"Bad Baby!"

Last night, I decided to give my mom a call to see how she was doing. Last week, she called to tell me that she's retiring at the end of the school year (she's taught school for over 25 years), and she seemed a little depressed. Well, a little ways into our conversation (I was talking to her on my cell phone), my home phone rang. It was one of my aunts. I had my mom waiting on the cell phone while I spoke with my aunt for a few minutes. She wanted to let me know that she and my uncle were planning on watching the kids for us when I went to the hospital to have the baby. She also told me that my a few of my cousins who live close by would be willing to take them if I went into labor in the middle of the night. This was quite a relief for me, as it's something that's been on my mind more and more lately. ANYway, while I was on the phone with my aunt, and my mom was waiting on the cell phone, I heard a scream coming from the bathroom. Aparently, Jasmine had gone in there to go potty. As usual, she DIDN'T shut the door (I keep trying to get her to close it). Tyler followed her in there, and when she got off the potty, before flushing, he took one of my husband's hats and tossed it into the toilet. Talk about EWWW! Tyler is a pill! Every time Jasmine goes potty and doesn't shut the door, he follows her in there and causes some type of trouble. Grr! Needless to say, she was upset for a few minutes. At one moment, I heard her sternly say, "Tyler, you're a bad baby!" I sure hope this is a lesson well learned, and that Jasmine closes the door from now on. Tyler had better not throw any more things into the toilet, either. By the way.... my mom AND my aunt now know about this whole thing.

My Blur of a Weekend

This past weekend was very HECTIC. The craziness all started on Friday evening. For starters, I took Jasmine to a Girl Scout recruitment meeting at a big ol' Christian church down the road. We got some information and pamphlets, and I put her name on an "interested" list. Hopefully, we'll hear back from them within the next few weeks. We really want her to join, since it will be a great way for her to make new friends and learn new things OUTSIDE of school. Kindergarteners are the youngest, and they're called Daisies. SOOOOO cute. While I attended a parent information meeting, Jasmine went downstairs with all of the other kids. All of the incoming Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, etc, separated and did their own little art or craft. Jasmine made a few little daisy boquets. She was very excited about it all when I went down to pick her up.

I got home at around 8: 15 or so. Shortly after, my husband had to take off to go pick up his brother Scott at the airport. (Scott, who is a chiropractor, was flying into Portland to attend a two-day seminar. He stayed Friday night and Saturday night with us.) Since my hubby just took the car to a transit center, then rode the MAX, it took him well over an hour to get there. He and his brother didn't get back until almost midnight.

Saturday morning, my husband took his brother clear in the heck over to the east side of the city to drop him off at the campus where the seminar was being held. It was like a 45 minute drive one way, and had Scott chosen to take Trimet, it would have taken almost two hours... yikes! On the way, they stopped by my hubby's new workplace (they just moved in earlier that day... yay!). He couldn't figure out the blasted parking meter, then figured he wouldn't need to pay to park since it was a WEEKEND (most places downtown are like that). Well, evidently that was NOT the case here... and he got a $23 parking ticket while they were inside. POO! My husband didn't get home until like noon or so. We all then took a nap for a few hours. Afterwards, the four of us went over to an Elder's Quorum barbecue at a local park. The food was almost gone, and most of the people had already come and gone. But we still had fun. My husband let them use some of his old disc golf discs and they made a make-shift course. People had quite a bit of fun with that.

After the picnic, we zoomed home so I could get ready for the Relief Sociey broadcast at the chirch. My visiting teaching partner came and picked me up (so my husband would have the car to go get his brother). We had potpies and pumpkin pies for dinner, then enjoyed a wonderful evening listening to talks about being encircled in the Savior's love. We heard from the whole Relief Society general presidency, along with President Hinckley. Wow, am I glad I went. I was able to sit and relax (with NO kids!), and enjoy one spiritually uplifting message after another. When it was over, I went to the kitchen to retrieve some of the MANY extra potpies they had. I got to take hom 8, which served as a great lunch for the next day.

