50 Random Things

I think that everyone who is on Facebook has been tagged with this challenge in the past couple of weeks. Buzz and I both sat down to make our list of 25 random things about ourselves a couple of days ago. My list is mediocre, but I love the list that Buzz made. Reminds me of why I love him so much! Here you go!

Me:

1. I'm responding to more of these sorts of things than I'd like to admit. It's not as if I don't have a million other things to do!

2. I've become a Diet Pepsi addict. I depended on it when I was working nights and now I rarely make it until noon without cracking a can.

3. Four has been a difficult age for me to manage. Sparkle was a great two and three year old, but when she hit four she realized that her opinion wasn't necessarily the same as mine and that she didn't have to put up with me quietly.

4. I don't want to ever have a pet of my own. Growing up we had five dogs, three cats, a serval cat, a prarie dog, a muntjack deer, a few wallabies, and several visiting baby exotic cats. I'm done...

5. My family just might wear me down and talk me into a dog someday. But only when the kids are old enough to take care of it and we're done having babies.

6. I wanted to be done having babies by the time I'm 30. Don't think we'll have four by then. Unless we manage to have twins (please, God, no!).

7. I'm dismayed that Buzz and Sparkle pray for us to have twin boys with some regularity.

8. I started dating Buzz almost 13 years ago, when I was 15. By the time I'm 30, I'll have been with him for half of my life. We've done a lot of growing together. Nothing makes me happier than the knowledge that he knows me this well and loves me anyway. :)

9. I miss having music in my life. The kids don't really appreciate my flute playing. I'm learning piano. We got a keyboard for Christmas that I can put on low volume during nap time.

10. 10+ years after leaving home, I still get some strange kick out of eating as much dessert as I feel like. I should probably learn to be a better boss of myself.

11. Quitting my job feels like the best thing I ever did. I don't miss it much. My stress level is about 50 times lower.

12. I like to knit and crochet. I recently found the pattern book at the library for a baby sweater that I started years ago. I'm going to finish it, really I am.

13. At one point in my life I looked forward to going topless at a beach in France someday.

14. I like to drive in the snow and ice.

15. I was blond as a child. I'm not sure how to break it to Sparkle that she probably won't be a natural blond forever.

16. I wanted to play softball when I was little, but my brother and sister laughed and said that I throw like a girl. I still have a noodle arm.

17. I have a certain cleaning chore for every day of the week. Monday - floors, since we've usually had people and their kids at our house over the weekend. Tuesday - dusting, bill paying, filing, and sheet changes. Wednesday and Thursday - laundry (I miss the time when it only took one day!). Friday - bathrooms, since we are usually expecting some sort of weekend visitors to our house.

18. It still makes me self-conscious that I am taller than Buzz.

19. I don't like talking on the phone.

20. I can't sleep at night unless Buzz is there for me to put my cold feet on. Socks don't work.

21. I hate to exercise. Buzz tells me that it's not normal for your lungs to hurt after five minutes and that I should try an inhaler. I'm not sure that would help me like it any more.

22. I made it past two cuts in the try-outs for junior high basketball, falling just short of making the team. My finest sports achievement.

23. Buzz has been trying to get me to watch Saving Private Ryan for years. I still haven't. I don't like bloody movies.

24. Aliens freak me out. So do ghosts.

25. When buying my current dishes, I couldn't decide on which bowl design to choose. So I chose them all. We own 36 bowls (minus the few that have broken) in three different sizes and shapes.

Buzz:

1. When I go to bed, I fall asleep in less than 2 minutes. This annoys Meo very much, which I feel a little bad about.

2. I have a t-shirt collection which includes inappropriate, smarmy, smart-allecky donkeys, dictators, and old men. This annoys Meo very much, which I feel very good about.

3. I spent all my summers as a kid at a cabin at Donner Lake, California. There was no phone and no TV. I learned to fish, catch crawdads, swim, ride a bike, play tennis, play baseball, play horse shoes, row a boat, paddle a canoe, water ski, jet-ski, hike, camp, pee outside, throw a Frisbee, play volleyball, climb trees, chop down trees, rock climb, use a compass, hike without a trail, play the trumpet, play 13 different kinds of solitaire, build 12-story houses of cards, dumpster-dive, and jump off bridges into water. I broke my arm for the first time, rode on a motorcycle for the first time, and asked Cameo to marry me under the stars there. I am so incredibly grateful.

