superwomans crazy life

We've got a tree down!!!

2011-08-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to find this. . . . .

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Our gigantic tree that shaded most of our back yard was on the ground! Guess we're gonna need to borrow a truck and chainsaw from someone. And now, I know exactly what I'll be doing while the kids are at school on Monday. . . . .

Got it

2011-08-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I got the job, I had an interview on Monday. Which was followed immediately by a second interview and a job offer on the spot (about an hour after I got there). Providing I pass the background check and the drug test (which I'm losing sleep over, hee hee) I'll be working next week. The pay isn't awesome but the schedule works for me, I'll be working three nights a week (part time) so that will help with the bills. My calendar is filling up for September and October shows for Pampered Chef so it'll be a busy month! But, I'm hoping between the two jobs I'll be able to bring in about $2000/mo extra which will help tremendously. Even if I only do this through Christmas it ought to help a ton. I've been working with the kids and Sushiboy on teaching them how to take care of things around here because I'm gonna need some help. But, here we go. Off on a long, hard journey that will hopefully end with us doing much much better financially.

A day of tough decisions

2011-08-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

So, things have been tight around the Sushiboy household for about the last year and a half. Just when we start to think things might be getting a little better, something happens to send us right back to drowning. I have been making my Pampered Chef work but it just isn't enough. So, after a very late night last night of trying to figure out (again) how we are going to make it I made a very difficult decision. I applied for a job at Wallyworld. I want a graveyard shift. Something that I can do that will still allow me to do shows for Pampered Chef and be available for my family. Two of my kids will be in school all day this year so that helps. I'll get home from work, get kids to school and head to bed while they're at school. Hopefully I won't have to do this for long. If I can be bringing in $ with PC and $ from Wallyworld I should be able to have us mostly out of debt within about a year, perhaps sooner. I have no doubts that this will be extremely difficult but I honestly don't know what else to do. We need more money. So, here I go, stretching myself even more thin. sigh. I applied today, wish me luck.

Moosetracks

2011-08-01T08:28:00.001-07:00

We got a guinea pig a little while back. It was never healthy, it died after we had it a couple of months so we got a new guinea pig. We had decided on her when the family we were getting her from thought they better check the sex (we thought we were getting a boy) they checked the sex and sure enough, it was a girl and it was fat and it had been in with all the other guinea pigs so we took the guinea pig "at our own risk". Ha ha, yep, she kept getting fatter and fatter and this last weekend while we were at my family reunion she finally had her babies! Three survived and the runt died. They are so cute! Did you know guinea pigs are born with their eyes open and with fur and teeth? They start eating regular food a few hours after they are born. They are basically just tiny miniaturized guinea pigs. Here are some pics, so fun! By the way, does anyone want a guinea pig in 6 weeks?

New fall products

2011-07-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well, the new fall products for Pampered Chef arrived the other day. Holy cow! I got $1164 of new products! It was amazing. I put them up on my couch, it took me about a week to figure out what to do with all of them. I finally got the 4 HUGE boxes put away in my cupboards and the boxes themselves out to the recycling pile outside my door, which now looks very much like white trash live here. I need to make a trip to the paper recycling center tomorrow. But on the bright side, it came on a day that all of us needed a little pick me up. Here are some of the pictures of the day. My favorite is probably the one of all the kids digging into the boxes. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE what I do?

Garden Plenty

2011-07-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well, my garden is finally growing, I have about 10 small green tomatoes growing and I decided to try to grow tomatillos and they are growing! yeah! This morning I picked my raspberries and found some summer squash and zucchini! yeah! Last year I had a horrid garden, didn't even get zucchini. That is a bad year in the garden. Around here there is a joke that you need to lock your doors when you go to church, not because you're afraid someone might take something but because you're afraid you may end up with a car full of zucchini when you get out of church. hee hee. Looks like my neighbors may need to lock their doors this year. :) Just for fun I threw in a couple pictures of Cakes who lost her first tooth about a month back and Tank who was being very silly.

Thankful

2011-06-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look at your spouse and think "whew, he may not be perfect, but I am sure glad he is who he is!" Yep, had yet another one of those moments the other day. Sushi (and myself) have our fair share of faults, but, he is overall so wonderful I'll take a few faults as long as he'll take a few of my faults. What a lucky woman I am to have such a wonderful husband who provides for our family, thinks I am wonderful, and is a great father to our children.

It's happened.

2011-05-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

The unimaginable has happened. My house is clean, well, the parts of my house I spend time in are clean. I won't mention my cold storage, workshop or shed. But, my house is clean! That means the bedrooms, bathrooms, my office, kitchen, and living rooms are clean. This calls for a celebration! We're gonna Barbeque.

post

2011-05-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

so I suppose I should post again one of these days. For now, suffice it to say it's been a very busy, exhausting few months. Sushi graduated, I promoted to Director with Pampered Chef, I went to new Director training in Chicago, and all the rest of the normal busyness. I am also working on stepping up my business by quite a lot, I want a lot more bookings now that Sushi is home every night. Time to make my business take off so we can reach our financial goals. I'll try to put together a real post here soon, inbetween all the madness.

Yesterday. . . .

2011-04-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Sushi summed up yesterday perfectly. He came home and called me and said "so, it looks like it was an interesting day around the house?!" lol. Yep, it was. He came home to all the laundry clean but piled up in the baskets not folded, the shelf in our storage room knocked over on the floor and everything scattered around it, a hamster cage outside because the hamster was dead, and the house smelling like smoke.
I was at a show when he called so this conversation happened when I was driving to pick up the children from my parents house.
Here is how my day went. I was trying a new kind of show yesterday so I spent all day preparing for it. When I got up yesterday morning I went to our storage room and found the shelf on the floor and everything scattered. ???? yep, don't know what happened there or when it happened. I just hope the shelf is not ruined. However, my day was full so we just carefully stepped around it. The laundry? yep, my family is lucky it got washed, the goal today? fold the laundry and pick up the shelf. The hamster? Well, it died sometime within the last day or so. Not sure, it's cookie's hamster and I check on it occasionally but the responsibility falls mostly on the boy. Oh, but cookie was sooo upset. He weeped, he wailed, he told me he doesn't want any more hamsters because they die too fast and he really loved that hamster. :( Part of why we have animals is so we can learn about death, I know it sounds morbid, but, it's really part of why my children have pets. The other parts? Responsibility, and happiness, pets bring happiness.
Lastly, about the smoke smell. This is a story I need to write down because it is both tragic for the microwave and funny. :) Yesterday as I was working on preparing for the show Tank ran downstairs excitedly exclaiming "I did it! I did it!" He ran from person to person telling them this. To which we all smiled and said "Oh! good job!" lol, we should have checked to see what he did. Not too long after that I needed to go upstairs for something. I walked upstairs and smelled smoke. Shocked, I looked around for the culprit. I looked over at the microwave and saw. . . . a very black plate of nachos, with thirty five more minutes to go! I hurridly stopped the microwave and opened all doors and windows. When I tried to take the plate out of the microwave only the outside half came out and the middle stayed in the center. He had melted the plate! I grabbed my handy nylon scraper and scraped off the melted middle plate. It was so hot it melted my nylon pan scraper! Yipes! Well, tank was not thrilled that I was throwing out his nachos so I had to explain that they were yucky and made him a new plate of nachos. But I am a little shocked! The two year old made himself a plate of nachos and put them in the microwave. He just knows if you push buttons and start it will cook your food. Stinker! I also told him he needs to ask for help next time he wants nachos. I am so glad that we only paid 10 bucks for that microwave! If it was a new $200 one I would have been sick. Our experience with this (after Anna's similar experience, only with a muffin, a black, smoking muffin) is that the microwave is not long for this world. This kind of thing seems to kill the microwave for good.
So, there ya go. What a day!

Director!!!!

2011-03-31T21:43:00.000-07:00

Woot woot! I did it! I am now a director with The Pampered Chef! Yeah! I have been working so hard on this for the last year! I just submitted the last sales needed to get me to where I needed to be. I was amazed at how my friends and family stepped in to help me. At the beginning of today I was 238.02 away from the $5000 I needed for my team sales. Perhaps it was tacky but I put out a plea on facebook and what an amazing response I got! I met and exceeded the goal and now I am a director! This will help our family out so much, AND I can finally check off something on my new years resolution list!

Manna

2011-03-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

What a day today has been. It's been a roller coaster. I started off the day feeling overwhelmed, my house is soo dirty and we were having dinner guests tonight. I knew I needed to clean like crazy to be ready for them so I canceled my time at the gym. I started cleaning, and getting food ready to cook when I got a phone call. Our dinner guests had to cancel because their son had a fever. bummer. So, I lost all motivation to clean the house. whoops! We have had a rough month, earlier this month Sushi looked like he got two paychecks. I told him to check with his work and tell them they messed up. Turns out he gets a length of service bonus. We got told by his work that the extra paycheck was legit. So, we splurged a bit. Bear in mind, we NEVER would have spent the money had we known what would happen next. The next day our account was majorly overdrawn with 400 worth of stuff still left to go through. Turns out, there was a bank error, the contact at Sushi's work was too lazy to actually call payroll and just guessed that the "extra" paycheck was actually legit when it in fact wasn't. I was/am a little upset because we did all the "right" things and we still got screwed. So, I had to call my bank, stop payment on my mortgage, and transfer money from savings to checking to cover the crazy amount of stuff that was still going to be going through our account. As a consequence of this our mortgage was paid late this month. Because we didn't have the extra to cover all the extra crap. we have been extra squeaky tight this month because of this. Oh sure, we did our taxes and we are expecting a refund but it's not here yet. Today our manna arrived. The kids and I picked up the mail and in it there was a manila envelope. Cookie asked if he could open it, I told him sure, whatever. He opened it and said "Wow! Mom, there are $100 bills in here!" In shock I said what? let me see that. Sure enough, in a plain manila padded envelope with no return address, no post stamp and our address and a message printed on a printer was $1000. I have no idea who sent it to us, I have no way of knowing or finding out. All I know is that I feel incredibly blessed. That is a huge amount of money in my world. I'm shocked, I started crying like a baby. For those of you who know me you know I've very stoic and I hardly ever cry. For the rest of the afternoon whenever I thought about this I would start crying. This is literally something that will allow us to be able to pay our mortgage in April. I wish I knew who to thank. However, whoever did this probably also knows I'm very proud and even though we so badly needed this money I never would have accepted this had they written me a check or put their name on it, I would have said it was too much and too generous. So, I am thanking our angel in the only way I know how, I'm telling everyone how blessed we are in the hopes that whoever did this will know how incredibly grateful we are. Thank you so so so much, you have no idea what an answer to prayers this is. I literally feel as though we have been given manna from heaven. The windows of heaven were opened for us today.

Homemade dishwasher detergent

2011-03-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'm trying something new today, in an effort to save some money I'm trying to make homemade dishwasher detergent. I go through one of those huge cascade boxes in about a month and a half, two if I'm lucky. So, I'm trying something new. I got the recipe at this website http://diynatural.com/simple-effective-jabs-homemade-dishwasher-detergent-rinse-agent/ and I'm gonna go mix it up right now. I'll let you know how it works, it took me about 14.00 to buy the ingredients for this and that will make multiple batches.
Also, an update on the microwave, went to our local classifieds and found a used one for $20 that is here in a town about 10 minutes south of us. I'm gonna go check it out tonight. I know, it only took me one day. What can I say, I'm sick of teaching the old dogs new tricks. :)

UPDATE- got the microwave for $10, can't beat that, it's hilarious, the kids are so happy to have one again they keep finding uses for it. lol.

