Tee Hee!

Doug & Kirsty are pregnant! Lillian is getting a new baby brother or sister in May. We're so happy for them, as I knew they wanted to have another child. Both Mom & Dad are excited, and Lilly loves the idea of a baby.

We'll be praying for a safe pregnancy. I hope we can get up to E-town maybe next Fall to see all the new babies. This is the 2nd couple from the baby shower to announce a pregnancy. Lisa, did you put something in the water? ;)

Reject Me? No I Reject You!

We put an offer on a house on Monday, and they rejected it, offering to drop the price $2K. We countered by saying let's meet in the middle, because Tammy (our realtor) did research and found that they were asking for more then other houses on par with it were selling for. They rejected that saying no way, it is their price or no deal. So we've walked away and we're back out house hunting later this week.

Disappointing, but it's just not a good money decision to pay more than you should (unless you are desperate). I'm certain the bank's appraisal would have come to the same conclusion that Tammy did, and then there might have been problems with the loan.

God's Hand has been over this whole house hunting endeavor, so we put our faith in Him that He'll lead us to the right house.

In any case, here are the pictures of the house that almost was.

Tortoise Kind Of Day

Like yesterday, I feel like today is going to be a slow day. Tick Tock.

Saturday we went out house hunting, with dinner at Chick-Fil-A (again). Mmm. I loves me Chick-Fil-A. Sunday we skipped out on church to go to Peet's and Safeway before we went out house hunting again. The weather here has been good, hot but not too hot. Today is expected to be too hot (97 F) so I'll try to get my errands done early.

Once there is anything to announce about the house, you'll read about it on Geoff's blog.

No plans for Labor Day weekend, not really. We have couples group Sunday and I think we'll be bbq-ing together afterwards. I think it would be unwise to try and go to the mountains this weekend because

a) gas prices are high, and I don't want to fill up anytime soon and
b) the roads to the mountains will probably be busy.

(rant for the day)Sometimes I get worked up over things that I don't need to. Sometimes I get really annoyed with people taking cheap shots at my faith, and I want to lash out. I'm working on not letting myself get worked up, and realizing that lashing out isn't going to make things better. If people want to say things, or advertise insulting things on their car, that's their choice. My choice should be to pray for them.(end of rant)

We bought a new vacuum cleaner, a Dyson. We've needed a new vacuum for a long time, the one we have we got for our wedding. It served us well, but we will need something more reliable if we hope to clean this place before we leave. We got a good price on it and I can't wait for it to get delivered. We're trying to hold off buying stuff for the new place until we move since we don't want to pack and move stuff unnecessarily.

I'm anticipating getting some good news from a great friend tonight. I'll post about it tomorrow, but I suspect someone is getting a visit from the stork. :)

I'll close with a quote from Clueless.

Heather: It's just like Hamlet said, "To thine own self be true."
Cher: Hamlet didn't say that.
Heather: I think I remember Hamlet accurately.
Cher: Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did.

Weekend Plans

We're going house hunting tomorrow, and Elijah is going to be with a babysitter. We're very excited to look at houses, and have been waiting for Saturday all week. We're looking in Aurora, it's closer to Geoff's work, church, and the housing is more affordable there. Incidentally, the new neighbors, the gay couple, are also moving to Aurora, next month. They bought a townhouse for $100K. I had a nice chat with one of them, I didn't catch his name though. He said he was in shock over how overpriced houses are here. In Houston, where he's from, you get more house for your money. He said his partner is a school teacher in Highlands Ranch and he is in the medical field. They went from being well off to being poor. We also talked about Vienna (their dog). I guess I am getting good practice for getting to know my neighbors.

My Mom-To-Mom group starts officially on the 8th, but they have an open house next Thursday to meet your group and the teachers/caregivers for your kids. It'll be nice to have that each week.

I figure I'm watching too much Star Trek: The Next Generation (again) because I'm starting to question the dynamics between the characters. Like why does Picard refer to Data as Mr. Data or Worf as Mr. Worf instead of by their rank? When did you ever hear him call Riker Mr. Riker? I think maybe because Data & Worf are lower in rank, they don't merit always being called Lt. Commander. He does address them by rank sometimes, but not always. See, watching too much ST:TNG.

