I've been a little Lost lately

Over the past weekend, we watched no less than twelve episodes of Lost, finishing season one and starting on season 2. It contributed to a very uneventful, unproductive, and scary-dream filled weekend. I had that stupid number sequence filtering through my head in my sleep and actually had to look up future plotlines on the internet so that I wouldn't be so completely obsessed over the show. Fortunately, I was able to get out of the house and away from my whiny 2-year old for a girls' night out with Michal on Saturday. I'm glad to be out of the dark living room and actually doing things like loading the dishwasher again and getting dressed daily. Today is day 8 of potty training and I have to say, progress is reeeeeeeeally slow, but I think there is progress nonetheless. I've called mom probably 6 times this week for tips and she gives me a little nudge of encouragement each day when I feel like quitting.

For the past few months, I haven't felt like doing anything: reading, blogging, eating, cooking, cleaning, stamping, getting dressed, praying, even reading email. Nothing. I've only changed diapers. Really. I can tell that I'm on the downhill end of this because yesterday I found myself singing in the shower! And when I was in Washington, I actually read a book cover to cover just for fun. Then I got home and started on another one. I'm finally smiling at my baby again. Yesterday I spent the afternoon enjoying some long-awaited sunshine while Leah played in the sandbox, then we jumped on the neighbor's trampoline and spied on the horses in the field behind us; safely fenced in and with access to sand, grass, jumping, and horses? Our extended backyard is truly the best of all possible worlds! Then I watched American Idol and voted for David Cook and Syesha. (Didn't you?)

Anyway, all I'm saying is that I've in general been a little bit lost--in more ways than one--for quite a while now, and I think I'm finally coming out of it thanks to therapy and medication. So that's were I've been: the impossible, high-walled, dark-pitted throes of depression. There. I said it. I still have a long way to go, but I'm glad to finally start feeling a little bit more like myself again.

Washington Vacation Highlights

We had a wonderful trip to Washington last week. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Leah and Samuel were little celebrities with all the Rafaels. I must have started forgetting the camera by about Tuesday, because I don't seem to have many pictures after then. Undocumented here are pictures of Chuck-E-Cheese's, which was a major hit with all the kids. The week can be summed up simply: lots of laughs, memories, fun, and lots of food.

It was a great week! It was so nice to finally meet the whole family after five years!

*Sigh of Contentment*

Whew.

I just got home from a fantastic trip to Washington; I survived a solo flight with two children in tow; The baby is sleeping through the night; I slept in this morning; Spring is finally here, the buds have blossomed, and it was warm enough for flip-flops and capris, which fit; I had a restful day, stocked the fridge, and we had a great time at a neighbors BBQ; The kids are both bathed and put to bed and its only 9pm; I'm off the clock and have Netflix and Häagen-Dazs wating for me downstairs. Thus, I sigh with relief and exhaustion.

Okay, so tomorrow I have a meeting in the morning, followed by the usual marathon day at church; I haven't unpacked yet; I haven't blogged about my trip yet; I'm getting 3 fillings on Monday; I have to pay the bills, potty train Leah, and catch up on everything I missed in the past week...but for now, I'm sighing that great, albeit temporary sigh of contentment that everyone is fed and clean and happy and I can put my feet up and rest for the evening. These moments don't happen that often, but I am going to embrace this one. I think this is what I'd call a Shining Moment.

When I went to BYU...

• Cecil O. Samuelson was inaugurated as University President
• The SFLS had just been demolished and there was a gigantic pile of rubble in its place
• The JKB was still the JKHB and had not been remodeled
• The Alumni House stood and the Gordon B. Hinckley center was not yet conceived
• UTA bus passes were free to BYU students
• I had a class in B-77, where they still had "odd-johns", and which was already condemned
• Steve Cleveland was the basketball coach and Gary Crowton was the football coach
• The stadium was just called Cougar Stadium
• The indoor practice facility didn't exist yet, so the "Great and Spacious Building" only referred to an element of Lehi's dream
• You could take a nap practically anywhere on campus--my personal favorite locale was a saggy orange couch in a first floor women's lounge in the Swicket, with a close second on the 4th floor HBLL
• The computers in the HBLL took zip drives and 3 inch floppies

I attended BYU from September 2003 through August 2005. Not that long ago. But passing through campus I notice that a lot of things have already changed in just a few years

Finish this sentence: "When I went to BYU..."

I'll pick a random commenter on April 21 and send you some BYU paraphernalia! (Don't get too excited--I'm on a budget!)

Prediction for all you "Idol"ites out there

Why was everyone so surprised when Michael Johns was voted off? I wasn't. I was suprised that Syesha was in the bottom three, because I thought her performance this week was fabulous.

