Thursday, January 29, 2009

Well how about that?

It seems we're the, hopefully, proud new owners of a Mazda 5. We test drove it last week, really liked it. Oh yeah, and me being me, I researched it quite a bit - professional reviews, consumer reviews, about 99% of them were really positive. The one negative one we thought was actually a joke. Anyhow, it doesn't have a super powerful engine, but it means it's better on gas. Since we'll mostly be using it for driving around town (not longer distances) we're not too concerned on engine power. And a more gas efficient vehicle is nice not only on our budget, but on the environment. I did try to contact other dealerships to see if we could get a better deal, but that was just a comedy of errors(funny sad, not funny ha ha).

Today I called the salesman who had helped us on Saturday and told him we were interested. He checked, they have one on the lot, and will put it aside for us. In order to save time can we do the credit app through email? Yep. I sent it off around 1:30 PM and got a call at 2 from the dealership saying we'd been approved and could we come in at 11 AM on Saturday to finalize things? Just like that!

So now we have 2 cars. We also have 2 car payments, but not for too long as we have no payments on the Mazda for 90 days, and the car is done in June. We think we can save the cash to pay off the car in full prior to Mazda starting. It will be about $100 more/month which is going to be a little painful since I'll be on mat leave, but we'll manage.

Speaking of mat leave, Jenn-ifer, I don't if you've been reading my blog, but in the next few months I'm going to need to get back that "thing" that I lent you :) I hope you were able to use it and that it helped. I'd like to get it by late March, maybe early April (I'm off as of April 4) just in case (I hope not) that Bean shows up too early. Let me know!

Picture of our new vehicle. Picture us zoom-zooming through the country like this one...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wednesday and a sick 2 year old

Duncan has a cold. Normally it doesn't affect him too badly, but recently we switched to giving him water in his bottle at night from milk (better for the teeth and all) and two times last night he woke up just hollaring because his bottle had leaked and his sheets and pjs were soaking wet. The 1st time was at 10, so not a problem, but the 2nd time was at 3:30 AM. We changed him and let him hang out with us while we watched Little Bear (cute show, never actually watched it before) and then we decided to see if he would just fall asleep with us for about an hour and a half. Yeah, well, not so much. He was very quiet, but was having a grand old time being in bed with Mom and Dad (he never sleeps with us) and was having fun doing things like poking Bill in the nose, making fish sounds with his mouth and randomly naming of trains for Thomas and Friends. Around 4:45 we put him back in bed (yes, he protested) and didn't fall asleep until 5. The alarm goes off at 5:20. Bill said he was going to take a vacation day. I already felt like dung - had been close to going home from work early the day before, and being up all night did not help matters, so I called in sick. I would not have functioned today had I gone in.

So we kept him home. I'm sure he would have been an angel for Nikki, but he was in all his Terrible Twos Glory with us. He had more than one time out, was throwing stuff around, hitting, saying no, crying over nothing, sitting in a puddle outside on the ground and getting soaking wet... But as it is he's in bed now and keeps coughing and waking up, crying a little, falling back asleep. I feel so bad for him. I hope we all get sleep tonight. Well I need to go to work tomorrow,as does Bill, so he's going to Nikki's either way. The cold isn't too horrible, it's just that he's tired.

We did however finally get his new car bed set up. Dad had some wood for the base and we picked up a new mattress for it. He's not sleeping in it yet ( I can't let go of the peace of mind of him sleeping in the crib) but we'll transition to him napping in it on weekends and go from there.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Monday Misc.

Antiques Roadshow is over. That show is fun. Now I just turned it on "The Last Templar" part 2 on NBC. It's pretty campy, but seeing as I'm blogging I'm not too worried about following what is actually going on.

We think Duncan is teething again. It's still those nasty molars as far as we can tell. He had a hard night last night - fussing in his sleep. We would have given him him some Motrin but he never totally woke up, so we didn't want to as we figured he'd be up for at least 1/2 an hour if we did. He slept until 9 this morning. Unfortunately I still had to get up at 5:20 AM... He also hasn't had much of an appetite. We gave him Motrin before bed tonight, so I hope he has a really awesome sleep.

65 days left at work.

We've pretty much decided on the Mazda 5. We now need to see if someone will give us a better deal. I doubt it, as it's a pretty good deal (1.9 over 5 years, 90 days no payments, and $750 off). But I might see if we can get 0% over 60 months instead. We'll see.