4. The last few times I have gone to the Donner cabin, I have walked in to see my multiple nephews and nieces crowded around a transplanted TV. When I unplug the TV and hide it in the closet under old sleeping bags, they take out their hand-held video games or cell phones, roll their eyes at their jerk of an uncle, and continue not to learn any useful life skills or appreciate the stunning beauty surrounding them. It makes part of my heart break.

5. I love road trips, especially at night through big empty western states. There is no better place to reflect, no other place in this world where thoughts are uninterrupted for such a long period of time. Ever since I was a young boy I have planned on retiring a few years early to drive a big rig and just road trip for a few years and get paid for it.

6. I have never been nervous for an interview in my entire life. From pizza delivery to medical residency, not a single second of nerves. I have no idea how this happens, I guess I really like interviews.

7. I don’t know why I like the Chicago Bears as much as I do, but it doesn’t bother me.

8. I have a tattoo of fire on my right lower leg. This represents the Holy Spirit living inside of me, trying to light the dark parts of the world I find myself in.

9. My favorite thing about growing up in a family of 12 people: the people skills. After living with so many siblings who were so different from each other, and from me, I feel like I can get along with just about anybody I meet.

10. If I run for more than an hour, my gums get all tingly, and it feels good.

11. My wife Meo is taller than me, but it has never bothered me. It’s a good thing too, cause there is nothing I can do about it. I do feel bad for her sometimes.

12. I have a mother, 7 sisters, a wife and 2 daughters. I am entering a field of medicine where 2 out of 3 of my colleagues are women, where nearly all of the help staff are female and where nearly all of my patients will be cared for by their mothers. Was I supposed to be a woman?

13. I was born with a serious knot in my umbilical cord tied around my neck. I was born without a heartbeat, with a purple head, and I couldn’t breathe for a while. My birth picture was mysteriously lost.

14. I really want twin boys. They would be a lot of work, but how much fun would it be to have two little bruisers at the same time??? Please God, please!

15. I married a diamond in the rough. She may have grown up in rough circumstances, but she has the most incredible character and the deepest understanding of love that I have ever witnessed in a human being. I respect Meo more than I knew I could respect another human being. I am ecstatic she is raising our daughters.

16. Speaking of respect, after Meo is my Dad. I won’t tell all his stories, but lets just say I have a hell of a role model for how to get ones self out of a tough spot and value life for all its glories and despite all its pain.

17. I have been to some fancy restaurants, some world class places on 3 different continents, but nothing I have ever eaten tastes better than a pizza and root beer or a brat and an ale.

18. I love eating meals in 2’s- 2 drinks with 2 plates of food for breakfast, or two sandwiches with 2 drinks for lunch. Food is always better when it is paired.

19. Phones that take pictures, send text messages, check the weather, the internet, the box office times, and tell you the temperature really make me mad. I have everything turned off on my phone except the phone part, and somehow I still remember what my friend and family look like, I can look outside to see what the weather is like, and I can call my friend or the movie theatre if I need to talk or find a movie time. I can’t tell if all the crap that comes on phones is totally unnecessary or if I am already old-fashioned and stodgy.

20. I like being in the cold, and in the dark, but I don’t like caves.

21. I have never tried to think about 25 thing about myself at once before, I am really running on fumes here.

22. I can play every sport I have ever heard of, except for cricket and curling, and I am pretty good at a few of them. I have my 2 brothers to thank for that. P***, T**, THANKS!

23. I can’t hold the phone on my right ear.

24. I have broken my arms 4 times, mostly jumping off of stuff as a kid to prove to my brothers that I was tough cause I felt like they had no respect! P***, T**, THANKS (note the sarcasm here).

25. I have nick-names that I use in my head for people but never use out loud. Some of these nick names have been around for more than a decade! Are you wondering what yours is?

Fellowship

The message at church today was centered around small groups. We were encouraged to actively seek to make connections with other people in our church family. The bible clearly states that God not only created us with a need for fellowship with him, but a need for fellowship with people. I couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed as I sat amongst my friends. We've been through so much together in the past two years, good and bad, and our friendships are without a doubt some of the most precious gifts that God has given me. After a long spiritual dry spell and seemingly endless lonely months when we moved here, I feel once again that our lives are rich and full and I can see that through it all, God has been our faithful provider.

We don't know how long we'll live here. We don't have the perspective to see what God has planned for us and where he will take us next. But we do know that we have a precious few months together with our friends and we are doing our best to make the most of them!

