Michelle's house of laughs

Never was there a tale of more woe...

2011-08-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

Than that of Michelle and her dryer-o.

I have been blessed with craptastic dryers my entire life. We didn't have one as a kid. All the clothes went out on the line. Which was fine with me, I loved to play tents out in the clothes. Except in the middle of winter, when they mostly just froze, and we had to hang them in the bathroom to let them thaw and finish drying.

I was 6 when we got our first dryer. It was so warm and toasty. I would just sit in front of it, and feel the warmth. That was my last good experience with a dryer. Now granted, most of it is my own fault. I did my own laundry as a teenager, and managed to shrink almost all of my clothes. Then, going to college, I don't know how many bras got stolen out of the dryers at the laundromat. But again, my own fault for not staying with my clothes. After marrying Dave, we used to take our clothes to a little laundromat down the road from us. One that was popular with creepy dudes. You never knew what you were going to find when you took your clothes there.

So you can see why, when Dave finally commissioned, and we moved into our first real house, with our first real washer and dryer, we were ecstatic. Too bad it left blue streaks all over our clothes. Wah-wah-wahhhh. That was when I swore off dryers. I went back to the clothesline of my youth. But when we moved out of that how, we got a new dryer, and it's convenience beckoned once more. And we had a pretty good relationship, me and that dryer. Until we moved again, and the top got smashed in. It still worked, but now it was damaged goods. Our new house came with a wonderful dryer, which worked beautifully, for all of 2 weeks. Then we were back to using our damaged dryer, which in addition to being dented on the top, now had a malfunctioning timer. You had to set a kitchen timer, and go turn the dryer off when the time was up.

Now we are in another house. And in addition to the dented top, and malfunctioning timer, the dryer has taken to shocking me every time I touch it. Yes, that's right, before it was satisfied with merely being annoying, now it has resorted to outright hostility. Oh, and it only gets hot when it's cool outside. If it's hot outside, the dryer refuses to work. Sigh.

We have plans to get a new washer and dryer when we get to California. However, I don't have high hopes. I've been hung out to dry one to many times...

(That was corny. Sue me.)

Creepy? Um... yeah.

2011-07-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

So, during my shower today I was thinking about how sad I was that my new neighbor had died before I got a chance to get to know her. My landlord told me that she had been sick for a while, and it wasn't unexpected. But it's still kind of sad. But then I started thinking about the neighbor at our other house here in Dayton that had died. And then about our neighbor on base in Cali that had died. Then our neighbor off base in Cali that died. And I came to a sick and horrifying conclusion. In the past 6 years, we have lived in 4 houses. And at every house, a neighbor has died. No joke.

-California City House-

We moved in, we saw an old lady out a couple times, and then she was gone. Come to find out, she died in the house, and her son found her 2 weeks later.

Death number 1.

-Edwards AFB House-

Everything was fine while we were there, then the day we moved out, a Marine 2 houses down shot his wife and himself. They had just moved in.

Death numbers 2 and 3.

-Beech Tree Ct House-

An old lady across the street, died in her sleep one night. She had been really healthy, but one night, she just died.

Death number 4.

-Tomberg St House-

The nice older lady just next door died of cancer, within months of us moving in.

Death number 5.

To quote the Bhagavad Gita, "Now, I am become Death."

Please don't be my neighbor.

Watson's win doesn't scare me

2011-02-15T17:27:00.000-08:00

So, some people are all freaked out about Watson winning at Jeopardy. Not me. Here's some background, just in case you aren't a Jeopardy freak, like me. IBM wanted to see if they could build a computer that could beat the two best Jeopardy players ever. Ken Jennings (the man I crushed on through out most of college) and Brad Rutter (a bastard). They made a big deal about all the other uses for Watson, but really, I think they just wanted to see what they could do, just to do it. Anyway, so Watson won... by a lot.

Now the internet is all weepy about the end of humanity... blah... blah... blah...

I disagree. Here's why. It's not that Watson won. Computers are smarter than people. I figured that out in 1996. It's HOW he won. He won by being a computer. The final Jeopardy question was, "this city's largest airport is named after a WWII hero, and it's 2nd largest is named after a WWII battle". Well, obviously, the answer is Chicago. Ken got it right, Brad got it right, and Watson got it WRONG. Now, he had $33,000, Brad had $5000, and Ken had $2400. Watsone only risked $900. ONLY $900. Watson doesn't know how to play the game. And that's why I don't fear for humanity.

There is so much more to being human than fact recall, or being able to answer questions, it's being able to risk it all. Watson wasn't able to grasp that what makes Jeopardy so great is that in the end, you roll the dice and no matter how much you calculate, you still might be wrong. Watson doesn't feel the adrenaline, he doesn't feel the pressure, he plays the same game whether he's sitting in your living room or in the studio. He doesn't care. And until a computer can feel an emotion, I think humans will remain the dominant life form on this planet. Because when it's all on the line, a human will risk everything, even in the face of overwhelming odds, and you can't win big unless you're willing to risk it all.

A computer can calculate the odds, but if the payoff is worth it, a human doesn't care, and the human spirit can't be calculated.

Drug Induced Rambling

2011-02-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

So. I broke my back. Well, I fractured a vertebra. Doesn't that sound fun? Yeah, it's not. I was coming down the stairs, lost my footing and fell flat on my back. And apparently, when the edge of a stair hits a vertebra, it can crack it, leaving the person in agony for 2 days until they figure out that it's probably more than a bruise and ought to seek medical attention. Of course by then, we were in the middle of icepacalypse, so I slid down the driveway, twice. With a broken back. Lots of fun. And before icepocalypse, I went to Kroger with 3 kids for grocery shopping, with a broken back. I was pretty miserable the entire time, but it's kind of funny what you can accomplish when you convince yourself that you're just being a pansy. And I have a long history of this, like getting strep and just taking Motrin for 3 weeks because, "it's just a cold, you pansy!". Until the bacteria spreads to your eyes and you can't see. Most people get sick, go to the doctor, and get better. I get sick, yell at myself for being a pansy, then either get better, or get so bad I have to be forcibly taken to the ER. And even when that happens, I still usually feel like a pansy. Although, I will give myself some credit this time. I tried to go to the Doctor. I even made an appointment, but I couldn't find childcare so I just told myself I was being a pansy. That's what I get for trying to be normal. But I do get a sexy back brace and a lot of good drugs.

This icepocalypse is cray-cray! We lost a tree, but thankfully, it didn't hit anyone's house. And luckily, we have buried power lines so we didn't lose power. I know some people have had some crazy stuff go down at their houses, so I'm especially grateful we're snug in our house. Even if we can't leave it. Although honestly, I think Heavenly Father knows that I couldn't handle any more being thrown at me right now. *She said as the power went out, and a tree crashed into the roof*. Dave has even worked from home for the past 2 days, which has been super nice. We love having Daddy home, especially when Momma is most comfortable laying in her bed.

In other news, Dave got into Test Pilot School! Yay! Now we're moving back to Edwards. Yay. That will be weird, moving back to a place we've already lived. I've moved 30+ times in my 28 years, and I've never moved back anywhere. I'm just glad this time it will be for TPS, so we don't have to worry about where to live. And since we already did our time there, we probably won't be staying past a year. Hopefully we'll be headed to Florida. But there's always the Cold Lake assignment. That would be like icepocalypse from October to April. No thank you. But TPS is 11 months away, which is stupid. I hate knowing a year in advance that you're going to move. Been there, done that, and it blows. That's just way to much time to think about things. Especially if you're me, and have to plan. The good news is that we'll probably be out of our house this summer, so that gives me something to plan for within a reasonable time frame. Now we just have to finish fixing up the house to get it ready to rent. But that's one more thing on hold until my crack heals.

I have a lot of thoughts, but most of them are fueled by the drugs, so they don't make much sense. Some people say that narcotics make them feel all fuzzy in the head. They make my mind race. It's like it go 150 mph, then crashes and I sleep for 3 hours. I'm getting close to the crash. Which is not good because it's almost dinner time. Falling asleep while cooking is not a good thing. I've done it before, and I don't recommend it. I'm sure I'll have more drug induced thoughts later, but I'm not much of a writer so we'll see what makes it onto the blog.

A new direction...

2010-10-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

So... I've made a decision. One that, if you know me, you're going to be giving me that squinty-eyed "huh?" look.

I've decided that next year, I am going to home-school my children.

I'll give that a minute to sink in.

Better now? OK. I used to think this was a good representation of home-schoolers...

But after a lot of research, talking to home-schoolers, and most importantly, getting some experience in the public schools, I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm beginning to believe that homeschooling my children might better prepare them for the challenges of adulthood than letting them go to public school. Here's why...

1)Socialization. I know that's kind of a buzzword for home-schoolers. Everyone asks, "but how are your kids going to be socialized?" or "aren't you worried about socialization?". Well, let me tell you about our experience with socialization. There are 2 girls in my daughter's class that make her life miserable. They call her names, they tell her she can't play with anyone else. She gets off the bus so sad nearly everyday. She asked me the other day, "Mom can you talk to them? I just want them to stop calling me names." She's not emotionally mature enough to deal with this, and honestly, I don't want her to be. She is 5 years old, she should be running around, playing, learning about her world, not being beaten down and trying to figure out someone else's emotional problems. If that's "socialization", thanks, but no thanks. Am I sheltering her? Heck yeah. But that's not a bad thing. Yes, she will have to learn how the world works someday, I can't shelter her forever, but hopefully by then she'll have a bit more emotional maturity and be able to handle it better. And I'll say this, the older kids I've met, who are home-schooled, are some of the most self-confident, mature kids I've ever met. If home-schooling had anything to do with that, I'm willing to try it.

2) Academics. My kids are smart. Really smart. And I'm not just saying that, at 4 years old, Nora was doing 1st grade level work at her private school (it was a Montessori school where every child worked at their own pace). Now, in public school, she's back to learning ABC's and 123's. She's gotten in trouble a couple times because she finishes her work early and wants to talk to her table mates. Unfortunately, in a group, you have to go at the speed of the slowest person. I want my child to be challenged. I want to her think that learning is fun and not boring. That's not happening in her school.

