"Could You Take My Picture?"

I got some new photos of the little man. The ones of him are pretty good, but I don't like the family one. So we'll try again in a couple of months or so, when he can sit up on his own and when I have my sister Sarah there to make sure I don't look like an idiot.

It's lots of Benjis in pots!



I love this little picture:



Naked babies!



He's ready to go on vacation, too!



I really like this one, but his little shirt blends into the background. A little disappointing.



This one is my favorite; she took it while I was in the restroom.



These aren't very high-quality versions; I'll put the higher-resolution ones in my Picasa album. Enjoy!

Memories

This looked like fun. Participate if you like. Ignore it if you prefer. 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Give A Little Respect To Me

It's 9am, and I'm not babysitting. Normally that would be very nice, but they didn't tell me they didn't need me. We have an understanding that I will watch our neighbor's two-year-old on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from about 7am to 10am. In exchange, they will watch Benjamin from about 10am to 1pm on the days I have to work at 11am. It works pretty well most of the time, and I really can't beat the convenience of dropping of my baby on the way out the door. I think I put up with rather a lot to have that convenience, but this week has been a bit ridiculous. I didn't watch her on Monday, and I was fine with that, since they had just gotten back from vacation Saturday night. They could have let me know, but I let it slide. Tuesday I had to work at 11, and she didn't get back from wherever she was until 10:25 (I try to leave around 10:15 because it's a 25 minute drive, then I have to find parking and walk about 10 minutes to get to the hospital tower, then I have to clock in and change into my scrubs and be READY TO WORK by 11). So I was late on Tuesday. Wednesday, I slept in guilt-free and it was great (I didn't have to work that day). Thursday I babysat normally (they brought her downstairs around 7:10), although she didn't get back until 10:20 that day either, and I had to work at 11 again. Today, however, I didn't. The thing is, I have to be up and ready by 7am (whether I get home from work at 1:45 a.m. or not) to be ready for them. Then I have to wait for them to knock on the door, and I can only do so much during that time with my own baby and with the house, etc. I'm hearing her upstairs now, but I'm not listening for the knock anymore. I think I need to tell her that if she's not downstairs by 8am, I'm not watching her that day. Is that fair? She chooses to sleep in, but I don't get that choice. I have asked her to change our times from 9am-noon, especially when I work my "fun shift" (5pm-1am). She said no, so I'm really trying to make the best of it and be productive in the mornings. But I think it's really disrespectful! My time, especially my alone time with Benjamin, is very valuable to me. She's probably not thinking about the consequences her actions have on my day, and she probably just 'forgot to set her alarm,' or something like that. Do I need to be more understanding, or am I letting her walk all over me? It's frustrating. I really want to change my schedule. Currently, it's crap and it takes a freaking algorithm to understand it. I REALLY want to go back to 12-hour shifts. Yeah, those days are gone, but you get 4 days off per week. If I could go back to the 11am to 11pm shifts, I would be very happy. It would require more babysitting, but Lexy has said she's willing to help and I could probably enlist Peggy once a week or so . . . and it's only for about 3 hours during the overlap of Allen's and my shifts (about 10am-1pm). I kinda feel stuck right now, though, because of our agreement with the neighbors. Personally, I want to move again. Our apartment is okay, but it's not a GREAT deal, and we have tons of ants and spiders, no a/c, the world's smallest shower, the world's slowest dishwasher (it takes 3 hours to run, whether it's on the light cycle or heavy wash!), and I'm ready to have our own house. I'm sure we can't afford a mortgage right now, but it's frustrating to be paying someone else's mortgage and only getting frustration out of it.

"What Would You Give To Get Away?"