RIP Microwave

2011-03-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

well, dangit, the microwave died yesterday. My diffuser died saturday, so many of the things we own are limping along. Sigh. Maybe we'll be blessed with a "new" microwave from someone who takes pity on us. We are broke, not a little broke, completely and totally broke. sigh. I know time will fix all things. And we need to focus on what is important, not on things. But, it is a little discouraging to see so much that needs to be fixed and not be able to do anything about it. But, on the bright side my wonderful brother, Elder S is going into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) this afternoon and from there to the Columbus Ohio mission. I know he is going to be a phenomenal missionary. Most the time you get these boys who have lived squeaky clean lives who go on missions (don't get me wrong, that is a wonderful thing and definitely preferable to the alternative, but, most of us are not squeaky clean). Elder S has experienced the power of the atonement and has chosen to turn his life around. And I'm very, very proud of him. He is such an amazing person and he will be an amazing missionary.

Tax Return

2011-03-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Finally, I figured them out. Our silly, difficult, complicated taxes. Whew! It's done. We are getting a nice return, too bad it'll be in our account for about a day before it's shipped off to pay off the furnace! At least that will be done. :)

Update

2011-03-15T16:42:00.001-07:00

Well, I thought I would give an update today. I had a doctors appointment today, I went to an Chinese acupuncturist/herb doctor that I went to before I had Tank and he helped me with my infertility then.
Let's rewind a bit here. When I went to the regular OB's the other day she told me I didn't fit any profile but that something was definitely wrong. She put me on metformin for the insulin resistance she thinks I have and was really strongly pushing for me to be done with my family and to just go on birth control. I have a problem with that. First, it's not her decision, second, hormonal birth control is terrible for me. I gain weight, I get moody, I break out, it is NOT a good option for me. The one good thing she said is that yes, for how hard and how often I work out I should not have a problem losing weight. So, I immediately felt prompted to go back to the acupuncturist. However, I saw no way for us to afford him. He's not covered by conventional health insurance and it gets expensive quickly. Defeated, I talked to many people who had gone through what I had gone through and they told me to just go on the birth control for a few months and then go off it and I should be able to conceive and move on. I was telling my mother this and she immediately offered to pay for the acupuncturist. Did I mention I have an awesome mother? Well, I do. I finally went to him today. Whew, one of the expenses is the time and gas it takes to get up and back from Salt Lake! It basically takes an entire afternoon. He gave me some Herbs and I started taking them. He agreed that taking the metformin was a good move and that with my history taking birth control pills was a very bad option. So, for the next little while I get to take yucky herbs but hopefully it'll lead to a great outcome! I hope to finally lose the weight I have been holding onto for the last 10 years and get to a healthy weight. According to the BMI I am obese. According to BMI I need to lose 50 lbs. While I think that is crap, I do believe that I do have about 20-30 lbs. to lose. So, wish me luck it's a long journey ahead of me, hopefully with the right medicines my body will heal itself and the hormonal imbalances will right themselves because I really do believe that is the root of the problem.

Ole' Swampy

2011-02-27T09:06:00.000-08:00

I thought I should put a happy post up. Lately my blog has been a sounding board for my many problems and I thought something fun would be great.

I bought a book called "Hello cupcake!" a couple of years ago. I love it. It has adorable cupcakes decorated in ways that anyone can do. They use candy and simple frosting techniques and it's so fun. I don't pull it out often because I am often very busy. But, we are having a get together with one of my friends today and so it was the perfect excuse to make something out of the book. I also made my "surprise pupcakes" with it. They are chocolate cupcakes with a surprise baked into the middle. Cream cheese and chocolate chips! yum! So, it should be fun tonight, I love excuses to make fun things for my family.

A Bit of a personal question-updated

2011-02-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

I want to ask some advice from some of you but it's a bit of a personal question. I think I am having ovarian cysts. Has anyone ever dealt with this? I would swear I'm pregant, I have all the symptoms, nausea, tired, soreness, all that. But, I know I'm not. I haven't missed a period, in fact they seem to drag out a little longer than normal. I've been sore and tender on my right side, so much so that I had to take 800 mg of ibuprofen to make it through the day on wednesday. It's just a constant dull, painful ache, in the same place. The pain seems to be worse the week after my period ends. I've looked it up, cysts fit the symptoms. Sigh. I'll probably head to the Dr's here soon. I called Sushi's insurance and asked them to send us some cards and info on our plan. The fact I had to call them is a post for another day. So, any experience? Words of wisdom? Anything to help?

Updated- just back from the Dr's. sigh. No answers and just lots of not good guesses. I've never been so strongly urged to go on birth control and so strongly challenged on whether or not I should have more kids. Too bad we want to add to our family. I'm a puzzle. I don't fit into any diagnosis. They are guessing, either Endometriosis or PCOS again. Because delving into endometriosis is such a costly affair we are going after the PCOS thing. They have put me on metformin again. It was nice to hear that no, I'm not crazy. I work out an hour and a half a day five days a week and I eat healthy but I can't lose weight. She agreed that with as much as I'm doing I should just be able to shed weight right and left. sigh. We'll see how the metformin goes. The good news is it doesn't look at all like cysts. I'm a little sad and a little defeated. A day to think and ponder will do me some good.

Happy Valentines day!

2011-02-14T10:16:00.001-08:00

I suppose I should say it. Although, to be honest with you I kind of feel like Valentines Day is the over rated holiday. Don't get me wrong. I love any excuse for chocolate and flowers but I want them to come to me spontaneously, not because my husband is afraid he'll be in the doghouse if he doesn't bring them to me. The things I value have to do with time. Quality time. Time he spent really thinking about me, and what he can do FOR me. One of my favorite gifts he's given me (repeatedly because I like it so much) is a playlist on my ipod. I love that he took the time to find music I like or music he likes that he thinks I will like and put it together for me. It's simply something I don't have time and patience for. I listen to them over and over and over. It also makes me feel like we're in high school or Junior High and he just made me a mixed tape. The feeling makes me giggle! I also love a heartfelt card. But it always means more when he just surprises me and gives these things to me for no reason at all other than that he loves me. We do celebrate Valentines Day, but we NEVER go out on Valentines day and I never expect flowers ON Valentines Day. Often those things are done a week before or a week after. What we usually do? I make a fun dinner for us on Valentines Day and we exchange cards with truly heartfelt words. Tonight we are having heart shaped BBQ chicken pizzas because that is what the kids requested. :) What do you think, am I too practical and not romantic enough? What are your Valentines traditions?

And the drama continues but I do believe it's coming to an end.

2011-02-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

I hope. I hope the drama of the washer has come to an end. At least for a little while. It's dead, it's gone. $120 worth of knowledge later, it's dead. sigh. I got 13 years of use out of it. It got moved 6 times, lived through roomates, and it did 10-12 loads of laundry a week near the end of it's life. I guess I got my $300 out of it. That's how much I paid for it 13 years ago. Now? For the one I want? $1000. eeps! That is certainly not in the budget for now. Our manna from heaven? The free washer our good friend is giving to us for free. It'll last for a little while and once it dies we'll either be able to buy the new one I want or we'll get a refurbished one for a couple hundred dollars. Sigh, I am slightly ticked about the $120 we spent to "fix" the old washer, however, I gained so much knowledge! More than I ever wanted to know about washers. The good news? I now know how to fix a washer early on.

Today is insanity. I have to go to the laundromat early this morning, then I have visiting teaching at one, a dr's appointment at 1:45 and I need to close a show and make treats for team meeting tomorrow, read/plan my part for team meeting tomorrow, clean my car because I'm carpooling and my car is a freaking pig pen, and print/mail receipts for another host. I think I'll combine my studying for visting teaching and team meeting into the laundromat stuff. I'll just be sitting there for a couple of hours. I may as well accomplish something.

A DATE!!!!

2011-02-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

It's a very rare occurance here at the sushi boy household. But, because sushiboy was so awesome at his company christmas party we won some gift certificates. I'm so excited I can't stand it. We're going to go see "The Foreigner" here at a local play house and then we're going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Now I just need to get the house picked up so that sushi's sister and brother in law who graciously agreed to babysit don't think we're total slobs. :P Oh, and I need to make myself look pretty, that takes some time. I'm not what you call a natural beauty. It takes a little work here! :) I'll update later about how it was!

Update: What a night! We went and saw "The Foreigner", it was hilarious! We laughed to hard! After that we were planning on going to Texas Roadhouse but when we got there at 5:30 there was an HOUR AND A HALF wait. We were hungry, Peanuts just weren't going to tide us over. :) So, I had brought our other gift cards we had gotten and we decided to go try La Jolla Groves. We called over there and there was NO WAIT. It was awesome. Our friend put it this way "I forgot it was winter for a minute!" I did too. The ambiance was wonderful. They had these fake lemon trees covering the ceiling everywhere so it felt like we were eating in a lemon grove. The food! Oh! The food! They pride themselves on using local produce and only vine ripened tomatoes. I don't know how they did it but they were fabulous. It made me wish it was July and I could go eat tomatoes out of my garden. My mouth literally starts watering when I think about it. They served these fantastic rolls- some were a honey white, honey wheat, pesto and sundried tomatoe. Our table literally ate three bowls of them. They were awesome. We got a caprese salad that was so so so good for an appetizer and then Sushi got a fantastic steak sandwich ( I even had a bite and it was good, that's saying something, I don't care for beef. It had a fabulous balsalmic vinegar flavor to it) and I got some awesome chicken marsala. I have a major weakness for chicken marsala. This was fantastic. It was served on a slice of potatoes au-gratin but these are NOT your mother's au-gratin potatoes. I think they had marsapone cheese. They were so good. There was also some fantastic pan fried butternut squash. On our way out we decided to visit the little sweet shop they had in the restaurant. They sell those fabulous rolls and everything in the dessert display was 50% off so we got two slices of turtle cheesecake to share with my sister in law and brother in law. So fun, it was a very long, well needed date. Sushi and I replied we felt so relaxed and it was so fun!

And in answer to Leslie- you are too kind. I often look at those pictures of stars without makeup and think "hey! That's what I look like without makeup!" It's alright, I just know that to look my best I have to work a little at it. It cracks me up how surprised people are who usually see me without makeup when they see me made up. They literally say "wow! you look so pretty!" To which I reply "It's amazing what a little mascara will do for a girl, huh?!" ;)

Enjoy the moment

2011-02-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

I'm trying. . . . I really am. . . . but right now when all the children are insisting on being within a 2 foot circle of where I am at all times I'm struggling to enjoy the moment. Mom needs some personal space!!!!!

