more on that later.

Ok, you've been thoroughly updated on our super exciting week. Happy Wednesday to you. See you on Friday, with (fingers crossed) good news.

Rain, Rain, Go away. . .

And don't come back until our backyard is landscaped!

I love the Autumn, and somehow I always forget that down here rain comes with it. Ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with rain. Pretty to watch, necessary when lightning is involved, dangerous to drive in, and a total mess where our purely-dirt-backyard is involved. Bring on the muddy paws (for pics, refer to last years blog post on this very subject. . . broken record? Yep).

OK, more hate then love I guess.

Our poor neglected backyard. We keep saying next year. . . next year it will get done, or started. That's the party line and I'm sticking with it again. By 2010 or 2011 at least. I should have totally been in politics.

Enough, PLEASE

So I need to rant again, my apologies, but I just need to get this out there. . .

Why is it that people feel they need to tell me all the horrible adoption stories that they have ever heard (or made up) when they find out we're adopting? I really want to know this. Why is everyone so full of fear and negativity? And why does everyone think they know more about adoption than me (someone that is actually going through it)?

So here is my disclaimer. . . if you come up to me to tell me one of these stories I will stop you immediately and probably not so tactfully (I've heard enough to be tactful at this point). You've been warned.

Dave and I know all about adoption, more than any of you (those who have been through this are exempt of course). We know the risks and more importantly we've accepted them. No need for you to warn us of anything.

We can be excited about this. About where we are. Don't take that away from us. When a couple gets pregnant they are excited before the actual baby comes, so we can be too. Don't try to damper our excitement with your fear. So rude.

We know what we are doing and we live by faith that whatever happens will be for the best. We trust Kristel. We love her, and are grateful that she came into our lives. It's as simple as that.

The fact is that the horror stories are in the vast minority now days. The process is different now. . . so let go of all your fears (or just keep them to yourselves). We appreciate it.

I should make a label in the sidebar specifically for rants. . . how sad is that? Except I'll call it 'cuddlly stories about cute puppies', so people will read them. ;)

SPAM

The poor people who produce that often misunderstood meat product probably don't appreciate that we refer to mass emails as spam as well. . . but there it is, and I hate THEM.

My spam box has exploded in the last month or so. What is going on? And to top it off I started to get spam comments on my blog too, thus the little alpha/numeral screening that is now in place.

I am bombarded with emails hocking fail safe ways to enlarge a piece of anatomy that I do not possess, online pharmacies with killer deals (apparently in Canada), and designer watches for criminally low prices. What list did I get on?

By the way, don't put your email on your blogs, they surf sites looking for them and then you'll be shopping for cHeAp (why are the spam words always strange like this anyway??) drugs from Canada too.

Who came up with this idea of guerrilla advertising? It is completely impractical and yet wholly rampant. Whoever it was I'm sure, will have a place reserved for them in hell. Is that too harsh? I don't know.

Thank you to Gmail for their lovely filters. . . if only they removed my disappointment for humanity with it as well.

End of rant.