A bad ending to a good day

Most of my Saturday was absolutely fabulous. The boys played football with the neighborhood kids for hours and Nate was playing in a golf tournament -- leaving me with some rare alone time. I got a lot of stuff done around the house, I played with Devin, I even got to read for about 1/2 hour. I can't remember the last time that I have had a day like this.

Miracle of miracles, I decided that I might as well cook something for dinner because I actually had time. So, I decided to make a big breakfast meal -- complete with the most scrumptious homemade syrup. I had several different pans going -- bacon, syrup, eggs, french toast. Right after I got all of the pans going, the power went out. Thinking the power would come back on, I left everything as is. After an hour with all of the food ruined and the kids starving, the power still was not back on. That left Sonic for dinner. And...it goes down hill from there. Sonic messed up our order several times, I ended up paying for things that I didn't order, but I was too tired to argue anymore. So, I just took all of the food home and fed the kids. I finally found a moment when I could eat -- and my order was wrong. This is really not like me, but I drove all the way back to Sonic to get my order right. I'm pregnant -- that's all I can say.

It was about 8:00 pm by this time, and the power was still out. Weirdly, there were only 5 houses in the neighborhood with the power outage. I left Nate with the kids while I ran to the Orem Seagull Book to pick up a hymn book for the Young Women that I was asked to purchase. I had already been to the Lindon store earlier that day, and they didn't have one hymn book in the store. (How could that be!) The Lindon store closes at 9:00, so I assumed the Orem store did as well. No. I drove all the way out to Orem only to find a dark store -- it closed at 8:00. I drove all the way out there for nothing.

The power was still out when I got home, and it was getting pretty dark in the house. The kids were filthy after playing football all day, so we took all of our stuff to the neighbor's house to bathe our kids. Our neighbors' house sits empty as they are on a mission. We have been given a key and free access to their house. But, we didn't warn the other neighbors that we would be over there. So, they thought that an intruder was in the house as they could only see lights flicking on and off. Luckily they didn't call the police.

The power was still out at 9:30 pm. The house was now hot, it was very dark, and our huge floodlight was losing power. We sat on the balcony with the kids to cool off and to watch the Cedar Hills fireworks show. It was a really good show and we had good seats on our balcony.

The kids had a hard time going to sleep with all the excitement and finally drifted off to sleep around midnight. (Keep in mind that we have church at 9:00 am). It was so hot in the house that Nate and I had a hard time going to sleep. The power finally came on at 2:00 am. We were without power for over 7 hours.

We were exhausted by our lack of sleep. I have no idea what time it was when we finally fell asleep, but I do know that it wasn't a lot of sleep. In the morning, I still had to iron and put together some music for the Young Women. Somehow I made it to church to lead the music in Sacrament, and Nate was able to get the boys there on time. Amazing!

Today turned out to be crazy -- I led the music in Sacrament, sang with the Relief Society choir in church, practiced the leader's camp song with them after church, accompanied the ward choir after that, had two groups of Young Women come over to my house to practice their singing trees songs for camp, and then went to our Home Teacher's house with the family for dessert. I was finally done with my day by 6:30 pm.

A few things that I have decided:
1. We are totally unprepared if something major happens. We don't own a generator, I could only find one flashlight, we don't have a lot of extra batteries, etc.
2. Why make dinner? Something always seems to happen when I go to the effort.
3. I don't know if I can keep my picture goal that I talked about in my last blog. I thought that I had charged my camera battery only to find out that I had put the battery in incorrectly. Thus, the reason for no pictures about our weird day. Jill will be so disappointed in my stupidity.
4. I'm tired. It's been a long day. I hope that yours has been better.

Oh...to be like Jill!

I know that this title can refer to several of Jill's fabulous qualities. Right now, what I'm referring to is her incredible photography skills and her ability to document accurately and beautifully any occasion.

