Chaela's Favorite Clip

So Chaela and I were just watching some funny clips and we watched Cat vs. Printer on funnyordie.com and she started laughing hysterically and kept wanting to watch it again and again. Silly Chaela.

Blogging

I thought I'd post a little something because it's been almost a week. I'll be honest, I've been PMSing really bad, so mostly I've been whiny.
For example, right now Will and I are watching Smallville online (his show, not mine) and there are these commercials on for another show, "Privileged." Apparently it's about super-rich people's lives. Seriously? Is now really a good time for something like that? Because I so want to watch a show about spoiled rich people who didn't earn what they have, while I worked for years to get a college degree and, after all that, have only managed to land myself a minimum wage, part-time job, and other good, hardworking people are getting laid off and losing their homes left and right.
I'll stop there, you can tell what kind of mood I'm in. It feels good to rant, though, and that's one of the things a blog is good for. Hopefully I only have a few more days of this and I'll be back to normal!

What Would You Do?

I don't know how many of you have seen the show "What Would You Do?" but if you haven't, I think it's worth checking out. It's on at 10pm ET on ABC, and the basic idea is that it's a hidden camera show. The great thing about it is that instead of trying to catch embarrassing moments, it's trying to catch people doing the right thing. It has made me stop and think more than any other show I've ever seen in my life.
Another good thing about the show is that it's not all serious. Some of the segments are pretty light. For example: what would you do if your online date was not the person they portrayed on their profile. Then there are some heavier things: what would you do if you saw a store clerk and security guard very obviously harassing someone because of their race? Or if you heard a baby crying, left alone in a hot car?
Granted, even the "light" situations have deeper implications, and your reaction reveals a lot about your character. In many cases, I watch the show and hope that I'd have the courage to say something. Other times, like when they had a group of kids beating up an immigrant, they were looking for people to physically step in. I'll be honest, I'm not going to get in the middle of a fight; I'm not a big person. But I will call 911 and look for help in the immediate area (probably the best part of that segment was when this HUGE guy came running over, and the actors playing the kids beating the guy up literally ran away).
Anyways, this show is my weekly conscience examination. What would I do? I hope it would be the right thing.

Meanwhile...

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd post an update on my life.

My job at Curves is moving along nicely. I'm basically done with training. Now I'm running things under supervision. The manager is going to make sure I know what I'm doing on Monday and Tuesday and then I'm on my own. I even got my own key today! It's kind of cool, but scary, because I've never had so much responsibility in running a business before, so keep me in your prayers. You might think it's weird for me to be there alone, but if you've been to a Curves, you know it's not really a gym, it's circuit training. This means that there are 15-16 machines in a large circle with bouncy, square "recovery stations" in between. After you've been on a machine for 30 seconds you walk/run/dance or whatever in place on the recovery station for 30 seconds, then move on to the next machine. It doesn't sound like much of a workout, but it is, especially if you put in the effort.

Chaela has several new words from the last time I wrote about that. A few new ones are: fwowa (flower), mine, jorjor (Jordan), kwaka (cracker), up, pop (just a sound she makes or popcicle), ju (juice), etc. She's even started saying very simple sentences like "my daddy" or "hi jorjor." One of the ones we hear most is "my bite." Yup. She can eat. She's a lot like the seagulls from Finding Nemo, except instead of saying "mine? mine? mine?" she says "bite? bite? bite?" Fun times.
I've also had to block the stairs to the second floor of the house because I don't know how many times I've been busy for literally ten seconds then looked up to see her yelling "mama," laughing, and sticking her little arm through the railings at me.

So that's all for now. Things are pretty much good. I'll post more pictures sometime but there hasn't been anything new or super exciting lately.

Signs of Spring

Like most of you, I am so glad that warm weather has finally arrived! We've been taking advantage of it as much as we can, because I'd like Chaela to be a kid that plays outside in the summer, you know what I mean? And if I want her to be that, I have to be that, and this year, I'm ready for it!

Here's how you know spring has sprung at our house:

1. Growing things

My dad is really, really into landscaping, and thanks to him, we have a lot of flowers that are blooming already. Chaela likes to walk around and show me every single one. She points to each one and says "fowa, fowa, fowa, fowa, fowa..." you get it. It's pretty awesome!

2. Gretel trapped on the deck.

Yes, every year around this time, Gretel starts spending the majority of her time outside on the deck. Mostly she hangs out by the door that leads into the kitchen, which is also another sign of spring: it's open!

3. Cats in the windows

For some reason, our cats are addicted to open windows. They come running every time they hear one open. To them it's just as good as a can of tuna.

4. Babies in the dirt.

My parents plant a garden every year, a tradition I fully plan on keeping if I ever get a house of my own. Mom has done the seedling trays and today we took them outside (in the 72 degree weather, YES!) to get some sun. Chaela was thrilled, which made me happy. I think she's going to like helping in the garden. Watch out grandpa!

The fifth sign of spring, which I expect to see sometime this week, is my dad grilling something. Mmmm...

