Month: May 2012

Adventures in Thailand

photo by Jenna

Lately I’ve been enjoying reading about the adventures of our former babysitter Jenna. Right now she’s on a study abroad trip to Chaing Mai and reading about her adventures is bringing back some memories of my own college trip to Korea (various aspects of which have been immortalized in song).

When I was in Korea I remember feeling like my very consciousnesses was expanding; it was the first time I really felt how big the world was.  And even though it was *gulp* a long time ago, that trip still influences the way I look the world.  It’s exciting to read about Jenna having her own life-changing experiences.

I have a lot of respect for her because while I grew up with a Korean mother (and Korean food and culture) and had taken a year of Korean classes in college before my trip to Korea, Jenna doesn’t speak any Thai and hadn’t even really eaten Thai food before she left.  Talk about culture shock!

If you’re interested, follow her blog, Time for Thailand.  She’s a good writer and keeping a blog is part of her coursework so she’ll be updating it regularly.

Roller Derby Photos

I finished going through the photos I took at the roller derby in Spanish Fork a few weeks ago.

It was exciting to watch our home team the Molly Morbids beat the Portenuf Valley Bruisers from Pocatello, Idaho.  All of the ladies were AMAZING.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the game, Pain In The Nikki came over and chatted with us.  N works with her husband and we had sat with him during the bout and tried to learn the finer points of the game.  Nikki told Erica and I that they were having a “fresh meat” training camp in July and that we should come skate (!)  I’m tickled by the idea but don’t think I’m up for it.  It seems like a fantastic workout but the commute down would be too much.  Also, um, the very real possibility of breaking some bones.

But it was very flattering–I don’t attend many sporting events where afterwards they tried to recruit me to join 🙂

For a detailed recap of the bout and more information about the team, see the Happy Valley Derby Darlin’s site.

There’s another bout on June 9th.  Hanging out in a vacant Food4Less and watching these ladies compete makes for a fun and unique evening–maybe I’ll see you there!

Saturday Adventures

Normally we keep things pretty low-key on Saturdays but this weekend we were crazy busy. 

In the morning E and I checked out a neighbor’s garage sale and he was so excited by the experience that we decided to drive around and see if we could find any other sales, which we did. I scored a nice craft book and a pair of shoes and E got some art supplies. 

When we got home we picked up N and Mimi and went out for brunch.  Thus fortified we visited the children’s farm by our house where E fed the goats and sheep and rode on a pony and Mimi checked out the animals from her stroller.

When we got home Mimi was pretty zonked so we left her and N at the house and E and I went to the rec center so I could renew my membership.  We didn’t know about it beforehand, but they were having “Member Day” so E scored a few free balloons and was accosted by a friendly mascot.

Next we went grocery shopping.  E wanted to be a “helper” and pushed a kid cart around the store and I chanted “walk SLOWLY!” like it was a mantra.

That evening N and I went on a date down to the old Food4Less in Spanish Fork to watch a roller derby bout with friends.  It was so awesome.  We chatted with some of the girls afterward and they tried to recruit my friend Erica and me to come to their “fresh meat” tryouts.  (Hahaha!)

After the bout we decided that since we were already down south a visit to Cracker Barrel was in order.

Yep, all that AND fried okra.  –EPIC.

Anniversary Dinner at Forage

For our anniversary on Saturday N and I went to dinner at Forage.  The food was beautiful and unique and delicious.  A few desserts were a bit too floral and pine-y for my tastes, but that egg dish–oh my goodness.  It’s one of the top 10 things I’ve eaten, EVER.  Mmm…

Wonderful food aside, the best part of the evening was being able to enjoy such a luxuriously long dinner (over two hours) alone with my N.  What a lovely treat!

Things Are Looking Up

N just sent me a link to this video.  Downtown Abbey + Fresh Prince of Bel Air = just the sort of awesomeness I need after this crazy week. 

Another sign that things are looking up is that it’s our wedding anniversary tomorrow. 11 years! 

There is no one I’d rather go through life (and all of its assorted plumbing catastrophes) with than my sweet, funny N.

I hope you have a lovely weekend–see you next week!

Torn Up

This is what my bathroom looks like right now:

What you can’t get from the photo is the sound, a loud, low grumblely growl of a roar of 3 industrial fans plus a dehumidifier going full blast confined in a small room. We turned them off to sleep but I still tossed and turned most of the night, mostly from anxiety.

I get stressed out enough when my home is torn up due to my own choices (i.e. my kitchen update) but when something out of my control happens and I have groups of strangers tramping through my house and our routine is thrown off completely I just get depressed.

Blarg

I’ve been feeling a little run down lately.  It’s nothing major, I just have the feeling that, try as I might, I can’t quite fit my arms around everything.

One of the things that’s been bothering me is that E is going through a rough patch and I’m not sure how to best help him and so I feel rather helpless as a result.  For the past few weeks he’s been quite anxious about things in general.  Last night he and I were going to walk down the street to drop something off at a neighbor’s house and halfway there he started sobbing and clinging to my leg concerned that our house “was far away.”  I tried to explain that he could still see our house and that it wasn’t going anywhere but he was in a panic so I took him home.

From what I could tell from talking with him afterward part of it is a residual effect of our trip to Disneyland.  When he asks to go back to Disneyland (everyday) we talk about how Disneyland is far away and so we can’t go there right now and so I guess he thought our house was going to disappear or something?  I don’t know.

He’s also been afraid of going to the bathroom, to preschool, and to bed lately and I don’t know what do do other than reassure him that everything’s going to be alright.

And Mimi, while still very sweet, has been getting her molars for the last month or so she’s been a lot needier than usual.  And I think she’s also getting ready to go from two naps to one so her sleep schedule is sort of out of whack.

Yesterday I put her down for her usual morning nap and got out the paint to work on touching up the cabinet doors but I had to cut it short because she wouldn’t go to sleep and instead wailed and kept calling out “Mom! Mom! Mom!” which I’ll admit was cute (but frustrating). 

Work is still keeping me busy but it’s likely that my contract position is going to go away after June.  My department’s budget has been cut so they’re going to have to let me go, but they might get to keep me if something comes through at the last minute.  I’ve mostly already made my peace with it since there’s nothing I can do about the situation but the uncertainty of not knowing for sure gets to me sometime.  I hate not knowing.

And last night our master bathroom toilet overflowed, enough so that water was leaking from our family room ceiling below.  And so today I’ve got to call our home insurance and a plumber and try to get it sorted out.

So….yeah.

Folk Music For Your Friday

A few years ago I posted a video of two Swedish sisters singing a Fleet Foxes song (seriously, listen to those harmonies!) and now those sisters are grown up and have a band, First Aid Kit and are performing on Conan and whatnot (coincidence?–you decide!)

I got their new CD, The Lion’s Roar, last week and it has been on repeat in my car ever since.  It’s piercingly lovely with a real strength running through it that reminds me in a way of early Dolly Parton which I also love. 

If you like folk music I hope you’ll love the album.  Listen to more of their songs on their MySpace page.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.  Two of the most wonderful men I know have birthdays today: N and my dad, so we’ll be celebrating all weekend long.  We’re having cake and presents with the kids but I think I might be looking forward to eating without our lovely progeny at a new-to-us restaurant the most.  I love spending time one-on-one with my funny N.