There’s a light on the horizon! July 5, 2008

     *pssst*   I’m baaaack.

 

     Yes, that’s a whisper.  Hannah is running a high temperature today, so I don’t think I’m completely out of the woods yet.  I’m afraid to proclaim my triumphant return too loudly, lest I anger the twin gods of vomiting and diarrhea.  They are angry.  And vengeful.  And full of wrath.  (And Hannah’s not quite old enough to make it to the bathroom each time she feels sick, which means more washing of sheets, towels, clothes, carpet, walls, rugs and stuffed animals.)

 

     I am so, so tired.    

 

     This past week has been a blur.  One great big laundry-room visiting, scrubbing, washing, folding, hosing, vomiting nightmare.  That repeated itself EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  I won’t bore you with the monotony of it, but I will share with you a few highlights:

A Quick Update… June 30, 2008

     My blogging has been terrible this month…  I know.  I’m working on it.

 

     The virus that we were dealing with over a week ago has come back again, only this time it’s affected everyone except Hannah.  (Poor Anthony!  This is his second round with it!)  Luckily, two-thirds of us know better than to vomit on the floor, so the clean-up hasn’t been as bad.  Thank goodness.

 

     I will be back once we’ve kicked this thing.  Or I’ve caught up on laundry.  Maybe both.

 

     Mwah!  I miss you all.  I hope to be back soon.

The dog days of summer… June 27, 2008

     As if my life weren’t already crazy enough, between the kids, the niece, the husband and the church calling, yesterday I volunteered– nay, begged like a fool– to adopt a new puppy.  This friend got the puppy from her friend, who “owned” the puppy for two days.  (Note to readers:  getting a puppy just to spite your husband who was irritated with the FIRST puppy you brought home just one week before is NEVER a good idea.  That is how the puppy came to leave her first owner, to fall into the hands of the second (temporary) owner, who is a friend of my sister’s.  She happened to mention it off-handedly, and next thing you know, we’re the proud owners of TWO dogs.)

 

 

     The puppy is adorable.  She’s a Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound mix, and she’s only seven weeks old.  Her body is so long and her head so big, she loses her balance and has to regain it by skipping sideways.  She has really bonded with Kendra, and follows her around everywhere.  She seems to get along very well with Reeses, too, and he’s acting like a lovesick fool, bringing her his toys (most of which are as big as she is!) and curling up next to her crate at night.  It will be fun to see them interact as she grows bigger.  They should be about the same size. 

 

 

     We decided to name her Skittles, to keep with the dog/candy theme.  (Reeses LOOKS like a peanut butter cup.  Skittles like skittles?  Not so much.)  We credit the name choice to my friend Debbie, who came to do some visiting teaching and asked where our dog “Skittles” was.  (She meant Reeses.)  We all laughed about the mix-up, but then a few hours later, when we saw our new puppy, Skittles just fit her personality.  What a happy accident! 

 

     She was up most of the night last night, whining and crying.  It was heartbreaking to hear her, but I know that in order to train her to sleep through the night, she has to get used to her crate.  I really wanted to smuggle her into my bed, just for some quiet, but I resisted.  Reeses went crazy, trying to comfort her through the holes, and I’m not sure whether it helped her settle down or just riled her up more.  Ugh.  I don’t remember Reeses being quite that bad.  (It’s probably like that “mommy amnesia” that wipes your mind blank after giving birth.)

 

     Four years ago this week, we brought Reeses home to our brand new house.  (Every house needs a puppy, right?)  What is it about the last week in June that makes us vulnerable to cute, teeny Chihuahua-mix dogs? 

 

     From now on, I’m scheduling our vacations for June 23-29.

 

     

         

 

(This is my favorite picture.  It so perfectly sums up the whirlwind day.)

    

Mosaic Meme June 23, 2008

     I may or may not be back to write a real post today.  I spent the remainder of my weekend cleaning up vomit and washing mountains (and I mean that literally) of soiled towels, sheets, pillows, and nightshirts, and scrubbing carpet and upholstery. 

 

     Four kids x nasty virus = major headache for mom.  :(   

 

     I tagged myself for this meme because I really liked it.  I’m not going to tag anyone specifically, but I encourage you to tag yourself. 

 

     I have to say, I make a pretty mean mosaic.  I quite like “me”.

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

 

THE QUESTIONS:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is currently your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days… June 21, 2008

     The appraiser came back today.

 

     He really is a very nice man.  Really, he is.  Friendly, personable, polite, and understanding..  It’s just that now I can imagine how Noah felt when he was told to build the ark.  Except that Noah had some direction.  He was given measurements and instructions along the way.  (Actually, now that I think about it, Noah got off easy.)

 

     I kid.

 

     So, after making several calls to Bruce, our appraiser, as well as several of the neighbors who helped to build (and rebuild, and rebuild, and in some instances, REBUILD) (You’ve heard that adage, “Measure twice, cut once”, haven’t you?  Apparently Ed hadn’t.) the addition,

What’s in a name? June 20, 2008

I saw this on two of my buddies’ blogs:  Merecedes and Randomability.  It looked like so much fun, I thought I’d do it for today’s post.

 

It has NOTHING to do with the fact that it’s nearly 3:00 and I still sit here unshowered and in my pajamas, with the house a complete laundry disaster.

 

Hush.

 

********************

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car)
Tina Silhouette.  Could also be Tequila (Tequi) Silhouette. 

(I’m not sure which dog came first.) 

Either way, it sounds like a stripper name. 

