A Most Powerful Week

I have had the best week. I have been uplifted and inspired in so many ways my entire being feels as though I am being carried. In an earlier post I shared about the talks AH & I read on Monday night and the one in particular that really stood out to me (though all were excellent!). All week I’ve been reading one of the most inspiring books I’ve ever read (more to come shortly) that has really given me much to think about in the way of my health and ancestral roots. Today at church I was uplifted by some powerful talks given by our Bishopric and especially by our Bishop who talked about “gateway sins”, had a great Sunday school lesson and then concluded it all with an amazing lesson in Young Women by my Laurel class advisor Melanie about testimonies. I literally walked away from Church today with my head reeling from all the inspiring messages shared – I’ve hardly had time to let it all soak in.

My real reason for this post is to talk about the book I just finished “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” by Christopher McDougall. When I put it down last night after reading the final page I felt depressed that it was all over. I had become so engrossed in the real life characters that McDougall so expressively described that I felt a sense of loss that my friends were now gone. As I was drawn into the book and new characters were introduced I had to remind myself that these were not simply “characters” in a fictional book but rather characters in a non-fiction book; these are real people!

In the beginning of the book McDougall puts forth many questions about the evolution of man as runners. His theories, at the time, seemed logical but I could easily see how they could be disproved by men of science. However, the second half of the book McDougall brings back around his theories (not in an obvious way) and goes on to use modern science to prove his earlier points. His writing style is so smooth and the transition back to his original questions and ideas was so subtle that it wasn’t until the next day that I realized he had answered his own questions/theories, which makes his book even better since he wrote with a purpose and shared the answers with us all (thankfully).

I lack the words and skill to adequately summarize this book so I will borrow a summary from a fellow Goodreads reviewer, Lena, that I felt was right on:

Born to Run begins as an adventure story. While trying to figure out how to get his own foot to stop hurting, he saw an article about a tribe of Mexican Indians called the Tarahumara. These people were said to be able to run for days at a time through unforgiving terrain wearing nothing more on their feet than sandals made from thin strips of tire rubber. So McDougall set out to find these mysterious people, but doing so was not easy. The Copper Canyons where they live are extremely difficult to get to, and the trip is made even more hazardous by having to pass through drug farming country on the way.

In addition to being a sometimes nail-biting tale about the author's quest to find the Tarahumara, Born to Run also weaves in the fascinating history of the sport of ultra-running. Ultra-marathons are races consisting of any distance longer than a marathon. McDougall discusses how this crazy sport first came into being, highlighting along the way the stories of the participants who have slowly begun to make it famous.

McDougall narrates this history in real time, resulting in descriptions of several races that were so gripping I couldn't put the book down. One of these races was the Leadville Trail 100, a 100-mile race at 11,000 feet in which the Tarahumara faced off against an ultra-running prodigy named Ann Trason.

As McDougall weaves together the story of ultra-running's past with his own quest to find the Tarahumara and become a better runner, he also relays a fascinating tale about scientific discoveries into our evolutionary past suggesting that it was our ability to run long distances without getting winded, and thus get all that extra protein from the bounding antelope we were able to outlast, that gave us the evolutionary edge needed to grow our huge brains. These sections also point out that we did not evolve to run on cushions with arch support, and that expensive running shoes actually make runners more prone to injury than running in the bare feet nature so elegantly designed for us.

The book concludes with the tale of a joint venture between McDougall and a character named Caballo Blanco, a gringo who had befriended the Tarahumara and made the Copper Canyons his home. Though the Tarahumara had wowed people at Leadville, Caballo longed to see them race against America's ultra-running best on their own turf. So McDougall helped him get together a half-dozen racers and they made the dangerous trek down into the canyons. The resulting race and the sportsmanship described therein is very moving, and I finished this odd combination of memoir, sports history, adventure tale and evolutionary science with damp eyes.

