I Love Spring!

Ok, I'm actually a fall girl. Hands down. Fall is my favorite season. I don't care that it means winter is coming. I love the changing leaves, the smell of the air and the way the light looks different. I got married in the fall and if I can help it I'll die in the fall.

BUT, there is nothing prettier than the three glorious weeks of pink and white popcorn blossoms every March. I absolutely love driving around and seeing the unexpected color. It brightens my day. So this post is in dedication to my mom, who missed the show by a mere week. Happy Spring Mom! And everyone else too!

Laundro-Drama

This is what happens when your dryer breaks, you and your husband take it apart and find that the belts & pulleys are fine (the easy stuff) and that the motor is kaput (the hard stuff)...you end up taking your laundry (all 5 loads) to the closest laundromat at 9 pm on a Saturday night. Yep, that was me on Saturday. I loaded the laundry and sat in the back where no one looking in the windows could see I was the only one in there, had my cell phone open and dialed to 911 so I only had to press "talk" in case some sketchy character walked in and I sat and read. Everything went fine, too fine really.

Because suddenly at 10:02, after I had loaded the clothes in the dryer and was waiting for the last 10 minutes, I had to pee. I used to be able to hold it. That was before I got pregnant and would pee if I sneezed too hard. There was no way I would be able to wait 10 minutes, carry heavy laundry bags to the car, drive home, walk in the door and make it to the bathroom without some bladder leakage. No way.

So I did the next best thing- scooted out the door to the weird keno lottery place next door. I did notice the middle-aged guy smoking and kind of jumped. He laughed and said I didn't need to be scared and that scared me more. I walked very quickly to the lottery place and found the bathroom which was literally down two long hallways and through three steel doors- but it was clean at least. Phew-made it!

When I left the laundromat, I failed to note that I had to open the door latch in order to leave. Should have been an important detail, but not when there is a full bladder to empty! When I came back, you guessed it, I was LOCKED OUT! Creepy guy was now talking to a buddy and loooking at me as I called my husband and the emergency number that no one answered. Some emergency line! My laundry (including underwear!) was peacefully sitting in the dryer and I was stuck outside.

So I did what any sensible girl would do: I drove home and went to bed. Then when the laundromat opened at 7 am the next morning, we went and picked up our clean and dry laundry, with nary a garment missing. Phew again! Next time I'll just hold it...if I dare.

My secret obsession

I've never been one to get "too into" any sort of show. The emotional ties it makes can be more of a hassle than its worth so I've chosen to coolly distance myself in the past. Not so this year. It must have something to do with being tired at night (because of the prego) and wanting to hole up in the warm bedroom, but I have been watching a lot of A.I. aka American Idol from day ONE. And let me tell you, the last few weeks, I cannot wait until the next Tuesday rolls around and I can finally have "Idol night!" These are my secret opinions on the show:
1. I was really bummed when nerdy guy didn't make it into the top 24. He was fun and had way more personality and talent than the pretty boy that took his place and got voted off the next week.
2. My top two picks right now (to answer my friend Margaret's question) are Chikeze and Brooke White. I really liked how well Chikeze did on the first Beatle's week, and I often like to root for the underdog.
3. I even voted last week for my top two picks. I felt like such a teeny bopper but I felt good knowing I contributed to my latest obsession.
4. I really can't stand Kristy Lee Cook and wish she would get voted off and not disgrace Oregon anymore. I would love her if she is good, but she isn't...so go! Maybe she is just staying long enough to meet Simon's top ten predictions.
5. I usually agree with Simon except last night he seemed especially mean and I didn't agree. Maybe he had a date stand him up. Gotta go catch the results! (update: Rocker girl is gone- didn't love her but she added diversity I guess...)
You probably won't hear from me now for at least another week. I have "scheduled" blogging time now!

Sean can Dance!

I can't believe it took me this long to post this but Sean and a bunch of other guys in our ward did this awesome goatherder's dance for our talent show a few weeks ago. They were the hit of the night! We were all (as you can hear on the video) rolling with laughter- it was hilarious and awesome. Who knew my hubby had moves like that?! Check it out, you won't regret it. For bonus, you can also see the back of my head and Calvin's in the bottom left corner. So fun!

Vietnamese Baby!

