Musings...

Weird, unrelated things I have been thinking about recently.

1. Have you ever read Rainbow Fish and thought... "is this what communism is all about?"

2. Did anyone notice that President Monson was wearing a gray suit to the RS broadcast? Is that allowed? (Duh, of course it's allowed...he's the prophet...) But when was the last time a prophet decided to wear a lighter colored suit at a conference event?

3. Did you know that it has been like, um... at least 12 years since I have had bangs? And here they are again. I went to see Emily about my hair, really - she is awesome, and I wanted something new. What do you think?

4. I am glad that my brother is back from his year-long stint in Korea. However, I am irritated at myself for not asking him to get me a postcard from Korea or Tokyo. Welcome home, Jared!

5. Do you know how cool it is that I have a husband that is a doctor? He just wrote his first scrip for our little fam. Nice. Oh - don't ask - he doesn't have a prescription pad; the govt agency he works for does it all electronically, so if you don't reside here at Bliss in the Army, you're out of luck. :-P

6. I'm annoyed that not all of my musings have pictures; however, I don't want to pull out the camera. Good night!

Similar

Every now and then, I am struck by the similarities between my 1st born and my 3rd born. The shock of red hair, the bright blue eyes, those round kissable cheeks. They have very similar expressions, body movements, and reactions. If there wasn't almost 6 years between them, they could easily pass for twins.

Aaron's new title

My darling husband has been dubbed, "The White Cloud." It seems that whenever he is on call, traumas seem to disappear!

In church yesterday, he was talking to one of his attendings (a high counselor who is in the other ward) about how at 1 am, the attending had repaired a knee (I think), had gone in to do a hip replacement early that morning, and was hoping to get through sacrament meeting before being called in to do another!
Aaah, the busy life of an orthopedic surgeon.

Aaron was relaying this story to me with the news about his new title. I am pleased about this title because it means Aaron gets to sleep while on call - and come home happy and ready to do his "honey-do" list! heehee I know it won't last forever, but I know that I need to enjoy it while it sticks!

As quickly as they came...

they left. This morning, early.

It was fun having Nana, Jared and Lucky at our house for the week. But Pawpaw won out - he needed Nana to help keep all the insurance people straight and take care of business while he cleared out the house. Bobbie Jo and Peanut showed up late Friday afternoon with some pictures - the first we had seen.

This is the dirt left behind by the feet of water that was in the house.

This is the new kitchen that Dad just finished last winter.

I thought it was interesting that you could see the water line in the knocked over pot.

The fence on the side of the boat was knocked over. Jared was glad that the new playground set that was installed in the neighborhood only 3 days before the storm withstood the winds. Below, Pawpaw caught a fish in the front yard during the storm!

All the furniture in the front yard. And, despite the water, people kept driving up saying, "Ya'll having a garage sale?" Sheesh.A sign in the neighborhood tore up by the wind. So right now, the house does not have power, and is pretty much uninhabitable. As they were checking out the drywall in the walls, some of the outside bricks were falling through. Oy. It's going to be a long process. On one hand, that's no fun, and all of the accumulated "stuff" is gone - leaving only the memories attached. On the other hand, I just keep seeing in my head Pawpaw's smiling face as he got to throw out all of mom's accumulated "stuff!"

Anyway, Ike's TV coverage is over, but for the families whose houses were destroyed, it's an everyday thought. If you happen to think about it, remember those families in your prayers. Thanks. :)

Hysterical...

I'm not usually into political stuff, but these ladies are the funniest I've ever heard. Enjoy!

On Call

When Aaron is on call, he is at the hospital from 5:30 am on Day 1, and is done at 7:00 am on Day 2. That's a long time when nurses keep paging for everything. (Surprisingly, he claims to get more sleep there than he does with Audrey.) Either way, I miss him terribly when he is on call.

When Aaron is here, I don't hear the creaks and other assorted house noises in the night.
When Aaron is here, I (mostly) do not stay up super late blogging.
When Aaron is here, I don't have to be at 100% of my parenting game.
When Aaron is here, I have someone with which to laugh at Robot Chicken.

The other day, I was in the shower (my best thinking time) and thinking about how he and I met.....
(At this point, Wayne and Garth would say, "doodlydoo, doodlydoo, doodlydoo" while waving their hands in front of them...)