(Family in Branson at the fountain show)

I'm in rather a sad slump as I am organizing pictures from our Nauvoo trip. Where was my camera for all the funny moments? I only took 42 pictures (not all of which even look fabulous) during our 10-day trip. Jill could take that many pictures at a Seven Peaks outing!

(Devin at Silver Dollar City Amusement Park in Branson. This is the only picture that I took there. Sad!)

Actually, I guess that I should be proud of myself that I did indeed go to the store before the trip and buy a charger. (If you will remember, I thought that I had left my camera charger in Arizona during our last trip.) Sadly, after I opened my charger and used it, we found our other charger in a box in the basement. There went an unneccesary $30!!!

(Jake with Grandpa Max. (Nate's grandpa who is on a mission in Nauvoo.) Grandpa Max is a true cowboy and one of Jake's heroes. After we got home from our trip, Jake used his allowance money to buy cowboy boots. Very cute!)

My new goal? To actually use my camera.

(Have you ever actually seen a lily pad? We were there at the perfect time -- the lily pads on the Mississippi River were absolutely beautiful with the biggest white flowers.)

(We allowed the boys to choose one souvenir. This is just another thing for Jake to add to his dress-up collection. He comes up with the best outfits.)


(Max and Jake at window in Carthage where Joseph Smith was martyred.)


(Max and Jake at Nauvoo Visitors' Center)



(Boys in Mark Twain cave. Part of our scenic 9 hour drive to Branson. Very cool -- but $50 to take my little family through? Honestly!)

Jill -- I can do it. I know that I will regret it if I don't use my camera. So, Jill you are my hero. I hope that I will become a little bit like you.

I'm Home!!!

We finally arrived home from our fun, but crazy traveling, family trip on Sunday. I feel like we traveled all over the country. Yes, we are exhausted. Wait until you hear how much we drove.

Fri (July 7th) -- drove 6 hours to Las Vegas -- we had to borrow Nate's sister's car at the last minute because ours conveniently decided to break down right when we were ready to pack up.

Saturday -- we flew from Las Vegas to Peoria, Illinois (~ 3 hours) -- we rented a car and drove straight to the motel

Sunday -- we woke up early and drove to Nauvoo (~ 2 hours) where we toured Carthage and unpacked at the houses where we were staying.

Monday -- we didn't travel -- yeah! -- just toured Nauvoo

Tuesday -- we drove to St. Louis via the scenic route, definitely unintentional (~ 4 1/2 hours) and stayed at the Hyatt hotel, which is inside a shopping mall. Needless to say, we had to hike with all of our bags and tired kids to our room. Along the way, we stopped at the Mark Twain cave -- very interesting, but it was $50 and Devin wanted to be carried the whole 1 hour tour by me only

Wednesday -- We drove to Branson, Missouri (~ 4 1/2 hours) and went to a horrible show that night (a high school play or a ward road show would have been better)

Thursday -- We went to the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Branson, where we got there late (2:30) and the park closed at 7:00. Luckily, we had an excellent time there. I wish that we could have stayed longer. The kids loved the roller coasters. I managed to turn my belly a little bit and sneak on a few rides myself. It's only a precaution not to allow pregnant women on rides, right?

Friday -- We drove 9 hours straight back to Nauvoo where we watched the Nauvoo pageant. After the pageant, we piled back into our cars and drove 2 hours to Peoria where we passed out for a few hours in our hotel room before we had to leave the next morning.

Saturday -- Our 3 hour plane ride back to Las Vegas left at 8:55 am. We were up bright and early @ 6:00 am to get to the airport on time.

Sunday -- We drove 5 hours back to Utah

It was so humid that my legs were so swollen after so much walking and driving. And, after eating out every day, it was very embarrassing that I had to weigh in at the doctor's office this morning for my check up. I think that I gained most of my 17 pound pregnancy weight on this trip.

I'm glad to be home. Most of you will be pleased that I just found a burst of energy and emptied all of the suitcases on Monday morning. Yeah for me!!!!!

Has it been a year?

