Expletive

Every once in a while, I have days where there is more going on than there is Amanda to go around. Yesterday was one of those days. There was the Race for the Cure, the Green Celebration in Library Square, an old friend of mine was having her baby shower in Brigham, I had some makeup I needed to drop off to another friend in Brigham, I'd promised my dad I'd come up to help him plant trees. So, I had to skip some and do others. I chose to go to Brigham.

I also found a babysitter for my kids and bought tickets to the 30 Seconds To Mars concert that evening and planned on meeting friends and having dinner before hand. All in all, a very overpacked day. I need to put this preamble in to explain that I started the day off with WAY too much to do, WAY too excited about the concert, so there was a little bit of anxiety and panic going on.

I woke up 2 hours later than I intended Saturday. I meant to run to Brigham early so I could help my dad, run my errands, then come back, be ready and be at dinner on time. Not only did I wake up late, it took me 2 hours to try to get me and the kids ready. I was having a numb brain day and just wasn't very efficient.

I made it to the baby shower late, stayed too long because I haven't seen Darla in quite a while, so I felt I should visit. I made it to my makeup drop off on time, but of course, I stayed too long. I like Karianne and this is the first time I have met her husband and kids. I sat in my car afterwards, not able to find my keys... darn my over busy brain!!

I showed up to help my dad and did as much as I could, but I didn't get near enough done that I would have liked. I needed at least 5 more hours. Which I would have had if I didn't plan on this concert. I did end up leaving Brigham a half hour later than I intended, so I felt very rushed.

I got home, got ready very quick, and as much as I love my darling husband, I don't think he understands time. He lives very much on his own clock. He came in a little after I did, started to do the dishes, and moved at a turtle's pace. By now I am almost in full panic mode. I was supposed to meet my friends for dinner at 4:00. It is now 4:45 and we are just barely leaving the house.... I know I need to relax, but I woke up running late... hard to get out of the rushing, panicky mode.

We got to the Gateway and ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Oh ya, there was a playoff Jazz game. Sigh. Now to find parking somewhere in a 5 mile radius. Not to mention I am wearing heels cause they make me feel pretty. So, we find a parking spot, and start hiking to Happy Sumo. Me carrying Linus. Matt carrying Bea. I'm still in heels.

We start eating, and we aren't all that late for the food to arrive. But Linus started weazing a little, so I gave him a shot of Albuterol. And he turned into a public terror.

Bethany showed up not too long into us eating and we ran out to hand the kids over. I over assume things sometimes, assumed that she'd have a kid's seat for Mikayla because she will be 3 in my mind for a long time, and she's too old for a carseat. Bah! I hoof it to our car 2 blocks away to grab Linus's carseat, grab it, and hoof it back. In NBA season playoff traffic...and heels. And, to make matters even better, the sushi decides that it doesn't want to sit well...AHHHH!

I'm rushing not only to get back to Bethany and to my friends who are still sitting at Happy Sumo, but there may be an accident if I don't get to a restroom NOW!! And did I mention I'm wearing heels. Brand new high heels. And my feet are starting to burn?

10 minutes later, my guts feel better, and 4 of us are standing around planning where to meet, park, etc. for the show. And we take off. Again. I think my feet are bleeding at this point.

We pay for parking, head out to the Rail Event Center... and I'm not really sure what Matt is looking at, but at a stop light, after we had already stopped, his foot slipped off the brake pedal and he rear ended the car in front of us. All I can think, "Can this day get any worse?"

The answer to that is Yes. It can. And it did.

The guy got out of his car, looked at his car, no damage, so he got back in and drove away. Whew. We paid to park for the show, got out, and. the. tickets. are. gone. GONE!! MY FREAKING TICKETS FELL OUT OF MY POCKET!! I looked in the car, I called the sushi place, we went back and looked a little. Gone.

I am so disappointed at this point. I love concerts and this is the first one Matt and I were going to go to since Linus was born. I was so excited. It's hard to find a sitter on Saturday night, have a little extra money for a frivolity, and actually get to go. I rushed all day, anticipated all day, was a bad dinner companion to my friends, and then I have no tickets to get in. I just wanted to cry.

Matt thought maybe we could see a movie and at this point, I didn't want to spend any more money than I already had. I just wanted to go to Bethany's house, pick up the kids, and go home.

The disappointmet was trying to ooze out of my eyes. Almost made it too.

We got to Bethany's house and it turns out, she's having a crisis. Tory is sick, in the ER, and she needed someone to watch not only her baby, but my babies so she could go to the hospital. We showed up, took the kids, and she was able to focus on Tory. How weird is that?

I have an old friend who always said, "God loves a coincedence." It keeps you remembering that there is a higher power out there.

 I felt a little better about the whole evening. The dissapointment was still there. Still is. At least it stopped trying to ooze out of my eyes. I hate crying.

She's not mine...