I'm going to close with a quote from Robot Chicken. (Geoff this is for you)

pirate 1: [has a helm wheel on the front of his pants]
pirate 2: Arr! What's that steering wheel be for?
pirate 1: Arrr, it's driving me nuts!

Anniversary Wishes

Happy Anniversary to my in-laws Glen & Diane! 33 years of marriage, that's something to celebrate.

Return To Pooh Corner

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Life Is Good

I've been blessed to be getting some good sleeps last week. Elijah is sleeping through the night, and so I'm sleeping much better, most nights. Last night was awesome, though Geoff was up and even watched some Robot Chicken. I slept through that, and that is pretty rare. We got a great rain storm yesterday so it was nice and cool last night.

I'm hoping now that Elijah is sleeping better that I can get back to reading before bed. I'd like to try and finish reading a few of the books I started months ago, and there are a few I want to read before Christmas comes and I get more books. :)

No big plans this week, just the usual stuff. Since private school has started back in session, I may call Mary and try to get together with her. She has a membership to the zoo, and I could go for that if she's game. Or we could always go to the museum for lunch & to see Jeff. I think Rich should be back by now, and I'm very interested to hear what changes are taking place in our dept.

I'm having a lot of fun daydreaming about the new place (I leave the stress of it all to Geoff). I love going to Cost Plus and looking at decor. I found some nice stuff for Diane & Meg who are big into the Asian decor theme. At some point Geoff wants to have an English gentlemen room, a room with comfy leather furniture to sit and enjoy his scotch. I don't know if we'll be able to do that with our first house, but definitely in the future. I'm just looking forward to having a room for our guests to sleep in that isn't the living room.

I had a crazy dream the other night. We (Geoff & I) were at some theatre, waiting to see a movie, and the Hogans were sitting behind us. I turned and told Brooke how much I like their show. Then I notice there is no screen, just a bunch of tvs set up, and the seats are arranged in a square manner. Some guy starts playing his guitar and talking about the Dune books. I turn behind me and ask Mike if he's read that one since he's a big fan. He gives me a strange look like "why would I have read that?". I get up to leave, because this guitar playing guy wants to know who is single in the place and is hoping to play matchmaker to these people. I go into another theatre and see Diane, and she tells me she's there to see Meg dance. I ask how come the rest of us weren't invited, and she says Meg didn't want us to see her dance. So I leave, and walk past Athena sitting at a bar eating something. She says, hey, can you bring this food to Andrew? I said sure. It's a plate with 3 different pieces of chocolate cake on it. I take a bite out of one, and bring the rest of the plate to Andrew who is sitting beside Mike. I wake up at this point because Elijah is crying, and when I get back to bed I fall right back asleep, and the dream continued. I don't remember what happened next. Man, I have some really weird dreams.

Well, I'll close with a quote from Swingers.

Mike: Why'd they get rid of the fighting? It was the best part of the old version.
Sue: I think kids were hittin' each other or somethin', man.
Trent: Yeah but you know what, Mike? You can make their heads bleed in this one.
Mike: Make somebody's head bleed.
Sue: No man, we're in the playoffs.

Are You Serious?

Did you know that the U.S. has no official language? I didn't know that. And apparently it's a touchy subject. I thought it was weird since Canada has two.

There is a kafuffle about Starbucks printing about homosexuality on the back of a coffee cup. The quote in question reads My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too [expletive] short. When we saw this on the news last night, they spoke to a "Christian" lady who went off about how she's against gays and doesn't want her 12 year old exposed to that when she buys coffee. My first thought was, thanks for speaking for all Christians (I'm being sarcastic, in case that isn't coming across) and you let your 12 year old drink coffee?!

Dylan saw a recent picture of Elijah and he said to Dawn, that can't be him, he can't be that big yet. :)

Speaking of Elijah, he seems to think it's funny when I sing and dance. This week's song that I find myself singing a lot is Bem Bem Maria (Gypsy Kings). He likes it. It's nice he lets me sing stuff other than Raffi. How many times can we sing C-A-N-A-D-A?

