Quilts, doctors, and reservoirs

Yesterday a friend took us to a local reservoir for a late birthday treat. We cycled around it (8 miles), then stuck our feet in the water. I spent more time working on my quilt top, then got distracted working on visiting teaching stats (I'm the coordinator in our ward), and ran out of time to post. I'm trying (not very successfully) to get to bed earlier so I can get more sleep and be better rested, especially since I have my second triathlon in a week and a half.

Today we went for a five mile run/walk, and I got a bit sunburned. It was also a lot hotter than I thought it was when we started out. Good practice for the triathlon, though since it'll probably be that hot or hotter come next weekend (Murphy's law and all that).

After lunch I went to a dr. appointment. I haven't been losing weight, despite all the exercise, so decided it might be a good idea to get everything checked out now, so I can hopefully lose as much as possible before DH's R&R in November. I went in, and we talked about my health history, and he was really interested in the PCOS I was diagnosed with 4 years ago. For some reason (probably blocking out bad memories) I had forgotten about it. After I got home I looked up some info on it, and found that miscarriages are quite common with PCOS. Hmmm. So is difficulty with weight loss and infertility problems. And here I was thinking I might have a thyroid problem. We're doing some blood work in a couple weeks, and I have a complete (and I do mean complete- they'll be checking everything) physical at the end of August. I was hoping for sooner, but at least I'm started on the process, and hopefully we can get some answers and get moving on treatment.

I've been working some more on my quilt top, and am making good progress. The unfortunate thing is that I think I have two more quilt tops to finish after this. I think I might have been a bit over-zealous when I started these two years ago.

Quilting

We went on a four mile walk this afternoon. It was a bit windy, but nothing too bad.

For some reason I'm in the mood to sew, so I got out the pieces for one of the pieced quilts I started 2 years ago and started working on it again. I hate having unfinished projects hanging around, and this one is easier to keep track of and finish than scrapbooking (another unfinished project), which takes up a lot of space and has lots of pieces to get lost and mixed up.

This evening we had FHE finally. For the activity we helped weed my parents' vegetable garden, then had a short lesson, where we talked about the creation, using one of the pictures from the gospel art picture kit.

Another goal accomplished

Today I finally got DD's Nemo quilt finished. I've been putting it off because last time I used my sewing machine the thread kept breaking because the needle was rubbing the plate. I was worried that something was bent and would have to be fixed, but it turns out it was just the needle that was bent. So I switched needles and didn't have any more problems. I also finally got around to sewing the fabric Nemo book that I bought the fabric for a long time ago.

While DD was napping I went for a 15 mile bike ride (three times around the five mile loop). I'm really glad I didn't take her with me. I've got some nice sore muscles from the run and the swimming I did the last two days. If I'd taken her with me, it would have been a lot harder than it already was. Amazing what a week and a half break will do to you.

Up date on goals

Today I finished removing the cracked grout in the shower and dad re-grouted it. Tomorrow we have to buff it or something and then we can seal it and get the shower put together.

While DD took a nap I went swimming. I needed to know how long it would take me to swim 800 meters (24 minutes) so I can sign up for the triathlon. Which I was going to do today and forgot about till just now, but I'll do it tomorrow because it's too late now. After swimming 800 meters, I swam another 800 meters, for a total of one mile. I'm concentrating more on my form, and I've managed to speed up by about 9 seconds per 25 meter length, even though it's a lot further than the 500 meters I swam the first triathlon. Yay me!

Other goals I've been working on: I finished reading the Book of Mormon reader to DD in English, so I'm now reading it to her in Japanese, and I'm also making more of an effort to read her Japanese storybooks to her. I sing 'I am a Child of God' in English to her, but I've started singing it in Japanese as well. I have the first verse memorized, but still need to memorize the other three verses. I bought the Conference issue of the the Liahona in Japanese, so I can read along as I listen to the audio files from LDS.org. Now I just need to start reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese and the first Harry Potter book in Japanese. Those will take a lot of concentration, though, so I've been putting them off.

I bought the gospel art picture kit finally, so this coming Monday DD and I will be holding FHE. We'll see if I can keep it short enough to keep her attention.