I have two weeks left until I am able to start exercising again. I haven’t been able to run in nearly 5 years but now that the issues that prevented me from running are fixed I am eager to get back on the trail and build up my endurance. I did try running a couple of years ago and was training to do a local 5K when I got a foot injury (I was also trying to ignore the other issue that I've just had fixed) that sidelined me for weeks and I didn't go back. Never have my feet been so injured and now I think I can guess why. In preparation for release I purchased a new set of running shoes from REI:



This should be fun! I’ll keep you posted as to my progress and if these really work - the expectation being that my foot will not sideline me this time around.

Moral Discipline

Driving home from visiting my family this past Monday night AH and I were talking about the last General Conference. I realized I had the November Ensign in the car so AH suggested I read aloud some of the talks given. We had missed a great deal of them in October (during the live broadcast) since we were on a plane the first day of GC and out exploring Maui the second day (though we did catch the morning session on Sunday). I ended up reading several talk to him, all excellent, but it was the last one that put into words so many current issues that we both have had a hard time explaining to some of our friends/family around us. Elder D. Todd Christofferson was so eloquent in his talk titled "Moral Discipline" that I urge you to read (or reread it) if you haven't already. It is an excellent talk for anyone of any faith.

A few of my favorite quotes are as follows:

Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard. It rejects the self-absorbed life in favor of developing character worthy of respect and true greatness through Christlike service (see Mark 10:42–45). The root of the word discipline is shared by the word disciple, suggesting to the mind the fact that conformity to the example and teachings of Jesus Christ is the ideal discipline that, coupled with His grace, forms a virtuous and morally excellent person.



As a consequence, self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments. One columnist observed that “gentlemanly behavior [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. …



I have heard a few parents state that they don’t want to impose the gospel on their children but want them to make up their own minds about what they will believe and follow. They think that in this way they are allowing children to exercise their agency. What they forget is that the intelligent use of agency requires knowledge of the truth, of things as they really are (see D&C 93:24). Without that, young people can hardly be expected to understand and evaluate the alternatives that come before them.

Yummy Dinner

Last week I made a meal from The Pioneer Woman's favorite recipe list: Chicken Parmigiana

I won't lie, most of the time when I cook I end up not eating the protein portion of the meal. My taste buds are very finicky about meat, especially chicken, unless it is absolutely perfect. Well this recipe was absolutely perfect. My first indication came from AH after he bit into his first bite of the noddles and sauce and exclaimed, "Oh wow!". See AH does not like spaghetti. He'll tolerate it but that's about it and so this reaction from him was shocking to say the least. AH loved the homemade sauce as well as the cheesy chicken. I even found myself proclaiming words of delight when I went beyond the pasta and sauce and tried the chicken. It was all very good! A definite repeat meal in our house. Delicious!

Slim in 6 and all that . . .

I fear a new trend is starting in our home; middle of the night infomercials. Last week Mr. B woke up with a bloody nose at around 3am and after getting the bleeding under control he opted to stay up, snack on junk food and watch infomercials on TV for the next 3 1/2 hours. AH found him on the couch around 6:30am with the phone beside him, showing it had been off the hook for nearly 3 hours. Mr. B had been trying to call some of the infomercials and place orders of his own.

It took several days, like 4, to get him back to normal after all his major sleep deprivation but by Sunday he was the great kids we know and love.

Yesterday (or rather early today) I was slowly roused out of my dreams by a strange noise. When I was coherent enough to really be awake I listened for the noise that I heard in my subconscious sleep but all was quiet. I thought about it for several minutes trying to remember what I was dreaming of that would wake me up and by then I realized there was no way I was going back to bed without a bathroom break. While I was up I saw Mr. B's bedroom door standing wide open with no Mr. B in his bed. I was totally amazed that he could be awake since he had been up two late nights in a row and even that very night he struggled to go to sleep (very very unusually for him - he loves to go to bed normally) and was up until 9:30pm. I thought for sure he would be so exhausted that he would even sleep in not wake up a few hours later!

I headed down to our family room and found a wild-eyed Mr. B working out to the Slim in 6 infomercial with my stretch bands and hand weights. After getting him back up to his room he remained awake for the next two hours (and so did I) until he finally drifted back to sleep at 6am, thankfully sleeping until 9am.