I got home shortly before 9:00, when my hubby informed me that it would probably be best for me to find a sub for Primary on Sunday. By then I felt it was too late to call people, so I waited till the next morning to do so. I had to call a billion people since nobody was home. I ended up getting two different people to cover for me... one for junior and one for senior primary. Myhusband was going to fly back to Idaho Falls with his brother at 5:00 Sunday evening so he could attend his grandma's funeral on Monday (his family paid for the plain ticket, which is how he was able to go-- his grandma died last Tuesday). They had to be at the airport an hour early, plus it would take them over an hour to get there. On top of that, he had to go pick Scott up at 1:00 from his clear-in-the-heck-out-there seminar to make sure they could get to the airport on time. Oh, and he had to get all of his stuff ready for the trip. Did I mention that he still went to the early-morning bishopric meetings AFTER taking Scott TO the seminar on Sunday morning? They left the house about 6:45 am, and my hubby didn't get home from his meetings until almost 11:30.... just enough time to eat lunch before heading out to go get his bro. Plus, he had to stop at an ofice store to pick up a printer cable so he could print out his plane ticket... HELLO! He could have done that earlier in the week! GRR!

They got back shortly after 2:00, and my husband threw some stuff together in a suitcase. I gave them each a potpie (thank goodness I got those the night before) that they could eat quickly, then I took them to a MAX station where they hopped on a Red Line train that took them directly to the airport. They got into Idaho Falls probably about 9:00 or so (after stopping over in SLC) and my husband stayed the nightwith his parents in Rexburg. they had a viewing and the funeral Monday morning, followed by the graveside services and a luncheon. He took a bunch of pictures, and the funeral service was recorded. He then had to catch a flight out of Idaho Falls at 7:00, and got home right before midnight. Talk about a quick trip! What a mess of a weekend! It was good, though. And somewhere in all that mess, my husband had a birthday! He turned 30 on Saturday. I feel kinda bad that we weren't able to do something for it. I'm really glad he got to see his family, though, even if it WAS for a funeral. I know that his grandma was really happy that he could be there.

Now, I'm looking forward for things to return to normal for a while. I'm just plain pooped. Later today, I have my lovely 28-week gestational diabetes test. I'll also get tested for anemia, which I'm pretty sure I have. Oh, fun. For now, I think this blog is freakin' long enough.

Visiting Teaching + Jasmine + Tyler = DISASTER!!!

I just got back from visiting teaching about fifteen minutes ago. Talk about a total disaster!! We went to two different ladies' houses. Jasmine behaved fairly well at the first house, although she was a bit whiny. The people that live there have a cat. As soon as we came into the house, the cat ran away and hid. The whole time, Jasmine was whining about how she wanted to find the cat. The lady put on The Incredibles for the kids to watch, and that worked for a while. Then Tyler wanted to go wander into the BEDROOMS! AAAH! When I grabbed him and didn't let him go exploring, he threw a fit! Luckily, we were able to talk about the lesson for a few minutes before things got out of hand. The next house wasn't any better. In fact, it was like a hundred times worse. Well, let me rephrase that... the house was very nice, the lady was very nice, but MY TWO KIDS WERE HORRIBLE! It was one of those houses where there's tons of ornaments and nicknacks everywhere, so I didn't dare let Tyler down to wander. They had a little girl a few years older than Jasmine, who was kind to let Jazz go play with her in her bedroom. Tyler was fussy at first, but kept getting more and more upset since I wouldn't let him down to play and get into things. By the time the lady had to go answer the phone, he was screaming his head off. So, we gave like a 30 second lesson and headed out the door. Of course, Jasmine didn't want to leave. She was having too much fun playing with the other little girl. So, what did she do when it was time to go? She basically threw a tantrum. So, there I was, whisking my two screaming children out the door, feeling like a total idiot. I have decided that today's adventure will be my last attempt at visiting teaching with Tyler... and only on selective occasions will I take Jasmine. They invited Jasmine to come back and play next time I come visiting teaching, so I may let her come along if we have a little talk about not crying when it's time to leave. But, as far as Tyler is concerned, HECK NO! If this means waiting till Saturdays to do it (so my hubby can watch the kids, or at least Ty), then so be it. It was a very stressful few hours, and I really don't want or need that stress right now. I felt really bad for the ladies we were visiting, too. I just cringe when I think about the whole experience.

Oh, What a Day!

