So here I am 39. I don't feel older, per se, but definitely more full. Randy took the evening off and took us to the Cheesecake Factory, where I had the largest chicken sandwich I think I have ever had. Yes, it was good, but it was HUGE! Rachel made a cake after school, and I blew out the candles. No fire alarm, but we left off 30 of the candles because we didn't have that many in the house...
Thanks for all the well wishes! Hope all is well with everyone!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Table Quilt done
I finally finished the table quilt I am making for my Sister in Law. It turned out really pretty. I have it on a round table, but it is designed for a rectangle. Here are some photos.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Small update
Nothing much going on here. d'Artagnan "bridged" to Boy Scouts last night. I can't believe he is almost eleven. He looks good in his uniform, although it is a little big. I want to wait on the troop number as I don't want to change troop numbers in a couple of months.
Randy's work is going steadily better. He is figuring out how to get the best efficiency in the company, so that would have us going to Costa Rica for President's Club next year. (on the company) Now it is just down to the application of the knowledge.
I am almost through with the table quilt for my Sister in Law. It is really pretty. I will post a picture on here when I get it done. I guess I could do that now, since it's not like you can see the "quilting" (all machine) from a picture anyway. I will likely take that today.
Hope to write more later!
Jill
Randy's work is going steadily better. He is figuring out how to get the best efficiency in the company, so that would have us going to Costa Rica for President's Club next year. (on the company) Now it is just down to the application of the knowledge.
I am almost through with the table quilt for my Sister in Law. It is really pretty. I will post a picture on here when I get it done. I guess I could do that now, since it's not like you can see the "quilting" (all machine) from a picture anyway. I will likely take that today.
Hope to write more later!
Jill
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Texas
Hey!
To everyone concerned and/or thinking about what happened in Texas with the house and the trip and everything, your concerns have been unheard, because I literally have not heard any. Ha Ha.
The trip was fine. We got to Austin on schedule, no delayed or cancelled flights, landed at 2:50 on the nose. We got our rental car, and plugged in the GPS and noticed that Texas roads are set up slightly different than Idaho or Utah or California roads. The highways are - to say the least - going to take some getting used to. There are frontage roads that go the length of the highway, and you get on and off almost at will. The GPS is useful IF you either know a cross-street or can figure out what someone might have called the road when coding it in Texan. We finally figured out how to get to the house and checked it out.
Partly so I don't have to tell it over and over and partly so that if you don't find out, it's your fault, because I told everyone at the same time, you just didn't read it - we really like the house. It is smaller "in person" than it felt on the web, but the possibilities still feel endless. The gazebo would need to be removed. I suspect will put a fire pit in its place. The grass grows without a sprinkler system, and without watering it, as the average rainfall is 2 inches per month - but that doesn't mean that it rains all the time. The realtor said that they usually go from "winter" to summer there, and we had a couple of perfect spring days while we were there. It was just cool enough that we didn't need the pool to keep cool, but it was warm enough that we didn't think we were moving back to Utah. I say winter in quotes, because they get snow once every 3-4 years, and it never sticks. Anyway, it isn't Seattle rainy, and it isn't Salt Lake snowy, and it isn't Boise dry, but it also isn't Manila humid, either.
Back to the house.
The house itself is small-ish, but we like it. It is a little more humble, and was built in the 70s. It should be fairly easy to keep clean, and relatively easy to update on the cosmetic issues I had problems with. It has as gated round driveway, so when we get dogs they won't be running out on the road. It sits at the crest of one of the many rolling hills on the road, and it isn't quite as far away from the road as it felt in the pictures either - which is good and bad. Good in that we don't have as far to go to get the mail or take the trashes out, but bad in that it is closer to the road than we thought. The pine trees out front are beautiful, however. If we were having a huge family reunion out there, there is plenty of room for tents, motor homes, and pretty much any other way you wanted to "camp" in the yard. It has 2 water heaters, so Rachel won't be running us out of hot water nearly as quickly there.