On June 30th, it has been one year since the death of my sister-in-law, Trudy. It's kind of a surreal experience to realize that it has been a year and to relive some of the events of that day and to think of everything that has happened since.

My mind just naturally travels back to the horrific phone call from my little brother in Arizona saying that there had been a horrible accident with Trudy and her two little boys while they were on vacation in Utah. My brother, Trudy's husband, was out of reach as he was on an airplane flying to Utah to drive home with them. Trudy and her little boys were on their way to the airport to meet his plane when the accident occurred. My parents were out of reach as they were in the mountains of Arizona with no cell phone service. I didn't know the status of the injuries, but only that Adam (6) was at Primary Children's hospital and that Trudy was at McKay Dee (sp?) hospital. Tyler (2) was OK. With that information, Nate and I grabbed a neighbor to watch our kids, picked up Tresa, Trudy's sister, on the way and just started driving -- calling on our cell phones the whole way.

When we reached Primary Children's and saw Adam with his severe injuries, the impact of the severity of the accident was heart wrenching. We stayed with Adam for about an hour -- the hospital where Trudy was told us that she was in surgery and that a maternity specialist was with her as she was pregnant at the time. At that moment, we thought that she would be OK.

Aaron landed in Salt Lake to his name being paged over the loud speaker and several messages on his cell phone. He called me and told me to stay with Adam while he went to be with Trudy. After about an hour, a trauma counselor came to talk to us and told us that while Adam's injuries were severe, he was stable. She didn't know Trudy's condition, but she did know that she suffered head injuries, and she advised us to go be with Trudy. So, we left.

On our drive to the hospital, we were called and told that Trudy was brain-dead and on life support because the baby still had a heart beat. I don't know how we drove the rest of the way with all of the emotions that we were feeling.

When we got to the hospital, Trudy's family had been contacted and were in the waiting room. Aaron had asked for me to go back and to be with him. It was the saddest experience to be in the room with him and Trudy as he just talked and reminisced. I can't imagine the pain that he was feeling.

I stayed at Primary Children's that night to be with Adam. Aaron and his little boy, Tyler, stayed with Trudy. My parents and siblings all drove through the night to be with us. Aaron called me the next morning and asked me to beg the doctors to let Adam come with me because the baby's heart beat was gone and they were going to let Trudy off of life support. He wanted Adam to have the opportunity to say good-bye to his mom. I got off of the phone with Aaron and basically went into shock, crying and shaking uncontrollably. I had been somewhat composed until that time. And then everything just hit me. The doctors, naturally, would not let Adam go.

My family arrived. And my family and Trudy's family gathered in Trudy's room for a family prayer before they pulled the life support. It is truly amazing how life can change so quickly.

There was a funeral in Menden, Utah, a few days later, which her family planned; and then a funeral in Arizona the next week. The funerals were postponed as long as possible to see if Adam would be released from the hospital. He missed the funeral in Menden. He was released from the hospital on the day of the viewing in Arizona. He went straight from the hospital to the airport -- bruised and with a neck brace.

Little Tyler stayed with me the night before we flew to Arizona. I was truly amazed by how calm and happy he was. He didn't cry the entire week. As I was packing, he came up to me and said, "Jana, my mom's here." I asked Tyler if he would show me where she was. He took me into my boys' room and pointed to the middle of the floor. "She's right there. Hi mom!" I just knew that Trudy's spirit had been with him to help him through.

I stayed in Arizona for the next 6 weeks for a lot of reasons. One week after the funeral, my sister got married. We also had a family reunion after that. Life during those 6 weeks is another crazy story all together.

Although life has somewhat returned to normal for us, Aaron and his boys will have a continuous struggle as they try to find some sense of normality and as they try to seek some peace and understanding for the events that occurred. Trudy was a special person -- a great friend and a great mother. She is greatly missed and we love her.

