I Invented Braiding

I'm a blog-stalker--did you know?  My blog-buddy, Noelle, always puts random, funny, poignant things on her blog, and I wonder:  WHERE DOES SHE COME UP WITH THIS STUFF?

And then I remember the weird things that go through my mind.  Like this, which came to me while I was braiding Ashtyn's hair yesterday:

My mom learned to crochet when I was 5 years old.  Her first project was a tablecloth, which won a blue ribbon at the fair (no joke!).  By the time I was 6, it was fairly common to see Mama sitting with her crocheting.  Before I finally asked her to teach me, I played with a  lot of yarn.

One day I was playing with three strands.  And I braided them.  And I was so proud of myself for coming up with this amazing thing!  So I went to my mom to show her what I had discovered.  Only she was completely blasee (sp?) about it, and said, "Yeah, that's called braiding." 

What a letdown.  And then I thought, "Cool!  Nobody had to show me how to do this braiding thing!  I figured it out all on my own!  I. Am. Awesome."  (Okay, I probably didn't think OR say Awesome, because that word didn't enter my vocabulary till the 1980's--but you get the gist.)

And then I braided many, many long strands of yard, which I glued to a tennis ball.  It was a doll, see?

Gimme a break.  I was six.

Donut Dash

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Our starting line was at the Ulch's home, where we served juice before the "race."

This is the finish line where our activity today was culminating.  Since this is small, it's hard to see how cute it is:  Briana made the streamers; the Jensens chalked in the finish line, and we had treats galore!

P.S.

I don't know why my last post has those two extra pictures at the top.  I've tried to get rid of them, but then I lose other stuff, so they are stuck there.

I just wanted you to know.

It's sad, though, n'est-ce pas?  Because it ruins the effect of the latter part of the post.

I'll get over it.  Will you?

Please?

Check This Out

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This is an ibex.  Most of us call it a mountain goat.  Apparently the ibex lives in Asia.  So most of us would call it an Asian mountain goat.  But now you can call it an ibex, because that is what it is.  This particular ibex might have a name, but I don't know what it is.  Since he is not here, we cannot ask him his name.  Also since he is not here, it probably doesn't matter.  Moving on...

This is--I presume--a family of ibex.  I'm only assuming they are a family because they are not here for me to ask.  However, there are ibex of all ages and both genders represented here, so I think it's appropriate to assume it's a family.  Because really?  Would a teen be seen with adults or young ones if it weren't a family?  I rest my case. 

By the way, in case you don't know, the females are the ones with their hair combed and their beards shaved.  I realize it's hard to see that with their backs turned to us.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

Apparently this family of ibex wanted to go on a hike for Family Home Leaving.  Dad Ibex must have been in charge of this activity, and I presume that Mom is out of town.  Because there is NO WAY a mother of ANY species would approve this kind of family activity!

Amazing!

And Also...

My fantastic "work" water bottle that Deb got me at the beginning of the year is leaking profusely.  That's just rude.

BUT my new job is going very, very well.  I was so busy on Tuesday that I could hardly breathe.  Let's celebrate!

My hair does not look as cute now as it did before I left for work on this windy morning.  But it is short.  You can't have everything, but it's good to get something.  :)

My home teacher (who works for a large vendor that our company uses) just stopped me to say hello.  Wasn't that kind?

Tummy Aches Are a Headache

On our way home from California, Ashtyn wasn't feeling well.  With her, we always figure she got some milk.  But then yesterday Spencer had to leave work early due to tummy ache, which also included fever and exhaustion.

Is Ashtyn sick due to milk or some bug?  I don't know.  And I don't know whether I should force her to go to school or not.

This morning I started having pretty major tummy rumblings.  So far I'm not having fever hot flashes/cold chills.  I hope I don't! 

What a pain.

Updates

We spent the Labor Day weekend in the Sacramento area.  We rented a van, and we pulled out very early in the morning.  The van had a DVD player, so after we slept for a couple of hours, the kids chose videos to watch.  Fastest drive to Sacramento EVER!

We went to Dillon Beach for our official Hilladay on Saturday.  The weather in Sac was forecast to be perfectly HOT, so we hoped that that would extend to the coast.  About 2 miles inland, it was gorgeous; but on the beach it was windy and cold.  That didn't stop us from playing, of course.  I'll post some pix later.

Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting, where we were greeted warmly by many.  We didn't know any of them, and they did not know us.  So when we would introduce ourselves as Fishes (me, anyway), there were mostly raised eyebrows.  One brother even said, "I have known the Fishes for 20 years, and I didn't know they had an older daughter."  I get that a lot.  That's what happens when you leave the nest first, I guess.