And the saga continues

2011-01-31T08:19:00.000-08:00

The washer. Wow. I have learned more than I ever wanted to learn about washers. There is one more part that I ordered this morning that should hopefully fix the darn thing. We've spent about $120.00 on parts for the silly thing. I'm trying to take a positive attitude and be thankful for the knowledge I've gained. Sigh. I wish we had about $1000, there is a super cool super capacity, super energy efficient washer from LG that I want. Oh well. Hopefully my knowledge will help our washer work for another 5-10 more years. I AM grateful for the self sufficiency I have gained. I can do something most people don't know how to do. :) It's amazing what necessity will create. Oh, the picture above? The washer I want, but can not get. :(

Long, rough week

2011-01-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

Whew, what a week. Sushi was sick all last week. Because he is working with a contractor he doesn't get sick days. He was sick all week. I think he went to work one day. What does this mean to us? Basically no paycheck this week. NOT GOOD. To top things off, my washer finally stopped working yesterday. AWESOME. NO money and a broken washer. A washer is not something we can go without at this house. I do 10-12 loads a week. It's insanity. And I have the super capacity washer. I did some research, we went to the clearance outlet. yipes! The last time I bought a washer was about 13 years ago when I was single. They are so expensive! We know we don't want a front loader so that isn't a problem, but even a top loader is a lot. The best price we could find for a new one that has a large capacity was $318 and it is a brand we've never heard of. An estate. I looked it up, it's basically a whirlpool, just not called a whirlpool. There was a Whirlpool at the clearance center with a big scratch on the lid for $369. Before we jumped into a new one I thought I would give fixing it a try. Thank goodness for videos on the internet! I was able to fix the two most likely reasons for the washer not spinning. That cost about $48. I went to reassemble the washer and looks like I am missing a c-clamp that holds the brake cam driver in place. Kind of an essential part. I had to special order it. That was another $7. Now I have to wait until friday to get the c-clamp and then I can reassemble the washer and hopefully it'll be fixed. I really hope we didn't just spend $60 we don't really have on something that didn't fix the washer. I guess if the $60 doesn't fix it we'll buy a new washer. Our local store has a 90 days no interest program that we'll use. I should be able to pay it off with Pampered Chef by then. Sigh. I can't wait until we are doing better financially. I hate the constant worry. :(

Pampered Chef

2011-01-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry about my extended absence. I have been busy! I am so excited about this year with Pampered Chef. I mentioned in my last post that Pampered Chef had changed their requirements for directorship. Woot! They are requirements I already meet most of the time. This makes me happy.
I am so excited about the incentive trip they announced this year though. For the first time, they are making it so that not only can I go on a cruise in April 2012, I also get a chance to earn a trip to New Orleans this coming November! Woot! So, needless to say I am motivated, Sushi and I haven't been on a real vacation for years. We are long overdue. I jokingly said to my friend that it would be awesome to earn this trip because then Sushi and I could spend some time together and pretend to be married again. She cracked me up, she told me to be careful or "I might end up pregnant." Little does she know we would be fine with that. Tank is two now, another baby would be great. We feel like there is at least one more to come to our family. So, I have been working hard to get at least 8-10 shows a month because I need a vacation! And a free vacation is even better. :)

Resolutions. . . . . .

2011-01-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again. I don't even want to think about my resolutions from last year. It's just too dang depressing. NOT ONE ACCOMPLISHED. sigh. . . .

To be fair it was a rather stinky, difficult year here at the Sushiboy household. We had high plans and hopes for the year that were quickly dashed by Sushi's layoff around the beginning of January. It was rough but I think we handled things the right way. The first thing we did was take all our credit cards and put them in a sealed envelope. The next thing we did was call all said card companies and applied for financial hardship. We did NOT give up on Sushi going to school. For that I am particularly proud. Now we're down to 16 weeks this coming friday until he graduates. woot! :) We also contacted our Bishop and let him know what had happened and that we were going to need some financial help for a little while. I don't know what we would have done without the help of our ward. Food orders, help with utilities even help with our mortgage one month. I am so so greatful for the blessings of the Church welfare system. And I have gained such a testimony of the fast offerings and how they help so many people. Thankfully we only needed their help for a few months and then Sushi found a job that worked around his school schedule and paid basically the same as his last job. The good news is he is in such a better place. He is appreciated and liked at this job and that is priceless. When Sushi was layed off we asked my Father to give him a blessing. In the blessing we were told we had just been handed a great blessing. Looking back on this last year I can see how it was a great blessing. I have gained an even greater testimony of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. I know that our lives are watched over and guided by a loving, kind Father in Heaven. Our needs were met. What a blessing. Sushi and I are finally on the same page as to what needs to happen with our finances. That is a great blessing as well. So my resolutions this year are going to be a little less rigid and a little more spiritual. I hope those of you who are not religious who read my blog will forgive me.

1- Read my scriptures every day. Not only as a family but individually as well. This is something I have struggled with for a while. I know I should do it, I just seem to let other things in my life get in the way. I need to make the time for this. I make time for everything else.

2- along the same token, say my prayers morning AND night and say family prayers. I'm awesome about the night time thing, not so great about the morning thing. My children can wait a few minutes while I say my prayers. :) I'm sure I'll be a much more patient, kind mother if I do this.

3- go to they gym at least 3 times a week. I'm done trying to put a number that I will lose. Apparently my body has decided that it will be impossible to lose weight so I'm just going for healthy. If I happen to lose a few lb's along the way that would be awesome.

4- Promote to director with Pampered Chef. I KNOW this will happen this year. Pampered Chef changed their career plan putting the control back in my hands and I am stoked. I CAN do this. The things that were stopping me before were things that were out of my hands I'm already meeting the guidelines that will be coming out so I know it's possible.

5-continue to not use those cards and pay those suckers off. The sooner they're gone, the better off we'll be.

I think that is it. That's enough I think! I hope you have some awesome resolutions for yourself! Tell me what they are!

Awesome.

2010-12-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

I don't take a whole lot of stock in horoscopes but I'll take this one. :) This last year has been a tough one, I'm ready for some good!

Year 2011 Overview

Just when you thought that life couldn't possibly throw any more twists or turns along life's once tedious path, along comes the unpredictable but exhilarating energy of 2011 (operative word being 'exhilarating'). Partnerships continue to confront you with your deepest needs and fears but your career shows incredible promise and renewal. You receive the lucky touch of Jupiter from January to June. Expect major expansion and recognition on all fronts.

Promotions, opportunities to expand your social world and work-related travel are all potential gifts when the wheel of fortune spins in your favor for the first half of the year. The second half of 2011 brings a spectacular slew of new friends, alliances and networking opportunities when Jupiter moves into your house of dreams, goals and community. Venus showers you with extra doses of love and cash for the month of July, just in time for your birthday. And Mars brings the action, energy and work in August and early September.

Get ready to jet set this spring and/or summer when the planet of glamour enters your long-distance travel sector this April. Your homebody instincts give way to the lure of travel and adventure in 2011. Fall and winter bring the return of dreamy Neptune to your sector of transformation for one last jaunt between August and 2012.

Sushi's horoscope, another good one. lol. ;)

Year 2011 Overview

Your legendary tenacity and patience is truly about to pay off in spades this year Taurus. After a long and arduous 12 years, your luck is returning with a fabulous vengeance. Jupiter, the planet of large-scale fortune enters your sturdy stars this June for an extended stint taking you right into 2012 in excellent standing. Never has it felt so easy to let go of comfort zones and move into unknown territory with such confidence and gusto. Even the most cautious and conservative of bulls can easily see that the rewards far outweigh the risk this year. Push the envelope, raise the bar and go for the biggest stakes your loyal heart can fathom.

You're a florid channel of original ideas this spring when six planets line up in your unconscious sector of dreams and inspiration right around your birthday. Ready yourself for what becomes a turbo-charged imagination to keep you up at night with more genius schemes than there is time to humanly handle. Your brain will feel like a non-stop idea factory that refuses to rest, so you'll need extra time in nature or at the gym to remain relatively grounded.

Unexpected social encounters and fabulous new friendships flourish throughout the year with special highlights occurring in March and April when Mars powers up your friendship sector. May and June are stellar months for dating and mating with all around good times to be had in general compliments of Venus in Taurus. You've got your mind on your money and your money on your mind all summer with Venus and Mars emphasizing your financial sector. Make your money in June and July while the getting is good and save the leisure rewards for August when you can kick back guilt-free.

Terrible nightmare.

2010-12-30T04:03:00.000-08:00

It's 4:45am. I just woke up from a terrible, vivid nightmare. My kids and I were on our way home from a visit to Mexico, Sushi wasn't with us. We stopped at the border, there was a terrible border agent who was ripping my car apart and generally causing problems. I was forced to go inside the agents building and when I came out, my van and my kids were gone. Gone. From there on out it just got more terrifying. The kidnappers kept taunting me with 2 dozen red roses and notes where they were obviously tracking down the rest of my family. The local help wouldn't do anything and I was stuck on the mexico side because now I didn't have any of my paperwork. I couldn't even get to the US side to ask for their help. It was horrible. It was vivid. I remember the buildings, the freeway, the color of the red, red roses, the green grass. I now know two things. One, I will never, ever go to mexico and Two, I never should have read that terrible article about Juarez Mexico and how it is a dying town.

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well, this is probably it. The next few days are madness. Madness I tell ya! So, from the sushiboy household to yours, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! And safe travels for you all. :)

Running away. . . . .

2010-12-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who wants to just run away sometimes? You know. Run away from the stress, run away from sticky fingers and the mayhem that ensues. Run away from bills. Run away from responsibility. Run away from making dinner. You get the idea.

Right now I need my own little mini vaca. One that I don't have to do laundry before and after for. One that I don't have to pack 5 people for. One that I have endless money for. sigh.

I think I'm a little worn out. I have been sick now for two straight weeks. The rub? It's not going to get better. Yep, finals are over for Sushi. Does that mean a break for me? NOPE. Sushi is even more exhausted than me. I honestly don't know how he is still moving. So, now he gets to sleep and take it easy. But me, nope. I still get to wrap presents. Plan going to the lights on Temple Square. Plan the insane Christmas weekend. And I am tired. I don't care anymore. But, if I don't do it, no one will.

I know what I need. I need a wife.

Updated- I feel much better now after a good nights sleep last night. I actually got my house clean. The only thing left is to mop the floors and to clean the downstairs bathroom. I still have too much to do but it's amazing what a good nights sleep will do. That and I finally am starting to feel better from this stupid cold/flu? Anywho. Thanks for being such a good sounding board! It's nice to know I'm not alone in my feelings of desperation this time of year. :)

Sushi's work party

2010-12-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

What a great party! We had so much fun. It has been so long since we went on an actual date. No kids, we got dressed up, enjoyed great food and great company. His work party this year was at the Zermatt Resort in Midway. What a beautiful place! I was telling him this would be a fun place to live and spend lots of money. ;) We had an awesome dinner then his work had made teams from all the departments and they played minute to win it and it was hilarious. Sushi's dept won and Sushi won his event so we made off like bandits. He won a gift basket that had tickets to the Hale Centre Theatre and a gift card to a new restaurant and a whole lot of candy. Stocking stuffers are now done. He also won a $40 GC to Texas roadhouse. So, the way we see it is that we won two more dates!
The greatest part of this weekend though is that the kids ended up staying the night with family because we knew it was going to be such a late night and I have my Pampered Chef Team Party tonight. So, I slept in until. . . . are you ready for this. . . . . haven't done this since I was single. . . . . 11am. Yes. 11AM. I'm always up by 7am at the latest. I really needed the sleep though. I have been battling a terrible cold all week. For the first time in 9 days I woke up with out a sore throat today. I'm a little stuffy and congested but I feel a whole lot better than I did.
The rest of the afternoon is kind of a bummer. Because I have been sitting in bed for the last three days my house is trashed. filthy. disgusting. I would say I can't believe I let it get this bad but that is not true. Letting an 8,6 and 2 year old run wild for 3 days will do this to anyones house. So, while I had plans originally of working on Cake's stocking, looks like those plans have changed to clean the freakin' pig pen. I'll work on the stocking after church tomorrow. :)
This evening ought to be fun though. We are going to take some product to a customer, go to costco and get nuts and a bag of candy for stockings, and then go to my Pampered Chef Team Party. More good food and great company! After that the fairy tale ends and we have to go pick up our kids.
How was your weekend?

Gravity

2010-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Poor Tank learned about gravity today when he fell down into a window well and landed on his head. Right in time for his second birthday tomorrow. :( Poor kid.

woot! Christmas shopping is basically done.

