Dave & Camy Katherman

WOO HOO!!!!

2009-08-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

My goal pants fit!

Over a month before my deadline too.

I almost forgot... No I'm just lazy and would rather sleep than post a blog but not really I just do

2009-08-13T16:44:00.001-07:00

I like to think that I'm not the only one that gets so busy and caught up in this that and the other things being so urgent and important I forget about what I like to do when it's something I can always do "later".

Today after getting home from work at the time I usually would take a nap before making dinner I chose to get online and play around. I tweeted a bit, facebooked for a while and then browsed through some of my favorite blogs. There were some great things I came across and wanted so badly to share them with everyone I know. There were then a series of thoughts that led me to realize I have not posted since I left my job as a receptionist weeks before I had Aeslyn.

I intended on posting when Dave took me on a second honeymoon to St. George and Zion which was amazing

I intended on posting when Aeslyn was born which was beautiful

I intended on posting when I went to the Moms Who Make It convention-- pheMOMenal!

I intended on posting when I took Aeslyn to the zoo though she slept through the whole thing

I intended on posting about the 24th of July in good ol' Panguitch which is tied with Thanksgiving for my favorite day of the year. Yes even above Christmas.

...AND the list continues.

I have developed a terrible habit of misplacing action after intention which gets me nowhere. This is a habit I desperately would love to break but I'm not sure how. If I bit my nails I could paint them or put tape on them or something. But if I didn't bit my nails (which btw I don't) and wanted to start doing it regularly how would I remind myself to do it. More importantly how would I make myself do it? Yes I realize my analogy is quite ridiculous.

Any ideas to help? How do you break your habits of omission? If you don't have any please just make one up and tell me so I don't feel like such a loser!

Kids Shows

2009-04-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

I've always been a bit juvenile when it comes to watching TV. I prefer cartoons over just about anything-- American Idol? Desperate Housewives? No thanks! Give me some Chowder or Billy & Mandy or Arthur any day. Unless maybe Mystery Diagnosis or Planet Earth is on.

Recently however, my tastes have regressed even more. Now that I realize I'll be having a little one to play with and teach I am more and more inclined to watch preschool shows. I can't get enough Mr. Rogers and Backyardigans. As we speak I am watching Elmo and Snuffy play "dinosaur" and singing songs about taking care of pets.

How have your tastes in the movies / TV shows you chose to watch changed over the years?

Re: Fwd:

2009-04-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

I HATE forwards...Usually.

I typically don't even open forwarded emails. I often see the irritating little letters "fwd", roll my eyes and delete before I even see who sent it or what it regards. Sometimes if there is a word or two that catches my attention and I have time to waste I'll open it and then usually regret doing so, wishing I had my seven minutes back it took me to read the long list of prayer phrases with the promise of a special spot in hell for me if I don't send it on to at least 10 people, but if I do send it to 35 people Bill Gates will include me in his will. Oh Please! I'll risk my spot in hell because I doubt it will be as unbearable as reading these emails.

And then I get forwarded emails from my friend Marisa. If ever I have a grumpy day and need a good laugh, I can count on opening just about anything from her and soon find myself rolling on the floor in convulsive laughter. In fact, most forwards she sends me get saved in my "funny ha-ha" folder.

Due to my lack of imagination, but my current need to post something I'm pulling out a few of my favorite Marisa Emails. If you get a good laugh (which I'm sure you will) you can thank her for ignoring my warning and braving my wrath I often give those who dare fill up my inbox with more crap than I find in my spam folder.

If that wasn't enough...

Join in the fun

2009-03-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

My friend Lindsay is doing this on her blog and I think it is a great way to do something nice for someone else. The following is copied from her post (she got it from her friend Erin), I am posting it on my blog because I want to get in on the fun. Thanks Lindsay (and Erin)!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may sew or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did post it win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Our Vegetarian Cat

2009-03-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

Dave and I have an awesome cat named Mieka. We got her off the landing of the stairs of our old condo a year and a half ago. The poor thing was scared, dirty, half starved, and had clearly lost a great deal of fights with other cats. She was very sweet and instantly won a special place in our hearts. She is truly such an awesome cat that we have had a few proclaimed cat HATERS say they love our cat and think she's great. She is the perfect ratio of playful, cuddly, and self-sufficient. She is also just plain adorable.