We've kind of dropped the ball in picking up wood for the bottom of Duncan's new bed. Dad might have some but we need to measure the bed, which we haven't yet.

Oh, awesomeness! Nikki emailed me today "Oh, we found Duncan's shoe at Superstore on the weekend". How awesome is she?! They found it sitting on a shelf at the end of one of the aisles. See we had checked, but we assumed the stock people would find it and move it, which apparently they didn't over the course of a week. Anyhow, so the one other person in this world who would recognize his show happened to see it while shopping with her family. You're the best Nikki.

Doctor's appointment this evening. It was nice and quiet in there so we were barely 1 minute and got in already. Sometimes it's more like a 20 minute wait (poor Allison, the MOA) so that was nice. For those who care I'm measuring 24.5 cm (I'm 25 weeks), baby heart rate was 145. Baby is breech right now, but we're not worried about that right now he/she will likely turn. Anyhow it was cool to see Bean - who has grown a lot. He/she had the hiccoughs which was cute to see. Duncan used to get them all the time when I was pregnant with him too.

I'm going to have some ice cream and then bed.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Fun With Keywords

It's been a while since we've posted on this topic. Everyone once in a while Dawn of "Because I said so" will post about this - keywords people have used to stumble upon your blog. I use Google Analytics to track my blog traffic (15 people recently, wow!).

Most keywords make sense. I get a few hits here and there for Polar Bears (I think I need to put some info on my page to redirect those people), and I got one on my Don S Davis passing away post, one about daycare. I got a few on the post I put up a while back about toddlers eating deodorant, and also about getting ants out of your house using baby powder.

But the most fun one I got recently was some person from the country of Hungary typed in a search for "Polar Bear in Star Wars". Now, again, I get the polar bear hit, maybe even Star Wars - although I can't say I've posted about StarWars recently. However, I am wondering what made a person search for polar bears in Star Wars because as I recall, there are no polar bears in star wars. I even checked with my kind of resident Star Wars geek, I mean expert, Chris, and he confirmed that no, there are no polar bears in StarWars. So, person in Hungary, I hope you found what you were looking for.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Girls Night In

Hi local ladies (you know, unless of course some of you non-local ladies feel like surprising me). Friday night Bill is going to a LAN party, so I'm having girls night in. Chick flick, take out (probably Indian or Greek, but I'm open to suggestions), and likely lots of giggling. If anyone is interested in coming out for the evening let me know! I thought of making it a Geekette thing, but it's such short notice. My Mom will be there and maybe Mrs. Mac too.

Otherwise - hello! It's a gorgeous day out! Robyn and I are going to start going for walks at lunch again now the side walks are passable. I am so sluggish, it's crazy. They are offering prenatal aquafit at the pool, but I have such a hard time leaving Duncan at night before bed b/c I don't get 2 hours with my kid a day as it is. So I think walking at lunch and Wii Fit will need to cut it for now.

Weekend was nice and quiet. Duncan, monkey boy, lost one of his runners while we were out. We've checked the lost and found at Costco and Superstore, but no go for both. And if it has not shown up by now, it likely won't. *sigh* We have illifitting Thomas shoes for him for now, but I'm going to need to go get him some new shoes pretty quick I think.

Ronnie and I went out on Saturday night to Boston Pizza for dinner (bland) and then we saw Bride Wars. Cute film. Total chick flick. Not even a date movie - chick flick. We giggled lots, so mission accompled. (ask Bill about things being accompled vs. accomplished.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

I really should just go to bed

And I will. Soon. I have been so exhausted - and it's not just Bean. I think still recovering from the cold I had (still getting better!) and also just kind of a nasty week at work - takes its toll! And this is the 1st full week I've had at work in about a month. Oh, how hard life is.

We'll be moving our little man into a toddler bed soon. We bought a used car bed, and when Duncan saw it today "Whoa!!". We bought him Cars sheets and a quilt etc, so when we do move him to the bed it will be more special. We just have it in his room for now. We'll give him a little bit of time to get used to the idea, but I do think it's time. He could easily climb out of his crib, and that's what I'm afraid of - is that he'll try and fall over the side. Oh but he's a sweet boy. My brother Jeff popped by for a few minutes last night and Duncan was so excited to see Uncle. He totally loves his Uncle Jeff.

Looking forward to the weekend - aside from normal weekend stuff, I'm going out with Ronnie. Believe it or not we barely see each other any more, so it should be fun.