So is Mr. B gunning to be the next Billy Mays or Vince Offer? I can only dream.

10 for 10

AH says I am not allowed to "broadcast it" so I am putting on here instead of Facebook since fewer people read my blog (that's not broadcasting it, is it? - don't answer that).

Last year I posted 9 for 9 when AH finally, after 9 years of driving a then 19 year old pick-up, bought himself a new truck. Well this past Friday someone hit his truck when he was literally driving it the dealership to see about trading it in (the seats hurt his back). We thought our dreams of getting a good price were gone. As it turns out we worried for nothing because today when AH went in to see what the new trade-in value would be (with minor damage to the bumper and some scratches in the paint) and what sort of deal he could finagle for the new truck he walked away smiling and driving this (well something like it, I haven't seen the actual truck yet):



Good grief we are pathetic - this is getting to be obnoxious.

Beeb - The Artist #7

Beeb was very proud of this picture depicting her with her kindergarten teacher again. She bragged about the added details (glasses) and I must admit the similarities are quite remarkable.



Mrs. J - if you ever read this blog know that you are adored :-) Thanks for being such a great teacher!

Karma

I am a believer of Karma. Well sort of. I don't know if I would label it that way but I believe that what you give is what you get back. For myself I feel that I give a lot to a lot of people and while I don't expect anything in return I do feel loved by those I've served and that makes me totally happy.

Today I feel like "Karma" came back around in a few surprising ways:

1. I got a plate of yummy treats this morning from a friend and I ate it all by myself (okay, bad girl here - I should have shared with my family but they are eating all the toffee I made yesterday).

2. I found out I won a giveaway drawing for a cute Etsy.com shop I love.

3. I got the mail and found out AH won a random drawing from the city he van-pools into and he/we got a $50.00 gift card to Fred Meyers.

A few weeks ago I was feeling a little taken advantage of so it is nice to see the universe evens things out all around. Today was a very good Karma day. :-)

Beeb - The Artist #5 & #6

Here are Beeb's works of Doodle Pro art for yesterday and tonight:

#5


#6

Beeb told me that this is a picture of her and her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. J - Beeb LOVES Mrs. J :-)

Beeb - The Artist #4 & Gingerbread House

Tonight for FHE we decorated our gingerbread house. It was yummy and I believe we are all sick of candy now (at least until morning). I expect our masterpiece to be pieced out by late tomorrow, bare of all its accessories.










Beeb's art for the night leaves us feeling royally left out of this fun scene she has drawn. I wonder who all the princesses represent (she's very logical this way)? Obviously tonight was a "good" night for Beeb. :-)

Beeb - The Artist #3

Here is last nighs sock picture. The caption reads: Illustrated by Beeb (real name blurred out) - so sweet!

Literal Mr. B

During tonight's dinner AH asked Beeb, "What is the capitol of Montana?". Beeb had no reply so AH asked again, "What is the capitol of Montana?" - to which Mr. B chimed in, "M".

Beeb Art:
Last night Beeb went right to sleep and left us with no glorious Doodle Pro art. We'll see what she decides to do tonight.

Santa

This morning we went to our Church holiday breakfast, famous for it's sourdough pancakes and visit from Santa. I took the pictures of all the kiddo's sitting with Santa - some turned out absolutely priceless. So cute!

Here are our two little elves with Jolly Ol Saint Nick:

Beeb - The Artist #2

Tonight (rather, last nights) picture:

Beeb - The Artist #1

Tonight AH told me that each night when he goes to check on Beeb he looks forward to seeing what artistic creation she has drawn on her Doodle Pro prior to her falling asleep. He suggested that we capture these master pieces as a memento of this stage of her life. Here is tonight's:



Hmmmm, what do you think is on her mind? LOL

On another note, Mr. B was complaining during breakfast that his tooth kept getting in the way. When I investigated I came to see that sure enough a little tooth was hanging by a corner. With his approval I yanked that sucker out and he now has one tooth less than yesterday, with another soon to follow. The poor kid is going to have a tough time eating soon when the other front tooth falls out and he will be short 3 top front teeth in a row! (This reminds me that the "tooth fairy" needs to do her job tonight!)

