This is our dog Sooner resting her head on the pillow after a long hard day of doing nothing. She thinks that she's a cat.
This is Barry, our almost 3 year old lab. He always looks like he's pouting.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Our dogs
This is our dog Sooner resting her head on the pillow after a long hard day of doing nothing. She thinks that she's a cat.
Thanksgiving
Our Thanksgiving was quiet this year. We stayed here in Tucson and had my sister and brother who live in Phoenix. My sister came down Wednesday and left Friday morning. My brother will leave this Friday evening. My turkey turned out perfectly this year. I have found a great recipe that I will probably use into the future. It has a cornbread stuffing, maple syrup glaze and bacon strips on top of the turkey. I also brine it over night. It is so juicy and good. We also had the traditional rolls, green salad, green bean casserole (my sister Shelli is the only one who eats these), sweet potatoes (Chad is the only one who eats these) and many, many pies. Grant had a wonderful time helping all of us bake and cook. It's his new favorite thing to do...that and read books. I have a few cute pictures I will post of him helping Shelli make rolls.
We tried to go out this afternoon and buy some of those hot sale items. We went to Ace Hardward to buy a traditional red Radio Flyer wagon but they were sold out. We then went to Kmart to try and buy an iPod accessory package but we did not read the flyer closely enough and discovered that it does not go on sale until tomorrow and then only from 7 AM until noon. We headed to Office Depot last and they did have the 2GB flash drive I needed. 1 out of 3 isn't bad I guess.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I would love to hear what you're all up to.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Girls Night/Garage sale
I have had requests for more photos so I will post a couple from our recent trip to the zoo. Grant was terrified of many of the animals but was absolutely enthralled with the carnivorous Paku fish. He literally watched them for 10 minutes and did not want to leave when we pulled him away. Weird.
Thursday night was girls night. two months ago my friend Shannon and I decided to start a monthly girls night for women to get together and eat, chat and do nothing without children. First it was at her house, last month it was at mine and on Thursday we had someone else host. There are always varying numers and varying individuals at the event but it's fun and a nice break. We really do absolutely nothing. Chad always pumps me for gossip and information I may have learned about girls night he doesn't understand that there's absolutely nothing to tell. We really talk about nothing and have fun doing it.
This morning was the sequel to a garage sale that my friend Amanda and I tried to have last month. Last month it was an utter failure. If not for selling a bicycle for $20 I would have made $10. This time around we had it at my house instead of hers and we did much, much better. I made between $30 and $40. She did well and I sold stuff for my friend Amy too. After last time I had almost a whole car load left and so did Amanda. At the end of today, we have one laundry basket of clothes, one box of books and one box of miscellaneous items. It was fun doing it but I'm exhausted. I've been up since 6:15 AM.
Grant is starting to pick up animal noises after many months of teaching. He has a big animal book he loves to read. The other day he made a chicken noise and tonight he was making a monkey noise. The boy is finally learning. He loves to get a book and bring it over to me and climb on my lap to read. He gets bored with a book after 2 minutes and doesn't actually let me read the words to him. He then gets up and gets another book. I'm trying to get him to take one book back and get another one but the best I get is a look of utter shock and disbelief as he either walks away without the book or takes it then drops it part way back to the bookshelf. We bought him a ball 3-pack that has a basketball, soccer ball and football in it. He gets the idea of tackling in football but doesn't understand that picking up a soccer ball is a penalty.
Thursday night was girls night. two months ago my friend Shannon and I decided to start a monthly girls night for women to get together and eat, chat and do nothing without children. First it was at her house, last month it was at mine and on Thursday we had someone else host. There are always varying numers and varying individuals at the event but it's fun and a nice break. We really do absolutely nothing. Chad always pumps me for gossip and information I may have learned about girls night he doesn't understand that there's absolutely nothing to tell. We really talk about nothing and have fun doing it.
This morning was the sequel to a garage sale that my friend Amanda and I tried to have last month. Last month it was an utter failure. If not for selling a bicycle for $20 I would have made $10. This time around we had it at my house instead of hers and we did much, much better. I made between $30 and $40. She did well and I sold stuff for my friend Amy too. After last time I had almost a whole car load left and so did Amanda. At the end of today, we have one laundry basket of clothes, one box of books and one box of miscellaneous items. It was fun doing it but I'm exhausted. I've been up since 6:15 AM.