3)The military thing. We're military. We move, a lot. In fact, we're moving in about 6 months. And I'm having the same issue with this move that I've had with all the others. How to I balance living close to the base with finding a good school? I don't know why, but for some reason, really good schools and Air Force Bases don't mix. And if they do, good luck finding a place on Captain salary. When we moved to Ohio, the question was, "where do we want to compromise?". Did we want to compromise school quality, or on distance from the base, or price. Finally we decided to compromise on school quality, we picked the best school district we could, close to the base and a house within our price limits. Why? Because it's been my experience that having Daddy close is worth more than just about anything else. At our next assignment, it's the same thing. Good schools within our price range? Hour commute. But if we homeschool, that's not a problem anymore. We can live close to the base, and not worry about the quality of the schools. Then there's the curriculum. I grew up military, and I remember moving to a base, and being completely lost for the first 6 months because I hadn't learned what they were teaching in my new school. Then we moved, and I was bored for the next 6 months because I had already learned what they were teaching. With homeschooling, that's not an issue for us.

4)Religious Instruction. I hate religion in public schools. I think religion is a private thing, and that everyone's religion is different, so to force one doctrine to be taught (or practiced, ala prayer) in a public school is wrong. But, in a homeschool setting, we can make religious instruction part of school. There are tons of LDS resources out there for homeschoolers. How great is that?!? It's like seminary for 5 year olds. I love that I will have that many more opportunities to teach my children about the gospel. Talk about building on the Rock.

Not that everything about this is all butterflies and rainbows, ribbons and pixie dust. I'm confident this will be the hardest thing I've ever done. And I don't like hard work. Here are my biggest concerns...

1)Am I organized enough to pull this off? I'm a pretty organized lady and, aside from some stroller issues, I do a pretty good job of keeping things running around here. But it comes in spurts. I'll spend 2 days cleaning, getting things all great looking, then lay around for 2 days. I can be MONUMENTALLY lazy. I was always better at the sprint than the marathon. This is definitely a marathon. Which is why we're going to start out with an online charter school. They provide the curriculum, I provide the space and the kids. My hope is, that will help me ease into it. Someone else does the work in the beginning, until I figure things out a bit. If we like it, we'll stick with it. If not, then I can make my own curriculum.

2) We want to have another baby. How do you homeschool with a newborn? And through a pregnancy? Not to mention that what if I get sick? Does school just stop because Mom is throwing up? I'm not sure how to deal with these issues. Is it really so flexible that we just don't have school those days and then work extra hard the next couple days? I don't know. Maybe it's just one of those things we will have to work out.

3) This sounds lame but, my exercise routine. I finally found something that works for me. I go to the gym everyday (almost). It works soooo well. I'm nervous that homeschooling is just going to screw it all up. The problem is, going to the gym is pretty vital for me. I love it. I hate the way I feel when I don't go. If there was one thing that could make me change my mind about homeschooling, this is it. I'm very nervous.

All in all, I think it will be a good thing. A HARD good thing, but still a good thing. Of course, ask me again 3 months into it. :)

2009-09-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Blogs are so 2007. Twitter is where it's at. www.twitter.com/michellek25

On the road again...

2009-07-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

Still traveling. And I'm about sick of it. Who thought of this 3 week interlude between duty-stations?? Well, whoever she is, she's an idiot. Good news, we bought a house! Check out Dave's facebook to see the pics. I would post them but I'm tired and lazy. I promise a juicy post once we get settled. Until then, keep up with me on the fayboo.

Wow. Just wow.

2009-07-01T18:13:00.001-07:00

If you didn't have enough reason to seriously question the sanity of these people... there's this. Someday I might write a post on how idiotic it is to believe 9/11 was an "inside job", but now is not that time. But seriously, if Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag believe it, then that should give you an indication of how stupid it is.

I'm just sayin'.

Can I relax?? Really?

2009-06-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

So... great news today. And no, not about Michael Jackson. Although I do think the world is a better place with one fewer child molesters in it. No! The great news is that the cleaning lady is free for the week of our move!!! When we booked her, she only had one day available, and since it takes two days to clean a house, we could only get her for the kitchen. But her other job cancelled, so she's free to do our house!!!!! Bad news? (Because nothing can just be perfectly good) we have to be out a day early. But it's OK. I called the moving company and they are going to drop the truck off sooner, without an extra charge!, and pick it up sooner. So, yay! I feel much less stressed knowing that I don't have to clean. Cause I was seriously begining to lose it. That's why I haven't been updating the blog, because with everything going on, I just couldn't put it all into words.

I'm just ready to get out of here.

So, on the nickname front, Dave doesn't like Jonty. Go fig. He like's JJ, which I think is lame. So we've come to a standoff. I call the boy Jonty and he calls him JJ. And we'll see which on sticks. Since I'm home all day, smart money's on Jonty. And I don't care if others think it's retarded, I like it. ;) He'll probably end up calling himself Scooter or something like that. Scooter would be a cool nickname, except for the whole outing a CIA agent thing. I'm much to liberal to call my son after a member of the Bush Administration. I'm just sayin'.

So... I found an IKEA in Cinncinatti. WOOT. This is great news. I heart IKEA. And it's not even the big stuff I heart, it's the little things. Like cups. I heart IKEA cups. And any store that has day-care is alright by me. Seriously. I could live at IKEA. Like this guy. That's pretty awesome. And not only is there an IKEA in Ohio, they also have Aldi. I'm a sucker for European stores that come to the US. Between Aldi and IKEA, I might never shop anywhere else again. If they combined, it'd be like Buy-n-Large. The one thing California has on Ohio is In-n-Out. Which might just be the best burger I've EVER had. But they do have 5 Guys. Which is just about as good. Almost. It'll have to do until we come back for TPS.

Well, I may not be around much for the next few months as the truck gets delivered NEXT FRIDAY (*insert PANIC here*), but I'll try to give updates as I can!

Ohio awaits!!

Nickname for Jonathyn

2009-06-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

What do you all think of Jonty as a nickname for the boy? I kind of like it...

Only at Edwards

2009-06-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

I went land sailing today. And it was just about the best thing ever. I highly recommend it. It's one of those things that you can only do at Edwards. I am all banged up and bruised, and my foot hurts like nothing else (I didn't wear my boot, shut up) but it was certainly fun. I'm really glad we did it before we left. I need to put together a list of things to do for people who get sent to Edwards. I'll call it my "Only at Edwards" list. There are things that make living out here fun, you just have to find them!

Anyway. My house looks like a storage unit. Darn near everything is in boxes. Which is good, except that we're still 2 weeks out from truck delivery. We haven't packed up the computer and the TV yet so Dave and I aren't sitting around staring at each other after the kids are in bed, but we're close. And it's just going to get worse. We couldn't get into TLF (Temporary Living Facility, basically a fully furnished/stocked apartment for people moving in and out of the base, yeah, the military takes care of us) so we decided we're just going to camp for the week between when our truck gets delivered and when we actually leave. I think we're insane. We rented a travel trailer and are going to live at FamCamp (a campground on base) for a week. With three kids under 4. I really think we're insane. But we did hire someone to clean the kitchen. We would have hired her to do the entire house but since we only have one day, the kitchen it was. That is the hardest part, but we still have to clean everything else, with a broken foot and a nursing baby. fun.

Screw it. I'm just gonna torch the place.

It's great when you get to the part of moving where you hate everything you own and just want to take a match to the entire bloody business. And we chose this as our life? What were we thinking. Join the military, see the world!! Should be, join the military drag your stuff from one corner of nowhere to the other for 20 years just to get the healthcare!!

Mama is frustrated.

New topic. The baby is getting fat!! His cheeks are so chubby, it's so cute. That boy has got me wrapped around his finger! I could snuggle all day with him. And he smiles!! I love his smiles. It always amazes me how much you love your own babies. Someone you've only known for a few months and he totally has your heart. Gives me the warm fuzzies. I can't wait to get him out to ArKanHoma (Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma) so his extended family can see him. BTW- if anyone has a better way to combine those states into one word, I'm all for it, my attempt is admittedly lame. I would post pictures of the little guy, but blogspot is also being lame and I don't feel like dealing with it.

Anyway. It's bedtime. Maybe I'll be more positive in the morning. Or maybe I'll go buy some marshmellows. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Sooo....

2009-06-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

24 days until wheels up (the day we leave, for those not affliated with airplanes)
18 days until the truck is delivered
12 days until Dave is done with work :D

crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap.

Best day EVER. Period. The End.

2009-06-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today was the best day EVER. If you couldn't tell by the blog title. My very good friend Angie took all three of my kids (!) all day. If you have kids, you know what a big deal this is. We had worked it out before I broke my foot, and while I thought about cancelling, I realized that this really is the last chance I have for a day off before we move. So I took advantage. I went to an art musuem. The Getty Museum in LA. If you have never been there, I HIGHLY encourage you to go. Not with kids, it's not really a kid friendly place, but just on your own. It was amazing. I love art, and I could have spent all day wandering around, but I do have a broken foot. I hoofed around as much as possible before having to leave due to pain. :(. Totally could have stayed all day.

Here are some pictures of the museum...

Irises by Van Gogh

Monet

I figured out at one point that I could take pictures of myself using the mirrors. Since I was on my own and had no one to take pictures of me... I took quite a few using this technique.

Cezanne (my personal favorite artist)

After the museum, I went to the airport to pick up Dave. He's been in San Francisco for a week and I was VERY happy to have him home. But before picking him up, I hung out in the cell phone waiting lot at LAX. And I was bored. So I took a bunch of pictures of myself. OK, so I know I sound really self-absorbed because I have so many pictures of myself from today, but seriously, I have entire scrapbooks where I appear ONCE. I wanted some pictures of myself. Anyway. Most of them are REALLY bad, but a few turned out kinda good. I will probably make one my new Facebook Profile pic. Remember the days when you had to scan pictures to get them online? Man, those days sucked. Anyway. Here are some of my favorites.

After a dinner of Thai food (another favorite!) we headed home. And all was wonderful in the world. Seriously, art, self-absorbtion, and Thai food? Definately the BEST DAY EVER.

And for my mom (and Ashley) here are some pictures of the kids. It's amazing how many more pictures of them I take now that I have a decent camera!!

