Yellow Wallpaper

I've already been a big fan of Craigslist , but the last few days have really deepened my affection. During this last week we've been watching the "free" section like hawks in order to score moving boxes. And we have, including about 20 small boxes we picked up last night. Then tonight some neighbors who are moving generously shared a bunch they had received through Craigslist (thanks so much!), and I think we might be getting closer to the amount we need (crossing my fingers). I've also managed to sell a number of smaller items that we've been trying to get rid of, and we have a few other things we may just end up giving away for free since I don't really need them. Last night we listed our washer and dryer, and all day my inbox has been full of people desperate to take them off our hands. I listed them early thinking that it would take a while, but the peace of mind and extra space from selling them is probably worth being without them for a week. Hopef...

Tonight I gave my last final while teaching for the local technical college. I haven't blogged very much about work because I didn't want to violate my student's privacy. This year of teaching has been a real learning experience for me; I'm very glad I got the job and it certainly was serendipitous. I won't miss the horrendous traffic I've had to deal with just to get to work, but I will miss my students and teaching. I've really enjoyed the book we've used and I've enjoyed teaching smaller classes. Most of my students have been very dedicated, even with their full-time jobs and busy lives. I'm grateful they've put up with me as I've stumbled around trying to figure out how to be a good teacher. The only major flaw I seem to have is chronic niceness, but I'm working on that. My students all passed their final and they all seemed to have learned something, so I guess I must have a little bit of teaching skill. Hopefully during the next...

I actually gave away a lot of books, but we still ended up with about twenty boxes worth of books in the corner of our living room. And we haven't even packed up the kids' books yet!

This is a picture of me and my roommates at the beginning of my junior year of college. The girl in the pink dress is my roommate Lexi. She moved into our apartment the year before, when I was a sophomore and she was a freshman. I had moved into the apartment with two of my roommates from the dorms the summer after our freshman year, and so we were a little hesitant when someone new moved in a few months later. Even worse, she was a brand new freshman (since we were so much more mature as sophomores). I really wasn't sure if Lexi and I would get along. We were opposites in so many ways. She always had lots of friends, especially boys, over to hang out; I was socially awkward and had trouble convincing guys to even talk to me. I loved to cook and sew, but Lexi had no domestic skills. She was an engineering major because she loved science and math, and I was an English major. I'm neurotic about details, and she forgot where she parked her car (more than once). But we lived toget...

As I mentioned, last weekend was Mr. Fob's graduation as well as Father's Day. My parents and sister came up to visit, as well as Mr. Fob's mother, so we had a lot of fun entertaining everyone for the weekend. As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite things to do is cook so I love throwing big parties. This time the food all turned out so well that I thought I'd post a few recipes. On Saturday evening we went to the park and had a nice picnic dinner by the water. I made chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, Asian coleslaw, potato salad, and chocolate-cream cheese cupcakes. We had friends who brought fruit and chips and it turned out to be the perfect picnic. Then on Sunday after church (we all went to see S-Boogie sing in sacrament meeting) we had vegetable quesadillas with guacamole, cilantro rice, black beans, and strawberries. For dessert on Sunday we had a cake that S-Boogie decorated at the grocery store on Saturday morning. Yes, I'm kind of sucker, ...

Unlike the last time we moved, so far this time is going much more smoothly. Keeping my fingers crossed. We have signed a lease for an apartment in California starting on August 7 and have arranged for our stuff to be shipped from here on July 7. I'm trying to get more excited about the apartment; it's bigger than here, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a dishwasher. It's also really close to campus. Even more importantly, they're actually renting to us long distance. But every time I think about the rent I want to throw up. And we won't have our own laundry in our apartment any more. So if anyone reading this lives in Seattle and wants to buy a cheap washer and dryer, let me know. Or a gliding rocking chair. During the month that we are without housing we will be wandering nomads in Utah and Nevada. Again, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm really looking forward to seeing family and friends, but I know that by the end of that month we'll be read...

