Bad: Icy roads all the way through Glenwood canyon on the drive home.
Good: Made an easy $50 when someone backed into our car in an icy gas station parking lot in Vail. No damage done to our car. And seriously? Have you seen our car? It's probably worth about $50.
Bad: After we got home we both got that nasty stomach bug that everyone else had around Thanksgiving.
Good: Jump start to some new year's weight loss-- 5 pounds between Monday and today. Although...not sure it was worth it.
Bad: House is a disaster as a result of Kalena getting into everything and us not cleaning anything up. All the laying around really gets in the way of cleaning ya know.
Good: Holiday weekend means extra time to clean up! Wait-- is that good?
I guess I get to spend tomorrow drinking ginger ale and cleaning house. Wow. Happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Busy
When my sisters and I were younger, my mom used to tell us that if we got married in December she wouldn't come to the wedding. Why? Because December is too busy as it is, so she wasn't going to try and fit a daughter's wedding in there as well. We mostly just laughed and said okay. Who would want to get married in December anyway-- it's COLD.
I always sort of wondered though why she thought December was so busy. From my perspective December looked a little something like this:
Finish up a semester of school and take finals.
Come home to start a two week vacation.
Once home, spend most of every day doing one of the following:
~shopping at the mall
~wrapping presents
~baking cookies
~reading
~watching Christmas movies
Then after Christmas was over, go back to school and get ready for a new semester.
As it turns out, December in college and December in the real world are not the same thing. Apparently, a six month old baby and a full time job really cut in on the free time. December this year went a little more like this:
Save up vacation days all year to make sure I have enough in December.
Shop- online, in stores, whenever there's time.
Realize that spending a few days at 7500 ft in Colorado (where the low for tonight is 40 degrees colder than the low here) will probably necessitate more than the single fleece sleeper we have for the baby.
Add ward party, work party, and other possible events to the calendar.
Get pictures of the baby to put in Christmas cards.
Figure out who to send Christmas cards to.
Forget the date of the ward party, spend the day in Lubbock and miss it.
Think about putting up a Christmas tree. Realize if we get out the tree at that point it will be up for a whopping 5 days before we leave. And then we'll have to take it down and put it away when we get back. Settle for setting out nativities.
Wrap Christmas presents. Try to keep Kalena out of said presents.
Plan a 9 day trip that includes almost 2,000 miles of driving, staying in 4 different places, and seeing between 25 and 30 relatives.
The list goes on. I barely even have time to blog people! And since I don't think more kids will make December any less crazy, I'm guessing it will just get worse.
So mom? I get it. Good thing we all got married in June.
And Kalena? Just say no to a December wedding.
P.S. I took pictures of my all my nativities because I LOVE them and I want you all to love them too. But I can't post them right now. Long story. The short version is that my computer won't read my new camera card. I'll get them up sooner or later though.
I always sort of wondered though why she thought December was so busy. From my perspective December looked a little something like this:
Finish up a semester of school and take finals.
Come home to start a two week vacation.
Once home, spend most of every day doing one of the following:
~shopping at the mall
~wrapping presents
~baking cookies
~reading
~watching Christmas movies
Then after Christmas was over, go back to school and get ready for a new semester.
As it turns out, December in college and December in the real world are not the same thing. Apparently, a six month old baby and a full time job really cut in on the free time. December this year went a little more like this:
Save up vacation days all year to make sure I have enough in December.
Shop- online, in stores, whenever there's time.
Realize that spending a few days at 7500 ft in Colorado (where the low for tonight is 40 degrees colder than the low here) will probably necessitate more than the single fleece sleeper we have for the baby.
Add ward party, work party, and other possible events to the calendar.
Get pictures of the baby to put in Christmas cards.
Figure out who to send Christmas cards to.
Forget the date of the ward party, spend the day in Lubbock and miss it.
Think about putting up a Christmas tree. Realize if we get out the tree at that point it will be up for a whopping 5 days before we leave. And then we'll have to take it down and put it away when we get back. Settle for setting out nativities.
Wrap Christmas presents. Try to keep Kalena out of said presents.
Plan a 9 day trip that includes almost 2,000 miles of driving, staying in 4 different places, and seeing between 25 and 30 relatives.
The list goes on. I barely even have time to blog people! And since I don't think more kids will make December any less crazy, I'm guessing it will just get worse.
So mom? I get it. Good thing we all got married in June.
And Kalena? Just say no to a December wedding.
P.S. I took pictures of my all my nativities because I LOVE them and I want you all to love them too. But I can't post them right now. Long story. The short version is that my computer won't read my new camera card. I'll get them up sooner or later though.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
What to say...
So....want to hear stories about the disgusting stuff that's been on my carpet recently? No? I thought not. I guess you'll just have to settle for a couple pictures of Kalena until I come up with something to write about.
She's started pulling herself up on the coffee table, and apparently she thinks it's delicious. Also, as you can see from these pictures, our smiley happy girl is back. (Mostly.)
She's started pulling herself up on the coffee table, and apparently she thinks it's delicious. Also, as you can see from these pictures, our smiley happy girl is back. (Mostly.)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Ah teething
Kalena is getting two teeth. I can feel them both, and apparently she can feel them too because she is a MESS. These teeth are turning our perpetually happy, smiling, easy-going baby into a needy, clingy, whining baby who refuses to sleep. I didn't even know a 6 month old could be whiny. Apparently they can. And it seems around here, 3 am is prime time for whining. Alright, it's really all day long, it just annoys me more at 3 am.