Anyway, we enjoyed our trip immensely. The ward is friendly, but not huge. Rachel would be one of two kids at the high school who are LDS, but I don't see that as a huge issue with Rachel. I think it might be a bigger issue with d'Artagnan, but I think it is surmountable, and there are other kids who are his age in Elgin - I think. We got out to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. I am not sure I knew that Davy Crockett died at the Alamo until yesterday! It is an interesting place to go.
Will talk to all soon, I hope.
Jill
To everyone concerned and/or thinking about what happened in Texas with the house and the trip and everything, your concerns have been unheard, because I literally have not heard any. Ha Ha.
The trip was fine. We got to Austin on schedule, no delayed or cancelled flights, landed at 2:50 on the nose. We got our rental car, and plugged in the GPS and noticed that Texas roads are set up slightly different than Idaho or Utah or California roads. The highways are - to say the least - going to take some getting used to. There are frontage roads that go the length of the highway, and you get on and off almost at will. The GPS is useful IF you either know a cross-street or can figure out what someone might have called the road when coding it in Texan. We finally figured out how to get to the house and checked it out.
Partly so I don't have to tell it over and over and partly so that if you don't find out, it's your fault, because I told everyone at the same time, you just didn't read it - we really like the house. It is smaller "in person" than it felt on the web, but the possibilities still feel endless. The gazebo would need to be removed. I suspect will put a fire pit in its place. The grass grows without a sprinkler system, and without watering it, as the average rainfall is 2 inches per month - but that doesn't mean that it rains all the time. The realtor said that they usually go from "winter" to summer there, and we had a couple of perfect spring days while we were there. It was just cool enough that we didn't need the pool to keep cool, but it was warm enough that we didn't think we were moving back to Utah. I say winter in quotes, because they get snow once every 3-4 years, and it never sticks. Anyway, it isn't Seattle rainy, and it isn't Salt Lake snowy, and it isn't Boise dry, but it also isn't Manila humid, either.
Back to the house.
The house itself is small-ish, but we like it. It is a little more humble, and was built in the 70s. It should be fairly easy to keep clean, and relatively easy to update on the cosmetic issues I had problems with. It has as gated round driveway, so when we get dogs they won't be running out on the road. It sits at the crest of one of the many rolling hills on the road, and it isn't quite as far away from the road as it felt in the pictures either - which is good and bad. Good in that we don't have as far to go to get the mail or take the trashes out, but bad in that it is closer to the road than we thought. The pine trees out front are beautiful, however. If we were having a huge family reunion out there, there is plenty of room for tents, motor homes, and pretty much any other way you wanted to "camp" in the yard. It has 2 water heaters, so Rachel won't be running us out of hot water nearly as quickly there.
Anyway, we enjoyed our trip immensely. The ward is friendly, but not huge. Rachel would be one of two kids at the high school who are LDS, but I don't see that as a huge issue with Rachel. I think it might be a bigger issue with d'Artagnan, but I think it is surmountable, and there are other kids who are his age in Elgin - I think. We got out to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. I am not sure I knew that Davy Crockett died at the Alamo until yesterday! It is an interesting place to go.
Will talk to all soon, I hope.
Jill
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Yesterday
So d'Artagnan and I had a bit of a harrowing afternoon yesterday. He had early out day at school, so I allowed him to play with a neighbor kid named Dakota. They were out in the front yard and came to the back when the neighbor's pitbull puppy came into the front yard, bringing her with them. She is very playful and cute, and LOVES to be with people. The neighbor is 17 and doesn't have a LOT of time to spend with her, so being a puppy, she is lonely any time she isn't around people.
Anyway, we don't know how she got out, but she was in the front yard and the boys wanted to play with her. So I told them that they needed to be very careful with playing with her, because this is not only a breed they didn't know, but also a dog they weren't particularly familiar with, and the breed is known to turn on people who were playing with them - so be careful, and if she starts seeming to play rough, to come inside.