This past weekend I realized why I do something that I do a lot. (how's that for a confusing sentence?) Anytime I'm around my SIL's kids, I always find myself riding herd on them, making sure they're not wandering off, they're staying out of trouble, etc. I finally realized why. When I was 12 or so, my 2 year old brother wandered off during a family reunion. We were cleaning up after dinner and didn't realize he wasn't there anymore. He ended up being lost for 24 hours, and search dogs, men on horses, and helicopters with heat sensors were brought in to find him. He was found, and he hadn't fallen into the lake and drowned (there was a scare when they found what turned out to be a floating log). However, I'm now hyper-aware of how quick and easy it is for a child to wander off and get lost, or worse.

Post-reunion re-cap

It's been 10 days since my last post, and they were a busy 10 days. We drove for 14 hours to meet DH's family, then went to the reunion. After the reunion we drove to my sister's house and did some shopping and visited with friends before driving home. We got home Tuesday night, but I've been too busy to get caught up here.

We arrived at the meeting point a day before DH's family (they were coming from another reunion that we didn't go to because of my family's reunion), so Wednesday morning DD and I went for a 4 mile walk on the bike path along the river. It was nice and flat and even (not like at home where I'm usually half on the road, half off, and there's lots of hills) and I saw quite a few people, most of them on bikes. I even saw a bicycle cop, which was reassuring, since I was in an unfamiliar area. Part of me wants to live in a city so we have easy access to things like nice bike paths, but part of me just really does not like having neighbors right on top of me.

While visiting my sister, we did some shopping, mainly for furniture for my massage room. I hate the traffic where she lives. I swear it's worse every time I go back. The roads suck, the drivers speed big time, there's lots of construction, and there's way too many vehicles on roads that don't have enough lanes. Yuck!

On the way home, in a lapse of judgement, I gave a water bottle full of fruit punch gatorade to DD. She proceeded to use the gatorade to 'wet' her hair. She's done this before with water, to cool off, but the results are a bit messier when red gatorade is used. She had pink stains on her face, hands, arms, and clothes. Her hair was all sticky and I half expected her hair to get stained pink, but I think it's too dark for that (thank goodness!).

At one potty stop, the toilet was black (not dirty, just black) and DD looked at it and refused to use it. I didn't blame her- I didn't really want to use it either. The lighting was dim enough that you couldn't see in the bowl (on purpose?) and it was kind of freaky. We both needed to go though, so I set the example, and then had to bribe her with my chapstick (which she is always digging out of my purse at every opportunity) so she'd stay on the toilet long enough to go.

While we were gone Dad got the upstairs bathroom tiled, but the grout cracked (it claimed to have an additive, but it either didn't, or didn't have enough), so I ended up scraping it out today so we can re-grout tomorrow. Another delay in getting things finished.

I bought two Sandra Boynton books and cds on ebay a while back and they came while we were gone. They're great fun to listen to (I think I could actually listen to them several times in a row without wanting to go stark raving mad), and DD and I had fun dancing to them as well. She really likes Boynton's books. Ever since we got "The Belly Button Book" from the library she calls them bee-bo books, and she can tell by looking at the pictures that it's a bee-bo book.

I still have to register for the second triathlon I want to participate in. First I need to do my swim tomorrow, so I know what my time is so they can put me in the appropriate starting wave. Taking the past week off has me a bit worried, but at least my shins aren't bothering me right now. I also need to register for the half marathon and make a hotel reservation.

Last night I typed up notes I wrote for my book while we were gone. I finally made it past the 20 page mark and the 10,000 word mark. It's only taken me how long.... Hopefully I can move a bit faster in the future. I will need to go back and flesh things out with more details, but for now I'm focusing on getting the basics down.

I didn't exercise yesterday, but today I went for a run with DD. I had planned on just two miles, but once I got started, I was feeling good, so I did four instead. I could tell it's been awhile since I last ran, but overall it felt good.

End of one reunion, preparations for another

Yesterday all the siblings and grand kids left for their homes, but not till after we all went to church and reminded our ward just how big our family really is. We've lived here for 11 years, but the three oldest were in college already, and the next oldest was a senior in high school and was here only for a year. The next oldest was here for several years, but at this point has been home from his mission for four years, I think, and has been at college ever since. Most of the ward (those who haven't been here as long as my parents) only know the four youngest. They now know me, also, so I'm sure they had figured out there was other older kids as well. It can be quite overwhelming when you see us all together, though. We took up two whole rows in the chapel- long rows, not the shorter side rows.