Mr. B Humor

Last night I made AH's favorite Taco Del Mar knock-off burritos. The last few minutes are kind of hectic as I steam the tortillas, assemble the inner ingredients and try to get them all on the table while still warm so we can all eat together. Mr. B was getting very impatient while I worked on the last burrito (my burrito) and so AH was coaching him to be kind, patient and to ignore others when they aren't being so kind. Mr. B interjected at this point and said to AH, "You mean like I'm ignoring you right now?" and then smirked at AH. I laughed all the way to the table.

The BEST Kind of Turkey

Tomorrow morning I check into the hospital for bladder surgery. While it is not ideal to have surgery the day before Thanksgiving it is convenient to have it done when AH will be home for 4 days without having to using any vacation time.

So since I will not be cooking tomorrow (or Thursday for that matter) my MIL gave me some very easy assignments for this years dinner; drinks, a movie for the kids to watch and bring a kids dessert. Today was my day to get all my assignments ready and so I have drinks (check), hit the video store for movies (check) and this afternoon I made Turkey Cupcakes (check). I had lots of help with the actual decorating part from Mr. B, Beeb and her friend Tay.



Aren't they so cute! I also, being the super savvy shopper, have a two tier cupcake carrier that I am storing them in (in the fridge) and will use to take them to my in-laws on Thursday. I got my carrier brand new at a garage sale this summer for just $3.00 - what a bargain! I was so excited when I realized I would get to use it today and that it was absolutely perfect for this food project.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Insomniac Beeb

Beeb is a night owl like her mother and we often find her still awake hours after putting her to bed. Last night she decided to use this time to be productive and thus formulated her Christmas list:



Let me decipher this for you:

#1 Make-Up Stuff
#2 Hannah Set (Hannah Montana)
#3 Piggy Bank
#4 I have no idea
#5 Petshop Toys
#6 Fairy (Barbie Fairy)
#7 Cat Book
#8 Gum Balls (for her gum ball bank)
#9 I have no idea
#10 ________ on gloves

Snowingly Good Time

This past Saturday AH had the wonderful idea of taking the kiddo's up to the pass to sled. We've been having a large amount of early snowfall in our mountains and many of the ski resorts are already open (highly unusual). Despite a few mistakes like forgetting Vivian's snow jacket and not having snow boots that fit, the kiddos had a fantastic time!










Mr. B even tried out skiing for the first time, on the very difficult sledding trail. Despite the less than ideal conditions he did awesome!

ADHD Humor

My friend Jeremy posted on facebook this reply after our mutual friend told us all she had been diagnosed A.D.D.:

"I was diagnosed with A.D.D when I was a kid. The doctor pulled me aside very seriously and said "Listen Jeremy, this is a very serious disorder and you really need to blah, blah, blah, something, something something." I wasn't really paying attention!"

Ha ha ha ha ha :-) I love my friends.

Inny or Outty?

Definitely an outty:

Pre-Winter Stroll

Yesterday, after church, we went for a walk on a nearby trail. It was chilly out and winter is definitely around the corner.


This is an old train trestle (now converted into a walking/biking trail) we walk over on this particular trail.

On a totally unrelated note:

Overheard in the car last week was a cute conversation between the kiddos. We were listening to a children's book on tape and at a certain point in the book the narrator reads, "She is the best sister in the whole world." Beeb interjected that it should read, "She is the best sister in the whole entire world." To which Mr. B chimed in, "Beeb, the world is not made of tires!"

Missing Out

Our poor friends are really missing out. Fortunately until now they have had no idea but after this post I am sure the depression will hit. :-)

I think next year we need to host a Halloween party so all our friends can experience the amazing event that is "trick-or-treating" in our neighborhood. Our neighbors are so thrilled to have anyone knock on their door or ring their bell that they give out mass quantities of sugary treats. You need only hit a fraction of houses you would normally go to in a "planned community" to reap the heavy rewards.

