Don't count on it

So, this digital converter thing. Hmmmm. The ads were slightly annoying when they started (what seemed like) a year ago. "I am just trying to get through the day" I would think, "why are you bugging me about something that isn't happening in like, forever??" But then we moved here and the PBS commercials about this included an engineer from the station setting up a lady's digital box and new antennae. Maybe you yocals know the commercial I am talking about. The engineer is SO RAD. He looks a little bit like an overgrown elf- skinny with a plaid shirt and a long graying beard. Stephen and I think he is THE COOLEST and funniest. He looks like a lot of other earth loving, tree hugging, mountain scaling, old dudes around Seattle.

So we applied for that government coupon to get money off the digital converter on the last day possible. Every day since then we have looked anxiously in the mail for our coupon. It didn't matter what else was in the mail, I was always bummed we didn't get the coupon yet. Well, it turns out that the government ran out of money to issue the coupons and so they stopped printing them. Great. Apparently they will have some more money by June or something. And congress voted against waiting to make the digital switch. So those of us who waited are out of luck. We either go without PBS for a while or pay the full cost of the converter ourselves. I can't stand losing out on a deal that would have saved me money, I am grinding my teeth on this. I even hate seeing last weeks grocery ads- "oh man, I missed the $1.49 pork roast!!"
But when it comes to going without Curious George and all the dear little people that help me keep my children entertained, I think we would last about 2 days. Looks like we'll be dishing out the cash on this one ourselves. It's true what they say: Don't count on the government to bail you out!

I never do this

Lately, I have been feeling the vibe that I am going to win something. So I keep entering for giveaways and even the Publisher Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. I have won a small handful of things in my life, but I have always known right before that I was going to win. When I was in 4th grade I called the local radio station and barked on air and won a case of Barq's Root Beer (I knew my bark was best) . My sisters and I drunk it and ate pretzels and played cards and laughed all night and I felt drunk when we realized Barq's has caffeine in it and I'd never had caffeine before!
At my Senior graduation party there were all kinds of giveaways. They got to the microwave and when the announcer drew a name, I knew it was mine. I almost jumped up before she called my name out. We just buried that microwave last year. Such a good and loyal appliance over the years.
So I just found a link to a Bumbleride double stroller giveaway and I am increasing my chances of winning by blogging about it here. So, there you go. http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-25-bumbleride-indie-stroller/
Here's the link and you all can try to win it too. This stroller is really great- it's not too wide, it can have a car seat attached, it has an adjustable handle, the colors are fun.
I just hope this vibe comes to fruition soon- the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes with 5,000 a week for life would be great, but a stroller would be too. . . I'll probably win a free bag of pita chips or something.

drawing a blank

I just can't come up with good titles! This post is just about fun weekend blither blather and maybe a Challenge update. But do I really want to confess that I don't have 100% of my points anymore? No. But there it is- I lost a couple this week and WHAT A RELIEF. Now I feel like I can commit to some of the things I feel are really important and if one or two slide each week I won't freak out. Much better balanced this way. Still avoiding sweets and eating after 8pm unless I need a fruit or veggie, in which case I happily violate the after hours rule. The Bores are hosting a treat feast tonight to celebrate our Sunday freedom. My chocolate bundt cake with icing is just dying to attend.
The last 2 weekends have been fun with local get-togethers. We have a dinner group (just randomly assigned 3 families from Church) and we hosted the dinner here last Sunday night. After checking with everyone, I decided to make an Indian dish with lots of heat to change things up. You know how usually for a dinner group you would keep it pretty basic to appeal to everyone, right? thankfully my group is full of ethnic food lovers like us, so I was given an enthusiastic green light. I made one of my favorite chicken dishes from the Quick and Easy Indian Cooking cook book I have. We love every recipe we've tried in it, it's fabulous. In Chicago we lived on the same street (albeit 6 miles away) from "little India" or "little Pakistan" and so I got all my spices while there and in great quantity. I LOVE Indian spices like cardamon pods, cumin and mustard seeds, and fenugreek and mixes like Masala and curry. Mmmmmm. Anyway, I think it was a hit and the best part was sitting around talking for 3 1/2 hours! Fun group.

