I have nothing all that interesting to write about. Except it's finally sunny outside! YEA! I sent Marisa out to get the newspaper and she looked like a little train with her breath rising above her in a big white cloud. Well...One out of two is OK. It's better than the drab, dark days we've had for the last week and half.
My birthday is in less than a week and I sink deeper into my thirties...I mean. I will be twenty-nine... for the third time. Ug... I don't even want to celebrate. Isn't that awful!? I can't think of a single place I've been dying to eat. The only birthday present I can come up with is a vacuum. Seriously? I don't want a cake because two weeks later is Marisa's birthday. Then two more weeks is Shane's birthday. Then four more weeks and it's Roman's birthday. It's enough to make you never want cake again.
Oh well, I'm sure we'll find something fun to do anyway.
I signed up for a race. I have one month to get it together. Yikes! I know I can run that far (it's a 5K) it just might take me a century to finish. I have no motivation.
Marisa had a fever a few days ago, then an ear ache the next day. We'll see what today brings but maybe she's fine. Maybe an ear infection? Dunno. I hate to spend the money and time just to be told that it's fluid behind her ear drum, and it will take a few weeks to clear up. I sure wish I knew how to check.
We want to go to Ohio for a trip this summer but holy cow have you seen the price of airline tickets???!!! It's outrageous! At least double what we usually pay and now Ezra has to have a ticket. Everyone always asks if we are driving.... Not until every kid can get themselves in and out of the car thank you! And maybe never. Do you know how many big empty states are between here and there?
See, I told you I was crabby. I'm starting to irritate myself.
Let's see if we can be a little cheerier, shall we?
Ezra is just about the cutest thing on the planet. And it's a good thing too because that kid takes me to the edge of insanity daily. I recorded him playing I-Spy with Marisa the other day, but I can't figure out how to get the recording from my Ipod and on to my blog. It seems too complicated so I gave up. He just has a little (but loud) voice but is getting better at talking and it's just cute.
He talks like Cookie Monster saying 'me' when he should say 'I'. "Me like cookies" "Me wanna cookie" "Me have a cookie"..... It's so cute.
He and I have a date to ride Thomas.
This happens at the end of May and every single day we are reminded about it. Maybe we should have waited a little longer to tell him about it. Like...that day maybe. Mental note for next time. You think we would have learned our lesson by now it's not like we're new at this.
Roman is almost done with first grade. How did this happen? He's reading chapter books and flies through them like nothing. Sometimes I wonder if he's even processing the story, but he does an OK job of it, not fantastic, but he is only 6 after all. We all read Boxcar Children together this week. Even Ezra sat and listened. Well, most of the time. It was kind of sweet and fun to read one of my childhood favorites all together like that.
Marisa is going to be 4 soon. She has it in her head that there will be lots of changes when she is 4. She wants to go to the farm and ride the ponies and feed the animals. HA! She will be bigger and braver...so she thinks. She keeps having me measure her to see if she's any taller.
She is just a tiny bit taller than Roman was when he turned 3. Yeah, she's not going to be super tall, me thinks. Part of me is happy for her. Being freakishly tall has never been something I loved, especially as a kid, but at the same time....I was kind of rooting for 5'-10". I doubt she'll reach that unless she has a major growth spurt at some point. Which is totally possible. And, who better to be a mother to a tall girl than a tall girl?
Anyway, she wants a Strawberry Shortcake cake. The character, not the flavor... although she might be talking about the flavor too... that's where things get confusing when she talks about it.
She changes her birthday present wishes every single day. It's gone anywhere from a My Little Pony, to a Strawberry Shortcake doll, to a princess horse (we don't know what this is exactly), to the princess scooter that Santa failed to bring, to an Aurora umbrella, to a Belle doll. She's all over the place, so I guess she gets what she gets. She won't throw a fit, I don't think. As long as it's girly. Speaking of girly, she's getting a pink car booster seat. I can't tell you how excited I am for that? Car seats are such a pain! Car seats and diapers are just those necessary evils in the life of a baby that I will never miss. And can I tell you how happy I am that they came up with this new car seat recommendation for babies after my baby was two? I don't know how long my kids would tolerate facing backwards after age one. It always seemed like such a relief for them at that age...But maybe it was just me. Anyway, I'm just celebrating the fact that it doesn't matter for us anyway.
And, I've got three minutes to get dressed so I can take Marisa to pre-school so I better stop rambling and get to work.
Have a great day/week.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Onze
I haven't blogged all week. I tried, but this weather has me in such a foul mood that I'm trying to spare the rest of you. My poor family, they haven't been so lucky. WE NEED SOME SUN HERE! STAT! So... you just get more story which is almost done I promise... Maybe 3 more after this. I will try to cheer up and write about my current life this week.
In case you need to catch up:
It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Neuf
Dix
I forgot to add this cute little picture in the last part of my story. This is my group of girls in Fall 2000.
OK, on with it, where was I?
One night I came home from another night with Shane and I said to Kristy, "I think I'm dating Pissed of Shane!" I know, funny right? But since we were always just "hanging out" or coming up with things to do together, I didn't really feel like we went on official dates. So, I came up with a real live date and officially asked him to come with me. This was what I considered our "First Date" at the time, even though we had done so much together before this. Not to mention that we had known each other for a good 16 months at this point.
I didn't have very much money but I wanted to do something unique and kind of fancy so...I got tickets to the symphony through a friend. Shane is not really a classical music guy but I LOVE the symphony. So I just decided to go with it...And put him in charge of coming up with a dinner plan.
I got all dressed up and he came to pick me up all handsome in his suit. We were untouchable.
He made reservations to eat at Tuscany in Salt Lake. WOW! They don't even let you park your own car, but Shane drove right past the valet anyway and we helped ourselves to a parking space **GASP** and the door all while they glared at us like we were martians. It was a little silly. The place was just a little too fancy for our practical lives. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of the fancier things in life, but everything was fancy without purpose. Someone would come by and sweep our table of breadcrumbs every five minutes. I couldn't help but laugh...out loud.... Really? Are breadcrumbs really more irritating than someone interrupting over and over again to rid the table of them? The whole dinner, while good enough, was not great. It felt as though we were paying a lot of money to have someone park our car and sweep our bread crumbs. It was just so snooty we couldn't really enjoy it.
We were both pretty happy to be out of there and on our way to the symphony. The symphony was great... Well, I thought so. We spent the rest of the evening walking around down town and enjoying each others company on the drive home. Despite the comically "fancy" restaurant, it was a perfect first date. Shane was understanding of my lack of conversation and filled the void perfectly. He showered me with compliments yet made me feel at ease (which is hard to do when you are a freak like me).
The next morning we woke up early and I took him home to meet my parents. You see, this is what I do the day after all my first dates....no, not really. Actually, he had already been to the cabin before but it was with a whole group of people. My parents needed help building a retaining wall and I volunteered him for the job. The symphony and the whole taking him home thing really sealed it in . We were officially dating.
My friend Andy from Florida came to Provo and took some pictures of me for the whole modeling thing, just in case I decided to go for it. Shane helped and gave me all sorts of compliments. I tend to brush that type of stuff off. I feel like I have a pretty realistic self image and a healthy self esteem. But it was still nice to hear. He also volunteered to help pay for it and go with me. Yeah, I was no longer unsure about if we were dating or just "hanging out."
We spent even more time together if that was even possible. He helped me with my homework which was great because if he hadn't I would have surely put it all on the back burner. We would go to Salt Lake for dinners, hiking, or a fun activity about every weekend. We did everything together...except what people who are dating do...ya know... well...OK, all this time and I still don't think we had even held hands. It was late October early November and we both kind of kept our distance physically until...
Well, I don't really remember when exactly. But, I do know that one night early in November we were doing the regular hang out, talk, homework stuff at his place and we had started getting a little closer only a week or so before. It was almost time for me to go home when Shane said, "Can I ask you for something?" "Sure" "Can I have a kiss?" "Absolutely!" But instead of kissing me he said "Wait, I have something for you first.... an Almond Joy" "WHAT!" He was kidding...he had a Peppermint Patty. (*Remember how Mike gave me an Almond Joy because he thought it was my favorite, even though I had told him about my insane love for Peppermint Patties? I must have told Shane about that and he was smart enough to remember and play off it. PERFECT!) Yep, we were definitely dating.
I didn't tell my roommates though. I didn't want the key chain or the attention that would come from admitting that I was kissing pissed off Shane :) I wasn't embarrassed or anything. I just didn't want the attention.
Somewhere through the grapevine of friends I still emailed from Florida, Mike had heard that I was dating Shane and it was getting serious. He emailed me...curious about the situation. He was so cool and casual as if we were best of friends but the emails sent me back to a miserable place and I really just wanted to be rid of him and that whole time in my life completely. However, I always responded because I never wanted to be mean so I would write back short and simple replies hoping he would get tired of my lack of interesting things to say and stop emailing me.
Anyway, my relationship with Shane that was all about having fun was quickly getting serious. Shane's family was coming to Utah for Thanksgiving. PRESSURE! Actually, I wasn't horribly nervous. I had already met his sister's family, but it was just that serious side of the relationship that I had no experience with, I was afraid of blowing it or worse, that I wouldn't like them. Shane felt the pressure and was suddenly nervous about it all. We had this really serious talk about everything and that he "loved me" but he was freaking out a little. Actually, being so young, it didn't bother me. I was kind of wondering why I wasn't the one freaking out. I was in no hurry to run off and get married and it's not like we had even gone there so I just said we could take our time.. "But, did you just say you love me?"
