Change is good

Hi All... In breaking news, I'm not dead. In fact, I'm feeling better lately than I have in a long time thanks to a really good therapist and some low-dose medication. Yay for modern medicine! I missed my brain...

In other news, I'm starting a new job soon. My last day at the State Bar will be Thursday, December 23.

My new job will be MUCH closer to home, as it is less than 10 minutes away rather than 35 minutes on a good day. The biggest benefit is that I will be able to spend more quality-time with my adorable Hannah-Bug. I plan on volunteering in her class more often, and getting home at a reasonable time will be a major blessing.

So here's to a new year and new opportunities!

40 Reasons I Heart Cindy

My friend, Cindy, is having a BIG birthday today! Here are FORTY reasons why I love her:

1. She is real, real smart.
2. She has traveled extensively.
3. She is SUPER artistic.
4. I try to copy her drawings, but fail miserably... She doodles better than I can draw when I'm trying really hard!
5. She inspires me to dream big!
6. She sets ambitious goals and ACCOMPLISHES them!
7. She loves her boys unconditionally.
8. She has raised well-adjusted, funny, responsible young men that are a joy to be around.
9. She is devoted to giving her littlest guy all of the love, attention, and assistance that he needs.
10. She has been through hell, but doesn't show it.
11. She is witty... which I LOVE!
12. She thinks that I'm funny, too.
13. She treats my little Hannah with love and respect.
14. She cooks delicious food - and makes it look effortless!
15. She is patient with me.
16. She motivates me to never give up... especially with school.
17. She is opinionated!
18. She stays apprised of current events.
19. She loves to travel.
20. She likes to try new things... particularly hole-in-the-wall restaurants. So fun!
21. She is a strong, independent woman.
22. She has fun (and slightly CRAZY) stories.
23. She doesn't judge me.
24. She took me to get my first pedicure!
25. She is entrepreneurial.
26. She is a writer!
27. She is empathetic of other people's struggles.
28. She is a licensed interpreter for the deaf.
29. She is a teacher.
30. She is a scrapper... ;)
31. She helped me to create a super-awesome scrapbook for my mom's 60th birthday.
32. She is happy to have Hannah come over whenever I do, which saves me the limitations (and cost) of a sitter.
33. She makes delicious beverages!
34. She loves to sing... and is REALLY good at it!
35. She has offered to give Hannah voice lessons in the future.
36. She talks to her boys the way I talk to Hannah... like they're on our level.
37. She is generous - with her time, attention, and talents.
38. She strives to better the lives of others... and goes to great lengths to do so. Like all the way to Kenya...
39. She gets irritated by stupid people - JUST LIKE I DO!
40. Because she's an amazing woman, and I want to be like Cindy when I grow up!

Love you, Cindy-Lou-Who!!!

Happy Friday

My friend at work introduced me to this website, xkcd.com, a while ago. Remember my Nintendo Surgeon post? Same site... And the author posts new comics every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so it's easy to enjoy regular fits of giggles. If you like math, science, Lord of the Rings, romance, Star wars, Firefly, or computers then you might like it too. Fair warning: a few of the comics contain "bad words" but most of them are just fine.

Here are a few of my favorite. A few of the pictures transferred over a little smaller, but any attempts to enlarge the pictures only made them too blurry to read. I've linked the title for each comic directly to that comic on the xkcd site, though, so it's easy to get to the original:

#702: Snow Tracking

#730: Circuit Diagram

#155: Search History



#87: Velociraptors

This one looked like my brother's handwriting.

I actually googled the author, just to see if it was really Mark. It's not.

And perhaps my very favorite:

#135: Substitute

May these comics bring a little laughter to your Friday... Like they did for me!

Injuries and Imagination

Tonight, Hannah and I were having some snuggle time before bedtime. Admittedly, snuggle time has been lacking a little lately since we've both been having a hard time sticking to the schedule. So by the time she's getting into bed, I'm nearing cranky time and we're lucky to get everyone to bed without any tears... At any rate, tonight I had warned Hannah that she had about 2 minutes before I came in to attack her and kiss her face. So she was already in her jammies and ready for snuggles when I got there.

However, instead of just scooting over like normal, she rolled onto her left side and curled up with her body pillow. I started to sit by her anyway when she said, "My whole side hurts.. It might be from the cartwheel (which must have been amazing, since she also managed to jam a finger when she fell doing it). Or it might be from getting slammed in the car door." Another fun injury from playing with her new friends up the street... a friendship that I'm beginning to question...