2010-11-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

Yep, you read right. I just pushed the button on Amazon today. Almost everything is bought.
I'm a bit of a freak. I start shopping in September and try to be done by the beginning of December. I HATE crowds. I avoid all busy places in December. I avoid Walmart, and even the grocery store if I can. There are a few stocking stuffer things to get and Sushi has got some Black Friday shopping to do for me but, pretty much done.
And it feels great. :)

Asthmatic

2010-11-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

ugh, I have been feeling asthmatic for the last week and a half. Do I go to the doctors or just use Cookie's inhaler? It sure would be nice to be able to breath and not cough and feel like my lungs actually got full.

Fall wedding

2010-11-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my beautiful younger sisters wedding. What does this mean for us? A VERY EARLY morning. I have to be up by about 5:30 so we can all leave my 7:30 at the latest so we can be to the Salt Lake Temple by 9:00am. Oh, but the fun doesn't stop there friends. Then we get to wrestle with three kids through pictures, a luncheon, and a reception. All together now. yeah. I am happy for her, she is truly marrying a very nice guy and she seems very happy. It's just not nearly as fun to go to weddings when you have kids. I dread taking my kids to wedding receptions. But a whole day with expecting my kids to behave well? Nearly impossible. Add to this that my brother already thinks my kids are devil spawn and that I'm "just not tough enough on them" and we are sure to have a super time. Oh well, I love her I'm excited for her. I'm so glad she found a nice guy and will be able to be sealed for all eternity to him. I just need a better attitude STAT. Hopefully a good nights sleep will solve that problem! Off to bed I go.

Update: The wedding was great. The weather was beautiful, my children were not devil spawn, just a little naughty from time to time. The reception was CRAZY, I got put in charge of food so I was running like a crazy lady. I am so thankful for my awesome brothers and sisters who jumped in wherever they were needed. My brother was in good spirits and we actually had some positive interaction with him. The low point of the evening was when I got asked when I was due. I guess all my hard work at the gym isn't really paying off. :( But, it was a beautiful day, beautiful reception, and good family times.

six months and counting. . . .

2010-11-02T08:42:00.001-07:00

Sushi informed me the other day that he only has six months left of school! Woot! It has seemed like such a long journey. But, at this point, after him going to school for the last three and a half years we can handle almost anything for six months! lol. He is walking on his birthday which is about the best birthday present ever. I am so proud of him and how well he has done while working full time, being a father to our children, holding a church calling and going to school part time. I truly don't know how he does it. I would collapse from exhaustion if I was him. I am so glad he has done it. We will be in so much a better place with the current economy once he graduates. When we started we told ourselves no matter what in four years four years will have passed. We may as well get this done and be in a better place. It's looking like that is the way it's going to be. I am so proud of Sushiboy. What a great husband he is!

The beginning/end of the month crunch

2010-11-01T08:28:00.001-07:00

sigh, just looked at our account. So much is due the beginning/end of the month. I hate that. Good thing Sushi's paycheck comes in tomorrow. That is all.

Clean clothes

2010-10-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

why is it that no matter what, mothers are not allowed to have clean clothes? Here's a prime example. I was supposed to have a show this afternoon. I do some things around the house in my grubby clothes. They stayed clean. About an hour before I need to leave for my show I hop in the shower, and get my clothes on I was going to wear to the show. I finally get a hold of my host and we reschedule. (Not a huge surprise, I hadn't been able to get a hold of her all week, a very bad sign when the host doesn't call you back) Tank comes down, while I am on the phone he informs me he wants to sit on my lap. I pick him up. He has a sippy cup. . . . with grape soda. (The kid is sick and I just want him drinking all the fluids I can) He proceedes to tip the sippy cup over and pour grape soda all over my newly put on, one of three or four nice outfits. Sigh. I take it off, I'm doing laundry anyways so I just add the shirt to the laundry pile. I was able to salvage the pants I was wearing. Until I went to wash the sheets on our bed. As I am putting bleach in the washer the bleach drips down the side of the bottle and onto my one of two pairs of nice slacks. Sigh. I hurridly strip them off of me and put them in the running washer water. I think the disaster has been averted. I don't see a huge bleach stain on my gray pants yet so I think they'll be fine. But, here I am on outfit #3 (grubbys again) and I haven't left the house. No wonder I don't own nice clothes. The ones I do have seem to have a "ruin me" magnet on them. :)

My not so proud moment

2010-10-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

Sooo, my ward did it's primary program today. I am the primary chorister. It's also fall break. Our normally small primary (mabey 25 kids come every week, if we're lucky) had about 15 kids there. The kids got up to sing and . . . . . . . even though I was in the second row of the chapel I could NOT hear them. I put my hand to my ear to indicate the kids need to sing louder. I still could barely hear them. Enter my proud moment. I look over at Cookie. You know the oldest of my darling children. He is pulling faces and obviously NOT singing. This is in front of the entire ward. ugh. Top this off with the fact that Sushi had to take Tank out to the foyer because he was being such a monster. I look at cookie and give him "the look". You know, the one that should strike fear into your childrens hearts. He looks at me. . . . . and grins. . . . then continues to pull faces. My blood pressure went up about 20 points. We get through the program and Sushi comes back in and says to cookie "good job buddy" and gives him knuckles. Granted, sushi was not there, he didn't see the faces. I look at him and say "actually, he was quite terrible. I think he may have lost privileges for the day". That time the look worked. Poor sushi says "oh, I'm sorry, I thought I could hear him singing." "Nope, I reply, he was awful". So, the rest of church happens and cookie and cakes rode home with Sushi from church. Sushi gets out of his car when we get home trying his hardest not to laugh. I ask him what happened. He says "I asked cookie about the program. He said he didn't like some of the songs and didn't want to sing them and he couldn't help himself." Heh, I waited to calm down, talked to cookie about it and he has indeed lost video game privileges for the day. He appears to have learned a lesson. Lets see if he can "help himself" next time.

Cookie's baptism

2010-10-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

I need to write down my feelings from yesterday before I forget them. My darling oldest son Cookie was baptised yesterday. What an amazing day and what an amazing kid. We have been teaching him and looking forward to this day for the last eight years. I am so proud of his decision to be baptised. He planned his program and told me who he wanted to speak and who he wanted to have say prayers, and what songs he wanted us to sing for the program. Here was the program

Opening song- When I am baptised
Opening prayer- Grandma F
Talk on baptism- Superwoman

Cookie is baptised by Sushiboy

Talk on the Holy Ghost- Uncle S

Cookie is confirmed by Sushiboy

Closing song- The Holy Ghost
Closing Prayer- Grandpa H

I was so proud of Sushiboy being worthy to be able to baptise and confirm Cookie. I was so impressed by my brother (Uncle S) and his talk on the Holy Ghost. I have always had faith in Uncle S, even through the difficult times he has gone through with substance abuse and some of the decisions he has made when he knows better. I have always seen what an amazing person he is in spite of some of his decisions. His talk on the Holy Ghost brought tears to everyone's eyes. It was so heartfelt and sincere. He warned Cookie that there have been times that he has not been able to feel the Holy Ghost and those were the worst times of his life. He urged Cookie to always strive to be worthy to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. He jokingly said there are not too many things he can remember because he has been hit in the head too many times but he clearly remembers his baptism. I love my brother. I think he is such an amazing person. When he gets married he is going to be an amazing father and husband. His next step is to be an amazing missionary. He is getting closer. Today he is going to be ordained an Elder. I am so proud of him.

I am also so proud of Cookie. What a great boy he is and what a great man he will be. What a wonderful day.

Tank

2010-10-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are my facebook friends, I posted two video's of Tank talking. I'm not going to post them here as I use real names on the video. So, if you're my friend and you want to see and hear Tank talking, head on over to facesbook.

Ghossts

2010-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

heh, ghosts from my past that is. On facebook I had some drama a few months ago. Not sure if you remember it so I'll refresh your memory. ;) Here's the background. Before Sushiboy I dated a lot of boys. Thankfully I chose the right one. This is a story about one of the wrong ones. humm, we'll call him running man. Here's the long and short, we were in college, we met at a college dance, and started dating. He was really handsome, short, but handsome. But, a few months into our relationship he suddenly didn't want to sit by me or touch me, or anything like that. We broke up. I moved on. Got engaged to a total idiot who I thankfully didn't marry and when idiot and I got unengaged running man almost immediately got back in touch with me. Apparently, he had been keeping tabs on me. We got back together, but after just a few weeks of dating, he brought up marriage to me. I was not at all looking to get married. I had just ended an engagement for heavens sake. Not at all in my radar. So, this time I broke up with him and I moved on. Met Sushiboy eventually and we have been happily together now for the last eleven years.

About a year or so ago I got a friend request from running man. I hesitated, I thought over it for a few weeks. I'm a little old fashioned in that I believe it's best to be very guarded with members of the opposite sex. You can be friends with them, it's just best not to be "BFF's". I think that is the way a lot of affairs start. Some things you don't share with the opposite sex. I checked his profile and saw he was married which helped me make my decision to allow him to be my friend. I figured if he tried to strike up some kind of close friendship I would just unfriend him. I really had no interest in him or in his life. But, I didn't want to be a jerk either so I accepted his friendship.

Fast forward to about 6 months ago. One day, I go to check my facebook page. I see a message from someone I don't know. Cautiously, I opened it. It was some woman chewing me out for being "rude". Confused, I replied. "I'm not really sure who you are and how I was rude but whatever I did I apologize." She then told me she had told her husband (running man) to talk to me and that I had told him to leave me alone. I told her that I had never talked to her husband and perhaps she had me confused with someone else. She then told me I needed to get over myself because I was not all that and that I lost a great man and I was a total loser. Confused again I told her I promise I never chatted with your husband, I've never said I was all that and mabey one of my kids was on my profile. I tell them not to talk to people if chat's come up. She then told me "whatever, you know what you did and don't worry he "unfriended" you anyways, you're not worth his time." Of course I was HEARTBROKEN (sarcasm) over him unfriending me. But, to avoid future chewing out I thought I better ask my kids if something had happened. hee hee. Here's what happened. Running man tried to chat with me. Cookie replied "can't I be alone?". And running man and his wife went into a tissy. I told her what had happened, told him what had happened because I figured with a wife like that she wouldn't tell him what had happened. And that has become my cautionary tale about facebook.

Today, he again asked to be my friend. I think this falls into the "not only no, but hell no" category. I don't need the drama, I don't need to be abused and called names by his wife if I accidently "hurt his feelbads", and I really want nothing to do with him.

Here's my question to you, what do you think? Am I making the right decision? Because I think some ghosts are better left buried.

I'm crazy. . . . .

2010-09-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

well, it's official, I'm crazy. "Why now" do you ask???? I'm attempting something I've never attempted before. Starting tomorrow I am going to. . . . . . .

bum, bum, bum, bum. . . .

start potty training Tank. The reason I'm crazy???? I've never potty trained a kid so young. But, the kid is showing all the signs, so, what do ya do??? He's 21 1/2 months but asking me to put him on the toilet already and telling me when he is stinky and asking me to change him. So, we'll see what happens.

I really hate potty training. I think it's the worst job for a parent. It requires all the patience I have. But, this is a slow week for Pampered Chef so I'm canceling all my appointments at the gym for the week, buying the boy some tiny little underwear and giving it a try. Wish me luck! Wouldn't it be wonderful if it worked? No more diapers!

Newfound independence. . .

2010-09-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

I suddenly have two very independent children. Cookie decided he didn't need me on the first day of school, and Cakes today stopped me at the doors of her school. "Stop, Mommy" she said, standing at the door. "I can go from here all by myself." Of course I know as soon as she gets home from school today she will need me to do about 5000 things for her but my question is this. When did I get such great, independent kids! I have been working on it for the last 8 years and I suppose it's finally paid off. But it is amazing to me that it has all happened within a few weeks.