Last night it was a girls night "in" at a friend's townhouse to watch the Miss America Pageant in our pajamas and have a Miss Seattle pageant of our own. We were judged on appearance, the snack we brought (talent) and platform and elocution (answering a panel question). Pretty tough stuff! Since there were no hideous old pajamas at Goodwill to be had, I went with my Japanese Yukata (robe) to represent the Asian population of Seattle. Since I had no great dangly earrings or long hair to tease and puff up, I opted for a purple and silver wig from my Halloween box.
This was inspired by the numerous people I saw at the mall the night before with various shades of blue and red and purple hair. (Has anyone noticed this hair color trend?). After viewing the YouTube link of that ill-fated Miss Teen America contestant that killed her answer about Americans not being able to pick out the USA on a map, I was inspired to make cream puffs as my treat because they are the most "air-headed" you can get your dessert to be. So . . . . it was a long and hard fought battle, but in the end I was runner up Miss Seattle. Unlike the show, there is no scholarship money for runner up Miss Seattle at a pageant held at your friend Jenny's apartment. I had to settle for the fact that the party went past midnight and the challenge participants started eating sweets because it was officially Sunday. So I toasted myself with a cream puff and was satisfied that the hideous wig that gave me a headache was worth it after all. So close to the title . . . . . I wonder if I'll have to be on any floats or anything??

A child's Prayer

Regardless of time of day, meal or no.

Odessa:
Dear Heavenly Father, please bless the foo-o-o-o-od.
Bless Ada not get sick.
Bless us not make loud noises at skunks, not shine bright lights at skunks. (repeat twice)
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
(result of Curious George episode where George gets "skunked" several times)

Ada:
"I'll doit, I'll doit, I'LL DO IT!!"
FA-THER
mumble, mumble
FOOD
mumble mumble
BLESSSSSSCHRIST
AMEN!! (very proud of herself)

He never promised you "the dream"

Many of you know I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We have a women's organization as part of our church- the Relief Society and it is the biggest women's organization in the world. There is a General President of this organization and she is in charge (technically) of all the members world wide. She makes global visits to encourage, train and teach these women. On a local level, there is a Relief Society President in each congergation. She is called by the Prophet and President of our church to serve as General President, it's not something you campaign for. Our current General President is Julie Beck.
Sister Beck (as we call one another brother and sister) visited Seattle this last weekend! She met the Bishop of our congergation at a meeting in Salt Lake City last year and he invited her to come, speak to the women in Seattle and spend the weekend. She even came to our ward on Sunday and I sat one person away from her during our Relief Society meeting- so exciting. She had a meeting Saturday night for women all over the Seattle area. There were people who drove over an hour to see her speak.
I wanted to share in brief some of her message here because I think it applies to everyone, everywhere. She talked about meeting with a group of women (and this could be hypothetical as well as real) and one might say "How come my life turned out this way, I never got the chance to get married although I wanted to." Another might say "I married the WRONG man", another- "I deal with continuous illness", another- "I can't have children", another- "we're dealing with economic difficulties" and on and on. Sister Beck said (in the kindest way) that basically, we were never promised "the dream". We were never promised the "perfect life". We were only promised an experience. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that we lived as spirits before coming to earth and obtaining bodies. We believe that Heavenly Father gives us this experience to come to earth as a time to grow and gain knowledge and learn to be obedient and find and accept His Son, Jesus Christ and His good news message of the gospel- that he atoned for our sins. He never promised us the perfect life, only Eternal Life if we repent and follow His commandments. Even people who seem to have "the dream" probably don't feel that way. Why do we waste so much time worrying about how imperfect our lives are and appreciate the experience? I don't know, but I am going to try and work on that. What a great message to remember and what a great lady- she was amazing.

Challenge, week 1

The challenge started last Monday. Tuesday night I was looking at grocery ads and said "I want to quit the challenge" and Stephen promptly called from the other room "me too!" much to my surprise. It was pretty hard the first week to avoid sweets and find 45 min every day to exercise. We found that our together time in the evening was eaten up by 15 min. study, exercise or just going to sleep so we could get the 7 hrs. I was feeling hungry, distant from my husband and cranky.

So, part of this challenge is journaling every night.
Thursday night I wrote: "I hate this challenge".
Friday night: "Going to bed HUNGRY AGAIN."

One night I realized at 10:30 I hadn't exercised early in the evening like planned! I resigned to just lose a point. Stephen was like "no, you can do it! get up and do your exercise videos! I'll work out too" (even though he had his 45 min for the day). So yah, I worked out at 10:30 that night. Unbelievable.