Sorry it's not better... getting 3 kids to stand together can be a challenge!! And Layni is wearing underwear, you just can't see it. I always said I wasn't going to be "that" mom who let her kids run around half naked, but I totally am.

Is there a kiddo under that sauce?

Cutest kid ever. Period. The end.

Wait... maybe I spoke too soon. He's pretty cute too.

New Camera!

2009-06-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

It came!! And the first picture...

Peanut smiling!! Seems like a good omen to me.

My new toy...

2009-06-02T00:23:00.001-07:00

So, we went to San Francisco this weekend. And had a BLAST I might add. Good fun was had visiting with family. However, one thing was lacking. Good pictures. A little background. I have camera issues. I've never had a good camera. Except once. 3 years ago, my aunt gave me her old Canon SLR. And I fell in love. The pictures it took of Nora were (are!) amazing. The prints look great. But that's just the problem. It's 35mm. Which is not cool. Our scanner is great, but it doesn't matter, the scans look horrid. So I don't use it very often, especcially now that I'm all into digital scrapbooking. So I bought a digital camera on eBay for $35. It's been fine, but it's starting to go. There's a reason it was only $35. So, back to San Fran. We took the girls to this children's museum right on the bay. And we had the most AMAZING view of the Golden Gate Bridge. So I took some pictures. The prints from my SLR, they look so good. The pics from my $35 eBay camera, eh. Good, but not great. So I have this problem. And the solution is obvious, buy a digital SLR. But I'm cheap. And dSLRs are expensive. But after this weekend, when I missed out on capturing some of the best pictures I've EVER had the opportunity to take, I decided that enough is enough. So, when we got home, I researched what is a good dSLR for the not-so-serious photographer. Basically, what's going to take great pictures of my kids, and of my vacations. My choice?

The Nikon D40. I bought it for about $400. Which is alot for me to spend on ANYTHING. But I think I got a good deal. And I got it from Amazon, and because I have Amazon Prime, overnight shipping was just $4. So it'll be here on Wednesday!! And I'm selling my old SLR on Craigslist, which will hopefully offset the cost a little. We'll see. And I just want to say, I know it's not a "top-of-the-line" camera, but I trust Nikon to make a good camera, and I don't need a lot of bells and whistles that I honestly have no interest in learning how to use. I have a feeling this will be a good camera for me.

Most of all, I'm excited to use it on our trip across the country!! Finally! A decent camera!! Makes me so happy.

Oh, and I finished all my sewing projects tonight. Dave is TDY, and since I can't sleep well without him anyway, I always stay up wicked late. So, the only project I have left to complete before the move, is that stupid ugly scarf!! I will take pictures of my stupid ugly scarf with my wicked cool new camera!!

We be jammin'

2009-05-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

So... there is more going on in my life than just moving. Hard to believe... I know. My very good friend Melissa came over yesterday and I showed her how to can jam and make butter. Just for future reference, when the recipe says it will yield 8 jars, they really mean 12!! We prepared for 8, and got surprised!! Since she's my visiting teaching companion, we decided to give these to our sisters, which makes me happy. And Dave wants me to make some for him to give the ladies in his office. So tomorrow I get to buy stuff to make more!! But I like that type of stuff, so it's all good! Doesn't it look pretty?

Gotta love it...

2009-05-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

I love being a military wife. My life is an adventure. By the time I get tired of one place, it's time to move onto the next!! I know quite a few people who are very bothered by this. Not me! I think since my dad was military, I feel very comfortable in this lifestyle. Dave and I both are like that. The other day we were talking to some friends and one of them said they had lived in the same house their entire childhood. Dave and I were both shocked by that. What? That actually happens??? Totally wierded us out for a good three days. But I digress. I love being in the military, but I don't love it when things change out of nowhere. Dave came home yesterday and the conversation went a little like this...

"They named the new Dave 2.0 and Ken (his co-worker and BFF) 2.0 today."
"Well, that's good."
"Yeah, Ken 2.0 (I'm sure she has a name but I can't remember it) started today, and Dave 2.0 will start June 15th"
"Great! So you'll have three execs for over a month, maybe you won't have to work so much!"
"Yeah... about that..."
"What."
"They want me to be out of the job at the beginning of July."
"So that means what?"
"Um... how do you feel about being on the road by July 6th?"

Son-of-a.... After much negotiating, we decided on a July 11th wheels up. You see, I had a timeline. Dave is TDY June 1-5, so I was going to wait until after that to really start working on the move. Well, my timeline is a 6 week timeline. Which means, I'm already behind schedule. Dang. If I were a swearing person, now would be the time I'd be swearing. There is some good news. Dave's last day will be June 26th (2 weeks earlier than anticipated!) and he'll be home for a week to help me pack and finish things up. The other good news, we'll be Kansas for his 10 year HS reunion. He was really disappointed to miss that and now is really stoked he'll get to be there. I am just going to be a busy busy bee until then....

Don't even ask me about the house hunt. I've decided we're living in a van by the river and that's final. I can't wait until Dave is a Colonel and they just give us an address upon arrival. I have suggested purchasing a massive RV and just live in that so we'd never have to do this again. Dave said no when I suggested it, but now I get the feeling he's seriously considering it. If that gives you any idea how the house hunt is going.

Baby is good. He's getting fat. Which is what he's supposed to do. :/ He smiles now, which makes me happy. Girls are good too. Just being boogers. But what's new about that?

I think my head my explode. Srsly people. This move may kill me.

Only at Edwards...

2009-05-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

There are certain things that only happen at Edwards AFB. This morning I was standing at my kitchen sink, washing breakfast dishes when I heard two sonic booms. By itself, not a big deal, but I looked up and out my kitchen window towards the flightline (I have a great view of the flightline from there) and the space shuttle was landing! That ain't gonna happen in Ohio! This is one of the mornings I really like living here.

Wakin' up is hard to do...

2009-05-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

Why is the 5 am feeding so much harder than the others??? I have no issues getting up in the night at 11 and at 2, but for some reason that 5 am just kills me. With the others, I get up, we nurse and I go back to bed, no muss, no fuss. But first, I can never wake up at 5 am. Dave always has to nudge me and say, "The baby is crying" before I even figure out what's going on. Then I get there, latch him on, and promptly fall back asleep. And not the light sleep like the other 2 feedings, but really deeply. Then like half an hour later, I wake up enough to switch sides, then fall asleep again. And finally, in another half hour, I wake up, put him back in the crib, and go back to bed. So, what should have taken 15-20 minutes, takes over an hour. It's killing me!!! And it's going to get even worse in a couple weeks when I start running again. I won't be able to go back to bed!! Sigh.

So my little Peanut is a month old. He's growing up really fast. Kind of makes me sad, but kind of excited too. That's one thing I've liked about having kids, I like seeing then grow and develop and become who they are. Babies are fun because they are cuddly, but I just like watching the older ones. Take Layni, that kid is going to do something musical. I can almost guarantee it. She's always singing and dancing, and she plays the piano. Seriously, it's one of her favorite things. And she can almost pick out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". And that's not just the mom in me talking, people who have heard her do it are always amazed. I'm not the mom who thinks my kids are the best and greatest at everything, but I do think Layni has some talent with music. And Nora is the same way with art. That kid would color or draw or paint all day long if she could. I really just love watching my kids develop and grow. It makes me feel good as a parent.

So, Dave has 2 months left on his job!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!!! I hate his job. The people he works with are nice, but dang, it's stressful. I just wish he wasn't so stressed out about everything all the time. It's really hard for him to leave work at work (and it doesn't help that he gets phone calls about it even when he's home) and I can just tell that it's wearing on him. It's been a great opportunity and I'm glad he has it on his military resume, but man, I'll be glad when it's over!! Then we'll get to see him again! July 2nd is his last full day, then he'll work half days until the 10th. Then he's mine until August 10th when he reports in for AFIT. That will be so nice. I can't wait.

The house hunt is... progressing. We've made a spreadsheet. Because we're dorks. Who like spreadsheets. That's jus' how we roll G. It's got tons of info about each house, so we can make an informed decision. Of course we'll get there, fall in love with a house and not even look at the spreadsheet again. But right now, we have it. There is one house that I LOVE from the pictures. It needs some work though. It needs a bathroom addition, and the basement needs to be finished. Luckily for us, it's cheap enough that we could roll the costs of the renovations into the loan and still be able to afford it. But we're not sure we want to live in a project. Haha. But if we did I could totally make jokes about living in the projects. Anyway, back on topic. But if we did, then we could make all the choices about the bathroom and the basement, and make them the way we want them. We're weighing our options. We haven't decided to buy just yet, but our Realtor is also a Property Manager, so he has rentals we can look at too. Just in case.

Well, I should go. I have mountains of laundry that need to be folded and my bathroom is getting pretty nasty. I probably ought to clean it today. Gross. I need a wife who will do those things for me.

Liars! All of you!!

2009-04-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

So, I was told the transisition from 1 kid to 2 kids was the hardest. And since that wasn't so bad, I was thinking, "I got this." Well, you all lied. I don't know if it's because I now have more children than hands, or if I just happened to time the little guys arrival with a whiney period for my girls, but I am about to beat the girls, and lock them in their room. The baby isn't so bad, it's Layni trying to push him off my lap when he nurses, and Nora screaming, "NO!" everytime I ask her to do something. It's driving me crazy!!! It all just reinforces to me that we are DONE. Finished. No more children.

Anywho... on to the birth story! So, April 2nd was really windy. I had an OSC Board meeting that morning, so I got a babysitter, and went to Starbucks for a Chai Latte (which was FABULOUS) and went to my meeting. My back had been hurting really bad all night, and during the meeting it just got to be horrible. So I figured I'd better call the doctor just to find out if he wanted me to come in or not. On the way home, I passed Dave running and flagged him to come to the house. Got home, sent the sitter home, called the doctor and the doctor said, No more monkeys.... wait... the doctor said, come in and get checked. Dave was like, "Whatever, you're fine, I'm going back to work." So, I found another sitter for the kids, and went to the doctor's office. This is at about 2 p.m. So, the doctor checks me, and I'm not dialated or anything, but he decides to keep me overnight to get this back pain under control, so they wheel me over to the hospital. When I get there, they hook me up to all the monitors and guess what! I'm having contractions! Like every 4 minutes. So about 5 p.m., they decide to go ahead and take the baby. I called Dave at work and was like, "GET HERE NOW." So, I wait, and wait, and he doesn't show. Then they start getting everything ready and he's still not there. They roll me to the operating room, AND HE'S STILL NOT THERE. They get me all prepped and ready to have the surgery, AND HE'S STILL NOT THERE. So, I'm panicking. Then they get the call, he's there. THANK YOU LORD. He made it, just barely. He ran from the Maternity Ward to the operating room, and got there just in time. After that, everything went fine, and Jonathyn was born at 8:22 p.m. The doc even played my favorite Eagle's song, which was cool. I find it very ironic that with the girls, I really wanted to have a normal birth, but never went into labor, and with the one planned c-section, I went into labor on my own. Oh well, he's here and we're all happy.