Anyway, they got her a drink of water, and she downed it in a few seconds. So they played with her a little more and Dakota came in for some more water. Within seconds after he came in the door, I heard d'Artagnan screaming bloody murder, like I have never heard him scream before in his life, calling for me or Dakota or SOMEONE. Of course I knew what had happened, the dog had ahold of him from behind, and I went tearing after her yelling and told d'Artagnan to get inside. I tried to get the dog out of the yard, and she started to jump up on me, teeth bared and snarling. I had my arm up to protect my face and body, and she got down. I grabbed her by the neck and dragged her out of the yard, closing the gate behind her. Then when I got back inside, went in to assess the damage.
She hadn't broken the skin on any of us, but she sure had scared us all. Apparently she and d'Artagnan were "playing", and the boy who owns her plays with her differently than an 11 year old will, and when he does, she can snarl and nip and get up on her hind legs and he knows that she is playing. d'Artagnan didn't, and she had ahold of his pant leg, not his leg, as I had thought I had seen. It scared him pretty bad, and after all was said and done, I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking for about 20 minutes after. I also had myself a good cry, as it occurred to me (once I was thinking again, and not reacting instinctively) that if the dog HAD been attacking, both of us would likely have serious problems at that point, because I did act instinctively. The dog outweighs d'Artagnan, and while it probably wouldn't have taken me down completely, it could have been really bad for both of us.
Anyway, I was going to blog this last night, but it kept making me freaked out again, and I wanted to wait until it didn't feel so traumatic.
Hope everyone is doing well, and mom - don't freak - we are all fine. "No blood, no foul, right?"
Anyway, we don't know how she got out, but she was in the front yard and the boys wanted to play with her. So I told them that they needed to be very careful with playing with her, because this is not only a breed they didn't know, but also a dog they weren't particularly familiar with, and the breed is known to turn on people who were playing with them - so be careful, and if she starts seeming to play rough, to come inside.
Anyway, they got her a drink of water, and she downed it in a few seconds. So they played with her a little more and Dakota came in for some more water. Within seconds after he came in the door, I heard d'Artagnan screaming bloody murder, like I have never heard him scream before in his life, calling for me or Dakota or SOMEONE. Of course I knew what had happened, the dog had ahold of him from behind, and I went tearing after her yelling and told d'Artagnan to get inside. I tried to get the dog out of the yard, and she started to jump up on me, teeth bared and snarling. I had my arm up to protect my face and body, and she got down. I grabbed her by the neck and dragged her out of the yard, closing the gate behind her. Then when I got back inside, went in to assess the damage.
She hadn't broken the skin on any of us, but she sure had scared us all. Apparently she and d'Artagnan were "playing", and the boy who owns her plays with her differently than an 11 year old will, and when he does, she can snarl and nip and get up on her hind legs and he knows that she is playing. d'Artagnan didn't, and she had ahold of his pant leg, not his leg, as I had thought I had seen. It scared him pretty bad, and after all was said and done, I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking for about 20 minutes after. I also had myself a good cry, as it occurred to me (once I was thinking again, and not reacting instinctively) that if the dog HAD been attacking, both of us would likely have serious problems at that point, because I did act instinctively. The dog outweighs d'Artagnan, and while it probably wouldn't have taken me down completely, it could have been really bad for both of us.
Anyway, I was going to blog this last night, but it kept making me freaked out again, and I wanted to wait until it didn't feel so traumatic.
Hope everyone is doing well, and mom - don't freak - we are all fine. "No blood, no foul, right?"
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Hello All!
Today is the jog-a-thon at d'Artagnan's school, and I am going to go volunteer to count the laps. (I put a tally mark on each kid's paper that they wear while they jog.) I suspect I caught Ethan's cold, because my throat started to hurt Saturday night, and I am feeling not too fabulous this morning, but they called last week to see if I would do this, so I am obligated. Hopefully DayQuil will work.
