Limber Buttocks Massage

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Should I tell the story now? Nawww...make you wait a bit.

At lunch I stopped in to our corner Bank of America (where we bank) to see about getting a home equity line of credit for the addition to our house. A pretty painless process so far, but then again all they did was take my name, social security number and a small vial of blood. I thought that was kind of weird, but the lady behind the desk said it had something to do with the Patriot Act or something...kidding. It will probably be a week or two before we hear something back, but we are in no huge rush. It's not like we HAVE to have the room built in 6 months or something. The girl who helped me, Melissa Bruce, said she went to school with Lettie (Northeast Guilford) and that she saw my mom quite regularly (I guess one of my siblings banks there or something...I don't think they do). I tried to use some of those connections to get me a better rate, but no luck.

I got an AWESOME letter in the mail today from the Pittsburgh Steelers. I will scan it at work tomorrow and post it on here so that you can all behold it's sweetness. I decided a couple of months ago that if I ever wanted season tickets to the Steelers, I better go ahead and get on the waiting list. I figured by the time my name is next on the list, my grandkids will be in their 40's and have a little bit of money. They can then get two season tickets in memory of good ol' grandpappy (Papa Poof, they'll call me). But the letter says I'm on the list. Good enough for me. Shena rolled her eyes, but she humored me.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to tell my story (Clear Play version)...so I walk into physical therapy today, my left hind parts sore from trying to play basketball Friday night. I told my therapist, Jenn, that it is hurting kinda bad. So she says, "let's go take a look." And to make a long story short...and clean...I wound up with my bare bottom (sorry, my mom didn't like me to use the word "butt") exposed while Jenn used a thing that looked like an ultrasound wand (cold gel and everything) that used microwaves or something to apply heat to that deep muscle that has been hurting. That or she was suddenly confused and was looking for a baby's heartbeat. Not exactly what I expected when I walked into therapy, but oh well. The good news is I showered this morning and she didn't snicker or ask me to be sure to use "Nair" next time.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Not much to report. The boys did their thing today...you know, tearing up the house, pulling every toy they own out so that they were spread from the living room, to our bed, to their room. We used to try to get them to pick up their toys in their room before they went to bed, now we just make them clean the living room and then clear a walking path through their room to their bed.

I think Kelson is getting sick. He's been real whiny today and felt a little hot tonight. Nose running, coughing during the night, type thing. Doesn't stop him from putting on mine or Shena's shoes everytime we leave them out and saying "Go. Go." every five seconds. Kid likes to be on the move.
Arellano Update
Dad wasn't feeling well either. Not sure who gave the sickness to who, but as much time as the boys spend hanging out with grandpa, it is to be expected.

Christensen Update
I hope that I am ok to report this. If not, Erin, let me know. Erin & Sky found out they were having a little girl today. I guess they had about the same experience as I had today, only a bit more modest and expected. Congratulations! I swear, if you want, you can use "Anselma" if you want to name the baby after me!

Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: Hi 42 - Low 30

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:30 - 6:30 - Kelson didn't go to sleep until about 11 and then was up at 6:30. Weird kid. Needless to say, he and Cade were both asleep by 8:00 tonight

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Leftover Tracy's Chicken sandwich, cheese, miracle whip, mustard - bugles and milk - also had a bite or two of those brownies Shena made yesterday.

Dinner: Shena makes this slow cooked roast in Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce that tastes alot like pig BBQ. It's pretty dang good, and it just falls apart when you pick at it. She cooked some of that meat and I put it on a hoagie roll with cheese on both sides of the roll - bugles again, and a sprite. Just got done eating another brownie and milk.

Wasn't So Bad

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Had a nice relaxing day at home today. The ice was pretty much melted and off the roads by 11:30, so we went and visited grandma and grandpa "A" and had lunch with them. They boys played with grandpa while the rest of us read and relaxed. My back has been hurting pretty good, so I spent most of the time sitting as straight as I could in a chair. Didn't seem to help much. I'm hurting right now.

I started reading Tom Clancy's Teeth of the Tiger. It was on the floor in the room where I was sitting today, so I started reading it. I don't know when (or if) I'll ever get the chance to finish it, cut I thought it looked pretty good.

I also found mom's old Frankling planner, which is green, of course. I wish I'd remembered she still had it. I might not have bought the one from Franklin and Office Depot. I may still try to take the one from O.D. back, if they will take it.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
We watched "Friday Night Lights" with the Clear Play filter on. Neither of us had seen it, so we don't know what we missed, but I'm sure nothing important. Pretty good film. Now that I've seen it, I will have to do a little searching and see what I can find out about Booby. I seem to remember hearing a little something about him when the movie first came out, but I don't remember much other than he never really did anything after he blew his knee out.

Kelson has suddenly had a TERRIBLE time going to bed. Tonight has been the worst yet. We can't get him to stay in bed, even though he is VERY tired. He keeps rubbing his eyes, but he wants Shena to sleep with him. Not sure what is the problem. Cade watched "Toy Story 2" today, which has a preview for "Monsters, Inc." and when the preview came on he came running to me, "Dada, dada," and buried his head in my neck until the preview was over. Shena had told me yesterday that he didn't like it, but I didn't realize it was that bad. Not sure if he is scared of the dark now, or what.

Cade is still being a really good boy. He seems to do this on occassion. We'll have a bad day or two where he talks back, but then he'll go a week or so and just be a really good kid. The only problem we have had today is his not doing things when we ask him too...like picking up toys. We have to ask him 3 or 4 times and threaten to make him sit on the mat before he will do it. He keeps saying, "I can't. It's too many toys to pick up." I asked my mom if she ever had a hard time getting us to do things like that...she just gave me a "whatever, do you really have to ask?" look.

Arellano Update
Talked to Melissa (Adam's wife) today. She said she really likes her new Land Rover. Adam surprised her. Apparently it was supposed to be a V-Day gift, but the credit union called looking for Adam at the house and tip her off that he was buying it. She said he went as far as he could to deny it...even having the dealership call and leave a message saying something along the lines of "sorry we couldn't get the deal done."

Christensen Update
Bart & Cherie will be coming out to visit on February 23 for a week or so. They found $100 tickets into Raleigh (round trip, of course). Hard to turn down those kinds of tickets. This may be the only chance we get to see them before fall harvest, so we are excited to have them come.

Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: Hi 48 - Low 28 - not sure how in the world that is possible, but I guess I'll go by what they say. All day yesterday was nasty and cold...and it certainly wasn't 48 when the rain started coming down.

