Men & Their Garages

Why do men love the garage? To me, it is a place to park your car, store your tools, and dump junk in. It certainly isn’t a place that I would want to spend much time in. Steve, for some reason, enjoys organizing and reorganizing ours. He even takes everything out and sweeps or uses the wet/dry vac. A couple of weeks ago, he came home with cabinets for the garage. I can understand why he wanted them mainly because they were for free from work. The strange part is that he seemed so excited to have an excuse to reorganize. This makes no sense to me. There are a million tasks inside the house where the cool a/c is blowing, but he prefers the garage.

Lately, I have discovered that it is a normal male trait. My dad was a computer/book nerd, so this love of the garage isn’t something I am used to. A few weeks ago, I was at a party with a bunch of old friends from high school. One of our other friends (still a bachelor) put his house up for sale and the guys were talking about it. Basically, they said that they couldn’t believe he would sale his house because he has the most amazing garage and that he had dumped $8 grand into it. The house is great for many reasons, but for them to single out the garage made me laugh. He doesn't live near us, so I have only seen pictures in this link (Grand Garage). My impression of the garage was that it really clean and organized. However, a four car garage on a single story house seems a little silly to me, especially for a guy who lives there by himself.

I guess I have always assumed that the kind of guy that would LOVE a garage is one that is a mechanic or at least a recreational mechanic. I picture this kind of guy with a classic car that is being restored or has been restored. One of the guys even mentioned that he would like to spend a lot more time in his garage, but there are too many boxes he needs to clear out. I should probably mention that I wasn’t adding to the conversation or asking questions. They were all just going on & on about their love of garages. Steve fits right in with my old friends.

Maybe I am the strange one, but I just don’t see what could be so interesting about a plain old HOT garage. It makes me wonder if they want to use it for a refuge. It would make sense if they were trying to get out of the house away from their wives, but I don’t think that is the case. When the kids are sleeping, Steve often asks me to come out there and chat with him while he is working. One of the other guys is out there on Saturdays when his wife is running their smoothie shop, so I know he isn’t avoiding her. There is also the bachelor guy who doesn’t have anyone to hide from.

Does anyone know the answer? If not, I guess I’ll just have to assume it is some manly or primal type of activity.

Lucky Number Seven

Lucky for me, Del of My Relish Blog kindly decided to give me an “I LOVE THIS BLOG” award. I was very surprised & flattered, especially since she has such an interesting blog herself. For the past few days, I have been trying to come up with a mental list while I have been working on a huge project for work. My mind flips back and forth between the blog list and all the work things I need to do. You can easily guess which one I’d rather work on.

Unfortunately, it was not easy only picking seven. I had to leave out several of my favorites. I did follow the rules though. So, here it goes in alphabetical order:

Aerin’s Cranberry Blog
Aerin is always thought provoking, witty, and somehow manages working full time, taking care of her twins and dealing with her crazy large family.

Amyeliz
Amy simply cracks me up with her adventures in Miami, Utah, New York and other places.

Crazy Blogging Canuk
Amber is a talented writer who can make hiking, traveling, and the everyday adventures of a mom quite hilarious.

Death Chic
Stephanie is one of those people who just aren’t easy to sum up. She has so many diverse interests and talents including mortuary school, photography, running, and many other things.

Diva Tee’s Thoughts
The Diva is a working single chic with lots of fascinating experiences, people in her life, and thoughts.

The Princess and Johnsy
The Princess has two adorable daughters that I absolutely love and I know quite a few of the family members that she mentions from time to time. I’ve been able to meet up with her in person a few times. Did I mention that she is my husband’s cousin? I'm sure I would love reading her blog even if we weren't related.

Reformatting My Brain
RFM is a mom with two cute boys who runs a daycare out of her home, works part time, and still finds time to post.

There you have it ~ seven GREAT blogs.

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

My Kind of Art

Several times over the last few years, my mom has asked me what kind of art I like. She likes to go to art festivals and figured that she could pick something up for me. The problem is I don't particularly care for any type of style. Something just has to hit me. I don't have a lot of art because things just don't tend to stand out enough for me to want them on my walls. I do have a few photos of breath taking scenes though. Considering I was a geography major, I guess that makes sense. I also have lots of photos of my kids.

I think my mom might have given up on buying art for me this year. She just decided to draw some pictures for me. Guess what...she hit the nail on the head.




Now, I just have to nag my husband to hang them. I'd do it myself, but the carpenter in him is just TOO PICKY about using the right screws & leveling it off with a laser pointer, etc.