It turns out Stephen is super determined. He would have all his points if it weren't for a church activity that served only chili and cookies (no fruits or veggies). So he took a hit by eating after 8pm and came home and had a fruit and veggies. Me, he's kept on the straight and narrow so far. I am hoping this week is easier and the journal entries lighten up! ha ha

Some like it hot

Stephen and I like our room temperature on the cool side. I think this comes from default. Our married life has been spent in older, drafty houses and a duplex. Places that were too expensive to heat to a comfortable temperature. When we got here, we just didn't turn up the heat by default. So we just put on slippers and sweatshirts and keep our blood moving by doing the dishes or vacuuming or chasing kids. The kids, by the way, don't seem to mind the cooler temps. Stephen would also cover windows and buy stuff to cover cracks in door frames and such. When we moved here to Seattle, we got our first couple electric bills and figured into our budget that about every 6 weeks or so it would cost us $120. That seemed a little steep, but we do use a lot of water with all the laundry and I'm home all day using electricity. We just hoped it wouldn't go up come winter and using the heaters.
A few months seemed to go by with no bill. Then one day we got a statement that we had overpaid and had a balance of $59. Nice!
When we went home to Boise we experienced first hand people who want (and can afford) to keep their houses warm. Both our parents' houses were so HOT (to us)!! We admit to covering vents and cracking windows at night to sleep better. Our parents also made us aware that they think our apartment is FREEZING. My joke was "yeah, we keep it so cold that the electric company actually sent us money- they felt so sorry for us". ha ha!
Once again, it seemed like months since we had gotten anything from the light company.
When we got back to Seattle, we finally got a bill. After the credit, we owe . . . . . . $16! Boy, is this a sweet winter compared to the $250 a month our gas alone would cost us in Chicago at the dead of winter. And then there was the propane to heat the farm house before that . . . but we won't even go there. Maybe I can turn up the temp a little, what do you think?

Resolutionary Challenge

Stephen and I signed up to do a Resolutionary Challenge at the behest of our friends, Jake and Sarah Anderson. They did it last year with about 40 people, and that same number have signed up this year. Here are the rules:

The 2009 RESOLUTIONARY CHALLENGE

Daily Habits
Each item is worth 1 point, with a possible 10 points per day

1. 7 hours of sleep (not necessarily consecutive--naps count too)
2. 48 oz. water
3. 45 minutes of exercise (not necessarily consecutive)
4. 2 servings of veggies, 2 servings of fruit
5. No soda, beer, unhealthy snacks, or bad fast food
6. No sweets
7. No eating after dinner/8pm (choose which works for you)
8. 15 minutes of scripture reading (or other spiritual text if you don't do scripture)
9. One journal entry (any length)
10. Express sincere appreciation or praise to your spouse (if single, to another person)
Note: Sundays are "free" days where all points are free.

Exceptions
"You are excused from the sweet rule on YOUR birthday
You may also eat sweets on Valentines Day (or any other day you wish to celebrate)
You are allowed three sick days where you are excused from exercising. This is ONLY to be used if you are indeed sick. If you are pregnant you can eat after dinner/8pm and tailor your exercise regimen."

Everyone kicks in $20 via paypal- you do the math. That's $800 for the winners. I say winners because last year there was more than one person that got all the points available!
My knee-jerk reaction to this was "I can't do that". And then over a week or so I talked myself into ways I could accomplish each goal. Stephen and I came up with a few game plans, such as me being patient while he walks to or from work to get in some of his exercise. With it being rainy and his bike needing some tweaks, he may not be able to bike everyday.
The sweets is what will be hard for me!! But if I have one day to look forward to, that will help immensely. Plus brushing my teeth after meals, sugar free cocoa and gum and . . . . well, you get the idea. Personally, I don't think dark chocolate should count as a "sweet" - do you??

I heart shopping with my mom

My mom's birthday was yesterday- Happy Birthday Mom! My dad's birthday is 1 week before Christmas, and my mom's is 1 week after New Years, so growing up we always had 4 "Thursdays" (or whatever day Christmas and New Years fell on) in a row of festivities. Here she is, putting Odessa to sleep at a Christmas party

A couple of days after Christmas while we were in Boise, I said I wanted to go look for a pair of black pants and black boots and my mom said she would go with me. I knew the rare opportunity to go shopping sans children (and in Boise) would not come often. I know the stores better in Boise than I do here or did in Chicago- and knowing your territory is winning half the battle.
A couple of you (ok, maybe just Nic) have been shopping with me and know what a chore it can be to find my "special" sizes. All pants must be talls and shoes a size 11- a rare thing indeed.
My mom has 4 daughters. She has logged in a LOT of hours shopping with us. But amazingly, of the 3 of us- I seem to be the only one that really enjoys shopping! As in, I don't mind going for hours and hours and "the hunt" is truly thrilling for me. Maybe it's because my sizes are more rare and so it's more exciting? Who knows? But my mom is the BEST companion. She keeps a good, practical head about her shoulders, not jumping on deals or encouraging too crazy of purchases, she's seen the best and the worst, and she knows a good color and fit when she sees one.