Being the concerned mother that I am, I asked her where her side hurt and to let me see it. She pulled up the side of her shirt to reveal a thoroughly normal abdomen. So I said, "Where does it hurt?"

H: Right here. (circling most of her left side)
M: (still not seeing anything) Where?
H: Right here... Where it's preparing for a bruise.
M: It's what?
H: Preparing for a bruise. I can feel it.
H: (now pointing at a higher point on her rib) See... it's really pink here.
M: (slight pause) That's because you're alive.

Snuggle time continued as normal... In recounting her day, she told me all about her genius but failed plan to swing in the baby swing on the playground in the backyard. She explained that she does this all the time. From the way she described it, she seems to almost perch on the swing as her legs don't quite fit in the holes anymore... I really wish I had a picture of this pose. (Note to self: See if Hannah will pose for a picture in the baby swing.)

Not Hannah, but this is how the swing SHOULD be used...

It would have gone just fine, but I had the audacity to call her while she was swinging, so she had to stand up in the swing - Don't worry, Mom, I was holding on to the chains - and then jump off the back of the swing. It was a total surprise that she subsequently fell on her face and may or may not have eaten dirt and wood chips.

M: You were eating wood chips???
H: Only the ones that got in my mouth.

Clearly, this was all my fault. So we went on to discuss the rest of her day and how she'll always be sure to check in with me so I don't have to call her and make her fall out of baby swings.

And then she showed me how she'd drawn her name in block letters which she was planning on coloring for an unknown purpose. This reminded me that a friend of mine, Ryan (but she goes by Girl just to keep things obvious), has an interesting favorite color.


M: Girl's favorite color is rainbow.
H: Huh?
M: Rainbow.
H: Oh. She like all the colors.
M: No, her favorite color is rainbow.
H: So it's all the colors...
M: ...but put into a rainbow. So all the rainbow colors. At the same time.
H: (subtly irritated silence)
M: She might have made that color up.
H: Maybe you made HER up.

Touche.

Catching up on some old Hannah-isms

Ok - I went through a BUNCH of really old voice notes on my phone... Mostly of "Hannah-isms" that I should post. Here are a few gems that I found so far...

March 9, 2009
After hearing the song Gives You Hell by All American Rejects come on the radio, Hannah said this.

H: It's the Hell Song.
M: Well kinda. This song (which I really like but don't often leave on when Hannah is with me) is called "Gives You Hell."
H: It should really be called The Hell Song instead... Because he says "hell" alot.

Are there awards for awesome parenting? I'm surprised I haven't gotten one yet...

August 9, 2009
Hannah was just getting back home from visiting her Dad and his "sort of wife" Lesa. Lesa's 2 other children live with them, as well as their daughter together - Alyssa. Hannah and Mikayla, Lesa's then 12-year-old daughter, did not always do well. Apparently, Mikayla is really mean.

"She's worse than.... Casey (old neighbor-friend that was a little volatile), my dad, Grandma on a bad day, you on a bad day... all together. Plus 3. Which is pretty serious."

September 25, 2009
Playing Taboo with Me (M), Robin (R), and Grandma (G), while Hannah was giving the clues. Mom (Grandma) was getting a little tired so it was mostly me and RobRob guessing... This is a lengthy one (over 3 minutes on the recording), but the clues and the guesses were too fun to pass up.

#1
H: It's something that it helps you... Hang on. It helps you um...
R: Vin Diesel! (Or maybe she said baby seal... I've listened to it several times and can't tell... But I giggled after she said it, so it must have been good.)
H: No. It helps you work on important projects.
M: Is it a contractor?
H: No.
R: Computer.
H: No.
M: Um... a man.
H: No. It's like really cool ideas... like a clock.
M: An invention.
H: No! It's a tool...
M: A wrench
R: Screwdriver.
H: Yes! A screwdriver.
M: A screwdriver. Excellent.

#2
H: It's something that some people... It's something that fairy-tale people live in.
M: Cottages
R: Cheese
H: Yes.
M: Which one?
H: Cottage.
M: Really? Cottage? Excellent!
R: Cheese, Gromit!

#3
H: It's something that people use at work... I think. And it's a machine.
G: Car
M: Computer
H: No
R: Advanced calculator
H: No
R: Spinning wheel (Or fan blade? She was sitting across the room, so some of her comments were hard to hear when I play it back.)
H: No
M: Slide ruler
H: No. And it has the word "machine."
M: Ok... That's probably not good to say then.
G: Adding machine?
M: A fax machine?
H: Yes.
G: (peeking at the card) It IS a fax machine! Way to go!