DD was sad to see her cousins go; she had fun playing with them. She wasn't sad to have her toys to herself again, though. Unfortunately, I think everyone leaving triggered her separation anxiety big time, and today I couldn't leave the room without her getting very upset. I had to take her with me wherever I went, even if it was just from the kitchen to the laundry room.

I was going to go for a bike ride this morning, but got working on transferring files to my ipod and getting things ready for our trip, and then dad needed to go to Home Depot to get the stuff he'll need while we're gone. While we were in town, I got some last minute errands taken care of, then we came home and started packing. I'm doing my writing quick while some laundry finishes, then I have to finish packing and loading the car. I have to get it all done tonight, since we need to leave at 6 am, and I don't want to get up any earlier than I have to. I also need to get to bed at a decent time, so I have to be as quick as possible. We have a 12.5 hour drive ahead of us, but with a toddler along we'll be lucky if we complete it in 14 hours. I detest driving in the dark, so we have to get an early start.

One thing I noticed this weekend is the huge difference between the grand kids on my side of the family and those on DH's side. This weekend was nice: no whining, no refusing to eat what's put in front of them, no demands for nuggets or corn dogs, no attitudes when you ask them to do something or stop doing something. Now, I'm not saying the grand kids on my side are angels, they're not, but they were fairly well behaved non-whiners. They were still rambunctious little kids, but it wasn't annoying: they weren't constantly fighting (there was disagreements over toys, but that's not on the same level as the fighting I've seen elsewhere) and they weren't talking back and blatantly disobeying parents/aunts and uncles/grandparents.

I now get to turn around and spend a few days with some (not all, thank goodness) of the grand kids on DH's side of the family. I know it won't be nearly as calm and worry-free (I always feel like I'm the only one actually watching the kiddoes to make sure they don't get hurt). Hopefully it won't be too bad.

In a side note, my massage certification arrived in the mail: I am now officially certified!

Family Reunion

We've been really busy the last few days and I've been staying up late, so I haven't had time to write lately. Thursday we spent cleaning and organizing the house and yard in preparation for all the siblings coming. DD had no problem staying occupied playing with her sand and water table all morning while I cleaned the yard.

Friday we played with cousins (they all got in late Thursday night), and DD got her first taste of sharing her toys with others. She hasn't had to do that since before we moved, and back then she was not in the possessive toddler stage. All things considered, she's done quite well, though of course, not without problems. She seems to feel that because it's hers, she should be able to play with it whenever she wants, even if someone else already is. My sister and I went to the pool and swam laps, and she gave me some good pointers on form (she has a group she swims with every week, so she knows way more than I do). I ended up swimming one mile! The farthest I've ever swam (swum?).

We each were supposed to come up with an activity to do; mine was a birthday party for all the grand kids, which consisted of a pinata and cake and ice cream (the kids helped Oma and Opa make the ice cream). I made little bags with cheap little toys for each of the kiddos, and then put a bunch of loose candy in as well. The cheap little toys have actually been quite a hit and have kept them occupied in spare moments.

Today we did family pictures. We had the most people present than we've had in years: 21 out of 22 (DH was the only one not present). Later we did bottle rockets and had a water balloon fight. After dinner we had our book discussion (which went about as I expected: dad and older bro managed to find something to disagree about, and the rest of us had to change the subject quick, though other than that, it went pretty well), and then we played Wisconsinopoly, courtesy of another sister who inherited it from a roommate. We also played Pit, which can be a really noisy game. When we were younger we would sometimes play it in the back of the van on road trips, though for some reason, dad never appreciated it when we did that.

Stalkers and pink car seats

What a day. I was going to go for a five mile walk, but within half a mile of starting, I had to pee really bad. And it wasn't the oh-I'm-nervous-the-race-is-just-about-to-start-I-think-I-might-have-to-pee feeling. It was definitely a full bladder. Never mind the fact that I had gone at least three times this morning, once right before we left. My feet were bugging me too (I've been trying some new insoles), so I ended up turning back after a mile, and doing a total of two miles.

I did get more exercise though, as I shoveled up wet chunks of drywall and carried them bucket by bucket to the refuse bin. I made a lot of trips. I did have the easy job, though. My mom and two brothers demolished this nasty brick bbq thing that's been falling apart for years. It was also infested with huge red ants. They had to carry the bricks to the bin and deal with the ants. Now the back porch is definitely looking better, though there's a few more things to take care of still. We also need to straighten up the house tomorrow, since my sister and her family are coming in tomorrow night.

