An evening of pictures

Earlier today, a very kind woman from my mom's work gave us a LOT of Fisher-Price toys her daughters have outgrown. So i washed them and gave them to David, who played with them for a really long time tonight, allowing me time to finally upload all the pictures from Christmas and on. It was wonderful! There were pictures i didn't even know that had been taking, chronicling some very happy memories from Christmas, as well as David's bath time, and Twins Fest. It was like rediscovering those times. i should have a lot more pictures to take now, too, now that i have my own camera. If you happen to get a chance, you may want to visit my other entries as some of them should have pictures that didn't before.
i also spent quite a bit of time at Snapfish, uploading pictures to it. To those of you who have never been there, i am new to it, and man, it's great! It's really easy to use, and you can crop/rotate/un red eye all of your pictures in the website, as well as adding cool effects like changing the pictures to black/white, sepia, or pink if you want. Plus you can share the albums you make.
i was there because they have $.09 prints, and i wanted to fill David's 0-3,3-6,6-9,9-12 months albums before his birthday, so people have the whole year chronicled to look at as they eat their yummy food. Anyway, Snapfish is great. i'd very much suggest using it. Also, if you want to sign up, let me know, and if you sign up under me, we'd both get 20 free 4-6s:)
i'm adding just one of my favorite pictures i discovered from my camera tonight to this post. i love it!

Question for Techies

i use Yahoo as my main email address. i just started using Outlook with it. i check my email on my computer and my phone. My problem is that when messages go on outlook, they are erased off Yahoo. So for instance, a few weeks ago i needed some an address someone had emailed me for my gps. No problem. Jumped on my phone, got it, and was there in 20 min. But now i no longer have access to it on my phone or other computers. What do i do?

Twins Fest!

i got to go to Twins Fest today with Kris, David, my brother Jason and his 6-year-old son Ros. It was pretty fun! Ros got to play in a little game with some other kids his age, and he went to a baseball clinic with people we didn't recognize teaching them stuff. We saw the model for the new ballpark, and got to eat hot dogs and wait in line all day. It was fun.
There was an area where you could audition to sing the National Anthem for a game, so i decided to try it. Kris asked if i'd remember the words, and i was very confident that i would, because in choir, we sang it all the time. So i went up to audition, and i forgot the words! i kept screwing up! Then i had an epiphany too late in coming: i never sang in choir. i was the accompanist and never sang, so while i might know or be familiar with the words, i had never really sung them and thus screwed up in all the pressure of not only remembering the words but also singing them well in front of judges and 30-ish people that were sitting there watching. It reminded me of a similar moment i've had: i was in labor. The nurse told me i was ready to push, and then it struck me: i read dozens of books about pregnancy while i was pregnant, but none about babies. Anyway, i went off the stage, feeling stupid. i sang pretty well, too. i might have had a chance, had i not forgotten the words to one of America's beloved historical songs.

i am in party-planning mode. David's birthday is in about 3 weeks, and i'm really excited! It will be a big weekend, and we're actually having two parties for him, but it's worth it because it's the first one. We won't have anything this elaborate again till he's....graduating from college?
The amount of people we are inviting is what necessitates the two parties. We are having a friends party, with our closest friends and others we know who have kids. The next day, his actual birthday is the family party.

Here's my menus:
Friends party

Homemade hummus
Homemade salsa
Chips and vegetables for dipping
Sloppy joes
This incredible-looking fettucine bake i saw on Food Network
Chocolate cupcakes

Family party

Hummus again
Salsa again
Chips, etc
Two meatloaf variations
A. My hearty beef and rice meatloaf, with worcestershire sauce, cumin, and honey
B. Italian Meatloaf, with ground turkey, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, basil, parmesan cheese
(i make meatloaf in cupcake pans, making them much easier for people to scoop onto their plates. Also, in the Italian meatloaf one, i take a cube of parmesan cheese and stick it in the center of each "meatcake", making kind of a delicious gooey surprise in each.)
Fettucine bake
Cupcakes
Brownies

It sounds like a lot. It really does. But i think it will be ok, because all of these things are able to be prepared in advance. Heck, i could make the meatloaf tomorrow and freeze it until then. i will make both days' cupcakes on the day before the first party, and the hummus and salsa will be a breeze.