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 1:00-8:30 - I have a hard time getting to sleep before 1:00 on Saturday nights because there is this dumb show that comes on our local WB station called "The Outer Limits" that for some reason I watch all the time. It's an old Sci-Fi show that I just can't seem to quit watching, regardless of how poor the acting and the sets are.

TODAY:
Breakfast: Waffles, hashbrowns, chocolate milk - the only reason I ate breakfast this morning is that we didn't have church - otherwise it would have been "none" again.

Lunch: "Tracy's chicken" (chicken breast marinated in Italian dressing) cooked on a George Foreman. Not as good as outside on the grill, but ok. We also had funeral potatoes, corn and homemade rolls, coke. Shena made a caramel, coconut brownie dessert. VERY gooey...which is the best way if you ask me. Had a small glass of milk with it.

Dinner: Are you kidding me? After eating a breakfast and lunch like that? No way was I hungry. I did make me a chocolate oreo and banana milkshake, though.

'Wintry Mix'

Work & Play
Ran errands first thing in the morning before the weather turned nasty. They said it would be here around 3, it showed up about 1:00. That's weatherpersons for you.

I decided to go with a Franklin Binder, with a built in PDA holder (because I know you have all been on pins and needles wanting to know what I would do). I took about 30 minutes in the Franklin store looking at the different binders and sizes before I finally settled on a black one that had leather on the spine, but was a backpack (nylon) type material on the rest of the binder. Then spent another $30 or so on filler stuff. We later stopped by Office Depot and I just happened to check to see what kind of binders they had there, and found a similar FranklinCovey binder there for the same price, but this one was all leather, brown and had the fillers I had purchased at the Franklin Store. If I was working on commission at the regular Franklin stores I'd be a little ticked that they sell a better binder at Office Depot for the same price. Not to mention, I just noticed that the same binder I bought at Franlin is $15 cheaper online. So now the company is undercutting their store salesman in two different places. That's pretty harsh.

We were home by about 3, and the roads were getting a little slushy, but not real slick. The way people were driving, though, you'd think there was an inch of ice on the roads and it was a blizzard out there. We drove 20 miles an hour back to our house from mom and dad's (where we ate our lunch). Apparently people thought their car would suddenly slide out of control without any warning if they went 21 MPH or faster. It's not MY driving in the bad weather, it's all the other idiots on the road that worries me!

Finally got haricuts in the afternoon. It's been three weeks and I was looking pretty shaggy. Granted, a haircut won't improve my looks that much, but every little bit helps. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, waiting for the "church has been canceled" phone call that we were sure would eventually come. It did at 10:15 pm, and I spent the next 1/2 hour making the phone calls to people in the ward. I guess it's better to call at 10:30 at night than 7:30 in the morning when they are in the middle of getting ready for church.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Kelson surprised me this morning. He came in to wake me up, and we layed in bed and watched "Noggin" for a few minutes. In between one of the shows, the letter "S" came on the screen, and I heard him make an "ssththth" sound (kind of with his tongue). At first it didn't connect, but then I heard the animal character on the screen say, "This is the letter 'S'. It makes an "ssss" sound. And then I realized that he had recognized the "S" sound before the guy on the screen said it. Kind of cool if you ask me. Smartest kid I know...besides Cade, of course. He also doesn't make a pure "sssss" sounds...as I spelled earlier, it's more of a "ssththth" sound, using his tongue or something. Very funny.

Cade has started using the word "but" the way a teenage girl uses the work "like." I'm not sure where he picked it up, but he begins every other sentence with the word. I asked him later "what's with all the butt talk? Do I need to get some butt?" (southern for "Spank.") He giggled and said, "no dad. Not MY butt."

He also was going crazy about the snow. He stood inside mom and dad's holding his hand out the sliding glass door trying to catch snowflakes, but trying to keep the door closed because he was cold and didn't have any shoes on. Luckily he hasn't asked us to build a snowman yet. It would be impossible with the amount and type of snow we got. I'd hate to disappoint him.

Arellano Update
Apparently Marcos went to a fight in Atlantic City last night with my cousin from mom's side. Not sure all the details yet, so I'll fill you in later.

Visited mom and dad for an hour or so during the snow storm. Didn't stay too long because we wanted to get home before the roads got too nasty. She will be mad at me for telling this, but she was rooting just as hard as Shena and I that church get cancelled!

Heard news that Adam & Melissa (sounds like Adam was the only one involved) bought a 2001 Land Rover. They have only had one car since they've been married, and its worked out ok, but since they are moving out here in the fall, they will need two cars, so I guess they found a deal on this one or something.

Christensen Update


Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: ^Hi 32 - Low 18 - butt nippin' cold

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:30 to 7:00 - a restless night...woke up once coughing (got something down the wrong tube or something...not sure what that was all about) and once to help Cade go to the bathroom...he was pretty much sleep walking. Then Kelson came in about 5:30 and climbed into bed with us. At that point I was too tired to care much.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Taco Bell - bean burrito, no onion - steak gordita supreme, no tomato - instead of the gordita supreme I had ordered a grilled steak burrito, but I didn't realize that put a salsa on it that has fresh tomatoes on it...Shena liked it so we swapped.

Dinner: Campbell's Chunky Steak Chili, covered with cheese, saltines - drinking some Stephen's Hot Chocolate right now for dessert

Dinner at Ham's Lakeside

Work & Play
Typical Friday. Had a hard time focusing on work. I guess I'm not the only one, but sometimes i feel bad for having such a hard time on Friday. The week can wear on you I guess.

Had a stake basketball game, but I only played about the first 4 minutes or so. My back was bothering me and we had enough people there (9) that they didn't need me, so I sat out the rest of the game. We lost on a last second three pointer by Tyler Page (15 or 16, not sure which). Any of you who konw the Pages, know they are ballers. And Tyler has been dribbling since he was a year old. It was an incredible shot, NBA range with a defender in his face.

Any of you ever played Electric Football? Funny article about a bunch of old men trying to hang on to their youth. I only actually played once or twice when I was a kid at a friends house. It takes WAY too long to play a game. Probably longer than a real football game. Set up between the plays takes several minutes. I can just imagine these guys around the table, headbands, jerseys, black grease under their eyes, jerseys on.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena said Cade was "an angel" today. She worked out with Leesa Lundrigan at Leesa's club, and Cade just played and read books. Very cooperative. It's nice to have days like that.