Notes from this year: Beeb was Hannah Montana (bleh!) and Mr. B was a Storm Trooper who refused to wear his mask so really he was just some kid dressed up in a strange white polyester jumpsuit.



(Why yes that is an 8 pack of Twix candy bars. Seriously our neighbors are AMAZING!)





Last weekend I took the kiddo's to the zoo for the annual "Pumpkin Prowl". We'd never been before and had a good time. Next year though, I'll buy our tickets in advance and arrive early and head straight to the Zoomazium first.

Move Over Jack-O-Lantern

There's a new toothless wonder in town . . .



During Mr. B's semi-annual cleaning yesterday the hygienist told us that his front tooth could come out at any time. She encouraged me to have him twist and pull on it as much as he could stand. Of course I forgot every word she said as soon as we left until this afternoon. Mr. B and I were chatting on his bed and I kept looking at the odd angle of his loose tooth until I couldn't stand it any longer. I asked him if I could try to wiggle it out and he was all for it. Unfortunately my fingers turned out to be too big and they prohibited movement more than helping it so I retrieved my handy spool of floss. After one failed attempt of "tie the floss around the tooth and yank" I was successful in getting the floss up under the gum line, securing it tightly in place and making it impossible to get it off unless the tooth came out (so really there was no turning back at this point unless he wanted to go to school tomorrow with a cinnamon flavored red string hanging out). I said to Mr. B, "I'm going to yank it now, is that okay?" and he said yes so with a cringe I quickly pulled down and found the floss in my hand but no tooth! I looked at Mr. B and said, "Is it gone? Where did it go?". We frantically began the search and found it on his bed where it had blended in with the sheets.

I confirmed to Mr. B that he now looked like a carved pumpkin and he would be put out with the other pumpkins on the porch each night until Halloween is over.

1st Grade is Tough!

Mr. B comes home each day exhausted after a full day of school. He usually plops himself on the couch as soon as he's had his after school snack and takes a "break" for an hour.

The other day I had to meet AH shortly after school got out to do a kid swap so I could go to work. It's only a 10 minute drive to where AH parks his truck to meet his vanpool each day but poor Mr. B didn't make it.

Is It Good?

Is it good? Is it bad? How do you know? I heard this quote tonight at the Stake Fireside while the speaker discussed ways to "Battle the Moral Challenge" in his talk titled "Helping Families Live Virtuously".

"Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself." - Robert Southey

No More Bagels . . . Ever. . . Really!

I have decided that all my future vacation will be to resorts that are all-inclusive or to Thailand where the cost to eating is so minimal it's ridiculous. The reasoning behind this is to ensure that I never ever have to endure another 8 day trip of eating bagels for lunch everyday - every freaking day! (and sometimes even breakfast as well)

When AH and I married we both agreed that some huge lavish wedding was not our style. We went simple and very inexpensive, as far as weddings go, in order to save money for our honeymoon and setting up our "home". In my efforts to save $$$ I managed to work out a deal for our honeymoon by going to Alaska for two weeks with free first class upgrades on all our flights, free housing for the first week (both courtesy of my employer who gave us the flight upgrades and who owned a condo in Juneau) and a free upgrade on our rental car. You'd think with my all my frugality's I'd want to skimp on meals, however, I hate to eat the same thing day-in and day-out and I never eat leftovers.

I thought that AH would understand this after a trip to visit him in college where I discovered he could eat for less than $100 a month by eating the same exact thing each and every day using the cheapest ingredients known to man, which included a cheese like substance (for daily his homemade egg McMuffin) that wouldn't melt no matter how long you put it in the microwave. At the end of that eye opening trip I pulled AH aside and in my ever-so-gentle way gave him the lowdown on our future eating standards once we were married; I only buy real cheese, expensive cheese, Tillamook cheese and thus I don't skimp on food - period. The customary foods in our future household would rise many notches compared to what he ingested into his body over the previous scholastic years.