Meet My Family

I was sorting through my pictures upstairs, and I totally forgot that Jill is so on top of things and made me a CD of our family pictures. I was so excited! So, I thought that I would introduce you to my family. Thanks, Jill!

Here is a picture of my cute family.


I absolutely love my boys. Aren't they cute? I hope they love me forever.


This is Max. He will be 7 at the end of July and is entering the 2nd grade. He is such a good boy and a big help to me. He is absolutely brilliant -- he won the Kindergarten Spelling Bee, he won a writing contest in 1st grade, and we constantly have to find ways to challenge his brain. He is my child prodigy on the piano. It's exciting to hear him play.




This is Jake. He turned 5 at the end of February. He has always acted older than his age, and I usually forget how young he is. He is going into Kindergarten this year. He is a sports fanatic and was born loving sports. At the age of 1, he had a perfect jump shot. He has an amazing ability of just watching and doing. He can watch a golf tournament, and then go out in the backyard and mimic the moves of the professionals. He is amazing. Jake has the cutest habit of wearing unique outfits. He will change his outfit based on what he is playing. He is the reason why my laundry room is always out of control. He can go from being a football player, to playing a cowboy, to becoming a hunter -- all in the matter of a couple of hours.


This is Devin. He is almost 2 1/2. He just makes me smile. He was born with the cutest curls. His hair has since turned wavy, but he has the coolest hair. He does have a mind of his own and thinks that he is as old as the other two. He also just loves me to hold him. He can melt my heart.


This is Nate. We have been married for 10 years in August. That's crazy! How did I get to be so old? Nate has amazing qualities. He is a little of everything. He is a computer programmer and is absolutely brilliant. He is also an amazing athlete. He flips off the mountain while skiing, he has a great basketball dunk, he is a fabulous football player, a great golf player, and loves to play any and all sports. He is the only boy in his family, so you can imagine how ecstatic he is with our 4 boys. (We have a 4th boy due in October). He loves to read and watch movies. We are really good friends and get along so well.

Why?

Here is my list of "why's" that I just keep thinking about:

1. Why did I refuse the help of a bagger who wanted to help me unload my groceries today at the grocery store?

The consequence of my refusal was the following:

a. I had to hold Devin in my arms because the cart was too full

b. I was steering the cart with my hips because my arms were full

c. My other two boys were desperately trying to help, but they kept turning the cart in the wrong direction from the car, which caused two things to happen: 1) The cart hit the back of Jake's heels and hurt him 2) The milk flew out from the bottom of the cart, hit the road, and started spurting milk.

This could all have been avoided had I accepted the help today.

2. Why do doctors tell you that if you are going to have a miscarriage that there is nothing they can do about it, so you might as well just resume your normal activities?

This just happened to a friend of mine. She went to the doctor because she started bleeding and she is about 16 weeks along. So, he sent her home with the above explanation. Do doctors not understand that women will by nature resume normal activity? Why can't they just tell you to lie down and take it easy for a couple of days?

I know that in my 2 horrible miscarriage incidents last year, that had the hospital told me to lie down and watch for any abnormal activity, that I might not have hemorrhaged on the floor.

3. Why can't parents look in their children's piano notebooks and make sure that they are practicing what they are supposed to practice? Why do they harp on them to practice for 20-30 minutes and don't even know if they are actually doing their lesson? I truly don't understand this. A lot of piano lesson time is spent in practicing what should have been practiced all week! This is extremely frustrating to me.

4. Why did I have a lady's huge $500 mirror sitting in my music room for 3 weeks -- paranoid that one of my piano students, or one of my children, etc. would come in and knock it down? All she wanted me to do was to put mirror hangers and wire on the back of the mirror so that she could hang it up. She brought it over and left. It took me about 10 minutes the next day. She lives around the corner and would never pick it up. Finally she picked it up yesterday with no apology and no offer to even pay for the wire -- not that it was an intense job or anything -- but, why are some people inconsiderate?