Yep, so we went from knowing each other for over a year, hanging out daily for MONTHS, to holding hands, kissing and saying "I love you" in like a week. I can see why he was a little freaked out. Like I said, I probably should have been wigging out but I never was, oddly enough. As strange as it seemed that naive, young, strange little me was dating that same intimidating guy who taught "cool school" and who came to interrogate me about softball the year before, I was never uneasy about it. It just always seemed right.
Thanksgiving came and I spent hours playing games with and getting to know his family. It was fun and his family was extremely nice to me. Shane got the lecture of the century from his parents about making sure that he wasn't leading me on or something like that. And I got a two thumbs up from everyone there (or at least that's what I tell myself ;)) I liked his family a lot.
After Thanksgiving though, it was a roller coaster. How do I say this without making him look too wimpy? Um, I probably can't, but know this.. Shane is no wimp. He just wasn't as sure about everything as I was. And I think it's pretty common for guys to worry about the responsibilities of a serious relationship. Regardless, by the end of November we were talking about marriage. We went for a drive in the hills that overlook Provo and we talked. We talked about what we expected, how many kids each of us wanted, etc. etc. We saw a repo man repossess a car...thrilling! It was a lovely evening. Without making any set in stone promises, the next step was getting engaged. I just had to be patient. And I was, but I would not have been surprised if at any moment he either went for it and asked me, or dumped me. Little did I know...
Well, the end of the semester and work was keeping me busy. We spent all the time we could together but it was hard with all the end of semester tests, work, and the busy holiday hubbub. The time away from each other was difficult. I don't know how I survived it seeing as I'm not generally a very patient person. "Buck up" and "Get over it" are my catch phrases. I know, I'm so compassionate!
I had a Christmas party for work and I made him come. It was just a nice dinner with a bingo game and prizes. EVERYONE was winning prizes except for us. We were about to give up and leave the party early but decided to stick it out to the end. We got to the last prize which was a T.V.. Would you believe it, we WON! I had no use for a T.V. at my place so Shane kept it for his room. I would joke that he couldn't break up with me because he wouldn't have a T.V. to play his video games on or stupid cable shows to watch while he drifted off to sleep, because I would most surely take it with me.
The end of December brought Lindsay's wedding. I asked Kristy to help me remember some details and she said she thought it was so cool that we were all able to go to everyone's weddings/receptions. I totally agree. I mean, between the girls in apartment #18 and the boys in apartment #34 we all went to as many as were physically possible or where invited to (Jeff? ;)). The girls still get together when we can, the boys are all our facebook friends. And we all keep tabs on each other through blogging, emails and the occasional get together. While I don't have any other roommates to compare them with, they are all such great people and I consider myself extremely lucky to have picked the place I did when I was 19 and desperately searching for a start to my life.
Anyway, back to December. The week before Christmas I went to Idaho with my parents because my sister was going to have a baby very soon. The time away was awful! Shane was nervous and I wasn't there to at least talk to him. He told me to pray and do what I needed to do to figure out if I really wanted to take that next step with him, but I already had.
After I was sure there was something to pray about I wanted to know that I wasn't just filling a hole left empty by Mike since I didn't waste much time running into Shane's theoretical arms when that disaster was over. But when I prayed, I knew with everything in me that it was right. I think knowing that I liked him before the whole Florida hiccup helped me to believe the answer I got. And maybe that whole Mike thing contributed to why he was unsure... I mean, it would make me think twice.
Anyway, odd and unexpected as it was, it was right. I couldn't deny it. If only I could have passed some of my sureness on to him.
I came home, the baby didn't care if I was the one of the first to see her because she waited till after I came home to arrive. I was kind of bummed, but I came home to a calmed down and happy to see me Shane and I felt like everything was going to be fine.
When I got home, my apartment was empty as all my roommates had gone home again. Shane and I went to the cabin for Christmas Eve and Day but we both had to work so we came back to our apartments for the rest of the break. I was once again one of the very few people at Sparks that Christmas and it was a little creepy. Sparks is surrounded by dark alleys and every night there were a bunch of bad kids messing around outside. In fact...this is so gross...one night someone, how do I say this? Someone, umm..... relieved themselves on my car! It was the most foul thing I have ever experienced. Along with an extremely quiet Christmas at the cabin that I didn't consider home with only one sibling of seven that was going through a divorce, it put me in an awful mood and I probably wasn't the most pleasant person to be around that week/month.
Sometime in between Christmas and the New Year, Shane told me to pick some place that made me happy to go for an evening. I picked Temple Square in Salt Lake since it would be beautiful with Christmas lights, etc. I tried not to get it in my head that this would be "it" but it was probably in the back of my mind. I got home from work Saturday evening, showered and was making myself look great when Shane came to pick me up. He walked in the door while I curled my hair and had his hands in his pocket. He was obviously nervous. He looked like he could puke at any moment ...
:)
Next Chapter
In case you need to catch up:
It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Neuf
Dix
I forgot to add this cute little picture in the last part of my story. This is my group of girls in Fall 2000.
OK, on with it, where was I?
One night I came home from another night with Shane and I said to Kristy, "I think I'm dating Pissed of Shane!" I know, funny right? But since we were always just "hanging out" or coming up with things to do together, I didn't really feel like we went on official dates. So, I came up with a real live date and officially asked him to come with me. This was what I considered our "First Date" at the time, even though we had done so much together before this. Not to mention that we had known each other for a good 16 months at this point.
I didn't have very much money but I wanted to do something unique and kind of fancy so...I got tickets to the symphony through a friend. Shane is not really a classical music guy but I LOVE the symphony. So I just decided to go with it...And put him in charge of coming up with a dinner plan.
I got all dressed up and he came to pick me up all handsome in his suit. We were untouchable.
He made reservations to eat at Tuscany in Salt Lake. WOW! They don't even let you park your own car, but Shane drove right past the valet anyway and we helped ourselves to a parking space **GASP** and the door all while they glared at us like we were martians. It was a little silly. The place was just a little too fancy for our practical lives. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of the fancier things in life, but everything was fancy without purpose. Someone would come by and sweep our table of breadcrumbs every five minutes. I couldn't help but laugh...out loud.... Really? Are breadcrumbs really more irritating than someone interrupting over and over again to rid the table of them? The whole dinner, while good enough, was not great. It felt as though we were paying a lot of money to have someone park our car and sweep our bread crumbs. It was just so snooty we couldn't really enjoy it.
We were both pretty happy to be out of there and on our way to the symphony. The symphony was great... Well, I thought so. We spent the rest of the evening walking around down town and enjoying each others company on the drive home. Despite the comically "fancy" restaurant, it was a perfect first date. Shane was understanding of my lack of conversation and filled the void perfectly. He showered me with compliments yet made me feel at ease (which is hard to do when you are a freak like me).
The next morning we woke up early and I took him home to meet my parents. You see, this is what I do the day after all my first dates....no, not really. Actually, he had already been to the cabin before but it was with a whole group of people. My parents needed help building a retaining wall and I volunteered him for the job. The symphony and the whole taking him home thing really sealed it in . We were officially dating.
My friend Andy from Florida came to Provo and took some pictures of me for the whole modeling thing, just in case I decided to go for it. Shane helped and gave me all sorts of compliments. I tend to brush that type of stuff off. I feel like I have a pretty realistic self image and a healthy self esteem. But it was still nice to hear. He also volunteered to help pay for it and go with me. Yeah, I was no longer unsure about if we were dating or just "hanging out."
We spent even more time together if that was even possible. He helped me with my homework which was great because if he hadn't I would have surely put it all on the back burner. We would go to Salt Lake for dinners, hiking, or a fun activity about every weekend. We did everything together...except what people who are dating do...ya know... well...OK, all this time and I still don't think we had even held hands. It was late October early November and we both kind of kept our distance physically until...
Well, I don't really remember when exactly. But, I do know that one night early in November we were doing the regular hang out, talk, homework stuff at his place and we had started getting a little closer only a week or so before. It was almost time for me to go home when Shane said, "Can I ask you for something?" "Sure" "Can I have a kiss?" "Absolutely!" But instead of kissing me he said "Wait, I have something for you first.... an Almond Joy" "WHAT!" He was kidding...he had a Peppermint Patty. (*Remember how Mike gave me an Almond Joy because he thought it was my favorite, even though I had told him about my insane love for Peppermint Patties? I must have told Shane about that and he was smart enough to remember and play off it. PERFECT!) Yep, we were definitely dating.
I didn't tell my roommates though. I didn't want the key chain or the attention that would come from admitting that I was kissing pissed off Shane :) I wasn't embarrassed or anything. I just didn't want the attention.
Somewhere through the grapevine of friends I still emailed from Florida, Mike had heard that I was dating Shane and it was getting serious. He emailed me...curious about the situation. He was so cool and casual as if we were best of friends but the emails sent me back to a miserable place and I really just wanted to be rid of him and that whole time in my life completely. However, I always responded because I never wanted to be mean so I would write back short and simple replies hoping he would get tired of my lack of interesting things to say and stop emailing me.
Anyway, my relationship with Shane that was all about having fun was quickly getting serious. Shane's family was coming to Utah for Thanksgiving. PRESSURE! Actually, I wasn't horribly nervous. I had already met his sister's family, but it was just that serious side of the relationship that I had no experience with, I was afraid of blowing it or worse, that I wouldn't like them. Shane felt the pressure and was suddenly nervous about it all. We had this really serious talk about everything and that he "loved me" but he was freaking out a little. Actually, being so young, it didn't bother me. I was kind of wondering why I wasn't the one freaking out. I was in no hurry to run off and get married and it's not like we had even gone there so I just said we could take our time.. "But, did you just say you love me?"