It wasn't to long before we started to get to know what "people foods" she liked. Not that she refuses to eat cat food-she always does, but she's often curious about what we are eating. First we realized that she didn't like tuna as much as we expected her to, but it didn't seem odd. Then came chicken. She liked to lick the seasonings off the meat, but never bothered to eat the piece after licking off the sauce or herbs. This was true for other meats and fishes. The things that she actually begs for are quite different from what you would expect a cat to crave. The first and probably her favorite is apples. Every time I'm eating an apple she will come running from whatever room she was in and jump right up in front of me. The only way to stop her from literally trying to lick the apple I am chewing right out of my mouth is to cut off a small piece and give it to her. She ends up with about four pieces until she is satisfied enough to leave me alone. Another of her favs is tomatoes. We first discovered her love of tomatoes toward the end of her first summer with us. We had bought some Roma tomatoes for a special pasta dish we like and had them in a bowl in the kitchen. When we got home the next night ready to make our favorite pasta we found she had somehow managed to get two of the tomatoes out of the bowl and eaten them. The skins were scattered around the kitchen (not as big of a mess as it sounds). Since then any time we eat something with fresh tomatoes (she doesn't like canned as much) she is right up at the table begging for a piece. Other unexpected foods she loves include squash, pears, cucumbers, blueberries, and most leafy plants.

I only hope Aeslyn will find the same preference for fresh fruits and vegies over hot dogs and mac and cheese.

If you can't say anything nice....

2009-03-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

I know that Aeslyn is a different name and some people think it's a little to out there, hard to pronounce especially when reading it, or have other less than enthusiastic opinions about the name that David and I have chosen for our daughter. Most people with these opinions chose to remember the old adage from Thumper's Mother "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". They smile, nod and respond something like "Oh, that's unique" or "I've never heard that name before, where does it come from". The discussion ENDS and we move on. These people understand that it is OUR choice and OUR responsibility to chose what to name OUR daughter.
And then you get Ms. I won't name her from work. Last week was the first time I had really had a conversation with her as we work different hours but we were both working on getting final assignments and grades together and we found ourselves in the faculty work room at the same time. She asked when I was due and the conversation progressed in a typical manner until we got to "have you thought of any names yet?". The answer- "Yes. Her name is Aeslyn" Response- awkward silence with a facial expression of clear distaste and then "How is that spelled" This phrase was not one with undertones of politeness and curiosity as it usually comes across, but outright RUDE! I wasn't sure how to respond for a second. I felt like I had been pushed off balance unexpectedly from behind. I responded "A-E-S-L-Y-N". She says, again in a VERY RUDE tone "that's unusual. What's your last name?" "Katherman" Then she goes off on this rant about how it is OK for people who have common last names like Jones or Smith to pick a different first name for their child to prevent confusion when the child is in school, but if you have an unusual last name (as if Katherman is some far out there name you never hear-- maybe so if you've lived in the provo bubble for 60+ years) a more conventional name is a better choice. She wraps up this soap box of hers with the phrase- I kid you not- "You'll have to re-think that one. There's still time to change your mind"
That must be the practical, logical, left brained thinking of a typical old math teacher for you. Names should apparently be based solely on practicality and how easy or difficult your child's name will make his or her school teachers job in learning names.
Anyway I am wondering if any of you have any similar stories about when someone "should have said was nothing. What [they] did say was........"
Thanks for sharing.

Aeslyn Inez Katherman

2009-01-22T10:24:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to write this post since Friday but you all know how life goes.
On Friday morning I went in to get an ultrasound to check out my gallbladder to see if I had any stones in it and the ultrasound techs were very awesome in meandering south to let us take a peek at Baby Katherman a couple of weeks before my official ultrasound to check the baby. They even took me into a different room after checking my gallbladder and other organs to use a better, more clear machine so I could get a better look at my little one. It's a girl! We have decided to name her Aeslyn Inez Katherman. (Aeslyn, not Aslan-- she is not being named after the lion in Narnia. I don't know why so many people are getting that idea) It was so cute, when they first started the ultrasound they had to push kind of hard and the wand thing hit her head and she moved her hand up over her head to block it. It was cute, but I felt bad she was apparently bugged by it.