After Sacrament Meeting we went to Apple Hill.  It was opening day, and the weather was gorgeous.  I LOVE the smells up there!  It's too bad we don't drink, too, because all the vineyards were having tasting days.  I think wine looks beautiful, but the smell is awful! 

The first thing we did at Apple Hill was buy a caramel apple.  Very, very disappointing!  Later in the day we bought a pie to take home--it, too, was pretty average.  What a bummer.  But there were some fun boutiques, and we each chose a piece of fruit to snack on.  I brought home Asian Pears for my bosses at work.  And some for us, too!

Our drive home also went really fast.  Literally.  We made it home in 9.5 hours.  We didn't ever go more than 82 mph, but we also didn't really make any stops.  We got gas in Reno, then drove through a fast-food place for breakfast.  Lunch was just snacks in the car, and we made one quick potty break at a rest stop.  So we sailed on through!

We found everything good at home.  Brant and Laurie have painted the basement, and it really looks fantastic.  They have a home now!  We are going to go halfs with them on a storage unit, so I hope our house will be cleaned up very soon, too.

Yesterday at work they made some announcements regarding changes in the Physical Facilities Department.  I have not had such a crazy day in a long, long time.  I loved it!  Except there wasn't time to use the bathroom or eat--so I was extra glad to go home.  Today's been a bit quieter (on my end), and I've been able to get a few things done.

Ashie stayed home sick from school yesterday.  She still wasn't great today, but she couldn't miss today's classes.  I hope by tomorrow she'll be 100% better.  Ugh.  It gets so old!

We sold our car yesterday, and Spencer is on the hunt for another car.  It's better that he change cars than homes, I guess, but I swear we hold a record for the most vehicles owned.  :)  In the meantime, I am carless.  So I rode halfway to the school with Tay and Ash (and the others they pick up for seminary), and they dropped me at the bus stop.

I didn't have time to get my hair cut last week, so today is the day for that.  Woot!  I need it badly!

That's our exciting life.  OK, so it's not that exciting.  But it's full and it's rich and it's happy. 

I hope you are, too!

Just. Can't. Wait.

1.  Our beautiful Jax may be a mommy for the second time (she was scheduled for induction yesterday, I think).
2.  I get to go get a haircut today.
3.  Today--TODAY!!!--is Spencer and Briana's LAST day of school.
4.  We are leaving on Friday morning for Sacramento.

WOOT!

I Have OCD Tendencies, But...

I have a cute ruffly sweater, which I keep at work.  I like to have it around for those (frequent) moments when I get chilly.  I also have a fabulous pink jacket.  I wear my jacket to work often because it's always cold on the morning bus.  My cubicle has a great coat hanger, where I hang my cute ruffly sweater.  My fabulous pink jacket goes onto the great coat hanger over the cute ruffly sweater.

This morning a man I work with walked into my cube area saying, "OK, it's driving me crazy."  And he straightened my fabulous pink jacket on its great coat hanger over the top of the cute ruffly sweater.

I felt like I needed to apologize.  Can you explain that to me?

House Update

This is what the dining room looks like.  It's worse than this picture suggests.  There is a path to the computer, but you have to go around the table, which is currently covered with junk.  Most of this stuff--including the organ--will need to go into storage.  We'll probably have to rent a storage unit.

I cleaned the living room carpet on Friday night.  It's still our dingy carpet, but it's missing the stain spots (darn!).  We still need to bring our furniture upstairs and take the Fishes' furniture downstairs.

The girls have made their bedroom look adorable!  Besides the cute paint job, they've done a fantastic job in organizing all their stuff.  (I snapped this picture while they were asleep--yup, Ash is sleeping with her legs up like that.  :) )

The closet pictures on the right is the one you can see in the picture above.  Spencer added another closet (the one on the left).  Both sit on top of the existing, built-in desk, which you can see below. 

This picture doesn't do justice to how well they've organized their stuff.  Shoes on the bottom shelves, personal items on the middle shelves.  Clothes hung in the closet.  The hair and makeup stuff is in the organizer with white drawers.  Bri bought a mirror for the space between the two closets, and they sit on the stool to get themselves ready.

Ashtyn got her downstairs bedroom completely emptied, so Brant and Laurie will be able to move in there.  I think they cleaned the carpet last night.  Moving into that room will free up their "kitchen" (formerly the preschool).  That will also allow room for us to move furniture up the back stairwell, which is wider and much easier to maneuver through.

We also emptied the family room (except for furniture), which involved emptying all of the DVD cases and putting the disks into an organizer.

Most of the visual work happened while the Fishes were out and about.  They were pretty excited to come home to open space for them to use. 

The end (of Phase I) is in sight.  It's getting exciting.

And for all you nay-sayers out there:  Yes, this is working out beautifully.  WE LOVE HAVING THIS FAMILY HERE WITH US!