We spoke to Tammy so things are starting to move along nicely now. Hopefully we'll get to look at some houses in the next few weeks.

We've been watching Survivor reruns on OLN. We only ever saw seasons 1 & 2, (I think that is all we will re-watch) and it's much funnier when you already know the outcome. Thank goodness NBC is airing Scrubs reruns now on Thursdays, since they decided not to bring Scrubs back until January. And Celebrity Poker Showdown is back with a few new celebrities, some returning players and sadly an annoying game last night. I'm sorry, but I couldn't care less about reality "stars" playing poker. It was clearly a ploy to get people interested in Bravo's new show Battle Of The Network Reality Stars. Anyways, next week's game should be better, I mean Meatloaf is playing.

Well, before I sign off I better say

Happy Birthday Mom!

Now I'll close with a quote from Three To Tango.

Oscar Novak: I'm not gay, I didn't... gay.

Glimpse Into Me

My name is: Melissa
I may seem: Like I have it all under control.
People who know me think: I'm funny.
If you knew me you’d probably: Want to spend more time with me.
Sometimes I feel: Like the biggest hypocrite ever.
My days are pretty: Much the same every day.
Yesterday: I don't even remember. How funny is that?
I like to sleep: In a cool room, with a heavy blanket (and my yellow blanket) and my husband by my side.
If I could be doing anything right now I would be: Camping with my friends.
Money: would be nice. Enough to buy our house, and have a little spending money each month.
One thing I don’t have that I wish I did is: The chance to see my dad again.
One thing I have that I wish I didn’t is: The big bug in the kitchen that is currently trapped in a cupboard.
All you need is: Jesus.
All I need is: Grace of God.
If I had one wish it would be: Salvation for those I love.
Love is: That warm feeling I get when Elijah smiles at me.
If I could see one person right now it would be: My dad.
Something I want but I don’t really need is: Snack food in the house.
I live for: The people I love.
I am afraid of: Not being authentic.
It makes me angry when: People say ignorant/stupid/insensitive things.
I dream about: The past, whatever I watched on tv before bed, and things I can't control.
I daydream about: Our first home.

Shirt Tail Cousins

Misty (Dawn's sister) had a baby girl last night. She is sister to Kayla, who is 20 months old. So far as I've heard baby and Mom are doing fine, and baby weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz. No name has been decided yet, but she is leaning towards Emily.

Like Andrew & Athena's baby, the only relation they have to Elijah is shirt tail cousin.

Isn't genealogy fun?

Recipe

Last night we tried another Rachael Ray recipe, Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss. Geoff really enjoyed it, and I thought it was okay. The things I didn't like (very lemony, and the shallots) were the things Geoff enjoyed the most. But I am willing to branch out and try these new recipes.

What's funny to me is it seems all Elijah watches is the Food Network and Spongebob.

So, it appears the loan will go through, so Geoff said he'd talk to Tammy. Geoff has to work on Saturday, so I don't think we'll be looking at houses Saturday. Sunday morning we meet with our small group, so I think Sunday may be out too, since that is also grocery day. We'll have to see.

Now you know all there is to know. I'm closing with a quote from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Frylock: [reading] The Curse of the Mummy is actually just a figure of speech. Vomiting locusts for 1000 years is just an old wives tale. The real curse of the mummy is that he is completely socially inept, devoid of all manners, gold-digging, manipulative and a selfish brat. Don't ever wake him unless you have a lot of time and money on your hands. Thank you for buying "Mummies For Dummies."

Good Weekend

For all the plans I make, I never seem to accomplish them. :)

Saturday we were treated to a sleep in, so I didn't make it to the museum. Instead it was a nice family morning, Elijah sleeping and Geoff and I getting to spend quiet time together. Also no festival for us this weekend, maybe next year. Sunday was the usual, church, groceries, and house cleaning. This morning we were able to get started on being approved for the home loan. Prayer warriors unite! Please pray that it goes through with no problems. The only sticky point may be the visa, in which case, we'd have to wait until the H comes, and that may be at least 3 months. Once we get the call about the loan the house hunt will begin. Part of me wants to leave the brunt of the work for Tammy, but the other part wants to look now. I can get very specific if needed, or I can be vague. We just want a place so badly.