Here is one picture for you to look at. I'll post more when I get the disc back from Dave (he's so cute, he took the disc out of my computer and took it to work/school to show the pictures off. He's so proud to be a daddy)
You can see her right arm up by her head-- it's a bit blurry because they took the picture when she was moving her arm to block the pressure of the wand.

"Little Vegas"

2008-11-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in a LONG TIME, but I had nothing much to say except for.......

The weekend of October 4th Dave and I went with several friends to Vegas. It was going to be great fun- we rented a big house with it's own pool and hot tub so we could enjoy the lodging and facilities without drunk strangers getting in our way. We dressed up all decked out in formal wear and took pictures at the Bellagio and then headed over to Cesar's Palace for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. The next day everyone just enjoyed the company and not having to take care of the kids (all children were left with grandparents). Unfortunately I missed out on the casual fun for a day trip to St. George for the St. George Marathon- with my board position over sports massage I had to go help keep an eye on things.

Now I was a little bumbed before the trip when I realized that I was most likely going to be on my period through the weekend. That's OK- I can be prepared for such an occasion, but playing in Vegas is less fun when you've got to constantly be worried about where the closest bathroom is and what a shame you probably won't get a chance to wear your favorite white denim shorts.

So we're in Vegas and I get the telltale headache, but nothing else. Not a big deal-- in fact WOOHOO! I didn't think much about it because I had been under an extremely high level of stress with the St. George Marathon and my own 5K event coming the next week. I had been working non-stop for weeks and it's not at all uncommon for me to miss a cycle here and there anyway. There were a couple of other explanations as to why I could have missed out on the blessed monthly ritual, but mind you I wasn't complaining. I got to swim worry free AND wear my white denim shorts. That awful headache though would go nowhere no matter what I did.

We came home late Sunday night and I tried my best to get back to work on Monday, but I was SO tired. Vegas must have wiped me out- I was falling asleep at work, I had to take a nap in the afternoon, and found it nearly impossible to get the work done I needed to for the 5K. I was so behind, but nothing could motivate me to get the simplest tasks done.

The following Friday rolled around and I realized why I was so wiped out- I had the flu. Bad timing! I had the flu and had to go set up for, host, and clean up after a 5K charity run on a day that happened to be drenched with freezing rain. I was cold, miserable, nauseous, and still had that ridiculous headache! I get home that afternoon and Brice was so sweet he went and bought me cinnamon rolls. I had said the day before that cinnamon rolls sounded yummy and he knew I wasn't feeling great so he went and got some. I could have killed him! I don't think I can eat another cinnamon roll ever in my life I got so sick. Even thinking about it now makes waves of nausea rush through my body.

Needless to say I wanted NyQuil and/or thera-flu, but Dave's better judgement kicked in and I peed on a stick. It was inconclusive. I peed on another stick. It had to be wrong. A glitch. Defective. Stick #3- Digital. "PREGNANT" I continued to stare at it twisting it back and forth in the light. I knew it had to have a "NOT" on there somewhere. Maybe the screen was warped.
I pulled this stick out of the waste basket to double check several times that afternoon, and the next day, and the day after. Dave took the garbage out. I'm still not thoroughly convinced, but I still have that blasted headache and the flu and an appointment for a 12 week exam next week.

Dave and I decided not to make any announcement's till Thanksgiving so there you have it.
Long story short. This Thanksgiving I have more than a food baby crowding my belly and making me fat.

BODY WORLD!S!!

2008-09-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know Body Worlds Exhibit 3 will open at the Leonardo museum in Salt Lake on Friday September 19th at 10:00 am. Tickets are on sale now at http://theleonardo.org/bodyworlds/tickets/.
You can find out more about the exhibit at http://www.bodyworlds.com/en.html or look it up on wikipedia.

I have been wanting to see this exhibit since I first heard of it in 2003 but never imagined it would be approved to come to Utah. I was so ecstatic when I found out it was coming to the Leonardo that I seriously almost peed my pants. This exhibit is different from the first one displayed in Tokyo in 1997 called "The Mirror of Time" which I would still love to see(I think that was the premiere, I don't remember for sure as it was so long ago). This is the third in a series called "The Human Saga"-- this third exhibit is "The Story of the Heart" They have both human and animal specimens on display in a variety of active positions which is a great teaching tool for understanding how the body actually works (for those of you who really know me can now understand my extreme excitement about the whole thing!!!)