The only thing that will be really difficult to get done is finish our house. We have the kitchen cupboards, walls, living room and front entry painted. We have the kitchen almost put back together again. But there is still putting in the floors in the kitchen and front entry, painting the upstairs hall and our bedroom, painting all the trim in the house, and i think we'll blow off painting the downstairs music room and office. It's just too much. But the house is starting to look less....corporate. No more white walls make it so personal. There is still lots of dust all around, the carpet is a mess, and nothing is put away, but we can walk in our living room a bit more comfortably now, and soon things will be quite a bit more livable. It'll just be another day or so of little things like reinstalling the shelves and getting certain industrial vaccuums out of the kitchen, which will be a big change, and the rest of the painting will not take up the whole house.
i'm ready for the construction to be over. It's hard to keep your eyes on the prize sometimes. But it will be worth it, and i'll probably end up being glad we're tackling it all in one big chunk instead of one tiny project at a time. It will be a huge and wonderful change.

Enjoy your weekend, friends.

Saturday 8-The burning

*The picture above is from when i was very tan, Jan. 2006. i'm almost this tan now, but i don't have any current pictures.

i felt guilty about being late for the Friday 5, so i went online to see if there were Saturday questions, and i found this one here, which was oddly appropriate.

1. have you ever used a tanning bed? why or why not?
Yes. Used one today, actually. Kris bought me a tanning membership for Christmas for two reasons: i have Seasonal Affective Disorder, which makes you depressed because in the winter you lack UV (B?) rays, which you get from tanning. So it makes me happier because i'm less depressed and i look better! Plus it's relaxing. So since Christmas, i've started getting tan again for the first time since May 2006. Really, that's a long time for me.

2. do you tan easily, or do you have the red/white only option?
i tan easily in tanning beds, but not outside. i'm not patient enough to be outside long enough for the sun to do anything.

3. have you ever had skin cancer, or know anyone who has?
i've never had it. My dad had a skin cancer on his head, but it wasn't a big deal for some reason. Maybe it wasn't real cancer. It was a while ago, anyway.

4. have you ever had a sunburn so bad, you blistered?
No. My husband has, but it was when he was quite young. i think he had to go to the hospital.

5. when was the last time you burned yourself on something hot?
The last time i baked. Whenever i bake, it is pretty much inevitable that i will burn my hand on the baking rack.
6. when was the last time you attended (or made) a bonfire?
Two-ish years ago. i think it might have been before i was pregnant with David.

7. do you use spf every day (as in a makeup), or what spf do you use in your suntan lotion?
No. As far as makeup is concerned, i only use eye makeup which doesn't have spf, and i don't use sunscreen. i know, i know, i should use sunscreen.

8. where you're at, when will it be warm enough to wear a bathing suit or get some rays?
Around here, i'm not warm until July. For Valleyfair purposes, i might go out in June, but it's pretty much gotta be 90 for me to pull out the swimsuit.

This was a nice 8. Pretty sure i'll be doing this one more often.

Friday 5 1.18.08

1. What do you need?
i need my house to be finished painting, though we are nowhere close.
2. What won't you share?
A really good sandwich.
3. What do you hurry through?
Commercials. (The beautiful thing about tivo.)
4. Who is worth waiting for?
Everyone. i'm hardly ever in such a hurry that i can't stop to make someone's day brighter.
5. Friday fill-in:
I can't bear to ______. Be thought of negatively.

2008's first five

Wrapups:

1. In 2007, who most made you laugh? My boss, Paul. i really like that guy!
   
2. In 2007, who most inspired you? All moms, ever. Except maybe for one who has recently gotten negative publicity about her apparent inability to be a good mom.
   
