Next thing you know, he'll be in the front seat. Driving.

The Stuff

I should like to explain my recent semi-absence via this post, with further explanation that the only "secrets" I have presently are more like "mysteries" unrevealed to me, i.e., where am I going to live in a month?  Or five?  And what will we do with this house in a month?  Or five?

You know, little things like that.

In other (happier) news, our second annual Girls Weekend was last week, and although Liam joined us he didn't ruin the fun.

Indeed!  I preferred to have him outside of me this year.  He slept almost all night in the crowded hotel room, making me love him ever so much more.

Unfortunately we didn't have time for anything but Prom dress shopping (for Em), bridal showers (for Kim), and eating: Dunford donuts, pizza from The Pie, Coldstone, In-N-Out.  

I did get a picture with my closest cousin growing up, and her day-older-than-Liam son Asher.  Look!  A picture of me on my blog!  What's it been, five months?

His head looks pretty big right there.

Well, I'll be a dirty shirt.

(Grandma Jean's expression.  She has some good ones.)

I had no idea how awful I'd been feeling for the last several months, until I got feeling better.  Who knew a functioning thyroid made such a difference?

I've been on a dose of Synthroid for a week now and I can actually get out of bed in the morning.  That plus Daylight Savings, plus warmer weather, plus a tax return, plus some job prospects for the Slice, and we are feeling on top of the world!

Thank you all for your kind words and supportive comments.  We've had some hard things to deal with, but we'll get through and maybe even be better for it.  One can only hope.

Our little (big) Liam is still loving being home with his dad all the time.  He will certainly be sad when that has to change.

Ah, Internet, my old foe. We meet again.

I've heard about things like this happening, but I never gave them much thought; perhaps because I am wary of all things Internet and protect myself accordingly.
(Perhaps because I am naïve.)

Last week my brother Al came to me, asking if someone else could move into the house.  He'd been "dating" a girl online for a month, he said, and she was coming to Roosevelt to date and hopefully marry him.  He wanted to pay her rent (at my house), drive her around and help her get a job, and get an apartment to move into with her after the supposed wedding.
We raised our eyebrows a little.  What kind of girl does that?  Accept a marriage proposal from someone they haven't even met?  Especially someone who has obvious developmental disabilities (as anyone who's tried to read his writing can tell you), and nothing to offer in the way of financial support.
Very strange.

But, after some discussion - with my parents as well  - we decided to help him out, because we want him to be happy.  He's had a rough time since returning from his mission, and anything that will help him move on has got to be a good thing.  Right?

So after three days of frantic planning (also, scurrying to get our bathroom done; she was supposed to arrive Sunday), I got a phone call from my dad.  He and my mom had checked out the "boarding pass" this girl had sent a picture of, and there was no such flight.  Long story short:  it was a hoax.  An elaborate, month-long hoax on my VERY OBVIOUSLY handicapped brother, who bought every single word.

It took a couple more days to figure out that he sent money (from his meager income) so she could buy a ticket to fly here.  And he is STILL pursuing her, not believing that she is faking him out.

We have no idea who this person is, but I sure wish I did.  Preying on unsuspecting, desperate young men is deplorable, certainly.  But unsuspecting, handicapped desperate young men?
There are no words.

Flames

Last week while in Vernal for the inescapable shopping trip, I ran into the guy who asked me on my first date.
(Homecoming Junior year, four-wheeling day date.  He came from Colorado to take me, so it was kind of a big deal.)
I was pleased to see him there with his fiancee.  Even more pleasing, he's gained a little weight.

That, plus some nostalgic song-listening got me thinking about old flames and such...

The first boy I ever loved was killed in a car accident the day after I got married.

My first date at BYU (who, by the way, I had quite the crush on) is now apostate - and a Texan!

My two prom dates are college roomies.

And Slice's old flame is being relocated.

You can't predict this stuff, you know?  Seriously.

(Anyone have good former-flame stories? Because I love them.)

And the Tax Return goes to....

the downstairs bathroom!

I know you've all been DYING to hear the updates about this.  Well, we have a plumber here for the fourth time in as many days.  While digging into and below the foundation of our house, we ran into some mishaps, like Slice putting a hole through a pipe that we weren't planning on replacing, and other stuff like that.  That's home improvement for ya.

FYI: 70-year-old cast iron pipes are very brittle!

