You're obnoxious.

Me: Stop being obnoxious.

Leah (laughing): What does obnoxious even mean?

I proceed to give her an explanation. She says "but what does it mean?" I give her another... "but what does it MEAN?"

We do this about 10 times. I want to bop her on the head.

Me: You're being obnoxious right now by asking me over and over what obnoxious means!

Leah: oohhhh okay!

and she runs from the room.

Sheesh!

I’m alarmed.

This lovely chart is about the Wheel of Time books. I was just looking up the release date for the final book and I see the total for audio there (which I’ve highlighted). I’ve listened to all these books on audio.**

But when I saw that total… I was alarmed. I have actually spent 17.5 DAYS listening to that??

I certainly don’t regret it. And when the next one comes out and is another 30 something hours long? I will listen again!

btw: I actually tried to read one. But I missed the voices too much. They’re like living people in my head…

**Side note: I LOVE audible.com. Totally worth it.

I would never!

What's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?

I've never done anything dangerous. Ever. I'm innocent!

haha.

Okay, really I'm a mostly safe person. I haven't done anything particularly insane with my life.

The first thing that came to mind when I read that question was my driving when I was in my early 20s. Not as a teenager mind you - I drove pretty safely then.

But in my early 20s, I did some pretty dumb things. For example, one summer I had gone to a wedding in San Diego and I flew back in to SLC around 11:30 pm. I was headed to my bioDad's house here in Rawlins.

I got out of the airport a little after midnight, stopped got gas, a snack, etc. And I headed out. The drive is about 300 miles. It's supposed to take 4.5 - 5 hours.

I'd give you more details but I honestly don't remember much of the trip. I was EXHAUSTED. I just drove. Not only that, my car was full of all my belongings because I was in between semesters and apartments for a 3 week break. So from floor to ceiling - even in the passengers seat, the car was full. I couldn't see much around me. That wasn't particularly safe either.

And I pulled into Rawlins and it was 3:30. I looked at the clock and thought... WHAT? I knew my bioDad's wife was going to have a heart attack when I showed up so I drove around Rawlins for another 20 minutes or so. After that I decided I was too tired to keep stalling.

When I got there, she did, in fact, freak out a bit that I was there already. I didn't tell her until years later what I'd really done.

I figure I had to be going just over 100 mph at a pretty steady pace.

Driving that fast? While I was so exhausted I don't really remember the trip?

I'm glad nothing bad happened to me. Why in the world did I not get a hotel room and sleep first!?!? Ding a ling.

ETA: There was another thing during this trip... when I got to the airport I parked in the cheapest parking lot... it was quite a long way from the airport. When I got out of the actual building of the airport it was after midnight and really dark, of course.

Did I wait for the shuttle bus to come around? No. I just started walking. I walked through a dark parking lot in the middle of the night for probably 15 minutes or more to get to my car. I remember passing a couple of men and it actually crossing my mind that this wasn't safe. Aye aye aye.

NaBloPoMo - The End!

This was not hard this year. And now I have all these things I want to blog about and I can't decide which one to use to end NaBloPoMo - and then it occurs to me...

I don't actually HAVE to stop blogging today! ha. I just don't necessarily have to do it every day.

***

My Christmas dilemma:

My guess is that Hannah + A Christmas tree = DISASTER.

She is in that fantastic baby stage of "MUST TOUCH. MUST TOUCH. MUST TOUCH." everything she sees. I don't want to spend the entire Christmas season keeping her away from the tree.

I think we've decided not to put up the big tree. We can get a little 3 ft tree and put it up on a stool in the corner out of her reach. I think that will work.

I involved Leah in the idea planning for that one so that she wouldn't feel like we just arbitrarily announced we weren't putting up the big tree.

I actually love this baby stage. They're so inquisitive and learning everything so so fast. It's just fun to watch. But the tree? It's just a fight I don't want to deal with every day.