#4
H: It's something that you can get books at.
R: A library.
H: (dejected) Yes... I don't think I was supposed to say books, though...
R: It's ok. We'll give it to you anyway.

#5
H: It's something that I do ALOT!
G: Talk
M: Talk? Sass?
H: No
M: Cry?
H: No
R: Dance
M: Laugh
H: No! Nooo....
R: Sing?
G: Draw?
M: Scream?
H: It's something that I'm getting right now.
M: Angry?
H: No. But it's...
M: Frustrated? Older? Tired? Sleepy?
H: No!!
M: I think it IS mad...
H: Yes. "Mad."
(laughing)

#6
H: I don't know if I know this one...
R: It's ok. We'll give it to you anyway. From whatever you say.
M: Just guess and we'll guess what you think it is.
H: Ok, I know it. It's a name.
R: Rigor mort. (Or Voldemort?)
M: Seven
H: Hahaha... No! It's a name!
R: Loch Ness Monster
H: ...and it's a student. A student name... And starts with an "a."
R: Plato?
H: And it ends with an "a."
M: uhhh...
G: Is it a famous name? (pause) Athena? (Side note: Amazing guess, Mom!)
H: (getting exasperated with our fruitless guesses) It's Ariana.
M: Ariana???
G: (peeking at the card) It's "arena."
M: So where did you get that it's a student name?
H: One of the clues was studium...
G: Oh! Stadium... arena!

Great clues, Bug! I loved it - and I love YOU!!!

More to come soon!

Lost in translation

Last night, Hannah was out playing in the play area behind our house and was meeting new friends - as has been the norm of late. During one of her regular check-ins I asked her about the new kids she's meeting. She informed me that one of the kids is a little boy named Ishmael. Without missing a beat - and for obvious reasons - I said, "Oh cool. Ask him if he knows a big white whale."

Hannah seemed a little unsure about this latest unintelligible rambling, but she was anxious to get back out to play so she tried to verify the question she was supposed to ask...

H: A big fat whale?
M: No - a big, white whale. (pause) But he won't know. It's classic literature and it's boring.
H: Ok. But I'm going to ask him anyway.

So she ran off to sweat some more and I sat down to go over "Mom stuff" (schedules and bills and all the less-glamorous stuff that we moms do).

When she came in for the night, and before getting ready for bed, she was recounting all of her latest (mis)adventures. In the course of her tale, she brought me up to speed on Ishmael. And she was quite smug about it at first, I might add...

H: Oh - and he does know him.
M: Who?
H: Ishmael.
M: He does??
H: Yeah.
M: (doubtful) Really. Then what's his name?
H: Well, apparently, he knows LOTS of white people.

Come to find out, Ishmael is black. And Hannah asked him if he knows a big white male instead of a big white whale.

Minor detail, right?

Well it worked for Duck Hunt...

I saw this on xkcd.com and wanted to share it with all my friends and family (Becky...) that still remember all the tricks that got our games to work.

Coming Soon...

Ok - I know that I'm WAAAAY behind on posting... Sorry! Life has been a little crazy:

• This Saturday is Commencement for my Bachelor's degree. Woohoo!
• Me and my roomie, Karen, have been house hunting since her parents' home sold. Also good, but a little stressful. Wish I were a bajillionaire... Then I could just BUY a house and call it good.
• Finished my first class in my Marriage & Family Therapy Master's program. It was Human Sexuality. Super-fun class, but I didn't write any of the papers. There were only three, and it relieved pressure to ignore them. Life happens.
• Work has been crazy busy... The July Bar exam is coming up, so we've been processing applications all day, every day. And being new, I was much slower, so I felt the constant pressure to be fast and accurate!

Plus, I've been trying to carve out a little bit of time for dating and socializing with friends. I thrive off of laughter and communication with friends, so this is an important thing for me to include in my schedule.

Unfortunately, all of these things have been piling up and occupying all of my time. As such, I've decided to take a little break from school - just for 6 months or so - to let some of these other areas in my life settle down a bit... I'm sure that new problems will pop up, but I'm hoping to be in a better frame of mind for dealing with school in a few months.

And yes, I've been stockpiling quotes from Hannah. I think the voice recorder on my phone is just about full... so I'll post a bunch soon!

Overheard...