Hopefully this doesn't last too long because I sure miss my happy girl.
Hopefully this doesn't last too long because I sure miss my happy girl.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Oh Heck!
My grandma (my dad's mom) loves to play a card game we call "Oh Heck." (Not everyone calls it that.) She doesn't hear very well and she can't see much of anything, but neither of those things deters her from wanting to play. Not just wanting to play but wanting to win (because she is a Gustavson, after all.)
Basically it's a game of bidding and trying to take tricks. We do simultaneous bidding which is like playing rock-paper-scissors except at the end you put out fingers for how many tricks you want to bid. A new trump suit is picked with every hand and you can only trump if you don't have a card of the suit that was led. (If you want a more thorough explanation of the game go here.)
Now, playing this with my grandma is ALWAYS interesting. Some hands involve her trying to sneak extra fingers on to her bid, or take back fingers if she thinks she bid too high. Other hands have her asking my dad (the scorekeeper) to change her bid in the middle of the hand. She asks at least once a hand what the trump suit is (again.) And, of course, she wants us to tell her every card as it's played. Because apparently despite the giant playing cards (courtesy of Kari and Jonathan) she still can't see what's on the table.
Since playing Oh Heck is pretty much my grandma's favorite (fun) thing to do, we play every time the family gets together. Thanksgiving was no exception; we made sure to get in a couple of games.
As we're playing the last game of the trip, we get to one round where my grandma was going to be the last one to play a card. She asks what was led (diamonds), what trump is (hearts), and what the high card on the table is. We tell her the high card and let her know it's just been trumped. She proceeds to lay down a trump card higher than the one already on the table. We remind her that diamonds was led and if she has one she has to play it. She insists that she doesn't, so we motion for Kari (who is sitting next to her) to peek over at her cards and check. (It's not like it's hard to see them-- giant cards remember?) Kari sees that she does, in fact, have the nine of diamonds in her hand. So we ask again, "are you SURE you don't have any diamonds?" As she's using both hands to scoop the cards on the table toward her, she looks up at us and asks, "Would I lie to you?"
Apparently yes.
P.S. For the curious, here are the variations we use: We start with the maximum number of cards, go down to one then back up to the max. We do simultaneous bidding (as I mentioned before.) We also score a little differently. Players who miss their bid get no points. Players who make their bid get one point per trick and one bonus point. So someone who bids 0 and takes 0 gets 1 point. Someone who bids 2 and takes 2 gets 3 points. But someone who bids 2 and takes 3 gets no points. You've got to be right on.
P.P.S. Did you click on the giant cards link? What is with the creepy guy?
Basically it's a game of bidding and trying to take tricks. We do simultaneous bidding which is like playing rock-paper-scissors except at the end you put out fingers for how many tricks you want to bid. A new trump suit is picked with every hand and you can only trump if you don't have a card of the suit that was led. (If you want a more thorough explanation of the game go here.)
Now, playing this with my grandma is ALWAYS interesting. Some hands involve her trying to sneak extra fingers on to her bid, or take back fingers if she thinks she bid too high. Other hands have her asking my dad (the scorekeeper) to change her bid in the middle of the hand. She asks at least once a hand what the trump suit is (again.) And, of course, she wants us to tell her every card as it's played. Because apparently despite the giant playing cards (courtesy of Kari and Jonathan) she still can't see what's on the table.
Since playing Oh Heck is pretty much my grandma's favorite (fun) thing to do, we play every time the family gets together. Thanksgiving was no exception; we made sure to get in a couple of games.
As we're playing the last game of the trip, we get to one round where my grandma was going to be the last one to play a card. She asks what was led (diamonds), what trump is (hearts), and what the high card on the table is. We tell her the high card and let her know it's just been trumped. She proceeds to lay down a trump card higher than the one already on the table. We remind her that diamonds was led and if she has one she has to play it. She insists that she doesn't, so we motion for Kari (who is sitting next to her) to peek over at her cards and check. (It's not like it's hard to see them-- giant cards remember?) Kari sees that she does, in fact, have the nine of diamonds in her hand. So we ask again, "are you SURE you don't have any diamonds?" As she's using both hands to scoop the cards on the table toward her, she looks up at us and asks, "Would I lie to you?"
Apparently yes.
P.S. For the curious, here are the variations we use: We start with the maximum number of cards, go down to one then back up to the max. We do simultaneous bidding (as I mentioned before.) We also score a little differently. Players who miss their bid get no points. Players who make their bid get one point per trick and one bonus point. So someone who bids 0 and takes 0 gets 1 point. Someone who bids 2 and takes 2 gets 3 points. But someone who bids 2 and takes 3 gets no points. You've got to be right on.
P.P.S. Did you click on the giant cards link? What is with the creepy guy?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Cousins
I always thought it was fun to have cousins my own age so I'm glad Kalena and her two cousins are so close together. I don't know that she'll appreciate it until she's a little older, but it was lots of fun watching her interact with Patrick over Thanksgiving. He's about 4 months older than she is. We'll see how things go at Christmas when they're all three there. Patrick will be 11 months old, Espen will be 10 months, and Kalena will be 7 months. I'm sure they'll be getting into everything.
Kalena: I'm not sure that hat is the best look for you.
Kalena: Here, use this tape to attach the last one.
Patrick: Yeah right, like that will work.
Patrick: Mom! Kalena's touching my walker again!
Kalena: Nice drool spot there PJ.