5. Why did Devin just color on my couch with a black permanent marker? Probably because Nate assumed that my 6-year-old would watch him while I was at the doctor's office and while he was working downstairs. This one just baffles me. Grateful for all parties involved in this mishap, I was able to get the marker out -- the couch must have good scotch guard, and the couch came with some great cleaners. Can you imagine if I had to make another claim on my furniture!

My list of "why's", I'm sure, will continue to grow everyday. I guess that is what makes life so interesting.

"I Just Want to Play With My Kids"

I went to a Relief Society luncheon today. We sat at the home of our Relief Society president -- a mom with 9 kids -- and talked while all of our kids played. I just find her to be the most fascinating -- yet exhausting-- woman. Her kids are very knowledgeable in the scriptures, they bare their testimonies on Fast Sundays, very kind and helpful kids, very structured household.

Anyway, in the course of our discussion today, she told us that she had decided to home school her 3 grade school children (mind you, she also has 2 or 3 little ones under grade school age) because she just wants time to play with her kids. I was speechless. I know several people who have or who are home schooling their kids for different reasons, but I was just amazed by this woman. Her decision has nothing to do with the schools -- in fact she loves the school and the teachers -- she just wants to spend more time with her children.

I really have not formulated an opinion about her decision, but it has made me wonder how much quality time I am spending with my own children. I've decided that I'm trying and that I'm doing pretty well. So far we have had an OK summer. We haven't yet made it to the public pools or to 7 Peaks, but we have:

1. Played a lot with friends
2. Had a couple of neighborhood parties
3. Been to the park several times
4. Been to numerous baseball games
5. Been golfing
6. Gone to the library
7. Done "mommy and kids school" (that's what my kids call doing school work at home)
8. Done yard work
9. Bought a fun slip & slide
10. Played with cousins and the rest of Nate's family
11. Spent Father's Day in the canyon
12. Practiced a lot of piano
13. We try to go on one "field trip" each day

As she was talking, my mind was doing a few things.
1. I was wondering if she was crazy -- doesn't she need some alone time after all that she has on her plate?
2. I was trying to tell myself, as I've indicated above, that I am a fun mom and that my kids really do like me.
3. My mind was racing with how expensive it could be to home school and to play with your kids all the time.

Well...item number 3 was answered for me as we were leaving. This woman -- a very busy Relief Society President with 9 kids -- was gathering all of her children together so that they could start their 2-hour project. She said that her kids owe her 2-hours of work everyday before they can do fun things. And she's very strict about it. That made me feel a little better. She told me that a lot of her together time with her children was in teaching them how to work and different things like that -- not necessarily expensive field trips that cost money.

So, the coming year will tell. Will she survive with almost no alone time? I don't know. But I've decided that we are all different. I'm one who loves to work hard and to play hard at appropriate times. But I'm also one who enjoys a little alone time from everybody at some point in time everyday.

So...what kind of person are you? Do you need the alone time? Or, do you relish in the company of your children, spouse, etc. and can't get enough?

True Love

Have you ever asked yourself what you would be willing to do for the people that you love?

Nate and I have been talking about this question for several reasons. Nate's aunt recently found out that after 30 years of marriage, her husband has been having an affair for 5 years without her knowing. In this instance, the divorce was inevitable. Of course we don't know everything that went on in those years, but it appears that this husband was finding fault and justifying his actions based on faults.

In contrast, Nate's mother has been caring for his father who is a diabetic for years. She has cared for him through several major operations and major diabetic episodes. She's simply a saint. Her recent act of love is above and beyond the call of duty.

Because of Steve's diabetes, his weight has been fluctuating drastically. He has found in the past that the Jenny Craig program really works well for him. He recently tried to sign up again for this program, but was denied because of his increased health problems. He was so disappointed that he was denied access to the program, that Diane said she would sign up for the program and just give him the food.