Yep, so we went from knowing each other for over a year, hanging out daily for MONTHS, to holding hands, kissing and saying "I love you" in like a week. I can see why he was a little freaked out. Like I said, I probably should have been wigging out but I never was, oddly enough. As strange as it seemed that naive, young, strange little me was dating that same intimidating guy who taught "cool school" and who came to interrogate me about softball the year before, I was never uneasy about it. It just always seemed right.
Thanksgiving came and I spent hours playing games with and getting to know his family. It was fun and his family was extremely nice to me. Shane got the lecture of the century from his parents about making sure that he wasn't leading me on or something like that. And I got a two thumbs up from everyone there (or at least that's what I tell myself ;)) I liked his family a lot.
After Thanksgiving though, it was a roller coaster. How do I say this without making him look too wimpy? Um, I probably can't, but know this.. Shane is no wimp. He just wasn't as sure about everything as I was. And I think it's pretty common for guys to worry about the responsibilities of a serious relationship. Regardless, by the end of November we were talking about marriage. We went for a drive in the hills that overlook Provo and we talked. We talked about what we expected, how many kids each of us wanted, etc. etc. We saw a repo man repossess a car...thrilling! It was a lovely evening. Without making any set in stone promises, the next step was getting engaged. I just had to be patient. And I was, but I would not have been surprised if at any moment he either went for it and asked me, or dumped me. Little did I know...
Well, the end of the semester and work was keeping me busy. We spent all the time we could together but it was hard with all the end of semester tests, work, and the busy holiday hubbub. The time away from each other was difficult. I don't know how I survived it seeing as I'm not generally a very patient person. "Buck up" and "Get over it" are my catch phrases. I know, I'm so compassionate!
I had a Christmas party for work and I made him come. It was just a nice dinner with a bingo game and prizes. EVERYONE was winning prizes except for us. We were about to give up and leave the party early but decided to stick it out to the end. We got to the last prize which was a T.V.. Would you believe it, we WON! I had no use for a T.V. at my place so Shane kept it for his room. I would joke that he couldn't break up with me because he wouldn't have a T.V. to play his video games on or stupid cable shows to watch while he drifted off to sleep, because I would most surely take it with me.
The end of December brought Lindsay's wedding. I asked Kristy to help me remember some details and she said she thought it was so cool that we were all able to go to everyone's weddings/receptions. I totally agree. I mean, between the girls in apartment #18 and the boys in apartment #34 we all went to as many as were physically possible or where invited to (Jeff? ;)). The girls still get together when we can, the boys are all our facebook friends. And we all keep tabs on each other through blogging, emails and the occasional get together. While I don't have any other roommates to compare them with, they are all such great people and I consider myself extremely lucky to have picked the place I did when I was 19 and desperately searching for a start to my life.
Anyway, back to December. The week before Christmas I went to Idaho with my parents because my sister was going to have a baby very soon. The time away was awful! Shane was nervous and I wasn't there to at least talk to him. He told me to pray and do what I needed to do to figure out if I really wanted to take that next step with him, but I already had.
After I was sure there was something to pray about I wanted to know that I wasn't just filling a hole left empty by Mike since I didn't waste much time running into Shane's theoretical arms when that disaster was over. But when I prayed, I knew with everything in me that it was right. I think knowing that I liked him before the whole Florida hiccup helped me to believe the answer I got. And maybe that whole Mike thing contributed to why he was unsure... I mean, it would make me think twice.
Anyway, odd and unexpected as it was, it was right. I couldn't deny it. If only I could have passed some of my sureness on to him.
I came home, the baby didn't care if I was the one of the first to see her because she waited till after I came home to arrive. I was kind of bummed, but I came home to a calmed down and happy to see me Shane and I felt like everything was going to be fine.
When I got home, my apartment was empty as all my roommates had gone home again. Shane and I went to the cabin for Christmas Eve and Day but we both had to work so we came back to our apartments for the rest of the break. I was once again one of the very few people at Sparks that Christmas and it was a little creepy. Sparks is surrounded by dark alleys and every night there were a bunch of bad kids messing around outside. In fact...this is so gross...one night someone, how do I say this? Someone, umm..... relieved themselves on my car! It was the most foul thing I have ever experienced. Along with an extremely quiet Christmas at the cabin that I didn't consider home with only one sibling of seven that was going through a divorce, it put me in an awful mood and I probably wasn't the most pleasant person to be around that week/month.
Sometime in between Christmas and the New Year, Shane told me to pick some place that made me happy to go for an evening. I picked Temple Square in Salt Lake since it would be beautiful with Christmas lights, etc. I tried not to get it in my head that this would be "it" but it was probably in the back of my mind. I got home from work Saturday evening, showered and was making myself look great when Shane came to pick me up. He walked in the door while I curled my hair and had his hands in his pocket. He was obviously nervous. He looked like he could puke at any moment ...
:)
Next Chapter
Monday, March 21, 2011
Dix = Ten... I Told You It Was A Long Story
Back to a part of my life where there are simply no pictures. :( Sorry.
In case you need to catch up:
It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Neuf
I felt even worse than I did the day my roommates dropped me off at the airport or the day the boat blew up. I prayed a simple prayer to make the horrible feelings go away and the second that me and that van full of kids pulled away it was like a huge weight being taken from my chest. It was over! I didn't cry. Did you hear that?! I DIDN'T cry!!! (go me!) This scary, crazy, hard, fun, strange, movie like summer was finally over! Sort of....
The van of scouts dropped me off at the airport and I stood there thinking..."Now what?" I had over 24 hours before my flight would leave and it would take close to a week's worth of my measly pay to get a hotel that wasn't a dive and a taxi...so I walked in. I begged the person at the check-in counter to hold my bags for me then I walked. I walked and walked all over the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I even walked the parking garage. About 5 hours in I thought I might go crazy. I sat down in the most secluded area of the airport I could find, threw on my headphones and gave in to my sleepiness. I slept for hours in a crazy half sleep where dreams are weird and super realistic.
Somehow I made it through those miserable 24 hours. My brain has all but blocked them out completely. I was so happy when I could finally get on that plane, but I was starting to feel sick. My throat was getting very sore and I was SO tired. I slept nearly the whole way home and I NEVER sleep on airplanes. EVER.
As the plane descended into the summer baked, brown mountains of Utah, my home, I was nervous but relieved to finally be back in Utah. I was so happy to see Kristy who willingly picked me up. My throat stung as I was hit with the dry heat that was so familiar.
I wasn't home more than a few hours when Shane showed up. It was an awkward but happy reunion. He was nice and seemed happy to see me despite my foolish ways. For that I am eternally grateful, I didn't deserve it. We didn't visit long though. I was exhausted and I had to go to bed.
I woke up the next day even more sick than before. My throat hurt more than it had ever hurt in my life. I thought it might be strep even though I had never been diagnosed with strep before so I didn't know for sure. I didn't really know what to do but I decided to go to the student health center. The doctor scraped my throat. He asked me if I was unusually tired.....well yeah, I just spent the last three days traveling not to mention the time change so yeah, I was tired. He drew some blood, came back and told me I didn't have strep throat but had mono. WHAT?!!!! Not in a million years would I have guessed that I had mono. I was tired, but with reason. I didn't believe him, but he shrugged his shoulders and sent me on my way.
I came home, threw myself on the bed and broke down. Courtney was the lucky winner of breakdown number 450,000. I wasn't really sad though...I was furious. So mad that I even gave Mike the time of day, so mad that I was sick with the "kissing disease." UGGG!!! So mad that life was changing...AGAIN!
And even though my throat was sore because of a bacterial infection the doctor gave me nothing for it. I was so sick and my throat was so swollen it was getting hard to breath. I was getting pretty panicked so I called my sweet home teachers Jeremiah and Jason and asked them for a priesthood blessing. I'll tell you, nothing works better.
From that point on, I wasn't really all that sick any more. The sore throat subsided by the next day and I was tired, but it wasn't as debilitating as I know mono can be. I just had to go to bed on time. Unheard of in my little world.
My little world that was all turned upside down. Apartment #34 had dissolved, everyone in our apartment was growing up and being all responsible with jobs and such. Yuck! A new set of people had started hanging around who I'm sure were fun and great but I wasn't in the mood for new people and staying up late to play wasn't an option or I really paid for it the next day. We had a new family home evening group, of course, filled with boys who I saw as typical BYU. BLECK! (Don't get me wrong, I love my religion and there are parts of BYU that I love, but there are parts that I can't stand...the ultra church-y, fake, cheesy boys was/is one of them.)
I felt like a rebellious outsider, I was grouchy and I missed the sarcastic boys from #34. a.k.a. the den of lasciviousness. I missed the humidity and the tropics and I missed my friends in Florida. I kept coming up with plans for my next semester that would take me away from it all, BYU Hawaii, taking a semester off and working then going on a HUGE road trip across the country, modeling (more on that in a second), anything really. I felt so out of place.
Being so tired and losing so much middle of the night study time I decided that I had to drop some classes. At some point in the summer I had decided that Recreation Management/Youth Leadership just wasn't going to get me very far and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a boy scout camp. So I had decided to switch to a Biology major (what I was going to do with it? I have no idea. I just knew that biology came naturally to me). As soon as I found out I had mono I decided that tackling a new major was not something I could do and still survive. I dropped Microbiology, Chemistry, and French and stuck to some pretty easy ones. Ballet, Guitar, and Floral Design to name a few....Yeah, that semester was all fun but it was better than not going to school at all. (Although the floral design tests were BEASTLY. You basically had to memorize the text book or you had no chance)
A few days after I got home Kristy and I decided to go visit Jeff and Shane in their new digs. Shane was down in Jeff's room with a friend looking on eBay for a classic muscle car to buy. I ran down to say hi. I pretended to be interested for a few minutes but it was still a little awkward. I told him about my illness then went back upstairs to hang out with Kristy and Jeff.