Friday one of the guys invited all the other men to his house for steak and beer (his wife and kids are out of town). Everyone had a good time and the fun lasted into the wee (or should I say "wii"?) hours of the morning. While the guys were living it up, the moms got together for dinner and craft night. We made hair clips for our little girls while they made valentines, played dress up, and ate chocolate fondue.Sunny and her little "Buddy" were quite a pair this night! She likes to take his toys or otherwise instigate fights and he likes to pull her hair, push, and pull her while she screams at the top of her lungs. Every time he got put into timeout, she would happily wander up the stairs to sit with him on the bench and they'd talk sweetly until it was time to come back down, then they'd go at it again. He especially wanted this necklace that she was wearing...Someone assaulted poor Buddy since he was the only boy there. I guess he needed to be prettied up.Saturday we went back to our friend's house to watch football. There was also more hair clip making and wii playing. The hit of the night was watching the guys do karaoke.
The girls had fun dancing around the room and even had a bit of a mosh type thing going at the end. That's my girl on top, squishing the other two.
Today after naps we went to another friend's house to watch more football. No photos yet from today, but I do believe that there were some of me duct taping Sunny's diaper on before bed...

That was the other thing I did on Saturday: let's just say that Sunny figured out how to undo her diaper and make a huge mess. It took me until 2pm to finish wiping every surface reachable from her crib, wash linens, and shampoo carpets. Not to mention soak and scrub her in the tub. You only do that once before you come up with a solution!

Ahh... from reflecting on what God has given us and treasuring our friendships to talking about poo. That about sums up a few minutes in the thought processes of this mom. Makes perfect sense, right?

Full Time Mommy

My wrist is still giving me difficulties and I've come to the realization that it needs more time (and possibly more surgery) to heal. I haven't worked since July and with our probable relocation in May, we decided that the likelihood that I would be returning to work was low. I drove up to the children's hospital yesterday and turned in my badge and medication key. It felt good to clean out my box and get rid of all the papers that I'd been holding on to "just in case," but I was sad to walk past the NICU and infant units (my favorites) and realize that I would likely never set foot in them again...

I'm officially a stay at home mom! No more missed bedtimes or mornings for me!

Christmas Week

Wow, what a crazy week! I meant to blog sooner with pictures from Christmas, but I just haven't had the chance! The few days leading up to Christmas were crazy with Buzz finishing the final inpatient rotation of his medical school education (!) and Sunny and I getting a stomach virus. We somehow managed to get all of the presents wrapped and ready and crossed our fingers that Buzz and Sparkle wouldn't get sick too.

We had grand plans for Christmas Eve: several weeks before Christmas, we (together with our friends) reserved a horse-drawn carriage ride downtown to look at Christmas lights. We went to the 4 o'clock church service and out to dinner prior to our ride. Just after our food arrived at the table, I noticed that Sparkle was under the table, doubled over, squirming, and leaning on her chair. I told her to sit down and she said that her tummy hurt. I pulled her into my lap and dumped a bowl of rice over onto her plate to make room... the next thirty seconds or so consisted of me begging Sparkle to throw up in the bowl and not anywhere else, and her panicking that I was shoving a bowl in her face (she thought that I wanted her to eat the rice). She did eventually lose it... Buzz says that he's not sure if there is a point system for these sorts of things, but awarded me 100 points for catching it all in the bowl and cleaning Ava up without anyone in the restaurant noticing. Our friends win "Best Sports of the Year" for being able to finish their dinners and still beg us to continue with our plans for the night despite their chances of catching whatever bug it was that we were passing around. We left the restaurant with extra cups in hand, just in case. After much debate we decided that Sparkle had likely emptied her tummy (she lost it once more in her kid cup as we were leaving), so we continued on to meet our carriage. We had a great time and wish that Sparkle would have felt better so that she could have enjoyed it to the fullest.

The girls fell asleep in the car on the way home and we got to work creating Christmas morning magic. We were up until 1am, not bad.

Christmas morning was fun. Sunny has figured out how to rip the paper off of presents. She still likes to play with everything that she gets as she opens it. Sparkle, on the other hand, has decided that the thrill is in the opening. She finished before the rest of us and wondered why she didn't have any more to open. The favorites by far are our new piano (keyboard, really), Mario Kart for our Wii, and these plasma cars that my parents sent:

After our gifts were opened, we headed over to our friend's house for a Christmas party (Sparkle was feeling better and all of our friends said that they were okay with us going - so far no one else has come down with our ailment!). It's the second year that we've had Christmas with our small group and it's such fun to share the day with our friends since most of us have little to no family in the area. We ate well, decorated giant gingerbread men...