If anyone is interested in geeking it up with me let me know as I'd love for everyone to have the opportunity to see this exhibit.

AMTA here I come

2008-09-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd just let everyone know that tonight it was made official-- I have been approved and voted as the Chair of sports massage for the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) Utah chapter. I just got home from my first board meeting and it was so long with all the bureaucratic "move to motion, motion, second the motion, vote" stuff for everything on the agenda, but it's such a great honor to be involved that I can deal with the tradition stuff since it's part of the whole package.

My first project will be to get everything set up for massage to be available at the St. George Marathon which is just a few weeks away. Usually everything would be set to go by now, but they haven't had a sports chair person for several months so there's quite a bit of makeup work to be done, but catching up seems to be the story of my life so I'm sure I can make it work out.

What I like

2008-09-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

I came to a realization yesterday afternoon that I focus way too much on whats wrong and what I don't like and I need to notice the things that work. Today I would like to write a list of things that I like about living in Provo.

1. I like the view of Timp.
2. I like many of the people I get to work with-- Paul, Kevin, Kip, Other Kip, Tammi, Lisa, Vicki, Cassidy, Doug, Lary, etc.
3. My work has an awesome hot tub I get to use
4. Scera Park outdoor events
5. Close hiking
6. View of Utah Lake
7. Provo River Parkway Trail
8. Decent mall nearby
9. Not so far from Salt Lake that it's a stretch to go to stuff up there
10. Macey's grocery store is across the street-- they have fun cooking classes and periodic free french toast breakfast with the best syrup I've ever had in the continental US.

Storytelling Festival

2008-08-31T19:31:00.001-07:00

The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has become a great tradition for 19 years. I have gone for the past 6 years and always love it. Usually we make it a big family thing or go with lots of friends, but this year it turned out to be a date night for me and Dave which I'll admit was nice, but I spent some time pouting as I felt like a total social loser because we had invited tons of people and no one came. It was bad timing though with the first BYU football game going on the same day.

My favorite part of the festival is Laughin' night which is always on Saturday. I love to have a good laugh and had no shortage of them last night.

My favorite story of the night was told by Motoko. Raised in Japan, Motoko was trained in rakugo-- the Japanese art of comical storytelling. She also studied pantomime under Tony Montanaro. She is fun to watch because she physically gets into her stories, but has grace and control so she's not running around the stage like some over excited storytellers do.

Her story is (as closely as I can recall) as follows:

Once upon a time there was a beautiful young woman who was engaged to a farmer who lived in the next town over. Before she married, her mother sat her down one day and said to her "daughter, you will soon be married to the farmer from the next town over. Now this farmer is a good man from a good family and he takes care of his aging mother. When you marry and move to his house, you must take great care to be very polite so you do not bring shame to our family. Do not do anything rude that would embarrass your new mother-in-law or husband. Be a sweet, carefully wife". The daughter agreed and was soon married to the farmer and moved in with him. She immediately began her new life helping to keep her new husbands home clean and nice, she cooked good meals and helped her new mother-in-law. The new mother-in-law liked her sons wife very much-- she was so sweet and helpful and polite. She was the best daughter-in-law that any mother could ask for.

Now the days and weeks went on and the girl was very careful to not be rude so she would not offend her mother-in-law, embarrass herself, or bring shame to her family. She made a wonderful tea every afternoon and served it very politely to her mother-in-law. The girl however found herself feeling very ill, but she did not want to seem weak or bothersome so she just went on as though all was fine. Her mother-in-law however, was a very good mother and as all good mothers can, she could tell that the girl was not feeling well. She asked her daughter-in-law about it and the girl said "Oh no my mother-in-law I am fine" The days continued and the girl became very pale and her face grimaced in pain and her mother-in-law again approached her "My daughter, I can tell you are not well. You say you are fine, but I know you feel very sick and you look pale. My daughter, what is wrong?" The girl replied "oh, yes my mother-in-law it is true I do not feel very well, but I can not tell you what is wrong. I am to embarrassed and I will offend you" The mother-in-law replied "You will not offend me. I love you very much and I want you to feel good. Now don't worry, just tell me what is your problem?" The girl replied "Well my mother-in-law, I want very badly to be polite and not offend you, but I need very much to pass wind. But I don't want to be rude and embarrass you so I will hold it in. I will be okay." "Wind?" the mother-in-law replied. "You mean you have gas?" "Oh yes." replied the girl, "I am sorry I am so rude. I will ignore it and I'm sure the feeling will pass. I am sorry". The mother-in-law was surprised. "You mean you have been holding in your gas since you married my son several weeks ago?" "yes." the girl replied timidly. "Oh my dear daughter" said the mother-in-law "gas isn't rude or offensive. You must pass it. Go ahead and let it out!" The girl cautiously looked around and said "oh, alright". She lifted up her kimono, took a deep breath and let her wind pass.