Kelson, on the other hand, was a little poop. He screamed about everything and is starting to hit his terrible two's, I think. If I remember right, this is about the age (21 months) that Cade started his. We just have to not be lazy and continue to discipline him and let him know who is in charge.

Arellano Update
Went to dinner with Mom & Dad to Ham's Lakeside. It's become one of our favorite spots to eat. The non-smoking section is so far away from the smoking section that you don't smell any smoke at all...which is rare in NC. It is also so loud in there that we don't have to worry about the kids being too noisy. Not to mention, the burgers and sandwiches are very good.

Dad said he played 36 holes of golf yesterday out at Bryan Park on the Player's course. Crazy Mexican. Like I mention below, it was NOT a warm day. He said he played all 36 in about 4 1/2 hours. Nobody else on the course that he saw.

Christensen Update
I'm trying to recruit Shena to fill in this information for me. She talks to her mom and sisters quite regularly, but I don't always get an update. I also don't know what they would want me sharing with the world!

Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: Hi 46 - Low 22 - mostly sunny - felt much colder than that 46!

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 to 7:00

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Leftover sweet and sour chicken, white rice and two pieces of wheat bread - water

Dinner: Ham melt (ham, swiss cheese, lettuce, honey mustard), baked beans, root beer - later had chocolate filling oreos (3) and a banana (one brown spotted one left...maybe make a milkshake tomorrow?)

Visiting the Hiatts

Work & Play
Second day of physical therapy. I now have two exercises to work on - stretch my hamstring, and then some weird yoga type position that is supposed to stretch the deeper muscles in my gluteus maximus. Good news is my back is feeling good today and I will probably play in our men's stake basketball game tomorrow night.

I'm having a hard time right now trying to figure out the best system for maintaining my calendar. For the last several years I have been using an Ipaq (PDA), but it's been acting up recently, and I'm not really interested in spending $300 for a new one, but it would cost about $150 to get my Franklin up and going again. I may just wind up trying to fix the Ipaq for now.

Had Elder's Quorum meeting tonight, after which we stopped in as a presidency (all 4 of us) to talk to Craig & Susie Hiatt. They have a nice little house, and seem pretty excited to be here in Greensboro. They are expecting their first in June, and have found out it will be a girl. They kept talking about wanting to apologize to Shena since she is so anxious to have a girl next time we get pregnant. They are probably the most polite people you will ever meet. Craig is a Hiatt, so he is super nice and polite anyway, but Susie is even MORE polite, which I didn't think was possible. Anyway, we had a good chat with them, (beginning sarcasm) except for our bonehead 1st Counselor (I won't give his name here, he knows who he is) showed up about and hour after the other three of us did and we had to repeat our conversation all over again. He kept asking the same questions we had asked before he arrived. (end of sarcasm) When I got home about 9:00, Kelson was asleep on the "naughty mat"... apparently he wouldn't stay in bed, so he had to sit on the mat...wouldn't it just have been easier to sleep in the bed?

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Just remembered that I failed to mention that Cade, Grandpa and Kelson went to the driving/putting range at Bur-Mil Tuesday. Sounds like they had a good time.

Cade keeps having these weird episodes where he is talking back and ignoring what we say, then not two minutes later is the most polite kid you could ever meet. I'm not sure what his deal is, but it sure is hard to know how to deal with that. It's so cool to hear him be polite, ask nicely, help Kelson, put away his dishes, etc. - but so frustrating when he talks back and we have to punish him (still using the "naughty mat"). I guess I was a little grouch as a kid, so this is my punishment, huh?

Kelson's vocabulary continues to expand. He is getting better at pronouncing words and now knows "what comes after 1 and what comes after 2" (although I don't think he knows what comes after 0).

Arellano Update
I guess I will announce to the rest of you who aren't involved in my football fantasy league that Marcos won the championship this year. You can find a picture of the "holy grail" presentation from the "League Commissioner" here. He has won the last two years, so he's getting an awfully big head about it. He thinks he belongs in the same class as the New England Patriots.

Christensen Update
Erin, Shena's sister, reports that I too am "beautiful". Thanks, Erin, for the show of support...I think you, Shena and my mom are the minority on that opinion!

Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: Hi 42 - Low 29 - partly cloudy

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 7:00 - I didn't even hear Kelson get up this morning...Shena reports he was up at 6:00, but she let me sleep!

TODAY:
Breakfast: The usual - NONE

Lunch: Corn tortillas with cheese - banana, milk

Dinner: Sweet and sour chicken, white rice, fresh rolls - milk - I'll be having another banana and milk shortly - Shena only likes them when they are GREEN and I only like them with small brown spots...and they have small brown spots right now, so I have to eat them quick!

Meeting with our Contractor

Work & Play
Jim would forget his head if it wasn't screwed on. He is on his way to Florida for the month of February and he came in bragging about how he should go to FL every month because it helps him get so organzied with is work and his files etc. Then he goes out the door and leaves his planner sitting on the receptionists counter. I wound up having to meet him halfway between the office and how far he had gotten down the road (about 15 miles).

Still trying to get our new girl, Heather, trained. Everytime we sit down to go over something new I keep thinking "there is soooo much more that we need to go over." I feel like I may never feel like she is fully trained. At some point I'm just going to have to walk away and let her figure some stuff out on her own. I worry too much about having everything done the way I did it.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Met with the guy who we will probably pick to take care of the addition onto our house. We feel like he is the best of the 3 or 4 that we have talked to. He comes highly recommended from the Slacks. We have seen a couple of things that he has done for them and it looks like good work. I've got to get the financing lined up now so that we can sign the contract and get going. He thought it would probably take 4-5 weeks to get it done. Luckily it won't be an existing room that we have to learn how to work around the construction guys. They will probably be out of our way most of the time.

Shena and I watched Amazing Race again last night...part of the race went through Sri Lanka, apparently just a few weeks before the tsunami. We were glad to see Lori & Bolo get knocked out. They were almost as annoying as Jon and Victoria. Both of those teams were the epitome of American "it's not my fault, it's yours." We are predicting that Adam & Rebecca will be knocked out next. I don't know how they have hung on as long as they have with Adam's constant crying. Dude has some major maturity issues.

Arellano Update
Nothing new to report - that I know of

Christensen Update
Ryan is hitting his 18 month mark on his mission. I'm sure the last six months will fly by, if his last six are anything like my last six. He has a strong testimony and is such a good example for my boys.

Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: Hi 64 - Low 35 - Mostly sunny...a pretty nice day

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: Rough night...got to sleep about 11:30, then Kelson woke up at 2:00 am for some reason...he wouldn't go back to bed on his own, so I layed with him on the couch for a bit...he finally let me talk him back to bed about 3:15. He then woke up again at 6:30.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Wendy's - grilled chicken sandwich, no tomato, fries, coke - I used to LOVE Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich when it had a honey sauce...now it's got some weird southwestern type sauce and lettuce on it. Not nearly as good.

Dinner: Cheese tortellini with red sauce, covered with cheese, tossed salad (with cheese), Bacon ranch dressing, fresh rolls - gonna have some oreos with milk when I'm done here!

Physical Therapy

Work & Play
I had to attend Physical Therapy today for my back. More of an evaluation than anything. The therapist said I should try stretching my hamstrings for now. Sounded odd to me, but he's the expert, right?

Other than that, nothing much to report.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena had a meeting tonight for her Relief Society calling (she's in charge of Enrichment Night each month), so I was on my own with the kids for part of the night. We just chilled tonight. I was mean tonight and didn't let them watch any TV. Books only. (Sarcastically) That Bob the Builder! What interesting adventures he has! Especially when you read them over, and over and OVER.

Shena watched "Super Nanny" (ABC?) last night, and immediately instituted something they did on the show. The nanny put the kids on a mat when they were bad...kind of like timeout, but in a specific location each time. Shena is using a Steelers door mat that I got for Christmas this year (thanks again Jill!) - and it has become the "naughty mat." I had to use it several times on Kelson tonight. There were even a couple of times that he would run to the mat himself. I don't know if he realizes that it is punishment yet. I'll keep you up to date on whether that works or not.

I bought Shena a Roethlisberger jersey to wear at our Super Bowl party I was convinced we would have to have since I was positive the Steelers would be in it. Unfortunately, they lost, and the jersey didn't make it until today. She was still surprised, though, and so I still got some brownie points for the surprise (no, it's not the same as flowers, and yes, she really DID like it...I think).

Arellano Update
Marcos is reporting all "B's" for his first semester of Law School. He called it "not good, but not bad." He doesn't think it will affect how he interns this summer, so I guess that is a good thing.

Adam reported yesterday that he had surgery to have a stone removed from his salivary gland. I'm not sure how that happens...maybe during boot camp several years ago? He and Melissa are expecting their second in a few months.

Christensen Update
No news that I know of today.

Daily Report
YESTERDAY:
Weather: Hi 53 - Low 12 - Mostly sunny...that number is deceiving, it felt MUCH colder than 53!

LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 to 7:15 - with the usual wake ups several times during the night

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Tuna sandwich with cheese on wheat, doritos, milk, one chocolate cookie

Dinner: Mac and cheese, bread, Dr. Pepper - oreos and milk

Birthday Party - Steeler Blues

What can I say? That was a TOUGH game to watch. I really felt like the Steelers still could pull something off until they kicked a filed goal on 4th and goal from the 1. I know that Mr. Easterbrook will jump on that decision in his column this week. You can count on it. I told Shena when they did it, despite that moron Phil Simm's saying "this is a good decision to go for the field goal," it wasn't. It killed Pittsburgh's momentum. Other than that, I think the coaching was good, the Patriots just didn't make any mistakes, and Pittsburgh made too many, on both sides of the ball. I am disappointed because with the season they had, anything less than a Super Bowl victory is a let down. They HAD to win it all to have the year feel complete. If they had been 10-6 or 11-5, a trip to the AFC Championship would have been exciting, but this result is incredibly disappointing.

The good thing about the game, though, was my family was there supporting me. We all had our Steelers stuff on. Shena wore my "Big Ben" t-shirt and her Steelers pajama bottoms, Cade wore his gray Steelers t-shirt and Kelson wore his Bettis jersey. They helped me get over the game pretty quick by being so dang cute. Kelson was so tired by the end of the game he was being pretty silly and goofy. Making funny faces and giggling at everything. They cheered me up pretty good.

I turned 30 on Wednesday. Some people apologized, other's made fun of me. But I really don't think of it as a big deal. I guess I know that the life insurance underwriters figure I still have 49 or more good years ahead of me...so I'm still not "over the hill." Check back in twenty years, I might change my tune then. But as far as I'm concerned, it's just now getting good. I am done with school, will start making more money and get to watch my kids get older and more mature. I'm looking forward to my thirties.

Shena made me a Steelers football cake that Cade was dying to get his hands on for a day or so (from the time she made it to the time we cut it). He LOVES birthday parties, doesn't matter who's it is. He just likes the candles and the singing and the presents. He and Kelson helped me blow out my candles after the song, and they didn't even get much spit on it.

I've been sworn to secrecy by Marcos to not reveal where we ate as a family on my Birthday night. He was embarrassed when I told him where we had gone and that the staff had sung "Happy Birthday" to me. I honestly didn't care...I would eat there again...it's just not the kind of place you would think of to go and eat at on your birthday. Presents were great though, money a shirt and a Steelers antennae topper. I recommend giving money or some kind of equivalent for ANY occasion (especially if I'm the one getting the gift).

On Friday, Shena surprised me with dinner with our friends at Carrabba's. She said she wanted to take me out for dinner. I asked her at some point during the week if she wanted it to be just us or should we invite somebody. She said, "no, let's just go the two of us." So I was expecting this romantic quiet dinner. Instead we walked into a noisy party with Ed & DeeDee Plummer, Munsey & Teresa Slack, Clyde & Ashley Ward and Leesa Lundrigan. It was quite a surprise because I really did think it was just going to be the two of us, but when we got to the restaurant, I was following Shena and the hostess to our table looking off to my right when suddenly Shena stopped and said, go on, sit down, and I looked back looking for a table for two, but I didn't see one anywhere. It took me a second or two to figure out I was looking at Teresa & Munsey at a long table. I think the flash of her camera brought me out of my stupor. It was a cool surprise. After dinner, the wart's went home to relieve their babysitter, but the rest of us came to the house to play games. Leesa picked up Gordon at their house (he had a tennis match during dinner) and Sherman and Susan Williams came by after a while also. We had a good time until about 11:00, just hanging out and talking. We played Cranium and had some good laughs with that game. We also had some cake and ice cream (Shena made a Steelers "Big Ben" jersey cake this time...secretly at mom's house). Of course Cade & Kelson helped me blow out the candles again...and Shena insisted on putting 30 candles on the cake. After we got them pulled out the cake looked REALLY authentic because all the holes in in made the jersey look like it was "mesh" like the pros wear!