I've been hearing a lot of stuff about 9/11 lately, which is only natural with it being the anniversary and all. I'd have to say that the day of the terrorist attacks is one of the most vivid memories that I have (along with my wedding day and the birth of my children). I remember where I was and what I was doing...

My husband had just left for work. He worked in Rexburg and we lived in Idaho Falls, so he had about a half hour drive ahead of him. We had one cell phone, which he kept with him (due to my paranoya of him frequently driving home late). I was watching PBS kids with Jasmine... The Big Comfy Couch, if I recall correctly. Then the phone rang. It was my husband, telling me to turn on the news (he heard about it on the radio). I flipped the channel, and I stared in shock as I saw the plane burning in the first tower. Moments later, I witnessed, with the rest of the country, the second crash. I couldn't believe that it was happening, that what I was watching was actually real. I sat glued to the tube for the next several hours. My husband made it to work, only to turn right around and come back home. His boss dismissed everyone for the day, figuring that no one would be able to get any work done. When he got home, I gave him a big hug. I was happy to have my family all together and safe.

I often wonder if our country could have prevented those attacks. Even more so, I wonder about how we, as a nation, have changed since that day. I know that thousands of people had loved ones lost on that day, and I'm sure that their lives will be forever changed. But what about all of those people (myself included) who didn't know anyone who died? I would hope that we never go back to our old, complacent ways either. I am very grateful to be a U.S. citizen, and for the freedoms and responsibilities that come with that. I am truly blessed to live in this land, and I try not to take those blessings for granted.

On another, totally non-9/11 note, I received some marvelous news today. I have a friend that I have known probably since the fifth grade or so. She and I parted ways throughout middle school and high school, mainly because our lives took different paths. She ended up hanging out with a more troublesome group of people (which she now regrets). However, a few years after I got married, she tracked me down, and we were able to miraculously rekindle that friendship. She had cleaned up her life and was happily married with a baby of her own. Well, since moving to Oregon a little over a year ago, we have occasionally emailed and called one another. It had been a while since I'd heard from her when, last week she left a few different messages on my answering machine, trying to get ahold of me. Since I was in and out of the house frequently, I emailed her back on Tuesday. ANYhoo, she finally got my email ( I sent it to the wrong address), and emailed me back. She wanted to tell me that she has been studying with the missionaries for the past year or so, and she will be baptized at the end of this month. Wow. Talk about thrilled. I didn't see that one coming. I don't know if her hubby is going to be baptized, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Even if he isn't getting baptized at this time, it would be so much better for her and her family to have the loving support and encouragement from her hubby. I am very happy for her, and I wish her the best.

Whoa, I didn't realize the time until just now. Now I need to go pick up Jasmine from the bus stop. Ta ta for now.

By the way....

First of all, I want to clarify something about the whole car boo-boo the other day. The force with which the guy's car hit me wasn't all that great. In fact, had he not had a bleepin' tow loop on the front of his truck, my bumper probably wouldn't have sustained any damage. He was almost stopped, albeit a screeching stop, when he hit me. I don't think my car moved at all in the impact. I bumped into the front end of a vehicle in the church parking lot a few weeks ago with much greater force. I have also slammed on my brakes in the past with greater force. So, I am fairly confident when I say that no one was injured in the ordeal. I was crying because I was freaked out since I am a hormonal boob right now (I cried in the church parking lot, too). Jasmine was crying only because I was crying. Plus, she was just upset that someone's truck hit our car. Tyler was babbling in the back seat through the whole ordeal, not aware of a single thing out of the ordinary. Here it is, three days later, and other than my normal pregnancy uncomfortableness, I feel great.

Now, about my doctor appointment on Wednesday...

I was 25 weeks and one day. Everything was great. I haven't gained any weight in the past four weeks (yipee!), and my blood pressure was up to the area where it SHOULD be (like 128/70-ish). I was told that my blood pressure should start to go back up later in my pregnancy, and it is. Back in July, it was 105/60. ANYhoo.... the baby sounded great. The doctor was instantly able to get a heartbeat. That's the quickest he's ever been able to find it. Now that the baby is getting bigger, it only makes sence that a heartbeat would be easier to pick up. I then discussed the whole thing about quick/early labor and delivery. I asked him what the likelihood of an early quick delivery would be this time around since it was so blasted fast with Tyler.