It was during this first week home that Mike emailed me a few times while he was still in Florida. Every email came with a wave of crazy emotions. I hated them, yet read them over and over looking for some deeper meaning. I wanted to delete them without ever looking at them but that took far more self control that I've ever had in my life.
School started and life started to at least have some routine. Shane would come over often to hang out and/or use Kristy's computer. One Friday afternoon, I told him I needed to go buy some new sheets for my bed and since he worked part time at Burlington Coat Factory he said he would take me up there to see what we could find. Before we could leave my apartment, he got a call from Jeff who got a call from Shane's sister. A place he had interviewed at was trying to get a hold of him. He called them back and found out he was offered the job. What a relief! An entire summer of searching and he had finally found something good. And it was in Provo!...I was quietly thrilled to know he would still be around.
We hopped in his car and headed downtown so he could talk to his new boss before the office closed for the weekend. I sat in the car and waited. He was so happy to finally have a real job. We celebrated together by buying sheets then I bought him a smoothie from Jamba Juice. I was happy to have my friend back and even happier that the stress from job searching would be over, but I was cautious. I didn't want to go back to liking him because I was still an emotional mess. Still, he was the only one who I confided in about how awkward I felt being home and about my emotional insecurities although it had to have been obvious.
Shane left for a two week trip home to Ohio a few days later.
It was soon after he left that I received and email from Mike. "I'm coming to Provo on Wednesday, can I come visit you?"
Wednesday came and went. He didn't show up.
Thursday I walked on the sky walk from the second floor of the Richards Building on campus when I heard a familiar voice below. It was Mike. He was in Provo to turn in his final internship papers and he was talking to a few friends on the lawn beneath me. For the first time since I met him I did something smart. I didn't go running to him like a love sick puppy. I kept walking. I walked home and didn't look back once.
He showed up at my door a few minutes later though. He asked me to dinner....at Taco bell. Classy! It was one hour of uncomfortable small talk, (mostly about him), a quick comparison of tans (mine faded really fast), and an awkward goodbye. Why did he come? Was it to prove to me that now that we were home, he was no longer interested? Well, in that case he should have just stayed away. Was it to try to be friends? Um... my friends are nicer and come when they say they will.
I tried not to over think it but it was hard.
I emailed Shane while he was away. We fell back into our old comfortable groove of long emails that were anything but small talk.
I finally got my head on straight those two weeks. I went on a hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogos (Awesome!) The 14 miles with nothing but me was exactly what I needed. I read lots of books. I got lots of sleep and was re-hired at Hogi Yogi, my job that I always fell back on when my adventurous jobs were over. I also went to a funny model search thing in Salt Lake City on a crazy whim (I must have felt like my life wasn't crazy enough once I got home). It was kind of like the American Idol of modeling. I stood in front of a few judges and smiled and then sat back down. I made it to the next round which was in Seattle. I wasn't sure why I went to this thing in the first place and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money to go to Seattle only to be scrutinized about my looks. But I have to admit, the idea was thrilling and it fit perfectly in my plans to get out of Provo.
Since I was in Salt Lake I told Mike I would come visit. I was bugged by his last visit and I needed closure. We went to a shooting range and shot guns (he was obsessed). I could barely stop shaking enough to even come close to hitting the target. Not a fan. We visited for a few minutes at his house and I left perfectly happy to never see him again. I was free! I also visited Brent that night. He had moved to Salt Lake to be closer to work. I missed him and all those fun boys so much. Such a contrast between Brent, who was a dear friend, and Mike who is in fact...the villain of my story.
I realize now that I was ALMOST as bad as he was in dating him just to get through the summer although at the time it was not really my intention, that's just how it ended up. Obviously, as I was not the instigator. I however, believe that WAS his intention from the start, not to mention his poor behavior at times... thus...he's still the "bad guy" in my book. However, some good did come from it all. We've all got to start somewhere, and I knew I could do so much better and the whole situation forced me to really decide what it was I wanted rather than just going with whatever came my way. I was also perfectly content to go to graduation and beyond without getting married if it meant that I could avoid another relationship like that. And, it's not like me, but I did get the final word on the whole relationship which was HUGE for me since I tend to let people trample all over me. But I will tell you about that a little later.
Needless to say, the withdrawals from Mike were subsiding. My roommate Mel cheered me up by putting him on the top of her black list, and I was lucky enough to not suffer too much from the dreadful mono. Although, I have never been quite the same since when it comes to sleep. I know I'm not getting enough sleep if that stupid sore throat comes back.
Anywho....School was going, I had my job and the normalcy started to return in my life. I was taking a ballet class and one of our assignments was to go to a dance performance. In an attempt to make new friends and keep some of the social side that had been brought out by Florida, I bought two tickets to World of Dance, not one. I had no idea who I would take, Shane was of course an option but if you know Shane, you know a dance performance might as well have been a trip to the dentist to extract every tooth, one by one, without getting numb.
There was a boy in my guitar class who I planned on asking, but when I went to class, he wasn't there. There were boys around the apartment complex of which I had no interest but I knew would go with me to be polite, and then I was sure, I could give the ticket to a roommate. But, I decided to ask Shane if he would go with me anyway. I fully expected a "Sorry Corn. You couldn't pay me enough." But he said "Sure."
He also suggested paying for dinner before the show just to "Cool things up." and to "Pay me back" for the ticket. We went to T.G.I Fridays and had a blast talking and teasing our awkward waitress. And he suffered quietly through the performance. ;) I guess this was "technically" our first date although I'm not sure either of us were ready to call it that yet. OK, maybe just me. I had just gotten over one relationship and I wasn't ready to jump feet first into another.
Yet, that's exactly what I was doing without trying. He would spend his evenings at my house helping me with homework or I would go to his apartment that was a lot quieter and study while he watched sports on T.V. or played video games.
We started to find all sorts of excuses to do things together. We drove the Alpine loop because for some reason we had a pumpkin, and for some reason we thought it would be fun to find a cliff to throw it from...I don't remember the details but it all seems so funny now. But...like I said, it was just an excuse to be together. Instead of finding a cliff we found a whole bunch of wildlife and we spotted a moose! A big old bull moose!
Along with drives in the mountains, we went out for lots of dinners, long walks, concerts...and hours and hours of homework. BLAH! Everything was very casual which was perfect. The pressure from "dating" was non-existent but we were getting to know each other so well. He was my best friend. I didn't want to be anywhere else, or with anyone else. My desire to leave Provo A.S.A.P was subsiding.
One night I came home from another night with Shane and I said to Kristy, "I think I'm dating Pissed of Shane!" I know, funny right? But since we were always just "hanging out" or coming up with things to do together, I didn't really feel like we went on official dates. So, I came up with a real live date and officially asked him to come with me. This was what I considered our "First Date" at the time, even though we had done so much together before this. Not to mention that we had known each other for a good 16 months at this point.
And that's all for now....
Next Chapter
The pile of laundry is calling my name and we're all still in our jammies so I guess it's time to get up and get to work. We're all recovering from a cold and all I really want to do is go to bed. Yea Monday!
In case you need to catch up:
It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Neuf
I felt even worse than I did the day my roommates dropped me off at the airport or the day the boat blew up. I prayed a simple prayer to make the horrible feelings go away and the second that me and that van full of kids pulled away it was like a huge weight being taken from my chest. It was over! I didn't cry. Did you hear that?! I DIDN'T cry!!! (go me!) This scary, crazy, hard, fun, strange, movie like summer was finally over! Sort of....
The van of scouts dropped me off at the airport and I stood there thinking..."Now what?" I had over 24 hours before my flight would leave and it would take close to a week's worth of my measly pay to get a hotel that wasn't a dive and a taxi...so I walked in. I begged the person at the check-in counter to hold my bags for me then I walked. I walked and walked all over the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I even walked the parking garage. About 5 hours in I thought I might go crazy. I sat down in the most secluded area of the airport I could find, threw on my headphones and gave in to my sleepiness. I slept for hours in a crazy half sleep where dreams are weird and super realistic.
Somehow I made it through those miserable 24 hours. My brain has all but blocked them out completely. I was so happy when I could finally get on that plane, but I was starting to feel sick. My throat was getting very sore and I was SO tired. I slept nearly the whole way home and I NEVER sleep on airplanes. EVER.
As the plane descended into the summer baked, brown mountains of Utah, my home, I was nervous but relieved to finally be back in Utah. I was so happy to see Kristy who willingly picked me up. My throat stung as I was hit with the dry heat that was so familiar.
I wasn't home more than a few hours when Shane showed up. It was an awkward but happy reunion. He was nice and seemed happy to see me despite my foolish ways. For that I am eternally grateful, I didn't deserve it. We didn't visit long though. I was exhausted and I had to go to bed.
I woke up the next day even more sick than before. My throat hurt more than it had ever hurt in my life. I thought it might be strep even though I had never been diagnosed with strep before so I didn't know for sure. I didn't really know what to do but I decided to go to the student health center. The doctor scraped my throat. He asked me if I was unusually tired.....well yeah, I just spent the last three days traveling not to mention the time change so yeah, I was tired. He drew some blood, came back and told me I didn't have strep throat but had mono. WHAT?!!!! Not in a million years would I have guessed that I had mono. I was tired, but with reason. I didn't believe him, but he shrugged his shoulders and sent me on my way.
I came home, threw myself on the bed and broke down. Courtney was the lucky winner of breakdown number 450,000. I wasn't really sad though...I was furious. So mad that I even gave Mike the time of day, so mad that I was sick with the "kissing disease." UGGG!!! So mad that life was changing...AGAIN!