By the time the night was over, we had all invited ourselves over to Plummer's the next night to play more games. The Slack's and us already had babysitters lined up (ours was the Plummers) for Saturday night since we were supposed to be having the Navigon Awards Banquet, but it was canceled because they were calling for a "wintry mix." Unfortunately, Munsey wasn't feeling well on Saturday and even though Teresa really wanted to come by, she didn't feel comfortable driving in the questionable weather to make it to the Plummers. We still went over, however, with the Lundrigans and again played games and hung out and talked until about 10:00 or so. The Slack's felt badly that they couldn't make it, but I'm sure they will be included next time we have a get together.

We also spent part of the day Saturday at the mall. I bought a new pair of basketball shoes for $40 with part of my birthday money. For some reason, I tend to think most of the $125 basketball shoes are ugly, and these happened to be "last year's model", so they were on sale from the $75 they were regularly. Luckily I could care less how my shoes look when I'm playing church ball. WHEN I'll get to play again is another question. My back has been all messed up since our game night Friday night. I was sitting on the floor and for some reason my back didn't like that much. I had set an appointment with Dr. Ross at Guilford College Family Practice earlier in the week to get a routine physical (it's been at least 11 years), so I took the chance to ask him about it then. He has me going to physical therapy tomorrow and if that doesn't seem to help much, he said we may do an MRI. I had an x-ray taken last year and it didn't show anything, so the radiologist suggested an MRI if my back kept bothering me. The bad thing is that it is pretty inconsistent. It hurts off and on, and I can't seem to pick out a specific movement that causes it to hurt.

He also told me to take a Prilosec (sp?) everyday to help me control the heartburn I've been having and told me not to worry about a pain I've been having every now and again right under my ribs (same place both sides). He thought it was just some cartlidge that might be pulled. Said to heat it when it hurt. The lab stuff would take a couple of days and he said he would drop me a letter then to let me know what the results were.

As I mentioned, the weather was kinda bad this last week. We got snow on Wednesday, but not enough to cause any major problems in Greensboro (some bad stuff in Raleigh though, people stuck overnight in schools and grocery stores). We also got some more stuff on Friday and Saturday. Plus it has been VERY cold. Temperatures in the 20's with wind chills to make it feel like it was in the teens. The wind seems to cut here in the south when it blows cold like that.

YESTERDAY:

Weather: Hi 41 Low 12, mostly Sunny, but WINDY

LAST NIGHT:

Sleep: 8 hours, but I was up every hour and a half to roll over...which is painful, so it wakes me up completely and takes me several minutes to get back to sleep...NOT FUN.

TODAY:

Breakfast: None (typical, but especially since the doctor's office asked me to fast for the blood tests)

Lunch: Wendy's - Bacon Classic, no tom, no onion - bowl of chili with saltines, coke - love that option to get something besides fries! I wasn't in the mood for them. - I didn't get to eat lunch until 2:00, so I was pretty dang hungry

Dinner: Corn tortillas and cheese, A&W, chocolate milkshake (home made) for dessert - since I ate lunch so late, I wasn't real hungry. Shena made Grandma Bullock taco salad (crushed dorito's covered with meat, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa) - but I wasn't in the mood.

Basketball Whoopin'

Better day at work. The crisis we had yesterday worked itself out in a good way. It was a comedy of errors, and they kept piling up on top of each other. But it finally worked out in the end after lots of stress.

Lettie told me a weird story about some guy she danced with the other night at the country club. Apparently was my roommate in college, but I don't remember him, so it must have been one of my roommates the summer that I met Shena. That would explain me not remembering, since I spent all my time at her apartment since mine was a dump during the summer. Dude is apparently a huge Orson Scott Card fan and freaked out when Lettie told him that Sis. Card was her Seminary teacher and Bro. Card was her Sunday School teacher. Sounds like he needs to calm down a bit.

Shena, Susan Williams, Lisa Lundrigan, Dee Dee Plummer and Teresa Slack all had a scrap book night tonight at Lisa's house. It was supposed to be from 7 - until, but I had a basketball game at the church at 9. We thought we could swing it by me dropping off the boys about 8:30 and then picking them back up after. We thought that Kelson would go to sleep and Cade would play with the other kids. Apparently my name was drug through the mud by the women because the boys wouldn't leave them alone. I got dirty looks from all of them when I picked up the boys. When we got home at about 10:45 they both just crashed. They were tired, but would go to sleep at the Lundrigan's. Shena wound up getting home about 12:30. She is a night owl when she is out with her friends, but I'm glad she has friends. For the longest time she hasn't really had anybody that she would hang out with alot. She had one or two friends who she liked and who she talked to on occassion, but she never really went out with them much. Now she has three or four that she goes out with as often as she can.

Our basketball game was pretty ugly. Wound up having about 12 guys there, so there wasn't alot of playing time for all of us. And there were a bunch of new guys there and the chemistry was not good at all. I think most every one on the team had at least two turnovers some of us (especially me) had more than that. We wound up losing by about 5, but there was a point when we were down 20, had it as close as 1, but couldn't finish the comeback. Oh well. Good thing it's church ball and not my regular day job. I would be looking for another one.

Marcos went and saw Movin' Out on Broadway yesterday, and is headed skiing all weekend this weekend. Next time you talk to him, ask him about those experiences.

Weather: 67 degrees, rain in the morning

Breakfast: None

Lunch: French bread pizza slices, one cheese taco (corn tortilla), sprite, chocolate chip cookies, milk

Dinner: McDonald's - quarter pounder with cheese, no onions, fries, chocolate shake, about midnight had some more chocolate chip cookies and milk

Night Off

Rough day at work. One of the few that I have that make me come home a little grumpy. At least that is what I think. Shena may say otherwise, she probably thinks I come home grumpy all the time. Good thing was I could just chill after dinner.

Had mom & dad over for dinner to help us finish leftover spaghetti casserole from dinner last night with Hiatt's. Nothing exciting to talk about today.

Weather: 71, mostly cloudy, rained in the afternoon

Breakfast: None

Lunch: Corn tortillas with cheese, banana, milk, vanilla pudding cup

Dinner: Spaghetti casserole covered with cheese, cheese bread, tossed salad with bacon ranch dressing, home made chocolate cookies and milk

Sleep: 7.75 hours (11:30 to 7:15) - getting closer to getting my sleep back!