_______________________

So things are great here! It's amazing what a sunny day can do for your spirits. I've been training at Curves and had my first actual workout today on the "circuit." Let's just say I have a long way to go before I'll be able to do it without feeling like I've died afterwards. However, I do look forward to being able to do it often, because I'm at my highest weight ever (excepting pregnancy). That's horrible, considering that my lowest weight ever was only about 2 and 1/2 years ago.

Will is doing ok, but he hates the job he has and may keep looking for others. Chaela is great, she's got as much energy as always. She has been a little more cranky than usual, though, because she's been getting teeth in like crazy. I'm not kidding. She didn't get her first until she was 10 months. She's 16 months now and has 9 or 10. Here are pictures of her latest antics. She found these red fuzzy socks of mine and put them on. By herself. Yeah. I helped her pull them up, but only after she'd already put one on. She's so funny. I love her!

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

More Employment!

Now it's my turn. Before you get too excited, don't. It's just a few hours a week at the local Curves. However, I am extremely excited, because not only to I get to get out of the house for a few hours a day, I get a free membership! This is the opportunity I've needed! Those who know me know that I'm not motivated enough to lose weight unless it happens by illness or is extremely, unbelievably convenient. This time it's the latter, thank goodness!
I'll start training on Monday, and if the lady in charge says I can, that's also the day I'll be starting my workout! Woo hoo! I'm looking forward to it. I know it's not ideal, but it's a job. In the meantime I'm going to get certified to be a substitute teacher and then start that in the fall. If Will keeps the job he has now and I keep the job at Curves (it's in the late afternoon, so it wouldn't interfere with subbing) we'll be making enough to support ourselves again! Yay!

Anyway, my next goal is to get Will started in classes at school. Once he's into it, I'm going to take a harder look at our situation and see if I have the time/money to take a few classes and get certified as a high school teacher, which would be the ideal job unless I suddenly become rich for no reason. I'm hoping that will happen. Let me know if you want to send a donation my way!

Also, I was going to post a "before" picture of me, but you all know what I look like. I think I'll take one, then wait until I can post it with the "after" picture next to it. In case something happens and there is no "after" and it's all just "before." Yup.

The Temple

I guess today HBO announced that an upcoming episode is going to portray and LDS temple ceremony.
My knee-jerk reaction, of course, was outrage. Think about it. There are things in your life that you hold sacred, religious or otherwise. Also, there are plenty of other religions that hold sacred ceremonies where the general public is not allowed. For example, the selection of a new Pope by Catholic Cardinals.
The difficulty is compounded by the fact that many doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are largely unknown and misunderstood, and few people have the desire to to find out the truth. HBO is not the source to look to for Mormon doctrine.

So I was upset at first. However, after reading the Church's press release, I calmed down. I am not ashamed or embarrassed by the things that take place in the temple. Why would I be? It is not secret. In fact, in my research tonight I found out that the ceremonies are published in the Library of Congress. It is not a secret.


It is, however, sacred to me. I have studied the scriptures for my entire life, and I still have hardly scratched the surface of the wealth of knowledge to be had in the temple ceremony. But will that knowledge mean anything to someone who doesn't care for or believe in religion, specifically, my religion? Probably not.

To my LDS friends and family:
This as an opportunity to share our testimonies of the temple and the wonderful things that happen there. So let's do it. We say that we want missionary opportunities. Here you go. Yes, we could get mad and cause a public outcry, but that will only make people want to see what all the fuss is about.

To my non-LDS friends and family:
If you have any questions about the temple, or the LDS religion in general, please feel free to ask! I love talking about my religion. I won't be embarrassed or offended. I want to talk to you about it.


Here's what I think about the temple; it is a place of peace, knowledge, learning, quiet, and unsurpassed love. It is a place where I feel closer to Heavenly Father than I can in any other place on earth. It is a place of beauty, where the cares of every day life are lifted from you. One of my favorite things about the temple is that there are truly no distinctions of class, no pressure to please anyone but yourself and God. I love it. I love going to the temple. When I leave there, I feel refreshed. I know it may sound strange, but I feel cleaner, like every bad thing I've come in contact with has been washed away.
It is a place of wonderful simplicity. My wedding ceremony is a perfect example. What do we do? We kneel across an alter from each other, hold hands, and promise to love, support, and be true to each other not till death, but for all eternity. That is what goes on in the temple.

Anyways, I don't want you to stop reading because my post has turned into a novel, but this was something important I felt the need to speak out about. I don't feel like I was able to express myself the way I wanted to, but hopefully it was adequate to get my message across.

Don't spin in circles.

The story of our first big-ish baby injury:

Chaela likes to spin. Earlier tonight she was spinning around to the music of her alphabet caterpillar or whatever it is, and she started to stumble around a little bit. I got up to go and grab her, because it looked like she was headed for the table and I didn't want her to fall into it. After a second, she veered towards the blanket on the floor, so I stopped to watch her. Before I realized it, she changed directions again and hit her head on the VCR.