And even though my throat was sore because of a bacterial infection the doctor gave me nothing for it. I was so sick and my throat was so swollen it was getting hard to breath. I was getting pretty panicked so I called my sweet home teachers Jeremiah and Jason and asked them for a priesthood blessing. I'll tell you, nothing works better.
From that point on, I wasn't really all that sick any more. The sore throat subsided by the next day and I was tired, but it wasn't as debilitating as I know mono can be. I just had to go to bed on time. Unheard of in my little world.
My little world that was all turned upside down. Apartment #34 had dissolved, everyone in our apartment was growing up and being all responsible with jobs and such. Yuck! A new set of people had started hanging around who I'm sure were fun and great but I wasn't in the mood for new people and staying up late to play wasn't an option or I really paid for it the next day. We had a new family home evening group, of course, filled with boys who I saw as typical BYU. BLECK! (Don't get me wrong, I love my religion and there are parts of BYU that I love, but there are parts that I can't stand...the ultra church-y, fake, cheesy boys was/is one of them.)
I felt like a rebellious outsider, I was grouchy and I missed the sarcastic boys from #34. a.k.a. the den of lasciviousness. I missed the humidity and the tropics and I missed my friends in Florida. I kept coming up with plans for my next semester that would take me away from it all, BYU Hawaii, taking a semester off and working then going on a HUGE road trip across the country, modeling (more on that in a second), anything really. I felt so out of place.
Being so tired and losing so much middle of the night study time I decided that I had to drop some classes. At some point in the summer I had decided that Recreation Management/Youth Leadership just wasn't going to get me very far and I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in a boy scout camp. So I had decided to switch to a Biology major (what I was going to do with it? I have no idea. I just knew that biology came naturally to me). As soon as I found out I had mono I decided that tackling a new major was not something I could do and still survive. I dropped Microbiology, Chemistry, and French and stuck to some pretty easy ones. Ballet, Guitar, and Floral Design to name a few....Yeah, that semester was all fun but it was better than not going to school at all. (Although the floral design tests were BEASTLY. You basically had to memorize the text book or you had no chance)
A few days after I got home Kristy and I decided to go visit Jeff and Shane in their new digs. Shane was down in Jeff's room with a friend looking on eBay for a classic muscle car to buy. I ran down to say hi. I pretended to be interested for a few minutes but it was still a little awkward. I told him about my illness then went back upstairs to hang out with Kristy and Jeff.
It was during this first week home that Mike emailed me a few times while he was still in Florida. Every email came with a wave of crazy emotions. I hated them, yet read them over and over looking for some deeper meaning. I wanted to delete them without ever looking at them but that took far more self control that I've ever had in my life.
School started and life started to at least have some routine. Shane would come over often to hang out and/or use Kristy's computer. One Friday afternoon, I told him I needed to go buy some new sheets for my bed and since he worked part time at Burlington Coat Factory he said he would take me up there to see what we could find. Before we could leave my apartment, he got a call from Jeff who got a call from Shane's sister. A place he had interviewed at was trying to get a hold of him. He called them back and found out he was offered the job. What a relief! An entire summer of searching and he had finally found something good. And it was in Provo!...I was quietly thrilled to know he would still be around.
We hopped in his car and headed downtown so he could talk to his new boss before the office closed for the weekend. I sat in the car and waited. He was so happy to finally have a real job. We celebrated together by buying sheets then I bought him a smoothie from Jamba Juice. I was happy to have my friend back and even happier that the stress from job searching would be over, but I was cautious. I didn't want to go back to liking him because I was still an emotional mess. Still, he was the only one who I confided in about how awkward I felt being home and about my emotional insecurities although it had to have been obvious.
Shane left for a two week trip home to Ohio a few days later.
It was soon after he left that I received and email from Mike. "I'm coming to Provo on Wednesday, can I come visit you?"
Wednesday came and went. He didn't show up.
Thursday I walked on the sky walk from the second floor of the Richards Building on campus when I heard a familiar voice below. It was Mike. He was in Provo to turn in his final internship papers and he was talking to a few friends on the lawn beneath me. For the first time since I met him I did something smart. I didn't go running to him like a love sick puppy. I kept walking. I walked home and didn't look back once.
He showed up at my door a few minutes later though. He asked me to dinner....at Taco bell. Classy! It was one hour of uncomfortable small talk, (mostly about him), a quick comparison of tans (mine faded really fast), and an awkward goodbye. Why did he come? Was it to prove to me that now that we were home, he was no longer interested? Well, in that case he should have just stayed away. Was it to try to be friends? Um... my friends are nicer and come when they say they will.
I tried not to over think it but it was hard.
I emailed Shane while he was away. We fell back into our old comfortable groove of long emails that were anything but small talk.
I finally got my head on straight those two weeks. I went on a hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogos (Awesome!) The 14 miles with nothing but me was exactly what I needed. I read lots of books. I got lots of sleep and was re-hired at Hogi Yogi, my job that I always fell back on when my adventurous jobs were over. I also went to a funny model search thing in Salt Lake City on a crazy whim (I must have felt like my life wasn't crazy enough once I got home). It was kind of like the American Idol of modeling. I stood in front of a few judges and smiled and then sat back down. I made it to the next round which was in Seattle. I wasn't sure why I went to this thing in the first place and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money to go to Seattle only to be scrutinized about my looks. But I have to admit, the idea was thrilling and it fit perfectly in my plans to get out of Provo.
Since I was in Salt Lake I told Mike I would come visit. I was bugged by his last visit and I needed closure. We went to a shooting range and shot guns (he was obsessed). I could barely stop shaking enough to even come close to hitting the target. Not a fan. We visited for a few minutes at his house and I left perfectly happy to never see him again. I was free! I also visited Brent that night. He had moved to Salt Lake to be closer to work. I missed him and all those fun boys so much. Such a contrast between Brent, who was a dear friend, and Mike who is in fact...the villain of my story.
I realize now that I was ALMOST as bad as he was in dating him just to get through the summer although at the time it was not really my intention, that's just how it ended up. Obviously, as I was not the instigator. I however, believe that WAS his intention from the start, not to mention his poor behavior at times... thus...he's still the "bad guy" in my book. However, some good did come from it all. We've all got to start somewhere, and I knew I could do so much better and the whole situation forced me to really decide what it was I wanted rather than just going with whatever came my way. I was also perfectly content to go to graduation and beyond without getting married if it meant that I could avoid another relationship like that. And, it's not like me, but I did get the final word on the whole relationship which was HUGE for me since I tend to let people trample all over me. But I will tell you about that a little later.
Needless to say, the withdrawals from Mike were subsiding. My roommate Mel cheered me up by putting him on the top of her black list, and I was lucky enough to not suffer too much from the dreadful mono. Although, I have never been quite the same since when it comes to sleep. I know I'm not getting enough sleep if that stupid sore throat comes back.
Anywho....School was going, I had my job and the normalcy started to return in my life. I was taking a ballet class and one of our assignments was to go to a dance performance. In an attempt to make new friends and keep some of the social side that had been brought out by Florida, I bought two tickets to World of Dance, not one. I had no idea who I would take, Shane was of course an option but if you know Shane, you know a dance performance might as well have been a trip to the dentist to extract every tooth, one by one, without getting numb.
There was a boy in my guitar class who I planned on asking, but when I went to class, he wasn't there. There were boys around the apartment complex of which I had no interest but I knew would go with me to be polite, and then I was sure, I could give the ticket to a roommate. But, I decided to ask Shane if he would go with me anyway. I fully expected a "Sorry Corn. You couldn't pay me enough." But he said "Sure."
He also suggested paying for dinner before the show just to "Cool things up." and to "Pay me back" for the ticket. We went to T.G.I Fridays and had a blast talking and teasing our awkward waitress. And he suffered quietly through the performance. ;) I guess this was "technically" our first date although I'm not sure either of us were ready to call it that yet. OK, maybe just me. I had just gotten over one relationship and I wasn't ready to jump feet first into another.
Yet, that's exactly what I was doing without trying. He would spend his evenings at my house helping me with homework or I would go to his apartment that was a lot quieter and study while he watched sports on T.V. or played video games.
We started to find all sorts of excuses to do things together. We drove the Alpine loop because for some reason we had a pumpkin, and for some reason we thought it would be fun to find a cliff to throw it from...I don't remember the details but it all seems so funny now. But...like I said, it was just an excuse to be together. Instead of finding a cliff we found a whole bunch of wildlife and we spotted a moose! A big old bull moose!
Along with drives in the mountains, we went out for lots of dinners, long walks, concerts...and hours and hours of homework. BLAH! Everything was very casual which was perfect. The pressure from "dating" was non-existent but we were getting to know each other so well. He was my best friend. I didn't want to be anywhere else, or with anyone else. My desire to leave Provo A.S.A.P was subsiding.
One night I came home from another night with Shane and I said to Kristy, "I think I'm dating Pissed of Shane!" I know, funny right? But since we were always just "hanging out" or coming up with things to do together, I didn't really feel like we went on official dates. So, I came up with a real live date and officially asked him to come with me. This was what I considered our "First Date" at the time, even though we had done so much together before this. Not to mention that we had known each other for a good 16 months at this point.
And that's all for now....
Next Chapter
The pile of laundry is calling my name and we're all still in our jammies so I guess it's time to get up and get to work. We're all recovering from a cold and all I really want to do is go to bed. Yea Monday!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Blarney Stones
I never think much about St. Patrick's day. In fact, I almost always forgot as a kid and would be the one who got pinched. It's just not a favorite of mine and I wouldn't even blink if it went by and I didn't notice.
My kids' teachers had other plans. Tuesday, Marisa got in the car after preschool and proceeded to tell me that we needed to go catch a leprechaun.... like, NOW!