...painted picture frames for recent group photos...

...and best of all, played Wii "larger than life" with our friend's new video projector, a basement wall, and our new Mario Kart game.

It snowed between 8 and 16 inches here on Christmas day (depending on where in the valley you were), so we were glad that we had planned on spending the night in our friend's guest room and didn't have to drive in the mess. We spent a lazy morning with our friends, then returned home for naps to recover from all of the fun that we had.

***

On Sunday we had brunch and church at our house. Our church made packets available for the congregation to gather in homes with their friends the Sunday after Christmas, so we hosted for our small group. Our friends brought their video projector and we watched our pastor via DVD on our living room wall. The ten adults did the discussion questions while the kiddos watched a movie in the play room. Once church was over, we headed out for sledding.

Sparkle and her friend wouldn't get out of their sled. Somehow every time they got to the bottom of the hill, they convinced someone to pull them back up. I would have made them walk, but they always managed to charm some poor fellow into a great workout.

After sledding, the ladies went to the mall while the little ones napped and the dad's played more Mario Kart. We all met up for dinner at Sweet Tomatos to round out a full and fun day.

***

New Year's Eve we hosted again at our house. We rang in the new year live with those in New York so that the kids could be part of the fun. The coming of 2009 is especially exciting for us as Buzz will earn his MD this year! We're not sure what this year holds for us or where we'll be ringing in 2010, but we are excited to be off on the next leg of our journey!

Catch up!

It's been an incredibly busy week! I know that I've already posted once today, but I've got a few more pictures (courtesy of my friend, MI) that need to be shared.

Thursday was a great day! We started with our second snow play date in three days, this time with significantly more kiddos. Sunny didn't last long in the cold this time, but the rest of the kids had a blast! There are lots of great photos of the day, this one in particular might be one of the cutest that I've ever seen!Here's Sunny's first and last ride on the sled. You'd think that she would have had a blast given the smile of anticipation plastered on her face, but she was inconsolable when she got to the bottom of the hill. Thank goodness she'll nap in her pack-n-play!After we wrestled ourselves away from the fun we were having, we hurried home to get ready for Sparkle's very first Christmas program. Her 4-5 year old class sang "Up on the Housetop."
After the concert, Buzz took Sunny home to sleep (he had to study for an exam anyway) and Sparkle and I went out for treats and to look at Christmas lights with our friends. It was a good, full day and we look forward to many more fun activities with our friends this winter!

Nutcracker

Today was a special treat! Buzz' sister and family took care of Sunny for the afternoon so that we could take Sparkle to the Nutcracker. Last year Buzz was super busy with school and didn't get to come; this year we made sure that he got to be part of the action. We met three other families from our small group for lunch before we all headed over to the ballet. The anticipation was almost too much for the girls and there was more dancing and prancing around the table than there was eating!

As usual, the fight scene between the Rat King and the Nutcracker Prince caused the most excitement and lead to the most questions ("He's only pretending to be dead, right?"). This year Sparkle was much more focused on watching the dancing and wasn't nearly as overwhelmed by the production of it all. I missed her spontaneous comments from last year ("Oh, wow! She's gorgeous!) and the excited bouncing on my lap. I suppose I'll get to experience that again in a couple of years when Sunny is old enough to sit through her first performance.

We were happy to continue this Christmas tradition and loved it even more because we got to share it with friends. Is there anything more precious than this bunch???

Snow Day!

We got our first big snow storm this year in early November, but we missed out on playing in the snow because we were preparing to leave on a two week trip. Today was the first time we broke out the snow gear and headed out for some fun! My friend was having some dental work done, so we had an extra little friend to help us make the day a success!

Sunny had a really hard time walking in her snow gear at first. She kept falling over and crying until someone picked her up and put her on her feet. Sparkle taught her how to eat snow, which made for some funny photos. At the end of the 45 minutes that we were outside, I had to drag her in kicking and screaming.

Sparkle insisted that I go inside and get her ski goggles, then proceeded to stick her face in the snow like an ostrich. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that little trick! She's been begging to make a snowman and even has a carrot nose picked out and set aside in the refrigerator... but she had so much fun playing that she forgot all about it.


We have a little hill in the yard that is sufficient for sledding and should keep the little ones happy for the next couple of years at least. Sunny loved it and charmed me into pulling her up and sliding her down at least ten times. Sparkle and her friend pulled her up just this one time, then decided it was too much work!