6 months later my eyes were opened yet again as we packed for our honeymoon and AH included a suitcase just for the food we would be bringing. I thought to myself (okay, I also said this out loud as well), "Who packs food to take on an airplane for their honeymoon when they are not even camping?" Apparently AH does. Trying not to be too shocked I went along with AH's plan, or what I thought was his plan, to save a few bucks on food since we would be traveling for two weeks and were staying in a condo for half of the trip.

At this point it is probably not necessary to say, but I will anyway, that I endured two weeks of eating bagels with the most putrid chicken spread known to man. To add variety we also dined on tortilla chips with cream cheese and salsa as well. The only reprieve from this menu selection were the four nights we stayed in Juneau and I cooked dinner at the condo (lunch was still bagels and chips), the one night we stayed at a B&B in Anchorage and one night in Homer that we ate out at a local grease pit. I have not been able to stomach "chicken spread" since.

Fast forward eight years when AH and I took our first "no kids" vacation together to Mexico. I booked us in a fabulous (yet thrifty) all-inclusive resort. It was a wonderful vacation filled with adventurous morning activities, leisurely afternoons by the pool and all the food we could eat (to which I didn't have to plan or prepare any of). I was in paradise - it was a fabulous vacation.

Move forward two more years, our 10th wedding anniversary. I planned for us a romantic kid free vacation to Maui. We stayed in quaint Kehei, across the street from the beach and within walking distance of a wide selection of fun restaurants. We spent our days going from beach to beach, snorkeling, hiking and exploring the beautiful island that is Maui. We survived the road to Hana, walked a narrow path through a truly amazing bamboo forest, stood at the bottom of a 400' waterfall, swam with turtles and manta rays, stood atop a 10,000' volcano, survived Makena's "Little Beach" on a Sunday evening (think naked drum circle - more than any person ever wants to see) and even picked up two hitch-hikers as part of our "laid back" island style. It was fantastic, amazing, gorgeous and truly an island paradise.

However (you knew this was coming), AH insisted on cutting food costs down to the bare minimum. I had to remind him of a discussion we had months ago where I said I would negotiate on breakfast (cereal was fine) but not lunch and dinner - this was our 10th Anniversary trip after all and I wanted a vacation from cooking. AH's man brain kicked when we arrived in Maui and he failed to remember our discussion and so I thought, "okay, I don't have to be completely stubborn, we can negotiate here." so we hit Costco as we left the airport picking up some lunch supplies: bagels, a GIANT bag of plain Ruffles potato chips, a box of cereal, milk, Guava juice (gross – it was too sweet and full of pulp/grit for me), granola bars, a box of snack-pack cookies and Nips(100 calorie baggies) and cream cheese.

I gave myself lots of self talk in preparation for the coming meals. "Okay, take a deep breath, you can do this. You don't have to eat out every meal of every day, bagels will be okay." WRONG! How quickly the traumatized mind remembers those experiences which have lain dormant for over 10 years. After the very first bagel my body knew that this wasn't a onetime deal, this would be 8 days of repetitiousness for 2 of the 3 meals per day. I literally felt my mind, throat and taste buds go into full reject mode as I stared down at that noon-time, dry as the Mojave Desert sandwich alternative.

I did do it. Daily I choked down one of my worst nightmares and I will say the only thing that kept me going was dreaming about dinner each night. Had I not had that I think I truly might have lost it on multiple occasions (luckily our dinners were so good it was worth the wait each day). As it was on our final full day my mind refused on all accounts to ingest any more, instead I opted not to eat "lunch" that day, choosing a couple of granola bars to tide me over until dinner.

In my husbands defense I will say he told me before we got married that he doesn't really value "food" and in his mind any food is fine. I thought he was nuts at the time (okay, I still do think he is nuts) but he really and truly will eat just about anything (and the leftovers too). In addition his financial restraint is important especially traveling when eating out can quickly cost more than the airfare and hotel combined. I appreciate all these qualities in him. However, I cannot do bagels every day ever again. . . period. We are going to have to work on a new meal plan for our next trip. I have some ideas: 1) budget more for food (have AH sign a contract prior to booking the tickets), 2) hire a personal chef to cook for us or 3) travel to Thailand where the average person can eat like a king on less than $5.00 per day and/or we can hire a personal chef to cook for us for less than $10.00 per day, food included.