2. My gangsta name (ice cream flavor and cookie)
Cherry Vanilla Sugar

Not very gangster.  Again, see #1. 

3. My fly girl name (first letter of first name, first three letters of last name)
K Sut

4. My detective name (favorite color, favorite animal)
Periwinkle Cow

5. My soap opera name (middle name, city of birth)
Lynn Ogden

6. My Star Wars name (first three letters of your last name, first two of your first name)
SutKe

7. My superhero name (second favorite color, favorite drink, add “the”)
The Purple Wild Cherry Pepsi

8. My Nascar name (first two names of my two grandfathers)
Archie LeRoy

Awww…  that’s a good one.

9. My stripper name (favorite perfume, favorite sweet)
Affection Twizzler

(I had better stripper names by accident.  See #1 and #2.)

10. My witness protection name (mother’s and father’s middle names)
Irene Vernon

11. My weather anchor name (fifth grade teacher’s name, a major city beginning with the same letter)
Barber Whitney Buffalo

12. My spy name (favorite season/flower)
Autumn Daisy

13. Cartoon name (favorite fruit plus garment you’re wearing, with an “ie” or “y” added)
Peach Pajamas

(I actually like that one.  It’s cute.)

14. Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast plus favorite tree)
Cupcake Maple

15. Your rockstar tour name (favorite hobby plus weather element, with “the”)
The Cross-Stitch Tornado

16. Blues singer name (a disability, a fruit or vegetable, and a president)
Deaf Rutebega Johnson

 

********************

Feel free to tag yourself or leave your answers in the comment section.

I’m sensing a pattern here… June 19, 2008

     Last week was our monthly Enrichment meeting.  In May we had a really good (for our ward, anyway) turnout when we made decorative Mother’s Day soap bottles, but last week?  Not so much.  Six women showed up to our Summer Kickoff Party.  Six.  Actually, since both myself and the Relief Society President were in attendance, that means four women showed up who weren’t obligated by their calling to be there.

 

     We had a lot of fun anyway.  We chatted about what to do with kids during the summer, and we shared some great ideas about inexpensive or free (free is friendly!) field trips.  We brought our favorite summer recipes to share.  We also talked about family traditions and family reunion ideas, and I think we all left with new ideas we were excited to try out.

 

     Oh, and I made Candy Bar Salad, and that is DIVINE.  We eat it in the summer.  Sometimes it’s all we eat!  (kidding)

 

Oopsie June 18, 2008

     I just realized this morning that, for all my good NaBloPoMo intentions, I have not blogged for the past two days.

 

     Whoops.

 

     The “old” Kemi (you wait…  someone will google “old” and “Kemi” and be led to THIS post, and then I’ll be forced to track them down and kick them) would have panicked, cried, felt like a failure, and either

Father’s Day June 15, 2008

     I had to speak in Sacrament Meeting today, which I was really looking forward to.  My subject was Fathers, naturally, and I spent hours preparing for it.  I was told to plan for at least 20 minutes, but after the Primary kids sang and two speakers went before me, I was left with just ten.  Half the time I was prepared for.  I had to cut out the whole middle of my talk, and I was very disappointed.  I felt like my words were disjointed and lacked connection.  I knew it wasn’t a really great message, and it made me feel bad because I knew I had prepared something so much better.  Oh well.  I have a feeling that no one will even remember it next week.  I am totally okay with that.

 

     After church we went to celebrate Father’s Day with my parents and siblings, and I haven’t laughed that hard in ages.  We were reminiscing about toys and games we played with when we were kids, some of which we had kept.  My brother Konnon pulled some of his out and we taught my kids the joys of “Run Yourself Ragged” and “Cat’s Eye”.  At some point someone decided it would be funny to secretly take all the yellow marbles out of the pot and assign that color to poor Hannah.  My sweet, patient girl kept pumping out a line of marbles and dumping them back into the middle, never making any progress or realizing that her uncles had tricked her.  When they finally came clean, she rolled her eyes and laughed her loud, shrieky laugh, then asked to play again, but with all the marbles this time. 

 

     We had a wonderful dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, corn, rolls, jello, a vegetable tray and fresh watermelon.  It was like Thanksgiving, only without all the stress.  My mom had even ordered pies (FIVE!!!) for Kenny and my dad, and my two unmarried brothers.  We had a good laugh about the strawberry pie, which was a crust full of whole strawberries, with a little glaze poured over the top. When Kevin pulled out the whipped cream to dress it up a little, the nozzle was clogged, so it flew out everywhere, like silly string.  My poor sister even wore some in her hair.

 

     My mom brought out a Father’s Day card for all of us to sign, and my brother Konnon started to sign his full name (he’s a notary, so it’s a deeply-ingrained habit).  We teased him about it all night, and naturally we all signed the card with OUR last names, you know, in case Dad forgot who we were.  *grin*  When it was my turn to sign, I signed “Smith”, which set everyone else into hysterics, because I have not been a “Smith” for thirteen years now.  I don’t know what I was thinking!  After that, the “I’m a dummy” badge was passed from my brother to me.  I wore it proudly, with mascara streaming down my cheeks that ached from laughing so hard. 

 

     By the time we’d finished our pies, my mom was ready to send us all home and find a quiet corner of the house to curl up in.  We all had such a great time, though!  (Even my mom.)  It was the perfect way to celebrate fathers and families.

 

     Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!  I hope you had a day as great as mine.

I’m having a love affair June 14, 2008

     Yes, you read that correctly.  I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it!

 

     The object of all this joy? this rapture? this newfound affection? 

 

     It’s my house.