When I picked her up, my first thought was "AHH BLOOD!" which I may or may not have yelled out loud. Will took her and I ran to get a tissue. I just kept thinking "put pressure on it..." because by the time I had crossed the room, blood was dripping down her face. (It sounds really serious when I describe it, but the cut wasn't very big, it just happened to be on her head.) So I got back to her with the tissue, mopped it up, applied a little bit of pressure. That stopped most of bleeding, which was a relief. I got her a little bag of ice, then and went into the bathroom to get an antiseptic and a band-aid while my dad grabbed some Neosporin. Chaela is a pretty tough little girl, because she didn't cry at all when we put on the antiseptic, and that stings! So we got her all patched up, then gave her some baby Tylenol, a juice box, and some ice cream. She's a trooper, she hardly cried at all after the first few minutes. I'm lucky to have such a good little girl.

So that was my first ever experience as Dr. Mom, and I feel like I handled it really well. I didn't panic or anything, and if you can't tell by this ridiculously long post, I'm pretty proud of myself. I hope I never have to do it again, but that's not realistic. I have a very strong feeling Chaela isn't going to stop spinning.

Here's a picture of Chaela with her bandage after we put her in bed.

She's full of craziness, but she's amazing and we love her!

I can't help myself!

Ok. Ok. So, I know it's kind of a dorky thing to admit to watching American Idol willingly, but I do. There. Now you know. And now that that is off my chest, I have something to say.
What is the DEAL with that girl Tatiana?!?! I mean, REALLY? REALLY?!?

For those blessed non-watchers (stay away from it, it's almost more addicting than Pringles) who don't know what I'm talking about, let me tell you.

There were two contestants from Puerto Rico, a very talented young man with a fairly strong accent, and a moderately talented girl who could've been from anywhere in the Midwest for all the Spanish accent she had. So the guy, Jorge, makes it through on his own and after his performance, one of the judges says to him, basically "I don't know why we told you at your first audition to tone down your accent, it makes you unique, I like it, keep it."

Skip to the next night, where Tatiana, the girl, is getting her second chance, having failed to please America the first time around. Lo and BEHOLD! All of the sudden she's speaking with a Spanish accent!! Thank goodness another one of the judges called her out on it, and what does she say? WHAT DOES SHE SAY?!?!

"Sometimes when I get emotional my accent comes out... like Jorge."

AAAAAHHHH!!! How can one person need fame so much that they constantly, blatantly tell bald-faced lies to squeeze a few more seconds out of the spotlight? It's beyond pathetic. Not only does she LIE LIE LIE, she tries to draw the positive comparison between her crazy self and someone who actually has a shot at winning! I have no words. All I can say is, if you haven't seen it, PLEASE look it up on fox.com or youtube.com so you can share in my outrage. Her place in that show was a waste; her spot should have gone to someone else (Kendall, in my opinion).

Deep breath.

So, to step back and take a larger, more dispassionate perspective, I do have to say that there is so much inherently wrong with that show that it really shouldn't matter. I shouldn't watch it. It is everything I hate about pop-culture. They don't pick based on talent, they pick based on package-ability. As the wonderfully wise Orson Scott Card pointed out in his recent review (http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2009-02-22.shtml), the producers of the show care less about good, original singers and more about good TV. I highly recommend his reviews, I thoroughly enjoy them, and thank you to Caroline for introducing me.

I have no idea what about that whole situation drove me to levels of frustration and anger so intense I felt the need to blow my cover and openly admit to watching the show, but it did, and now you know. I'm sorry if I came off a little harsh on this girl, but if you've ever witnessed someone pulling antics that make you want to stand up, point a quivering finger, and scream "THE AUDACITY...!!" and then trail off, speechless... you understand.

Maybe, possibly trying something...

Well, I've been told by a few people to open a "shop" on Etsy, and I think I'm going to try it. My mom and I are going to have either a "Team" or just both sign in to the one account. Mom doesn't have much time to make stuff for it right now, but she does have quite a few things, like doll clothes and a few crocheted baby blankets, that are already done. I'll probably be the one who handles most of it, with mom helping out. We're just going to start with about 5-10 items and see if any of them sell. If they do, we'll expand. If not, at least we tried!
Right now it'll probably be small things like blankets, tied quilts, doll clothes, and possibly some baby clothes (which I like to design myself). We'll also take custom orders. After a while (IF we're successful) I'd like to start up a custom dress and costume design thing, either as a section of that shop or under a different name, since I don't think my "brand" name is marketable to men ("sweetie hearts").
So in the next few weeks, I may be asking some of you a favor... Etsy has these little widgets that you can post on your blog to advertise your shop. I'm pretty sure they can be posted in more than one place, so will you please leave a comment and let me know if you'd be willing to post one on your blog as well? That way, at least, I'll be out there a little more. I'll know for sure how they work once I actually open up the shop, which will be as soon as Will and I get our tax returns around this Friday.
Anyways, I feel kind of silly posting this. I have all these schemes in my head... I'm such a nerd.