Well, it's been forever and a day since my last blog! I'm so ashamed! Here's a top ten list of what we've been up to lately:
1. I'm feeling much better from my bout of stomach flu over the past couple of days. I got sick Wednesday night (all night, I'll spare you all the gory details) and was ill yesterday, too, but last night started feeling quite a bit better. And, by the way, someday when I die I'm going to find the person who invented hot showers and hug and kiss them. Then I'll erect a statue and declare a holiday for them. There's nothing like a hot shower to make you feel human again! Today I feel MUCH better. I feel like I've been beat up on the inside, and I'm still a little weak, but, as James put it, I feel like I've been through the battle but I'm not fighting the battle anymore. (Well put, James!) There's nothing like bad health to make you appreciate good health, huh? I had to remind myself, in the midst of the affliction, that at least I wasn't on a 14-hour flight on my way to Australia (which were my conditions when I was "casting up my accounts" last time). And at least I wasn't driving across the desert of Nevada (James has a really horrible story there). So hooray for indoor plumbing, hot showers and Gatorade. And we'll leave it at that.
2. We've discovered that a cornstarch/Vaseline mix works wonders for a diaper rash. And not only is cornstarch cheaper than creams, you can also bake cookies with it, which you can't say for Desitin.
3. Now, let's move past the flu and diaper rashes and onto happier subjects! James' new business (which he's started on the side apart from his regular job) has finally been launched after about a year of work. It's a new technology called Post it Mobile and it basically turns your cell phone into a day planner. You sign up for the service ($7 a month for up to five users) and you can schedule all kinds of reminders to be texted to your cell phone at different scheduled times. For example, James gets sport scores for all of his favorite teams sent to his phone (it's immediate, too--like he'll be at an Aggie game and get updates on the score as they're happening) and I use Post it Mobile to send mass text messages to the young women for upcoming events. Anyway, www.postitmobile.com is the website and we're very excited in the interest that it's generating already. Go Post it Mobile! Go James!
4. I've enrolled Bethany in tumbling again and she's having a total blast. She's liking it even better this time than last time! Last time, on the trampolines, she was kind of leery, unsure of what to do. Now she's just like BOING! She really gets jumping and it's so fun to see! And she loves walking across the balance beam, too (holding our hand, of course). I may just keep her permanently enrolled. It's nice to have an outlet for her energy and she LOVES it!
5. Our little nephew, "Baby Tate," had surgery today. He had two hernias--one in his groin and one in his navel. Because he's so small, he had to have the surgery at Primary Children's in Salt Lake. But thankfully, the surgery went really well! They're keeping him overnight for observation and he'll come home tomorrow. Other than that, he's growing like crazy and is healthy as a horse. He's already doubled his birth weight and weighs 9 1/2 pounds now! And he's filling out and getting chubby and he's oh-so snuggly!
6. Bethany's new favorite song is "I Love to See the Temple." She knows most of the words--honestly, I'm so impressed with her brains and her vocabulary! She even says, "holy spirit" and when she says "pray," she folds her arms. But her favorite word of the song is "beauty" and she often just chants, "beauty, beauty, beauty" over and over in a funny voice. And speaking of "funny", she has now taken to calling us "funny." She'll say, "Funny Mommy! Funny Daddy!" (And it's true. We were just hoping she wouldn't figure that out until she was 12 or so.)
7. I've been working on Bethany's lifebook and I'm having a blast! I'm doing it through Picaboo (this is the first time I've used Picaboo) and I don't think I can handle this much fun without getting seriously addicted. For those who don't know, a lifebook is a simple, truthful book explaining Bethany's adoption story. It will read like a story book and I'm having a ball.
8. I'm still in my calling as assistant YW basketball coach, so I'm doing two callings for now. And get this--we're going to the regional tournament! I feel a little blindsided by that, as we didn't win any games (why are they sending us to the tournament?) but it will be fun. I'm a little nervous, though, as the head coach will be gone on vacation during that time so it will be up to me to figure out who starts and who guards who and who subs for who. And just when I was getting comfy with providing the rides, the clean jerseys and the cheers, too! The first night of tournament is Wednesday night, which also poses a problem because that's when James has his choir practices, so I'll have Bethany with me. Last time I took her to a game, she wanted to play ball and kept running out onto the court, mid game, and nearly was trampled by a herd of adolescent girls. Hmmmmm. This will be interesting.
9. The American Festival Chorus, of which James is a part, will be performing Carmina Burana on Saturday, March 28th. It should be very good, but if you decide to go make sure to get there early. At his last concert, I went half an hour early and had to sit clear out in Mongolia!
10. We're happily looking forward to another niece next month--Ruby is going to have a little sister and we can't wait to meet her!
Well, "That's the news from Lake Woebegone, where the women are strong, the men are good lookin' and all of the children are above average." And it's so good, as I sit here and type, to see the sunshine and blue sky outside. Hooray for the approaching spring!