Patrick: Oh like you're doing such a great job keeping it all in your mouth missy.
Kalena: I'm not sure that hat is the best look for you.
Kalena: Here, use this tape to attach the last one.Patrick: Yeah right, like that will work.
Patrick: Mom! Kalena's touching my walker again!
Kalena: Nice drool spot there PJ.Patrick: Oh like you're doing such a great job keeping it all in your mouth missy.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Apparently we're staying another day
We were planning on driving home today, but that didn't work out so well. It was snowing here this morning and even though the roads didn't seem that bad, we didn't even make it 30 miles out of town before traffic was at a dead stop because of an accident. We thought about waiting it out and continuing on until we realized that we'd left my sister's house an hour ago and had only gone like 25 miles. Since the accident wasn't even cleared off the road yet and we had no idea how much longer we would have to wait or how bad the roads would get we opted to turn around and come back. It didn't seem like a good idea to turn a 10 hour drive in to an all day ordeal. So we get one more day with family and when we come home tomorrow it will be December. Where did this year go?
P.S. I made it! NaBloPoMo is over and I posted every day this month. I probably won't be attempting that again anytime soon.
P.S. I made it! NaBloPoMo is over and I posted every day this month. I probably won't be attempting that again anytime soon.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
That's about right
On Monday night Kalena slept for 11 hours in a row. We put her to bed at 7 pm and didn't hear from her again until 6 am. But you know what we were doing Monday night? Running around like crazy trying to get everything ready so we could leave for Thanksgiving. So we didn't go to bed until midnight and then we had to get up at 5 am anyway. So we didn't even get to enjoy sleeping all night! Of course she hasn't done it again. Actually, she's had some of the worst nights of sleep in months. One night she woke up at 3 am and didn't go back to sleep for like 3 and a half hours. And last night she woke up at 3 am and cried for an hour which is something she's NEVER done. Even when she was brand new crying was easily remedied by feeding her. Last night nothing was working but eventually she went back to sleep. I blame teething. You can see the spot on her bottom gums where one is about to come through but it hasn't quite yet.
Anyway, I guess that's just our luck. The night we weren't going to get much sleep anyway she sleeps all night long and now that we're on vacation she doesn't want to sleep at all. Oh well.
Anyway, I guess that's just our luck. The night we weren't going to get much sleep anyway she sleeps all night long and now that we're on vacation she doesn't want to sleep at all. Oh well.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Nothing much
It's time for more board games, but I didn't want to forget today's post. Since we're in Colorado visiting family, we had to buy Kalena some extra warm clothes for the trip. Turns out it's a little colder in Colorado than Texas. So here's a picture of the cutest bundled up baby in the world! (I think so at least.)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thankful
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today I took pictures of some of the things I'm thankful for. (Obviously not everything, but I tried to hit the highlights.) Here we go:
Family
Way fun board games
Pumpkin pie! (Really, who's not thankful for pumpkin pie?)
The medicine that's keeping me from feeling like I want to die.
Family
Way fun board games
Pumpkin pie! (Really, who's not thankful for pumpkin pie?)
The medicine that's keeping me from feeling like I want to die.
And, the only thing keeping me awake in my medicine induced haze.
What are you thankful for today?
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Crawling
I got a video of Kalena crawling this morning. Notice how she ignores the toys on the floor in her quest for the good stuff- tv remote, cell phone, and copy of twilight. It's still a little sloppy- she's got the arms going and the legs going, but she's not so great with the timing yet.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tired
Midnight bedtime + 5 AM wake up + more than 10 hours in the car = very tired Elsha
Also, when I woke up this morning I was fine and now I have no voice. Apparently I won't be contributing much to the Thanksgiving conversations.
Also, when I woke up this morning I was fine and now I have no voice. Apparently I won't be contributing much to the Thanksgiving conversations.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Where did that go?
I used to be pretty good at keeping track of stuff. I rarely lost anything, and when I did I usually at least had an idea where it might be. What I'm finding out now that I'm married and have a child is that I'm pretty good at keeping track of MY stuff. Helping Brian find things he's misplaced is hit or miss. Either I can tell him where it is (or probably is) or I have no idea. This isn't so bad, since Brian is an adult after all, and can look for his own stuff. The problem is with Kalena's stuff. I have lost a couple things of hers and I don't even know where to start looking. What gets me though is that I can clearly remember the last time I had them--and now they're just gone. It's like they just disappeared into thin air.
My mom tells me that the best way to find something you've lost is to start cleaning. (She's right, I've found plenty of stuff this way.) Unfortunately, I'm a little bit (okay, more than a little bit) of a procrastinator so I'm always looking for stuff right when I need it. I guess I just need to procrastinate less and clean more. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun though. Maybe I'll just make BRIAN clean more. That should work right?
My mom tells me that the best way to find something you've lost is to start cleaning. (She's right, I've found plenty of stuff this way.) Unfortunately, I'm a little bit (okay, more than a little bit) of a procrastinator so I'm always looking for stuff right when I need it. I guess I just need to procrastinate less and clean more. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun though. Maybe I'll just make BRIAN clean more. That should work right?
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I missed it!
Kalena started crawling (for real crawling) today at church. BRIAN got to see it because he was playing with her in the foyer, but I was in primary learning Christmas songs with the kids. So I missed it. We've been expecting it-- she's been making progress towards crawling for awhile-- but it still seems crazy. I guess this means we ought to start baby-proofing.