Things have been crazy since then. The girls are finally getting used it him being here. They just won't stop whining and fighting with each other. That's the part that's driving me crazy. But Peanut is a good baby. He doesn't cry very much at all, just when he's hungry, which isn't often. I make enough milk for about 3 babies, so there's plenty and since I nurse on demand, his little tummy is always full. He sleeps pretty well too. We just moved him out of our bed this weekend. I don't mind co-sleeping but Dave can only handle so much of my hippy-dippy parenting crap. But we're doing good. I'm working on getting into some sort of a routine. Hopefully that will help the girls and be good for him too. We've just got to do something about the girls misbehaving. I can't deal with this much longer.

Now that Peanut is here, we're focused on the move. We've talked to our Real Estate agent, and he sent us a bunch of listings. Most we aren't interested in, but there are a few that caught the eye. We'll see what happens. We're also keeping an eye on the rental market just to see what's available there. We're leaving July 18 and taking our sweet time getting to Arkansas. We're going to St. George, to see Dave's grandparents graves, we're going to the Grand Canyon, we're going to stop in Albuquerque and check things out there, and we're probably going to stop in Ada and see my Grandma. It'll be a long trip but it'll be good. And Dave will get to leave with me, Yay! We thought he'd have to stay, but things worked out right. And the best news? His last full day of work is July 2nd!! Which means, as of Saturday, he has 2 months left in this job!!! W00T. By the time he leaves, he'll have been up there for nearly 15 months, and it's a 12 month assignment. Let's just say, he's very ready to be done. So, the movers and the cleaners come the week of July 13th, and then we head out! (Provided we pass inspection). We're blessing Peanut in Tulsa on the 2nd of August, then spending a week in Kansas, then heading to Ohio for househunting. We're leaving the kids with Dave's dad for a week while we do that. That will be nice, a week without the big kids. We'll take Peanut with us, he's too little to be away from his mommy, and he's not hard to control like the big kids.

Anyway, Nora is banging on my piano, screaming about getting dressed, so I'd better take care of that. Kids, kids everywhere and not a paddle in sight.

Jonathyn Michel

2009-04-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

So, if you hadn't already heard, I had my baby on April 2nd. I promise I will tell the birth story, but right now I'm pretty beat from having a baby and taking care of my other 2 kids. I'll get too it, I promise, just give me some time. Check out my Facebook for pictures and other status updates....

The Murtaugh List

2009-03-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

So... I just watched HIMYM, which just might be the best show I've ever seen. Anyway, the latest episode was about a list of things you are too old to do once you hit 30. Well, I'm not 30 yet, but seriously, I've got a husband and 3 kids, just because I don't have the years under my belt doesn't mean I'm not there. Anyway, I was thinking about making my own list of things I am to old to do. Here's what I've come up with... feel free to add things in the comments...

Attend a house party.
Live in a basement apartment.
Pierce anything else. If it's not already pierced, it don't need to be.
Go to a midnight movie release.
Stay up all night playing video games.
Play video games past midnight.
Watch "The Real World". (Dave says this applies to anyone over 17)
Use the phrase, "Go big or go home!".
Have any pink fuzzy car accessories, INCLUDING rearview mirror dice.
Drink cheap beer (not that I drink beer anyway, you know, the whole Mormon thing, but if I did, it would be time to ditch the 2 buck chuck)
Buy clothing at Hot Topic/Abercrombie/Hollister/American Eagle, if you're going to pay that much for it, it better be Prada.
Wear skirts/shorts shorter than knee length, and shirts that show my belly.
Wear pithy message t-shirts. (You know, the one's that say crap like, "Your village called, they're missing an idiot" or "I see stupid people")
Yell "Freebird!!!" at a concert.
Get into arguments on the internet.
Dumpster Diving. If I need something that bad, I can go buy it. No need to fish through the garbage. (OK, I'm not talking about seeing something on the curb and grabbing it, lots of people put things on the curb intending for someone to take it. I'm talking about actually taking things out of the trashcan/dumpster. Yes I've done it. And I'm too old for it now).
Have "Hello Kitty" anywhere on your person or personal effects.
Jello Shots.

That's all I got for now. Like I said, feel free to add things you're too dang old for.

**In case you're wondering, some of these were suggested by non-LDS friends, mostly the ones with alcohol and belly shirts. So, no, I would not do these things no matter what my age, but from watching others do them, I have determined that they are not age appropriate. Just in case you were wondering. ;)**

2009-03-29T15:18:00.001-07:00

This made me laugh...

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Michelle is...

2009-03-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thoughtful? Sober? Tired? Lots of things.

An F22 crashed yesterday at Edwards. The pilot died. I don't think about how dangerous Dave's job is very often, to quote a friend, I just don't go there. But when someone you know dies doing the same job your husband does, it kind of gets to you a bit. Just one more reminder that my husband works in the world's second deadliest job (the first is commercial fishing). I just really feel for the family. My worst fear is having that staff car pull up and men in blue suits get out of it. I've had nightmares about it. Nightmares aren't supposed to come true, but in this case, they did. I can't even imagine. Makes me think about a few lines from "The Right Stuff". I don't know if these were ever actually said, but they kind of sum it up for me...

"They don't spend a g*d-d**ned thing teaching you how to be the fearless wife of a fearless test pilot." -Glennis Yeager

"I went back east to a reunion and all my friends could talk about was their husband's work. How "dog-eat-dog" and cutthroat it was on Madison Ave. Places like that. Cutthroat. I wondered how they would've felt if everytime their husband went in to make a deal, there was a one in four chance he wouldn't come out of that meeting." -Trudy Cooper

This is hitting me kind of hard if you can't tell.

There are other things going on, but they kind of pale in comparison. I'm still uncomfortable, and still two weeks out from having a baby. Everything is on track. Maybe in a few days I'll be back to my old self. Sorry guys.

Hmm....

2009-03-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's shaping up to be a good night. It's 5 after 7 and the kids are fed, their room is clean and they are in the bath. The dishes are done, the living room and dining room are picked up and the wind has died down enough for me to open the windows and get a nice evening breeze. All I have to do tonight is get PJ's on the kids, and get them in bed. Then it's time to quilt and watch my newest documentary from Netflix.

It's a perfect evening...

Good News!

2009-03-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

So, we're NOT moving in May. Whoo hoo!! Now I can have my gallbladder surgery, and let the little dude on a sleep schedule before taking him all the way across the country. This is very good news indeed.

In other news, houses are way cheap in Ohio. WAY CHEAP. Like, cheaper to buy than rent cheap. We've been looking at rentals for a while now, and it's like, Dang! You want how much for that house?? So today, out of curiousity, I started looking at the real estate website again (the one I had banned myself from) and started putting numbers into the PITI calculator. Yeah, we'd get a better house for less money if we buy. But then there's that whole renting it out issue again. Man, I thought I was done thinking about this!!!! You see why I have issues??? We keep praying about it, but neither one of us feel like we're getting an answer. Hello!! We need some guidance down here!!

If anyone has any house buying advice, I'd really like to hear it!!!

Anywho. I promised Nora some cookies. Should probably go take care of that.

Man, oh man, oh man

2009-03-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been remiss in updating. I've pretty much had 3 things on my mind, and they are 3 pretty big things!!

1. My health

So it's pretty much gone down the toilet. Wednesday night, I had to find someone to take the kids because I was having such intense stomach pains that I couldn't move and I was throwing up. Dave had to take me to the hospital, where we spent the night. That was lots of fun, lemme tell you. Doc M thinks I have either gallstones, or an ulcer. They did an ultrasound to check for gallstones, but couldn't see anything because I've got baby all up in everywhere. And any other diagnostic tools they could use, well, they can't because I'm pregnant. So it's kind of a guessing game until April 10th. And I'm the one stuck in pain. Boo. Doc M is pretty sure it's gallstones because of where the pain is and how it comes in attacks, but there's just no way to be sure. And if it is gallstones, I'll have to have another surgery not long after my c-section to remove the gallbladder. Fun right?!? Anyway. I'm just bummed about the whole business. We finally get my pre-term labor under control and my body is like, "Just kidding sucka!! I'm not done yet!". It's obnoxious.

Speaking of pre-term labor, I'm off the meds that I've been on for 6 weeks that made me all jittery and crazy. Whoo hoo! Of course, now that I really want to go into labor so we can get this gallstone thing figured out, my body is doing NOTHING. Not even Braxton-Hicks. I got nothin'. But the good news is that the little dude seems to be doing just fine. His heart-rate is good, and he's moving all the time. And honestly, I'd rather have me be miserable and feel like crap than him have something wrong.

We are go for baby on April 10th, confirmed with Doc M today. Bought my mom's plane tickets so now we just have to wait 3 1/2 weeks. Hurry up and wait. That's all we ever do around this joint.

2. Projects!

We are pretty much done with our projects! We finished Nora's loft bed last night (that was a late night) and she slept in it just fine. She did fall off the ladder this morning and scrape her arm, but she's fine. And if I must say, this bed looks AWESOME! My husband is a really great furniture builder. We do still have to add the bookcase, but the only reason that didn't happen last night was because the chalkboard paint takes 3 days to cure and I didn't want to risk little girls writing on it before it was ready.