Dinner with Hiatts

Shena normally works on Wednesday mornings. in the office. She comes in to help us print letters that may be going out to clients and various other things. She used to have her own desk and computer, but since we hired our new girl, Heather, last week, she doesn't really have any place to herself, and I think it is bothering her a bit. She's been working for Jim for about 5 years now, and I'm sure she feels like she is just getting pushed to the side.

We had Craig and Susie Hiatt over for dinner last night. They just moved back from BYU. Susie is from CA, so she and Shena can talk a bit about being dragged out here from their homes by their husbands. We had a good time talking.

Shena has finally found a combination that she thinks she will wear next weekend to our awards banquet. She and Teresa figured it all out. I tried to stay out of it as long as possible. Look for pictures to be posted next week of us all fixed up in our fancy duds!

We are still keeping up with "The Amazing Race 6" on CBS. Thanks to our DVR (like TiVO) we have been able to watch every episode but the one when the Mormon girls from Utah lost. Not sure why it didn't record that night. That left me with no one we really care about still in the race. But there is one team we are rooting AGAINST for sure. Jonathan & Victoria have some MAJOR issues, and it is hard to watch them. He is a complete jerk when it comes to how he treats other people...especially his wife. Calls her "useless" and blames her when everything goes wrong. But she has turned out to be almost as bad (maybe it is all the years of taking the abuse, now she is dishing it back out?), she lit into him on last night's episode pretty good. At first I was glad she did it, then it just got out right annoying.

Weather: 67 degrees, mostly cloudy - pretty mild day

Breakfast: None

Lunch: Leftover Shena gringo enchiladas, piece of french bed, piece of her chocolate cake (finished it off), milk

Dinner: Spaghetti casserole (cooked with hamburger that had been browned with green peppers and onions, tomato chunks cooked in also), covered with cheese, tossed salad, cheese bread (a Shena specialty), scoop of chocolate fudge brownie, coke

Sleep: 8 hours (11:30 to 7:30) - Got back 1/2 an hour from my early awakening yesterday

Enrichment Night

Work has been flying by the last week or so. We have a new girl, Heather Triplett, who started working with us. She is taking my place as the "Service Manager" so that I can focus on the sales side. My official title at this point is "Sales Assistant." I will spend part of my time working with Jim, getting him in front of more of his clients, and will try to have him better prepared when he meets with them. I will spend the rest of the time trying to develop my own client base...both working with people I already know, and also working Jim's client's kids and maybe some of the database that he hasn't solicited in a while. Should be a good situation. It will be several weeks before I can spend much time on the sales side, since I have to do the training. Heather is a sharp girl, but she doesn't have any background in finance and so there will be a bit of a learning curve there. Good thing is she is just out of college, so she knows how to study and take notes.

Teresa Slack came home with me for lunch today. We work in the same office and Shena and I have come to be friends with her and her husband, Munsey. Teresa and Shena will go out every now and then, and they will also get together every couple of weeks to knit together. She came home for lunch today because she had some dresses for Shena to look at that she might use for our formal dinner next week, and Shena wanted to show her some that she already had and get a "girl's opinion." I am grateful to Teresa for that. Shena kept grilling me on the dresses and whether they were dressy enough. I honestly have no idea what a "formal" dress should look like. I'm just proud that I know that a guy should wear a tuxedo to a formal, let alone know what a girl's outfit should be.

Shena had her first night in charge of Relief Society enrichment meeting. She said it went well. About 30 people attended, which she said is good for a "non-dinner" night. Usually only get that many when they are serving food. Scott Card taught a class about keeping a journal that Shena said was really good. She also said he brought a new journal for everybody in the class. Very generous of him. He's a good guy like that. Shena said the class was interesting and he had good ideas.

The boys were pretty good for me while I watched them. Cade was especially good and only gave me a hard time just before Shena got home at 9. He didn't want to pick up his Leap Frog like I wanted him to. Minor issue, really. Kelson didn't take a nap again today, so by 8:00 he was pretty punchy. He kept giggle at what seemed like nothing at all. Then when I layed him down, he cried for 20 minutes...unusual considering he was so tired. I went and got him (Cade was worried about him...he kept saying "Dad, Kelson wants you. He's sad. He wants to get up.") Apparently, all he wanted was a drink of juice, because he asked for one ("joooshhe") and when I told him he had to go to bed now that he had one he said "Uh-huh," and I didn't hear from him again.

The boys and I read for the second night in a row. Cade was good, sat and listened while Kelson jumped around on his bed and threw things off of it...like I said, he was a little punchy.

Remember my comments two days ago about Marty Schottenheimer's bad play calling in over-time during the Chargers vs. Jets game? I must be smarter than I thought, because Gregg Easterbrook (great column), who is "a senior editor of The New Republic, a contributing editor of The Atlantic Monthly and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution" had the same thoughts I did...see "Worst Tactics Ere The Clock Struck Midnight" not quite 1/2 way through the column.

Weather: 62 degrees, mostly sunny

Breakfast: Strawberry Pop-tarts (2) - cold

Lunch: Salad, carrot sticks, Shena's gringa enchiladas with sour cream on top, piece of chocolate cake, milk

Dinner: Wendy's classic double with cheese (no tom, no onion) - a few fries from Kelson's kids meal (he had nuggets) - Mom & Dad fed Cade at Mexico #1 with the missionaries, so I didn't have to worry about him

Sleep: 5 hours (11:30 to 4:30) - horrible night...woke up at 4:30 needing to use the rest-room (a little) and my back hurting (a lot)...couldn't get back to sleep. At least I got caught up on my "ESPN NFL Live" shows that I had been recording but had no time to watch. Felt like I was drugged all day...you know, slow reactions, a little light headed, forgetting simple things. It's sad that I get sleep deprivation after just one night of 5 hour sleep, but that is the way my body works for some reason.

FHE Challenge

A typical Monday. Late start, crazy day at work, computers not working right, etc. How do all these things know it's Monday?

Shena is battling a sore throat. Her voice is quite deep right now. She is still looking for a dress.

Kelson has stopped taking naps. Shena said he slept only 1/2 hour at mid-morning. That means he is a grouch from the time I get home from work until about 8:00 when we finally put him to bed because he is so grouchy. I love coming home from work for lunch, though. They were all outside today playing in the grass and on the driveway when I got there. Both Cade & Kelson came running up to me. Makes you feel good when your kids are excited to see you.

