Yellow Wallpaper

Like I mentioned a while ago, I won a gift certificate for the Homestead Resort , which is up in Midway. Mr. Fob and I went and used it on Friday night and it was fabulous. The only thing I would have done differently is plan the trip to have more time to spend up there. Next time I would like to do more activities, like some bike riding, hiking, or more swimming ( this would be cool). Friday afternoon we dropped the kids off in Salt Lake and headed up to Midway. First we stopped off at the outlets in Park City for a little shopping. I splurged and bought myself two new pairs of maternity jeans; Motherhood is one of the few places I've found petite maternity pants and I'm glad I don't have to spent the winter tripping over my pants. Hopefully I'll keep finding nice shirts on my regular thrift store trips. Now I can't wait for the weather to cool off so I can wear my new pants. After the outlets we drove into Heber and grabbed dinner at Granny's drive-in; then...

I haven't said much about my pregnancy on this blog, especially compared to the last time. That's mostly because there hasn't been a lot to complain about. I spent the first trimester feeling yucky; I didn't have a lot of the more traditional nausea, just severe indigestion and heartburn. It felt like food was just sitting there instead of doing anything after I ate it. I have had phases of nausea as well, especially the kind where everything smells terrible and makes me gag. But I am mostly feeling better right now and hope things start looking up from now on. Thankfully I haven't had too many of my other digestive issues; I think that's because we've transitioned to a mostly vegetarian diet and I am proactive about eating a lot of fiber. I will also confess that I've hardly ever taken my vitamins because the extra iron makes me feel terrible, but I know I'm going to need it even more from this point on so I'm trying to figure out how to work wi...

Mr. Fob called and made reservations for us to use our gift certificate this weekend and I can't wait. The kids are pretty excited because they get to spend time with their cousin and their auntie (and new uncle and cousins probably too). Now I'm just trying to decide what else we will do besides enjoy our suite at the hotel and our scheduled massage session at the spa. Anyone have good ideas for a Friday night in Salt Lake, Park City, or Heber ? Part of me wants to just go through the drive- thru at Chik - fil -A and find a place to have a picnic, but I wonder if we should be more romantic than that. Also, we have two tickets to the outdoor movie at the SCERA shell this Saturday night. They are showing Iron Man. If anyone wants them, let me know. I also have one coupon for buy one/get one free for tickets to the Bedtime Stories night at the Storytelling Festival (Friday Sep. 4) . The tickets for that are normally eight dollars per person (it's best for slightly older kid...

Shortly after we moved in to this house my parents brought up my cedar chest that I've had since high school. We've never lived in a place that's really been big enough for it, and we've moved around a lot, so they've been storing it in their house. Obviously I haven't put anything in it or even looked in it for a number of years. I had a lot of fun when I opened it up and started going through it. I found a few wonderful gems that just have to be shared. The first one comes from a journal I kept for a while when I was eleven and twelve. I've never considered myself an artist but for some reason I felt a need to add illustrations to my entries. I think they are the best part:

Today S-Boogie expressed surprise when I explained that she would be the only one starting school this fall. For as long as she can remember, either Mommy or Daddy has also gone to school with her as well. I'm pretty relieved to not be going to school but I have been a little more sad about her starting first grade than I thought I would be. She went to a preschool that was every day and then she went to kindergarten last year so I know she can handle it. First grade just seems so grown up that I can't believe we're at that point already. I'm also a little nervous because her teacher is a brand-new, first year teacher who looks like she's about fifteen. I know every teacher has to have a first year, but I also remember how incompetent I was my first semester teaching and worry about how things are going to go for everyone. S- Boogie's previous two teachers were both quite experienced so it's a change for me. I am a little glad for the start of the year and ...