I'm so ready to start packing. I look at our apartment now through packing eyes, what can we do without for the next few months? What stuff won't we take with us? There are more than a few things that need to be replaced, like our glasses and the blender (which broke a few weeks ago). We've had this set of glasses since we got married, and there are only 7 that haven't been broken. We've got the next batch picked out at Crate & Barrel, a set of juice glasses and a set of pint glasses. These should serve all purposes.

Thursday I went out to Gunther Toody's again with Mary. Elijah likes it there because it's not too dark. I had my heart set on Chick-Fil-A, but I wasn't up for driving out there, since Mary was already in this neighborhood. Besides, we were a party of 7, so a big booth at GT worked out well.

It was cooler this weekend which was great. It allowed Geoff to go running, but more importantly I think it helped Elijah sleep better. He's sleeping more like he did months ago, where he's only up like once a night. It's all ups and downs, this is the up after a period of down. I like up much better.

Well, I'm going to close with a quote from Toy Soldiers.

Jonathan Bradberry: Oh yeah, that's wonderful. Now all we have to do is get Cali out of the Headmaster's Office which he hardly ever leaves, sneak past the guard, switch the chips without setting off them bombs, and then get out without being seen.
Billy Tepper: That's right. That's it exactly.
Jonathan Bradberry: I was attempting to be sarcastic.
Billy Tepper: Well you shouldn't have been. You should have been writing it down.

How Far Away?

Talking to my mom today she enlightened me to something I did not know. There are Tim Hortons south of the 49th parallel. In just 3 states away, almost 20 hours driving nearly 1300 miles I could have a maple dip in my paws.


Hey, if I didn't have my job as a stay at home mom, I'd be hopping in Gary, and cranking the tunes for a road trip! Okay in reality, even without a young son, I have a husband who would not traverse over several states for a donut. Someone in this marriage has to be grounded at all times. He keeps me from crazy things like this, I keep him from spending money on new toys at the Apple store.

Chris & Roland both posted a while back about their most influential or favorite albums. I don't think I can say that any album shaped me, I've always been more of a song person than an album person. But I cut down my list to the 25 best cds in my collection (and it was hard to cut it down). These are albums I'm most likely to listen all the way through. In alphabetical order...

Barenaked Ladies - Stunt
Blue Rodeo - Outskirts
Breathe - All That Jazz
Captain Tractor - Bought The Farm
Counting Crows - August & Everything After
Del Amitri - Change Everything
Easily Amused - Novice
Feeding Like Butterflies - John In His Earthsuit
Great Big Sea - Play
Hall N Oats - Rock 'N' Soul Part I
Hackers Soundtrack
Mars Hill - Mars Hill
Matchbox Twenty - Yourself Or Someone Like You
Matthew Good Band - Underdogs
Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Radiohead - The Bends
R.E.M - Life's Rich Pageant
Spirit Of The West - Go Figure
Styx - Greatest Hits
Toad The Wet Sprocket - Bread & Circus
Toad The Wet Sprocket - Coil
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
Tragically Hip - Day For Night

Alrighty, I better sign off. The boy is getting antsy. I'm closing with a quote from Meet The Fockers, which we watched last night.

Greg Focker: Look, Little Jack was crying so I picked him up and gave him some hugs. Then I went into the kitchen to answer the phone and when I came back, he had let himself out of the playpen, put on Scarface and glued his hands to the rum bottle. Ok?

Can't Move Out Soon Enough

We've decided we want to be in our new place by November 1. We feel like we've had it here. The last 4 days there has been the constant sound of running water in the bathrooms, like there is a leak in one of the neighbors apartments. It's not in our apartment, we've looked. We mentioned it to the manager on Monday, and the sound is still present. It is driving me crazy! We got in new neighbors downstairs, and lucky us, they smoke in their apartment. So now the bathrooms (and occasionally the kitchen) reek of cigarette smoke coming up through the pipes. I haven't met them yet, but they must be local because they are moving with a pickup truck and their friends riding on the tailgate.