Wednesday morning I was waiting until the last possible moment to get out of my warm bed when Roman came running in asking if we had any rope.
"What do you need rope for?" I asked.
"Me and Marisa are going to catch a leprechaun."
I asked, "How are you going to do that?"
"We're going to put out some cookies to get him to come in our door. Then I will grab him, tie him up with the rope, and kick him in the nuts."
I wish I could say that Shane taught him that little jewel...but it was me. We were at the dinner table of all places when I said it a few days ago. Yep... mother of the year, right here!
After I stopped giggling I said, "Why do you want to catch a leprechaun?"
"We had to come up with a plan at school, this is my plan so I can have his gold."
"Please don't say kick him in the nuts at school. OK? You might get in trouble. That leprechaun might not give you his gold if you kick him."
"OK, I'll just tie him up. Do we have any rope?"
Seriously. Are Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and all our other magical friends not enough?
Well, as much as I tried to downplay the holiday, the kids were bent on catching a leprechaun.
Roman begged me to make some cookies for bait and since I had to make a dessert for Shane's work party I gave in. He and Shane came up with a trap. The kids did a few (thousand) trial runs and then everyone went to bed.
Morning came and it looked as though the leprechaun was up extra early because the cookies were gone. He left a little note that said, "Better LUCK next time. -Lucky Leprechaun" and some chocolate gold coins.
Roman's already planning his next attempt.
Nothing like chocolate to start the day out right. Doesn't that leprechaun know anything about raising kids? Nothing like chocolate that is $12 a pound too. Not that I've bought any lately or anything. Like I said... mother of the year.
Hope you had a fun and lucky day. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
My kids' teachers had other plans. Tuesday, Marisa got in the car after preschool and proceeded to tell me that we needed to go catch a leprechaun.... like, NOW!
Wednesday morning I was waiting until the last possible moment to get out of my warm bed when Roman came running in asking if we had any rope.
"What do you need rope for?" I asked.
"Me and Marisa are going to catch a leprechaun."
I asked, "How are you going to do that?"
"We're going to put out some cookies to get him to come in our door. Then I will grab him, tie him up with the rope, and kick him in the nuts."
I wish I could say that Shane taught him that little jewel...but it was me. We were at the dinner table of all places when I said it a few days ago. Yep... mother of the year, right here!
After I stopped giggling I said, "Why do you want to catch a leprechaun?"
"We had to come up with a plan at school, this is my plan so I can have his gold."
"Please don't say kick him in the nuts at school. OK? You might get in trouble. That leprechaun might not give you his gold if you kick him."
"OK, I'll just tie him up. Do we have any rope?"
Seriously. Are Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and all our other magical friends not enough?
Well, as much as I tried to downplay the holiday, the kids were bent on catching a leprechaun.
Roman begged me to make some cookies for bait and since I had to make a dessert for Shane's work party I gave in. He and Shane came up with a trap. The kids did a few (thousand) trial runs and then everyone went to bed.
Morning came and it looked as though the leprechaun was up extra early because the cookies were gone. He left a little note that said, "Better LUCK next time. -Lucky Leprechaun" and some chocolate gold coins.
Roman's already planning his next attempt.
Nothing like chocolate to start the day out right. Doesn't that leprechaun know anything about raising kids? Nothing like chocolate that is $12 a pound too. Not that I've bought any lately or anything. Like I said... mother of the year.
Hope you had a fun and lucky day. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Let's Celebrate!
Marisa and I decided to splurge and go to Disney on Ice. What fun!
She was so excited to go. For the first part of the drive to Salt Lake she sang songs and didn't stop talking for even a second. Then, about 1/2 way there she said "I'm tired" so I told her to take a nap... What a good little girl. I didn't hear a sound after that. Even Cinderella gets sleepy.
She was so excited, we quickly found our seats and she didn't want to leave them for anything even though we were there an hour before the show started.
She agreed to leave our seats in order to buy an Ariel doll. I'm so happy she picked an Ariel doll. Besides being one of the cheaper items to purchase, it will get far more use than the spinning magic wand that would surely be broken by now and was $22!!!
However, as soon as the doll was purchased she was in no mood to walk around. She wanted to get right back to our seats so we wouldn't miss a thing.
I had fun trying to get pictures, Marisa loved spotting all the characters she knew on the ice as well as all the other little girls who were dressed up as various princesses.
It was a little long for her and she was super tired even though we went to the afternoon show. I think she would have liked princesses on ice a little better because there were a few parts that were from movies she'd never seen like Alice in Wonderland, Lilo and Stitch and Nightmare before Christmas but it was still just really fun to watch.
After the show we walked over to Olive Garden for dinner. Mixed Grill and spaghetti YUM!!!
Marisa was so tired though, I had to feed her and she kept turning around in her chair and trying to get cozy enough to sleep.
We ended up taking the light rail back to our car which was fun but I had too many things in my hands, I never thought to take a picture.
We walked through a sea of princesses who were going to the night show back to our car. Marisa played with her doll on the way home, reenacting much of Little Mermaid then zonked out because it was now past the princesses bedtime. Turns out she was getting sick and the next morning she was full blown icky. I'm glad it waited a day to get bad.
What a fun outing. Not cheap, but worth it. We'll probably do it again when she's old enough to remember it but still young enough to still be excited about it.
ps. sorry about all the grainy pictures. Our point and shoot is on it's last leg.
She was so excited to go. For the first part of the drive to Salt Lake she sang songs and didn't stop talking for even a second. Then, about 1/2 way there she said "I'm tired" so I told her to take a nap... What a good little girl. I didn't hear a sound after that. Even Cinderella gets sleepy.
She was so excited, we quickly found our seats and she didn't want to leave them for anything even though we were there an hour before the show started.
She agreed to leave our seats in order to buy an Ariel doll. I'm so happy she picked an Ariel doll. Besides being one of the cheaper items to purchase, it will get far more use than the spinning magic wand that would surely be broken by now and was $22!!!
However, as soon as the doll was purchased she was in no mood to walk around. She wanted to get right back to our seats so we wouldn't miss a thing.
I had fun trying to get pictures, Marisa loved spotting all the characters she knew on the ice as well as all the other little girls who were dressed up as various princesses.
 |
| Even her hair was excited. The static in those chairs was incredible |
It was a little long for her and she was super tired even though we went to the afternoon show. I think she would have liked princesses on ice a little better because there were a few parts that were from movies she'd never seen like Alice in Wonderland, Lilo and Stitch and Nightmare before Christmas but it was still just really fun to watch.
After the show we walked over to Olive Garden for dinner. Mixed Grill and spaghetti YUM!!!
Marisa was so tired though, I had to feed her and she kept turning around in her chair and trying to get cozy enough to sleep.
We ended up taking the light rail back to our car which was fun but I had too many things in my hands, I never thought to take a picture.
We walked through a sea of princesses who were going to the night show back to our car. Marisa played with her doll on the way home, reenacting much of Little Mermaid then zonked out because it was now past the princesses bedtime. Turns out she was getting sick and the next morning she was full blown icky. I'm glad it waited a day to get bad.
What a fun outing. Not cheap, but worth it. We'll probably do it again when she's old enough to remember it but still young enough to still be excited about it.
ps. sorry about all the grainy pictures. Our point and shoot is on it's last leg.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Neuf
Yea! more of my super long story.
In case you need to catch up:
It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Now, just to be clear, I never cared if anyone drank alcohol as long as it didn't affect me (i.e. the captain driving me home half drunk) I mean, it wasn't very fun to be around them when they drank, but I quickly learned that my normal was not normal for most college age students. It's just that drinking is not something were supposed to do as members of the LDS church. Most of the staff was surprisingly understanding that us weird Mormons didn't drink.
This was such a let down. And I don't think he thought it made any difference to me, but why wouldn't it? Yet, I had no idea what to say to him. I was stunned. My very naive side almost didn't believe it. I knew that he had a few tattoos, and that he was a bit of a trouble maker in high school. But I also knew he was a current BYU student and a return missionary and that he talked about the church a lot. Uggg, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I was so confused...I went back to wanting to just go home where things were normal. At least the normal for me. I emailed Shane even though the last few emails had been sparse and not so pleasant. I told him what happened and he sent me two pages of advice:
"Drop him" "who cares if you have nothing to do" "He's a looser!" "Tell him to go to ___ and that he is surely not a man." I wanted to do all those things but it was hard. Somewhere in there, I had started to like him. I was no longer the LeAnn at home (who probably couldn't have handled it, but at least had a backup team), I wasn't really Corn either (who could handle anything), I was that girl who hung out with Mike ALL THE TIME and suddenly, he was just like all the other boys I made up a lie to avoid. It was like being stuck between a rock and hard place.
I didn't take Shane's advice (like an idiot). I'm not sure I emailed him again after then either because the truth was that "hard place." :( And before you judge me too harshly; 1. This was a long time ago and I was young 2. I truly didn't think that Shane had any interest in me other than being friends. Those not so pleasant emails had me wondering if he even considered me a very good friend. I can't say for sure but maybe if I did think he was interested, I might have smacked Mike after that first kiss and walked away. Or maybe I would have said no.... maybe. I KNEW Shane was bored and with me being so young and so much younger than he was, I was sure he was just a friend. That's all! Stop judging me!!! ;)
I just went back to trying to avoid Mike. I kept my distance, didn't talk to him, etc. But like before, that just doesn't last when you live together, work together, eat together, go to church together. It didn't last long at all.
