March Madness and Jimmeritis

March Madness. Seriously Madness.

I've never watched so much basketball, in a row, ever, in my life.

What happened to me?

Well, I married this guy...



And he is a sports fanatic.

He has also taught me well.

He was recapping the first round of games the other night and he didn't know if Syracuse won or not.
Somehow, this came out of my mouth: "Well, they were up by 6 points in the last minute or so, so I'm pretty sure they won." 
During the BYU game, somehow this came out of my "mouth" via text: "Why does Carlino think it's a good idea to try and run fast down the court in a fake breakaway, then sloppily shoot before his team is there to catch a rebound?"
During the first VCU game, I cheered out loud. Alone. At my TV. When VCU threw the 3 pointer, then the big 2, then defended the 3 point shot to win the game.
Thank you, VCU, for keeping my bracket in tact.
I filled out two brackets.
We jointly filled out one.
All of which are now shot. Does anyone have a good bracket this year? Seriously.
I wish I could have filled out 10.
It's only slightly addicting.
I even had Mr. Man read me stats of teams to base my judgement upon.

Sometimes I look at Espn.com.

What happened to me?

I blame some of my basketball fever on Jimmer. I call it Jimmeritis.
I blame some of my basketball fever on the 'Hawks-Tigers rivalry that is more real now that I live in MO.
I blame lots of my basketball fever on Mr. Man.
Bubs even chooses a basketball over a football or soccer ball.

I am not afraid to say I enjoy sports. A lot.
I am not afraid to say that while I love chatting with the girls during game parties, I secretly want to be watching the action with the guys.
I am not afraid to say I cannot wait til I'm a soccer, baseball, and basketball mom.
I am not afraid to make comments during a game and feel confident that I know what I'm talking about (at least in front of my husband).

So thank you, BYU ball, Jimmer, and Mr. Man for educating and encouraging my enjoyment, dare I say love?, for sports!

One of "Those" Days

Have you ever had one of those days?

It starts off with an outside temp of 85 degrees in the afternoon, resulting in an inside temp of 78 degrees that night. Then the air conditioner decides not to work. The breeze outside decides not to blow. And by the next morning it's still 77 degrees. Inside. With no a/c. Or breeze.

Then your puppy, who has been completely sick and lethargic for the past 72 hours, is suddenly better and decides to act like you've never fed her in her life, you've never played with her in her life, she's never seen people before in her life, and she's never been trained (including kennel) in her life. This equates to crazy-hyper-out of control-ball of energy.

Next, since it's a beautiful morning and your porch is clean, you let the kiddos outside to play. Your dear son decides it's a good idea to bust through the screen door so now, instead of sliding horizontally, it opens like a flap, only connected at the top.

Just after that happens, you walk inside to find goldfish all over the floor, 99% not intact.  Also, since your puppy has forgotten that her kennel is her safe place and now thinks it's torturous, which results in non-stop barking and whining, you take all three outside for a walk and potty break.

Note to self: my kid 1 likes going one direction, friend's kid 1 likes going a different direction, puppy has a mind of her own, which does not coordinate with either kid. All of them find joy in running into the street.

When they're finally corralled and headed for home, friend's kid continues her new game of wrapping her arms around my kid and saying "caught you!" He thinks it's hilarious until she comes up behind him. He doesn't have great balance, so she accidentally knocks him over. Face meets concrete.

Since we all need some air conditioning, a break, and Dark Chocolate covered Acai Berries, we head to Costco.

I think my mom finds great joy in my mile-a-minute phone calls recapping every moment of my crazy morning with two kids and a dog. It probably brings back great memories and gives her a tiny twinge of "now you know what I went through. I'm so proud."


And when I bust up laughing and giggling the whole time I'm recapping, I know it's a good day.

because it's ALWAYS better to Laugh!





p.s. Since I know you're dying to know how I'm feeling since I got shingles...well, let me tell ya, it seems like I was never sick. I had about one night and one day I felt pretty weak and icky, but for the most part I was able to carry on with life as normal! Thank goodness! Now the rash has scabbed and is disappearing so I'm not contagious and I feel 100% fine. yay!