Dad did get the shower pan cemented in, the electrical all finished, the backer board on the walls of the shower, and half the drywall up. There's no way it will be usable this weekend. Which is unfortunate, since that means that 21 people will be sharing one bathroom for two days. I think I'll be going to my in-laws' for showers.

After lunch I went to my dentist appointment where I got some unpleasant news. I have three and a half cavities. The half isn't bad enough to worry about yet, and if I floss good it might recalcify and go away. The other three have to be taken care of, though. Two of them are on one tooth, and once they get in to fill them, depending on how bad they are, I may need a crown (the tooth is close enough to the front that a filling that extends to the front surface would be visible when I smile). I hope not, since that will end up costing $300 more than just filling them. I'm not going back in till the first week of August, though. If it does end up being expensive, I need to wait till after we get paid (the middle of the month paycheck is already spoken for!). It's been about five and a half years since my last cavities, so I guess I'm doing ok. I'd be doing better if I actually flossed regularly. The majority of the cavities I do have (I think 6 right now), and the ones just discovered, are located between my teeth. You'd think I'd have learned by now. I'm going to keep my flosser by the computer and floss my teeth every night while I blog. Hopefully then there won't be any more problems.

So here's a weird thing: my dentist looked to be about my age, maybe a couple years older. Which is really bizarre to me, since I don't think I've ever had a young dentist, and now he's my age. Does that mean I'm getting old?

Random thought I've been meaning to include for the last few days: there's this guy that lives somewhere around us that I always see when we're out walking and cycling. He's always on his motorcycle, and he seems to have a particular route he takes, because he's always going in the same direction, on the same roads. So I'll see him, and then I'll see him again a little later on, only he'll be on a different motorcycle, going the same route. I'm not sure if he feels he has to take them each for a spin so they don't feel neglected, or what. But I see him everyday, and he never seems to actually go anywhere. It's kind of creepy. It would be more creepy if he acknowledged me every time he passed, but he doesn't, thank goodness. Then I'd be worried I have a stalker.

I know this is getting to be quite long, but one more thing. The Britax Frontier car seat I ordered for DD came today. I was reading the booklet, making sure I understood everything, when DD started saying 'car, car', and heading for the front door. She wanted to go out to the car, because that's where it belongs, and what is taking so long, mommy? She waited, impatiently, while I finished checking everything over. There's these nifty little cup holders that fold down on either side, and she thought those were pretty cool. She put a water bottle in one, but didn't have another water bottle for the other side, and she got a bit upset about that. I was a bit worried that the seat would be huge for her, but it's really not. There's room to grow, but she's not slip-sliding around. And it's pink! You can't go wrong with a pink car seat for a little girl. So much better than blah brown or gray.

Freakonomics

Today I went for a ten mile bike ride and followed it up with a two mile walk. The first five miles of the bike ride were with DD in the trailer behind me, and the walk was with her in the jogger. The bike ride felt good, as did the first mile of the walk. When I turned around and headed back, though, I really felt the burn. The mile out is mostly a gradual downhill, which means coming back it's uphill, and after the workout I'd already done, my body did complain a bit. DD wanted me to sing to her as I climbed the hill, but I discovered that singing takes a lot more oxygen than talking, so that didn't last long.

We were going to load up the refuse bin today, but just when we were ready to start, we got hit by this awesome thunder, lightning, and rain storm. It was also really windy, and lasted a lot longer than I was expecting. By the time it ended, everything outdoors was well-soaked. Since we didn't get the bin loaded and the back yard cleaned up, we now have lots of work to do the next two days before various siblings start arriving.

I finally got my copy of 'Freakonomics' back. My dad had finished it quickly, then my mom started reading it, not realizing that I hadn't finished it yet. Luckily the other copy I requested from the library came in, so we each have one now. It really is quite an interesting book, with the correlations that are drawn out of stacks and stacks of data. One that I thought was very interesting was the effect of abortion being legalized.

Basically, because abortion was legalized, more women were able to have abortions. The women most likely to have abortions were single, very young, and poor. If they hadn't aborted their babies, those babies would have been raised in a neglectful environment (they weren't wanted to begin with), that was below the poverty line, would have dropped out of school, become involved in drugs and gangs, and would have contributed to the rise in crime. By the early 1990's, crime had risen so much that experts were predicting that it would only get worse and that where they were right now would soon be considered the good days. Instead, crime started dropping rapidly, against all predictions. The correlation here is that because those babies who would have most likely ended up violent criminals were aborted, there was fewer people in that demographic, so fewer crimes were being committed. Very interesting thought. It goes against the grain morally, abortion is murder, after all, but it does make sense that that would be the end result.