Grant is starting to pick up animal noises after many months of teaching. He has a big animal book he loves to read. The other day he made a chicken noise and tonight he was making a monkey noise. The boy is finally learning. He loves to get a book and bring it over to me and climb on my lap to read. He gets bored with a book after 2 minutes and doesn't actually let me read the words to him. He then gets up and gets another book. I'm trying to get him to take one book back and get another one but the best I get is a look of utter shock and disbelief as he either walks away without the book or takes it then drops it part way back to the bookshelf. We bought him a ball 3-pack that has a basketball, soccer ball and football in it. He gets the idea of tackling in football but doesn't understand that picking up a soccer ball is a penalty.
The Bobbing Vulture
As promised, here is a picture of the giant bobbing head vulture that Chad so desperately wanted for his birthday. I don't try to understand.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Happy birthday Chad!!!!
Today is Chad's birthday. We celebrated yesterday because he had to go to PHoenix tonight for a dinner meeting on applying for residencies. His lovely, thoughtful wife got him an iPod and this crazy looking 3 foot high vulture with a bobbing head. I'll take a picture of it and put it on this blog. They are made locally by a guy who runs a small shop. Chad saw them when we first moved here and has wanted one ever since. It's a good Tucson souvenior in the event we move from here. He also go to go to indian food for their lunch buffet. I hate indian food so it's truly a treat for him. Instead of cake he requested pizzookie from Oregano's, which was fine with me. I love pizzookies.
Grant is developing quite the personality. He loves to attack us when we lay on the floor. The other night I was sitting on the floor and he came over and tried to push me down so that he could attack me. It was quite funny. Of course when we sit on the floor we not only get a toddler on us but we get two large dogs who also want in on the action. Grant also likes to attack the dogs, particulary Barry, when they are wrestling. It is quite amusing, although I get nervous he's going to get something he doesn't really want with that battle.
Grant also will not eat anything anymore without a fork or spoon of his own in his hand. He seldom actually uses the utensil but he has it there for moral support I guess. He is really turning out to be a lefty, which I find fun. He holds his utensils and crayons with his left hand, opens doors with his left hand and throws primarily with his left hand. I am curious to see if he will grow out of this. I have suspected since he was quite young that he would be left handed becuase of his actions but the doctor told me it was too young too tell. I think his mama knows best.
I have joined the health and fitness enrichment group. I am supposed to exercise and diet to meet my physical health and fitness goal. I need to lose 7 pounds to get back to what I weighed before Grant. I have absolutely no motivation at this moment to do this but I still went to the meeting and said that I would. The big question now is whether I will follow through.
Grant is developing quite the personality. He loves to attack us when we lay on the floor. The other night I was sitting on the floor and he came over and tried to push me down so that he could attack me. It was quite funny. Of course when we sit on the floor we not only get a toddler on us but we get two large dogs who also want in on the action. Grant also likes to attack the dogs, particulary Barry, when they are wrestling. It is quite amusing, although I get nervous he's going to get something he doesn't really want with that battle.
Grant also will not eat anything anymore without a fork or spoon of his own in his hand. He seldom actually uses the utensil but he has it there for moral support I guess. He is really turning out to be a lefty, which I find fun. He holds his utensils and crayons with his left hand, opens doors with his left hand and throws primarily with his left hand. I am curious to see if he will grow out of this. I have suspected since he was quite young that he would be left handed becuase of his actions but the doctor told me it was too young too tell. I think his mama knows best.
I have joined the health and fitness enrichment group. I am supposed to exercise and diet to meet my physical health and fitness goal. I need to lose 7 pounds to get back to what I weighed before Grant. I have absolutely no motivation at this moment to do this but I still went to the meeting and said that I would. The big question now is whether I will follow through.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Old posts
I tried to start a blog on a different site awhile ago but the site was too hard to use so I gave up. This one seems easier but anyway here are the two posts I did on that site. I don't know what would happen if you clicked on the links in this blog so i wouldn't recommend it. If anyone knows how to erase an old blog please let me know.