We normally have Family Home Evening with Mom & Dad. They had a group/branch FHE at their house tonight, and it sounded like there would be alot of people there, so we had our own here, which is fine. Our Stake President challenged everybody in the Stake to read the Book of Mormon in the first 100 days of the year. We decided that as a family, there was just no way, so we decided to read one chapter a night with the boys. Even that seems to be pushing it. Tonight we pulled out a chart and will be filling it in as we go, then have a little party or something at the end. Shena and I will be reading the Book of Mormon on our own to meet our goal, but it just won't happen as a family. Maybe next year, when Cade can sit still a little longer.

It's only Monday and I'm already feeling nervous and anxious for the Steelers game on Saturday. I'm sure it will be difficult to concentrate as the week wears on. Sometimes I think I am a little too fanatical about my football teams (Steelers and Panthers), but then I realize that football is the only sport that I am like this for. I'm not CRAZY about any other teams like I am about these two. And I don't follow them as closely during the off-season as I do during the regular and post season. And as bad as I (or anybody else) think I am, I know there are thousands and thousands out there that are much worse than me!

Weather: 66 degrees, sunny

Breakfast: None

Lunch: Corn tortillas with re-fried beans, cheese, sprite - small piece of Shena's chocolate cake

Dinner: Penne pasta with tomato sauce, covered in cheese, with cheese covered french bread, milk - I'll be having a piece of that chocolate cake again after I'm done writing this

Sleep: 8 hours (11:30 to 7:30) - trying to recover from Saturday nights little episode - still felt tired...maybe it was too much sleep!?

Lazy Weekend

Saturday:

One of those nice winter Saurdays that we didn't have much to do. No yard work. Nothing that HAD to be done on the house. No appointments to keep. Those are the best kind. You can fill the day with whatever you want. We cleaned Saturday morning, then we all went with Shena for her daily trip to Wally's.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon paying bills, cleaning the office and watching football games. I caught the last quarter of St. Louis vs. Seattle. Good game that unfortunately ended with a receiver for Seattle dropping a touchdown pass that would have tied the game.

Marcos came over for pizza because mom and dad went down to Charlotte for a wedding, and we watched a little "Cops" and then the remainder of the NY Jets vs. San Diego. Also a good game that went to overtime that included several possessions for both teams. Feel bad for San Diego's rookie kicker, though. Schottenheimer had some poor play calling right before he sent the kid out there to kick a 40 yard field goal in bad weather and a poor field. He ran three straight plays to the middle of the line...the third was off the right tackle, which wound up putting the ball on the right hash. At the LEAST they should have lined the kicker up in the middle of the field. Oh, well...either way the winner is going to Pittsburgh where my Steelers will be whooping up on them.

Weather: 53 degrees, mostly cloudy

Breakfast: One bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios

Lunch: Corn tortillas, re-fried beans, cheese, Coke

Dinner: Domino's Pepperoni Pizza, Cheese Bread (3 pieces of pizza, 2 pieces of cheese bread), Kool-aid, later had a fudge brownie and milk

Sleep: 7.5 Hours (12:00 - 7:30) - tried to get another hour or so around 9:00, but the kids were playing and I couldn't get back to sleep.

Sunday

Not much to report at all today. Had to attend Welfare meeting before church started this morning. After church had dinner at Mom and Dad's for Marcos' birthday. Then had Stake General Priesthood meeting at 4:30 to 6:00. Came home, grabbed a bite and watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition with Shena and Cade. I didn't watch much of either NFL game. Checked on the scores every now and then, but only watched about 2 hours combined total. I fell asleep in front of the Denver vs. Indianapolis game...it was that boring, and I was that tired.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition remains my favorite TV show. Pretty cool what they do for families in need. I think they do a pretty decent job of finding people who truly do need a boost, not just somebody that will look good on TV. I also imagine that this show has been a large revenue maker for the people who are involved since they volunteer and donate their time. I know that it makes me want to solicit the companies who are helping out.

Weather: 51 degrees, mostly sunny

Breakfast: None

Lunch: Mom's mexican rice, chicken and mole, home made flour tortillas, corn tortillas, milk - later had german chocolate cake with a cream cheese with Hershey's cholocate chunks frosting, more milk

Dinner: Flour tortillas with cheese, sour cream and lettuce, apple juice - later had another piece of cake and milk

Sleep: 5 Hours - Finally got to bed at 12:00, but couldn't fall asleep until about 1:30 - had to get up at 6:30 for a meeting at 7:45

Dress Shopping

Shena had a bad day. She is trying to find a formal dress for Navigon's annual awards dinner @ Grandover and she didn't have much luck. Apparently, she went to about 15 different stores (no exaggeration there) and wasn't able to find anything that made her happy. I think she may try to get me to go out with her tomorrow.

I just worked today. I've started the process of calling lenders to get money to pay for an addition that we may put on the house. We currently use one of our 3 bedrooms for an office/craft room and that restricts us having any more kids. We don't have another one on the way (so calm down...you don't have news to spread yet!), but we know that if we decide to have another, we won't have any room for it. We don't think we are ready to try to buy another house, so the addition seems the next step. We like where we live and would like to move only once more...so we'll stay here as long as we can and keep our eyes open for our "dream house."

Marcos and I played basketball at the church tonight with the ward. We had a game against Guilford ward, the first of the season and my first exercise in months (let alone my first basketball game in probably a year). Luckily there were 9 of us so we didn't have to play any more than 8 minutes at a time (one quarter). I may have been in big trouble otherwise. I can't run around like I used to be able to do. That was about all I had going for me when I was younger...quickness and energy. I could run circles around those "old guys." Now I am getting to be one of the "old guys" and I just kind of jog down the court...or go about 70% of what I used to be able to do. It is still fun to play, however.

WARNING - PULLING OUT MY SOAPBOX
Why is it that "race" is always given as the reason given when two people of a different race are involved in a bad situation? Why can't it just be motivated by pure dislike? I'm a Christian man, but there are some people I just don't like...race is not a factor in any way. I guess you could say I'm an "Equal Opportunity Disliker."

Yet, I find myself getting annoyed at the confirmation hearings when the senators are grilling Alberto Gonzales, I automatically think "they don't like him because he is Hispanic." But that isn't necessarily the case. Maybe the senators are just trying to have their questions answered.