This also brings to mind the argument of allowing people to have children when they can't/won't/don't care for them. We all have our agency, but it's really hard to see people having child after child when they don't care for the ones they have and can't afford to care for them properly, and in many cases, downright neglect them. I have a hard time with that. I know we will someday have to face the consequences of our actions, but it's hard to see others being affected negatively by those actions now, especially when those others are children. It's almost enough to make me an advocate for sterilization of unfit parents. From a legal perspective, where do you draw the line between what's acceptable and what's not, especially when it relates to having babies? I remember reading an article a few years ago about a women who was 28 or 29 (I forget which), and had just given birth to her tenth child. She was not married, a drug user, and all her kids had been taken by the state, including this most recent one. She was quoted in this article as saying she was going to keep having children till the state let her keep one. How messed up is that? And look at the burden she's put on society by neglecting her kids: the state had to take them and put them in foster care and foot the bill for everything. If you want to keep your kids, get clean, get a job, and become a contributing member of society, just like the rest of us. Aaaarrrgh! Ok, enough of me on my soapbox.

On a brighter note, DD thought the thunder was the clouds growling, so every time she heard some thunder, she'd growl at the sky!

The shallow end of the gene pool

Last night I sat down and made out a schedule of when I'm going to do which workout. I haven't been doing enough of any of them, and have been meaning to double up some of them, but just haven't figured out what, when, and how long. Today I walked 5 miles, and tomorrow I will be biking and running.

I subscribe to Runner's World Magazine, which I enjoy, it has lots of great information. But the last couple issues have also had some depressing profiles of runners. They're people who were overweight, but they started walking (and started losing weight), then gradually started running a little (lost more weight), started running longer distances (got down to their goal weight), and ran their first marathon in 3:30 (or less). And it took less than a year for all of this to happen. I walked 6 miles a day, 3 days a week, pushing DD in her jogging stroller, for more than a year, and never lost weight. I added in running several times a week when I was training for the half marathon I did last fall. I still didn't lose anything, and it took me 3 hours to do a half marathon. I took a couple months off because of the move and the weather, but have been walking, running, biking and swimming for about 3 months, and still haven't lost anything! Ok, I am building muscle right now, but that's not the point. And it's not like I'm eating whatever I want, I try to be real careful about what I eat and how much. Not that it seems to make much of a difference. Sometimes it's really depressing coming from the shallow end of the gene pool.

However, I've decided I like the way I feel in my bike shorts. I don't know how I actually look (the mirror is blocked by remodeling stuff right now), but I doubt I look as good as I feel. There's just something about the stretchy fabric that hugs your body and somehow, against all odds, makes you feel thin (well, thinner than your normal clothes make you feel, anyway). Maybe this is why so many larger people wear spandex shorts. Though in my defense, I only wear my bike shorts when exercising, never to the grocery store or the post office. Something to ponder....

Today my dad and I went to Lowe's to get more stuff for the remodels while the 10% military discount was still in effect. We took my car because I thought we wouldn't have any problems fitting everything in (I'm a master packer, and we have hauled all sorts of things, including a monstrous roll of carpet that should not have fit, but did). Unfortunately, the bead board panels were a lot longer than would fit in my car. So we tossed a blanket on the roof and tied the panels to the roof. Some key ideas to keep in mind when tying large sheets of wood to the roof of a vehicle: 1. Make sure you tie all the sides down, so that when you stop they don't slide forward down your hood and onto the street. In my defense, I didn't tie them down, my dad did. He remembered the back, but didn't think about the front. 2. Make sure there is no breeze at all. We went 30 mph the whole way home, and still had problems with the wind picking up the panels. 3. Make sure you have long arms for reaching out the window to hold onto the panels so you know when to slow down even more. I don't have long arms and it was awkward and painful. As I told my dad when we finally made it home: not an adventure I want to repeat.

The bathroom is going way slower than I had hoped, but dad's still not far enough along for me to help move things along. He did get the shower pan and drain in, as well as the backer board on the floor. Hopefully we can get lots done tomorrow, though I think we'll end up spending more time outside than in. My parents ordered a big roll-away dumpster for all the remodeling refuse, and it's being delivered tomorrow. So we'll have to load it up with the pile that's currently behind the house, and then we have to go around the yard and look for anything else that's just sitting around, taking up space, needing to be thrown out.