Creating Goddesses

When I moved here a year ago, I got to see one of my friends from high school that I hadn’t seen in a long time. I was blown away at by her physique. She always had a nice body, but now EVERY muscle has distinct definition. She told me that she had hurt her knee and started physical therapy. Once it was over, she joined a gym and loves working out. She went on to tell me all about her gym and how much she enjoys it. She also mentioned that it costs about $100 a month.

I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but since then I have met several women (all moms) with the same type of AMAZING body (think Demi Moore in Charlie’s Angels – minus the boob job). All of them have praised the same wonderful gym that they can't stop raving about.

This last year, we have been involved in a play group that is filled with moms that have great bodies. In their case, it is a combination of having great genes and being exercise fanatics. Some of them are marathon runners and others just love spinning or yoga. It is no stretch to say that I have the WORST body there and I am just a normal/average sized person. I have found out that they all go to the same gym, but a different one than the goddesses. These women have the kind of bodies that I dream of having. It takes hard work, but seems obtainable. They look FABULOUS, but nothing compared to the goddesses.

With all of these amazing looking chics around me, I decided to start going to my gym. Jordan is old enough to go to the nursery now, so I figured it was time. It is a national gym that everyone has heard of. The closest one to me is brand new and very nice. While I enjoy it, I can’t help but notice that the people around me are an even slice of the population. It is nice to be surrounded by all different fitness levels, but I have to wonder what is going on at the other gyms.

I am tempted to get a tour of the gym where the goddesses work out to see if they do DNA screens before allowing someone to be a member, hypnotize people into becoming exercise freaks, have magic potions or all of the above. There just has to be something strange going on. Goddesses are not normal. …or could it be that anyone willing to pay $100 a month is bound to spend several hours a day there?

Nothing to Say

Every once in a while, I come to a point where I am tired of my blog. I don't have anything interesting to say (ok, so that hasn't stopped me before). TOO MUCH WORK and entertaining kids keeps me busy. I guess mainly I should admit that this week I am distracted by the newest book in the Twilight Series "Breaking Dawn." I have admitted on this blog that I am not an avid reader. I just don't make time for it. However, I started reading the first Twilight book soon after Jordan was born & certainly had to read the other two. Now, the newest one came out & is over 700 pages. It is sucking up (**it is a vampire book) all the extra energy & seconds of down time I once had. It will soon be over though and then life & blogging will resume.

Birthday Boy

Steve turns 41 today. He is actually taking one step over the hill (hahaha). We had a small party for him on Saturday with a few friends and their kids. Actually, I think there were just as many kids as adults. That really livens up a party.

The fact that it is his birthday today also means that we've been living in Texas exactly a year. We pulled in on his birthday last year. He can't believe it, but for me it feels so normal. I think it is because I was familiar with everything here. For me, it just seems like we've been here longer.

To celebrate these two things, I'll be making Steve's favorite thing for dinner - lasagna. I'll probably even run out to Ooh, La, La, Dessert Boutique and buy cheesecake (his other favorite).

Back But Missing It

Our trip to the Grand Canyon started off rocky. Thank you Southwest Airlines for your rigid on time flights. Literally slamming the door in our faces after you asked us to go to the desk and get a tag for the stroller was a bit dramatic. Putting us on the next flight that had a 2 hour layover in Phoenix just made the vacation start off on the wrong foot. Because of the delay, the kids and I weren't able to ride to the Grand Canyon in my mom & step-dad's RV. We had to squish into the Jeep Liberty we rented for the 5 hour trek. It wasn't pleasant, but we made it and things got better immediately. Oh, except for the fact that Jordan was a bit fussier than usual & refused to eat. I noticed that he cut his first tooth. Who does that on the first day of vacation? That led to less sleep than normal.

My husband & FIL (yes he came to my family reunion) decided that everyone should make the effort to go to the Grand Canyon because there is no other place on Earth quite like it. They were blown away. While I always enjoy going there, I loved seeing cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. that I hadn't seen in over a decade. I was really happy to see my favorite cousin, who even lived with me a while at BYU. We had some great times there, but I haven't seen her since I left. I wish we could have spent more time together, but kids and campsites that are not next to each other made it a bit difficult. Lexi and Jordan also got to mingle with my nieces and nephews, which is always a treat. We hadn't seen them for a year and a half. My brother has a new one that is only 2 days older than Jordan.