I spoke with the realtor yesterday and she is setting up a go-see on the house on Saturday. Randy "left" this morning on our experiment, and slept in the guest room last night to try and avoid the cold, so we got a jump start on that. He said he slept great, so that is good. It was hard for me to gauge how I slept since I wasn't feeling well and had a fever, so that is probably what disturbed my sleep more than anything.
We watched "Quigley Down Under" as a family yesterday after conference. It was amusing. I remember thinking Tom Selleck was quite the hot man back then, and he really isn't so much the hot man as he is charismatic and has an engaging smile. He is kind of humorous. Anyway, it was fun to watch something from "way back" and have the kids think that it was kind of boring as to action. It just has one story line clear through, and they are a bit used to a number of action scenes that go from one to another to another in relatively rapid succession. It was definitely slower than we are used to. I am thinking next should be the Apple Dumpling Gang and show them what a REALLY slow cowboy movie is.
Anyway, gotta go get the DayQuil so I can get it in my system before I have to be there. Have a great day!
J~
I spoke with the realtor yesterday and she is setting up a go-see on the house on Saturday. Randy "left" this morning on our experiment, and slept in the guest room last night to try and avoid the cold, so we got a jump start on that. He said he slept great, so that is good. It was hard for me to gauge how I slept since I wasn't feeling well and had a fever, so that is probably what disturbed my sleep more than anything.
We watched "Quigley Down Under" as a family yesterday after conference. It was amusing. I remember thinking Tom Selleck was quite the hot man back then, and he really isn't so much the hot man as he is charismatic and has an engaging smile. He is kind of humorous. Anyway, it was fun to watch something from "way back" and have the kids think that it was kind of boring as to action. It just has one story line clear through, and they are a bit used to a number of action scenes that go from one to another to another in relatively rapid succession. It was definitely slower than we are used to. I am thinking next should be the Apple Dumpling Gang and show them what a REALLY slow cowboy movie is.
Anyway, gotta go get the DayQuil so I can get it in my system before I have to be there. Have a great day!
J~
Sunday, April 6, 2008
What I think I will do with my blog
I kind of like the idea now of blogging what we eat for dinner. I am thinking that with the changes we are putting into place with my family's lifestyle, what I will do is put how things are going, both in progressing on the changes, and what we are doing in conjunction with those changes.
Today we decided that we will take this week and determine if the commuting & Randy being gone for the week days is going to work. So on Monday we will get up early in the morning and I will drop him off at work early in the morning. When he comes home in the evening, he will sleep in the guest room and the kids and I will already be asleep, most likely. We will talk to him daily on the phone at the office, and then I will pick him up on Friday late. This hopefully will help us figure out if it will actually work for us or if it is more work than it is worth.
Anyway, I suspect we will drop off the car at the office tomorrow night and leave it in the parking garage overnight so that we aren't driving 2 cars. The nice thing about "commuting" on Monday mornings and Friday evenings is that when I am going with traffic, I will be able to take the carpool lane, which makes it a whole lot faster. By the time I am dropping Randy off & only have one person, I am going the other way, on a much less congested side of the highway.
We sat around this afternoon and played Phase 10 while d'Artagnan was gone. It was kind of fun to just have nothing to "do" but play. She showed us her Color Guard routine, and that was fun to watch. She is getting much more relaxed about it and more able to let it "flow".
Will write again soon!
Jill
Today we decided that we will take this week and determine if the commuting & Randy being gone for the week days is going to work. So on Monday we will get up early in the morning and I will drop him off at work early in the morning. When he comes home in the evening, he will sleep in the guest room and the kids and I will already be asleep, most likely. We will talk to him daily on the phone at the office, and then I will pick him up on Friday late. This hopefully will help us figure out if it will actually work for us or if it is more work than it is worth.