For those of you who don't know, I delivered him 12 days early. I woke up in the middle of the night just in time to witness my water breaking all over the bed, and we zoomed to the hospital where he was born less than an hour and a half later. Well, the doctor said that the USUAL (but not always) case is, if you have a quick and/or early labor, your next one will likely be quicker. He suggested I line up all my appointments through 34 weeks on that very day. He wants to see meat 28 weeks (where I take the gestational diabetes test with that Glucola drink), 30 weeks, 32 weeks, and 34 weeks. After that, he wants to see me WEEKLY, and he'll start checking my cervix at 35 weeks. I could only schedule my 28 week and 30 week appointment with him, though, cuz his schedule is blacked out after that. The scheduler told me that they probably did this because he is so dang popular. So, on my 28 week apointment, I will try again. Just in case, I did schedule my 32 and 34 week apointments with another doc. I hope I can see my own, though. He's totally awesome. Wow, this is going to help make time fly by really fast.

Jasmine absolutely loves Kindergarten. For the first two days, other kids on the bus helped her find her way to her classroom. I believe she went all by herself this morning. Everyone at the school, faculty and students, are pretty good about looking afer the little Kindergarteners. Jazz will even have a bag tag pinned to her backpack for the first two weeks, where I have to daily update how she will be getting home. I am also comforted to know that the bus drivers taking the Kindies home will NOT let them off the bus without a parent/guardian present to take them. I freaked out today when I thought I missed the bus dropping her off... luckily I was wrong. It wasn't even her bus. When she WAS dropped off, I spoke briefly with the driver who told me that she would have just left Jasmine on the bus and taken her back to the school, and maybe tried one more time to drop her off at home. Jasmine seems to be making friends, and I am feeling much less worried and paranoid than I was at the beginning of the week.

Now I have to go put Tyler back in bed for the billionth time. I have been trying to get him to go to sleep for the past half hour or so, but he keeps climbing out of bed. The little pill!

(I wrote this entry on Friday, but due to Blogger problems and my impatience, I didn't post it till Sunday)

My Car Saga Comes to a Happy Close

Shortly after 1:30 today, I got a call from James, the guy at Lucky Autobody. He said that my car was finished, and that it had already been paid for. I could hardly contain my excitement and relief as I hauled the kids down to the garage. We drove that tiny, dirty, Cobalt car one last time to Hertz to return it. In my glee, I forgot to go gas it up. I didn't realize this until the guy at the counter in the rental office went out to inspect the gas and mileage. Another man said that they would cut me a deal and not charge for gas. Yipee! So, I was charged the expected 69 buckeroos, and I didn't have to pay for the gas I used! They felt bad about th dirty car, so at least they were trying to make things better. They also dropped me off at Lucky, which isn't very far away, but since I had two kids and two car seats, it was needed. I had a double-take when I first saw my car. It looked a thousand times better than it had even before the fender bender. Wow... ANYway, without looking at it in too much detail, I hefted Tyler (who was still buckled into his car seat) into the office to pick up the final paper work. Jasmine was a big girl and carried her booster seat all by herself. James told me that Chris paid for my car yesterday when he picked up his truck. I suppose I really lucked out in having an honest, decent person hit my car.

James walked back out to the car with me. They washed the whole outside, including the paint off of the front bumper (which must have taken some heavy duty washing, since no regular car was has been able to get it off). The inside was also vacuumed (it was pretty nasty with crumbs, etc,when I brought it in). The back bumper looked fantastic. Man, it looked like a completely different vehicle. I am very happy with the service I got there. They were quick, professional and friendly... AND, they did an awesome job. I suppose I am one of the blessed few who actually benefited from an out-of-pocket situation like this. I'll never know why Chris didn't want to go through his insurance, but now that everything is gaken care of, that doesn't really matter. He held true to his responsibilities in the situation, and I got a car back that looked even better than it did originally. I am very happy that this whole thing is over.