I had been warned that camping with kids is not something anyone should try. I can't complain though, which probably is because of the RV parked right next to our tent. My mom brought all the food and supplies. Steve helped cook over the campfire. It was a little cold at night (55 degrees). During the day, it got up to 85, which is quite cool for us. Evenings were spent with everyone around our campsite eating, talking, and my brother & step-dad playing instruments and singing.

Our last day at the Grand Canyon was quieter than the others. All of the extended family members were gone. My mom, step-dad, sister, brothers, brother's family, and my little family were the only ones left. It rained (drizzled) so we sat under the RV's awning and talked. It was a nice ending to the reunion.

Then, we headed for Vegas. This time, the kids & I got to ride in the RV through Zion’s National Park. We stopped for pictures, but Lexi was asleep so only Jordan got to be in a few. We grabbed lunch in St George and then met up with Steve in our hotel in Vegas. A four star hotel (Planet Hollywood) looks much better after spending time in a tent. We had a great time wandering around and talking to Steve's Aunt & Uncle who met up with us there. They got to see Jordan for the first time.

Now, we are back. I hate coming home from vacations. Why can't the fun continue? Ok, I know money plays a big part. Unfortunately, I am home and facing entirely too much work.

Negative Gadget Karma

When my husband and I were newly engaged, he decided to take my little boom box outside so he could listen to music while doing yard work. Three days later, I was out in the yard and noticed that it was still sitting out there. It had been rained on and no longer worked. I was a bit shocked because I had it for 12 years and the thing was practically an antique. In fact, it was given to me for Christmas in 1990 and had a CD player before that was common. When you have something for that long, it becomes part of your life. It had travelled across the US several times with my crazy moves and even to the Middle East. I didn’t know it at the time, but I think that was my first sign that my husband had negative gadget karma.

Over the years, I can’t even count how many cell phones and digital cameras have been destroyed or lost in his care. In fact, after a few cameras, I realized that he needed his own cheap one. I bought a nicer one for me and he is not allowed to use mine. Even this past year, he has gone through 2 work phones and managed to run over his company issued lap top.

Why am I sharing this??? Because I hope it isn’t rubbing off…

This week, I have been dealing with a loss. My beautiful lovely life supporting cell phone has been blitzed. It happened when Jordan spit up on my pants right as I was about to go in and do a load of laundry. I noticed that my pants fit the color scheme of that load, so I took them off and threw them in. I think it was twenty minutes later when I realized that my phone was probably still in the pocket. Peeking inside the washer didn’t work. I even pulled the pants out, but the pocket was empty by then. It wasn’t until I was transferring the load to the dryer that I found my sad little red phone.

My husband and I are cell phone people. Throughout our relationship, we haven’t had a home phone or when we did it has been ignored completely. I just can't live without a cell phone, so I rushed right out to get a new one. I went to the closest Verizon store and was told that I didn’t have insurance on my phone, but my husband does. At the time, that decision made sense. The cheapest phone I could buy there was $350 since we had a year left on our contract. He told me about another store that sells refurbished ones and that I might be able to get my same phone for less than $100. I packed the kids back in the car and rushed over there. When I got there, I was told that they were not the store that sold refurbished phones. There was another one. The kids were put back in the car and taken to the third store, which smelled like smoke and had a strange cashier. He pulled out several very cheap looking crappy phones, so I left. He followed me out to the parking lot offering me “great deals.” I told him I had to think about it because those phones were not what I wanted.

My heart was broken. The most tragic part is that I had lots of phone numbers in there that I don’t have anywhere else - silly me. I had even read Reformatting’s Cell Phone Story and decided to save all my numbers, but I hadn’t got around to it yet. The good news is that I ordered a cool LITTLE phone off of Verizon’s website. It even has an MP3 player and was about $150. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’ll get all those numbers back or how long it will take to get most of them.

One thing I have learned is that negative gadget karma is a horrible thing to live with. I HOPE it hasn’t rubbed off on me. It is hard enough dealing with this kind of thing once in a great while. I also have insurance on my new phone and plan to put all the numbers I get into Outlook.

A Little Late Night Fun on the 4th

For the 4th, we headed down to our local outdoor shopping area for live music and fireworks. I am a bit of a stickler for bedtime, but not when it comes to holidays and family gatherings. We didn't get home until 10pm. Bad mother you say??? Whatever...that was the best night of sleep I've had in a year. Jordan actually slept from midnight to 8am! I think we might go partying every night.

Happy 4th!