Now it had been such a long time since the girl had passed her wind that there was much of it built up in her. The great wind violently rattled the house and like a tornado blew her husbands house to the ground. The mother-in-law was blown down the street into a tree, the children of the village lost their footing and blew to the ground, the dogs in the town blew far out to the fields.

Understandably, the girl was very embarrassed at what she had just done. She didn't know what to do so she began to run back to her mother's home in the next village. Her husband came home to find his house blown apart, his furniture broken and thought maybe a tornado had been through. His mother and wife were nowhere to be found. He became very worried and ran about the yard shouting "My Wife, My Mother, are you alright? Where are you?" He soon found his mother in the tree and helped her down. "My mother, what happened? Was there a great storm?" "Oh my son," said his mother "your wife, she has run home to her mother. You must go get her." She quickly explained to her son the story of his wife's attempt to be polite and the great wind that had built up in her and when it was finally released it blew the house down like a great storm. The man ran towards his wife's home town to catch up to her. Once he found her he said "My wife, do not be embarrassed. This is fine. I can rebuild the house and you need not to be embarrassed." The man convinced his wife to return and they decided to make it a ritual that the girl could pass wind once a week-- This was as often as she was comfortable doing it. So once a week, the townspeople would tie their dogs down, hold on to a tree or a fence, the girl would lift up her kimono, take a deep breath, and pass her wind.

As time went by the girl found she could control this great power in her to make as little or as big a wind as needed for any occasion. One day she was walking down a trail and saw at the top of a hill a little prince with his servants under a pear tree. This was a beautiful pear tree with much fruit on it and the prince wanted some, but none could be reached. The tree was very tall and to smooth and delicate to be climbed. The little prince boy was becoming upset that none of his servants could get the fruit from the tree. The girl approached the prince "little prince" she said "I believe I can get some pears off that tree for you" "really?" said the prince in a amazement "how?" "It's a special power, but you must go to the bottom of the hill with your servants and hold on to the trees down there. The boy did as he was asked and the woman lifted up her kimono, took a deep breath and passed a great, yet gentle wind that shook the branches just right to let the fruit fall, but do no damage. The little prince was very happy to have the fruit. He promptly gathered it and ran home where he told his father, the Emperor, of the woman with the power of the great wind.

Now the Emperor was wanting to have a new palace, but the one he lived in was so massive it would have taken generations to dismantle it and build a new one in its place. The Emperor was intrigued by the story of the woman with the power of the great wind and summoned her to help with the dismantling of the palace. She came to the royal grounds, lifted her kimono, took a deep breath and created just the right wind to bring down the walls of the old palace and clear the land of the rubble. Construction on the new palace could begin immediately.

The woman, her husband, and her mother-in-law traveled far and wide with great celebrity helping in whatever way was needed from clearing fields for planting, guiding ships out of port, keeping invaders out of the country and such. The woman with the power of the great wind was no longer ashamed to pass gas-- it was nothing to be embarrassed about, it just needed to be passed at the right time, in the right place.

I hope you all liked that story. Reading it doesn't do the performance justice, but I hope you enjoyed. This particular story reminded me of a chapter in Marisa Jeans Happily Ever After book that has to do with her husbands gas passing and the fact that it is rude and inappropriate which I laugh about and totally agree with.

There were great other stories too, but they take so much space to write so no more tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll get bored and tell you about Bill Harleys last fathers day or Gay Duceys naked granddaughter.

Painting Party

2008-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last Tuesday. I got my present (a new laptop) several days early, but for my actual birthday Dave took the day off work and had me call in sick. We went out to breakfast at IHOP for blueberry pancakes and then went to the Sherwin Williams paint store to get paint for our condo. We bought our place just over a year ago and the walls were an awful pinky taupe color. It was so ugly I was embarrassed to have people come over. We picked out a green color that depending on the light looks like a gray-ish blue. I was anxious to paint that night, but Dave made me be patient as he had planned a painting party for me to take place on Friday.