I had just started teaching in Houston. It was my first teaching job, and I was getting to know people in the local singles branch to have some sort of social life. After all, I was 22 (almost 23) and had just acquired a salary. I was cool! Anyway, some of the girls had invited me to a Maplewood dance. I was confused as I had never heard of this dancing style, when they expounded, saying it was the name of a specific church building in the Houston area. We went to the dance. I was cute in a pink t-shirt, my flared jeans, and my Doc Martens Mary Janes. I knew a grand total of maybe 5 people there, so it was a little awkward, but I was determined to have a good time. I was scopin' out the prospects when I saw this totally hot guy over by the beverages. He was taller than me, and was wearing a yellow plaid button down shirt, and he was checking me out. But it was his Friend who asked me to dance. I tried to talk to him, but Friend was there. Friend was nice, and I didn't want to be rude. I would hang out with the both of them, but He wouldn't flirt with me - Friend would. I gave Friend my number, and that was that.
A little while later, there was another singles activity on a Friday night. I didn't really want to go - I had taught all day - but Kirstin had called and asked me to go, and mentioned that this Hot guy would be there. So I went and had dinner and played games. After the activity, there were some people who were going out to a club to go dancing. I specifically went to this Hot guy and asked if he was going to the club. He was, and I was sold on going. We flirted like CRAZY at the club; however, Friend was lingering. We danced, and kept trying to sneak away from the group - to no avail.
When the club closed, the group said, "Let's drive down to Galveston, ride the ferry and go to the beach!" So we loaded up and headed to Galveston. It was a nice night, and we drove with the windows down. My ride to the club had decided to call it a night then, so I ended up in the truck with Friend. It was so hard to be nice without leading him on! Everyone got out of the cars while we were on the ferry, and Hot guy and I picked right back up where we had left off at the club. We were discussing the finer points of kissing... and we kept being interrupted by (it seemed like) EVERYONE in our group. We headed back to the cars as the ferry ride ended and went to the beach.
The beach didn't last long. It was windy and starting to sprinkle, so we headed back to the ferry dock. However, the ferry doesn't run very often in the middle of the night, and we had to wait. It was here that Friend was talking to Hot guy for a bit about how he didn't think I was interested. I decided to ride home with Kirsten, who was falling asleep. So Hot guy offered to drive Kirsten's car, drop me off, and take Kirsten and her car home - where he had left his car earlier in the evening.
Well, Kirsten did fall asleep on the ride home, and I remember being totally taken aback by this guy who was kissing my fingertips as he was driving. We got to my apartment complex, and he walked me to the door. It was funny because, he's tall and he likes to joke around. As we were walking to my apartment, he pretended to get poked in the eye by a tree branch. I fell for it, and we both laughed. He walked me up to the third floor and said that he'd see me later, and leaned in to kiss me. Here I was, awake for 23 hours at this point, smoky and a little sweaty from the club, wind-blown from the drive to Galveston, sandy and slightly damp from the beach - and he still wanted to kiss me. Crazy. Anyway, after all this discussion about kissing all evening, it was the clumsiest, most awkward kiss ever. No joke.
Then, I went in my apartment, took a shower, grabbed a yogurt and a bagel, and headed back to the school I was teaching at to administer the SAT. The older teachers took one look at me that morning and asked if he was cute. I laughed and asked if it was that obvious. I stumbled (literally) through the next 4 hours, and drove home where I called him to meet me for lunch. We've been together ever since.

Ike's effects

So... we've had a busy day! Yesterday, we really didn't know what was going to happen, and we're still not sure about alot of things, BUT... here's what happened.
Aaron and I have been in contact with his family alot this weekend. They evacuated the hurricane to San Angelo, a po-dunk town in the middle of Texas. They were safe through the storm, and now - what do they do? They have friends and some family members who stayed behind, but because Seabrook is off-limits, they really don't know how much damage there was to their house, etc. Peanut got word from her roommate that they have power at her apartment. Big Jared B stayed in Houston and spent the day working and cutting up downed trees. But how long until power is restored? How long until schools open again? Are the houses still standing? Only time will tell.
We offered to let whoever wanted to, stay. We drove 3 1/2 hours to Ft. Stockton to see everyone, and trade off. Nana, Jared, and Lucky have come to stay at our house for a while. We're glad to help them, and give them a dry home. The rest of the family is headed back tomorrow to see what's left. Either way, they'll be okay.
We had a fun little visit to this little restaurant in Ft. Stockton. They serve the Big Chief Sitting Bull CheeseBurger - $21.95 - with 5 pounds of meat. It was yummy, and ENORMOUS. The kids had a great time playing together. Check out the slide show - it's a little long - but cute.

Say a little prayer...