In other news, Cookie turns 8 today!!!!! 8 years ago today I was in labor ***still***, and I was exhausted. I was in induced labor with that kid for 24 hours, no epidural, just pain. I never dilated past a 1. So, thankfully, they decided to do a C-section that evening. I am so proud of the great kid he is. He is kind and fun, and very, very smart. Today is his first day at scouts. He is so excited for that he almost can't stand it. His actual birthday party is on Friday and we had our family going out to dinner tradition on Saturday so today is basically a "happy birthday, we love you day". The fun will follow.

Today. . . He didn't need me

2010-08-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Today was cookies first day of second grade. Other than getting him TO school, he really didn't need me. We walked him to his class, he said bye and he was gone. I have to admit for a few seconds I was sad that he didn't need me anymore. And then it was over. How proud I am that I have taught him to be so independent! I just hope he remembers from time to time that it is nice to have other people around. ;)

Hug your kids a little tighter today

2010-08-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints you may or may not be aware that during our main church meeting (sacrament meeting) we don't hear from a Preacher, we hear from other members who prepare talks on specific topics. Today was a hard one to hear. We had a couple come from another ward (a group of members who meet together) and they gave such a heart wrenching talk. Their point was that our trials will become sacred as they lead us closer to God. Their message, unimaginable. The spoke about how three years ago they lost their sweet three year old daughter to drowning at Lake Powell. My heart broke to hear them speak, I wanted to grab my children and hug them tighter and tighter. However, through the atonement of Jesus Christ they were/are able to come through the darkness and pain of losing their daughter at such a young age. They have been able to draw closer to God by trusting in Him. They appear to be the "perfect family", they are both thin, attractive people, they seem to have plenty of money, they have a beautiful family. I have to admit that when I saw them on the stand before I heard them speak I had some unkind thoughts. (I do have a little jealous green monster in here, I just try to hide him away) How humbled I was. What amazing people, how well they are handling such a difficult trial. I can not imagine losing one of my children, I only hope I would handle it in such a way if the unimaginable happened. If you want to read their blog it is www.binksfamilyblog.com. If you want to read their story click on the link at the top of the page titled nightmare/miracle/blessing (Kamberlie). I must warn you though, be prepared with a few tissues. I think the lesson I learned (again) today is you can never judge a book by it's cover. What an amazing family.

Aaaand, we're back

2010-08-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

well, I'm back. One day we figured out the mileage and it was closer to 35 miles than 50 miles but I figure with all the backtracking and such, we're closer to 40 miles in 6 days. After a good nights sleep and a long hot shower my feet still hurt but most everything else is fine. Other than I'm really, really hungry, huh, you would think we burned tons of calories. ;) So, here we go, a quick recap of the 6 days, even with a quick recap it may get a little long. .
Day 1- We arrive at Grand Teton National Park, get our packs ready, finish the lunch my parents had prepared of apples and cheese, get one car at the beginning of the hike and one car at the end of the hike, and go. We started at a place called Death Canyon Trailhead. Gives you lots of confidence, eigh???! We hiked into Death Canyon and it was gorgeous! It was filled with wildflowers. It was also raining while we set up camp and were hiking, so we were wet when we got to camp. We camped that night in Death canyon, it was about a 7 mile hike that was pretty hard, a lot of uphill. That night I got sick. I think I may have gotten food poisoning. I'll spare you the ugly details but I was up all night sick. When I woke up the next morning I was wondering if I should even continue. At this point, I only have a 7 mile hike down and I could go home. I felt weak, sick and dehydrated. So, I prayed about it and felt that whatever I chose I would be fine, if I went home, I would be fine, if I kept going I would be fine. But, I knew that being up high in the mountains, without any medical help available in my condition was NOT a good idea. So, I asked my Dad and my brother for a priesthood blessing of healing. My Dad told me in the blessing what I had been told in my prayer. That whatever I choose I would be fine, if I went home I would recover, if I stayed I would recover and have a great time. I would make it home with no injuries and I would be fine and have a great time. So, I decided to stay.
Day 2- during the night while I was sick, some guys missed the campsites and asked if they could stay in our camp. We told them sure, just use the bear box for their food. So, in the morning, after my blessing we were getting ready to go and a black bear wandered into our camp. He just headed straight for the bear box, found no food, and unfortunately, the guys who had joined us last night had just taken their food down from their bear tree. The bear headed into their camp, the guys backed out the camp, and the bear had a great breakfast and then proceeded to have a nap in their camp. The poor guys just sat up on the hill above camp and waited for the bear to wake up. As we were leaving, my Mom told the guys to be careful, she had seen a moose by the rock they were on. . . more on that later. So, we continue to hike along, I hiked very slowly that day because I couldn't handle any food in my stomach yet and I felt very weak. We headed out of Death canyon, and while we were resting one of the times, we ran into the guys. We asked them how things went, they told us a Ranger had come along, scared the bear away but while they were waiting, a moose charged them on their rock! The poor guys! They were young though and excited, they told us they had been working all summer in Idaho cutting trails and hadn't seen any wildlife so they were sooo excited to be seeing some wildlife. :) We then proceeded to head up fox creek pass, a pretty hard climb. My sweet brother came and carried my pack up the pass for me because I wasn't feeling well and he was bored because he had been there for hours. That night we headed up to Death Canyon shelf which was beautiful again and camped. I had a much better night, I went to bed around 7 pm and slept until about 8am.
Day 3- This day we headed up to a place called Alaska Basin, the kicker of this day was that we were staying at a place called sunset lake and right before we got to Sunset lake we got to hike up and down about 500 ft in elevation in about a mile. It was freaking hard. This was probably about our fastest day, we got into camp about 3pm and just had fun talking, my brothers made a sling shot and practiced, and practiced, and practiced. They got pretty good by the end of the night. It was a nice relaxing day. That was good because we still had to pass over hurricane pass the next day.
Day 4- Today we started hiking and almost immediatly went up and over Hurricane pass. That was about 900 feet in about a mile. It was rough, and cold!!! Today was supposed to be our hardest day, about 8-9 miles. We were at 10,500 ft at the top. Here's the kicker, it was SNOWING on the top of the pass, and soooo windy. We took a picture and hurried over the pass and continued on Cascade canyon trail. The day was pretty much without incident, we just headed on to our campsite in Cascade Canyon. And we quickly fell asleep.
Day 5- This day was new, my Parents had not hiked this part of the trail before and did not know what to expect. It was only going to be about 6-7 miles though so we thought we would be fine. Bwhaaaaa! How wrong we were. This was probably about the hardest freaking day of my life. We had to go over a pass called Paintbrush Divide. I hope to NEVER do this again. EVER. We were at the bottom of cascade canyon so we had to hike about a mile until we got to solitude lake. We stopped, had lunch, and cringed. We had about 1100 ft to go up in about 2.4 miles. So, after eating, we started hiking, and hiking, and hiking. There weren't a whole lot of switchbacks, just a slow, steady climb up, and up, and up. And we kept going up, and we kept going. It was so hard! We did have fun at one point while my Mom and I were waiting for my Dad to catch up watching the funny marmot creatures. They were so fat they just waddled. It cracked me up! So, eventually, the trail stopped going up and we were at the top. It made Hurricane pass look like a sissy hike (and Hurricane pass wasn't a sissy hike). We were at 10,700 ft. We got to the top and groaned. What we had just climbed UP in 2.4 miles, we got to climb DOWN in about a mile on what can hardly be called a trail, it was just loose rocks all the way down with a loose interpretation of a trail among the rocks. As well as having to climb over snow fields. It was really hard, we were so worried about my Dad coming down, we took it slow and tried to keep an eye on him. We continued to hike down Cascade Canyon until we got to a fork in the trail. We were supposed to hike into a lake called Holly Lake and our campsite was supposed to be somewhere around Holly Lake. We were not sure wether to take the lower trail or the higher trail. Someone told us the higher trail was best so we (foolishly) took the higher trail. Instead of only taking about 1/2 mile to our site, it took about a mile and a half, and we had to hike down, then back up, and we got lost at another fork of the trail and went down the wrong trail for about 1/2 mile and had to hike back up that extra 1/2 mile back to the fork. Sooo, we finally find our campsite, but, my brothers and sisters were not there, their stuff was there, but they were not. We knew they had gotten worried and gone back to look for us. And they had gone the opposite way we had. It was 8 pm, it was starting to rain and get dark and as far as we could tell, they had taken light jackets and 1 flashlight. We were worried. We knew the last thing we should do is go looking for them, so, we said a prayer and asked the spirit to tell them we were fine, we were back at camp, and they needed to head back asap. My sister says they all suddenly said, "we need to go back, they are fine, but we need to go back". I'm so glad for that answer to prayers. Just before they made it back to camp a cloud literally came and settled over our camp. It was a long, cold night, it rained, it thundered, it SNOWED. We all were so cold! I knew I had obligations I had to get back for on Saturday, so we tried to sleep.
Day 6- We got up from our cold night, packed our packs and were heading down the trail by 7am. We only had 6 miles this day and it was ALL DOWNHILL!!!! Yippee! I have to admit, after the day before, I was done, ready to be home. As I told my dad, well, up until yesterday it was fun, after yesterday it was just real. ;) My sisters and I headed down the trail because we knew my brothers would catch us just fine. It was nice, cool, quiet, we weren't climbing. On our way down we saw two black bears. Both were very intent on their huckleberries, but one was right on the trail, about 5 ft away from us. We just let him eat his huckleberries and move off the trail at his own leisure. About this time my brothers caught up with us and we just kept going on down. We made it to my car, I took my wetwipes and toothbrush into a real flushing toilet and running water sink! I cleaned up a little, changed my clothes, and scared some woman who I'm sure thought I was a homeless person living in the park from the looks she was giving me and the way she hurried her daughter out the restroom. :0 Then my brothers and sisters and I hopped in my car, went back to Death Canyon trailhead and had my brothers pick up my Parent's car and take it back to the end of Paintbrush canyon trailhead to wait for my parents. The girls and I headed back home. We made a quick stop at Jackson Hole. (too many people, especially after our nice week with very few people) Got some lunch, and drove and drove home. I dropped them off at my parents, picked my kids up from my awesome sister in law's home, and made it home my 9pm. Then I ate dinner, put kids in bed, went to the grocery store, took a shower and slept and slept and slept. My bed has never felt so nice!
So, there ya have it, my long 40 mile trek in 6 days. No wonder we only do it only every 10 years or so!

Leeavin' on a jet plane. . .

2010-08-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, not really. But I am leaving on Sunday to hike the Tetons in Idaho for a week with my parents and siblings. We'll be hiking 50 miles total and carrying everything we need on our backs. I have been training all summer for this. Taking Tank and going hiking twice a week with him on my back. I figure he weighs about as much as my pack will weigh. Of course, that was for about 3 hours at a time, not all day, and I got to go home and take a nice long hot shower at the end of it and sleep in my nice soft bed that night, not on the ground. . . I hope I don't die! Lol, in all seriousness, I am looking forward to it. It should be a fun adventure and I do feel fairly prepared for it. I have done this one other time before, about 20 (eeps!) years ago when I was still in High School and in awesome shape. Now, I'm fat, tired but still in pretty good shape, albeit a round one! ;) Should be fun. Wish me luck!

Plastic Surgery

2010-08-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

If you could have any plastic surgery in the world, what would you choose? I would get a tummy tuck. As much as I love my children and I am so glad I have them, three C-sections has NOT been nice to my stomach. I used to have a six pack people! Now I have a pouch. A pouch that no amount of working out will get rid of. I did not inherit the gene where you have a tiny tummy, walk into the hospital, have a darling 7 lb baby, and walk out in your prepregnancy jeans. I inherited the genes where I gain 45 lbs and look like I have a giant protuberance sticking out of my stomach, have a 9-9.10 lb baby, and have to work like a crazy lady for the next 2-3 years to lose the 45 lbs I gained. So, if we had enough money and I didn't feel bad about the complete waste that it was, I would get a tummy tuck. How about you?

