Just Sitting Here...

It's 9 PM. The kids are in bed. Ty is at work, and my favorite "Abbey Road" mug is steaming with one of my favorite herbal teas. So I decided, "Hey why not write a blog post?"

See? Isn't it the coolest mug you've ever seen? Yeah. I think so too.



Well, I applied to the other University. I've been admitted for Spring semester. Sadly, that option is just not plausible for me right now. It would take longer than I have left before school starts up again to get my financial aid transferred from one school to the other. Besides, this gives me a little extra time to make sure that I really want to make this huge change. I feel really good about it, but I also feel like I need to slow down and take one extra semester before diving in.

My little sister got married last weekend. It was a lovely day, filled with family and friends and...snow. It was actually kind of perfect. The whole day had been kind of cloudy and cold. Then the wind kicked up and it got REALLY cold. It started raining just before the reception started. Then, it started snowing heavily.

However, at the end of the night, when my sister and her new husband made their grand exit with their closest family and friends lined up on either side of the hallway to send them off, the doors opened and with the snow falling around them as they waved goodbye...it was just beautiful.

I'm just glad that I fulfilled my one assignment with a flair and a gusto that few others could have matched, I think. My mom and my sister, (the bride), gave me a VERY important job for the reception: Make sure to save my sister one slice of each layer of the wedding cake, and one slice of the chocolate layer for the groom. I completely understood this request. At my wedding, the only piece of my cake that I got to eat was the small bite that Ty and I fed each other. It was freaking delicious, but it was all I got. So sad!

Anyway, I was paranoid all night, worried that I would miss the cake-cutting and epically fail in my mission. But my paranoia made me very aware, and when it was time I was ready. As soon as my sister and her husband walked over to cut the cake, I was on the scene. As soon as they went back to the line and the servers were preparing to slice and serve the cake to the guests, I made my move. Before the lady could even make one cut, I said: "Could you please set aside one slice of each layer for the bride? And one slice of the chocolate layer for the groom?" She smiled, and readily assented. I double checked later on, and she had wrapped up the requested pieces of cake and hidden them away in the fridge until the end of the night. That's right, I rock!

Oh, and I have to put a plug in here for the awesomeness of my kids. They were dragged all over northern Utah on that wedding day and they both held up beautifully. Not a single tantrum, not even from our toddler! AJ charmed the heck out of everyone she met (as usual), and the manager at the reception hall said that CT has a job there as soon as he turns fourteen if he wants it! (Apparently, he was helping them to clean up at the end of the night, and he was very impressive in his work.) Either way, I'm proud of those two. I think they're still recovering from all the chaos of last week, though. It was a lot of driving around, and several late nights in a row, what with all of the extended family being in town and all. I could tell that they were ready for some down time when it was all over. To be honest, so was I. :)

The semester is winding down nicely. I just have a few odds and ends to figure out and the final exams after that and then I'm done until January. I've decided to slow things down a bit, though. I'm going down to part time semesters. Thinking through this new program that I want to get through, it requires a Master's degree above and beyond the Bachelor's. The thing is, it's going to be pretty intense once I start grad school. I don't want that to affect my kids, especially my little toddler daughter. So...I've decided to do half-time semesters until I finish my undergrad work, and then AJ will be old enough to be in school during the day, so I can go full-time for my Master's. I feel good about this decision, it's one that I haven't made lightly, but it's the right thing to do. For me, and for my daughter.

Finally, tonight after I put the kids to bed I was going around gathering up dirty laundry. When I went into the kids' bathroom for any and all dirty washcloths and such, I turned around and saw this in the bathtub.

(CT showers himself, so this is something he left behind after tonight's shower):



Yeah, I don't get it either.

Just a Few Things...

First of all, I've gotten a few good ideas for my 100th post so far, but you're all welcome to submit more questions for consideration. The more options, the better.

Anyway, here's a report of our Saturday (Yesterday):

My little sister's bridal shower was yesterday, and as I was getting ready, I told CT to brush his teeth. He and AJ were going to my parent's house where my dad would be watching them for me. They both adore my dad, by the way. He's pretty much the best grandpa EVER.

Anyway, as CT was brushing his teeth he called out to me: "Mom, my tooth is really hurting." I told him to come and show it to me. I had some suspicions, and I wanted to see if they were true.

I looked at the little tooth, one of the front teeth on the bottom, and I was right: the tooth was loose. When I told CT, his eyes popped open wide and his mouth spread wide in a grin. "Really?" he said, the excitement all but bursting out of him. I nodded, and he reached up and wiggled the tooth. He ran to the bathroom, and I heard him laughing with delight. "I can't believe I have my first loose tooth!" He ran back to me and hugged me tightly, too excited to contain himself.