3. In 2007, who taught you the most? David. He's taught me so much! i can have skipped two showers, or gotten all dressed up, or gotten a new outfit, and it doesn't matter to him, as long as i'm there with him. i also learned that i have to be strong. i've been the kind of person to leave the hard things to others more equipped to handle them: well, now it's my turn to be the stronger one.
   
4. In 2007, who encouraged you the most? My dad, and my friend A Blonde Moment
   
5. What did you do in 2007 that will have the most positive effect on your 2008? Got back on track with my faith. Well, that was kind of a 2006 thing, but becoming a mama has brought it to a whole new level.
   

Townhouse update

When i wrote my last post, it did not originally begin as a rant, but evidently i needed to get it out. So here's what i meant to write about originally.
We have a split-level townhouse with an open-ish floor plan and vaulted ceilings. When we moved in, all the walls were white and all the trim and cabinets this really hideous dark brown, like 1980's dark brown. And the kitchen has this horrible wallpaper-thin vinyl which i've mentioned before. We purchased some hardwood flooring on Black Friday, and we realized that it would be smart to paint the kitchen (a nice yellow color, think the Gilmore Girls' kitchen color) before installing it. Then we decided to do paint all the cabinets white, along with all the trim. We also realized that since it is an open floor plan, the kitchen and living room share 4 walls, with only a short divider between them, it is necessary to paint both rooms in the same project. The living room and the walls that touch the kitchen will be a pretty cornflowery blue, with a nice green accent wall.
So we've been working on this for a week, and i'm ready to quit! Kris is so great and is doing all of it, with my only really being able to help with the prep part. But our whole kitchen is in the living room. All the contents of our cupboards are out here, making it impossible to cook for the last whole week, as well as David not being able to crawl around out here. He's been stuck in his playpen and room for a week. Kris and i also have been eating only fast food, since we can't cook, can't use our kitchen sink or dishwasher, and barely even have access to our refrigerator.
Funny story: Kris was painting with our spray gun thing and didn't realize how much paint sprayback there was, so he happily sprayed away on our cupboards, then looked around, realizing he'd gotten paint on our silverware drawer insert tray, getting primer on all our flatware, serving spoons, pizza cutters, cheese graters, kitchen scissors, and other kitchen essentials. And since we didn't act right away and can't use our dishwasher yet, we have yet to find out if the primer will come off. Well, i thought it was funny. That's just one of those stories we'll use later, right? "Remember when you painted all the silverware?"
Tomorrow we should be able to get the stuff back in the cupboards, but then we start on the walls. The kitchen shouldn't be so bad, but when we get to the living room, Kris has installed shelves for our 700+ DVD collection on our walls we'll have to take down, as well as once again have the living room be unusable with all of our furniture shoved into the middle of the room, while Kris climbs on my dad's 12' ladder to paint our 16' high ceilings! Thankfully, we recently purchased a Wagner paint spray gun, which will cut the actual painting time in probably 1/4.
But still, there is a lot of taping, moving stuff around, not having a clear walkway in the entire house, and frustration left. Any advice would be useful.
Now for happy things. David walked for the first time last Sunday! He took 1 1/2 steps, and my mom and i were there to see it. He doesn't seem too interested in walking much, as i'm sure he feels like he'd get there faster crawling, but it's yet another milestone. i like that kid more and more every day. He is very jovial, and as we found out at worship team practice this morning, he's not half bad with an egg shaker. He probably got half of his shakes on beat. That makes me very proud, but not as proud as it makes his Dada the drummer!
i have been named as a part-time staff member of my church, instead of just sub-contracting for playing piano. i'm really glad to be a part of this place! i'm also glad that 2008's tax return will be much better. :)
i miss school. Never thought i'd be saying that. i do plan on going back and finishing up a degree, probably a major in comm., minor in music. i've already got the credits for a music minor finished, and a good chunk of comm. credits. i could go online and take courses, but i'm really more of a classroom environment kind of person. If there weren't a professor there saying "Hey jessica, why (weren't you in class today) (did you slack off in this assignment) (did you come to this conclusion)" i don't think i'd have the motivation or incentive to accomplish it. i also really like those classroom discussions, where you have certain things in common with people and are able to forge new relationships by talking about the book after class or meeting for coffee to study. i really miss that, you know? Makes me wish i hadn't quit after 2 1/2 years, but i had my reasons.
i'm going to go do some more laundry, so the line "Forgive me for the things i have done and the things i have left undone" doesn't apply to me.