Update on my Car

Things seem to be going well with the whole car situation. Yesterday, I met Chris at the autobody place where we waited for James, the guy we spoke with the day before. I made sure it was understood that Chris, not me, will be paying for the repairs. James is absolutely confident in Chris, saying that he's a trustworthy person and customer, and he expects Chris to pay. ANYhoo... a guy from Hertz car rental came and picked me up, and Chris followed us over to the rental place. I had to pay for the rental car with my own bank card, since I'm the one driving it. Chris then gave me an $80.00 check, which I deposited (and it's been cleared) into my bank immediately following.

I have immediately decided that I don't like Hertz! First of all, the car that they gave me was completely filthy! Grr! It's a cool car and all (an '06 Chevy Cobalt) with a sun roof, etc, but there's bug splats all over the freakin' windshield and NO windshield washer fluid. When I went in there this morning to cancel the insurance (so I'd only have to pay for ONE day, at 18.95/day), I complained about the filthy state of the car. They gave me a free car wash card. But, since I'm not going to be driving the rental car again, except to return it, I'm just gonna keep the card to use on MY car. Plus, I don't think I should have to take more time out of my schedule to clean the car that THEY were supposed to clean before I got it. They should have cleaned it right then and there for me. Car washes run about 8 bucks around here, so that card will be appreciated the next time we need to get OUR car washed. Next, they charged my card a whole bunch extra, (which is just being held aside at the bank, not actually witherawn) and I'm on the phone with them right now trying to figure out what in the heck they did. I know that they have to charge extra up front, to make sure you have money in your account to cover it, and that you are who you say you are (then you get it back after returning the car, etc...), but this is ridiculous! The dude I just talked to couldn't understand why they charged me an extra $100 today, but he pretty much guaranteed that it would be put back on my card, along with the original $149 that I already knew about, by midnight tomorrow night (as long as I return the car tomorrow). I'm just really glad that yesterday was payday, so we have plenty of money in the bank to cover this temporary mess. So, all in all, I will only have to pay like $68.95 (because I did get one day of insurance, too). This means, I come out on top since Chris gave me 80 bucks, which is already in the bank. Man, for only $11.00 and a free car wash, this is sure a big mess to go through. But hey... I'll take what I can get!

On a better note, things seem to be going well with MY car. I spoke with James yesterday on the phone, and he said that they had the bumper and pad stripped off already, and that there was no additional damage. His target for finishing it was between 4:00 and 5:00 this evening. However, since Chris has to work tonight, I'll just meet him at the shop tomorrow morning so he can pay for the car's repairs before I pick it up. So, I'll go by Hertz first to drop off their car, and they will take me back to the autobody shop........ WHOOPEE!! I just called the car place, and they said that my car would definitely be finished today, and that they would call me when it was done. They even said that I could pick it up today, even if Chris isn't going to pay for it till tomorrow morning. Hmm... I dunno about doing that. I think I would feel better knowing that my car was already paid for before taking it from the shop. At the same time, though, I wanna get rid of this blasted rental car asap! Hmm.... what to do, what to do! So, I think I'll give Chris a call as soon as I get a call from the shop. I'm not worried about him paying, but I would just feel better to have the car paid for as soon as possible. Plus, I'm ticked at Hertz.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, by tomorrow at this time, everything will be right with the world... or at least, with my car. Another cool thing... it'll be in better condition than it was in before this whole mess. The bumper was already all scraped up from other bonks and mishaps (backing up into the curb, etc). Now, I will have a nice, shiny new bumper on my car. Plus, they said that they could probably wash off some of the paint on the front bumper (sustained from scraping the side my garage while pulling into it on a few different occasions). I'm not counting on that, but it'll sure be nice if they do it. This autobody shop deals with high-end foreign import cars (Audi, Mercedes, BMW, etc), so they take pride in their work and they strive to maintain an excellent reputation. I know my car is in good hands right now. But dang it all, I WANT IT BACK!