Bea has been eating slimy baby food for about 2 months now. We tried her at 4 months like our pediatrician recommended and she just wasn't interested. So, I gave her a break and started back at about 5, maybe 5 1/2 months.

She LOVES to eat. I literally hear her saying *nom nom nom* as she's eating. She cries because I have to take the time to scoop up another giant, heaping baby spoon of slimy food.

She loves her cereals and would probably eat an entire box of it if I let her. She loves her vegetables. She'll demolish a jar of green beans in 10 seconds. She won't eat her fruits...

Wait...WHAT?!?!

She is obviously not my baby nor Matt's baby.

I think I spent a 3 month period eating nothing but brownies, butterfingers, and Code Red Mountain Dew. I would rather live off fruit and doughnuts and wash it down with Coke than eat anything else. Matt is the biggest chocolate fiend I've ever met. If there is anything with sugar in the house, fruit or otherwise, it is gone pretty quick. Linus lives off of yogurt. He gets a whiff that there is chocolate and there is no end to the whining that ensues until he gets it. Green beans make Linus gag. Peas make Linus gag. He will NOT eat potatoes.

Where did this little girl come from? Strawberries make her gag. She won't eat peaches. She will barely tolerate bananas.

Did you get that? STRAWBERRIES MAKE HER GAG!!


She isn't my baby.

um...*knockknockknock*...hello... Universe??

So, I am going to leave everyone who reads this with some sense of confusion and I will not be able to quell said confusion until sometime next week. Or maybe even in a month. I don't even know.

All I know is, I am concerned. I am worried about the health of a family member. I know what my overactive imagination is telling me and I am somewhat worried it is that "still, small voice" everyone talks about. I am worried that life is about to get really hard.

Or, it could be nothing and a simple pill everyday will suffice.

So, please keep my family in your thoughts, and send some good vibes our way. Prayers are welcomed for those who pray.

Thank you. :)

Overkill

Ok, so, to make it easier for me and others to remember my blog website, I have changed the name. I am sending all of my old posts over to the new one. I don't know who all reads this, so I will get the word out as many places as I can. The new one is
http://beasandroses.blogspot.com/

I just thought it was cute what with Bea (bee...buzz) and my middle name Rose. Anyway, a little Bailey girl power over here. And I am the only one who writes here so there. :P

I will probably post here that I have a new posting there for a while until the word gets around to my few readers. Thanks!!

Mystery Pez

The longest day in a while was when Linus went into the hospital with his asthma attack. I had around 2 hours of sleep that night and went into the ER at 4 am and there was no rest for mom that day. Matt can sleep almost anywhere, and he volunteered to sleep in the hospital with Linus while I went home to sleep in my bed to recharge for the next day. I came home to my beautiful Bea, my dogs, and my mom watching them. And a package that had come in the mail for me. I was a little nervous to open it because it was only addressed to my first name, I had no idea who it was from, and in my exhausted state, I could not control my sometimes raging imagination.

Instead of it being a bomb or an anthrax filled letter (yes, in my mind I am that important.) I received this...

So, this X-wing pilot from Star Wars Pez dispenser was so far off in left field, I was left speechless. 

Then I checked it for candy.

So, when we got home from the hospital, finally, the next day late in the evening, I was as surprised, if not more so, to find another package addressed to me. 

Opening it, I found two Pez dispensers. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. And these two are OLD. How freaking cool! 

Wait a minute... who know that deep down I love the strawberry Pez candy and also knows I haven't had any in years, and years, and years, and years? This is creepy.

So, on facebook, I posted about my mystery Pez sender and the different Pez dispensers I've received. It was a lot of fun, but very strange, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out who was sending these to me. I knew it was from Ebay, because all of the boxes had an ebay insignia on it.

Other than that... no idea.

A good friend of mine suggested that maybe the person would send me something everyday until my birthday and then reveal themselves. It never occurred to me that my birthday was coming up. Then I thought that maybe it was her.

So, after a while, I started to run out of room on my kitchen counter and my husband started asking me,"So what's with the Pez? Why are you buying Pez dispensers?" And I could honestly say that it wasn't me. He finally told me to quit buying things off the internet while on Ambien. That was funny enough I giggled pretty hard.

While looking on facebook one day, I noticed a friend of mine post a reference to Pez. So...I started thinking...could it be?

And yes, on my birthday, they came over with a box wrapped full of more Pez dispensers and admitted their guilt in the "ebay stalking".

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, kids of all ages.....drum roll please.... (and this does call for capslock) THE MYSTERY PEZ DISPENSER HAS BEEN REVEALED...IT IS....Darren (and I am not sure how much his daughter, but I'll give her credit) and Rowan Lamb. You may remember Darren as the Buddhist Monk who married Matt and I? A good friend who I have enjoyed getting to know better and have enjoyed getting to know his daughter. What a blessing you two are to have as friends! Thanks guys!!