It was at church a day or so later that he said he was sorry and that he was trying to be better blah, blah, blah... only I totally bought it (insert eye roll) Well, I may not have bought it, but I kind of stopped caring. I was addicted to the attention. Looking back, it was just so dumb of me, but I can't change it. I guess if we all have our moments, this last month on Sea Base was mine. ( I know...awfully long "moment" there LeAnn)
One evening, a week or so later, he borrowed a motorcycle from someone and took me for a ride up and down the keys. It was something from a movie or a dream. The scenery was stunning. We stopped and watched storms rolling across the gulf while the sun set. I knew I was on that motorcycle with the wrong guy. He was so obviously the wrong guy in so many ways but I brushed off the feeling because the rest of the picture was so darn perfect. Tropics, motorcycle, warm gulf breezes, purple rain (literally), sunset, ocean. How come there isn't a cut and paste in life?
A break from my insanity came at the perfect time. Remember Dennis? He had an interview in Hilton Head, South Carolina and needed a driving buddy so that he could make it there and back in two days. He just adored Beth and she tried to work it out so she could go but the bosses wouldn't let her. So I gave it a shot. They gave me an extra half day off and I was set to go. Telling my mom about the little trip was a little tricky "Hey mom, just so you know, I'm driving three states away and back with a 50 year old man who isn't married" uh... yeah, I don't remember what I said but Dennis insisted that I tell her, I wasn't worried in the slightest and those two things probably put her mind at ease a little. He is such a good man and absolutely hilarious. I still get his mass emails and they always make me smile.
What a trip! It was so nice to get away from sea base and everything else. We talked about all of Dennis' life experiences which are just amazing. We sang songs and saw more trees than I had ever seen in my life. We stopped in Savannah, GA and ate fish on the harbor. I was amazed by the moss growing from all the trees, It was a very cool place. Dennis got a hotel room for me but slept in his car. He said it was worth it just to have a friend with him and a shower in the morning before his interview. I was grateful. It was absolute bliss to have a room all to myself for a night. The drive home was nice too. We stopped somewhere in GA for some good old Southern BBQ and drove down the entire length of Florida through a torrential downpour and we were home. What a nice breath of fresh air.
Another fun and memorable getaway was a night where Mike, Beth, Matt and I skipped town and went to Miami. We ate at the Cheese Cake Factory and took in a little bit of the night life that is Miami. It was fun... really fun compared to the fun back at base. Matt had become a great friend too and was so kind to me. I was starting to freak out because it was only a few weeks and I would be getting back on the plane and back to my old life, never to see most of these people again.
The next 2 weeks where a whirlwind of work, and play. Before I knew it, there was only one week before my welcome was worn out. I started to grasp at straws. I was just as scared to leave the keys as I was coming. (I know, I'm a total chicken). At the beginning I didn't think about it, but I was starting to realize that the day I went home would probably be the last day I would see Mike. He was graduating, lived in Salt Lake City and could only talk about how badly he wanted to move to Virginia to be closer to his twin sister. I was scared. What was "the girl who hangs out with Mike all the time" supposed to do without Mike?
I realized soon after I got home how dumb it was that I defined myself by my situation. It's probably why I was so scared to come in the first place, why I was so miserable at first, why I was so blissfully addicted to a not so great guy and why I was scared to leave again. I needed to figure it out, but it didn't come easy or while I was in Florida.
That week Matt left for school. My heart was breaking! Mike was taking Matt's place on the Calypso Gypsy (the boat Matt worked on) and was gone. I wish that I would have cleared my head and realized just how pathetic I was. I got close. I spent time with other friends that I hadn't done much with in a while. I canoed with Andy, we goofed off. We just had some good old fun being kids. It was so much fun, I wondered why I didn't hang out with them all summer.
I should have gotten over Mike at that moment and gotten excited to go home but instead I got on a van that was going to Key West. Mike would be there with the boat.
I soaked up what would probably be my last day in Key West ever and ended up stowing away and sailing home with the crew of sailors and boy scouts on the Calypso Gypsy which was fun, but the fun was cut short when we got news that a hurricane was headed our way and we needed to rush back to base and get ready for it. It was then and there that I was sure I was a curse to boating. I still, to this day, absolutely HATE boats.
We got back and everyone was hard at work cleaning up base and preparing for the worst. The boy scouts were being sent home early and I started to pack my bags. I had arranged to get a ride with some scouts who were headed to Ft. Lauderdale the day of my flight, but because of the hurricane, they were leaving a day early. I tried to find another way out, but the bus was expensive and would get me there too late and everyone was so busy preparing for the storm that it seemed to be my only option.
I held back tears as I said goodbye to all my friends. I hurt because I was sure it was over with Mike which I knew was good but that didn't make it any easier. I had convinced myself I liked him but I really think I was just completely addicted to the attention. I realized I was no good at summer flings or that summer flings were no good. When I hugged Mike he said "I'll call you when I get home." What? What was that supposed to mean? I doubted it, but those words haunted me. I was also tired beyond belief.
What waited at home for me wasn't all that promising either. I hadn't talked to or emailed Shane in almost a month although I knew he had moved to a new apartment with Jeff because Jeff had started emailing me telling me to "drop the looser". I was sure Shane wanted nothing to do with me because I had dropped him over my flaky summer fling. So many of my friends had moved on. Shane, Jeff, Joe and Brent had all moved away from Sparks. Lindsay was engaged or close to it. Everything would be different when I got there and I would be too. I didn't know how I was supposed to fit into my old life. I wasn't sure if I wanted to fit in my old life. I actually came really close to driving off to Texas with Matt, I considered transferring to BYU Hawaii. Anything but going back to my old life that would be so different from what I left. My old life that sure didn't prepare me for Florida.
I felt even worse than I did the day my roommates dropped me off at the airport or the day the boat blew up. I prayed a simple prayer to feel better about everything and the second that me and that van full of kids pulled away it was like a huge weight being taken from my chest. It was over! I didn't cry. Did you hear that?! I DIDN'T cry!!! (go me!) This scary, crazy, hard, fun, strange, movie like summer was finally over! Sort of....
That's all for now..
Next Chapter
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my summer in Florida because it's probably the last time I will talk about it in depth. Now to go find a therapist to help me recover from my little blast from the past... just kidding ;) But I am glad this part is over... on to the good stuff. :)
In case you need to catch up:
It Begins
Deux
Trois
Quatre
Cinq
Six
Sept
Huit
Now, just to be clear, I never cared if anyone drank alcohol as long as it didn't affect me (i.e. the captain driving me home half drunk) I mean, it wasn't very fun to be around them when they drank, but I quickly learned that my normal was not normal for most college age students. It's just that drinking is not something were supposed to do as members of the LDS church. Most of the staff was surprisingly understanding that us weird Mormons didn't drink.
This was such a let down. And I don't think he thought it made any difference to me, but why wouldn't it? Yet, I had no idea what to say to him. I was stunned. My very naive side almost didn't believe it. I knew that he had a few tattoos, and that he was a bit of a trouble maker in high school. But I also knew he was a current BYU student and a return missionary and that he talked about the church a lot. Uggg, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I was so confused...I went back to wanting to just go home where things were normal. At least the normal for me. I emailed Shane even though the last few emails had been sparse and not so pleasant. I told him what happened and he sent me two pages of advice:
"Drop him" "who cares if you have nothing to do" "He's a looser!" "Tell him to go to ___ and that he is surely not a man." I wanted to do all those things but it was hard. Somewhere in there, I had started to like him. I was no longer the LeAnn at home (who probably couldn't have handled it, but at least had a backup team), I wasn't really Corn either (who could handle anything), I was that girl who hung out with Mike ALL THE TIME and suddenly, he was just like all the other boys I made up a lie to avoid. It was like being stuck between a rock and hard place.
I didn't take Shane's advice (like an idiot). I'm not sure I emailed him again after then either because the truth was that "hard place." :( And before you judge me too harshly; 1. This was a long time ago and I was young 2. I truly didn't think that Shane had any interest in me other than being friends. Those not so pleasant emails had me wondering if he even considered me a very good friend. I can't say for sure but maybe if I did think he was interested, I might have smacked Mike after that first kiss and walked away. Or maybe I would have said no.... maybe. I KNEW Shane was bored and with me being so young and so much younger than he was, I was sure he was just a friend. That's all! Stop judging me!!! ;)
I just went back to trying to avoid Mike. I kept my distance, didn't talk to him, etc. But like before, that just doesn't last when you live together, work together, eat together, go to church together. It didn't last long at all.
It was at church a day or so later that he said he was sorry and that he was trying to be better blah, blah, blah... only I totally bought it (insert eye roll) Well, I may not have bought it, but I kind of stopped caring. I was addicted to the attention. Looking back, it was just so dumb of me, but I can't change it. I guess if we all have our moments, this last month on Sea Base was mine. ( I know...awfully long "moment" there LeAnn)
One evening, a week or so later, he borrowed a motorcycle from someone and took me for a ride up and down the keys. It was something from a movie or a dream. The scenery was stunning. We stopped and watched storms rolling across the gulf while the sun set. I knew I was on that motorcycle with the wrong guy. He was so obviously the wrong guy in so many ways but I brushed off the feeling because the rest of the picture was so darn perfect. Tropics, motorcycle, warm gulf breezes, purple rain (literally), sunset, ocean. How come there isn't a cut and paste in life?
A break from my insanity came at the perfect time. Remember Dennis? He had an interview in Hilton Head, South Carolina and needed a driving buddy so that he could make it there and back in two days. He just adored Beth and she tried to work it out so she could go but the bosses wouldn't let her. So I gave it a shot. They gave me an extra half day off and I was set to go. Telling my mom about the little trip was a little tricky "Hey mom, just so you know, I'm driving three states away and back with a 50 year old man who isn't married" uh... yeah, I don't remember what I said but Dennis insisted that I tell her, I wasn't worried in the slightest and those two things probably put her mind at ease a little. He is such a good man and absolutely hilarious. I still get his mass emails and they always make me smile.