So we headed off to the outlet mall- my mother admitting she had not been there for months and months. I know my sources- Eddie Bauer is one good place for tall pants and they had an Eddie Bauer outlet. Well, one thing led to another and soon we found ourselves slipping (it was really icy in their parking lot) from store to store, trying on clothes that had been drastically marked down post Christmas. I found myself torn between TWO pairs of tall black pants, so my mother wondered if I needed a different color in one as well? : ) So true!
I told her from the dressing room that when I told Stephen I wanted to do some clothes shopping he had said "Yeah, I felt bad you didn't get any clothes for Christmas". My mother's immediate reaction: "well, lets take advantage of his sympathies while we can!"
We spent the WHOLE day soaking up the sales, discriminating between the truly worthy and the just good enough items. When we finally made it to the shoe store (which was supposed to be one of two planned purchases), we were laden with bags. I found the section of black boots and immediately got excited. Some size 11's!! When sales clerks came by and asked me how I was doing, I would say "I'm great!! You have 5 pairs of black boots in my size!!!" They would go away a little embarrassed for me and my giddiness. When the 3rd clerk to come by explained to me that the boots were 40% off and then 40% off of that, I nearly kissed him! It was a euphoric moment. FIVE pairs of black boots for 40% and then 40% off! You have to know, I usually am lucky to have one pair to chose from in the style I am looking for, not 5.
Well, after all the agonizing and trying on of boots, my mom finally helped me decide on a pair and we went home supremely satisfied with our purchases. And that's why I love shopping with my mom. She didn't once say "no, you don't need to try on one more pair of those same pants" and she didn't say "could you make up your mind on those boots, my feet are tired" and she didn't once say "you didn't come here to look for pajamas". And when she got home, she told my dad (my biggest shopping teaser) and Stephen (my silent budget enforcer) "it's amazing the deals we found, I can't believe the clothes Tara got for how little she spent". Gotta love that woman.

Think Again

Mothers with babies beware. You look hopefully towards a time when your baby will sleep through the night and you will start getting the much needed successive hours of sleep again. THINK AGAIN. Now that my "baby" is approaching 2 yrs old, there are nights I get less sleep than I ever did when they were newborns. Toddlers (at least mine) get these night terrors, they are scared of the dark, they are scared of the string on the blinds, they are scared of their own feet it seems, they need their horses at the head of their bed, they have to pee-pee at 4 am, they get hungry in the middle of the night . . . . and the list could go on and on. With the 2 of them tag-teaming last night, I got up 4 times and then called it quits at 5:45 am (most days they sleep past 7:30) and got up with them and fed them cereal. Plans to go to the Children's Museum were nixed because I knew they would need naps mid-morning and that I would never survive any sort of stressful activity without screaming at them- even in public. They run in opposite directions in the museum and I need all the patience I have got. When I am that tired, all bets are off in the patience and screaming department. So we will take it easy for now and mom is going to go take a nap as soon as these 2 are snoozing as well.

Off to bed? Or to torture mom?

RED ALERT!! Stock up while you can!

I just heard on NPR that a new Federal rule goes into effect Feb 10th requiring all used children's items to be tested for lead!! Clothes, toys, books- you name it. HELLO?!!! Consignment and thrift stores are saying this will put them out of business. The new rule mandates all EXISTING stock to be tested as well as incoming. Can you imagine? One caller said that the zippers, buttons, lace, all parts of every article of clothing has to be tested, requiring several tests per item. This means your favorite used children's clothing stores could close or stop carrying childnren's stuff.
This will CHANGE OUR VERY EXISTENCE IN THE HUNT HOUSEHOLD. My kids each own about 3 NEW articles of clothing. I looked back at them in their car seats when I heard this story and determined that everything they had on except Odessa's shoes (and underwear) were used- even their socks I got at garage sale!!! ACKK. I decided it's not even about the money as much as me feeling good about providing for them in a thrifty and (less wasteful) way. Why buy new when they grow so fast? Why buy new when you can get SUCH CUTE USED CLOTHES? We even buy some of their Christmas presents used. They got a Fisher Price Farm and an art easel used this year. Last year it was a play kitchen and rocking horse and mini-tramp. I am ready to cry at the thought of losing out on all those future sweet deals.
Well, there may be hope of them amending the law to make it a bit easier on these small businesses that can't handle the testing and what-not. But mark this, it will change things, that is for sure. In an economy such as ours, what a great kick in the head, right? Can't save money anymore buying used things for your kids.
Ok, I know- it's about safety for my kids. Well, my kids get tested for lead poisoning and I keep a tab on things they have. But I had no idea their clothes could prove such a threat.
Stephen's solution: "Maybe you should go buy up a lot of used clothes before Feb 10th". I love that man. Did he just give me permission to shop?