I did finally make dentist appointments for DD and myself, something I've been meaning to do for the last 3 months. Mine is this week, DD's isn't till August. Most regular dental clinics won't see kids under 4 years old, so I had to call around till I found a pediatric clinic that takes our insurance. It was a pain, as is the fact that the closest one I could find is twice as far away as the clinic I can go to. I guess I'm just peeved because the pediatric dental clinic we took DD to last fall, before we moved, was closer than the clinic I went to, and neither one was very far away.

Hissy fits, hill running, and book swiping

I had planned on going for a run after breakfast, before it got too hot. However, while we were eating, dad came in and said he wanted to go to Home Depot as soon as possible so he could get going on stuff in the bathroom. We had decided to go today and get the expensive stuff for the downstairs bathroom because they're offering a 10% discount to the military this weekend. Gotta save money wherever I can... So we ended up getting the tub (a deep jetted tub that still fits in the space of a normal tub- not a necessity, but it will be nice to have), the toilet and the sink and vanity, as well as some miscellaneous things like light switches and electrical outlets and some wood to frame in the windows (which is what dad wanted to get working on today). There's a few more things we need, like faucets, but we'll have to go to Lowe's on Monday for those; their 10% discount goes through Monday, Home Depot only goes through Sunday.

I decided to go for a run after DD got up from her nap. I thought about going during her nap, but decided it was too hot. I knew I had to do it today, though, since I've wussed out the last two days and haven't done squat. And I was doing so good... The break was nice, though. Anyway, I was getting ready to put DD in the jogging stroller and she started pitching a screaming hissy fit because my mom told her no (don't remember what for, but it wasn't something to cry about), and wouldn't calm down. I told her if she kept screaming, she'd be going back to bed. This usually calms her down pretty quick, but it didn't this time, so I put her in her bed, where she continued to scream for another 10 minutes or so before finally calming down. She had plenty of books, her water bottle, her lambie, and her blankie, so I wasn't too worried about her. Mom said she'd keep an eye out for her, so I went on my run- alone.

It's been quite some time since I've gone on a run by myself, I'm usually pushing DD in the jogging stroller. It was quite enjoyable to be able to move both arms at the same time! I had to concentrate on it a bit, though. I'm so used to the one-armed thing. It was a good run: the weather had cooled off, there was a bit of a breeze, my shins didn't give me too many problems, and I managed to run almost 4 miles. I did stop and walk periodically for a minute or two, so I didn't run the whole thing, but it's more than I've done in awhile, and I managed to keep a good pace. I still need to speed up, but at this point my main focus is just getting the miles in so I'm prepared for the half marathon and full marathon. I have no illusions about actually being able to run the whole race either time, but I would like to finish in a decent time and as prepared as possible. I do like the run for 20 minutes, walk for 2 method, though it usually degenerates to much shorter run periods. It worked quite well during the half marathon I did last fall, and it allows you a chance to breathe and regroup a bit. The hardest part is trying to start running again when you're halfway up a hill. That sucks.

I started my pinata for the reunion on Thursday, but when I looked at it yesterday, it was a dry, shriveled up prune.

Not sure what happened, but now I have to start another one. So I did that tonight and will hopefully have better luck with this one. I don't really have time to start another one.

I also started reading 'Freakonomics', the book my sister wants us to read for the book club thing she's doing. I've only made it about 30 pages in, though. I made the mistake of telling dad that it was already quite interesting, and he swiped it while I was giving DD her bath. Luckily he's a fast reader (most of us are), so I'll have it back soon.

Fourth of July

This morning we went to the ward's Fourth of July breakfast. By the time we got home from that it was too hot to go for a run. I realize this is relative, since DH is experiencing temperatures a good 30 degrees hotter than we are, but it's still hot enough that exercising in the middle of the day isn't very smart.

I did finally manage to get DD's outside toys taken care of finally. Some of them have been out there, but not all of them, and they needed to be rearranged. So I rearranged her toys, finally screwed the playhouse together, set up the sand and water table, and brought the rest of her toys out. DD had a great time playing with all the toys, some of which she hasn't seen in 6 or 7 months. in fact, I had to pick DD up and carry her, kicking and screaming, into the house for a late nap.