I tried to get it on video later but she wasn't cooperating; she would only do it when the camera was off. In fact, Kalena didn't want anything to do with the camera today. We bought a couple of adorable dresses for her and she wore one to church today. I wanted to take some pictures of her in it, but that didn't work out so well. Here are some of the results.
This is more what I was going for. Without Brian's hands of course. Too bad I can't edit those out.
I tried to get it on video later but she wasn't cooperating; she would only do it when the camera was off. In fact, Kalena didn't want anything to do with the camera today. We bought a couple of adorable dresses for her and she wore one to church today. I wanted to take some pictures of her in it, but that didn't work out so well. Here are some of the results.
This is more what I was going for. Without Brian's hands of course. Too bad I can't edit those out.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday night is date night...
for some people. Tonight we babysat for those people. The movie Twilight opened tonight which means pretty much every single teenage girl in Midland was at the movies. So who did that leave to watch kids for anyone else who wanted to go see Twilight? Us. Because we're not seeing the movie until next week when we're visiting family for Thanksgiving. Which is fine by me because it means we will avoid most of the long lines and huge crowds of teenage girls. I don't mind the babysitting either and we got fed delicious brownie sundaes after everyone got home so it was a pretty good deal all around. But then of course we got to chatting and now it's WAY past my bedtime so I'm going to go to sleep. (At least I remembered to blog right?)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
In comparison
Just for fun, here's a growth comparison between me (staying tiny baby) and Kalena (sprouting like a weed baby) for the first six months. I have my mom and her diligent baby-book-keeping to thank for this information. Thanks mom!
Here we go:
4 months
me: 10 lbs 1 1/2 oz, 23 3/4 inches long
Kalena: 15 lbs 5 oz, 26 3/4 inches long
6 months
me: 11 lbs 4 oz, 25 inches long
Kalena: 17 lbs 6 oz, 28 inches long
In summary, Kalena's 2 month measurements almost match my 6 month measurements. I just don't know what to think about that.
Here we go:
Birth
me: 7 lbs 5 oz, 21 inches long
Kalena: 7 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches long
2 months
me: 8 lbs 15 1/2 oz, 22 1/2 inches long
Kalena: 11 lbs 12 oz, 24 1/4 inches long
me: 7 lbs 5 oz, 21 inches long
Kalena: 7 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches long
2 months
me: 8 lbs 15 1/2 oz, 22 1/2 inches long
Kalena: 11 lbs 12 oz, 24 1/4 inches long
4 months
me: 10 lbs 1 1/2 oz, 23 3/4 inches long
Kalena: 15 lbs 5 oz, 26 3/4 inches long
6 months
me: 11 lbs 4 oz, 25 inches long
Kalena: 17 lbs 6 oz, 28 inches long
In summary, Kalena's 2 month measurements almost match my 6 month measurements. I just don't know what to think about that.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
6 month checkup
Fortunately, Kalena isn't old enough yet to know that the doctor's office means shots, so she's still happy while we wait. That doesn't stop her from wailing while she actually GETS the shots, but what can you do?
She's still big: 17 lbs 6 ounces and 28 inches long. That puts her in the 97th percent for height and 80th percent for weight. Where is she getting this height?! Brian and I are both right at average height so it's throwing me off a little. Maybe all this growing will slow down? I was teeny-tiny at 6 months and I turned out normal. Alright, maybe "normal" isn't accurate, but average anyway. So I guess we'll see.
Anyway, I know all you really want is a picture so here it is. Looking lovely in purple for her 6 month birthday. It's a good thing I took this picture first thing in the morning too because by noon she had on a different onesie. One without poop up the backside.
She's still big: 17 lbs 6 ounces and 28 inches long. That puts her in the 97th percent for height and 80th percent for weight. Where is she getting this height?! Brian and I are both right at average height so it's throwing me off a little. Maybe all this growing will slow down? I was teeny-tiny at 6 months and I turned out normal. Alright, maybe "normal" isn't accurate, but average anyway. So I guess we'll see.
Anyway, I know all you really want is a picture so here it is. Looking lovely in purple for her 6 month birthday. It's a good thing I took this picture first thing in the morning too because by noon she had on a different onesie. One without poop up the backside.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
What is it with me and the rambling?
I asked Brian what I should blog about. Not sure what I was thinking there, since he's posted on here a whooping two times. He just argued with me about that by the way-- he was sure he'd only posted on here once. When I assured him that there are, in fact, two posts on here written by him, he informed me that they must be the best two posts on here. Apparently, not only does he not write on this blog, he doesn't read it either, otherwise he'd KNOW my posts are better.
Anyway, he had no good ideas for me (SHOCKING, I know) so y'all just get LAME blog post about nothing today. As usual, there are other posts half written, although I feel like I say that so often that you guys are going to stop believing me.
Totally unrelated (although, really, what was going on in this post anyway?) watching The Office is not particularly conducive to blogging. It does make me wish my office was more like their office though. It is also making me want grape soda. Listen, I'm going to stop all this rambling before it gets too out of hand, so why don't y'all just stop by again tomorrow for something a little more coherent.
Anyway, he had no good ideas for me (SHOCKING, I know) so y'all just get LAME blog post about nothing today. As usual, there are other posts half written, although I feel like I say that so often that you guys are going to stop believing me.
Totally unrelated (although, really, what was going on in this post anyway?) watching The Office is not particularly conducive to blogging. It does make me wish my office was more like their office though. It is also making me want grape soda. Listen, I'm going to stop all this rambling before it gets too out of hand, so why don't y'all just stop by again tomorrow for something a little more coherent.