What a trip! It was so nice to get away from sea base and everything else. We talked about all of Dennis' life experiences which are just amazing. We sang songs and saw more trees than I had ever seen in my life. We stopped in Savannah, GA and ate fish on the harbor. I was amazed by the moss growing from all the trees, It was a very cool place. Dennis got a hotel room for me but slept in his car. He said it was worth it just to have a friend with him and a shower in the morning before his interview. I was grateful. It was absolute bliss to have a room all to myself for a night. The drive home was nice too. We stopped somewhere in GA for some good old Southern BBQ and drove down the entire length of Florida through a torrential downpour and we were home. What a nice breath of fresh air.
 |
| Hi, I'm a dork, will someone please burn my overalls? |
Another fun and memorable getaway was a night where Mike, Beth, Matt and I skipped town and went to Miami. We ate at the Cheese Cake Factory and took in a little bit of the night life that is Miami. It was fun... really fun compared to the fun back at base. Matt had become a great friend too and was so kind to me. I was starting to freak out because it was only a few weeks and I would be getting back on the plane and back to my old life, never to see most of these people again.
The next 2 weeks where a whirlwind of work, and play. Before I knew it, there was only one week before my welcome was worn out. I started to grasp at straws. I was just as scared to leave the keys as I was coming. (I know, I'm a total chicken). At the beginning I didn't think about it, but I was starting to realize that the day I went home would probably be the last day I would see Mike. He was graduating, lived in Salt Lake City and could only talk about how badly he wanted to move to Virginia to be closer to his twin sister. I was scared. What was "the girl who hangs out with Mike all the time" supposed to do without Mike?
I realized soon after I got home how dumb it was that I defined myself by my situation. It's probably why I was so scared to come in the first place, why I was so miserable at first, why I was so blissfully addicted to a not so great guy and why I was scared to leave again. I needed to figure it out, but it didn't come easy or while I was in Florida.
That week Matt left for school. My heart was breaking! Mike was taking Matt's place on the Calypso Gypsy (the boat Matt worked on) and was gone. I wish that I would have cleared my head and realized just how pathetic I was. I got close. I spent time with other friends that I hadn't done much with in a while. I canoed with Andy, we goofed off. We just had some good old fun being kids. It was so much fun, I wondered why I didn't hang out with them all summer.
I should have gotten over Mike at that moment and gotten excited to go home but instead I got on a van that was going to Key West. Mike would be there with the boat.
I soaked up what would probably be my last day in Key West ever and ended up stowing away and sailing home with the crew of sailors and boy scouts on the Calypso Gypsy which was fun, but the fun was cut short when we got news that a hurricane was headed our way and we needed to rush back to base and get ready for it. It was then and there that I was sure I was a curse to boating. I still, to this day, absolutely HATE boats.
We got back and everyone was hard at work cleaning up base and preparing for the worst. The boy scouts were being sent home early and I started to pack my bags. I had arranged to get a ride with some scouts who were headed to Ft. Lauderdale the day of my flight, but because of the hurricane, they were leaving a day early. I tried to find another way out, but the bus was expensive and would get me there too late and everyone was so busy preparing for the storm that it seemed to be my only option.
I held back tears as I said goodbye to all my friends. I hurt because I was sure it was over with Mike which I knew was good but that didn't make it any easier. I had convinced myself I liked him but I really think I was just completely addicted to the attention. I realized I was no good at summer flings or that summer flings were no good. When I hugged Mike he said "I'll call you when I get home." What? What was that supposed to mean? I doubted it, but those words haunted me. I was also tired beyond belief.
What waited at home for me wasn't all that promising either. I hadn't talked to or emailed Shane in almost a month although I knew he had moved to a new apartment with Jeff because Jeff had started emailing me telling me to "drop the looser". I was sure Shane wanted nothing to do with me because I had dropped him over my flaky summer fling. So many of my friends had moved on. Shane, Jeff, Joe and Brent had all moved away from Sparks. Lindsay was engaged or close to it. Everything would be different when I got there and I would be too. I didn't know how I was supposed to fit into my old life. I wasn't sure if I wanted to fit in my old life. I actually came really close to driving off to Texas with Matt, I considered transferring to BYU Hawaii. Anything but going back to my old life that would be so different from what I left. My old life that sure didn't prepare me for Florida.
I felt even worse than I did the day my roommates dropped me off at the airport or the day the boat blew up. I prayed a simple prayer to feel better about everything and the second that me and that van full of kids pulled away it was like a huge weight being taken from my chest. It was over! I didn't cry. Did you hear that?! I DIDN'T cry!!! (go me!) This scary, crazy, hard, fun, strange, movie like summer was finally over! Sort of....
That's all for now..
Next Chapter
I hope you enjoyed hearing about my summer in Florida because it's probably the last time I will talk about it in depth. Now to go find a therapist to help me recover from my little blast from the past... just kidding ;) But I am glad this part is over... on to the good stuff. :)
Friday, March 11, 2011
FLASH!
When we went to the first practice of Roman's basketball, they gave us two tickets to the Utah Flash. They are the NBA minor league team in Orem that feeds the Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks.
Again... Roman said he didn't want to go. What is wrong with this kid? Did I ruin him with leaving the house too much when he was a baby and I had major cabin fever? His first response to just about anything new is.... um.... nah. Which was also his response when I asked if he wanted to do baseball again this summer. His reasoning? One of the kids might get a home run. WHAT?! (I wonder what is going on in his head sometimes)
I feel bad forcing him into stuff, but seriously? He always has fun.... so I signed him up for baseball anyway. And we made him agree to go to a basketball game too. If nothing else, he gets to stay up HOURS past bed time.
Shane and Roman started out the evening with dinner at Denny's. Roman loves pancakes and he ate this entire plate of food.
Then it was off the the game. The tickets they had were just general admission so they had to get there early to get a good seat. Although, it's the Utah Flash....I don't think there is a bad seat.
What a lucky day to go too. Many of Utah's mascots were there. Which is awesome for a 6 year old. Now, if Marisa had been there she would have FREAKED!
They didn't get home until late, but they had a great time. Roman enjoyed the blowup noisemakers and all the action. And to think he didn't want to go.
Oh well. Just another reason why signing up for basketball was a good thing. I hope he thanks me instead of disowning me in the future.
Again... Roman said he didn't want to go. What is wrong with this kid? Did I ruin him with leaving the house too much when he was a baby and I had major cabin fever? His first response to just about anything new is.... um.... nah. Which was also his response when I asked if he wanted to do baseball again this summer. His reasoning? One of the kids might get a home run. WHAT?! (I wonder what is going on in his head sometimes)
I feel bad forcing him into stuff, but seriously? He always has fun.... so I signed him up for baseball anyway. And we made him agree to go to a basketball game too. If nothing else, he gets to stay up HOURS past bed time.
Shane and Roman started out the evening with dinner at Denny's. Roman loves pancakes and he ate this entire plate of food.
Then it was off the the game. The tickets they had were just general admission so they had to get there early to get a good seat. Although, it's the Utah Flash....I don't think there is a bad seat.
What a lucky day to go too. Many of Utah's mascots were there. Which is awesome for a 6 year old. Now, if Marisa had been there she would have FREAKED!
They didn't get home until late, but they had a great time. Roman enjoyed the blowup noisemakers and all the action. And to think he didn't want to go.
Oh well. Just another reason why signing up for basketball was a good thing. I hope he thanks me instead of disowning me in the future.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Basketball
We signed Roman up for basketball over in Mapleton this winter. I never thought I would be big into all the "activities" for my kids. But with so few kids in our neighborhood and all this blasted snow, it's such a good way for my kids to be active and around other kids that I just LOVE it! Most of the time I feel like it's worth every penny.
Roman was reluctant to go to Basketball, but I convinced him to let me sign him up. Then, a few weeks before it started he came to me crying because he didn't want to go. I think some events at school, either P.E. or recess had him worried about how things would go.
I told him he couldn't say he didn't want to do it until after he had at least tried it so he would know what he was talking about.
Once I told him there weren't any games because it's just an instructional league he was more on board.
It was almost as bad as baseball to watch because it's just practice. So boring! At least I wasn't sitting in the sun. But Roman had a great time.
They did drills and practiced dribbling the ball. They would practice shooting and jumping. I thought it was just a fun and relaxed way to introduce basketball without the pressure of a game.
The last day they had a little contest where you ran to one of the gym and shot a basket and ran back to the other and shot a basket and first to finish won. Roman tied for 1st place out of all 30 kids! Go Roman! He is pretty good at making baskets and he had a good time. I'm glad I made him go ;)
A couple more months and we'll be back to baseball. SIGH! This year will be coach pitch....this could be interesting. ;) Out of all three sports, Roman liked soccer best.
Roman was reluctant to go to Basketball, but I convinced him to let me sign him up. Then, a few weeks before it started he came to me crying because he didn't want to go. I think some events at school, either P.E. or recess had him worried about how things would go.
I told him he couldn't say he didn't want to do it until after he had at least tried it so he would know what he was talking about.
Once I told him there weren't any games because it's just an instructional league he was more on board.
It was almost as bad as baseball to watch because it's just practice. So boring! At least I wasn't sitting in the sun. But Roman had a great time.
 |
| love the face |
The last day they had a little contest where you ran to one of the gym and shot a basket and ran back to the other and shot a basket and first to finish won. Roman tied for 1st place out of all 30 kids! Go Roman! He is pretty good at making baskets and he had a good time. I'm glad I made him go ;)
A couple more months and we'll be back to baseball. SIGH! This year will be coach pitch....this could be interesting. ;) Out of all three sports, Roman liked soccer best.
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