The last thing to do is for me to finish Nora's new quilt, and then to make a bed skirt for the crib. It's just really hard to sit at a sewing machine when you feel like your stomach might explode out your back. That's no good. But all the baby clothes are put away, the nursery is set up, and we are ready to rock and roll. But really, I've spent the last week and a half helping Dave finish the bed. Some couples read books, some taste wine, Dave and I build furniture. ;)

3. The Move

So, we've had a small SNAFU with the move to Ohio. Of course, I mean, we had plans. We had a date to leave, plans with mom along the way, yeah, it was all good. See, we forgot that we were in the Air Force. And they like to mess with the best laid plans. In October, we were told that Dave was getting his degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Whoo Hoo right? He's good at that kind of stuff. Well, whoever told him that can't read. He's getting a degree in Electrical Engineering. You know, the kind of engineering he has had 1 class in. Ever. So he's been on the phone with AFPC trying to get permission to come out to Ohio for the summer session and take some, lets call them refresher courses, in EE. So far, the word from AFPC (Sorry, Air Force Personel Center) is that he's completely qualified to get a degree in EE, as is. BUT the primary AFIT point of contact (POC) is out today, so he can't get an official word from AFPC until tomorrow. In the mean time, he's trying to call AFIT and see if they will back him up on this. But it is the Air Force. So we'll see. What does this mean for the family??? Well, it means we could be moving in May. That's right, May. You know, the month after next. So, instead of 125 days until we leave, that's like 60. And 20 of those will go by before we have the baby. Yeah, it's fast. And where does my gallbladder surgery fit into all that? Your guess is as good as mine!!

It's just all very stressful. The good news is that we have found a house we want to rent, that we can agree on, and a preschool/kindergarten for Nora. It's a bit on the pricey side, but it's a really good school. And it's 2 blocks from the house we want. And the house is available April 1st, so if we do have to move in May, we'll be able to move right in.

Le sigh.

Anyone want to come live my life for the next 3 months?

Countdown

2009-03-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

So...

-30 days until Jonathynjakob comes
-??? days until the kids and I leave So Cal for Ohio

**Update** It's now unknown how many days until we leave for Ohio, because we might be leaving A LOT sooner than expected!! That's a MIGHT folks. No need for alarm.

Whoa.

2009-03-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

This may be the funniest thing I've seen in a LONG time.

Well now...

2009-03-09T15:21:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't posted in a while. But that's OK. I'm pregnant. Things are going pretty good on the baby front. Tomorrow is the 1 month mark!! Whoo Hoo! My c-section is scheduled on April 10th, so if I make it that long, tomorrow makes one month until then. My doc thinks I might go before then. I'm dialated to a 2, and effaced 20%, so we'll see. If I go into labor on my own then my scheduled c-section becomes an emergency c-section, so we're keeping a close eye on things. If I start dialating more, then we'll probably do the surgery sooner. I have an appointment on Thursday so we'll see what happens then!!

In other baby news, I had my shower, and it was awesome! My friend Susanne did a really good job, we had about 10 people come, which for a Saturday shower was a really good turnout. I know I had a good time, and I got some seriously cute stuff!! Lots of clothes, which I needed, and shoes, which I love, and some other fun stuff. I'm so excited. We got the nursery set up last night too. The crib bedding I made was too big, that's what I get for second-guessing myself during sewing, and I made it in such a way that to make it smaller would pretty much mean starting from scratch. I even had Dave the Engineer look at it, and he couldn't see a way to fix it. And honestly, I don't have the energy or the time to start again. Luckily, I found a crib set in my garage that a friend gave me like 6 months ago that I forgot about. So it all worked out well in the end. Pretty much all I still have to do is find a small lamp, something to hang from the mobile, and a set of plastic drawers for Layni's clothes so I can move them out of the dresser and into her new room. I feel much more prepared for the baby now than I did before.

Our other projects are going well, Nora's quilt is coming along. I've been distracted by a crochet pattern that looked so cute I just had to make it, but that should be done tonight. I'm hoping to finish quilting by this weekend and then move on to actually binding the thing. Then it will be DONE. I've reached the point where I'm like, "Ugg!! Why didn't we just buy something! Why did I have to insist on being so crafty??" but that will disapate once I get closer to the end. We're rocking on the bunk beds, though. Dave got everything cut and we're in the process of sanding and painting. I was supposed to work on that today, but with wind at like 60 mph, yeah, that didn't happen. Speaking of the weather, we had to mow this weekend! Can you believe that? It's just wrong to mow in March. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a 70 degree winter as much as the next guy, but mowing is a bit much.

But that's why we're moving to Ohio. So we can appriciate how good we had it here. ;) We finally got our Report No Later Than date. August 17th. We're thinking I'm going to leave with the kids in mid-July and spend some time with the family in Arkansas and Kansas, then Dave will meet me and we'll head on up to Ohio together. We think we found a house to rent. We like it, the rent is right, and the landlords seem great. We're right on the edge of signing the lease. We need to pray about it. I've been looking at the area and it seems like it's in a nice part of town, and I've already found a preschool for Nora. It's a private Catholic preschool, but greatschools.net gives it rave reviews. We have the option of putting her in the Kindergarten at the private Catholic school too, but it's $2800 a year for tuition!! Thanks, but no thanks. We'll send her to public school if it's all right with you. I mean really, she'll be in Ohio schools for less than a year. She can deal with a not great school district. Then it's on to either New Mexico or back to Edwards!! And we all know how much I'm looking forward to both those options....

Sorry I'm not more interesting, my kids haven't done anything outrageous lately, we haven't done anything really cool as a family, and I feel like I'm just sitting around waiting to have a baby! Oh well. I need to go fold laundry. I need my own reality show, "The Real Boring Housewives of Edwards AFB".

Bullets... but not the kind that kill people

2009-03-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

Unless you count death by powerpoint. Anyway.

Best deal of the past week: $180 worth of merchandise at Macy's for $24. Heck yeah. And one of those items is a pair of rockin' post baby jeans. And Old Navy having their Perfect Tees on sale for $5. I live in those things. Finally I can start to rebuild some of my wardrobe (I haven't bought clothes for myself in 3 years).
Best moment of the past week: Some amazing brownies that my amazing Visiting Teacher brought over. Those were so good Jessica, seriously. Dave had one before I got home, but then he didn't get anymore. There are some perks to being pregnant. You can sit and eat like 11 brownies in a sitting and not feel guilty.
Can you believe I'm having a baby in like 5 weeks? That's crazy. Good news is, I'm crazy busy in those weeks. This week, tomorrow I've got a billion errands to run, then an OSC meeting at night, Wednesday an OB Appointment and a Relief Society Presidency meeting, Thursday it's another OSC meeting, and piano lessons, Friday it's do-nothing day, and Saturday is my baby shower! But the good news is that time flies when you're a busy busy bee.
I now feel like an expert on 501(c)4 non-profit organizations. Not that it will help me much ever again, but I feel like I've learned something today.
I'm thinking about taking another shower. Which will be my third one today. No wonder my belly itches. Dry skin and all. When people ask me what I crave as a pregnant woman, I always answer with ice and showers. It's a compulsion. Speaking of which, I need a new bag of ice. I've polished off an entire 8lb bag in like 3 months. This is not cool.

Anywho. That's all I got. The shower is calling my name.

Ironic

2009-02-26T14:46:00.001-08:00

I have a new line to add to Alanis' song. "It's having just cleaned the carpet and your 2 year old spills red Kool-Aid. Isn't it ironic? Don't cha think?" The first time I heard that song, I thought, "That's not ironic, her life just sucks." Of course, I was 13 at the time, so my views might have been a little skewed. But now that I think about it again, yeah, her life does pretty much suck. But yeah, so I cleaned the carpet yesterday. And this morning, Layni walked in the living room with a glass of red Kool-Aid that got left on the counter after dinner. Of course she spilled it! But I didn't flip out, I just put her on the naughty seat, went into my room, and quietly beat my head against a wall. Or I would have if I could have gotten that Alanis song out of my head. Anyway, I paid the price for my cleaning activities, my back hurt like a mother all night last night and most of today. And the best part? Aside from the red Kool-Aid stain, the carpet doesn't look that much better than it did before. Isnt' it ironic? Don't cha think?

So I went shopping today. I told Dave I was going to the commissary, but I lied. I went to town. I'm not supposed to drive anywhere off base, but I was feeling reckless today. I'm just sick of being stuck on this stupid base. It's huge, but there's a whole lot of nothing to do. Although, Monday and Tuesday were really good days. The weather was nice. Then it got cold and windy, so we couldn't go outside. I'm finding that good days are ones where there is outside play. Everything was fine going to town, but it's not something I want to risk frequently. I got everything I needed, except a Ken Doll (don't ask) and a new lunch box for Dave. He brown-bags it everyday, and his old lunch bag has just about bit the dust, so he wants a new one. Unfortunately the only lunch boxes I could find had either Dora the Explora on them or Lightening McQueen. And since he finally got a call sign he likes (Spock) I don't think it's a good idea to send him to work with fodder for another one that might be lame. And I got the good toothpaste. I love that we are finally in a place financially where I don't have to buy the cheap-o brand of everything. I can splurge on the good toothpaste!

So the great housing debate has reared it's ugly head again. We had pretty much decided to move on base, but then I got the bright idea to look at some new construction homes in the area. Now I'm the one on the side of buying and renting it out, and Dave is the one who wants to rent! Oh the twists and turns of life. Not to get into too much detail, but we've decided to go ahead and apply for a mortgage and see what happens. If we don't get approved for very much, then we'll just rent and be happy. If we do get approved for a decent amount, we're probably going to build a new house there in Ohio. My biggest fear about being a landlord was that we weren't going to be able to rent the place. That fear is much lessened with a newer house. I know what I've looked for as a renter, and a newer place will always win out over an older one (except in the case of historic homes, but even then, with kids? Maybe not so much). So we'll see. We figure we can't make a decision until the money is all in place, and we'd prefer not to start that process until the baby comes, so probably in May. So stay tuned! I know you're all on pins and needles to see what happens. ;)

So I'm having this issue. I feel guilty because I don't really feel bad about the recession. I mean, from Dave and I's perspective, this is a great opportunity. We're throwing more money than ever into our retirement accounts because every dollar we put into the stock market is buying more than it has before. And I feel bad for people losing their homes, but we're looking to buy one, because we can finally afford it. And part of the reason they are so cheap is because other people are losing them. I feel like our money is going further than it ever has before. We don't have tons of money, but like I said before, I can finally afford to buy the good toothpaste! But that's the thing, we've always tried to live frugally, avoided debt, lived within our means and saved. And guess what? We haven't been hit that hard. Even if Dave were to lose his job, we'd be good for at least 3-4 months while he looked for a new one (and with his education and experience, he'd probably be able to find one here at Edwards!). I'm just not worried about the economy. Maybe it comes back to that gospel principle, (I'm paraphrasing) if you're prepared, there's no need to fear. When things were good, we prepared for a time when they might not be, by saving money, living frugally, and getting a good education. Now we're reaping the rewards because we can take advantage of some really good opportunities. But I do feel bad for other people. I know plenty of people who've lost their jobs, and that sucks for them. But at the same time, there's this little voice in the back of my head saying, "If you hadn't bought that big, expensive, new house then things might be a bit easier for you." I don't know. I should have more love for others, but it's hard when you see people reaping the consequences of their decisions.