Monday, November 17, 2008
6 months
Tomorrow Kalena is 6 months old. Crazy.
In the hospital
About 4 weeks old
1 month old
2 months
3 months (and getting an attitude)
4 months
And 5 months.
No 6 month picture yet since she isn't actually 6 months until tomorrow. I'll probably post one after she has her 6 month appointment on Wednesday.
6 months. It's just indescribable.
In the hospital
About 4 weeks old
1 month old
2 months
3 months (and getting an attitude)
4 months
And 5 months.
No 6 month picture yet since she isn't actually 6 months until tomorrow. I'll probably post one after she has her 6 month appointment on Wednesday.
6 months. It's just indescribable.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The dogs
I love our dogs. For those of you who don't know, we have two greyhounds, both retired racing dogs. They are great pets, but they are not typical dogs. Although our dogs aren't particularly well trained, they are generally well behaved. They don't beg, bark, lick, or jump on people. On the other hand, they don't sit or fetch either.
One thing about greyhounds is that they're spectacularly lazy, so they spend most of their time sleeping. Ours are always looking for a good place to nap. And when they can't find the perfect spot they just have to make their own.
This is Brenna on the dog bed out in our back yard. Onyx dragged one of the beds outside. Through the DOG DOOR. (We know it was Onyx who took it out there because Brenna never moves the beds. Onyx drags them to wherever she wants to sleep.) She does this every so often when it's nice out. I have no idea how she actually does it; neither of us has ever seen her take it out. We'll just look outside at some point and see a bed where there wasn't one before.
Also, apparently Onyx liked being a working dog, because she's always trying to start her modeling career. Here she is, posing for the camera.
One thing about greyhounds is that they're spectacularly lazy, so they spend most of their time sleeping. Ours are always looking for a good place to nap. And when they can't find the perfect spot they just have to make their own.
This is Brenna on the dog bed out in our back yard. Onyx dragged one of the beds outside. Through the DOG DOOR. (We know it was Onyx who took it out there because Brenna never moves the beds. Onyx drags them to wherever she wants to sleep.) She does this every so often when it's nice out. I have no idea how she actually does it; neither of us has ever seen her take it out. We'll just look outside at some point and see a bed where there wasn't one before.
Also, apparently Onyx liked being a working dog, because she's always trying to start her modeling career. Here she is, posing for the camera.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
2 years ago
Because Kirsta loves me so much, and reading my blog is the highlight of her day*, she left me lots of good post ideas in the comment section of the last post. One of her ideas was scanning scrapbook pages and posting them here. Well, I'm almost finished with my honeymoon scrapbook, but the pages are 12X12 so they're too big for me to scan, but I'll post some pictures.
We actually went on our honeymoon over Thanksgiving in 2006, 5 months after we got married. We went to Tahiti, specifically the islands of Moorea and Bora Bora. It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on. Everything was fabulous. I wish I had taken pictures of the food, because it was AMAZING, but who thinks to take pictures of food? Next time.
Anyway, here are the bungalows we stayed in on Moorea. They each have two decks, one with lounge chairs and a lower deck with a fresh water shower and a ladder right into the water. We could just get in our snorkel gear and go snorkeling right from our room.
Here is a view from the bed to the outside. You can see the lounge chairs on the upper deck, and the square you see in the floor is actually a glass panel so you can see straight into the ocean. We saw a shark swim under it the first night we were there.
This is Brian snorkeling in the crystal clear water right off our deck.
Here I am, showing off the black pearl necklace we bought on the island.
This is us on the balcony off our room in Bora Bora. I believe this picture was actually taken on Thanksgiving (which of course they don't celebrate there, seeing as it's an American holiday). They were having a special show at the restaurant that night along with a special menu-- we got to have duck for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. (Actually, everything we ate there was delicious. I gained like 10 pounds during the week we were there.)
And last but not least, a picture of the famous Noni fruit. We didn't try any of the juice though.
If you ever get a chance to go to Tahiti, I highly recommend it.
*She didn't actually SAY that reading my blog is the highlight of her day; I'm just guessing.
We actually went on our honeymoon over Thanksgiving in 2006, 5 months after we got married. We went to Tahiti, specifically the islands of Moorea and Bora Bora. It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on. Everything was fabulous. I wish I had taken pictures of the food, because it was AMAZING, but who thinks to take pictures of food? Next time.
Anyway, here are the bungalows we stayed in on Moorea. They each have two decks, one with lounge chairs and a lower deck with a fresh water shower and a ladder right into the water. We could just get in our snorkel gear and go snorkeling right from our room.
Here is a view from the bed to the outside. You can see the lounge chairs on the upper deck, and the square you see in the floor is actually a glass panel so you can see straight into the ocean. We saw a shark swim under it the first night we were there.
This is Brian snorkeling in the crystal clear water right off our deck.
Here I am, showing off the black pearl necklace we bought on the island.
This is us on the balcony off our room in Bora Bora. I believe this picture was actually taken on Thanksgiving (which of course they don't celebrate there, seeing as it's an American holiday). They were having a special show at the restaurant that night along with a special menu-- we got to have duck for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. (Actually, everything we ate there was delicious. I gained like 10 pounds during the week we were there.)
And last but not least, a picture of the famous Noni fruit. We didn't try any of the juice though.
If you ever get a chance to go to Tahiti, I highly recommend it.