Here are some more strange little comments from the last week, courtesy of Hannah. And for the record, I have no idea where she gets it...

"But I wanted to get in the bathtub with three penguins tonight!"
-This was overheard by the girls while they were driving home with Hannah. She was talking to me on the phone, asking me to get her another Penguins of Madagascar Happy Meal toy... as she's taken a renewed interest in baths (versus showers).

"Those are real teeth!! HOLY MOTHER!!!"
-This was heard while at Cindy's house on Saturday when someone stuck out his bottom dentures. No worries about misconceptions, though... He explained to Hannah that his jaw can detach but he doesn't like to do it too much because it hurts. (I'll explain it to her later... )


Then, last Wednesday night (Feb. 17), Karen and Danielle came downstairs while I was reading to tell me some of what Hannah had been saying upstairs. They were literally crying, they were laughing so hard. As I wasn't there, I can't repeat the conversation verbatim, so some of the middle parts are missing. And this is just a fraction or what was said back and forth... Even so, I imagine you'll laugh as hard as I did.

"I am just SICK of hearing high squeaky voices! (short pause) ...So I am going to stop talking."
-I think Hannah was hoping to manipulate the girls into silence, by example. The humor in her statement was lost on her... but not on us.

Jasmine: When you call people fat, Jesus hates you.
Hannah: Well I call my mom fat. And Jesus doesn't hate my mom...
J: What about ugly people?
H: Jesus doesn't hate ugly people.
J: Then why did He make them ugly?
H: He didn't! Their ugly parents made them ugly. (pause) My dad is ugly...
(more discussion along this vein, which I was not privy to... Alas...)
H: Well my mom is fat and my dad is ugly... (brief pause) ...And I'm pretty sure that's why they got divorced.

Excellent reasoning, Bug-a-Boo... And thanks for that. Good thing I love you!

More Quotables... by Hannah

Long weekends are great for a lot of reasons. This last weekend was fun because I didn't have to work on Monday - AND because it yielded SEVERAL good quotes from Hannah. Enjoy...

On Saturday, Hannah and I were watching a recorded episode of The Mentalist together. At one point, Hannah said, "I think (character's name) did it cuz he got all quiet when they asked him." After a slight pause she continued, "...which usually means, 'Uh-oh. They know.'"

**********

Later on that day, Hannah and I were snuggling and I started tickling her. Unfortunately, when Hannah gets laughing really hard she either gets the hiccups or starts drooling... or a fabulous combination of the two. That day, she opted for drooling. So I said something about the fluids coming out of her face... and not to get any drool or bogies (aka: boogers - pronounced bow-gee) on me. About half an hour later, I was tickling her again and we were both laughing pretty hard when she said, "I don't have control of my fluids today, so be careful!" Point taken.

**********

Also on Saturday was this gem of an exchange:

H: You farted on my foot!

(awkward pause... ps - no, I didn't)

H: Don't worry... I don't lick it.

M: (incredulous silence plus a shocked, perplexed look)

H: What?!?! I said I DON'T lick it...

M: (words failed me)

H: You can toot on my foot all you want.

Thanks, but no thanks, Bug.

**********

Sunday had a few moments as well. She made another comment about not being in control of her fluids while she was hopped up on sugar and giggling before Sacrament Meeting started. While I shushed her to get ready for quiet time, I noticed that a friend in the ward heard the comment and was now giggling uncontrollably. I felt compelled to instruct Hannah to get things under control before the meeting started.

My amazingly vague and slightly irritated instructions didn't help. Go figure... I recognized almost immediately that reverence was clearly not an option, so I was left to hope for controlled chaos and no cranky looks from the people nearby.

Nailed it. Barely.

**********

Monday was a fun day. Any day where I get to sleep past 8:30 in the morning is off to good start. Then, I decided to take Hannah to the store to return a couple of duplicate birthday gifts and to spend the money that Auntie Gecky sent. All told, she had about $60 to spend. She decided to get some new clothes with part of the money and then a cake decorating set and a little FurReal dalmation puppy that wags its tail when you pet it. She'd much rather get an actual puppy, but that can't happen just yet.

Anyway, we had a great day together just shopping around. We even went out to lunch together, which was great fun. The only down-side was the repeated back-handed compliment she kept giving me: "You're just so happy today, Mom!" I'm glad we had a great day together, but I wish that more days with me were happy... so that it's not such a surprise.

Amid all the fun, Hannah managed to sneak in another funny moment... We were driving through a parking lot to get to Chili's for our lunch date and Hannah said, "Sometimes I get a little nervous when other cars get close to my side of the car."