We spoke to Candy (the manager) and we're all set to go month to month once our lease is up in September. We just have to give 30 days notice, which is good. I would ideally like to get all moved before November 1, simply because this is Elijah's first Halloween, and I'd hate to not take him out because we're busy moving that day/night. Speaking of Halloween, I may try to get out to Hobby Lobby to seek out the fabric for his costume I want to make. He's going to be Friar Tuck, since he has the hair for the part. He's got fuzz, a bald spot, then it's all thick at the back of his head. I'm sure people will think he's a Jedi, or a monk, but who cares. He'll look cute in a little brown robe, and that's all that matters. Plus it'll be easy to make.

I've got the travel bug something bad. I'm spending way too much time thinking about getting away. I had big ideas to go out to Victoria next summer, but Geoff got an invitation to run in a marathon in San Diego next summer. So, we may end up taking our vacation in California. It's still too early to think about, but I am desperate to get back to Irvine to see our church friends (and UCI & KUCI friends). We've even talked about me going with Elijah before then. Geoff will likely be going to Palo Alto in January for work training. That's a 10 day course, and he'll miss my birthday. I'm open to visitors coming down (or coming from the east or west)to see me. :) Sadly Diane can't because she & Glen will be in Mexico at that point. Yeah, this family travels a lot.

Anyways, it's time for the boy to eat, so I'll be signing off and closing with a quote from Toy Story 2.

Bo Peep: This is for Woody, when you find him.
[She gives Buzz a long kiss]
Buzz Lightyear: [cough] Um, okay, but it won't be the same coming from me.

The Best Game You Can Name

In honor of hockey returning...


You are the Montreal
Canadiens

I would laugh at you, if you weren't so sad. The
only reason you are mentioned anywhere in the
news is because of your past successes. Trust
me, the likes of Jacques Plante and Maurice
Richard will never wear a Canadiens jersey
again. You've got to catch up with the times if
you want to survive modern hockey. Some people
might feel sorry for you, others will probably
laugh at you; anyway you look at it, you are
one sad character.


Which Canadian hockey team are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Weekend Update

Because we had some plans for the weekend, we did our trip to Peet's on Friday night. We looked around Crate & Barrel at some stuff for the house, but we don't want to buy anything until we move (less stuff to pack & move). Some of it is stuff we need, some of it was stuff we want once the kids have grown and left.

Saturday we went out to Mark & Shannon's for a chili and sundae party. There were 3 different chilis and then everyone brought toppings for the sundaes. Geoff made home made caramel, and it was so good on my sundae with chocolate syrup, oreos and Napoleon ice cream. (I know it's Neapolitan) This is a picture of part of their acreage, that's Geoff and Elijah walking back from where the horseshoes were set up.


Last night we watched Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy. It was pretty humorous, I like Will Ferrell, probably not enough to watch Old School or Superstar though. It was definitely a "get-it-from-the-library" type of movie.

Since the middle of July, I've been visiting thenamelessnovel.com daily. It has gotten VERY interesting this week with the clues finally adding up to something juicy. Geoff is getting a kick out of it too now, so we visit it every morning to see what the day offers. It's a Lemony Snicket thing, October 18th can't come fast enough.

I was reading on Edmontonjournal.com that there will be an Alberta exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. next June. I sent that info to Kelly and she thinks we should try to come out there for that. I love to entertain the idea of going to D.C., I really want to go. First off to see Kelly, secondly to see the sights and museums.

Next weekend is the Scottish Festival in Highlands Ranch. I'm hoping we can go on Saturday and check it out.

Well it's a tasty dinner tonight, corn on the cob and steak. I'll close with a quote from Anchorman.

Brick Tamland: Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Lisa is back from vacation! I sure missed being able to talk to her everyday.

This Is A Sport?

I was channel surfing and discovered ESPN (or ESPN2) was airing the U.S. Open Of Competitive Eating. The U.S. Open? Man they'll attach that title to anything. And apparently ESPN will air anything. If that's going to be a sport, why not lump Fear Factor stunts as sports too. I tuned in long enough to see two guys trying to shove as much salad down their throat as they could. It was very disturbing, and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who love to watch this.