Here's a photo AH took of me at Twin Falls along the road to Hana. I must say that at 36 I am mighty pleased with this image. (I'll post more images from my own camera soon.)

Laugh A Little - Pee A Little

Today, while talking with my Urologist during a pre-op visit, I voiced to her that I think every high school sex-ed class should include a segment where she (the Urologist) comes in and gives girls the real deal talk about what happens to your internal organs (namely your bladder) during and after pregnancy. You know (or now do), the leakage that happens daily as you laugh, sneeze, cough and exercise (sometimes even more frequent than these scenarios) as a result of having baby squash your bladder for 9 months and then literally flattening it as he/she is pushed out through that narrow passageway at the time of birth. I guarantee that if each girl were to experience just a little bit of the discomfort any woman with stress incontinence experiences the teen pregnancy rates would drop dramatically. I predict that during those hot and heavy moments each girl would reign-in her hormones and say, "Stop! There is no way I am going through the rest of my life peeing on myself every time I need to sneeze!" - end of story.

In addition to the joys of stress incontinence that is experienced by millions of women postpartum there are the joys of treating the stress incontinence as well. Today, for example, my bladder strength was tested (to make sure I really do leak - you don't want to perform a procedure on someone who doesn't really need it) and, oh joy, I was filmed internally via a tiny camera. The camera part didn't really bother me much. In fact it was an interesting experience to know that my bladder was studied, especially after this past year with AH's dad having been diagnosed with Bladder Cancer and going through treatment for it (it's all good - he's healthy now) - he and I now have many more embarrassing things to discuss with each other. No, what really bothered me was after the procedure when I was finally able to relieve my bladder (that had been filled during the scope in order to test the strength), and what came out was very cold water. That, indeed, was a very odd sensation I could live without experiencing again.

Ah, the joys of womanhood - it truly is a mystery; well, not so much anymore. I can't wait until I turn 40 and get to start having mammograms, I've heard they are the best womanly experience of all.

PS - I would have included an image with this post but I couldn't find any of a woman standing with her legs crossed and bent over at the waist while she sneezed.

PPS - My urologist assured me that she will NEVER give birth vaginally (nor any of the other doctor's in her office) after having her job. :-P

Garage Sale Jackpot

I love it when I stumble upon a garage sale goldmine like I did last week. While waiting for Beeb during her art lesson I had an hour to peruse some sales, most of which didn't have anything I wanted. Then I found the mother load! I walked away with pots (which I needed for a church activity), Hannah Montana stage (looks brand new) for Beeb, really nice flippers for Mr. B (he can hardly wait for next summers swim season) and what I consider the best of all, walkie-talkie watches.



It is all the rage in our neighborhood (with the 1st graders) for the kids to have walkie-talkies so they can keep in touch with their parents as they relocated from house to house during play time. Inevitably the walkie-talkie gets set down and then left behind and a few hours later the "hunt" begins for the missing communicator. For $3.00 (LOVE garage sales) I got a brand new set of walkie-talkie watches that Mr. B doesn't take off because it doesn't hinder his play time and have up to a 1.5 mile radius so I can reach him next door or down the road (depending upon who's house is the host house that day).

Smart designs and cheap prices like these make me a happy momma.

Beeb - The Artist

A friend of ours has started offering art classes for kindergarten aged kids and when I heard about it I quickly signed Beeb up. Today was her first class (because we missed the earlier class this week) where she learned about and practiced drawing different kinds of lines; horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curved, zig-zag, solid, broken, rough, smooth and a contour line with horizon line (who knew there were so many different lines outside of a cheap bar?).

When I picked her up Miss Kori (the teacher) gushed about Beeb's concentration and methodical style. Then she showed me Beeb's squash still-life master piece:

(I added the white canvas and wording)

The challenge was to do this drawing using one continuous line! As I stared at the image MY five year old daughter created I got all choked up and started to cry - it is such a beautiful picture!