And when a white cop and a black motorist get into a fight, why does the NAACP immediately (I mean, really, have they heard both sides of the story...or just see "white cop, black motorist"?) start claiming it was racially motivated? Was the cop white? Yes. Was the motorist black (and old)? Yes. Does that mean the cop hates black guys? Maybe the cop just doesn't like OLD black guys? I'm not going to say that I have a good deal of experience, but I've seen my share of "Cops" and I have been surprised by the behavior of some "older" folks. Just because the guy is old doesn't mean he isn't a bad person (this guy is 79 and is a self-proclaimed white supremacist...I'll bet he isn't the nicest old guy you would ever meet)...it doesn't mean he isn't capable of resisting arrest. Granted, I've also seen my share of power tripping cops on "Cops" too...but how do you NOT give the cop the benefit of the doubt? It sounds to me like he is automatically assumed to be the bad guy because the motorist was old (strike one) AND black (strike two). If the motorist turns out to be gay (strike three), this cop will be strung up by his toes by the media.
END OF SOAPBOX

Weather: 65 degrees, mostly cloudy...much cooler today than it has been

Breakfast: None

Lunch: Taco Bell - Steak Gordita supreme, no tomato & bean burrito, no onion - water

Dinner: Chorizo & Eggs on corn tortillas with beans and cheese (before b-ball game) & a bowl of Trix and a bowl of Cinammon Toast Crunch after the game.

Sleep: 8.5 hours - (10:30 to 7:00) - now that is more like it...kids slept through the night..I only woke up once, at 6:00, like I usually do...felt VERY refreshed today

Two days in a row!?

Mostly work today. Marcos was in Raleigh to play golf at the golf course where he used to work, Eagle Ridge, with a friend...while I worked. Life is SOOOO unfair sometimes.

A client of ours who is from Pittsburgh brought down a "Big Ben (Roethlisberger)" t-shirt for me, since he knew I was a fan. Very nice of him. I don't think I have ever met the guy in person, but we always talk about the Steelers when we talk.

Shena and the boys are still getting over their colds. Cade is mostly better, Shena and Kelson are still fighting theirs a bit. She was tough enough to still do her piano lessons today. A trooper that girl. Everybody knows that I would have been whining and laying in bed wanting to be taken care of if I was even 1/5 as sick as she is.

Received news that Adam & Melissa are having another boy. They are a bit disappointed, because Adam was POSITIVE it was a girl. He thinks the Arellano's are cursed...which makes no sense since my dad has LOTS of sisters. Also heard that Kristy (Shelton) & Zach Stout are having a boy...which is what they were hoping for.

Remembered at 9:00 pm last night that today was "Three Kings" day and we should be putting our shoes out for them to leave presents in at dad's house. Shena made me drive over to mom & dad's and put out our shoes. Dad had forgotten too, but when I went over this afternoon, he had put out shoes for the entire family. Shena said that when Kelson saw the shoes out, he got excited and took out all the money that was in them and put all of it into dad's shoe. Kid loves to wear other people's shoes.

Weather: 68, mostly cloudy, a little breezy, rained for about 1/2 hour in the afternoon

Breakfast: None

Lunch: Corn tortillas, refried beans, cheese, Sprite

Dinner: Cheddar Bacon Ranch Angus Burger from BK (no tom, no onion), fries, Sprite and Hershey's Pie. The burger wasn't nearly as good as it sounds, and the beef wasn't as good as Hardee's.

Sleep: 7.5 hours (11:30 to 7:00) - eyes still hurt in the afternoon like I didn't get enough sleep...Cade up twice in the night, maybe that's it!

Quick Update

On the Holidays. Mom had the whole family home for Christmas. Lettie made it home from Idaho - Adam, Melissa & Ethan came from San Diego (Melissa & Ethan for four weeks) - and Marcos came down from NYU. It got pretty crazy at the house when we were all around.

Santa Claus was good to the boys. Cade & Kelson's big present was a train set that seems to take up half of their room. I think we will have to stop buying presents for them or they will have to start sleeping on top of their toys because their room is pretty packed. They also got a Steelers bean bag and a Panthers bean bag, along with various other presents. They are WAY too spoiled, if you ask me.

As previously posted, I got a sweet trip to NYC that included tickets to a Steelers game (or is that tickets to a Steelers game that included a trip to NYC?). I also got a new pair of golf shoes that I had been wanting for several years. The weather has been so nice here (70's!!) that I have already had the chance to break them in with 18 holes.

As suggested to me by several of her friends, I tried to get EVERYTHING that was on Shena's list, since she hooked me up with such a nice Christmas present. I still feel like what I got her wasn't enough. I guess next year I will have to come up with something "slammin'" for her. If you have any ideas of how I could just blow her out of the water, I'd appreciate the help!

New Year's was pretty uneventful. It was 12:05 before we realized it. We were playing a very silly (lots of giggling...I think it was the sleep deprivation) game of Catch Phrase around that time and missed the ball dropping. Kelson made it until about 11:30, then he asked us to turn on Aladdin for him. He was asleep before the previews were over. Cade fell asleep about 9:30. I wish I was in bed, but of course it was 2:00 before Shena and I got there.

We had a somewhat eventful weekend past. Shena got a small bottle of rose scented oils that she was told she should put in her bathwater. Saturday night she tried it. Bad idea. It burned her skin, and within minutes the ENTIRE HOUSE was absolutely saturated with the smell. Shena may have a different version of the story, but I know that, personally, I was nauseus and had a headache after about 1/2 hour...even while breathing through my shirt. What was worse, Shena had it all over her skin and I couldn't sit too closely to her without feeling sicker. Everything she touched that night reeked of the smell. I wound up sleeping on the couch with our front windows open, a bowl of peanuts under my nose to drown out the smell. It took us three days to get the majority of the smell out of the house, and our bathroom STILL smells like roses (although not as unbearable as before).

Weather today: 70 degrees, Sunny, no wind --> GORGEOUS!

Breakfast: Strawberry pop tarts, water

Lunch: Cheese, mustard and lettuce sandwich on wheat, couple of Famous Amos Cookies, Milk

Dinner: BBQ Roast Beef (Jack Daniel's No. 7 BBQ Sauce) sandwiches, with cheese, & Lime Tostito Chip Nachos, Kool-aid

7.5 hours of sleep last night (11:30 to 7:00)- how do people survive on 6 or less? I still feel sleepy after 7!