Happy Birthday Mom

Missing you and needing you more than ever.

Do you believe in miracles?

YES.

No shots, no endless ultrasounds, no uninterested third parties. Just God's miracle when he decided the time was right.

And we are grateful.
ETA: September 1st

WHAT??!!!

The backyard this morning:


"Oh, winter in Texas is not bad at all--it's very mild."

Hah! Texas is determined to prove all y'all wrong.

"You probably won't even need your winter coat."

Sheesh.

Calisthenics

I have a whole new respect for our brave men and women of the military. I love the guy at the end who kind of gives up and just jumps up and down. Bless his heart.

Texas Christmas and other such news

Well I've been meaning to blog forever and start out with something like, "Now that the holiday craziness is over it's time I should be blogging again," but really, in February you can hardly use that excuse anymore. So excuses aside, here I am again, finally.

We had a great Christmas by the way and I actually got two whole days off from work, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Will wonders never cease! I had to head right back on the 26th, but we won't go into that. And of course, in true fashion, I have no photos to document that we actually did indeed celebrate Christmas. With no kids around and after 10 years of marriage, I guess things just start to look the same every year so I tend to forget to pull the ol' camera out. I'm sure someday I will be better at this. But I digress. We had our lovely traditional fondue dinner on Christmas Eve, made more enjoyable by the presence of some new friends that are in Ian's program. Christmas day was also a wonderfully relaxing day that we spent at Ian's Dad's house. One interesting note was we actually had snow on Christmas day, the first in several decades apparently. Ian said of course it figures since it was his first December here (he's not a big fan of snow see). I did get a picture of the snow falling, but of course failed to document the actual white stuff on Christmas morning.


(This is the view from our back porch, one of my favorite things about our apartment.)








Ian didn't have to head back to school until January 19th, so we got lots of time to hang out and be lazy together. It was just heavenly to have him around so much. New Years celebrations this year were highlighted with a visit from Ian's little brother D-man. He came to stay with us for two nights. The first item of business when he arrived was Ian took him to Target and purchased what is most essential for boys hanging out together while I was working--Nerf guns of course. They got all the proper gear for an all out battle, hindered only by the close proximity of our small apartment. Needless to say, they had a little fun.

Here's the pair of them.











And here's Ian battling D-man into submission. The kid's hilarious--he thinks it's absolutely hysterical if you hit him in the face with a dart. It's really quite entertaining. You can relax on the couch and keep him in hysterics by firing one dart after another. Again, I remind you that this is perfectly acceptable behavior for a sister-in-law (he had safety goggles on after all).












On a side note, I am happy to report that I actually made a resolution in 2009 and kept it all the way until December. I made a goal about my temple attendance and I actually reached it! Woohoo! I think that's my first ever completed new year's resolution. I am now well on my way to not keeping any new resolutions for 2010, but hey, the year is young.

So Ian is now back in school and it's back to the same old grind. School, work, clean, bleh, etc.


And to end, more Texas bumper stickers:

"Illiterate? Write for our free brochure"

And of course, "Gun control means using two hands."

By the way I officially declare the Texas state saying to be "Oh, bless your heart" followed closely by "I'm fixin' to ......" These phrases fit surprisingly well into many types of conversations. Try it for yourself.

This and That

Some of you may have noticed an absence of astute political commentary on Ian's blog. I thought I'd fill you in a little on what he has been up to. He's off studying tonight, so I looked around a little.

Here's an article he's reading:
And why is the equity premium a puzzle?
The answer is totally scintillating, of course, but ask Ian to tell you about it. He explains it better than me.




And here's the white board in the study:


Does this make any sense to you? I mean who needs a PhD in economics to understand that? Isn't it totally obvious?






And what is his wife doing while he's off laboring and working to understand the exciting world of economics? Oh I'm being completely productive. While thinking of how I should be unpacking those last two pesky boxes, or folding laundry, or decorating for Christmas, or I don't know, anything productive, I'm watching a teeny bopper movie on Netflix and eating the last of the mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving. I am so underwhelmed with myself. Sheesh.

By the way, Thanksgiving was great. Ian actually took a break for a day and we hung with his Dad and family.

Ian desecrated, I mean carved, the turkey for us.
He's so good at that. Oh my poor husband has lost his butt, never to return I'm afraid.




That night Ian's little brother came to spend the night with us. He's so fun to hang out with. He and I went for a walk to the little lakes in our apartment community to feed the ducks.


(Good thing there weren't any boogers in my nose.)







Oh, and D-man found the lake. I was being totally lax in my parenteral overlooking duties. Mom's may not let their kids fall in streams, but sisters-in-law can right?











Turkey day was great, now Christmas here we come! (After finals of course.)

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm?"

A recent conversation I heard at the grocery store: (in the juice aisle)

Boy: Let's get this one
Girl: Uh, noo. Why would we get it at 2 for $5.00 when we could get one for $2.69?



My fortune cookie:










Not sure if everyone would agree with this one. Perhaps? Hmmm.



Move over Alfred Hitchcock:

When I drive home from work, there is one intersection that always looks like this.









Why this one intersection? Why so many? This shouldn't be creepy, but darn Hitchcock if he didn't make it downright unnerving.











Texas bumper stickers:

I've made it a habit to store in my memory bumper stickers I see driving around Dallas. They seem to be of a different strain than in California. Here's the latest (seen on a big truck):

"Let's get squirrely."



Getting more than I payed for:

We recently purchased some cat food online. When we opened the box there was something extra.









WEE-WEE pads? Why would they send us WEE-WEE pads? Did someone think, "Huh, let's just throw in some WEE-WEE pads for good measure?" And furthermore, just what am I supposed to do with said WEE-WEE pads? My conscience dictated that I call the place. I left a message saying I got something I didn't pay for, but they never called me back. Do I actually have to spend the money to send back WEE-WEE pads when it was their mistake? WEE-WEE pads? Does anyone need some WEE-WEE pads?

And finally,


Exploring new places:

Found a new road,










Now that is just cool. Something to aspire to, to live on Chevy Chase Ave. Imagine the exterior illumination on that street!