Tag!

I got tagged by Rebecca

10 Years Ago I...
-Was a summer exchange student in Germany and visited Latvia (beautiful countries!)
-Was a Junior in high school. Yep, Class of 2000.
-felt on top of the world. Except AP Biology.
-developed migraines
-couldn't imagine myself in 10 years


5 Things on tomorrow's to-do list
-put away laundry
-watch a friend's kids while they go to the temple
-work on Christmas presents
-get to know my new iPod Touch (early birthday present. I'm so excited!)
-vote my absentee ballot.  I still need to figure out all the local election nonsense


5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire
-Pay off mortgages
-Beef up retirement funds, then college for the kids
-Get Nathan a new car
-Have a lot of fun personalizing our house (windows, paint, carpet, fixtures) and yard
-Build Nathan a state-of-the-art theater room


5 Places I have lived
-Aiken, SC
-Provo, UT
-Anacortes, WA
-Edmonds/Lynnwood, WA
-Raleigh, NC


5 jobs I have had
-Lab Assistant at Savannah River Ecology Lab
-BYU Physical Facilities Carpet Cleaning Crew
-BYU Geography Dept TA for Map Analysis, and unofficially for several GIS classes
-Private Tutor
-Apartment Manager

Just about everyone I tagged last time got a gazillion tags, so I'm going to follow the trend of not tagging anyone. You're welcome to play along though! Leave a comment to let me know if you choose to do it and I'll go read yours. :)

Human Slinky

Sport's Illustrated's Extra Mustard called this "so bizarre, yet so cool." I have to agree.

               

Is there an Entomologist in the house?

We saw this bug on our deck last night.  We have NO idea what it is.  It is about two inches long, has this spiny crest on its thorax, and the mouth part looks kind of like a probiscus.  Does anyone know what it is?

David Learning to Write

Each morning at David's preschool, they practice writing their name while they wait for all the kids to arrive.  I've been trying to get David to do it at home, and tonight he obliged me:

I praised him effusively, but reminded him that his name has an i in it.  (He totally knows how to spell his name. Every time someone asks his name he recites, "D-A-V-I-D, that's my name.") So he wrote his name again:

Silly David!  

PIctures

Here are a variety of pictures that I wanted to share but haven't really fit into any of my updates:

First:  A response 

...to my friend Christy's "Ode to a Self-Portrait."  On her blog, Christy pointed out that a lot of her friends post pictures of their families on the blog but rarely get on the other side of the camera.  She challenged her blogging friends, some (me) by name, to get dolled up and get our photos taken!  So Christy, here ya go!  I realize I got carried away with PhotoBooth, but I couldn't decide which to post.

Second: Animalia 

David loves hauling Alea around.  We have a picture of Nathan holding his cat Sammy in a similar way, so we thought a parallel picture would be appropriate.  

I had  to laugh when Alea climbed up on top of the playset and then had to think really hard about how to get down again...

And I've never seen a squirrel so relaxed...

Third: David is getting so big!

Fourth: I've been Crafting!!

Fall always gives me a crafty itch that I just have to scratch.  I can't help it!  

Many moons ago I found a link to a site that has patterns to knit and crochet Chemo Caps.  Having not been especially successful crocheting hats before, I was excited to try this new pattern and learn several new stitches and techniques in the process.  I made this in August, and promised a friend on Facebook that I'd post a picture of my end result.  Ta-da!

And my next craft I finished last night after posting the "6 Quirks Tag" where I said I hate having multiple projects at once and realized I had three going.  That won't do!  So I sat down and finished this.  I must say, I'm super excited about this one.  If I weren't so young and ambitious (ha) I might have called it my magnus opus.

My friend Jennifer called me Martha Stewart when I started making this at her house Thursday night.  Not simply because I glued some silk flowers on a vine wreath, noooo... but because I made the vine wreath!  That's right.  While I was visiting my parents last weekend, I went out and harvested some of the South's most beautiful and fragrant noxious weed from their back yard--wisteria.  Then I came home and soaked the vines and wove them into a wreath, and then wrapped a (pre-made, I confess) berry garland around it and used my trusty (more like "rusty") floral design education to arrange some silk decorations on it.  I was delighted last night when Nathan genuinely complimented my work without any fishing or prodding.  

I was hoping to hang it on my front door, but alas, I cannot find a wreath hanger to fit our door, and still be able to shut the door.  I'm hoping I'll have better luck when Christmas decorations are more easily found in stores.