It all sounds well and good, but the humiliation starts with the one requirement for the Jenny Craig program -- you have to weigh in weekly. Sadly, Diane's weight -- while being on "normal" food -- is increasing, while Steve's weight is decreasing. Diane is definitely not overweight; but nonetheless, her counselors are baffled with her lack of success and have taken to calling her at home regularly to boost her confidence -- and she must still weigh in weekly. Talk about humiliation!

Of course, this is now the family joke when we see them and we all analyze what Diane's eating because we know the counselors will be calling. But in all seriousness, what a better relationship to be in where you would be willing to suffer humiliation and sacrifice for the one you love rather than the above example where one just dwells on faults and is not willing to sacrifice.

We were just watching the LDS movie "Pride and Prejudice." One of the quotes in that movie says, "Happiness in marriage is just a matter of chance." I don't know about that. I think that happiness takes a lot of work and sacrifice. What do you think?

I won!

As many of you know, I have a very active 2-year-old. In March, I came into the Family Room after finishing getting ready and noticed a black substance all over my new chair and ottoman. Devin had taken the syrup from the breakfast dishes that were not yet cleared and dumped almost an entire bottle of syrup all over the furniture. My furniture is under warranty, so I wasn't really freaking out about it. I called, made a claim, and the upholestry cleaners came out soon after. The next day, after the upholestry had dried, we noticed that the syrup still had not come completely out. So, I called and explained the situation. They said that they would have an appraiser come out within the next 30 days to check it out. Nobody came and nobody called within that time frame. In the meantime, the syrup obviously is imbedded in the furniture. After calling and explaining yet again, they said that my original claim did not include the chair, just the ottoman. Frustration!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked them if I had signed anything that indicated that I approved the claim, I asked why I would only say the ottoman if the chair was the most damaged, I asked why the cleaners cleaned both pieces if the claim only said the ottoman, etc. etc. They said they would get back to me. As of last week and several phone calls, they were still only willing to pay for the ottoman. Meaning, that I was out about $800 for the chair. Earlier this week, I decided to try one more time. I talked to the same person who didn't relent at all, and then I finally just told them that I wanted to make a new claim then. Long story short, I was simply sent to the claims department where they simply said that I couldn't make a new claim because there was a discrepancy with my old claim. She said that someone would call me back the next day. Moral of the story: without any explanation, the same person with whom I have spoken since March called the next day and said that they had made the adjustment to the claim and I now have $1200 worth of store credit at Bassett. I have no idea what changed their mind, but I guess it was just my badgering (is that the right word Jessie & Amie?) that ultimately they were sick of.

Why is it so hard to work with companies -- especially claims adjustors and insurance companies?

I'm sorry that that was a long story, and probably did not make sense, but I feel so relieved and accomplished. (Plus, Nate took the boys golfing, so I have time to write. Yeah!!!)

Am I Deserving?

Amy came over yesterday and absolutely made my day. She not only brought me some scrapbooking magazines, but two absolutely adorable/soft/fuzzy baby blankets in really cute boy colors. I really wanted to cry by such thoughtfulness. Thank you so much, Amy, for being so sweet to me. I don't know if I am deserving of such wonderful friends. I am in awe of how thoughtful so many people are.

Random side note because it happened a couple of hours ago. I was designing some pictures for some friends -- which took about 3 hours. (Frustrating, but necessary for a good design.) Anyway, they brought their kids with them. Their oldest boy is the same age as Max, but about 3 times as big. He could pass for a 4th grader. Anyway, after a couple of hours, Max came inside holding his tooth in his hand. They were playing on the tramp and somehow when they were playing crack the egg, this larger child's knee hit Max's mouth hard enough to knock out a tooth that wasn't even loose. Max didn't seem, too hurt, which is good. I'm just looking at the clock, however, and wondering what the tooth fairy is going to do. We were definitely not prepared for a random tooth loss. Do you think Max will take a check or credit card?

Another random side note -- I have got to find the battery charger for my digital camera, so I can take pictures of all of these funny things that keep happening. Hopefully I will find it soon. I get so jealous of all of your cute pictures that go with your blogs. Cross your fingers that I will find it. I've missed out on documenting the last 3 months of my life. So frustrating.