So my sister and her chef boyfriend have introduced us into the fine world of yummy Asian cuisine. I have always loved Thai food- especially Pad Thai- but I had no idea about the world of authentic asian food that was out there.

It all started a few years ago when they lived in Seattle and worked at a Vietnamese restaurant called Monsoon. It was upscale and did everything authentic, not Americanized. My friend April and I got to eat there once when we made a trip to visit IKEA- yum, yum. But my biggest exposure has been eating the food that Eric, aka my sister Maureen's boyfriend, has made. Like last year when my family had our family reunion camping in Idaho. Their meal contribution was this elaborate duck salad with lemongrass and all these other yummy flavors- NOT your typical camping food. Then at Thanksgiving they brought a Thai dish (because now he works at a Thai place called Pok Pok in Portland- restaurant of the year) called Khao Soi (sounds like cow soy) that was to die for! Even Calvin loved it.

So, that being said, I expressed interest in learning how to make some of these said dishes...and they responded by gifting us with a plethora of asian sauces, spices and a Vietnamese cookbook that I've been poring over the last two weeks. They gave us- sweet soy sauce, black soy sauce, thin soy sauce (who knew there were so many kinds of soy sauce?), fish sauce, shrimp paste, star anise seeds, coriander and tons of other stuff. Now I've been having fun experimenting my hand at this new way of cooking. Last night was my first official meal- Vietnamese style "spaghetti" but is nothing like our spaghetti at all. It was a hit with the whole family! Saturday I'm making the famous Khao Soi and next week is something with peanut sauce because its my favorite. Wish me luck!

What a Day...!

I have lots of thoughts on my mind so this is a rambling post. Like- what was I thinking when I got out of bed today? This was really one of those days when I wished I could go back to days when I could sleep in bed as long as I wanted and didn't have to answer to anyone.

Ok so it wasn't that bad, but there were stressful moments. Like the moment Calvin and I were in Rite Aid ordering photos at the 1 hour kiosk and Calvin who is happily munching on dry cereal starts having a hacking, coughing fit that sounds like I've been making him inhale exhaust smoke for his whole 19 month life. It was seriously first, worrisome and second, embarrassing (although embarrassing was almost first). I looked around to see who was witnessing this and it was only some middle-aged skinny guy wearing a plaid shirt who looked like he's had his fair share of tar smoke too. Now my kid has a cold and has been coughing a little, but nothing as bad as what he did in the store. To make matters worse, he kept shoveling in the cereal and then coughed so hard that he puked it all up over himself (sorry for the graphics). I had no wipes and only a burp rag that I was using to wipe his nose. I got him as clean as I could, finished my photo order and hi-tailed it to the library where I got a clean, private bathroom to clean us both up in. Phew. I had to buy some chocolate after that.

The only other bad things that happened were the car wouldn't start this afternoon and I burnt dinner so we ate Cheerios with bananas. The car might just need gas- hopefully that is all it is (anyone know a good mechanic?). I also learned that I am a emotional eater when I ate pretzels with hot fudge after the sequence of stressful moments. Hmmmm, might need to work on that one.

Girls' Getaway!

Whoo-hoo! I, along with several other seasoned mommies, ran away from our husbands and kids and stayed at the coast where we ate tons of junk food (but yet not enough), went to restaurants for every meal (I'm still craving yummy clam chowder!) and shopped longer than should be humanly possible (it was all for a good cause though). I had tons of fun and cannot wait for another weekend away. For those of you who couldn't make it, we missed you! Mark your calendars for the next excursion!

Part of the fun crew, when the party was just getting started!
I promised Margaret I would post this incriminating evidence of her dozing off before 10 o'clock. Interesting how she perked up when we all started discussing Twilight... smile

Us pregos got lots of special treatment, including dibs on the beds! (this is my excuse for why I haven't posted ALL month) The gorgeous coastline at a brisk 7 am view

Just like Daddy

These pictures are proof that Calvin loves to wear everything and anything that belongs to Daddy- whether it be a paintball mask, a headlamp or tromping around in Daddy's shoes. It's pretty stinkin' cute.

Snow Day!!!!

We woke up to SNOW today! It was fluffy and gorgeous and we got over 3 inches! We made our first family snowman and had lots of fun romping around in the snow. Yay!

Precious Portraits

Here's Cal at his record-breaking second time at the portrait studio!