Anyway, enough deep thoughts. You don't come here to read my deep thoughts! You come here to laugh because my kid locked herself in the bathroom or spilled Kool-Aid on the carpet. I only need to share deep thoughts if they are of the Jack Handeyvariety. Well, I need to go unload groceries, put them away, wash dishes, return the carpet cleaner, etc. Blah. Sometimes this job sucks.

Why I oughta....

2009-02-23T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wish I had an anonymous blog so I could post all the horrible things I think about some people with no chance of it getting back to them!! Michelle is not feeling very Christ-like today!! (And no Jessa, it's not about you, your visit was one thing that made me smile today!)

Weird

2009-02-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

I feel weird today. And the weather isn't helping. Rain, rain, go AWAY!! I wanted to take the kids to the park today, but with it raining that won't happen. And even when it stops, it'll be nothing but mud. I'm going to try and take them to the indoor playground here on base, but we'll see what happens. At least we'll go to the library. I've just got to the get them out of the house today. We won't survive being cooped up like this!!

My body is being weird too. If you ask me, it feels like I'm getting ready to have a baby. Which I shouldn't be, considering that I'm only 33 weeks. But I don't know, something strange is going on. And I'll be the first to admit, I'm no expert when it comes to going into labor. The only times I've been able to do it on my own were when it was early, and had to be stopped. With Nora, my body just kind of gave up after 36 weeks (after trying quite hard for the previous 6 weeks!), and I had to be induced at 42. With Layni, it would start up, then stop, then start, then stop, and we all know how that ended up. This is different though, it's like my whole body is gearing up for something, where before it was just my uterus. Or maybe I'm just going crazy. That's a completely reasonable conclusion. I've been telling Dave for a while that the inmates were taking over the assylum up here. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

My projects are coming along. I'm halfway done with Nora's quilt. And halfway done with the crib blanket. Those were supposed to be completed yesterday, but I'm thinking my time-table may have been a bit ambitious. The crib blanket should be done in a few days, it's going pretty quickly. It's the quilt that's going to kill me. It's not going very fast at all. But it's the next to last project, and I've got 6 weeks to finish it. I'm sure I'll get everything done before the baby comes, it's just hard to see the end when you're in the middle. Dave is working hard on the bunk beds. He got all the wood cut, and most of the holes drilled. Now he just needs to sand them, and he'll be done in the shop! That will help a lot. The shop is only open from 9-6, so he can only go on Saturdays, which means 4 days in the shop takes 4 weeks. Once he gets the sanding done, then he'll bring it home and the girls and I can paint everything and get it ready for assembly. That will be fun, hopefully assembly shouldn't take very long! No matter what though, we're moving the girls into the play room and getting the nursery set up on March 1st. That will be awesome.

Well, I need to go hit the shower and get dressed so I can take the girls out of a bit. It seems to hae stopped raining (for now), so it's a good time to be out and about. And maybe I'll snag a $5 footlong while I'm out. Sounds good.

Top 10 Reasons I want to have this baby already

2009-02-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

1. So I will stop waddling like a duck.

2. So people will stop looking at me sympathetically because I'm so huge out in front.

3. So I can stop taking this medicine that gives me all the jitters of a triple shot mocca without the chocolatey flavor.

4. So I can wear heels again.

5. So we will be 3 months away from moving, rather than 5.

6. So Nora will quit telling people that Mommy throws up in the potty.

7. So I have an excuse not to wash dishes every night.

8. So I can get 5 lbs of weight off my bladder.

9. So my mom will stop bugging me about naming him Jakob rather than Daryn. Once it's on the birth certificate, all debate stops yo.

10. I don't really have a 10th reason, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon.

Frickin' Frackin' House!!

2009-02-17T15:55:00.000-08:00

So, this house will kill me. Don't get me wrong, I like this house a lot, I like where it's located, I like the layout (about 500 sf smaller than my old house, but feels like it's bigger), it's not haunted. I like this house a lot, but I think it's trying to kill me. First, Layni gets locked in the bathroom, sending this overprotective mother into panic state thinking about how she's going to drown herself in the toilet (and hoping and praying that Nora flushed after the last time she used it). Now the furnace isn't working. 3 maintenance guys have been out to fix it with no dice. The HVAC guy is coming in about half an hour to give it his best shot, so we'll see what happens. If they can't fix it tonight, it's TLF (temporary living facilities) for us because I'll be darned if we're staying in this house tonight with no heat!

**Update**
Well, the HVAC guy came and fixed things. So yay! Turns out the people who lived here before us had a dog, and the hair clogged up the ducts, so the heat from the furnace was backing up, causing the furnace to think it was overheating and shut off. The HVAC guy spent over an hour sucking crap out of our ducts. And guess what, our heat works much better now!! I've had the heat set at 74 all winter, and it hasn't been over 70 since he cleaned it. My house isn't trying to kill me anymore. Yay!

At least they make me laugh...

2009-02-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

So we had to call maintenance tonight. Why you ask? Because my sweet little 2 year old locked herself in the hallway bathroom. Not even joking. Apparently she was in there playing, and shut the door with the lock engaged. She's a smart little bugger because she knows she'll get in trouble if she's caught playing in the bathroom. Her solution? Shut the door. She was locked in there for about an hour before we even realized it. We could hear her playing, so we thought she was just in the playroom. It wasn't until Nora came in the living room crying because she had to potty and couldn't get in that we realized something was amiss. After trying on our own for about 10 minutes to get in, we decided it was best to just make the call. And when the guy came, we just had a good laugh. And Layni thought it was the funniest of all. She's cute. I'm glad my kids make me laugh. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have survived this long.

Dang it feels good to be a gangsta...

2009-02-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

Oh Office Space. I miss you. You were my feel good movie. After a crappy day, I could always sit down and watch you, and you'd make me laugh, and all would be right in the world. But alas, you're rated R. And so there was no joy in Mudville. I could use some Office Space this week. Thank goodness it's a short week. But for a short week, it's be awfully long. The girls have been sick, now I'm sick, and just about nothing has been done. I did get my crib bumpers done, though, and that makes me feel good. It's about the only thing. Stupid rotten no good week. Glad it's over tomorrow. I can't even find the ringtone I want for my phone! Grrrr.

Speaking of which, I got a new phone! That's something good that happened this week. I've been on my parents cell phone plan for a while now, and honestly, I really don't like it. It's a crappy phone, and I'm always worried that I'm going to use all their minutes. So, after some talk, Dave and I decided to get our own phones. We've had a Virgin Mobile phone for a while, but haven't been using it since I've had the one from my parents. So, we just bought another Virgin phone for me to use, and he'll just use the old one. But my new one is cool. I dig it. I usually don't get attached to things, but I think this one will become my new best friend. That's only IF I can find a super amazing ringtone. The one thing I liked about my old phone was that I could record my voice and use it as the ringtone. So my ringtone was "Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Pick up the phone!" and my message tone was "Message. Message. Message. MESSAGE!" it was amazing. Beyond amazing. People in the supermarket would laugh at my ringtone, it was that amazing. But alas, no more. Now I've got to find a song that I like. I'm thinking "California Love" by Tupac. I freaking love that song. And it just might rival the "Ring" in terms of awesomeness. Seriously, a white girl, with three kids is standing in front of you in the supermarket. All the sudden, "California Love" starts blaring out of her purse. Wouldn't you at least giggle? I would.

I need to buy spoons. I swear the children just eat them right along with their cereal in the mornings. We own 18 forks (I've counted) and 6 spoons. We buy them in sets!! I don't understand how we have 12 more forks than spoons!!! This is not OK. I would bet money that when we move, we're going to find all 12 spoons under the dresser or somewhere. They're plotting against me. I really think my children are trying to drive me insane. It's a conspiracy.

People with irrational fears of serial killers should not watch television programs that feature serial killers. Just a thought. Can you tell I'm blogging 30 minutes after taking my meds? Because I'm totally all over the place. I feel like I've had a coffee IV. And I don't even drink coffee! I need to stop this. Stop before I make an idiot of myself. Or have I already passed that point? You decide.

Yo quiero Taco Bell!

2009-02-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Man, I'm cranky today. I didn't get enough sleep. Part of it's my fault, I stayed up kind of late, but both kids were up like every half hour from about 2:30-4 a.m. And I had taken some Tylenol to help with my back pain, which gave me heartburn, and I am out of Rolaids. It was a great night. Sunday afternoon I took a 2 1/2 hour nap too, which really didn't help either. I've been getting these spells where I just have to lay down. I'll be sitting, doing something, everything is fine, and BOOM, my eyelids droop, my limbs feel heavy, and it's about all I can do to turn on a movie for the girls, before I pass out. I'm asleep about 10 seconds after putting my head down. I've never been tired like this before, it's the strangest thing. It probably has something to do with the meds I'm on. They take all my energy and condense it so I feel like I've had about 4 cups of coffee, then I crash. I can't wait for this to be over!!