Music

Yesterday (Sunday), I was given the fabulous opportunity of speaking in church, organizing musical numbers, leading the music, and teaching the Young Women. I definitely felt like people saw a little too much of me yesterday.

My topic for Sacrament meeting was simply, "music". I think that it went well. I incorporated the music that I had chosen for Sacrament meeting and musical numbers and talked about stories relating to these songs, etc. Unfortunately, I chose a lot of songs that really mean a lot to me, which always bring forth a flood emotions, so the tears were inevitable. Have you ever given a talk in church without crying?

Some of the songs that I was talking about were songs that we as a family had sung at funerals -- I Wonder When He Comes Again (sung in Spanish at my Grandpa Willis's funeral), and Oh That I Were an Angel (sung at my Grandpa Barrett's funeral). Believe it or not, but I actually can sing at funerals and other special occassions under the following conditions: I have to totally tune out the speakers before the musical number, I have to look at the clock while singing, those that I'm singing with are absolutely not allowed to touch me or to look at me during the song. Everybody knows my rules by now, so if someone violates these rules, it is serious.

And Renegade girls -- I also had the congregation sing Did You Think to Pray? where it talks about the Balm of Gilead. I was thinking about the book Gilead a lot of the time. :)

How was your Sunday?

Sports -- Forever

Yesterday we spent the evening at Max's coach pitch game and tonight we spent the evening at Jake's t-ball game. We have baseball games four days a week for the next five weeks -- and then soccer starts. Can you imagine what's going to happen in the next few years when I will have four boys playing sports? (oh....make that five. Nate is still a sports freak.) I'm going to be living baseball/soccer/football/golf/basketball.

I really do enjoy watching my boys play, and they enjoy playing. Jake, unfortunately, is too young to play coach pitch, but over-qualified and too big for the t-ball team. What do you do with a five-year-old who is ready to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated? He's really cute with the younger kids and is really good about helping them. He's learning a lot about the purpose of team sports, which is good.

We had a white elephant-style service gift exchange for Enrichment tonight. I won the services of a cake decorator. I am so excited. I'm going to use this service for Max's birthday in July. Sadly, my kids really don't get a decorated cake for their birthdays. I usually do the "make-your-own-cupcake" every year. I just simply don't know how to make birthday cakes, nor do I want to learn. Last year I finally decided to buy a birthday cake for Max's birthday. It was $30!!! I'm not going to do that again. Does anyone else have any hidden talents as a cake decorator, or are you just like me and choose the easy way out with the cupcakes?

Welcome to the 21st century!

One might wonder why I have started a blog. Is it peer-pressure? (I don't think so, otherwise I would have started a long time ago.) Is it the lack of something to do? (Absolutely not. I think that I can keep myself busy for the rest of my life.) All I can say is: Welcome to the 21st century!!! I have several friends who are blog addicts. I think it was Jill who really started this whole blog thing. Embarrassing to admit, but when she emailed and said that she had started a blog, I had no idea what a blog was. I asked Nate who tried not to laugh. Blogs are an industry-standard and have been around for a long time. I'm not one who likes to admit that I'm not technologically savvy. When I was a tech writer, I felt like I understood, or at least could write about anything. It started to occur to me that while, after having kids, I'm still really good at a lot of things, I somehow missed the boat that would totally immerse me in the 21st century.

1. I don't have a cell phone
2. I'm not totally converted to online banking -- I still handwrite a lot of checks
3. I just got a digital camera a few months ago, but still haven't uploaded any of my pictures
4. We just got Tivo a few months ago
5. And like I said -- blog? What's that?

So, I've decided to liberate myself and try something new. We'll see how this works. I've decided that this is good enough for my first post. (What if it doesn't work and I have to write it all again!) So, I'm welcoming myself to the 21st century and hope that while doing this, I'll do some good soul-searching.