Okay, I am drifting off here. Love you all. Tanya thank you for writing more. Other people, do the same! Jen! You could write every day with tales about you and your family - go for it!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Misc. on a Tuesday night

Freecycle:
JOIN YOUR LOCAL FREECYCLE GROUP! FREECYCLE ROCKS!

Reasons I love Freecycle.
Today the following posting:
OFFER 1. Kenmore dishwasher (white)--purchased new in March 2007. Needs
macerator (available from Reliable Parts in Coquitlam) and need
pumpkins seeds removed from spray arms (long story).

Also someone offered a little kid's guitar, I emailed for it, but it was gone, but then the lady emails me and says she has a learner sized guitar which she will put aside for me instead of listing if I would like. Now, how kind is that?! (very!) So we're picking that up on Saturday, will put it aside, and perhaps Duncan or Bean will use it some day?

American Idol:
We are back on this air! I love this show. No, it is not all about bad singers and the judges being mean. Sure the beginning makes you laugh b/c there are some pretty bad singers out there (which is okay, not everyone can sing, but that they are trying out for this show is funny), but get past that, you get down to the talented singers, and you have a few months of some really good live entertainment.

Duncan:
He's such an awesome kid and I love him. I love Bean too. I look forward to two to love.

Health:
Getting better! Ears improving every day, cough continues to diminish, energy levels slowly back on the rise. It's all good! I am grateful for modern medicine.

Ronnie:
I like Ronnie. She makes me laugh. She doesn't read my blog, but I love you Ronnie.

Bill:
I also love Bill. I mean if we're talking about people we love here, really, he's rather right at the top of the list there (with Duncan and Bean, really I'm equal opportunity).

Decluttering:
Sooooo... since our place is off the market we need to get our stuff out of storage, sort, declutter even more, and figure out what the heck we're going to do with the stuff we just can't bear to part with. We are buying a shed for the backyard to help out, and Oma and Opa have said we can keep some stuff there, but the above mentioned freecycle might be winning out in this case.

Red the Fire Engine:
Okay, really kicking myself here. Duncan has a bunch of the Cars from the Pixar movie Cars. I saw Red the Fire engine once, didn't pick it up, and now you think I can find it anywhere? Nope! Turns out it's rare. Arg. If someone sees the Die Cast Red and Stanley set (not the Mini version) and if it is a normal price (ie, I am not paying $30-$60 for a red fire engine my 2 year old is only going to crash around anyhow), would you either pick it up and I'll pay you back, or let me know so I can get it some how? Thanks. Duncan loves Red.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Daycare taken care of

Praise the Lord!

Nikki and I had tea today (which was really nice b/c we don't actually get the chance to just sit and chat too often! It's usually in the chaos of picking up Duncan). We chatted about future plans, what would we like, what she can give us, and the long and the short of it is that she believes she can take both Duncan and Bean when I go back to work in 2010. I will send Duncan part time while I am off so he keeps in the habit, and also so he can play with the boys and give me some good Bean time. But this is a huge answer to a prayer. Duncan is just so happy there, and they really enjoy having him. But aside from that, I don't need to worry about finding day care of Bean - b/c that's the hard part. Duncan I could have placed in group day care, but Bean that is a lot harder to do.

That's not to say nothing will change. We never know what the Lord has planned, but right now, we'll assume all is well.

Otherwise...

- we rented "Hancock" last night. We really enjoyed it! So many people we know gave it mediocre reviews, but really we had no problem with it.
- I'm watching "HD Net" channel. I need to say HD is really cool.
- Oma and Opa came over today. Duncan was just so tickled to see Opa. He sat on his lap for a good 1/2 the time he was here, and otherwise made Opa come and sit ont he floor with him to play with his "Up-Ups" - which is what Duncan calls stacking blocks that you stack and knock down with a loud "OH NO!" Opa got those for Duncan for Christmas "If I know my boy, he'll like these" and Opa got it right! Incidentally "Up-Downs" are what Duncan calls those foam interlocking blocks you usually just put on the floor, but he likes us to build into a tower so he can run from the kitchen into the living room and yell "OH NO!" and knock the tower over. Do you sense a theme here?
- Back to work tomorrow. Work is going to be totally nutty for a while. *sigh* We can do it! 82 days left!
- Our new Diaper Genie II Elite is awesome!