After her nap, we went outside to play in the sand table again for awhile. It's amazing how long a toddler can stay absorbed in one thing (in this case, playing with the sand and the water in her sand table). I was playing with her, and periodically she'd trade toys with me, or say 'oner side, oner side' so we could switch sides. Other than that, she was happy as a clam for quite some time. I had to drag her away again when it was dinner time. She did not want to stop playing! This is good, though, because it's the extra incentive I need to spend more time outside. I don't really like spending time in the backyard because there's not a nice lawn (it's too dry to use water on both a front and back lawn, and the front wins out), so there's lots of itchy weeds and dirt, and there's lots of bugs (I'm really not a fan of anything that makes me itch: weeds, bugs, etc). I need to get a nice lawn chair that'll get me up off the ground, and then I can read or work on my book while DD plays.

I haven't been working on my book lately, and I've realized I really need to. When I'm spending time mindlessly surfing the web, looking for interesting sites, it's a good sign I need to be doing something more productive with my time. I've been a little stalled out on dialogue and such, so I decided to change things up and start jotting down the basics of what happens in a notebook, then I can use that to type more detailed scenes. I've done some jotting today, and after I finish here, I'll start typing and see if it goes more smoothly than before. Part of the problem is I know most of the big picture, it's the smaller details I need to solidify. So whether I should do it in outline form or as I type is the question. I'll probably do some more experimenting as I go on.

A poor night's sleep

This morning I decided not to exercise. I wanted to go swimming, but the pool is closed this week for some reason. I thought about going for a walk, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. Last night I went to bed at a decent time, but was rather at loose ends when it came to having a book to read for a few minutes. So I thought I'd listen to "The Host" (which I downloaded on my ipod and have been working on for awhile now) for a few minutes before falling asleep. The only problem was that I fell asleep and didn't turn off the ipod. So every so often I woke up a bit, but not enough to turn it off. Eventually I did wake up enough to turn it off, but when I woke up this morning, I felt pretty crummy. I apparently did not sleep very well, though I can't imagine why!

In any case, after talking to DH on the webcam for awhile, DD and I went into town to run some errands. We were at the register at one store and she was pitching a fit because I wouldn't give her a piece of candy. We're talking screaming, stomping her feet, etc. Then, as we're leaving, I tell her to say good bye, and she stops screaming to say 'good bye'. Everyone laughed at that. Such a typical thing for DD to do- she can be screaming or crying, and if you tell her to say good night or good bye, she'll calm down enough to say 'night night' or 'good bye' in a halfway normal voice. It's quite hilarious.

We're having a family reunion next weekend and we're each supposed to come up with an activity. One brother is doing bottle rockets, one sister is doing a book club thing (after the kids are in bed), and I thought I'd do a birthday party for all the grandkids. None of the grandkids (other than DD right now) live around here, so I thought it would be fun to have a party with all the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins in attendance. Nothing too elaborate, though. It will mostly consist of a pinata I'm making (bigger than the one I made for DD's birthday) and cake and ice cream. The grandkids will be making the ice cream with oma and opa earlier in the day. Today I bought little toys and candy to put in the pinata, and started making the pinata. It'll take several days to make (gotta make sure each layer dries properly) and paint, and then I'll just need to make a cake. I still need to decide what kind and how elaborate. Perhaps an eight sided cake with each grandkids' name on a different side? Hmmm. I shall have to ponder this.

The plumbing is done, the pipes aren't leaking, dad has leveled the floor, and I think we're finally ready to make some progress. Though I think I've said that before....

A hilly bike ride

This morning DD and I went for a 10 mile bike ride with lots of hills, some long and not too steep, others shorter and steeper. Quite the workout, that's for sure. It was a beautiful day and the ride felt good, except for when I got to the top of the long, never ending hills, when I was ready to collapse. Gotta work on those hills some more.