*She didn't actually SAY that reading my blog is the highlight of her day; I'm just guessing.
Friday, November 14, 2008
One more thing
One more thing about the e-mail incident and then I’ll stop talking about it. I promise.
As I was cleaning out my outlook inbox today I came across an e-mail from a couple of weeks ago about a change in the company’s e-mail security. Apparently, internal distribution lists were being used by unaffiliated people to send junk mail and such to employees. (Or “unwanted and disruptive e-mail” as they put it.) So as of November 12th, e-mail addressed to an internal distribution list would not be accepted from outside parties. Apparently they didn’t think employees would cause any problems with these distribution lists. I’m pretty sure November 13th disabused them of that notion.
As I was cleaning out my outlook inbox today I came across an e-mail from a couple of weeks ago about a change in the company’s e-mail security. Apparently, internal distribution lists were being used by unaffiliated people to send junk mail and such to employees. (Or “unwanted and disruptive e-mail” as they put it.) So as of November 12th, e-mail addressed to an internal distribution list would not be accepted from outside parties. Apparently they didn’t think employees would cause any problems with these distribution lists. I’m pretty sure November 13th disabused them of that notion.
Anyway, it's Friday and I'm all distracted by some show Brian is watching on Animal Planet so that's all you're getting for today. Anybody have anything for me to write about tomorrow?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Update on the "Reply All" incident
If you didn't read yesterday's post, do that now, then come back here. Back? Alright. I got a few more of the reply all e-mails early this morning, but that seemed to be the end of it. Then around 9:30 this morning I got an e-mail explaining what happened. It seems a new employee inadvertently used the wrong distribution list (this much I figured from the beginning) and IT is working to increase security regarding who can access the company-wide e-mail distribution lists (uh, yeah. Good idea.) The e-mail went on to say that fortunately the IT group had disabled the distribution list before the problem got too bad. Sadly, for me that means I missed out on lots more good blogging material and a probable server crash. Too bad.
The e-mail also included a lovely presentation on e-mail etiquette. Included were helpful hints such as: don't type in all caps, don't over use the high priority marking (I'm looking at you, admin assistant who marked all 3 reply all "this isn't supposed to come to me" e-mails high priority), don't over use read receipts, use proper spelling and grammar (maybe keep a dictionary next to your desk so you can look up how to spell "stop"), don't swear (okay, it didn't actually say that, but maybe it should have), and of course, be prudent when replying to all! I'm sure all the people who made mistakes like these will read this presentation and be sure to NEVER make those mistakes again. Or something.
Moving on.
Mardi tagged me to do this survey about my husband so here it is:
1) Where did you meet? At a party. Brian tells me it was a birthday party, but neither of us knows who it was for.
2) How long til you got married? 9 months
3) How long have you been married? 2 years and (almost) 5 months
4) Your favorite feature of his? His eyes
5) Your favorite quality of his? His good natured helpfulness
6) Does he have a nickname for you? Ummm, he mostly calls me babe. Is that a nickname?
7) His favorite food? I'm gonna go with soup. Seriously, this kid loves soup more than you would believe.
8) What is his favorite sport to watch? Football for SURE.
9) When was your first kiss? At the end of our first date
10) What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go to Best Buy. Okay, I don't really know. But we do go to Best Buy an awful lot.
11) Do you have kids? Yes, a daughter who's almost 6 months old. Although, I'm not sure how she can be that old since I'm pretty sure I just had her like last week.
12) Does he have a hidden talent? He's an excellent cook
13) How old is he? 25
14) Who said I love you first? He did
15) What do you admire most about him? His work ethic
16) What is his favorite type of music? I don't really know; he listens to everything
17) Do you think he will read this? Eventually, I'm sure
18) I tag Kirsta and Kari
P.S. I wrote this post over my lunch hour, but I wanted to read through it once more before I posted it and then I almost forgot! I was already in bed when I realized it was still just saved as a draft. Luckily I'm so dedicated to NaBloPoMo that I got up just to post. Of course, if I hadn't already had something written, I'm sure I would have written like 2 sentences before going back to bed. Which is where I'm going now.
P.S. I wrote this post over my lunch hour, but I wanted to read through it once more before I posted it and then I almost forgot! I was already in bed when I realized it was still just saved as a draft. Luckily I'm so dedicated to NaBloPoMo that I got up just to post. Of course, if I hadn't already had something written, I'm sure I would have written like 2 sentences before going back to bed. Which is where I'm going now.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The dangers of "Reply All"
I received more than 100 e-mails at work today. 6 of them actually pertained to me. Well, really 4 of them pertained to me, 1 was an announcement about Baker's stock purchase program and 1 was a schedule for upcoming classes I might want to register for, but that's not the point. The point is that I got over one HUNDRED e-mails that I did not need. At all. How does this happen? That's right, reply all.
It all started around 10:30 am, when I got an e-mail that didn't make any sense to me. I assumed it was addressed to too many people since the "to" line just said "Internet Users." Sure enough, a few minutes later the sender sent a recall notice on the e-mail so people would ignore it. Only people didn't ignore it. A few minutes later the e-mails started coming in. The "I don't think this is for me" and "I don't know what this is about" and "I think you sent this to the wrong person" type. The first "Please stop replying to all" came 15 e-mails in. Of course, that didn't stop people. I got an indication of just how many people were "Internet Users" when I started getting e-mails from outside the US. They came from Canada, Venezuela, Italy, Russia, Norway, Egypt, Trinidad, China, Tunisia, Brazil, Scotland, and various other places. One of the e-mails later in the day confirmed that "Internet Users" included every single Baker employee. More than 36 THOUSAND people world wide.