Friday rolled around and I took the day off to tape off the walls and move furniture. Dave's sister Nina came over early to help. Later that afternoon our families came to help out. We put tarps down everywhere and everyone got a roller and got to work. Before we knew it the whole place was done. We now have a black front door (before it was yellowed and smudged), "Willow Tree" walls and "Less Brown" accents.

There is still much work to be done, but it's amazing the world of difference paint does to a place.

This is Jenalee Katherman (my niece) with my dad in front of our newly painted walls. You can't tell the colors very well from the picture, but the one on the left is "willow tree" and on the right is "less brown"

Jenalee started Kindergarten this week and loves it. She will do great in school as she is smart and also very outgoing and friendly.

Jenalee's sisters Elayne and Anabelle in our hallway. Anabelle is in her princess dress phase-- she refuses to wear anything else. On Friday she was tinkerbell. Anabelle was very sad when she first found out that we were not painting our walls purple. She finally got used to the idea that Uncle Dave and Aunt Camy like green better than purple and since they have to live here green is a better color for the walls. Although she quit being sad about no purple walls, she still chose not to paint on principle.

Way to stand up for your values Anabelle!

On our front porch with Anabelle. I sure hope one day Dave and I make a kid as cute as her.

Dave got SO much paint on his feet. I was shocked and relieved that we didn't get paint on the carpet.

THE

CLEANUP

Not quite as fun as making the mess, but just as important to the finished product.

Did I mention I LOVE my walls! I love my

cabinets too-- We painted them black a few months ago. I really like the way it turned out though I was a little weary about the brown accent wall with black cabinets, but it works.

Oh, by the way...

My hubby

is so hot!

Handy too putting the face plates back on the outlets.

I have got to be the luckiest girl in the world to have him. Along with giving me amazing month long birthdays he also regularly helps clean the house, do laundry and cook. Even as I write this he is switching out the laundry for me because it's ready and I'm apparently busy (btw I didn't ask him to).

Thank you David for all you have done for over the past three years. You're amazing.

Birthday present

2008-08-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

So I've been incredibly busy for the past few weeks and have sons to write about. I've been saving pictures and stories for when I had time to sit down and write them out for you all. I also have had TERRIBLE allergies and took a Benadryl not so long ago. Now my eyes have quit itching and watering enough that I can see my computer, but I don't know how coherent my thoughts will be.

My birthday was this week and it was WONDERFUL! Dave is the most amazing husband in the world. Two weeks ago I had a really bad day where everything that could go wrong did and then some. I don't remember everything that happened which is probably for the better, but I do remember having to do work stuff on the computer and it had a virus. My computer's video card was fried so I had been using Dave's computer. The straw that broke the camels back as they say was the virus caused the web browser to reroute ANY address I tried to go to to either a mortgage broker yellow pages type page or super graphic porn. It was so disturbing and I finally had a serious breakdown sobbing. It just so happened that Dave's sister had come by to pick up her new Stephanie Meyer book so she was witness to my meltdown.

I went to work needing it SO bad (I teach a fitness class and working out always makes me feel better if I've had a bad day) but it happened to be the big annual CUC family pool party/ BBQ which I didn't get the invite to (because I only work evenings). So instead of getting to work out I found out that everyone was at a great party that nobody told me about. I felt like such a loser and went home, crying. When I got home Brice and Mary (Dave's sister) had told Dave about my crap hole of a day and so he decided to give me my birthday present early.

I was so excited to open this box I could hardly do it fiast enough.

Look what I got! It was so light when I took it out of the box I was confused for a second as to whether or not it was actually a full laptop or maybe it was just a new case/screen to fix my old one.

I don't know much about computers, but I know mine is awesome because it is lighter than Dave's and it's faster at letting me open stuff. I have no idea what this means, but Dave says it's a Dell Inspiron 1525 with 2GHz, a core 2 duo processor, 3 gig RAM, and 120 gig hard drive. When I ask what that means, he says "That mean's it's one sexy machine!"

I love having my own computer again. I am also pleased to announce that Dave was able to get the virus off his computer (he got it while trying to find a video of the Olympic opening ceremony footprint fireworks since I missed them). We are once again one computer happy family.