After our bike ride I took a shower and changed. DD found my so-bright-it'll-hurt-your-eyes-but-that's-ok-because-I'm-paranoid-about-getting-hit-by-a-car cycling jersey and decided to wear it. Here's the result:
She insisted on wearing it for a good part of the rest of the day. I have a this jersey, and one in the same color that's long sleeve, and I love them. The paranoia is justified, I was hit by a car once when I was in junior high and running at dusk without properly reflective clothes. I was very blessed, in that the mirror of a van going 55-60 mph only hit my shoulder and spun me around. There was no broken bones, but there was some nerve damage that took several years to figure out and resolve (those were some painful years). I was definitely being watched over, though, since if either myself or the van had been a few inches closer to the line, the mirror would have impacted my head, and I don't think I'd be here right now. Rather scary when I stop to think about it. In any case, ever since then, I try to dress in bright clothes and run/bike only when the light is good. When I was in college I'd see girls running through town at night, wearing black clothes. Aside from the stupidity of running by yourself at night, wearing dark clothes and running on poorly lit streets is just asking to be hit by a car. And they'd act like they owned the road, and wouldn't check the intersections for oncoming traffic: they'd expect you to stop for them, even though you couldn't actually see them. Stupid, stupid, stupid.



Ok, off my soapbox. Last night I stayed up late, organizing my papers and such. I moved my filing cabinet so it's much more accessible and can now actually keep all my papers in it. Since I got everything organized, I spent some time today going over the budget and paying bills. As I thought, I have already spent more than I hoped I would on the remodels and we're still on the first bathroom. At least this wasn't unexpected. I had hoped it would be less, but how often does anything end up costing less than you think it will? I'm still debating about whether to go ahead and get the car seat now, or to wait. In looking over prices, they've already increased in price since the last time I checked. This makes me want to go ahead and get it now, before the price goes up even more.


I was reading this month's Ensign today and found an article about Family Home Evening and what different families have done to have successful FHEs. I thought it was rather inspired, considering that is one of the things I'm working on right now.

Dad is hopefully done with the plumbing now. He's had some issues making sure the pipes aren't leaking, but hopefully it's all taken care of now. If so, we can finally get going on the rest of the bathroom. We have one week to get it done before everyone comes, and we also have to do a few things in the downstairs bathroom to make it more usable (like switching out the toilet).

A good hard run

DD woke up at a normal time this morning, no crazy sleeping in till all hours of the afternoon. We went for a run that felt really good. I did the five mile loop and ran about 3.5 miles and walked the other 1.5 miles. If it wasn't so hilly I think I could have run the whole five miles. My shins were feeling good, and my breathing wasn't too bad (I have had some issues adjusting to the altitude and dealing with pollen and stuff in the air). Unfortunately, I'm not quite strong enough to push DD in her stroller up all the hills, especially when I've already run 3 miles of rolling hills. But that will come. I wasn't always able to bike up those same hills with DD in tow, but now I can. I just need to be patient and work on gradually increasing my mileage so I don't get injured.

After DD's nap we made cookies to send to DH. Last time I sent cookies he and the guys he works with inhaled them in 30 seconds. I was going to send more this time, but those stupid flat rate boxes just aren't very big. I could use a bigger box, but it would cost a lot more. So I think I'll just send packages a couple times a month, instead of just once a month.

I was researching ideas for FHE with a toddler last night and came up with a couple good ideas. One was to use the nursery manual and talk about the same lesson that was taught on Sunday. This would be very easy, since half the time I'm the one who taught the lesson. The other idea I liked was to take a picture from the Gospel Art Picture kit and talk about it, using the info printed on the back. This is the one I think I'll actually try first, as soon as I get said picture kit (a couple weeks from now). We'll see which works best with DD.

So the other day DD and I went to Babies R Us to look at car seats. While there, I looked around, and noticed just how many of the women there were pregnant. At a guess, I'd say 90% of them were. It was rather depressing. I'm ok with not currently being pregnant (we were hoping I would be, but it didn't work out that way), but sometimes I still get that feeling of jealousy. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that we'll probably only end up with 2 or 3 kids, and at least one of those will be adopted. But part of me really wants to get pregnant (and stay pregnant) one more time. I want a better pregnancy than with DD (I was in a lot of pain and could barely walk the last four months or so) and I want a better delivery (quite frankly, it was horrible). On the other hand, things still aren't back to normal down there (the result of said horrible delivery), and if I have another bad delivery who knows how long it'll take to heal. Despite that, I do still want to get pregnant again. I'm just glad that there's not twenty zillion pregnant women at church (I've been in wards where that was the case). And I'm working hard at trying to get in shape and lose weight so I have the best chance of getting pregnant and staying pregnant when I see DH when he has R&R. DH has an aunt who lives in Hawaii, so we're meeting him there and spending two weeks seeing the sights and spending time together. Luckily it's not till the last half of November, so I still have time to lose weight and get in shape.