While I was at lunch I got 62 of these e-mails. It was quite interesting actually. The e-mails from people for whom English is obviously not a first language:
"I BELIEVE YOU WRONG ADDRESS"
"Stop to send to everybody"
and the angry e-mails:
"Please STOP I don't care!!!!!!!!"
"Take my dam name off this list please!!"
(I personally would have gone with, "Take my name off this damn list please" myself, but then I also try not to misspell words on e-mails that go to 36,000 people)
There was the one that was written in all caps in 72 point font and included more than 50 exclamation points. There was also the one that just said "stop." Only "stop" included the letter "p" 133 times. Seriously, I counted. Also, it was all in caps except for the last "p". Again, seriously.
Do people just not have anything better to do than send these e-mails? And aren't the people sending out the "please stop filling my inbox with useless e-mail" being a little hypocritical? What about the guy who sent the "stop replying to all" e-mail 3 times? Did he think people would pay attention to the second or third since they obviously weren't paying attention to the first? The best was the people who's e-mail included a request for a read-receipt. I hope they got THOUSANDS. Then maybe next time they'll think twice before hitting reply all.
So there's my public service announcement for the day- be careful who you send your e-mail to. Otherwise someone might blog about it and make fun of you.
It all started around 10:30 am, when I got an e-mail that didn't make any sense to me. I assumed it was addressed to too many people since the "to" line just said "Internet Users." Sure enough, a few minutes later the sender sent a recall notice on the e-mail so people would ignore it. Only people didn't ignore it. A few minutes later the e-mails started coming in. The "I don't think this is for me" and "I don't know what this is about" and "I think you sent this to the wrong person" type. The first "Please stop replying to all" came 15 e-mails in. Of course, that didn't stop people. I got an indication of just how many people were "Internet Users" when I started getting e-mails from outside the US. They came from Canada, Venezuela, Italy, Russia, Norway, Egypt, Trinidad, China, Tunisia, Brazil, Scotland, and various other places. One of the e-mails later in the day confirmed that "Internet Users" included every single Baker employee. More than 36 THOUSAND people world wide.
While I was at lunch I got 62 of these e-mails. It was quite interesting actually. The e-mails from people for whom English is obviously not a first language:
"I BELIEVE YOU WRONG ADDRESS"
"Stop to send to everybody"
and the angry e-mails:
"Please STOP I don't care!!!!!!!!"
"Take my dam name off this list please!!"
(I personally would have gone with, "Take my name off this damn list please" myself, but then I also try not to misspell words on e-mails that go to 36,000 people)
There was the one that was written in all caps in 72 point font and included more than 50 exclamation points. There was also the one that just said "stop." Only "stop" included the letter "p" 133 times. Seriously, I counted. Also, it was all in caps except for the last "p". Again, seriously.
Do people just not have anything better to do than send these e-mails? And aren't the people sending out the "please stop filling my inbox with useless e-mail" being a little hypocritical? What about the guy who sent the "stop replying to all" e-mail 3 times? Did he think people would pay attention to the second or third since they obviously weren't paying attention to the first? The best was the people who's e-mail included a request for a read-receipt. I hope they got THOUSANDS. Then maybe next time they'll think twice before hitting reply all.
So there's my public service announcement for the day- be careful who you send your e-mail to. Otherwise someone might blog about it and make fun of you.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Oh the irony
When I was in college, I told my mom once that I wished I didn't have to sleep. I was very clear on the terms though: I would still want to be ABLE to sleep and everyone else would still NEED to sleep. Because what good would it be to not need sleep if nobody else did either right? Right.
Unfortunately I DO need sleep, so I was not amused when my being a light sleeper turned into full on insomnia. It didn't manifest as typical insomnia, or at least not what I thought of as typical insomnia. I wasn't lying in bed for hours without being able to fall asleep, nor was I waking up in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep. Instead, every time I woke up during the night, it would take me 15 or 20 minutes to get back to sleep. With my super sensitive hearing causing me to wake up usually 5 times a night or more, this quickly became a problem.
I turned to the internet (known around our house as the source of all truth) for more information. That was how I found out that I was in fact experiencing a form of insomnia. Sadly, I was already doing most of what doctors recommend to help: we don't have a TV in our bedroom, I don't use my laptop in bed, I don't drink lots of caffeine and I don't drink any late at night, I don't go to bed until I'm tired, I don't drink or smoke, and there's not a clock in the bedroom. So, I decided to try the one thing that I wasn't already doing-- get up earlier. Seems crazy, but also seems to be working. Apparently, I do better when I only sleep for 7 hours. Who knew? The best part is, getting up so early means most days I get my workout (AM yoga with Rodney Yee) before the baby is awake.
I still wish I didn't NEED sleep, but these days I'm just glad I can.
Unfortunately I DO need sleep, so I was not amused when my being a light sleeper turned into full on insomnia. It didn't manifest as typical insomnia, or at least not what I thought of as typical insomnia. I wasn't lying in bed for hours without being able to fall asleep, nor was I waking up in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep. Instead, every time I woke up during the night, it would take me 15 or 20 minutes to get back to sleep. With my super sensitive hearing causing me to wake up usually 5 times a night or more, this quickly became a problem.