Making hamburgers and home made fries for dinner. Yum! I should go tend to that.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Our night away and other stuff

Just back (okay, about 2 hours ago) from our night at the Tulalip Casino Resort. Wow, what a great place! Our room was amazing - and that was just your "base model" room. King sized bed, 42" LCD tv, lounger, 2 chairs, desk, massive bathroom with 2 sinks, 3 jet shower, etc... We were really pleased. The bed while comfortable was almost too soft for us, but that's our problem, not theirs! We got some shopping done - we'd been wanting to pick up a few things, and even did a little gambling. We spent $10. LOL! Not so much on the gambling.

Duncan, of course, had a great time at Chris and Ronnie's. Even when we got there he was just running around having a good time. Ronnie is awesome.

I'm still sick. I think I'm getting better... ears are still ringing - my right ear only just became unstuffed (again), and my cough is nasty. But I think I'm getting better. I do plan on being at work on Monday! There is a lot to do!

So my brother Jeff has now bought the house we were going to buy. I'm really glad this worked out for everyone. Unfortunate it didn't work out for us, but I think the people we were going to buy from are happy they can move ahead with moving out, and then Jeff will reno the place and get it rented out ASAP. So if anyone is interested in renting a 3 bedroom house with a living room and family room, and a separate garage, let me know!

Making home made pizza for dinner and we rented Hancock. We head it was okay, but we'll watch it anyhow.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Misc. stuff

You can tell I'm home - blogging lots.

I think antibiotics are starting to kick in. Although still cruddy, less cruddy. I don't like to take them if I don't have to, but I'm grateful for modern medicine when needed!

2nd vehicle - we're going to become a 2 car family in the next few months. When I'm off work Bill will be taking to driving to work on his own, but I still need to get around. We're probably going to get a minivan. We'll need to see. We're really close to having paid off our car (as in a matter of months) so while it will suck to have another car payment, at least it won't be two at the same time.

Baked spaghetti - last night I tried this baked spaghetti recipe. It was yummy! But it made a whole bunch of food! Crazy. We barely put a dent in it. Jennifer, I think this one would actually be good to feed your clan!

Poor Ronnie - her car got stuck last night and it took her an hour to get out of the parking spot!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

2 AM update

Well it's almost 3 PM the same day, but it's still an update.

My Mommy made me go to the doctor about the ear problem, and yes, I have an ear infection. It sucks, it's annoying, and I'm off work for the balance of the week. Quite honestly I wouldn't be functioning at work anyhow - I can barely get off the couch with out it taking all my energy. I always, I'm grateful for Nikki as I could send Duncan there for the day. He would have been bored silly had he stayed at home, and this helps him stick with his routine. So I'll do the same tomorrow and Friday.

After I dropped Duncan off I went back to bed. I woke around 11 AM to the sound of someone in my room (sound familiar?) "Um, hello?" It was Bill. He came home early from work feeling sick. So we're both being sick right now. We'll go pick up Duncan in about an hour.

2 AM

When I was nursing Duncan at night when he was little 2 AM was always the dreaded hour for him to wake up b/c there is nothing on tv. When you're that tired (I'm not comfortable nursing while I'm asleep) you need something kind of brainless, not too thought provking, but interesting enough to keep you from falling asleep.

So now it's 2 AM this silly cold has me up (yes Mom, I was up at 2 AM). I already decided at midnight that I'd be calling in sick today - I feel miserable. Although when I went to bed I honestly had every intention of going to work today. I already feel guilty b/c I was off for two weeks and I have so much work to do. But hey, when you can't even hear out of your left ear and, ewwww, it's leaking fluid, I think it's safe to say I wouldn't be too productive in the office. I think once the ear thing clears up I'll be good to go, but the left ear is giving me more grief than the right one did earlier in the day.Anyhow, there is still really nothing on at 2 AM. Poker after Dark, lots of infomercials, some "hard hitting" news program on CBS (not that discussing the problems in the Gaza Strip isn't important, my mind just isn't there right now). Nature shows are usually a safe bet, so right now it's National Geographic Channel - a show about Patagonia.

I went to the walk in clinic yesterday to have the ears checked. At that time though the right ear was giving me grief, not the left, and now it's the left, and it's bugging me a heck of a lot more. The thing is, I don't want to be taking anti-biotics if I don't have to b/c I've got Bean on board.