Townhouse rant.

So we own our townhouse, or at least are 1/30th of the way there, i think. i'm not sure how that all works. It's a 30 year mortgage, pretty sure, and we've lived here a little over a year, so it would stand to reason that we own 1/30th of this place. Anyway, we plan to sell it if possible when our mortgage contract is up in August 2009.
There are many things about this place that are obnoxious. For one, due to extremely stringent townhouse association rules, we can't grill. Apparently, someone ruined it for all the rest of us by a few years ago almost burning down their whole townhouse block. So now we can only grill on the (crappy) charcoal grills provided out in the community area or by paying lots of money to have a gas line hooked up to our decks so we can buy an expensive gas line grill, because we can't have a propane or charcoal grill. There was a day, a beautiful day in May 2007 when we grilled on our cute little charcoal grill, unknowing of its prohibition. We made bruschetta burgers, in similar fashion to those at Applebees. They tasted good. But not $100 worth of good. Turns out that when nosy neighbor tips the association on to your misdeeds, N.N. gets $50, and you get fined a fat $100. Easy $50 for the association and the nosy neighbor, right? Jerks.
Also, no ball-playing is allowed on the grounds. So yes, when you see the kids having fun, playing football in the common area back yard, you'll get $50 if you turn them in, plus they don't even find out who it is! Honestly, it's an outrage.
Another we found out was when we were puppy-sitting for a friend. It was quite difficult taking the puppy out when i was by myself with a 10-month-old, so i'd chain the puppy's leash to the inside of the slider door and let her out and close the door behind her. She'd do her thing, and i'd let her in. i'd finish feeding David or whatever i was doing, then i'd go out and pick up her "presents". It would sometimes be 1/2 hour or so, or even sometimes it'd wait until the next time she had to go. It was our deck, and there was about a foot of snow on it, so it wasn't affecting anyone, right? Not true. Every time i'd let her out, i'd see our cati-corner neighbor staring at me from her slider door. Once i even saw her looking up at us from where she'd walked out to just outside the underneath of our deck. Apparently, you can't leave your dog's poo, not for a day, not a 1/2 hour, even on your own deck. The one you pay for. Even if it's not public property. She was licking her chops, waiting for the moment to turn us in. We're pretty sure she's the one who turned us in for grilling, instead of coming up and saying to us "Hey, I know you're new around here, just letting you know you can't grill." You know, the neighborly thing to do?!
You can't park outside in the common parking area directly outside your garage between 6AM-6PM any day if it has snowed any more than 2 inches. Oh forgive me. i meant if it's forecasted to snow 2 inches. You are subject to towing, and, oh yes, a $100 fine. And you can't park in the street, either. Since Kris and i have two vehicles, and a one-car garage, when it snows, we have to drive one of our cars to Target, a mile away, because it is the closest parking lot that doesn't monitor the cars there during the day. We still haven't figured out what to do about the parking situation.
So these are little things, actually, to me they are quite major, that would lead me to suggest, if you are in the market and are deciding between a house or a townhouse, to try for a house. Seriously. The outdoor maintenance is not worth it! Plus, they charge you $200/month for it. A fraction of that money would do much better paying some kid to do it, on your own schedule, not causing to leap out of bed, terrified, because it snowed last night and you have to move your car.