Update
August 20th, 2007 at 3:09 am (Uncategorized) · Edit
It has been a long time since I’ve talked to many of you so here’s what we’ve been up to. Chad is in the midst of his fourth and final (thank goodness) year of pharamacy school at University of Arizona in Tucson. The last year is spent doing six week rotations at various places. There is no coursework. Chad was in Prescott for six weeks doing a rotation at the VA and living with my parents. He would either drive home for the weekend or I would go up to Prescott for the weekend. When he finished that rotation he headed to Fairbanks, AK for six weeks. He got home two weeks ago and it’s nice to be done with that. Fairbanks wasn’t the greatest experience of his life and he was happy to be home. He was able to do some fishing on the Kenai River, where he caught a salmon, which is now in our freezer an quite delicious. He also got to spend a weekend a moose camp, shooting guns, hunting and doing other Alaska man things. I had very helpful family and friends while he was in AK but it’s not the same as a husband. We missed him terribly and are happy to have him home. Chad is an elder’s quorum instructor who rarely gets asked to teach, so it’s his favorite calling. He was the ward website administrator and loved that because he could do it on his own time and didn’t have sunday committments.
I am still working full-time for Donau & Bolt practicing family law, doing divorces, child support, child custody etc. I was going to start my own firm at the beginning of the year but my bosses were willing to let me work on a flexible schedule solely set by me and my court obligations so I stayed with the firm. I just have to keep working as hard and making them enough money and they won’t care when I do it or how. At this point, I have a full-time case load but I’m not in the office full-time. It was too hard to be gone every day from 9-5 with Grant. I only got to get him up and ready to go and then get him home to feed him, bathe him and put him to bed. Now I am with him much more during the day. It’s still not ideal but it’s better and soon enough I will be able to take a break from practicing law. I am the Laurel advisor for one active Laurel. I will have another Laurel in October. It’s a good calling. It beats primary.
Grant is 15 months on Friday. He is as stubborn and strong willed as ever. He’s been that way since he was born. He crawls like lightning but refuses to walk. Just as with every other milestone in his life thus far, he will do it when he’s ready and not one second before. Grant will not be moved until he wants to be. Grant is a true Mellen in that he loves to sleep and loves his naps. He sleeps about 12-13 hours at night and takes 1 or 2, 2 hour naps each day. Without them he’s a disaster. I certainly don’t complain about nap time. He has a good time at this babysitter’s houses. He spends one morning a week with a lady in the ward who has two young girls that just love Grant and three days a week with another lady in the ward who runs an inhome daycare that right now only has one other little girl. I couldn’t ask for a better babysitting situation for him.
We have two dogs now, Barry, a white lab and Sooner a black/brindle Australian sheperd/Chow mix. Barry is 2 1/2 and Sooner is 1 1/2. Barry seems like a saint compared to our over-active Sooner. They take patience and really are our other children but we love them. They were good companionship and extra security for those many nights this summer when Chad was gone. They kept me safe in bed and made sure I was aware of every noise outside.
Next spring Chad will be graduating and we will likely be heading out of Tucson for unknown regions of this country. Chad will be doing a one year pharmacy residency at a yet to be determined location. I will begin my hiatus from the legal profession and Chad will begin his career as a pharmacist. We are both excited for the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next.
Comments
Drunk driving
August 18th, 2007 at 5:57 am (Uncategorized) · Edit
For my first entry, I thought I’d share our little adventure with drunk driving this evening. We were driving home from eating dinner tonight and we got stuck behind about 10 other cars driving at least 20 miles below the speed limit. Chad noticed that the leader of the line, the car holding everyone up, was weaving in and out of the lane. We finally reached the road we needed to turn on and guess which car was directly behind us! You guessed it…the slow, weaving car. We started following it because we had no other option. The car stopped at green lights, swerved off the road and back on, turned its headlights off then on several times. I called 911 to report the drunk driving. We kept following the car expecting to see a cop car any minute. Our next turn approached and sure enough the swerving car turned the same direction. We kept following it and no cop car appeared. I called the police again to report the drunk driving. We kept following the car. At our next turn, the other car also turned. We kept following the car but no police car appeared. Our next turn came but we decided to continue following the car. Shortly after we passed our turn, another car started following the drunk driving car as well. We kept following the car. It almost side swiped a car. It continued to drive about 20 under the speed limit. It stopped at a few more green lights, straddled the lanes and almost drove off the road a few times. I called the police a third time to report it. We kept driving along with the other car following this menace. The car finally turned and we turned but Chad decided he was done, the police were useless and he didn’t want us to end up in some weird, scarey part of town. Chad flipped a “U” to head home, but just as he did, a police car with flashing lights whizzed by us toward the drunk driver and then another one and then another one came. We quickly turned back around and pulled in behind the other car that had been following the drunk driver. Another cop car pulled in behind us. I got out and was told to wait a minute for someone to take my statement. A minute or two later, a sheriff came and took my statement about what we witnessed. Chad saw an officer make the drive walk the line, which Chad reports she did very well, considering how she was driving. I gave my statement and we were on our way. It was shocking to us that it took three calls from us and who knows how many from the other car following the drunk driver and at least 20-25 minutes for any police to pull this woman over. Thankfully, the woman was driving 20 under the speed limit almost the whole way, rather than 20 over or she could have killed someone.
