March of Dimes Walk 2007!

Hello, hello! Today I enrolled my http://www.utahcountymommies.com team to walk in this years March of Dimes Walk America! I'm very excited about it, and we've got quite a few people interested in participating If anyone wants to help but isn't here in Utah County to walk with us, you can sponsor me by going to Eileen's Personal Walk Page. You can donate using your credit or debit card, or PayPal! Thanks so much for your help!

Oh how I hate Chuck E. Cheese

My son has had a very rough year at school and recently started treatment for ADD. He has done amazingly well, and had an entire month (with only one bump in the road) with great days at school. My husband decided to treat him to a "fun night", and of course, he chose Chuck E. Cheese, animatronic beacon of fun to children everywhere. He told me that the Chuck that comes out on stage is a robot and so is the one that comes down and hugs the children. I told him I didn't think so, but he assured me that he had an amazing brain that could figure these things out, so I conceded. Even after seeing the Man/Mouse walking around, he's certain it's a robot. Then again, I would think anyone working at this particular Chuck E. Cheese would do well to be able to go on autopilot. What a circus. I have never seen one of these places SO busy. I have crowd-o-phobia (don't ask me for the real name, I don't feel like looking it up) and the noise and crowd and lights are really too much of a sensory overload for me. So I am immediately in panic mode and ready to leave. Then I eat a ton of pizza and bad salad and finally decide to go next door to Robert's craft store (like Michael's) and buy the remaining yarn for Nico's blanket. (I'm going to attempt to design a teddy bear on the off white background and give it a blue and brown border). Immediately, I'm getting gas pains enough to nearly double me over, but I perservere, wanting to waste as much time as possible without going back to the Cheese. Finally, I couldn't wait any more, so I left my yarn at the service desk and went to get Mat and Mat's wallet. They were just wrapping it up, and so we finally got to leave.

I hope never to go back again. I know this is too much to expect with two children younger than Vinny to contend with, but at the very least, I can assure you I will NEVER go back on a Saturday. NEVER.

Now we're going to watch season One of Battlestar Gallactica (the new one) that my brother lent me. Chat atcha later!

Buying a house

Well, we found a house we liked on Thursday and put an offer in. They accepted it this morning, so we're under contract now, and the wheels are all turning. We have to do our inspections and whatnot, but hopefully all will go well, and we'll have a new house in three weeks! The kitchen and downstairs bath are both BRAND NEW, including a shiny new fridge and dishwasher. The range is not brand new, but it's newer and in great condition. It's a tiny three bedroom with the main bedrooms in the basement, but the basement is a daylight basement with a walk-out, so it's a lot safer than most of these Utah houses with six bedrooms in the basement where the kids would have to scramble out of the window well six feet above their heads. The best part is, ours and the kids' bedrooms are downstairs, so NO ONE ever has to walk by them when they come to visit! And the laundry is in the basement too, so no carting clothes upstairs! Whoo hoo! I love the hardwood floors in the living room and kitchen, and the yard is gorgeous! There's already an area set up for a garden (complete with rotting veggies from last year - ew!) and a shed of the back of the garage that is BEGGING for gardening tools. I am going to start my journey into organic goodness this Spring!

Speaking of which, I went to Target last night and found they had normal Kellog's cereal in an organic variety (Rice Krispies and Frosted Mini Wheats are what we bought). The mini-wheats are my favorite, and I actually preferred the organic because it was a much lighter "frosted" side, so I didn't feel quite so bad blowing away my diabetic rules and regs. Vinny had the Rice Krispies (which I hate) and said they were good. Then again, he also enjoyed a hunk of the cement brick I made out of whole wheat flour in my bread machine. My son is every mother's dream - if I make it "homemade" he thinks it's the greatest.

Anyway, I'll keep ya's posted on the house!

Finally

In 1990, I started college at the University of Buffalo. I went to orientation and the first person I befriended was a young woman named Linda Yalem. She was upbeat, athletic and we hit it off right away. We talked about running together since I was a former track runner and she was training for the New York City marathon. I've never been much of an athlete though, and as college got underway, I kind of stopped hanging out with her as much and we never ended up jogging together. Then, on September 29, 1990, while jogging alone on the bike path near the college, Linda was raped and murdered.

I felt guilt the likes of which I had never experienced before or since. If she hadn't been alone, if I had been with her, maybe... I couldn't watch TV because they kept putting her face on the screen. I couldn't go to the bathroom because the composite picture of that bastard was on the back of every stall door. (I tore quite a few of those down - counterproductive, I know, but I just couldn't bear it). Throughout the past 17 years, I have periodically searched the web to make sure her memorial run was still happening and to see whether they'd found her murderer.

My best friend from college called me today and told me that it seems they've found him. His face looks a lot like the face on those flyers and more importantly his DNA looks like a good match. I'm glad they found him, though I'm not happy that Linda was not his last victim. I'm angry now, angry like I was back then - I can't believe it's finally over. I pray that Linda's family finds closure when they put this man away. I'll be keeping my eye on the proceedings, and hope that justice is served swiftly and with the steepest penalty allowable for such a miserable, heinous crime. God bless you, Linda.

Just for Erin

I wanted to post just because Erin said she needed more wallpaper options for her desktop. I think this is one of the cutest pictures of my boys.

This week, I'd be surprised if I haven't lost 5 lbs simply for lack of eating. I've felt cruddy AND we're broke, so food in the house actually requires lengthy preparation and I just haven't felt like it. Last night we made a pretty good shrimp stir-fry, so I got some much-needed vegetables and protein in me. We discovered that jasmine rice apparently needs more water and more time in the steamer (or it stays a bit "al dente"). I also discovered that my husband, for the last few days, thought the dishes in the dishwasher were clean. (They weren't). Ewww.

Still working on a new baby blanket which is going to be for Nico since I never finished his yellow one and now the pattern for the yellow one isn't making sense so I've dropped it for now. This one is all off white, but I think I'll put a blue and brown border around it and I'm going to try and embroider a teddy bear on it. This will be my first attempt at a self-genenerated design, so it could be disastrous. Good thing he's a baby.

Oh where oh where has my litle blog gone?

I have not been posting. Mostly because I have not been walking. I had a scary moment after a long walk, and since then I've been leery of walking for fear of "overdoing it" and losing this baby. So here's the worse news: I have gestational diabetes again. I have to go in and find out just how bad it is with a three hour test, but it's not a matter of "if" I have it but "how bad" I have it. The good news is, when I went in for my first appointment (four weeks after finding out), I'd lost a pound, so at least I'm not piling on the fat. My goal is to try and gain only 15 lbs this time around.

I got to see the little bean via ultrasound this time, and everything seems fine. We've got one (thank goodness) healthy baby and our due date has changed to September 12th.

Anyway, I may start using this blog to document my gestational diabetes fight since the walking is probably going to be cut to a minimum, at least for now.

Here's a pic of the throw blanket I crocheted for my livingroom. Vinny keeps trying to confiscate it for his own room, but THAT my friends, is a battle he will not win!