My Costco Worker "Crush"

Before all those crazy weird thoughts start developing in your mind, let me set the record straight:

The "crush" is not someone I am crushing on.
It is someone that may be "crushing" on me.

Moving on.

Remember way back when I was around 6 or 7 months pregnant and I wrote about this man at Costco who complimented me very sweetly? If you don't, here's a refresher:

(and looking back on archives, maybe I didn't actually write it here...)

man: "Is it a girl or boy?"
me: "A boy."
man: "Well, if it was a girl, and if she took after you, she would be beautiful"

Can I get an "awww?"
Best compliment I received from a stranger.

Fast forward to post baby. This same man, a chocolatey, dark skinned, "my-engaged-sister-who-used-to-love-black-men-would-think-he's-hott", man, still talks to me.

Every. Time. I. Go. To. Costco. (when he's there too)

Most of the time he says something like "Heyy, it's you again!", or "There you are!", or something similar. Sometimes, oftentimes, he even plays with Bubs.

But most recently I went in a few weeks ago by myself to pick up a pizza. I was zooming in the front door, trying to beat the freezing rain storm that was imminent outside. Of course, who happened to be walking toward me? The only other person in the long stretch of entryway? Chocolatey man.

"Hey, it's you again. By yourself tonight, huh?"
"uh, yeah."

Cue completely embarrassed, awkward, giggling and a phone call to my mom to laugh our heads off.

And that, my friends, is just another reason I think I love Costco!

Chickenpox Party, anyone??

This was a verbatim text conversation with my mom last night:

me: "14 mo old baby, 9 week old puppy, counselor in YW, ward camp director, two nanny jobs, choreographing and teaching 2 numbers for a musical, hubby in chiro school and taking boards this tri, on top of normal wife/mother stuff: cooking, cleaning, groceries, laundry, playgroup. Am I crazy???"
mom: "YES!!!!! How do you do it all???"
me: "Well, I don't. Not always. Right now camp is on the back burner, my apt is picked up but messier than I'd like, and I haven't blogged in a week. Aside from that you can just call me Superwoman. I did marry, Superman, remember? ;-)"
mom: "Haha! You ARE Superwoman!! You need a costume."

So that, my friends, is my non-excuse excuse for why I haven't been blogging much lately.

With that said, this post was originally supposed to be my thoughts on the movie Food Inc.
However, with some recent changes and development this morning, this post is not about Food Inc. Sorry to disappoint.

Refer to text conversation with my mom.... Since, clearly, I don't already have enough on my plate right now, I discovered today that I have Shingles.

I first noticed a strange burning on my right side about where I wear my pants, yesterday morning. Upon further inspection I also noticed a small, itchy rash. I thought it was odd, but carried on with my day. Later that evening I noticed an awful lot of dull, achy pains in that same general area. I decided to consult the hubby.

"You probably have Shingles." he said, in a mostly joking manner. Of course I googled it immediately. Later, I had him adjust me because my lower back, on the same side, was hurting quite a bit. He examined the rash more, stated that it was along a dermatone line, and wanted to palpate (feel) my back. He found that my L2 was fixated, and that it also connected with the dermatone line that the rash was on. He tried reassuring me that he didn't really think it was Shingles, but that I needed to keep an eye on it. (the correlations they learn in chiro school is amazing!)

This morning I discovered another small patch of red, and texted my mom "I have this really weird rash..." to which she inquired deeper and urged me to go to the doctor immediately. She reminded me that my dad and two of my sisters have had Shingles, and what I was describing sounded very similar.

The nurse told me the rash didn't look like much but when I described the accompanying pain, she said she thought it might be shingles as well. The doctor came in, looked at the rash, heard the symptoms, and agreed that it was likely shingles. She also commented on the fact that it was along a dermatone line (points for Scott!) that was connected to the spinal cord. She wrote a prescription for an antiviral to decrease the length and severity of the illness, but stated it would probably get worse before better.