We've had a fun few days here in our house, as evidenced by my tired eyes from late nights and my sore tummy from too much eating. Friday night Mr. Fob graduated for the third, and last, time since I married him. His mother came up to stay with us for a few days and my parents and sister came up on Friday (and left today) as well. Friday night we went to the graduation (the kids had a babysitter and we were all very grateful for it), yesterday we spent the morning cooking and the afternoon picnicking at the park, and today we attended sacrament meeting to see S-Boogie sing for Father's Day. Then this afternoon we ate even more food, including a special cake that S-Boogie decorated at the grocery store yesterday afternoon. It was a quick trip for my parents and sister, but I was glad we could all spend time together. I love the opportunity to see my kids interacting with their relatives and the good times we can have together. I also think that it is serendipitous that graduat...

Question: If you sing along with Celine Dion and no one is around to hear it, are you still a dork? Also, I think Titanic was one of the worst movies to win Best Picture (and all the other awards). I think the music video for My Heart Will Go On is better than the movie.

Today at the drugstore the clerk remarked that it was colder today in Seattle than it was in Siberia. I believe him; the weather for the last few weeks has been terrible. Unfortunately so has my mood. S-Boogie's preschool ended a few weeks ago and I had been looking forward to filling the extra time with outings to parks and the zoo. At the very least we could go play on the playground outside. Instead, it's been cold and rainy for the last two weeks. Not only that, but Mr. Fob started his new job last week, which coincided with his last week of school. So we've all been slowly going crazy here with the disruption to our usual routine as well as the frustration of our hopes for spring. Seattle is beautiful and I will definitely miss some things about living here. One thing I will not miss, however, is the winters. Especially since they seem to take up most of the year. When I'm frying in Utah next month remind me about this post.

We had S-Boogie's goodbye party today and it turned out great! Thanks to everyone for the great advice , it really helped me out a lot. We had the party this afternoon; it was a good time for everyone and only two people couldn't make it due to family vacations. I got some cheap little coloring books and mini boxes of crayons from the party supply store to have out on the table when kids showed up. Those turned out to be quite popular and they spent a long time coloring. Then we moved on to having snacks. I did yogurt parfaits: I had a few kinds of cut up fruit, some yogurt, and then granola and raisins. One girl filled up a bowl with blueberries and another with yogurt and alternated bites between the two of them. I thought that was pretty funny. We did end up with a fair amount of wasted food, because there were a few kids that took food and then stopped eating after a few bites to go play ring around the rosey. That was a little difficult because then no one else wanted to e...

Part of the reason why I started blogging was to be able to share my opinion about various topics that are important to me. I think it's interesting as I read to see what people are passionate about. It seems like I had seen a meme going around inviting people to step up on their soapbox and rant about a pet issue, but I can't find it. I thought it was a little interesting, since I figured that that was what blogging was supposed to be about: getting on your soapbox. Since having kids, I've really become passionate about car seat use and car safety. I'm not sure why this is, exactly, but I guess it's just because there are clear-cut rules that people should follow, and I'm all about following the rules. I also think it's so sad that many kids each year die in car accidents because they're not properly restrained. Did you know that car accidents are the leading cause of death for children? A few weeks ago there was an accident in Provo in which a mom lost...

First of all, if you actually read my blog in person (not through a reader), I apologize for the current ugliness. I wanted to change some things around and add some new elements, but in order to do that I had to upgrade my template. Unfortunately Blogger is experiencing some sort of issue because it made me upgrade, and then promptly lost my old template and refuses to let me add or change anything on the current one. So it might be a few days before I get things looking nice again. In the mean time I'm going to go cry because change unsettles me and computers stress me out. I had hoped this post would be a grand unveiling to celebrate my third year on the internet . I guess it's not, but I'm still here at post six hundred anyways. Even if it's ugly. I realized the other day that I have never written down the reasons why I started blogging in the first place. About four years ago, when S-Boogie was a small baby, I stumbled onto a bulletin board for LDS women at a pare...

My Dream of You by Nuala O'Faolain This book was long and dense and took me a long time to read. It's also hard to describe, since it has several plot threads going on at once, but it's mostly about sexuality. I'm still not sure if I liked it or not; the writing was beautiful and the story was interesting, but I really didn't like or even understand the protagonist. At least I did learn a lot more about Ireland and its history from reading it. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher It's hard to talk about this book without using cliches like "I couldn't put it down" or "brilliant and disturbing". I really did read this whole book within a few hours, and it's probably best that way since the plot takes place over the space of a night. Well, kind of. It's one of the better, and most original, teen books I've read in a while. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho This was our bookclub pick for the month, and at first I was skeptical since ...