Out With the Old; In With the New

Finally, the wait is over. What's that you say?! You didn't know you were waiting? Well, what did ya think I was doing during this blogging break? I was prepping our new blog, of course! Remember my little rant about domain names from months and months ago? Well, during that time I had picked out a few names and one of them was actually available. I guess I just wasn't ready to move yet, so I waited and waited and waited. Now I'm ready. And I'm proud to announce...









Go ahead. Click it. You know you want to! And...I even designed the header myself. So, make the change. This is where we'll be from now on. Same people and mostly the same stuff. I hope you like it!

I Couldn't Get My Mind Off Them

The other day as I was browsing through my many blog subscriptions in my reader, I saw these little pretties featured on The Crafty Crow and have wanted to make a batch ever since. Tonight I did just that! They were so fun to make, and yummy too!

Mmm...homemade Mother's Circus Animal Cookies















And, if you don't already have a favorite sugar cookie recipe, try these. Just be sure to scale back the recipe, unless you want to give cookies to every person in your neighborhood. It makes quite a large batch. I made a batch of "15 servings" and we had at least 35 small cookies.

A Glimpse of the Chompers

We finally captured them on camera. Aren't they adorable?! Well, at least until they bite you. Then a better description would be sharp. They sure make her look a little more grown up though. As if the full head of hair wasn't doing that already!

You'll Be Happy to Know...

I am now a certified literacy instructor within the state of Idaho!

I received my Idaho State Literacy Assessment standard II and III scores today (now that's a mouthful!) and can happily say I passed. Unlike most testing situations for me, I was quite worried about these tests. You see, I took the courses for these tests last fall while I was pregnant. I was so paranoid about going into early labor (HA HA -- in my dreams) that I didn't register to take the tests at the end of the semester. I figured I'd take them in March (at the end of winter semester) but being affected with Mommy Brain busy with a new baby/sending my parents on their mission/taking care of a big house I completely forgot to register. So, summer semester it was.

I registered near the beginning of the semester and then never thought about it again. It came down to the day of the first test, and me feeling completely unprepared, I sat down to cram whatever I could into my exhausted little brain (this test also happened to fall on the same day of the semester that everything -- no joke, everything -- was due). I was running on less than four hours of sleep and had been up since five a.m. I looked through my notes and prayed I could remember a semester's worth of content so I could pass and get it over with. I also had the extra pressure of paying an extra $50 to retake the dumb test if I didn't pass. I was nervous and shaky, but I got through it.

Standard III was two days later, so I being a diligent an exhausted student, went home and crashed for the next two days. By the time the day of the next test rolled around I still hadn't done a thing to study. This time, I knew if I didn't pass it was just because I was totally lazy rather than being just plain pressed for study time.

Luckily though, we now know the end of this story and that it's good! I attribute my good fortune to two things. First, I absolutely love the field of literacy (I've even said that if were to ever go back to school to get my master's it would be something to do with literacy) and soaked up all the information I could during my literacy classes. I know the Spirit helped me recall the knowledge I already had tucked away somewhere in my brain. The second bit of help came from the test format -- multiple choice guess. Easy peasy. (And, just in case you wondered...When I took Standard I, the state was using a pilot version of the multiple choice test alongside the original, complete write-on, test version. You've really gotta know your stuff for essays! And I did -- I got a perfect score. I don't think I would have stood a chance with these two tests had they been write on, so it's a good thing they weren't!) I've now got two less hoops to jump through, then graduation HERE I COME! Yay!!

Somebody's Ticklish

I was having some troubles uploading my video to blogger, so hopefully this works. Just click on the video and it should open a new window so you can watch our funny girl.

Job Confusion

We've known for about a month now that Owen would need to start looking for a new job. He's been working for my dad/brother's company for quite a while now and he really likes it there (as long as he's not doing the sales side). The only problem with that job is that he can't get full-time work and the hours are typical work hours rather than evenings (he's going to play "mom" on days I'm in school so we can avoid daycare/babysitters -- as my mom's cousin Jen says "Nobody loves your kids like you do!" -- I completely agree, and thus, will not leave my child/children with anybody other than family for a long term situation. It's just not me) like we'll need through the upcoming fall and winter semesters.