Update
August 20th, 2007 at 3:09 am (Uncategorized) · Edit
It has been a long time since I’ve talked to many of you so here’s what we’ve been up to. Chad is in the midst of his fourth and final (thank goodness) year of pharamacy school at University of Arizona in Tucson. The last year is spent doing six week rotations at various places. There is no coursework. Chad was in Prescott for six weeks doing a rotation at the VA and living with my parents. He would either drive home for the weekend or I would go up to Prescott for the weekend. When he finished that rotation he headed to Fairbanks, AK for six weeks. He got home two weeks ago and it’s nice to be done with that. Fairbanks wasn’t the greatest experience of his life and he was happy to be home. He was able to do some fishing on the Kenai River, where he caught a salmon, which is now in our freezer an quite delicious. He also got to spend a weekend a moose camp, shooting guns, hunting and doing other Alaska man things. I had very helpful family and friends while he was in AK but it’s not the same as a husband. We missed him terribly and are happy to have him home. Chad is an elder’s quorum instructor who rarely gets asked to teach, so it’s his favorite calling. He was the ward website administrator and loved that because he could do it on his own time and didn’t have sunday committments.
I am still working full-time for Donau & Bolt practicing family law, doing divorces, child support, child custody etc. I was going to start my own firm at the beginning of the year but my bosses were willing to let me work on a flexible schedule solely set by me and my court obligations so I stayed with the firm. I just have to keep working as hard and making them enough money and they won’t care when I do it or how. At this point, I have a full-time case load but I’m not in the office full-time. It was too hard to be gone every day from 9-5 with Grant. I only got to get him up and ready to go and then get him home to feed him, bathe him and put him to bed. Now I am with him much more during the day. It’s still not ideal but it’s better and soon enough I will be able to take a break from practicing law. I am the Laurel advisor for one active Laurel. I will have another Laurel in October. It’s a good calling. It beats primary.
Grant is 15 months on Friday. He is as stubborn and strong willed as ever. He’s been that way since he was born. He crawls like lightning but refuses to walk. Just as with every other milestone in his life thus far, he will do it when he’s ready and not one second before. Grant will not be moved until he wants to be. Grant is a true Mellen in that he loves to sleep and loves his naps. He sleeps about 12-13 hours at night and takes 1 or 2, 2 hour naps each day. Without them he’s a disaster. I certainly don’t complain about nap time. He has a good time at this babysitter’s houses. He spends one morning a week with a lady in the ward who has two young girls that just love Grant and three days a week with another lady in the ward who runs an inhome daycare that right now only has one other little girl. I couldn’t ask for a better babysitting situation for him.
We have two dogs now, Barry, a white lab and Sooner a black/brindle Australian sheperd/Chow mix. Barry is 2 1/2 and Sooner is 1 1/2. Barry seems like a saint compared to our over-active Sooner. They take patience and really are our other children but we love them. They were good companionship and extra security for those many nights this summer when Chad was gone. They kept me safe in bed and made sure I was aware of every noise outside.
Next spring Chad will be graduating and we will likely be heading out of Tucson for unknown regions of this country. Chad will be doing a one year pharmacy residency at a yet to be determined location. I will begin my hiatus from the legal profession and Chad will begin his career as a pharmacist. We are both excited for the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next.