I'm taking Nora to the park today. She doesn't deserve it, she's been whiney all morning, and after being up all night (and not up in a legitimate way, but screaming for a drink of water, and coming into our room to say she has to go potty, every 1/2 hour, stuff you know she's doing just to get out of bed) I'm not in a mood to be nice. But I'm hoping that getting her out of the house for a little bit will better her mood. She's been driving me up the wall. It's cloudy out, so hopefully it won't rain, and I don't think we'll stay very long, it depends on how many other kids are there. She doesn't like to play when there aren't any other kids. And Layni is sick so I don't feel good about having anyone else over. I just opened the windows, it's really nasty looking out today. Maybe we'll just do movies. I feel like a bad mom, but seriously, I don't want to go out on a nasty day, and neither does Layni. Man, this sucks.

I didn't accomplish my goals for last week. I came really close though. I got the crib painted, but I didn't finish 1/3 of Nora's quilt. I still have two more squares before 1/3 is done. Dang. I know it's not that big a deal, because I've got plenty of time to finish it, but I still feel like a failure because I didn't get it done. Oh well, I've just got to get it done this week, along with all my other goals for this week. But it's only Monday. We'll see how hopelessly behind I am by Sunday!! Dave is doing well on his goals though, he got all the lumber for the bunk beds bought and the rough cuts done. He's really excited about getting into the shop and getting to work. I guess I should clarify, we're not building bunk beds per se, but we're building a loft bed, and then the bed we already have will fit underneath it to make an "L" shape. The loft bed is really nice, it's got a bookcase built into one side, and we're going to attach some hardboard with chalkboard paint on it to the backside of the bookcase, so the girls will have a big chalkboard to draw on. I would have loved that as a kid. I was always playing school, and always wished I had a giant chalkboard! I think they'll like it.

I we've resolved the housing issue in Ohio. We're just going to live in base housing. We've decided not to buy, and we've been looking at houses for rent, and we'd pay our entire BAH to get a 4 bedroom anyway, so we might as well just live in base housing, then we don't have to worry about negotiating a lease with the landlord for 18 months, or worry that moving in and out is going to be a hassle. And we already know some people in the neighborhood. And honestly, we can get a base house fast, so we won't be stuck in TLF for ages. We ruled out apartment living, because the things I have to have (dishwasher, washer/dryer in the unit, 3 bedrooms) drove the prices up to $700-$800, so after utilities we wouldn't be making that much. Not enough to make up for living in an apartment. I think we're both satisfied. The schools suck, but honestly, Nora will be in kindergarten for 6 months there, it won't hurt her that much. Now, when we get to NM we won't be living on base, because those schools really suck, and all of our kids will attend them for longer. But Dave has pretty much said, one house at a time. So we can't even talk about where we're living in NM until we get to OH. And I think that's reasonable, even if the planner in me balks.

OK, I had a decision about the park. Layni is running a fever, so we're not going anywhere. Nora is just going to have to deal with bad mommy letting her watch movies all day. We might run over to the commissary to grab some more children's Motrin, and maybe grab some tacos for lunch. We'll see. I like tacos a lot, maybe they'll make me a bit less pissy today.

***Update***
Looks like I made the right decision. Seeing as how it started SNOWING about an hour ago. No one is going anywhere at the Prahl house today. Except the commissary. Dave called and requested Chili for dinner. And he puts up with me most days, so I'll give in today.

OMGeee!!!

2009-02-05T15:16:00.000-08:00

It's raining! That's just about awesome. I miss rain.

I would seriously like to know how many starving African children Rachel Ray is expecting me to feed with her "Tex Mex Mac and Cheese". Seriously Rachel Ray? A pound of pasta? My two kids and I will be eating that for lunch for a month. Lame.

Layni actually took a nap today. A real nap, not a "I'm going to be really quiet and make a big mess of my sisters clothes" nap. Maybe she'll be tolerable this evening. Things are always better around here when the baby has slept.

That's all. Back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Just call me big bird

2009-02-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

So, I'm nesting hardcore. As I said before, when I nest, I don't just put away clothes and hang pictures, I'm likely to remodel the whole dang house. And being on bedrest for two weeks didn't help. I had to change my entire schedule to fit around sitting on the couch. Not cool. I feel like I missed out on two weeks of valuable baby prep time. But now the medication I'm on gives me all this nervous energy, like a couple shots of expresso, so I feel like I can make up for lost time. And honestly, I didn't loose too much time, because I got almost all the sewing done, everything except the crib bumpers, and those just because I would have had to be on the floor crawling around to get the measurements right, which was a no-no. So my new schedule looks something like this...

This week - finish painting the crib, finish quilting 1/3 of Nora's quilt
Next week - make crib bumpers, finish another 1/3 of Nora's quilt
Week after - Finish Nora's quilt, finish Layni's quilt (her's is a tie quilt, it'll take about 3 hours), crochet a crib blanket.

And Dave has a 4 day weekend over Valentine's Day. So, you know what that means! Bunk bed time!! He's promised me that he will get them mostly done by the time that weekend is over. Then either the last week in February, or the first week in March, we can move the girls into their new room and get the nursery set up. It's going to be sweet!! And with my baby shower on March 7th (hint: you all should come!), I'll have a place to actually put things. There's also a Goodwill right across the street from my Doctor's office (great neighborhood huh!) so everytime I have an appointment, I'm going to grab about $10 worth of baby clothes. Hopefully that, plus anything from the shower will give us everything we need. I love having a plan!!! Planning is fun.

But you know what's not fun? Paying $800 for car repairs. The check engine light came on in Dave's car, so we took it in. Yeah, he was basically driving a time bomb. He needs, new brake pads, new rotors, a brake fluid flush, an oil change, and something to fix the "Cylindar 1 misfire" error code (she explained what it needed, but all I could really do was shake my head and go "uh-huh"). Total cost? about $800. Especially when we only paid $5000 for the car. Oh well. That's why we have an emergency car fund. We were hoping to use it as a start to a down payment on another car, but alas, it was not to be. And this is seriously coming about a week after we had to get the power steering pump replaced in my car. LAME. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I need to put that front license plate on. Opps.

So, bedrest sucks, and I don't recommend it for anyone. Ever.

So that's about my whole world right now. And I'm pretty sure my coat of paint on the crib is dry, so I need to go slap on another one. I remember watching this show "Roswell" when I was in High School, and the kids in that show could just put their hand on something and change it's color. Of course, they were also aliens, but that's beside the point.

Bored on bed rest

2009-01-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hmmm....

2009-01-25T00:31:00.000-08:00

So, Dave and I are talking about maybe moving into a small apartment in Ohio to save money. Since we're only living there for 18 months, it wouldn't be too much of a sacrifice, but... it means moving back to an apartment. We're thinking about it. Any input?

You know you're on bed rest when...

2009-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

- Your kid can sing the theme song from "The West Wing" and "Gilligan's Island" because it's been on all day while you sit on the couch.

- Taking a shower is the high point of the day, even if you have to sit down on an old lady stool halfway through.

- You have let a stranger fold your underwear.

- Everyone you know is getting an afghan for Christmas, because that's all there is to do, besides watch "The West Wing" and "Gilligan's Island".

That's all I've got for now, if you have any additions, I'm all ears!!

Here I go again on my own...

2009-01-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the Whitesnake reference, but honestly, it's been a Whitesnake kinda 24 hours. I spent most of last night in the hospital for pre-term labor. Yeah, it's a messy business. I've been having contractions for about a week now (and no matter what the doctor says, they are not Braxton-Hicks, this is my 3rd baby, I think I know the difference). Sometimes they are regular, sometimes they aren't. Well, yesterday I started having a lot, and I mean A LOT of pressure very low. Like I was going to drop this kid. So, Dave and I went to the hospital, and after a couple shots of something I can't spell that made me very jittery, they stopped and I got to go home. Luckily my cervix is still closed, well, that's up for debate, the nurse said it was open and the doc said it was closed. But I never dialated to more than a two in hard labor with either of the girls, so who knows what that means. Anyway, I was ordered to stay in bed until this morning, when I'm headed to my OB. So, wish me luck, and we'll see what happens!!!

Update...

On bed rest for two weeks. This sucks.

Confessions of a bad mom

2009-01-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

So, Dave and I have agreed that I'm giving this kid brain damage. See, I'm nesting. For most women, that means cleaning up a bit, getting the nursery ready, etc. Not for me. For me it means repainting everything, fixing anything that's broken (or throwing it out if it's not broken), moving heavy objects, and cleaning with the strongest chemicals I can find. Not kidding. So far this week, I've inhaled...

-Spray Paint
-WD-40 (to get crayon off the wall)
-Bleach
-Amonia (I'm sure that's spelled wrong)
-Whatever they put in crabgrass killer
-Epoxy

Now, I did use the spray paint and crabgrass killer outside, and it wasn't like I was spraying it into a can and getting high. But it's still probably not good. And moving furniture when I'm supposed to be "taking it very easy" probably isn't good either. But no fear, Dave yelled at me, and promised to help so I wouldn't feel like I had to do it on my own. And I did learn my lesson, I had contractions that kept me up most of last night. But I refuse to give up my spray paint!!!! You'll never take it from me! Not until all the nursery furniture is a nice walnut brown!!

Hahaha

2009-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

I love how when you get all worked up over something, and make all kinds of plans, life throws you a big fat curve ball. Like, "Haha! That'll teach you to think you're in control of this!". Dave got the word today about his official follow-on from Wright-Patt and AFIT.

Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Like I said, life is saying, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Maybe today I'll get off my...

2009-01-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

something that rhymes with grass. Anyway, I'm thinking I might be productive today. I need to go to the library (when they start sending you letters threatening collections, it's time to take the book back) and to the grocery store. When I went on Wednesday, they only had 2 gallons of Skim Milk! It was crazy! I could see more behind the rack in the cooler room, but alas, I could not get them. We go through milk like crazy in this house, with two kids and a pregnant woman, we probably go through 5 gallons in two weeks. So, two gallons isn't going to cut it. I hate taking the kids to the grocery store though. I always sound like the mean mom because I refuse to buy them anything. But I do take them to the bakery for the free sample, that counts for something right? I just don't want to teach them that whining is going to get them what they want. Nor do I want them eating candy everytime we go to the grocery store! I'm so anal about what I feed my kids anyway. It's not that I don't give them treats, the treats just happen to be organic whole wheat cookies with free-range chocolate chips. Wow, that was a really long tangent, wasn't it?