Camping

2010-07-30T07:58:00.001-07:00

Guess what we decided to to last night around 7 pm? We're going camping today. Guess I know what I'll be doing today. Yep, you guessed it, getting ready to go camping in a tent with three small children. Ought to be fun.

Pandora's box

2010-07-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well, now we've done it, we've opened Pandora's box, otherwise known as build a bear workshop. It all started when Cakes was watching saturday morning cartoons this morning. Her birthday is coming up next week and she had gotten $20.00 from Grandma and Grandpa. Que the commercial to prove that marketing DOES work with kids. Build a bear had a commercial about a special they were running, $29.99 for any bear, any outfit and any pair of shoes. Cakes told me that was what she wanted for her birthday present. I thought "holy crap, $30 bucks for a bear?" But, upon asking my friends on facesbook what they thought of the place, I decided that it would only actually cost us $10 because we had the $20 from the grandparents. We also have a tradition of taking the kids to lunch/dinner as a family at the place they choose. She wanted to go to surprise! McDonalds(again, due to a saturday morning cartoon commercial, apparently, they had littlest pet shop toys). So, we decided to make an afternoon of it. We hopped in the car, headed to the mall and entered build a bear. The girl quickly picked a yorkshire terrier and the pinkest, sparkliest outfit and shoes in the place. We got the silly thing stuffed, dressed, and named and as we were naming it, Cookie asked if he could have one too. Sushi and I gulped, looked at the regular price and told him he could have one as long as we put it away for a month until his birthday. He chose a camoflouge bear with a batman costume and soccer cleats. Not sure why the soccer cleats, mabey because he's a 7 year old boy and he thought it was funny, anywho, they would probably be great to fight crime in, they are sharp. So, we walk out of build a bear spending not $10 but $40. But, on the bright side, Cookie's birthday is taken care of already. After that we went to Carls Jr for sushi and I and took the kids to McD's. I always feel a little silly walking into the play place with another places food, but I really, really hate McD's and we do order kids meals for the kids. So, to sum things up, Cakes is thrilled and has not let "fluffy" out of her sight, and Cookie has to wait a month to see "batbear" again but I think they both love their bears. They better for $30! ;)

Chinese spammers

2010-07-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know how to get rid of Chinese spamers? I already have it so you have an antispam word, but they keep coming!!! How do I stop the maddness????

I LOVE Chicago!!!

2010-07-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm baaack!!! And I had a fabulous time, I love Chicago. What a fun city, I can definetly see that you need to be in the "right" parts of Chicago but it was awesome. All in all, I ate too much, and slept too little and had a great time. Pictures are coming. . . .

Just a few more hours. . . . .

2010-07-10T21:04:00.001-07:00

I'm almost off, I have to leave at 6:15 to get to the airport in time. So that means I have to be up at 5:30 at the latest, so, I'm off to bed. I'll be back on come Friday.

Chicago

2010-07-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am going to Chicago on sunday! Yippee! 5 days with just my awesome Pampered Chef friends. It's time for National Conference and I'm going this year. Even though I have been doing Pampered Chef for three years this will be the first time I will go. I had really wanted to walk accross the stage as a new Director, but, alas, it is not to be. Not too much longer though! I'll just walk next year as a more experienced new director. I have to tell you though, getting ready to leave has been soooo difficult, I am a bit of a freak and think my house has to be spotless before I can go anywhere so I have been working myself into the ground this week. The good news? My yard looks better than it has in a long time, the bad news, the inside of my house is still awful. I never got to the van, it still needs an oil change and it looks like I have three kids ;). Who knows, perhaps what is left will be finished by tomorrow evening. But, I'm not holding my breath. However, I will have an awesome time in Chicago one way or another so I just need to relax and realize that the mess will wait until I get home. . . sadly.

Summer

2010-07-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Humm, lots going on here and not a lot going on there. When there isn't a lot going on I usually just collapse and enjoy the moment! Lets see.
We got a new furnace and air conditioning because we wanted to take advantage of the rebates and incentives before they were gone.
We just picked all the cherries off my tree, thank goodness this year was a small crop, that was enough!
Cakes and I just got our haircut yesterday and it was so fun! It was the first time I've ever taken her to a salon to get her hair cut, usually I just cut it straight across. The hairstylest gave her an A-line bob and it looks adorable. I love it.
I am going to Chicago in a week for National Conference for Pampered Chef. I'm excited and nervous about that, a whole week with no kids!!! woot!!! Flying to a city I'm unfamiliar with makes a nervous but I'll have friends with me. Flying in general makes me nervous. I don't necessarily have a "fear" of flying but it does make me a little nervous and I really don't like doing it.
I have been hiking at least twice a week this summer because I am getting ready for a 50 mile hike I'll be going on with my family in August. Again, a week with no kids! woot! Just me, my parents and my siblings. I'm really looking forward to it. We'll hike for about a week in the Tetons, we'll carry all our own supplies and I'm fairly sure we're all going to die. ;) Tee hee, just kidding but I'm sure it's going to be much harder than what I remember it being like last time I went.
We haven't gone to the pool yet this year, gone camping with just my family, or spent much time in the garden, it's planted, then forgotten. I need to work on that.
So, things are trudging along here at the Sushiboy household, we just take things one day at a time. And sadly, summer is 1/3 of the way over. Time to work on what we've been missing.

Eclipse

2010-06-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to post this to spread the word. So, if you want more info let me know. And no, I wont be going. I kind of feel like "meh, Eclipse".

Eclipse Midnight Show!
Front Two Rows - $11
Main Section - $18

RESERVED SEATING!!!

Popcorn and Drink Included in Price

Each ticket comes with one raffle ticket -
we will be raffling off TONS of cool things!
Last year we had teeth whitening, massages, haircuts, photography sessions and lots more!

No Trailers before the Movie - JUST STRAIGHT TO ECLIPSE!!!

June 29th Midnight (enter the theater on the 29th leave the 30th - make sense?) @Thanksgiving Point Theater

Woot!

2010-06-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

I just got our tax return (I know, yes, we did file an extension)and I just PAID OFF OUR VAN!!!! I also paid off the $900 hospital bill we had, put a dent in some credit card debt and saved some for a rainy day (Sushi's tuition is coming due soon, again). Woot! What a great feeling, NO more car payments for us!!! I really, really, really hate car payments, I feel like they are the biggest waste of money ever! Remember my New Years resolutions????? Yippee! Getting closer every day! We're paying off debt and I'm almost a Director. What a great day. Now onto the regular boring parts of my day, laundry, bathrooms, cleaning clutter, etc.

Tank's 18 month pics.

2010-06-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

yeah! You finally get to see some pictures of my adorable little boy! Enjoy, I can't believe 18 months have passed already! I thought I would be skinnier by now ;). We're so glad to have our Tank in our family.

long week.

2010-06-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

this picture pretty much sums up last week. Tank turned 18 months and we spent the week with strep. :( It was very sad. Monday tank was running a fever of 102.7 so I took him into the Doctors at the instacare. Sure, enough, he had strep. Because it was Memorial Day we had to go to the instacare, and I got to drive all over town looking for a pharmacy that was open. Wednesday morning Cookie woke up with a fever of 103 I woke up with a sore throat. Because our regular pediatrician was not in the office last week we ended up in the instacare waiting for 2 1/2 hours. It was delightful, 2 1/2 hours with three small children. In a boring waiting room. We got in, they swabbed his throat and gave him and antibiotic. All that waiting for 10 minutes with the Doc. I was lucky enough to walk into my Doctors office, tell them I had a sore throat and all the symptoms plus two sick kids and they called in an antibiotic. I know, I have the coolest Doctors office ever! I did have a Pampered Chef show on Thursday but I was still feeling sooo sick on Thursday afternoon so I called one of my consultants and had her take the show. Friday was crazy because not only was I just beginning to feel human again but it was also the annual Father's and Son's campout with our church. Soooo, lucky me, I got to pack Sushi and the boy for camping, do laundry, and pack my kids to go have a sleepover at Grandma's. Then sushi came home, we switched cars, I drove to Salt Lake, dropped the kids off and spent some time with my mom and when it was time to come home, the freeway was closed so what normally takes me an hour to drive home took me two hours. I got to bed at 1:30am. Then I had team meeting in the morning, a Pampered Chef show in the afternoon and when Sushi and Cookie got home we went to dinner as a family (sans Cakes and Tank who were still at grandma's). Sunday morning we got up and headed to Salt Lake again for my little sister's new baby blessing. But, someone got stabbed in the parking lot of the church that morning so church was canceled because the police were doing their investigation. So, we just did the blessing at my brother-in-law's parents home and had lunch at my Parent's house. It was actually nice to just visit and not be in a hurry. I stayed up at my Parent's on Sunday night and Sushi headed home. Monday I had lunch with some of my friends from high school and then my sisters, mom and my family all went on a hike. It was nice to be out in nature! I ended up just staying at my Mom's house because it was so late by the time we were done, then I headed home tuesday morning. All of this made it so my lawn was waaayyy overdue to be cut, my house was a disaster and I was exhausted. So on Wednesday my awesome mom and little sister came to me and helped me get caught up. My sister mowed my lawn (poor sister, it was very, very, long), my mom helped me thoroughly mop my floor and clean my workshop which was a disaster because I just kept throwing things in there instead of putting them where they belong. Today? I haven't done anything of consequence. I NEED to clean my office, it's a disaster, but, I really don't want to. We have a Doctors appointment for Cookie later today, I'll have to blog about that another time. And now you know why I feel frazzled! Not the easiest week of my life! Tank does have an appointment for pictures on Monday, that will be nice to have some good pictures of him. He's so cute and just the light of my life! I can't believe that 18 months have already passed! It has happened WAY too fast!

Our new toy

2010-05-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Taaa Daaaa!!!!! Here is our new toy.

I am so excited. We have been married for 10 years and are on kiddo number 3 and we are finally getting one of these, in the past, we had to call my mom and ask to borrow hers which is 25 years old, yep, 25. The waist strap for the child on hers is broken so I have these horrific visions of my child falling out headfirst everytime I put my child in it. Yeah! Now I don't have to worry about that! Now I'm trying to figure out where to hike first.

Because I'm so awesome. . .

2010-05-24T19:34:00.001-07:00

tee hee! Because I am so freaking awesome I just fixed our diswasher myself and saved us about $120.00. It wasn't filling with water at all. Everything else was working, just no water. So, I called around and got told the fix was the inlet valve, the stupid man at the shop didn't think I could fix it. I fix everything around here. I am the plumber. So, I looked it up online and the instructions said it was an easy fix that should take less than an hour. I called the shop guy back and told him to order the part for $35.00. He had suggested I call a diswasher repair man and the rates go as follow: $60.00 just to come out, $60.00/hr, plus the cost of the part $35.00. It was so easy to fix. The hardest part was waiting the two days for the part. So, I got it changed out and water still wasn't getting in the diswasher. So, I looked online again and decided to check the float valve. It was soooo dirty, I cleaned it out and it started working. Now, the question is, did I waste $35.00 on a new inlet valve? Or were both things stopping my dishwasher from filling with water, I guess we'll never know, but, I feel pretty awesome that I just saved us $120.00 from the stupid dishwasher repair man. Pfff, who needs a dishwasher repair man when I'm around??? :)

Monkey

2010-05-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Sigh, I just found Tank sitting on top of the table, puting cherrios into the gallon of milk one by one. I was only gone (downstairs) for about 5 minutes. This kid is a climber and a busy one. BTW, he's also emptied a sleeve of ritz crackers all over the floor today. I suppose I should be glad he's curious and active but I'm sure tired of the messes!

