Author: midder

Now I’ve got the junk. I started feeling it this morning when i worke up. I think that the 30 degree drop in temperature probably had something to do with it. We kept hearing about all the snow that was falling all around Salt Lake City, but we got barely a skiff. It’s amazing how localized the heavy snow can be. I tried to tough the fever out, but by about 3pm today I could hardly look straight, so I came home and slept for a while. I feel a little better now. Hopefully we’ll be well enough to go work in the nursery for the first time this Sunday. Or maybe I’ll still be sick . . .

Abby was home from school Tuesday through Thursday. Grace was out Tuesday and Thursday. They were both back at school today, so hopefully things are getting better for them. Julie has been out shopping for stuff every day. She got some fancy clothes and lamps. Now she tells me I just need to find her a house to put her new lamps in. Speaking of homes, we’re still wondering what in the world to do with the situation. We’ve got a few ideas, but nothing solid yet. We’re happy and comfortable where we are now, so it’s not too bad. And I don’t really want to pull the girls out of school.

Among the 6 episodes of Oprah that were watched tonight, Julie heard a memorable quote from a movie called “Little Miss Sunshine.” She tells me it’s a little too appropo for her lovely husband: “Sarcasm is the refuge of losers.” I’m not quite sure how to take that just yet.

We had a good weekend. Michael and Alison came in late Thursday night to hang out with us for a few days. The girls were really excited and tried to stay up to see them, but they were asleep before long. I took Friday off work and we went up to Sundance for an afternoon of skiing. There wasn’t much snow driving up the canyon, but there ended up being enough for a great day. I didn’t know that Ali had never skied before. She and Michael spent the first hour or so going up the rope tow thing. After a few frustrating times down the hill, she decided to brave the lift. I have never seen a newbie *not* fall off the lift on their first try. By the end of the day, she was cruising down the slopes. I was amazed. I ended up taking one trip to the top of the mountain. The snow was great up there. We had a good day.

The rest of the weekend was filled with all kinds of excitement. We went to a place called Fat Cats in Provo on Saturday for some bowling action. It ended up being a great thing for all the girls. They had this metal thing that Lucy could put her ball on and push it down. She and Grace both used it. So they were really able to be a part of things, which was good.

Sunday we went to church, where Julie and I were promptly asked to sub for Grace’s class. So Mikey and Ali were fed to the dogs of RS and EQ. I got the feeling that they survived — barely. Sunday night Abby started feeling pretty sick. She was down and out by Monday morning. Then Grace got it today, so they both stayed home from school.

Somewhere along the line over the weekend we got out the old super Nintendo. Michael killed me in Street Fighter (Ali was very proud). I was (and am still) more sore from playing that dumb game than I was from snowboarding! Crazy stuff.

We took them to the airport last night after a final meal. The girls have been asking since Sunday when they’re going to come back, so fun was had by all on this end. I’m sure for you guys it was an eyeopening visit, but we enjoyed it. Lucy felt a little displaced at first, wondering why Ali and Michael were in her bed. And I found out that Alison got an unwelcome visitor one or two nights. But by Monday night, Lucy was asking why Alison wasn’t in her bed so she could lie down by her. Thanks for taking the time. We all had great fun.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midder/

Just a quick update for all you loyal followers. Aaron and Krisanne have started a blog: http://laughingas.wordpress.com. The initial post is aptly titled: I have no clue. Aaron, I don’t think truer words have ever been spoken! 😉

Enjoy.

Speaking of, I haven’t seen anything from Sean: http://sean.photographykeepsakes.com. Promises, promises . . .

More later.

Gwenyth has the gumboo. She started throwing up last week sometime. Lucy got in on the action during the night at about 2AM. She completely emptied out, but hasn’t had anything since then. I guess she was feeling left out or something. Gwen has been feeling pretty lousy for quite a while. We thought that she was on the up and up, but tonight at dinner she really lost all of her cookies. And she’s supposed to have a doctor’s appointment this week to see how we’re all coming on helping her gain some weight. Well, doc, she’s probably lost some weight this go-round. Go ahead and call CPS or whatever it’s called here in Utah. And, while you’re at it, go pound sand as well. Anyway, the poor little girl hasn’t had a very good week, though she has tried to be cheerful through the whole thing. Like the other girls, it’s hard to hide that she’s not feeling well. They all show it in their eyes, especially Gwen and Abigail.

Lucy has her second installment of the Art City Music Academy tomorrow. I think that she’s pretty excited. She started asking about it tonight and was wanting to perform some songs for us. It was great. She’s really going to love it. I get to come home from work tomorrow for an hour and a half or so in the morning while Julie takes Lucy. We didn’t want Aunt Marilyn to come over and get Gwen’s bug. So since I already have it and am immune by now, I’ll take one for the team.

Work is starting to get really busy for me. We’re working on a big project for a company called SanDisk. They’re the ones that make many of those little USB flash drives. It’s been interesting dealing with a new technology product that no one seems to know how to use (including the company that released it, Microsoft) and an outsourcing team that hasn’t really delivered what they’ve promised. So we get caught picking up the pieces while the muckety-mucks at the top figure out how to cover themselves. It’s good experience, if nothing else.

Julie wanted to change the theme of the blog. It was too masculine, or too “Brian” for her tastes. So now we have this pink thing. Such is the story of my life. I don’t really like this theme, but it’s more for technical/nerd reasons that none of you could care about I’m sure.

Thanks for your letter, Grandma. It was good to hear from you. Our weather has sure warmed up. We’re supposed to be near 50 all week. Then it’s supposed to rain/snow for a few days. Hopefully some snow will drop up in the mountains for Mikey and Alison. I hear that they got a little wet at the Superbowl in Miami. And the Bears lost on top of that.