So, here's the recap:

Symptoms:
-4 spots of bright red, itchy, rash, scattered in a wrapping fashion around my right hip
-a dull, achy pain in my hip socket area, some sharp shooting pains
-burning, prickly, and stinging sensations that come and go
-lots, and lots, and lots of stress in my life
-a family history of Shingles

Prognosis:
-anywhere from a week to 6 weeks before fully recovered
-contagious (by contact to rash) to anyone who has not had the chickenpox or vaccine
-I cannot spread shingles to anyone, but can spread chickenpox to those who have not had it, as long as the rash is blistering and scabbing and not covered. When it's completely scabbed I won't be contagious anymore. If I keep it covered (which is likely), there is a low chance of spreading it.


Blessings:
-a husband who is smarter than he gives himself credit for!!!!!
-an experienced mom who knew what to do right away
-if caught and antiviral started within 48 hours, the severity and longevity is drastically decreased (dad had it bad for 6 weeks, one of which he was flat in bed, sister had it bad for 2 days, 1 week to fully recover) I first noticed symptoms about 30 hours ago.

How do I feel right now? Completely fine, oddly enough. I still have the annoying pain in my hip, but otherwise I don't feel sick at all. I have only had this for around 30 hours though...still plenty of time to digress!

In conclusion, if anyone has children that want the Chickenpox, I would be glad to assist (I think...)! ;-)

Dear Bachelor Ben

Dear Bachelor Ben,

There are some things I thought you should know....

First of all, your hair is not attractive. It usually looks like you haven't showered, you don't own a comb, you've been wearing a hat all day, and you lost the phone number for your hair stylist. Please think about getting a hair cut. Soon. I think there's a good chance you might look a little less like a caveman and Francine from Arthur if you decide to cut it.

Next, whoever told you a bow-tie is stylish was wrong. Perhaps you should consider hiring someone else to make those decisions for you.

Now let's talk about the girls.

What happened with Kacie B.? I thought your first date with her was really romantic, special, and personal. You even talked about how you were in trouble with her because you liked her so much.

Hmm, I guess it is all about the bow chicka ow wow with you. Gross.

So, Courtney. Have you seen this video of her?

Not so sweet and innocent now, eh?

Although I'm not sure innocent and Courtney should ever be used in the same sentence.

Oh, and did she mention she's a model?

Remember those other contestants on previous seasons that were there to promote their career? You can add her to that list of people.

Do you not have any red flags when you talk to Courtney about the other girls? Maybe you have one or two because you constantly bring it up, yet you still keep her around. Have you noticed when you talk about it she's always looking around trying not to make eye contact? What about all the times the other girls came to talk to you about her? Who do you trust more? The majority, or the skank?

I think you want to be like Jake and Vienna.

So let's count how many times Courtney touches her hair from now til the next commercial break. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, (3 minutes have gone by) 17, 18, 19, 20. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25(touching his hair). 25 times in 6 minutes. Hair fetish?

Plus her top lip. Always pouting. Always biting. She's a really good liar. To you (Ben). I hope there was more to that "apology" than they actually showed on air.

Why do the girls always act so surprised when they get the Fantasy Suite cards? Have they never seen an episode of Bachelor or Bachelorette?

"Hunny Bunny??"

Okay, Emily, Ashley, Ali, cute. But the whole Titanic movie screening scene? So fake looking. Awkward too.
Dear Ali: let's work on your hair. 


Duh, Duh, Dunnnn. Here comes Kacie.
psst. Ben, your shirt and tie. Ew.

Ben, I feel like your explanation of your breakup with Kacie is showing how much you've changed, in a negative way, from the beginning of the show. I thought you were a classy, good boy, with relatively high standards. Now I think you're really more of a horny teenage boy who really doesn't care about love and doesn't care to heed the cautions of others.

Plus, you seem distracted all the time. And really rather boring.

Bachelor flop this season.

Can we see Emily's season now?

Our New Bundle of Love! **edit: with pictures!

Note to Self: In the future, it's okay, no, it's a really good idea, to get a puppy that is older than 8 weeks old. In fact, 12 weeks old would be great.

It's official.
We have now joined the ranks of Dog Owners!