Mother's Day

2010-05-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

I just got my Mother's Day present from Cookie and I don't mean to brag or anything, but I have got the best 7 year old on the planet for a son! ;)

Budget blues. . . .

2010-05-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

ugh, so, we knew that Sushi's layoff would effect us for a while afterwards negatively. I did the budget the other day for the rest of the year and I gotta say, it's not pretty people. Oh, we'll be fine, we'll make it through, but it's gonna be tight. Like, I'm so glad we have good food storage so our grocery bill can be small for a while tight. Or, looks like it'll be a smaller Christmas this year. . . again. This time not by choice. But, we're doing this because we want to get serious about paying off our debt and a big part of that is putting away the credit cards and living within our set monthly budget. Within a year things will look dramatically better. And really, a year is such a short period of time. . . right?

A new to us car.

2010-04-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Sushi has been borrowing a car from his wonderful sister and brother in law. We were greatful but we needed something that was ours. When Sushi and I met he was driving a lincoln continental. It cracked me up. His dream car? A Lincoln Towncar.

I kid you not. I always tease him and tell him he's such and old man! But, I can't argue that those are comfortable cars. And I do like the leather seats, easy cleanup with kids. woot!

So, Sushi has been browsing our local classifieds for a while and there was one listed that was just outside of our budget. But, Sushi was hopeful because the listing said the seller was finishing his studies and returning to "his country" and that was why he was selling it. It was already a good price, just a bit too much for us. We figured it would either sell or the seller would drop the price. He dropped the price! So, Sushi called him and yesterday we headed up to have a look. It's far from a perfect car but it's awfully nice. Plus, Sushi talked him down a little but more! :) So, now were broke but we have a new to us car and Sushi is thrilled that he can drive to work with a stereo that works and cup holders! I'm just thrilled that I think he's safer in this car! :) I would put up pictures of the car but it looks like it has already been taken down. It's a 2000 Lincoln Continental, it's maroon, and it seems to be a very nice car. Now onto inspections, emmisions, insurance, and all that jazz.

OUCH!!!!

2010-04-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

ugh, I had another cortizone shot in my foot today. I'm supposed to be taking it easy today but of course, 500 things have come up and I haven't been able to. The doc wanted to do an ultrasound to see what was going on but because I don't have insurance, we held off. He mentioned that if this kept up we were going to need to do another ultrasound and see what has changed. I afraid what has changed is that the bone spur is getting bigger and I'm going to need surgery. I really don't want surgery. It's a horrible, painful, sit in bed for 6 weeks and stay off your feet kind of surgery. Did I mention painful? Sooo, another cortizone shot it is. Until he tells me that won't cut it anymore. :(

I'm a sucker. . . .

2010-04-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the boy talked me into it again. I'm a total sucker, especially if he's using his own money. He got another dwarf hampster. This one is albino and actually very nice. He swears this time he'll take care of it. BWHAAAAAAA!!!!! I mean, of course he'll take care of it. He's so excited he can't stand it. He still hasn't thought of a name, suggestions????

Tank finally walks

2010-04-04T13:35:00.001-07:00

Tank has finally decided it's worth walking, if he's bribed in some way! Head on over to Sushiboy's blog to see a video.

two extra spring break days. . . .

2010-03-31T21:48:00.001-07:00

I am going to be naughty and I'm taking the kids out of school tomorrow and friday. The original plan was that we were going to go on our annual camping trip down to capital reef. Now, because there is snow in capital reef, we will be spending our days up in Salt Lake at the fitness center, the planetarium, and the aquarium. And I don't feel one bit bad about it! :)

A trip to the ER

2010-03-21T19:09:00.001-07:00

There is a reason that we won't go without insurance for our kids. You never know when you will need to go to the doctors or the ER. They can be fine and the next day need to be right in to the doctors. This last week was a perfect example of that with little Tank.

We went into a follow up appointment for all the kids and Cookie and Tank were fine. Cakes was still sick but the other two were *finally* well. We've been into the doctors almost every week for the last month. Tuesday, Tank started having diarreah, by thursday I called the nurse in our doctors office and she suggested we come right in. So we *sigh* went into the doctors and sure enough, the poor kid was sick again. Antibiotics, here we come. Friday we went and had a really fun family day and that night Tank started puking. And puking, and puking. Saturday night/Sunday morning 3:30am, he puked again. We decided he was starting to look a little dehydrated. So, wonderful Sushi took him in as I had a crazy busy Sunday and I needed a few hours of sleep so I could tackle the day. Sushi arrived home at 7am, went to bed, we got to church an hour late so he could sleep an extra hour, I did singing time in primary, came home. Sushi headed to a meeting he had to be at. Came home. Tried to sleep, gave up because it's nearly impossible to sleep with children awake. I went to choir practice, visiting teaching. Came home. Finished making dinner for my little brother and sisters who were coming. They came, had dinner, and Sushi took Tank back to the ER to see if they will remove the IV or give him more fluids in the IV. I am exhausted. I'm sure I'm not as exhausted as Sushi but my head hurts. Early bedtime for all! And that, my friends, is why you should never, ever, go without insurance for your kids! You never know when you will end up in the ER at 3am. :(

***** updated *****

The IV is out, the boy is sleeping soundly. The humidifier is on in his room and as long as he doesn't start coughing too hard, he seems to be alright. I hope I can sleep tonight.

Thinking. . . .

2010-03-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

I have a few ideas percolating in my brain. I have an idea for a post to write the blessings that have come out of Sushi's layoff but I need to be careful just in case some of Sushi's former co-workers read it. I may just write them down and put them somewhere in my house so I don't forget that in spite of the difficulty of his layoff we have received some awesome blessings. He starts his new job on the 25th and I am so happy for him, he is a little excited! I also have been thinking and pondering about going back to school when Sushi graduates next spring. It would be a life changing decision. I'm just not sure where it stands. So, I have not forgotten my blogging friends, I have just decided to "ponder these things in my heart" as opposed to with all of you. I'll keep you updated if any decisions are made.

Tank

2010-02-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

Tank is getting tubes tomorrow. The poor kid can't seem to stay well, so, tubes should solve the problem. I also noticed today he has four molars poking through his little gums! So, the poor kid has had five teeth coming through (4 molars, one I tooth)and an ear infection that won't go away. No wonder he has been grumpy and yelling and pinching! Hopefully we get our happy Tank back after tomorrow.

Ready for winter to be done

2010-02-04T09:30:00.001-08:00

I'm reaching the point where I am ready for winter to be over. Every year around the beginning of February I reach this point. I feel the days getting a little warmer (barely, but still a little warmer), and I start looking, searching really, for the little green shoots that come up proving that spring is indeed on the way.

I love LOVE spring flowers, especially crocus, they are the first flowers of spring, there can be snow on the ground and the happy bright crocus is peeking through the ground.

While I am glad for the snow and thankful for 4 distinct seasons, I am ready for winter to end, bring on spring! So, for my friends and neighbors who see me out seaching my flowerbeds for the next six weeks, know this is normal, and I am aware it will be another six weeks, but I just can't help myself!

Rough three weeks

2010-02-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

It has been a rough three weeks. Sushi got layed off the beginning of this month and things have been stressful. I have tried to increase my Pampered Chef but apparently, everyone else is tight right now because most people are telling me that they want to wait until March or so to do a show. We're hanging in there but this is definitely not my favorite time of life right now. We are fortunate to have a fantastic support system with our church but I only want to ask for whatever we absolutely need. I have considered briefly many things. Should I look for a part time job, will that actually help because I'm afraid all my money will go to daycare with three small children. Should I look for a part time job at night when Sushi is done with school? But then I have to drop Pampered Chef which I really don't want to do. I really like doing Pampered Chef. Should I do shudder daycare. But that opens a whole new can of worms. Liability issues, I'll always be the last one payed, my house will be trashed, who knows what these other kids are bringing into my home (not only sicknesses but also home problems they may have), I lose all my freedom because I'm on someone elses schedule. You get the idea. Sigh, it's only been three weeks but it seems like it has been a year. I know we'll get through this and be better in some way for it but right now I just want it to be over and for Sushi to find some awesome job that will solve all these problems.

THINK people before you repost!

2010-01-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

So, this silly little blurb has been going around and getting posted on peoples status' on Facebook.

Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this post

Really? Do you really believe that? That we're the ONLY country with homeless, hungry, elderly without meds and mentally ill without treatment? WOW, time to wake up and look around the world people.

We're one of the few contries with these people getting care. Most of the world has these problems. And I respectfully say that with a few exceptions, there are programs out there to help these people in these situations. We can provide a better life and opportunities to escape these problems.

Think before you repost something. That is all, rant is done.

We're getting a Temple!!!!!

2010-01-25T15:59:00.000-08:00

We here in our little town are getting an LDS Temple!!!! As a temple going member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this excites me like you wouldn't believe! It'll be just down the road from our house. WOW! Now it will be so much easier to go to the temple. :) I'm very excited! Our temple will bring the number of operating LDS temples to 152 in the world.

Measurements

2010-01-23T10:33:00.001-08:00

I have been working SOOO hard this last month at the gym and trying to be good with my eating habits. Unfortunately, the scale says nothing has changed. I have, however, noticed that my pants are getting looser. So, I did measurements yesterday and I have lost 7 inches in the last month! Not all in one place, it's 2 inches here, 2 inches there, an inch here and there but 7 inches overall. And now that I am able to start working my core I hope I lose a lot more by next month! Yeah for me!

You can't get away!!!!!

2010-01-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday, Cookie and Cakes were playing together because I told them the had to turn off the tv and do something else. Cakes started running away from Cookie and cookie yelled "Cakes, you have to come back, you're stuck in a vortex!" Hee hee. Yes, we are raising a geek, and what a cute, smart geek he is!

I can't believe I did that. . . .

2010-01-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it, I can't believe I did but, well, I did. I entered the Golds Gym challenge and I let them take a before picture of me. With my fat gut. In my tankini bottoms and a sports bra because I have never and never will own a bikini. I wasn't even comfortable in one back in High School. So, if I win you will get to see my fat gut on TV and at your local golds gym. Aren't you lucky.

It's a Proud Day. . . .

2010-01-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

Utah has the worst air in the country. Yeah us.

Yes or No

2010-01-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

After today, I need something FUN. . .
1. You can ONLY answer Yes or No!
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and Asks!

Now, here’s what you’re supposed to do… And please do not spoil the Fun. Copy and paste this into your blog, delete my answers and type in your answers. Then see what happens.

1.Kissed any one of your facebook friends?..Yes
2.Been arrested? …no
3.Kissed someone you didn’t like? …no
4.Slept in until 5 PM? …no
5.Fallen asleep at work/school? …Yes
6.Held a snake? …Yes
7.Ran a red light? …Yes
8.Been suspended from school? …No
9.Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? …yes
10.Been fired from a job? …no
11. Sang karaoke? … Yes
12. Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? …Yes
13. Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? …no
14.Caught a snowflake on your tongue? …Yes
15 Kissed in the rain? . . .yes

16 Sang in the shower? …Yes
17 Sat on a rooftop? …Yes
18 Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? …no
19 Broken a bone? …No
20 Shaved your head? …No
21 Blacked out from drinking? …No
22 Played a prank on someone? …Yes
23 Felt like killing someone? …YES
24 Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? …Yes
25 Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? …No
26 Been in a band? …no
27 Shot a gun? …Yes

28 Donated Blood? …yes
29 Eaten alligator meat? …No
30 Eaten cheesecake? …Yes
31 Still love someone you shouldn’t? …no
32 Think about the future? …Yes
33 Believe in Love ? …Yes
34 Sleep on a certain side of the bed? …Yes♦

WOW

2010-01-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

I haven't written about this much on my blog but wow. The man continues to defy logic. If any of you live in Utah you know this story is on the news constantly.