Slice got to use a jackhammer for the first time and he felt very manly about it.

Speaking of manly......

I baked a German chocolate cake from scratch yesterday, at Slice's birthday cake request.  I also made the frosting (of course).  Not a big deal to most of you, likely, but it was a pretty big deal to me!  And it turned out deliciously.

My husband really loves it when I wear an apron.  

(Too bad it doesn't happen very often.) 

I love him, I do

I was just looking for pictures of Slice that I could add to this sappy blog post about how much I love this guy, and for so many reasons.

But here's the deal.

Life's a little crazy right now.

And it's days like today that I am especially grateful to have him by my side.

He's the one who will go teach a Primary class after driving 12 hours through the night, while I am dead on the couch.

He puts the baby to bed most nights - and gets him up in the morning. 

He makes delicious meals, especially of the Japanese variety, and often.

He encourages me to do the things I love.  He makes me want to be better.

He is a wonderful father.

And always, forever and always, he makes me laugh.

Happy 24th, darling.

a little disaster for your Friday morning

We woke this morning to a phone call from my sister, who was calling to tell us about the earthquake in Sendai, Japan.

In case you forgot (or didn't know!), Sendai is where my husband served a two-year mission.  He has spent the morning gaping at live footage of the ocean slowly eating at the place he once called home.

I don't know if it's because I've never seen footage like this, or because I was there 13 months ago, or even because we've been looking at jobs in Japan, but this disaster is so devastating to me I can't stop thinking about it.  The scene replays itself over and over in my mind.  What will those people do?  Where will they go, how will they eat?  Is there anything we can do to help?

(According to Church Headquarters and the Humanitarian center, no.  We called already.)
(But we'll keep trying.)

Tricks

My darling boy is 9 months old.  He is happy to oblige us with a variety of tasks: clapping hands, saying "dada," shaking his head no when we say "yes," and crawling into/off of various things.  But of course, not if there is a camera somewhere in sight.
He is also earning himself the nickname Destructo Boy.

(In other news, Slice has been home from his mission for 3 years.  Ha!  We weren't even dating 3 years ago and now we have a 9-month-old!)
(I once wrote about the day he came home, but I can't remember when.  So, no linky, drat.)

Ode to Kiana

Kiana Lee

a.k.a. Physics Woman

cuts my hair like Jessica Simpson's (sort of)

and files my taxes like a pro

and picks out sweet $5 boots. 

Ki visits me when 

I get bored and/or lonely.

She makes the world brighter

and the music lovelier

with her awesome piano skills.

She takes pictures sometimes.

And did I mention?  She is also known as Physics Woman.

Ki, what would we do without you?

Why I'm a bad blogger, in a nutshell

We just got back from Arizona.

Sorry, no pictures.  Again.

It was the second annual Brothers' Birthday Golf Trip (i.e. excuse for Slice to play golf for a few days, and for us to get out of Utah, and to visit family).

This year didn't turn out exactly as planned - my sweet sister had emergency surgery four days before we were scheduled to arrive, and was recovering instead of "party hosting" - but it was wonderful anyway.  Just too short.

The weather was perfect and Liam was a trooper.  A TROOPER, I tell you!  I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified to take him on a 12-hr drive when the longest we'd previously attempted was 7.  So we drove to Springville, ate, bathed and dressed and bottled him, and continued on our way in the dark.  He woke up only once before Vegas and fell asleep pretty quickly after that, sleeping until we were just minutes from Heather's house.

(Don't tell anyone, but I think having him in a front-facing carseat did the trick.  He loves being able to see.  That just may have saved us.)

Yesterday afternoon we decided to drive back home through the night, instead of all day today as planned.  The Utah weather was looking ominous and Liam did so well on the drive there.  So we packed and said goodbye, all too soon.
We're still recovering.

Other stuff we did in AZ:

• watched Toy Story 3, finally
• called around for open jobs
• made orange juice from freshly-squeezed, neighbor-grown oranges
• played with Lincoln logs
• visited Cold Stone again
• showed off our adorable son
• did NOT go to a spring training game
• did NOT get enough sleep (thanks, Liam!)
• made coconut curry for the Dopps, complete with sushi
• talked talked talked
• started a new family venture: to be revealed ... soon
• wished we didn't have to come back to Utah for at least a month.  Alas.