Here is my prediction of who will be voted off, but not in any order: Jason (ack!), Christy Lee Cook, Brooke White, and Carly Smithson. That leaves David Archuleta, David Cook, and Syesha as my prediction for the top three, then I think it's a toss up. Then again, Christy's performance this week was better than past weeks, so I could be wrong. And as I said before, I was surprised that Syesha was in the bottom three, so maybe she's not as popular as she is talented. That's another issue--is this a popularity contest or a talent contest? I've said before that David Archuleta is very talented, but I think his popularity is pulling him through consistently week after week--he's never been in the bottom bracket. He's talented, but soooo very young and kind of cookie-cutter in his performances that I don't think he will be the winner (but Jordin was only 17, right?). That leaves me with my money on David Cook, but he could suffer from the Chris Daughtry phenomenon and be out of the running prematurely. Okay, so I've given my predictions, then refuted them all. I really have no idea.

Good night.

*Update* I've put a poll in the sidebar for you to vote on who you think the next American Idol will be.

Hiatus

So I have been kind of out of it for the past couple weeks. I've been going to appointments. I've been wasting away playing PSP. I've been busy planning a funeral luncheon for a member of our ward who passed away. We've been watching Season 1 of Lost. We are preparing for a trip to Washington on Friday. But mostly, I've just been hiding.

Today I'm getting to serious business cleaning house and doing laundry so we can go out of town. I'm already tired. I came upstairs to get my flip-flops so I could take out the trash, but instead I sat down and started writing a blog post.

All week I've been trying to think of what blog post I could put up next, but all I could think of were titles without a witty description. Here are the candidates:

Eating my own words
On dental hygiene.

The other day I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when I looked down and realized that the toothbrush I was using was indeed purple. Figures.

I saw the dentist last week who confirmed that I have three cavities. Serves me right for bragging about never having a cavity and for eating M&M's for breakfast throughout my pregnancy.

What is that strange noise?
Birds chirping in the trees!

Tagged
I got tagged by my cousin Jessica.
1. Grab the nearest book (at least 123 pages)
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post said sentence on your blog.
5. Tag five people.

Unfortunately, the closest book to me is one of my husband's and is called "Using Homework Assignments in Cognitive Behavior Therapy." Sounds intriguing. Here is the sentence: "We incorporate relevant case examples and conclude with a discussion of additional strategies to address homework noncompliance." Sounds like a real page-turner.

I'm tagging Michal, Kitara, Valerie, Raquel, and Jackie.

Random Tidbits
I just discovered LilyPadz. What an ingenious invention. If you are nursing, you might consider checking these out. It has solved my soggy sheets problem.

Yesterday I took Leah to Kangaroo Zoo. She had a lot of fun. It only cost me $5, but I still have a considerable headache.

The baby is starting to sleep for 6-7 hour increments at night. Praise the heavens.

I've been habitually checking out books that I have good intentions of reading, then returning them dusty and unread four weeks later and paying a late fee. I've been ignoring my house and my laundry, and we've been watching a lot of the Disney channel. I've even gotten behind on blog-reading and I've stopped checking my email except for once a day.

See? I told you I'm just not feeling the witty gene right now. This is what I would call a funk.

You can bet that I will continue to be MIA for a little while longer until we return from our trip to WA, the weather warms up, and I finally come out of hibernation. There are big things on the horizon--potty training being one of them.

Code Green at Checkstand 12

After spending several hours wandering aimlessly at a favorite one-stop shop (should I keep it nameless?), we finally headed toward the exit. Mom was a little frazzled, the baby had a poopy diaper, and Leah was wired to say the least. It was 5:00: time to go home, have dinner, and finally unwind. The checker sensed my exhaustion and gave me kudos for sticking it out, reminding me that his best memories are with little kids in tow. I sighed and responded "by the time we get home, everyone will be crying" (and I fully meant for that to include me).

Oh, what a prophesy. Leah had been happily pushing the cart along with me, being a super trooper after a too-long afternoon, when merely moments later she biffed it and split her chin open on a metal rail of the shopping cart. You'd think that such an amount of blood with such a calibre of crying would warrant a "code red," but to the contrary, such is a "code green." I looked at the same kind checker (because we didn't get very far) and said "What did I tell ya?"

A code green warranted no less than six store personnel (maybe there were more), who converged upon us practically instantaneously and provided alcohol swabs, an ice pack, paper towels, an icee treat for Leah, and lets not forget to mention the incident report form. Why didn't anybody think to bring a bandaid?

Michal came to my rescue and provided moral support and baby-assistance while we went to Instacare. After a $35 copay, five stitches, and a sucker, we were home at 7:00. Leah was a trooper, but there was a significant amount of tears. Oh, and as she walked in the front door to our house, she fell on her face and gave herself a fat, bloody lip. Figures.

Just for the record, the adrenaline of an over-extended, accident-prone afternoon combined with an Icee, a sucker, and cookies in a two hour period before dinner makes a two year old completely unreasonable and literally bounce off the walls. Subsequently, the parents begin to go BONKERS!