The other thing that's killing me is this cough. The doctor checked my chest yesterday and it's just a cough, but it's keeping me up!

Enough complaining. I'm going to try to go back to bed b/c I am till tired ( go figure!). Although in 4 months this will be reality again anyhow.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

hey there!

Hi!

So let's see... this cold has hit my hard. Blah. I came in anyhow, but right now I wish I were in bed. Maybe tomorrow I'll take the day. We'll see. No, wait, I can't take tomorrow. *sigh*

I was really impressed with Sears this past weekend. I'd bought this pair of slippers back in October - nice ones too, but they ended up being really crappy. So even though I didn't have a receipt I took them back to see if they could do anything for me, and they gave me a refund on a gift card! Nice!

The people at the Tulalip Resort also rock. Especially Jessica. We'd booked a night there on Dec 30th, but Duncan got the flu, so we had to cancel, however the booking was a non-cancellation one - you get a good price, but if you don't show, you're out of luck. Well I called just to see and they made an exception and let us rebook. We're going Friday.

Have you heard about this new law in the US set to take place Feb 10 2009? It says you can not sell children's clothing any more - new or used, unless it has been tested for things like lead. This means not through thrift stores, consignment shops, on Ebay, Craigslist... The idea is good - keep the kids safe, but it also means a lot of clothes will end up in land fills, and people who often depend on used clothes for their kids will not have that option any more (apparently the test is really expensive). I know I don't live there, but as someone who enjoys browsing thrift stores, this is a huge shame. Hopefully the US Gov't can ammend this some how.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Fun story

I can't say I've done any gaming, real gaming, in a long time. However, I enjoyed this story.

Taken from:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/926/story/433992.html

Get in the game: Tri-Citians escape reality in role-playing games
By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND -- Here's a secret. For a few hours every Saturday night, I shed my mild-mannered, professional exterior and zip off across the galaxy on a rip-roaring adventure with a rag-tag band of spacefarers.

I'm the tough-talking female mechanic who grew up on the mean streets of planet Coruscant, who takes joy in heckling the overprivileged "rich boy" whose parents paid for our spaceship and hired me to make sure their pride and joy doesn't get into too much trouble. Since we attract trouble like bees to honey, I rarely succeed.

As alter ego Gin Caranthyr, I'm lithe, acrobatic and have mad skills with a wrench, spanner and a roll of space-age duct tape -- things that elude me in my real life.

That's what role-playing gaming offers -- a chance to shake off the mundane and pretend to be anyone or anything, whether it's my tough-as-nails space mechanic in the Star Wars game I play with a group in Richland every Saturday, or an orc-fighting elf in Dungeons & Dragons, the fantasy-based granddaddy of all role-playing games first released back in 1974.

Here's another secret.

While some might picture role-playing gamers as basement-dwelling dorks who never made the leap from adolescence to adulthood, many gamers hold jobs, own houses and have spouses and kids.

"Of the people I know who game, they're from every profession," said Carrie Varley of Richland. "They run the gamut."

Even tough-guy action movie star Vin Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 20 years, according to Wikipedia.

"I love hearing about people who made it good as gamers, because growing up it was miserable," she joked. "Gaming folks were generally not the football players or cheerleaders."

While Varley often found herself ostracized while gaming as a teen in late 1970s Oklahoma, gaming has become a popular activity for adults, teens and families. Just ask Logan Kaufman, co-owner of Adventures Underground bookstore in Richland's Uptown Shopping Center.

Games in their many forms -- board games, collectible card games, role-playing games and accessories -- make up about 30 percent to 40 percent of the independent bookstore's sales, he said.

The store stocks about 1,000 varieties of games, including about 50 role-playing game systems, which typically are made up of a basic rules manual and supplements for specific kinds of equipment or adventures, known as campaigns.

Star Wars, for example, has a core book, then books on spaceships, robots and droids, and different campaigns so players can choose to play in the Knights of the Old Republic era, made popular in the video game of the same name, or the Clone Wars, subject of recent animated features, among other pieces of the Star Wars universe and its history. At $40 each, gaming can become an expensive hobby.

"Some have one book, whereas D&D takes up three shelves," Kaufman said. "It just depends on how deep you want to bury yourself in that world."

Many role-playing games are based in science fiction and fantasy worlds -- many based on television series or movies. There are role-playing games based on TV shows Stargate: SG1, Firefly and its movie Serenity, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Kaufman said many games are based on the same sets of rules, making it easier to jump from one to the other.