Anyway, back to what I was saying about actually DOING something today rather than sitting around. I'm saving the sewing as a reward for when Dave is in Ohio the week after next, so I think I'll paint the crib today. It's supposed to be in the 70s, and sunny so I should be good to paint. Once the crib is painted and the sewing done, all we'll have to do is actually set up the room, which we can't do until March probably. But it will make me feel good knowing that everything is just sitting in the garage, ready to be set up. And if I do it now, then I won't have to do it when I'm so huge all I can do is complain about how huge I am. Maybe I'll design some cross-stitch patterns to work on when I'm huge. Then I'll feel productive then too.

Anywho. Have I mentioned how great my husband is lately? Yes, we're disagreeing over whether real estate is a good investment, but really, we're getting along pretty great. And he's totally taken over this kids room project. He is so excited to build these bunk beds! I haven't seen him his excited about something in a long time. Well, maybe excited is the wrong word. He's looking over plans, and comparing power tools, he's just ready to go. It's kind of nice. He's never been the kind to really get "into" pregnancy. He doesn't go to my appointments with me, or put his hand on my belly or anything, but I can see him getting excited about the baby in his own way. It may not be the way I always imagined it, but really, nothing about marriage is the way I imagined it would be! I feel bad for ragging on him in my last post, he really is a great husband. We just happen to disagree on one issue, and really, does anyone in any marriage agree on everything?

Oh, I need to go. Layni is on my cell phone and I think I can hear it ringing. Ok, Nora took it away from her, and now Layni is screaming "I want mine!". Oh, just another day in paradise!! Is it time for my shower yet???

To buy or not to buy

2009-01-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

I wish I were talking about a Wii. Dave is driving me crazy. I usually don't blog about my marriage, because for the most part, that's none of your business. But I'm going to make an exception, because he's driving me crazy!!! So, the original plan was for us to move to Ohio, him to go to AFIT, then take a 4 year tour in Ohio, then start applying for Test Pilot School. Now, TPS is Dave's dream. He's been dreaming about TPS since he was in ROTC. It's all he wants to do. Seriously, if he didn't get into TPS, I think he'd separate from the Air Force. It's his DREAM. And I'm fine with that. I know he wants it, and I fully support him. Or I did until last night. See, he came home and announced to me that he wanted to start applying for TPS while he was still in grad school. Um. That wasn't the plan, and I'm a bit worried about him taking on three high stress jobs in a row in 3 years. The plan was for him to take a break so he doesn't get burned out. Nope, now that's out the window. Well, whatever, I'll deal. I'm an Air Force Wife for gosh-sakes!! I can deal with anything! Then he drops this one...

"I still think we should buy a house in Ohio."

WTF? Are you kidding me? You want to live there for 18 months, and buy a house? With no down payment, in a crappy market? Meaning, we'll have no equity when we go to sell, in 18 months? To which he responds with...

"I don't think we should sell it, we'll just rent it out."

WTFH? Seriously, where is the hidden camera, because I think we just won America's Funniest Home Videos. They've never had a pregnant woman having an aneurism before have they? When we decided to buy in Ohio, it was under 2 assumptions, 1) We would live in the house for 5 1/2 years, thus building up equity and allowing the market to recover and 2) When it was time to move, we'd try and sell the house for 6 months, and if it didn't sell, then we'd rent it out for 1 tenent, then try to sell again. I DO NOT want to be a landlord. I have never wanted to be a landlord, and having been a renter for a long time, I actually pity most landlords. Nor do I think it's a very profitable business idea. And by very profitable, I mean, at all. The response?

"We'll make our money on the appriciation of the house."

Oh, so we'll have to be landlords for a long time? That's my idea of heaven. I worry about stuff happening in the house we live in, can you imagine how neurotic I'll be having to worry about stuff happening in another house too??? Holy crap! Then comes my favorite line of the night...

"Well, I'll take care of everything, you won't have to worry."

To which I call a big honking fat BS. We have lots of friends who have done TPS. Some currently in TPS. I've seen those guys, there is no free time to spend with their families, much less free time to worry about a rental house 2000 miles away. Oh no, the rental house would be my responsibillity. A responsibility I have no desire for. Just the thought of doing this gives me the heeby-jeebies. I do not want to be a landlord. I do not want it in a car, I do not want it in a bar (which ironically, is where I might end up, once I've been driven to drink by the stress of this!!).

So, ultimately, I've decided to be the mature one about this. I'm just not going to talk about it anymore. He can't buy a house without me, well, without me divorcing him for spending that much money and not telling me, I'm not going to talk about buying a house anymore, if we talk about housing, I'm not even going to entertain the idea of purchasing a home. It's rent or live in the car. Because seriously...

Is this not the worst idea you've ever heard???

Donuts makes me happy

2009-01-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Or they would if I had one. Today was ward conference, and the Stake Young Men's President brought donuts. My husband got one. I did not. You'd think, since I'm carrying his child and all, that he'd get one for me. But no. But I'm only a tiny bit bitter. Well, bitter enough to drive to town and buy a dozen donuts just for me. Because donuts may be the most delicious thing ever. Anywho.

So, Dave and I have a plan for the house. We bought some brown spray paint to paint the crib, and I found the cutest fabric at JoAnns to make the bumpers and quilt out of. And that's pretty much all we're going to do in this house for the baby. We'll go all out in the Ohio house though. Paint, pictures, the whole shebang. It's actually a good thing, because now we're not dropping a load of cash all at once. We're waiting until we get our tax return to build the girls bunk beds, but I bought the fabric for their new bedding. Nora's is pink, but Layni's is purple. I've heard that a good way to decorate for little girls who share a room is to give each their own color, and since Nora wanted her stuff to be pink, Layni got purple. Hopefully it will work OK. We'll see. I'm excited to get things done and get ready. Even though we're moving not long after, it still feels good to get things ready.

I've been kind of busy, but not really. I've been playing the piano a lot, and spending time with the girls. My doctor wants me to take it easy, I've been having contractions, so I'm just kind of hanging out. Next week Dave is working a lot, so I'm going to really take it easy. The week after that, he'll be home on time, so I'm going to clean like crazy, and get things all in order. Then the week after that, he's going TDY to Ohio, and I'm going to spend that time sewing. I should be able to finish all my sewing projects while he's gone. Then it's bunk bed time! Well, Dave will spend February building bunk beds, I'll just supervise.

Sorry I'm boring these days. We're just not that interesting. I have lots of thoughts, but not many of them are worth sharing. I'm thinking about documenting our adventures getting ready for this baby, and posting them as kind of a "frugal baby guide". Just an idea. Anyway. I need to take a nap. I'm not sleeping well these days. Hmm... I wonder why... could it be the 3 lbs of baby I've got squishing my ribs and bladder? hmmm...

2009-01-05T08:36:00.001-08:00

So... this is my favorite comic of the year so far...

http://www.xkcd.com/524/

New Year, new blog...

2009-01-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

I decided to wait until the new year to start using this blog. Not sure why, but it seemed appropriate. Anywho, what to write? I guess I'll start with the holidays. They were good, not great, but good. Dave got two electric razors, and he hates electric razors. They give him wicked razor burn. He's trying to sell the better of the two on eBay because he doesn't want a Dillards gift card (that's where my mom bought it). The girls got enough toys to sink a ship, not kidding, we sent 7 boxes of stuff home, and another 2 are coming from Dave's parents. I got yarn, which makes me happy, and some other stuff that I wanted, so I'm happy. And since my parents forgot to get me a birthday present, Dave surprised me last night with an immersion blender, which is the one thing I really wanted and didn't get. Nora was really cute at Christmas, I told her that it was Jesus' birthday, and she asked "where's his cake?" so we had to make Jesus a birthday cake. Since we don't do Santa Claus, I'm OK with her thinking that the reason we get presents on Christmas is because it's Jesus' birthday. Overall, a good Christmas. And I'm very glad to be home.

Now the new year!! All of the stuff we have to do in 2009 seems much closer now that we're past Christmas. April 10th is like right around the corner! This is crazy. Dave and I have been tossing around some ideas for projects lately, and it's always ended with "we'll talk more after Christmas", well, now it's after Christmas!! We're thinking about building the girls some bunk beds. Dave is really handy with woodworking, and for about $100 and a couple weekends worth of time, we can build some nice looking bunk beds. We've been looking at getting bunk beds for a long time, and we thought we had found some at Wal-Mart, but my parents had the same set and they were so rickety!! I did not feel safe with my kids on those beds. I KNOW Dave can build something sturdier than that. He's been asking for a miter saw, and I was planning to get him one for his birthday, so this will be a good excuse to get one sooner. Then we need to make dresser drawers, but honestly, I think I can do that, especcially if we get the saw. Yeah, we're furniture building freaks around here. I'd like to get the girls moved into the bigger bedroom and get the babies room set up before too long. I know he won't use it for very long, but I'd still like to have it all ready to go when he comes home from the hospital.

Dave and I are still fighting about where to live in Ohio. The more I think about it, the more I'm on the rent side and the more he thinks about it, the more he's on the buy side. My issue it TPS (Test Pilot School). My husband's dream of dreams, is to go to TPS. He wants that TPS Grad shoulder patch BAD. So far, he's on the right track. He's getting his technical master's, and he's already talked to his boss about a recommendation (his boss is the Wing Commander, and a TPS Grad). Now he's talking about when he wants to apply. And he's thinking during AFIT. I'm against that for several reasons, the first being that makes three and 1/2 years of very high stress jobs with no break. He needs a break. The second is that leaves him no time for flying lessons, which will help his chances of getting accepted. I think I've got him talked into taking whatever assignment he's given after AFIT, and waiting until he's got enough time on station to apply to TPS. Well, the issue that that his TOS is only 2 years. So, we would be in a house for 3 years before he starts applying for TPS. He is saying, "Well, we'll just rent the house". I'm saying that there is no "we" in this. He'll be in TPS, I would be the one renting the house. And I'm not up for that. If I wanted my own business, I would have one, and it certainly wouldn't be renting houses!! So we're still fighting about it. And we're still fighting about the DITY move. All in all, this Ohio move is very stressfull!!

Anywho, I need to go. I've got about a billion things to do today to get this house back up to snuff after the trip. And I think my girls are busting down walls and such, which is never good.

Welcome!!!

2008-09-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! This is my new blog!!