I finally told Nicole today that I wasn't come back to Harry & David for the holidays. What prompted me? She shared some bad news of her own, that Jen had been let go. So it looks like I won't get a chance to say goodbye to Jen. I think I will try to get her number from Nicole so I can try and get together with her for coffee sometime. I promised Nicole I would continue to come distract her from her job, and she was thrilled. She enjoys seeing Elijah a few times a month, and she is one of the few people I know who lives in Denver.

I am hoping to take an infant CPR course in the next few months. It is something I think is important, since I'm with Elijah everyday. They offer one monthly at Fitzsimons, but I think they also offer one at his pediatrician, so I'll check there too. The one at Fitzsimons is a 2 hour course in the evening, which means, I either take it alone and Geoff watches him, or we get a babysitter to come over (once we move into the new place) and Geoff can take it too. Geoff actually knows CPR already, but it's something you are supposed to renew and he hasn't done that in a while. I've never taken a CPR course. I remember once at Woodbridge that a child was choking, and thankfully the nursery worker there knew CPR and knew what to do. After that, they started offering a CPR course every few months, and it was strongly encouraged for all Children's Ministry workers to take it. The church even offered to help pay for some people if money was an issue. I should check to see if our church here has people who are certified.

I mentioned back in March that Kelly was having a short story published in a magazine she works for, and I'd been searching my local bookstores for it. No one carried it, thought Tattered Cover said they may try to order it. Well, Kelly picked it up and sent it to me. It was exciting to see her name in print. The story is called Hack, and it is set in Washington. It's about a journalist who has grown weary of his job and hopes to move into a new job as a writer. It's a great ironic story, and if you can find the magazine Doublethink, I suggest you pick it up. I really hope this is the beginning of more fiction publishing for Kelly. Her website is kellyjanetorrance.com if you want to read articles she has written. I'm so proud!

I'm going to close now with a quote from The Muppet Show. (BTW- Season One DVD out on August 9. I think we'll have to get this for Elijah.)
Rowlf: [treating a viking pig] I know all about them - they come from Denmark. One of my ancestors was a viking!
Miss Piggy: Oh, this isn't going to be a Great Dane joke, is it?
Rowlf: Well, it's a Dane joke, but I wouldn't call it great.

Time Moves On

A year ago today we "officially" found out we were pregnant. I took a test when we got back from Scotland, but this was the day the doctor confirmed it for us. It's been a good year, and when I look into my sweet boy's face, I can't believe how quickly he is growing. I can't get over how much I love him. Having our family grow from 3 (I count Honey Cat) to 4 has been the most amazing, wonderful thing in the world.

Mary and I finally connected on the phone, and we've set up a lunch date for next week. She had left a message for me when I was in Canada, and I called her back and left a message, which she didn't get. So it was nice to finally speak. I got more details on Jeff departing Education Collections for Zoology. It was more of a lateral move than promotion. Also he never really considered Rich to replace him, but he did seriously consider me. It's nice to know I was wanted. Obviously I still cannot take the job, since the H visa doesn't allow it. Mary thinks they still haven't hired a replacement, so maybe I should entertain the idea the museum would sponsor me for my own green card. :) Ya right. Anyways, Zoology is a much smaller department, and they only have volunteers 3 days a week. I wonder how many from Education Collection swill jump ship to be with Jeff. I hope to make it to DMNS at some point this summer, even if just to say hi.

I'm not at all surprised to hear Echinacea does squat for colds. I've been saying that for years. But each person has their own treatments they like and swear by. Me, I prefer not to treat every little thing with medicine. I like to let my body try to fight it on his own. If it's not working, I'll seek other treatment. I just don't want my body to become immune to certain medicines. That's just me.

I'm going to close with a quote from Good Will Hunting, 'cause it was on tv yesterday and I like that movie.

Will: Do you buy all these books retail or do you send away for, like, a shrink kit that comes with all these volumes included?