"You can move from Stargate to Buffy without having to relearn," he said.

Adventures Underground has become a destination for Tri-City gamers, not only because of its selection, but because Kaufman and his wife and co-owner, Amanda Divine, have created a space where anyone can come, set up a game and play.

They sometimes offer themed game nights, but most of the time tables are open to whoever shows up. Kaufman said on Sundays, there often are people waiting to use a table.

And that has shown gamers there are more of them than they might have thought.

"If you're just playing with friends, you don't know a whole city is out there doing the same thing," he said.

For Varley, the appeal of role-playing games is the ability to stretch her imagination by exploring other worlds and other personalities. She also enjoys the challenge of developing her own scenarios for other players.

"I like running games more than playing because I like to put together almost a cinematic experience for players," she said.

That means layering the experience with well-drawn characters, props, maybe even setting the mood with music. But since gaming is all about storytelling, it's also about the words she uses to set a scene.

"If you do it well, you can write a flavor text so if they're on a spaceship or go into a cavern to look for a werewolf, they can feel the dirt under their feet or the coldness of space, or feel the anger of the wizard about to blow their socks off," she said.

* Michelle Dupler: 509-582-1543; mdupler@tricityherald.com

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Quick post?

I'm getting/have a cold. I got a sore throat yesterday, and today I'm all achy/sore/coughing... *sigh* I would like to be healthy!! Mind you if the sore throat goes away I'll be able to manage. I hate sore throats.

I was watching "My First Home" on TLC this afternoon and there was this awesome story about a Youth Pastor and his family looking to buy their 1st house. It was just an awesome testament of faith. One of their son's has recently been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and will require a wheel chair eventually. The house they live in now is in a really crime ridden neighourhood, so they need some place safer and that can accommodate a wheel chair. They got their debt in order to qualify for a larger mortgage, but needed $4500 down payment for the house. So their church took up a faith offering to help them out. It was genuinely touching.

Duncan has just climbed up on the couch with the Thomas Year book (the thing that shows you all the trains you can get) and he's just studying it. It's so cute!! Almost bed time for the boy.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Welcome to 2009

Happy new Year friends! I hope this finds you in good health. As far as I know, most of you are doing well, so I hope that's true!

We're doing good here. Duncan got over his stomach bug and had an excellent appetite today, although is still very tired. That could have something to do with the fact that he's a growing boy though. It's going to be really tough to start getting him back up early next Monday, but that's only for 3 months, so we can do it.

New Year Eve was fantastic. We had Chris and Ronnie and the kids over and Theresa. The girls sat around the kitchen table and chatted and nibbled on food, and the boys played video games in the living room. Duncan had a lot of fun, but still went to bed around a normal time. This was good b/c I didn't want to pull out the bad for him food until he was down b/c I knew his stomach was probably still off and cheezies wouldn't sit too well. We had picked up this Bingo set with a roller cage for the balls and everything, so we played Bingo until almost mid night, which was a total hoot.

Today was really laid back and quiet. We really just vegged around the house. Played with Duncan, puttered around. I've been getting the itch to quilt but all my stuff is in storage, so I had a really bright idea. I knew Theresa was doing some quilting this afternoon (I'm thrilled I have a friend so nearby who is a quilter now!) and I had some blocks from the 2008 shop hop, so I took them over there and used her rotary cutter and cutting board and cut some pieces. I have my machine, so at least I should be able to piece together a few blocks.

We'll be taking out stuff out of storage soon. We've taken our place off the market officially. It didn't pan out - oh well. It would have been fun had it worked out, however I'm content to stay. We'll look at our house options again in 2010 or 2011 after I'm back to work. The Lord has provided us with a perfect roof over our heads, and although we have a few clutter issues, we bought this place saying we would live here about 10 years or so, and it be enough for a few kids, so we're still very much on track with that.

What else is going on... we were going to go to the Tulalip Casino this past Tuesday but Duncan got so sick, so we had to change our plans. Our reservation was no cancellation, so we would have lost the money, but on a whim I called the hotel and explained our situation and the awesome girl there, Jessica, helped us out, and it looks like we're now going next Friday for the night. Ronnie is taking Duncan. So that should be a fun little get away. Likely our last one for a while!

Alright, the timer just went off for dinner, so I'll send this off. I love you all (I'm pretty sure) and wish you the Lord's blessings in this coming year.