M: Oh? Have cars gotten close today?

H: No. I just get worried that they might get close.

M: Oh. And what would happen if they got close?

H: Well, they might come in my side.

M: Bug, a car can't come in your window... Is that what you mean?
H: No. I mean they might crash into my side.

M: Oh. And that would be scary...

H: Well yeah. 'Cause then I would get damaged.

M: Ah... Well yes, I guess you could get damaged, huh.

H: Yeah. And I don't want to get damaged.

I don't want you to get damaged either, Bug! I'll drive real careful... to keep cars from getting in your side!

Mother, May I?

On Wednesday of this week, I got home really late from work since I was I was finishing up paperwork to begin my Master's program. I'm happy (aka: terrified!) to get started, but I was sad to hear that I missed this moment while I was gone...

First, to introduce the pertinent people, let me explain that Karen is my friend and roommate. She has 3 daughters that still live at home: Danielle (17), Jasmine (13), and Sarah (11).

So, Karen was helping the girls get some chicken noodle soup made for dinner - one of Hannah's favorites. All the while, Hannah and Sarah were bickering back and forth, as usual...

Sarah: Well you shouldn't be talking while you eat.
Hannah: Well you're taking too much soup.
S: Hannah, quit...
H: Well, Sarah, you shouldn't...

At some point, Karen finally laughed and said, "You two mother each other more than anyone I know!" And then she quoted Thumper's mommy, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all!"

**crickets chirping as all goes silent**

Slowly, Hannah and Sarah began to eat again, with a little less vigor... At some point, Sarah either got up to get more soup, or she said something... Karen couldn't recall...

H: Sarah, you.. (stops herself suddenly and goes quiet)
Karen: (after a moment of Hannah stuttering uncertainly) Did you have something to say, Hannah?
H: Well... I was gonna say... But... Well... (sigh) Except I don't quite know what "mothering" means.

Don't worry, Punkin... We'll look it up when I get home.

8 Things I LOVE About Hannah!

1. She is still honest enough that when I ask her whether she's really sick or she just wants to stay home from school, she says, "Well, it's half and half."
2. She's independent, but still likes to snuggle.
3. She wishes she could sleep with Mommy, but doesn't.
4. She's precocious.
5. She promises she'll still want to tell me everything when she's a "teen-year-old." And I hope she does!
6. She's snarky, but adorably so.
7. She's starting to see things for how they really are without my having to spoil her idealistic view of the world.
8. And finally, because she loves me as much as I love her: "All the way to Jesus' head... And you can't get more than that!"

You're the best, Hannah-Bug. And I love you!!!

Fun with Friends

Last Saturday was going to be Hannah's birthday party with her friends, but we bumped it back a week to this Saturday... One kid, Erick, didn't get the message. After stopping by - and being reminded of the change - he asked if Hannah could come to Carl's Jr. with him and his mom and little sister, to play. As I was busy baking a cake, cleaning up, and needing to wrap her presents before my family got there, I said sure.

Last night, I heard about the following short interchange with the little boy and his mother...

Erick's Mom (to Hannah): Hannah, you're pretty tall.
Erick (interjecting): Well Mom... I'm handsome tall!

Gotta love the English language!

Did I mention I got a job?!

Yes - I finally ended my streak as an unemployed, non-contributing member of society. It was great to be able to finish school while I was not working, and the time with Hannah-Bug has been great, but I'm happy to be working again!

Can you say, "IKEA?"

Yesterday morning, while trying to wake Hannah up, something a little strange happened... Which resulted in the quote of the day for Jan. 19th:

Me: Good morning, Hannah... It's time to wakey-wakey... Time to get up and get ready for school...
Hannah: Waigh shwea rabi huearte...
M: Huh? What did you say...? Was that even in English?
H: No... I was speaking Swedish.

Ahh. Well that clears things right up.

Quote of the day - 01.16.10

In the car... just before getting home from SLC tonight after I criticized the car in front of us for going slow:

H: I bet police officers love it when it's icy on the roads... Because it makes people slow down and go the speed limit.
M: (non committal) Maybe...
H: But then they probably hate it, too, because if there's a major emergency it would be hard for them to get there.
M: That's true. That would make it a little tough.

(long pause)

H: Remember that time that you sneezed on my face?
M: (loud laugh... and maybe a little snort) Yes. Yes, I do.
H: Good times. Good times...