Friday - I'm up late tonight - trying to finish a project that I should have taken care of a while ago - and watching The Weather Channel cover Hurricane Ike. Mike Bettes, a meteorologist, is braodcasting from the top of Nassau Bay, at the Hilton - across from Space Center Boulevard. I know this area so well - I lived there for three years; taught there, got married there, had my son there, and we go to visit my in-laws there still. They are getting the brunt of this storm right now. Although my family is safely evacuated, we all are worried about the condition of their houses when they return. 100+ mph winds really do a lot of damage. The eye of the storm should be moving through now...
If you get a moment, pray for the safety of their homes. Thanks, I'll keep you posted.
Today - they are pretty sure that their house got water. The city of Seabrook is shut down - no electricity, no water, no one in - until they make sure it's safe. Aaron's mom is going to stay with us for a while. Aaron's dad is going to head back later this week to assess the damage. We'll see.

Birthdays

I love birthdays!

I love that there is one day that is MINE and my friends and family will celebrate ME. I know it's silly and selfish, but I love it. Today in preschool we made birthday hats, decorated and ate yummy cupcakes, and danced. Kids really know how to celebrate! When I was teaching high school, I would wait and do the "Welcome to Drama Club!" party right around my birthday - just so we could celebrate. I guess I mention this because in Primary on Sunday - remember that I was just put in as a Sunbeam teacher - they sang to the kids who had birthdays, and they didn't say my name. I thought, "No biggie - they'll call me next week; after all, my birthday isn't until tomorrow anyway." So in a fleeting moment, I mentioned on the way to class, "Are you singing to me next week? It's my birthday tomorrow." And the response I got was, "Oh, we don't usually sing to the teachers." I was super sad! Primary teachers are already under appreciated - not by the presidency, or the ward, just as a calling in general. It's a tough road to interact with only kids every week. The same level of socialization and adult learning just isn't there. Wouldn't it be nice to have one Sunday where the kids paid attention to you - not because you were teaching - but because of something about YOU as an individual? I am a person - not just your teacher! I have birthdays - just like you! Anyway, I got the preschool kids to sing to me. It was nice.

I had a pretty nice birthday, by the way. Aaron got me a new shower head for the bathroom - that was really a present for the both of us! The kids got me flowers and chocolates. We had steak, fish, and shrimp for dinner on Sunday, and had 3 of Aaron's friends from work over. They shared cake and ice cream. We ate all of the cake with his friends, so I made rice krispie treats yesterday and put candles in that. My dearest friends and family called, and they are awesome. I am very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!

Pics and Updates

I have been taking pictures with my phone - and let me mention that I love that my phone takes pictures!!! Anyway, I have finally downloaded some of them, and am prepared to blog them. :)
Last week at church was the 5th Sunday lesson, so the Primary teachers got a break, and got to go to a combined RS/Priesthood meeting. Audrey got to play on the gym floor during the lesson and she saw several of her new friends! Here is Audrey and Jackson. Audrey plays at Jackson's house while we do preschool. He is a year older than her, and totally smitten. :)

This is Audrey Lee! They were playing on the floor for a little while. It's funny, because, except for their names and their birthdays, they are total opposite. Audrey Lee is shorter, has teeth already, is crawling, has dark hair and is a cute round baby. Audrey See is long and skinny, toothless, army-crawls, has light reddish hair and is a cute lanky baby. They still have fun at church though!

Last night, Aaron took me out for my birthday! We went to a nice restaurant downtown - no antlers - and had a delicious dinner. We tried lamb chops for the first time - delish! - and they brought out my dessert with a sparkler in it. There is a chocolate mousse with caramel sauce in the middle, a petite eclair, a creme brulee, chocolate covered strawberries, and two mini tarts with berries. It was beautiful and delicious and amazing. I have a wonderful husband who likes to treat me! After dinner, we went out looking for shoes, but we didn't find any I liked. He has also been trying for the last two nights to get me the 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep, but Audrey has been super stuffy and not sleeping well.
Isn't it beautiful? Yummy!

I'm afraid! HELP!

So I went to blog the preschool stuff, which is going well, thank you - and one minute later, literally one minute - this is what I saw.

She looks pretty proud of herself, huh? We have wide based stairs - too big for a gate. She hasn't fallen, yet - so I know that she's not really scared of the stairs. But I'm scared. It's ceramic tile at the bottom. Ouch!

I am seeking your advice, blogworld. I need suggestions for keeping my dear daughter safer, beyond watching her EVERY SECOND. (I don't leave her alone much as it is - she's just fast!)

Thanks, in advance.