Well, we are coming up on vacation time. Soon. For those of you who don't know, we are driving to California for my family reunion. Unfortunately, with all the camping and baby gear, flying just isn't really in the cards. The whole thing has been in the works for so long that I'm a little freaked out we aren't more ready! We still need to lock down the itinerary, get some hotel reservations, buy some sunscreen and an airbed, etc. We did reserve a rental car (thank heavens!), but I don't know if everything will fit! We'd like to camp on Pismo Beach, but we're planning on sending the camping gear in the U-Haul with Dave. I should really make a better list of what exactly needs to be packed so we can figure the whole thing out. At least we'll have air conditioning and some trunk space to work with; if we were to take our Intrigue, we'd have to deal with all the tools and crap that goes along with Allen's car wherever it may roam. I'm trying to get hold of people to visit while we are on our way, like my friend Shelly in St. George, Allen's friend Dom in L.A., etc. I want this to be well organized; I learned from my study abroad in France that it is definitely better to have plans and to know exactly where you'll be staying. Sure, I found a hotel room for one near Montmartre armed only with my rental car, but I'm sure there was some divine intervention in getting me there! I have a general outline, which is subject to change depending on who we get to see when. I do want to visit the Bare Minerals store (can I just say that not all mineral makeup is created equally? Just say no to mineral makeup from China!) and do the Hollywood touristy thing and hit a beach or two before the camping. Allen isn't too excited about all that, seeing as he lived there for 30 years, but I haven't ever seen the Walk of Fame! I may have seen the Hollywood sign through the smog, but never close enough for a photograph. Allen is also worried about wildfires, because I want to drive up the PCH, and it may be closed. :o( Boo. We'll just have to see about that one. I really want to take a laptop with us. Unfortunately, we don't own one yet. I have wanted one for a long time, but those unnecessary expenses keep getting pushed back. I did look at the Used Computer Warehouse, and their cheapest notebooks were $299 and only had 256 MB and a 56K modem. Uh, I don't think so--I'm way too spoiled for that. I really want an HP with LightScribe and an Blu-Ray DVD Drive. We'll see. It would be extremely helpful for the trip, to check traffic and fire conditions and e-mails and driving directions, etc. Should I just do it? I'm thinking so! Eeek! I should have done during the last Black Friday sale!

"Nobody Said It Was Easy; No One Ever Said It Would Be This Hard"

You may have noticed that I have "gone green." The blog is the only place I have done this. Now that recycling and conservation are all the rage, the whole thing just irritates me. I should be happy that many people are taking better care of the planet, and maybe I'm bitter that Bountiful City doesn't have recycling (hello!?), but that's where I'm at.

I'm taking a cue from Rachael and I think I'll include a bit about my husband here, so you can get to know him. He really is a great guy.




1- What is your husband's name? Allen

2- Who said I love you first? He did!

3- Who is taller? We are exactly the same height, so if I wear shoes with any sort of heel, I am.

4- Who is smarter? I think I'm smarter book-wise, but he understands computers and mechanics and politics and a lot of other things in a way I never will.

5- Who is more sensitive? Probably me, but only because he's a guy and his brain doesn't work that way.

6- Who does the laundry? Usually me.

7- Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

8- Who pays the bills? He does the big stuff (rent, cars, etc.); I do my credit card payments, student loans and Sprint. We WILL get out of debt someday!

9- Who cooks more? He does. He's a fantastic cook, but he will put up with my Mary-Creation Casseroles.

10- What meals do you cook together? We don't really do any. I try to stay out of the kitchen when he's cooking. I found out early on that Allen has very strong opinions on how things are to be done (including the way I cook), so I have asked him to stay out of the kitchen when I'm cooking to avoid contention.

11- Who is more stubborn? I'd say that he is. He has VERY strong opinions and is not easily swayed. :o)

12-Who is the first to admit they are wrong? He's good about apologizing, but honestly, we fight so infrequently that neither of us really have to admit we're wrong.

13- Who is more clean? Probably me, although neither of us can claim the whole "next to godliness" thing.

14- Who has more siblings? Me. I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers; he has one sister.

15- Who wears the pants in the relationship? He does. He's a guy. Sometimes I have to remind him that he should be wearing the pants, but he's pretty good about it.

16- What do you like to do together? We like to go out to dinner and watch movies, although there are definitely ulterior motives behind the former and we usually fall asleep during the latter.

17- Who eats more sweets? I do. We have very different tastes in food--he likes beets, sauerkraut, malted flavor (like Whoppers and nasty Robin's Eggs), Black Licorice, olives, and a lot of other stuff I can't even stomach.

18- Guilty Pleasures? We hardly see each other enough to have any guilty pleasures lately!

19- How did you meet? On ldssingles.com. I think we had both been on there for over a year; Allen was actually engaged to a girl he had met on there before he met me. She's one of the reasons why he moved to SLC from Los Angeles, but she ended up being a little bit "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs." So we e-mailed for a few weeks and finally decided to meet. We then found out that we were living less than a mile away from each other! I invited him to my Singles Branch, so we met on Sunday, May 1st, 2005 and were basically inseparable after that.

20- Who asked who out first? If you count church as our first date, I did, although he was first to ask (via e-mail) when we could meet.

21- Who kissed who first? Allen kissed me.

22- Who proposed? I don't really remember. It wasn't a formal thing (no rings or bended knees); we just talked about it and it made sense and we both felt good about it, so we did it!

23- Best features? His beautiful eyes, his steadiness, his cooking ability, his kindness

24- What is his best quality? His ability to fix anything (even my sadness)!




Thank you, honey! I love you so much!