Conceptualizing and planning the wreath made me want to generally improve our curb appeal, so I did some quick pick-me-ups and seasonal touches:

The process of doing all that was so invigorating, and held some delightful surprises for me.  First, I was talking to my neighbor outside about cleaning up the yard a bit, and she offered to let me borrow her edger.  Nice tool!  I finished with that and then started the very tedious and back-breaking job of sweeping our driveway with a push broom.  Every  time I attempt it I wish to myself that we had a blower so I could just blow everything off the driveway.  My neighbor had some tree guys starting their own cleanup after hauling a dead tree out of her back yard, and then without saying a word, they came over with their blower and did it for me.  How nice!

6 Quirks Tag

I wrote this a while ago but was saving it while I contemplated the answers more.  Haven't come up with anything new, so I guess this is it!

My friend Leslie tagged me

The Rules:

Link the Person who Tagged you.

Mention rules on your blog.

Tell about 6 quirks of yours.

Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.

Leave a comment to let them know.

1.  I'm very conscious of how someone would visualize me based on the state of my abode.  For instance, when I was still living at home, I'd think to myself, "If someone (I usually pictured a burgler) came in my bedroom while I'm at school, what would they think of me based on what they saw?" and consequently made sure my bed was made, clothes put away, everything in its place.  That came in handy when I managed apartments in Seattle, because my living room was wholly visible from the manager's office.

2. I don't like to have unfinished projects, in general and more pointedly when it comes to crafts.  I have a rule to finish a current project before beginning anything else.

3.  I eat my cold cereal dry.  Tried it multiple times with milk; just don't like the combination.  But I always have a tall glass of milk with my cereal.

4.  If my bed didn't get made during the day, I make it right before I go to bed.  You're probably thinking right now that I've taken "neat freak" to a dangerous level.  Whenever Nathan shakes his head about it (see?  I know it's weird), I tell him that I don't like twisted sheets or unevenly distributed blankets.  The easiest way to fix that is to just make the bed.

5.  I have to have window coverings at night.  Dark windows freak me out, thanks to one of my brothers teasing me about red eyes looking in the window at me one night when I was somewhere around the age of 7. 

6.  I have no problem holding a snake, but don't ask me to touch a worm. I've been squeamish around worms since that lucky age of 7- or 8-ish when I saw a low-budget, made-for-TV horror show about flesh-eating nightcrawlers that coincidentally could also eat through walls of homes and roofs of cars.

Ok, now the last part:  I tag Jenny, Christy, Leah, Dorothy, Rozemary, and Michelle

Esau's Solution

Tonight I read David the Bible story of Esau trading Jacob his birthright for some pottage.  David wanted to help me read, and so I'd read a phrase and he'd repeat it after me.  At the end of the story (we were reading children's picture scriptures), the text said that Esau was sad because he no longer had the birthright blessing.  David couldn't get past the part where Esau was sad, however.  He said, "Esau was sad because he didn't have any more pottage!  We should go to the apple [grocery] store and get him some more pottage."

David's Career Choice

Our local grocery store often has free balloons for the kids, which David always looks forward to.  This summer, however, he had a run of "life isn't fair" when he lost several balloons in a row.  A couple got released in the parking lot, and then the next one he held very tightly but didn't get it into the van before starting the automatic door and the balloon got caught.  That one was partly my fault.  He had a tight hold on the string, but the balloon was still waving freely in the breeze well outside the van.  I saw his door closing and told him to hurry and pull the balloon in.  Unfortunately he stopped to think about what I was saying, and I didn't think to push the button to stop the door.  Pop!  

The other day we went to the store and both David and Daniel were very excited to each get a balloon.  David had a manic grip on his string.  There was no way that balloon was going anywhere.  He clutched it tightly in the parking lot and got into the van with the balloon safely embraced against his chest.  He was thrilled.  As we were driving away, David said, "Mommy, when I get bigger, I can get all the balloons out of the sky, and that will make boys and girls happy."

Awe Struck

We were forecast for thunder storms last night, and boy did we ever get one.  I woke up to a very noisy storm at about 3:30 AM.  It was a regular light show, even through our room-darkening curtains.  Nathan was already awake and enjoying the show.  The poor cat was just beside herself, running around in a frenzy.  I tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but decided I'd better make a potty run before attempting it.  While I was up, I glanced downstairs at Nathan in time for a HUMONGOUS clap of thunder and simultaneous flash of lightning.  I thought to myself, "that was pretty close," and tried to figure out the siren or alarm or something that started ringing right after that.  I didn't try too hard, though.  I just crawled back in bed.  In the morning as I was driving David to preschool, I noticed a pine tree that had a fresh lightning "tatoo".  Here it is:  (the orange stripe spiraling down the trunk is where the current traveled to the ground)

And here it is again, in the middle of the photo.  Why post this picture, you ask?

Because it was taken from my driveway!  

That fire hydrant marks the end of our yard.  Talk about a close call...