My Car Has a Boo-Boo

This morning started off just like any other, typical weekday morning. My husband asked me to drop him off at the MAX station (rather than wait forever for the bus). He drove us there, said goodbye, and got onto the train. I then took the car to gas up, then go home. Well, that's where the normality of the morning ended. When I was less than a mile home, I slowed down and stopped at a yellow light that was about to turn red. Well, right when the light turned red, I herd a loud screech behind me. I looked up into my rear view mirror just in time to see the front end of a rather large pickup crunch into the back of my car. BOOM! I was all freaked out at first, and Jasmine started crying. I jumped out of the car to see the damage, which wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. One of the tow loops on the front of his truck punctured my bumper. I then calmed Jasmine down as I searched for my insurance card. Woops... I couldn't find it, but I found several from like three and four years ago. Hmm... I fished out the one that expired in July, and I exchanged insurance info and addresses, etc, with the guy who ran into me.... his name is Chris. He felt very bad, and was very nice. He said that he was just driving along when he looked up to see my brake lights and the red light. I'm just glad that he was applying his brakes when he hit me, or else the damage could have been tons worse.

After I got home, I tried calling my local Allstate Insurance office. They weren't open yet. Bummer. A few minutes later, I got a call from Chris, asking if I had yet talked to the insurance. When I said no, he suggested that he just pay out-of-pocket for the repair, rather than reporting it to his insurance company, if the repair costs weren't too much. His wife had suggested he do this when he told her about the fender bender. This made me wonder if he's got a not-so-good driving record. ANYhoo, I agreed to at least go get an estimate on the damage to let him know about how much he'd have to pay. So, I packed up the kids and hauled them to an autobody place. Of course, the second I pulled Tyler out of the car, he started throwing a huge tantrum. I had to carry him, kicking and screaming, into the office to speak with the people there. A man came out and inspected the puncture wound on my car's bumper. We went back int othe office and he pulled some stuff up on his computer. The whole bumper pannel, along with the absorption pad beneath it, needs to be replaced. The parts and labor would add up to about $970! Yuck-O! He also estimated that the car would need to be in the shop for three days.... double Yuck-O!

When I got back home and called Chris, he was okay with paying this amount. We agreed to meet at yet ANOTHER autobody shop (one where he took his wife's car a few months ago when it was broken into). The guy at this place was much friendlier than the one at the first place I went to. He gave me a tour of the shop, and showed me some examples of repair work they have done. He said that the estimate that I got at the first place is about what he would charge, since the cost for car parts and labor is pretty much standardized across the board. However, since Chris has dumped so much of his money into their business in the past few months, they would cut him a deal. Chris's truck also sustained some damage, which will be fixed by this repair shop as well. The car guy ordered my car parts right then and there, and said that they would be in the shop by 4:00. He suggested I bring the car by tomorrow morning. He told us that, if there's no additional damage uncovered while they're replacing the parts that they KNOW they have to replace, that they should have it done sometime on Thursday. Only two days... YAY!

So, tomorrow morning, after I see Jasmine off at the bus stop for her first day of Kindergarten (she's very excited about it all), I'll head back down to the autobody place. Chris will meet me there, and make all the payment arrangements, etc. They will have a car from Enterprise come pick me up, and Chris will follow us back to the car rental place, where he will pay for a rental car for me to use for the next few (hopefully only 2) days. That will cost him about $22 per day. This whole thing with renting the car, etc, had better be done with quickly since I need to be back home to pick Jasmine up from the bus stop at 11:21. I'm grateful I don't have to pay any money in this whole ordeal, but it's still a stressful pain in the butt. I'll be happy to have my own car back. I've never driven a rental car before, so I know that's gonna paranoy the heck out of me. I am only going to use it when I absolutely HAVE to, like for my doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon.

Well, there's the incredibly long, most likely boring, story of my car's boo boo. I am now goingto go give my kids a bath, then give Jasmine some "Karissa hair." I'll braid her damp hair into tiny braids, so tomorrow morning it'll be all crimpy when I take it out. (Her aunt Karissa has that done to her hair frequently, hence the name.) We will all try to get to bed early, so tomorrow we can have a fresh start with Jasmine's first day of school. I've got all of her school supplies stuffed in her backpack, and everything is pretty much ready to go. Tomorrow, I will pin a tag on Jasmine with her name and her teacher's name, so they will know where in the heck she's supposed to go (she sure doesn't). Luckily, there's a bunch of parent volunteers directing students at the school this week. Being the worrier that I am, I called the school today to confirm this. I' know I'll worry about her for the next few days, but I keep telling myself that she'll be okay. Whew. It's only Tuesday, and I'm ready for this week to be over already! Ugh!