Anyway, I suspect we will drop off the car at the office tomorrow night and leave it in the parking garage overnight so that we aren't driving 2 cars. The nice thing about "commuting" on Monday mornings and Friday evenings is that when I am going with traffic, I will be able to take the carpool lane, which makes it a whole lot faster. By the time I am dropping Randy off & only have one person, I am going the other way, on a much less congested side of the highway.
We sat around this afternoon and played Phase 10 while d'Artagnan was gone. It was kind of fun to just have nothing to "do" but play. She showed us her Color Guard routine, and that was fun to watch. She is getting much more relaxed about it and more able to let it "flow".
Will write again soon!
Jill
So here's where I MEANT to put the other blog
Whoops!
I meant to put the "my day" post on this page, but managed to do it on the family page.
Today I am running errands between conference sessions and sewing some more. The kids have 2 birthday parties and Rachel has a Stake Dance to go to, so I am running them all over town, as well.
Will post more later.
J~
I meant to put the "my day" post on this page, but managed to do it on the family page.
Today I am running errands between conference sessions and sewing some more. The kids have 2 birthday parties and Rachel has a Stake Dance to go to, so I am running them all over town, as well.
Will post more later.
J~
Friday, April 4, 2008
Home again
Hello, all! I got home from Salt Lake late last night. I believe I pulled in just shy of 11:00. The kids were still up, and I gave them both hugs and kisses.
d'Artagnan fell the other day while wrestling with Randy in the living room and hit his head on the bench & split his head open about half an inch. It looked painful, but he said it didn't hurt at all. It really didn't even bleed much, which surprised me. It is healing nicely.
Hope everyone else got home safe. The landing in Long Beach was harrowing. I thought we were going down for a second. We dropped altitude drastically to the point that my book flew in the air off the seat and most of us in the plane kind of gasped - who knew that we were on a roller coaster ride? Randy said look at it as having just one ride at an amusement park, and I would feel better about it. I'm not sure that was comforting, but what can ya do?
Write more later!
Jill
d'Artagnan fell the other day while wrestling with Randy in the living room and hit his head on the bench & split his head open about half an inch. It looked painful, but he said it didn't hurt at all. It really didn't even bleed much, which surprised me. It is healing nicely.
Hope everyone else got home safe. The landing in Long Beach was harrowing. I thought we were going down for a second. We dropped altitude drastically to the point that my book flew in the air off the seat and most of us in the plane kind of gasped - who knew that we were on a roller coaster ride? Randy said look at it as having just one ride at an amusement park, and I would feel better about it. I'm not sure that was comforting, but what can ya do?
Write more later!
Jill
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated
Hello. Apparently I am not posting what I am DOING enough. Perhaps that is because I am busy DOING it. Perhaps not.
Anyway, I am making a quilt for a friend whose house burned down, I tied a quilt for my new nephew, I am making another table quilt (read table cloth that is quilted) for my Sister in Law, I am trying to help my kids get into better homework habits, I am cleaning my house, I am doing laundry, I am trying to sell our Go-Karts, I am getting organized, I am dropping a huge hint somewhere in this blog, and am wondering if anyone will figure it out before I get there, I am flying to Salt Lake City, I am flying home. I had a chicken quesadilla for dinner last night. It was from the grocer's freezer, and I put Pace Salsa on it for some extra kick. (that last part was for Janette.) The kids had corn dogs.
That's my plan for the next two days. Sometimes they change, sometimes they don't. When they do, I certainly don't take the time to update the blog, and when they don't, it hardly seems worth your (or my) time to say the same thing day after day, and the little changes like we had macaroni and cheese or spaghetti hardly seem interesting. I will post the more interesting things when I am able and when the information is either interesting or useful. But I don't plan to update daily. Suffice it to say that if you don't read that I am doing something out of the ordinary, I am probably not doing something out of the ordinary, and you can assume that I am healthy, happy, and probably reading Mark Twain in the hammock.
Love you all!
Jill
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)