We met our sweet little Kaiya for the first time on February 23, 2012, at about 11:50 am, in Kirksville, MO. She looks exactly like her pictures, only much more fluffy, cute, and small! I believe it's safe to say we were all a little shocked at how little she is. I would guess her weight is somewhere around 2 pounds. (eta: at her vet appointment on 2/25 she weighed 2.9 pounds)

After getting kicked out of Wal-Mart for bringing in a puppy, we began the journey home with a new bundle of joy. She was only really whiny for the first 45 minutes, and I was only really jealous the entire drive home. Mostly because I was driving and not playing with my puppy. We made a pit stop and let the kiddos run around and stretch their legs. Bubs loves Kaiya and Kaiya loves Bubs! She was chasing him all over the place and he was giving her lots of soft pats and giggles.

Kaiya was a complete, utter, bundle of love until it was bedtime. Unfortunately, she did not come to us kennel/crate trained, and she was very clear about letting us know. Neither Mr. Man nor I got any sleep until about 2:30 am, at which point we gave up and let her sleep in our bed. Something I swore I'd never do, however, when it gets to that emergency situation, I prefer to get sleep!

Remember how so many people told me a puppy would be like having another baby? Well, guess what? You're right. I totally feel like I have two kids. Two very needy kids babies. Both of them want my constant attention and the cozy seat on my lap...at the same time. They also both feel the need to be at my heels, always, wherever I go. Luckily, my dear, sweet, man was able to come home for lunch which allowed me to clean up our apartment, serve lunch, and put Bubs down for a nap, thus providing me with an opportunity to shower...at 2 pm. TGIF.

So, what have I learned thus far?

1. Pee pads seem rather worthless (anyone ever had luck with them? how?)
2. I'm grateful for hardwood floors! Though she has only had a couple accidents, which were my fault.
3. Next time we'll get an older puppy who has been crate trained.
4. A 2 pound bundle of black fluff is really easy to lose, even in a small apartment.
5. Puppy crying is ten times worse than baby crying, sorry neighbors!!
6. If I make it through the next 4 months with no major catastrophes, no serious losses, and a head full of hair, I will feel successful.

With that said, we absolutely love her and she is the cutest little puppy I have ever seen! We are totally open for visitors and friends, you can even bring your dog if you want, since she needs to socialize, and it's fun to show her off.

"Boy & Dog"

eta: All photos credit of Kamian Gille, who is awesome. Also, we had a much better 2nd night. She still whines when she first goes in her kennel, but she slept in 2-3 hour increments and pottied outside every time we took her! I have a feeling she will be a very good dog.

No "Nothing Box" for this girl!

Golly gee whiz.  Have you ever seen this video?

My brain currently feels exactly like how he describes woman's brains. Zzzt zzt zzt zzt zzzt. 

Want to know what I'm thinking about?

Source

This box of Dove Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles my dear sweet hubby got me on Valentine's day "from Bubs." It is hiding in our room where a child is currently napping. Boo.

I'm also thinking about this song:

I heard it on the radio at the most opportune time. 

I almost cried.

I'm also thinking about her:

We get to finally meet her a week from tomorrow! Kora, Kiki, or Kaiya for her name? We can't decide.

I'm also thinking about this article I read the other day that really struck a chord. It made me stop and think about my life, my relationship with my husband, and how I can make it even better. Don't we all need a little reminding every now and then?

Something else I'm thinking about?

source

Haha. Not what you think. I just have some pains, so I took some, and I'm wishing it would kick in.

I'm also thinking about this:

source

I'm teaching the lesson on Sunday and I need to consolidate all my thoughts and put the finishing touches on what I'll be teaching.

Lastly, I'm thinking about this song: 

Don't mind some of the random pictures in the slideshow, I couldn't find the original Josh Groban video connecting from youtube from my blog.... Aren't ya glad I told ya that?

Anyway, I took a jazz class at BYU a few years ago and the teacher choreographed a beautiful lyrical to this song. It was one of those defining moments in my life when I danced it. One of those moments as a dancer where the music fills your heart and soul and your body moves in an exact expression of how you feel.

This song popped up on my ipod this week and I was taken back to that studio. Ever since, it has been in the back of my mind, popping up every time I need a boost.

And lastly, again, I'm thinking about this:

See that cute guy I'm kissing? We got married and I still love him like crazy. I actually love him more now than I did when we got married, and I'll love him even more tomorrow. This was just after we had our first kiss ever.

And that, my friends, is/are/was what I'm thinking about!

What are you thinking about today?