So, in the end, this is my Pez inventory (and if my computer hadn't hit the crapper with a big chocolate bunny, I'd post pictures. As it stands, I'll have to do that later.):

1- Giant Garfield dispenser
1- Giant plush elephant dispenser with giant toy pez candy inside
1- Giant Darth Vader dispenser (by far the coolest!!!)
1- mini elephant key chain dispenser
1- whistle dispenser
3- watermelon head dispensers
1- apple head dispenser
1- grape head dispenser
1- bee head from Bug's Life dispenser
2- Jungle Mission Survival Kit dispensers (one purple, one orange)
1- Maggie Simpson dispenser
1- Tasmanian Devil dispenser
2- Daffy Duck dispensers
1- Tweety Bird dispenser
1- Pluto dispenser
1- Donald Duck dispenser
2- Mickey Mouse dispensers (the Donald and one of the Micky's are very old, antique pez, if you will)
1- Tigger dispenser
1- Elmo dispenser
1- Bert dispenser
1- Ernie dispenser
3- Gonzo dispensers
5- various bug dispensers
1- Lightning McQueen dispenser
1- Buzz Lightyear dispenser
1- Woody dispenser
2- Baby Jack Incredible dispensers
1- Fiona from Shrek dispenser
2- Puss in Boots dispensers
1- Snowman dispenser
4- Elf dispensers
3- Santa Claus dispensers
3- Reindeer dispensers
1- Wolverine dispenser
2- Batman dispenser
1- Harvey Twoface dispenser
1- Spiderman dispenser
2- Incredible Hulk dispensers
1- brown fuzzy bear dispenser
1- panda fuzzy bear dispenser
3- various Garfield dispensers
4- Barney Rubble dispensers
1- Ewok dispenser
2- X-wing pilot dispensers
2- Boba Fett dispensers
2- Chewbacca dispensers
2- Darth Vader dispensers
2- Yoda dispensers
3- C3PO dispensers
2- Princess Leia dispensers
Have I mentioned that I love Star Wars?
And the Grand Finale...
13- Imperial Stormtrooper dispensers (I am pretty sure they are all 501st Legion) ((ya, I'm a nerd))

Grand Total...

98 Freaking dispensers!! Do you know how much candy that is?!?!


Well, there could actually be 100, I did the math on NyQuil AND I need to do a thorough check to make sure I find all the ones Linus got to first. 

Check out this art...

So, my good friend, who I have known since Jr. High School, started her own company called "Anahera Gifts" See, her middle name is Anahera and it's beautiful.

Anyway, she has given her website a makeover and I'd like everyone to check it out. She makes very creative and cute baby gifts and wedding gifts. She will ship them where ever and it's a great idea if you are going to a baby or wedding shower anytime. Or maybe if a friend is getting married or having a baby and you can't make it. How fun to send something so cute and useful!

Here it is, please check it out...
Anahera Gifts

Cheeza Louiza!

If you read this blog, then it is common knowledge that we have had to give up our dogs due to this...

This is right before Linus' first ambulance ride which he calmed down and really enjoyed.

The rest of the these are him in the hospital. I figured I'd post pictures since I finally figured out how to pull the pics off my phone instead of emailing them all to myself and then downloading them to my computer...blah blah blah.

After this awesome experience, his allergist did the scratch tests and he is allergic to not only dog dander, but to the saliva as well.

 So..........good by my precious dogs.

Moxie is with Bethany.

Blue is with Linzy and her son Xander.

And Pali is with Michael downstairs. As you can see, they love each other. :) So, at least that makes this whole dog thing better. I can see my dogs whenever I need to and know they are being well taken care of.

The allergist also said that we will probably want to get rid of the furniture and carpets as soon as we can to fully see the benefits of Linus being allergy free. Since the dander and hair is all over them. AND the dogs licked and chewed on the couch. We have sold one couch, still trying to sell the other one, and working on getting rid of the carpet and buying new carpet. And can I just say that the dogs that lived here before...ew. There is still so much long hair that has settled under the carpet and I know they weren't as taken care of as they needed to be with their long hair. AND there are some major dog pee stains on the pad. Those weren't my dogs. I remember the few places they peed.

So, with all of this...Good-bye $$$.

Only to find out, we have a leak in the water main on our side of the piping.

Good-bye more $$$. When it rains  it pours right?

Matt started to look online to find a plumber who would fix the water main, who wouldn't tear up the front lawn and rip down the yard, and wouldn't tear out two walls of sheet rock that we'd have to go back in and fix. We've had ENOUGH sheet rock fixing in this house to last a while. Only one company out of 12 fit the bill AND he was super competitive with the pricing.

This is what it looked like when they got done digging up our yard.

And this is what it looked like when they were done.

Notice they planted our bush back where it was.

They did a great job. In and out in 3 to 4 hours. What a welcome change of pace when most things go so wrong around here.










And last but not least, I just wanted to leave you with a cute picture to remind you to stop and smell the flowers...