What's New?

So I have had, of course, 20 different moments over the last 3 weeks when I thought "that would be funny to blog about". Alas- probably none of them will materialize here.
I spent almost 2 weeks at home in Boise, alternately with Stephen's parents and mine. My 3 older sisters, mother and I threw my dad a surprise party for his 60th birthday. We've been planning it for MONTHS and all of us flew in for it- from New Jersey and Virginia and Washington. The best part was sneaking into the house and surprising him at home. We all sat on the couch and my mom called him down from upstairs. He walked in, looked at us like "hey, there's my girls" and then did and double take and started freaking out. He was so funny to watch- we're glad he didn't have a cardiac "episode" or something. The time we got to spend as a family was pretty special, especially since he had put on his Christmas list "time to sit and drink cocoa with my girls". The party was so much fun, we had about 80 people attend.

Favorite moments of the Christmas in Boise:
For the girls, feeding the horses morning and night at grandma and grandpa Hunt's house. They were so good at it, we could just sit and supervise! Grandpa always let Odessa sit on their backs while they were eating. This was fun until one of them shied away with her on top and took off! I just shouted at her to hold on and waited for when she would fall off and wondered how bad the damage would be. I have never felt so helpless as I did watching my kid get carried off on the back of a horse beyond our reach. The horse stopped, and she did indeed fall off. Thankfully, she slid right off onto her bottom and no serious damage was done. Grandpa put her right back on that horse and I hope this incident doesn't carry any permanent 'scared-of-horses scars'. The girls also loved terrorizing Chad and Julie's cat and Nana's dog. We love that the Hunts have so many animals. The girl's favorite presents were all animal related and they each got their own tool box. Here is my favorite Christmas Day picture of Odessa with goggles and play drill.

Stephen enjoyed telling me fantastic stories of the snowfall in Seattle while I was in Boise. The whole place shut down- literally. School was cancelled one day when the roads were still dry and there were PREDICTIONS of snow fall, but no actual snow. We laughed forever about that. But then when there was actual snow, it wasn't funny. A guy in a Land Rover tried to get down the hill our Apt bldg is on and hit THREE parked cars and blocked the road (not that anyone was trying to use it) for 2 days until all the cars were towed. When Stephen finally tried to make the break to leave and get to Boise, he and another guy hand-shoveled the road together. He still had to put chains on the car and stop every few feet down the slippery slope to shovel more to keep from sliding into the remaining vehicles. The week he was here by himself, he walked everywhere, including the 3 miles to work and back. On Saturday he walked 10 miles around Queen Anne delivering cookies to some people. He revelled in the challenge and was amazed at how unprepared and unwise people were about the snow. It all seems common sense to him! Well, not everyone grew up hunting and snow camping with a dad who I like to call "part Mountain Man" (and not everyone is an Eagle Scout!).
For me, I loved all the "traditionalism" of the time in Boise. Traditional food, traditional stories. My mom told the puppet story of the animals at the Nativity with the grandkids holding the puppets. That is the first time I have seen her give that- it was the story my grandma led us in each Christmas Eve. My Grandma passed away this last year, so it was really special to see mom carry that tradition on. And here are the shepherds and their cousins Mary and Joseph : )

Since being home, we have not stopped much. We had our friends Kate, Karl and Inge over for New Years Eve. We all counted down with Columbia online at 8pm- highly recommended for parents! After the kids got to bed, Stephen and I played games and waited up for the fireworks at the Space Needle- now that the trees have lost their leaves, we have a great view of the Needle.
I got pretty excited New Years Day when Stephen lounged around and everyone stayed in their pajamas. He is always pushing us to go do something, get something done- my weekends are usually somewhat exhausting! But I knew the jig was up when he showered and started putting things away and cleaning up. Later that afternoon, he talked us into a walk to Fremont. We had to continue up this steep side of Queen Anne and then go all the way down the back of it- even more steep!! Then cross the bridge. . . . anyway- it started "misting" and we all got pretty wet. The girls were done with the stroller on the way back UP the steepest part of Queen Anne and so I ended up carrying Ada inside my jacket for about a mile up and then down the hill. The next day (yesterday) we went to Port Orchard and then to Bremerton and took the ferry back to Seattle. It was a fun, exploring trip to see 2 towns we haven't been to yet. We wanted to go visit the Bavarian village recreation of Leavenworth, but the mountain roads between here and there were not looking good. We did enough of the snowy roads between Boise and home.
Now I am looking forward to a quiet week this week. Happy New Year everyone and I am loving getting caught up on your posts.