So, as soon as summer semester finished, Owen set out to find a new job. After a week or so, he had a few interviews lined up and we ready to go. Wednesday, he had one interview with Texas Roadhouse. The serving manager really, really liked Owen's personality and offered him a job on the spot. Alright! We were set...or, so we thought. He still had to go to a "courtesy" interview (as the serving manager termed it) with the general manager, more as a technicality than anything. So, Thursday, Owen headed down to the restaurant to meet with the general manager and after a half hour of being run around (and never actually sitting down with him) he had an interview with the assistant serving manager where he (Owen) was told that there wasn't any room for new employees (in other words, you don't have a job Buddy Boy, good luck).

Owen called to tell me the lousy news and suffice it to say, we were both pretty bummed. Owen still had a few more interviews to go to though, so we just hoped for the best. This same night he had another interview scheduled at Best Buy, which ended up being another run around situation and ultimately no interview. (Apparently, their corporate office sets up the interviews, but nobody called to tell the local store that they had an interviewee coming. Thus, no interview.) The lack of communication within companies and businesses was really starting to aggravate me and I was getting quite frustrated. Luckily though, Owen had one more interview set up, all he had to do was call the manager and say he'd be there for it. He did call, and the manager was actually quite excited to hear from Owen. They set up the interview and this brings us to Friday.

Owen headed off to another interview, still a little annoyed about the previous situations from the day before, but hopeful something would work out soon. It did, and Owen now has a job again. Yay! The wage isn't very high, but it's better than nothing. Plus, the Owner's are LDS and are really flexible about hours and days off. Owen will be able to spend the days home with Miriam and will have just about every Sunday off (except on the rare occasion that he's absolutely needed) and he can request just about any day off he needs (even the 2 1/2 weeks that we'll be gone for Christmas!). His first day is today and I think this job will work out great for us!

I. F. L-R-G-S

Did you catch that? Try again...read it out loud. A little faster. How 'bout now? Good!

My best friend, Rachel, lived next door to me when I was younger. Her family had a game similar to Mad Gab where people try to figure out a phrase based on letters only (Mad Gab uses small words that create a nonsense sentence rather than just letters). I don't know that we played it often, but one of the cards read I. F. N. L-R-G (I have an allergy) and for some reason this little letter phrase has stuck with me throughout the years. The only difference is that I don't have just one allergy...I have many!

My allergies usually run from roughly April to October (although some are year-round, like my allergies to cats, fragrances and dust). This leaves November through March fairly clear, and with the exception of cold season, I'm usually sneeze-free for these few months. This year has been right about normal and the intense itchy, sneezy, sinus headache, watery eyes, drippy nose joys are well underway now (grain harvest). Delightful! I've got about two months left of this misery until things settle down until next season. But I thought I'd share a few tips that I've learned over the years just in case you are ever lucky enough to share in my bliss.

1. Never rub your eyes -- not even once! It feels soooo good and you won't want to stop...it just makes it worse, so much worse.
2. Mascara does not deter eye rubbing (I used to put mascara on and then think "Don't rub you eyes, you'll smear your mascara" all day long -- it never worked); it just gives you raccoon eyes once you cave in and rub the little buggers anyway.
3. Just avoid all things that agitate your allergies. As a child, I LOVED cats (I don't know if I can emphasize how much I LOVED cats, but I did). I had a friend who's family had at least two cats and I would play with them and pet them and snuggle with them and by the time I got home I looked like I'd put red food coloring in my eyes immediately following a good sucker punch. If dust bothers you, don't dust for a couple weeks...don't worry, it won't go anywhere. :)
4. Benadryl just makes you drowsy and while this may be the only way you get a decent nights sleep during allergy season it can really cramp your daytime routine to take naps all day.
   
5. No matter how hard you try, you'll never reach that itch in the back of your throat/inside your ears. Just give up now because it looks really goofy to have your fingers, Q-tips, forks, pipe cleaners, etc. in these places. People will probably think you belong in the nut house! (And while this may actually be true, you don't need to give people any more reasons.)
6. When all else fails (in other words, the medicine just ain't cuttin' it anymore) a cold, clean washcloth on the eyes works wonders, even if only for a half hour. Just lay back and remind yourself that they can't cut grain forever! It's gotta snow sometime and then you'll have something new to complain about!
   

Happy HAY-CUTTIN' to you!! May it pass as quickly as possible.