My Obsession

I just got off the phone talking with my sister Lissa, a weekend indulgence I look forward to on Sunday nights. Part of our conversation was about our tendencies to have obsessions. We each have our "things." She said that some hobbies she simply cannot start at this point in her life because she knows she would let it take over too much of herself and her time. Wow, I'd say she's got pretty good self-control to stop it before it even starts! I admire her a lot.

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Me, on the other hand....sometimes I think I actively search for new adventures, hobbies, interests, anything that fills my life more needlessly than is wise. If I decide to start a small project, I cannot seem to pare it down to just ONE. I end up getting supplies for three of the same project, in different colors or patterns, or even better yet....how about five?!?! Because they will make perfect gifts, of course. Then it never fails, I am lucky to complete even one of them. The others end up gathering dust in the garage, along with all the tools and supplies needed to do them in the first place.

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One of my big time-wasters is reading. Now reading itself certainly isn't bad, it's just that the concept of moderation doesn't really exist in my world. When I am in the middle of a book, the house could be burning up around me and I still couldn't be bothered to place the bookmark and stop. I am completely absorbed, and nothing in my house gets accomplished until I am done with it.

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It is a weakness that I cherish and cannot seem to let go of.

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Last night I stayed up until 2:00 am because I couldn't put my book down. I wasn't even sleepy, lost all track of time. When I finally, regretfully turned the last page I looked at the clock and was shocked to see the time. But then I still didn't want it to truly be over, so I read all the author comments and discussion questions in the back of the book just to prolong my relationship with the characters just a little more. I knew I would pay for it today, and it was a struggle, but it was so worth it!

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How could I possibly give up the magic of entering another world, another reality, another existence that is different from my own? I learn something new from each experience, sometimes about other people and how to relate to them better, but more often than that, I learn something about myself. I can more clearly see who I am and who I want to be. Maybe I invest too much of my time in this self-indulgence, but I still feel the better for it.

A Perfect Night

We have some really great friends that we like to hang out with every chance we get. Last weekend we attended a temple session together then went out to eat afterwards, in celebration of Audrey's birthday. The Bodilys and the Schilatys were with us as well (just not pictured).
Audrey and Jason Sisco
Audrey is wearing the apron I made for her birthday present (in case you were wondering, tee hee!)



Last night I wanted to take Eric to a fun Indian restaurant -- the Clay Pit-- that my boss took us to, because Eric loves Indian food. I decided it would be fun to drag the Siscos along with us. They were a little unsure about trying out Indian food, but they were good sports!



We ended up having a fantastic time, of course! The food was out of this world good! Eric and I both decided it was the best Indian food that we've tried. I highly recommend the place.



After dinner we wandered around outside the restaurant to a few of the neighboring shops. We poked around a bit in Pier One, knocking over a huge metal spoon in the process (we're talking at least three feet long!), sending a clattering all over the store that brought the clerks running. We tried our best to not touch anything after that.



We also wandered into University Books. There was a display with some humorous gag-gift books that we had a good laugh over. I would try to explain what was in the books that made us laugh until we were seriously crying, but it would lose all its ridiculous humor. I'll just say that I was laughing so hard I was wanting to find a bathroom after that....



Along our meanderings we "happened" to find ourselves at Cold Stone Creamery, where we shared some outrageously overpriced and yet impossible to resist ice creams.


Overall, it was a perfect night!!!

Catching Up....

with one of my favorite people in the world: my sis Diana!!

Diana and Jordan came up for the weekend on Valentine's Day for a friend's wedding. It was so fun to see them! I crashed their friend's reception so I could hang out with them more, and we had a great time goofing off there.

Then on Valentine's Day, they went to church with us, so I was able to introduce them to a number of my friends. Afterwards Diana helped me make a fun Thai dinner at home, complete with home-made egg rolls! It was my first attempt at egg rolls on my own, and I thought they turned out great!

After dinner, we took them to Mukilteo Beach, one of our favorite places to go! Heidi found this really cool heart-shaped shell, perfect for Valentine's Day!

I got some fun pics of the two lovers....their first Valentine's Day as a married couple!

I hope it was a memorable one for them! I know we sure enjoyed being with them!!

Miss you guys!!

I am grumpy and tired....is that allowed?

It seems that most days it is not. I had a crazy run-around day, which included work, picking up kids from daycare, getting dinner (I soooo did not make it today!), running to the store to get a gift for the baby shower which I forgot that was tonight, going to the baby shower, gassing up the car and picking up some milk, coming home to a messy kitchen, and the list goes on....



Eric was nice enough to run to the drug store to pick up my prescriptions for me when I threw a fit, realizing I had not done that yet tonight. On his way out the door he commented, "I hope you're in a better mood when I get back."



Now I feel rotten. I don't intentionally take out my frustrations and crabbiness on my family, but I know that it does happen. Sometimes I am so tired of being the "nice" one. It's a lot of work! At work I am always pegged with the patients who need extra attention, TLC, babying, and hand-holding....because I'm the "nice" one. So I spend all my niceness on those crabby patients and am left empty for the people who mean the most to me.



So, to my family:
I am sorry and love you all dearly. I promise to try harder.



Okay, I feel better now.... :)

Brotherly Love

Ethan tries very hard to be a good big brother. Sometimes a little too hard. He is constantly trying to win over Erica's attention by carrying her around, hugging her, hanging on her, teasing her with toys or treats....in essence, being a typical big brother. I am forever separating the two of them, or rather trying to extract her from his persistence.

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It's a good thing he loves his sisters so much, because he also gets to share a bedroom with both Erica and Elise. And they are not the easiest siblings to share a room with! Elise is a terribly light sleeper and awakens with every movement or whisper. And little Erica still wakes up at least once in the night with a wail that could wake up the neighborhood.

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I found it both entertaining and a little enlightening when I read the poem Ethan wrote tonight for a journaling assignment. He was supposed to write a humorous poem about a selected topic from a list. He chose earthquakes. Here it is:

The earth is a shaken'

I am a quaken'

My sister is awaken'

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It is rather revealing that an earthquake and his sister waking up (with the obligatory wail) are grouped together on the same calamity scale.

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I feel for ya, kid, I really do.

It seems like everyone has heard of this group but me....

They Might be Giants

So where have I been? Now I'm going to have to start collecting their music! The girls LOVED dancing to this!

My Funny Girls

These are some cute videos I took of Erica and Elise on Saturday morning. We had the music going, so Erica was rocking out. Elise was showing off her new crawling skills!

Oh Phil, what do you know anyway?

So Punxsutawny Phil has predicted another six weeks of winter....

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Bummer.

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Actually, I don't remember ever hearing the prediction that spring will start early. That crazy little rodent always scitters back into his "hole."

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All the news reports are trying to put a positive spin on this important piece of information. They are saying that Canada is very pleased, because they were concerned about the low snowfall prior to the Vancouver Olympics in a few weeks. Oh yes, I'm sure they are breathing a huge sigh of relief now. "Thank goodness! Phil says there is more winter to come! We were getting a bit concerned there!"

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Oh, and just for your information and entertainment, that is the accurate spelling for "Punxsutawny." Who would have thought? I looked it up just in case.