The man's wife disappears a month ago on a night when he says he took his two young boys camping in the middle of a snowstorm and he has been completely uncooperative. He hasn't been looking for her, and now he is just going to move? WOW, I hope the police can prove this guy did this. This all sounds a little too much like the Drew Peterson case.

Resolutions. . . .

2009-12-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems to be the time. Everyone else is doin' it so I guess I will too. . . Drumroll please, here are my resolutions for the next year.

1- lose 40 lbs. There is a contest at my gym, it would be wicked cool if I won. I'm already in the process of really getting serious about doing body for life again and I am back at the gym. Take into account that I don't plan on having three surgeries this next year and I'm feeling pretty confident about the whole thing.

2- Become a Pampered Chef director. I know, this sounds the same as last year. Life just hit us upside the head pretty hard this year and so, this was not my best year with Pampered Chef. I have however gained some AWESOME team members who will be such a great asset to my team. I just need to keep it up and keep doing 8 shows a month and I will be there in no time. Hopefully in time for National Conference in July so I can have my "moment" when I get to walk accross the stage as a new director!

3- Pay off debt. I'm not going to say I will pay off all, but a big chunk would be great. This last year added a large amount to our debt and I would really like to see it mostly gone within the next year to a year and a half. We'll see what I can do. I can only run so fast and far.

So, there you are, it's not quite 8 like the super awesome Jodi but it'll have to do! Wish me luck I feel a lot better about this next year, 2010 is going to be my year!!!

What does three doctors visits in a day get you?????

2009-12-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

three prescriptions and $73.00 poorer. sigh. . . I hope the kids finally get better

Twas the night before Christmas. . .

2009-12-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

And all through the house, the kids are asleep and it is so very nice! I hope you all have a fantastic and safe Christmas day. I'll be running for the next three days! Family for the next two and Church stuff on Sunday. But, it'll be fun. I think the Christmas spirit finally made an appearance tonight. So, as the Night before Christmas says. . . "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

A bad case of the BLAHs.

2009-12-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

warning, if you're looking for a happy, life is great post, this isn't it.

Oh, I know, life isn't that bad. I just have a horrible case of the holiday blahs. I think this last year has worn me out. Sushi has had one hard yucky semester after another, none of my resolutions from last year were met, in fact I'm further behind than last year, well, let me start at the beginning.

I think the root of my blahs begin with my resolution list from last year. I made some really big goals, they consisted of. . . 1- lose the baby weight plus 20, 2- become a Pampered Chef director, 3- pay off most if not all of my credit card debt. I know, huge goals but I truly thought I would accomplish some of these goals at least in part. Yep, not a one. We kept our head above water this year, that is about it. In regards to number one, yeah, three surgery's within one year kind of stops this from happening, however, I am pulling myself up by the bootstraps this year and will hopefully accomplish this (that is unless another baby is in the picture, but that's an entirely separate post-no, I'm not pregnant). Number two and three were kind of supposed to act in concert together. I become a Pampered Chef director and I make more money thus enabeling me to pay off our debt and get ahead. However, this has not been a banner year for me. I had a hard time getting shows and then getting people to keep their dates and put forth enough effort. I'm fairly sure this is all due to the economy. Which is slowing improving. About the debt, well, due to a very large amount of medical bills lets just say it's worse.

Top this off with Sushi always being gone at work or school or worn out from work and school and well, I'm ready to wave happily goodbye to this last year and bring on the new.

I know, I know, there have been some great things this year too. My kids being the bright shining star. I am SOOO lucky to have them. They bring me so much joy. They are the reason I get up every day and slog through another day. They bring a smile to my face when no one else can. Cookie is so smart and such a fantastic older brother. He just started karate and is loving it. I'm glad we could find an activity for him. Cakes is still our beautiful, chirping sweet little girl. She has such a talent with anything artistic. She is also learning well in school and getting smarter every day. Tank is such a blessing, he was so hard to get here. I treasure every moment with this boy. I have enjoyed watching him grow this last year more than I can say. The other day I got the sweetest alarm clock in the world, he was standing in his crib saying ma ma mawm mawm ma, until I went to get him, he has also started to wave hello to people and is starting to creep along everything he can reach. Sushi is great too. He works very hard for us but I miss him quite often because he is so busy trying to make all our lives better. He is almost done with his Bachelor degree, we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only a year and a half left.

I know things could be worse, heavens knows so many of our family have had a worse year and mabey I'm carrying some of their emotional burdens too. I also know things will get better. Already my schedule for Pampered Chef is almost filled for January and I'm considering looking into doing some daycare to earn some extra money in addition to Pampered Chef. If our financial burden was less I would feel so much better. SOOO, looking into next year my resolutions will remain the same. I just got an extra year of practice!

Oh, are you still reading? What great friends I have, thanks to all my great blogging buddies, I feel better now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a safe, happy Thanksgiving day. We'll be hosting, we'll have 15 adults, and 8 children here tomorrow, 3 of which are crawling babies. Yep, it ought to be fun. J/K. Actually we're looking forward to it. Sushi is going to be smoking a 23 lb turkey and most of the food has been assigned out to the guests. So, tomorrow shouldn't be too hard on us, stovetop takes all of 5 minutes, green bean casserole takes about 15 minutes to whip up and 30 minutes to cook, pumpkin pies are already made and Sushi made the cranberry sauce tonight. I hope all goes well tomorrow. What are some of your thanksgiving traditions? We always have to say something we're thankful for before dinner can start. It's getting really fun with the kids getting a little older. Well, toodles, I need some sleep before tomorrow. And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Am I the only one?????

2009-11-20T15:17:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who thinks,"meh, whatever" about the new Twilight movie? I'm beginning to wonder if I'm the only one on the planet.

Anybody want a kitten? . . . Please?

2009-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Update- Apparently my kittens look like a purebred cat called ragdoll kittens. So, they are going quickly, I put up the ad around 3 in the afternoon yesterday and by 8 pm, 4 of the 6 had been spoken for, now, here's to hoping all the people will come today who said they would. . . .

Hee hee, just kidding, I'm not quite to begging. . . yet. I am putting six of the kittens up for sale today. I'm putting them up for $10.00 a piece on our local free classifieds, but quite frankly, I don't really care about the $10. I'm pretty much putting the dollar amount in to get rid of the people who won't take good care of the kittens. Let me know if you're interested. They really are adorable. We just don't want eight cats. go figure.

Here are some pictures.

Crying

2009-11-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Oh! My heart aches. I just found out that one of my best friends had a stroke! She is in the hospital today and is getting ready for surgery on a hole in her heart. This is one of my friends who I have known for almost 20 years. I feel so helpless, due to my surgery I can't do anything for her for another two weeks or I would be there right now. I'm sure she will still need help in another two weeks but I just want her to be alright right now. I don't normally cry but the thought of one of my friends not being alright is breaking my heart. Her husband says she's doing well and she'll call me when she gets a chance, now all I can do is wait. And pray.

Oink

2009-10-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

well, like the rest of the country, our family has H1N1, we've all been home at each other's throats, ahem, I mean resting since monday. We're all on tamiflu and the doc has us quarantined until Friday, however, due to Annalee staring tamiflu a day later than the rest of us, I think we'll make that Monday. I don't think it would be very nice of us to go to church on Sunday on the slim chance we'll pass this around more. So, almost done with our boring week, I've gotten to know my netflix account very well and I've decided to do a Pampered Chef booking blitz this week because I can't leave the house! In other news, my herniated bellybutton has been hurting (still) I had surgery for it in May and it's not better so, guess what! I get to have surgery again! Ok, so I'm not real thrilled at the prospect but at least it'll be fixed this time, right?

Glad it's Monday

2009-10-19T08:37:00.001-07:00

Do you ever have a weekend where you're glad it's Monday? I did. How was your weekend?

Finally the promised pictures of the deck

2009-10-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I have a minute today so you lucky people get TWO posts from me! Here are some pictures of the deck, before and after.

These first few are the deck before, you can see why we needed to sand it down, it was in bad shape. The previous owners put laytex paint over the old stain so the only way to fix it was to sand it down completely, and restain. The sanding took about a month, the staining? A day.

Here are some before pictures

This is just a view of the general deck

This shows how bad the paint was peeling

again, how bad the paint was peeling.

The view from the back yard

We were relieved to see that once we sanded down a little bit the wood was still good, we couldn't afford to replace the whole deck.

There were some parts that were particularly difficult, inbetween these railings was one, the other was the beams underneath which follow this picture.

yep, these were hard.

The back after it's all sanded and ready for stain

The deck all sanded and ready for stain.

The back all stained

The beams all stained

The deck all stained, isn't it beautiful!

And lastly, me all stained! I was so happy to be done! I am still recovering, I'm starting to feel like I can function again but this was sooo hard, I hope to never had to do this again! Now that it's been done right, I should just have to restain every three to four years and that only takes one day, not a month.

Time to put up those gates

2009-10-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official, as of Monday, October 12th, I have a crawler. It's about time! My kids are always late on their "physical" development. They're late crawlers, walkers, rollers, etc. But I'm really OK with that! But, at 10 months old, Tank was getting a little sick of being stuck in one place. So he's a much happier camper now and I need to vacuum better! I also put a gate around our fireplace and I need to put the gate at the top of our stairs in today. He just gets faster and faster everyday. Here he is in his nine month pictures.

10 years ago today. . . .

2009-10-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Sooo, in a show of how wonderful I am as a wife, here we go. Sushi called me last night ( I was up at my mothers house making homemade butter mints for my little brother's upcoming wedding), and asked me if I had plans for tonight. I told him I didn't think so, why? He said "we should go on a date". "oh, great, that would be fun." I say. My little sister volunteers to babysit the kids and when I get home later I say "tomorrow will be fun, what brought this on?". SUSHI reminds me that 10 years ago tonight we went on our first date. What a great husband to remember all the fantastic details and stuff! What a crappy wife I am that he had to remind me. Seriously, I am so glad to have Sushiboy for a husband, he is so fantastic. He works so hard for us and loves us all so much. Who would have thought at our college homecoming dance that ten years later this is where we would be! Three kids, a house, a minivan, I think we've fallen pretty nicely into the whole "american dream". I am able to be a SAHM, we're able to have a great full time job for Sushiboy, he is able to get an education. We always have enough food on our table, most of our wants and pretty much all of our needs are met. What a great start ten years ago was. I'm so glad he asked me out! This is an old picture from when we blessed Tank in May but it shows how happy we are.

woot.

2009-09-28T18:37:00.001-07:00

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, it is done! And it looks oh, so fabulous.

Pictures to come later.

The very small light at the end of the tunnell

2009-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

There is a very small glimmer. Every day I get a little closer. Perhaps within the week I'll be able to finally say. . .

I'm done sanding, but not yet, the light is still a very small one, but I get closer every day! I'll post pictures of the fantastic job once it is finished. Of that you can be sure because people, this is big, probably the biggest job I have EVER done on our house. Wish me luck!

I'm gonna need more kitty chow

2009-09-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Meet princess. This is the cat who adopted us.

Meet Princess' EIGHT kittens

She had them on Saturday. Yep, eight, she was getting rather large. Sooo, does anybody want a kitten?

Sigh. . . .

2009-09-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

A week later I'm. . . . . . .

Still sanding. Perhaps I can be done within the next few days.