Comments
Drunk driving
August 18th, 2007 at 5:57 am (Uncategorized) · Edit
For my first entry, I thought I’d share our little adventure with drunk driving this evening. We were driving home from eating dinner tonight and we got stuck behind about 10 other cars driving at least 20 miles below the speed limit. Chad noticed that the leader of the line, the car holding everyone up, was weaving in and out of the lane. We finally reached the road we needed to turn on and guess which car was directly behind us! You guessed it…the slow, weaving car. We started following it because we had no other option. The car stopped at green lights, swerved off the road and back on, turned its headlights off then on several times. I called 911 to report the drunk driving. We kept following the car expecting to see a cop car any minute. Our next turn approached and sure enough the swerving car turned the same direction. We kept following it and no cop car appeared. I called the police again to report the drunk driving. We kept following the car. At our next turn, the other car also turned. We kept following the car but no police car appeared. Our next turn came but we decided to continue following the car. Shortly after we passed our turn, another car started following the drunk driving car as well. We kept following the car. It almost side swiped a car. It continued to drive about 20 under the speed limit. It stopped at a few more green lights, straddled the lanes and almost drove off the road a few times. I called the police a third time to report it. We kept driving along with the other car following this menace. The car finally turned and we turned but Chad decided he was done, the police were useless and he didn’t want us to end up in some weird, scarey part of town. Chad flipped a “U” to head home, but just as he did, a police car with flashing lights whizzed by us toward the drunk driver and then another one and then another one came. We quickly turned back around and pulled in behind the other car that had been following the drunk driver. Another cop car pulled in behind us. I got out and was told to wait a minute for someone to take my statement. A minute or two later, a sheriff came and took my statement about what we witnessed. Chad saw an officer make the drive walk the line, which Chad reports she did very well, considering how she was driving. I gave my statement and we were on our way. It was shocking to us that it took three calls from us and who knows how many from the other car following the drunk driver and at least 20-25 minutes for any police to pull this woman over. Thankfully, the woman was driving 20 under the speed limit almost the whole way, rather than 20 over or she could have killed someone.
My first entry
I have wanted to do this for a long time as a type of journal so I thought now would be as good a time as any. We are coming to the end of our time here in Tucson. Chad will finish pharmacy school in May and then we are off into unknown lands. He will do a residency somewhere yet to be determined. I am still working but have a flexible schedule so I am home more with Grant. It is working pretty well but gets stressful when things are hectic at work. Chad has a four month break right now until the end of February. He is playing stay at home dad, which isn't too hard since I'm home a lot and Grant sleeps a lot.
Chad and I are headed to Puerto Rico in December for a much needed vacation. Then we are off to SLC for Christmas with Chad's mom. Of course, Grant will be joining us on that trip. We just bought tickets to Chicago for a long weekend in January. We are trying to get some traveling in now since once Chad's done with school we have no idea when he will have the time to go anywhere. I will let you know how the vacations go.
Grant celebrated his first real Halloween this year. He is now almost 18 months. We did a trick or treating at the zoo before Halloween. because it continues to be in the 90s here in Tucson, we had to scratch the planned constume of chicken for that night and borrow a mouse costume. He had a good time I think but still doesn't really get it. On Halloween night it had cooled off some so he was the chicken and what a cute chicken he was. I took Grant and one of our dogs, Barry, trick or treating around the neighborhood with another family from our ward. Chad manned the door at home with our other dog, Sooner. Grant had a good time I think but just kept trying to chew open the candy.
Chad and I are headed to Puerto Rico in December for a much needed vacation. Then we are off to SLC for Christmas with Chad's mom. Of course, Grant will be joining us on that trip. We just bought tickets to Chicago for a long weekend in January. We are trying to get some traveling in now since once Chad's done with school we have no idea when he will have the time to go anywhere. I will let you know how the vacations go.
Grant celebrated his first real Halloween this year. He is now almost 18 months. We did a trick or treating at the zoo before Halloween. because it continues to be in the 90s here in Tucson, we had to scratch the planned constume of chicken for that night and borrow a mouse costume. He had a good time I think but still doesn't really get it. On Halloween night it had cooled off some so he was the chicken and what a cute chicken he was. I took Grant and one of our dogs, Barry, trick or treating around the neighborhood with another family from our ward. Chad manned the door at home with our other dog, Sooner. Grant had a good time I think but just kept trying to chew open the candy.
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