Mr. Fob and I attended the Sunstone Symposium today; we really did not have the time or resources to attend the entire event over the last few days, but perhaps at some future time we will. Today was a nice experience for both of us. The sessions we attended--together and separately--were enriching and it was nice to spend a day away from the children focusing on adult contact. I had been a little nervous about asking my sister-in-law to watch them for a full day but they enjoyed themselves and were also happy to see us when we picked them up. I will admit that one of my motivations in attending events like Sunstone is meeting people. After typing that sentence I realized that I made it sound like a bad thing. It's not a bad thing to be sociable and to be part of community. I do feel a little silly when meeting people that I perceive as being somehow 'cooler' than me and acting like a giggly fangirl. It's silly because I realized today that we are all working together t...

You know how sometimes you have 'one of those days'? I feel like it's 'one of those weeks'. The silly thing is, nothing major has gone wrong.. I've just been in a bad mood and not able to pull myself out of it very well. The kids haven't been sleeping well and so they've been grumpy so that hasn't helped. S-Boogie seems to be doing everything possible to assure that I will gladly hand her off to school next week without any tears or regrets. I've been feeling lazy and we haven't been able to go to the pool because her ear was still healing. So that has meant many days spent sitting around the house getting bored and picking on each other. On Wednesday morning I took them into the doctor to check her ear. She passed with flying colors, but the kids spent at least five minutes fighting over the lone chair in the exam room. I finally got fed up and put the chair out in the hall. One of the nurses gave me a funny look, but I don't care becaus...

Goodbye to Poplarhaven: Recollections of a Utah Boyhood by Edward Geary This book is a collection of personal essays about growing up in a small town in rural Utah. I love his attention to detail and his clear descriptions of a world that is in many ways foreign to me. Despite the fact that his focus is not necessarily religious, his stories about rural life not only helped me understand more about Utah history, but more about certain attitudes and cultural practices among some Mormons I know. It's a worthwhile read if you are interested in personal essay or in Utah history. Tell No One by Harlan Coben I don't read too many books in the mystery or thriller genre, but Mr. Fob had read this for his book group and recommended it to me. I thought it was engaging and fun to read; not my favorite book by any means, but good for what it was. I might go ahead and read another one by Coben. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas This was another q...

It's Saturday and now the week is mostly over I feel like I can finally post about it. It wasn't a bad week, just a busy one. Saturday night I returned from camping in California, then Sunday we had to get up early for church. Since the move and all our other traveling Little Dude has developed a serious aversion to nursery. Thankfully on Sunday I was able to help him go to class so hopefully the rest of the year will go well. This week I just hung out in the room, gradually withdrawing myself until I was able to leave because he was comfortable without me. I'm still hating the fact that being new in a ward means I cannot remember anyone's name, but church is going better I think. Sunday evening we went to my niece's baptism; it went well and everyone had a good time as far as I can tell. S-Boogie gave the closing prayer and did a good job up in front of everyone, even though few people could actually hear it. Monday evening we had a birthday party for S-Boogie wi...

Since my summer has not already been completely full, we're hosting a blog party on Saturday night. This is your chance to see our beautiful new home (don't get your hopes up too high) and to meet the fabulous, and elusive, Melyngoch . Party starts at about 5:30. We'll provide some food--right now I'm thinking spinach dip with baguette and maybe some couscous salad. Email me for directions to my home and if you want to bring a food item. Hope to see you there!

I'm back from my weeklong adventure to the beach and feel a need to blog about it, but am not sure where to begin. I don't think my audience really wants a daily play-by-play and I don't think I feel up to typing that much out. It really did turn out to be a good time and I think the kids had a blast. We stayed at a campground here that was across the highway from the beach, so every day we spent some time there playing in the sand. The high tide came up in the afternoon, which freaked out Little Dude and he spent a lot of time playing on the rocks instead of the sand. As a mother I naturally worried about this and spent a lot of time trying to entice him onto the sand. And of course on our last evening there he fell hard and sustained a nasty injury on his forehead. I was scared we were going to have to drive the hospital because it was bleeding a lot, but it actually turned out to not be very wide and has healed nicely. We spent most of our days just hanging out and pla...