I turned to the internet (known around our house as the source of all truth) for more information. That was how I found out that I was in fact experiencing a form of insomnia. Sadly, I was already doing most of what doctors recommend to help: we don't have a TV in our bedroom, I don't use my laptop in bed, I don't drink lots of caffeine and I don't drink any late at night, I don't go to bed until I'm tired, I don't drink or smoke, and there's not a clock in the bedroom. So, I decided to try the one thing that I wasn't already doing-- get up earlier. Seems crazy, but also seems to be working. Apparently, I do better when I only sleep for 7 hours. Who knew? The best part is, getting up so early means most days I get my workout (AM yoga with Rodney Yee) before the baby is awake.
I still wish I didn't NEED sleep, but these days I'm just glad I can.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Everyday life
I feel tired. I should stop waiting so long to write these posts. If I weren't doing NaBloPoMo I wouldn't post today. In fact, I might not post all week. There are ideas waiting, but like a word on the tip of my tongue I can't seem to get them out. Every time I start to write the words fall flat.
There is clean laundry on the bed waiting to be folded, there are clothes drying in the dryer, and others in the washer sitting wet and clean. There are dishes to be done. I have projects I want to work on. That's life I suppose. It's always something. This morning it was yoga at 5 am, then breakfast and the baby and work. After I got home it was feeding the baby and walking the dogs, putting the baby to bed and dinner and laundry. And today? I think that's enough.
There is clean laundry on the bed waiting to be folded, there are clothes drying in the dryer, and others in the washer sitting wet and clean. There are dishes to be done. I have projects I want to work on. That's life I suppose. It's always something. This morning it was yoga at 5 am, then breakfast and the baby and work. After I got home it was feeding the baby and walking the dogs, putting the baby to bed and dinner and laundry. And today? I think that's enough.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
More pictures
I know, I KNOW! This is NaBloPoMo, not post pictures of Kalena every day in November. I have several posts half written, but I'm not in the right mood to finish any of them. I'm not sure how today went by so fast; it feels like I was busy all day, but somehow I didn't manage to get anything done. Oh well, my to-do list will still be there tomorrow.
Kalena got to wear two adorable new outfits this weekend, both were unexpected gifts we got in the mail last week. This one is from one of Brian's aunt & uncle and family. How cute are the pockets on those pants?!
(The headband was one we had, and we took it off her after these pictures-- it just looks too much like a sweatband.)
The dress and shoes are from my parents. This is Brian with Kalena after church today. Although, considering the amount of drool on the front of the dress, maybe we should have taken the pictures before church.
Tomorrow I promise I'll write a real post. I won't promise no pictures, because sometimes I just can't resist, but it will include real actual content and not just picture captions. FOR REAL.
Kalena got to wear two adorable new outfits this weekend, both were unexpected gifts we got in the mail last week. This one is from one of Brian's aunt & uncle and family. How cute are the pockets on those pants?!
(The headband was one we had, and we took it off her after these pictures-- it just looks too much like a sweatband.) The dress and shoes are from my parents. This is Brian with Kalena after church today. Although, considering the amount of drool on the front of the dress, maybe we should have taken the pictures before church.
Tomorrow I promise I'll write a real post. I won't promise no pictures, because sometimes I just can't resist, but it will include real actual content and not just picture captions. FOR REAL.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
High five!
Maybe she's a genius?
Or maybe she's just very interested in putting her hand out to touch anything you put in front of her. I'll let you decide.
Or maybe she's just very interested in putting her hand out to touch anything you put in front of her. I'll let you decide.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Pictures
I'm feeling a little lazy this fine Friday evening, so today's post is just some pictures of Kalena. Here she is working hard on trying to crawl.
I love her expression here.
Not only does she look like Brian, she zones out like him too. (He's teaching her to be a football fan here.)
Just showing off her fashion sense.
More rambling tomorrow.
I love her expression here.
Not only does she look like Brian, she zones out like him too. (He's teaching her to be a football fan here.)
Just showing off her fashion sense.
More rambling tomorrow.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
This is a little late...
About a million years ago when Brian was redoing our ceilings I promised pictures. And then I had a baby and never posted them. (I know, excuses excuses.) Better late than never right? Here's some pictures of the kitchen and dining room all covered in plastic:
For anyone who's thinking about doing this, here's photographic evidence of the gigantic mess it makes:
(And that's just the mess from taking down the popcorn, not from putting on new texture.)
Here's Brian after putting on the texture:
And here's a picture of one room that's done and one room that isn't so you can see the difference. Arrow A is the beautiful redone ceiling, arrow B is the ugly popcorn ceiling. You can't really tell from the picture but the walls in the two rooms are different colors as well.
Brian worked really hard with the scraping and texturing and drywall repair and painting. I worked really hard not to breath in any paint fumes. Ok, I didn't work all that hard.
If you want to do this at your house you can ask Brian to help you. He'll tell you no, but you can still ask.
For anyone who's thinking about doing this, here's photographic evidence of the gigantic mess it makes:
(And that's just the mess from taking down the popcorn, not from putting on new texture.)Here's Brian after putting on the texture:
And here's a picture of one room that's done and one room that isn't so you can see the difference. Arrow A is the beautiful redone ceiling, arrow B is the ugly popcorn ceiling. You can't really tell from the picture but the walls in the two rooms are different colors as well.
Brian worked really hard with the scraping and texturing and drywall repair and painting. I worked really hard not to breath in any paint fumes. Ok, I didn't work all that hard.
If you want to do this at your house you can ask Brian to help you. He'll tell you no, but you can still ask.
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