Well as I said I have a ton to talk about, but I'm going to write different posts for them.

Speaking of Bathrooms

2008-08-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

The other day Marisa Jean posted her thoughts on public bathroom use which gave me such a good laugh it almost made up for me not doing sit-ups that day. This post made work so much more hilarious when I found myself having a somewhat embarrassing encounter with a shower at work that afternoon:

I work in a physical therapy clinic that has a therapy pool and of course a locker room with showers. It is not uncommon for the floor to get puddles of water that need to be squeegeed and mopped. Now for some reason Friday was much worse than usual. Water had pooled way out to the opposite end of the bathroom. I wondered why it had done this, but not so much as to investigate the matter. After some intense squeegeeing and soaking several towels the floor was adequately dry so I took the towels I had used back to throw them in the washer. I figured as long as I was doing laundry I should fold the towels in the dryer so I got started on them and about the time I got done (it had probably been 30 minutes) a patient informed me that the bathroom was flooded! I couldn't believe it-- what had this patient been doing in there to single handedly flood the locker room in less than 20 minutes? I checked the showers which at first glance looked fine but decided to turn them on and watch. I found that one of the showers drains was not draining. Good thing we have a shower plunger just for cases like this. I got the plunger, took my shoes off, rolled up my pants (the shower was now a wading pool), positioned myself in a squat position right over the drain and started plunging... and plunging... and plunging. Eventually the water started to slowly recede down the drain, but unfortunately it oozed back up. I thought maybe I wasn't plunging hard enough or fast enough so I upped the vigor factor to force the water down the drain-- it was working. Hooray! I had beaten the shower. Or so I thought.

I removed the plunger from over the drain and watched with a smile as the water swirled around and slid down the drain. Well I think I made the drain sick or something because it SPEWED the water right back out. Remember I was maintaining a squat position directly over the drain. Douched-- literally. All the water that I had forced down the drain came rushing up in a fountain right under me.

I was soaking wet and looked very much like I had peed my pants. I always keep a change of clothes in my car for emergency situations such as this but it had been such a nice day and I know I need the exercise so I had walked to work that day. My options were these: 1- have wet crotch pants or 2- put on a hospital gown and have my butt show. I voted for the former and took my time finishing laundry in the back room.

Panguitch and Pioneer Day

2008-07-27T22:57:00.001-07:00

We just got home from spending Pioneer Day in Panguitch, UT as is family tradition for Camylle's family. We love small town parades because they are so much more fun. Big city parades have a bunch of expensive floats and marching bands that just go on and on, but in Panguitch you get banners made with butcher paper and markers taped onto a truck The budget is small, but mostly goes to awesome treats they can still throw without threat of being sued.
Our two favorite floats are the D.O.U.P. (daughters of Utah pioneers) and the "Root Beer Float". The D.O.U.P. float is fun because it's a bunch of old grandmas dressed as pioneers with bonnets and skirts. They have a band of kazoos and spoons and homemade drums. It's a riot! The "Root Beer Float" is just a trailer with a bunch of coolers full of homemade root beer that they hand out cups of. It's delicious.

This trip was a lot harder than past times as we had to say goodbye to Grandma Miller. She hasn't been doing too well for the past few years and we don't anticipate she'll be around for more than a few more weeks. It was hard to see her not at all like herself and not know who we are, but just before we left to come home she seemed to remember us after minimal explaining. July just won't quite be the same without staying in that big white house on main street and climbing the apple tree in the front yard, or sitting on the yellow chairs on the front porch smelling the musky mountain rain. I don't think we'll ever abandon Panguitch in July, but it will never quite be the same.

2007

2008-03-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

In May 2007 Camy graduated with her BFA from the University of Utah. To celebrate, Camy's family went on a cruise to Hawaii. We had so much fun and would love to go back when Dave graduates from BYU. Our favorite stop was in Maui where we spent 2 days. We drove across the island to a beautiful Marriott resort and played at the beach all day.
We also had a ton of fun at the Polynesian Cultural Center where we learned traditional dances, crafts and even got to eat dinner at a real Luau. It was AWESOME!

Here we go...

2008-03-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would do this and many of you might be surprised, but I'm joining the ranks of the bloggers! We'll see if it takes off.
I have had so much fun looking at everyones blogs I thought I'd get involved too.