So... Merry Christmas! I promise I'm not bah hum buggin' - just not gonna have a huge tree in the front window!

Step away.

Some days I'm more snarky than others...


It's safer to just not write a real post at the moment.

Duh.

Do you think we need to have badness in order to have goodness? Why?

Of course we do. How would you even know what was bad if you didn't know what was good? How would you know what true joy was if you never felt despair and sadness?

That's a silly question to me. It seems obvious.

Am I missing something?

8 months old

Hannah is 8 months old. Yesterday. I have a hard time these days with the ages of my children but that's probably another post...

Weight: 18.5 lbs
Height: 27 inches

Big girl! She's tall for her age, about average for weight. She has these thighs... I swear you just want to nibble on them.

She's a crawling, walking along furniture, jabbering, screaming, happy bundle of baby!

We've been starting baby sign. So far she does the sign for "milk" (meaning her bottle) and is clear when I ask her "Do you want milk?" (while doing the sign). If the answer is yes she'll flap her arms and squeal or breath excitedly. If the answer is no, she just ignores me.

She'll also react to the sign/question "Are you all done?" when she's in her high chair. Same yes/no reactions.

We're starting to work on "eat" because I think sometimes she does the milk sign when she just wants food. We'll see if I can get her to differentiate the two. That would be helpful.

I love baby sign!

And I love and adore Hannah!!

Friday 5

1. What’s your favorite holiday album?

Harry Connick, Jr - When My Heart Finds Christmas (I've been listening to that one for so many years it just sounds like Christmas to me) & Amy Grant - Home for Christmas (Breath of Heaven is my fav song on that one)

2. What song’s lyrics, title, or theme best expresses the positive aspects of your general mood at this time of year?

We Wish You a Merry Christmas! I know it's a short song but is there anything more cheery?

3. What song’s lyrics, title, or theme best expresses the not-so-positive aspects of your general mood at this time of year?

I feel overwhelmed sometimes at this time of year but I can't for the life of me think of a holiday song that expresses that feeling. Is there an "I wish I could have a massage for the 12 days before Christmas!" :) Although maybe that's why I love the song "Breathe" on that Amy Grant album. The part where she says, "Help me" makes my heart ache. Such a great song.

4. What’s your favorite song about a non-December holiday?

For the Beauty of the Earth (Thanksgiving)

5. What holiday song makes you want to cover your ears and flee?

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Seriously. Ew.

After the meal...

...is this how you feel?

It's not that cold.

There are a lot of facebook status messages about the cold weather in various areas. I just have to say...

THIS is cold.

The low tonight is -9 and the wind is whipping around like mad. And this is our wind chill warning...

* WIND CHILL VALUES... WIND CHILLS WILL DROP BELOW MINUS 30 DEGREES LATE THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

* IMPACTS... PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS WILL INJURE OR KILL EXPOSED LIVESTOCK OR HUMANS. WIND CHILL VALUES THIS LOW ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS... SO STAY INDOORS OR ADD EXTRA LAYERS AND COVER ALL EXPOSED SKIN IF YOU HAVE TO GO OUTDOORS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THE WIND CHILL IS THE TEMPERATURE YOUR BODY FEELS WHEN THE AIR TEMPERATURE IS COMBINED WITH THE WIND SPEED. WITH WIND CHILLS BELOW MINUS 30 DEGREES... FROSTBITE CAN OCCUR IN AS LITTLE AS 5 TO 10 MINUTES. THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE PARTS OF THE BODY ARE THE EXTREMITIES SUCH AS FINGERS... TOES... EAR LOBES... OR THE TIP OF THE NOSE.

Do you see that? Frostbite in 5-10 MINUTES!?!

If it's 30 degrees at your house? It's not cold.

That's all I have to say about that. :)

PS I finally remembered to order myself a winter coat tonight. I'm a G.E.N.I.U.S. How's that for a day late, eh?