Most of CT's friends at school have been losing teeth left and right, and he's been pretty worried about the fact that he hasn't even had a loose tooth yet. And now, out of the blue, he gets his first loose tooth. He was beyond thrilled about it, as I'm sure you can imagine.

When we got to my parent's house, he ran to my dad and lost no time in telling his grandpa about his loose tooth. It was a big deal, dang-it, and everyone that would listen soon knew about it.

I went to the bridal shower, and it was fun. My sister got some good gifts and, at the insistence of the guests, told the story of how her fiance proposed to her. It's a good story, and with MN's flair for storytelling, it's quite entertaining.

Anyway, I had to leave the party a little early so I could get AJ home to take a nap, and found my dad outside with my kids and HJ's two boys (HJ is my older sister), playing in the shallow layer of snow that had fallen the previous night and that morning. CT and my little 3-year-old nephew had built a snowman all by themselves. It was a bit shorter than my son, but it was really great, especially for a first attempt.

At home, I got the baby down for her nap, and CT wanted to go out and play with friends. It looked like it was going to get stormy again, so I told him to be careful and come home as soon as possible if none of his friends could play. (Saturdays are usually days when CT's friends are either not home or unable to play for some other reason.) Anyway, he returned home about 30 minutes later, and he was half frozen, despite the precautions I had taken to dress him warmly.

So, I wrapped him up in a big quilt and let him lie down on the couch under a heater vent. I let him watch a movie,(he picked "Despicable Me", in case you were wondering), while he warmed up. AJ was still asleep, so I pulled out my current extracurricular project. It's for my little sister, MN, a gift for her birthday next month. I'll be sure to include a picture when it's finished.

Anyway, Ty came home from work at around 8:20, and CT rushed to show his Dad the loose tooth (which he had been raving happily about all day, by the way). Ty looked at it, and said "Yep, that should come out in a few days or so." CT was practically bouncing with excitement, "Can we get it out now? PLEASE?" Ty said: "Sure, Buddy. I'll go get some thread and we'll take it out."

Ty tied the thread around the loose tooth and pulled, it didn't work. He tried again, and got the back part of the tooth detached from the gums, it started bleeding. It was hurting CT, who was suddenly starting to have second thoughts about his hasty wish to have the tooth instantly removed. He asked if he could wait and just let the tooth fall out on its own.

I said no. "It's so loose now, it will probably fall out while you're asleep and you'll end up swallowing it. Or even if it doesn't, it could get some bacteria underneath it and get infected." CT tried really hard to find a way to put it off, but finally he said: "Well, can we just use some tweezers and pull it out?" I went and got the tweezers, handed them to Ty, and after a few tries, CT's first loose tooth came out.

He was ecstatic, despite the bleeding. He held a towel against the bleeding hole that once housed his tooth, and stared in amazement at the little white piece of his smile that had just come out. I took a picture, and then we got the tooth all ready for the Tooth Fairy's visit. He got a dollar out of the deal, so that's pretty awesome, right? (It's WAY more than I ever got from the Tooth Fairy, that's for sure!)

Either way, it was a pretty big milestone, and CT is super excited about it. It's just weird for me to think about. I mean, when did my son get old enough to start losing his baby teeth? Sigh...he's growing up so fast. It really doesn't seem fair sometimes, but I am very proud of him. And I'm very excited for him in reaching this milestone. I remember the first loose tooth I ever had, and I was just as excited about it as CT is about his. It's a big freaking deal.


Yep. The first of the baby teeth has officially left the building. Just watch, before you know it, those little chompers will be falling out left, right, and center. Let's just hope the permanent ones will come in nice and straight. Please? PLEASE?!?!?

It's Fast Approaching...

This is my 94th post. Yes, that means the all-important 100th post is very nearly upon us. I completely neglected to do anything special over the summer for my one-year blogoversary, so I figure I should at least do something to celebrate my 100th post.

Soooo...I've decided to allow you, my fabulous readers, a rare opportunity.

Over the next few days, I would like to open up the comments section on my blog and my e-mail for any questions/requests that you might want to put to me.

Is there something about me and my life/past that you're curious about? Ask me.

Do you want to want to see a video clip of me playing the guitar (badly) and singing a Kelly Clarkson song? Speak up.

Want to hear the story about how I failed my first driver's test? Let me know!

Curious about any phobias that I might have? Bring forth thy request!

Basically, I will do my very best to answer all of your questions honestly and fulfill your requests. (Within reason, of course. No dares!)

So feel free to ask me whatever you want to. I'll pick 3 or 4 different questions/requests to answer and put them into my 100th post! If your question/request is granted, I will put up a link to your blog and tell everyone how awesome you are, just because I'm so freaking nice.

What do you think? Are you up for this? I sure hope so, or my 100th post is going to be pretty boring. Help me out here, okay? :)