As we drove away I couldn't help but think of all the artistic talent Beeb has to inherit from her two great-grandmothers (both artists), my mother and well from me too (though only a little from me). I am so overcome with emotion to see a little bit of my Grandma and Mother in my daughter. That's the best kind of genealogy there is!

R-E-A-D = Read

We hit a new milestone this past week; one that I had been worried about but wasn't prepared for when it finally happened. Mr. B is READING!!!!!

A few nights ago AH came out of Mr. B's room after putting him to bed and told me how Mr. B had read to him that night. He described how he picked out some Bob Books to read and then insisted on being the one to actually read them. AH described how well he sounded out the letters to form words. I was shocked. This was a huge, gigantic step for Mr.B.



The next night it was my turn to put Mr. B to bed and sure enough he had his box of books from which he selected two to read and then just started plugging away. I barely had to help him. At the end of the second book he looked to me and said, "I love reading. It is fun!" - I cried, literally. There is no greater joy than seeing your child succeed.

Last night after having a fun evening down at the lake Mr. B, completely exhausted, fell asleep in the car on the way home. Despite his exhaustion he still insisted on reading a book before going to sleep in his own bed. He LOVES it. We are so excited!!!

Way to go Mr. B!

AH Interjects . . .

AH has posed a question for those who read this little blog (all 5 of you) regarding my MOO brain and his "Man Brain":

"So then...I pose a question to your readers...what is worse your MOO moment brain or the man brain discussed earlier in your blog?" AH

Well LADIES, what do you think? I know my opinion. . . :-)

A MOO Moment

This afternoon I had a true Momentarily Out of Order (MOO) moment. After spending the morning at the doctors office with Beeb (we both had doctor issues today), a quick trip to the grocery story and then dropping Beeb off at school I got home and opened the back of my car to bring the groceries into the house. The milk made it into the refrigerator and then my MOO brain got distracted.

Fast forward 4 hours later.

The kiddo's get home from school and one of the neighbor boys comes by and wants to ride bikes with Mr. B. Being the proactive person I am I open the garage door from the kitchen knowing Mr. B's bike is inside and he will need to get it out. (aren't I so smart! - don't answer that.) I don't bother looking outside as I do this and so it is a few minutes later when I glance out the window and see that the garage door is not all the way up. Being the super smart person that I am I hit the remote again and the door goes down, I stop it and hit it again to go back up. Again, the door stops before it is all the way up so I head out to see what's the issue.

What I learned is that it is impossible for the door to extend all the way up when the rear hatch of my car is up blocking the door. Luckily (and I mean really really luckily) it did not scratch my car up.

So to my dear husband, who will read this, remember our recent discussion about my "out of site out of mind" brain - here is yet another fabulous prime example. Doh!

Weekend Warriors

I had a fantastic start to this past weekend when I finished up a HUGE job for a client that only took 3 months to complete. I was so elated I went out into my driveway and shouted, "I'm done! I'm done!" for my neighbors to see. It is such a relief to not have that work over my head anymore.

Saturday I had the ultimate "girl's day" with my MIL and two SIL's as we all went to see Wicked.





(all images blatantly stolen from my SIL's blog. Thanks Queen!)

It was a great play - worth the price of admission. The story was very easy to follow and sucked you in right from the beginning and the music was fantabulous! We followed up with dinner at PF Changs and I came home to a nice, quiet, clean house. It's hard to top that!

Sunday we were enlightened during Stake Conference when we received some great messages from church leaders and the Prophet. There was some good food for the soul during the 90 minute session and it gave me much to ponder on this week. Afterwards we did a family bike ride and enjoyed the amazingly beautiful day!

It was a wickedly delightful weekend that I wouldn't mind repeating again (very soon).

It's FINALLY Beebs Turn

Beeb started kindergarten today. She was so so excited in the morning she even let me do her hair without complaining! She got really nervous just before the bus arrived but quickly found her seat and buckled herself in. My big girl I am going to miss you each day!