Too Lazy To Be Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Kathryn and my sister-in-law Audree about two weeks ago. Maybe more. I tried to fill out Kathryn's tag, but I couldn't think of things to say, but today I need a break from babies, so I'm going to sit here until I have both of these filled out. Sorry, guys, for being a tag jerk. And, Kathy, you don't have to read this.

8 TV Shows I Love To Watch...
What Not to Wear
The News (any old channel--I love feeling informed, even if the feeling is a false one)
Seinfeld
The Office
Daria
Spongebob Squarepants
Zorro
I Love Lucy

8 Favorite Restaurants
Olive Garden
Cafe Rio
The Bombay House
Asahi (mmmm...sushi)
Zip's (a Washington fast food place with awesome fries--dip them in tartar sauce and ketchup to achieve maximum caloric intake)
Red Robin
J-Dawg's (this is more of a road side hotdog stand)
Wendy's
Um...I think it probably says something about me that half of these are fast food places. And it probably says "I'm poor".

8 Things That Happened Yesterday
Wished I hadn't slept in and gone swimming instead
Ate red meat for dinner
Checked Kathy's blog
Took a nap with Ian
Rocked Ian for 45 minutes
Picked up the house
Tried to do my calling and failed
Kissed my husband

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
Going to Washington for Christmas
Going to Utah when we get the chance
Snow! (of course, this won't happen here....)
Being able to see my feet again
Retirement
French fries and a greasy burger
A date with Jesse next Saturday
Having a child old enough to leave in charge so we can go out whenever we want

8 Things on My Wish List
A "career" job for Jesse
A child that cleans up after himself (yeah, right! this is on every parent's wish list)
A permanent move back to the west
My own house
A pepped-up world economy
More adoptions and less abortions
A (tiny bit) edgier look so I don't look like such a mom
A trip to Canyonlands

And I'm not going to tag anyone, because I barely got around to doing this myself. But if you really want to be tagged, go read Sarah and Robbie's blog--I think she tagged anyone who read her tag.

Okay, Audree's tag:

5 FAVORITE PLACES I’VE LIVED
1. Cheney, WA
2. Provo, UT (yes, I liked it)
3. Anchorage, AK
That's it.

5 FAVORITE SNACKS

1. Swedish Fish
2. Ben and Jerry's Pistachio Pistachio (though calorie-wise it's a meal. at least, if you eat the whole thing)
3. Chips and salsa
4. Cheese and apples
5. Lil' Smokies

5 JOBS I’VE HAD

1. My uncle's vet clinic
2. Dakotah Direct--call center
3. BYU Nursing Advisement Center Secretary
4. BYU Creamery
5. REI

IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS I WOULD

1. Buy a house
2. Buy land in Montana
3. Invest
4. Give some to family
5. Go to LA and have one of the star's stylists give me a makeover

5 THINGS I LOVE

1. My family
2. Holding a sleeping Ian
3. Hanging out with Jesse
4. Wilderness trips
5. Feeling put-together (you know, looking like you spent more than five minutes getting ready)

5 PLACES I HAVE LOVED VISITING

1. Utah
2. Montana
3. New Hampshire
4. Where ever we would have gone to on the honeymoon we didn't take
5. Europe, when I get there

Babies are crying. Gotta go!

How Much Can One Take?

I wonder...how many nights of interrupted sleep and abbreviated slumbering hours would it take to stunt my ability to sleep deeply for twelve hours in one stretch? I've always considered my ability to sleep anywhere for any length of time one of my best qualities. However, Ian has only slept through the night three or four times in his life, and I worry this habit of his is going to impact me permanently.

Some people reminisce about the early days of their courtship, or fun college times, but more and more I find myself remembering how I used to be able to sleep in until eleven o'clock on Saturdays....

Three Things

Item #1: We had four or five pears that were really ripe so Jesse decided to make pearsauce. The problem was that he didn't look up how to do it; he just mashed up the pears and added some spices, so now we have this mush (pear skin included) that tastes like rotten pears.

Item #2: If you're a hairstylist, you should never ever admit that you once worked at a hardware store. It doesn't inspire confidence in your beautician abilities.

Item #3: No matter how "cool" the music you're listening to is, it always sounds horrible and really lame from the next apartment over.

In other news, we had a beautiful autumn day. It was so nice to spend the whole day with Jesse and Ian. I'm so excited for the holidays so we can all spend more time together.

A Whole New World

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and got there a few minutes before the store opened, so I did something I have been meaning to do for a long time: I switched Ian's car seat from rear-facing to forward-facing. When we got back in the car he was so happy! He was looking out the windshield, kicking his feet, and dancing to the music I had playing.

Grocery shopping is usually such a chore, what with heaving myself in and out of the car, trying to keep Ian entertained, and listening to him grouse in the car after we've been out too long. I should have switched his car seat a long time ago. Shopping yesterday was like a dream.

Pretty Please??

Does anyone have a really good pumpkin bread recipe? I would prefer one with cream cheese swirls, but I can also make cream cheese frosting, so if you have a good recipe, could you send it on over either way?

Our neighbor brought over some pumpkin bread and I told myself that I would let myself eat it all if I made Jesse some tonight to compensate, but I can't find a recipe.

I know there must be a lesson I could learn from this, but what could it be??

Time For The Old Stand-by

I'm no great dog lover. I don't like the way they smell, or shed, or lick your hands. And I don't like petting a dog unless it's on my own terms and there is a way to wash my hands right after. When I was in high school I would pretend I was afraid of dogs so their owners wouldn't expect me to want to pet them. I guess I felt the pressure to admire dogs a lot, or something.



Now that he can appreciate them, Ian loves looking at animals, so I try to always point them out to him. He might even enjoy petting them, I don't know; I don't let him go anywhere near them. If there's one thing I've learned from working in a vet clinic and having a vet for an uncle is that no matter how well you know an animal, no matter how long you've had it, you can never trust it around small children. Animals just aren't predictable, and neither are young children. The combination isn't a good one.

Example: Our family friends had a dog they had raised from a puppy. They've had this animal for a long time, and they have a lot of rambunctious kids who I'm sure, like all kids, mauled it to near death, and they've never had a problem. They just moved down to Utah and stopped along the way to let their dog stretch his legs. A little girl ran up to the dog to pet it and the dog turned around and bit her in the face.

The problem is that oftentimes people will bring their dog up to us and invite us to pet it, or bring it up expressly to show to Ian, or come up to see him and bring their dog with them. I've decided I need to have a reasonable reason to keep Ian a safe distance away (I can't really say I'm afraid their dog will go ballistic, can I? A lot of dog owners would be offended by that).

Here's where I need to make a choice: should I say we're allergic, or should I use old faithful and say Ian's afraid of dogs? Clearly lying isn't a problem for me, but which would make the better excuse of why I don't want Ian too close to their dog? Maybe I should just say I'm an overprotective mother....

My post yesterday made me remember walking into the bathroom (at my parent's house) and catching my littlest sister Jaymee just finishing up a cupful of someone's retainer water, Efferdent included. There was no mistaking it for something else, either, because their retainers were in the bottom of the cup.

And that memory made me remember walking into the bathroom on a much earlier occasion and catching Jaymee licking condensation off of the toilet tank.

There seems to be some kind of connection...is she so neglected that she has to scavenge for nourishment and drink?

It's Time

You know it's time to start wearing your retainers again when you have a dream that your teeth are so crooked you can't close your mouth.